Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #203 October 4th, 1999 The Opening Word: It figures the wrestling world would go all crazy the week I decide to get out of town for a few days. First there was the Russo/Ferrara story, which absolutely floored me. I first learned that Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara has gone to WCW a few minutes into Nitro when Schiavone made the announcement, an off-hand comment which would mean nothing to the average WCW fan. This was a broadside shot aimed at the WWF and it's "smart" fans. My first thought that it was some kind of joke. "These two guys ARE the WWF. How could they go to WCW?" I actually stopped watching Nitro and hit the Net, looking to see if the story was true. It was. After getting up to speed on the basics of how and why it happened, the first question that came up is what does this mean to wrestling. I wish I knew. There's no question that the two were a huge part of the WWF getting to where it is right now. What they do, write wrestling storylines, is precisely what WCW needs. Beyond these few facts, things get a bit shaky. Is it a good thing that Russo has left the WWF when, by his own admission, he's given the company all he can? Will he be able to do in WCW what he did in the WWF given the different levels of restraint in place? Will WCW fans accept his "storyline over wrestling" approach which they've so heartily blasted up till now? Will this week go down as the point where the tide completely changed, and WCW began a journey which saw it once again overtake the WWF as the Number One wrestling promotion? I wish I knew. This has the potential of being a huge windfall for WCW and a major disaster for the WWF. It also has the potential of being an irrelevant development for WCW and an easily-overcome obstacle for the WWF. THAT'S how uncertain this whole thing is. It may make all the difference in the world, or next to none at all. Time will tell. Two or three weeks from now, maybe a month on the outside, we should start seeing the first signs of change. As if this wasn't a big enough story, things got darker Tuesday night when Darren Drozdov was injured at the SmackDown! taping. Droz fell wrong in a match with D-Lo Brown, injuring his neck, and now faces the possibility of never walking again. The mainstream media picked up the story, labeling it the biggest "tragedy" in pro-wrestling since Owen Hart's death earlier this year. On Wednesday wrestling fans were greeted with the news that WWF legend "Gorilla" Monsoon (Robert Marella) passed away, due to complications stemming from a heart attack. This one actually hit me hard personally, as Monsoon's recent health problems have been similar to that of my father (who is suffering from kidney failure). At 62 he was also very close to the same age as my Dad. Like many others, Monsoon was, to me, the "Voice of the WWF" back in the 80's. I simply cannot think of wrestling during that time without hearing him calling the action. Truly a sad, terrible loss to his family, friends, and wrestling fans everywhere. Overall it's been a rough week to be a wrestling fan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours+. Location: Kansas City, Missouri. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Goldberg pulls up in his rental car. I hate to keep pointing out this stuff, but if Goldberg didn't just happen to show up at the arena at this precise moment, WCW would have had nothing to open their show with. Would we have just seen the fireworks and the live crowd? A "taped moments ago" graphic would have solved this problem, and grounded the moment in reality. Instead we see Goldberg collecting his baggage, saying nothing to the cameraman, then the cameraman continuing to film the area long enough to catch Sid coming out, eyeing Goldberg's car, then cackling in glee. If he'd had a "Snidley Whiplash" type moustache he'd have twirled that too. Don't forget, Goldberg's car is parked in space number 22. It's stuff like this that Ferrara and Russo have been brought in to fix. - "Last Week" clips. - Schiavone hypes tonight's Bret Hart/Chris Benoit "Owen Hart Memorial Match". Well, he says he won't hype it, then hypes it anyway. - REY MYSTERIO, JR. vs. DEAN MALENKO A rematch from last week, running several minutes longer than that good match did, and being every bit as good. The finish here sees Shane Douglas come out, knee the ref in the back, then pull out a chain to use on Mysterio. Perry Saturn runs in, but pulls a swerve on everyone (myself included) by grabbing the chain and nailing Mysterio. Malenko gets the pin, but is distressed afterward to see the replay on the big screen (he initially missed the actions of his fellow Revolution members). Unless WCW pulls another swerve and has Malenko stick with Douglas and Saturn, he should break away from the two. Don't know if he'll team up with Benoit, as Benoit hasn't exactly been a part of