Today’s Poll: Who is the Best Pro-Wrestler of All Time?

During Chris Jericho’s promotional tour for his book Undisputed How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps, he told numerous reporters that he considers Shawn Michaels the best wrestler of all time. Let’s have some fun with today’s poll and debate the point. While I’m a huge HBK mark, I don’t consider him the greatest of all time. That designation goes to…

…”The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. It’s a close argument and I can see both sides. Michaels had a greater aerial arsenal than Flair, but Ric was better at mat wrestling. Both were capable of carrying scrubs to great matches. There are two things that put Flair ahead of Michaels in my book. First, Flair was extremely effective as a heel and a face. Michaels was much better at being a face than a heel. Flair is one of the greatest talkers of all time. While Michaels cut some great promos, I don’t think he’s in the same league as Flair on the mic.

Not it’s your turn! Kindly vote and discuss when you have a moment.

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Henry Rollins, Roddy Piper in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

In my review of All-Star Superman, I mentioned that the disc comes with a teaser feature on Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Nathan Fillion takes the lead role as Hal Jordan. He’ll be accompanied by rocker/author Henry Rollins and WWE legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.

I’m super psyched to hear Rollins as Kilowog. Once described by a thick Russian woman as “a most interesting warthog creature”, Kilowog has trained thousands of Green Lantern Corps members. While Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner have all the big adventures, a lot of readers view Kilowog as the backbone of the Corps. It was fun listening to Rollins talk about the character — he totally gets it and it looks he’ll do a knockout job.

Sadly, The Hot Rod was not in the feature. Who do you think he’ll play? Are any of psyched for Henry Rollins as Kilowog? On a related note, wouldn’t Nathan Fillion make a better Nathan Drake than Mark Wahlberg?

Finally…RPad Has Posted The Rock’s WWE Promo!!!

Here’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s fantastic promo from last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw. It’s just brilliant stuff on multiple levels. He’s simply amazing on the mic, but it’s cool to see that he’s genuinely having fun and truly touched by the amazing crowd response. (When was the last time you heard a crowd pop like that, btw?)

Now for the downer — some of the best parts of the promo have been edited out. That’s like abridging Shakespeare. Why?!?

Coffee Talk #302: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To

As I was mesmerized by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s promo on last night’s Raw, I was thinking, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” Whether you’re talking about WWE, games, movies, or music, this is true.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, iPhone 5 rumors, President Obama’s plans for mini nuclear reactors, or the start of MLB spring training, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I was mesmerized by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s promo on last night’s Raw, I was thinking, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” Whether you’re talking about WWE, games, movies, or music, this is true. In this context, I was reminded that there hasn’t been a face with extraordinary mic skills in years. On the heel side, guys like Chris Jericho and The Miz have been outstanding. On the face side there have been good talkers, but I can’t think of a truly great one.

Naturally, I started thinking about games — specifically what I miss about gaming from 10, 15, and 20 years ago. As a fan of Japanese RPGs, I’ve spent thousands of hours of my life in turn-based combat. I absolutely loved those battles. Part of it was depth that wasn’t found in other genres, but part of it was that I enjoyed spending time to think about my next several moves. Sadly, turn-based combat is considered archaic in 2011. Sure, there are some niche titles and portable games that offer this style of gameplay, but it’s never used in mainline games with big budgets. I wish that wasn’t the case.

What do you miss about gaming, music, and movies from “the good old days”? Is there anything that creators don’t make like they used to but wish they did?

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Host WrestleMania XXVII

On last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw, the WWE announced that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be the special host of WrestleMania XXVII. The Rock cut a brilliant promo — one of the best face promos in years — calling out WWE Superstars The Miz and John Cena. Several people have come to the conclusion that The Miz will successfully defend his title and John Cena will win the right to face him on Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event. This would lead to a WWE Championship match between the two at WrestleMania XXVII.

The Miz facing off with The Rock is a natural. Love him or hate him — and I still think it’s hilarious that some of you think he’s “unworthy” — there’s no denying that The Miz has been one of the best heels on the microphone over the last few years. His future exchanges with The Rock will be memorable.

Cena and The Rock is, perhaps, more interesting. Cena has been critical of The Rock for “abandoning” the WWE for Hollywood. Mixing in some reality into “sports entertainment” has always led to some of the best angles in the WWE. I’m terribly interested to see how far they go with it. Last night The Rock ripped into Cena’s merchandise and silly catchphrase. One easy and obvious comeback would be The Tooth Fairy.

Although The Rock will only be a WWE regular for a short period of time, his presence has already invigorated the WWE. It’s been years since I’ve seen a face totally capture a crowd the way he did last night. It was an excellent reminder of how extraordinary he was — and still is! — on the microphone. If you didn’t mark out then you don’t really like pro-wrestling.

