Party for R-Truth, Interview with Eva Marie, more on JR calling NJPW, ROH changing their look?, legends at AXXESS, Rumble kickoff match, another former TNA/ROH Champion to WWE?, Nikki to know fate soon, Raw audience, Questions on called spots, inducting the Freebirds, announce teams, Taker's WM32 opponent, and NXT callups jobbing

The WWE roster had a birthday party for R-Truth in the ring at the most recent Smackdown taping.

Eva Marie talked about potentially returning to the main roster and more:
- Is it a conspiracy theory to think Eva was cast as the villain for "Total Divas" and they never REALLY expected her to be a big part of the division so early?

- No way should she be back on the main roster. She's barely ready for NXT TV.

- If it was her decision to go to NXT to get more training, I applaud it. Hopefully she stays there for a while. She's still rough.

- She's a good heel, but mainly in the "fans want her to get out of the business" way. It's like the "please retire" chants Big Show gets.

- Asuka is pretty great. It's mainly a matter of how she'll fit her style in on the main roster.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
While Jim Ross will be doing commentary for NJPW shows on AXS TV, he is not set to do so for the shows that will be streamed on NJPWWorld. It's possible that happens down the line, but it's not part of his current deal.

TNA has announced who will appear on their UK tour. It looks like Abyss and Crazzy Steve are an official team, with someone named Rosemary. Also, Shane Helms could be an actual wrestler at some point. I look forward to seeing what they've got set up for the rest of the month.

Former pro wrestler, trainer, and ring announcer Billy Anderson is working on an autobiography.

ROH is looking to experiment with staging, lighting, and entrances at their February TV tapings. I know that's something fans have been wanting to see. Maybe they can make the ringwork less indie, too?

Sting, The Undertaker, and "Superstar" Billy Graham (among others) are all set for VIP signings at AXXESS. Taker's a pleasant surprise, and I'm glad Graham has patched things up with WWE.

The Kickoff show for the Royal Rumble will feature the Dudleys vs. the Ascension vs. Jack Swagger/Mark Henry vs. Darren Young/Damien Sandow. The winning team will be entered into the Royal Rumble. It's pretty telling of the status of some of these guys that they're not likely to be in that match.

Austin Aries was recently in Pittsburgh, with the belief he's been going through WWE's medical screening process. It will be really interesting to see if he'll end up in WWE or NXT. He's a really great talent. It's kind of a shame it's taken them this long to try to pick him up.

Nikki Bella should be getting an update on her physical condition soon following another visit to her doctor. She's had problems with bulging discs in her neck.

Raw's audience Monday night was 3.50 million. The show started strong, but lost a lot of the audience by the time it was over. That's concerning. They have to be careful with what they do going forward.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Only if it's really obvious, like they're not even trying to hide it. But obviously they need to communicate in the ring.

2. I think that'd be great! Sting should definitely headline, since he has more appeal on a wider scale, but the Freebirds should certainly get a nod that night, and Von Erich is the right person to do that.

3. I'm definitely a bigger fan of a two-man booth, since the focus should be on the people in the ring, not the people doing commentary. I like Saxton, but I think he might be in over his head there.

4. I think there are two more reasons to not do Braun vs. Taker: They've already done a lot of Wyatts vs. Taker/Kane in the past year and a half, and Wyatts vs. LoN would be more fresh and interesting. I do think it makes sense to have Taker wrestle someone with big match/main roster experience, but I think there's nowhere to go but down for the relatively inexperienced Strowman and Corbin if they get that big of a match this early in their careers. "Why is WWE burying Corbin? He wrestled The Undertaker at Wrestlemania!" "Well, it's because Vince buries all NXT talent. It's all his fault. He should protect talent better."

5. I think people have REALLY misconstrued some things about NXT. The main roster needs some lower-card names called up as well as future main eventers. It's unrealistic, at the least, to expect every name brought up from NXT to get a big push. Sometimes people from NXT are brought up because NXT has done all they can with them and they can get more experience at the lower end of the main roster. And honestly, as much as I like some of the NXT callups, some of them are lower-card or midcard performers at this point in their career. They need further work before they can be in the same league as the more experienced people higher up the card.

More wrestling tomorrow.