Wrestlemania

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for sunny skies and a high temperature near 61 degrees. It is expected to be mostly clear tonight, with a low temperature around 42 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic map for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM THE WEEKEND... Players await word of Mega Millions winners : Maryland Lottery officials said that as of Sunday evening no one had come forth to claim the prize. Three winning tickets were sold for the multistate lottery -- in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois -- and the ticket holders will split the pot. Baltimore Farmers' Market starts 35th season : Thousands of people dropped by on opening day to peruse the early spring offerings from Maryland farmers and to re-acquaint themselves with their favorite vendors of savory and sweet prepared foods.

This year I've had the opporrtunity to enjoy all the action from Los Angeles in the days leading up to Summerslam 2012. Here are the tidbits I have collected from several WWE Superstars: Stephanie McMahon gives an interesting answer on whether or not she will return to WWE TV. Wade Barrett  says he is 99 percent healed from injury and details the character changes we can expect when he returns to WWE TV. Antonio Cesaro...

In last week's Smackdown recap , we talked about the implications the Internet has had on professional wrestling. If there's one other element of this business that has changed perception and execution in the industry, often for the worse, it's the "art" of the swerve or the not-so-subtle hints at steering speculation that direction. On Monday night's episode of Raw, Shawn Michaels returned to confront his friend Triple H about his match with the Undertaker at WrestleMania.

WWE has begun developing a WrestleMania feud that no one had speculated. With less than seven weeks until the "Showcase of the Immortals," WWE has planted seeds for a rivalry between John Laurinaitis and Teddy Long, the general managers of Raw and Smackdown, respectively. The two men agree on the issue at hand: That power within WWE should be consolidated, and one sheriff should preside over both shows. But, of course, each man believes he is the right one for the job. As the story advances, it's likely fans will be treated to a number of challenge matches and segments organized by the two, and that started on Monday's Raw. Two matches on the show fit the mold that will inevitably expand in the coming weeks.

I'll be the first to admit that I was definitely lukewarm about the main event match between CM Punk and The Rock at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. It wasn't a terrible match by any means. It wasn't terrific, either. Both men have had far more entertaining matches in WWE, but it must be said that both men did well given their limitations. What I mean by that is that The Rock, WWE champion, is a part-time worker of matches, so naturally, his "work rate" (as is the commonly used buzz word among the internet wrestling community)

This past weekend I had a chance to soak in the WrestleMania 28 festivities from Miami - the Hall of Fame, Fan Axxess, the event itself at Sun Life Stadium and Raw the next night. Truly, for any WWEfan that came to participate in the crowd chants and invest themselves fully into the emotion of the stories being told, it would have been an absolutely draining 72 hours. Yet despite the Hell in a Cell curtain call, Sheamus pounding Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds (spawning a “YES!” chant that lasted through WrestleMania and in every segment of Raw, that will now transcend the superstar himself; also heard at the Miami Heat/Philadelphia 76ers game Tuesday)

What a difference in the crowd from Raw in Miami on April 2 to Raw in D.C. on April 9. It was essentially the difference between a rock star show and an indy act. Yes, Miami's crowd had many WWE diehards who made an entire WrestleMania weekend of it with Raw as their final event (unless they traveled to Orlando for Smackdown). Those crowds are typically the loudest. But the crowd in Washington seemed to buy tickets and be content to sit on their hands. I don't often make comparisons to Corpus Christi, Texas (which I deem the quietest WWE audience in the world)

Stacy Keibler entered a dance contest on a whim more than four years ago, and the Rosedale native's life has never been the same. In the fall of 1999, Keibler, then 19, beat out 300 competitors from around the country to become a member of the Nitro Girls, a sexy dance troupe that was featured on the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling's nationally televised professional wrestling programs. Sensing the leggy blonde had star potential, WCW's creative team quickly took her out of the Nitro Girls and wrote her into the show's outlandish story lines.

Nostalgia can be a double-edged sword. There's a time and a place for the past in professional wrestling. The "nostalgia pop" garnered by superstars like "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and "Road Dogg" Jesse James during the Royal Rumble are one example. The return of Shawn Michaels to Raw this Monday is another. Michaels and Triple H had the crowd eating out of their hands during a segment on the show, in which Michaels pleaded with Triple H to accept the Undertaker's challenge for a rematch at WrestleMania.

Dear Dwayne, Two weeks ago I wrote about your return to WWE and quantified your statement: "I am never, ever going away. " I'm not one to repeat subjects too often, but in this case I simply couldn't avoid it. On Tuesday's episode of #AftermathTV on theScore , I ranted about you and your recent speeches in WWE, most notably your "Rock Concert. " Unfortunately we have a hard end on #AftermathTV and aren't able to go over time like RAW typically is able to do on the USA Network, so I had to keep my rant to 45 seconds.