Main Event Reax - 8/2/19, PROGRESS head finishing up, more NJPW tickets on sale, ROH name working hurt, WWE content in Africa, Interviews with Natalya/Rock/Mojo/Kofi/Ali, Knockout signs long-term deal, canceled WWE shows update, extreme WWE book coming, WWE profiling hometown stars, Evers injury update, AEW TV sells out, more on WWE Netflix movie, Raw ticket discount, new Network episode coming, WWE star back in the ring, NXT live event update, notable Impact results, and Questions on AEW ticket expectations, fake Diesel and Razor, Show's in-ring future, ECW running in a tornado, multilingual matches, and Joey Styles' whereabouts

-- Main Event:
- Lacey vs. Dana:
I like this so far.

I liked how they worked together there.

- LHP vs. EC3/Roode/EY:
Fun so far.

Impressive work from LHP as usual.

Good showcase for LHP before the heel win. 

PROGRESS' Jim Smallman has announced he will finish his duties with the company at the end of 2019, at which point he will join NXT UK full-time. It will be interesting to see how both groups are affected by that move.

NJPW's Massachusetts show has opened up more tickets now that they have decided production plans.

Brody King is working through an ankle injury. He's a tough man.

WWE is getting an African "pop-up" channel for the remainder of 2019. Raw, Smackdown Live, PPVs, WWE Main Event, Total Divas, Miz & Mrs, and recap shows are all included.

Natalya promoted Summerslam. It sounds like Paul Heyman is giving talents more freedom with promos. We'll see if that mentality extends to Smackdown Live.

The Rock discussed meeting fans and missing wrestling on Live with Kelly and Ryan. I'm sure we'll see him in WWE again at some point, even if it's just for a Hall of Fame induction. I wouldn't count on him wrestling, though.

Impact has signed Kiera Hogan to a multi-year contract. She really has an opportunity to grow there.

Mojo Rawley was profiled for his extensive Zubaz collection.

Smackdown Live's scheduled live events this weekend aren't set to be rescheduled. WWE might be finally looking into fixing their live event attendance problems.

WWE will release a "WWE Beyond Extreme" book in March 2020, focusing on big and unusual spectacles the company has had.

Kofi Kingston promoted Summerslam. It's weird they're explaining the whole "Orton holding Kofi back" thing.

Natalya discussed Ronda Rousey's WWE future. We'll see where things go once Ronda has a child.

Ali promoted Summerslam. Very interesting stuff about finally being able to embrace who he is.

WWE has begun a "Hometown Superstar" YouTube series in association with Crickey Wireless. Ember Moon is the first subject.

Rachael Evers tore an ACL at an NXT live event last weekend. She will have surgery this week. Unfortunate to get hurt that soon after signing an NXT deal.

AEW's October 2 TV taping has officially sold out. The biggest surprise there is how little of a surprise it is. They're an incredibly hot ticket.

- Cody, Brandi Rhodes, Matt Jackson (Tweet 1 Tweet 2), Nick Jackson, and the official AEW Twitter page all commented on the big news. AEW is a force.

- About 1,000 tickets will be released once production is finalized. I'm sure they'll be picked up, too!

WWE's Netflix movie "The Main Event" will feature NXT's Babatunde as its lead villain. Heavy Machinery's Otis will also be featured in the movie.

- Ace Steel is producing matches featuring independent wrestlers that will be incorporated in the movie.

Monday's Raw is featuring a 25% off ticket sale. That's one way to get more people in the door, but it doesn't address the key issues behind the audience decline.

"WWE Untold" will release a new episode Summerslam weekend. There's no word on what will be covered this time.

Fandango returned to the ring at NXT's August 1 Florida live event, reuniting Breezango in a win over The Outliers.

NXT's Kona Reeves returned to the ring at their August 2 Florida event, defeating Bronson Reed in Kona's first match since June 22.

It Impact's Unbreakable event:
- Fidel Bravo beat El Mariachi Loco in the dark match
- AEW's Peter Avalon teamed with Ray Rosas to defeat Chris Bey and Watts. I'm not sure if Avalon isn't under AEW contract or if this is just him getting a date before AEW starts full-time.
- Scott Steiner worked his first Impact match since April 2018, teaming with Petey Williams and Jordynne Grace to defeat Dicky Mayer, Jervis Cottonbelly, and Ryan Taylor
- Reno SCUM worked their first Impact match since February, unsuccessfully challenging The North for the Impact Tag Team Championship in a match that also featured the team of Rich Swann and Willie Mack.
- Sami Callihan defeated Tessa Blanchard to become No. 1 contender to the Impact World Championship

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. People were saying 5,000 seemed about right, with anything over 9,000 being quite the success. Both numbers are firmly in the rear view mirror of what they ended up getting!

2. WWF was pretty upset at those two leaving, and that was their way of firing back. I think to a degree WWF was saying they could get two more guys to do what Nash and Hall had done with the characters.

3. He's still under contract as a talent if they want to use him in that capacity and he can be cleared to get physical again.

4. That's ECW for you!

5. Generally talents speak enough of the host company's language to get by. They don't have to be fluent; they just need to get across what moves to do when. I'm sure multilingual producers are involved in putting things together in cases like that, too.

6. He has completely distanced himself from his wrestling days and is apparently doing something in a private capacity that isn't connected to the business. There's no indication he will be coming back for anything in the public lens.

More wrestling tomorrow.