WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels says The Rock and John Cena’s feud getting personal is a good thing for business and something that wrestling has been missing for a while.

Michaels called in to ESPN Radio on Thursday to promote WrestleMania. Around the 31-minute mark, he said this about Rock and Cena having legitimate heat:

“Sometimes I feel like the WWE has lost that in a lot of respects. John and Rock have brought back what somebody like me used to do on a regular basis back in the day. I think it’s refreshing. It’s good, it’s good for business, and good for them to bring out the best in each other. There’s nothing wrong with making it personal… that’s better business whether people like it or not.”

When asked about a possible return to the ring, Michaels says he’s retired and is not tempted to wrestle again.

WWE’s divas visited Maria Menounos on the set of the Extra TV show today – and we’ve got a new Divas tag match at WrestleMania.

WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix will team with Eve Torres to take on the team of Kelly Kelly and Extra’s Maria Menounos.

Menounos has appeared on WWE television a number of times and has had extensive in-ring training.

Check out the latest edition of WWE Inbox featuring John Cena, Zack Ryder, The Miz, R-Truth and more:

– Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson and her boyfriend, New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez are scheduled to attend WrestleMania.

• Pictures of Torrie Wilson & Alex Rodriguez Together

– R-Truth has officially been added to “Team Long” at WrestleMania. Here are the updated teams:

• Team Long: Santino Marella (Captain), R-Truth & 4 More Names TBA
• Team Laurinaitis: David Otunga (Captain), Mark Henry & 4 More Names TBA

– Jim Ross has written an article on WWE.com about his experiences with soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famers, The Four Horsemen.

– Scott Hall was released from WWE-sponsored rehab on March 6th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He is said to be doing well. Hall visited the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando on March 7th with his son Cody, who is training to be a pro wrestler.

– To update the story of Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels going hunting together for Michaels’ MacMillan River Adventures hunting show, Austin noted on his BrokenSkullRanch.com blog that he’s heading to his ranch this week to meet Michaels and his camera crew to begin filming.

• Pictures Of Shawn Michaels Hunting (See What He Killed!)

– WWE is currently finalizing the match order for WrestleMania 28. As expected, the John Cena vs. The Rock match will close the show.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H Hell in a Cell match is currently scheduled to take place in the middle of the card. There had been some initial concern about how WWE would be able to construct the massive cage during the PPV, but WWE is planning to build a complex structure above the ring to hold the lighting setup as well as the Cell.

The WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Chris Jericho has been discussed as the show’s opening contest.

(Partial Source: pwinsider.com)

Wade Barrett underwent surgery on his dislocated elbow earlier this month. The WWE website originally stated that the injury would keep him out of action for six to eight weeks, but the injury turned out to be more severe than the initial diagnosis and he’s now expected to be out for three to four months.

Barrett’s injury caused WWE to make a big change to the WrestleMania 28 card, as there were plans for Wade Barrett to win a Money in the Bank match at the show and go on to feud with CM Punk over the WWE championship. Barrett’s injury led WWE to scrap the match from the show all together.

The latest is that WWE officials are hoping that Wade Barrett will be back in action by July so they can feature him prominently at SummerSlam. There has been talk of holding a Money in the Bank match at SummerSlam, with Barrett winning that match and then going on to a feud with CM Punk for the WWE title in the fall.

(Partial credit to pwinsider.com for some of the info used in this report)

– Jim Ross and William Regal will be among the WWE personalities at tonight’s Florida Championship Wrestling show in Orlando, Florida.

Jim Ross teased on Twitter that he could do some announcing at the tapings. William Regal noted that he’s looking forward to seeing Dean Ambrose compete tonight:

“I can’t wait to get to FCW in Tampa tomorrow to see that dear boy,Dean Ambrose.For what I an about to do to you,may my children forgive me.”

• Recent VIDEO Of Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan At WWE Live Event

— WWE Hall of Famer The Iron Sheik turns 69 years old today.

— The 1-hour Rock vs. John Cena preview show that will air on the USA Network on Monday, March 26th (prior to RAW) will be called, “Rock/Cena – Once In A Lifetime.” The show will replay the day before WrestleMania on Saturday morning, 3/31 at 9am EST.

