Welcome back to the Phat Daily Column. Today, we look back on what happened on Monday Night. WCW, with lots of rumors flying around, attempted to put on a show for the hot Australian crowds to gain some ground. The WWF, with a pay per view coming up this week, tried to wet our appetites for us to actually buy the PPV. So how did they do? Well, that's why we review the shows....

But first........

Thanks to whoever held up held this sign at Nitro last night(or 4 days ago). To sort of quote Norm McDonald of Saturday Night Live fame: "Which proves my theory, once again, that Australians love Lordsofpain.net".

And on a special note....I'll apologize for yesterday's column. As I was just adding sarcasm to the WCW.com preview, I just went off in a couple paragraph rant, just destroying WCW. Although I don't go back on my opinions, it was wrong of me to rip WCW that hard in a Nitro preview. I meant every word of it, but if it did indeed offended you as a WCW fan, then I apologize. It's just that *I want* WCW to get better, but yet certain problems are still around that nobody is fixing in that federation, until it's officially sold. So when I saw some strange bookings for Nitro, I just went off.

It should be noted that ratings will be low tonight, thanks to the National League baseball series and the ONE SIDED victory by the Titans over Jacksonville.

By the way, I'm thinking that baseball has a few mysteries to it. You know, they have been hyping a "subway" series between the Mets and the Yankees for quite some time now, even before the Playoffs started. It just so happens that the Mets won their part, and the Yankees will either triumph tonight(?), or in game 7, making it look like they overcame adversity. Coincidence? Hmmmm.

NITRO

I don't understand why WCW doesn't let Jindrak/O'Haire win without interference, as they are one of the most talented teams in the business. I don't care if they are "heels", but if you let them start winning cleanly, it's going to build up any tag team feud they get involved with. Instead, they need KroniK to help them beat a weak Disqo Inferno and an already washed up Alex Wright, who looks like a skinny Uncle Fester.

I'm hoping that after Halloween Havoc, that this Team Canada feud with the Misfits in Action ends once and for all! Of course, it won't, since there is no such thing as pushing someone as talented as Lance Storm. We must put them in with goofs(MIA) so that Lance Storm can't steal the show, like he was doing with his good matches. You get it?!? A Wall???

I don't know about you, but I mark out everytime Konnan hits that Rolling Thunder clothesline. Don't know what it is, as I'm not a cranberry Konnan fan. This feud with the Franchise and Konnan has been set up better than most feuds, although Torrie Wilson seems a bit off during some segments. Yay, Kidman got involved with the Booker T match with the Franchise, which makes me wonder why Russo complains about the Undertaker and Kane fighting so much.

By the way, WCW did put on a good wrestling clinic for a few matches. I really liked the Booker T vs. Franchise match, as two good performers can do wonders. I actually liked the Sting vs. Kevin Nash match, as it helps to build up more heat for Sting vs. Jarrett. However, the psychology of Kevin Nash getting surgery after this event makes it ridiculous for Nash to get the win. But, it helped Jarrett and Sting. I want to know why when the Lumberjacks started fighting, they were all heading up the ramp. I found that very odd. Jarrett and Konnan was pretty good also. Good technical wrasslin', eh EvilWrath7?

Now I was laughing hard when Scott Steiner ripped the hell out of the crowd in Australia. Steiner needs to rip on the crowds, on the mic, more often. That's what made him a great heel in the first time. Of course, WCW is scared to give him a lot of mic time, ever since he shot his mouth on Ric Flair, among other things on live television. He tossed Kidman around like a ragdoll. Anybody ever consider using Kidman to spice up the Cruiserweight division? He's obviously not cutting it in the heavyweight division.

Did you see Ric Flair at the end of the match? Yeah, they played up to the "concerned look" at David Flair, but he was actually injured during the match. Goldberg stiffly drove David Flair, into the mat with a spear. So instead of going light on him with the Jackhammer, he drilled him as hard as he could. What a bastard. WWF thinks they'll be able to control Goldberg if they buy WCW? Oh please.

