Kane injures Ryder, what TNA's advertising for the UK (including Sting wrestling), Sky and Roode interviews, Questions on chair shots to the head, Orton's injury angle, the Briscoes/WWE, Heyman's book, and Jericho, more on Raw rating, Brodus talks to WWE.com, DDP signs Legends contract, Orton does a good deed, Angle interview, Victory Road poster, Cena crowd reaction chart, Luger talks Horsemen in HoF, Hogan has emergency dental surgery, rumored WM29 host site and photos of recent WWE Texas event

WWE.com is running a story claiming an injury to Zack Ryder by Kane, with speculation that he'll be unable to defend the U.S. Title next week. We'll see. I think it might be a little soon to take the title off of Ryder, but I can see why they'd go that route.

TNA's advertisements for their upcoming UK tour include mentions of RVD appearing and Sting wrestling. That would make sense to get people in the building. I just hope they don't cheapen RVD's stretcher job.

Velvet Sky talked ahead of a TNA live event in Connecticut. I was actually unaware of those early WWE appearances.

Bobby Roode was interviewed in the UK. He seems like a pretty smart guy and definitely a student of the game. TNA's tag team division has really taken a hit lately, but I think that's been offset by gains elsewhere.

On to my take on Wednesday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Not as many people watch ROH as TNA, so that could have something to do with the lack of response (though I have seen a number of blogs decrying the event). I think truly talented performers can get over a brutal battle safely, but it's much easier to just beat the crap out of each other with weapons and stiff moves to get a reaction. There's a reason promotions built around pleasing fans who have seen everything and have to keep topping themselves don't do very well. It's really disappointing that the promotion that prides itself (or at least one time prided itself) on promoting a pure sport of wrestling and all that gimmickry resorts to such cheap tactics.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's news and questions. Next up, the Orton-Barrett angle.

2. Yeah, it was kind of obvious, but I thought it was unique and clever. It's a TV show, and as such should get some lee-way.

3. Hahahaha, no. WWE's not going anywhere near that gimmick in 2012. They did have a tryout some time back but nothing came of it.

4. No further word here either. The longer we go without hearing an update, the less likely it seems that it will see the light of day. That's disappointing, as his could be one of the most controversial autobiographies in quite some time. He doesn't want to get back into wrestling, so he has nothing to lose by giving his full opinions.

5. Jericho knew when to get out while he was ahead and take some time off to avoid injury, which could have something to do with it. Luck is as always a factor, though. It'd be hard to top Flair coming back from the plane crash.

In the interest of fairness regarding Raw's rating vs. that of the BCS Championship game, it should be noted that last year's game drew 3 million more viewers than this year's, and the Raw opposing it got a 3.1. So, the polarizing show did notably worse even when factoring out that game. Time for some changes to the overly silly product.

Speaking of which, Brodus Clay talked about his Raw appearance. That was funny, but this isn't a comedy show. The gimmick did stand out from the pack, though. He did pretty well as the goofball after his intense performances elsewhere.

ESPN also covered the John Cena-Fruity Pebbles collaboration.

Diamond Dallas Page revealed among other things that he has signed a Legends contract with WWE. With all due respect to a genuinely great guy with one of my favorite gimmicks of all time (the motivational speaker), I don't think WWE should use him to feud with Orton in 2012. It's been too long since he's been in the spotlight for it to mean much to the target audience. See: Kevin Nash vs. Triple H.

Randy Orton got Smackdown tickets for a number of handicapped fans recently. I can't believe I'm saying this after his past, but he seems like a really good guy now.

Kurt Angle did another interview recently. Good stuff. I also want to see less of the same old, same old in TNA.

Here's the poster for TNA Victory Road. I know what I'm going to be having nightmares about soon. I wouldn't read too much into that as far as him returning to the ring more frequently, but it's always possible.

This is pretty cool. I don't know exactly how it was put together or how accurate it is, but The Score put together a map showing the ratios of boos and cheers for John Cena in different geographic areas.

Lex Luger talked about the Four Horsemen going into the WWE Hall of Fame. Glad he's not bitter over being left out. He'll probably get his own induction some day. I think Ole Anderson isn't receptive to WWE these days, so that would be why he's not included.

Hulk Hogan needed emergency dental surgery after an accident from a previous surgery. Never a dull moment with him, apparently.

There's a lot of talk of holding WrestleMania 29 in Dallas, TX (presumably in that sweet new Cowboys stadium). That'd be a great time for Undertaker to retire in his home state, no? Let the speculation and hearsay begin!

Finally, here are pictures from WWE's recent live event in San Angelo, TX.

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