wrestling / Columns

The Wrestling 5&1 8.20.11: The Pink Ladies vs. Lacey & Rain in the Versus Tag League Finals!

August 20, 2011 | Posted by Greg De Marco

Another big week in the world of wrestling. Lots to talk about, so let’s get to it. In fact, let’s get old school…BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week: Were there some strange voting patterns? Yes indeed. But did they seem to favor both teams at different times? Yup. So I could have had a rematch, or just counted the votes as is. The VSL ends this week, so I counted the votes. The winners?

This Week: An unpredictable final match-up indeed! The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew of Lacey & Rain face The Pink Ladies of Australians Madison Eagles & Jessie McKay!

Who will win the Versus Summer Tag League?

Take your pick.
Stay tuned as next week I’ll reveal the winner and return to our traditional Versus!

Kevin Nash and CM Punk shared a segment of Monday Night’s RAW, and both delivered very different results…

CM Punk
CM Punk was on point during this segment. He was believable in everything he was saying, and what I saw appears to confirm reports that it was far from scripted. Some highlights…

Kevin Nash: “This is the first time you and I have spoke, and let me tell you something… you need to watch your mouth!”
CM Punk: “I need to watch my mouth?”
Nash: “Yeah!”
CM Punk: “You need to watch the show!”

Awesome. Then we had this…

Kevin Nash: “Would you like to see the text message on my telephone?”
CM Punk: “You wanna see the text message my little sister Schelene (?) sent me last night? Here…here it is. OMG…Kevin Nash…thought he was dead…LOL!”

CM Punk not being mad at Alberto Del Rio makes perfect sense. Eight people have successfully cashed in a MitB title shot. He did what ADR did, and he did it twice. One little thing like that remark is huge—it shows that Punk “gets it.” He understands the grand picture, and he understands that he can’t fault ADR. John Cena? He doesn’t get that, since he thinks ADR is a weak champion (this coming from the guy that beat Rey Mysterio in Mysterio’s second match of the night, after he won a tournament to crown a champion—when they already had a champion!).

But CM Punk gets it, and he proved so in his promo with Nash.

Kevin Nash
Then you have Kevin Nash. I’m a big Nash fan. When he returned as Diesel in January, I thought there was a spot for him on the WrestleMania card. I thought he could possibly be the Anonymous General Manager. Not so. This promo proved to me that unscripted Nash is unimpressive Nash. He was making things up (It’s been a long time since you were in the ring, Kevin? You were in the ring on Saturday!).

On top of that, Nash looked out of place. As Diesel, he’s a throwback, a part of history. As Kevin Nash, he’s a backstage politician who is complaining about the stars of today. “They don’t appreciate me.” “I paved the way.” “Thank you, Mr. Nash.” Even worse, he resorted to calling Punk “indyrific.” Evne Kevin himself looked ashamed after that one. Telling Punk to shower? Punk’s not dirty, he isn’t well groomed. It works for him. Hey, at least his beard matches his hair! (ZING!)

And calling him a short order cook? Telling him to hit the weights. Take a good luck at Punk and it’ll be obvious that he does a lot of training. Just because he’s not a roided up freak isn’t really a reason to bash Punk in 2011. But Punk’s comment was right—it’s 2011, not 1994.

The angle
So Nash powerbombed Punk because he got a text from Triple H. Triple H claims to have nothing to do with it. And we automatically think Corporate H did it? I don’t like that. Stephanie was around—surely she has access to his phone. John Lauranitus? He could have sent it from Corp’s phone. I honestly don’t think this is a heel move from HHH. I think he’s getting played here.

Furthermore, I don’t see a long-term return for Nash. He’s good in small doses, and a long-term dose wouldn’t work for me. There’s plenty for Punk to do without Nash. Hell, The Miz isn’t busy!

You Decide: Are you excited at a potential Punk-Nash feud? Do you think Triple H turns heel because of this?

Airing on April 27, 1991, this Over The Top Rope Battle Royal was highly entertaining when I was a kid, and it’s aged well. It was taped 12 days earlier on April 15, 1991 in Omaha, Nebraska.

You Decide: Do you miss a good old school battle royal? What did you think of the one on Smackdown this week?

The August 13 Television Taping in Chicago

Ring of Honor held their first television taping under the Sinclair broadcasting group in Chicago on Saturday night, and it was the tale of two events.

The first event was the night of wrestling—the in ring action. As usual with ROH, the matches ranged from good to great to amazing. The reviews of Davey Richards’s World Championship defense against Roderick Strong called it epic. The atmosphere for the overtime between El Generico and Jay Lethal is called electric and heat filled. When the cameras were on, the action was top notch and the crowd was hot. And this is what you’d expect from ROH.

