WWE.com looked at Hideo Itami's NXT return. Presumably Hideo will be back at some post-WM33 TV tapings.
John Cena promoted WWE's Madison Square Garden event after being slimed at the Kids Choice Awards. He had a busy day! Nikki Bella was at the KCA as an orange carpet correspondent.
Bully Ray talked about jumping to ROH:
- WWE was rightfully doubtful that Bully could be a top heel. He was in a small pond in Impact.
- I'm guessing Impact wasn't going to give Bully a huge title reign/push as the top heel, so he went to ROH. Without Bischoff pushing for him behind-the-scenes and a whole stable in his corner, I don't see how he could compete with EC3 or Lashley.
- Bully and Jeff were also on a card with Angle, Sting, Velvet Sky, and Gail Kim. I think a lot of the house was the Hogan/Bischoff era and timing - Aces and Eights was hot for a while and there was initial interest in Bully as a heel, but it drug on too long and people eventually realized Bully's not a long-term main event player. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" got stale pretty quickly.
- Interesting. I could have sworn a previous interview said Bully had signed for a year. The Hardys might just be working through WM33 weekend before heading to WWE. We'll see.
- Oh God, really? He's trying to get Tommy on board, too?
- Hahahahahaah I love the burial of ROH's bland wrestlers. It will be good to see something new from an in-ring perspective.
Stephanie McMahon talked at SXSW on behalf of WWE. Here's a recap. WWE does a lot on the digital end of things.
SportsCenter will be at Wrestlemania. I'm guessing they'll check in with Coach at times throughout the night. He'd be a great celebrity Hall of Famer this year if they don't have anyone else lined up.
WWE will return to MSG on July 7. I wonder who will be the champions then.
Howard Finkel was backstage at WWE's MSG show. Impact's Grado was also there visiting. It's possible he could eventually be part of WWE's UK project if Impact doesn't work out. Vince McMahon was not at the event, which is surprising given how important the venue is.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They'll stretch it out as long as they can with Heyman getting involved, Brock stalling, etc. It might be wise to have something else planned to go on after that, though, for the reasons listed and because Mania could very well end with a heel part-timer standing tall. I like the idea of Balor pulling a Hulk at WM9, but I don't really expect it.
2. Roman jobbing to Taker would really be short-sighted, and it's not going to get people cheering Reigns. Go all out and pass the torch! Hell, they could have Roman beat Taker and stare Universal Champion Brock down to end the show. It's not worth trying to appease the vocal minority. WWE's bent over backward to try already.
3. Owens by virtue of dropping from the Universal Title match to U.S. Title level. Neither are really being "screwed," though, as both have gotten to headline PPVs in recent months as champion.
4. I assume the live events are for Finn and HHH to knock some ring rust off before being featured in big roles. There's no practice like performing live in front of a crowd.
5. Old school in the sense of not doing crazy gimmicks like DCC or The Broken Hardys, not doing as much "50-50" booking where one side wins but the other stays strong, focus on wins and losses and titles, managers are utilized, that kind of thing. It's going to take some time to transition fully to what he wants to do, but we did see some moves to the new direction Thursday night.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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