Smackdown and 205 Live Reax - 9/12/17

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.

Mae Young Classic Special and Finals Reax

Read on for my thoughts on the bonus match and finals of the Mae Young Classic.

WWE roster returns, new ROH PPV matches, Tribute to the Troops set, Raw running UAE and India, Taz returns, Table for 3 postponed again, JR virtual book signing, Show needs surgery, Final Battle announced, WWE PPV set, Foley surgery, late December WWE events, MYC press, Interview with Amato, Conor's Cure press, Bella live at Raw, and Questions on what makes WWE money, Dixie returning to GFW, changes in GFW, and Jarrett the businessman

The Prime Time Players reunited to hang out with LL Cool J at an NFL game. I'd be fine with Titus managing a team of Darren and Apollo. Crews is ridiculously underutilized.

- Darren was backstage at Raw, but not used. I assume he'll be back on Main Event at some point.

The Young Bucks will defend the ROH Tag Team Championship against the Motor City Machine Guns at Death Before Dishonor. So, they're also working two matches on that show. They're over enough and work hard enough to earn that honor, so good for them.

- Marty Scurll vs. Chucky T has been added to the card as well.

WWE's Tribute to the Troops special is expected to be taped as part of the December 5 Smackdown taping in California. That's another cost-cutting move; it's usually a separate event at a military base. 

WWE needs to look at some of their more major expenses and see which ones aren't worth the cost. It might be time to fold 205 Live and shift that roster to other shows.

Raw will run a live event in the UAE on December 6 before having two shows in the same Indian venue on December 7 and 8. I assume Jinder and the Singh brothers will be on that tour, too. WWE would be crazy not to use them there.

Primo Colon is back on the road, so I expect he and Epico will team together some more.

Taz is back in studio doing his radio show after his hand surgery. I'm glad he's able to get back to work; hopefully that's the last surgery he needs.

The Table For 3 episode with Ric Flair, Sting, and Ricky Steamboat has been pushed back again. That could be because they had the MYC special after Raw this week and they want to save it for later.

Jim Ross is doing an online book signing Thursday. That's a cool idea. I'm excited for that autobiography.

Big Show will be undergoing hip surgery later this month as a result of the Braun Strowman match:

- He has given so much of his body to the business. 

- That was probably his last chance to do that kind of maneuver. I can't blame him for taking the chance!

- Strowman has a lot going for him. I hope he becomes as successful as Show, Henry, and Kane.

- Brock vs. Braun should be insane given what both men have going for them physically.

- Hey, if that's the last of Show, he ended on a hell of a note. 

- I don't blame him for focusing on life after WWE. There shouldn't be any rush to go back to taking bumps; he's given 20 years to WWE.

ROH Final Battle 2017 will be on December 15 from Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. That could be a very big night for the company; they're on something of an upswing with Cody and the international names onboard.

WWE Clash of Champions will be on December 17 in Massachusetts. It hasn't been announced which brand will have that event. 

Mick Foley had knee replacement surgery. I hope he feels better once he recovers.

Raw has announced live events on:

- December 26, 27, and 29 in New York

- December 28 in Connecticut

- December 30 in Ontario

Smackdown has announced live events on:

- December 27 in Michigan

- December 28 and 29 in Pnnsylvania

- December 30 in Florida 

YouTube's Inanna Sarkis promoted the MYC finals. So, that's why she was in the WWEPC.

Rolling Stone talked to Sara Amato about WWE women's wrestling. Part of me wants to see a MYC show, but that would be another big and expensive endeavor. If WWE makes a lot of signings, they either need to make cuts of main roster talent and/or bump up the Network price. They can't keep spending the kind of money they're spending with profits dropping starkly from last year.

NBC Sports promoted WWE doing a Conor's Cure event in Pittsburgh.

Nikki Bella appeared before the Raw crowd to promote Dancing With The Stars. It's going to be tough to convince WWE fans to watch that instead of Raw, but hopefully some DWTS fans will become WWE fans due to Nikki's appearance.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It's worth noting there's speculation WWE could get a deal with somewhere like Facebook or YouTube to replace their U.S. TV deal for Raw and Smackdown when it's time to get a new contract on that front. Currently the NBCU deal is THE largest money-maker for WWE and that's going to really shape how they do things.

