Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #265 December 11th, 2000 The Opening Word: Nitro not being on this Monday is something we should get used to, as they also won't be on two out of the next three Mondays either. Next week they'll be on as usual, but the following two weeks they'll be preempted for Christmas and New Year's movies. This week Nitro will air on Tuesday, but if what I'm hearing is correct, there won't be any Nitro at all those two weeks coming up. That's not good news for WCW. As we saw with the WWF jump to TNN, fans can get caught off guard by schedule changes, no matter how strongly they are advertised. WCW gave fans no advance notice last week that Nitro wouldn't be live this week. It'll be a miracle if they pull in any fans for the Tuesday Nitro, leaving WCW one last show (Thunder) to do all their final hype for Starrcade. Then in January they'll only have one Nitro, on January 8th, to hype the next PPV, WCW Sin. This really couldn't come at a worse time for WCW, what with the WWF taking steps to battle the perceived lack of *oomph* their TV shows have had recently. This week RAW will be coming off what looks to have been a generally well-received PPV, and they'll have the entire wrestling audience to themselves. The WWF is also coming of a strong ratings performance last Thursday with SmackDown!, which drew its highest rating in months. December has traditionally been a tough month for the WWF. With the Royal Rumble up next, and the march to WrestleMania just beyond that, the WWF is about to enter what is usually one of their strongest periods of the year. "Monday Night Football" is also just about done for the year, so that may have some slight beneficial impact on the ratings coming up. What this all comes down to is a chance for the WWF to prove that they're no longer coasting in the absence of competition. If the WWF puts on a strong product then everything is in place for them to draw in some new viewers and perhaps look more like the company they were at their peak earlier this year. On the flip side of that coin, if the WWF puts on some bad TV or doesn't go all out to capitalize on this opportunity, their weakness will be exposed to the whole wrestling audience--an audience that is relying more and more on the WWF to provide them with their wrestling entertainment. WCW, with three major Monday night preemptions in a month, will have a hard time reminding wrestling fans that they're still around. Whatever the future holds for WCW (a sale to an Eric Bischoff-led group of investors once again being all the buzz), this new series of setbacks will work against WCW's ongoing efforts to turn themselves around. Hopefully WCW will place a strong emphasis on Thunder over the next month to make that their "A" show. Note: TNT aired a plug for Nitro on Tuesday just before "David Copperfield" started. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Memphis, Tennessee. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - An awesome video package plays showing stock footage of bomb tests intercut with footage from the Armageddon Hell in the Cell match. Music sounds like The Doors, though it's not "The End". Cool opening. - WWF titleholders Kurt Angle, Edge & Christian hit the ring. The three brag about the year they've had, which has now been capped off by E&C winning their fourth Tag Team Titles, and Angle surviving the Hell in the Cell. Angle mentions Rikishi and Triple H, who were both injured in the match. The fans are really hot at Angle, and Angle, almost crying, asks what he has to do to get the fans to respect him? Out comes the Rock. He feels in a giving mood, and offers to give Angle three presents: milk, cookies, and the ass kicking of a lifetime--for the WWF Championship. Angle passes on the challenge, but suggests that the Rock dig up some partners and face him and E&C in a tag match. E&C joke that the Rock has no friends. Out come the Dudley Boyz. The Rock says they'll counter the "three I's" with the "four T's": a Tag Team Testicle Table Match. That was a long way to go (over fifteen minutes) just to set up our main event. The funniest bit was when Angle deliberately said they were in Knoxville instead of Memphis to rile up the crowd. Jerry Lawler promises a surprise later tonight. - Edge & Christian are having second thoughts about having their testicles being put through tables. - DEAN MALENKO/PERRY SATURN (w/ Terri Runnels) vs. THE HARDY BOYZ (w/ Lita) I though Malenko and Lita's date was funny last Thursday, but the timing of those supposedly live segments were messed up, with the two getting from the restaurant to their hotel room in just a few minutes. Quick action here, with a lot of--hey, there's Terri's ass! Everyone but Saturn winds up down on the floor (Terri's ass making its appearance after a bump with Lita). The referee counts out Jeff Hardy. Malenko then grabs Lita and steals a