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Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Enzo note, legend battling health problems, Interviews with Charlotte/Pop president/Kane/Shane, Rose gone from WWE, ROH prospect working live event, Raw replay audience, Rollins return note, and Questions on retooling characters, stalking wrestlers, WWE names in the CWC, Bayley staying in NXT, and disciplining Lil Naitch

Enzo Amore was backstage at Extreme Rules. I imagine we'll see him in the ring at MITB, but I haven't seen anything about him being officially cleared to wrestle.

George "The Animal" Steele is recovering from some serious health issues. I wish him the best in a quick recovery.

Charlotte promoted Extreme Rules. I think the ending to the submission match was clever, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Dana's future looks like.

Pop TV's president discussed TNA's status on the channel:
- There's definitely a rush to get on the anti-TNA/hatedom bandwagon. I wish it was just a vocal minority, but a lot of people have definitely dropped TNA compared to when it was on Spike.

- It's not just a matter of how many people are watching. It's about how much ad revenue the show brings. So, I wouldn't assume TNA's going to stay just because numbers are good for Pop.

- I would think Pop would rather have people watch that Tuesday replay live than record the show later, since those people likely skip the ads. How many viewers are lost because they watched the Tuesday replay and now don't record it? 

- Actually you can find +3 and +7 numbers online. They're just not considered as newsworthy.

- Even outside of wrestling people check those next day ratings for shows. It's true the delayed numbers mean more, but they're still an important topic.

- TNA's definitely blowing ROH out of the water, viewership-wise, but it's not where it was in the Spike days.

- A great number for Pop isn't necessarily a great number period, since they are a smaller network.

- Impact Wrestling has definitely been a really solid show with great talent in 2016. Obviously it hurts them to not have some of the top names anymore, but the show's hardly bad.

- Smart to not comment on what's going on with investing in TNA, since that's not really something he's working on his job.

- I'm glad we got an explanation about the upfronts.

Adam Rose has requested and received his release from WWE following his indefinite suspension. It's unfortunate his life has turned in the direction it's gone these past few months. I hope this is a step in getting things back together for himself and his family. That's much more important than his wrestling future right now.

ROH has booked 2016 TPT entrant Jason Kincaid for a June 3 live event, so we could start seeing him more regularly going forward. TPT winner Lio Rush is already being set up as an ROH regular.

Kane is "seriously considering" running for mayor in his home county in 2018. He's definitely serious in his political endeavors. It will be very interesting to see what his future holds under WWE contract (wrestling or otherwise) given this development. He's certainly given a lot to the business and has earned a next chapter in life; it's almost hard to think of the company without him.

The two-hour version of Raw on SyFy Friday night drew 467,000 viewers. It will be interesting to see how that replay affects Monday's number and if NBCU does toy with the idea of making Raw two hours on Mondays again. 

Seth Rollins is indeed back full-time, beating his expected recovery time by a few months. Great to see him again. 

Some notes from Shane McMahon's interview on the WWE Network:
- I can't say I expected to "never" see Shane again, but I was definitely surprised to see it happen, and I'm glad he's still around after WM32.

- Riding a motorcycle at high speeds with no helmet is definitely very dangerous. I can see why Vince was really upset.

- How crazy do you have to be to beat up the boss's son!? The business was awful behind the scenes in bygone eras. I can see why they went from "wrestlers" to entertainers after those cruel ribs.

- Starting Shane on the ring crew was the right move, so he'd appreciate what "the boys" go through.

- I can just imagine some of the Vince Sr./Vince Jr./Shane interactions.

- Dr. Tom and Al Snow are absolutely great minds for the business, even in 2016.

- Shane's work ethic was insane. He didn't need to take so many crazy bumps, but he felt he had to prove himself.

- Vince and Shane have definitely always been great as characters. They're naturals for show business.

- Vince definitely sounds like a really tough dad. At least his employees can get time away from him or go somewhere else.

- Vince certainly runs the ship his way. Even being his son can't change that.

- Taker vs. Shane was certainly a nice surprise.

- I really wonder what would have happened with Shane returning had Taker vs. Cena or Taker vs. Sting taken place at WM32.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1.Talents are welcome to pitch ideas on retooling their gimmicks, but it's up to Creative and Vince to make the most of those ideas. Of course, those parties usually have ideas of their own for changing ch

2. It all comes down to whether talent is actually in any danger. If a fan's threatening to show up at an event and do something illegal, WWE might act if they find out about it in the big stream of so many videos and interactions with their superstars. If it's just someone making videos with vague threats, it's usually not worth the hassle.

3. We could see a couple of names like that, but I suspect it will be largely people at the NXT or independent level.

4. Pretty much what they said. She's more useful to NXT right now than she would be as just another name on the main roster. They just brought Emma back and Dana Brooke up, so there's no need to rush Bayley into the mix as well. Especially if we see more of Eva Marie and Lana in the mix, and Naomi and Tamina come back soon. There are only so many spots!

5. It's not like they didn't know he was Lil Naitch when they hired him! Maybe there's some kind of referee tenure thing that keeps him employed despite his actions. 

More wrestling tomorrow.

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