1. Day 457 - A Silent Prayer (ColuMania)

2. Day 458 - What a waste of $60

2.5 Day 459 - Raw Running Diary

4. Day 460 - An entire year?

5. Day 461 - Top 28 for My 28 (Re-post)

Day 457

A little over an hour until WrestleMania begins. I'm antsy. There's not much on television, so I'm flipping channels.

Infomercial.

Infomercial.

Cable access religious programming.

Infomercial.

I have 700-something channels, and there's not a damn thing on. Funny how that works, isn't it?

As I continued flipping through the stations, my cell phone text notification went off. "I got big booty bitches.. big, big booty bitches.. I got big booty bitches.. big, big booty bitches.. oooo.." Almost immediately after it's done, it goes off again.

Then again.

By the time I've stood up and walked over to my phone, it goes off two more times. It must be something important. I opened up the first text message that was from the homie, Shea..

"Dude, turn to CNN RIGHT NOW"

The next text message..

"Please fucking tell me ur watching CNN"

The next one..

"WTF. U watching the news?"

Assuming the other messages involved the same thing, I walked back to the room and grabbed the remote, changing the channel to CNN. When I saw the headline at the bottom of the screen, my jaw dropped, and my cell phone fell to the floor.

Breaking News: Murderer of former wrestler Chris Benoit & family arrested

It took me several seconds for my mind to wrap around what it was looking at. The murderer of the Benoit family was arrested? Didn't Benoit murder his family before taking his own life? I sat down and turned the volume up. A press conference with Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard was about to begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for making it out here on such short notice. I won't be taking any questions, but I'll go over the information that we've received, leading to the break in the Chris Benoit case. At approximately 7:24 this morning, Kevin Francis Sullivan was arrested and charged with the murders of Chris and Nancy Benoit, as well as their son, Daniel. We've been following some tips and leads, and have had Mr. Sullivan here for questioning over the last few days. He confessed to the murders this morning, and is now being held, without bail, at the Georgia State Prison. Further details will follow, but for now, this is all I can share with you. Thank you for your time."

There were tears welling up in my eyes, but honestly, I didn't know why. Perhaps the sheer magnitude of the entire thing was crashing down on me. My phone hadn't stopped going off the entire time, but I was too numb to pick it up and read anything. After all this time.. nearly four years.. it turns out that Chris Benoit isn't the monster of a man that people have made him out to be. All of the questions people had.. everything that people thought would never be answered.. were being answered right before my eyes.

The CNN anchor said that Reverend Johnny Lee Clary would be joining him, via satellite, after the break. Reverend Clary used to be a former pro wrestler, and through the years had been very outspoken about the entire Benoit situation. His comments would be very interesting to hear.

During the commercial break, I did my best to respond to some of my text messages, but once the break was over, my phone was shut off. I didn't want to be distracted by anything.

"Reverend Clary, thank you for joining us this afternoon."

"It's my pleasure."

"Let's get right into it. What are your thoughts on today's developments in the Chris Benoit case?"

"I really hate to say this, but I'm not surprised. From the beginning, when everyone began accusing Chris Benoit of committing these heinous crimes, I knew something wasn't right. Something didn't add up. After looking at things from a different angle, I began to dig through some of my own clues, and I had Kevin Sullivan in my sights almost immediately."

"Please explain."

"Well, it starts with the fact that Mr. Sullivan used to be married to Nancy Benoit, for one. When Sullivan and Benoit used to work for World Championship Wrestling, a storyline was created for Nancy, who was the valet of Mr. Sullivan on-screen, to leave him for Mr. Benoit. Mr. Sullivan is from the old school way of thinking in wrestling, and he wanted to take things even further, to make wrestling fans think everything was more than just a storyline. Chris and Nancy would travel from city to city together. They'd share a hotel room on the road. They'd eat meals together. They were ordered to hold hands and be affectionate with each other while out in public. Somewhere along the lines, life began to imitate art, and Nancy really did end up leaving Mr. Sullivan. She began to date Mr. Benoit, and things went from there."

"When did this storyline take place?"

"In the summer of 1997."

"So, why would Kevin Sullivan wait ten years to do what he did?"

"I was getting to that, actually. What a lot of people don't know about Mr. Sullivan is that he's a noted Satanist. Some reports even have him as one of the highest-ranking members of the Satanic Church. One of the key beliefs in Satanism is revenge. They believe in finding revenge in the most calculating way they possibly can, not just something that they can do right away."

"You're saying that Satanism is behind the murders of the Benoit family?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Look at the numbers. The weekend of the murders was the tenth anniversary of Nancy Sullivan leaving her husband for Chris Benoit. There's that calculating method of revenge I mentioned. I believe Mr. Sullivan had this planned all along. He knew that he'd be one of the top suspects if anything happened to either Chris or Nancy in the days, weeks and months following the divorce. He let things cool off a bit before picking his time and following through on the threat he said to Chris in WCW upon hearing that his wife was leaving him."

"What threat?"

"It has been documented that Mr. Sullivan threatened to kill Mr. Benoit one day, but nobody paid much attention to the threat. He was angry. He wasn't in his right mind when he said it."

"In the last few years, we've heard how the police think the weekend went down. They felt that Nancy was murdered, followed by Daniel being murdered the next day, with Chris Benoit taking his own life the following day. If Mr. Sullivan truly did commit these crimes, how do you think things went down on that particular weekend?"

"I think Mr. Sullivan entered the Benoit home by gunpoint, and that he had a few of his fellow Satanic Church members to help him out. He went right after Nancy, still angry with her for leaving him. With Chris and Daniel being forced to watch, Mr. Sullivan strangled Nancy Benoit to death. He had extra reason to be upset with Nancy. When they were together, Nancy was also a practicing Satanist, but since marrying Chris Benoit, she had become a Born Again Christian and had devoted her life to Christ. That, of course, infuriated him. He waited an entire day, letting Chris and Daniel remain tied up, suffering after witnessing Nancy pass away, before he set his sights on Daniel. As a Satanist, Kevin Sullivan probably hated Daniel Benoit more than anybody on the planet. As the only offspring of Chris and Nancy Benoit, Kevin Sullivan saw Daniel Benoit as everything 'pure' in the world. He probably took great joy in murdering Daniel, especially with Chris probably being forced to watch that, as well. As a form of torture, he made Chris Benoit spend another day thinking about what had taken place in the last two days. To end the weekend, Chris Benoit was hung in the basement of the home, with Mr. Sullivan going out of his way to make things look like a suicide."

"Other than the obvious, what did Mr. Sullivan intend to gain by murdering the Benoit family like this?"