the Revolution angle lately. The December 27th Nitro is being dubbed as "New Year's Evil". WCW is already hyping it, trying to build it as a major event (something they haven't been able to do in ages). - Bret Hart/Owen Hart video clip. - DISCO INFERNO vs. PSYCHOSIS Psychosis is the Cruiserweight Champion, having "won" the belt from Lenny Lane in a match which never took place. WCW scrapped the Lenny/Lodi angle, on orders from higher-ups, because the angle was getting too much heat from gay/lesbian groups. They couldn't even risk bringing Lenny in to drop the title to anyone in a quickie match, for fear of drawing "faggot!" chants from the crowd (again). If and when we ever see these two again, they'll probably have totally new gimmicks, and won't be seen within a mile of each other. And this is the political climate Russo and Ferrara will have to work in? Good luck, guys. Schiavone makes the announcement of their jump at the start of this match, by the way, which sent me scrambling to the closest nearby computer. Anyway, Disco wins the title (of course) in a short, but good match. As I'm looking for the skinny on the Russo/Ferrara story I also try to figure out when the hell Psychosis won the belt from Lenny. It's around Disco's waist before I even find that answer. How many pounds is he over the Cruiserweight limit again? - Sid is on the phone with a towing company, hoping to do to Goldberg what Goldberg did to him last week. The car in space #22 is to be towed. Anyone not see where this is going? Someone comes along and reminds Sid that he has a match coming up. - Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are in the crowd, drunk (or pretending to be drunk--take your pick). Each carries two cups of beer. Bobby Heenan goes over to interview them. Hall fumbles his way through a poor "Down where? Down there!" gag. Nash, when asked what they've been doing, says he's retired. Hall makes a crack about Nash's retirement being an "angle", then says he'll come back when it's "fun again". Heenan says it's always fun. Hall asks him if he's been backstage lately? Man, this could have been a huge ratings popper, and they go and blow it in the first hour? It also kills the surprise factor of them coming back for good, if it happens anytime in the near future. You tell me which is cooler--having these two stagger out and slur their way through an interview, or having the two of them come out some night, kicking Hulk Hogan's ass, and then declaring that they're taking over again? Rather than "putting the wrestling world on notice", this just reminded us how not ready these two are to come back. - BRIAN ADAMS vs. SID Shame on you if the words "KISS Demon" entered your thoughts. Squash, with some help from Rick Steiner. Sid's record is now 120-0. - GOLDBERG vs. JERRY FLYNN (w/ Jimmy Hart) Squash. Goldberg says the usual on the mic afterwards. Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobbs come out at some point but, honestly, I've lost pretty much all interest in the show at this point. The only thing they've even hyped of note yet to come is the Hart/Benoit match, and really, it's hard to give WCW or Nitro any credit for that kind of match. Not to sound heartless here (no pun intended), it's not as if WCW can have a wrestler die every week, so that his brother can come back and fight one of his best friends in a stellar "five star mat classic". It's like when Owen died, and the WWF had their highest rated RAW ever (up to that point) the next night. The WWF didn't exactly EARN that one, if you catch my drift. I'm looking forward to the match, and hopefully will enjoy it for what it is, but as for Nitro tonight ... RAW's about to start, and the company has done nothing on its own merit to hold my interest. That's all I'm saying. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Berlyn is in the back. His bodyguard (who wins all his matches for him) and his translator (dumped by WCW, from what I've heard) are nowhere to be seen. Brad Armstrong walks by. Berlyn says something in German. Armstrong gets upset, but just walks off. What-evah! - "Mean" Gene interviews Harlem Heat. They'll be defending the World Tag Team Titles against Morrus & Knobbs at Halloween Havoc. Those two come out, with Jimmy Hart, and lay the Tag Champs out. Hall and Nash are shown a few times at ringside, looking totally unimpressed with what's going on in the ring. - "Nitro Girl Search" video, followed by this week's contestants. - Goldberg, having wrestled his match tonight, packs up his gear and leaves. Poor Sid. - Mike Tenay gets comments in the lockerroom from Chris Benoit. - BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. CURT HENNIG Hennig should take this one in a breeze, but because WCW has to build up Armstrong for his feud with Berlyn, he gets to look good. Berlyn and his bodyguard then come out. The bodyguard pops Armstrong, who falls victim to the Hennig-Plex. Have they