WWE

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling - TNA

2006-05-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002 and now owned by Panda Energy International. The company operates out of Nashville, Tennessee, with an office in Orlando, Florida. TNA was originally a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was also known as NWA-TNA but withdrew from the NWA in 2004, in the process acquiring the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championships until the year 2014.

TNA is the first American promotion to exclusively use a hexagonal ring as opposed to the more conventional four-sided ring (the Mexican Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion also frequently utilizes a six-sided ring.). TNA is also unorthodox in that championships can change hands as a result of a disqualification or count out, thereby nullifying the "champion's advantage," and heels and faces approach the ring via separate entrance ramps.

TNA History

After the closure of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in March and April 2001 respectively, there was still a demand for Southern-style and cruiserweight wrestling that Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) was not fulfilling. TNA attempted to cater to this niche market by offering an alternative to the (then) WWF and by recruiting many former WCW and ECW performers who had not signed with WWE. On May 10, 2002, J Sports and Entertainment (a limited company with Jerry Jarrett as chief executive officer and Jeff Jarrett as president) announced the formation of Total Nonstop Action.

While several companies, such as World Wrestling All-Stars, had attempted to fill the void that the closure of WCW and ECW left, TNA has experienced the greatest longevity. Some suspect that a partial motive behind the creation of TNA was to provide employment and mainstream exposure for Jeff Jarrett, the son of long-time wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett, who was unemployed after the collapse of WCW and was unable to find work with the McMahons (allegedly because he blackmailed Vince McMahon for a large sum of money to wrestle a single match after his contract expired while he held the Intercontinental Championship in 1999).

TNA Business model

The original TNA business model was different from that employed by WWE in several key ways. By not touring like other major federations have done, TNA was able to keep costs down. TNA's original system of programming comprised of weekly cable pay-per-views.

While most major promotions had aired monthly PPVs, not having a weekly network, syndicated, or cable show from the outset was a radical departure from the norm. The weekly TNA PPVs were priced at $9.95 USD per week, much less than the monthly WWE PPVs. The weekly events were also transmitted free - albeit with a six-month delay - on The Wrestling Channel starting March 2004, this being the company's first foray into the international market.

In April 2005, TNA announced a partnership with YouTube that would see TNA supply YouTube with exclusive video content in exchange for hosting. In the same month, TNA also announced the debut of Global Impact, a weekly thirty-minute online video show to be hosted by Jeremy Borash. The first episode of Global Impact is scheduled to air on May 3, 2006.

TNA announced that they had secured a deal with Spike TV to air iMPACT! as part of Spike TV's "Slammin' Saturday Night" block, beginning in the autumn of 2005.

On November 7, 2005, it was confirmed that TNA has a video game deal with Midway Games. In the past, video games have been a major source of revenue for other wrestling promotions. The game, tenatively titled TNA iMPACT!, is currently scheduled to be released in 2007 for the PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Wii. [6]

Early in may 2006 rumors surfaced with a strong backing of many pro-wrestling news sites stating that TNA will be getting a second hour of programing in Late august early september 2006. this has also alluded to a better timeslot on thursday nights getting a major lead in from CSI:NY And or UFC programing, the rumored timeslot places TNA IMPACT Firlmly at 9:00 pm with CSI at 7:00 pm and UFC at 8:00 pm. If this were to happen this would give TNA more time to imbelish their storylines and to have a possible womens division.

TNA Current champions

TNA recognizes the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championship as their top titles. Traditionally, NWA world champions regularly defended their titles against local contenders in the various NWA territories. This has rarely been the case since TNA began using the titles in 2002, but TNA has leased the titles from the NWA until 2014, removing these obligations from the champion. The X Division Championship is the only championship created and owned exclusively by TNA. Wrestlers who win all three titles are said to have won the TNA Triple Crown.

TNA X Division
The X Division is a high-flying, high risk style of wrestling (derided by some as being spotfests) seen in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, it had been one of the key reasons viewers turned into the former WCW and ECW promotions. Rather than emphasizing the fact that most wrestlers who perform this style are under 220 lb (100 kg) by calling it a cruiserweight division, TNA Wrestling decided to emphasize the high risk nature of the moves these wrestlers perform (there is no upper weight limit on the X Division title, though in practice most of the champions have been cruiserweights). Recently, the emphasis of "it's not about weight limits" was brought to light when Samoa Joe, weighing around 290 pounds, won the X-Division title. To further emphasize this point, the slogan "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" was created by TNA and is used to describe the division. Although it was de-emphasized throughout 2004, the X Division is generally regarded as one of the key attractions of TNA, and was replicated in several independent promotions.

Edge - Adam Copeland

2006-04-07T00:18:00.000-07:00

Edge aka Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973 in Orangeville, Ontario), is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known under his ring name, Edge, currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment on the RAW brand. Originally a successful tag team wrestler, he has also made a name for himself as a singles competitor. At WrestleMania 21, he won a "money-in-the-bank" contract, giving him up to one year to challenge the world champion for a title match. He is the former WWE Champion after defeating John Cena at New Year's Revolution 2006 by cashing in that contract to win his first WWE Championship. Just three weeks after he won the WWE Championship from Cena, Edge lost the title when Cena made him tap out at the 2006 Royal Rumble.

He gained some measure of infamy among wrestling fans after late February 2005, when he had a real-life adulterous affair with WWE diva Lita, causing her and her long time boyfriend and WWE superstar Matt Hardy to split, when Matt was contacted by Edge's ex-wife.

Edge - Personal life

During his high school years, Copeland was voted, "Most Likely to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship", something that he ultimately accomplished at WWE New Year's Revolution on January 8, 2006. As a teenager, he appeared at WrestleMania VI as part of the crowd, cheering for the then-WWF Champion Hulk Hogan in the "Ultimate Challenge" Main Event against Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior. On 17 March 2002, Copeland would return to SkyDome for WrestleMania X8, participating and winning in his match against Booker T. On 4 July 2002, Copeland would team with Hogan to capture the World Tag Team Championship on an episode of SmackDown!

In 2000, Copeland made a cameo appearance appearance in the film Highlander: Endgame as a road bandit. His scene saw actor Adrian Paul remark "Looks like you've lost your edge, lad!" after defeating him.

Copeland's autobiography, entitled "Adam Copeland On Edge", was published on November 4, 2004.

Copeland was first married to wrestler Sean "Val Venis" Morley's sister Alannah, but divorced her 2004. He then met Lisa Ortiz (not to be confused with the voice actress of the same name) when he was having neck surgery and married her in October. He began an affair with fellow wrestler Amy "Lita" Dumas in December 2004. When the news of the affair broke, Copeland separated from his wife and sought a divorce which was completed in November. The status of Copeland's relationship with Dumas is currently unknown as Copeland and Dumas have neither confirmed or denied a relationship and many of their fellow professionals have declined to comment on the situation.

Copeland had a tattoo of a shark flexing its arm that happened to look like a cartoon named "The Street Sharks" on his upper biceps. He later replaced it with a sun.

Edge - Career

Throughout the 1990s he wrestled for many independent promotions in Ontario as well in the Great Lakes region of the United States under the name Sexton Hardcastle. As Sexton Hardcastle he was managed by Johnny Bradford and Judd the Studd and would go on to become a part of Sex and Violence with Joe Legend, a successful tag team in the Detroit area. During 1997 Sex and Violence were a part of a bigger gang, known as THUG Life - Legend, Hardcastle, Christian Cage, Bloody Bill Skullion and Rhino Richards. In his indy career, he also won the SSW Tag title, the ICW Street Fight Tag title and the ICW/MWCW Midwest Unified Tag title, all with long time friend, Christian Cage they were known as the Suicide Blondes. He was signed by the WWF in 1998.

Edge was first introduced in the WWF as an enigmatic character, and was placed into a feud against Gangrel. However, he started teaming up with Gangrel along with on-screen brother and aforementioned real life best friend Christian to form a faction known as "The Brood". The group joined The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness.

Edge - The Rated-R Superstar

Shortly after this victory, Edge suffered a torn pectoral muscle that kept him shelved for several weeks. During his layoff, he starred in his own show on RAW entitled The Cutting Edge, allowing him to remain on air without actually wrestling while he recovered from his injury. Edge then dubbed himself the "Rated-R Superstar" and began shooting on various WWE performers, including Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter and Michael Hayes. He became the number 1 contender for the Intercontinental Title and tried to take it away from Ric Flair at New Year's Revolution 2006.

The feud between Edge and Flair heated up in December 2005, following Flair's well-publicized arrest in connection with a road rage incident in Charlotte, North Carolina. On the January 2, 2006 edition of RAW, Edge played what he claimed was footage of the incident.

However, it was clear that Edge had created the video (i.e., dressing up as Flair, wearing a wig and sequined robe, and beating up a plant (who was portraying the motorist) to mock Flair. Flair got his revenge, running Edge back to the dressing room and putting a figure-four leglock on Lita.

At New Year's Revolution 2006, he was disqualified in his match against Ric Flair after using his trademark briefcase as a weapon and bashing Flair in the head 3 times. However, it would not be his last appearance at the event.

Edge - Finishing and signature moves

* Spear
* Edgecution/Concussion on Delivery (Impaler DDT)
* Edgeucator (Inverted sharpshooter)
* One Man Con-Chair-To (Sandwich chairshot)
* Edge-O-Matic (Sitout rear mat slam)
* Downward Spiral (Reverse STO)
* Winning Edge (Half nelson bulldog)
* Missile dropkick
* Electric chair bomb
* Flying crossbody
* Tornado DDT
* Rear naked choke
* Dropkick

Managers

* Johnny Bradford
* Judd the Studd
* Terri Runnels
* Lita

Nicknames

* "Mr. King Of The Ring"
* "Mr. Money-in-the-Bank"
* "The Rated R Superstar"

Wrestling shoes

2006-02-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

Wrestling shoes are active wear used in competition and practice for the sport of wrestling. Generally extremely light and flexible, wrestling shoes are often used for street racing as well. When purchasing wrestling shoes, be sure to check the prices of several online store fronts, as well as local sporting goods stores. Sporting goods stores generally will carry a smaller stock of wrestling shoes and have a price much higher than online dealers who deal solely in wrestling shoes. Some name brands of wrestling shoes are adidas and asics.

The most famous incident for WWE wrestling shoes was in Wrestlemania XX whene Kurt Angle was fighing Eddie Guerrero for the Smackdwon WWE Championship Match. Late in the match, Eddie escaped the Ankle Lock, knocking Kurt Angle to the ringside floor in the process, and began unlacing his boot, seemingly to massage it. Kurt got up, his face a mask of rage, prompting the still-down Eddie to exclaim, "Oh, shit!" Eddie then made a beeline for the ropes, but Kurt was faster, and he trapped Eddie in the Ankle Lock. Eddie tried desperately to Kick his Way out of it with his free foot, and in the process his boot came off, as he'd intended. The distraction enabled Eddie to roll his opponent up for the pinfall, and Eddie Guerrero retained the WWE Championship.

The following link has customised wrestling shoes for WWE type wrestling.

UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship

2006-02-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization. Fighters in the sport use combinations of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and many other martial arts. The UFC is currently owned and operated by Zuffa Entertainment, LLC. I was first introduced to UFC in Australia by my brother and its one of of our favourite shows as it is the closest to real fighting. The closest professioanal fights to UFC would be Thai kick boxing. Interesting how brazilians seem to do well in UFC.

UFC History

Early UFC events were eight- or sixteen-man tournaments conducted by the organisation Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) in association with WOW Promotions (headed by Art Davie and Rorion Gracie), wherein participants were required to beat three opponents in a single evening to be crowned Ultimate Fighting Champion. Reportedly no other event matched fighters of different style to prove which was the best (though events like the Vale Tudo No Maracanãzinho, held in Brazil on November 30, 1984, would appear to contradict this claim[1]). Fighters were typically skilled in one discipline only (for example boxing, Judo, Jiu Jitsu) and had little experience in battling against opponents with different skills of their own. In addition, some competitors were given falsified ranks in traditional martial arts in order to legitimise their presence (for example, Kimo Leopoldo was erroneously touted in UFC III as a 'third degree black belt' in taekwondo[2]). The first ever UFC premiered in 1993.

With no weight classes, fighters could find themselves facing opponents who were significantly larger and taller than themselves. These factors combined led to a trend of short, violent fights, although there were notable exceptions (for example, the 'superfight' between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie in UFC V lasted 36 minutes). This was very much in line with the way the UFC was being marketed at the time. "There are no rules!" said the famous tagline. Although not strictly true, the UFC did operate with a limited set of rules; techniques such as hair pulling, headbutts and groin strikes were frowned upon, but allowed. How the rules were enforced: should a competition rule be violated, the competitor who broke the rule was fined $1000.

The brutal nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew the attention of the authorities and UFC events were banned in almost all American states. To survive, the UFC redesigned its rules to remove the less palatable elements of fights, while still retaining the core elements of striking and grappling. Five minute rounds, Referee stoppages, weight classes and limitations on permissible striking areas gradually found the UFC being rebranded as a sport rather than a violent circus attraction.

Through this event the term MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) was coined.

UFC Popularity

Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship events have become popular in places like Japan, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, where live fights are often seen on television's Pay Per View system as well as occasionally on Spike TV. Spike TV also airs UFC Unleashed, which replays recorded matches from past cards. In the United States, championship fights are usually held in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, much like in boxing. The ring announcer for UFC championship fights is Bruce Buffer, brother of the famous boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer.

In 2005, the UFC launched its own reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, in which MMA practitioners who had not yet appeared in the UFC would reside and train together in two teams, and fight one another in matches where the loser would be eliminated and eventually one fighter from each of two weight classes would be awarded a contract. A second series launched in August of the same year, and a third series has been announced and is currently in production. The UFC nearly doubled its fanbase because of this free TV exposure

Results of UFC 57
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight crown with a second-round TKO of Randy Couture at a sold-out Mandalay Bay Event Center, giving him a 2-1 edge in the trio of bouts between the two marquee fighters.
After the bout, the 42-year-old Couture, the only fighter in UFC history to win heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, announced his retirement.

Elsewhere on the card, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir got a rude welcome back to the UFC after a 20-month absence due to injury, getting stopped in the first round by Brazil’s Marcio Pe De Pano Cruz in a stunning upset.

Brazil’s Renato Babalu Sobral cemented his position as the No. 1 challenger for the UFC light heavyweight belt as he submitted veteran Mike Van Arsdale in the first round of a scheduled three-round contest

UFC rules

(As found on ufc.tv)

UFC rules, as approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission - July 23, 2001

UFC Weight classes:

* Lightweight: 145 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg)
* Welterweight: 155 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)
* Middleweight: 170 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)
* Light heavyweight: 185 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)
* Heavyweight: 205 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)

UFC Bout duration:

1. All non-championship bouts shall be three rounds.
2. All championship bouts shall be five rounds.
3. Rounds will be five minutes in duration.
4. A one-minute rest period will occur between each round.

UFC Fouls:

1. Butting with the head.
2. Eye gouging of any kind.
3. Biting.
4. Hair pulling.
5. Fish hooking.
6. Groin attacks of any kind.
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
8. Small joint manipulation.
9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
13. Grabbing the clavicle.
14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
21. Spitting at an opponent.
22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
30. Interference by the corner.

UFC Ways To Win:

1. Submission by:
* Physical tap out.
* Verbal tap out.
2. Technical knockout by the referee stopping the contest.
3. Decision via the scorecards, including:
* Unanimous decision.
* Split decision.
* Majority decision.
* Draw, including:
o Unanimous draw.
o Majority draw.
o Split draw.
4. Technical decision.
5. Technical draw.
6. Disqualification.
7. Forfeit.
8. No contest.

Referee may stand fighters up: If the fighters reach a stalemate and do not work to improve position or finish.

Notable UFC fighters

David "Tank" Abbott (UFC 6 & UU '96 Tournament finalist, UFC 17 Heavyweight Superfight Champion)
Andrei Arlovski (Current UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Josh Barnett (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Vitor Belfort (UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC Ultimate Brazil Middleweight Superfight Champion, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
Murilo Bustamante (Former UFC Middleweight Champion)
Mark Coleman (UFC 10 & 11 Tournament Champion, First UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Randy Couture (UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC 15 Heavyweight Superfight Champion, 2x Former UFC Heavyweight Champion, 2x, Former Interim Light Heavyweight Champion, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
Rich Franklin (Current UFC Middleweight Champion)
Don Frye (UFC 10 Tournament finalist, UFC 8 & UU '96 Champion)
Matt Hughes (2x (Current) UFC Welterweight Champion)
Royce Gracie (UFC 1, 2 & 4 Tournament Champion)
Mark Kerr (UFC 14 & 15 Heavyweight Tournament Champion)
Chuck Liddell (Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
Pat Miletich (UFC 16 Lightweight Tournament Champion, Former UFC Lightweight/Welterweight Champion)
Frank Mir (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Tito Ortiz (UFC 13 Lightweight Tournament finalist, Former UFC Middleweight/Light Heavyweight Champion)
BJ Penn (Former UFC Welterweight Champion)
Jens Pulver (Former UFC Bantamweight/Lightweight Champion)
Kevin Randleman (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Pedro Rizzo (UFC Ultimate Brazil Heavyweight Superfight Champion)
Ricco Rodriguez (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Marco Ruas (UFC 7 Tournament Champion)
Bas Rutten (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Kazushi Sakuraba (UFC Japan Heavyweight tournament champion)
Dan Severn (UFC 4 Tournament finalist, UFC 5 & UU '95 Tournament Champion, UFC 9 Superfight Champion)
Frank Shamrock (Former UFC Middleweight/Light Heavyweight Champion)
Ken Shamrock (UFC 6 & 8 Superfight Champion)
Maurice Smith (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Tim Sylvia (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Oleg Taktarov (UU '95 Tournament finalist, UFC 6 Tournament Champion)
Evan Tanner (Former UFC Middleweight Champion)
Matt Lindland

Official Line up for UFC 58
The following is the official line-up for the UFC 58: USA vs. Canada pay-per view scheduled for March 4th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada:

-Rich Franklin (c) vs. David Loiseau (UFC MW Title)
-B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre
-Diego Sanchez vs. John Alessio
-Nathan Marquardt vs. Joe Doerksen
-Yves Edwards vs. Mark Hominick
-Mike Swick vs. Steve Vigneault
-Kenny Florian vs. Sam Stout
-Tom Murphy vs. Christophe Midoux
-Jason Lambert vs. Rob MacDonald

External links

rey mysterio unmasked

2006-02-07T00:16:00.000-08:00

Below are pictures and pics of Rey Mysterio unmasked with a small bio on Rey Mysterio

Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio, better known by his ring names Rey Misterio, Jr., Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Rey Mysterio (born December 11, 1974 in San Diego, California) is a Mexican-American professional wrestler currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the SmackDown! brand. At the 2006 Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio outlasted 29 other men to earn a championship match at WrestleMania 22.

The pic is of rey mysterio jr unmasked

Mysterio Jr. (far right) with The Filthy Animals.

Current Status of Rey Mysterious
Currently his title shot is on the line at No Way Out where he will face Randy Orton.
When Rey Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble, the last elimination was Randy Orton. Still upset by this, on the February 3, 2006 episode of Friday Night Smackdown!, Orton interrupted Mysterio's victory speech and verbally attacked him, saying "Eddie was laughing his ass off at [Mysterio], not with [him]," and that "there was no way Mysterio could ever beat him in a real wrestling match". As Mysterio looked upwards, Orton continued by saying that "Eddie Guerrero was not in heaven, he is 'down there' -- IN HELL!" Infuriated, Mysterio attacked Orton with a flurry of enraged punches. Several referees broke up the fight and throughout the remainder of episode, the crowd frequently and loudly chanted Guerrero's name.

During the last match of the night, Mysterio and Kurt Angle faced Orton and Mark Henry in a tag team match in which Orton and Henry won, because Angle chased his former manager Daivari out of the arena, followed closely by Mark Henry. After the match, Orton claimed that Mysterio's chances of winning at WrestleMania were the same as Eddie Guerrero coming back to life, prompting Mysterio to put his title shot on the line and fight Orton at No Way Out on February 19, 2006.

Big Show Paul Wight

2006-02-06T23:30:00.000-08:00

Big Show aka Paul Wight, Jr. (born February 8, 1972 in Aiken, South Carolina, now residing in Tampa, Florida), best known by his ring names, The Giant, and, later, The Big Show, is an American professional wrestler, currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the RAW brand. He is currently one half of the World Tag Team Champions with Kane.

World Championship Wrestling
Paul Wight became involved in professional wrestling when Danny Bonaduce introduced him to Hulk Hogan at a charity basketball event in early 1995. Wight trained at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory for seven months and then signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He polished his skills at the WCW Power Plant, where at one point he possessed the ability to perform a moonsault.

Wight debuted in WCW during the 1995 Bash At The Beach. He introduced himself as The Giant, claiming to be the son of the late André the Giant, and blaming Hogan for the death of his "father." He joined the Dungeon of Doom, who were at war with Hulk Hogan and his allies, and immediately began a heated feud with Hogan. At the 1995 Fall Brawl, Wight attacked Hogan while he was fighting the leader of the Dungeon of Doom, "Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, in a cage match. After Wight destroyed Hogan's Harley-Davidson Motorbike using a monster truck, Hogan challenged him to a "Monster Truck Battle" at Halloween Havoc, which was to be held, fittingly enough, in Detroit.

After being thrown out of the nWo on December 30, 1996 for asking Hogan for a World Heavyweight Championship title shot, Wight fought against the nWo along with Sting, Scott Hall and Lex Luger, winning the WCW World Tag Team Championships twice. In 1997 he began a feud with nWo member Kevin Nash, who constantly dodged Wight, failing to appear for their scheduled match at the 1997 StarrCade. In 1998 at Souled Out the two finally met in the ring, but Nash accidentally broke Wight's neck when he botched a Jackknife Powerbomb. When Nash left the nWo and formed his own stable, the Wolfpac, Wight rejoined the nWo to oppose Nash and his allies. Nash would eventually end Wight's WCW career when he defeated him following interference from Scott Hall and Eric Bischoff. He left WCW in 1999 for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE).

Big Show in World Wrestling Federation

Wight signed a lucrative multi-year contract with the WWF in early 1999. He debuted as a member of Vince McMahon's heel stable, The Corporation, at the February 1999 St. Valentine's Day Massacre event. During the McMahon vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin cage match, Wight came from under the ring and attacked Austin. However, he cost McMahon the match when he threw Austin into the side of the cage and the cage broke, spilling Austin outside to the floor and granting him the victory. This meant that Austin would face The Rock at WrestleMania XV for the WWF Championship.

Wight performed as "Big Nasty" Paul White for several weeks (a jab at "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash) and was eventually renamed "The Big Show" Paul Wight and acted as McMahon's bodyguard. Wight later dropped his real name, and was from then on referred to simply as "The Big Show". McMahon wanted to ensure that Corporation member The Rock would retain his title at WrestleMania, so he faced Mick Foley (Mankind) at WrestleMania for the right to referee the main event. Wight incapacitated Mankind, but disqualified himself in the process, meaning that neither man would be referee. After a furious McMahon slapped Wight, he punched McMahon and was arrested, turning face. Wight concluded his feud with Foley in a Boiler Room Brawl before joining Mankind, Test and Ken Shamrock in a stable known as "The Union" who fought against the Corporation, and later against the Corporate Ministry. Wight and Undertaker later formed an unlikely alliance against X-Pac and Kane, with Wight turning heel in the process. Wight and The Undertaker twice won the WWF Tag Team Championships.

Big Show in World Wrestling Entertainment

At the March 25, 2002 Roster Split, Wight was drafted to RAW by Ric Flair. He turned heel by betraying Steve Austin in the course of a match and rejoining the newest incarnation of the New World Order, but the stable disbanded after Kevin Nash was injured. Wight achieved little success on RAW after this, not wrestling at WrestleMania X8, and at one point even losing to the much smaller Jeff Hardy.

Big Show in SmackDown!

Wight was eventually traded to SmackDown! in exchange for Ivory, Maven, D-Von Dudley and Val Venis. Wight immediately challenged WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, who he defeated at the 2002 Survivor Series following interference from Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman, thus becoming a two time World Champion. He lost the title to Kurt Angle a month later.

Big Show in RAW

On June 27, 2005, Wight was traded back to RAW in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, preventing him from participating in a scheduled six-man elimination match for the SmackDown! Championship. He successfully pinned Gene Snitsky in a tag team match which degenerated into a singles match when both men's partners brawled backstage. After squashing his scheduled opponents for several weeks, Wight approached Chris Masters on July 18, volunteering to try and break Masters' Master Lock, after Masters boasted that no-one, no matter how big, could break free from the hold. Masters refused to accept Wight's challenge and retreated up the ramp and away from the ring. In the following weeks, Wight faced Masters in many tag team matches before the angle was dropped without explanation and Wight returned to his rivalry with Snitsky.

Big Show Finishing and signature moves

* Showstopper (Chokeslam)
* Final Cut (Inverted facelock elbow drop)
* Hog Log (Inverted leg drop bulldog)
* Alley-Oop (Reverse powerbomb)
* Sidewalk slam
* Open handed slap
* Big boot
* Double chokeslam (with Kane)

Big Show Acting career

* Wight had a fight scene against Hulk Hogan in a Thunder in Paradise episode where he was credited as "The Giant Paul Wight". His character was initially seen to be winning the fight, surviving all of Hogan's attacks, but was eventually rendered unconscious by a stone that was thrown at his head.
* Wight played a giant Santa Claus in the movie Jingle All the Way.
* Wight appeared in The Waterboy as Adam Sandler's wrestling icon, Captain Insano.
* Wight played himself on the March 18, 1999 episode of the Nickelodeon sitcom Cousin Skeeter ("Skeeter's Suplex").
* Wight appeared in a segment on Saturday Night Live with Vince McMahon, Mick Foley and Triple H. The Rock was hosting the show, and McMahon ordered the wrestlers not to interfere. McMahon then noticed that Wight was hiding something behind his back, which turned out to be a steel chair.
* In October 2004, Wight made a cameo appearance as an Orion slave trader in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Borderland."
* Wight appeared on two episodes of Figure It Out in 1998. He was "slimed" once in both episodes, with the secret slime action of each episode "being very tall" and "looking up" respectively.

Personal life

Like his famous predecessor, André the Giant, Wight has acromegaly or "gigantism", although he underwent successful surgery in the early 1990s on his pituitary gland which halted the progress of this condition. By the age of twelve, Wight was 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) tall, weighed 220 lb (100 kg) and had chest hair. His height peaked in the early 2000s at 7 ft 1 in (216 cm), with his weight reaching a maximum of 507 lb (230 kg). His shoe size is 22 5 E, his ring size is 22.5 and his chest is 64 in (163 cm) in circumference.

Wight has numerous tattoos, including a tiger on his right bicep and his wife's name on the back of his neck.

While in college (Wichita State University), Wight was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. While in WCW, he was arrested and detained for allegedly exposing himself to a hotel clerk in Memphis, Tennessee. He was later released due to a lack of evidence.

Wight is married, and his wife, Bess, is of average height. He also has a daughter, Sierra, from a previous marriage. He is also well-known behind the scenes and in the media for his easygoing, affable nature and his sharp sense of humor. In 2005, Wight leased a bus and hired a bus driver because of the practical problems his size presents to air travel and car rental.

While appearing on the Howard Stern Show, Wight told the story of how he had been cleared of all charges after a professional wrestling fan initiated a lawsuit against him for assault. Wight had been in a hotel lobby when the fan approached him and began verbally abusing him, then shoving him. Wight defended himself by punching the fan, shattering his jaw.

External links

WWE profile

WCW Sting wrestler

2006-02-05T02:20:00.000-08:00

WCW Sting Wrestler also known as Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959 in Omaha, Nebraska), is an American professional wrestler who has wrestled with several promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling since the early 1980s. The longest (and most famous) of these three runs was with WCW, where he held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times.

Sting wrestler Early career

Sting started out as a part of a tag team with the wrestler later known as The Ultimate Warrior. Sting and the Warrior were called The Blade Runners (a probable reference to the movie of the same name) in the Universal Wrestling Federation. Warrior soon left the UWF, leaving Sting to turn face and win the tag titles with Rick Steiner.

Sting was one of the wrestlers who joined World Championship Wrestling when it purchased the UWF in late 1987. Sting's legendary feud with Ric Flair began when he and Flair fought to a 45-minute time limit draw at the inaugural Clash of the Champions in 1988. However, when Sting later began a feud with Keiji Mutoh, Flair and Sting became friends and they stood together against Mutoh's stables. When Flair formed the Four Horsemen, Sting joined it, but was kicked out during Clash of the Champions X after he demanded a title shot from Flair, thus restarting their rivalry. That same night, Sting injured his knee in a cage match while making a run-in on the other Horsemen. This created booking problems for WCW, as Sting was slated to take Flair's title at the next Pay Per View, WrestleWar. Instead, Lex Luger took Sting's place for several epic matches with Flair, meant to keep the title on Flair using any means necessary (despite heavy backstage politicking to drop the title to Luger) while buying time for Sting's recuperation.

On his return, Sting focused on taking out the Four Horsemen and at The Great American Bash, he finally defeated Flair for the NWA Heavyweight Title. He went on to feud with Lex Luger, though later they would become good friends and a successful tag team.

WCW Sting - World Championship Wrestling (1988-2001)

Sting lost the NWA World Heavyweight championship back to Flair on January 11, 1991; shortly afterward, WCW officially seceded from the NWA and began promoting its own WCW World Heavyweight championship and WCW World Tag Team championship. However, NWA titles would continue to be competed for in WCW, even though the NWA would officially die in 1993 and the titles would become meaningless.

Sting was one of the few high profile wrestlers in WCW who did not work for the WWF at any point throughout the 1990s, and who remained with WCW in the late 1990s when dozens of other wrestlers "jumped ship" to the WWF. It is for this reason, as well as WCW's wanting Sting to be their standard bearer for the 90's, that Sting is referred to as "the franchise" of WCW.

World Wrestling All-Stars (2002-2003)

Sting returned to professional wrestling in late-2002, touring Europe with the World Wrestling All-Stars throughout November and December. His first match with the WWA was on November 28, 2002 in Dublin, Ireland, and saw Sting team with Lex Luger to defeated Buff Bagwell and Malice. On December 6, 2002 in Glasgow, Scotland, Luger defeated Sting in a match for the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship following interference from Jeff Jarrett. On December 13, 2002 in Zürich, Switzerland, Sting defeated Luger to become the WWA World Heavyweight Champion.

Sting toured Australasia with the WWA in May 2003. On May 21, 2003 he successfully defended the WWA World Heavyweight Championship against Rick Steiner and Shane Douglas in Sydney, Australia, and on May 23, 2003 in Melbourne, Australia he retained the title in a match with Disco Inferno, despite interference from Chris Sabin and Konnan. On the last ever WWA show, on May 25, 2003 in Auckland, New Zealand, Sting lost the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett in a championship unification bout following interference on Jarrett's behalf by Rick Steiner. This last show aired on pay-per-view in the United States on June 8, 2003.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003, 2005-present)

In 2003, Sting signed a contract committing him to four appearances with the Nashville, Tennessee-based Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. He debuted in TNA on the June 18, 2003 one year anniversary show, teaming with Jeff Jarrett to defeat A.J. Styles and the returning Syxx Pac. Throughout July 2003, Sting engaged in a comprehensive series of sitdown interviews, discussing his career and his faith.

On the January 28, 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT!, Sting made his Spike TV debut, coming to the ring at the end of the show to make a "major announcement". After briefly recounting his professional wrestling career, Sting noted that he had never had a chance to properly say goodbye to his fans. He then announced that Final Resolution 2006 had been "his goodbye", before thanking the TNA management and the fans. Sting then dropped his bat, with a spotlight appearing over it, and left the ring, shaking hands with various TNA wrestlers on his way up the ramp. The last wrestler to shake hands with Sting was Christian Cage, who urged Sting not to leave. Sting responded by telling Cage that he loved him "like a brother" and then left the arena.

Finishing and signature moves

* Scorpion Death Lock (Sharpshooter)

Outside of wrestling

Borden is married to Sue, with whom he has two sons, Garrett and Steven, and a daughter, Gracie. He has been a born-again Christian since August 1998, and is a church deacon. He occasionally appears at religious wrestling shows hosted by fellow born-again Christians Ted DiBiase and Nikita Koloff.

