The Wrestling 5&1 8.13.11: The Beautiful People vs. The Pink Ladies in the Versus Tag League!

As of Thursday night, we are less than 4 days away from SummerSlam—the WrestleMania of the summer—and we have exactly four matches announced. FOUR. Now, I’m not as upset about this as some people are. I understand the UFC model. Even though you know about all 10-12 fights on the card, they really only promote two or three of them. In fact, the #1 factor in selling a UFC PPV is sometimes the main event and sometimes it’s the UFC brand itself. But this isn’t the UFC—it’s the WWE. And it’s not a situation where all of the matches are announced but aren’t being promoted. They’re not even announced!

Take a look at the four matches announced…

WWE Champion vs. WWE Champion
Special guest referee: Triple H
CM Punk (WWE Champion) vs. John Cena (WWE Champion?)

This is the selling point of this event. The only selling point when it comes to drawing in most of the audience. And Monday’s contract signing drove it home for me. It was very well done.

The addition of Triple H was a bad move in my opinion—early into RAW. By the end of it I had completely changed my mind. Neither Cena nor Punk are happy about the move—thus I am. The finish isn’t obvious, as the big question is on who will leave with the title, and who will turn. I think the turn is already happening—CM Punk is turning face. He wrestled Alberto Del Rio on RAW, and he gets a face reaction from most of the crowds. If you make Punk the corporate champion, the fans he’ll lose don’t have someone else to turn to. So I don’t see that happening. Cena would be a great choice, but it ain’t happening. Too much ammo for The Rock, and Cena’s just too great of a merchandise seller. So I’m thinking CM Punk wins the match after Triple H causes Cena to lose—likely on accident. Then we get the real corporate champion: Alberto Del Rio.

That’s right, I’m going with Del Rio to cash in on Punk, finishing off his face turn and turning ADR into the corporate champion. I could see Punk moving into a feud with The Miz while Cena runs with ADR throughout the fall. Then we build Punk-HHH and Cena-Rock for WM28.

World Heavyweight Championship – No Disqualification
Christian (champion) vs. Randy Orton

I hate to say it, but I’m growing tired of this feud now. I’d actually prefer Orton vs. Mark Henry and Christian vs. Sheamus to get built after SummerSlam. As for this match, I think Christian’s second world title run in the WWE—while not as short as his first—will still be a short one itself. Randy Orton gets the relatively clean win.

Sheamus vs. Mark Henry

I love this feud and I love this match. As much as I want to them in feuds with Christian and Orton, I can see a DQ win in this one for Sheamus to keep this young feud moving.

Divas Championship
Kelly Kelly (champion) vs. Beth Phoenix

So if you’re only going to announce four matches for SummerSlam, one of them shouldn’t be this one. Beth kickstarted an actual story for the women, which I am happy about. The Divas will still be pretty and perky if the evil Beth and Natalya beat them up. But they needed to do something with the division, and this is a good choice.

And that’s it! I’m not even going to speculate on any other matches. We have four announced matches. Is it enough?

You Decide: Are you excited for SummerSlam? Excluding Money in the Bank—is this the second best PPV of the year? Would you buy this event as announced?

NOTE: By press time, the WWE had announced Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett. Does that change your opinion of the card?

Now then… BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week: THEY DID IT! Lacey and Rain knocked off LayCool by a very narrow margin! UPSET! The infamous kissing couple now wait for their opponents in next week’s finals…

This Week: The Beautiful People—the heavy favorites at the start—face two tough Aussies in Jessie McKay and Madison Eagles—The Pink Ladies! Can the girls from down under make it two upsets in a row? That’s up for you to decide.

Will it be the ladies of beauty or the ladies in pink?

Take your pick.
Stay tuned as next week will feature the finals of the Versus Summer Tag League!

October 1, 2010: Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin, New England Wrestling

Simply put, this is a great match worth going out of your way to see.

