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The Wrestling 5 & 1 11.17.12: The Divas Royal Rumble!

November 17, 2012 | Posted by Tony Acero

Well hey there! Lots of fun goings on this week–so please read, enjoy and participate!

BRING ON THE GIRLS!

This week we put the traditional Versus on hold (Brooke lost to Eve, by the way), and we start a new tradition—the Versus Royal Rumble!

Eleven weeks long, the Versus Royal Rumble features the women who have come so close to the Hall of Bang—three time winners Mickie James (who did it twice), Stacy Keibler, Gail Kim, Lita and Christy Hemme. It also features two former hall members in Brooke Tessmacher and Taryn Terrell. Add in twenty three more women from the WWE, TNA, NXT, the indies, overseas, old school ladies and more!

NOTE: No one will be 100% satisfied with the field. Can’t please everyone. Don’t complain, just vote!

Add it all up and you have the first ever Versus Royal Rumble. Each week you—the reader—will pick three women to eliminate. That’s right, you are NOT voting for winner, you are voting for someone to get eliminated. Three to be exact. We’ll narrow the field over the next eleven weeks until we get to the final two. At that point, a winner will be crowned!

At stake? Oh nothing, just a spot in the 411Mania Wrestling 5&1 Hall of Bang!

Who will it be? We’ll get there, but first we need to eliminate three of these beautiful ladies. Here is the field, and you can vote below. Vote for the three you want to send home, and vote often. You can vote once every 12 hours, and voting closes Tuesday night.

Ladies and gentlemen…

VOTE NOW!


Last week in The Wrestling 5&1…

I thought the year was supposedly booked in advance until Wrestlemania. At least all the major feuds and matchups. If so, why did they go with a snap Cena/Ryback/Punk match when a fresh match in Ziggler/Cena would have been had? Did they not hear the reactions Ziggler gets? How do they gauge if Ziggler is ‘worthy’ of being in a main event slot yet or not?

I still think Rock is winning the title off Punk and Ziggler cashes in on THE ROCK, that almost makes up for months of jobberdom. –Mr. Ace Crusher

Although I’m sure there was a lot planned for the year, but as with most long term planned booking decisions, there is always room for change and alterations. They chose Cena, Ryback and Punk because someone (probably Vince) thought it was a much larger draw than Ziggler and Cena, and in a sense, they are right. But that’s the issue that the WWE really needs to work on; without risk there is very little reward, and they continue to go with the safe decision (Cena) unless some random act of God (injury) forces them into a corner.

The “Hall of Bang” is losing all relevance unless it is purely an excuse to put pictures of pretty women in the column in the hope of getting more hits.

Let’s take a closer look at it: more than half of the women in are not even active on any roster. Of the ones that are on an active roster 2 (Layla & AJ) are used to any consequence. So a full 3/4s of the “Hall” are redundant and should be dropped. The more members that you add the less relevant the entire “Hall” becomes particularly when you are stretching it so thin as to include members such as Kaitlyn and Candice. Trish I suppose can keep her tenure based on the demi-goddess status she attained. The entire “Hall” would be better served if the membership were kept to 3 or 4 at the most.

Now perhaps I are overthinking this, maybe I should just leave it alone as the fluff that it is. – Tom

The “Hall of Bang” and “Versus” has ALWAYS been purely an excuse to put pictures of pretty women in the column for more hits. It’s the old adage of “Sex Sells,” and it sells well. As for your closer look at the Hall, yes you are very right in that you are over thinking it all, and I implore you to enjoy the boobs and read the news, ya feel? In all seriousness, it’s the readers that chose the ladies, and each went through a few weeks of voting to get in there. Also – and I’ve said this before –when compiling the Versus every week, it’s the least of my worries as to who and why any particular female is in it. I love ladies, but I tend to not care very much when the focal point of this column is the writing.

