Rusev visited Madrid's soccer team during Smackdown's stop there.
Scott D'Amore is now in charge of Impact creative. There is already concern that he's focusing on Canadian talents at the expense of others, which in some ways makes sense as a philosophy for the tapings in Ottawa.
Impact is trying to get some of its top names to take lower-paying deals. That can easily lead to more departures. They've got to be careful allocating their funds.
Gail Kim is now a producer at Impact, having officially retired at Bound For Glory.
Alberto El Patron's Bound For Glory promo was cut from the UK version of the show. Interesting.
Alberto El Patron has heat from some members of the Impact roster due to having his own trailer while most other male talents have to share a locker room. With the facilities Impact is running in Ottawa, I could see people being upset at that contrast.
Alberto El Patron was not part of the final Impact taping this week, as Impact went ahead and filmed all the necessary content with him on previous nights.
Lashley had a confrontation with an X-Division wrestler in catering, firing back when the younger wrestler was upset at the quality of the food.
The former Santino Marella was pitched a segment with Grado at Bound For Glory, but turned the idea down. That could have been pretty entertaining.
Abyss did not wrestle at this week's Impact tapings, as there was concern he had returned too soon from a knee injury.
Grado is expected back in Impact in January. That's a little surprising, as he's likely more expensive to bring in from the UK.
Roman Reigns has been cleared to return to the ring. He will likely join Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in a six-man tag against The New Day at Survivor Series. That should be a lot of fun!
Chris Jericho reportedly cleared his NJPW appearance with WWE. He has not been under WWE contract for a number of months now, but has been loyal to the company since his 1999 debut.
Maria Kanellis posted a response to detractors:
- Negative comments about her look while pregnant are an unfortunate side effect of the world we live in.
- Mike Kanellis absolutely deserves a LOT a credit for working so hard for so long as a wrestler and a recovering addict. He has my utmost respect for overcoming his demons.
- As for Mike being a "jobber," to me that's just quicker than "lower-level enhancement talent who is often booked to lose." I like to think I've been clear that being paid to lose a lot of matches is preferable to working in front of smaller crowds for less money. Making it to WWE is absolutely an accomplishment. I think fans should feel free to be able to be happy for the person while criticizing the wrestler's abilities and place on the card.
Jake Roberts gave an interview on Ric Flair, addiction, and more. I hope Flair can make a healthy turnaround.
WWE is opposing the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame's attempts to make World Class Championship Wrestling merchandise. WWE insists they received all trademarks from Kevin Von Erich in 2006.
YouTube star SirKazzio was part of Becky Lynch's entrance in Portugal.
Bayley vs. Mickie James vs. Dana Brooke for the final spot on Team Raw will take place on Raw. I assume Bayley will end up joining the team.
Cody vs. Dalton Castle for the ROH World Championship is official for Final Battle on December 15. Cody will face Kota Ibushi in NJPW on January 4. If he retains against Dalton, that match will for the ROH World Championship, too. ROH has been doing a pretty good job building Cody vs. Dalton.
ROH has announced the following matches for Survival of the Fittest:
-- November 17:
- The Dawgs vs. Esfinge and Rey Cometa
- Punishment Martinez vs. Jay Lethal in a first-round match
- Shane Taylor vs. Beer City Bruiser in a first-round match
- Silas Young vs. Josh Woods in a first-round match
-- November 18:
- Matt Taven vs. Cheeseburger in a first-round match
- TK O'Ryan vs. Flip Gordon in a first-round match
- Vinny Marseglia vs. Jonathan Gresham in a first-round match
At Smackdown's November 9 live event in England:
- Sin Cara returned to action in a loss to Baron Corbin for the United States Championship
- Trent Seven and Tyler Bate beat Pete Dunne and James Drake
- The Ascension worked as faces, teaming with Tye Dillinger to defeat Mike Kanellis and the Bludgeon Brothers
Jonathan Coachman has left ESPN. He was a key WWE ally there. There's no word of him reuniting with his former company, but I wouldn't be surprised to see The Coach again somehow.
James Storm said goodbye to Impact at the final Ottawa taping, signaling an end to his time there. He remains under contract until some point in January, but the company will not be running any shows before it ends. With Anthem looking to cut costs, Impact is unlikely to make him an offer at the level of what his current deal brings. He could certainly pop up in the Royal Rumble or at Takeover the night before. I think he could be a nice addition to any roster, although I wouldn't expect him to be a top champion.
WWE has trademarked "WWE Mixed Match Challenge" for an unknown purpose.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It all comes down to the finances. Can he draw more than he charges? Can he be used to make other people draw more money? If one or both of those are true, then yes. Sign him to another deal.
1. It all comes down to the finances. Can he draw more than he charges? Can he be used to make other people draw more money? If one or both of those are true, then yes. Sign him to another deal.
2. Owens and Zayn aren't looking to leave. Unless WWE felt a significant number of valuable talents were leaving (to the point it would affect WWE's bottom line), I don't see them changing things. As long as WWE can keep things pretty much like they are now, they're going to do so.
3. He remains under contract. If he wants to work somewhere else, either WWE has to release him from his contract or he has to wait the rest of it out. Otherwise he and whomever booked him would be taken to court for breach of contract and no one wants that!
4. It was just a cameo to push the UK stars in the UK.
5. Vince changed plans for several top matches at Survivor Series. The Shield got shuffled, too. This way we get Cena and AJ in action in big matches. I'm not complaining.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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