Main Event Reax - 8/28/13, lots of new NXT names, Interviews with Hogan+Bischoff/DiBiase Jr./Marella/Dixie/Del Rio, Bischoff correction, change in ratings, WTF story of the day, Hall appearance, WWE hacked, Sports with C.M. Punk, tech porn, Kane not running for office, indie team gets WWE tryout, and Questions on the Corporation, WWE's midcard titles, PTP, announcers, and Maddox

Main Event:
Axel vs. Rhodes was pretty good. I wouldn't mind them feuding for the IC Title, especially since Rhodes was the one who brought back the current design. And it would hopefully elevate both guys.

Hands up. Who had "Primo and Epico return as matadors" on their 2013 prediction sheet? Not me. But hey, at least they're getting attention now. Maybe WWE can/should recast some other people on the roster who aren't doing anything. Please?

Nice tag match! I think everyone in that match is doing a pretty good job lately.

That was a pretty good match to close the show. Looks like we might get a rematch based on that ending. I'm honestly getting a little tired of Kofi since his character's not really doing much of anything and his offense is kind of the same old thing. A character change or something would be great. That doesn't necessarily mean turning heel. I just want to see something new from him.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

WWE has officially renamed some of their new NXT talents:
Joey Cabray is now Luther Ward.

Stephen Cole is now Cole Andrews (no Cagematch bio).

Britney Fetkin is now Devin Taylor (no Cagematch bio).

Erika Hammond is now Veronica Lane. Somehow I don't think it's this Veronica Lane.

Smith James is now Bull Dempsey.

Lexi Kaufman is now Alexa Bates (no Cagematch bio).

CJ Perry is now LANA (no Cagematch bio).

Rebecca Quinn (Rebecca Knox) is now Becky Lynch.

Adam Scherr is now Braun Stowman (no Cagematch bio).

Matt Silva is now Buddy Murphy.

Update: Indie sensation Sami Callihan is now Solomon Crowe, which is a pretty badass name. He's got a solid reputation.

There could be more name changes to come soon. I don't really care what their names are now. It could be a LONG time (if ever) before we see them on TV. Heck, some might never make it to the NXT show.

Hulk Hogan talked about a potential WWE return and how to fix TNA. Just imagine what would happen if Eric Bischoff ran a company with tons of money to use however he and Hogan wanted and just signed talent left and right. We got a smaller-scale version of that in TNA in 2010 and it flopped hardcore. Bischoff's right that networks are getting stingy, though.

More fun from Hogan here, here, and here. That's our Hogan. HBK's side of the Hogan debacle is that Hogan initially agreed to do more than one match (one of which HBK would have won), but Hogan wasn't interested, bailing after Summerslam. So, WWE gave HBK the opportunity to get his heat back from having to do the job to a part-timer who was just in it for himself and the money. A lot of today's wrestlers are the same size and same height? Not seeing it. Maybe on the indie scene. Flair wasn't on top of the wrestling world for 35 years. That's just ridiculous and quite the exaggeration. The Canadian and American audiences want different things. I think he's right in some ways about matches being too laid out these days. Painters vs. artists. They're also right in some ways about successful characters. And yes, let the crowd react! Don't go 100 mph.

Speaking of Hogan and Bischoff, the latter was trying to claim that Hogan's inclusion in WWE 2K14 wasn't the result of a special contract with Hogan. PWInsider.com offered evidence to debunk this. Bischoff and the head of PWInsider aren't exactly best friends, and it's not uncommon for there to be a tiff between the two sides.

Starting in the Fall, Nielsen will have a new way of measuring ratings to take into account streaming. Details here. There are a LOT of people who stream wrestling, so it's good that they're being counted.

A PA woman delivered birth while watching Summerslam at a bar, then suffocated the baby before going back to watching Summerslam as if nothing happened. Story here and here. I don't even know what to say anymore.

Scott Hall will be on "Insane Clown Posse Theater" (think MST3K or Beavis and Butt-head's video commentary). Should be fun.

Ted DiBiase, Jr. spoke about leaving WWE for his new job. I wouldn't expect him to land in TNA if he's doing something other than wrestling. Hey; it's not a business for everybody.

Santino Marella confirmed that he'll be returning soon following letting his body heal. It's amazing to think of the really serious MMA character when seeing the character he plays now. Here's a video of his OVW character. He looked like a fighting machine, alright.

WWE's website was hacked yesterday, but was back up and running in under an hour. The people claiming responsibility have nothing to do with wrestling, so there's no need to talk about them here.

C.M. Punk will be featured on the mask of an Edmonton Oilers goalie. That's pretty awesome. Not many people can say they were honored like that.

Speaking of Punk, he gave a brief interview when he did wiffle ball recently. I think you can definitely say that he's something of a mainstream star now.

Update: Punk was at the most recent UFC event, right next to Dana White.

Dixie Carter gave an interview on the business side of TNA. This was recorded some time ago, so no mentions of the current budget problems and such.

Alberto Del Rio talked about a number of topics, including his desire to face The Undertaker. I think that'd be a pretty good feud. I wonder how much "life" is left in the Taker character and if we'll ever see that.

WWE's new fancy sound facility was profiled. Technology's pretty cool.

Here's another Hogan interview, where he addresses whether or not he'll get back in the ring. You can always count on Hogan to inflate the WMIII story. I bet he's trying to get one last fat pay day out of TNA. "I'm hurt, brother. I'll need a lot of money for surgery. You don't need that AJ kid, jack. Cut some costs." As for the heel turn, if I'm not mistaken Eric Bischoff said that he was really hesitant to turn heel for the nWo. As for looking at the numbers, brother, they're not as good as they could be. But surely that's not Hogan's fault?

Kane shot down a 2014 political run. The piece has very little to do with wrestling. I would mark out if he did a political speech in character, but I don't see it happening.

The Bravado Brothers were a part of a recent WWE tryout. I've seen them a time or two and honestly wasn't impressed. They didn't stand out much from any other flippy duo other than the goofy gimmick. BUT maybe WWE can make something out of them. They are still really young.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I can definitely see similarities to The Corporation and the McMahon-Helmsley Regime. And that's ok! Those angles were a pretty long time ago in TV time. As long as it created good TV, ratings, etc. and solidifies talent like The Shield and Bryan, I'm ok with it being something of a rehash. Pretty much every angle has similarities to an older angle.

2. It's not a bad idea, though I agree that they already have enough gimmicks to make matches for the top Titles. I disagree that the Titles are meaningless, though. Why would Ambrose and Axel fight so hard to keep them if they barely meant anything?

3. I can definitely see them getting support because of that. Plus they're pretty entertaining and I think people were ready to cheer their antics.

4. Pretty much that. WWE runs guys pretty rough. I don't know how some of them stand it!

5. I definitely see the comparisons. Can we call him Breezy B?

More wrestling tomorrow.