Another TNA PPV is in the books, and…well…it was another TNA PPV. I called this a sleeper event on paper, and obviously these things don’t play out on paper. Simply put, it was a sad effort by TNA that fell short of delivering much of anything redeemable.

Here are your results:

-Brian Kendrick beat Austin Aries & Alex Shelley to retain the TNA X-Division Championship
-Tara & Miss Tessmacher beat Rosita & Sarita to retain the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championships
-The Pope pinned Devon in a Bound for Glory Series match
-Winter beat Mickie James to capture the TNA Knockouts Championship—using red Muta mist.
-Crimson beat Rob Van Dam by disqualification when Jerry Lynn broke up a pin attempt
-Fortune beat Immortal when AJ Styles pinned Abyss
-Bully Rey beat Mr. Anderson with a low blow and a roll-up
-Beer Money beat Mexican America to retain the TNA Tag Team Championships
-Kurt Angle beat Sting after a ref bump, Hogan-ference and a chairshot to win the TNA World Championship

My thoughts were written before we received word on any Impact taping results or viewing Thursday’s Impact Wrestling.

Thoughts: The opener was good for what it was, but those guys can do (and have done) better. Out of the three, I am last excited about Kendrick with the title. And yet he has it. I know, he hasn’t had it long. Same goes for Sting’s World title, right? … Tara & Tessmacher vs. Sarita & Rosita wasn’t really that bad, but didn’t have a place on this card—more appropriate for Impact. Which si sad, because all four women worked very hard to get this match over. … Speaking of appropriate for Impact, Pope-Devon was another decent match that would have made a great TV match. I guess TNA needs to put their TV matches on PPV since they have all of their PPV matches on TV. … I’m glad Winter went over, but did we really need her to use mist? AND WHO GOES STRAIGHT TO RED!!! Honestly. And the ref didn’t notice this strange red substance when he was checking on Mickie? … Why is RVD happy to have Jerry Lynn in his corner tonight? Does Crimson have a history of cheating to win? Is he part of a faction? Does he appear to have any friends at all? Because last I checked, the person he’s been most friendly with was ROB VAN DAM! As a reader pointed out in the Preview last Friday, the best outcome was to have Samoa Joe break a pinfall and attack both men. Then Lynn can make the save, only to have RVD tell him to stay out of his business. … In what was likely the best match of the night, Immortal lost to Fortune in a good 15 minute match. Everyone came out of this match looking better then they entered. Everyone except Abyss, that is. … Bully Ray got the much deserved win over Mr. Anderson, even if he didn’t need it. … I predicted that Mexican America would win the TNA World Tag Team Championships from Beer Money, and boy am I glad to be wrong! TNA really needs to rebuild their tag team division. … The main event was starting to get going when we had a ref bump, an appearance from Hulk Hogan and a chairshot to put face Kurt Angle over face Sting. … Now we’re left with a cliffhanger to see if Kurt Angle is the newest member of Immortal. I sincerely hope not. If any world title match can benefit from a swerve ending, it’s the one main eventing SummerSlam.

You Decide: What did you think of Hardcore Justice?

Five things you didn’t know about…Jinder Mahal!

1. Yuvraj “Raj” Dhesi is…Canadian. Not just any province either, he’s from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

2. He holds a degree in Communication and Culture from the University of Calgary.

3. His initial training was at the Martial Arts Fitness in Calgary, under Rick Titan (better known as Fake Razor Ramon).

4. How Mahal explains why the WWE signed him: “I think they needed an Indian guy, they were looking for one.

5. In Stampede Wrestling, he teamed with Gama Singh, Jr. as The Karachi Vice and Sikh n’ Destroy.

This week’s Impact Wrestling was the follow-up show for after Hardcore Justice. Was it a good show? We’ll see. I’m putting on my objective hat and taking a closer look.

Chad Nevett’s Impact Wrestling Instant Analysis was used for the segment breakdown and match times. But those ratings are mine. And to make sure it’s different, I am rating things out of six. Six—the number of sides the TNA ring should have.