"Not only did he rid the world of the people he hated the most, getting revenge in the process, but look at what he's done to the Chris Benoit name in the last four years. He turned one of the most respected men in the wrestling business into a pariah. People absolutely hated Chris Benoit after the news of the deaths broke. He murdered his wife and his own son? People were sickened by the entire thing. World Wrestling Entertainment has basically had to pretend that Chris Benoit never existed. They've deleted his matches from DVD sets. They refuse to even mention his name on television, on their website or on anything that has to do with the company. His title history has been completely wiped out. Even some of Chris' closest friends wanted nothing to do with his memory anymore. In other words, people were starting to see Chris Benoit with some of the same hatred and disgust that Kevin Sullivan had felt for an entire decade. He could have easily just murdered them, and left it at that. He felt as though Chris Benoit ruined his life, so, even in death, he wanted to make sure that he ruined Chris Benoit's life and everything that he spent so many years trying to build and accomplish."

"What about the bibles that were reportedly found next to the bodies?"

"Things like that have come up in Satanism-led murders in the past. It's basically a way for a Satanist to taunt organized religion. It's the equivalent of telling someone that they spent all that time praying to God and trying to follow all of His rules, but when they needed Him most, He did them no good and they were still able to be murdered. Again, Satanists are incredibly cold and calculating. They don't think like the human beings you and I would consider 'normal'. This has all the makings of Kevin Sullivan's doing, as well as the Satanic Church."

"So you think this confession by Mr. Sullivan is legit?"

"Oh, absolutely. To be honest with you, I don't think these are the only deaths Kevin Sullivan has been involved with."

"What do you mean?"

"Another name that Mr. Sullivan has been linked to through the years is Sherri Schrull, better known to wrestling fans as Sherri Martel. Like Nancy Benoit, Martel had managed Kevin Sullivan in wrestling, and had been linked to him in a romantic sense, as well. There were rumors that Martel had also dabbled in Satanism, but those rumors were just that.. rumors. It was never declared official. Anyway, a little over a week before the Benoit family was murdered, Sherri Martel was found dead. Her death was declared an accidental overdose, as multiple drugs were found in her system, but everything was suspicious about it. According to everyone that knew her, she had everything going for her in life, and was as happy as she had been in years. She had been battling problems with alcohol, but never drugs, and all of a sudden, she dies of a drug overdose? It just doesn't add up. I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever if Kevin Sullivan was behind her death, as well."

"Reverend Clary, we're running short on time, but is there anything else that you'd like to say before we wrap this up?"

"Yes, actually. I'd like to take this time to say, to the wrestling fans watching, that Chris Benoit's name and legacy can be brought back into the light once again. You weren't wrong to be angry with him. However, we've all made a mistake, and as the book of Proverbs, chapter 28, verses 13 and 14 say.. A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance. Blessed is the man who reveres God, but the man who doesn't care is headed for serious trouble."

"Thank you for your time, Reverend."

"Anytime."

With that, they went to another commercial break. Another wave of emotion fell over me, and I began to sob uncontrollably. I just didn't know how to process everything. A man that the entire world thought was a murderer for four whole years, and who had his entire legacy tarnished because of it, is actually innocent, and never did any of the crimes people accused him of.

I shut the television off, and fell to my knees in a silent prayer. A prayer for myself. A prayer for the Benoit family. A prayer for Kevin Sullivan. A prayer for things to return to a sense of normalcy.

The HiPE Playlist: Nothing tonight. I had to focus on the column.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Hustle
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-Team Sleep--------------------------Day 458
Remember when he was actually wrestling on pay-per-view and was worthwhile?

WrestleMania 27 is now in the books, and I'm going to be honest with you fine folks out there in ReaderLand..

That would have been terrible for a regular pay-per-view. For a WrestleMania, it was all-time bad. It may not have been the worst WrestleMania we've ever seen, but it was probably in the bottom five somewhere. I've had a bad day, I have a headache, and I don't feel like doing much of anything right now.. so let's get this over with.

I should have known things weren't going to go my way with Mania. My day didn't start off very well with an NBA doubleheader. I needed the San Antonio Spurs to lose. What happened? They won. I needed the Los Angeles Lakers to win. What happened? They lost. Uh-oh.

We should never go nearly 20 minutes into a pay-per-view before the first match gets underway. The Rock comes out and cuts one of the most pointless promos in wrestling history to start things off. The entire thing was him spouting off a catchphrase, walking around, spouting off another catchphrase, walking around.. lather, rinse, repeat. That was it. WHAT THE FUCK FOR?!? No, seriously.. why are people spending extra money for this show, just to get a promo that even some huge Rock fans were saying was dumb and shouldn't have been included on the show?

You know what would have been a better way to start the show? With a match. You know what match could have used the time? Sheamus VS Daniel Bryan. They didn't even get to compete on the pay-per-view, and then their dark match turned from a United States Title match to a Battle Royal THAT NEITHER OF THEM ENDED UP WINNING!!! Sheamus and Bryan were both royally screwed tonight, and it was for absolutely no reason. There must have been an hour of filler on the show, and you're telling me that Sheamus and Bryan couldn't even get a fraction of that for their scheduled match? Seriously?

I have no problem with Edge retaining the World Title. In fact, I predicted that he would. However, how long has Edge been wrestling? You'd think he would have learned how to sell an arm submission by now. Alberto Del Rrrrrio's Cross Armbreaker has been built up as damn near certain death, and Edge had it locked on him for a while tonight. Did it lead anywhere? Nope. He got out of it, locked in his own submission, and then forgot all about it, going on to win the match. Again, I have no problem with Edge retaining the belt. I said that it will eventually be ADR's time, but that time isn't now. However, damn, just that lack of psychology took away from what was already a disappointing match.

Hey, speaking of disappointing.. Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes just didn't "click" like I expected them to. My prediction was, once again, correct, but the match was slow and very bland for long stretches of time. It never really left first gear, and had times when it looked like even first gear was too much. It was a nice touch for Cody to use Rey's own leg brace against him to get the victory, though, I'll admit.

The company ran a fucking storyline at Axxess, having The Corre "injure" Vladimir Kozlov so that Kofi Kingston could replace him in the eight-man tag. What was it all for? A fucking match that only lasted 90 seconds. Why was the United States Title match pulled from the card again? This match had no business being on the pay-per-view if they were only going to give it 90 seconds. It was another incident where the ridiculous amount of filler should have been cut into so that the in-ring action could prosper.

Super Orton VS CM Punk was above-average, which is more than could be said about anything that had happened to that point in the show. I'm just done with Super Orton already. I'm just getting tired of the hypocrisy, folks. Really, really tired of it. This was another match where the wrong man won, but because things were predictable, I still picked the correct winner. Punk really needed this match, but instead, Super Orton single-handedly took out the entire NexSES group, and did so in a short amount of time.

