David Arquette spoke to TMZ Sports about upcoming matches.
WWE did a Firefly Fun House "Yule Log" stream. Yeah I think everyone gets a little loopy ideas-wise at the end of the year.
Stardom's Wrestle Kingdom 14 dark match will be Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki vs. Hana Kimura and Guilia. Those are definitely top names to showcase.
Dynamite's March 25 event will be in New Jersey. They can seat more than 14,000 people there, so AEW is aiming very big for their first show in the market.
NXT's Malcolm Bivens "hacked into" The Bump. I'm surprised we haven't seen more from him and Robert Stone.
Dynamite has added Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks vs. Pac and the Lucha Brothers. That's a great match to get back on the map after a week off and a less-than-beloved angle to conclude the last Dynamite.
Sami Zayn reached $50,000 raised for his Syrian charity, achieving his goal. That's great!
Bayley promoted Friday's Smackdown. Sounds like she's REALLY glad to be rid of the ponytail.
Adam Cole was honored by CBS Sports as their wrestler of the year. Very cool to see.
Stardom's Kagetsu announced retiring on January 26, announcing the promotion was in good hands to continue without her. She will produce a February 24 show as a farewell ceremony. That's another surprise, as I figured she'd be poised to do bigger things under the new ownership. I wish her the best with whatever she does next.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I love this idea for a question!
1.a. A team that he feels can competently implement a successful vision to attract a large, mainstream wrestling audience for decades to come. That includes the people in charge of talent recruitment, talent development, and creative. I'm frankly shocked that he's let Triple H have such leeway in signings that clearly don't fit Vince's vision of superstar, and I would think Vince would look in that direction to wonder why ratings aren't what they were before Triple H got a blank check to sign and develop so many wrestlers.
1.b. A large-scale vision of Raw, Smackdown, and NXT (and its related projects), where each brand can be distinct and each brand can draw a large audience. I question how successful 205 Live and NXT UK have been, specifically, given the investments in them. I think in his role it's critical to have a true developmental pipeline to Raw and Smackdown in addition to side projects that appeal to different audiences. I'd also give him some more parameters and benchmarks to meet within a certain budget, as right now he can essentially do whatever he wants with his brands, and I don't know if that mindset will translate when he has to answer to USA, FOX, stockholders, etc.
1.c. Someone or a team or someones outside of The Elite bubble who will look at the product and roster and ask for justifications for the EVP's decisions. For instance, before expanding the roster, with a few key exceptions like Marty Scurll, there need to be discussions of how they fit into things. It feels like they have a lot more talents than they need.
1.d. Honestly I think the best Christmas gift I could give for a number of companies would be working agreements. Impact and ROH could benefit from access to the other's rosters on "off" dates. Heck, joint shows could be something worth looking at, too. I don't follow NWA and MLW, but I'd think they could also be boosted with such a deal.
1.e. and 1.f. both sound good.
1.g. Something tells me he'd be interested in some sort of creative role. The obvious idea would be for him to work with Paul Heyman on Raw, but while we're playing fantasy booking, maybe he could be part of something that works for Smackdown? They could use a visionary.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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