Teddy Hart has been released by MLW. He was not at the company's Opera Cup event. No real indication of what went down there.
Friday Night Smackdown in the UK will air on Sky Sports 1 for the remainder of the year. The two sides are parting ways at the end of 2019, so Sky's planning its next moves.
The Undertaker is set for The Big Event in New York on March 7. Pretty cool.
ACH worked MLW Opera Cup, teaming with King Mo to defeat Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil. It was announced he'll work more dates there, including their January 11 TV taping. More on this tomorrow.
MLW used Capitol Wrestling's Matt Ryan in the Gorilla position and as a producer at Opera Cup with Chris DeJoseph leaving.
Hard to Kill has added ODB to its Knockouts Championship match. Looks like she could be having a regular run there.
Moose will miss Impact's shows this weekend due to a leg injury. He's being replaced by Crash Jaxson on the No Surrender special. I hope he's not out long. With all the sports he plays this is a big setback.
General Adnan is on the latest "Wrestling With History" podcast. Here are highlights. Very interesting history lesson.
WWE referee Jessika Carr spoke to Sports Illustrated about her Friday Night Smackdown debut.
Rapper Offset will be on WWE Backstage's Promo School this week. Now that should be good!
WWE co-president George A. Barrios is set for Monday's UBS Global TMT Conference.
Final Battle has added Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry vs. Silas Young and Josh Woods. Sounds pretty good. The latter team is now known as "Two Guys, One Tag." Interesting name...
Paige's father being hospitalized was due to his diabetes.
Kevin Owens is in a Montreal newspaper poll for best Quebecois athlete of the last decade.
Shawn Michaels won Best Supporting Actor at the NE Film Festival for "90 Feet From Home." That's pretty cool.
"The Replaceables" will feature Diamond Dallas Page, Larry Zbyszko, Stan Hansen, Glacier, Ernest Miller, and Tonga.
Final Battle has been expanded to four hours, with the first hour streaming as a free pre-show. Kenny King vs. Rhett Titus has been moved to that, and it will also feature the earlier mentioned tag match.
Final Battle Fallout has added former WCW star Crowbar, as well as a TV exclusive match featuring Dak Draper. I'm curious how Crowbar will fit in there.
ROH has set a Future of Honor show on December 14. The show will feature a battle royal with the winner facing Shane Taylor. Flip Gordon will be there as well.
After Friday Night Smackdown, The Fiend defeated The Miz to retain the WWE Universal Championship.
Bobby Fulton has been diagnosed with throat cancer. That's very unfortunate. I hope he recovers soon.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It's part of WWE's deal to use the talent in question. There are similar restrictions when NXT UK talents wrestle on outside events.
2. I don't know if there's any interest from either side. I do think AEW could use some help in that department. It's one thing that doesn't have a lot of polish right now.
3. NO. That would invite criticism that WWE was "paying for coverage" or what have you. It's the same with other promotions, too.
4. I'd think it would be pretty difficult to wrestle in the costume. I'm under the impression he was just supposed to be a mascot, although of course he's most obviously associated with Thanksgiving.
5. That's a good question, actually. It's possible they just rented the suit from someone else and it was given back to its previous owner.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Saturday, December 7, 2019
MLW release, FNSD changing UK channels, Taker signing set, ACH set for MLW, Hard to Kill adds to Knockouts match, Impact injury, Interviews with Adnan/Carr, rapper set for Backstage, new ROH matches, Paige father update, assorted wrestling press, Final Battle expands, ROH sets Future of Honor show, FNSD dark match, legend diagnosed with cancer, and Questions on WWE preventing AEW names from working conventions, Jimmy Hart working on AEW music, reporters beign reimbursed, the Gooker, and Stomper
Friday Night Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 12/6/19
Read on for my thoughts on last night's Friday Night Smackdown and 205 Live.
Friday, December 6, 2019
NXT opens award voting, MJF responds to Cody, Network app update, NASCAR star on title win, new Fun House merchandise, Lana interview, Booker podcast notes, AEW storyline suspension, WWE Network free tier begins beta testing, Impact exec deposed in Jarrett lawsuit, Dynamite+NXT audiences, WWE changes PPV approach, Klein-ROH update, AAA+Raw+AEW attendance, NJPW-ROH update, Giulia debut set, NWA title feud in the works, Arn confirms firing rumor, lucha name retiring after brick incident, Paige's father hospitalized, another UK promotion closes, ROH TV gets new clearance, WWE Network cracking down on VPNs, more on new Creative hire, more on Andrade trademark, and NXT live event notes
NXT has opened voting for its year-end awards.
