Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #264 December 4th, 2000 The Opening Word: Scott Hall seems to be the only thing worth talking about this week before we get into things. Last week, when criticizing WCW for continuing to tease a return by Hall, I had no idea that Hall had actually been arrested the previous week for drunk driving (on the way to pick up his kids for Thanksgiving no less). I found out shortly after finishing the Recap, and knowing that makes Kevin Nash's actions last week even more repulsive. WCW's handling of the matter is even worse, allowing Nash to continue building up to a Hall return which may never take place. Last week Hall was arrested again for vandalizing a taxi cab. That's Hall's third arrest within that last month or two. Kevin Nash has sworn that Scott Hall had cleaned up his act. Hall himself seemed on the verge of proving that with his recent appearance in ECW. Those fans who knew the true story, and haven't been bamboozled by WCW into thinking he's coming back any minute now, were willing to give Hall another chance to prove himself. I have no idea if ECW plans on using Hall again, but even if they do what does it matter now (especially in light of their problems)? With these recent arrests you'd have to think Hall's blown any chance he had of getting back into the WWF. And WCW, they're simply not going to take him back under the company's current ownership. Hall's only chance of getting back into the business seems to be if Eric Bischoff buys WCW (which is a possibility again, as he's supposedly back in talks to buy the company). Pro wrestling is entertainment, and like so many forms of entertainment there are too many fans willing to forgive and forget anything that Hall does. Just look at someone like Mike Tyson, or the numerous other athletes who beat up their girlfriends or squander their millions on drugs, or the rock stars whose lives of excess are celebrated rather than scorned. Scott Hall will return to wrestling some day--barring a screw-up on his part that puts him in jail permanently. When that day comes the fans are going to cheer for him. I wish in my heart of hearts I could say I won't be one of them cheering, but like other wrestling fans I'll be looking at what Hall does in the ring, and not who he is or what he's done in the past. I may not forget what he's done, but like everyone else I'll forgive if he manages to entertain me. (I'll be damned if I'm going to make it easy for him, though. No cheap, mark-out pop from me just because he walks in through the curtain some night.) So who's worse ... the celebrity who won't rehabilitate, the industry which keeps giving him another chance, or the fan who turns a blind eye and welcomes him back with open arms? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours. Location: Lincoln, Nebraska. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson & Mark Madden. HOUR ONE: - Jeff Jarrett lays out a Nebraska Cornhusker fan with a guitar shot. Why is Jarrett being given this extra little push each week? - Clips from Nitro and Thunder. Of note: Torrie Wilson was accidentally injured by General Rection, and Chavo Guerrero left the Misfits In Action. - The Natural Born Thrillerz stand backstage, waiting for their cue from the cameraman. After a moment they begin walking and talking. They meet up with ... *sigh* ... Ed "Oklahoma" Ferrara, who apparently has something to say this week. Notice the gigantic curtain in the background cutting this empty half of the arena off from the half where the wrestling ring is. A commercial already? - Oklahoma hits the ring, carrying a salad bowl and drawing tons of heat (for being named "Oklahoma," this being a big college football town). Mark Madden takes a cheap shot at Jim Ross (without actually having the guts to say JR's name). Ferrara draws more and more heat from saying over and over "my name is Oklahoma." He holds up the salad bowl, saying that as close as Nebraska will ever get to a bowl. If you took a drink every time Madden says "Boomer Sooner" during this segment you'd be well on your way to being sloshed. Hudson points out this is only a two hour show, and Schiavone adds that Oklahoma's only scheduled for six minutes. The cheap heat segment past, Oklahoma announces that if Sid Vicious does anything tonight he will be arrested. The crowd chants "asshole!", WCW wisely muting out the "hole" each time. So Sid