TSC’s base of operations will play host to next year’s “Grandest Stage of Them All”.

That’s right, Wrestlemania is coming to University of Phoenix Stadium, and I couldn’t be more excited. John Cena, Chris Jericho, Melina, Kofi Kingston, and Kelly Kelly were on hand with Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs to make the big announcement.

Tickets are likely to be on sale sometime between September and November.

Live blogs and on location tweets will keep you plugged in to the events in a year’s time. Stay tuned to TSC, as we will do our best to cover this event as best we can!

For information about the press conference, visit WWE.com:
- Press Release
- Photo Gallery

As I watched Raw on Monday night, I totally called the Stephanie attack leading up to Triple H arriving on the scene. It’s the perfect way to move Orton over to Smackdown to have a rivalry with Triple H for that belt, leading to Wrestlemania!

True to WWE’s latest trend of trying to blend reality with kayfabe, they have (finally) acknowledged Triple H’s marriage to Stephanie on air.

I like it. A lot.

Now that No Way Out has passed, it’s officially WrestleMania hype-up season. Allow me to kick off that season officially on The Steel Cage with (mostly) baseless speculation. Here’s how I see the card playing out at this juncture:

Let’s start with the WWE Championship and new (old) champ Triple-H. As much of a surprise Edge’s relinquishment was, I was a little disappointed that the belt didn’t go to the dead man. Regardless, who will challenge for the title? Consensus at our local watering hole was that now that Raw has a heel champ, Orton will jump over to SmackDown to challenge HHH. I’d say that makes the most sense, considering both plot and promotion.

That would leave Cena free to challenge to regain his title against Edge. Honestly, that’s okay by me. You know I’m not a Cena lover, but he needs to be in a major match at WrestleMania, and Edge can build a good rivalry with Cena over the coming weeks. It’s not my dream WrestleMania title feud between Cena and Jericho (which I think would awaken Cena’s dormant mic talent), but it would do.

Now, to the real speculation: what the hell does Mickey Rourke have to do with all of this? I’m not too enthused about the way this angle is going. I wasn’t too enthused about how it started, either. First off, Jericho should have a bigger match than the cutesy guest-celebrity match. Yeah, it’s nice that Jericho is getting the mainstream exposure that comes with it, but come on — the celebrity match is normally the least compelling, most predictable match of the night (guess what? The guest celebrity will win in an amazing comeback!).

Secondly, where exactly are they going with this? My buddy’s theory is that Rourke agreed to participate, then heard that his involvement might hurt his chances at winning the Oscar. Once the ceremony passes (on February 22, says the internet machine), Rourke will be back in and this silly Ric Flair un-retirement suggestion will fall by the wayside. I think the theory has merits.

Assuming the theory is correct, there’s still one huge question mark: how can you get fans behind a match between a major Superstar and one or two aging men with no business in the ring? Rourke was a boxer, sure, but he’s 57. Ric Flair is 60. At this stage, nothing is believable. The only thing that might work would be if Rourke decided to have an actual wrestler in his corner… like Umaga. And the loser would have to shave his head or something. That’s an exciting idea that’s never been done before, right?

Ugh.

And what kayfabe motivation does Jericho have to even participate in such a farce? A Hollywood actor mentioned your name on some crap syndicated entertainment show, and now you’re getting butt-hurt? You were WWE Champion mere weeks ago! The writers have given Jericho nothing to work with. He’s trying his best (that segment with Flair, creepy as it was, had its moments), but I am not excited.

Okay, rant over. Let’s move on to the rest of the card.

To a happier point, the Money in the Bank match will make its return, and I can’t wait. Result aside, it was the second-best match of last year’s show, so I have high hopes. What mid-level Superstar will get a surprise victory? There are lots of possibilities, but I have a couple initial thoughts. The obvious “surprise” winner, in my mind, is Kofi Kingston. He’s catching on moderately as a face, he’s a high-flyer who can make a ladder match entertaining, and Vince has been promoting him more than I like. He reminds me of a less infuriating CM Punk, so he’ll be my cynical prediction as MotB winner. My hopeful prediction is that Christian gets a slot and wipes the floor with everyone. That would please me.

What about the ladies? Personally, I want a Melina-Phoenix rematch. Beth Phoenix is by far their most believable and entertaining wrestler, and her manager(s) are outstanding. Santino on a big stage and Rosa Mendez dressed to the nines? Yes please.

Now, the real question: who’s posing for Playboy? They’ve had a Diva on the cover every year since 2003; they have to continue the tradition. According to various sources I read in the last five minutes, Kelly Kelly turned down the opportunity, which is a borderline tragedy. I read speculation that Michelle McCool will be in, or possibly Layla. I’d be 100% okay with any or all of them, but my long-shot hope is Alicia Fox. Or another Maria spread. Just throwing that out there.

(And now begins the countdown to the inevitable “Please let it be Mickie James!” comment…)

Umm… what else was there to talk about? Oh yeah, other belts. Uh… I bet Tommy Dreamer challenges and beats Swagger for the ECW belt. That would be a nice arc for Dreamer’s supposed swan song. He has another title run in him, I think.

Any other matches you want to see? I’m still holding out hope that Flair and Rourke will fall through and that Jericho will weasel his way into one of the championship matches. I’m an optimist.