There was one issue that really got some people’s blood boiling. El Generico, making his first television championship defense, lost the title to Jay Lethal. Lethal is being slammed as a “name” who either ROH or Sinclair officials tapped as the World Television Champion because of his TNA experience. And maybe they’re right. Others are slamming the decision to take the title off of Generico, as he’s the perfect babyface to build the new TV program around. And maybe they’re right.

You want my opinion? (Well, you are reading my column!) Who cares? Seriously, if it’s a cake, it’s obviously not ready yet. Let it bake. If it is done and you don’t like it, stop obsessing over it. This cake is far less important than everyone’s making it out to be. The ROH World Television Championship is a joke. If Lethal holding the belt eventually brings it some prestige? Great. But right now, it’s just an ugly belt. Generico will still be a prominent feature, champion or not.

I said that when the cameras were on, the action was top notch. And that leads to the tale of the second event—the television taping. For some crazy ass reason, ROH and/or SBG officials decided this show needed to be filmed “live to tape.” That means they had to stop for every commercial, promo, or any other break in the action. The show doesn’t air for at least FIVE WEEKS! You can’t edit an hour of TV in five weeks? Really? On top of that, you had two dark matches and some equipment glitches that stretched things out longer—basically into a five hour show! For eight taped matches?!

ROH originally scheduled a show for the Friday before this taping in Dayton. Sounds to me like that was a great opportunity for a dress rehearsal. Not running the same matches, but using the equipment, interacting with the crowd, mastering the transitions. It would have been a great opportunity to film some footage for the new website that will roll out in conjunction with the new TV show. And you could have ironed out the issues.

The ROH Roster

ROH’s roster consists of some of the world’s best wrestling talent. Since the sale to Sinclair, we’ve seen the loss of Colt Cabana (assumed headed to the WWE), Homicide (signed an exclusive contract with the Urban Wrestling Federation), and the pending losses of Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli—The Kings of Wrestling—to the WWE. Those are some huge losses to this roster.

This week we had the first match announced for the promotion’s next iPPV event, Death Before Dishonor IX. The match was a “Ringmaster Challenge” between Roderick Strong & Eddie Edwards. Three falls: pinfall, submission, ironman. This should be an amazing match. But once that’s announced, many followers of ROH asked the same question: Who is left to challenge Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship. Many people said a Japan talent could be brought in (the company already stated this was in the works—for 2012). It wasn’t long before we knew the answer—Davey Richards WON’T BE ON THE IPPV CARD!

Japan tours aren’t booked overnight. They had to know about this when Best in the World rolled around. Why put the belt on Davey now if he’s going to be out?! Eddie Edwards made a great champion, and easily could have kicked off the Sinclair era as champion. You could have built Davey’s eventual title match on television! It’s not that hard!

But this brought up another point. The missing talent hasn’t been replaced. But there is an answer. It’s not to raid Dragon Gate USA/Evolve (although you could). No, the answer is a set of guys who just had a tryout with the WWE on Monday…

Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky faced The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) in a tryout match before the RAW event this past Monday in San Diego. You’ve likely heard the Booker T reaction to The Young Bucks. They’re small, and they didn’t shake his hand. Great. So they didn’t shake RVD’s hand, and they didn’t shake Booker T’s hand—and now they’re done? If so, then it’s ROH’s gain. We all know what they’re capable of in ROH, as they’ve done it many times before. Joey Ryan was recently dismissed as the booker for NWA-Hollywood, and also as a talent. His first run in ROH was horribly mishandled. But Kevin Steen & El Generico have proven that you can get a second chance in ROH and flourish. Joey Ryan can hang in the ring, and routinely cuts awesome promos. Adam Pearce booked him into the Embassy, where he had a mouth piece he didn’t need. On his own, Joey Ryan has the ability to be a main event heel—one with character and personality—in ROH. And Scorpio Sky? He’s a great mid-card talent for ROH. Amazing in-ring ability…he can fly, he can work submissions—he’s the perfect complement to the current roster.

You Decide: What are your thoughts on the SBG tapings? How do you feel about ROH World Champion Davey Richards not appearing on the next iPPV? Who would you add to the ROH roster?

Five things you didn’t know about…Rob Van Dam!

1. Rob Szatkowski made his very first wrestling appearance at the age of 16—he was a plant pulled from the audience by Ted Dibiase and given $100 to kiss The Million Dollar Man’s foot.

2. RVD was given his name by Florida promoter Ron Slinker, who also came up with “Robbie V” when Bill Watts didn’t like the “Rob Van Dam” name in WCW.

