The Wrestling 5&1 07.07.12: Maria Kanellis vs. Madison Rayne

However, that original poll that “no one” could see? Well, some of you could see it. Because some of you voted…

A grand total of 122 of you, and you picked AJ as well!

So AJ Lee now awaits her fourth opponent. Can anyone stop AJ on her quest for the Hall?

Future Versus Updates:
* Tiffany and Brooke Tessmacher will both receive new opportunities at the Hall as soon as the opportunity is available. They will not be challengers against Christy, AJ or Maria.
* Kelly Kelly sits at one victory with her win over Cameron.
* Mickie James, thanks to her 10-vote win over Christy Hemme, lives to fight another day!
*AJ Lee now sits at three victories, and will continue in her quest for the Hall. Who will stand in her way next?

This Week: Maria Kanellis returns to the Versus arena, against a personal favorite in Madison Rayne! Rayne recently made some news by showing up far too skinny for a recent bikini contest. Thankfully she’s started eating again, and now we can remember the Madison we know and love.

Maria Kanellis!

Madison Rayne!

The Choice Is Yours!

MARIA KANELLIS vs. MADISON RAYNE
Take your pick and vote in the poll below!

Looking for “The Five?” It’s in The Wrestling 5&1 PreShow

“What happens if…?” It’s a statement we’ve all used so many times. Maybe we’re weighing the pros and cons of taking on a job, or making a big move. Maybe you just got new of a big change at your workplace and there are so many variables that people can’t stop envisioning every possible scenario. Maybe you just wrote your firs column for 411Mania and some idiots are posting personal attacks in the comments section and you’re trying to decide how to handle it…but I digress.

At Destination X, Austin Aries will relinquish the X-Division Championship for a shot at Bobby Roode and the World Heavyweight Championship. Roode and Aries have both had amazing runs over the past 10 months, and neither seems ready to stop. Which begs two big questions, and both happen to start with “What happens if…?”

What Happens if Austin Aries wins at Destination X?
For Austin Aries: If Austin Aries wins at Destination X, it will solidify his meteoric rise to prominence in TNA. It will define Aries as a great all around wrestler—not just “The King of the X-Division.” It proves that he really can go with anybody.

For Bobby Roode: A loss to Austin Aries isn’t as bad as it might initially sound—as long as he wins it right back. A reign can be just as interesting and dominating—maybe even more so—if the champion is upset during that reign, but immediately avenges that loss and continues on their same path. Plus, it gives TNA the chance to put Aries on the chase for two pay-per-view events in a feud that has been highly entertaining so far.

For The X-Division: This would be huge for the X-Division. Your best champion in history is walking away from the title to go for an upgrade. There’s no other way to look at it. If Aries wins, the division looks like their competitors can hang with the main event portion of the card. When you’re rebuilding a division, it helps for that division to look strong in the process.

What Happens if Bobby Roode wins at Destination X?
For Austin Aries: A loss doesn’t actually hurt Austin Aries. He’s as over as ever, and losing to the world heavyweight champion won’t change that. Even if Aries wins, I don’t expect him to enter Bound For Glory as champion. What’s more important than a win or loss here is what Aries does at Bound For Glory. I’ve been suggesting a feud with Kurt Angle—it’s fresh and it’s exciting. Plus it does wonders for Aries in the eyes of even the most casual fan.

For Bobby Roode: More of the same—and that’s not a bad thing. Bobby Roode continues his dominance of the TNA main event scene, and continues to push towards a program with James Storm at Bound For Glory. I’m not sure who he feuds with between now and then since so much talent is tied up in the BFG Series. Austin Aries seems to be the best option through the fall.

For The X-Division: A loss by Austin Aries to Bobby Roode at Destination X—the one man who has truly shown that he cares about elevating a division that is going through yet another rebuilding process losing to the world champion in the first of what is a new yearly guaranteed championship opportunity for the X-Division Champion—would be a division killer. I’m not saying the division would die off, but it wouldn’t be as credible. The Destination X title shot is going to be a major part of the division going forward. That title shot needs to represent a legit threat, not an ultimate underdog.

