We're often critical of certain professional wrestlers here at Cageside Seats and if you've been around long enough, it's likely you know those we've targeted the most frequently. Hulk Hogan is number one on the list, of course, but Triple H is a close second. There's a good reason for that and it's because we're not exactly fond of backstage political players who put themselves above others by any means necessary, often to the detriment of the business as a whole. There's no doubting Hogan and Trips are tops on the list in that respect.

But when it comes to skill inside the ring, we also do our best to simply call it like we see it. In the case of Hogan, he relied on his charisma, his opponent, and his ability to work a crowd to get through his matches. But the opposite holds true for Triple H. In fact, I would argue that from around early 1999 to May 20, 2001, "The Game" was one of the very best professional wrestlers in the entire world.

But it was on this date in WWE history (May 21) that that all changed.

Indeed, Triple H was in the midst of a run with Stone Cold Steve Austin after forming a tag team that came to be known as "The Two Man Power Trip." They were dominating the landscape of the company, at one point holding the tag team championships while Trips was the Intercontinental champion and Austin was the WWE champion.

Then, on one fateful night in 2001 on Monday Night Raw in San Jose, California, it all changed.

Triple H and Austin were booked to lose the tag titles to the team of Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, and the match itself was a 14 minute thriller that had the fans at the San Jose Arena going absolutely bonkers. To think, these four men were all basically in their prime with Austin probably showing the most signs of wear and tear. But even he was still special despite the limitations placed on him by his neck issues.

All was going swimmingly through the first 11 minutes of the match with all the usual tag team shenanigans. They perfectly set up a hot tag from Benoit to Jericho and Triple H to Austin and once that happened, "Y2J" came in and cleaned house. He sent "The Game" to the outside with a clothesline over the top rope and then reversed an Austin Lou Thesz press attempt into the Walls of Jericho.

That's when Triple H came back into the ring to make the save but awkwardly planted on his left leg while doing so and tore his quadriceps completely off the bone.

The severity of this injury cannot be overstated. Injuries like this have ended athletes careers and his eventual surgery and recovery time was eight long months. The saddest part of all this is that Triple H was simply never the same. Sure, he returned in 2002 and went on to wrestle for another 10 years. In fact, he's only semi-retired at present time, all these years later. But there's no denying that he's never quite gotten back to the level he was before his first quadriceps injury. I say first because he also tore his right quad in 2007. In both cases, he would go on to finish the match.

Perhaps that's the most impressive aspect of all this. After tearing his quadriceps following his saving Austin from Jericho's submission, Trips barely skipped a beat. He followed Jericho to the outside but he didn't simply crawl up in the corner to ride out the remainder of the match until medical personnel could attend to him. No, he put Jericho on the announce table and set up for the Pedrigee, the thought of his going through with which being absolutely cringe worthy with the benefit of hindsight.

And then the unthinkable.

Jericho actually reverses the Pedigree by grabbing Triple H's legs and dropping him to his back. He then turns "The Game" over and fully sits down, locking in the Walls of Jericho. It's painful just to watch this sequence knowing what we know now. And yet Triple H got back up yet again and grabbed his trusty sledgehammer to make one more run into the ring in an attempt to save Austin, who was just about to get finished off by Jericho. He ended up hitting "The Rattlesnake" when "Y2J" moved, leading to Benoit tackling Trips and sending him to the outside where he could finally, mercifully wait for assistance while Jericho got the pin on Austin to win the titles to a raucous ovation.

Watch the entire match below and marvel at how incredibly tough Triple H was to work through such an unbelievably painful and debilitating injury.

Note: The quad tear occurs at the 14:39 mark of the above video.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was back on pay-per-view (PPV) last night (May 20, 2012) with the Over the Limit event that took place at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

And, as expected, John Laurinaitis went over on John Cena thanks to Big Show returning and assisting the Raw and Smackdown General Manager. With the victory, "Ace" keeps his job and now Show is, presumably, back in good standing with the boss.

On top of that, CM Punk retained the WWE championship with an unclean victory over Daniel Bryan and Sheamus managed to overcome Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio to retain his world heavyweight championship.

In addition, Christian returned to win a battle royal and the Intercontinental championship in the same night with a clean pinfall win over Cody Rhodes. All that and more.

Enough with the results, though. If you want them in full, click here for the running live blog. You can also listen to King Combo, Grubtub and myself on the Cageside Live podcast gabbing after the show right here. Time to get to reactions, posted after the jump.

