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THE SPECIALISTS
DONOFRIO'S FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE 2/29: Leap Day Weekly Review - WWE, TNA, ROH, Social Media, more

Feb 29, 2012 - 5:12:13 PM
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By Tony Donofrio, PWTorch specialist

WWE
Rock_TheTBsq180_1.jpg

-- The big elephant in the room this week was the John Cena-Rock promo on Monday night. Was Rock made to look weaker than Cena by design? Did The Rock just have a bad night? Is Cena really shooting on The Rock and the anger that Rocky showed after Cena left was legit? Or, do we forget that The Rock is now a trained actor and these two are really just working to make this look as real as possible? I have no inside information on this, so I don't know. However, I tend to agree with Wade Keller on this. There's a chance that it was agreed on by both a year ago to make this feud look as real as possible where no lines or insults were "okayed" and both guys have more or less said what they've wanted to for a year now. So, again, it's still asked, is this a work or a worked shoot? We might find out someday.

But, what is important for WWE is that after nearly 11 months, there's finally some real buzz behind the match-up. Cena also has a swagger to him that hasn't been seen in a long time. He looks confident and I believe his promos have been money the past two weeks. I still think this feud carries through to WrestleMania 29 and Cena can't be the face completely in the fans's eyes, at least until after WM28 in Miami, because it just can't happen in The Rock's hometown. However, if the master plan is for this to run through April 2013, then both characters could evolve over the next 13 months.

-- I tend to think it's possible there may only be six or seven matches this year at WrestleMania. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Big 4 (Cena-Rock, Undertaker-Triple H, C.M. Punk-Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan-Sheamus) take up at least two of the four PPV hours (including entrances and video packages). Money in the Bank seems to be out again this year, there will be a "power struggle" match with 6-8 wrestlers involved, and (***SPOILER ALERT***) Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Title.

Beyond that, I'm guessing either get a Tag Title match or a Divas match. It's quite possible that Mania will max out at eight matches. The celebrity singer for the National Anthem has not been announced and no other celebrity involvement has been announced yet. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't be pleasantly surprised to see nine matches squeezed in, while sparing the audience of the non-wrestling b.s. from recent years. (Like a long Rock speaking segment Kid Rock doing a 10-minute entrance with 25 past and present Divas.) With all of that said, the top four matches on paper have me very excited so far about this year's Mania. If those four make up half the show, then hopefully WWE won't drop the ball on the other two hours.

TNA

-- Last week, I left TNA out of my column but almost included some thoughts on Austin Aries and how great he's been since re-joining TNA last summer. Leave it to Aries to force my hand this week by tweeting himself into the headlines as part of a TV angle. I tend to agree with Aries, who said he can't get a sniff of the main event. He has been one of the most consistent wrestlers in TNA for over six months now and has done his best to help revive the X Division when no one really cared about it after it was more or less dragged through the mud.

WWE dropped the ball on Aries by not bringing him in for Tough Enough last year and Aries, reportedly, considered retirement after a very successful run on the independent scene (specifically being the only two-time ROH World Champion in the company's history). As a fan of his, I'm glad he didn't retire and applaud TNA for the use of Aries. However, I'm also hoping there isn't a glass ceiling for Aries. He's a total package kind of guy and sooner or later should be in the main event/World Title picture on Impact.

Independent Wrestling

-- I can't help but think that ROH has not done any favors to Eddie Edwards. Last year, he was trending worldwide (more of a big deal in ROH than WWE because of the size of the company) just moments after his World Title win in New York City. He looked to be the future of the company. Instead, he was given one of the shortest title runs in ROH history and was basically a transitional champion when ROH wasn't on TV.

I'm guessing that all roads point to Edwards potentially regaining the title during one of the Mania weekend iPPVs, but I don't feel nearly as excited about Edwards now as I did 12 months ago and I don't blame Edwards for that. He's lost too many times to Davey Richards for me to believe that he is the better wrestler. For that matter, I don't really see anyone being elevated right now to Richards's level and worry now who could be the next big star in ROH after Richards.

Social Media Moment of the Week

-- It was a slow week in the social media world, so I'm going to plug someone who really needs the publicity and needs a much needed bump in followers...ME! If you enjoy this column and read me every week, you should be following me on Twitter. Don't have Twitter? Create one and follow. It's free and is much less work than keeping up with the Facebook profile you've had for years now.

I talk about pro wrestling a lot on there, along with other major sports, politics, and there are some small insights into things in my personal life, but I don't really harp on that much via Twitter. I do have email also, but there is a better chance I'll respond to you on Twitter than email if you'd like to comment on something I've written about. So, what are you waiting for? Go now... @TonyDonofrio

Non-Wrestling Thought of the Week

-- As much as I get swept up in primary season, does anyone else really believe that the Republicans have a chance to nominate anyone who will unseat President Barack Obama? Now, before I open the Twitter and email flood gates, I'm not a Democrat or Republican. I'm a Libertarian and will vote for the guy who I think can best lead our country. The only guy that I think I could vote for in the GOP would be Ron Paul. However, I don't feel most of the country gives him much a chance and he probably won't make it far past Super Tuesday.

As an American citizen, I feel it's only right that I vote. But, right now, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do come November, which is a far cry from where I was four years ago at this point. A lot could change between now and November, but I can't remember being underwhelmed by a group of candidates like this in a long time.

Tony Donofrio is a Specialist for the Torch covering a variety of topics and promotions. You can reach Tony at TonyDonofrio@me.com or follow him on Twitter @TonyDonofrio

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]


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