Smark Out Moment

Elimination Chamber, or as I like to call it, the Roadblock to WrestleMania! Six men enter, one man leaves. Actually, 12 men enter, 2 men leave as champion, then the other 10 leave as losers, but that's not as epic sounding so we'll gloss over that. This is the pay-per-view that determines whether or not WWE has long term plans they want to stick to or if they're panicking at the last minute and switching up their titles for the WrestleMania card. What's in store?



WWE Championship [Elimination Chamber]: CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston
Very surprised that Kofi Kingston is in here instead of Alberto Del Rio, but I assume that's because Del Rio's still too injured to participate. Maybe they're rewarding Kofi for Evan Bourne's mistakes and the handstand he did at the Royal Rumble? Either way, Kofi Kingston is probably the first eliminated here and has no shot at winning. The same goes for R-Truth. We all know now that Jericho is the final participant and I think that's going to play into this quite a bit. Punk, however, I don't expect to be the first. I can see this starting off with Miz and Kofi - that way Dolph can come in, maybe eliminate Kofi, Punk can come in, eliminate Miz, Truth can flounder around, get eliminated by Jericho eventually, then Punk busies himself with Dolph and eliminates him, Jericho beats Punk afterward.

PREDICTION: Chris Jericho wins the title.


World Heavyweight Championship [Elimination Chamber]: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show vs. Santino Marella vs. Khali
I'm a little surprised that Khali is in this instead of Christian, who was supposedly able to return at the Royal Rumble but was held off. I'm also a tiny bit surprised that Cody is in it as well, as I didn't think they'd do his IC title match with Goldust at WrestleMania, but rather, at Elimination Chamber. Now, the question is solely about which one of these three names walks away with the title - Bryan, Barrett, or Orton. One of those is winning this match, without a doubt, and I'm starting to really think that Barrett has no shot the way that he was booked at the Royal Rumble, nor Orton the way that we keep hearing about Money in the Bank possibly being former world title holders and that's it. Barrett doesn't fit in that category, but Daniel Bryan would, so it would make sense if they had Bryan drop the title and have Sheamus vs Barrett with Bryan in MITB. However, I'm not expecting that. The way they've continually booked Bryan, I'm definitely expecting him to retain by the skin of his teeth and gloat, then get his ass whooped by Sheamus basically in a squash match at WrestleMania where he drops the title to The Great White. Match I'd prefer, though? Barrett vs Sheamus. Match I expect to happen, Bryan vs Sheamus. As for entrances and eliminations, I'll have to ponder about that.

[UPDATE: Randy Orton has been removed from the pay-per-view, storyline concussion but I highly doubt there's any truth to that. I'm expecting this to have happened because they couldn't figure out a way to eliminate Orton from the match without him looking weak, since WWE is paranoid about that with their stars - look at Cena - so now, naturally, Orton is not going to win this. Santino is in it instead, and he has no shot. I'll update this again and in more detail once Smackdown happens.]

PREDICTION: Daniel Bryan retains the title.


Ambulance Match: Kane vs. John Cena
What's an ambulance match? Is that just a stretcher match? Oh well, at least it's something newer than just doing a standard no-DQ match or something. Either way, I'm not too excited about it, as Cena clearly wins going into WrestleMania and their brawl at the Royal Rumble outside sucked, so this most likely won't be much better. 

PREDICTION: John Cena wins.


Divas Championship: Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Tamina
I'm surprised that Tamina's push has lasted this long and gone this far. Kudos to WWE for sticking with it. That being said, she has no shot at winning here whatsoever. Beth's holding it for Kharma at WrestleMania in a Lumberjill Match or something. 

PREDICTION: Beth Phoenix retains.

Sheamus could do something with Otunga or Alberto Del Rio or something. Jack Swagger has been absent for the most part. Epico and Primo have nobody to defend their tag titles against that I can think of. Tough call but they're at least adding one more match to the card if not 2.

It's time for my favorite pay-per-view of the year (generally speaking)! Royal Rumbles are always a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to it. For those interested, you can check out my Royal Rumble stats and records page to see how much time I've wasted figuring these things out for your benefit (ok, for mine as well).

You can check out my predictions here.



Dark Match: Yoshi Tatsu vs. Heath Slater
According to Chris Dace, a co-host of Smack Talk, who is currently at the Royal Rumble (go and see him, he'll interview you), this is a dark match going on right now. Slater apparently botched two moves and the match was so-so, kind of average, or so I've been told.

WINNER: Yoshi Tatsu via pinfall.

World Heavyweight Championship [Steel Cage Match]: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Big Show scares a little kid when he comes out for his entrance. I see Sign Guy in the crowd possibly right next to Sign Guy #2, opposite side of the hard camera. Big Show is taking it to Mark Henry while Bryan tries to escape the cage. For the record, that's how I'm expecting this to end, with Bryan escaping the cage. We'll see. I'm surprised Henry's doing as much as he is, considering his injuries. Big Show hits a superkick on Mark Henry, nice. Do you hear that Sexual Chocolate chant? Chris Dace just got that started. Bryan's hanging on the outside of the cage but Big Show is pulling him upward. Nevermind, he falls.

WINNER: Daniel Bryan via escaping the cage, I was right.
Not a big fan of the match, but I can't blame Henry as he was very limited. The rest of the match was just kind of a bore.

Very long commercial promoting John Cena, as if he doesn't get enough promotion. This is taking forever.

Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & Bella Twins vs. Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Alicia Fox, & Tamina
Both teams match their outfits (except for Tamina basically, poor Tamina). This is such a filler match. Lawler just tried about 6 times to say "double trouble" and botched it on Booker T levels. We're at the obligatory "all the divas fight" portion with Kelly Kelly going to the top rope, splashing on all of them. Nice move for the divas division (even though it doesn't make much sense as she splashed on her teammates as well) but Kelly pulled off the move itself fine, so congrats to her. Beth hits Kelly with the Glam Slam and pins her to win.