• The main event left a bad taste in my mouth. Not because of poor booking, because I think they absolutely did the right thing in having Cena dominate almost the entire match before Big Show returned to lay him out, but because it made me feel embarrassed to be a pro wrestling fan. I found myself wondering how I could ever justify to a fellow adult that I enjoy watching this product. It was silly and while silly isn't always a bad thing, when John Cena's involved, it seems to be. I know this because I imagined the exact same match but with Stone Cold Steve Austin in his place and you know what? I probably would have given him a pass and come up with a way to defend the position. Instead I felt ashamed to even be associated with it.
  
• Making the main event even worse was the freaking classic CM Punk put on with Daniel Bryan for the WWE championship. It's kind of funny to think of it this way but his WWE title is more like the old Intercontinental title. While the main event scene is clogged up with garbage like Cena and Laurinaitis feuding through silly stipulations, Punk is putting on three to four star matches on a consistent basis with nearly everyone he works with. Put him in the ring with Bryan and they put themselves in the running for "Match of the Year." He's become the workhorse champion, a guy busting his ass in every city and town he visits. Sure, his character is stale as shit with no flies buzzing around it but boy can he go once that bell rings.
  
• During the Cageside Live podcast after the show, King Combo, Grubtub and myself were unanimous in our dislike of the finish to the Punk vs. Bryan match. We just felt like they could have accomplished the same thing and done it clean. However, we're also unanimous in our desire to watch as many Punk vs. Bryan matches as possible and this particular finish leaves the door wide open for this feud to continue. Sign us up.
  
• I'm going to make sure to give some love to the Divas early in the reactions here because I think Beth Phoenix and Layla deserve accolades for their performance last night. If I were to rank each match on the card last night (hey, a column idea!) I'm not entirely sure they wouldn't come in fourth on a nine-match show. That's impressive for the ladies, especially considering how little time they're given. Layla screwed up her selling a time or two but I was entertained throughout. Can't ask for much more than that.
  
• The return of Christian was a sight for sore eyes and should provide a much needed shot in the arm to the mid-card of the roster. That said, I'm not sure I like the idea of Christian as a babyface Intercontinental champion. There are plenty of solid heels to feud with -- a program with Dolph Ziggler has me salivating at the thought -- but I always felt Christian worked better as a heel.
  
• It's not often that Fatal Four-Way matches are fluid but that's exactly what we were treated to last night when Sheamus, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio and Chris Jericho put together a damn good showing, much better than expected. One thing became painfully obvious in the process, though, at least to me -- Del Rio doesn't belong in this group. They can pass him off as a main eventer but that's all they would be doing -- passing him off. His inclusion here felt unnatural, which is rich when you consider the original plan was a singles match between he and Sheamus for the world heavyweight title. And while that match may have been just fine, the addition of Jericho and Orton made this a spectacular showdown that should hold up well upon repeated viewings.
  
• I also learned that Orton vs. Sheamus should be a pretty good program, all things considered.
  
• Ryback doesn't violently shake his head like Goldberg when he sells, he does it before the match to the tune of his entrance theme. I don't think there's a chance in hell he ever gets over in his current form, so WWE should get creative and turn him into a parody character. Nothing crazy like Brodus Clay but maybe a guy who starts getting playful by imitating monsters who squash jobbers every week. If done right, it could work. Besides, it couldn't get much worse than this, right?
• Speaking of The Funkasaurus, I reached another tipping point during his match with The Miz last night. Not only did I find myself eagerly awaiting the end of his segment, I actually sat and wondered what it was that drew me to him in the first place. There was literally a time when he was given a weekly post right here on Cageside. And call me a mark but I really think his lack of keeping up his catchphrases has hurt him. "My bad," "Should I get hymn," and "Sheeplex" all come to mind. Perhaps the thought process was that he should stop shouting such things out during matches so we would take him more seriously but the reality is we're never going to. Whatever. He is what he is and that's what he is, ya dig?
• Those black guys beat those white guys by high flying so the white guys could bump for the black guys while the loud screaming lady screamed on the outside. Still waiting on the results of that poll to name Kofi Kingston and R-Truth as a tag team.
  
• I really wanted David Otunga to win the battle royal and then beat Santino Marella to win the U.S. title. It would make sense, wouldn't it? He's a lackey for John Laurinaitis, the man in power who uses a presidential entrance theme. Why not put the U.S. title on him? It's not like Santino is doing anything special with it.
  
• Still love you, though, Santino.
  

