Elgin update, TNA-AO1 lawsuit update, WWE looking at a lot of signings, WWE veteran returning, NXT injury, where Smackdown talents are, Bucks-Hardys update, Final Battle visitors, more Smackdowns online, Titus charity, WWE Week promotion, Aussie tryouts, more women in WWE soon, Interviews with Edge/Corbin/Orton, TND preview, looking at WWE in China, and Questions on Santino's WWE future, Snuka in the HoF, Dixie's future, and Dirty White Boys

Michael Elgin looks to return to action for NJPW's January 4 Tokyo Dome show.  I hope he's back hossing it up soon. WWE should definitely keep an eye on him once he's contractually free.

TNA and Audience of One have been ordered to discuss settling their lawsuit. In the lawsuit, the Harris brothers dispute working for Aroluxe. That would be news to pretty much everyone following the story.

WWE is expected to sign Olympic silver medalist Travis Stevens. WWE is also discussing a deal with kickboxer Chi Lewis Perry, who was at that same tryout. I'd like to see both succeed with their impressive backgrounds.

Mickie James has been signed to a three-year deal, and will be joining Smackdown in January. That's exciting! So, they obviously feel she has a lot left in the tank. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up becoming a coach or something at some point.

Sawyer Fulton will miss a few months due to an arm injury. Big Damo looks to be replacing him, although that doesn't necessarily mean Fulton's totally out of the picture. Time will tell.

Naomi and Jey Uso have been out due to ankle injuries. Naomi is expected back this coming week. The Smackdown women's roster has really been short without her around.

The Hardys vs. The Bucks of Youth is being penciled in for WM33 weekend for ROH. I'm interested in what that means for The Hardys continuing in TNA.

Arda Ocal, EVOLVE's Larry Davis, and Stokely Hathaway were all at Final Battle. Hathaway just stopped in to see friends and left before the show took place. I'm a little surprised he hasn't ended up in TNA or WWE.

WWE is adding Smackdown episodes from 2006 to the Network. It shouldn't be too much longer before they have the complete run of the show up to a month or so ago.

Titus O'Neil presented a $250,000 check from WWE to the Jimmy V Foundation at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. So, despite being squashed by Mark Henry, he's still viewed really positively by WWE brass.

A number of WWE superstars will be part of Talk Stoop next week to promote "WWE Week" on USA Network. Gabriel Iglesias will be part of Smackdown, too. I didn't know he was still a thing.

Shinsuke Nakamura retained the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe in Australia, so that was Joe's rematch. Nakamura will have a new opponent in San Antonio following a tournament on NXT TV.

WWE gave tryouts to a number of local wrestlers before their recent NXT show in Australia.

WWE is expected to pick up a lot of talents in early 2017. They're doing heavy scouting, to the point of having producers watch indie promotions' shows and rating the talents. WOW. Sounds like they're really expanding things.

WWE is expected to sign Heidi Lovelace, Kimber Lee, Nixon Newell, and Cheree Crowley (Evie) to report to the performance center on January 3. I'm guessing it's just a matter of them having to make it through the usual procedures.

WWE has also set another tryout week for early February. So, yes, they're doing a lot of recruiting right now.

Edge talked about retiring and more:
- Edge passing the torch to Christian and having his buddy make it to another level would have been great. I wish Christian would have gotten further in WWE.

- I want to hear The Undertaker read children's books. Or Vince. Or Ric Flair.... someone make this happen.

- Jeff's insane. Like, holy shit. I have no idea how he does it.

- I definitely wouldn't rule out another TLC match at Mania. There's usually room for a multiple-person car crash.

- I'd love to know how Vince and HHH took The E&C Show. They really went on a tear on that show.

- Oh, they put in inside references pretty much only they "get," like the Tommy Dreamer black eye thing.

- Uggggghhhhh. I wish we had a couple more big Edge matches, but I see why we don't.

Baron Corbin talked about producers he works with and more. I like him as an old-school tough heel.

Matt Hardy released a video of his inspiration for Total Nonstop Deletion. This is hysterical for how goofy it is. Next week is going to be legendary.

Randy Orton talked about the ending to Summerslam and more:
- I mean, Randy was on Team Smackdown. Of course he was going to be concerned about his teammate.

- Ohhh throwing some shade at that booking.

