Recently, a certain interview and video tape distribution website had one of their contributors e-mailing LoP to post news on their upcoming independent show they were forming or promoting. However, LoP decided against posting the news, so the contributor then went on to get a username and post the news on our message boards, which we deleted quickly and I guess banned the user.
But why? LoP is one of the last few sites that gives attention to Independent wrestling. That's true, but there's another factor. The "certain interview and video tape distribution website" just happened to insult one of LoP's posters a short while ago, saying that he didn't give the proper credit to their site for the news used. Huh? LoP takes pride in crediting ALL news that we compile for the readers, and we've had that reputation for years. For the certain member of that site to flame one of our posters the way he did, he does NOT deserve the attention for his precious independent show on LoP.
Being a jerk, sometimes, will always come back to haunt you.
On a better note, I'll review Steve Austin's What? video tomorrow. Again, it will be the VHS version, so keep that in mind, please.
Secondly, I mentioned how you could watch NBA, NHL, and MLB games during wrestling. Well, the NBA and NHL games pretty much ended... At least baseball was still on throughout the night, as the Pirates game went into extra innings for me, and ESPN had baseball on all evening. Damn them if they go on strike.
On to the PDC.
Eddie Guerrero would ruin Benoit's parade. He cited that he was the BEST Radical, as he had the most ability and charisma of the group. Ric Flair would run down, saying that he gave Benoit the one night in front of his homecrowd, so get the hell out now after Benoit began pushing Guerrero around. It was good to see a fresh face on television, and I really hope Flair pulls a deal to get Benoit on RAW.
To kill a hot start, we had Trish Stratus/Spike Dudley vs. Molly Holly/William Regal. Wow, let's do old feuds for this match, like anyone will care! I don't know what it was, but I laughed at Molly's 2nd base comment. Match was quite a sloppy one, which had no title changes, despite the Women's belt and European titles being on the line. And they wonder why the European title has no credibility...
As if the 24/7 gimmick couldn't get any older... Steven Richards was being interviewed by Terri, when all of the sudden, Jackie had a problem with Steven's love for Jazz. Jackie would crack Richards with the microphone, try for the pin. I guess Steven's best buddy, Crash, recommended him to feud with Jackie? Shawn Stasiak made the save, and then the Bossman would too. What is this? Trying to get all of the Heat wrestlers in on the RAW payday? Everyone ran away, and Terry would make the pin to become the NEW hardcore champion. She's probably the oldest champion ever. Steven Richards, though, would roll her up for the win, which showed LOTS of beaver on Terri's part. Wow...
Next match was Booker T/X-Pac versus Hardy Boyz.. Hardys were, again, put out there to look bad. Despite some conflicts within the ring to get along, Booker T and X-Pac still managed to win. Weren't the Hardys tag team champions at one time? The nWo team won this match, so I guess they are still in the group... but who honestly cares?
Tommy Dreamer or, um Tom Green, came down to the ring and said he's just like every other wrestling fan. He would eat some hotdogs off the ground, but then get ambushed by the Undertaker. Undertaker intimidated him, and threatened him to drink his tobacco spitter. YECCH!!!! Tommy Dreamer has large balls for doing what he did. The Undertaker would then go on to squash Dreamer, making you wonder why the WWE just squashed another character that they were trying to build up. Looks like the Undertaker is set to feud with someone on Smackdown.
Next match was Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Brock Lesnar. Easily the best match of Lesnar's early WWE career, as Bubba gave him a great run for the money. This match was made better by the crowd's support of Bubba to beat the big monster. There was a great confrontation between Heyman and Bubba before the match, which made Heyman's interference, at the end of the match, making a lot of sense. I'm guessing a Tables Match will be set up at King of the Ring.
Bradshaw vs. Big Show was next. YAWWWWWWWWWWN! Looks like the WWE has realized the drawing power of Bradshaw, which is witnessed by his clean loss to the Big Slow. These guys are the ones who need to headline Heat.
Why on earth did they put Goldust vs. Crash Holly on RAW? What purpose did it have? It was your basic pre-1995 squash, and Crash has to truly wonder why many people call him a "jobber". Afterward, it was cool to see Kevin Nash pound on Crash, too, and pretty much threaten to kill Goldust. Nash did well tonight...
And finally, a possible candidate for 2002's Match of the Year. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam in the ladder match... Didn't I say that they would eventually fight in one of these for the Intercontinental Title? I said that in my last 2 Pay Per View predictions columns. Anyway, this was an incredible match, with both guys turning it up a notch. Guerrero with the sunset flip on the ladder was just awesome, and same with his dive off the top of the ladder, too. Poor Van Dam was a victim of a badly damaged ladder, which could have resulted in a bad injury when attempting the 5-star Froggy Splash. Speaking of 5-stars, was this match one? Well, I don't give out stars for matches, but this was possibly the best of 2002, thus far.
The only problem I had was having Guerrero losing cleanly to Rob Van Dam in the midst of his new feud with Steve Austin. I guess it will help Rob Van Dam, a HUGE crowd favorite. Austin would run down afterward to pound on Guerrero. However, Chris Benoit would emerge and HELP out Guerrero by attacking Austin. I was hoping for a Crippler Crossface, but oh well. I would have marked out if Guerrero and Benoit held up the 4 Horsemen hand signals.
LAST WORD: Lots of effort was put into this show to make it extra special. But when it came down to it, it was Eddie Guerrero and Rob Van Dam risking their bodies to boost ratings. The same happened last year when the WWE did the TLC 3 match on Smackdown. But hey, they are pushing some talent for a change, and Eddie looked fantastic in the Ladder Match and Rob Van Dam got a huge win that many will remember. I'll give this show a
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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@Let's hope for some changes on Smackdown. How about a World Title change? You know, somehow get the belt off the old fart, the Undertaker, and on to someone who would make the most out of travelling to both shows: Kurt Angle. I'll be back tomorrow with a review of Austin's What? video and more. Until then, just chill....
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.