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Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Interview with HHH, lots of potential WWE DVDs, Taker set for another WWE event, WWE-MSG updates, Impact drops title, more NXT live events, WWE team gets first merch, All In 2 teased for major venue, WOH hurt, new ROH matches, why HHH+Stephanie missed Raw, matches announced for next week's Raw, and Questions on Cass' theme being similar to Punk's, WWE dream matches, Neville's title reign, Nia now being the bully, and Impact changing tv homes

Triple H spoke with PWInsider.com about recruiting for the WWE Performance Center, basically putting over potential talents being able to apply online.

WWE's potential DVD options for 2019, according to a recent survey, are:
- New Day
- Roman Reigns
- Andre the Giant
- Sgt. Slaughter
- The Miz
- John Cena in the "New Era"
- Alexa Bliss
- Ted DiBiase, Sr.
- Braun Strowman
- Best of NXT 2018
- Best of PPVs 2018
- Best of Raw and SDL for 2018
- Best of WWE Superstars (the show from 1986-1996)
- Asuka
- the ECW Championship (it's unknown if this would include the ECW brand)
- SDL's 20th anniversary
- Goldust
- Best of Takeover
- Shinsuke Nakamura
- Finn Balor
- AJ Styles' full career (TNA is mentioned by name)
- Four Horsewomen
- Roddy Piper's unreleased matches
- Rick Rude
- Charlotte Flair
- John Cena's world championship victories
- Trish Stratus
- Dean Ambrose

-- WWE also asked for interest in including mini figurines, WWE mobile game downloads, a digital copy of the DVD, wall decals, mini-books, bonus footage, trading cards, and mini-posters with DVDs. They're really putting a lot of attention in the slumping home video department. I hope it works out well for them.

The Undertaker is booked for Madison Square Garden at Raw's July 7 show, his first appearance there in eight years, confirming the continued importance of MSG to WWE and Undertaker for special events.

- Also announced for the show:
-- Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Elias for the Intercontinental Championship
-- Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship

- Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal is no longer advertised for MSG, which seemingly indicates the IC Title match will headline in its place unless they're going to put Brock on the show. That will be an interesting situation to watch.

Impact has officially dropped the Grand Championship, with Austin Aries unifying it with the World Championship as the result of defeating Pentagon Jr. on the most recent Impact. Aries won the championship on January 14 and only defended it once, at a Quebec indie show on May 26. The roster isn't really big enough to have three male singles titles at this point. I liked the title while it lasted, though, especially with the unique rules.

NXT has announced shows in Massachusetts on August 16 and New Jersey on August 17 leading to Takeover:Brooklyn IV.

The B-Team have an official shirt now. They're making the most of their silly push.

Cody teased "All In 2" would come to Madison Square Garden, which would be the first time a non-WWE show has run the venue in more than two decades, as WCW and AAA ran shows in the smaller Hulu Theater. The main venue holds 18,500 fans for wrestling, and hasn't been run by a non-McMahon promotion since WWE's founding. That would be a MASSIVE move for pro wrestling.

Kelly Klein chipped a tooth during ROH's TV taping this weekend. Hopefully she'll be OK to continue working.

Punishment Martinez vs. Hangman Page is set for Best in the World. That should be a fun clash.

The Kingdom's Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia will face The Boys on ROH's June 15 event. That's an interesting way to go, since Matt's usually the singles star of the group. Dalton Castle and TK O'Ryan are advertised for the show, but not in official matches yet.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon missed Raw due to preparing for an event in Los Angeles to promote WWE getting an Emmy Award. Understandably, that's a big goal for WWE. Shawn Michaels, Ronda Rousey, Roman Reigns, and the Bella Twins are also set for the panel on Wednesday. I'm curious what will happen with Baron Corbin as Stephanie's representative. I assume she'll fire him at some point and he'll be yet another wrestler undercut by her.

Announced for 205 Live:
- Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali
- Brian Kendrick vs. Lince Dorado

Announced for next week's Raw:
- Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor vs. Bobby Roode
- Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks vs. Ember Moon vs. Natalya
- Nia Jax going face-to-face with Ronda Rousey
-- So plenty of MITB related hype.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I can kind of hear the resemblance, but I definitely don't think they're trying to draw a connection between the two. They just wanted to use something badass sounding for the big intimidating guy.

2. As was said, WWE has a lot of talents who could really have great matches. It's almost cruel to speculate since we probably won't get some of them, or at least get them with the hype of Gargano vs. Ciampa. A lot of a dream match is building up two people so their collision is meaningful. Like, right now, I'm really looking forward to Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross. Both have been built up as people you don't want to mess with.

3. 205 Live wasn't/isn't a big priority for Vince. I think he mainly focused on the characters and match layouts rather than the booking.

4. She was bullied by Alexa, and now she's the one bullying Ronda. It's actually probably pretty true to life! But, yes, they changed course so they could rush her facing Ronda at MITB.

5. As was said, beggars can't be choosers. I don't expect their U.S. TV situation to improve any time soon.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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