I MISSED RAW!!!!
To hear my opinion on the above subject, please click here. (173k)
To hear my opinion on the above subject, please click here. (173k)
I missed RAW this week due to my unexpected graveyard shifts at Shoppers Drug Mart on Saturday & Sunday nights. I expected to watch the replay on TSN the next night on Tuesday, but blasted World Cup Soccer was on. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for soccer, its a great sport and all, but I WANTED TO SEE RAW!!! Just call me a sook. 8)
Anyways, from what I've read on the Net and some still photos I've seen, it looks like it was a decent show, with most of it highlighting Kane's title shot on Sunday. Kane actually spoke for the first time on air, using some kind of voice scrambler. The only way I can describe it is that it sounded like one of those old Transformer walkie-talkies that distorted your voice to sound more "robotic". Hopefully you know what I mean. 8)
The Edge debuted this week, with a slightly awkward performance. He performed a simple over the top rope plancha, but it seems his calf bone hit the Boriqua on the head or neck and legitamitely knocked him cold. At the tapings last week, Copeland was very upset about what happened.
Confirmed: FIRST BLOOD MATCH @ KOTR!
I hope this looked as good on tv as I think it does here. Apparantly, Austin was spouting off his mouth at the end of RAW, sporting his brand spanking new "Austin 3:16" baseball jersey, when a huge amount of fake blood poured down from the ceiling, onto Austin. Kane emerged, and said that at King Of The Ring, the blood would be real. RAW ended with Austin trembling with rage and drenched with the fake blood.
Whew, and I thought it was the Undertaker kickin' the crap outta Paul Bearer up in the rafters.....
I really like how they've built up this years' King Of The Ring. Everything has been hyped well, and still provide some interesting things to come on the ppv. The only match that has been slightly underhyped might be Taker/Mankind, but with Mankind costing the Taker the title shot, the attacks on Paul Bearer, the Mankind interviews, their prior history and just the fact its Foley in a Hell in a Cell match, I think its still enough to generate interest.
See you Sunday at Don Cherry's here in St. John's, Newfoundland if you're going! Otherwise, enjoy the KotR whereever you are! 8)
Please visit John Petrie's Slobberknocker Central to read another great Monday Night Recap by clicking here.
Ever since Wrestlemania, the WWF has been on a roll. They've been winning the Ratings War for the past several weeks, including this week. Also, the WWF has been holding its own training camp (called the Funking Dojo) since WM XIV, which has been headed up by Dory Funk Jr. and Tom Pritchard. It was in this camp that many of the new faces we've been seeing today, were trained and finetuned into the wrestlers we see today.
A year ago, the WWF talent roster was severely depleted. But slowly, the WWF midcard scene has grown extensively with many great and credible wrestlers. Many of which I can see becoming Main Event Werstlers in the future. WCW has a HUGE talent roster, but too many main eventers. This results in a lack of exposure to many of its atheletes and almost no chance at advancement into main event status. The only WCW wrestler that I can think who has broken that trend is Diamond Dallas Page.
All that aside, here's a brief look at the many talented wrestlers that have appeared in the WWF as of late, with a few comments on each of them:
The Pornstar turned wrestler. I'll admit it's a silly gimmic, but you've gotta admit that the man is pretty over with the crowd. Plus, he seems to have some talent as well. He's a graduate from the "Funking Dojo" and seemed to do very well for himself. I've heard some people compare him to a young Scott Hall. Similar physique and ring skills. Not overly agile, but enough to keep him from being boring. Throw in some power moves, and you've got a great wrestler. Plus, the Money Shot ain't that bad of a splash either.
I hate to say that I haven't seen this guy wrestle yet, but his promos were awesome. Like some others, I thought that they were commercials for some new series on CTV or USA (in the states) when I first saw them. Adam is a graduate of the Funking Dojo as well and from reports was "the top of his class". I hope this "Edge" gimmic isn't some Raven ripoff, and he gets some attention from the crowd. Maybe as a "crippler" because of the Boriqua incident on RAW this week.
Not as physically imposing as his other UFC counterpart Ken Shamrock, Dan relies on his pure mat wrestling to try to win over the crowd. A difficult task in my opinion. He's been getting some decent face heat since he started helping Shamrock with his problems with the Nation, but I really think Dan should be a heel. I liked him better when he was with Cornette... calm, cool and collected but could snap you like a twig at any moment if he so desired. One second he's got that stone faced look then BOOM - he's on you with those wild eyes blaring, than BOOM - he's straightening his tie like nothing happened. THAT'S how you'd build up a showdown between Shamrock and Severn at a future Wrestlemania or SummerSlam: Severn as the brutal heel and Shamrock as the babyface. Build it slowly like the Kane/Undertaker angle so that it climaxes at Wrestlemania. The whole time Severn gets to build more experience in the ring, and more heat as a heel.
But right now, that can't happen with Severn as a face. The best thing that can happen is a Shamrock/Severn tagteam. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad, but Severn can't ride the coat tails of Shamrock in the WWF forever.
On a side note: I was on the "Wrestling Uncensored" newsboard the other day and someone had given their description of Dan Severn: "He looks like Freddie Mercury crossed between somebody's Dad". I just thought was damn funny for some reason.
In the next "News & Views" column, I'll be featuring Al Snow, Darrin Drosdov and some members of the Jackyl's "Parade Of Human Oddities" in a part 2 to this "New WWF Talent" column.
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 my friends.. we'll see ya next time.....Click here for the last "News & Views" Column.
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