The WWE will close out the road to WrestleMania 26 with a bang on Monday. In what is becoming a tradition, WWE RAW will feature a WrestleMania Rewind of WrestleMania rematches. On top of the familiar rematches, WWE Hall of Fame wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will captain the ship and run the show. Can you say WWE ratings bonanza?

Some will point to this strong effort as a response to TNA’s decision to go head to head on Monday nights with TNA Impact. However, Austin was booked on the show long before the weekly Monday Night Wars became a reality. Additionally, the WrestleMania Rewind has become something of an annual event leading into the biggest pro wrestling event of the year. Unfortunately for TNA, there really won’t be much they can do to combat what should be one of the most exciting editions of WWE RAW of the year.

The WWE announced three WrestleMania rematches on this week’s WWE RAW. Obviously with two hours to fill, there is a possibility that more could be added by G.M. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Already announced for Monday are a rematch of last year’s WrestleMania XXV co-main event Triple H vs. Randy Orton, a rematch from WrestleMania XIX between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, and finally a rematch from the WrestleMania XX opener between John Cena and The Big Show.

Without a doubt, the Michaels-Jericho WrestleMania XIX rematch will be most anticipated by WWE fans. Michaels vs. Jericho had arguably the feud of the year two years ago. They wrestled each other several times in big matches with each match outdoing the other. Could this be Shawn Michaels next-to-last match? Both guys have a tremendous amount of respect for one another so this could be something of a tribute to Jericho by Michaels in giving him his second-to-last ever wrestling match.

The complexities of this whole Legacy feud just keep on growing with a rematch of last year’s main-event between Triple H and Randy Orton. It is really odd to me that two guys who have had big parts in the last several WrestleManias are playing such small roles this year. For Randy Orton, it is even stranger that as of this writing, Orton has yet to have an officially announced match at WrestleMania XXIV, although most expect some kind of a match with Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. To me, this whole feud isn’t resonating with fans because there are no clear lines on who are the babyfaces and who are the heels. By sticking Randy Orton in a match with Triple H, the WWE are once again blurring the lines. However, if the match ends with Triple H and Orton standing side by side and fighting off members of Legacy and Sheamus, all of that would undoubtedly become clearer going into WrestleMania. Then again, how ridiculous would that be when after all Randy Orton did physically attack Trip’s wife a year ago? While I am not particularly interested in seeing a 500th match between these two, I must admit that I am curious to see where they go with this whole thing.

Finally The Big Show and John Cena will tangle in a rematch of their “classic” WrestleMania XX opener. In all seriousness, it really was a monumental match as it was Cena’s first big WrestleMania match. Now let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone is beating down the WWE door and demanding a rematch here. But, I am sure that Batista and possibly even Vince McMahon get involved here and throw in a few twists. My prediction is that Steve Austin comes out to even the sides and ends the night with an old fashioned Stone Cold Stunner on Vince McMahon for old time’s sake.

For all of the criticism that the WWE generally receives, I think they have done a better job of building up this year’s WrestleMania than they have done in quite some time. Considering all of the goofy angles the WWE threw at us last year building up the Triple H-Randy Orton match, this year’s buildup is a welcome breath of fresh air. Throw on top of the above mentioned a likely appearance by Bret Hart and I can’t think of a better way to bring home the road to WrestleMania XXVI.

Check out the WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 – 1985-1989 (I-V)

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 – 1990-1994 (WrestleMania VI-X)

Read WWE WrestleMania : The Official Insider’s Story

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Why can’t wrestling be unpredictable? There used to be a time when I could watch wrestling and be surprised. Lately I can’t say that. Maybe it’s my own wrongdoing because I go to the wrestling internet sites. But lets be serious you can watch WWE programming and figure out where they are going with the storylines most of the time.

The largest build of storylines where it’s the most predictable appears to be during the road to WWE Wrestlemania build every year. As Eric Gargiulo and I discussed on “The Still Real to us Show”, we have had our surprises this year (Cena, then Batista wins the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber) but we have had our predictable outcomes as well (Edge chooses Y2J). Sadly we have had some more predictable outcomes as we continue towards the path of Wrestlemania 26.

