Today, we are upon possibly the final WCW Day ever! For next Thursday, I will have no Thunder to review. All WCW news will most likely become WWF news, since it's very likely that the WWF will buy WCW now. What am I to do?
You gotta hand it to WCW though for internet sites. They provide the best news! That's very true. The crazy backstage always provided great stories and insides to why WCW couldn't compete with the WWF. It was always fun to discuss who was getting held back and who was getting pushed due to certain friendships with bookers.
But WCW was a very nice organization, and didn't attack everyone like the Big Brother WWF did. WCW never had a problem with our site, and many other sites, making Multimedia from WCW shows. The other, cracks the whip when they see the "hint" of some kind of their Multimedia.
Now, though, the once Turner fueled organization is gone and out for the count. However, WCW has only themselves to blame with poor management and terrible bookers. Because of their bad moves, many will go unemployed. A lot of wrestlers might not have a chance in hell to get into the WWF, and a lot of production crew backstage will have to find work again. The negative, by far, outweighs the positive in this sick, sick matter. But again, they only did it to themselves...........
On to the PDC.
*sigh* The last time I'll ever be able to use this great banner. It's probably the BEST banner ever created for me, and I have Mr. Chandler to thank for this.
Yet another incredible match by the Jung Dragons, taking the team of Air Paris and Styles to the limit. The Jung Dragons are an impressive team, and it's a damn shame WCW is going down, because they should have the right to face Romeo/Skipper again.
We have an interview with Dustin Rhodes.... you see, this is the problem. Johnny Ace has a ton of confidence in Dustin Rhodes, but the fans don't. Doesn't he see or hear the crowd's reaction to Rhodes?? Dustin has NEVER been over except for the time when he was Goldust, and people booed the gimmick, and not who the wrestler actually was.
Wow, WOW, WOW!!!!!!!!! to the Cash vs. Jason Jett match. Had it been ECW, it would have been a great Kid Kash vs. EZ Money match. I'll tell you what though.... nobody has impressed me lately than Jason Jett. He's been busting his ass in the ring, and producing great matches with very shitty wrestlers at times. It's a shame that WCW's time has come, because this guy is only starting to become hot. That handspring elbow off the ropes is so damn graceful! The WWF should snatch this guy up when they can! The thing about Jett or the guy formerly known as EZ Money is that he's been wrestling 2 matches per night. He was sooo good on Nitro, that the bookers allow him to wrestle on Thunder too. He STILL looks crisp during Thunder, despite already wrestling one match beforehand.
Rick Steiner sucks! Hugh Morrus sucks! Wow, Steiner let Morrus beat him. Still don't care.
Speaking of wrestling beforehand.... both Chuck Palumbo and Mike Awesome looked so tired during their match. They worked fast in the previous match during Nitro, that it killed them for their singles match. The sleepy bug especially hit Mike Awesome, who was just dragging himself to sell or do a move. Ah well. Just rest up these guys for the "Season Finale" title match on Monday. That's all I ask.
Excellent 6 Man match! Rey Mysterio, Shane Helms, and Billy Kidman defeated Chavo, Kid Romeo, and Elix Skipper, which will be a preview of this Monday Night's "Night of Champions" Spring Break edition of Nitro. Sure, these guys have fought a lot, but they give you your money's worth each and every time. A couple readers have mentioned that Shane Helms now looks like Steve Corino now. Wow, I kind of agree. Now all we need is for Helms to blade every match!
Ric Flair was attacked by the MYSTERY PERSON on Nitro. Does anybody really care who this could turn out to be? It has to be someone either related to any of the Magnificent 7 or someone who has main evented. I'm thinking it's either DDP or Kevin Nash, but I could be wrong. I'd laugh if it turns out to be Road Warrior Hawk!
Nice of WCW to job Kanyon away to MI Smooth during the tag match. Man, what a present this final Thunder is giving me. I'm still shocked at how over the Cat is in WCW. I'm still shocked at how they can put MI Smooth on television with a straight face.
Oh God, what a joke of a main event. Man, that crowd was just roaring for Dustin Rhodes to fight off Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner (sarcasm). By the way, I'm at least proud of the bookers for always recognizing the Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett connection. They have always been in cahoots with each other, from the NWO Russo to the Magnificent Seven. Unlike the rest of the guys, like Totally Buff, Animal, and Flair, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner have always been an evil duo. With that, I believe the fans were probably cheering for Steiner-Jarrett, but I'm not sure? Jarrett-Steiner got the easy win, and Booker T ran down afterward. Booker T should have just joined Dustin for a tag match, just to spare us from a terrible beat down.
Man, that was very sad with the special THANKS! message at the very end of Thunder. They had all of the ring crew and production team sitting out on the Thunder ramp, waving goodbye. That's a damn shame that all of those people must find new jobs. For those of you who *think* this is all a work, well, you should have seen that part of Thunder. The THANKS! at the end tells you that Nitro won't be a season finale, but the last WCW show ever.
For what it's worth, there were some strong matches on this card, especially the ones involving former ECW wrestlers or Cruiserweights. It's a shame they aren't the main event, since they work about 10 times as hard as the cushy main event wrestlers. So sad. To be very generous, I'll give this show a B on its fairwell to the wrestling world.
I don't know what I'll do without my Chunder every Wednesday.
On Tuesday or whatever, Fusient basically said "screw this" after failed negotiations with FOX, and withdrew their deal from the table for Time Warner. Time Warner, last week, cancelled ALL WCW programming (Nitro, WCW Classics, and Thunder) in hopes of pressuring Fusient to step up negotiations. Well, after failed negotiations with a TV company, Time Warner is now stuck with WCW. The fact of the matter is that AOL wants no part of wrestling or the profit loss company. Therefore, they will shutdown or sell the ONLY buyer out there right now. Believe it or not, Fusient was the last remaining buyer on the market, besides the WWF.
The WWF, thanks to the settlement, can match any offer made by any potential buyer, thanks to the lawsuit about the image representation of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in 1996 (making fans think they were invading WCW from the WWF). So it seems like AOL/Time Warner will sell to the WWF now, to which the name, the video library, and the history will be sold to the WWF. The WWF will probably just keep the name for a possible invasion, and use the video library to show past wrestling clips of their stars like Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and many, many more (including the Undertaker!). The WWF could also finally start the 24 Hour Wrestling channel that Linda McMahon talked about over a year ago. With WCW, and probably with ECW now with Heyman around, the channel would be spectacular. Maybe if the WWF could talk to Verne Gagne about the AWA rights, and some other feds like Global or World Class, then the channel would be kicking!
But what about the wrestlers????? Well, right now, they are under Time Warner contracts. I believe that even if WCW is sold, Time Warner will still have to pay the wrestlers no matter what. Now I'm not sure if or how Time Warner could just give an outright release to some wrestlers with extensive guaranteed contracts, but we'll see. I don't really think the new AOL/Time Warner wants a bunch of wrestlers getting checks in the mail each week, so look for them to each get full releases or just something to allow them to work wherever they want to.
What wrestlers could jump? Well, right now, I'm thinking that Booker T is a definite must. He's a great all around wrestler, and with a different finisher, he could be killer. Bill Goldberg's name and celebrity status is enough to get him signed in the WWF, and a match with either Stone Cold or Triple H would be a guaranteed payday at the Pay Per View window! Guaranteed! I think out of all of their roster, those two guys are MUST HAVES. The other, well, there's a choice and the WWF can only accept so many wrestlers.
I'd say guys like Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, Kanyon, Mark Jindrak, Shawn O'Haire, Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, and just about ALL of the Cruiserweights are good to pick and choose on who you want. Just about all of them are young, too. Jason Jett is one hot commodity that the WWF can't overlook now, for he's putting on awesome matches on both Nitro and Thunder now. Maybe the most over wrestler in the WCW, The Cat, could have a shot. He's awesome on the mic, and the WWF loves that!
Then, you have a few other choices to make... I believe that a quick pick up of either Sting or Diamond Dallas Page would be great for the WWF in the short run. I'm talking just RAW or Smackdown main event matches featuring either DDP or Sting against the likes of Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, or the Rock. DDP is longtime buddies with Steve Austin, and has always dreamed of a match with the Rock. LET IT HAPPEN! Sting has NEVER wrestled in the WWF, and he still has a solid WCW fanbase that WOULD watch if he happened to show up on WWF television. Just bringing them in to job is OK, but the real gain is to actually have some dream matches occurring.
But there are a few wrestlers who you can guarantee that will NOT get into the WWF.
Like.....
The Franchise Shane Douglas - Dean Douglas didn't quite last in the WWF, like many had hoped. He hated the boys from the Clique (mainly HBK, Hall, and Nash), and it really got heated when Shane was supposed to gain the Intercontinental title. HBK backed out of the match, claiming injury from the beatdown in Syracuse(sp?), and the title was awarded to Shane Douglas. However, the Clique pulled a fast one on Douglas, and convinced Vince McMahon to book Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) to immediately win the IC title on the night Douglas was to be awarded the title. It pissed off Shane like no other, and it led to Vince McMahon giving Douglas his release. It's said that Shane and Vince have vowed to NEVER work together again.