WWE's expansion into China was profiled. "Making it" in China is a big deal for them, as it should be.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm under the impression he retired from taking bumps after a neck injury, hence why we haven't seen him in quite some time (even before he was released).

2. I'm curious if they'll mention him when Tamina returns. Even though he escaped charges, he's in pretty poor health. I don't know if they'll want to draw attention to the state he's in.

3. The belief has been she'll be staying on in a minor "figurehead" role, i.e. drawing a salary but not really having a lot of control over things. Other than that, I wouldn't expect her to work anywhere in a corporate capacity. It's possible there are indies that would book her as a character, but I don't really see why WWE would hire her anytime soon.

4. Is anyone shocked there's more than one Dirty White Boy in wrestling? There are only so many available names.

Nothing to add to 5.

6. You'll see plenty of plugs and clips on PWInsider, but the series is a Highspots gig.

More wrestling coming up.

Main Event and Impact Wrestling Reax - 12/8/16

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Main Event and Impact Wrestling.

NXT live event note, Riley back in wrestling, HoFer done with WWE, WWE after gold medalist, The Buzzards are Freebirds, Lana in action, and Questions on losing in your hometown, how Y2J ranks all-time, Conor helping Bryan, JeriKO facing off, and Trish vs. Asuka

An NXT live event in Australia featured Rich Swann teaming with Tino Sabatelli in a loss to DIY. Interesting teaming and interesting booking.

The former Alex Riley is believed to be part of the upcoming Netflix GLOW series. I'm curious to see what he does going forward.

Lita is no longer part of WWE. That's very surprising, given her increased presence on-screen and having just been named as a producer for the main roster. I was hoping she'd be around for a while and do good things for the company behind-the-scenes.

WWE has made an offer for Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Erica Wiebe. She didn't win it with a broken frickin' neck, but that's still incredibly impressive. If she takes them up on it, she could really be a hit.

Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and Luke Harper will be able to defend the Smackdown Tag Team Championship under the Freebird Rule (The Buzzard Rule)? I assume this will also apply to Erick Rowan if he returns to the fold soon.

Lana will be wrestling on NXT live events this weekend. She hasn't been in the ring in some time; could they be building to her competing on Raw again?

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I think the idea is to humble the talents/have them pay their dues. I get it, but sometimes it does seem excessive/unnecessarily punitive.

2. Jericho is definitely rated highly for his long career. One can be an all-time great without being in the top 10 of all time or what have you. For whatever it's worth, cagematch.net has him as their 18th highest-rated talent ever, but I'm guessing that site is biased toward people current fans are familiar with. Austin hasn't wrestled in a long time, while Jericho's still going.

3. I'm sure it probably helped, but it wasn't a major factor. He seemingly would have been the guy to go with regardless.

4. I think they'll wrap up that angle before then, perhaps at the Rumble PPV itself. I think we could see either Balor or Zayn challenge Owens at WM33.

5. That was certainly the rumor, since Trish is from Toronto.

More wrestling tomorrow.

NXT and ROH Reax - 12/7/16

Read on for my thoughts on last night's NXT and ROH.

What happened after Raw, Paige-WWE update, new WWEPC signing gets press, upcoming ROH shows, Tribute updates, Raw audience, Lawler-WWE note, Corgan drops lawsuit, more dates for part-timers, Q1 PPV updates, and Questions on creative helping talents, how Goldberg vs. Brock will happen at the Rumble, Taker going for the WWE Title, WM33 hopes, who's winning the Rumble, and the next Raw tag team champions

No dark match after Raw, but Rusev bragged about what he did to Enzo Amore, leading to Big Cass running Rusev off.

Paige is expected to return to WWE after her suspension expires on December 9. However, she's not expected to be back in the ring yet.

WWE got press in the UK for signing MMA's Julie Real. She's got the right mix of things they're looking for.

ROH will return to Wisconsin on April 8 and Pennsylvania this May. They're scheduling things pretty well for future shows.

WWE's Tribute to the Troops special will air Wednesday December 14, after being taped ahead of Smackdown the previous day. Big Show, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Charlotte Flair, and Alicia Fox are all heading overseas to visit servicepeople on behalf of the company for footage for the special.

Raw's audience this week was 2.98 million, a bit down from last week. Rough times for the show compared to years back.

WWE on Tuesday indicated Jerry Lawler would no longer be appearing on pre-shows. At the time, he was said to be under a legends contract and would continue hosting special events for the company. More on Lawler's WWE situation in the next news post.

