What's this? A high ranking WWE executive/wrestler calling Ultimate Warrior a "Hall of Fame superstar in the business?" And it's Triple H, of all people?

Indeed, in a recent interview with the LA Times, "The Game" was asked if he would ever sign Warrior to a deal just so he could squash him like Warrior did to him at WrestleMania 12 back in 1996. His response was somewhat surprising, to say the least.

"It's funny, a lot of people bring that up in a negative way like it was this terrible thing in my life. While working with him personally wasn't the highlight of my life from a business standpoint, for me to go to my first WrestleMania and wrestle a legendary figure in the business -- and that is what he was and is -- like the Ultimate Warrior, a Hall of Fame superstar in the business in my first WrestleMania appearance, squash or not, was a mind blowing thing for me. I was thrilled to be in that position and to have that match with the Ultimate Warrior. I was thrilled with the fact that at that time Vince McMahon was willing to put me in that role. The Ultimate Warrior wasn't there till the day of the show, so I had to do all the promotion for that match. I wanted Vince McMahon to look at me as a guy he could count on to handle the return of a guy that he was hoping would be a huge impact on the business. He had the trust in me and I would do a good job with it. So to me, that was nothing but a good experience. Potentially, I could bring him back and get the win."

Not only was Triple H squashed at WrestleMania, he had an upcoming push halted thanks to the infamous "Curtain Call" incident at Madison Square Garden a few months later. He was unceremoniously buried as punishment for breaking kayfabe as a way to send Kevin Nash and Scott Hall off to WCW to form the nWo alongside Shawn Michaels, who couldn't be punished because of his position in the company at that time. (Thanks to Cageside readers for pointing out an earlier error.)

"The Game" recovered, eventually, and became one of the biggest stars in the history of the business. Certainly a far bigger star than Warrior, at least when considering his ability to sustain his success in comparison to the relatively short run of fame Warrior enjoyed in his heyday.

Nonetheless, it's somewhat surprising to see WWE openly acknowledge Warrior as a Hall of Fame level superstar when they released an entire DVD just to bury the guy. Then again, it's entirely possible Triple H was being overly complimentary to make his loss not look as bad. Never underestimate this man's ego, folks.

The hype ends tonight and now is the time for action!!! Dragon Gate USA is set to present Open The Ultimate Gate 2012 on live iPPV at www.WWNLive.com for just $1.99 at 8pm EST. tonight. We also have a great coupon for fans attending the live event in Miami at the bottom of this email.

The $1.99 price is a once-in-a-lifetime offer. We are very proud of DGUSA and we want you to sample it. Please note the $1.99 price is for the live showing only at 8pm EST. We also have tonight's iPPV available at the regular $14.99 price, which will also get you the On Demand version to watch as many times as you want forever.

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Video and full card after the jump.

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One of the reported condition's of CM Punk's new contract he signed with WWE back at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in July 2011 was that he would get his very own tour bus to travel around in. In the above video, Punk gives us a tour of said bus, which is actually not as decked out as one might imagine. Still, it's a fine looking bus and would make all that time on the road a lot easier to handle.

Leave it to WWE to be the one to hop on board for a reboot of the Leprechaun movie.

The original film, released all the way back in 1993, became somewhat of a cult hit as a goofy horror flick that featured Jennifer Aniston in her first role. Now, all these years later, Hornswoggle will make his film debut in the movie that is set for a 2013 release.

From the WWE.com story:

As first reported by Variety, WWE Studios is joining forces with Lionsgate for a two-film slate, the first of which will be a reboot of the hit "Leprechaun" franchise. "Leprechaun: Origins" will star WWE's own mischievous Superstar Hornswoggle making his feature film debut, proving the old adage that there truly are no small parts, only small actors. A writer or director has yet to be announced.

The comedic horror series got its start in 1993, and starred Warwick Davis in the titular role. It also launched the career of "Friends" megastar Jennifer Aniston in her first major part. Five sequels followed, creating a cult favorite series. The formidable tag team of Lionsgate and WWE Studios - the same pairing responsible for "See No Evil" starring Kane and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's "The Condemned" - will share production costs and the development of marketing strategies for the relaunched franchise. Lionsgate will lead the distribution efforts.