comes out and powerbombs Oklahoma. The crowd loved this, and if there were actually more than a few thousand people in attendance (if even that many) that might mean something. Commissioner Mike Sanders brings out the police to arrest Sid. Somebody want to tell Madden to stop stepping all over the talent by saying THEIR catchphrases before they get a chance to. Funny, this lasts EXACTLY the six minutes Schiavone said it would. - Scott Steiner has arrived. He wants Sid. Sanders tells him Ric Flair had Sid arrested already. Steiner throws a fit. - Pamela gets some homophobic comments from Konnan and the Filthy Animals. - CHAVO GUERRERO, JR. vs. KWEE WEE (w/ Paisley) To illustrate how screwed up things are in WCW, Chavo is supposed to be the heel here. Schiavone tries to play that up, but he's mostly drowned out by Madden praising Chavo. The crowd, meanwhile, roots for Chavo, because Kwee Wee is gay. Short, but okay match, which Chavo wins with a brainbuster. - Flair chews out Sanders for creating this situation with Sid and Steiner. He tells Sanders to round up security, then heads off to get Sid out of jail. - Somewhere, Kronik is hired by someone to beat up someone else. - Mean Gene Okerlund gets comments from General Rection, who faces Scott Steiner later tonight. - ELIX SKIPPER (w/ Team Canada) vs. CROWBAR (w/ Daffney) Lance Storm sits in on color commentary, as does Ernest "The Cat" Miller. Whatever happened to that Ozzy guy Daffney was dating? Daffney gets in a catfight with Major Gunns. The match itself is nothing, and WCW makes sure we think of it that way, as in addition to the aforementioned catfight, Madden spends most of the match taunting Miller until the Cat attacks him. Storm then attacks Miller. Miller then beats up Storm and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Crowbar, meanwhile, gives Skipper a facesmasher onto an auto part and covers for the pin. Total trainwreck. - Another Jimmy Hart DJ challenge. Sorry WCW, no matter how many times Hart says Howard Stern's name, Howard isn't coming on your show. Stacy Kiebler and David Flair share a tender moment, Stacy begging David not to ask her anymore who the father of her baby is. Ric Flair then comes along and tells them he's having them taken out of the building by security for their safety. Why the hell are they there in the first place? Do all these WCW people live in the equipment trucks? Reno talks to Maria, who has VERY LARGE BREASTS. Wait, I'm confused ... is Maria Big Vito's sister, or Reno's sister? I thought she was dating Reno? Their conversation here makes it sound like Reno is the brother and that she started dating Vito while Reno was in jail, or something like that. - Lex Luger comes out to read excerpts from Goldberg's book, basically making fun of Dwayne Bruce AKA Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, drill instructor of the Power Plant, who is seated in the front row. Luger belittles and badmouths Bruce. This goes on, and on, and on ... and on. And on. If this were a movie a little clock with the hour hand spinning would have flown across the screen. Goldberg has arrived, roughly ten minutes after Luger started talking. - Steiner beats up Norman Smiley, who's been rescued from oblivion so he could job to Goldberg tonight. - Pamela Paulshock gets comments from Shane Douglas. Douglas vows revenge for what General Rection did to Torrie Wilson. - General Rection, talking to A-Wall, calls to Lash LeRoux, who is some distance away talking to Chavo Guerrero. LeRoux can't seem to make up his mind: stay with Chavo, or go with the MIA. The fact that everyone is calling him Lash instead of "Cpl. Cajun" probably tips off which way he'll go. Thank god the end if the MIA is near. - Ric Flair tells Fit Finlay and Arn Anderson to keep an eye out for Scott Steiner. HOUR TWO: - 3 COUNT vs. KEVIN NASH/DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE Nash stops mid-match to acknowledge a loud "we want Hall!" chant by the crowd. Dick. DDP sells a little bit for the smaller guys, but overall this is basically a squash, with Nash getting the pin after destroying one of 3 Count with a powerbomb, while DDP puts the other away with the Diamond Cutter. Nash covers and pins both. Out comes Sanders and the Perfect Event: Shawn Stasiak & Chuck Palumbo. Sanders calls out Ric Flair, then has a clip played on the Turner-Tron showing Nash pinning the wrong man in their match at