I LAUGH at how the WWE management, namely Vince McMahon, is baffled by the 3.1 rating and all of the other low RAW ratings lately. Vince McMahon is a complete moron right now. His company is still profitable, despite his net worth losing around $600 million, therefore, he'll do what HE WANTS and not what the FANS WANT. Why? Because until his company has its back to the wall, he won't listen to what the fans apparently want. A 3.1 rating means that the fans want a NEW champion on RAW, new creative direction, and probably newer stars competing at the top. But it won't happen. Vince does what he wants, and if that's making his daughter Stephanie happy by constantly making Triple H dominate everybody on RAW, then so be it.
And the true sad thing is the major goldmine the WWE actually has. On Smackdown, Edge, Mysterio, Angle, the Guerreros, and Chris Benoit continually put on great match after great match for the tag team division. Gee, if they were fighting over a WORLD TITLE, don't you think those matches would be great, too? Of course! Much better than the abortion that the Brock Lesnar vs. Large Individuals (Undertaker or Big Show) feuds would bring to the table. Hell, imagine if the World Title division had Kurt Angle, Edge, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Chris Jericho, and even Brock Lesnar going for the gold, hinting that the brand extension would be over. All of those wrestlers are considered a peg below Triple H, Kane, Big Show, and the Undertaker, all of whom are killing business at the top.
But hey, why does Vince McMahon need any logic right now? He's STILL making millions, and that's enough to buy him all of the lube he needs to jack off when he sees Pay Per Views headlined by the Big Show or Undertaker instead of more capable workers against Lesnar. A 3.1 rating for RAW, mind you, was around the best Russo brought to Nitro back in late 1999. Once the rating goes under 3.0, RAW is in official Nitro territory, meaning that it's doomed for failure in a matter of time. Hey, if you ask for it then you shall deserve it. Instead of freshening up the product, Vince goes to the old well continually and he'll begin to lose money in late 2003 at this rate.
Although we're the poor saps who keep watching. Well, I for one, enjoy watching Smackdown and that's enough to keep watching the product as a whole. RAW has small glimpses of hope every once in a while, but it's never consistent like Smackdown, and the ratings show that!
Oh man, I about spit out my Sunkist when I read the headline about Joanie "Chyna" Laurer and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman becoming engaged. That's TOO funny. Hey, they are perfect for each other. Both claim to be figures of the WWE's success and both considered their worth to the WWE to be high, which in the end, made each individual lose their job. For Chyna, she thought she was worth much more in terms of money to the WWE, while Waltman thought he should be put in spotlighting storylines instead of as a weak member of the NWO. Could you imagine the kids produced by these two? YIKES! And, to quote some of the people on the message boards, who is the BITCH and who is the BUTCH of this relationship?
I swear, their engagement is going to provide some GREAT news here in the upcoming weeks or until they get married. Look how many substories you could have. For one, this can't be thrilling to Triple H, who used to date Chyna for a long time. Secondly, if they're married, a lucky federation will have to deal with them both, making many great stories to follow. Oh man, this is going to be fun!
I'm not sure what's going on with the WWE and Acclaim. I know that certain stores in my area still have WWF Attitude for the n64 available as brand new, so I can see inventories of stores confusing the WWE on how Acclaim might be reprinting the games. Why would Acclaim reprint those games for the older systems, anyway? Like they'd sell! And I do agree that the WWE may be pulling this stunt to cripple Acclaim in the battle to obtain ECW.
Alright, on to Smackdown. Keep in mind that I was at this show LIVE, so I'll do my comparisons if this match looked better live or on TV. Mmmkay? I would have done this live during the show last night, but I had a final to study for.
Our first match was Edge vs. Chavo Guerrero. This match seemed longer and better in person. Anyway, it was pretty good overall and didn't have any interference in it. Chavo is quite a good worker, like his Uncle, and I'm glad that the Tag Team division has boosted his opportunity to shine.
Damn! They edited out John Cena/Matt Hardy's backstage segment. Bastards! John Cena sooooo ripped the Columbus crowd a new one, as he dogged the Buckeyes greatly in his rap and ended the rap with "cause Columbus sucks". I couldn't hear the whole poem because the fans were booing so loudly. Some people were upset at who their opponents were, Rikishi and Tajiri. Big deal! It's Cena and Hardy's FIRST MATCH as a tag team, and they'll develop from there. What, do you expect them to be like the pairing of Kane and Hurricane and instantly receive a title shot? Yeah, it did so much for Hurricane and Kane back then. Better live than on TV.
I loved the Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle backstage segment both times. Benoit seems to be improving in his backstage segments and mic time lately. Just keep him paired or arguing with Angle, and it will remain good.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio was much better on TV than live. Of course, when I was at the arena, I was scribbling down notes for everyone to read for the Spoilers, so I couldn't watch the match fully. I should bring a tape recorder and voice the results instead of writing down stuff. The Sharpshooter that Eddie won with looked screwed up from my view but looked well executed on television.
Jamie Noble vs. Billy Kidman seemed longer on TV than live. I still don't see Kidman as a strong challenger to Noble, but not for his ability, but for how badly the WWE doesn't write up storylines for Billy Kidman. He's just a regular person competing in the Cruiserweight division. That's his gimmick!
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit looked better on TV than live, for reasons that I explained during the Eddie vs. Rey match. The segment ended with Angle and Benoit hugging, but during the show live, Angle would then give Benoit a big kiss. Then, Edge would chase Rey Mysterio around for a hug. I laughed my ass off at this.
I believe the story that Brock Lesnar roughed up the Big Show for breaking his ribs over the weekend. I couldn't see Big Show's arm from where I was, but damn, that was a big knot in the Big Show's arm after getting thrown into the steel steps. Looked like he may have broke it or something? I wonder if Brock will get punished for this or not? We'll find out Sunday!!!!
LAST WORD: This show was mainly meant as a Pay Per View hype, but given that fact, we have 2 really good matches, and about 3 decent ones on the card. I'm not bought on the Lesnar and Big Show feud, but I am sold on the Guerreros vs. Angle/Benoit vs. Edge/Mysterio match, which should blow off the roof at Madison Square Garden this Sunday. Too bad the rest of the card is very questionable to be anything decent, including the Elimination Chamber. If you want to see a gimmick totally bust, look at the cage match from WCW's Uncensored 1996, which I have a feeling may happen at Survivor Series. I'll give this show a [ B+ ] (B Plus), as it was presented much better on television than Live and for the fact that it's a good show before the Pay Per View.
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