MJF responded to Cody after Dynamite, tying himself to The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny. I'm guessing he or Wardlow will be Cody's official partner in the upcoming tag team clash.
WWE Network has been updated on Roku.
Kyle Busch discussed his 24/7 Championship reign.
WWE is selling a Huskus The Pig Boy plush doll.
Lana spoke to Comicbook.com.
Booker T. discussed WWE's locker room through the years and working as Smackdown GM.
Nyla Rose has been "suspended without pay" for the rest of 2019 for her actions on Dynamite. I like the selling of her as a force.
WWE Network is beta testing its free tier, largely featuring content from YouTube. They'd definitely like fans to watch on WWE.com rather than on that site!
Impact executive vice president Scott D'Amore is being deposed as part of the Jeff Jarrett-Anthem lawsuit over the rights to Global Force content. There was some legal wrangling over D'Amore due to his being a Canadian citizen and Anthem considering him an independent contractor, but ultimately the court ruled that as an officer in Anthem he can be deposed. Notably D'Amore still owns a five percent stake in Global Force Entertainment, with Jeff Jarrett owning the remainder. Those two go way back, so it's a shame they're at odds here.
Dynamite drew 851,000 viewers Wednesday night, rebounding nicely from last week's surprisingly low number. Hopefully they stay in this range if not going higher.
NXT drew 845,000 viewers Wednesday night, which is a fine number in its own right. I'm glad it grew from the post-Survivor Series show.
WWE pay-per-view matches aren't being announced as early in the past due to Vince McMahon putting more of an emphasis on those events as hooks for the WWE Network rather than needing to be sold on their own. The argument is that a lot of Network signups are right before the PPV begins rather than in the weeks ahead, so this is following that trend. It's an interesting philosophy, to be sure.
ROH is willing to have Kelly Klein drop the WOH Championship at Final Battle or the December 15 HonorClub event if medically cleared, despite her contract ending at the end of the year. It isn't expected she'll be able to compete at either event.
- ROH is paying for her medical treatment and intends to continue to do so when her contract ends.
AAA Triplemania Regia drew 14,350 fans. That's quite good!
Raw's attendance Monday was 6,800. Dynamite's was 4,100.
NJPW currently has no plans to send talent to ROH events due to the company running its own U.S. shows. It will be very interesting to see if that holds true for WrestleMania weekend.
Stardom will debut Giulia on December 8, facing Hazuki a few weeks before the latter retires. That's cool.
NWA is planning to have The Great Muta challenge Nick Aldis for the world championship. Wow. That's cool.
Arn Anderson recently confirmed his WWE release was due to allowing Alicia Fox to wrestle at a live event while allegedly under the influence of alcohol. That story had been floating around, but out of respect for Alicia's privacy, I didn't run it when it initially broke. Fox has since been open about rehabilitating.
Cuervo de Puerto Rico has announced his retirement, despite being medically cleared after taking a brick to the head last year. That might be for the best.
Paige's father was recently hospitalized. No further details are available, but I wish him and that family the best.
UK's Empire Wrestling has shut down. They were planning a December 15 event but have decided not to run it. We'll see what the future holds for those who worked there.
ROH's weekly TV show will now air in Los Angeles and Phoenix due to Sinclair purchasing former Fox Sports affiliates. Chicago will get the show starting in February. In theory that's good for ROH, but I have my doubts it will do much for them.
WWE Network is going after international users attempting to use U.S. proxy addresses to illegally access the service. This will actually cut the counted number of U.S. subscribers, which Wall Street won't care for.
WWE Creative member Chris DeJoseph will likely join Smackdown. That brand could use some direction, for sure.
Andrade trademarking "La Sombra" was believed to be a counter to CMLL attempting to use the name themselves. Clever!
At NXT's December 5 Florida live event, which featured all women's matches:
- Mia Yim worked her first live event since November 1, teaming with Candice LeRae and Rhea Ripley in a win over Dakota Kai, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir. This was also the first live event since November 1 for Rhea, Duke, and Shafir.
