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Every Tuesday and Friday we give you the scoop on what's happening in and out of the wrestling ring.
Chairshots
7-30-02Raw Thoughts
Raw took a baby step back this week, which was to be expected. Last week had some one of a kind surprises that are tough to do every week. Still, it was a good show with a lot of the same elements as the previous one.Is there anything more disturbingly fun to watch than Mae Young and Moolah get the diapers knocked off of them by two large Samoan men? Every slam and bump they take makes me wince because I'm sure it's just going to break them in half. Still, I can't help but watch and even enjoy the booking that helps get the Islanders heel heat. I have a hunch that this will only be amusing until someone dies.
Raw's recent commitment to clean finishes is as refreshing as a Mountain Dew. Booker T vs. Guerrero and Benoit vs. RVD both had clean pins without outside interference. Sure the winners "cheated," but they are heels. It's what they do.
I actually enjoyed the Molly & Big Show vs. Bubba & Trish tag match this week. The intergender matches usually bore me, but they did a nice job of booking the match and even Big Show looked okay out there. Bubba still needs to refresh his stale character.
So the Anti-Americans (stupid name) were the big surprise to the "who was in the limo with Bischoff" angle. Whatever. They really need to do something more with that faction before I'll start to take them seriously. Right now it's just a bunch of lower mid-card wrestlers killing time and dragging down the good name of Chris Jericho in the process.
The writing staff either needs to push these guys in a way that will make me care about them or remove Chris Jericho from the group. Why can't they just have a catchy name like Canadian Violence? Calling them the Anti-Americans makes me think that Tiger Ali-Sing and Funaki will be joining them.
All I have to say about the Shawn Michaels/ Triple H angle is the same thing I said last week. I didn't see that coming. You think Triple H is really behind it just like he was with the Stone Cold hit and run angle? Maybe Rikishi is turning heel again and will join the Islanders. Very interesting.
Jeff Hardy is getting one of the oddest pushes I can ever remember. One week he has a big match for the world title (which he lost), then the next week he's fighting over the most worthless title on the card. That can be excused since the following week he's in a title unification match that's really good (which he lost). And now this week he's back to fighting for a worthless title, which he wins, but then loses again seconds after. The WWE is basically telling us that Hardy can have great matches but he can only beat the guys on the lowest part of the card. That's no way to build a superstar.
My biggest problem this week was with the main event buildup. Rock vs. Flair should have been a classic. It's the first time the two icons have ever locked up. Rock vs. Flair should be a main event at WrestleMania with months of buildup. Instead, Rock vs. Flair was a last minute main event on Raw with less than two hours buildup.
Now fans can argue till their blue who the bigger wrestling icon of the '80s was, Flair or Hogan, but there is no doubt that until The Rock came along, Ric Flair was the greatest promo giver ever. So why isn't Flair even given a chance to promote his match with The Rock? Then The Rock talks about how this has always been his dream match, but spends more time talking to Coach about cow rectums than he does talking about taking on Flair. I love the Rock's promos because they are entertaining and he is funny, but the cow thing just felt too forced. Not focusing on Rock vs. Flair is an insult to wrestling fans who have waited to see this dream match.
The current writing staff really needs to be careful about alienating the hardcore wrestling fans because we're all they have left. The casual fan tuned out months ago.
Rock Speaks!
Speaking of The Rock, WWE.com has a new interview with him. It's mostly a confirmation that The Rock isn't leaving the WWE anytime soon to go off to Hollywood. He does mention that working on films will cut back the amount of WWE dates that he's able to work, however."It means not being able to work house shows. And I always loved working house shows because it allowed so much freedom for me because I was able to go out there and not have to worry about time. I have so much fun at house shows. I never, ever worry about time, sometimes I go 20 or 30 minutes at house shows, depending on whom I'm in there working with. Afterwards, I'll stay another 15 or 20 minutes and try material with whatever city I'm at. So house shows really allow that latitude and that freedom. But now I just can't work them anymore because basically the limited schedule means I'll work one pay-per-view a month, and work as many TVs as I possibly can, without house shows."
I hope the WWE makes a lot of money off The Rock's movie deals because The Rock not attending house shows has got to hurt their house show profits.
Jesse Writes!
Jesse Ventura's third book is due out soon, and is aimed mostly at kids. Yes, you read that correctly. "Governor Jesse Ventura Tells it Like it Is" is 64-pages of part-biography, part-civics lesson. It's a crying shame the book isn't called, "I Ain't Got Time to Read." If the book sells well Jesse may start his own television show on Nickelodeon called "Jesse Ventura Explains It All." You can preorder the book and help out Fanboyplanet.com by clicking here: Jesse Ventura Tells It Like It Is:...That's enough for today. Starting tomorrow most of the Fanboyplanet.com staff will be in San Diego to cover the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con. I will be down there working my booty off to get you news and interviews so there won't be a Chairshots for a few days. I'll be back possibly next Tuesday but possibly not until next Friday. Until then, keep checking the site for updates. Last year I came very close to scoring an interview with Virgil!
