This year's WrestleMania is kicking off with the Fifth Annual THQ Superstar Challenge. The event will have 16 WWE superstars competing in WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 for the Xbox 360.

The winner of this single elimination tournament will be crowned King/Queen of THQ/JAKKS Pacific's WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. Popular wrestlers of the WWE roster will be competing in the tournament including Batista, Mr. Kennedy, Carlito, Bobby Lashley, and other superstars.

Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for THQ, said that the event "celebrates the hard work and dedication of WWE and its Superstars throughout the year". He added that "The WWE Superstars participate extensively in the making of our WWE video games, and with the success of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, it's great to see them come together to enjoy the finished product."

During the same night, the two finalists of THQ's first online WWE tournament will be competing in a championship match. The winner will be taking home two floor tickets to WrestleMania 23, a WWE Championship Belt, and additional prizes. After the event, recording artist Nonpoint will be performing live. Hopefully, they will play some of their songs from SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 such as "Bullet With A Name" and "Alive And Kicking".

The event will be held at the Gem Theatre in downtown Detroit on March 29. It will be open to the public with tickets being sold for US$ 17.50 at Ticketmaster.

WrestleMania, an event which is held every year by the WWE is coming up. From all indications, this year's WrestleMania is shaping up to be quite a blockbuster with one of the highlights being a "hair match" between the owner of the WWE Vince McMahon and Tycoon Donald Trump. In what has been dubbed, battle of the billionaires, the loser of the contest will have his head shaved by the other.

The video we have is from Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 on the Xbox 360. It basically shows Donald Trump beating up Vince McMahon. While this is not exactly what will happen in WrestleMania (both billionaires have each chosen a champion to fight for them, so they won't really be going at it) it's still an entertaining thing to watch.

Is this indicative of who will win in this year's WrestleMania? Well, we'll have to wait a bit to find out, till then amuse yourself with this video.

'Tis the season when companies are required to report how they did last year, and then tell everyone about what they plan to do next year. Everyone's doing it, and because of this, 'tis also the season when we finally get to hear more about things that we can look forward to.

In THQ's case, the company's president, Brian Farrell, announced their plan to spread the wrestling love all around in the coming fiscal year:

In addition to our lineup of owned intellectual properties, we also intend to build on our licensed franchises next year. We plan to once again deliver a great lineup of WWE, Pixar, and Nickelodeon titles. For WWE, we plan to add a PS3, Wii, and DS SKU to the Xbox 360, PS2, and PSP platforms.

With that said and done, one big question that remains to be answered is whether the games that THQ is promising will be ones that will be unique to each platform, or if they would simply be variations of titles from previous installments in the WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw game franchise.

If you're a wrestling fan and for some very very strange reason, you still haven't gone out to get your copy of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 for the 360, then you're in luck my friend. Why? 'Coz we'll be giving away free copies of the game, that's why!

KIDDING! But that sure got your attention, huh? So anyway, Smackdown has already hit the shelves and those who've bought a copy have probably already enjoyed a good amount of bruising brawls on their 360s (too bad handheld lovers are still waiting for the game's PSP version to hit their consoles).

We know this is a bit late, but what the hey, here's another gameplay vid for WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007. The video features the crrrrazy Boogeyman (doing his chicken dance entrance if I might add) and JBL tearing at each other's limbs in all of wrestling's head-locking, crotch-kicking, sweat-dripping glory. Just check out the vid for yourself and see what you're missing if you still haven't got the game.

No doubt, wrestling has been quite an appeal to most people. Of course, others complain about its blatant violence, yadayada, but that doesn't overrule the fact that wrestling is a form of entertainment, and people are attracted to it. There's something intriguing about the carnivalesque display of bodies smashing and bashing each other, in defiance of society's stringent norms regarding what to like, what to display, and what to think.

Okay, forget about the pseudo-academical stuff I just mentioned. Let's go take a look on the real expert's take on the said matter, as our source recently had an interview with THQ's senior brand manager Tracy Muniz.

Thanks to wrestling's casual fans! Next Gen reported that there has been an increase in demand for THQ's Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 (released for the PSP, PS2 and Xbox 360), and Muniz attributes it to the "casual fans": people not really into hardcore gaming or fanboyism, but those who watch WWE and are probably into fighting games as well. Moreover, the next gen release of the said game to Xbox 360 boosted further interest due to the "snazzy graphics."

Continued growth by reaching out to casual fans. Muniz says that because "the real growth on an annual basis comes from those casual fans," THQ is going to focus on reaching out to that particular audience more, while maintaining the hardcore wrestling fans as well.

Make way for the Great Khali! This Goliath of a guy weighs 420 pounds and we don't dare get near him lest we suffer the fate that befell the unwitting Undertaker. Khali hails from India and makes his way to the WWE ring in the first video. If he were hairier, we'd take him for Kong's nastier younger brother. But much uglier, I know.