Sting appeared in the 1998 film The Real Reason (Men Commit Crimes), the 2000 film Shutterspeed and the 2000 film Ready To Rumble. He has also made guest appearances in several television series, including Thunder in Paradise, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Nightmare Room and MADtv. In 2004, a biographical film entitled Sting: Moment of Truth about Sting's life was released direct-to-video. The film featured numerous wrestling personalities, with Sting depicting himself as an adult and Donnie Fallgatter depicting Sting as a child.

Borden owns the trademark on the name "Sting".

Finishing and signature moves
* Scorpion Death Lock (Sharpshooter)
* Scorpion Death Drop (Inverted DDT)
* Stinger splash

Outside of wrestling

Borden is married to Sue, with whom he has two sons, Garrett and Steven, and a daughter, Gracie. He has been a born-again Christian since August 1998, and is a church deacon. He occasionally appears at religious wrestling shows hosted by fellow born-again Christians Ted DiBiase and Nikita Koloff.

Sting appeared in the 1998 film The Real Reason (Men Commit Crimes), the 2000 film Shutterspeed and the 2000 film Ready To Rumble. He has also made guest appearances in several television series, including Thunder in Paradise, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Nightmare Room and MADtv. In 2004, a biographical film entitled Sting: Moment of Truth about Sting's life was released direct-to-video. The film featured numerous wrestling personalities, with Sting depicting himself as an adult and Donnie Fallgatter depicting Sting as a child.

Borden owns the trademark on the name "Sting".

External links

Backyard Wrestling BYW

2006-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

Backyard wrestling (or BYW Yardtarding) is a loose term used to describe the controversial practice of professional wrestling as performed by untrained fans (usually adolescant males) in an unsanctioned, non-professional environment. It is amateur "professional" wrestling ("amateur wrestling" refers to the Olympic sport), and could be considered an extremely physical form of role-playing. Though backyard wrestling was not unheard of prior to the 1990's, the modern backyard wrestling "craze" lasted from roughly 1998 to 2001, during a time when televised professional wrestling was enjoying a period of unparalleled popularity.

Many of those who practice it embrace a style that emphasises risky highspots (which can involve diving or taking bumps from rooftops or ladders) and the liberal use of weapons in matches. These may include thumbtacks, barbed wire, tables, plywood, fire, glass, and light tubes. Even among participants who shy away from this, there still is a considerable level of inherent risk involved.

Many professional wrestling moves require extensive training to perform correctly and safely, which few backyard wrestlers have recieved. These and other concerns are at the heart of the controversy surrounding the practice.

Backyard wrestling is so-called because it is often literally performed in yards, though most any location can host a backyard wrestling match, including wooded areas, parks, garages, playgrounds, vacant lots, warehouses, barns, and school gyms. It is common for backyard wrestling promotions, or "feds," to construct their own homemade wrestling rings. Wrestling on trampolines is also common, which allows for visually impressive moves to be performed with a minimal risk of injury. Others opt to simply perform matches on the bare ground. Backyard wrestling feds can be highly organized, and many tape their shows and maintain websites where media is available for download. The internet proved instrumental in popularizing backyard wrestling during its initial boom period.

Two video games loosely based on the practice of backyard wrestling have been released: Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood, both of which were published by Eidos Interactive and developed by Paradox Development. Both games were widely panned

Backyard Wrestling Relationship to Professional Wrestling

Backyard wrestling is modeled almost entirely after professional wrestling, and many backyarders are dedicated fans of the sport. Totally disregarding the WWE mantra dont try this at home backyard matches are usually "worked" in the same way professional matches are, with finishes booked in advance and participants going over highspots beforehand. Often the wrestlers discreetly communicate to one another during the bouts, exchanging information as to which moves to perform next. Differences exist in that backyard wrestling often emphasizes more humorous and absurd gimmicks and storylines. Most wrestling fans would consider backyard matches sloppy and lacking in psychology in comparison to the pros, though this might not always be the case.

Backyard Wrestling tends to follow the trends of Professional Wrestling; this can be seen as the "hardcore" phase of BYW fizzled out soon after promotions such a ECW, XPW and CZW closed or toned down their extreme style. It is more common nowadays for backyard wrestlers to hit hard with strikes, much like current popular wrestlers Super Dragon and Samoa Joe.

In recent years, backyard wrestling (or "backyarding") has become a hobby for some of the younger generation of Indy wrestlers, because, whereas wrestling professionally means being told how, who and where to wrestle by a booker or promoter, backyarders are their own bookers and promoters and can enjoy the freedom of wrestling their friends however they like for their own recreation. However, even two trained wrestlers wrestling in a "backyard wrestling environment" is frowned upon by most professionals, and it is often difficult to shake the reputation of being a "backyarder" once it becomes common knowledge.

Further more, since the loss in popularity of Professional Wrestling, as has the media buzz around Backyard Wrestling. Since that time a rather large "BYW Sub-Culture" has risen in the Backyard Wrestling scene. Backyard wrestling tends to swing with the tide of what the "in thing" in pro wrestling is. The majority of Backyard Wrestling is now focused around what is known as the "American Indy" style. Made popular by promotions like Ring Of Honor. BYW feds are now focused around technical wrestling, athletics, and high spots

Backyard Wrestling Controversy

Many backyard wrestlers cite Mick Foley as their inspiration, as a video of Foley's backyard wrestling exploits with his friends in college gained widespread attention after portions of it were shown on WWF (now WWE) TV. However, Foley himself discourages the practice of backyard wrestling due to the high potential for serious injury, and is quick to point out that he did not attempt dangerous stunts (with the exception of a jump off a rooftop onto a matress) or perform acts of extreme violence in his videos, events that often occur in backyard wrestling.

Most, if not all, professional wrestlers and wrestling organizations discourage backyard wrestling, because it involves the imitation of stunts that can cause serious injury by individuals who have not been trained to execute them. Several lawsuits have been brought against wrestling organizations, most prominently WWE, alleging that people have caused serious injury to others by imitating professional wrestling moves they saw on TV. As a result of this pressure, WWE now features prominent disclaimers during its programming which tell fans, "Don't try this at home."

While many backyard wrestlers believe that backyard wrestling is good preparation for future exploits in professional wrestling, prominent wrestling school operators have often stated their disdain for the practice.

The Rock - Dwayne Johnson

2006-02-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California), better known by his stage name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He has starred in such motion pictures as Be Cool, Walking Tall, The Mummy Returns, The Rundown, The Scorpion King, Doom, and others. He is of multiracial descent, as his father is a Black Canadian and mother is Samoan.

Johnson first gained mainstream fame as a standout in the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment). Before becoming The Rock, he was known as Rocky Maivia, in homage to his father, Rocky Johnson, and his maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia. With this family history, he became the first 3rd generation wrestler in WWE history. Since his entry into acting, Johnson continues to be known simply as The Rock.

Early life

Johnson was born into a family of diverse backgrounds and heritage. His father was the Black Canadian professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, a former WWF Tag Team Champion. Johnson's mother Ata Maivia was a Samoan of royal lineage of Samoa (such Polynesian lineages are interconnected across the Pacific societies). Johnson's maternal grandfather, Peter Maivia, retained the royal title of 'High Chief ' and was highly respected especially as an elder. Peter Maivia was also a professional wrestler, known especially for the tattoos (of great cultural significance) that covered the lower half of his body. In keeping with this tradition, Johnson has also received such tattoos, the most prominent covering his left shoulder and upper chest.

Johnson spent his early childhood living near his maternal grandfather and grandmother in Honolulu. He attended local public schools, including Washington Intermediate School and President William McKinley High School, both near Ala Moana and Waikiki.

High School

As a high school junior, however, Johnson's father's career led them to relocate to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Johnson assimilated quickly in the new area. In Bethlehem, Johnson cultivated and developed an intense athleticism, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He began playing football at Bethlehem's Freedom High School, a member of the East Penn Conference (now known as the Lehigh Valley Conference) in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. It was then (and continues to be) one of the most competitive high school football conferences in the United States.

Known for its blue collar ruggedness, the Lehigh Valley proved a hand-in-glove match for Johnson, who fit in well with the area's street toughness. That toughness carried to his football play, where Johnson began to excel amidst the area's intense athletic competition.

University of Miami

Johnson received various athletic scholarship offers from several universities before choosing to attend the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The University of Miami football program did not openly recruit Johnson; he had to face try-outs to join the program. In 1991, he was part of the Hurricanes' National Championship team. Johnson played Defensive Tackle, backing up future NFL star Warren Sapp.

Considered a candidate for the NFL, Johnson's hopes of a football career was challenged by a severe back injury. After college, Johnson signed a three-year contract with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders instead. However, he was cut from the team after a year. It was then that Johnson decided to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by pursuing a professional wrestling career.

World Wrestling Federation

Along with his father and grandfather, several members of Johnson's family are current and former professional wrestlers, including his uncles, the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika Anoai), and cousins such as the late former WWF Champion Yokozuna and former WWF Tag Team Champion Rikishi. When he declared his intention to join the family business to his father, the elder Johnson resisted, but agreed to train his son himself, warning him that he would not go easy on him. With help from former WWE executive and veteran wrestler Pat Patterson, Johnson secured a tryout with the WWF. Impressed by his talent and charisma, he was signed to a WWF deal after a short stint for "seasoning" in Jerry Lawler's USWA, where he wrestled under the stage names of Flex Kavana and Pidlaoan Rock.

Johnson first wrestled in the WWF as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names. The WWF played up his connection to his father and grandfather, calling him the first third-generation superstar to wrestle for the company. Johnson was first portrayed as a clean-cut babyface, and gained early success, winning the prestigious Intercontinental Championship after only three months. He was the first Intercontinental champion of Samoan descent. However, wrestling had changed since Hulk Hogan's heyday in the mid 80s, and fans quickly grew sick of the two-dimensional good guy character. Despite often being loudly booed and jeered with chants of "Die Rocky Die!" and "Rocky Sucks" from the crowd, Johnson was forced to go to the ring and smile, as if the crowd was cheering (like they were "supposed to").

The Rock

Eventually, Johnson was allowed to turn heel and joined the Nation of Domination (wrestling's version of the Nation of Islam), spewing venom at the fans for turning on him, influenced by Johnson's real-life feelings toward the WWF audience. Now allowed to be more or less himself (Johnson has often said in interviews that The Rock is merely Dwayne Johnson with "the volume turned way up"), Rocky Maivia became The Rock, a cocky and charismatic bully who even drove out the Nation's leader Faarooq. At WrestleMania XIV, Gennifer Flowers was made a special guest interviewer, interviewing the Rock. Where the Rock was posed a question about how he would conduct affairs as the President of the United States. In turn the Rock stated to her that the title “Ruler” would sound better then “President” and he would transform the White House into a Palatial Palace. Regardless of this display of arrogance, The Rock became wildly popular, establishing several much-quoted catchphrases including "If ya smell what The Rock is cookin'?", "Layeth the Smacketh down," "It Doesn't Matter What Your Name Is!", "Know your role and shut your mouth!", and "Just bring it". In essence, it was a reversal of his Rocky Maivia character, where he was cheered instead of being booed as he was "supposed to be". The Rock also became famous for always referring to himself in the third person, starting many sentences with "The Rock says..."

Trivia

The Rock has held the WWE Championship more times than anyone else. (7 times)
The Rock is the only WWE Superstar to have a pay per view and a weekly show named after him or his catchphrases, that being SmackDown! and In Your House: Rock Bottom (which took place on December 13, 1998). Also, the popular WWF SmackDown! video game series for the Sony PlayStation systems were named after him.
The Rock has been dubbed "The Samoan Samson" in reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Austrian Oak"
In his book, The Rock Says, the Rock claims that such mannerisms like the eyebrow and the words "Jabroni" and even the phrase "If you smell what The Rock is cookin" were things that he did not invent and that they have existed for some time, most of The Rock's phrases can be heard in 1970s blaxploitation films. The phrase "Roody poo" is a variation of Iceman Parsons' pet phrase "Rooty Poot".
The Rock added numerous tattoos to his body over the course of his wrestling career. An early nickname, "The Brahma Bull", came from the steer's head tattoo on his right bicep.
As of 2006, Doom is the only R rated film he has starred in.
In his 2003 return to WWE, even though The Rock played heel during the WWE RAW broadcasts, he reverted back to a face during the post-broadcast segments. In the February 24, 2003 edition of WWE RAW, after being defeated by Booker T, The Rock re-entered the ring and asked Booker if he could teach him the Spin-A-Roony, Booker's signature move. After successfully pulling off the "Rock-A-Roony", Booker T gave The Rock the BookEnd/Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. The Rock lightheartedly told the fans that he didn't realize how much pain his signature moves induced in his opponents, and told them that he would always be the People's Champion. The crowd then cheered and followed him as he yelled "If you smell... What the Rock...", and allowed a young boy to finish the catchphrase on the mic with "Is cookin'!"
He guest starred on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager ("Tsunkatse") as a pit fighter with incredible strength. As he entered the arena to square off against Seven of Nine, he gave the audience (and the camera) his trademark eyebrow raise.
He chose to attend the University of Miami because they didn't openly express interest in recruiting him.

Finishing and signature moves

Rock Bottom (Side slam)
The People's Elbow / The Corporate Elbow (Feint leg drop to elbow drop) - (dubbed "The Most Electrifying Move in Sports-Entertainment")
People's Spinebuster (Spinebuster)
Samoan drop
People's Sharpshooter (Sharpshooter)
People's DDT (Various flowing DDT's)
Three open-handed punches, followed by a hand-spitting motion, followed by a fourth punch which typically levels the victim

Nicknames

The Brahma Bull
The People's Champ/Champion (or The Corporate Champion)
The Great One
The Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment (later Sports and Entertainment)

Quotes

* "If you smell...what The Rock...is cookin'"
* "Finally, The Rock, has come back to (insert name of city)."
* "With the millions....and millions of Rock's fans chanting his name..."
* "Do you like...pie?"
* "Shine it up nice, turn it sideways, and stick it straight up your candy ass!"
* "The Rock's gonna layeth the smacketh down on all your candy asses!"
* "Know your role and shut your mouth."
* "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!"
* "We're gonna take a walk down 'Know Your Role Boulevard', take a left onto 'Jabroni Drive, and check your ass straight into the Smackdown Hotel!"
* "Who is this roody poo?"
* "Just bring it."
* "Get ready and stay healthy."
* "Go suck on a monkey's nipple!"
* "The Rock says..."
* "This ain't sing-a-long with the Rock!"

Info on Dwayne Johnson in Doom

Undertaker - Mark Calaway

2006-02-02T01:09:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Undertaker. Undertaker is one of the biggest stars in the WWE
(Credit to Wiki)

Mark Calaway (also spelled incorrectly as either Callaway or Calloway), better known by his ring name, The Undertaker, is an American professional wrestler, currently performing for the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment. He was born March 24, 1965 in Houston, Texas.

As Undertaker, Calaway has experienced considerable success. In addition to multiple title reigns, he is undefeated at the flagship WWE pay-per-view, WrestleMania, having won all of his thirteen matches. He is also one of the few wrestlers to have been consistently pushed throughout his career, and the only wrestler to have pinned Kevin Nash, Kane, Big Show and Giant Gonzales - four of the tallest men in wrestling history. Calaway is generally seen as a company loyalist and prominent "ambassador" for WWE. He is one of the company's longest-serving employees, having wrestled for WWE for over fifteen years. At the 2006 Royal Rumble he made his return and his presence felt after World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle defeated Mark Henry

Old Western Undertaker - November 1990 - January 1994

This was The Undertaker's first incarnation. He was portrayed as a western mortician who was impervious to pain, sporting grey gloves and grey boots. He was obscenely difficult to knock down due to the power of the urn, even when clotheslined over the ropes he would land on his feet. This Undertaker was a heel character, who would often choke his victims with wires or his own hands. Paul Bearer would often assist him by striking his opponents with the urn (the most famous victim of this being Hulk Hogan who dented the urn when it hit his head). Bearer would also choke his opponents for him while the referee wasn't looking. This character would later turn face, and continue that way until his Royal Rumble Casket Match with Yokozuna.

