What happened before and after Raw, Slammy notes, TLC pre-show match, WM31 and Tribute hype, Del Rio update, Otunga appears, Interview with Striker, more Booker, JR podcast upcoming?, special WWE deal, Kendrick training, ranking WWE Champions, Jeff Hardy update, Raw audience, JR talks HBK vs. Bryan and Questions on title unification, PPV bonuses, who to blame for WWE's business and wrestling in 2014

In the pre-Raw dark match, NXT's Alexander Rusev defeated Zack Ryder. He's a big Bulgarian wrestler. I don't know much else about him.

After Raw, John Cena beat Randy Oton via DQ when Orton used a chair. Cena hit Orton with the AA, then brought out Daniel Bryan. Booker T. got Bryan to do a Spinaroonie, leading to Cena, John Laurinaitis, Titus O'Neil, Stephanie McMahon and C.M. Punk each came out and did one. Punk was in his briefs. That's got to be one of the strangest things I've heard happening at an event once the cameras were off. The only thing I can think of that could top it would be when Vince and Kevin Dunn ribbed Mark Henry with the "open challenge" thing, playing different entrance musics with no one coming out.

The Slammy fan voting was completely legitimate, much to the dismay of the "smarks" who are in the vocal minority with some of their opinions. The Superstar of the Year voting was said to be close. Always keep in mind the opinions expressed on popular websites don't necessarily match up with the opinions of the audience at large.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

WWE put out a press release about the number of votes submitted for the Slammy Awards. Glad it was successful for them, and hopefully the show drummed up interest for TLC.

The pre-show for TLC will feature Dolph Ziggler taking on Fandango. That could be a sleeper hit. Both guys have potential.

Here's a story on WrestleMania 31 heading to the Bay Area. I liked how they called it a nonsports event.

Del Rio's concussion from Monday was said to be from the sunset flip powerbomb spot. He hasn't been cleared to return at this writing. That match was quite good, so I hope this doesn't hurt Sin Cara's push.

David Otunga was on Steve Harvey's show to talk workouts. That's pretty cool. With WWE growing past the stuff shown on Raw and Smackdown, Otunga could make a role for himself in another area of the company. I could definitely see him doing something for the WWE Network. WWE only has so many spots for wrestlers. Unless he's really putting a lot of work in to improve at the Performance Center, it might be best to close that chapter of his career. Nothing against Otunga; WWE just has a LOT of people under contract on the main roster and in NXT.

Here's a big shoot interview with Matt Striker. Perhaps the part most people will be interested in is the remark that he'd be open to going to TNA. I think he'd be a good fit there, either replacing Taz on commentary or as a wrestler. I don't see him coming with the price tag of Taz and I think he might have more passion for the product. Would he be too similar to Mike Tenay? Maybe. That's a valid concern. But they could shuffle the deck some to make the new TNA as good as it can be.

At the WM31 press conference were San Francisco 49ers player Vernon Davis, WWE executive John P. Saboor, Vince and Stephanie McMahon, John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, Big Show, Sheamus, Mark Henry, Fandango, Khali, R-Truth, the Bella Twins and Summer Rae. That's quite a list! I'm a little surprised there was no Rey Mysterio. I know the Bay Area's a long way from the 619, but I thought they might try to make the California connection anyway. Sting also lives in California, so I guess we can start speculating they'll do Sting vs. Taker there if they don't do it at WM30. No word on that one happening yet. Sting's still with TNA for the time being.

Also at the WM31 was the new WWE logo, as seen in the ads for the WWE Network. I like it. I wonder if that will be a permanent change for them, and if we'll see it adorn their championships.

Here's a little piece on Tribute to the Troops. I wonder how much wrestling will air on the show and how much will be celebrity appearances.

Booker T. is also set to be the special referee of next Raw's dark main event of John Cena vs. Randy Orton. I can't believe that's still a big match in 2013. Both guys are great, but you'd think we'd have some new top guys by now.

Jim Ross has a podcast in the works. That could be cool.

Here's a special deal for tickets to the WWE Holiday Tour show in Madison Square Garden. That'd be neat to attend.

Brian Kendrick's school will have another training camp on 1/4/14. More here. That would be an interesting ordeal, I think. Listen to some of Kendrick's shoot interviews and/or see his work in TNA to get a glimpse of what goes on in this guy's head.

Mandatory.com ranked every WWE Champion ever, quite the ordeal. I'm not even going into that debate.

In regard to some recent TNA spoilers, Jeff Hardy is not leaving TNA. His recent storyline was simply designed to explain his absence during the company's events in the UK. He can not work those events due to work visa issues, possibly related to his past criminal record. Hardy is reportedly signed until sometime in 2015.

Raw's audience this week jumped sharply to 4.15 million, from 3.54 million last week. This is despite very tough competition from an NFL game that night. That's very good! I hope this leads to good things for TLC and for WrestleMania season in general.

Jim Ross downplayed the possibility of Shawn Michaels vs. Daniel Bryan. I wouldn't assume it to be happening, but I'd really like to see it from a match standpoint.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. In 2001, they combined the WWF Championship with what had previously been the WCW Championship because WCW was no longer a thing and they needed to wrap that story up. Later, they decided to split the roster into two brands and eventually wanted a top champion for each brand, so they brought back the World Championship. Now, with the brands back together, they're combining those two titles. That's pretty much it.

2. There are a lot of factors here. It's not just three hours of Raw, but all the other hours of content during a week featuring WWE wrestlers (often a lot of the same people) burning the fans out. WWE pushing some acts at the expense of others is also an issue. I'm glad they didn't just throw all the blame on Vince and Creative like they usually do.

3. They'll get no bonuses and like it, dammit! Nah, I'm sure they'll adjust it somehow. That's an interesting situation.

4. I know it's convenient to blame everything on Vince and the pushes of Cena and Orton, and they definitely have parts in this, but other factors play a role. The fact that Cena fans will buy a PPV when he's not in a main event, but fans like the questioner won't pay to see Punk and Bryan in those feuds (with "smark" favorites like The Shield and Wyatts, no less) is probably why WWE doesn't take advice from Internet pundits. Bottom line, it's not clear-cut "Vince is wrong, stop pushing Cena and Orton." It's also not 100% "the IWC is stupid. Don't push Bryan or Punk," which I'm not saying. WWE needs to make some changes in who it pushes and features, but what they're doing now isn't the disaster people are making it out to be.

5. I see WWE continuing to be the big, unstoppable juggernaut with a number of important problems. We'll probably get more of the annual "older stars and part-timers are more important" stuff at Mania, but there will also be pushes of up-and-coming acts. WWE will continue to move toward a day when they can't rely on the Attitude Era/40-and-up group, but it probably won't be a quick or smooth process. Business will almost definitely go up during WrestleMania season.

TNA will continue to find its new identity. There will be bumps in the road and tough decisions to make, as there always are. But I think at the end of 2014, if they don't make any really stupid decisions, they'll be in a better place financially. They seem committed to righting the ship now.

More wrestling tomorrow.