wrestling / Columns

The Wrestling 5&1 09.01.12: AJ Lee vs. Layla El!

September 1, 2012 | Posted by Tony Acero

It’s the Wrestling 5&1, and guess who has taken over!!! It is your loveable, laughable, hip hop master of ceremonies, Tony Acero! Greg has decided to have a week or so off to wrestle his inner demons before he lost his smile. Who better to fill in for him than someone who is unqualified?! Join me as I take what was oh so graciously bestowed upon me and try not to fuck it up!

Listen while you read as we’re joined by star Canadian Josh Alexander and DeMarcette Veda Scott!
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BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week:

Future Versus Updates:
* 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…
* Tiffany will receive a new opportunity at the Hall as soon as the opportunity is available…

* Who the hell cares; I’m running this show, so you’re getting AJ vs AJ! Ok, I can’t actually do that, so I’ll throw my second favorite lady in the mix.

This Week:

AJ!

Layla!

The Choice Is Yours!

AJ vs. Layla
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!





Last week in The Wrestling 5&1…

It’s a shame they have to run the Cena/Punk program so soon. Imagine an extended build where Punk defends against others but occasionally interacts with Cena, leading to a title match at TLC. That would create some genuine intrigue as the winner would go on to face the Rock and either one could conceivably win (as both Punk/Rock and Cena/Rock II would be awesome RR main events)

Posted By: mr_wishart

Although I like your idea of an extended build, they are probably looking at the situation as if Punk – and the championship – have already had enough time away from Cena. Personally, I’m not enjoying the build that’s going on right now, but I get what I can take in this day and age of wrestling…

I keep equating AJ as the wrestling version or, to be more accurate, the IWC’s version of Katy Perry. Is she attractive? yes. Would I kick her out of bed? hell no. But is she really THAT hot? No. Honestly, if Perry was around in the 80’s or even 90’s, before celebrities were in every aspect of the social media, she would’ve had a few songs and went away. But, because magazines cover everything she does(which she plays up to the nth degree)and a few magazines/websites claim she’s the hottest thing ever, people automatically agree. if you stepped back objectively, you’d see her as having a nice body, big rack(although not as titanic as most make it out to be), but bug eyed and moderately attractive.
Same with AJ. few people on here said she’s hot, so it became the cool thing to do.
That’s my analogy
Posted By: southsidesexy

Say whaaaaa?!?! First off, there is no equal to AJ, not even Ms. Funbags Perry. Yes, she really is THAT hot.. AJ is perky, has a great smile, seductive eyes, and is fun sized for tossing around and the like. In all honesty, my opinion is simply that; my opinion, but it reigns supreme in the world of writing. So with that being said…

Neither Lesnar nor Jericho have had good runs. The booking completely derailed both of them. It’s a push, because both of their comebacks were total failures.

Posted By: The TradeMark Experience

I’d argue that Jericho was able to rebound from his horrible re-debut thanks to compelling storylines with Punk and Ziggler, but as for their immediate comebacks, definitely failures.

Y2J had the better return because he left the WWE better than he found, putting over talent. Lesner’s return was hot for short time but nothing really came of it. Y2J helped push Sheamus, CMPunk, an Ziggler. That makes his the better return.

Posted By: SteveyMac

Agreed, although you may consider a spell check, or proof reading of some sort..

Hey kangol, how the fuck were claire lynch and brooke hogan supposed to make the knockouts relevant again? Did you actually want to them to wrestle each other?

And the only reason Austin Aries or CM Punk don’t work as champs is because promoters and idiots like you don’t give a chance. Aries is better than Storm and Rooooooo, even if you were to put both of them together with only their strengths and none of their weaknesses.

Posted By: Mr. Magnanimous

My TNA knowledge is minimal, but you bring up a point that I’ll be talking about later in terms of wrestlers and their size. I can’t see myself combining two wrestlers into one, because my mind automatically reverts to The Fly, and it’s not pretty.

