According to F4WOnline.com, the recent angle featuring Gail Kim issuing open challenges on TNA TV inspired WWE to run the Ryback open challenge angle at Survivor Series.

The challenge was of course accepted by a returning Mark Henry.

HBK Encourages Wrestlers to Think Outside the Box
WWE.com has published highlights from a new WWE Magazine interview with Shawn Michaels, during which the Hall of Famer discusses many different aspects of pro wrestling.

On the subject of promos, HBK encourages wrestlers to think outside the box, and he had the following to say:

"Mick [Foley] and I wanted that match to be something different. We had no background together. We didn’t know if we were going to have chemistry. Both of us wanted to make a WWE Championship Match that wasn’t typical of the business at the time. Mankind was an opponent with a rugged style that Shawn Michaels had never faced before. Had we not tried to add those extra elements, it wouldn’t have felt special. I wasn’t a fan of having a definite ‘style.’ I get that there are different styles, and some guys do things a certain way but, as a fan, I don’t prefer one over another. So, throughout my whole career, it always made sense to go out and try to mix things up. One of the easiest ways to keep people from saying, 'It’s the same old thing,' is to not continually do the same thing."