Total Pageviews

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

NJPW PPV canceled, big business for New Day, assorted WWE press, ROH heading to TV in Canada, Kazarian signs ROH deal, new title for ROH?, ROH matches in RI, HOH attendance, HOH teaming with Japanese promotion, HOH moving school, more NXT sellouts, Global Wars PPV main event, NJPW tag champs set for ROH debuts, new Bellas show confirmed, Total Divas update, Dixie losing majority ownership?, Matt vs. Jeff on TMZ, and Questions on turning Roman, Enzo/Cass, the tag team tournament, Shane in charge, and Taker's last match

NJPW canceled their April 29 PPV in the aftermath of recent earthquakes in Japan. That's unfortunate. I hope those in the area are able to bounce back shortly.

Big E thanked New Day fans for the group's big merch sales. I'd like to see more acts grab the bull by the horns like they have.

- New Day are "guest editors" of the UK's New Day newspaper this week. Pretty fitting, I think.

Charlotte and Paige promoted WWE in the UK. Kayfabe is dead.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

ROH will begin airing on the Fight Network in Canada. That's a big move for the company as they continue to grow.

- The deal is confirmed to be a multi-year contract. It will be interesting to see what happens to ROH's TV status in the U.S. as Sinclair makes over the Tennis Channel. Big things could be on the horizon in the years to come.

Frankie Kazarian has signed an exclusive deal with ROH. So, both members of The Addiction are locked into ROH.

ROH is expected to introduce a new championship soon. They only have an hour of TV each week. No idea what they're thinking there unless they're bringing about a women's championship for the people working dark matches and live events.

Set for ROH's April 30 show in Rhode Island:
- Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Championship against local wrestler Vinny Marseglia.
- Young Bucks vs. All Night Xpress
- Christoper Daniels vs. Lio Rush
- Briscoes vs. reDRagon vs. Motor City Machine Guns

HOH drew 850 fans in Queens, and more than 1,400 fans in Philadelphia. That's impressive.

Christopher Daniels was visiting at HOH's show in Philadelphia; he was in town for an ROH tryout/seminar. Could some HOH students end up working dates for ROH?

There's talk of additional collaborations between HOH and Pro Wrestling NOAH. That will hopefully mean good things for both sides.

HOH is moving its wrestling school to a new location in New York. It's good to see someone qualified teaching people the ins and outs of the business.

NXT's next two TV tapings and Takeover special at Full Sail sold out almost immediately. It might have been worth having Takeover at the nearby CFE Arena, unless they're really cost-conscious with the GCS coming up and the big UK tour.

Jay Lethal vs. Colt Cabana for the ROH World Championship is set for the May 8 ROH/NJPW Global Wars PPV. That's perfect for Chicago.

- NJPW's new tag team champions, The Guerrillas of Destiny, will make their ROH debuts at the event. The team consists of Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa, the latter of whom is former WWE star Camacho. Roa also had a run in TNA as Micah; it's clear he's not under contract there, but he could theoretically still work there if he hasn't signed a contract with NJPW.

Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and John Laurinaitis will be featured on a reality show on E! called "Total Bellas." This will be a spinoff of "Total Divas." Whether this means increased TV time for Nikki and a TV return for Laurinaitis remains to be seen, although the latter would be a somewhat fresh heel authority figure if HHH and Stephanie are "removed from power" or something.

- "Total Divas" will continue with the Bellas, Eva Marie, Naomi, Natalya, Paige, Lana, Renee Young, and Maryse. Alicia Fox, Mandy Rose, and Rosa Mendes aren't being "pushed" as part of the next season.

- "Total Bellas" will have six episodes, focusing on Brie and Daniel Bryan moving in with Cena and Nikki as Nikki recovers from her neck surgery. Presumably if it does well it can get picked up for more episodes.

TNA is believed to owe a significant sum to Aroluxe, the marketing and production company headed up by Don and Ron Harris that has been financing the company's TV tapings. The belief is if TNA is unable to reimburse the company for taping-related expenses this week, Aroluxe could become majority owners of the company, leaving Dixie Carter as minority owner.

- The Harris brothers have been seen regularly at TNA offices, meeting with significant players in a number of areas. So, if they do take over, they're already familiar with how things work behind-the-scenes.

- A number of investors remain interested in owning at least a stake of TNA.

-- Even if Dixie loses majority ownership, unless someone's willing to spend a lot of money to rehabilitate the brand, I don't know if they'll really be able to change much.

Matt and Jeff Hardy traded barbs on TMZ Sports ahead of their "I Quit" match on tonight's (taped) Impact Wrestling. I expect that show will be another night of hard-hitting action.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. If they really want to get a lot of heat on Roman, they should team him with Anderson and Gallows against guys like AJ and Balor. He'd be hated by casuals AND diehards for that. 

2. That's who they were in NXT, where they were one of the brand's hottest acts. 

3. I'd be shocked since the Dudleys are feuding with Enzo and Cass while the Usos got jumped by Anderson and Gallows. The tournament should give New Day some fresh challengers.

4. They already explained it. Vince was so blown away by Shane's heart and determination, he decided to do what the post-WM32 crowd wanted for a night. Impressed by the response to Shane running the show that night, he's allowed Shane to continue. They also hinted Vince softened his stance on Shane after seeing Shane's sons/Vince's grandsons at WM32. 

5. Vince has enough respect for Taker to let him go out pretty much on his own terms. I don't expect Taker will "have" to lose his final match.

More wrestling tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment