Update on Ryder's "condition", WWE advertises 1000th episode of Raw, Tyson in the HoF, Questions on Ring Ka King, Rosa Mendes, lucha legends in the Hall, and WWE's story loopholes, why Sheamus won the Rumble, top chain to stop showing WWE PPVs, Booker T. book details, Road Dogg to appear at FCW, Details on WWE YouTube shows, WWE drops PPV name, Foley interview, another Rock Raw appearance and what happened after Raw

After being attacked once more at the Royal Rumble, Zack Ryder was taken to the hospital in a continuation of his injury storyline. On the one hand, he IS being featured in a prominent storyline. It's just, you know, not one a lot of people are happy about.

WWE is beginning the pre-sale for the 1000th episode of Raw on 7/23. Wow. That's a HUGE milestone. I wonder if The Undertaker will compete then to bring the whole thing full-circle?

TMZ covered Mike Tyson's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Very natural choice. He was involved in a big moment for the business.

Update: So did ESPN.

For PWInsider.com's questions on Monday, my take is as follows:
1. It makes you wonder if that has anything to do with The Great Khali's apparent return, though it must be said that there was always the expectation that he'd return at some point.

2. I think she plays her role well and that's all I particularly care about. I do think her presence adds to the unit, because otherwise they're just a tag team and we all know how long those last in the company. Plus it presumably keeps her from being a wrestler.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's questions and news, starting with whether we'll see Road Warrior Animal involved in Punk vs. Laurinaitis.

Raw thoughts - 1/30/12

Last night at the Royal Rumble, C.M. Punk successfully retained the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler, avoiding a potential screwjob from John Laurinaitis. Tonight, WWE COO Triple H returns to give the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, and Interim General Manager of Raw a job evaluation. Also at the Rumble, John Cena and Kane fought to a double count-out, with Zack Ryder taking another injury. The road to WrestleMania continues tonight on Raw. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.

Lawler talks ahead of Rumble, house show notes, Angle's Olympic hopes profiled, Sting injured?, another planned Legend in Rumble, who wasn't at the UK TNA tapings and why, TNA promotes PPVs, Questions on Brodus, the Rumble, Punk-MMA, Biggest Loser, Laurinaitis, Dana White, Heyman vs. Cornette, competing with WWE, the WWP, and cameras, another former WWE star planned for Rumble?, Swagger in FCW, USA Today profiles Ryder, and the dark match for the Rumble

Jerry Lawler talked about the Royal Rumble at an independent show on Saturday. His act gets staler every time he talks. Obviously he did end up in the match. WWE apparently wanted to have fun and be surprising this year moreso than build their current stars and do stories leading to WrestleMania. There's a place for comedy and nostalgia, but that was a little much for my tastes.

Ryback defeated Santino Marella at this weekend's WWE live event. He's being billed as the "Sin City Cyborg". Ok then. Mark Henry was absent from the World Title match due to his injuries.

The New York Times mentioned Kurt Angle's Olympic quest.

Sting claims to have blown out his heel wrestling recently for TNA, but doesn't believe it's serious. More on this as it comes in.

Road Warrior Animal was contacted about being a part of the Royal Rumble, but there wasn't enough time to put a deal together. I think we had plenty of nostalgia as it was, though I know a lot of fans would have appreciated him being there.

After the break, a top TNA performer wasn't at their UK Impact Wrestling tapings. Read on for why, as well as the rest of Sunday's news and a double dose of PWInsider.com questions.

WWE Royal Rumble thoughts

Tonight begins the road to WrestleMania XXVIII! The pieces will start to come together for WWE's biggest PPV of all time. The improbable World Heavyweight Champion will face two Titans in a steel cage, the WWE Champion will go up against a Show Off who has his number, and 30 men will face off in a match to determine who will challenge for the holder of either of those titles. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.

WWE Royal Rumble preview

Tonight begins the road to WrestleMania. Read on for how I'd kick-start it!

Hogan on BBC, Roma talks HoF, Questions on Mongo, Hogan, WWE's focus on entertainment and females in the Hall, Dreamer and Ziggler talk Rumble, another Rock Raw, WWE scouting more FCW signings?, and Miz and Orton preview the Rumble

I have to give Hogan credit: he's at least good for getting a lot of press. Here he talks for five minutes with the BBC on London. I agree that some matches can be very overly choreographed and basically consist of going through a set formula with a set order and doing set moves and set times instead of getting a feel for the crowd and working off of that to tell the story. It's really dreadful at times to watch. Ditto for matches that basically descend into move exhibitions/spotfests.

Paul Roma talked about being left out of the WWE Hall of Fame's induction of the Four Horsemen among other things. Pic related.

I don't like them putting Carey in, but they wanted to pick one of the most iconic incarnations of the Horsemen, not every single member (it is the FOUR Horsemen after all). Since Ole wasn't going to happen, they went with the line-up they did. I do like the idea of voting for the Hall of Fame, but sadly a lot of it has to do with ratings, DVD sales and who's on good terms with the company.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's news, starting with PWInsider.com's questions.

Lengthy Punk interview, Otunga goes back to court, more great Hogan sound bytes, Questions on Knockouts, Serena, and Molly Holly, Ziggler interview, Henry injured again, Booker and Miz interviews, possible Rumble surprise, Legend at Smackdown, Ziggler interview, Impact Wrestling rating, Z! TLIS #50, and Bryan talks

C.M Punk gave a lengthy interview on WWE and MMA topics. Intelligent guy. I think things have changed to some degree for the better after his big promo, but there's still a ways to go. His MMA comments made me anticipate a Brock/Punk match more than a Brock/Taker match. Given Taker's health and Punk's name drop back in June, I think there could be something better there. While I wish more people who did pop back in worked more things like live events (and were in good shape), I don't know how realistic that would be to hope for. I will give Booker T. credit for going on the road for the company, and making sure he was in good shape before being involved with something on-screen. And perhaps most importantly, he was used in a way that showed that he still "had/has it" but was ultimately used to elevate Cody Rhodes. I agree about his comments on Vince vs. Dana White, too. While what he promotes isn't my cup of tea, White seems like a "man of a people" who listens to his audience. Vince just doesn't connect with the current audience as someone they can trust to do the right thing company-wise. There's a reason we don't have UFC Films.

David Otunga successfully defended a client in court, pro bono. TMZ covered the story, where Otunga plugged the Royal Rumble. He just went up a bit in my book. He could end up being someone to watch in the years to come. There's a reason WWE likes him: he has an identifiable character and is convincing in playing it.

Hulk Hogan gave some interesting comments about his back pain and more in promoting TNA. I've changed my mind: he can get all the screen and mic time he wants in TNA as long as he says some of the crazy stuff he says in interviews. He's like the crazy old uncle at family reunions.

After the break, I go into the rest of Friday's news, starting with my look at PWInsider.com's questions.