Thanks to Randy Orton's inability to adhere to World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Wellness Policy, he's been suspended for 60 days. This means he will miss out on the upcoming No Way Out pay-per-view (PPV) on June 17 in New Jersey, the Money in the Bank PPV on July 15 in Phoenix, the live Independence Day Smackdown show on July 3, and the three hour Raw marking its 1,000th episode on July 23. "The Viper" will be eligible to return on July 30. In total, there are 35 dates he will miss out on, including house shows.

That puts a strain on WWE, of course, seeing as he's one of the biggest stars on the Smackdown brand. Tickets sales were sagging even with him, to the point where the company decided to start using Raw superstars on the show, like John Cena, CM Punk and Triple H.

When looking at the rest of the roster, it gets worse. Chris Jericho is also suspended for another 23 or so days for an incident at a house show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he was nearly arrested for denigrating a national flag. Rey Mysterio's knees are probably healthy enough for him to return to action but he cannot do so because he's still serving a suspension for his latest Wellness Policy violation. Mark Henry is out after getting surgery. Brock Lesnar, yet another main event talent, is also off TV while he apparently plays WWE and UFC against each other.

Add in The Miz bailing to go film The Marine 3 and there's a dearth of talent right now on both brands.

This could be a blessing for talents like Dolph Ziggler, though. Whereas he may have been left to languish in a mid-card tag team with Jack Swagger that was never going anywhere, now he has the chance to step up the card and, who knows, maybe even occupy the big gaping hole Orton left behind.

Others will surely get their chance, too. They have to, really. Even when WWE is operating at full capacity, the roster is relatively thin, at least in comparison to times past. It's sad that the booking was so short sighted with regards to guys like Cody Rhodes because this would have been the prime opportunity to push him into the main event scene and elevate him higher after his long Intercontinental title reign.

That's not to say this is all on WWE. The pressure is on those who are left to maximize their TV time and make themselves while they have the opportunity. Hopefully, one or two of them are able to do so.

When the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) entered what would come to be known as the Attitude Era, they did so on the back of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who, as champion of the promotion, would play the largest part in sending pro wrestling into the stratosphere. But he had help -- and a lot of it -- in the form of one of the biggest heel characters in WWF history, Vince McMahon. Or rather "Mr. McMahon."

Austin and McMahon's feud had started in Sept. 1997 and when Stone Cold won the WWF championship at WrestleMania 14 from Shawn Michaels (which was the last time the belt would have the beloved Winged Eagle design), it signaled the beginning of the biggest and most successful program in company history.

Each week, McMahon would do what he could to break Austin. He did so because he wanted a corporate champion instead of the beer swilling, middle finger raising, rebellious "Rattlesnake," as the self professed Redneck from west Texas was a public relations nightmare. Despite his best efforts, though, the status quo remained the same and it looked like the two were heading for a match one night on Raw. They were in the ring and ready to go, too, until they were interrupted by one of Mick Foley's many incarnations, Dude Love. Dude attacked Austin and the two were set up for a match at Unforgiven later that month.

McMahon promised a catastrophic event that night, which turned out to be his attempt at recreating the Montreal Screwjob to get the title off Austin. It didn't work and during the course of the match, Stone Cold drilled Vince with a chair. This led to a disqualification, which got the win for Love but not the title.

So, naturally, the rematch was booked for the very next pay-per-view (PPV), Over the Edge, on this date in WWF history (May 31, 1998). Except this time, McMahon stopped at nothing to screw Austin out of the title and it led to one of the best matches of the Attitude Era.

Continue reading this post »

WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight ... Whoops! Wrong show.

TNA Impact comes waltzing into our lives tonight (Thurs., May 31, 2012) from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida, for the first live show of the summer series that will run for the next 12 weeks.

And for the first time, CagesideSeats.com is bringing you a live blog of all the night's action.

You'll have to bear with us a bit as we catch up on current TNA storylines. We could just bullshit you and do a little research and act like we're on the up and up but most of you know better. This is a WWE blog, for the most part, and we rarely travel outside that bubble.

But we're doing so tonight (and for the foreseeable future) for TNA now that they've moved to the live format. As long as they keep this up, we will too.

Tonight's show will feature Sting returning to battle Bobby Roode in a lumberjack match, not to mention the debut of Brooke Hogan, who will be taking over the Knockouts division. Don't worry though, Cagesiders, she won't be doing any actual wrestling.

The show has a brand spankin' new start time at 8 p.m. ET on Spike TV, so be sure to get here nice and early to join in with all your favorite Cageside commenters. Impact live blog after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

You wanted it, you got it.

Scottidog poked and prodded and all but got on his knees and begged for an MMA Mania podcast. He heard my partner in crime, Sergio Hernandez, and myself had a podcast going over at CagesideSeats.com and he wanted one over here on MMAmania.com.

Once he made multiple FanPosts demanding one and the Maniacs echoed his sentiments, we could ignore the uprising no longer.

