AJ beating down Natalya...seriously?

[Deleted]

Basic Wrestling 101: when you book any kind of wrestler, be it male or female, big or small, fat or skinny or buff, it is best to book them in ways that take advantage of their physiology so as not to murder the suspension of disbelief. For example, the many times that John Cena overpowered guys like Carlito or Chris Masters in 2005, which made sense because Cena was much bigger than Carlito and was portrayed as far hungrier a competitor than the only slightly-larger Masters could hope to be. So in spite of the staleness of it, it wasn't a far-flung notion for him to win and it made a lot of sense, for better or worse.

But AJ kicking Natalya's ass head-on? What? Natalya's easily 140 pounds plus in the weight department, and a lot of that is muscle. Not counting Beth and the MIA Kharma, Natalya is easily the largest and most powerfully-built woman in the company. AJ? The smallest and weakest, who has next to no muscle on her body and is much shorter than anyone else.

I don't know what was worse: the fact that once AGAIN, Natalya is being wasted and made to look like a total chump despite how she demonstrated her potential as a leading face back in 2010 and 2011; or the fact that of all the people who beat her down, they picked AJ, who is not only physically unintimidating but physically harmless in comparison to other divas, to do it.

If AJ is supposed to win, have her use her brain, or technical expertise, or downright dirty tactics, or a weapon (a pipe or brass knucks or something, which would offset her complete lack of muscle). Just something other than having someone who is almost certainly completely useless in an unarmed brawl beat the utter crap out of the serious-wrestler who's supposed to be tough as nails and stronger than anyone else.

[mrbananagrabber]

She took her by surprise, though. It wasn't a straight match or anything, and if you're surprised, in a corner and someone is punching lumps out of you in a Wolverine Berserker rage, you're going to be hurting.

I thought that whole segment was really well done, actually.

[wallabylikeyou]

Yeah she caught her by surprise and all but...she couldn't have done that to Aksana or someone?

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2012 6:08:52 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

She took her by surprise, though. It wasn't a straight match or anything, and if you're surprised, in a corner and someone is punching lumps out of you in a Wolverine Berserker rage, you're going to be hurting.

I thought that whole segment was really well done, actually.

Fight or Flight works both ways though. That's why when people ambush bears when hunting, even shooting them in the head, the bear turns around and barrels toward whoever just accosted them. Even though it's dying, its adrenal response has been triggered such that it's able to stave off pain and becomes far more powerful.

And again, AJ has no muscle. Save for eye-gouging, scratching and biting, what harm can she possibly do to someone 50 percent larger than her? It's not like Rey Mysterio beating up Alberto Del Rio or something. Rey is much smaller, true, but he's still got some power behind his punches because he at least has some kind of muscle mass. But AJ has none.

[I Like Rocks]

Don't see the big deal here aj caught natalya by surprise wailed a little on her and then the match was over that's it

[Heartbreaker]

Oh please, this is the same company that had Rey Mysterio beat Kane.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2012 6:17:08 GMT -5 I Like Rocks said:

Don't see the big deal here aj caught natalya by surprise wailed a little on her and then the match was over that's it

Because it makes no sense and it makes Natalya look horrible.

[Heartbreaker]

Apr 21, 2012 6:20:19 GMT -5 @mightykretzler said:

Apr 21, 2012 6:17:08 GMT -5 I Like Rocks said:

Don't see the big deal here aj caught natalya by surprise wailed a little on her and then the match was over that's it

Because it makes no sense and it makes Natalya look horrible.

And she hasn't looked horrible during the past almost year?

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2012 6:21:36 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

Apr 21, 2012 6:20:19 GMT -5 @mightykretzler said:

Because it makes no sense and it makes Natalya look horrible.

And she hasn't looked horrible during the past almost year?

Of course she has, and I've been griping about that too.

It's not like she lost a wrestling match or anything like the Mysterio/Kane thing from above. She got beaten up, head-on, by someone who is downright tiny and harmless.

[allenfan69]

It's a similar situation to when Ralphie hit the spear on Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story.