In summary, I really think that Austin Aries and Bobby Roode will be fine, win or lose, after Destination X. I fully expect Bobby Roode to be world champion at Bound For Glory, and I fully expect Austin Aries to continue to compete at the main & semi-main event level for quite some time. But the results of Destination X will be a big determining factor in the long term outlook of the division.

You Decide: Does the X-Division need Austin Aries to win at Destination X?

This Thursday night, Kenny King made waves during TNA Impact Wrestling. From the moment he came out, you could tell there was something that set Kenny apart from the other X-Division qualifiers, and from his treatment within the company.

No offense to Flip Casanova/Kendrick, Dakota Darsow and Lars Only/Johnny Yuma, but Kenny King was the clear cut star of the foursome. His post-match interview was the best of either week (hell, Casanova didn’t even get one—he just stood around waiting for Christy Hemme), narrowly beating Rashad Cameron’s “movement” speech. And he even got a backstage segment with Austin Aries—which lightly teased a past between the two. And you have to think Aries played a role. But some more insight on how this played out—and more questions—can be derived on the statement issued by Ring of Honor via their Facebook page on Thursday night.

The appearance of ROH wrestler Kenny King on another television wrestling program tonight has raised speculation on his future as well as how this appearance could occur.

A statement from ROH will be forthcoming regarding the future of the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Co-holder Rhett Titus remains on the active ROH roster.

So Ring of Honor is going to hang their “case” against Kenny King on a handshake deal—a verbal agreement. Good luck with that.

There are two sides to every story, and I’d imagine that Kenny King’s side is much different. That “verbal agreement” ROH references is likely Kenny King saying he wasn’t sure about the short term negotiation period that ROH offered and wanted to have someone else take a look at it. At that point ROH probably said “well we still don’t want to see you show up on TV until this thing gets ironed out, okay?” to which King likely replied “sure, whatever.” I seriously doubt there was a “Ee have an agreement, right? Kenny, do you agree?” “Yes, I agree to these terms until we iron something out” with a witness being present. And even then, it’s so hard to prove in a court of law. But no one will have to—ROH doesn’t say they’re going to pursue anything with Kenny King in their statement. Simply that “ROH will not be doing business with Kenny King going forward.”

“ROH will not be doing business with Kenny King going forward.”
This is a statement that most fans and readers alike will immediately gloss over. But to me, this statement is the most telling statement out of the entire release. The phrase “doing business” is an insider term. It refers to following through with an angle or storyline, even when it means you’re “going under” or being made out to be the loser. Say myself and Guest #9999* strike a private deal where we’re going to feud in the comments section for a month, and Guest #9999 is going to “put me over” in the end, saying I’m great at what I do and he’s grown to love and respect my column and my show. However, when it’s showtime, Guest #9999 backs out, saying he’s no longer comfortable with that—it makes him look bad. Inside the wrestling lockerroom, we’d say that Guest #9999 didn’t want to “do business” with me anymore. I’ve spoken to many people about last year’s NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship situation between Adam Pearce and The Sheik, and the phrase “he didn’t want to do business” and “they didn’t want to do business” gets thrown around a lot.

Why is that statement telling? Because a corporate owned entity is using an insider term in their press release, that only serves to hurt Kenny King in the eyes of the few readers who will understand it. That’s bush league. You let the man go. Worse yet, you put your tag team championships on Kenny King on June 24, nine days before his contract expired. Well, eleven days later, two days after the expiration of his contract, he shows up in TNA. What does that tell me? He was far more valuable of an asset than the manner in which you treated him.

What does the future hold for Kenny King?
I think TNA’s handling of Kenny King is different than the rest of the X-Division qualifiers. Not to say none of them will get a contract—if TNA was smart Rashad Cameron, Rubix, and Mason Andrews will all be under contract by Sunday. But I believe Kenny King already is. He met with TNA officials on Thursday, followed by a reported dark match before Impact Wrestling went live. Then the company put him on TV, giving him a win over Lars Only/Johnny Yuma to qualify for Destination X’s championship tournament. None of the other talent brought in had a meeting, dark match and TV match all in the same day—not according to any reports I’ve read. This brings me to one conclusion: Kenny King signed a TNA talent contract on Thursday. No one else got a backstage segment with Austin Aries (or anyone else for that matter) where the most intriguing face in the company said King would be wearing gold sooner rather than later. Furthermore, if they had him wrestle a dark match, they had to have a plan in the rare case that he bombed. So who was the other guy? Who would have faced Lars Only if not for Kenny King? Was it a local? Something tells me we’ll never know.