Whose bright idea was it to give Jerry Lawler VS Michael Cole about 20 minutes, counting the pre-match gobbledygoo? I don't know why I have to keep saying this, but.. why was the United States Title match pulled from the card again? Lawler VS Cole should have had half the time it was given. It was slow. Cole spent way too much time on offense, and basically made Lawler look like a fucking tool for most of the match. I'm not even going to bother discussing the anonymous Raw General Manager overturning Lawler's victory and giving Cole the DQ victory. I picked Lawler to win. Lawler won. Point for me.

The Undertaker VS Triple H was a great brawl. It was really strange to see Taker play such a strong underdog in a match, though. He basically played the role that Shawn Michaels played against him at the previous two WrestleManias. Taker was on the receiving end of one helluva beating, but he kept coming back, and eventually got the win with Hell's Gate. Say what you will about Taker, folks, but he's been a part of back-to-back-to-back classics at WrestleMania, which is more than you can say about anyone else on the WWE roster right now.

Did anyone know Snooki was so athletic? I sure as hell didn't. She hit a damn near picture perfect handspring elbow. It was no Great Muta, but it was most definitely much better than it should have been coming from someone like her. That was the only reason to discuss this match. Remember when I predicted that most of the match would involve John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler? Well, they didn't even enter the match. Not once. What. The. Fuck. I really don't get this company sometimes.

The main event was awful. An overbooked, unnecessary clusterfuck. When the best parts of the match are the two pre-match video packages (Nas and DMX for the win), as well as John Cena FINALLY getting a red shirt, you know there's a problem. Since everyone always likes to make fun of Cena for being a terrible actor, I'm forced to assume he was legitimately knocked loopy during the match. He was definitely out of it for a few minutes, leading to several awkward spots. That hurt the match a lot. Then things started to pick up a bit, and we get.. a double countout. Rock comes out, spits some more catchphrases, decides the match is going to be restarted, and then costs Cena the match 30 seconds later. It was precisely the outcome that most people thought would happen, which is why those people were so disappointed. They wanted something different. They didn't get it.

I don't even want to talk about the rest of the show, folks. This was a piss-poor WrestleMania, with only one match (Taker/HHH) to surpass the three-star mark. You know what, though? I'm done with The Rock. He ruined WrestleMania, and hasn't really contributed anything, other than the initial dose of nostalgia, since making his return to the company.

I'm just so disappointed right now. I need to get some sleep. Maybe I'll be able to look at things better tomorrow.

Writer's Note: Due to an unforseen circumstance, I didn't get to post the next round of Hustle Madness today like I wanted to. It will be up tomorrow, though, if said circumstance is taken care of. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, although I can't really see how it would do anything like that.

The HiPE Playlist: Nothing tonight.

You know you done fucked up, don't you? You know it, don't you? You know you done fucked up.

-------------------------Day 459
I, too, often wonder how magnets work.

8:55pm: Coming off of what I feel was a terrible WrestleMania (it's called a fucking opinion, and some of you idiots need to look the meaning of that word up as soon as you can), tonight's Raw is very important. What will John Cena's reaction be to The Rock costing him the WWE Title last night? What will Sin Cara do during his debut, and will he live up to the hype (different than the HIPE) that his pre-debut vignettes have caused? What about Triple H and The Undertaker and their well-being after their incredible brawl?

9:01pm: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler on commentary for Raw. Good times.

9:02pm: Triple H comes out to start the show, minus the swank Metallica entrance. He doesn't appear to be selling the match very much, which is unfortunate.

9:04pm: He's limping in the ring, but he didn't limp at all on his way to the ring. He must have sprained an ankle spitting his water out. That's some serious intensity right there. That, or, much like Edge, he decided to forget some of the basics of wrestling at a very strange time.

9:05pm: A "You Tapped Out" chant. Ouch.

9:07pm: Oh, so now they want to mention that Triple H and The Undertaker have faced each other at WrestleMania before last night? Before anyone complains and bitches, it's sarcasm. I know that they had to refrain from mentioning it over the last few weeks. Pretending that it was their first meeting adds more intrigue and potential pay-per-view buys than "Hey, you beat me before, but I think I can beat you this time", I would think.

9:11pm: "You'll be back, and when you're back, I'll be waiting." - Interesting. Teasing a possible rematch? I would hope it's just a tease, though. It would be hard to think of a reason why Taker would grant a third WrestleMania match to Triple H, especially now that they're actually acknowledging their original match.

9:16pm: Michael Cole, his orange singlet and his bevy of asstastic tattoos are out on the stage to interrupt Jerry Lawler. Joy. We're never going to get him to stop now, are we?

9:19pm: A rematch between Lawler and Cole? Dear God no.

9:21pm: SWERVE~! A rematch between Lawler and Jack Swagger. That's better, but still not exactly something I'm looking forward to.

9:24pm: The crowd is pretty quiet. Again. Atlanta fucking sucks. I get that a large portion of the crowd isn't from Atlanta, but damn, there's something in the air in the city that just makes people quiet at sporting events. Atlanta fans are terrible.

9:26pm: Swagger wins the match, but the decision is reversed when he won't let go of the Ankle Lock. I continue not to care.

9:28pm: Lawler is selling an ankle injury, and Ross is off chasing Cole, who squirted barbecue sauce on him. Let's just go without commentary for the rest of the night. It might actually be an improvement over anything else they could throw at us now.

9:32pm: ..aaaaand sure enough, we now have Michael Cole on commentary. I was right. Silence would have been better than this.

9:33pm: Oh, fuck, and Booker T is out, too? Fuck.

9:34pm: Cole said he throws up every time he eats JR's barbecue sauce. Why does he keep eating it then? That's another failed attempt at a diss from Cole. He needs to think things through before he says them.

9:36pm: Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio VS CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. If they actually let them wrestle (decent chance of it now that WrestleMania is over), this could be good.

9:37pm: What, exactly, is the point of giving the NexSES a brand new shirt, weeks after the last time the group was even seen? Unless a new version of the group is about to make its debut tonight, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Might as well give Cryme Tyme a new shirt at this rate.

9:43pm: I'm legitimately thinking about watching the rest of this show on mute, but with my luck, something worthwhile would take place, and I'd be ridiculed because I didn't mention it here.

9:46pm: The match is still going on. That's impressive. Maybe the company really is going to give us in-ring action again.

9:49pm: This has been a really nice back-and-forth tag match so far. Kudos to all four men involved.

9:52pm: Randy Orton still has the worst clotheslines in the company. Hornswoggle could probably deliver a more vicious-looking version of the move.

9:54pm: Angle Slam. Kurt Angle's Twitter account is going to be hacked again.

9:54pm: Another match won by RKO. Color me stunned. Still a really good match, though. One of the best matches Raw has seen in a long time, as a matter of fact.

9:59pm: Sin Cara vignette, with no mention of him showing up tonight, followed by Josh Matthews immediately talking about The Undertaker still being undefeated at WrestleMania. WWE.com better not be lying to me about Sin Cara debuting tonight.

10:00pm: You know what, Cole? Your idea of "Streak VS Streak" at next year's WrestleMania could be interesting. I'm sure people would love to see you face The Undertaker. Of course, knowing the WWE Creative Team, the match would still be a 15-minute affair, with Cole being on offense for 12 of those minutes.

10:01pm: Our first look at the cast of Tough Enough. Joy.

10:04pm: All 14 of them are going to cut a mini-promo. What is this, NXT? Get them the fuck out of the ring.

10:06pm: Shut the fuck up. All of you.

10:07pm: No, you're not good looking enough to be a WWE Diva, you heifer.

10:07pm: A "Stun Them All" chant. Best part of this entire segment.

10:08pm: What the hell is The Miz wearing? He might have the most interesting sense of fashion in the entire company. You be the judge of whether "interesting" means "good" or "bad", I guess.

10:11pm: The Miz is requesting one more match from Steve Austin, only to have Alex Riley attack Austin from behind. Poor Riley. This isn't going to end well for you.

10:13pm: Stunner for Riley. Sorry, dude.

10:14pm: lol @ the crowd booing the male Tough Enough contestant (the tall, long-haired one) for dropping the beer that Austin tossed him. It was a gentle toss, too. What a putz. Even the women caught their beers.

10:19pm: Alberto Del Rrrrrio doesn't even get an entrance with a fancy car anymore. My, how the mighty have fallen.

10:21pm: Evan Bourne with the jobber entrance. Uh-oh.

10:22pm: Booker T just referred to ADR's smile as "beautiful". That must be part of the company's work with GLAAD.

10:24pm: ADR gets the victory, and I begin to fear for Evan Bourne's future with the company.

10:37pm: That was a whole lot of nothing. 13 minutes in between entries? Wow. John Morrison and Trish Stratus VS Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero is up next. Maybe Morrison and Ziggler will actually participate in this match. One can only hope.

10:40pm: I can hear the crowd getting restless at this entire thing with Trish and Vickie. That's what happens, Creative Team. Fuck each and every one of you for this.

10:42pm: Morrison pins Ziggler. Now let's move them both on to something relevant and worthwhile.

10:47pm: Oh, hey, it's a United States Title match. Let's see if this turns into a Battle Royal, as well.

10:47pm: lol @ Sheamus' new red, white and blue ring gear, representing the fact that he's the United States Champion.

10:48pm: Booker, if Sheamus outweighs Daniel Bryan by "25 to 30 pounds", like you said, then my name is Valentino Beauregarde. Do you even listen to yourself speak?!? A little kid could even tell that Sheamus outweighs him by considerably more than that.

10:51pm: Sheamus wins. You can't see it, but I just sighed.

10:53pm: It's Sin Cara!

10:54pm: Did that nigga just Tope con Hilo from the floor into the ring?!? Ho. Ly. Shit. Let's see The Undertaker do that next year! By the way, I told you folks that the company would probably do something special with Sin Cara upon his debut. A feud with the United States Champion on your first night? Pencil him in for the dark match at Extreme Rules! Woohoo!

11:00pm: It's about time that John Cena gets a red shirt. I'm just saying. I would have preferred a red and black color scheme, but eh, I guess I'll take what I can get.

11:02pm: Cena just put The Miz over. Again. That's something a certain someone needs to learn how to do.

11:05pm: Actually, Rock.. if you poke a shark in the eye, it will swim away from you, not eat you whole.

11:09pm: lol @ the mention of LeBron James getting booed.

11:11pm: The Rock VS John Cena at WrestleMania 28. I was the first one to call it, and now, it's happening. A match booked an entire year in advance. That's incredibly risky, but comes with such a tremendous reward if it pays off, that it's worth it. It will be interesting to see how this will take place in the next year, though. Rock won't be there every week, of course. We shall see.

11:13pm: The Corre are beating Cena and The Rock down. Wow. I actually didn't see that coming.

11:14pm: Well, that didn't last long. The Corre is getting their asses handed to them now. At least one of them is going to be released in the upcoming Spring Cleaning cuts.

Interesting show. We got a great tag match. We got a memorable debut for Sin Cara. We got one of the biggest matches in WrestleMania history, booked 362 days in advance. That's it, though. "That's it" signals that it isn't much, so I guess I'll take that back. That's pretty eventful, actually. Not an overall strong episode of Raw, but better than some of the things that we've seen in recent weeks, that's for sure. Let's see.. according to some of the idiots that commented on my WrestleMania review, if I give this episode a good grade, I'm a "WWE Mark", but if I give it a bad grade, I'm a "typical IWC cynic". I guess I should give it something in between then, huh? Alright, C it is.

Writer's Note: Earlier tonight, I posted the Sweet Sixteen results and Elite Eight matchups for Hustle Madness 2011. Click the following link to check them out and to get your vote on..

Hustle Madness 2011 - Elite Eight

The HiPE Playlist: A little bit of the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony in the beginning, Raw for about 2 hours and 15 minutes, finished up by a little bit of Tough Enough as I typed this out.

YOU KNOW WE GOT LOOSE HAWKS FLYIN ALL OVER THIS BITCH!

-------------------------Day 460
The baddest man on the planet, several years running.

For you long-time readers of my columns, you'd remember to multiple occasions in the past where I'd make mention of the old-school WWF pay-per-views, where there would often be some sort of post-match backstage segment after the main event that would set up the main event of the next pay-per-view, which was a couple months away (this was back when there wasn't a new event every month). It's something that I really missed about wrestling. With events happening every month now, there's only four weeks (and sometimes even less) to book matches, and even then, they aren't always made right away. How many times have we been a week or two away from a pay-per-view, and been without a main event, or with only one or two booked matches on the entire card?

Well, now, things have been taken to the next level. We're two days removed from WrestleMania 27, and we already have a booked main event for WrestleMania 28, with another match (The Undertaker VS Triple H) already being hinted at and discussed.

The Rock VS John Cena, in Rock's hometown of Miami, Florida.

It's a risky move, made even riskier by the fact that the WWE Creative Team doesn't exactly have a tremendous track record when it comes to being able to book things for an extended period of time and keep it interesting. So how will it all go down?

To be perfectly honest, there's a really good chance that we won't hear much about the match for a long time. It's booked. It's official. It's a year away. Nobody expects The Rock to be back on WWE programming for a while. When you add all of those factors up, it doesn't look very good for too much discussion in the coming months.

