Undertaker had first and second degree burns on his chest and neck. Those within WWE consider him very lucky, having escaped with the burns he had, as opposed to how badly it could have been.

Despite the burns, Undertaker continued to work through the match in tremendous pain, and even refused to shorten the match. The sleeve of his jacket and part of his hand had melted when the pyro went off prematurely.

There was talk of having Shawn Michaels take responsibility for the pyrotechnics incident that happened at the Elimination Chamber PPV. The decision was made prior to RAW, and that idea was ultimately shot down.

One of the key things in the decision making was going to be based off how their camera angles had the incident, if it came off impressive, the idea would have been used on TV.

(Credit to F4wonline.com for some of the news used in this report)

In the new 2010 WrestleMania XXVI Almanac magazine, WWE superstar Shawn Michaels says he has regrets about his WrestleMania 14 match with Stone Cold Steve Austin. At the time, Michaels’ back was in terrible shape and his career was thought to be over. He was also an emotional wreck and admits he was not an easy guy to get along with in the WWE locker room. When asked if he has any regrets in his career, Michael said:

“The one I always come back to is my match against Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14. I just wasn’t in a great place physically or emotionally. That one could have been so much more. Steve didn’t get me at my best. And that’s unfortunate, because it was the last time I got to work with him. Steve went on to such great things afterward, and I had an opportunity to make that match so much more.”

Michaels also looks back at his matches with Bret Hart during the mid-90’s and thinks the two legends could have accomplished a lot more together if not for their personal differences:

“I will say that I wish I had been in a better place in my life with Bret. Our matches were phenomenal, but I shudder to think what he and I could have accomplished had we gotten along.”

Michaels also named his classic ladder match with Razor Ramon frmo WrestleMania as high on his list of all-time great WrestleMania matches:

“Over the years, the ladder itself has become the central figure of that particular stipulation, but in our situation, it served as a backdrop for something much bigger,” Michaels said. “We were two guys claiming rightful ownership of those titles, and the ladder was just there as a way for us to prove who was the best. Now, the ladder is the primary element, and these matches are often about what the contestants can do with it.”

— Once again, Shawn Michaels is planning on taking time off following WrestleMania. He will then return in August in time for SummerSlam.

— It would appear that World Wrestling Entertainment has parted ways with developmental women’s wrestler Jenny Quinn (a/k/a Penny Cash) as her photo has been removed from Florida Championship Wrestling’s roster page.

Quinn is a Tampa-based model the company signed in 2008. She tore her anterior cruciate ligament last May and had just recently returned to action.

— Tickets for the SmackDown taping on April 6th in Chicago go on sale February 20th at 11 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

(credit to the Wrestling Observer for some of the information used in this report)

— Chris Jericho’s Fozzy album, Chasing the Grail, failed to crack Billboard’s Top 200 chart in its first week of release.

Despite a heavy promotional push which included Martyr No More being used as one of the official theme songs for this year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, the album sold a mere 2,200 copies in the United States in its first week out.

On a positive note, it ranked sixth in sales on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of the Billboard 200.

Chasing the Grail was released on Jan. 26 via Australia’s Riot! Entertainment.

— In statistic news, Shawn Michaels’ six eliminations in this year’s Royal Rumble match gives him 37 for his career, beating the record of 36 set by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Undertaker remains at 35, while Kane now has 34 with Triple H in fifth place at 26. For most time spent in the Rumble over the course of a career, the top three spots remain the same, but the numbers have changed with Triple H at 231:12, Shawn Michaels at 213:34 and Kane at 173:46.

— WWE plans on pushing this year’s WrestleMania festivities harder this year. The mindset is to keep the talent busy and have so many activities for fans that they don’t attend the Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate shows.

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

– It was announced in Japan last night that the legendary Antonio Inoki has been invited to join the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Word is that Stan Hansen will be inducting him.

– Comedian and talk show host George Lopez was on ESPN radio this week and when talking about Cheech & Chong hosting WWE’s Monday Night RAW, Lopez said he has been invited by WWE to host RAW and was leaning towards accepting the gig since Cheech & Chong were doing it.

– Shawn Michaels broke Steve Austin’s record of most Royal Rumble eliminations at last night’s pay-per-view. Austin’s previous record was 36 while Shawn now has 41.

– William Regal was advertised for last night’s 30-man Royal Rumble match but did not appear.

– The Undertaker vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Title is being advertised for the SmackDown/ECW event in Stockton, California on March 13th.

– Dante, a character in EA’s Dante Inferno video game, has been added to WWE’s SmackDown roster as a part of WWE promoting the game.

– Mexican star Super Nova did an interview recently saying that reports of him signing with WWE were incorrect as he was waiting for them to call him back. However, the original reports of him signing with the company came with him announcing it and with photos of him posing with his contract.

Read More: WWE Signs Masked Luchador Super Nova (PICTURE)

(Credit to f4wonline.com & Marc Middleton for this news)

– WWE Diva Maria said on her Twitter that her first album will come out on April 13th and is titled Sevin Sins. Apparently it will be released through Sony.

– Former WCW champion Diamond Dallas Page noted in a recent interview with Bryan Alvarez that Shawn Michaels has been using his “Yoga for Real Guys” fitness program for some time now.

– WWE Diva Mickie James is featured in the new issue of Country Weekly magazine.

– There was no dark match before last night’s RAW.

– The following matches and segments were taped before RAW for Thursday’s WWE Superstars on WGN America show:

• The Bellas vs. Katie Lea & Jillian Hall
• Chris Masters vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Primo in a Royal Rumble qualifying match
• A segment with Chris Jericho and R-Truth

It would appear that the latest D-Generation X run is coming to an end as Shawn Michaels said during an interview with the KISS-FM radio station out of San Antonio this past week that DX will “probably disband” following the Royal Rumble so they can focus on their respective matches at WrestleMania.

When asked if he had any plans on retiring, Michaels said: “Well, that’s always the million dollar question. I’d like to go on record as saying I have been trying to retire for the last three years… [WWE] makes it very difficult, you know, Vince McMahon is nuts. I try to walk away then WrestleMania comes up, they put me in a match, I do well, and [Vince] doesn’t make it very easy.”

Also it would appear that he had zero input in selecting matches for WWE’s upcoming DVD release on him, Shawn Michaels: My Journey. He responded with the following: “They found my 25 greatest matches?”

It had been rumored that Michaels would handpick his favorite twenty-five matches of his career for the DVD release.

– In a bit of great news for wrestling fans everywhere, WWE superstar Edge will be returning from injury well ahead of schedule. Edge is currently doing physical rehabilitation following foot surgery last year and WWE officials expect him to be healthy in time to appear at the Royal Rumble in 2 weeks. The plan is for Edge to wrestle his former tag team partner Chris Jericho and WrestleMania and there is talk of Edge showing up as a surprise entrant in the Rumble to eliminate Jericho. However it goes down, Edge will be back soon to start his program with Jericho.

– Many within WWE are very concerned about The Undertaker’s body and how much longer he can wrestle. WWE’s World Heavyweight champion is a shell of his former self these days, clearly in pain as he moves around and no longer possessing the agility that has made him such an impressive “big man” wrestler over the years. After the WrestleMania classic he and Shawn Michaels put on last year, its believed that Shawn Michaels will have to do a great deal of bumping around to save this year’s rematch from being a total letdown.

(Credit to PWInsider.com for the information used in this report)

On his official website, Bret Hart commented on his return to World Wrestling Entertainment as well as his interaction with Shawn Michaels, writing:

“It’s hard to begin describing what a surrealistic feeling it was to walk out on the ramp to “Hitman” chants and my music pounding in my head. I want to say I was nervous but I wasn’t. Was this really happening? Was any of this possible? Had it really been 12 years? I have a lot of great memories from different times I wrestled in Dayton, Ohio over my 14-year WWE career, including winning the first ever King of the Ring, but the memory of the January 4th Monday Night Raw stands among the highest. Prior to the show, throughout the day, numerous WWE superstars and employees from all levels bent over backwards to make me feel at home. Many of them expressed to me how honored they were to be there on such as special night. Many of them seemed touched, if not emotional, in what I can only describe as one of the happiest nights in wrestling history.

It’s worth mentioning that although I did see Shawn earlier in the afternoon in the cafeteria, our in-ring face-off was unrehearsed and heartfelt on both sides and I can finally say that Shawn and I have finally made peace in what has been a long, draining, and sometimes pointless war of personalities. As for everything else that happened, on one hand, I finally found some closure. On the other hand, as far as Vince McMahon goes, I haven’t closed anything at all. I have a lot of friends in a lot of places and we’ll just have to see what happens next.”