Overall, this was a fairly good show with plenty of great wrestling that ultimately ended badly. Again, John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis was just a silly waste of time and had no business main eventing a PPV.

Still, I give Over the Limit 2012 a solid B.

That's it from me, though, Cagesiders. Now it's your turn to sound off in the comments section below with all your reactions the event last night. What was your grade?

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) returned to pay-per-view (PPV) last night (Sun., May 20, 2012) at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Over the Limit, a poorly promoted show that featured John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis in the main event.

And apparently the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and General Manager of Raw and Smackdown suffered multiple serious injuries during the match.

WWE.com has the word:

WWE.com has gotten word that Mr. Laurinaitis was rushed to the emergency room from Raleigh, N.C.'s PNC Arena, showing signs of a possible concussion, possible ACL damage to his knee and a possible spinal injury. To add to this litany of serious injuries, the executive also suffered contusions over his entire body and was said to have difficulty raising his left arm and left leg, which can indicate possible nerve damage. The General Manager may have also suffered a broken clavicle.

The article goes on to expressly state that none of those injuries are confirmed at this time, which is a convenient way to leave the door open for him to show up on Raw tonight none the worse for the wear.

Then again, he was selling pretty big for Cena and it's entirely possible he did indeed suffer a few injuries throughout the course of the match. As usual, take everything from WWE.com with a grain of salt and we'll keep you updated on Laurinaitis's status as the information becomes available.

For complete results and the running live blog from WWE Over the Limit 2012 click here.

WWE Over the Limit goes down tonight (May 20, 2012) and with that, we'll be doing another special edition of the Cageside Live podcast immediately after.

During the pay-per-view tonight, you can follow the play-by-play here manned by The General (that's me!), Geno, or you can check out Cageside's official twitter which will have King Combo at the helm. But once the show is over, you need, no, you MUST, get your butt to this page to listen to the live show. And hey, if you're on Skype, send a request to "cagesideseats" and we might even get you on the air.

Just remember to come back around 11:15 p.m. ET/10:15 p.m. CT for some post-RAW chatter. If you can't listen to us live, you can come right back to this post and listen later. You can also subscribe through iTunes or your favorite RSS feed application.

And, just as a fair warning, we are not rated PG like Raw. This thing is rated R, folks, so be ready for colorful language. Oh and this marks the return of King Combo and Grubtub to the podcast.

The goods are after the jump.

Editors note: As usual, when Sergio isn't around we have technical difficulties out the wazoo. So this one is broken into two parts. Both are embedded below, in order.

WWE Over the Limit is all set to pop off tonight (Sun., May 20, 2012) from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, at 8 p.m. ET, live on pay-per-view.

CagesideSeats.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, match-by-match coverage of Over the Limit below, beginning with the first match of the evening and right on through to the main event.

Tonight's show will feature the good old standby booking of "top babyface opposing heel authority figure" when John Cena takes on John Laurinaitis in the main event of the evening. The stipulations are so that if "Ace" loses, he'll be removed from his position as General Manager of both Raw and Smackdown and terminated from the company.

On the undercard, CM Punk defends the WWE championship against Daniel Bryan in a battle of indie brats. A Fatal Four-Way will determine who walks out with the world heavyweight championship, as Sheamus puts his strap up for grabs against Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio ... all at once!

Plus, a Divas title match and a tag team championship showdown.

So kick your shoes off, relax, and enjoy all the action with your favorite pro wrestling website. And remember to keep refreshing!

Full results and match coverage after the jump.

WWE OVER THE LIMIT 2012 QUICK RESULTS:

John Laurinaitis def. John Cena
CM Punk def. Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE championship
Sheamus def. Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio to retain the world heavyweight championship
Layla def. Beth Phoenix to retain the Divas championship
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth def. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger to retain tag team titles
Kane def. Zack Ryder
Christian wins "People's Power" Battle Royal
Christian def. Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental championship
Brodus Clay def. The Miz
Ryback def. Camacho

Geno here.

Broadcast is live.

People's Power Battle Royal

The battle royal is already up and running and guys are flying out like crazy. Heath Slater is gone. JTG is out. Yoshi Tatsu gets sent out by Drew McIntyre and looks like he injured his ankle.

Out goes Ezekial Jackson. Now an Uso is sent flying out. They're going fast and furious here, folks.

Drew McIntyre is tossed by Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins. They then get sent out by Great Khali, who also tosses Alex Riley out. I see Christian, Miz, David Otunga, William Regal, Darren Young, an Uso, Titus O'Neil and a few more.