After Raw, Cena tweeted and basically said that he can get back to focusing on The Miz now that the situation with Rock has been settled for the time being, so it looks like that feud isn't over yet. I would imagine we'll get a rematch between Miz and Cena at Extreme Rules. The event after WrestleMania has been full of WrestleMania rematches for years, anyway, so it shouldn't be too surprising to see it happen.

If we do get The Miz VS John Cena at Extreme Rules, I'd look for it to be something along the lines of a Last Man Standing Match, or even a Hell In A Cell, just to sell the finality of the entire thing. Cena will probably end up winning the match, and the WWE Title in the process. That takes us to May 1st.

Rewinding just a bit, the 2011 WWE Draft is rumored to be taking place on the April 18th episode of Raw (according to a spoiler posted on WWE.com towards the end of 2010, but that hasn't been clarified yet), and that could very well determine where Cena goes after Extreme Rules. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Cena will remain on Raw, but as for who he'll feud with after he's done working with The Miz, I think I'm going to go in a different direction than most, although it will still have a familiar feeling. Folks, don't be surprised if we get The Corre on Raw after the Draft. Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, as the Tag Team Champions, are able to appear on Raw as it is, but I'm thinking that we'll get Wade Bar-ruh and probably Ezekiel Jackson on Raw, as well. The different direction I was talking about is Cena feuding with Ezekiel Jackson to start. Gabriel and Slater have the Tag Team Titles, and Bar-ruh is the current holder of the Intercontinental Title, so that leaves Big Zeke available to go after the WWE Title, in an attempt to get total control for the group. I wouldn't be surprised at all, though, if Bar-ruh finds his way into the feud, perhaps after Zeke fails to win the title at Over The Limit. So, for shits and giggles, let's say that Cena defeats Zeke at Over The Limit on May 22nd, and then defeats Bar-ruh at Capitol Punishment on June 19th.

The next pay-per-view would be Money In The Bank on July 17th (aka the day before my birthday, just for your reminder). Going out on another limb here, I'm seeing a bit of a reward for someone who has been shafted repeatedly (pause) in the last several months. Not only would getting a WWE Title shot, and winning the WWE Title, be a reward, but Money In The Bank happens to be in this person's hometown of Chicago. Yes, folks, David Otunga.

Wait.. what?

No?

Oh, alright then. CM Punk will have to do. CM Punk wins the WWE Title at Money In The Bank, which takes us to SummerSlam on August 14th. Where does SummerSlam come to us from this year? The Staples Center in Los Angeles. Again. Hmm.. Hollywood, you say? That sounds like a pretty interesting time to remind the fans about The Rock VS John Cena, I'd say. Perhaps have The Rock make some sort of an appearance, even if it's just showing up in Cena's locker room before his match or something. As big a match as it is, it doesn't need much. Just a small reminder. In this scenario, it will be over four months between any mentions of the match. Something here can carry the build through the rest of 2011 and into the Royal Rumble, where all of the WrestleMania talk begins, anyway. Rock can make another appearance at the Rumble, or at least on an episode of Raw leading up to it.

Jumping all out of order again, I'll say this much.. I don't think the match at WrestleMania is going to be for any sort of titles. What's the point, really? Everyone expects that to be Rock's final match, allowing him to ride off into the sunset properly, so nobody would give him a shot of winning the match. The match is "too big" for titles, anyway. WrestleMania 28 is looking at a quadruple main event, I'm thinking. Rock/Cena, Taker/HHH (possibly), the WWE Title match and the World Title match. That's already a loaded card, and there's anywhere from four to seven more matches to add to the show.

Have Rock cost Cena the match at Elimination Chamber, just to build even more tension. Rock doesn't even have to appear at the event for that to happen. For example, let's say Cena and Randy Orton are the final two in the Chamber. Cena's about to go on the offensive, maybe to go for an Attitude Adjustment or something. Suddenly, Rock's music hits, distracting Cena. Cena turns around and waits for Rock to show up, allowing Orton to make his way back to his feet. Cena turns back around when Rock's music stops, only to be hit by an RKO. Match over. Orton wins. Cena has added anger for Mania. Rock appears on Raw the next night. Everything begins popping off for WrestleMania.

"But, Hustle, what does Cena do between SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble?"

Who do you think I am? Miss Cleo? I don't have all the answers.

Writer's Note: Click the following link to see the matchups in the Elite Eight of Hustle Madness 2011..

Hustle Madness 2011 - Elite Eight

The HiPE Playlist: "Strawberry Swing" by Frank Ocean.. "Novacane" by Frank Ocean.. "We All Try" by Frank Ocean.. "Songs For Women" by Frank Ocean.. "Lovecrimes" by Frank Ocean.. "There Will Be Tears" by Frank Ocean.. "Dust" by Frank Ocean.. "Swim Good" by Frank Ocean.. "Nature Feels" by Frank Ocean.. "American Wedding" by Frank Ocean

That's not the Moonwalk. You look like you're trying to scrape doodoo off your shoe.

-------------------------Day 461
Still one of the best songs and videos of my lifetime.

Writer's Note: I've been away all day, and need to be away for a while longer, so, unfortunately, tonight's edition of The HIPE is going to be a re-post. There's no way I'm going to take the chance that I'll have enough time later for something brand new, before I end up sitting here at 11:50pm with nothing posted. Better safe than sorry, I guess. This column isn't all that old, but it's me looking at what I feel are the Top 28 news stories of my lifetime. Why 28? Well, to go along with the "my lifetime" theme, I'm 28 years old. Makes sense, doesn't it? Alright, let's get on with it. I have an emergency to tend to.

28. The New King Of The PPV Market - This is one of the more recent stories on the entire countdown, and it has the potential to climb much higher in the coming years. The rise of Mixed Martial Arts, in general, and UFC, in particular, is something that is probably haunting Vince McMahon's dreams. On a regular basis, WWE pay-per-views are losing the buyrate battles to UFC pay-per-views. That's amazing, especially considering that there's no guarantee with MMA shows. You could drop $50 on a show, and get nothing but fights that last a minute or so, and the rest of the show is filled with talking and video packages. With wrestling shows, you know you're going to get approximately 150 minutes of show, with most of that being actual in-ring action. Sure, the quality of said action can often be subpar, but that's still better than talking and video packages. Unfortunately for Vince, things don't look to be changing anytime in the near future. Wrestling is struggling to keep their audience, while MMA can't seem to put out enough product to satisfy their fan base.

27. The Rock VS Hulk Hogan - Alex Rodriguez VS Babe Ruth. Peyton Manning VS Joe Montana. Kobe Bryant VS Jerry West. In the world of sports, we rarely, if ever, get to see a battle between the best from one era and the best from another era. At WrestleMania 18, the world of pro wrestling got to see just that, as The Rock and Hulk Hogan squared off in a "dream match" that nobody thought they'd ever be able to see. The Toronto crowd was about as hyped up for a wrestling match as any crowd the business has ever seen. Rock and Hogan could've stood there, face-to-face, for 45 minutes, and I highly doubt the fans would've cared. The match itself wasn't anything special, but it was never expected to be. Just seeing them facing each other was an amazing moment, and something that people will never forget.