WWE Studios should always be teaming up with top entertainment companies like Lionsgate for its films but does anyone really want to see another Leprechaun movie?

Are you Cagesiders planning to hit the theater when this bad boy comes to a silver screen near you?

Lovers of all things Stephanie McMahon (like me), rejoice!

On this date in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) history, the billion-dollar princess transformed herself from Daddy's little girl to most powerful women's champion in all of pro wrestling and perhaps of all time.

Think I'm kidding?

You don't need to be good on the stick, or know how to tell a story inside the ring -- so long as your dad is the Edward Longshanks of professional wrestling. You can win the title whenever you want, for whatever reason you want, by telling creative to make it so.

Her being a fantastic on-screen character was just an added bonus.

And so, On March 30, 2000, Mrs. Helmsley (with the assistance of D-Generation X) pinned Jacquelyn to win the women's championship. While it was hardly anything to write home about, the ensuing brawl, which emptied the locker room (and prompted "King Lawler's" hilarious one liners like "Big Red Retard") was a lot of fun.

See it all go down, after the jump.

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Oh, this flirtation is so maddeningly intriguing.

CM Punk has made no secret of the fact that he wishes to have a match with pro wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin, particularly at WrestleMania 29 next year in New Jersey. In fact, the two were exchanging tweets just days ago to that effect.

Now, in a recent Q&A with his Twitter followers, Austin was asked once again whether he would be willing to come back and have a match with Punk. His response:

"Would I? Maybe. If all the stars lined up and everything was good for him, good for me, good for WWE. I'd like to imagine it wouldn't take me over 30-35 minutes to whoop his ass. That's all I got to say about that, thanks for the question. And don't you go piping in CM Punk ... because you're a punk."

Austin has a smart mind for the business and knows he's in a solid position here. If Vince McMahon wants to bring him back for WrestleMania 29 next year, he will have to come with the right offer. And considering the fact that The Rock made his return for a match this year and made a ton of money doing it, I imagine it won't be cheap to get "The Rattlesnake" to dust off his tights.

That's not the only consideration, of course. Austin also understands he needs to come back to the right feud with the right guy in the right place and at the right time to make it all work. That's a tall order, all things considered, but could be worth it if it means one more big money match from quite possibly the most popular WWE superstar of all time.

Time is running out to make this happen. Stone Cold will be 48-years-old by the time WrestleMania 29 rolls around next year. If he's going to get one last match out of those tired bones, it needs to happen soon.

After the jump, check out the complete video of Austin's Q&A, which includes a fascinating story of him recounting the biggest blown spot of his career, which happened against Triple H.

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The best in the world.

That's what is at stake when WWE Champion CM Punk puts his title on the line against Chris Jericho this Sunday (April 1) at WrestleMania 28 in Miami.

Punk has been claiming the moniker since last summer, when he challenged John Cena for the title at Money in the Bank. He won the match and infamously blew a kiss to Vince McMahon as he absconded out of the venue with the belt in tow.

Since then, he's run afoul of Kevin Nash, Alberto Del Rio and Triple H, championed the old school WWF ice cream bars and lost and regained the title he has spent his entire career searching for.

Jericho, on the other hand, has been dancing with the stars and playing rock star since he was last seen inside a WWE ring. When he returned, amidst much fanfare and spooky dooky videos, he promised to bring upon the end of the world. Many felt this meant winning the 2012 Royal Rumble and challenging Punk for his title at WrestleMania 28.

But it was Sheamus who would emerge the victor in the annual battle royal and Jericho was forced to enter the Elimination Chamber in hopes of becoming WWE Champion. When a devastating kick from Punk knocked Jericho out of the match, he entered a battle royal on Raw to decide who would challenge "The Straight Edge Messiah" at WrestleMania. Why Jericho would lose one battle royale only to win a second to earn the title shot is baffling but none the less, here we are.

So who walks out of Miami as WWE Champion?

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Wrestlemania dead week continues. As it has with the above episode of Superstars, It's already struck at Monday's Raw and yesterday's NXT and will continue to do so with tomorrow's Smackdown.