2. I don't think we'll see it. They basically paid her off and let her quietly walk off into the sunset. I'm not sure what she's doing now, but it's not related to that company.

3. I've liked the new on-screen direction, but I can see how it's not for everyone. It does seem like most fans have given up on the company; I don't know how much more life Anthem or a theoretical new owner can give it; I wouldn't blame anyone for looking for an exit strategy that would end the touring aspect of things so they can try to just make money on the archived video content.

4. Russo is one of the biggest boogeymen in wrestling. I think what happens is them setting a direction for a few months, then something pops up that changes things like talent coming and going or getting tapings in India that necessitates a new direction. Plus, once one regime gets pushed out and a new one takes over, there are going to be changes in which talents get pushed, the tone of the show, etc. I don't think the problem is "Russo-style booking" as much as all the backstage changes in the past few years and all the talent changeover.

5. Considering how long GFW has stayed around, I think he's done alright! He doesn't have a perfect batting record, but he's been essential at getting personnel and business deals for his projects. That's been important for them sticking around for so long. Some people don't like his style of booking, but that's true of any booker.

More wrestling tomorrow.

Raw Reax - 9/11/17

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.

Jinder unable to make UFC show, bonus MYC match tonight, GFW name at comic-con, GFW names working indie tournament, WWE name returns home, more Flair book signings, Interview with MYC name, African Summerslam coverage, Gulak gets a shout-out, Mouth of the South vs. Irma, and Questions on credits on WWE TV, GFW's Network, suspending Alberto, and the GFW/Impact name battle

Jinder Mahal was unable to accompany a UFC fighter this weekend due to being caught in the fallout of Hurricane Irma.

A MYC bonus match of Tessa Blanchard/Jazzy Gabert/Kay Lee Ray vs. Santana Garrett/Sarah Logan/Marti Belle will air on the recap special following Raw. This was taped the same day as rounds two, three, and four of the series.

Robbie E was part of Wizard World Nashville. He's getting more press than a lot of people actually on Impact!

DJ Z and Andrew Everett will work the AAW tournament on October 13 and 14. I assume GFW signed off on those appearances.

AJ Styles appeared at an NWA Wildside reunion show. That's really cool.

Charlotte Flair will have additional signings of Second Nature. Ric is still in the hospital, so he's not advertised for anything.

MYC competitor/NXT trainee Zeda talked in China. She had a nice showing.

An African media outlet looked at Summerslam, starting with a burial of Sasha Banks. As she alluded to in a recent interview, she considers it stalking that fans track down what hotels/airports WWE stars will be at in order to try to get pictures/autographs. She said she's more than willing to sign at the arena and other advertised appearances, drawing a comparison between when she's on the clock as a wrestler and when she's getting from town to town.

Microsoft Office shouted out Drew Gulak for using Powerpoint on 205 Live. That's great. I love it. Gulak's character is one of the best parts of that show.

Jimmy Hart battled Hurricane Irma in his Florida restaurant. It's a scary time down there.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1 and 2. I can see why people want the backstage people honored, but I think it would disrupt the feel of the show to have credits, and it could definitely throw away whatever's left of kayfabe.

3. They've definitely got their work cut out for them getting fans to pay to see their content. I see the idea they're going for, but I think the company's got so much momentum against them at this point it's going to take a miracle to rebound. As best as I can tell, they're back to where they were in 2004 or so as far as relevance goes. The problem is in 2004 they were up-and-coming. Now they're struggling to hang on to what and who are left.

4. The airport incident was hardly an unusual occurrence for Alberto. He had been in the limelight for negative reasons multiple times before then, and the PR disaster just got worse with what happened there. I wouldn't blame Nordholm for not bringing him back after all the drama he's contributed to.

5. It's going to be pretty awkward if Jarrett leaves with the GFW name and they have to go right back to being Impact. There's always something crazy going on with that company.

More wrestling tomorrow.

Main Event Reax - 9/9/17, GFW musician passes away, Sasha special in NZ, Nia the model, WWE Network schedule notes, Kassius competing for UK promotion, STARDOM name working ROH, Karen thanks fans, and Questions on Rey's GFW status, working on holidays, future Network tournaments, Thunder on the Network, and the Broken Universe if WWE buys GFW

-- Main Event:
- TJP/Kendrick vs. Dorado/Mustafa:
Fine start. 