Deadman - August 1994 - October 1996

After being put into a casket by Yokozuna and an assortment of heels, Undertaker vowed that he will return someday. He redebuted at Summerslam, defeating the fake Undertaker. He wore purple gloves and boots instead of grey like his old persona wore. He had grown a short beard and mustache and wore his hair in front. This Undertaker was generally a tweener character, with an established fanbase. He referred to these fans as "The Creatures of the Night" and drew superhuman come backs from their cheers. This character would be the last face Undertaker to have Paul Bearer as his manager (excluding Wrestlemania XX and subsequent appearences until the Great American Bash of that year), as Paul would betray him for Mankind during the end Takers run with this gimmick.

Lord of Darkness - November 1996 - December 1998

After being buried alive by The Executioner after his showdown with Mankind,
Undertaker returned again, this time attired with bat-like wings and a leather cape, and a teardrop under his right eye, often accompanied into the ring by his druids. It was during this gimmick that Undertaker's half brother Kane was introduced. This Undertaker was more babyface than the previous gimmicks, though billed as a Lord of Darkness. He feuded mainly with his brother Kane, and also feuded with the likes of Triple H's heel stable D-X, and used his dark powers (e.g. lightning bolts and flames)in order to seek redemption and forgiveness from his dead parents, who died in the very fire that supposedly scarred his vicious monster heel brother Kane.

Ministry - January 1999 - September 1999

His most dramatic incarnation was his monster heel Minister of Darkness. In this gimmick he performed evil rituals on his opponents and even sacrificed wrestlers so they can become part of his stable, the Ministry of Darkness. He sacrificed wrestlers such as Bradshaw and Faarooq, Dennis Knight (Mideon), Mabel (Viscera) and Gangrel. He wore a Druid like cloak, and had a goatee instead of the traditional Undertaker beard. Near the end of the Corporate Ministry angle, his ring and entrance wear was just a black shirt with his symbol and black pants. In this gimmick he attempted to take control of the WWF through Stephanie McMahon. This also saw the return of Paul Bearer as his manager.

American Bad Ass / Big Evil - May 2000 - November 2003

This was very successful because it was a reflection of the true Mark Calaway. Instead of the supernatural gimmicks, he was a bad ass biker.Instead of the gothic clothing, he wore bandannas, shades, beanies and even came into the ring riding a Titan motorcycle. He cut promos like Stone Cold, and wrestled like classic Taker. His matches became more technical during this time period as well, to coincide with the style of popular stars as Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and the late Eddie Guerrero. He was more mortal than the other Taker's, this time selling more moves and not being completely invulnerable. In this gimmick, he had his most surprising heel turn when he forced JR to kiss Vince's buttocks, becoming Big Evil. He later won the WWE Undisputed title from Hulk Hogan. In late 2002, he turned face and feuded with Brock Lesnar. At Survivor Series 2003, he was buried alive by his brother Kane. This event ended the ABA verson of the Undertaker.

Hybrid - March 2004 - Present

The current Undertaker is a hybrid of all the past Taker incarnations. e.g.
The Leather Trenchcoat (ABA), the Black Cowboy Hat (Old Western Undertaker), Supernatural Powers (Lord of Darkness), invulnerability (Deadman and old western Undertaker) and druids (Lord of Darkness), Tanktop (ABA), Sacrifices (Ministry). This Undertaker yet again no-sells but is more mortal than past incarnations of the Undertaker because he actually sells signature moves, mainly Randy Orton's RKO and JBL's Clothesline from Hell. After recent events involving Randy Orton, this Undertaker might be yet another Deadman gimmick, as the Undertaker was burned alive in the casket at No Mercy, courtesy of Randy and Bob Orton. only to have a shocking return at Survivor Series. He later beat Orton in a Hell in a Cell match

WrestleMania winning streak

The Undertaker has won every match he has wrestled at WWE's flagship pay-per-view, WrestleMania, consisting of wins over:

1. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (WrestleMania VII in 1991)
2. Jake "The Snake" Roberts (WrestleMania VIII in 1992)
3. Giant Gonzales (WrestleMania IX in 1993)
4. King Kong Bundy (WrestleMania XI in 1995)
5. Diesel (WrestleMania XII in 1996)
6. Sycho Sid (WrestleMania 13 in 1997)
7. Kane (WrestleMania XIV in 1998)
8. Big Boss Man (WrestleMania XV in 1999)
9. Triple H (WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001)
10. Ric Flair (WrestleMania X8 in 2002)
11. A-Train and Big Show (WrestleMania XIX in 2003)
12. Kane (WrestleMania XX in 2004)
13. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 21 in 2005)

Finishing moves

* Tombstone Piledriver (Belly-to-belly piledriver)
* The Last Ride (elevated powerbomb)
* Chokeslam
* Iron claw (pre-1995)
* Heart punch (pre-1993)

Signature moves

* Old-School / Dead Man Walking (arm twist ropewalk chop)
* Takin' Care of Business (dragon sleeper)
* Snake eyes
* Guillotine leg drop
* Flying clothesline
* Running big boot
* Charging DDT
* Reverse STO
* Triangle choke
* Fujiwara armbar
* Sidewalk slam
* Choke (early 1990s)

Managers

* General Skandor Akbar
* Paul Bearer
* Downtown Bruno
* Paul E. Dangerously
* "Ted DiBiase"
* Mr. Fuji
* Sylvia Fuller
* Ronald Gossett
* Theodore Long
* Brother Love
* "Dirty" Dutch Mantell
* Sara

Nicknames

* The Man From The Dark Side, Advance Man for the Grim Reaper
* The Reality of Death, The Emissary of Death,
* The Reaper, The Phenom, The Deadman, The Pale Destroyer
* The Lord of Darkness, The Prince of Darkness, The Personification of Evil, The Minister of Darkness
* The American Bad Ass, Deadman, Inc., Original Deadman, Dead Man Walking
* Big Evil, Big Dog, The Red Devil, Your Worst Nightmare, Booger Red

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
o PWI ranked him # 17 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
* United States Wrestling Association
o 1-time USWA Texas Heavyweight Champion
o 1-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion
* World Championship Wrestling
o 1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion
* World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
o 4-time WWF/E Champion
o 1-time WWF Hardcore Champion (longest reigning champion under 24/7 rule)
o 6-time WWF World Tag Team Champion
* Wrestling Observer Newsletter
o He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 2004)
o 1991 Best Heel
o 2001 Most Overrated Wrestler

Bobby Lashley

2006-02-02T00:54:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Bobby Lashley. Lashley is a new star in the WWE
(Credit to Slam Sports/Wiki)

REAL NAME: Franklin Roberto Lashley
6' 3", 250 pounds
BORN:July 16, 1976 in Colorado Springs, Colorado
NICKNAMES:The Real Deal, Blaster Lashley, Bobby Lashley, Lashley, lashly

WWE's newest powerhouse Lashley, born Franklin Roberto Lashley, has an extensive amateur background, having wrestled while attending Missouri Valley College. After a fourth place finish in 1995, Lashley would win national championships from 1996-1998. In 1997 and 1998, Lashley weighed in at 177 pounds and was the NAIA National Wrestling Champion. After college, Lashley joined the United States Army and continued his wrestling career while in uniform, becoming a two-time Armed Forces Champion and won a silver medal in the 2002 CISM World Championships, in which he competed against the best military wrestlers in the world. In 2003, representing the United States Army, he placed third in the Senior Men's Freestyle World Team Trials in the 96 kg weight division.

In Ohio Valley, Blaster Lashley clashed with the likes of Ken Doane and Robert Fury. By May 2005 however, he was on the road with the Raw roster, taking on Val Venis. He also worked dark matches before Raw and Smackdown, taking on Trevor Rhodes (later Trevor Murdoch), Johnny Jeter and, teaming with C.M. Punk, took on Rhodes and Lance Cade during the summer of 2005.

But Lashley's time in OVW wasn't finished yet as he returned in May to compete in the Ohio Valley Television title tournament. About the same time, he formed an alliance with Ken Doane, Mike Mondo and Kenny Bolin that came to be known as Bolin Services. On July 1st, they competed against Jim Cornette's Team OVW (which included Nick Dinsmore, Elijah Burke and Brent Albright). Lashley and Mondo also lost a "Coward Waves the Flag" match against Elijah Burke and Deuce Shade (who had Tommy Dreamer in their corner).

Lashley eventually grew disenchanted with Bolin Services, refusing to help Doane, who was OVW TV Champion, cheat to retain his title against Nick Nemeth. On September 28th, just five days after he debuted on Smackdown (with a victory over Simon Dean), Lashley fired Kenny Bolin. During a match against the Boogeyman several weeks later, Bolin and Dean Visk attacked Lashley, but Brent Albright made the save. Lashley continued to battle Bolin Services even as he made his initial appearances on Smackdown.

Lashley's initial appearances on Smackdown, meanwhile, made quite an impression. After his victory over Dean, Lashley took on several enhancement talent-level wrestlers before defeating Dean at No Mercy, forcing the fitness guru to eat 20 cheeseburgers afterwards.

Lashley made such an impact on Smackdown that, just weeks after his debut, he was part of the Smackdown team at the 2005 Survivor Series. After impressing the crowd with his power against Team Raw, Lashley was the first elimination, with Shawn Michaels getting the pinfall after a Kane chokeslam.

Finishing and signature moves

* The Dominator (Inverted front powerslam)
* Front powerslam
* Clothesline
* Shoulder block
* Spear
* Gorilla press
* Overhead belly-to-belly suplex variants
* Arm trap suplex
* Duck under northern lights release suplex

Championships and accomplishments

* Amateur Wrestling

* 3-time National Champion (Missouri Valley College) (1996, 1997, and 1998)
* NAIA National Wrestling Champion (1997-1998)

WWE Divas

2006-01-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

The following is a desciption, pictures and photos of WWE Divas (Credit Wiki)

In professional wrestling, a diva is a term used by World Wrestling Entertainment for a beautiful woman employed primarily as eye candy and sometimes as a wrestler.

Although "diva" is a relatively new term in the wrestling community, promotions have been using women as managers or wrestlers for years.

Perhaps the first "diva" in professional wrestling history was Tammy Lynn Sytch, better known in the WWF under her performing name "Sunny". The Sunny character was a manager of various wrestlers in the WWF. Although the female managerial role was not a new concept in professional wrestling, the Sunny character brought a sexuality to the position that had seldom been seen in the business before.

After Sytch left the WWF, Rena Mero, known to WWF fans as "Sable" took the role of the prominent female performer in the promotion. Originally a manager for her then real-life husband, wrestler Marc Mero, she quickly eclipsed her husband in popularity, in part by wearing increasingly revealing outfits to the ring. Her popularity lead to the re-instatement of the WWE Women's Championship, as well as the hiring of more female performers by the promotion. It was around the time of the height of her popularity that the term "diva" was used by the WWF to label its female personalities.

Although Sable would leave the WWF after several years, the WWF would sign many more female performers during and after her employment with the company, who would become known as "divas.

The current RAW WWE divas are

Ashley Massaro Height: 5 foot 5, From: New York
Career Highlights: Won the 2005 RAW Diva Search, hosted several E! Channel "Wild On" shows, was crowned Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA and Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada for 2005, appeared in Stuff and FHM Magazines

Candice Michelle is well-known for her involvement in the popular "GoDaddy.com" commercials that parodied the 2004 Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction that first aired during the 2005 Super Bowl. Candice as "Nikki Cappelli" captured America with her swiveling dance and "wardrobe malfunction." Before Candice was Miss GoDaddy.com, however, she had been appearing on RAW since November of 2004.

Lilian Garcia is a singer, who also works as a ring announcer and Diva for World Wrestling Entertainment on its RAW brand.

Lilian was once a top 10 finalist in the Miss South Carolina contest. She used to be a video jockey in Atlanta, Georgia and once had a drive-time afternoon radio show. She graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina, and went on to spend 8 years in Madrid, Spain, becoming fluent in Spanish.

Mickie James is an American professional wrestler and valet, who is sometimes known by her former stage name Alexis Laree. After wrestling on the independent circuit for years, James was signed to a developmental contract by World Wrestling Entertainment in October 2003. In October 2005 she was promoted to the main roster and assigned to the RAW brand.

Maria Kanellis (born May 2, 1981 in Ottawa, Illinois) is working for World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand as a "Rookie Diva", after competing in the first ever $250,000 RAW Diva Search. She is currently the youngest Diva on the Raw Roster. Maria, also a veteran of Hawaiian Tropic, is of Greek origin.

Patricia Anne Stratigias, better known by her stage and ring name, Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler and fitness model, currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand.

Stratus is marketed as the first woman in WWE history to have held the WWE Women's Championship six times, two more than the four title reigns of The Fabulous Moolah recognized by WWE.

Lisa Marie Varon, née Lisa Marie Sole, better known as Victoria (born February 10, 1971 in San Bernardino, California) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling valet, currently working for the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Varon was born to a Puerto Rican father and a Turkish mother. Varon is thought by some to resemble wrestler Lance Storm; in a running gag, Storm maintains via his website that he and Varon are siblings, but this is not the case (the two are unrelated).

Torrie Anne Gruner is a fitness model and performer for World Wrestling Entertainment, using her maiden name Torrie Wilson.

Wilson has found considerable success in both World Championship Wrestling and in World Wrestling Entertainment as a manager and a diva. This success led to her becoming one of several WWE divas to pose in Playboy. Torrie is married to former WCW and WWE performer Billy Kidman.

The current Smackdown WWE divas are

Melina Perez better known simply as Melina is an American professional wrestler and manager, currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment on the SmackDown! brand.

Melina's ring entrance is an incredible display of her flexibility. Standing beside the ring, she will lift her right leg onto the apron, then her left leg (at this point she is doing a split on the apron), then bend her upper body under the bottom rope. Michael Cole and Tazz were quick to label this "The greatest ring entrance in the history of sports entertainment."

Stacy Ann-Marie Keibler (born October 14, 1979 in Baltimore, Maryland) is a diva for World Wrestling Entertainment on the SmackDown! brand.

An aspiring actress, Keibler is known for her figure, specifically her exceptionally long legs which are 41½ inches (105 centimetres) long. As such, her entrance music is a cover of the ZZ Top song "Legs" performed by Kid Rock.

Kristal Marshall is a model. She has appeared in music videos, been a competitor in the 2004 Miss California pageant and has been a Barker's Beauty on The Price is Right.

Divas uncovered can be found at Divas Uncovered

Kane - Glen Jacobs

2006-01-29T23:33:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Kane. Kane is one of the biggest stars in the WWE
(Credit to Wiki)

Jacobs has portrayed several characters throughout his career since his professional wrestling debut in 1992. He was originally known as Unibomb while wrestling in the United States Wrestling Association, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he was co-holder of the SMW Tag Team Championships with Al Snow, and a few early appearances with the WWF. He also competed in the Japanese shoot style promotion Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. Jacobs is believed to have debuted in the WWF as the masked Black Knight at the 1993 Survivor Series, though some fans believe that the Black Knight was actually Jeff Gaylord. He later appeared as the evil dentist of Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, DDS, in 1995 and 1996 after Bret Hart damaged Lawler's teeth by forcing his foot into his mouth, and as Diesel in 1996 and 1997, replacing the original wrestler to have played the Diesel character, Kevin Nash.

In October 1997, Jacobs was repackaged as Kane, the on-screen half-brother of The Undertaker, with whom he feuded off and on for several years. The characters' histories are that as children, Undertaker "accidentally" burned down the funeral home in Death Valley where they lived, killing their parents, and hideously scarring Kane physically and mentally. Kane is portrayed to be psychologically unstable, supposedly being depressed, schizophrenic, extremely violent and quick to anger. Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer (who was billed as Kane's father), hid Kane as he grew up and Kane was thought to be dead until he returned as a 7-foot, 326-pounds, one-eyed monster heel at Badd Blood in October 1997 and attacked Undertaker during his Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels. His first actual match as Kane was against Ahmed Johnson on the November 3, 1997 episode of Monday Night RAW. He would later have many other heel and face turns through out the years.

