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Thursday, April 28, 2016

NJPW name working ROH live event, Flair incident in airport, Impact audience, Chyna's cause of death, new NXT hire, Balor update, WWE shows footage from GCS qualifiers, WWE announcer released, and Questions on "smark" crowds, WWE referencing NJPW, why Shane's running the show (it's the same answer as the last 50 times), LoN losing, and rebooting Rollins

NJPW's KAMAITACHI will debut in ROH against Frankie Kazarian at a live event this weekend, facing ACH as a replacement for Roderick Strong. Interesting that they're using a NJPW name instead of another ROHer or local star; no other stars from Japan are on the show.

- KAMAITACHI has moved to the United States, leading to speculation he's looking to head to WWE. If only WWE had some kind of global series of cruiserweights coming up.

- Strong is missing the show due to a personal issue. Strong is still advertised for the May 9 War of the Worlds PPV.

Ric Flair was held off a flight home to Atlanta after needing medical attention following a fall.

- TMZ published an update as Flair headed home. I hope he's OK and this truly wasn't alcohol-related.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

The Sacrifice edition of Impact Wrestling Tuesday night drew 332,000 viewers. That's the second-highest rated show they've had in their whole time on Pop. Hopefully things are starting to look up for TNA with that kind of news.

Chyna's manager attributes her death to an accidental overdose due to taking her prescribed medications inappropriately. Prescription medication abuse is a very serious problem, and I hope more light is shined upon it in the wake of another high-profile death.

NXT has a new host in former Florida Panthers host/Miami Dolphins cheerleader Andrea D'Marco. Whether she'll just be working in Florida or going on the road remains to be seen.

WWE is teasing Finn Balor coming up from NXT soon. I hope he at least works the UK tour in June, and maybe even a farewell match at Takeover that month.

WWE has released footage of PROGRESS' qualifying matches for the Global Cruiserweight Series:
- Jack Gallagher vs. Pete Dunne
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Flash Morgan Webster

-- I look forward to seeing unique styles on display in the Series.

WWE has released announcer Rich Brennan. That's somewhat surprising; he hasn't been there very long.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I think as the "WWE style" became more defined as guys like Cena, Reigns, Orton, and Batista in main events, the fans who want a different, more edgy style became more vocal. Some of it could be related to how TNA and ROH haven't been major competition, and once fans did get a taste of guys like Punk and Bryan in main events (and guys like Owens and Cesaro elsewhere on the card), they wanted more along that line. So, they're really vocal about what they want WWE to be. As for specifically the night after Wrestlemania, it's a big crowd in a big experience. As we see in the current political climate, big crowds who are riled up can cause a lot of fuss.

2. The four recent big signings came directly from NJPW, and are really over because of their work there. Either they don't consider NJPW direct competition since they're rarely in that market, or they're putting over the connection in an effort to win Japanese fans as they make more in-roads there with the Network and July's shows.

3. You're missing everything since WM32. Dave's probably intentionally ignoring it to stick to his anti-Vince agenda. Watch Vince's promo the Raw after WM32. Watch Shane's promos since then. It's all been explained: Vince was impressed by how badly Shane wanted to run the show, seeing Shane's sons (his grandsons) at WM32, and Shane's big connection with the fans. So, he gave Shane a shot. Since fans have responded to it well, he keeps using Shane in charge.

4. Sometimes credible wrestlers have to lose matches to put other wrestlers over. I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept. There were injury problems that sidelined the League, and if they're not going to feud with the remaining Wyatts and Barrett, it is pretty much time to split them up.

5. I think bringing him back as a babyface to new entrance music could work well. It's worth a shot, and Rollins vs. Reigns writes itself.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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