During the first hour, Mick got in the ring and asked Mr. McMahon for a title shot at the Royal Rumble. After all, he beat The Rock at Rock Bottom, so he should still be the number one contender. Vince comes out and says Mick is a disgrace and a freak, and doesn't deserve another shot. But, he allows him to face HHH to see who gets to enter the Royal Rumble. However, Shane McMahon would be the special guest referee.
HHH and Mick fight a fast paced match, lasting about three minutes when HHH rolled up Mick, and Shane makes the fast three-count. Mick can't believe it. HHH says, "a win is a win and I'll take it". Mick is once again screwed. However, HHH wishes Mankind a Happy New Year and pedigrees Shane! "He's all yours". Mick puts a painful hold on Shane and threatens to break his shoulder unless he gets his title shot that night. Vince and the Corporation come to rindside. Shane is squealing like a pig. Mick demands that the match be no-DQ.... and McMahon reluctantly agrees.
The Match.
Both D-X and the Corporation are at ringside. The tension mounts. The Rock and Mankind fight a hard battle, with Mick taking some nasty bumps such as flying into and over the ringsteps and a Rock Bottom through the announcers table. However, Mick gets some revenge with a double arm DDT and the mandible claw in the centre of the ring, but is stopped by Shamrock wielding a steel chair. Billy Gunn jumps in and gives Shamrock a big forearm smash much to the crowds delight. Chaos ensues outside the ring. D-X and Corporation members are brawling everywhere. The Rock struggles to his feet.... CRASH!!!! Steve Austin struts to the ring, jumps in, picks up Shamrock's chair and nails The Rock. He drags Mick on top of the fallen champion, and the ref counts the 1-2-3!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New world champion!!! Let the markout begin!!
Vince is disgusted as he leaves ringside with the rest of the corporation, as Foley and D-X celebrate in the ring. "I gotta tell ya Vinnie.... this feels pretty damn good!", says Foley. He dedicates the win to his children at home. The Road Dog anounces "The NEW WWF Heavyweight Champion of the Wooooooorrrrrrrlllllllldddddddd........ MANKIND!!!" Mick then hops out of the ring for a victory lap around the ring as RAW fades out.
THAT is how you crown a new world champion.
A Late addition to this column I just wanna mention the bit of free advertising that Mr. Tony Shiavone gave to Mick's title victory on RAW. During a few matches, Tony felt the need (though I'm sure Eric felt the need as well) to give away Mick's win while Nitro was live, and RAW was taped that week. The plan was to discourage people from bothering to switch to RAW and keep watching Nitro. Sometimes I get a kick out of both feds poking fun at the other, and I know Nitro has given away results in the past. But to disrespect a guy like Mick Foley who has put so much of his life and limbs on the line for the entertainment of the fans is too much. This is what he said: "Former WCW wrestler Mick Foley, who wrestled here as Cactus Jack, will win his present company's world championship later tonight. THAT is going to their champion? Yeah, that'll put butts in the seats." Let me tell you that I respect Mick Foley above any other wrestler, past or present. Foley lost an ear for WCW, and yet they feel the need to use him to make another federation look BAD? Mick Foley would put my ass in a seat, any time and anywhere. Fuck you WCW, and fuck you Shiavone.
This is exactly why I'm biased towards the WWF. Yes, it has had tastless angles and characters, the wrestling is more or less inferior compared to some of WCW's talent, but for the most part there are characters you can care about and really get behind. The right wrestlers are being pushed. There are actual compelling storylines that make you want to stay and watch what will unfold. There's a flow to each show and actual plot devleopment. It makes for a dedicated fan base.