Finishing and signature moves

* Chokeslam from Hell
* Tombstone Piledriver
* Powerbomb
* Flying clothesline
* Sidewalk slam
* Big boot
* Tilt-a-whirl slam
* Double chokeslam (with The Undertaker or The Big Show)

Championships and accomplishments

* Pro Wrestling Illustrated
o PWI ranked him # 186 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
o PWI Tag Team of the Year Award, with X-Pac (1999)
* Smoky Mountain Wrestling
o 1-time SMW Tag Team Champion (with Al Snow
* United States Wrestling Association
o 1-time USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
* World Championship Wrestling
o 1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with The Undertaker)
* World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
o 1-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion
o 2-time WWF/E Intercontinental Champion
o 9-time WWF/E World Tag Team Champion (2-time with Mankind, 2-time with The Undertaker, 2-time with X-Pac, 1-time with The Hurricane, 1-time with Rob Van Dam, 1-time with The Big Show)
o 1-time WWF Hardcore Champion

Jhon Jonh Jone Cena

2006-01-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Jhon Cena. Jonh Cena is one of the biggest stars in the WWE
(Credit to Slam Sports/Wiki)

Sexy beast or John Felix-Anthony Cena (born April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts), better known to wrestling fans simply as "John Cena", is an Italian-American professional wrestler, rap music artist, and actor currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the RAW brand. Cena brought the once SmackDown!-exclusive WWE Championship belt to RAW on June 6, 2005 when he was drafted to RAW during the 2005 Draft Lottery. Cena has released a music CD along with Tha Trademarc, known as You Can't See Me, and has performed live concerts with Tha Trademarc and Bumpy Knuckles.

A rap gimmick getting over in the present day WWE? Only Jhon Cena, the self-styled "Doctor of Thuganomics" could have pulled it off, taking what should have been a one-shot Vanilla Ice Halloween costume and using it to become one of Smackdown's biggest stars and, at long last, WWE Champion.

Jhon Cena's introduction to the world of pro wrestling came from his father, who worked as an announcer for Chaotic Wrestling, under the name John Fabulous. His in-ring debut came in 2000 in Rick Bassman's California-based Universal Pro Wrestling, a former WWE developmental company. Dubbed the Prototype, Cena quickly earned notice in UPW, winning the organization's title from Smelly on April 27 2000 in San Diego, California, and holding the title for a month.

Cena was quickly spotted by WWE talent scouts, who signed him to a developmental deal. In the spring of 2001, he was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He began teaming with fellow future WWE superstar Rico Constantino and on August 1, 2001, the pair won the vacant OVW Tagteam titles. The title reign came to an end, however, when the Minnesota Stretching Crew (Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin) returned to OVW and recaptured the belts.

On the singles scene, the Prototype had defeated Leviathan (later known as Batista) in controversial manner to win the OVW Heavyweight title on February 20, 2002. After dropping the title to Nova on May 15th, he headed to the WWE. A month later, he appeared on Smackdown and answered Kurt Angle's challenge. Although Angle won, Cena had earned the respect of the Undertaker, so much so that the pair teamed against Angle and Chris Jericho.

Cena battled Jericho over the next few months and teamed with Edge and Rey Mysterio, Jr. to battle Jericho and the other Un-Americans, until the Anti-Americans jumped to Raw. As the summer passed into the fall, Cena found himself tangling with Reverend D-Von (Dudley) and fading from the spotlight.

That changed after he and Billy Kidman lost to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the first round of the Smackdown Tagteam tournament in October 2002. Kidman and Cena feuded over the next couple of weeks as Cena became a heel.

In addition to turning heel, Cena also began to adapt a rapper-like gimmick. Initially conceived during the Smackdown Halloween show (when Cena came as Vanilla Ice), it continued the week after... and the week after that. Armed with this new gimmick, Cena found himself battling Rikishi. To help him in his battles against Rikishi, Cena enlisted the help of B-Squared (Bull Buchanan).

Cena and Buchanan would battle Los Guerreros until Cena turned on his bodyguard and brought in Redd Dogg (Rodney Mack) although that partnership was also short-lived.

Instead, Cena began to feud with Brock Lesnar, as he competed in and won a Number One Contender's tournament. Unfortunately, he couldn't convert that into a WWE title win, as Lesnar retained the title at Backlash on April 27th, 2003.

Cena's next target was the United States Championship. After being eliminated from the tournament by Billy Gunn, Cena turned his attention towards the eventual champion Eddie Guerrero. Unfortunately, the U.S. title would have to wait for Cena.

His days as a heel were also coming to a close, as Cena took on Kurt Angle and joined Team Lesnar at the 2003 Survivor Series. Cena and Chris Benoit were the sole survivors during that match. Cena and Benoit would face each other during a December 4th edition of Smackdown with the winner to become the number one contender to the WWE title. Benoit was victorious thanks to interference from the Big Show.

Cena then began to chase the Big Show and the Show's U.S Heavyweight title. Although Cena defeated Show during the Smackdown taping in Iraq, it was during a "non-title match". Ironically it was the Big Show that eliminated Cena during the 2004 Royal Rumble. It didn't help matter that Cena found himself on the wrong side of Smackdown General Manager Paul Heyman after Cena and Benoit washed Heyman's mouth out with soap. Heyman benched Cena on the February 5th edition of Smackdown and later, forced Cena to team with nemesis Kurt Angle.

However, Cena finally got a title match against the Big Show at Wrestlemania XX and walked away with the United States Championship. After getting by Rene Dupre in early title defences, Cena then found himself in just as much hot water with new General Manager Kurt Angle as he had been with Paul Heyman.

Booker T was the next challenger but after Cena accidentally knocked Angle out of his wheelchair on the July 8th edition of Smackdown, Angle had Cena stripped of the U.S. belt, with Booker T winning the vacant title. However, Cena would regain the title, defeating Booker T in a best-of-five series, the deciding victory coming at October's No Mercy.

Cena's second reign as champion lasted only two days, as he lost the title to Carlito Caribbean Cool. Almost immediately after the title loss, it was announced that Cena had been injured in a bar fight. However, that was just part of an angle to give Cena some time off to film "the Marine", due out later this year. (In addition, Cena was working on his rap CD, released in May 2005).

Cena returned in November and quickly regained the U.S. title, and continued to get revenge against Carlito Cool and his bodyguard, Jesus. Kenzo Suzuki was Cena's next challenger but was unable to wrest the title away.

Cena's career looks to be rising. Not only is he the WWE Champion, The Marine will hit theatres soon and he has a hip hop album, You Can't See Me now in stores. Back in the ring, a victory over JBL in a bloody "I Quit" match at Judgment Day meant that Cena might have been looking for a new challenger.

Jhon would find that challenger...on Raw. The first and one of the most suprising part of the 2005 Draft Lottery, Cena would team with Chris Jericho, only to have Y2J turn on him during a tag team match against Christian and Tyson Tomko. If Cena wanted a new challenge, he got one, with Jericho set to challenge Cena for his WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Cena retained the title against Jericho but that wasn't the end of Cena's problems. Along the way, he found himself on Raw GM Eric Bischoff's bad side and Bischoff seems obsessed with ending Cena's reign as champion, with the help of Kurt Angle. Cena even had to defend his title against Bischoff at WWE Homecoming, and then defended against Angle and Shawn Michaels at Taboo Tuesday.

On the January 2 2006 edition of RAW, Cena lost to Angle in a First blood match when Angle hit him with a chair. Since the referee was down, however, he managed to apply the STF-U and made Angle tap before Daivari woke the referee and got him to end the match.

On January 8, Jhon Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. After Carlito turned on Chris Masters, and eliminated him, Cena pinned Carlito to end the match and retain his title. After the match, Vince McMahon came onto the stage and announced that Cena was going to defend the WWE Championship against Edge; Edge earned this chance with his "Money in the Bank" contract which he won in a 6 man ladder match at Wrestlemania 21. This contract guaranteed him a championship match against the World Heavyweight Champion, but since that title got moved to SmackDown! during the draft, WWE Creative subtly changed every mention to the WWE Championship. Edge quickly delivered two spears to Cena, pinning him to win the WWE Championship and to end Cena's reign as WWE Champion at 280 days, matching that of previous champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield.

The feud heated up on the January 9 RAW, when Cena delivered an F-U to Edge's valet, Lita. On January 29, 2006, at the Royal Rumble PPV, Cena and Edge will face each other for the WWE Championship.

Jhon Cena Fan backlash

After the draft lottery which brought him to RAW, Cena's popularity with the fans slowly began to diminish. With the two biggest rivarlies being against Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho cult followings of both men were overwhemling in the crowd. Slowly boos began to emerge during Cena's matches most especially in the first blood match against Kurt Angle and at the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution where not only Angle, but every other superstar was cheered for pulling off a move on Cena. The severly noticable jeers came to light in the main event of the October 10, 2005 edition of Monday Night RAW, in the match with Angle. It should also be noted that in the week prior to that match, Angle cleanly pinned Cena, in a Six-Man-Tag match.

Cena was reported as being frustrated by the jeers, although he stated that the fans obviously have a choice. Possible reasons for boos are the extremely predictable story lines that he has been placed in, questionable booking of his matches, and that his character has become more mainstream and less edgy over time as he received more exposure from the non-wrestling press and he became more of a typical face instead of his beloved tweener persona. Some point out that wrestling fans tend to decide for themselves who they will cheer for as was evident with Steve Austin who despite being billed as a top heel gained increasing popularity with his every appereance. On the other hand was Rocky Mavia who despite being pushed as a face was booed the more he tried to get the fans to side with him. Cena, during a spot on RAW's January 9, 2006 episode, claimed to not be bothered by the portion (roughly half) of the crowd that was booing him. Cena, in either an ill-advised move or an attempt to draw cheap heat, further divided the crowd by referring to anyone who was not following him and cheering him on as drinking "Haterade" then saying they could "kiss his ass." It seems that the in-ring interview worked in his favor, as the crowd was firmly behind him when he attacked Edge later that night, but whether it will work in the long run is in question. Considering that Edge is one of the most hated heels in the WWE, this feud could help Cena regain the fan support that he's lost. It seems to be working in his favor, as less and less people have booed Cena since he was defeated by Edge, and he also appears to be reverting back to his tweener persona.

The decision that Cena lose the title was, in reality a last-minute decision, obviously because of the mixed, or sometimes negative reactions he has received at WWE events, so Edge was then slated to win the title. According to wrestling insiders, the plan going into WrestleMania 22 was that he would remain the WWE Champion, where he would defend it against Triple H, but with this recent title change, that potential match is now in question. However, Cena will face Edge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, and Triple H is in the Rumble match itself, so that match could still go on as planned.

Jhon Cena "The Five Moves of Doom"

Cena's "Five Moves of Doom" is a term that some wrestling fans use to refer to a combo of moves Cena uses when he is on a comeback in match that leads to the pin. The phrase was originally coined in the Internet wrestling community as a reference to Bret Hart, who had a well-established sequence of five moves in the same context (in both cases, the term was also at times used in a pejorative fashion by critics who perceived the wrestler in question to have a limited moveset). This is also one of the major (possibly the main) factors why fans have started to turn on Cena. The following are the five moves and are in the approximate order in which Cena uses them.

1. Flying shoulderblock
2. Sitout hip toss or multiple clotheslines
3. Killswitch / Protoplex / Freestyle (Side release spin-out powerbomb)
4. Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
5. The FU (Which can refer to his standing fireman's carry takeover (default), Death Valley driver, Samoan driver, or fireman's carry powerslam variations)

Now that seemingly Cena has now added the STFU to his repetoire, the sequence now is unofficially nicknamed the "Six Moves of Doom."

Other finishing and signature moves

* STFU (Stepover Toehold Facelock)
* Swinging fisherman suplex
* Throwback (Modified neck snap)
* DDT

Cena Signature illegal weapons

* Steel chain
* Brass knuckles

Cena Signature taunts

Waving one hand in front of his face, saying "You can't see me."
Pumping up his Reebok Pump sneakers.
Putting his fists together with pinkies out and saying, "Word Life!"
Putting his hands up while spreading them and putting his thumb sideways and his pinky up, meaning word life.
Occasionally freestyling on his opponents before his matches.
Saying, "You want some...come get some!" to his opponents, referring to his never-back-down attitude.

Trivia

He is currently undefeated at Wrestlemania, defeating Big Show,at WrestleMania 20, and JBL, at WrestleMania 21 winning the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Championship in consecutive years.
Though he is often billed as the "next" Stone Cold, Cena's favorite wrestler & role model is Hulk Hogan. Second only is Stone Cold, then third is The Rock.
John's father, also named John Cena, is also in pro wrestling as New England indy announcer/manager Johnny Fabulous.
John Cena is the second wrestler in WWE history to have his own entirely custom made WWE Championship belt. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the first with his Smoking Skull Belt. On a side note, Ted DiBiase created his own 'Million Dollar Belt.'
On October 3, 2005 John Cena was on a hip-hop radio station in Las Vegas. They put over Cena as a legitimate wrestler/rapper and mocked "Macho Man" Randy Savage for his less-than-stellar efforts of doing the same thing. Cena plugged the WWE Homecoming show on the USA Network like it was the SuperBowl of pro wrestling. He made sure to put over SmackDown! and champion Batista as a complete equal to himself and RAW. He did have an embarassing moment, where he refused to admit the Carlito night club stabbing angle was just a fictional TV storyline.
Vince McMahon was reportedly showing signs of embarassment and frustration with the recent crowd reactions to John Cena at WWE events. It is no secret that McMahon prides himself on "controlling his audience." So when WWE crowds began rebelling against Cena, it got to McMahon. "They tried everything to get fans to cheer Cena, but they just threw their hands up last week in New Jersey," said one WWE wrestler, "That really shook them up." On a related note, some in WWE feel the company will continue to stick with John Cena as a top act simply because he was one of Stephanie McMahon's first "hand-picked choices" to be pushed to the top in WWE. Stephanie was said to have been won over by Cena when he showed off his rap skills on an airplane ride a few years back and that she has been one of his biggest backers since then. Some feel Stephanie McMahon, daughter of Vince would be resistant to admit failure if fans continue to rebel against Cena.
Jhon Cena has his own official fan club called "Chain Gang Click." When joining, there is a free package whick includes a T-shirt, a picture with his signature and a wallet.

Orton Randy

2006-01-25T02:29:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Randy Orton. Randy Orton is one of the biggest starts in the WWE
(Credit to Slam Sports)

A third-generation professional wrestler, Orton comes from a family of professional wrestlers, ranging from his grandfather, Bob Orton, Sr., to his father "Cowboy" Bob Orton. His uncle, Barry O, was also a former wrestler.

This latest addition to the Orton wrestling clan was given a solid background before he entered the professional ranks. After competing in amateur wrestling in high school in St. Louis, Mo, (making it to the Danny Hodge World High School Championships), he learned the basics from his father. Traveling with his father also gave the younger Orton a taste for what life was like on the road.
A stint in the Marines left Orton, briefly, in trouble with the U.S. military for going AWOL. But at the age of 19, Orton was signed to a WWE contract in 2000. Like a lot of the up-and-coming stars of today, Randy put his time in with the WWE's developmental territories in Memphis and Ohio Valley Wrestling, beginning in May 2000. Orton trained and wrestled under the tutelage of trainer Danny Davis and talent scout Jim Cornette.
During his time in Ohio Valley, Orton would face the likes of Rico Constantino and the Prototype (later known John Cena), and team with veteran Bobby Eaton in the Ohio Valley tag team title tournament. By the early summer of 2001 he was a two-time OVW Hardcore Champion, defeating Mr. Black on February 14th, 2001 and Flash Flanagan on May 5th 2001.
Orton's time in the territories earned him enough attention to be named Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year for 2001. By April 2002 he was wrestling in the WWE full time. Originally, he was part of the Smackdown roster, starting with a program against Hardcore Holly. On May 31st, he received a WWE title match against The Undertaker.
In September, 2002, Orton jumped from Smackdown to Raw, defeating Stevie Richards in his debut on the show. However, soon afterwards, Orton went down to a shoulder injury and had to have surgery. Ironically, the injury helped with his heel turn, as "special bulletins" would interrupt Raw broadcasts so that Orton could inform all his fans as to the progress of his recovery.

