With CM Punk's debut UFC match put off once more combined with the news of his back surgery, die-hard marks have hit the interwebs with housing bubble like hope that he may forego his Make-A-Wish UFC career only to return to the WWE. I scoffed at the idea both personally and publicly via Twitter where I suggested his ambitions should lead him elsewhere due strongly to his injuries and overall physical health at this juncture. But the interactive marks would not be deterred with logic or facts. After all, the world is flat again, even if it isn't, and no one has times for facts. But fair enough.

This week Captain Awesome and T-Mac bring you another great interview, this time hoping you'll help donate to a wonderful charity through the love of video games when they talk to the Founder and Host of WrestleThon, Jake Whitco. Jake talks about the upcoming WrestleThon 3 and he even answers our Cinco Preguntas, complete with a great storyline for him and T-Mac.

WrestleMania season is upon us, and in true McMahon fashion Vince has swerved everyone from insiders, the talent, to the IWC with the return of Shane-O-Mac. To put Shane McMahon's return into perspective, very few within the business have ever received that Road Warrior pop as he did. Such examples would be – the Road Warriors obviously, Hogan jumping ship to the WCW, Daniel Bryan winning a long overdue championship, and maybe a couple others through the course of three decades, but that's about it.

See the gears turning inside the head of WWE Universe favorite Becky Lynch in Rob Schamberger's newest painting!

Buy some Rob Schamberger stuff at Shop WWE

More ACTION on WWE NETWORK : http://bit.ly/MobQRl

Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1i64OdT

Visit the ALL-NEW WWE.com: http://bit.ly/visitwwe

As I awoke to this very chilly February morn, I tried shaking off the utter nightmares of what wrestling has become from my immediate thoughts. This, after a lackluster TNA episode last night followed up by a myriad of twitter conversations forcing millennial fans into a Tongan death grip until they made an accurate assessment of what a classic heel is and isn't, would prove to be a more difficult task than what I had previously imagined as I scrolled through cacophony of 'click bait' styled articles filling my twitter feed. As a glimmer of hope, however, were the retweets of my thoughts upon the sport of kings and the phrase – 'I get it now' – mixed in between. So the wisdom I imparted yesterday seems to have stuck, thus validating my joy in saving the world from grave disaster.

Artist Rob Schamberger dons the pink and black as he paints WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart in his latest masterpiece.

 Don't forget buy some great Rob Schamberger art or apparel on:

Shop.WWE.com

More ACTION on WWE NETWORK : http://bit.ly/MobQRl

Follow WWE on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1i64OdT

Visit WWE.com: http://bit.ly/visitwwe

Image Courtesy of OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com

As a child, I was stockier than the rest of the boys on the JV basketball team. I was also more aggressive in my temperament which would make me a natural center coming up in the early 80's if it weren't for the fact that I was, at best, of average height. To this day I believe that some are meant for being offensive in their tasks in life where others are meant to play the defensive side, and so I decided back then during my formative years that I was the latter. I was meant to be someone that, having grown up in the south, enjoyed play tough, smash mouth, in your face defense, and I was okay with it. It didn't hurt that I was good at it at well, damn good. And had I the ability to grow another foot, foot-and-a-half taller, I would have been great, possibly on my way to live a life that would have taken me through college on a basketball scholarship offering me a shot at the pros. The truth remained, however, that I was way too small by todays standard standing 6'2, 175 pounds, and small back then as well. But undeterred by this, I crashed the boards with gusto, threw a couple illegal elbows amid a heated game with our cross town rivals, and blocked as well as anyone in the league.

Image Courtesy of OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com

I'm not a fan of Vince Russo, this much is known. And it's not because of how it is trendy to bury him as most within the business do, or of those that want to seem 'in the know' as they awkwardly mark out via social media to their childhood heroes. My contention with Vince is how two-sided he is in everything that he says or does. More to the point, its how he lives within this vacuous bubble of neediness for attention and public approval to ultimately find his own self worth.

The world-renowned AJ Styles comes to life as artist Rob Schamberger paints another of his amazing portraits!

Buy this as a shirt or any other great Rob Schamberger or WWE Shop gear at WWEShop.com

More ACTION on WWE NETWORK : http://bit.ly/MobQRl

Follow WWE on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1i64OdT

Visit WWE.com: http://bit.ly/visitwwe

If you haven't been following the story, mid carder, and number two behind John Cena in community outreach for the WWE, Titus O'Neil' went to grab Vince McMahon at the close of Raw Monday night. This led to an almost immediate response with, what was then a 90 day suspension, and a tightly worded response from the WWE detailing how the WWE is a professional company.

And rightfully so. The WWE is a professional, and publicly traded company so anything that isn't filtered through standards and practices can potentially hurt the product and/or the company as a whole. Also, the WWE does have a 'no bump' policy for those not designated for any type of physicality -- ringside workers, referees, etc. So the WWE has a leg to stand on in this situation, but in the court of public opinion ... not so much.

Daniel Bryan addresses the RAW fans about his retirement (image courtesy of WWE.com)

Daniel Bryan officially retired from in-ring competition this week for medical reasons stemming from multiple concussions, but the tale of this undersized underdog will loom large in the hearts and minds of the WWE Universe for decades.

The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion made his announcement via Twitter (@WWEDanielBryan) on Monday and gave an impassioned 24-minute speech to his pseudo-hometown crowd of Seattle, WA on RAW.

WWE doctors continually refused to clear Bryan for an in-ring return even in the face of multiple clearances from doctors commissioned personally by Bryan, who publicly stated that he adamantly wished to return to the ring and would even do so on the independent circuit if he could not get cleared by WWE; leading to speculation that this retirement was part of a kayfabe storyline.

After a large amount of mainstream media coverage; speculation began to fade and the reality of Bryan’s retirement sank in for professional wrestling fans. Daniel Bryan will no longer be an actively-performing WWE Superstar.

Check out this and other great articles on The History of Professional Wrestling!

As the reality sets in over Bryan Danielson's retirement, and those tears that so very many of us fought back during his speech last night on Raw fade, a moment happened where every one of us, from pro wrestler to production staff, pod casters to dirt sheet pundits, were in the same house for the first time in a long time. We were all collectively there attentively watching and sharing a moment about the sport of kings – its history and its legacy, its joys and its pains – and we did so because it is real to each and everyone of us on a level that sometimes we forget as we get lost in the minutia that gravitates around our passion to watch this sport grow and flourish. I get it. Hell, I'm guilty of it myself more often than not. But the takeaway is that we had a moment only equaled by Mike Quakenbush's speech about the state of the business, and how this art form remains in its infancy still. If this is true, (and the rule of thumb would suggest that it is where what wrestling was back in the 40's and 50's is not what it was in 80's and 90's, nor what it is evolving into in the 10's and 20's) how do we as a proactive (more often than not, hyperactive) community build from last night's moment moving forward?

1. Rebuild the territories

2. Incorporate or remove niche based wrestling

3. Return to the trade craft

4. Provide a narrative 

5. Continuity, Consistency, and Character Development

Rebuild The Territories: