Sami Zayn is advertised for the Highlight Reel on Smackdown. I'm sure Owens, Miz, Cesaro, and/or Ambrose will be nearby for that. Teddy Long would know what to do with three faces and three heels in the ring at once.
Harley Race was backstage at Raw. Race was a veteran wrestling Curtis Axel's dad when HE was a young upstart.
Tommy Dreamer talked about what it means to be hardcore. Hardcore should be seen more as a work ethic than style of match. Zayn vs. Nakamura in Dallas was hardcore in the sense neither man would back down or give up. I unfortunately remember the tobacco juice segment. I think I would have rather taken the ass-kicking from Taker.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Emma vs. Becky Lynch was planned for Payback. I'm surprised we didn't see it as a bonus match, but other matches/segments took up enough time to fill the show.
There were also plans for Alberto Del Rio to face Sheamus at Payback after the LoN split. I imagine we'll get that at Extreme Rules to reignite a feud that headlined multiple PPVs.
Pat Patterson was backstage at Payback. I would have popped if Vince put him and Gerald Brisco in charge of Raw. Maybe they can have Main Event or Superstars instead?
Maria recently broke her hand, so I imagine she's tentatively out of action. Fortunately TNA has footage up until Slammiversary, so they have plenty of time to alter plans.
Ryback's current WWE contract expires around the end of July/early August. The two sides continue to negotiate a new deal, but are far from agreement on terms.
- Ryback went to his Tumblr page to address his side of the situation:
-- I wonder if being pushed so hard so early as Ryback negatively affected his sense of his worth, going from making more money to a reduced role.
-- Every WWE employee is valuable, but only some are invaluable. Chris Evans is likely going to be paid a lot more as Captain America than Anthony Mackie will as Falcon because Cap is the star while Falcon's a supporting character.
-- No, not everyone sacrifices the same amount of time for WWE. Some do a lot more interviews and appearances. Ryback pretty much acknowledged this by saying he wasn't getting magazine covers and such anymore. The stars make more money because they're stars, and more people pay to see them.
-- Long story short, while obviously everyone on the card is important, a participant in the Andre battle royal isn't necessary as valuable as someone in one of the Wrestlemania main events. It's not about who's "better," it's about who fits the top role and brings in the most money.
- Also notable in the WWE/Ryback situation is Ryback filing a trademark for "The Big Guy" months before WWE did the same. So, if he does end up working elsewhere, he might not be able to use that nickname.
- Cameron tweeted her support for Ryback's statement. Cameron wanting to be paid as much as Charlotte or Sasha Banks in 2016 is absurd.
Raw's audience Monday was 3.43 million, presumably getting a boost from being the night after a PPV.
WWE has announced Shane McMahon will appear on a special live WWE Network podcast hosted by Mick Foley on May 23 following Raw. We don't hear from Shane much, so this should be interesting. I hope we hear more about what he's been up to since 2009.
Adam Rose published a note from his doctor covering his prescribed medications. That's clearly from areal doctor given the handwriting... It's entirely possible WWE made a mistake with the suspension. If so, I hope the situation is soon rectified and this doesn't count as a strike against Rose.
Tamina recently underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments. I wonder how much longer she'll want to continue wrestling.
Sheamus, Dean Ambrose, Big Show, and Alberto Del Rio weren't at Smackdown due to being in Los Angeles for something WWE-related. They couldn't have done that on a day without a TV taping?
Kofi Kingston missed Smackdown due to being given another day to be with his newborn son. I really hope he gets a New Day onesie.
Jay Lethal will throw out a pitch for the Chicago White Sox to promote Global Wars. Then he'll steal three bases for the hell of it.
ROH's May 11 TV taping will feature Jay Lethal vs. Donovan Dijak and IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. Moose. I'd love for Dijak to win the ROH Title in bring in a new era to ROH, but I'm not holding my breath.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I also think they would both be fine. Styles had enough leverage in negotiations to keep his name, and AJ Lee was pretty established. Eden Stiles gets to keep her last name, so it looks like everyone came out alright.
1. I also think they would both be fine. Styles had enough leverage in negotiations to keep his name, and AJ Lee was pretty established. Eden Stiles gets to keep her last name, so it looks like everyone came out alright.
2. JR also referred to Mankind as Mrs. Foley's baby boy, so it wasn't just a Funk thing. In today's WWE, even if Vince wasn't directly involved, there's a whole list of "dos and don'ts" for commentary.
3. I like Samson at this early stage of his character/career. He's still got a ways to go to be able to be at the same level as guys like Aries and Nakamura, but I can see him being about as successful as Tyler Breeze was given time and hard work.
4. I wonder if that point if the ship had largely sailed as far as WCW's success. I think we would have seen a more stripped-down product in smaller venues and relying less on the former WWF main eventers/established big names. While I think they could have been a success at a smaller level, they would have had a real uphill battle against WWF without AOL Time Warner backing them financially.
5. I also wonder if they're setting things up to where Raw and Smackdown will both have strong women's/tag team divisions in a brand split. It's worth trying, although I think the women's and tag team champions should be able to work both brands instead of having one set of champions for Raw and one set for Smackdown.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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