Another live Smackdown, more press for TNA/NFL crossover, stars backstage at Raw, Questions on WM30 in Yankee Stadium, the Board keeping John Laurinaitis, Sheamus vs. Barrett, Miz, and Taker, update on TNA Creative plans, Foley and Rock interviews, '80s WWF announcer talks, WWE interviews Valentine, Sorensen updates, Russo leaves TNA, Raw rating, next batch of WWE appearances in FCW, and Orton nixed from Chamber due to concussion

Since a query sent in today ties closely into one of PWInsider.com's questions, I'll address them together below.

The 4/10 Smackdown taping will be shown live on SyFy. Maybe people will take more of a liking to the show and the people writing Raw will emulate them.

For some more press on TNA featuring a member of the New York Giants, check out the New York Post. His appearance was said to have been received very well by the fans and workers. The angle was talked about on SportsCenter.

Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio will both backstage at Raw (in Rey's hometown of Raw), but weren't used on the show. I can mostly see that since it was the go-home show for a PPV that they're not on.

PWInsider.com had some new questions up to look at:
1. In addition to their valid criticisms, I think that with WM29 likely being in NJ, I think they should spread things out and do WM30 somewhere else.

2. Apparently it's because he was able to get Shawn Michaels to appear on Raw or something. They were kind of vague about the whole deal. In their minds, they could very well consider it explained.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's questions and news. Next up, will we get Sheamus vs. Barrett for the World Title at WrestleMania?
3. Given Bryan's knack for escaping the odds lately, I wouldn't be too shocked if he did make it to Mania as Champion. It'd be a pretty surprising gamble for them to go with someone who isn't an "established guy" like Orton as Champion, but it looks like it could end up happening. Given how many times Barrett and Sheamus have clashed lately, I don't think they'll put them together again at WrestleMania, but I could be wrong. Either match would be pretty good, though Bryan would bring more variety to the table.


4. Let's not beat the guy up TOO badly over this. Even some of the best workers make mistakes with dangerous spots. As long as this doesn't become a theme and no one gets too badly injured, I think we can give him the benefit of the doubt since accidents do happen.

5. This ties in to the query I got about Taker cutting his "hair" on Raw. For whatever reason, he decided to cut his hair a lot shorter sometime after WM27. WWE's adapting to it.

Despite Vince Russo not appearing at Against All Odds or the Impact Wrestling tapings, scripts were kept largely the same as they were under his guidance.

Mick Foley was interviewed on wrestling and comedy. It will be interesting to see how he fits into the Mania picture.

The Rock mentioned wrestling in interviews with Yahoo and MTV. 

A former WWF announcer talked about his experience there and more. Pretty interesting stuff!

I have to give WWE points for this one: an interview with Greg Valentine on February 14. Pun-tastic!

Jesse Sorensen is still in serious condition, but he is continuing to regain feeling and movement. The hope is that he will eventually fully recover from the injury. Phew. That could have ended REALLY badly for him.

Update: Kurt Angle visited him in the hospital, and he could be out for a full year. Wow.

Vince Russo has parted ways with TNA. The news was broken by Dixie Carter publicly on Facebook. I hope the resulting change in Creative works out as well as a lot of us would like it to. For those of you new to the game, Russo is linked to some of the most critically derided angles in the history of modern wrestling, though there are debates over how much of the blame actually falls on him.

Raw got a 3.0 rating on Monday, with hours of 2.91 and 3.09. That's mediocre in my book going into Elimination Chamber, with an advertised appearance by the legendary Shawn Michaels, in addition to the recent on-screen returns of HHH, Kane, Taker, Jericho, etc.. There's a real problem here.

A batch of WWE star appearances have been announced for FCW house shows: Kofi Kingston (2/17), Sheamus (3/2), Dusty Rhodes (3/3), and Alberto Del Rio (4/6). It's good to cross-promote so those FCW talents work in front of more and larger audiences.

Randy Orton has been pulled from this Sunday's Elimination Chamber match after suffering a concussion on Raw. It should be noted that Mark Henry is at the Smackdown taping, so he could be the new 6th entrant. Scary situation with the injuries lately. I hope Orton fully recovers sooner rather than later.

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