Segment #1 – Immortal Promo (2.5/6)
Bully Ray is the best heel in TNA, the closest competition he has is Austin Aries. And the promo was fine, until the Immortal beatdown of Anderson. That just didn’t fit in. Plus, why in the hell did Anderson join Immortal in the first place? Since joining Immortal he’s lost his world title, lost matches on Impact, lost to Bully Ray on PPV, and now he’s stretchered out of the arena. Not exactly the best stint in Immortal for Anderson. And I just had to shake my head at the absurd amount of canned heat piped in when Bully Ray extended a hand to Anderson.

Segment #2 – Mickie James beat Madison Rayne to become the #1 Contender to the Knockouts Championship (3 minutes, 3.5/6)
This might be Mickie’s best match since the cage match against Tara. I give the majority of the credit for that to Madison Rayne. Madison’s antics were hilarious, including the tiara and curtsy/clothesline ducking spot. I wonder why Mickie needed this match, though. Is she not entitled to a rematch?

Segment #3 – Brian Kendrick defeated Robbie E (around 3:00, 4/6)
Not a bad match, but I just can’t get into Kendrick as champion. The rating for this match gets a big boost from Austin Aries on commentary. He’s just phenomenal. Cookie costs Robbie E the match and that plays right into Aries hands, as he immediately uses it against Kendrick. Good stuff, even if it telegraphs their gauntlet for next week.

Segment #4 – Beer Money beat AJ Styles & Rob Van Dam and The Pope & Devon in a 3-way Bound For Glory Series tag team match (5:00, 4/6)
I would have loved to see this match get more time given the participants. I’m not a fan of the “pinfall gets the points” stipulation, it defeats the purpose of a tag team match. Maybe they could meet in the middle and give the winner of the fall 7 points and his partner 5 or something. Robert Roode got the points when he pinned The Pope, and it makes sense at it seems we’re in for a Robert Roode push.

Segment #5 – Kurt Angle proves himself to be clueless (1/6)
Umm…what? This segment made my head hurt. Let me get this straight. Kurt Angle is mad that Dixie Carter knew about Jeff Jarrett & Karen (Angle) Jarrett for three years but didn’t say anything—and she apparently denies it. But Kurt knows it’s true (it’s damn true) because HOGAN TOLD HIM?! So he joins up with Hogan, who is aligned with Jeff & Karen?! Furthermore, how did this new discovery motivate him to cheat to win against Sting?! Well, this storyline is off to a smashing start!

Segment #6 – Tara & Miss Brooke Tessmacher beat ODB & Jackie Moore (damn near 6 minutes? 2/6)
How did this match get more time than the 3-way tag, X-Division match, the main event or even Mickie-Madison? This match was basically worthless, as it didn’t really advance anything except allow me to look at Brooke and to start a face turn for ODB & Jackie (since that’s what we need—another turn).

Segment #6.5 – Eric Bischoff bastardizes the X-Division (0/6)
How do you drag the segment down from a 2/6 match? You have Eric Bischoff impose a weight limit on the X-Division! It’s not about weight limits, Eric—it’s about NO LIMITS! And he makes Austin Aries stay behind, meaning he’ll win the X-Division Championship at No Surrender and join Immortal. Great. At least he’s already a heel so it won’t be a complete turn.

Yes, that gets a zero. WEIGHT LIMITS?!

Segment #7 – The Jarrett Familia (2/6)
I just couldn’t get into the humor or the segment. Jose & Jos-B? Really? Might as well bring back Beavis & Butthead—oh, wait. Nevermind. Anyway, not a great segment here, but I’ve read the spoilers for next week and like where this goes. Idid enjoy The Lopez Brothers’ reaction to seeing Hector Guerrero. This has some potential.

