— Ever since Shawn Michaels was pinned by the Undertaker at WrestleMania and forced into retirement, there’s been a great deal of skepticism was to whether the Heartbreak Kid really could stay away from the ring. Michaels posted a message on Twitter over the weekend that addresses the situation and won’t make any of his fans happy. He wrote:

“I’m staying retired. Understand skepticism though”

– WWE recently registered the following trademarks:

• WWE Bragging Rights
• WWE Kids
• Hustle Loyalty Respect

– WWE will be celebrating the 900th episode of Monday Night RAW later this month on August 30th. Boston’s TD Garden, which is hosting the show, has announced that the dark match main event will see John Cena will face Sheamus and Randy Orton in a triple threat steel cage match.  Stars from SmackDown are also being advertised for the show.

— Shawn Michaels noted today on his newly launched Twitter account that he was backstage at Monday’s Raw television taping, which took place in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. He said he watched the show backstage with “The Boss,” while his family sat ringside.

“It was great 2 C all the wwe cast & crew monday nite in SA. Momma & the kids watched from ringside & I sat w/the Boss in back,” Michaels wrote.

It was his first visit to a WWE show since retiring in March.

— The official WWE website announced this evening that Randy Orton will square off against The Miz during Monday’s Raw broadcast.

— Kevin Dunn, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Television Production, sold 29,787 shares of WWE stock for $479,975 on Jul. 21. He now owns 141,224 shares, which is approximately worth $2.3 million.

— As reported last night, Shawn Michaels announced via YouTube that he has launched an official online presence. He said his official website is located at TheShawnMichaels.com and that he has opened accounts on Twitter and Facebook. Regarding Facebook, his account is located at www.facebook.com/theShawnMichaels. It has been verified on his YouTube account.

— Jeff Wilen of The Daytona Beach News-Journal conducted an interview with Sheamus promoting WWE’s live event in Daytona Beach on Saturday. He discusses the term “Celtic Warrior,” his wrestling background, what it means to be the first Irish-born WWE Champion, what his future holds, and more.

— As part of its “Summer Divas” feature, WWE.com has posted new bikini photos of Michelle McCool.

As many people know, Shawn Michaels has never held an internet presence. Fortunately for fans, those days are now over as the multi-time WWE Champion has opened accounts on social networking sites Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. He also plans on launching an official website in the near future.

Putting the doubters at ease, Michaels himself released a video message this evening on YouTube verifying his presence online. His Twitter handle is located at twitter.com/ShawnMichaels_, while his official website is www.TheShawnMichaels.com. Regarding Facebook, he does indeed have an account on the social networking site but the exact URL has yet to be disclosed.

In the video message, Michaels gives two reasons for hitting the web. The first and most important reason is that he wants to keep in touch with the many fans who have supported him over the years and let them in on what he’s up to — and not up to. His other reason for forming an internet presence is because there are far too many impersonators online claiming to be him or his wife, particularly on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. To reiterate, the only Michaels’ endorsed online accounts are noted on his YouTube page.

To view Michaels’ video message to his fans, click here.

— Goldust suffered a knee injury during last night’s 7-on-7 Elimination Match on Raw, but as evidenced by him working the second set of tapings, was ultimately fine.

He noted on his Twitter account that while he’s fine now, the injury did scare him. He also said he’s sore.

— Apparently refuting a page on Facebook claiming to represent Shawn Michaels and his wife Rebecca, the official WWE Universe page on Twitter said there are no official Michaels pages on Facebook pages, nor are they any pages hosted by “representatives” that are officially endorsed by the family.

— DolphZiggler.com, the official fansite of the SmackDown Superstar, has posted a few special messages from those close to the man known as ‘Heel’ in honor of his thirtieth birthday.

-The following was posted on the official Facebook page for Shawn Michaels and his wife, Rebecca:

The staff and crew of the national TV hunting show “The Experience with Weston and Jodi Clark” (formerly Higher Grounds Outdoors) has finished filming the 3 episodes with Shawn and Rebecca on “The Experience with Weston and Jodi Clark”.

