More top names working live events, even more MSG shows on the Network, Interviews with WWE hopeful/Aries, top international name officially joins NXT and Mae Classic, another international name following her?, MYC qualifying match, another MYC worker announced, Slammiversary guests, title rematch on Smackdown, Colons update, nWo on the Network this week, Impact rebranded as GFW, Impact audience, WWEPC coach done, NXT live event notes, and Questions on They Live 2, why Ivelisse isn't in the MYC, War Machine's status, Mankind as WWF Champion, and WWE honoring Pedro

Brock Lesnar will work the Smackdown live event on August 12. So, he's a "free agent" as far as live events go. I expect he'll remain on Raw for TV, although with plans really changing for him in Summerslam season, maybe they do use him on Smackdown as well.

More MSG shows are being added to WWE Network's Old School section, from the '70s and '80s.

A WWE hopeful was profiled after being part of a recent tryout. He's definitely got good credentials! It's smart of him to finish graduate school while he's got the chance, though, as a fallback option in case wrestling doesn't work out. Leaving that behind for a chance to be a successful wrestler is a big gamble.

Austin Aries promoted his book in Miami. Glad to see a more healthy lifestyle pushed in modern wrestling after the days when Sandman would wrestle completely plastered.

Kairi Hojo is official for the Mae Young Classic. The new NXT signee will work as Kairi Sane. She's got to be a favorite given her pedigree before joining the company. Fittingly, this announcement was made during WWE's live event in Tokyo.

- Io Shirai responded to her rival's announcement. It's highly expected Io will join NXT in a few months. I like the idea of building Sane ahead of Io coming in and challenging her.

WWE released a Mae Young Classic qualifying match, confirming Bianca Belair (formerly Blair) is part of the tournament. They definitely should do something where one of the qualifiers is upset at Kairi just waltzing right in and getting a spot. It's not an original idea, but it would build interest for an opening round clash.

Piper Niven of Scotland has been announced for the Mae Young Classic. WWE's connection to ICW paying off for this one. Notably, Niven worked the World of Sport taping back in November, so this is going to lead to speculation she's "chosen WWE over WOS." Time will tell on that front. At this point, she's a free agent.

Eddie Edwards, Alisha Edwards, Josh Mathews, Moose, and Eli Drake will be part of the FITE chat room during Slammiversary. That's pretty cool.

Naomi vs. Lana has been added to Smackdown following Lana's shoulder being up during the pinfall of their last encounter. I assume Naomi will go three-for-three unless Carmella shenanigans are involved.

Primo and Epico are remaining in WWE, despite rumors to the contrary. Diego and Fernando are gone, though.

WWE Network will be celebrating the nWo with content Friday. That's really funny to think about considering WWE sued WCW for the angle when it first came out.

John Cena is official for a July 17 Smackdown live event in Georgia.

Impact Wrestling will be rebranded GFW at Slammiversary as part of a bigger international focus for the company:
- The name change is a big move in of itself, since they already made some changes to the product's look at the first tapings of the year.

- I can't say I blame them for wanting to get away from being associated with the legal drama, etc., but Impact still has a LOT more name value than GFW. That said, Impact's reach is back to where it was in the FSN days and I see the argument they can pretty much only go up from here.

- I do like the idea of promoting their international focus, as I expect that's going to be a key priority going forward. It will pretty much need to be given how far they've fallen in the U.S. since the Spike days.

- GFW not being able to get past the live event stage is telling of how hard it's going to be for a promotion that doesn't already have a big reach and/or a lot of financial backing to change the wrestling marketplace.

- The new regime made a lot of big changes, notably on the roster side of things. Some expensive names were let go in favor of trying some new blood.

- So, GFW is kind of the hub for Impact, the potential WOS project, etc. I can see that idea.

- I'm sure they'd love something like the WWE Network to make use of their big library. I don't know how much demand there will be for it, though.

- I hope big things are coming for the new promotion.

Impact Wrestling drew 268,000 viewers, a pretty sizeable drop from the boosts they got for the other Indian episodes.

Johnny Saint has finished his six-month term as a coach at the WWEPC, ending his tenure there.

NASCAR's Hermie Sadler and Austin Dillon will appear at Slammiversary. Sadler has a pretty long history with Jeff Jarrett and the company that was then TNA. GFW/Impact wants to load the show with guests from other sports and promotions to get it over as a big event.

At an NXT live event in Florida, the former Andrea has been renamed from MaryKate to Sage Miller. Miller teamed with Victoria Gonzalez to defeat Lacey Evans and Julia Ho. I believe that's the first time Ho has worked a live event, and I really expect them to change her name for obvious reasons. I would pop if she used the Ho Train as her finisher, though.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm surprised no one's jumped on that. They could definitely remake it for the iPhone generation.

2. I really don't travel for wrestling. I get to see plenty from my laptop! I can't say I'd want to spend a large amount of money to see a special show in person. I enjoy watching and following wrestling, but my life doesn't revolve around it like it used to.

3. LU has some very restrictive contracts. She won't be free for some time, even if Season 4 doesn't happen.

4. War Machine or a party close to them probably "leaked" a friendly reminder to anyone following certain journalists to see if there's interest from other parties.

5. Frequent title changes were the norm in the Monday Night War era.

6. Often it does come down to their ties or lack thereof with certain legends. The Hall of Fame is the same way.

More wrestling tomorrow.