Cody vs. Moose is official for the March 2 Impact Wrestling taping, so that will be on a future episode. So, Cody will still be freelancing there for a while. He's basically in the position to work where he wants as often or rarely as he wants, so Impact should be glad he's not staying exclusive to NJPW/ROH. Ultimately I think keeping him will depend on him having opponents and scenarios he's interested in.
The Bella Twins were on E!'s Oscars red carpet pre-show. They're entertainment stars; I expect we'll see Nikki on WWE TV as long as she wants to be a wrestler.
Mick Foley is being inducted into the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in May. I was actually unaware that was in Texas now. It has no affiliation with any major promotion.
Tamina Snuka worked Smackdown live events this weekend, losing a Smackdown Women's Championship match including Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, and Natalya. They could certainly put Tamina in with Naomi out and Nikki also about to take time off.
Beth Phoenix has been announced for the WWE Hall of Fame. That's something of a surprise. While she's definitely deserving, I figured they'd pick someone from an earlier era to induct. I wouldn't assume this means we won't see Chyna inducted into the Hall this year, but it would seem to cast doubt on that happening.
- Beth responded to the honor on Twitter. I'm happy for her.
Matt and Jeff Hardy have left Impact Wrestling while holding the promotion's tag team championships. This makes three former Impact World Champions finishing up in two days. Big, big loss for the company given how much of a focal point the Hardy Family had been for the past year. The act is so over it spread to other promotions.
- The Hardys had verbally agreed to new contracts in December, but internal changes in Impact led to them reconsidering the deals. A major factor was the amount of creative control the duo had over their current storylines, which would have been curtailed under Jeff Jarrett's booking team. There was even talk of splitting the duo in order to push Jeff as a singles star. Notably, there was talk under the Corgan regime of adding Matt to creative in an official capacity in order to help cultivate other talents in addition to the Broken storyline.
- Another top factor was the new contracts requiring talents to approve appearances outside Impact Wrestling, with a percentage of those bookings going back to Impact. This was a no-go for the Hardys, who have had a LOT of successful indie bookings due to the Broken angle.
- From Impact's perspective, the Hardys were two highly-paid talents at a time when viewership has really dropped from a few years ago. With them not wanting to come to terms with the new regime, a lot of money is freed up to sign other performers. Impact is focusing on rebuilding and cutting costs, and this move is part of that. Obviously the Hardys are hugely successful for a non-WWE act, but I see where Impact's coming from as far as having a limited budget.
- At one point, the Hardys offered to work the upcoming Impact tapings in order to drop their tag team championship. Now, that's not expected to happen. That really says something about the schism between the two sides.
- Rebecca Hardy/Reby Sky, Senor Benjamin, etc. are also out. Reby was under contract, but none of the other guest players were.
- There's already speculation of at least Matt and Jeff being WWE-bound. They're booked for indie appearances through the end of April, but it's very possible the two sides do end up working something out sooner rather than later. Of course, with Wrestlemania approaching, the Hardys could make a big appearance sometime in that week of shows. How much freedom WWE would let them have, and whether WWE would let them do their current act instead of playing for nostalgia with Team Xtreme, is up in the air. I'd like to think WWE knows they're onto something with the Broken angle and would give them some serious leeway.
- The Hardys are still scheduled to wrestle the Young Bucks at Supercard of Honor XI. This shouldn't affect any of their currently booked dates.
- Impact is claiming ownership of the Broken gimmick and angle, and they could presumably try to stop the Hardys from using it elsewhere. Oh, yeah, that will go over REALLY well. That could easily really backfire on Impact, at least from a fan goodwill standpoint. And how are they going to do anything Broken without the Hardys anyway? Are they going to pull a Fake Diesel/Fake Razor Ramon with Matt and Jeff? That would actually be kind of funny in a really petty way.
- Reby Sky absolutely buried Impact on Twitter, suggesting the Hardys would keep possession of the physical Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Obviously that would be crossing a legal line. I sympathize, though, and it would definitely really make a big statement. Man, Impact really dropped the ball to the point their champions refuse to work one last episode.
- Matt Hardy put out a pair of tweets to announce leaving the company: Tweet 1 Tweet 2. You can definitely read shade from Matt there.
Triple H is booked for live events on March 10 and March 26, in order to prepare for Wrestlemania. The March 26 show will see Triple H team with Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe against Chris Jericho, Finn Balor, and Sami Zayn. So that confirms Jericho as a face if there was any doubt. It's possible as always HHH ends up working some more matches in the months to come.
WWE Network gift cards are now available at Dollar General. They continue to expand outlets for the online venture.
Dutch Mantel has been officially named head of creative for Impact Wrestling, reporting to Jeff Jarrett in Jeff's new role as chief creative officer. I look forward to seeing what they do for the company.
John Gaburick has been moved into a consulting role at Impact Wrestling. He will be able to give feedback to the new creative team, but isn't in a decision-making capacity on that end anymore. He's more or less in the Kevin Dunn role there now.
Impact creative team member Matt Conway has departed the company as part of the creative shakeup.
Bill Banks has also departed Impact Wrestling. He had been there for some time in a number of roles. His departure is unrelated to the regime change; he simply wanted to start a new chapter in his life back home in the Northeast.
Impact Wrestling talents will now be paid by date, rather than by episode. So, a talent working three episodes on one taping day would only be paid for one day. I wouldn't assume this means a cut in pay; it could just be a simpler way of keeping track of things. But, of course, it could also mean a big pay cut. That won't sit well, but I don't know how many talents would actually leave over it. There could also be changes with how royalty payments are handed out.
Impact Wrestling isn't expected to tour for live events again until fall. Previously they had planned to start touring in June. It could be that timeline was rushed to be timed with their 15th anniversary that month. They definitely want to get things working right when they do go back on the road. The UK and India are likely priorities as markets.
Raw's Extreme Rules event is set for June 4 in Maryland. Chris Jericho is advertised for the show, so presumably he's headed right back to the road after a brief Fozzy tour.
Brock Lesnar called out and F5'd Big Show again after Raw to conclude the taping. I'm surprised Brock isn't involved in Fast Lane, at least to be on-hand to watch Owens vs. Goldberg. I assume we could see Y2J interfere in that match instead.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. As alluded to, they had already booked things to "be a tie" whether we saw otherwise or not. I think the angle is one referee says Harper landed first and the other says Styles landed first, so they're settling it with a one-on-one match. So, blame that one awful referee who "saw it wrong." And of course "a referee's decision is final." Yeah, they basically want you to cut them slack there.
2. I agree with their take here. I'm OK with someone going in the night before their last match or last brief run, but they have to be committed to retiring really shortly after going in.
3. They want Charlotte to have about a billion title reigns and not lose on PPV until WM33 (if then), so they had Bayley take the title for a brief reign on the road to the final chapter (?) at Mania.
4. From the sounds of things Rock and co. want to do this story but WWE doesn't want to promote Paige until/unless she's cleared, if they're going to use her again at all. Even then, as was said, they want to use an actual actress and a stunt double. Having Paige do her own scenes would be pretty distracting and potentially overshadow everything else.
5. Yeah, I hate it. I'm not generally a fan of the move toward the "we're all just chums seeing who's the best athlete" mentality in some parts of wrestling. Too hokey for me.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Impact taping match set, Bellas appear, Foley in pro wrestling hall, Tamina in action again, new WWE HoFer, Hardys leave Impact after spat with new regime, Impact contract changes, Impact tag team championship update, Impact claims ownership of BROKEN gimmick, HHH wrestling at live events, Impact backstage changes, Impact touring update, Raw PPV set, what happened after Raw, and Questions on the battle royal ending, older active wrestlers in the WWE HoF, Bayley's title win, why WWE's movie isn't using Paige, and handshakes before matches
Monday, February 27, 2017
Impact heads in Mexico, WWE scouts in Far East, Heyman roasts ECW alum, Drew leaves Impact, and Questions on Billie+Peyton, archive footage being added to WWE Network all at once, Liv Morgan-Carmella, Naomi's return, and battle royal elimination rules
Impact Wrestling president Ed Nordholm and chief creative officer Jeff Jarrett attended a Crash show in Mexico. They were likely scouting talents to work Impact at some point, potentially as part of a working agreement between the two sides.
WWE recently scouted talent in Singapore and the Philippines. That could easily be a stepping stone to recruiting for an Asian championship tournament. I like the idea of those countries developing a wrestling culture.
Paul Heyman responded to ECW alum C.W. Anderson's recent podcast appearance. Due to his response being split among many tweets, I'll copy and paste it below. Any abbreviations are Heyman's:
- As we sit here about 2 enjoy Korean BBQ, I decided 2 go against how I usually handle wannabes who like 2 name drop (after 16 years, no less)
- I saw an interview in which #CWAnderson claims I was in LA shooting #Rollerball instead of trying to save #ECW back in 2000 ....
- It's absurd that people have done nothing to talk about in 17 years so they are constrained to address their heartbreak about 2000/01 ...
- Of course, that makes me an even bigger schmuck to feel compelled to ANSWER these moronic comments, but the food is cooking so ...
- (1) Rollerball was never filmed in LA. It was filmed in Montreal and then in Yonkers, NY
- (2) My scenes in Rollerball were show in June and July, 2001. Now when #ECW was in business. I was actually booked for the movie thru @WWE
- (3) The insinuation that I was shooting movie(s) in LA instead of trying to save what was my life (at the time) (#ECW) is just ignorant.
- (4) Not only did I desperately try every angle 2 save the company, I put in every last dime I personally had, even when the ship was sinking
- (5) I have zero regrets over any of this. I went bankrupt trying to save #ECW, and have never regretted my investment and never will.
- (6) So when someone repeats a blatant lie about my commitment at the time to the product to which I devoted seven years of my life, it's ...
- ... nothing short of ignorance on full display for the entire world to see. It's a shame I waited this long to correct the record on this
- ... BS that has lingered for all these years, but I remember sitting on the @WWE plane with @VinceMcMahon and someone had said something ...
- .. so outlandish about him, and everyone was trying to get Vince to reply. He turned to me and said ...
- "I focus on revenue-producing public statements. Anything else is a waste of my time, and my time is limited. I have things to do." (cont)
- I also sit there every week and see @BrockLesnar laugh at every rumor, every innuendo, every claim made about him ....
- And when I say "so, Brock ... is there a retort?" He laughs out loud and says "not a chance!"
- So today, I decided to lower myself and answer a claim that people w/ nothing to do seem to repeat with no regard for accuracy.
- I accept all criticism 4 this diatribe, and confess I should have been above it all, and offer no excuses as to why I decided to address it.
- Oh I almost forgot. To answer #CW's nagging self-question as to why he was paid $75 a night when others had more (at least on paper) ... That was the going rate for a lower level stooge who reported on the locker room to Dreamer. But admittedly, he was a damn good one. PROPS!
-- WOW. That's one hell of a promo from Paul, especially the shot at the end. I'll cut CW a little slack for addressing ECW closing down because that's probably why he was interviewed. It's worth noting CW still gets bookings as a wrestler, so he's not just sitting around complaining about ECW. And Heyman's definitely busy and successful enough to not concern himself with what former employees are saying, but that clearly struck a nerve.
-- PWInsider.com did research on Heyman's claims about Rollerball and found evidence to support him against CW's allegations. I can understand being frustrated ECW didn't last longer, but there's currently nothing to suggest Heyman bailed on the company in order to do Rollerball.
Drew Galloway has departed Impact Wrestling. While I can't say this is a shock, it's definitely a big loss for the company. Drew has absolutely worked his ass off to be a top act there, revitalizing his career after being released from WWE. Wherever he ends up next will be gifted a young and talented athlete. He has a number of options, from the UK scene to potentially returning to WWE/NXT.
- Galloway's departure is largely a matter of having a lot of interested parties and Impact not really reaching out to him until the 12th hour. They valued him and offered him a good deal to be a top guy, but he decided to see what other opportunities he had elsewhere. I'm going to chalk this one up largely to the changes behind-the-scenes in Impact. So much is going on to transition into a Nordholm-Jarrett administration that a number of contracts went down to the wire. I'm under the impression they expected Drew to come in for the next set of tapings to discuss his future, potentially with the hope he'd at least work those dates on the way out. But with his contract up and other work available, he opted to move on from the company. There were going to be potential issues with Drew's UK dates if he stayed with Impact, especially as they plan for live events this summer. This move eliminates that from being an issue.
As for the Impact Grand Championship, Moose became champion in a match to air soon on Impact Wrestling. I hope Moose does a good job as champion. He's another guy w-ho could be on WWE's radar in the future; Impact might have the same problem in the future.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They're a talented duo and complement each other well. Their experience together and in general shows.
2. I do think it would have been cool for them to air episodes every week like they aired in real time, but I also get that binge-watching is the norm for a lot of people now. There's nothing stopping someone from watching an episode each week like how they originally aired, though.
3. Oh yeah, there are definitely some big similarities. It happens. Liv's best bet is to do what she can to not be a less polished version of a young wrestler WWE already has. I would expect they'll be on different shows like Nia Jax and Tamina so there won't be that kind of overlap.
4. It's definitely possible we see her go for the title again at WM33. I hope this is just a minor misstep in her career.
5. At least it's consistent. They're eliminated when their feet hit the floor, no matter who eliminated them. It does beg the question why more wrestlers don't take advantage of that fact!
More wrestling tomorrow.
WWE recently scouted talent in Singapore and the Philippines. That could easily be a stepping stone to recruiting for an Asian championship tournament. I like the idea of those countries developing a wrestling culture.
Paul Heyman responded to ECW alum C.W. Anderson's recent podcast appearance. Due to his response being split among many tweets, I'll copy and paste it below. Any abbreviations are Heyman's:
- As we sit here about 2 enjoy Korean BBQ, I decided 2 go against how I usually handle wannabes who like 2 name drop (after 16 years, no less)
- I saw an interview in which #CWAnderson claims I was in LA shooting #Rollerball instead of trying to save #ECW back in 2000 ....
- It's absurd that people have done nothing to talk about in 17 years so they are constrained to address their heartbreak about 2000/01 ...
- Of course, that makes me an even bigger schmuck to feel compelled to ANSWER these moronic comments, but the food is cooking so ...
- (1) Rollerball was never filmed in LA. It was filmed in Montreal and then in Yonkers, NY
- (2) My scenes in Rollerball were show in June and July, 2001. Now when #ECW was in business. I was actually booked for the movie thru @WWE
- (3) The insinuation that I was shooting movie(s) in LA instead of trying to save what was my life (at the time) (#ECW) is just ignorant.
- (4) Not only did I desperately try every angle 2 save the company, I put in every last dime I personally had, even when the ship was sinking
- (5) I have zero regrets over any of this. I went bankrupt trying to save #ECW, and have never regretted my investment and never will.
- (6) So when someone repeats a blatant lie about my commitment at the time to the product to which I devoted seven years of my life, it's ...
- ... nothing short of ignorance on full display for the entire world to see. It's a shame I waited this long to correct the record on this
- ... BS that has lingered for all these years, but I remember sitting on the @WWE plane with @VinceMcMahon and someone had said something ...
- .. so outlandish about him, and everyone was trying to get Vince to reply. He turned to me and said ...
- "I focus on revenue-producing public statements. Anything else is a waste of my time, and my time is limited. I have things to do." (cont)
- I also sit there every week and see @BrockLesnar laugh at every rumor, every innuendo, every claim made about him ....
- And when I say "so, Brock ... is there a retort?" He laughs out loud and says "not a chance!"
