Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #218 January 17th, 2000 The Opening Word: Everyone knew early last week that Souled Out was gonna suck. Barring a miracle the buyrate for the show was going to be minuscule. Injuries, poor storytelling and weak talent combined to make a card which most fans, even the most loyal WCW fans, had little interest in. Most people in and out of the business looked at Souled Out as a show to do, forget about, and move on. Cut your losses and focus on building to the February 14th Nitro, the night WCW goes unopposed because RAW would be delayed by the USA Network dog show. As bad as Souled Out looked on paper, WCW had some optimism in looking past the show to the weeks ahead. Then the roof caved in over their heads. Like a fast one-two punch combination, WCW lost both Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett for the PPV. Hart was refused medical clearance to wrestle (travel, work out, get out of bed) due to a concussion suffered weeks ago at Starrcade in his match against Goldberg. What was already a weak PPV main event was made worse by the loss of the obviously talented half of the match-up. Then WCW got rocked by the loss of Jarrett, who suffered a concussion as well during the trio of beatings he took last Monday on Nitro. Jarrett worked the Tuesday Thunder taping, but complained of headaches, dizziness and other typical symptoms of a concussion. Doctors checked him out and he, like Hart, was ordered not to wrestle. Losing Jarrett was probably the costlier of the two injuries, as his three matches against Chris Benoit were expected to save the show, and were the only matches on the card that had a chance of earning the show good reviews from fans. To their credit WCW came forward and announced, on their website, that Hart and Jarrett were off the PPV. Unfortunately not many WCW fans would see that announcement. No announcement was made on WCW Saturday Night, though only some of WCW's fans would have seen that anyway. Most people already inclined to buy the PPV wouldn't learn until the pre-show countdown or the show itself that the card had been so radically changed. WCW scrambled to come up with a new PPV card. Ric Flair, Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were rumored to have been contacted. There also were rumors that WCW might contact the Ultimate Warrior and bring him in for the show. All manner of booking scenarios were proposed, but things were looking pretty grim for the show. With such drastic changes being needed to salvage the PPV, WCW executives felt there was no better (or worse) time to reveal to Vince Russo that he'd no longer be the company's head writer. The booking would revert back to the old "committee" style, with Kevin Sullivan the head booker and Kevin Nash serving as a liaison between the bookers and wrestlers. Russo's partners in crime, Ed Ferrara and Bill Banks, accepted their new diminished roles as part of the committee (which also includes J.J. Dillon and Terry Taylor). Russo, however, wasn't so quick to go along with the changes. (By Saturday morning the rumors had spread across the Internet that Russo was planning to quit WCW.) Certainly WCW can't be faulted for unforseen injuries doing such damage to a PPV, and ultimately the company as a whole. On the other hand, WCW does shoulder some blame in how these injuries come about and the effect they had on the company. The first hit WCW took actually happened a few weeks ago, when Goldberg was injured during a Thunder taping, smashing out car windows with his elbow. One can make a strong argument that no matter how cool such a spot looked, WCW probably had no business asking its top star to go out and do such a dangerous act. Maybe Goldberg did get overzealous, but it was during the course of a stunt he probably had no right to be doing in the first place. Obviously it was an unforseen incident in Hart getting a concussion in his match against Goldberg last month. You hate to blame anyone, but this was a case after the fact in which both Hart and WCW dropped the ball in recognizing Hart's condition. Hart himself ignored what should have been obvious medical symptoms, while WCW overlooked the fact that Hart had not been himself over the last few weeks. Had either noticed the problem, action could have been taken earlier which would have gotten Hart the rest and healing he needed, while allowing WCW time to plan a new PPV main event. WCW's biggest blunder in all this came last Monday when they had Jarrett wrestle in three matches on Nitro. It's simple common sense that the more times a guy steps in the ring, the more times