ECW Results, New 450 Splash Feature

2/26 ECW Results
(Pics from wwe.com)


~ECW was on last night, here's what happened:


-Kelly Kelly & Kofi Kingston defeat Layla and Santino Marella


-Stevie Richards beat Mike Knox


-Tommy Dreamer & Colin Delaney defeated WWE Tag Team Champs, The Miz & John Morrison in a non-title match.


-CM Punk beat Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke to become the #1 Contender for the ECW Title.

Santino was hilarious during his tag match.

WWE unveiled a new PSA during the show, telling kids to not do drugs or " 'roids ". Also, hilarious.

I thought the match between Punk, Benjamin and Burke was very solid last night.

Instead of CM Punk getting his title shot at Wrestlemania, he's gonna get it next week. Why?

Wednesday Wrestler Spotlight

~I've decided to try something a little different on the 450 Splash. Every Wednesday, I'll select one wrestler from the past or present to feature. How will this wrestler be chosen? Pretty much whoever I feel like highlighting at the time.

This will not be a biography or anything of that sort, just my commentary on how I was first exposed to that performer, what I think of them as wrestlers and where I've seen their career go. This week's feature is on one of my all-time favorite wrestlers, The Ultimate Warrior.



Back in the early 90's, if you were a wrestling fan, you were automatically a Hulk Hogan fan (aka a "hulkamaniac"). I, for some reason, never got into Hulk Hogan. I don't remember when the first time I saw the Ultimate Warrior but I do remember that I became a fan instantly.

For one thing, he had the most high-energy entrances. While everyone else would take their time and casually stroll to the ring, Warrior would sprint full speed down the aisle and to the ring. When he got to the ring, he would continue to run around and shake the ring ropes. His matches were, for the most part, short and full of action. And, he wore face paint.

From what I can recall, Warrior, who spent most of his career in WWE (which was then known as WWF or World Wrestling Federation) was being groomed to be the next Hulk Hogan. Hogan, at the time, was WWF's most popular performer and pro wrestling's most recognized mainstream superstar.

WWF did everything they could to put him in that position, like having him beat Hulk Hogan in a one-on-one match at Wrestlemania for the WWF World Title:


And allowing Warrior to do numerous TV commercials



But, he just didn't catch on as much as people thought he would. Part of the reason, as I would find out when I got older, was because he didn't make much sense in his interviews.



Eventually he disappeared from the WWF only to return in the mid-90's, which I have very few memories of because of how short that was:



The Ultimate Warrior would then try his luck with WCW (the #2 wrestling promotion at the time), where he would form his own group called the O.W.N., One Warrior Nation. He would also have a horrible, terrible rematch with Hulk Hogan, who had jumped ship to WCW years earlier.

Soon after that, The Ultimate Warrior retired and, believe it or not, actually changed his legal name from Jim Hellwig to "Warrior". Despite the craziness that surrounds this guy, The Ultimate Warrior will live on, in my memory, as one of the greatest ever...eventhough he isn't.

WWE News: Raw Results, WM Press Conference, Mayweather's WM Payday, Smackdown on New Network

2/25 Raw Results


(Pics from wwe.com)

~Another episode of Raw occured last night, here's a reminder of some of the things that happened last week:



Here's what went down last night:


-The show starts with Raw GM William Regal assembling WWE Champion, Randy Orton, Triple H and John Cena together for a “photo op” before their 3 way match at Wrestlemania. Things eventually break down and Randy Orton ends up laying everybody out.


-WWE World Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly beat Santino Marella & Carlito in a non-title match after Santino gets distracted after seeing his girlfriend, Maria, talking to Raw color commentator, Jerry Lawler.


-Chris Jericho defeats Jeff Hardy to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania.


-WWE Owner, Vince McMahon, “apologizes” for letting John Bradshaw Layfield destroying his illegitimate son, Hornswoggle during their cage match last week.


-But wait, there’s more. JBL comes down to the ring and tells Mr. McMahon that he is actually not Hornswoggle’s father. JBL goes on to name Finlay as the leprechaun’s real daddy.


