NJPW's Jay White will be working for ROH on a regular basis following NJPW's June 19 show. I think this is a move to give him more experience as well as continue the relationship with ROH. He's young, but considered someone with a bright future.
Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels visited the WWE Performance Center. I wonder what talents each of them are high on.
NWA President Bruce Tharpe met with Triple H recently and attended Takeover: The End. The two sides are trying to come to an agreement regarding NWA's Houston wrestling library, presumably to air on the Network and be used for DVDs and the like. That would be another feather in WWE's cap as far as promotions they have footage of. It'd also be good if NXT got to make use of NWA talents to get them exposure, but it's unknown if they discussed that kind of agreement.
Mattel has made a Shockmaster action figure for San Diego Comic-Con. TREMENDOUS. The only thing that would make it better is if it included the vocal clip from his debut. Well done either way.
Austin Aries talked before Takeover. I'm very glad the stars finally aligned for him to join WWE. It's been a long time coming.
New TNA host McKenszie Mitchell's first appearance was a YouTube video recapping the most recent Impact Wrestling. I imagine she'll be on hand at Slammiversary and in subsequent TV tapings.
Trevor Lee will defend the TNA X-Division Championship against Eddie Edwards, Andrew Everett, and DJ Z in a four-way match at Slammiversary. That one should be wild. Whom does Helms assist if it comes down to Lee vs. Everett?
Rusev vs. Titus O'Neill for the United States Championship is official for Money in the Bank. I'm glad Titus will continue to contribute to WWE after the suspension scare.
ROH talent Moose attended Takeover alongside Apollo Crews. His contract with ROH expires in a few weeks, and this adds to the rumors of him joining NXT. WWE, TNA, and ROH are all interested in him, so he's got options. I've enjoyed watching him grow in ROH, but it's no question he's more of a WWE-style prospect given his background and style.
- Moose is still scheduled for ROH's Best in the World PPV on June 24, so he's not done there yet. It's entirely possible he re-signs with ROH or even goes to TNA despite attending a WWE show. That said, some in WWE are under the impression he'll be joining the company in a few months.
Seth Rollins has been added to WWE's Hawaiian/Japanese tour following his return to the ring. The shows will also feature The Club, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Asuka. Interestingly, Ric Flair is currently still advertised for those shows as well. We'll see whether that pans out. I assume it's just a matter of time before Finn Balor is added to the shows; I expect him to show up on WWE TV in time for the brand split.
Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum was toured by groups looking to turn the historic venue into a wrestling hall of fame. The fight to restore the building continues.
TNA's audience this week was 326,000 for the go-home show to Slammiversary. They've got a big chance to shake things up at Sunday's PPV and the following taping, although I don't know what the "magic bullet" for getting more fans would be.
EVOLVE flyers were given out at Takeover, further cementing the company's status as an unofficial sibling promotion to NXT.
Also at Takeover, drones took outdoor shots of the crowd before the fans entered the arena.
Ember Moon, formerly Athena, defeated Peyton Royce in the dark match before Takeover. I expect she'll be debuting on TV soon.
Following his loss to Samoa Joe, Finn Balor received a warm reception from the NXT crowd, with chants of "Thank You Finn" and "See you Monday." I don't expect him to appear on Raw just yet, but I'd be surprised if he's not on the main roster in time for Battleground.
Bobby Roode has held off from signing with WWE due to work visa issues,
but those could be resolved by now. Hopefully we see him competing in
WWE soon.
After Takeover, Triple H gave an interview on Facebook:
- He's not the only one not sure about Almas' look with the hat and suspenders. Hopefully that was just a nod to his previous look and he moves away from it.
- I expect American Alpha's loss means they'll be finishing up in NXT before too much longer, so they can be part of the brand extension. I could see Takeover:Brooklyn being their swan song.
- I assume the big debut in the women's division will be Ember Moon. She's be working live events for some time now as Adrienne Reese, so she's primed and ready.
TNA is expected to have a live Impact in July. I'm surprised they haven't announced moving Impact away from competing with Smackdown. They'd be crazy to keep their current timeslot against a live WWE show.
WWE could be planning additional time for upcoming PPVs, extending some past three hours. The shows are plenty long as it is, but I guess they want to give fans even more action.
There are rumblings of Tommy End being offered a WWE contract. With more than a decade of experience at 31 years old, he's a strong prospect.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I don't know Helwani's exact relationship with UFC, but his report increased interest in the situation and in that night's PPV. If UFC didn't want anything leaking out, they should have taken better precautions on their end to see to it no one gave away the surprise.
1. I don't know Helwani's exact relationship with UFC, but his report increased interest in the situation and in that night's PPV. If UFC didn't want anything leaking out, they should have taken better precautions on their end to see to it no one gave away the surprise.
2. I think you almost have to have Balor interact with The Club in some fashion when he debuts. Personally, I think at least there needs to be tension between Balor and AJ. Why did The Club side with AJ instead of working with Balor in NXT? So there could be an uneasy alliance involving those parties. I also like the idea of Samoa Joe eventually making his presence known as an adversary to AJ and/or Balor, ideally striking right when either man has their guard down and/or is vulnerable. Whatever they do, the end goal should be making as much money from AJ, Gallows, Anderson, Balor, and others involved in the angle as possible.
3. WWE doesn't want talent under contract getting visible tattoos without approval, because that could affect video game/action figure models that are in production. Other than that, I know there were issues with Punk having trademarked logos (Pepsi, G.I. Joe) as tattoos. They had to be airbrushed out from some DVD covers because WWE didn't have the rights to those images. They didn't want to be sued!
4. The draft was originally planned for right after WM32, hence the "Shane running Raw (as opposed to Raw and Smackdown)" angle. I think they picked the perfect time to do it; the live Smackdown is going to be a huge opportunity to bring back lapsed fans and grab some curious new fans, too.
5. Hopefully they do have a payoff planned for that. I agree it hurt Charlotte's momentum as a heel. I expect Stephanie to be a full-on babyface going forward to promote her memoir, and I wouldn't be shocked at all to see her get a big match with heel Charlotte at Summerslam as part of the push for that.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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