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Chair
Shots
8-23-02
Smackdown
Run Down
I have a new reason for loving Smackdown more than Raw. It's
not better booking, more interesting wrestlers or their ability
to produce entertaining shows more consistently. Quite simply
Smackdown has the best interviewer to ever hold the microphone:
FUNAKI!
Smackdown
was enjoyable from top to bottom last night and continued
to build up SummerSlam as a must order pay per view.
Brock
Lesnar must be the luckiest wrestler ever. He debuted just
a few months ago and has already been pushed all the way to
main eventing the second biggest pay per view of the year
against wrestling's biggest star ever. Regardless of who wins
on Sunday, is there anywhere to go but down for Lesnar? Sure,
there is main eventing WrestleMania, but a rematch with The
Rock wouldn't have that fresh new smell. He'd have to headline
WrestleMania against Goldberg or Stone Cold to top SummerSlam.
I don't see that happening in the near future.
The WWE
has done a great job of building up Lesnar vs. Rock. Rather
than having them mix it up in a series of tag team matches
or a few Raw main events, the writers have kept Rock and Lesnar
out of the same ring. This has helped to build anticipation.
When they finally started throwing punches at the end of Smackdown
last night, you could tell it was the final touch on a huge
sales pitch for SummerSlam. That's the way to book a feud.
Following
the highlight of Rock's training from Raw, Smackdown showed
us how Brock is preparing for his big match. Brock is seriously
a monster in the gym. I got tired just watching him train.
If that's what it takes to have Brock's physique, I think
I'll stick to playing video games and eating burritos.
I did
notice however that the WWE is highlighting Brock Lesnar on
Saturday's WWE Confidential. May not be a good move to show
how lovable and likeable Brock is off camera the night before
his biggest match. Just a random thought.
What
is up with Rey Mysterio's eyes. Genetic mutation? Hard water
accident? Imperfect clone? Possessed by Snakegod? I demand
to know!
Speaking
of comic books, has anyone else noticed that Kurt Angle now
looks like Herr Starr from Garth Ennis' Preacher? With
his shaved scalp and scar now on the top of it, his head looks
like a giant penis.
How come
Rock lets Edge say his catch phrases but he never let Mick
Foley? More evidence of a Foley conspiracy come to light.
Not even
the potential to see Nidia's breasts made that women's title
match interesting last night. Eric Bischoff really hit the
nail on the head Monday.
Does
Shannon Moore have a personality? Right now he's just that
good wrestler that stands behind the wrestlers that actually
talk.
It was
nice to be able to clearly hear Matt Hardy yelling at the
ref last night. Usually we have to just guess what a wrestler
is saying based on context and body language. This was another
little thing that made for an all around good show.
X-Pac
Gone
From J.R.'s Ross Report today: "WWE and Sean Waltman, aka
X-Pac, have mutually agreed to part ways. Personally, Sean
is one of my all-time favorite people in our business and
one hell of a talented in-ring performer. I truly wish him
nothing but success in the future."
Not a
huge surprise as many have been predicting it for weeks. X-Pac
just stopped being entertaining as a personality after DX
fell apart. A curious historical note is that X-Pac's jump
from WCW back to the WWF was the first sign of a momentum
shift in the wrestling world that eventually led to the WWF
destroying WCW. Will X-Pac join NWA and have the same effect?
Doubt it, but something to watch for.
Ratings
This week's edition of Raw scored a 4.0 cable rating. That's
up from last week's 3.9. Smackdown finished with a 3.6 rating
this week, beating it's 3.5 from last week.High fives for
everyone.
Singh
Sues Sea Shells by the Sea Shore
Former WWE wrestler Tiger Ali Singh is suing WWE for $7 million
in damages. Singh claims that he suffered religious and ethnic
harassment in WWE. This includes charges that his turban was
once stolen from him and filled with garbage. Singh also claims
that WWE workers called him "taxi driver" as a slur and that
once his turban was torn up and put on the head of a mentally
disturbed person for the amusement of WWE personnel. I know
Raw was pretty boring a while back, but that's just cold.
Singh's
career came to an end a while back when he was injured during
a show in Puerto Rico. While he was under contract to the
WWE at that time, it was not a WWE show, so the WWE is claiming
they have no obligation make restitution for his injury. Tiger
Ali Singh's father, Tiger Jeet Singh, is also suing WWE for
$1 million that he feels the company owes him. This one could
get ugly.
New
Look For Kane?