Where is the Vince photodrawing from? I vaguely remember that image in a game… – batnuna

It’s from Survivor Series the Game for Game Boy Advance. I think it was out in 04 or around there.

and how did vince screw up survivor series if we are still getting a survivor series elimination match AND a WWE title match now. and the replacement for ryback may be a big time superstar to replace him. survivor series isn’t ruined at all you marks. – Sergio Toro

You must be new. My name is Tony, not Mark, silly boy. As for your comment; it’s purely opinion based…just like how I feel about the card. Your prediction of “big time superstar” is The Miz, and although he’s a name, I don’t think that’ what you meant. I will not deny that the card isn’t ruined, but in comparison to what it could have been…we lost a possible growth for certain people, and WWE went – yet again – with the safe bet. You seem a bit angry there, buddy. Remember, Sergio, at the end of the day…

Dolph Ziggler is every bit of Billy Gunn’s clone – not only in the look, but in everything else – “destynied” to be in main event, won major tournament (KotR/MitB), not so good on the mic, need partner (Road Dogg/Vickie) to get strong reaction. And i believe Dolph will go the same road Billy Gunn did – WWE will try to hold on him for several years, and then just release him, because he is not that good as his own act.
This MitB briefcase belongs to Wade Barrett – the true future of WWE’s main event scene. Not Rhodes, not Miz, not Ryback, not anybody else. – vetalfox

Really?! Dolph is leaps above Billy Gunn’s status in the WWE of the old. While I never thought Gunn was bad, Dolph is so much better. In regards to your reasons, they just don’t work. You claim Dolph isn’t so good on the mic, but he is – particularly when he is allowed to use his own words, and not some stifling Pat Patterson jabs that make him look very bad. He doesn’t NEED a partner, as he is just fine getting reactions on his own. Vickie and Dolph are divided enough as individuals that when Vickie gets a response from the crowd, it’s solely based on HER. Dolph, although not strong, still gets reactions on his own. You also claim that he’ll go the route Billy Gunn did, but the briefcase automatically negates that, as Dolph winning a World title is only a matter of time. No, sir, I have to disagree with you.

I was going to write something about how WWE screwed up the Survivor Series main event but then just realized that I just don’t give a shit anymore. Let them bring in the Muppets and the Teletubbies and have them fight it out in their own survivor series match if they want to keep it G/PG. I’m done caring and I’m done buying. – Woo in my Woooo

Oh, I highly doubt you’re done caring…

This seems to be the hot topic of the week, with a lot of people on either side of the argument, including the 411 staff. While a majority feel that there was really nothing wrong with the Jerry Lawler segment on the most recent edition of Monday Night RAW, there are a few out there that felt it was distasteful and the ultimate slap in the face to Jerry Lawler, and even heart attack victims. Even Jerry Jarrett had some thoughts on it:

“I turned the television off and starting thinking about Linda McMahon’s hard work and great expense running for the Senate. It is exactly this kind of programming that prevented her from becoming a Senator. Wrestling should have some limits and boundaries. If you offend great portions of the audience, it is a bad angle.”

We talked about Linda’s Senate campaign last week, and I really don’t want to dwell on it any more than that, but I do find it easy to remove from this incident as I feel they have nothing to do with each other and completely disagree with Jerry. Some of the most common complaints, including Jerry, are that the segment was disrespectful towards heart attack survivors, was in bad taste in a PG – Era of wrestling, and of course, it was disrespectful towards Jerry Lawler. Let’s look at these a bit more.

This was Disrespectful towards Heart Attack Survivors

We are aware that this is fiction, correct? Fiction, regardless of its medium, is set to create an emotional response, and in terms of CM Punk, a negative response.

The man is a heel. I wasn’t ok with the original heel turn, and thought it was very forced. My complaints are documented, but I also said that since we are here, we have to accept it. I have since done so, and his antics on RAW are synonymous with his character and the story they were trying to get across. CM Punk is a dick. His hypocrisy knows no bounds. To top it all off, this was a continuation of a story that happened prior to the heart attack, and was nice continuity. If anything, they took a bad situation and utilized it to tell a story. In terms of “Heart Attack” victims, I feel that on the off chance that a WWE fan is a survivor, and was watching this segment, and was upset, they were upset for all the right reasons at that dastardly Punk, and wanted all the more to see him get his comeuppance, perhaps so much, in fact, that they would pay to see it.

