Read on for my thoughts on last night's NXT and ROH.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Payback injury updates, another Cena mainstream gig, Waltman arrested, more on Corgan buying NWA, Interview with Arn, a lot more WotW matches set including Adam Cole update, WOS postponement official, Raw audience, Smackdown dark matches, cruiserweight name change, WWE press, and Questions on NFL analogies, Karen's Impact role, booking WWE like ECW, the Hulkster returning, and crucifixion angles
Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman should be in action during WWE's European tour, as their injuries were fictional.
John Cena will present at the MTV Awards on Sunday. No word at all on him getting back in the ring, but he's definitely earned some time away from that grind.
Sean Waltman was arrested this weekend, hence missing working a show in the UK. He posted a $35,000 bond and is now out. Waltman publicly commented on the situation shortly thereafter. That's a pretty hefty fine. I hope this is the last time something like this happens with Sean. It doesn't set a good example for the wrestlers coming through the WWEPC.
- Waltman's arrest was for attempting to transport methamphetamines and marijuana to the UK as part of his trip there to wrestle. It was also discovered there was a warrant out for an arrest for an earlier substance possession charge, as well as a warrant for a DUI. I'm worried what that means for Sean's sobriety and health in addition to his future in the wrestling business. I'm disappointed in the whole ordeal, to say the least.
- Waltman was charged with five counts of possession of narcotics intended for sale. Sad times for X-Pac.
- Waltman had been sentenced to a year of probation as part of a plea deal for possession of drug paraphernalia back in March. The bad news just keeps coming!
- Waltman spoke to TMZ about the arrest, suggesting the pills he was found with were for a yeast infection. I'm skeptical, given the number of pills he was found with. However, we owe him the benefit of the doubt until lab results come back.
- Waltman was charged with five counts of possession of narcotics intended for sale. Sad times for X-Pac.
- Waltman had been sentenced to a year of probation as part of a plea deal for possession of drug paraphernalia back in March. The bad news just keeps coming!
- Waltman spoke to TMZ about the arrest, suggesting the pills he was found with were for a yeast infection. I'm skeptical, given the number of pills he was found with. However, we owe him the benefit of the doubt until lab results come back.
Billy Corgan's purchase of the NWA doesn't include any tape libraries, nor the NWA's on-demand service. Those remain the property of NWA President Bruce Tharpe, who is very much still involved with things and will continue to be an important part of plans going forward.
David Lagana has joined the new NWA in a creative capacity. Corgan is in the very early stages of planning what he's going to do with the brand. Once the sell goes through officially, Corgan will evaluate the company's business and decide where to take it going forward alongside Tharpe and Lagana.
Arn Anderson talked the Horsemen and more. Here are some highlights:
- I love that people who absolutely hate wrestlers still line their pockets. That's the mark of a great heel.
- Weird to think that fans aren't familiar with so much of his work, but it's better to be remembered for work in WWE than not remembered at all!
- People still mark for WarGames.
- Wins and losses don't matter nearly as much as leaving a good impression so the fans come back for more.
Even more War of the Worlds matches have been announced:
-- May 7:
- Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Taylor
-- May 10:
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Punishment Martinez
- Jay White/MCMG vs. The Rebellion
- Bobby Fish vs. Dalton Castle
- ROH TV Championship: Marty Scurll vs. Kazarian vs. Will Ferrara vs. Beer City Bruiser vs. Gedo vs. Cheeseburger
-- May 12:
- Bully Ray/The Briscoes vs. Roppongi Vice/Hirooki Goto
- Adam Cole vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Will Ospreay vs. Jay White
- War Machine vs. EVIL/SANADA vs. Chris Sabin/Jonathan Gresham
- KUSHIDA vs. Dalton Castle vs. Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young
-- May 14:
- Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA
- Tetsuya Naito/EVIL/SANADA/BUSHI vs. Bully Ray/The Briscoes/Dalton Castle
- David Starr vs. Josh Woods
- So, Adam Cole will at least work the War of the Worlds PPV. He could put in one last standout performance in ROH before making plans to be in NXT this summer. I'd be very surprised if he signs a full ROH contract again. What's he going to do, when the title a fourth time!?
