At the risk of sounding like an old codger, the 25th edition of Wrestlemania is on paper possibly the weakest Wrestlemania lineup to date. There isn't one single match on the card that screams "Wrestlemania" to me or would make me want to part with $55 ($65 for HD). Indeed, this year's event looks like a big snooze fest.

Triple H vs Randy Orton

Who should win? Orton.

Who will win? If this match closes the show, Triple H: if not then Orton.

How many times have these two fought each other in recent memory? This seems to the match that WWE has been building the event around, and I think it's a mistake to do so. HHH/Orton is as fresh as yesterday's donuts. And don't get me started on the buildup for this match. First it's stated that Trips can't touch Orton until Mania unless provoked...then Orton provokes him right away. Next we get the asinine "Triple H and sledgehammer visit Orton at his house" bit, which I didn't care for when Austin and Pillman did it 10-15 years ago. This week we see Trips teaming up with two men he was very recently seen shoving their heads up Big Show's backside...two men who are not wrestlers...one who is eligible for Social Security and the other who has no business beating on younger, stronger wrestlers without a weapon in his hands, beating the **** out of Orton and company. Yawn.

John Cena vs Edge vs Big Show

Who should win? Big Show for putting over Mayweather last year...actually I don't care.

Who will win? Probably Cena.

How do you promote one of your biggest matches at Wrestlemania? Apparently by having the participants fight each other on free television in one form or another for a few weeks. Of course this cluster is not the only match to suffer from this as HHH/Orton, MITB, the tag title match....heck just about every match on the card has had a similar build up with the exception of Taker/Michaels. Wasn't Cena in a triple threat match last year? Against HHH and Orton? Oi, has WWE become so bereft or creativity that we are just getting the same tired ****? Yes, yes, and unfortunately yes. Next!

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels

Who should win? Undertaker.

Who will win? Undertaker.

I've seen websites and other fans put over the build for this match, but I have to pinch of loaf on it. OK, as soon as this match was announced everyone and their grandmother's dog knew Taker was going to win, but did they have to shove that fact down our throats by having Michaels (I refuse to call a balding man in his mid 40's, "the heartbreak kid") one-up Taker at every encounter? Taker never came out on top once leading up to this one, and when that happens in the wrestling world you bet the farm that the guy who has been on the short end of the stick will get the big win. They might as well have had a tag team match on Raw with Michaels pinning Taker to make it even more obvious.

Chris Jericho vs Steamboat, Piper and Snuka

Who should win? Jericho.

Who will win? The Geritolholics.

Wow does this have clunker written all over it. Apparently this was going to be Jericho vs Mickey Rourke, which would have been one of those classic Wrestlemania "special attraction" matches, but Rourke ruined that by running his mouth before the Oscars. Allegedly there were talks between Vince and Hogan to have him step up and take Rourke's place, which would have made perfect sense and still had that "special attraction" feel but Hogan is no shape to be in the ring right now having just gone through surgery. So instead we get three old men who have nowhere near the drawing power that they used to or Hogan would have even today (which is nowhere near Hogan in his prime or even 10 years ago). Nothing good can come from this fiasco.

JBL vs Rey Mysterio

Who should win? JBL, because Mysterio winning is not believable.

Who will win? Mysterio.

They just gave this match away for free on Monday. Let me repeat that in all caps: THEY JUST GAVE THIS MATCH AWAY FOR FREE ON MONDAY! Enough said.

Money in the Bank

Who should win? Who cares.

Who will win? Who cares.

Can we give the whole MITB concept a rest? Not only have the participants been fighting each other for free in various matches the past few weeks, the MITB is getting stale. At the very least can whomever win this match not win a championship? None of the guys in the spotfest match are championship run material.

25 Skank Battle Royal

Who should win? No one.

Who will win? Certainly not the people who pay to see this.

NEXT!

Tag Title Unification Bout

Who should win? Miz and Morrison.

Who will win? Miz and Morrison.

