Last night, we attended the live broadcast of ECW, followed up by tapings for Superstars and Smackdown.

As it was the first time I had been to a Smackdown taping (as opposed to a live show), it was interesting to see how they did things differently.

They were pretty consistent with shooting different angles and extended reactions before and after matches. They also weren’t afraid to redo a move if they screwed up during a match. Now I get what JR is saying when he talks about the different feel he gets in doing Smackdown play by play as compared to his days on Raw… It will be interesting to see how they handle the shots in the editing room and how the final product appears on Friday night.

After the final bell rang, they managed to keep our attention, even as the event dragged on past the four hour mark.

An appearance by The Undertaker sure didn’t hurt things, and DX was as entertaining as ever, even though it was for nobody’s entertainment but those of us in the arena at that time.

I must say, I am getting more and more excited for WM26 here in the Valley of the Sun!!!

In regards to the events of Summerslam, the WWE Universe got “Punk’d” on two different levels.

One – the obvious – CM Punk beat Jeff Hardy after perhaps Hardy’s most incredible jump off a ladder to date.

Two – the already infamous “fan” interference during the Cena / Orton championship match.

If you didn’t catch it, the match was moving at a decent pace, with Cena and Orton trading blows for the first 15 mins or so. At one point, Cena appears to be getting the upper hand. In a classic heel move, Orton pushes the referee, drawing a DQ, and retaining the title.

At that point, Lillian called the match, and declared a NEW champion… but yet declared Orton’s name. About a second later, she declared that Vince was calling for the match to restart, including the stipulation that a DQ would result in a change of title.

Had Lillian just given away the eventual finish? At the time, we surely thought so. She looked rather flustered after the “slip” of words. But in retrospect, I believe that Lillian may have done that on purpose, and it was all part of a work…

Later in the match, Orton grabs the belt and draws a count out victory for Cena. Again, Lillian declares that Vince wants the match to go on, and that a count out would be cause for a title change as well.

Fast forward just a bit, and Orton pins Cena with his feet on the ropes for leverage (the top rope, at that… haha).

ANOTHER restart has to take place, as a second referee comes down to notify the original ref of the interference! Can you believe the circus this match has become? Seriously!

Eventually Cena gets Orton in the STFU (or whatever they’re calling it these days), and as Orton is perhaps getting ready to tap, a “fan” slides into the ring and puts the referee in a rear naked choke hold. The ref looked like he was really hurting, and Cena and Orton both looked shocked / appalled / dismayed. Had this “fan” just ruined the true finish?

Well, what else to do but find a way to end the match. Perhaps at this point, Vince called down to the ref’s headset and said “screw it – let’s just keep the belt on Orton and make another match down the road.” So Orton immediately hits two RKO’s and gets the pinfall victory.

I was satisfied with that explanation, until later in the night when I started to get the internet’s take on what happened.

It could be that the WWE creative team had managed to pull off the greatest “punk’d” moment on us – the intelligent wrestling fan base. Perhaps – mind you, I’m just speculating – but perhaps, Lillian “screwed up” on purpose. They wanted us to believe Cena would win. And then later, when the “fan” ran into the ring, they wanted us to think that the wrestlers and referee were at a loss for words and had to improvise something really quickly. I must say… they did a hell of a job, if that’s what they were trying to do. They didn’t even replay the “fan” incident and tried to avoid making mention of it on the broadcast!

Online rumors seem to all point at Ted Dibiase’s brother – yes, another Dibiase – who had been training at FCW – to be the “fan” who was choking out the referee. That being the case, this all makes sense. The up and coming Ted Dibiase turns face (as has been hinted at for months, now), and his brother steps in to continue with Twink Rhodes as Legacy, once the DX storyline blows over.

I’m embarassed. I really thought I knew what was going on. Haha. Times like these are the most fun as a fan. Keep it up, guys.

10. Mickey Rourke – The Jericho rivalry had a pretty weak finish at Wrestlemania. I know this is because he had signed on for Iron Man 2 and therefore couldn’t take part in the action as much as we all wanted to see. I am still holding out hope that one day he can afford to do a Ram Jam in a WWE ring.