Segment #8 – Eric Young crap, Mr. Anderson crap (2/6)
Eric Young is the World Television Champion—until he loses it to Abyss. The TV Title—it’s not about weight limits, it’s about no limits! And Mr. Anderson—well, thanks for playing. I think 2/6 might be a little generous here.

Segment #9 – Crimson beats Bully Ray, Gunner and Scott Steiner in a Bound For Glory Series Four Corners Match (5:20ish, 4.5/6)
Good little match here, even if it got less time than the Knockouts Tag match. Good psychology with Bully Ray manipulating the situation so he can get the pin (playing off of his opening promo), Crimson goes over but isn’t SuperCena in doing so, and Kurt Angle’s run-in makes sense—now, it’d make sense even if he didn’t get himself involved with Hogan & Sting. I’m not fully behind Crimson, but I’ve gotten closer than I was two weeks ago.

Best Match: Crimson vs. Bully Ray vs. Gunner vs Scott Steiner

Best Promo: Kurt Angle’s “explanation” – it was so bad it was good

Overall Rating: 2.55

Overall Thoughts: Impact Wrestling is often a mixed bag, and it just depends on the ratio within the mixture. This week it was more bad than good. Mexican Jeff Jarrett has potential, even if it didn’t work for me this week. Crimson is growing on me—but it’s a very slow grow. VERY SLOW. Bully Ray shines each week. Mr. Anderson isn’t directionless—he’s worse. He changes directions more often than an Impact Wrestling viewer changes the channel. And Kurt Angle is made out to be a moron when he should be a bad ass.

You Decide: What did you think of Impact Wrestling this week?

Hit up the ‘Mania on TWITTER (so Ashish will like me, okay?)

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
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http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma
http://www.twitter.com/demarcolives – that’s me!

Political strife? Joey Ryan announced late on Friday that he was informed that he was relieved of his duties as the booker—and as a wrestler—for NWA Hollywood. Here are his comments as he provided them to PWInsider:

On the afternoon of August 4th, I was informed that due to internal conflicts between myself and the company, I was being relieved of my duties as Senior Producer of NWA Championship Wrestling From Hollywood.
I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the cast and crew who worked so hard for me during my tenure there. I also wanted to thank the fans because without them, there is no show. Lastly, thank you to the NWA and KDOC-TV Los Angeles for the opportunity they provided me.
I was also informed that I would no longer be utilized as talent for the program. I wish everybody remaining there the best of luck and hope you as fans will continue to support the brand.
I hope I can count on your continued support for me as well. You can keep up with me by following me on Twitter at twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline or on Facebook at Facebook.com/JoeyRyanOnline and promoters looking for booking info can contact me at [email protected] as well.
Thank you,
Joey Ryan

Joey Ryan is an 11 year pro best known for his work with PWG in Southern California. He had taken over for Adam Pearce as the booker for NWA Hollywood, infusing some PWG talent into the promotion in the process (which wasn’t a bad thing). I do have a few connections thanks to my backstage days, and it seems like this all stems from a rocky relationship with NWA Vice President (and NWA Hollywood promoter) Dave Marquez. I’ve had the “pleasure” of working with Marquez in the past, and it’s not easy. But the man is successful, and has garnered a lot of power for himself in the NWA. And as disorganized as the NWA is, the only reason it has any level of respectability is because of Dave Marquez and Adam Pearce. So say what you want about Dave Marquez (which I did), he’s the man in charge of NWA Hollywood, and he gets to make the decisions.

I’ll defer to Randy Harrison for the end all of comments on NWA Hollywood, but from what I’d seen, the product was just as good or better with Joey Ryan at the helm. The product featured a faster pace and felt more exciting.