Putting the asinine and unnecessary Bells BS aside, I think unifying the tag belts is a great idea. This will make the one tag title more important and since there are not many tag teams it will help solidify a division damaged from years of underage and abuse due to singles wrestlers beating the **** out of the top tag teams. Miz and Morrison are the lone shining stars of the tag team division and if they don't win it would be a crime.

Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy

Who should win? Jeff Hardy.

Who will win? Jeff Hardy.

I almost forgot about this one, which goes to show how much it has piqued my interest. The Hardy boy with the charisma is the one the fans don't care about...but hey, even though I don't see what younger people do in Jeff I'm not going to argue with what works. I wonder how well this match will go in ring though since the last time the brothers Hardy fought each other was a snoozer.

Overall the card is very underwhelming, and I hate to say this but I hope that this fact along with the current state of the economy I hope it bombs in the way of PPV buys. If people really want things to change they have to demonstrate as much by keeping their money in the wallets and not buying this tripe. I can really a **** less about the "in ring workrate" of this year's Wrestlemania, this snoozer of a card has made that moot. Jeers to the creative department for putting together a card that could have been on one of the lesser montly PPVs.

I (of course) purchased the Legends of Wrestlemania game for the XBox 360 when it first came out this Tuesday and feel as though I have had ample time to play it enough to review it. First of all, if you are looking for a Smackdown vs Raw clone or a "wrestling simulation" game then this is not for you. LOW is all about going retro, from the more simplistic controls to the more arcade style graphics. A lot has been said about some of the wrestlers looking "abnormal" but the only ones I can notice looking different offhand are Hulk Hogan looking bulkier than he was in his heyday and Andre the Giant looking more toned.

Like I said the controls on LOW are simpler to use to master than those of SvR09: the top trigger buttons and right analog stick are not used, but this lends more to the retro feel that the game makers were going for. The entire roster of legends (which I went through in a previous post) is playable immediately, with alternate costumes and matches being available for unlocking throughout the game. If you have a save file from SvR09 you can "import" that games roster into the LOW game. If you don't own the SvR09 game you can do what I did and rent it then make a save as it's much cheaper than plunking down another $60. I put "import" in quotes because my spidey senses tell me "unlock" would be a better word. Not every single character in SvR09 will transfer over to LOW: the three new wrestlers you can get from the new DLC (downloadable content) pack (Evan Bourne, Charlie Haas and Ted DiBiasi Jr) apparently will not transfer over, neither will the women and a few of the guys who are no longer employed by WWE. This leads me to think that the guys you get are already on the LOW disc and the save unlocks them. I was skeptical about getting the wrestlers of today at first but if anything it was worth it just to get Vince. There are less than a handful of repeats, (HHH, Taker, Flair and HBK) but I suppose you could set up "old school vs new school" matches if you felt so inclined. The two rosters mesh really well graphics wise.

The meat and potatoes of the game are the Road to Wrestlemania and Legend Killer options. In Legend Killer you need to create a wrestler and then run him through various tiers or gauntlets of legends (there is also a tier of current wrestlers if you unlock the SvR09 guys) to earn points to build your CAW's attributes. Road to Wrestlemania is broken up into three parts: Relive, Rewrite and Redefine. In Relive you take the role of a winner of a classic Wrestlemania match (such as Hogan vs Bundy from WM2) and try to repeat history. You are given a set of goals, or certain moves to accomplish during the match to score points and try to earn gold medals, which is key to unlocking items. I sometimes found that this slowed me down somewhat as not only did I have to pause the game from to time to refresh my memory as to what needed to be done but I also had my opponent beaten before I accomplished enough the goals (thus having to drag the match on longer), especially as I got to the harder levels which required more points to get the gold.

Rewrite puts you in the role of the loser the actual WM match (for instance you are JYD in his WM1 match against Greg Valentine) and your goal is to change history, while Redefine changes the match altogether (Andre vs Studd at WM becomes a Hell in the Cell instead of a Body Slam Challenge match), and again they have goals for you to set during the match. Each match comes with a cool video package to refresh your memory and the goings on if you're a fossil like me or give you a history lesson if you're a punk kid who wasn't around to see what unfolded. These are beyond awesome, in my opinion.

