Queries on Sin Cara/Brian Christopher and Joey Mercury, Morrison talks injury and Mania, Diva to undergo surgery, Tara puts MMA aspirations on hold, Sheamus on Conan, new Jeff Hardy DVD, more TNA-Direct appearances, Questions on Punk's return, praise for Zack Ryder, Miz vs. Mysterio, bland faces, and the influence of the old ECW, Terry Taylor interview, ROH/Former WWE announcer talks Punk, Foley thankful for Raw mention, Lawler T-shirt, update on Raw announce team, Helms interview, Hoosiers coach at Raw, MMA star talks possible WWE appearance, Raw rating, Colt Cabana works Smackdown dark match, Australian ratings, and Tough Enough's Jeremiah shoots

Today starts off with some queries sent to the blog:
1. No, Sin Cara isn't Too Cool's Brian Christopher. I have no idea how that one got started. Sin Cara is legitimately a Mexican wrestler, formerly known as Mistico.

2. Joey Mercury is now a trainer in FCW, so if WWE wanted him to return to one of the main shows, they could do so. A feud with Morrison would be a natural fit if they decided to go that route, but I haven't heard anything about him being put back on the main roster.

Speaking of John Morrison, he was interviewed recently about his recovery from his arm injury and WrestleMania 27. I hope he and WWE made the right decision about him returning to the ring when he's not yet 100%. I think that the Mania match could have used more of Morrison and Ziggler, but the draw was Snooki and Trish, so they were kind of between a rock and a hard place. There was also the perceived disrespect from Morrison backstage before the match that likely played into it.

Maryse will soon be undergoing surgery related to a hernia. She said on Twitter that she won't be getting physical for a while, but it's possible that she'll be able to stay on as host of NXT. Depending on how long she'll miss ring-time wise, and how long the season continues, we might not see her face AJ after all.

After the break, I go into all of the rest of the day's news and questions, starting with an update on Tara's MMA inspirations.

Tara pretty much ruled out a jump to MMA, after considering it years back. I'm glad she did come to WWE for her career instead of MMA back when it started, and I'm glad she's staying in TNA as a fan of them. If she wanted to make the jump, though, I wouldn't begrudge her for it.

Sheamus will be appearing on Conan O'Brien's TBS show on 8/11. There's a pretty obvious correlation there. It'll also be good for business.

TNA will be releasing a Jeff Hardy DVD on 10/18. It's unknown what this means for a potential return of the Hardys. Jeff's court case is still ongoing, and there's no guarantee it will be settled by then. They can almost certainly make money off of the DVD, though, so that's probably what trumps all for them.

Alex Shelley and Mickie James will be doing a signing at Direct Auto Insurance in Orlando. That's good for both sides.

On to PWInsider.com's questions of the day:
1. The whole situation is a little hard to keep up with, so here's a refresher: Punk's contract was going to expire either the night of or shortly after Money In The Bank. The two sides worked out some sort of agreement/contract before the match with Cena so that he would still be with the company in reality after it. If he was really going to leave the company after that match, there's no way they would have booked him the way they did. There wasn't any kind of conspiracy with the wrestling websites, just a complicated and confusing turn of events.

2. I think it's amazing. Here's someone who isn't content to sit at home and wait for WWE to hand him a bigger role. He's been able to get over and sell merchandise without being on TV much. He connects with the WWE fans in a non-manufactured way, and be a sports-entertainer. His peers have taken note of his hard work and now WWE is starting to as well. There are a number of other people on both major companies' rosters who could/should be doing something like what he's done (not necessarily make a YouTube show; make their own opportunities and find ways to get over with the fans). On the indy scene, Colt Cabana and Kevin Steen are making great use of social media/the internet as well to get themselves and their angles over. And it's working for them.

3. That idea would have potentially been cool. Colt Cabana and Luke Gallows joining Nexus would be pretty awesome. But I think that could very well have diluted Punk. McGillicutty and Otunga don't really "fit in" with the anti-establishment Punk. If anything, they'd be adversaries. Anyway, I didn't have too much of a problem with it being between Miz and Mysterio given how over they both are, but I can certainly see the argument for something fresher, too.

