WWE - Kane and AJ

Throughout his entire career in the WWE, Kane has been no stranger to dysfunctional relationships.
Tori (Terri Poch), Katie Vick (ugh) and Lita spring to mind.
And now we have Kane and AJ.

    www.wwe.com

WWE - Layla and the Great Khali

In the last entry we had WWE Diva Aksana and WWE Superstar Antonio Cesaro and I mentioned that today, pro wrestling really is international.

    www.wwe.com

Well here is the current WWE Divas Champion Layla and The Great Khali.
Layla was born in London, England and is of Spanish and Moroccan descent while Khali was born in Dhirana, India and is a Hindu Rajput, who claim to be descendants of ruling Hindu warrior classes of North India.
So yeah, the WWE is living up to the "World" part of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Aksana and Antonio Cesaro

Here is WWE Diva Aksana and WWE Superstar Antonio Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli).
You know back in the "Old Days" they would say a wrestler was from another country (in this case Switzerland) and he would actually be from Newark, New Jersey.
But Antonio really was born in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Add to that the fact that Aksana really was born in Alytus, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union and these days, wrestling really IS international.

Lilian Garcia

One of the most popular Divas in the WWE has never hit anyone with a chair.
That I'm aware of at least.
Lilian Garcia.

Booker T and Sharmell

Remember this?
King Booker and Queen Sharmell. 
Good Times.

Bobby Lashley Versus Brock Lesnar?

On an appearance on ESPN Radio, Bobby Lashley said that he wanted to fight current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.
Of course we all know that Brock and Bobby both worked for WWE.
But how cool would it be (and how many tickets would they sell) if Vince could somehow wrangle the UFC into working with the WWE to do this match up at a WWE PPV?

Of course it won't happen.
Brock has distanced himself from the WWE, although even in the cage he still acts like a good old fashioned pro wrestling heel.
Just look at his last fight. His antics after the match would make Stone Cold Steve Austin proud.
And Bobby is signed with TNA, WWE's main rival.
Yes he said in that same ESPN interview that he has signed a TNA contract and will be appearing at the TNA Victory Road pay-per-view on Sunday.

But Vince is always looking for something fresh and exciting, this would be a world class event, combining pro wrestling and MMA.
Of course the match would have to be straight up MMA rules.
No run-ins by Kane or John Cena or Batista.
No sudden appearance by the Undertaker.
(Though in the middle of the bout, how cool would it be to have the lights go out and hear "Bonnng!"?)

Last night at WWE Extreme Rules PPV......

Last night at WWE Extreme Rules PPV, a lot of belts changed hands.....

Fatal-Fourway Match: (United States Title)
Kofi Kingston (champion) vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. William Regal
Kofi Kingston wins and retains the title

No Holds Barred Match: (Intercontinental Title)
Rey Mysterio (champion) vs. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho wins, becomes the new Intercontinental champion (for the ninth time), and removes Rey's mask in the process!

Samoan Strap Match:
Umaga vs. CM Punk
"Old School" strap match with CM Punk coming out on top.

Extreme Rules Match: (ECW Title)
Christian (champion) vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger
Using a crutch and a DDT, Tommy Dreamer becomes the new ECW Champion

Hog-Pen Match: (Miss WrestleMania Title)
Vickie Guerrero (champion) vs. Santina
Why am I even mentioning this?
Even with Chavo involved, Santina wins and regains the title.

Steel Cage Match: (WWE Title)
Randy Orton (champion) vs. Batista
Batista gets a clean win and becomes the Winner and new WWE champion.
Oddly enough, the new champion is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday morning for a torn biceps muscle.
Will he lose the title on Raw tonight?

Submission Match:
John Cena vs. Big Show
John Cena wins with the STF.

Ladder Match: (World Title)
Edge (champion) vs. Jeff Hardy
Winner and new World champion: Jeff Hardy.

But wait......

As soon as Hardy wins, CM Punks music hits and he runs down saying that he's cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase.
(Holy Edge Batman!)
Punk nails the GTS and becomes the new WWE World Champion.

No WWE RAW Next Week?