Now I wish AJ had been muttering "Rackum frackum no-good hosticle fifer!" like Ralphie.

[Todd's crazy , Man.]

Apr 21, 2012 6:19:33 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

Oh please, this is the same company that had Rey Mysterio beat Kane.

Size and weight mean nothing in a real fight. Training and Talent does. This is why despite the fact that Toney outweighed Corture by fifty pounds , Corture was able to take toney out and submit him. It's the same reason why Gracie won the first two UFC tournaments and three in total despite the competition being open weight.

Both Judo and Jiu Jitsu were designed to allow smaller men to defeat bigger men as demonstrated by Gracie.
Where as judo focuses on kuzushi or breaking your opponents balance.

Heck , Douglas defeating Tyson is perhaps the biggest upset in sports yet Tyson is only five'ten and Douglas is six'three

[PKO]

I don't really see the problem. She attacked Nattie when she wasn't ready, and got plenty of head shots in. Plus, she legitimately busted Natalya open when she was pretending to fight her. That's enough to convince me if she was actually trying to hurt her she could.

Maybe it would have been better with one of the Bella's or something, but I don't really have a problem with seeing AJ as a physical threat. Natalya has never really been presented like a powerhouse, shes been cleanly beat by plenty of girls much smaller than her since she first debuted.

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

Yeah, let's just conveniently forget all the times where Natalya HAS dominated AJ, and focus on the fact that Natalya is being "buried" because she got caught by surprise by AJ losing her damn mind.

I was THIS close to using an eyeroll smiley.

[BigWill]

Not a big deal. It was an attack without warning. Beside this was a fight, which is not Natalya's expertise. If it was a wrestling match, I could see Natalya dominating, but Natalya isn't a trained fighter, so she didn't know what to do.

Also, I can't believe that people are still complaining about weight differences in pro wrestling. Come on now...

[Deleted]

Why didn't Kelly Kelly get this type of defense when she did a more convincing job of attacking Beth Phoenix and catching her by surprise?

[PTBartman]

Apr 21, 2012 6:20:19 GMT -5 @mightykretzler said:

Apr 21, 2012 6:17:08 GMT -5 I Like Rocks said:

Don't see the big deal here aj caught natalya by surprise wailed a little on her and then the match was over that's it

Because it makes no sense and it makes Natalya look horrible.

]

Actually, Natalya never looked better than in that segment (IMHO). For the first time she showed depth of character and something other than I'm big, brutal and a Hart.

The empathy she showed in that look when she tried to console AJ before the match. That "Hey, sis we've all been there and loved a jerk" vibe. I think it carried on even after she was bull rushed into the corner. I don't find it hard to believe that she held back, covered up and let the ref handle the situation. Especially because she's so much more physically intimidating than AJ. Like everything els in this story line, I can't wait to see where it goes next.

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

Apr 21, 2012 7:08:59 GMT -5 @spindoc said:

Why didn't Kelly Kelly get this type of defense when she did a more convincing job of attacking Beth Phoenix and catching her by surprise?

I don't know really. It's seems to be a combination of contempt for Kelly, and AJ possibly having a legit reason to snap.

[Cronant]

Apr 21, 2012 7:08:59 GMT -5 @spindoc said:

Why didn't Kelly Kelly get this type of defense when she did a more convincing job of attacking Beth Phoenix and catching her by surprise?

ding ding ding.

[miffy]

They had Natalya show concern for AJ when she didn't react, and then when AJ snapped Natalya just put her hands up and didn't fight back without being battered. It made sense if Natalya's now face.

[PKO]

Apr 21, 2012 7:08:59 GMT -5 @spindoc said:

Why didn't Kelly Kelly get this type of defense when she did a more convincing job of attacking Beth Phoenix and catching her by surprise?

Because hers was hilarious. The beatdown itself was alright (even though Beth has always has been treated like a powerhouse, so it was slightly less believable) but Kelly's screaming and superangryface just ruined it.

AJ's worked for me because it was absolutely perfectly acted. I like AJ (not as much as some) but that took me by surprise, just how well acted it was.