The Mixed Martial Mania Podcast debuts LIVE next Tuesday night (June 5, 2012) at 10 p.m. ET.

Why that date and time? Because we said so, that's why.

The first show likely won't be open for callers but we'll have an open thread going during the live show so we can read all your comments and criticisms in real time. We'll talk topical issues in MMA -- or whatever YOU want to discuss -- and, obviously, we'll get even better acquainted with all you fine Maniacs.

See you next Tuesday night.

During her conference call today (May 30, 2012) to promote Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling's move to a live format starting with tomorrow night's episode of Impact, Dixie Carter was asked if she could sign one current World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar, who would it be?

Her answer:

"The Rock. I think he's great. I love what he does in movies, I love the kind of exposure he brings to wrestling outside of what we do on television, and I think that's magic."

How surprising is it that of the entire roster of talent she would theoretically have to choose from, she went after one of the oldest guys who has worked a total of maybe 25 dates in the last eight years.

Amazing.

But it was an interesting question nonetheless, and I'm curious to hear who you Cagesiders would choose as your one signing. You get to choose one superstar on the entire WWE roster of talent. You choose ...

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) still hasn't quite figured out what to do about distributing the new version of NXT that was filmed down at Full Sail University in Florida not long ago, so they're continuing to tape and release the old version on YouTube.

Here's the latest episode for May 30, 2012, which features all sorts of tag team action. Really, there's no direction for the program right now so it's just a simple wrestling show featuring all the talent you hardly see used on Raw or Smackdown.

Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks open with a match against The Usos. Then Tamina takes on Kaitlyn before they close with a six man tag match pitting Derrick Bateman, Percy Watson and Justin Gabriel vs. Johnny Curtis, JTG, and Michael McGillicutty.

Enjoy the show!

It looks like that match at No Way Out pitting Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho was cursed from the word "go." First, Jericho was suspended for 30 days for denigrating a Brazilian flag and now Orton has been suspended for 60 days for a Wellness Policy violation.

Per WWE.com:

STAMFORD, Conn. - In accordance with its Talent Wellness Program, WWE has suspended Randy Orton for 60 days effective today for his second violation of the company's policy.

Orton was first suspended back in April 2006 for what was originally reported as "unprofessional conduct." Various reports floated around that "The Viper" had heat backstage and his behavior led to a suspension. Orton, however, later said he was caught backstage smoking marijuana and that's what led to his exile.

No word just yet on what exactly caused this suspension but we'll pass it along when more details become available.

As stated previously, WWE was working towards an Orton vs. Jericho feud for No Way Out before both superstars were suspended. It initially appeared as though Dolph Ziggler might step in for Jericho after a segment on Raw this past Monday but that's obviously not going to happen.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, Cagesiders, so stay tuned for more details.

Clarification by Keith Harris: Randy Orton's first suspension by WWE was not considered to be a Wellness policy violation, because smoking pot is only considered to be a finable offense, but due to the public nature of the incident WWE felt compelled to punish him much more harshly.

His first Wellness policy suspension, which wasn't publicly announced, was in August 2006 for failing a drug test for a steroid that he didn't have a prescription for and he worked without pay for 30 days. Orton was also named in the Signature Pharmacy scandal in early September 2007 as receiving packages of Somatropin, Nandrolone and Stanazolol from the Internet drug company between September 2004 and February 2007, but wasn't suspended by WWE, officially for reasons of "double jeopardy." Others have suggested that he avoided punishment at the time because he was already booked to face John Cena in the main event of that month's Unforgiven pay-per-view.

For more context on Orton's drug and disciplinary problems, please read my review of his DVD I wrote last year. The most relevant part of the review is included for your convenience after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

No, this isn't a doom and gloom article. But this also won't be an article replete with musings on how ratings don't mean anything and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is making money hand over fist. There will be no putting our heads in the sand here.

Put simply, the ratings for this past Monday night's (May 28, 2012) Memorial Day edition of Raw were terrible. At least when you consider the standard the show has set for itself.

The show, which featured Big Show running wild on the entire locker room and getting over as the big monster heel heading into his match against John Cena (who didn't appear) at No Way Out next month, averaged 3.91 million viewers, the fewest of the year. The rating was a 2.72, also the worst of the year.

In fact, you would have to go back to week one of the NFL season last year to find a worse number.

There were plenty of reasons for this. The fact that it was Memorial Day, not to mention stiff competition from the NBA playoffs and the usual new programming on the History channel, which continues to be a thorn in WWE's side. But last year at this time, Raw scored a 3.0 and averaged 4.69 million viewers.

Big Show may be putting on solid performances enhanced by the Creative team finally getting its collective shit together but the numbers were bad enough to cause discomfort in Stamford, you can count on that. And if we're treated to a John Cena heavy show next week, we'll know the likely reason why.

For complete results and the running live blog from this past Monday night's episode of Raw click here. To listen to Sergio and myself gab about the show on Cageside Live click here. And for complete reactions to all the night's events click here.