The episodes were shot in Venado Creek Ranch in Texas last Febuary of this year and airs this end of July or August. The episodes will feature Shawn and Rebecca talks about hunting, hunts pheasant, shooting rifles and bows on their “dream hunts”.

“The Experience with Weston and Jodi Clark” is featured on both the Pursuit Channel every (Wednesdays 12:30 AM EST / Wednesdays 7:30 PM EST / Sundays 4:30 PM EST) and on Sportsman Channel every (Tuesdays 8:00 PM EST / Thursday 12:00 AM EST / Sunday 4:00 PM EST).

To see images from their Facebook page of both Shawn and Rebecca in hunting action, click HERE, HERE and HERE.

-Jay Lethal, Mick Foley and Kurt Angle are currently on a six-day promotional tour in India designed to help promote TNA.  There has been talk of running the country sometime in early 2011.  In an article written for Yahoo News India, Angle commented, “It’s simply amazing.  I had never seen such a warm reception as the one we got at the Mumbai airport.”  You can read the full story HERE.

The last time WWE ran a tour of India, numerous wrestlers fell ill (and William Regal nearly died) and many have said that if forced to go back, they would quit the company instead.

(credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

-WWE’s marketing deparment was told a few weeks ago that Vince McMahon does not want any usage of things related to the image of Shawn Michaels. Those close to Michaels say he is mentally done with wrestling and, in his mind right now, he will never come back in ANY form. Not sure what happened, but Michaels was quite vocal many weeks back about his displeasure with his former student, Daniel Bryan, being released by the company.

-Bret Hart will be married to girlfriend Stephanie Washington this Saturday in Calgary. He was scheduled to go to Hawaii on his honeymoon, so unless plans have changed, he will likely not be on Raw this Monday.

— In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, former wrestling champion Bill Goldberg said he wants one final wrestling match because he wants his family to see him wrestle live.

“If the money was right, I’d go out there and do it in two seconds,” Goldberg said. “I’d have to be totally prepared for it, because I wouldn’t want to tarnish my image, but I’d like to be in the ring one more time so that my wife and my son can see me wrestle live.”

He also discussed his love/hate relationship with the wrestling industry in the interview.

“I don’t ever want to say that I miss anything about the wrestling business,” Goldberg said. “I miss the ability to put a smile on a kid’s face, more than one at a time. That was a true charge for me.”

Goldberg also talks about his latest television project, Garage Mahal. The interview can be read here.

— Another Viva La Lucha pay-per-view event is scheduled to premiere on Friday, August 27, which was a show taped from a Pro Wrestling Revolution card held in the United States. Visit www.vivalalucha.com for more information.

— Shawn Michaels’ celebrates his birthday today. “The Heartbreak Kid” turns 45 years old. Today would have also marked as WWE Hall of Famer The Fabulous Moolah’s 87th birthday.

(source: www.f4wonline.com)

— Shawn Michaels, who believed Bryan Danielson’s termination from WWE to legitimate, was said to be furious upon learning the news. For those unaware, Michaels is Danielson’s original wrestling trainer.

— Shad Gaspard, who hasn’t appeared on WWE programming in over a month, has in fact been sent down to developmental. Officials intended to push Gaspard as a top heel on SmackDown due to his size and speaking ability, but his failure to get over resulted in the demotion.

— Tough Enough 3 winner Matt Cappotelli now holds a job as a personal trainer at the Ideal Fitness center in Louisville, Kentucky.

WWE champion John Cena posted a few messages on his Twitter page (Twitter.com/WWEJCena) this morning regarding Randy Orton’s shoulder injury, Batista “quitting” WWE, and Shawn Michaels’s retirement. Here’s what Cena said about:

Randy Orton’s Injury: “I do not know Randy Orton’s condition so I really don’t want to speak on his behalf although I do hope he is well. I have said it time and time again about him, he is one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Batista “Quitting” WWE: “As for Batista, I never know how permanent ‘quitting’ really is. The only two I’ve seen quit, and truly not come back yet are JBL and HBK.”