Scott Steiner - Big Poppa Pump didn't develop his attitude the second he turned bad guy in WCW, oh no. Word is that Scott Steiner has always been a hothead. It's said that during the final WWF run of the Steiner brothers in the early 90s that Scott Steiner got into several threatening arguments with Vince McMahon, which led to the Steiner brothers being dropped from the WWF then. With the many WCW incidents piling up, it's safe to say that Scott won't be in the WWF at all. From Rick's recent wrestling, I doubt he has a chance, either.
Totally Buff - I'm very sure the word of the attitudes of this duo has reached the WWF in some way or another. Their refusal to job and their bad egos are enough to keep them out of the WWF. It's very doubtful that Luger will get in, especially since the WWF spent a lot of money on Luger in 1993 for his stupid Lex Express and USA gimmick. Buff is just an asshole, and that's simply put.
Shawn Stasiak - Still has lots of potential, but his weird attitude backstage frightened the WWF then. If you remember, Stasiak got in trouble when he taped several wrestlers' conversations. It just rubbed the WWF the wrong way, so it's very unlikely that he'll return.
Jeff Jarrett - Just the way he left the WWF will probably not allow his return. Vince McMahon was going to cut Jarrett anyway (according to Chyna's book), so his jump to WCW won't hurt him. But the approximate $300,000 that Jeff Jarrett swindled out of Vince McMahon just so he could do the "Good Housekeeping" match will probably hurt his chances of a WWF return. Vince McMahon doesn't let anybody walk over him, and when it happens, he makes sure to get his revenge. The revenge is simple: Vince won't welcome back Jarrett.
KroniK - Bryan Adams basically begged out of his contract to join WCW, after a badly failed DOA gimmick. Hey, I'd do the same thing too, but you just don't beg to get out of your contract, not with Vince McMahon in charge. I believe that Brian Clarke didn't live up to the potential the WWF thought he could achieve as Adam Bomb, so that's doubtful too. The only way I could see them entering the WWF is if they went after the Acolytes for some VERY stiff tag matches.
Dustin Rhodes - Yeah right. He rubbed the WWF badly when he, too, begged to get out of the WWF to join Russo in WCW. Dustin Rhodes used his excuse of getting a divorce with Terri to get out of the company, when he really wanted to do a Goldust like gimmick in WCW. They first tried that with 7seven, in which Dustin Rhodes shot down the WWF in a "shoot" interview. Later, Dustin was supposed to regain his Goldust-like gimmick with a wrestler called Platinum, but the WWF suits attacked!
Kevin Nash - Sure, he left on good terms with the WWF. But you can't deny how he partly sabotaged WCW when he felt like it. Plus, Nash has very bad knees at this point, and after eclipsing the age of 40, he's just not as mobile as he was as Diesel. He could be brought in as a short term deal, but I don't know.
Hulk Hogan - Just finally getting out of his WCW contract... but a WWF return? I'm not so sure... Just look at the WWF now. Do they actually need an aging Hulk Hogan? Sure, a fight, if he's willing to job, against Triple H, Rock, Steve Austin, or even Vince McMahon would be interesting, but the WWF currently has a vast roster of guys who jumped to the WWF to avoid egos like Hogan's. With that, I just don't see a WWF return.
WCW bookers - Vince Russo, Ed Ferarra, Bill Banks, and Terry Taylor have NO CHANCE IN HELL of returning to the WWF, thanks to the NO-week notice they gave the WWF when leaving. Taylor even wrote storylines for the WWF after the other 3 left, and he just simply walked out one day. I don't know if the WWF sees their flaws or not, but I think they are satisfied with the current McMahon dominated booking team.
Now I'm sure I'm missing a few names, but if I didn't include them, then their future, in my opinion, is very uncertain. I don't wish that anybody should lose their job in anyway, and for this feature, I just tried to analyze who might be appearing in the WWF and who would not. That's all.
But for all of the wrestlers, I only wish them the best, even if I bashed them in my column. It's just my opinions, and I was NOT presenting facts in anyway to undermine a wrestler from their organization. If I see a wrestler who I think is slacking, kissing ass, or just not getting over, then I wasn't afraid to rant about them. But I don't wish anybody to lose their job. Wrestlers or anybody employee of WCW have families, and I respect that.
It's a damn shame that there will only be one wrestling powerhouse in the industry now, until the next billionaire with good television connections comes along to challenge Vince McMahon for a fight.
4. Scott Steiner: World Champion. Nuff said. Will he listen to the company and lose this Monday?
3. Kanyon: Wrestled 3 times, and jobbed basically in each one (Nitro one, he would have jobbed)
2. Shane Helms: Always a solid show with this kid. Good all around week for Helms, with winning the Cruiserweight title, beating Kidman on Nitro, and winning with Rey/Kidman on Thunder.