Maria vs AJ? God, please don’t make me choose between two different kinds of perfection!

Posted By: katefan

I won’t make you….but you should have voted for AJ. Now your cat will die of amebic dysentery.

Since I don’t watch WWE, I really don’t have much of an opinion on this week’s Vs. However, I do need to point out that whoever took those pics of the chick using AJ Styles’s name forgot to put the paper bag over her head. 8^)

Posted By: the ghost of Buddy Rogers

Your post hoc ergo propter hoc is upsetting; you should have voted for the hotter one. AJ.

Storm and Roode seems to me more like a nemesis feud. They don’t need a a feud ender but instead need to always be enemies not matter what. TNA should treat them as their version of SCSA and The Rock but with a definite face/heel divide. They can feud with other people, when they team up the tension is visible, and when one has the title the other one is considered the main challenger.

Another thing up in the comments up above is that most of the challengers for Aries but what some don’t understand is that TNA unlike WWE is not built as heavily on a face/heel divide. TNA can have Face vs Face matches as long as the match is built as competition instead of storyline. That along with the fact that Aries is a heelish face means that he can trash talk against faces and heels with looking out of character.

Of course Aries should ideally lose the title to a definite heel such as Bully Ray in two or three months from now.

Plus TNA now has a large main event scene that after the BFGS whould become more spread out. Magnus can win the TV championship, AJ can alternate between World Title and tag teaming with a rookie they want to establish, RVD and Anderson can feud with Magnus for the Tv Title. Robbie E can alternate between X-Division and Tag team with Robbie T. Kurt

Posted By: Dr Wiki

I really enjoy the idea of a Batman/Joker feel for Storm and Roode, as it doesn’t feel forced and has a whole lot of mileage. It’s a story arc that you don’t see much anymore due to the rushed ways of storytelling that WWE and TNA sometimes (most times) depend on. Good shit, Dr. Wiki.

As good as Maria and AJ look, neither should be in the HoB. but I honestly expect AJ to run through the rest of the HoB chicks because she has that “attainable realistic look” (even though that statement shows that a bunch of 411 posters don’t think highly of themselves, and feel like they can’t pick up chicks you may consider stunning or gorgeous).

As far as Tiffany/Taryn, I’ll just copy and paste from the other Tiffany update:

Pretty much what the other posters said. Why would TNA have been expecting some huge reaction when she was pretty insignificant even in the WWE. Her last tv time was 2010. What were they expecting? Did they think she’d get some Batista like reaction or something. Damn, I root for TNA alot just some they can ignite a fire under the WWE, but even as awful as the WWE is in terms of booking and storylines, TNA always seems to one-up them smh.
There was some idiot on here who I’m guessing thought I was thinking Taryn Terrel’s reaction was part of a storyline or something. Not sure how you could even come to that conclusion based on that previous post, unless you had reading comprehension problems.

Props to Reks for making that move. He’s 33, and has only been wrestling for 5 years, so his body isn’t even really beat up. Plus, it really didn’t look like Reks (tag team or not) was gonna do anything significant. Sure, there’s a chance Hawkins can be left as a jobber or released himself, but there’s also a chance that Reks’ departure can be beneficial for Hawkins. I mean, if Heath Slater can be doing something significant right now, there’s no reason Hawkins can’t be doing something notable

SS, my main man! AJ not in the Hall?! Come on, man! You may be surprised to see that she didn’t run through the competition as I had hoped. Yeah, for TNA to expect any type of big time cheer for Taryn is just asinine. As for Reks, anytime a man opts to spend more time with his family, it’s an okay decision by me. Not like we lost a talented man or anything, because he steadily stunk.

I always scratch my head when someone says that AJ Lee looks 12. She happens to be short, which does not equal young. No one could possibly look at her face and think she’s 12. She’s hot, and unlike Maria, she has left something to the imagination, so I voted for her. You can have all the scowling, bleach blonde implanted porn star looking women you want, I’ll take the sweetie.

