WWE Releases Statement On WrestleMania Ticket Sale Postponement

World Wrestling Entertainment issued the following press release today:

Hurricane Ike Forces WWE to Postpone WrestleMania(R) XXV On-Sale
New on-sale date scheduled for October 11

HOUSTON, Sep 11, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — World Wrestling Entertainment(R) has postponed the ticket on-sale date for WrestleMania(R) XXV until Saturday, October 11th at 10 a.m. CT. WWE officials made the decision out of concern for the residents of Texas as they prepare for the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

President George Bush has declared an emergency in Texas and state authorities began ordering evacuations as deadly Hurricane Ike, which strengthened Thursday to a powerful Category Two storm, churned in the Gulf of Mexico toward the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Tickets for the annual pop culture extravaganza were originally scheduled to go on sale on September 20th. WrestleMania(R) XXV takes place on Sunday, April 5, 2009, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. Tickets will be available at the Reliant Stadium Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Further information will be available on www.WWE.com.

WWE Monday Night Raw Results 9/8/08

Report by Richard Trionfo and PWinsider.com

After last night’s ScrambleMania pay per view, otherwise known as Unforgiven, do we get to see a new champion for the Raw brand or did CM Punk get to retain his title. In case you missed the pay per view, CM Punk did not even get a chance to defend his title because of what Randy Orton did to him. Punk was beaten up so bad that he could not even wrestle. However, one man who got beaten to the point where he could not defend himself was able to take Punk’s place and he is your new World Champion. Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho, but Jericho was able to accept General Manager Adamle’s offer to join the Raw Scramble match. We also saw Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes retain the tag titles against Cryme Tyme. We got to see a new member of the Raw roster when Manu made his debut to help Rhodes and DiBiase. What is next for Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix after what Randy Orton said to them last week? Will Kofi Kingston get any revenge on Rhodes, Orton, DiBiase, or Manu for their attack on him when Kingston came to Punk’s aid? What fun things will The Adamle come up with tonight? What will the new champion say? What will the four men who could not win the title do on tonight’s show. Will Bradshaw claim that he is the champion because the Jets and Giants won this weekend?

We are live from Fort Wayne, Indiana and your announcers are Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.

Lillian Garcia is in the ring and she introduces the new World Champion Chris Jericho. Chris tells everyone who he is and he points out that he is the new World Champion in case you missed Lillian Garcia’s announcement. Jericho is going to give everyone who did not see the pay per view an update on what happened. Last night, he faced the wrath of a self righteous hypocrite, Shawn Michaels. Shawn talks about turning the other cheek and being a good person; but Chris wants to show us what Shawn did last night. Chris takes off his jacket, shirt, and tie and he reveals the marks on his back. The crowd applauds the bruises while Chris talks about them. He asks what kind of man would do this to another human being. What kind of person would disfigure another man? That man is Shawn Michaels and he is a hypocrite. Shawn whipped him like a dog. The tip of his belt discolored his back and the fans savored every minute of it. When all of the bravado goes down, what did Shawn Michaels win? He won nothing. Shawn might have won his match. Now he is home celebrating with his family. Chris says that the match was unsanctioned and never existed so Shawn accomplished nothing. Chris points out that he has the title belt.

Chris says that six months ago, he said that good things happen to good people. Chris says that he is a good person. He is a righteous man and a good man. He does what he says and now he is the champion. After he received the brutal beating that he did not deserve last night, he was told by Mike Adamle that Randy Orton kicked CM Punk in the head and was out of the Scramble. That is how he is the new champion. Not only did he beat Steve Austin and The Rock to become the first Undisputed Champion. Last night, he beat Kane, Rey Mysterio, Batista, and Bradshaw to win the title. Chris points out that Batista came close to winning. Now everyone must respect how good Chris Jericho is. Chris says that he is not Shawn Michaels. He is better because he is the new World Champion.

Mike Adamle comes out and he congratulates Chris for his victory. Adamle says that CM Punk suffered a concussion last night and was not medically cleared to wrestle last night. Mike says that he was looking for a championship caliber replacement and Chris filled in that role. Adamle reminds everyone that Punk lost without being pinned. Punk is not here tonight. Next week he will get a chance to regain his title. Punk will Jericho for the title. The match will be in a steel cage.

Jericho says that he is not worried because he beat Punk in his home town, so he can beat him next week. Chris says that he is sick of dealing with the hypocrites so he is going to get out of here. Adamle says that he is not done. He needs a main event tonight. After last night, why not have Chris Jericho face Batista.

We go to commercial.

We are back and Candice Michelle comes to the ring to watch our first match.

Match Number One: Beth Phoenix versus Mickie James for the WWE Women’s Title
Mickie with a waist lock and Beth tries for a fireman’s carry but she picks up Mickie and drops her on the top rope. Mickie goes to the floor and Beth with a kick and then she sends Mickie into the ring post. Beth rolls Mickie back into the ring and gets a near fall. Beth with an arm bar and she punches Mickie and works on the arm. We see Candice’s back enjoy the match as Beth lifts Mickie in the air by her arm. Mickie gets to the ropes and she kicks Beth in the back. Beth with an arm wringer from the turnbuckles. Beth with a slingshot suplex attempt but Mickie floats over and hits a neck breaker. Mickie with forearms but Beth with a punch. Beth runs Mickie into the corner and then she charges into a boot. Mickie with a punch and then she hits a head scissors take down and flying clothesline. Mickie with a Thesz Press and she punches Beth. Beth stops an Irish whip attempt and then she returns to the arm. Beth with a forearm to the midsection and then she sends Mickie to the apron. Mickie with a forearm and then Mickie tries for a head scissors but Beth with a wheelbarrow slam for the three count.
Winner: Beth Phoenix

After the match, Beth stares at Candice and Candice stands up very slowly and stands in front of her chair.

Jamie Noble and Layla are in the back and Jamie says that Layla is his lucky charm. Jamie wants Layla out there for their tiebreaker match. Layla says that she was surprised by Noble’s win. Noble says that he has a surprise for Layla and from out of nowhere, Jillian scares pets with her rendition of Layla. Noble says that wasn’t the song he was thinking of and mentions a Layla with a feather in her hair. Noble says that when he wins tonight, they are going to celebrate at Olive Garden. We go to commercial.

We are back with WWE Rewind: Jamie Noble beating William Regal last week on Raw.

Match Number Two: Jamie Noble versus William Regal
Regal backs Noble into the corner and he hits a series of knees and then he biels Noble out of the corner. Noble with a kick and then he puts Regal in a side head lock. Noble with a shoulder tackle and Regal does not go down. Noble with a head scissors take down. Regal with an exploder suplex. Regal works over Noble apparently while we watch Layla at ringside. Regal with an arm bar and cross face. Noble punches Regal and tries for a sunset flip but Regal with a knee to the head and then he puts Noble in a side head lock. Noble tries to get to his feet and he finally does but Regal makes him pay with a knee to the midsection. Regal with an Irish whip but Noble with a series of kicks. Noble with a drop kick from the second turnbuckle for a near fall. Noble with an enzuigiri and then he hits a cannonball, but Regal gets his knees up and Regal with a running knee to the head for the three count.
Winner: William Regal

After the match, Regal gets a mic and he stands by Noble and asks him what he expected because happy endings only happen in fairy tales. Regal leaves the ring and approaches Layla. Layla leaves with Regal and Layla has a scared look on her face as she leaves with William.

We go to commercial.

We are back with random WWE Raw longevity factoid.

Match Number Three: John Bradshaw Layfield with JBLimo versus Charles Haas Layfield from the trunk of the JBLimo
Haas makes Layfield proud by mentioning Mamajuana a few hundred times. Bradshaw does the JBL dance before Bradshaw takes the mic. Charles holds up some Mamajuana for Bradshaw and smiles. Bradshaw asks Haas if he is mocking him. Bradshaw says that Haas has to be kidding him. He asks him if this is funny. Bradshaw asks if he is an over the top caricature. Bradshaw calls him a disrespectful punk. He says that he deserves better than this. He says that Haas will respect him. He says that he deserves it. The bell rings and Bradshaw leaves the ring and heads to the back. The referee makes the ten count and Haas wins the toughest match of his career.
Winner: Charles Haas Layfield

We go to commercial.

We are back and Wrestlemania 25 tickets are on sale on September 20th (unless you have the pre-sale codes).

We are back and Bradshaw is walking in the back and he is not happy. We see Batista and Kelly laughing. Bradshaw wonders what they are laughing at. Kelly leaves and Batista comments on the plugs by Haas. Bradshaw says that Batista should understand how inappropriate it was for Haas to do that because they have nothing in common. Batista agrees that they have nothing in common. Batista points out that Haas won his match tonight.

Todd Grisham is with Rey Mysterio in the interview area. Todd asks Rey about the time he took off because of what Kane did. Rey says that he does not know why Kane did that. Because of his actions, Rey needed to take time off to rehab his body (and get more tattoos). Rey says that he needs to stand strong if he is going to be on Raw. Rey starts to speak in tongues and then he tells Kane that he might claim that he is Kane’s victim. Saying that Kane killed his spirit, it is not true because his spirit is still alive. Rey might always be an underdog, but he is nobody’s victim.

We go to commercial.

Match Number Four: John Morrison and The Miz versus Evan Bourne and Rey Mysterio
Bourne and Morrison start things off and Morrison backs him into the corner and Bourne avoids a punch and hits an arm drag into a cover. Bourne holds on to the arm bar and then he tags in Rey. Rey with a seated splash onto the arm for a near fall. Morrison with a kick to Rey followed by an Irish whip. Morrison drives Rey into the mat and Miz tags in and they hit a double gutbuster. Miz with elbows and an arm bar. Miz sends Rey into the corner but Rey with a kick and then he hits a seated senton splash and he tags in Bourne. Bourne goes up top and hits a double knee drop. Bourne and Rey with a wheelbarrow slam to Miz but Morrison interferes. Bourne is sent to the floor and he hits a rana on Morrison. Bourne with a jumping back kick and then he goes up top but Morrison gets on the apron and he kicks Bourne in the back of the head while the referee was distracted by Rey. Morrison tags back in and he connects with a forearm to Bourne and then he comes in with a slingshot elbow while Bourne was still on Miz’s knees. Morrison with a rear chin lock and he has his knee in Bourne’s back. Bourne kicks Morrison in the knee but Morrison tries for a neckbreaker but Bourne turns it into a back slide. Miz tags back in and he hits an elbow drop. Miz with a rear chin lock. Miz with forearms to the back and then Morrison is tagged in but Bourne avoids both men and he is able to tag in Rey. Rey with a springboard cross body to both men. Rey is tossed onto Miz and he hits a rana that sends Miz to the floor. Rey with a springboard seated splash followed by a kick to the head for a near fall. Rey sends Morrison into the ropes and Morrison assumes the position but Miz trips Rey on the 619 attempt. Bourne breaks up the cover by Morrison. Bourne is sent to the floor with a knee lift. Morrison kicks Miz by mistake and then Rey sends Morrison back into the ropes for the 619. Bourne tags in and he hits the shooting star press for the three count.
Winners: Evan Bourne and Rey Mysterio

After the match, Kane tells Rey Rey that they will meet next week and then everyone will understand why Rey is a victim. Kane says that he chose Rey and he will not tell Rey just yet. Kane has a hint and it is a special hint. We see the old mask that Kane used to wear. Rey starts to twitch and we go to commercial.