26. TNA - What? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Was I supposed to ignore TNA for this column? I might not agree with every little decision they make, but I can't deny their place in wrestling history, no matter how hard I tried. Before-their-prime, in-their-prime, or past-their-prime.. the TNA roster has been home to some of the biggest names in the history of the industry, and the company itself has lasted a lot longer than most people initially thought they would. I can't hate on them for that. I will say this, though.. if not for some of the strange choices they've made through the years, they probably could've found themselves ranked higher on this list, but I guess there's still plenty of time for them to move up in the future.

25. David Arquette Wins The WCW World Title - Some people definitely think this is one of the moments that led to the demise of WCW, but as I've mentioned in previous columns, it wasn't that bad of a move. Was it a move that should've been done? No, but it wasn't as bad as most make it out to be. If Arquette won the title by earning it, I might agree with the "popular" opinion a bit more, but it was nothing more than a (slightly misguided) attempt at getting some sort of mainstream publicity for the company. WCW got the publicity it desired, Arquette didn't keep the title for very long, and any money that was exchanged for the entire thing to take place went straight to charity. That's why I refuse to complain too much about the move, but there's really no denying how big it was, especially at the time.

24. Chyna Makes History - Not only did she make history, she made history on multiple occasions. She was the first female entrant in the Royal Rumble. She was the first female entrant in the King Of The Ring tournament. She was the first female #1 Contender for the WWF Title. She was the first female to become Intercontinental Champion. Regardless of how you feel about her wrestling ability, her looks or anything she's done away from a wrestling ring, it's difficult not to praise her for being a pioneer in the world of women's wrestling. Sure, you could question why the "first female" anything would have a penis, but for the sake of making things easier on everyone, we'll just ignore that, alright?

23. The Wrestler - Before The Wrestler came out, wrestling-related movies were, quite often, a joke. Films like Body Slam, No Holds Barred, and Ready To Rumble were all terrible movies in their own way, and nobody took them seriously. Along came the trio of Robert Siegel (Writer), Darren Aronofsky (Director), and Mickey Rourke (Actor) to change that. The Wrestler pulled back the curtain and allowed people to see, more than any movie before it, what the life of a "normal" wrestler is really like. It was something that wrestling fans and non-fans alike could enjoy, as evidenced by all the awards it racked up, and just how many people voted it as one of the best movies of the year, all while still referring to "WWE" as "WWF". The movie did things that nobody could've ever expected a wrestling movie to do, and for that, it has to be mentioned on a list like this.

22. Kurt Angle: Olympic Gold To WWF Gold - Kurt Angle definitely isn't the first successful amateur wrestler to take a shot at "going pro", but, in my opinion, he's the best to do so. Winning a Gold Medal for the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics put him on the sports map, but his most impressive achievements have been in the professional wrestling world. To walk right in with his lack of experience, and to dominate the way he has.. absolutely incredible. He's going to go down in history as one of the ten best to ever do it, and there's still time for him to climb up those rankings. Forget Dustin Rhodes and Butch Reed, Kurt Angle may just be the real "Natural", ladies and gentlemen.

21. Ric Flair: The Real World Champion - Back in 1991, Ric Flair and WCW were having contract issues, and were basically going to war with each other, and it eventually led to him leaving the company and accepting an offer to work for the WWF. This was before the Monday Night Wars, when it seemed as if someone was "jumping ship" on a weekly basis, and besides.. Flair was the face of WCW/NWA, so to see him in any other company was just.. strange. There he was, though, and he had the WCW Title with him. That was groundbreaking at the time. It was a brash and brazen move, and it was something you'd expect from someone like Flair. Flair's initial run with the WWF was brief (he returned to WCW 18 months later), it was very memorable, and included a performance in the 1992 Royal Rumble match that was nothing short of epic. Again, the entire thing was ahead of its time, and quite surreal.

20. The Von Erich Family Curse - For those unaware, the Von Erich Family Curse has to do with the fact that five of Fritz Von Erich's sons passed away at a young age.. Jack (electrocuted as a child), David (enteritis, although that fact has been argued since), Michael (suicide), Chris (suicide), and Kerry (suicide). Kerry was the oldest when he died, and he was only 33. Kevin Von Erich is the only son left, and it was sad to see him as the only family representative at WrestleMania 24, when the family was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. There was a lot of potential with the family, especially with Kerry, who remains one of the biggest face wrestlers of all-time. He was an absolute rock star, and unfortunately, he lived his life as such. Just a sad story to see the family crumble and fall apart the way it has through the years.

19. The Undertaker & Mankind Enter Hell In A Cell - When The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels competed in the WWF's first Hell In A Cell, it was a memorable match, and something that a lot of people still hold in high regard to this day. Almost ten months later, when The Undertaker stepped back into the Cell, this time with Mankind, people didn't know what to expect. What we got was some of the most dramatic and jaw-dropping moments in the history of the entire business. As soon as they both reached the very top of the cell, you could just feel that something special was about to happen, and something special did indeed happen, as Taker tossed Mankind straight.. the fuck.. off of the cell. Watching Mick Foley's body come flying down from approximately 20 feet off the ground and crash through an announce table is an image I'll never forget. I initially thought he might have been dead, but I was wrong. Not only was he still alive, but he was able to climb back up onto the cell again, where he was then chokeslammed through the cell, where he landed with a sickening body-crumpling thud. There wasn't much more than a couple minutes worth of legitimate action in this match, but what did take place will live on forever.

18. "The Rock" Becomes "Dwayne Johnson" - The world of pro wrestling has never seen anyone quite like The Rock, and chances are, it will never see anyone quite like him ever again. The charisma, the electricity (no SkittleZ).. he really was something else. When it was first announced that he was taking a break from wrestling to go film The Mummy Returns, wrestling fans were sad to see him go, but they were excited to see their star branch out and become big-time in something else. Little did they know The Rock would fall in love with Hollywood, and that, in return, Hollywood would fall in love with him. He was able to film one movie and make much more than he could've earned in a year's worth of wrestling, and his body was being put through far less stress at the same time. I can't really blame him for jumping on an opportunity like that in an industry where wrestlers are often left nearly crippled by the time they hit 40. It was just difficult, as a wrestling fan, to see the biggest star in the sport just up and walk away like he did, seemingly in his prime. His loss has created a huge void in the business, and it's something that has yet to be filled, all these years later.

