Japanese region, Yokohama subregion, 3rd round: (1) Lita vs (5) Molly Holly

[Bernkastel]

This is a third round match in the Japanese region. It is a 2 Out Of 3 Falls match. It will be held at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.

#1 Lita

VS.

#5 Molly Holly


This is a standard 2 Out Of 3 Falls match. The winner must pin her opponent twice in order to win.
​

There will be 1 day of discussion before the poll opens. It will remain open for 2 days. Spam rules will apply. In case of a tie the winner will be decided based upon how many people have made a case for them in the discussion thread. One per each poster.

Who wins the match up?

 

[Papa Pillman]

First, forget the stipulation, neither woman has ever competed in a 2/3 Falls match, so neither owns a built-in advantage, and both were in great ring shape so it seems that the gimmick shouldn't effect the outcome of the vote.

Now let's get to it:

I'm gonna throw the swerve here, but follow me...

Was Lita the bigger star? Sure. And didn't Lita win 60%+ of all of her and Molly's Televised match-ups? Okay, I can't argue that.

But I want to show how big match booking says Molly should win here.

Despite the fact that Lita held the Women's title four times, those four reigns only lasted a total of only 160 days, while Molly's two reigns lasted over 300 days, and her shorter reign was actually 20 days longer than Lita's longest one.

Want to know a fact about Lita's four reigns? She never recorded a title defense against Molly Holly during any of them(in fact she has ZERO successful defenses, against anyone, and has only four wins in 25 career title matches). Molly? She twice recorded successful defenses against Lita during her second title reign(a reign that lasted 210 days, 50 days longer in itself than Lita held the belt in total). In fact, that reign also ended in a Fatal 4-way which involved Lita, and also Jazz and Victoria, and Molly lost the belt in that match to Victoria without being involved in the pinfall. Do you know who Victoria pinned to end Molly's title run? Lita. So hell, if not for Lita being pinned, Molly could still be champion today. We'll just never know.

So history shows that in this big match environment, Molly is the one who would go over. Just like the only time that they met in a one-on-one PPV match, the victory belongs to Molly. Vote that way.




Now at least no one can say a valiant effort wasn't made on Molly's behalf.

 

[Lowdown]

Excellent points made. But this is a toss up for me. I kinda look at Molly like Bob Backlund when he was champ. Granted, Molly was far from a slouch; in fact she was quite good. But despite the numbers, I have to go with Lita. Aside from the her in-ring abilities, she had way more charisma than Molly, either as a heel or face. It doesn't seem that Molly ever clicked with the fans, though I can be wrong.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Wow, I didn't realise that Lita had such a poor record in title matches...NO defences for any of her 4 title reigns? Incredible.

Luckily for her then that this isn't a title match, and she does have a positive winning % in matches against Molly Holly during her career. I believe Molly was very underrated, and didn't get as much attention as other divas because she didn't look as "sexy" as some of them (I thought she was still very hot), and she was an extremely capable wrestler.

Lita is alot more charismatic and spectacular than Molly and would certainly get a fall in this match, but I think as the 2-3 falls match went on, Lita's high risk offense would lead to mistakes, and her damaged neck could become a factor. I'd expect Molly to find 2 opportunities to get falls on Lita and progress.

Winner: Molly Holly

 

[Mustang Sally]

For purposes of this tournament, it's tempting to speculate how the two gals would do if they actually wrestled, instead of performed, which is what all pro wrestlers do.

If they battled for real, I'd pick Molly Holly over Lita. She knew how to wrestle, while Lita was more of a spot-hitter, in the manner of Trish Stratus. Even at that, Lita could go move for move better than Trish, but against someone who really knew her way around the ring, like Molly, I don't think Lita would look as good.

Of course, if they wrestled strictly in the "performance art" method used in WWE, Lita has more star power and would take the duke.

For this match.....Molly.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Lita is 5:3 against Molly in televised bouts and (sorry Papa) one victory was a title defense [RAW #605].

That being said, I would favor the former Miss Madness here especially in Japan were Molly's superior all-round wrestling ability would be effective against the more spot dependent Lita. Traditionally, best two of three falls goes a reasonable amount of time - usually detrimental to risk takers.