Posted By: Jason Douglas

Oh she’s left quite a bit to my imagination. Heeeyyooooo.

You guys need to learn how real hot women looks. Look at My wife or Chyna as examples.

Posted By: Triple H

I love when commenters pretend to be Triple H. It’s so fresh and hilarious. Truly, one of the more erudite methods of humor.

This Claire Lynch thing is stupid just killing their credibility. Jericho and Brock were terribly lackluster but Jericho was slightly better because we knew actualy wrestling was coming and not Brock looking for his next paycheck.
Antonio Cesaro needs to do something because he’s boring as hell. Just a generic wrestler with decent in ring skills.

Posted By: Guest#5860

Cesaro is growing on me, and he will on you, too. Promise. Prometto. Promiss. Promisiune. Versprechen.

AJ

Posted By: ojmendez

#iknorite

Without Dave Meltzer, this site and others wouldn’t even exist. Show some respect Greg! Without F4W, 411mania is not around.

Posted By: Fact
Respect!? Ha!!

Image source: Wrestling With Text


Greg will defend TNA no matter what.

If Roode/Storm is for the title: “Yeah, TNA made the right choice here. Your biggest heel facing te bigget face in the main event of the bigget event of the year for the title in a year-long story line. I love TNA!”

If Roode/Storm is not for the title: “Well, it was never really about the gold, even though it cleary was. Austin Aries being an afterthought champion is for the best right now. I love TNA!”

There. I saved you the response.

Posted By: It DOES matter what I say

No, no, no…

How about big show versus ryback
It would give big show something to do
and everyone says ryback needsa feud
well a real one
plus its like the giant versus Goldberg
a li’l bit as de nitro would say

Posted By: guest (Guest)

Well this right here is just a beautiful poem. Look at that meter and structure. Top notch.

Damien Sandow first joined our WWE eyes on April 6th, with a vignette that showed a pompous man, with a distinguished beard and bulging eyes, demanding attention and respect. He promised to bring about a wave of intelligence to the brain-washed masses, and had an attitude of many a wrestler we have seen before. Since his first little promotional video, he has squashed a number of superstars and even had a spot in one of the Money in the Bank matches. Arguably, he has already made a name for himself and shows no signs of slowing down. At the same time, his build hasn’t been to different than carious other wrestler’s we have seen in the past. Why is it that this man – who is playing a gimmick that has been done before – so successful thus far?

It’s the Little Things
Damien Sandow has grasped the concept of “the little things” From the small nuances such as waving his hand when he talks, to the way he holds the microphone like a goblet; the man is one of the few debuting superstars that has done so much with so little. His entrance is both simple and over the top His vocabulary is stunning, and not once seems forced. His outfit is outrageous yet unassuming. The man has every single aspect a wrestler needs to get this gimmick; namely that you believe him to be this person. In a time where they debut practically every superstar the same (with excessive squash matches), and Sandow having the same build, it’s a testament to the character that he was able to surpass that build so quickly, and become his own person.

The Support of Triple H
On the 1000th episode of RAW, we had a DX reunion that was thwarted by Damien Sandow – or attempted to. He would come out to disrupt the DX hoorah, calling them juvenile, and eventually getting a Pedigree in the process. Most would consider this a burial – and some did. I disagreed, namely due to one thing he said: that he would be a martyr to the masses if he were attacked. This pretty much meant that even after an attack, there was no way you could damage the character. The intellectual savior of the unwashed masses lived on. Moreover, recent newsbits have claimed that Triple H is actually a huge supporter of Sandow, and if one ever questioned the pull of Triple H for who he likes, simply ask yourself why Sin Cara is still around or even why Sheamus is still holding gold (although, I do like Sheamus and feel it’s more skill than H’s pull).