Khali is tossed by Young and O'Neil together. Not long after, O'Neil is superkicked out by the remaining Uso.

Santino Marella and Cody Rhodes are sitting ringside watching the proceedings, by the way.

Uso is sent out by Young and we're down to seven guys left.

William Regal is tossed and we're down to six now. Alex Riley hits Young with a dropkick and he screws up bumping his way out and clearly botches the ensuing send off. Nonetheless, he's out.

Miz sends Riley out and we're down to the final four. Miz, Tyson Kidd, Otunga, and Christian.

Kidd does a few cool spots but this whole thing looks really telegraphed. He ends up knocked out by Otunga and we're down to just three. I wouldn't mind seeing Otunga or Christian win here. Looks like they're going to set up Christian as the babyface by having Miz and Otunga team up against him.

Christian is gamely battling through this double team and getting over with the crowd in the process. They tease Otunga sending him out but he gets tossed instead. Miz tries to capitalize and send Christian out but he can't get it. They take turns teasing finishers and neither man hits.

Christian ends up out on the apron and he almost sends Miz out via throwing him from there but Miz hangs on. So Christian hits a spear from between the ropes that sends Miz out and both feet hit the floor. He gets to challenge someone and he appears to gesture towards Marella and the U.S. title.

Christian wins "People's Power" Battle Royal

We get the usual PPV open now and they run the big promo for Cena vs. Laurinaitis. Fireworks and the intro from Michael Cole.

Tag team title match up next.

Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

Sincerest apologies, Cagesiders. I missed this entire match due to unforeseen circumstances at home. From what I can gather, it was a fairly basic tag match with plenty of near falls and tag psychology, with good bumping from all parties. In the end, the babyfaces retained after the Trouble in Paradise.

Kofi Kingston and R-Truth def. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger to retain tag team titles

Time for the Divas title match.

Layla vs. Beth Phoenix

They work a fast pace to start and that leads to a few ugly looking spots. Layla is working well on her knee, though. Phoenix powers her around and drops her from the second rope. Layla sells her knee and Beth starts working it over.

Psychology from the Divas. That's good to see.

The only thing that sucks about this is Layla's screams are blood curdling. And highly annoying. Nonetheless, Phoenix continues working the knee. Half crab now and the crowd is just dead for this.

Layla finally counters with a DDT that looked really ugly. She crawls over and looks for the pin but can't get it. Beth takes her over to the corner and they set up a spot with Beth countering Layla with a Glam Slam attempt but Layla rolls through for a pin. After a one count, Beth rolls her and gets two.

They switch out again and Layla hits a neckbreaker that gets the pin.

Layla def. Beth Phoenix to retain the Divas championship

Backstage and Randy Orton and Chris Jericho do a promo. Jericho continues pushing the best in the world narrative while Orton continues acting stiffly and speaking in that monotone voice.

World heavyweight championship match up next.

Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio

Individual introductions are given to each man after entrances. Orton gets a huge pop. Time for the big clusterfuck.

Sheamus sends Del Rio out early while Orton sends Jericho out leading to a staredown and walk around from the two babyfaces of the match. They never get the chance to lock up, though, as the heels come back in to restart the brawls they had going before.

Once again, though, Sheamus and Orton send them out and get back to the ring to set up their big showdown. They start brawling this time with neither man getting the edge. They go back and forth and Sheamus gets a knee off the ropes to put Orton down.

The champion in control now but he goes to run the ropes and Jericho shows up to pull the ropes down and out goes Sheamus. Now Del Rio is back in and the heels team up to work over Orton while Sheamus sells on the outside after Jericho sent him into the barricade for good measure.

With Orton incapacitated, the heels go out to work on Sheamus. They target the shoulder, which isn't taped this time, and start tossing him into the announce desk. They head back into the ring but Orton counters their attack and regains control for a short period. Of course, because it's two on one, the heels stifle the comeback attempt.

It's not long, though, before the forged friendship is broken on the first pinfall attempt. Del Rio puts Jericho down with a backbreaker while Orton recovers enough to send ADR out. This turns into Orton and Jericho getting their turn front and center while Del Rio and Sheamus sell on the outside.

Orton and Jericho go to the top and get sent out by Sheamus, who is now back in. Now it's Sheamus and Del Rio's turn to do work in the ring while the other two sell on the outside.

Fatal Four-Way's, folks. This is how they work.

After some chaos, we end up with teased finishers galore but it's Del Rio who locks in the Cross Armbreaker on Orton. He's in it for a solid 30 seconds before Jericho comes running in to make the save. Jericho tries to hit the Lionsault but Del Rio gets his legs up.

