Heat on Morrison and Melina

SEScoops is reporting that there is backstage heat on both John Morrison and Melina and it has to do with the return of legendary WWE Diva Trish Stratus.

Apparently, both Superstars feel that Trish took Melina's spot on the Six Person tag team at WrestleMania, and that they have both been giving her the cold shoulder since her return. Additionally it is being reported that Morrison was rejecting ideas that Trish had for their storyline.

If this is the case, both of them should be ashamed of themselves, and I'm not just saying this because I'm a Trish Stratus fan. Remember that original plans floating out there had Kelly Kelly and Drew McIntyre taking the respective places of Snooki and John Morrison, so Morrison should feel lucky he made it onto the card at all. As for Melina, Melina had no business in the storyline going on with LayCool and Vickie right now, so it would not make sense for her to have had a match on the card.

Point is, there is feeling backstage that Trish is highly regarded and word has circulated that Trish's return has been embraced by just about the entire Divas roster, and this is just going to hurt Morrison and Melina in the long run. Online reports have shown that Melina's attitude about things has been a constant pain for WWE personnel over the years.

And It Just Gets Worse For Michael Cole

This is why you ALWAYS watch what you put on your social media accounts...because depending on what you say, it can come back and bite you in the ass.

NBC Sports is reporting based on a TMZ article with the Pro Gay Wrestling Federation (I didn't know it existed until recently, either), who is demanding that punishment be levied upon Michael Cole over his Tweet read around the world to Josh Mathews.

Can I just say that it's always stuff like this that brings everybody out of the woodwork, getting fifteen minutes off of somebody else's stupidity?

The statement by PGW founder Frances Minks includes such gems as "Look what they do for a living? Big muscles, small tights rolling around! I'm just saying, honey" alongside "People in glass houses shouldn't throw sconces!"

With all due respect to the PGW -- and please bear in mind that I am a supporter of equal rights among everybody -- I really think that the PGW founder's words embodied stereotypes that the LGBT community have tried very hard to shake off in the media. It's one thing to claim you're representing the affronted community, it's another to do it while perpetuating stereotypes.

As for Michael Cole, he does deserve to have some kind of punishment because he embarrassed the company. And the PGW is right; language like that does give the impression of a hostile, bullying work environment. I don't think there should just be GLAAD training and that's it...WWE needs to set an example here, and vignettes won't do anything for the backstage area.

Having said that, Cole is quite heavily invested for WrestleMania in three days, so I understand Vince is in a messed up position right now. So hopefully, after WrestleMania there can be something done better than what's been done now.

No Update Here

After the Victory Road debacle, nobody has seen Jeff Hardy on a wrestling program.

For those living under a rock, Jeff went out to the ring impaired and his match against Sting went for 88 seconds. Jeff was sent home the following Monday and nobody has seen hide nor hair of him in TNA since.

Jeff Hardy's return in TNA has not been discussed by anyone, and probably will not be discussed until after his April 20th court date stemming from drug trafficking charges he incurred after leaving the WWE in 2009.

It should also be noted that there has been talk about Jeff returning as a babyface to TNA. Multiple wrestling sites including SEScoops are claiming that this is not the case.

What To Do With Michael Cole...

Hot on the heels of Michael Cole's major Twitter faux pas, more and more details are emerging about Cole's behavior in recent months, and quite frankly, it isn't pretty.

On March 17, WWE announced that they were pairing up with GLAAD, the gay rights organization, in light of recent concerns GLAAD had been airing regarding some of the comments John Cena has made in recent memory. Considering they are heavily into building their program for children, WWE did the right thing here.

It only took this past weekend -- less than ten days -- for somebody to shoot the entire union in the foot, and surprisingly, it had to be WWE heel commentator Michael Cole. I wouldn't have expected this out of him. Let's take the word out of the equation here; scratch that out. The point is, Michael Cole is a WWE employee and has been for over a decade now. He should know better. Forget the word he used on Josh Mathews; when you are on social media, you are still representing the company you work for.

It didn't take fans long to pan his apology, calling it "weak". But it was good enough for GLAAD, who announced that Michael Cole would be a part of their training seminar. ProWrestling.Net thinks that maybe he was sending a direct message and it backfired, considering Cole is new to Twitter. So what? At the end of the day, he is still a company representative, and sending stuff like that to your colleagues doesn't paint you in a great light.

I'm indifferent to Michael Cole as a broadcaster, though I hate him as this new heel persona he has going. PWTorch and other sites are claiming that he has become what you see on TV behind the scenes. Hopefully with this Twitter-Gate scandal on the WWE's hands, maybe Vince will cool off on Cole for a little while.

Again, forget about the entire political correctness thing; it's a hateful word, and it's a hurtful word to a lot of people, so there is no blame to anyone who gets offended. However, this I think is more about representing your company. Michael Cole shot his company in the foot on a subject that has seen a lot of press and campaigns in recent years. It doesn't just make Michael Cole look bad; it makes everyone associated with him look bad, and that's something that Vince can't have.

Heat on McCool, Too?

Sigh. My first Michelle McCool post and it has to do with people who seem to dislike her. Go figure.

SEScoops is reporting that there isn't just heat on Snooki and Michael Cole at the moment, but also on WWE Diva Michelle McCool.

Citing an anonymous but prominent Raw Superstar, they quote his words as saying:

"We bust our asses 250 days a year on the road.

