Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #187 June 14th, 1999 The Opening Word: Wrestling fans were surprised (mildly to greatly, depending on what rumors you'd heard last week) when Sid Vicious made his return to WCW Sunday night at the Great American Bash PPV. Word had spread that Sid was in talks to return to WCW, but no one could have anticipated the splash he'd make by interfering in the PPV main event. He immediately jumps to the top of the card, entering into the WCW World Title mix. I can't say as this is a good thing for WCW and its fans, but it certainly can't hurt. ... unless Sid lives up to his reputation and walks out of WCW in the not-too-distant future. It's happened so many times already it's no longer a joke, it's a given variable when any wrestling promotion enters into discussions with him. (Oh yeah, add ECW to the list of companies he walked out of with little or no advance warning.) Sid brings a recognizable name, face, and definite ring presence to WCW. He's also, at best, a mediocre wrestler, and has been known to have problems backstage (boy, is that an understatement). I'm interested in seeing what WCW decides to do with him, but given his track record, I'm not expecting too much. One can only take it as it comes. Looking ahead a month, six months, or a year is foolish when talking about a guy like Sid. One thing WCW will be smart in NOT spending too much time on is a feud between Sid and Kevin Nash. Been there, done that--back in the WWF in 1995. The two standing nose-to-nose may make for an impressive PPV promotional poster, but when you take into account their weak interview skills, and even weaker wrestling skills, this is a match-up the fans will get tired of real quick. Anyone remember that match these two had, where Sid slapped on a Camel Clutch for like a half hour? I'd been slowly bracing myself in recent weeks for the likelihood of Sid returning to the WWF. I knew that was going to stink, mainly because there's so few guys there Sid's size and style whom he can work with. (Be honest, did any of you want to see Sid vs. the Undertaker, Paul Wight or Viscera?) In a way he fits in a little better in WCW right now, if for no other reason than WCW has their main eventers doing so little these days. Look for a lot of powerbomb squashes (which pretty much sums up Sid's entire recent run in ECW). What he does against the other main eventers, that's where WCW's plans for him comes into play. You've got my interest, WCW. Now do something with it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours+. Location: Washington, D.C. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Nitro Girls. Announcer hype. Great American Bash stills. - Randy Savage, Sid and their women exit a hummer. A HUMMER. (*insert dramatic music*) But who was driving? - DJ Ran gets a response from the crowd (there's a first for everything). - More PPV stills. Master P and his Universal Soldiers (or some such nonsense) made their debut. He immediately sided with Konnan and Rey Mysterio in their "rap vs. country" war. Barry Windham then crawled out of the woodwork to throw in with the country team of Curt Hennig and Bobby Duncum, Jr. You know, I absolutely hate country music, and being a white guy from Minnesota, I ain't too partial to rap music either. I do like Mysterio, but hate Konnan, and have little opinion at all about Hennig, Duncum and Windham. And Master P ... who? I realize he's a big name and all in the rap community, but I couldn't tell you a single song or album title of his, and if I've ever seen one of his videos, I couldn't attest to it. And does it make sense to have the rap side being the "good guys" in this feud? I don't want to offend anyone here, but WCW's core of fans is closer to "redneck sh*tkickers" than it is to "str8 up homies". I can understand WCW perhaps wanting to expand their fan base, but to do so at the risk of turning off the existing audience ... doesn't sound too smart if you ask me. - CURT HENNIG/BARRY WINDHAM (w/ Bobby Duncum) vs. BRIAN ADAMS/VINCENT Curt Hennig now officially has the worst entrance music in wrestling (though that's obviously deliberate). The country lovers take half the first hour to beat the NWO scrubs (Windham pins Vincent). - I guess we're not supposed to assume Sid was the Hummer driver after all, as the announcers keep the mystery alive with further speculation. Cut to a taped press conference, announcing the WCW signing of Master P and his Ultimate Warriors (or some such nonsense). Master P, like most other celebrities who dabble in wrestling, can barely keep a straight face for