The last couple of weeks I have written blogs on where I see the Wrestlemania 26 card going. So far I’ve done pretty well with my predictions and missing a couple matches for the big show in Glendale. I feel like after what I saw this past Monday night on Raw I have once again done pretty well for myself.

Let’s go straight for the obvious right now with the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match. We knew in some form this was going to happen, we just didn’t know how. There were reports out last week that the WWE Championship match would be a tag team match with Cena & Hart vs. Batista & McMahon and that Hart would win the WWE Championship. As of right now it appears that’s not where they are heading to this.

For the 2nd time in three weeks Vince McMahon has accepted a challenge to take on Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 26. We are to believe that Bret Hart has suffered a leg injury from the car backing into him and that is the reason why Vince accepted the challenge. It makes decent sense on why Vince McMahon, who was a commentator during Bret’s era, would go on a face the former five-time WWE Champion.

But are we really going to get a bad leg Bret Hart for WM26? I don’t think so. I believe we are going to get some sort of swerve where Bret was behind it the whole time finally some sort of contract signing where he shows Vince and the rest of the “WWE Universe” that it was all a hoax for Vince to wrestle Bret at Mania. Either way I am happy that we are going to get to see Bret Hart at WM26, in what capacity I’m not sure, wrestling one more time at Wrestlemania.

The other matchup that looks like is setting up a Wrestlemania match is the Randy Orton vs. Legacy handicap match at the March 8th Raw. If you believe that we will be seeing a Cody Rhodes turn his back on Ted DiBiase angle, I am right there with you. There have been talks of Orton/DiBiase at WM26 since almost last summer (similar to Jericho/Edge), to not pull the trigger this close in the game is huge.

As I said on this past week’s “The Still Real to us show” (which you can still download at www.wheelhouseradio.com) I believe that Ted DiBiase is headed towards a big baby face push. I believe that Ted DiBiase can be World Champion material overtime. I’m sure that creative isn’t essentially happy with how well they have developed him over the years since he debuted but he still has that “look.”

I believe we will see Rhodes turn on DiBiase and set up an Orton/DiBiase match at WM26. Hopefully this match will catapult the career of Ted DiBiase and the career of Cody Rhodes as well. With more attention given to Rhodes as a singles competitor we may see him also blow up this year as a future main eventer.

It just sucks to see the writing on the wall in wrestling most of the time but I guess that’s why we keep coming back for more and writing these blogs every week. Once again I have got to take my hat off (as if I’m wearing one as I write this?) to the WWE creative team who is firing on all cylinders right now as we head to WM26. This is shaping to be one of the best cards at Wrestlemania that we have seen in years.

We left Raw knowing that next week we will be building to an Orton/DiBiase (with the handicap Orton vs. Legacy bout) match and also the makings of a Triple H/Sheamus (where Sheamus kicked Triple H to end Raw) match, while adding onto the Hart/McMahon and Cena/Batista (the Cena/McMahon match) bout. Those are two mid-card matches for WM26 and arguably a Main Event/Mid-Card/Special Wrestlemania match when discussing Hart/McMahon.

I’ll save it for another blog or for the next “Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo and I; but if I’m TNA right now I have to be worried as I head into the March 8th Monday Night Wars showdown. WWE is exciting and fun to watch heading to their biggest show of the year while TNA is giving us two legends that shouldn’t be in the ring anymore and can’t keep their personal lives in order.

Damn it’s a good time to be a wrestling fan.

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

Jeff also co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.com and can be downloaded in the “Real Guy Radio” section of the site. There you can also download many different shows including “The Wheelhouse”, “24 on 24″ and “Lost: Smoke Monsters and You.”

If you would like to subscribe to “The Wheelhouse” on iTunes simply subscribe for free at iTunes by typing in “Wheelhouse Radio!”

You can follow “The Champ” Jeff Peck on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/therealjeffpeck or you can follow Wheelhouse Radio! on Twitter by visiting their page @ www.twitter.com/thewheelhouse. You can also e-mail them @ wheelhouseradio@gmail.com

Check out the WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 – 1985-1989 (I-V)

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 – 1990-1994 (WrestleMania VI-X)

Read WWE WrestleMania : The Official Insider’s Story

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Hello everyone, once again! Hope you all had a great last full week of February, 2010, and welcome to March, 2010, is……….JERICHO! Yes! This past week, we say week 1 of the WWE Champion Batista (his 2nd WWE title reign) and World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho (his 3rd World Heavyweight title reign, if you don’t count his two WCW title reigns). Let me discuss my opinion on both World Champs.

