Yes, I know, I'm late for today. I just had some stuff to take care of around here at home. It's sort of hard to write a column when you are away from a computer for quite some time. Mmmmk?
Right now, I'm seeing a newfound interest in wrestling. I don't know whether I like the storylines better, or that I'm finally relieved of suffering through Time Warner WCW anymore. Who knows? But what I do know is that it feels a lot more entertaining today than it was in previous months; to me at least.
A couple of people are asking what book I'll review next. Well, I could review the Wrestlemania book, but I don't quite have the money to shell out to buy that sucker. Maybe I'll review it down the road? Right now, though, I'm in school, which makes it very hard to read any books at all. I still have to read 3 long texts for a sociology class, which would make a wrestling book hard to look at.
Let's get into some WWF stuff. On to the PDC.
Note: I may break "WWF Day" into two parts from now on. I'll push the news or "Opinion" area to the Thursday column, in replacement of WCW Day, and I'll just extend my Smackdown review for today's column. Cool? Yes? No? Let me know.
The WWF started off with a match for the first segment of the show, which was a handicap match. That meant that the Right to Censor was in a handicap match against Undertaker/Kane. Yes, I said that correctly, because Right to Censor got their asses handed to them! The whole purpose of this squash was to get the crowd fired up for the team of Undertaker/Kane, which happened last night. In the WWF's eyes, these are the two big faces to go after the Vince McMahon duo of Triple H/Steve Austin. It's working so far with Undertaker/Kane getting big pops, but will the other end get the boos? Well, we'll see in a few weeks.
I am, however, upset at the concept of the Superkick going to waste. Steven Richards hit the Stevenkick on Kane last night, to no avail. I've seen that quite a bit in wrestling lately, and I wonder if it's a poke at Shawn Michaels or something? I remember when the Superkick was very effective, and now it's just a regular move... just like the DDT... just like the Powerbomb. It's starting to scare me.
LONG interview with Vince McMahon right after the Undertaker/Kane vs. RTC match. Good 20 minutes or so. Vince tried to get the cheap heat with the Oklahoma crowd, but you know what? If someone dogs the home crowd, what exactly does that do for viewers? Well, I guess Vince doesn't want to make fun of the TV audience, because that's a nice portion of what pays the bills. Anyway, after this long talk, Vince announces that the Rock was suspended, really just for fun. Rock is currently filming his movie, "The Scorpion King", if you were wondering.
My gosh, has Chyna slimmed down or what? I guess being in Playboy changes your image a little bit. I didn't really notice how trimmed down she was until tonight's interview. I didn't really notice it at Wrestlemania because she was still towering over Ivory. Hmm... I really found it funny when she said that she was proud of winning the Women's title, and she had a big smile on her face. If you've read her book, you'll know that she does that sort of thing a lot, despite being very unhappy.
I'm glad to see the WWF making proper use of K-Kwik these days. RhYno seems to be getting the small push these days. K-Kwik is just too green, right now, in his professional wrestling career. Sure, Rhyno has a lot of developing to do, but at least he has some intrigue on TV. Not many people, in the crowd it looked, seemed to be thrilled with hearing Kwik sing "Get Rowdy". Looks like the Crash feud with Rhyno will be extended, probably until the next RAW/Smackdown. It wouldn't surprise me to see Spike Dudley and Rhyno work together soon.
It seems that William Regal is just totally improving on his acting skills by the week. Earlier, he set up Jeff Hardy to fight Big Slow, and then he was talking to Angle about who would make Benoit submit. Chris Benoit got his whipping by Angle and Regal, by submitting to the Regal stretch and the Ankle Lock, which were locked in at the same time! Well, it's not quite as effective as the Crossface-Anklelock combination, but still. Amazing sequence with Chris Benoit when he had Regal locked in the Crossface for the second time. Angle tried to come off the top rope on Benoit, and the Crippler simply moved out of the way and slapped the Crossface on Angle from there. Truly impressive. It's such a shame that Benoit isn't a big taller, and that he doesn't have mic skills/charisma.
