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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

ROH goes "uncensored," new WWE correspondent, Alberto vs. WWE press, Drew's NXT deal note, ROH name done and heading to NXT?, WWE shows live in Japan with native commentary, top NJPW name injured, Impact PPV this week, Impact touring update, Kofi to miss time, Bray vs. Orton updates, WWE sues movie pirates, special WWE shirt for Raw, Heyman on Taker jumping from WCW, Superstar Shakeup Part 1, new Team 3D facility opens, Paige return update, Payback matches set, Angle DVD release date, WWE-Universal contest, and Questions on how cool it is to boo Roman, nuclear heat for Reigns, Vader in the HoF, and Nakamura's ceiling

ROH's April 28 event in Wisconsin is now an "uncensored" event of "non-sanctioned matches," which is a gimmicky way of saying they'll add a little hardcore to the usual bullshit spotfests. I miss when stipulation matches were used to pay off big feuds instead of just being arbitrarily added to matches and events in advance.

- ROH has set The Addiction vs. Young Bucks and Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young for the event. Same old, same old.

WWE has signed correspondent Christy St. Olson from AfterbuzzTV. She is already starting in Orlando. WWE is really stacking up on interviewers/correspondents.

Alberto El Patron's recent WWE rant was picked up by The Sun and The Mirror. Vince McMahon actually contacted him to return to WWE before his Impact debut. I really don't think it would have been a wise move to bring him back given his outside-the-ring reputation lately.

Drew McIntyre has a one-year deal for NXT. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see him head to the main roster after WM34.

Lio Rush was recently backstage at Raw, as WWE is interested in bringing him in for NXT. He finished with ROH at this weekend's TV taping. I'd rather not see him in NXT. There's only so much room for flippy guys. WWE really needs to curtail the trend of so many smaller agile guys. They have their place, but the wrestling business is at a saturation point of them.

Raw and Smackdown are now available in Japan live with Japanese commentary. That's a really good move as WWE continues to make strides in Asia.

NJPW's Katsuyori Shibata underwent emergency surgery after his bout with Kazuchika Okada this weekend. Is a "five-star match" worth being headbutted so hard you go to the hospital? This mentality really needs to stop.

Impact will debut the Victory Road One Night Only PPV this Friday, which is more or less a live event as far as continuity goes.

Impact is planning to tour the U.S. east coast this summer. It will be good for them to get back on the road as they try to rebuild the company.

Kofi Kingston is set to miss a few weeks of action following the storyline attack from The Revival during their Raw debut. I'm excited for Wilder and Dawson on the main roster.

- Kofi wasn't at Raw to sell the attack.

WWE has put together a survey seeking feedback for the House of Horrors match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. Sounds like they're still putting the idea together. It will look pretty bad for Bray if he can't beat Orton in a match he gets to make the rules for!!

WWE is suing a number of Internet users for illegally downloading WWE Studios' Eliminators featuring Bad News Barrett. WWE doesn't make a ton of money from those releases, and the movies being distributed online only cuts further into their revenue.

Bray Wyatt's rematch with Randy Orton is set for Raw's Payback PPV. Orton will still be part of Smackdown after that event, and I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE Title stays there, too.

WWE sold a special T-shirt for returning to the Nassau Coliseum. It's had a lot of history for WWE.

Paul Heyman discussed The Undertaker leaving WCW for WWF. Talk about a pivotal moment in modern wrestling history.

The following talents moved to Raw as the first half of the Superstar Shakeup:
- Apollo Crews
- The Miz and Maryse
- Dean Ambrose
- Curt Hawkins
- Bray Wyatt
- Kalisto
- Heath Slater
- Rhyno
- Alexa Bliss
- Mickie James
- (Elias Samson wandered around in the crowd for a while, so presumably he's there, too.)

-- That's more "shaking up" than I expected! We'll see what Raw gets in exchange. I would probably have put money on AJ Styles switching shows, and Aiden English would have made a good deal of sense. I'm especially interested to see what this will mean for the IC and U.S. Championships.

Bully Ray has officially opened a new Team 3D training facility in Connecticut. Bully, Tommy Dreamer, and Velvet Sky were all on hand to enroll students. Holy shit! Velvet Sky is training wrestlers???? Certainly she could teach them more than I can, but I don't think she's at that level yet. Although with Tommy Dreamer involved, maybe she'll be alright. I assume Bully will mainly operate out of the Florida branch; I'm not sure what D-Von's status is given his role as a WWE producer.

Paige is scheduled to be cleared to return to the ring this summer following neck surgery. I'll be quite surprised if she ends up getting back in a WWE ring, but I felt about the same way regarding AJ Lee after C.M. Punk retired and she did end up wrestling a little while longer.

Neville vs. Austin Aries is official for Payback. I'm sure they'll have another great back.

Kurt Angle's WWE DVD will release on August 1. It's a shame they won't have access to a lot of his Impact matches, but maybe we'll see him face Samoa Joe again soon.

WWE is running a contest to go to Universal Studios with Enzo Amore and Big Cass. That could be a lot of fun.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. A lot of people booing Reigns are definitely in their adolescent rebellion stage. They're really sticking it to THE MAN by paying hundreds of dollars to go to WWE shows and reacting to Reigns more than cruiserweight matches and a main event featuring Owens, Joe, Rollins, and Balor.

2. That would have been AMAZING to kick off Raw after WM33. Start with a GONG then reveal it's Roman in the ring. I like the idea of him staying something of a face while still drawing boos from the super cool antihero rebels spending hundreds of dollars to attend a show they supposedly hate. Roman might never have a ***** match, but Vince will laugh all the way to the bank. I just hope HHH doesn't ruin the WWE way of doing things by trying to turn the promotion into ROH.

3. He's very talented!

4. It could have been that they didn't want to highlight the shape Vader is in now, which is pretty tragic. It will really be sad if they wait until he's gone to give him a big honor.

5.We know Shinsuke can get over with the uberfans who can name every time Meltzer gave him more than ****, but he's got his work cut out for him being a big star. I think he can be a world champion, but I'm not ready to say much more than that without seeing what he can do in WWE's way of doing things. At some point, the hipsters are going to turn on him like they've done every other Internet favorite. Will the larger WWE audience accept him enough for him to be a hit without them behind him?

More wrestling tomorrow.

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