At NJPW's WrestleKingdom 11:
- Michael Elgin returned to the ring, winning the pre-show Rumble that also included Cheeseburger.
- The Young Bucks called out the Hardys. It's expected they'll face off in ROH in the next few months.
- Adam Cole defeated Kyle O'Reilly to become the first-ever three-time ROH Champion. Presumably O'Reilly has not signed a new contract with the company, so this gives them an "out" if he's headed out the door soon. Cole is under contract until the end of April, so they have enough time to adjust plans if he's also considering leaving.
- The company officially announced two dates in the United States for the G1 Climax. This will be the first time they've run in the U.S. without a partner company.
Former Knockout Rosita/Thea Trinidad was backstage at Monday's Raw. I can definitely see her being used for the women's tournament, whenever that actually gets rolled out.
Raw's audience Monday was 3.05 million for a show featuring Goldberg and Paul Heyman. I'm glad they're back above that milestone.
Ric Flair has ended his podcast, as he was no longer interested in doing it. If the money wasn't worth it, I don't blame him. There are plenty of wrestling podcasts as is, and it looks like he's back working for WWE.
Anthem has officially announced purchasing a majority stake in TNA. The line about TNA being a dominant wrestling brand around the world for a decade actually made me laugh out loud. I like TNA, but that's a pretty big leap. As expected, Dixie still has a role in things, but she's not the one "running TNA" anymore.
WWE has announced a number of new signings for the Performance Center:
- Kimberly Frankele, better known as Kimber Lee
- Dori Prange, better known as Heidi Lovelace
- MaryKate Duignan Glidewell, previously known as Andrea and briefly working as Roise Lottalove
- Julia Ho, former MMA performer
-- All those names have impressive resumes and backgrounds. A number of other female competitors are expected to join them soon, including Nixon Newell and Evie.
Aroluxe Marketing and Ron Harris responded to Audience of One's lawsuit against them, basically saying the case shouldn't be held in Virginia, is without merit, etc. Interestingly, they also said the charges should be directed to TNA instead of them, if they were applicable at all. I wouldn't think that will sit well with TNA!
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I wouldn't assume we will get AJ vs. Taker. I don't see how Taker will have a better chance to "go out on top" than a Mania match with Cena, so he might bow out there. There's a chance we see Taker vs. AJ before that match, but it's also possible they don't put Taker in a situation to be injured before that huge clash at WM33.
2. Taker's condition is a little up in the air after having surgery a few months back. I would think with the Rumble in Texas there's a chance he'll do something there, but I would think they would have teased/announced that before now if that was the plan. They might just pretend Smackdown 900 never happened.
3. Kharma hasn't wrestled since July, and has only had eight matches since leaving TNA. WWE might not think the 39-year-old would be worth using again. I'd also like to see her wrestle in WWE, but I think they would have made an offer by now if they were interested.
4. Not officially. He's there to give advice and such, but he doesn't do any booking or anything.
5. It's worth considering! As long as Brock and Heyman are in the same promotion, they're pretty much destined to be linked. So either Braun's in Brock's shadow or we have to buy Paul and Brock splitting and Paul thinking Braun can stand up to the Beast Incarnate.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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