Yeah last night was Monday Night RAW, but the big news is what about next weeks Raw?
There is a conflict as to who will get an event at the Pepsi Center in Denver next Monday night.
Here is the latest update I have found.....

WWE out, Lakers-Nuggets in for Game 4
10:56 AM, May 19, 2009
The controversy over the double booking of the Pepsi Center on Monday has been resolved ... at least partially.
Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which owns the Nuggets and the arena, booked a WWE "Monday Night Raw" wrestling show on Monday, which conflicted with Game 4 of the Western Conference finals between the Nuggets and the Lakers.
The Denver Post reported that the game will go on as scheduled. Matter settled, at least as far as the arena is concerned.
WWE? That's another matter. "I'm up the creek and I don't have a paddle, either," Vince McMahon, WWE chairman, told the Denver Post. I really don't know what to do.... I have no idea what's going to happen."
Read the whole article here.

And what will happen?
The WWE is looking for a replacement venue on very short notice.
Has a Raw broadcast ever been canceled?

Rumors are floating around that they may tape RAW on Saturday night at the WWE live event in Salt Lake City.
Another idea is that they may tape RAW in Colorado Springs on Monday.
But what about all the RAW tickets already sold?
Do the people in Denver drive the 70 some odd miles to Colorado Springs?
Or will Vince just pull the WWE trucks into the Pepsi Center parking lot, go "old school" and set the ring up there and have it in the parking lot?

I have to admit, I like that last idea best no matter how illogical it is.
The idea of seeing John Cena, Batista, Matt Hardy, Randy Orton or Big Show battling under the stars outside in a ring is awesome.

Last Night on WWE Raw

Kofi Kingston defeated "The" Brian Kendrick

Eight-Diva Tag Match: Santina, Kelly Kelly, Brie Bella and Mickie James beat Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendez, Jillian Hall and Maryse

Matt Hardy over Goldust

The Randy Orton vs. MVP match was a no contest since Shane McMahon ran in with a kendo stick and started flailing away at Orton until Legacy came in and ran him off.

The Miz won over John Cena by forfeit.
Cena wasn't there.
Ridiculous.

Carlito and Primo defeated Jamie Noble and Chavo Guerrero

Batista defeated Big Show in a number one contender match, so Batista will face Randy Orton at the Judgment Day WWE pay-per-view.
BTW, Cena did show up there to distract Show and give Batista the win.

And the main event on next week's Raw......
Shane McMahon taking on Randy Orton.

The WWE Supplemental Draft

The WWE Supplemental Draft is finally finished and here are the results.

SmackDown!
Shad Gaspard
Alicia Fox
Mike Knox
Candice Michelle
Ricky Ortiz
Layla
John Morrison
JTG
Dolph Ziggler
Charlie Haas

Raw
Brie Bella
Primo Colon
Nikki Bella
Chavo Guererro
Hornswoggle
Carlito Colon
Festus
Brian Kendrick
Mr. Kennedy

ECW
Hurricane Helms
Zach Ryder
Ezekiel Jackson
DH Smith
Natalya

Gail Kim, Offically Back in the WWE

Gail Kim is officially back in the WWE.
She made her return at the SmackDown live event in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 21st teaming up with Maria to go against Michelle McCool and WWE Divas Champion Maryse.
So now I guess she WILL be in the 25 Diva Battle Royal at Wrestlemania.

HOWEVER....several sources are reporting that on the graphic promoting the 25-Diva Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXV, Gail's picture has been pulled.
Are they going to try to "surprise" us?
Everyone with internet access knows Gail is back in the WWE, there's no need for a last minute announcement.
BTW, a quick check shows that Gail is still not on the Divas list at WWE.Com

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that judging from Gail's past wrestling career, having won the WWE Women's Championship on her debut match for WWE (a battle royal no less), and being the inaugural TNA Women's Knockout Champion, if Gail IS in the battle royal, she's gonna win.
Because if she wins, the next question is where will she go?
Raw or Smackdown?

Another guess here, I see her going to Smackdown at least at first.
She'll be a face, and go up against Maryse.
However, with the draft coming, she could turn heel and go after Melina just as easily.

WWE has a good wildcard here, let's see how they play it.