Mayhem. Flair says this puts him in a tough position, and orders Nash & DDP to return the belts to PE, laughably saying it needs to be done "for the integrity of the belts." So Nash & DDP drop the belts--literally, throwing them to the mat like so much garbage. They tell Sanders to come get them. Madden says the belts don't matter, and that Sanders could just have new ones made. Nash & DDP will get a rematch at Starrcade. So our end result is Nash & DDP "losing" the belts without having to do any kind of job whatsoever. It comes off even more lame when you realize it took the Thrillerz a week to think figure this out. I feel so very, very tired ... - Mike Awesome arrives, only to be jumped by Bam Bam Bigelow. - RENO vs. KRONIK Squash. High Times. Pin. Maria looks on in the back (Hudson calling her "Marie," and also saying she's Reno's sister). Big Vito runs in to make sure no further damage is done, though it's pretty obvious Vito is the one who hired Kronik to beat Reno up. (Who else would have done it?) I still think when this storyline started Maria was Vito's sister and Reno's girlfriend. - Another Glacier promo, with Schiavone and Hudson treating it much more serious than they did last week. - Daffney asks Crowbar if he'd like a ride, and is crushed to see that he already has two other girls with him. So she hisses at a WCW crew member. - Flair tells the assembled security team to keep an eye out for Scott Steiner. - Clip of Goldberg on the Maury Povitch show. - M.I. SMOOTH vs. GOLDBERG Squash. Spear. Jackhammer. Pin. 27-0. - Steiner pumps up and mutters threats against Ric Flair (as Midajah looks on). - JEFF JARRETT vs. KONNAN (w/ the Filthy Animals) Quickie match, with Jarrett faking a knee injury to distract the ref, allowing the Harris Brothers to run in and kill Konnan. Jarrett then hits the Stroke for the win. - SCOTT STEINER (w/ Midajah) vs. GENERAL RECTION Before the match Steiner warns Flair that Sid better be back in the building by the end of his match. Backstage, Flair says he's ready for whatever Steiner is planning. Rection actually dominates early in the match, until Midajah blatantly interferes by jumping on his back. Steiner lands a kick to the nuts and takes over on offense. Impressive display of power by Steiner, manhandling Rection like a rag doll for the next several minutes. Rection rallies to take control, but a distraction by Midajah again allows Steiner to take over. A near fall by Rection, after a botched No Laughing Matter moonsault, has the crowd into the match. Rection then goes for a splash off the turnbuckles, but Steiner brings up the knees. He then puts Rection away with the Recliner. Decent match. With no sign of Sid, Steiner goes off in search of Ric Flair. About that time Shane Douglas comes in to pound on Rection. Backstage, Steiner finds Arn Anderson instead, and decides to drag him out to the ring, destroying the mostly defenseless Anderson. Cut to backstage again, where Flair is desperately trying to go out to help Anderson, but a security guard holds him back, knowing it's a trap. Out of nowhere Goldberg blows by him and charges the ring, drawing a huge crowd reaction. Just as he hits the ringside area, though, he's blindsided by Lex Luger, who comes flying in from nowhere off camera! Steiner pounds on Anderson as Luger works over Goldberg, the crowd going nuts. They get even louder when Sid Vicious ends up in the ring, his entrance missed by the production crew. Security guards are suddenly everywhere, stopping Luger from hitting Goldberg with a chair, and keeping Steiner and Sid apart. Steiner is just able to bust through the wall of bodies and sneak a few shots in on Sid as the show fades out. - This Wednesday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: The most constructive criticism I could aim at WCW right now is that they have no idea how to put on a level show. They only seem to be able to put on one good hour (if you could call it good) at the expense of a really bad hour. Really it's probably a sign that so much of what WCW is doing or the characters they have or the match booking is bad that the preponderance of it makes one hour seem so much worse than the other. This week it was Hour One again that came off very poorly. The opening segment drew some heat with the live crowd, but wasn't in itself very good TV or anything that we haven't seen a hundred times (a wrestler being taken away by