Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #217 January 10th, 2000 The Opening Word: As expected, ratings were up for Nitro last week. Their first hour did its usual, while the second hour, going up against RAW's first hour, was up a few tenths of a point. Much celebrating was said to be heard coming from the WCW offices (which is funny, since any fool can see the ratings increase came more from the time change, rather than the content of the show). RAW, meanwhile, was in the usual number range the first hour, then took jump of several tenths of a point in their second, showing that the new time schedule will probably be more advantageous to them than WCW. Better news for WCW came last Thursday, as Thunder did its best rating in months. Clearly interest in what happened on Monday carried over. Thunder moves to Wednesday this week and if they make the fans aware of this there's no reason to doubt it won't see better ratings, since it'll no longer be squaring off against WWF SmackDown! It may take a week or two to make the fans aware of the switch, so don't be surprised if the first Wednesday night Thunder does a low rating. Midian played the fake Mankind on RAW and SmackDown! last week. Anyone else find it ironic that WCW's top babyface right now is a current WWF superstar? It turns out Terry Funk is still under WWF contract! His contract with them in 1999 automatically "rolled over" for another year when he failed to give them his notice. The WWF doesn't want to sour their relationship with Funk, though, so they will be sending him papers to sign so he can get out of the contract, and continue to work in WCW. The WWF could have really put Funk and WCW over a barrel because of this. Anyone else but Funk and this definitely would have gone to court. Wrestler Gary Albright died last Friday of a heart attack while competing in an indy fed match in Pennsylvania. Albright had made a name for himself wrestling in Japan. I'm not sure if he ever competed in either of the Big Two here in the States. In any case it's another sad loss for the world of professional wrestling. ECW held their Guilty As Charged PPV this past Sunday. Reviews for the show have been typical: glowing by those really into ECW, negative by those not. I didn't see it so I can't comment one way or the other. I will say that I did watch their show on TNN last Friday and thought it was boring (which is surprising, since the show just the week before was much better). ECW may offer the best actual in-ring wrestling on TV, but their angles, characters, storylines and production values still leave a whole lot to be desired. The company has yet to shed its image of being a third-rate, cheap indy fed. The innovative booking which once made it the company everyone copied has completely disappeared. They seem to be coasting on an unchanging formula of T&A, mindless violence, overpushed heels and past-their-glory stars cast off from the Big Two. (What else can you say about a company whose biggest angle involves Dusty Rhodes?) I think it's telling that after nearly four months of national television exposure their show on TNN has seen almost zero ratings growth. ECW definitely appeals to a niche in the wrestling market. Their show on TNN has managed to expose them to more fans who fit in that niche. What it hasn't done, though, is broaden their appeal to anyone outside that niche. For a promotion that has such good wrestling it's too bad that they can't address their numerous weaknesses and get over that hill they've been looking up at the last five years. Previews for this week's Monday night shows ... On Nitro: a three-way match for the Tag Team Titles, with one of its participants--Saturn--promising to do a huge move of some kind. Terry Funk would continue to make life miserable for the NWO (while they will, in turn, no doubt continue kicking the living shit out of him). And WCW has let it be known a few old geezers, George "Animal" Steele and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, may be on hand to receive guitar shots from Jeff Jarrett. We should also get more of that exciting Madusa vs. Oklahoma Cruiserweight Title feud. On RAW: the returns of Vince McMahon, Cactus Jack, the Undertaker, Ken Shamrock, and the debut of Tazz ... or maybe not. With things going so well for the WWF they seem convinced that they can just cruise and put off all these things. The Royal Rumble is only two weeks away, though, and the WWF has only officially announced two matches, one of those being the Rumble itself. The WWF needs to get on the ball and announce a main event (expected to be Triple H vs. Cactus Jack), and lay out the format and participants of this year's Rumble. I can't believe Rikishi Phatu may wind up being the next big break-out star in the WWF. His match against Triple H last Thursday was just terrific, in terms of drama and crowd response. The WWF has a real opportunity here, hopefully they won't blow it by pushing him too hard too fast, or letting the moment slip by and not pushing him at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Buffalo, New York. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay & Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. HOUR ONE: - Thunder recap sets the stage for tonight's show. - Commissioner Terry Funk, Larry Zbyszko, Paul Orndorff and Arn Anderson arrive. - DAVID FLAIR/CROWBAR vs. THE REVOLUTION vs. THE FILTHY ANIMALS Didn't the Revolution dump Asya? Daffney is out with Flair and Crowbar and spends the whole match screaming. Shane Douglas does color some commentary, talking about the Revolution/Animals match at the PPV which will feature a mystery partner for the Revolution. Tenay gets him to admit it may be someone from outside WCW (though I'll just assume, along with everyone else, that it'll be Eddie Guerrero, turning on the Filthy Animals. Hopefully it's not "Hacksaw" Duggan). The match here is non-stop action for a few minutes, then Saturn leaves the ring for no reason. Here comes his big move, I guess. Dean Malenko drags Rey Mysterio, who had accompanied Kidman and Konan, over to a table next to the entryway. Saturn, meanwhile, has climbed up to the second level. (Wow, look at all those empty seats!) Saturn dives off the second level, falling a good 15 feet, smashing Mysterio through the table. A great, albeit gratuitous spot. Mysterio sells it like death, while Saturn plays up massive internal injuries, in a nod to the "don't try this at home!" message. David Flair comes out of nowhere and covers the still-writhing Saturn for the pin. Schiavone says they don't know what tonight's matches will be, because Commissioner Funk will be booking them on the fly. - The NWO have arrived. It's Scott Steiner's birthday, and as a gift Kevin Nash presents him with a limo full of busty, nipple cleavage ass--THIS IS THE GREATEST NITRO EVER! Funk and the others look on. Are the fans booing? - Replay of Saturn's dive. Mysterio is loaded into an ambulance. - Scott starts divvying up the ladies, intent on having sex with them in the next room. No, really. NITRO IS PORN! Look at those juggs. And nipples. I love nipples. THIS RECAP IS PORN! - Oklahoma comes to the ring carrying a bottle of BBQ sauce and a broom. You know, given this guy isn't--and never has been--OVER, by what possible justification is he still around? Oh, that's right--HE'S ED FERRARA: HEAD CO-WRITER OF THE FRIGGIN' COMPANY. Did you hear that WCW released that fine cruiserweight, Blitzkrieg? Oh yeah ... couldn't find any TV time for him. Oklahoma rags on Madusa, the two of them having a match scheduled at Souled Out. For the Cruiserweight Title. While Blitzkrieg was fired. And Scott Hall threw the TV belt in the trash. And David Flair is the Tag Team Champion. Who says titles mean anything anymore? Man, I'm really distracted this week. Oklahoma throws out a challenge to any woman. Out comes Asya. Well, who else would it have been? I think this is supposed to be a match, but why bother calling it such. Oklahoma knocks her out of the ring when her back is turned. He then stomps on her, and eventually breaks the BBQ sauce over her head. Out comes Madusa, looking like a fifteen dollar Ho. A sort-of chase ensues, and Oklahoma "busts" the broom over Madusa's back. ("Busts" as in the part that was pre-cut and taped back together comes apart as he's swinging the broom.) I can't believe Madusa is selling a shot from the STRAW end of the broom. I've not seen many Man vs. Woman "feuds" worse than this one. Oklahoma walks out with the belt. He'll probably win it this Sunday, justifying it by saying "well, at least we got it away from the woman." Maybe he'll drop it to Vampiro then. The NWO can't find Scott because he's busy fu--having a good time. - Funk and his Enforcers are on the move. - Schiavone mentions the AOL/Time Warner merger. Fans looking for this to have a noticable impact on wrestling can forget about it. Maybe a few years from now it might mean something, but not right now. I will have to disagree with a notion floating about the Internet that says WCW can breath easier now that AOL has taken over Time Warner. Actually the opposite may be true. Before Turner merged with Time Warner WCW was allowed to operate at a loss for years, because their losses were made up in savings by TBS, who got all that TV programming for next to nothing. After the merger, though, much greater emphasis was placed on WCW to make a profit, and greater scrutiny placed on their spending. In a very short period of time WCW's books were given a thorough going-over, Eric Bischoff lost his job, and Bill Busch was brought in to put the company back on the road to