Wrestling

Straight from our Cageside Features Section, we bring you the results for our fifth CSS Pro Wrestling Championship Series of tournaments here at Cageside Seats. Our latest match-up in the first round of our tourney is complete, and so are your results. Yesterday, (Sat., May 18) our number six-seeded Pedigree was actually defeated in another seeding upset, by our eleventh-seeded Shining Wizard... by 21 votes! Thus bringing the Shining Wizard one-step closer to being crowned the Greatest Finisher of All Time. The final tally was: (Click Image to Enlarge) Be sure to vote today (Sun., May 19) as the CSSGFT continues our next first round match: (2) Diamond Cutter vs. (15) Alabama Slam. Voting will remain open in the comments section of the new match thread from 6 a.m. ET today, right up until midnight-CT tonight -- with the results announced tomorrow (Mon., May 20). Our bracket will continue to be narrowed down by you, the Cagesiders, in order to determine which finisher CSS believes to be the Greatest Finisher of All Time.

Here we are with our Extreme Rules predictions and thoughts! I’m joined this month by Jee-S and Mike Lightning with their very talented writing. Let’s get down to business! Pre Show Match: The Miz vs Cody Rhodes Jee-S: I expect Miz to win this. Cody Rhodes is on a losing streak and Miz is coming back from a movie; he needs the momentum big time. The WWE has never hesitated to make Miz look good but they seem to have troubles building Rhodes. ML: Correct me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t this Miz’s THIRD pre-show match THIS year? He went from Main Eventing WrestleMania 27 to becoming the resident scapegoat for everything wrong with the company. Another thing wrong with this match is Cody Rhodes’ participation. Why are these two guys being relegated to the pre-show with ZERO build up and no feud? It makes no damn sense. Not to mention, The Miz’s booking is all over the map more than Carmen SanDiego. After a brief and mediocre feud with Wade Barrett for the IC Title, which he held for exactly one day before dropping it back to Barrett, he disappeared to film….what was it? Christmas Bounty? His booking has not been awesome. Prediction: Cody Rhodes with help from Sandow to set-up a rematch at Payback. JT: Rhodes and Miz are both too good to be on the pre-show, but here they are. I’m assuming they’ll make the most of their minutes, and I’m guessing Miz will pick up the win here coming off his return from filming his movies. Extreme Rules Match: Randy Orton vs Big Show Jee-S: Unless a major twist, I think Randy Orton is going to win this match. Big Show is getting older and Randy Orton is still in his prime; he needs the win more than Show does. ML: Well, we knew that the Big Show was no longer going to be a part of the World Title or WWE Title pictures after he dropped the World Title to Alberto Del Rio. Neither him, nor his opponent, NEED another World Title run. Orton has become almost as stale as John Cena, I only say “almost” because he still hits rKo’s “from somewhere” time to time. This match has grown pretty physical since WrestleMania and it should come full circle with this match. I expect this match to be one of the more brutal matches on the card – though, I believe Orton’s “Extreme Rules” match with Kane last year was everything but extreme. Prediction: Big Show setting up Orton-Show at Payback. JT: The Miz referred to this match as one that we are all looking forward to, but I’m not sure how overly excited I am for this contest. I’m sure they’ll deliver something solid, but I just wish there was some potential prize coming for the winner of this match. Where will they go from here? I expect Orton to get the win, because that’s what he does. Chris Jericho vs Fandango Jee-S: I’m not quite sure about this one. I think Chris Jericho could definitely benefit from a pay-per-view win but then again so could Fandango. I think I’ll say Fandango just because the character has to build and he still needs to get over to properly establish himself as an important performer in the company. ML: Jericho has continually put on high quality match after high quality match week in and week out since coming back to the WWE. His match with Fandango? Not so much. I’m hoping for a lot better match between these two this time around. Everyone knows my personal disdain for the Fandango gimmick, but there are elements I like: his aggression, cockiness and ability on the microphone are the three things I like the most. I’ve never been a fan of the man formerly known as Johnny Curtis but I continue to remain optimistic. I just want this match to be better than their WrestleMania 29 affair. Prediction: Chris Jericho to set up the rubber match at Payback. JT: Fan…dan…go! I’m not in love with the guy, but his popularity has soared and his aggressive style has impressed me. I see big things happening in the future for him. As for this match,

Former NXT Star Brandon Traven (@TravenWWE) now known as Brian Breaker has posted a YouTube video which explains his character. He is currently available for independent bookings.

