Bret responds to Martha, WWE airing in Romania, latest Hidden Gem, Interview with Big E, UFC name at WWEPC, Ziggler on MTV, assorted wrestling press, more on MSG-ROH, WWE signing works final date, ROH and Impact contracts expire, Slammiversary attendance note, top WWE name working Summerslam?, Hardy toning things down, WWE executive done, Ellsworth contract note, former Divas Champion looking to return, Regal update, Swann injured, and Questions on ROH avoiding NYC, Almas tapping to AJ, how WWE views AJ, and heat for JR's injury

Bret Hart responded to Martha Hart's recent statement regarding Owen Hart going into the WWE Hall of Fame. A lot of us want to see the family come together to honor Owen's place in the business in a way where everyone can benefit.

Romania will get Raw and Smackdown Live broadcasts in a new multi-year deal starting July 27. TV deals are absolutely still the lifeblood of wrestling.

WWE Network's most recent Hidden Gem featured The Rock (as Dwayne Johnson) vs. Chris Candido (as Skip of the Bodydonnas) taped before the March 11, 1996 episode of Raw.

Big E promoted a Smackdown Live live event. It's interesting to see how he thinks the group can continue for a long time. They've definitely lasted longer than people have expected.

UFC's Cain Velasquez trained at the WWE Performance Center and attended NXT's most recent taping. That's certainly pretty buzzworthy, but there's no guarantee he's going to jump to being a wrestler. It would be very big if he did.

Dolph Ziggler was on MTV's "Wild 'n Out" as a comedian. WWE is promoting his ventures, somewhat surprisingly.

WWE showed more footage from the ESPYs red carpet.

Madison Square Garden worked out a deal for ROH and NJPW to run the venue in exchange for ROH owner Sinclair Broadcasting dropping legal action against the venue and WWE. That could have been pretty messy given Sinclair feeling they had enough evidence that MSG had agreed to a deal.

- The G1 Supercard will be set up for around 15,000 fans, which is about how many fans WWE sets their shows up for. This is going to be a really big night for ROH, NJPW, and pro wrestling as a whole.

Lacey Lane had a farewell with The Crash before signing with WWE. We could see her in the Mae Young Classic.

Masa Saito was honored with a ceremony at Pro Wrestling NOAH on July 17.

Brickhouse Brown has been moved to hospice care due to brain cancer. He's 57. I hope for the best for him.

California indie wrestler Virgil Flynn III passed away due to a heat stroke at 33. That's sad to hear.

Pee Wee Herman was on hand for David Arquette's return to the ring at Championship Wrestling From Hollywood.

Alex Shelley's ROH contract has expired. He is still out of action following a recent injury. It's expected the two sides will work together again in 2019, with Shelley focusing on school for physical therapy for the remainder of the year.

Slammiversary is set up for 1,000 fans, so selling that out is pretty good for Impact.

Sienna has left Impact after her contract expired and wasn't renewed. She's been out injured. That's a shame. She was doing pretty well with that platform.

The Undertaker is being considered to wrestle at Summerslam. I'm curious what they'd do with him on that show.

Jeff Hardy will be toning down certain spots due to his injuries, notably the swanton bomb. He's taken a lot of big bumps. I hope he can get out before he's in too heavy pain.

WWE's executive vice president of consumer products has left. No word on what that will mean for the company going forward.

James Ellsworth is currently on a per-date contract with WWE. He's still taking independent dates and isn't working live WWE live events. So, it doesn't look like he'll be a long-term fixture. That might be for the best.

Kelly Kelly is interested in returning to WWE. I'm curious if WWE would like to use her again given their change in focus for their women.

William Regal has returned to NXT. That's good to hear.

Rich Swann was taken to the hospital Thursday night for what was believed to be a bad concussion. Impact is planning a replacement for Slammiversary.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm sure they're consciously factoring G1 Supercard into their plans for future venues.

2. Almas did pretty well against the WWE Champion. That's definitely the most prominently he's been booked since coming to Smackdown Live. I think he'll be fine.

3. WWE definitely considers the Universal Champion and his contenders as more prominent than the WWE Champion. I don't see it as them not being behind AJ or anything; they're just higher on the Raw side of things.

Nothing to add to 4.

5. The heat was primarily on the venue for not securing the barricade. Everything has been settled with the workers.

More wrestling tomorrow.