Mr. Tito's Phat Daily Column - Rock Media Day! Submitted by Mr. Tito on 7-17-00 @ 10:43 EST
If you smell...what the Tito, is cooking! Ok, that's the ONLY Rock reference I'll make in this intro, as it would get annoying for myself to think up and for you to read. Yes, today is Rock Media Day for the Phat Daily Column. That's what I've been hyping! So what on earth is it you ask? Well, I finished up with the Rock's book last week, but I decided to do more for this. I went after his videos, "Know Your Role" and the "People's Champ", to review for this column as well. So today, we have 3 Rock things to review! Hence the name "Rock Media Day". Before we hit that, we must follow the schedule and do the Monday Night Hype! On to the PDC.
But first.......
Thanks to the great Greg Jackson from TotalWrestling.com for holding up the LoP/Mr. Tito sign up last night at Heatwave. It's greatly appreciated, as it always is. This is #33 overall.
WWF
-Heat Thoughts-
Looks like Terri Runnels is now joining up with Perry Saturn, as rumored, and the seeds of it were planted last night with her clapping for Perry. So she hung around Dean Malenko for a while, and that wasn't that much of help, and now she'll help out Perry Saturn? What Perry Saturn needs is Raven, straight up! Saturn was at his best when he was feuding with Raven or just a Raven henchman. Maybe keep Saturn on Heat for a while now, and then let him blossom when Raven arrives in the WWF. Just my opinion.
Ha, the WWF announcers said that D'Lo and Chaz have the same great chemistry that the New Age Outlaws had. HA! Excuse me for a moment, I need to laugh! Sure, D'Lo is talented, and Chaz is OK, but when the New Age Outlaws formed, they were both ignorant heels in need of something. Chaz is an off again on again Headbanger, and D'Lo has been so misused by the WWF. Same chemistry? No. Let them shine on their own, and NOT let them be in the shadow of any New Age Outlaw comparisons.
Edge/Christian fought the Dudley Boyz in a "non title" match, and they even won that non-title match. Usually, when the belt is NOT on the line, it's easy for the faces to win. However, this was not the case in this match. Edge/Christian got the dirty and cheap win when Edge pulled a Ric Flair pin(feet on the ropes) on the Dudleys. But what is the real relevance of this match? Duh, it was on Heat! Someone is really trying to spike their ratings. Hey WWF, why not try to spike RAW's and Smackdown's too?
-RAW Hype-
Tonight, Commissioner Mick Foley shows up. Hopefully, we don't have to suffer through another terrible show like we did, or at least I did, last week. At least Foley will be there to make it remotely interesting, I guess? I guess he will strike down on Triple H and Edge/Christian for their actions last week. Oh, how original! Hey, I have an idea!! Why not book these guys in matches against their will. That way we could be really copying something. Not only that, we could SMELL the ratings as well!
After the Crippler Chris Benoit destroyed the Rock backstage on Smackdown, you can expect the Rock to "attempt" to get revenge tonight. Hey, I have an idea!! Why not have those two wrestle in a main event again?? Or better yet, let's throw them in a tag match against each other. That's NEVER been done in the WWF(sarcasm), especially the week before the Pay Per View.
We'll probably see yet another incident where Kurt Angle will pull a stupid stunt on the Undertaker, especially after what happened on Smackdown. This feud is good, but the WWF has done some really stupid incidents to get it over. Like for instance, throwing shit on the motorcycle. Then again, this feud might end with a Kurt Angle win in the end, as the Undertaker will put him over. Yes, he's an old timer putting other wrestlers over, as that is NEVER heard of in WCW.
WCW
-Nitro Hype
HOLD ON! This is on Tuesday.....Why should I hype this today? I'll save this hype for tomorrow, when the show actually airs. I hope WCW takes a good look at what their numbers are for Tuesday, as it looks to be better for them on a different day, rather than compete anymore with the WWF. A 2.1 rating in the second hour, after a blockbuster Pay Per View, should get some things churning within WCW.
By the way, does anybody find it strange for TNT to schedule a Movie or a Series over Nitro, their top rated show? I find that strange, as if maybe Time Warner knows that the show isn't pulling in the numbers it once had. It's somewhat like USA Networks pushing around RAW for the Moby Dick movie. Rather strange. So without Nitro, expect RAW to slack off. Why put on a great show when there is no competition?