longer than two seconds. His bodyguard, Swoll, is a huge mutha. I'm sure we'll be seeing him in the ring eventually. Rey Mysterio tries to make this all "relevant" by talking about what Master P's song lyrics have meant to him. Bischoff adds that Master P's music has a positive perspective or some such garbage. Uh-huh. Friends, this is going to get worse before it gets better. - A blurry still shot of the crowd identifies a fan who won some kind of contest. Hooray for him. - Randy Savage, Madusa, and the rest hit the ring (no Sid). I see Madusa's headlamps! Savage talks for about ten minutes, but manages to say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No matches made, no challenges thrown out, no storylines advanced, nothing. Just Savage talking and talking and talking, but saying nothing worth noting (other than 1) Savage's fuzzy white coat, 2) all the breasts in the ring, and 3) Savage saying "Vicious"). I'm sure WCW didn't plan that shot of Gorgeous George's spread-open cleavage when Savage pretended to pin her. Uh-uh. Nosiree. We're G-rated, your honor. - Nitro Girls. - More PPV stills. The Sting/Steiner match is covered. No pictures of the "stuntman-made-up-to-look-like-Sting-who-was-then-attacked-by-dogs" are shown. - KIDMAN vs. HUGH MORRUS (w/ Jimmy Hart) Haven't we seen this match several times in recent weeks? Sure seems that way. Kidman wins in the usual way: Morrus tries to powerbomb him, which always fails for everyone who tries to powerbomb Kidman, them Kidman hits the Shooting Star Press. WCW has all but ruined the Cruiserweight Division, what with Mysterio rarely defending the belt (and being mixed up with Konan), Kidman feuding with Morrus, and the Mexicans all jobbing to the heavyweights in tag team matches. - DJ Ran does his thing. I give him the finger. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund is out to interview Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. I finally realize we haven't seen Asya for a few weeks, and breath a sigh of relief. Flair says he's going to pull off a "coup" tonight, and calls for "Rowdy" Roddy Piper to come out and accept a position as Vice-President of WCW. Piper does, and does. See, at the PPV, Piper essentially turned heel by turning on Buff Bagwell. Their months-long feud is instantly forgotten, amidst a session a lame-ass political jokes (for the Washington crowd). The two are then interrupted by Dean Malenko, who comes out to announce that he and the other young lions are taking over this business. Flair scoffs at the notion, saying he won't pass the ball/torch/whatever until he's good and ready. Dean asks Arn where he stands. Arn says he's with Flair. Piper tries to give Malenko the bum's rush. Malenko puts his hands on him, so Piper decks him. All three proceed to lay in the boots. Out comes Buff Bagwell for the save, but he's quickly outnumbered and beaten down. Backstage, Chris Benoit and Saturn see what's happening. They embark on a run-in, but are immediately blindsided by Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon. They're left laying in a hallway. Back in the ring, Bagwell is just starting to rally back as they go to commercial. This angle would be a real winner if they could do it without having to give Flair and Piper mic time. - Eric Bischoff joins the announce team, for no other reason than to assuage his massive ego (if you can come up with a better reason, write me). - ERNEST MILLER (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. SCOTT NORTON Bloody hell ... screw this. Miller knocks out Norton with a loaded shoe and gets the "upset" pin. During the match Bischoff, while calling a move, takes an opportunity to trash Jim Ross, for no other reason than Bischoff himself is a petty, petty man (if you can come up with a better reason, write me). - Nitro Girls. - VAN HAMMER vs. DISCO INFERNO Somebody, quick--put a CLUE up for sale on eBay, so WCW can BUY IT. The original ref is wiped out in a collision. A second ref comes out just in time to count an "upset" pinfall on Hammer's behalf. Disco is pissed, so he lays out the ref with the Chartbuster. Bischoff wouldn't shut up during this match, talking about anything that pops into his head. This segueways into a series of "Detour" magazine photos of Dennis Rodman, whose WCW signing Bischoff brags about. I wonder if "Mean" Gene will accuse Rodman of being drunk again to explain his crappy wrestling? - More PPV stills. - FIT FINLAY vs. BRIAN KNOBBS (w/ Jimmy Hart) I enjoyed this match the second time around for one simple reason: Finlay kicks Knobbs' ass! Jimmy Hart and a steel chair get