Good action as usual. 

Lots of flying around and double-teams. It's fun sometimes. 

I'm liking the teamwork.

Good work focusing on the arm.

I'm liking how everyone plays off each other here.

Pretty good action going on here.

Nice ending!

- Elias singing:
I'm glad we've got someone from NXT who's not already an established star. The roster needs lower-level people, too. 

- Kalisto vs. Elias:
I like Elias as a bully.

Kalisto outmaneuvering his bigger opponent here.

Wow. Kalisto's doing better than I expected.

Not bad! I liked how the ending came together.

James Storm remembered one of the musicians behind his theme song, who recently passed in a helicopter crash. That's very sad news.

Sasha Banks had a TV special in New Zealand. The Boss is worldwide. That said, where's Alexa's special? She's the champ more than Sasha is these days.

Nia Jax modeled in NYC recently, a callback to her previous career. I hope she's someone WWE can feature for years to come.

A MYC recap show will follow Raw on WWE Network, and there will be a marathon of the first eight episodes leading to the live finale Tuesday. 205 Live is scheduled for 10:30 that night.

Charlotte Flair will promote "Second Nature" with signings on September 21 in New Jersey, September 27 and 28 in Florida, and September 30 in Idaho. I wouldn't expect Ric to be part of those; he's not advertised at any rate.

Kassius Ohno will challenge for the ICW Championship on September 17. That's pretty cool. I wonder when we'll see more relationships with outside promotions, and of course, when they'll FINALLY announce Network tiers/ICW and PROGRESS on the Network. It looks like they've really been thrown for a loop with Network subscriptions not being what they hoped.

- WWE UK names will also be part of the show. 

STARDOM's Holidead will be part of Global Wars on October 14. That's pretty cool. I'm waiting for an WOH Title to be made, but clearly that's still on the backburner.

Karen Jarrett thanked fans for the response to Jeff taking time off from GFW. We'll see how this plays out; certainly everyone's putting on a positive face publicly.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Rey can't officially sign anywhere until LU Season 3 ends, followed by a no-compete period of a few months. However, there was talk of LU letting him work GFW while still under that deal. From the looks of things, he's going to focus on working The Crash for now. We'll see what the future holds for GFW and The Crash with Jarrett out of the picture. Rey and Alberto were set for BFG, but with Jarrett gone, that's all up in the air.

2. That's got to be rough for the roster, although I doubt anyone consulted them before making the decision!

3. Tag teams seems like the next logical step. They could also do another market like Latin America or Asia, but those would be big investments to make. With all the budget cuts going around, any future big ordeals are likely on hold (as they should be).

4. I think the goal has been to rotate which areas of vintage content to roll out in order to appeal to different audiences. They give WCW fans a lot of content one month, then ECW fans, then WCCW, WWWF house shows, etc.

5. WWE buying GFW would include all GFW (Impact) trademarks, intellectual property, etc. The Hardys would be able to make use of everything GFW currently owns regarding their work there as long as they remained in WWE. If they were to leave WWE, the Hardys would have the same level of ownership they do now.

More wrestling tomorrow.

More on Jarrett-GFW and its fallout, more on GFW sale, BFG plans changed, Rey-GFW update, GFW/Crash heat, AAA gets U.S. deal, NJPW stopping ROH names from working Crash, Omega surgery note, UK promotion gets TV deal, LU S4 update, Bullet Club merch in more locations?, NXT taping update, Backlund-WWE update, Heyman involved in creative, WWE UK brand update, 205 Live status for Tuesday, Y2J helps AJ out, WWE New Year's show venue, Interviews with Roode/Nordholm, Kingston-GFW update, new Matt video, Smackdown cameo, No Mercy contest, Flair's new businees rep, Natalya's new column, MYC getting Facebook special, ROH books a tournament, Booker doing show for hurricane victims, former WWF/WCW name writing book, Impact audience, more on Tye in NXT, and Questions on GFW HQ moving, Jarrett's future, WWE producers taking outside dates, and BOLA

GFW's decision to put Jeff Jarrett on leave was made shortly after Triplemania. Jarrett was in an argument with Vampiro at one point during the night, and had a confrontation with Sexy Star's husband after the Rosemary incident. Jarrett was criticized for his performance in his match that night, as well as the shape he was in. That night's events followed the Bob Ryder incident sometime back and the heat with Reby Hardy.

