Read on for my ideas for booking today's WWE Network special event.
Friday, June 7, 2019
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Assorted WWE press, another NJPW show on FITE, Saudi Arabia women updates, Moxley-NJPW update, who's going to SSD, SyFy cancels show with WWE star, more on WWE comic, new WWE live events, new Impact+ROH PPV matches, NWA releases title match, Interviews with Dustin/Ryback/Becky/Kofi, SDL audience, SSD Kickoff match, new AEW series, another Sami charity, Mickie getting surgery, top NJPW international name moving to Japan, NJPW attendance, and Questions on Vince getting the message, AEW's commentary team, WWE Network dropping platforms, Dustin's journey to AEW, and AEW competing with WWE for younger fans
Andrade and Zelina Vega visited a children's hospital before Smackdown Live. That's pretty good of them.
Mia Yim has her first WWE T-shirt.
NJPW's Australian show on June 29 will also air on FITE TV, as NJPW continues to expand U.S. availability. I expect Jon Moxley on that event to increase non-Japanese interest.
Super ShowDown may feature Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss, as WWE is flying both women into Saudi Arabia in the hopes a women's match will be approved for the show. WWE has been pushing to have a women's match for months. If that's approved, WWE will undoubtedly tout the match as a big sign of progress the company brought about and justification for WWE continuing to work with the Saudi government. It's definitely a positive step.
- Renee Young will once more be an announcer at the show.
Jon Moxley won NJPW's United States Championship during NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals event, defeating Juice Robinson. So they have plans for him beyond that one match. I hope him working there boosts the company, and it's good to see Moxley getting right out there and proving himself.
Super ShowDown has booked Big E, Sin Cara, and Humberto Carrillo, likely for the 50-man battle royal. That would be the first two names' return from injury.
SyFy has canceled the show Happy!, which featured Big Show in a recurring role.
WWE's comic being canceled was decided several months ago.
Smackdown Live has announced live events for:
- July 20 in Georgia
- August 3 in Kentucky
- August 4 in Illinois
- August 5 in Michigan
Raw has announced live events for:
- July 26 in Arkansas
- July 27 in Oklahoma
Slammiversary has officially added Johnny Impact vs. Rich Swann for the X-Division Championship, as was hinted on TV.
Best in the World has added Nick Aldis and Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes in something of a crossover with NWA.
- NWA has released Colt Cabana vs. James Storm, taped at ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds on May 12.
WWE assets from the 1980s are being added to Rocket League's summer expansion, specifically related to Ultimate Warrior.
Dustin Rhodes is on Chris Jericho's latest podcast.
Ryback spoke to Chris Van Vliet about leaving WWE and more. He was clever with getting his downside guarantee despite walking out.
Becky Lynch spoke to Sports Illustrated. I'm really curious what will headline WrestleMania 36.
A Randy Savage Slim Jim figure is coming from Mattel. AMAZING.
WWE superstars wished India Eid Mubarak.
Smackdown Live drew 2.01 million viewers Tuesday night, pretty close to last week's number.
Super ShowDown's Kickoff special will have The Usos vs. The Revival. I expect Jimmy and Jey to take that one.
AEW has launched a Road to Fyter Fest series.
Sami Zayn is launching another Syrian fundraiser right as Super ShowDown comes on WWE Network. Zayn will not be on that show due to Saudi Arabia's relationship with Syria.
Mickie James is undergoing surgery for a torn ACL suffered at a recent live event. She could easily be out the rest of 2019. Hopefully she still has a good run in her once she recovers.
Kofi Kingston discussed returning to Ghana. WWE is working on a "WWE 24" episode featuring that trip. Kofi vs. Big E is an intriguing direction, but one they want to be careful with executing if it means the end of New Day's success.
Will Ospreay is moving to Japan. He just won NJPW's Best of Super Juniors tournament, so he's likely in for a bigger role there.
NJPW's Best of Super Juniors finals, featuring Jon Moxley's first post-WWE match, drew 7,650 fans. That's pretty impressive.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. If the Kofi-Dolph segment pulls big social media numbers, that could theoretically send a message. Overall, if segments and matches like that are received favorably (as in, viewed a lot on TV and online), there's an easier argument for Vince to do more like them. As for Shane's win, it was over someone the WWE audience had never seen wrestle before, and he had help to do it. Hardly egregious.
