8-9-02
Smackdown Thoughts
From my Book It on Brock Lesnar 7/15/02, "Fans will be waiting
for Hogan to "Hulk up" and defeat Lesnar as Hogan has done
so many times in the past. And that my friends, is why Hogan
will lose the match and be left laying in the ring, bloody
and defeated."
Less than a month ago I gave my formula for getting Lesnar
over with the fans as a monster heel and the last step in
building a huge money feud versus Rock was for Lesnar to destroy
Hogan. If you watched Smackdown last night you'll notice that
the WWE writers basically used a sped up version of my Lesnar
booking. However, I laid out a five step program and the writers
have really only hit steps 1 and 4 so far. I'm not sure this
abridged booking is going to have the same payoff that my
booking would have. Oh well, it's a start.
John Cena and Kurt Angle started the show off with a hot
match. Cena continues to look like a good worker but I wonder
how much of it is guys like Angle and Chris Benoit making
him look good. Let's see him carry Big Show to a good match
and then I'll be impressed.
Brock Lesnar can really talks when he wants to. Lesnar > Goldberg.
Four letters to describe a D-Von vs. Mark Henry match: Zzzz. It's time for a Dudley reunion and Bautista to break out on his own. And when he breaks out on his own, a Rikishi feud is not what he needs.
Every week I watch Smackdown and wonder why the WWE has
put all the best wrestlers (Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio,
Edge, etc…) on Smackdown.
X-Pac in Dog House, Still
Wondering where X-Pac has been? Yeah, me neither. But sleep
better knowing that X-Pac is still under WWE contract. However,
his position in the company is tenuous at best. After some
backstage bitching and passing out in the ring a few weeks
ago, he was removed from TV. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall aren't
around anymore to make him look cool, either. It is rumored
that his contract is in the hands of lawyers and agents at
this point. Kane should be returning soon. I wonder if they
will bring X-Pac back to finish his feud with Kane before
firing him.
Ratings
For the second consecutive week, Raw scored a 3.7 cable rating. One positive note is that some Raw fans did hang around and watch Slamball. Slamball scored a 0.5 rating on Saturday but scored a 1.2 on Monday after Raw. Maybe Raw fans just fell asleep with the TV on.
The Smackdown rating hit its lowest mark ever last night.
The show scored only a 2.7 rating; however, most of the ratings
drop can be blamed on New York and L.A. TV markets being pre-empted
with baseball games. When you lose the two biggest cities
in the US, you can't really be expected to score a big rating.
Bagwell Burns Bridge, Believe It!
Buff Bagwell, who had been making appearances on NWA:TNA,
will not be back in the promotion anytime soon. Backstage
problems have followed Bagwell to every major promotion he's
ever been with. Apparently, he has pissed off Jerry Jarrett
with his behavior. Bagwell caused delays in his pre-taped
segment, asking for multiple retakes and recently complained
about his future booking. He is not currently booked for any
NWA:TNA shows and isn't expected back anytime soon.
Stacy Next
Stacy Keibler may be the next person to jump from Smackdown
to Raw. She has recently had some on-air conflict with Stephanie
McMahon on Smackdown. In addition, Stacy is dating Test in
real life, and she could be moved to Raw to be with Test.
Stacy's character works better as the sexy secretary to a
male boss rather than playing kiss-up to Stephanie. Unless
of course they want to do some kinky lesbian relationship
between Stephanie and Stacy. That's so hot.
Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio has been asked to tone down his WCW- and Lucha-style
highspots to protect him from injury. You may have noticed
in the last week or so that Mysterio has been mixing a physiological
style into his wrestling in addition to the highspots. Still
fun to watch and it means that Mysterio will be around longer.
Chyna Invades Japan
Chyna will be making her return to wrestling in September as she will be part of the New Japan tour which runs from September 6th to September 22nd. She will be working lower card matches on the tour. How the mighty have fallen. Oh, who am I kidding? I'd still do her.
My Rob Van Dam Radar
While down at the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con, I spotted Rob Van Dam walking around the dealers floor. He appeared to be in disguise (or have bad fashion sense) so I quietly just snapped this photo of him. I tried to offer a kid 5 bucks to run up and scream, "HEY EVERYBODY, IT'S ROB VAN DAM!" but he wouldn't do it. I hate kids.
Bret Hart Update
The Calgary Sun recently reported that Bret Hart will make
a full recovery from his stroke within a year. Hart is out
of the hospital and has regained control of much of his left
side. A fundraiser is also being put together to support Hart.
Thanks for reading. Until Tuesday…
