The Big Red Machine Kane, Senator Kane?

Kane with the chokeslam to CM Punk as AJ looks on.

Did you know that "The Big Red Machine" is active in politics and is actually considering running against US Senator Lamar Alexander in Tennessee?
Don't let the size and mask fool you.
He has been a guest speaker at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, which is "the world center of the Austrian School of economics and libertarian political and social theory,"
Of course well all knew he was smart ever since he won The Weakest Link back in March of 2002.
I know he would run under his real name...but Senator Kane has such a cool ring to it....

Summer Slam 2009 Updates

I have to admit, I do LOVE this poster

SummerSlam will take place on August 23, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Unless something happens, here is the current line up of matches....

Randy Orton (champion) versus John Cena in a singles match for the WWE Championship.
Chris Jericho and The Big Show (champions) versus Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG) in a Tag Team match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
Rey Mysterio (champion) versus Dolph Ziggler in a singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) versus CM Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship. I kinda expect Jeff to lose since this is probably his last match for the WWE.
D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) versus The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase) in a Tag Team match
The Great Khali versus Kane in a singles match
Jack Swagger versus Montel Vontavious Porter in a singles match
Christian (champion) versus William Regal in a singles match for the ECW Championship

Also, this will probably be Lilian Garcia's last event.
That really makes me sad.

And so far no WWE Diva's match for SummerSlam

Hardcore Holly, part 4

Bob Holly then underwent several surgeries to repair nagging injuries. He was hospitalized after a staph infection developed in a right arm wound. The infection was possibly career-threatening, as doctors were worried at one point that the arm may have to be amputated. The subsequent treatments were a success, however, and Holly made his in-ring WWE return at a RAW/SmackDown! supershow tapings on July 31, 2006 in a dark match, defeating Simon Dean.

Holly made a surprise appearance at WWE's Extreme Championship Wrestling house show event on August 21, 2006 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, defeating Balls Mahoney. Holly made his ECW television debut the next night, August 22, appearing in a promo with Paul Heyman, and later attacking Rob Van Dam and Danny Doring during a match. Holly, as a heel, soon joined with Heyman and his other associates to feud with RVD and others.

On September 26, 2006, Holly received 24 stitches from WWE Doctor Louis Rios in his back after suffering a severe laceration there during an Extreme Rules match against Rob Van Dam when he landed on the metal railing of a table he was suplexing Van Dam out of the ring and through during an ECW show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Holly attained the injury early in the match but continued to wrestle for at least another 10 minutes with blood running down his back, despite his recent infections. After the match, as he was being helped out of the ring, he received a standing ovation from fans. The legitimate incident caused fans to cheer Holly in the following weeks, leading to a face turn and a feud with Paul Heyman's other enforcer Test. His second to latest run as a face was short lived as he eventually turned on Rob Van Dam when they were partners in a tag match.

When Sabu was found (kayfabe) unconscious in the back before the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember, he was chosen as his replacement. Holly entered with Rob Van Dam as the first of two combatants. He was the second to be eliminated; he was eliminated by Test by a Running big boot.

Subsequently, he entered into a feud with CM Punk where by Holly, now a tweener, showed his endurance by surviving Punk's Anaconda Vice. Holly then gave Punk his first loss in ECW, Punk had been undefeated for half a year. After Test replaced Holly in a match against ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, Holly vowed he would become champion whether he faced Test or Lashley. Holly then was one of ECW superstars entered in the Royal Rumble 2007, but was eliminated by The Great Khali. Holly soon became the #1 contender for Lashley's ECW Championship and faced off against Lashley, albeit unsuccessfully.

On April 3, 2007, Holly lost to Snitsky. After the match, Snitsky wedged Holly's arm between the steel steps and repeatedly hit the steps with a steel chair, resulting in a kayfabe broken arm. Hardcore Holly had surgery on April 16 because of a staph infection and missed around 5 months.

CM Punk, part 4

On June 24, 2006 Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards. He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped face promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free. Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible. CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson, Stevie Richards, and Shannon Moore.

Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk. Punk defeated Mike Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process) as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend. Punk then went on to team with D-Generation X and The Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match where all the participants on DX's side survived elimination. At ECW December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship, however was the first person eliminated.

Following this, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007. Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30. Following this Punk qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro, being the only member of the ECW roster to qualify. In the final week leading up to WrestleMania 23 Punk made appearances on both RAW and WWE Friday Night SmackDown! defeating Kenny Dykstra and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker[39] respectively. At WrestleMania 23 Punk competed in, but did not win, the Money in the Bank ladder match being knocked off the ladder just seconds before the winner, Mr. Kennedy, claimed the briefcase

technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news

CM Punk, part 3

Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose at the hands of Danny Inferno, after he was hit by an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.