Former WWE wrestler Batista is currently working on the latest Chronicles Of Riddick movie, titled, Riddick. Batista plays a bounty hunter trying to track down Vin Diesel’s Riddick character. Batista, who has gotten a lot of buzz regarding his new look in the film, posted the following picture this week of himself with a team of mercenaries on set:

Former WWE tag team champion Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart is back in jail this week.

Neidhart remains in a Hillsborough County Jail today after being arrested for contempt of court earlier this week. Neidhart was apparently arrested for contempt while he was in court to answer previous charges.

There is no bond or release date set for Neidhart. While this is not confirmed yet, the Hillsborough County Sheriff website indicates that Judge Espinosa sentenced Neidhart to 5 months and 29 days for the First Degree Theft and Possession of Controlled Substance charges.

No word yet if the jail sentence was suspended or if Neidhart must do the full 5 months and 29 days.

We’ll update this story when new details become available.

• Jim Neidhart’s 2010 MUGSHOT (Arrested For 6 Felonies)

More pictures have surfaced of The Undertaker without his trademark long hair:

– The 2012 WWE Draft still does not have a formal date set. WWE has a 3-hour RAW scheduled on April 23rd, so that date has been discussed for the draft. As we reported earlier this week, WWE is promoting Mark Henry vs. John Cena for RAW-brand live events events in May, so Henry could be headed to Monday nights this spring.

– Boxing legend Mike Tyson will be appearing at WWE’s AXXESS events in Miami on March 30th. Tickets for Mike Tyson’s appearances will go on sale at the WWEShop website tomorrow (Thursday).

– In a sign that the WWE Championship feud will continue beyond WrestleMania, WWE is advertising CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the 4/7 RAW brand live event from Greensboro, NC.

– WWE returns to Mexico this May with a 3-show live events tour:

• 5/24: Hermosillo (Multipurpose Centre)
• 5/25: Aguascalientes (Monumental Bullring)
• 5/26: Guadalajara (Vicente Fernandez Gomez Arena)

(Credit to pwinsider.com for some of the info used in this report)

– After Eric Bischoff totally buried TNA announcer Jeremy Borash on Twitter this week, just about everyone in TNA is taking Borash’s side. The general feeling is that Bischoff’s comments were beyond unprofessional and anybody else with less power than Bischoff would have been in very hot water trashing a fellow employee like that.

• Eric Bischoff Buries Jeremy Borash: “Lucky To Have A Job”

– Jesse Sorenson posted the following update on Twitter this week regarding his medical condition:

“After looking over my X-rays and MRI today, (the doctor) says my healing process couldn’t be going any better. Prayer and action cure fear.”

– TNA will tape two episodes of Impact next Monday and Tuesday from Orlando, FL.

– TNA returns to Biloxi, MS with a live event at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on 3/15 and Pesacola, FL at the Civic Center on 3/16.

– During a recent interview, baseball player A.J. Pierzynski (who has been involved in wrestling with TNA in the past) spoke about a possible return to wrestling. Pierzynski stated that Chicago White Sox conditioning coach Dale Torborg (formerly the “Kiss Demon” in WCW) keeps trying to get him back into wrestling, saying,  “Demon keeps trying to suck me back in. We’ll see. We’ll see.”

Torborg added, “A.J. is better suited as a manager. He likes talking trash and then watching me get hit with a chair.”

(Partial source: pwinsider.com)

– With WrestleMania 28 just over two weeks away, Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes is said to be working through a few nagging injuries. According to a report at f4wonline.com, Cody has been seen limping around backstage at recent live events and was noticeably in pain backstage the past two weeks.

This time of year is especially rough on the WWE crew, with everybody working extra hard during the buildup to WrestleMania. Despite his overall soreness, Cody will be able to wrestle Big Show at WrestleMania and is expected to retain the Intercontinental championship.

– We reported earlier this week that Jim Ross is in Tampa, FL evaluating WWE’s developmental talent at Florida Championship Wrestling. Former intercontinental champion Goldust is also at FCW this week. He tweeted on Tuesday:

“Thanks to chris hero and xavier woods for the great workout at fcw…..”