World of Sport has officially postponed their TV tapings, with the stated reason being contract negotiations. Hopefully this is just a hiccup for the project that has a lot of people talking.
Raw drew 2.87 million viewers against the NBA playoffs to be the second-biggest show on cable Monday night. So, they mostly did pretty well in the face of monster competition.
Luke Harper beat Viktor before Smackdown. It was a busy show with the Jericho situation and setting up the U.S. Title picture for Backlash, but this shows they are keeping Harper in mind.
After 205 Live went off the air, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura beat Dolph Ziggler, Jinder Mahal, and Erick Rowan. So both former Wyatt followers were in action. Weird that Orton and Shinsuke weren't on the show itself, but the focus was understandably on Jericho vs. Owens.
TJ Perkins is now just going by TJP, as he did before WWE. That cements the heel turn.
USA Today looked at collegiate wrestlers making it to WWE, and the international growth of the WWE Performance Center. Expect even more international names in the years to come.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I don't really watch football, but I'll give it a go: WWE is the team that makes the Super Bowl every year. They sign away top names from other teams and have top prospects waiting in the wings. Hell, they might be the top three or four teams. That's how big they are in the business. Impact is a team with players that often play really good football, but they've changed coaches so much and lost so many big and emerging players that they're just hoping to make the playoffs. ROH is one of the teams at the bottom of their conference pretty much just happy to play some football. Most of the players are just there to get some professional experience on their resume before moving up to one of the teams with big money and prestige. A lot of them would leave just to be in the training camp for one of those big teams!
2. I guess she's like the Michelle Obama to Jeff's Barack. I don't know of her having an official title, but she has a pretty prominent role because of whom she's married to.
3. Any business plan that starts with "be like a promotion that was constantly on the edge of bankruptcy" is going to be a hard sell. See the metaphors in answer number one. Sure the NFL took some ideas from the XFL, but there's a reason one still exists and the other is just a memory. I think with the brand split, superstar shakeup, and increased prominence of NXT, WWE is addressing the problem of a stale roster.
4. Hell yeah, brother. Put the strap on the Hulkster and push him to the moon! Apparently he's trying to get in Bullet Club now. They might as well at this point. It's hit that novelty stage.
5. The WWF angle wasn't as explicit, and wasn't as much of a direct takeoff of the crucifixion, so there's some leeway there.
More wrestling tomorrow.
1. I don't really watch football, but I'll give it a go: WWE is the team that makes the Super Bowl every year. They sign away top names from other teams and have top prospects waiting in the wings. Hell, they might be the top three or four teams. That's how big they are in the business. Impact is a team with players that often play really good football, but they've changed coaches so much and lost so many big and emerging players that they're just hoping to make the playoffs. ROH is one of the teams at the bottom of their conference pretty much just happy to play some football. Most of the players are just there to get some professional experience on their resume before moving up to one of the teams with big money and prestige. A lot of them would leave just to be in the training camp for one of those big teams!
2. I guess she's like the Michelle Obama to Jeff's Barack. I don't know of her having an official title, but she has a pretty prominent role because of whom she's married to.
3. Any business plan that starts with "be like a promotion that was constantly on the edge of bankruptcy" is going to be a hard sell. See the metaphors in answer number one. Sure the NFL took some ideas from the XFL, but there's a reason one still exists and the other is just a memory. I think with the brand split, superstar shakeup, and increased prominence of NXT, WWE is addressing the problem of a stale roster.
4. Hell yeah, brother. Put the strap on the Hulkster and push him to the moon! Apparently he's trying to get in Bullet Club now. They might as well at this point. It's hit that novelty stage.