Randy Orton is walking in the back and we go to commercial.

We are back with the Slam of the Week: Randy Orton kicking CM Punk last night at Unforgiven.

Randy Orton comes to the ring very deliberately. Orton has lulled the sound truck to sleep and then he says that there is no worse feeling than to be on a global stage with the title in your grasp only to have tragedy keep you from competing. Orton says that he is not talking about CM Punk. Orton says that he is talking about himself. A few months ago, he broke his collarbone against Triple H, unable to retain his title. The difference between CM Punk and himself is that he earned his championship. He won the main event at Wrestlemania. CM Punk got lucky and karma caught up. Last night, he was taken out by a one armed man. Orton says that he did it because he was threatened and he felt concerned for his safety. Punk should not be mad, but he should be happy for having his face kicked in because it kept him from being exposed.

Orton tells Jericho to feel free to thank him any time he wants because if it wasn’t for him, Jericho would not have been in the match, and he would not have been champion. Orton says that he will take back what is his when he is healthy.

Orton is interrupted by Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase and Manu who come to the ring. Rhodes asks Orton who took care of Punk last night. Rhodes tells Orton to check his facts because if the three of them didn’t do what they did, Orton would not have been able to punt Punk unconscious. Rhodes says that they took care of Kofi too. Rhodes tells Orton not to take credit for something he didn’t do. Manu says that he is not the only one who was blessed with God given talent. He isn’t the only one with a father who is a hall of famer. He says that Orton is no better than any of them. Ted says that Orton did slap Cody in the fact last week. Ted says that what they did to Punk was impressive. Orton slaps DiBiase and then Orton leaves the ring.

We go to commercial.

We are back with a WWE linguistics factoid.

Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, and Manu are still in the ring because they are involved in the next match.

Match Number Five: Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu versus Cryme Tyme and Kofi Kingston
JTG and Rhodes start things off and JTG sends Rhodes into the corner. Rhodes runs into a punch from JTG. Rhodes with an Irish whip but he runs into a boot. Rhodes with a knee and forearm before tagging in DiBiase. JTG with a drop toe hold and front face lock. Kofi tags in and he hits a European uppercut. DiBiase with an Irish whip but he misses the charge and Kingston goes into the corner. Manu is sent to the apron and DiBiase sends Kingston to the floor where Manu chops Kofi. Manu tags in and he hits a head butt and slam followed by a diving head butt for a near fall. Manu slams Kofi and tags in DiBiase who hits a knee drop from the turnbuckles for a near fall. Rhodes tags back in and they double team Kofi. Rhodes with a modified abdominal stretch but Kofi gets to his feet and he punches Rhodes. Rhodes with a forearm. Kofi misses a cross body when Rhodes moves out of the way. Kofi with a rollup for a near fall and then we get a double clothesline from Rhodes and Kingston and both men are down. DiBiase and Shad tag in and Shad with a boot to Ted and then he goes after Manu. DiBiase gets another clothesline and then Shad presses Rhodes over his head. Shad sends JTG into Rhodes and both men go over the top rope to the floor. Shad with a power slam to DiBiase and then Manu tags in and he hits a belly-to-back suplex into a neck breaker for the three count.
Winners: Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, and Manu

We go to commercial.

We are back with the WWE 24/7 Classics on Demand Moment: A look at November 24, 1983 when Ric Flair won the NWA World Title at Starrcade.

Cole and Lawler talk about the passing of the torch with that match. Lawler mentions that this month on WWE 24/7 Classics on Demand is devoted to Flair.

Santino comes to the ring with the Honk-A-Meter and time to point out that he is only 61 weeks behind the Honky Donkey Man. The Mountie only had the title for two days. He is 19 days better than the Mountie. Santino says that he hopes Randy Orton is impressed. He wants his opponent to come to the ring.

Match Number Six: Santino Marella with Beth Phoenix versus Gene Snitsky
Snitsky with a forearm to Santino and then Beth tries to distract him. Snitsky with a clothesline and elbow for a near fall. Snitsky sends Santino into the corner and then he misses the boot into the corner. Santino trips Snitsky and gets the rollup for the three count.
Winner: Santino Marella

Mike Adamle is with Kelly Kelly in the office and he wants to know what he could have done differently. Mike says that he wanted five champions in the match. Kelly says that she feels bad for Punk. Chris Jericho enters and he says that this is not fair and he was in two matches last night. He says that he is not a machine and he should get a week to get ready for Punk in the steel cage. Adamle says that he did Jericho a favor last night and he wants reciprocity. Adamle says that the match is going to happen and it is going to happen next.

We go to commercial.

Match Number Seven: Chris Jericho with Lance Cade versus Batista
Batista runs Jericho into the corner and hits a series of shoulders followed by a biel to work on the injured back. Batista with an Irish whip and punch to the face. Batista with a boot to the head for a near fall. Batista with another Irish whip followed by a power slam and Jericho rolls out of the ring to the floor.

Mike Adamle comes out and he less than emphatically tells the referee to stop the match. Adamle apologizes and says that he is learning on the job. He wanted a great main event and he misdiagnosed Jericho’s injury. To even things up, it will be a handicap match. Batista will face Chris Jericho and John Bradshaw Layfield. The real John Bradshaw Layfield walks to the ring and we go to commercial.

We are back and the match has been joined in progress and Batista punches Bradshaw but Jericho with a knee to the back. Bradshaw with an elbow drop for a near fall. Jericho tags in and he kicks Batista in the corner and chokes him with the boot. Jericho has a punch blocked and Batista with a punch of his own. Bradshaw tags in and he punches Batista. Jericho chokes Batista while the referee is with Bradshaw. Bradshaw with a gingerly placed short arm clothesline followed by a series of elbow drops for a near fall. Bradshaw with a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Jericho tags in and he kicks Batista in the head and slaps Batista. Batista with a slap to Jericho’s head followed by a punch and a clothesline. Batista with a clothesline to Bradshaw. Cade gets on the apron when Batista sets for the Batista Bomb. Jericho gets the three count after Bradshaw hits the Clothesline from Hell.
Winners: Bradshaw and Chris Jericho

After the match, Lance Cade holds Batista for Bradshaw to punch him. Bradshaw asks Batista who he is laughing at now. Cade punches Batista and then they pick up Batista but Batista with a double shoulder tackle and then he spears Bradshaw followed by a spinebuster to Cade. Batista shakes the ropes and it is time for the BatistaBomb.

End of show.

Report by Richard Trionfo and PWinsider.com

WWE Unforgiven Results 9/7/08

Report by Jason Powell and ProWrestling.net

The show opened with a Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels video.

Todd Grisham and Matt Striker introduced the show and handled the call for the first match.

1. Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) and Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) and Chavo Guerrero (w/Bam Neely) and The Miz in a Championship Scramble to win the ECW Title in 20:00. Matt Hardy and The Miz opened the match. The announcers noted that Henry would retain the title if there were no pinfalls or submissions before the 20-minute time limit.

Good action while Hardy and Miz were in together. Miz hit a great neckbreaker and then showed frustration when Hardy’s momentum carried him to ringside and he couldn’t cover him. Chavo was out next and he immediately hit a frogsplash on Hardy to become the interim champion at 5:30.

At 9:00, Hardy fought off both heels and hit the Side Effect on Chavo for the pin. One of the announcers mentioned that fans have “waited so long” for the moment. Henry entered at the 10:00 mark and dominated the offense. Henry pinned Chavo after a powerslam at 12:00.

Finlay entered the match at the 15:00 mark and the 5:00 countdown clock started for the end of the match. Hornswoggle ran in and distracted Henry and the referee. Finlay hit Henry with the shillelagh. Hardy and Finlay dumped Henry over the top rope. Finlay hit the Celtic Cross on Hardy and pinned him. A short time later, Hardy used the Twist of Fate on Miz for the win.

Miz came up bleeding from the eye. Henry recovered and desperately tried to score pinfalls during the last two minutes of the match. However, the clock expired and Hardy walked away with the strap.

A commercial noted that WrestleMania 25 tickets go on sale Sept. 20.

The announcers recapped Matt’s title win.

Backstage, Jeff congratulated Matt, who said it’s the best night of his life. He said the only thing that could make it better is if Jeff also won gold.

Split-screen shots aired of Triple H and C.M. Punk. Jim Ross and Tazz checked in and discussed what must be going through their minds after seeing Henry lose his title without being pinned.

2. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes beat Cryme Tyme for the World Tag Titles in 11:35. Micahel Cole and Jerry Lawler on commentary. Solid tag action with the momentum building nicely. In the end, JTG had Rhodes pinned in a small package when DiBiase reversed it so Cody got the win. After the match, an unnamed man entered the ring and attacked Cryme Tyme, then hugged Rhodes and DiBiase.

Backstage, a trainer taped up Shawn Michaels’s injured arm and warned him that he could rip the tendon off the bone.

An HBK vs. Jericho video aired.

3. Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho in an unsanctioned match in 27:00. Jericho entered the ring and the announcers laid out while he scowled and soaked up the boos from the live crowd. HBK came out wearing a tank top, jeans, and boots. His left arm was heavily taped. HBK charged at Jericho. He took his boot off and struck Jericho with it early.

Jericho set up a table at ringside, which led to some great teases. Jericho tried to powerbomb HBK through the table, but HBK punched him in the head and Jericho fell backward and dropped HBK face first on the ring apron. Later, Jericho teased suplexing HBK off the ring apron through the table, but HBK couldn’t do it.

At 9:00, Michaels set up for Sweet Chin Music. He teased it and then stopped when he could have hit the move. He looked at Jericho and shook his own head no. The announcers explained that he hadn’t dished out enough punishment.

At 13:00, Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho. Michaels reached the ropes, but Jericho wouldn’t break the hold. HBK reached underneath the ring and grabbed a fire extinguisher and then sprayed it at Jericho to break the hold. Michaels took control of the match and beat up Jericho at ringside.

Lance Cade ran out to help Jericho, but HBK cut him off with a couple of punches in the aisle. Cade ran at Michaels again and punched his injured arm. Cade clotheslined HBK. Jericho wrapped HBK’s bad arm around the ring post and Cade ran at him and kneed his wounded wing.

Cade entered the ring and held HBK from behind while Jericho continued to attack him. Cade held Michaels’s arm down and then Jericho struck it with a chair a couple times. Cade wrapped HBK’s arm in a chair while Jericho climbed the ropes. HBK recovered and knocked Cade into Jericho, who fell off the second rope and through the table at ringside.