17. Hulk Hogan VS The Ultimate Warrior - WrestleMania 6.. Skydome.. Toronto, Canada. The two biggest names in the WWF went one-on-one at the company's premiere event, and they were both faces, at that. The face VS face showdown just wasn't something that we were used to seeing at the time, and it was also a rare encounter that saw the current WWF Champion facing the current Intercontinental Champion. Things like that just didn't happen every week. While the match itself couldn't be confused with a five-star classic, it damn sure had the atmosphere of one. Those fans ate up everything Hogan and Warrior did with a spoon. To this day, 20 years later, it remains one of the biggest and best crowd atmospheres in wrestling history. Warrior kicking out of Hogan's infamous Legdrop finisher, followed by him getting the pin himself, was viewed then as a "passing the torch" moment. Thanks to Warrior being batshit crazy, and thanks to Hogan's necessity to remain in the spotlight, it didn't quite turn out that way, though, as we've all seen.

16. The Passing Of Mitsuharu Misawa - I wanted to rank this one higher on the list, but there's many more wrestling fans who don't know the name Mitsuharu Misawa than do know the name. If I had to break it down to those who don't know Misawa's history and his work, I'd say to look at it like this.. he was one of the country's most beloved wrestlers of all-time, but he was also the founder of one of the country's biggest wrestling promotions. You could basically say he was Japan's Triple H and Vince McMahon, rolled into one, and all jokes aside, you can see how the world of American wrestling would be shaken to its core if those two were to suddenly pass away. The fact that Misawa passed away in the ring, during a match, makes it that much bigger of a story.

15. Royal Rumble - Battle Royals have been a part of pro wrestling for what seems like forever, but in 1988, Vince McMahon decided to take a gimmick match and build an entire event around it. The initial Royal Rumble event wasn't a pay-per-view, but it was still a special attraction on TV, and would be moved to PPV the following year. It didn't take long before the Rumble was the second most anticipated show of the WWF year, behind only WrestleMania. We've seen Rumbles for #1 Contender spots, Rumbles for the WWF Title itself, and Rumbles for pure bragging rights, but whatever the prize, everyone entered wants nothing more than to be victorious. In another important milestone, the 2008 version of the Rumble PPV was the company's very first PPV to be shown in high-definition. Of course, the Rumble made its mark on the wrestling world long before that took place.

14. The Passing Of Eddie Guerrero - If the death of someone that you didn't know on a personal level (and had only met once) could hit you really hard, then Eddie's passing did that to me. Behind Ric Flair, he was my second favorite wrestler of all-time, and was absolutely nothing but class when I was lucky enough to meet him. I've told this story before, but I was at an Eddie autograph signing, and the guy in front of me went into detail about how Eddie was his favorite wrestler, and how he'd been rooting for him for years. I looked over at Eddie, and he had tears welling up in his eyes, almost as if the idea of him being a hero to someone was brand new to him. He seemed just as honored to meet his fans as they were to meet him. That's the type of guy he was. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried when I first found out Eddie had passed away. Not so much that he wouldn't be wrestling anymore, but because he was so close to completely turning his life around, and his past demons were finally able to catch up to him. A tragedy that opened the eyes of a lot of people in regards to drug use and how big of a problem it is in the world of pro wrestling.

13. Hulk Hogan VS Andre The Giant - This one is similar to what I said in yesterday's column about the Hogan/Ultimate Warrior match from WrestleMania 6, in that it wasn't exactly a piece of art as far as technical wizardry goes, but there might not be a bigger and more epic match in the entire rich history of the business than this one. I've noticed that about the single matches on this list.. the five-star classics don't make it, but the ones with five-star atmospheres do. Hmm.. maybe Vince McMahon has been onto something all this time.

12. The Passing Of Owen Hart - This was one of the more shocking moments of my wrestling-watching life, that's for sure. I still remember sitting there on the couch, watching Over The Edge, and when it was announced that Owen had fallen, my reaction was something similar to what a lot of people were thinking.. that it was part of some weird storyline. Sure, I had an uneasy feeling in my gut, but I still felt it was going to be some strange storyline accident of sorts. When Jim Ross made the announcement that Owen had passed away, my heart sank into my stomach. I won't lie and say that I was ever the biggest Owen Hart fan alive, but I've always respected his talent. To know that such a talented wrestler was taken away, just like that.. it was something I didn't know how to react to. Owen wasn't the first wrestler to die young, of course.. he wasn't even the first to die in the middle of the ring.. but I wasn't viewing when any of those events took place. Owen's passing, and the following night's tribute show on Raw, was one of the very first examples of me getting to see just how real these larger-than-life wrestlers actually are.

11. The Undertaker's WrestleMania Streak - Around this time every year, one of the biggest questions tossed around by wrestling fans across the globe is wondering who The Undertaker will face at WrestleMania, and whether or not this is finally going to be the year where his undefeated streak is broken. The streak, now at 17-0, has almost become bigger than WrestleMania itself, which is really saying something. It's a magical, mystical sidebar to a magical, mystical career. The length of the storyline is something special, especially in today's wrestling world.

10. ECW - The biggest "indy" fed in the history of wrestling, ECW almost has to be on this list. Their legacy still lives on to this day, with the brand name "ECW" still around (albeit only for the next couple of weeks). Even with little things like the way fans chant at live events.. the "R-O-H" and "T-N-A" chants are all traced back to the original ECW's letter-based chants.. the legacy lives on, and probably will for the rest of time. Was "extreme" wrestling popular in this country before ECW showed up? Yes, sure, "extreme" and "hardcore" wrestling was around for a long, long time before ECW. However, with that said, nobody did it quite like ECW. Nobody was able to pull off the types of things that ECW did, and to such a successful degree. Bonus points go to the company for introducing such names as Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Rob Van Dam, etc etc etc to the American wrestling audience. I'm not sure if you're all aware of this, but those guys have gone on to accomplish a thing or two during their careers. Without ECW, we might not have ever known who they were, and that's an unfortunate thing to think about.

9. Montreal Screwjob - A few months ago, I probably would've had this ranked a few spots lower on the countdown, but with Bret Hart's return to TitanLand, and with TNA giving us the "Orlando Screwjob", it brings this particular incident back into the spotlight. Was it a work? Was it a shoot? I'm thinking that only a handful of people on this planet know for sure, but I'll be damned if it hasn't been one of the most argued events in wrestling history. I might have a future column that will discuss the Montreal Screwjob, so I won't go too much into detail here, but it has become one of the ultimate "What If?" moments that will live on forever. Relationships changed. Lives changed. The Mr McMahon character was really and truly born from the incident, and we've seen where that has taken the world of wrestling. We've seen, in numerous companies, just how many times the original screwjob has been copied, to varying levels of success. If that's not a sign of a big "story", I don't know what is.