-Darrell

As the crowd gathered at the local bar last night before No Way Out began to air, one word could be heard bouncing from table to table: predictable.

We all just knew that the event would open with a boring ECW title defense by Jack Swagger, followed by HBK super kicking JBL, followed by Cena retaining, and finally Edge also retaining. No need to change titles at this PPV, let’s just shell out some quick money to the McMahons and move on to the big show in April.

Right? Wrong.

We were proven wrong the second we heard the familiar death bells of The Undertaker’s music. A bold move, indeed, to start the night off with what most people were sure would be the main event. That set the tone for the rest of the night.

We were shocked when Edge was eliminated immediately from the first match. But he managed to top that, in true Edge fashion, by forcing his way into the other title match – and winning! Edge always pulls stunts like this, and yet it’s always somehow new and innovative. For that, I applaud him, and the writers behind his schemes.

A quick run down of the mid-card matches:
- Jack Swagger and Finlay stumbled about the ring until Swagger came away with the title (sidenote: Finlay REALLY needs to ditch the midget, he’s lost credibility and has become hard to watch)
- Shane McMahon took some solid bumps (as usual) and Orton came away the victor (though, it was quite lame that the other Legacy members had to come out to give the assist – Orton should have had an easier time with Shane.. I mean, really)
- HBK super kicked JBL into oblivion, and another tired storyline was finally put to rest while we all gawked at Mrs. HBK

While it is true that the middle card matches were quite predictable, it didn’t really matter. By book ending the show with big surprises and great in-chamber action, this pay per view actually came to become one of the best I’ve seen in a while.

Highlight of the night: Cena’s elimination from the title match, where he took a Code Breaker from Jericho, followed by a 619 from Mysterio, and then a Spear from Edge. It all happened so fast, and the transitions between moves were so fluid – it was a thing of beauty.

I can’t be the only one wondering — where has Kizarny gone? Has he gone the way of the Shockmaster and the Gooker? Was he the one-off horrible gimmick we all suspected he would be? Say it ain’t so, Vince!

For those who weren’t watching any wrestling over the past (seemingly) seventy-eight months, the WWE overhyped a new character who had the moniker Kizarny. You see, he was a carny and for some reason he spoke like Snoop Dogg at his most herbalicious. Also, he had eye makeup and a long, greasy goatee. I’m guessing Vince saw the dude, decided he reminded him of the tilt-a-whirl operator in a carnival he attended in 1952, and ran with it. At least, that’s the story in my head.

In actuality, Kizarny is a fellow named Nick Cvjetkovich (don’t ask me how to pronounce that). He wrestled in the Canadian independent circuit and on TNA as Nick Sinn, Original Sinn, or just Sinn (ahem, SiNN). According to Wikipedia (the source of information on public figures no one should care about), he’s a protege of Jake “the Snake” Roberts and is childhood friends with Edge and Christian. That just leads me to one question: if he’s connected with Jake the Snake, and is buds with Edge and Christian, why did they give him such a lousy gimmick?

I mean, really — a carny? As a face? Is there a wrestling fan on Earth who would identify with a strange-talking carny character? Most people I know have had either zero or decidedly negative experiences with the guy who takes tickets at the Ferris wheel. Nobody would think, “man, I hope that toothless, unshaven, unshowered jackass pounding stakes into the ground has what it takes to beat Shelton Benjamin.”

When his debut finally came, I was filled with mock excitement. I called fellow TSC founder J-sizzle and made sure he’d be watching. Nobody could miss the level of suck that was to come. It turned out, he’s not a terrible wrestler and he has potentially okay mic skills, if not for his intentional speech impediment. The remarkable thing about his match against the still-losing MVP was that the crowd didn’t care at all. It’s rare when you can sense crowd apathy through a television, but it was apparent. The crowd didn’t hate him for his ridiculous promos, and they didn’t mockingly cheer (as I probably would have done). They sat on their hands and waited for the next match. Kind of a disappointment after seventy-eight months of carnival-themed video packages.

So now it’s been over a month and we’ve heard not word one from Kizarny. Well, okay — he was the first man eliminated in a pointless Battle Royal a couple weeks back. Beyond that, nothing. The rumblings say that it’s time for a rebirth, since nobody will want to stomach another round of “Smizzackdown is gizzoing to gizzet strizzange”. I hope it comes soon. Any friend of Edge and Christian is a friend of mine, so here’s hoping Vince gives him something he can work with.

-Darrell

I was going to go off on a tirade about John Cena’s recent finisher and signature move changes.. but this ELEVEN YEAR OLD kid beat me to it:

WWE PG Era Just a Bad Idea on Bleacher Report

The best part is the photo the kid found to post at the top of the story…

Okay, so not everything the kid says is gold. But when an 11 year old is rolling his eyes at the FU becoming the “Attitude Adjustment” and the “STFU” becoming just a regular old STS.. there’s something wrong. I never thought I’d wish Vince would lighten up. I mean, we don’t need blood baths, “choppy choppy your pee pee”, and HLA anymore – please, no – but making a move like this isn’t exactly going to legitimize Cena and win fans over..

Is the Right to Censor getting its hands on things in the back stage again?