HBK grabbed a chair and headed to ringside with it. Michaels swung the chair with one arm and slammed it on Jericho twice. Jericho cried out in agony both times. HBK cleared the announcers’ table and placed Cade on top of it. HBK climbed to the top rope and then stopped. He headed back to ringside and placed Jericho on top of Cade on the table. HBK climbed to the top rope and elbow dropped both men through the table.

HBK stood up and Lawler yelled: ‘He’s up! He’s up!” HBK dragged Jericho, who was bleeding from the nose, back inside the ring. Michaels took off his belt and whipped Jericho with it repeatedly. Michaels got down on his knees, grabbed Jericho’s arm and said, “An eye for an eye.”

HBK locked Jericho in the STFU and punched him in the eye repeatedly. He released the hold and went back to punching Jericho’s eye. The referee called for the bell, presumably because Jericho couldn’t defend himself. After the match, Michaels backed off and then dove at Jericho and punched him repeatedly.

The referee tried to talk HBK into stopping. HBK stopped briefly and then hit Sweet Chin Music on the referee. A big “HBK” chant broke out as three other referees ran out. HBK continued to glare at the fallen Jericho.

Backstage, DiBiase, Rhodes, and the mystery man celebrated inside a locker room. Randy Orton entered the room. The tag champs introduced the mystery man as “Manu” and acknowledged that he is the son of former WWE star Afa. Orton said the champs were lucky and added that he was not impressed.

At ringside, Jim Ross and Tazz hyped the Motorhead theme song they used this month. They also ran through the Scamble rules again.

4. Triple H defeated Jeff Hardy and MVP and Shelton Benjamin and The Brian Kendrick (w/Ezekiel) in a Championship Scramble for the WWE Title in 20:15. The Brian Kendrick was in next and he debuted a new jacket. Ross noted that it was Kendrick’s first WWE Title match.

Kendrick attacked Hardy with some good kicks for a couple minutes, but Hardy came back and scored the pin at 7:20 to become the interim champion. At 9:00, Benjamin hit Paydirt on Hardy, but Kendrick broke up the pin and followed up with The Kendrick for the win. “The Brian Kendrick is The current WWE Champion,” Ross exclaimed.

MVP was out next. MVP took control and he went for the Drive-by kick on Shelton, but Kendrick cut him off with a great kick and then danced. Awesome. Kendrick was the interim champion when Hunter entered the match and the five-minute countdown clock started. One minute later, Hunter Pedigree’d Kendrick and scored the pin.

With three minutes remaining, Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on MVP and got the pin. One minute later, Hunter hit the Pedigree on Kendrick and pinned him. Hardy came off the top with a Swanton and pinned Kendrick moments later. Hunter kicked Hardy and went for the Pedigree, but Hardy backdropped him to ringside and then dove onto him.

Hunter remained at ringside while the other guys brawled and went for covers. With 15 seconds to go, Hunter entered the ring, Pedigree’d MVP, and pinned him. Hardy also went for a cover on Benjamin with two seconds to go, but the clock expired just after Hunter scored the pin.

After the match, Hardy approached Hunter and applauded him. Hunter signified that Hardy was one-second away.

A Mr. Perfect DVD commercial aired.

Backstage, Shawn Michaels talked about going home to be with his wife. He said he’s content. “Am I satisfied? Do I feel a sense of closure? No, no. If I had my choice, I would do what I did to Chris Jericho tonight every night for the rest of my life. He awoke something inside of me that I don’t know if I can control and I don’t know if I want to. And Chris Jericho, the worst is definitely yet to come.”

Backstage, C.M. Punk’s promo was interrupted by Randy Orton. Punk noted that Orton wasn’t wearing his sling. DiBiase, Rhodes, and Manu attacked Punk from behind. Kofi ran onto the scene and tried to help, but the heels outnumbered him. Orton punt kicked Punk. “Now that’s impressive,” Orton said.

5. Michelle McCool pinned Maryse to retain the WWE Divas Title in 5:40. Early in the match, Tazz noted that Maryse likes to refer to herself as the sexiest of the sexiest. Ross asked Tazz if he tried to use that monicker earlier in his own career. Funny. At 4:00, McCool went for the heel hook, but Maryse reached the ropes.

77 percent of the WWE Mobile voters felt Vickie Guerrero should have given Big Show a shot in the WWE Scramble match. Ross said he was surprised by the landslide, then said he wasn’t surprised by it.

Mike Adamle came out and said it looked like C.M. Punk would not be able to wrestle in the main event. He said they would find a suitable replacement if Punk were unable to wrestle and there would be a WWE Championship match either way.

Big Show walked to the ring for a promo. He recommended himself as a potential replacement for the Raw Championship Scramble. He said he’s tired of the way Vickie Guerrero runs Smackdown and complained about her “oversight.” He asked the fans if they’d vote for him to be in the match. They cheered. He said that meant a lot to him.

Vickie Guerrero walked to the ring. She entered the ring and chastised Show. She said he would have to deal with the “circumstances” (she must have meant consequences.” She told him to get out of her ring. The Druids music played and they brought a casket to ringside. Show laughed and clapped while standing next to Vickie.

Undertaker appeared on the big screen. He said the only question was whether Vickie would voluntarily go with him. She tried to get away, but Big Show held her arm and laughed. Taker made his full entrance. Once at ringside, Taker opened the casket and Show forced her to look inside.

Taker walked toward Vickie, who was still being held by Show. He grabbed her by the throat and then Show released her. Show punched Taker. Show dominated Taker as the brawl spilled to ringside. Taker got a couple punches in, but Show picked him up and rammed his back into the ring post.

Show picked up Taker and dropped him headfirst onto the casket. Back inside the ring, Show continued his assault on Taker. He knelt down and picked up Taker and held him in place while Vickie slapped him and spat in his face. Show and Vickie left the ring together.

Another WrestleMania 25 commercial aired.

Highlights aired from Raw of the Randy Orton and C.M. Punk confrontations, followed by the attack from earlier tonight.

Backstage, William Regal was wearing his wrestling gear and he tried to talk Mike Adamle into letting him wrestle. Adamle said there is still a chance that Punk will wrestle.

6. Chris Jericho defeated Batista and Rey Mysterio and JBL and Kane in a Championship Scramble two win the World Hvt. Championship in 17:20. They ran through the rules again. Batista and JBL started the match. Five minutes later, Kane checked in while JBL sold a knee injury on the floor. At 7:30, Kane chokeslammed JBL and pinned him. There was zero crowd reaction for the pinfall. Ouch.

The fans counted down with the time clock for the next entrant, which, not so surprisingly, turned out to be Rey Mysterio. At 10:00, Rey and Batista worked together and Rey hit a splash off Batista’s shoulders. Moments later, Mysterio teased a similar move, but rolled up Batista for a nearfall.

At 12:00, WWE’s clock counted down for the final entrant. Chris Jericho came out with a bloody nose and welts all over his back. Mysterio and Batista continued to take shots at one another in between brawling with the heels. With two minutes left, Jericho was still at ringside selling his injuries.

With 30 seconds left, Batista speared Kane and then hit the spinebuster for the pin. Mysterio springboarded off the top rope toward Batista, who caught him and turned it into a powerbomb. Meanwhile, Jericho snuck in and pinned Kane, who was still out from the Batista pinfall. Time expired about five seconds later and Jericho won the World Hvt. Title.

Report by Jason Powell and ProWrestling.net

Top 10 Unforgiven Matches

Top 10 Unforgiven Matches

1.      John Cena def. Edge to win the WWE Championship (TLC Match) 2006

It seems like all the upsets take place in Canada. Obviously not as upsetting as the infamous Montreal Screw Job, still Edge’s lose to Cena in Canada is something to be spoken for. As Mr. America took on Captain Canada this match was a dooms day for the Canuk from day one. The facts are simple, it was Edges home town and he was wrestling his match (TLC) so with the cards stacked in the favor for the Champion it would naturally make sense for the upset to occur and Cena to become “The Champ” again. However, this match did deliver in terms of quality, both Edge and Cena took a ladder bump through a table. In addition one cant help but laugh when Jr calls Lita a Bitch. Overall this match was a very good main event to the 2003 Unforgiven.

HIGHLIGHTS: Cena FU’s Lita, Jr calls lita a bitch, FU off the ladder

2.      Chris Benoit Vs Kurt Angle Unforgiven 2002

Wrestling at it’s best, nothing more really needs to be said. With a pay per view being the show everyone wants to get on for that month usually a gimmick goes with the match such as: ladder match, steel cage or even a title on the line. However with Benoit and Angle it was simply to put on an amazing show. Both wrestlers are on the top of their game during this match and it can been seen with the many german suplexs both men deliver to one another. Along with an excellently executed finish that Bret Heart would be proud of.

HIGHLIGHTS: Perfect German Suplexs, fluent submissions

3.      Randy Orton def. Shawn Michaels 2003

With the Legend vs Legend Killer gimmick in full swing it was only a matter of time before one of the best wrestlers of all time would face the new generation. Michaels and Orton took a good hunk of the pay-per-view (23 minutes) and delivered what one would expect witnessing these two at their best. With Ric Flair at ring side for Randy Orton one can notice the usefulness of having a “manager” in your corner.

 HIGHLIGHTS: Ortons RKO, Michales elbow drop, Flair being Flair, Controversial ending

 

 

4.      Kurt Angle def. Steve Austin to win the WWE championship 2001

Obviously with names such as Kurt Angle, Steve Austin and WWE Championship one can imagine a great match. However, what this title match brought was more then just technical wrestling. Kurt Angle won his first ever Heavyweight title and he did it in his home town.
HIGHLIGHTS: bumps outside the ring, Angles family lifting him on their shoulders

5.      Shane McMahon vs Kane (Last Man Standing) 2003

Shane O Mac seems to be one of the few in the company who has a passion for the sport and business at an equal pace. He has only wrestled a handful of times but everyone is memorable. Besides being a straight up hardcore match this bout is filled with a ridiculous number of spots in and around the ring. The creativity of this match intense as Shane and Kane attacked each other with everything from: chairs, cords, crane cameras, and announcer both. Ultimately Shane proved his worth with another insane high risk spot jumping from the top of the stage into nothing more then a crash matt. Now after reviewing the video some spots are obviously a little bit more on the fake side but no matter what gravity is gravity and a 40 foot jump is still pretty intense for the sake of a show, props to Shane O Mac

HIGHLIGHTS: Van Daminator, 40 foot bump

6.      Triple H def. Owen Hart to retain European Championship 1998

At the first Unforgiven one of the best matches took place between two “mid carders” at the time. Owen Heart brought his A-game to the ring and once again reminds us how much of a lose professional wrestling took upon his death. Seeing a younger less bulky Triple H is an additional treat as he was much more athletic ten years ago. Both wrestlers brought a lot to the table and interestingly enough it was simply for a title which no longer exists.