kiss. Stooges Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco greet the arriving Vince McMahon, who comments on the brisk Memphis XFL football weather. - Armageddon clips shows Rikishi taking the big bump off the cage onto the back of the truck. - Patterson asks Vince if he thinks Foley will resign? Vince says because Triple H (herniated disk) and Rikishi (ruptured spleen) are in the hospital, if Foley is a man of his word he has to resign. If he doesn't, Vince will force him to. - CHRIS BENOIT vs. "THE ONE" BILLY GUNN I didn't see the PPV, but there's talk that Gunn's poor performance against Benoit may have signaled the end of his current push (after all, if you can't have a good match against Benoit, you're hopeless). The match here seems to put the final nail in that coffin, as the highlight is Gunn blowing a press slam and nearly killing Benoit. Eddie Guerrero comes out to ringside about then, and eventually gets Benoit DQ'ed for hitting Gunn. Gunn menaces Eddie for a moment, but Benoit then slaps on the Crippler Crossface and leaves Gunn laying. I foresee a "conditioning" trip to Ohio Valley Wrestling in Gunn's near future. Michael Cole asks commissioner Foley if he thinks he should resign. Foley says he is concerned about what happened at the PPV, but that right now he and lt. commissioner Debra have a show to run. - Clips from the Hell in the Cell focus on the sounds of the Undertaker kicking ass. - Cole gets comments from the Undertaker. He could give a damn about what happens to Foley, but thinks it's ironic that the Hell in the Cell might end Foley's career twice. He says once he shoved Rikishi off the top of the cage he realized at that moment that winning the WWF Championship was secondary, and that the match once again illustrated that the ring is His Yard, and that he's the Big Dog. - Al Snow asks Foley for a hardcore match against Raven. - Angle ... Edge & Christian ... the Dudleyz ... the Rock ... NEXT! Next? - KURT ANGLE/EDGE/CHRISTIAN vs. THE ROCK/THE DUDLEY BOYZ I didn't fall asleep an miss an hour, did I? Seems mighty early in the show for our main event. Smoke from the pyro puts the match in a fog for the first few minutes. The Rock wrestles for his side early, but there's a long stretch where he's out on the apron. When he finally does tag back in the crowd goes nuts. Angle is given the spinebuster, and laid out for the People's Elbow, but the Rock is tripped up going into the ropes and dragged to the floor by Edge. Christian, meanwhile, is doubleteamed by the Dudleyz, D-Von lading the headbutt to the nuts off the top. Tables are brought into the ring. Angle pulls a table out of the way, preventing Christian from being put through it. He then tries to put Buh-Buh Ray through the table, but the Rock moves the table (not quite far enough, though, as Buh-Buh's head clips the edge as he goes over). The Rock then tries to put Angle through the table, is stopped by Edge, and Edge ends up Rock Bottomed through the table. The Dudleyz also put Christian through the other table. Hot match. Vince points to the just-completed match as more evidence of Mick Foley's negative influence on the WWF. Brisco heads off to retrieve some papers Vince is waiting for. Chyna shakes it in a back hallway. WWF WAR ZONE: - Steve Austin arrived in the building during the break. - Chyna comes out and calls out Ivory of the RTC. Ivory and Steven Richards come out. Comments are exchanged, then the RTC rush the ring. Chyna dumps Richards out the other side. Is this a match? Giant Swing by Chyna. Val Venis then comes in and a three-on-one beatdown follows, culminating in a rare spike piledriver delivered by Venis. This being Memphis, Chyna can now be declared legally dead. Yup, here come the EMT's to haul the body away. The ref did nothing when everyone started running in, and no decision was announced. - As Chyna's being loaded into the ambulance Billy Gunn yells at Foley, blaming him for what happened. Foley looks crushed. - More evidence, says Vince, of Foley letting the WWF go all to hell. Patterson accuses Foley of trying to ruin the company. - THE ACOLYTES vs. T&A (w/ Trish Stratus) Brawling on the floor to start, then we settle into a match for a minute, then back to brawling. Ross describes this one as having "slobberknocker tendencies" (which is probably only a notch up from "bowling shoe ugly"). Bradshaw clotheslines Albert following a Clothesline From Hell. Lame blowoff to what had been built up as a match that might mean something. Brisco brings McMahon a Fed-Ex package with legal papers sent by Vince's lawyers. - Lawler reveals his surprise--the Memphis Maniax XFL cheerleaders. The King is in the middle of getting jiggy with it when they are interrupted by the RTC. The Goodfather & Bull Buchanan label this a disgraceful, shameful display of filth. Steven Richards then launches into a tirade against rock, metal and rap music, which brings out Road Dogg & K-Kwik. Another kinda-sorta impromptu match gets underway-- JERRY "THE KING" LAWLER/ROAD DOGG/K-KWIK vs. RIGHT TO CENSOR --with Jerry Lawler and Steven Richards quickly being isolated in the ring. Uh-oh ... THE STRAP IS DOWN! Bodyslam by Lawler. Fistdrop off the second rope. 1 ... 