Rock Media Day
-Mr. Tito's Phat Video Review-
-The Rock: Know Your Role-
Ok, this video's timeframe is from the Rock turning heel to the match with Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 15. The whole video is narrated by the Rock, who is in FULL Character for this one. Argh! So for every loss shown in this video, he'll give a wonderful excuse cause nobody can "touch" the great one.
It starts out with the great days of the Rock. He joined the Nation, but he quickly became a headcase for Farooq to deal with. I remember laughing hard when he gave D'Lo, Kama, and Mark Henry Rolexes and Farooq a portrait of the Rock. The Rock was just becoming a funny heel then, and he slowly errupted into the Stone Cold feud where he promptly proclaimed himself "the best damn intercontinental champ of all time". All of the Stone Cold feuds came at the end of the tape by the way... I miss this Rock the most! The Corporate heel Rock was sorta lame at times, but this Rock right here was the best around! He was so damn cocky, and he wasn't purposely trying to play the crowd, but still got a reaction. Now that's big.
We then go to the Rock slowly turning face, as he got more cheers in the Summerslam ladder match than Triple H then! For two unhardcore like wrestlers, they put on a good ladder match. Of course, the Rock says that Chyna ruined that match, but it's not like Mark Henry threw powder in Triple H's eyes or anything...oh no, we can't admit that on a Rock video! By the way, the Rock calls Triple H "part queer" or "half queer" in this video. Now is that nice?
Next up is the Corporate Champ, which finishes out the video. It shows him winning the title at Survivor Series, beating up Mick Foley in their MANY matches, and then leading up to his match at Backlash '99. This is the Rock *I* wasn't too thrilled about, because he played the crowd too much. He was a face in a bad guy's role instead of a true heel like he was in the Nation.
Last Word: This video is a good recap of the Rock's career from mid 1997 to Wrestlemania 15 of the Rock's career. If you are a BIG Rock fan, this is the video for you, cause he's in character bigtime for this one. Otherwise, the Rock's acting could get on your nerves. I'll give it a
B
for a good watch and for bringing back some good Rock memories for myself.
-The Rock: The People's Champ
Let me think on the timeframe for this, since the video bounces around from segment to segment....Oh yeah, he's fresh off his leaving the Corporation, and it ends with his Royal Rumble win at Royal Rumble 2000. This video is MUCH different than "Know Your Role", as it has WAY better production. Major props to whoever put this video together, because it has the look of a great fan video.
For the most part, it goes in order timewise, with the occasional break for some kind of appearance by the Rock. I believe we started out this video with yet another small Triple H feud, which led to a good cage match on Monday Night RAW. If you remember, the Rock won after Triple H fell on the ropes in a bad place. The order of the feuds in this video is hard because of all of the bouncing around.
I think the Mr. Ass feud, which led to their match at Summerslam 1999 is next. I thought the Poison Ivy stuff to Billy Gunn's money maker was rather funny, but this feud was the one that the Rock then refused to work with Mr. Ass after this! Yes, the Rock joined the list of guys who didn't want to wrestle Billy Gunn due to him being a bad worker. I believe Stone Cold...and I think someone else refuse to work with Billy Gunn due to his sometimes sluggish in ring performance. This video then goes through a few more feuds, and then eventually to his winning of the Royal Rumble this year.
The Rock's attitude is somewhat different for this one. He admits his losses, although he's in full character. In Know Your Role, he was acting like he never lost, but here, he acted just normal. They showed his many promos, some of which I forgot and laughed at. However, if you didn't believe the Rock was repetitive on his speeches, check out this video! It proves it!!! They show the same quotes from the speeches over and over in a row, so check it out!
Last Word: This video is 90 minutes, whereas the other one was just 60 minutes. This video is a great fan video, better than KNOW YOUR ROLE, for a hardcore Rock fan. If you aren't a Rock fan, I'd maybe suggest renting this. It's a well produced video, with some good clips of the Rock's career as a face recently. I'll give it a
B+
for a good, entertaining video on the Great One.
Mr. Tito's Phat Book Review
-The Rock Says.....-
Obviously, this is the autobiography of the Rock. He co-wrote it with Joe Layden, who really put the Rock's life into words well! Well, at least for the first 150 pages or so...something bad happens to the second half of the book(more on that in a moment). Layden seems to write all of the descriptive parts, while the Rock contributes the the match descriptions(argh!).
