Let's take a look at some old title feuds from Wrestlemania. Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy consisted of Bundy attacking Hogan and hurting his ribs. Everyone remembers that classic build up to the World Title match. Then, with Andre the Giant vs. Hogan, Andre wanted a title shot, so he turned heel with Bobby the Brain Heenan to get that shot. Everyone remembers that. Macho Man vs. Hulk Hogan is remembered for Macho's jealousy over Elizabeth, with led to him going crazy and breaking up the Mega Powers team. Everyone remembers the build up to Hogan vs. Warrior, too, as the Warrior made the Ultimate challenge that would put two of the biggest faces at the time against each other. Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter was built around Slaughter selling his soul to Iraq, and Hulk Hogan fighting him because he was a "Real American". Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage was built around Flair hitting on Savage's wife. Everyone remembers that.
Now, granted, Wrestlemania 9 and 10 didn't have much of a build up towards the World Title. But for Wrestlemania 11, Shawn Michaels and Diesel were hot off their break up after losing the Tag Titles. Everyone remembers that. Then, at Wrestlemania 12, the two top stars, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, collided and a challenge was made for a first ever "Iron Man" match. Everyone remembers that. Nobody remembers Sid vs. Undertaker, however, so we'll throw out the bad example. In 1998, we had Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin for the World Title. Everyone remembers the slander and attacks by DX, and how DX actually courted Mike Tyson to join DX. Everyone remembers the so-called heat between Austin and Tyson.
Then, in 1999, we had Rock vs. Austin, the Corporate gem versus the top babyface. Austin was feuding with the Corporation, and Rocky was its champion. Everyone will always remember that. 2000 will be remembered for the ridiculous McMahon involvment. Ok, another bad example. In 2001, the WWF never gave the fans another Rock vs. Austin match, so it was somewhat inevitable for another one to occur, this time on arguably the best produced Wrestlemania ever. Everyone remembers that.
So what on God's green Earth is my point?!?!? Everyone remembers the World Title feud! Most hardcore WWF fans will recite them all, just like I did. Even fans of the last few years will remember the World Title feuds for Wrestlemania. Therefore, when someone asks you about Triple H versus Chris Jericho, what will you say? "Oh, I remember it was set up by Stephanie McMahon using Hand Lotion and having Triple H's dog get injured". Yeah, that's ABSOLUTELY nothing for the two wrestlers, Triple H and Chris Jericho.
Yet there are many blind on the internet that can't clearly see how pathetic this is becoming. There is NO interest on the World Title match right now, unlike the majority of the Wrestlemanias I have just listed. In the long run, that could represent a lower buyrate than expected, which is what the WWF deserves if they are going to pull crap like they did Monday night.
On to the PDC.
-RAW's rating came in as a 4.5. Ouch, the same as last week. The WWF has actually lost any momentum gained from No Way Out. If you look at last year's RAWs surrounding Wrestlemania, they gradually went UP and not down like this year's. Then, after Wrestlemania, RAW's rating was at a strong 5.0 for a while, until RAW became totally stale when they tried to push Rock/Triple H vs. Undertaker/Kane at Backlash. But my point is that the WWF isn't gaining any interest from Wrestlemania, despite having a dream match of Rock vs. Hogan.
And again, I DO NOT blame the NWO for the poor ratings. They have done a good enough job on television as it is. It's the surrounding show that hurts the overall product. At least in the years of 1998 and 1999, the undercard was well taken care of, while from 2000 until present, the undercard is ignored or has more time devoted to Stephanie McMahon. I mean, you have Stephanie taking up a bunch of segments to hype that she had Triple H's dog, Lucy, injured, while at other times, lame feuds like Test/Mr. Perfect vs. Rikishi are pushed and of course, the Edge vs. Booker T feud about Japanese shampoo. If you don't book a good, overall product, it will always come back to haunt you. And it has, if you look at the ratings. Oh, and can you imagine how the Summer will treat the WWF? Ouch. Ratings usually dip, but at the rate the poor writing is becoming evident, we could see the WWF become a regular member of the low 3.0s.