involved, but it's a kendo stick shot from Hak which softens Knobbs up for Finlay to finish him off. I'm not saying I liked this match, mind you, just the result. - Aw geez, there's Rena Mero, slumming in the first row. Oh yeah, she just happened to fly to Washington D.C., and was able to buy a ringside ticket. Uh-huh. Sure. Bischoff avoids the obvious lawsuit by just blatantly pointing out her presence, without saying her name. (Later the fans will chant her name, while the camera shows a few signs with her name on it.) Oh yeah, no WCW fans will think she's in WCW now. Nosiree. No contract tampering here, your honor. I don't care what anyone says, this shoots to sh*t any credibility her lawsuit may have had. It's all about money, baby, and the second she either wins her case or gets the WWF to settle, she'll sign on the dotted line with WCW. I wish the WWF could crush her in court, but "sexual harassment" is such a PC subject now, she can get a favorable decision with the flimsiest "evidence". Do I sound bitter? Yeah, like I'm really looking forward to a G-rated, non-wrestling Mero doing interviews in WCW. Gee WCW, thanks for rubbing into MY face the fact that the WWF will probably have to pay this b*tch millions of dollars. I'm sure Vince will only have to fire two or three wrestlers, or raise ticket prices, or raise PPV prices, or raise t-shirt prices, to make that money back. No, really, do I sound bitter? - Kevin Nash makes his way to the ring. Did you notice Rena Mero in the front row? WCW shows her over and over. Good thing the WWF took their Women's Championship away from her, or she'd be dumping the belt in a trash can by now. Nash challenges Sid to a match later tonight. Sid appears on the jumbo screen and accepts. You-know-who is shown a few more times. I can't help but note the irony in the fact that a CURRENT WWF SUPERSTAR completely upstages both Nash and Sid, getting a louder pop than either! - More PPV stills. - DJ Ran. HOUR THREE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - RIC FLAIR/RODDY PIPER/DDP/KANYON vs. BENOIT/SATURN/MALENKO/BAGWELL A lot of this match is Benoit vs. Flair, which is when it's at its best. Bagwell puts in time as well. Saturn sees little action, and Malenko, I'm not sure if he ever even tags in. Regardless, everyone works hard, including Piper, who delivers his best match in ages. A lot of good stuff here, not the least of which being a lot of subtext involving the older wrestlers using their experience to outmaneuver the younger wrestlers. The finish is a shocker, though, as Ric Flair winds up being pinned by Bagwell. I liked this match for what it was, but I suspect the finish points to an eventual storyline resolution where Flair gets that pin back. This being the first "Young vs. Old" match, I think the "Old" should have scored the first victory. I am giving it a chance, though, to see where they go with it next. Very good match. Nitro's only highlight thus far. - DJ Ran. Nitro Girls. I can't believe they interrupted a commercial just to show us you-know-who again. Wasn't WCW sued just for giving fans the IMPRESSION that "Diesel" and "Razor Ramon" worked for WCW? Nash and Hall being under WCW contract was irrelevant. The case hinged on WCW's infringing on the WWF's "intellectual property" rights. Didn't the WWF eventually drop the case, in return for WCW's promising not to do it again? In this case the person in question is still under WWF contract. I remember hearing that the WWF was thinking of doing something like this back when Ric Flair was having his problems with WCW, and how they eventually decided against it because they feared a lawsuit. Oh, to go back to the days when being a wrestling fan meant being blissfully unaware of crap like this! - HAK (w/ Chastity) vs. RICK STEINER Bischoff cracks another joke about Chastity's "movie". C'mon, Eric, tell the people what KIND of movie it is! What's the matter, no balls?! I bet the folks at Slim Jim or Aqua Velva would like to hear what kind of movie she made. Sorry, but Eric's really starting to piss me off. The match itself here is nothing, with no winner ever being declared. What happens instead is the two brawl into the parking garage area. There the two take turns slamming each other into a parked truck, motorcycle, and Randy Savage's Hummer. Brutal stuff (though it ranges from "cool" to "that wouldn't hurt"). The announcers declare this a first, forgetting all the other times it's happened. Steiner winds up bodyslamming Hak through the roof of the Hummer. Who should then pop out but Sting, who grabs Rick and throws him completely through the side