WWE Champion, the Guy Who Shoots Lasers Out of His Fists

Like I said when I called into Pro Wrestling Radio last week, I never liked Batista that much before. I enjoyed him in Evolution, I think in part because he was a heel, because that’s my personal preference. Shortly after he became face, after his feuds with Triple H and John Bradshaw Layfield, I started not to care too much about him. I think it maybe because he was on Smackdown, and around that time I wasn’t watching Smackdown on a regular basis for years like I’ve done before.

But after his turn on Mysterio at WWE Bragging Rights last year, I started to enjoy Batista’s new character. He kicked butt on his terms, and didn’t care what the crowd wanted. He beat Mysterio at Survivor Series by a ref stoppage, because of the many Steroid Bombs [Batista Bombs, I haven't discussed Batista in a long time, but my first article I wrote for CCB, I talked about his finisher], I was happy.

How he’s been taking his character, I really enjoy. He gets people angry with him. I like it, I really do. Thank you Batista for starting to become likeable for once.

World Heavyweight Champion, a Lead Singer to a Rock n’ Roll Band

You all know that I am a huge Chris Jericho fan! And you all know that I am excited that Chris Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship, even if it’s only for five weeks! And I think you all should like him too! And you all know that I am a Jericholic, and I don’t need to use jump on his band wagon.

Jericho as World Champ into WrestleMania I think it would help bring in ratings. At least for me, I think Jericho deserves to be in the main event for Mania, because last year, he had to face three legends, and honestly, I feel like that match wasn’t that great.

But this is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, sorry for a late Week in Review, goodbye

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Check out the WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 – 1985-1989 (I-V)

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 – 1990-1994 (WrestleMania VI-X)

Read WWE WrestleMania : The Official Insider’s Story

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Once there was WWE’S version of ECW, now there’s WWE NXT. It will showcase viewers to the best wrestlers available in Florida Championship Wrestling. Each wrestler will be tutored by a WWE Superstar. The question is will this program be successful?

In 2001 WWE started a TV show very similar to this one. Anybody remember Tough Enough? Tough Enough had random guys and girls who’ve had some experience or have wanted to be a wrestler to be given a shot at a WWE contract. The first three years had a pair of winners, with the last edition having only one winner. So in total seven people of been crowned ‘Tough Enough.’ The wrestlers are Maven, Nidia, Jackie Gayda, Linda Miles, Matt Cappotelli, John Morrison and Daniel Puder. There have also been also been wrestlers who have been eliminated and not crowned winners but did receive a WWE contract. They include Shad from Cryme Time, Matt Morgan, Melina and The Miz. The results are mixed, nobody other then John Morrison has had success. I do consider Matt Cappotelli a success because he was doing a great job in Ohio Valley Wrestling when he was diagnosed with cancer. Shad I can’t say he’s been a success, I’m leaning towards not. Matt Morgan was suppose to be the next big thing but is now in TNA. Melina and The Miz along with Morrison are without a doubt the best wrestlers to come out of Tough Enough.

It’s been less than six years since we last saw Tough Enough, now WWE has came up with a new idea. The new idea is to bring in development talent from FCW and have them be tutored by a WWE superstar. The pros as they are known will help the rookies develop their characters, mic skills and performance skills.

If I were to compare Tough Enough to NXT, I’d say I like the NXT format better. First off all of them will be put on Smackdown or Raw at the end of the show. These wrestlers are actually somewhat prepared to go to Smackdown or Raw unlike most Tough Enough participants who have even the hardest time holding onto a WWE contract. Also I already know who a few of these wrestlers are. Daniel Bryan AKA Bryan Danielson from RoH is one of the rookies on here and I can’t wait to see what he does in NXT. He’s a great technical wrestler and I’ll be interested to watch him and see what he’s like in the ring and what his mic skills are. There is also Skip Sheffield aka Ryan Reeves from Tough Enough 4. I’ve heard a little bit about Heath Slater but I don’t really know much about him. Other than those guy’s I’m not sure really who any of them are. So I’ll be finding it interesting to find out what their wrestling talent or whatever is.

Now with the pros I am interested to see for the rookie they tutor will they tutor them to their style? I’m really interested in seeing the pair of Daniel Bryan and The Miz. I’m wondering with the Miz will he make Bryan a cocky type of character like himself. That will be the same case for all the wrestlers. Some other questions I have what will be taught to the wrestlers as far as wrestling moves. Like will Bryan be able to still go with his technical wrestling background? I don’t know how things are handled in FCW; my biggest question is with Daniel Bryan. Does his style fit the WWE style on TV?

In the end I believe this show will help WWE finding new stars. There have been multiple guys who have come to Smackdown or Raw who were said to be the future of WWE but did not make a boom in WWE. They include Brent Albright, Elijah Burke, Kenny Dykstra and Johnny Jeter just to name a few. Each one of these wrestlers will be taught by some of the best wrestlers in the business. There are so many questions to be answered on what will happen with the rookies. Time will tell if this idea/show is a success.

The following list is the ten rookies and their tutors:

Daniel Bryan & The Miz

Darren Young & CM Punk

David Otunga & R-Truth

Heath Slater & Christian

Justin Gabriel & Matt Hardy

Michael Tarver & Carlito

Skip Sheffield & William Regal

Wade Barrett & Chris Jericho

Bloodsport : ECW’s Most Violent Matches.

Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW book.

Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore book.

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

The road to WrestleMania 26 became much clearer tonight after the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. There were three major world title changes, which completely changes the landscape for the World Wrestling Entertainment’s biggest show of the year. The big WWE news is that Sheamus and the Undertaker are out while Chris Jericho and Batista will enter WrestleMania as new WWE champions.

The shocker of the night came in the first Elimination Chamber match for the WWE championship featuring the WWE RAW brand. It appeared as if Sheamus had made the cut from transition champion to the real deal coming into the event. Unfortunately for Sheamus fans, it was not meant to be. John Cena won the Elimination Chamber match and reclaimed his WWE championship. Sheamus was eliminated by Triple H, who subsequently was eliminated by Cena for the win. But the night didn’t end there for the Marine.

It has become routine for some kind of twist to arise at these Elimination Chamber shows from the WWE. Last year it was Edge entering the WWE RAW brand Elimination Chamber match and winning the title. This year it was an unscheduled Batista vs. John Cena match. Following Cena’s win, Vince McMahon came out to announce an immediate Batista vs. Cena match for the title. Batista defeated an exhausted Cena in 31 seconds and won the WWE championship. A WWE SmackDown superstar leaves with the WWE RAW brand’s title also like last year.

In a more predictable title change, Chris Jericho defeated The Undertaker in the WWE world heavyweight title which represents the SmackDown brand. Most blogs and websites predicted a Jericho win. Most blogs and websites also correctly predicted that it would be Shawn Michaels’ interference which would cost The Undertaker the match. Michaels came from underneath the steel part of the cage and nailed Taker with Sweet Chin Music. A surprised Jericho quickly covered The Undertaker for the win and the WWE world heavyweight title. This was quite a bit of irony here in Michaels helping Jericho after their lengthy feud in 2008.

I spent a lot of talking on my radio show last Monday night about the fact that I just never thought Edge vs. Sheamus was going down at WrestleMania. In my mind, the match made very little sense while the WWE had a ready-made match set up with Chris Jericho vs. Edge. On the other hand, I feel that Sheamus was just starting to get taken seriously as a champion and a run into WrestleMania with the title could have cemented him as a main-event WWE star for the next year. The Jericho-Edge match on the other hand will be much better, and gives Jericho his first WrestleMania main-event since WrestleMania 18, freshening up the top of the WrestleMania card.