Former WWE Wrestler Andrew 'Test' Martin Found Dead in Tampa Apartment

FOXNews.com -

Former WWE Wrestler Andrew 'Test' Martin Found Dead in Tampa Apartment - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News:

"Andrew 'Test' Martin, a former WWE wrestler, was found dead in his Tampa, Fla. apartment late Friday night, MyFOXTampaBay.com reported.

Neighbors called police after seeing the 33-year-old motionless over a span of several hours.

The cause of death wasn't immediately known, but police said foul play isn't suspected. An autopsy will be performed."

Link to WWE page about his passing:
http://www.wwe.com/inside/industrynews/9571148

The official comment from the Tampa Police Department on the passing of Andrew "Test" Martin.

"At approximately 8:00pm on Friday, March 13, 2009, Tampa Police Officers responded to the Post Harbour Apartments, located at 725 Harbour Place Drive to check on the welfare of Mr. Andrew J. Martin. A neighbor reported that she could see into his apartment through a window and that Mr. Martin appeared motionless for several hours.

Officers entered the apartment and discovered Mr. Martin to be deceased. At this time there is no indication of foul play. The deceased was transported to the Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The date of the autopsy is undetermined at this time. The next of kin has been notified of the death.

Andrew "Test" Martin is a former wrestling champion with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

Lieutenant William Ferguson

Tampa Police Department"

The Bella Twins

Born in San Diego, California and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Brie and Nikki Garcia wrestled on WWE SmackDown! as the Bella Twins.
They were signed to developmental contracts by the WWE in the summer of 2007, and went straight into Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
They feuded with Nattie Neidhart and Victoria Crawford in a series of tag team matches and used the old school masked wrestler tactic of switching places behind the referee's back if one of them was injured.
They moved up to Smackdown and Brianna debuted as Brie Bella.
There they used a variation of the gimmick, with Nicole hiding under the ring and switching places with her sister under the ring when needed.
But one night Brie ran under the wrestling ring and was followed by Natalya and Victoria, who emerged with both Brie and Nicole.
Thus the WWE's worst kept secret was blown.

You can visit the twins MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/thegarciatwins
Or Brie's page at http://www.myspace.com/briannagarciacolace
Or Nikki's page at http://www.myspace.com/theofficalnicolebella

The Undertaker

What can I say about the Undertaker?
The Phenom, the Deadman, Texas Red.
One half of the Brothers of Destruction with Kane.
He has always been one of my favorite wrestlers because he combines showmanship with wrestling skill.
He gives his all in that wrestling ring.
For an example, look no further than his legendary Hell in a Cell match with Mankind.
Undefeated in Wrestlemania.
The first winner of the Royal Rumble.
He's held the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Tag Team Championship (with Kane), the WWF/WWE Championship (4 times), the WWF Hardcore Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) and the WWF Tag Team Championship (6 times).
At Wrestlemania he has defeated Jimmy Snuka, Jake Roberts, Giant Gonzales, King Kong Bundy, Diesel , Sycho Sid, Kane , The Big Boss Man, Triple H, Ric Flair, The Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match, Kane, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Batista and Edge.

And now leading into this years Wrestlemania, will his winning streak be broken?
I hope not, I'd like to see The Deadman retire undefeated.

Ron Killings / R-Truth

Ron Killings was born on January 19, 1972 in Atlanta Georgia (but grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina).
Ron currently works for the WWE on SmackDown! under the ring name R-Truth.
But before that, he wrestled for TNA as Ron "the Truth" Killings.
Ron was trained by "The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez.
Besides WWE and TNA he has worked for Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Cyberspace Wrestling Federation, Memphis Championship Wrestling and NWA Wildside.
In TNA he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice, the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice (once with Konnan and once with B.G. James) and he held the TNA World Tag Team Championship with Pacman Jones.
Back in the WWF he was the WWF Hardcore Champion twice.
But then again I think everyone was at one time or another.

