Wrestling

We’re heading into Ring of Honor territory once again, and this time around we’re going back to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City last December for Final Battle. The show began with the fall of the House of Truth as Michael Elgin took on Roderick Strong. When the match began Truth Martini was nowhere to be seen, and it was only a few minutes later, when Elgin was taking Strong apart, that he finally made an appearance, looking rather less flamboyant than usual. As the match went on Martini favoured both sides. When Elgin was in control Martini cheered for him, but when Strong took the upper hand he cheered for him. It looked like it was going to be a difficult encounter for Strong as the action went on. No matter what he hit him with Elgin kept coming back time and time again. Moves that normally put others away had very little effect on the Unbreakable one. Then Martini jumped onto the ring apron, and as he distracted the referee he kicked his book into the ring. At first Elgin stopped Strong from using it, but when he picked him up for a powerbomb Strong grabbed the book and clobbered him in the head. With the big man stunned Strong lifted Elgin up into a suplex and brought him down into a backbreaker to gain the winning pin. Afterwards Martini grabbed the microphone and praised Strong until the former World Champion reminded him that he’d quit the House. He then tried it on with Elgin, telling him he loved him while giving him a big hug. He then gave him a few home truths. Elgin’s response was to take his former manager down with a buckle bomb before sending him flying out of the ring. Then it was on to the battle between Jay Lethal and Rhino. This was a very entertaining power versus speed battle. Both guys put in good performances, especially Lethal, who was still looking for this “killer instinct” of his. However, if you want to talk about killer instinct then look no further than Rhino, another now-ex House of Truth member. I swear the guy looks as good as the first time I saw him in ECW all those years ago. The end saw Lethal spring boarding off the ropes to take the man beast down with the Lethal Injection for the three count and win. After the match had ended Steve Corino, who had been doing a spot of commentary at ringside, jumped up onto the ring apron as he ordered Lethal to stay out of the main event. But when Lethal dared Corino to step into the ring Jimmy Jacobs attacked him from behind, and after the S.C.U.M. members doubled up on Lethal Rhino announced himself as their new hired gun when he took the former Black Machismo out with a gore. Next came the battle of the managers as former Embassy buddies R.D. Evans, accompanied by Q.T. Marshall, went up against Prince Nana. Normally when you have a match between two managers it can be quite poor, but not this one. Mind you, considering that these two trained as wrestlers it’s not surprising that this wasn’t that bad. It may not have lasted that long but they certainly packed a lot in. It was pretty enjoyable to watch the sequences they put together. At one point it looked like Nana was going to take the win after taking Evans down with an Ace Crusher after Evans spring boarded off the top rope. But as the referee made his count Marshall pulled the official out of the ring. It was then that Ernesto Osiris made a brief appearance as he brawled with Marshall at ringside before Evans took Nana down with an inverted Styles Clash for the winning pin. Tommaso Ciampa then appeared in the front row as he sent Marshall and Evans running for cover. The New York City Street Fight saw Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, going up against Rhett Titus and B.J. Whitmer. If you were expecting this to be a technical classic than you’d be sorely disappointed. But if you were expecting a brawl with people hitting each other with Christmas-related items than you’d be highly delighted. This one began when Titus and Whitmer attacked their foes as the

Yahoo has launched an official "Screen" for all of tonight's WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view action, including the pre-show that kicks off at 7:30PM EST tonight. Earlier today, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley teased his involvement in tonight's event through his Twitter account. It has now been revealed that he will be a part of the pre-show panel leading into the pay-per-view. WWE debuted this new pre-show and post-show format at WrestleMania last month. Looks like I'll be making a contribution to #ExtremeRules in a fun, painless type of way. Who knows, could be the start of something bea ... — Mick Foley (@realmickfoley) May 19, 2013

Before WWE goes live on pay-per-view tonight, cast your vote in the polls below for how you think The Shield will leave Extreme Rules. online surveys And for extra credit, with all the speculation surrounding John Cena's WWE Championship match with Ryback, what are the odds the beast leaves Extreme Rules as a member of The Shield? survey services

WWE Announces Return to Abu Dhabi WWE has officially announced their return to Abu Dhabi on October 10-12th of this year. As of right now, John Cena, Sheamus, Ryback and Mark Henry are the only WWE Superstars being advertised to appear on WWE.com. Tickets for the event go on sale May 20th. CM Punk Spotted w/ Former Diva During his leave of absence from WWE programming, former Champion CM Punk was spotted this weekend at the Gracie MMA training camp, along with former WWE Diva Eve Torres. The former Divas Champion posted a picture of the crew on her official Instagram account, which you can view HERE.