3. RVD was a representative of “The Alliance” (ECW & WCW) that lost to Team WWF at the end of the Invasion. The Alliance members were fired, but RVD was allowed to stay by virtue of being the Hardcore Champion.

4. RVD lost in the 2002 King of the Ring finals to Brock Lesnar, but beat him by disqualification in two subsequent Intercontinental Championship defenses.

5. A month after debuting in TNA, RVD beat AJ Styles for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. He never lost the title, forced to vacate it due to storyline injuries associated with an Abyss attack (RVD had a set number of dates on his contract and they were running out—at the same time Ric Flair was out of dates and was subsequently paid a large fee for each appearance as he was still used).

This week’s Impact Wrestling follows up on a show that was a ratings disappointment. 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 – Sting & Ric Flair promo (1/6)
This wasn’t good a tall. When Sting kicks off the fake wrestling show doing his best rendition of “God’s Opponent” you know you’re in for along 2 hours. Old man Flair should go away, too. Not to mention that a promo with Ric Flair and Sting had who as the central topic of discussion? Hulk Hogan. Uhg, brother!

Segment #2 – Scott Steiner pinned Devon in a Bound For Glory Series match (1 minute, 3/6)
The rating is for two things: Flair’s hug on Hogan and the Samoa Joe involvement. The match itself was stupid. Now, the finish was forgivable. Steiner cheated and pulled a fast one over Devon—fine. Except for the fact that THEY JUST SHOWED THAT SAME FINISH IN THE HOUSE SHOW HIGHLIGHTS! Joe actually appears motivated, so I’m open to see where he’s headed.

Segment #3 – Austin Aries won the X-Division Gauntlet to become #1 Contender to the X-Division Championship (around 12:00, 3.5/6)
Mark Haskins pinned Alex Shelley to start. Hasking is useless, looks like a poor man’s Brian Kendrick. And they HAVE Kendrick. Haskins then eliminated Robbie E in no time. Zema Ion hit a 450 splash (directly to the knees, by the way) on Haskins to eliminate him. Jesse Sorenson used his Cross Rhodes-like finisher to eliminate Haksins, then eliminates Anthony Nese, then Kid Kash. Kash no likey, so he hits his finisher on Sorensen. This gives Austin Aries the advantage, and he capitalizes for the eventual Brain Buster finish. Brian Kendrick comes out after Aries insults him in his concise-yet-effective promo, and unloads on Aries with some girlish looking shots, and even a cowardly choke. Good one, champ.

I was most impressed by Jesse Sorenson, Anthony Nese and, of course, Austin Aries. Overall this match was lacking, and I wonder if a 6-way would have been more effective. I know the X-Division is now about weight limits and no longer about No Limit, but I was still surprised as the lack of flying around here. High spots are a big part of the division, and we got none on the division’s showcase match. Still a good match, but it’s a big chunk of missed potential.

Segment #4 – Mickie James pinned ODB (almost 6:00, 4/6)
When this first started I was wishing they gave this match’s time to the gauntlet before it. But it was actually a good Knockouts match. Possibly the best match on the program. The storytelling with ODB & Jackie was much better this week. Mickie James, despite being very hot, is quite boring. I wich we could get psycho stalker Mickie back!

Segment #5 – AJ Styles beat Rob Van Dam by disqualification when Jerry Lynn interfered in this Bound For Glory Series march (6:00, 3/6)
Not the match you’d expect from AJ & RVD, but this is a TV show and not a PPV. What really hurts this is Old Man Lynn costing RVD another match. I like that they’re using the BFG series for multiple story arcs, but Lynn just isn’t great in his role. He might get better as the weeks roll on.

Segment #6 – Ric Flair & Sting backstage, Eric Young in search of Scott Baio (1/6)
You gotta love having people running around in the background of the Flair-Sting attack. Way to look more bush league, TNA! Poor Gunner…your push was going so well! And Eric Young is your television champion—when was his last televised title defense? Gunner would have made a better champ—oh, wait.

Segment #7 – Crimson/Kurt Angle promo (4/6)
I liked this. I really liked this. Crimson is actually okay on the mic, so the Team 3D Academy must be doing something right. Kurt Angle held his own as well. Not sure why Angle didn’t attack Crimson again—some TNA unwritten rule we don’t know about? This match could easily be sold by TNA without the BFG Series going on.

Segment #8 – Mexican America beat Beer Money to win the TNA World Tag Team Championships (6:30ish, 3/6)
This title change should have happened at Hardcore Justice. Not here. I like Jarrett’s involvement in Mexican America, but I doubt it can make me care enough. This match was typical TNA—overbooking that gets by the incompetent referee. Outside of Beer Money, what challengers do Mexican America even have?