WINNERS: Beth Phoenix, Natalya, and the Bella twins via pinfall.
Generic divas match. Nice move from Kelly, but other than that, the usual shit.

Backstage, Zack Ryder is in a wheelchair and John Laurinaitis comes up to him. He says he's got him his own room, if he needs anything to let him know, and gives him a Woo Woo Woo. Eve lashes out at Johnny Ace and hopes he gets fired. "That's gratitude for you" he says. Eve calls him an ass and wheels him into his room.

John Cena vs. Kane
Cena comes out to a round of boos. They lagged on Kane's music. Cena's dominating (ugh). Let's go Cena/Cena sucks chant. How come nobody chants Isaac Yankem? C'mon guys. Even when Kane is getting the upper hand, it's not being sold by Cena as Kane being a true force of nature, but just a generic move kind of thing. This is clearly a case of WWE worried about Cena here more than Kane (no surprises, right?). Kane puts his hand over Cena's face and Cena reverses it into an STF kind of, but Kane breaks out of it. Kane his hits clothesline from the top rope spot, then calls for a chokeslam. Cena dodges and starts shoulder-blocking. You Can't See Me leads to a choke, but not a choke slam. Big boot to the face, 2-count. Cena hits a YCSM from the top rope. Kane escapes an AA attempt. They fight to the outside and both get counted out.

WINNER: Draw, double count out.
They couldn't have even had Kane win by DQ? Meh.

They're very lazily fighting backstage, basically just slowly throwing each other into trash cans. Now Kane has a chair and they're starting to use some other things. Kane COMPLETELY misses Cena with the chair, and it's so obvious that he hits the floor. This is pretty bad. Now Kane broke down the door to Ryder's room and attacks him some more, putting his hand over his face until he passes out. He's wheeling Ryder out to the stage. He dumps him out around the ring. Eve runs out to beg Kane to stop. Kane looks at Eve while he gives Ryder a tombstone. Out comes Cena. Kane chokeslams him. Now we've got the referees checking on Cena and Ryder, calling in the medics and whatnot. A way to waste more time (as opposed to running another commercial...but they'll probably do that too).

Now we've got a commercial for the Rock. Great. This should be another 5 minute time waster. Let's promote his movie! Yaaay Rocky!

Drew McIntyre vs. Brodus Clay
Well, if McIntyre isn't in the Royal Rumble, I've got one prediction wrong. I expected him to be the fastest eliminated. For some reason, Booker is talking about Bill Cosby. Normal Brodus squash match.

WINNER: Brodus Clay via pinfall.
Not much to review, but that song is so damn catchy.

WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler with John Laurinaitis as special guest ref
Laurinaitis is wearing a sleeveless ref shirt....lol. He says he'll be the ref for the outside the ring, while the inside will have another. Vickie Guerrero is banned from ringside. Little botch with Punk throwing Ziggler into the ropes, but a little too far, so he landed odd (but not injured or anything, just slightly off, figured I'd point it out). Ziggler hits his repetitive elbow drops. Punk is able to escape a sleeper hold, attempting an Anaconda Vice but not being able to lock it in. Punk hits a nice power bomb, but only gets a 2-count. Kick to the head is another 2-count for Punk on Ziggler. Punk hesitates to climb to the top rope, looking at Laurinaitis. He then hits an elbow drop, gets another 2-count. The real ref gets knocked out of commission. Punk locks in the Anaconda Vice and Ziggler taps, but Laurinaitis is busy checking on the ref. Ziggler rolls up Punk, Punk reverses it, but Laurinaitis is still not paying attention. John puts the ref in the ring. Punk picks up Ziggler for the GTS and spins him around, hitting Laurinaitis in the process (who falls outside the ring, badly). he hits the GTS and goes for a pin, but the ref is still out of it and Laurinaitis is pissed. Ziggler reverses another GTS attempt with a leg drop - very well done. The ref counts, but it's only a two. Punk slingshots Ziggler into the turnbuckle, then hits the GTS again. Both the normal ref and Laurinaitis count the pinfall and Punk wins.

WINNER: CM Punk via pinfall.
Not the best match these two have had, but it was still the best match so far on the card. I hope they can have more matches together.