Suddenly, more chaos as everyone's in the ring hitting spots. Sheamus reverses the RKO into the roll up he used to win on Smackdown but this time Orton kicks out.

Now Orton has Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez set up for the draping DDT. He hits and goes for the pin but Del Rio kicks out.

Jericho in and he hits the Codebreaker on Orton, who rolls out of the ring. Del Rio screams "DESTINY" and locks in the Cross Armbreaker on Jericho but he turns it over into the Walls of Jericho. Crowd is hot for this match.

Here comes Sheamus looking for the Brogue Kick and Jericho ducks while still holding Del Rio in the Walls of Jericho. He hits the Codebreaker on Sheamus but the ensuing pin only gets two.

Holy hell, this got good in a hurry.

Jericho again rolls through, this time on Sheamus, and he locks in the Walls of Jericho. Sheamus doesn't tap and in comes Orton hits the RKO. He tries for the pin but Del Rio comes in to break it up. He gets hit by the RKO but Sheamus nails the Brogue Kick.

Jericho suddenly pops in for a roll up but Sheamus kicks out! He gets up and hits Jericho with the White Noise slam and that gets the pin.

Awesome match.

Sheamus def. Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio and Chris Jericho to retain the world heavyweight championship

Backstage and Eve is talking with Cody Rhodes. He's kissing ass and talking up John Laurinaitis. Says Christian can legitimize the U.S. title now but it's a good thing he didn't pick Rhodes because he would have embarrassed him.

Christian shows up behind him and Christian says Rhodes is full of crap and he changed his mind. Now he'll be facing Rhodes tonight for the Intercontinental title.

Miz's music hits and I guess he'll work a second match tonight. He comes out with a mic and his "really?!?" schtick gets a great response from the crowd, who mock him right along with it.

He starts cutting a promo on Brodus Clay, so I guess they're continuing this little rivalry.

Oh dear god. Miz says he's not only the most must-see wrestler in the world today but he's also the best dancer and he'll prove it right now. He starts dancing around -- looks like he's doing Thriller by Michael Jackson -- and gets a good reaction for it before Clay's music cuts him off.

Oh this is a disaster already. Clay tries to intro the ladies but Miz's music is still playing so we can't really hear him. It doesn't stop until Clay's music starts.

The Miz vs. Brodus Clay

Once again, The Funkasaurus has new tights. These are black and orange with Funkasaurus across the stomach. Miz tries to use speed to get an early edge but Clay is just physically dominating him. Miz even walks up and slaps him in the face but this just leads to the "Dino Mad, Dino Must Destroy" act.

They let Miz get a bit of offense in but Clay is doing his usual thing here.

They go to the outside and Miz reverses Clay into the ring post, which leads to Michael Cole remarking -- "Folks, we've got a wounded dinosaur."

Not even kidding.

They go inside and Miz has control now. He hits a few spots before a pinfall attempt gets less than a two count. Not long after, Brodus makes his comeback with all the usual moves. Oh dear, now he's hitting the suplex from the second rope. He hits the Dino Splash after to get the pin.

Brodus Clay def. The Miz

In come the kids and they're dancing around in the ring, as is the usual case with Clay matches now.

Now they show Hawkins and Reks taking signs from people that talk poorly of of Laurinaitis and People Power. I wonder how many of these guys are plants.

Time for the Intercontinental title match.

Cody Rhodes vs. Christian

Rhodes comes out first and cuts a promo on the fans in attendance saying he's a better man for not having grown up around them. He's also a better man than Christian and he'll prove it here.

As WWE hoped, Christian got a solid babyface response.

Rhodes takes control early and he's working like he's absolutely pissed that he's even being made to have a match tonight. Rhodes with a mean streak? Yes, please.

Christian comes back to send Cody outside and hits a diving kick through the ropes. Rhodes wasn't in the right spot for it and they nearly missed badly but they made up for it quickly. Christian followed to the outside and Rhodes sent him into the steel steps before tossing him back in the ring to work on him there.

They battle back and forth and Christian hits Rhodes with a superplex. They both lay out selling and Rhodes gets up first just to run into a roll up attempt. It gets a short two. Christian then screams like a wild banshee before sending Rhodes to the outside while following him out over the top rope.

That was awesome.

He tries to get the crowd into it by clapping them into a frenzy but it doesn't go well. This is a cool down match and the crowd is playing the part.