Snooki will cut right into everybody's WrestleMania

paydays. And the show is built around Rock; who is not full-time, and Austin, from another era, too; Michael

Cole, who doesn't go on the road; Jerry Lawler, who doesn't go on the road; Snooki, who is a three-shot

appearance, and Michelle McCool, who is Undertaker's

wife and therefore doesn't even go on the road with

Layla El, who has to represent LayCool all by herself

while her partner gets preferential treatment because of

who she married!"

It should be noted that nobody has issues with Triple H or Undertaker in their spots at the pay-per-view, though they do question WWE's decision to build a lot of their show around people who aren't going to be there long-term this time around (Trish Stratus, Rock, Austin). Former WWE Diva Candice Michelle said recently in an interview that while she understands how wise it is for WWE to capitalize on the Jersey Shore craze, that it puts out a lot of Divas who worked hard to get to WrestleMania.

I should also note that currently Michelle McCool is tending to an injured foot that hopefully should be good to go by WrestleMania. But this is not the first time I've heard people complain about her marriage to the Deadman.

Whoever was complaining to SEScoops about this needs to understand that WWE needs more pay-per-view buys and the company hasn't been in the best shape for a while now. Fans are willing to buy more pay-per-views based on familiar faces. Which means more money for everyone in the long run.

Major Heat on Michael Cole

This story just keeps getting worse and worse for WWE Commentator Michael Cole.

WWE had a problem on its hands this past weekend when Michael Cole tweeted a homophobic slur to fellow WWE commentator Josh Mathews. The tweet has since been deleted, but not before being picked up by TMZ and the media.

What makes matters worse here, is that WWE has just announced a partnership with GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, stemming from their discomfort with John Cena and some of his comments. WrestleZone.Com is reporting now that WWE feels that Michael Cole has embarrassed the company by shooting himself in the foot so soon after the announcement.

According to multiple, unnamed sources, WrestleZone claims that many in WWE feel that Cole has overstepped his boundaries here and has been letting his current push go to his head. They also claim that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon feels that Cole embarrassed the company, which he really has, if you think about it.

They also claim that at least two key insiders say that Cole would be fired by Producer Kevin Dunn if he wasn't so prominently featured on the WrestleMania card this year in his match against Jerry Lawler. The article also notes that there is no word on whether or not Cole has met with Kevin Dunn or Vince McMahon as of yet, or if there will be a meeting at tonight's go-home edition of Raw.

Snooki Being a Problem?

Multiple pro wrestling sites are reporting that WWE is having a less-than-stellar time with Snooki.

For those living under a rock, Snooki is set to team up with WWE Legendary Diva Trish Stratus and John Morrison to take on the team of Dolph Ziggler and LayCool, no doubt with Vickie Guerrero at ringside.

Anyways, for those who still don't know, over the past couple days, WWE filmed a bar-fight angle with LayCool, Trish and Snooki that is set to air this coming Monday on Raw.

However, multiple sites are reporting that Snooki delayed the filming for several hours, causing the shooting to go late. The multiple sites, citing sources, say that Snooki was drinking quite heavily through the day, being rude to the people in the bar, and claiming that once the Jersey Shore is finished, she is going to become a full-time WWE Diva.

I hate to tell Snooki this, but WWE doesn't take too friendly to this kind of behavior. It's been said WWE has had problems with Divas having bad behavior, including former Diva Tiffany. For anyone who doubts how WWE looks upon these things, just ask Serena Deeb.

Unhappy Locker Room At TNA

WrestleZone.com is reporting that the TNA locker room is still absolutely infuriated with the Jeff Hardy-Sting debacle at Victory Road this past Sunday.

According to the article, only half of the wrestlers in the locker room believe that Jeff was sent home for being an unprofessional. The others think that this is an elaborate work by Hogan, Russo and Bischoff, as the Unholy Trifecta have had the reputation of swerving people constantly back in World Championship Wrestling.

People agree that Hogan, Bischoff and Russo are obsessed with blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, instead of focusing on getting characters over and putting on a great show. None of the wrestler's names were revealed during this article for obvious reasons.

TNA has a huge problem right now as the lack of leadership in the locker room is becoming more and more obvious with each disaster. TNA wrestlers understand that this is their livelihood; they want it to be taken seriously because they have families to feed. If this is a work, shame on TNA, but I can't see it. It was very, very obvious that Jeff was under the influence of something.

TNA Locker Room In Uproar!

The following excerpt is taken from WrestleZone.com:

"WrestleZone.com has spoken with several key insiders and several wrestlers in TNA, and the consensus opinion is that something has to be done regarding tonight's Victory Road pay-per-view debacle.

"This is the type of controversy that kills a promotion," one very concerned wrestler told us tonight. "What happens when Spike TV executives Doug Herzog, Kevin Kay and Brian Diamond watch this, and try to justify this to sponsors and advertisers? It's embarrassing, and it's terrible to go off the air with the fans chanting 'Bullshit' when the company knew that they had a problem to deal with.'

"Why wasn't he replaced?' asked another wrestler. 'Why couldn't we have just handled it professionally, instead of risking everyone else's well-being, including Sting's and the fans, by putting someone who was not fit to wrestle out in the ring?' Even a key insider who is usually known as a Hardy defender told us, 'Jeff should not have been cleared to wrestle in that main event tonight.'

"While no one could pinpoint what exactly Hardy's problem was, it is clear that Dixie Carter has a dressing room filled with concerned and angry talent at the moment. While Ric Flair's presence is 'amusing' (as one wrestler put it), the precedent is being set for wrestlers to act in any way that they want, and there is a sense of anarchy in the TNA locker room right now.

"Bischoff doesn't have any authority. The agents don't lay down the law,' one very prominent TNA wrestler told us. 'No one learned from WCW what happens when the inmates run the asylum!'"