HIGHLIGHTS: Owen Harts piledriver, Reverse power bomb into DDT, German Suplex Pin

7.      John Cena Vs. Randy Orton WWE Championship 2007

With an intense build up to this Championship match one wouldn’t expect the WWE to book this match the way they did. Ultimately you expect the main event of a wrestling match to go anywhere form 15-25 minutes. In this match up the fans received a massive 7:20. How did this outcome emerge? With Randy Orton in the corner a raged John Cena began laying blow after blow (mostly body shots) which we have seen in several matches through the years. For some reason the ref decided to break them up but Cena wouldn’t let that happen. Finally the ref called the match due to, punching? The only reason I see this happening is the WWE was looking for a more realistic finish with UFC being big at the time. However in the end we all know wrestling is entertainment and the fans were not entertained.

HIGHLIGHTS: WWE ruining a potentially amazing match

8.      World Heavyweight Championship 2003
Goldberg def. Triple H to win the championship

By 2003 the WWE was in a low spot. Many wrestlers such as The Rock and Stone Cold were no where to be seen. However, the newly signed Goldberg was ready to take the championship from the prodigal son of the WWE. Many had suggested Triple H would never drop the title to Goldberg. But in the end we see how the WWE has a master plane. With the win of Goldberg the feud between Lesnar and Goldberg was created which led to the meet at Wrestlemania.

9.      Undertaker vs. Kane (Inferno Match) 1998

The Brothers of Destruction have had many great matches both against and along side one another. With Undertaker feuding for the first time with his brother Kane we also witness one of the last times Paul Bearer was involved with the story line. As 1998 holds a special place as apart of the WWE attitude era we witness a masked Kane vs the true deadman.

HIGHLIGHTS: Paul Bearer gets drummed, Kane set a blaze

 

10.  The Hardy Boyz def. Edge & Christian in a Steel Cage Match to win the World Tag Team championship 2000

With the several times these two teams have battled it only seems right that one of their many encounters makes the top ten at Unforgiven. Unfortunately this match was not given its credit as during 2000 the WWE was at an all time high. With names such as The Rock, Chris Benoit, Triple H and Kurt Angle main eventing this match was seen as filler. Sadly in today’s standards had this been on this years card we would be seeing a match of the year being made.

HIGHLIGHTS: Big cage bumps

 Written by: Lord Gonzo of Shop WWE

WWE – Did You Know?

The Rock won the WWE Title 15 years to the day that his father and Tony Atlas won the WWE Tag Titles.

WWE News – WWE Confirms Foley’s Departure, Mickie James On Candice Michelle, Mexico Show Cancelled

– WWE.com has confirmed the departure of Mick Foley from the company. His contract actually expired on Sunday night. Here is WWE’s statement:

Mick Foley and WWE part ways
Written: September 3, 2008

Three-time WWE Champion Mick Foley allowed his contract with WWE to expire on August 31, 2008. WWE and Foley have mutually agreed to sever businees ties at this time as the former SmackDown announcer pursues other opportunities.

– WWE has cancelled a house show that was scheduled for Auguascalientes, Mexico on October 17, reports ProWrestling.NET.

– FoxNews.com has posted video and a transcript of Mickie James and Josh Mathews at the Republican National Convention on ‘On the Record’ last night. During the interview host Greta Van Susteran asked James about Candice Michelle, who was on her show the week before for the Democratic Convention. She was asked if she had wrestled Candice before – Mickie said yes. Yes, I have. “I think that I`ve won every time I`ve wrestled Candice,” James said. Van Susteran then asked, “Really?” James replied, “Yes, but I haven`t and she`s my friend now and this is when we were enemies on TV and this was a few years ago. And she`s my friend now and so I wouldn’t wrestle her right now. Van Susteran replied, “And I should have learned that friend-enemy thing and because it`s actually quite intriguing the whole story. WWE is actually quite fascinating and it`s unbelievable the stories.” {WWE’s Mickie James and Josh Mathews at the RNC ‘On the Record’}

Racism in Wrestling

With professional wrestling developed in the South one can see how Black wrestlers have had to work harder then any wrestler to make a name for themselves. With the last boost of colour in the WWE being the Nation of Domination we are seeing a new boost with coloured wrestlers in the WWE, but is it for the wrong reason?

With Michael Hayes under a watchful eye after expressing negative comments to Mark Henry we see Henry as a Champion on ECW. Now understandably ECW is not a primary interest to the WWE as it has been treated like a watered down version of the original ECW. Along with Henry as Champion which is preposterous a new comer known as Kofi Kingston was drafted to Raw and claimed the Intercontinental Title from Chris Jericho in his first week on Raw. Both Kofi and Henry won their titles on the same night. With the zero build up to this title change only a few weeks later Shelton Benjamin claimed the United States title from Matt Hardy. Shelton was the last black wrestler to claim a title; however, he isn’t going to be the last with Cryme Time back in the game.

Yes everyone remembers Crime Tyme, the team who was fired from the WWE, no? Well a little refresher will help. In the late winter Cryme Tyme was working a program with Lance Cade & Trevor Murdock. During one house show Cryme Tyme was told to not performer their finishers to Cade & Murdock. However, with the tension between these four men at a high the warning from management fell on def ears. Both members of Cryme Tyme performed their finishers on their opponents then took the Tag-Team Titles and tossed them into the crowd leading them to an immediate termination.

Now with Cryme Tyme back on Raw working a program with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiasi Jr how long until the WWE feels the heat is off and the WWE goes without a black champion even in the low category such as the ECW Championship.

So the question is still up in the air. Should the WWE be praised or cursed for having so many black champions at once. Personally I don’t see what Mark Henry is doing with a title; he is barley a wrestler let alone a champion. As for Kofi Kingston beating Jericho and Shelton Benjamin beating Matt Hardy both of which were none built up title matches it seems that the WWE is giving away the titles that they lost respect for a long time ago. The main point is that even though black wrestlers are getting titles they aren’t getting the air time that white wrestlers are getting.   

Written By: Lord Gonzo of Shop WWE.net

Hustle Is Posting Right Now: Volume 18 (“Lost In Translation” Edition)

Good lookin out for the graphics work, Noc

“I’m the meanest.. and I mean this.. I don’t mean this to sound fiendish, but I’m a genius..”

L-L-L-L-L-L-Lupe The Killa with the intro line this time out. I may not be a genius, but I’m trying my gosh darnedest to give my readers something different to read, or at least an old idea with a different twist to it. There’s nothing wrong with review columns, preview columns, and things of that nature. Nothing whatsoever. However, there are already people here on the main page of Lords Of Pain that do columns like that (and do it well), and I don’t want to step on their toes. Anyway, you’ve clicked the link, so you should already know it, but for those of you who aren’t quite hip to the game yet, this is “Hustle Is Posting Right Now” that you’re reading. That, of course, would make me the man who has got these niggaz mad cause I’m shinin like a light be.. the man who has an attitude like “fuck it” cause muthafuckaz love it.. the man with the flow that’s opposite of handsome, it’s ugly.. I am Hustle, and I am in the building once again. Shout-out to Will Smith, but damn, the summer (summer, summer) time has just been flying by. I vividly remember 2007 winding down, and now I’m sitting here as 2008 is starting to do the same. We’re way past the halfway point in the year, and now it seems like the days are going by even quicker than usual. You know, before 2009 starts to wind down and I’m still here typing this intro, let’s get it crackin like Humpty Dumpty after he had his great fall. Shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!!

“Kotori!”

“Kotori!”

They’re calling my name. I don’t know how to respond quite yet.

“Kotori!”

“Kotori!”

I had only been in Tokyo for a little under 24 hours, but my promotional tour was already well underway. When I was told that they were trying to get a new era of wrestling over in this country, I really didn’t think they were so serious about it. Here I was, though.. having my very own press conference. Sure, it isn’t a very big press conference, but it’s a lot more than I ever dealt with when I wrestled in America. Hell, it’s more than I ever dealt with when I was wrestling in Mexico, and at the time, I thought I was being treated like some sort of a big rock star there. I wasn’t sure of how to react to all of the attention, and a part of me even wondered if I’d be able to get through it all in the coming months. I mean, I’m not shy, by any definition of the word, but being outgoing is one thing, and having people constantly showering you in attention and complimenting you is another thing. I never was good at receiving compliments from people. Ever.

“Kotori!”

I looked over at the translator that was assigned to me, Mr Fukumoto, and nodded, allowing him to start taking questions. He peered out into the crowd, settling on someone at random, pointing at him politely. The man stood up quickly and started speaking in Japanese. When he was finished, it was translated into English for me by Mr Fukumoto.

“How are you enjoying your stay in Japan so far?”

A simple question. I was hoping for something simple, at least to start the press conference off. It’s better than being asked about quantum physics, I guess. It would’ve been a bad start to my time in the country if I had been left to look like a complete idiot in a roomful of media members of various types.

“Although I haven’t been here very long, I’ve been very impressed with Tokyo, and with Japan, as a whole. This is my first time here, but it doesn’t take long to see the beauty and the wonderful scenery, and the people have been very nice to me so far. I have absolutely no complaints.”

Mr Fukumoto translated my answer back to the reporters. I had just met the guy an hour earlier, so I didn’t know anything about him. He could’ve been telling them that I said to eat shit and die a slow, painful death. It was almost like a game to wait for him to finish translating, and then see the looks on everyone’s faces. They smiled this time. Alright, we’re off to a good start. Another question came.

“How did your journey bring you to wrestle in Japan?”

You know, I think I could deal with press conferences like this. Short, simple, to-the-point questions. Good.

“Before I answer that, I must say that I completely enjoyed my time wrestling in America, as well as in Mexico. I left on good terms, and I’m welcome back any time I would like to go. I had read some things on the internet that were untrue, and I wanted to clear that up. Now, as for why I’m in Japan and what brought me here, that’s an easy one. I treat wrestling with the respect that it deserves. It’s my art. It’s my life. I felt that Japan was the right place to be for someone who has that outlook. The wrestling fans in this country are known across the world for the respect they give the wrestlers and to the business itself. The wrestlers here in this country are known for their approach to their craft, as well as for the dedication they possess in working to perfect that craft. It’s almost as if I was born to wrestle here.”

A lot of approving looks when Mr Fukumoto finished translating. That works for me. Time began to move a bit quicker as the press conference went on, and all the “usual” questions were asked.. ones that ranged from “What do you wish to accomplish before you leave Japan?” to “Have you thought about using some of your wrestling fame to transition into doing television or movies?”, and just about everything in between. After posing for what seemed like 15,000 pictures, I was quickly ushered out of the conference room and into the lobby of the hotel that I was staying at. Did I mention that I hadn’t even been in Tokyo for 24 hours yet? Yeah? Well, did I also mention that I hadn’t even seen my hotel room yet? Yup. When I had arrived at the hotel, I had already been scheduled for a magazine photo shoot, which meant the bellboy got to take my luggage and take it to my new home for the next two-and a-half months, at which point I’d be moving into a cottage near the outskirts of town when it was finished being constructed. From the point of me handing off my bags, it was a non-stop barrage of different interviews, photo shoots, appearances, and then, of course, the press conference. It was hectic, to say the least. I hadn’t experienced anything like that in my entire life.