Royal Rumble Match
Wooo! Are you guys as excited as I am? Entrant #1 is naturally The Miz. He gets on the mic and says everyone's doubting him and he's proven everyone wrong in the past, he'll do it tonight. Entrant #2 is Alex Riley. Holy shit, I was right! Check at youtube.com/smarkoutmoment, I totally called that! Riley is eliminated by the Miz. Entrant #3 is R-Truth. Truth is taking it to Miz and almost eliminates him, early. Entrant #4 is Cody Rhodes. I didn't expect him this soon. Justin Gabriel is number 5. Number 6 is Primo. I'm definitely expecting Sheamus to clear the ring soon. The Miz eliminates R-Truth. Truth comes in again and drags Miz out, but Miz isn't eliminated. Entrant #7 is Mick Foley. He comes out as Foley, by the way, not the other faces. Primo is eliminated by Foley. Entry #8 is Alberto Del Rio - wait a minute, it's Ricardo Rodriguez! Totally didn't expect him in the match at all! He comes out dressed as Del Rio in a shitty car. (The action stops as they're looking at him - there's another Royal Rumble staple down). Justin Gabriel gets eliminated. Entry #9 is Santino Marella. Santino goes right to Ricardo and has some fun with him. Ricardo is eliminated by Santino. WE'RE HAVING A SOCKO VS COBRA FIGHT! This is epic. Entry #10 is Epico.He's definitely going to be eliminated fast. Right when Epico comes in, he gets a Cobra, then a Mandible Claw and Foley eliminates Epico. Miz and Rhodes get back into things. Santino is eliminated by Cody Rhodes. Foley is eliminated by Rhodes as well. Entry #11 is Kofi Kingston. Booker is doing a horrible Jamaican accent, which Kofi doesn't even have anymore. Boom Drop on Miz and Cody. Entry #12 is Jerry Lawler! He leaves commentary and gets into the ring. Lawler pulls the strap down and hits his fist on Miz, but Cody comes up and eliminates Lawler. Entry #13 is Ezekiel Jackson. Is that an Ahmed Johnson chant I hear? Entry #14 is Jinder Mahal. Mahal takes a long time to get into the ring. Entry #15 is the Great Khali. He goes after everyone, but eliminates Jinder Mahal and Ezekiel Jackson. Entry #16 is Hunico. Entry #17 Booker T! He does what Lawler does, takes his coat off and leaves the commentary table. He runs into a problem with Khali though. HOLY SHIT - Kofi Kingston avoids elimination by doing a handstand and moving to the ring steps to get back in. That was crazy! Entry #18 is Dolph Ziggler. Entry #19 is Hacksaw Jim Duggan! Wow I didn't expect all these non-roster members to be in here. Duggan then gets eliminated by Cody Rhodes who mocks his "hoooo!!" chant. Cody them eliminates both Booker and Khali. Entry #20 is Michael Cole! Wow. Entry #21 is KHARMA! DEFINITELY the biggest shock so far in my mind. Cole gets eliminated by Booker, Lawler, and Kharma. Kharma gives her finishing move to Dolph Ziggler. Kharma then eliminates Hunico. Kharma is eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. Entry #22 is Sheamus. Kofi Kingston is eliminated by Sheamus. Sheamus hits his 10 chest smacks to Cody, then does it to Miz as well. Entry #23 is Road Dogg Jesse James! "You still got it" chant. Entry #24 is Jey Uso. Entry #25 is Jack Swagger. Entry #26 is Wade Barrett. This was my pick for the winner (number 26) and Barrett is my second choice for winner. Wade eliminates Road Dogg. Entry #27 is David Otunga. Entry #28 Randy Orton. Expect a lot of eliminations now. Orton hits a double rope-DDT on Rhodes and Ziggler. Jey Uso is eliminated by Randy Orton. RKO to Barrett. Randy eliminates Wade Barrett. Entry #29 is Chris Jericho. David Otunga is eliminated. Entry #30 is Big Show. This means no Kane, the first Royal Rumble he hasn't been in. That sucks. Jack Swagger is eliminated by Big Show. Big Show then eliminates Cody Rhodes and the Miz, and Dolph Ziggler. The final four are Sheamus, Jericho, Orton, and Big Show. Big Show is eliminated by Orton. Randy Orton is eliminated by Chris Jericho. Lots of false finishes here. Jericho hits a Codebreaker and goes for a pinfall. Sheamus puts Jericho on the outside apron and Brogue Kicks him. Chris Jericho is eliminated! SHEAMUS WINS THE ROYAL RUMBLE! 

WINNER: Sheamus
Very entertaining! I loved it!

What's been going on this week in the world of professional wrestling? It's time to break it down in the latest edition of SMACK TALK, my wrestling podcast and the quick notes below. Make sure to subscribe, comment on the videos and this post, and let us know your thoughts.

Watch each part of EPISODE 13 below:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

• R-Truth wins the US title at a house show, but it's ruled a retcon of a non-title match. Curious, what's the point?
• Cena's angry face on Raw = unintentionally hilarious.
• Tommy Dreamer is saying that he twice saved CM Punk's job. I can see that happening to an extent. Punk has said he had problems in the past with people, Dreamer had more clout than him in the past, so on and so forth.
• Chyna was at the Adult Video Awards and was supposedly just a mess, appearing to be high on something with glazed over eyes and whatnot. Shame.
• Finlay defended the divas division, talking about how they're hard workers and such. I agree. Then again, I disagree with him saying we should all stop criticizing them unless we can go in and do the same. Just because you can't necessarily do something doesn't mean you can't criticize someone else for not being able to do it - particularly when that's their JOB. I'm not a golfer but that doesn't mean if I see someone miss a shot I can't say that that shot sucked, it did. 

What's been going on this week in the world of professional wrestling? It's time to break it down in the latest edition of SMACK TALK, my wrestling podcast and the quick notes below. Make sure to subscribe, comment on the videos and this post, and let us know your thoughts.

Watch each part of EPISODE 12 below:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | In-Depth Royal Rumble Match Predictions

• Epico and Primo won the tag team titles at a house show. While I'm not a fan of them winning it, I'm a fan of them winning it at a house show. It's something different.
• Evan Bourne was suspended again, which makes it clear why they dropped the tag titles. There's speculation that he might be TRYING to get himself fired - and that he might succeed in that.
• Bragging Rights could be switching to the TLC placement and then Fatal 4-Way going in the Capital Punishment location instead of Bragging Rights. I don't like that idea. Bragging Rights needs to stay away from Survivor Series and as much as I'd rather have TLC get replaced with something better, Fatal 4-Way isn't one I want to see back on the card again.
• DX to induct the Four Horsemen? What about FLAIR?
• A drunk Marty Jannetty decided to talk trash about Shawn Michaels and promote his book, saying it would be more interesting if he keeps all the stuff about Shawn's "religious fake ass" in it. Jeez.
• Chyna one-upped him by going on a Twitter tirade about Vince McMahon, saying everything from rape accusations to calling Vince a coward, talked about death threats, "freaky Chinese sex tapes"...
• Make sure to double check the sexiest diva/knockout tournament and let me know if I'm forgetting anybody on the list before I start breaking down the bracket!

Who are the hottest, sexiest, most attractive wrestling women in WWE and TNA history? That's up to you to decide!

