Mickey Rourke, who just won the Golden Globe, and may very well win an Academy Award for his performance in “The Wrestler” has agreed to actually wrestle a match at “Wrestlemania 25″, the 25th Anniversary of the “Grand Daddy of Them All”.

He will be in the ring against WWE Superstar Chris Jericho.

Rourke spent a great deal of time training as a professional wrestler in preparation of his role in the movie…so he might actually put on a decent match.

It’s a bizarre move for Rourke, but it’s not like bizarre moves are actually new for him. So it’ll be interesting to see if how his match goes on “the grandest stage of them all”…for wrestlers at least.

Tonight World Wrestling Entertainment presented their “most interactive” Pay Per View of the year. All of the matches featured some kind of gimmick that WWE fans could vote for, and the show had some surprising results.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Fans choice of MVP, R-Truth, or Festus (dark match on WWE.com)

R-truth as chosen by the fans, and lost to Shelton Benjamin via pinfall.

Fans choose (Falls Count Anywhere, No Holds Barred, or Best 2-out-of-3) match – Rey Mysterio vs Kane

The cans chose “No Holds Barred” by a margin of 2%. Rey Mysterio won the match after a hurricanrana, the 619, and a springboard splash.

ECW Championship Match – Matt Hard vs. Fans Choice (Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, and Finlay)

Evan Bourne won the vote by a large margin with 69% of the total vote. Hardy won the match after a Twist of Fate.

Fans choose the Tag Team Match (World Tag Team Champions Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk & Kofi Kingston, or John Morrison & The Miz vs. Cryme Tyme, or Jamie Noble & Mickie James vs. William Regal & Layla)

The fans chose Cryme Tyme vs. The Miz & John Morrison by a 3% margin. The WWE Tag Title match came in a close second with 35%. Morrison ultimately got the pin on Shad after “The Midnight Ride”.

Intercontinental Championship Match – Santino Marella vs. Fans Choice (Honky Tonk Man, Golddust, or “Rowdy” Roddy Piper)

Honky Tonk was voted in by a margin so slim you’d almost think the WWE was fixing the results. Honky Tonk Man – 35%, Roddy Piper – 35%, Golddust – 31%.

After Santino cut a promo and Honky retorted (including Elvis dancing) the match was underway. Beth Phoenix trips Honky early in the match and causes him to win via disqualification – things get crazy after that and Piper and Golddust end up in the ring. All three legends get a piece of Santino then raise their own hands in victory.

Fans Choice (Knockout Match, I Quit Match, or Last Man Standing Match) – Undertaker vs. Big Show

Fans chose Last Man Standing by – 49% with I Quit coming in a close second. Undertaker picks up the win – but just barely – evening out this feud to one win apiece.

Diva Halloween Contest

Tazz hosted the contest – which ended with Mickie James winning – and slipping in the ring. She laughed it off, and exited the ring as they moved on.

WWE Championship Match – Triple H vs. Fans Choice (Jeff Hardy, Vladimir Kozlov, or Hardy and Kozlov in a triple threat)

Hardy was voted in by a staggering 57%. Kozlov only got 5%, and the two of them together managed 38%. The fans are clearly behind Hardy – and not at all interested in Kozlov.

Triple H won the match – and it continues to look like the WWE is trying to KILL Jeff Hardy’s fan support. It’s astonishing.

World Heavyweight Championship Match – Chris Jericho vs. Batista with Fans Choice Special Referee (Randy Orton, Steve Austin, or Shawn Michaels)

Of course – Steve Austin was selected by an overwhelming majority. 74% voted for him, 22% voted for Shawn Michaels, and 4% voted for Orton.

In a very complicated ending, Shawn, Steve, Randy, and JBL all become involved at different points. Shawn causes Jericho to walk into a spear from Batista, Orton stirs up some trouble and gets stunned by Stone Cold (Wrestlemania match set up, anyone?), and Batista ultimately gets the win and is the new world Champion.