4. The faces generally want to earn rematches and not accept excuses from what I've seen. I would like to see more personality from some of the newer talents. Morrison had a good amount of personality when he was first coming up, but now that he's higher up the card, I guess they feel that his ring-work can speak for itself. Kofi's in a bit of a tough spot. They don't want him to be a Jamaican stereotype anymore, but it seems like it's too late to repackage him given how long he's been in his current character (which is getting over fairly well). I don't really see him being a World Champion with it, but for now he's getting over in the midcard. Bourne hasn't shown much personality to play off of anyway. His mic skills don't really blow me away, so for now I get why he's just "high-flying guy". Daniel Bryan's gaining personality on Smackdown. I used to think he was really bland, but he's starting to get more promo time to get that part of himself over. Oh, and of course, Raw's not really as promo-heavy in the midcard as Smackdown is.

5. Without ECW becoming as successful as it did (and some of its alumni and style finding success in more major promotions), I doubt we'd see it imitated as much. But, there've been other "hardcore" promotions around over time that could have led to similar promotions existing today.

Former TNA Head of Talent Relations Terry Taylor was interviewed recently about the job there. I agree with him about the talents who don't think they can learn more from the veterans. What could it hurt to listen to someone with their level of success? There's a reason they've been able to get as far as they have in the business. He also has a solid point about Angle pulling off big moves in front of small crowds. They'll pay to see him put on a great match even if it doesn't involve moonsaults off of cages and the like. A good enough performer can sell tickets and put on solid matches without big flashy "ooooohhh"-inducing moves. Or blood or weapons for that matter. I'd like to see what he could teach talents (who are willing to learn).

Kevin Kelly, formerly in WWE but now an announcer in ROH, discussed what having former ROH Champion C.M. Punk namedrop the company means for business among other WWE and ROH topics.

Mick Foley thanked C.M. Punk for the namedrop on Raw. As for why Jericho wasn't pleased with his own namedrop, it could have something to do with Punk saying he's the "best in the world", whereas not too long ago Jericho said he was "the best in the world at what (he) do(es)".

WWE's new Jerry Lawler T-shirt (worn on Raw) is now available. Not bad at all.

Michael Cole will remain on the Raw announce team for the time being.

Shane ("Hurricane", Gregory) Helms had a good-sized interview recently with former Creative member Dave Lagana.

The head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers attended Raw on Monday, which ESPN.com covered.

Female MMA fighter Cris "Cyborg" Santos discussed the rumors and possibilities of her coming to WWE. I don't guess it really matters at this point since she's staying in MMA.

Raw did a 3.3 on Monday, which is a good sign as we approach Summerslam.

Colt Cabana worked a dark match before Smackdown on 8/2. Please tell me this guy gets another shot in the company. Something with Zack Ryder or Johnny Curtis maybe?

This past week in Australia, Raw got 29,000 viewers and Smackdown got 24,000. This was the first time in quite a while that Smackdown cracked the top 100 shows there.

Jeremiah Riggs of Tough Enough went on a tirade when WWE decided not to sign him following a recent FCW tryout. I can certainly see why they thought he had a bad attitude after those remarks. Wow. The difference between C.M. Punk and him is that Punk went through the years of developmental and going up the card to prove that he belonged there and wasn't just in it for the money and/or fame.

As for everyone in FCW looking the same, I definitely don't see that looking at the roster. There are a number of people with long hair, but all in all there are a fair amount of different looks and personas there. Could there be more variety? You bet, but they wouldn't have hired those guys if they didn't see something in them. And of course a number of them have been there for years. That's no different from other "minor leagues". One man's "kissing ass" is another man's "paying dues" or showing respect.

I wouldn't be too thrilled about signing someone who only wanted to make money and thought he shouldn't have to start the bottom of the card, either. They made the right decision there. I appreciate his fire, but there's a time and place for it.

I don't think that he's particularly marketable, either. A Southern guy who likes MMA and has horrible sleeve tattoos? There's no shortage of them in the world. And having less than 9,000 Twitter followers despite making it to the top 3 of a show millions of people watched isn't exactly helping his case in that regard.

Of course Andy's still in FCW. It's only been a few months. Is he boring? I certainly wasn't crazy about him personality-wise, but I could say the same thing about Jeremiah.

Anyway, long story short, this guy wasn't cut out to be a WWE wrestler. I'm glad they figured this out now and not after signing him to a contract.

And with that, so ends the day's news. More to come tomorrow. Thanks for reading!