You have 16 arenas to choose from, the first 15 Wrestlemanias and the first PPV Royal Rumble. It would have been nice to include a retro SummerSlam and Survivor Series arena as well (not to mention the option of Survivor Series matches). Trying to be objective as possible I'd probably rate the game an 7.5-8/10. I hope LOW gets some DLC like for instance Macho Man and Tito Santana added on.

For a few years now, TNA wrestling has been touted as an alternative to WWE. Some have even claimed it is a magical dream wrestling land where the "young up and comers" have a better chance to shine. I am here to shine the spotlight on TNA wrestling and tell those that might never have seen minute one of TNA to not even waste their times watching this ****.

 

1. Let's address this BS about TNA being a place for younger wrestlers to catch a better break. The problem with this, besides the fact that TNA (despite having grown since its inception) is no way legitimate competition to WWE, just had a PPV which was headlined by Sting (who turns 50 this week) and Kurt Angle (40). The next PPV will feature Sting (who is also the TNA champion, btw) square off against 43 year old Mick Foley. In fact, let's break down both rosters (WWE's will be all three brands combined). I got these from the respective company websites and while I included women (none of whom reach the 40 watershed) I did not include announcers, managers, GM's or any other person that has an on air personality but has not wrestled recently or will not wrestle in the near future (with the exception of Kevin Nash, who TNA claims is still a wrestler).

WWE Roster: 75 total, 9 wrestlers over 40 and two who turn 40 this year

Goldust (turns 40 in April)

Triple H (turns 40 in July)

Batista (40)

William Regal (40)

Funaki (40)

Kane (41)

JBL (42)

Shawn Michaels (43)

Undertaker (44)

Finlay (50)

Hacksaw Jim Duggan (55)

11/75 = 14.6% of the current roster will be 40 or over by the end of the year.

TNA Roster: 44 total, 8 wrestlers over 40 and 1 who will turn 40 this year

BG James (turns 40 in May)

Kurt Angle (40)

Jeff Jarrett (41)

Mick Foley (43)

Booker T. (44)

Kip James (45)

Scott Steiner (46)

Kevin Nash (49)

Sting (50)

9/44 = 22.5% of the current roster will be over 40 by the end of the year.

It's not just the number of wrestlers over 40 (or the percentages) either. If I'm not mistaken every single one of the middle aged crowd in TNA has been or is a part of that companies biggest angle, and the oldest roster member is the champion. Of the 11 WWE guys only 4 can really be considered main event guys (HHH, Taker, HBK and Batista) while the rest are either mid card jabronies (JBL, Kane, Regal, Finlay) or even lucky if they get on tv (Goldust, Duggan, Funaki).

 

2. TNA storylines are even dumber than (or the same as) WWE storylines

The main faction in TNA is the Main Event Mafia, which consists of almost every 40+ roster member I mentioned above. They are currently at war with the Frontline, which is a group of younger guys who are "demanding spots". This sounds an awful lot like WCW's "New Blood vs Millionaires Club" angle that absolutely crapped the bed during that companies dying days. If you have a bunch of old guys on your roster the last thing you want to do is bring them all together and draw attention to how old they are. There is another angle where the hideously deformed monster Abyss has a "girlfriend" who is of course out of his league and wants nothing to do with him. Didn't Kane do this with Lita a few years back?

I am not going to sit here and go through every Russo-tastic storyline that TNA has come up with, but from what I've seen it's no alternative to WWE.

3. Gimmick Matches that take stupid to a whole new level

King of the Mountain, Reverse Battle Royal, Ultimate X. These are just some of the gimmick matches in TNA which make another casket match sound appealing.

4. Don West sucks

The man who got his start shouting about baseball cards on a shopping channel is now the worst color commentator in wrestling. On top of his annoying voice he is now in the middle of a "shows up to work drunk" storyline that I'm sure has TNA fans enthralled. Tenay and West make me long for Grisham and Striker: that's how bad they are.

5. The Six Sided Ring

No matter how old we get there are some things that should remain constant and never need to be changed. One of those things is the traditional 4 sided wrestling ring. There is a reason why it's called the "squared circle" and not "hexagoned circle". The ring looks awkward on tv so I can only imagine that it would take some wrestlers a bit of getting used to when working it. In a company overloaded with gimmick after gimmick this is one that should disappear post-haste.

 

So there you have it, 5 very good reasons why if you haven't watched TNA yet you shouldn't waste your time.

 

WWE 24/7 currently has the WCW Bash at the Beach 2000 up for the subscribers "viewing pleasure", and after TRYING to get through the entire broadcast I have to ask "why?" After all, with a vast library of the best of the history of professional wrestling the decision to air what has to be one of the worst Pay Per Views ever really boggles my mind.

A little backstory: like the vast majority of wrestling fans I had pretty much given up on WCW by the time this show took place. The hottest angle in the history of JCP/WCW, the NWO, had become diluted to a point beyond idiocy and Vince Russo had been hired to run the company, which he did in the ground. Apparently he had left for a short period of time before this show but returned to further kill it off. For anyone who takes umbrage with my saying Russo killed off WCW I will say that he wasn't the sole person with blood on his hands but he sure as hell sped the process up. A look at the card will reveal as much.

Our announce crew consists of Tony Shiavone (sp?), Scott Hudson and Mark Maddon...which quite possibly has to be one of the worst announce crews of all time. Maddon in particular is so annoying he brings about an urge to jump through the television and stomp his teeth down his fat throat (and when you are more annoying than Tony that's saying something).

WCW Cruiserweight Championship

1. Lt. Loco (Chavo Guerrero Jr.) def Juventud Guerrera to retain the title.

Chavo was part of a stupid group called Misfits In Action (MIA) which consisted of mid carders who had their names changed to military style double entendres while Juvy was part of another stupid group called the Filthy Animals, which featured Rey Misterio Jr. sans mask. Juvy actually a cool gimmick as a parody of The Rock that spoke broken English calling himself "The Juice" and had stolen the Cruiserweight belt from Chavo and renamed it the "Juicerweight Championship". The match itself was standard WCW cruiserweight stuff, plenty of high spots but Juvy's charisma helped add to the match in a way most other WCW cruiserweights could not (or most of today's smaller wrestlers in WWE could not, for that matter). The match however was hampered by constant distractions from both groups, who were supposed to be barred from ringside. The addition of fake breasted skanks that do nothing except prace around half naked is a running theme through this show. If I were to rank this match I'd give it a 6/10, which would unfortunately make this probably the best match on the card.

WCW Hardcore Championship

2. Big Vito defeated Norman Smiley and Ralfus to retain the title.

Some of you may remember Vito as the guy who wrestled in a dress for WWE for a period of time. Here he is just some generic Italian mook from Staten Island that nobody really cares about. He was advertised as to wrestle the legendary Terry Funk but the shot a stupid angle where Vito attacked Funk in the dressing room (either on Thunder or right before the PPV) and funk replaced by Smiley and Ralphus. Smiley was a decent enough mid card act who had previously held the Hardcore title, and Ralphus was a fat old guy who had actually accompanied Chris Jericho to the ring for a while.

I don't know where to begin with this catastrophic "match". Like I said, fans were given a reason to care Vito, who comes off as bland stock character. By this time the "Hardcore" thing had long since played out, and WCW actually had a set of rules for Hardcore matches. Yes, rules in a Hardcore match: I did not make a typo. The wrestlers are supposed to start backstage and make their way to the ring before they can win. We see a lot of stalling and standing around as the guys wait to be hit with "hardcore" spots that look rather cheesy when compared to the likes of the original ECW, and eventually Vito sends Smiley on a ride in an elevator before putting Ralphus through a table in the ring to pick up the win. Wikipedia says the match was under 6 minutes but it felt like 6 hours. This match is "the ****" but believe it or not the worst is yet to come 0/10.

