Every Tuesday and Friday we give you the scoop on
what's happening in and out of the wrestling ring. Every Monday
a brand new Book It.
It's
all about baby steps.
|
|
Chairshots
5-7-02
Raw Thoughts
Did anyone else think that Hogan's not being able to get the motorcycle
started drew an excellent parallel to Hulk-a-Mania? It's out of gas,
you old bag.
I loved the RVD
& Jeff Hardy vs. Eddie Guerrero and Booker T match. All of those guys
should be considered the future of the WWE and given the right push.
Lesnar vs. Stasiak
2 was just as dull and Lesnar vs. Stasiak 1. Why have the same match
again and add nothing new to it? Lesnar is ready for bigger and badder
foes. He doesn't need to beat the crap out of Stasiak and the Hardys
anymore.
D-Lo Brown made
his WWE debut and looks much slimmer than he did back in the WWF. I'm
not crazy about a feud with Regal over who the greatest Euro champ is,
but if it gets old bobble head back on TV then I'm all for it.
Goldust is growing
on me. I can't explain why, but despite the hit and miss nature of his
segments with Booker T, I'm starting to not hate Goldust. Watching him
wrestle is still a long way from being enjoyable, but it's all about
baby steps.
Flair finally turned
on Austin. The buildup has been good so far, but a match between Flair
& Big Show vs. Austin wasn't really the payoff I was looking for. We'll
see what happens in the next few weeks, especially now that the NWO
is short another member. Oh, you haven't read that yet. Never mind.
Say Goodbye to the Bad Guy
Due to reported bad behavior on the WWE's recent trip to England, Scott
Hall has been released from the company. Jim Ross released a press statement
saying that WWE and Scott Hall have mutually agreed to end their contractual
relationship. Once again Scott Hall was not able to control his partying
and it cost him his job. Adios, Chico.
You Too, Perfect
The trip to the UK wasn't good for a lot of people as a fight broke
out on the plane coming back. Curt Hennig and Brock Lesnar apparently
got in to a fight over who was the better amateur wrestler. Perfect
started the fight; Paul Heyman and Triple H got involved to settle things
down. Hennig was released from his WWE contract. Can't really say I'll
miss Hennig either.
Was This on
United?
But wait, there's more. Former wrestler and part-time WWE announcer
Michael Hayes fell asleep during the flight back from the UK. While
he was snoozing someone cut off the back of his hair. The hair was then
hung up in the locker room at RAW this past Monday. Hayes was very pissed
off and no one admitted to doing it.
Ratings
The Raw rating was up this week, to a 4.6 cable rating. Last week was
4.4. Last Thursday's Smackdown scored a rating of only 2.9, the lowest
in its history by a wide margin. There is no explanation for the severe
drop as there were no major competing television events and the Hulk
Hogan vs. Chris Jericho match was given considerable hype.
Kurt Angle Joins
Me In Hell
Transcript from Kurt Angle's Promo on last Thursday's Smackdown: "Without
me, Pittsburgh would be...the pits. Get it? Well the point is - these
people worship me. It's not like they have anyone else to cheer for."
"Well, there is Mario Lemieux," says Lance Storm. "Mario Lemieux? Puh-lease.
You know rumor is that he faked that whole Hodgkin's Disease just to
get sympathy. 'Lookit me, I'm Mario Lemieux! I bravely fought adversity!
Love me, love me! Nyah!' Well that's what I heard." That made me laugh
so hard I cried. Hell is going to be so much fun.
Television Shuffle
WWE (God, I hate that) announced today that Excess is finally going
away. It will be replaced by two new shows, WWE Velocity and WWE Confidential.
Velocity will feature the Smackdown crew, while Confidential will be
a live show highlighting both rosters. The syndicated shows Jakked and
Metal are also being replaced. The Raw crew syndicated show will be
called WWE Bottom Line. The Smackdown crew syndicated show will be called
WWE After Burn. Raw, Smackdown, and Heat remain unchanged.
Bottom Line will
be a magazine format show analyzing happenings from Raw and Heat; Velocity
will feature original arena matches featuring the Smackdown crew. After
Burn will be a magazine show looking at the happenings on Smackdown
that week. Confidential, which follows Velocity, will be a magazine
style program with features on today's WWE action and features on the
past, such as matches from past years. There will also be "day in the
life of" features on various talents. Rejected names for new WWE television
shows included:
"WWE SmackUp!"
"WWE Uncooked"
"WWE Top Gun"
"WWE This One Has Stone Cold"
"WWE Hogan's Not On This One"
"WWE River Raid"
"WWE Blue Harvest"
"WWE Screw the Wildlife"
"WWE XFL Highlights"
"WWE McMahonapalooza"
"WWE Boobs Boobs Boobs"
"WWE Bone Saw"
"WWE The Michael Goodson Show!"
Quickies
WWF and MTV have
renewed Tough Enough for a third season. Tryouts will take place in
mid-June. Filming will start in July and the show will air sometime
in September. Al Snow is the only trainer confirmed so far. Go to WWE.com
to sign up.
Lita did undergo
neck surgery last week as planned. She came out of the surgery well
and the operation went smoothly. She is expected to be out of the ring
for at least 6 months.
Chris Benoit's
doctor is now telling him that he is still 5-7 weeks away from returning
to the ring full-time. He will probably spend that time continuing to
train in the HWA.
Larry Zbyszko has
filed 3 lawsuits against the WWF and Chris Jericho over the use of the
"Living Legend" name which he owns.
Hulk Hogan's biography
is due in stores Oct. 22. Jerry Lawler's autobiography, tentatively
titled "Hail to the King," is due out in late December. Some book called
"Smackdown Trivia" will be available November 1st. I think it's a murder
mystery.
Former WCW cruiserweights
Jamie Knoble and Shannon Moore are scheduled to start working WWF house
shows and dark matches on May 18th.
Would it kill them
to just call it the World Wrestling Federation without using an acronym?
Until Friday,
which at this rate will be Saturday, goodbye.