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The Wrestling 5&1 8.18.12: Maria Kanellis vs. Lita!

August 18, 2012 | Posted by Greg De Marco

Welcome to my 96th edition of The Wrestling 5&1. One step closer to the epic 100th edition. What will make it epic? I don’t know! (It’ll likely be the same ol’ Wrestling 5&1…meaning it’ll be EPIC!)

Listen while you read Tyler Cintron, DeMarcette Scarlett Bordeaux, our SummerSlam preview and more!

BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week:Candice Michelle took on a vastly underrated Mia Yim, and the results proved that Mia is in fact still vastly underrated!

That gives Candice two wins, one step closer to the Hall of Bang!

Future Versus Updates:
* Maria Kanellis sits at three wins, one away from immortality…
* Brooke Tessmacher has two wins, two away from a return engagement with the Hall of Bang…
* Candice Michelle has two wins, and will continue her own journey…
* AJ Lee will soon begin her own “Battle of the Bang” to determine her position in the Hall…
* Tiffany will receive a new opportunity at the Hall as soon as the opportunity is available…

This Week:The moment of truth has come for Maria Kanellis, as this former WWE Diva and current First Lady of Ring of Honor goes for win #4. A victory places her into the seventh place in the Wrestling 5&1 Hall of Bang. But it won’t come easy. In fact, some might say that to win…she must get extreme.

MARIA KANELLIS!

LITA!

The Choice Is Yours!

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


Remember, you can vote multiple times—once every 12 hours.
And you can track the results right here, too!

Special bonus video this week. As you know, I’ve run all four prior editions of Shenanigans, a show filmed, edited and produced by 411’s own Michael Ornelas. I also proudly display my Shenanigans shirt from time to time! Well post-production is complete on episode 5, the finale. Please take a moment to check it out—Michael’s poured his heart and soul into this one…

And tell your friends!

Last week in The Wrestling 5&1…

We had a whopping 23 comments last week, and I won’t be covering them for the sake of time (except for one). I have received some complaint emails about comments disappearing or not making it through. I will say that I’ve read comments that later disappeared, and I can’t speak to why—I don’t have access to approve, deny or delete comments. As far as emails I am getting about comments not making it through?

I do know the comment totals have seemed a little low, but I haven’t questioned it higher up the food chain. Again, I don’t have access to approve, deny or delete comments. If it were up to me, far too many would get through! Maybe those who have this access were way too busy over the past few weeks? Who knows! Just keep commenting and we’ll continue to have fun!

Which brings me to…

“…suspended Chris Jericho earlier this year for a flag defecation issue.”
As amazing as that would be, I think the word you’re looking for is “desecration.”
Posted By: K (Guest)

And…

“…..and suspended Chris Jericho earlier this year for a flag defecation issue.”
Um, what? You obviously did not proof read this before submitting it to the boss for publishing, or, you don’t know what defecation means.
Posted By: Chico (Guest)

To my friends Chico and The K? Desecration is obviously the better word choice, but what I typed sur would have created a bigger stir!

And just for the hell of it…

SummerSlam 2012, or as the WWE likes to call it, “The 25th Anniversary of SummerSlam,” comes to you this Sunday! It’s actually the 24th Anniversary of SummerSlam, but I gave up on that with “The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.”

The WWE has done a good job building some of the matches, and evne has some lesser built matches that I also care about due to the talent involved. Hows about we do a little previewin’, eh? We’ll start with the main events.

World Heavyweight Championship
Sheamus (champion) vs. Alberto Del Rio

I am admittedly ready for this feud to end. In typical WWE fashion, the mega popular face champion is making all of the heel moves, including being a star and stealing a car. Del Rio is a monster heat machine, but I feel like the way he’s been treated he’s not the guy to carry the belt right now. Plus, nearly everyone expects Dolph to be the guy to eventually beat Sheamus for the title. The match should be a good one, even if we have a slight clash of styles that has some ugly potential. I fully expect Sheamus to walk out still World Heavyweight Champion here, and will be interested to see what each guy does next.

Prediction: Sheamus retains via Brogue kick

WWE Championship
CM Punk (champion) vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show

As a huge indy wrestling fan, I still have to pinch myself when I see this match-up. Despite successfully defending the WWE Championship against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania, CM Punk is still ROH in so many ways (hell, he’s more ROH than ROH is now-a-days), and it’s unreal to see him carrying one of the longest reigns in recent memory. I do have to laugh at all of the wrestling websites that are listing this last on the card—keep dreaming. You wanted Cena out of the main event, now you got it.

The Big Show is the x-factor in this match for me. While Punk and Cen have the natural rivalry dating back well over a year, Show has a weapon of mass destruction in his power of the punch. And I can’t shake my gut feeling that his punch will come into play, allowing him to walk out of this thing as a champion.

Prediction: The Big Show steals a pin from CM Punk, and becomes the NEW WWE Champion

The Main Event
Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H

If you don’t think this is the main event, you haven’t been paying attention. There is very little that can be said about this match. In fact, the WWE said all it needed to say come RAW 1000, and has been treading water ever since. I could have done without the Shawn Michaels involvement, and that will be all but forgotten by Sunday. What I can’t do without is the marquee nature of this match. Triple H is a likely surprise Hall of Fame Inductee some time in the next three years, and Brock Lesnar is still one of the biggest stars in all of combat sports. I fully expect Triple H to bring his A-game, and I know Brock will be looking to impress as well. With Triple H having his office role, I see him as a sacrificial lamb in this match. Brock goes over huge here. The question is…what does he do next?

Prediction: Brock Lesnar with the win

Overall
This is a good card, with some can’t miss matches (HHH-Brock, Ziggler-Jericho) and some potential history (triple theat, tag title, US title). I think this is worth your money, folks.

Buy or No Buy: Buy all the way

You Decide: Buy or No Buy for SummerSlam 2012?

Free For All for the United States Championship
Santino (champion) vs. Antonio Cesaro

Will the WWE actually give away the United States Championship title change for free? One could argue that far less people will see it on Sunday (despite being on YouTube, Facebook, and WWE.com), versus running it Monday or Friday. But the WWE is hell bent on becoming the leader in social media, so I think that argument is moot. In fact, they put the tag team titles on The Smoking Guns on the Free For All airing as part of WrestleMania XII. So the precedent is there.

As for the match itself, we tend to forget that Santino can wrestle when called upon to do so. And I think he’ll impress some of us who have in fact forgotten with this match. I really think Cesaro has a bright future in the WWE, but the time is now for them to elevate him. And I think they will, starting with SummerSlam. Cesaro for the win.

Prediction: Antonio Cesaro is your NEW United States Champion

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane
As The World Turns, so does AJ and Daniel Bryan’s relational rivalry. This time, The Big Red Machine is involved, and it actually makes total sense. He was involved in the AJ storyline before, including the triple threat match with Bryan and Punk. Plus, he’s a monster—the perfect selection for AJ when looking for D-Bry’s opposition. I’d love to see Daniel Bryan overcome the monster, but I simply don’t see it happening on this night.

Prediction: Kane chokeslams a somehow distracted Daniel Bryan for the pinfall win

Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler
And we’ve come to the match that I am most excited about. I fully expect this match to steal the show—as many do. In fact, we’re running the risk of having too lofty of a set of expectations, setting these gentlemen up for failure. But I expect them to deliver and deliver big time. Chris Jericho recently surprised me in an interview saying he didn’t ask to work with Ziggler, a perspective that was incorrectly reported, speculatively, in the recent past. Regardless of the motives of either wrestler, this feud has been great from day one, and Ziggler is really coming off like a big time star.

As for the match itself, I do expect it to steal the show. Jericho is more than capable of working a great match, and his psychology is unmatched at this stage in his career. Ziggler is a man who has grown from the bust bump in the WWE to the best all-around wrestler in the WWE. He can sell, his offense is legit, he can talk, and he has an insane amount of charisma. Plus, he has that Money in the Bank briefcase that we all expect will lead to his first (real) world championship win. On top of all that, Chris Jericho is gone after SummerSlam, back on tour with Fozzy.

Prediction: Dolph Ziggler gets the pinfall

WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Miz (champion) vs. Rey Mysterio

I keep hearing people complain about this match. “Why is Rey getting a shot?” “There’s been no build?” Maybe I’m just too old school, dating back to “SummerSlam Control Center” the days where a match would be announced, then the guys would have a reason to feud. They couldn’t build it this week on RAW with Rey out of town, and The Miz was extremely effective in his participation in Piper’s Pit and the triple threat that followed.

This will be a good match, as both men have showed good chemistry in the past. I also expect it to open the show, with Rey popping the crowd as the “hometown” hero. I don’t expect that hero to prevail, however. The Miz will do what he does best, pull off a sneaky, albeit clean, win.

Prediction: Miz retains following a Skull Crushing Finale

WWE Tag Team Championship
Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (champions) vs. The Prime Time Players of Titus O’Neill and Darren Young

It’s time to take the belts off of Truth & Kofi here, as neither is accomplishing much as a tag team wrestler. Kofi deserves a push, and I’d love to see him in a feud with either The Miz over the Intercontinental Championship or Antonio Cesaro (hopefully) over the United States Championship. Plus, Vince can be a very, very spiteful man. I’m willing to bet he thinks Brian Josie is telling people that the PTPers are less formidable without him. Meaning Vince will then immediately put the tag team championships on Titus & Darren.

Prediction: The Prime Time Players get some tag team gold to go with their blinged out t-shirts

You Decide: What match from the undercard could steal the show?

So I keep hearing about how stupid TNA was for putting the World Championship on Austin Aries. That Aries is too small, that he’s too indy, that he belongs in the X-Division and nowhere else. On top of that, you have the naysayers saying nay because Bobby Roode’s reign was cut short. That it was meant to be Bobby Roode vs. James Storm at Bound For Glory for the World Championship with Storm coming out on top. That’s the way it was always meant to be, damnit!

You know what I say to that?

