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WWE’s biggest show of the year is only a week away. Wrestlemania 41 will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring two nights of action for Mania and a week full of events leading up to the grandest stage. Here is a list of the matches and the nights they take place.

The Friday leading into WrestleMania41, WWE will have The inductees for the Hall of Fame this year are Triple H, Michelle McCool, Lex Luger, the Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon), and for the first ever match being inducted, Bret Hart vs Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. Additional inductees for the Legacy wing are Kamala, Dory Funk Sr and Ivan Koloff.

This will be the first time in a long time that WWE will host the Hall of Fame outside the same location where Smackdown is taped.

WrestleMania 41 will occur at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April...

WWE’s biggest show of the year is only a week away. Wrestlemania 41 will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring two nights of action for Mania and a week full of events leading up to the grandest stage. Here is a list of the matches and the nights they take place.

The Friday leading into WrestleMania41, WWE will have The inductees for the Hall of Fame this year are Triple H, Michelle McCool, Lex Luger, the Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon), and for the first ever match being inducted, Bret Hart vs Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. Additional inductees for the Legacy wing are Kamala, Dory Funk Sr and Ivan Koloff.

This will be the first time in a long time that WWE will host the Hall of Fame outside the same location where Smackdown is taped.

WrestleMania 41 will occur at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April...

Top 5 Longest-Reigning WWE Champs: From Hulk Hogan To Pedro Morales (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Ever wonder who’s left their mark by holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for ages? It’s one thing to grab the gold, but holding onto it while hungry challengers circle is a different game altogether. These legends didn’t just win; they dominated, turning their reigns into epic sagas. From the Hulkamania days to the unforgettable dominance of Bruno Sammartino, these champs turned their title runs into iconic chapters of WWE history. Imagine becoming unbeatable by even the fiercest competitors.

So buckle up as we look at five wrestlers who won and held the WWE title for what seemed like forever. The longest-reigning champions showed that staying on top is more challenging than getting there.

1. Bruno Sammartino: 2,803 days

Bruno Sammartino’s name is the ultimate gold when you think of top-notch WWE champs who’ve...

Vince McMahon has no new ideas left.

Raw is currently a sinking ship, with ratings setting record-lows week after week. Admittedly, in the middle of a pandemic, but the show is at an all-time low.

McMahon clearly has no idea what to do.

This week on Raw the company introduced a new concept, Raw Underground, which consisted of Shane McMahon hosting a “fight club” in a warehouse somewhere, using a ring with no ropes. The no-holds barred fighting looked like a typical brawl in a WWE backstage segment. Nothing was new or fresh. The referee during the fights (underground fights have referees?) even signaled for the timekeeper to ring the bell prior to the fights beginning.

It was a wrestling match, in a dark warehouse, using a ring with no ropes. That’s all it was.

Elsewhere on the show, WWE hyped that Ric Flair would be making an appearance.

WWE Hall of Famer Pedro Morales has died, WWE reports. He was 76. Morales, a native of Puerto Rico, was WWE’s (then WWF) first-ever “Triple Crown” Champion.

Not only did Morales find great success in the ring, he was a fan favorite and important figure among New York City’s growing Hispanic population.

In 1972, more than 22,000 fans turned out to Shea Stadium to watch Morales battle Bruno Sammartino in the main event of the inaugural Showdown at Shea supercard, WWE.com remembered in its obituary. After 75 minutes of action, the bout between the two friends was ruled a draw in accordance with the state athletic commission’s strict 11 p.m. curfew.

Also Read: Dean Ambrose to Leave WWE in April

Morales won the WWE Championship from Ivan Koloff at Madison Square Garden in 1970. His reign lasted until 1973, when Stan Stasiak took the belt off him. Morales won tag team gold alongside Bob Backlund,...

