Smackdown dark match, assorted WWE press, Interview with Goldberg, more on concussion lawsuit, WWE veteran close to retiring?, Smackdown audience, upcoming TNA matches, WWE Network getting new content, TNA vs. NXT/WWE tapings, and Questions on Tamina, alternate commentary, pushing Reigns, the fans at the Rumble, and #CancelWWENetwork

The dark match after Smackdown saw John Cena and Dean Ambrose beat Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. Ambrose, Rollins, and Wyatt should all be in the WWE Title picture after Mania. Rusev, too, after he beats Cena at WM31. I hope they don't pull the rug out from under Rusev in favor of another big Cena win at Mania.

Hulk Hogan has gotten some press for training Riff Raff to wrestle. I actually kind of want to see him get in the ring out of morbid curiosity.

Mick Foley was caught cheating at a wing-eating contest. Just when you think there's not another crazy story to come out of the world of wrestling.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

 Goldberg was interviewed about there being resentment on his big push in WCW and more:
- No, people think of the nWo, The Rock, and Sting among others as big names from the '90s, too. Goldberg's a big deal, but not the only one. 

- I think Goldberg would have stayed in football if that had turned out better for him. He was obviously a big success for WCW (and to some extent, WWE), but it wasn't like he trained his whole life to be a wrestler or had a really long run. I've heard the argument it could have easily been Chuck Palumbo or someone else to have his success if pushed right at the right time.

- Of course it's tough to recover from injuries! That's a high school reporter level question.

- Paying your dues in the NFL doesn't have much, if anything, to do with paying your dues in the wrestling world. Would Goldberg have been OK with a pro wrestler getting such an important spot in the NFL world with so little experience?

- I don't blame Goldberg a bit for taking that sweet deal and position. It doesn't mean his critics don't have points.

- Goldberg vs. Austin would have been a really big deal, even a number of years after WCW folded.

- I hope Goldberg can move past injuring Bret. It does suck, but there's nothing to be done about it all these years later.

The Vito/Mercer lawsuit against WWE was discussed in Philadelphia. Vito isn't famous, period. If he had never had the dress gimmick, I don't think he would have been talked about much at all. Let's not be marks here.

Forbes buried WWE in a piece on the Rumble backlash. That was one of the better pieces on fan discontent, but it still felt kind of like a "smark" blog entry instead of a scholarly piece on the business. If it was told in a more objective fashion (pointing out fan discontent and that a vocal part of the fanbase hates the current product), I would have liked it better. He should have stayed out of the story more, in other words.

There are rumors of Goldust transitioning into a non-wrestler role following a feud with Stardust, presumably including a WrestleMania match. Of note, Goldust spoke against the rumors on Twitter. I think that's probably at least partially a work. I'd rather see him go out in a blaze of glory in an awesome feud with his half-brother than overstay his welcome. He's done some really good work in his most recent run and has capped off a Hall of Fame-worthy career. There's no shame at all in him hanging up the boots in 2015.

The live Smackdown did 2.95 million viewers. That's pretty good! It was nice to not be oversaturated with WWE content this week. Especially after how the Rumble went.

TNA has announced the following matches for the UK Impact Wrestling tapings:
- Lashley vs. Kurt Angle
- Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode
- An Ultimate X match
- Ethan Carter III vs. Rockstar Spud in a hair vs. hair match.

Those are all potentially big matches. I don't think I want to see Angle as champion in 2015, though.

WWE will be showing material from Mid-South Wrestling on the Network in February, showcasing some names for Black History Month. That should be pretty awesome.

The Impact Wrestling tapings in Orlando in February will be going against an NXT taping and a Raw taping in the same area. That really sucks for TNA. I hope they still have good attendance, but I wonder how many people would rather see what WWE's putting on.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. That's what I've been wondering! Her returning to dethrone the Bellas would be a good use of her, but I don't know how realistic that is.

2. I'd love that! I guess the problem is Vince can't yell in two commentary teams' ears at once, and I doubt he'd trust the other team to wing it. It's a shame, because that's a pretty clever idea.

3. There's some truth to a good deal of that. I do think some of it's because Reigns isn't at the same level of Bryan (or Rollins, Wyatt, Ambrose, etc.) from the standpoint of cutting good promos and having good matches, and he's being chosen over them. He's the former football player with only a few years of experience being pushed at the expense of people who have had it a lot harder and have more experience. Fast Lane is an appropriate name for the next PPV, because he's being put in that.

4. I barely know where to start with this tripe:
a. If Bryan was still recovering, the doctors wouldn't have cleared him to return to the ring. That's not what "still recovering" means. Tamina's still recovering from an injury. I'm still recovering from this awful question.

b. Again, if he was still recovering, they wouldn't have him return in Mania season. The Rumble match isn't exactly a cakewalk. They could have saved him for afterward if he wasn't ready.

c. I do think it's valid that they can do a triple threat, but the issue is fans wanted Bryan to win instead of Reigns. Bryan's passed a lot more tests than the hand-picked guy being given more of an easy route to the top.

d. The Andre battle royal (not a tourney) might not even happen this year, and was rather meaningless last time in hindsight.

e. There are definitely people who just want to get attention and get themselves over, but there were also people there who had some legitimate gripes. A lot of fan favorites were tossed over after having done so much for the company lately.

5. This is pretty much the rule rather than the exception for internet protests. It's much easier to complain than actually follow up with action and stop watching.

More wrestling tomorrow.