2 ... 3--Lawler gets the pin in front of his hometown crowd. Funny to see Lawler and K-Kwik on the same team knowing the history between those two (bitter enemies in Lawler's Memphis Championship Wrestling promotion). Al Snow is warming up in the back when Foley comes in, expressing concern over the upcoming hardcore match. Snow begs Foley not to call it off. Kevin Kelly waits backstage to interview Austin. - Austin is pleased that Triple H has suffered a herniated disk, and if he gets the chance he'd like to herniate all of Triple H's other disks. Austin says sometimes he finds trouble, and sometimes trouble finds him. Tonight, Austin may go find some trouble. - AL SNOW vs. RAVEN Raven jumps Snow on the stage. The two fight their way along the Titan-Tron, Raven sliding down a bundle of cables to the floor. Snow follows, swinging down on a chain ladder, kicking a garbage can Raven had picked up into his face. The two fight through the back, Snow randomly knocking out some poor schmoe who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Snow dumps Raven into a cart and slams him into the rear of a semi. Back into the cart, and Raven is slammed into a parked car outside. Snow is then jumped by Ali Singh and Lo Down. Someone honks a horn in a nearby car and Lo Down are dispatched to deal with them (whoever it is). Tiger, meanwhile, is tossed into the backseat of the car Raven was slammed into. Snow then walks around the back of the car. A moment later he's down on the ground, and Raven covers for the pin. Turns out he busted a cinderblock over Snow's head, but the cameraman missed it because he was shooting Lo Down doing whatever. - Snow is being attended to by EMT's. - Hardcore, Crash & Molly Holly are at WWF New York. They then show comments from fans regarding whether or not Foley should resign. - Foley is in the back of an ambulance with Snow when McMahon comes along, blaming Foley for the rising bodycount. - The video package which opened the show is replayed. - Vince McMahon and the Stooges enter the ring. Vince talks about his request of a divorce from his wife Linda, and thanks the fans for their support, drawing the expected "asshole!" chant from the crowd. McMahon calls out Foley. Vince launches into a lengthy appeal to Foley to resign as commissioner of the WWF, telling him to think of his children Dewey and Noel, and his again-pregnant wife Collette. We're about fifteen minutes into this segment with no end in sight. McMahon has the clip played where Foley promised to resign if anyone got hurt in the Hell in the Cell. He hands Foley the resignation papers to sign. We've passed the top of the hour by now, and clearly have some ways to go yet. The crowd is screaming for Foley not to sign the papers. McMahon tells Foley to ignore the fans because they don't really care about him. Foley finally takes a mic and says whether he signs the papers or not, he has one last act of commissioner to make. Suddenly William Regal comes out, somewhat deflating the incredible tension that they had been building up at this point. Regal takes the mic and says he speaks for everyone in the lockerroom when saying Foley must resign. *KEE-RASH!* Here comes Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin tells Regal that nobody speaks for him, and tells the crowd that if they want Mick to tear up the resignation papers, give him a "hell yeah!" Crowd: "HELL YEAH!" Stone Cold Stunners follow for Regal, Patterson & Brisco. Foley then pulls out Mr. Socko and locks the Mandible Claw on McMahon. Foley then tears up the resignation papers, and the show ends with Vince laid out, covered by the scraps of paper. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: What the hell was Regal doing out there? Will he be McMahon's pick for new WWF commissioner? I tell you, as that closing segment dragged on and on, I suddenly had a flash thought: Austin's going to come out and turn on Foley! I could see it all in my head ... Austin coming out, teasing a Stunner in Vince, then giving one to Foley. The show would then end with Vince holding up Austin's hand, and Jim Ross screaming "why, Stone Cold, why?!" The other thing I thought might happen was Foley resigning, but his naming Debra as his successor as his last official act. Debra would then come out, and Vince would have gotten in her face to intimidate her. That would have brought out Austin, with Debra naming him as *her* lt. commissioner. Vince would have thrown a fit, and Austin would have Stunnered him to end the show. Instead of these or any similar ideas, the WWF did ... nothing. I can't believe that segment went nearly 20 minutes and the end result