of a Winnebago (now that was awesome). Sting drags Steiner back out into the arena, throws a few words out to the fans, then carries Steiner back out to a commercial break. Let me be the first to jump to a wild conclusion, put two-and-two together, and say that it was Sting who was driving the Hummer. Hey, he was inside it when Hak was tossed through the roof! Not saying this is WCW's plan, since it makes no sense whatsoever, but WCW's done stranger things. Just remember: you read it here first. - WCW exploits Owen Hart's death by showing a sign dedicated to him. (Of course I don't really believe this, I'm just mimicking what others have accused the WWF of.) - DJ Ran. - KONNAN/REY MYSTERIO, JR. vs, PSYCHOSIS/LA PARKA Master P and his No Excuses Thugz (or some such nonsense) accompany Konnan and Mysterio to the ring. Am I supposed to ignore the fact that WCW's house DJ gets a bigger pop than the millionaire rapper? Konnan says his same old damn catchphrases--unchanged now for about a year. The rappers interfere on Konnan and Rey's behalf. Who do you think wins? Bischoff is shameless during this match, first crediting WCW with EVERY innovation in the world of wrestling, then practically begging the fans to give WCW a chance as they climb their way out of the cellar. Show some dignity, Eric. Hey, how about getting your grey-haired ass off my TV and working backstage to clean some of this crap up? Your coming out and trying to get yourself over isn't helping things. Hennig, Windham and Duncum briefly occupy DJ Ran's turntable. Master P then takes it over and tries to work up the crowd. Unfortunately for him, he gets BARELY ANY RESPONSE! (Unless you count the boo's.) That's the funniest damn thing I've seen all night. Bischoff closes out the segment alleging that "other guys in the industry offer(ed) them three times the money," but that Master P and his No Limit Soldiers chose WCW. In other words, this disaster-in-the-making will cost WCW less than it would have the "other guys in the industry". I'm not sure I'd brag about that. - Michael Buffer is in the building tonight, just on the off chance that a couple of major WCW superstars managed to challenge each other to a PPV-caliber main event. Does this mean that, before Nash and Sid agreed to a match, tonight's main event would have been the previous match? (I know, I promised I wouldn't gripe about this stuff, because the WWF does it too.) Champion Nash is out first, pissing off rules sticklers everywhere. Sid is then a no-show, so our unscheduled main event is ... - KEVIN NASH vs. RANDY "MACHO MAN" SAVAGE (w/ Team Savage) Nash is almost immediately jumped by Savage's women. A few seconds later Sid runs out, nailing a DQ-drawing clothesline. WCW extends their lead in screwing the fans out of promised matches. Nash re-earns the title "Lazy Bastard" with this showing here. Remember when Savage used to look like a normal human being? He now looks like some kind of disco ape. Sting, baseball bat in hand, comes out for the save. The End. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Gorgeous George has a nice rack. Rick Steiner looked cool flying through that RV. The eight-man tag was a great match. Nothing else about this show deserves further discussion (unless it's to repeat how bad/lame/awful it was). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Taped 6/8. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Worcester, Massachusetts. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - Video package opens the show. - Taped footage shows the Titan Towers earlier in the day. Vince McMahon's reserved parking spot has been painted over for its new occupant, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Tonight we'll see clips of Austin's first day on the job as CEO of the WWF. I already predict that some of this will be funny, but in true WWF tradition they'll drive the joke into the ground. - Austin addresses a group of men with wheelbarrows. More on that later, I guess. Austin then enters the Titan Towers and strikes up a conversation with the receptionist (who is so damn perky you can't help but laugh). Austin is appalled at her cheery demeanor when she answers a phone. Austin says he himself will take the next one. The phone rings, and Austin asks "who the hell is this? What the hell do you want?" Asking her if she can do that, she replies "oh hell, yeah!" As Austin walks towards the elevator we hear the phone ring again, and the perky receptionist answer "who the hell is this? What the hell do you want?" Classic. - Since Vince and Shane McMahon still own half the WWF, and since Austin