Every Tuesday and Friday we give you the scoop on what's happening in and out of the wrestling ring. Somedays it's even funny!

I'm feuding with Goldust.

Chairshots
2-15-02

Jericho Speaks!
Chris Jericho was a guest on a local radio show this week. He was out of character and talked about his position in the WWF. Here are the highlights:

Jericho said that he is overwhelmed with being the undisputed champion. He can't wait to get in the ring with stars like Stone Cold. Jericho stated that he would like to have a chance to compete against Hulk Hogan if he gets the chance in the near future. (Don't do it, man! It's career suicide!)

Caller asks his opinion of the NWO coming to the WWF. Jericho says he is fine with it, and a change is needed to keep things interesting in the WWF.

The host asked him about the current ratings slump in the WWF starting around August of last year. Jericho says that he thinks its due to the increase of dead storylines and bad acting. (See, they all know what we know.)

Hosts ask Jericho if he ever thought he would be the first ever undisputed heavyweight champ, Jericho said "no, I thought the original plan was to have given it to the Undertaker but it turned out they wanted to pass it to me." (Interesting since Undertaker wasn't in the series of matches that got Jericho the belt.)

Jericho was asked if he likes his current angle as heel. Jericho said that he enjoys being a heel, but not as much as being a face. (Which he sucks at.)

They asked Jericho who his favorite wrestler was, and he said Funaki. (I'm not sure if that was a joke or not.) They asked who is the best in-ring wrestler, and he said Chris Benoit. They asked who his favorite heel wrestler was; he said Triple H.

Jericho took a call from a fan who asked how he felt about WCW being bought out. He said "I feel bad, the wars are over and there is no more competition. I feel like I left just in the knick of time."

Hosts ask if Jericho is nervous walking into the ring with Austin at No Way Out. Jericho said "I am a little, because Steve gets really fired up at PPVs. But I think it will be one hell of a match". (Do you think he means drunk?)

Billy Graham
Former WWF superstar "Superstar" Billy Graham's condition is worsening due to a failing liver. Graham (real name: Wayne Coleman) is in serious need of a liver donor. He's also not doing too well financially. You can send cards or donations to the following address:
Wayne Coleman
15402 N. 28th St. #105
Phoenix, AZ 85032

Ratings
WWF RAW did a 4.4 rating this week. That's down only .1 from last week. This is still good news as there has been no signifigant drop off in viewership since Royal Rumble. Expect Raw to have a big rating jump on Monday with casual fans tuning in to see the NWO invade Raw. The 2/10 edition of Heat did a 1.4 which made it the second rated show for the day on MTV. Excess for 2/9 scored hours of 0.8 and 1.1. It was, by far, the highest rated show that day on TNN. The "overnight rating" for Smackdown last night was a 5.4, which was up from last week's 5.3 overnight rating. That number should drop when the other markets are figured in and I'll have that rating for you on Monday.

Maven Speaks!
Maven was a guest on WWF Byte This last week. He didn't have much to say, but I pulled out a few highlights:

About the critics that say he got into the business the easy way: "Well, I definitely got in the business in a different way than anyone before and to these critics: I definitely understand where they're coming from. I have to be honest with you, I agree with them in a lot of ways but I'm just going out there and I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm sorry if that's the way you feel but I'm going out there and trying hard to the best of my ability."

He credits HWA (WWF training group) for having people with amazing talent. He says he's far from where he needs to be and being in the ring with Jericho and the Undertaker just speeds that education process up.

On the day of Smackdown when he won the Hardcore belt, it started off as a regular day where he woke up in Cincinnati and went down to HWA to train and then he got a phone call telling him he's competing on Smackdown that night and he has an hour until his flight leaves. He flew to LA, got to the arena while the show was in progress and, 45 minutes later, he was in his match. (Ah, good old booking on the fly. Here I thought my Book It last week was just coincidence. Now I see there is a possibility that someone from the WWF actually read it.)

He was told about his match with Jericho a week in advance and spent that entire week thinking about it.