He is a Heel that Speaks the Truth
In calling DX juvenile and immature, he spoke the truth. Everything he has claimed about Brodus Clay, we have said ourselves. He is the perfect heel, not just because he believes in what he says, but also because what he says has layers of truth. In a sense, he is the man that we hate yet want to be, wishing we had his platform. It’s a full rounded, well fleshed out character that isn’t one note and has so much left to do. The pompous wrestler has been done before, and the “holier than thou” has been done before, but never to this extent I don’t think, and never this good. He continues to encompass the opinion of the miniscule (the IWC) and brings about this to the viewing public.

All in all, Sandow is a character with legs. He can easily be thrusted into the main event, and make a hell of an impact. He’s one of those characters that can withstand some damage and continue forward, impressing us all. It’s all a matter of timing and pacing, really.

You Decide: Is Damien Sandow a future World Champion or is he a character with a short shelf life?

This past Monday Night RAW was a very Triple H-centric show, with clips of his past shown throughout and a looming question of H’s future and how much longer he’d be with us. Somewhere near the end of the show, Triple H himself came down to the ring and cut a 15 minute promo that was full of tears and emotion. While there was a lot said, there was also absolutely nothing to be said at the same time. Reports claim that Triple H felt the crowd didn’t reaction strongly enough to his loss at Summerslam, so he decided to tug at the heartstrings of the WWE universe and give us Monday night. There are quite a few issues that I felt this caused, and they all point to the WWE – and Triple H – exploiting the art of retirement and the essence of the Triple H character.

Triple H tried to go out and do what Edge, HBK and Ric Flair did before him. He tried to say goodbye to us fans, giving us a “thanks for the memories” soliloquy that got the crowd riled up and behind the man. I know I’m not the only one that felt this when I say that I wanted to throw a shoe at Triple H the moment the tears started falling down his cheek. The difference between this moment and the aforementioned three superstars is that their retirement (with maybe the exception of Edge) was somewhat written on the wall already, and each time it felt like a legit goodbye. I didn’t believe Triple H for one second on Monday Night. Another issue is the fact that he really didn’t say anything. It took him 15 minutes to NOT say he was going to retire. I think Triple H really needs to realize that there’s no way any fan can care about the man who hasn’t had a match in months, hardly shows up on the show, and really has a lot less drawing power than the warped mind of the individual thinks he has.

Maybe as recent as five years ago, Triple H was a commodity that brought about a lot of intrigue, but he said it during the build to Mania; he is the last of a dying breed, and it is due to this that the effect of Monday is really next to none. He doesn’t have the mystique of The Undertaker, and I just don’t see how Monday night did anything other than say, “I’m important, look at me.” Triple H is no longer than name he once was, and although he still holds a lot of weight, it’s just too far gone, with too few moments in the sun for any fan to care. Specifically, me.

You Decide: Was Monday an effective use of an angle, or a big ego stroke?

As a long time wrestling fan, we are conditioned to believe that these guys are larger than life characters that are one step below superheroes (or super villains). In the past, names from Andre the Giant to even Hulk Hogan were depicted as huge (and rightfully so, considering even Hogan is 6’7″) stars and people that we could latch onto as heroes of our childhood lives. As time progressed, people such as HBK and Bret Hart changed the mold, and a flurry of new fans came in with the possibility that not every wrestler had to be 300 lbs. With the dark cloud of a steroid trial hanging high over Vince McMahon’s head, focusing on guys like HBK and Hart was smart as hell, and giving these guys the temporary spotlight opened doors for people like Eddie Guerrero to be Champion, and various others to ply their trade as something more than “Giant Fodder.”

Recently, the question of whether or not this mindset still exists has come into play, and a large part of it lays on the shoulders of Austin Aries and his championship win. People everywhere claimed that he was far too small to be Champion, and it caused for an unbelievable win and reign. The recent outcry got me thinking, is the expectation for our champion to be larger than life still in existence? The three big champions right now are Sheamus, CM Punk and Aries. Of the three, Sheamus is really the only one with a physique that could be considered “Heavyweight,” with CM Punk looking more like your run of the mill Joe Blow and Aries billed at 5’9″. This would have you believe that both the WWE and TNA assume it’s not the size and stature that makes the champion, but instead it’s the character that can become larger than life. I tend to lean towards that sentiment, with the thought that if the character is built well enough, the size of him won’t matter all that much. CM Punk is billed as 6’1″ and has held the championship for almost a year. So is there an issue within the companies or within the fans’ minds?

This question mostly stems from Kevin Nash’s statements about Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, and his allusion to watching porn with a small dick issue. Nash just so happens to be a big guy; one of the bigger ones in the business, so it’s no wonder he prefer his wrestlers in like kind.. He’s also a man who likes to stir the pot and keep his name in the minds of wrestling fans without actually doing anything worthy of it. The thing about big men, is that they always seemed to be a bit of an anomaly, adding more to the “freakshow” aspect of wrestling than the technical side. Considering wrestling has shifted significantly since Andre The Giant’s time, and even since Kevin Nash’s time, it’s not hard to see why people like Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, and even Rey Mysterio are all former champions. Although it’s obvious in the comment section that there are still some people who feel the champion should be large and in charge, we can’t base our opinions solely on the microcosm of society that is the comments section.

You Decide: Is there still a requirement to be large in order to be a believable world champion?

JBL decided to check in with us from Bermuda with a RAW review and had some interesting things to say. Aside from shilling his own projects, he called RAW an excellent show and pointed out Kane’s little monologue during the anger management segment as “fantastic” and highly entertaining. He points out that the ladies had a much better showing this week, including Natalya, Vickie, AJ Lee and Layla. JBL speaks of Brock and HHH. He thinks that someone is going to call Brock out, and considers some matches, including Brock vs HBK and Brock vs Punk. He even brings out the fact that they’ve used the Octagon before, and wouldn’t mind seeing The Undertaker and Brock in it. He claims that what HHH did by his speech, is that he became an attraction. I’m going to have to disagree with JBL. I did enjoy how much he seemed like a fan, and it really made me wish he was back behind the booth smacking Cole around. On the other hand, he sounded almost as if he was still on the WWE’s payroll with how positive he looked at the show. My opinion of this past week’s RAW was that it wasn’t a good one, not by a long shot. There were far too many holes and drudging segments that really bogged the show down, including the damned near 20 minutes dedicated to Triple H’s possible retirement that will ultimately lead to a rematch with Brock.

All in all, this seemed like an attempt to pimp his website and talk some wrestling. If there’s any positive to come of this, it’s that JBL still watches the product enough to be knowledgeable, and that means (hopefully) an eventual return to the booth? There was an interview with the man as well that said hed be open to joining the commentary booth, but WWE has yet to offer him the position. To that, I say WWE needs to get on the ball. JBL was highly entertaining and was the perfect mix of commentary and heelish tendencies that just worked. Rehire this man.

You Decide: Was JBL spot on in his assessment with Raw? Did you enjoy the show?

On Friday, August 24th, WWE Diva Cameron was arrested and charged with a DUI. She reportedly refused to take a test on the spot, and was taken into custody. Conflicting reports suggest that she lied about her employment, with one report claiming she said she worked at Wells Fargo, while other reports claimed she attempted to be a “sales associate,” to which Greg DeMarco claimed, “Only Dolph Ziggler can list ‘sales associate’ as an occupation–no one else on the roster sells anything!” The ever trustworthy TMZ reports that she tried to bribe the cops to let her go. While I never like reporting anything TMZ says, it’d be a funny story if it were true. All in all, she was let loose on a $500 bail and as of this writing, the only thing the WWE has had to say is, “Ariane [Cameron] did not alert us to this matter, we are investigating and will take appropriate action.”.