Ivan Koloff, the former WWE wrestler known as “The Russian Bear,” died on Saturday after battling liver cancer. He was 74. “WWE is saddened to learn that Ivan Koloff, best known to the WWE Universe as one of Bruno Sammartino’s most bitter rivals, has passed away at age 74,” the company said in a statement. “WWE extends its condolences to Ivan Koloff’s family, friends and fans.” WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair also shared the news on Twitter, with a tribute to Koloff. He wrote, “I’m Sad To Wake Up And Hear of the passing of my very close friend the.

Ivan Koloff, knowing among wrestling fans as “The Russian Bear,” has died. He was 74.

Koloff had been battling liver cancer and was in need of “urgent medical care,” according to a Go Fund Me page set up by his daughter, Rachel Marley, on Feb. 2.

“My dad was diagnosed with liver disease about 10 years ago and while he has been living with it, he chose not to make this announcement public to his fans and friends,” she wrote. “But doctors are now saying that his liver function is getting worse day by day and it will continue to. There are no...

Ivan Koloff, aka The Russian Bear who wrestled to fame for years as a supreme villain, has died. Rick Flair posted the news Saturday morning. The 74-year-old Koloff had been battling liver cancer. Koloff was a former Wwwf World Heavyweight champion who fought the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Superstar Billy Graham and Bob Backlund. He was especially big in the 80's as Ronald Reagan challenged Russia on the world stage. The news comes just 1 day...

WWE.com

In the WWE, hate is great.

Professional wrestling has a lot in common with pantomime, in that it relies heavily on the mass manipulation of an audience’s emotions. One of the reasons that the WWE is so often clownishly over-the-top is that it has evoke huge emotions from a huge number of people. They want cheers and boos in colossal numbers. That raw emotion is what separates a good match from a classic, and a piece of intense physical choreography from a story.

In the past this was simpler than it is today, because the business hadn’t been exposed. Kayfabe was still intact and the majority of audiences, baffling as it seems today, genuinely believed that what they were seeing was real. Heels didn’t have twitter accounts, so people believed that old school heels like Maurice ‘Mad Dog’ Vachon or Ivan Koloff were terrible people...

WWE.Com

On the January 29th edition of Smackdown, the long running feud between Daniel Bryan and Kane will be settled in the 20th ever Casket Match. Before anyone makes the joke that WWE will finish its burial job of Daniel Bryan, Bryan has pretty much owned Kane since Summerslam 2012 in one way or another. However, Kane just won’t go away. Hopefully, this Casket Match will settle things.

Whether it’s Corporate Kane or The Demon Kane, he hasn’t had much success against Bryan. Some fans may be unfamiliar with what to expect from a Casket Match, and some newer fans haven’t ever seen one, since the last contest was in 2008. While The Undertaker brought the gimmick to WWE in 1992 and participated in over 90 percent of the matches, the earliest record of a Casket Match was between Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff in 1980.

Furthermore, what usually happens...

Facial hair is an important part of wrestling – of course, that’s because it’s an important part of manliness, and manliness and pro wrestling go hand in hand. Only the toughest of the tough can truly hope to step through those ropes and earn a living, and usually, those are guys with so much testosterone that’s it’s oozing out onto their faces. Bad-ass bearded barbarians like Ivan Koloff, Bruiser Brody, and Daniel Bryan have set records and whipped behinds all over the world. Stone Cold Steve Austin would have been a bit sickly-looking without his trademark goatee. Even The Rock had some sweet sideburns when he was making a name for himself.

Amongst all pro wrestling facial hair, though, the most exalted specimen is the mustache. The face fur of the working man, mustaches have found an everlasting home on the men who ply their trade in the squared circle.

The highly anticipated WWE 2K15 roster has allegedly leaked online. The big news is that Cm Punk is in the game, alongside a range of Nxt stars. There’s 92 wrestlers in total, including Mick Foley who had been in doubt after not signing a WWE legends deal earlier this year.

