— This evening on Twitter, Gregory Helms posted his first public comments since being released from WWE last Friday.

“Options being weighed, plans being made. Thx everyone for the overwhelming support. It means the world.”

— Last night’s episode of WWE NXT scored a 1.24 cable rating, with 1,730,000 viewers. While the rating down is slightly from last week’s 1.3, overall viewership climbed from 1.70 million to 1.73 million.

— According to JustinGabriel.com, the NXT rookie and FCW Champion (born Paul Lloyd, Jr.) turns 29 years old today.

(source: PWInsider.com)

Maria Kanellis’ release from World Wrestling Entertainment is being seen as a surprise considering that the fans voted her Diva of the Year in an online poll last December not to mention that she will be appearing as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice, which debuts in two weeks on NBC. She herself has told friends she was blindsided by the release and that she had no reason to believe it was coming.

Her departure was said to be due to management’s negative reaction to an interview she did with The Sun this past January where she said she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d stay with WWE because she had outside interests and would like to start a family at some point.

“I’m starting to do other things and it’s partially because one day I want to be a mom and I want to get married and you can’t really do that when you’re on the road,” Kanellis told The Sun. “So I’ve got to find a job that will allow me to do that.”

When the interview drew a bad reaction, she did a follow-up interview to clarify that it was long way away and that she had no plans on leaving anytime soon. In the day following her release, she did a third interview to say it was not her decision to leave WWE, nor did she ask for a release. However, she did note that “when a bad relationship is over, you move on.” She also said WWE was holding her back from expanding her career. WWE officials were not high on her asking to take deals outside of the company.

One company source said Vince McMahon had been negative on her in meetings in recent few weeks, with one person claiming she came back with an change in attitude after returning from Celebrity Apprentice.

“She always made my honor roll of talent to deal with on the Divas end of the roster. Super easy going and actually played a role well as the bubbly ditz,” said one former WWE writer of Maria. “However, Vince knows all too well about how the ego swells when the performers get some mainstream traction and it never benefits the company.”

Some of the wrestlers have an idea on how she performed on Celebrity Apprentice, with one person close to the matter saying he expects her to come out of the season looking like a star and could not understand why WWE would cut ties with her. Another wrestler said this was likely the situation because WWE figures if you find success outside of wrestling, you’re going to receive outside offers and end up leaving wrestling anyway, noting what happened with Stacy Keibler.

While Maria weighs her future, she will be pursuing a career in music in the meantime as she is expected to release her debut album Seven Sins on Apr. 13 on iTunes.

(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, www.pwtorch.com)

— In light of the demise of ECW, WWE has officially relocated Goldust to the SmackDown brand.

The WWE website is promoting a bout between World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and Goldust on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars with “The Bizarre One” noted as the newest addition to the SmackDown roster.

Other matches advertised for tomorrow night’s broadcast include Kofi Kingston vs. Chavo Guerrero and Mike Knox vs. Kane. A bout between Evan Bourne and William Regal is also scheduled to take place.

The only remaining wrestlers who were part of the final ECW roster who have not yet been released or officially relocated to a new brand are Vladimir Kozlov, Vance Archer, Tyler Reks, Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta.

— Raw Superstar Montel Vontavious Porter joined United States senators, representatives and celebrities at a Washington D.C. Congressional Panel and reception to support the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program. Click here to view photos from his appearance.

– It’s believed WWE is trying to get NXT star David Otunga’s fiancee Jennifer Hudson to sing the National Anthem at WrestleMania this year.

– It was announced on this week’s WWE NXT show that the rookies will progress through the season by having the WWE Pros vote on and evaluate the Rookies. The Pros can’t vote for their own Rookies.

– Even with that new information regarding the format of NXT, WWE still has yet to officially announce what the winner receives. One idea that has been discussed would have the winner recieve a WWE RAW contract and the runner up receive a SmackDown contract, but as you can imagine, nobody on SmackDown likes the idea of WWE openly acknowledging that RAW is the superior brand.  This has led to talk of there being two winners – with one going to RAW and the other going to SmackDown.