Molly with the shock.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Lita is 5:3 against Molly in televised bouts and (sorry Papa) one victory was a title defense [RAW #605].

Raw #605- 12/27/04 from Biloxi, MS

Yes Lita(who was champ) beat Molly that night, but it was a non-title match.

Here is the match. Listen to JR at 1:37, he confirms its non-title:

A few other back-up references:
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/235895-wwe-raw-results-december-27-2004
http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/raw2004/1104207196.shtml
http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/results/raw/041227.php
http://rajah.com/2004/2241

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Raw #605- 12/27/04 from Biloxi, MS

Yes Lita(who was champ) beat Molly that night, but it was a non-title match.

Here is the match. Listen to JR at 1:37, he confirms its non-title:

A few other back-up references:
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/235895-wwe-raw-results-december-27-2004
http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/raw2004/1104207196.shtml
http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/results/raw/041227.php
http://rajah.com/2004/2241

http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&show=14766

Right that's it, who speaks German - I'm giving these guys a piece of my mind... actually, maybe not, with all the drinking through the years I probably can't afford to lose anymore!

 

[Bernkastel]

After some consideration, because I can see the arguments for Molly Holly, I still don't think that I can vote for her. Molly was bland. She really was. She lacked charisma. If she had been a man she'd have been Shelton Benjamin. And that may be one of the few, if not only, advantages there is to being a women's wrestler over a men's wrestler. Women's wrestlers just have to have a certain look. And that look could be attractiveness, fierceness, intimidation, scariness etc etc. Molly had that look of an attractive, fierce competitor. And amazingly enough she was still nothing like Jazz or Victoria - who were cut from a similar cloth. Even bland women could be champion, as long as they had a unique look. For men though, that's not enough. But for women it is.

Lita not only had a look but she was uniquely attractive, had tons of charisma, and was a good enough wrestler - not as good as Molly - but good enough to be seen as an innovator. Not only that but Lita got to do things that Molly didn't get to do because she was so charismatic, she got to work with a wider range of male talent, she got to main event RAW, holds a victory over the bosses daughter... who now pretty much owns the company, and she was inducted into the HOF.

Molly was straddled with over the top gimmicks like getting her head shaved and having to wear a wig, and dressing like a superhero to try and keep her interesting because she couldn't do it any other way. Lita didn't need that stuff. And it's pretty easy to see that she's the bigger star and should win. Even if "statistics" aren't in her favor.

Vote Lita.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

After some consideration, because I can see the arguments for Molly Holly, I still don't think that I can vote for her. Molly was bland. She really was. She lacked charisma. If she had been a man she'd have been Shelton Benjamin. And that may be one of the few, if not only, advantages there is to being a women's wrestler over a men's wrestler. Women's wrestlers just have to have a certain look. And that look could be attractiveness, fierceness, intimidation, scariness etc etc. Molly had that look of an attractive, fierce competitor. And amazingly enough she was still nothing like Jazz or Victoria - who were cut from a similar cloth. Even bland women could be champion, as long as they had a unique look. For men though, that's not enough. But for women it is.

Lita not only had a look but she was uniquely attractive, had tons of charisma, and was a good enough wrestler - not as good as Molly - but good enough to be seen as an innovator. Not only that but Lita got to do things that Molly didn't get to do because she was so charismatic, she got to work with a wider range of male talent, she got to main event RAW, holds a victory over the bosses daughter... who now pretty much owns the company, and she was inducted into the HOF.

Molly was straddled with over the top gimmicks like getting her head shaved and having to wear a wig, and dressing like a superhero to try and keep her interesting because she couldn't do it any other way. Lita didn't need that stuff. And it's pretty easy to see that she's the bigger star and should win. Even if "statistics" aren't in her favor.

Vote Lita.

Really have to disagree, Molly was burdened with silly gimmicks from the start because she was girl next door pretty instead of model beautiful or rock girl chic. That she held any championships despite the stupid gimmicks is testament to how good she really was.