wrestling / Columns

The Wrestling 5&1 5.5.12: Eve Torres vs. Lita!

May 5, 2012 | Posted by Greg De Marco

A big column this week, with a lot of focus on TNA Impact Wrestling, an early look at CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan, some DeMarcette news, and my thoughts on Ring of Honor taking iPPV in house. But first…a story!

I took my son to see Lucha Libre USA this past weekend—his first ever wrestling show. He was amazingly excited, and had a blast. Lucha Libre is the perfect environment for a 6-year old to see wrestling live for the first time. A big thank you goes out to Alex Abrehantes and everyone at LLUSA for hooking us up, and to my good friend The Hawaiian Lion for giving some merchandise and an autograph to my son, as well a spending several minutes with him after the show. You can imagine how awesome that is for a 6-year old, and I can’t thank him enough.

Listen while you read!

Now… BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week: I promised you legit results, and you got them. I also promised you a screen shot of the result, so here it is…

Beth Phoenix defeated Buggy Nova by 5% of the vote, and just under 900 votes were cast! So next week Beth welcomes new competition as she starts her own march to the Hall!

This Week: Eve Torres goes for win #2 this week. Can she follow-up on her strong performance against Maria Menounos? Well it won’t be easy, as she steps into the Versus Arena with a legend that people keep asking for…

Eve Torres!

Lita!

YOU MAKE THE CALL BELOW!

Lita vs. Eve Torres. Take your pick!
Vote in the comments section below!

So I actually liked the poll. I am not changing the format—yet. But I want to hear from you! Do we change the format to use a poll? You tell me what you think in this poll below!

On Monday’s RAW, Daniel Bryan “Beat The Clock” to earn a WWE Championship Match against CM Punk at Over The Limit. Now, we have three weeks to talk about this great match. And we’ll spend a little bit of time on it each week—that’s how excited I am to see it happen on WWE PPV. But first, let’s take a look at the potential they have in a WWE ring…

You Decide: Are you excited for this match?

What you’re about to read is a presentation of two different perspectives on TNA’s Gut Check segment. The first was written earlier last week, after viewing Impact Wrestling’s Open Fight Night, and the first installment of Gut Check. I had major issues with the execution of the concept. However, I did a “complete 180” after seeing Week 2. But I think this story is more interesting if you get to read my initial (stubborn) reaction, and my perspective after my mind was changed. Enjoy…

TNA presented Impact Wrestling’s first Open Night Night, which I watched on delay through my DVR as I slowly came back to health. I really like the Open Fight Night concept, and the concept within the concept—Gut Check. The idea is great…the execution? Mmm, not so much.

Here’s my problem with the execution. I left that edition of Impact Wrestling with no reason at all to care about Alex Silva. He’s a tremendous talent, and he could be a good addition to the X-Division. Hell, I’d go so far as to say he’d have an entertaining feud with Zema Ion. But they gave us so little. And then we were merely sent to social media to talk about it, hoping for an answer next week.

We also have three judges. Hogan also has some input, but we don’t think he’s a judge. Of course, we only know that Al Snow is a judge. One could guess that the other two are D-Lo Brown and Pat Kinney, but we really have no idea—because no one told us.

I think the approach taken is all wrong. If you’re going to go American Idol with the judges, take that idea all the way. Here are my ideas…

Sit all three judges at ringside: And while we’re at it, let’s get Jeremy Borash to host it, and facilitate with the judges. Give feedback on the match (after the commercial, of course), and even ask the opponent for their thoughts.

Spread it out over the month: Don’t make it a one shot deal—RVD style! Make it a progression. Week 1 Alex Silva needed to get a “yes” from one judge to move on to next week. After that, it’s two, then three “yes” votes in week three to move on to the big match in Week 4. Make it a rule that if he/she makes it to Week 3, they have to call out their opponent. See if the fans latch on to this talent—make it like a true tryout.

Follow up and follow through: Each week, run a different vignette about the talent. Give the fans a reason to connect with them, and see if it translates to the ring. If so, you just might stumble upon a special star.

So those are my thoughts. Now, I’ll turn it over to you!