Christian looks for a tornado DDT but Rhodes sends him flying. He then hits a moonsault off the top rope but it only gets a two count. Rhodes starts screaming at everyone and says he's "better than all these idiots."

This, of course, leads to Christian hitting the Killswitch to win the match and the belt.

Christian def. Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental championship

Backstage for an interview with Punk. Looks like he's the co-main event ... again.

They replay Smackdown from Friday night where Bryan cost Punk the match and set it up to where he caught a beatdown from Kane.

Instead of opening up with Bryan talk, he says he's smiling at the fact that John Laurinaitis will be out of a job tonight. Sigh. He goes on to say that he's going to give the fans a great match with Bryan and blah blah.

AJ shows up and says the match will be a lot of fun to watch. "Good luck, Punk."

Time for the WWE championship match.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan

Word on the street is Punk will do a tribute to Randy Savage tonight. Nothing so far. Individual introductions for both men. The crowd really hot for both guys, doing the YES chants for Bryan and popping for Punk when called upon.

Punk opens with leg kicks and Bryan checks two of them while laughing. Bryan sends one Punk's way and he doesn't check it but brushes it off after it hits.

Then they tie up and Bryan hits a shoulder block after running the ropes. The crowd starts getting into it with duel chants.

DAN-IEL BRYAN!

C-M PUNK!

Bryan's name is coming from a lower pitch, meaning the adults in the crowd are on his side. That means Punk has the younger crowd, of course, and I'm just not sure how to feel about that.

Meanwhile in the ring, Punk has control. He works over Bryan's left leg while pausing to scream "YES!" at him.

Bryan battles back and he works strong style with big elbows from on top. Punk gets out and gets control back via holding onto the ropes and letting Bryan miss a dropkick. He hits a big move with Bryan's legs tied up, like a leg cross curb stomp in the center of the ring.

Once Bryan regains control, he locks in that awesome looking submission that I have no idea the name of. Punk gets back but Bryan takes over again and lands a diving headbutt.

These two are using a lot of moves we wouldn't normally see otherwise.

Double cross body hits to put both guys down for a rest. Once they get back up, they pick up the pace and it's Punk hitting clotheslines. Then the swinging neckbreaker. He misses the high knee in the corner but hits a scoop slam for a two count.

Oddly enough, they've got Cole on commentary acknowledging the wide held fan belief that these two were never supposed to make it to this point, battling it out for the WWE title at a pay-per-view.

Meanwhile, Punk hits a suicide dive on the outside. He goes for a clothesline off the top but Bryan hits him with a dropkick in mid-air.

Bryan breaks out the YES kicks but on the last one, Punk counters and locks in the Figure Four. They start shoot slapping the shit out of each other, shades of Bas Rutten vs. Frank Shamrock. They trade near falls and a ton of fast spots that I hardly keep up with. A big kick to the skull from Bryan gets him a two count.

This is living up to the hype. The crowd starts chanting, "This is awesome."

Bryan pulls down his knee pad and hits Punk with knees in the corner. He goes to climb up but Punk racks him on the ropes before hitting a clothesline off them. The ensuing pinfall attempt gets two and Punk pleads with the referee.

Once again, they start getting up and shoot hitting each other. Multiple kicks miss and Punk almost gets the GTS but Bryan rolls into a pinfall attempt that gets two.

Bryan looks to grab the YES Lock but Punk gets out and hits a huge head kick. Punk hits the flying elbow but not before winking at the sky. That must have been the tribute to Macho, nice and subtle.

I dig that.

They get back into it and Bryan gets the YES Lock. Punk reverses by rolling over and as he does, Bryan's shoulders are down so the referee counts three to give Punk the win. However, immediately after the three, Punk starts tapping. This leaves Bryan livid and shaking his head in the middle of the ring lamenting his loss.

CM Punk def. Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE championship

They go backstage and Eve and Otunga run into Teddy Long. He says he could see them being terminated tonight if Laurinaitis loses.

Here comes another cool down match. Hunico's music hits and the crowd doesn't even know him. He's not even in the match, his buddy on the bike is.

Camacho vs. Ryback

This squash is brought to you by steroids. They'll make you comically large with a really tiny head.

No different than Goldberg or Clay or Tensai, they're working Ryback into a groove in terms of selling a bit more and more for each match. He sold a bit more for this one but ultimately, he got the pin in short order.

The highlight of the match was the crowd chanting Goldberg at him.

Ryback def. Camacho

On his way out, Ryback kicks Hunico's bicycle and generally looks like a psychotic piece of wacko.

