By Jason Powell

-TNA Impact Wrestling features Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne in a steel cage match, and A.J. Styles vs. Gunner. Ric Flair is advertised as being in Gunner's corner. Join me for my live coverage review of Impact Wrestling as the show airs on Spike TV at 8:00 p.m. CT. Ryan Kester has the night off.

-WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson (a/k/a Pierre Clermont) is 71 today. He was born on January 19, 1941. Patterson continues to work a part-time schedule and is widely regarded as one of the all-time great minds. Patterson is the creator of the Royal Rumble match and is the most successful openly gay performer in pro wrestling history. He is also the godfather of Stephanie McMahon.

-Dot Net Members will be listening to the new Dot Net Weekly audio show with Jason Powell and Chris Shore analyzing all the news of the week. The topics include Evan Bourne's second Wellness Policy suspension, Mick Foley's return to Raw, the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, and more. Join us on the ad-free version of the website by signing up for membership via Prowrestling.net/amember/signup.php.

-WWE Superstars is scheduled to air on the WWE website today at 3:00 p.m. CT. The matches taped for this week's show include Santino Marella and Mason Ryan vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks, and Alex Riley vs. Jinder Mahal. Ryan Kester will provide live coverage of the show as it airs, assuming the show is actually available around the listed start time.

-The new TNA deal with SuperSport in South Africa has already led to a better viewing experience. Dot Net reader Shea Woodrow wrote to say that the network had been airing episodes that were at two or three years old until about two weeks ago. The shows are now airing roughly one week behind the U.S. airings, while WWE programming is three weeks behind. TNA is now running head-to-head against CMLL Arena Mexico, which airs on another network in South Africa.

-Vendetta Pro Wrestling returns to Lompoc, Calif. on January 22. The show is headlined by El Chupacabra vs. Sheik Khan Abadi vs. Rik Luxury for the Tri-Force Title. Plus, former WWE star Gangrel and WWE Tough Enough contestant Eric Watts will appear on the show.

-The following matches are listed for the 11:00 p.m. CT airing of the AWA on ESPN Classic: Pete Pistulka vs. Baron Von Raschke, Nickle vs. Rocky Mountain Thunder, Greg Gagne vs. Pat Tanaka, Curt Hennig vs. Wahoo McDaniel. The show was taped or aired originally on April 4, 1988.

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