THQ Attacks Facebook with UFC and WWE Games

THQ has launched a pair of interesting Facebook games that should interest fans of WWE, UFC, and men crawling around in bikini briefs. For those that prefer sports entertainment there’s WWE All Stars Fantasy Warfare. Here’s the official description:

The WWE All Stars Fantasy Warfare Application is a deep interactive video experience that showcases five Fantasy Warfare matchups between one WWE Superstar and one WWE Legend. Matchups feature a gameplay video in which users can choose from their favorite signature maneuvers to determine how they would finish off their opponent. It’s up to you to determine the greatest WWE Superstars of all time!

If you’re looking for more realistic Facebook violence then you should check out UFC Undisputed Fight Nation:

THQ Inc and Zuffa, LLC today announced the latest edition to the prominent UFC Undisputed sports videogame franchise with the launch of UFC Undisputed Fight Nation, the first official Facebook game based on the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The interactive experience, developed by Embassy Interactive and available on Facebook allows players to take control of their virtual UFC careers in a fun and engaging environment by training moves, competing against others and sharing their results on Facebook, as well as enabling them to successfully manage their progress for the opportunity to compete against many of the UFC’s most renowned fighters.

It’s very cool that THQ is using social media to extend two of its most prominent franchises. It’s a great way to sustain interest between releases and generate hype prior to a launch. Whether it’s men in tights or swords & sorcery, you better get used to Facebook games based on your favorite console and PC titles. You’re going to see tons more in the immediate future.

If you get a chance to check out either Facebook game, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Has Sting Signed with the WWE for WrestleMania XXVII?

The NY Daily News has reported a rumor that Sting (Steve Borden) has signed a one-year contract with the WWE. The rumor coincides with WWE promos showing a mystery man that will make his debut on February 21, 2011. The dirt sheets have speculated that 2/21/11 will be the return of The Undertaker or Triple H, but Sting would be an interesting choice that makes a certain amount of sense.

Sting is one of the few NWA/WCW stars that has never wrestled for the WWE. This year’s WrestleMania takes place in Atlanta, GA — a huge WCW town. The WWE also owns the rights to Sting’s best matches. The speculation is that Sting will return for a brief program with The Undertaker, promote a best of Sting DVD, and be inducted into the WWE hall of fame.

I used to be a huge Sting mark back in the day. I loved the neon-wearing, rat-tail version of Sting. His matches with Ric Flair were outstanding. (Though to be fair, anyone could have an outstanding match with Flair in those days.) I never warmed up to the “Crow” version of Sting and the TNA version was a shell of his former self. While he’s definitely limited and not what he used to be, I believe that The Undertaker could help him pull off one more excellent match.

Although this rumor makes sense on paper, I’m going to wait for more information before I start buying into it. Part of it is that I would love for Sting to have one last run and would love for the WWE to roll out the red carpet for him. If I started believing the rumor and it didn’t pan out, I’d be disappointed. Part of it is that a lot of Sting’s recent work in TNA seemed sloppy — the result of a worker that’s unmotivated and disinterested. Perhaps a final run on the big stage combined with money from DVD sales will motivate Steve Borden to turn back the clock and become the Stinger of old.

What do you think of this rumor? Does the prospect of Sting in the WWE excite you? Have any of you seen his pre-Crow matches?

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WWE Royal Rumble Surprises (and Spoilers!)

WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event had some nice surprises. To briefly recap the PPV, World Heavyweight Champion Edge and WWE Champion The Miz retained their respective titles. Booker T and Diesel (Kevin Nash) surprised the crowd and received huge pops for their participation in the Royal Rumble match. When the dust cleared, Alberto Del Rio emerged as the winner of the Rumble.

It was nice to see Booker and Nash work for their old company, though I hope they’re done. Neither of them are what they used to be. I do think it’s hilarious that Nash dyed his hair to play the Diesel character again; Nash has repeatedly said that he wants to work as a “silver fox” character but Vince McMahon hates his gray hair. I love that WWE went with Del Rio as the winner. He’s relatively new, he does great work in the ring, he’s above average on the mic, and his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez makes me laugh.

Anyway, let me know what you made of Del Rio’s win and the Royal Rumble PPV (please).

Excellent Chris Jericho Interview

Chris Jericho fans will want to check out this excellent transcript from a press conference conducted by Pro-Wrestling Illustrated. The presser took place in December, so some of the information is dated, but most of it is gold. Jericho candidly covers a wide variety of topics, giving some really excellent answers. It’s long, but totally worth reading.

If you have a moment, check it out and let me know what you think (please)!

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WrestleMania XXVII…in 3D?!?

Would you be into watching WrestleMania XXVII in 3D? You just might get the chance if The Wrestling Observer is right. According to the dirt sheet, the WWE is planning to make this year’s WrestleMania its first 3D broadcast.

I’m frightened by the prospect of sports entertainment in 3D. Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for seeing as many dimensions of the WWE Divas as possible (especially AJ Lee!). That said, too many wrestlers wear trunks. Seeing Sheamus’ milky thighs in HD is one thing. The thought of seeing them in three dimensions makes me shudder.

I know that most of you are anti-3D. Does WWE programming in 3D interest you or repulse you?

Source via CrunchGear