After a number of fans jumped on Cena’s remark that Shawn Michaels “quit” WWE, Cena clarified his comment by saying, “Sorry, outpouring of tweets are correct. HBK did retire, which isn’t as angry as quitting.”

— In an update on Shawn Michaels, he has told friends he’s enjoying retirement. He has yet to show any signs indicating he is yearning to return to the ring, or television for that matter. (source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— Every year at San Diego Comic-Con International, toy manufacturers release collectibles available only to the extravaganza. This year, Mattel will release their first-ever WWE figure to a single event — a special version of Undertaker as he appeared at last year’s WrestleMania. Click here for more information on this limited edition action figure.

— Jim Ross — who is still employed to WWE — has posted a blog on the WWE Universe site asking fans to ponder questions regarding Daniel Bryan, Michael Cole, Bret Hart and more.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts about:

Shawn Michaels’ Career: “Did I think that in 1996 that HBK would eventually wind up his career as arguably the greatest in ring performer of his generation? Honestly, no. Shawn’s life style was rather controversial at that time and did not lend itself to having a long, illustrious career. Thank goodness that Shawn made dynamic and distinctive changes in his life which then propelled him to the rarefied air of greatness in the pro wrestling biz. More importantly than re-establishing himself as one of wrestling’s greats of all time, Shawn Michaels became a much better man which is more important that being anyone’s show stopper.”

WWE RAW vs. TNA iMPACT!: “Will TNA ever become a TV ratings threat to WWE? What is the definition of a ratings threat? Does it mean, will TNA ever beat Raw on Monday nights? If that’s the question, then my guess is ‘No’ but I don’t think that’s TNA’s goal. The USA Network provides Raw with a great advantage on cable TV in exposure and over all network ratings considering that USA is generally the No. 1 rated cable network.”

“Small example but many hotels that I have stayed at over the years almost always have USA Network whereas few generally feature Spike. Point is that USA is a much stronger network than is Spike, no offense intended to Spike. My suggestion is that both WWE and TNA need to focus on what they do and build their own new stars that are involved in intriguing and compelling personal issues and let the chips fall where they may. TV wrestling is ‘star driven’ and ‘storyline fueled’ in which long term planning is a key component in order to facilitate, fun and easy to watch, episodic TV. It’s also WAY over thought in many circles.”

As always, visit JRsBarBQ.com for Jim Ross’ great line of BBQ products.

source: www.f4wonline.com

— There was brief discussion of holding both WrestleMania XXVII and the following night’s Raw at the Georgia Dome with night two massively scaled down. Additionally, either the Philips Arena or Fox Arena will hold Hall of Fame.

Regarding next year’s Hall of Fame class, Bill Goldberg is expected to headline the event providing both sides can reach an agreement. Ron Simmons is also said to be a lock to join next year’s class. Other suggested names are Sting (though not if he’s still with TNA), Lex Luger and the Steiner Brothers.

— Last week’s episode of WWE Superstars drew what may be a record low rating — an 0.67 rating. The show drew 707,000 viewers overall. The broadcast was headlined by The Hart Dynasty vs. Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft.

— Shawn Michaels’ retirement speech will be an extra on the WrestleMania XXVI DVD coming out next month.

— Coming off the heels of Shawn Michaels apparent retirement from World Wrestling Entertainment, HBK has been officially removed the company’s active roster. His bio has been displaced from the Raw Superstars page and moved to the WWE Alumni section.

— Chris Jericho confirmed on his Twitter account that his tweet yesterday about being selected for sequestered jury duty was an April Fools’ Day joke.

— WWE returns to the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 6th, 2010 at 5 p.m. Tickets go on sale April 24th, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

— The general feeling among those in WWE is that Shawn Michaels is sincere about his retirement. While no one is ruling out the possibility of Michaels working a match or two down the line, many feel he believes he worked his final match on Sunday.

