photo credit: THQ.com

Unlike the Kitana-costume-donning AJ Lee, whose 10 most beloved video games were featured on Monday, Kofi Kingston hasn’t made any big shout-outs to gaming culture on WWE programming. But much like Lee, Kingston is dedicated to the medium and was totally down to write and rank his favorite games before doing a countdown interview a while back. “The top 10 list is a big deal, so you didn’t have to ask me twice,” says the resident king of resourceful Royal Rumble spots.

Kingston’s life with video games began with the 1987 Commodore 64 title Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior. As a console player, he’s run the gamut. At first, his loyalty was strictly with Nintendo (he despised Sega), but his allegiance began to wobble when the SNES version of Mortal Kombat hit and substituted blood for sweat. Later, he was a fan of the original PlayStation. When he and Zack Ryder were going through developmental together, Ryder’s mom got her son an Xbox 360. Since Ryder wasn’t really into video games, Kingston bought the barely used 360 for a song and soon became an Xbox guy. Currently, he owns all three major consoles plus, as an episode of WWE’s YouTube series Superstar Toyz indicated, a 125-games-in-one arcade cabinet. “I guess that’d be pretty hardcore if you had to put a tag on it,” he says.

As of this writing, Kingston has disappointingly been given nothing to do for WrestleMania 29 on Sunday. If he doesn’t get a last-minute slot, this will mark the first WrestleMania without a Kofi match on the card since he debuted in WWE in 2008. Seeing as how he could especially use some love right now, let’s hand off the reins to everyone’s favorite ex-Jamaican to hear his ballot.

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What you see above (with a hat tip to the entire Internet at once, and a specific hat tip from me to John Canton) is the still-in-progress set for Sunday’s WrestleMania 29 event at MetLife Stadium. Yes, that’s the Statue of Liberty. The actual one, I hope. And yes, that’s the Empire State Building. It’s very important to WWE that everyone knows their New Jersey WrestleMania is taking place in New York City.

I’ll be attending this event live, just like last year. The good news (so far) is that the Empire State Building is way in the back and the Statue of Liberty is on TOP of everything, and as of now there are no giant solid pillars blocking my view. If you remember WrestleMania 28, you may recall the four giant palm trees around the ring blocking the view of everybody not lined up perfectly with or 15 feet from the ring. Readers of the Best and Worst of WrestleMania 28 Live may remember my view specifically, which was … well, this:

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Pre-show notes:

- If you’re wondering what I’m up to this weekend, make sure to stick around after the Top 10 Comments of the Week for a handy “Brandon At WrestleMania And Assorted Things” guide. I want to hang out with you and be friends in real life!

- The With Leather Bad Wrestling Theme Lyrics March Madness Tournament has reached its final four, so if you haven’t voted in that yet, please hop over and do so now. Worst case scenario, you’ll get to listen to Funaki’s music.

- Comments, shares, likes, and anything else that gets people to come here are appreciated.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- IMPORTANT REMINDER: I”M MAKING A MOVIE AND COULD SURE USE YOUR HELP. Me, Dustin Rhodes (!) and a bunch of other crazy talented folks are making a horror movie in Austin this May called Meet Me There, and it’s gonna be rad. It also sorta needs your help, so if you read the report and you want to be kind (or you’re just rich) (either way works) please consider hopping on over to our IndieGogo fundraiser and chipping in. We’re almost to the 3K mark, and if you put us over, e-mail me about it and I’ll give you a special perk. MY EVERLASTING LOVE.

Please click through to enjoy the Best and Worst of WWE Raw for April 1, 2013.

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"This voting, a little bit spot-tay."

The NCAA Final Four AND WrestleMania 29 happen this weekend, so it’s only appropriate that the With Leather Bad Wrestling Theme Lyrics March And April Madness Tournament enters its own homestretch. Your Final Four are just as unexpected as the real ones: Mr. Ass, American Males, AJ Styles and Kung Fu Naki.

The last round saw the #1 and 2 seeds (Undertaker and Layla, respectively) fall, so it’s up to you to decide whether or not fan-chosen 1 seed AJ Styles will take the tournament, or if lyrics about asses, America and croppie will reign supreme. Those matches are below, and I urge you to consider and discuss them deeply before voting.

Voting for the Final Four will take place until Sunday, April 7. You know, WrestleMania. The final two songs will enter the finals on Monday, and we’ll crown a winner. Vote now, and vote often!

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Tonight, on the “go home” edition of the pre-WrestleMania WWE Raw open discussion thread:

It’s almost here. The biggest event in all of WWE and the moment millions of WWE Universe members have been waiting for. With emotions and adrenaline at an all-time high, what will unfold when Superstars come face to face one last time before WrestleMania? Here are five reasons this week’s Raw is must-see at 8/7 CT on USA Network. (via WWE.com)

Our five-point preview:

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photo credit: WWE.com

For anyone who has harbored skepticism about the earnestness of AJ Lee’s love for video games (a medium that the Diva has repeatedly raved about), the October 31, 2011 edition of Monday Night Raw busted the hell out of that myth. During a Halloween-themed Divas battle royal, Lee hit the ring as the spitting image of Kitana from Mortal Kombat. Witnessing someone dressed up as the Princess of Edenia of all characters on WWE programming was surreal in itself, but the true coup de grâce to the skeptics was when Lee broke out a Fan Lift at the beginning of the match. Disappointingly, “Kitana wins” would not be uttered that night (Eve, who went as Robin, won), but it still was the most loving shout-out to the gaming faithful on Raw since John Cena did that Punch-Out!!-themed promo in 2010.

The New Jersey native born April Jeanette Mendez originally got into gaming as a child via her brother. The first game she played was either Super Mario Bros. or Excitebike, but as she seriously fell for the hobby later on, she became loyal to the PlayStation. “I was so obsessed with it. Now, I have an Xbox and I love that, so I can’t pick one or the other. They’re both really, really cool,” she says. “Growing up, I was like, ‘Ah, screw Xbox,’ which is terrible because I’m obsessed with it now.”

As of now, Lee’s plans for WrestleMania 29 on Sunday, April 7 involve scheming alongside Dolph Ziggler and newly crowned Twitter demigod Big E Langston when they face against Team Hell No for the tag titles, but hey, a Divas Championship match could always fall out of the sky. Way before the big show, we had a chance to speak with the ex-General Manager of Raw about her 10 most beloved vidja games. Not only was Lee up for the challenge, but she compiled the whole list before the call and put them in order. That’s dedication. (Also, check this space again shortly for another similarly gaming-informed WWE talent dropping knowledge about his favorites.)

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