Main event time.

John Laurinaitis vs. John Cena

Laurinaitis doesn't have the heat I thought he would but Cena gets a damn good reaction.

"Ace" is going to wrestle in a body suit looking deal that Cena can't stop laughing at. God, this already feels like a cheesy mess that I don't want to see.

As soon as the bell rings, Laurinaitis tires to run away but Cena chases him down and catches a kick before a big clothesline.

Cena brings his shirt up before smacking "Ace" on his chest. He does the same on his back while the commentary crew does their fake laughing routine. Immediately, Cena picks up Laurinaitis for the Attitude Adjustment. Instead of hitting it, he drops "Ace" and he gets up all dizzy before falling out of the ring.

Sigh.

This is so dumb.

Cena grabs the ring bell and hits it right next to "Ace's" ear. Now he's working Laurinaitis over by smashing his head into each one of the announce tables. He's just doing what he wants with him. He puts him in the announce chairs and they put the mics on and Cena tells a few bad jokes.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

Cena sends him back into the ring and Laurinaitis begs from his knees for Cena to shake his hand. The crowd doesn't want Cena to do it and he plays to them before smacking "Ace" in the face. He then hits a body slam and an elbow before going out to get a microphone.

He gets in the ring and grabs a leg before saying he's come up with an idea. He's about to put Laurinaitis in the STF. If he taps out, he's fired. But he'll let go of the hold if he can last 10 seconds. But in the good name of People Power, the fans can help count along.

So he locks it in and the fans count to 10. Laurinaitis survives the first one. So Cena does it again and "Ace" makes it a second time.

Cena says he's exhausted and could use a drink, so he goes out to get a water. He takes a drink and says Laurinaitis also looks parched, so maybe he should bring him a drink. They give him three bottles and Cena proceeds to dump them on Laurinaitis.

Dumbest shit I've ever seen, ever.

Oh, on the last one, Cena dumps the water down Laurinaitis' pants. Booker T on commentary -- "That's shrinkage."

Cena then gets under the ring and grabs a fire extinguisher. He teases using it a few times before going ahead and doing so. To the outside they go and Cena continues looking for new and interesting ways to embarrass Laurinaits, himself and the pro wrestling business.

He finds a big trash can and dumps it on Laurinaitis before punching it while it's over Laurinaitis' head.

"Ace" gets up and almost manages to get out of dodge but Cena catches him. Laurinaitis then actually hits his arm and that causes Cena to stop short. Instead of running, though, he sees Cena hurt and decides to stick around to inflict more damage.

Cena sells his arm, which was supposed to be hurt anyway. Laurinaitis tosses him in the ring and grabs a chair before following in. He drills Cena a few times before attempting a pin but it only gets two.

He goes for another but Cena catches it and drills him. This leads to the Five Knuckle Shuffle with chair in hand. A low blow from "Ace" gives him time to try to escape again and this time Cena isn't even getting up to try to chase him. He's deep into the arena now but going super slow, presumably so Cena can catch up to him.

Surprisingly, Cena stays in the ring and Laurinaitis escapes to the back behind a curtain. Cole says this must mean it's a no contest and Laurinaitis keeps his job. Cena is alone in the ring and suddenly Big Show comes out with Laurinaitis in hand. Cole is livid, screaming that "he was fired!" Booker says he bought a ticket so it's all good. Yeah, all good that he's in the back with him.

Show gets in the ring and brings Laurinaitis in with him. "Ace tries to escape again but Show stops him. He runs into Show and he grabs him by the throat. Laurinaitis begs for mercy and Show throws him over to Cena, who picks him up for the AA. It's then that Show hits Cena with the WMD and Booker T asks, "What the hell just happened."

There's the Show heel turn.

Show watches as Laurinaitis slowly crawls over to a knocked out Cena. "Ace" turns Cena over and the referee counts to three.

John Laurinaitis def. John Cena

Show picks up Laurinaitis and holds his hand high.

The commentary is putting this over as one of the worst moments in history.

That's it.

End.

WWE Over the Limit goes live on pay-per-view tonight (Sun., May 20, 2012) at 8 p.m. ET from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, but WWE is also offering a free live stream of its pre-show at 7:30 p.m. ET.

In what would have been the dark match of the evening, fans can now tune in to see Kane squash Zack Ryder again. Or at least that's the assumed outcome, seeing as we've seen it happen about 678 times before this match. But at least this is a rare bit of continuity from WWE, with these two doing separate stories after their initial issues before coming back to settle up.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. ET so remember to come back and join us then.