ROH May 18th, 2013 Richmond, VA Estimated Attendance: 400-500 Michael Elgin def Kyle Matthews Adam Cole def Adam Page  Mark Briscoe def Roderick Strong Ciampa def Chris LaRusso American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) def Cliff Compton and Rhett Titus A-1 (Jeff Early & Zak Hilton) def Aden Chambers and Brandon Day Steve Corino announces Matt Hardy will get his World title shot on JUNE 23rd at the TV tapings in Baltimore Jay Lethal, Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander def ROH World Tag Team Champions reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) & ROH World TV Champion Matt Taven  No DQ Match: Kevin Steen def Jimmy Jacobs  ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Jay Briscoe def BJ Whitmer -- Chris GST

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/jake-snake-roberts-sings-ballgame-turner-field-video-215145793.html Read the article, watch the video, but there really isn't that much more to say. I will say that he looks to be in great shape, even if his singing voice isn't. How did the Atlanta Braves allow this to happen? How did Major League Baseball allow this to happen? How do people even get these gigs anyway? http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/jake-snake-roberts-sings-ballgame-turner-field-video-215145793.html Read the article, watch the video, but there really isn't that much more to say. I will say that he looks to be in great shape, even if his singing voice isn't. How did the Atlanta Braves allow this to happen? How did Major League Baseball allow this to happen? How do people even get these gigs anyway?

Source: Wrestling 101 Former WWE star Bob “Hardcore” Holly talked about his experience recently in TNA: You took part in one of the TNA One Night Only tapings, could we see you back on our screens more permanently? “I did some stuff for TNA recently; I did one of these One Night Only PPV’s for them, which I enjoyed immensely. Everybody over there was so nice to me and I teamed up with James Storm and Magnus. It was a completely different vibe there, nobody had any pressure on them, no stress, and everybody was enjoying their jobs. I might be doing some more stuff with them in the future so hopefully you can look out for me popping up in TNA.” You can check out the entire interview at the link above.

United States Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dean Ambrose The United States champion has a career full of secondary title runs during his time in WWE. The volatile young member of The Shield is looking for his first taste of a championship in the largest wrestling company in the world. The Road to Extreme Rules The wildcat was able to dethrone the man who had worn the red, white and blue belt for 2/3 of a year when he beat Antonio Cesaro. The high flier backed it up by also winning the rematch on Main Event. There's not a terribly long history between Kingston and Dean Ambrose. They first collided when Ambrose and his Shield-mates Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins faced the champ and the Uso twins in a six-man tag match on May 6th. In a hard fought match, the hound of justice pinned Kofi. And his eyes betrayed his intentions as he openly stared at the belt. Later that week, Ambrose was locked up one-on-one against tag team champion Daniel Bryan. Rollins and Reigns, themselves headed for their first title shot on Sunday night against Bryan and his Team Hell No partner Kane, couldn't resist getting involved for their brother in arms. Kane and the Boom-meister came to the rescue. As they ran off the trio, it was clear to see that Kofi and Dean were on a collision course. Just this past Monday night, this US title tilt was made official, and this rivalry looks to become one for the record books. What's at stake? Kingston is rumored to be getting another shot at moving up the card. Ambrose seems assured of a trip to the main event. Who's journey to the top is shorter after this match, and who's trip will be detoured or derailed? Find out when two of the most exciting and unpredictable men in WWE face-off at Extreme Rules! And remember to stick with Cageside Seats for blow-by-blow coverage of the fight for the US championship, and all the bouts on Sunday night's show!

Amit Swami, who is The Great Khali manages when the WWE Superstar returns to his India, was arrested Friday for allegedly attacking a shopkeeper in Rewari. Ajay Kumar filed complaint that Swami and other individuals barged into his shop Thursday evening, dragged him outside, and assaulted him. Swami claims that his family members had asked him to settle their domestic dispute as Kumar had been troubling them. You can read More details on the story are available here.

