— Bret Hart criticized WWE’s utilization of Drew McIntyre, who headlined last week’s episode of WWE Superstars against Chris Masters.

He wrote on Twitter, “I honestly can’t believe that the best way 2 utilize a talent like Drew McIntyre is 2 waste him on Superstars. Who’s genius is that? Idiot!”

— NXT Season 3 contestant AJ is on the road with the SmackDown brand this week. She worked last night’s SmackDown live event in Lake Charles, Louisiana, teaming with Natalya in a match against Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox. Natalya made Mendes submit to the sharpshooter.

The bout marked as Fox’s first in-ring appearance since suffering a shoulder injury at the May 3 SmackDown taping.

— Ron Simmons celebrates his 53rd birthday today.

source: PWInsider.com

— After getting beat down by the Corre on last week’s episode of SmackDown, Ezekiel Jackson worked as a babyface at Saturday night’s SmackDown live event in Pensacola, Florida, teaming with WWE Tag Team Champion Kane. The oversized duo defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater.

It appears that WWE is going through with the babyface turn that’s been rumored for Ezekiel Jackson for the past several weeks. As we’ve been reporting, the SmackDown brand is light on babyface talent, so Jackson breaking off from the Corre appears to be an effort to remedy that situation.

— Rosa Mendes, who has been portrayed as a babyface character in recent months, was reverted back to the dark side. She appeared as a heel character against babyface Natalya at last night’s SmackDown live event in Pensacola, Florida. The third generation wrestler beat Mendes via Sharpshooter.

Mendes’ sudden turn can be attributed to the shortage of heel Divas on SmackDown. Layla established herself as a babyface on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, leaving Alicia Fox as the lone heel on the brand. However, Fox suffered a shoulder injury at the television taping after taking a clothesline from Kharma and therefore is out of action. Meanwhile, Kharma is working this weekend’s Raw live event tour. This leaves Mendes as the lone active heel Diva on SmackDown.

— WWE launched a program between Sin Cara and Chavo Guerrero on Friday’s episode of SmackDown as the third generation wrestler shook Cara’s hand following his victory over Tyson Kidd. In their first match together, Cara beat Guerrero at last night’s SmackDown live event in Pensacola, Florida.

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

— Jim Ross doesn’t believe he will remain on WWE programming on a regular basis. However, tonight’s WWE Draft could change his assumptions

Ross wrote on Twitter, “I’d be shocked if I return to wk’ly tv in any form on a regular basis. Draft could change my assumptions. I do miss Mon nites w/ King.”

— WWE.com listed Beth Phoenix as a member of Raw over the weekend. The URL error was fixed today as her profile page denotes her as a member of SmackDown.

— Rosa Mendes replaced Kaitlyn during the final portion of SmackDown’s overseas tour last week.

— Jim Ross is advertised for appear at this Saturday’s Legends of the Ring 12 event, which takes place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monroe, New Jersey. More information is available at www.legendsofthering.com.

— Just two days before WWE’s annual Draft, Beth Phoenix is listed under the Raw Superstars folder on WWE.com.

Her profile page’s original URL source, www.wwe.com/superstars/smackdown/bethphoenix, now redirects to www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/bethphoenix. However, “The Glamazon” is still listed as a member of the SmackDown roster.

It is possible that it is a glitch as her page, as well as Rosa Mendes’, were briefly unavailable this morning.

— An image of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shaking John Cena’s hand a few weeks ago on Raw is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The cover can be seen at www.pwi-online.com.

— WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas celebrates his 57th birthday today.

— Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer said yesterday on the f4wonline.com message board that WWE had absolutely no hand in the casting decisions for the revival of Tough Enough. USA Network officials and the show’s production company, Shed Media Us, had full control on that aspect. The goal was to select models for the reality program.

— Rosa Mendes, who has not toured with WWE in three weeks, indicated on her Twitter account that she has been dealing with a personal issue as of late.

She wrote Thursday, “Just finished an amazing photo shoot. I want to thank Scott, Amber and Leslie Homan, for all their hard work today. These past few weeks having been a little tough. This shoot made my day. I want to thank all my friends for their texts and prayers. It means a lot.”

Mendes also stated that she moved to Las Vegas yesterday.

