Wrestling Deja Vu 06.15.09: Ladies’ Night
Posted by Joseph F. Martinez on 06.15.2009
Reader request month continues with a look into two guys that loved the ladies. Rhett Titus and Val Venis made their careers by enticing the female viewers and entertained everyone. This week they bring their talents to the latest Wrestling Deja Vu.
Hey yo. Welcome to the column that always makes your Mondays better…maybe. Today is June 15th and this is Wrestling Deja Vu. It's been a long, wild week in the wrestling industry. Sunday was the PPV where nearly all titles on the line changed hands and it got crazier until Saturday where Mitsuharu Misawa died in an unfortunate turn of events. It's a new week though, so we'll see what happens from here.
A special column awaits the ladies today because Rhett Titus and Val Venis are going to be placed under the WDV microscope. Both of these guys pride themselves as being "ladies men" among other things. But first, the banner and feedback from last week.
Last week's column focused on the dynamic duo of Eugene and Festus…
Looking back
JLAJRC: Is there some reason who dropped the "dream match" portion of your column?
Yeah, I'm playing around with the column format. It's been the same for 3 months or so. It will be back in a few weeks.
Iron Knee: Adding in analysis of Norman the Lunatic and George "The Animal" Steele might've been instructive.
I alluded to Norman the Lunatic in the column. It probably would've helped if I named him. I didn't really make the connection between Steele and the two but I could definitely see the similarities.
The Great Capt. Smooth: For all the crap that Eugene and Festus get, they are GOOD performers.
I'm going to agree. Festus and Eugene were never counted on to be in anything of great importance, but they performed well when they were given an ounce of the spotlight.
AND INTRODUCTING THE PARTICIPANTS
Val Venis was signed to the WWE in 1998 and immediately given a porn star gimmick. He would show the everyday happenings of his life and it was pretty popular with the fans. The majority of his career was in the midcard where he feuded with many individuals. Because every gimmick gets stale, he eventually played a part in the Right to Censor group where he helped censor the WWF from various "evils." After that ended, he went back to being "The Big Valbowski." Venis was released from the WWE in early 2009, but he enjoyed a solid 11 year career with the company.
WHERE IS HE NOW?: Venis is wrestling in the independents and overseas.
Rhett Titus is pretty new to the scene. He doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry dedicated to him. Titus is a 21 year old individual who is operating with the ladies man gimmick. He wrestles with Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro and other independent organizations. According to various sources, he's been wrestling since 2006 and is making his way through the ranks. Titus is a pretty charismatic guy who has made some interesting catchphrases for himself. An example of one is "THE THRUST IS A MUST."
WHERE IS HE NOW?: In the independents wrestling primarily for the Ring of Honor promotion.
LADIES NIGHT
It's common knowledge that the main target of professional wrestling is the male demographic, but that doesn't mean that females do not watch the program. This is where gimmicks like these are born. While Val Venis and Rhett Titus engage in "lewd" activities, they still are fun characters that everyone can appreciate. These ladies' men made every attempt to please the fan base and would resort to silly things. An example of this is Val Venis' towel routine. For those readers that do not recall, Venis would enter the ring with a towel wrapped around his waist. Upon arrival, he would call in a female in attendance and ask her to remove the towel. "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus makes sure the females in the audience know he's in attendance by playing specifically to them. This causes the male fan base to not like him and it makes the gimmick work.
SHOULDERS LIKE BOULDERS
Some people operate under the idea that you have to love yourself before you love others. Val Venis and Rhett Titus both subscribed to this train of thought and made sure everybody knew it. Both of these individuals acted as if every woman in the arena wanted them. Titus frequently describes himself as having "shoulders like boulders" and being in possession of thighs that mesmerize. Venis was no stranger to this as he always boasted about how well endowed he was and made sure the whole world knew he was a porn star. The narcissistic behavior made these individuals entertaining heels and sometimes goofy faces.
HOME VIDEO
Vignettes are an important part of wrestling. Like everything else in wrestling, these vary from wrestler to wrestler. Val Venis' vignettes were mostly fun videos that took advantage of his gimmick. When Venis was at the top of his game, he made a film with Ryan Shamrock (sister of Ken Shamrock) engaging in lewd acts. Titus' promos also tend to live on the wilder side of things. Of course, he has more room to work because he isn't working on an International Level, but it still takes thought to make the videos work. Titus' video of him getting his swagger back is a prime example of some of his work. It's all based around sex and it works for him just like it worked for the Big Valbowski.
THE RUNDOWN
Both Rhett Titus and Val Venis are very talented individuals. They have the ability to put on an entertaining match and have the mic skills to back it up. I feel like Titus comes off as a bit awkward at times but that shouldn't take anything from the young wrestler. This "ladies man" gimmick leaves room for an individual to be awkward. While some may say Titus is more similar to Rick Martel, I believe him and Venis definitely have their similarities. Val Venis' career is on the verge of ending, but Rhett is still a very young individual who has time to take the gimmick to the next level.
In Case You Missed It
Had a busy weekend? No worries, here is some of the material posted.
The Wrestling Bard examines Tyler Black's prospects as an ROH World Champion.
This week‘s Triple Threat discusses Umaga, Extreme Rules and more.
Goodnight, Travel Well
• RIP Mitsuharu Misawa - I won't pretend like I can name all of the 5 star matches he's had and all of his feuds, but I will say that I acknowledge why he's considered a legend and how tragic the death was. It's just saddening.
• Tonight is a special 3 hour edition of Raw. It starts an hour early so adjust your schedules accordingly. Personally, I dig the 3 hour Raws because it's something extra to watch on TV. I do have some qualms about next week's rumored Raw without commercials. I think programming sans commercials can work for something like football (American and International), but I'm not sure about wrestling. People will focus less on the wrestling and take their bathroom breaks mid-match and so.
• That's all, folks. Make sure you check out 411mania.com on Twitter and try and bookmark us if you haven't already. I'll make my return in seven days with another Wrestling Deja Vu. Enjoy your week.
Titus isn't nearly obnoxious enough. He needs to watch Rick Rude work this gimmick.
Posted By: Iron Knee (Guest) on June 15, 2009 at 12:28 PM
"I think programming sans commercials can work for something like football (American and International), but I'm not sure about wrestling. People will focus less on the wrestling and take their bathroom breaks mid-match and so. "
Or during long winded promos. The WWE makes many of the matches two short to leave the room.
Posted By: Guest#1041 (Guest) on June 15, 2009 at 02:02 PM
Venis has the funniest titantron video.
Posted By: Space Cowboy (Guest) on June 16, 2009 at 06:10 AM
What Rhett does that compares to Val is he passes out room keys to the ladies. Sometimes with his teeth.
Posted By: Kattt (Guest) on July 07, 2009 at 01:41 AM
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