Smark Out Moment needs your help in compiling a massive list of EVERY woman wrestler, valet, manager, on-screen character, and so forth that has been involved in these two companies over their tenure. Once the list is finished, they will all be placed in a bracket tournament where you will get to decide in polls and comments who you think should win each match to determine who is the hottest.

Here is the breakdown of the bracket...

SIDE 1: WWE Divas
Group A - Entertainment Era Divas
Group B - Federation Era Divas
Group C - ECW Divas
Group D - WCW Divas

SIDE 2: TNA Knockouts
Group A - 100% Knockouts
Group B - Have Been Both Knockouts and Divas [this is due to WWE having so many more women under their employment in the past]

Note: Since many of the women have worked for multiple promotions, to balance out the groups, some that might not have participated for long in one compared to another may be placed in that category above the one they're more well known for. Example, Stacy Keibler may be put in the WCW group for her brief stay there just to beef up the WCW side, or Kelly Kelly could end up in ECW. If for some reason the groups can't be properly balanced, then it may revert to 4 groups (Entertainment, Federation/ECW/WCW, Divas/Knockouts, and Knockouts). If that can't work, then it'll stay the standard WWE vs TNA, with TNA getting some divas to help them out. We'll figure that out in due time. I'm also not including people solely from organizations like Shimmer. This is list huge as it is.

How you can help:

1. I need to know if I'm missing any names. Keep in mind I'm not counting guest hosts, musical performers, or anyone that made a one-time appearance for the most part. No Cyndi Lauper, for instance.
2. If the scales are off, let me know if I'm forgetting that someone worked for another company. For instance, I had forgotten that Lita worked for ECW as Miss Congeniality originally.
3. Do you want this to be a double-elimination bracket or single-elimination? Let me know.

This is going to be a huge feat, but it should be fun! Stay tuned for the finalized list and the beginning matches, and until then, take a look at the alphabetically sorted list and let me know if I'm forgetting any names!

ENTERTAINMENT DIVAS (60)
AJ Lee (April Mendez)
Aksana (Živilė Raudonienė)
Alicia Fox (Victoria Crawford) [*potential ECW*]
Aloisia / Isis the Amazon
Amy Weber
Amy Zidian
Anastacia Rose
Ashley Massaro
Ashley Valence (Ashley Ann Vickers)
Bella Twin Brie Bella (Brianna Garcia)
Bella Twin Nikki Bella (Nicole Garcia)
Beth Phoenix (Elizabeth Carolan)
Brooke Gilbertsen
Cameron Haven
Cameron Lynn (Ariane Andrew)
Camille Anderson
Candice Michelle
Carmella DeCesare
Chandra Costello
Cherry (Kara Drew)
Eden Stiles (Brandi Alexis Reed)
Elisabeth Rouffaer
Erica Lee Chevillar
Eve Torres
J. Kim
J.T. Tinney
Jaime Koeppe
Jamie Keyes (Brittany Beede) [*potential ECW*]
Jennifer England
Jessica Hatch
Jillian Hall
Joy Giovanni
Julia Costello
Kaitlyn (Celeste Bonin)
Kelly Kelly (Barbara Blank) [*potential ECW*]
Kristal Marshall
Lauren Mayhew
Layla El [*potential ECW*]
Leilene "Alexis" Ondrade
Lena Yada [*potential ECW*]
Leyla Milani
Lyndy Frieson
Maria Kanellis
Maryse Ouellet
Maxine (Karlee Perez)
Melina Perez
Michelle McCool
Naomi Kirk
Naomi Knight (Trinity McCray)
Natalya Neidhart
Rebecca DiPietro
Rochelle Loewen
Rosa Mendes (Milena Roucka) [*potential ECW*]
Savannah (Angela Fong) [*potential ECW*]
Simona Fusco
Summer DeLin
Tamina Snuka (Sarona Reiher)
Tiffany (Taryn Terrell) [*potential ECW*]
Tracie Wright
Vickie Guerrero

FEDERATION DIVAS (39)
Bull Nakano
Chaparrita Asari
Debbie Combs
Desiree Petersen
Diana Hart
Donna Christanello
Evelyn Stevens
Fabulous Moolah
Ivory (Lisa Moretti)
Judy Grable
Judy Martin
Jumping Bomb Angel Itsuki Yamazaki
Jumping Bomb Angel Noriyo Tateno
Krissy Vaine
Leilani Kai
Lilian Garcia
Linda McMahon
Luna Vachon
Mae Young
Marlena (Terri Runnels)
Miss Elizabeth Ann Hulette
Mrs. Cleavage (Marianna Komlos)
Mrs. Yamaguchi-San
Muffy (Caryn Mower)
Nidia Guenard
Princess Victoria (Vickie Otis)
Rockin Robin
Ryan Shamrock (Alicia Webb)
Sable (Rena Mero)
Sapphire
Sara Calloway / Sarah Chirie
Sensational Sherri Martel
Shaniqua (Linda Miles)
Stephanie McMahon
The Kat/Miss Kitty (Stacy Carter)
Tori (Terri Poch)
Trish Stratus
Velvet McIntyre
Wendi Richter

ECW DIVAS (12)
Beulah McGillicutty (Trisa Hayes)
Chastity (Denise Riffle)
Dawn Marie
Electra (Donna Adamo)
Francine Fournier
Gorgeous George (Stephanie Bellars)
Jasmin St. Claire
Jazz
Kimona Wanalaya
Lita (Amy Dumas) / Miss Congeniality
Missy Hyatt
Sunny (Tammy Sytch)