It already happened. I know, because I made this graphic:

Bobby Roode didn’t win at Bound For Glory, and he ended up having one of the best reigns in TNA’s history. James Storm didn’t win at Lockdown, and he’s as hot as ever right now. And it appears, as of right now, that we might get James Storm vs. Bobby Roode at Bound For Glory in a blood-feud grudge match that isn’t for the title.

“But that’s terrible! It’s about the title!”

So James Storm can’t hate Bobby Roode because he’s not the champion? Bobby Roode didn’t resent James Storm for their entire four year partnership because he wanted to be the star? Storm didn’t win the title before Roode, causing Roode to get desperate turn heel? None of this happened???

The fact is, TNA is in position to tell a much better story heading into Bound For Glory. Yes, predictable is good sometimes. But James Storm has opened up a substantial lead in the Bound For Glory Series. If Bobby Roode were world champion, everything would be so obvious. While obvious is okay, Dave Lagana and company might have a different story to tell. With Austin Aries’s title win they established the Destination X world title shot stipulation. With Aries retaining the title, with a no rematch clause, they’ve cast reasonable doubt in the BFG Series. We had two ref bumps and Roode is a cunning and conniving heel. So we have reasonable doubt in his “no rematch” clause from Hardcore Justice. All of this means we don’t know who will win the BFG Series.

With Aries a champion, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, AJ Styles and Bully Ray all seem like viable options to win the BFG Series. That’s half the field! With Bobby Roode as champion, only James Storm is a viable option to win the Series. Cast some reasonable doubt and the standard “rules stipulations were made to be broken” mentality of pro wrestling, and you have seven potential winners of the Bound For Glory Series. SEVEN! That’s excitement, folks!

So to all of you sitting back and saying that the build for Roode-Storm has been wasted, just stop right now. If TNA plays their cards right, they can occupy a semi main event spot on their PPVs through the end of the year with Roode & Storm, plus have an amazing main event spot with Aries and a carousel of challengers. Plus, Austin Aries is legit—he’s a main event star in TNA, and you can’t take that away from The Greatest Man That Ever Lived.

(I do wish he had played a larger role on Thursday’s Impact Wrestling, however.)

You Decide: Can James Storm & Bobby Roode have a great feud that doesn’t involve the world title? Can Austin Aries carry the world title scene into 2013?

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…
CLASH WRESTLING!

From the Clash Wrestling website:

CLASH (Collective League Of Adrenaline, Strength, and Honor) Wrestling was founded in January 2008 and runs wrestling shows throughout Southeastern Michigan on a near weekly basis. CLASH Wrestling is considered one of the fastest rising wrestling promotions in the United States..

Grappolganza features what many are calling the biggest match in CLASH Wrestling history as Alex Shelley challenges CLASH Champion “Maple Leaf Muscle” Petey Williams! Petey has been champion since January 21, and has turned back every challenger who has been presented since that day. Can Alex Shelley, who knows Petey better than nearly any other wrestler in the world, be the man that takes the title from his fellow former X-Division & TNA Tag Team Champion?

The Announced Card:

CLASH Championship
Petey Williams (champion) vs. Alex Shelley

CLASH Tag Team Championship
The H3rd vs. Painkillers

Gavin Quinn vs. J. Miller

Cameron Skyy vs. N8 Mattson

For more information, head over to C4 Wrestling’s event site here.
Follow them on Twitter here.

The Greg DeMarco Show with Tyler Cintron and DeMarcette Scarlett Bordeaux, plus a surprise call from Su Yung, Leva Bates and Sassy Stephie!

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: Greg and Patrick are joined by special guests Tyler Cintron and DeMarcette Scarlett Bordeaux!

Utah Championship Wrestling-Zero’s Tyler Cintron joins the program to discuss his career, his legendary battles with WWE Tough Enough alumnus Martin Casaus, and more! Plus, we get some bonus coverage with Cintron talking about college football and his past run-in with Sunny (and why he responded the way he did).

DeMarcette Scarlett Bordeaux returns to the show to discuss her upcoming events and her big tryout match with Ohio Valley Wrestling. She also provides the details of her upcoming photoshoot—blood & lingerie, anyone?

DeMarcette Su Yung surprised the guys with a special call to promote this weekend’s Shine II! And she didn’t come alone, bringing Leva Bates and Sassy Stephie on-air with her! Three girls and one phone? You know out of control hilarity is bound to come from that.

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 industry. 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.

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

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
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It’s personal favorite time, as the always radiant Rain returns to the “And 1” position!

Get reading!

Randle’s Wrestling News Experience!
The News from Cook’s Corner!
Marisco’s Wednesday Wire!
Kelly’s Thursday Sports Entertainment News!
Napier’s Handicapping the News!
Fact or Fiction featuring ME! (and Randle)

Tony Acero presents The Low End Theory!

Plenty to talk about in the comments!
What match will close out SummerSlam?
Will CM Punk retain the WWE Championship?
What match will steal the show?
Does Bobby Roode vs. James Storm have to be for the world championship?
And this week’s Versus—Maria vs. Lita—You Make the Call!

Until next time…

Find me:

Listen to the show!

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Greg De Marco

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