Best Match: Mickie James vs. ODB (crazy, huh?)

Best Promo: Crimson/Kurt Angle promo

Overall Rating: 2.815

Overall Thoughts: Another mixed bad, another rating below 3/6 for me. The X-Division Gauntlet didn’t really provide a good showcase for the new signees—it hurts when each new person HAS to take a fall, but that’s the set-up of a gauntlet. Multi-man match would have worked better, as only one person has to take the fall. Crimson impressed me this week, and I was pleasantly surprised by the Mickie James-ODB match. I have to give them credit for doing something with the X-Division and the Knockouts. Does TNA have the ability to do something with the Tag & TV divisions at the same time? Well, we had 8 segments on Impact Wrestling this week…you could dedicate 2 to your main event program, 2 to tag, 2 to X, 1 to KO and 1 to TV. You could easily rotate and cross promote them as well. But you need to make the most of those segments, which TNA hasn’t been doing. And unfortunately, the ratings took another dip this week. Wasted potential, I tells ya.

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

Booker T (@BookerT5x) had some less-than-flattering comments about The Young Bucks and their WWE tryout:
“A friend RVD made comment few week back…now I no why, i say a small tag team called the YB’s did hay shake my hand no! Yes I said SMALL!!”

According to my Booker-to-English dictionary, Booker was upset that The Bucks didn’t shake his hand and he thinks they’re small.

Apparently, he’s not alone…

Goldust (@WWEGoldust) chimed in as well:
“As booker says…..better show some respect when in the locker room, there are good teachers here that know more than you young bucks….Just a reminder….if trying out for wwe….extend your hand,be polite and respectfull and do what your told. You dont have to like the golden one, but you will respect my knowledge of the business….jfyi”

Well, agree with Booker & Dustin or not, it doesn’t matter. I don’t think these guys are getting signed now. Time to go back to ROH fellas, and that’s not a bad thing (it’s a good thing!).

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

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
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!

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla presents its annual Battle of Los Angeles this weekend, and it’s approached with far too little fanfare. For the first time in history, it’s a one night affair with 8 competitors. But in my opinion, it will still be one of the best indy cards of 2011.

In the top half of the bracket you have former PWG World Champion Chris Hero entering the ring with PWG’s fastest rising star Willie Mack. From there you have two former PWG World Champions battling it out with Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico. The bottom half of the bracket features a guaranteed highlight reel when former ROH World Champions Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards collide. The final match is a indy fan dream encounter: PWG World Champion Kevin Steen vs. David “Fit” Finlay! The winner of this year’s event get any match of his choosing, leaving the door wide open for a Kevin Steen win.

Predictions? I see Willie Mack breaking out at this event, starting with a win over Chris Hero in the quarters. He’ll then get a win over Claudio Castagnoli in the semifinals, after Claudio beats El Generico. I imagine this is the last PWG appearance for The Kings of Wrestling, and I think they’re putting Willie Mack over on the way out. The bottom half of the bracket will likely see Roderick Strong victorious over Eddie Edwards, and Kevin Steen remaining dominant after a victory over Fit Finlay. Strong vs. Steen will kick major ass in the semis, but it will be Kevin Steen advancing to the final round? Can Willie Mack pull off the trifecta? Nope. Kevin Steen remains on his hot streak, beating Willie Mack in a great final match that solidifies Mack as a major player in PWG.

Expect a few non tournament matches to get added as well (Young Bucks vs. Dynasty anyone?), and this is a card you can’t miss if you’re near Southern California on Saturday night.

You Decide: Who win BOLA2011? Would you order this event if it were an iPPV?

This week I received a comment that reminded me the reach that 411Mania has. It wasn’t a comment left in the traditional comments, rather it was on my Facebook page…

Now, I appreciate that people in the business read my columns. I typically get a few e-mails each week that are unexpected. And I love getting those. But I had to make a conscious decision when I decided to work for 411Mania—a decision that I was done in the wrestling business. If I couldn’t make that decision, I couldn’t be myself and speak my mind. Granted, I didn’t exactly have big ideas of my future place in the wrestling business. But I’ve been offered some opportunities in my life, one that I really hated turning down, but it was for the best. But I have a beautiful wife, two amazing children, a great job with tons of security and am well connected in my local community. If 411Mania were to implode tonight, I’d be fine. I’d miss the opportunities that this site provides and the interactions I have with you readers—but I’d easily find something to fill the void. I might not like it as much, but still 80% as much.

So…sorry David Marquez. I meant what I said. I also meant what I said in response to your comment. You are the driving force behind the NWA, no one gets the NWA more publicity and more credibility than you.

