Sting to retire?, former IWGP Champion wants ROH Title, new Supercard of Honor matches, Dallas promotes WM32, Impact audience, potential Knockouts work TNA PPV taping, ROH Title match booked for Dallas, Corbin talks, TNA couple welcomes child, and Questions on WWE's thoughts on Mauro, what Roadblock accomplished, Vince getting rid of NXT, and the Shane-Authority angle

TMZ is reporting Sting will officially announce his retirement as part of his WWE Hall of Fame induction. This isn't wholly unexpected following his match with Seth Rollins, and is probably for the best. He had a really incredible, legendary run, and finally got his Wrestlemania moment in addition to a WWE Title match. It's time for him to give his body a break from all the bumps.

Hiroshi Tanahashi discussed wanting to be ROH World Champion:
- ROH might as well give all their titles to NJPW talents.

- I love the burial of the ROH style, but it's odd he'd endorse the Young Bucks, since they're the biggest offenders.

Kyle O'Reilly vs. Matt Sydal has been booked for ROH's Supercard of Honor on April 1. I like O'Reilly a good deal, but Sydal's pretty much just another flippy guy.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

Wrestlemania 32 banners have begun appearing on poles near AT&T Stadium. WWE is going to promote the hell out of the event in Dallas in the weeks to come.


Impact Wrestling drew 307,000 viewers for its first showing and 123,000 for its replay. That's a BIG jump from the previous week. Some credit has to go to the replay's lead-in drawing a pretty strong number, but I'm sure the live aspect of the show and Jeff Hardy's return boosted things as well. Hopefully the trend continues in the weeks to come.

The following wrestlers worked TNA's Knockouts Knockdown 2016 taping as "aspiring Knockouts," presumably getting a tryout with the booking:
- Shelly Martinez, formerly Ariel in WWE's ECW brand and Salinas in TNA. I'd be a little surprised to see her back again sans LAX, but I wouldn't rule it out.

- Veda Scott, who's a regular on ROH TV but presumably doesn't have a contract. It'd be pretty funny if TNA signed her while she appears on ROH. I've never seen her wrestle, but it'd be interesting to give her a shot.

- Leva Bates, a.k.a. NXT's Blue Pants. She could be worth pursuing based on her work there if she coan show she's more than that gimmick.

- Barbie Hayden, who's worked for the NWA.

- Cherry Bomb, a.k.a. Lauren Dennis in a few TNA appearances. She's been working for GFW. I'd like to see more of her. I hope she impressed.

- Deonna Purrazzo, who's been seen pretty regularly in NXT lately but isn't signed. She recently had a WWE tryout, so TNA might want to make a move before they try to pick her up. She could be a nice addition.

- Jayme Jameson

- Allysin Kay

I guess we'll find out at the next set of tapings if any of them become TNA regulars.

Jay Lethal will defend the ROH World Championship against Lio Rush at Supercard of Honor, since  TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii is unable to make the show due to NJPW commitments. So, they're going to continue to expose the newest ridiculously hyped indie guy, AND one of their only champions can't even make the show? LOLROH.

Baron Corbin talked to WWE.com about Takeover:Dallas and more. I hope he's headed for big things. I enjoy his character wrecking the indie darlings.

Angelina Love has delivered her and Davey Richards' child, so theoretically it's only a matter of time before she starts training to return to the ring.

For my take on yesterday's PWinsider.com questions:
1. I'm glad he's being well-received. He's really been a breath of fresh air.

2. The show was great. It showed HHH still has it, and Ambrose can hold his own against a future Hall of Famer. Hell, he almost won! The show was something of a bonus night of action on the road to Wrestlemania, which is pretty much what we should have expected going in. Ambrose holding the title for a few weeks only to drop it back to HHH in time for WM32 would have been a mess. I think the Ambrose marks and Roman detractors are blinding themselves in the build to Wrestlemania.

3. OVW and FCW were replaced, so there's a chance of NXT one day being changed, too. But I don't see that happening in the near future given how much of a success it is, and how big of a deal the Network is.

4. The story is that HHH, Vince, and Stephanie have been pushing "their" guys at the expense of fan favorites (see how many times they screwed Reigns and Bryan out of the title, in kayfabe). WWE's not the storyline enemy, The Authority is. Shane's remarks were the kind of "shoot" smark bait that gets the people who claim to hate WWE (but generally watch it and can't stop talking about it) curious about the next angle and hopefully getting them to see the changes they might actually have in store post-WM32. I'd also like to see them move to authority figures like Regal in NXT who don't dominate the show.

Nothing to add to 5.

More wrestling tomorrow.