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling and its executives really want you to jump on board with their idea of an evolution in pro wrestling. They plan on helping you along by letting you peek even further behind the curtain in the weeks and months to come. They're also going live starting with tomorrow night's (May 31, 2012) episode of Impact in Orlando.

Oh, and if you didn't like the idea of WWE getting even more interactive via social media, you might not like hearing that TNA plans on doing the same. In fact, they're trying to one up their competition by saying they plan on being the most interactive program in the history of pro wrestling.

Joy.

TNA President Dixie Carter held a conference call today to discuss going live, how long they will be doing so, upcoming plans and much, much more.

Here's a small breakdown of all the important issues she touched on during the call. (via PWTorch.com):

Continue reading this post »

Or at least that's what you Cagesiders decided when you voted in our poll to decide the most popular pro wrestler of all time. Here's how the results broke down out of 780 total votes counted:

1. Hulk Hogan -- 265
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin -- 233
3. The Rock -- 157
4. Undertaker -- 28
5. Macho Man Randy Savage -- 22
6. Bret Hart -- 19
7. Ric Flair -- 18
8. Shawn Michaels -- 15
9. Ultimate Warrior -- 7
10. Bruno Sammartino -- 6

It should be obvious that this poll is nothing even remotely close to official. It was designed in fun and some of the discussion to arise from it has been fascinating to say the least. The shortcomings of the poll should also be obvious. There were a limited number of names to choose from (even though there was an "Other" option that got 10 votes) and the fact that many pro wrestling fans of today know very little of stars in the early years of pro wrestling tends to slant the results.

Ultimately, though, it came down to Hogan, Austin, and Rock, and "The Hulkster" pulled it off. As much as I personally dislike Hogan for all the ruthless political games he played throughout his career, it's hard to argue his reach. He also had incredible staying power. Stone Cold may have been more popular at his peak but his peak only lasted for about three years at best. Hogan was a megastar in the 80s for years and then managed to reinvent himself as a heel a decade later and once again become a megastar in the 90s. He was also a household name in his heyday. Let's face it, it doesn't matter whether you're a pro wrestling fan or not, you know the name Hulk Hogan.

As long as there's doubt that the same cannot be said for Austin and Rock, he's the rightful winner of the poll.

Still, it was designed to be a fun -- and to settle an argument between myself and my lady friend, which it did. She's officially won, by the way, so thanks for nothing, Cagesiders.

After years of being told she could never make it to the big show, Kia Stevens -- who wrestled under the names Amazing Kong and Awesome Kong throughout her time in Japan and on the independent scene -- signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in Dec. 2010.

She didn't debut right away, though, instead sitting out a few months while WWE repackaged her as Kharma, airing vignettes showing her laughing while ripping heads off dolls. The point being, of course, that she was a monster who would tear through the Diva's division once she showed up on television.

Her debut happened at Extreme Rules on May 1, 2011, where she got over by attacking Michelle McCool after she had lost a match to Layla. This pattern would continue in the following weeks until the May 23 episode of Raw when she came out to the ring but instead of dealing her usual destruction, she broke down crying.

This wasn't explained until one week later when, on this date in WWE history (May 30, 2011), Kharma revealed she was pregnant and would have to leave for a year. She did so after cutting a promo talking about fulfilling her two dreams in life -- becoming a WWE superstar and becoming a mother.

Unfortunately, this story has a sad end.

Kharma returned for a one-off appearance as an entrant in the Royal Rumble earlier this year, and left a big impression when she hit Dolph Ziggler with an Implant Buster that looked like a million bucks. She told TMZ days later that she had given birth to a healthy baby boy on Dec. 31, 2011, just one month before the Rumble match.

But she lied.

A couple months later, Kharma revealed she had lost the baby before birth and she had lied about it because she was incredibly emotional and afraid to tell everyone the truth after she had announced her pregnancy on live television to millions of viewers. She also revealed she would be starting a foundation for women who have experienced the same thing she did.

As of this writing, she has yet to return to WWE and frankly, we hope she takes all the time she needs after such a tragic event in her life. Thankfully, the company appears to have been nothing less than understanding while she's been going through this difficult time.

Continue reading this post »

Raw has come and gone -- and was actually pretty damn good -- so now we have Smackdown to look forward to.

What can you expect on Friday?

Well, CM Punk will be defending his WWE championship in the main event of the evening against Kane. The fact that WWE has been able to service multiple intertwining storylines for the past few weeks has been impressive and that looks to continue here.

Speaking of intertwining storylines, Sheamus has beef with more than just Alberto Del Rio. He's also got issues with John Laurinaitis, thanks to knocking him over a few weeks ago on Raw. That manifests itself with an appearance from David Otunga.

Plus, Dolph Ziggler continues his push to get into the main event, a Zack Ryder sighting and much, much more.

