The first one will be, as rumored, Bill Goldberg vs. Tank Abbott. This is Goldberg's long awaited return to the ring by WCW, and from what I've heard he's not ring ready yet. So expect either a squash or a beatdown for this match. I bet it will be a squash since Goldberg doesn't like working with Tank, and Goldberg ALWAYS gets his way in WCW.
The other main event....well, I wouldn't say main event or anything special either. We have Vince Russo stepping into the ring with Ric Flair. Oh God, if this storyline couldn't get any worse. Now we have Russo getting into the ring, acting like the evil boss. But wait a second, why isn't it getting much attention? Same with Bischoff?
The evil heel boss has been done SO MANY times by wrestling federations. It was first done by Eric Bischoff when he turned on WCW and joined the NWO. His role was OK when he wasn't on an ego-trip, but he gave the idea of having an evil promoter run the show. Then, Vince McMahon perfected the role of the evil promoter. Vince took this role to new levels that have never been reached before. Now we have Bischoff and Russo trying this method. Is it working? I don't think so this time around. Even with the WWF, the role of having an actual owner/president of a company 'act' is becoming repetitive and stale. Just a thought.
The WWF shows will flood Viacom's networks in a good way. Shows like Heat, Livewire, Superstars, and Monday Night RAW will jump to TNN, a station which has struggled to work with ECW lately. I wish they would bump RAW to either UPN or CBS, because that show would also do great in the ratings on Network TV. Smackdown, of course, will remain on UPN as their powerhouse.
USA Networks will have an open spot for either the released ECW or WCW to gain. If the sale of WCW goes down, it COULD help them leave Time Warner stations(Notice I said "could" because of the fact that Time Warner is seeking television rights if they sell). ECW on the other hand, is already about done with TNN, and when this trial goes down, they will be pushed aside. I'd like to see ECW gain the USA spot, because they could help fill the void, somewhat, for USA, and ECW would now how the power to be as extreme as they want to be on USA. I still say the WWF should depend on USA, because besides the Dog Show and US open tennis matches, they have given them everything they've asked for.
Of course, USA Networks could present a good case, and keep the WWF for the next year. You can really tell how bad USA depends on the WWF by this court case. Gee, I wonder what shows USA promotes their other shows on. Hmm. It's especially essential when the WWF helps to make you the #1 network on cable(besides the premium cable channel HBO). Therefore, USA will fight this hard come June 12th.
Alright, what will happen on RAW tonight? Expect the same thing. Undertaker and the Rock will have their little feud with Corporation X. Who knows, maybe a special tag match with them or something? Expect more shake ups from the King of the Ring tournament, and God knows what. My gosh, this paragraph preview of RAW is sounding as stale and repetitive as WWF programming as of late!
Before I end this column, I want to give congrats to Brad Nelson for going from the Phat Pharm to the Main Board. He's worked hard for the past few months, and he definately deserves it. Like I've said with the others, it's going to be odd not posting his column on the Tuesdays which his column was featured on. You can check out his main board debuting Hindsight by clicking HERE
@That's all for today's edition of the Phat Daily Column. Enjoy the Monday Night shows tonight, as I will do so and be back tomorrow to give the usual impressions, grades, and Phat Stats for each show. Same Tito place, same Tito time, same TITO CHANNEL!!!!
Backyard BBQ: NEW Edition of "Double Z's Backyard Blockbuster has been added, along with many links to GREAT Backyard sites! CLICK HERE TO ENTER!!!
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