Chikara Pro Wrestling hosted two shows in Chicago, Illinois this weekend while filming for their annual Tag World Grand Prix tournament. Round 1 (1) The Young Bucks def. The Baltic Siege (2) The Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked & Frightmare) def. The Colony: Xtreme Force (3) The Batiri def. The Bravado Brothers (4) The Daywalkers (w/ Gangrel) def. Zero Gravity (5) The Colony def. Los Ice Creams (6) The Devastation Corporation def. Gary The barn Ownl & Pierre Abernathy (7) Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin def. Saturyne & Heidi Lovelace (8) Pieces of Hate (Jigsaw & The Shard) def. Da Soul Touchaz Round 2 (1) The Young Bucks def. Spectral Envoy (2) The Batiri def. The Daywalkers (3) Devastation Corporation & The Colony fought to a double count-out (4) Pieces of Hate def. Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin Round 3 The Young Bucks def. The Batiri Final Round Pieces of Hate def. The Young Bucks Icarus def. Colt Cabana Grand Championship Match Eddie Kingston def. Archibald Peck

WWE NXT May 16, 2013 LIVE! From Full Sail University by Emerson “I can't believe they fired Derrick Bateman” Witner Any questions, comments concerns or emotional outbursts? Contact me: e-mail: ewitner@yahoo.com Facebook: www.Facebook.com/Krazy.E.Man Twitter: @TheReallyRealEW Here's what you need to know about NXT: -They have a champion, it's Big E. Langston, who defeated Seth Rollins for the title on January 10. The show was taped after The Shield debuted at Survivor Series, but before Big debuted on Raw. Big originally refused to go to Raw when Vickie Guerrero offered him a spot, but did go to Raw once AJ lost power. Go figure. -They also have Tag Team Champions, The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, managed by Bray Wyatt). They captured the titles on May 9, defeating Bo Dallas and Adrian Neville -Dusty Rhodes is the Authority Figure, but his job title seems to change from week to week. -The insanely popular Paige, Emma and the love of my life, Sasha Banks were the only three NXT Diva's until February 7 when ring announcer Summer Rae (not Summer Rain) attacked Paige. -Rae, now referred to as the First Lady of NXT, shelved Paige with a debilitating shoulder injury. Paige recovered and is now trying to whoop Rae like a red-headed step child. Rae, instead of fighting, is too busy Fandango-ing -The Shield still make random appearances on the show, causing chaos. And that's everything you need to know about NXT. (Now we know!) (And knowing is half the battle) (G.I. Joe!) -Before I begin, last week Briley Pierce and Sakamoto vowed revenge on Conor O'Brien for attacking them during their match. I will bet you five dollars they do not get their revenge. -We have a new female ring announcer and Jesus Christ she is horrible. Speaking of horrible, Tom Phillips is at the announce table (he's not too bad) and joined this week by the Assistant to the Raw Managing Supervisor/Assistant Raw Managing Supervisor Brad Maddox. 1.) Summer Rae pinned Natalya in 6:16. This was set up last week when Summer interrupted Natalya who was cutting a promo for some reason. Perhaps she was talking about how sexy The Great Khali is. While I do not agree with her choice in lovers, Natalya is a hell of a worker and was able to carry Fandango's #2 girl to a good match. Summer called a time out. Despite heels doing this for 25 years and referees pointing out that there are no time outs in wrestling, Black Ref allowed the time out. Summer kicked Natalya right in the head as we actually went to a commercial during a Diva's match. We come back from commercial as Rae drops all 84 pounds of her down onto the arm of Nattie. Despite her hated rival being on the offense most of the match, Paige didn't bother coming to the ring until Natalya had the upper hand. She scooted down, Nattie ran into her and Summer won with a roll up. -Backstage Renee Young interviewed Sami Zayn, who will debut next week. Sami is, of course, El Generico without the mask. Next week he will face Curt Hawkins. Sami pointed out that Renee was hot and said he isn't nervous about facing a former WWE Tag Team Champion since he has an “International reputation”.  -Bray Wyatt came out with his Family. Bray was wearing Undertaker's old Phantom of the Opera mask for some reason. He says this is the face of a monster. Great he is Kane from 2003 now. 2.) Bray Wyatt (w/The Family) defeated Danny Burch in 2:03. Typical Matt Morgan big man squash match. Sorry, was watching Matt Morgan do an online interview talking about how people on the internet are idiots. -Backstage Bo Dallas walked up to Adrian Neville. Adrian said he wasn't happy and neither was Oliver. Bo cut him off and started his heel turn. Bo pointed out that he was talking to John Cena, WWE Superstar, winner of the 2013 Royal Rumble and Neville had to point out that he knew who the hell John Cena is.  Anyway, in two weeks there will be an NXT Battle Royal and the winner will be t

