The Wrestling 5 & 1 11.02.13: Kaitlyn vs Layla El

So we had a PPV recently, and the results seem to have left a sour taste in the mouth of fans – or, at least, this one. Rather than break down the week with uninteresting stories, I figured I’d take the five important matches on the card from this past Sunday’s PPV and use them as springboard to express some issues I’ve been recently having with the E. Leggo!

Bad News, Bryan
By Tony Acero

Let’s start with the Main Event of the card. Orton and Bryan had a solid match that escalated nicely. They had plenty of time, and Michael Cole was only sorta horrible throughout the whole thing. I thought it was just different enough to be great and the Cell added to the match a lot more than expected. Then the ending happened. At first, I wanted to assume RAW did not happen and review this in a vacuum of sorts, but after RAW, I have to believe that there’s a plan here that doesn’t end in HBK vs Bryan.

For the past few months (What has it been, like 5?), we have been under the impression that Daniel Bryan, as a face, would eventually get his revenge on the dastardly Authority. We assumed that the title being held in Abeyance was just another chapter in a story that would culminate with Bryan holding the title up high. Everything felt right for HIAC; the energy was high, and there was no longer a reason to prolong it. This was to be the crowning moment for Bryan. For so long, I have been willing to bite our tongue at the thought of Triple H actually burying Bryan for the mere fact that I believed it was only a matter of time before he would get one over on the H’s….then Sunday happened and now I’m not so sure it will ever happen.

What we appear to be heading towards is a Bryan and Punk team alongside with a few others to take on the Wyatt’s. I have no issues with this, really, as I think it will be entertaining as all hell, but where does that leave Bryan and the title? Does he truly need the belt, or is it something we just really want as fans? And why do I keep saying “we” when I’m speaking specifically about my feelings towards this all?

Look, Bryan is going to be just fine. The fans love him, and did you see the response towards HBK? That’s HBK! And they were givin him tons of shit! It was wonderful! I’m not worried about Bryan’s status in the least, but from a storytelling perspective, it seems like an opportunity to capitalize on what they have with Bryan and instead, they opted to make Big Show and Triple H the focal point at the end of RAW.

Yes, folks, I think the Bryan experiment is over, and he will be placed on one side of a Survivor Series team before getting an upper mid card feud that has nothing to do with the title, thereby making everything Triple H said about him…true.

You Decide: Is Daniel Bryan’s time in the main event slot over?

Sandow, Meet Cena
By Tony Acero

Ooooh, if you thought I was bothered by Bryan, wait till we get some conversation going about Cena… If you recall, we had the return of John Cena to RAW, and it’s almost as if nothing changed. He came out, and it seemed like he had just watched Training Day because he had his Denzel voice in full effect tonight. The moment Sandow came down, I think there was a buzz. The internet was curious, the crowd was on fire, I can only assume that we all felt something big was going to happen. Sandow attacked, and called for the official – the match was set.

Please make no mistake, I do not feel that Sandow should have won here. Had he won, I think it would have taken quite the suspension of belief to make it seem important considering his booking leading up to this point. No, I’m not upset with Sandow losing the match. What I am upset about is the fact that it had anything to do with the briefcase. I’ve spoken about this before, and to be honest it’s something that both Greg DeMarco and myself disagree on, but the briefcase is the epitome of a plot device. It’s a goldmine of potential to create a star, continue a storyline, create a big moment, and any other instances of emotional pull. I can grasp that perhaps they want to try and build the idea that it is no longer a guaranteed moment, but the facts are the facts people, and this entire moment was done more for the benefit of Cena than it was for Sandow.

Was it a great match? Yes! Did Sandow’s stock rise? Yes! Did he come out looking like a million bucks?! NO! Why couldn’t this match happen as a way of proving that Sandow’s arrogant ass could beat Cena? Why couldn’t he do it to prove a point, and the “valiant hero” take Sandow up on it? Why cash in the briefcase? Perhaps this isn’t all that important considering the alternate choice wouldn’t have worked. If Sandow would have won the title, I fear it would be in no better place than it was with Del Rio. Simply put, Cena adds value to the title, but I still don’t fully grasp the reasoning behind Sandow’s necessity to cash in and be unsuccessful…

You Decide: Was Sandow’s character destroyed by John Cena?

Gail walked into the Hall of Bang arena, and got kicked out quickly with a loss to Velvet Sky. We’ll keep you in our hearts, Gail, but now it’s Kaitlyn’s turn!

And now…..

Voting ends Wednesday night and you can vote once every hour!

DIVAS!!!
By Tony Acero

My beloved beat the Bella yet again, and has left me wondering just where the Divas division is going. However, in a rare case, I want to accentuate the positives within the butterfly division. Brie has proven herself to be an actual improvement in recent weeks – something I thought I’d never see. Perhaps it’s Bryan, or perhaps it’s just clicked, as it sometimes does, but her and AJ have been able to put on a couple of matches recently that are anything but boring. They have some excitement in them and even a few moves that are cringeworthy in the good way:

What’s most noticeable isn’t her improvement, but the fact that it seems she wants to improve. That means more to me than most things in terms of wrestling. Then we got the lovely Summer Rae who is finally getting a chance in the ring, and is doing much better than I think any expected (except for those that are in the know due to watching NXT). I know I didn’t expect it at all, and although she’s mixin it up with Nattie, there is much to be said about her ability to put together a decent match.

Then, of course, credit must go to the people willing to give the Divas something more than one minute to put together a match worthy of being called such. It’s only been a few weeks, but there seems to be at least a semblance of hope within the divas division, and if done right, they can bring another one or two up for some good storylines. As it stands, there really isn’t one short of AJ being crazy, and Brie wanting the title after losing twice. The players are doin alright, it’s high time we get some stories for them.

You Decide: Are the Divas in a better position now than they were pre-AJ Champion days?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Facebook page, I posted this pic for all to comment on…

And the commenter with the most “likes”???

Josh Green : “I know what I’m doing Hunter, I read ’50 Shades of Grey.'”

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State of the 1-Yun

As requested by the writer of this section, and brought into consideration by G-Walla’s comment, here is a poll regarding the future of the 1-yun!

In celebration of her victory against Gail Kim, here’s VELVET SKY!!!!

Tony Acero is currently a student at Cal State University of Long Beach. He is double-majoring as a Creative Writing and Literature major. His first book, Through The Looking Glass, was published in April, 2012. School’s Out is a short story that found the author arrested due to the severity of its content. Both can be found on amazon.com.

Tony joined 411Mania in April 2010, and currently contributes in both music and wrestling. Tony is an avid drinker of Mountain Dew and Jack Daniels. He is a writer who hardly takes himself seriously, yet has an innate ability to create moments that are both human yet fearful in his writings.

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HALL OF FAME
Greg DeMarco is a graduate of Virginia Tech (Bachelor’s in Business Management) and Arizona State (Master’s in Higher & Post-Secondary Education). He works in online higher education. Greg started in improv comedy in 2001, making his stand-up debut in 2004.

Greg first appeared as a ring announcer for Rising Phoenix Wrestling in Phoenix Arizona in 2006 and served many promotions in both on-stage and back-stage roles for over six years, most notably Ring of Honor in 2010. He began writing for 411Mania in October 2010, founded The Greg DeMarco Show in May 2011 and opened WrestlingSmash.com (and Wrestling Smash Radio) in January 2013.

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Until next week…