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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Lots of WM33 hype/updates, Angle interview up on WWE Network, big WWE fundraiser, Alberto takes shots at WWE, BIG Network offer, Rollins update, new archived footage on the Network, Smackdown's July PPV set, Paige discusses leak, and Questions on wrestlers keeping their real names, burying Breeze, blood in Brock/Goldberg, Droz getting the Warrior Award, and what WWE would do with ROH

New Day rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. That's pretty cool.

Al Roker will be the guest ring announcer for John Cena/Nikki Bella vs. The Miz/Maryse. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him get physical with Miz ahead of a big Cena/Bella win. I wholly expect the bout to be a showcase of Cena and Nikki, likely followed by Cena proposing to his girlfriend in the center of the ring.

WM33 will air live in China for the first time in Mania history. Commentary will be available in English and Mandarin commentary.

John Cena filmed footage for Daddy's Day Care 2 as well as a commercial this weekend on top of working WWE live events. Roman's got his work cut out for him reaching that level. Man.

WWE Network's Undertaker Wrestlemania collection is now up. It's hard to believe we're approaching a time when he won't be part of the event. Man.

Paul Heyman showed video of making the WWE 2K17 Brock Lesnar commercials.

- Paul also put over HIS CLIENT, BROCK LESNAR not changing for anyone. I mean, hey. He's making a lot of money by being himself, and WWE's not going to risk losing him so he can do whatever he wants!

- Heyman put Charlotte over pretty big, too. She's set to be a franchise player.

Kurt Angle's interview with Corey Graves is now up on WWE Network. Here's a recap:
- I'm VERY glad Angle turned things around in his personal life and is now back in WWE's good graces.

- Kurt's definitely antsy to get back in the ring for WWE, even if it's just a few big matches.

- Kurt could easily enter a feud with Brock or Goldberg right after WM33. Or Taker, I suppose. I would think they'll primarily use him against other "legacy" names.

WWE has released their very busy schedule for Wrestlemania week in Orlando. They're really hitting the pavement for the biggest event of the year.

American Alpha discussed their journey to WWE and their careers so far. It's a shame they're not doing much at Mania. It's possible WWE is angling for the Hardys to come in and face the Usos for the Smackdown tag team titles, which leaves Jordan and Gable kind of on the bubble. They should be good long-term, though. WWE knows how talented they are.

USA Today had a big piece about the presentation of women in WWE. It's definitely much less embarrassing than it used to be.

WWE announced musical guests for WM33. Remember, to them it's a big party, not a super-serious night of fights.

WWE announced a worldwide fundraiser for Boys & Girls Clubs in the U.S. All part of their move to be a Disney-esque family-friendly company.

Alberto El Patron buried WWE in a post announcing he'll be marrying Paige this Wednesday. Yeah, I'm ready to focus on Alberto the wrestler instead of all the drama outside of the ring.

WWE is offering the Network to some for three months at $9.99. That's a Don West level fire sale. What does it say that WWE is willing to put out that much content, including PPVs, for that cheap??? They should be pricing it higher.

Seth Rollins is advertised as being in action for the May 1 Raw, so he's likely expected back full-time soon. It will be interesting to see how he fits into things going forward.

Raw's women's championship match at WM33 is now an elimination match. I expect that match will be pretty big.

Alexa Bliss was interviewed by Sporting News as well as This is Infamous. I think we'll see some fun surprises in her Mania match.

Mid-South Wrestling footage from 1981 and 1982 has been added to WWE Network. So, that's the next video archive they're focusing on. I'm surprised it's taking them so long to get to Thunder, although they've got a LOT of footage from earlier decades to get to as well.

Battleground 2017 will be a Smackdown-brand PPV in Pennsylvania on July 23.

Paige discussed the fallout from the recent leak of explicit material involving her. I do feel awful for how her once-promising wrestling career has been even further derailed due to this development.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It depends on the wrestler. If it's someone who's already well known (Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar), they have more chance of keeping their name if they want to keep it. Notably, at times WWE has deliberately downplayed new signings' lineage in the business to see if they can get over without the aid of a known last name.

2. WWE doesn't look too kindly on someone leaving early instead of staying to watch the main eventers and theoretically learning from them. At any rate, Breeze was mainly called up from NXT because he had gone as far as he could there and it was time for him to start getting experience higher up. The main roster needs undercard performers in addition to main eventers; it's unbelievable to expect every talent to be in line for a "push," especially when they spend a long time in developmental before getting called up.

3. They did have Brock legitimately bust Orton up at Summerslam, so it's possible they push the envelope at Mania. It's not like they're going to punish either of them; WWE has a lot invested in Brock and Goldberg isn't booked past Mania anyway!

4. I'd be fine with Droz getting the Warrior Award. WWE might want to focus on non-wrestlers so they can get a PR boost from it, but he'd definitely be someone to honor in that capacity.

5. There were talks early of WCW more or less taking Smackdown's place, but ultimately it was shot down in favor of integrating WCW names into WWE. Anyway, I think it's more likely WWE will pay ROH so they would be able to show their TV show on the Network. If WWE bought the company, I expect they would more or less absorb it into NXT and 205 Live and add old footage to the WWE Network rather than keeping it as a separate brand.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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