3. Daffney defeated Miss Hancock (Stacey Keibler) in a Wedding Gown match.

This match just reeks of Russo stench. Neither of these ladies belongs in a wrestling ring, and for 4 minutes of agony they prove that much. The backstory behind this one is Stacey stole David "I'm worse than David Sammartino" Flair from Daffney. Keibler comes to ring in a stripper's version of a wedding dress while Daffney, a goth character who was known for screaming like a banshee, came dressed for a stipper's funeral: in a black see-through gown.

Keibler and Flair make out in the ring to start things off and wait while Daffney slowly takes off her shoes so she can give Flair a crotch shot. There is an incredibly lame spot where Keibler removes the referee's pants and Daffney relieves Flair of his pants. Eventually, after the weakest catfight ever, Crowbar (jabrone Devin Storm) comes out and strips down to his boxers while beating up Flair. The match mercifully comes to an end when Keibler removes the bottom of her dress and starts dancing for no reason whatsoever while Storm and the referee look like they are going to spontaneously orgasm in the ring. Oh, I forgot to mention there is wedding cake at ringside and much like an episode of Jerry Springer it ends up all over everybody and the floor. The ring crew couldn't even clean it up afterwards and had to flip the ringsides mats over...another 0/10.

WCW Tag Team Championship

4. Kronik defeated Perfect Event to win the championship.

Kronik was a big man team featuring Brian "Crush" Adams and Bryan "Adam Bomb" Clark and really one for the few acts that was even remotely over in 2000 WCW while Perfect Event featured Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak, the latter of which was ripping off Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig's gimmick to the point where he even used Perfect's theme music. Stasiak and Palumbo were as green as grass, and Kronik tried to carry this match to something passable but it never really gelled because no one really cared for Perfect Event nor was there any point in which you'd possibly think Kronik would lose....3/10.

5. Kanyon defeated Booker T.

Chris Kanyon, now known for being openly gay was at the time doing a gimmick where he was emulating Diamond Dallas Page while Booker was just Booker. Nothing really of note here except the odd booking where Kanyon wins cleanly given what happens later in the show. 5/10.

WCW United States Championship

6. Mike Awesome defeated champion Scott Steiner by disqualification.

Steiner was making a return from either an injury or suspension, I forget which. He is hugely over here (one of less than a handful of wrestlers in WCW that were in 2000) and pretty much beats the **** out of Awesome (who gets what is now known as "X-Pac type get out of the ring you suck" heat. Ernest Miller (The Ayatollah in the excellent movie The Wrestler) is the storyline Commissioner and comes to the ring yelling at Steiner to not use the Steiner reclines, which has apparently been banned. Of course Steiner does and Miller tells the ref to ring the bell and DQ Big Poppa Pump. Miller then strips Steiner of the belt...4/10 for the dumb booking of stripping Steiner for using what should be a perfectly legal hold.

7. Vampiro defeated The Demon in a Graveyard Match.

This match is just BAD. I'm serious, this one could and should make every list of the worst matches ever. The Demon is Dale Torborg in Gene Simmons from KISS makeup, and Vampiro is a generic goth type guy who for some stupid reason (or should I say some Russo reason) was given victories over Sting. It starts off in a graveyard which looks worse than the one from Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space and drags on for what seems like 50 years. I had to fight the temptation to gouge out my eyes and ears as they take the fight to a pond and eventually Vampiro stuffs Torborg in a coffin and heads back to the arena. You see, whomever made it back to the ring first would be declared the winner.

This match is a standard example of what was wrong with the Reign of Russo: crappy, nonsensical booking coupled with characters no one cared about as well as putting people over without the least bit of buildup. Can you tell I do not care for Vince Russo? Hiring Russo was the worst decision WCW ever made...-1/10. I usually wouldn't go into the negative but this match was so very very bad.

