 |
| Gabi Garcia, Lei'D Tapa |
At last night's Bellator show in St. Louis, it was announced that Brazilian heavyweight BJJ ace Gabi Garcia will face pro wrestler Lei'D Tapa on the Dec. 29 RIZIN show. This was announced at the Bellator show because they also announced a RIZIN Light Heavyweight tournament featuring Bellator fighter King Mo. I first heard about Lei'D Tapa as a possible opponent a couple of weeks ago. It's not like there is a wide array of opponents for Gabi. And she's not credible as she has zero MMA experience. I understand she is training at American Top Team in Florida. Lei'D Tapa was born Seini Tonga Nov. 27, 1982 in Germany but her parents are from the island of Tonga. Her uncle is Sione Vailahi who was a star in the WWF in the 80s as The Barbarian. He also appeared in New Japan Pro Wrestling and he trained her along with George South. And her family connection with The Barbarian is the reason RIZIN is interested in her because that pro wrestling connection is marketable in Japan. Tapa is 5'11" 220lb so she's certainly the right size. I just don't think it's easy to learn MMA in a short period of time. I saw Lei'D Tapa when she was wrestling for TNA a couple of years ago. I didn't think she was very good and neither did TNA because they used her more as a bodyguard than as a wrestler. They let her go due to her lack of experience and she went to Ohio Valley Wrestling to try to improve. She currently works for Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling and who knows if that will ever get off the ground. As a wrestler, she lacks quickness and ring awareness. We already know how quick Gabi is on the ground. RIZIN will try to sell this as a competitive fight but freak show matches can be sold to Japanese fans. They love monster heels.
No comments:
Post a Comment