Happy Black Friday: Wrestling DVD and Merchandise Deals

Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Thanksgiving brings back a lot of Wrestling memories. A couple years back we posted a "Remember When" about The Survivor Series Thanksgiving Tradition.

After spending Thanksgiving with family, a lot of shoppers choose to take advantage of the "Black Friday" sales. It's late afternoon now here, so most of the early bird chaos has subsided. Perhaps you took advantage of some of these deals.

May we offer another suggestion? Black Friday deals are often found online, and next Monday comes the newer online shopping "holiday" of Cyber Monday.

At any time during the year, if you are looking for some good deals on Wrestling merchandise, take a look at the PWR DVD Store, stocked with wrestling DVDs and Blu-Ray.

For more general online deals ( we know our audience is shopping for more than just Wrestling merch), I don't really think you can beat the Black Friday deals ( great prices on just about everything, free shipping offers, sometimes no sales tax), whether you are looking for TVs, video game systems, tablets, laptops, Kindles, iPads, everything offered by Amazon:

That's a link to their general Black Friday deals. So far this shopping season I took advantage of the following deals:

I got the Kindle Fire HD. Also picked up the newest generation of the iPod touch ( Amazon doesn't allow us to link to that directly, but once you get on their site you can search for just about everything), and a few toys.

Is Ryback the Change WWE Needs?

Some online "experts" may say he's green, clumsy, a Goldberg clone, etc., but one thing is for sure, Ryback has exploded on to the scene and has made an impact unlike any superstar in years.  I remember reading house show reports from his first few appearances and not understanding what the former "Skip Sheffield's" new character was.  "Ryback" sounded like some sort of robotic monster similar to John Cena's "Prototype" character from his early years.  In reality, Ryback has just turned out to be an ass kicker that plows his opponents and doesn't have much to say....very similar to Goldberg's rise to stardom in the 90's which has played a big part in the "Goldberg" chants that are still heard during Ryback's matches.

The build for the Ryback character has been great, he's destroyed everyone in his path, and even multiple opponents at once.  We knew the moment would come that Ryback would be matched against higher level opponents, but it seems WWE's lack of ratings has sped up the process and now Ryback finds himself in the main event picture.  For the past few weeks, Ryback has made his presence known to WWE Champion CM Punk, and now we may even see that match on pay per view after the events on RAW last Monday.

While it may seem rushed, I pose the question, is Ryback main eventing exactly what WWE needs?  Ryback is a character that is an anti-John Cena....no goofy jokes, no being the good guy in any situation, just straight up ass kicking.  The fact of the matter is, Ryback is a guy that adult males aren't afraid to cheer for.  He gets in the ring and destroys opponents, and in brutal fashion.  John Cena has driven these fans away with his antics, and these fans need someone to cheer for if WWE wants to bring them back.

Another fact is that Ryback brings back a sense of realism to the WWE Title scene, he's a guy even non fans would stop and watch because they want to see the big "freakishly huge monster" in the ring and see what he can do.  In a visual side by side comparison, Ryback SHOULD beat Punk.  Seeing him defeat Punk wouldn't feel out of place to a casual fan, Ryback looks like someone who physically should be the champion and would plow most opponents.  The bigger question is, can WWE keep the Goldberg-esque mystique with Ryback by keeping him undefeated for a good long while, unlike Goldberg who was infamously sabotaged in WCW.

Is Ryback ready? Time will tell.  But I have a feeling Ryback would be a champion that would have casual fans drawn in just to see who could possibly beat him.  Is there that type of mystique with Cena or any other top guy?  Not at all, we've seen them matched up in every way and interest just isn't there.  So what do you think?  Would Ryback as WWE Champion spark interest or fall flat? Is now the time or should Ryback continue moving up the roster at a slow pace before reaching WWE Title level?