WCW DIVAS (27)
Alundra Blayze / Madusa
Debra McMichael
Little Jeanne
Major Gunns (Tylene Buck)
Midajah (Melinda O’Hearn)
Molly Holly / Miss Madness / Mona (Nora Greenwald)
Nancy Benoit / Woman
Nitro Girl AC Jazz (Amy Crawford)
Nitro Girl Baby (Shannon McNeill)
Nitro Girl Chae An
Nitro Girl Chameleon (Carmel Macklin)
Nitro Girl Chiquita (Chiquita Anderson)
Nitro Girl Fyre (Teri Byrne)
Nitro Girl Gold (Diane Klimaszewski)
Nitro Girl Kimberly Page
Nitro Girl Naughty-A (Jamie Cragwell)
Nitro Girl Shakira (Kim Kanner)
Nitro Girl Silver (Elaine Klimaszewski)
Nitro Girl Spice (Melissa Bellin)
Nitro Girl Starr (Jennifer Bancalum)
Nitro Girl Syren (Allison Pfau)
Nitro Girl Tayo Reed
Nitro Girl Tygress (Vanessa Sanchez)
Nitro Girl Whisper (Rebecca Hickenbottom)
Pamela Paulshock
Stacy Keibler / Nitro Girl Skye
Torrie Wilson

------------------------

STRICTLY KNOCKOUTS (37)
Alexa Thatcher
Amber O'Neal
Angelina Love
April Pennington
Ayako Hamada
Cheerleader Melissa Anderson / Raisha Saeed / Alissa Flash
Chelsea (Alison Skipper)
Cookie / Becky Bayless
Crystal Louthan
Daffney Unger (Shannon Spruill)
Daizee Haze
Dixie Carter
Jenna Morasca
Karen Angle
Lacey Von Erich
Lauren Brooke Thompson
Leticia Cline
Leva Bates
Madison Rayne
Melissa Wolfram
Mercedes Steele / Lexxus
Moose / Mickie Knuckles
ODB (Jessica Kresa)
Payton Banks
Rhaka Khan
Rosie Lottalove
Rosita (Thea Trinidad)
Roxxi Laveaux
Sarita (Sarah Stock)
Serena Deeb
Sirelda (Jaime Dauncey)
SoCal Val
Sojourner Bolt
Taylor Wilde
Toxxin
Traci Brooks
Velvet Sky [*could potentially be under the divas/knockouts*]

BOTH DIVAS AND KNOCKOUTS (17)
April Hunter (nWo girl; wrestled for TNA as well)
Barbara "BB" Bush / Taylor Vaughn (Cathy Dingman)
Brooke Adams Tessmacher
Christy Hemme
Chyna (Joanie Laurer)
Cynthia Lynch (Godfather ho that won the Hardcore title; valet for David Young in TNA)
Gail Kim
Jackie Gayda
Jacqueline Moore
Katie Lea / Winter (Katarina Waters)
Kharma / Awesome Kong (Kia Stevens)
Lauren Jones
Mickie James
Sharmell Huffman / Nitro Girl Storm
Shelly Martinez / Ariel / Salinas
Trinity (Stephanie Finochio)
Victoria / Tara (Lisa Marie Varon)

------------------------

OTHER (?) *These people are not being added into the tournament because I wasn't able to fit them in, they were forgotten, or they're new. For future reference, if I was to expand the tournament, these people would be included:

