C.M. Punk recently reiterated his desire to compete in MMA again. Absolutely no talk of him returning to a wrestling ring. Never say never, but it's definitely not looking like we'll be seeing him "back" at any point in the near future.
Some WWE talents wore armbands on Raw in reference to the recent terrorist attack in Quebec City. Good to see them sending condolences.
After Raw, Brock Lesnar made an open challenge. Big Show accepted and ate an F5 to end the taping.
Impact Wrestling has begun a digital series chronicling a day in the life of several wrestlers.
- Impact will show the final four episodes of their showcasing talents' first day in the company. I don't think Cody's still doing anything with them; clearly that was taped some time back.
Nigel McGuinness was at this week's WWE TV tapings. He could end up getting a bigger role going forward. We'll see what happens as planning for a weekly UK series continues.
John Cena's not advertised for Smackdown live events this weekend, so he could have some time off between big PPV matches. It's a really tough life taking so many bumps on the road. Cena's wrestled more than 2100 matches. That's absolutely insane. For comparison, Sting worked around 1700 recorded matches.
Raw drew 3.62 million viewers, a nice jump from the previous week. Hopefully the road to Wrestlemania means good things for audience numbers going forward.
At a Smackdown live event Monday night:
- The Usos teamed with Heath Slater/Rhyno to beat Breezango/The Ascension. I wouldn't assume that makes the Usos a face team or anything. WWE just only had a few teams on hand for the show. It might be time to turn a team face. I think I'd pick Breezango for that. It's a shame some teams are spinning their tires even after the brand split.
- Mickie James is still not booked on shows, but I'm guessing that will be changing soon. To the best of my knowledge, she signed a full-time deal.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. AJ's 39, the same age as Cena. While I also hope he's around for a while, I don't see him as the future of the company as far as being a long-term part of things. And Cena's definitely not becoming the past just yet. He can still be a valuable contributor going forward. I think the plan is to have a heel win the Chamber match so it goes from a face in Cena. Time will tell if AJ's out of the top matches at Mania. I wouldn't expect him to get a spot like Taker, Brock, Goldberg, or HHH, but that doesn't mean he'll be tossed aside. WWE knows what they have with him. He can still be a top guy without being the centerpiece all of the year. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's WWE Champion again six months from now.
2. The thing is, not everyone getting called up is called up to be an important player. The main roster needs lower-card names, too. NXT is something of a small pond - being a top act down there isn't as hard as competing with people who have been on the main roster for a long time. As for specifics:
a. Tyler Breeze was called up pretty much because he had made it as far as he could in NXT. There wasn't really anything left to teach him at that level, so they moved him up. I've liked his work, but I don't see him as a U.S./IC Title level player. I think he's fine where he is, talent-wise. Not because he's not good, but because there are a lot of other talented people there, too.
b. Apollo has definitely been mishandled. They called him up when he could have still picked up skills at the NXT level, and they didn't/don't have plans for him. Had he been groomed further in NXT, I like to think he'd be doing better. It felt like they just brought him up for the surprise of it.
c. Rose had been in WWE developmental FOREVER. He finally got something that was a hit so they moved him to the main roster and got the most they could out of it. His limit was pretty much Scotty 2 Hotty/Godfather level.
d. The Ascension were another case of an act that had done everything they could at the NXT level and were moved up because there was nothing left for them to do. I don't know who to blame for completely changing their gimmick and style right out of the gate, but that definitely hurt them.
3. Because the Rumble always has some fun silliness to balance out guys like Brock, Goldberg, and Braun going on a tear.
4. It also potentially sets up Roman vs. Taker, where Reigns will be pretty clearly booed again. It looks like the plan is to push him as someone the target audience cheers while the older fans boo while continuing to watch the show and spend money on the product!
5. THE CONTROVERSIAL ROMAN REIGNS!! LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM, THE WWE UNIVERSE IS MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD! Fans reacting is better than fans not reacting is pretty much the way of thought.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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