-Umaga squashes D.H. Smith in a match.

-GM Regal announces Umaga will represent Raw in a cross-promotional brand match versus Smackdown at Wrestlemania. My guess is Smackdown will pick Batista.


-Shawn Michaels beats Lance Cade by disqualification when Cade’s tag team partner, Trevor Murdoch interfered in the match. Ric Flair comes out after the match and challenges Michaels to a match at Wrestlemania. If Flair loses, he’ll be forced to retire.


-John Cena & Triple H beat Randy Orton & Mr. Kennedy. After the match Kennedy takes out Cena while Triple H looks on, unconcerned.

I thought the opening segment was great. You could feel the tension between all three guys just jumping out of the television screen.


Jerry Lawler was so annoying on commentary during the tag match with Santino & Carlito.


Chris Jericho and Jeff Hardy had a really good match. Definitely match of the night.

Speaking of Jericho, I’m glad he’s is in the Money in the Bank ladder match but there was never a conclusion to his feud with JBL. They had a big one-on-one match in January that ended in a DQ win for JBL and then they both just moved on.

And speaking of JBL, I have nothing to say about the angle involving him, Vince McMahon, Finlay and the leprechaun.


No Mayweather or Big Show tonight.

The issue of Playboy featuring Maria will be released on March 7...*cough, cough*...not that I read such material.


Wrestlemania 24 Press Conference


~WWE held their press conference hyping up Wrestlemania yesterday afternoon.

The only thing I found of interest from the press conference was Floyd Mayweather (clad in Yankees gear at the LA press event) “making it rain” onto the crowd.


“Money” Mayweather to Make Millions from WM Match


~According to an Associate Press article, Floyd Mayweather, who is slated to have a one-on-one match with The Big Show at Wrestlemania 24, will receive $20 million for his participation in the March 30 event.

Wow, that’s a lot of zeroes.

Smackdown Finds New Home


~WWE’s television show “Friday Night Smackdown” will be moving to MyNetworkTV in the fall. The CW Network currently carries Smackdown and it was recently announced that they would not be seeking to extend WWE’s contract when it expires in September.

Personally, I like Raw better anyway.

Weekend Update

2/22 WWE Smackdown Results:

(Pics from wwe.com)

~Friday Night Smackdown took place last…Friday. Here’s what happened:


-Edge vowed to be the first man to beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, that is until the Undertaker came out and chased him away.





-Shelton Benjamin beat Jimmy Wang Yang for a spot in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 24.


-Jesse & Festus defeated Deuce & Domino


-Big Daddy V defeated Shannon Moore


-Batista beats MVP


-Kane beats The Great Khali



-Chuck Palumbo beat up some guy named Matt Jackson


-Rey Mysterio announces that he is going to have surgery to repair his torn bicep and will miss Wrestlemania. He is then put into a match against ECW Champion, Chavo Guerrero. Rey goes on to win that match but is destroyed by The Big Show afterwards.



I’m really looking forward to the outcome of the Edge/Taker match at Wrestlemania. Edge just got the World Heavyweight Title in December and I think it would be a shame for him to lose the belt so quickly. However, Undertaker is 15-0 at the event and it would be a shame for him to lose that streak to Edge [although I like Edge, I just don’t think he should break Taker’s undefeated streak].

MVP is the WWE United States Champion, yet he constantly loses matches and holds on to the title. Hopefully he gets something to do with the belt soon.

Blonde hair and all, Shelton Benjamin being added to the Money in the Bank ladder match is a huge positive, since he’s been in the first two and provided tons of highlight reel material. The MITB match is usually one of the highlights of Wrestlemania and I think that trend will continue this year.




If Chavo Guerrero is the ECW Champion, keep him on ECW. Despite that, I thought the Chavo/Rey match was pretty good.