profitability. New owners mean the process could very well be repeated. Don't forget that one side effect of large mergers such as this are that unprofitable divisions are sometimes shut down, or sold off. I wonder if Vince McMahon could buy WCW if AOL Time Warner decided to unload it? - Funk leads his men to the ring. He launches into a rambling diatribe against the NWO. He dubs his group "The Old Age Outlaws." (Maybe the WWF should have sued him.) The others in the ring follow suit. Orndorff points out his "Power Plant Elite" students at ringside. Here come the NWO, clearly getting a louder pop than Funk and his crew. Nash makes a few old age jokes. (I thought he wasn't supposed to act cool?) Jeff Jarrett is wearing a Tennessee Titans jersey (Tennessee having eliminated Buffalo from the NFL playoffs this past Saturday with a miraculous last-second lateral play and touchdown). Tons of cheap heat for that. Funk informs Jarrett that he will compete in three matches tonight--the same matches that he'll be doing at the PPV against Chris Benoit. Only here Benoit will be the referee in each, and Jarrett will face three "close friends" of Funk--none of whom being the guys there in the ring with him. (Let's see ... that would be "Superfly" Snuka, George Steele and ... ?) Funk also orders Bret to defend his title against Kevin Nash. If they refuse Funk will suspend the two for a year. They both say okay, they'll take the suspension. Funk adds that he'll strip Bret of the title. So the match is one. Scott Steiner then tries to talk, but the censors bleep it all out. Funk promises to wash Steiner's mouth out with soap sometime tonight. I didn't check the clock, but this all must have lasted at least ten minutes, and for the most part was really ugly. Funk was way off, and the NWO was getting all the babyface heat from the crowd by outtalking Funk on the mic. - Arn Anderson is sent out to meet someone in the parking lot. - Diamond Dallas Page and Buff Bagwell have arrived. - Arn checks out a limo, but it's not who he was sent to meet. Turns out it was Kimberly. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund is out to set up a verbal confrontation between DDP and Bagwell. A five minute timer keeps us informed how long it is until RAW starts. I guess if either man hits the other during this five minute period they will be fined. This goes nowhere, with the live fans being only barely interested. DDP basically accuses Bagwell of sleeping with his wife, Kimberly. Buff denies it, but admits that he's been there for her when DDP wasn't, and that he's a good listener. DDP asks why he should trust him? Bagwell asks why he shouldn't? (I guess Kimberly's denials hold no weight with DDP?) The matter of a birthmark is brought up--not one we can all see in Kimberly's Playboy spread, but one we can't. Bagwell jokes that EVERYONE in the lockerroom has seen that one. *Punch!* Bagwell comes back with a collapsible metal baton, clocking DDP. The counter has expired already, so no fine, and it's time to switch to RAW. Sets up their PPV match. Nash and Hart do the old "well, I can beat you anyway" bit. Anderson greets an arriving car. HOUR TWO: - JEFF JARRETT vs. ??? Jarrett wheels a cart full of weapons to the ring for this "Bunkhouse Brawl." Funk eventually introduces Jarrett's opponent ... George "Animal" Steele. It's widely known (or believed, anyway) that Vince Russo is a huge mark for old-time wrestling stars, and that's what a lot of his booking in the WWF and WCW have been about. Russo brought Steele in to be with the Oddities, and it was supposedly he who brought up the idea of using the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young just before leaving the WWF. Since coming to WCW he's pushed Roddy Piper, and now Funk and his aged team. As part of a plan to put Jarrett over it was reported that Russo had contacted numerous old stars to come in and take guitar shots. Steele and Jimmy Snuka accepted. Tito Santana, King Kong Bundy and the Honkytonk Man supposedly turned him down. It's also known (or believed, anyway) that Russo is trying to bring the Ultimate Warrior and Bruno Sammartino into the company. All of which is neither here nor there, I guess. No wrestling here to speak of. George eats a turnbuckle. Jarrett hits Steele with the guitar. He's then attacked by Arn Anderson. Steele is laid on top of Jarrett and referee Benoit counts the pin. - More NWO dissention. - "Mean" Gene is out to stir up more crap, this time between Stevie Ray and Booker T. Long story short: the two will meet at Souled Out. More NWO backstage. Arn is outside waiting for Jarrett's next opponent. - JEFF JARRETT vs. ??? Tito Santana. That makes Snuka the third opponent, in a steel cage. It's right here my brother predicts a Superfly Leap off the top of the cage. "Or a Benoit headbutt," I counter. "Or