1. Caylee Turner (Christina Crawford) [Tough Enough 4, FCW, NXT]
2. Sofia Cortez (Ivelisse Velez) [Tough Enough 4, FCW, NXT]
3. Summer Rae (Danielle Moinet) [FCW, NXT]
4. Raquel Diaz (Shaul Guerrero) [FCW, NXT]
5. Audrey Marie (Ashley Miller) [FCW, NXT]
6. Paige / Britani Knight (Saraya-Jade Bevis) [FCW, NXT]
7. Emma / Tenille Tayla / Tenille Dashwood [FCW]
8. Brooke Hogan
9. Bess Katramados [Big Show's wife, was a Godfather ho once]
10. Desire (Kim Nielsen) [TNA]
11. Taeler Hendrix [TNA Gut Check]
12. Funkette Nadine
13. Funkette Tracey
14. Paulina Thomas [Tough Enough 1]
15. Victoria Tabor [Tough Enough 1]
16. Taylor Matheny [Tough Enough 1]
17. Bobbie Jo Anderson [Tough Enough 1]
18. Alicia [Tough Enough 2]
19. Anni [Tough Enough 2]
20. Jamie [Tough Enough 3]
21. Jill [Tough Enough 3]
22. Kelly [Tough Enough 3]
23. Lisa [Tough Enough 3]
24. Rebekah [Tough Enough 3]
25. Michelle Deighton [Tough Enough 4]
26. Rima Fakih [Tough Enough 4]
27. Tomoko Watanabe
28. Kyoko Inoue
29. Chigusa Nagayo
30. Lioness Asuka
31. Akira Hokuto
32. Cutie Suzuki
33. Mayumi Ozaki
34. Malia Hosaka
35. Meiko Satomura
36. Toshie Uematsu
37. Hervina
38. Santina
39. Katie Vick
40. Reby Sky (though this would be a stretch as she hasn't been in WWE or TNA to my knowledge)
41. Gigi Mukherjee [Divas Search]
42. Gia Allemande [Divas Search]
43. Christina Penegar [Divas Search]
44. Samantha Drone / Samantha Martinez [Divas Search]
45. Sarah Brookes [Divas Search]
46. Naureen Zaim [Divas Search]
47. Emily Ranheim [Divas Search]
48. Jacqueline Miller [Divas Search]
49. Erin Marie Garrett [Divas Search]
50. Christine Laurent [Divas Search]
51. Jillian Grace [Divas Search]
52. Alea Fanning [Divas Search]
53. Kristin Gauvin [Divas Search]
54. Qualishia Campbell [Divas Search]
55. Tamara Guenther [Divas Search]
56. Erica Leah [Divas Search]
57. Alanna Lynem [Divas Search]
58. Pegah Patra [Divas Search]
59. Barbie Murdock [Divas Search]
60. Sandra Garza [Divas Search]
61. Sandy Nuyts [Divas Search]
62. Kimberly Weis [Divas Search]
63. Vanessa Aragonez [Divas Search]
64. Heather Field [Divas Search]
65. Chelsea Roxas [Divas Search]
66. Brandy Fisher [Divas Search]
67. Monica Cariveau [Divas Search]
68. Krysten Cabrera [Divas Search]
69. Koa Marie Gabric [Divas Search]
70. Lauren Sugihara [Divas Search]
71. Fallon Johnson [Divas Search]
72. Jade Ashley Robertson [Divas Search]
73. Crystal Hayson [Divas Search]
74. Melanie Tillbrook [Divas Search]
75. Diana Chiafair [Divas Search]
76. Tanea Brooks [Divas Search]
77. Valerie Urso [Divas Search]
78. Rain Clair Thomas [Divas Search]
79. Danyell Nelson [Divas Search]
80. Dana Behrens [Divas Search]
81. Marisa Peck [Divas Search]
82. Charlotte (Ashley Fliehr-Johnson) [FCW]
83. Lana Takaya
84. Fifi the Maid (Wendy Barlow) [WCW]
85. Sasha Banks / Mercedes KV / Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado
86. Skyler Moon (Natalie Osman / Buggy Nova) [FCW]
87. Anya (Anna Bogomazova)
88. Kaoru Maeda
89. Sonoko Kato
90. Victoria Taber
91. Renee Paquette / Renee Young
92. Alisha Ceraso
93. Davina Rose
94. Eva Marie (Natalie Eva Marie) [Total Divas]
95. Jo-Jo Offerman [Total Divas]
96. Kendra Smith / Kendall Skye
97. Bayley (Pamela Martinez)
98. Alexis Kaufman
99. Christina Vargas
100. Brittany Fetkin
101. C.J. Perry / Lana
102. Erika Hammond
103. Rebecca Knox
104. Rachelle Walker
105. Shara (Sarah Bäckman)
106. Courtney Taylor / Wesley Holliday (Beverly Mullins)
107. Heidi Lee Morgan / Daisy Mae
108. Hiroko Suzuki
109. Mad Maxine / Lady Maxine
110. Mama Benjamin (Thea Vidale)
111. Lei'D Tapa (Seini Draughn)
112. Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quinn)
113. Cherry Bomb (Laura Dennis)
114. Carmella (Lea Van Damme)
115. Dana Brooke (Ashley Sebera)
116. Alpha Female [TNA]
117. Ashley Roberts [Legends House]
118. Leyvonna Zakari
119. Rebel (Tanea Brooks) [TNA]
120. Savelina Fanene
121. Dasha Kuret (Dasha Gonzalez)
122. Dani Jackson
123. Scarlett Bordeaux [TNA Knockouts Knockdown]
124. Veda Scott [TNA Knockouts Knockdown]
125. Jessicka Havok [TNA Knockouts Knockdown]
126. Deonna Purrazzo [TNA Knockouts Knockdown]
127. Mia Yim [TNA Knockouts Knockdown]
128. Marti Belle [TNA Knockouts Knockdown]

The following 5 women were eliminated from the tournament before it began through a fan vote:
1. Aja Kong
2. Asya
3. Bertha Faye
4. Nicole Bass
5. Peggy Lee Leather

------------------------

If you have any names that you can think of that aren't on the list above, or you can think of people to move around to help out the smaller groups (primarily TNA), leave a comment!

Tammy Sytch aka Sunny - Possible Winner?

What's been going on this week in the world of professional wrestling? It's time to break it down in the latest edition of SMACK TALK, my wrestling podcast and the quick notes below. Make sure to subscribe, comment on the videos and this post, and let us know your thoughts.

Watch each part of EPISODE 11 below:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

• Brodus Clay made his return....he shouldn't have considering the gimmick they put him in. 
• This whole episode of Raw was just atrocious this week, and Clay wasn't all of the reason for it. Zack Ryder gets slammed on blatantly obvious padding after the stupid tire segment, Ricardo's used as comedic fodder (as if they didn't have enough stupid comedy on the show this week already), Swagger's kick out, Jericho continuing the time wasting, WWE not realizing that Kane and Truth have the same exact storyline going on right now...
• Alundra Blayze aka Madusa wants to wrestle Beth Phoenix in a kind of women's title versus women's title match. Might as well - but I doubt WWE wants her back.
• Edge and the Four Horsemen will be inducted in this year's Hall of Fame. Nice.
• Four confirmed Royal Rumble names (and by confirmed, I mean they said they'll be in it but they've changed their mind on stuff like that in the past) - Jinder Mahal, Sheamus, Santino Marella, and Wade Barrett. No real surprises there.
• David Otunga is using the Death Valley Driver. FINALLY someone uses that finisher.
• No more Vengeance? Time to update the WWE 2012 PPV Schedule...again...

I don't like to start my year off with TNA, but here we are and the first pay-per-view of the year is TNA Genesis. The lineup looks halfway decent, even if some big names are missing (Anderson, Sting, Jarrett, Styles, etc). Let's hope Dixie Carter had a New Year's resolution to improve the product.  

PREDICTIONS: Blind shots in the dark as always, I'm going with Roode, Morgan/Crimson, Austin Aries (though I wouldn't be shocked if Sorensen won), Gail Kim, Abyss, Angle, Gunner, and Pope.