police). The show then limped along from there, and it's probably not all too accurate to say Hour Two was much better than Hour One. Only the main event stood out as being close to decent. Otherwise it was a boring hour, which is probably better than being bad like Hour One. Then there was the show-closing angle, and for a few minutes I thought I was watching the WCW of three or four years ago. Steiner beating on Anderson was drawing monster heat. You had drama with Flair trying to save his old friend, and the crowd going nuts with Goldberg coming out for the save, only to be cut off at the pass by Luger--a genuinely surprising visual, made possible by the production crew finally shooting something the right way. Too bad they missed Sid coming in until he was already in the ring. You've then got security guards everywhere, and pandemonium reigned. It was all great TV, and suddenly the main event at Starrcade feels like it maybe means something. One major negative: every time Mark Madden opened his mouth the show seemed to get ten times worse than it really was. No one could look at his performance this week and say he's not obsessed with getting himself over at the expense of the workers. I didn't like Nitro much as a whole this week, though obviously it's getting better than it used to be. That closing segment, though, that was classic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Meadowlands, New Jersey. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - Highlights package from SmackDown! - Armageddon is this Sunday. Didn't the WWF just have a PPV two weeks ago? - THE UNDERTAKER vs. RIKISHI Lawler says Rikishi violated the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt not weigh more than your refrigerator." Slugfest to start. Rikishi gains a headbutt advantage with his genetically superior Samoan cranium. The Undertaker climbs up top to do his ropewalk, but he's distracted by the arrival of Kurt Angle at ringside. Rikishi pulls him to the mat. From there he dominates, the Undertaker briefly turning the tide with a DDT. Angle then climbs the apron with a chair, but the Undertaker knocks him off. Rikishi puts the Dead Man down with a superkick, drops a leg, covers for two, floors him with another superkick, drags him over to the corner for a Banzai Drop, and scores the three count. Wow. Clean pin, in a match 10 times better than you'd have expected given the participants. Rikishi & Angle leave the Undertaker laying. Vince McMahon will be on the show tonight. A look at commissioner Mick Foley's office shows neither he nor lt. commissioner Debra are present. - Michael Cole notes Angle's interference in the last match, and asks where commissioner Foley is? Debra says he was at a book signing, that he's stuck in traffic, and that he will arrive at the arena shortly. - THE HARDY BOYZ (w/ Lita) vs. THE GOODFATHER/BULL BUCHANAN (w/ the RTC) The other Right To Censor members are barred from ringside. Dean Malenko is shown in the back watching the match, keeping an eye on Lita. In short order it looks like The Hardyz have the match won, but here come the Dudley Boyz, dressed in white shirts and ties like the RTC. Nooooooooooo! Jeff Hardy hits a Swanton Bomb on the Goodfather, but the ref is too busy trying to get the Dudleyz off the apron to count. Bull hits a swinging guillotine kick, and the Goodfather rolls on top for the pin. The Dudleyz head back up the ramp giving one of those cryptic smiles, the RTC assuming they've found two new recruits. I'm not so sure. I'm thinking the Dudleyz are just angling to get the tag belts, their actions here setting up an immediate feud thereafter with the Hardyz. We'll see how it plays out this Thursday. I *hope* they haven't just joined the RTC. Road Dogg & K-Kwik demand another shot at the tag titles. Lt. commish Debra seems inclined to give it to them, when Edge & Christian come in and complain about not getting a shot at the belts since the RTC won them. Debra decides to book a match between the two teams, the winner getting the shot at Armageddon. - Debra is in the parking area waiting for Foley to arrive. - The Hardyz are blowing off some steam when Dean Malenko comes into their dressing room, bearing flowers for Lita. He asks her to give him a chance. She takes the flowers, then whacks him with them. - Triple H, in the back with Rikishi, suggests they form an alliance and dominate the Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon. Rikishi wants to know if everything is cool between Triple H and Vince McMahon. - CHRIS BENOIT vs. HARDCORE HOLLY This may be a minor dream match of mine. The two trade barbs over the mic before the match. Fast action to start, with punches traded, and some quick suplexes. Big chops by Benoit in the corner. Holly responds with a short forearm clothesline which completely floors Benoit. Ross chalks it up to the "metal plate" set into Holly's arm (hey, it worked for Lex Luger). Holly covers, with Benoit just barely getting a toe on the rope to stop the count. From there Benoit slowly battles back, eventually applying the Crippler Crossface, at first with little success. Benoit realizes that Holly's left arm, bearing that "metal plate," isn't as vulnerable to the move, so Benoit switches sides, hooks Holly's right arm between his legs, and Holly quickly taps out. That made no sense, but yet it did, you know? Short but awesome match. Debra greets an arriving limousine. It's not Foley, though, it's Vince McMahon. - A look at a giant XFL football outside the Continental Airlines Arena, which is across the street from Giants Stadium, which will be the home of the XFL's New York Hitmen. The coaching staff of the Hitmen are shown in the front row. - Foley arrives and Debra starts getting him caught up on what he missed. - Vince McMahon bursts in on Triple H & Rikishi. He demands an explanation for what happened last Thursday, and asks why he shouldn't just take his head off? Triple H says it was all a mistake, which he tried to tell McMahon all weekend but couldn't reach him. Helmsley says it's all Steve Austin's fault, and if anyone knows how much Austin can get under your skin it's McMahon. Vince says he remembers what happened last year at Armageddon, and leaves. Triple H mutters that he remembers too, and that he's going to make it up to McMahon. If my memory serves me right, Triple H beat McMahon at that show last year. Stephanie then turned on Vince by embracing her husband, who she had claimed to hate up to that point. Is Triple H gonna dump Stephanie this Sunday? - The Rock offers up his impressions of his five opponents in the Hell in a Cell. Funny stuff. - The Undertaker comes out of Foley's office upset about something. Foley yells after him that he'll make it up on SmackDown! this Thursday. Foley then books a match tonight between Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. - Clips of the Rock on Sunday Night Heat. Why am I not surprised that Michael Cole doesn't like pie? - Dean Malenko knocks at Lita's door again. He offers her a shot at his Light Heavyweight Title. If she wins she's the champ, but if he wins he gets a date with her on SmackDown! He then gives her a box of chocolates, which she (of course) dumps on him. "She really digs me!" - EDGE/CHRISTIAN vs. ROAD DOGG/K-KWIK E&C do a little rap, which draws both crowd heat and a run-in entry by their opponents, sparing us their usual rapping entrance (even Lawler facetiously notes that that's the duo's--Road Dogg & K-Kwik's-- best entrance yet). The crowd, pretty hot so far, cools off considerably, with a "boring!" chants heard quickly in the match. Nothing match, which E&C win when Road Dogg is grabbed from behind and dropped on his head. When the crowd pops for the heels winning you know your babyface team is screwed. Kurt Angle suggests to Triple H and Rikishi that they all team up in the Hell in a Cell. He also suggests they begin their alliance tonight by making sure he doesn't lose to Jericho. Triple H says they'll think about it. Speaking of whom, Chris Jericho is on his way through the back. Vince McMahon approaches Stone Cold Steve Austin's dressing room door. Jesse "The Body" Ventura plugs the XFL in a promo. - McMahon and Austin come face to face. Austin declines a handshake offer. Vince says he doesn't like the idea of all his top stars in a Hell in a Cell match, it's a bad investment. The idea here is that Hell in a Cell is a career ender, and Vince wants to put a stop to the match to keep from losing all his superstars. WWF WAR ZONE: - CHRIS JERICHO vs. KURT ANGLE Holy crap, what a great match this one is! I could fill a page just listing the moves these two reel off against each other. A series of near falls brings the crowd to its feet, the fans drawn in and believing that Jericho could actually win. The ref goes down when Jericho delivers a