Welcome to yet another edition of the Phat Daily Column. Today, we'll discuss the current issues of professional wrestling... oh wait, I mean the WWF, since it seems that they are the only promotion to talk about now, and then we'll hype Smackdown. When WCW was around, you were guaranteed to have some material with chaos out of 2 feds, but not now...
I'll tell you what, I've been slowly reading Mick Foley's book throughout this week, and it's been good so far. Looking in the table of contents, I appear to have a lot of good stuff to go, like the "Drugs" chapter. So far, it seems that this book fills in a lot of holes that Mick didn't fill in with his first book, which is understandable, since "Have a Nice Day" was a good 500 pages or more. But so far, I really like it and I'll be working hard on a term paper just so I can set aside some time to read for several hours this weekend. At least that's what I'm shooting for.
Oh, speaking of books! In today's PDC, we have a contribution by the great William Martinez. He has already read Kurt Angle's biography, he will be providing a full review of it in this very column. I happen to respect William a great deal, and I value his opinions, along with enjoying him as a fellow member of LoP. Since many readers want a solid Kurt Angle review right now, instead of light years later when I one day review it, Mr. Martinez will provide the skinny on this book.
And finally... what the hell does the countdown, listed on top, mean. Well, it says "1 MORE DAY!!!" for today, so that means you must tune in for tomorrow's column to find out. It could mean LOTS of things, which I'll gladly discuss in tomorrow's PDC. Yeah, I know I'm acting like Tony Shiavone when giving details on tomorrow's column, but tomorrow's edition will be an important one, at least in my view.
On to the PDC.
Back when the XFL was failing, UPN discussed the possibility of chopping 30 minutes off of Smackdown because of the advertising problems and the political presence the WWF brings, like the assholes from the Parents Television Council (PTC). Speaking of the PTC, I wonder if they are one of those groups that Rush Limbaugh classifies as a socialist group in disguise. You know, a group who uses a conflict to generate donations for another cause, like backing anyone who wants a big government (*cough*Liberals*cough*). But that's the the point. The point is that the WWF brings unwanted problems to UPN, like those groups, which could invade or carry over to UPN's other shows.
-I laugh at anyone who's having problems with the No Mercy webcasts. Why the hell would you want to watch a 3 hour broadcast on your computer? Web feeds have soooo many problems, even on fast connections. All it takes is for the server to either glitch up or slowdown to really screw you out of getting your money's worth. You're better off going to a friend's house or going to a sports bar to watch the Pay Per View, than to waste your time on a webcast, especially one lasting for 3 hours.
No real significant news going on in the wrestling world, or WWF. It makes it quite hard to be daily. Thank God for the Smackdown preview....
On to some officially announced matches, and not the ones that will develop from the show....
Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz for the WCW Tag Titles: When the Duds lost the titles on RAW, I just knew they'd feud with the Hardys next. I just knew it, and I should have placed it in Tuesday's column. Why? BECAUSE THE HARDYS AND DUDLEYS FIGHT EACH OTHER WAY TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! Is that a good enough explanation? Plus, the WWF has a boner of keeping the Dudleys in the title hunt, although they have no idea on how to make them a good heel team anymore. Wow, that gets back to my storylines point. Isn't that something?
Al Snow vs. Tazz: I hope that Smackdown runs an angle to show the anger of Al Snow about what Tazz did to Maven at WWF NY. If not, then booking this match makes no sense. I guess the WWF writers are thinking: "since Tazz attacked Maven at WWF NY, then why not book Tazz against Al Snow for Smackdown". However, what the writers fail to do is to link Snow to what happened on Monday, and not to book him against Tazz in spite of what happened on RAW. These little things weren't missed in 1998, 1999, and parts of 2000. That's when the WWF was really successful, as they had great storylines for every feud.
Mighty Molly vs. Trish Stratus: *Yawn* The Women's division doesn't excite me whatsoever, especially with Molly and Trish. Molly seems to suffer, through the crowds, from the inviduals she hangs out with. Each wrestler, whether it was Crash Holly, Spike Dudley, or Hurricane, were wrestlers who seemed to lose a good deal of matches, which hurts the credibility of Molly as a valet. With Trish... what else can we see from her? We've seen her in nearly every obscure position, outfit, or look possible. What do we really have to gain by seeing her TRY to wrestle? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Argh! This early preview line up is scaring me. Hopefully, the surrounding show that develops will help ease the pain. If not, I'll probably be swearing like a truck driver tomorrow, which I only do when I'm really mad or fired up about a subject. I hope I'm entertained.
First off, the book is pretty much Angle's life story beginning with his childhood going all the way to losing the WWF title. Thank god because not doing this has been the downfall of more than one wrestling book I've read.
The book begins with Angle's childhood, his early years in amateur wrestling. Angle recalls how he was a very athletic kid who was good at pretty much every sport he played. Then Angle gets into the relationship he had with his father and brothers. Tragically, Angle's father died after a construction accident while Angle was a young teenager. Basically, Angle had a pretty normal childhood, he was raised in a middle class neighborhood and pretty much had the same childhood as most kids. Angle talked about his father's alcoholism and the trouble his brothers got into with the law.
Angle then gets into his experiences in amateur wrestling including being treated like a hero at his college, Clarion, and his experiences in other countries. Angle had some pretty good stories to tell in this part of the book but I'll leave that up to you to read about.
Probably the best part of the book is Angle recalling his training for the Olympics and the setbacks he had. His training was pretty amazing and Angle even recalls how his training was so tough that people used to watch him and it even became a tourist attraction around Pittsburgh. The story of how his mentor Dave Schultz was killed by John du Pont was a pretty tragic one and the incident almost cost Angle to quit his training. Angle even wrestled with a broken neck to move onto the Olympics.
Angle really went in depth into his Olympic experience and his life after he won the gold medal. His experience as a sports broadcaster for FOX is a pretty funny one but again, I'll leave that up to you to read.
The chapters about Angle's experience in the WWF isn't as good as I had hoped and I think Angle should have waited about a year before writing this book so he could have wrote about his transition as a heel to a face.
The book is pretty much geared towards very casual wrestling fans as Angle spends a lot of time discussing insider terms. He doesn't really have a lot of backstage stories to tell. Angle also sometimes comes off a pretty cocky but with the amount of work he did to accomplish all the achievements he did in amateur wrestling, I guess he does deserve to be a little cocky. Overall, the book is an easy read and considering no one knows a lot about Angle's history, I would really recommend the book. I'll give the book an A-.
Top Wrestling Books I've Read:
1. Have a Nice Day! - Mick Foley
2. Foley is Good - Mick Foley
3. It's True! It's True - Kurt Angle
4. Who's Next? - Goldberg
5. The Rock Says - The Rock
6. If They Only Knew - Chyna
[ You can e-mail William Martinez at martinez@lordsofpain.org for any feedback regarding this review! ]
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@That's all for today's column. Big thanks to William for his contribution to today's PDC. I'll be back, tomorrow, with a very special edition of the Phat Daily Column, which will also have the Smackdown review to boot. Just chill till the next episode.
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.