Queries on Hassan and WWE buying TNA, Victory Road video preview, battle royal set for Impact, Daniels interview, Questions on an ECW HoF inductee, standing of companies, Lesnar at WM28, and Garett Bischoff, TNA Creative and Kevin Nash updates, NFL player replaced in TNA angle, Sorensen updates, why Taz missed Against All Odds, Miz promotes Raw, another Taker and HBK appearance announced, Impact Wrestling preview, and Smackdown's rating.

Some Monday queries:
1. The Muhammad Hassan issue in a nutshell was that WWE was doing a feud where his character, a heel Arab American tired of all the negative treatment he received post-9/11, was facing The Undertaker. In a VERY controversial angle, he summoned some people in ski masks who basically kidnapped Taker. The whole thing gave off more than a few "terrorist" vibes, and to make things worse, the day that it aired (three days after it was taped), there were some terrorist bombings in London. Without time for WWE to re-shoot anything, UPN ran the angle after showing a number of warnings throughout the show. Both sides got a LOT of heat for it due to the timing, and Hassan never appeared on UPN again. His character was soundly defeated by Taker at the next PPV and was removed from storylines completely.

2. The chances of WWE buying TNA are low, at least for any time soon. Basically, don't expect it. If TNA starts losing insane amounts of money (which isn't currently the case), MAYBE they decide to sell, but other than that I don't really see it happening. They've only bought companies that have shut down in the past, and TNA's still in the black.

TNA posted a preview video for its next PPV, Victory Road. That really seems to suggest an increase in Sting's importance. If him working increases buys and is used to elevate talents and the company as a whole, I can live with it. If it's just for "reliving the past", it's detrimental to the company long-term. No disrespect to Sting or his accomplishments, but it doesn't look good for the 30-something wrestlers if they can't compete above the level of a 52-year-old who's semi-retired.

Thursday's edition of Impact Wrestling will feature a 10-Knockouts battle royal, where the winner will become #1 Contender to Gail Kim. The contestants are Rosita, Sarita, Ms. Tessmacher, Winter, Tara, ODB, Mickie James, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, and Angelina Love.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's news, including PWInsider.com's questions. Next up, detailson what happened after Against All Odds.

After Against All Odds went off the air, Sting tried to explain what happened to Jeff Hardy and James Storm. They've certainly got a big angle to build off of following the finish to that title match.

Christopher Daniels was interviewed on "Busted Open". Here are some highlights. I'm glad he understands that character development is an important part of the wrestling business. I wish more people in wrestling did.

On to a look at PWInsider.com's questions:
1. Hmmm... a great deal of it does depend on who they're on good terms with, so Dreamer could have the edge there. I think we're a few years away from any of them going in, and by then some of those names might not be in TNA anymore. Maybe they throw us a curveball and put in Tod Gordon? I seriously have no idea, since ECW really isn't something WWE's really high on. What about Joey Styles? Rey Mysterio? A lot of this depends on who you count as an ECW Original.

There isn't really anything to add to 2. I agree on 3 that it would need to be a matter of the financials of all of the companies. There are a number of contenders for a number of places below WWE worldwide. I don't know enough about the indie market to dispute the popular claim that ROH is #3 in the States, but it certainly would be believable given its TV/iPPV positioning and number of shows.

4. I suppose that's a fair enough guess, given the lack of word on him since retiring. I wouldn't bet on it happening at any rate, though I'm sure WWE would love for that to go down.

5. They're definitely not enthusiastic that he's getting pushed instead of them. While I can't say for sure that he'd never get a chance without his father, given that he only started training recently it's definitely unlikely he'd be so high up the card so soon (if he'd even be on the roster). I'm really curious as to what becomes of him when he doesn't have Eric and Hulk to play off of.

Dave Lagana is assisting in the production of TNA's backstage segments at the current Impact Wrestling tapings, and is giving feedback, but is NOT officially a part of the Creative team as of this writing.
Don't jump to conclusions about Russo either.

Update: Vince Russo was not present at the Impact Wrestling tapings. More on this situation as it comes to light.

Kevin Nash has been officially removed from WWE.com's Raw roster, hopefully signifying an official end to his time as an on-screen character. He was believed to be done post-TLC, but there wasn't an official acknowledgement until now. He's still under a Legends contract to the company, and could always pop back up.

New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs will be working with Kurt Angle at the Impact Wrestling tapings, replacing Jason Pierre-Paul. Part of the desire for mainstream attention is linked to the February "sweeps" period.

Update: USA Today and The New York Times covered the venture, which will involve the next two episods of Impact Wrestling. Thankfully he's a fan.

Jesse Sorensen was in the ICU of an Orlando hospital following his injury at Against All Odds. Not good to hear.

Update: He has regained feeling in his arms and is able to move them, which is a good sign. He also stated that he was feeling a tingling sensation in his legs. Hopefully he'll pull through.

Update: He sustained a fracture of his C1 vertebrae with edema of the spinal cord, and his slowly regaining movement in his arms and legs. More tests are incoming. Any talk of a comeback timeframe are premature.

Taz missed Against All Odds due to the passing of his brother-in-law on Saturday evening. This brother-in-law lent him the money to get his initial training, so I'd say he's worthy of a good deal of condolences.

The Miz promoted Raw in San Diego.

The 3/5 edition of Raw is now being advertised as including appearances by Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, so get used to them going into WrestleMania. The last plan I read was that (spoilers) Michaels would be the referee of HHH vs. Taker at Mania While that would seem to favor HHH, they're teasing tension between he and Michaels now Could be interesting.

Here's the official preview for Impact Wrestling, hinting at Roode vs. Hardy for the World Title.

Smackdown did a 2.17 on Friday night. Good things are going on on that show for the most part. I hope they continue to do well.

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