both." Tito's wearing his Matador pants, and a big old beer gut. Jarrett taunts some Buffalo Bills players who just happen to be at ringside, mimicking the miracle lateral and touchdown. Awesome. Hard to watch Tito in the ring and not hear Jesse Ventura calling him "Chico." Santana looks okay to start (FLYING JALAPENO!), but the match nearly comes to a screeching halt when Jarrett whips him in the corner and Santana tries to throw himself over the top rope ... and fails. He tries again, but again he fails to clear the rope. By now Jarrett is there and raining in blows, which Tito is ignoring as he desperately tries to get over the top rope. Just awful. Cue the outside interference, as Buffalo Bill player Ted Washington climbs on the apron and pushes Jarrett. Paul Orndorff then comes in and lays him out with a Piledriver. Santana covers for the pin. This was supposed to be a "Dungeon Match," by the way, meaning you could only win by submission. So Tito wins by pin. Contrived as all hell, but it was a definite crowd pleaser. I just feel really bad about having my last memories of Santana in action spoiled by seeing his pitiful performance here. He looked okay, all things considered, but is obviously way past his prime. There's Tank Abbott. - Abbott is out to talk about Jerry Flynn and Doug Dellinger. Dellinger comes out and punches Abbott. Seriously. This is just so sad. Flynn comes out for the obligatory cheapshot after Abbott has clocked Doug and been handcuffed by security. Arn hooks up with Jarrett's next opponent, this time revealed to be Snuka. There's Bret Hart. Hey, who knocked out Benoit? - JEFF JARRETT vs. JIMMY "SUPERFLY" SNUKA It's no exaggeration to say, on this night anyway, Jeff Jarrett is carrying this company. Snuka does nothing except get slammed into the cage. In comes Benoit and he and Jarrett fight. Zbyszko and Orndorff join in as well. Jarrett is totally laid out, allowing Snuka to climb up onto one corner of the cage. Benoit climbs up the opposite corner. They signal to each other and Snuka does the Superfly. Benoit follows with the headbutt. Yeah, predictable, but it looked damn cool. Snuka covers for the pin. Steiner comes out for the next batch of girls, having had sex with the others already. The girls have to splash champagne on Steiner to perk him up. Speaking of which, where was Chris "Champagne" Kanyon tonight? And Bam Bam Bigelow? And Norman Smiley? And Lex Luger? And Sid Vicious? And the sixty other wrestlers this company has on the payroll? - BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. KEVIN NASH Funk catches up with Steiner and shoves a bar of soap in his mouth. Nash, the lazy bastard that he is, seems to spend most of this match on his back on the mat, Hart working over his legs to set up his finisher. Hart's almost carrying Nash to a watchable match here. Arn Anderson then comes in and knocks out Nash with a pipe. And here comes Sid finally, to attack Hart. The cage over the ring lowers, because that's what the WWF always does in moments like this. Nash winds up on his back, down on the floor. Out comes Terry Funk with his flaming branding iron. Funk jabs it into the midsection of Nash, who sells it in a less-than-serious manner, as the show fades off the air. - This Wednesday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: A genuinely entertaining show, and it only took a carload of ex-WWF legends to make it such. Aw, I kid, but seriously, this was WCW's most amusing show since Vince Russo took over. I'm not sure I'd call it good, but with all the big spots, and aging stars (which both Funk and the announcers made sure to tell us were all big in the WWF), it was a mostly entertaining show. And hey, it did do an okay job of hyping the PPV. Barely a second of decent wrestling on the show, though. The first match was okay, but it was just filler to set up Saturn's stage dive. It's a little grating to hear Bobby Heenan say he's never seen anything like that when New Jack did the same thing the night before at Guilty As Charged. (Actually ECW pretty much does that spot at every one of their PPV's.) But it's new for WCW, though, so we have to give them that. Let's see now if it leads somewhere, or if Saturn will just slink back into obscurity next week. The Hardyz do stuff like that in the WWF, and it's lead to them getting pushed. Too bad he did it on a night where the move would be overshadowed by similar moves from Snuka and Benoit. Here's the card for Souled Out, as best as I can piece it together: * Bret Hart vs. Sid Vicious. WCW World Title Match. * Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Benoit. "Triple Threat Theater" best-of-three. * Kevin Nash vs. Terry Funk. Winner is Commissioner of WCW. * Diamond Dallas Page vs. Buff Bagwell. * Stevie Ray vs. Booker T. * The Filthy Animals vs. the Revolution & "Mystery Partner." * Tank Abbott vs. Jerry Flynn. * Madusa vs. Oklahoma. Cruiserweight Title Match. * Norman Smiley vs. Brian Knobbs vs. Fit Finlay vs. Meng. Hardcore Title. * David Flair vs. Vampiro. This show should do better than Starrcade, since Starrcade did something like WCW's second lowest buyrate ever. If it does worse, though, there's a chance it could do worse than ECW's Guilty As Charged. Scary thought. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: St. Louis, Missouri. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - The entire WWF roster of wrestlers begin to filter down to the ringside area. They encircle the ring. And there's the Rock, who shall lead them. He calls out Triple H and Stephanie (they comply). The Rock announces that unless certain changes are made by the McMahon-Helmsley Era, the entire company of wrestlers will walk out, following the Rock to form the "World Rock Federation." Their first demand is the immediate rehiring of Mick Foley. Triple H and Stephanie confer, then agree to rehire Mick, saying they planned to do that anyway (uh-huh). The Rock then says there's to be no more stupid gimmick matches like "Pink Slip on a Pole," and that no one can be fired without just cause (I guess these are the demands of the other wrestlers). Again Triple H and Stephanie agree--what choice do they have? Cue Mankind's music (huh?) and here he comes through the crowd. Mick takes the stick and challenges Triple H to a WWF Championship match at the Royal Rumble (which seems to surprise the Rock). Triple H accepts. The Rock then makes an announcement; that he will throw his hat into the ring as the first official entrant in the Royal Rumble. He says he'll win by throwing out 29 other jabronies, which seems a bit disrespectful to the wrestlers who elected him their spokesman tonight. Further using the leverage they have, Mankind and the Rock announce a few matches for tonight: Road Dogg vs. Mr. Ass, Triple H vs. X-Pac, and all of D-X vs. the Acolytes and the Rock & Sock Connection. This was about twice as long as the Funk/NWO segment on Nitro, but also easily twice as effective. And entertaining. - Road Dogg and the others give Triple H flack for caving in to the Rock's demands. They figure they could have put on a show all by themselves. - ROAD DOGG vs. MR. ASS The usual offense from both, and these guys are about even, when Road Dogg sees a FameAsser coming and turns it into a slam. Pin. So Road Dogg is the brains of the team, Billy Gunn the muscle. Not only is Mankind back, but he also has the fake Mankind with him, tied to a chair in a back room. Apparently the lockerroom gets to book its own matches tonight, by way of a sign-up sheet in the back. Terri Runnels signs up the Hardy Boyz for a match. - KURT ANGLE/STEVE BLACKMAN vs. THE HARDY BOYZ (w/ Terri) Some disparaging remarks from Angle about the St. Louis Rams don't sit too well with the fans. Steve Blackman does the Move of the Show in this one when he catches Jeff Hardy on the floor coming off the ring barrier. Jeff tries a huracanrana, but Blackman is able to resist going over, and instead swings Jeff HEAD FIRST into the steel steps. Totally awesome. It's to no avail, though, as the Hardyz ultimately come out on top, drop-kicking and legsweeping Blackman for the pin. Angle chews Steve out for the loss. Mankind is still tormenting his evil twin. Edge has signed up to face someone, and tells Christian that whoever it is was cool with the idea. Chris Jericho apologizes to Chyna and talks her into teaming up for a match against the Hollys. - VAL VENIS vs. EDGE (w/ Christian) Jim Ross reveals that Edge is in fact engaged to marry Val's sister. Val tells Edge he may be man enough to marry his sister, but he's nowhere near man enough to beat him for the European Title. Edge's entrance is interrupted by the glowing orange Tazz symbol. The match itself goes by briskly, with Val getting the clean win with a bridge suplex. Edge grabs the mic and tells Val he may be the better man tonight, but he won't be the Best Man at his sister's wedding: that honor goes to Christian. No protest from Val ... yet. The D-X bickering continues. WWF WAR ZONE: - CHRIS JERICHO/CHYNA (w/ the Kat) vs. THE HOLLYS This same match took place last Thursday, the result being Chyna not helping Jericho, who was pinned by Hardcore Holly. The same happens here, only this time Jericho turns his back on Chyna, leaving her to be pinned by Holly. Jericho walks out with the Intercontinental Title belt. Mankind dumps a cup of hot coffee on his doppleganger (*insert Rena Mero joke*). Triple H and X-Pac share a few words regarding their upcoming match. - TRIPLE H (w/ Stephanie) vs. X-PAC X-Pac actually looks to have Triple H's number here, but Stephanie interferes by knocking him off the turnbuckles. Triple H puts him