Birthdays For July 16

Born on this day: July 16, 1976



July 16, 1976 - Former WWE Superstar: Bobby Lashley

July 16, 1974 - Former ECW Wrestler: Chris Chetti

Birthdays For July 15

Born on this day: July 15


July 15, 1983 - WWE Superstar: Heath Slater

July 15, 1951 - Former WWF Wrestler/Commentator & Governor Of Minnesota: Jesse Ventura

Birthdays For July 14

Born On This Day: July 14



Former AWA & WWE Wrestler: Mil Mascaras

Former WWE Diva: Cherry

Current TNA Wrestler and 23 Time World Tag Team Champion: Bully Ray

WWE Smackdown Results (7/13)

Welcome to Friday Night Smackdown, or, for this week only, Friday Night Zackdown as Smackdown's GM for this week is Long Island, Iced Z! Zack Ryder. Ryder earned the right to become GM of Smackdown for the week after winning a battle royal last week where he last eliminated Kane.

We kick things off this week with a video from the latest episode of Z True Long Island Story in which Zack Ryder announced that he will be GM of Smackdown this week.

Smackdown comes to us this week from Denver, Colorado and your commentators are Booker T, Michael Cole & Josh Matthews and Lilian Garcia introduces the GM for the evening’s festivities, Zack Ryder. Ryder welcomes everyone to the  very first Friday Night Zackdown. He then gets a fist pump started with the crowd and says this is going to be the greatest Smackdown ever. Alberto Del Rio then comes out. Del Rio says he thought Teddy Long was a joke when he was General Manager but he calls Ryder a stupid clown who calls himself the internet champion. He steps into the ring and says this  Sunday he becomes the real world champion and after that he will rule Smackdown. Ryder then corrects Del Rio and says this is Zackdown.  Ryder tells Del Rio there’s someone who wants to get their hands on him and he’s Del Rio’s opponent right now and out comes Sin Cara and we are taken into our first match

Sin Cara vs Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio charges and Sin Cara sidesteps. Dropkick by Sin Cara and Sin Cara off the ropes and Del Rio drops him with a clothesline into a cover and 2 count only. Another cover after a series of stomps and again 2 count. Suplex by Del Rio and another near falls. Irish whip and Del Rio charges but misses and Sin Cara puts the boots to Del Rio. DDT by Sin Cara and a cover  but only a 2 count. Irish whip by Sin Cara, reversed by Del Rio and a back elbow. Scoop and slam and 2 count on Sin Cara. Del Rio off the ropes but Sin Cara moves out of the way and Del Rio holds onto the ropes. Del Rio on the apron and Sin Cara with a kick to the head sending Del Rio to the floor. Suicide dive to the outside by Sin Cara

-Commercial-

Hard kick by Sin Cara and cover for a 2 count.  Sin Cara on the top rope and a series of headbutts. Picks Sin Cara up and delivers a shoulderbreaker. Armbar on Sin Cara looking for a submission. Del Rio whips Sin Cara into the ropes, Sin Cara with a kick to the face. Sin Cara off the ropes again and Del Rio counters with a tilt-o-whirl backbreaker. Cover by Del Rio but 1 count only. Del Rio works over the arm and again 2 count. Sin Cara fighting back but Del Rio kicks his leg out from under him. Flying headscissors by Sin Cara. Knee strikes to Del Rio, Del Rio charges, Sin Cara gets the boots up and a DDT to Del Rio and a 2 count.  Sin Cara to the top, swanton and misses. Del Rio locks the cross armbreaker in and Sin Cara taps.

The winner of the match: Alberto Del Rio

Backstage: Teddy Long is with Zack Ryder and tells him he's doing a good job of running Smackdown tonight. Big Show comes in and says Ryder is doing a terrible job and he can't believe Ryder  won the battle royal. Ryder shouldn't be the GM Big Show should be. Great Khali then shows up and Ryder books Big Show vs Great Khali

Primo vs Darren Young

Primo & Epico lock up and an exchange of blows between the two and Primo gets the upperhand with a headbutt.  Irish whip by Primo reversed by Young and Young runs into Primo’s boots. Primo to the top and flying headscissors delivered to Young. Young with an irish whip looking for a clothesline, Primo ducks and holds onto the ropes. Drop toehold by Primo and Young falls face first against the middle rope. Primo off the ropes and the leg across the back of the neck sliding out to the floor. Primo back in and Young with a slingshot across the top rope. 2 count on Primo and Young slides out of the ring dropping an elbow across Primo’s neck and Young on the apron with the leg drop and 2 count. Young with a neckbreaker and lateral press but 2 count and back to the cover but 2  count.  Legdrops and elbows across the throat and cover but Primo kicks out. Young with the keylock on Primo and Primo back to his feet counters with an armdrag. Springboard flying elbow off the ropes into a cover but Young reverses and catches him hoists him on his shoulders.  Counter by Primo, Primo  looking for the backstabber but . Young shakes him off. Young looking to finish Primo off, picks him up Primo and Primo rolls into a small package for the three count