2. I'm glad they tried that idea at DON instead of debuting them all cold on TNT! Marvez definitely seemed out of place. Hopefully they adjust things between now and October.
3. I'm under the impression the big updates needed to create the "new" (tiered) WWE Network won't work on those older platforms. WWE's taking a risk that the new model will take hold with more subscribers.
4. Rhodes is the only talent who's worked all those promotions, yes. If we're just going with WWE, WCW, Impact, and AEW, Christopher Daniels also has those credentials. Either way, yes, Dustin has had an amazing career.
5. In some ways we won't see just whom AEW will appeal to until it's on TNT and thus easily available to a wider variety of potential fans. There's absolutely potential for AEW to appeal to younger generations going forward in a way that hurts WWE's attempts to court that same demographic. AEW is going to be in a position to reach a lot of fans in a lot of demographics come October, and that will affect WWE and every other promotion that runs in the same markets AEW is going to run.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Mia Yim has her first WWE T-shirt.
NJPW's Australian show on June 29 will also air on FITE TV, as NJPW continues to expand U.S. availability. I expect Jon Moxley on that event to increase non-Japanese interest.
Super ShowDown may feature Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss, as WWE is flying both women into Saudi Arabia in the hopes a women's match will be approved for the show. WWE has been pushing to have a women's match for months. If that's approved, WWE will undoubtedly tout the match as a big sign of progress the company brought about and justification for WWE continuing to work with the Saudi government. It's definitely a positive step.
- Renee Young will once more be an announcer at the show.
Jon Moxley won NJPW's United States Championship during NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals event, defeating Juice Robinson. So they have plans for him beyond that one match. I hope him working there boosts the company, and it's good to see Moxley getting right out there and proving himself.
Super ShowDown has booked Big E, Sin Cara, and Humberto Carrillo, likely for the 50-man battle royal. That would be the first two names' return from injury.
SyFy has canceled the show Happy!, which featured Big Show in a recurring role.
WWE's comic being canceled was decided several months ago.
Smackdown Live has announced live events for:
- July 20 in Georgia
- August 3 in Kentucky
- August 4 in Illinois
- August 5 in Michigan
Raw has announced live events for:
- July 26 in Arkansas
- July 27 in Oklahoma
Slammiversary has officially added Johnny Impact vs. Rich Swann for the X-Division Championship, as was hinted on TV.
Best in the World has added Nick Aldis and Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes in something of a crossover with NWA.
- NWA has released Colt Cabana vs. James Storm, taped at ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds on May 12.
WWE assets from the 1980s are being added to Rocket League's summer expansion, specifically related to Ultimate Warrior.
Dustin Rhodes is on Chris Jericho's latest podcast.
Ryback spoke to Chris Van Vliet about leaving WWE and more. He was clever with getting his downside guarantee despite walking out.
Becky Lynch spoke to Sports Illustrated. I'm really curious what will headline WrestleMania 36.
A Randy Savage Slim Jim figure is coming from Mattel. AMAZING.
WWE superstars wished India Eid Mubarak.
Smackdown Live drew 2.01 million viewers Tuesday night, pretty close to last week's number.
Super ShowDown's Kickoff special will have The Usos vs. The Revival. I expect Jimmy and Jey to take that one.
AEW has launched a Road to Fyter Fest series.
Sami Zayn is launching another Syrian fundraiser right as Super ShowDown comes on WWE Network. Zayn will not be on that show due to Saudi Arabia's relationship with Syria.
Mickie James is undergoing surgery for a torn ACL suffered at a recent live event. She could easily be out the rest of 2019. Hopefully she still has a good run in her once she recovers.
Kofi Kingston discussed returning to Ghana. WWE is working on a "WWE 24" episode featuring that trip. Kofi vs. Big E is an intriguing direction, but one they want to be careful with executing if it means the end of New Day's success.
Will Ospreay is moving to Japan. He just won NJPW's Best of Super Juniors tournament, so he's likely in for a bigger role there.