The leak surfaced on GameFAQs, where it was claimed that the list came from the August edition of Game Informer Magazine. The post has since been removed.

The official roster reveal will be on August 16th in Los Angeles. 2K will be working in partnership with WWE’s SummerSlam event which takes place on the same weekend. That timing ensures maximum publicity for the video game’s content.

Is there any validity to this apparent leak ahead of time? The list certainly looks plausible. Punk’s contract may have expired, but he would have been under a deal when production of the game started.

WWE.com

The eyes of the entire world are currently fixed onto the action in Brazil as the FIFA World Cup takes place this month. With it come lots of spin-offs, such as tenuously linked food items where miniature chocolates become a team or a crisp flavour suddenly represents a team. But what if the World Cup translated into wrestling? It’s time to put your Fantasy Wrestling hat on and pick up your country’s flag as we travel the world looking at the best wrestlers to have ever come from some of the countries that are currently playing in the World Cup.

There are only three criteria that I have used in my selection: firstly, they must have competed at some point in the WWE; secondly, the wrestler must legitimately have come from the listed country. This immediately ruled out all manner of heel Russians from the 70s...

WWE.com

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is one of the most historic titles in pro wrestling history.

After splitting off from the Nwa World Heavyweight Championship in 1963, the esteemed belt has been in use for over half a century. During that time, we’ve witnessed some mightily impressive reigns.

Cm Punk recently enjoyed a 434-day reign as the champ, while Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales have each managed to hold onto the strap for over 1,000 consecutive days. And of course Bruno Sammartino, one of the industry’s pioneering figures, officially donned the belt for an astonishing 2,803 days.

But what about the guys at the other end of the scale?

For every Sammartino, there’s an unfortunate victim of an ill-timed Money in the Bank cash-in. And despite their brevity, it’s arguable that these short-lived reigns are just as memorable as the more enduring ones.

WWE.com

Brock Lesnar ending the Undertaker’s winning streak at Wrestlemania 30 and Cesaro’s climb to even greater renown in WWE both share one man in common – Paul Heyman. Moreso than any other member of the active roster, Heyman’s unique ability to garner heat for performers in the role of manager is possibly one of the least discussed – yet most important roles that any on-screen character has in the company. Key to Heyman’s presentation of late is his proclamation that he is the greatest manager in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment.

As a heel, his audacious claim is meant to be the pomposity that leads to a cascade of boos. However, if studying the art of pro wrestling, is there truth to Heyman’s bold statement? In the annals of WWE’s history of ringside seconds, managers and generally conniving men and women patrolling ringside, is...

Stereotypes: it’s what the wrestling business has always thrived on. There’s no easier way to get a fast reaction out of a fan than to throw a stereotype their way, and if you can capitalise on ‘real world’ events at the same time, even better.

The ‘foreign menace’ heel has been around wrestling since time began. After the Second World War, a variety of German heels such as Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson, an American), Hans Schmidt (Guy Larose, Canadian) and Baron Von Raschke (Jim Raschke, another American) were top of the bill all the way into the 1960s. With the advent of the Cold War came a new troupe of Soviet heels, such as Ivan Koloff (Oreal Perres, Canadian), Krusher Khruschev (Barry Darsow, American) and Boris Zhukov (Jim Harrell, American).

The Gulf War in 1990 saw veteran wrestler Adnan al-Kaissie cash in on his legitimate Iraqi heritage to...

It's a very special episode of "WWE Raw," as WWE turns back the clock to take things old school. That means a retro arena design, an old ring and several returning legends to delight the fans.

Scheduled to appear on the show are "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, Bob Backlund, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, The New Age Outlaws, IRS, Ron Simmons, Scotty 2 Hotty and Diamond Dallas Page. Of course, WWE always trots out quite a few surprises on these special episodes as well, so there's no telling what they have in store.