Obviously this begs the question of what happens to the ROH World Tag Team Championships. Expect to see a tournament of some kind to crown new champions. And many people say the man in the worst spot is Rhett Titus, King’s All Night Express tag team partner. I disagree. Adam Cole—the clean cut babyface World Television champion—needs a great heel to feud with. “Addicted to Love” Rhett Titus is just the man for the job. In other words, Rhett will be fine.

In the end, the best thing for us to do is welcome 2002 Tough Enough alum and former Ring of Honor stand out Kenny King to “the big time.” His time has come.

As for what really went down under contract, there are likely two very different sides to that story—and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Key word being “lies.”

You Decide: Do you think we’ll see big things out of Kenny King in TNA?

If you haven’t already read it, the majority of the comment responses can be found in the The Wrestling 5&1 PreShow!

And now for the award winners…

So Cook is the “It’s still real to me” guy? Huh. Makes sense after reading his Taeler section…
Posted By: Guest#8651

I wouldn’t go that far. In fact, if you read his column you wouldn’t say that at all. He’s just allowing himself to be a fan. You should, too!

yawn…zzz…not even pics of aj can bring in the hits…gimmick may be dying off greg…time to use your brain instead google images…
Posted By: Guest#9000

So tell me, exactly how many hits does this column get? Since you seem to know…

Another day, another 411 column trying to whitewash the TRUE legacy of Chris “I murdered my wife and child and took the coward’s way out” Benoit!
That very “technical wrestlng” skill you apologists love was USED IN THE CRIME! How can any of you watch or celebrate that?
Posted By: Benoit=Killer

Did you read what Patrick O’Dowd wrote, or did you see a few pictures and decide to comment? I assume it was he latter…

If this were ANY sort of legitimate writing gig, you’d be fired. You and everyone else who has defended Benoit.
Posted By: Sickening

You do realize no one in this column defended him, don’t you? And you can be fired from 411Mania. It has more readers than some “legitimate writing gigs.”

“But it was even better because Joey Ryan showed up!” … The fact that they focused the cameras on him when he started yelling is very telling, since S.O.P. for disruptions like that is to get the camera away immediately and avoid that spot at all costs. Right now I’m assuming that they will be doing a “Shows up regularly and disrupts the show, settles on a specific wrestler to interfere with, then that wrestler demanding he be allowed to face Ryan in the ring…” bit. Standard fare, but probably the only way they can go on it without seeming wishy-washy. … “But what in the hell happened to Madison Rayne?!?!” … Don’t worry – go find the “TNA Today (June 25) Interview with Madison Rayne” on YouTube. She’s going to be gaining back her weight and be her normal gorgeous self in short order.
Posted By: The Ogre

Oh yeah, I am sure TNA realizes they have something in Ryan based on how this has all gone down. Good for them—it’s keeping Gut Check from becoming stale. As for Madison…I hope you’re right!

Angela Fong used to be Savannah in WWE. Apparently she was pretty decent in FCW, and she was a ring announcer for ECW, I think. Beyond that, she just had a couple of battle royale or lumberjill appearances.
Posted By: Guest#8901

I figured more people realized this, I will elaborate more next time. Therefore, you sir are…

Ridiculous! White Ranger wins this one easy. Rita treated Green Ranger like her personal bitch, but White Ranger was pretty badass with his tiger zord
Posted By: destro

That, my friends, is analysis at its finest! And it wins the newest award:

Congrats, destro.

On March 17 of this year, the internet started reporting that Matt Bloom, most recently competing as Giant Bernard in Japan, had signed a WWE contract. He denied he reports, but soon started appearing as part of short vignettes for the Lord Tensai character. The name is Japanese for “natural disaster” and, unfortunately, that’s what Bloom’s recent WWE stint has become. But why?

The least likely responsible party is Matt Bloom himself. I doubt he picked that character. I mean, would a guy as over as he was in Japan really want to come in and play a giant baby pretending to be a ninja? Because that’s exactly what I think of when I see him. He looks like a fat kid in his underwear playing ninja. How does anyone expect that to get over in 2012.

The fact is, Matt Bloom is an amazingly talented big man in the business. His accomplishments in Japan speak for themselves:
• Two time IWGP Tag Team Champion (once each with Tomko and Karl Anderson)
• Two time G1 Clmax Tag League Champion (once each with Tomko and Karl Anderson)
• New Japan Cup winner in 2006
• Pro Wretling NOAH GHC Tag Team Champion (with Karl Anderson)

And he built a very strong following for himself while in Japan. But you don’t need to bring him back and make him Japanese! He didn’t need to come back dressed like a ninja. And you didn’t need to completely change his persona from before.

So what do you do? Bring him back as A-Train. This way, you have a reason to acknowledge the Albert chants. You also have a history that you can focus on. There has to be some footage of Albert/A-Train hitting the Baldo Bomb on Jeff Hardy or Kurt Angle lying around, right? He wrestled against The Undertaker in a WrestleMania—you can use some footage of him on offense there. He’d be way more over re-debuting under those circumstances than he did as Lord Tensai.

In fact, there’s a recipe for bringing someone back from Japan and debuting them on United States television as a dominant monster. And it’s been quite a long time since it’s been done…

Big Van Vader debuted in WCW with much fanfare after his successes in Japan. He reached higher heights in The Land of the Rising Sun than Bloom, winning three All Japan Triple Crown Championships, two IWGP Heavyweight Championships and one Champion’s Carnival. But he was brought back and immediately pushed as a monster—his character wasn’t changed, it was accentuated. Do the same thing with Bloom. Re-debut him as A-Train, put him back into the black pants, possibly give him a black singlet style top to go with it. Allow him to infuse the Japanese style—that he was already working in Japan. Want him to use the Claw? Fine. Want him to use mist? You can explain that as well. But don’t dress him like a child playing pretend ninja, don’t give him a worshipper he can bully around, and don’t make him a joke. Because that’s what you did. Lord Tensai could have been a major success in his post-WrestleMania debut. Instead, we got what we got. Now he can lose to Tyson Kidd in a fluke and we’re happy about it.

You Decide: Did the WWE completely blow it with Matt Bloom/Lord Tensai?

Are you an independent wrestling promoter, wrestler or fan looking to get more exposure for your promotion? Send me an e-mail at [email protected] and I will check it out! Each week, one independent promotion will be featured in this column. Because independent wrestling is the future of the business.

This week’s independent promotion is…
2CW – SQUARED CIRCLE WRESTLING

2CW presents The Event II next weekend with an all-star talent list that is easily worth the price of admission. And with your $35 front ticket, you also get admission to the fair! Advertised talent includes Mickie James, Ted Dibiase (Sr), ROH stars Kevin Steen and Eddie Edwards and independent standouts The Super Smash Brothers, Chuck Taylor, Rachel Summerlyn and Sami Calihan.

Take a look at the entire card, courtesy of the 2CW website:

2CW Presents The Big Event II
Friday, July 13th, 2012 at 7:30pm
Jefferson County Fairgrounds – Duffy Field Baseball Stadium
Watertown, NY

2CW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Kevin Steen (champion) vs. Sami Callihan

Mickie James vs. Rachel Summerlyn

NO HOLDS BARRED: “Juggernaut” Jason Axe VS. Isys Ephex

2CW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Super Smash Brother (champions) vs. Punisher VanSlyke & Kevin Graham

Eddie Edwards vs. Chuck Taylor

“Slyck” Wagner Brown vs. Sean Carr

1-Fall Four Way: Jay Freddie vs. Loca Vida vs. Colin Delaney vs. Cheech

Killer Steves vs. “Supercop” Dick Justice & Peter D. Order

Also featuring Kage, “Muscle” Marcos, “Maverick” Matt Milan, The Beast and more

Plus a special appearance by “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase

For more information, check out:
Squared Circle Wrestling’s website at 2CWwrestling.com
Squared Circle Wrestling’s Twitter at @2CW
Squared Circle Wrestling’s Facebook here.

