Day One of the WrestleMania 21 madness has ended and my head is still ringing. Not only did we get to talk to a ton of WWE SuperStars tonight, all of whom were on hand at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, but I got to check out John Cena live on stage as he broke it down hip-hop style in preparation for his May 10 CD release.

　　Sixteen of the biggest names in the WWE were on hand tonight to take part in the THQ SuperStar Challenge tournament. Just a sampling of the talent on hand for the tourney: Batista, Cena, Randy Orton, Hurricane, Eugene, RVD, Big Show and, of course, the lovely WWE Divas Stacy Keibler, Trish Stratus, and Lita. Two-time returning champ Shelton Benjamin was also on hand to defend his SuperStar Challenge title against the same finalist he beat during last year’s event: Kane. A year may have been a long time for Kane to practice his gaming skills, but it wasn’t enough as Benjamin beat the Big Red Machine once again to take his third straight win. Shelton told me in a post-tourney interview that tonight was actually his first time playing THQ’s WrestleMania 21 but added that it didn’t take long for him to get the hang of it.

　　One of the cooler aspects of tonight’s event was watching the wrestlers interacting both with fans--Batista and Randy Orton must be nursing sore thumbs after signing all those autographs--and each other. The easy camaraderie that most of the guys share was obvious, as they laughed and joked with one another before, during, and after the matches. It was easy to spot the wrestling-game noobs too--just listen for the guys who kept asking “How do you pin someone?”

　　Of the WWE Divas, Stacy Keibler made a surprisingly strong showing for herself, taking on John Cena in the later rounds and holding her own despite being overpowered by the virtual Cena.

　　Some quick hits from tonight’s event:

　　Worst line of the night: My fumbling attempts at closing my video interview with the intimidatingly attractive Keibler. Lucky for me she was pretty nice about things. Even luckier, it’s going to be edited out of the final cut, just like it never happened!

　　Strangest line of the night: Christian, when I asked him if he creates himself when playing with a create-a-wrestler mode: “No, but I could create Captain Charisma.”

　　Funniest line of the night: Big Show to Christian while sizing him up before Round One of the tournament began: “I’ve made love to bigger women than you.”

　　Best interview: Without a doubt, Shelton Benjamin. He snuck up on me while we were taping another segment, so our spot was impromptu and a lot of fun. Plus, it’s obvious that Benjamin is a true gamer at heart. Hell, the guy owns an N-Gage!

　　Shortest interview: Probably a tie between Keibler and Kurt Angle. I could have talked to Kurt for half an hour or more, but unfortunately he was on a tight schedule and had to take off, but not before generously agreeing to do a GameSpot Live promo for us. Oh it’s true!

　　Best attire: Trish Stratus’ Women’s Championship belt

　　Strangest attire: Big Show and Kane rocking nearly identical burgundy polo shirts. Both guys looked like they had just stepped off the golf course…

　　Worst attire: Hurricane showing up, without the mask. What’s up with that?!

　　Smaller in real life: Kurt Angle, Miss Jackie

　　Bigger in real life: Stacy Keibler and Big Show

　　Superstar I wished I could have interviewed: Big Show

　　Superstars I would have liked to have seen at the event: Triple H, Ric Flair, JBL, Roddy Piper

　　Keep an eye out on our Wrestlemania XXI GameSpace to see all tonight’s video interviews as they go live and stay tuned throughout the weekend for more coverage of WrestleMania 21!