As 2003 began, so did, in earnest, the era of a new wrestling supergroup. However, it wouldn't be until that spring that Orton, back from both the shoulder injury and a foot injury, joined forces with Triple H, Ric Flair and Dave Bautista to form "Evolution". Much like the Four Horsemen and the nWo before them, Evolution seemingly took on everyone in the WWE, with Orton seeing action against Goldberg, the Dudleyz, Shawn Michaels and Scott Steiner.
With Evolution's help, Orton quickly rose through the WWE singles ranks, even getting a chance to participate in the "Elimination Chamber" event at SummerSlam 2003 for the WWE title. By year's end, Evolution would hold all the gold in the WWE, as Orton defeated Rob Van Dam at Armageddon '03 to win the Intercontinental Championship.
Meanwhile, Orton was developing his "Legend Killer" gimmick which started after he defeated Shawn Michaels atUnforgiven in September 2003. Orton would also defeat such legends as Sgt. Slaughter and attack others including the Fabulous Moolah and Harley Race.
But Orton's "Legend Killer" gimmick would really pick up steam when he crossed paths with legend Mick Foley. After spitting in Foley's face, Orton was stunned with the "hardcore legend" simply walked away from their impending match. After weeks of gloating and hounding Foley, Orton would have to put his money where his mouth was when Foley returned to the WWE. After an Evolution attack, Foley would recruit the Rock to challenge Orton and his Evolution partners, Flair and Bautista to a match at Wrestlemania XX. In a bit of a surprise, it was Evolution that came out on top during that match.
By July, Orton had begun bragging that he was the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in seven years, having held the title for seven months, defeating everyone from Rob Van Dam to Shelton Benjamin to Chris Jericho. However, he could not overcome the challenge of Edge at July's Vengeance pay-per-view and Orton's title reign came to an end.
Two weeks later, however, Orton would win a Number One contender's battle royale to win the right to face World Champion Chris Benoit at SummerSlam where the world was stunned (although rumours had persisted for weeks prior) when Orton defeated Chris Benoit and became the WWE Champion at the age of 24. However, Orton's joy was short-lived as he was unceremoniously dumped from Evolution the next night on Raw. A few weeks later, Orton's title reign would end at WWE Unforgiven at the hands of Evolution leader, Triple H.
Undaunted by the title loss, Orton took aim at regaining the strap and bringing down Evolution. He first went after Ric Flair, defeating the Nature Boy in a Steel Cage match at Taboo Tuesday, but a few weeks later,with the help of Batista, Flair got revenge, ensuring Orton never got a title shot during Triple H's then-current reign.
At Survivor Series, Orton took Guerrero's place on "Team SmackDown!". Orton became the sole survivor of his team for the third year in a row, pinning HBK to win the match for "Team SmackDown!". As Orton celebrated following the match, The Undertaker made his return, chasing Orton from the ring and indiscriminately attacking several other members of the SmackDown! roster.
On a special live episode of SmackDown! on November 29, Orton placed The Undertaker in the trunk of one of Eddie Guerrero's lowriders and reversed the car through the SmackDown! stage, setting it on fire. The Undertaker retorted by playing mind game on Orton over the next several weeks, leading to a Hell in a Cell match between the two being scheduled for Armageddon 2005. On December 16, Orton lured The Undertaker to the ring by declaring his "retirement". When The Undertaker entered the ring, one of the druids who typically accompanied him to the ring remained at ringside. The Undertaker was distracted as a reslt, enabling Orton to attack him and deliver an R.K.O. The "druid" then revealed themselves to be Bob Orton, and gave Orton The Undertaker's signature urn to strike him with. At Armageddon, The Undertaker defeated Orton after delivering the Tombstone Piledriver to both Orton and his father.
Two weeks after Armageddon, Orton agreed to represent an injured Booker T in the fifth match of his "best of seven" series with Chris Benoit over the WWE United States Championship. As Booker T had won three of the matches already fought, Orton only needed to beat Benoit once to win the series for Booker. Orton lost to Benoit following botched interference from Booker T's wife Sharmell. He faced Benoit the following week, but lost once again after Orlando Jordan, interfered on Benoit's behalf. On the January 13, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Orton defeated Benoit, thus winning the United States Championship for Booker T and finishing the series four-three. The following week saw him face Orlando Jordan in a match because Orlando had interfered with Booker and Sharmell's celebration by attacking him in the middle of the ring. Orton won the match by a distraction from Booker and Sharmell which allowed him to hit the R.K.O. for the win.
After the match, it was announced that the following week Orton will face off in a no holds barred match against Chris Benoit.

Randy Orton Quotes
• "In this business it is about making an impact."
• "My accomplishments are endless."
• "Get a look at greatness."
• "I pride myself on being a legend killer."
• "There's no stopping Randy Orton!"
• "Greatness has entered the ring!"
• "It is my Destiny!"
• "Follow the IC Champ, we're going for a walk!"
• "I'm a third generation superstar"
• "I entered this ring Randy Orton, legend killer when all was said and done I left as Randy Orton, Legend."
• "Not only am I better looking.....I'm just plain better. "
• "The only true phenom.....is me."

Hulk Hogan

2006-01-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest starts in the WWE
(Credit to Slam Sports)

REAL NAME: Terry Gene Bollea
BORN: August 11th, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia
6'0", 190 pounds
ALIASES/NICKNAMES: Terry Boulder, Sterling Golden, Hulk Hogan, the Hulkster, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Mr. America

If there is ever an argument over who is the biggest name in the history of pro wrestling, consideration must be given to Hulk Hogan, who was at the forefront of the great rise in wrestling popularity in the mid-1980s. Although Hulk Hogan may not have "made wrestling", it can certainly be argued that he helped to make wrestling what it is today.

Initially wanting to be a musician, Hogan decided (while working as a bank teller) that there was money to be made in the wrestling business after being spotted by the Brisco Brothers. Trained by Hiro Matsuda, Hogan debuted in Florida in 1978 and wrestled under a mask as the Super Destroyer before later being dubbed Terry Boulder.

It would be, however, under the guise of Sterling Golden that, after wrestling in Georgia, he would defeat Dick Slater for the NWA Southeastern title in Knoxville Tennessee on December 1st, 1979.

After losing the title on Christmas Day to Bob Armstrong, Golden would depart from the area and head to the WWWF under the management of "Classy" Freddie Blassie, targeting Bob Backlund and Andre the Giant. Andre and Hogan would meet in several high-profile bouts on August 9th, 1980 on the undercard to the Bruno Sammartino/Larry Zbyszko cage match at Shea Stadium.

For the first (but not the last) time in Hogan's career, Hollywood would come calling, and he found himself cast as "Thunderlips", a champion wrestler, in Rocky III. The move to Hollywood, however, cost him his job in the WWWF...at least for now, as Vince McMahon Sr. fired him.

When Hogan returned to the ring in 1981, it would not be in the WWWF but for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association. Although initially a heel, as he had been in the WWWF, Hogan quickly became a face and was lined up for title matches against Nick Bockwinkle, who was managed by frequent Hogan foe, Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. Although Hogan was so over that his being cheated out of a title win nearly sparked riots (such as the aftermath of a NO-DQ win on April 24th, 1983), Gagne never consented to put the AWA World title on this rising superstar.

Hogan would still win titles, but in Japan where on June 2nd, 1983, he defeated Antonio Inoki to become the very first IWGP Champion. It was in Japan that Hogan told Gagne that he was leaving the AWA to return to the WWWF (or the WWF as it was known by then).

Introduced to the WWF fans as Bob Backlund's tagteam partner during a match against the Samoans, Hogan quickly replaced Backlund in the hunt to dethrone new WWF Champion the Iron Sheik. On January 23rd, 1984, it took Hogan a little over five minutes to defeat the Sheik in Madison Square Gardens to win the WWF Championship.

With Hogan in place as the new WWF Champion and the phenomenon of Hulkamania running wild, WWF promoter Vince McMahon set into motion a series of events that would take Hogan and the WWF to the forefront of mainstream pop culture. Teaming Hogan up with A-Team star Mr. T, Hogan would headline the very first Wrestlemania against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in an event that included such celebrities as Liberace, Billy Martin and Cyndi Lauper, among others.

In the build-up to Wrestlemania, Hogan would make the talk show circuit, appearing with Mr. T on Saturday Night Live as well as the Richard Belzer Show. Belzer would suffer injuries when Hogan demonstrated a front facelock. Belzer passed out and then, when Hogan released the hold, fell to the ground, hitting his head on a table on the way down.

Hogan's fued with Piper would continue for months to come, including a World title match at the Wrestling Classic, the WWF's first pay-per-view. Hogan would also face Big John Studd, Greg Valentine and Don Muraco. Meanwhile, Hulkamania began to grow even larger. Hogan was the focus of a cartoon show, entitled Hulk Hogan's Rock and Wrestling, appeared on the A-Team and became the first pro wrestler to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.

It was a title defence against Muraco during the taping of Saturday Night's Main Event that Hogan was attacked by King Kong Bundy. The story was that Bundy injured Hogan's ribs, putting him at a disadvantage for the ensuing cage match at Wrestlemania II. Hogan would still climb out of the cage and retain the title against Bundy.

Following Wrestlemania II, Hogan began teaming with Paul Orndorff. But following a televised match against Bundy and Studd, Orndorff attacked Hogan, and the pair battled for the rest of the year, including a bout at Toronto's CNE Stadium in front of more than 60 000 people.

As 1987 began, Hogan found himself challenged by another former friend, Andre the Giant, who had taken Bobby Heenan as his manager and demanded a title shot. Andre would get his shot against Hogan at Wrestlemania III, at the Pontiac Silverdome. In front of an announced crowd of 93,173, Hogan bodyslammed and pinned Andre. But Hogan wasn't rid of Andre yet as the pair captained opposing teams at the first Survivor Series in November, 1987.

Hogan's first World title reign would finally come to an end on national television, as NBC broadcast "The Main Event" in prime time in February, 1988. Andre, now managed by Ted Dibiase, would pin Hogan, thanks to a crooked referee. The title was declared vacant when Andre tried to sell the title to Dibiase, and he and Hogan met yet again, battling to a draw in the second round of the WWE title tournament at Wrestlemania IV.

Hogan would depart wrestling to film No Holds Barred during the summer of 1988, returning to team with Randy Savage at Summerslam 88 against Andre and Dibiase. Hogan and Savage would also team at the 1988 Survivor Series. However, over the next few months, the team of Hogan and Savage would begin to disintegrate. After Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage at the 1989 Royal Rumble, tempers flared, and when Hogan left Savage during a tag match during the Main Event in February to attend to an injured Elizabeth, the Mega Powers exploded, leading to a World title match between Hogan and Savage at Wrestlemania V.

Hogan defeated Savage to regain the Championship but would have to continue to battle Savage for months. With the release of No Holds Barred in the summer of 1989, Savage would gain an allie in Zues (Tiny Lister's character). Zues and Savage would team to take on Hogan and his partner Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake at Summerslam 89 as well as in a cage match at No Holds Barred: the Match, the Movie pay-per-view that aired in December 1989.

Hogan came out victorious at the 1990 Royal Rumble but in doing so helped to eliminate the Ultimate Warrior whose popularity was beginning to rival Hogan's. After several altercations, the two met at Wrestlemania VI, from Toronto's Skydome. The Warrior defeated Hogan to become champion. A few weeks later, Hogan was seemingly injured at the hands of Earthquake and was gone for the summer of 1990, returning to defeat the Earthquake at SummerSlam 90.

For the rest of 1990 and into 1991, Hogan was aligned with the Ultimate Warrior although most expected Wrestlemania VII to be a rematch between the two. That changed when the Warrior dropped the title to Sgt. Slaughter at the 1991 Royal Rumble and Hogan was named the Number One contender. Hogan met and defeated Slaughter at Wrestlemania VII.

Hogan's third reign as WWE Champion lasted until the Survivor Series when the Undertaker defeated him, thanks to the interference of Ric Flair. The subsequent rematch (at This Tuesday In Texas) caused the title to be held up, and decided by the 1992 Royal Rumble. Hogan lasted until the very end, only to be eliminated by his supposed friend, Sid Justice. Hogan and Justice battled at Wrestlemania VIII, with talk that Hogan would retire after the match.

At approximately the same time that Hogan was disappearing from the WWE scene, the steroid scandal was beginning. Many wrestlers, including Superstar Billy Graham and David Schultz, claimed that Hogan had taken steroids, something Hogan denied during an appearance on the Arsenio Hall show.

Hogan would return to the WWE in early 1993 to aid his friend Brutus Beefcake in getting revenge against Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and Ted Dibiase), challenging them to a tagteam title match at Wrestlemania IX. Hogan showed up to the event with a black eye. The WWE explained it away that by saying Money Inc had attacked him during a workout but rumours persisted that Randy Savage punched him over suspicions over Hogan's relationship with Elizabeth.

Although Hogan and Beefcake would lose by disqualification to IRS and Dibiase, Hogan's night was not through. After Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the WWE Championship, Hogan rushed to ringside and accepted a challenge from Mr. Fuji for the title. Fuji's attempt to throw salt in the eyes of Hogan backfired, as the salt hit Yokozuna, allowing Hogan to gain the pinfall and another WWE title.

Rather than drop the belt to Bret Hart, Hogan's reign came to an end with a loss to Yokozuna at King of the Ring two months later. By then, Hogan was more interested, it seemed, in his new television show Thunder in Paradise.

Hogan went to Japan for a while, defeating Tatsumi Fujinami at the Eggdome in Tokyo to start off 1994. Hogan would return to the national spotlight by testifying on behalf of the federal government in the steroid scandal. Hogan would admit to using steroids but said that he had done so on his own accord, helping to clear Vince McMahon.

In June 1994, Hogan would sign with Ted Turner's WCW and in his first match in WCW at Bash at the Beach in July, with Shaquille O'Neal in his corner, would defeat Ric Flair to win the WCW World Championship. Flair and Hogan would meet again, in a steel cage match with Hogan "retiring" Flair at Halloween Havoc. Hogan would then fued with Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom and face his former friend Brutus Beefcake at Starrcade 94.

1995 saw Hogan fued with Vader, a reinstated Ric Flair and the Giant (later known as the Big Show) and main evented the very first broadcast of Monday Nitro, on September 4th, 1995, when he defeated Big Bubba Rogers. At Halloween Havoc, Hogan lost via disqualification to the Giant. However, due to Hogan's then-manager Jimmy Hart signing a contract that allowed the World title to change hands on a DQ, the Giant left as the World Champion. The World title was later held up, but interference from the Giant left Hogan out in the cold again, as Randy Savage filled won the World War III battle royale to fill the vacancy.

With the arrival of the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) in the spring of 1996, Hogan was strangely absent from WCW. During a six-man tagteam match that pitted Hall and Nash and a mystery partner against Randy Savage, Sting and Lex Luger at Bash at the Beach, Hogan came to ringside and many believed it was to take the place of the injured Luger. A legdrop to Savage ended that speculation. After the match, Hogan announced the formation of the New World Order or NWO.

On August 10th, 1996, the New World Order struck gold as Hollywood Hulk Hogan (as he was now being billed) defeated the Giant in Sturgis, ND, to regain the WCW World Championship as part of the Road Wild pay-per-view. With the World title around his waist, Hogan and the rest of his NWO cohorts would take the battle to every other member of the WCW roster, including Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Lex Luger, the Giant and even "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who battled and defeated Hogan in a non-title cage match at Starrcade '96.

After teasing that Sting had joined the NWO in late 1996, Hogan had to keep looking over his shoulder as 1997 progressed. Meanwhile, he would team with basketball superstar Dennis Rodman to take on Lex Luger and the Giant at 1997's Bash at the Beach. Luger would also temporarily derail Hogan's run as champion, defeating him on Nitro in August. Five days later, however, Hogan would walk out of Road Wild as champion, much as he had a year previous.

As the year came to a close, however, the issue with Sting came to a head and finally, at Starrcade '97, Hogan and Sting met in what should have been a stellar blow-off to the fued that was over a year in the making instead was mired in controversy. The pinfall Hogan made on Sting was little out of the ordinary, hardly the result most fans were looking for, and then WCW newcomer, Bret Hart (a referee for the Eric Bischoff-Larry Zbyszko match) rushed to the ring, restarted the match and eventually counted the pinfall on Sting.

Hogan's attempt to regain the title from Sting ended in failure at Uncensored in 1998. Instead, Hogan would defeat former NWO member, Randy Savage, to regain the title on Nitro on April 20th, 1998. After losing the belt to the up-and-coming Goldberg, Hogan switched his focus to fueding with Diamond Dallas Page. Hogan would reteam with Dennis Rodman to defeat Page and basketball star Karl Malone at Bash at the Beach, but, teaming with NWO head Eric Bischoff, would lose to Page and talk show host Jay Leno.