Please ditch those 70s gimmicks. Awesome and Crowbar, once again, showed that they are two of the most talented wrestlers that WCW has. They destroyed the Perfect Event, in a match that provided some good laughs. That cracked me up when Nash said he hated the music, and just overall bashing of Shawn Stasiak was good.

I can't wait for Kronik vs. Goldberg! I hope it gets so out of hand in that match! I'd laugh if both sides just stopped cooperating with each other, and just didn't let either side lose. I'd love that.

NITRO Phat Stats

Clean Wins: 4
Screwjobs: 4
Disqualifications: 1
No Contests: 0

Last Word: This was obviously the best Australian show yet for WCW, as the matches were pretty good, although the thought behind a bunch of them were off. I'll give it a

B+

because it didn't really seem to have much Russo influence behind it. Thank God. Thanks to the sporting events and RAW is WAR, this federation will get a low 2.0 in the second hour.

RAW is WAR

Hey, they tried a "hot match" instead of a BORING INTERVIEW to start the show. I'm hoping that this provides a boost in the ratings so that I can prove everyone wrong. The WWF didn't have any super long interviews, but they had a whole series of little interviews. Hmm. Oh well, I can sit through that.

Too bad that "hot match" was ended with an injury though, with X-Pac coming down to a "nobody cares" feeling, and Mr. Ass is getting the loudest pops known to man now! Of course, he was cheered back in the day during his entrances, but once *tried* to wrestle...that's a different story. It's going to be a rough match with Mr. Ass and Eddie Guerrero since Eddie is injured now. Not good at all, because Eddie could carry Billy Gunn to a decent match.

Hey, a T&A match that was watchable! Gotta hand it to the Acolytes for wrestling with extra intensity, fresh off their Heat tour. I wish they would at least try to push Test on his own again, but I guess Jim Ross's boy, Albert, needs some loving too.

Whoooo!! William Regal is your new European Champ! Yes, now maybe Al Snow can go buy himself a gimmick, because he's obviously not doing so well these days, no matter what the WWF tries for him. I remember a time when he was soo over in ECW...

Kane vs. Triple H was the same as any other match they've done, with Kane never getting a win. Ever! I liked how the Game was tapping out to the Crippler Crossface. That was a nice touch, and it will show you that Triple H will indeed win at No Mercy.

Wow. The Dudley Boys lost a match against the Los Conquistadors, and cleanly too. No matter who was under those masks, that's a big win since the Dudleys don't lose cleanly that much.

Road Dogg vs. Val Venis on RAW is WAR. My Gosh, were the wrestlers for the Jakked show taking too much time during their matches?

The Main Event was pretty good, saving this show from an average letter grade. It's funny how the WWF made Jeff Hardy take the pin to disquise the fact that the Rock is going to win this Sunday.

Oh boy. Rikishi almost hit Austin with a car again. That makes my mouth really want to water for this feud. It's funny how Rikishi needs time off after their match, which already determines that Stone Cold will win and that any heat for Rikishi has been shot down. Good job WWF.

Matches: 8

Clean Wins: 4
Screwjobs: 1
Disqualifications: 1
No Contests: 1

Last Word: This show had overall weaker action than WCW, so it loses the Tito opinion wars. It was way better than their last RAW that they had before the last Pay Per View, and the main event with a few other matches carried this show to a

B

if you can dig that. I predict a 5.0 in the ratings for the first hour, or slightly lower due to the baseball game and football game.

Overall, a decent night of wrestling.

WrestlePalooza.com

@That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow for a look at the ratings, if you can dig that. Until then, please check out the latest Retrospection at the Phat Pharm.

Phat Pharm: CLICK HERE to read the latest "Retrospection", which discusses the career of Raven!

Take Care, and Don't take opinions seriously. Take other things in life seriously.

Mr. Tito © 2000 Exclusive to LordsofPain.net