I dunno, Holly's pretty funny.
But really, Hardcore has really impressed the heck outta me in the last few months. When he won the Hardcore title a few months ago from Al Snow, I absolutely hated the guy. Whenever he came out, it was time to go for a snack. Or at least a big groan. Although Holly got himself into immaculate shape, I still didn't think much of his Hardcore style, and the sour taste of his previous gimmics still remained. To his credit, Holly was getting what was probably the best heel pop second only to the McMahons. But I don't think people loved to boo him, they just wanted the guy to go away.
Then, the McMahon's prove their genious yet again. They finally gave Holly something that EVERY wrestler needs to get over. They gave him CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. What do I mean by that? Well, they know that Bob doesn't have the best microphone skills. But he's a decent wrestler, he's not sloppy and he's proven that he's a decent brawler. So, they use Bob's "stupidity" in his favour. They made Hardcore believe he was a superheavyweight. Holly started calling himself, "The Big Shot" and increased his cockiness by about 1000 percent. He was The Big Show's little buddy for a while, as Wight dragged his beaten carcass out of the ring after each beatdown by the Acolytes or multi-chokeslams by Kane. Holly would say, "I had 'em right where I wanted 'em" and Wight would just shake his head. Great stuff.
Nowadays, everyone cheers when Hardcore and his cousin Crash come out to get beat up by the Acolytes every week. It's a strange thing, I tell you. Bob reminds me of when The Rock was just laser-babyface, Rocky Maivia. I HATED Rocky Maivia. Remember "Die Rocky Die"? There was a reason for that. And now, thanks to some character development, we now have the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. Some of that same praise might just go to Bob Holly by next year.
Jericho might be the Iatola of Rock 'N Rolla, but he ain't the Big Shot.
and speaking of Jericho.....
Jericho interrupted a Rock interview as his debut, to thunderous face heat from the audiencs. During his promo, he totally blasted the WWF as a boring company, on a downward spiral into collapse and that the WWF roster has no talent. Jericho has come to SAVE the WWF. All it took was a 3 minute promo and Jericho went from a HUGE favourite to having the loudest heel heat of the night.
It was amazing.
Since then, Jericho has cost The Rock a match against the Big Show, put the Roaddog through a table and has started a feud with Ken Shamrock. Plus, he has a new t-shirt. "It took me three years to get a t-shirt in WCW. Here it only took me three weeks."
Jericho's old Ralphus sidekick gimmic has come back in the form of ring announcer Howard "The Fink" Finkel. Howard does all the dirty work for Jericho, and ends up taking his licks. Funny stuff.
Personally, I think that Jericho has unlimited potential in the WWF. Sure, he isn't a huge guy, but he has the charisma and talent to go straight to the top. One time, I used to call Billy Gunn the next Shawn Michaels. I was wrong, it's Jericho.
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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