- So today, I decided to lower myself and answer a claim that people w/ nothing to do seem to repeat with no regard for accuracy.
- I accept all criticism 4 this diatribe, and confess I should have been above it all, and offer no excuses as to why I decided to address it.
- Oh I almost forgot. To answer #CW's nagging self-question as to why he was paid $75 a night when others had more (at least on paper) ... That was the going rate for a lower level stooge who reported on the locker room to Dreamer. But admittedly, he was a damn good one. PROPS!
-- WOW. That's one hell of a promo from Paul, especially the shot at the end. I'll cut CW a little slack for addressing ECW closing down because that's probably why he was interviewed. It's worth noting CW still gets bookings as a wrestler, so he's not just sitting around complaining about ECW. And Heyman's definitely busy and successful enough to not concern himself with what former employees are saying, but that clearly struck a nerve.
-- PWInsider.com did research on Heyman's claims about Rollerball and found evidence to support him against CW's allegations. I can understand being frustrated ECW didn't last longer, but there's currently nothing to suggest Heyman bailed on the company in order to do Rollerball.
Drew Galloway has departed Impact Wrestling. While I can't say this is a shock, it's definitely a big loss for the company. Drew has absolutely worked his ass off to be a top act there, revitalizing his career after being released from WWE. Wherever he ends up next will be gifted a young and talented athlete. He has a number of options, from the UK scene to potentially returning to WWE/NXT.
- Galloway's departure is largely a matter of having a lot of interested parties and Impact not really reaching out to him until the 12th hour. They valued him and offered him a good deal to be a top guy, but he decided to see what other opportunities he had elsewhere. I'm going to chalk this one up largely to the changes behind-the-scenes in Impact. So much is going on to transition into a Nordholm-Jarrett administration that a number of contracts went down to the wire. I'm under the impression they expected Drew to come in for the next set of tapings to discuss his future, potentially with the hope he'd at least work those dates on the way out. But with his contract up and other work available, he opted to move on from the company. There were going to be potential issues with Drew's UK dates if he stayed with Impact, especially as they plan for live events this summer. This move eliminates that from being an issue.
As for the Impact Grand Championship, Moose became champion in a match to air soon on Impact Wrestling. I hope Moose does a good job as champion. He's another guy w-ho could be on WWE's radar in the future; Impact might have the same problem in the future.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They're a talented duo and complement each other well. Their experience together and in general shows.
2. I do think it would have been cool for them to air episodes every week like they aired in real time, but I also get that binge-watching is the norm for a lot of people now. There's nothing stopping someone from watching an episode each week like how they originally aired, though.
3. Oh yeah, there are definitely some big similarities. It happens. Liv's best bet is to do what she can to not be a less polished version of a young wrestler WWE already has. I would expect they'll be on different shows like Nia Jax and Tamina so there won't be that kind of overlap.
4. It's definitely possible we see her go for the title again at WM33. I hope this is just a minor misstep in her career.
5. At least it's consistent. They're eliminated when their feet hit the floor, no matter who eliminated them. It does beg the question why more wrestlers don't take advantage of that fact!
More wrestling tomorrow.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Raw Talk returns, WWE hiring, another Finn update, interesting Angle-WWE note, new NXT signing, new wrestling special, ROH TPT Round 2 next week, and Questions on ROH's big anniversary, Silkin's role, Gabe as a booker, favorite ROH matches, Cena missing TLC '11, a Sheamus rumor, and booking Johnny K-9
Raw Talk will follow Fast Lane. They could very well be discussing Goldberg's Universal Championship win there.
WWE is looking to fill the following jobs:
- senior manager for financial planning and analysis
- broadcast studio engineer
- production assistant
-- Not everyone in WWE is there to do bodyslams! They're a big multimedia enterprise.
WWE is now selling Balor Club jackets, so Finn's return is coming up soon. They might save him for after WM33, but it's also possible he gets plugged in to replace Rollins if Seth can't compete that night.
Kurt Angle and Becky Lynch will be part of Wizard World in Cleveland. Wizard World booked them both through WWE, so Angle is back on-board in some capacity. It's possible he's just there as a WWE Hall of Famer, but they could easily put him back in the ring for a few big matches pending medical testing. Glad to see him coming home, and I hope he does have some big moments left in his wrestling career.
WWE has signed Olympic weightlifter Isabel Lahela to NXT. She's definitely got the tools necessary to make it as a wrestler. It will just be a matter of living up to her potential and adapting her skills to WWE.
Viceland is working on a series called Untold Stories in Professional Wrestling. That could be pretty interesting.
ROH will hold the semifinals of the top prospect tournament on March 4 in New York City. So, they should have a winner to that at either the 15th anniversary PPV or the TV taping the night after. It will be good for them to have a new member of the roster, and history shows we could see someone other than the winner join the ranks, too.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm guessing because they're going to do all their anniversary celebrations with the upcoming PPV.
2. That's a pretty sweet gig! It does look good from a public perspective to have him around.
3. Sometimes good booking is just putting talented people together and letting them do their thing! Less is more and all that.
4. In the brief time I've been watching, Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young and Steve Corino vs. BJ Whitmer immediately come to mind. Honorable mention to Hangman Page vs. Jay Briscoe. All were very physical contests that paid off a heated feud, which is the best of wrestling to me.
5. Cena said something to the effect of seeing how the fresh faces would do. This was at the height of people saying they wanted change in WWE booking. Punk, Bryan, and Ryder all walked out with gold that night.
6. I'M YER FATHER FELLLLLLAAAAAA!!!!!! Sheamus isn't missing any time for any movie role, Star Wars-related or otherwise.
7. He was well-liked and presumably his out-of-the-ring endeavors added to his credibility as a badass. Pre-publicly traded, PG wrestling was pretty wild.
More wrestling tomorrow.
WWE is looking to fill the following jobs:
- senior manager for financial planning and analysis
- broadcast studio engineer
- production assistant
-- Not everyone in WWE is there to do bodyslams! They're a big multimedia enterprise.
WWE is now selling Balor Club jackets, so Finn's return is coming up soon. They might save him for after WM33, but it's also possible he gets plugged in to replace Rollins if Seth can't compete that night.
Kurt Angle and Becky Lynch will be part of Wizard World in Cleveland. Wizard World booked them both through WWE, so Angle is back on-board in some capacity. It's possible he's just there as a WWE Hall of Famer, but they could easily put him back in the ring for a few big matches pending medical testing. Glad to see him coming home, and I hope he does have some big moments left in his wrestling career.
WWE has signed Olympic weightlifter Isabel Lahela to NXT. She's definitely got the tools necessary to make it as a wrestler. It will just be a matter of living up to her potential and adapting her skills to WWE.
Viceland is working on a series called Untold Stories in Professional Wrestling. That could be pretty interesting.
ROH will hold the semifinals of the top prospect tournament on March 4 in New York City. So, they should have a winner to that at either the 15th anniversary PPV or the TV taping the night after. It will be good for them to have a new member of the roster, and history shows we could see someone other than the winner join the ranks, too.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm guessing because they're going to do all their anniversary celebrations with the upcoming PPV.
2. That's a pretty sweet gig! It does look good from a public perspective to have him around.
3. Sometimes good booking is just putting talented people together and letting them do their thing! Less is more and all that.
4. In the brief time I've been watching, Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young and Steve Corino vs. BJ Whitmer immediately come to mind. Honorable mention to Hangman Page vs. Jay Briscoe. All were very physical contests that paid off a heated feud, which is the best of wrestling to me.
5. Cena said something to the effect of seeing how the fresh faces would do. This was at the height of people saying they wanted change in WWE booking. Punk, Bryan, and Ryder all walked out with gold that night.
6. I'M YER FATHER FELLLLLLAAAAAA!!!!!! Sheamus isn't missing any time for any movie role, Star Wars-related or otherwise.
7. He was well-liked and presumably his out-of-the-ring endeavors added to his credibility as a badass. Pre-publicly traded, PG wrestling was pretty wild.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Main Event Reax - 2/24/17, legends on the Network, Natalya on road life, Interviews with Kelly Kelly/Daniels/Show, WWE books UK matches, Impact creative team set, former WWE Champion not coming to Impact, LU Netflix debut set, Impact audience, Raven podcast coming, and Questions on Smackdown being Raw's equal, Aries on 205 Live, Awesome in WWE, splitting Mania into two nights, and Dynamite Kid
-- Main Event:
General note: I'd like to see Smackdown get a match on this show every other week or so. Jack Swagger and some of the tag teams could use the screen time and it means we don't see the same few matches over and over.
- Cara vs. Dallas:
I still love Bo Dallas. He's such a natural goofball.
Sin Cara's a solid worker.
I liked the big neckbreaker.
Basic work, but effective.
SC would be fine in the cruiserweight division, although I think he'd blend in with Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado.
SC doing a lot for a match not a ton of people are watching.
Fine ending.
- TJP/Cedric vs. Nese/Dar:
Nice start.
These guys are adapting to WWE well enough.
I like TJ using submissions.
Nese is impressive, too. I like how he gets out of the stereotypical "flippy" cruiserweight mold.
NICE spot with Noam putting in the armbar.
Pretty fun ending sequence. I'm enjoying the cruiserweight division.
A George Steele collection has been added to WWE Network, as is fitting.
Natalya looked at life for a WWE star on the road. That's one of the biggest stressors on the job.
Kelly Kelly hinted she'll be involved in a WWE Hall of Fame induction. Interesting. Not really sure how she'll fit into all that.
DDP footage has been added to the 2017 Hall of Fame collection on WWE Network. I'm glad he's being honored in such a way.
WWE has announced six-man tag matches featuring UK talents for Smackdown live events in the UK this May. I expect they'll do something similar for Raw shows in the area shortly. I hope this means good things for the selected UK talents and for WWE in the area.
Impact Wrestling's creative team going forward will be led by Jeff Jarrett and feature Dutch Mantel and Scott D'Amore, with assistance from Abyss, Jeremy Borash, and Rockstar Spud. I assume Abyss will be something of a producer for the matches. No official word on Matt Conway's status.
Alberto El Patron had been in negotiations to work with Impact Wrestling, with plans for him to debut at the first tapings of 2017. With the new creative regime, the decision has been made not to bring Alberto in. While he's certainly a great talent, I can see why Impact would be hesitant to spend big money on someone with his recent issues outside the ring.
LU's first two seasons will hit Netflix on March 15. That should hopefully be a big deal for the group. They're somewhat in limbo right now as far as moving ahead with season four, doing more live events, etc.
Christopher Daniels talked ahead of main eventing ROH's 15th anniversary PPV:
- I expect a LOT of "You Deserve It" chants/comments if Daniels takes the belt. I'll agree with them.
- Umm, Daniels worked for Impact for more than ten years.
- The story has often been either "Daniels doesn't need the title; he's already over" or "Daniels doesn't want to be World Champion"
- I wonder what the ROH Title picture would look like if O'Reilly hadn't bailed.
- At Daniels' age, the argument can be made he's there for the Kane/Mark Henry role of guy who's there to work with the younger names so they can have long careers themselves.
- I'd like to think Daniels could get on as a trainer in WWE if things don't go well in ROH. That said, he's going to do his best to keep ROH viable. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him end up booking things.
- Impact could definitely have former names do an invasion from ROH angle. If Daniels wins the title, he could show up and bury the company for never believing in him, etc.
- I'm very interested to see where Joe will be at WM33. I'd be more than OK with HHH being in his corner instead of wrestling himself, but I don't see that happening.
Impact Wrestling drew 275,000 viewers this week, notably down from what they had been doing. That's not a good number for the big wedding angle and Josh Barnett in the ring. Weddings almost always draw in wrestling, and Barnett has crossover appeal. The new creative team has a long road ahead of it getting the audience up.
Big Show discussed facing Shaq and more:
- Man, Show's pretty ripped. Glad to see it.
- Different workouts are good for different things. It's a good approach to focus on certain areas at a time.
- WWE needs to do a documentary on Show's weight loss.
- Pretty inspiring words from Big Show. I'm glad he's made that progress, and hope others do the same.
- Shaq has been working out, although probably not at the big level Show is. I do wonder what WWE's backup plan is if for some reason Shaq is off the table.
Raven's podcast will debut Monday. Jericho's got a pretty good gig going with the podcasts. He could have retired from wrestling some time ago and been fine.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. The idea is still there, even if the execution hasn't quite lived up to expectations as far as part-timers' appearances go. We'll see if that changes if/when Angle comes back and any other part-timers show up.
2. I'm cautiously optimistic they'll use 205 Live as a place for him to really show what he can do, like the big names who get sent to NXT before the main roster. 205 Live could use the star power, and there's nothing to say he won't eventually move up to wrestling on Raw or Smackdown (as he should).
3. I wish we would have gotten Awesome in WWE, but given how the ECW brand ended up for most originals, I can't say it would have gone much differently for him.
4. I wouldn't rule it out! If they don't split Mania into two nights, they could do another "Takeover" like special with future international brands all having a card together.
5. I haven't seen anything about him in a while. As far as I know, he's still in a lot of pain.
More wrestling tomorrow.
General note: I'd like to see Smackdown get a match on this show every other week or so. Jack Swagger and some of the tag teams could use the screen time and it means we don't see the same few matches over and over.
- Cara vs. Dallas:
I still love Bo Dallas. He's such a natural goofball.
Sin Cara's a solid worker.
I liked the big neckbreaker.
Basic work, but effective.
SC would be fine in the cruiserweight division, although I think he'd blend in with Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado.
SC doing a lot for a match not a ton of people are watching.
Fine ending.
- TJP/Cedric vs. Nese/Dar:
Nice start.
These guys are adapting to WWE well enough.
I like TJ using submissions.
Nese is impressive, too. I like how he gets out of the stereotypical "flippy" cruiserweight mold.
NICE spot with Noam putting in the armbar.
Pretty fun ending sequence. I'm enjoying the cruiserweight division.
A George Steele collection has been added to WWE Network, as is fitting.
Natalya looked at life for a WWE star on the road. That's one of the biggest stressors on the job.
Kelly Kelly hinted she'll be involved in a WWE Hall of Fame induction. Interesting. Not really sure how she'll fit into all that.
DDP footage has been added to the 2017 Hall of Fame collection on WWE Network. I'm glad he's being honored in such a way.
WWE has announced six-man tag matches featuring UK talents for Smackdown live events in the UK this May. I expect they'll do something similar for Raw shows in the area shortly. I hope this means good things for the selected UK talents and for WWE in the area.
Impact Wrestling's creative team going forward will be led by Jeff Jarrett and feature Dutch Mantel and Scott D'Amore, with assistance from Abyss, Jeremy Borash, and Rockstar Spud. I assume Abyss will be something of a producer for the matches. No official word on Matt Conway's status.
Alberto El Patron had been in negotiations to work with Impact Wrestling, with plans for him to debut at the first tapings of 2017. With the new creative regime, the decision has been made not to bring Alberto in. While he's certainly a great talent, I can see why Impact would be hesitant to spend big money on someone with his recent issues outside the ring.
LU's first two seasons will hit Netflix on March 15. That should hopefully be a big deal for the group. They're somewhat in limbo right now as far as moving ahead with season four, doing more live events, etc.
Christopher Daniels talked ahead of main eventing ROH's 15th anniversary PPV:
- I expect a LOT of "You Deserve It" chants/comments if Daniels takes the belt. I'll agree with them.
- Umm, Daniels worked for Impact for more than ten years.
