Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman should be in action during WWE's European tour, as their injuries were fictional.
John Cena will present at the MTV Awards on Sunday. No word at all on him getting back in the ring, but he's definitely earned some time away from that grind.
Sean Waltman was arrested this weekend, hence missing working a show in the UK. He posted a $35,000 bond and is now out. Waltman publicly commented on the situation shortly thereafter. That's a pretty hefty fine. I hope this is the last time something like this happens with Sean. It doesn't set a good example for the wrestlers coming through the WWEPC.
- Waltman's arrest was for attempting to transport methamphetamines and marijuana to the UK as part of his trip there to wrestle. It was also discovered there was a warrant out for an arrest for an earlier substance possession charge, as well as a warrant for a DUI. I'm worried what that means for Sean's sobriety and health in addition to his future in the wrestling business. I'm disappointed in the whole ordeal, to say the least.
- Waltman was charged with five counts of possession of narcotics intended for sale. Sad times for X-Pac.
- Waltman had been sentenced to a year of probation as part of a plea deal for possession of drug paraphernalia back in March. The bad news just keeps coming!
- Waltman spoke to TMZ about the arrest, suggesting the pills he was found with were for a yeast infection. I'm skeptical, given the number of pills he was found with. However, we owe him the benefit of the doubt until lab results come back.
- Waltman was charged with five counts of possession of narcotics intended for sale. Sad times for X-Pac.
- Waltman had been sentenced to a year of probation as part of a plea deal for possession of drug paraphernalia back in March. The bad news just keeps coming!
- Waltman spoke to TMZ about the arrest, suggesting the pills he was found with were for a yeast infection. I'm skeptical, given the number of pills he was found with. However, we owe him the benefit of the doubt until lab results come back.
Billy Corgan's purchase of the NWA doesn't include any tape libraries, nor the NWA's on-demand service. Those remain the property of NWA President Bruce Tharpe, who is very much still involved with things and will continue to be an important part of plans going forward.
David Lagana has joined the new NWA in a creative capacity. Corgan is in the very early stages of planning what he's going to do with the brand. Once the sell goes through officially, Corgan will evaluate the company's business and decide where to take it going forward alongside Tharpe and Lagana.
Arn Anderson talked the Horsemen and more. Here are some highlights:
- I love that people who absolutely hate wrestlers still line their pockets. That's the mark of a great heel.
- Weird to think that fans aren't familiar with so much of his work, but it's better to be remembered for work in WWE than not remembered at all!
- People still mark for WarGames.
- Wins and losses don't matter nearly as much as leaving a good impression so the fans come back for more.
Even more War of the Worlds matches have been announced:
-- May 7:
- Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Taylor
-- May 10:
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Punishment Martinez
- Jay White/MCMG vs. The Rebellion
- Bobby Fish vs. Dalton Castle
- ROH TV Championship: Marty Scurll vs. Kazarian vs. Will Ferrara vs. Beer City Bruiser vs. Gedo vs. Cheeseburger
-- May 12:
- Bully Ray/The Briscoes vs. Roppongi Vice/Hirooki Goto
- Adam Cole vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Will Ospreay vs. Jay White
- War Machine vs. EVIL/SANADA vs. Chris Sabin/Jonathan Gresham
- KUSHIDA vs. Dalton Castle vs. Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young
-- May 14:
- Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA
- Tetsuya Naito/EVIL/SANADA/BUSHI vs. Bully Ray/The Briscoes/Dalton Castle
- David Starr vs. Josh Woods
- So, Adam Cole will at least work the War of the Worlds PPV. He could put in one last standout performance in ROH before making plans to be in NXT this summer. I'd be very surprised if he signs a full ROH contract again. What's he going to do, when the title a fourth time!?
World of Sport has officially postponed their TV tapings, with the stated reason being contract negotiations. Hopefully this is just a hiccup for the project that has a lot of people talking.
Raw drew 2.87 million viewers against the NBA playoffs to be the second-biggest show on cable Monday night. So, they mostly did pretty well in the face of monster competition.
Luke Harper beat Viktor before Smackdown. It was a busy show with the Jericho situation and setting up the U.S. Title picture for Backlash, but this shows they are keeping Harper in mind.
After 205 Live went off the air, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura beat Dolph Ziggler, Jinder Mahal, and Erick Rowan. So both former Wyatt followers were in action. Weird that Orton and Shinsuke weren't on the show itself, but the focus was understandably on Jericho vs. Owens.
TJ Perkins is now just going by TJP, as he did before WWE. That cements the heel turn.
USA Today looked at collegiate wrestlers making it to WWE, and the international growth of the WWE Performance Center. Expect even more international names in the years to come.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I don't really watch football, but I'll give it a go: WWE is the team that makes the Super Bowl every year. They sign away top names from other teams and have top prospects waiting in the wings. Hell, they might be the top three or four teams. That's how big they are in the business. Impact is a team with players that often play really good football, but they've changed coaches so much and lost so many big and emerging players that they're just hoping to make the playoffs. ROH is one of the teams at the bottom of their conference pretty much just happy to play some football. Most of the players are just there to get some professional experience on their resume before moving up to one of the teams with big money and prestige. A lot of them would leave just to be in the training camp for one of those big teams!
2. I guess she's like the Michelle Obama to Jeff's Barack. I don't know of her having an official title, but she has a pretty prominent role because of whom she's married to.
3. Any business plan that starts with "be like a promotion that was constantly on the edge of bankruptcy" is going to be a hard sell. See the metaphors in answer number one. Sure the NFL took some ideas from the XFL, but there's a reason one still exists and the other is just a memory. I think with the brand split, superstar shakeup, and increased prominence of NXT, WWE is addressing the problem of a stale roster.
4. Hell yeah, brother. Put the strap on the Hulkster and push him to the moon! Apparently he's trying to get in Bullet Club now. They might as well at this point. It's hit that novelty stage.
5. The WWF angle wasn't as explicit, and wasn't as much of a direct takeoff of the crucifixion, so there's some leeway there.
More wrestling tomorrow.
1. I don't really watch football, but I'll give it a go: WWE is the team that makes the Super Bowl every year. They sign away top names from other teams and have top prospects waiting in the wings. Hell, they might be the top three or four teams. That's how big they are in the business. Impact is a team with players that often play really good football, but they've changed coaches so much and lost so many big and emerging players that they're just hoping to make the playoffs. ROH is one of the teams at the bottom of their conference pretty much just happy to play some football. Most of the players are just there to get some professional experience on their resume before moving up to one of the teams with big money and prestige. A lot of them would leave just to be in the training camp for one of those big teams!
2. I guess she's like the Michelle Obama to Jeff's Barack. I don't know of her having an official title, but she has a pretty prominent role because of whom she's married to.
3. Any business plan that starts with "be like a promotion that was constantly on the edge of bankruptcy" is going to be a hard sell. See the metaphors in answer number one. Sure the NFL took some ideas from the XFL, but there's a reason one still exists and the other is just a memory. I think with the brand split, superstar shakeup, and increased prominence of NXT, WWE is addressing the problem of a stale roster.
4. Hell yeah, brother. Put the strap on the Hulkster and push him to the moon! Apparently he's trying to get in Bullet Club now. They might as well at this point. It's hit that novelty stage.
5. The WWF angle wasn't as explicit, and wasn't as much of a direct takeoff of the crucifixion, so there's some leeway there.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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