The Wrestling 5 & 1 07.02.11: Versus Summer Tag League Kicks Off with Taylor Wilde vs. Rosita!

So it happened. Again. The images are gone from the server. Again. That’s the bad news. The good news is that management has implemented a fix that will prevent this issue from rearing its ugly head again. The additional bad news is that this week’s column comes with zero graphics.*

But the show must go on!

THE FIVE!

The following was written immediately after I saw the promo above. I watched it on DVR, but it hadn’t been spoiled for me, so my reaction was the same as if it were live:
Epic. I don’t like that word as much as many, but it really applies here. CM Punk is every bit as awesome as his character says he is. It was amazing how nearly every bit of recent internet speculation and criticism was perfectly weaved into the promo, too. So many little things like the Stone Cold shirt, only referring to The Rock as Dwayne, Punk admitting he actually likes John Cena, being upset over the WrestleMania main event, etc. It got over the importance of the title and of the WrestleMania main event. I can imagine that promo was constructed by Triple H, Vince McMahon, creative, Punk himself and possibly Michael Cole. I also imagine Vince made everyone sit in the same area to watch it, so they could see that Vince approved of it. That’s a good way to nip any future problems in the bud.

Follow-up:
When an obvious work is met with even the smartest fans questioning if it’s a shoot, then you know you’ve done something right. But for a worked promo of this style to work, there has to be some truth to it. That’s why WWE Magazine’s twitter posting that Punk was meeting backstage with those he talked about was hilarious. I bet they were all laughing about it. I also think we might get HHH-CM Punk at WrestleMania 28. Who knows if we’ll get CM Punk as WWE Champion before that, though.

Personally, I have to credit the WWE for showing some balls and putting this promo on TV. It was so well done, with the cut of the microphone and the cut of the feed. Will the WWE have the guts to really do Summer of Punk? They have the resources to make it happen. Imagine if CM Punk really did show up in Ring of Honor—with the WWE Championship. Or if he took it to Japan. Funny that the two promotions he mentioned were the two biggest rumored destinations for Punk if he leaves. Funny that most of his anti-WWE banter was just repeating things said online. That’s no mistake. Also funny that was wearing a “Stone Cold” Steve Austin shirt.

One of the things it did, for me anyway, is solidify CM Punk as the best promo in the WWE today. Likely in all of wrestling today. I can’t think of a single wrestler that can hold a candle to Punk.

The follow-up to all of this has been different than I expected. Much like the WWE signing “Juan Cena” for houseshows when “John Cena” was fired, they announced that CM Punk reached an “agreement” to appear at live events until his contract was up. This shows an extreme lack of creativity. Much like John Cena, you only had to make one small mention of it, saying that “despite being suspended, CM Punk has advised that he is still under contract promises to make his presence felt in Houston.” Or wherever the show is. Now you’re telling us that Punk will be in Houston, and you’re not hurting your own storyline. It’s not that hard!

You Decide: Is Punk the best promo man in the WWE today? Was the best promo ever?

*Just kidding!

You didn’t think I was really going to do that, did you? Hell no!

BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week: Experience won out, but just barely. Torrie Wilson defeated Kelly Kelly and advances in her own quest for the Hall of Bang. When summer comes to a close, Torrie will return with two wins under her very slim belt. Once Torrie’s journey is complete, Kelly Kelly will get her shot.

You Decide: Should Kelly Kelly keep her win despite losing to Torrie? Or should KK start from scratch when she gets another chance?

This Week: Phase two of the Versus Summer League is in full effect, in the form of the Versus Tag League! For the first time, eight tag teams will enter the Versus arena, vying for the right to become the Versus Tag Team Champions. The winners will get challenged each summer (and possibly at Christmas as well), serving as a nice little break from the traditional Versus match-ups. I am selecting teams from the WWE, TNA, indies and international as well. However, when selecting the TNA representatives, there you’ve got the obvious…

And then you have the less than obvious. When I first envisioned the Versus Tag League, Taylor Wilde and Sarita made the perfect combo for a tag team entrant. But now we have Sarita and Rosita, the current Knockout Tag Team Champions (meaningless, but current). Well, I just don’t feel right deciding, so I’ll let YOU DECIDE!

You can specify Sarita & Rosita (or Mexican America) or Sarita & Taylor Wilde (or Canadian America?)…

…or you can specify Rosita or Taylor Wilde. Your vote counts either way.

The winning team will join seven others as part of the Versus Tag League. Who are the other seven teams? Well you already know that the Beautiful People are entered, and that either of the two teams above will win their way in. The WWE representatives should be easy to pick out. As for the indy and international teams? I guess you’ll have to wait until the bracket is released next week!

After watching the epic CM Punk promo, I can’t help but want to see this gem again.

Ring of Honor capped off a huge week (one that started with Cary Silkin’s great interview on the Greg DeMarco Show, by the way) with an amazing event at The Hammerstein Ballroom. It was a home-run, a near perfect event for my favorite promotion.

The event featured two title changes: Davey Richards captured the ROH World Championship from American Wolves partner Eddie Edwards in the show’s main event, a match that has earned a few five-star ratings. I moved to Arizona to avoid wintery weather, so I’m not a big snowflake guy. But I do know it was an amazing battle between two warriors that really laid it all on the line over a belt. A BELT! That’s right, they mean something. Not to be overshadowed (even fi he was), El Generico defeated Christopher Daniels to become the third ROH World Television Champion, and will carry that belt into the Sinclair era. In the other championship match, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin retained the ROH World Tag Team Championships in a hard fought four-team elimination match that featured The Kings of Wrestling, The Briscoes and The All Night Express.

