But are the wrestlers? Bret Hart and Kevin Nash have been promised world title reigns in their respective contracts, but right now the future looks like Goldberg will hold the belt until at least the next Starrcade. At which point Hogan will give Goldberg his first loss. Where does this win leave them? Up shit creek, that's where.
But otherwise, here's some things to consider about the Hogan/Goldberg match:
Just think: Imagine the ratings or ppv buys (if on ppv) that this match would have generated if it had been hyped correctly. This match would have been WCW's biggest money maker since Hogan/Sting. We only "officially" knew the the match would be a televised World Title Defence on the Thunder preceding this week's Nitro. Apparantly, the match was billed as a "special" dark match that only those in Atlanta could see. Ticket sales weren't going as well as planned, so they bumped up the stakes. And the fans responded at the last minute. If this match had been hyped for any real length of time at all, even a week in advance, then the results would blow the WWF away. But..... they f'd up. 8)
Sure, the match itself got a 6.9, and provided Nitro with their precious ratings win last week, but RAW proved it may have been a one shot deal with a win this week.
Big news for Michaels fans.....
The Heart Break Kid has returned from a four month hiatus, and returned to RAW this week. BUT, as a commentator.
It was previously expected that we wouldn't see Shawn until sometime in 1999, or possibly Survivor Series at the absolute earliest. But now, after the big ratings victory by last week's Goldberg title win on Nitro, perhaps Vince is looking to swing the ratings tide back to the WWF's favour before WCW can really get on a roll.
Obviously, Shawn is NOT in ring shape. His back is still very painful, and he is still undergoing physiotherapy. However, he did NOT undergo surgery as thought, which is a good sign for his recovery. Of course, from the look of the way that Shawn was hopping around the ring, maybe a ring return isn't so far away.
As far as his comments about D-X/Austin/McMahon/WWF went, he didn't give much away. He didn't start any feuds or make any shrewd comments about anybody, so I guess for now Vince just wants his face on TV.
And did Shawn's first appearance since Wrestlemania last March help get back some of the WWF's momentum that was lost last week? Yes he did. RAW beat Nitro with a 4.7 to Nitro's 4.5. Michaels is still hugely popular, and his eventual ring return will freshen up some the angles ongoing right now. New directions and possibilities can be brought to stir up the mix. It would be an ingenius move by McMahon, but if it is truly too early for Shawn, it could be a costly one.
BUT, so far Al has sort of fizzled. He's been tied up in some backburner angle with Jerry Lawler while on his quest to confront McMahon about giving him bad gimmics in the past. Whatever. Hopefully the WWF will start giving this guy some much needed attention, because I've seen him wrestle in ECW. He has so much talent, it would be a shame to waste it.
I think the WWF has something really going with this new influx of talent. Many of them have a great future. In my opinion, the guys to really keep an eye on are Al Snow, Val Venis and The Edge. These guys are gonna go somewhere.
Please visit John Petrie's Slobberknocker Central to read another great Monday Night Recap by clicking here.
Now for some news (some old, some new)... plucked from various sources around the Net. I will also start giving credit where credit is due for most of these new tidbits, so if you want to read about these stories, I suggest checking out some of the great Wrestling News Sites located on my Links Page.
That's it... sorry for the lack of updates, but two jobs is keeping me way too busy. Hope you enjoyed this one though. To visit the last News & Views, click
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