Samoa Joe is expected to face Roman Reigns after Wrestlemania for the Universal Championship. That's definitely a big way for him to return!
5 Star Wrestling has shut down. There were plans for them to finish their advertised dates, but ultimately it was decided to go ahead and end the promotion. The group had been running big arenas with top international names, so it had to be quite expensive.
- Preston City Wrestling is honoring tickets bought for the promotion's canceled events at their own April 8 show. Brilliant business move to try to gain some of that audience on a more permanent basis.
Brock Lesnar does not have any more live events scheduled on his contract, which concludes at either Wrestlemania or the Raw after. There hasn't been any word of him signing a new deal.
Alberto El Patron is in talks to work additional AAA dates. WWE is still an option as well, but he can't sign anything with them until his Impact deal expires next month.
Rey Mysterio is expected to have at least one more match for The Crash, even if he signs with WWE. He currently holds a championship there.
Hot Topic is now carrying Tetsuya Naito and Will Ospreay merchandise, expanding their NJPW line.
Tommy Dreamer will undergo an MRI after taking a table bump where the table didn't break. He's taken a LOT of punishment, and still keeps going.
ROH's attendance for the first three months of 2018 averaged at more than 1,250 fans, the best first quarter in company history. The previous record was 1,000 fans in 2015. They're doing quite well.
ROH's April 14 show in Ohio will be headlined by Dalton Castle vs. Marty Scurll vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Beer City Bruiser. That's a very interesting combination!
Konnan may need an additional surgery after an infection during his hip replacement. I hope he's able to move around well again soon.
WWE is planning on taping three documentaries during WM34 weekend, one on the event itself, one on Ronda Rousey, and one on The Undertaker. Production is going to be incredibly busy in New Orleans.
WWE is considering further dual-branded live events on an occasional basis in major markets. That could be a good move.
WWE has re-signed a number of their UK talents and picked up Zack Gibson. There are still plans to eventually run a regular touring brand there.
- Joe Coffey is rumored to have signed on for the WWE UK brand, too.
WWE is looking at signing Garza Jr. and Ultimo Ninja of Mexico. Garza Jr. had worked for Impact when Jeff Jarrett was back in charge.
Mauro Ranallo is the subject of an upcoming Showtime documentary. I'm so glad he's back in WWE.
Andrade "Cien" Almas recently did another Mexican media tour for WWE. The company is definitely looking to build their fan base in Mexico and Latin America.
John Cena vs. Kane is official for Raw as the latest step to likely build to Cena facing Undertaker.
Christy St. Cloud is no longer interviewing in NXT, as her contract expired and was not renewed. Cathy Kelley is seemingly taking her place. Cathy has been pretty versatile in the company.
Batista turned down going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, as he intends to compete there again at some point. I definitely wouldn't mind him appearing more.
WWE has trademarked the names Bobby Roode, Brian Kendrick, and TJ Perkins. So it looks like they're back to trademarking pre-WWE names for the time someone's under WWE contract.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have been moved to WWE.com's alumni section, and their announced Wrestlemania match is no longer listed on that website. I'm interested to see how this will all play out.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler is advertised for Smackdown's June 3 live event in Texas, so that could be the WWE Championship feud after WM34. That sounds awful. Why can't that be for the U.S. Title while Orton, Roode, and Jinder face off for the top title?
Steve Austin and Bret Hart are on Edge and Christian's latest podcast. That's a pretty big meeting.
Matt Hardy discussed Ultimate Deletion on TMZ Sports. This is really getting overexposed.
Samoa Joe, Jason Jordan, and Alicia Fox are advertised for Raw's mid-May tour of the UK and Ireland, so it looks like they're all expected back before too much longer.
- The WWE UK talent set for the tour are Pete Dunne, Tucker, Jordan Devlin, Mark Andrews on the Raw shows for UK Championship matches and Mustache Mountain, Wolfgang, James Drake, Sam Gradwell, Dan Maloney, Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone, and Saxon Huxley on the Smackdown events in six-man tag team action. So, Tyler Bate is likely to be cleared before those events as well.
Major League Wrestling is expected to announce a television deal soon, with wrestlers taking part in photo shoots for the series. "MLW Fusion" has been trademarked, so that's likely going to be the show's name. That can definitely be a game-changer for the company.
Former NFL star Pat McAfee will join Takeover:New Orleans' Kickoff panel. It will be interesting to see if he becomes more of a regular contributer like Sam Roberts or Pete Rosenberg.
The Greatest Royal Rumble will air live in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office.
Hulk Hogan is in talks to return to WWE. The company released a statement to the media that the discussions are "about how he can help others learn from his mistakes," so it's possible they're seeking him for an ambassador role of sorts.
Triple H promoted his Wrestlemania match:
- I can't think of the last time someone had their first match in front of a crowd so large as the one we'll see at WM35.
- Having HHH and Angle there to lead the match is a good move given the relative inexperience of their partners.
- HHH and Stephanie have quite a lot on their plates with training on top of their executive roles as well as their roles as parents.
- Wrestlemania weekend is really stacked.
- Of course, Wrestlemania has matches from Raw and Smackdown, so there's a much bigger roster to pull from to fill the card. Quite a bit of the NXT roster is still at the live event stage.
- Interesting thoughts about NXT's new championship.
- NXT's influence on the main roster can't be understated. We're looking at a very different collection of wrestlers than we saw a few years ago.
WWE went a talent scout to Penn State University's football program. It's unlikely this was for the XFL, as that project is still in the early going.
Southpaw Regional Wrestling got awards at the Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival & Conference. I'm a little surprised we haven't heard of a third season coming along.
Lance Bass promoted Booty-O's. Good to see New Day getting over outside the wrestling bubble.
Zack Ryder was on Funko's latest podcast. Ryder is often WWE's go-to toy promoter.
Triple H promoted the Greatest Royal Rumble. I'm curious if they'll make it an annual event or if they'll do something different in Saudi Arabia in future years.
Edge discussed inducting the Dudley Boyz into the WWE Hall of Fame and more.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. The two situations aren't really related. Unless Paige gets a lot of outside doctors to clear her, as happened with Bryan, I wouldn't expect WWE to OK her returning to the ring. They might check Paige out again down the line, but they're certainly not going to change course just because of Bryan's situation.
1. The two situations aren't really related. Unless Paige gets a lot of outside doctors to clear her, as happened with Bryan, I wouldn't expect WWE to OK her returning to the ring. They might check Paige out again down the line, but they're certainly not going to change course just because of Bryan's situation.
2. He was deliberately cleared in time for Smackdown, since they need to know which direction to go for Wrestlemania.
3. Long story short, they're going to keep a pretty close eye on him, health-wise. He'll have pretty regular tests to make sure he's still able to wrestle.
4. I think they'll finish Thunder first. Heat could follow before too much longer.
5. They're part of Sinclair's headquarters near Baltimore.
6. This is part of why Cyndi belongs in the Hall of Fame. She should have been one of the first celebrities chosen.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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