WWE
Shop Zone had this pic of Kane's new tee shirt and possibly
his new mask this week. Kind of looks like The Ultimate Warrior's
old face paint.
Chyna
vs. Dee Dee McCall
Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, will guest star in an upcoming made-for-TV
movie on NBC. The movie will be the special 2 hour reunion
of 80's cop drama Hunter! How come this crap can get
remade but we can't get an A-Team reunion?
Ross
Report
Jim Ross made his weekly posting on WWE.com today. Here are
the highlights which are mostly injury updates.
Trish
Stratus and Charles Robinson had to have their eyes flushed
by the medical staff after working in Monday's mud match on
Raw.
Rob Van
Dam has been working through elbow pain and will be evaluated
by a doctor soon.
Rhyno
is due back in September.
Val Venis
will likely return to the ring in a few weeks after recuperating
a neck injury he suffered during a freak weight training accident.
Maven
will miss another two months while his ankle heals.
Sean
O'Haire suffered a pulled groin and has been working through
a "deep muscle strain in his abdomen."
Kanyon
is at least two months away from being able to return to the
ring.
Kevin
Nash is expected to attend SummerSlam, but is still six to
eight months away from returning.
Perry
Saturn had ACL surgery and won't be back until October at
the latest.
Eric
Angle received medical clearance to resume his OVW workouts.
Hulk
Hogan was in Minneapolis yesterday and met with Target store
officials regarding the upcoming release of his biography.
Lance
Storm taped his appearance on Tough Enough 3 yesterday.
SummerSlam
Preview
The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Undisputed Title Match
Well, this is the big one. Almost all the internet fans
know that Rock is taking time off soon to go film "Helldorado"
and are positive that Rock will lose the title. You also
wouldn't want Lesnar to lose his first big match because
it would probably mean career death (as outlined in my Book
It last month). It's a safe bet that Rock and Lesnar will
have a good match, get the best of each other and then Lesnar
will cheat to win. Happy endings only happen at WrestleMania.
Winner: Brock Lesnar.
Triple
H vs. Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels simply cannot wrestle the way he used to
so don't expect him to. Instead, expect an entertaining
20 minute brawl. I'm excited to have Shawn back and this
is somewhat of a dream match up for the two, but it's a
toss up as to who will win. Triple H shouldn't lose to a
man that hasn't wrestled in four years and Shawn shouldn't
lose his big comeback match. I also can't think of any interesting
screw job finish where neither man loses working. I'll flip
a coin.
Winner: Triple H.
Wouldn't
it suck for the WWE if Shawn is actually hurt during the
match after Triple H has given half a dozen promos about
crippling him?
Chris
Benoit vs. Rob Van Dam
WWE Intercontinental Title Match
This should be another kick ass match, but it doesn't have
much of a feud behind it. With RVD and Benoit on different
shows they haven't had much opportunity to mix it up. I'm
going to predict Benoit wins just because Smackdown should
have the IC belt.
Winner: Benoit.
Lance
Storm & Christian vs. Booker T & Goldust
WWE Tag Team Titles Match
I said months ago that the WWE should let go of Goldust
because he really had no place in the business today. I'll
admit I was wrong. The writers have done a nice job (well,
hit and miss) of making the pair of Booker and G'Dust entertaining.
The two should be rewarded here with a tag title run.
Winner: Booker T and Goldust.
The
Undertaker vs. Test
If there is a good time for a bathroom break during the
PPV, this is it. Neither man is a good technical wrestler
so this will just be two big guys throwing fists and elbows.
It wil be hard to make this one look like anything other
than a fair Raw match.
Winner: Undertaker for no real reason other than
seniority.
Kurt
Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
This should be an awesome match. Both guys are excellent
workers and while they have different styles, I think they
can make it work. Kurt is still a main event wrestler slumming
in the mid card, so he should get the win, but not before
Rey shows him a thing or four about midget wrestling.
Winner: Angle.
Eddie
Guerrero vs. Edge
With Rock leaving Smackdown soon, the WWE will need a new
top baby face. Edge is about as close to that as you're
going to get on the Smackdown roster. Might as well give
him a good chance and give him the win over Guerrero here.
Eddie can always go hang out with Benoit to get his Latino
heat back.
Winner: Edge.
Ric
Flair vs. Chris Jericho
Writers have just kind of thrown this feud together for
the sake of a good match up. Flair should probably lose
since Jericho needs the win just for heel bragging rights.
That said, I think WWE will book Flair to win and Jericho
to whine about it.
Winner: Flair.
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