5. The WWF angle wasn't as explicit, and wasn't as much of a direct takeoff of the crucifixion, so there's some leeway there.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 5/2/17
Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Rare Flair footage on the Network, Corgan buys the NWA, more WotW matches announced, top ROH name no longer under contract, NXT shows announced, McIntyre to Europe, injured name backstage, female talent to join WWEPC soon, WWE tryout in Europe?, Balor special coming, where House of Horrors was filmed, and Questions on Johnston in the HoF, Rusev and Lana's future, explaining the Broken gimmick, using Rosey's passing to get Roman over, and general booking complaints
A Ric Flair collection has been added to WWE Network, including some old footage that has never been featured on the service. Flair could pretty much have his own section on the service!
Billy Corgan has purchased the National Wrestling Alliance. I didn't see that one coming AT ALL! The NWA remains a group of smaller regional promotions with some central champions. We'll see if Corgan can do anything with what remains of the once prominent organization. They pretty much have nowhere to go but up.
- NWA President Bruce Tharpe commented on the purchase. This could be a pretty big undertaking. I'm interested to see what's next for NWA under Corgan.
More War of the Worlds matches have been set:
-- May 10:
- The Rebellion vs. Jonathan Gresham and The Motor City Machine Guns
- Gedo and Roppongi Vice vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys
-- May 12:
- Jay Lethal has been officially announced as the third man in the main event. That one should be really good.
- War Machine vs. EVIL and SANADA vs. Jonathan Gresham and Chris Sabin
-- This show is completely sold out. That's great for ROH and NJPW.
Adam Cole is now a free agent. We could very well see him debut at Takeover:Brooklyn, but nothing is set in stone regarding his next steps. This was pretty much inevitable, as there wasn't anything left for him to do in ROH. Time for him to do something new and bigger. Hopefully for ROH's shape, Cody is sticking around because things are pretty bare as far as credible main eventers with Cole presumably gone.
NXT has announced shows on June 15 in Virginia, June 16 in Maryland, and June 17 in New York.
Drew McIntyre will be working NXT's European tour. That's a big outing for the brand.
Summer Rae was backstage at Raw. Hopefully she'll be back in action soon. She hasn't really gotten much of a chance to show what she can do.
Nixon Newell is finishing her European bookings in order to work at the WWE Performance Center. I expect we'll see her in the upcoming women's tournament.
WWE is expected to give European talent Jurn Simmons a tryout this week. I'm curious to see what the UK brand means for a potential mainland European project.
Finn Balor's WWE 24 documentary will premiere after the May 15 Raw. I hope big things are coming for him.
House of Horrors was filmed in an actual house in Missouri following a live event. It's currently on sale as a fixer-upper. For anyone reading this who's never been to a place like that, there are some less-than-great houses in poor rural America.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I absolutely, unequivocally support Jim Johnston going into the Hall of Fame. That would make a great move when he retires and leaves behind one hell of a legacy. I get the feeling he's kind of a low-key guy, but there's no doubt he deserves the honor.
2. A lot of both of their accents are a work. Lana is going to do some kind of dancing gimmick, and might have a new female competitor (MaryKate) in her corner. Rusev will do his own thing.
3. It is kind of hard to describe effectively. About all I can say is it's "over the top." There are similarities to the Wyatt Family as far as tone, but the Broken gimmick has a lot more inside jokes and is more tongue-in-cheek. It's worth checking out a segment or two and judging from there; it's not everyone's style of entertainment, but some people really love it.
4. Acknowledging his hardships is understandable considering how much it had to have meant to him. I just hope they don't go full-on Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero with it.
5. Orton was tied up with giving Bray what would have been a rematch for the WWE Title. Jinder's a new face getting a push, which is what fans claim to want when people lose so much. He had help winning a chaotic match. Finn and Seth just called Brock out. More whining tomorrow, I suppose.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Billy Corgan has purchased the National Wrestling Alliance. I didn't see that one coming AT ALL! The NWA remains a group of smaller regional promotions with some central champions. We'll see if Corgan can do anything with what remains of the once prominent organization. They pretty much have nowhere to go but up.
- NWA President Bruce Tharpe commented on the purchase. This could be a pretty big undertaking. I'm interested to see what's next for NWA under Corgan.
