WWE live event note, Sasha partner update, female WWE superstar close to returning, ROH team and woman of honor miss TV taping, ROH visitor, ROH international business updates, TNA name returns (kind of), more on BFG 2016, TNA's move advertised, Reigns update, draft rules, who's exempt from the draft, and Questions on Brock vs. Orton, heels cheating, commissioners vs. GMs, WWE talk shows, and WWE playing off Brock's possibly failure

Bob Backlund was on the road with Darren Young this weekend at live events. There was a long time where that wasn't the case despite them being together on TV vignettes, but hopefully the two are linked at the hip now.

- Heath Slater was busted open during his match with Titus O'Neill, causing it to be stopped. Eighteen sutures? Damn.

Sasha Banks has confirmed she will not be teaming with Bayley at Battleground. I wouldn't think it'd be Nikki Bella, but that'd be a big move in its own right.

Naomi indicated she'll be returning soon. That would fit in with the previous story. I don't know how much interest there is in more Team B.A.D., but we'll see how Naomi fits into things if there are two separate women's divisions. They're going to need everyone firing on all cylinders to make that work.

Kevin Kelly is now working full-time with ROH as something like the head of talent relations underneath booker Delirious. That's a step in their growth as a corporate wrestling entity.

- Kelly is heading up plans to launch an ROH app, an ROH Roku channel, and a relaunching of the ROH website. Those are all moves in the right direction to promote the company's product.

Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser were unable to make ROH's TV taping in Philadelphia due to their flight never taking off. ROH still has plans for them to face the Briscoes, and there's no heat on them as the flight issues were on the airline's end. They're a really enjoyable act; it's a shame we won't see them on TV for a while.

- Mandy Leon also missed the TV taping due to an undisclosed illness. Hopefully she's back to form soon.

- Jimmy Jacobs was in town visiting.

- The taping was sold out. ROH is on an upswing business-wise. The alliance with NJPW is definitely helping there.

ROH's tour of the UK are ROH-exclusive, as opposed to being in partnership with a UK promotion. That's a good sign for their appeal in the market.

ROH is planning another Japanese tour with NJPW for 2017.

TNA brought back the Suicide character at the most recent tapings, portrayed by Jonathan Gresham. He only worked a One Night Only show, so we may or may not see a regular return of the gimmick. They want to sell Suicide merchandise since they own the character and aren't doing anything with it. They might as well give it a whirl.

TNA is looking to lock in BFG for September in Universal Studios. I know TNA plans on doing live events outside Orlando at some point, but that's likely contingent on getting more funding. Right now they're staying a TV/PPV product.

Pop TV is advertising Impact's move to Thursdays on other cable networks. I hope that boosts their numbers. At least there are no rumors of them being canceled anytime soon.

Roman Reigns is set to return to the road next weekend. He will miss the draft show itself, but is still eligible to be drafted to Raw or Smackdown.

WWE laid down the rules for the draft:
- I wish they'd say why Raw gets the first pick. Was there a coin flip? Did Vince decide? Who made these rules, anyway?

- Splitting the roster 3:2 is clever, and makes a lot of sense. Things would be quite imbalanced if they didn't have that rule.

- The rule with tag teams makes sense. It'll be very interesting to see if any team gets split, and what the result of that split would be. The original draft split the Dudleys, which was moderately successful.

- I'm very interested to see who gets picked from NXT. I expect each show will get one female superstar (Bayley, Nia), one tag team (the Hype Bros, American Alpha), and one main eventer (Balor, Aries). So much for NXT getting "gutted." They'll survive without those names.

-- As for names involved and not involved in the draft:
- AJ is separate from the pair of Anderson and Gallows.

- "Demon Kane" being listed makes me think Corporate Kane will be the Raw GM. Shane drafting Demon Kane to Smackdown would be really funny in that case, although I suspect his long-time rival would make him pay for it.

- The Wyatts being potentially separated is surprising. They already tried that once.

- I'm glad managers are drafted with the people they manage. It'd be potentially silly to put Lana or Maryse on the opposite show.

-- The following names are exempt:
- Billie Kay, who presumably is not officially part of the main roster but could be picked as an NXT pick
- Emma, due to her injury. 
- Nikki Bella, due to her status being up in the air because of injury.
- Paul Heyman
- Rosa Mendes, due to being on maternity leave. I wouldn't be surprised if they just keep her employed as long as Hornswoggle without her actually doing anything. It's good to have friends in high places.
- Ryback, whose contract expires by the end of the month.
- Tamina, who's also recovering from injury.
- Triple H, who's currently on the sidelines as a wrestler but will almost certainly pop up in some form at some point.
- Tyson Kidd, who remains on the injured list.
- Undertaker, who's currently inactive as a wrestler and will presumably pop back up into things for WM33 season if he wants to take bumps again.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Both men are talented professionals. If anyone can make that match work, it's Orton. He's been working for 16 years.

2. He has a point there to some degree. A manipulative heel is more fun and effective than a heel who just gives up because they're not good enough to win clean. It's a case-by-case thing, though. Cheating to get an edge just because you're a jerk is a good heel move.

3. It sounds like the commissioners are the big picture people while GMs do the day-to-day operation of the brand. The commissioners can theoretically replace the GMs if they do poorly at their job, but can also give them enough leeway to do things their way. We'll see how it plays out.

4. Dean upsetting Stephanie on his show had some negative repercussions.

5. That's not a bad idea at all from a storyline perspective. I've personally had my fill of Brock vs. Taker and want them both to move on, but it's a creative way to make something from the situation.

More wrestling tomorrow.