9. Warren Sapp – Really, this could be replaced with any retired NFL’er. I picked Sapp because he’s a big goofy guy, and he might be able to pull off some backstage skits similar to what I expect to see from Shaq this Monday.

8. Scott Stapp – No good reason, other than the fact that I’d love to see Roddy Piper punch this tool in the face.

7. William Shatner – Captain Kirk had an appearance on Raw in the 90′s to promote a short lived sci-fi show on USA Network, called TekWar. I’d like to see him take to the ring and throw a famous Star Trek style left hook at Cody Rhodes. I’d also really like to see Cody Rhodes oversell the move like crazy. It’d be a hilarious YouTube clip, if I’ve ever seen one.

6. Mike Tyson – Hot off the heels of The Hangover, Iron Mike should keep his momentum going by hosting Raw for a night. Now that he’s in position to become a likable character, I could see Tyson knocking out Big Show to close out the episode.

5. Barack Obama – Coming in with a new piece of legislation called the Raw Stimulus Package, Obama would showcase the underprivileged class of the WWE. A ladder match would be held in the main event, showcasing the likes of THE Brian Kendrick, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin, Zack Ryder, and Tyson Kidd. While we’re at it, Kofi Kingston gets put into the match, and his Intercontinental Championship gets hung over the ring. PPV caliber stuff right there. If it doesn’t happen, I could see it as next year’s Money In The Bank.

4. Mr. T – He’s got comedy down, as anyone who has seen him on Conan O’Brien’s show will be able to attest. And he’s got history with the WWE – taking part in the first ever Wrestlemania alongside Hulk Hogan. So.. why not?

3. Hulk Hogan – Speaking of The Hulkster, it’s been a little while since he made a WWE appearance. We last saw him in a rivalry with Randy Orton, after Orton made some moves on his Amazonian daughter. Sorry Hulk, I didn’t really mean that. She’s a lovely girl. Anyway, it could make for a fun night of The Legacy getting their asses handed to them as Hogan gets creative with match ups.

2. The Rock – Sorry, I mean Dwayne Johnson. That’s what he’s calling himself these days, if I’m not mistaken. I’d just love to see him in the ring again, even if he’s not been competing. Hell, I’d just be happy if he belts out a rendition of ‘Smackdown Hotel’ to the tune of Elvis’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.

1. Stone Cold – Who doesn’t want to see Stone Cold on WWE programming in some way, shape, or form? An overabundance of beers and middle fingers would be a nice change of pace to the increasingly family friendly programming. I have nothing against the family friendly angle they have taken, but a little bit of the Attitude Era can’t hurt every now and then.

Other notables:
Jesse Ventura, Brock Lesnar, Hugh Hefner

We all know that SNL has become a great platform for celebrities and sports figures to take on whenever they have something to promote or want to heighten their media exposure. But what about the downtime, when SNL isn’t filming new episodes?

Vince McMahon has stepped up to the plate to fill that void. He began a few weeks ago with Donald Trump, by “selling” the show to him. Of course, he immediately “bought” it back (for twice the cost – you can’t beat Trump when it comes to money).

He later declared that Trump had made some contractual changes to the way Raw is run, by mandating celebrity guest hosts every week. So far, Seth Green and ZZ Top have taken the helm, to much success.

It was announced earlier this week that Shaq will host next Monday. Perhaps Carlito will exact some revenge on the big man from a chair shot delivered to him while Shaq was a member of the Heat. Or maybe they’ll just do their best to forget it ever happened, as it was most definitely one of the weakest chair shots ever given.

Within the past hour or so, WWE broke the news on twitter (@WWEUniverse) that Jeremy Piven, who plays asshole agent with a heart Ari Gold on Entourage, will be hosting the week after Shaq. Things just keep getting better…

Ratings are up and people are enjoying the shows. Even WWE stock is up compared to where it stood in May. WWE stock prices have historically fallen in the post-Wrestlemania downtime of the summer season. All is well in the world of professional wrestling. Vince triumphs again.

The fact that he’s on the cover of the latest Muscle and Fitness is a good sign that he may come out victorious at Night of Champions. I’d place my money on him, at least.

Make sure to follow @thesteelcage on twitter, as we will be live twittering during this Sunday’s Wrestlemania event!

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