Just when Hogan thought it was safe, however, came the return of the Warrior. Warrior began to play mindgames with Hogan, kidnapping "the Disciple" (formerly Brutus Beefcake) and forming OWN (One Warrior Nation). Hogan finally met and (with the help of nephew Horace Hogan) defeated the Warrior at Halloween Havoc to avenge his Wrestlemania VI loss.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1998, Hogan appeared on Jay Leno to announce his retirement from pro wrestling to make a run at the White House in 2002. Rumours also abounded that Hogan was on the verge of creating his own wrestling organization. But the retirement would last just over a month and end at the first Nitro in 1999 when Hogan would regain the WCW World title from Kevin Nash after the infamous "fingerpoke of doom".

With Hogan back as champion, his first major challenge was from Ric Flair, who had become the "president" of WCW. The two met at SuperBrawl and then at Uncensored, with Flair defeating Hogan in a "first blood" match, although referee Charles Robinson allowed the match to be decided by a submission via Flair's figure four leglock.

It would be another figure four leglock, this one from Diamond Dallas Page at Spring Stampede, that would provide the cover story for Hogan's departure from wrestling in the spring and summer of 1999 while he had knee surgery and worked his way back into shape. Hogan returned in July and quickly defeated Randy Savage for the WCW World title with the help of Kevin Nash.

But it would be Nash who would challenge Hogan for the title, resulting in a "Loser Leaves Town World Title Match" at Road Wild. Hogan won and retained the title and also returned to the red and yellow colours of Hulkamania. In a reversal of events from three years before, Hogan had to convince Sting that he had not returned to the NWO but Sting turned on Hogan during their World title match at Fall Brawl, winning the title.

Hogan's battle against Team Package (Lex Luger and Ric Flair) raged as 2000 began but came to an abrupt halt with the "reset" of WCW in April 2000. Hogan, a part of the Millionaire's Club, battled Billy Kidman, who was aided by Eric Bischoff. Hogan, however, got wins over Kidman at Slamboree and Bash at the Beach 2000, the latter of which earned him a title shot atthe Great American Bash.

At Bash at the Beach, WCW Champion Jeff Jarrett laid down for Hogan, who simply had to put his foot on Jarrett to win. But Hogan, upset at this turn of events, walked out on WCW, with booker Vince Russo cutting what is believed to be a "shoot" promo, condemning Hogan and giving the title back to Jarrett. Hogan would later file a lawsuit against Russo over the match and the promo.

Hogan spent most of 2001 on the sidelines, getting involved with Acclaim's Legends of Wrestling videogame to become their spokesperson. His most high-profile in-ring activity was to defeat Curt Hennig at the XWF TV tapings in Orlando, Florida in November 2001.

In February 2002, Hogan returned to the WWE but not in the red-and-yellow colours of Hulkamania but instead clad in the black and white of the New World Order, with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in tow. However, after losing to the Rock at Wrestlemania X-8 at the Skydome, Hogan was turfed by the NWO and became a face again. Drafted to Smackdown, Hogan defeated Triple H at Backlash to regain the WWF World title, only to lose it to the Undertaker at Judgment Day.

After a tagteam title reign with Edge in July 2002, Hogan left the WWE, returning in January 2003 to begin what he called "his last journey". He was quickly involved in a feud with Vince McMahon, leading to a bloody match that ended in a Hogan victory at Wrestlemania 19. McMahon would "suspend" Hogan leading to the appearance of Mr. America. By the end of June, 2003, Hogan had left the WWE, returning only to the WWE only via videotape as part of Smackdown's 5th anniversary special.

In October 2003, Hogan travelled to New Japan and defeated Masa Chono in approximately 19 minutes. During a post-match press conference, Hogan was attacked by Jeff Jarrett providing much needed buzz for what was to have been a match in NWA-TNA between the two but knee surgery for Hogan prevented that match from taking place. Meanwhile, Hogan seemingly switched gears, becoming more interested in daughter, Brooke's singing career than his own in-ring career.

Hogan's days with the WWE were not through. On September 23, 2004, he appeared, via a video-taped segment, for the 5th anniversary of Smackdown. Hogan discussed winning the Smackdown Tag titles with Edge.

The night before Wrestlemania XXI, Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Not content with simply picking up the plaque, Hogan made an appearance at Wrestlemania, coming to the aid of Eugene, who had been attacked by Muhammad Hassan & Khrosrow Daivari.

Hassan and Daivari weren't quite finished, as they turned their attention to Shawn Michaels in the weeks following Wrestlemania. Michaels, wanting revenge on Hassan and Daivari, implored Hogan to return for "one more match". Hogan agreed, and he and Michaels gain the victory over their foes at Backlash.

Hogan and Michaels' "dream team" would end when Michaels turned on Hogan following a tag bout on Raw against Kurt Angle and Carlito. Michaels immediately challenged Hogan for a bout at SummerSlam, marking the first time these two legends have clashed in the ring.

Outside the ring, Hogan has joined the reality TV craze, premiering his new series "Hogan Knows Best" in which he oversees the growing-up of his two children.

Few expected Hogan's return to last for simply that "one more match", but even when Hogan does finally hung up his boots, he has long ago estabilished himself as one of the legends in the world of professional wrestling. Critics may question his in-ring ability or criticize his penchant for using his "creative control" but no one can deny that Hogan's charismatic persona has taken him a long way.

Dave Batista

2006-01-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Dave Batista. Dave Batista Smackdown is one of the biggest starts in the WWE
(Credit to Slam Sports/Wikipedia)

REAL NAME: Dave Bautista
BORN: January 18, 1969 in Washington, D.C.
6' 6", 325 pounds
ALIASES/NICKNAMES: Kahn, Leviathan, Demon of the Deep, Deacon Batista

In a relatively short period of time, Batista has gone from simply being the fourth member of Evolution to being one of the biggest stars in the WWE and, with his victory at Wrestlemania, the WWE Champion.

Dave Bautista grew up in Washington, D.C. and worked as a bouncer in local bars and clubs. A meeting with Road Warrior Animal and Curt Hennig at a bodybuilding show in Minneapolis turned Batista towards a career in wrestling.

In early 1999, he began training at the Wild Samoans Training Camp in Allentown, Pennsylvania, led by Samoan Afa. A few months later, on October 30, 1999, Bautista debuted in Afa's WXW as Kahn, defeating Southtown Joe. He quickly rose to the top of the organization. At some point in his early career, Bautista was given a try out by World Championship Wrestling but WCW chose not to sign him.

Instead, Bautista headed to Ohio Valley Wrestling in July 2000 where he was dubbed the Demon of the Deep Leviathan (or just Leviathan for short) and became a member of the Disciples of Synn, which would also include the future Mordecai and Tyson Tomko.

After defeating WWE stars such as Kane, Val Venis and the Big Show, Leviathan won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from Doug Basham on November 28, 2001 in Jefferson, Indiana. After several months of defending the title, Bautista lost the championship to the Prototype (John Cena). Bautista demanded a rematch, but was soon on his way to the WWE.

He initially wrestled in the WWE during a dark match in February 2002. Wrestling as Leviathan, Batista (the WWE losing the "U" in his name) teamed with Brock Lesnar and the pair defeated Randy Orton and Shelton Benjamin. His first on-screen appearance in the WWE came in May 2002 as Deacon Batista, the bodyguard to D-Von Dudley who was working with the Reverend D-Von gimmick. Batista remained with D-Von for much of the spring and summer of 2002, before turning against the Reverend and striking out on his own.

The break from Dudley also meant his departure from Smackdown. After several weeks of vignettes heralding a "Genetic Revolution", Dave Batista appeared on Raw, defeating Justin Credible. Batista soon earned the attention of legendary Ric Flair, who helped Batista in his battles with Kane, including a victory at Armageddon 2002.

Evolution was formed in early 2003 when Batiste joined Flair, Randy Orton and Triple H in a new super group that many people compared to the Four Horsemen. Evolution quickly made a name for themselves when they beat down Scott Steiner and later ripped off Kane's mask.

However, Batista was soon sidelined with a torn bicep in March 2003 during a house show match against the Dudley Boyz. Two months later, he re-tore his tricep muscle when he fell while jogging. It would be October before Batista returned to action, attacking Bill Goldberg to earn Triple H's bounty on the then-World Champion.

In addition to aiding Triple H in his feud with Goldberg, Batista also had earned the ire of Shawn Michaels. Batista lost to Michaels at Armageddon 2003 but at the end of the night, he and Flair had won the WWE Tagteam Championship, as a last-minute entry into the Tagteam Turmoil match.

After losing the tagteam titles to Rob Van Dam and Booker T, Batista and Flair turned their attention to helping Randy Orton in his feud against Mick Foley. The three members of Evolution joined forces to take on Foley and The Rock in a victorious effort at Wrestlemania XX.

Batista and Flair regained the Tagteam titles the night after Wrestlemania but the title reign lasted only a couple of weeks before a loss to Chris Benoit and Edge cost Evolution the belts. After the loss, Batista began feuding with Chris Jericho, defeating Y2J at Vengeance. Jericho and Batista would also clash again, in a Triple Threat match involving Edge at SummerSlam, with the Intercontinental Championship in the balance. Despite Batista's best efforts, it was Edge who walked out with the title.

With Randy Orton ejected from Evolution the next night, Batista was now seen as the future of the group. Meanwhile, he and Flair would battle Chris Benoit and William Regal in tagteam action. As a solid member of Evolution, Batista defeated Randy Orton on a September 2004 edition of Raw to cost Orton his chance at becoming WWE World Champion while Triple H held the title.

As the Survivor Series approached, Batista began to look towards a possible shot at the WWE title if his team were to win the main event. However, the team of Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Maven and Chris Benoit won, which was the beginning of tension between Batista and Triple H.

That tension escalated on a weekly basis, with Batista accidentally eliminating Ric Flair during a battle royale and Triple H's mistimed chair shot knocking out Batista during a tagteam match against Benoit and Jericho. When the combatants were announced for the Elimination Chamber with the vacant World title on the line, both Triple H and Batista were included and things began to escalate, especially when Batista defeated Rhyno during a "Beat the Clock Match" and earned the right to enter the match last, rather than Triple H.

At New Year's Revolution, Batista lost when he was eliminated by Randy Orton, although it appeared that Triple H could have helped save Batista from elimination, but chose not to. Triple H also did little to endear himself to his fellow Evolution member when he interfered in a Number One contender's match between Batista and Orton, causing Batista to be defeated.

No matter, Batista defeated WWE Tagteam Champions La Resistance to earn a spot in the Royal Rumble. On January 23, 2005 at the Rumble, Batista eliminated John Cena and won the right to compete in the main event at Wrestlemania 21. After several weeks of uncertainty, Batista decided to stay on Raw and face Triple H, leaving Evolution behind.

Batista would walk into the main event at Wrestlemania the challenger, and walk out the World Champion. A month later, Batista defeated Triple H in a rematch at Backlash and then followed it up with a victory over the Game in a Hell in a Cell match at Vengeance. It appeared that Batista would rule the roost on Raw for some time to come.

Instead, he would be the very last draft pick to move from Raw to Smackdown, suprising everyone, most notably JBL, by appearing at the end of the June 30th, 2005 edition of Smackdown. JBL, upset at not being named the new champion after John Cena left for Raw, immediately targetted Batista.Batista was more than up for the challenge, defeated JBL at the Great American Bash, SummerSlam and in a bullrope match on the September 9th edition of Smackdown.

With JBL dealt with, Eddie Guerrero was named the new number one contender. However, Guerrero has feigned friendship with the World Champion even after a loss to Batista at No Mercy although few expect the unlikely partnership to last.

Soon after retaining the title in a feud with Eddie Guerrero, WWE.com reported that Batista suffered a muscle tear in his back at the taping for the November 11, 2005 edition of SmackDown! due to a double chokeslam from The Big Show and Kane, which may force him to have surgery. [1]. Plans had been made for Batista to defend the title in a triple threat match with Eddie Guererro and Randy Orton on the November 18 episode, but the match didn't take place due to the unexpected death of Eddie Guerrero on November 13. Many internet wrestling sites speculated that Batista would lose the title to Guerrero in that match.

Despite his injury, Batista paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero during the SmackDown! tribute show dedicated to Guerrero's memory. Batista would say that Guerrero was not only one of his best and close friends, but he was also a large inspiration to him and helped him carry the burden of becoming a World Heavyweight Champion.

Batista would lead Team SmackDown! against Team RAW in an interbrand feud before 2005's Survivor Series. The feud would see The Big Show and Kane chokeslamming Batista several more times in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, in an on-camera explanation for Batista's injury. Batista would help his team win the Survivor Series main event.

On the December 2 edition of Friday Night SmackDown!, Batista saved Rey Mysterio from a double team attack by RAW's reigning World Tag Team Champions, The Big Show and Kane. It was later announced that Mysterio would team with Batista to face Big Show and Kane at Armageddon 2005, a SmackDown! exclusive pay-per-view.

On the December 16, 2005 edition of SmackDown!, Batista and Mysterio got a title shot at the WWE Tag Team Champions, MNM. The two defeated MNM, to become champions in a match they dedicated to the late Eddie Guerrero. With Batista and Mysterio becoming the WWE Tag Team Champions it turned the clash with The Big Show and Kane at Armageddon into a Champions vs. Champions encounter. At Armageddon on December 18, Batista and Mysterio lost to Kane and Big Show when Kane pinned Mysterio after a chokeslam.

On the December 30, 2005 edition of SmackDown!, MNM defeated Batista and Mysterio after help from the returning Mark Henry to regain the WWE Tag-Team Championships. During the interference, Henry attacked Batista lifted him up and gave him the World's Strongest Slam. This was a set up by MNM's manager Melina who earlier that night said that she was going to sue Batista for "sexually harassing" her a week ago. The following week, Batista and Mysterio had their title rematch against MNM in a Steel Cage Match. Batista and Mysterio dominated the match but lost due to interference from Mark Henry again. Mark Henry demolished the door, and entered the cage, only to slam the door into Batista and Mysterio, which led to MNM winning the match, and retaining the WWE Tag Team Championship.

Injury and title surrender

On January 9, 2006, WWE.com announced that Batista had torn his right tricep following a match with Mark Henry at a live event on January 8, 2006 in Verona, New York. The following day, WWE.com announced that due to his injury, Batista was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship at the SmackDown! tapings in Philadelphia on January 10, 2006.

In an emotional speech, Batista acknowledged his injury and said that "as a great champion, I must do the right thing. I have no choice but to surrender the World Heavyweight Championship." Many fans in the audience were noticeably disappointed and distraught by this annnouncement. Later that night, Kurt Angle, a RAW superstar, became the new World Heavyweight Champion after winning a grueling battle royal. These events were aired on the January 13, 2006 edition of SmackDown! Batista had successful surgery on his tricep on January 12, 2006, and it is expected he will be sidelined until WrestleMania 22 at the earliest.

My Comments on WWE Smackdown Batista.
I first was introduced to Batiste when he was part of the Evolution and my first impression that he was huge. I though his only issues were the number of tattoos and that he didnt interview well. I think he was a good champion and his Batista Bomb is pretty cool

Eddie Guerrero

2006-01-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Eddie Guerror. Eddie Guerroro death was a trajic loss to WWE fans and he will be fondly remembered. (Credit to Slam Sports)

There is little doubt that Eddie Guerrero was destined to be a wrestler almost before he was born. His father, Gory Guerrero was a founding father of Lucha Libre (Mexican pro wrestling), a legendary wrestling trainer, a pioneer figure in Mexico, and perhaps, pound for pound, the best pro wrestler in Mexican history over the course of his 30-year career.

But Gory was also the patriarch of arguably the premier family in wrestling history. Eddie's older brothers Chavo, Mando and Hector gained worldwide reputations as excellent wrestlers, plying their trade in rings in Mexico and Japan, as well as several big territories across the U.S. It only made sense that Eddie would someday follow in his family's legendary footsteps.

Eddie wrestled at the University of New Mexico on an athletic scholarship. Wanting to turn pro, Eddie was trained by his father in a ring he had set up in his backyard in El Paso, Texas. It was there that the foundation of Eddie's superior working style was first laid.

Guerrero debuted in 1987 in Mexico's EMLL promotion. He competed primarily in six man tag matches with his brothers for the first few years. The trio of Eddie, Chavo and Mando teamed to win the World Wrestling Association's World Trios Title in Tijuana, Mexico on July 28th, 1989.

By 1992, Eddie was wrestling under a mask as Mascara Magica (Magic Mask). It was in this guise that Eddie won his first singles title, the WWA Welterweight Championship.

