Hey yo… Chico! No, Scott Hall isn’t back, but I am. You’re reading yet another edition of News and Analysis, and my apologies if this gets posted a bit late than the usual Tuesday/Wednesday update. Anyway, plenty to get to today and I know why you’re here, so let’s get going. Just one last thing — Martin did a great job last week, and I want to thank him for that!
WWE RAW hit the airwaves on Monday night, and the show was dubbed as being Eric Bischoff’s D-day, as many anticipated to see if Vince McMahon will fire his RAW GM or not. Bischoff ended up getting fired, then getting rehired, at least until No Way Out. Speaking of the PPV, it was announced that at No Way Out, The Bisch will not be a GM but he will be a competitor as he will face Stone Cold Steve Austin. Elsewhere on the program, Jim Ross also got fired and reinstated in one night, while Chief Morley had a horrible night, and got fired, and was beaten down by all three Dudleyz, who got some retribution. RVD and Kane were tag partners again, Jeff Hardy was once again a face, fighting Chris Jericho in what was a rather long main-event match, and Booker T was nicely introduced into the mix with the big boys, where Scott Steiner and Triple H continue to interact in some fashion or another. RAW rating is in and the news is good, as WWE scored a 3.9 rating, after a horrible fall to a 3.4 last week. They can breathe again. Well, you can always check out the full RAW Report we have on the site, and I highly suggest you read the Live RAW Notes yours truly posted from the show, as they contain the biggest piece of news that’s been on-line in the past couple of days, and that is…
Stone Cold Steve Austin is back. Austin made an appearance Monday night after RAW went off the air, and it’s all but confirmed WWE is saving his TV return for No Way Out, counting on the big bucks, rather have him appear for free on RAW. Vince McMahon let Bischoff know that he will be facing The Rattlesnake at the PPV, since Eric refused to join the “Kiss My Ass Club” this past Monday. It’s interesting to see what WWE is trying to do, or what they’re going to do with this storyline. I believe they’ve handled the return of Steve Austin perfect so far, with one exception. The constant teasing of him showing up on TV hasn’t done much for them. In Los Angeles, Austin walked in front of the crowd after the show and everyone left happy, but on TV that didn’t happen. Maybe some were let down by the decision, expecting Austin to show up. As far as Bischoff goes, I am not so sure what’s cooking there. The constant reminding of Shane McMahon during the video package that aired at the beginning of RAW seemed too promising to not have Shane-O-Mac return soon, and let’s face it, two owners of WCW feuding in WWE is a heck of a storyline. Maybe I’m just wishing here, but I think that Bischoff’s future as GM of RAW is really not that secured. If you’re after a wild guess or thought, maybe WWE will go ahead and bring Shane back if Austin was to join the SmackDown! roster, and eventually that will lead to Bischoff either feuding with Shane on RAW, or heading to SmackDown! and Stephanie. We’ll see how things go, and I’m sure there’ll be more on this subject after No Way Out, so I’ll leave it for then.
Speaking of No Way Out, the show airs LIVE on PPV on February 23. After this Monday’s RAW, we currently have Triple H vs. Scott Steiner, Chris Jericho vs. Test, and Eric Bischoff vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. You can bet that Booker T and most likely Batista, as well as probably Kane and RVD might make it to the card. The card seems to be stacked as there’s plenty of feuds going on over on SmackDown!’s side of things. From there, we have The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan confirmed so far, but there are other storylines that probably were built for a match at yesterday’s tapings. Matt Hardy taking on Billy Kidman is also a lock. I’d suggest that the WWE title is not on the line for No Way Out, so probably Team Angle will be taking on the trio of Edge/Benoit/Lesnar. Rey Mysterio is not on the card, which is somewhat of a surprise, I guess. I don’t know if Undertaker vs. Big Show is going to happen or not, as it seems that Undertaker is STILL not 100% recovered from his elbow surgery, so stay tuned. Well, we’ll talk about SmackDown!’s side of things this weekend.
Triple H is taking on Scott Steiner at No Way Out to defend his World Heavyweight Championship. Dave Scherer had an interesting tidbit on Trips today. According to Mr. Scherer (and I have heard this somewhere else before), many believe that the reason for Triple H’s constant nagging injuries is the fact that Hunter has grown too big for his body. I have enough knowledge to confirm that there’s a certain point at which the human body can only take so much muscle tissue on it, and too much muscles and working out is just not good. Triple H is in love with fitness and it’s no secret that he’s proud of his body and works like crazy in the gym. Word has it that WWE will ask him to slow down a bit, just so they can prevent him from bigger injuries in the future.
Hunter is scheduled to team up with Batista next week on RAW to take on Booker T and Steiner. Not much to say on Steiner/Triple H, as it’s all old stuff, and there really isn’t anything new going on with “Evolution,” but we should note that Booker T seems to be getting that big push everybody has been waiting for. After breaking up with partner Goldust, Booker has been thrown into the mix with Triple H’s heel group, and if some rumors/thoughts are to be believed, there’s a possibility he might take on Triple H at WrestleMania XIX, as WWE feels that Steiner’s act is already dying out. I really can’t tell you much on that, besides the fact that Booker T is the one who deserves the match, and Booker T will be the one to draw more attention and more fans to the bout. Booker T is also the one who needs the belt around his waist. A belt he’s worn around his waist 5 times and doesn’t need to prove to anyone that he deserves. Anyway, look out for Booker T to continue to get elevated as a bigger and bigger face on RAW, and if WWE invests in him and Austin goes to SmackDown!, then I will not at all be surprised to see him fight Triple H at WrestleMania.
