Looks like Shaniqua or Linda Myles will be jumping over to RAW to become a women's wrestler. You mean she can't remain a valet like her Tough Enough 2 counterpart, Jackie Gayda?!? Shaniqua will go down to Ohio Valley Wrestling and receive more training, which is a good thing, and she'll then move up to the RAW roster. Given her height, I'd turn her into a power wrestler. However, Victoria acts like a power wrestler for the underestimated strength that she has. I thought the Bashams experiment was a failure ONLY BECAUSE the tag team was pushed too soon. They work decent as a team, but you can't instantly put them over as champions if they are not ready. See La Resistance. They need to fight and claw their way to the titles, much like the Hardy Boyz, and look what that did for their tag team career.
More rumors about Brock Lesnar having a "big head" are surfacing. I find it funny that rumors about the top Smackdown guys getting "egos" keep popping out around Wrestlemania time. Same exact thing happened with Brock Lesnar last year at Wrestlemania and when Angle returned after his first neck surgery. Who are leaking these? If anything, Brock is very burned out of the travel schedule the WWE gives him, while the other main event heel on the roster, Triple H, has a very cushy schedule. Oh, but he's dating Stephanie. My bad, sorry for applying the double-standard. Whatever faction backstage who personally hates Brock Lesnar for being much better than you must stop sending these overblown rumors to the news sources.
Faarooq or Ron Simmons possibly retiring, once again? We've been down that road several times. If he retires, good luck to Bradshaw, for his many previous singles pushes have failed miserably.
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Ok, let's review some RAW!
Our next match was Val Venis vs. Randy Orton. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Val Venis on television, at least on RAW. Talk about a guy the WWE doesn't care to use. Then again, they tried different gimmicks and it just didn't work. Nothing much of a match, for nobody could get behind Val Venis to give Orton enough heat to help spice up the match. Hard to cheer for a guy when the WWE doesn't ever want to put him on RAW for a regular basis. Orton won the match with the RKO. Yay.
Evolution comes out to the ring next and Triple H goes on YET ANOTHER RANT at why he's the best in the business. He seriously believes it, despite probably about 50% of the roster being able to outwork him. Maybe more than that, given how lazy HHH is in the ring these days and can't move with the extra bulk and knee injuries. Eventually, Chris Benoit comes down and is tired of the talking. He entered the ring with a chair, but failed to take on 4 guys. Shawn Michaels would make the save, but once Evolution is cleared out of the ring, Benoit hits a SWEET Crippler Crossface on Michaels. Steve Austin had enough of the chaos, and tells everyone to clear the ring for the next match. Anybody interfering would lose their spot on Wrestlemania 20.
That very next match was Batista vs. Chris Benoit. Batista tried basic big oaf moves the whole match, including a bearhug and a spinebuster. The WWE seriously thought this guy was ready for the bigtime when he was pushed against Shawn Michaels? Benoit tried to carry this guy, and won with a nice counter to the powerbomb and into the Crossface for the tapout submission.
I liked the backstage segments with Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff, especially when Austin was egging on Easy-E to be the old Eric Bischoff that beat the WWE for 83 weeks. Actually, the more aggressive Eric Bischoff was from 1995 and before the NWO was formed, for he was quite nasty in his Monday Night methods (like giving out spoilers, etc, as discussed in the great Monday Night War DVD).
Next, it was Booker T/Rob Van Dam vs. La Resistance. Booker T and RVD seemed a little more motivated tonight, seeming to want to make the best of a title opportunity and to maybe make it on the Wrestlemania card. I can't believe in this team, yet, given how quickly Goldust and Booker T lost the tag titles. I liked how Booker and RVD incorporated some tag team moves, which is what the RAW roster has been lacking in their tag matches (La Resistance, I'm looking at you!). Decent tag match for television, and I have nothing bad to say about this match, whatsoever. Booker T-RVD, though, could use a tag team finisher, in my opinion, and not just something mixing their finsher moves.
During Mick Foley's interview, he said that "nobody came out to help me", which will definitely pave the way for the Rock. Honestly, though, the WWE is waiting for 2 weeks until Wrestlemania to finally bring in the Rock? Wrestlemania since Wrestlemania 15 is not a Wrestlemania without the Rock fully into it.
Next, it was Christian vs. Trish Stratus. Beforehand, Christian was placed into this match after asking Eric Bischoff for an opportunity at the Tag Team Titles. Bischoff said "no" and gave him a match against Stratus instead. Then, while Christian was talking with Stratus, he said he'll lay down for her in the ring if she'll lay down for him later at the hotel. The second part, he accidentally slipped on and tried to catch himself before his real intentions were revealed. So we fast foward to the ring, and Christian lays down for Trish, but Christian kicks out at 2! A puzzled Trish then gets a vicious clothesline from Christian and slaps her in the Walls of Jericho, instantly receiving mega-heat from the hot Nebraska crowd (they were all night, brother). I'm puzzled as to where this storyline will go, outside of Jericho vs. Christian at Wrestlemania. However, anything that helps Christian receive more heat is a good thing, even if it's the usual petty violence towards women on the WWE's part.
We get ready to end the show with Vince McMahon's "Wrestlemania announcement", but several people interrupt. First, it's Stacy Keibler and Jackie Gayda, wanting to be in Playboy and upset about Torrie and Sable. That prompts an Evening Gown match getting booked for a bathroom break at Wrestlemania for the crowd, although those 4 are arguably the 4 best looking divas in the WWE. Arguably! Then, Kane interrupts, saying he wants a match against the Undertaker since he can't sleep at night and the Deadman has supernatural powers to bother him. That match is signed, sealed, and delivered. The announcement is that Vince won't do Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar because he needs a referee to enforce the match. Steve Austin comes down on the 4 wheeler (that sombitch has to be fun to ride at events) and offers his services. Vince says OK and asks Austin to ref this next match.
The main event was Eric Bischoff vs. Vince McMahon. For someone who actually has a blackbelt in Karate, he sure seems to runaway from people. It was basically Eric getting a few kicks in and Vince trying to use cheap and brawling offense to attack. Both wrestlers were fighting on the outside with Steve Austin watching in the ring. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Brock Lesnar jumps into the ring and F5's Steve Austin. HOLY CRAP! I didn't expect this and it's a good Wrestlemania hyper that the WWE needs at this point to get some discussion about this show out there. It's 20 years of Wrestlemania!
LAST WORD: The wrestling for this show was OK, but the storylines for this show were humming for a change. They need to give people a reason to buy Wrestlemania, and this was a type of show to do that. We've got several weeks to go, and many matches are already in place. It's a good thing and better than some of the half-assed booking done for Wrestlemanias in recent years. I'll give this show an [ A- ] (A minus), liking the show more for its Wrestlemania hype than the performances in the ring.
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@That's all for today. Thanks a million for reading.