- Shotzi Blockheart debuted for the brand, losing to Chelsea Green
- Shayna Baszler worked her first live event since November 1, retaining the NXT Women's Championship against Reina Gonzalez.
More wrestling tomorrow.
MJF responded to Cody after Dynamite, tying himself to The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny. I'm guessing he or Wardlow will be Cody's official partner in the upcoming tag team clash.
WWE Network has been updated on Roku.
Kyle Busch discussed his 24/7 Championship reign.
WWE is selling a Huskus The Pig Boy plush doll.
Lana spoke to Comicbook.com.
Booker T. discussed WWE's locker room through the years and working as Smackdown GM.
Nyla Rose has been "suspended without pay" for the rest of 2019 for her actions on Dynamite. I like the selling of her as a force.
WWE Network is beta testing its free tier, largely featuring content from YouTube. They'd definitely like fans to watch on WWE.com rather than on that site!
Impact executive vice president Scott D'Amore is being deposed as part of the Jeff Jarrett-Anthem lawsuit over the rights to Global Force content. There was some legal wrangling over D'Amore due to his being a Canadian citizen and Anthem considering him an independent contractor, but ultimately the court ruled that as an officer in Anthem he can be deposed. Notably D'Amore still owns a five percent stake in Global Force Entertainment, with Jeff Jarrett owning the remainder. Those two go way back, so it's a shame they're at odds here.
Dynamite drew 851,000 viewers Wednesday night, rebounding nicely from last week's surprisingly low number. Hopefully they stay in this range if not going higher.
NXT drew 845,000 viewers Wednesday night, which is a fine number in its own right. I'm glad it grew from the post-Survivor Series show.
WWE pay-per-view matches aren't being announced as early in the past due to Vince McMahon putting more of an emphasis on those events as hooks for the WWE Network rather than needing to be sold on their own. The argument is that a lot of Network signups are right before the PPV begins rather than in the weeks ahead, so this is following that trend. It's an interesting philosophy, to be sure.
ROH is willing to have Kelly Klein drop the WOH Championship at Final Battle or the December 15 HonorClub event if medically cleared, despite her contract ending at the end of the year. It isn't expected she'll be able to compete at either event.
- ROH is paying for her medical treatment and intends to continue to do so when her contract ends.
AAA Triplemania Regia drew 14,350 fans. That's quite good!
Raw's attendance Monday was 6,800. Dynamite's was 4,100.
NJPW currently has no plans to send talent to ROH events due to the company running its own U.S. shows. It will be very interesting to see if that holds true for WrestleMania weekend.
Stardom will debut Giulia on December 8, facing Hazuki a few weeks before the latter retires. That's cool.
NWA is planning to have The Great Muta challenge Nick Aldis for the world championship. Wow. That's cool.
Arn Anderson recently confirmed his WWE release was due to allowing Alicia Fox to wrestle at a live event while allegedly under the influence of alcohol. That story had been floating around, but out of respect for Alicia's privacy, I didn't run it when it initially broke. Fox has since been open about rehabilitating.
Cuervo de Puerto Rico has announced his retirement, despite being medically cleared after taking a brick to the head last year. That might be for the best.
Paige's father was recently hospitalized. No further details are available, but I wish him and that family the best.
UK's Empire Wrestling has shut down. They were planning a December 15 event but have decided not to run it. We'll see what the future holds for those who worked there.
ROH's weekly TV show will now air in Los Angeles and Phoenix due to Sinclair purchasing former Fox Sports affiliates. Chicago will get the show starting in February. In theory that's good for ROH, but I have my doubts it will do much for them.
WWE Network is going after international users attempting to use U.S. proxy addresses to illegally access the service. This will actually cut the counted number of U.S. subscribers, which Wall Street won't care for.
WWE Creative member Chris DeJoseph will likely join Smackdown. That brand could use some direction, for sure.
Andrade trademarking "La Sombra" was believed to be a counter to CMLL attempting to use the name themselves. Clever!
At NXT's December 5 Florida live event, which featured all women's matches:
- Mia Yim worked her first live event since November 1, teaming with Candice LeRae and Rhea Ripley in a win over Dakota Kai, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir. This was also the first live event since November 1 for Rhea, Duke, and Shafir.