TNA Notes

~TNA held house shows (non-televised events) on Friday and Saturday in Westbury and Elmira, NY, respectively. The results from both shows were pretty identical so here’s what went down:

-Homicide & Hernandez (LAX) defeated Jimmy Rave & Lance Hoyt

-Jay Lethal beat Sonjay Dutt

-Team 3D defeated The Motor City Machine Guns

-Samoa Joe defeated AJ Styles

-Awesome Kong beat Gail Kim and Miss Jacqueline

-Kurt Angle beat Christian Cage


Results from ROH's Sixth Anniversary Weekend Shows

~ROH celebrated its 6th year in existence with two NYC shows. On 2/22 in Deer Park, NY, several ROH wrestlers missed the show due to a blizzard. As a result, the show centered around a one-night tournament where the winner would recieve an ROH World Title shot in the future. Here's the results:



2/22



-Bryan Danielson defeats Rocky Romero in a first round match.



-Kevin Steen defeats Delirious in first round tournament action.



-El Generico defeats Austin Aries in a first round match.



-Go Shiozaki defeats Necro Butcher in a tournament match



-Kevin Steen defeats Bryan Danielson in a tournament semi-final match



-Go Shiozaki defeats El Generico to reach the tournament final.



-Jason Blade wins a 4-corner survival over Pelle Primeau, Mitch Frankin and The Human Tornado



-Ruckus & Jigsaw defeat Zach Gowen & Jimmy Jacobs



-Kevin Steen defeats Go Shiozaki in the tournament final to win a future title shot.



2/23



-Delirious vs. Human Tornado went to a no contest due to interference from Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black.



-Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black defeated Human Tornado & Delirious.



-Brent Albright defeated El Generico.



-Kevin Steen defeated Joey Matthews.



-Sara Del Rey defeated Daizee Haze to retain the SHIMMER championship.



-Rocky Romero & Davey Richards defeated Ruckus & Jigsaw to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship.



-Roderick Strong defeated Necro Butcher & Erick Stevens in a NO DQ match to retain the FIP World Championship.



-Nigel McGuinness defeated Bryan Danielson to retain the ROH World Championship.



There’s a bit of controversy stemming from the Saturday show. According to various reports, here’s what I've gathered as to what went down:

Larry Sweeney, who plays a heel sports agent gimmick, had a talk show segment during the event. He was in the ring with another wrestler named Bobby Dempsey, who is rather overweight and is constantly berated by Sweeney because of it. Sweeney’s talk-show guest was Allison Danger, a female wrestler on the ROH roster.

Sweeney allegedly calls Danger a “slut” and she goes to leave the ring. Before she leaves Sweeney knocks her out with a microphone from behind (remember kids wrestling is “fake”, so she isn’t really knocked out). He then reportedly tells Dempsey to have his way with the unconscious Allison Danger. When Dempsey refuses, Sweeney knocks him out as well and he falls on top of the woman.

I haven’t seen the angle so I don’t know how bad it actually came off, but from what I’ve reading it was pretty…bad. I’m sure it was only done to get Larry Sweeney over as a heel and wasn’t meant to be done as in poor taste as it ended up (not that I’m condoning it in any way). But, some ideas should just never leave your imagination.

ROH even mentioned the incident on their latest news wire:

“ROH officials are embarrassed and apologetic over the actions of Larry
Sweeney last Saturday at the Manhattan Center. We won't go into details here, but Sweeney proved to be an absolutely reprehensible and despicable individual. Sweeney has stated that he will lead Sweet & Sour Inc. to a "hostile takeover" of ROH. Sweeney was bragging to ROH officials that he will personally change the face of ROH. We have seen that there is nothing too disgusting for Larry Sweeney. ROH officials are definitely on edge with Sweeney's recent "hostile takeover" statement.”

Source: rohwrestling.com

TNA News + Explaination of how ROH can use TNA talent

2/21 TNA Impact Results

TNA’s Impact television show aired last night, here’s what happened:

-AJ Styles and Tomko successfully defended the TNA World Tag Team Titles against Kip James & Bob Armstrong. Kip James turns heel after allowing Armstrong to get pinned. Kip James then attacks his long-time friend, BG James.




-Newlyweds AJ Styles and Karen Angle (Kurt Angle’s wife) go on their honeymoon. And yes, she’s also still married to Kurt Angle. How that's legal, I don't know.