even given the bodyguard a name yet? How are fans supposed to care about someone they can't even name? Mysterio is in the back looking for Kidman. Here he comes out of the shower, followed by Torrie Wilson ... in a towel. Yum. Maybe Vince Russo won't have that hard a time in WCW after all, as there's any number of angles and gimmicks WCW is doing now that they've "borrowed" from the WWF. Okay, I promise not to talk about Russo anymore. Sid has to move his car, says Doug Dellinger, so he hands his keys to the lackey from last week (at least I think it was the same guy. Does it really matter?) Young children watching this at home are slapping their foreheads and going "D'OH!" - JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs. KIDMAN I guess Kidman has more stamina than Meat. Doesn't matter, though, because Psychosis and Mysterio come out, leading to some interference and a Juvi Driver for the Guerrera win. WCW is making the strong statement tonight that most everything they do in the ring is good, while all the rest generally sucks. It's "the rest" that WCW hopes to improve by bringing in ... never mind. That Guy parks Sid's car in Goldberg's slot. He apparently hasn't been watching the show, as he ascribes no importance whatsoever to the tow truck pulling up RIGHT BEHIND HIM. HOUR THREE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. CHRIS BENOIT This is, of course, Kemper Arena, the building in which Owen Hart died earlier this year. Harley Race does the ring introductions. The early segment of the match goes as one would expect, with the usual feeling-out, trading holds, "wrestling clinic" type stuff. Workrate fans rejoice. The live crowd looks bored at times (after being hot for the intro's). I'm somewhere in the middle myself. Commercial break. The pace has picked up a bit when we come back. Nothing flashy, just the solid work you'd expect here. It's almost boring, knowing that the match won't get into high gear for another ten minutes (and will be a disappointment if it ends before that). Just sit back and watch out for those things which develop the match psychology (which, unfortunately, the announcers are doing nothing to help with). Commercial. Benoit starts to take control late in the match, which starts the crowd booing. I hate to say this, but all the real emotion that should be here seems buried under a generous heaping of contrived political correctness. The fans are cheering for Bret now, not so much because he's the underdog or their favorite or the better wrestler or anything like that, but because he's "wrestling to honor the memory of his brother," and that's what we're supposed to do. It's not laid on too thick, but it's definitely there and hard to ignore. Things are getting really good now, as we're nearing the thirty minute mark, when Hart applies the Sharpshooter almost out of nowhere and gets the win. Great match. Hovering somewhere around "****" in my book, not that I'm into the match ratings thing, but definitely a keeper for the video archives. Hart casts a look up and points ceilingward after the match. - "Mean" Gene interviews Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. As good as the last match was, everything was wrong about this interview. Hogan and Flair suck up to each other, like they're old pals. Ugh! I guess they're facing Sting and Lex Luger later tonight. Sid looks on as Goldberg's car is set to be towed away ... or so he thinks. COMEDY! - DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. "BUFF" BAGWELL Either DDP is turning face, or Kimberly is turning heel, because we get a shot of the two smooching. DDP goes over clean here, getting the quick win with the Diamond Cutter. The mysterious cloud-filled window is back. The voiceover says, if I caught it right, something about "the pale horse, the bringer of pain and suffering." The figure we see in the window looks like Dustin Rhodes ripping off the Undertaker's gimmick. We'll see soon enough, I guess. - STING/LEX LUGER (w/ Liz) vs. HULK HOGAN/RIC FLAIR It seems like we've seen this match, or one very much like it, every week for the past four years. A whole lotta "eh" leads up to DDP running in, getting accidentally Torture Racked by Luger, and Hogan dropping the leg and pinning Sting. Sid goes out to check on his, learns it was parked in Goldberg's space, and cries "why, why?!" over the cubed remains. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Solid wrestling. Top level angles on cruise control. A dash of crap here and there. Not the greatest, but a better effort than months gone by. Take away that Hart match, though, and the show was so-so at best, and might have been worse when you consider what WCW would have had to do to fill that half hour. I wouldn't call the Hart match a "ratings ploy", but I will say it's naive to believe WCW allowed this match simply to "honor Owen's memory". On the other hand it's overly cynical to overlook the emotions involved. Much like the promo Hart did a few months back talking about his brother, there are good motives and not-so-good motives coming together the deliver what we see. Real life is made up of shades of gray. If Bret Hart had approached WCW and asked to wrestle (and beat) someone like Hulk Hogan in Owen's honor, they'd never have allowed it. Benoit was the obvious choice, though, because 1) he's Canadian too, 2) a friend of the Hart family, and 3) can be called upon to do the job. (I doubt he had the slightest reservation about it.) Giving them two nearly a half-hour to work shows respect on WCW's part. Putting it at the start of Hour Three up against the Rock and Mankind on RAW shows WCW still had ratings to consider. The match took place because (presumably) Hart asked for it, it didn't work against any of their plans, and they knew it would get rave reviews. As I already said, there are good motives, and not-so-good motives. Do the good outweigh the bad? Beats me. All I know is I liked the match. I'm not the cynical type (or cynical enough, anyway) to completely write it off, nor did I get swept up into it and declare it "five stars" and "The Match of the Year". It was really good, and that's enough for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: East Rutherford, New Jersey. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - KANE/X-PAC vs. ACOLYTES vs. THE HOLLYS vs. THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS Elimination match. The Outlaws and Hollys are both counted out early, leaving X-Pac to take a lot of punishment. He refuses to tag Kane, in, because he wants to "prove himself". Kane eventually comes in anyway, untagged, and makes a cover on Faarooq. Bradshaw, meanwhile has X-Pac covered. He being the legal man, the Acolytes win the match. The British Bulldog is in the building. Back on Saturday, at the UK-only WWF Rebellion PPV, the Bulldog got into a shouting match with Vince McMahon and threw a trash can, which hit Stephanie. She, as the storyline goes, is in the hospital with a concussion. - The Bulldog makes his way to the ring. He sort of, but not really, apologizes about Stephanie getting hurt, blaming McMahon for putting her in that position. He repeats his sob story about not getting the title shot he was promised. In a weird twist, Chyna then comes out and challenges the Bulldog to a match. Mankind is backstage looking for the Rock. - Mankind confronts the Rock, telling him he'd like to break up the Rock & Sock Connection. The Rock pays no heed, however, as he's talking to someone on the phone. Mankind doesn't realize what the Rock is saying isn't directed at him. - Michael Hayes asks Test about Stephanie's condition, and what this will do to their wedding. Test says that right now, Stephanie doesn't even recognize him. - The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young bump into Ivory, and pull her top off. Referees swarm in to break up the ruckus. You know, Moolah and Mae got pulled out of retirement during Russo's watch. Hell, for all we know it was his idea. That's what's so scary about he and Ferrara going to WCW. For all the good they did in the WWF, they also gave us stuff like Moolah & Mae, Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco returning to action, the Big Bossman grinding up Pepper, Chaz beating up his girlfriend Marianna, Meat popping a boner on Viagra, the "Greater/Higher Power" angle, "who raised the briefcase?", crucifixions, groin clamps, and other assorted atrocities. Don't be surprised if Russo's first angle in WCW is to bring back Judy Bagwell as part of a lesbian tag team with Patty Stonegrinder. - Mankind talks strategy with Dude Love, AKA Stevie Richards. - EDGE/CHRISTIAN vs. THE NEW BROOD Last week on SmackDown! Terri Runnels began the "Terri Invitational Tournament". The winner in a best-of-five series between these two teams wins $100,00, and the services of Teri. Or she wins their services. Take your pick. Edge & Christian took the first match, a hotly contested bout which was good, but a bit on the short side. They also win the second one, which wasn't quite as good. Terri, doing color commentary at ringside, likes what she sees. There's Triple H. Michael Cole gets words from Kane and X-Pac. Well, only X-Pac actually. He throws out a challenge for a "Four Corners Match" at the PPV, between the same teams as tonight, and it's every man for himself. - Triple H hits the ring. Steve Austin is on his mind, and he invites Jim Ross to join him in the ring as they view an interview Ross taped with Austin over the weekend. After much cajoling Ross enters, sitting on a chair in the ring. They play the interview on the Titan-Tron. Austin says the usual. Triple H asks Ross what Austin thinks of him. Ross says Austin thinks he (Triple H) is an "asshole". Triple H asks what Ross thinks of him. Ross says Triple H is a "sorry, lowdown S.O.B." Triple H smiles, then