(more to come)

Last night the WWE pulled out all the stops on their NO MERCY PPV event. The show had featured many surprise endings to matches, and some great in-ring work from almost everyone involved. Here are the results.

Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry to retain the ECW Title

Beth Phoenix defeated Candice Michelle to retain the WWE Women’s Title

Rey Mysterio “defeated” Kane by DQ - This match was to have a stipulation that if Rey Mysterio lost he would have to unmask. Kane beat him repeatedly with a chair and got himself disqualified…which, you guessed it, doesn’t really make sense.

After that there was an extended segment that furthered the Randy Orton/2nd Generation Superstars angle. MVP came out talking trash about why he didn’t have a match – and Orton came out to talk a little trash of his own. The 2nd Generation Superstars (Cody, Ted, and Manu) came out – and eventually CM Punk and Kofi Kingston made their way to the ring as well. Everything ended in a brawl. The segment really made little sense.

Batista defeated JBL in a No. 1 contender’s match – Batista won clean, then JBL cuta heel promo thanking the President and the Congress for making sure guys like him stayed rich. Eventually Crime Time showed up on screen and stole his limo.

Big Show defeated The Undertaker by KO – In what I think many would call a huge upset Big Show not only defeated Undertaker, but literally beat him unconscious. It was a huge statement on the WWE’s part that Big Show was a dominating force for the company – and a very welcome surprise.

Triple H defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Title – After a hard fought match that seemed to clearly be setting up Jeff Hardy as the new champion, Triple H reversed a pin to get the three count and defeat Jeff Hardy in a push killing match.

Chris Jericho defeated Shawn Michaels in a Ladder Match to retain the World Heavyweight Title – This match was brutal, and it seemed like both contenders were injured on multiple occasions. Jericho actually lost a tooth in the match. Ultimately the two of them had their hands on the title, and Jericho got the better of Michaels (who is seriously killing his legacy with these absurd string of losses).

September 1st, 2008 marks the end of Mick Foley’s contract with the WWE, and many sources are reporting that he will not be continuing in his role as an announcer for the show’s Friday Night Smackdown program.

Foley has been unhappy with WWE owner Vince McMahon since taking over the role of color commentator for the Friday show. McMahon reportedly likes to yell at the announcers, something he doesn’t do to the top tier talent on a regular basis. Apparently the screaming and holler got to be too much for Mrs. Foley’s baby boy.

There is heavy speculation online about the possibility of Foley making the jump to rival company TNA. In 2005 Foley was scheduled to head to the company before McMahon swooped in at the last minute to keep Foley with the WWE, offering him a new contract with higher pay.

Mick Foley was one of the staples of prowrestling when it was at its height in the 1990s. While names like “The Rock” and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin might be mentioned more from that era, the programs that Mick “Mankind” Foley worked with those superstars is a leading factor in their success. Foley also secured the WWE Champtionship on 2 separate occasions, and is (and always will be) my favorite wrestler.

Sunday night was the WWE’s “Summerlsam” PPV. This is one of the tent pole WWE pay-per-view spectaculars, so anticipation is always high for the event.

Unfortunately, this year the card was pretty lack luster (and that’s coming from a guy who’s seen every Summerslam, every Wrestlemania, and is the proud owner of the complete Royal Rumble Anthology). Almost every match on the card was predictable, and the few that weren’t were not unpredictable in an interesting or…you know…good..way.

Here are the results – match by match.

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP

Jeff Hardy and MVP have a decent opening match that ultimately ends with Shelton Benjamin appearing on the outside. Jeff jumps on him, then tries to swanton a down MVP. He misses and MVP hits the “drive by kick” for the win.

After the match Maria interviewed Santino and Beth Phoenix. They spent the interview getting “Glamarella” over as their celebrity tabloid name.

Glamarella vs. Mickie James and Kofi Kingston “Winner Take All Tag Team Match”

The match starts off with the ladies going at it, they do a great job in the ring, but when Santino gets in and starts pulling his shtick the match goes in a totally different direction. This guy is seriously one of the funniest “comedy wrestlers” of all time.

