Variety profiles Mania, Interviews with Sandow/Rock/Hall/Trish/Heyman/Duggan, Injured star returns, Flair's son passes, Waltman update, new WWE exec, Impact viewership, and Questions on Aces and Eights, Kaitlyn vs. AJ, Orton as a worker, Fandango opponents, and Knockouts

Variety profiled WWE's celebrity presence for WrestleMania. Always good that WWE gets mainstream press in a positive way.

Damien Sandow was interviewed ahead of Mania. He put over the product pretty well. Great character.

Evan Bourne returned to the ring at a recent NXT show, facing the former El Generico. I bet that was a good match.

The Rock talked wrestling on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I'm glad.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Here's an update on Scott Hall. Glad he's doing well.

Reid Flair, son of Ric, has passed away at the age of 25. He was found face down in his hotel room.Very sad to hear.

Sean Waltman has returned home following his injury, which is good to hear.

Trish Stratus talked about the Hall of Fame, the Divas' division, and more. I think she's right about characters and storylines being important (and not just for Divas!).

Here's another interview with Paul Heyman, who I feel should be a future WWE Hall of Famer. Always fun to hear what he has to say.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan talked ahead of an indie show. I definitely hope we don't see any more wrestlers end up like "The Wrestler".

WWE has hired a new EVP of International, who certainly seems qualified. I hope it's a good fit.

Impact Wrestling drew 1.31 million fans on Thursday. That's a shame, as the show's been really solid lately.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'd be down with it. She's earned a contract in my eyes.

2. WWE already has 10 matches and a concert scheduled, so I don't know how likely it is that we'll get that match. I like the idea of them as managers. I certainly don't want them to only get a 2-minute match.

3. "He has signature moves (just like every other successful wrestler)! How can he be good?" A match is a lot more than just it's finishing sequence. He knows how to put a match together that tells a good story and leads to a good conclusion.

4. Not this year. I'd be surprised if either made a comeback.

Nothing to add to 5. They pretty much nailed it.

More wrestling tomorrow, and a Blue Echo podcast coming up.