-A celebration ceremony is held for the new TNA X-Division Champion, “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal.

-Kaz beats Rellik

-Petey Williams becomes the #1 contender for the X-Division Title after beating Sonjay Dutt and Johnny Devine thanks to interference from Scott Steiner.




-Brother Ray of Team 3D defeats Shark Boy & Curry Man.

-A miscommunication leads to Gail Kim and ODB losing to Miss Jacqueline & Roxxi Laveaux. A brawl breaks out between Kim and ODB after the match.

-Kurt Angle (rocking the tube socks) beats Booker T and then is challenged by Kevin Nash to a one-on-one match for next week.

Kurt Angle and AJ Styles are apart of a stable [group] called the Angle Alliance. Kurt Angle is married to his wife, Karen Angle. However, AJ Styles just recently get hitched with Karen Angle. Despite this, it seems the group is as tight as ever. I’m sorry but if my “friend” was married to my wife, we would no longer be friends, I would no longer be married and someone would have to stop me from killing that former “friend”. But that’s just me.

Nash vs. Angle next week should be a bore.

I really enjoy the whole Curry Man gimmick. I hope TNA keeps him on TV.

I’m glad Kip James turned heel since I’ve always thought he was better as a bad guy. However, once this feud with BG James ends, I don’t see TNA doing much with him after that.

I think they could have drawn out the tension between ODB and Gail Kim a little longer. They just started having issues with each other last week and already they want to kill each other. Very poor pacing for that feud.

Current Card for TNA's "Destination X" PPV

TNA’s next PPV, Destination X, takes place on Sunday, March 9 from Norfolk, Virginia. Here’s the latest card for the show:

Kurt Angle, AJ Styles & Tomko (The Angle Alliance) vs. Samoa Joe, Christian Cage & Kevin Nash.

Rhino vs. James Storm in an Elevation X match

TNA X-Division Title Match: Jay Lethal [champion] vs. Petey Williams [challenger]

Booker T vs. Robert Roode

The only match I want to see at the moment is the X-Division title match, everything else just doesn’t seem of interest to me.

This PPV will mark the second time TNA has used the Elevation X match. I didn’t see the first one, so I’m not all that familiar with it. Here’s a clip:




Footage of TNA's House Show from Webster Hall

~TNA held a live event from Webster Hall in NYC last night [they tape Impact on Mondays and air it on Thursdays].





Here are the results from the show:

-The Motor City Machine Guns beat Jimmy Rave & Lance Hoyt

-Jay Lethal beat Sonjay Dutt

-Team 3D beat LAX

-Samoa Joe beat AJ Styles

-James Storm beat Eric Young

-Awesome Kong beat Gail Kim and Miss. Jacqueline

-Kurt Angle successfully defends the TNA World Title against Christian Cage

ROH can use TNA Talent After All

(TNA tag team, The Motor City Machine Guns)


~Yesterday, ROH announced that TNA wrestlers, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, collectively known as the Motor City Machine Guns, would be in action for a couple of their shows in April. This seemed pretty odd because TNA has prohibited their talent from working for ROH and many other independent promotions since May 2007.

Luckily, the folks at pwinsider.com helped shed some light on the situation:

“We’ve received a lot of queries stemming from ROH announcing that they were booking TNA stars The Motor City Machineguns for their Mid-West events in April. There isn’t as much to the story as one may think. ROH has never been prevented from using TNA stars, but have backed off on using them since they moved to PPV. ROH has been allowed to book TNA talents as long as they abide by the same rules as any other promotion using TNA talents – the matches cannot appear on television, PPV or be sold via any retail outlet except by the promotion itself.”

Source: pwinsider.com

ROH and WWE news

~ROH released their latest video wire on rohwrestling.com today [this is ROH’s attempt at keeping fans up with the product between shows, which are usually a few weeks apart. They also have a “news wire”, which is kind of the same as the video wire except it's written and is updated more frequently].

I’m gonna be honest. This edition of the video wire is VERY boring. So watch it at your own risk.