he risks injury. WCW has known for weeks that Jarrett's matches with Benoit were going to be what carried the PPV. Both he and Benoit should have been taking it easy this past week, saving themselves for the grueling "Triple Threat Theater" marathon. Instead WCW risked his health by putting him in three matches against opponents who probably couldn't be relied upon to protect Jarrett (the opposite in fact, as Jarrett himself would have to shoulder the burden of making sure he didn't hurt the rapidly aging stars). Throw in the repeated beatings Jarrett had to suffer at the hands of the Old Age Outlaws and it's really no surprise that Jarrett came away from the show hurt. With all that said it's still hard to blame WCW for injuries blindsiding them at the last hour. What's more important is how they deal with such adversity. The WWF faced a similar situation last year when they lost Ken Shamrock, the Undertaker and Steve Austin--the last just days before the Survivor Series PPV. The WWF drew the scorn of many fans by not admitting that Austin was injured, and instead used an angle at the PPV to explain his absence. That aside, the WWF did a pretty good job of utilizing what talent they have, elevating wrestlers to replace those who were lost, and using good storytelling to cover up what many fans still consider a shallow talent roster. Of course losing someone like the Rock or Triple H now would really hurt the WWF, but both they and the fans are pretty confident that there's enough entertaining athletes left in the undercard to carry the company ... for a while anyway. There was a time when WCW was thought to have a roster far superior to the WWF's. Many lauded the immense depth in regards to their main event stars. That all started to crumble when Vince Russo took over and almost immediately banished Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan to Parts Unknown. Losing Sting after Starrcade was a noticeable hit. Things really fell apart when Goldberg was injured. The number of top company stars had been more than whittled in half, and WCW was doing little to elevate anyone into those now-empty positions. Jeff Jarrett and Chris Benoit were pushed, but since they were programmed against one another, by default only one would rise in the eyes of the fans into the main event level. Ric Flair was approached with the role of WCW Commissioner, but upon seeing what WCW had planned for him he refused to participate. Terry Funk took the job, and was basically made the company's top babyface, but has yet failed to capture the imagination of the fans. With Hart and Jarrett out that leaves a company in which Kevin Nash and Sid Vicious are its top stars. One only need look at WCW last year, the WWF in 1995 and WCW back in the mid-90's to see that neither of these guys have what it takes to turn the company around. But that's looking at a company without Hart, Jarrett, Goldberg and others, who as we all know will be back eventually. WCW may have been in full panic mode, but at least it was a short-term deal. Up first, Souled Out. Having decided to go with a Benoit vs. Sid main event, WCW faced a dilemma in choosing a winner. Sid, in the eyes of the average fan, was obviously the bigger name. He'd also been a proven money and ratings loser, however, and his inevitable match with Bret Hart would still be the clunker it was expected to be here at the PPV. Benoit is the better wrestler, but doesn't have much credibility in the eyes of most fans (despite being the "darling of the Internet"). Giving him the title would be a risk, though it would set up a much better match when Bret Hart returns in a few weeks to regain the title. Weighing both options, WCW decided to go with Benoit. There was another problem, though, in that Benoit, along with members of the Revolution and Filthy Animals, all asked Bill Busch for their releases on Sunday. They cited Kevin Sullivan being named head booker as being unacceptable. Benoit, in particular, has had an ugly past history with Sullivan (Benoit married Sullivan's ex-wife Nancy, and as a result Sullivan sabotaged Benoit's career throughout 1997 and 1998). They'd all had problems personal and professional with Sullivan, and felt it would be impossible to stay in the company if he was head booker. Bill Busch did manage to get them to stay a week, promising to grant releases to any who were still unhappy after that time. Busch now faces the decision of demoting Sullivan, or losing the company's core of talented, young wrestlers. It should be noted that Benoit knew before asking for his release that WCW was going to give him the title, so you can