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Wednesday, April 11, 2018

NJPW champ is All In, Interviews with Prichard/Ronda, another Table for 3 in the can, more on Brock re-signing, Steph meets Japan star, Backlash matches set, USA special audiences, Cornette comic coming, Paige on retiring, two part-timers in Greatest Rumble, LIJ at War of the Worlds, Raw audience, Smackdown dark match, possible Shakeup move confirmed?, and Questions on the lack of bonuses, which matches make the Kickoff show, Hogan replacing Taker, Brock's backstage demeanor, and other WWE projects not leading to pushes

Kazuchika Okada and Deonna Purrazzo will work All In. That event is going to be big for the business whether it reaches 10,000 fans or not.

Bruce Prichard discussed his upcoming WWE Network podcast. It will be interesting to see how the show will differ from his current podcast.

- Bruce, JBL, and Eric Bischoff filmed a "Table for 3" during Wrestlemania weekend. It's a shock none of those three men is in the WWE Hall of Fame yet. All are deserving.

Brock Lesnar's new WWE deal could just be an extension to his previous deal. It's not believed to be a significantly long contract. So, cue the speculation he's just working through a certain date (Greatest Rumble, Backlash) before going to UFC. It will be interesting to follow.

Japan's Kikutaro met Stephanie McMahon. He'd be an interesting attraction for NXT.

WWE Backlash will feature:
- Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe (presumably this would become a Universal Championship if Roman wins at Greatest Royal Rumble)
- Seth Rollins vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship
- Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton for the United States Championship

WWE's Hall of Fame special on USA drew 665,000 viewers, while the Wrestlemania Kickoff special drew 762,000 viewers. The fact WWE got two specials this past weekend should tell you how NBCU feels about their ratings.

Jim Cornette is presenting a comic book with wrestling history stories. That should be really interesting.

Paige commented on her in-ring retirement. She's definitely not going away. I hope she has a fulfilling career and life after this.

Ronda Rousey spoke to TMZ about Wrestlemania. I'm curious what's next for her.

Lily Singh posted a video from Wrestlemania.

Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle are official for the Greatest Royal Rumble match. Hopefully Nicholas enters at number 50 and wins.

Los Ingobernables de Japon will work May's War of the Worlds Tour. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI have all been announced.

Raw drew an impressive 3.92 million viewers for their post-Wrestlemania show, an increase of 573,000 from the week before.

Becky Lynch defeated Ruby Riott before Smackdown. I'm interested to see how all involved interact with the Iconic Duo, or if any of them end up on Raw.

Asuka is advertised for a Smackdown live event on June 13, which could be a tip-off of a Superstar Shakeup move. That definitely would be a nice change for both sides.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Putting so much content on the Network for a much lower price has definitely deeply cut into bonuses for PPVs. I believe talents still get part of the gate for the show, and of course, being on the show means more opportunities to sell your merchandise, etc. As always, the more prominent your spot, the bigger cut you get.

2. Some matches AREN'T as important as other matches. The Network exclusive brand being on the Network exclusive pre-show makes sense. It's fine to start the night with that as the large crowd goes through the process of shuffling in.

3. That would be crazy. Brock beating Roman and Nicholas as Braun's partner wouldn't have been nearly as odd as that.

4. They did pay it off, so no worries.

5. He's definitely not there to make friends/interact with others.

6. WWE is selling Up Up Down Down merch and putting on the shows like Ride Along and Total Divas, so they're definitely getting behind what happens there. They just put more focus on what happens on Raw and Smackdown, both of which have a lot more viewers.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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