The winner of the match: Primo

-Commercial-

We get another Raw Memorable Moment and it's from April 11, 2011 when Edge announced his retirement

Backstage: Zack tells Sheamus if he and Alberto mix it up tonight he's calling Sunday's match off because he has reponsibilities. Chris Jericho shows up because he wanted to see this Zackdown train wreck in person. Sheamus tells Jericho if he's looking for a train wreck to step into the ring with him tonight. Jericho says he's not there to step into the ring with anybody he's only there as an observer. Ryder then says that sounds like a great idea and books Sheamus vs Chris Jericho and Sheamus tells Jericho he better not be on this track because he's going to run Jericho over.

Christian & Santino Marella vs Dolph Ziggler & Cody Rhodes

Rhodes and Christian lock up, shoulderblock by Rhodes and Christian back up.  Christian with a shoulderblock of his own. Wristlock on Rhodes and tag to Marella. Rhodes tags Ziggler in. Takedown by Ziggler, fireman’s carry into a pin and 2 count. Irish whip into the corner, leapfrog by Marella and he takes Ziggler over with an armdrag. Tag to Christian and Christian comes off the top rope with an elbow. Hot shot by Christian as he snaps Ziggler’s neck back on the top rope. Hook of the leg and 2 count. Knee to Christian and a forearm to the back. Ziggler tags Rhodes back in. Christian fighting off both Rhodes and Ziggler. Christian up on the second rope going for a DDT countered by Rhodes. Rhodes drops him face first. Hook of the leg and quick cover but 2 count only. Tag back to Ziggler and a standing dropkick to Christian. Elbow to the side of the head and reverse chinlock and Christian fights out of it. Christian off the ropes and knee to the gut by Ziggler. Ziggler tags Rhodes back in and a standing front suplex by Rhodes. Rhodes with the cover Christian kicks out. Taking a breather against the ropes, Christian kicks Rhodes away. Rhodes lifts  Christian up and sunset flip by Christian. Rhodes kicks out and Christian delivers a flapjack to Rhodes. The tag to Santino, Rhodes tags Ziggler. Santino unloads on Ziggler an armdrag and the flying headbutt off the ropes. Santino sets up for The Cobra, Rhodes with the clothesline from behind. Christian from behind open handed palm strike and he clotheslines Rhodes over the top rope. Ziggler hits the ZigZag, the cover on Marella and the 3 count

The winners of the match: Dolph Ziggler & Cody Rhodes

-Commercial-

Big Show vs Great Khali

Khali and Show lock and the huge slap by Show and Khali fires back and another huge chop to Show. Show with the WMD and the cover on Khali for the 3 count

The winner of the match: Big Show

Tyler Reks vs Ryback

Ryback and Reks lock up and Reks with knees to Ryback and Reks unloading on Ryback in the corner. Reks off the ropes and Ryback mows him down. Ryback tosses Reks to the outside. Ryback yanking him up by the hair and Reks snaps Ryback’s neck on the top rope. Reks back in, off the ropes and belly to back suplex by Ryback. Ryback winding up for the clothesline and Reks gets the boots up. Reks off the ropes and a shot to Ryback’s gut. Off the ropes again and this time Ryback levels him with the clothesline. Ryback picks Reks up on his shoulders and delivers The March Of Ryback, the cover and the 3 count.

The winner of the match: Ryback

Damien Sandow vs Justin Gabriel

Sandow and Gabriel lock up and an armdrag by Sandow and Gabriel with a legsweep into a quick cover but count of 1. Shoulderblock to Gabriel. Sandow with the back suplex. Sandow with The  Elbow Of Disdain and 2 count only. Chinlock on Gabriel. Sandow with the whip, Gabriel with a backflip and kick to Sandow’s leg. Series of kicks by Gabriel and one last kick to the head. Gabriel charges but Sandow moves out of the way and Gabriel hits the turnbuckle. Sandow with the double hook and knee strikes and he hits the M14 swinging neckbreakker on Gabriel. Sandow floats over, the cover and the 3 count

The winner of the match: Damien Sandow

We get another Raw re-cap highlighting the revelation of the anonymous Raw GM

Chris Jericho vs Sheamus

Sheamus and Jericho lock up and Sheamus backs Jericho into the corner. Slap to Sheamus and Sheamus beats Jericho down. Irish whip and Jericho holds on and slides out and Sheamus chases him. Back in the ring,  Jericho off the ropes, Sheamus hits the battering ram from the ring apron. Jericho hits a dropkick from the second rope and goes for a cover but 1 count.. Irish whip into the corner by Sheamus, Jericho jumps over the ropes to the apron and goes for a right but it’s blocked by Sheamus. Sheamus pulls Jericho back against the ropes and delivers The Fiery Red Hand across Jericho’s chest. And Sheamus off the ropes pushes Jericho off the apron and Jericho goes crashing through the announce table.

-Commercial-

Jericho back in and he delivers a kick to Sheamus’ face. Jericho with punches to Sheamus’ head and it’s Jericho with clubs of his own across Sheamus’ chest and a chinlock. Sheamus sidesteps and Jericho hits the post shoulder first. Sheamus with a clothesline. A shoulderblock in the corner and a huge knee to Jericho. A slam by Sheamus but Jericho counters and comes off the ropes, Sheamus hits The Irish Curse backbreaker and 2 count only. Irish whip, Jericho leaps up Sheamus catches him on his shoulder and a rolls forward dropping all his weight onto Jericho but 2 count only. Codebreaker by Jericho but Sheamus blocks it and throws in into the corner. Brogue Kick but Sheamus misses, Jericho springboard off the ropes and a dropkick to the head. Lionsault onto Sheamus and 2 count. Backbreaker by Sheamus and 2 count. Piledriver by Sheamus countered by Jericho into the Walls Of Jericho and Sheamus reaches the ropes. Sheamus looking for White Noise countered again and Jericho locks the Walls in once more. Sheamus counters it. Sheamus with White Noise and 2 count. Sheamus calling for The Brogue Kick, misses, Codebreaker by Jericho and 2 count. Sheamus kicks Jericho away. Sheamus up on the top rope and Jericho hits The Codebreaker and 2 count, Jericho fired up yelling for Sheamus to get up. Jericho looking for another Codebreaker, Sheamus hits The Brogue Kick and the cover for the 3 count

The winner of the match: Sheamus

Post Match: Sheamus is walking up the ramp and Alberto Del Rio’s music hits. Out comes his car but it’s not Del Rio driving. Del Rio from behind and a kick to the head and he locks the cross armbreaker in on Sheamus

-End Show-

Birthdays For July 13

Born on this day: July 13

Former WWE & WCW Star: Sean Waltman - 40 years old

Birthdays For July 12

Born on this day: July 12

WWE Superstar and former UFC Champion: Brock Lesnar

Former WWE Supertar: Gregoy Shane "Hurricane" Helms

New name rumored for Raw 1,000

Stone Cold Steve Austin's name has been bandied about in WWE circles as being a "must have" for the 1,000th Monday Night Raw. Also, expect to see every legend that has been on Raw in recent weeks on the show as well.

Updated Impact Wrestling Card for 7/12/2012

Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe has been added for this week's Impact Wrestling. This will be a Bound For Glory Series match, as will the already advertised Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson match. Also, expect to see "Aces and 8's" ,as they are apparently calling themselves, make some sort of appearance. They are the masked threesome who attacked Sting last month.

Birthdays For July 11

Born on this day: July 11

Former TNA and ROH Star El Generico

WWE Star Tyson Kidd

Former WCW & WWF Superstar "The Natural" Butch Reed

List Of Matches For Friday's Smackdown (7/13)

The following are non spoiler matches for this Friday's upcoming edition of Smackdown which was taped this past Tuesday July 10, 2012 and will be coming to us from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Matches scheduled to take place are as follows:

1.) Alberto Del Rio will face the high-flying Sin Cara

2.) Primo (w/ Epico & Rosa Mendes) will face one half of The Prime-Time Players Darren Young (w/Titus O'Neil)

3.) Dolph Ziggler & Cody Rhodes will see tag team action when they face the team of Santino Marella & "Captain Charisma" Christian.

4.) In a battle of the giants, Big Show will face The Great Khali

5.) Fresh off of his victory over Curt Hawkins last week, This week, the undefeated Ryback will face Hawkins' partner Tyler Reks.

6.) Damien Sandow will face Justin Gabriel

And in this week's main event we will see World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus take on Chris Jericho

Brooke Hogan Set to Join TNA Impact Wrestling

Well the last 24 hours has been full of news for both WWE and TNA.  Things seemed to be on a positive path for TNA as they announced Impact would be live all Summer beginning May 31st, but this could turn out to be a "1 step forward 2 steps back" situation as TNA has now announced that Brooke Hogan will be joining Impact Wrestling on May 31st.

There hasn't been very much positive buzz about this at all on the net, as most don't see what Brooke brings to the table being she has never been involved in wrestling before.  The official statement from TNA is that Brooke will be the "Executive in Charge" of the Knockouts.  This role is iffy at best as the Knockout division has always been about respect and quality female wrestling, but now it will be "run" by someone who has never been in a ring and doesn't have much history of her own in wrestling.

I don't think this is going to go over well on live shows either.  The site of Brooke Hogan in the ring directing the Knockouts will be an open invite for the fans to boo her out of the building.  If she came in as a bitchy, drunk with power authority figure it might work with time, but with Hulk Hogan as the big face GM of the company it doesn't look probable any time soon.

TNA is treating this like they've signed a big media star that will also be helping the girls in a variety of ways backstage as well, hmm.  I really don't think anyone is going to buy it, and most everyone will see this as Hogan getting his daughter on TV in the same way Eric Bischoff has his son in a TV role now.  If Brooke had announced her music career had flopped and wanted to train to wrestle and the fans got to see her get her ass kicked and pay her dues, that would be one thing; bringing her in as some sort of media star who is going to be an authority figure....quite the risk.  The big question is now, is TNA fixing their problems or just creating a whole lot more?

TNA Impact Set to Go Live Weekly This Summer

In a very odd case of timing being WWE just announced RAW is going to 3 hours, TNA has announced that Impact Wrestling will be broadcasting live every Thursday this summer beginning on May 31st.  Both announcements came within minutes of the other, but in this case it has to be considered a definite positive move by TNA.  The live broadcasts will continue throughout the summer, but no word on what will happen beyond that.  TNA issued the following release on ImpactWrestling.com:

NASHVILLE, TN - (May 17, 2012) -- TNA IMPACT WRESTLING President Dixie Carter and SPIKE TV President Kevin Kay announce today that the highly-rated “IMPACT WRESTLING” will be going Live! from Universal Studios beginning May 31st and continue through the summer. This announcement coincides with the recently announced new, one-hour earlier time slot change of 8:00-10:00pm/ET every Thursday night beginning May 31st.

“We are excited to take IMPACT WRESTLING Live! all summer long, and have our first Live! summer show launch our new 8:00pm/ET time slot,” says TNA President Dixie Carter. “Summer of 2012 is going to be remembered as the most momentous time in our company's history-to-date. Stay tuned."                                       

TNA is no doubt losing some interest by taping weeks worth of TV at a time, and the results being readily available online before the shows air.  Now that TNA is going live, it is up to them to create some buzz that will make it "must see" TV.  Back in 2010 TNA tried moving to Monday Nights, but that idea was way too soon and bold as they weren't ready to compete on Monday nights.  Now 2 years later, TNA is trying a lot of new concepts like the "Gut Check" and "Open Fight Night" ideas that are at least attempts to be fresh.

Going live is something Eric Bischoff was very successful with in WCW, and hopefully he realizes that the other half of the equation is creating buzz and interest.  The one other piece to the puzzle will be getting Impact on the road regularly so the atmosphere can be much more upbeat than the Impact Zone in Orlando which sees TNA on a very regular basis.  Hopefully TNA is realizing and attempting to fix their current problems, but there will be a long road ahead that will hopefully lead them to success.

Shane Douglas Issues Statement on Extreme Reunion

Extreme Reunion has turned out to be the most talked about independent show this year, even if all the talk isn't positive.  On the good side, the promotion drew 2200 fans to the event, something that many of the high spot ridden big talk indy promotions can't do.  Shane Douglas went all out promoting this event, even invading Monday Night Raw which we reported don a few weeks ago.  The crowd was there, but the bad part is there were so many bad moments that holding on to that big crowd will be an uphill battle for the company.  There were so many negatives coming out of the show that Shane Douglas has issued a statement on how the company plans to improve.

On to what actually went wrong.  We're not talking about bad matches necessarily or the show just being lackluster as is the case with some shows.  Extreme Reunion unintentionally put a spotlight on some of the talents that can no longer handle the "Extreme lifestyle."  For starters, Sabu was set to headline the show against Douglas, but was unresponsive in his hotel room and paramedics had to be called.  Justin Credible tweeted a pic of Sabu unconscious in his hotel, and it really turned out to bite Credible in the ass as he was found backstage in similar condition and fellow wrestler and friend of Sabu Luke Hawx posted the pic of Credible seen on the right.  Sabu never made it to the show, and Credible was asked to leave and didn't work either.

The actual show saw technical difficulties which are fairly common for a first time presentation, and some of the matches had to be shifted around due to 2 main guys not being in condition to work.  There were a few bright spots like the Jerry Lynn vs. Devon Storm (Crowbar) match, but it seemed like more negative kept popping up in between the positive.  Raven apparently changed things on his own and ended up not actually wrestling, so 1 more main eventer not performing and pissing the fans off worse.  By the time Douglas came out for the main event against his new opponent 2 Cold Scorpio, the fans were hitting him with chants like "this show sucks!"

What we can't forget is that this show DID draw, and they have introduced some newer talent to the "reunion" formula.  Some positive changes could still give this company a presence (no word on if they will keep the name "Extreme Reunion" or come up with a new promotion name.  In the video below Douglas announces the first round of changes, including taking himself off the active roster and no longer allowing performers who are in any form of toxic condition.  Can Douglas make the right changes and form something that can be a legit alternative?  Time will tell.

Scott Hall beats up girlfriend. Gets arrested.

On Friday Scott Halls girlfriend, Lisa Howell, called the police after Scott had been drinking nonstop for days and choked her. Police arrived to see red marks around her neck and arrested Hall.

Scott Hall was so drunk that upon arrival to the police station, they refused to book him. The officers had to take him to a local hospital to get medical clearance, so he could be booked.

Lisa is not pressing charges however, so Scott should be able to resume drinking and beating the crap out of her pretty soon.

Pro Wrestling Roundup is Now on Facebook and Twitter!

In a move that's long overdue, we are glad to announce we have officially expanded Pro Wrestling Roundup into the social media world!  With such huge events going down recently such as WrestleMania 28 and of course the Brock Lesnar return to WWE, it was time to take things to the next level to bring you even more coverage, news, opinions, and more.

Pro Wrestling Roundup is going on our 5th year of bringing you everything from the pro wrestling world, and now we will be able to connect with readers even more between our posts on the site.  You can follow PWR on Twitter @PWRoundup and on Facebook at the Pro Wrestling Roundup Facebook page. 

NWA Wild West Holding Clinic with TNA's Robbie E.

Our friends at NWA Wild West in Arizona sent along news that they will be holding a pro wrestling clinic hosted by TNA Television Champion Robbie E. in Tempe, AZ on March 27th.  The clinic will be open to anyone that is at least 18, and has an interest in learning what it takes to make it to the next level in pro wrestling.

Many may assume Robbie E. is pretty new to the business to be holding a clinic since he has only been seen in TNA for the past couple of years, but in actuality Robbie has been wrestling for 12 years and has quite a resume.  Some of you may remember him competing for years as "Rob Eckos," even doing some work for WWE and competing all over the east coast wrestling scene for years before arriving in TNA.  This seems like a great opportunity for any talents that are looking to make some contacts and get some direction as far as getting a shot at the big time.