- The story has often been either "Daniels doesn't need the title; he's already over" or "Daniels doesn't want to be World Champion"
- I wonder what the ROH Title picture would look like if O'Reilly hadn't bailed.
- At Daniels' age, the argument can be made he's there for the Kane/Mark Henry role of guy who's there to work with the younger names so they can have long careers themselves.
- I'd like to think Daniels could get on as a trainer in WWE if things don't go well in ROH. That said, he's going to do his best to keep ROH viable. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him end up booking things.
- Impact could definitely have former names do an invasion from ROH angle. If Daniels wins the title, he could show up and bury the company for never believing in him, etc.
- I'm very interested to see where Joe will be at WM33. I'd be more than OK with HHH being in his corner instead of wrestling himself, but I don't see that happening.
Impact Wrestling drew 275,000 viewers this week, notably down from what they had been doing. That's not a good number for the big wedding angle and Josh Barnett in the ring. Weddings almost always draw in wrestling, and Barnett has crossover appeal. The new creative team has a long road ahead of it getting the audience up.
Big Show discussed facing Shaq and more:
- Man, Show's pretty ripped. Glad to see it.
- Different workouts are good for different things. It's a good approach to focus on certain areas at a time.
- WWE needs to do a documentary on Show's weight loss.
- Pretty inspiring words from Big Show. I'm glad he's made that progress, and hope others do the same.
- Shaq has been working out, although probably not at the big level Show is. I do wonder what WWE's backup plan is if for some reason Shaq is off the table.
Raven's podcast will debut Monday. Jericho's got a pretty good gig going with the podcasts. He could have retired from wrestling some time ago and been fine.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. The idea is still there, even if the execution hasn't quite lived up to expectations as far as part-timers' appearances go. We'll see if that changes if/when Angle comes back and any other part-timers show up.
2. I'm cautiously optimistic they'll use 205 Live as a place for him to really show what he can do, like the big names who get sent to NXT before the main roster. 205 Live could use the star power, and there's nothing to say he won't eventually move up to wrestling on Raw or Smackdown (as he should).
3. I wish we would have gotten Awesome in WWE, but given how the ECW brand ended up for most originals, I can't say it would have gone much differently for him.
4. I wouldn't rule it out! If they don't split Mania into two nights, they could do another "Takeover" like special with future international brands all having a card together.
5. I haven't seen anything about him in a while. As far as I know, he's still in a lot of pain.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Friday, February 24, 2017
Rock hangs out with KO, AAA office updates, ROH referee leaves, Anthem-World of Sport update, Drew's contract status, Lil Naitch update, WWE announcer dropping to part-time, Nikki preparing for break, women's tournament update, WWE recruiting more sports players, WWE shows in Japan, Interviews with Sammartino/Douglas/Koff, Cena magazine cover, WWE UK names set for live event tour, Impact lawsuit update, even more Smackdown on the Network, Show gets press, Netflix-GLOW update, Smackdown audience, big Supercard match set, Taven to CMLL, Asuka working MSG, and Questions on Joey Styles burying Mike Awesome, part-timers on Raw, MITB's future, Heyman's promo, and Thunder on the Network
The Rock and Kevin Owens caught up at Raw. I'd watch the hell out of that feud.
Vampiro becoming director of talent for AAA puts him in the role Konnan had held until recently. AAA is having issues keeping talent and office staff, with Villano IV also leaving recently. Hopefully things improve in the Mexican scene, because there are a lot of talented people there in a difficult situation. Not all of them will be able to make it in another country/promotion.
ROH referee Brian Gorie is on his way out of wrestling after getting a new job outside the business. He insinuated changes and politics in the promotion were part of why he made the decision. ROH has really had a rough couple of months; they can't keep going the way they're going. It's probably time for Sinclair to look at making some changes there with the recent (and potentially upcoming) departures.
Anthem could end up owning a part of and distributing the new World of Sport project. That would be great news for Impact, as there could easily be some cross-promotion between the two sides in addition to Impact's relationships with Crash and NOAH.
Drew Galloway is more or less on the fence between re-signing with Impact or staying in the UK market. He'll be a key talent for either side going forward, especially with Impact looking to create an extended schedule of live events.
Charles Robinson is expected back for Wrestlemania. He'd be a pretty good Hall of Fame choice someday for all his years in the business.
WWE's top German announcer is stepping down from full-time work. He's been in that role for almost three decades. He'll still call the major events in German. No official word on a replacement.
Nikki Bella will be taking time off after Wrestlemania, and is already working fewer live events due to her neck problems. She's put in a lot of work.
WWE is again moving forward with a women's tournament. A timetable isn't official yet, but they're working on it. The UK tournament more or less took its place on the calendar this year.
WWE is recruiting rugby players. As they expand in Europe, that's not a bad idea at all. Obviously it takes a unique skillset to be successful to in wrestling, but players have the athleticism necessary and some could have the charisma, too.
WWE will run shows in Japan on June 30 and July 1. I wouldn't be surprised to see Shinsuke and Asuka on the main roster by that time. If they aren't, WWE will still use them on those events.
Bruno Sammartino discussed the recent passings of George Steele and Ivan Koloff, reminding everyone how all those years of bumps add up.
John Cena is on the cover of Muscle & Fitness again this month.
A number of WWE UK tournament names are confirmed for WWE's live event tour in the market in May. That's good exposure for those talents. There hasn't really been any update on a UK brand getting off the ground. To my knowledge, they're still getting the infrastructure in place there. WWE is continuing to work with local promotions.
Aroluxe Marketing has been dropped from the pending Audience of One lawsuit against Impact Wrestling and its CFO Dean Broadhead seeking financial compensation from producing Impact content. The rest of the lawsuit will proceed.
Shane Douglas was profiled. He still gets pretty regular work in the ring.
WWE Network is adding Smackdown episodes from 2011. The complete run of the show will almost certainly be up before Wrestlemania.
Big Show got press for a recent signing at Fort Hood. WWE's really going to be out a key PR employee if Show retires from the business entirely instead of just moving into an ambassador role when his in-ring days are done.
Netflix is uploading a GLOW documentary on March 31 to build interest in its new series. The documentary is from 2012.
Smackdown drew 2.80 million viewers this week, a nice boost from the previous episode.
Joe Koff talked about ROH's 15th anniversary:
- I was actually unaware Koff had other duties in Sinclair. That makes sense.
- ROH isn't as important to the wrestling world as it used to be, with NJPW, NXT, EVOLVE, 205 Live, etc. in the mix.
- While ROH has definitely had an influence on WWE/NXT, they've made that style their own. WWE is preparing indie names for something more in line with what they do.
- I'd definitely like to see more ROH/Impact crossover. That could be big for both sides.
- ROH definitely needs to be able to reach beyond local TV affiliates.
Christopher Daniels vs. Kazarian has been booked for Supercard of Honor. I think that will be an important feud going forward.
Matt Taven will work CMLL's March 17 event as part of ROH's agreement with them.
Asuka is replacing Naomi for WWE's event in Madison Square Garden on March 12. That's a great honor for the NXT Women's Champion. I expect that won't be her last match in the venue.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Joey went REALLY hard on Awesome that night. Glad to hear it was a work.
2. WWE definitely sees it as the A-show.
3. It looks like MITB will be a Smackdown-only event, which is wild. I hope Raw gets its own MITB match or something similar considering it's been a staple of WWE storylines, but it could be that WWE thinks the concept is worn out and they want to keep just one briefcase in play. Personally, I'd like to see two briefcase matches, where the winners can choose which world title they want to go after. That way, they'd have the potential surprise of a Raw guy showing up on Smackdown and cashing in. I don't see that happening, though.
4. I don't think there will be any heat for possibly referencing a 22-year-old ECW promo. He didn't mention Benoit or anything, so he should be good.
5. Thunder should be coming at some point. It takes a lot of resources to get all the footage ready for the Network. If it wasn't Thunder, it'd be something else that hadn't been put up yet. It could be that WWE doesn't think there's as much of an audience for Thunder as there is for Smackdown and the other archived content they're putting up.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Vampiro becoming director of talent for AAA puts him in the role Konnan had held until recently. AAA is having issues keeping talent and office staff, with Villano IV also leaving recently. Hopefully things improve in the Mexican scene, because there are a lot of talented people there in a difficult situation. Not all of them will be able to make it in another country/promotion.
ROH referee Brian Gorie is on his way out of wrestling after getting a new job outside the business. He insinuated changes and politics in the promotion were part of why he made the decision. ROH has really had a rough couple of months; they can't keep going the way they're going. It's probably time for Sinclair to look at making some changes there with the recent (and potentially upcoming) departures.
Anthem could end up owning a part of and distributing the new World of Sport project. That would be great news for Impact, as there could easily be some cross-promotion between the two sides in addition to Impact's relationships with Crash and NOAH.
Drew Galloway is more or less on the fence between re-signing with Impact or staying in the UK market. He'll be a key talent for either side going forward, especially with Impact looking to create an extended schedule of live events.
Charles Robinson is expected back for Wrestlemania. He'd be a pretty good Hall of Fame choice someday for all his years in the business.
WWE's top German announcer is stepping down from full-time work. He's been in that role for almost three decades. He'll still call the major events in German. No official word on a replacement.
Nikki Bella will be taking time off after Wrestlemania, and is already working fewer live events due to her neck problems. She's put in a lot of work.
WWE is again moving forward with a women's tournament. A timetable isn't official yet, but they're working on it. The UK tournament more or less took its place on the calendar this year.
WWE is recruiting rugby players. As they expand in Europe, that's not a bad idea at all. Obviously it takes a unique skillset to be successful to in wrestling, but players have the athleticism necessary and some could have the charisma, too.
WWE will run shows in Japan on June 30 and July 1. I wouldn't be surprised to see Shinsuke and Asuka on the main roster by that time. If they aren't, WWE will still use them on those events.
Bruno Sammartino discussed the recent passings of George Steele and Ivan Koloff, reminding everyone how all those years of bumps add up.
John Cena is on the cover of Muscle & Fitness again this month.
A number of WWE UK tournament names are confirmed for WWE's live event tour in the market in May. That's good exposure for those talents. There hasn't really been any update on a UK brand getting off the ground. To my knowledge, they're still getting the infrastructure in place there. WWE is continuing to work with local promotions.
Aroluxe Marketing has been dropped from the pending Audience of One lawsuit against Impact Wrestling and its CFO Dean Broadhead seeking financial compensation from producing Impact content. The rest of the lawsuit will proceed.
Shane Douglas was profiled. He still gets pretty regular work in the ring.
WWE Network is adding Smackdown episodes from 2011. The complete run of the show will almost certainly be up before Wrestlemania.
Big Show got press for a recent signing at Fort Hood. WWE's really going to be out a key PR employee if Show retires from the business entirely instead of just moving into an ambassador role when his in-ring days are done.
Netflix is uploading a GLOW documentary on March 31 to build interest in its new series. The documentary is from 2012.
Smackdown drew 2.80 million viewers this week, a nice boost from the previous episode.
Joe Koff talked about ROH's 15th anniversary:
- I was actually unaware Koff had other duties in Sinclair. That makes sense.
- ROH isn't as important to the wrestling world as it used to be, with NJPW, NXT, EVOLVE, 205 Live, etc. in the mix.
- While ROH has definitely had an influence on WWE/NXT, they've made that style their own. WWE is preparing indie names for something more in line with what they do.
- I'd definitely like to see more ROH/Impact crossover. That could be big for both sides.
- ROH definitely needs to be able to reach beyond local TV affiliates.
Christopher Daniels vs. Kazarian has been booked for Supercard of Honor. I think that will be an important feud going forward.
Matt Taven will work CMLL's March 17 event as part of ROH's agreement with them.
Asuka is replacing Naomi for WWE's event in Madison Square Garden on March 12. That's a great honor for the NXT Women's Champion. I expect that won't be her last match in the venue.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Joey went REALLY hard on Awesome that night. Glad to hear it was a work.
2. WWE definitely sees it as the A-show.
3. It looks like MITB will be a Smackdown-only event, which is wild. I hope Raw gets its own MITB match or something similar considering it's been a staple of WWE storylines, but it could be that WWE thinks the concept is worn out and they want to keep just one briefcase in play. Personally, I'd like to see two briefcase matches, where the winners can choose which world title they want to go after. That way, they'd have the potential surprise of a Raw guy showing up on Smackdown and cashing in. I don't see that happening, though.
4. I don't think there will be any heat for possibly referencing a 22-year-old ECW promo. He didn't mention Benoit or anything, so he should be good.
5. Thunder should be coming at some point. It takes a lot of resources to get all the footage ready for the Network. If it wasn't Thunder, it'd be something else that hadn't been put up yet. It could be that WWE doesn't think there's as much of an audience for Thunder as there is for Smackdown and the other archived content they're putting up.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
NJPW picks up top UK name, TV producer back with Impact, Mania sponsorship revenue grows, Aries return note, Waltman stepping out of the ring, Rock on calling Punk, Interview with Jarrett, Raw audience, AJ on Paige movie, Y2J update, Lovelace's new NXT name, NXT dark matches, WWF/SMW name passes, and Questions on Rusev's place on the card, booking Roman, WCW winning the war, announcers leaving ROH, and Carmella at Elimination Chamber
Zack Sabre, Jr. will join NJPW on March 6. If he becomes a regular there, he could end up working ROH as part of the talent agreement between the two sides. I look forward to seeing what he does there.
TV producer Kevin Sullivan has returned to Impact Wrestling. In addition to his tenure there, he had worked for WWE and GFW. Good to see Jarrett bringing qualified names back into the fold. Please note this is NOT "Taskmaster' Kevin Sullivan, nor the WWE author by that name.
Wrestlemania's sponsorship revenue quadrupling was covered by Forbes. WWE's control of its talent and content are key for this. They can basically have their wrestlers as actors in silly sponsor segments. That's more important to them than "five star matches."
Austin Aries will return to action as part of 205 Live soon. So, he's no longer going to compete in NXT. Aries vs. Neville at WM33 would be natural.
Sean Waltman is not taking in-ring bookings past April. So, he's at least temporarily moving away from being a wrestler.
The Rock commented on calling C.M. Punk from the ring after Raw. Oh yeah, a lot of people loved it, but members of WWE management were not among those people.
Jeff Jarrett talked Impact Wrestling in the UK:
- Touring the UK has been a big deal for Impact in the past. Running that market and getting good crowds there would definitely be a good sign of them bouncing back.
- I fully expect Jeff back on TV in some form at some point. I don't expect him to compete, though, at least not regularly.
- Impact needs to make use of all available sources of talent, from GFW to the UK and more.
- Jeff's got his work cut out for him in picking up UK names with WWE on the hunt there.
- It costs money to produce Impact. Without Challenge paying for it, the company is at a loss of a lot of money. So they're trying to recoup some of that in the UK.
- I'd like to see Chyna go into the Hall this year. It could be awkward if it's HHH or Waltman inducting her, so I'd suggest a female talent do the honors.
Raw drew 3.22 million viewers this week, slightly up from the previous week.
AJ Brooks (formerly AJ Lee) commented on Thea Trinidad's portrayal of her. I'm glad she's seemingly OK with it; I wouldn't think Rock would bury her.
Chris Jericho is making appearances on Raw live events, cutting a promo on crutches before being attacked by Kevin Owens. That's a good use for someone who's already been booked for those events.
Heidi Lovelace is now working as Ruby Riot in NXT, dropping the name Dori Prange. Ruby's a MUCH better ring name. She beat Kimberly Frankele, the former Kimber Lee, before the recent NXT taping.