is back in Connecticut playing CEO, the McMahon's are on hand to lay down tonight's card. The theme: "stipulations we'd like to see Steve Austin wrestle under in his King of the Ring handicap match against Vince and Shane." To wit: * A "Dog Pound Match". Road Dogg and "Mr. Ass" Billy Gunn will test this one out, for the viewing pleasure of the Corporate Ministry. * A "David vs. Goliath Match". X-Pac will play David, while Paul Wight plays Goliath. * A standard "Handicap Match", with the Acolytes playing the part of the McMahon's, and Kane playing the role of Steve Austin. * A "Blind Date Match". Test gets to go on the blind date blindfolded. His "date", who won't be blindfolded, is the Big Bossman. * A "Straightjacket Match". Ken Shamrock gets the straightjacket. IC Champ Jeff Jarrett goes unhindered. An attempt is made to rain on McMahon's parade when Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco come out. Patterson asks how he could have betrayed them and his godchild Stephanie the way he did. Patterson would like some answers. Vince says he doesn't want to hear his answers, so Patterson tells him to go to hell. (Brisco adds that while McMahon is on his way to hell, he can get his own damn coffee.) Vince, being the evil, evil man he is, tells Pat and Gerry that they'll have to wrestle Midian and Viscera tonight. - They finally premiere the Rock's Chef Boyardee commercial ("Getting Chefy With It"). Nothing much to write about. - Austin meets up with Vince McMahon's personal secretaries. One usually gets coffee (Austin sends her to get him a beer), one gets McMahon his chateau briand (Austin sends her for a beer too), and the third is the backup (who Austin sends out for a Crown & 7--which I believe is an alcoholic beverage). In parting one of them tells Austin he has a board meeting scheduled. Austin says he doesn't like board games. In this bit Austin displays the smooth wit and charm which made him such a sensation on "Nash Bridges". - ROAD DOGG vs. "MR. ASS" BILLY GUNN Gunn comes out with a neckbrace, and says he can't wrestle the match. The Dogg tricks him into thinking Kane is coming out, and a quick turn of the head convinces the ref that Gunn is okay to go. The match doesn't amount to much, as Chyna soon comes out, crotches the Dogg using the chain attached to his dog collar, and Gunn hits the FameAsser for the pin. Gunn never even attached himself to the chain. Chyna works the Dogg over with the chain, drawing some blood from his forehead. Gunn flashes his ass, which probably hurts me more than the Dogg was hurt by that chain. - Ken Shamrock has arrived at the building. Sgt. Slaughter, accompanied by uniformed guards, tries to give Shamrock the bad news about his upcoming match tonight. The Rock is in the house tonight. - ... and he makes his way to the ring. There he rips into a few of his catchphrases, which we haven't heard for a while. The upshot is that he wants a WWF Championship match against the Undertaker at King of the Ring. The Undertaker comes out and accepts. Vince and Shane quickly arrive on the scene to say it won't be that easy. In order to get his PPV title shot, the Rock has to beat the Undertaker in a non-title match tonight. There will also be a special stipulation, which will be announced just prior to the start of tonight's match. Looks like Debra (puppies!) and Jeff Jarrett are up next. - DEBRA MCMICHAEL (w/ Jeff Jarrett) vs. IVORY Yes, Ivory has her scarf. Nicole Bass comes out right away to watch the match, which sees the two combatants trade chokeholds, Debra get snap-mared to the mat, and Debra choke Ivory with her own scarf. Nicole then interferes, grabbing Debra by the neck, and Ivory rolls her up from behind to win the WWF Women's Championship. Debra is livid, but Jarrett tries to console her by telling her it's okay--he still has HIS title. I suspect Debra and Jeff's days as a team may be numbered. - Austin has found the board meeting. There he creates all kind of mayhem by firing a guy for looking stupid, promoting a mail room boy into his position, and forcing all the executives to drink beer. Those left standing won't be fired. These skits are quickly loosing their steam. I enjoy Austin when he's "edgy", not when he's being an outright asshole (like in this bit). - Taped during the break, Pat Patterson tried to sneak out of the building. Brisco caught him and talked him into staying. Patterson mentions that he's 58, and it suddenly hits me: he and Vince are almost the same age! Say what you will about McMahon's working out (and, *cough*steroids*cough*), it did keep him from looking like Patterson. - TEST vs. THE BIG BOSSMAN Test is blindfolded, and the Bossman proceeds to kick his ass. When Test does get in a lucky blind shot, the Bossman resorts to using his nightstick, drawing a DQ. That was, umm ... whatever. - Austin orders a lady from "human resources" to get him a beer, then coaches a little old man into yelling "Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!" The poor acting, overbearingness of Austin and ridiculousness of the situation made this one really painful to watch. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - "THE BIG SHOW" PAUL WIGHT vs. X-PAC Wight says he'll throw in the towel so that they don't have to be humiliated by McMahon, but X-Pac's got integrity, and their job is to wrestle, so he wants to wrestle. Wight still won't bite, until a spinning kick connects solidly, at which point Wight shoves X-Pac completely out of the ring. Here comes Kane, to defend his little buddy. X-Pac tries to stop him, comes to blows with him, and the whole thing ends with Wight walking off and X-Pac and Kane making up. Say, we gonna have any matches this week? Shamrock is being cinched into his straightjacket. - JEFF JARRETT (w/ Debra) vs. KEN SHAMROCK Jarrett figures he'll have an easy time of it, since Shamrock doesn't have the use of his arms. NOT! Shamrock is able to repeatedly take Jarrett down and tie different parts of his body up, using only his legs. Jarrett gets in a lot of offense, but ultimately Shamrock manages to bring him down to the mat and slap on a head scissors. Jarrett taps out. The ref is then just about to undo the small lock holding the straightjacket closed, when out comes Vince McMahon. He nails the ref and steals the key. Shamrock, still trapped in the straightjacket, gives chase. Patterson and Brisco, with a plan on their side, are next. - Another "GTV" segment. This time "Mr. Ass" has some woman shaving his, umm, ass. She discovers a pimple and he goes ballistic, threatening to never let her shave his ass again if she ever tells anyone. I guess Goldust is an equal opportunity pervert. In the old days I'd have given Nitro the win just for RAW making me look at Billy Gunn's ass. - PAT PATTERSON/GERRY BRISCO vs. VISCERA/MIDIAN The Stooges (using Hulk Hogan's old "Real American" theme music) are jumped by Rodney and Pete Gas of the Mean Streets Posse. A four-on-one drubbing follows. There's the Rock. - KANE vs. THE ACOLYTES Here's tonight's lengthy undercard match. Not too bad, I suppose, but the outcome is kind of obvious (if you weren't expecting yet another DQ/run-in/schmozz). The WWF Tag Team Champions cruise to a relatively easy victory. A couple steel chair shots an a double neckbreaker lead to the pin. X-Pac comes out for the save, and a zombie sit-up by Kane convinces the Acolytes that their time is best spent elsewhere. Shamrock is in the back going nuts. He looks like he's about to bust outta that straightjacket. - Austin brightens up Vince McMahon's office with a couple wheelbarrow loads of manure. Austin pours some beer on the pile (though the slow pan-up at first gives us the impression he's doing something else). That's enough of that. - Vince and Shane are back out in the ring to make a few announcements. First, they've decided that their match against Austin at KotR will be a ladder match. At stake is their 50% interest in the WWF, versus Austin's position as CEO. Winner takes all. Then, in tonight's main event-- Out comes Shamrock, sans the straightjacket. Vince shoves Shane in Shamrock's path, allowing himself a clean getaway. Shane isn't so lucky, and winds up planted with a belly-to-belly suplex. - During the break, Vince blows out of the arena in his limo. Poor Shane is apparently left behind. - THE UNDERTAKER (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. THE ROCK Triple H comes out (with Chyna) and announces that the stipulation scheduled for tonight's main event, before Shane was so rudely knocked unconscious, was that it would be a "Triple Threat Match". Of course Triple H just teams up with the Undertaker in knocking Rocky's block off. This one, as RAW main events are wont to do, goes all over the place. I wish I had it in me to call the action, because it was a doozy. Things wind down with interference by Chyna backfiring, setting the Undertaker on her trail. That leaves Triple H alone to fall victim to a Rock Bottom and pin. The Rock escapes with his KotR title shot intact, as tempers flare between Triple H and the Undertaker. Those two come to blows as the show fades out. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Good main event, and the Kane/Acolytes and Jarrett/Shamrock matches were okay. Nothing else about this show deserves further discussion (unless it's to repeat how boring/lame/disappointing it was). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I won't say "I told you so," but I will say ... ah hell, "I told you so." A day after last week's Recap was written, Kansas City police announced a criminal investigation regarding Owen Hart's death. A day or so later it became known that the Hart family would file their lawsuit against the WWF this week (which they did Tuesday morning). A press conference would accompany the filing. On Thursday of last week, Sid Vicious, faced with the opportunity to sign with either WCW or the trouble-ridden WWF, signed with WCW. While the first two items above were widely known to the wrestling community on the Internet, the third was not. The last anyone heard, both WCW and the WWF were interested in signing him. Shane McMahon in particular, it is said, was anxious to bring him back to the WWF. Conventional wisdom said Sid wouldn't go back to WCW because of the standing issue between he and Arn Anderson (we all know that story). WCW, for their part, shrugged off whatever concerns there may be in that area and decided to sign him anyway. Was this all simply "business is business," or did Sid decide to sign with WCW, in part anyway, because the WWF may not be the wisest choice right now? If anything the timing of the move looks funny, what with ECW having secured a deal to air on The Nashville Network this fall. There were three good money deals there for him to consider, and he chose the one everyone least expected. Any bets on where Shane Douglas ends up in the near future? I was in the checkout line today, and guess what I saw on the cover of "National Enquirer"? Yup, Sable. Full-color, two page centerfold story, "exposing" the sleazy world of professional wrestling. Now the "Enquirer" isn't exactly credible mainstream press, but given the target audience of that magazine, it's likely to hurt just as much as any "Dateline NBC" or "Hard Copy" story. The WWF probably has a better chance with a story seen by a few million open-minded viewers, than the million or so "Enquirer" readers who will accept the story as the gospel truth. And now that guy overseas who Vader slapped around a few years ago is suing the WWF! I don't even want to get into that, other than to say when the large herd animal goes down, that's when the scavengers swarm in. The best case scenario stemming from all this is that the WWF settles the suits, or manages to beat them in court, and things go unaffected in regards to what we see on TV. Worst case scenario? Well, there are any number of things that could come about, and all of them not only affect the WWF, they also affect you and I, the fans of the WWF. Big on that list is a disruption in the WWF's creative process. How much time do you think Vince and Shane McMahon will be able to devote to the product if they, and many others in the WWF, are called upon to spend hours upon hours talking to lawyers, giving statements, and/or appearing in court? Think this is far fetched? Sorry, it's already happened, back in the early 90's when McMahon was indicted by the government. You remember the early 90's, don't you? That period where the WWF REALLY SUCKED. I could go on, but I already touched upon most of this last week. To be honest, I'm not sure what any of us can do about this. It's easy to protest against things you hate. On the other hand, how does one go about showing one's support for something you love? Last week I said we WWF fans should rally around the WWF. I have to admit, though, I haven't a clue how to go about doing it. Maybe E-Mailing the WWF is a start. They have an address now, where you can write their "creative team" and let them know what you think of the WWF: * WWFFans@wwf.com Let them know what you liked, what you disliked, and what you'd like to see next time. Tell them your concerns, too, and ask them what we, the fans, can do to help. Just maybe the WWF will float us a few ideas. For a long time now we WWF fans have been accused of being "mindless lemmings". Well, this is one lemming who doesn't intend to blindly march off a cliff into the sea. I'm not going to be a rat who deserts a sinking ship, either. I'd rather be a sleek otter who swims, and ... uh ... does ... stuff--look, I'm not very good at this kind of thing. You all just go and do what you think is best. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1999 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 187 of the "Monday Night Recap", June 14th, 1999.