This Doesn’t Belong in the PG Era of the WWE

And why not? Because it flirts with reality a bit too much? I said in the Wrestling Rs that this segment wasn’t perfect, and it’s not the content of the segment that I am defending, rather, their right to actually do the segment. If Punk came out and said all that he had to say, then ended the segment with a beatdown of the King, or even just leaving after he made a mockery of him, then it definitely would have come off as crass and probably would deserve some backlash that it’s getting. But they didn’t do that, they had a “hero” of some sorts come out to save the day; to set the wrong right. The moment Foley came out to give a hell of a passionate promo (“HE WAS DEAD!!”) was the moment that this segment worked, effectively. It welcomed King back, it got Punk over as an asshole moreso than ever before, it explained how Foley felt about his team being changed, and it shut Punk up. I can almost venture to say that any Heart Attack survivor that was watching had a bit of a smile (or a tear) when Foley spoke, and that’s EXACTLY what the WWE should have been going for.

This Disrespected Jerry “The King” Lawler

Oh, please! I’d bet money (not a lot) that this was his idea! King had full input in all of this, I can damn near guarantee. The man is an attention whore, and loves seeing himself on the telly, so why not milk this unfortunate incident for everything it’s worth. Besides that negative look at the man we know as The King, we also have to realize that he’s got that old school mentality that essentially says that they can use ANYTHING to help intensify a feud, even a heart attack. We’ve been reminded on an almost weekly basis that this happened, and I’m sure The King couldn’t wait to get back behind the booth to do a job I seriously think he loves – even if his best days are behind him. No, The King didn’t mind this thing at all, and if anything, it garnered more sympathy for his character that was on the verge of being pillaged by fans everywhere.

Final Thought

We are wrestling fans, folks, and there are going to be times where we are uncomfortable with what’s going on in front of us. Whether it’s Triple H screwing a doll in a Kane mask, a hand supposedly coming out of Mae Young’s hoo-hah, or the fleshy tone of Mr. McMahon’s rear-end, we are going to see some bad shit. The thing is, it’s all fiction, and there’s a job to be done; to emotionally resonate. Most of the time, the WWE gets it right. Sometimes it doesn’t. If this segment didn’t work for you, then it simply didn’t work for you, but I assure you, no one was harmed in the filming of it. 😉

You Decide: Was the Jerry Lawler segment from RAW done in bad taste?

Divas Championship
Eve Torres (champion) vs. Kaitlyn

There are many reports that big changes are coming for the Divas division, including the calling up of a few developmental divas. This won’t happen right away, so the WWE might as well see what they have in Kaitlyn.

Prediction: Kaitlyn (and NEW Divas Champion)

United States Championship
Antonio Cesaro (champion) vs. R-Truth

Ah, the battle of men who should be captaining Survivor Series elimination match teams including Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd (Truth) and The Prime Time Players, Primo & Epico (Cesaro). But alas, this is another defense for Cesaro, and one that I suspect he’ll win convincingly—as he should.

Prediction: Antonio Cesaro (STILL United States Champion)

Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team Foley – Miz, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston, and Randy Orton vs.
Team Ziggler – Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, and Damien Sandow

Line-up changes, face turns, and injuries are all impacting this match. Yet I still think it will get a lot of time and will be highly entertaining. There’s a chance that Cody Rhodes could be out of the match, and reports are that Tensai will be in. I’d rather see Mark Henry fill the role, but that’s just me.

I think the most fun part of evaluating the match is looking at the face team and imagining all of the finishers that Dolph Ziggler will take during the match (this is if he doesn’t walk out of the match—see why below)! We should draw up a grid and take bets…

In its original form, I suspected the faces to win with Ryback pinning Punk in the end. Now that both men are out of the match, I am sticking with the face team to win and Randy Orton and Miz will serve as the sole survivors.

Prediction: Team Foley (The Miz, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Kane & Daniel Bryan), Miz & Orton are the sole survivors

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Big Show (champion) vs. Sheamus

Dolph Ziggler (amongst others) has alluded to the heel Survivor Series match team being abandoned by its leader. Something tells me (I’m likely wrong about this) that Dolph is also going to abandon the same team early into the match. Why? Because Sheamus is going to roll-up The Big Show out of nowhere to regain his championship, Show is going to react by knocking Sheamus out with the WMD, allowing Dolph to cash in. Thus, he’ll have nothing to gain and everything to lose by wrestling in the elimination match.

This will be a good match that might fall just shy of what they did at Hell in a Cell, but I’ll stick with my above prediction just for the fun of it.