As far as Joey Ryan goes, I’m sure he can still get plenty of bookings. NWA Hollywood isn’t exactly a touring promotion, they tape TV every month or so—and that’s about it. I know he’s an expensive fly-in, but Ring of Honor would be smart to bring him back in and actually give him a chance to excel this time. During his first run, he was stuck as an Embassy extra. Ryan has both the in-ring and promo abilities to stand out in the new Ring of Honor. He along with Rhino, The Young Bucks and Jay Lethal would be awesome additions to the roster, and can more than make up for the presumed loss of The Kings of Wrestling.

You Decide: Do you follow moves like this? Does it impact you as a fan?

Another rough and busy week. But please remember one thing …

… although there are occasions where …

… still others where you simply make me go …

… and yet other moments of brilliance that make you …

…

Ring of Honor returns to action after a 5 week absence this Saturday with their first ever television taping under the Sinclair Broadcast Group umbrella. Outside of the matches (which you’ll see below), the company also promises a new set and a new ring. Hopefully that comes with improved production values. It’s an exciting time for the company, and they’ve put together a very good—and very safe—card for the first taping.

Here is the card as they are promoting it, found here:

Frontier Fieldhouse
August 13th, 2011- 7:30 pm belltime
9807 Sayre Ave.
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415

ROH World Title Match
Davey Richards defends vs. Roderick Strong with Truth Martini

World Tag Team Title Match
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) with Shane Hagadorn

World TV Title Match
El Generico defends vs. Jay Lethal

Grudge Tag Team Match
Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. The All Night Express

“Defy or Deny” Rematch
Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin with Truth Martini

Tag Team Challenge Match
Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly vs. The Bravado Brothers

Singles Action
Jimmy Jacobs with Steve Corino vs. “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett with Brutal Bob

Singles Action
Tommaso Ciampa with The Embassy vs. Andy “Right Leg” Ridge

The bulk of the top matches are rematches (Richards-Strong, Kings-WGTT, Edwards-Elgin, Briscoes-ANX, along with Cole/O’Reilly-Bravados) but they’re matches that have worked well. The fresh match-ups are also exciting (Jacobs’s return, Generico-Lethal). ROH has built a good following, but this step will increase their exposure and allow them to truly focus on presenting wrestling as a sport, with a heavy UFC influence.

If you’re going to be in the Chicago area, I strongly encourage you check this card out. Many are speculating that it will be the last appearance for The Kings of Wrestling—Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli—before they head to the WWE/FCW.

Plus, you get to see it all first. You get to be a part of history.

Want a little preview…check our Ari’s Column of Honor, tie preeminent place to read about Ring of Honor!

Fast rising ROH star Adam Cole joined The Greg DeMarco Show for 30-minutes discussing his career, his influences, his team with Kyle O’Reilly and ROH’s big Sinclair taping coming up this Saturday. Greg DeMarco and Patrick O’Dowd also discuss this past Sunday’s Hardcore Justice PPV, RAW’s SummerSlam build, ROH’s tapings and more! Steve Cook and Justin Freemyer join in the fun and DeMarco provides several spirited (yet objective) rants on the current TNA product!

Click here to go to this week’s show page.

Or, you can listen here:

(Please note, this show will not be spoiler free.)

And next week…

Buggy has gotten involved in some MMA training to spice up her repertoire, and it’s paying off. I’m not sure we’ll be seeing her in the Octagon anytime soon, but it does allow her to be more well-rounded (and no, that’s not a reference to her ass—not this time!).

Check it out…

(The training, not her ass!)

(Ok, you can look at her ass, too!)

Now, have you liked Buggy’s Facebook fan page yet? Why not?!

You can also see Buggy THIS SUNDAY for NWA Hollywood. The taping is early (noon) to allow people to get to and watch SummerSlam. And you get a free beer for attending. FREE BEER!

Last Friday, Aksana made her Smackdown debut, complete with new jet black hair. Personally, I prefer her as a blonde, and made her your And 1 Model of the Week!

Looking for some more stuff to read? Our News Reports are a great place to start! And not to be outdone is the Columns side.

Vote in Versus, talk about wrestling, have fun!

Until next time…

Listen to the show!