(Partial credit to f4wonline.com for some of the information used in this report)

— Fans shouldn’t be too dismayed by the storyline of Samoa Joe being abducted by a group of masked men from a parking lot two weeks on iMPACT! as the long-term plan is for this to lead to a renewed push for the multi-time TNA champion at some point.

— Angelina Love is auctioning off a few ring worn items including platform boots worn on several episodes of iMPACT! as well as a beekeeper outfit. You can view the auctions at the following link.

— The TNA website has released new studio photos of ODB at the following link.

(Credit to www.pwtorch.com for some of the information used in this report)

Connecticut’s Stanford Advocate is reporting that Vince and Linda McMahon  purchased a $4.1 million penthouse duplex in Donald Trump’s Trump Parc luxury tower, located in Stamford Connecticut.

The sale was actually finalized back in October. The penthouse unit has 3,900 square feet of living space.

Political blogger Aaron Blake of TheHill.com wrote this week that Linda’s political opponents “will surely be after her for the timing” of purchasing yet another luxury piece of real estate.

Vince and Linda already own eight multi-million dollar real estate holdings and do not plan on living in their latest acquisition.

Linda’s campaign spokesman Ed Patru is defending the purchase by stating, “I’ll remind you that unlike (two of her opponents), Linda didn’t inherit her resources. She was born in a middle class family, started with bankruptcy and earned the money herself through hard work.”

For more on the building, visit TrumpParcStamford.com.

— 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.

Here’s the new DVD cover and full content listing for WWE’s upcoming “Hart & Soul: The Hart Family Anthology” DVD set.

The three-disc set comes out on April 6th and can be pre-ordered now from Amazon.com for $17 (almost 50% off retail).

Disc 1

Stu Hart
Falling in Love
The Promoter
Hart House
Riches to Rags
All in the Family
Hart Foundation / British Bulldogs
Stampede Sold
Dean
International Spotlight
Family Feud
Canada’s Family
Struggles Within
Family Tragedy
Third Generation
Reflections

Special Features
• Stu the Athlete
• Helen’s Car Accident
• Terrible Ted the Wrestling Bear
• A Letter from Dean
• Stu vs. The Tiger
• A Hart Family Thanksgiving – 1987
• Helen Throws in the Towel
• Owen the Prankster
• Chris Jericho’s Flight with Owen
• The Uninvited Guest
• Bret “Hit Man” Hart Returns to WWE
• Post-Raw Celebration (Raw – January 4, 2010)

Disc 2

Introduction with The Hart Dynasty

6-Man Tag Team Match
Keith Hart, Bruce Hart & Bret Hart vs. The Kiwis & Dynamite Kid
Stampede Wrestling – May 1979

Stampede Arrives in WWE

World Tag Team Championship Match
Hart Foundation vs. British Bulldogs
Boston Garden – November 1, 1986

An Unforgettable Match

Intercontinental Championship Match
Bret “Hit Man” Hart vs. British Bulldog
SummerSlam – August 29, 1992

The Hart Family in a WWE Ring

Family Feud Match
Bret “Hit Man” Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart & Keith Hart vs. Shawn Michaels & His Knights
Survivor Series – November 24, 1993

Brothers vs. Brothers

Bret “Hit Man” Hart & Owen Hart vs. Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner
Florence, SC – January 11, 1994

Ripped Apart at the Seams

World Tag Team Championship Match
Bret “Hit Man” Hart & Owen Hart vs. The Quebecers
Royal Rumble – January 22, 1994

Disc 3

Sibling Rivalry

Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship
Bret “Hit Man” Hart vs. Owen Hart
SummerSlam – August 29, 1994

The Hart Family Settles It in the Ring

Bret “Hit Man” Hart & British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart
Raw – November 7, 1994

Decorated in Gold

European Championship Match
Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog
Raw – March 3, 1997

Front and Center

10-Man Tag Team Match
Bret “Hit Man” Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart & Brian Pillman vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & Legion of Doom
In Your House: Canadian Stampede July 6, 1997

Border Wars

6-Man Tag Team Flag Match
Bret “Hit Man” Hart, Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker & Dude Love
Raw – July 21, 1997

Passing the Torch

WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Match
The Hart Dynasty vs. D-Generation X
SmackDown – December 25, 2009

The Best is Yet to Come