But in WCW, the opposite is true. It's as if one day Bischoff and the boys found themselves with a great angle two years ago, and have been too scared to try something radically different for fear of losing in the ratings. Just "tweaks" here and there or "slight variations", or a different t-shirt color here and there. If it doesn't work, we'll just go back to the old formula just in case. Plus, we'll have what will basically be the same show EVERY week. We'll have jobbers fight for most of the night, with one great match from the luchadores, a squash by Goldberg, a sprinkling of Horsemen, and a screwjob ending for the mainevent that will begin when there's five minutes left to the entire THREE HOUR SHOW. We'll have bad $30 pay per views where we'll build for the matches on Nitro for weeks and then have the exact same matches again the next night on free tv. And for the ppv main events we don't show on tv, we'll hire non-wrestlers to fight in tag matches with Holy-old Hogan and Dime-a-Dozen Page! We'll bury our best wrestlers in the undercard while we push over the hill stiffs like Nash, Flair, and Hogan or better yet... no-talent good for nothings like Bryan Adams, Stevie Ray, Norman Smiley, Horace, Scott Steiner, and Lex Luger. We're sure to stay the number one promotion in the US!
How people can still call themselves a WCW fan and not be under some kind of mindcontrol is beyond me.
There's several reasons why Owen didn't leave the WCW with Bret. One of them is that Vince knows talent and potential when he sees it. And he sees it in Owen. And I see it too, but Owen has got to find his niche, the right gimmic, or the right angle. I really think he could have done well with the Austin-like gimmic he had briefly when he was sneak attacking Michaels soon after Bret's "self-screwing". Sure, it was almost too Austin-ish, but he was getting some serious heat. Michaels was a mega-heel after Survivor Series, and Owen could have benifitted so much from some matches with Shawn. But he got stuck with HHH, and has been steadily losing heat ever since. Now's he's involved with three or four guys (Jarrett, Severn and Blackman) who also have little in the way of heat right now. The person who gets the most heat out of all of them is Debra McMichael.
At any rate, let's look back at what Owen's been doing wrong and what I think he can do to improve.
This angle had some potential when it first started, but has become comic relief and has only resulted in Owen and Jeff Jarrett in becoming a on-again, off-again tag team. Owen's feud with Blackman continues, with the whole thing being no more than a waste of airtime. Either put the whole Blazer charade behind him and move on, or at least give us a reason to care.
Here's a take on an idea I read on the Net.... but I'd like to see Vince toss Austin out of the Rumble early on, then the Blazer comes in during the later numbers, and starts tossing everyone out to eventually be left with McMahon. Vince walks over to congratulate who he thinks is Owen, only to laid out with a Stunner. Mask comes off, and it's Austin. Owen attacks Austin immediately afterwards in a fit of jealousy and we have an instant Owen/Austin feud. Owen feeds off of Austin's heat for a month or two and develops some main event credibility.
Ok, so maybe "Rocky Sucks" and even "Die Rocky Die" worked for The Rock, but "Nugget" will not put Owen over. It all stems from an interview from Shawn Michaels one day on RAW, which ocurred two years ago. If Owen was feuding with Shawn right now, it might make a difference but if they keep it up, it'll just make Owen a laughing stock for the fans and not a serious title contender.
Another thing Vince could do to revitalize Owen is give him a decent manager. Owen just doesn't have the microphone skills needed to get over in today's WWF. I say rehire Jimmy "Mouth Of The South" Hart as soon as his contract is up. Rehire Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. And get Owen's nephew back in the dojo and ready to tag with Neidhart.. In other words, start a new Hart Foundation. I know it's been done, but Jimmy certainly has the gift of gab, and Neidhart is an experienced tag wrestler. Get the hot prospect Glen Kulka in on this too....
It worked for Austin. It worked for The Rock. It's working for D-X and Mankind right now. Hell, it worked for The Undertaker and Kane for a while. Maybe it'll be like beating a dead horse to an extent, but old feuds can be rekindled. His feud with Shamrock was good, and he can have a beef with The Rock for leaving The Nation. I wouldn't allign him with Austin or anything, but a feud with one of the corporate team members could be good for him. That is, if he wanted to be a face.
Let's consider this. Maybe Owen will NEVER be main event. Then put him in a tag team, because he's a great tag wrestler. His past success with The Bulldog is testament to that. If we can go back to the manager idea, let's give Owen a manager and team him with Chris Benoit. I know Benoit's not really "Mr. Personality" either, but his contract is up soon and Vince could do a lot with him. I'm thinking "The Canadian Cripplers".
Now for some news (some old, some new)... plucked from various sources around the Net. If you would like to read further, I suggest checking out some of the great Wrestling News Sites located on my Links Page.
Click here for the previous "News & Views" Column.
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