Chair Shots

9-03-02

Flair can't retire until he takes on ME.

The Raw Runthrough
Say what you want about the state of Raw, if nothing else they are certainly trying to shake things up. Last night the WWE decided that each show should have its own world title to defend.

Now, I can see what the WWE was thinking when this idea came up. "We've got two brands on the road and everyone loves to see a world title match, so why not give each one its own title?" Well, I for one have a few problems with the concept.

First, the world title has always been the pinnacle of success in the wrestling industry. The company selects a top baby face or heel and gives the title to that star with the understanding that the company rests on their shoulders. Think of guys like Mick Foley who grew up wanting to be the world champ and the price they paid to reach that point. Do you think Mick would have been as happy winning just the "Raw" world title?

Following SummerSlam in my post show commentary, I commented that the WWE was putting a lot of faith into Brock Lesnar by giving an unproved talent like Brock the world title. Now we see that the company has put almost no faith in Lesnar because they already have another, more established world champion to fall back on if Lesnar doesn't work out.

And what's this BS with Triple H just being handed the world title? He didn't even have to wrestle for it? Lame, say I. I did like that Bischoff used the old WCW world title belt. It's a nice tip of the hat to history rather than creating a new belt. Or, is it a sign that Bischoff has a bigger scam going than we thought…Coming soon: Raw is Nitro!

Hopefully this, is just a plot device and by Wrestlemaina the title we be reunified. We should have known something was up when they got rid of the European and Hardcore belts.

OH MY GOD! CRASH HOLLY IS JUMPING TO SMACKDOWN! Call TIME Magazine.

Big Show may not be one of the top stars in the business nor does he have great matches or entertain fans, but by golly, the man knows how to take a chair shot. After watching Triple H repeatedly put his hand up like a sissy at SummerSlam, it was an honor to watch Big Show do it "Foley style" last night on Raw with Tommy Dreamer. I'm also glad that Dreamer is getting a push. Fans agreed by chanting "ECW" and not "Big Fat Guy."

The best Bubba Dudley promo all year was quickly forgotten with the ridiculous mention of Molly's hymen. The entire Molly Holly/Chris Nowinski plot just gets more and more asinine each week. Am I out of touch? Is anyone enjoying this? If so, please write and tell me, because hot pokers in my rectum sound more enjoyable than the continuing story of a man that tells a live television audience each week that he's going to try and have sex with Molly Holly and yet each week Molly seems oblivious to this news.

Ever get the feeling that Ric Flair is on a farewell tour? He can't really have an entertaining match anymore and his promos have gone downhill, too, yet he keeps showing up to wrestle. I think that maybe the wrestlers in the back are just passing him around so that they can all check off "Ric Flair" from their "dream matches" lists.

This week, Raw tried to cover for a huge mistake in Kane's return last week, by booking him in a handicap match. Note to Raw writers: There is no way I can believe that Kane is a serious wrecking machine regardless of how many wrestlers he fights at one time after watching him do the Kane-a-roonie last week. That image will be associated with Kane in my mind for the rest of my life. Oh, and having him hang out and fight with Bradshaw isn't helping.

Why has the separation of Bradshaw and Farooq experiment not come to an end?

Speaking of notes to the WWE writers, if you're going to have a spank match like Stacy vs. Terri in a lingerie pillow fight, make sure you have good lighting. Fans lost interest because they couldn't see anything. That match just stunk up the ring for 10 minutes instead of being really exciting for 4 minutes, and then making me sleepy for the next 6.

I did enjoy the main event, not so much for the entertainment factor but because I feel a RVD vs. Triple H feud coming.

Jim Ross Says Stuff
Friday afternoon Jim Ross posted the Ross Report at WWE.com. Here are the parts I cared about: