Queens of the Ring: Alundra Blayze

Debra Ann Miceli was born February 9, 1964 in Milan,Italy but was raised in several different foster homes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Throughout her years in school she participated in gymnastics and track, and after school she began working as a nurse part-time. She began her professional wrestling career in 1984, she was trained by Eddie Sharkey in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After her training she wrestled on the independent circuit for $5.00 a match. In 1986 she began wrestling in the American Wrestling Association under the name Madusa Miceli. On December 27, 1987 she defeated Candy Devine to win the AWA World Women's Championship, which she held until November 26, 1988 when she lost it to Wendy Richter.

In 1988 Miceli was the first woman to be awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year award. In 1989 she began wrestling for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. She won the IWA Women's title from Chigusa Nagayo but unfortunately lost it back to her the next day. She then began training in Japan, learning muay thai, kickboxing, and boxing. She would later sign a 3-year deal with New Japan Wrestling, becoming the first non-Japanese wrestler to do so. In 1991, while in New Japan Wrestling, Miceli and Eddie Gilbert defeated Luna Vachon and Cactus Jack. Later that same year she joined World Championship Wrestling as part of Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance acting as Rick Rude's manager.

In 1993 she signed with the WWF which had reinstated the Women's Championship that had been inactive since 1990. Vince McMahon didn't want to pay Miceli to use her 'Madusa' name, which she had copyrighted, so she wrestled under the name Alundra Blayze. She wrestled in a six-woman tournament to crown the new Women's Champion. On December 13, 1993 she pinned Heidi Lee Morgan in the final to win the title. She lost the title twice, once to Bull Nakano and once to Bertha Faye, but regained the title both times. She was still the Women's Champion when the WWF released her from her contract due to their financial difficulties.

In December of 1995 she signed with WCW where she would throw the WWF Women's Championship belt in a trash can. She would later say that she regretted doing so but was ordered to do it by Eric Bischoff. While in WCW she once again wrestled under the name Madusa, she would defeat Bull Nakano at the Hog Wild PPV in August. Later that year WCW would establish the WCW Women's Championship, there would be a tournament to crown the first champion. Miceli made it to the tournament finals but lost to Akira Hokuto, whom she feuded with for the next six months. They would meet at the Great American Bash in 1996 for the title in a Hair vs. Career match; unfortunately Miceli lost the match. She would return to WCW in 1999 where she would be part of Randy Savage's Team Madness with Gorgeous George and Miss Madness. At Starrcade in 1999 she would defeat Evan Karagias to become the first woman to hold the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. Once Vince McMahon bought WCW in 2001 she retired because she didn't want to work for the WWF due to the direction the Women's division was going in.

After retiring from pro wrestling Miceli began racing monster trucks. She won multiple freestyle competitions and became the first woman to win the Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship in 2005. She married Alan Jonason on June 25, 2011 and now spends her time running her pet grooming businesses in Lecanto, Fl. And although Miceli stays busy with her businesses and many hobbies she doesn't rule out a return to the ring. In an interview with WWE.com she said “Once wrestling gets in your blood it's always going to be there, you've got a bag packed and ready to go.” So maybe one these days Meceli will return to the ring, but who will she return as? Alundra Blayze, Madusa, Debra Miceli, or who she really is: Queen of the Ring.

Is the Undertaker's 19-0 Wrestlemania Record really a Big Deal?

Every year when Wrestlemania gets close you can count on one thing happening; it's time to talk about the Undertaker's undefeated streak. The announcers on Raw and Smackdown will tell you how amazing the streak is and what a legacy the Undertaker has because of it. But I have to ask one question, is the Undertaker's record at Wrestlemania really a big deal?

Let's start Wrestlemania at the beginning. At Wrestlemania VII the Undertaker defeated “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. Jimmy Snuka is one of pro wrestling's all-time greats but let's face facts, Jimmy Snuka was 47 and the Undertaker was 26. Not exactly an even match-up. In 1993 at Wrestlemania IX the Undertaker would face the Giant Gonzalez, a wrestler who was 8 feet tall and could barely move, and the Undertaker was only able win because of his opponent getting himself disqualified. Fortunately in 1995 the WWE would finally start to put the Undertaker up against some real opponents. At Wrestlemania XII he would face Diesel(Kevin Nash). This was a hard fought victory that finally gave the streak some merit. At Wrestlemania XIII the Undertaker would face WWE Champion Sycho Sid, this should've been the end of the streak. But Bret Hart, who was in a feud with Sycho Sid, came out to the ring and attacked Sycho Sid enabling the Undertaker to win the match. It would be the next 5 years that would destroy all of credibility of the Undertaker's 19-0 record at Wrestlemania. There would be two big victories over tough opponents: Kane at Wrestlemania XIV(1998) and Triple H at Wrestlemania XVII(2001). However at Wrestlemania XV(1999) the Undertaker would defeat the Big Boss Man, who was out of his prime and not exactly a “main eventer” anymore. Then there was what was missing from this time period(1998-2003), no matches against Stone Cold Steve Austin or the Rock at Wrestlemania. And what about the incident of padding the Undertaker's Wrestlemania record when he faced 54 year old Ric Flair at Wrestlemania XVIII(2002).

In 2004 the WWE would finally start to give the Undertaker some real opponents. From 2004 to 2011 he faced Kane, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Batista, Edge, Shawn Michaels(twice), and Triple H. But is it too little, too late? Think about all of the greats matches that could've happened, but didn't. No matches against Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Shawn Michaels(when he was in his prime), Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, Bill Goldberg, or Brock Lesnar. And what about John Cena? Cena has been in the main event at Wrestlemania ever since he won his first WWE Championship at Wrestlemania XXI. So that's six Wrestlemanias without the Undertaker and John Cena facing each other in the main event. And I have to ask, what would be bigger than the "Phenom vs. the "Franchise"? So with all of these great wrestlers that the Undertaker could've faced at Wrestlemania, and didn't, you have to ask yourself a question. Is the Undertakers 19-0 Wrestlemania record really a big deal?

Update: The Undertaker's Legendary Wrestlemania streak came to an end at Wrestlemania 30 in 2014.

Sin Cara Suspended by WWE

Last night at the Money in the Bank pay per view, Sin Cara was removed from the Smackdown Money in the Bank ladder match due to an "injury" during the match.  It has now been confirmed by WWE.com that Sin Cara has been suspended for 30 days due to his first wellness violation.

This comes as somewhat of a surprise, for one since there haven't been many of these types of suspensions lately as there were a few years ago, and also because Sin Cara has been said to be Triple H's "pet project" of sorts.  The suspension has apparently been known about for a good while now, and is said to be steroid related. 

It's pretty humorous that WWE.com has the injury story headline listed directly above the shoot reason (the suspension) on their site.  Since Cara's debut has been less than stellar and he's hit a few bumps in the road, so there is now question as to whether Sin Cara will return at all following this suspension.

A REAL Backstage Story About Working with The Straight Edge Jack@$$

Yeah, he may be the hottest trending name in pro wrestling as we speak, but it doesn’t change the bad taste he left when we worked with him.

CM Punk – or should I pull a Vinnie Mac and just refer to him as “Phil” – is a very talented and gifted athlete. He’s one of the best I’ve seen on the mic in a while. Unfortunately, his over sized ego casts an enormous shadow over his skills and paints him as an old school, red rubber, hanging your grandmothers shower, vinegar smelling, DOUCHEBAG!

Now out of respect for Pro Wrestling Roundup and its visitors, I won’t go into detail on this website because I wouldn’t want to them to be associated with my personal feelings spawned by my personal experience with Phil. BUT, if you want to hear a story about what it was like working with Phil right before he signed with the WWE, then please click the link below to follow the full story.

I would also welcome all your comments and opinions about Phillip Punk. I know many of you may be a fan of his work, as well am I. But I’m not talking about his character, I’m talking about him in real life. Mr. Phil Brooks! So if you were ever told to "f" off when asking for an autograph in an airport or a hotel, I’d love to hear about it!

In the meantime, enjoy the read!

Click Here for THE REAL BACKSTAGE STORY IN WORKING WITH THE STRAIGHT EDGE @$$HOLE

Thoughts on RAW

It has been quite some time since I have posted (Finishing out my degree consumed my time) but after last nights RAW, I felt now was as good a time as ever to get back into writing.

For an overall show, it was above average. The cage match, tornado match and tables match all were well designed and had adequate finishes to them. The reason it is above average and not an average show is because of what transpired after the tables match between John Cena and Jimmy hater R-Truth.

I for one loved the finish. CM Punk distracting Cena who gets speared into a table. Nothing makes this humble fan happier than to see Super Cena actually get beat by someone. Despite my joy of that moment, what happened next made my joy turn into complete ecstatic glee.

CM Punk begins to go on a well thought out work/shoot. He absolutely SLAMS the likes of John Cena, Dwayne Johnson, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and most importantly Vince McMahon. I won't go into explicit details, but the fact of the matter is we haven't seen a work/shoot like this since Paul Heyman did it to Vince McMahon during the invasion angle. Speaking of Paul Heyman, CM Punk made references to people on television last night that, as Punk said it, was "Breaking the fourth wall". Colt Cabana was also given a shout out: LOVED IT. .The segment ends with CM Punk's microphone being cut off.

Throughout this rant Punk goes on, every word he uttered was not lacking in truth. He is without a doubt the BEST pro wrestler WWE has from an All-Around standpoint. The guy is as good in the ring as anyone today, his microphone skills surpass EVERY WWE superstar. Yet for nearly a year now, CM Punk is given the job; Leader of Nexus, a pathetic stable. Have we ever seen tag champions who NO ONE CARES ABOUT? CM Punk is underused, unappreciated and quite frankly, is being disrespected. Why is that? Marketability. The reason the likes of John Cena is continuously given the nod is because how well he markets to the fans. There is no merit apparently in having better mic/in-ring skills than Cena. Cena draws the most cash. This leaves a thought to wonder on: What if Punk was given the same push, market team and kissed enough ass?

It was absolutely invigorating to see something of this nature from WWE. Whether it was truly a shoot, or most likely a work, it was something truly different than the normal product WWE has been putting out. One fact remains constant; IF CM PUNK IS ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE COMPANY WWE WILL REGRET THAT DECISION FOR YEARS TO COME.