TNA creative team member Vince Russo a new blog on his Facebook.com page discussing Monday’s iMPACT!, working with Hogan & Bischoff and more. Here’s what Russo said about the Monday Night War:

“We learned a lot, on Monday night as a company–a lot We hit some home runs, but also struck out once, or twice–but that’s OK. What really mattered is that we took risks. We gave you everything we had–and didn’t play it safe.

“That’s what Eric Bischoff and Russo/Ferrara both did back in the mid-to late 90’s. Nothing was safe–NOTHING. The programming, whether it was WWF, or WCW was DANGEROUS. Never one time, no matter how hot we got–did Eric or I EVER rest on our laurels–NEVER. I can’t tell you how long Vince has been resting on his . . . I honestly can’t.

“I sat in the production truck and I wanted our show, side-by-side to Vince Monday night. It was great to see Bret –I love the guy–always have. But as our show went on, and as I watched his, I just kept asking myself–‘where’s the effort?'”

“Does Vince think that little of TNA that he felt that he could just produce ‘another show’ on Monday night? I mean, you take away that first segment and that last segment, and you had a wrestling show that wasn’t even mediocre at best. Again–going back to the 90’s–that NEVER, would have happened if Eric, or I were in Vince’s shoes–NEVER. Resting on your laurels is the worst mistake that anyone can ever make–no matter what type of business you are in.”

TNA’s Hulk Hogan called into the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show this morning. Visit BTLS.com for more on Bubba’s show. Here are some highlights:

Monday’s Steel Cage Asylum Match: Hulk and Bubba talked about the Steel Cage Assylum match that opened the show, which they both agreed was a disaster. Hulk said that when he and Bubba were in the production meeting on Sunday, about 10 people told him there was a decent door to the cage. He then got to the iMPACT! Zone on Monday and found out it had no real door and that none of the wrestlers could climb out of the top, hence the DQ finish. There were plans for a big bump off the cage but it just was not possible. He and Bubba agreed that the Steel Cage Assylum needs to be scraped for good.

iMPACT! Moving To Mondays: Hulk says they have kinda dropped the ball by taping a Thursday show the day after going live and that right after he hangs up with Bubba he is gonna call Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and the people at Spike and tell them that they need to be on Mondays live from now on. He says he knows that it will cost a ton of money but you gotta spend money to make money. Hulk says that he will get Vince’s audience a bit at a time just like he did in WCW.

They also talked about planned upgrades to the iMPACT! zone, “making nice” with the Bubba listeners who were denied entry to iMPACT! and Hogan’s divorce.

Big props to PWTorch.com for getting a hold of the minute-by-minute ratings data:

In a news bit that should surprise no one, a minute-by-minute breakdown of Monday’s TNA iMPACT! rating reveals that the first Hulk Hogan segment contained the most-watched portion of the show.

After opening with a whopping 3.05 million viewers for Hulk Hogan’s walk to the ring, Hogan’s first live segment peaked with 3.36 million viewers at 9PM. This figure then gradually (and steadily) declined as people began tuning out, presumably to view the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels encounter on WWE RAW.

What is interesting, however, is that the next biggest attraction was neither Jeff Hardy, Ric Flair nor any of the active male TNA performers. Rather, it was The Beautiful People’s strip poker game. While TNA’s Knockouts have often drawn well in comparison to the other action, it is surprising that they maintained their dominant level of appeal on such a star-studded show.

The first instance of the poker game drew between 3.00 and 3.01 million viewers; a segment that also featured Sean Morley drew 2.9 million viewers just after 9:30PM. Aside from a portion of Hulk Hogan’s appearance, the Beautiful People were far and away the biggest draw of hour two.

– It appears Bubba the Love Sponge is still with TNA after meeting with Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan on Tuesday night. He wrote the following on Twitter:

“went over 2tna lot shot my deal met with hulk & Eric saw Dixie2 I think it’s better Planned some sneaky stuff with them2. going2bed but after my meeting with hogan and seeing the #s Dixie annouced I’m very excited tna is on the course2 give Vince a good fight”

– Ric Flair signed his deal with TNA just a few days before Monday’s live iMPACT. His deal is for 65 appearances over one year’s time. It’s believed Flair is working on a guaranteed money deal and is still able to book his own outside-TNA appearances. In an effort to get him on Monday’s show, word is that TNA offered Flair more money. TNA really wants Flair to be part of “the team” and be a face for the company. Some feel that Flair’s heart isn’t really in TNA and he’s more interested in the money than helping TNA succeed.

(Partial source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

WWE’s next pay-per-view event is the 2010 Royal Rumbe on January 31st. Here are a few news items heading into the annual winter classic:

– It’s likely that John Cena vs. Sheamus will be a match at the Royal Rumble as reported yesterday.

– Next week’s ECW on SyFy will see the ECW Homecoming Over-The-Top-Rope Challenge with the winner receiving a shot at Christian’s ECW Title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The participants will be CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Kane, Vance Archer, Ezekiel Jackson and Yoshi Tatsu.

WARNING: The following contains a potential *SPOILERS* for the Rumble match:

– There are tentative plans for Shawn Michaels and Triple H to be the last two participants in the Rumble match. It would certainly be an interesting twist but hasn’t been confirmed yet. Michaels’ has of course challenged The Undertaker to a WrestleMania re-match, while there was also previous talk of a Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H match at the pay-per-view.

– Booker T may return to WWE as a surprise entrant in this month’s Royal Rumble match at the pay-per-view.The former World Heavyweight Champion has had discussions with WWE officials in recent weeks regarding a return to the company.