Find out exactly what goes down -- courtesy of ProWrestling.net -- after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Ticket sales for World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) secondary show, Smackdown, have been poor enough for long enough that the world's largest pro wrestling promotion is finally deciding to do something about it.

Instead of just relying on Sheamus to draw fans to arenas as the world heavyweight champion, the company is bringing out the big guns. CM Punk is scheduled to defend the WWE championship on this week's edition and John Cena is advertised for a ton of upcoming shows.

Not only that, Triple H is expected to make appearances. The Wrestling Observer talks about the situation in its daily update today (May 29, 2012):

Arn Anderson is being advertised as a special guest referee for the June 5th Smackdown tapings. He'll be the ref for the Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio main event. HHH is also advertised as appearing on the show. He'll be making several appearances prior to SummerSlam, and John Cena is being billed for Smackdown most weeks. The idea, shockingly, is that if they put Raw guys on Smackdown, more people will buy tickets for Smackdown. Although it's not official, for the most part (95%), the brand extension is pretty much dead at this point.

There's plenty to like and dislike about this. For starters, the brand split has been good if only because it provides more opportunity for young stars to make their way up the ranks on a fairly large program like Smackdown. On the other, Damien Sandow isn't selling tickets, at least not yet.

The obvious issue here, however, is the increased workload for guys like Cena, who is already working way too much as it is. Punk was referencing retiring "sooner than you think" on Twitter last night and this is the kind of thing that would help push him over the edge.

Plus, the flip side to the coin is it gives guys like Sandow less of a platform to become a bigger star. With NXT and Superstars still without distribution deals outside WWE.com and YouTube, there are only so many opportunities for young up-and-comers to get on TV.

Of course, WWE could come out tomorrow and declare these reports bogus by saying the brand split absolutely isn't dead, much like they did when Smackdown superstars starting appearing on Raw in an effort to garner better viewership, both live and on TV, for Smackdown on Friday nights. The returns obviously haven't been satisfactory and now it looks like we could be headed for a climate much like it was in the Attitude Era.

Get ready for even more John Cena, folks.

The "Revolution" came and went last night (May 28, 2012) on Monday Night Raw to little fanfare.

It turned out the cryptic promo videos were all about WWE '13, the next installment of World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) video game franchise from THQ. They've promised big things, including ditching "The Road to WrestleMania" game mode in favor of bringing back "The Attitude Era."

More features include (via WWE.com):

WWE LIVE - Experience the atmosphere, spectacle and fervor of a WWE live event through attention-grabbing Spectacular Moments, including ring breaks and barricade crashes, along with a brand new audio and presentation system designed to produce the most authentic and vibrant commentary, sound effects and crowd participation levels ever experienced in a WWE videogame.

THE ATTITUDE IS BACK - Return to an unparalleled and groundbreaking era in WWE history - a time of pure raucousness, grandiose personalities and colossal revolution - through a franchise-first single player campaign focused on eight purveyors of attitude during the famed television "Monday Night Wars," including WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

WWE UNIVERSE 3.0 - Control the virtual WWE experience like never before in the popular career-style mode, as individual decisions throughout gameplay will dynamically introduce matches, alliances, rivalries and unpredictable moments along the path toward becoming a WWE Champion.

PREDATOR TECHNOLOGY 2.0 - Driven by new animations, transitions and modified controls, Predator Technology returns to deliver intelligent, fluid and engaging WWE action, resulting in a smoother gameplay experience than its predecessors.

CREATE + SHARE - Utilize the franchise's industry-defining Creation Suite to develop and customize Superstars, entrances, arenas, finishing moves, storylines, highlight reels and more, as well as share and download creations with others from around the world.

DISTINGUISHED ROSTER - Compete with a vast array of WWE Superstars and Attitude Era luminaries from the largest roster in franchise history, including cover Superstar CM Punk, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Sheamus, Undertaker, Mankind, Chris Jericho, Big Show and Mark Henry.

SURPRISES IN STORE - Live the Revolution through future announcements, including additional game features, a comprehensive roster reveal, downloadable content and big surprises.

IGN.com has a comprehensive breakdown of the game, complete with an in depth look at each game mode and new features. You can (and should) read it by clicking here.

They also revealed the current WWE '13 roster complete with ratings for each guy. That list:

-- The Attitude Era Undertaker (95)
-- Stone Cold Steve Austin (94)
-- CM Punk (93)
-- Big Show (92)
-- Chris Jericho (92)
-- Mankind (91)
-- Sheamus (89)
-- Mark Henry (89)

The game is set to be released on Tues., Oct. 30, 2012, for the XBOX 360, Playstation 3 and Wii platforms, so mark your calendar, Cagesiders. Anyone plan on picking this bad boy up once it hits shelves near you? And what do you think of the new features?

When World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) decided to bring add the No Way Out pay-per-view (PPV) back to its schedule this year on June 17, 2012, at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it was done with the idea that it should be a gimmick show. You see, if it's entitled "No Way Out" then each match should play on the theme that there is, well, no way out.

Tra la la.

