Speaking of reading material, I will let you know that I now own Kurt Angle's book. As I was at my local Walmart, yesterday, with Mrs. Tito, I saw that it was selling for a very nice price, as opposed to the suggested price on the book. Hell, I know I'll eventually read it one day, so why not have it ready for the future? But damn, I still have Foley's 2nd one to read.. looks like I have lots of wrestling material to catch up on.
Also, I could have bought the Undertaker's new video for $10.99 at my evil monopolizing Sam Goody. For a WWF video, that's actually a cheap price, to my amazement. However, I'm in an Undertaker boycotting mood, especially after seeing the garbage of a match he had at Unforgiven. Plus, I have a feeling that it will more or less focus on his more recent work, as opposed to his better work in the past. And finally, I don't want to buy it because I got burned on the last WWF video that I bought, Best of RAW Volume 3. So I'll pass on the Undertaker's video for a while or forever.
And don't say that I'm obligated to review ALL new wrestling material that comes out. Oh no. For one, I'm paying out of my own pocket for this stuff, and especially with books, it takes up my time (time equals money). The only possible way that I'll review a shitty video is if I can rent it, which will be the case for the Undertaker one. That's it, and probably the new policy for the rest of the current WWF videos.
Anyway, on to the PDC because I really want to discuss the KroniK situation.
So FINGER OF SHAME to the WWF for even considering having KroniK in the WWF in the first place. They listened to their old fart, the Undertaker, about bringing those two big motherfuckers in, and what did it give them? Problems. They angered many of the wrestlers in the background with their attitudes, and they helped to put on an embarrassing match at the Pay Per View. Notice how I said "helped", because it's about fucking time that the WWF holds the Undertaker accountable for his actions because he worked poorly at Unforgiven, too. He's wrestling like a dinosaur and he's becoming a bad backstage presence. Screw seniority when it's hurting your company in this way.
-Finally on the Daily Apples, I forgot to mention the Tough Enough contestants on RAW at WWF NY. Just from looking at the wrestlers, I believe that Nidia and Chris are winning. Why? They seemed sort of tired from possibly working out earlier. Taylor looked a bit too spunky for television, and Maven was just sort of his laid back self. Josh had a new hair style, which signifies that he wouldn't get that if he was wrestling, I guess. Chris had a black eye, which could have been from getting potatoed at wrestling. Just my observations.
Let's look at the Top 10 first... EXCELLENT pick at #1 this year with Kurt Angle. He's been the best in the business, bar none, especially since you are about guaranteed to see him wrestling on every Smackdown, RAW, or Pay Per View, while the other main eventers get their weeks off. Also, I really like the #2 spot with Steve Austin, who has come off of his injuries to be a good worker. Sure, his storylines are strange, but he's been able to withstand punishment, whereas before, he couldn't. Chris Benoit at #3 is a very agreeable one, too, since he gave his body to the WWF during the summer with some truly excellent bouts.
At #4, we have Keiji Muto, who is a Tito sentimental favorite as the Great Muta. Now again, I have NOT seen a single Japanese bout from recent times to know what he's been doing, so no comment. PWI usually tries to put a Japanese wrestler in the top 5, every year, and another in the top 10, like they did with Mitsuharu Misawa at #8. Misawa has been in the PWI 500 top 10 for years now. At #5, we have Booker T, who made a strong comeback off of his injuries at the end of AOL/Time Warner ran WCW, and he then made a nice transition to the WWF. #5 is questionable with several months off, in my opinion, although I mark out for Booker T at all costs.
Triple H is #6, which is reasonable. He was great before the injury, and the injury pushes him down the list. Totally understandable. However, I do not agree with Scott Steiner at #7. With the injury and the sale of WCW to WWFE, he hasn't done much in 2001. Maybe put him in the top 25, but not the top 10. I would have switched #9 and #10. I believe that Rhyno should be at #9 and Chris Jericho should be at #10, and not the other way around. Rhyno has been spectacular and improving at times, while Jericho has been a great worker, but little or no improvement. I see more potential in Rhyno than Jericho for the future.
To round out the rest of the 40.... I don't think the Undertaker has been that great to put at #1, of all places. He's a poor worker at his age these days. Maybe put him somewhere in the 20s, but not at 11. I am glad that PWI put Lance Storm at #13. Glad a "wrestling" magazine did that. The Rock gets the #14 spot for missed time. Understandable, but why isn't Scott Steiner below him then? The rest of the top 50 looks decent, although I would have moved Tajiri into the top 20 because he's been impressive in the WWF.
LAST WORD:Overall, though, it looks to be one of the better PWI 500s ever. Probably the best one that they've done. I'm sure that many will bitch about Rob Van Dam's spot on the list, but note that he had a lot of time off from ECW and mainstream wrestling until the WWF came calling. I highly recommend this magazine for anyone in need of a good read.
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@That's it for today's edition. Hopefully, I'll be able to have something for you tomorrow. Until then, just chill....
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