Story of the night is naturally Jeff Hardy with the intro. Makes sense, seeing as that's the world championship match. I'll give them credit, TNA does tend to put more focus on the world title than WWE does at times (cough *Rock* cough)

X-Division Championship: Austin Aries (c) vs. Kid Kash vs. Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen
I'm definitely starting to re-think my pick of Austin Aries and lean towards Sorensen winning...but since the match hasn't started yet and there's no eliminations, that might just be me second-guessing myself. Aries starts the match off by leaving the ring (smart, especially since he's a heel). Nice spot in the corner with a suplex/power bomb combination between Sorensen, Ion, and Kash. Ion corkscrews from the top rope to the outside onto Aries and Kash. Sorensen follows it up with a splash of his own to that trio. Good match so far. Ion hits a 450 on Kash. Kid Kash is eliminated. Aries follows it up with a 450 of his own on Sorensen, but Jesse kicks out. Expecting Ion to be the next eliminated, probably by Aries. Sorensen almost eliminates Aries with a crossbody from the top rope. Zema Ion is eliminated after Sorensen catches him with an inside cradle. Guess I was wrong about Aries eliminating Ion. Aries puts Sorensen in a small package of his own, but the ref is distracted by Ion. Sorensen then gets a pin on Aries but the ref is still distracted, leading to Aries being able to eventually kick out. Ion isn't leaving, he's hanging out ringside. Sorensen climbs to the top rope and is taken down by Ion. As he's dangling, Aries dropkicks him, then gives him a brainbuster from the middle rope! Aries pins and eliminates Sorensen.

WINNER: Austin Aries via pinfall.
Good match to start the pay-per-view off with. 1-0 predictions so far.

Backstage with Borash and Devon's Kids
Devon's kids and Pope stumble over all their words while Borash fails at interviewing them because of it.

Devon vs. The Pope D'angelo Dinero
Devon's in full control at the start of the match. Devon climbs to the top rope but Pope pushes the ref into it, knocking Devon down. Oddly, the match slows down when Pope is in control. I would think the opposite considering how much more athletic Burke is than Devon. Pope invites Devon's kids into the ring. Ref is doing nothing but watching Pope tell them to attack Devon. The kids aren't doing anything, so Pope goes after them and beats them down. Now Devon is hulking up. This would have been a disqualification naturally, but you know how wrestling goes - if the storyline calls for it not to be, they ignore the rules. Pope misses the DDE, Devon capitalizes and wins.

WINNER: Devon via pinfall.
Meh. Not awful, not great. If I were booking things, I'd have had Devon lay out Pope, then go check up on his kids and Pope win by taking advantage of that, then they could have a gimmick match at the next ppv to end the feud. 1-1 predictions.

Backstage with Borash, Sting, and Velvet Sky
Velvet wants Karen Angle's position. I've got a position for her. What, a wrestler? You think I meant something else? That goes without being said. She suggests to Sting that she can keep Madison away from the Knockouts title match and calls it "the Velvet Touch". *Ahem* insert another joke.

Gunner vs. RVD
They must really be fond of Gunner, with all the attention they've given him over the past year and putting him with Flair and everything. Stale match so far. Exposed concrete comes into play again, particularly a DDT from Gunner while Flair distracts the referee. Gunner puts him in the ring and pins him.

WINNER: Gunner via pinfall.
Didn't like it. It felt kind of pointless for a pay-per-view match. 2-1 predictions.

After the match, they take RVD out on a stretcher.

Backstage with Borash and Hardy
Jeff Hardy starts quoting his music.

Knockouts Championship: Gail Kim (c) vs. Mickie James
Okay, so the "Velvet Touch" thing is a cage for Madison Rayne to be locked inside. I just noticed a sign in the crowd that says "even I could beat Scott Steiner", haha. Gail Kim's music sounds so familiar but I can't place it. Anyone want to help me out with that? As I said before, Gail works so much better in TNA than in WWE. Mickie on the other hand I think was much better in WWE. Madison tosses brass knuckles down for Gail to use, but the ref sees this. When he tosses them away, Madison throws another pair down, but Mickie uses them and gets disqualified.

WINNER: Gail Kim via disqualification.
Better women's wrestling match than you'll see in WWE this month. 3-1 predictions.

Backstage with Borash and Bully Ray
Ray really is one of the best on the mic in TNA right now. Shame he has one of the worst haircuts.

Monster's Ball: Abyss vs. Bully Ray
Ray comes out and randomly almost hits SoCal Val with a kendo stick. What's the purpose in Val? Does she do anything? I haven't seen her be worth a pay check in God knows how long. Ray plays some mind games with Abyss. Dueling chairs starts us off. Ray wins. Seems like Abyss got his finger caught in the chair. Ray tries to whip him with his chain but Abyss blocks it with a chair. Ray smacks Abyss in the head with a trash can but he doesn't sell it at all. Abyss finds Janice under the ring (the block of wood with nails in it for those that don't know). Ray leaves and says he's not continuing the match. Abyss goes after him and they start fighting on the stage...but they basically do nothing but a few punches and go back to the ring. That was lame. Abyss gets thrown into the barbwire board. Ray then takes it and hits Abyss in the head with it (and it falls onto a kid in the audience, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen). Abyss hits Ray's crotch with the cheese grater. (What other thing than wrestling is that not a weird sentence to say?) Out come the tacks. Ray low blows Abyss and then says "oh, my balls" and "mother fucker, my balls!" [hahaha]. Ray gets choke slammed through a table, but it's just a two-count. Ray gives a uranage to Abyss on the barbed wire board, then tosses the other board on top of him and splashes on top of it from the rope. Abyss kicks out. Abyss choke slams Ray onto the tacks, two-count. Ray just beats Abyss down with a kendo stick repeatedly. Out of nowhere, Abyss hits a Black Hole Slam on top of the barbed wire and wins the match.

WINNER: Abyss via pinfall.
Hardcore spots are always entertaining, generally speaking. There's been much better in the past, but oh well. 4-1 predictions.

Backstage with Borash (surprised?) and the Tag Team Champs
Destroying lives is what Crimson does apparently, and Matt Morgan temporarily goes back to his stuttering gimmick when he calls Samoa Joe Crimson instead.