Regarding Anthem looking to sell GFW, it's possible they would keep the rights to the video library in order to have content for Fight Network. So, someone else could finance the company while 

Anthem continues to feature Impact. It's worth noting GFW sources are denying the company will be sold, although that could be because all of the moves are being made at Anthem's level.

- Billy Corgan has reportedly not been contacted regarding making an offer for GFW. Corgan, WWE, and Sinclair were all interested in some way in getting the company's assets before Anthem stepped in, but things could well have changed now with Corgan making plans for NWA and WWE looking to cut back on expenses.

While Jeff Jarrett retains ownership of the GFW trademarks, the company will  likely continue going by that name given the big rebranding months back unless Jarrett makes any moves on the legal front.

GFW plans to continue its international associations in Jarrett's absence through Scott D'Amore and Jeremy Borash.

GFW was going to set up Jarrett vs. Alberto El Patron during Triplemania, but Alberto was not at the show due to issues with AAA. It's good in hindsight that wasn't teased, as plans are off for it to happen at BFG. It would have been a good match if both men were able to give 100%. Alberto is still expected to return that night.

Rey Mysterio's talks with GFW have stalled due to disputes between GFW and The Crash. Rey was being planned for a role at BFG against Jarrett or Alberto but that's been pushed aside. It's notable he would have been allowed to work the show despite his LU contract.

- GFW and The Crash are at odds due to The Crash being blindsided by GFW working with rival promotion AAA, as well as a last-minute replacement of Lashley with James Storm for a Crash appearance. A planned mask vs. hair match between Mysterio and Jarrett in The Crash was thrown off by the AAA announcement. With Jarrett now out of the picture, maybe things will improve between the two companies.

AAA now has a U.S. TV deal with Univision Deportes. The AAA show will generally feature older footage, similarly to NJPW's U.S. show but there's no English commentary for this project. It's still a good start for the company to try to build an audience.

NJPW has blocked The Crash from booking multiple top Western names due to NJPW's relationship with CMLL. Many of those names work ROH regularly, but aren't being booked by CMLL, so they're missing out on getting work in Mexico. That's a bad political situation that's out of the hands of the people actually doing the wrestling.

Kenny Omega's recent knee surgery was a wear-and-tear situation rather than getting injured. He'll be back in action later this month.

A new UK free-TV station will be featuring Five Star Wrestling regularly starting in 2018, so WWE's UK talents won't be able to take bookings there. It will be interesting to see how successful that endeavor will be.

El Rey is interested in a fourth season of Lucha Underground, but the venture currently lacks funding. Season Three is coming to a close, which will start the clock on the talents becoming free agents if no fourth season is upcoming. There could be a lot of workers on the market in 2018 if LU and GFW aren't viable options for talent.

Bullet Club merchandise could be coming to more chains of U.S. stores in 2018. That's really impressive for a stable primarily featured in Japan.

NXT still plans on running a Full Sail taping on September 13, but there are  backup plans should they be unable to do so as a result of weather. I assume they'd push the taping back a week or so and do some clip shows in the meantime. They could easily have a Best of Asuka episode to bridge the gap.

While Darren Young is back from injury, Bob Backlund is not currently part of his act. I assume they'll quietly drop that in order to focus on other talents. Darren's a valuable hand, but it doesn't look like he'll be able to get momentum going anytime soon. I'd like to see him get a fresh start in NXT, but I don't see that happening unless he pushes for it.

Paul Heyman is actively involved on the creative end of Brock Lesnar segments, which can cause headaches for the regular creative team due to him pitching changes. Brock often has great segments, so The Advocate is doing what he's often done well.

WWE has wanted to have a regular weekly UK-brand TV show, but has been unable to get a deal to air one there. As such, it's likely not cost-effective to do tapings just for the Network. They've put a lot of money into grand ventures, and they're not seeing big returns on them.