NJPW's Best of Super Juniors finals, featuring Jon Moxley's first post-WWE match, drew 7,650 fans. That's pretty impressive.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. If the Kofi-Dolph segment pulls big social media numbers, that could theoretically send a message. Overall, if segments and matches like that are received favorably (as in, viewed a lot on TV and online), there's an easier argument for Vince to do more like them. As for Shane's win, it was over someone the WWE audience had never seen wrestle before, and he had help to do it. Hardly egregious.
2. I'm glad they tried that idea at DON instead of debuting them all cold on TNT! Marvez definitely seemed out of place. Hopefully they adjust things between now and October.
3. I'm under the impression the big updates needed to create the "new" (tiered) WWE Network won't work on those older platforms. WWE's taking a risk that the new model will take hold with more subscribers.
4. Rhodes is the only talent who's worked all those promotions, yes. If we're just going with WWE, WCW, Impact, and AEW, Christopher Daniels also has those credentials. Either way, yes, Dustin has had an amazing career.
5. In some ways we won't see just whom AEW will appeal to until it's on TNT and thus easily available to a wider variety of potential fans. There's absolutely potential for AEW to appeal to younger generations going forward in a way that hurts WWE's attempts to court that same demographic. AEW is going to be in a position to reach a lot of fans in a lot of demographics come October, and that will affect WWE and every other promotion that runs in the same markets AEW is going to run.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
NXT UK women tryouts, Interview with Lacey, more MLW lucha names, new BITW matches, Eli a free man, Raw audience, WWE comic ending run, WWE announcer sets up scholarships, AEW unable to use original OWE plans, AEW name to miss Fyter Fest, another WWE HoFer at Starrcast, Aldis title defense set, Impact taping matches, Impact wrestler done, SDL dark matches, and Questions on Impact errors, the IIconics being booked to lose, NXT vs. AEW, and AEW focusing on the BTE crew
WWE's UK Performance Center is having a women's tryout this week. Candy Floss, as well as Ireland's Debbie Keitel and Valkyrie, are expected to be present.
Lacey Evans spoke to Sporting News before Raw:
- I really wonder where she gets her wardrobe.
- It is great that she's showing the value of hard work, believing in yourself, etc.
- I'm VERY glad her life turned around.
- There are definitely the makings of a babyface character here, but I'm glad she's a heel right now.
- Her character is so authentic with some of the lines she comes up with. I definitely don't think someone from Connecticut is telling her these expressions.
MLW will feature Dr. Wagner, Jr. and El Hijo del Dr. Wagner, Jr. at their July 6 TV taping. They're doing a great job showcasing lucha talents.
Best in the World has added Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee and Rush vs. Flip Gordon. Should be good.
Eli Drake has announced he is a free agent. There was concern Impact would seek to prevent him from working elsewhere after terminating him for refusing to wrestle Tessa Blanchard at United We Stand. Thankfully, that's not the case.
- Eli and Impact came to an agreement on the situation that allows him to now sign anywhere he would like.
Raw drew 2.41 million viewers Monday night, bouncing back from Memorial Day.
WWE's BOOM! Studios comic is wrapping up with its 25th issue.
205 Live's Vic Joseph established a memorial scholarship for a childhood friend with muscular dystrophy. That's awesome!
OWE wanted to use four Chinese wrestlers at Double or Nothing, but couldn't due to visa issues. The promotion hopes to be able to use local talent at All Out. AEW has an opportunity to showcase something pretty unique if they can get things sorted out here.
AEW's Hikaru Shida will not appear at Fyter Fest because she'll be working her final Japanese tour at that time. She's expected to be in AEW/the U.S. full-time afterward.
Sting is set for Starrcast III. If he could ever get medically cleared for a big Saudi show, I think we'd have a chance to see him vs. Undertaker.
Nick Aldis will defend the NWA World Championship at MCW's July 13 event, Shamrock Cup XIX.
Impact Wrestling has announced:
- Rob Van Dam and Sabu vs. The North for Thursday's TV taping. I wouldn't be shocked in the least to see them pick up Rhino later this year.
- Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary for Friday's TV taping
Kongo Kong is no longer part of Impact Wrestling. He last worked there in March. I don't expect him to pop up in any other prominent promotion at 39.
Before Smackdown Live, Heavy Machinery defeated The B-Team. I see why Bo and Curtis are going after the 24/7 title!
