WWE Wrestlemania 24 Results

(pics from WWE.com)

~WWE's 24th annual Wrestlemania event occured last night from the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. This is WWE's biggest event of the year and is always good for producing a memorable moment or two, or ten. I would normally include "Monday w/ the Smart Marks" in this post, but I think Wrestlemania deserves a post by itself. I'm still pumped about the show, here's what went down:


-Kane wins the 24 man battle royal and earns the right to fight Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship later on in the show.


-JBL beats Finlay in a “Belfast Brawl”. A really good opener.


-Mr. Kennedy yells in Kim Kardashian’s face.


-CM Punk won the amazing Money in the Bank Ladder Match and earns the right to receive a WWE, World Heavyweight or ECW Title shot at any time within the next year.


-Santino Marella tries talking some more trash to Snoop Dogg, but he’s not having it and has Festus attack him. Funny stuff.

-Smackdown wins the Smackdown vs. Raw challenge match when Batista beats Umaga.


-Kane defeats Chavo Guerrero in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it match to become the new ECW Champion.


-Shawn Michaels ends Ric Flair’s career by beating him in a match. This match was WAY better than I thought it would be.


-After the match, Flair takes one last walk to the back while receiving a standing "o" from the Orlando crowd.


-In the Bunnymania match, Raw Color Commentator, Jerry Lawler tries to play the hero again and punches Santino Marella when he prevents Maria from winning the match. Eventually, WWE Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix & Melina pick up the win over Maria & Ashley Massaro.


-Afterwards, Snoop Dogg comes out of nowhere and clotheslines Santino Marella, kisses Maria (I thought Snoop was married) and leaves with her and Ashley.


-Randy Orton retains the WWE Title over Triple H and John Cena.


-Floyd Mayweather knocks out the Big Show with a chair and a pair of brass knuckles.


-The Undertaker goes 16-0 in Wrestlemania matches and defeats Edge for the World Heavyweight Title to close out the show.


I kind of wanted the Money in the Bank Ladder match to open the show but the Belfast Brawl was a surprisingly good opening, hard-hitting match, so I’m not that upset about it.

The blonde haired Shelton Benjamin was all decked out in gold last night. That man nearly killed himself in the Money in the Bank ladder match.

Speaking of Money in the Bank, that match was CRAZY~! Bodies were flying everywhere. The match continues to be a Wrestlemania highlight every year and I think this year's was the best out of the four. I was pretty shocked that Punk pulled out the win and I’m interested to see where WWE goes with this.

Why was that Kane/Chavo match so short? I actually went to go use the bathroom before Chavo made his entrance and when I came back, Kane was walking out with the ECW belt.

I was not feelin’ that robe Ric Flair had on last night. He looked like a cross between a superhero and a religious cult leader.


There was a point in the Michaels/Flair match where Michaels missed a moonsault from the ring and I thought he broke his ribs. He actually went for the move twice and looked to have missed both of them.

Speaking of things broken, I thought Michaels broke Flair’s jaw with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels went for that move three times.

Flair vs. Michaels was one of the surprises of the night to me. The build-up was great and I was certain that Flair's age would show and he'd drag the match down. I was glad to be wrong on that one. Eventhough he lost, witnessing Flair take his final bow sure was a sight to see.

Edge delivered an awesome promo about him as a kid watching Wrestlemania 6 and how he planned on ending the Undertaker’s undefeated streak.

Snoop Dogg clotheslining Santino Marella was hilarious. I didn’t see that coming at all.

John Cena’s Entrance!!!! That was so sick! One of my new favorite Wrestlemania entrances of all time! I used to play drums in my high school school band and I never got to play anywhere as cool as Wrestlemania.

I DID NOT expect Randy Orton to retain his title. Wow! He really came out of nowhere with that one. I thought HHH would be walking out with the belt, I guess I was wrong, again.

Big Show/Mayweather was another pleasent surprise of the night. I thought they were going to have Mayweather try and pull of wrestling moves, which would have been a mistake. Thankfully, they let Floyd do what he does best, which is punch and run, and they made Big Show lose in a way that I don't think made him lose his credibility.

I really thought the Edge/Taker match was gonna get the short end of the stick and be buried in the middle of the card, it was surprising to see them get the main event. I haven’t made up my mind if it’s a good surprise or a bad surprise yet but I thought the match was decent.

Wow, overall, a damn good show. I don’t know if it is worth $70 in HD but it was a damn good show. Match of the night for me was the Money in the Bank Ladder Match (in terms of excitement) and the Flair/Michaels match (in terms of importance and because it was Flair’s last match). I completely missed the Chavo/Kane match but I thought every other match was surprisingly solid, even the Bunnymania match which I thought was gonna be complete trash.

I've read other fan reports and have seen that people had various petty complaints about the show, like it sucked that Flair/Michaels wasn't the main event or they thought Bunnymania killed the show (the lights actually went out halfway through the match and the women were wrestling in the dark for about a minute or so).

I think sometimes, wrestling fans are so focused on finding and pointing out the negatives in everything, that they forget to sit back and be a wrestling fan instead of a wrestling critic, which leaves them never satisfied no matter how good the show is.