- Shotzi Blockheart debuted for the brand, losing to Chelsea Green
- Shayna Baszler worked her first live event since November 1, retaining the NXT Women's Championship against Reina Gonzalez.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
WWE podcast moving, Punk shouts out Ospreay, WWE touring South Africa, assorted wrestling press, Amell-Backstage, Interviews with Rusev/Stone Cold/WWE+AWA jobber/Rhea/Flip, Raw audience, Raw taping in Canada, more on WWN weekend plans, Backstage audience, women's cage match in MSG, celebrity gets WWE tryout, AEW commercial references NXT, EVOLVE recruitment camp set, ROH return set, AEW signing official, AEW cameo, and Questions on Punk questions, Punk-WM36, WWE running Chicago, WWE dropping women's Rumbles, and Atout-AEW
"After The Bell" is moving to Thursdays starting next week.
C.M. Punk referenced Will Ospreay when John Morrison tweeted about his WWE return. Ospreay's getting some serious hype.
WWE has announced a South Africa tour from April 29 through May 2.
Sheamus, Rusev, and Titus O'Neil were at a Tennessee NHL game. Interesting enough.
Stephen Amell missed WWE Backstage due to a pinched nerve in his back, but he says he will be on the show in the future.
Rusev spoke to Comicbook.com.
Stone Cold is on Ron Funches' "Getting Better."
Matt Hardy and Reby Hardy have had their third child. That's great.
Former WWE/AWA wrestler Chris Curtis is on the latest "Wrestling with History" podcast. Here are highlights. Interesting stuff about the life of a jobber.
Raw drew 2.21 million viewers this week, a slight boost from the last episode.
"WWE Day" at NFL's New York Jets game this weekend will feature Mick Foley, Big Show, and Mandy Rose.
John Morrison will be on "The Bump" next week.
Raw will come from Manitoba on February 24. It's been a long time since WWE has taped TV there.
WWN's WrestleMania 36 schedule will include:
- April 2:
Two "Accelerate" events featuring NXT and NXT UK talents, a PROGRESS event, and the WWN Supershow
- April 3:
EVOLVE, SHIMMER, and Kaiju Big Battel
- April 4:
EVOLVE and wXw
-- The shows are being collectively referred to Wrestlexpo.
Backstage drew 138,000 viewers this week. Not bad.
Rhea Ripley spoke before NXT. She's a great fit for her role. As for why NXT is better at storytelling, there's a smaller cast and more freedom to let something play out rather than being focused on every segment's ratings.
Raw's Madison Square Garden event has added a steel cage match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with The Kabuki Warriors facing Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. It's interesting Becky isn't defending her own title. I'm fine with it, though.
"Growing Up Supermodel" star Arissa Le Brock, daughter of Steven Seagal, is receiving a WWE Performance Center. She has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background as well, so she's not just getting a look because of her dad and her modeling, thank goodness.
AEW has debuted a commercial comparing Dynamite favorably to NXT. Wow, someone's gotten to!
EVOLVE has a recruitment camp set for January 3 through January 5. Terry Taylor, Norman Smiley, Steve Corino, Jeremy Borash, and other NXT staff will be on-hand.
ROH's December 15 taping has added Hallowicked returning against Mark Haskins for Hallowicked's first ROH match since 2012. Glad to see another fresh face in the mix.
Flip Gordon discussed AEW and more. He's not able to go anywhere in the near future, but I expect he'll have good offers when it's time.
AEW has signed Kris Statlander, as expected. Good to see.
Brandi Rhodes' "pledge" on Dynamite was Melanie Cruise.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Not really. There's just not much to add at this time.
2. There's a chance for Punk to headline WrestleMania, but I don't think it's something he's angling for right now and it's definitely not something he's planned!
3. I expect they're happy with the venue they already run there and don't see a reason to change things. They've established connections with certain places, and it's easy to work with people they're used to working with.
4. I also expect they'll feel ripped off, as if something's missing from the show.
5. For whatever reason it never came together between the two sides, so she was free for MLW to pick her up.
More wrestling tomorrow.
C.M. Punk referenced Will Ospreay when John Morrison tweeted about his WWE return. Ospreay's getting some serious hype.
WWE has announced a South Africa tour from April 29 through May 2.
Sheamus, Rusev, and Titus O'Neil were at a Tennessee NHL game. Interesting enough.
