War of the Worlds notes, Raw+SDL+NXT live event notes, DON distribution notes, AEW plots its future, another considered DON match, more on XFL TV deals, how much Vince has earmarked for XFL, why the Wild Card Rule happened, ROH name heading to NJPW, AAA name not coming to DON as expected, NJPW subscribers hit new peak, AXS ratings update, more on Viceland's next series, Moxley wrestling update, NJPW stars to UK, why MLW signed Von Erichs, AEW signs AAA stars and referees, WWE writer causes stir, Harper contract update, assorted wrestling press, big Homicide show coming, more Samu guests as signings set, more Hidden Gems, Interviews with Charlotte/Lacey/Ali/Justin Roberts, DSOTR ratings, more wrestling books coming, Adam Rose retirement match set, Takeover title match set, and another Impact champion injured

NJPW did not have merchandise available at War of the Worlds: Buffalo, which definitely seems like a missed opportunity and solidifies this tour as being relatively unimportant for the company. NJPW's U.S. expansion could use some adjustments.

Allie and Braxton Sutter were at War of the Worlds: Buffalo. They're local to the area. I'm glad an AEW talent was allowed to visit.

Bully Ray and Dave Lagana worked backstage at War of the Worlds: Buffalo.

At Raw's May 8 live event in Northern Ireland:
- Titus O'Neil worked his first live event since March 24, losing to Mojo Rawley. This was Titus' first match since WrestleMania.
- Beth Phoenix and Natalya defeated Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. I assume the Riott Squad members will rotate in matches on the tour.

Double or Nothing is expected to be announced for satellite and streaming shortly. The streaming options could be linked to their future TV home. Fite.TV will carry the show internationally, but not in the U.S. or UK due to other streaming deals in place.

AEW PPV pre-shows could end up on the company's future TV home. Buy-In could be the regular name for those.

AEW intends to have more Casino Battle Royale matches in the future. It's an easy way to get a lot of people on the card.

Double or Nothing will feature another women's match featuring Japanese stars. At one point the plan was Aja Kong vs. Yuka Sakazaki.

XFL's TV deals are only for production costs, rather than rights fees. So the plan is for the key revenue drivers to be ticket sales, merchandise, and local sponsorships hopefully leading to bigger future TV deals paying for rights. The just-announced deals are for three years. This is a big, expensive gamble for Vince McMahon, who has earmarked $350 million (!!!) for the project through the next three years. Naturally, he can sell more stock to increase that number.

XFL's streaming deals are with ESPN and FOX, so the games will not appear on WWE Network.

XFL production and staffing will be handled by the TV networks, not Vince McMahon's crew. Vince will still have a big role in the promotion of the project.

WWE's Wild Card rule was a response to USA Network being unhappy with rating drops and FOX wanting certain names to appear on Smackdown Live. I'd expect the rule to stay in place going forward. Obviously some speculate this will lead to the end of the brand extension altogether, but that's not being discussed at this time. It's more of a case of top names showing up on both brands than mixing up the entire roster. WWE also doesn't want to retreat on the brand split only three years after instituting it.

Brody King is making his NJPW debut on the Best of Super Juniors tour, immediately following War of the Worlds. Obviously he's not in the tournament itself.

AAA's El Hijo del Vikingo will not work Double or Nothing as earlier expected, as he'll be working AAA's TV taping that night.

New Japan World has reached its highest worldwide subscriber count at close to 120,000 following an increase in English-language event streaming.

AXS is seeing big ratings increases for NJPW content after showing more up-to-date footage each week.

Viceland's "The Wrestlers" will have content from lucha libre, EVOLVE, Stardom, DDT, and death matches.

Jon Moxley will likely start wrestling with multiple companies after filming "Cagefighter."

NJPW's Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI, and Shingo Takagi are set for Revolution Pro's June 29 event.

MLW signing the Von Erichs was partially to expand business in Texas.

War of the Worlds: Buffalo drew about 700 fans.

AEW has signed referees Rick Knox and Bryce Remsberg.

AEW has signed Riho for five shows, which could lead to a longer deal if she likes working in the U.S.

WWE writer Jennifer Pepperman recently won an Emmy for Outstanding Director of a Digital Drama Series. She brought the award to a Creative meeting, which was seen as amazingly naïve by the other team members. She's otherwise well liked and has been with the company long enough this probably won't affect her.

Harper's contract could be extended through April or May 2020 to cover time he missed due to injury. He's not booked for anything going forward. I hope talent's paying attention to this situation.

Tony Nese "took over" 205 Live's Twitter account yesterday.

Homicide is being honored with a 25th anniversary (!!!) show on July 14 in New York from Game Changer Wrestling.

Samu's fundraiser event will feature meet-and-greets with the previously advertised stars. Lance Anao'i, Terri Runnels, and Ace Austin have been added to the show, too. Very glad to see the WWE Hall of Famer being helped out here.

WWE Network's latest Hidden Gem is Texas Championship Wrestling from October 27, 1980, said to be one of the only existing episodes in the WWE vault. TCW was the precursor to WCCW. This episode features Bruiser Brody teaming with Kevin Von Erich, David Von Eric, and Fritz Von Erich. Of course, Dark Side of the Ring recently aired episodes on the Von Erich family and Bruiser Brody.

- WWE Network has also added a Texas Death Match between Fritz Von Erich and The Sheik from 1977

Charlotte Flair spoke to Newsday. Pretty standard stuff.

AEW has signed AAA's Jack Evans. Their roster's looking impressive. It's expected the core roster is pretty much decided, but there's still room for other names on a case-by-case basis.

"Dark Side of the Ring" drew 225,000 viewers for the fifth episode.

Lacey Evans promoted Money in the Bank. Pretty amazing that her daughter can travel with her.

- Lacey also talked to the New York Post about battling depression. I'm glad that's a conversation people are having now. Her career is definitely going places.

Daniel Bryan and Becky Lynch trained with Conor McGregor's coach. That's pretty cool.

Tito Santana and Justin Credible are the subjects of upcoming autobiographies.

The former Adam Rose will retire on June 14 after a match with Bull James.

At Smackdown Live's May 9 live event in Ireland:
- Zelina Vega worked her first live event match since April 1, teaming with Andrade in a loss to R-Truth and Carmella.
- Sami Zayn worked his first live event since June 2018, losing to Xavier Woods via DQ when Kevin Owens ran in on Sami's behalf.

Takeover XXV has officially added Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship. Should be pretty good.

Ali discussed coming to Smackdown Live. He could definitely be in a tough position as a heel. I'm glad he wasn't automatically considered one based on his religion.

Justin Roberts discussed coming to AEW and more.

At NXT's May 9 Florida live event:
- The former Elliot Sexton (Brendan Vink) and Jonah Rock (Jermaine Haley) reunited in a loss to The Street Profits. Court Moore managed the Australian duo.
- Shane Strickland worked his first NXT live event, losing to Roderick Strong

Impact tag team champion Santana tore his MCL. He's looking to avoid surgery by canceling some upcoming dates. I hope LAX doesn't miss much time for this; Santana joins world champion Brian Cage on the injured list.

Before War of the Worlds Toronto, the Shinobi Shadow Squad won a six-man tag match. One of the three opponents was Brian Johnson, who's competed in several dark matches for the company this year on top of being squashed by The Bouncers on ROH TV in March. There's no data on who his partners were.

More wrestling tomorrow.