'Celebrity Deathmatch' Revived on MTV2: Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eminem, Kid Rock Return

In 1998, Eric Fogel came up with the genius idea to have claymation celebrities battle to the death in a mixed martial arts black comedy called Celebrity Deathmatch. Public figures such as the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eminem, Kid Rock and Courtney Love fought in contests overruled by legendary boxing referee Mills Lane. The show was so popular that it had two runs. The first was from 1998 to 2002 and the other started in 2006 and lasted for just a year. Well it looks the show will be going on its third run because after six years Celebrity Deathmatch will be returning and is going to be air once again on MTV 2.

In addition to the brutality, Celebrity Deathmatch will add a social media element to the show. Hourly fans will have the ability to chime in on Twitter and make suggestions as to who they'd want going up against each other. These days we're so inundated with celebrities and pseudo-television figures with YouTube channels the battle opportunities are endless.

Jay Z once threated Chris Brown for the Rihanna attack but never followed through on it. Maybe they can finally do battle in the squared death circle. Then you have Ludacris angry at a few roasters from the Justin Bieber roast because they made Paul Walker jokes that he felt had to be removed from the show. Now Luda has the chance to do battle against those guys and get the revenge he feels he deserves.

Joining Fogel and his Wasteland Entertainment Company are executive producers Chris McCarthy and Paul Ricci.

The show looks to be an easy hit for Fogel, McCarthy and Ricci as the revival of Deathmatch in 2006 drew more than 2.5 million total viewers. If this return is anything like the last then they may be able to break the show's own record of being MTV 2's highest-rated season premiere.

[Image Courtesy of Vulture/Twitter]