8. Shane Douglas defeated Buff Bagwell.

Apparently these two were tag team champions at one point that had broken up. It started off as a pretty decent match but lost any and all steam it had when Torrie Wilson showed up for more useless skank drama, eventually siding with Douglas and helping him win. Yawn...3/10.

WCW World Title

9. Hulk Hogan defeated Jeff Jarrett to "win" the title.

This the infamous incident which lead to Hogan leaving the company. Russo comes to the ring with Jarrett (his golden boy) and instructs him to lay down and let Hogan pin him. Hogan gets on the mic and says it's BS like this that's the reason why the company is in the crapper...0/10. I normally wouldn't even rate this **** but at this point I am so worn out by turd after turd and the sheer amount of horrible booking that I have lost all sense of fairness.

After the Hogan/Russo/Jarrett debacle the announcers are on the screen for what seems like forever, and much like me they appear to be worn out just from watching the dreck that has been happening all night. Madden and Hudson go on about how much Hogan sucks, but who really cares what these idiots think? There's a reason why these three are no longer a part of the business.

We are then treated to the end of Graveyard Match where Vampiro bores us to death talking about how he destroyed both Demon and Sting, only to have a page ripped directly out of Undertaker's playbook with druids dressed in Sting masks bringing a coffin to the ring which contains the real Sting, who beats up Vampiro and puts him inside the coffin. My mind is completely numb at this point and I am embarassed to be a wrestling fan. That's Russo in a nutshell for you, not an orginal idea to be had and he does everything on epically bad levels.

Next Russo comes to the ring and whines about Hogan, long after Hogan has left. He proclaims Hogan will never be seen in WCW again (he was right) and Jarrett is still the champion. He then tells us JJ will defend his belt against Booker T. This makes no sense at all because not only has Booker not been properly built up to headline a PPV in a title match but he just lost cleanly to Kanyon earlier on the card (which at this point seems to have been going on for days). Whatever, I'm just pissed that one more match has been added because I want this thing to end.

10. Goldberg defeated Kevin Nash to "end Scott Hall's career".

This was a relatively short and painless squash, thank goodness. The stipulation (there almost always has to be a stipulation in Russo Land) is Scott Hall's WCW contract is on the line. I like to think of this as payback for the stupid Starrcade 98 match in which Nash ended Goldberg's winning streak prematurely. Steiner came out and put Nash in the Steiner Recliner while Goldberg tore up Hall's contract. 5/10 for being short and to the point as I wanted to get out of this mess.

WCW World Title

11. Booker T. defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the title.

So we have Jeff Jarrett, Russo's golden boy who should never have been anything more than an undercard jabrone due to his complete lack of charisma, losing the title to Booker T., who had just to another jabrone earlier. Say what you will about Hogan, but it was BS like this that killed WCW. 2/10.

 

Total score: 27/110...To the people at WWE 24/7, please make better choices when you decide what to air. You have so much great programming to chose from and it irks me when you air **** like this.

I am going to breakdown the roster for the upcoming Legends of Wrestlemania game, putting each wrestler/manager into one of four categories:

1. A definite must have if you are going to make such a game

2. An awesome edition that I should have fun playing as

3. A pleasant surprise

4. "WTF" were they thinking when they decided to add this person?

 

ANDRE THE GIANT: (1) You need Andre for this game no doubt. Not only was he a big part in the first 6 Wrestlemania's but he was in the biggest match in wrestling history at Wrestlemania III.

HULK HOGAN: (1) No duh! The biggest name in wrestling history and the man who beat Andre at III, there would not a Wrestlemania without the Hulkster.

BRUTUS "THE BARBER" BEEFCAKE: (2) Younger fans might not realize how popular Brutus became after Wrestlemania III when he help Roddy Piper shave Adrian Adonis' head, but trust me this guy was hugely over in the late 80's-early 90's. He even had his own interview segment called the Barber Shop.

BOBBY "THE BRAIN" HEENAN: (1) Managers are all but extinct in today's wrestling, and with the litany of mush-mouthed neandrathals choking on mic they are sorely missed. "The Weasel" was probably the best of the bunch.