WWE is always searching for the next great concept Pay Per View show. Extreme Rules, Money in the Bank, Night of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and others are all a testament to the fact that WWE doesn't seem to believe that compelling personalities and competitive matches are enough to stage a major wrestling card. Perhaps they're right, but if so, then why has the original concept PPV abandoned it's concept? Survivor Series debuted in 1987 as an event that focused solely on elimination tag team matches. As the years progressed, major singles matches such as 1991's Gravest Challenge pitting Undertaker against World Wrestling Federation Champion Hulk Hogan were introduced. Later the whole elimination tag match format was scrapped altogether, save for the occasional token match. This is most unfortunate because the elimination tag match is among the most unpredictable and fun match stipulations in the lexicon of professional wrestling, often creating strange bedfellows and unexpected confrontations. That brings us to this week's episode of RAW which featured a hot elimination tag match between The Shield and the combination of Kane, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena. Though the match ended in a disqualification, it featured all the hallmarks of a classic elimination tag match. All 6 men had a chance to shine at various points and each team's odds of victory shifted dramatically with each elimination. This is the exact type of match than we need in an era of predictable matchmaking and tired personalities. Please WWE, give us more elimination tag matches, especially at Survivor Series! Another reason to appreciate this match was that it could be the end of an era. With Dean Ambrose apparently shifting his focus to singles competition and Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns seemingly forming a proper tag team duo, it would seem this this initial three headed version of The Shield may be at it's end. It was fun while it lasted. *** OFFICIAL WRESTLER WRANKINGS FORMULA ANY WIN = 2 POINTS US OR INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE BOUT = 1 POINT WWE OR WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT = 3 POINTS NON "BIG 4" PPV BONUS = 1.5X SUMMERSLAM, SURVIVOR SERIES, ROYAL RUMBLE = 2X BONUS WRESTLEMANIA = 3X BONUS The WWE season begins on the day after WrestleMania 29 and culminates with WrestleMania 30. The wrestler who accumulates the most points over the course of the season, wins the coveted Wrankings Championship! *** Monday Night Raw -- 5/13/13 Kofi Kingston - 2 points (win) Randy Orton - 2 points (win) Jack Swagger - 2 points (win) Ryback - 2 points (win) Miz - 2 points (win) Main Event -- 5/15/13 Kane - 2 points (win) Sin Cara - 2 points (win) Cody Rhodes - 2 points (win) SmackDown -- 5/17/13 Miz - 2 points (win) Chris Jericho - 2 points (win) WRESTLER WRANKINGS, WEEK 6 *TOP TEN* 1. KOFI KINGSTON -- 14 points 2. Randy Orton -- 12 T3. Dolph Ziggler -- 11 T3. Alberto Del Rio -- 11 T5. Wade Barrett -- 10 T5. Fandango -- 10 T5. Jack Swagger -- 10 T8. Big E. Langston -- 8 T8. Mark Henry -- 8 T10. Sheamus -- 6 T10. R-Truth -- 6 T10. Ryback -- 6 Thanks for reading Cagesiders. We'll see you back here next week!

As usual, The Tees Bot brings up a good topic on the forums… and I subsequently steal said idea and flip it into a blog. I have no clue how Related posts: Real money on ewrestling? I had this creative title in mind: “Real Money on... Promoting your efed part 3 (Popularity) Ok, so I’ve dealt with promoting your efed, advertising your... Fed-Head Power! Just when I think that I’ve said all that I...

Former WWE and WCW star Bill Goldberg was recently asked by a fan on Twitter who in WWE he would spear, and Goldberg responded with "Hunter…..hands down…..RT" Goldberg was then asked, "any particular reason or just the overall doucheness and politicking he exhibits?" Goldberg responded by saying the fan was "spot on." Goldberg was later asked by a fan when he will return to WWE, and he responded by saying "When they learn how to run a business." Goldberg reiterated his stance on WWE when asked if he would return to the company to face Ryback. Goldberg said, "...if they knew how to do business I’d consider it..."

Mark Madden on Chair Shot Reality is presented by Chuck's Salsa The following are highlights from Chair Shot Reality with Extreme Rules pay-per-view predictions. The full conversations on video can be seen below. P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Mark Henry vs Sheamus in a strap match: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “That's the problem right there. These two guys won't have the psychology and ring acumen to know how to do a strap match properly. They ruined the strap match, or chain match or whatever, many years ago now. It's always a fluke finish now. It's always like the guy stumbles in the last turnbuckle without getting beat. The idea of the strap match is to have a decisive winner.” “They might have the physicality to get it over but won't have the psychology.” P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fandango vs Chris Jericho: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “I don't think Jericho needs to win.” “Maybe Jericho does win because maybe this Fandango character has gone as far as it can go.” P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jack Swagger vs Alberto Del Rio in an "I Quit" match: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “It says a lot I can't remember who is in this match off the top of my head.” “In Mark Madden's American it don't make a damn bit of difference who wins this match. I'm embarrassed we've talked about it this long.” P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Big Show vs Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “I don't have a strong feeling here but I think Big Show is more money than Orton is. I know I'm in the vast minority with this.” P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs Team Hell No for the Tag Team titles: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “The Shield should win the titles, and to segway to the next match, they should defend them via Freebird Rules.” P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Dean Ambrose vs Kofi Kingston for the United States title: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “I would not put Dean Ambrose in this match in the first place. Now that he is, he has to win.” “You gotta be careful when you have these guys win titles because they can't ever lose them.” P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Brock Lesnar vs Triple H in a steel cage: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “The point of the match is the WWE badass beats the UFC badass.” "Let me tell you what could happen, Brock could beat Triple H by Triple H whipping Brock through cage and his feet hit the floor.” Ryback vs John Cena for the WWE Championship: P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “He has this feeble catchphrase Ryback Rules which sounds like it was stolen from Billy Madison and he can't even deliver it right.” First 3 matches: Next 3 matches: Final 2 matches: