-Good Lord! According to LiveAudioWrestling.com, Vince Russo has been fired as Head Booker in WCW. I suppose this has been built up for a while, and Turner execs and TNT execs had enough. They had a huge argument with Russo over how the title would change hands on Sunday, since Vince Russo wanted Tank Abbott of all people to win a Battle Royal for the World Title! Well, the bad booking has caught up with him, and I want to say, who called it? Did I not call it when he reformed the New World Order? Did I not? I said back then that it was a mistake, and he would be out sooner or later. Well, he's out as Head Booker, and you can now thank me for being correct on that one. Oh wait, let my banner speak on this!
-One thing that WCW is good for, and that's informing wrestling fans about injuries before the pay per view starts, unlike the WWF who screwed everyone good at the Survivor Series. Anyway, WCW just lost two of their top heels in 4 of their top matches of the night. For one, the lack of main eventers will be hurting now that Bret can't defend the title. Sid is left without someone to wrestle, and the only replacement that seems fitting would be Nash..but he's fighting a commissioner's match! Jarrett's concussion, thanks to Jimmy Snuka, has ended 3 matches at Souled Out. Everyone, even though not happy with the rest of the product, was looking forward to the 3 matches between Jarrett and Benoit. 4 matches down the drain folks. Damn.
-I've heard that the World Title will be switching hands Sunday Night, but to whom is the question. Russo wanted a Battle Royal for the World Title, where he would want the No-Selling Tank Abbott to win it. Is he crazy? Of course, the one thing that did hurt Russo was the injuries to main eventers. Who could have stood up to win the World Title? Sid? Benoit? I wouldn't be surprised if those two would get it on for the World Title Sunday. Whatever the case may be, Bret Hart won't be back for a little while. He's suffering through post-concussion syndrome, and for a man his age, it should take a decent amount of time to recover from.
I just want to say that injuries have really affected WCW lately. But one thing about WCW's injuries was the fact that Russo didn't work around them. He didn't elevate any midcarders in the injured wrestler's spots. Instead of working with what he had, he would push the same competitors over and over again during his recent shows. The past two Russo shows, Thunder and Nitro, were all NWO vs. Old Age Outlaws. Sure, they had a few matches here and there, but not too many other angles were getting any attention...same goes for wrestlers. I think this firing finally seals the deal for those who thought that Vince Russo and his creative team was the reason for the WWF's success. In the WWF, they had Vince McMahon leading the way, and in WCW they didn't.
I will say that I enjoyed Russo's booking at the start. I really thought that he was going to make a difference. A few months went by, and I felt that the midcard angles were horrible, but the matches were still pretty solid. Then the matches became fast and not too well booked, and that's when I lost confidence in him. That's when you saw the lower grades. If you think that I'm just cruel to WCW, just look at Russo now...he's been fired!! The ratings are still low too, so I think that explains my lower grades for the past few weeks.
-Jim Ross stated that Stevie Richards has been cleared to wrestle, as this is coming after he finished up rehab on his surgically repaired ankle. The WWF plans to hold Stevie out for a little longer to make sure that his ankle is 100%, and they want Stevie to be a little more conditioned when he comes back. Before he left, his singles push was just starting, and it was ended when Jericho threw him out of the ring rather hard. I wouldn't doubt that he'll return exactly how he left, and that's impersonating people, and he'll probably continue to involve himself in the Jericho-Chyna feud. Can't wait!
-Ross also said that it's DOUBTFUL that the Undertaker will return at the Royal Rumble. Damn. Oh yeah, WWFRoyalRumble.com announced that Mark Henry was #29...you know, if that associates with that news in any way! But you never know anymore with schills, as they have been throwing swerves on the net just so the rumor can get around for better shock value. Shame on the WWF if they are lying on this only to have the 'Taker show up at the Royal Rumble. It's an odd case though, that they just said he would miss the Royal Rumble. What says that he can't show up the night after?
-WWF Smackdown pulled in a very good rating of 5.0 this past Thursday, which could be thanks to no Thunder on Thursdays. I'm not sure how true that is, but that's my guess. Whatever the case may be, both the WWF and UPN are very proud of Smackdown's success, now matter how many assholes at the PTC try to put it down. The WWF proved that they can get solid ratings on network television, and it should get interesting once the UPN contract ends this summer. The WWF said that they are currently happy with UPN, but I wouldn't doubt that a nice deal will come their way from places like FOX.
First off, not much from the main eventers this week. That completely hurt this grade, because the main guys are the best part of ECW. Lots of midcard wrestlers on the card tonight, as well as a good bit of Guilty As Charged clips. Cyrus had a good opening interview, as he completely bashed Gertner, and made a good mockery of TNN. However, the night only had two matches: Little Guido vs. Super Crazy and Tajiri vs. Jerry Lynn. Not that those matches were horrible, but they weren't great either. A lot of interviewing, backstage happenings and so forth made this a weak TNN show.
Last Word: This show got rather boring to me, as I'm not much of an angle set up guy nor am I a mark for highlights. Therefore, this show gets a Titograde of a
@That's all I have for you today on this lovely Saturday morning. Expect me to be back tomorrow with some confusing Souled Out predictions, which I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I'll figure something out. So long, and remember that this column is mainly based upon my opinion. Have a nice day!
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