clotheslines him where he sits. Laying in the boots, he throws some of Ross's favorite quips back at him ("it's a damn slobberknocker ... business is about to pick up ... I'm gonna stomp a mudhole in your ass.") Terry Taylor gets comments from Jeff Jarrett and Ivory, who will be facing Moolah and Mae Young later tonight. - Mankind is in the back with "Chandler Smyth" (Clayton Rohner) and "Henry McNeil" (Richard Brooks) from "GvsE". Yes, they're PLAYING THEIR CHARACTERS! Oh, the shame. They show a clip from next week's show, which has Mankind as a guest star. Michael Cole is out to replace Ross. - IVORY/JEFF JARRETT (w/ Miss Kitty) vs. THE FABULOUS MOOLAH/MAE YOUNG Just as the match starts Jarrett makes Miss Kitty take his place. She isn't dressed to wrestle, so we get plenty of shots of her ass. THIS IS THE GREATEST ... never mind. Neither 70 year old woman can really wrestle anymore, and neither can Kitty, and Ivory has no idea how to compensate for such. Moolah pins Kitty. Jarrett yells at her post-match, leading to a Figure Four. Moolah and Mae make the (veeeeeeeery sloooooooow) save. Mankind is getting ready for his bit with the Rock ... next! WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - "GTV" catches Droz going through D-Lo Brown's gym bag. On cue he barfs in it. Umm ... isn't that kinda like the reason Sable quit? - Mankind comes out with the "GvsE" guys. They stand around as Mankind talks. He then points them to their seats at ringside. Well, so much for that. The Rocks then puts in an appearance. He's about to tell Mankind that he never cared about the Rock & Sock Connection, when Mankind changes his mind from his earlier attempt to split up the duo, and has now dedicated himself to keeping the team going. Mankind says what they have is like a marriage. The Rock says that he doesn't swing that way. Mankind goes on to say that he doesn't want them to end up like past washed up WWF tag teams, such as Skip and Zip. Just as this is all about to get boring ... ... the "Y2J" countdown begins. Chris Jericho, with Curtis Hughes, comes out to save the WWF fans from the preceding segment. This leads to a debate between the two as to which one is gay, whether a fan who runs into the ring is Jericho's dad or not, and just who Jericho thinks he is. (Juventud Guerrera actually gets worked into this bit.) The Rock hits all his catchphrases. Long story short, Rock ... Jericho ... tonight's main event. - Mankind is in the back talking to Stevie "Dude Love" Richards again, when the two are jumped by the Dudley Boyz. - THE BRITISH BULLDOG vs. CHYNA A little over a minute in Jeff Jarrett runs out and nails Chyna with a coffee maker. The Bulldog then hoists her on his shoulder and calls out Triple H, warning that he'll give him the count of ten before he plants Chyna. At the count of three he says he lied, and powerslams her anyway. The announcers question whether Triple H would have even come out at all. - MANKIND/"DUDE LOVE" vs. THE DUDLEY BOYZ Jim Ross rejoins the announce team. The match hasn't had much chance to go anywhere when Val Venis comes out, dangling Mr. Rocko from his open fly. Mankind goes after him, and the match essentially moves up onto the ramp and stage. Venis joins the announcers and badmouths Mankind. Once the action moves back to the ring Mankind ends up going after Venis, leaving Dude Love at the mercy of a Dudley Death Drop ("3D"). Vince McMahon has finally arrived. To be fair to WCW, I'll note that it's highly coincidental that McMahon's limo just happens to pull up at the perfect time to get captured on tape. - Vince McMahon is out, demanding an apology for Stephanie from the British Bulldog. The Bulldog comes out and says there's no way he'll apologize for something McMahon himself caused. Vince then gets all tough and challenges the Bulldog to a fight. The Bulldog basically laughs it off, and walks away. Jericho ... the Rock ... next! - THE ROCK vs. CHRIS JERICHO (w/ Curtis Hughes) A sweet little match, with Jericho having one of his best offensive showings yet in the WWF, and the Rock actually selling for him, and not just blowing him off as a mid-card jabronie. Hughes interferes on Jericho's behalf occasionally, distracting the referee and such. A couple of near pins gets the crowd into the match. There's then a problem with the arena lights, looking at first like part of some angle, but not resulting in anything in the ring. Power failure? The Rock hits a big DDT, and looks to have Jericho pinned, when Hughes pulls the referee out of the ring. Hughes slides a chair into the ring. The Rock is up first, though, and gives Jericho the Rock Bottom on the chair, followed by the pin. In comes the British Bulldog to lay a few lumps on the Rock's head. Jericho, meanwhile, can be seen having heated words with Hughes, possibly dumping him because of his screw-up. The Bulldog backs away from the ring, throwing out insults to the Rock as he goes. Here comes Vince McMahon. He grabs hold of the Bulldog and throws him into the ring, into the waiting fists and boots of the Rock. The People's Champ lands a low blow just before we fade out. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Hot finish to an otherwise so-so show. Things still seem a bit more reserved in light of rather limited amount of Steve Austin and Vince McMahon we've been getting. The show just isn't as epic feeling as it was a few months ago. The Undertaker being gone probably affects that too, and there's still a ton of guys who are either missing or being used sparingly. When is Test going to kick the Bulldog's ass for hurting Stephanie? Where's Al Snow and the Big Bossman? On what may be the plus side, the WWF is putting a lot of the focus on the undercard guys, and as a bunch they're almost all managing to get over with the fans. Going back to Test and Stephanie, I can't believe they're blowing off next week's wedding at the Georgia Dome. I don't know if they've scrapped it, or just postponed it, or what. That was set to be a big show. Instead we come out of this week's show with no hype at all for anything in the future other than No Mercy. Could this be uncertainty due to Russo and Ferrara leaving? Speaking of which, address any complaints about this week's show to "Vince Russo, c/o WCW", as he was the one who wrote it (or most of it, anyway). Russo left with the storylines mapped out for RAW and SmackDown! this week. How much of what we saw this week was his, or new stuff the WWF came up with, is anyone's guess. It doesn't look, though, like they deviated much from whatever direction he left them heading. Russo and Ferrara aren't expected to start writing for WCW until after Halloween Havoc. They'll use the time before then to get to know the wrestlers there, and take the pulse of the fans as to who they like, who they don't like, and what they'd like to see happen. On the WWF side of things, the company should be able to get along until after No Mercy. All the storylines leading up to that have been pretty much set. It's after the PPV that things get a bit hazy. That's when we'll start seeing how crucial Russo and Ferrara were to the company. The answer to that question depends entirely on who the WWF gets to replace them, and how firm their grasp is on getting the job done as it's set forth to them by the WWF. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: This last bit is about Jesse "The Body" Ventura, with most of it having been written last week, so it may be a bit dated by now. As a resident of Minnesota I've gotten a few E-Mails asking for my opinion on Jesse "The Body" Ventura's comments in his Playboy magazine interview. At issue are comments Ventura made which have offended people regarding religion, the U.S. Navy "Tailhook" scandal, and miscellaneous off-color jokes. The problem with print interviews is that you're usually asked questions, only given a certain amount of time to answer, and whatever you say, you're stuck with it. The reader can't look into the interviewer or interviewee's mind. You can't get an immediate clarification if one is called for. In regards to the religious issue, Ventura expressed the opinion that organized religion is a "sham", and a "crutch for weak-minded people." That's his opinion. Last I heard, people were allowed to have their own opinions. Ventura also said he respects other people's beliefs, but that's generally been overlooked in this story. Also overlooked is the fact that, as I understand it, Ventura's wife is deeply religious, and that the two of them have managed to peacefully coexist for years. He respects her beliefs, while she respects his. Also not given much press is the line which followed that quote: "It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business. I live by the golden rule: Treat others as you'd want them to treat you. The religious right wants to tell people how to live." Clearly Ventura is talking about extremes here. It's not as if Ventura has said people aren't allowed to have such beliefs. Yet those very people offended by his comments would try to deny him the right to have his! They've called him a bigot, anti-religious, and have called for his removal from office. So what is Ventura's sin here, that he doesn't believe in religion, that he told the truth as far as what his own beliefs were, or that he wasn't "politically correct", and didn't refuse to answer or tell a lie to protect his political career? Why is it that this man, because he simply told the truth, is fair game to be called an "oaf", "buffoon", "bigot", "disgrace", and is being called upon to resign his office--an office in which he's served in an adequate capacity since the moment he was elected. It's chilling to think that in a political system in which there is supposed to be a separation between church and state, that representatives of the church would seek to have him removed