Jim Ross is moving his podcast to Westwood One, with new weekly episodes debuting in early April. I hope that's a good new home for him.
Rich Swann did not appear for House of Hardcore this weekend, as he had been booked for. Swann had previously announced he was pulling out of all wrestling appearances. I wish him and his family well going forward.
Bull James has pulled himself from upcoming bookings after a rupture to his foot. He hopes to return after April.
Ricky Morton was recently a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He's got a lot of experience to pass on; the WWEPC has really excelled at providing resources for their trainees.
Mark Henry spoke on retirement. I wouldn't be against him being a GM or something, but there'd be the expectation of him eventually facing someone when the focus needs to be on the active workers.
Jinder Mahal is on Lilian Garcia's latest podcast.
Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss filmed an episode of WWE Ride Along. That sounds AMAZING.
A YouTube personality promoted Rusev Day. Stuff like this is why older generations rail against millennials and Generation Z. I appreciate the Rusev fandom, but dancing in someone's store without their permission and disrupting traffic is a little much.
Set for the Greatest Royal Rumble in addition to the Rumble match itself:
- John Cena vs. Triple H
- The Miz vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship
- The Bar vs. the Hardy Boyz for the Raw Tag Team Championship
-- WOWWWWWW this show is going to really be massive.
- John Cena vs. Triple H
- The Miz vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship
- The Bar vs. the Hardy Boyz for the Raw Tag Team Championship
-- WOWWWWWW this show is going to really be massive.
Major League Wrestling has signed a multi-year deal with BeIn Sport USA to provide a weekly wrestling series as well as additional content. MLW: Fusion debuts on April 20 and the promotion will be getting rights fees for their programming. This is certainly an important source of growth for the company.
- The show will air in at least the United States and Canada, first coming on Fridays at 8 p.m. EST and replaying at 11 p.m.Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini will be the hosts, with Court Bauer, Mister Saint Laurent, Alex Greenfield, and Robert Karpele on creative, Bruce Prichard, MVP, Low Ki, and Jimmy Havoc as producers, and Nelson Sweglar acting as an executive producer and Charlie Bruzesse also involved.
- MLW has begun signing talents to deals that put MLW tapings as top priorities but don't prevent other bookings when they don't conflict with those dates. All in all, they're really getting something big going.
Jeff Hardy was backstage at Raw. I'm curious to see if he and/or Bray end up being part of Wrestlemania or if they're being saved for the night after.
WWE is running a charity auction with some pretty notable opportunities including:
- meeting Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon backstage at Summerslam
- touring WWE headquarters with a legend
- VIP tickets to WWE's "big four" events
- tickets to every WWE pay-per-view in 2018, plus Royal Rumble 2019 and Wrestlemania 35.
- touring the WWE Performance Center with Matt Bloom
- working as a backstage interviewer on either Raw or Smackdown
- a private WWE promo class
- a music session with Elias
- various photo shoots and live event meet and greets
- meeting Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon backstage at Summerslam
- touring WWE headquarters with a legend
- VIP tickets to WWE's "big four" events
- tickets to every WWE pay-per-view in 2018, plus Royal Rumble 2019 and Wrestlemania 35.
- touring the WWE Performance Center with Matt Bloom
- working as a backstage interviewer on either Raw or Smackdown
- a private WWE promo class
- a music session with Elias
- various photo shoots and live event meet and greets
The Miz got a special welcome at the site of Raw. That's pretty amazing in its own way.
Vader underwent open heart surgery. He's really going through some tough times.
Shane McMahon has been hospitalized due to a severe infection, and will require surgery. That's a really unfortunate turn of events. I hope Shane O'Mac is back on his feet soon. I assume we're in for a triple threat at WM34 now with Bryan, Owens, and Zayn. Who would have predicted that three weeks ago?
Dean Ambrose has been pulled from all upcoming signing appearances for unknown reasons. It's speculated this is a result of his triceps injury. I wish him the best as he recovers.
Paul Heyman is set to produce and star in a talk show being pitched to networks and digital platforms after WM34. This is part of a greater deal Heyman's production company has signed with a studio to develop and produce unscripted content. It's entirely possible he will leave WWE alongside Brock following WM34 in order to focus on these outside projects.
El Generico tweeted for the first time since Sami Zayn appeared in WWE, following Zayn being fired by Daniel Bryan. A persistent rumor in the wrestling business says that Zayn and Generico are the same person, which would (hypothetically) mean Zayn is teasing returning under that name after being fired.
Dean Ambrose has been pulled from all upcoming signing appearances for unknown reasons. It's speculated this is a result of his triceps injury. I wish him the best as he recovers.
Paul Heyman is set to produce and star in a talk show being pitched to networks and digital platforms after WM34. This is part of a greater deal Heyman's production company has signed with a studio to develop and produce unscripted content. It's entirely possible he will leave WWE alongside Brock following WM34 in order to focus on these outside projects.
El Generico tweeted for the first time since Sami Zayn appeared in WWE, following Zayn being fired by Daniel Bryan. A persistent rumor in the wrestling business says that Zayn and Generico are the same person, which would (hypothetically) mean Zayn is teasing returning under that name after being fired.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. That would be pretty cool, but I think they could get more from Cass than that. Elias is a fine choice in my book. Kane would be interesting, but I think they should use someone coming up the ranks instead of the 50-year-old running for political office. And I say that with the utmost respect for Kane and what he's accomplished.
2. I absolutely think it's smart to build buzz for things in other outlets to get outside attention. I also like the idea of building up returns and such with video packages so it's a big deal when they happen.
3. I think it would be something of a waste of the Demon. Save that side of Balor for when he really needs a big edge in a top feud.
Nothing to add to 4. WWE devotes a lot to that side of things.
5. Honestly, journalists in general don't get much respect! But specifically for wrestling, some sites make things up, make things look like bigger deals than they are, or only report one side of a story. For instance, when a backstage incident happens between two wrestlers and the story that hits websites makes one wrestler look like the hero/badass - it's obvious which side of that story is talking to the media and which side isn't. Some journalists are so close to their sources that they, inadvertently or otherwise, present things in a light that favors their source. Of course, there's also the old mentality of "protecting the business" from outsiders who've never taken a bump.
More wrestling tomorrow.
1. That would be pretty cool, but I think they could get more from Cass than that. Elias is a fine choice in my book. Kane would be interesting, but I think they should use someone coming up the ranks instead of the 50-year-old running for political office. And I say that with the utmost respect for Kane and what he's accomplished.
2. I absolutely think it's smart to build buzz for things in other outlets to get outside attention. I also like the idea of building up returns and such with video packages so it's a big deal when they happen.
3. I think it would be something of a waste of the Demon. Save that side of Balor for when he really needs a big edge in a top feud.
Nothing to add to 4. WWE devotes a lot to that side of things.
5. Honestly, journalists in general don't get much respect! But specifically for wrestling, some sites make things up, make things look like bigger deals than they are, or only report one side of a story. For instance, when a backstage incident happens between two wrestlers and the story that hits websites makes one wrestler look like the hero/badass - it's obvious which side of that story is talking to the media and which side isn't. Some journalists are so close to their sources that they, inadvertently or otherwise, present things in a light that favors their source. Of course, there's also the old mentality of "protecting the business" from outsiders who've never taken a bump.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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