8. Hulk Hogan Jumps Ship To WCW - Earlier in the countdown, I mentioned just how strange and surreal it was to see Ric Flair on WWF television. Take that and magnify it by 100 for the sheer ridiculousness that was seeing Hulk Hogan in WCW. Flair has sold out arenas across several countries for WCW, and has put on countless amounts of classic matches while under contract for them, but even as great as he was, he couldn't make WCW a fraction of the money that Hulk Hogan made for Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation. That's why it was so strange to see Hogan elsewhere. He was the first wrestler in history that really became bigger than the industry itself. You didn't have to be a fan of wrestling to know who Hulk Hogan was, and when he jumped ship, jaws dropped across the globe. Of course, his arrival in WCW led to other things, but we'll get into that a bit later on in this countdown.

7. Attitude Era - If you're discussing the history of the WWF/WWE, it would be impossible not to mention the most lucrative era the company had ever seen. With names/acts like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, Degeneration X, The Undertaker, Goldust and many more, the Attitude Era brought record-breaking numbers to the WWF, and to pro wrestling, as a whole. The product was edgier than it had ever been before. It pushed more boundaries than it ever did before. It took more risks than it ever did before. Wrestling fans damn sure weren't used to seeing nearly naked women parading around every week, and having wrestlers cursing up storms in their promos, or having cross-dressing characters bumping and grinding on opponents, etc. It was a hectic time in wrestling, born from a hectic time in television itself. "Shock TV" was becoming popular in those days, so really, we should've seen the Attitude Era coming from a mile away. Again, though, those huge risks the WWF was taking led to huge amounts of cash rolling into the company, so I'm pretty sure not too many people are complaining.

6. Austin 3:16 - Could this have been combined with the previous entry? Sure. Where's the fun in that, though? Besides, I think there's a legitimate argument that can be made about this being big enough to warrant its own inclusion on the countdown. When Steve Austin uttered the words "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass" at the 1996 King Of The Ring, a new legend was born. The next night on Raw, there must've been hundreds of "Austin 3:16" signs in the crowd, which is absolutely unheard of, considering the fact that Steve Austin was a clear-cut heel. As soon as the WWF began making t-shirts, though, things reached an entirely new level. I don't know about any of you, but I couldn't go anywhere without seeing "Austin 3:16" shirts. At school, at the mall, at restaurants, at the movies.. every single place I went, I'd see someone wearing one of the shirts. Never, in all my years of being a wrestling fan, had I seen such a widespread and fast moving epidemic like that. For that alone, this deserves a spot on the countdown, but it was much more than t-shirts, of course. Austin rose to the top of the WWF with stunning (see what I did there?) quickness, and his reign at the top of the wrestling world was something that nobody will ever accomplish again. When you're the face of the Attitude Era, and you're making billions for the wrestling industry, you're somebody. When you're doing all that and still being able to go out on put on great matches with the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, The Rock, Owen Hart, etc.. well, then you're more than just "somebody". You're the biggest star the wrestling world has ever seen. You're "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

5. Hulkamania Is Born - An argument can be made that the #5 and #6 spots on the countdown could be switched around, but hear me out.. yes, I just referred to Steve Austin as the biggest star the wrestling world has ever seen, but when "Hulkamania" was born in 1984, there was no blueprint to follow. Hulk Hogan became a bigger star than wrestling itself, as I mentioned earlier. That had never been done before. Basically, without Hulk Hogan's success, there would be no "Austin 3:16" or Attitude Era to have, and that, my friends, is why I have this ranked higher on the countdown.

4. (because, as always, there never is a 3) WrestleMania - The biggest pay-per-view on the wrestling calendar. Even when WCW was the bigger company and was pulling in better TV ratings, WrestleMania was still the top PPV event in the industry. It just about single-handedly changed the business when it first started, and without it, wrestling wouldn't have taken off the way it did. We'd have no Survivor Series without it, no Royal Rumble without it, no SummerSlam without it, and the list goes on and on. It was a calculated risk that Vince McMahon took, and clearly, it paid off.

2.5 Rise & Fall Of WCW - There was a long stretch of time where WCW was the absolute #1 wrestling promotion on the planet, and it really seemed as though they could do no wrong. However, just as shocking as their rise to glory was their fall into nothingness. The problems that led to their demise have been discussed to ridiculous lengths by everybody under the sun, and there's really no "right" answer as to what really caused them to fall, but the fact of the matter is that they went from winning the ratings during the Monday Night War to being out of business in two years. Yes, folks.. two years. That's it. That's all it took. That's an epic of a fall as any of us could even dream of. One can only daydream about what would've happened had they stayed in business and continued pushing the WWF product to put on its best possible product on a weekly basis, but I guess that doesn't really belong in this column, now does it?

2. Benoit Family Murder/Suicide - The wrestling world has seen countless deaths through the years, and as unfortunate as it is to say, it will see countless more in the future. However, with Chris Benoit, we saw a situation that changed wrestling, and how its viewed, forever. The way wrestlers are treated was looked at, as far as things like head injuries and concussions go, and the United States Congress got involved, looking at drug usage and just what it may or may not be doing to these athletes. For a wrestler to die is one thing. For a wrestler to commit suicide is one thing. For a wrestler to murder his wife and child before finally killing himself.. that's an entirely new ballgame, and one that none of us were prepared for. It's something that still sends shockwaves through the wrestling community. Sure, it might be in bad taste, but now, when a wrestler misses a show for "personal reasons", people can't help but think back to the final weekend in the lives of the Benoit family and what took place. That's big.

1. Internet Wrestling Community - Did you really think anything else would/could/should be #1? More than anything else in the history of wrestling, the internet has changed the game. We've been given access to things that we'd never have seen/known before, whether they be spoilers, backstage reports, information on the real lives of wrestling personalities, etc. Some love it, and some hate it, but you just can't deny how massive of an influence the internet is on wrestling, and just how big the IWC has become over the years. Yes, "we" are outnumbered by your "casual" fans, but there's still enough of "us" to cause companies to throw out fake spoilers/rumors in order to throw us off, or to deliver shoots/worked-shoots by the dozen to cater to our "detective" skills. Personally, I enjoy the information that hits the internet. I read spoilers, I follow news reports, and I check up on wrestling promotions who live and die by their internet fan base (RoH, DGUSA, EVOLVE, PWG, etc). I have no problem admitting to that. Shit, I write a daily column on the internet, so I have no business putting this media down in any way. Like I said, though, it's changed the game like nothing ever has before, and until we get super teleportation and 8-dimensional holograms, nothing will again.

Writer's Note Part Deux: Click the following link to see the matchups in the Elite Eight of Hustle Madness 2011..

Hustle Madness 2011 - Elite Eight

The HiPE Playlist: Nothing tonight.

I'm not afraid of failing. I don't like to fail. I hate to fail. But I'm not afraid of it.

Source: wrestlingsuperstars.org