The Jeff Hardy vs. Big Show was rather funny, with an interesting finish to the match. It was probably like dropping on a pillow for Jeff Hardy when he did the Swanton on Big Show. Later on, the Big Show was ambushed by Taker/Kane when looking for the Hardy Boyz/Lita. Hey, I'm just wondering here.... what ever happened to the Matt Hardy/Lita relationship angle? Did I miss something?
Billy Gunn, Steve Blackman, Grandmaster Sex-ay vs. X-Factor: This match suched beyond ways of explaining, but I'll use this match to address something. Some of these guys, in this match, were complaining about not being featured on Wrestlemania. Why should they be included? Do they expect to have everything handed to them in a silver plate? That's sure what they expect, especially X-Pac, who tried to get Triple H to convince Vince to get him on Wrestlemania. Then, Steve Blackman complains because he's "always on time, always does what is told of him, and never complains about what they book him in". Please. None of these guys have exactly busted their asses in the past 3 years or so. They've wrestled the same type of match for quite some time, and they do NOT take extra time to improve their characters.
Take Triple H, for instance, in 1999. When he just signed a brand new deal before Wrestlemania 15, there was talk of pushing Triple H as a main event heel. However, the WWF was very unsure on how to exactly do it. Well, Triple H made their decision for them. He got in the gym, and busted his ass like never before. He changed his look, totally, by going from a DX goofball to a legit tough guy. Then, he changed his work ethic in the ring, and improved his wrestling ability or just worked to make his matches better. The Triple H you see now was definitely not the one you saw from 1995 to 1999. His character, before, was very stale just like Gunn, Blackman, Sex-ay, Albert, and X-Pac are, and Credible is just out there. However, those 5 wrestlers are just waiting around for their push, instead of creating opportunities for themselves. They keep that up, then there will be plenty of Wrestlemanias they'll be left off.
Back to Smackdown........... Hmm, I wonder what monotone Linda McMahon will announce Monday? I doubt it's a shift in WWF ownership, unless she hands the WWF over to Shane McMahon in some way? I don't know, because the WWF has shifted the ownership, storyline wise, to many places. I'm thinking she'll strip Regal of being a commissioner, or something of that nature. That, or she'll announce the WCW television time. Tune in and find out!
Another interview, but this time, it's Jim Ross and Steve Austin, one on one! Austin did have some good points. He never said that he praised the fans in anyway, at least in the storylines. He's true, in that fans just cheered him on! He never turned face, really, in the first place. Sure, he fought heels, but it's hard to say at an exact point where Austin turned face. Some would argue the Wrestlemania 13 match, but I don't know. I was expecting a cheap Stunner for Jim Ross, but instead, he took a beatdown. I was laughing at Vinnie Mac told Austin to rip him open! Poor J.R..
Can Triple H and Chris Jericho NOT have a good match? I don't believe that's humanly possible. Run-in city at the end, though, with Triple H becoming the new Intercontinental Champion. I guess the stock of the European Title just jumped. I guess this title win by Triple H was a way to show that the trio of Austin/Triple H/Vince is the powerful force in wrestling. I just hope they keep their hands off the tag titles, because that division has good enough contenders. This match could place Jericho as a top contender after the Regal feud as a face, but we'll see. He'll have to earn the spot.
Backlash?
The big face push for Kane and the Undertaker shows that the rumors of Undertaker/Kane vs. Austin/Triple H may be true. Jericho still seems to be fighting Regal, and Benoit still seems to be fighting Angle. I'm not too sure what else the WWF is trying or thinking about right now. Here's the card I'm thinking of:
Kane/Undertaker vs. Austin/Triple H
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit
Chris Jericho vs. William Regal
You never know if they MIGHT slap Angle/Regal vs. Benoit/Jericho for Backlash... But the rest of the card is blank. The WWF seems to be sorting themselves out right now to create new feuds or whatever else, and this card could be a tough one to book. We'll see in the upcoming weeks.
LAST WORD: This show was an overall entertaining show, without boring me much. Some of the interviews ran long, and the X-Factor vs. Gunn/Blackman/Sex-ay match was pretty worthless, but the rest of the show was very watchable. We'll give it a B+ for being slightly better than RAW.
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@That's all for today. I think I expressed enough opinion in the Smackdown portion to omit the "Opinion" area for today. Thursday's column will now be about just general current WWF stuff, while Friday will be a Smackdown review. It works for me.
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