–  WWE has been making a number of changes internally with Triple H’s new talent recruiting division. Ty Bailey and Mark Carrano are now working directly with HHH and there is now a writer assigned specifically to work with HHH on development of new television characters and their introductions.

• Triple H Talks About Wrestling Again, His Role As COO (VIDEO)

– The Miz will be appearing in an upcoming episode of the USA Network’s comedy series Psych. He missed Friday and Saturday’s live WWE events to film his scenes.

• The Miz Ranked #1 On PWI’s Annual Top 500 List

– Chris Masters’ first post-WWE booking will be for the World Stars of Wrestling’s tour of Portugal, which begins August 19th.

• Chris Masters Comments On His WWE Release

Chris “Masters” Mordetzky was one of the five (so far) WWE talents released earlier today, along with Melina, Gail Kim, Vladamir Kozlov and DH Smith.

Masters issued the following statement this afternoon on Twitter (@WWEMasterP):

“Obviously, I’m surprised by the move. But I’m optimistic. I’m going to move forward and see what lies ahead. I still love this business and I’m not going to give up because of this small set back. I want to explore and see what options I have for the future.”

Masters is already taking independent bookings and can be reached at masterpiece83@gmail.com.

WWE announced Friday that they have come to terms on the release of Chris Masters.

Chris Masters released

WWE has come to terms on the release of Chris Masters as of today, August 5, 2011. WWE wishes Chris the best in all of his future endeavors.

— Brodus Clay returned to action at last night’s Raw event in Indianapolis, Indiana, defeating local competitor Alex Silva in a dark match. Clay had been off filming a movie for WWE Studios during his absence.

Silva is a wrestler from Montreal based who competes for Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was billed from Indianapolis.

— The following matches were taped last night in Indianapolis, Indiana for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars:

* Chris Masters vs. Jack Swagger

* Vladimir Kozlov vs. Primo

— Zack Ryder indicated on Twitter that Colt Cabana was backstage at last night’s Raw event in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cabana previously competed in WWE as Scotty Goldman.

source: ProWrestling.net

— Former ROH World Tag Team Champions Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli were on hand for this week’s WWE television tapings in New York and Rhode Island. Both worked out in the ring in front of officials before each show.

Castagnoli signed a developmental contract with WWE in November 2006 but was released a short while later for reasons that have yet to be publicly disclosed.

— WWE has released a commercial ad promoting SummerSlam, which takes place August 14, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It is branded as “The Biggest Event of the Summer.”

The commercial features The Miz, Chris Masters, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Eve Torres, Alicia Fox and The Bella Twins emerging from the ocean and scurrying to a beach house to watch SummerSlam.

The commercial is available here.

— Damage starring Steve Austin airs tonight on Spike TV at 11:00 p.m.

source: PWInsider.com

— Bill DeMott announced on Twitter that Booker T has set up an account on the microblogging site at twitter.com/BookerT5X.

— Matches taped tonight in Uniondale, New York for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:

* Zack Ryder vs. Primo

* Vladimir Kozlov vs. Drew McIntyre

— Chris Masters beat Curt Hawkins via submission with The Master Lock in a dark match prior to tonight’s Raw taping.

— Kelly Kelly is now a five-year veteran of WWE as she made her debut in the organization exactly five years ago today.

source: PWInsider.com

— Brodus Clay suffered a severe gash on his head last night at Extreme Rules after being driven into a ladder by Christian. A great deal of blood gushed from his wound and it is said that he may have suffered a concussion.

Joey Styles noted on his Twitter account that the wound required 12 stitches.

Christian was also banged up from the match.

— The April 29 episode of WWE SmackDown garnered a 1.96 cable rating, up from 1.87 the previous week.

The two-hour program averaged 3.05 million viewers, up from 2.8 the week before.

— Raw draftee Chris Masters beat Primo in a dark match prior to tonight’s Raw in Miami, Florida.

source: PWInsider.com

— WWE Superstars Chris Masters, Curt Hawkins, Dolph Ziggler and JTG appear on tonight’s episode of Silent Library, which airs at at 7:00 p.m. on MTV. A replay airs at 2:30 a.m.

— NXT Season 3 contestant AJ Lee worked this past weekend’s SmackDown live events, teaming with Beth Phoenix in a tag team bouts against Layla and Kaitlyn. Lee and Phoenix split the series, losing on Saturday and winning on Sunday.

— A Twitter account has been launched for WWE Classics On Demand.

— Last week’s episode of SmackDown featured 32 minutes and 17 seconds of in-ring action, down from 34 minutes and 13 seconds the week before.

source: PWInsider.com

— WWEDVDNews.com has confirmed that World Wrestling Entertainment will release a video on D-Generation X titled Final Conflict on April 5 in North America. It will be released on both DVD and Blu-ray.

The three-disc set will pick off where the 2007 set left off with matches from their rivalries with The Legacy and JeriShow. It will also contain brand new interviews with Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

— Continuing their angle from Monday’s Raw, SmackDown Superstar Alberto Del Rio lost to R-Truth in a singles match at Friday’s Raw live event in Augusta, Georgia. He lost to the former United States Champion for the second consecutive night at Saturday’s SmackDown live event in Lexington, Kentucky.

— Chris Masters celebrated his 27th birthday Saturday.

— It has been confirmed that Chavo Guerrero is playing the role of Jack Swagger’s eagle mascot.

— Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America scored a 0.56 cable rating, with 570,000 viewers. The 1:00 a.m. replay drew a 0.14 cable rating, with 132,000 viewers.

— Chris Masters suffered a sizable black eye at the conclusion of his WWE Superstars tag team match with MVP against Drew McIntyre and “Dashing” Cody Rhodes.

source: PWInsider.com

— WWE is asking for feedback on whether the recently released Daniel Bryan should be brought back to the company. The following message was posted on the company’s Facebook account: “It’s been the hottest topic for the WWE Universe in recent memory, so let’s talk about it. Here’s your LIKE/DISLIKE of the Day: “WWE should re-sign NXT Season 1 Rookie Daniel Bryan. (Click LIKE to agree, or click COMMENT to tell us why you disagree.)”

— Dubbed “Operation Summer Slam,” law enforcement agencies including Tampa police, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Temple Terrace police teamed up Tuesday morning to make arrests on hundreds of outstanding warrants. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is no stranger to professional wrestling as numerous grapplers have wound up in their jail cell over the years including Wade Barrett, Eddie Guerrero, Andrew Martin, Santino Marella, and Ted DiBiase, Jr., among others.

— It has been confirmed that Chris Masters has an account on Twitter. You can visit his page here.

Both The Hurricane and Santino Marella have been removed from Sunday’s Royal Rumble match, while as noted earlier, Matt Hardy and Chris Masters have been added. Thus far, 24 participants have been announced.

It should be noted that R-Truth has not yet been officially added to the Royal Rumble match.

Here is the updated card:

Raw: Big Show, Carlito, Chris Masters, Cody Rhodes, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, John Cena, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, MVP, Shawn Michaels, Ted DiBiase, The Miz and Triple H

SmackDown: Batista, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Kane, Matt Hardy and The Great Khali

ECW: Shelton Benjamin, William Regal, Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder

It was also announced on Friday that Michelle McCool would defending her WWE Women’s Championship against Mickie James at the event.

Matches announced thus far include:

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Undertaker (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

WWE Championship Match
Sheamus (c) vs. Randy Orton

ECW Championship Match
Christian (c) vs. Ezekiel Jackson

WWE Women’s Championship Match
Michelle McCool (c) vs. Mickie James