During his farewell speech on Raw, he acknowledged there being a temptation to return to the ring but that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure it doesn’t happen. With that being said, many feel he will ultimately give in and return for at least one more match.

— WWE.com has added former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle to its Alumni section. You can view her profile at the following link.

It’s worth noting that Michelle paid a visit to her former employer two weeks ago when the company was in Los Angeles for a SmackDown taping. She had not been backstage at a WWE event since her departure from the organization last year.

— Today marks the twenty-five year anniversary of WrestleMania.

— Money in the Bank winner Jack Swagger was trending on Twitter in the New York City area while last night’s SmackDown taping was taking place.

— Shawn Michaels is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Inside Wrestling, which you can view at www.pwi-online.com. The headline reads: “Heart-broken Kid.”

— WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts noted on his Twitter account yesterday that he did voice-over work for THQ’s upcoming WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 video game.

— In yesterday’s birthdays, SmackDown star Trent Barreta turned 23 years old while WWE producer Mike Rotunda turned 52.

Shawn Michaels came up short against the Undertaker last night at WrestleMania XXVI and as a result, has been forced into retirement.

For those wondering, the angle is legitimate and Michaels days as an active performer are likely over. The word backstage at WrestleMania is that last night was Michaels’ final match (at least for a long time) and everybody was congratulating him on a great career and saying their goodbyes to him. The WWE Public Relations representative in the media section at WrestleMania was also telling reporters that the retirement is legitimate.

There has been talk of holding a retirement ceremony for Michaels on tonight’s RAW or in the near future. While the door is always open down the road for Michaels to wrestle “one more match,” he really is leaving WWE.

WWE.com has an exclusive video of Shawn Michaels being given a round of applause when he returned backstage, and being greeted by Ricky Steamboat, sharing an emotional moment with his wife, and joking around Bret Hart.

[VIDEO DELETED]

— Two wrestlers were left off last night’s pre-show battle royal — Ezekiel Jackson and Curt Hawkins. Though Hawkins is still listed on the official SmackDown roster, he is considered a developmental wrestler nowadays. Reportedly, Hawkins asked to be to sent down to FCW last spring so he could repackage himself before returning to the main roster.

Other talent left off the big show altogether were Katie Lea, Rosa Mendes, Tiffany, Theodore Long, Abraham Washington, Tony Atlas, Jim Ross, Todd Grisham and Byron Saxton.

— The WWE website has posted photos of the Divas in their gowns at Saturday’s WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Among those featured are Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Brie Bella, Gail Kim, Jillian, Katie Lea, Kelly Kelly, Layla, Maryse, Melina, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Tiffany and Vickie Guerrero.

— “Shawn Michaels” and “Thank You Shawn” were top trending topics on Twitter last night.

— In an interview with Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun, Shawn Michaels gives his feelings on Ric Flair continuing to wrestle despite losing a “career threatening” match against him two years ago at WrestleMania. HBK notes that Flair called him when he was going to sign with TNA to ask him if he was okay with it.

“He did call me. He called me once to let me know he was going to do the [Hulk] Hogan match in Australia. He wanted to know if it was OK and I of course told him that it was. Then he called me again when he was going to sign with TNA and asked the same thing. There’s nothing you can say. I certainly don’t have what it takes to look at somebody and say, “Don’t go make a living.” I told him that, for me, nothing can take away that special moment. It will still always be to me that I had Ric Flair’s last match. I tried to do the best job I could for him. I think it was a special moment. Anything after that [pauses]. I feel for him, but I’m certainly not angry or disappointed or anything. I would like to think that Ric probably would have liked that to have been his last match, too. The fact that it couldn’t be, I understand. Those are circumstances that I certainly can’t control.