There's also the ongoing story lines, leading up to the "Royal Rumble." Daniel Bryan will debut as part of the Wyatt Family, Brock Lesnar is back, Cm Punk continues to make The Shield look like fools, and John Cena and Randy Orton return after missing last week's show.

Related: WWE's Road Dogg talks old school 'Raw', '...

As fans we’ve seen wrestling go to some extreme measures that led to some epic encounters over the years. From Hell in a Cell to Last Man Standing, there have been many stipulations over the years that push the boundaries of brutality and the human anatomy. But there was only one match that went beyond… The War Games.

No matter where it was placed in schedule, the signature two cage spectacular was always the big draw for WCW. Strange alliances would be made and WrestleWars along with fall brawls would be forged in a team battleground of steel and blood . No Pinfalls. No Disqualifications. It’s just Submission or Surrender.

In the latest WWE DVD release: “War Games: WCW’s Most Notorious Matches” they look back at what happens when there are no other options and wrestling has go to war. I have to admit I was very...

Surprise 2013 WWE Hall of Fame inductee Bruno Sammartino has said that he will leave it up to the WWE to decide exactly who gets the honour of inducting him at this year’s ceremony.

Speaking to the Busted Open Satellite Show Sammartino said he would especially like the outspoken Larry Zbysko to induct him but understands that it’s all in WWE’s hands.

“Paul (Triple H) said to me that they usually let the person being inducted choose who they want. However, he asked me if I would allow them to think about it for a while. They want to bring someone who they think would be fitting for the occasion. Someone who is worldly known. I don’t know who they have in mind. But if it were me, there would be a number of people I would suggest.”

Among the names Sammartino listed were Dominic Denucci, Ivan Koloff...

We can say what many from Bruno Sammartino’s era, whether it be fans or performers, can not – we were there when Bruno Sammartino was finally inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and one of the most charred bridges in WWE history began its recovery. The night before WrestleMania, we will witness history.

It is a war that waged on for literally decades. Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon have traded insults in several formats, through radio interviews, television appearances, books, journalistic editorials, you name it Bruno and McMahon played it. Bruno was commonly on the attack, with McMahon reserving criticism and attempting to keep the peace.

Throughout the late nineties Sammartino, the longest reigning WWE Champion of all-time, heavily criticized the organization, its officials and the product for “selling out,” and abandoning what had made it so great during his era. He has repeatedly called the WWE product vulgar,...

At the origins of the WWE Championship, we can immediately see the legendary status that Bruno Sammartino has in the eyes of all wrestling fans. The most fundamental statistic in his astonishing career is of course the 2,803 consecutive days for which he held the then Wwwf Championship between 1963 and 1971. Of course, nowadays such a feat in the WWE is virtually unheard to the extent that current WWE Champ Cm Punk’s title reign is considered incredibly long, and he has held the title “only” 325 days.

This change can be viewed in a number of ways. Sammartino at the time of his championship reigns was the biggest star in wrestling, as was Hulk Hogan during the majority of his WWE Championship reigns. The fans would back these superstars to the hilt, and would never want to see them lose a single match, let alone the championship. The devotion to Sammartino was so great,...

Albano's appearance in Cyndi Lauper videos made him an '80s pop-culture icon.

By Gil Kaufman

Lou Albano

Photo: Ann Clifford/ Time & Life Pictures

For pro-wrestling fans of a certain age, Captain Lou Albano was a larger-than-life figure who helped turn what was once a low-rent, cable-access sport into a pop-culture phenomenon. The World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer died on Wednesday morning (October 14) at the age of 76, according to the WWE and Wrestler's Rescue, an organization that helps raise money for retired wrestlers' health care.

Wrestler's Rescue reported that Albano had been in hospice care earlier this week, but no cause of death has been revealed.

Born Louis Vincent Albano on July 29, 1933, in Mount Vernon, New York, the former football player and bouncer entered the wrestling game in the late 1950s. His four-decade wrestling career kicked off when he created the tag team known as the Sicilians, playing a...