205 Live will follow the Mae Young Classic final after Smackdown Tuesday night. There was concern of how the cruiserweight show would fit into things that night. The MYC special is expected to just feature one match and should only last about thirty minutes total.

Chris Jericho went to bat for AJ Styles to get the Styles Clash unbanned, promoting the move to Vince McMahon. Y2J's clever; hopefully other veterans are looking out for the new wave of WWE superstars as well.

The January 1 Raw will be in Miami. The January 2 Smackdown could be from the same building.

Bobby Roode talked about coming to Smackdown, and Alberto El Patron confirmed plans to return to GFW in November.

Eddie Kingston's GFW deal expires in October. He has a chance of being saved with John Gaburick back in the company. We'll see what changes are made to the company's direction at BFG and the following TV tapings.

Matt Hardy released a new video. It looks like they're going with the "Woken" Hardys thing. I'm split on bringing that back; they might have gotten all they can out of the concept.

The "Miss Elizabeth" during Dolph Ziggler's Smackdown segment Tuesday was Stephanie Dinsmore, the wife of Eugene. I wonder how that came about.

Mountain Dew is doing a WWE-related contest for No Mercy. Who wouldn't want to see The Miz???

Ric Flair has changed business representatives. Hasn't he had enough trouble getting engaged?

Natalya had a column featuring assorted facts about her. I hear she's related to Bret Hart.

The Mae Young Classic is getting a red carpet special on Facebook Tuesday. Ronda Rousey, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Hope Solo, cast members of Netflix's GLOW (!), Charlotte Flair, the Bella Twins, and Bayley have all been announced. Good to see people outside the WWE bubble attending.

ROH is doing a tournament in Michigan on October 28 for the "Soaring Eagle Cup," as the event will be in the Soaring Eagle Casino. Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels, and Dalton Castle are all confirmed for the eight-man tournament. 

Booker T. is doing a live show in California to benefit Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas. That's really great. 

Brutus Beefcake is close to finishing his autobiography. There's no word on a release date yet. The former WWF/WCW star has a long body of work to discuss.

Impact drew 227,000 viewers Thursday night as the NFL season began. The only other times they have drawn such a low audience on Pop were holiday/recap episodes. Notably, there were some episodes that did lower numbers in one timeslot only to pass that mark with a replay later in the night. Either way, that's a really low mark for the series in its 13-year history. They're very lucky Pop has already committed to airing them through the end of 2018. 

Ed Nordholm recently gave an interview on a number of GFW topics:
- The Global Wrestling Network will be feature around 900 hours of GFW content on a pay tier of $7.99 a month, and another 2,000 or so hours of GFW content on a free tier. The free tier will also feature Impact episodes ten days after they air on Pop TV. Why they're giving away that much content for free and expecting fans to pay for the rest of it is odd. 

- The GWN has been pitched as a place for content for other promotions, too, from AAA and NOAH to potentially other non-WWE companies. They're definitely ambitious on that front, particularly the suggestion of NJPW being part of it given the launch of their own network.

- Nordholm thinks he can make more from the GFW (Impact) library than WWE would pay him for it. Interesting.

- Nordholm indicated the Jarrett leave of absence is temporary. The GFW website has him in the alumni section, so take that for what you will.

- GFW is looking to do multiple monthly live events in 2018. We'll see how things work out there.

Tye Dillinger has continued to work NXT's live event loop, as it included a show in his hometown in Ontario. I still assume he remains part of Smackdown going forward.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. The story of GFW HQ moving to Ontario with the rest of Anthem offices has been going around for a while now. It could be the company is continuing to look at moving GFW HQ, but plans aren't set yet and they don't want to jump the gun by announcing the move without having all the details together.

2. He's seeking bookings, so he's going to continue to work in the business. We'll see how things look when BFG comes around. If he's not part of GFW come November, it will be interesting to see what his next plans are. Naturally there's the speculation of him trying to relaunch his version of GFW, but I'd be surprised if he tried that route again.

3. WWE is more than happy for them to scout talent as long as they still make their WWE dates.

4. There's a special place in my heart for the crude WWF ring toy from the Attitude Era. It was junk by today's standards, but I had a lot of fun with it.

5. PWG is seemingly content to stay at the size it is now, which is a little odd considering how many more people would pay to see that event each year.

More wrestling tomorrow.