There's no word on whether Carmella will join Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady on the main roster. She wasn't with them on Raw. While she's a great addition to their act, I think it might be for the best for her to continue to improve as a wrestler in NXT.
Primo and Epico are returning to those ring names after being Los Matadores. It's unknown what this means for El Torito, although it would be hilarious to put him in the GCS.
Brie Bella's retirement will be a focus of next season's "Total Divas." WWE didn't mention her last match on Raw, but they did more or less confirm the news on WWE.com.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Titus O'Neill will be eligible to return at next week's TV tapings. I assume he'll hang out in undercard matches on Main Event and Superstars for now.
- Titus is advertised for a WWE/USA Network sweepstakes at Universal Orlando, so things must be relatively amicable with his return.
Variety looked at the notable drop of WWE stock following the announcement of a slight decline in paying U.S. subscribers to the Network. I think international growth should more than make up for that; a lot of shareholders probably cashed out following the biggest show of the year since "it can only go downhill from there."
NPR covered the transition from the Divas division back to the women's division. WWE really wants to be known as a progressive, family-friendly (and female-friendly) company after the years of raunchy storylines.
The Rock put over his Wrestlemania appearance. I wonder what role he'll have on the show next year; I highly expect him to be part of the show in his home state.
Sami Zayn being "unable to compete" on Raw was just a storyline to set up Cesaro's return. He's fine. I can't wait to see those two mix it up again.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows were backstage at Raw, but haven't yet made their WWE debuts. As much else as was going on that night, I think they made the right call in saving them for later. We didn't even see Triple H, Paul Heyman, or Dean Ambrose. I fully expect them to appear before Payback unless they're going to be used for a big angle there (like The Shield debuting at Survivor Series a few years ago). WWE didn't sign them just to keep them on the bench.
WWE Network has added collections showcasing DX and Swerved Season 1. I think collections are a good concept to continue growing the Network. The venture will continue to evolve in the months and years to come.
WWE adjusted the audio of the crowd at Raw for TV. I'm all for that. There's a line between voicing your opinion and negatively affecting the quality of the TV product for the people who are watching for the workers, not the crowd. I doubt this will affect the people wanting to get themselves over, but it does lessen their detrimental impact outside of the arena.
Former TNA wrestler Crimson was arrested and charged with domestic assault after police responded to a call of a man headbutting his wife. That's a very unfortunate story. There were times when he looked like he had a lot of potential to become a big name in wrestling; I expect this will further hamper whatever momentum he had from his TNA run. Interestingly, I can't find any record of him working a match since September.
The post-Wrestlemania Raw drew 4.09 million viewers, a sizable boost from previous weeks. They likely would have gotten even more viewers if they weren't going against the NCAA Championship basketball game.
EVOLVE 58 had close to 1,200 fans, EVOLVE 59 had more than 1,500 fans, and the WWN Supershow drew around 1,200 fans. Those are the biggest attendances in the EVOLVE's history.
Mick Foley got permission from Vince McMahon to skip the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in order to attend WWN's tribute to Terry Funk. That was a pretty big moment for both men.
A Roddy Piper book written by his son and daughter will be published in October. I hope he's WWE's next statue.
Former WCW wrestler Lady Blossom will be releasing a book soon. She helped create the Stone Cold persona for Steve Austin, including that name.
Summerslam in August has sold out. I expect the following Raw and preceding NXT show to do very well, too.
WWE's soon-to-be-released Dudley Boys DVD features interviews with Spike Dudley, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, and Sign Guy Dudley.
WWE adjusted the audio of the crowd at Raw for TV. I'm all for that. There's a line between voicing your opinion and negatively affecting the quality of the TV product for the people who are watching for the workers, not the crowd. I doubt this will affect the people wanting to get themselves over, but it does lessen their detrimental impact outside of the arena.
Former TNA wrestler Crimson was arrested and charged with domestic assault after police responded to a call of a man headbutting his wife. That's a very unfortunate story. There were times when he looked like he had a lot of potential to become a big name in wrestling; I expect this will further hamper whatever momentum he had from his TNA run. Interestingly, I can't find any record of him working a match since September.
The post-Wrestlemania Raw drew 4.09 million viewers, a sizable boost from previous weeks. They likely would have gotten even more viewers if they weren't going against the NCAA Championship basketball game.
EVOLVE 58 had close to 1,200 fans, EVOLVE 59 had more than 1,500 fans, and the WWN Supershow drew around 1,200 fans. Those are the biggest attendances in the EVOLVE's history.
Mick Foley got permission from Vince McMahon to skip the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in order to attend WWN's tribute to Terry Funk. That was a pretty big moment for both men.
A Roddy Piper book written by his son and daughter will be published in October. I hope he's WWE's next statue.
Former WCW wrestler Lady Blossom will be releasing a book soon. She helped create the Stone Cold persona for Steve Austin, including that name.
Summerslam in August has sold out. I expect the following Raw and preceding NXT show to do very well, too.
WWE's soon-to-be-released Dudley Boys DVD features interviews with Spike Dudley, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, and Sign Guy Dudley.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I don't think the show is long enough for another title, and, really, the point is to use title matches as a draw for the bigger events. I'm OK with that philosophy. If they did add another championship, I'd suggest a Florida Heavyweight Championship to be contested for exclusively during live events there. The championship would ideally signal who's getting ready for that "next step" of NXT TV and the bigger tours; people like Balor and Joe wouldn't compete for it. Instead, it'd be for people like Andrade, Girard, and Swann to tour the area and build some momentum.
2 and 3 are pretty much the same question. I think the issue is more about certain fans being jaded from having watched wrestling for so long and seeing so much wrestling content in a week. It's harder to impress fans in an era with so much access to past and present footage of many different promotions.
4. Maybe Vince was so confident in Taker winning he didn't care? Or he was caught up in the moment and didn't think that part through?
5. Hilarious, not booty, and one of the best parts of the show in years. But, yes, it would be more descriptive to describe them as incredibly positive and fun-loving. Personally, I'd take the easy way out and just show them a video.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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