It has been a year since the tragedy of Owen Hart's death. Never has there been quite a sad moment as the time we all heard of Owen Hart leaving our world. There wasn't a wrestling fan out there that didn't have a feeling of sorrow or remorse for what happened. It shook all of us.
I'm proud to say that I was able to see Owen wrestle twice. First time, it was during RAW is WAR taping at the Wheeling Civic Center in the Summer of 1996. The Intercontinental title went up for grabs since Farooq injured Ahmed Johnson. A tournament was held, and since RAW tapings taped 4 shows in a row for Monday Nights, I saw most of the tournament. Owen fought and defeated his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith, in an excellent opening round match. Owen then fought the tournament's winner, Marc Mero, and lost that match later in the night.
I then saw Owen in the Spring of 1998 at RAW is WAR at the Wheeling Civic Center when he fought Barry Windham. That was the match that Owen had that nasty ankle sprain, which I clearly saw from my 5th row seats and being close to the corner he hurt it in. He sucked up the injury, and kept wrestling. You couldn't tell at the time that he was actually hurt too. He won the match by DQ when Chyna low blowed him as he was climbing the ring apron.
I, along with the whole wrestling world, miss you Owen. You were definately a star in all of our minds.
If you are going to Smackdown or Thunder this evening, please send us a report of the results to anybody here at LoP. Thanks.
Besides the Flair crap and the Misfits, Nitro was pretty good. I'm glad that Mike Awesome made easy work of the Wall, as he quickly ended that match. Awesome keeps proving "who's the man" in WCW each week. For those of you who questioned his move to WCW, just look at his impact already. There is so much potential left in Awesome, it's ridiculous!
Remember when the Cruiserweight title meant something? That title match...in fact, anything involving Crowbar, Daffney, Tammy Sytch, and Chris Candido together gets really messed up. Always something strange going on between the 4 of them. Horace Hogan in a major feud? Well, at least he's wrestling better now than he was during his first run in WCW. Sort of strange though how Stone Cold Hulk Hogan helped Kidman defeat his own nephew. Speaking of the Hulkster, he's probably getting the next World Title shot....uh oh.
Speaking of that World Title, I did like that ending to the Nash and Jarrett match. Nash was drenched with blood, and BAM!, a good guitar shot for the win. It's funny to see Nash working so hard lately after he used to slack of soo much a year ago. I wonder how bad he was hurting being cramped either under the ring or under that casket?
Terry Funk's announcement was that he would retire, but not until another year! He's also a Grandpa! My gosh, that was a violent pounding by the Revolution New Blood. If Funk is actually around for one more year, I really wonder how many more beatings he can take.
Ooooh, let's put paint all over the Filthy Animal's car! That will make the ratings go up! Gosh, that's about as bad as the pranks that Nash used to pull on Macho Man back in the day. Speaking of corny, WCW somewhat messed up on the Asylum match between the Steiners. That was a good match, but nooo, Tank Abbott has to run down. I feel bad for Scott Steiner because Rick and Tank are going to give it to him until Bill Goldberg eventually saves him. Goldberg seems to come back whenever he wants, so if he delays, the angle must be delayed.
Chuck Palumbo defeated DDP? Now that's not right, because Palumbo wouldn't even be worthy of carrying El Dandy's bags, let alone actually being in a match with DDP and winning it. I don't know what they are thinking with Palumbo. Main event my ass.
Come on Great American Bash! Why do I say this? So that Vampiro and Sting can move on to other opponents.
The show started off with a wonderful, yet unmeaningful opening interview by Vince McMahon. I just like action, that's all. That's why I piss and moan about them everyweek. BUT, that was a great segment with the Rock beating the living crap out of Vince. Damn that was intense!
Here's a cheer for the T&A versus Hardy Boyz match: Repetition *clap**clap**clap**clap**clap*. This is the 3rd time they've fought on either RAW or Smackdown, and frankly, I wonder if anybody notices some of the repetitive booking backstage? Even worse, T&A actually won this time around. Why are they pushing these uncharasmatic thugs? I guess when you are on top of the wrestling world, you can do anything.
Hey, D'Lo returned to the European title division. Too bad he has to keep in this Godfather, which is getting NO HEAT by the way. Let him feud with Eddie, and let the Godfather keep coming out with the hos, and jobbing everyweek. Speaking of Godfather, along with Rios, he lost a handicap match with Perry Saturn. Now WWF, let's start pushing Saturn from this so that he can achieve something, like the other Radicals who hold 3 of the current WWF titles.
What was the point of the Edge/Christian/Angle vs. Rikishi/Too Cool match tonight? To wrong a right from last night?
Shane McMahon got his last night too, and it was interesting to see how Gerald Brisco was scared all night long. But of course, since Shane and Vince are SUPERhuman, they return to attack the Rock.
Good IC title match between Val Venis and Chris Benoit, which proves that Val can wrestle. With his current gimmick, he's limited on what he can do. Can we say, reevaluate a character? Just don't call him by his real name, because you see what that did for Meat's career.
Dudleys are so damn over now as faces, it's ridiculous! People were literally pumped just before the 3D was forming. Wait, it was a hot crowd all night!
Crash Holly is funny. It's surprising that he didn't go after the Hardcore Title tonight. Brisco too tough for you? Nah, he made a dumber move by spilling beer on Bradshaw. CLOTHESLING FROM HELL! CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL!!
All in all, a good night of wrestling
Awww, I hear that the Insane Clown Posse might possibly retire from wrestling. They reported on InsaneClownPosse.com that they could be retiring in an upcoming wrestling event. *Tito summons Gods to make ICP lose that match* A retirement from wrestling would be a relief in the wrestling world, because these clowns have no purpose in it. All they do is start trouble with whatever federation they are with, and talk about how tough they really are. If they are out of wrestling, then they can do what they do best, and that's music. They are an eyesore for the wrestling world, but a good rap duo with many fans who love their music. I just rip on when they are in wrestling, and NOT what they do for music. So when they leave the wrestling world, finally, I'll say "don't let the door hit ya, where the good Lord split ya!"
@That's all for this wonderful Tuesday Editon of the Phat Daily Column. I'll be back tomorrow with Ratings Analysis, and other goodies. Be sure to stop by the Phat Farm for two great columns to read today!