You’re the Bill Belichick of the NWA. Don’t like that comparison? Sorry. He’s considered to be the best coach in the NFL—likely in all of football. You’re the best promoter in the National Wrestling Alliance, one of the best in all of wrestling. No one’s calling him easy to work with—but no one will ever question his success rate.

Let’s get to some comments…

“Unfortunately, TNA has gone back to their bad booking habits after a nice run of good booking. Their ratings have gone down since then. … TNA always manages to tease with their potential before reminding you why they are so frustrating.”
~Guest#4182

You’re unfortunately right. I guess it could only last so long…

“Triple H inserting himself into the Cena/Punk match should have waited until the feud ending match. The timing of the PPVs made that unlikely though, since Summerslam is WWE’s second leading PPV.”
~Guest#3427

That timing aspect is very true. I have a feeling if this started in, say…May, we would have had a longer build. But timing is everything.

“Dude, Calaway’s goin’ down. In not in a good way, either”
Well what would be a good way? Freak.”
~Steve Cook

Okay, sure.

(can’t get Velvet and Madison huh? too bad)
~Guest#0197

The Freebird Rule would have been very valuable in this competition, huh?

“I maybe the only one who can decipher the Kurt Angle storyline…maybe I’m wrong, but didn’t he say he “wasn’t joining the darkside.” So, like anyone who’s been cheated on by his WIFE, Kurt Angle doesn’t know who to trust. Maybe he suspected something was up all along and had a inkling that Dixie knew something. Maybe Hulk knew details that would lead Kurt to believe that he was telling the truth about Dixie knowing about the affair. Regardless, Kurt doesn’t want to save this company for Dixie. … Is this heel turn pointless? Absolutely. … As a fan, I can honestly sit here and say that TNA has gotten beyond confusing at this point. I used to know how to find a seam of logic in this, but this whole Immortal storyline has been so muddled and mishandled and it goes right back into my philosophy that super-stables and authority figure storylines do nothing but hurt the product. Somehow Dixie Carter, someone who didn’t need to be on TV, can’t be cleanly written back into the company. Not with us now knowing that she’s conniving and kept Jeff and Karen’s affair a secret. Kurt now finds himself inadvertently helping the group that houses his sworn enemy Jeff Jarrett. Somehow we’re supposed to buy into the fact that Sting can magically make Dixie Carter the owner of the company, and once that happens, what happens to Hulk Hogan and Bischoff? Call me crazy, but I don’t see them just disappearing from the company just like that. Are we supposed to act like the past 2 years didn’t happen? TNA has been accused of copying WWE, I wish I could honestly say that was true. The one thing I admire(d) about WWE was that for the most part, storylines weren’t booked around authority figures and the wrestlers typically handled their own issues. If there was some authority figure, it was usually one who didn’t get heavily involved. Sans Smackdown during the Edge/Vickie Guerrero, WWE has always kept storylines clean by not involving heel authority figures and power factions take control of the rules.”
~bighustle

There is only one thing I can say. You truly are…

“Ummm dude, Kurt was the one cheating, Karen didn’t run around until seperated. Kurt came off as the stalker husband who wouldn’t let go after she moved on and now comes across to most as a untrusting guilty person accusing everyone of his acts. Russo created this ridiculous mess and don’t even try to put it together because you honestly can’t when you look at all of it. He doesn’t have the attention span or intelligence to have anything make sense. Kudos to trying to make it work but clearly you haven’t been through a divorce or anything similar as Kurt looked like he belonged in jail to anyone outside the 900 clowns in the impact zone.”
~Guest#5434

You know what? You, too!

“5 Things You Didn’t Know About…: I don’t hate Jinder as much as some do, but I am not a big fan. I think he has a good gimmick but he needs to be used differently instead of just killing jobbers with Khali. Thanks for 5 facts I didn’t know.”
~Still Guest#8287

I think Jinder will be a star. He’s got the size and the promo ability. It all starts there these days (unfortunately).

“I think that wrestling in general has GOT to move back towards competitive matches and blood feuds. It’s what makes things interesting. I am sick of the “characters” and would rather see athletes compete with one another. Even the CM Punk/Cena thing is reaching back to that old tried and true formula and I am not the biggest WWE fan at all. That said, Cena and Punk compel me to tune in each week because they actually are fighting a meaningful battle against each other.”
~TGFA

I agree with you—partially. I think wrestling competitive athletes that are characters. TNA has tone of potential in this area. The WWE does as well. ROH has the amazingly competitive athletes, but the characters are lacking.