After the clinic, NWA Wild West has a stacked show lined up that will feature Robbie E., NWA World Champion Adam Pearce, Colt Cabana, and Joey Ryan.  It's good to see an indy promotion bringing in names and creating interest by spreading the word, something rarely seen in the indies right now.  You can check out more information on the Robbie E. clinic and the big NWA Wild West show on March 27th at NWAWildWest.com

Elimination Chamber 2012 Results

The Elimination Chamber pay per view is over and the Road to Wrestlemania 28 is in full swing.  The Chamber PPV gave us a pretty clear view of what WrestleMania card will look like, as both major champions kept their belts and Sheamus made it clear which one he will challenge for.  Here are the results:

CM Punk won the RAW Elimination Chamber - They ran an angle during the match where Chris Jericho was knocked out of the Chamber and took a bad bump that took him out of the match (maybe in bad taste after the legit Jesse Sorensen injury at TNA last week?) Punk went on to defeat The Miz to win the match, but this will obviously lead to Jericho claiming he was never eliminated and challenging Punk for the title at WrestleMania.

Beth Phoenix defeated Tamina Snuka - Pretty predictable here.  Not a horrible match but Tamina is a bit sloppy.  Beth wins with the Glam Slam.  Hopefully we're looking at Kharma returning and challenging Beth for the Divas title at Wrestlemania, as that seems like the only Divas title match that would have interest.

John Laurinaitis came out to make his case as to why he should run RAW and Smackdown.  This segment saw the return of Alberto Del Rio and Christian, as they joined Mark Henry to agree that Laurinatis should be running both brands.

Daniel Bryan won the Smackdown Elimination Chamber - Santino Marella actually lasted until the end, and the crowd was rumbling the arena in support of him. In the end Bryan caught Marella in the Lebell Lock for the submission win.  After the match, Sheamus beat down Bryan, making it clear that Sheamus has chosen to face Bryan at Wrestlemania 28.

Jack Swagger defeated Justin Gabriel -  This match was literally set up in seconds, obviously to kill some time.  Backstage Hornswoggle was eating cheese, ended up pissing off Vickie Guerrero, Gabriel backs up Swoggle, and a match is made.  Typical match, pretty pointless.

John Cena defeated Kane in an Ambulance Match - This match was a good brawl.  The finish saw Cena give Kane an Attitude Adjustment off the ambulance which looked good visually.  Cena puts Kane in the Ambulance after for the win.  The ending was flat considering the hot angle from Monday involving Eve and Ryder, so it looks like they are holding off on the next big step in the story until RAW tomorrow night.

Overall, not a horrible show, but did feel just like another step towards WrestleMania.  Judging from tonight's results we will be seeing Cena vs. Rock, Triple H vs. Undertaker, Sheamus vs. Bryan, and Jericho vs. Punk as the top matches for Wrestlemania 28 in 6 weeks.

TNA Star Jesse Sorensen Seriously Injured at Against All Odds

Last night in the opening match at TNA's "Against All Odds" pay per view, Jesse Sorensen was seriously injured after taking a dive to the outside of the ring from Zema Ion.  Sorensen appeared to take Ion's knees to his head and immediately fell limp.  At first the referee checked Sorensen and gave the "he's OK" sign.....but after a few minutes of not moving, the referee checked again and gave the "X" sign that Sorensen was legitimately hurt and the match was cut short as TNA personnel rushed to the scene.

Dixie Carter tweeted soon after that Sorensen was being transported to the hospital for evaluation.  Throughout the night many TNA stars took to Twitter to ask fans to pray for Sorensen as the situation was serious.  Today the news is that last night Sorensen lost feeling in his extremities, but has regained feeling in his arms and hands, with only tingling in his legs.  This of course is a very serious situation any time any type of paralysis is involved. 

Sorensen is still a relative newcomer to TNA and to the wrestling business, so it makes it even worse to see something like this happen.  Here's to hoping Sorensen has a speedy recovery and no long term damage after sustaining this very serious injury.  You can send your thoughts and prayers to Jesse directly via Twitter @TNASorensen

DVD Review: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro

On June 5, 2011 the WWE released the DVD set "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro", it was the third WCW DVD set released by the WWE. And after watching this DVD set I was left a little more satisfied than with the first two releases.

