Be sure to check out WWE Superstars this Thursday August 27th at 8:00pm EST on the WGN America television network.

On the next episode of WWE Superstars the crowd could be drawn as a decent Number One Contender’s match for the Intercontinental Title is taking place. The combatants are Mike Knox, Finlay, and recent Summer Slam Intercontinental Challenger Dolph Ziggler. One of these men will be qualifying for the new WWE Pay-Per-View “Breaking Point” to face Rey Mysterio so let’s break down what’s at stake.

For Dolph Ziggler we already know. He put forth a valiant effort against a seasoned WWE vet in Rey Mysterio at Summer Slam. If he wins this Number One Contender’s match, he’ll undoubtedly need to beat Mysterio this time to move further in his notoriety.

For Finlay it would be a spot back in the limelight we call Pay-Per-View. This fellow has been knocking on the ECW Championship’s door but never gets the chance to be put over. Perhaps a crack at the Intercontinental gold will be it for him.

Finally, for Mike Knox, it gives him his real first shot at glory. Up until now he mainly suffices as an exhibitionist. However, if any of you remember his feud with Rey Mysterio not too long ago then there is definitely reason to believe that he could cash in on this opportunity.

Aside from this main event, the show will be featuring The Hurricane in a grudge match against Paul Burchill and a highly intriguing matchup between Primo Colon and Jack Swagger. Swagger and Colon’s styles are very different and it should make for an interesting night along with the Number One Contender’s bout.

Tune into WWE Superstars Thursday nights at 8:00pm eastern on the WGN network.

Probably the main benefit that comes out of this show is the chance to see what you typically only got on special occasions (usually three hour specials of Monday Night RAW) or during the WWE draft… mixed brand wrestling. Although that is obviously the marketed benefit, it is still quite a perk for any WWE fan and deserves some stressing.

One night you might get matchups mixed with inter-brand bouts, or you might even get an occasional Number One Contender’s match as was the case a while back between Christian and Finlay. In this respect it is kind of cool and I view it like the show for those who see pro wrestling as their past time; you’re just going to get a good, random mix of entertainment with the occasional contest that has something at stake.

I would not expect to see Super Card type matchups on this show but you’ll definitely have a Super Card player here and there in the ring with someone else (see John Cena versus Ted DiBiase Jr.).  

And aside from what the show does for the fans it also helps out those superstars that aren’t scheduled to see action quite as often as others would on Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown and ECW. So for that, WWE Superstars is pretty interesting television.

CM Punk does it again the only way he can... by being a punk...

What happened last night at Extreme Rules? Four titles changed hands. This is actually a little interesting because I’m sure that doesn’t happen too often. We’ve seen plenty of Pay-Per-Views where the top two titles (WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship) will change hands but not two more for a total of four.

The one that concerns me is Batista taking down Randy Orton for his WWE Championship. Orton is somewhat of a transitional champ. He isn’t really defending his title against numerous opponents, but rather, keeps defending it against the same guys in each stint and then eventually loses to one of them. That just continues to make his character look like a bickering baby who should have never been champion in the first place. Plus, Batista is a meathead.

I am very interested in the Smackdown decision. This is not because CM Punk cashed in his MITB, and although I am quoted as saying I would love to see CM Punk cash it in and perhaps have Umaga run down and Samoan drop him so that he loses his opportunity anyway, (and that sadly can never happen because Umaga was released today for reasons undisclosed), I am actually happy with this result. One reason… a face player cheap-shotted another face player. That could lead to some very good intrigue.

As for the intercontinental title, I do not care much. That title has always changed hands frequently, and it’s good to see two main eventers competing for it. I am also happy for Tommy Dreamer. I guess you could say his hard work paid off, but it also seems like a “pat-on-the-back” pension plan for a loyal old dog.

I really liked Tommy Dreamer’s effort in the ring and thought of him as the best jobber (perhaps undeservedly so) in the business. I’ll miss him.

Brett Hart isn't playing around here... or is he?

Watch this video from MAD TV where Bret Hart flips out on Will Sasso and the rest of the MAD TV crew and actors. Do you think it’s fake? It’s hard to tell in my opinion. In fact, the only piece of the video that looks staged is when Bret Hart begins to slam Sasso with the chair. Sasso’s screaming sounds a little bit overdone, plus, the skit comes off like a quick simple write-up in order to lead into the explosion of anger that Bret Hart brings out.

Now watch this video where Hart and Sasso supposedly “settle” things. Now this of course is fake. However, you know how in pro wrestling they’ll sometimes play off of real grudges and hatreds and use that drama to creat some of their own on television. And who knows? Perhaps what unfolded on that episode of MAD TV so long ago was real and Hart, Sasso, and the black lady “peaced” things up and decided to have fun with it.

This is the "face" that could make this Pay-Per-View.

This year’s One Night Stand, which has been preposterously renamed to “Extreme Rules,” seems to feature a bunch of matches with extra stipulations under the cover of an “Extreme” labeling (although nothing was worse than renaming John Cena’s “FU” to the “Attitude Adjustment”).

The matches include WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Batista in a steel cage, Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho in a no holds barred match, World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs. Jeff Hardy in a ladder match, Miss Wrestlemania Santina Marella vs. Vickie Guererro in a hog pen match, John Cena vs. Big Show in a submission match, CM Punk vs. Umaga in a Samoan strap match, and ECW Champion Christian vs. Jack Swagger, vs. Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat hardcore rules match.

Of all these matches, only no holds barred and the hardcore triple threat are truly extreme. I think in honor of Tommy Dreamer the latter ought to be the main event of the night. I doubt it will be though. I also am not too happy with the send-off for Dreamer being a triple threat. Let the guy go toe-to-toe with one man for his final bout. If you want to create real drama, have it be against another good guy… Christian (like Ric Flair’s final match against Shawn Michaels).

If you want to get old ECW fans interested (because I doubt they’ll truly ever be won over), don’t cop out of going over the edge with a bunch of rare matchup stipulations being held under an old ECW card. Oh well.

Vince McMahon certainly "flexed" his muscle last night on Monday Night RAW (and was probably one of the only times the concensus wanted him to).

As you all should know, there was a recent scheduling conflict between the WWE and Denver Nuggets. Monday Night RAW’s May 25th edition was supposed to be held in the Denver Nuggets Pepsi Center until the Denver Nuggets managed to make it to the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. Here are my thoughts on the WWE’s response.

The first part of the response was in the opening when Vince McMahon stepped in the ring with another gentleman dressed as Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. This included McMahon letting off some steam in the form of some live air time where he made fun of Kroenke’s middle name, Enos, and rhymed it with words like “Venus “ and “Genius.” He of course eluded the obvious “penis” but made sure to reference to it in other words. He also criticized the Denver Nuggets’ staff (probably for not having the balls to step up to Kroenke and tell him “You’re wrong.).

Finally, McMahon said something about the NBA or Nuggets “pushing” the WWE and its fans and McMahon said “We push back!” and snuffed the hell out of that would-be Stan “Enos” Kroenke. I have to say, that push was thunderous and I think McMahon really wanted to Let Kroenke know what would happen if the two weren’t separated by the professional fine line and the restrictions of potential tort law penalties.

Finally, the main event featured five superstars in Lakers jerseys, John Cena, Batista, MVP, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and surprise return superstar Ken Kennedy versus five men in Nuggets jerseys (all bad guys) Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase Jr., Cody Rhodes, The Miz, and Big Show. This was no more than the standard tag team match that Monday Night Raw loves to have seemingly every week, but with the stars wearing NBA jerseys.

So, all in all, the first part was decent while the second was lacking any punch.

Last night on Monday Night RAW the WWE “shook things up” as they’ve been calling it by holding a draft wherein any random wrestler can end up being drafted between the three brands of RAW, Smackdown and ECW (in order of significance of course). Even though the draft is a complete crock where you almost always see big names come back to RAW like Batista and Rey Mysterio did last year, and chump jobbers like Vladimir Koslov (ECW’s only draft pick) go to the land of extreme, it is still interesting.

I thought it was a great idea to get Jericho and Mysterio over to Smackdown now that Triple H is back on RAW because of one simple great reason; every championship contender on Smackdown now actually looks like they matchup. In fact, the only guy that doesn’t match up other than the other true superstars (Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Edge, and perhaps a few others) is Kane who also was drafted from RAW to Smackdown. None of those guys would be much more than transitional champions as long as Triple H were around. Plus, Kane is a bum and can be used to create some awesome “David vs. Goliath” type matches. And honestly, let’s not get started on Great Khali. He could be thrown in to stir some ratings, but no title for him. I also think that the moves make way for guys like Shelton Benjamin and R Truth.