Prediction: Sheamus (and NEW World Heavyweight Champion), Ziggler cashes in and wins the title

WWE Championship Triple Threat Match
CM Punk (champion) vs. Ryback vs. John Cena

The Vince McMahon Special. My theory is that Triple H, who has been pushing old school ideals such as long title reigns and tag team wrestling, wanted to have a traditional 5-on-5 elimination style Survivor Series match to, you know, main event the pay-per-view. I believe Vince McMahon lost some sleep over CM Punk and Ryback being lost in the shuffle of the match and John Cena—the company’s biggest star—on the undercard against Dolph Ziggler after sitting the last PPV out.

Thus, the card was changed because, well, it’s Vince’s company. This match will be interesting, as we get to see John Cena sell for Ryback (and Ryback sell for Cena). The finish of this match, however, does create some intrigue. The winner likely breezes through WWE: TLC and jobs to meets The Rock in the main event of the Royal Rumble PPV. I truly believe that the WWE is going with Rock-Cena at WrestleMania 29. But with recent talk that the company is planning to have CM Punk in the main event of the biggest show of the year, that could change. if we’re headed towards Rock-Punk at ‘Mania, then Punk loses here. If we’re headed to Rock-Cena at ‘Mania, then Punk wins. The best part? The most valuable move the company could make is to have Ryback win the title. I see the obvious happening, as CM Punk steals Ryback’s pin on John Cena. But don’t rule out a run-in by Brad “The Glory Hog” Maddox. The company is reportedly high on him, and rightfully so.

Prediction: CM Punk (still WWE Champion)

Overall Thoughts
This is a three match show, but most WWE PPVS are a two match show. I think this show will provide some entertaining moments, and could even be memorable. It’s worth your money.

Buy or No Buy: Buy

You Decide: What are your predictions?

In a moment that had nothing to do with heart attacks, The Miz made a subtle turn to the good side of the wrestling squadron. Typically, a face turn is done in dramatic fashion that sees someone, such as The Miz, help an underdog, or come battle it out for respect or the like. In other cases, the crowd causes the turn. This was a bit different in that it wasn’t exactly being asked for, and was more of a subtle face turn than usual. The Miz, as a character, is an arrogant son of a bitch that loses a lot. He’s grown about as much as he can with that attitude and persona, and no hair style change could have brought him out of the slump he was well on his way to. With four losses in a row to Kofi Kingston, the change was necessary, but it also showed that even in a loss, it gave Kofi a bit of a boost. Right Kofi?

Right…

Anyways, The Miz’s face turn may work very well due to the fact that there is only a minute change that could possibly manifest into something greater. It’s not like he came out from nowhere, kissing babies and shit. They could use the losses to Kofi as the catalyst, or perhaps just Miz being tired of his place in the WWE. Changing the alignment of a character can freshen up matches, even if we’ve seen them before. While I don’t know what they have in mind for The Miz, when I heard he was re-entering the main event fold, I didn’t see it working due to him being somewhat stale. With this fresh start, perhaps we’re in for a treat.

You Decide: Will The Miz face turn work or be a complete failure?

It was a bittersweet night, last month, when our friends at Alpha-1 Wrestling held their final event.

Check out five reasons why you shouldn’t have missed…The Final Hurrah!

The event will soon be available on DVD, and here is the trailer…

Keep an eye out for Smart Mark Video, and the upcoming release of Alpha-1 Wrestling: The Final Hurrah!

Su Yung takes calls on The Greg DeMarco Show!

The VOC Nation Radio Network presents The Greg DeMarco Show with Greg DeMarco and Patrick O’Dowd. The Greg DeMarco Show airs every Tuesday night, live—WORLDWIDE—at www.VOCNation.com. Listen live and call in on the NetCarrier “N Cloud” Listener Line— 855-VOC-RADIO.

This week:
The beautiful and talented DeMarcette Su Yung joins the program and takes YOUR calls! Call in and talk to Su as she discusses her time at the last Shimmer tapings and her upcoming match at Shine Wrestling 5! Have a question for Su? She plans to hold nothing back so call 855-VOC-RADIO and talk to this former WWE/FCW Diva! “We’re Beautiful and We Wrestle!”

Plus, Greg and Patrick will breakdown the CM Punk-Jerr Lawler segment from RAW, The Miz’s face turn, and Andy Critchell joins in for your official Survivor Series preview & prediction special!

Listen here!

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 Tuesday 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.

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Plenty to talk about in the comments!
Don’t forget to vote for the first round of eliminations in the first ever VERSUS ROYAL RUMBLE!!!

Until next time…

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