For those that don’t watch, here’s what happens.

-Austin Aries is offered a spot in the Age of the Fall. He doesn’t give a clear response.
-Hype for Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Title on Saturday.
-Highlights from Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens for the FIP Heavyweight Title.

As for what “FIP” is, FIP or Full Impact Pro can be considered the “sister” promotion of Ring of Honor. They use a lot of ROH talent and they are primarily based in Florida. Although ROH and FIP are two separate promotions, because they are so closely linked, things tend to overlap. For example, the FIP Heavyweight Title [the promotion’s top belt] has been defended on ROH shows and the ROH World Title has been defended on a few FIP shows.

Recently, ROH decided to have the FIP Heavyweight Title become ROH’s secondary title [a championship belt ranked a step lower than the promotion's top belt. The holders of a promotion's secondary title, which could go by a different variety of names, is usually someone who is close to, but just isn't considered ready to carry the company as world champion] and to have ROH storylines carry over into FIP shows.

I guess they thought since 85% of the FIP roster is made up of ROH regulars, then it might as well become 85% ROH.
----------------

(Chris Sabin, left, and Alex Shelley also known as the Motor City Machine Guns)

~In other news, there’s an article on rohwrestling.com that announces the return of the Motor City Machine Guns to ROH in April and they want a shot at The Briscoes.

"Shelley & Sabin are signed for ROH's April 18th Detroit and April 19th
Chicago cards. Right now, they are only scheduled for those events. They have
issued a challenge to The Briscoes. We will find out Jay & Mark's answer
next week."

Source: rohwrestling.com

Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley are TNA wrestlers and they are also regulars in the wrestling scene over in Japan, where they've been successful. The Machine Guns, in my opinion, are a very good and entertaining tag team. They should be TNA tag champs by now or at least in the tag title picture, but their not.

Anyway, the issue between the MCMG and the Briscoes started last March at ROH’s “All-Star Extravaganza III” show, when Sabin and Shelley made a surprise appearance and challenged the Briscoes, then ROH Tag Team Champions, to a title match.



The match, considered by many fans and critics as one of the best matches of 2007, would end up taking place a month later at “Good Times, Great Memories”.

The Briscoes vs. MCMG (Part I)




The Briscoes vs. MCMG (Part II)




Now the Machine Guns want a rematch and it should be good.

This bit of news is pretty interesting because MCMG are TNA wrestlers and although TNA and ROH have had a history of exchanging talent [Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels are just a few of the TNA stars that made names for themselves in ROH before being signed and Abyss, Raven and Petey Williams are TNA wrestlers that have all made guest appearances on ROH shows], TNA pulled all contracted talent from ROH shows last May.

With Sabin and Shelley returning to ROH, maybe TNA has had a change of heart.
-------------------

(pics from WWE.com)

~WWE announced that they are going to be holding a press conference for Wrestlemania 24 at the Staples center in Los Angeles, CA this monday. They’re also advertising that Floyd Mayweather will be in attendance.

I wonder if he’ll throw some more hooks at the Big Show again.

Here’s what happened at No Way Out last Sunday between Mayweather and Show for those that missed it:

---------------


~WWE.com also has a section dedicated to Maria posing for Playboy Magazine. The issue comes out next month.

Maria is not the first WWE Diva to pose for the magazine. Wrestlingrevealed.com documents all the other past WWE playboy centerfolds right here.

2/19 ECW Results, ROH Prepares for Sixth Birthday

(Pics from WWE.com)

~ECW was live from San Diego, CA last night. Here’s what went down:

-Kofi Kingston defeats Jason Riggs.

-The Miz and John Morrison beat down Colin Delaney for the twelfth week in a row.

-Stevie Richards beat James Curtis

-Ric Flair and CM Punk defeat Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke.

Although ECW wasn’t all that bad this week, where, oh where, was the ECW Champion, Chavo Guerrero. You would think that after he successfully defended his title at No Way Out that another challenger would appear to set-up a match at Wrestlemania, but that would be just too much to ask.