There are only two matches currently set for the card but on last night's (May 28, 2012) episode of Monday Night Raw, the main event got its stipulation. Here's how the updated match card looks:

-- John Cena vs. Big Show in a steel cage match

Big Show's heel turn has been executed brilliantly, with the WWE writing team effectively telling his story by using entire show's worth of content to explain just what it is he's so pissed off about. The guy never felt like he had job security, which led him to embarrass himself throughout his career (nice way to tie this in to the Cody Rhodes storyline just before this one), but he had an opportunity to get him the iron clad contract he always wanted. So he went through with a sound business decision (it really was) and turned on everyone. It also made sense because no one acted like they gave a shit anyway, so now it's time to stop pretending like he cares about making people smile and start being a giant who just murders everyone. Seriously, this was done so very well, if you don't like it, just head for the door because from a writing standpoint, WWE won't get much better. John Laurinaitis added the steel cage match stipulation during a segment on Raw last night as a way to make sure no one interferes in the match and Cena gets what he deserves.

-- Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio for the world heavyweight championship

Del Rio earned this shot by winning a triple threat match on Smackdown that also featured Randy Orton and Kane. This isn't the first time WWE has booked these two for a singles match at a PPV, as they tried to do so at Over the Limit this month, but this time they might actually go through with it instead of adding two guys to make it a Fatal Four Way. That's because Chris Jericho is suspended and while throwing Orton into the mix for a triple threat might seem like a sound idea at first, it would really kill Del Rio, who needs to find some way to establish himself as a top level heel. Right now, it's just not happening. Plus, Orton and Sheamus are kind of the same guy and when they have a match, it should come with months of build, not thrown together because Jericho got suspended and the powers that be are worried Del Rio won't sell. He won't, not right now, but that doesn't mean give up on him. No stipulation has been added to this match yet but that should change soon enough.

That's the card as it stands right now, Cagesiders. Thoughts on it?

For those who want storyline advancement in their World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) YouTube videos, "Backstage Fallout" is just the show for you. Here's the latest episode following Monday Night Raw last night (May 28, 2012) in New Orleans.

What we got:

• John Laurinaitis thinks it's a travesty he's not on the cover of the WWE '13 video game instead of CM Punk. After all, Punk may be champion but Big Johnny is 1-0 against John Cena.
  
• Dolph Ziggler expands on his break from his tag team with Jack Swagger. He wants to be in the main event on Raw, Smackdown, and on pay-per-view.
  
• AJ reveals she made the CM Punk shirt she wore last night. She also says she likes Punk because "he's just a great person. He stands up for what he believes in. We like the same comics and neither of us believe in doing drugs or drinkings. We have a lot in common. I don't know, he's just a really good person. What's there not to like?"
  
• The Miz is still upset about how he's been treated on Raw and he says it's funny that he's being sent out on press tours for interviews but when it comes to booking him, he's got no backing. "I deserve better. I demand better."

AJ is really good here, once again showing she's got pretty good range, at least as far as acting in WWE goes.

Who is the most popular pro wrestler of all time?

That's a question I was debating with my lady friend last night, a discussion that spurred this poll to see what all you Cagesiders think. My basic thought process was that if the criteria is television ratings, pay-per-view (PPV) buyrates, merchandise sales, house show attendance and so on and so forth, we should be able to determine a clear winner, right?

She didn't necessarily agree. Her thought is that it's entirely too difficult to judge longevity, not to mention how different the business has been throughout the past 50 years. So many changes have taken place that are impossible to account for that even if you compile all the numbers from the metrics I mentioned, that won't necessarily give you the best idea as to who was the most popular of all time. Maybe over a number of years you could determine as much, but all time?

Not as easy.

That led us to the obvious idea to take a poll here on Cageside Seats, not because it would give us a clear answer, necessarily, but because the results should be most interesting, to say the least.

We're giving you a number of choices as well as a write-in slot for anyone you feel we've left out. Take the poll below and let us know. We'll post the full results with some analysis tomorrow.

UPDATE -- The poll is incredibly close so we're going to give it until 10 p.m. ET tonight to determine a winner. If you haven't voted yet, please do so now!

And for those complaining about who is on the list to vote for, there is an option for Other and you can specify in the comments. With how little that has happened, I would imagine these super popular guys not on the list aren't popular enough and it works out in the end.

John Cena and John Laurinaitis had their *cough* highly anticipated *cough* match at the WWE Over the Limit pay-per-view (PPV) event last night (Sun., May 20, 2012) at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

And it was mostly a disaster.

Cena embarrassed Laurinaitis for the majority of the match, slapping him around, knocking him into announce tables, hosing him with a fire extinguisher, and ringing a bell in his ear, among other things. Ultimately, Big Show would appear to side with the General Manager of Raw and Smackdown, delivering a WMD to Cena to make sure Laurinaitis won and, in turn, kept his job with the company. In storyline, of course.