Except I don’t. Not yet. After watching Thursday’s Impact Wrestling, my mind was changed. Give this one a read…

TNA presented the second half of their first installment of Gut Check, as we learned the fate of Alex Silva. We also learned more about the contest itself. Hulk Hogan asked Ric Flair to join Al Snow as a judge, and Flair accepted. It would be a great move—the best possible, if not for Bruce Prichard. Prichard was also added as a judge. While I don’t like the “Executive Vice President of Talent Relations” tag (sound familiar), that might be his real title.

Snow, Flair & Prichard sat backstage and shared their thoughts on Alex Silva. And what we say was what a real discussion about a potential talent would be like. Hell, it might have been the real conversation. I can see each guy saying what he said. Many analysts and columnists have complained, and I have to respectfully disagree. It’s not too insider—it’s the same thing you’d see on a show where someone is auditioning to be a singer or a dancer. Why, in 2012, do we need to “protect the business?” As we’ve seen from shoddy promoters and untrained talent, we don’t need to protect the business from the public eye. We need to protect the business from itself.

If that backstage segment wasn’t enough, the company moved forward with the in-ring segment. And it was bad ass. Silva came out in full gear—as he should, since he’s being evaluated as a professional wrestler. Ric Flair voted—no, and Al Snow voted—yes. Before Bruce Prichard voted, Silva was allowed to cut a promo. And when Silva started talking to the fans, Flair cut him off. He called them marks, and informed Silva that in this instance, the fans didn’t matter. The judges did. And if you look closely, Snow & Prichard agreed. So Silva stared over, and delivered a simple yet great promo about his father and his dream. He changed Flair’s mind and rendered Prichard’s vote useless. I’m surprised that wasn’t edited out, but I’m glad they left it in.

Here’s the thing about that segment. It’s either real, or scripted. We know this. Well, if it was scripted, then it was the most expertly scripted piece of wrestling dialogue I’ve ever seen. So genius that I have no reason to believe anyone there scripted it. That’s why I think it was pretty damn real. TNA, with that one segment, did 100% of its job.

I mean, how can you not care about Alex Silva after today’s segments on Impact Wrestling? They were perfectly done. Some fans will hate on him for bringing up his dad–who passed away in February of THIS YEAR. But I can’t help but root for the guy now. But TNA, in one segment, made me care more about Alex Silva than they have ever done with Garett Bischoff. Job well done, TNA. Job well done.

You Decide: So now, I turn it over to you. What are your thoughts on TNA’s Gut Check? Would you make any changes?

Outside of Gut Check, TNA did so many things right this week. No, the show wasn’t perfect, but it was great.

Bully Ray & Austin Aries in-ring segment
Outside of Alex Silva’s contract segment, Bully Ray & Austin Aries delivered the goods above anyone else. It was perfectly built—almost too perfect. You see, 411’s own Steve Cook himself admitted that when Bully was berating Jeremy Borash, he tuned out. Not me. I wasn’t thrilled with the segment until that point—but then Austin Aries showed up. And boy, did Austin Aries show up!

Aries delivered his best promo since being elevated and subsequently turning face, and possibly his best promo ever. Not only did he overcome the knock of being small, he turned the tables on Bully verbally. But he didn’t stop there, proving that size doesn’t matter and turning the tables on Bully physically. Bully Ray couldn’t stop Aries’s onslaught—security had to get involved. This is the most TNA has put into getting Aries over, and it’s working.

AJ Styles, Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Kurt Angle, Christopher Daniels & Kazarian
Remember the Smackdown Six? TNA could easily create that vibe with these guys. I also thoroughly the six-man tag team match on Impact Wrestling. It furthered the issues between Joe/Magnus & Kazarian/Daniels, Daniels & Styles, Kazarian/Daniels & Angle, and the competitive rivalry between Styles & Angle. The in-ring action was awesome, to the point that I’d love to see them get more time on a “special” edition of Impact Wrestling. Seriously, kick off the go-home show to Sacrifice with a six-man tag rematch, and let it occupy the first half hour.