As senseless as these jobber [wrestlers whose sole purpose is to lose to help make their opponent look good] matches are, I like that they are building Kofi Kingston and Stevie Richards. What are they building towards? That’s another story, most likely its nothing.

By the way, it seems WWE wants to drill into the heads of their fans that Kofi Kingston is the “first Jamaican WWE Superstar”. So, for some reason, I feel it is my duty to remind those that forgot and to inform those who don’t know, of this fact.


I didn’t see the point to having Ric Flair on ECW, mainly because I know the WWE “creative” staff probably chose between adding him to the show or Chavo and guess who got the short end of the stick on that one.

Although he’s had the hairstyle for months now, I’m still not digging the bleach job for the “Gold Standard” Shelton Benjamin.


~Ring of Honor celebrates its sixth anniversary this Friday and Saturday with two shows in New York. The weekend is headlined by Nigel McGuinness defending the ROH World Title against Bryan Danielson on Saturday. Here’s the line-up for both shows:

"Deer Park, NY- February 22nd
Friday, February 22, 2008

Ring Of Honor
February 22, 2008- 8pm start
Deer Park Community Center
41 Homer Avenue
Deer Park, NY 11729

Tickets are available at http://www.rohwrestling.com/, http://www.tickets.com/, or by calling (215) 781-2500.

Main Event #1- Tag Team Challenge
Roderick Strong & Davey Richards vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

Main Event #2- Bryan Picks Nigel's Opponent - Non-Title
Nigel McGuinness vs. Brent Albright

Main Event #3- Nigel Picks Bryan's Opponent
Bryan Danielson vs. Rocky Romero

Shiozaki's US Debut
Erick Stevens vs. Go Shiozaki

First Time Ever
Austin Aries vs. Joey Matthews

Special Attraction Match
Tyler Black vs. The Human Tornado

Tag Team Bonus Match
Jigsaw & Ruckus with Julius Smokes & Mercedes Martinez vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher with Lacey

The debut of Larry Sweeney's talk show segment plus more!!!"

Source: rohwrestling.com

"New York, NY- ''Sixth Anniversary Show'' February 23rd
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Ring Of Honor February
23rd, 2008- 7:30 pm belltime
Manhattan Center (Grand Ballroom)
311 West 34th St.
New York, NY 10001
(212) 279-7740

Tickets are available at http://www.rohwrestling.com/, http://www.tickets.com/, or by calling (215) 781-2500.

ROH World Title Match
Nigel McGuinness defends vs. Bryan Danielson

No DQ FIP World Heavyweight Title Match
Roderick Strong defends vs. Erick Stevens vs. The Necro Butcher

ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Rocky Romero & Davey Richards defend vs. Ruckus & Jigsaw with Julius Smokes

SHIMMER Title Match
Sara Del Rey defends vs. Daizee Haze

First Time Ever
Austin Aries vs. Go Shiozaki

Grudge Match
El Generico vs. Brent Albright

Special Challenge Match
Kevin Steen vs. Joey Matthews

Special Attraction
Delirious vs. Human Tornado

Also scheduled to appear: The Age Of The Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black with Lacey"

Source: rohwrestling.com

Despite some of their talent being in Japan, wrestling for Pro Wrestling NOAH (seemingly the Japanese equivalent to ROH), I think both cards are pretty strong.

McGuinness and Danielson have had some really good matches in the past, so Saturday night should continue what has been a great rivalry so far.

Besides that, one of the main must-sees of the ROH weekend, in my opinion, is this guy:

The Human Tornado

I saw one match from this guy and he instantly became one of my favorite wrestlers ever. He usually wrestles for the California-based promotion, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but recently he’s made his way to Ring of Honor. Here’s a highlight video I found of him:

2/18 WWE Raw results, de La Hoya to WWE update

~Last night's Raw saw John Cena added to the WWE title match at Wrestlemania, which also includes Randy Orton, the WWE champion, and Triple H, the new #1 contender.