Shelton Benjamin

Another thing I liked was the switch between the middle titles; Rey Mysterio takes his Intercontinental Title to Smackdown, and MVP takes his US Championship to RAW as he was drafted from Smackdown last night. In all truth, I think that US title is the sweetest looking belt of all the WWE and will look much better on RAW than on Smackdown. Finally, you got that chip off the big chin block Vladimir Koslov over on Sci-Fi where he can scrap it up a few matches and make others like Christian, Jack Swagger, and Finlay look good. I wouldn’t mind seeing Koslov go at it with Tommy Dreamer either.

All in all, I think it was a decent draft, and there weren’t really many head scratchers. Pretty good job WWE.

Time to "duke it up" one more time... Cena and Edge style!

I’m sorry to say this and I feel many non-kid diehard fans may disagree, but this Last Man Standing bout between John Cena and Edge is a blockbuster. I don’t care what anyone says though because back when the first time these two feuded, the matches were often times strenuous and brutal, and with a last man standing stipulation, should be the same.

I even remember the time after the first feud ended when the two would randomly match up. It was almost a treat to see because of the history of their story. And the great thing about it was that the choreography exuded this by inserting a lot of grappling and mat wrestling maneuvers into the fights.

Now the two will duke it out to see who is the last man standing and the intrigue for this match is just the same as always; Cena dealing with that pesky opportunist, Edge. It will be interesting to see how things play out afterward if the expected (Cena winning) actually happens. What will Vickie Guererro do to keep her “loved one” in contention for the World Heavyweight Championship? And are Cena and Edge going to create a part two to their feud?

Can’t wait to find out.

Wrestlemania was more like "Wrestle-shittyia."

I have to say that after spending $54.99 or whatever it was on Wrestlemania that I was not too impressed. None of the matches seemed to have much luster, and some seemed to end a bit quickly as well. All in all, just like the last few years have been, it was a little disappointing at times.

One match that really seems to have lost its edge is the Money In The Bank Ladder Match. I think watching seven guys try to get a brief case at the top of ladder in the middle of the ring gets old after a while, even if it only happens once a year. However, it is especially repetitive when once again there are a handful of contestants who we absolutely know will not win the match.

Another match that left a sour taste in my mouth was the match between the two Hardy’s. First of all, I was not completely enthralled by the storyline leading into the matchup. I feel that it was too sudden and too forced upon us viewers. That alone just made the match unadmirable, and with Matt Hardy winning it did not offer any closure to the brotherly-hate saga like an event of Wrestlemania’s caliber should.

But the biggest let down of all was the second main event which was for the WWE Title, and also respect, between Triple H and Randy Orton. Now I’ll give the match some credit because H and Orton did show their “dislike” for one-another by punching the crap out of each other when one man had the other down and nearly getting disqualified each time, but because of its length, and unpunctual ending, I have to give that one a thumb down.

I wonder what everyone else thinks.

This year’s Wrestlemania is somewhat classic. There are no big promotional gimmicks like Billionaire vs. Billionaire or boxer vs. wrestler. Most of the matches are straight forward, with no wild stipulations and the WWE is going to rely solely on its own people to put on a show. I think it’s a good idea. With that being said, here are my predictions.

Chris Jericho vs. Rowdy “Roddy Piper,” Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat in an elimination match

I bet Jericho eliminates all three, but then the four of them and Ric Flair will beat on Jericho at the end. Jericho wins, but still gets his.

25 Diva Battle Royal

I’m really not looking too hard into this, and just found out it was a match when I prepared to write this article today. I’ll just throw out Michelle McCool’s name.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match

I’m still sticking by my statement that part of drawing Christian back to the WWE was a contractual guarantee that he has a title reign in his first year back. Christian wins.

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

The Phenom is not about to lose his perfect 16-0 streak at Wrestlemania in a match that means nothing. Shawn Michaels rests in peace.

WWE Tag Team Champions Miz and Morrison vs. World Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo

The Miz and Morrison have been holding onto their titles for too long. The two Puerto Ricans will win.

Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy in an Extreme Rules Match

This is a tough one. But, I guess the gut has to go with Jeff Hardy.

JBL vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title

Looks like Rey Mysterio should be the next Intercontinental title holder if the WWE wants to shake things up on RAW.

Edge vs. Big Show vs. John Cena for World Heavyweight Championship

Cena has to win. Edge and Big Show are involved in that disgusting love triangle, and John Cena needs to be a champion.

Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship

I have to call one upset. And I feel Orton winning is a bit of an upset. I think the WWE really wants to shock us.