With my schedule finally at its end for the day, I was given a makeshift itinerary for the next day before being “allowed” to go up to my room and finally get some rest. From all of the reviews I read, this was one of the better hotels located in the heart of downtown Tokyo, which was really saying something. My room was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The room was also much larger than it probably should’ve been, considering that I was the only one staying there. It could’ve accomodated a family of four quite easily, and it probably could’ve handled their family dog, as well. Everything was top-of-the-line, from the electronics to the bedding. I looked over the itinerary for the next day, and I sighed at the realization that my second day in Japan was going to be an even busier day than my first one was. I didn’t quite understand why I needed to take part in so many different photo shoots. How many people needed my picture, anyway? I had an interesting stay ahead of me, and if nothing else, I’d be able to fill up my MySpace photo albums when everything was all said and done, so I had that to look forward to.

———-

“Aaaaand, in this corner.. from San Francisco, California.. Elllll Coliiiiibriiiii!”

My final match before leaving to Japan. The crowd knew it, and they brought streamers to throw in the ring during my introduction. As hard as I tried to fight it, I couldn’t help but get emotional as I made my way towards the ring, slapping hands with the fans in the front row. My opponent that night was Kelly Martinez. Kelly and I knew each other well, and we’ve both gone on record as saying that we were each other’s toughest opponent. We’d had countless matches against each other. I was a face, Kelly was a heel. I was a heel, Kelly was a face. It didn’t matter, as we’d went at it, one way or another. We stared across the ring at each other before meeting in the middle, face-to-face. There were some flashbulbs going off, but for the most part, there was just a silent buzz that filled the whole arena, as the crowd awaited the match. Kelly always was a rather talkative person, and this time was no different, regardless of whether it was my final match with the company or not.

“This is it.”

“Yeah, this is it.”

“You’d better be ready, because we’re about to tear shit up.”

“I’m more ready than I’ve ever been.”

With that, the bell rang. We did, in fact, tear shit up that night. If it wasn’t the best match of my entire career, it was at least in the top five or so. I didn’t get the win that night, nor would I have expected to. It has long been wrestling tradition (for the most part) that a wrestler who is departing a company lose their final match. In some cases, the wrestler will lose a string of matches to end their time with the company, but I was lucky to just get the single loss on my way out the door. When it was all over, Kelly’s hand was raised as I was slowly making my way back to my feet. We looked at each other, and the crowd started chanting.

“Please don’t go! Please don’t go! Please don’t go!”

I became very emotional again. I didn’t want to leave. I was offered a top spot in one of the biggest and best promotions overseas as my specific type of wrestling was making its return to prominence in Japan, and since it wasn’t set to be a permanent move, I was given the blessing to leave. I stood there, and the tears began streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls. I loved the company. I loved the wrestlers there. I loved all the fans that came out to watch us each and every week. Kelly hugged me, and the crowd’s cheering and chanting just got louder. I was having a hard time thinking because of how loud it was in the arena, even though I’d end up thinking about leaving, which would only wind up making me cry even harder. Kelly raised my arm, and the fans applauded. I was given a mic, and the ring was cleared out so that I could give a “goodbye” speech.

“Wow. I honestly wasn’t expecting so much love from everyone.”

The chants began again, as if they were being cued up from somewhere.

“We-will-miss-you! *clap, clap, clap-clap-clap* We-will miss-you! *clap, clap, clap-clap-clap*”

“I’m gonna miss all of you, too. Seriously. I love each and every one of you.. even when I hated each and every one of you. Thank you for your support. Your support, not only for me, but for the rest of the folks in the locker room here, and for the pro wrestling industry, in general. Without you, there’s no me. Without you, there’s no us. I told myself that I wasn’t going to get too cheesy or give you guys the usual cliche’ stream, but here I am, doing it, anyway. Bottom line.. even though I’m leaving, it isn’t for good. I love this place way too much to never come back. Are you kidding me? I will be back, and it’ll probably be a lot sooner than most of you think. Trust me. Nothing in the world could keep me away from this place for too long. Nothing whatsoever. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I really do love you. Goodnight.”

That was truly a chilling crowd response that I got as soon as I put the mic down. I got out of the ring and went around slapping hands with the fans again as I made my way to the top of the ramp, where the rest of the roster was waiting for me for hugs and a bit of a celebration. More hugs, hand slapping, and kind words awaited me. I even got awkwardly hoisted up on the shoulders of a couple wrestlers. I wasn’t expecting to be lifted, so when I did, I just leaned forward on instinct, and they nearly dropped me. That would’ve been an amazing final memory for myself and for the fans. Cheers, adulation, applause, chanting, *thud*, unconsciousness. Needless to say, that would’ve made the DVD of the event a bit of a collector’s item. People on eBay would’ve had fun bidding on it, that’s for sure. Come to think of it, I probably would’ve put in a bid or two myself.

———-

I looked out the window at the big blur of neon-colored glow that was downtown Tokyo at 1:14am, and I just stood and soaked it all in. Even at such a late hour on a weeknight, there was still plenty of activity going on below. 41 stories below, to be exact. A part of me kinda sorta wanted to go out and join the people that were out and about, but I knew I’d never be able to make it through my next day if I did. I closed the curtains a bit and climbed into bed. The bed that felt like I was resting on a cloud, by the way. I grabbed the remote so that I could watch some TV as I dozed off, and I pushed what looked to be the Power button, based on its size and placement on the remote.

The curtains slid back open.

That, obviously, wasn’t the right button. I looked around the room to see if there were any other remotes, but the one I had was the only one I could see. I pushed the “Power” button again, and the curtains closed once more. Not knowing how to read anything in Japanese, I just randomly picked a button and pressed it.

The mattress began vibrating.

Alright, that definitely wasn’t such a bad thing at all, and I made a mental note to remember, for future reference, which button it was that I just pushed, but just how in the blue hell was I supposed to turn the TV on? I figured I’d give it one more shot, so I pushed yet another button, almost bracing myself for the surprise that was surely about to be heading my way.

I was startled right out of bed when a female voice began speaking in Japanese. I looked up and there were little speakers built in to the ceiling of the room, not unlike the ones you’d see at a restaurant or a grocery store to play music from. Obviously, I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but it sounded as if she was asking me a question. Just then, I heard another voice. This time, it was a male, and it was in English, albeit really bad and broken English, but it was English nonetheless.

“We can help you?” Room 4115?”

“Umm.. I think I made a mistake. I didn’t mean to summon you or anything.”

He chuckled a bit before speaking again.

“You here first time?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I’m just looking to turn the television on and go to sleep. I didn’t mean to be a bother.”

“You try push button on TV?”

Gee, thanks, jackass. So, this remote could cause my bed to give me a full-body massage, draw my curtains open and then close them, give me my own concierge service, and God knows what else it could do with all the buttons that I didn’t push.. but it couldn’t turn the TV on and off? What sense did that make?

“Umm.. no. I guess I’ll try that now. Thanks.”

“Have good sleep.”

I stopped the mattress massage and just rolled over to go to sleep. I didn’t want to wind up pushing a button and having a group of circus-trained midgets pop out of the closet to give me an impromptu juggling performance, although now that I think about it, that may not have been such a bad thing. Hmm, I wonder what button that would be..

I tossed and turned in the bed for a while, unable to get any rest. I couldn’t quite understand why. I was tired. My bed was more comfortable than just about any bed I had ever experienced before. It was plenty quiet in the room. I just couldn’t get myself to sleep. I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 2:48am, about an hour-and-a half since I first slid under the covers. I figured I’d call home, seeing as how it was in the middle of the afternoon there. I was starting to feel a bit homesick, anyway, so it only made sense to call.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

“Hey there. What are you doing up? Isn’t it, like, 1 in the morning over there?”

“Actually, it’s just about to hit 3am here.”

“Even worse. What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I’m good. I just couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d make a few calls instead of heading back out to find some trouble to get into.”

“How’s Japan so far?”

“I haven’t had a whole lot of time to actually stop and enjoy Japan just yet. Everything has been so fast-paced since I got here. This is the first time I’ve had to myself so far, and it just so happens to be in the early hours of the morning, when I need to get some sleep, yet I just can’t seem to get any.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You know, it won’t be too much longer, and we’ll be out there to visit you, so I hope you’re able to get some free time by then.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll have some time set away for you guys by then. It isn’t gonna be the same here without you. I miss you guys.”

“I miss you, too. We all miss you.”

“What are you up to?”

“Actually, you kinda called at a weird time. I’ve got a late-lunch appointment that I was about to head out for. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not like you knew I was calling or anything. Should I just call you back later then?”

“I think you should try and get yourself some sleep, and then focus on what you’re there for. We’ll be in touch. Don’t you worry about that.”

“Tell everyone that I miss them and that I’m thinking about them. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Definitely. Take care.”

2:52am. Christ, I had hoped it would be a bit longer conversation than just a tad under four minutes. Being alone, so far away from home.. in a place where I didn’t really understand anybody, and they didn’t really understand me, either.. was a bit tougher than I thought it would be.

———-

“Are you sure you really wanna do this?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.”

“Don’t you think you’re a little.. well.. small?”

“Of course I’m small, but I can’t let that stop me from pursuing my dream. I’d never be able to live with myself if I didn’t even give this a shot. I’ve wanted this ever since I could walk and talk, and now that I’m here, nothing is going to stop me. I’ve learned to look beyond my size, and I’d like it if everyone else could look beyond it, as well.”

“I respect your heart, kid. I’ll train you.”

With those words, my journey began. I was the smallest trainee in the entire class. I was the smallest trainee in the history of this gym, as a matter of fact. We had 18 students that came to train on the first day, almost half of which were gone by the second day. The money they paid to train wasn’t refundable, so I was a bit surprised that people didn’t give it more of an effort, no matter how difficult it was or how much pain they were in. The days went by, and we lost a few more trainees along the way. We were down to five, and that ended up being the final total for the remainder of the sessions. We grew close to each other, almost like a family. Of course, with any family, there was the good and there was the bad, but we all got through it.

In the beginning of the training, I felt like I was being patronized, in a way, as it seemed like the other trainees were being told to go easier on me because of my size. Sure, it meant that I wasn’t as tired or as sore as they were at the end of each session, but I knew it also meant that nobody was going to take me seriously as a wrestler if it continued on. I knew that if I didn’t speak up, it would only continue to get worse, so I waited for the next training session after my realization, when I was put together in the ring with one of the largest and strongest trainees there, and I said something right before it was our turn to go.

“When we get in there, if you don’t give me all you’ve got, so help me God, I’m going to stiff the shit out of you!”

My point got across, and it got across quite nicely. From that point on, I was treated as an equal, and not as some fragile, delicate being based on my size. That’s all I wanted from the very beginning, so I was ecstatic to finally get it. The level of respect that seemed to come my way grew tenfold after that incident. I guess people thought I would try to take advantage of their kindness or something. I never thought I’d be so happy to be getting my ass beaten on a regular basis.