Billy Corgan's lawsuit against TNA has now been officially dismissed. It's possible he will continue pursuing legal action against members of TNA management. I hope everyone involved moves on to better things in 2017 after a very messy situation.

Goldberg is advertised for the first Raw of 2017.

Brock Lesnar is set for a Raw live event on February 4. Interesting.

WWE Fastlane has been announced as a Raw show on March 5.

Elimination Chamber will be a Smackdown PPV. Interesting given how small that roster is. It's going to be a stretch filling multiple chamber matches.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Plenty! No matter how good the talent, the bookers have to give them the time and put them in the right places to get over. A lot of times Creative is misblamed; it doesn't matter how good your booking ideas are if they get the OK/they don't get time to play out/talent can't run with them. A writer might have this genius, months-long plan to have Luke Harper be WWE Champion at Summerslam, but a lot of times other things pop up as far as injuries or other stories getting more TV time, etc. It's not like taping a 13-episode season where you pretty much get to execute all of it at once. Things change on the fly, and there are a LOT of moving parts to contend with.

2. No. I expect them to both go on a tear. They've both been presented as dominant forces of nature. I think we'll be seeing a lot of suplexes, spears, and jackhammers in that match.

3. It would definitely make sense for the Rumble in Texas, and to set up Taker/Cena for Cena's potential 16th World Title at WM33. Whether it's the right idea is up for debate.

4. Just one? Balor vs. Styles could be pretty great.

5. There are a number of interesting possibilities. Taker, Balor, Joe, Zayn...

6. It's possible! That could be an interesting direction for the division.

More wrestling tomorrow.

Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 12/6/16

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.

TLC battle scars, important Raw visitors, NXT press, Saturn on leaving WCW, preshow update, Chamber 2017 set, more NXT events, more collections, more Mickie?, new BizCliz member, and Questions on Becky's booking, WWE staying away from the election, the sound of superkicks, TNA's UK on-air future, and Charlotte and Sasha trading the title

AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose were both tended to by trainers after TLC. They definitely put each other through hell. I hope they're good to go for Smackdown.

- AJ was pulled from Monday's Smackdown live event as a precaution. I REALLY hope he doesn't have to miss the Rumble and Mania season, because he's potentially in for a really big run.

Tamina was backstage at Raw. I'm guessing they'll wait until after Roadblock for her to return rather than rush her into something. 

- The Undertaker was visiting backstage, too. I definitely expect him to compete at Royal Rumble.

NXT got press in Australia, including a quote from HHH. It's a big tour for the brand.

NXT's Babatunde Aiyegbusi was profiled. I'll be glad when they give him a ring name!

Perry Saturn discussed leaving ECW for WCW. I'm glad he's doing well.

WWE ran a 10-minute preshow for Raw on social media. Nothing on the Network. I wonder if it wasn't doing as well as they hoped.

Elimination Chamber 2017 is on February 12. That show should pretty much set at least one main event for WM33.

NXT has new shows booked on January 12 in Indiana, January 13 in Kentucky, and January 14 in Tennessee. They're getting around!

WWE Network has added collections for Trish and Lita (together) and for the best matches of 2016.

WWE has offered Mickie James a contract to return to the company. She's definitely still got it! Even if they just have her in the ring a year or two, she can then become a trainer or producer.

Cody (Rhodes) is expected to join the Bullet Club soon. That's kind of funny since Cody Hall is in it, too. It looks like Cody's going to have a pretty decent run in ROH/NJPW. He can pretty much keep going until he doesn't want to wrestle anymore, then bow out.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. A lot of the problem here is how small Smackdown's division is. They need to protect every talent, so booking is generally pretty even. One side wins but gets beaten down, etc. It's a mess.

2. Given the unpopularity of both major candidates and how upset people were at both, they could have wanted to be an escape from the endless media parade that was this election cycle.

3. They generally don't make contact, or at least we hope! It's usually a case of the kicker slapping their thigh.

4. I wouldn't be shocked if they just put Impact on YouTube and/or on their website. I don't think channels are falling over themselves to give them a deal to be on the air there.

5. If you're going to draw out a feud that long, you pretty much have to have the title switch every so often. I do think it shows them as pretty much even. And it doesn't hurt that they can presumably have Charlotte end up being near her dad's record at some point.

More wrestling tomorrow.