On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane. This led immediately to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the television championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk had hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. This led to a series of matches, including one which ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, however Punk was able to keep the championship as he had not agreed to the extra time. On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance between himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and could not continue and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated but after interference by Punk, Stevens was able to get the pin on Albright to become the new OVW Television Champion. The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk who would never give it to him and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright turned heel during a tag match allowing The Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, turning Punk face.

During this time CM Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.

When Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship due to a brain tumor, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion. Punk and Albright continued their feud with Albright becoming more and more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Brent Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard, Ken Kennedy, Johnny Jeter, and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

On July 28, 2006 Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show. With the victory Punk became the second OVW wrestler to have held each of the promotion's three championships, following Brent Albright, and along with Skyfire the first to hold two championships simultaneously. They would lose the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk.

This lead to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton. On August 30, 2006 a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship however prior to the match Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, who Skyfire had also been feuding with, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As he no longer possessed the championship OVW no longer required him so he was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full time. He continues to make sporadic appearances for the company such as at the 400th episode of OVW on television.

technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news

CM Punk, part 2

In ROH Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a famous three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60 minute time-limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the sixty minutes. The second match between Samoa Joe and CM Punk was planned to have occurred on December 4, 2004 but because Steve Corino was pulled from a match with Samoa Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago, Illinois. At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16 they wrestled to a second 60 minute draw. In addition to becoming Ring of Honor's best selling DVD at that point, the match received the first 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter for a match in North America since 1997. Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no time limit stipulation.

In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with the WWE, after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night HEAT show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries to win the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III with the Pepsi Plunge.

Immediately after the match Punk proceeded to turn heel and started an angle where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it. A notable part of this angle was Mick Foley making several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out.

On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, who re-debuted after a year and half long absence following the Rob Feinstein controversy a few minutes after Punk turned heel, when Gibson countered the Pepsi Plunge with a Super Tiger Bomb. His final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005 against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a 2 out of 3 falls match, which he lost. In his last match, he was visibly crying, and was showered with streamers when he posed in the middle of the ring.

Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior and most of the roster contracted to TNA being pulled from the show due to a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay per view they were running the next day. In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.

technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news

CM Punk

Phil Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its ECW brand. Before debuting in ECW, he was best known for his work on the independent circuit, especially as a member of the Ring of Honor (RoH) roster where he was a former ROH World Champion, head trainer of the wrestling school and was considered to be one of the three icons of ROH (along with Samoa Joe and Homicide). His professional wrestling gimmick is that of a follower of "straight edge", a culture which he follows in real life and of which he utilizes different aspects depending on his alignment.

Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends in the mid-late 1990s where he first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card. After leaving the federation because unlike his friends Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun Punk enrolled as a student at the "Steel Domain" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler and as part of the training wrestled at St. Paul's Steel Domain Wrestling. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent promotions, as opponents or allies In the independents Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckie Smoothe, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed a stable named the Gold Bond Mafia.

Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South). During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South he had high profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light-Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions. Notably his feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match, a 93-minute two out of three falls match and several 60-minute draws. Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by Ring of Honor promotion. During his time in IWA:Mid-South he would also meet, wrestle against and become a friend of Eddie Guerrero. From February 2003 until May 2004 Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South. Punk claims that this was in protest to Ian Rotten's treatment of Chris Hero; however Hero himself has stated he believes there were other reasons and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company. Eventually Punk returned to IWA:Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a sixty-minute time limit draw against Delirious.

Punk joined Ring of Honor initially as a babyface, but was quickly turned heel in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches. At the same time Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was paired with Julio Dinero as, ironically, members of Raven's TNA stable The Gathering.

Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH with notable achievements including coming second at the Second Anniversary show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to A.J. Styles in the finals, and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints, both times defeating the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship. Circa October 2003 Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school, having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain and Primetime Wrestling.

Meanwhile in TNA on February 25, 2004 Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart that was broken up by Sabu outside of a restaurant shortly before a TNA show stemming from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury. Punk has since stated that this had no bearing on his TNA career and that instead the reason he stopped appearing on TNA was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not gotten over as heels. Punk had turned on Raven and then formed a tag team managed by their old rival James Mitchell, and so the angle had been put on hold. Punk quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.

technorati tags: roh, wwe, sports, smackdown, raw, pro-wrestling, tna, ecw,raw, wrestling, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, pro-wrestling, news