imagine how serious he is about leaving. The guys also have a problem with Mike Graham, who is also on the booking committee. It's not just the young guys who want out. Big name stars looking on from the shadows are said to be considering leaving as well. Or trying to, anyway. Diamond Dallas Page is one name being tossed around as possibly being one of those who'd like to leave. DDP has already been vocal about Russo's demotion, feeling he wasn't given enough time or chances to succeed. There's also Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, who are both hesitant to come back until they know who's in charge. Hogan is good friends with Sullivan, but Flair has had problems with him in the past. And don't forget Goldberg and Bret Hart, who are both shelved right now with injuries. They too have a stake in seeing who is in charge, and if Sullivan comes out on top, and he decides to build the company around Hulk Hogan, neither Hart nor Goldberg would be all that happy. Nor would Sting for that matter. In all the Souled Out PPV came off about as expected. I didn't see it, so no judgement from me, but reviews have generally been indifferent to negative. Most Internet fans, though, realize the hardships WCW was facing going into it, and seem to be cutting it some slack because of that. That leads to Monday, where what we see should be the first signs of the direction WCW hopes to take the company. With things being as volatile as they are, though, no one has any idea what to expect. Whatever turns up on TV will be secondary, and quite possibly irrelevant, compared to the real story going on behind the scenes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Columbus, Ohio. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay & Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. HOUR ONE: - Commissioner Kevin Nash's limo has arrived. He, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner enter the building. New intro this week. Everything has been clipped from the old intro except for the unfolding logo and big explosion. Even the Nitro Girls have been removed. - KIDMAN vs. PSYCHOSIS In the first sign of a return to wrestling, Kidman beats Psychosis in a slightly longer than usual match. He scores the pin after the inevitable powerbomb attempt by Psychosis fails. Face jam, pin. Tenay ludicrously suggests the "Triple Threat Theater" raised Kidman's career to a new level. CRAP! He won the first match by default when Malenko forgot the rules and left the ring after two minutes. Match #2 he did beat Saturn, but he lost the third match against the Wall. I suppose the fact that he's being pushed, though, shows he wimped out on his threats to walk out with the others over the weekend. Schiavone announces that Chris Benoit is no longer WCW Champion. In a pretaped interview Arn Anderson, who was the referee of the PPV main event, admits that he got caught up in the action and made a bad call by not seeing Sid's foot under the rope before he eventually tapped out of Benoit's Crippler Crossface. Arn says he has no choice but to overturn his decision and hold up the belt. This comes on the heels of an eventful few hours just prior to Nitro, in which world spread across the Internet that Shane Douglas, Saturn and Dean Malenko were ordered to leave the building. WCW didn't want them being a distraction to other wrestlers, or risk confrontations with the new bookers. Chris Benoit asked why he should stay since he, like they, had asked for his release. When told it was because he was champion, Benoit basically said he didn't care about being champion, and walked out with the others. So WCW stripped him of the belt, using the excuse they had carefully included as part of the match the night before. The odds of most of these wrestlers leaving or being granted releases are still slim, but it looks like Benoit is as good as gone. Maybe Konan too, as he hasn't been seen since they told him to go home before the PPV. I told you the real story would overshadow the show. Back to the show, the NWO reach their dressing room, which is being guarded by the Harris Twins, who have returned to their Creative Control look. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund gets words from Booker T. - Stevie Ray and "Big T" Tony Norris come out. The announcers desperately want to tell us he's "Ahmed Johnson," but can't for fear of a WWF lawsuit. The story here, I guess, is that Stevie things Booker has turned his back on "the streets," and he's brought in their old homie Big T to straighten him out. Booker and Midnight come out. Stevie calls her a "big rat." Booker and Big T go at it. Is this a match? BOOKER T. vs. BIG T WCW shows once again that no matter who is running the show, they have no idea how to make an impression with a new wrestler. Booker kicks Big T's ass, until Stevie passes a foreign object to Big T, which he uses to knock Booker out and score the pin. Instead of coming across as a badass who took a shortcut, he looked like fat guy who couldn't win without outside help. He and Midnight have a staredown as they pass in the aisle. There's Disco Inferno & the Goons. - DISCO INFERNO (w/ Big Vito & Johnny "The Bull") vs. VAMPIRO Vampiro with the nail in the coffin. Scott Steiner has rounded up some hooches to keep the NWO company. - 3 Count are out to do their song. I get a kick out of this gimmick, not for the gimmick itself, but because Mike Tenay is allowed to trash it. "God this is lame!" 3 COUNT (w/ Evan Karagias) vs. DAVID FLAIR/CROWBAR (w/ Daffney) Standards & Practices come out to watch. David Flair can take some bumps, but has little credible offense. Spotfest, much of which we miss because the cameras focus on the action on the floor. Karagias chases Daffney, only to eat a crowbar shot from Flair. Crowbar pins somebody with some move. Another look at the NWO and the girls. - The girls leave. Nash says they should get rid of the Old Age Outlaws, only keeping Arn Anderson around because they have something in mind for him. - TANK ABBOTT vs. THE MAESTRO (w/ Symphony) Punch. Buh-bye. Norman Smiley comes out to taunt Abbott, then hides behind his buddy Meng. All the wrestlers are one their way out. HOUR TWO: - This worked so well for the WWF last week, WCW decided they'd give it a try here. Nearly the entire roster (what's left of it) come out to the ring area. No Revolution or Benoit. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, arguably the biggest name star out there, is the only one to get a noticeable pop from the crowd. Kevin Nash (as "Hail to the Chief" plays) comes out and, in a lengthy and mostly pointless segment, lays down the law. He rattles off a string of rectal exam and Viagra jokes. Is Roddy Piper writing his material? Calling Terry Funk a drunk, he gives Jeff Jarrett his U.S. Title back. He then announces a main event match between Diamond Dallas Page and Buff Bagwell. Kimberly will be the referee. This is kind of funny because he acts like he's talking to Buff, but neither Buff nor DDP are even in the ring. Sid is shown watching backstage. The most over guy in all this is Goldberg, who Nash threatens to fire if the fans keep chanting his name. Casual fans at home had to notice the sudden lack of star power in the company, while the Internet smarts couldn't help but get a bad taste in the mouths, knowing what's going on behind the scenes. Nash has once again taken over this company. - Kimberly is given her referee outfit. - VARSITY CLUB (w/ Leia Meow) vs. TEAM 2000 Meow is obscenely hot. It's sad to see these 40 year old guys bragging about what college they went to. Move on with your lives. "Team 2000" is Masa Chono & Super J, AKA Jeff Farmer, the former NWO Sting. Three of the guys in this match used to be in NWO Japan, which the announcers actually mention. Crap match, as Chono reverses a cradle (with help from Super J) to score the pin. I've always hated the WCW/New Japan relationship, as a few times a year you'll have these Japanese guys come over for no reason, be plugged into meaningless matches, then disappear a week or two later. Steiner is so blown up here that he can barely take part in the obligatory post-match beatdown of Chono. There's the Wall, and Sid. - SID VICIOUS vs. THE WALL I guess I'm supposed to forget that face turn the Wall took a few weeks ago, where he became Sid's friend. You know, the Wall joining the Revolution sort of made sense, as he is a big mean old German, and the revolution was an anti-American group. Of course, as I noted, the Wall was a babyface the last time we saw him. Oh well, the Revolution's dead now anyway. Sid is way over with the crowd here, which I actually don't mind as he does look a bit fired up, and works harder than usual (which means he actually works some, as opposed to not at all). Chokeslam. Pin. Moments earlier we had seen Disco Inferno and the Mob Guys offer their services to Kevin Nash. Nash orders them to go out and beat up Sid. They give it a try, but Johnny and Vito end up laid out via powerbomb. Disco takes a powder. There's Scott Steiner and some hooches. - Steiner is out to do his usual filthy interview. He then gets in a scrap with an obvious planted fan. Stuff gets bleeped, and the fan (with bloody nose) is escorted down the aisle by security. Well, that killed a couple minutes. There's Lex Luger & Elizabeth. - LEX LUGER (w/ Sid) vs. BAM BAM BIGELOW Lex has abandoned the ugly Sting outfit, and instead does his lengthy posing entrance. They're booking this hour like there's a third yet to come. Kanyon and his manager Mr. Biggs come out to attack Bigelow. Luger gets Kanyon's champagne bottle, knocks out Bigelow with it behind the ref's back, and covers for the pin. DDP. Buff. Kimberly. The NWO. - BUFF BAGWELL vs. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE I thought I got the story WCW was trying to tell here, but the booking convinces me I don't. Buff is apparently the face because he's being unjustly accused of sleeping with Kimberly. DDP is the heel because he's a suspicious, paranoid jerk. But Kimberly ... who knows? The two battle out in the crowd, like at the PPV. In the ring Kimberly is doing very little as referee (but at least I can see her thong panties). During a series of pin reversals Kimberly makes slow counts--the announcers try to claim she's just counting slow when DDP is pinned. Bagwell hits the Buff Blockbuster. All of a sudden Kimberly charges Buff, only to be knocked off her feet when he accidentally smacks her during a muscle flex. As he's checking on her DDP dukes him, and covers for the vert slow pin count. The announcers play it up like she's in cahoots with DDP, but actually she walks out without him, looking upset. Yup, I have no idea what the storyline here is supposed to be. Can't say as I care much either. Lame finish. - This Wednesday: The fate of the World Title. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: An okay show this week. You heard me. Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. Not too much crap, most of it moved along quickly, and some good wrestling in the first hour. Hour two wasn't as good, though, as there was way too much talk, and a main event that was more Thunder-worthy than a true Nitro main. This reminded me of those solid, but dull, shows we got just after Bischoff was ousted, back when WCW was in a "rebuilding" phase. Of course those didn't last long, because Russo came along turned the show into one big cartoon. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: New Haven, Connecticut. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - Martin Luther King tribute, which I think the WWF has shown in past years. - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin underwent surgery Monday. An update later tonight. - Cactus Jack is out and, to really briefly sum up, he promises to do bad things to Triple H at the Royal Rumble. Triple H comes out to add his two cents. Cactus throws out a challenge, which Triple H accepts, but also invites his buddies from D-X to come out and join the party. Cactus suffers the four-on-one beatdown until the Rock makes the save--BUT, the Rock is attacked by the Big Show. The Acolytes come out, targeting the New Age Outlaws. Cactus is the last one left in the ring. Hot opening interview, just too long to the blow-by-blow for. - THE BIG BOSSMAN vs. TEST Test's intro gets the Tazz treatment. This is for the Hardcore Title, and as such the action quickly spills to the crowd, then backstage. Test loses his protective facemask and busts his nose again. The toilet is briefly visited. The Bossman nearly scores the pin after trapping Test's neck under a metal door. Back to the ring they go, where Prince Albert comes out to interfere. Test comes up with the Bossman's nightstick and clobbers him, then Albert. Up top he goes, dropping the elbow and nightstick on the Bossman's chest. 1 ... 2 ... 3--new Hardcore Champion. Triple H tries to fire up the troops by announcing a few matches. The New Age Outlaws get the Rock and Big Show in a tag match, while he and X-Pac will face the Acolytes. Stephanie has to assure X-Pac that everything will go their way. Terri Runnels makes her nipples jut out. - The Bossman tells Jonathan Coachman backstage that he'll get even with Prince Albert tonight. - THE GODFATHER/D-LO BROWN (w/ Ho's) vs. EDGE/CHRISTIAN D-Lo is dressing like the Godfather again. This was an odd one as one of the Ho's gets knocked off the apron. Edge goes to check on her, leaving Christian alone to eat the pin (Sky High from D-Lo). The Godfather offers the Ho's to edge, who meekly protests as they herd him up the ramp. Christian, knowing his brother is supposed to marry Val Venis' sister soon, gives him a funny look. I assume a Venis/Edge feud is coming out of this, I'm just not sure how they're going to get there. Michael Cole, down in San Antonio, is preparing an update on Austin's surgery. The Bossman and Prince