was no change, and no advancement of storylines. It was annoying enough that for the second week they were ending the show with a verbal confrontation rather than a match, but to do so and basically have nothing happen? I felt very let down when the show was finally over. Beyond that, I didn't think this was a very strong edition of RAW. The wrestling was sub-par this week, with the six-man Table Match being the only one to stand out. Like last week the show might have seemed better had they saved that match for later in the show, giving us the sense we were seeing a real main event, before doing that show-closing confrontation. The problem this week, however, was that the WWF didn't have any other top stars available to do a semi-main event for the middle of the show. Triple H and Rikishi are out selling their injuries. Austin and the Undertaker were on the show, but didn't wrestle. I guess Kane and Chris Jericho were held off to sell the "brutality" of their PPV match too. Maybe they could have hyped the Benoit/Gunn match as the semi-main, but seeing the result of that one they were probably smart not to. How do you do a piledriver on a wrestling show in Memphis and not have it somehow involve Lawler? Lawler should have given one to Richards. Isn't it weird how the big match the WWF seems to be building to right now is Foley vs. McMahon? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Taped 12/11. Length: Two Hours. Location: Bossier City, Louisiana. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson & Stevie Ray. HOUR ONE: - Voiceover: " ... we now return you to our regularly scheduled program." Some guy in a chef outfit pretending to be cajun stirs a pot, only to be knocked out with a guitar shot by Jeff Jarrett. These are getting sillier by the week. - Stevie Ray replaces Mark Madden this week, who was suspended by WCW because of things he said about Diamond Dallas Page last week. Funny, I watched that show and I don't even remember Madden saying anything really bad about DDP (other than burying him, like Madden does everyone in that company--other than Kevin Nash). - Lex Luger thanks commissioner Mike Sanders for booking him in a match against ... someone. SCOTT HALL ... IT'S SCOTT HALL! No ... SHAWN MICHAELS! THE ROCK! HULK HOGAN! STEVE AUSTIN! Don Leo Jonathan? - CEO Ric Flair comes out and says "whoo!", as well as some stuff about Scott Steiner and Sid Vicious not being able to touch each other tonight. Flair hints that all the guys who Steiner hurt may be in the building tonight to extract revenge. Commissioner Sanders comes out. The crowd chants something that gets edited out (probably "asshole!"). Sanders announces a match: The Perfect Event vs. Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire vs. Kevin Nash & Diamond Dallas Page. Flair then starts stripping, and books Sanders in a match against Sid Vicious. Mostly uneventful segment given an infusion of energy by Flair's antics. - Earlier today, Scott Steiner arrived, beat up Cpl. Cajun, then got into it with A-Wall. - Mean Gene Okerlund gets comments from Sid, who calls Big Poppa Pump "Rick Steiner". - Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire steal something out of Goldberg's dressing room. - Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker (I've forgotten his real name--as if anyone cares) arrives. Disqo Inferno makes fun of him, so the Sarge roughs him up. - Lance Storm challenges the Cat to a match where the loser has to sing their opponent's national anthem on Thunder. Santa Claus is shown in the crowd. I wonder what wrestler that is? The Cat & Miss Jones come out during the Canadian anthem and accept the challenge. LANCE STORM/MAJOR GUNNS vs. ERNEST "THE CAT" MILLER/MISS JONES The announcers go nuts when Major Gunns does a drop-kick. Stevie Ray: "She floated!" "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who looks like a fat American slob again, "accidentally" hits Storm with his 2X4, leading to the Cat getting the pin. Goldberg has arrived. - A paid announcement by Jimmy Hart--STOP THE PAIN ALREADY! - General Rection chews out Cajun for talking to someone (Chavo Guerrero) on the phone. - Sanders adds Kronik to the big three-way match already announced. - Crowbar and Daffney join the announce team. He'll be doing his Gordon Solie imitation again, which per WCW standard procedure is something that was funny once, so WCW does it over and over until people get ABSOLUTELY SICK TO DEATH OF IT. - Norman Smiley comes out. He says he's realized that the Hardcore Division is where he belongs, and challenges anyone in the building to a hardcore match. NORMAN SMILEY vs. MENG Somehow Paisley gets involved in this match, as well as Santa Claus. Santa throws powder in Meng's face, causing a DQ. A DQ. In a no-DQ hardcore match. Meng mistakenly puts the Tongan Death Grip on Paisley. Santa is ... Terry Funk? Funk lays out everyone with a steel chair. He then