“I like your column De Marco. I read it every week. I especially like the “that was uncalled for” section. But I have to point out one fact – NOTHING RoH has ever done classes as “major”. It is nothing more than a little dot on the worldwide radar that is pro wrestling.”
~Guest#2381

Don’t underestimate ROH’s place in wrestling history. They’ve accomplished just as ECW. If the WWE were in a dire position, they’d have the same level of exposure. But when I say major, it’s relative. It’s major for them.

“As I’ve pointed out in a couple of other comments, the worst thing about Angle’s promo is that Dixie actually hit Jarrett with a serious suspension over the Karen situation, so the whole rant didn’t make any sense.”
~the ghost of Buddy Rogers

I think Eric Bischoff would prefer that you didn’t remember those little details…

“Hopefully Bound for Glory will end with a TNA having just been the delusions of an autistic kid… I mean, look at some of the tendencies of an autistic; resistence to change, limited focus, self-injury. Sounds kinda like TNA, eh?”
~G-Walla

Dude, that’s just wrong. I mean, it might be—ah, nevermind.

“Hey DeMarco…AGNJoe has returned after the exhausting 5+ hour event at ROH in Chicago Ridge. For the most part the show was excellent match wise, but as I reported to Ari and also on the posts that Csonka reported, there were some technical and production gaffs that ROH had. For one, they took way too long between matches to show and the crowd didn’t like it. Also some of the crowd left after the Richards-Strong match by episode 3 and some of the back bleacher area was left open. While ROH did try to attempt to rectify it by asking crowd members to move over, many resisted because they were too angry due to the long and drawn out show. Also they had sound and technical gaffs that needed to be cleared up that should have been ironed out BEFORE the show started. It was a rough start for them production wise, but I did speak with COO Joe Koff and he said that not only was he concerned about the problems he said he would be working to address them so that they wouldn’t be happening again and that he does care that these problem did have a bad effect for the taping and would not like them repeated. … Bottom line, though despite the technical and production issues, the show did go very well and the matches were all done extremely well by the professional wrestlers as they all performed their butts off. … Also some minor grumblings…many were surprised that Colt Cabana was NOT at the ROH show or featured, which was talked about a LOT by the crowd, and many said that they were surprised that they didn’t get Colt for the show to capitalize on Colt Cabana as a draw. It didn’t make sense to a lot of people as that would have been money for ROH to have him there ESPECIALLY in his home town of Chicago. That was a negative. However for a positive…people did report that Kevin Steen was seen outside of the Chicago Ridge Fieldhouse passing out fliers promoting that “Kevin Steen is RIGHT!” in an attempt to show that Kevin is trying to get back into ROH full-time after being barred due to his loss by El Generico in the Loser leaves ROH match last year. Expect Kevin Steen to be back in ROH soon is my guess. … Well that’s all I’ve got. Peace!”
~AGNJoe

Dude, thanks for sharing. As for Colt Cabana, it makes no sense. ROH didn’t advertise him, and he doesn’t have an angle that requires a surprise appearance. It was an unrealistic expectation by the fans. I agree about hitting those production issues ahead of time. That’s why Dayton should have remained on the schedule—as a dry run.

“Impact: Better show than people give it credit for. Yeah, the matches don’t get much time but when RAW has like, five matches that go a short time nobody says a word. Biaaaassss! I at least admit mine.”
~Black Scorpion

No bias, at least not from me. Objectivity is all I am applying to Impact. But if it’s bad, I am saying it’s bad.

But it does matter what Wes Kirk thinks. So read the Wrestling Sandwich!

“ALSO. NEW PICTURES! Geez again 411. update with some new pink ladies stuff”
~Aussie

Do share, friend. Because I couldn’t find any of them together.

“Oh … Daniel Bryan and Wade Barett might very well steal the show!”
~SteveyMac

Yeah, but they stole the crowd heat as well…

The battle goes down this weekend! The indy favorites of 411Mania collide as Steve Cook favorite Terra Calaway defends the Lucha Pro Women’s Championship against DeMarcette Buggy! How will this one end? Well, history is destined to repeat itself, right?

Both ladies have improved immensely since that date—likely at the same rate. Which means buggy’s still better, right?

Right!

Your winner will be…my girl Buggy!

Speaking of my girl Buggy…

Someone’s got a new website! Check it out and sign-up for exclusive updates from our adopted indy chick!

I’ve never had the chance to see a TNA house show live, or any live TNA event for that matter. My best friend (and Greg DeMarco Show co-host) Patrick O’Dowd had a house show run right around the corner from him, so he went. He thoroughly enjoyed it—great action, great atmosphere—great live feel.