Some news came out this past Monday on Booker’s friend, Goldust. Word has it that WWE is considering doing a controversial angle with Goldust after his “electrocution,” as they’ll be using the disease Tourette’s Syndrome as an excuse. The disease causes a person’s body to shake and also causes one to speak in abrupt patterns. Take this for what it’s worth, but knowing the stuff WWE has pulled and seeing as Goldust’s character has been controversial a-many times, I won’t be surprised to see that happen. It should also be nodded that WWE really can’t do much with Goldust. They could turn him heel but I highly doubt this will work again. The other thing to do (which I feel is preferable) is have him come back as Dustin Rhodes. Stay tuned.
Getting back into the storyline mix, Test will be taking on Chris Jericho at No Way Out. WWE continues to use Jericho to their best advantages over on RAW, as Y2J’s long-term feud with HBK continues, while at the same time Jericho is also in the midst of a feud with Test. I would expect for both guys to have a solid match, and definitely looking forward to Jericho moving on to fighting HBK at ‘Mania. I feel that Shawn Michaels is getting in the ring with one of the best workers today — Chris Jericho. Y2J has proved to be one of the best there is today, and no doubt, it’ll be a great match. As far as Test goes, I can already tell you what GGW stands for. For those who missed it, GGW was the company with which Stacy made a deal for Test to do some promotions. GGW stands for Girls Gone Wild, and in another piece of news, its new owner is… Eric Bischoff. Bischoff bought out the PPV rights and the company from its current holder, so you can definitely expect things to happen with WWE and Girls Gone Wild. It’s also believed that Stacy not knowing will add to the gimmick, as she’ll get jealous and totally against Test doing the promotion.
Not much of progress anywhere on the program. Jazz continued her victorious ways since she’s returned, but nothing was done with Victoria this time. Trish Stratus wasn’t present for the second week in a row, so it seems that it’s all about Jazz right now. Elsewhere, the Dudley Boyz continued to kick ass, and by the looks of it, they’re in for a tag teams title win either at No Way Out or at WrestleMania, with ‘Mania being my guess. Jeff Hardy has gone back to being face, and I must say that unlike others, I enjoy this storyline, as it’s been mixed up a bit, and it keeps me wondering what could be next. HBK’s involvement has been great. Oh yeah, supposedly we are also still all down with the Brown. Eh.
It looks like WWE is not so sure in Nathan Jones. If memory serves me right, there was no promo hyping up Nathan on last week’s SmackDown!, and I was in the Staples Center for RAW this Monday and there wasn’t a Jones promo either. Maybe Vince McMahon did indeed get scared of the bad previews and is having second thoughts on Jones. From what’s been reported, he is green in the ring, and maybe a bit dangerous to work with (just ask Matt Hardy), so it may be better for WWE to hold on where his debut goes. We’ll see what happens, and as usual, I will keep you updated.
In some very sad news to report, we lost another wrestling legend on Monday. Curt Hennig, known to wrestling fans as Mr. Perfect, a former WWF Intercontinental Champion, passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 44. Curt was in Tampa, FL, to work a benefit show for Jimmy Hart. Reports had it that Sunday night, Hennig was having a lot of gas and was burping a lot at the big dinner gathering the wrestlers had, and went to bed. He was invited for a breakfast by one of the refs in the morning, but declined saying he’ll stay in bed and rest up. After not showing up, others checked on him to only find him dead in his hotel room. I must say that this is a great loss for the industry, and a great personal loss, as I grew up watching Mr. Perfect, and I will admit, even idolized him as a kid. We shall never forget the basketball vignettes with the free throw being made with his back facing the basket. I can also always remember the football vignette where Mr. Perfect would hike or kick the ball, and then run up to score the touchdown by catching his own pass. It was truly enjoyable to watch him when I was just a little kid, and to be honest up to this day I still do his gum trick. He was about so much more than funny vignettes, as I feel that Curt Hennig was one of the best technical wrestlers the business has seen and proved that even in his last run with WWE. He will be missed big time. As Martin Hawrysko has posted on the site, our condolences go out to the Hennig family and may Curt Hennig Rest In Peace.
My Two Cents
Remembering Curt Hennig…
“I kind of looked up to him because he helped me out quite a bit. He was just always joking. When I would call him he would answer the phone as ‘Minnesota’s Greatest Athlete.'”
— Brock Lesnar
“He was all about fun and laughs, and having a good time … That was it. Good fellow. He wasn’t out to hurt anybody. We were road-riding buddies. We rode everywhere together (and) shared rooms. It used to be me, him and Rick Rude together, and then Rick died.”
— Ray “The Big Boss Man” Traylor
“He just was an awesome guy and an awesome performer … He just always kept me smiling. He just was the kind of guy who if he was upset about something, you never saw it. We got along great and had great chemistry. He made me laugh as much as Arn Anderson did. It’s kind of overwhelming talking about it now, because it’s hard to believe he’s gone. It’s a big loss to the wrestling world.”
— Ric Flair
“The first time I got to see Curt live was his first go-around in WWE … Being a guy whose not really easily impressed — I’ve seen so many great athletes, great workers and big stars over the years — Curt was one of those guys who grabbed you right away. He was special. Everything he did was different than everybody else. I would venture to say that up until that time, the matches he had with Bret Hart were the most awe-inspiring things I had seen. It was just incredible because it was completely different.”
— Arn Anderson
“I found him to be entertaining and very competitive … When Curt first launched his broadcast career, he wanted to be better than Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, a man Curt grew up watching in his home state of Minnesota. Anything Curt did, he wanted to be the best at it, whether it be announcing, wrestling, hunting, fishing or pulling classic pranks on his peers.”
— Jim Ross
I highly recommend visiting WWE.com’s Headlines page (http://www.wwe.com/news/headlines/) for more on the life of one of wrestling’s greatest — Curt Hennig.
Thanks for reading.
Eddie