flying forearm, Angle ducking out of the way. Jericho hits a bulldog, then follows with a Lionsault. Cover, but no ref, until Teddy Long runs in to make a two count. Chops and kicks in the corner by Jericho. Angle dodges a charge into the opposite corner, Jericho ending up shoulderfirst into the ringpost. Angle tries an Olympic Slam, but Jericho lands on his feet, grabs Angle's legs, and slaps on the Walls of Jericho. The ref goes down to check on Angle, only to be pulled out of the ring by Kane! Kane's up on the apron. Jericho knocks him off, wiping out the second referee on the floor. Angle then hits a low blow and the Olympic Slam. Cover, and the first referee crawls over and makes the slow three count. Very good match. Kane chokeslams Jericho. - Angle wants to know where Triple H & Rikishi were? Rikishi says they were just about to come out when they saw Kane, so they figured Angle would be alright. Triple H says Stephanie was right in saying Angle doesn't need anyone's help. Triple H then invites Angle to join them and talk over that whole alliance idea. - "THE ONE" BILLY GUNN (w/ Chyna) vs. VAL VENIS (w/ Ivory) JR drops a rumor about Chyna seeing a "team of physicians" for something. Gunn works pretty hard in this match, but there just aren't enough fans who care about him. Back and forth action, with Ivory eventually interfering in the match. A belt shot lays Gunn out, and Chyna can't stand anymore, so she clotheslines Venis, giving him the DQ win. She stomps on him. Ivory attacks her from behind, Chyna no-selling it (Ivory doing enough selling for both with her exaggerated fearful expression). Chyna powerslams Ivory, then picks her up again outside the ring, only to be kicked in the gut by Venis. Val then clotheslines Chyna over the announce desk. Ivory then chokes Chyna with a cable. I'd guess a mixed-tag match with these four is in the cards, but that thing Ross said about Chyna, along with a later comment that Chyna was taken to the hospital, makes me wonder if she's taking some time off. Vince now barges in on the Rock, again expressing that he doesn't want a top guy like him in the Hell in a Cell match. The Rock, more than a little condescendingly, thanks Vince for his concern. Lita ... Malenko ... NEXT! - LITA vs. DEAN MALENKO A surprisingly good match, which Dean wins with the Texas Cloverleaf, after countering a huracanrana into a powerbomb. Vince takes a seat on the Undertaker's motorcycle, against the advice of some guy doing maintenance work on it. "Tell him that I'm looking for him, alright?" - XFL cheerleader promo. - Clips are shown from the UK-only PPV, Rebellion, which took place this past Saturday in Sheffield, England. Probably the most notable development from the show was Crash Holly winning the European Title from William Regal. - Vince is poking at the bike's engine when he feels the presence of the Undertaker. "You need to get your ass off my ride!" Vince tells the Undertaker that he should tell Foley that he doesn't want to take part in the Hell in a Cell. The Undertaker says *he* should give Foley his own message, and spits a gob of tobacco juice on McMahon's jacket. - WILLIAM REGAL vs. CRASH HOLLY (w/ Molly Holly) Not too surprisingly Regal regains the European Title in short order, putting Holly away with the Regal Stretch. Molly hits Regal with a crossbody off the top, so he drops her with a back suplex and puts her in the stretch too. Hardcore Holly makes the save. - T&A and Trish Stratus are at WWF New York. - Molly Holly is being checked on backstage by EMT's. - Commissioner books two matches for Armageddon: Regal vs. Hardcore Holly; Jericho vs. Kane in a "Last Man Standing Match." McMahon then comes in and tells Foley to not be so sure that Hell in a Cell will take place, then leaves to make his "State of the WWF" address. - McMahon hits the ring. He says he and his wife Linda have attended counseling so that they can get along better. One of the things they haven't agreed upon is the naming of Mick Foley as commissioner, which Vince thinks has been a disaster. He calls Foley sick and demented for putting all those superstars' careers on the line in a Hell in a Cell match. Enter the commissioner, who Vince calls "fat-ass Foley!" Foley says Vince is one to call him sick and demented, when it was Vince who kidnapped his own daughter, knocked out his own son, booked himself in WWF Championship matches, and made us watch Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco in an "Evening Gown Match." As for Foley's fat ass, Mick says he nearly laughed it off last week when he saw Vince laid out at the hands of Triple H at the end of SmackDown! For that Vince says he doesn't blame Triple H, or even Steve Austin. He blames Foley, and-- *KEE-RASH!