— The cover art of former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis’ first album, Seven Sins, has been released. You can view the cover here. The record is set for release this Tuesday on iTunes.

— Speaking of Maria, she will be appearing at The Wrestling Universe on Sunday, May 16th from 2 PM to 4 PM (located at 34-29 Francis Lewis Blvd. in Flushing Queens. Visit WrestlingUniverseOnline.com for more information.

— Madison Eagles ended MsChif’s two-year reign as SHIMMER Champion at today’s Vol. 31 taping in Berwyn, Illinois, pinning the incumbent in the main event. You can view an image of Eagles wearing her newly won title here.

See photos of Maria with CM Punk here ->

— As announced this afternoon, World Wrestling Entertainment has released Mickie James, Katie Lea, Shelton Benjamin, Slam Master J and Jimmy Wang Yang. Yang commented on his release on Twitter about an hour before it was officially announced on WWE.com, interestingly writing: “3 strike and your out i hear florida is a nice place to visit.”

— As published today on PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) blog, the organization commended Daniel Bryan for his vegan lifestyle.

“A toned testimonial to the power of tofu, up-and-coming World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star Daniel Bryan (aka “The American Dragon”) depends on his vegan diet to keep him fit and in perfect ‘flying clothesline’ form,” the blog stated. “To summarize: Vegan diet + athlete = recipe for wrestling success.”

For more, click here to read the blog.

— Goldust has joined Twitter. His account has been confirmed by WWE.

Why Mickie James was fired by WWE ->

— Though the stars of TNA Wrestling are famous and appear on a national television show viewed by millions per week, it does not necessarily translate into huge pay checks for a good portion of the roster. This fact especially rings true with the company’s Knockouts as multiple sources have indicated that majority of its female performers earn between $200 and $400 per appearance. It’s been said that Daffney, SoCal Val and reigning Women’s Knockout Champion Madison Rayne garner slightly more than $200 per appearance. However, they are not the lowest paid members on the roster as that dubious distinction reportedly belongs to Generation Me — Max and Jeremy — both of whom earn $200 per appearance. (source: www.f4wonline.com)

— The official TNA website held a poll a few weeks ago asking fans to vote on which DVD they’d like to see made with Beer Money, Inc. slightly edging out The Motor City Machine Guns. Rather than solely dedicating a DVD set to The Motor City Machine Guns, it was decided that Beer Money, Inc. would be featured as well. The two disc DVD set will feature a disc of each tag team and contain twelve matches as well as an interview. It is due for release on May 25. You can view the duel cover for the release
here and here.

— TNA will be holding a house show at the Cabarrus Arena in Concord, North Carolina on August 1st, 2010.

Click here for *EMBARRASSING* story on Madison Rayne & money ->

The quarterfinals of the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will kick off on NXT next week.

WWE has announced that the next round of the men’s Dusty Classic will begin with MSK vs. Drake Maverick & Killian Dain and The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Kushida & Leon Ruff taking place on NXT next Wednesday. Kushida & Ruff advanced in the tournament by defeating NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory in a first round match on NXT tonight.

MSK and The Grizzled Young Veterans both won first round matches on last week’s NXT, while Maverick & Dain advanced by winning a first round match on last Friday’s 205 Live. MSK made their debut by defeating Isaiah “Swerve” Scott & Jake Atlas, The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Ever-Rise, and Maverick & Dain defeated Curt Stallion & August Grey.

MSK were formerly known as The Rascalz. Dezmond Xavier’s new in-ring name is Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz is now Nash Carter.

There’s still one first round match remaining in the men’s Dusty Classic. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari vs. Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Desmond Troy had been announced for this week’s 205 Live, but it was said that Adonis isn’t cleared to compete in the match after losing to Karrion Kross on NXT tonight. Kross also put Troy in the Kross Jacket after that match.

The Nese & Daivari vs. Adonis & Troy winner was set to face Undisputed Era’s Adam Cole & Roderick Strong in the quarterfinals. WWE uploaded a post-NXT video tonight where — after their Fight Pit match against each other — Tommaso Ciampa told Timothy Thatcher that he’s heard there’s an opening in the Dusty Classic

Cole & Strong, Kushida & Ruff, and The Grizzled Young Veterans have advanced to the quarterfinals from the left side of the bracket. MSK, Maverick & Dain, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado, and Legado Del Fantasma’s Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde have advanced from the right side of the bracket. The team that wins the tournament will get the Dusty Cup and a shot at Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch’s NXT Tag Team titles.

Next Wednesday’s NXT will also feature NXT Champion Finn Balor & Kyle O’Reilly facing Lorcan & Burch in a non-title match and NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar defending his title against Curt Stallion.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Batista’s match with John Cena at Over The Limit was originally scheduled to be a “Loser Leaves WWE” match, but changed to an “I Quit” match in large part as a result of TNA holding the very same bout in Tara vs. Madison Rayne this past Sunday at Sacrifice. Company officials also felt that a “Loser Leaves WWE” match wouldn’t be good in case Batista decided to return sooner than expected.

Regarding Batista’s future with WWE, it is being kept a secret from almost everyone in the organization.

— To correct a story from last week, John Cena only passed 1,000 days as champion if you include his two World Heavyweight title runs with his WWE title runs. As of today, Cena sits at 915 days as WWE Champion and 105 days as World Heavyweight Champion. He would be in sixth place on the all-time list, not fifth, as Triple H has 1,148 days when both titles are included. Including both titles, Cena will pass Pedro Morales into fifth place on May 27. Morales held the WWE title for 1027 days.

— Creative writer Ed Koskey was the straight man in the mock Geico commercials promoting WWEShop.com on Monday’s Raw.

See wedding photo of Randy Savage here ->

— Skip Sheffield, who reportedly suffered a broken left ankle at Wednesday night’s Raw live event in Honolulu, Hawaii, did not work WWE’s shows in Japan and China. Though specifics of his status are unclear, he is expected to be sidelined ‘for some time’.

— Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America scored an 0.63 cable rating with 671,000 viewers. The subsequent midnight replay garnered an 0.25 cable rating, with 238,000 viewers.

— Michelle McCool’s wardrobe malfunction during Tuesday’s live episode of NXT was edited off the show’s Saturday night replays on Universal HD. A shot of the crowd was shown in its place.

The multi-time champion’s right breast briefly popped out of her tube top dress while she was cheering Kaval’s rap performance, resulting in the camera quickly panning away.

See PIX of Michelle McCool here ->

partial source: PWInsider.com