See you tonight, Cagesiders.

Just hours before World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is set to pop off with its latest pay-per-view event, Over the Limit tonight (Sun., May 20, 2012) at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, a match has been added to the card.

Actually, two matches have.

That's because WWE sent out word via its text messaging service that a "People's Power" battle royal will be held with the winner receiving a shot at either Santino Marella and the U.S. championship or Cody Rhodes and the Intercontinental championship later in the night.

No details were given on who exactly will be involved in the battle royal, though you can expect it to be a jobber's delight. Check out the updated Over the Limit match card after the jump.

WWE OVER THE LIMIT 2012 MATCH CARD

-- John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis
-- CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan
-- Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho
-- Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger
-- Layla vs. Beth Phoenix
-- 'People's Power' Battle Royal
-- Cody Rhodes or Santino Marella vs. TBA
-- Kane vs. Zack Ryder

From Diva-Dirt.com (transcription via PWTorch.com):

"It was actually pretty recent. Brie and I just decided that we needed a little bit of a break. When you've been on the road for five years, haven't seen your bed for five days straight, we kind of came to a point like, maybe we can rest our bodies for a little bit. ... Brie and I -- when our contracts were coming to an end -- we kind of both looked at each other one day and were like, 'I'm exhausted.' And, she was like, ‘I'm exhausted.' We were like, 'Let's take a break.' ... We just looked at each other one day and we were just tired. We were really tired and sore. We were like, 'Okay, let's do this.' It was scary."

This is nothing new in the pro wrestling business, at least not for performers working under the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) banner. Vince McMahon is a well known madman who works nearly 365 days a year. That, by itself, isn't exactly a big deal but he generally expects those he employs to work as hard as he does.

Obviously, that's impossible.

In the case of the Bella twins, Nikki and Brie, it must be doubly frustrating because there was a great deal of time when they weren't being used on either Raw or Smackdown. In fact, there were reports that McMahon personally chewed out the creative team for not writing enough storylines for them. Take that with a grain of salt but shortly after the reports came out, they were on TV with actual segments devoted to them.

They left in relatively good standing with the company. They weren't buried on their way out of the company and, in fact, Nikki was given a very brief run with the Divas championship just before they exited. As for a return to the company they admitted that could happen sooner rather than later.

Hang tight, Cagesiders, they'll be back before you know it.

Breaking news, Cagesiders, and I'll let you determine whether or not it's good.

As tweeted by John Cena, World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) flagship program, Monday Night Raw, will be moving to three hours starting with episode number 1,000 on July 23, 2012.

Here's a bit from the WWE.com article:

WWE is proud to celebrate this historic milestone with our partners at USA Network," WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon said. "Our new three-hour Raw represents the next generation in interactive television where our fans won't just watch the show, they will help create it."

Starting with the historic 1,000th episode of Raw on July 23, The WWE Universe will have new ways to get involved in the show through WWE.com and social media by deciding matches, stipulations, Superstar development and more.

"The WWE Universe is one of the most socially active and passionate fan bases in all of television," Chris McCumber and Jeff Wachtel, co-presidents USA Network, said. "The powerful three-hour block of live TV truly makes USA the year-round destination for young male viewers on Monday nights."

Thoughts on this, Cagesiders?

It took a while but Forbes finally smells what The Rock is cooking.

That's because "The Great One" was included on the list of the 100 most powerful celebrities, coming in at number 70. He's listed at an income of $36 million thanks to both his work in Hollywood in major motion pictures and his World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ventures.

You know, like headlining the highest grossing WrestleMania of all time this past April 1 in Miami, Florida.

Here are Rock's rankings in each Forbes category listed on its website:

Money rank - 51
TV/Radio rank - 84
Press rank - 72
Web rank - 83
Social rank - 29

Forbes also ran an entire article calling Rock a "franchise saver" thanks to his playing a part in resurrecting the Fast and Furious series as well as Journey to the Center of the Earth and G.I. Joe. Producers are also lining up to book him in blockbuster action films, a career move he decided to make once switching management teams.

That was also the catalyst for getting him back into the pro wrestling ring. His ex-wife Dany now heads up his career and the philosophy of old -- to get him as far away from his old image as possible, which led to such films as The Game Plan and The Tooth Fairy -- has been replaced by the new philosophy of embracing his image in WWE and leveraging it against his Tinseltown aspirations.

So far, it's worked out quite well for all involved.

Hear from The Rock himself after the jump.