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First off, WCW screwed up hard on the ending. Now I back anything that Booker T does, but having him run in on a great main event match between Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett? Please. Sure I want WCW to use him, but that was horrible how they ended that match! Also, the cliffhanger of Bret Hart swinging the chair. That's a BAD finish, especially coming after the BAD run-in by Booker T. Shame on WCW for this one, as there is no Thunder(notice I named it correctly) this week due to the NBA playoffs. Bad, bad ending.
However, the rest of the show was SPECTACULAR!!! If it weren't for these two botched up endings, this should would have gained an A easily! Let me see...where to start? Ok, with my two favorites. That segment with Sting and Vampiro was just intense! Sting flew down into the ring hard, and destroyed Vampiro good. Those bat shots looked VERY STIFF, and Vampiro sold every move good. This feud is really getting good, although Sting got the early clean win at Spring Stampede.
Yes, I bash the opening interviews...but not when they have a purpose. Nitro's opening interview didn't have guys blurting out whatever came to their heads like Triple H, the Rock, Vince McMahon, or any McMahon does in the opening interviews. Matches that I joked about yesterday proved to be decent, with the repetitive but better match between Shane Douglas and Lex Luger, the war between Shawn Stasiak and Curt Hennig, and the hardcore match between the Wall and Terry Funk. Normally I bitch about older guys winning over young, but my gosh, the Wall sucks, and I was thrilled when Funk won that match. Thanks Terry!
Hell, even guys that I don't like, for example, Hulk Hogan, Brian Clark, and Brian Adams were very entertaining in their roles. Wow, Hogan really seems like he's willing to work with Russo now, and that is a definate plus for anything in the future. Hell, I'm starting to really love the newfound war between Kevin Nash and Mike Awesome. I'm hoping WCW pushes Awesome to the moon from now on, because that guy has so much talent! Well, I guess poor Madden didn't get his ass kicked this week, as we could see a possible match up between Bob Probert and Tank Abbott. Hell, you might as well call Marty McSorley, who I remember defeated Probert in probably the best NHL fight of all time, to help interfere in that one. Besides, Marty has LOTS of time to be available now.
For those who don't know, I do my column in the early morning...WAY before the Code Red preview show comes out. Therefore, I had NO clue they would be fighting. I didn't think Triple H would put the title on the line this early, and I was shocked to see them fighting. When the Acolytes came down to help, I was like "oh lord, here comes a turn by the Acolytes". That didn't work out that way, and after a very good match and craziness in the ring, Jericho won the title via fast count by Hebner. My reaction, just like the crowd at No Way Out when Mick Foley fell through the Cage: "HOLY SHIT"! I couldn't believe my eyes. Jericho had won the title!
HOWEVER, a predictable reversal followed by a predictable firing by Triple H on Hebner, Jericho's dreams were shattered. Still, he PROVED he could handle a match with Triple H, and he PROVED worthy of being the WWF champ in my eyes, and I'd imagine many WWF officials' eyes too. The WWF saved face with Triple H defeating Jericho cleanly in the main event, but I still think that the fact that the Rock COULD win the title at Backlash might get tarnished by Jericho's victory. It just might, but I don't know. Speaking of the Rock, Linda McMahon, after talking nonsense for a good 6 minutes, announced that Stone Cold Steve Austin will be in Rock's corner at Backlash! Yes! The weapon that will keep the WWF on top is returning!
It's time for...
Let's Mess up Spots!
1. Eddie Guerrero stood around for a good 10 seconds in order for Lita to "accidentally" moonsault him.
2. During the Head Cheese/Dudley Boyz match, the Ref looked at Test interfering a good 3 times!
Shame on those who messed up. Besides the error, I enjoyed the Essa Rios/Guerrero and Hardy Boyz match. Great performances by both teams, even though the ending is so botched up! Headcheese and Dudleys was OK. Interesting things happen when Trish Stratus kisses you, I suppose. Hey, Tazz had that wonderful ECW title on him for that 3 way dance. I must say this about that match. Perry Saturn lagged in it bigtime, just like he did on Smackdown. He looked tired once again, and I wonder what is truly wrong with him. He used to be a very fast and impacting competitor in WCW, but he's weak in the WWF. What gives? I gotta applaud the WWF for making Crash a great champion. He's making that hardcore division interesting!
Shame on the WWF for constantly throwing Dean Malenko vs. Scotty Too Hotty or however that is spelled at us. This is the 3rd time they've wrestled in a month's span! At least there was a new outcome, as I like how Scotty is elvolving into a big star without Grandmaster Sex-ay. In fact, Scotty is being used CORRECTLY now. He's a lightweight, therefore he'll win the lightweight title. He had NO CHANCE of winning the tag titles with another fellow lightweight in a Heavyweight division. MY GOSH, THAT'S BEEN MY WHOLE POINT ABOUT TOO COOL THIS WHOLE TIME. Understand now?
Benoit vs. Big Show was OK, as I was hoping for a MASSIVE chokeslam, just like the one he delivered on Benoit at the Clash of the Champions a few years back, which in my opinion, is the best chokeslam ever! Hey, I have access to pictures of that very chokeslam...I just might have to scan those! The angle with Kurt Angle and Big Show is rather strange, especially with the segments. Thank the lord that Bull Buchanan and Bossman didn't win the tag titles! Also thank him for bringing back Kane, and having him beat their asses!!!
What a night of Wrestling!! Both shows got strong B+s, but I will say that Nitro, in my opinion, was SLIGHTLY better. Again, that is my opinion, as were the of the impressions you just read.
-Of course, a way for ECW to get the ratings they need is to continually work with the WWF to destroy a common goal: WCW. Like I stated when I reported it from Slam, WWF needs to keep WCW down to remain the #1 federation, and ECW needs to get WCW lower to become the #2 federation. It's a good trade-off for the two companies, and by working together, they can manipulate a lot of situations never thought possible. WWF, in my opinion, doesn't really need the help of ECW, but by trading them talent, mainly their farm talent, the WWF will make out in the long run. ECW could use any attention that they could get right now, and the WWF is still the hottest ticket around!
-Ouch. USA Networks is suing the WWF now, along with CBS/Viacom, for the fact that the WWF could have NO escape clause(or it wasn't used right) on their deal. That really hurts or stalls the WWF chances of signing the big money deal with Viacom, as USA might keep the reason they are still a cable network. To keep a WWF happy, USA better offer up time to air XFL games. That seems to be the real goal of the negotiations for WWF programming, as that could have ruined the WWF's chances with Viacom when they signed with NBC for XFL games.
@That's all for this edition of the Phat Daily Column. Damn, this one took a good while to write. Well, anyway, I'll see you tomorrow with what I'm hoping should be some interesting ratings analysis. So until then, just chill till the next episode!
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Take Care, and Thanks to everyone resposible for having 3 LoP Signs on 2 Monday Night Shows!!!!