“Great to see fcw boys today and @JRsBBQ ….love passing on my knowledge to to future of the business”

• Video Of Chris Hero’s FCW Debut

– Many WWE legends will be appearing at the WrestleMania weekend festivities, including Roddy Piper, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr., Jimmy Hart, Gerald Brisco, Hacksaw Duggan, Paul Bearer, Tony Atlas, Gene Okerlund and Hillbilly Jim.

WOO WOO WOO

Zack Ryder is back with a special mid-week edition of the Z! True Long Island Story. In this episode, Zack petitions to be part of Team Teddy at WrestleMania 28:

WWE legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin appeared on The LAW radio show this past Sunday night to promote his new movie, Recoil. You can listen to the interview at FightNetwork.com. Here are some highlights of what Austin said about:

Talent Having Problems with The Rock returning: My thoughts on that are, you earn what you get in this business. Rock has earned the ability to come and go as he wants, because the business still needs him, it can still use him, and it can elevate the profile with having such a mainstream guy there. I don’t know about the promos between John (Cena) and Rock. I think some of them have gotten kind of personal, you wonder how much of it’s a work and how much of it’s a shoot. At the end of the day, it’s a worked business. Again, I think it’s a good thing for Rock to be involved with this. He’s earned his right to come and go and do whatever he wants.

Current talent being vocal to creative: (CM) Punk was a guy, and is a guy who, man, that guy flew by the seat of his pants. He was pissed off, he vented, he cuts great promos. He worked himself out of a bad situation into a great situation. He knew when it was time to pick his spot, when he contract was gonna be up. That guy’s been around the horn a few times, and he’s been kicked around a little bit. He saw how the other guys were being treated, and he needed, and deserved, and earned the right to be treated in that same fashion. Guys, you gotta pick your spot, but you gotta be vocal. It is a very interesting machine these days. They need voices to question them. They need voices to inspire them, or fuel them, to rethink some of the things that they’re doing and make it a better product.

Returning under the right circumstances: There’s nothing up in the air for me. If there’s something that presents itself as a business opportunity, then I have an open ear to listen to it. It would have to be right for myself, my opponent, and obviously the company. I’m not lobbying for another match. There’s always talk. People ask, “am I capable of having another match?” Yeah. If I was in a bad situation, I would get back in the ring full time if I had to, but I don’t have to. I’m happy doing what I’m doing.

WWE SmackDown on Syfy

WWE taped this week’s SmackDown show on Tuesday night from Columbus, Ohio. Credit to prowrestling.net for these spoiler results:

The show opened with the Peep Show segment involving Christian and guests John Laurinaitis and Teddy Long. Laurinaitis and David Otunga came out together to great heat. Long got a nice pop.

Christian asked Long and Laurinaitis to convince him which team he should be on. Laurinaitis said he’d give Christian a title shot if Team Laurinaitis wins, so Christian joined his team. Teddy tried to set up Christian in a match, but Johnny stopped it. Instead, they went with Kofi Kingston, now on Team Teddy, facing David Otunga, who wore his sweater vest.

– Kofi Kingston defeated David Otunga. Otunga worked the match in his regular pants, which split halfway through the match. Funny. Kofi won with Trouble in Paradise.

There was a Daniel Bryan and AJ segment. Bryan said the dress AJ was wearing looked better on the mannequin.

– A.J. (w/Daniel Bryan) defeated Brie Bella (w/Nikki). No one seems to know which Bella Twin wrestled the match. Does it matter? Bryan won with a rollup.

Chris Jericho vs. Sheamus was announced as the main event.

– Cody Rhodes defeated The Great Khali. Rhodes cut a promo before the match. He won with the Beautiful Disaster springboard kick.

Randy Orton came out to a big pop and the Orton vs. Kane match was made official for WrestleMania 28.

– Big Show defeated Drew McIntyre. Show won a squash.

– Mark Henry defeated Yoshi Tatsu. It’s turned into squash city.

Chris Jericho cut a great promo before Sheamus was introduced for the main event.

– Chris Jericho defeated Sheamus via countout. Daniel Bryan’s interference led to Sheamus being counted out.

– To follow up on the news of Ted DiBiase Jr. undergoing shoulder surgery today, the procedure went smoothly and DiBiase is recovering this afternoon.

