Query on Leakee, Austin talks Mania and Tough Enough, Collector's Version of WWE '12 news, Questions on episode 1 of the new ROH, the Nature Boy, Punk's storylines, WWE looking at ROH, and Barrett "copying" Masters, TNA previews Hardy DVD, Jericho interview, HBK interrupts HHH, superstars talk COO, WWE's Mattel packaging, Aussie ratings, Vickie seeking new clients, another surgery for Mysterio?, Smackdown rating, and Punk pays tribute to Guerrero

First up, a query:
1. I'm not going to lie; the family tree's a little complicated. Leakee's the son of one of the Wild Samoans, so he's a 2nd-generation wrestler. He's also the brother of former 3-Minute Warning member Rosey. But I don't believe his grandparents wrestled, so his lineage just goes back to his father.

Stone Cold Steve Austin talked about the potential of a WrestleMania match with C.M. Punk and the near-certainty of another Tough Enough. His comments on Hogan were particularly interesting given some of the things he said about him years back. As for wrestlers retiring, it's true that there are pretty successful wrestlers coming back into the fold. or remaining in the fold in some cases. Casual fans know of them and are sometimes lured in by seeing them competing. Of course, it's a matter of using them wisely and the other members of the roster growing from working with them.

I wonder how well some people can "break through" and become successful when so many spots are held by the established guys. KISS tours might still do well, but what if we didn't have the option to see newer, fresher talented acts get a chance to pull in big numbers in their own right? Obviously Justin Bieber can't match the all-time success of, say, The Eagles, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be used as a headliner. Pulling in that much money doesn't happen over a few years. Performers need time to grow and get over. Austin worked his way up through the Hollywood Blonds and Ringmaster gimmicks. Sting was a Blade Runner and teamed with Robocop. Flair and Hogan similarly took time and experience to become draws.

The collector's version of WWE '12, with The Rock on the cover, will only be available at THQ's online store.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's news, and PWInsider.com's questions. First up, a look at ROH's broadcast TV debut.

1. I actually did catch it. It was only the second show I've seen from them. It wasn't what I was expecting. I can get around the small venue and smoky interior. But the core product blew my mind. A lot of the characters were either generic or extremely outdated. The Bravado Brothers looked like parodies of wrestling gimmicks rather than serious athletes. Almost every interview was boring. "So-and-so is good." "I'll face anyone." "We're the best in the world." The way the fanbase crowed, I was expecting it to be basically the answer to "PG sports-entertainment" with serious wrestling matches and realistic gimmicks. Instead we got Southern stereotypes talking about winning belts. I felt like I was watching a rerun from the '80s.

As for the matches themselves, the opener was one of the fakest "matches" I've ever seen. It didn't look like  competition at all in places. They were just going out there and showing off pretty sequences.  If they're going to that direction, why even pretend it's a match? Just advertise it as a stunt show.

The main event, however, was well done. They actually got over their characters and why the match was important. It had a few "this is obviously choreographed" spots, too, but I was impressed by WGTT and their opponents. It struck me as odd that they'd make a big deal out of a team that wasn't under contract. It made me want to see more out of them, Hero in particular. But no, they might never be on the show again. I Hopefully he makes the jump to WWE. Claudio was also impressive, though I didn't see as much from him
I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table as Antonio Cesaro.

Anyway, as for the rest of the show: The Code of Honor thing was somewhat laughable. I know that it's "their thing", but it strikes me as pretty cheesy. And they insinuated TNA's stuck in 1997? All this camaraderie doesn't make me want to see people face off. They obviously don't have too big of an issue in most matches if they're shaking hands. Just some guys competing. All in all, kind of a miss. I'll watch more in the weeks to come, but I'm not so sure I'm going to end up liking it if that's the direction they're going. They seem more concerned with impressing hardcore fans than drawing money.

2. As much as I'd be entertained by them copying the Sin Cara storyline and having someone else come to the ring in the same gimmick, I think Flair's days in the spotlight need to be over. I'm tired of them referencing stories and characters from years back, and apparently a lot of viewers are too.

3. If they didn't see him as a top guy, he wouldn't be getting as much TV and mic time as he's getting. He's in main events on PPVs against some of their top talents. While I think they could be booking him better, he's definitely not being used just to set up something between Triple H and Vince McMahon. WWE's not that short-sighted.

4. I was actually unaware of that, but it makes sense. I don't think it's anything specific against ROH. It's prs just a side effect of them getting on TV.

5. You mean the blazer gimmick he had in FCW and at the beginning of NXT? WWE Creative doesn't  come up with gimmicks there, so they're off the hook. Barrett could very well have come up with it himself. There are big differences between his character and Masters', so I don't see much of a connection. I know it's hard to believe, but Creative doesn't just sit around ripping off old gimmicks and angles all the time.

Here's the preview for the upcoming TNA Jeff Hardy DVD. Hey, people will buy it.

Chris Jericho talked about a number of wrestling topics recently. I don't see what they're doing as disrespectful in the least. They recognize what people did in the past was great and they're taking bits and pieces of it that people generally aren't doing anymore, for an audience that isn't necessarily familiar with te originals. I think there's a statute of limitations on these things. The "second-rate Chris Jericho" remark is generally unfounded. He was generally slow and monotonous in his promos and I'm not hearing that from the rest of the roster. Cody Rhodes has a gimmick different from Jericho's that calls for it. Miz is loud and obnoxious.

As for other specific ideas, the Miz-Cena angle from years back was referencing something from, what, 10 years ago? A good chunk of the audience wasn't watching when a similar concept was used in WCW. Hence why the Nash angle isn't working well. Conspiracy theory could very well have come from elsewhere as well. Best In The World could be referring to Daniel Bryan or ROH's PPV event. Miz could be dropping Jerichoisms as a sign of respect to someone who learned from.

All that said, I agree that coming up with new material can help a performer. There's the old saying that there are only so many stories out there; they're just rewritten with different names and places. If you're doing your job well, people will either not notice or not care. See Ric Flair vs. Buddy Rogers and Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Graham. All this coming from a guy who wanted to name his band Fozzy Fosbourne? Something tell me he might be working a bit here. This is also the guy who once faked an injury to see if the dirtsheets would pick it up. They did of course.

Shawn Michaels "interrupted" a preview for Triple H's recent movie to talk about Kevin Nash's firing. This is a pretty cool idea. Sly of them to link it to the movie.

A number of WWE superstars commented on Triple H's run as COO. Good stuff.

Raw got 22,000 viewers in Australia, putting them at #79. No other wrestling shows made the top 100.

WWE revealed the packaging for their 2012 Mattel figures. Very well put together.

WWE.com interviewed Vickie Guerrero about possible additions to her stable. Some interesting possibilities there. The fact that they misspelled Tyler Reks' name doesn't look too good for how much they think of him.

Rey Mysterio tweeted that he could need another surgery. He's expected to miss at a minimum 6 months, and this could push things even further back. He can't go forever unfortunately. He's definitely someone to watch in the ring.

Smackdown did a 2.15 on Friday. Nice! I'm assuming the big Henry build and bonuses from the Supershows are responsible. Both decisions are working well so far.

Finally, C.M. Punk paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero to end a Raw house show in El Paso, TX. Respectful guy who deserves everything he's gotten in the business. Ricardo's also excellent in his role.

That's all for Monday's news. More to come tomorrow. Thanks for reading!