(Credit to F4Wonline.com & the PWTorch Newsletter for the information used in this report)

Former WWE & ECW champion Rob Van Dam has a new blog up on his MySpace, talking about the Monday Night War from this week between WWE and TNA. Here’s what he wrote:

Monday night wrestling, let’s talk about it. Many people have called,texted or emailed me to get my opinion of the live wrestling shows that competed for our viewership earlier this week. I can critique just like you, but let’s talk about what we liked. I switched back and forth between both shows, just like you did. It was cool seeing the crowd reaction for Brett the Hitman Hart. I know he has wanted to step back in the ring for a long time and I have no doubt that the “welcome back” felt like a warm blanket in Canada. On the other show, the NWO appearing was a nice surprise, as was Jeff hardy in a big way. I was a little concerned since all the pre-Monday advertisements just said “We got Hogan”. They had a lot of ex-WWE’ers-whether money drawers or not-so the element of change and hope was in the air. I thought that was nice. They also had some good matches. fans like that. I’m still confused on the schedule for TNA’s Monday night shows.

I thought this was going to be an every-Monday night thing but I’ve heard I’m wrong on that. Anyone else confused with me? Anyone know what they’re doing?

Do we tune in again next week or next quarter or WTF?

I’m sure that wrestling had it’s highest ratings in awhile so that’s good and TNA must’ve had their largest viewing audience. Many people have told me that they were glad I wasn’t on Monday night. I don’t think that I feel more inspired to return than I did before Monday, for that matter. I do hope that public interest in wrestling does grow as it would be good for everybody…except that guy that tried to blow up that airplane in Detroit. He’s f-cked!

I probably feel the same way that you do about Monday night. It intrigued me to watch, which I normally don’t, and I believe I’ll watch again next week…if it’s on.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has udpated his JRsBarBQ.com blog with his thoughts on whether WWE legends Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Stone Cold Steve Austin would return for a night to guest host an episode of RAW.

Regarding Johnson, Jim Ross said he was under the impression that The Rock was going to guest-host an episode of Raw in January, but scheduling conflicts “eliminated that opportunity.” Johnson’s new “Toothfairy” movie comes out this month, which would have been the promotional tie-in for Johnson to guest-host. Commercials for Johnson’s “Tooth Fairy” movie have been seen during all WWE shows over the past two weeks.

Johnson said two months ago that he was working on a TV project with WWE beyond just guest hosting RAW for 1 week. Johnson has yet to provide an update on the status of the project.

As for Steve Austin, JR also said he “assumes” Steve Austin will guest host RAW, possibly in March to help promote Austin’s new straight-to-DVD film “Damage” (and of course, WrestleMania).

Following the ratings success of Monday’s 3-hour live TNA iMPACT!, TNA Wrestling may have gotten what it needs to secure a weekly Monday night timeslot.

Read More: TNA & Spike TV’s Reaction To Monday’s Ratings

TNA star Kevin Nash commented on his Twitter page about the possibility of iMPACT! permanently moving to Monday nights. Nash wrote:

“I think going head 2 head every monday is in the works.Spike was happy with the ratings.special 4 me to be back with the band, great night!!!”

PWTweets.com: Follow 75+ Pro Wrestlers & Divas on Twitter!

– It appears hat Chris Jericho accidentally posted two messages on his Twitter account which were not meant to be read by the general public as the following tweets were deleted shortly after its initial posting:

“Well u can invite her too! Gotta take care of my Aussie girls :) U ever come to the US?”

“Yes I have changed my wig a few times over the years :)”

Twitter has a feature which allows users to private message one another so it would appear that is what he meant to do.

For those wondering, it is believed that Jericho is still tied to his wife of ten years, Jessica, as he noted on his Twitter account several weeks ago during an an overseas tour that he missed her.

Early last year, Jericho was rumored to have been involved in a relationship with female performer Kelly Kelly. That particular rumor was largely based off of certain photographs which had surfaced online of the two getting cozy with each other at a party. For what it’s worth, I know Kelly herself asked owners of a Kelly fansite and wrestling diva message forum to remove all photos of her with Jericho.

– As part of the ongoing Eight-Diva Tournament for the vacant Divas Championship, Gail Kim will square off against Jillian on tomorrow night’s edition of WWE Superstars on WGN America. Other matches slated to take place during the broadcast include Mike Knox vs. Finlay and Yoshi Tatsu vs. Caylen Croft.

– The artwork for WWE’s upcoming three-disc DVD set highlighting the best of Monday Night Raw in 2009, The Best of RAW 2009, has been released. You can view the cover of the DVD at the following link.

TNA officials and Spike TV executives were thrilled with the iMPACT rating numbers that came in yesterday. As previously reported, iMPACT! drew a 1.5 overall rating (2.2 million viewers) with the show peaking at a 1.9 ratingng (2.5 million viewers) for start of hour 2, featuring the debut of Hulk Hogan.

TNA President Dixie Carter wrote the following on her Twitter yesterday:

“Thank you, thank you for helping TNA set RECORD ratings in every way last night. We ALL won.”

There is now serious discussion within TNA of putting on a weekly Monday night show head-to-head with WWE’s RAW. The most likely scenario we’ve heard would be TNA iMPACT! running from 8-10pm ET, only going head-to-head with RAW for 1 hour.

– In an update from last night’s TNA iMPACT spoilers, Hulk Hogan did in fact appear in a backstage segment. Jeff Hardy was not at last night’s iMPACT tapings.