Later that year, Eddie jumped to the newly formed AAA promotion, dropping the mask and returned to wrestling under his real name. He began to split his time between Mexico and New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1993, becoming one of the top foreign stars in Japan. A year later he competed in the prestigious Top of the Super Junior Heavyweights tournament, having classic matches with the likes of Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, Jushin "Thunder" Liger and 2 Cold Scorpio.

In 1994, promoters in Japan saddled him with the Black Tiger gimmick, a foreign heel Tiger Mask-style character. In October, Eddie teamed with the Great Susake to win the Junior Heavyweight Super Grand Tag League for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Back in Mexico, Eddie teamed with El Hijo del Santo as La Pareja Atomica (The Atomic Pair), reviving the tag team their fathers (El Santo and Gory Guerrero) made famous in the 50s and 60s. Eddie formed a friendship with "Love Machine" Art Barr and the two approached promoter Antonio Pena about turning heel and teaming up together.

The idea worked to perfection as Guerrero and Barr turned on El Hijo del Santo and formed the most hated team in Lucha Libre history: La Pareja del terror (The Pair of Terror).

Turning his back on his Mexican heritage, Guerrero donned tights with the stars and stripes, waved the American flag and recruited the likes of Konnan, Louie Spicoli and others to form Los Gringos Locos, a Mexican version of the Four Horsemen.

Los Gringos Locos set Mexico on fire in 1994 as the heel clique feuded with every top Mexican star in AAA. Guerrero and Barr won the AAA World tag team titles in Chicago during the summer, defeating El Hijo del Santo and Octagon. Santo and Octagon would garner their revenge in November at When Worlds Collide from Los Angeles (AAA's only foray into pay-per-view), defeating Guerrero and Barr in a double mask vs. double hair match, forcing Eddie and Barr to have their heads shaved bald.

The match, a ****1/2 star effort, had put Guerrero and Barr in the spotlight, clearly establishing as the best tag team in the world at the time. They were seemingly unstoppable. Tragedy, however, struck three weeks later as Art Barr was found dead in his bedroom in Springfield, Oregon.

With Barr out of his life, the value of the Mexican peso at an all time low and AAA complaining about the cost of his contract, Guerrero left Mexico and resurfaced in Extreme Championship Wrestling. On his first night in he defeated 2 Cold Scorpio for the TV title. A week later he had what is widely considered the best match in the history of the promotion, going to a 30-minute draw with Dean Malenko.

Eddie added the frog splash to his vast repertoire, made famous first by Barr, paying tribute to his fallen partner. He and Malenko feuded the entire summer, exchanging the title between them in a series of matches noted for the scientific wizardry, drawing comparisons to the epic Ric Flair-Rick Steamboat feud of 1989.

A short time after battling Malenko to a draw in an epic best-of-three-fall match, Eddie left ECW in September of 1995 for the greener pastures of WCW. Eddie found himself competing against many of his former ECW contemporaries including Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Jerry Lynn (competing as Mr. JL) as well as Konnan and Ric Flair.

In June of 1996 Guerrero, competing as Black Tiger, defeated Jushin "Thunder" Liger in the finals of the Top of the Super Juniors in Japan, becoming only the second foreigner (Chris Benoit being the first) to win the prestigious tournament.

At Starrcade '96 Guerrero won his first title in WCW, defeating Diamond Dallas Page to win the vacant U.S. Heavyweight title. Eddie would lose it three months later to Malenko but rebounded by upending Chris Jericho at SuperBrawl to capture his first of two WCW Cruiserweight titles.

Between his matches with Malenko, Benoit, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon and Psychosis, his best effort in the promotion came at Halloween Havoc '97 where he dropped the Cruiserweight title to Rey Mysterio Jr in mask vs. title match. The ****/3/4 match will long be remembered for its high flying spots and the amazing chemistry between the two luchadores.

After several months of feuding with nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr. and being lost in the shuffle, Eddie formed the Latino World Order, a shoot-like gimmick where Guerrero addressed frustrations he and the other Mexican talent had over their shameless misuse by management.

The angle was starting to get over when Eddie was involved in a terrible car crash on New Year's Eve 1998, sidelining him for several months. Although he would later return, Eddie was not happy, and he wasn't alone.

On January 20, 2000, Eddie, along with Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn were given their release from WCW and appeared on WWE Monday Night Raw six days later. The foursome were dubbed "the Radicals" and appeared to be on the verge of becoming another great heel stable. Unfortunately for Eddie, the day after the Radicals arrival, he dislocated his elbow performing a frog splash at the Smackdown tapings in Detroit, Michigan.

Having returned to the WWE in April, Guerrero won the European Championship from Chris Jericho when Chyna turned on Y2J. The move led to a romantic union between Guerrero and Chyna that lasted through the summer of 2000. However, shortly after Eddie accidentally beat Chyna for the Intercontinental title, a segment of GTV caught Eddie in the shower with two women, crushing Chyna and ending their relationship.

Eddie's inner demons began to get the better of him. In June 2001, Eddie was sent to rehab after showing up "unable to perform." In November, Eddie was arrested for drunk driving and was released from the WWE.

In February 2002, Eddie came back to the spotlight, competing on a WWA pay-per-view "Revolution" where he defeated Psychosis and Juventud Guerrera for the WWA International Cruiserweight title. In March, he competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

In April 2002, he returned to WWE television, attacking Rob Van Dam on an edition of Raw, and defeating RVD three weeks later for the Intercontinental title at the Backlash pay-per-view.

Eddie would lose the title back to RVD in a ladder match, but seemed to be on the verge of a feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin before Austin left the WWE. Instead, Eddie teamed with Chris Benoit in a mini-reformation of the Radicals and soon after, the pair jumped from Raw to Smackdown.

While feuding with Edge over the summer of 2002, Eddie began teaming with his nephew Chavo Guerrero, Jr. to form Los Guerreros. The pair won a Triple Threat tag team match at the Survivor Series 2002 to win the WWE tag team titles, edging Benoit/Kurt Angle and Edge/Mysterio.

After a feud with John Cena, Eddie would team with Tajiri (subbing for Chavo) to become one-half of the Smackdown brand's tag team champions at Judgment Day in May 2003. After a month and a half of "cheating to win" (and retain the tag team titles), Eddie and Tajiri would lose the tag team titles to the World's Greatest tag team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) on July 3rd. After the match, Eddie turned on his partner, blaming Tajiri for the loss.

A week later, the tournament for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship began and Eddie defeated the Ultimo Dragon, Billy Gunn and (at the Vengeance pay-per-view) Chris Benoit to win the tournament and the title.

On September 16, 2003, Eddie and Chavo defeated the World's Greatest Tag Team to regain the WWE tag team titles. Eddie was, at once, both the United States Champion and one-half of the WWE tag team Champions.

The Big Show ended Eddie's dual run as champion by defeating Eddie for the U.S. title at No Mercy in October 2003. Four days later, Chavo and Eddie would lose the tag titles to the Basham Brothers. As Los Guerreros attempted to regain the tag team titles, things began to go downhill between Chavo and Eddie and the two battled each other at the 2004 Royal Rumble.

After winning a mini-Royal Rumble, Eddie found himself the #1 contender to Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship. At No Way Out 2004, Eddie, with some help from Bill Goldberg, unseated Lesnar to become the new champion.

After defeating Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX and getting by the Big Show, Eddie was next targeted by JBL. After retaining the title at the Judgment Day pay-per-view (despite a disqualification loss) Guerrero seemed to have defeated Layfield in a bullrope match at the Great American Bash on June 27th but Smackdown GM Kurt Angle reversed the decision and JBL was crowned the new champion.

With Angle reinstated as a wrestler, the classic feud between he and Guerrero raged on. A masked Angle interfered in a cage match between Layfield and Guerrero, helping JBL retain the title, and Angle defeated Eddie at SummerSlam. The Angle-Guerrero feud continued throughout the fall of 2004, later teaming with Rob Van Dam and the Big Show to take on Angle allies Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak.

However, as the end of 2004 approached, Eddie was once again in the hunt for the WWE Championship, but neither he, nor The Undertaker nor Booker T were unable to unseat JBL in a Fatal Fourway match at Armageddon.

At No Way Out in February, Eddie teamed with Rey Mysterio Jr. to defeat the Basham Brothers to win the WWE tag team titles. However due to some miscommunication and with Chavo Guerrero fanning the flames of controversy, the team of Guerrero/Mysterio seemed doomed from the start.

Rey and Eddie battled at Wrestlemania XXI, with Mysterio coming out victorious. Although they shook hands after the bout, the problems between Rey and Eddie continued in the weeks after. Things certainly did not improve when Mysterio/Guerrero lost the tag team titles to MNM and during a rematch in England, Eddie walked out on Rey.

Attacking Mysterio a week later, Eddie turned heel and turned his back on his former partner. After Rey got a victory over Eddie, albeit by disqualification, at Judgment Day and then again on the June 23rd edition of Smackdown, Eddie became even angrier and more obsessed with getting revenge for the losses.

Soon the vendetta between Eddie and Rey became personal. Eddie approached Rey's son, Dominic, threatening to reveal a "secret" that would destroy Rey Mysterio. Eddie began to hold that secret over Rey's head, even when his own family begged him to let it go.

Eddie faced Rey at the Great American Bash saying that he would forget about the secret if Rey could defeat him one more time. Rey came out victorious, only to have Eddie reveal the secret (that he was Dominic's father) anyways. After social workers became involved, Rey met and defeated Eddie at SummerSlam in a ladder match for custody of Dominic. Undaunted Eddie would finally defeat Rey in a cage match on Smackdown in September.

Undaunted Eddie would finally defeat Rey in a cage match on Smackdown in September and was named the number one contender to Batista's World Championship. Rather than feud with Batista, Eddie decided to befriend the champion and even teamed with him on occassion.

Batista got the better of Eddie at No Mercy but Eddie remained close to Batista, perhaps all the better to get into position to once again meet (and this time defeat) Batista.

Whether or not Guerrero would have defeated Batista will never be known. SLAM Wrestling and the entire wrestling world was stunned to learn that, on the morning of Sunday, November 13, 2005, Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minneapolis. He was 38 years old.

EDDIE GUERRERO BIO

Height: 5 foot 8
Weight: 220 pounds
From: El Paso, Texas
Finishing Moves: Frog Splash/Lasso from El Paso
Career Highlights: WWE Champion; European Champion; Intercontinental Champion; WWE Tag Team Champion; WCW Cruiserweight Champion; WCW U.S. Champion; U.S. Champion
BORN: October 9, 1967 in Juarez, Mexico
DIED: November 13, 2005 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
5-ft., 8-in., 220-lb
ALIASES/NICKNAMES: Latino Heat, Black Tiger, Mascara Magica

Finishing and signature moves

* Frog Splash
* Lasso From El Paso (Elevated Texas cloverleaf hold)
* Three Amigos (Combination three vertical suplexes)
* Brainbuster
* Gory Special
* Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
* Hilo (Slingshot senton)
* Splash Mountain (Sitout crucifix powerbomb)

Finishing moves as Black Tiger

* Super Black Tiger Bomb (Second rope crucifix powerbomb)
* Black Tiger Bomb (Sitout crucifix powerbomb)

Trivia:

Knows how to make Fajitas
favorite sad movie: "Father" with star Jack Lemmon
favorite concert: Santana
favorite TV series: Friends
favorite food: cheescake
Pets: two dogs. A Chesapeake and a chihuahua.
Loves: low-ride autos
Ejoys spending time with his family and kids
Ejoys slapstick type of comedy and video games
Ejoys ordering and watching wrestling PPV's
One of his goals is to stay humble
Eddie does not believe in superstitions.
Fault: admits to having a bad temper
He was very shy in school.

Ray Mysterio

2006-01-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

The following is information and pictures of WWE wrestler Ray Mysterio. Ray Mysterio is the star of smackdown.

Ray mysterio exploded into the sports entertainment scene in the mid 1990s, the colorfully masked Ray Mysterio quickly redefined the way the game was played in the ring. From his awe-inspiring West Coast Pop to his trademark 619, Mysterio has been on the cutting edge of wrestling excellence. The definitive high-flying Superstar, Mysterio, despite his size is an innovative underdog that fans of all ages have grown to respect and love.

Since a child growing up in San Diego, Ray Misterio always aspired to be a Superstar. As a young teenager, he followed his dreams by starting to train in the unpredictable and high-flying Mexican Lucha Libre style of wrestling South of the Border in Tijuana leading him to an even bigger stage -- first in ECW and then WCW where he revolutionized the fast, high-impact style you now associate with the master of the 619.

Picture of Ray Mysterio giving Eddie Guerrero a 619

Upon his WWWE debut in 2002 on SmackDown!, Mysterio continued his hot streak of memorable matches, setting his eyes on capturing the Cruiserweight Championship as well as sticking up to bullies who tried to push the scrappy SmackDown! Superstar around.

Picture of Ray Mysterios Mask

Rey Mysterio Finishing and signature moves

West Coast Pop (Springboard hurricanrana)
619 (Tiger feint kick)
Frog splash (in tribute to Eddie Guerrero)
Droppin' The Dime (Springboard legdrop)
Springboard seated senton
Springboard splash
1904 (Bronco buster)
Sunset flip powerbomb
Crossbody press / Twisting crossbody press
Wheelbarrow counter (bodyscissors) to moves like bulldogs, roll-ups and arm drags
Super frankensteiner
Springboard diving headbutt
Huracanrana from the ring apron to an opponent standing on the floor
Baseball slide to headscissors takedown
Missile dropkick
Tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown
Crossbody from the ring apron to an opponent standing on the floor
Moonsault attack to a standing opponent
Sitout facebuster
DDT
Tornado DDT

Picture of Ray Mysterio unmasked

Rey Mysterio Jr Biography

Real Name: Oscar Gonzalez Gutierrez
Nickname: Flying Fury
Birthday: December 12, 1974
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 165 lbs
Hometown: San Diego, California
Went to School at: Los Altos Elementary, Montgomery Jr. High, Montgomery High School
Trained In: Tijuana, Mexico
WCW Debut: 1991
Was Also Known As: El Colebri and nicknamed El Super Nino (as a rookie)
Finisher: Top-Rope Hurricanrana or 619

The following is a link to ray mysterio's official website

Eddie Guerero

2006-01-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

In Fiji we are usually behind in our tv shows and they have just shown the RAW and Smackdown tributes to Eddy Guerero. So even though I new he died through the internet my kids never really believed it until they saw it on tv. Like how can Eddie be dead when is wrestling every week

My youngest son was always an Eddy fan and used to try and fashion his hair like eddy. I swayed them away from him because of his mantra “lie, cheat and steal”.

I first started following westling after watching hulk hogan in Rocky Three. In my opinion that was the golden years of wrestling with hogan, piper, Andre the giant, king kong bundy, ondorff, steamboat, junkyard dog, george the animal steel and special guests mr t, refrigerator and ali. I didn’t know what WWE was until I read recently that WWF had to change its name due losing it court case against the World Wildlife Fund

I stopped following wrestling until my kids started watching so I never ever heard of the stone cold austin, shaun Michaels and, Eddie guerrero. I only new Rock was a wrestler from the ads about his films.

Wrestling has significantly changed in the last 15 years where the major change is the stories are more harder and the abuse of fans is worse. I think the envelope keeps on being pushed as the punters tolerance keeps on expanding.

Actually what got us back is they started showing smackdown and raw in Fiji and as a present to my son I bought the wrestlemania dvd where Eddie Guerero won his world championship over Kurt Angle

One of my strengths is looking at people and getting a good feeling of how they are actually feeling (Empathy). Some of Eddies performance looked real and he really felt crazy. Eddy, Kurt Angle and Chris benoit were to me the best performers in wrestling

It’s a real pity about the story about Rey Mysterio’s kid but I think Mcmahon realised you public can’t accept Eddy as a bad guy but at least when he died he was a good guy again.

On the Raw and Smackdown tribute. I cant take anything serious from the mcmahon but you could feel the pain of the other wrestlers. Two of the best matches were Jave Guerrero vs JBL and HHH vs Chris Benoit. I am not sure what the relationship was of Triple H and eddie but the embrace of hhh and benoit fight will help wrestling going forward.

On Christmas eve my two boys new they were going to be given radio controlled cars as their Christmas presents and last night they said where were going to race them on christmas day as a tribute to Eddie Guerero.

Viva la rassa.

1st Post

2006-01-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

This blog will be used post all the wrestling information from the ReallyBlog