from office. What is the lesson here? Don't cross the church, or they'll try to run you out of office? I remind people, again, that all Ventura did was, in essence, admit that he didn't believe in organized religion, as it's typified by the "religious right". Think I'm exaggerating about people trying to get him out of office? Last Friday Ventura was named, in essence, public enemy #1 at the Christian Coalition convention by Republican Senator Trent Lott. You all know Trent Lott, don't you? He's the one who led the charge in getting President Clinton impeached. The other comment Ventura made which is raising eyebrows is that he felt the Navy "Tailhook" scandal was blown out of proportion. Women's rights groups are all up in arms, claiming Ventura endorses sexual assault on women. Ignored by most all making the complaints is that in the very statement they are protesting, Ventura started off by saying he didn't condone what the Navy officers did. He went on to add, though, that as a former military man himself he understood the circumstances under which the incidents took place, and from there it was blown out of proportion for their own gains. His next statement in the interview further clarifies the opinion: a statement not conveyed by the media. Any other number of comments in the interview have people upset. Among them being that if he were to be reincarnated after death, he'd like to come back as a "38-DD bra" (the interview-closing joke), and that he thinks JFK was killed as part of a conspiracy. Wow. Better stop the bastard before he destroys civilization itself! Ventura also weighed in with his opinions regarding armed guards in public schools, and the de-criminalization of prostitution and illegal drugs. He's also accused of hating "fat chicks"--an assertion which appears nowhere in the Playboy interview. Jesse Ventura has always been a controversial person. He speaks his mind, at times and in places where conventional wisdom would suggest a more politically correct approach. Playboy knew this when they approached him to do an interview. Ventura was already taking flack over doing the interview BEFORE anyone had an idea what he'd say. How dare a sitting Governor do an interview with Playboy (never mind the fact that former President Jimmy Carter himself did the same thing back in the 70's when he was Governor of Georgia). Ventura held a press conference on Thursday evening to explain his comments. As usual most people ignored his explanations, his attempts to clarify, etc., and preferred to continue focusing on those words etched in stone in the pages of Playboy. When given the choice of speaking to the man in the flesh, or continuing to crucify him over his written statements, most journalists, critics and political analysts choose the latter. Efforts such as a letter he sent Friday to religious organizations explaining his comments are labeled "backpedaling" and "flip-flopping". Much of the flap has come about because Ventura refuses to apologize for what he said. Of course if he did apologize, he'd once again be accused of being a typical politician. Ventura's critics like to paint him as just another politician, and make gloom-and-doom predictions about his political career. Never mind the fact that he seems to have NO political aspirations beyond his current term as Governor, and refuses to even play the political game, much less play by its rules. That doesn't stop people from trying to take him down. His enemies here in Minnesota are trying to get him removed from office. Beyond that, a lawyer in Miami, Florida has announced an initiative to petition the Minnesota State Supreme Court in an effort to have him ousted, accusing Ventura of illegal activity stemming from his book signing tour and participation at SummerSlam. Ventura's comments in Playboy may have raised quite a few eyebrows out there in the mainstream public, but to those who are familiar with Ventura, this stuff is nothing new. Nothing he said will change the minds of most of those who have supported for him, or voted to put him into office. Still, it's no surprise that given all this controversy, Ventura's latest approval rating took a big plunge in opinion polls, dropping nearly twenty percentage points. How could it not, given all the press this had received? I don't personally agree with everything Ventura says, though I do find myself agreeing with him more times than I'd have expected. I'm not going to go into my own views regarding religion and politics here. I have my own opinions, just as Ventura has his, and I respect those opinions, and his right to have them. If Ventura has had one consistent message, it's that he respects the opinions, and the rights to have those opinions, of others. It's too bad that so many people are blindly willing to deny him the same right in return. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 203 of the "Monday Night Recap", October 4th, 1999.