So despite my complaints on the Impact Wrestling product (and they are plentiful), I almost hear great things about their house shows. So when I received this from a loyal reader, I thought it was worth a spot in this column. Enjoy…

Rochester NY House Show Report
TNA Impact Wrestling
by The Ghost of Buddy Rogers

I headed down to the Blue Cross Arena a little more than an hour before show time. I hadn’t bought a ticket, as I’m not eager to double the ticket price by paying Ticketmaster’s ridiculous fees. I had the choice of sitting on the floor for $55, or sitting in the front row of the arena seats for $24.50. Being on a semi-fixed income, I chose the latter. I think that was a good choice, as I actually had a better view of the ring than the people in the back floor seats. After I bought my ticket, I had to wait about ten minutes before they opened the gates, so I got to listen to Don West work the lines for a bit. He was pushing the brown bag special: buy the new Impact T-shirt for twenty bucks, and get four “free” DVDs. Of course, this was just the warm up, as he worked the crowd in the arena for a solid hour before the show started. He threw some items to kids in the crowd as he fed us a line that this was “the last show on the tour,” so everything was reduced in price. (If you believe that, I have some swampland in Florida you might be interested in.) Samoa Joe was at a table, signing programs, shirts, guitars, whatever, for a good forty minutes before the show started. The biggest deal they offered was if you bought a guitar, it would be signed by Joe, Angelina, and Jarrett at various times before, during, and after the show. It would also get you backstage during intermission. I wasn’t interested, as I buy guitars to play, not to show off.

I know most house show reports try to estimate crowd size. I’m really not too good at that, but I pegged it at a little over a thousand people. Of course, I could be way off in either direction. Definitely not as many people there as concerts I’ve attended in the same place. (Springsteen, Dylan, James Taylor, Paul Simon.) I also know that faces win most matches at house shows, but this one definitely broke that pattern, as you’ll see.

Anyway, JB introduced himself from backstage, then came out to start the show. He went through the whole “loudest people get to go backstage yada yada yada” thing. The first match was a BFG series contest, between Bully Ray and Devon. Ray came out first, and gave a pretty damn good heel promo. He said he was from the real New York, New York City. Then he said we don’t have a football team like Buffalo, or a university like Syracuse. (He should have said a Division 1 school, as a couple of our Division 3 schools actually have better academic reputations than the ‘Cuse. The irony here, of course, is that the Bills and the Orange both have dedicated followings in Rochester.) He also insulted our women, and while there were a few cuties attending, he had a point where the majority of them were concerned. Devon came out, did the standing on the ropes in the corner to pump up the crowd bit, and of course Ray attacked him from behind. They had a decent, but short match, about five minutes. Given that it was a BFG series match, I expected Ray to win, and he did, with his feet on the ropes for the pin. I must say that little trick looks much more effective in person than it ever does on TV. Devon went off on the ref afterwards, whipping him into the ropes, but the ref swung around them out of the ring and ran to the back.

The next match was interesting, in that it definitely reflects a reset for both performers. Robbie E. was introduced first, and surprised me with a face promo. He mentioned eating at a local BBQ joint, and extolled their food. (He’s right, by the way. If you’re ever in Rochester or Syracuse, and want good BBQ, try the Dinosaur BBQ.) He then noted that Cookie wasn’t with him, with a few choice descriptive words for her. Skank pretty much summed it up. He then looked for a volunteer to come to the ring and fist pump with him. This search was interrupted by the ominous sounds of Joe’s music. Joe hit the ring, and fed Robbie his squash. The crowd barely had the chance to chant “Joe’s gonna kill you” once or twice before Joe locked in a standing rear naked choke, and the ref called for the bell after Robbie passed out. I know most people wouldn’t be thrilled by a two minute squash at a house show, but considering it was Joe, (and Robbie) I thought it was fun. I want to note that Joe, in person, really does move very well for such a big man.

Next we got the intro for the “most infamous referee in the world,” Earl Hebner. There were just a few fans at ringside chanting the “You screwed Bret” thing, but that was enough of an excuse for Earl to pull the shirt and shades gimmick. He was out to referee a knockouts championship match between Mickie James and Winter, accompanied by Angelina. I want to address three things I’ve seen posters comment on. Some call Mickie fat, others call Angelina anorexic, and some just dis on women’s wrestling in general. In person, Mickie isn’t fat at all. She is quite short, and very pretty, and quite built in a curvaceous way. Angelina simply has a great hard body; I could drool over either of these girls. And Mickie and Winter proceeded to have the longest, and best, match of the night. They really did some good mat wrestling and some excellent spots. I figured going in that either Mickie would win by dq, or lose by nefarious means. Of course, Angelina interfered at every opportunity. Winter did the kiss spot with Hebner that Madison Rayne usually does, then while he was doing the Flair strut around the ring after, Winter and Angelina set Mickie up, and Winter pinned her with Angelina’s help. Of course, Hebner managed not to see Angelina helping Winter maintain the pin. The bout was about twelve minutes, and as I said, very well wrestled.

