wrestling / Columns

The Wrestling 5 & 1 3.28.14: Summer Rae vs. Brie Bella

March 29, 2014 | Posted by Tony Acero

We’re a week away from Wrestlemania XXX and there seems to be a murmur of trepidation around the IWC. Sure, some are as excited as all hell, but I see so much more of people out there just waiting for the event, including myself. Even so, we can’t deny that even with the haphazard – at times – booking, there is still much to be excited about. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to highlight certain matches and what’s going forward with them, so I figured I’d cover two matches I haven’t really touched upon, and leave next week for the large Wrestlemania XXX preview and predictions!

Beat the Streak

The inspiration comes from this week’s Fact or Fiction where both participants deemed the build to Taker vs Brock as “underwhelming.” It got me to actually think about the build and I realized I was in the same boat as creative…in other words, the spectacle of the match superceded any actual storytelling they could have possibly given us. For the past some odd years, we’ve had the Taker match at Mania built the same way, with only slight variations. In previous years, however, we had history and a great foil in HBK, HHH, etc. This year, however, they not only denied the “history” between the competitors, but also really took any “beast” like qualities that Brock may have had and turned him into a Prince Albert/Nathan Jones type of Taker opponent than an HBK/HHH opponent.

For those longtime readers of the 411, you may remember an article where I covered every Taker match at Mania there was up until that point. I point you to 411’s Countdown to Wrestlemania: The Undertaker’s Streak. The treak through the career of Taker at Mania showed that only the past few years have really seen him become more of a phenom in the ring than any other place. The help of HBK, Edge, and even HHH really turned the Streak into something more than a given come Mania. It appears, however, that we are back to the for sure thing of Taker winning because they’ve yet to give Brock any taste of fearlessness, and instead allow Heyman to speak for him enough to get to the antics of the Dead Man. In fact, it’s also almost a given that come RAW, we’ll finally get a Brock beatdown on Taker just to make sure that the end of the match is in question – which it won’t be.

So this brings me to a point of whether or not we even need a build for a Taker match. Is creative so sure that this match is self-made that the need for a story is inconsequential, or do we deserve some semblance of continuity and energy put into a top billing match at the biggest event of the year? Personally, I’d rather they go some route other than what they’ve been doing. Heyman has been doing his best to keep it all together, but there are some many other routes they can go. Before, Taker’s quick show up and “RIP” promo was cool because we got a match that was going to be amazing. With Taker’s age, and Brock’s stiffness, I don’t see Mania turning out too well for either of them. We hear rumors of Taker’s health, but even assuming he is healthy, without a gimmick, a match between him and the 2014 Brock just doesn’t really entice me and needed a story of some sort to get me interested. Now, I feel it’s just moving forward with little to no motivation.

Your Turn: Are you satisfied with the direction the Brock vs Undertaker match is being built?

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

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

Shane Zachary: “…and Hunter actually HAS a shovel! It was like this big!”

Think you have what it takes to win the Caption Contest? Head on over to the Yes! Yes! Yes! Facebook group and join today to see what Tony, myself and the gang post next!

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Summer pulls out the upset over the former blonde bombshell Kelly Kelly! Looks like our Total Divas lady is taking off. Let’s see how she does against one half of Twin Magic this week!

I’ll be sure to update the image next week…..promise?

And now…..

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


“This Is Awesome” With Cena in the Ring?

On the other end of the card, we’ve got John Cena and the Bray Wyatt. Imagine this being the opening contest? There used to be a time when complaining that Cena in the main event was tiring, but I must say that the past year or so, Cena has proven that he can take a step down and bring some up with him (although rarely – and even that isn’t his fault). Cena winning is never in doubt, but unlike the Taker and Brock build, Cena has looked vulnerable, and Wyatt – the heel – has looked pretty vicious, both verbally and physically. Cena stands alone in this feud, and they’ve done everything they could to assure we understand that. The Undertaker is untouchable. Cena used to be. Bray Wyatt has belittled him on the mic, and although they’ve made this match about Cena’s “legacy” overnight, it doesn’t take away from the over all creepiness that is the Wyatt’s.

I’m a huge fan of Eminem, and using his song “Legacy” did a lot to add some validity to Cena’s argument, but come on…his legacy? Boooo-ring. Still, it’s leaps and bounds more interesting than that of Taker/Brock. Even if we are not comparing the two matches and their build, the awesomeness that is the Wyatts is simply too bad ass to pass down. They are the second best built trio to come up in recent years, and a loss against Cena at Wrestlemania is definitely NOT going to hurt them. I’d ask what happens after, but who cares? For now, Cena vs Wyatt seems to be going in a good direction, and one could only hope that the match is similar.

Your Turn: How do you feel about the Cena vs Wyatt match and its build?

Leave the Memories Alone
Last week was fun! A lot of talk about Kelly Kelly losing, with the crowd pretty divided and obviously more siding with Summer! Don “The Truth” Drillings calls foul on AJ Lee’s win last week, but I assure you it was all fair and was all the readers. I actually only voted 300 times, which hardly had an effect, I’m sure. Don claims that we side with Punk because we want to tell our boss to suck it. I am my own boss, so telling me to suck it would be quite odd. Katamari spends some time to explain a world in which The Shield never breaks up, and I can’t say I don’t like his idea as it seems like something we haven’t seen in a long time. I’d like the Freebirds style teaming, and it would be nice to see a team grow both as individuals and as teammates. Hitman2014 spells out a little more reasons as to why the Kane/Outlawz vs Shield match makes isn’t as good an idea as Kane/The Ascension and SS87 spends an entire paragraph explaining his voting reasonings. Honestly, if he did that every week, I’d fully allow it. Jake St.-Pierre thinks my cousin Tuco from Breaking Bad looks an awful like me and I can’t say I don’t see the resemblance 😉

Guess Who is Back!!

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…

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