After Smackdown Live, Bayley retained the Smackdown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. As indicated, I'm under the impression they've got a small number of staff taking on a large number of tasks. So, things slip through the cracks.
2. Not at all. It's not like they were booked strongly before becoming champions in the first place! At least now they appear on both shows.
3. I definitely think they'll try to make NXT the best product possible, but I really don't see it being marketed strongly to the Raw and Smackdown Live audience, since Vince obviously has a very different vision of wrestling than what is presented in NXT.
4. It's only been two shows so far, but obviously there is the concern of AEW being "BTE the promotion" essentially. I can understand building around the talents you know aren't going anywhere else anytime soon in the early going, and the AEW talents beating the "guests" who aren't under full-time deals (or, in Dustin's case, are likely not going to be long-term prospects). Hopefully once things are stable going into 2020 they'll feel more confident letting others share the spotlight.
5. I'm a little surprised they don't meet that often, but given how far apart they live and how much they can get done without being in the same room, there's not a lot of reason for them to see each other frequently.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Lacey Evans spoke to Sporting News before Raw:
- I really wonder where she gets her wardrobe.
- It is great that she's showing the value of hard work, believing in yourself, etc.
- I'm VERY glad her life turned around.
- There are definitely the makings of a babyface character here, but I'm glad she's a heel right now.
- Her character is so authentic with some of the lines she comes up with. I definitely don't think someone from Connecticut is telling her these expressions.
MLW will feature Dr. Wagner, Jr. and El Hijo del Dr. Wagner, Jr. at their July 6 TV taping. They're doing a great job showcasing lucha talents.
Best in the World has added Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee and Rush vs. Flip Gordon. Should be good.
Eli Drake has announced he is a free agent. There was concern Impact would seek to prevent him from working elsewhere after terminating him for refusing to wrestle Tessa Blanchard at United We Stand. Thankfully, that's not the case.
- Eli and Impact came to an agreement on the situation that allows him to now sign anywhere he would like.
Raw drew 2.41 million viewers Monday night, bouncing back from Memorial Day.
WWE's BOOM! Studios comic is wrapping up with its 25th issue.
205 Live's Vic Joseph established a memorial scholarship for a childhood friend with muscular dystrophy. That's awesome!
OWE wanted to use four Chinese wrestlers at Double or Nothing, but couldn't due to visa issues. The promotion hopes to be able to use local talent at All Out. AEW has an opportunity to showcase something pretty unique if they can get things sorted out here.
AEW's Hikaru Shida will not appear at Fyter Fest because she'll be working her final Japanese tour at that time. She's expected to be in AEW/the U.S. full-time afterward.
Sting is set for Starrcast III. If he could ever get medically cleared for a big Saudi show, I think we'd have a chance to see him vs. Undertaker.
Nick Aldis will defend the NWA World Championship at MCW's July 13 event, Shamrock Cup XIX.
Impact Wrestling has announced:
- Rob Van Dam and Sabu vs. The North for Thursday's TV taping. I wouldn't be shocked in the least to see them pick up Rhino later this year.
- Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary for Friday's TV taping
Kongo Kong is no longer part of Impact Wrestling. He last worked there in March. I don't expect him to pop up in any other prominent promotion at 39.
Before Smackdown Live, Heavy Machinery defeated The B-Team. I see why Bo and Curtis are going after the 24/7 title!
After Smackdown Live, Bayley retained the Smackdown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. As indicated, I'm under the impression they've got a small number of staff taking on a large number of tasks. So, things slip through the cracks.
2. Not at all. It's not like they were booked strongly before becoming champions in the first place! At least now they appear on both shows.
3. I definitely think they'll try to make NXT the best product possible, but I really don't see it being marketed strongly to the Raw and Smackdown Live audience, since Vince obviously has a very different vision of wrestling than what is presented in NXT.
4. It's only been two shows so far, but obviously there is the concern of AEW being "BTE the promotion" essentially. I can understand building around the talents you know aren't going anywhere else anytime soon in the early going, and the AEW talents beating the "guests" who aren't under full-time deals (or, in Dustin's case, are likely not going to be long-term prospects). Hopefully once things are stable going into 2020 they'll feel more confident letting others share the spotlight.