IRON SHEIK: (2) Putting his current status as a washed-up potty mouthed who threatens to sodomize Hogan and B. Brian Blair aside, Sheik was one of the most over and colorful heel wrestlers of his day, even serving as a trasitional champion to get the belt off Bob Backlund and on Hulk Hogan.

SGT SLAUGHTER: (2) You can do so many things with the Sarge in this game, play him as a heel or face because he was good at both. To prove how popular he was, Slaughter and Chicago Bear William "Refridgerator" Perry were the only two real people to be made into GI Joe dolls.

SHAWN MICHAELS: (2) Some may put HBK as a "1", but he still wrestles and quite frankly I've never cared for him. Still, I can't deny he deserves a spot.

BIG JOHN STUDD: (1) If Andre is in the game you will need two people to combat him. One is the Hulkster and BJS is the other.

JUNKYARD DOG: (2) Here another guy that younger people may not realize how popular he was. The best WWF(E) shirt ever made was the one with JYD's head on a dog's body.

"SUPERFLY" JIMMY SNUKA: (1) I think that if Hogan wasn't going to be "the man" than Snuka might have made a suitable replacement: that's how over he was.

BAM BAM BIGELOW: (3) I didn't expect Bam Bam to make the cut, but he will be a nice edition.

STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN: (1) I am glad the roster is 80's heavy but I'm not stupid enough to say Austin shouldn't be on it.

THE ROCK: (1) Another "Attitude" star that deserves his spot.

JIMMY HART: (2) Hart was the first manager to actually stay at ringside for his charges matches, not to mention a constant annoyance bouncing around ringside and yelling into his megaphone. Great add.

DUSTY RHODES: (2) Now the only reason the "American Dream" does not get a "1" is because he only wrestled at Wrestlemania VI...otherwise he would definitely be a must have.

ROAD WARRIORS: (1) Like managers, good tag teams are a dying breed and Hawk and Animal were the best tag team of all time.

BRITISH BULLDOG: (3) I wasn't sure if Davey was going to make it, but where is the Dynamite Kid?

"ROWDY" RODDY PIPER: (1) A definite no brainer. Piper was better as Hogan's main antagonist during the early years of Wrestlemania than he was as a fan favorite. It's a shame he was near impossible to work with because Hogan/Piper could have gone on longer than it did and made even more bank.

TED DIBIASI: (1) How can you not have "The Million Dollar Man" in the game? The top WWF heel of 88-89.

GREG VALENTINE: (3) He would have been a "2" if they did not omit Tito Santana. What a huge blunder that was!

"HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN: (2) If you need recent of how over he still is just listen to the chorus of boos at this year's Royal Rumble when Hacksaw (the winner of the very first Rumble) was eliminated.

BRET "HITMAN" HART: (1) Although he led the "New Generation" that very nearly killed what we now know as WWE Bret was popular worldwide and is a must have.

JIM "THE ANVIL" NEIDHART: (1) The ONLY reason he gets a "1" is for putting him with Bret and playing as the original Hart Foundation...otherwise he'd be a "3".

YOKOZUNA: (3) Another of the (thankfully few) "New Generation" stars, Yoko should be very interesting and fun to play as.

MR. FUJI: (2) Although very stereotypical and "Chan-like" in appearance as I look back on him, the Devious One is a welcome addition to the roster.

HONKY TONK MAN: (2) Yes, HTM is an awesome addition to this game's roster. He was insanely over as a hell during the late 80's-early 90's, not to mention the "Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time".

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS: (1) Say what you will about Jake and his recent problems but at one time he was third in the "most popular" line behind only Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. A definite must have.

"RAVISHING" RICK RUDE: (2) Rude was gold on the mic even if he was a jerk (as his manager Bobby Heenan has stated). Great chance to relive some classic feuds with the likes of Piper, Jake, and Warrior.

