Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch are teasing wrestling inside Hell in a Cell. Considering their feud just started, I don't think they should rush into something so drastic as the Cell. There are enough cell matches set already. I'm sure they can deliver in that environment, though.
The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels have new merchandise coming off their Raw appearance. Smart!
James Ellsworth was backstage at Smackdown Live and 205 Live. There's potential for him as the GM of 205 Live if they want Maverick to just be on Raw.
Batista recently teased returning to wrestling when asked about his future as an actor in the wake of criticizing Disney over firing "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn. I almost expect him to have a final run, even if it's brief.
Mixed Match Challenge will return on September 18, with the finals as part of WWE TLC on December 16. Each episode will feature two matches, and the teams this time are:
- Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss
- Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
- Kevin Owens and Natalya
- Finn Balor and Bayley
- Bobby Lashley and Sasha Banks
- AJ Styles and Charlotte Flair
- The Miz and Asuka
- R-Truth and Carmella
- Jimmy Uso and Naomi
- Rusev and Lana
-- I really enjoyed the show's combinations last time, so I hope there's more fun where that came from.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Vince's succession is happening in degrees. He'll maintain an important role for some time to some, and will likely hang on to the top spot as long as he can. Some things are definitely changing, and that will further happen as the XFL launch approaches, but Vince isn't fully stepping aside anytime in the near future.
2. I definitely don't think it's some sort of battle with Dunn. The business is always cycling out some names for others.
3. The business really took a toll on him.
4. Each entity is trying to latch onto popular and talented wrestlers in order to bring those talents' fans to their events. They're trying to draw ratings, after all, and that's harder with unknown names. And, really, there are only so many talents they can use who are at that level. Certainly each of them realize they can't just push those names, so they're pushing others, too.
5.a. WWE felt Enzo and Cass were ready for something on their own, while Carmella wasn't. So rather than waiting for Carmella to get to their level, they went ahead and pushed them separately.
b. WWE saw (and still sees) a lot more in Alexa than Blake and Murphy combined. They essentially didn't want them to hold her back.
c. It's believed Ellering didn't want to be on the road full-time, contrasted with the lighter NXT schedule primarily in Florida.
d. Either Smackdown Live management doesn't think Nikki is quite ready yet while the others were, or it was felt NXT's women's roster could use her more. It could also be a case of seeing how well each side could develop separately.
6. NXT is for developing people for all places on the card. And it's worth noting a lot of the names to come through there were recruited in the FCW era rather than developed "from scratch," so some of them are only partially an NXT product, so to speak. It's possible a good number of them wouldn't have been signed by Triple H had he been in charge when they were picked up. And I can't say I fault HHH for signing people who are already pretty experienced so they make it to Raw or Smackdown Live quickly.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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