More War of the Worlds matches have been set:
-- May 10:
- The Rebellion vs. Jonathan Gresham and The Motor City Machine Guns
- Gedo and Roppongi Vice vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys
-- May 12:
- Jay Lethal has been officially announced as the third man in the main event. That one should be really good.
- War Machine vs. EVIL and SANADA vs. Jonathan Gresham and Chris Sabin
-- This show is completely sold out. That's great for ROH and NJPW.
Adam Cole is now a free agent. We could very well see him debut at Takeover:Brooklyn, but nothing is set in stone regarding his next steps. This was pretty much inevitable, as there wasn't anything left for him to do in ROH. Time for him to do something new and bigger. Hopefully for ROH's shape, Cody is sticking around because things are pretty bare as far as credible main eventers with Cole presumably gone.
NXT has announced shows on June 15 in Virginia, June 16 in Maryland, and June 17 in New York.
Drew McIntyre will be working NXT's European tour. That's a big outing for the brand.
Summer Rae was backstage at Raw. Hopefully she'll be back in action soon. She hasn't really gotten much of a chance to show what she can do.
Nixon Newell is finishing her European bookings in order to work at the WWE Performance Center. I expect we'll see her in the upcoming women's tournament.
WWE is expected to give European talent Jurn Simmons a tryout this week. I'm curious to see what the UK brand means for a potential mainland European project.
Finn Balor's WWE 24 documentary will premiere after the May 15 Raw. I hope big things are coming for him.
House of Horrors was filmed in an actual house in Missouri following a live event. It's currently on sale as a fixer-upper. For anyone reading this who's never been to a place like that, there are some less-than-great houses in poor rural America.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I absolutely, unequivocally support Jim Johnston going into the Hall of Fame. That would make a great move when he retires and leaves behind one hell of a legacy. I get the feeling he's kind of a low-key guy, but there's no doubt he deserves the honor.
2. A lot of both of their accents are a work. Lana is going to do some kind of dancing gimmick, and might have a new female competitor (MaryKate) in her corner. Rusev will do his own thing.
3. It is kind of hard to describe effectively. About all I can say is it's "over the top." There are similarities to the Wyatt Family as far as tone, but the Broken gimmick has a lot more inside jokes and is more tongue-in-cheek. It's worth checking out a segment or two and judging from there; it's not everyone's style of entertainment, but some people really love it.
4. Acknowledging his hardships is understandable considering how much it had to have meant to him. I just hope they don't go full-on Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero with it.
5. Orton was tied up with giving Bray what would have been a rematch for the WWE Title. Jinder's a new face getting a push, which is what fans claim to want when people lose so much. He had help winning a chaotic match. Finn and Seth just called Brock out. More whining tomorrow, I suppose.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Monday, May 1, 2017
NXT summer tapings set, Interview with Swagger, Waltman missing, Jeff hurt at Payback, and Questions on the new Impact, Impact keeping the Broken gimmicks, booking a part-time champion, and how Roman could have beaten Braun
NXT has tapings set in Full Sail on July 11 and August 23. Of course, there will be another Takeover special before Summerslam.
The former Jack Swagger discussed leaving WWE and more. Here are some highlights:
- I think it was the best move for him to branch out and do something different. Obviously the end goal in wrestling is to make as much money as you can. If he can pull a Drew Galloway, he'll be able to come back in a few years and pull in a bigger contract.
- Jack is definitely talented, but doing the same things with the same people will ground pretty much anyone. See Dolph Ziggler.
- I would mark SO hard for Swagger working with Dutch Mantell again. Not so much for him in ROH.
Sean Waltman missed a UK wrestling appearance. He's reportedly OK. Hopefully things are going well for the former X-Pac overall these days.
Jeff Hardy broke a tooth in his Payback match. There's a North Carolina joke in there. Hopefully he gets that fixed up pretty soon.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. To complement their answer, Impact has been able to bring in a lot of new and fresh talents for a cheaper price and less hassle. It's good to see people get opportunities under the new regime. I don't really see it as putting over GFW as much as trying to establish new stars, as GFW will almost definitely fold into Impact like WCW did for WWE. As for the Matthews storyline, the goal is to use the heat he generates in order to get a big payoff when he finally gets clobbered.
