– The February 8th edition of WWE RAW drew a 3.6 rating, on par with the past 2 weeks. The show averaged 5,342,000 viewers and did hours of 3.48 and 3.69.

– As noted earlier, WWE has been going back and forth on whether or not to have veterans on the new NXT show. Word now is that the show will still feature veterans from other brands to help draw ratings. Apparently there will be regular appearances from WWE Superstars on the show to “mentor and hinder” the new talents on NXT.

– Chris Jericho noted on Twitter yesterday that he had written 78 pages of his new book with 250 left to write. Jericho said he has to turn the book into publishers in three weeks.

(Source: PWInsider.com)

The following news items have been compiled from several live reports sent in from fans who were at RAW:

Before Raw went on the air:

WWE taped two matches for Thursday’s Superstars show:

– Chris Masters vs. Chavo Guerrero.
– Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella.

Live Notes

– Who Dat Nation was at Raw last night and we happy. Coming off of the Saints big win in the Super Bowl, we were treated to great Raw show. The crowd was live all night and it looked like a sell out to me.

– Bret Hart coming out at the end got the biggest pop of the night, but the crowd was into everything at the show.

– John Cena and DX also got huge pops from the crowd. Sheamus, Vince McMahon and CM Punk had the most heel heat.

After Raw went off the air:

– In the dark match main event of the evening, John Cena defeated Sheamus by DQ. Cena had Sheamus tapping to the STF when the ref called for the bell because Sheamus had already hit him. Afterward, Cena hit Sheamus with the Attitude Adjustment, and celebrated with the crowd. He grabbed a Who Dat? sign and held it high on the stage to close the show.

– There has been talk of turning SmackDown star John Morrison heel in the near future. WWE is firmly behind the developing star and he’s still seen as having a ton of potential.

– Morrison’s former partner Joey Mercury is said to be returning to WWE shortly. While several sources are reporting that a deal has been signed, many people backstage at the Royal Rumble were not aware of his upcoming return.

– The feeling within WWE is that The Undertaker will work a very light schedule headed into WrestleMania. Undertaker is still in rough physical shape and there are plans to get the World Heavyweight title off him before WrestleMania. With Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels still looking likely for WrestleMania, the match has enough going for it that it doesn’t need a title on the line and WWE could probably get more drawing power in having a separate match for the World Heavyweight title.

(Partial Source: F4wonline.com)

— It would appear that Bret Hart has been cleared to wrestle and that a “Hitman” vs. Vince McMahon match will be taking place in the form of a singles bout at WrestleMania XXVI. At the conclusion of tonight’s Raw, Cena convinced The Chairman to accept a match with the WWE Hall of Famer at WrestleMania. When Hart, who had been banned from the arena, actually appeared and retaliated against his longtime nemesis, however, McMahon retreated behind his security and canceled the bout. A none too pleased “Hitman” proceeded to go on a tear inside the Cajundome. Should he end up competing at WrestleMania, it will mark as Hart’s first wrestling match in over ten years. He was forced to retire from in-ring competition in late 2000 after sustaining a career-ending injury several months prior.

– WWE is planning on promoting WrestleMania weekend in Phoenix this year so hard that hopefully fans won’t have any interest in attending the other wrestling shows
that weekend such as DGUSA and Ring of Honor. They’re also looking at keeping the WWE talents extra busy so they don’t have time to attend the shows either.

— Newly crowned Unified Tag Team Champion Big Show turned 38 years old on Monday.

Next week’s edition of WWE Raw will take place from Des Moines, Iowa and will be hosted by talk show host Jerry Springer.

The show will feature the six participants in the upcoming WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match will square off in three singles matches:

– Kofi Kingston vs. Ted DiBiase

– Sheamus vs. Randy Orton

– Triple H vs. John Cena

It will be the final RAW heading into WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Sunday, February 21st.

— Bubba the Love Sponge is said to be the least popular person in the TNA locker room. Those who look past his shock jock personality say he gives off a vibe that he’s above everyone else due to his friendship with Hulk Hogan.

— Alex Shelley, who is suffering from a few herniated and bulging discs, is expected to continue working through said injuries. There was some initial concern that the Motor City Machinegun member would be out for an extended period of time.

— One former Russo defender laughed over some of the “absurd” things the TNA creative director has written in his online blogs, quipping, “He’s really showing how smart he isn’t.”

(credit to the Pro Wrestling Torch for the information used in this report)

— Reigning TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Tara confirmed on her Twitter account that she did indeed have a wardrobe malfunction during Thursday’s iMPACT! broadcast.

She wrote: “Just got back from tour. I just woke up and missed game. Blurred top from Thursday show was from wardrobe malfunction. Whoops! TNA was nice enough to keep it classy and blur out my malfunction. My parents would have been upset. Torrie Wilson was the first to call me.”

She also noted suffering a chipped tooth working against ODB over the weekend.

— Mick Foley has posted a new blog on the official TNA website discussing, among other topics, his work helping to raise money for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame at their annual dinner on Feb. 20 in New Jersey.

Source: Pro Wrestling Torch

– There was some eye rolling in the TNA locker room when Hulk Hogan and The Nasty Boys had a laugh at the expense of X Division star Jay Lethal. Jerry Sags openly questioned how long TNA will keep him employed and laughed at the audacity of his “Black Machismo” character. Apparently in a tongue in cheek tone, Hogan later cracked during an appearance on The Bubba The Love Sponge Show that TNA should bring in Randy Savage to manage Lethal.

– TNA officials have spoken to the Mexican-based AAA promotion about sending Hernandez for an extended stay. While this idea has come up in the past, there are some who feel he could become a legitimate star in Mexico. On the other hand, others fear Mexican wrestling fans could turn on him once they discover that he doesn’t speak Spanish particularly well. For those curious, Hernandez is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.

On his Facebook account, Bret Hart made some interesting comments regarding TNA. He wrote the following:

“It was nice seeing Jeremy Borash, a longtime friend of mine, from TNA while I was in Nashville. He hung out with me and we never once talked wrestling. Some feeble minded idiot who saw us in plain view tried to start the rumour that I might be heading to TNA next; although why anyone would ever think I’d let Hogan and Bischoff anywhere near my Hitman persona again is truly beyond me.”

Bischoff referred to Borash as a “mark” last week on his Twitter account for posting a photo of himself and Hart after their dinner, which also included several other TNA staffers.

You can see the picture of Borash with Bret Hart (and follow 80+ wrestlers & divas on Twitter) at PWTweets.com.