———-

Riding around in the backseat of the takushii (taxi) the next day, I got to see more of the city life that was so beautiful. One of the highlights was going past Ueno Koen park to view the cherry blossoms. It was that time of the year, and they were on full display. I had wanted to see the cherry blossoms in person ever since I them on TV as a child. I’m sorry, but simple things like that impress me. I’m just someone who appreciates beauty, even in things that a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily find themselves thinking about. We were heading to a photo shoot involving me and my opponent for my first match in Japan. The funny thing about it is the fact that, as we were driving to the magazine’s offices, I still had absolutely no idea who my opponent was going to be. I didn’t have a name, any tape to study, or anything like that. I didn’t know if that’s how things normally worked in Japan, but it was just a tad bit strange to me.

We arrived at what looked to be an oversized outhouse, and we stopped. The driver did the hand signal for “here we are”, and I just stared at the run-down building in amazement. It didn’t even look like it should be standing anymore, let alone operate as the headquarters for one of the biggest sporting magazines in all of Japan. Mr Fukumoto paid the fare, and we made our way into the building.

I had to fight myself to stifle laughter once I saw the setup for the photo shoot. I’d already known that the Japanese imagination was a magnificent, and sometimes strange, thing, but this was something else altogether. The stage was set like something straight out of the movie “300″, and judging by the person I had just seen walking by dressed as Xerxes, the God-King, I assumed I had just seen my upcoming opponent. I guess that meant I was set to be dressing up as King Leonidas, and sure enough, I was right. I knew they wanted to get us across as “warriors” of sorts, but my goodness, this was taking things much further than I would’ve ever expected.

The site of me in my slightly-altered Leonidas outfit looked absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I looked great. I always looked great. I knew that. I mean, have you seen me? However, this particular outfit made it nearly impossible for me not to laugh a bit when I looked in the mirror. We were given various props to use, ranging from plastic shields to brass swords, which made the entire thing just that much more comical. Face-to-face with my opponent, we posed for a large amount of photos, and I was pretty numb to the entire thing. I just did as Mr Fukumoto asked me to do, as per his instructions from the photographer and the director of the shoot. I think that Mr Fukumoto could sense my doubts about the entire thing, as every time he looked at me to give me my directions, he had a look on his face as if he were apologizing to me for the entire situation on behalf of his country. When it was all said and done, I changed back into my regular clothes quicker than I even thought was physically possible. I knew I had an hour or two to kill before there was anything else scheduled in my day, so I knew exactly where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. Ueno Koen had itself a repeat visitor on that day.

———-

“I just don’t think it’s a very good idea, that’s all.”

“Why not?? This is what I’ve always wanted to do. You knew that when you met me, and you always said that you didn’t have a problem with it, but now that I’m trying to make it all happen for me, you’re against it??”

“I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I don’t exactly want myself getting hurt, either, you know.”

I didn’t understand why people were having such a big problem with my decisions. They didn’t seem to realize that their negative thinking and energy was only going to make things even more difficult on me, which was, supposedly, what they were trying to prevent. There was so much to be proud of me for.. to be happy about.. and yet everyone seemed to want to focus on the negatives. I hate it when people do that.

“I love you, and I do support the decisions you make, regardless of how it seems sometimes, but you have to be able to see this from my point-of-view this time.”

“I love you, too, and I do see things from your point of view, but I also think that it’s sort of a two-way street. You need to see things from my point-of-view. Just support me and be happy for me. That’s all I can ask of you. That’s all I’ve ever asked of you.”

“Fine. Whatever you want. I stand behind you.”

“I didn’t call to fight with you, or for you to give me an attitude.”

“I’m not giving you an attitude. I just don’t know what you want from me. You know that I’m going to support you in your decision making, even if I’m not completely sold on the ideas that you’re following. This just happens to be one of those times. You’re asking me to just change my outlook on things, like it’s that simple or something.”

“That’s not it at all! I’m just saying that-”

“You know what? This isn’t going anywhere, and it’s only going to lead to us fighting. Call me later, when things have cooled down a bit.”

Not only was I interrupted while I was talking, but I was hung up on, as well. It felt like I was being pushed and pulled in all different directions by different people. It made me start to wonder just who really supported me, and who was only saying that they did because they thought its what I wanted to hear. Before I even saved up enough money to think about training to become a wrestler, I knew that I had people in my life who were against the idea. Family members, friends, co-workers, classmates. It was always the same shit, too. They all wondered if I was too small to make it. Some of them were even caught off-guard a bit, as they didn’t even know I was a wrestling fan, let alone a big enough fan that I wanted to be a wrestler myself.

———-

It was the night of my debut match in Japan, and as the saying goes, I had butterflies in my stomach the size of eagles. I was pacing around in the locker room, and my heart must’ve been beating 20 times per second. One of my biggest concerns was the fact that “calling a match” wasn’t anywhere near as big in Japan as it was elsewhere. A lot of matches were “called” pretty much on the fly. That was a problem, seeing as how I didn’t understand, nor speak, a bit of Japanese. From what little research I had done, there weren’t many people in this company that understood or spoke English, and the ones that did weren’t set to be in the ring with me any time soon. The company’s promoter, Mr Hayashi, saw me pacing and walked over to me.

“What wrong? You no need nervous.”

Great. More broken English.

“I just want to make sure that I go out there and make everyone happy.”

“Work on make self happy first. You happy, people happy for you.”

Wait.. was his name Mr Hayashi or Mr Miyagi? That was deep.

“You’re right. Thank you.”

With that, he was on his way. My opponent that night was Shark Ishikawa. Shark wasn’t one of the top names in the company, but was still a respected veteran. I knew we were going to be the second match of the night, so there wasn’t much time to do much thinking, as the show was starting, and we’d be up before I knew it. Several of us were gathered around a monitor as we watched the night’s opening match. Once the final sequence was over, I went off to the side to stretch and get myself into the proper mood for my match. After about 10 minutes, Shark’s music hit, and I knew it was time to really get myself into the “zone”. Once Shark was in the ring, my music hit. It was some generic-sounding rock music that I knew I’d be asking to get changed as soon as possible. Of course, I couldn’t understand damn near anything the ring announcer was saying, but I knew my cue to walk out was when he said “Koooootooooorrrrriiiii!”, so I listened closely for it and followed my cue. The crowd reaction was subdued, but respectful, just as I expected it would be. That’s generally how the fans in Japan are, which can sometimes be jarring for wrestlers coming from countries that have wild and crazy fans. I got the streamer treatment when I got into the ring, which did surprise me a bit, as I figured I would have to win them over a bit more before something like that took place.

As the match itself got underway, my previous worries were proven to be for good reason. I was whipped into the ropes, and as I was coming back towards Shark, I thought I noticed the sign to do a leapfrog and to continue running, but at the exact moment that I jumped, Shark did, as well, and we crashed into each other rather hard. There was some quiet laughter from some in the crowd, but not from Shark. Oh, no, not from Shark. In fact, Shark looked pissed and ready to tear my head from my shoulders. There were a few more brief moments of miscommunication between Shark and I after that, but nothing anywhere near like that first one. All things considered, I’d say the match went pretty well. I was honored to be given a victory over a respected veteran in my debut match, and it may have even surprised some of the fans in attendance. My hand was raised, and I looked into the crowd and saw more than a few people applauding in a half-hearted way. Don’t get me wrong, though, as there were still plenty of people who seemed genuinely happy that I won. I knew I would have plenty of opportunities to try and win everyone over in the coming months, so I wasn’t all that worried about the people in attendance who had any sort of doubts about me. It’s not like I hadn’t been dealing with doubters for years up until that point, anyway.

———-

“You’re quick. Almost too quick for your opponents. It’s almost as if you’re just hovering all around them, quick-striking, and moving around before they can get you back. It’s fun as hell to watch, I’ll tell you that much. In fact, it’s so fun that I want to use it for your name while you wrestle here.”

“What are you going to call me?”

“El Colibri.”

I was basically “The Hummingbird” now, which was fine, as I liked the way that my wrestling style was described to me. Besides, “El Colibri” sounded much better, in my opinion, than “Pajaro Mosca” did, which was another name for “hummingbird” in the Caribbean. At first, the idea for my ring attire would be to have “wings” built into my costume, but I politely shot that idea down. I knew that Lucha Libre was known for its colorful attire, fancy costumes, and over-the-top ideas as much as it was known for the wrestling itself, but I just wasn’t all that thrilled with the idea of flapping my arms up and down on my way to the ring every single time out. Apparently, though, they really wanted to go with the idea in one way or another, as they stitched wing shapes onto my outfit. They gave me a mask to use, as well. I don’t think I would’ve felt right wrestling in Mexico if I didn’t have some sort of mask.

I didn’t wrestle in Mexico for very long, but I made the most of my brief time in the country, wrestling for four different titles in two different promotions, winning one of them. I was also a bit of a trailblazer, as I was the only non-Mexican to wrestle in my divisions, although I do have roots in El Salvador, so it’s not like I was a complete polar opposite of the people in Mexico or anything. Of course, I was billed as being from America, not El Salvador, so it isn’t quite the same, but the point remains the same.

———-

I was on magazine covers. I was making appearances on various television shows, from talk shows to variety shows. I even had a song written about me that charted as high as #4 in the entire country of Japan. My popularity had reached levels that I couldn’t have even imagined in my wildest dreams. I wasn’t a legend or a godly figure or anything, but far more popular than anybody in my situation had ever been in Japan before.

It had reached such a point that I was offered a contract that would have had me relocate to Japan on a permanent basis. On one hand, I missed America. I missed it a lot. I missed the food. Sure, you could go to a McDonald’s or Burger King or Pizza Hut, amongst the other American restaurants in Japan, but it just wasn’t quite the same. I missed the ability to fully communicate with people, even though my Japanese was improving, both in reading and speaking. On the other hand, I was being offered far more money than I’d be able to make wrestling in America, and that’s not even counting the endorsement deals and things of that nature that would only be available to me in a market like Japan. I could also wrestle less dates on a yearly basis to make that money for myself, which was also nice. It actually got to the point where there was a bit of a bidding war going on for my services. It wasn’t like it was when WCW would battle the WWF for free agents, and the contract numbers would reach insane levels, but it still felt good in a selfish way to have companies from multiple countries that thought highly enough of my work to try and outbid each other for me.

In the end, the idea of wrestling in front of my friends and family was just too much for me to pass up. Sure, it was a paycut, but thanks to the escalating bids from both sides, it wasn’t anywhere near as big of a paycut as it would’ve been had I chosen to return to America from the very beginning of the contract talks. I return to America in a few days, and my first match back in the states will be exactly one week after I arrive. I’ve already been notified that I’m getting semi-main event status for my return match, and I even have my very first DVD shoot interview set to be filmed the day after my match. In one of the stranger bits of cross-promotion, I was even chosen to co-host one of DJ Drama’s popular “Gangsta Grillz” mixtapes. It was one of his first Bay Area tapes, as he usually sticks with rappers from the south, but he was going with San Francisco and Oakland-based rappers Ya Boy, Mistah F.A.B. and Keak Da Sneak to co-host. I wasn’t going to turn down a new avenue to attract fans, but it still caught me a bit off-guard that I was asked to co-host a hip-hop mixtape, even with my Bay Area roots. I got all of this press and marketing opportunities only a short time after basically being told that I was too small to ever amount to anything in this business.