Stephen Amell missed WWE Backstage due to a pinched nerve in his back, but he says he will be on the show in the future.
Rusev spoke to Comicbook.com.
Stone Cold is on Ron Funches' "Getting Better."
Matt Hardy and Reby Hardy have had their third child. That's great.
Former WWE/AWA wrestler Chris Curtis is on the latest "Wrestling with History" podcast. Here are highlights. Interesting stuff about the life of a jobber.
Raw drew 2.21 million viewers this week, a slight boost from the last episode.
"WWE Day" at NFL's New York Jets game this weekend will feature Mick Foley, Big Show, and Mandy Rose.
John Morrison will be on "The Bump" next week.
Raw will come from Manitoba on February 24. It's been a long time since WWE has taped TV there.
WWN's WrestleMania 36 schedule will include:
- April 2:
Two "Accelerate" events featuring NXT and NXT UK talents, a PROGRESS event, and the WWN Supershow
- April 3:
EVOLVE, SHIMMER, and Kaiju Big Battel
- April 4:
EVOLVE and wXw
-- The shows are being collectively referred to Wrestlexpo.
Backstage drew 138,000 viewers this week. Not bad.
Rhea Ripley spoke before NXT. She's a great fit for her role. As for why NXT is better at storytelling, there's a smaller cast and more freedom to let something play out rather than being focused on every segment's ratings.
Raw's Madison Square Garden event has added a steel cage match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with The Kabuki Warriors facing Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. It's interesting Becky isn't defending her own title. I'm fine with it, though.
"Growing Up Supermodel" star Arissa Le Brock, daughter of Steven Seagal, is receiving a WWE Performance Center. She has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background as well, so she's not just getting a look because of her dad and her modeling, thank goodness.
AEW has debuted a commercial comparing Dynamite favorably to NXT. Wow, someone's gotten to!
EVOLVE has a recruitment camp set for January 3 through January 5. Terry Taylor, Norman Smiley, Steve Corino, Jeremy Borash, and other NXT staff will be on-hand.
ROH's December 15 taping has added Hallowicked returning against Mark Haskins for Hallowicked's first ROH match since 2012. Glad to see another fresh face in the mix.
Flip Gordon discussed AEW and more. He's not able to go anywhere in the near future, but I expect he'll have good offers when it's time.
AEW has signed Kris Statlander, as expected. Good to see.
Brandi Rhodes' "pledge" on Dynamite was Melanie Cruise.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Not really. There's just not much to add at this time.
2. There's a chance for Punk to headline WrestleMania, but I don't think it's something he's angling for right now and it's definitely not something he's planned!
3. I expect they're happy with the venue they already run there and don't see a reason to change things. They've established connections with certain places, and it's easy to work with people they're used to working with.
4. I also expect they'll feel ripped off, as if something's missing from the show.
5. For whatever reason it never came together between the two sides, so she was free for MLW to pick her up.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
NXT live events set, Interviews with Bull/Xavier/Rhea/Moxley/Bischoff, amateur RKO, NASCAR covers tie-in, Japanese name discusses coming to WWE, Raw "arrest" followup, new ROH TV matches, WWE signs LU creative head, AEW signs PPV deal, Network dropping feature, more EVOLVE-NXT crossover, Impact relaunches set, NWA Power update, NXT match set, Kofi milestone, Lance Storm's brand, Impact doing special episodes, Cena project, new NWA commentator, Orlando wants top WWE events, AEW Special Olympics tie-ins, new Impact matches, Raw commentary changes, WWE return official, and Questions on the Graves situation, taking the title from Brock, MJF in the ring, and Cornette's future
NXT has announced live events for January 23 in Tennessee and January 24 in Louisiana ahead of Worlds Collide.
Bull James is on Stone Cold's latest podcast.
Randy Orton tweeted an amateur wrestling clip resembling an RKO. That's funny.
Xavier Woods spoke to Gamespot about the UpUpDownDown Championship.
NASCAR covered Kyle Busch's 24/7 Championship win. I assume that press was WWE's goal in the stunt.
Japan's Sareee spoke about going to WWE in 2020. She has announced going to Stardom to challenge Mayu Iwatani for their top championship, so it seems like she's doing kind of a farewell tour.
WWE followed up Raw's arrest angle by announcing both Bobby Lashley and Lana have been released from jail. Lashley teased "further litigation" so we'll see if that plays out. I kind of want to see some kind of handcuff stipulation at TLC now.