Albert have found each other. Albert is tossed into a dressing room, which sends a towel clad Tori scurrying. - Tori sputters--Stephanie figures out she wants a Kane/Prince Albert match. - KURT ANGLE vs. STEVE BLACKMAN This was a surprise opponent for Angle. Angle also faces a mystery opponent at the Royal Rumble. Not much of note here, until the British Bulldog comes out and hits Blackman with a kendo stick. Huh? Angle gets another win. A cut backstage would seem to suggest Stephanie sent the Bulldog out to preserve Angle's unbeaten streak. Hey, maybe he's paying her back for hitting her in the head with that waste basket last fall? The Big Show makes it clear to Coachman that he isn't a full-blown heel, he just doesn't like the Rock. (No, he doesn't say "heel.") The Kat oils up a leg, lifting it just enough so we can see her bare ass underneath her t-shirt. THIS IS THE GREATEST-- - Terri, the Kat, Ivory, Jacqueline, Luna and B.B. are out with the King to hype their bikini competition at the Rumble. Terri says she'll outdo her recent RAW Magazine spread by proving less is more. The Kat asks us if we remember Armageddon? Ivory then goes on a rant, saying there's no way she'll participate in a T&A contest. Jackie says if they all have to do it, she has to do it too, and everyone gangs up on Ivory to tear off her clothes. Nice. Mae Young then comes out and says she's going to give everyone what they want and show her puppies. She starts to strip, bringing out Mark Henry, Harvey Whippleman and the fabulous Moolah to cover her up. Jim Ross says buyer beware regarding the Rumble, meaning someone's getting nekkid--or so they'd like us to think. Vince McMahon is an evil genius. There's the Acolytes, Triple H, X-Pac and Stephanie. WWF WAR ZONE: - TRIPLE H/X-PAC (w/ Stephanie) vs. THE ACOLYTES The Acolytes win this one, not surprisingly, when the Outlaws interfere, drawing the DQ. The Acolytes are left laying. - Michael Cole reports that Steve Austin's surgery was a success, and that the doctors are optimistic he will be able to return to the ring several months from now. Clips of statements from Dr. Lloyd Youngblood are shown. Austin was already out of bed and able to walk around after the surgery. There's the Rock. - D-X is having a good time thus far tonight. Triple H even feels good enough to badmouth Steve Austin, now that he knows Austin will probably be coming back to kick his ass. - Kevin kelly gets comments from the Rock, who starts off by congratulating Austin on his successful surgery. He says Austin can go back to hunting, fishing, and kicking ass. The crowd digs it. The Rock then apologizes for calling the Big Show a jabroni. He says Big Show is really a steaming pile of monkey crap. - There's Chris Jericho. - JEFF HARDY (w/ Matt Hardy & Terri) vs. BUH BUH RAY DUDLEY (w/ D-Von) D-Von and Matt get involved in this one, which Jeff wins with a Senton Bomb. The Dudleyz don't take it lying down, though, and lay in a hellacious post-match beatdown, including a spot where they set up a table, lay Jeff on it, and powerbomb Matt through Jeff and the table. Hardcore Holly can't figure out why Chris Jericho would put the Intercontinental Title on the line against Rikishi. He then wonders why he's asking Crash Holly, who's dumber than a post. Chyna and the Kat have a similar discussion, questioning Jericho's decision. - RIKISHI PHATU (w/ Too Cool) vs. CHRIS JERICHO Rikishi dominates Jericho, and looks set to capture the IC belt, but Chyna comes out and gives him a low blow (as the Kat distracts the ref). Jericho chews out Chyna. Rikishi recovers and clotheslines both. He then gives Chyna a belly-to-belly suplex. He drags her over to the corner to do the butt drop, but out comes Hardcore Holly with a chair. DQ. Rikishi takes some punishment until Too Cool make the save. Cue the dance routine. - Cactus Jack advises the Big Show that it's best if he makes up with the Rock. - KANE (w/ Tori) vs. PRINCE ALBERT Squash. Chokeslam. Pin. Albert says something to Kane afterwards about being dominated by a woman like he is. Cactus Jack advises the Rock that it's best if he makes up with the Big Show. - THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS vs. THE BIG SHOW/THE ROCK The Rock and Big Show fight each other, which the D-X guys like. They then attack the Rock. Big Show roams around, staying out of reach of any Rock tag. Eventually the Big Show tags himself in and goes to town on the Outlaws. The Rock, when the ref isn't looking, comes in with a chair and clobbers the Big Show. Gunn covers him for the pin. As the Outlaws celebrate their win on the stage, the Rock comes in and drops the People's Elbow on the Big Show, to the delight of the fans. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Okay, but has anyone been fired, and who is the latest WWF booker?! We want the REAL story, dammit! I liked this show, probably more than the last few weeks, though I thought the main event came off as flat. They did a really good job of continuing the hype for the Royal Rumble main event, as well as some of the undercard matches, but continue to do next to nothing to hype the Royal Rumble match itself. Here is the card: * Triple H vs. Cactus Jack. "Street Fight" for the WWF Championship. * Royal Rumble Match. * New Age Outlaws vs. the Acolytes. Tag Team Title Match. * Chris Jericho vs. Chyna vs. Hardcore Holly. Three-way for the IC Title. * Royal Rumble Women's Bikini Contest. * Kurt Angle vs. Mystery Opponent. Don't rule out one last World Title victory for Mick Foley. There's plenty of time before WrestleMania for Triple H to win it back. Also, don't be surprised if the Big Show wins the Rumble. The Rock seems to be the favorite, but as with the WWF Championship match, there's plenty of time for the Rock to beat the Big Show to earn that WrestleMania main event spot. Hopefully Jericho will win sole possession of the IC belt. I bet the Acolytes win the Tag Team Titles. I can then see them losing them to the Dudley Boyz somewhere down the road, setting up a Dudleyz/Hardy Boyz match at WrestleMania. As of right now it looks like neither Ken Shamrock nor the Undertaker will be a part of the Royal Rumble. Shamrock will apparently be leaving the WWF for most of this year to fight for a shootfighting group in Japan. He will return to the WWF sometime late this year/early next year. The Undertaker, he's still rehabbing a torn groin muscle. Both men have been long rumored to be taking part in the PPV in some capacity, and it is still a possibility, but don't go into the show expecting them to be there. Hopefully we'll hear something from the WWF by the end of the week so we'll know whether to expect them there or not. It looks like Tazz will be making his debut next week on RAW. If any of the above are to make a surprise appearance at the Rumble, it could be as Kurt angle's mystery opponent. Wow, the local media here in Minnesota is all over the story about Ric Flair running for Governor of North Carolina. They're all playing up the fact that Flair is originally from Minnesota. The Twin Cities ABC affiliate even mentioned that he was a 14 World Champion, as well as a two-time WWF Champion! Wild. I just flipped through newscasts on three different channels and they all covered it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I've been asked why I think the Internet fans were so against Russo in WCW. The answer to that, I think, is pretty simple. When Russo was in the WWF he was, in the eyes of the WWF's fans, part of The Team. To WCW's fans, Russo was The Enemy. Russo stood for everything WWF fans enjoyed in pro-wrestling, and everything WCW fans hated about "sports entertainment." Then Russo left the WWF. Now, had Russo simply gone on to a new career in another field, or if he'd even gone to a smaller wrestling promotion, most fans wouldn't have given it a second thought. He'd simply no longer be a part of the WWF vs. WCW war. But Russo didn't do that. He went to WCW, marking him, in the eyes of many WWF fans, as a traitor. He went to work for The Competition. It's as if he said "I'm not only going to NOT help the WWF do well, I'm going to go to work for their rival and help them HURT the WWF." Certainly Russo's leaving the WWF when he did and in the manner he did hurt the WWF for a few weeks, leaving them confused and vulnerable to WCW's advances. Unfortunately for Russo he wasn't welcomed with open arms by WCW's fans. Sure, some of those in the employ of WCW, and a small percentage of fans online, reversed their previous opinions of him and embraced him. Most didn't, though. They still saw him as The Enemy, and feared what his style and approach would do to WCW. Simply put, no one on the Internet was all that inclined to cut him any slack. Also simply put, Russo did next to nothing to in his three months in WCW to earn the confidence and respect of the fans. TV ratings, buyrates, house show attendance, all that was really secondary to the fact that Russo reshaped WCW into an image hardly anyone cared for--especially within WCW itself. Russo's downfall truly came about because he was a victim of his own hype. He entered the company with his chest puffed out, making boasts about how much he did to carry the WWF to the top, and how he'd do the same to