After the recent NXT taping, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated TJ Perkins and Finn Balor made a special appearance.
The former Johnny K-9/Bruiser Bedlam has passed away at the age of 51. Sounds like he had a pretty tough life. Best wishes to his family and friends at this time.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Another case of "they can only push so many people at once." Owens, Joe, and Strowman are the current important heels being pushed, and Brock and HHH are in that class, too. So, Rusev's in a midcard feud for now. It doesn't mean they don't realize he's talented or they're "burying" him or anything; they just currently have him in a different role.
2. Yes, the logic is Steph sicced some pretty big dudes on him and neither side took a clean loss. It lasted four minutes and ended in a big fight with a chair involved. Literally any time Reigns doesn't do the clean job, someone complains about how he's booked. It's time to chill with some of this.
3. I can see WWE/Vince going into regression for a few years before bouncing back once WCW imploded. Ted Turner couldn't save WCW, so he wouldn't have been able to buy WWE. It's still possible Impact would have been started up with people who didn't join WWE after WCW went under. I definitely don't think it would have been the end of Vince.
4. From a kayfabe perspective, yeah, probably. It's a pretty noticeable change to turn on the show and that aspect has completely changed in the past few months. But I think ROH pretty much operates on the assumption all of their fans follow the dirtsheets and know why people are leaving, so they're not going to waste time with a fictional explanation. They've probably got a point there.
5. I think WWE was doing something to make sure she got to be part of the show (since almost everyone else did) and adding an active WWE superstar to what's usually just a bunch of non-wrestlers talking and not really advancing angles.
More wrestling tomorrow.
TV producer Kevin Sullivan has returned to Impact Wrestling. In addition to his tenure there, he had worked for WWE and GFW. Good to see Jarrett bringing qualified names back into the fold. Please note this is NOT "Taskmaster' Kevin Sullivan, nor the WWE author by that name.
Wrestlemania's sponsorship revenue quadrupling was covered by Forbes. WWE's control of its talent and content are key for this. They can basically have their wrestlers as actors in silly sponsor segments. That's more important to them than "five star matches."
Austin Aries will return to action as part of 205 Live soon. So, he's no longer going to compete in NXT. Aries vs. Neville at WM33 would be natural.
Sean Waltman is not taking in-ring bookings past April. So, he's at least temporarily moving away from being a wrestler.
The Rock commented on calling C.M. Punk from the ring after Raw. Oh yeah, a lot of people loved it, but members of WWE management were not among those people.
Jeff Jarrett talked Impact Wrestling in the UK:
- Touring the UK has been a big deal for Impact in the past. Running that market and getting good crowds there would definitely be a good sign of them bouncing back.
- I fully expect Jeff back on TV in some form at some point. I don't expect him to compete, though, at least not regularly.
- Impact needs to make use of all available sources of talent, from GFW to the UK and more.
- Jeff's got his work cut out for him in picking up UK names with WWE on the hunt there.
- It costs money to produce Impact. Without Challenge paying for it, the company is at a loss of a lot of money. So they're trying to recoup some of that in the UK.
- I'd like to see Chyna go into the Hall this year. It could be awkward if it's HHH or Waltman inducting her, so I'd suggest a female talent do the honors.
Raw drew 3.22 million viewers this week, slightly up from the previous week.
AJ Brooks (formerly AJ Lee) commented on Thea Trinidad's portrayal of her. I'm glad she's seemingly OK with it; I wouldn't think Rock would bury her.
Chris Jericho is making appearances on Raw live events, cutting a promo on crutches before being attacked by Kevin Owens. That's a good use for someone who's already been booked for those events.
Heidi Lovelace is now working as Ruby Riot in NXT, dropping the name Dori Prange. Ruby's a MUCH better ring name. She beat Kimberly Frankele, the former Kimber Lee, before the recent NXT taping.
After the recent NXT taping, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated TJ Perkins and Finn Balor made a special appearance.
The former Johnny K-9/Bruiser Bedlam has passed away at the age of 51. Sounds like he had a pretty tough life. Best wishes to his family and friends at this time.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Another case of "they can only push so many people at once." Owens, Joe, and Strowman are the current important heels being pushed, and Brock and HHH are in that class, too. So, Rusev's in a midcard feud for now. It doesn't mean they don't realize he's talented or they're "burying" him or anything; they just currently have him in a different role.
2. Yes, the logic is Steph sicced some pretty big dudes on him and neither side took a clean loss. It lasted four minutes and ended in a big fight with a chair involved. Literally any time Reigns doesn't do the clean job, someone complains about how he's booked. It's time to chill with some of this.
3. I can see WWE/Vince going into regression for a few years before bouncing back once WCW imploded. Ted Turner couldn't save WCW, so he wouldn't have been able to buy WWE. It's still possible Impact would have been started up with people who didn't join WWE after WCW went under. I definitely don't think it would have been the end of Vince.
4. From a kayfabe perspective, yeah, probably. It's a pretty noticeable change to turn on the show and that aspect has completely changed in the past few months. But I think ROH pretty much operates on the assumption all of their fans follow the dirtsheets and know why people are leaving, so they're not going to waste time with a fictional explanation. They've probably got a point there.
5. I think WWE was doing something to make sure she got to be part of the show (since almost everyone else did) and adding an active WWE superstar to what's usually just a bunch of non-wrestlers talking and not really advancing angles.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Fallout from Rock calling Punk, Wrestling Revolution Project finally coming?, lots of names at Raw, Naomi update, what WWE Studios taped at Raw, new WWE executive, more WWE from Loot Crate, more matches for Fast Lane, Shinsuke lays down WM33 challenge, Smackdown live event notes, another WWEPC event, more Network gift cards, more Network collections, Rollins update on Raw, and Questions on Randy's Mania title shot, Bryan turning on Cena, the Festival of Friendship, Cena and AJ putting Bray over, and Emma's future
C.M. Punk responded to fans chanting for him after Raw. The Rock called him from the ring after fans began chanting for him when Rock discussed AJ Lee during filming for his upcoming Paige movie, but was unsuccessful in reaching him.
- WWE management was unhappy with Rock shouting out Punk in such a major manner. It's believed they sent someone down to the ring to tell Rock to change his promo direction, but Rock persisted. I don't expect there to be any real fallout here, because WWE knows how big of a deal Rock is and they basically need him more than he needs them.
There's speculation footage from the Wrestling Revolution Project will finally see the light of day, as Jeff Katz recently applied to trademark "Illuminati Fight Club" for wrestling purposes. It's also possible this is for a separate project. Hopefully whatever it is will get off the ground.
Backstage at Raw were Stone Cold, Sean Waltman, John Morrison/Johnny Mundo, Lilian Garcia, LU talent Taya, and actors Mario Lopez, Sunny Pawar, and Skyar Austin. Stone Cold was there to record for his podcast. The Rock's film shoot meant more guests than usual.
Naomi's knee injury is legitimate, as she was kept out of the ring this weekend. That's really unfortunate after she finally got a big moment in the sun.
WWE Studios filmed a recreation of Paige's Raw debut beating AJ Lee, with Thea Trinidad recreating AJ's promo that night.
WWE has named a new senior vice president of global content distribution and business development. Sal Siino will report to WWE's executive vice president of strategy and analytics. This is a continuation of WWE's efforts to expand into new markets, internationally as well as digitally.
Loot Crate has added additional exclusive WWE merchandise from the New York Toy Fair.
Bayley vs. Charlotte for the Raw Women's Championship and The Club vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass for the Raw Tag Team Championship have been added to Fast Lane following Raw.
Shinsuke Nakamura challenged AJ Styles for Wrestlemania 33 at a Japanese press conference. AJ Styles kayfabed a response ahead of Smackdown. Clever. I expect Shinsuke will head to the main roster right after WM33. Rumors are that AJ will be facing Shane McMahon at Mania itself.
While Aiden English was in action on a Smackdown live event Monday night, Simon Gotch was not. Jack Swagger and Kane were also not on the show. There's no confirmation of any of them being injured, but it's certainly a possibility.
The WWE Performance Center will have another All Access event on March 30, right before Takeover:Orlando and WM33.
WWE Network gift cards are now available in Ireland and the UK. That's good.
Diamond Dallas Page footage is being added to the WWE Hall of Fame 2017 collection on WWE Network on Friday.
George "The Animal" Steele will also be getting a collection on WWE Network soon.
Seth Rollins will be interviewed by Michael Cole on Raw. So, we'll get an update on his Wrestlemania status then. Fingers crossed!
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I definitely think Randy's playing Bray. It actually works to get Bray's guard down and strike with THE RKO OUTTA NOWHERE like a viper. It's not a senseless swerve at all; it shows Randy as a cunning competitor.
2. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of it. It puts too much focus on a non-wrestler. It's not like Cena will be able to get revenge by hitting the AA on a guy they won't clear for any bumps.
3. I don't really see what that had to do with marketing to kids, but it was definitely a great segment. It could have been something Jericho and Owens had some say on. They know how to pull something like that off.
4. Bray beating the top babyface in wrestling who just won a record-tying 16th World Title reign AND the previous champion back-to-back is a way to get heat as a heel and look like a credible top guy. They made the right move.
5. The hope is Emma's going to return to her previous character. We'll see if/when that happens.
More wrestling tomorrow.
- WWE management was unhappy with Rock shouting out Punk in such a major manner. It's believed they sent someone down to the ring to tell Rock to change his promo direction, but Rock persisted. I don't expect there to be any real fallout here, because WWE knows how big of a deal Rock is and they basically need him more than he needs them.
There's speculation footage from the Wrestling Revolution Project will finally see the light of day, as Jeff Katz recently applied to trademark "Illuminati Fight Club" for wrestling purposes. It's also possible this is for a separate project. Hopefully whatever it is will get off the ground.
Backstage at Raw were Stone Cold, Sean Waltman, John Morrison/Johnny Mundo, Lilian Garcia, LU talent Taya, and actors Mario Lopez, Sunny Pawar, and Skyar Austin. Stone Cold was there to record for his podcast. The Rock's film shoot meant more guests than usual.
Naomi's knee injury is legitimate, as she was kept out of the ring this weekend. That's really unfortunate after she finally got a big moment in the sun.
WWE Studios filmed a recreation of Paige's Raw debut beating AJ Lee, with Thea Trinidad recreating AJ's promo that night.
WWE has named a new senior vice president of global content distribution and business development. Sal Siino will report to WWE's executive vice president of strategy and analytics. This is a continuation of WWE's efforts to expand into new markets, internationally as well as digitally.
Loot Crate has added additional exclusive WWE merchandise from the New York Toy Fair.
Bayley vs. Charlotte for the Raw Women's Championship and The Club vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass for the Raw Tag Team Championship have been added to Fast Lane following Raw.
Shinsuke Nakamura challenged AJ Styles for Wrestlemania 33 at a Japanese press conference. AJ Styles kayfabed a response ahead of Smackdown. Clever. I expect Shinsuke will head to the main roster right after WM33. Rumors are that AJ will be facing Shane McMahon at Mania itself.
While Aiden English was in action on a Smackdown live event Monday night, Simon Gotch was not. Jack Swagger and Kane were also not on the show. There's no confirmation of any of them being injured, but it's certainly a possibility.
The WWE Performance Center will have another All Access event on March 30, right before Takeover:Orlando and WM33.
WWE Network gift cards are now available in Ireland and the UK. That's good.
Diamond Dallas Page footage is being added to the WWE Hall of Fame 2017 collection on WWE Network on Friday.
George "The Animal" Steele will also be getting a collection on WWE Network soon.
Seth Rollins will be interviewed by Michael Cole on Raw. So, we'll get an update on his Wrestlemania status then. Fingers crossed!
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I definitely think Randy's playing Bray. It actually works to get Bray's guard down and strike with THE RKO OUTTA NOWHERE like a viper. It's not a senseless swerve at all; it shows Randy as a cunning competitor.
2. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of it. It puts too much focus on a non-wrestler. It's not like Cena will be able to get revenge by hitting the AA on a guy they won't clear for any bumps.
3. I don't really see what that had to do with marketing to kids, but it was definitely a great segment. It could have been something Jericho and Owens had some say on. They know how to pull something like that off.
4. Bray beating the top babyface in wrestling who just won a record-tying 16th World Title reign AND the previous champion back-to-back is a way to get heat as a heel and look like a credible top guy. They made the right move.
5. The hope is Emma's going to return to her previous character. We'll see if/when that happens.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 2/21/17
Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
WWE live event visitor, new Table for 3 coming, legend book coming soon, Rock films at Raw, Rollins DVD coming, Jetsons-WWE update, Interviews with Revival/Pillman, Jr., new HoFer, where's Seth?, more ways to see Network, WM33 host, Vince on Andre doc, Raw PPV set, upcoming WWE international show, another Mania contest, and Questions on part-timers on Raw, WWE Network series being dropped, Steiners in the WWE Hall, and Mania's title pictures
Korn's Jonathan Davis was at Raw's live event in California this weekend. Always cool to see people who will be open with being a wrestling fan.
A new "Table for 3" with Stan Hansen, Larry Zbyszko, and Bob Backlund will be on WWE Network Friday. Those are generally pretty fun.
A Mad Dog Vachon biography is due this September. Should be a good look at his career.
The Rock and the staff of his Paige movie prepared for their scenes before the Raw taping. I look forward to seeing what they do with it.
- Thea Trinidad and Tessa Blanchard did footage after the show. Tessa stood in to take bumps as Paige. This seems to confirm Thea is more or less playing AJ Lee. That should be pretty interesting!
- The Rock came out before Raw confirming the scene they were taping was based on Paige beating AJ Lee. He also cracked a joke that Cena wasn't going to be in the movie, because they wanted it to be good. Vince McMahon "fired" Rock before the live crowd. That all sounds hilarious. I hope WWE cameras got footage.
- Rock returned after Raw to tape the scene. Fans started chanting C.M. Punk, so Rock allegedly called him and tried to get him on Facetime, but wasn't successful in either attempt. I can only imagine how that went down backstage. Rock has some serious pull to be able to do that without serious repercussions.
Seth Rollins will get a three-disc DVD on May 30. Wow. He's already had that much material? Damn.
The Jetsons-WWE crossover is out March 14. Should be pretty fun.
The Revival talked in Orlando:
- I LOVE their attitude.
- They kind of downplay their indie backgrounds because they weren't Internet darlings before WWE.
- I expect WWE will bring the team up after Wrestlemania.
- NXT is kind of a blend of developmental and a "third brand."
Diamond Dallas Page has been announced for the WWE Hall of Fame. BANG! I'm glad his career inside the ring and accomplishments outside of it are being acknowledged at that level.
Seth Rollins has been rehabilitating his knee in Alabama. It's unclear whether he'll be able to work WM33. Time will tell.
Brian Pillman, Jr. discussed beginning his wrestling career. I wish him a lot of luck there.
WWE Network is now available on Chromecast for PC, Mac, and both iOS, and Android mobile devices. That's good!
New Day will host Wrestlemania 33. So, they probably won't be wrestling on the show. That's fine. It'll be good for some new teams to be in the title mix, and the trio can keep the crowd engaged during a LONG night.
Vince McMahon commented on the upcoming Andre documentary.
Raw's Payback PPV will be on April 30 in California. Neither Brock Lesnar nor Goldberg are currently advertised for the show.
WWE will run a show in Chile on October 21. This could be the site of some scouting for any upcoming Latin American Championship tournament.
