News & Notes: WWE-NBA, Asuka, New WWE Network Content, Impact-GFW

WWE Gets Big Break From NBA’s On-going Playoffs

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer recently stated the WWE got a big break with both of NBA’s Conference Finals series being very short. Because of the gap till the NBA Finals and schedule for the series, WWE will have at least two weeks of no NBA games competing against RAW and Smackdown. While Smackdown has to deal with Game 4 of the NBA Finals, RAW could get three weeks of no stiff competition if the Finals ends in a sweep since Game 5 is on a Monday (June 12).

WWE still has to deal with NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals but in recent history, NHL games haven’t been as hurtful to the WWE as both the NBA and NFL have been. Meltzer did state if RAW doesn’t gain at least an extra 250,000 viewers for next week, it could be seen as a very terrible sign for the company.

Asuka Added to WWE’s Japan Tour

WWE recently announced NXT Women’s Champion Asuka has been added to the roster for their upcoming two day tour of Japan. She will be replacing Mickie James for both the June 30th and July 1st shows at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Other Japanese stars announced for the tour are Akira Tozawa and NXT’s Hideo Itami. Shinsuke Nakamura will not be in the tour due to both shows being RAW brand events.

New Batch of Content Revealed for the WWE Network

A new episode of Table For Three and two shows related to Extreme Rules were revealed to be among the batch of new content for the WWE Network for the next two weeks.

Next week will have a new Table For Three episode air after Monday’s RAW and features Eric Bischoff, Jim Cornette and Michael Hayes as the guests. The following week will have a new RAW Talk episode air after Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Extreme Rules pre-show panel was announced to have Renee Young, David Otunga, and Pete Rosenberg as the hosts.

Impact Wrestling’s Ed Nordholm Reveals Current GFW Plans and Status of Deal with POP TV

As previously reported, Impact Wrestling’s Ed Nordholm had a recent interview with Live Audio Wrestling. Besides talking about the on-going legal issues with the Hardys involving the “Broken” gimmick, Nordholm also revealed a few stuff related to Impact Wrestling.

Nordholm stated plans for the current storyline involving Impact’s “merger” with GFW is for it to likely end by July’s Slammiversary event. Nordholm also revealed Impact Wrestling’s current TV contract with POP TV expires in January 2018.