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Thursday, May 2, 2019

Ambrose's next move, WWE Saudi show official, Goldberg back in WWE, Angle appearance set, Orton responds to Bray, upcoming Impact matches, Naomi honored, Interviews with Lana/Ervin/Bryan/Kofi, Ryder milestone, SDL audience, Jeff Hardy injury update, Rhyno set for post-WWE booking, new Hidden Gem, top LU name gets release, Cabana at MLB game, NXT commentary change, Takeover date set, NXT dark match featuring debuting signing, and Questions on Brock's greatness and an Impact stable

Dean Ambrose released a video showcasing his return to the name Jon Moxley. His social media profiles are now under that name as well.

Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker are booked for WWE's Saudi Arabian event, which has been officially announced for June 7. Interestingly, the show is not currently named. Goldberg, 52, last wrestled at WrestleMania 33. Saudi Arabia gets some pretty major names!

Kurt Angle will appear at The Gathering in North Carolina on August 17, so his new WWE deal allows him to take some convention appearances.

Randy Orton responded to Bray Wyatt's forgiveness of his past actions. Twitter Randy is great. That was definitely an odd (and expensive!) WrestleMania moment. And Bray still lost!

Impact and House of Glory's Code Red special Sunday will feature:
- Moose vs. Ken Broadway
- Tessa Blanchard and Violette vs. Scarlett Bordeaux and Sonya Strong
- The North vs. The Rascalz' Dez and Wentz
- Rich Swann vs. Ace Austin vs. Trey vs. Smiley vs. Evander James vs. Mantequilla for the HOG Crown Jewel Championship
- LAX vs. oVe's Dave and Jake Crist vs. the New York Wrecking Krew
- Michael Elgin vs. Willie Mack
- Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie vs. Eddie Edwards and Alisha Edwards
-- Notably Brian Cage is not listed.

Naomi was inducted into the Boys & Girls Club Alumni Hall of Fame. That's pretty special.

Impact's TV taping Friday has added:
- Rosemary vs. Su Yung in a "Demon Collar" Match
- LAX vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack
- Knockouts battle royal

Impact's TV taping Saturday has added:
- Eddie Edwards vs. Killer Kross in a street fight
- LAX vs. The Rascalz' Wentz and Dez

Rusev and Lana are creating a comic book series. Lana discussed the project. I hope that's a good outlet for them.

Zack Ryder marked 12 years since his WWE debut. I'm glad he and Curt have something to show for it now.

Smackdown Live drew 1.83 million viewers Tuesday night, the lowest non-holiday audience in series history.

Jeff Hardy will miss six-to-nine months after knee surgery. That's really unfortunate, since this could be his final year under WWE contract.

Rhyno is returning to indie promotion IWC in 2019. His WWE contract is set to expire in July, but WWE has already removed him from their Superstars page on WWE.com.

Stacey Ervin, Jr. spoke about leaving NXT and more:
- No way was he the quickest to go from no wrestling experience to TV. Kaitlyn working NXT has got to take the cake there.

- Interesting that the HBO piece had that effect on him.

Daniel Bryan is on Jimmy Jacobs' first podcast. I already miss his life lessons!

Kofi Kingston promoted WWE's upcoming European tour:
- I think there's room for him to be "more serious" as champion, but not to the point it takes away the appeal of what got him to his spot in the first place.

- Hey, I'm all for some of the cruisers getting bigger opportunities.

- OK I like Ricochet and all but I think it's too early to talk about him winning MITB. Have him be U.S. Champion first, at least.

WWE Network's latest Hidden Gem is Pro Wrestling USA's August 1985 event featuring Ric Flair vs. Sgt. Slaughter and The Fabulous Freebirds vs. the Road Warriors and Paul Ellering.

Jeff Cobb has been granted his Lucha Underground release. Cobb, of course, has been signed to ROH for a while now and working there regularly. Hopefully other names will be freed from those deals soon as well.

Colt Cabana threw out the first pitch for the Chicago White Sox Wednesday. I'm glad he got that honor.

Beth Phoenix did commentary at NXT's Wednesday taping, replacing Percy Watson. It's unknown if this will become a regular role for her.

NXT Takeover will be June 1. A location will be announced Monday. That's a pretty quick turnaround; we'll see what ticket sales are like for a show with that little notice.

NXT's Wednesday taping had a dark match of Trevor Lee defeating Shane Strickland. This was Strickland's NXT debut.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Brock beat Seth and Kofi simultaneously for both titles, although with TV being the most important driver of WWE revenue, you'd think they'd want a champion who's regularly on TV? I don't expect the brands and titles to combine just yet, although I could see that idea come up if ratings continue to slide.

2. I would unironically love that, but no way would PG WWE want to be associated with something that violent.

3. Brock without a doubt. He didn't need an entourage to help him win matches and keep the title.

4. I don't anticipate that happening. That would be a really big investment at the expense of hiring other wrestlers and personnel. I also don't know if Brock would fit in with AEW's vision.

5. I don't think an Impact stable is an awful idea, and of course Drake Maverick could manage them (I don't know if Dixie would be interested or if WWE would use her), but I think some of those names would be held back by that association. They also wouldn't want to draw too much attention to a promotion that still exists.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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