Kung Fu Naki / Shoichi Funaki

Shoichi Funaki has had a long career in the WWE.
He was born on August 24, 1968 in Tokyo Japan and made his debut with the (then) WWF back in 1998.
Although he entered the WWF in 1998, he had already wrestled for Yoshiaki Fujiwara's Fujiwara Gumi promotion, BattlARTS, Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) in Japan.
He is now known as Kung Fu Naki in the WWE.
During his career he has held the Texas Wrestling Alliance (TWA) Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) World Middleweight Wrestling Championship, the WWF Hardcore Championship and the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.

DH Smith

Wow...you talk about a WWE Superstar with a pedigree, check out DH Smith.
DH was born Harry Smith on August 2, 1985 in Calgary, Alberta.
In case you're wondering, the D in DH stands for his father Davey Boy Smith, and the H stands for his uncle Bruce Hart.
This young man started his wrestling training at the age of eight, and actually made his pro wrestling debut at the age of ten!
Yes, that's right, ten.
He teamed up with his cousin Ted Annis against TJ Wilson and Andrew Picarnia at a WWF house show in Calgary.
His "official" in ring debut wasn't until the ripe old age of 15 though.
The WWE tried to snag him in 2004, but Harry turned them down, wanting to attend college and wrestle in Japan first before signing.
Harry spent some time in Japan, and later at the induction of Bret Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame, he met with WWE executives and signed a developmental contract with on April 4, 2006.
He is currently in FCW working on his in ring skills and personality.

WWE Diva Milena Roucka / Rosa Mendez

Milena Roucka was born Milena Leticia Roucka on October 25, 1979 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
You know I'm just not gonna question why all these beautiful women keep coming from Canada.
I'm just gonna accept it.
Anyway.....Milena started with the WWE in the 2006 Diva Search Contest. She came in fourth, but was given a WWE developmental contract anyway.
She started out in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
Her first real in ring action was an eight woman tag team match in which she teamed up with Beth Phoenix, Katie Lea and Melody against ODB, Serena, Victoria Crawford, and Maryse.
In September of 2007, Milena won a 6 woman divas match to capture the OVW Women's Championship.
She lost the title later to Katie Lea and when the WWE ended their relationship with OVW, she moved on to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
In FCW she had several matches against The Bella Twins, Alicia Fox, Wesley Holiday, Miss Angela (Angela Fong), Tiffany, Jenny Cash, and Veronica Blaze.
Finally, she made her first appearance on the November 24, 2008 Monday Night Raw.
She appeared as a fan now named Rosa Mendez.
I imagine the name change was because the already had a "Melina".
Rosa is doing a Beth Phoenix's Greatest fan gimmick, and I wonder if the WWE isn't traveling back down the Trish Stratus / Mickie James road.
You have to give this tomboy turned model turned wrestler credit. She's hung in there for almost 3 years and even held a title.
She's not only beautiful, she's tough.

Lilian Garcia

Okay she's not a wrestler.
But what would Monday Night Raw be without Lilian Garcia?
Lilian made her debut on an episode of Raw is War back on August 23, 1999.
10 years ago?
Really?
Before she got into the WWE, she was a top ten finalist in the Miss South Carolina beauty pageant, one half of a popular morning show on radio station WYYS,"YES 97" in Colombia SC, a VJ in Atlanta, Georgia and she has been a singer since the age of five.
She even appeared in a movie with Robby Benson and Burt Reynolds called "Modern Love" before she got into the WWE.
You know Lilian was born in Madrid Spain in 1966, and Kane was born in Madrid Spain in 1967.
Wouldn't it be cool if they had known each others as kids?

WWE Diva Mickie James

WWE Diva Mickie James had a long run in female wrestling before she hit the WWE.
In 1999, she made her pro wrestling debut on the independent circuit in 1999 as a valet under the ring name Alexis Laree.
She managed ECW star Tommy Dreamer when he won the KYDA Pro Heavyweight Championship in KYDA Pro Wrestling.
Not satisfied with just being a valet, Mickie went on to train with Dory Funk, Jr., the ECW dojo, Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton.
She worked for Maryland Championship Wrestling, Ring of Honor and then landed in TNA Wrestling.
Mickie then went to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) after signing a a developmental contract with the WWE.
She finally debuted in the WWE on October 10 2005 in an episode of WWE Raw, as Trish Stratus' biggest fan.