Some may remember one Alex Riley, who got in trouble for a DUI earlier this year, and even more recently, one of the Usos. It’s interesting to note the anti-drink and driving campaign that the WWE is attached to, while having a few superstars under their belt that happen to like to make dumb ass decisions. The issue I have with DUI’s, and the celebrities that have them doesn’t just rest within the wrestling world. Countless hip hop stars and movie stars alike have received their own little trouble with the sauce behind the wheel. I’ve always told myself the day that I become rich and famous (it’s coming, swear), that I’d employ two people; an accountant and a driver. Now, assuming that Riley, Cameron and Jimmy Uso are all under an umbrella where a driver just isn’t possible (whether it be money or just the realization that they don’t need one all the time) then they have got to just use the fucking brain that was given to them. Yes, we all drink (except Punk, right?). Yes, we all go out and have a good time. But considering a majority of these wrestlers are staying in hotels, why must they risk the lives of them and others behind the wheel instead of just taking a damned taxi home or having someone else drive? I’m not speaking from a holier than thou stance, but I cannot fathom ever making the horrible decision to drive intoxicated and it’s unfortunate to see grown ass people do such a thing.

The comment section of the story shares one of two views; that someone should have called her momma and that she may be canned for this issue. I don’t know for sure if that’s the case, but she is pretty expendable, even in comparison to Jimmy Uso and Alex Riley, but considering those two didn’t get fired, and they are aware of the situation already, is there a possibility that they’ll just ignore it like they did earlier in the year? Or is it far too close to election day…

You Decide: Will Cameron face the chopping block, or will she live to take flight as a Funkadactyl another day?

Josh Alexander and DeMarcette Veda Scott join the show!

The Greg DeMarco Show with Greg DeMarco and Patrick O’Dowd, presented by 411Mania.com/Wrestling, airs Monday night at 11:00 PM eastern and will stream all weekend at VOCNation.com.

This week: Our move to Mondays continues with our immediate reactions to WWE Monday Night RAW!

Star of Alpha-1 Wrestling, C4 Wrestling and Can-Am Rising Josh “Ronin” Alexander joins the program to discuss his career, the Canadian influence on wrestling, what opportunities lie ahead for him and more!

And while all DeMarcettes are beautiful, sexy, and talented, only one can boast a law degree! That very DeMarcette, Veda Scott, is equally as smart in the ring for Shimmer, Shine and more, as well as conducting backstage interviews for Ring of Honor! She makes her return appearance on the show to discuss the exciting things she has in store.

Plus, we talk performance enhancing drugs and the WWE’ Wellness Policy with Tony Acero, and how to tell your kids about wrestling to keep them safe and allow them to make smart decisions.

Click here to listen, or check out the stream here:

Listen to internet radio with Greg DeMarco on Blog Talk Radio

About The Greg DeMarco Show: Discussing current events in professional wrestling—including WWE RAW, Smackdown, TNA Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and many US independent promotions and regularly featuring guests from Ring of Honor, Chikara, Extreme Reunion and countless other promotions, Greg DeMarco and Patrick O’Dowd present opinionated analysis on the wrestling world that remains rooted in a love, passion and respect for the industry. The show is presented live each week nby 411Mania at http://www.411wrestling.com/wrestling and streams worldwide each weekend 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.

Here is a man I sorely miss, winning his first WWE Championship Title.

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This week’s And1 Model is actually the winner of the Hip Hop Hottie of the Year award over in my hip hop column, The Low End Theory! She is extremely humble and was beyond shocked that she won, to the point where she thought I fixed it! (If I had fixed it, Randyl Dawn would have won.) Anyways, here she is in all of her beautiful glory, Angel Yalung!

Get reading!

Randle’s Wrestling News Experience!
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Fact or Fiction featuring Michael Uphoff and Jack Bramma

Tony Acero presents The Low End Theory!

Plenty to talk about in the comments!
And this week’s Versus Battle of the Bang—(AJ Lee vs. Layla El)—You Make the Call!

Until next time…

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