At the start of the show, Raw General Manager, William Regal, announced that because Orton intentionally got himself disqualified at No Way Out Sunday night, he would face John Cena in rematch with Triple H as the guest referee. If Cena won, he would be added to the main event at Wrestlemania.

Cena gets the win over Orton but both men get taken out by Triple H as the show ends.

Other notables from last night include:

-Floyd Mayweather and Big Show agreeing to a match at Wrestlemania.

-Jeff Hardy and Mr. Kennedy becoming the first two entrants for the "Money in the Bank" Ladder match at Wrestlemania.

[*Note* The MITB is a match involving multiple wrestlers, usually either 6 or 8, using a ladder to try and get a briefcase suspended over the ring. In the briefcase is a contract for a guaranteed WWE Title, World Heavyweight Title or ECW Heavyweight Title shot depending on the winner's choosing. This year would mark the fourth year this match will take place at Wrestlemania. Edge (2005) and Mr. Kennedy (2007) are former winners.]

-Vince McMahon, the owner of WWE, defeats his illegitimate son, Hornswoggle, in a steel cage match.

-Maria announcing that she is going to pose for Playboy magazine.

-Ric Flair being announced as the first entrant in this year's WWE Hall of Fame class. He will be the first Hall of Famer inducted while also on the active roster (everyone else is usually already retired).

~According to prowrestling.net, Oscar de La Hoya, who lost to Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match last May, will not be taking any part in the current angle involving Mayweather.

Mayweather/de La Hoya II @ Wrestlemania? TNA in Japan

According to an article on pwinsider.com, the Mayweather/Big Show angle from last night's WWE No Way Out PPV is supposed to set up a match featuring the two at Wrestlemania 24 in Orlando, Florida.

While Show vs. Mayweather in a wrestler vs. boxer match was what they appeared to be building towards, Mayweather will actually be taking part in a tag match at the PPV. The original plan (before Rey Mysterio tore his biceps) was for Rey to team with Mayweather against Big Show and a partner.

Source: Pro Wrestling Insider

However, the site is also reporting, that Oscar de La Hoya, who lost to Mayweather in May 2007 may also end up in the mix.

If you can believe this, one rumor making the rounds within the WWE locker room is that the company is making overtures towards Oscar de La Hoya to get involved with the match as a Wrestlemania tag partner for Show.

Source: Pro Wrestling Insider

If this happens, that could only mean good things for a potential Mayweather vs. de La Hoya rematch. But that's if, "the Golden Boy" can win his next fight.

In other news, some TNA wrestlers were in Japan over the weekend, taking part in a show for New Japan Pro Wrestling [one of the largest wrestling promotions in Japan]. Here are the results for the matches featuring TNA stars:

Christopher Daniels beat Wataru Inoue (13:00) with the Best Moonsault Ever.

Hiroshi Tanahashi beat AJ Styles (18:54) with the High Fly Flow.

IWGP Tag Team Title: Togi Makabe & Toru Yano beat Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko (c) (16:30) when Makabe used a top rope King Kong kneedrop on
Tomko to become the 51st champions.

IWGP Heavyweight Title Unification Match - IWGP 2nd vs. IWGP 3rd: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) beat Kurt Angle (c) (13:55) with a cross armbreaker (1st defense) to become the new IWGP 3rd Belt Champion and unify the titles.

source: Strong Style Spirit

TNA was also in Japan in early January for NJPW and they have a DVD coming out sometime this year featuring that show called "Global iMPACT!". Here's a clip:

WWE No Way Out 2008

Last night, WWE held their pay-per-view, No Way Out, from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

No Way Out is typically the set-up PPV for next month’s show Wrestlemania, WWE’s biggest event of the year. Last night’s PPV was headlined by two Elimination Chamber matches, one consisting of wrestlers from Raw and the other match featuring Smackdown wrestlers. The winners of both matches go on to face their respective champions at Wrestlemania 24. Here are the results from the show:

ECW Heavyweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero [champion] vs. CM Punk [challenger]

No Way Out 2008 began with a match for the ECW Heavyweight Title [the brand’s top and only championship]. The back story for this match begins in December, when CM Punk, then ECW champion, was attacked by Chavo Guerrero, a Smackdown wrestler at the time after a match. During the next few weeks, Punk and Guerrero would face off in a series of matches, with Punk winning the majority of them. Eventually, Guerrero pinned Punk, with the help of Edge, and was awarded a shot at the ECW title.