Source: Pwinsider With WWE on the verge of signing new developmental talent to coincide with the launch of its Performance Center in Winter Park, Florida, multiple talents situated in the developmental system were released today as we reported earlier. It has been confirmed that Derrick Bateman, Briley Pierce, Sakamoto, Percy Watson, Brandon Traven, Audrey Marie and Anya were let go by the sports-entertainment organization. Bateman, who had been under contract to WWE since 2008, appeared on the final season of NXT before the program was transferred to Florida. He last appeared on WWE programming late last year, and had been making infrequent appearances for NXT. Briley had been under a developmental contract to WWE since 2011, the highlight of which was a Florida Tag Team Championship reign with Brad Maddox. He was shifted to the role of backstage interviewer for NXT last June, though would still continue to compete. However, he lost the majority of his matches from that point on. Sakamoto was paired with Tensai last year before being demoted to developmental in November. Having been trained by Taka Michinoku at his Kaientai Dojo wrestling school in Japan, he joined WWE’s developmental system in 2011. Traven competed for various Midwestern independent organizations as Brian Beaker before being signed to a developmental contract last year. He was originally trained by WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race in Missouri. Watson, a former professional football player, joined WWE in 2009 and would frequently appear on NXT. At times, he appeared on the brink of joining the main roster, but ultimately did not. Marie had been under contract to WWE since 2011 and was a fixture in the developmental system’s women’s division. Anya is a 6’1? Russian kickboxer and martial artist WWE signed last summer. She was recently sidelined due to a broken arm. According to sources, at least two additional names are expected to be revealed as being no longer under contract to WWE. Despite more releases being rumored, nothing is confirmed as of this writing. We’ll keep you posted when we hear more.

WWE's biggest pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year Extreme Rules 2013 is back tomorrow night (Sun., May 19), live on pay-per-view (PPV) starting with the free streaming pre-show at 7:30 p.m. ET and rolling on into the Fifth Annual Hardcore pay-per-view event commencing at 8 p.m. ET. (Keep in mind that you can catch the pre-show on right here on CSS thanks to our friends at Yahoo Sports!, or find it over at WWE.com, Facebook.com/WWE, YouTube.com/WWEFanNation and XboxLive, as well as on the WWE App. Tomorrow night's show features all your favorite WWE Superstars and Divas, including John Cena, Ryback, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, Fandango, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger, The Shield, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mark Henry, Big Show, and much more! Luckily for you Cagesiders, our CSS staff of learned-wrestling-blowhards is faithfully here for you, yet again, in order to help you all figure out just how this latest PPV event is gonna play out. We've got our CSS Staffer predictions for each and every match on the Extreme Rules card, coming up next! __________________________ Extreme Rules Match Card: Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H - Steel Cage match John Cena (c) vs. The Ryback - Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger - "I Quit" match for the WHC #1 Contendership Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dean Ambrose Singles - match for the United States Championship Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) (c) vs. The Shield (Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) - Tornado Tag Team match for the Tag Team Championship Sheamus vs. Mark Henry - Strap match Randy Orton vs. Big Show - Extreme Rules match Chris Jericho vs. Fandango Pre-show -- The Miz vs. Cody Rhodes __________________________ CSS STAFF PREDICTIONS: Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H Steel Cage match The General: This is where Lesnar gets to go over in exchange for agreeing to lose at the much bigger show, WrestleMania. Sure, Triple H needed to get his win back too, but it never made sense to do it the way they did and I expect that "The Game" will make the right call and let Brock put him on the shelf, maybe for good. Or, at least until his next retirement match. Lesnar wins, probably in a big way, and possibly with an injury angle right after. Prediction: Brock Lesnar Keith Harris: Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar (Steel Cage Match): The best thing for business would be for Brock Lesnar to decisively defeat Triple H here to set up a bigger money match with The Rock or The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30. Of course, when Hunter is involved ego often gets in the way of good business sense, but as he's been closing in on retirement that bad trait of his has become less common. Thus, I think Lesnar will still win this rubber match, as he well should. Prediction: Brock Lesnar Jesse Holland: Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar (Steel Cage Match) - You honestly never know when it comes to Triple H, with an ego the size of his, but he absolutely HAS to put Brock Lesnar over here. How can he be taken seriously as a crazed killer if he can't win a single match? Even if it has to be through nefarious means, a la Paul Heyman, Lesnar needs to win. If he doesn't, it proves that WWE was willing to spend millions just to get revenge on him leaving by watching him job at every PPV. Prediction: Lesnar Sean Rueter: HHH - Lesnar: If Trips wins, then Vince and WWE really did just spend millions of dollars (ptp.gif) on a rib against Brock and Dana White. Which, considering how much money went into Connecticut political campaigns, wouldn't totally surprise me. But, I'm going to bet that their knowledge of the business-ah and/or other company exec's common sense will prevail. Prediction: Brock Lesnar Eric B. Stephen: Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H - Triple H got lucky and staved off retirement at WrestleMania 29, and now it's time for Lesnar to get revenge. This is the guy who once beat a pissed-off Undertaker in a brutal cage match...Trips is small potatoes in comparison. Predicti