WWE is completely on auto-pilot going into WrestleMania 28 weekend which is understandable considering how big the event is promising to be. The return to singles competition for The Rock who takes on John Cena, a Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and The Undertaker plus both world titles being up for grabs.

All that pretty much puts everything else -- especially shows like Superstars -- on the backburner. Regardless, Justin Gabriel goes one-on-one against Tyson Kidd and Heath Slater collides with Alex Riley.

Enjoy, Cagesiders.

If you had told me The Rock would be making at least an appearance at three consecutive WrestleMania shows, starting at 27 and ending at 29 with two actual wrestling matches in there, I would have called you a liar. Or crazy. Or a crazy liar.

What I wouldn't have done is believed you but we now know it to be true. Rock made his return to WWE (or made another one) last year for WrestleMania 27 to set up a match at this year's WrestleMania 28 against John Cena, which airs this Sun., April 1, 2012, from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, on pay-per-view.

Not only that, but he's committed to wrestling at next year's WrestleMania 29, as well. Or at least making another appearance.

It's interesting to note that it wasn't that long ago that Rock would do interviews on talk shows as simply Dwayne Johnson, his given name, and shun his former WWE moniker in an attempt to move forward with a new career with as much distance as possible from his former life as a professional wrestler.

So why the sudden change and renewed commitment, enough to have him doing matches at Survivor Series and multiple WrestleManias? In his latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Metlzer dishes the dirt:

One of the reasons Rock is doing more pro wrestling is that he's changed his management team. His old team looked at him as Dwayne Johnson and wanted to get him away from thought of as The Rock. His new team is headed by ex-wife Dany Garcia, as well as business manager Howard Altman of the William Morris Agency and the PR firm Rogers & Cowan. Garcia gave up her former Wealth Management Business in Miami to become the full-time manager and CEO of Team Rock, with Johnson listed as the CEO, with the goal of instead embracing The Rock name, which means using it in the movies and keeping it alive with pro wrestling. After WrestleMania, Johnson will be doing "Hercules: The Thracian Wars," "Pain and Gain," "Empire State" and "Fast Six," which isn't going to leave much down time for pro wrestling. He would likely only do SummerSlam if he does anything else this year, before next year's Mania, which is he committed to. Johnson and Garcia are also going to develop their own movies and TV projects in a new company called 7 Bucks Entertainment. That 7 Bucks Entertainment name is based on the fact that when Johnson signed his first WWF contract in 1996 after his career as a football player ended, he had $7 to his name. Johnson said he's been wanting to produce shows for a long time.

Now that's just downright logical. And the timing is good, too, considering he took enough time away from the business to truly make a name for himself in Hollywood before returning to interweave the two to create one big crossover megastar.

And we can all thanks his ex-wife for it.

Their strategy is a good one insomuch as using Rock's star power to bolster WrestleMania shows without having to expose him to too much time on the road doing Raw and running the house show circuit. Sure, it may cause some resentment with "the boys" in the locker room but this is one of the biggest stars in the history of the business. There isn't much any of them can say or do about it.

Other than take his spot themselves, which doesn't appear to be happening.

The other reason this is a good thing is because Rock isn't selfish. I'm not suggesting he doesn't have an ego, not by any stretch of the imagination, but simply saying he was one of the few major champions to put guys over when he was in a position to. And it's likely what he's going to do again this Sunday against Cena and probably next year, too, if he actually wrestles.

There's no denying "The Great One" has done a damn good job of playing his role, which has been to make Cena look better. Whether or not that's how it's been received is a different story but Rock has been doing the right thing here, jealous backstage politicians be damned.

And by the sounds of it, we can expect more of the same in the future. Good or bad thing? You decide, Cagesiders.

The Miz vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 27 is discussed by Jason Mann and K Sawyer Paul of International Object. After some jokes about what a mat classic this is, they talk about what went wrong and what right in their feud and this match, the Rock's involvement and how his return shook up WWE, the tone of Miz's and Cena's entrances and what they said about their characters, some about the Cena-Rock feud heading into WrestleMania 28, and much more.

Download and enjoy this episode of the Wrestlespective podcast (right click and save as). If you want to hear more, then please consider subscribing to Wrestlespective on iTunes.