wrestling / Columns

World’s Most Dangerous Column 3.2.14: The WWE WrestleMania XXX Card – Don’t Be A Hater!

March 2, 2014 | Posted by Greg De Marco

https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/h124/bonnie-maxson-gray

Then we have the story of DeMarcette Allie Parker’s brother, Ryan Kelso. Ryan has been battling Type 1 Diabetes for 20-years that caused blindness (which was corrected) and has now become Stage Renal Disease. Ryan is now in need of a kidney transplant, and this Give Forward site is to raise the $25,000 needed just to get on the list:

https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/tgv3/kidneyforkelso

Life is short, people—make the most of it, and give back!

By the way…

Follow Greg DeMarco on Twitter!
Friend Greg DeMarco on Facebook!

Join Facebook’s best wrestling group!

Click above for the YES! YES! YES! Facebook Group!

editorial by my good friend (and former 411 writer) Kyle Fitta!

Sami Zayn & Cesaro had a great match that was also all story from the moment the first man got in the ring. This wasn’t about Zayn needing to beat Cesaro—he already did that. This was about Zayn earning respect as a competitor—which he thought he’d get if he beat Cesaro again. Well he didn’t, yet he did.

Zayn didn’t beat Cesaro—and he shouldn’t have. Cesaro is in the midst of what appears to be a major push, and in no way should he be losing on NXT. But his sign of respect to Sami Zayn, one where he returned to the ring to do it, was the true victory—and arrival—for Sami Zayn.

Arrival: Paige
Arrival: Emma
Emma has gotten over since showing up on the television roster, but she’s done it as a comedy performer. Tonight she showed a whole new audience the other side of Emma—the one that wrestles. And wrestle she did!

On the flip side you have Paige, who hasn’t been exposed to the same audience as Emma. Until now. Paige excelled in this match, in a major way. To me, Paige represents the next generation’s greatest Diva. Make no mistake about it, Paige has future Hall of Famer written all over her. She’s uniquely stunning in a way that you can’t take your eyes off of her—nor do you want to!

But there’s more. Her wrestling ability is even greater than her looks. She seamlessly combines her character with her in-ring performance, even more than Emma does.

Paige may end up the biggest women’s star to come out of NXT’s current crop (Charlotte could beat her if the WWE wants her to), but Emma is going to shine first. She’s already on the main roster, and the WWE would be smart to get that Divas title on her before too long.

Arrival: Adrian Neville
Arrival: Bo Dallas
I know what you’re thinking, and yes, Bo Dallas already arrived. He physically arrived on television last year, but didn’t “arrive” as a performer. Last night he did.

Adrian Neville obviously arrived, winning the main event ladder match in both spectacular and creative fashion. The visual of the smoke shooting down from the ceiling was a cool one, even if it was Mojo Rawley’s gimmick.

Side note: no word on if the smoke allowed Neville to “stay hype.”

Adrian Neville is a great performer—but many of those “in the know” expected that. Bo Dallas, on the other hand, needed some redemption (NXT Redemption? No thank you!) and he got it on Thursday. He proved he can carry the heel side of a feud, and do it well. He showed me that he can be trusted at the next level, where he can draw heat and put on a great performance in the ring.

Arrival: NXT
I know, it’s odd to name NXT itself as an arrival, right? But you have to.

The product as a whole arrived, as the performers treated this as “their WrestleMania.” ArRIVAL really established NXT as a brand for the WWE, and one that could be very strong. WWE could easily take NXT on the road, laying to smaller venues throughout the US and Canada, giving their talent more seasoning (and providing a local tryout for some more potential signees).

When the current incarnation of NXT took shape, I said that the WWE could basically have its own independent promotion with it. That’s pretty much what happened on Thursday. NXT: ArRIVAL was basically a well-produced super indy card, one done better than 99% of the indies in North America today.

Well done, NXT. Well done!

A tradition started at the end of each point when I wrote The Wrestling 5&1, “You Decide!” is your chance to weigh in on a major question facing professional wrestling each week. Vote once per hour, and leave your opinions in the comments section!

Last week I asked who you thought would get the best out of Batista, and you responded with a loud “YES!”


This week, I have a question about NXT ArRIVAL:

Based on Thursday night’s show, who had the biggest “arrival” at NXT ArRIVAL?


Return and vote once per hour!
Voting closes Wednesday night!

Wrestling fans are passionate, and at times judgmental. So it takes a special someone—me!—to point out some things that are downright true, yet likely unpopular. And I do them on the twitter!

Follow Me People!

And now I present to you…#UnpopularTruths!

I said it here already—we love our independent wrestling, but the fact is that the WWE can do that better, too!

This one bothers even me, but without Dixie Carter TNA might not be on SpikeTV, or in business at all. We all love to beg for Jeff Jarrett to be back, but isn’t he the reason they got sold to begin with?

Seriously? How bad will it suck if 15,000 people can’t stop chanting “CM PUNK!” for three hours? One can only hope for an hour-long six-man tag featuring The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Christian & Cesaro. Or something to shut them up.

I’ve said it before—this is a WrestleMania worthy match-up. Just enjoy it!

In the ring, MVP has done a great job. But his promos (both in ring and backstage) are cliché and kinda boring. I was excited to see MVP in this role, but it’s not definitely middle of the road for me. Feud him with Dixie Carter and eh…….

You do realize if he was still there we’d be getting CM Punk vs. Triple H and Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus at WrestleMania XXX, right?

Seriously, does Austin Aries himself know what he’s supposed to be? It’s a shame, because he should be in the main event all the damn time.

Bobby Roode is one of the best wrestlers in the world, but his finisher sucks.

There you have it—eight unpopular but true statements about professional wrestling sports entertainment made by yours truly this week!

In wrestling today, there is no show quite like Raw. Giving us moments and memories that we will cherish forever, and some we’d rather not ever recall again. This space is the chance to look back in time, each week, to a Raw memory.

411Mania is putting the finishing touches on a WrestleMania feature that allowed me to write about my favorite match ever—Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 21. However, the duo had multiple classics, including this Ironman Match from Raw

Oct. 3, 2005
30 Minute Iron Man Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle

Have a match or a moment you’d like to see here?
Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

This week we get a favorite of Greg DeMarco Show listeners everywhere (and probably the Briscoe Brothers as well)—Jessie Belle!


Photos credit 911wrestling.com

Follow Jessie on Twitter at @1jessiebelle!

Sunday night I broadcast The Greg DeMarco Show on the VOC Nation with our special guest, DeMarcette Leah Von Dutch!

Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, drop a line in the comments, and until next time…


article topics

Greg De Marco

Comments are closed.