Mania guest, XFL trademarks in limbo, Rock shoots down Mania rumor, WWE working with another agency for media rights, AJ Lee raising money for charity, new Table for 3 episodes taped, Y2J podcast note, more Andre competitors, Impact audience, Mania special audience, new WWE 24 after Raw, Snow buys OVW, ECW's TV debut covered on 25th anniversary, a lot of new Network projects, LU S4 debut set, top LU names working Redemption, Alberto misses Impact vs. LU, and Questions on promotions getting TV deals, Vader's future, Mickey Rourke's WWE work hurting him, a WM35 dream match, and overdue HoF inductees

Shawn Michaels will be on Wrestlemania's Kickoff panel.

XFL trademarks being sought by Alpha Entertainment were refused due to WWE having similar trademarks. Awkward. I'm guessing WWE will have to give existing trademarks to Alpha so the new company can proceed.

The Rock shot down being at Wrestlemania during promotion for his latest movie. I wasn't expecting him to be there unless it was a surprise cameo like the match with Rowan.

WWE has brought in a second agency to negotiate U.S. media rights due to their primary agency also representing UFC's negotiations for a new media deal. Hopefully WWE and UFC each get what's best for them going forward.

AJ Lee is doing a GoFundMe to raise money for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That's understandably a cause very important to her.

Natalya, Nia Jax, and Beth Phoenix are on an upcoming Table for 3 episode. Natalya will almost definitely make it into the Hall of Fame when she retires, and I think Nia's probably got a good chance as her career continues.

- Matt Hardy also did an episode, but it's unknown who will be joining him. I hope it's Senor Benjamin and King Maxel or something equally wacky, but it's likely one of the Dudleys and either Edge or Christian. 

Variety covered WWE's digital work for Wrestlemania. That's a really big endeavor for the company.

Teddy Hart and Joey Janela are on Chris Jericho's latest podcast, discussing their Wrestlemania weekend events.

Officially added to the Andre battle royal: Kane, Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, Breezango, Tye Dillinger, Zack Ryder, Primo Colon, Chad Gable, Shelton Benjamin, Aiden English, Curt Hawkins. I would unironically mark out for Hawkins ending his streak there. I'm curious what they have planned.

WWE 2K18 did a hype package for Goldberg in honor of his Hall of Fame induction. That's really cool.

Impact Wrestling drew 294,000 viewers Thursday night, a sharp drop from their impressive March numbers. Seemingly the big boost they got from the Callihan/Edwards spot went away right before their big "I Quit" match. That's a shame.

USA Network's WrestleMania special drew 746,000 viewers. Not bad at all. We'll see what kind of specials WWE gets under their next deal.

"WWE 24" following Raw will do behind-the-scenes footage from Raw 25.

Al Snow has purchased Ohio Valley Wrestling. More on this in tomorrow's post. That could be good news for wrestlers working there to train.

ECW's first TV episode's 25th anniversary was profiled. The company was a really chaotic ordeal at times.

WWE Network announced the following upcoming projects:
- A "second annual" Mae Young Classic.
- A UK King of the Ring tournament
- Edge and Christian Show and Camp WWE getting second seasons
- Bruce Prichard's "Something Else to Wrestle With" - a WWE Network version of his current podcast.
- "Elias: Unplugged," presumably a concert
- A WWE 365 documentary on AJ Styles
- WWE 24 episodes on the Hardys and Ronda Rousey
-- Those are some very big announcements. The service looks to really be growing again!

Lucha Underground's fourth season will debut June 13. It should be a pretty interesting ride with roster changes and the like.

LU's Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix will face off at Redemption on April 22. That's a big get for Impact.

Alberto El Patron did not appear for Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground as advertised and scheduled, despite appearing for a press conference for Redemption earlier in the day. Wrestlers at the event believed it to be a no-show situation, but management has not commented on the matter. That's incredibly unprofessional if he did blow off such a big event, and should make other companies think twice about using his services.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm going to defer to their answer, as they really put some good ideas together.

2. I would think so. That's a really scary situation.

3. That's an interesting take. Wrestling certainly isn't loved by the more "high-brow" Academy voters. I wouldn't mind Rourke getting a Hall of Fame nod at some point.

Nothing to add to 4.

5. They've got an opportunity to do a "street fight" or something this year to set up a "real" Cena vs. Taker match next year, building it like they built Cena vs. Rock. That could definitely be a really big match.

6. Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt, the founders of the company that became WWWF. How's THAT for overdue?? Honestly they could (and should) probably induct promoters who preceded them, but for the WWE Hall of Fame, I think they should get a special ceremony in 2022 to mark the 70th anniversary of WWWF's parent company. Obviously it wouldn't be a big draw or anything, but they deserve really high recognition. The Founders Award, perhaps?

More wrestling tomorrow.