The Batista title switch is a real curious one to me. Batista’s last WWE championship reign lasted less than 24 hours. Batista tore his left bicep during the match at Extreme Rules last year when he defeated Randy Orton for the title. Batista had to vacate the title the next night and missed several months before returning to action. At the time I and others here questioned whether the WWE would ever have the faith in Batista for another title run. Apparently they do and the vote of confidence doesn’t get much better than a title run during WrestleMania season. It will be interesting to see how much ring time Batista gets before WrestleMania or will the WWE drastically limit his schedule to give him the best chance at staying injury-free before WrestleMania 26.

Looking at the results and how things went down tonight, the rough lineup for WrestleMania 26 looks something like this…
Edge vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE world heavyweight title
John Cena vs. Batista for the WWE championship
Sheamus vs. Triple H
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Randy Orton
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon

At first glance, it looks on paper like a stronger lineup than last year. Edge and Jericho are likely to tear the house down and maybe even top Taker vs. HBK. I have no reason to think that Michaels vs. Undertaker won’t live up to expectations. Sheamus vs. Triple H has potential, although it is not anything I see that is going to steal the show. Cena vs. Batista is a real wild card in my opinion. Batista really prides himself on having great WrestleMania matches, and had two show-stealers in his last three vs. Edge and Taker. Batista is going to have his work cut out for him that night. I have very little interest in seeing Orton vs. DiBiase, but I may be in the minority there. If given time, Punk vs. Mysterio could give the upper card a run for their money but I don’t see them given that opportunity. Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon is a match I am really looking forward to, as much as it will probably disappoint.

Headlocks and Eye Gouges – I will be back on Pro Wrestling Radio this Monday night February 23 at 8 PM/EST live. I will recap the Elimination Chamber show and talk WrestleMania 26. Call in with a question or comment at 1-877-800-8834. Listen live at http://www.tinyurl.com/PWradio at 8 PM/EST this and every Monday night.

Check out discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t-shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Order the book A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex

Read the book Chris Jericho (Edge Books)

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Hope this blog/article finds you all well! And also hope the weather your way isn’t as bad as it is up here in Minnesota. Can’t wait for WWE WrestleMania, and can’t wait for the weather to start warming up! YES!

Let’s dive into what happened in the world of WWE this past week. This week, we saw the “Go Home” week before Sunday’s pay-per-view, WWE Elimination Chamber. To me, personally, nothing too big happened. Yes, we did finally see the end of ECW (the WWE version), we found out what WWE NXT will finally be, starting next week, and we heard Chris Jericho’s promo at the beginning of Smackdown, saying that he defeated the Undertaker cleanly the week prior, and will walk out of the Elimination Chamber on the Smackdown side and walk into WrestleMania as World Heavyweight Champion!

One of the biggest storylines that’s been talked about this past week, and something that I’ve been hearing a lot about on the podcasts I pay for, the Wrestling Observer, that it’s been talking about the whole Bret Hart incident.

We seen that a lady backed up her car into Bret’s limo, that smashed the door into Bret’s leg. To me, personally, how everything was set up, it’s unreasonable for what did happened, happened. Why? Because the lady’s car was just sitting there, and happened to move right when Bret got in the car. Don’t people look in their rear view mirror or look backwards before they put their vehicle in reverse? And how it seemed like there was a long, awkward pause, before her car even started to move, so we all knew that Bret’s leg was in his limo! And come on, what limo driver would park their limo with someone as famous as Bret Hart in front of a vehicle that is, thereby, trapped? COME ON! You must be joking with all of us!

But after listening to the Wrestling Observer, they were saying (Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer) with the e-mails they’ve been getting, fans, as with Bryan, that they think that this could be a swerve from Hart and Cena, to “make” McMahon think that Hart’s injured, just to accept his challenge at WrestleMania. To me, I like this idea, in parts, but it could have gone more smoothly, in my opinion, with the woman’s car backing up into Bret’s limo, “smashing” his leg.

Will the WWE Creative follow up on this on this coming Monday Night Raw? I sure hope so. And how will the WWE react with TNA going Monday Nights, starting March the 8th? I hope they’re ready, because I am sure TNA/Carter/Hogan/Bischoff team are all ready for everything that’s coming up. But I am Eric Darsie from Minnesota, gearing up for a six-week trip to Brisbane, Australia, this summer, goodbye!

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Check out discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t-shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Order the book A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex

Read the book Chris Jericho (Edge Books)

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!