|
|
Every Tuesday and Friday we give you the scoop on what's happening in and out of the wrestling ring. Somedays it's even funny!
Chairshots
12/11/01
Vengeance Thoughts
Looking at Vengeance on paper Friday, I was sure this was going to be a dull pay per view. The undercard consisted mostly of throwaway matches that could be seen on any given Monday. The Hardys have never had a good singles match with each other in the WWF. No one gave a crap about Scotty 2 Hotty & Albert vs. Test & Christian.But despite all that going as predicted, the WWF managed to surprise everyone with a strong triple main event with a radically unexpected finish. Because of the way he'd lost matches in the week leading up to Vengeance, no one expected Chris Jericho to walk out the first Unified Champion.
I guess the WWF knew what they were doing after all. It's a bold move to give Jericho the championship. He's never been the top man in the federation and he's not a proven main event draw. However, it shows that the WWF is trying to build new stars, there is no "glass ceiling" in the WWF and that fans should expect the unexpected. Now that Chris Jericho has the ball, he needs to run with it to prove he deserves it.
Raw Thoughts
I apparently saw a different Raw than the rest of the Internet community. I'm usually amused by the WWF, even when they half ass it, but watching Raw last night I found myself nodding off again and again.There was almost no good wrestling to be seen other than the main event. Undertaker squashed Spike Dudley. Big surprise. Big Show beat the snot out of Lance Storm. Woo f'n hoo. I was glad Storm lost the match just because I'm tired of every Raw having a major upset. William Regal vs. Kane had me miming masturbation. Regal is going to continue his feud with Edge for no reason other than to spite wrestling fans. As I predicted on Friday, I was bored with Rikishi by Monday.
On the flip side there wasn't much in the way of entertaining sketch segments last night either. Booker T and Vince McMahon hanging out in the skybox went nowhere. Ric Flair promised to get revenge on McMahon for punking him out at Vengeance, but never got it. Even the main event was ruined by the uninspired finish of Booker T slamming the cage door on Austin's head. Haven't we seen that a hundred times before? All in all a worthless two hours that did little to build Chris Jericho up as the new champ.
HHH Speaks
In an interview with WWF.com, HHH stated that he will be back to active competition by the Royal Rumble PPV. A lot of people were disappointed when he didn't return last night at Vengeance since the WWF used his face on a lot of the advertising. HHH noted that he is 100% focused on wrestling right now and not acting. Thank God for that because if you watched his appearance on MAD TV on Saturday night, you'd never watch another HHH appearance again. Not HHH's fault, I guess, since none of the show made me laugh (ok, Will Sasso as Stone Cold was moderately funny, but nothing else.)Shawn Michaels Returns
Former WWF world champion (and triple crown winner) Shawn Michaels will be the in studio guest this Saturday night on WWF Excess. Damn, I may actually have to watch my first episode of Excess now. Those of you that don't know who Shawn Michaels is have no right to call yourselves wrestling fans.Best of Raw on New Year's Eve
The WWF has wisely decided to not try and compete with Dick Clark this New Year's Eve. A pre-packaged "Best of RAW" special will air on Dec. 31 in the usual RAW timeslot. Also that week, instead of taping SmackDown! on Tuesday, the show will be live on January 3rd.Chyna's Naked DVD Extravaganza
If you didn't see enough of Joanie "Chyna" Laurer in this month's Playboy, you'll be able to get an eyeful next month, when a DVD creatively titled "Joanie Laurer: Nude Wrestling Superstar" is released. You can preorder it on Amazon by clicking here.Savage vs. Hogan: For the Kids
Randy "Macho Man" Savage is preparing to enter the ring once again, this time for charity. Savage has issued a challenge to long time rival Hulk Hogan to raise money for the All Children's Hospital of St. Petersburg. The challenge is designed to settle the longstanding and well-known rivalry between Savage and Hogan, while doing something for the kids in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. If Hogan chooses not to accept the challenge, or is unable to perform, Savage will donate $10,000 to Children's Hospital - in Hogan's own name.
Savage had this to say: "And just in case the red and yellow comes up a little short in the red department, if you catch my drift, and Hogan doesn't accept, or doesn't want to come to the dance, I've got that covered, too. If Hogan doesn't respond within the next two weeks, or he, for whatever reason, doesn't want to meet me in the ring this one time, then at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, I will personally write a check out to the All Children's Hospital Foundation in the amount of ten thousand dollars in Hulk Hogan's name. It's what I'm calling "The Hulk Hogan Coward Fund". One way or another, I'm making sure the kids get a special Christmas present this year."
The match will be held at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg during the first quarter of 2002. All proceeds from the event will go to All Children's Hospital. I was really hoping that Savage's surprise announcement was that Slim Jims cause cancer.
Dean Malenko to Wrestle Again
Dean Malenko will be making a return to the ring this week for the Heartland Wrestling Association. Malenko will go one-on-one with former student Chad Collyer Tuesday night at the Les Thatcher Main Event Pro Wrestling Camp in Cincinnati. He will also compete Wednesday at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, Ohio in a six-person mixed tag team match teaming with HWA Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble and Hellena Heavenly against Matt Stryker, Shannon Moore and Brandi Alexander. Malenko hasn't wrestled in a match since he retired from active competition in the WWF and took a teaching position with them.Ross Report
Jim Ross posted his latest Ross Report Friday at WWF.com. Here are the highlights:
William Regal will have surgery to repair his nosebleed problems, perhaps next week.
Perry Saturn is working with either a strained lower back or bruised kidney, but his condition has improved. Shawn Stasiak's knee problem seems to be healing on its own, and the doctor wants to wait before going into surgery to remove the bursa sac. Edge is working with a brace on his left knee and it seems to have helped. Test is going to have his lower back problems evaluated this month. X-Pac feels he is at 50% at this point. He has no set return date yet. Triple H is rehabbing, and Ross thinks he will be back in early January. Mike Awesome will have his ACl surgery next Friday in Tampa. Chris Benoit is rehabbing, and is several months away from returning. Dallas Page chipped a tooth at a house show, and will see a dentist to get it repaired. Stacy Keibler bruised her hip, but it is nothing serious. TAKA Michinoku will be returning to Puerto Rico from Japan soon. He will be gone for six months with shoulder surgery. Hugh Morrus is still working through shoulder problems. Ross put him over for his efforts. Randy Orton's shoulder should be ready around the first on the year. Bob Holly's arm is healing, and he is able to do more in the ring as part of Tough Enough 2. He is several months away from being 100%. Scotty 2 Hotty has been working through his neck problems, and is holding up well. Jerry Lynn will be released from under doctor's care at the beginning of next month. Eric Angle will see Dr. Andrews to have his muscle tear and his arm evaluated. Johnny The Bull has been cleared to work with his broken thumb in a splint. Tiger Ali Singh suffered what is believed to be a concussion in Puerto Rico. He will have it checked out, but it is not thought to be serious. Ross mentioned the talent releases from last week and said he could see them returning in the future. A lot would depend on how they handle their release. They don't expect to be making any significant changes to the OVW roster. The Rock will be doing a photo shoot to go with a story for Vanity Fair. Rock will also be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness. This will all be centered around the release of "The Scorpion King". Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum wants to do a wax figure of him as well. Fear Factor on NBC will be shooting a WWF episode next week. Test, the Hardy Boyz, Lita, Jackie, and Molly Holly are the contestants. Ross said the episode will be heavily hyped. Lita's interview in Rolling Stone will be out in February. My next column will be out on Friday and is available only at Fanboyplanet.com.