“One of the things you have to understand is that if you’re going to be a friend of Ric’s, you sort of know that there’s some baggage that comes along with that. Certainly the older I get the more I’m learning about conditional situations, and the difference between that and unconditional — unconditional friendship, unconditional love. All those types of things we can talk about but it’s a whole other thing to put them into action. I do my best to put them into action. I want what’s best for Ric, even if Ric might not always be aware of what that is, I still want that for him. Nothing will take away from that moment. It’s sill truly special. I still wear my watch every day, so it’s still something I’m really proud of.”

Among the other topics discussed were whether he is ready to legitimately walk away from the business, what his backstage meeting with Bret Hart in January was like, his match with Undertaker last year at WrestleMania, and more. To read the interview in its entirety, click here.

— Due to the final game of the NCAA basketball tournament, The Score in Canada will not air Monday Night Raw at 9:15 PM (ET) on April 5th, 2010. Raw will be shown at midnight (ET) instead. This means that TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV is going unopposed in Canada that night. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

— In the following video, Dolph Ziggler says he’s confident about his chances in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match tonight at WrestleMania.

WWE RAW superstar Shawn Michaels, who puts his career on the line this weekend at WrestleMania against the Undertaker’s undefeated streak, appeared on Atlanta’s 790 The Zone Sports Radio this morning and spoke about reports from a popular news website that he plans on leaving WWE shortly after WrestleMania XXVI and thus, will be losing against the Undertaker on Sunday. Michaels said:

“That’s the situation that I’m in. The career is on the line, so I guess I say ground breaking news by them I guess. That is the match at Wrestlemania, the career versus the streak. It’s one of those things that’s bitter-sweet. Obviously I want to be the one guy to beat the streak. I think that if anyone can, I’m the one, but you have to be willing to put it all out there. If things don’t go my way, I still have a great deal of peace and I can look back on a career that I’m very proud of.”

It’s worth noting that in the new issue of WWE Magazine, there’s an interview with Shawn Michaels, who is asked about retirement. Michaels cryptically said, “I have my retirement set already. I have been thinking of my retirement for a long time now.”

During the 790 The Zone interview, Michaels also spoke about his return to WWE back in 2002 after being out of action with a back injury for over 4 years. Despite the fact that he already had a Hall of Fame career before he left WWE in 1998, he was told that the new generation of WWE fans might not even know who he was and WWE felt they needed to reintroduce him to everybody.

“Yeah, and that’s the sort of thing that as you’re doing it, I can remember coming back in 2002 and them informing me that ‘hey, you almost need to reintroduce yourself’, because there is a whole other generation. On one hand, you want to be a little offended by that. You say ‘come on, I’m not the end all, be all, but I’m Shawn Michaels.’ But to really understand that there is a whole other generation that you now have to appeal to and you do appeal to. When you see the little guys hanging over the rails at the show, you do realize that. You’ve got their dads who watched you, and now they’re watching you.”

To listen to an MP3 of Shawn Michael’s appearance on 790 The Zone, click here.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Shawn Michaels has been telling friends as of late he plans on retiring at WrestleMania. His contract is set to expire soon and he has talked about wanting to spend more time with his children as they grow up.

Michaels himself has made noise about retiring in recent years, to the point that WWE actually scripted jokes about it on Raw. After taking time off in 2008, he made noise about deciding not to come back. Like previous times he’d taken time off, WWE would call him back to return and he would. He also said in a radio interview last year that he had told the company his retirement date (which at the time was this year’s WrestleMania). On the other hand, he’s brought up the idea of wrestling well into his fifties, though only a match or two per year.

Michaels is not advertised for any shows past the night after WrestleMania when Raw emanates from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

— While the clip of Bill Goldberg pinning Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX was largely aired this past week on Raw to put over tomorrow night’s special guest host, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, WWE has indeed been in talks with the former wrestling megastar regarding a relationship renewal.

WWE officials recognize he’s not going to come back and wrestle, but they’re hopeful of reaching a deal where they can use his likeness in video games and perhaps an induction into next week year’s Hall of Fame class considering they are running low on “main eventers.”

Next year’s Hall of Fame class is expected to have a WCW theme considering that it will be taking place in Atlanta, Georgia.

— WWE’s recently released Shawn Michaels DVD, Shawn Michaels – My Journey, has HBK doing commentary for a 1992 match in Ottawa against Bret Hart. It’s worth noting because Michaels goes out of his way to put over “The Hit Man” after proclaiming for a number of years that he was very good, but not great. Michaels relays his past history with Hart, saying both tried to work past their conflicts in spite of their paranoia and shared belief that management kept them at odds because they thought it was best for business. The piece was taped prior Hart’s return to WWE as Michaels said he hadn’t seen him since “Montreal.” Michaels added he had Hart’s phone number and wanted to call him to bury the hatchet because it sends a bad message to people if you can’t forgive and forget. Ultimately, he never ended up calling him.

— Today marks the six-year anniversary of WrestleMania XX, which saw Chris Benoit triumph over Triple H and Shawn Michaels to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, Eddie Guerrero came to the ring and the two embraced while confetti dropped for an emotional ending. WrestleMania XX also marks as the final wrestling matches of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar — for now.

source: www.f4wonline.com

— It’s worth noting that Shawn Michaels is not advertised for any shows past the night after WrestleMania when Raw emanates from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Furthermore, Undertaker is being advertised to appear at all SmackDown television tapings announced thus far — through June.

— The Wall Street Journal Magazine published a story this past week profiling WWE’s international business and use of international stars.

Stephanie McMahon is quoted in the piece, noting WWE is searching China for new talent to add to a roster that includes The Great Khali from India, Kofi Kingston from Ghana, West Africa, and Kung Fu Naki from Tokyo, Japan.

“We are making more of an effort to recruit from other countries,” Stephanie McMahon said. The Wall Street Journal Magazine added she is looking to recruit talent from China.

To read the story, click here. Former WWE performer Paul Heyman is also quoted in the story.

— The Feb. 26 episode of Friday Night Smackdown scored a 2.0 rating with 3,443,000 viewers for MyNetworkTV. (source: PWInsider.com)

— It’s being speculated that WWE and Ultimate Warrior may have come to an agreement on him joining this year’s Hall of Fame class as he appeared in the opening montage before last night’s Raw, replacing Ric Flair.

Warrior reportedly agreed to accept WWE’s offer to join this year’s Hall of Fame class but later backed out after both parties could not reach financial terms.

— Out today is Shawn Michaels: My Journey, a three-disc DVD collection featuring more than twenty contests from his legendary career. You can view a preview clip at the following link.

— The WWE website has removed Big Dick Johnson from its Raw Superstars page. He was placed on the page after appearing at Vince McMahon’s birthday bash on Raw this past August, but has since been scarcely used on WWE programming.

— Hart family patriarch Stu Hart and “The Million Dollar Man” are expected to headline this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class, so from a marquee standpoint compared to recent years, it will be weaker. Bret Hart will be inducting his father while DiBiase will be inducted by two of his sons, Ted Jr. and Brett.

WWE is flying the entire Hart family in from Canada for the ceremony and the DiBiase family will also likely be in attendance.

Ultimate Warrior was asked to headline this year’s ceremony since it’s taking place in his hometown of Phoenix. Warrior himself publicly stated last year he would be willing to do it, but a deal could not be reached, believed to be due to money.

— Shawn Michaels and his wife, Rebecca, will appear at Cabela’s this Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. HBK, Rebecca, Weston and Jodi will surprise “another deserving hero with the hunt of a lifetime.” They will be joined by Cabela’s Pro Staff Weston and Jodi Clark from the Higher Grounds Outdoors television show. Click here for more information.

— Click here for Howard Finkel’s thoughts on this past Monday’s episode of Raw. He notes changing his tune on seeing Undertaker and Shawn Michaels battle again at WrestleMania.

(partial source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)