My "real" second column that should have been placed here a few days ago ended up becoming a tribute to the greatness of Vince McMahon (see the McMahon tribute here ). But officially, the second "Jonathan's news and views starts below. Enjoy!

I watched the WWF's Over The Edge ppv at Don Cherry's last night, and I had a pretty good time. Particularly because of the main event. Really though, it was one of those In Your House's where the undercard was pretty lackluster, but the main event really pulled out all the stops. Much like "Good Friends, Better Enemies" (Diesel vs Michaels in a no DQ/countout match) and "Mind Games" (Michaels vs. Mankind). NOD vs DX was pretty solid as well, as was Taka/Bradshaw vs Kaientai. You can check out a somewhat brief report with pictures here.

And now, the present state of WCW. Well, with a few WCW storyline exceptions and a few nWo changes, the main scenarios and storylines in WCW are back to being the SAME as they were a year ago. Sure, there's two nWo factions now, Bret Hart is a heel (again), Lex Luger is nWo. BUT, Hogan is World Champ (again), Sting is hanging in the rafters (again), The Giant is nWo (again), Sting has to make a choice (again), etc, etc, etc. Benoit is still being ripped off, DDP is still taping those ribs, Goldberg is still fighting jobbers (for the US title no less!!), Bret Hart is still complaining about being screwed, Piper is still "interim Commissioner", blah, blah, blah. When all these thing were going on a year ago, WCW was winning the ratings by a healthy margin. Maybe they're back to their old ways since RAW has been winning the ratings wars almost since Wrestlemania.

Personally, I think Bischoff is getting desperate. Being #2 is driving him crazy. The freshest angle in WCW right now is anything that revolves around Chris Jericho. By the way, he'll be leaving WCW after the next ppv. He's publicly said he's leaving once his contract is up. He hasn't said he'll be going WWF (which would be great) but may linger around the indie feds or ECW. What makes me say this? His match against Dean Malenko at The Great American Bash has been made a "loser leaves WCW" match. Jericho's contract is up in July or August. He's gone.

Let me add a few comments to my "Wrestlers of The Future" rant from last time. But this time, and over the course of the next few installments, I want to talk about some of the great wrestlers of the last 5 years or so, who have actually made wrestling better because of their presence. First up:

There's some people out there that say that Shawn Michaels is a overacheiving, bigmouthed egomaniac. And so he is. But can we really say he doesn't deserve to be? Let's face it, when at the top of his game, NO ONE puts on a better show than Shawn Michaels. He can carry anyone to a 4 star match. Watch a Undertaker/Vader match then watch an Shawn/Undertaker or Shawn/Vader match. One match seems like its stuck in slow motion while the other two keep you on the edge of your seat.

Even though Shawn often refuses to job, he pushes himself further and further with each match he has. He goes through tables, takes part in Ladder matches, Cage matches, casket matches, no-DQ matches, and probably takes the worst bumps second only to Mick Foley. His technical skills have been tested against the Harts, the Hennigs, and other great mat wrestlers, and proven himself again and again.

Now, Shawn Michaels faces possible retirement. His back injuries have reached an alltime painful peak, and surgery seems iminent. If Shawn does return, I can't see him being the same Heart Break Kid we've come to know and love. There won't be many of his spectacular highspots, or hellacious bumps... if any. I'd say that Shawn will be put in the same category of other wrestlers who have lost a step due to injury: Austin, Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart. Luckily for Austin, he's found his intensity again... but still, he isn't the great wrestler we saw at Wrestlemania 13 against Bret Hart. He's become an average brawler. And personally, I wouldn't want to see Shawn like that.

Will Michaels pull a Seinfeld and go out gracefully while he's still on top? I can't say. But no matter what happens, you can't deny that the greatest thing Shawn Michaels did for his career was put Marty Janetty through that Barber Shop window. On that day, the Heart Break Kid was born. And wrestling hasn't been the same since.

And Now.... The News

Now for some news (some old, some new)... plucked from various sources around the web. If you want to read about these tidbits in greater detail, I suggest checking out some of the great wrestling newspages located on my Links page.

Well, John Petrie has given me the ok to place a link to his "Slobberknocker Central" homepage, where you can find his Monday Night Recap Column. John also reviews all the latest pay per views, and updates his site regularly with news and other tidbits. You won't find much in terms of Mulitimedia (some old pictures though) but for sheer information, you can't get much better.

Click to visit the previous "News and Views". (though slightly condensed)

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