He thinks people underestimate how grueling the training process is, even though it may appear to be a watered down version of a real training camp. They train from 7:30 in the morning until 10:00 at night and the day is full of learning about the business, training, and working hard.

WWF Fear Factor
The stars of the WWF will be on NBC's Fear Factor this Monday. This may finally be enough for our old Fear Factor reviewer to crawl out of his hole and submit a review. Then again, if the Playboy Bunnies didn't do it, I doubt Test can. Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Lita, Test , Jacqueline and Mighty Molly will all be contestants. I don't want to spoil the ending, but she ain't as Mighty as you'd think. The show is on at 8pm.

No Way Out Predictions

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chris Jericho for the Unified World Championship
Of all the things the WWF has done wrong in recent months, the biggest thing they have done right is the continued push of Chris Jericho. Jericho has proven that he can match promos and ring skills with the other WWF main eventers. Some people are already predicting an Angle vs. Austin main event at Wrestlemania, but I'm sticking with the prediction I made in January of a Triple H vs. Jericho /w Stephanie in his corner main event. Jericho wins in the first of a long line of NWO screw job finishes. Why the NWO helps Jericho will never be explained.

Triple H vs. Kurt Angle
Triple H is more popular than Angle and deserves the main event at Wrestlemania. That's really all that needs to be said about this one. Their original feud and history (with Angle kissing Steph) has been ignored so this match up lacks the heat the first one had. Stephanie as the guest ref won't make a lick of difference other than to give you reason to turn the volume down on your TV when she speaks.

The Rock vs. Undertaker
The rest of the card looks predictable, so I'm going to expect an upset here by Undertaker. This feud seems slapped together by the writers because Rock and Taker had no one better to feud with. Should be a good match, but nothing we haven't seen before.

Rob Van Dam vs. Goldust
This feud has been a thorn in my side since it started. As I ranted on Tuesday, no explanation has been given as to why Goldust and RVD hate each other. I'd like to hold out hope that the WWF has some long term plan in mind that will result in a pay off, but I fear RVD will squash Goldust in the match and whatever issues they have will be resolved. Anyway, Goldust wins, they book a rematch for Wrestlemania and along the way we discover that RVD is the love child of a sexual encounter between Dusty Rhodes and his daughter-in-law Terri Runnels and that Terri and RVD have been getting it on on the side despite the fact that she is his mother. Oh wait, I had Russo Booking turned on. Goldust wants RVD because he's a hotty. That's more logical.

William Regal vs. Edge - Brass Knuckles on a Pole Match
If you wrestle, they will come. If they don't come, try two more times. Back by no one's demand for the third straight ppv is Regal vs. Edge. Edge did an interview about his new character on WWF.com a few weeks ago, but all I've seen is a guy that wears black and jumps people at the top of the ramp. When was the last time Regal cut a promo anyway? Edge wins after turning the brass knuckles side ways and shoving them up Regal's candy ass. I'd say that would be the end of the feud, but that only gives the WWF one month to build Edge into a feud for Wrestlemania. I fear we will not see the end of this one for a while. I also fear that like most matches with "on a pole" in the stipulation, this one will suck.

Tazz & Spike Dudley vs. Booker T & Test for the tag team championship
Random tag team generator is working overtime in the WWF. Trying to pick a winner in this match was like trying to vote for a president in 2000. Which not popular team shall I pick to win? Hmmmm. Of the two teams, Booker T & Test is more entertaining, so I'll give them the win.

Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz vs. Christian & Lance Storm vs. Scotty & Albert vs. Billy & Chuck vs. APA for a tag title shot at Wrestlemaina
If Booker T & Test win in the previous match, then they will need a baby face tag team to fight at Wrestlemania. Hardy Boyz are the most likely choice out of this bunch. They should be able to get a watchable match out of Booker & Test.

No Women's title defense, no Light Heavyweight title defense and no European title defense. As I said over in Book It, this show will not go down in the record book because of the memorability of the matches. It's going to be all about the NWO. We've seen almost all of these matches before in one way or another. Let's hope that come next Tuesday, the wrestling world has been turned upside down and I'll be able to report it to you.

Until then...
Hey, go read Book It!

Michael Goodson