ROH's December 15 TV taping has added:
- Marty Scurll and PCO vs. Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff. This could be the final ROH match for multiple parties there.
- Rey Horus debuting against Flip Gordon
- Sumie Sakai vs. Nicole Savoy in Savoy's ROH debut. The Women of Honor division is continuing despite the champion's contract not being renewed for 2020.
- Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham
WWE has rehired former Creative team member Chris DeJoseph, who was with the company from 2004 to 2010. He was the top creative force behind Lucha Underground and recently joined MLW as co-executive producer. Whatever chance LU had for future seasons is almost assuredly done now.
- He left MLW Monday night to take on the WWE role. His WWE discussions preceded him taking the role there.
AEW has signed a PPV deal with InDemand to provide at least one event per quarter through June 2021. Sounds good. Their momentum continues.
WWE Network is not planning any further Hidden Gems.
NXT's Brendan Vink is headed to EVOLVE. The plan is for this to be a regular run. That could be a good opportunity for both sides.
NXT stars are being planned for WWN/EVOLVE shows on WrestleMania weekend. It will be interesting to see what that means for any AXXESS plans.
NXT will use a number of EVOLVE talents for dark matches in the near future, and other EVOLVE names will be getting tryouts at the WWE Performance Center.
Impact has relaunched its website. Good to see a fresh look there.
NWA Power had its season finale last night. This was a deliberate move to take a break from in-ring action before Into The Fire.
NXT has added Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai. I hope Kai knows who she ran afoul of!
Kofi Kingston has passed 1,000 days as a tag team champion in WWE. That should make him Hall of Fame worthy even if the WrestleMania win didn't.
Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte Flair were at Sports Luncheon NY.
Rhea Ripley is on Isaiah Scott's latest podcast.
Lance Storm worked Raw as a producer, his first date in that role.
Impact will have 2019 year end award episodes on December 28 and January 4, replacing the December 23 and December 30 episodes, respectively.
John Cena is set to star in Hulu's "Vacation Friends."
The former Wade Barrett will replace Jim Cornette on NWA commentary beginning at Into The Fire. That's perfect!
Orlando is making bids to hold Summerslam and/or Survivor Series in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Jon Moxley discussed leaving WWE and more.
AEW tributed local Special Olympics athletes at last week's Dynamite taping. That's cool as hell.
Eric Bischoff discussed his recent WWE run and more. Good to see him put AEW over.
No Surrender has added:
- Moose vs. Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack vs. Madman Fulton vs. Acey Romero
- Rosemary vs. Madison Rayne
- Michael Elgin vs. Larry D
Dio Maddin has returned to the WWE Performance Center to continue training to wrestle. I hope that's a good move on his part; commentary would have been a good gig.
- Samoa Joe will replace Dio Maddin until Joe returns to the ring. I hope they have some good replacements lined up for Joe and Lawler.
John Morrison's WWE return was officially acknowledged on Backstage.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. There was another tweet responding to a fan regarding Mauro using so many Chicago rap references. There are valid concerns to raise about Mauro's commentary style and Corey is entitled to tweet his opinion, but, yes, if he was just working an angle, that's actually worse than making criticism legitimately because Mauro wasn't clued in. The key here is what Corey does and doesn't do going forward.
2. Brock vs. Owens can work, as could another round of Brock vs. Joe. I definitely wouldn't assume Brock's losing the title at WrestleMania, though!
3. That can work in the right circumstance, but, again, don't get your hopes up! They clearly want to protect him as an asset.
4. He's coming up on five years as a wrestler, with more than 400 matches under his belt, so he's got some decent seasoning. His character and promos are definitely more responsible for his push, though.
5. Cornette will continue to do his podcast and potentially some convention appearances and the like. I don't expect he needs a full-time wrestling job to pay the bills after this long of a career. And, for the record, I doubt this is the last time someone tries to use him. He's come back from bigger scandals.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Bull James is on Stone Cold's latest podcast.
Randy Orton tweeted an amateur wrestling clip resembling an RKO. That's funny.
Xavier Woods spoke to Gamespot about the UpUpDownDown Championship.
NASCAR covered Kyle Busch's 24/7 Championship win. I assume that press was WWE's goal in the stunt.