Anyway, I was thoroughly entertained for 4 hours and I don't think I could have asked for more.

3/18 ECW Results, Wednesday Wrestler Spotlight

3/18 ECW Results

(Pics from WWE.com)


~The show starts with Kane squashing Elijah Burke in a match.

-It is announced that ECW Champion, Chavo Guerrero, will face Colin Delaney in a non-title match. If Delaney beats Chavo, he’ll get an official ECW contract.


-Kofi Kingston beats James Curtis


-CM Punk, Jesse & Festus defeat Shelton Benjamin and WWE Tag Team Champions, The Miz & John Morrison.


-Chavo Guerrero just ruins everything and beats Colin Delaney, ensuring that Delaney doesn’t get a WWE contract.

It has taken a while, but the Festus gimmick (where he acts brain dead before and after a bell rings but is a complete monster in between) is starting to grow on me.

Shelton Benjamin’s hair was looking very…blonde last night.


It’s good that Kofi Kingston is racking up the wins but I don’t see it going anywhere. He’s not going to win the ECW title, he doesn’t seem to have a feud on the horizon with anyone and he even seems to be leaving Kelly Kelly alone after the “great” pickup line a while back. Hopefully, he gets more to do soon because I think he’s a pretty good talent that shouldn’t be wasted.

I think the WWE has done a phenomenal job thus far building up the Big Show/Floyd Mayweather match at Wrestlemania 24. Recently, two features were done profiling the two opponents outside of the ring ala HBO’s 24/7 series. I, as well as the rest of the world, still have NO CLUE what kind of match Show and Mayweather are going to have (wrestling, boxing, sumo, arm-wrestling?) but the interest is definitely there and I’m looking forward to it.

Wow, I really thought Delaney was gonna get the win over Chavo. But it’s alright, chances are he’ll end up on my TV some way, some how in the future.


Wednesday Wrestler Spotlight

~March is Women’s History Month, so I decided to focus this week’s Wednesday Wrestler Spotlight on one of the widely regarded female wrestlers of all time.

Trish Stratus

The Canadian-born Trish Stratus began her career in pro wrestling in the WWE (then WWF) in early 2000 as a valet (a female performer/wrestler that escorts a male wrestler or wrestlers to the ring. They stay outside the ring for the majority of the match looking pretty.) for a tag team called T&A (the name stood for the two guys in the team named Test and Albert, but I guess it could have stood for other things as well *coughcough*).

Even when the team eventually split later that year, Stratus, a former fitness model, still remained mainly as just eyecandy.


A year later, Stratus stepped out of her role as a valet and got into the ring, proving that she was more than a pretty face. In November of 2001, Trish won the Women's Title for the first time.


She would go on to win the same title another six times, a WWE record, and retire from pro wrestling in September 2006.


In all my years as a wrestling fan, I've never seen anyone, male or female, that improved so much in the ring as Trish Stratus. She was one of the first women in the pro wrestling business to be successful at proving that you can be sexy and still be taken seriously as a performer in the ring. Who knows Trish will ever return to the wonderful world of pro wrestling, but it's a sure bet she would be welcomed back with open arms.

3/10 Raw Results, WWE star suspended

3/10 WWE Raw Results:

(Pics from WWE.com)

~Monday night was the 3-hour Raw Wrestlemania Rewind Night, where every match was supposed to be a rematch from a past Wrestlemania event, or something like that, I’ll get into that a little later. Here’s what went down:


-The show starts with Ric Flair coming out and calls out Shawn Michaels. When the “Heartbreak Kid” gets to the ring, Flair tells him that still wants a match with Michaels at Wrestlemania 24 because he wants to wrestle against the best, and Michaels is one of the best. HBK officially agrees to the match and vows that the match will steal the show [personally, my pick is the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, but Flair/HBK will come pretty close]. Michaels also announces that he’ll be Flair’s partner on Friday Night Smackdown against Edge, Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins in a steel cage handicap match.


-The love-fest between HBK and Flair is broken up by WWE Champion, Randy Orton, who is also the night’s acting general manager of Raw. He announces that he’s going to use his power as GM to have Triple H face Kane in a match (from Wrestlemania 15) and John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (the main event from last year, Wrestlemania 23).


-Just like in their match at Wrestlemania 22, Undertaker defeats Mark Henry in a casket match after rolling him in the casket and shutting the lid close.


-Before the match between Finlay and Mr. Kennedy starts, JBL appears on the big screen, accepts Finlay’s challenge for Wrestlemania and then talks trash about Finlay’s son, Hornswoggle. Finlay gets angry and gets himself disqualified in his match with Kennedy. After the match, Finlay continues beating on him. I don’t remember this match on a Wrestlemania event.


-Chris Jericho pins Jeff Hardy to become the new Intercontinental Champion in a rare title switch on Raw. I don’t remember this match ever being on a Wrestlemania either.

-There were some shenanigans that happened in the next segment involving Jillian singing a horrible rendition of “Born in the U.S.A.”, but let’s skip that.


-Triple H wins his match against Kane.


-Melina beats Playboy cover girl, Maria, with some help from Maria’s ex-boyfriend, Santino Marella.