5. I'm a little surprised they don't meet that often, but given how far apart they live and how much they can get done without being in the same room, there's not a lot of reason for them to see each other frequently.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Smackdown Live and 205 Live Reax - 6/4/19
Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown Live and 205 Live.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Interviews with Miller/McCool, Zelina's Network picks, NXT names possibly working SSD, longtime indie photographer passes, ECW Arena profiled, NJPW names working U.S. indie, Cornette profiled, Impact champion almost worked DON, ROH fan has altercations with roster members, why WWE guest disappeared, Bret attack court update, NXT UK title match set, 205 Live name gets first action figure, WWE exec honored, NJPW PPV coming to FITE, Impact exec spars with recent star, Cage update, Impact YouTube grows, new NXT ring names, Taker's promo continued, Raw dark match, and Questions on WWE using GSP, Bret working DON, signing talent but not using them prominently, and Starrcast lacking without Flair
Ernest "The Cat" Miller discussed his WWE run and more. Here are highlights:
- I completely believe Vince loved his character.
- Those WCW deals were SWEET.
- I understand WWE wanting him to be more than a character.
Michelle McCool is on Lilian Garcia's latest podcast.
WWE Network has added Zelina Vega's Superstar Picks. It's cool to see what influences each star.
Super ShowDown's battle royal could feature a number of NXT names. Matt Riddle specifically was discussed as a possibility. I'm curious how that will play out.
Northeastern indie photographer Lyle Williams has passed away. Kassius Ohno, Sonjay Dutt, Adam Pearce, Rhett Titus, and Kevin Owens remembered him on social media.
The former ECW Arena was profiled locally.
Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Rocky Romero, and Roppongi 3K are competing for North Carolina's PWX on July 7. Smart to time that right after G1 Climax.
Viceland looked at Jim Cornette's collection of memorabilia.
AEW almost used Brian Cage in the Casino Battle Royal, but Impact prevented him from doing so. I'm guessing they didn't want their world champion to lose in a pre-show clustermess, but they had an opportunity to put him in front of a much larger audience that could potentially want to see him again on Impact's shows. Completely shortsighted.
ROH has launched an "internal review" after a fan alleged he was physically struck and spat on by Mandy Leon of The Allure after heckling the heel faction. The fan further alleged he was taken backstage and berated by Bully Ray for his antics. Notably, Bully Ray is romantically involved with Velvet Sky, who was another target of the audience member's actions. I don't think I've ever heard of a fan being taken backstage and taken to task by a talent for making lewd/disrespectful remarks and gestures. That's genuinely left up to security. ROH is right to look into this and decide if Bully and Mandy's responses were appropriate. Of course the major irony here is Bully's reputation for intentionally riling fans up at events, including at that same show.
- Bully Ray confirmed he spoke to the fan in question backstage. I have a hard time believing he politely told the fan to settle down. We'll see what ROH does here.
Peter Rosenberg is no longer working for WWE, which was a WWE decision. Rosenberg had missed a number of WWE events due to other commitments, so I can see why WWE went in another direction.
Bret Hart's attacker's court hearing has been pushed back to July 9.
The NXT UK Women's Championship will be defended at ICW's July 28 event as Toni Storm faces Piper Niven.
Ariya Daivari's first action figure is now available for pre-order.
WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson has been honored as one of Adweek's 2019 Women Trailblazers.
NJPW Dominion, headlined by Chris Jericho challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, will be available on FITE TV in addition to New Japan World.
Impact's Scott D'Amore and recent Impact star KM traded shots on Twitter (a number of which were later deleted). Fun stuff.
Brian Cage is advertised for Impact's TV tapings this week. I look forward to seeing him again.
Impact's YouTube channel had its best month ever in May, gaining 110,000 new subscribers. Not a bad metric at all given what else they've got working against them.
NXT stars have received new ring names:
- Adrian Jaoude is now Arturo Ruas
- Eric Bugenhagen is now Rik Bugez
- Jessie Elaban is now Jessi Kamea
- Luke Menzies is now Ridge Holland
- Trevor Lee is now Cameron Grimes
-- Bugez had already gotten some momentum after appearing as Bugenhagen, so we'll see how that changes with the new identity.
The Undertaker's closing line was cut off from Raw's TV feed. Oops!