I love the first 150 pages! I was thinking this book would have an easy A if it wasn't ruined at the end, but it was. It starts off with the Rock's grandfather and his career, and how his mom and dad met, and had the Rock. Good stories are told here, especially the part about his grandfather eating with his hands, and some wrestler was ripping on him for it. Then, how Rocky Johnson and the Rock's mom(forget her name, sorry) met and how they married was rather interesting. Especially why the Rock's grandfather was against it.
It then starts with the Rock's growing up, like the time he was attacked by a group of thugs, and quickly swings into High School. Now, you could say the Rock was a Pimp in High School, cause he was a Freshman dating a Senior here! Also, it shows the Rock's success in Football, after he moved from Hawaii to Pennsylvania. Rock did get his first taste of wrestling in high school, which provides a good laugh why he left it. Next, he was receiving offers from Colleges for his football skills. I liked this part, as he told a lot of truth in this segment. Many places offered money for services, but the Rock went to Miami because they weren't offering money. Now that shocked me because I've heard many stories about Miami paying their players...just heard stories, and never had proof!
His career at Miami seemed tough for him. Poor guy, as we might be hearing about the Rock in the NFL if it weren't for his injury his freshman year. He ended up having a good career at Miami. At Miami, he met his future wife, Dany. Now, talk about a strong and dedicated woman! While the Rock was away at Canada, she stuck with him. When the Rock wasn't making any money to help support them, she stuck with him! With her parent's not approving the Rock, she stuck with him! I noticed the same sort of dedication with Kimberly in DDP's book.
Before I talk about other things, I must say that the Rock has a horrible temper. I was shocked on a few things he did because of that very temper. He would literally go insane at times when he was younger. Of course, that temper was great when he was young at his grandfather's tribute show. Some ignorant wrestler refused to put over Rocky Johnson at that show, and the Rock, as a kid, went off on that wrestler. Good stuff there.
The Rock couldn't get into the NFL, so he went to the CFL...where he literally lived poor. That was rather sad, because lived through hell up there. He finally figured out his career one day, and decided to take up wrestling. With his dad's help, among others, he quickly learned the sport, received a tryout thanks to Pat Patterson, and then worked his way up at USWA as Flex Kavana. In fact, he would wrestle dark matches occasionally for the WWF, and guess who saw Flex wrestle at a dark match in Wheeling, WV RAW tapings? Me, myself, and I! I can remember how green and lame he was then. I swear, he did a million arm drags! I think he won with a flying body press, but it was about 4 years ago.
The Rock is very honest about why "Rocky Miavia" failing to catch the fans attention. It was just lame, and if there was a pure babyface in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was it! Good thing he took some time off after his injury, and then returned as a heel, when joining the Nation of Domination. I liked his asking for a reason why he joined the Nation as well, since he didn't want it to be because of race. He then goes on to Stone Cold, which ends the greatness of this book!
ARGH! This book is now ruined because the Rock is now in full character. If you think hearing him in the 3rd person gets annoying, just imagine reading it. Oh my Gosh, I was never so annoyed reading anything in my life! It was shear torture to read the final 120 pages or so of this book. It's a shame too, because this whole book would have been an excellent read if it weren't for this. Rock fans would get off on this, but regular wrestling fans, like myself, would hate it.
Last Word: Why Rocky Why? That's my question for the last half of this book. Why not let Layden continue to write such a well descriptive book? Oh well, I guess many were fooled by the ending like myself, as it continues to sell well today. The first section of the book is an excellent read, but the final section is a complete eyesore. For that, I'll give this book a
C+
for that in-character nightmare at the end of this book. Just my opinion of this book, as others might have enjoyed those parts.
One last thing on the Rock.... whether I rip on the repetitiveness, the overused Right handed roundhouse, or anything else, I will admit that the Rock is one of the hardest working performers in the business. Ever since his heel turn in 1997, he hasn't taken any real signficant time off. Sure, he took a week off to film a movie, and maybe a day off here or there, but for the most part, the Rock has always been there. He's a great asset to the WWF, as he's someone to always rely on for a good show. The scary thing is that the Rock truly hasn't hit his prime yet at the tender age of 28.
@That's all for today. I hope you've enjoyed the Rock Media Day. No Heatwave thoughts because I really don't have much to say about them. I'll reserve any thoughts for ECW Day next Saturday. I'll be back tomorrow with some RAW impressions, and Nitro hype. Now that's weird.