Mr. Anderson vs. Bobby Roode
The promo that set this match (and RVD-Hardy) up was rough—but that was because RVD was misused. He’s never been strong in the typical “main event build” style promo. He’s better when he’s the quiet, cool one, soaking in all of the opposition’s insults before unloading with a spin kick that ignites the crowd. But the match itself is further proof that people are being wrongly unfair to Anderson. He can work. And guess what—TNA has been listening! Roode won a match—cleanly—with his finisher! Yes, that’s right…the Fisherman’s Suplex is Roode’s finisher. This is exactly the type of win he should be getting over an opponent like Anderson—who is a former world champ.

Roode vs. Van Dam is a strange match-up. It’s a fresh match-up, but their lack of chemistry in the promo worries me. Will they gel in the ring? RVD is still a drawing talent, but is he a main event draw? We’ll see.

If you’re a half-fan and don’t pay attention to TNA, or you’ve been on the fence for the past few weeks, check out this past Thursday’s Impact Wrestling. You won’t be disappointed.

You Decide: Did you watch Thursday’s Impact Wrestling? What did you think?

The circus used to come to town every summer when I was a kid. It was a great show and I was excited every summer to see it again.

One of my favorite acts was the strong lady. She was truly horrific. She looked like the result of a passionate love affair between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay Leno.

My dad told me that she was nothing compared to the strong lady she had replaced. They called her the 9th Wonder of the World and apparently she was a huge draw. But even though dad was adamant that the new strong lady was a blatant rip off, he admitted she was just as grotesque.

As many nightmares that the strong lady inspired, nothing compared to her handler. He was this scrawny guy, with tattoos and looked like he had a phobia of soap. When he wasn’t eating ice cream bars or rolling his oddly taped wrists, he was mumbling to himself about pipe bombs.

By the time I became an adult, I’d long forgotten about the two of them until one day I happened upon them in a bar. She was doing a dwarf tossing gimmick, while he lurked in the shadows mumbling about the evils of booze.

He even came up to me and asked me, “Does it make you gay if you enjoy a woman fucking you in the ass?”

I didn’t know what he was looking for, so I said “I’m pretty sure it does.”

He limped away with a satisfied grin.

Absolutely Buggy…no doubt about it.

Posted By: Frisco Kid

I have a one more…

Secondly, why do you have a pic of Eminem for the Low End Theory when you could use the Tribe Called Quest album of the same name?
Posted By: #Imjustsayin’…

I actually made a few options for Tony, and he picked. Then I used the first alternate here. There was in fact a Tribe Called Quest inspired graphic in the bunch.

Eh, he made the right call!

Border Wars just became the most important event in Ring of Honor history. ROH ended their relationship with GFL.tv after the Miami events. With the event being produced in house and broadcast on rohwrestling.com, everything has to be perfect. Audio & video production, booking, crowd…everything. The blame finger for Showdown in the Sun was immediately pointed directly at GFL. Now we’ll find out for sure.

The card has all the potential in the world. The main event will be a good to great match that the Toronto crowd will elevate to a great to awesome match. Kevin Steen will be the hometown favorite, and defending World Champion Davey Richards will know how John Cena felt at Money in the Bank 2011 in Chicago. Lance Storm and Mike Bennett will build upon their Showdown in the Sun match that has been called the best match of Bennett’s career. Eddie Edwards, one of the best in-ring performers in the company, will go head-on with Rhino, one of the most underrated wrestlers of this generation. Add to that World TV Champion Roderick Strong’s non-title match against Fit Finlay—a match that will be hard as hitting and memorable as any other. You’ve also got the Fight Without Honor that should end the rivalry between Jay & Mark Briscoes—the ROH World Tag Team Champions—and Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin—Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. After months of feuding over the TV title, Tommaso Ciampa and former champ Jay Lethal step in the ring with nothing but bragging rights and revenge on their mind. And another hometown hero—Michael Elgin—faces golden boy Adam Cole in a match that could easily steal the show. We also expect matches from The Young Bucks and The All Night Express—possibly against each other.

So Ring of Honor has booked themselves one hell of a card. But they have to execute, and do it perfectly. The main event has to have a satisfying, meaningful ending—that must be a turning point in the story. There are only two options I can think of—Kevin Steen wins the ROH World Championship, or Jim Cornette becomes the heel front man for either Steen or Richards. A clean win by Davey Richards or a non-finish to the match will not leave your paying customer—which you are really trying to win back—feeling satisfied. This card can be nothing of short but amazing, but if the main event doesn’t deliver in the ring and in the booking, then the hard work done before will be lost.