Not bad for a women’s wrestler, wouldn’t you say?

Thank you to the following for helping me create ideas for this column:

- “Lost In Translation”, starring Bill Murray & Scarlett Johannson
- My Partner-In-Crime, the one with my BFF bracelet
- Feeling “lost in translation” in life
- Wanting to be elsewhere
- Being different

Thank you to the following for getting me through this column:

- My Partner-In-Crime, the one with my BFF bracelet
- Lemonade flavored Gatorade
- 112′s self-titled debut album
- “Everything” by Lifehouse
- Layla El

Writer’s Note: Thank you. Thank you for being who you are, in good times and also in bad times. I know I say and do things from time-to-time that make things difficult, and for that, I do apologize. I just can’t help myself from wylin’ out every now and then, I suppose. There are times when I don’t deserve for you to be a part of my life, I know that, but whenever I look, there you are, and I’m forever thankful to you for that. I’m sorry for putting you through some of the things that I put you through, and you’re still everything I said you are in the previous two sections. Know that nothing will ever change that, no matter how many fights, how many arguments, or how many disagreements we go through. I do understand that you’re going through a bunch of things in your life right now, and that you really don’t need my baggage at the moment, so I’m respecting that. Either way, though, know that I care. Know that I still have your bracelet. Know that I miss you. Know that I always have your back. Thank you again. You know who you are.

Writer’s Note Part Deux: Thank you. Thank you for listening when I needed someone to talk to. Thank you for the advice whenever it was required, and even when it wasn’t. Thanks for also not making fun of me through certain things, at least not to my face, even though I’m sure I deserved it. I made fun of myself for it, so I know damn well I deserved it from other people. As I said in the last note, I know that I tend to be on the wild side from time to time, and I appreciate it when anybody sticks with me through those times. Thank you again. It really does mean a lot to me. You know who you are.

Writer’s Note Part Tres: To my lil homie, Mavsman.. this is to broadcast the fact that you get those two free shots at any of my favorite sports teams in whatever sport you choose. Could be the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Hurricanes football, Hawaii Warriors football, or the Cleveland Indians. To sweeten the deal for you, I’ll even extend the offer to particular players instead of entire teams, if that’s the direction you wish to go in. Colt Brennan, maybe? Whatever’s clever, Trevor.

Writer’s Note Part Quattro: “What is that? Who is that? I never heard of it.. I will take your picture and make a “Rest In Peace” shirt of it..” There’s a few of you cats out there that are just begging to be put on a “Rest In Peace” shirt. Some of you Harvey Dent clowns out there have decided you’d like to try and be Two-Face. I have something real special planned for you guys, though, so don’t worry. I’m giving you some time to come clean and to try and repent for your sins, but once your deadline expires, I’ll be putting you on blast. Don’t test me. I’ll make sure I change your life.

Well, damn, that one was different, wasn’t it? It was birthed as an idea in my head, and it was different then, but now that I’ve formulated all my flows and had those ideas typed out, the entire thing was far more “different” than I could’ve ever thought it would be. I hope it wasn’t too “out there” for some of you. One way or another, at least you gotta admit that it was more than just “Why I Like John Cena”.. wait.. I did that one, too, didn’t I? Well, you all get the point that I’m trying to make. Anyway, if you’re reading this, thank you for riding with me on another edition of HIPRN. We just keep on rockin and rollin, ladies and gentlemen. Before you know it, there’ll be some pretty big numbers following the word “Volume” in the column title. Calvin, hope your check-signing hand is ready to go, cause I’m fixin to earn them paychecks. That next check will be earned in 1 weeks time.. same Hustle time, same Hustle page. Until then, however, I’m gone like the Autobahn, nah’mean? From Paradise, I bid you farewell. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa.

“Life can change ya directions, even when you ain’t planned it.. all you can do is handle it.. worst thing you can do is panic.. use it to your advantage.. avoid insanity.. manage to conquer every obstacle.. make impossible possible.. even when winning’s illogical, losing’s still far from optional..”

Hustle
HIPRNFeedback@gmail.com
 

 

THE SUPERBOOK!–CHAPTER 4: IDOLATRY

——————————————————————-

1 Samuel 2:2 

“There is no one holy like the LORD. There is no one but you, O LORD. There is no Rock like our God…”

 

THE SUPERBOOK!–CHAPTER 4: 

IDOLATRY

Once upon a time, millions and millions of wrestling fans openly worshipped a false God.

In Hinduism, Brahma is the God of creation. Along with Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, these three Gods make up the Trimurti, or “Hindu Trinity.”

However, while Vishnu and Shiva are worshipped, Brahma is not. According to Hindu mythology, Brahma is a cursed God, forbidden to be worshipped.

There are many stories that explain why Brahma is cursed. The most popular reason being Brahma’s unguarded granting of boons, or blessings, to demons. All of the deadly demons in Hinduism attained their boons from Brahma which enabled them to damage the noble virtues of the world. Thus, Brahma was deemed the sole God of worship for demons.

Another reason why Brahma is prohibited from being worshipped on Earth is because of his ego. Brahma is viewed as being responsible for distracting the mind away from the soul and towards the cravings of the flesh.

 

In order to create the human race, Brahma created a Goddess out of himself and named her Gayatri. Brahma immediately fell in love with Gayatri’s extraordinary beauty, and was unable to remove his gaze off her. She would move in different directions to avoid his stare, but wherever she went Brahma developed a head on each side to maintain his lustful leering of Gayatri, which is why he’s depicted as having 4 heads.

Brahma’s obsession of Gayatri, his own creation in his own image, was motivated by desire which confined consciousness and excited the ego. In essence he became gay for his own image, which is where the term “gay” comes from.

Also, Shiva felt that since Brahma created Gayatri, she was his daughter and therefore it was wrong for Brahma to become infatuated with her. Thus, Shiva deemed Brahma unholy and ordered that there be no worship of Brahma on earth.

As a result, there is only one temple on earth dedicated to Brahma as opposed to the thousands for Vishnu and Shiva.

However, during the Attitude Era in WWF, sports arena’s also became temples in which Brahma was unknowingly worshipped by millions and millions of wrestling fans.

Idolatry is the religious worship of idols, which are images of Gods made into physical objects in place of a monotheistic God. Hindus worship through images in which the Divine Spirit is expressed. The image serves as a link between the worshipper and the God as the image is often considered a manifestation of the God. Worshippers call the presence of the God into the image so that they can communicate with him and receive his blessings.

 

The Brahma Bull is a sacred cow in Hinduism named after the Hindu God Brahma who became a cursed God. The image of the Brahma Bull was worshipped by wrestling audiences the same way all Gods are worshipped in polytheistic religions.

 

By worshipping images of Gods made into idols out of stone…or rock.

 

With the image of the Brahma Bull on ‘The Rock’ it is plain to see that The Rock was actually an idol of Brahma, a cursed God forbidden to be worshipped.

 

The Rock Says!…

Devout Hindus bow before idols in temples and even speak to them as if talking to an individual. Of course, these idols are merely stone sculptures which are unable to respond. But it is believed that if there is enough devotion in the heart of the devotee, the God gives a direct response.

 

The most electrifying!…

 

Worshipping Hindu’s will bathe an idol, offer it food, and adorn it with flowers among other things to maintain the idol’s power. The nature of the deity’s power is said to be electric, meaning the idol can produce an electrical current that can be felt by the worshipper when worshipping strongly enough.

 

Since ancient times, It has been believed that the wearer of an image channels the spirit of the image. For example, a man would tattoo the image of a tiger on himself and he would begin to take on the ferocity of a tiger. Likewise, with the image of the Brahma Bull tattooed on him, Dwayne Johnson actually channeled the spirit of Brahma.

 

Upon making his entrance, the Rock would look left and gaze longingly before quickly changing directions and looking to his right, again holding his stare in a forced and deliberate motion, channeling Brahma and mimicking his 4 heads that sprang up to keep his eyes on Gayatri.

As Brahma was channeled through Dwayne Johnson, he proceeded to trick wrestling fans into worshipping him. Hindu’s worship idols by engaging in chanting. The Rock would frequently goad wrestling fans into chanting his name.

“With the millions….and millions of The Rock’s fans chanting his name…” 

Routinely, unsuspecting fans would then proceed to chant “Ro-cky, Ro-cky!” Though seemingly insignificant, by having the fans engage in chanting, wrestling audiences were actually duped into false God worship directed to them under Brahma’s command.

 

The Devil knows you would never willingly worship a false God, so he has to deceive you into it by manipulating your conscience. Shockingly, while the millions…and millions of wrestling fans praised Dwayne Johnson for his electrifying performances, they also inadvertently worshipped Brahma.

 

The raising of one eyebrow was one of The Rock’s biggest trademarks. But before this quirk became synonymous with him, it was always used by villainous characters to signify sinister intent.

Did you smell what The Rock was cooking?

——————————————————————-
Epilogue 

God introduced wrestling to the world when He sent an Angel to wrestle Jacob to gain his salvation. However, through demonic interception, Satan exploited the virtues of wrestling in an attempt to achieve his master plan of sending millions and millions of wrestling fans to Hell with him. Therefore, dear wrestling fans, be wise as serpents as you go out into the arena, lest you be deceived. Amen.

——————————————————————-

…………………………………………………….NOC!
SUPERFANLOP@GMAIL.COM

WWE Monday Night Raw Results 8/25/08

Good evening, and welcome to WWE RAW on SCI-FI!!!
We have Batista VS Kane tonight!!!

CM Punk vs JBL for World Heavyweight Championship

The match starts slowly with JBL taking the early advantage with a lot of holds and a few hard body shots. Punk counters with with some nice sharp kicks, but it is short lived as JBL gains the advantage once again. He slows the pace of the match once again with a few nice holds and a couple of hard shots again. E goes for a high boot to the head, punk ducks out of the way, and goes to town on JBL. The delivers several sharp kicks, including a few in the corner. He drop kicks JBL out of the ring, and follows with a nicely executed suicide plancha into the announce table as we go to the commercial.
After commercial, JBL has Punk in a bear hug, then delivers a nice release belly to back, followed by a shot suplex for a quick 2. JBL starts using an abdominal stretch and slows the match again. He rolls Punk back for another 2 count. Hard short clothesline, another 2. JBL foaming a bit from the mouth, and Punk starts to fight back, but to no avail. JBL lifts punk into the torture rack, but he reverses with a spinning heal kick, that is caught, and Punk gets a sidewalk slam for his troubles. JBL with the slow pace, lifts Punk to the top turnbuckle, smacks him a few times, climbs up to the second rope, but his suplex attempt is reversed into a very high impact DDT by Punk for 2. Punk delivers a nice 1-2-3 combo, followed by a spin kick, the a flying cross body from the top rope for 2 ¾. High Knee, bulldog, and another 2 ¾. The GTS attempt is reversed into a Clothesline from Hell. Covers Punk, 1-2… Punk grabs the bottom rope!!! JBL looks bewildered, leaves the ring, grabs a chair, heads back in, but the ref, Chad Patton grabs it, and Punk hits JBL with the Go To Sleep for the 3!!! Great ending!!! This was a PPV caliber match!! Punk is showing why he is the champ every week.

