The Young Bucks are officially part of Chris Jericho's ROH tournament. Crazy that they took a booking almost a year out like that; I'm interested to see how the event turns out.
Natalya was on Lilian Garcia's latest podcast.
Buzzfeed Blue sent two women to train at the WWE Performance Center for a week. I like WWE trying to reach new audiences that way; it wasn't that long ago that something like this would be seen as "exposing the business," but now WWE's going for the family-friendly entertainment angle.
Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero, Trent Beretta, and Chuckie T will headline ROH's November 12 TV taping. ROH is really pushing The Elite.
Les Thatcher is a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center this week. WWE is going all out with the developmental facility.
Rain will compete at ROH's November 11 and November 12 shows, returning to the ring three years after retiring. We'll see if that's the start of her working more regularly again.
ROH names visited a charter school in Las Vegas. That's a good move to give the company some positive press.
Paige continues to train at the WWE Performance Center. I'm interested to see what they'll do with her when she returns to TV.
Jinder Mahal talked about his rise in WWE. He's getting some good press for his reign.
Bound For Glory is currently sold out, but more tickets might be released once production is set up.
Impact Wrestling has released:
- MJ Jenkins, who had been signed to a contract after working as an enhancement talent but hadn't been used in some time.
- Referee Brian Hebner, who asked for his release. It looks like Impact's going to be using different referees at each set of tapings based on location, rather than having a regular crew. I can see how some current referees would want to search for a more full-time role elsewhere in the wake of that. There is no word on his father Earl Hebner's status in the company at this time.
- Marshe Rockett, who had last worked for Impact in April. I'm curious what's next for him after getting exposure in Impact.
- Referee Robert King, who also asked for his release as he wasn't on a regular contract and didn't expect that to change.
Impact's January tapings will almost certainly return to Universal Studios in Florida. So, we could see some people who aren't working the Ottawa shows return for those dates.
Tessa Blanchard will not be working Impact's TV tapings in Ottawa after all. She will be in the area for a different booking, which led to the confusion. That's a shame. I was hoping we'd see her in action on-screen again soon.
Impact might not have a Hall of Fame induction this year. Jeff Jarrett pitched inducting his father, who founded the company, but that won't be happening this year. James Storm was once announced for the honor, but fought against it as he feels that accolade should be for people on the way to retiring. He insists that doesn't apply to him.
Moose and Ethan Carter III will promote Impact's upcoming tapings in Ottawa this Saturday.
Braun Strowman also gave an interview at Ringsidefest. I hope he's got a big career ahead of him.
Smackdown drew 2.12 million viewers, taking a big hit for Halloween. I hope things rebound going forward with the big cross-brand angle.
Survivor Series spoiler: John Cena is still set to be the special referee for Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal, which could easily set up John vs. Jinder for Clash of Champions and/or Royal Rumble. Then that can set up someone taking the title from John at WM34. We'll see.
At Raw's live event in Scotland:
- Asuka beat Mickie James. I assume she was originally set to beat Emma? That's an odd direction.
- Goldust worked as a face, teaming with Heath Slater and Rhyno to beat Elias and The Club.
- Kane is on the tour. He lost to Braun Strowman. The Miz was facing Matt Hardy, so Braun got Kane instead.
- Pete Dunne retained the UK Championship against Wolfgang.
- Triple H was an honorary member of The Shield. That's crazy given their history, but with Hunter working as a face on these shows, that's what we ended up with.
- Bray Wyatt returned to the ring, working alongside The Bar in a loss to Triple H, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins.
James Storm's Impact contract expires in January. If he doesn't sign a new deal of some sort, the Ottawa tapings could be his final dates with the company, as this set of dates could give Impact enough footage to not have to tape anything until after Storm's deal is up. It will be interesting to see what's next for him; I wouldn't assume a Beer Money reunion would happen in WWE, as they clearly see Roode as a singles star. NXT is pretty stacked right now, too, and I wouldn't think of him as an ROH wrestler. Perhaps NWA is an option?
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. A lot of people reach a point where they have other priorities in their life, but still want to keep up with what's happening in the world of wrestling.
1. A lot of people reach a point where they have other priorities in their life, but still want to keep up with what's happening in the world of wrestling.
2. We'll definitely see changes with the direction of the company and which talents are used without Jeff Jarrett being around. That's already happening as the Ottawa tapings come together.
3. Jim Cornette should not have been hired by a wrestling company again after assaulting an employee. The fact he has been utilized so much despite his outbursts, including the lengthy email sent after leaving Impact where he detailed fantasizing about killing Vince Russo, is an indictment of the business as a whole. Regardless of Cornette's abilities as an on-air personality, his behavior should not be tolerated and he should be getting professional psychological help.
4. It's definitely a case of NXT presenting a different style from what WWE fans are used to. As much as a lot of people enjoy that style, there's a serious problem of a system that is supposed to be developing future WWE superstars instead focusing on a different set of traits. WWE has spent a very large amount of money trying to attract a niche audience at the expense of fans who want to see something different. In essence, NXT is training people to play rugby for a football company.
5. Ever notice how literally everything is blamed on WWE management? It's insane. Axel is a solid talent in the ring, but they probably got about all they could out of him as far as a push goes. Creative can only do so much when a talent doesn't have much charisma.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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