-No, I DID NOT catch the Wrestlemania Flashback show. Thanks to Monday Night, I had no motivation to even watch a single glimpse of the show. I just don't have that energy that I usually have for Wrestlemania this year. But besides, I have a Wrestlemania recap tape somewhere, and I do own all 17 Wrestlemanias on tape, too. I also have the Wrestlemania book, and have read all of the insider news and rumors concerning most of the shows. I'll probably skip the Divas special, because it's nothing I can't download. :)
-Looks like Chris Benoit is warming up for a comeback, as he'll be doing some things for the HWA promotion, a developmental territory of the WWF's. That's good news, because the undercard could certainly use him. Let's face it, though. While Benoit may be one of the best in-ring wrestlers around, he lacks several aspects to get him the World Title. He can't talk, he lacks charisma, and his height hurts him. Take Kurt Angle, a somewhat mirror image of Benoit. Angle's talking ability has taken him a long way in the business, despite being the same size as Benoit.
And if you give Rob Van Dam the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania, you could have a lethal IC title scene for a change. Have Lance Storm, Chris Benoit, Edge, Booker T, and maybe even Christian and Diamond Dallas Page, and you've got a good core of wrestlers making the Intercontinental title worthwhile again. Of course, though, guys like Test, Rikishi, William Regal, and other WWF rejects will be pushed to continually stink up the place. The WWF is good for making their fans dream more than they should.
-I did catch the WWF wrestlers on Howard Stern Friday night. I'll admit it. I'm a regular viewer of the E! Howard Stern show, and I listen to him in the mornings when I can. There, I said it. Anyway, it was a good show. Torrie Wilson and DDP were in first. Howard was just in LOVE with Torrie, and the subject of how hot she was took up the whole segment. I completely understand. DDP was there to hold the X-box, I believe. Then, it was Joanie Laurer, who publicly discussed her relationship with Triple H. She said that Triple H was having an affair with Stephanie, which she later took back, and that Triple H will get what he deserves if anything ever goes wrong with that relationship. Triple H was next, and I laughed at how Howard was ripping on how MANLY Chyna was for Triple H to bang. Triple H was very mellow with Howard, and not giving too many details of the Chyna relationship. Booker T was next, and it was sort of a patching up for things between Howard and Booker. Howard sent Stuttering John out to ask Booker T some easy questions, just like the Weakest Link.
-I'm guessing that the Undertaker was given a night off to heal some injuries, which is why we saw the boring meeting Monday Night between Vince, Flair, and other WWF execs. Understandable. At least have him cut a promo on Flair to not divert attention from the match to the meeting, which was the first step towards a split.
-Tough Enough went down in the ratings, with a 1.4 rating, compared to the 1.6 rating performed with an hour long show last week. Is that good or bad? I can't really say, because for the first Tough Enough, the rating kept fluctuating. It still remains the TOP rated Mtv show, which means that shows such as the Real World, TRL, or anything else Mtv takes a dump on and calls a show must be drawing low ratings weekly. Mtv's core audience are teenage girls, who don't consistantly watch Mtv, too. Yet the general feeling about Mtv is that their audience is always solid, hence the big advertisement dollars thrown their way to keep the station successful.
How about dem apples?
AOL Instant Messenger: BookerTito - It's recommended that you send your questions or feedback as your first message so that it could be answered, instead of saying "hi", "hey", "what's up" or whatever else. Just get to the point, please, to make it easier since I get drilled with messages.
WRESTLEPALOOZA.com - Audio Show, Columns, News, and more!
KOLTERSHOCK!!! - A site that you shouldn't view with small children present!
X-Entertainment.com - One of the most entertaining pages on the net!
@That's it for today. I'm not sure if a PDC will be around tomorrow, but I'll definitely have one for Friday. Until the next PDC, just chill..............
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.