After a long week in court, there’s nothing like rambling on about the latest happenings in the wild and wacky world of professional wrestling.  Help me wind down from lawyer mode to smark mode as I ask a few questions of you, the intelligent wrestling fan.

1. Are you disappointed that no arm wrestling matches have been booked for TNA’s Lockdown PPV yet?
   
2. Where is Donald Trump hiding the frog when he says “We love you Bobby”
   
3. Why did it take the WWE so long to release a Four Horsemen DVD?
   
4. With Ring of Honor running two killer shows in Detroit during Wrestlemania weekend, do you think it’s any coincidence that the WWE is packing the weekend with activities like the premiere of The Condemned, the Hall of Fame Ceremony, and Fan Fest?
   
5. Aren’t you glad Don Muraco is inducting Mr. Fuji into the WWE Hall of Fame rather than Mr. Saito?
   

GREATEST WRESTLEMANIA OF ALL TIME:  Back in the day, WWF kingpin Vince McMahon would always hype the upcoming Wrestlemania as “the greatest Wrestlemania of all time.  While there’s always been a special feel to Wrestlemania, few rational beings will deny that there have been some duds (can you say Wrestlemania IV boys and girls?) in the history of “The Showcase of the Immortals”.  Let’s face it; for every Wrestlemania moment like The Rock vs. Hogan; there have been Wrestlemania Whattheshit’s? like Men on a Mission vs. the Quebecers at Wrestlemania X or Adrian Adonis vs. Uncle Elmer at Wrestlemania II.  Far too many times, Wrestlemanias get labeled as “great” based on one good to great match when the rest of the show for all intents and purposes is no great shakes.  In many respects, Wrestlemania has become like the SuperBowl in that it’s more about watching the event than it is about watching any of the respective teams (or in this case respective wrestlers).  This week I’ll be running a poll on the greatest Wrestlemania of all time.  Send your comments to me at rickard@worldwrestlinginsanity.com or post a link in Rickard’s House of Old School at the Insanity Message Boards. I’ll post the best comments along with the results in my special WM Weekend edition of Rickard’s Ramblings.

SPEAKING OF WRESTLEMANIA:  Fans seem divided on the quality of the card for Wrestlemania 23.  Frankly, I don’t see where people are coming from in the camp that’s critical of the card.  Looking at the main events and the undercard, there are a lot of potentially very good matches lined up thus far.   

Battle of the Billionaires (Lashley vs. Umaga)-the stars won’t be out tonight for this match in terms of match quality but the hype behind it promises to make it one of the most anticipated matches among casual fans and smarks alike as people tune in to see who joins the Hair Club for Men.  This match represents the mainstay of the WWE style of promoting- big men beating the crap out of each other with lots of emphasis on the sizzle rather than the steak.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match-if Royal Rumble is about the battle royal and Survivor Series is about the Survivor Series elimination match, then Wrestlemania is quickly becoming all about the MITB match.  The last two MITB matches have been show stealers and this one looks to be no different as eight WWE superstars compete for a world title match.  Most of the people involved in the match are either main event players or close to breaking out into the main event (with the exception of Matt Hardy).  Given the fact that the last two MITB winners went on to win world championships, the winner is going to be in the spotlight for the next year.

Undertaker vs. Batista- at this point I don’t think there are a lot of people who feel that Taker’s win streak is in jeopardy.  Regardless, this should be a good brawl and the perfect type of match to put Batista in.   While you shouldn’t expect a win by Batista, you should expect an excellent brawl between these two.

Cena vs. HBK-Cena’s work in the ring has been noticeably better over the last few months and given what Shawn Michaels did with Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam 2005, I can’t imagine anything less than a four star classic for this one.  The question isn’t will HBK get a good match out of Cena but rather, will HBK do the J-O-B for Cena as the WWE continues to push him as their dominant champion?

WWE SUPERSTARS ON SMALLVILLE

Did you catch Kane and Ashley’s appearances on Smallville last week on the CW Network?  Not only did Ashley do a decent job acting but Kane continues to impress playing the badass/monster/psycho type.  Sure, it’s no stretch from what he’s done in the WWE for the last decade but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him getting more and more of these types of roles both in films and on the small screen.  As his career begins to wind down, Hollywood seems like a natural choice if he wants to keep working after leaving the squared circle. 

WILLIAM SHATNER INDUCTS “THE KING” INTO WWE HALL OF FAME

Despite the honor of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Jerry “The King” Lawler is not a happy man.  Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lawler felt he wasn’t ready for induction as he’s not retired yet.  Furthermore, Lawler was none too pleased with the WWE’s decision to pass on Lawler’s suggestion that Lance Russell make his induction.  Since then, it’s been announced that William Shatner will induct “The King” into the Hall of Fame.

Apparently certain people in WWE management feel there just aren’t that many fans who remember Lance Russell to give him the spotlight role of inducting Lawler.  For those who don’t know, Russell was the announcer in Memphis for Championship Wrestling, the television show where Lawler came into his own as well as the announcer at the Mid South Coliseum.  In his heyday, Russell was highly regarded and often spoken of in the same breath as Gordon Solie.  Russell was great at interviewing wrestlers and getting the most out of them and he brought a sense of class to the Memphis wrestling program.  While he wasn’t the kind of announcer who dazzled you with his knowledge of wrestling holds, he helped build storylines and matches as they transpired in the ring and it’s not a stretch to rank him with Gordon Solie and Jim Ross as the best ever.

Still, you can’t fault the WWE with going for a better known personality such as Shatner (rumors abound that the WWE tried to get Lawler’s Man on the Moon co-star Jim Carrey to do the honor but he passed) rather than someone like Russell (who has been out of the national wrestling spotlight for years).  Since the WWE started airing the ceremony, the Hall of Fame show has always had an emphasis on entertainment just as much as it has been about honoring the inductees.  As anyone who saw Shatner’s roast on Comedy Central can attest, the guy is hilarious on the microphone and he should provide plenty of entertainment for the show.  His two appearances on Monday Night RAW might not seem like a lot of wrestling experience but they’re pretty close to other celebrities who have appeared at the Hall of Fame such as Pete Rose and “Refrigerator” Perry.

AND THIS WEEK’S MAGNIFICENT BASTARD AWARD GOES TO….

TODD GRISHAM.  Yes, the WWE’s answer to Clark Kent scores his first MBA for yet another fine job in the announce booth.  Listening to Grisham call matches, I can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t get a chance at one of the big shows.  The WWE is really missing the boat by wasting his talents having him conduct interviews backstage and take superkicks from Shawn Michaels.  Unlike many announcers working today, he knows how to call a match without making himself the center of attention.  He also brings a real sports feel to the matches and knows how to tell the story behind the match so casual fans can tune in and pick up on feuds and storylines immediately.   The WWE would do well to send Michael Cole to their new Antarctica promotion and let Grisham start calling the matches on SmackDown!