Note: New format this week, as I've ditched the grades. Why? I'm just tired of having marks jump all over me. Plus, I get rather harsh when I do the grades. If one thing pisses me off on a show, that usually hurts the rest of the show. Now, in place of the grades, I have something, which I think, is a little better. I will now just predict their show ratings instead. Before I go on to the column, I just want to apologize for any of my harsh grades that I've done. This is my column, but there were times where I was too cruel to one show or the other.
Filthy Animals vs. Revolution Good match with Saturn and Mysterio, as Saturn really knew how to work Rey's moves. I'm very glad to see the Revolution break up, or at least drop Benoit and Malenko. I'd rather see Saturn as more of a face, but this siding with Douglas might not be bad after all.
Midcard Madness!!! Help Nitro, they've got Midcard Madness!!! Yes, too much of it. Now some midcarders, yes, like the Filthy Animals and Revolution and a few others deserve to be on Nitro..but others don't. WCW, again, filled their Nitro card with heatless matches and with wrestlers who should be working the undercard at the Saturday Night shows. Those wrestlers and matches are a good reason why WCW can't get their ratings up. Maybe it's the three hour factor, as it has to be rough to book Nitro everyweek. Still, weak stuff like that drives viewers away. Way too much Berlyn this week also. They also had matches with Main Eventers squashing jobbers. Come on, why have that for Nitro? Funny thing about the Sid match, is that he needed help to beat Van Hammer!! HAHAHA
Been there, done that We've seen Ric Flair vs. Curt Hennig many many times, but I'm just glad DDP didn't jump in this match. It seems that the only way WCW can get a feud over is to have their opponent cause a screwjob in their match or run-in.
Main Event with Hart and Benoit vs. Luger and Steiner Rick Steiner in the main event?? What a waste! It was also nice to see stupid Sid run in on this one. I did like how Goldberg layed him out...this way, in case Sid decided to no show for Havoc, WCW will be ok. :)
Last Word: Overall, WCW needs to strengthen their card. Tons of weak midcard action really hurt this show. I'm not talking the good midcard, I mean the weak ones. WCW needs to stop being so hellbent on Sid. He's boring me to death that's for sure. Why do they have Goldberg matches in the first hour? Oh well. I expect WCW to get a composite rating around 2.9 and their Head to Head rating will be around 2.3.
Lots of Strange, unnecessary stuff I didn't like a few things from RAW. The dog crap was one thing that wasn't needed. I didn't care for that much. Also, even if Big Show's father has cancer, why is the WWF using it as an angle? The Godfather match, or whatever you call it, was funny....but never before seen. I don't like that Stephanie lost memory angle...too much like a damn soap opera.
X-Pac defeats former World Champ! That's right, he defeated Ron Simmons, who used to be the WCW World Champion back in the day..but wait, he's Farooq and he's a loser now. Doh! Well, it was a nice win, and X-Pac needs to settle down when Kane helps him out.
Chyna and Triple H vs. Stone Cold and Jim Ross Crazy stuff happening her, but it was nice to see Chyna and Triple H together again. Triple H and Stone Cold leave the arena to rumble, and Jim Ross is saved from an asswhipping from Chyna by Jeff Jarrett? Hey, I remember someone getting rolled off an edge, you know, Funk and Foley being rolled off an edge while in a dumpster. Kinda the same thing with Chyna, only she was in a clothes hamper.
Welcome Back! I'm glad the Headbangers are back, as they will add to the already beefed up tag division. They gave me a scare, as they could barely powerbomb Mr. Hughes. I'm glad this domestic violence angle crap is over.
No contest for you! Nothing like a good RAW No Contest main event...at least from what we saw. But hey, Bulldog got the Rock Bottom in dog shit, so is that cool?
Last Word: Overall, RAW wasn't too solid, but it had it's entertaining parts. I wish they would have had better finishes to their matches though. RAW will once again triumph in the ratings, as I expect their composite to be around 6.0.
-Good thing I decided to talk about Hogan early, as he has officially given his 90 notice to WCW. Reading Kirk Huffman's hotline report, it states that Hogan could decide to stay in WCW within those 90 days. Which does seem reasonable for Hogan. He can try the new creative team out, and if he doesn't like what they do, he can just say 'screw you' and leave. He should stay, because I think he could be utilized as a good supporting role...and maybe he could help others get over. I don't know if Hogan would be up to that, but anything is possible.
-As a follow up to my crusade to hate WCW.com, I have been told and thought about why they lack huge news like WWF.com provides. Basically, they have a good following of suscribers to their WCW hotline. You can now suscribe to the Hotline for a month for only $39.95, which in my mind, is a pretty good deal. WCW wants you to buy that, and if you really love the news, it's well worth it compared to calling it everyday. I don't know, just speculating. If you are interested in this deal, then click here for more information.
-The WWF seems to be extremely happy with their women's division, and especially with Ivory's work. They feel that they finally got some heat towards that division without having a Playboy playmate as their champ. Of course, lots of thanks should go to Jeff Jarrett, as his heat helped get Moolah and Mae Young over. Women, anymore, are heavily involved with WWF programming, as before, they were there to look at, but now they fight! WWF is now going to add more to their division, as they are searching other federations and elsewhere for talent.
@That does it for the 199th consecutive PDC. I'll be back with the 200th consecutive column tomorrow, so until then, why not chill?
Take Care, and Happy Wrestling.