Guerrero would go on to win the title by beating CM Punk with assistance, once again, by Edge. After the title switch, the rivalry between the two continued.

Guerrero held a “fiesta” celebrating his title win on ECW, the next week. However, CM Punk disguised himself as a mariachi and hit him over the head with a guitar.

After that, the two had another short series of matches before deciding to settle their dispute at No Way Out for the ECW title.

Last night, Chavo Guerrero ended up getting the last laugh by pinning CM Punk after a frog splash to retain the ECW title.

Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match: Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Big Daddy V vs. The Great Khali vs. Finlay vs. The Undertaker vs. Batista

This match was made to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. The six participates in this match were “handpicked” by Smackdown substitute General Manager [the authority figure of a WWE brand], Teddy Long.

The Undertaker wins the match after Big Daddy V, The Great Khali, Finlay, MVP and Batista are all eliminated from the match.

Ric Flair vs. Mr. Kennedy

Since late December, Ric Flair has been involved in an angle where if he loses one match, he will be forced to retire from pro wrestling. On the night after Royal Rumble, WWE’s PPV event last month, Flair was challenged by Mr. Kennedy, one of the promotion’s rising stars, to a match at No Way Out. The match was made and Kennedy set out to end the career of the “Nature Boy”.

Unfortunately, Kennedy came up short, losing to Ric Flair via Figure Four Leglock and allowing Flair’s career to go on.

World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge [champion] vs. Rey Mysterio [challenger]

Edge and Rey Mysterio had a match at last month’s Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight Championship, where Mysterio lost to Edge after interference from Smackdown General Manager and Edge’s current love interest, Vickie Guerrero. Mysterio was granted a rematch for the title by Teddy Long.

It was déjà vu all over again for Mysterio as he once again lost to Edge and failed to win the World Heavyweight Title. [*Note* according to a report from WWE.com, it appears that Mysterio injured himself during a show while in Chile last week. This is likely the last time he will appear on TV for a while since it is said that the injury will require surgery.]

After the match, The Big Show made his return to the WWE. [After a series of nagging injuries, the 7-2, 500+ lbs wrestler known as The Big Show, took a leave of absence from the WWE in December 2006.]

After announcing his intentions to become a WWE champion, Show attacks Rey Mysterio. The attack causes Mysterio’s “friend”, Floyd Mayweather Jr., widely regarded as the #1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, to jump the security barricade and approach The Big Show in the ring.

After a staredown, Mayweather Jr. lands some punches in Show’s face before the altercation is broken up.

WWE Title Match: Randy Orton [champion] vs. John Cena [challenger]

John Cena made a surprise return at the Royal Rumble and earned a shot at the WWE title at Wrestlemania 24. However, instead of waiting until the end of March, Cena was provoked into choosing to get his title shot at No Way Out.

Cena won his match against Randy Orton last night, but it was by disqualification because Orton slapped the referee in the face. The title does not change hands in a DQ finish. So Cena loses his shot at becoming WWE Champion once again.

Raw Elimination Chamber Match: Triple H vs. Umaga vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

After John Cena decided to face Randy Orton for the WWE title at No Way Out instead of Wrestlemania, the #1 contender position for the WWE title match at WM24 is left vacated. As a result, Raw General Manager William Regal selected six Raw wrestlers to compete in their own Elimination Chamber match with the winner filling in the spot.

Triple H outlasted his other five opponents to claim the #1 contender spot and headline Wrestlemania.

Overall, I thought No Way Out was a pretty solid show. I didn’t think too much of the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match but I really enjoyed Raw’s version of it. Also, seeing Floyd Mayweather Jr. on WWE TV was a pleasant surprise and I’m interested to see where they go from here with this storyline between him and the Big Show for Wrestlemania.