However, there was one point in the match when Cena and Laurinaitis ended up at the announce table doing commentary for their own match. It led to the picture you see above, which was cute in a sort of dumb, childish way.

I thought it was perfect for our first caption contest.

Here's the deal, Cagesiders: You come up with a caption for the above photo -- be it witty or funny or silly, whatever -- and we'll pick the one we like best and give out a prize. Sound good?

Let's get your best captions in the comments section below. No need to hurry, either. We'll give this a few days before deciding a winner, at which time we'll let you know the prize you've won. Intrigue!

UPDATE: A WINNER IS CROWNED

After some careful deliberation between Sergio and I on last night's episode of Cageside Live, we've crowned a winner.

Congratulations to Cagesider BacksThePack who dropped the following gem:

"Nice J.R. impression, Johnny."

So very wrong but so very funny.

For your efforts, you win the just released DVD of WCW: The Best of Clash of the Champions. Send and e-mail to Sergio or myself with your information and we'll get that out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks for playing, everybody! Look for the next one soon.

When Hulk Hogan returned to the World Wrestling Federation in 2002, no one could possibly know the kind of reception he would receive. Fans didn't reject him like some initially thought they would. No, he was welcomed as the returning hero who had conquered the professional wrestling world before returning back home.

The reaction was so good, in fact, that he quickly defeated Triple H for the WWF championship at Backlash 2002. He would hold the title while the company transformed into World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) before losing it to Undertaker at Judgement Day 2002 in a one of the worst main event matches in history.

His nostalgia run continued on for a bit but he quickly wore out his welcome, both with fans and with Vince McMahon. It wasn't long before a storyline was written for Hulk Hogan to be taken off television because McMahon wanted Hulkamania to die once and for. He created it, after all, and now he wanted to kill it. So Hogan was taken off TV for a while.

But suddenly promos started airing for a Mr. America and Stephanie McMahon signed him to Smackdown, "sight unseen." The character debuted during an episode of Piper's Pit and it was clearly Hogan wearing a mask dressed up like Captain America (which would cause WWE legal troubles later on). McMahon immediately called attention to this but Hogan claimed he wasn't Mr. America, despite using Hogan's entrance music and all his mannerisms and catchphrases.

Throughout Mr. America's short run on Smackdown, which lasted from May 1, 2003 until June 26, 2003, Vince did everything he could to prove that Mr. America was, in fact, Hulk Hogan. And it was on this date in WWE history (May 29, 2003) that McMahon thought he had his ace in the hole.

A lie detector test.

The stipulation was that if Mr. America failed the test and it was proven he was actually Hulk Hogan, his contract would be null and void and Hogan would be gone from WWE forever. Unfortunately for him, Mr. America passed with flying colors. McMahon tried to disprove the effectiveness of the test after the fact by strapping in himself, but he ended up getting embarrassed with a series of questions like, "Isn't it true you're a perverted asshole?" Vince would say, "no," the lie detector would beep that it was a lie and the audience would get its kicks.

Finally, McMahon got pissed, tried to punch Mr. America, and ended up on his ass to close the segment.

Eventually, Hogan got tired of being made to do such a silly gimmick and when he felt the money wasn't good enough for him to do so he quit. McMahon, ready to be rid of him as his heat had cooled considerably since his return in 2002, let him go without a fight.

Watch Mr. America pass the lie detector test and McMahon embarrass himself after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

WWE Monday Night Raw took place last night (May 28, 2012) from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, and featured all the continued fallout of Big Show turning heel and knocking out John Cena at the Over the Limit pay-per-view (PPV) a few weeks ago.

As expected, we got another long promo from Big Show to explain in detail why he decided to make heel turn number 345 in his career. The stipulation was also added for his match against Cena at No Way Out.

Steel cage, y'all.

CM Punk may have continued acting like he hasn't left his teenage mindset but at least we got yet another great match between him and Daniel Bryan. And AJ even showed up looking cute as a button.

Enough with the small talk, though. If you want full results from Raw last night, click here for the running live blog. You can also listen to Sergio and I on the Cageside Live podcast gabbing about the show (among other things) right here. Time to get to reactions, posted after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

WWE Raw goes down tonight (May 28, 2012) from New Orleans, Louisiana, and with that, we'll be doing our weekly edition of the Cageside Live podcast immediately after.

During Raw tonight, you can follow the play-by-play here manned by The General, Geno, or you can check out Cageside's official twitter which will have, Sergio "I Don't Even Eat Meat" Hernandez, at the helm. But once the show is over, you need, no, you MUST, get your butt to this page to listen to the live show. And hey, if you're on Skype, send a request to "cagesideseats" and we might even get you on the air.

Just remember to come back around 11:15 p.m. ET/10:15 p.m. CT for some post-RAW chatter. If you can't listen to us live, you can come right back to this post and listen later. You can also subscribe through iTunes or your favorite RSS feed application.

And, just as a fair warning, we are not rated PG like Raw. This thing is rated R, folks, so be ready for colorful language. Which is our nice way of saying Sergio has a potty mouth. Me? I'm innocent as can be.

