Former referee talks, Mattel talks WWE products, Questions on Batista's farewell, wrestling in Australia, Killer Kowalski, and Bruno Sammartino, Miss USA competing on Tough Enough, HHH interview, WWE All Stars roster update, French WWE magazine canceled, McCool's injury, Jericho update

Today's news starts with an interview conducted with a former WWE and WCW referee named Mickie "Jay" Henson. I believe that he's confused about FCW, because they're not being paid to take wrestling school. They pay to take the classes but are paid from the house shows and TV tapings that tickets are sold for. It's like its own indy fed. And at least the male wrestlers still put up the ring.

There's another interesting interview with Mattel's Bill Kerner about WWE's action figures. He mentions some future legends releases, including Bruno Sammartino. Sammartino hasn't been on good terms with WWE in recent years, including refusing an induction into the Hall of Fame on two occasions, so that would be an interesting turn of events. Randy Savage and (The Ultimate) Warrior have separate deals for their action figures.

After the break, a look at today's questions for PWInsider.com and my take on them. Starting with a question asking about Batista's WWE send-off.

I'm not so sure that that wasn't Batista's last appearance in WWE, but if it was I think it was a fitting conclusion. I know he didn't get a big Ric Flair or Shawn Michaels send-off, but as a heel that was about as big as he could have gone out without breaking character. I liked it. His character in those last few months was great.

I don't really have anything to add to the answer about wrestling in Australia, but it's interesting to note another sign of wrestling not being how big it used to be.

Someone asks about why Killer Kowalski was never World Champion. He was around during the multiple-year reign of Bruno Sammartino, so there's your answer. As far as wrestlers he's trained: Other than Triple H and Chyna, there were Perry Saturn, his Eliminators partner John Kronus, Big John Studd, Chris Nowinksi, A-Train (Albert, Prince Albert), Kazarian, and Roxxi.

All I've heard about the heat between Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon is that Bruno doesn't like the current product. They have a better answer than I can give.

I've never been good at "best" and "worst" lists, so I'll leave the last question alone.

Here's one I didn't expect: Miss USA Rima Fakih will be competing on WWE Tough Enough in April. I hope she's not expecting special treatment. If anything it will be even harder for her to make it in WWE. See The Miz as evidence of stars in other areas trying to become wrestlers. But hey, maybe her career turns out as well as his has.

Triple H was interviewed about "The Chaperone" among other things. I believe the wrestler he was talking about that he replaced in another film was Batista. He doesn't talk much about wrestling.

Here's an updated list of the roster for WWE All Stars. It's a great concept, and should be a hit.

The French version of WWE Magazine has been dropped after 43 issues. That's a shame. But if it's not making money, I can see why they cut it out.

Michelle McCool has a broken toe, torn MCL in her foot, torn joint capsule, and swelling in a bone. That sounds pretty brutal. I hope she gets better soon.

Chris Jericho has pretty much confirmed an eventual WWE return when all the stars align. No timetable exists for this, though there is a contract waiting for Jericho there for that occasion.

That's all for today's news. More to come tomorrow.