After Raw, Braun Strowman beat Bobby Lashley in a Super ShowDown preview.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Summerslam might be too soon. WrestleMania would probably be better, so he could train and build hype.
2. He's clearly able to take outside dates - for now. WWE could try to sign him to a more restrictive deal.
3. Not that I know of.
4. The talent development end saw something in him. WWE Creative doesn't seem to. He's hardly the only one who fits in that category!
5. Yes. He was going to be one of the key parts of the event. I'm sure it was still great, though.
More wrestling tomorrow.
- I completely believe Vince loved his character.
- Those WCW deals were SWEET.
- I understand WWE wanting him to be more than a character.
Michelle McCool is on Lilian Garcia's latest podcast.
WWE Network has added Zelina Vega's Superstar Picks. It's cool to see what influences each star.
Super ShowDown's battle royal could feature a number of NXT names. Matt Riddle specifically was discussed as a possibility. I'm curious how that will play out.
Northeastern indie photographer Lyle Williams has passed away. Kassius Ohno, Sonjay Dutt, Adam Pearce, Rhett Titus, and Kevin Owens remembered him on social media.
The former ECW Arena was profiled locally.
Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Rocky Romero, and Roppongi 3K are competing for North Carolina's PWX on July 7. Smart to time that right after G1 Climax.
Viceland looked at Jim Cornette's collection of memorabilia.
AEW almost used Brian Cage in the Casino Battle Royal, but Impact prevented him from doing so. I'm guessing they didn't want their world champion to lose in a pre-show clustermess, but they had an opportunity to put him in front of a much larger audience that could potentially want to see him again on Impact's shows. Completely shortsighted.
ROH has launched an "internal review" after a fan alleged he was physically struck and spat on by Mandy Leon of The Allure after heckling the heel faction. The fan further alleged he was taken backstage and berated by Bully Ray for his antics. Notably, Bully Ray is romantically involved with Velvet Sky, who was another target of the audience member's actions. I don't think I've ever heard of a fan being taken backstage and taken to task by a talent for making lewd/disrespectful remarks and gestures. That's genuinely left up to security. ROH is right to look into this and decide if Bully and Mandy's responses were appropriate. Of course the major irony here is Bully's reputation for intentionally riling fans up at events, including at that same show.
- Bully Ray confirmed he spoke to the fan in question backstage. I have a hard time believing he politely told the fan to settle down. We'll see what ROH does here.
Peter Rosenberg is no longer working for WWE, which was a WWE decision. Rosenberg had missed a number of WWE events due to other commitments, so I can see why WWE went in another direction.
Bret Hart's attacker's court hearing has been pushed back to July 9.
The NXT UK Women's Championship will be defended at ICW's July 28 event as Toni Storm faces Piper Niven.
Ariya Daivari's first action figure is now available for pre-order.
WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson has been honored as one of Adweek's 2019 Women Trailblazers.
NJPW Dominion, headlined by Chris Jericho challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, will be available on FITE TV in addition to New Japan World.
Impact's Scott D'Amore and recent Impact star KM traded shots on Twitter (a number of which were later deleted). Fun stuff.
Brian Cage is advertised for Impact's TV tapings this week. I look forward to seeing him again.
Impact's YouTube channel had its best month ever in May, gaining 110,000 new subscribers. Not a bad metric at all given what else they've got working against them.
NXT stars have received new ring names:
- Adrian Jaoude is now Arturo Ruas
- Eric Bugenhagen is now Rik Bugez
- Jessie Elaban is now Jessi Kamea
- Luke Menzies is now Ridge Holland
- Trevor Lee is now Cameron Grimes
-- Bugez had already gotten some momentum after appearing as Bugenhagen, so we'll see how that changes with the new identity.
The Undertaker's closing line was cut off from Raw's TV feed. Oops!
After Raw, Braun Strowman beat Bobby Lashley in a Super ShowDown preview.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Summerslam might be too soon. WrestleMania would probably be better, so he could train and build hype.
2. He's clearly able to take outside dates - for now. WWE could try to sign him to a more restrictive deal.
3. Not that I know of.
4. The talent development end saw something in him. WWE Creative doesn't seem to. He's hardly the only one who fits in that category!
5. Yes. He was going to be one of the key parts of the event. I'm sure it was still great, though.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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