The goods are after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (May 28, 2012) from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, and features, according to my cable guide, "all the fallout from Big Show knocking out John Cena."

If you remember, last week's show ended with a big brawl in the ring while Cena went searching for Show in the back. He found him and ended up laid out.

But the big news right now is Brock Lesnar and his status with the company. Is he working Dana White and the UFC to get free publicity for WWE? Is he just playing out a storyline and using his former bosses to further it in an ultimate leap for the Reality Era?

How WWE chooses to acknowledge the situation will say a lot.

Oh, and it's Memorial Day. That could mean a simple tribute (unlikely) or Vince McMahon throwing out the script, having John Cena revert to his Marine character and going over on everyone via superhuman feats of strength (more likely).

All that and more.

Raw starts at 9 p.m. ET time on USA, so be sure to make your way back here to chat with all your favorite Cagesiders during the show. It's always a fun time. Raw live blog after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling has released the above promo video teasing the debut of Hulk Hogan's daughter, Brooke, this coming Thursday night (May 31, 2012) on the first live edition of Impact to kick off the summer series of live shows, something Hogan believes will solve almost all of TNA's problems.

A few things are evident from the video. For starters, they're using Hogan's old World Wrestling Federation (WWF) theme, which is interesting because I wasn't under the impression they could do such a thing, even on a YouTube video. Perhaps they worked something out with Vince McMahon and company?

Everything else is obvious. Brooke is coming in as a babyface and she's piggybacking big time on her father's name. They're also pushing her sex appeal really hard, which is par for the course with TNA. But will she get over?

Stay tuned.

For more on Brooke Hogan's TNA debut click here and here.

Smart Internet fans of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) have been complaining about the treatment of mid-card talent Dolph Ziggler for years. A talented worker who frequently has incredible matches thanks to his over-the-top style of bumping, Ziggler has spent the better part of his singles career battling for the Intercontinental or U.S. titles.

Sure, he's chased the WWE and world heavyweight championships too, but there was never any doubt that his job was to make the champ look as good as possible while presenting no real threat of acting taking the title. He was phenomenal in his role, too, giving superstars like Edge and CM Punk four-star matches on both Raw and pay-per-view.

Part of the issue with Ziggler is he just doesn't feel like a main eventer. There are many reasons for this but one of them is undoubtedly the manner in which he's been booked, which is to say, he isn't treated like a main event level player.

And one need look no further than the feud he's embarking on through the WWE YouTube channel with Zack Ryder for the Internet championship.

Ryder is a low level wrestler who built himself a cult following through a series of amateurish videos he released pumping himself up as "The Long Island Iced Z." He also carries around a belt designed with his hairstyle called the Internet championship, a worthless title WWE acknowledges only in jest on its television shows.

A while back, Ziggler started crashing Ryder's YouTube show by cutting promos in a mini-segment where he would show off his charisma and completely overshadow Ryder on his own show. This has continued for months now and finally the two started talking about having a match, with the Internet championship on the line, at WrestleMania 29 on April 7, 2013, in New Jersey.

In the latest episode of WWE Download, one of the YouTube exclusive shows produced by the company that Ziggler hosts, Ryder showed up to continue their program. Watch it all go down after the jump and let us know what you think about a potential match between the two for the Internet championship at WrestleMania 29 next year.

Continue reading this post »

Two days after the lights went out at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) held a second pay-per-view (PPV) event in a different city and arena to make up for all the matches fans missed out on at the first show, which turned out to be all but two.

The show, aptly entitled Beware of Dog 2, began by airing replays of the two matches that went off without a hitch days before -- Marc Mero going over on Triple H and Shawn Michaels retaining the WWF championship after a smoz finish led to a draw.

The first match that aired live on PPV on this date in WWF history (May 28, 1996) was Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Savio Vegas in a Caribbean Strap match. And who could have known that a match that opened the PPV would have such far reaching consequences, not just for the company but for the entire pro wrestling business.

You see, the two day delay on this match was a bit of a blessing in disguise. It allowed the WWF to set up an angle on Monday Night Raw the night before with Ted DiBiase, who was still managing Austin at this point, stipulating that if Austin lost the match, he would retire from the business forever. In reality, he was on his way out of the company and, like so many others before and after him during the time, on his way to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to get his piece of the Ted Turner pie.

As it turned out, that's exactly what Austin's character needed.

Before he was "The Rattlesnake," Stone Cold was given the name "The Ringmaster," a guy who was quite literally a master of the ring. But because the powers that be didn't recognize his considerable talents on the microphone, he was given DiBiase as a manager and made to wear DiBiase's old Million Dollar Belt. For a long time, he even used DiBiase's finisher.

Not surprisingly, it never got over. So DiBiase bailing to leave Austin on his own was the best case scenario for all involved.

