Monica Bellucci may have grabbed the attention of critics with her supporting role in The Passion of the Christ, but before she was Mary Magdalene, Monica Bellucci earned her sci-fi starlet street cred. The voluptuous actress starred opposite Keanu Reeves in both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as Persephone, wife of The Merovingian. She also provided the voice for Persephone in the video games Enter the Matrix and The Matrix Online.

Born in Italy, Monica Bellucci’s resume includes many roles in Italian films, most notably Malèna. She has had a successful modeling career since the 1980s, and became known in America with her first English language role of note as one of Dracula’s brides in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She also starred opposite Bruce Willis in Tears of the Sun and appeared in The Brothers Grimm as the Mirror Queen.

Monica Bellucci has been recognized by numerous publications as one of the world’s most beautiful women. She has also appeared on AskMen.com, FHM and Maxim’s “Sexiest Women” lists, and in 2006 was ranked #5 on the E! network’s list of “101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies.” In 2008, Monica Bellucci came in at #22 on AskMen.com’s list of the 99 Most Desirable Women.

Comfortable with her body, Monica Bellucci has appeared naked in film, magazines, and calendars. She has been quoted as saying, “I’m not scared by nudity, because for me, nothing is more beautiful than a body.” Try a Google Image Search for naked pics of Monica Bellucci - there are plenty out there. Here’s a safe-for-work taste:

For more on Monica Bellucci and what she’s up to these days, try these sites:

Wikipedia article on Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci’s IMDB profile

Monica Bellucci at Maxim.com

Monica Bellucci at AskMen.com

Usually around here we spend our time telling you about uncovered nipples and where you can find them. Let me clarify: uncovered female nipples and where you can find them.

I don’t want to make a habit of this, but bear with me as I discuss male nipples for a moment, or more specifically, the lack of male nipples on the WrestleMania XXIV banner you see above. I know you probably didn’t notice, but the nipples of Triple H, Randy Orton, John Cena and company have been airbrushed out of that image.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell attended WrestleManiArt last night and got the full story on what he’s calling NippleGate. The large banner hangs on the side of a building in Orlando, and was rendered nippleless in an effort to please Orlando city officials who didn’t want promo materials to be “too provocative.”

Here’s part of the pre-Nipplegate photo:

(image: WWE.com)

And a slightly zoomed image of the WrestleMania XXIV banner sans nipples, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel:

OK, enough about man nips. Back to our regularly scheduled programming, and my sincerest apologies if you find yourself unable to tear your eyes away from Big Show’s nipples during future WWE events.  Here’s a Monica Bellucci chaser.

Every so often, I get word that a former ECW wrestler is auctioning off ring worn gear or wrestling memorabilia on eBay. I try to let you guys know about them as they happen, but I thought it might also be useful to have a single web page devoted to these auctions.

Here are the official eBay seller accounts of ECW alums:

Mick Foley (aka Mankind and Cactus Jack) closed until further notice

Francine Fournier

Shelly Martinez (aka ECW’s Ariel and TNA’s Salinas)

Dawn Marie Psaltis

Tammy Lynn Sytch (aka Sunny)

I will update this page as I become aware of additional official eBay accounts of people who wrestled for ECW, either in the old ECW Arena or with the new WWE incarnation of ECW. Please leave a comment or send me a message if you know of any I’ve missed.

This match is a who’s who of hardcore featuring the iconic New Jack, and the full on Dudleyville Clan. Jack is teamed with Spike Dudley going up against Bubba Ray and D-Von, now known as Team 3D in TNA, who have Big Dick Dudley and Sign Guy Dudley in their corner.

Extreme rules and extreme fun, this is what hardcore wrestling is all about. A special highlight is at 3:44 or so when Bubba Ray press slams Spike from the ring out into several unsuspecting audience members.

Charisma Carpenter may actually be hotter than she was when she played Cordelia Chase on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Much to the delight of rabid Buffy fans, the 37-year-old actress put in an appearance at yesterday’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion at Paley Fest looking just as good as when she posed for Playboy in 2004.

Clearly Charisma Carpenter hasn’t been anywhere near the Hellmouth recently, because the former NFL cheerleader is still absolutely stunning, and shows no sign of stress from her recent financial problems and marital separation.

Not only is Charisma Carpenter looking good, but I’m going to have to say she’s still hotter than the other members of the Buffy cast, the so-called “Scooby Gang.” (Apologies, of course, to Sarah Michelle Gellar, Emma Caulfield, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku, etc.) Here’s a reunion photo - what do you think?

(Left to right: Michelle Trachtenberg, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Charisma Carpenter)

Charisma Carpenter was a featured actress on Sci-Fi Starlet Saturday in July 2007. If you haven’t seen it, check out that post for all the pics from the Charisma Carpenter Playboy spread.

A parting thought - am I the only one who detects a little bit of a “wardrobe malfunction” in that photo at the top?