A Wrestlemania contest is being offered by Cricket Wireless. That could be a really big opportunity.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Hopefully that attitude changes somewhat going forward if they want Smackdown to be a big thing.
2. JBL confirmed for not a draw. I assume it was a similar reason as dropping the pre-show panel: the cost of paying talent to host the show wasn't worth it given low viewership.
3. I'm guessing after the Dean Ambrose podcast they shied away from following up. I'd like to see Goldberg do the show, but it will depend on if WWE wants to do any more of it.
4. As entertaining as Scott would be with a live mic, I don't see family-friendly WWE letting it happen. I wouldn't rule out the two sides reconciling at some point, but they'd be taking a big risk letting Scott speak.
5. I don't see either happening. Goldberg vs. Brock for the Universal Title is expected to close the show, and Bray vs. Orton (vs. Luke?) is expected to be the WWE Title match.
More wrestling tomorrow.
A new "Table for 3" with Stan Hansen, Larry Zbyszko, and Bob Backlund will be on WWE Network Friday. Those are generally pretty fun.
A Mad Dog Vachon biography is due this September. Should be a good look at his career.
The Rock and the staff of his Paige movie prepared for their scenes before the Raw taping. I look forward to seeing what they do with it.
- Thea Trinidad and Tessa Blanchard did footage after the show. Tessa stood in to take bumps as Paige. This seems to confirm Thea is more or less playing AJ Lee. That should be pretty interesting!
- The Rock came out before Raw confirming the scene they were taping was based on Paige beating AJ Lee. He also cracked a joke that Cena wasn't going to be in the movie, because they wanted it to be good. Vince McMahon "fired" Rock before the live crowd. That all sounds hilarious. I hope WWE cameras got footage.
- Rock returned after Raw to tape the scene. Fans started chanting C.M. Punk, so Rock allegedly called him and tried to get him on Facetime, but wasn't successful in either attempt. I can only imagine how that went down backstage. Rock has some serious pull to be able to do that without serious repercussions.
Seth Rollins will get a three-disc DVD on May 30. Wow. He's already had that much material? Damn.
The Jetsons-WWE crossover is out March 14. Should be pretty fun.
The Revival talked in Orlando:
- I LOVE their attitude.
- They kind of downplay their indie backgrounds because they weren't Internet darlings before WWE.
- I expect WWE will bring the team up after Wrestlemania.
- NXT is kind of a blend of developmental and a "third brand."
Diamond Dallas Page has been announced for the WWE Hall of Fame. BANG! I'm glad his career inside the ring and accomplishments outside of it are being acknowledged at that level.
Seth Rollins has been rehabilitating his knee in Alabama. It's unclear whether he'll be able to work WM33. Time will tell.
Brian Pillman, Jr. discussed beginning his wrestling career. I wish him a lot of luck there.
WWE Network is now available on Chromecast for PC, Mac, and both iOS, and Android mobile devices. That's good!
New Day will host Wrestlemania 33. So, they probably won't be wrestling on the show. That's fine. It'll be good for some new teams to be in the title mix, and the trio can keep the crowd engaged during a LONG night.
Vince McMahon commented on the upcoming Andre documentary.
Raw's Payback PPV will be on April 30 in California. Neither Brock Lesnar nor Goldberg are currently advertised for the show.
WWE will run a show in Chile on October 21. This could be the site of some scouting for any upcoming Latin American Championship tournament.
A Wrestlemania contest is being offered by Cricket Wireless. That could be a really big opportunity.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Hopefully that attitude changes somewhat going forward if they want Smackdown to be a big thing.
2. JBL confirmed for not a draw. I assume it was a similar reason as dropping the pre-show panel: the cost of paying talent to host the show wasn't worth it given low viewership.
3. I'm guessing after the Dean Ambrose podcast they shied away from following up. I'd like to see Goldberg do the show, but it will depend on if WWE wants to do any more of it.
4. As entertaining as Scott would be with a live mic, I don't see family-friendly WWE letting it happen. I wouldn't rule out the two sides reconciling at some point, but they'd be taking a big risk letting Scott speak.
5. I don't see either happening. Goldberg vs. Brock for the Universal Title is expected to close the show, and Bray vs. Orton (vs. Luke?) is expected to be the WWE Title match.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Bellas award, remembering legends, Attitude Era name's book out soon, more WWE-TMNT figures, ROH match and event announced, and Questions on Impact blurring faces, Cena's title reign, Goldberg vs. Lesnar's stipulation, Owens vs. Y2J's stipulation, and how to use Balor
The Bellas won a Women's Image award for outstanding actresses in a reality series for their work on "Total Divas." That award name is pretty blatant about the genre being a work.
The passings of Ivan Koloff and George Steele got continued press:
- A North Carolina piece on Koloff
- A Pennsylvania piece on George Steele
- ESPN Radio looks back at Steele
- PWInsider looks back on Koloff
-- Both legends will really be missed, inside and outside the ring.
Pete Gas' autobiography will be released on March 21. I'm glad he's able to get some success from that area of his career.
WWE has another crossover with TMNT action figures. I love the combination. This is why WWE wants to be kid-friendly.
Dalton Castle vs. Colt Cabana has been added to ROH's March 4 New York show. I hope Castle gets a big push in 2017.
ROH will run an "unsanctioned" event on April 28 in Wisconsin, with the gimmick that the show isn't authorized by ROH management. In other words, matches could be more of the no holds barred variety. The Briscoes, Young Bucks, and Silas Young have all been announced for the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. That's how they do things in Mexico. Masks for the 21st century, brother. Impact doesn't want to mess with the legal ramifications of showing a LU contracted performer on their show, so they did the safe thing and blurred out anyone who could be identified as a LU talent, including referees.
2. I definitely think they need to take this as a lesson, and pause the next time they jump to such conclusions. I'm doubtful many will, though.
3. They seem dedicated to having Goldberg be a dominant force, including having him steamroll Owens and win the Universal Championship.
4. I expect that will be for Jericho's U.S. Title, with Y2J dropping the belt and getting ready to transition back to being Fozzy frontman.
5. It will depend on what Rollins' status is for the show. Balor could definitely come back and tangle with Joe and/or HHH if Rollins is going to have to miss the event. Otherwise, I like Dave's idea.
More wrestling tomorrow.
The passings of Ivan Koloff and George Steele got continued press:
- A North Carolina piece on Koloff
- A Pennsylvania piece on George Steele
- ESPN Radio looks back at Steele
- PWInsider looks back on Koloff
-- Both legends will really be missed, inside and outside the ring.
Pete Gas' autobiography will be released on March 21. I'm glad he's able to get some success from that area of his career.
WWE has another crossover with TMNT action figures. I love the combination. This is why WWE wants to be kid-friendly.
Dalton Castle vs. Colt Cabana has been added to ROH's March 4 New York show. I hope Castle gets a big push in 2017.
ROH will run an "unsanctioned" event on April 28 in Wisconsin, with the gimmick that the show isn't authorized by ROH management. In other words, matches could be more of the no holds barred variety. The Briscoes, Young Bucks, and Silas Young have all been announced for the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. That's how they do things in Mexico. Masks for the 21st century, brother. Impact doesn't want to mess with the legal ramifications of showing a LU contracted performer on their show, so they did the safe thing and blurred out anyone who could be identified as a LU talent, including referees.
2. I definitely think they need to take this as a lesson, and pause the next time they jump to such conclusions. I'm doubtful many will, though.
3. They seem dedicated to having Goldberg be a dominant force, including having him steamroll Owens and win the Universal Championship.
4. I expect that will be for Jericho's U.S. Title, with Y2J dropping the belt and getting ready to transition back to being Fozzy frontman.
5. It will depend on what Rollins' status is for the show. Balor could definitely come back and tangle with Joe and/or HHH if Rollins is going to have to miss the event. Otherwise, I like Dave's idea.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Best of 2000s DVD coming, former WWWF Champion passes, Cena in Nick ad, Interviews with Ric/Jarrett+Nordholm, WWE-UK bookings update, Smackdown live event notes, and Questions on Impact Q&As, why Cena's on SD, and The Dirt Bike Kid
WWE is releasing a Best of the 2000s DVD set with quite the lineup.
Former WWWF Champion Ivan Koloff has passed away at 74 after a long battle with liver cancer. He's a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame either next year or as a legacy name.
- WWE, Scott Dawson, Scott Hall, The Iron Sheik, Jim Ross, Bubba Ray Dudley, Triple H, the Bollywood Boyz, Sean Waltman, Mickie James, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Hulk Hogan, Tony Schiavone, The Stro, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, Les Thatcher, Ric Flair, Kid Kash, Virgil, Adam Pearce,
William Regal, Mick Foley, Blue Meanie, Jake Roberts, Michael P.S. Hayes, Mike Mooneyham, and NWALegends.com among others said goodbye to Ivan. He was well loved and respected.
John Cena was slimed in a Nickelodeon video. Big Music John. I hope he doesn't get too sporadic in his WWE appearances; he's finally getting seemingly almost universal critical acclaim.
Ric Flair talked to ESPN. There's only one NAAAAAAAAAAAATURE BOY.
WWE allowed UK tournament talents to work an ICW show this weekend, so presumably the two sides are on working terms. The show also featured Impact's Drew Galloway and Grado.
Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm talked about the revival of Impact:
- The "make X great again" meme needs to DIE.
- Anthem definitely have a really sound business acumen. Dixie just wasn't prepared for an endeavor of the scale of what Impact became.
- FN has access to 15 years of video content from Impact. That could potentially be good for them to fill airtime.
- Yeah, removing Dixie was the right move. She was in over her head and was going to hang on until she no longer could.
- I can see making use of Dixie's experience in the company. She has worked with a lot of these people for a long time.
- The perception is that Nordholm is pretty much going to let the wrestling people do the wrestling stuff and they'll be there from a financial perspective.
- Uncovering new talents from around the globe will be important, although WWE is really stepping it up in that department.
- Impact working with ROH would really help out both sides. They just have to put ego aside. Obviously neither side wants "their" guys to lose. I'd like to see, say, The Briscoes work Impact since they've done pretty much everything they can do in ROH, and guys like James Storm and Abyss could get a whole new batch of opponents and styles to work with in ROH.
- TV deals are really going to be key.
Tamina and Natalya worked as faces on a Smackdown live event this weekend. The show was in Canada, so they probably didn't want to try to get the fans to boo Natalya. They didn't even take the effort to have her say she's the only Hart that matters or the best Hart or something? That's a shame.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Looks like he might have taken a page from political news conferences. At least he didn't insist the Impact Zone needed to be kept safe from grizzly bears. When there are big announcements to make, they'll do a big reveal.
2. Someone messed up and ran this question/answer a second time sometime after the Chamber event aired.
3. I've stayed away from looking into that since it doesn't currently affect wrestling in any way. If WWE does get dragged into it, I'll take more of an interest in it.
4. The goal is for Cena and Orton to provide credibility so the show won't be "the B show." It also gives guys like Bray, Styles, and Ambrose veteran WWE main eventers to work with.
5. The '90s were fun times! He definitely sounds like he has more of a gimmick than a lot of current indie wrestlers. I kind of miss those silly characters.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Former WWWF Champion Ivan Koloff has passed away at 74 after a long battle with liver cancer. He's a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame either next year or as a legacy name.
- WWE, Scott Dawson, Scott Hall, The Iron Sheik, Jim Ross, Bubba Ray Dudley, Triple H, the Bollywood Boyz, Sean Waltman, Mickie James, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Hulk Hogan, Tony Schiavone, The Stro, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, Les Thatcher, Ric Flair, Kid Kash, Virgil, Adam Pearce,
William Regal, Mick Foley, Blue Meanie, Jake Roberts, Michael P.S. Hayes, Mike Mooneyham, and NWALegends.com among others said goodbye to Ivan. He was well loved and respected.
John Cena was slimed in a Nickelodeon video. Big Music John. I hope he doesn't get too sporadic in his WWE appearances; he's finally getting seemingly almost universal critical acclaim.
Ric Flair talked to ESPN. There's only one NAAAAAAAAAAAATURE BOY.
WWE allowed UK tournament talents to work an ICW show this weekend, so presumably the two sides are on working terms. The show also featured Impact's Drew Galloway and Grado.
Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm talked about the revival of Impact:
- The "make X great again" meme needs to DIE.
- Anthem definitely have a really sound business acumen. Dixie just wasn't prepared for an endeavor of the scale of what Impact became.
- FN has access to 15 years of video content from Impact. That could potentially be good for them to fill airtime.
- Yeah, removing Dixie was the right move. She was in over her head and was going to hang on until she no longer could.
- I can see making use of Dixie's experience in the company. She has worked with a lot of these people for a long time.
- The perception is that Nordholm is pretty much going to let the wrestling people do the wrestling stuff and they'll be there from a financial perspective.
- Uncovering new talents from around the globe will be important, although WWE is really stepping it up in that department.
- Impact working with ROH would really help out both sides. They just have to put ego aside. Obviously neither side wants "their" guys to lose. I'd like to see, say, The Briscoes work Impact since they've done pretty much everything they can do in ROH, and guys like James Storm and Abyss could get a whole new batch of opponents and styles to work with in ROH.
- TV deals are really going to be key.
Tamina and Natalya worked as faces on a Smackdown live event this weekend. The show was in Canada, so they probably didn't want to try to get the fans to boo Natalya. They didn't even take the effort to have her say she's the only Hart that matters or the best Hart or something? That's a shame.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Looks like he might have taken a page from political news conferences. At least he didn't insist the Impact Zone needed to be kept safe from grizzly bears. When there are big announcements to make, they'll do a big reveal.
2. Someone messed up and ran this question/answer a second time sometime after the Chamber event aired.
3. I've stayed away from looking into that since it doesn't currently affect wrestling in any way. If WWE does get dragged into it, I'll take more of an interest in it.
4. The goal is for Cena and Orton to provide credibility so the show won't be "the B show." It also gives guys like Bray, Styles, and Ambrose veteran WWE main eventers to work with.
5. The '90s were fun times! He definitely sounds like he has more of a gimmick than a lot of current indie wrestlers. I kind of miss those silly characters.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Main Event Reax - 2/17/17, Interviews with Gillberg/Lacey/Eva Marie/Impact management, remembering The Animal, son of Loose Cannon training, LU soap cameo, why Cena will miss time, Teddy footage on the Network, Starz doing wrestling series?, Impact audience, former Knockout joins Paige movie, NXT+Raw live event notes, ref has surgery, new director of talent at AAA, Balor back in the ring soon, more Lesnar, and Questions on NJPW airing a WWE match, punishing leakers, booking the Chamber, Smackdown announcing, and main roster names working NXT
-- Main Event:
- Announcers:
Interesting to tease Truth moving to commentary. What would that mean for Goldust?
- Jinder vs. Cara:
Good start.
I like Jinder's straightforward offense. Not everyone needs to pull off a 450 tope planchacanrana.
Cara's a really solid worker, which is why he's used in filler matches and working with newer names so much.
I've missed Jinder.
Fine work from both men.
That was pretty good.
- Mustafa/Cedric vs. Nese/Gulak:
I've missed the team of Tony and Drew.
So-so beginning.
Fine action if mostly unremarkable.
Good for what it is, I guess. I kind og wanted something more flashy.
Now things are heating up in the flash department.
Nice showing from Mustafa there at the end.
Gillberg talked about his recent Raw cameo and more:
- I'd totally watch Gillberg vs. James Ellsworth on the Mania Kickoff show.
