JBL talks about a rib on JR, JR-Punk on Twitter, Questions on depushing Sheamus, Punk's personality, Cena using the Crossface, the Invasion, Nexus, and WCW beating WWF, Maria interview, Smackdown live in Canada and UK, Rock talks WWE return, Impact Wrestling preview, Morgan update, TNA timeslot change in UK, Cookie talks, WWE looking to sign DGUSA workers, Mysterio update, Foley talks return, plans for Nash, Natalya interview, Heyman's book postponed, Storm injured, new WWE Twitter, Smackdown rating, Tara talks TNA pay, more on the brand extension possibly ending, WWE playing up Nash storyline, and a glitch during Raw in Canada

JBL gave another story from his wrestling days, dealing with a joke WWE management pulled on Jim Ross. They have a pretty stupid sense of humor. Hopefully that "evened things up" and they decided not to do stunts like that. Maybe next time JR can pull an "I'm leaving the company if you're going to treat me like that" rib. I'm not sure that management would find that as amusing.

Speaking of JR, he had a brief back and forth with C.M. Punk on Twitter about recent traveling.

PWInsider.com has some new questions up to look at:
1. Well, it wasn't like he, Barrett, Regal, and McIntyre did a Curtain Call to form the UK World Order or anything, so it's not really similar to Triple H, but he was pushed down the totem pole for a while because they weren't sure that he'd re-sign with the company. They didn't want another Brock Lesnar or Goldberg situation on their hands.

2. Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's not being paired with Cena. Just because he's been turned into a fan favorite doesn't mean they're on the same page. If they didn't want him to be as big (or bigger) than Cena, he wouldn't be feuding with the COO and one of the biggest stars of the '90s.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's questions and news, starting with the Crippler Crossface being used.
3. While there's part of the audience unfamiliar with Benoit (believe it or not), a good number of us still cringe when we see that move. I don't think I'll be able to dissociate the two anytime soon, personally. I don't think the move should be banned necessarily, but it's still somewhat fresh in a lot of people's minds.

4. DDP and Booker T. were brought in for the Invasion angle, and they were hardly ham-and-eggers. But I see your point. What's weird to me is that in 2000, the "smart fans" (and a growing number of regular fans) were peeved that WCW was all about the likes of Hogan, Flair, and Nash. Scott Steiner and Goldberg were also on the list of people with backstage issues making more money than they were worth (though booking could be blamed for part of that), who couldn't work nearly as well as they used to. But, in 2001, who are the fans complaining aren't in WWE? Hogan, Flair, Nash, Steiner, and Goldberg. The people pulling in a much lower rating than the WWE stars are suddenly "hot commodities" again? The ECW contingent was mostly a ragtag group of midcarders in the company before the angle, so most fans wouldn't easily and quickly accept them as serious threats. You can't have it both ways. I honestly want to hear an explanation for the thought processes in play from fans here. A lot of it comes years after the fact by people only getting part of the story, of course. As for Nexus, they were doing pretty well until Cena's re-hiring. I also think they could have gotten more out of it, but as big of a deal as WWF vs. WCW? I don't see it. That had been built up for years. Nexus was on TV before the angle started for only a couple of months.

5. That to me implies that wrestling fans would have completely different tastes than they did, and/or that WCW was run competently. I guess theoretically (an)other company/ies would pop up that played to the old WWF crowd with some of its old stars and bookers. It's hard to tell.

Former WWE Diva Maria didn't shoot down a return to wrestling in a recent interview. I don't see that one happening anytime soon.

Super Smackdown will also air live in Canada. Good to hear.

Update: It will also air live in Britain.

The Rock Tweeted about what he's looking to accomplish with his WWE comeback. I hope all of those things happen.

Here's the official preview for Thursday's Impact Wrestling.

Matt Morgan has been cleared to return to the ring for TNA, and will do so shortly.

Impact Wrestling will now air on Sundays in Britain.

TNA's been happy with ticket sales to Bound For Glory.

The former Cookie was interviewed about leaving TNA.

WWE is looking to sign a number of talents from Dragon Gate USA. No particulars are known. Again, there are only so many spots on TV for everyone. I'd like to see some names phased out and used more wisely, and people get time off as needed, but I'm not so sure it's as easy as it sounds.

Rey Mysterio updated his status following his first post-injury check-up. He's basically been written out of TV, but WWE hopes he'll be back in time for Mania.

Mick Foley spoke with Sean Waltman about the differences between WWE and TNA, and how he feels he can add to the former promotion. Hey, if TNA couldn't use him right, maybe WWE can plug him in somewhere effectively.

Kevin Nash is presently only being considered for a short run back on-screen in WWE. He's still able to take independent bookings as long as they don't interfere with his WWE dates. I think he should face Punk at Night of Champions, then Hell in A Cell before going back to the sidelines. If they're going to do a feud, do a feud.

Natalya was interviewed to promote an upcoming Swiss tour.

Paul Heyman's autobiography is being pushed back to a 2012 release date following some sort of scheduling conflicts involving a promotional tour. I suppose I can wait until then to read it, as I still have a number of books inside and outside of wrestling to catch up on.

James Storm could potentially miss ring time due to a partially separated shoulder. Hopefully that's cleared up sooner rather than later.

The "WWE Insider" has an official Twitter account. This is basically a rumor mill WWE puts in their magazines to get people talking. It's like a Horoscope: every once in a while it will get something right, but there's so much in it that's vague or flat-out made up that it's probably best to ignore it.

Smackdown did a 1.78 on 8/26. It could definitely use that cross-promotion with Raw.

Tara addressed the popular online story about Knockouts being paid substantially less than their male counterparts. I don't know which specific story she was targeting, but there've been a number of stories over the years regarding pay discrepancies with Knockouts. Tara herself took issue with her pay during her first TNA contract. So it could have just been a case of a particular article stretching the truth.

Smackdown stars are being put on Raw for the foreseeable future to be in a better position to draw on TV and house shows. Makes sense. This is what happens when you treat Smackdown as the B show for so many years.

WWE has drawn comparisons between Kevin Nash's recent actions to the formation of the nWo. I'd be somewhat surprised if we were in for a rehash of the storyline. I'm intrigued either way, though. It might could work.

Finally, during a Canadian airing of Raw, the feed was briefly switched to "Eastbound and Down", which was showing bare-breasted women at the time. Yeah, not something you want to happen on a PG show.

 That's all for Monday's news. More to come tomorrow, including a preview of Super Smackdown. Thanks for reading!