The other piece of execution that is critical are the production values. Tremendous egregious errors are one thing—losing the feed during a match, zero sound, etc. But those are major issues that can normally be attributed to a major mistake or error. What would kill things for me is if we see more of the same issues we saw before Showdown in the Sun. Things like hearing the live crowd during a pretaped promo, hearing commentary chatter during a pretaped promo, not hearing the live mic during introductions or an in-ring promo—just to name a few.

Basically, if Ring of Honor is going to produce these iPPV events in-house, they need to be the best. Because there are other options out there. Remember—Dragon Gate USA killed it with their WrestleMania weekend events. They’ve since had an Evolve event and are running two Evolve events the same weekend as Border Wars (and Canadian hero El Generico is wrestling in the Carolinas for Gabe…). But ROH has built the better show, and will likely present the better in ring product. But your brand if fake MMA isn’t enough this time—you have to nail every aspect of the production: wrestling, audio, video, booking. Everything has to be spot on. If not, then pen will hit paper in the drafting of the second half of “The Rise and Fall of Ring of Honor.”

Proto Credit: George Mario

I have a small DeMarcettes update for this week, and I will have a full update next week. First off, you might have seen this graphic floating around…

Well that graphic started off as this graphic…

And that is for recent column favorite Scarlett Bordeaux, who—on this week’s edition of The Greg DeMarco Show—accepted a spot as DeMarcette #5! Much like Buggy Nova, it was the reaction of you—the reader—that lead me to reach out to her to be more than an “&1” girl, and she was thrilled to become a member of the family.

And she provided this celebratory photo!

Credit: George Mario

I know what you’re thinking: “Yeah, she’s gorgeous…we get it. But can she wrestle? Can she cut a promo?”

Judge for yourself!

More DeMarcette updates…

“The Sin City Siren” Terra Calaway was the victim of an idiotic attack by Southern California promoter Gary Yap. Yap, you might remember, is the promoter who accepted the WILD booking of Terra Calaway vs. Winter on his EPIC WAR card a few months back, then proceeded to slam both ladies before the card even happened. Well, he’s at it again…

Sinner is actually his reference to TNA Knockout Winter. Yeah… Words can’t describe how I feel about promoters like this. We all learned about Eric Nyenhuis last week. And while Yap is actually a step above Eric, he’s still a piece of garbage. So much so that I’ve decided to leave it alone, and let you guys handle it. Hit him up on Twitter and let him know how you feel about his comments.

Congratulations are in order for “Four Eyes—Five Stars” Veda Scot who hit an amazing personal milestone this week—she graduated from law school! Congratulations to Veda on this tremendous personal accomplishment.

The Greg DeMarco Show, presented by 411Mania.com/Wrestling, comes to you each Tuesday night at 10:30 PM eastern and airs all weekend at VOCNation.com. Greg and Patrick O’Dowd are joined by regular contributors Steve Cook, Tony Acero, Justin Freemyer and Buggy Nova! Plus, you never know who might call in or stop by “The Snake Pit” (chatroom). The call-in number is (310) 807-5103, and “The Snake Pit” generally opens 5 minutes before the show starts.

This week: Ring of Honor talent Michael Elgin–the fastest rising star in all of independent wrestling–joins the show to discuss his meteoric rise to prominence, ROH’s Border Wars iPPV, his background and more.

Plus, we will have a mystery female guest! Will she be DeMarcette #5? Wait and see…

All this in addition to Steve Cook discussing WWE Extreme Rules, Tony Acero discussing RAW, Justin Freemyer kicking it old school and The Greg DeMarco Starlet herself Buggy Nova!

Head over to VOCNation.com to listen, or listen here:

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 features guests from Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Dragon Gate USA, Evolve 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.

On last week’s Greg DeMarco Show, we interviewed Brandon Gatson—a talent many of you don’t know about. But you should. Gatson has since released this video, declaring that the Gatitude Era is upon us!