New Network show debuting in 2018, plan for first NXT on 2018, first Flashback Friday of 2018, WWE promotes viral NXT Title gift, Bryan celebration in Massachusetts, JR's autobiography out in audiobook, Jarrett and GFW return to wrestling, Impact uploads episode two weeks early, Matt Hardy video, NXT names work international shows, Interview with Rey, more Titus charity, and Questions on Alpha Entertainment and why ITV didn't go forward with World of Sport

 "WWE Photo Shoot" will debut on WWE Network after the January 1 episode of Raw with The Miz, followed by an episode with Cesaro.

The January 3 NXT episode will be a two-hour "Best of 2017" special. That should be quite the episode given the year NXT's had.

WWE Network's Flashback Friday theme for January 5 will feature "Debuts and Firsts" to celebrate the start of 2018.

A number of WWE names took notice of a viral video of a student receiving an NXT Championship from a friend. That's pretty cool.

Daniel Bryan will be featured at YES! Night for a Massachusetts hockey team on December 29. Bryan going to the indies would really boost attendance at a lot of shows; he's still getting quite the reaction.

Jim Ross' autobiography has been released as an audiobook narrated by Ross himself. That should be an amazing experience.

Jeff Jarrett and GFW are already back on the indie scene as of December 26, doing a special private event in Tennessee for local Wounded Warriors, Gold Star families, and Music City Bowl football players. The event is being put on by Tried and True Wrestling, but the GFW name is being used in the advertising, so it looks like Jarrett's going to go back to wrestling and promoting that brand. Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, James Storm, Jerry Lawler, Ricky Steamboat, Rebel, Crimson, and Jax Dane are all set for the event.

Impact accidentally uploaded the January 4 episode of their show to the Global Wrestling Network for a brief period of time before being replaced by the first Best of 2017 episode that was intended to be uploaded instead. The January 4 episode features:
- Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron for the Impact World Championship (taped at WrestlePro)
- James Storm vs. Dan Lambert. If Storm loses, he must leave Impact.
- Trevor Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori for the Impact X-Division Championship
- Ethan Carter III vs. Fallah Bah vs. Matt Sydal for the Impact Grand Championship
- oVe vs. LAX. If LAX loses, they have to split up
- Chandler Park vs. John Bolden

"Woken" Matt Hardy did a special Christmas video. Yes, his property has its own movie studio.

NXT has given its talents time off for the holidays. As a result, Kairi Sane was allowed to work a recent STARDOM event in Japan to have a surprise sendoff, and Alexander Wolfe and Marcel Barthel (formerly Axel Dieter, Jr.) worked WXW's 17th anniversary show in Germany. I'm glad WWE is letting talents work special events.

Rey Mysterio spoke to ESPN:
- The belief is WWE wouldn't be willing to pay what he would want to be paid for a lighter schedule.

- Generally, 205 Live is treated as a sideshow, separate from other WWE content. The niche market that was excited for the CWC has presumably had their fill of the small roster having the same matches, and the main WWE audience wasn't really excited about a show "with no stars" until Enzo came along.

- Sometimes WWE's social media/web team will do videos somewhat independently from creative, so you'll see them reference Rey Mysterio as an option to return even if he isn't.

- WWE should definitely put Rey in the Hall. Maybe he could return for WWE 2K19 and have one last run leading to Mania (like they seemingly do with someone every year).

- Dominik definitely has everything he could possibly need to succeed given his dad's connections.

- Rey working NJPW's next U.S. shows in California would be a good move for both sides.

Titus O'Neil did charity work in Tampa Bay ahead of Christmas. Titus is incredibly giving with his time.



For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:

1. To me, the league will be a success if they can get people to attend games, buy merchandise, etc., even if that's in smaller venues and markets. Competing with the NFL is a long-term goal, best-case scenario. There's probably a niche out there for an alternative football league, but I'm keeping my expectations modest. Vince has the resources to make SOMETHING happen, but he's going to need a lot of factors working in his favor to be more than moderately successful in the endeavor. It took a really long time for the NFL to get where it is now, and for WWE to get where they are now for that matter. Vince is going to need a significant amount of time to really get something going.

2. When the chairman and CEO of a company announces an expensive independent venture, there's cause for concern. When that venture is a reboot of one of the most spectacular failures in TV history, there's really cause for concern. Vince being 72 and trying to juggle so many responsibilities, with no plans for how and when he'll be succeeded in his WWE roles, is further cause for concern. Can Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, etc. run the company in a way that puts shareholders first? We don't really know, because although they definitely have some responsibilities in the company, there's a big question mark as to what would happen if Vince was suddenly unable to perform all his roles as chairman and CEO. So, I can't blame shareholders for being uneasy at the Alpha Entertainment news, and for the future of WWE as a business as a whole.

3. I'd wait to see what's next on the Alpha Entertainment/football league front. I know hardcore fans think Vince leaving WWE would be the greatest thing ever, but that remains to be proven from a business perspective. There's a lot more to running the company than making sure who gets "over." Vince is currently doing a lot of duties for WWE, and passing the torch will be a very big undertaking if that's even what's going to be happening once he focuses on the football league. I can really only imagine what things look like with Vince trying to do all his WWE duties AND the football league at 72.

4. Basically they couldn't put anything together to get someone to run it. They wanted to have a regular TV series, but didn't want to have to do all the work needed to run a wrestling promotion.

Nothing to add to 5.

More wrestling tomorrow.