— Rosa Mendes beat AJ on Sunday’s episode of FCW Wrestling to become the new Queen of FCW. The New Jersey native had held the crown since February.

The SmackDown Diva denied AJ’s finishing maneuver attempt, the Octopus hold, and moments later garnered the three count. After the match, Mendes said it was her dream to become the Queen of FCW and continued rambling in Spanish.

In a trivia note, Mendes has yet to win a singles match on WWE television since joining the main roster two years ago.

— One day after appearing as a heel at WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops event, Melina was back working as a babyface at last night’s Raw live event in Biloxi, Mississippi. She and Eve beat Maryse and Alicia Fox in a tag team contest.

— Rey Mysterio celebrated his 36th birthday Sunday.

— Goldust, who underwent shoulder surgery on Friday, noted on his Twitter account yesterday that it went well, but was painful.

“Shoulder surgery. Was the most pain I’ve ever been through…I think they took my arm off and reattached it,” he wrote.

He also noted that he is typing on his mobile device with his left hand. He will be out of action for five to six months.

— Kaval noted Friday on Twitter that he had not received word on his injured ankle, for which he underwent an MRI the previous day.

He was on hand for yesterday’s Tribute to the Troops taping in Fort Hood, Texas, but did not compete.

— John Cena, Eve Torres and Rosa Mendes taped segments with Sherri Shepherd for The View at yesterday’s Tribute to the Troops event.

Click here for 100+ Tribute to the Troops photos – DX, Divas & more ->

source: PWInsider.com

— WWE announced today that Saturday Night Live cast members Will Forte and Kristen Wiig will bring their MacGruber co-star Ryan Phillippe to guest host Monday Night Raw when it emanates from East Rutherford, New Jersey on Apr. 19. MacGruber opens on Apr. 23 and also features a number of WWE Superstars such as Mark Henry and Montel Vontavious Porter.

Jericho recently praised Wiig on his Twitter account, calling her “a dang genius and the funniest female (SNL) cast member of all time.”

To see the official movie trailer for MacGruber featuring the RAW guest hosts and several WWE Superstars, click here.

— The Elimination Chamber DVD has already been released in Singapore and a reader noted that it features three extra features; an interview with new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho, highlights of the HBK-Taker storyline since December, and Edge’s title decision the next night on Raw. Regarding Undertaker’s fiery mishap at the event, the reader said that the part where he was burned was changed to a low camera angle where only fog is displayed which is then followed by a quick shot of Rey Mysterio. When they cut back to Taker, he is seen briskly walking to the Elimination Chamber.

— The WWE website is advertising a match between Unified Tag Team Champ Big Show and Edge for this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

— Both Zack Ryder and Rosa Mendes have officially been moved to Raw following their appearance on Monday’s show as their respective profiles are now listed on the Raw Superstars section within the company website.

Likewise, Shelton Benjamin has officially been moved to SmackDown. He appeared on last week’s broadcast, winning a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match.

— Former WWE manager William Moody (a/k/a Paul Bearer) noted on his Twitter account last week that he did voice-overs for WWE’s forthcoming video game, SmackDown vs. Raw 2011.

— Reigning WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James has hired fashion designer Natasha Rawls of NaJo Creations to design her clothes for her live country music debut on Monday, Feb. 22nd in Nashville. Rawls will also design James’ outfit for the annual WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. (WWE Diva and Country Artist Mickie James taps new designer)

— As a result of the demise of ECW, Tiffany, Rosa Mendes and Savannah have returned for Florida Championship Wrestling for further in-ring training.

— Speaking of Tiffany, both she and Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre signed autographs before last night’s Florida Championship Wrestling television taping.

— ECW General Manager Tiffany (Taryn Terrell) and Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre (Drew Galloway) are officially engaged, reports PWInsider.com. Terrell and Galloway plan to wed in May.

— The Miz may have been misinterpreted as according to FreeTranslation.com, the French to English translation of “Je suis gai, tu me veux” — what he said to Maryse this past Monday night on Raw — is “I am cheerful, you want me.” It’s been noted that he said, “I am gay, you want me.” With that being said, this is likely a case of a word having multiple connotations. (Thanks to Peter Nieto)

— InsideCostaRica.com has an article on Rosa Mendes returning to her Costa Rican roots when WWE tours the country next month. (Wrestling Diva Returns To Her Costa Rican Roots)