Despite what I said yesterday about trying to predict the draft, many readers kept begging me to say something. From what I can see, it looks like Hogan, Hall & Nash, and possibly the Rock will be on Smackdown, while Austin, Jericho, and Kurt Angle will be on the RAW show. But that's just a bad guess, as anything could happen. My bet is that Hogan, Hall, and Nash will most likely be on Vince McMahon's show, and either Rock or Austin will be there too. But again, I don't want to waste my time predicting this stuff.
Why? From doing this darn column for over 3 years now, I've learned that if you expect too much from a product, you'll end up disappointed. I just want to see how the WWF does it and then, I want to see if both brands of WWF are completely different from each other. It was reported yesterday that both shows will have the same writing teams. Therefore, we'll see if that writing team, which sucks anymore thanks to Stephanie and the rest of the idiots with degrees to write Soap Operas, can handle two shows with different wrestlers and storylines. They can't just half-ass book Smackdown anymore, as they usually play off the RAW feuds for that show.
Indeed. On to the PDC.
Bravo to the Ottawa crowd. Why doesn't the WWF tour Canada more often? Their crowds are always insanely hot, as compared to the burnt out American crowds.
We start off Smackdown with Booker T vs. Edge, with Kurt Angle conveniently at ringside. What did I say after Edge beat Booker T at Wrestlemania? Didn't I say that Booker T would get a cheap win in return on a future television show? It happened, as Kurt Angle helped Booker T get the win in the end, despite a few failed attempts. Standard Smackdown match.
Good backstage segment between Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon. It looks like Hogan will indeed be on Smackdown, as we'll see Vince's brand featuring Hogan vs. Vince McMcMahon. That should be quite interesting, especially based on Vince's claims that he made Hogan what he is today or the fact that Hogan was never successful anywhere else. Excuse me? His heel turn in July of 1996 rocked the wrestling industry and kept WCW on top for many weeks in a row.
Backstage we go, and we get William Regal talking to the APA and later Diamond Dallas Page. Regal was dogging the APA because they could get split up from the "split". Could this be the singles push in order for Bradshaw? It's funny to see how Regal threatens the split of teams, while the New World Order will be considered one faction to draft, which Vince said later on in the show. That's rather unfair. Regal would then run into DDP, and set up a match for the European title. Finger of Shame is coming, folks.
Better than expected Women's tag match between Trish/Lita vs. Jazz/Ivory. You can thank whoever set up the finish and the hot Canadian crowd for that. I did like the double-Boston crab that Ivory and Jazz locked in at some point in the match. The hot finish had Jazz/Ivory missing Trish with a clothesline, going off the ropes only for Ivory to be tripped. Trish would then give a hard kick to Jazz and give her a bulldog off the ropes. Good matches are rare in this division, so it's good to see a decent one every once in a while. Still, this should hardly be on television until the "wrestlers" get more training to be actual wrestlers.
FINGER OF SHAME to the decision of giving William Regal the European Championship. This is not from favortism to Diamond Dallas Page, as Regal could have beaten Crash Holly for all I care, and the Finger of Shame would have still been given. Why? Regal completely stunk up the Intercontinental Championship, so why give him another title, less than a week later? It makes absolutely no sense, other than the fact that the WWF is touring England in a few weeks. My hope is that this move was done to maybe push DDP on one of the divisions, but that's a pipe dream.
And now, we get an interview for probably one of the last times Stephanie McMahon can gloat at being the WORST WWF writer in today's wrestling. Worst WWF personality, too. Now, I'll hold all Stephanie bashing until after RAW, in case a stupid swerve is pulled or if she does win the WWF title. My guess is that she made herself the participant of the match to get the already Stephanie-haters, including myself, even more angry than before to want to see her off television. Therefore, the 3 way match will equal higher ratings for Stephanie's final WWF night. That's what I'm assuming, and I won't say anything else about this until my RAW review Tuesday.
Our new Smackdown guy, Mick, said it best about Tajiri vs. Test: "Tajiri vs. Test for the Hell of it". Instead of ranting "why the hell was this booked", Mick summed it up for me. Thanks! The match was the usual Tajiri flashy offense with Test eventually getting the win. I guess Tajiri has been losing to bigger guys lately because the WWF wants the appearance of their Cruiserweight wrestlers to be smaller than the Heavyweights? Whatever. Speaking of "whatever", did anybody see the recent South Park, with the Maury Povich show? WHATEVER!! WHATEVER!! I'll DO WHAT I WANT! That was too funny.
Next, it was Hurricane vs. Mighty Molly. A yawner since neither have any credibility now. Hard to watch either wrestler when neither have been on Smackdown or RAW for months at a time. Brock Lesnar came in and DESTROYED both wrestlers. This guy is the FUTURE of the WWF. They should have had Paul Heyman cut a promo about Lesnar, but I guess we'll wait for that one.
Good stuff with the Undertaker challenging Ric Flair to pick him #1 for a continued Wrestlemania moment. Man, the Undertaker is far better now than before. He's at least playing a better heel, now, that's for damn sure.
After spending a few years developing under the WWF system, wouldn't it feel like a slap in the face to be brought in as a manager?!? Ask Rico Constantino, the new manager for Chuck & Suck. "Rico" did make Chuck and Billy wrestle better as a team, which his cheap maneuvers on the Hardy Boyz, who job yet again. Chuck and Suck "suck" as a team, so I guess "Rico" will give them an added boost.
The Main Event was Kevin Nash vs. the Rock. Boring match, as Kevin Nash just simply doesn't have it anymore. He's old, simply put. The ending saw a DQ finish, which makes two bad endings in a row for Main Events, and then a brawl between Rock/Hogan and the NWO, and then... a new member showed up. X-Pac finally debuted in the black and white, and it should help his career, in more ways than one. When I was compiling news from the Observer Newsletter about how Hall and Nash were pushing hard for X-Pac to get into the WWF, I tried to play dumb and not give it away that X-Pac was showing up on Smackdown.
LAST WORD: The "Sports Entertainment" of the past two shows have been quite good, as the storylines have some good interest in them. However, the WRESTLING part of the show has been rather poor. Main Events have been obviously weak, and the midcard has been horrible! My hope is that this is just a phase, as more wrestling will appear once the Split finally occurs. I'll give this show a
This week saw Hawk starting to break down a little bit. He snapped on a stupid personality test, and again had some issues with Hardcore Holly. He would help the crew lose a bet with the trainers, thereby making everyone wrestle in their jock straps and underwear. Ewwww.... in the case of the jock straps, but some of the ladies looked quite nice. Ahem.
Alicia is the next to go. I believe she's milking the muscle strain in her back for all that it's worth. I agree with Pete, in that she appears to have no pain when it comes to having fun, such as dancing in the clubs or running into the water at the beach. She's probably getting cut next, unless a few injuries occur to the other contestants.
LAST WORD: Sort of a "lame duck" show, as next week will be the cuts. I expect Alicia to get thrown off the island show.
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.
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@That's all for today. I HOPE to be back, this weekend, with more PDC. Until the next edition, why not chill?
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.