The first half of the show saw Tommaso Ciampa get the best of Colt Cabana, Jay Lethal return to ROH with a win over Mike Bennett, Homicide’s street fight victory over Rhino and Michael Elgin pinning Steve Corino in a match that featured a great Kevin Steen appearance. Fans in the arena were treated to a dark match that saw TNA’s Generation Me defeat Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly by disqualification when the Bravado Brothers interfered.

The second half was a perfect set of matches for me. I liked the first half, and really only would have made one change. I would have booked Rhino to cost Colt Cabana the match, and have Homicide save Colt from a beatdown at the hands of the House of Truth. Homicide and Colt have this history with each other, it kickstarts Homicide & Rhino’s street fight, and the fans would go nuts for it. otherwise, we’re talking about an A+ phenomenal show here, one that has reportedly broke ROH’s iPPV record with 2,100 buys. That’s ¼ what TNA routinely draws, and they’re on cable!

You Decide: Did you order this iPPV? Will you order one in the future?

Five things you didn’t know about…The Sinclair Broadcast Group!

1. Sinclair is the largest operator of local television stations in the US, with 57 under its umbrella.

2. The company holds more Fox affiliates than any other, with 19.

3. Sinclair nearly filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

4. Sinclair’s first TV station was a FOX affiliate in Baltimore, started in 1971.

5. Sinclair has been known to push a conservative political agenda on their stations.

Randy Orton appeared on Phoenix’s 98 KUPD while the WWE was in town for the Smackdown tapings. Orton showed more personality than he’s showed at any point in his WWE career. Sure, he made some comments that were more than inappropriate, but I’d rather get that than “My name is Randy…Orton. And I’m the World…Heavyweight…Champion.” The interview caused a ton of controversy, and Orton has already issued an apology to Kelly Kelly. But have you heard the interview? If not, here it is…

I don’t know, I don’t think it was that bad. Doesn’t Kelly Kelly already have that reputation? I know Randy Orton is considered a face of the promotion, but this is a wanna-be Howard Stern type of show he was on, not David Letterman. I’m not sure what type of interview one would expect out of a show like this.

You Decide: Should Randy Orton be punished for any of his comments?

So you might have heard something about a promo CM Punk cut on RAW this Monday. One of the people he discussed was The Rock, or “Dwayne” as he continually referred to him. Apparently, it bothers Punk that Dwayne is announced for the WrestleMania 28 main event, and Punk isn’t. Well, The Rock (@TheRock) responded.

“CM Punk: it’s simple business – The Rock is the main event at Wrestlemania cause it draws more money in one night, then u will in lifetime.”

Now I don’t regularly read The Rock’s Twitter. Does he do everything in kayfabe? Because The Rock made his name by picking on others. And CM Punk uses The Rock’s name in one promo—one that got nearly as much attention as some of The Rock’s 2011 promos, and The Rock has to “fight back.” Dwayne, if you’re really that much bigger than Punk, leave it be. Let the man have his spotlight, because will never fade.

I’ll climb off of the soapbox now, thanks.

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Since we’re talking, how about Destination X? I think we’re looking at a great card thus far.

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
Samoa Joe vs. Kazarian
Abyss defends the X-Division Championship against Brian Kendrick
X-Division Contract Finals
Ultimate X Match

Really hard to argue against the quality of the card there, considering the talent in the X-Division Contract Match—announced are Austin Aries, Shiima Xion and Low Ki. And with Generation Me and Alex Shelley around, you can assume they’ll be in the Ultimate X Match as well. All in all, I really hope TNA doesn’t screw this one up, because it just might resurrect the dying X-Division.

You Decide: Do you plan to watch Destination X?

It’s a new trend! Images get deleted, this section suffers. BUT, the fix is in place (just like our beloved fake sport), and we’re returning back to normal next week. Yippee!

A few months ago, “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce hinted at getting some news around June 24 that will determine if he can continue to wrestle. On June 26, this video above was released. He didn’t address his injuries, but he does confirm one thing: Adam Pearce is returning to wrestling for “One Last Ride!” It’s no secret that I’m a big Adam Pearce fan. I had my doubts when he was tapped to replace the great Gabe Sapolsky as ROH booker, but once he found his stride he did a great job. And if you’ve never seen an Adam Pearce promo, you’re missing out.

Now, that above video doesn’t promote any of his upcoming events, but you can catch that on his Facebook, including his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match on July 31 in Columbus, Ohio. The following he’ll be in Atlanta for the NWA Legends Fanfest.

But Pearce did address his injury status on the most recent Greg DeMarco Show! That’s right, Sunday evening I was able to confirm Adam Pearce for our radio program, just hours after his big announcement. If you haven’t heard the interview, learn more about it here (cheap plug):

Adam Pearce featured on The Greg DeMarco Show! The former three time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion shared over 30 candid minutes with Greg, Patrick and Michael Ornelas talking about his physical condition, his return to the ring and much more! Plus, we had a visit from Ari Berenstein to talk ROH Best in the World, the usual suspects in Michael Ornelas and Steve Cook, and of course Buggy! Listen to it here!

Or, listen to it here:

Listen to internet radio with Greg DeMarco on Blog Talk Radio

Despite the image issues, we just can’t get by without our “And 1” model of the week!

Maybe it’s because I can’t stand Justin Roberts, but I miss me some Lillian Garcia!

Read up throughout the site, it’s full of good stuff! Given that we’ll have no image issues next week, we’ll be back to the full list of links! But we have some great stuff available all over 411Mania, and you know where to find it!

Until next time…