The next match was one of two which pretty much ignored developments on last Thursday’s show. It was an X division title match, between Abyss and Kendrick. Abyss came out first, and delivered a pretty good heel promo, talking about wanting to get out of Bischoff and Immortal’s dog house by regaining the belt. (I guess the new weight limit doesn’t apply to house shows yet.) When Kendrick came out, Abyss gave him the “I can beat you from pillar to post, or you can just give me the belt” line. Around the third time he demanded that Kendrick give him the belt, Kendrick did, right in the kisser. They then had a pretty good big man/little man match. One neat spot was when Kendrick tried the sliced bread, and Abyss threw him across the ring. This led to a choke slam attempt, which Kendrick reversed into (what else?) a roll up, to retain the title. The match went about seven minutes.

We then had our intermission, which was basically another twenty minutes or so of Don West selling, while Winter and Angelina signed merchandise.

After intermission, Hebner came out to ref a #1 contender for the tag team title match. However, Jarrett came out, pulled off his shirt to reveal a ref’s shirt, and told Hebner to hit the bricks. His story was that he’s the Mexican champ, (he did have the belt with him) and since Mexican America was in the match, he should ref it. Because, “Nobody knows how to treat Mexicans right but me.” Pretty funny if you saw Thursday’s Impact. Mexican America came out, without the girls, unfortunately. Their opponents were the British Invasion. Now, neither of these teams is Beer Money or the Machine Guns, but they did a pretty good formula tag match, with the added ingredient of JJ’s obvious collaboration with the heels. There was a very funny bit where Magnus had Anarquia pinned, and Jarrett ran around them three or four times before he finally got down, counted a very slow one, then pointed to the timekeeper and said one, then a very slow two, pointed and said two, and then just held his hand in the air until Anarquia got a shoulder up. A minute later, he delivered the quickest possible count (he slapped the mat three times in less than a second) to give Mex Am the victory. The Brits did get to hammer JJ a couple of times after the match, which went about ten minutes.

We then had the main event, the other match which ignored Thursday’s show. It was a world title match between Anderson and Angle. Anderson came out, to mostly cheers, then did a heel promo which turned the crowd. It was standard crap, and really, not all that well done. Aside from his name thing, he’s really not that good on the mic. This of course set up Angle for a face entrance. He didn’t get on the mic, just gave the crowd the big smile before the match. The one thing I really appreciated about the match is that Anderson worked on Angle’s left arm early and often, and Angle continued to sell it throughout the match. That’s the kind of psychology too few wrestlers follow through with these days. The match ended when Anderson managed to reverse the ankle lock into a roll up, which Angle then reversed into the Angle slam for the pin. The match was about ten minutes. It was a decent match, but not a great one. That’s a little disappointing when you’re watching Angle, but then, who has ever had a great match with Anderson? I’m not sure even AJ could pull that one off.

All in all, a fun evening, if not a life changing experience. I can definitely say I’d recommend an Impact house show, if one comes to your neck of the woods. Of course, I’d recommend it more strongly if some of the people who weren’t in Rochester were there. (I’m thinking AJ, Beer Money, Madison and/or Velvet. I know Velvet’s still got a way to go in the ring, but hell, she’d still be fun to look at.) Needless to say as I was leaving, they were selling the twenty dollar in ring pics with Angle.

Big thanks to the Ghost for sending this along. It makes me want to see a TNA house show even more.

You Decide: Have you been to a TNA house show? What did you think?

With the Versus Summer League coming to a close, the traditional Versus match-ups will return next week! Remember, this week’s “And 1” Model of the Week—Torrie Wilson—currently has 2 victories to her credit.

You Decide: Who should she face?

Patrick O’Dowd and I had another great edition of The Greg DeMarco Show this week. Due to a phone issue, Ryan “Skid Marks” Howe couldn’t make the show. But he stayed in constant contact (just not on the phone) and is confirmed to be on next week’s program. To say we made due is an understatement. 411’s own Ari Berenstein filled the void in a big way, sticking around for over 30-minutes to breakdown the ROH tapings. As Michael Ornelas also had to miss the program, his arch nemesis Tony Acero appeared in his place, and issued the challenge of all challenges to Ornelas—battle rap! Justin Freemyer joined the list of people who couldn’t make it, but Buggy Nova & Terra Calaway both filled that nicely—by talking trash for their showdown on Sunday. Of course you know that Steve Cook and I had to defend our ladies! All in all another in what I consider to be a long line of great shows. I highly recommend it—and that’s an objective opinion!