KING KONG BUNDY: (2) Headlined WM II in a steel cage with Hogan, you can team him up with Studd to fight Andre.

NICOLAI VOLKOFF: (2) Another classic foreign heel, he goes well with the Iron Sheik.

TRIPLE H: (4) I'm sorry but I'm taking a big dump on this one. HHH still dominates WWE rings today and if I wanted to play as him I could pick up one of the Smackdown vs Raw games. Besides, this is the "Greenwich Snob" Hunter we are getting here, and Trips didn't start getting over until DX. This reeks of nepotism.

KAMALA: (3) A very pleasant suprise: I was not expecting the Ugandan Giant in this game but he is a very welcome addition in my eyes.

RIC FLAIR: (1) Another no brainer: I may not be the world's biggest Nature Boy fan but I know he is necessary for this game.

ARN ANDERSON: (3) Yeah he goes with Flair, but where's Tully and another Horseman? Having him here and not Tully just screams "incomplete" to me. Would be a "4" if not for Flair.

UNDERTAKER: (1) He may still be active today, but it's only on a part time basis and the man's Wrestlemania record speaks for itself. A "Legends of Wrestlemania" game without the Dead Man is not a "Legends of Wrestlemania" game.

PAUL BEARER: (2) I was debating whether he should be a "1" because of Taker, but without him he would be a "4" so I split the difference.

MR. PERFECT: (2) An awesome addition to the roster as he was one of the top heels bridging the "Hulkamania" and "New Generation" eras.

BIG BOSS MAN: (2) A very versatile character as he was over as both heel and face. Great pick.

MICHAEL "P.S." HAYES: (4) I do believe the name of the game is "Legends of Wrestlemania", is it not? Hayes never wrestled at Wrestlemania in his career, spending time in Texas and WCW. Also, with the other Freebirds as well any Von Erich's absent from this game this pick becomes even more stupid and unnecessary. Possibly the worst roster choice (along with HHH).

ULTIMATE WARRIOR: (1) Yeah he's a bit loony (to say the least) but you cannot deny the man's popularity. From the "multiple Ultimate Warrior's" rumors to millions asking "when will he come back" for years to his classic battles at WM's VI and VII Warrior is a must have.

KOKO B. WARE: (4) I was going to say "3" but there are so many more deserving than this glorfied jobber to make the cut that did not. He may be one of the least played roster members.

Who should have made the cut:

"MACHO MAN" RANDY SAVAGE: I don't care what squabbles the McMahons have with Savage, the fact that he isn't in the game is the biggest travesty.

DEMOLITION: Ax and Smash dominated the tag team scene of the late 80's-early 90's and would have made a kickass addition to roster (especially) with Fuji as their manager).

TITO SANTANA: I am surprised Tito, who along with Hogan is one of just two man to wrestle at each of the first 9 Wrestlemania's, is not in this game.

PAUL ORNDORFF: HHH is in but "Mr. Wonderful" is not? BS.

MAGNIFICENT MURACO: We could have relived the famous cage match with Snuka.

OWEN HART: Definite missed opportunity there.

"CLASSY" FREDDIE BLASSIE and "CAPTAIN" LOU ALBANO: Two legendary managers noticeably absent from the game.

SLICK: Not as big an omission as Blassie and Albano, but would have been fun.

ONE MAN GANG/AKEEM: OK, maybe I am stretching here but I personally would have had hours or fun playing as the African Dream.

VIRGIL: If Taker has Paul Bearer than why doesn't Dibiasi have Virgil?

MANKIND/CACTUS JACK/MICK FOLEY/DUDE LOVE: I know he is in "No Man's Land" (TNA) and that's why he isn't in this game. Foley is the only noticeable omission from the "Attitude" Era.

"ACE" COWBOY BOB ORTON: Would have been a perfect fit with Piper.

There's probably some more omissions I am missing but I suppose that will do for now. Despite these omissions (especially Macho and Tito) the roster looks kick ass with mostly "1"'s and "2"'s and only a handful of "4"'s. I am really looking forward to this game.