- Yeah, Goldberg was not a fan of the Gillberg gimmick. It's a shame that meant Gill couldn't work Mania.
George "The Animal" Steele passed away following a stay in hospice as the result of a number of health issues. That's very sad to hear. I hope he's in a better place now.
- Tommy Dreamer, JBL, Mauro Ranallo, Jim Cornette, The Iron Sheik, Ted DiBiase, Sr., Jim Ross, Hulk Hogan, Sal Corrente, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Byron Saxton, Scott Dawson, Triple H, Bobby Roode, and Taz, among others said goodbye to Steele on social media. He touched a lot of lives over the years.
- PWInsider did a big rundown of his career. Talk about a character who left a lot of memories.
- Steele left behind a video talking about his life. He really had a journey.
Lacey Von Erich talked about the Von Erichs' wrestling careers. I actually kind of miss her as a wrestling personality.
Brian Pillman Jr. will begin training under Lance Storm. I wish him the best in that.
John Morrison/Johnny Mundo was on Days of Our Lives this week. Glad to see he's doing well as an actor.
Eva Marie discussed recovering from alcoholism. I wish her the best in that journey going forward, whether she continues wrestling or not.
John Cena's post-Wrestlemania absence is likely due to his role in "The Pact."
WWE Network has added Teddy Long moments to its Hall of Famers collection.
Starz could be picking up a drama series based on wrestling. It looks like we're seeing quite a bit of talk of wrestling-based series lately.
Impact Wrestling drew 325,000 viewers this week, a big bump from the previous week. Ratings had been slumping this year, so hopefully they're rebounding now.
Thea Trinidad, formerly Rosita on Impact Wrestling, has been cast in the upcoming Paige movie. I hope that gives her an in for WWE. I wonder if she's meant to be any particular former Divas' Champion. Some have suggested the Bellas, but I was thinking AJ. It's possible there's no specific real-life counterpart to her character, but they could certainly pull from some real performers.
At NXT live events this weekend:
- Noam Dar, Gran Metalik, and Drew Gulak were all in action.
- Jeet Rama returned to the ring in a battle royal. He hasn't been used much.
At a Raw live event this weekend:
- Neville beat Rich Swann to retain his title, so some cruisers are working the main roster.
- Brock Lesnar beat Big Show, as he usually does. Before the match, Brock destroyed the eight-man tag of Golden Truth/Curtis Axel/Sin Cara vs. Shining Stars/Titus O'Neil/Bo Dallas.
- Samoa Joe made his WWE live event debut, beating Sami Zayn.
Charles Robinson recently underwent surgery. I hope Lil Naitch is well.
Vampiro is now the director of talent at AAA. We'll see if that helps out the problems they're having lately.
Jeff Jarrett and Anthem's Ed Nordholm did a Q&A on Facebook:
- Getting paid to have content on the air in the UK will be key.
- An app will be helpful, but should be secondary to TV deals.
- Live events should be coming back around the time of Slammiversary.
- I definitely think we'll see GFW names in Impact. Why wouldn't they use that roster?
- I'm sure we'll see Jeff on-screen at some point. He's more or less a McMahon to the Impact audience. They know him being there is a big deal and he can change things in a legitimate way.
Finn Balor is advertised for Raw live events on March 10, March 11, and March 28. So he'll be back in action soon.
Brock Lesnar is set for the Raw after Wrestlemania. I'm curious what will be his next step after that event. There's a real possibility he's Universal Champion then.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Presumably the deals at the time meant that NJPW and WWE both have the rights to show footage of those matches. I'd think WWE would have to purchase those rights back if they didn't want NJPW to air the matches; it's hardly worth it since WWE can show the matches on the Network, too, and it's not like they're a big draw for New Japan World.
2. I would think that leaking is so prevalent they've pretty much given up on any kind of punishment. Most fans don't follow "the dirtsheets" anyway, and those who do are already following along the product so there's not much reason to spend much energy trying to protect the business.
3. The title going from heel Styles to heel Wyatt just doesn't have the same oomph as Bray surprising them both to become the new champion. And Bray gets credit for ending Cena's historic reign. Works for me.
4. Because clearly WWE thinks that's what's needed. It's quite the chaotic experience.
5. I think that could be seen as a demotion. Some names could probably benefit from an NXT reboot, though.
More wrestling tomorrow.
- Announcers:
Interesting to tease Truth moving to commentary. What would that mean for Goldust?
- Jinder vs. Cara:
Good start.
I like Jinder's straightforward offense. Not everyone needs to pull off a 450 tope planchacanrana.
Cara's a really solid worker, which is why he's used in filler matches and working with newer names so much.
I've missed Jinder.
Fine work from both men.
That was pretty good.
- Mustafa/Cedric vs. Nese/Gulak:
I've missed the team of Tony and Drew.
So-so beginning.
Fine action if mostly unremarkable.
Good for what it is, I guess. I kind og wanted something more flashy.
Now things are heating up in the flash department.
Nice showing from Mustafa there at the end.
Gillberg talked about his recent Raw cameo and more:
- I'd totally watch Gillberg vs. James Ellsworth on the Mania Kickoff show.
- Yeah, Goldberg was not a fan of the Gillberg gimmick. It's a shame that meant Gill couldn't work Mania.
George "The Animal" Steele passed away following a stay in hospice as the result of a number of health issues. That's very sad to hear. I hope he's in a better place now.
- Tommy Dreamer, JBL, Mauro Ranallo, Jim Cornette, The Iron Sheik, Ted DiBiase, Sr., Jim Ross, Hulk Hogan, Sal Corrente, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Byron Saxton, Scott Dawson, Triple H, Bobby Roode, and Taz, among others said goodbye to Steele on social media. He touched a lot of lives over the years.
- PWInsider did a big rundown of his career. Talk about a character who left a lot of memories.
- Steele left behind a video talking about his life. He really had a journey.
Lacey Von Erich talked about the Von Erichs' wrestling careers. I actually kind of miss her as a wrestling personality.
Brian Pillman Jr. will begin training under Lance Storm. I wish him the best in that.
John Morrison/Johnny Mundo was on Days of Our Lives this week. Glad to see he's doing well as an actor.
Eva Marie discussed recovering from alcoholism. I wish her the best in that journey going forward, whether she continues wrestling or not.
John Cena's post-Wrestlemania absence is likely due to his role in "The Pact."
WWE Network has added Teddy Long moments to its Hall of Famers collection.
Starz could be picking up a drama series based on wrestling. It looks like we're seeing quite a bit of talk of wrestling-based series lately.
Impact Wrestling drew 325,000 viewers this week, a big bump from the previous week. Ratings had been slumping this year, so hopefully they're rebounding now.
Thea Trinidad, formerly Rosita on Impact Wrestling, has been cast in the upcoming Paige movie. I hope that gives her an in for WWE. I wonder if she's meant to be any particular former Divas' Champion. Some have suggested the Bellas, but I was thinking AJ. It's possible there's no specific real-life counterpart to her character, but they could certainly pull from some real performers.
At NXT live events this weekend:
- Noam Dar, Gran Metalik, and Drew Gulak were all in action.
- Jeet Rama returned to the ring in a battle royal. He hasn't been used much.
At a Raw live event this weekend:
- Neville beat Rich Swann to retain his title, so some cruisers are working the main roster.
- Brock Lesnar beat Big Show, as he usually does. Before the match, Brock destroyed the eight-man tag of Golden Truth/Curtis Axel/Sin Cara vs. Shining Stars/Titus O'Neil/Bo Dallas.
- Samoa Joe made his WWE live event debut, beating Sami Zayn.
Charles Robinson recently underwent surgery. I hope Lil Naitch is well.
Vampiro is now the director of talent at AAA. We'll see if that helps out the problems they're having lately.
Jeff Jarrett and Anthem's Ed Nordholm did a Q&A on Facebook:
- Getting paid to have content on the air in the UK will be key.
- An app will be helpful, but should be secondary to TV deals.
- Live events should be coming back around the time of Slammiversary.
- I definitely think we'll see GFW names in Impact. Why wouldn't they use that roster?
- I'm sure we'll see Jeff on-screen at some point. He's more or less a McMahon to the Impact audience. They know him being there is a big deal and he can change things in a legitimate way.
Finn Balor is advertised for Raw live events on March 10, March 11, and March 28. So he'll be back in action soon.
Brock Lesnar is set for the Raw after Wrestlemania. I'm curious what will be his next step after that event. There's a real possibility he's Universal Champion then.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Presumably the deals at the time meant that NJPW and WWE both have the rights to show footage of those matches. I'd think WWE would have to purchase those rights back if they didn't want NJPW to air the matches; it's hardly worth it since WWE can show the matches on the Network, too, and it's not like they're a big draw for New Japan World.
2. I would think that leaking is so prevalent they've pretty much given up on any kind of punishment. Most fans don't follow "the dirtsheets" anyway, and those who do are already following along the product so there's not much reason to spend much energy trying to protect the business.
3. The title going from heel Styles to heel Wyatt just doesn't have the same oomph as Bray surprising them both to become the new champion. And Bray gets credit for ending Cena's historic reign. Works for me.
4. Because clearly WWE thinks that's what's needed. It's quite the chaotic experience.
5. I think that could be seen as a demotion. Some names could probably benefit from an NXT reboot, though.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Impact-UK talks continue, more on top Impact names' contracts, Angle in-ring plans begin, Cena off the road soon, lots of Brock coming up, Darren injury update, more Kelly on WWE TV?, Angle's inductor, more on Emmalina being dropped, WWE Network to Chromecast, WM33 contest, Cabana cameo, indie name profiled, ROH Six-Man match official, HoFer and Attitude Era name pass, Wolfpac is back, Vince profiled, WOH tryout camp set, and Questions on Aron Rex, removing monitors, the Festival of Friendship, Rollins at WM33, Corbin vs. Strowman and Punk in Impact
Jeff Jarrett and Anthem officials met with those involved with the World of Sport show in the UK, so Impact could be working with them soon. It's also possible they'll help run the project as an independent venture.
Drew Galloway and The Hardys are all expected at the next Impact tapings, although none have signed new contracts. It's expected the Hardys will be staying in the company, but it's unknown what Drew's next steps are. With the UK scene heating up, he could do pretty well for himself there. Impact wants to start running live events, so the contracts would involve more dates than they had previously worked.
Kurt Angle is expected to wrestle for WWE pending him passing a physical. I suspect he'll more or less replace Goldberg as the latest part-timer to do a few big matches, though the two situations aren't necessarily directly related.
John Cena has been pulled from a lot of Smackdown events for several months after Wrestlemania. This could be for a movie role or similar endeavor. At any rate, WWE needs to consider him a part-time talent going forward with all his outside gigs. I don't see him retiring from the ring anytime soon, but he's quickly expanding from just being a wrestler.
Brock Lesnar is advertised for every episode of Raw through Wrestlemania, and also the night after the show. It's possible he'll mainly be in dark segments, though, since he doesn't have a match at Fast Lane.
Darren Young will likely miss around six months after his elbow surgery. Another tough break for the former Prime Time Player. I hope he's able to have a pretty good run once he returns.
Kelly Kelly could be joining some other female names from the past for something at Wrestlemania. I'd like to see an invitational for the Smackdown Women's Championship. Something to contrast what Raw's likely doing.
John Cena is expected to induct Kurt Angle into the WWE Hall of Fame. That's fitting.
WWE waited so long to debut Emmalina in the hopes she would be able to pull off what they wanted from the character; they ultimately gave up and decided to go back to the character she had been doing before surgery. I have mixed feelings here in that I'm glad they're going to let her do what she does best but I'm worried that her not "committing to the role they pitched her" will backfire and lead to heat. At least they're not making her be an Australian stereotype or something in retaliation.
WWE has added Chromecast support on iOS in order to air the WWE Network. I expect Android will follow at some point.
IGN is doing a contest where the winner will go to Wrestlemania. That's pretty cool.
Colt Cabana was on NBC's Chicago PD recently. Glad to see him getting work.
Man Scout/Jake Manning was profiled in Charlotte. That's pretty cool, too.
The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship is official for the company's 15th anniversary PPV. There aren't many potentially challengers in that division...
Bob Backlund posted an unfortunate George "The Animal" Steele update Thursday. Steele was later confirmed to have passed. Best wishes to his family, friends, and fans at this time. Sad to hear another legend has left us.
WWE is selling nWo Wolfpac shirts after Aziz Ansari and Kendall Jenner were recently seen wearing them. I hope people are wearing Nexus or Shield shirts in 2037.
Vince McMahon's impact and influence was profiled by the Washington Times. The real world is definitely resembling WWE these days.
ROH has set up a Women of Honor tryout camp in partnership with Japan's STARDOM on March 18. That's good! Bolstering that division could really help them.
Former ECW/Attitude Era personality Nicole Bass passed away at the age of 52. Very sorry to hear that.
- PWInsider looked back at her time in the wrestling industry.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Reportedly this was the character he wanted to do in WWE, but it got turned into the Intellectual Savior of the Masses.
2. Maybe WWE makes them pay for the monitors and they don't want to face that fine? I guess they're willing to pay for a new table but not those.
3. I think the association was running pretty long in the tooth and it was a good time to shake things up. The angle cemented Owens as a heel, which is absolutely the right move given how well fans are responding to Y2J's antics. Jericho will likely be going back on the road with Fozzy in May, so it makes sense to have Owens get heat for taking him out, and presumably take the U.S. Title as well.
4. The hope is he'll be able to compete that night, but there's no official word one way or another at this time.
5. I don't think it will happen. I think we're in for Corbin vs. Ambrose at WM33. I'm not sure about Braun's role that night. Maybe winning the Andre battle royal?
6. Incredibly low. If Punk comes back to wrestling at all, it will have to be one hell of a pitch. I don't see what Impact could offer that he'd jump at.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Drew Galloway and The Hardys are all expected at the next Impact tapings, although none have signed new contracts. It's expected the Hardys will be staying in the company, but it's unknown what Drew's next steps are. With the UK scene heating up, he could do pretty well for himself there. Impact wants to start running live events, so the contracts would involve more dates than they had previously worked.
Kurt Angle is expected to wrestle for WWE pending him passing a physical. I suspect he'll more or less replace Goldberg as the latest part-timer to do a few big matches, though the two situations aren't necessarily directly related.
John Cena has been pulled from a lot of Smackdown events for several months after Wrestlemania. This could be for a movie role or similar endeavor. At any rate, WWE needs to consider him a part-time talent going forward with all his outside gigs. I don't see him retiring from the ring anytime soon, but he's quickly expanding from just being a wrestler.
Brock Lesnar is advertised for every episode of Raw through Wrestlemania, and also the night after the show. It's possible he'll mainly be in dark segments, though, since he doesn't have a match at Fast Lane.
Darren Young will likely miss around six months after his elbow surgery. Another tough break for the former Prime Time Player. I hope he's able to have a pretty good run once he returns.
Kelly Kelly could be joining some other female names from the past for something at Wrestlemania. I'd like to see an invitational for the Smackdown Women's Championship. Something to contrast what Raw's likely doing.
John Cena is expected to induct Kurt Angle into the WWE Hall of Fame. That's fitting.
WWE waited so long to debut Emmalina in the hopes she would be able to pull off what they wanted from the character; they ultimately gave up and decided to go back to the character she had been doing before surgery. I have mixed feelings here in that I'm glad they're going to let her do what she does best but I'm worried that her not "committing to the role they pitched her" will backfire and lead to heat. At least they're not making her be an Australian stereotype or something in retaliation.