But I digress. In this download, there are four mini-clips that let you get a sneak preview of the Great Khali pulverizing the Undertaker, albeit with a struggle. You may witness the following smack scenes happen but they're not necessarily in order.
 
(Khali grapples the Undertaker and rewards his bad behavior with an attempt to piggy-back slap him, but the Undertaker rope breaks! Khali just...uggggh! pounds on the poor dude like you smacking a fly on the table. The Undertaker kicks Khali in the haunch, and blows up his chin, just enough to knock him for two seconds to the ground and let the Undertaker sport a dirty finger up the sky. Did you see "that"?)

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 will ship to the U.S. by mid-November. We bet you'd be clicking the play button over and over when these videos start rolling in your WMP. Have fun!

   

   

Download: [WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 latest videos]

I was a bit too afraid to come up to Chris Masters and talk to him while he was conscious for fear of the above picture happening to me, so I've taken the liberty of sneaking up behind him and beating him senseless with a crowbar for this article. In any case, Chris Masters will be part of the roster for THQ's WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007, and you can be sure he's going to show off his chiseled features again.

The latest info on the red-briefed wrestler with the Masterlock states that he's not only narcissistic, but rather violent as well. Remember, this is the heel that thinks he's perfect and calls himself "The Masterpiece," and spent some time in the ring challenging people to break his submission move. He did it by pissing famous grapplers off by insulting their moves, and basically angered a ton of wrestlers with his audacity. The day he beat up Sgt. Slaughter during his Masterlock Challenge was a sad day in wrestling history, as Slaughter is definitely a legend deserving of more respect and the Cobra Clutch is a cooler-sounding submission move. He also began his WWE career by breaking Steven Richards' nose and fracturing the bone around the man's eye in his debut match.

In any case, we've got some more screenshots of the guy for you. Do us a favor and smash this heel into the ground. If not for justice and world peace, then at least do it to let me sleep at night.

  

We're pretty sure every single screenshot and the sizzling video we posted left you rabidly wanting the full version of the game. Unfortunately for wrestling fans, THQ's WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2007 won't be hitting stores for at least another month. Europe and U.S. will be putting a little smackdown on the game this November 10 and 14 respectively, while Japan will have to wait for a little longer until December 31.

Regardless of your location, you might want to look at this recently-released achievements list for the game. There are 29 achievements all in all, with the last six still unknown. All achievements will cost you a total of 1,000 gamer points.

Among those listed, we found one in particular that's very interesting. "Those Who Paved The Way" will require players to unlock all the legends of WWE and Raw. Among the ones already mentioned are Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The Immortal Hulk Hogan, Roddy "Hot Rod" Piper, and the late great Eddie Guerero.

Read on for the complete list of achievements after the jump.

Let's face it, wrestling is one of the most popular sports around. And what better way to enjoy it than to actually go into a deadly match against legendary wrestlers like The Rock - minus the physical pain. WWE Smackdown VS Raw delivers just that, with a roster of professional wrestlers which look nearly identical to their real world counterparts. Even in the ring, the fighters don't lose their visual acuity. They react and move just exactly how they should be without any flaws. The famed entrance and patent moves of each wrestler are also similar to the real thing.

Based on the screenshots, there's no doubt that the developers did a great job on the visuals. The facial expressions realistically portray a wide range of emotions. Furthermore, the muscle definition for each character is also superbly clear, thanks to a proper combination of sweat and lighting. What makes things even more realistic is the three level blood system that the developers have promised. A cut would start off small, but after several body slamming and batterings to the body, the small cut would open up and eventually, blood would flow.

    
   

Pre-order: [WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007]

You've seen the XBL demo, now get a load of the legends who will be beating the crap out of you in WWE Smackdown VS Raw! We wouldn't ordinarily be excited over having our heads smacked, limbs broken, and faces smashed in, but how could you not be when it's Steve Austin, The Rock, or Eddie Guerrero (to mention a few) putting you through intense pain?!

Yeah okay, it will never be that exciting if it happens to you in real life, coz let's face it, who would want to go up against the legendary wrestlers in a real life brawl, right? That's why it's a good thing that we can battle it out with these wrestlers (minus the actual pain) in Smackdown VS Raw. And the latest update on the game is that they have revealed the legends who will be included in the Legend roster line-up, here's the list:

* Bam Bam Bigelow
* Hulk Hogan
* Roddy Piper
* Bret Hart
* Jerry Lawler
* Shane McMahon
* Cactus Jack
* Jim Neidhart
* Steve Austin
* Dude Love
* Mankind
* Tazz
* Dusty Rhodes
* Mr. Perfect
* Eddie Guerrero
* The Rock

We're not die-hard wrestling fanatics, but we can't say that we haven't heard of at least five of the legends in the line-up. But regardless of our wrestling knowledge and experience, we think it's safe to say that the list (and the game, of course) is looking goooood. But don't take our word for it, just check out the screens below and you be the judge. The game is slated for release on the 10th of November in Europe, 14th November in the US, and the 31st of December for Japan. Now the screens!