Piper DVD coming, Silver King honored, Interviews with Vince/ESPN head/Strauss/Gowen/Khan, Truth+Stephanie appearances, Bray mask origins, Impact champ returns to action, Impact employee resigns, Slammiversary details, Lars fined, NXT signing official, Big Show gets TV role, Titus lawsuit settled, Raw audience, Raw live event notes, NXT names set for UK festival, WWE nominated for MTV Awards, AEW signs ROH ref, MLW live special set, new WWE trademarks, updated Extreme Rules card, SDL dark match, and a Question on WWE handling Saudi objectors

A Roddy Piper unreleased matches compilation DVD set is coming August 27 in the U.S. and September 2 in the UK. The set will feature a Ronda Rousey interview on Piper.

Eric Bischoff discussed Silver King with TMZ Sports. Good to see him put the legend over.

R-Truth will drive the pace car at NASCAR's May 18 race. This gives FOX an opportunity to plug Smackdown Live's move.

Vince McMahon spoke to Variety about the state of WWE and more:
- Facebook or another digital home for Raw or Smackdown Live would have been a big game-changer for the industry as a whole.

- Wow, really? The current product is still too rough for some advertisers? I mean they throw in some swear words here and there, but they're hardly pushing the envelope of what's acceptable.

- I mean, yeah, those TV deals are amazing, but that's definitely the only major success the company's seeing beyond the Saudi stadium shows. And, of course, WWE should try to justify that price tag with better audience numbers.

- Wait, really? The new TV deals are going to pay well regardless of ratings or ad sales? NBCU and FOX took a big risk with that.

- "Highly-rated" is less true now than it was even a few years ago. Yes, Raw and Smackdown Live are still important shows, but their status is slipping.

- I can only imagine what the WWE-FOX integration will be like.

- Live TV isn't as invulnerable as was thought.

- Oh nah we were definitely upset Owens turned so soon.

- Yes, talents can ask for time off, but it can come at the expense of their momentum and "push" to disappear for a while.

- WWE is definitely being proactive with head injuries.

- It's not like TV networks are looking to pay for NXT, 205 Live, etc. or the archived content.

- Wowwww I didn't realize there was that big of a gap with UFC's sponsorships.

- Oh yeah things have definitely changed from TV being advertising for live events. TV is king now.

- Vince isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Yes, he's going to do XFL things, but he's still going to be the main decision-maker in WWE.

Bray Wyatt's new mask was created by Hollywood's Tom Savini's team. It's REALLY good.

Brian Cage returned to the ring this weekend for Warrior Wrestling in Illinois. Hopefully this means he's back going forward.

Impact social media head Garrett Kidney finished up this past weekend. He was very passionate in the role.

ESPN discussed negotiations with WWE for Smackdown Live. That could have been an interesting pairing.

Impact detailed Slammiversary XVII's ticket packages, including a newly-revamped VIP program called Titanium. I'm curious how well the show will do, and if there's any piggybacking from G1 Climax.

Lars Sullivan has been fined $100,000 for comments uncovered recently. He will also undergo sensitivity training and meet with community organizations on the matter. I definitely understand WWE distancing itself from the unacceptable things he posted, although it seems odd to stiffly punish him for things he did years before joining the company if he sincerely apologized. We'll see what the fallout for this will be, for Lars and for WWE as a whole.

WWE has officially announced DJZ's signing to NXT. I'm curious how he'll do there, especially if 205 Live is shuttered when Smackdown Live moves to Fridays.

Big Show has been announced for SyFy's "Van Helsing" in an unspecified role.

Stephanie McMahon will be part of VidCon's 10th annual gala in California.

NXT's Robert Strauss was profiled ahead of an NXT live event in New Jersey.

Titus O'Neil's "Swerved" lawsuit has been officially settled. Terms were not disclosed. Hopefully this is all taken care of now.

Raw drew 2.35 million viewers Monday night, which was surprisingly up for a non-live episode.

At Raw's May 14 live event in France:
- Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado defeated The Singh Brothers, so that explains why they weren't wrestling on 205 Live.
- Bayley and Ember Moon defeated Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. This is why Bayley and Ember weren't on Smackdown Live.

NXT's Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Shayna Baszler, and Matt Riddle are advertised for the Download Festival along with NXT UK talents.

WALTER defeated R-Truth to retain the UK Championship at Smackdown Live's May 13 live event in England.

WWE is nominated for the 2019 MTV Awards for Best Fight (Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch) and Best Real-Life Hero (Roman Reigns). I'm curious how well they'll do.

Zach Gowen discussed WWE helping him out and more:
- Producing is definitely a valuable role!

- I definitely hope AEW can be something of note after all that's being put into it.

- Impact could probably use someone like him for a backstage role given how many other producers have left.

- Really cool what he's accomplishing now.

AEW has signed ROH referee Paul Turner. No one is safe from being signed away!

NJPW will honor Silver King at their May 22 event. Great to see.

AEW President Tony Khan spoke to ITV Wrestling about Double or Nothing and future AEW U.K. events. It definitely looks like AEW is headed to ITV once a TV show gets off the ground. Khan has big plans for the promotion.

MLW: Fury Road will air live on June 1 on beIN Sports. I expect Austin Aries to pop up on that show in some fashion.

WWE has trademarked "WWE SuperShowdown" and "WWE Supershow" ahead of their return to Saudi Arabia.

Extreme Rules is currently advertising:
- Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship
- Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the WWE Universal Championship in a tables match
- Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Elias
- AJ Styles vs. Drew McIntyre

After Smackdown Live, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com question:
1. I haven't seen anything about anyone deciding not to go on the trip yet. I expect WWE wants to work around certain names potentially not appearing as best as they can and as quietly as they can. As for any repercussions for talent not appearing, it will depend on the talent. Someone like Daniel Bryan is relatively safe since the company needs him more than he needs them, but other talents lower on the card could potentially be put on the shelf if WWE feels embarrassed by their refusal and thinks it's worth the bad press to keep them benched. As far as talents being able to leave and go to AEW, that's obviously an option down the line, but WWE's not going to release them and have them go right to the competition.

More wrestling tomorrow.