Santion ultimately gets DDTed by Mickie James. Beth comes from behind and strikes Mickie in the head and gets the pin, making Glamarella both the Women’s and Intercontential Champions.

Shawn Michaels Announcement

This went on forever, but I’m going to sum it up quickly. Shawn said the doctor’s told him to walk away and he was going to do that with no regrets. He went through a retrospective of his career, and his wife, who was with him, was in tears.

Jericho then came out and started talking trash. They went back and forth and Jericho went to punch Shawn but accidentally hit Shawn’s wife – knocking her out cold. (Yes, that’s right, WWE is reusing the Booker T/Robert Rude angle from TNA from just a few months ago).

BTW – it looks like Shawn’s wife was actually struck. Her lip on the left side of her face was swollen after she “recovered” from being knocked out.

Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry

The match starts, Hardy puts a twist of fate on Henry almost immediately, and Tony Atlas pulls Hardy off before the 3 count. So Jeff Hardy comes out and attacks Atlas, then both Hardies double suplex Henry.

Hardy wins by DQ. You have to wonder if the Shawn Michaels segment just ran too long and they had to bump this match. It went by WAY too quickly.

JBL vs. CM Punk

This was a pretty average match. The only notable thing that really happened was that the two opponents butted heads, and Punk was bleeding profusely from the back of his head. Punk wins clean after hitting the GTS.

Great Khali vs. Triple H

This was a very old school wrestler/giant match. It should come as a surprise to no one that Triple H ultimately got the 3 count and the clean win.

John Cena vs. Batista

Decent match. Batista ultimately gets a clean pin after 2 Batista Bombs. This match was ok, but there are hints here and there that it could lead to a much needed Cena heal turn. We’ll know for sure on Raw tomorrow night. I doubt Vince will do it since Cena plays so well to the kids, but who knows?

Edge vs. The Undertaker

This match had me interested and engaged all the way to the end…then it completely lost me. This ended up being a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Hell in a Cell, which had some really great spots in it. The spear from the Smackdown table to the ECW table was clearly the “Foley” moment of the night.

The match completely lost me right at the end though, when Taker came back into the ring, set up two ladders, then Taker choke slammed Edge into the ring. Edge went through the ring into a crater, then said crater burst into flames.

So The Undertaker sent Edge to Hell…or killed him…or something. I don’t know. Whatever.

I love the WWE – but the creative slum that I was hoping would be fixed after the Draft still seems to be going on – and its driving me crazy. I really want all the shows to be top notch, but shows like this just aren’t worth paying $49.95 for.

Raw opened tonight with new GM Mike Adamle comparing himself to Ronald Regan in his opening promo. When he wasn’t looking at his cue cards, Adamle did his best not to stutter through the promo – and he did much better than he does when he’s behind the commentating mic. Soon JBL and Chris Jericho were out on stage both arguing about how awesome they are and how each would be better than the other as the World Title contender at Summerslam.

Ultimately Adamle made a handcapped match where JBL and Jericho would take on CM Punk tonight. If either of them manages to pin Punk – that one would get the title shot.
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This year’s Wrestlemania was all about Ric Flair. I know. I watched it. The wrestling legend took on WWE Superstar Shawn Michaels in what is supposed to be his last in-ring wrestling match.

After that, the following Monday Night Raw was, again, devoted to Ric, and his farewell speech. Things were looking good for “The Nature Boy” as he moved into the next phase of his career, as the “WWE Ambassador”. He has appeared on WWE television a few times since his in-ring retirement, but never in a very large capacity.

The WWE, however, had put some severe limitations on him (as they do all contracted superstars) by not allowing him to do convention appearances or independent wrestling shows. This forced Ric to miss his induction into the NWA Hall of Fame…an honor which may well have meant more to him than his WWE Hall of Fame induction.

Regardless, Ric was interested in pursuing those other offers of interest, and has parted ways with World Wrestling Entertainment according to EWrestlingNews. Of course, the first rumors that begin to bubble up are – “Is Flair going to TNA?”

I’m guessing its doubtful…but you never know.