Tessa Blanchard promoted Bound For Glory on ESPN Radio in Chicago. Tickets went on sale recently.
Harley Race is the focus of WWE Network's latest Hidden Gems, featuring:
- Harley Race and Bill Watts vs. The Brisco Brothers from Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1974
- Harley Race vs. Billy Graham from Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1978
- Harley Race vs. Jack Brisco from Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1978
- Harley Race vs. Ric Flair from Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling from 1980
Jerry Lawler cut a promo on David Arquette because 2019 is crazy.
ESPN covered Mojo Rawley and Tino Sabbatelli going from football to wrestling. Poor Tino burying himself.
The Miz's Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance had a clip released.
MLW and FITE have announced a PPV distribution deal. The first PPV is on November 2. Good to see MLW continue to grow.
Summerslam 2020 will come from Massachusetts on August 23. The show will be preceded by Smackdown Live and a Takeover special in the same building, as well as Raw the next night there. I'm surprised they're continuing to do the same market four nights in a row.
Triple H held a conference call to promote Takeover:Toronto, recapped here:
- There's a lot of intrigue about that third fall.
- He would definitely be stretched thin running so many shows and being in charge of so many stars.
- If talent banded together, could they get Vince to embrace what makes NXT work for Raw and Smackdown Live? It's clear a lot of them like what HHH is doing.
- I'm glad they didn't rush the Horsewomen match just to do it, but Shayna could certainly be on a bigger stage by now.
- Yeah I don't see Triple H taking Vince's spot anytime soon.
- Hmmmmm, interesting notes about the MYC.
- Glad they're protecting Gargano.
- They've definitely been looking to feature EVOLVE for a while.
- It's pretty cool WWE will showcase so many different styles.
- Yeah I don't believe HHH doesn't keep track of AEW at all. It was funny to turn around the "counterprogramming" idea, though.
- Hopefully Rock's daughter goes to college first. She's young!
- Takeover could definitely be more stacked, but they want each match to get serious time.
- Yeah they could do more Takeovers if they wanted, hopefully not overexposing the top names and angles.
Lucha Underground has all four seasons available free on TubiTV. It's entirely possible that's the final destination for the product, as there's nothing moving forward on a fifth season.
Jim Ross remembered Harley Race on his most recent podcast.
ROH has officially signed UK talent Joe Hendry. They've been circling him for a while now. They definitely want him to help UK ticket sales in late October.
Trish Stratus promoted Summerslam. I'm glad Trish is only coming back for special occasions.
Finn Balor discussed his diet and training. It's silly in some ways to want him to gain muscle just for appearance's sake, since that prevented him from playing to his strengths.
Stone Cold is on Sam Roberts' latest podcast.
WWE is seeking writers' assistants, business operations coordinators, and media prep technicians.
Triplemania drew 18,000 fans, the biggest crowd anyone has drawn since WrestleMania.
WWE changing the women's tag title on Raw instead of Summerslam was a Paul Heyman call. It's probably wise to not overcrowd the PPV.
WWE pulling Aleister Black vs. Sami Zayn from Summerslam was a Vince McMahon decision to fill time on Smackdown Live when Vince removed other planned segments. It's disappointing to see such disarray with Creative given the amazing roster WWE has.
Super J Cup shows will air on New Japan World on a delay of unknown length. AXS will not be airing the shows, as G1 and the UK show will understandably take priority.
WWE is signing Australia's Locky Hendricks.
NXT UK's Eddie Dennis is leaving PROGESS in order to concentrate on WWE's brand. Hopefully that works out for him.
AEW chose its first three TV locations based on cities that had a lot of people watching their B/R shows. That makes sense.
- AEW's second TV taping will be set up for 5,000 fans, while the third taping will be set up for 7,000 fans. Those would be good crowds to have and keep demand going for future shows.
AEW will have other TNT programming ahead of their live debut, to introduce the show and its players to a larger audience. AEW has a chance to really excel.
PAC was recently injured. It's unknown how much time he'll miss, and if it will affect him potentially going to AEW.
LAX are starting in AAA soon, which could obviously lead to them joining AEW. They're heavily speculated to be Chris Jericho's partners on the October 2 TV debut.
AEW has signed the former Rebel as a hair and makeup artist. That's pretty cool.
NXT is expected to get a two-hour live show on FS1, running head-to-head with AEW. It's entirely possible this would have happened without AEW existing, but the timeslot has been clearly picked to run against what AEW is doing.
NXT UK talents won't be able to appear in streaming matches outside of WWE going forward. Part of this is because those talents will appear on WWE-affiliated promotions' matches on WWE Network when the tiered system launches.
- NXT UK talents are also no longer permitted to work with talent who are signed to AEW, NJPW, ROH, or World of Sport. Impact isn't on that list, which is a sign of how they're seen by WWE now. It's going to be tough for UK indies to survive with so many talent off the board now.
WWE is looking into buying FITE.TV, which may or may not end up being incorporated into WWE Network. That would be major for promotions that air there.
WWE's recent canceled Smackdown Live tour could be a sign of further cutting back on live events, given poor attendance at some markets. The company is considering doing more Supershows featuring talent from Raw and Smackdown Live to boost sales. I could see WWE letting more contracts expire given how many people are filling space on single-brand live events currently.
WWE is looking to do more live event specials like Smackville, as once Smackdown Live moves to FOX, the production crew will need to be able to do shows on Fridays and Mondays, making them available for more broadcasts.
Paige will be missing her Summerslam meet and greet due to a medical issue. More on this tomorrow.
Summerslam's Watch Along will feature Santino Marella, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Shayna Baszler, and Matt Riddle among others.
WWE Network's Roku app has been updated again.
Jim Ross' second autobiography will have a foreword by Ric Flair.
Stephanie McMahon spoke to Fortune, using the usual WWE talking points.
At NXT's August 8 live event in New York:
- Candice LeRae wrestled her first live event since May 19, teaming with Tegan Nox to beat Io Shirai and Bianca Belair.
- Bobby Fish worked his first live event since June 14 and Kyle O'Reilly worked his first live event since May 19 as they teamed with Adam Cole in a loss to Velveteen Dream and the Street Profits.
-- I'm guessing those names have been kept off to avoid injury risk? They've all been working well over a decade.
NXT UK's Walter, Trent Seven, Toni Storm, Jordan Devlin, and Travis Banks all competed at PROGRESS' events the past few days. AEW's Dark Order and Impact's Jordynne Grace were also on the card, but not in matches with the NXT UK names,
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm guessing that was the plan in January and now that AEW has the opportunity to run a regular schedule, things have changed. In order to fill a weekly TV series and such, AEW has to be able to have all their talents available to be booked!
2. I think it says Vince doesn't like/trust their vision as much as he does the visions of Prichard, Heyman, and Bischoff. So, the younger names will have to prove themselves to their new bosses if they want to move up.
3. The fact he didn't get physical at Raw Reunion says to me he's not returning to action.
4. 2K wanted to show that NXT talents will also be included in the game.
5. Punk wants to meet people who supported him when he wrestled and return home to non-wrestling life the same day.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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