WCW. Rather than act humbly or diligently he promised results quickly, and ruffled more than a few feathers in the process. There will be those who defend Russo by saying he was never given a chance, that he had his hands tied by corporate higher-ups, that others worked behind his back to politically undermine his power, and so on. To some extent, those who defend Russo will be right. Russo entered a political game ... and lost. Looking back there's a lot of "if's" and "maybe's" that can be associated with Russo's reign as the Powers That Be. Maybe he tried to do too much too soon. If he'd had more support from above he might have had a better chance to succeed. All the "if's" and "maybe's" taken individually can be debated. Taken as a whole, they illustrate that the job was a whole lot more complicated than Russo and many others anticipated. In many ways Internet criticisms of Russo were vindicated, because from the start there were those who voiced apprehension over Russo's work, and his chances to improve WCW. At the time such critics (and I humbly include myself in that group) were labeled as being anti-Russo, out to sabotage his chances of success. In the coming days such sentiments will be blamed for Russo's failure. So will the Internet as a whole, Russo's differences with WCW, political backstabbing, injuries, Ric Flair not being a team player, the Mafia, the Cubans, AOL, the weather, sunspots--anything anyone can think of. I think the lion's share of the blame lies with Russo himself. He came into the company too noisily, never adapted to its rules, never figured out what the company wanted, what the fans wanted, how to please the fans, and how to play the political game that had been in place there for years. I think if you honestly boil everything down, Russo was doomed to failure from the start because he was simply the WRONG man for the job. Not that the right man has now replaced him. WCW, by handing the reigns of the company back to Kevin Sullivan and Kevin Nash, have left themselves in the same position they've been in for the past ten years. The coming days, weeks and months are likely to be very uncertain, as numerous players jockey for position behind the scenes. There will be competition on all fronts for everyone to get their ideas out there on TV, and take credit for them if they go over well with the fans. Blame will be quickly thrown around when ideas fail. Problems between the booking committee and the talent will be a major obstacle to presenting a quality product, and both sides will blame the other for every failure that is exposed to the fans. There is a fundamental difference between WCW and the WWF, and the recent problems with Eric Bischoff, and now Vince Russo and Kevin Sullivan illustrate that. The WWF is a family operated company, run by people who understand the professional wrestling business. Even at their worst, when they've made significant mistakes, it was due to miscalculations, underestimating the fans, and so on. When things have worked it's because they've perfectly understood the business that is their life. WCW, ever since it was bought by Ted Turner, has been a small branch on a large corporate tree (a tree that got even larger when Turner merged with Time Warner, and again bigger because of the AOL deal). There will always be people outside and mostly ignorant of the wrestling business at some level of the corporate power structure overseeing the company. The closest anyone's come to having a free reign in running the company was Eric Bischoff, and that's because he, for a brief time, showed that the company could earn a profit. Even Eric had certain restraints placed upon him, and once the company stopped earning money, Big Brother stepped in and gave him the boot. Vince Russo was probably a fool to think he'd have more freedom than Bischoff. As much as I'd like to say shame on WCW for promising him time to work and freedom with which to work that they never delivered, I can't help but shake my head at Russo for being so naive. With the lockerroom politics animal on the one side, and corporate politics animal on the other, it's even more obvious that Russo was the wrong man for the job when he refused to recognize that both were waiting to pounce on him at the first sign of weakness. Russo should recognize should he return to the company as part of the booking committee, which is still a distinct possibility. Meanwhile, start the clock on Kevin Sullivan being the next one to be chewed up and spit out by the political animals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 218 of the "Monday Night Recap", January 17th, 2000.