Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

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Being a die-hard pro wrestling fan isn't cheap.In fact, purchasing every pay-per-view grappling show would even leave "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase strapped for cash.The cost will become especially exorbitant over the next five weekends. The combined price of two WWE shows (One Night Stand and Night of Champions), TNA Wrestling's Slammiversary and Ring of Honor's Take No Prisoners is roughly $125 excluding tax.That figure doesn't even count mixed martial arts offerings that have crossover appeal to pro wrestling fans. Toss in another $44.95 to watch Ultimate Fighting Championship's Bedlam card on June 7.Predicting the quality of a pay-per-view telecast is always tricky. But for those on a limited budget, here is an educated guess ranking which shows will prove money well spent (All times Eastern):-- 1. Night of Champions (June 29; 8 p.m., $39.99): The lineup won't be announced until after Sunday's One Night Stand card. But any WWE card with seven (!!!) championship matches should feature high-quality wrestling as well as a few title changes.WWE also will have an entire month to promote Night of Champions rather than the scant 13 days for One Night Stand (see below). Here's hoping WWE uses the time to promote new match-ups rather than continue the Randy Orton vs. Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Adam "Edge" Copeland vs. Mark "Undertaker" Callaway feuds that have now headlined four consecutive pay-per-view shows.-- 2: Take No Prisoners (Friday; 8 p.m., $14.99): Limited financial resources have forced ROH to air its pay-per-view product on tape delay. Take No Prisoners was originally held in mid-March, so it's old news for the promotion's hardcore audience.Still, that doesn't make the show outdated for WWE/TNA fans wanting to see lightning-fast action and innovative maneuvers by some of today's top young grapplers. Take No Prisoners' highlight performer is Tyler Black, a 22-year-old C.M. Punk look-alike who appears destined for stardom like that ROH alumnus.Note: Take No Prisoners is only being offered by Dish Network, TVN Cable Systems and those outlets affiliated with pay-per-view distributor InDemand.--3: Slammiversary (June 8; 8 p.m., $29.99): TNA has tried building the King of the Mountain match into one of its annual pay-per-view staples. But TNA's constant use of "gimmick" bouts has greatly damaged KOTM's standing as a unique offering."Samoa" Joe Seannoa will be defending his TNA title in a five-way match that includes a penalty box and forces the winner to climb a ladder and hang the belt on a hook. Yes, the rules are just as convoluted as the typical TNA storyline.-- 4: One Night Stand (Sunday; 8 p.m., $39.99): Nothing can top the in-ring quality and legitimate emotion from the first One Night Stand, which was an Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion show held in 2005. WWE's subsequent attempts to push ECW as a separate pay-per-view brand fizzled, which is why this year's edition is filled with talent from all three of the promotion's talent rosters.That's also One Night Stand's biggest problem. Four of the seven bouts are either rematches or feature similar pairings from the Judgment Day pay-per-view show held just two weeks earlier. Trying to entice fans into spending another $39.99 is asking a lot, especially considering WWE already has five weekly hours of cable and network programming.-- 5: UFC 85: Bedlam (June 7; 3 p.m., $44.95): This show seemed doomed from the start when headliners Chuck Liddell (hamstring) and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (knee) were forced to withdraw. Injuries to other UFC fighters followed, causing extensive lineup shuffling.The show now resembles a "UFC Fight Night" on Spike TV rather than a pay-per-view caliber product. In fact, there is more buzz surrounding the Uriah Faber vs. Jens Pulver match on Sunday's World Extreme Cagefighting show (9 p.m., Versus) than Bedlam's Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves main event.Pro wrestling fans with interest in mixed martial arts may want to save their pennies until August 9. That's when former WWE champion Brock Lesnar faces Heath Herring on the UFC 87: Seek and Destroy pay-per-view show emanating from Minneapolis. Herring is replacing MMA legend Mark Coleman, who suffered a knee injury during training. (Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv@aol.com.)