Fantastic

"Making his NXT debut, from Tokyo, Japan.... Ken Tanaka!"

PWInsider just reported five NXT releases: - Mason Ryan (ultra green musclehead in CM Punk's Nexus) - Raquel Diaz (Vickie and Eddy Guerrero's daughter) - Oliver Grey (tag team partner of NXT Champion Adrian Neville) - Danny Burch (British talent, barely used) - Shara (former female arm wrestling champion) It's not like they need Mason Ryan now Batista's back is it?

Power Slam is awesome. Been reading it since I was a kid, they get some decent interviews with the big names which is very surprising for an independent magazine. Fin Martin's reputation much carry some gravitas in wrestling circles. The annual PS 50 is always a great read, although there's often a lot of bias for Kurt Angle. Don't get me wrong, he's a great worker, but you cannot realistically put him up there currently with the likes of Tananhashi, Okada and Daniel Bryan.

How long can it last though? They've failed numerous times to get Barrett over. I honestly believe they destroyed his one and only chance at breaking through when they annihilated Nexus before it even got off the ground. Had they booked Nexus similarly to how they book The Shield, I don't doubt that at least half of them would be big players in WWE right now. Same person who accidentally lets slip the results of matches to gamblers eh?

Hey, it worked! People cared enough about Michaels even when it was obvious that he was really vying for attention.

Some people have suggested that's the reason why Triple H isn't a fan of Foley. Namely that Triple H dislikes the fact that people associate his breakthrough because of his work with Foley and not because of his own greatness or some shit to that effect. Seriously, Triple H would have gone far with or without Foley.

From The Observer: Very interesting. So the theory now is that Vince basically ended a selling point for future Wrestlemania's without fanfare because he saw that the Undertaker looked like crap?

Kane could be awesome again, if only WWE were to get their asses on right. Scenario: Kane loses to Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules, but DB comes off worse despite his victory. Stephanie comes out and demands Kane put DB out of action in some extreme manner. Kane does a face turn and refuses, stating that "he and Bryan left it in the ring, he lost fair and square" or something to that effect. At that point, Evolution or whoever they plan to ally with the Authority next comes out and demolishes Kane under orders from Stephanie as DB retreats. Kane gets "put out" via the extreme manner he was ordered to put out DB. A month later Kane returns, fully masked and suited, expressionless and mute, just as he was in 1997/1998 None of the cartoony "I'm a monster...but I'm going to fall in love with AJ shit" . Have him go up against a top guy like Batista, no sell everything to fuck and put him away with the Tombstone. Have Kane absolutely dominate the Authority as a monster face like Taker. Sure, he'll eventually lose, but have him lose in matches where his opponents barely survive. Bring back the Kane of old!

That's a hell of a shame. However, his father got to see his son reach the pinnacle of his profession and marry the love of his life. He must have had an amazing last few weeks himself.

I don't think The Rock and Shawn Michaels have ever faced each other...?

Punk and Flair?

Remember this bad boy?

Seconded. 1993 just inches ahead of 1994 where Kawada is concerned.

That reminds me of Foley's ECW heel run in the mid 1990's where he refused to be hardcore anymore and wrestled headlock matches.

Anything is an improvement on the last two. If I was making the rules though, I'd just commission a updated, slightly modified Big Gold belt and have it represent the WWE Championship. Of course, Vince will never go for that NWA relic!!

This should be the new belt, with the new WWE logo in the middle, and a name plate below it.

The WWE network logo is going to be the new WWE logo. I believe Stephanie confirmed this in an interview last week.

It could go all Ryback though... That's a very real possibility.

What will Vince do if Roman Reigns bombs? He's got to create another "larger than life" superstar to take over from John Cena, can't have no vanilla midgets like Daniel Bryan or CM Punk representing the E now!

In terms of MMA, I don't really think AAS usage is really all that much of an effective performance enhancement in the world of MMA. Take Bob Sapp for instance, who is like the result of an illicit union between Bobby Lashley and Alistair Overeem. Bob Sapp got his ass handed to him on a plate by Kaz Fujita in a K-1 match back in 2004. Kaz Fujita is like half a foot shorter than Bob Sapp and weighed around 60lb less than him, yet he demolished the larger Sapp. That's not to say that AAS usage isn't effective at giving an edge in training or recovery, but in terms of the fights themselves, skill and experience will usually prevail.

Well, to draw on a recent tragedy for analysis: I'd wager that Ultimate Warrior's heavy steroid usage was a significant contributor to his heart problems, and not the brief - in comparison to other guys during that time - periods he spent on the road as part of his wrestling career.

Mark Henry.... He was north of 350lbs when competing in the Olympics and in several drug tested powerlifting federations. Henry has also been incredibly outspoken against those in the sports of powerlifting and weightlifting who use PEDs. I believe Henry still regualrly submits to drug tests as some kind of membership clause in one of the feds he's a member of. Whilst it's possible Henry has been stringing us along since the beginning, I'm inclined to believe he's truly a once in a century athlete who's natural incredibly strength is futher augmented by his ferocious appetite which has lead to his size and it's retention all these years. To be honest, we don't really know who truly is and who truly isn't, my issue comes with the fact that several wrestlers on the roster are sporting typical AAS crafted physiques in light of a wellness program designed to prevent the usage of AAS and PEDs. Out of everyone on the roster, the only ones I'd wager aren't (currently) taking anything are: - Mark Henry (as previously mentioned) - Hornswoggle - Daniel Bryan - Santino Marella - CM Punk - Dean Ambrose - William Regal - AJ Lee - Cameron - Naomi - Emma - Paige

Brock is at least 280lbs and under 20% body fat.. That isn't natural! Compare his physique now with his physique during his UFC run, he's far bigger, although he was at his biggest and most defined in 2002/2003. Even though Brock has far more time on his hands to train effectively and recover, he's still sporting an unnatural physique. Orton is far too chiselled and lean year round to be perceived as completely natural, I don't know whether weight cutting drugs are exempt from the policy or not. As for Batista and Triple H, whilst both are noticeably smaller than they used to be, they are still massive whilst being well into their 40's. It doesn't make sense without any pharmaceutical assistance. Notice how quickly Batista gained size whilst preparing for his WWE return after leaving the MMA dream behind? Cena's huge, and recovers ridiculously fast. He's gradually, but has consistently gained size since his return from the tricep injury in 2008 too. His feats of recovery harken back to the MLB controversy, and we all know what the deal was there...

It's definitely helped a fair few wrestlers and others associated with the business. It's been a good intervention for some who've needed it also. However, it's simply a joke when it comes to deterring PED and AAS usage. The respective sizes of Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena, to name a few, stand out. Thoughts?

I really liked the triple threat match (The Rock defending the WWF Championship against Triple H and Shance McMahon) at Insurrextion 2000.