calls Crowbar into the ring, demanding a shot at the Hardcore Title at Starrcade. Crowbar eats a chair shot too. Shouldn't Funk be challenging Mike Sanders for commissionership of WCW? - The Sarge demands a match with Lex Luger. Sanders says he can fight Luger on Thunder, but only if he does him a favor first--said favor being left a mystery because EVERYTHING HAS TO BE DRAGGED OUT LIKE IT WAS SOME KIND OF BIG F#@&ING MYSTERY. - The Harris Brothers dive into some sandwiches backstage. Elsewhere we see the Filthy Animals giggling over some chicanery they have committed, presumably centering around something they put into the food. That's it, Ed, recycle an angle EVERYONE hated when Russo did it last year. - Mean Gene soaks up a bunch of spittle spewed by Scott Steiner. Another commercial? God, I need a drink. I'm trying this week, but so far this show has been awful. - Pamela interviews the Misfits In Action. WHY DO ALL THESE GUYS HAVE TO YELL? Rection starts yelling at Cajun for no reason, bringing up Chavo Guerrero. - Mike Sanders comes out and says he can't wrestle because he's injured, producing a doctor's letter. So Sid comes out and ... MIKE SANDERS vs. SID ... chokeslams him. Sid then scoops up the pieces and powerbombs him. Pin. He then cuts a promo with is so unintelligible that even the announcers laugh. Kevin Nash ... Diamond Dallas Page ... next. - Sid beats up some guy who won't give him the keys to the cars. You read that right. No, it didn't make any sense to me either. - Reno attacks Kronik, over the protestations of Maria. Big Vito and the Natural Born Thrillerz make the save. Big Vito ... is Reno's brother? Then which one was dating Maria? HOUR TWO: - KEVIN NASH/DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. THE PERFECT EVENT vs. MARK JINDRAK/SEAN O'HAIRE Schiavone talks about Kronik bailing out of this match like it's a storyline development which took place ten days earlier, not ten seconds earlier. By the way, are Kronik faces or heels? The match is really four-on-two, and thank god Mark Madden is off this week, otherwise we'd have to hear him somehow claim that was fair while sucking up to Nash at the same time. The referee, laughably, keeps DDP from coming in, ignoring the fact that everyone else is beating on Nash. Nash takes a drop-kick (wow, a bump?), then a Seanton Bomb from O'Haire. DDP is then knocked out by Stasiak with a Tag Title belt. Nash is pinned, in a "job" I'm sure he'll be bragging about for weeks to come. ("See, I do jobs for the younger guys!") - During the break Nash's knee was bashed against the ringpost. Gee, Nash want a few weeks off to work on his tan and beer gut? - Sid is outside doing something. - THE SARGE vs. GOLDBERG Apparently Jindrak & O'Haire stole the monitor out of Goldberg's dressing room, so Goldberg doesn't realize it's the Sarge who he's supposed to face until he comes out. Goldberg doesn't want to fight. The Sarge orders him to do what he has to do. Lex Luger then comes out and tells Goldberg that if he doesn't fight the Sarge it's a forfeit, and Goldberg will be out of WCW. The Sarge attacks Goldberg, to force him to save his career. Spear. Jackhammer. Pin. Goldberg carries the Sarge from the ring. You know, this is actually a pretty good angle. Too bad that it's buried amongst all the other junk on this show. - In one of the weirder segments in some time (that's saying something), Jamie Knoble approaches the clique of Daffney, Crowbar, Kwee Wee and Meng (?!?) and asks them for advice in dealing with Even Karagias. Karagias then runs in and says Sid is doing something outside, so they all run off to see what's going on. - SHANE DOUGLAS vs. CORPORAL CAJUN Chavo Guerrero comes out and gives Cajun a chair to use on Douglas. Douglas, meanwhile, wraps a chain around his fist. He charges, but Cajun swings the chair, earning a DQ. Is Chavo a face, heel, or just stupid? Rection comes out and yells at Chavo to stay away from his guys. - Sid is outside parking cars. Or something. - Jeff Jarrett brings the Harris Brothers their sandwiches, ignoring their complaints of stomach problems. - Pamela interviews Mike Awesome, who announces that his match against Bam Bam Bigelow will be an "Ambulance Match". - A Mean Gene interview with Jarrett and the Harris Boys is cut short when Ron & Don make a run for the bathroom. - THE FILTHY ANIMALS (w/ Tygress) vs. JEFF JARRETT/THE HARRIS BROTHERS Not that I'm endorsing Konnan & Mysterio's fashion sense, but do you think Kidman realizes he stands out with that bland t-shirt/denim shorts look of his? Ron & Don feel the call of nature and leave Jarrett alone to fend for himself. This is an elimination match. Jarrett quickly pins Konnan. Konnan must be injured. (Isn't he always?) Jarrett then knocks Kidman out with a guitar shot, only to be rolled up from behind and pinned by Mysterio. I'm sure Jarrett, like Nash, will be bragging about doing the job for weeks to