Hello everyone! Since my last update, I went to an independent wrestling show (which you would know if you read the newsboard), watched ECW on TNN, and saw the WWF’s Judgement Day. So here is a little bit of a recap plus the ever popular news and rumors!
Let’s take this in chronological order. We’ll start with my opinions and then head down to the news and rumors as well as updates.
After watching the ECW on TNN I have to ask myself, what the hell happened to the ECW that I used to stay up late and watch four summers ago on the MSG Network? Where is the sick, twisted storylines as the main event? Where are the young, athletic stallions carrying the undercard? Where is the booking from Paul E. that used to send the wrestling world on its heels? I mean, I know that they are under a few contraints as far as how extreme they can get, but the product they are pushing is just not that fun to watch anymore. I don’t want to see the Network taking over for months and months (a la nWo), I want to see Cyrus and his gang just overtake the damn show and run it their way. I want to see Paul E. come out and save his company. Come on. I know that all of you BS with your friends about wrestling angles that you would like to see, well chances are that you and your friends are booking better angles than the ECW right now.
And what kind of impact can the ECW make if Paul E. doesn’t get his big name talent to sign long term contracts…WITH NO LOOP HOLES? I mean come on!
Now I made a comment about young stallions wrestling in the ECW undercard. Some of you might say that they were all bought up by the WCW and the WWF. Bullshit. I went to an ECPW show on Saturday night and I was truthfully amazed by the youth on the show. There were young guns no more than 22 or 24 that were tearing apart the ring! The show was not a hardcore show, it was not a cutting edge pyrotechnics display…it was a bunch of wrestling giving it their all and putting on a show like I have never seen before. Granted, it was held in a HS gymnasium and many of the spots could have been tweaked up here and there, but the show FAR exceeded my expectations and the expectations of the other fans.
If you read my report on the newsboard, then you know that there were many guys who I thought stood out as above and beyond the call of duty. Guys such as The Great Cerenzio, The Kodiak Bear, Grand Master B, and others were just incredible. If you ever get a chance to see the ECPW live or any of the stars that I named in my report yesterday, GO AND SEE! They are great!
I’m going to bring my tirade to a close with the WWF’s PPV before I hit the news and rumors.
I thought that the WWF did a great job with their PPV. Well, let me clarify. The first match was great with Kurt Angle tasting the old Stinky Face. The second match had some great action with the Radicals mixing it up. The third match was cool, but the WWF really should be pushing the Big Show, not having him lose to Shane McMahon. The fourth match was a goodie as well as the bastards in Degeneration X stole another victory and the Dudleys put the Hardcore Champion, Gerry Brisco, through a table. By the way, Brisco was excellent all night long! I have to take my hat off to him for playing the scared champion role VERY well! The Intercontinental match was also great as Benoit just choked the life out of Jericho to retain the title. You have to think that Jericho is going to get a push now that he has no belt and the fans behind him even more than before.
And then there was the main event. There were a lot of people that thought HHH and The Rock couldn’t hold a crowd for an hour. They were proven wrong. There were a lot of people that said that today’s wrestling fans wouldn’t appreciate an hour long match. I think that the fans appreciated the match very much. But then there was a silent, silent bunch of people that said the Rock couldn’t go a full hour; not for conditioning reasons, but for the fact that he doesn’t know enough moves to go that long. I was a part of this silent group, and I think that we hit the nail RIGHT on the head. Why should I capitalize RIGHT? Because The Rock hit HHH more times with a right handed punch than all of the other right hands from every other match combined!
Now let me stop to say a little something. I know the demographics of my site VERY well. If you do not want to read MY OPINION on the match then skip the next paragraph because I was not impressed with the match and I am about to say why. I know that there are a lot of Rock marks out there so if you don’t want to read my tirade on your hero, then skip the next paragraph.
You know, I used to call NITRO, NITRAW because I thought that they were trying to be like RAW. I have two more name changes in mind for The Rock and HHH. First, we could call him The Right because if he didn’t have that right handed punch in his offense then I think that he would have been missing a half an hour of his total match time. The other half an hour? Well let’s see, that was probably the time that he spent eating the mat or counting the ring lights. Maybe I was the only one who saw it, but HHH just beat the hell out of The Rock last night. Now think about it. The Rock had a DQ and a countout in his favor last night so instead of the final tally being 6 – 5, it should have been 6 – 3. I am sorry but the Rock got shit stomped last night all night long. HHH was all over him…which brings me to my next name change. HHH should add an H to his name for headlock! He spent more time with the headlocks last night than the entire wrestling world did all of 1999! I realize that the wrestlers use that manuever to get a breath and to talk about what they are going to do next, but I would think that those two were in better shape and had a better plan than that! Overall, I have to give the match 4 out of 10 stars. It might have pulled a 6 even with the above, but the McMahon-Helmsley Regime coming out at the end just blew an hour of wrestling into the water. Nice to have the Undertaker get rid of them though!
Now if you just read the above paragraph, spare me your hate-mail because the above is just MY OPINION. You might have thought that the match was the best one that you have ever seen. I didn’t think so. So if you plan on e-mailing me to tell me that I suck or that I am wrong, you are wrong because it is MY OPINION. Thank you.
If you want to read an EXCELLENT column, check out the latest TopRope Analysis in the Columns area!
A big welcome to the newest member of our news team, Joe Starson! Check him out on the newsboard!
There is not much news on the days of NITRO and RAW, but I can tell you that tonight on NITRO you will be seeing a special announcement from Terry Funk. Everyone is speculating that it is going to be a retirement speech of sorts was he will be retiring from competition in the “big leagues” of the WCW and the WWF. If this is the occasion, then it would not have been the first time that he has retired…and this retirement won’t last long because he and a Japanese wrestling star are signed to do a barbed wire exploding match this June in Philadelphia.
The WWF may reintroduce Kane to their storylines tonight on RAW. He is expected to get a title push when he returns from his injury. With Kane, the Undertaker, Jericho, The Rock, The Big Show, and Benoit all gunning for the WWF Championship, the WWF storylines should be hot all through the summer months!
On the business end of the WWFE, they recently signed an agreement with UPN to broadcast XFL games on Sunday nights. This will not only increase the male demographic on UPN, but it will also raise their ratings at the same time as bring in more of a WWF influence. The combination of XFL on UPN and NBC will be incredible as far as network coverage is concerned. Look for more XFL broadcasters to be announced as the WWFE and NBC are looking for a cable channel to show their XFL product.
There are rumors abound that the WCW is going to try to use the WCW NITRO Grill in Las Vegas as their own press area. WCW Racing and some WCW internet shows are going to be coming from the grill in the coming months and if all goes well, look for the WCW to use the Grill in a press capacity more often.
If I get any more information I will post it on the newsboard. There is just nothing to report on Monday’s except what to expect on the Monday Night wars.
That’s about all that I have to say about that! See you guys in the next update! Bye!!!
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