The CM Punk / JBL angle is starting to get old now. The match was magnificent, though, and the two definitely work very well together.
Winner: CM Punk
4 ½ stars out of 5….

We return from commercial, and Mike Adamle is making an announcement. He shows on the TitanTron some footage from SummerSlam of Batista vs. Cena. She shot shows repeated Batista Bombs to Cena, and Adamle reports that he has extremely herniated discs, and will require surgery, and will be gone indefinitely. Adamle reports that he will name his replacement by night’s end.

Kane cuts a promo about what he’s done Rey Mysterio Jr.

Next shot shows Adamle speaking with Carlos Colon, who says he’s better than Carlito, and that Carlito is a jerk to everyone, including his family.

HBK comes in and asks for some time to prepare for Jericho tonight. Adamle asks how is Rebecca, and is answered by nothing but a cold stare.

Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly in a non-title match
Kelly Kelly’s music brings us back from break, and she is introduced. Beth Phoenix is introduced, and makes her way to the ring with Santino in tow. Kelly Starts with a headlock, and is lifted to the top rope by Beth. Kelly delivers a kick to the midsection, and after busting Beth’s nose, she gets on the receiving end of a quite vicious beating. He nose is bleeding too heavily for it to be broken, but I am sure that it will develop into that angle soon. Kelly whips Beth into the corner, and attempts to do a back flipping back elbow, but Santino pulls Beth out of the way. She chastises Santino, and Kelly school boys her for the 1-2-3!!!
Winner of the match: Kelly Kelly
Match gets 2 ¾ stars out of 5
After the match, Beth takes Santino down and starts to beat on him, sending him back to the dressing room.

Charlie Haas vs. Primo Colon
Carlito’s music hits, and he is introduced, being billed from Dallas Texas???? They call him “Charlito”… this is Charlie Haas with a bad wig, and an even worse accent. Primo Colon is introduced, and comes into the ring asking “what the hell is this”. Charlie slaps him into the corner, but Primo reverses, and delivers a hurricanrana. Charlie hits Primo with a VERY hard clothesline for 2. Haas with a few hard kicks, the a high side suplex. Rear chin lock applied by Haas. Haas grabs an apple, and starts chewing it, walks toward Primo, and is met with a hard right hand. Primo gets busy with a few dropkicks, a monkey flip, and a splash attempt that misses. Primo hits a flying high cross body and gets the pin… on a high cross body??? What?? Oh well. I guess he has no ending move yet.
Winner: Primo Colon
2 stars out of 5

HBK is shown walking toward the ring as we go to commercial.

We come back to Raw to a replay of SummerSlam’s promo between HBK and Chris Jericho.

Silence, then a HUGE (understatement of the night here) pop for Michaels, who walks out slowly to the ring. No fireworks, no jumping around, no posing…. just Shawn in his cowboy hat, a huge frown, and an attitude. He says nothing for a moment. He says that his wife Rebecca is hurt, but after being married to him for 10 years, she’s tough and will be okay. He says that he tried to believe that it was an accident, but, after watching Jericho on Raw last week with no remorse, he couldn’t do it. He said that the reason that he didn’t turn in his letter of resignation was because it would be too hard to say goodbye. He said that he looked at Rebecca and knew that he was not going anywhere (HUGE POP again)… then Jericho is on the TitanTron. Jericho says that he was asked to not appear on Raw, and that HBK was lucky for that. He says that the last time they fought, HBK walked out of the ring, but next time he’d not leave the ring at all. Says that HBK only wants the match so that he can sue WWE for what Jericho does to him. HBK says that he would go to jail for what he wants to do to Jericho. Said that he would sign any forms necessary for the match… no rules, etc. Jericho accepts the match, but warns HBK to not allow his wife and kids to watch the match. HBK says that his only goal is this one thing :an eye for an eye.
Promo rating 3 ½ stars out of 5. It would have been better, but, it was too long, and HBK is just too funny to pull of the psycho bit effectively… if it were a HHH or Kane, it would have been better received, I think.

Ted DiBiase, Jr and Cody Rhodes vs. Jerry Lawler and Jim Duggan
We come back to Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes being introduced. They walk in without their belts, which were lifted by Cryme Tyme last week. The are visibly distracted by this. Their opponents, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Jerry “The King” Lawler come to the ring.
Rhodes and King start it off, but, Rhodes tags DiBiase immediately. DiBiase with a back body drop on King, who returns the favor. DiBiase delivers a few hard shots, and King reverses a body drop. Double team by Rhodes and DiBiase on King after the tag. Rhodes maintains control of a side headlock and arm lock for a while, then answers some punches with a suplex on the King. He slaps King across the face, which cases King to get mad. He beats on Rhodes, then on DiBiase for a sec, then tags in Duggan who cleans house. Power slam… kinda, into a football stance / clothesline. Rhodes breaks the pin, King comes in for the save, and DiBiase his Duggan with that combination “Million Dollar Dream” / Russian leg sweep, hooks both of Duggan’s legs, and this match is over.
Initially, I thought the match was over too quickly, however, they needed it to be short for the upcoming promo. Duggan looked really bad, but Lawler was still very good.
Winners: Ted DiBiase, Jr and Cody Rhodes
Match rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5.
They grab a Mic, and threaten Cryme Tyme. Rhodes told Cryme Tyme that in the WWE, you win championships, not steal them, and they could never do that.
Cryme Tyme is in the stands with the belts. They introduce themselves, and tell Rhodes and DiBiase that they “borrowed” the belts so that they could get a match at Unforgiven. Wow… Shad Gaspar is REALLY bad on the Mic. DiBiase accepts the challenge. The promo is weak to say the least.
Rating 1 ½ stars out of 5, and this leads to a commercial…. Carlito VS Kofi is next.

Batista is in an interview when we return. He says that the match at SummerSlam was one of the toughest if his career. He says that he has nothing but respect for Cena, and hopes he comes back soon. He then says that he’s not intimidated by Kane, and he will win back his belt at SummerSlam, and says that tonight is personal.

Santino Marella vs. Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship

Santino is introduced first, and the replay of the end of Beth and Kelly’s match is shown. Kofi comes out to a small but respectful ovation. Kofi stars with a schoolboy for 1. He goes to an arm bar. Sholder block by Santino, then a high spin kick by Kofi. Kofi monkey flips Santino, delivers a shoulder, then an uppercut to Santino, then misses a back high cross body. Santino goes to work on Kofi with a face buster for 2. He applies a abdominal stretch which is reversed, and Kofi is flying around the ring again and again. He drops his boots across the chest of Santino, and Santino runs from the ring. Beth stops him, and makes him go back into the ring. Kofi backs into the ropes, Beth grabs his foot, he does a face splash onto the mat, and Santino covers for the pin. Beth and Santino kiss one another in their weird ways, and they leave the ring. Lawler says “This is like Beauty and the Beast, except Santino is the beauty!!!” The ending of the match really sucks, because the action was fantastic. These two worked really well together, and and start to finish match with a clean finish would be very interesting to watch.
Winner: Santino Marella
Match gets 3 ½ stars out of 5. Would be better if the ending didn’t suck.

Mike Adamle comes out and announces that Rey Mysterio, Jr. will be Cena’s replacement, which seems odd considering Kane’s comments lately.

After previewing the upcoming PPV, Batista is show walking to the ring. He faces Kane next!!!

Batista vs. Kane

Batista comes to the ring first to a nice pop, incidentally trips over the 2nd rope coming into the ring, and they show the cover of Muscle and Fitness with Batista on it. Kane is introduced, and comes to the ring with a sick smile on his face. They go back and forth, and Kane takes the early advantage. Kane is HUGE!!! Batista is a big man, but he looks small beside Kane. Batista starts working on the arm of Kane. They go to the mat, and the pace is really slow at the moment. Batista continues to work on the arm of Kane. A couple of big right hands by Batista, some shoulders, another right and Kane drives Batista into the corner. Kane pushes Batista off of the Batista bomb attempt, but gets a clothesline out of the ring. Kane goes outside of the ring and throws a fit. This leads to a commercial break.

Back from the break, Kane has Batista in a rear chin lock. Batista gets to his feet, whips Kane to the ropes, elbows, then kicks Kane in the head. He stalks for the spear, but Kane uppercuts. He attempts the choke slam, Batista counters, then Kane dropkicks the injured knee of Batista. He wraps the knee around the apron, then goes to work on it with repeated elbow drops, then an ankle lock. Kane with a knee breaker on Batista, still very slow pace. Kane continues to work the knee. Boot to the temple by Kane. Kane goes right back to the knee. Batista to his feet, but Kane kicks the knee again. They go out, and Kane kicks the knee against the ring steps. Batista starts to fight back. He attacks with huge right hands, and an ax-handle to the back of the head. Kane hits the knee again. He picks Batista us by the foot, and slams his knee into the ring… Batista weighs 300 easily, and Kane picked him up like he was 110. Batista reverses the knee lock with an arm lock, but Kane gets to the ropes. Kane chop blocks the back of the knee. Batista explodes with a clothesline. Both are slow to get up. Kane up first, charges Batista in the corner, misses, and Batista with a strong scoop slam on Kane. Kane with another charge into the corner that fails. He gets a drop toe-hold into the turnbuckle. Batista charges not once, but twice. The second time, caught in a choke hold. Batista reverses into a Spinebuster, goes for the Batista bomb, Kane to the knee. Kane wraps Batista’s knee around the ring post and grabs a chair. He his Batista’s knee against the ring post with the chair repeated drawing the DQ. Kane with a sick smile. He comes into the ring with the chair, tries to hit Batista with it, and gets kicked in the face. Batista with a spear on Kane, and gets the chair. He hits Kane in the back twice, and wraps his leg around the ring post, and hits it with a chair. He hits Kane’s knee 5 times before collapsing. The show ends with Batista on his back, and Kane getting to his knees in the ring.
Winner of the Match by DQ: Batista
Match gets 3 ¾ stars out of 5… would have been higher, but the DQ killed it for me.

Tonight’s show gets 3 ½ stars out of 5. There wasn’t enough action, but this is par for the course leading up to a PPV. Great buildup for Unforgiven, but a lot more could have been done.
Highlight of the night: CM Punk’s victory over JBL
Low-point of the night: Cryme Tyme’s mic work… ewwwwww.

Thanks for reading my post tonight! I look forward to many more posts in the future.

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