Japan's Sareee spoke about going to WWE in 2020. She has announced going to Stardom to challenge Mayu Iwatani for their top championship, so it seems like she's doing kind of a farewell tour.
WWE followed up Raw's arrest angle by announcing both Bobby Lashley and Lana have been released from jail. Lashley teased "further litigation" so we'll see if that plays out. I kind of want to see some kind of handcuff stipulation at TLC now.
ROH's December 15 TV taping has added:
- Marty Scurll and PCO vs. Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff. This could be the final ROH match for multiple parties there.
- Rey Horus debuting against Flip Gordon
- Sumie Sakai vs. Nicole Savoy in Savoy's ROH debut. The Women of Honor division is continuing despite the champion's contract not being renewed for 2020.
- Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham
WWE has rehired former Creative team member Chris DeJoseph, who was with the company from 2004 to 2010. He was the top creative force behind Lucha Underground and recently joined MLW as co-executive producer. Whatever chance LU had for future seasons is almost assuredly done now.
- He left MLW Monday night to take on the WWE role. His WWE discussions preceded him taking the role there.
AEW has signed a PPV deal with InDemand to provide at least one event per quarter through June 2021. Sounds good. Their momentum continues.
WWE Network is not planning any further Hidden Gems.
NXT's Brendan Vink is headed to EVOLVE. The plan is for this to be a regular run. That could be a good opportunity for both sides.
NXT stars are being planned for WWN/EVOLVE shows on WrestleMania weekend. It will be interesting to see what that means for any AXXESS plans.
NXT will use a number of EVOLVE talents for dark matches in the near future, and other EVOLVE names will be getting tryouts at the WWE Performance Center.
Impact has relaunched its website. Good to see a fresh look there.
NWA Power had its season finale last night. This was a deliberate move to take a break from in-ring action before Into The Fire.
NXT has added Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai. I hope Kai knows who she ran afoul of!
Kofi Kingston has passed 1,000 days as a tag team champion in WWE. That should make him Hall of Fame worthy even if the WrestleMania win didn't.
Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte Flair were at Sports Luncheon NY.
Rhea Ripley is on Isaiah Scott's latest podcast.
Lance Storm worked Raw as a producer, his first date in that role.
Impact will have 2019 year end award episodes on December 28 and January 4, replacing the December 23 and December 30 episodes, respectively.
John Cena is set to star in Hulu's "Vacation Friends."
The former Wade Barrett will replace Jim Cornette on NWA commentary beginning at Into The Fire. That's perfect!
Orlando is making bids to hold Summerslam and/or Survivor Series in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Jon Moxley discussed leaving WWE and more.
AEW tributed local Special Olympics athletes at last week's Dynamite taping. That's cool as hell.
Eric Bischoff discussed his recent WWE run and more. Good to see him put AEW over.
No Surrender has added:
- Moose vs. Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack vs. Madman Fulton vs. Acey Romero
- Rosemary vs. Madison Rayne
- Michael Elgin vs. Larry D
Dio Maddin has returned to the WWE Performance Center to continue training to wrestle. I hope that's a good move on his part; commentary would have been a good gig.
- Samoa Joe will replace Dio Maddin until Joe returns to the ring. I hope they have some good replacements lined up for Joe and Lawler.
John Morrison's WWE return was officially acknowledged on Backstage.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. There was another tweet responding to a fan regarding Mauro using so many Chicago rap references. There are valid concerns to raise about Mauro's commentary style and Corey is entitled to tweet his opinion, but, yes, if he was just working an angle, that's actually worse than making criticism legitimately because Mauro wasn't clued in. The key here is what Corey does and doesn't do going forward.
2. Brock vs. Owens can work, as could another round of Brock vs. Joe. I definitely wouldn't assume Brock's losing the title at WrestleMania, though!
3. That can work in the right circumstance, but, again, don't get your hopes up! They clearly want to protect him as an asset.
4. He's coming up on five years as a wrestler, with more than 400 matches under his belt, so he's got some decent seasoning. His character and promos are definitely more responsible for his push, though.
5. Cornette will continue to do his podcast and potentially some convention appearances and the like. I don't expect he needs a full-time wrestling job to pay the bills after this long of a career. And, for the record, I doubt this is the last time someone tries to use him. He's come back from bigger scandals.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)