Rumble returns teased, Ambrose injured, top name taking Mania season off?, WWE Network maintenance, three big WWE signings expected, WWE signing backstage at TV this week, Interview with JR, Raw audience, AJ book made into TV series, and Questions on the XFL reboot, Ziggler's title win, Bryan wrestling Shane, and big Summerslam weekend happenings

Trish Stratus and Michelle McCool teased returning to the ring for the women's Royal Rumble. YES. Both would be great additions to make the match as big of a deal as it should be.

Dean Ambrose was part of an injury angle on Raw to cover for a legitimate elbow issue. An MRI later revealed a potential triceps tear, with surgery scheduled. I hope he doesn't have to miss much time.

Randy Orton looks to be taking significant time off following the February 6 Smackdown taping, as he's not advertised for anything between that date and the Smackdown after Wrestlemania. He's also not advertised for May's European tour. He's still set for January's TV tapings and the Royal Rumble, but only some live events that month. I hope that's a refreshing period for him, and that Smackdown can handle not having one of their top names around for an important period of the year.

WWE Network did system maintenance earlier this morning. That's necessary every so often to keep things running as good as possible.

Ricochet and War Machine are expected to join NXT in January. War Machine is believed to have finished with ROH at the TV tapings following Final Battle, and they'll work their last NJPW date on January 4. All three names have significant reputations. War Machine's going to have a tough time standing out in a promotion with other teams of large, agile wrestlers, but that's definitely a big boost for them. 

Rockstar Spud was backstage at Raw and Smackdown. He's expected to join 205 Live soon. I look forward to seeing him again.

Jim Ross talked to Sam Roberts, with highlights released here:
- There's definitely something of a generational difference between today's wrestlers and the Attitude Era talents as far as asking for opportunities, communicating with their supervisors, etc. That's not a burial of millennials by any means; it's got to be intimidating to approach the veteran wrestlers and staff given their reputations in the business.

- I can't disagree with any of JR's choices to recruit. I'd add Ethan Carter III as well.

Raw drew 2.79 million viewers Monday night. They'll definitely take a hit on Christmas Day, and potentially New Year's Day as well, so this number is somewhat of a target for the January 8 show.

AJ Mendez's memoir is being turned into a TV series, with AJ as a writer and executive producer. That's awesome!! It could be a pretty incredible project.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. So he doesn't have to worry about it affecting WWE's business. He can run the company without having to be too concerned about what WWE stockholders think.

2. While I think it's probably fair to say the NFL is vulnerable to competition, he's definitely going to be the underdog in that fight. Vince is rich and well-connected, so I'd like to think he could put something somewhat successful together, but it's going to be tough going for the reasons mentioned.

3. Yeah, I don't see what they were thinking either. His character isn't just stale; it's collecting mold. He's always, always, always worked really hard, and this could be a reward for his tenacity, but I hope this is leading to something where he takes a break from WWE. I mean, his character is all about how no one appreciates him anyway, so how about take some time off and come back refreshed? I'd like to see him reinvent himself and come back as Nick Nemeth, wrestling differently, looking different, etc.

4. If Bryan does end up in the ring against Shane, I'd expect it to be more of a spectacle like Vince vs. Bret rather than the Bryan we got in his active days. I wouldn't think it would be totally out of the question to do some kind of street fight with no big neck bumps, but even that could be stretching it. Time will tell.

5. I wouldn't be surprised to see some other promotions piggyback Summerslam weekend, but certainly not at the level of Wrestlemania.

More wrestling tomorrow.