WWE has added Chromecast support on iOS in order to air the WWE Network. I expect Android will follow at some point.
IGN is doing a contest where the winner will go to Wrestlemania. That's pretty cool.
Colt Cabana was on NBC's Chicago PD recently. Glad to see him getting work.
Man Scout/Jake Manning was profiled in Charlotte. That's pretty cool, too.
The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship is official for the company's 15th anniversary PPV. There aren't many potentially challengers in that division...
Bob Backlund posted an unfortunate George "The Animal" Steele update Thursday. Steele was later confirmed to have passed. Best wishes to his family, friends, and fans at this time. Sad to hear another legend has left us.
WWE is selling nWo Wolfpac shirts after Aziz Ansari and Kendall Jenner were recently seen wearing them. I hope people are wearing Nexus or Shield shirts in 2037.
Vince McMahon's impact and influence was profiled by the Washington Times. The real world is definitely resembling WWE these days.
ROH has set up a Women of Honor tryout camp in partnership with Japan's STARDOM on March 18. That's good! Bolstering that division could really help them.
Former ECW/Attitude Era personality Nicole Bass passed away at the age of 52. Very sorry to hear that.
- PWInsider looked back at her time in the wrestling industry.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Reportedly this was the character he wanted to do in WWE, but it got turned into the Intellectual Savior of the Masses.
2. Maybe WWE makes them pay for the monitors and they don't want to face that fine? I guess they're willing to pay for a new table but not those.
3. I think the association was running pretty long in the tooth and it was a good time to shake things up. The angle cemented Owens as a heel, which is absolutely the right move given how well fans are responding to Y2J's antics. Jericho will likely be going back on the road with Fozzy in May, so it makes sense to have Owens get heat for taking him out, and presumably take the U.S. Title as well.
4. The hope is he'll be able to compete that night, but there's no official word one way or another at this time.
5. I don't think it will happen. I think we're in for Corbin vs. Ambrose at WM33. I'm not sure about Braun's role that night. Maybe winning the Andre battle royal?
6. Incredibly low. If Punk comes back to wrestling at all, it will have to be one hell of a pitch. I don't see what Impact could offer that he'd jump at.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Why the McMahons were absent, what happened after Smackdown, main event set for Smackdown, Andre press, WWE book and DVD updates, AJ Lee signings announced, new ROH anniversary match, Smackdown audience, action figure poll, new WWE.com series, WWE hiring, Joe on the road, more Goldberg, Balor update, Interview with Dunne, and Questions on Cena winning No. 17 at Mania, Flair's title reigns vs. Cenas, NXT callups, Goldberg vs. Owens, and Vince's feelings on leaks
Vince and Shane McMahon missed Elimination Chamber and this week's TV due to Linda having important business in Washington, D.C. That certainly makes sense. I assume they'll all be back to their behind-the-scenes and on-screen roles this coming week.
Dean Ambrose beat The Miz after Smackdown.
Smackdown will have a battle royal to determine who challenges Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. I think a former Family member could end up taking that one. I wouldn't be shocked if Orton ends up involved in the title match, too. Let this play out for a bit and see what they have in mind.
A number of wrestlers shared some Andre the Giant stories ahead of the HBO documentary. That should be a memorable viewing experience.
WWE will release a book subtitled "Absolutely Everything You Need To Know" this October. That should be interesting. What does that cover that the encyclopedia and WWE 50 didn't?
WWE has released its Best PPV matches of 2016 DVD. Enjoy DVDs and Blu-Rays while they last.
AJ Lee has set up some more New York/New Jersey area book signings for right after her memoir drops.
Young Bucks vs. RPG Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight for the ROH Tag Team Championship has been set for ROH's 15th anniversary PPV. It's pretty much a guarantee the Bucks retain so they can defend against the Hardys.
WWE's official rulebook will be released on the 28th. That should be pretty fun. I love snarky stuff like that.
Smackdown drew 2.63 million viewers Tuesday night, right in line with last week.
WWE and Mattel are asking what action figures fans want next. Imagine having one of all of the WWE action figures Mattel has made. Where would you even put them all?
WWE.com has begun "My Son is a WWE Superstar" as a series. That sounds interesting.
WWE is seeking a digital video editor and a social video editor, so that area is going to continue expand for the company.
Samoa Joe will start wrestling on Raw live events this weekend, competing with Sami Zayn. I assume Joe will wipe the floor with him.
Goldberg has been added to the Raw before Wrestlemania. As far as I know, he hasn't signed on for anything after WM33. It could be a case of him being brought back for Summerslam season or something if they have an idea for him. Presumably if he beats Owens and drops the title to Brock, he's owed a rematch.
Finn Balor is advertised for Raw's European events in May. I can see him popping back up the night after WM33 if he isn't back before then.
Pete Dunne discussed HHH putting him over. I definitely think WWE sees something in him considering he was brought in for NXT.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Not at all. Cena probably won't even be in the WWE Title picture at Mania. They used Cena to elevate Bray like they used him to elevate AJ. I don't think Vince is all that obsessed with the fictional accolade, and there will be plenty of other times to give Cena No. 17.
2. Either Bryan totally misspoke or it's just part of the work. There are definitely bigger falsehoods in the world today than those coming from WWE.
3. It will be a case-by-case thing. We could easily see Shinsuke end up on Smackdown after Mania. Or The Revival or Asuka or whomever is next in line. WWE will see where the talent fits the plans they have and plug them in there.
4. I still think we're in for Goldberg winning, with Owens fighting Jericho for the U.S. Title.
5. He doesn't like leaks, but he recognizes they're pretty much inevitable. There's only so much even he has control over.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Dean Ambrose beat The Miz after Smackdown.
Smackdown will have a battle royal to determine who challenges Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. I think a former Family member could end up taking that one. I wouldn't be shocked if Orton ends up involved in the title match, too. Let this play out for a bit and see what they have in mind.
A number of wrestlers shared some Andre the Giant stories ahead of the HBO documentary. That should be a memorable viewing experience.
WWE will release a book subtitled "Absolutely Everything You Need To Know" this October. That should be interesting. What does that cover that the encyclopedia and WWE 50 didn't?
WWE has released its Best PPV matches of 2016 DVD. Enjoy DVDs and Blu-Rays while they last.
AJ Lee has set up some more New York/New Jersey area book signings for right after her memoir drops.
Young Bucks vs. RPG Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight for the ROH Tag Team Championship has been set for ROH's 15th anniversary PPV. It's pretty much a guarantee the Bucks retain so they can defend against the Hardys.
WWE's official rulebook will be released on the 28th. That should be pretty fun. I love snarky stuff like that.
Smackdown drew 2.63 million viewers Tuesday night, right in line with last week.
WWE and Mattel are asking what action figures fans want next. Imagine having one of all of the WWE action figures Mattel has made. Where would you even put them all?
WWE.com has begun "My Son is a WWE Superstar" as a series. That sounds interesting.
WWE is seeking a digital video editor and a social video editor, so that area is going to continue expand for the company.
Samoa Joe will start wrestling on Raw live events this weekend, competing with Sami Zayn. I assume Joe will wipe the floor with him.
Goldberg has been added to the Raw before Wrestlemania. As far as I know, he hasn't signed on for anything after WM33. It could be a case of him being brought back for Summerslam season or something if they have an idea for him. Presumably if he beats Owens and drops the title to Brock, he's owed a rematch.
Finn Balor is advertised for Raw's European events in May. I can see him popping back up the night after WM33 if he isn't back before then.
Pete Dunne discussed HHH putting him over. I definitely think WWE sees something in him considering he was brought in for NXT.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Not at all. Cena probably won't even be in the WWE Title picture at Mania. They used Cena to elevate Bray like they used him to elevate AJ. I don't think Vince is all that obsessed with the fictional accolade, and there will be plenty of other times to give Cena No. 17.
2. Either Bryan totally misspoke or it's just part of the work. There are definitely bigger falsehoods in the world today than those coming from WWE.
3. It will be a case-by-case thing. We could easily see Shinsuke end up on Smackdown after Mania. Or The Revival or Asuka or whomever is next in line. WWE will see where the talent fits the plans they have and plug them in there.
4. I still think we're in for Goldberg winning, with Owens fighting Jericho for the U.S. Title.
5. He doesn't like leaks, but he recognizes they're pretty much inevitable. There's only so much even he has control over.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Why Emmalina didn't happen, Divas' Champ returning?, Chavo bouts on NJPW service, assorted WWE press, Raw match set, Raw visitor, cruiser back in action, Impact stars booked for NOAH, title match set for ROH PPV, Raw audience, Smackdown names robbed, more ROH Supercard matches, big Brock-MMA update, and Questions on the WM33 title pictures, branded PPVs, why the Attitude Era ended, brands plugging each other, and Goldberg's booking
WWE dropped the Emmalina gimmick after feeling she didn't perform the character to their liking during rehearsals. WWE could use a similar Sable/The Kat kind of gimmick in the future for another performer. I think Summer Rae could pull something like that off, although I think they should focus more on the wrestling aspect of things given how much things have changed since those days.
Kelly Kelly will be signing at this year's AXXESS event. She was visiting backstage at Raw. It would make sense for her to cross over with a Total Divas/Total Bellas angle since she's on another E! show. That could be what this is all leading toward.
New Japan World has added some Chavo Guerrero Sr. bouts to the service, namely a pair of matches with Tatsunami Fujinami for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1980. WWE and NJPW had a working agreement at the time.
Bray Wyatt got hometown press for his WWE Championship win. That's pretty cool. It was a big night for him.
Big Show vs. Braun Strowman is set for Raw. That will be interesting, since they presumably want to keep both sides strong going into Mania season.
The former Sign Guy Dudley was visiting at Raw.
Tony Nese has returned from his bruised heel. I'm glad he didn't miss much time. He's really good.
New York Post covered Chyna's passing and the events leading to it. It's a shame her life spiraled out like that.
David Otunga talked about balancing WWE with acting. I like him wanting to pay his dues instead of just playing off his connections.
Baron Corbin got some local press for his first WWE PPV main event. I definitely think more are ahead.
James Storm, Eddie Edwards, and Moose are booked for NOAH's March 12 event in Japan. Anthem and Jeff Jarrett have hit the ground running in rebuilding Impact.
Lio Rush will challenge for the ROH TV Championship at their 15th anniversary show on March 10. That could be his last match for the promotion. I hope they don't put the title on him in an attempt to re-sign him only for him to bail. He's already booked for indie shows in April; I think he's pretty much made up his mind.
Raw drew 3.09 million viewers Monday night. That's a shame considering the show featured a great JeriKO segment and was headlined by a big Charlotte/Bayley match.
Heath Slater's rental car was broken into at Smackdown. He was sharing it with The Ascension. That's terrible. I hope nothing too valuable was lost.
Set for ROH Supercard of Honor XI:
- ROH Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
- ROH World Championship: Adam Cole vs. Dalton Castle
- No disqualifications: Cody vs. Jay Lethal
- ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Kingdom vs. Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser/a mystery partner.
-- Should be a really big show with all the guests they have set.
Brock Lesnar has officially retired from MMA. Should he "un-retire," he'd have to serve out the remaining five months of his scheduled suspension. So whatever chance there was of him doing another UFC bout is now even slimmer.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm fine with Bray (and Luke?) getting a WWE Title match at Wrestlemania. I'm fairly sure AJ will still be in an important role, and it's not like he's going to be working the Andre battle royal or anything. As for Owens, he'll also probably still have an important match with Jericho. I definitely think Goldberg vs. Lesnar pretty much sells itself without the title, but I see why WWE wants to have a really big spectacle to close the show.
2. Not anytime soon. Plans are for them to just do the Big Four shows as dual-branded. Fine by me.
3. Buying WCW was definitely the biggest factor. They no longer had to worry about beating the competition, so Vince went back with what he likes to do.
4. Fine by me, since both sides know it's good for both brands to get viewership for their big events. And maybe each side pays the other to put over their shows?
5. It's actually less lazy to have Goldberg challenge for the title when they could have just had Brock eliminate him. Plus, Jericho accepting the challenge on Owens' behalf added fuel to the JeriKO split. A lot of times Vince is on to something that makes sense if you let it play out.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Kelly Kelly will be signing at this year's AXXESS event. She was visiting backstage at Raw. It would make sense for her to cross over with a Total Divas/Total Bellas angle since she's on another E! show. That could be what this is all leading toward.
New Japan World has added some Chavo Guerrero Sr. bouts to the service, namely a pair of matches with Tatsunami Fujinami for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1980. WWE and NJPW had a working agreement at the time.
Bray Wyatt got hometown press for his WWE Championship win. That's pretty cool. It was a big night for him.
Big Show vs. Braun Strowman is set for Raw. That will be interesting, since they presumably want to keep both sides strong going into Mania season.
The former Sign Guy Dudley was visiting at Raw.
Tony Nese has returned from his bruised heel. I'm glad he didn't miss much time. He's really good.
New York Post covered Chyna's passing and the events leading to it. It's a shame her life spiraled out like that.
David Otunga talked about balancing WWE with acting. I like him wanting to pay his dues instead of just playing off his connections.
Baron Corbin got some local press for his first WWE PPV main event. I definitely think more are ahead.
James Storm, Eddie Edwards, and Moose are booked for NOAH's March 12 event in Japan. Anthem and Jeff Jarrett have hit the ground running in rebuilding Impact.
Lio Rush will challenge for the ROH TV Championship at their 15th anniversary show on March 10. That could be his last match for the promotion. I hope they don't put the title on him in an attempt to re-sign him only for him to bail. He's already booked for indie shows in April; I think he's pretty much made up his mind.
Raw drew 3.09 million viewers Monday night. That's a shame considering the show featured a great JeriKO segment and was headlined by a big Charlotte/Bayley match.
Heath Slater's rental car was broken into at Smackdown. He was sharing it with The Ascension. That's terrible. I hope nothing too valuable was lost.
Set for ROH Supercard of Honor XI:
- ROH Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
- ROH World Championship: Adam Cole vs. Dalton Castle
- No disqualifications: Cody vs. Jay Lethal
- ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Kingdom vs. Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser/a mystery partner.
-- Should be a really big show with all the guests they have set.
Brock Lesnar has officially retired from MMA. Should he "un-retire," he'd have to serve out the remaining five months of his scheduled suspension. So whatever chance there was of him doing another UFC bout is now even slimmer.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm fine with Bray (and Luke?) getting a WWE Title match at Wrestlemania. I'm fairly sure AJ will still be in an important role, and it's not like he's going to be working the Andre battle royal or anything. As for Owens, he'll also probably still have an important match with Jericho. I definitely think Goldberg vs. Lesnar pretty much sells itself without the title, but I see why WWE wants to have a really big spectacle to close the show.
2. Not anytime soon. Plans are for them to just do the Big Four shows as dual-branded. Fine by me.
3. Buying WCW was definitely the biggest factor. They no longer had to worry about beating the competition, so Vince went back with what he likes to do.
4. Fine by me, since both sides know it's good for both brands to get viewership for their big events. And maybe each side pays the other to put over their shows?
5. It's actually less lazy to have Goldberg challenge for the title when they could have just had Brock eliminate him. Plus, Jericho accepting the challenge on Owens' behalf added fuel to the JeriKO split. A lot of times Vince is on to something that makes sense if you let it play out.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 2/14/17
Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Legends put new champs over, former X-Division Champion working ROH, ROH commentary update, Team 3D seminar for Mania week, Honor Rising notes, new WWE clothing deal, WWE competitor retires, new Hall of Famer announced, another Smackdown set, Andre doc to HBO, LU-Netflix update, NXT taping main event set, Chamber backstage notes, and Questions on why WWE is PG now, Dunne's WWE future, Aries' current role and in-ring future, and Vickie in the Hall
The Rock and Triple H put over Bray Wyatt's WWE Title win. Triple H also congratulated Naomi. Glad to see them both doing well. I definitely want to see Alexa as champ again at some point in 2017, though.