1. Jason Jett: RED HOT wrestler right now in WCW, and it's a total shame that his chance to shine has only been a few weeks.
First off, we'll start with the stuff before the actual gameplay, which has some positives. The graphics and music on the menu screens is pretty good, LOOKS and SOUNDS like it's better than any of the THQ games. Notice I said "looks" and "sounds". Anyway, I went directly for the Create A Wrestler section, which I have a sick fetish for on any wrestling game. The Create A Wrestler is very detailed compared to any other games. The detail and the options you can use to alter the looks of your wrestler is probably best I've seen. You can even make a very sick looking female wrestler (or a hot one if you're horny). There's a nice selection of moves to choose, whether or not those are easy to execute...
The gaming options are rather strange, though. You can either chose Exhibition, Hardcore Gauntlet, or some kind of other Hardcore mode. I believe that in the Gauntlet, you can unlock hidden wrestlers. It was quite hard to do, which will get to in a moment, to unlock those wrestlers, whoever they may be. There are plenty to unlock too..... probably about HALF of the character select screen.
Ok, on to the gameplay. The wrestlers' graphics look terrible!!! They look like inflated cartoon wrestles, with terrible detail, especially, on their faces. Especially on Sting, who looked exactly like those big talking dolls they were selling several years ago. They wrestlers are choppy too, as they do their moves. They don't even look like they connect on hits, holds, or slams. Simply terrible. The control is outrageous too! The very sloppy control makes Acclaim games seem very easy! Slams or grapple moves are just tough to pull off, and striking moves are hard to connect with.
Now, this game is called BACKSTAGE ASSAULT. So if you complain about having no ring in this game, just look at the title... it's called BACKSTAGE ASSAULT!!! Still, the guys at EA Sports should have realized that if you take the ring away, you're making a very bad version of a street fighting game. That's simply put. It's not like fighting backstage is fun or anything, either. Weapons are extremely hard to grab and use, and jumping off objects is a task as well. But I still think WCW missed the boat on this game. They should have went to the ring, because wrestling is mostly performed in a ring! Fans relate to ring, and the advantage of the THQ games is what you can do in and around the ring. Like I said, without a ring, this is a horrible street fighting game. But again, it's called BACKSTAGE ASSAULT, so I knew what I was getting into. Still, they should have never went to this type of game. But they did, and that's why it doesn't quite sell or rent well whatsoever.
The only plus from the gameplay is the announcing. Tony Shiavone and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan is calling the action, and it's very clear and fun to listen to. It's packed with Heenan one-liners, which can crack you up when playing this horrible, horrible game.
LAST WORD: This game sucks sooooo bad! Much like the many bad decisions that are helping to finally close this company, WCW made a bad decision on producing a wrestling video game. They should have NEVER let go of THQ!!!! EA Sports may be the superior one in terms of other sports games, but they don't hold a candle when it comes to wrestling. It's scary too, because Electronic Arts has actually worked with THQ on a few projects. I guess it's hard to learn these days, I don't know. But what I do know is that this game sucks, and it's the WORST game of the modern era (N64, Playstation, and Dreamcast systems). Therefore, a
Make sure you check out the latest Wrestle Palooza Audio Show, for a review of the Current News and Spoilers in the wrestling world. So CLICK HERE to listen to the show! Keep in mind that the Audio Show is giving away a Wrestlemania care package, which you could win by listening to the show and answering Wrestlemania Trivia. Also Note that former WCW and ECW star, Scotty Anton, will be a guest on the show sometime in April. I'll keep you posted.
LoP T-Shirts: NEW STUFF IN STOCK! Mouse Pads, Sweat Shirts, Coffee Mugs, more T-Shirts, Baby Doll shirts, and more! Also, you can now order via Credit Card!
Backyard BBQ: The Best in Backyard Wrestling!
@That's all for today. I'll be back with the day that will continue, unlike WCW day, tomorrow. Just chill till the next episode!
X-Entertainment.com!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.
An expansion committee for the XFL will meet in Washington, DC, this Tuesday to discuss a possible 2 to 4 team expansion for the 2nd or 3rd season, if the league lasts that long. They "claim" that several cities are interested in having a team for the XFL, and the committee will meet to decide if any of those cities are good possible candidates. The XFL should take a look at the history of the USFL, because their expansion actually damaged their league worse than it helped. The XFL is generating much lower ratings than the USFL ever did, and expansion could be murder!
Click Here for the latest XFL Newsletter, giving you a good preview for this weekend's games.