Eli Drake promoted GFW's live events:
- I think Anthem has made some important moves in changing things from the previous era, but I think a lot of that is being overlooked because of the issues with the Hardys and Alberto.
- Drake was OK in developmental, but has come into his own a lot more in GFW. NXT is a very crowded place.
- I'm OK with them having some former WWE guys on hand. It's a case-by-case thing. Jack Swagger I'd be good with, since he still has gas in the tank. I just don't want them to sign someone just because they worked in WWE.
Bayley suffered a shoulder injury on Raw. She will be re-evaluated in a week to determine the extent of it. I'm curious what the backup plan will be, since it seems like they're deliberately holding off an Alexa/Sasha rematch. Sasha and Nia are pretty much the only believable challengers right now. Mickie would be a nice surprise.
Randy Orton beat Jinder Mahal by DQ after Smackdown. I wouldn't expect a clean win from Jinder at Summerslam. "Smart" fans are going to be upset no matter how that one ends. They don't want Nakamura jobbing, they don't want Jinder thrown under a bus, and they don't want Jinder to not win clean. That's got to be frustrating. I wouldn't be surprised to see Baron Corbin involved in some fashion in that match, even if he doesn't cash in.
"Smacking Talk" was shut down after one episode. That would seem to confirm it wasn't just ended for budget cut reasons.
Nia Jax was on "Talk is Jericho" recently.
Booker T. talked to ESPN. We live in a world where Booker, Kane, and Linda McMahon could all be holding office. That would actually be a pretty great angle.
The Raw and Smackdown after Royal Rumble will be in the same venue as that show. I assume Takeover will be in that arena as well.
GFW had another conference call, covered here:
- I definitely think the Knockouts made a push for wrestlers being more than "Divas," although I also think WWE might have made some changes in the Diva approach as time went on anyway as HHH and Stephanie gained power and society focused more on women with things like the Ghostbusters movie, etc.
- I can see the argument things were darker in the Corgan era with Decay, DCC, etc.
- Yeah, I doubt Karen and Braun were working an angle as characters, although I definitely think whatever happened got blown out of proportion and its life was extended with further reports/controversy on the initial report.
- Gail will absolutely be an asset behind the scenes.
- GFW could be working something out to have Hennigan be on their TV shows. That's going to be a tough situation to work out with LU, but we'll see if they can do it.
- Karen Jarrett has the distinction of being part of Chyna's last match.
- I'd like to see Kim vs. Kong to send Gail off.
- Lauren's character has definitely been something! She's probably gotten further in that role than she would have gotten as a straight-up wrestler.
- Wow, they just blatantly outed a private relationship.
- Wild to see them put over Maria even though she's in WWE.
- I love crazy wedding angles and the like.
WWE Network is uploading the remaining episodes of the ECW brand as well as more World Class Championship Wrestling. I continue to argue the ECW brand was really underrated and I wouldn't mind Main Event becoming its own "brand" in the same route so the matches have more angle behind them, etc. It could be a training ground for writers and characters to experiment.
The Wrap, Entertainment Weekly, and actor Kyle McLachlan all acknowledged WWE's Twin Peaks parody. Breezango's segments have been outright hilarious.
The following matches have been added to War of the Worlds UK:
-- August 18 in London:
- Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny King
- The Addiction vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero
- Mark Briscoe vs. Ryan Smile
- Jay Lethal vs. Bully Ray vs. Silas Young vs. Sha Samuels
-- August 19 in Liverpool:
- Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero vs. Mistico & Titan
-- August 20 in Edinburgh, Scotland:
- Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young
Smackdown drew 2.57 million viewers Tuesday, only slightly up from the previous week. That's got to be something of a disappointment for that big main event.
Paul Heyman talked in New York City, teasing him and Brock leaving after Summerslam and starting the road to Brock in UFC. He's adamant the pair will honor the stipulation from his recent promo. That show just got a lot more interesting (not that it wasn't already a really big deal).
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It's the same reason Batman doesn't team with Lex Luthor to face Superman and Joker. Heroes work with heroes, even when they're not best friends. Same with villains.
2. All those things are true!
3. WWE has a LOT of people on their production crew. It's a really big endeavor.
4. The Network hasn't been as big of a success as they've wanted, so shows were canceled and pyro has been dropped. They're in cost-cutting mode. I wouldn't be shocked if we see a "spring cleaning" soon. I would be shocked if they actually made some big personnel changes backstage to try to take things in a new direction.
5. She'd have to ask for it. They can't really "make" her do much of anything, and of course the couple will publicly say there's nothing to worry about.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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