Yo. Thanks for checking out yet another edition of News and Analysis, and apologies for the small delay on this report. Things have been chaotic with me lately when time is concerned, but I’m sure you didn’t click on the link about that so, let’s get on with the show. Tonight I’m getting more into the analysis part of SmackDown!, but I’ll spend a good amount of time talking about the biggest news that’s been around this past week – the signing of Goldberg…
SmackDown! aired on Thursday night, and unlike some other “Internet analysists,” I disagree that the show was “just another one which you could miss for a week and feel like nothing’s changed the next week.” While this might hold true storyline-wise, SmackDown! once again proved last Thursday why it’s prefered by many — solid, good wrestling. I don’t remember anticipating any of the matches as much as I did last Thursday, and maybe it’s just me, but none of them were a disappointment to me. There are some issues I’ll talk about, but of course, as usual, all of this is below. The Hogan/McMahon contract signing was the main story on SmackDown!, while Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, along with all the other performers on the WrestleMania card, continued building up and working their storylines for the biggest event of the year. SmackDown!’s rating is in, and it ties for the second worst rating ever, as the show did a 2.7 score. Of course, this really can’t be looked at too seriously, as NCAA finals and Iraq coverage caused a lot of pre-emptions to happen. I would ignore the number.
SmackDown! featured a lot of great wrestling. Rey Mysterio and Jamie Noble had the match of the night in my opinion, as the two cruiserweights really displayed a lot of great skills and moves that had me glued to my TV screen. The cruiserweight action didn’t stop, as Shannon Moore and Brian Kendrick put up what was another great bout. It looks like now is the perfect time for WWE to once again start working very actively with their cruiserweights, as they have some incredible talents. Rey Mysterio, Brian Kendrick, Matt Hardy, Shannon Moore, Jamie Noble, Tajiri, Billy Kidman, and Funaki are all capable of wonders, and have proven that in the past. I am pretty sure WWE has bigger plans for Matt, so they’ll have him drop the belt soon, probably to Mysterio at WrestleMania, but wow! Just look at this bunch of wrestlers! What a cruiserweight division that could be. With Mysterio finally leading the way, WWE has this thing set in stone, and there are so many storylines they could. Stay tuned!
SmackDown! is quality TV thanks to yet another area of the program — the awesome tag teams division. Team Angle will be facing Los Guerreros and Benoit/Rhyno. I don’t know what is there to say about Team Angle that I haven’t already said. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas are the perfect example of what WWE should have been doing in the past year — take two unknown names, use all the background information that will help them develop a character (or come up with a gimmick background), have enough trust in them to put them on TV, and simply give them the chance. It has worked with Team Angle, as they’re now one of the reasons I personally watch the show! I feel that the tag teams title build-up for WrestleMania was done good, but I was left wondering (just like others probably were) why didn’t Los Guerreros intervene in the direct confrontation between Team Angle and Benoit and Rhyno last Thursday? My solution is that they probably will next week, and WWE is trying to show to the fans that they should pop for Los Guerreros by putting them against the heelish FBI. If there were less silly vignettes, maybe more people will, but I guess me and WWE disagree here.
Now if you’re talking about a MAIN reason to watch SmackDown!… The name is Kurt Angle. Angle and Lesnar continued their storyline this past Thursday and it was nothing less than what I expected it to be — greatness. I don’t know about you, but to me Kurt Angle looks in a great shape. I know that he’s not one to complain from injuries or let them bug him. The man is that tough, but you would think it would show big time if he’s injured as severe as Internet reports state he is. Again, don’t look into everything you read on-line so much! But on the other hand… My God, is Kurt Angle the toughest wrestler the WWE has ever had or what?! With bouts like the one against Shane McMahon at King of the Ring 2001, or the fact that he’s won an Olympic Gold Medal with a broke nenck, I really need no further proof. I liked the injury bit. It’s a bit of an old school way which WWE loves to use, but I think it was done at the right time.
I’ve talked about four things so far, and I still haven’t touched on what was the main point of SmackDown! — the hype and ‘official signing’ of the Hogan/McMahon contract for WrestleMania. It’s my personal opinion that they’ve done a good job with this feud as well. The promo the two cut a couple of weeks ago was just brilliant to me. I am into the pure wrestling side of “the sport” as much as the next guy, but sometimes, for me, storylines that are based on the entertainment part are equally good. That is when done right. The McMahon/Hogan feud has been done great so far. I will admit that WWE shouldn’t be spending so much time on two old guys at a time like that, but let’s face it… It’s 20 years in the making. I’m sure that five years ago, nobody would have been complaining if VInce vs. Hogan was to happen at WrestleMania.
Doesn’t seem like the WrestleMania card has been changed, so we’ll instead now focus onto the major happenings outside the ring for the week, or as I like to say, “the news part” of this report…
News broke out late this week that WWE and Bill Goldberg have finally locked a deal and the two sides have signed a contract a week or two ago. It all started when earlier this week a fake Backlash poster was released on-line over at 4w-wrestling.com. Afterwards, however, it became known that there’s a rumor Bill Goldberg is on the May cover of WWE Magazine. The cover features a picture of Goldberg with the message “WHO’S NEXT: Sparks Fly as Goldberg Hits WWE.” 1wrestling.com confirmed that the cover isn’t a fake, and soon afterwards, we would find out that Goldberg and WWE have signed. This really doesn’t sound fake, as for weeks now the two sides have been very close to a deal. Neither WWE, nor Goldberg have confirmed any of this, so take it for what it’s worth, but in my opinion it’s a locked deal, as WWE needs Goldberg, and Goldberg needs WWE, though not as much.
The word has it that Bill Goldberg will probably make a debut at WrestleMania, or the week after, and if all of this is true, that makes sense. As far as rumors go, Triple H and Steve Austin are the two names thrown around for a possible opponent for Goldberg. We’ll see what happens, but all signs point to a Goldberg WWE debut very soon!
My Two Cents
Did Bill DeMott get burried or what?
Michael “The Gangsta” Cole? I’ve seen it all.
Did you find McMahon stabbing Hogan with a pen disturbing too?
Where’s Crash Holly?
Wasn’t it great to “see” Michael Blazskowski back on TBL?
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