Honestly, the rating has been pretty consistent with what it was when they had the Hardys and Drew, so I don't think there's too much to worry about. A lot of people gave up on Impact a long time ago, and it's going to take quite a while to grow an audience.
2. Yes, Impact should either drop the issue or reach an agreement to sell the intellectual property. The Hardys aren't coming back anytime soon, if ever. Really all they're doing is preventing two popular wrestlers from doing a gimmick fans love. I don't see how that benefits Impact beyond getting a payday from WWE.
3. Heyman explained this a lot the last time Brock was part-time champ. It makes Universal Title matches all that more important when there are only a few of them a year. People can still have big feuds (Braun/Roman) and even declare they want the title like Finn did. I doubt many people are eager to step in the ring with Brock at any rate given his dominance.
4. Well, they're putting out a lot of new and returning faces, so there's plenty to potentially get hooked by. I'm liking things other than non-wrestlers being so prominent.
5. OH MY THE BIG DOG OVERCAME THE ODDS!! HE SURVIVED A WAR WITH THE MONSTER AMONG MEN, BRAUN STROWMAN!! Basically the way they could have done that kind of thing would be for both men to beat the holy hell out of each other with a lot of big moves and big bumps leading to Roman winning by means of surviving the destruction. It's pretty much how action movies go.
More wrestling tomorrow.
The former Jack Swagger discussed leaving WWE and more. Here are some highlights:
- I think it was the best move for him to branch out and do something different. Obviously the end goal in wrestling is to make as much money as you can. If he can pull a Drew Galloway, he'll be able to come back in a few years and pull in a bigger contract.
- Jack is definitely talented, but doing the same things with the same people will ground pretty much anyone. See Dolph Ziggler.
- I would mark SO hard for Swagger working with Dutch Mantell again. Not so much for him in ROH.
Sean Waltman missed a UK wrestling appearance. He's reportedly OK. Hopefully things are going well for the former X-Pac overall these days.
Jeff Hardy broke a tooth in his Payback match. There's a North Carolina joke in there. Hopefully he gets that fixed up pretty soon.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. To complement their answer, Impact has been able to bring in a lot of new and fresh talents for a cheaper price and less hassle. It's good to see people get opportunities under the new regime. I don't really see it as putting over GFW as much as trying to establish new stars, as GFW will almost definitely fold into Impact like WCW did for WWE. As for the Matthews storyline, the goal is to use the heat he generates in order to get a big payoff when he finally gets clobbered.
Honestly, the rating has been pretty consistent with what it was when they had the Hardys and Drew, so I don't think there's too much to worry about. A lot of people gave up on Impact a long time ago, and it's going to take quite a while to grow an audience.
2. Yes, Impact should either drop the issue or reach an agreement to sell the intellectual property. The Hardys aren't coming back anytime soon, if ever. Really all they're doing is preventing two popular wrestlers from doing a gimmick fans love. I don't see how that benefits Impact beyond getting a payday from WWE.
3. Heyman explained this a lot the last time Brock was part-time champ. It makes Universal Title matches all that more important when there are only a few of them a year. People can still have big feuds (Braun/Roman) and even declare they want the title like Finn did. I doubt many people are eager to step in the ring with Brock at any rate given his dominance.
4. Well, they're putting out a lot of new and returning faces, so there's plenty to potentially get hooked by. I'm liking things other than non-wrestlers being so prominent.
5. OH MY THE BIG DOG OVERCAME THE ODDS!! HE SURVIVED A WAR WITH THE MONSTER AMONG MEN, BRAUN STROWMAN!! Basically the way they could have done that kind of thing would be for both men to beat the holy hell out of each other with a lot of big moves and big bumps leading to Roman winning by means of surviving the destruction. It's pretty much how action movies go.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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