come, knowing full well the fans forgot about this match five minutes after it was over. - A lengthy video package recaps a number of storylines and angles, hyping Starrcade. - Several cars have been arranged in a circle, their headlights pointed inwards to the center. A number of wrestlers have gathered to watch. - SCOTT STEINER (w/ Midajah) vs. A-WALL Let's face it: A-Wall's chances of winning are about the same as Buck Woodward writing something positive about the WWF on 1Wrestling.com's Newsline. A-Wall brings a table into the ring. Steiner ends up suplexing him through it. He then slaps on the Recliner for the win. Steiner adds injury to insult by reapplying the hold while using a pipe to choke A-Wall. Sid then appears on the giant screen and calls Steiner outside, saying Flair said nothing about the two of them fighting *outside* the arena. Steiner heads out with his pipe, which he uses to bash in a few car windows once there. He and Sid trade blows as several other wrestlers crowd around them, cheering. The two climb onto a car, the show ending after Sid gets dumped on the roof, failing an attempt to powerbomb Steiner on the hood. - This Wednesday: Lance Storm sings the national anthem. Sarge vs. Luger. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: I hated, hated, HATED this show, and I think the biggest reason for was the show's pace. I mean, really, should I analyze this show as it happens, or slow down and dissect each piece of it on its own? I tried typing results as they happened, and within fifteen minutes in I had a headache. There was just so much happening, so fast, that you couldn't digest it all. I ended up doing sort of a shorthand running account of each match and backstage segment, then as soon as the show was over I rolled the tape back and went over everything I'd already written, fleshing out my thought. That's basically how I do the Recap every week. Still, even with watching the show twice I don't feel as if I covered everything completely, and didn't come close to nitpicking all the show's problems. I think if I tried to do that I'd have to watch the tape a couple more times, and it'd take me three days to write it all down. So maybe the best way to review the show is to just shut off your brain and talk about those things that poke through the fog. If there was a theme that jumped out at me this week it was WCW's over-reliance on mystery angles: What's in the sandwich? Who is the mystery opponent? What is Sid doing? Over and over WCW takes these little things and hypes them out of proportion, using the lure of the mystery as a way to keep viewers hooked throughout the show. If WCW was any good at telling a story they wouldn't have to do that so much. If I've ever said Stevie Ray was preferable to Mark Madden (and I don't think I have), let me retract that this week. Stevie was just awful here. He's so bad, and Madden is so bad, I honestly can't pick which one I'd rather hear over the other. Trying to find something positive about the show, I do have to say again I liked that angle with Goldberg and the Sarge. What was so sad was the way that angle appeared out of nowhere, played out, and vanished--all in the span of about five minutes. That's the kind of idea that could have been expanded upon and been a huge part of the overall show. It's only now, almost three hours after the show is over, that I realize the early bit with Luger and Sanders, and later Jindrak & O'Haire raiding Goldberg's dressing room, were part of this storyline. Stuff like that gets lost on the viewer when you take the people involved and feature them in a half-dozen different segments throughout the night. The live crowd probably has no idea what's going on, and for the home viewers you have to rely on the announcers to get that stuff over. In this case I think the storyline was completely forgotten until Schiavone finally mentioned, as Goldberg was coming out, that his monitor had been taken and he didn't know who his opponent was. Speaking of the crowd, WCW had a pretty good one tonight. I don't know how many people were there, but it looked like more than usual. They were pretty hot too, even though they only got to see something like fifteen minutes total of wrestling (if even that). Of course they get to see Thunder being taped too, but how many people left after the "A" show was done? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: According to the usual sources (Torch, Observer, 1Wrestling.com), RAW did a 5.8 rating, more than tripling the rating of the "David Copperfield" movie on TNT (1.8). If only WCW could get their costs under control and be profitable again, there's every reason in the world for TNT to want to keep airing Nitro. The 5.8 for RAW is, I believe, the highest rating in the history of TNN for a regular weekly show. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 265 of the "Monday Night Recap", December 11th, 2000.