Tag Team Championship: Crimson & Matt Morgan (c) vs. Samoa Joe & Magnus
Who did Joe piss off to make him go from one of the top guys in the company to not having a solid push in such a long time? In the middle of this match, they do a split screen to show that Abyss is being beaten down backstage by Bully Ray. I guess that shows the importance of the tag title match, right? There's a 50/50 split chant going on of "We want Morgan" and "no we don't!" Crimson and Morgan aren't dominating the match as much as I thought they would. They double-team Magnus, though, and with what looked like a double chokeslam, they win the match and retain the titles.

WINNERS: Crimson and Matt Morgan via pinfall.
Generic kind of 5 out of 10 match. 5-1 predictions.

Backstage with Borash and Storm
Storm believes in himself. He says during the match, Angle might be sucking, but after, he'll be swallowing...his foot down his throat.

James Storm vs. Kurt Angle
Gail Kim's husband is shown on camera when Storm is coming to the ring. Why now instead of during the Knockouts match? Odd. Story of the match is that Angle wants to wrestle, Storm wants to make it a fight, as those are the two elements they're more used to. I don't see how a top rope moonsault works in the "mat wrestling" style, though. Kurt Angle is able to hit a low blow on Storm and win the match that way.

WINNER: Kurt Angle via pinfall.
6-1 predictions. I actually kind of like the end to this match as it shows a hypocritical side to Angle, seeing as he's the heel and just not only cheated to win but also went against his whole strict wrestling concept.

Backstage with Bully Ray (no Borash)
Ray is cleaning up his wounds and they ask where Abyss is. He says he doesn't know, "maybe he took the rest of the night off".

TNA Championship: Bobby Roode (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
Hardy's got the opposite position in the company from Samoa Joe. If they're smart, they won't have Hardy win the title here. Roode's starting to look like a legit main eventer to me, so that's another reason why to keep the title on him (the other being Hardy's problems in the past). There's not much pure action to talk about here, sorry. Crossfaces, Whisper in the Wind, you know how it goes. Twist of Fate reversals. Twice in the match, Roode goes to grab his belt and leave with an attempted count out that Hardy has to stop. Roode kicks the ref in the crotch to get himself disqualified.

WINNER: Jeff Hardy via disqualification.
Why is it that TNA tends to take one idea and run with it multiple times on a ppv? There are lots of events where nearly every match has an interference, or nearly every match someone blades, and now this one was all low blows. It's not creative at all to have Angle win with a low blow, then Roode low blow the ref, and like 10 low blows in the other matches.

What's been going on this week in the world of professional wrestling? It's time to break it down in the latest edition of SMACK TALK, my wrestling podcast and the quick notes below. Make sure to subscribe, comment on the videos and this post, and let us know your thoughts.

Watch each part of EPISODE 10 below:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | An In-Depth Look at Chris Jericho's Return

• Y2J made his return in a really pointless segment. People are arguing that it was all meant to annoy us, but to me, that's a SMARK heel tactic and if smarks are supposed to be so evil and ignored as they tell us, they shouldn't do things like that. 
• Jim Ross is sporting a goatee. Thumbs up, JR. 
• Kevin Nash and Ultimate Warrior seem to have beef with each other and have talked the whole "let's fight" type of game on Twitter.
• Major heat on Evan Bourne for venting his frustrations with the company and for R-Truth getting suspended for the same reason he did. Ok, I could understand getting pissed at Bourne when he was suspended, and then badmouthing the company while suspended, but to blame him for the information of Truth being suspended being released? Come on.
• The names according to PWTorch that WWE is or was interested in bringing over from TNA are Bully Ray, RVD, Beer Money, Pope, Morgan, and Ink Inc - but none of them are serious prospects, it seems.

UPDATE: You can check out the ride below, but here's the confirmation: yes, CHRIS JERICHO has returned to WWE on January 2, 2012. (By the way, you can check out my interview with him earlier this year). Within the next hour or so, I'll be posting a special edition of Smack Talk below as well.



On tonight's WWE Monday Night Raw, the Twitter updates flashed a cryptic message pointing us to a YouTube account, itbegins2012. So what exactly does this mean?

Well, the last time we saw something like this, it was the Undertaker's return. Before that, Chris Jericho returned. We had a one-shot promo for Hade Vansen that went nowhere (and no I don't think it's him), but essentially it seems like every time they do these things, it's a return or a debut. Brodus Clay was supposed to make his redebut on Raw tonight, but AGAIN was pushed back, and I doubt that January 2nd will be his debut as that's too far along.


UPDATE: Now there is a new video on the channel "second2012". Still pretty cryptic with nothing solid being given to us.


UPDATE: LookWithin2012. Basically the same things. This has become boring and much less interesting since it began. As with the past two weeks, check out the YouTube channel to see my analysis.


UPDATE: 2012Control. Now, they're focusing more on the girl being very important. I'm considering this a red herring and I still believe it's Chris Jericho that will be returning on January 2nd, but now, if I were to say what my second choice would be, I'd lean towards Shane and Stephanie both returning.


UPDATE: Prophetless2012. We've really gone from this starting as a little boy in a classroom seeming like he's special in some way to the girl being completely in charge and the boy being a complete pushover, it seems. The resident creepy little girl even goes so far as to throw down the book he was writing in. Ouch, what a bitch. Even though if you put a gun to my head, I'd still say Chris Jericho is who they planned on having the videos be for, I'm completely on board with the possibility of it being Shane McMahon who would start a feud with Triple H over the company.


UPDATE: The End Begins. This is, I suppose, the last of the videos. Thinking Jericho all the way here, still. I have to say, though, unless this is something I completely didn't see coming, this was definitely my least favorite of the build-up promos they've done for Jericho. Save_Us was so much better.