Sonjay Dutt is headed to ROH to face Marty Scurll for the TV Championship on March 4 in New York. Whether this will be a one-time thing or the start of something more is unknown at this time.
Ian Riccanboni and a slew of guest commentators called the action at this weekend's ROH TV taping.
Bubba Ray Dudley and Tommy Dreamer are holding a seminar at the Team 3D Academy during WM33 week.
NJPW has announced the lineups for this year's Honor Rising events. They will be streamed live on New Japan World with Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero doing commentary.
WWE has signed a deal with Contenders Clothing for boxer briefs. That's pretty cool; WWE's expansion as a lifestyle brand continues.
Rosa Mendes has announced her retirement following her daughter turning one year old. She hadn't been part of WWE since her daughter's birth, so this wasn't really a surprise. She's going to be running her own fitness-related business now. Glad she's able to jump into a non-wrestling career so easily.
Theodore Long has been announced for the WWE Hall of Fame. This makes me very happy. He's had quite the career.
- Triple H put him over. It'll be good to see Teddy again.
- Fox Sports talked to Teddy. He seems like a pretty good guy, putting people over left and right. He has the right idea about getting paid doing something he didn't necessarily want to do vs. holding out to be a manager.
WWE will tape Smackdown in Kentucky on April 18. It'll be interesting to see what things look like after Mania.
An Andre the Giant documentary is coming to HBO. He's definitely a great subject for something like that.
LU Seasons One and Two will hit Netflix this spring. That's good news for the brand's viability.
Next week's NXT taping will be headlined by Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno and the return of Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm excited to see what Ohno will bring to the table this time.
Neither Vince nor Shane McMahon were at Elimination Chamber. It's rare Vince isn't at a show. I hope everything's OK. Brie Bella was visiting at the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Actually they've got deals now from sponsors/partners (Mattel, Hanna Barbera, etc.) who wouldn't have touched the promotion of bra and panties matches and "choppy choppy your pee pee." Some companies would be embarrassed to be associated with the kind of content we saw in the Attitude Era.
2. Dunne had a match at the most recent TV taping, so you'll be seeing him on NXT soon. While the UK deal comes together, I expect we'll see him and some other tournament names on NXT and potentially 205 Live.
3. I'm not shocked at all he's done a good job at commentary. He's really good at that part of the game. There's the possibility it's a setup for him returning to the ring for the cruiser division soon.
4. He'd be a perfect WM33 opponent for Neville if he's ready to go. Otherwise, I'm sure he'll find his way into the ring before too much longer.
5. I expect her to go into the Hall at some point given all the work she did. Absolutely fine by me.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Sonjay Dutt is headed to ROH to face Marty Scurll for the TV Championship on March 4 in New York. Whether this will be a one-time thing or the start of something more is unknown at this time.
Ian Riccanboni and a slew of guest commentators called the action at this weekend's ROH TV taping.
Bubba Ray Dudley and Tommy Dreamer are holding a seminar at the Team 3D Academy during WM33 week.
NJPW has announced the lineups for this year's Honor Rising events. They will be streamed live on New Japan World with Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero doing commentary.
WWE has signed a deal with Contenders Clothing for boxer briefs. That's pretty cool; WWE's expansion as a lifestyle brand continues.
Rosa Mendes has announced her retirement following her daughter turning one year old. She hadn't been part of WWE since her daughter's birth, so this wasn't really a surprise. She's going to be running her own fitness-related business now. Glad she's able to jump into a non-wrestling career so easily.
Theodore Long has been announced for the WWE Hall of Fame. This makes me very happy. He's had quite the career.
- Triple H put him over. It'll be good to see Teddy again.
- Fox Sports talked to Teddy. He seems like a pretty good guy, putting people over left and right. He has the right idea about getting paid doing something he didn't necessarily want to do vs. holding out to be a manager.
WWE will tape Smackdown in Kentucky on April 18. It'll be interesting to see what things look like after Mania.
An Andre the Giant documentary is coming to HBO. He's definitely a great subject for something like that.
LU Seasons One and Two will hit Netflix this spring. That's good news for the brand's viability.
Next week's NXT taping will be headlined by Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno and the return of Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm excited to see what Ohno will bring to the table this time.
Neither Vince nor Shane McMahon were at Elimination Chamber. It's rare Vince isn't at a show. I hope everything's OK. Brie Bella was visiting at the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Actually they've got deals now from sponsors/partners (Mattel, Hanna Barbera, etc.) who wouldn't have touched the promotion of bra and panties matches and "choppy choppy your pee pee." Some companies would be embarrassed to be associated with the kind of content we saw in the Attitude Era.
2. Dunne had a match at the most recent TV taping, so you'll be seeing him on NXT soon. While the UK deal comes together, I expect we'll see him and some other tournament names on NXT and potentially 205 Live.
3. I'm not shocked at all he's done a good job at commentary. He's really good at that part of the game. There's the possibility it's a setup for him returning to the ring for the cruiser division soon.
4. He'd be a perfect WM33 opponent for Neville if he's ready to go. Otherwise, I'm sure he'll find his way into the ring before too much longer.
5. I expect her to go into the Hall at some point given all the work she did. Absolutely fine by me.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Goldberg set for more Raws, new title match for Fast Lane, ROH name finishes up, top indie name getting children's book, big award for Rock, Impact Twitter shade, Sienna raises thousands for charity, bonus Impact match, new Chamber structure, Chamber plans changed, and a Question on why Vince won't change his approach
Goldberg is now advertised for the February 27 and March 6 Raw. Those are the episodes surrounding Fast Lane. Given how big of a deal he's going to be at Fast Lane and Mania, I wonder if they'll end up using him for further matches.
Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn for the United States Championship is set for Fast Lane. No shock there. Could we end up with Sami involved in a triple threat match with JeriKO at Mania?
Donovan Dijak has finished up with ROH. He's now on the table for WWE. He could be headed there in a few months. That will be a much better fit; I hope it happens.
Colt Cabana will soon be the subject of a children's book. That sounds awesome!
The Rock was named Entertainer of the Year at the NAACP Image Awards. He's on top of the world. That's a big turnaround from the days of only having seven bucks in his pocket. Glad he's doing so well.
Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash had some (now deleted) back and forth on Twitter after Mathews put himself over as a commentator in an Impact video. There's speculation Mathews will be dropped as a commentator with John "Big" Gaburick being moved into a lesser position backstage. Gaburick hired his fellow WWE alum for the position.
Sienna raised $10,000 for the Children's Tumor Fund at a recent event in Michigan. That's awesome! Great work for the former Knockouts champion.
Impact released Jessie Godderz vs. (the no longer under contract) Baron Dax from a recent Xplosion episode. I like Godderz. I hope he's got a bright future ahead of him.
WWE debuted a new Elimination Chamber structure last night. The previous structure was more difficult to use in many newer venues. I like the sleek look of the new chamber.
Merchandise for last night's WWE event featured Dolph Ziggler in the Elimination Chamber match instead of Dean Ambrose, so at one point the plan was for him to be involved. Man. The depush of Ziggler is real. It could also have been a case of not wanting to have an Intercontinental Championship feud at the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com question:
1. Thank goodness there's a counter to the usual "Vince is a colossal idiot. I could run WWE better." talk on the Internet. Really, a lot of the fans saying they "want the Attitude Era back" or whatever aren't going to be happy no matter what.
Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn for the United States Championship is set for Fast Lane. No shock there. Could we end up with Sami involved in a triple threat match with JeriKO at Mania?
Donovan Dijak has finished up with ROH. He's now on the table for WWE. He could be headed there in a few months. That will be a much better fit; I hope it happens.
Colt Cabana will soon be the subject of a children's book. That sounds awesome!
The Rock was named Entertainer of the Year at the NAACP Image Awards. He's on top of the world. That's a big turnaround from the days of only having seven bucks in his pocket. Glad he's doing so well.
Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash had some (now deleted) back and forth on Twitter after Mathews put himself over as a commentator in an Impact video. There's speculation Mathews will be dropped as a commentator with John "Big" Gaburick being moved into a lesser position backstage. Gaburick hired his fellow WWE alum for the position.
Sienna raised $10,000 for the Children's Tumor Fund at a recent event in Michigan. That's awesome! Great work for the former Knockouts champion.
Impact released Jessie Godderz vs. (the no longer under contract) Baron Dax from a recent Xplosion episode. I like Godderz. I hope he's got a bright future ahead of him.
WWE debuted a new Elimination Chamber structure last night. The previous structure was more difficult to use in many newer venues. I like the sleek look of the new chamber.
Merchandise for last night's WWE event featured Dolph Ziggler in the Elimination Chamber match instead of Dean Ambrose, so at one point the plan was for him to be involved. Man. The depush of Ziggler is real. It could also have been a case of not wanting to have an Intercontinental Championship feud at the show.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com question:
1. Thank goodness there's a counter to the usual "Vince is a colossal idiot. I could run WWE better." talk on the Internet. Really, a lot of the fans saying they "want the Attitude Era back" or whatever aren't going to be happy no matter what.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Main Event Reax - 2/11/17, Network show ends, Chavo Sr. passes, top SD name added to MSG return, Smackdown live event note, and Questions on Eva Marie's WWE status, Orton in the Family, hard workers, how much money WWE made from WCW, and King being off WWE TV
-- Main Event:
- Bo vs. Axel:
So much for an Outcasts reunion.
Fine heat for a filler match.
Bo's growing as a wrestler.
Axel's pretty much always been a solid dude in the ring.
Nice to see Curtis win for once.
- Rusev vs. Cara:
Yeah, no way is Sin Cara winning this.
MACHKA TIME.
Hahahaha Cara trying to slam Rusev.
OH SHIT what a counter to the baseball slide.
I hope Rusev can make it further than being just another big guy. He's done pretty well for himself in the ring.
Cara making the most of his speed and agility.
OH SHIT I didn't expect SC to pick him up for the Olympic Slam.
Sin Cara was pretty game for a match he was all but expected to be killed in.
Good match!
WWE has ended Legends with JBL. It could be they've more or less gone through all the guests they wanted on there.
Chavo Guerrero, Sr. passed away at the age of 68. Unfortunate loss for a legendary family. I enjoyed the Chavo Classic angle, and he had quite the career before that.
- Chavo, Jr. commented on his father's passing. Sad to hear of the quick cancer death. My thoughts are with the family at this time.
- WWE, Triple H, The Iron Sheik, Mick Foley, William Regal, Mauro Ranallo, Samoa Joe, Sean Waltman, Frankie Kazarian, Billy Kidman, Taz, Paul London, JBL, Lince Dorado, Ted DiBiase, Sr.,
Robby Brookside, Rey Mysterio, Dixie Carter, Aiden English, Tommy Dreamer, Sin Cara, Sasha Banks, and Tajiri all expressed condolences.
AJ Styles will be part of WWE's March 12 MSG live event. I'm not sure why he wasn't already advertised for the show; it's a Smackdown brand event.
Mojo Rawley beat Konnor in singles matches at Smackdown live events this weekend. Viktor was in Konnor's corner. Odd they didn't have Jack Swagger or James Ellsworth teaming with him. Neither were on the card.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It looks like they're going to quietly part ways whenever her deal ends, with her moving on to Hollywood and potentially other endeavors. Her current work doesn't conflict with her WWE commitments because WWE doesn't really have any commitments for her. I'm guessing after the suspension and the movie booking the two sides decided she wasn't going to be the WWE character with red hair anymore and now we're just waiting for an official word of her contract ending.
2. We'll see how it plays out. I definitely didn't expect it to be a long-term association. WWE presumably didn't want to burn out them facing each other, so they figured that was the best way to keep them from being opponents for some time.
3. A lot of names work very hard, from the big names taking a lot of matches and appearances to the people on the indie scene working another job while trying to make ends meet. I'll leave it at that.
4. It's tough to say! You have to look at how much classic merchandise they sold, DVDs, etc. as well as making use of various WCW alumni in roles over the years, from the initial angles of the Invasion to keeping guys like Chavo and Johnny Ace around for quite some time later. Overall, they made and are still making money from those assets.
5. He just made a cameo in Memphis and called the Rumble. I expect they'll save him for special occasions on-screen.
More wrestling tomorrow.
- Bo vs. Axel:
So much for an Outcasts reunion.
Fine heat for a filler match.
Bo's growing as a wrestler.
Axel's pretty much always been a solid dude in the ring.
Nice to see Curtis win for once.
- Rusev vs. Cara:
Yeah, no way is Sin Cara winning this.
MACHKA TIME.
Hahahaha Cara trying to slam Rusev.
OH SHIT what a counter to the baseball slide.
I hope Rusev can make it further than being just another big guy. He's done pretty well for himself in the ring.
Cara making the most of his speed and agility.
OH SHIT I didn't expect SC to pick him up for the Olympic Slam.
Sin Cara was pretty game for a match he was all but expected to be killed in.
Good match!
WWE has ended Legends with JBL. It could be they've more or less gone through all the guests they wanted on there.
Chavo Guerrero, Sr. passed away at the age of 68. Unfortunate loss for a legendary family. I enjoyed the Chavo Classic angle, and he had quite the career before that.
- Chavo, Jr. commented on his father's passing. Sad to hear of the quick cancer death. My thoughts are with the family at this time.
- WWE, Triple H, The Iron Sheik, Mick Foley, William Regal, Mauro Ranallo, Samoa Joe, Sean Waltman, Frankie Kazarian, Billy Kidman, Taz, Paul London, JBL, Lince Dorado, Ted DiBiase, Sr.,
Robby Brookside, Rey Mysterio, Dixie Carter, Aiden English, Tommy Dreamer, Sin Cara, Sasha Banks, and Tajiri all expressed condolences.
AJ Styles will be part of WWE's March 12 MSG live event. I'm not sure why he wasn't already advertised for the show; it's a Smackdown brand event.
Mojo Rawley beat Konnor in singles matches at Smackdown live events this weekend. Viktor was in Konnor's corner. Odd they didn't have Jack Swagger or James Ellsworth teaming with him. Neither were on the card.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It looks like they're going to quietly part ways whenever her deal ends, with her moving on to Hollywood and potentially other endeavors. Her current work doesn't conflict with her WWE commitments because WWE doesn't really have any commitments for her. I'm guessing after the suspension and the movie booking the two sides decided she wasn't going to be the WWE character with red hair anymore and now we're just waiting for an official word of her contract ending.
2. We'll see how it plays out. I definitely didn't expect it to be a long-term association. WWE presumably didn't want to burn out them facing each other, so they figured that was the best way to keep them from being opponents for some time.
3. A lot of names work very hard, from the big names taking a lot of matches and appearances to the people on the indie scene working another job while trying to make ends meet. I'll leave it at that.
4. It's tough to say! You have to look at how much classic merchandise they sold, DVDs, etc. as well as making use of various WCW alumni in roles over the years, from the initial angles of the Invasion to keeping guys like Chavo and Johnny Ace around for quite some time later. Overall, they made and are still making money from those assets.
5. He just made a cameo in Memphis and called the Rumble. I expect they'll save him for special occasions on-screen.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)