— WWE has released the artwork for their forthcoming DVD set on Shawn Michaels’ greatest matches, Shawn Michaels: My Journey. You can view the cover at the following link. This three-disc set will be released on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

— Since the story of Tyler Reks being removed from a flight yesterday morning broke out, Marc Lanciaux, a sound engineer for WWE who witnessed the ECW star behaving erratically, has removed all online posts he made concerning the matter.

— WWE’s return to the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas has been moved to Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 and changed to a Smackdown/ECW taping. The event was originally going to be a house show on Saturday, February 27th, 2010. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart

The short-term deal that Bret Hart has signed with WWE is a performer’s contract, so he will be an integral part of the storylines heading into WrestleMania. It’s still believed by many that he will be wrestling one match, most likely against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania.

Bret is old-school and is trying to keep everything about his return quiet. Because of this, a lot of news might not get out about plans for him in WWE before his first appearance. It’s still not confirmed that Bret will be hosting the January 4th RAW. WWE has announced guest hosts for the weeks before and after that date and that’s the night TNA challenges WWE for the first time on Monday nights, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Bret is a bit heavier than he has been in the past and is trying to get back into ring shape. He has been suffering from an unknown back injury that has made it hard to train.

Bret hasn’t talked with Shawn Michaels or Triple H since Montreal so it will be interesting to see how everything plays out between them.

Shawn Michaels and his wife Rebecca were courtside at the San Antonio Spurs vs. Charlotte Bobcats NBA game this past Friday night.

HBK got involved with the mascots and ended up giving some Sweet Chin Music to the Bobcat’s mascot – check it out.

Amid speculation that he will be retiring after WrestleMania, WWE Raw superstar Shawn Michaels spoke to MySanAntonio.com this week and implied that he might be taking another extended hiatus from WWE after WrestleMania 26 min MArch.

“I take four months off in the summer and just spend time with the family,” Michaels said. “It’s a tough line of work. Those injuries hang around longer and those injuries are tougher to deal with. When I stop, my body will have an opportunity to heal and rest. That comes along with the territory.”

Michaels took four months off after his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 earlier this year and now that he’s back still only works a limited schedule.

“I actually don’t have to take on the schedule that the other guys have to take on,” Michaels said. “I wrestle more on a part-time basis.”

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Some highlights:

HBK Retiring at WrestleMania: “We get emails all the time with fans assuming that WM26 will be HBK’s last Wrestlemania. I have not heard that confirmed whatsoever and if it is true wouldn’t one think that WWE would be preparing to make it a HUGE deal? In my mind’s eye, Wrestlemania season officially launches at the Royal Rumble. I am excited about the Match 2010 release of the next HBK DVD which is a countdown of Shawn’s Best Matches. Good luck in narrowing that list down to a three disc set.”

Ross on his own health: “It’s back to the doctor’s today for me as I will be seeing a Rheumatologist today which is a first. I had to go on line to find out what a Rheumatologist does in their world of specialty medicine. However, I’m feeling better every day and remain upbeat and optimistic that I have not called my last match and that my next one might be sooner than some expect.”

Mark Cuban: “Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban likely got cheered in the only major arena in America as the controversial, young billionaire is essentially one of the most vilified individuals in pro sports. Cuban is defiant, has been fined by NBA Commissioner David Stern many times and basically has been caught on TV court side acting like a tool. Nonetheless Cuban did a solid job on Raw and one could tell that the Mavs owner keeps up with the product or was tremendously prep.”

Shawn Michaels has no plans of retiring any soon. The Heartbreak Kid is likely to continue wrestling on a regular basis for another 2-3 years and is not giving the impression that his retirement is imminent, according to prowrestling.net.

Michaels currently works a lighter schedule than most of the WWE roster (he doesn’t appear on all house show events) and that  schedule may be scaled back even further in the next year or so.

It is believed that when the time does come for Michaels to call it quits, he will receive a spectacular sendoff similar to that of Ric Flair’s when he retired. Michaels has spent almost his entire career with WWE and is one of the few WWE superstars to never jump to WCW. He’s been one of Vince McMahon’s favorite performers for a long time and it’s possible his sendoff will be even bigger than Flair’s.