The match itself was a three-star affair. Austin and Vega engaged in a physical bout with great psychology, as was usually the case with Stone Cold's matches. The idea behind the Caribbean Strap match was that both men would be tied together via a strap and the first man to touch all four corners would be declared the winner. After going back and forth in a fairly brutal encounter with both men getting plenty of licks in with the strap, Austin wrapped it around Vega's neck and set about touching all four corners while dragging Vega around the ring with him.

In the process of doing this, Vega made sure to touch each turnbuckle as well. When they got to the fourth and final corner, Vega provided resistance, leading to Austin using all his might to get Vega over to the corner so he could touch it. What ended up happening was Stone Cold catapulting Vega into the corner so he could touch the last turnbuckle to get the win.

A distraught Austin would tell off DiBiase before walking to the back. He would later say he lost the match on purpose just so he could be free of his manager and branch off on his own. And though we couldn't tell at the time, this ended up working out better than anyone could have ever imagined. Except maybe Austin himself.

In the process of working on this post, I asked Austin if he had any comments on his match against Vega. His response:

"Yep. Savio Vega is one tough cat."

No argument here. See what he means by watching the complete match after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to pay-per-view this past Saturday night (May 26, 2012) with UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Mir," featuring the very first successful title defense of Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos, who planted Frank Mir en route to a technical knockout victory.

Could we be looking at another dominant reign from a Brazilian striker?

Cain Velasquez might have something to say about that, especially considering he earned himself a rematch against "Cigano" by utterly dismantling Antonio Silva in the co-main event of the evening. Strikeforce? More like Strikefarce, amirite?

And what's there to say about Roy Nelson and his knockout of Dave Herman? Or Stefan Struve and his submission of Lavar Johnson?

In cased you missed any or all of it -- or just want to keep the discussion alive -- below are links to all the major storylines borne from Saturday night's event in Las Vegas.

In we go.

Continue reading this post »

In a late night question and answer session on his Twitter account, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Chris Jericho hinted that he may be done with his latest run in pro wrestling.

Haha! Why bother ?? Im done RT @IAmSteakSlice @IAmJericho Have you been thinking of a story line for after your suspension??

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) May 28, 2012

Jericho was recently suspended by WWE, first indefinitely before being shortened to 30 days, for denigrating a Brazilian flag during a match against CM Punk at a house show down in Sao Paulo.

The incident, which can be viewed right here, nearly got Jericho arrested and resulted in WWE taking hasty action against him. "Y2J" quickly apologized for his actions.

The obvious thing to keep in mind here is that Jericho is notorious for working fans, especially on Twitter. This could simply be nothing more than keeping himself entertained during a slow night.

But he could also be dangerously close to the truth, as he's already revealed that he has a tour coming up with his band Fozzy and he was planning on finishing up his WWE run before SummerSlam anyway. Why not push it ahead by a month and just take off now? After all, he's finished up his big program with CM Punk that got him to come back in the first place.

Anyone hoping Jericho is just trolling? Or have we seen the last of him until the next batch of cryptic videos leading to yet another return sometime down the road?

UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Mir" took place last night (Sat., May 26, 2012) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring Junior dos Santos successfully defending his heavyweight championship with a second-round knockout victory over Frank Mir.

Just like he predicted.

Former division titleholder Cain Velasquez earned another crack at the crown by bludgeoning Antonio Silva in the co-main event of the evening. Had this fight not occurred inside the Octagon, Velasquez may well have been wanted for attempted murder today, it was so bad.

Other action on the card saw Roy Nelson send Dave Herman off to La La Land, Stipe Miocic stop Shane del Rosario to remain undefeated, and Stefan Struve submit Lavar Johnson after barely breaking a sweat.

A photo gallery (via US Presswire) is available for your viewing pleasure after the jump. For complete results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here and here.

Continue reading this post »

Mirko Filipovic finished up his mixed martial arts (MMA) career on a low note by getting knocked out in three consecutive fights, the last of which came at the hands of Roy Nelson at UFC 137 on Oct. 29, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

But instead of calling it quits for good on combat sports, the former PRIDE king returned to his kickboxing roots and in March of this year, defeating Ray Sefo via unanimous decision in his first kickboxing match since 2003. He looked rusty, though, plodding around the ring with so little urgency it seemed the fire had finally burned out on a once great career.

Key word being "seemed."

That's because "Cro Cop" made his return at K-1 Rising 2012 earlier today (Sun., May 27, 2012) in Madrid, Spain, in a heavyweight superfight showcase against Loren Javier Jorge. And this time, the Croatian legend showcased many of the old traits that made him such a star.

Filipovic fired off kicks with power and precision, unloaded punches with uncanny accuracy, and stalked his prey like it was 2006 all over again. The result was a second round knockout victory after he trapped Jorge in the corner and put him down with a hard left uppercut.

At 37-years-old, no one is holding any illusions at a return to greatness for the veteran butt kicker but fans of nostalgia should enjoy this one. After all, you never know how many we have left.

For complete results from K-1 Rising 2012 click here.