-The “official” weigh-in for the match between Floyd Mayweather and The Big Show at Wrestlemania 24 takes place and a boatload of craziness occurs.

-World Heavyweight Champion, Edge, beats CM Punk, just because.


-The real Raw GM, William Regal, gets in the ring and talks about the Raw vs. Smackdown match at Wrestlemania between Umaga (Raw) and Batista (Smackdown). Umaga comes down to the ring and then Batista follows a little after and the two begin to brawl.


-John Cena and Shawn Michaels were having a pretty good match until Randy Orton came down and attacked Cena causing the match to end in a no-contest. Cena eventually manages to turn the tables and lays Orton.

-Triple H is then shown backstage and reminds everyone that next week, he is in charge as Raw GM. He announces that he’s gonna have Randy Orton and John Cena team up against the whole Raw roster. I wonder how that’s going to turn out.

That promo from Ric Flair was just, wow. He made me believe that he would just die if he didn’t get that match with Shawn Michaels. I don’t know if Flair/HBK is gonna steal the show at ‘Mania (I’ve got my “money”, pun intended, on the Money in the Bank ladder match) but I think their match will be a close second.

WWE has been airing promos getting analysis from prominent figures in Boxing about the Mayweather vs. Big Show match. I think it’s a good touch. They all were probably coached on their responses but I think it adds a little more credibility to their match.

Although I have no idea whether it’s gonna be a wrestling match or a boxing match, I am looking forward to the Mayweather/Big Show match at Wrestlemania. The near brawl between Mayweather’s “posse” and the WWE wrestlers was insane.

What the hell? Why oh why did Finlay have to destroy Kennedy? I know WWE is trying to sell Finlay’s frustration but can’t they have put in someone that doesn’t have some sort of role at Wrestlemania (Kennedy is in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match). Besides that, Finlay completely handled Kennedy.

Jeff Hardy took a crazy fall outside the ring. Even I felt that. That'll be my lasting memory of him for the next two months, more on that in the next section.

Only 3 out of the 7 matches were actual Wrestlemania rematches, so much for Wrestlemania Rewind Night.

WWE Star Suspended for Next 60 Days

According to a report on WWE.com, the now former Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Hardy, has been suspended for 60 days due to violating their Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy.

There is no word on what exactly it was that got Hardy suspended but he has a history of substance abuse.

Hardy's first offense occured in last July and was suspended for 30 days. If he were to pick up a third offense, the policy calls for an automatic termination.

In April 2003, Hardy was fired from the WWE for allegedly refusing to seek help for an existing substance abuse problem. He would eventually return to the WWE in August 2006.

This explains why Hardy lost his belt to Chris Jericho on Raw and he'll definately miss Wrestlemania. Boy, does this guy never learn. Lately, Hardy has been playing a pretty big role on Raw and it seemed like he was maybe just a few months away from being a consistent main eventer.

Just this past January, Hardy headlined the Royal Rumble, one of WWE's major PPVs of the year, in a match against WWE Champion, Randy Orton. Hardy lost the match and many fans were crying foul because they thought he should have won the match and the title. I guess WWE dodged the bullet there.

I'd be surprised if Hardy ever gets a chance to be a major player in the WWE after this.

ESPN Article on WWE/Mayweather, TNA Confirms Live Show

ESPN Says Wrestling May Tarnish Mayweather's Legacy

(Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left) and WWE wrestler, The Big Show)

~I found an interesting article on ESPN.com saying that Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Wrestlemania appearance will not be looked back on as a high point in his professional boxing career.

"Whether the [$20 million] paycheck is real or not, the story illustrates the surprising turnaround of Mayweather's career. Two years ago, he was literally weeping after beating Carlos Baldomir because he felt unappreciated; now, he's part of an annual pop culture event that attracts approximately a million viewers.

The story also shows how far the wrestling business has come. Either wrestling has raised its profile, or the mainstream has lowered its standards because "sports entertainment" is no longer the nadir of show biz.

For Mayweather, Wrestlemania could mean that he has finally made it. But for some us, there is only a sense of "Here we go again." "

(Source: ESPN.com)

The article in its entirety can be read here.

*Note* There is a video of Mayweather at the Wrestlemania Press Conference last week featured with the article. If you happen to play to clip, make sure you look at the faces of the WWE superstars in the background while "Money" Mayweather throws stacks of bills into the crowd.

TNA Confirms Live TV Taping

~Yesterday, numerous wrestling sites, including in an article from Gerweck.net, reported that TNA was planning on airing a live episode of their television show, TNA Impact, on Thursday, March 27. TNAwrestling.com confirmed today that they are indeed airing Impact live on the 27th.

"Spike TV and Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling have announced that “TNA iMPACT!” will telecast live for the first time in the show’s history on Thursday, March 27 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) from Universal Studios Orlando."

"“This first ever special live event is a treat for TNA fans, but it is also an opportunity for viewers who are not familiar with TNA’s distinct brand of high- impact wrestling to tune-in and experience first-hand that TNA is indeed the new face of wrestling,” says Spike TV senior vice president of sports and specials Brian Diamond."

(Source: tnawrestling.com)

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.