Check out some 2CW highlights here:

The Greg DeMarco Show with Kimber Lee, DeMarcette Scarlett Bordeaux and MMAInterview.tv’s Michael Jenkin

The Greg DeMarco Show, presented by 411Mania.com/Wrestling, streams all weekend at VOCNation.com. Greg and Patrick O’Dowd are joined by regular contributors Tony Acero, Justin Freemyer, Chad Perry and the First Lady of the VOC Nation—WrestlingMarx girl “The Guilty Pleasure” Leanne Marie! Plus, you never know who might call in or stop by “The Snake Pit” (chatroom).

This week:
Philly independent standout Kimber Lee joins the program to discuss her training at the CZW academy, her recent travels to Japan and what she hopes to accomplish in the wrestling world. Plus, you’ll get to hear about her life outside of wrestling.

DeMarcette Scarlett Bordeaux stops by to provide an update on her in-ring future, as well as some new ventures in the modeling world. Find out what exciting projects “The Perfect Ten” is doing next!

“The Guilty Pleasure” Leanne Marie joins in as Patrick O’Dowd hosts a discussion on the recent Twitter Wars that have become the norm in wrestling—find out what everyone thinks of those wars and how social media can have a positive impact on the business.

Chad Perry is in with your TNA Destination X preview, MMAInterviews.tv’s own Michael Jenkin makes an appearance to provide a quick UFC 148 Sonnen-Silva II preview, fill-in cohost Andy Critchell shares his experiences with All American Pro Wrestling, Tony Acero discusses RAW, Justin Freemyer provides a look at this week in wrestling history and more!

Listen here!

About the show:
The Greg DeMarco Show with Greg DeMarco & Patrick O’Dowd, presented by 411Mania and streaming worldwide through the Voice of Choice Nation—airs live every Tuesday at 10:30 PM eastern time and is heard by over 10,000 listeners throughout each week. Discussing current events in professional wrestling—including WWE RAW, WWE Smackdown, TNA, Ring of Honor and many US independent promotions and regularly featuring guests from Ring of Honor, Extreme Reunion, Chikara Pro, and countless other promotions, Greg and Patrick present opinionated analysis on the wrestling world that remains rooted in a love, passion and respect for the business. The show is presented live on Tuesday nights by 411Mania at http://www.411wrestling.com/wrestling and streams worldwide each Saturday through Monday via Bruce Wirt’s Voice of Choice Nation at http://www.vocnation.com. You can reach the show via e-mail at [email protected], Facebook by searching for “Greg DeMarco Show” or Twitter @gregdemarcoshow.

It’s from 2009, but I think it’s worth the wait!

Annie Social vs. Sarah Jones vs. Lizzie Valentine – Bikini Match
NWE – Spain

And as a bonus (that’s right), you get a second one! Darin Corbin’s Wrestling Reflections Episode 4, guest starring DeMarcette “The Perfect Ten” Scarlett Bordeaux!

And don’t miss two more videos in The Wrestling 5&1 PreShow!

Hit up the ‘Mania on the 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/gregdemarcoshow – that’s me!

The worst part about Maryse being at or near the top of The Wrestling 5&1 Hall of Bang (I really gotta change that name) is that she rarely makes an appearance. Thankfully, we have the And 1 Model of the Week!

Get reading!

Randle’s Wrestling News Experience!
The News from Cook’s Corner!
Marisco’s Wednesday Wire!
Kelly’s Sports Entertainment News Report!
Napier’s Handicapping the News!
Fact or Fiction!
Michael Weyer looks at A Decade of John Cena in the WWE.

Tony Acero presents The Low End Theory!

Don’t forget to hit The Wrestling 5&1 PreShow if you haven’t already!

Plenty to talk about in the comments!
Are you excited for Destination X?
What is best for TNA: Aries winning or Roode retaining?
What are your thoughts on the Kenny King “controversy?”
Did the WWE botch Matt Bloom/Tensai’s redebut?
What do you think of the loaded 2CW card?
Did you enjoy seeing a Maryse return to the “&1”
Plus, vote in the poll above—Maria Kanellis vs. Madison Rayne!

Until next time…

Find me:

Listen to the show!