* Austin lays out McMahon with a Stunner. On his way up the ramp-- *IF YA SMELLLLL!* Austin and the Rock have a tense staredown as they pass. Rock then waits for Vince to get up, then puts him back down with a Rock Bottom. On his way up the ramp-- *BONG!* The Undertaker and the Rock have a tense staredown as they pass. The Undertaker then waits for Vince to get up, then puts him back down with The Last Ride. Foley looks at what's left of Vince and tells him he's had a pretty bad day ... and pulls Mr. Socko from his pants! "Kiss my fat ass Vince, and have a nice day!" Meanwhile, backstage, Kurt Angle, Triple H and Rikishi have attacked the Undertaker. The Taker is tossed against a stack of pipes and other equipment. The camera pans over, and there we see the Rock and Austin also laid out, blood covering the Rock's face. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Rebounding from a weak show last Monday, this was a tremendous show (with a few flaws which I'll get to in a bit). It wasn't up to the level of the great shows of the past, but it felt like one of the bigger shows of the latter half of the year. McMahon's return was built up well throughout the show. Too bad it didn't really lead to anything. If Vince being back is missing anything it's that he's not really part of a storyline yet. He needs to be doing something to someone, or have someone doing something to him. Right now he's just out there talking. I'd say the very end of the show was strong with the big heel beatdown, and Vince taking all those bumps was memorable, but in a way it was still an anticlimactic finish to the show. It really needed to have a legit main event match like Nitro. Had they put that Angle/Jericho match on before the McMahon interview, instead of Regal vs. Holly, the show would have been damn close to perfect. If this show had any low points it was due to the two former New Age Outlaws. I'd rather see an Eddie Guerrero or Raven given TV time than Billy Gunn or Road Dogg. The matches those two were in were the worst of the show, not so much for effort but because the fans just don't care about them. The biggest minus to the show, without a doubt, was Jerry Lawler's blatant cracks at Al Gore. On at least three separate occasions he questioned why Gore doesn't concede the election. He also joked more than once about Gore losing in his home state of Tennessee. No matter what side of the political fence you sit on, one doesn't need to hear a wrestling commentator espousing his political views. If I wanted to hear that kind of stuff I'd be watching something other than wrestling. The crowd tonight started off really hot, but steadily cooled off as the show went along. I daresay having the heels win EVERY MATCH had something to do with that. They were practically comatose by the time the Regal/Holly match came and went. Thankfully they woke up for the end segment, I guess Vince getting knocked around is how you "send 'em home happy." Then you lay out your top babyfaces backstage? Remember what I wrote last week about the heels coming out on top in a big way? This show certainly fit that bill. I still can't believe there's another PPV coming up so soon. For better or worse, here's the card: * Kurt Angle vs. the Undertaker vs. the Rock vs. Rikishi vs. Triple H vs. Steve Austin. "Hell in a Cell Match" for the WWF Championship. * Billy Gunn vs. Chris Benoit. Intercontinental Title Match. * Chris Jericho vs. Kane. "Last Man Standing Match." * Right To Censor vs. Edge & Christian. Tag Team Title Match. * William Regal vs. Hardcore Holly. European Title Match. My gut feeling is that Angle will retain the title, but I can't rule out the Undertaker winning it, as he was featured this week in a way they do with guys who are about to win the belt. This show really got me interested in seeing this match. As for the rest of the PPV ... eh. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I apologize for this being late. I was a bit under the weather Monday night. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 264 of the "Monday Night Recap", December 4th, 2000.