– Beth Phoenix says she’s frustrated with WWE failing to push her like the star she is. She tweeted on Tuesday:

“Stewing in my thoughts. Im sick of being pushed aside and forgotten about. I am the Divas Champion and get ZERO respect. I should be featured in magazines, being a guest star. The entire WWE has it all backwards. I AM the face of the Divas. I am tired of having no competition and being pushed aside. Its time to do something about it.”

– The latest Backstage Fallout video is online, featuring backstage interviews from RAW with Brodus Clay, Jinder Mahal, David Otunga and Mark Henry:

TNA executive Eric Bischoff posted the following on his Facebook page late Monday night ripping TNA employee Jeremy Borash:

“Just had a beer here in Nashville. Bartender asked me I worked for the boss ‘Jeremy Borash.’ When I asked ‘WTF’ that was supposed to mean, I was told emphatically that Jeremy has represented himself as an ‘owner’ of TNA. Jeremy is a low rent bit player who should be fortunate he has a job.”

In response to Bischoff’s burial of Jeremy Borash, TNA star Brutus Magnus tweeted the following:

@JeremyBorash is 1 of the hardest working & loyal people TNA has ever had. Aren’t ppl supposed to be MORE mature as time goes on, not less?

UPDATE: Heat On Eric Bischoff For Borash Comments

– The Rock will be a guest on the “Live with Kelly” talk show on March 23.

• Pictures of The Rock’s New $3.5 Million Florida Mansion

– The Rock tweeted the following message on Tuesday morningregarding Monday’s RAW:

“Cleveland – thank U for an unforgettable & record setting night. Biggest sell out crowd in WWE history. #RockConcert2012.”

– WWE has posted video of The Rock’s “Rock Concert” from Monday’s RAW:

– Ted DiBiase is going in for shoulder surgery this morning.

– WWE agent “Road Dogg” BG James wrote on Twitter that he and several WWE divas are flying out to Los Angeles to shoot on the set of Extra with Maria Menounos. As reported earlier, Menounos will be appearing at WrestleMania.

– Tyler Reks wants a spot on Team Long at WrestleMania 28. He tweeted on Tuesday:

“Teddy, me & @TheCurtHawkins want on ur team! We’ve been on RAW for a year and the only match we’ve had is w/ Brodus. Not cool, Johnny. #RAW”

– Zack Ryder’s movement to have comments re-enabled on his Z! True Long Island Story Youtube videos appears to be gaining momentum. Ryder tweeted to WWE that that “#LetsUsCommentOnZTLIS” has been trending.

The following announcement was sent out on Tuesday morning by Vince Russo’s booking agent, Bill Behrens (SHOWBIS@aol.com):

BABY FACES, BLADE JOBS and BOOKING

Everything you wanted to know about writing a professional wrestling show but were afraid to ask.

A SEMINAR HOSTED BY VINCE RUSSO

During the years of 1995-2012, Vince Russo was one of the most controversial figures in the history of sports entertainment/professional wrestling, while serving as the head writer of all three major wrestling companies, WWE, WCW and TNA.

During that tenure, Russo wrote over a thousand televised wrestling shows–which achieved some of the highest ratings of all time– while also having a hand in helping create some of the biggest stars in the history of the business. From Stone Cold Steve Austin to “The Rock”, Russo has written for just about anybody who’s anybody in the world of sports entertainment/pro wrestling.

Whether it was in front of the camera, or behind the scenes, Russo has played an influential part in helping to bring the drama of the squared circle to the forefront of American pop culture.

Now, in this limited engagement and for the first time ever, Russo is going to bring the “behind the curtain” aspect of his job, into the spotlight, by sharing his craft and experience with wrestling fans around the world. In his ground-breaking seminar entitled, “Baby Faces, Blade Jobs, and Booking, “, Russo is going to share first hand, what it takes to be a successful writer in the world of sports entertainment/professional wrestling.

Just some of the topics Russo will be covering in this no-holds-barred presentation:

· Where to get your start in writing for a professional wrestling organization.
· How to use the experience you’ve built to get in the door of one of the major companies
· How to create larger-than-life personas and personalities
· Writing effective dialogue for specific characters
· How to format a wrestling show
· How to generate new ideas 52-weeks out of the year
· How to present and sell your idea to a talent
· How to create a successful working environment between talent and writer
· Dealing with egos
· Overcoming writer’s block
· Avoiding the pitfalls of politics
· How to generate ratings
· The difference between “writing” a show and “booking” a show

Baby Faces, Blade Jobs and Booking; nothing will no longer be sacred!!