away with a Pedigree. - Road Dogg, Mr. Ass & X-Pac note the negative effect Stephanie is having on D-X. - TOO COOL/RIKISHI PHATU vs. THE HEAD BANGERS/AL SNOW Snow is just kinda doing his own thing during this one, leaving the Bangers easy prey for the rapidly ascending goofs and Samoan superstar. Rikishi pins Mosh. The good guys dance, while Snow takes his frustrations on his teammates. Mankind threatens to force Anti-Mankind to watch a tape of Al Snow matches. After the break Mankind unties him, but orders him not to leave the room. - D-LO BROWN/THE GODFATHER (w/ Ho's) vs. THE DUDLEY BOYZ I miss the Dudley's tie-died outfits. Some surprisingly good action here, though it's our first match of the show without a definite finish, as the Dudleys grab a pair of Ho's and try to run away. Everyone gets counted out. Mankind, roaming the halls, happens across that psycho Tori. He makes a pass at her, saying he likes her large, sweaty breasts. He pats her on the bottom and invites her to a little party in dressing room #3. Horrified, she runs off in search of Kane. - Kane, directed by Tori, tears into the dressing room occupied by the fake Mankind. He tosses him through a plaster wall, then out into the hallway and into a stairwell. The phony Mankind is able to escape through a fire door--his exit conveniently captured on tape by one cameraman too many waiting in the stairwell. Oops. Triple H tries to mends D-X's broken fences. Road Dogg sounds skeptical. - TEST/BIG SHOW vs. BIG BOSSMAN/PRINCE ALBERT Squash. Test pins Albert with the elbow off the top in under a minute. Bossman and Albert tease a breakup. Big Show notices their squabbling and gives them a chokeslam to chew on. There's Triple H & Stephanie. There's the Acolytes. There's the Rock ... and the Sock. - DEGENERATION X (w/ Steph) vs. THE ACOLYTES/THE ROCK & SOCK CONNECTION Fast-forward a bit, as Triple H tries to tag in a member of D-X--ANY member of D-X--but they just turn their backs and walk out on him. The Rock and the Acolytes follow, leaving Mankind and Helmsley alone in the ring. Stephanie tries to help her husband and nearly eats a Mandible Sock from Mankind. Down to the floor they go, where Mankind is introduced to various hard, immovable surfaces. A Pedigree on the announcer's table busts him open. Back in the ring Triple H nails the Pedigree, and covers for the somewhat shocking clean pin. But it's not over yet. They continue to brawl on the floor. Mankind decks Triple H with the steel ring steps. He tears off his Mankind mask, giving us all a good look at the blood pouring down his face. He sets up a chunk of the announce table and tosses Triple H through it. "Bang! Bang!" We all know what that means, don't we? He no-sells a retaliatory shot from Triple H using a piece of the table wreckage. As he's being declared the winner Triple H backs up the ramp, looking back in horror at the bloody monster his actions have unleashed. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: After this I really don't see Vince McMahon coming back anytime soon. I'd figured his return would coincide with the rehiring of Mankind. That's now happened without him. There's now no reason for McMahon to come back until it's time for him to take back his company from Triple H and Stephanie. That'll probably happen before WrestleMania, meaning the WWF has a good three months to put it off, free to bring him back at their leisure, probably popping a big rating. Word is that Ken Shamrock has decided to try for one more run in the UFC, meaning his WWF return won't be for several months. The Undertaker may return at the Royal Rumble. This seems to be what the WWF is shooting for anyway, pending the status of his groin injury. That leaves Tazz's debut, which looks like it will now take place at the RAW the night after the Rumble. The show happens to be in Philadelphia that night, meaning Tazz should get a huge reaction. A good show this week. Nice to see the babyfaces come out on top, breaking from the routine of the last several weeks. We also saw the Rumble get a little hype, with the announcement of the main event. As I write this the WWF has announced 28 of the 30 Rumble entrants. Let's just say there are no surprises, it's all wrestlers currently appearing on weekly WWF TV. I'd guess the last two slots are deliberately being left empty to spark some mystery and speculation amongst the fans. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I had planned on rambling on here regarding a few different things, but I've run late again this week, so I think I'll leave it at that and put this sucker to bed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 2000 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "USLink". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 217 of the "Monday Night Recap", January 10th, 2000.