PROGRESS released video of the farewell for WWE signees Tommaso Ciampa, Jack Gallagher, and Tommy End. BAH GAWD THEY'RE EXPOSIN THIS DAMN BUSINESS!! I'm excited to see more of all three.
The Bellas discussed Brie's retirement. It was a bit on the abrupt side, but she got to have her last match in front of the largest crowd in WWE history. There's something to be said for that.
The New York Post posted a speculative article about the status of TNA:
- This is bad. TNA's 14 years old. Come on, at least do that much research.
- I'm not sure where the "flights to Orlando are being canceled" thing came from, unless there are some names they've decided not to use going forward. BFG is going on with the roster as advertised, other than the injured Drew Galloway (more on him later).
Lashley discussed TNA's future:
- As much as I love Lashley, I don't see him going to WWE if TNA shuts down because he wants to continue to do MMA. I don't know if WWE would let him do a part-time schedule alongside Bellator.
- Lashley no-selling TNA's problems. Sounds like he'd be fine just doing MMA.
- Lashley's really grown since his WWE days. He's been a real joy to watch since joining TNA for this run.
- I do like TNA letting their wrestlers have more freedom. Sometimes that backfires, but sometimes talents take the ball and run with it.
- I'd love to see Lashley in WWE, but I don't really see it happening.
- I'd watch Lashley vs. Ryback, as ridiculous as it would be.
- Dixie's parents aren't involved in TNA anymore, so I don't think their finances are going to affect anything.
- While there's been no shortage of "TNA's definitely dying this time for real you guys" stories these past few years (LU gets this all the time, too), the situation looks a lot more dire these past few months with tapings coming together at the last minute. If Corgan hadn't stepped in, the company could have already gone the way of WCW and ECW.
Jamie Noble was stabbed when returning home from a WWE event early Wednesday. A man followed him after believing Noble cut him off on the road, leading to a confrontation. Noble wrestled the man to the ground, but two other men came out of the man's car and stabbed him twice to the back. The assailants fled the scene and Noble headed to the emergency room. That's really scary. I wish him a speedy recovery.
TNA's audience Thursday was 365,000 for the go-home show with an absolutely loaded main event leading into BFG. I'm curious what the effect of the rumors of them going out of business had on that number. It was only down 12,000 from the previous week, so I'm guessing not a lot.
Drew Galloway will be unable to compete at BFG following his recent injury. That's really unfortunate given how big of a show and match this is. I would expect him to miss this week's TV tapings, too, if they happen. I really hope this isn't the last we see of him at this stage. He's been absolutely on fire lately.
- Eddie Edwards will be replacing Drew in the finals of the Grand Championship tournament. Drew is still expected to be at BFG, so he could end up attacking the winner or something.
WWE has released Hugo Knox from NXT in a mutual decision. Knox used to be a goalkeeper in the UK. It's unknown what his next step will be. We hadn't really got to see him on NXT TV, so I can't comment much on how well he was doing. I can see how being in NXT for nearly three years without getting a sustained TV presence would make him rethink his options, though.
TNA crew arrived in Orlando to set up the ring, lights, etc. for BFG, and Dixie Carter seemingly confirmed this week's tapings will be going forward. TNA lives on for now, although it's currently unknown who is at the helm and handling financing.
Royal Rumble 2017 will be on January 29 in the 65,000-seat Alamo Dome in San Antonio. That's a REALLY bold move. They held Royal Rumble '97 there, too, so this is an anniversary show in a sense.
WWE has released the Daniel Bryan bear documentary in three parts on Twitter:
That was really funny in its all-out ridiculousness. Everyone involved definitely had a lot of fun doing it.
NJPW's Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu were at ROH ASE8. They've been working in CMLL this year.
TNA's Bound For Gold gauntlet match will feature Basile Baraka, Baron Dax, Shera (now just going by his last name), Eli Drake, Braxton Sutter, Grado, Tyrus, Jessie Godderz, Robbie E, and Rockstar Spud. I was hoping they'd just throw everyone else in there and some wacky surprises, but they probably want to keep this card to as few people as necessary. I'd pop for Bram or James Storm showing up and winning, though.
At an NXT live event in Florida:
- Brennan Williams (formerly Marcellus Black), Bin Wang, and Babatunde were all part of the opening battle royal. That's the first NXT match for the three of them.
- Almas worked as a heel in his win over Raw's Lince Dorado.
- Cedric Alexander worked in a loss to Riddick Moss.
- Nikkan Lee, an official from Big Japan Wrestling, worked as a referee for Hideo Itami's win over Wesley Blake. Having a female officiate a men's match isn't something you usually see. I'm curious if that's the start of a trend.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I think the show's been more cohesive and coherent lately, but I'm definitely missing storytelling like Silas vs. Dalton and Corino vs. Whitmer (before that went off the rails). Some of it could be the increased focus on outside names who generally aren't in important, long-term angles like the names I mentioned were. The wrestling is really solid some weeks and really awful other weeks. It can be a mess to follow.
1. I think the show's been more cohesive and coherent lately, but I'm definitely missing storytelling like Silas vs. Dalton and Corino vs. Whitmer (before that went off the rails). Some of it could be the increased focus on outside names who generally aren't in important, long-term angles like the names I mentioned were. The wrestling is really solid some weeks and really awful other weeks. It can be a mess to follow.
2. Carmella was split to see how well she can adapt without being able to directly play off Enzo and Cass. We'll see if WWE has a specific plan for Emma on Raw vs Smackdown. It's not like she and Ryder were a couple on-screen. As for Del Rio and Paige, their relationship definitely played into splitting them given how they were backstage as an item.
3. WWE's not going to spend any more money on TNA than they need to, including producing a week's worth of shows. Vince and co. will have little if any sympy for the company, just absorbing the video library for the Network and picking up what talents they want from the pack.
4. It looks like the show and the following tapings are indeed set to take place. What that means regarding TNA's ownership is unknown at this time.
5. Hopefully.
6. It's a shame we won't see him team with El Torito.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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