– CM Punk has responded to Chris Jericho’s promo from RAW, which has been dubbed, the “CM Drunk” promo. Jericho got very personal with the WWE champion, revealing to the WWE Universe that the reason CM Punk lives a straight edge lifestyle is because his father was a drunk. Punk responded to the events that transpired on RAW with the following tweet on Monday night:

“I don’t want any sympathy. Save it for Chris. Shit just got next level.”

“I will hurt you. Everybody has skeletons in the family closet. Keep my father out of it.”

The WWE website noted on Monday night that they tried getting a word with Punk after RAW, but he had nothing to say.

UPDATE: Chris Jericho tweeted the following on Tuesday morning:

“Hmmmm @cmpunk did I strike a nerve? Told you I was the Best In The World….. #norulesinwar”

– Speaking of CM Punk, he recently spoke to Luis Gomez of ChicagoTribune.com regarding the production of his WWE DVD project. Punk told Gomez that the final day of filming will likely take place at April’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which takes place in his home town of Chicago:

“I think (WWE) wanted to do a ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ DVD. I was like ‘Who gives a s*** (about the road to Wrestlemania)?’ The pay per view after Wrestlemania is in Chicago. That was a no brainer to me – coming home. The last day of filming will probably be the pay per view. I’ll get my sisters in there and (Colt) Cabana.”

– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross arrived in Tampa, Florida on Monday to evaluate the WWE developmental talents at FCW. JR will be in attendance for Thursday’s FCW TV tapings.

– Tonight’s SmackDown tapings will take place from the Ntionwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. As announced on RAW, Christian will host the Peep Show with special guests Teddy Long and John Laurinaitis. We’ll have live spoilers on the site later tonight.

– Among the WWE-related topics that trended on Twitter on Monday night:

CM Drunk, John Cena, Vanilla Ice, Teletubby, The Rock Concert, Dolph Ziggler, Brodus Clay, Beth Phoenix, James Roday, Mark Henry, and Vickie Guerrero.

– Hornswoggle tweeted the following message on Monday night regarding The Rock and John Cena. Clearly,

“Glad @TheRock needs to sing karaoke to get his $hit in. @JohnCena will always be a true professional, doesn’t need scripted lines, bullet points, or #stupidsrxualinuendos like @TheRock”

– As seen on RAW, WWE aired a vignette for The Law Offices of David Otunga. Otunga posted on Twitter:

“The Law offices of @DavidOtunga are now open. Have you have been wronged? Tweet me. You can trust me, I went to Harvard. @WWE #RAW”

– WWE confirmed on RAW that WrestleMania 28 will feature a 12-man “Team Laurinaitis vs. Team Long” tag match., with the winning GM getting control of both RAW and SmackDown. On Monday’s RAW, several participants for the match were revealed:

• Team Laurinaitis: David Otunga (Captain), Mark Henry
• Team Long: Santino Marella (Captain), R-Truth, Kofi Kignston

– It was also announced on RAW that TV personality Maria Menounos is scheduled to be a part of WrestleMania 28 with the Divas. Menounos is scheduled to begin the new season with Dancing with the Stars next Monday night.

Divas Champion Beth Phoenix mentioned on RAW that she might show up to confront Menounos on her TV show Extra.

– WWE planned to announce Mil Mascaras as the latest Hall of Fame inductee on RAW, but the announcement video was not shown due to time constraints. Here’s the video announcing the Mexican legend’s induction:

After several weeks off television, the Funkasaurus Brodus Clay made his return to WWE RAW on Monday night from Cleveland. Clay Jinder Mahal in a matter of seconds, continuing his undefeated streak.

With Brodus Clay’s absence from television, one might think he’d return with some tweaks to his character, but the only thing that changed about Clay was his waistline. Clay appears to have dropped weight and was moving around better than his previous appearances.

In a sign that there could be an angle in the works for the Funkasaurus act, the Bella Twins called out Clay’s dancers after RAW, calling them wannabes. The Bellas tweeted on Monday night:

“Looks like Brodus Clay’s girls are stealing the Bella Pose up on the ring… #bellawannabes”