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Friday, April 29, 2016

Slammys gone from Network, Network targeting scammers and sharers, NXT callups losing names?, Whitmer update, new ROH matches in RI, Ziggler note, lots of potential WWE DVDs, bomb scare at ROH HQ, WWE considering another tier of Network subscriptions, looking at Chyna's impact, Xavier on the reality of wrestling, and Questions on WWE ending up on ESPN, Dreamer vs. WWE, Rose's future, and They Live 2

WWE has removed the Slammy Awards section from the Network. Slammy editions of Raw are still up under that show's category, but the older versions of the awards are no longer available. It's possible not a lot of people were watching those segments, so they were taken down.

WWE Network is cutting back on sharing accounts across devices, as well as implementing stricter verification of payment methods to cut down on the many people letting friends use their accounts without paying, as well as those trying to "game the system." This is LONG overdue, and hopefully leads to more people paying for the Network. It costs money and effort to make the content on the Network, and the people who create that content should be compensated.

WWE has filed to trademark the name Enzo. It's possible WWE pulls a "Cesaro" or "Rusev" and just shortens the new team's names to Enzo and Big Cass. I mean, that's what everyone calls them now. I don't see any problem with it.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

BJ Whitmer passed all his concussion tests, so he could be back in the ring shortly. That's good. He's usually pretty gun.

Moose vs. Frankie Kazarian and ANX vs. the Young Bucks have been added to ROH's Rhode Island show. Moose vs. Kazarian should be pretty interesting.

An arrest warrant for aggravated murder has been issued for Dolph Ziggler's brother. This is NOT the brother who wrestled as Briley Pierce in NXT.

WWE is asking for fan opinions on future DVDs on subjects, including Mark Henry, Goldust, the history of Survior Series and how it came to be, Undertaker (including commentary from Taker on his biggest career moments), the WWE undercard (!) featuring guys like Zack Ryder, Damien Sandow, Cesaro, and Tyson Kidd who wouldn't necessarily get their own DVD, unreleased matches from Warrior and Shawn Michaels, WWE live in specific cities, and Kurt Angle. Some of those could be really interesting. I think an Angle DVD would be incomplete without the TNA library, but he's definitely got a lot of good WWE matches to use.

There was a bomb scare at ROH's headquarters, the new station that doubles as the home for their pre-taped segments. The motives were unrelated to ROH.

WWE is asking former Network subscribers if they'd come back and pay $12.99 a month in order to also get Raw and Smackdown replays 24 hours after they air on USA. That would be a pretty big move. I don't know how many fans it would bring back, but it shows they "get" some fans want to watch their shows with limited or no commercials at their own pace, and as such aren't watching live. Sadly a lot of fans will continue to either torrent the shows or stream them online or what have you.

The Washington Post (interviewing JR) and The Los Angeles Times (interviewing Steve Austin) looked at Chyna's life and career. I can see her making it to the Hall of Fame in 2017.

Xavier Woods addressed the perception of wrestling being fake. There's a reason this man has a Ph.D. Also, clearly more people need to watch Ready to Rumble.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It's possible, but anything on that end will be years down the line. I think a lot of the current crossover is due to ESPN's Jonathan Coachman being a friend of WWE and others there being fans. As of now, that's pretty much the extent of it.

2. WWE allowed him to wear an HoH shirt in some of his appearances there, so I think they're Ok with it. I wouldn't be shocked for the two sides to work together down the line like NXT has with EVOLVE, PROGRESS, and Revolution Pro.

Nothing to add to 3.

4. Not at this time. Unless he really pushes back and gets heat with Management, I suspect he'll be alright. As for how he was portrayed on the main roster, that gimmick was only going to go so far. At some point, people move onto the next thing. They probably got about as much as they could out of it.

5. There needs to be!!! Or a remake if not a sequel. Classic movie.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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