The first two DVD sets released by the WWE was "The Rise and Fall of WCW" and "Starrcade: The Essential Collection". Both of those releases were well done but sadly had alot of WWE bias in the commentary by Jim Ross and other current WWE employees. But on "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro" the bias was gone as all the commentary was provided by the 3-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page. And although DDP is currently under contract with the WWE, he still an honest recap about what happened on WCW Monday Nitro.

So, I highly recommend that you go pickup "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro", it doesn't matter if you're a WCW fan or just a pro wrestling fan period.

Brodus Clay's "Funkasaurus" Debut: Superstar or Superfail?

One of the most unexpected and most talked about stories of the week is the re-debut of Brodus Clay as a dancing, fun loving, "Funkasaurus."  For weeks there has been build up and hype for Clay who was being pushed as getting angrier and angrier every week that John Laurinaitis held off his debut.  There was even rumor that Clay would be the guy to come out in the Royal Rumble this year and clear the ring, making a huge impact.  When Clay finally debuted this past Monday, he was the exact opposite of everything that was expected.

As soon as the name "Funkasaurus" was announced and the music hit (which was the same music used by Ernest "The Cat" Miller in WWE for anyone that didn't catch that) it was clear that this new character was going to get some strong reactions.  In Run DMC-esque gear, smiling, dancing, it was an all new Brodus Clay.  My first thought was....."Wow, they have totally ruined this monster and given him a corny goofy character."  But after talking to some of our other writers and seeing the reaction its garnered, maybe a crazy over the top gimmick is a change that WWE needs.  As one of my fellow writers put it: "What else was he going to be?  Another Mark Henry?"

He's "funky," he's got dancers, he's got some Dusty Rhodes like lingo, but he's still a big man that can move in the ring.  Should Clay have been a monster that destroyed everyone?  Or is this crazy Funkasaurus gimmick going to make him a hugely popular star?  It's really to early to tell, but it seems WWE is happy with all the reactions it has brought so far.  What are your opinions on the new and funky Brodus Clay?

Chris Jericho Returns to WWE...and Says Nothing

Well the big "1-2-12" promos had sparked some interest the past few weeks, but most everyone was predicting either the return of Chris Jericho or The Undertaker.  If you saw RAW, you know that the promos were for the return of Chris Jericho.  As the final promo played with the little girl and the little boy, I was trying to figure out what it could all mean and what the significance of the girl was....but little did I know that the promos with the kids were only the BEGINNING of the night's confusion.

As the final promo ended, the screen started to shake and the lights went out, which definitely felt like The Undertaker was on his way out.  The crowd started a "Y2J" chant, and sure enough there was Jericho in his trademark pose while wearing an LED lit jacket.  The place went crazy and it looked like the over the top good guy Jericho was back.  He got in the ring smiling, and seemed to be ecstatic to be in front of the WWE Universe again.  The celebration continued, as Jericho got out of the ring and made the rounds high fiving fans.  Jericho got back in the ring, grabbed the mic, but then decided to work the crowd even more and keep the celebration going.  I think it was about 5 minutes into this when I started to feel like Jericho might be overdoing it, and he needed to go ahead and say whatever he was going to say....but that didn't happen.

When Jericho finally did grab the mic and ALMOST started to talk.......he dropped the mic in the ring, and for a second i expected a complete heel turn on the crowd as if he suckered them all in.  But then, Jericho started smiling and celebrating all over, and things just got more and more odd.  Jericho then proceeded to hop out of the ring, slap some more hands, and then he left.  The crowd didn't know what to think, but some boos could be heard and there was a definite vibe that there was more to this story.  We were expecting a "I'm back and I'm entering the Royal Rumble" type of promo, but it was almost like Jericho was making a mockery of wrestling returns. 

As odd as all of this was, I can at least say it was different.  The idea of Jericho returning didn't really interest me all that much since it doesn't feel like he's been gone all that long.  The way things were handled at least got people talking because it was so odd and different, but it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.  I have a feeling it was Jericho himself that came up with this, since he's talked in the past about reinventing himself and keeping things interesting.  One thing is for sure, Chris Jericho is back even though we don't know why or where he stands.  What did you think of Chris Jericho's return?  Was it stupid?  Or did it make you wonder where this story is going?