______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ Having signed the official papers this week, I can reveal that I was offered (and accepted) a tenure-track position after a lengthy interview period. Everybody is pretty happy over here. We had a nice week away in Montreal. On the one hand, it was nice to get away from pro-wrestling for the week, to throw myself into time with family and to get a lot of work done (I prepared about two-thirds of the lectures and assignments for a course I'm teaching in the summer). On the other hand, it was hell returning to 10 hours of wrestling on tape. ______________________________________________________________________ RAW I'm not going to run through WWF television during my absence. The new WCW product is being pushed by the commentators as matches going to a decision, DQs being less frequent. No doubt, the reason for that change has something to do with the success of the WWF's current formula. There was a time when the big two promotions in North America didn't follow that formula, when only ECW had the policy of allowing blatant interference, object shots, walking, walking, and walking during mathes. Mark me down as a wrestling fan who hates this new flavour. I'm sick and tired of matches being about who will be at ringside, about run-ins and interference. It might have been okay for WCW's first "new" Nitro to have run-ins in every match. It might even have been okay for the PPV to have screwy finishes, although having the same finish in 12 matches was a little too much, I'd argue. But they've followed that same formula since. Shit. On the 04/17/2000 RAW, the show opened with Chris Jericho getting a title shot at HHH. Could be a good match, no? Well, take into account that Shane, Stephanie, and the Acolytes were all at ringside. Understand that referee would bump, that a second ref would come in. When Dusty Rhodes booked this stuff, it sucked, and it still does now. Wouldn't you know that gave Jericho the win, after all of the interference, a shot on HHH with the title belt, and a second referee counting the fall. HHH was obviously unhappy with the decision. What did he complain about though? Not the interference. Not the object shot. Not the second referee. No, he complained that the second referee counted too quickly. Everything else is apparently normal in the WWF product mix. Man, wrestling sucks in North America. And I don't mean that to say that there aren't some good wrestlers and good story lines around, just that the wrestling has developed from an athletic contest to an athletic contest with some entertainment trappings to sports entertainment with some athletic elements to a shmozzfest of short pseudo-matches that focuse on stunts outside-the-ring antics. Maybe I'm alone in finding that disappointing. RAW on 04/24/2000 opened with Kurt Angle facing Rikishi. Perhaps to underline the inconsistency from one week to the next, Angle ended up pulling the referee into the path of Rikishi's charge. The referee bumped and DQed Angle. But don't be disappointed that we didn't see any good wrestling; at least Rikishi danced! Yeah, that's what we tune in for! I know I do! HHH & Stephanie & Shane came to the ring. Yadda yadda yadda. Chris Jericho came out. Hmmm, he scored tainted wins over HHH & Rock last week, so I guess he's going to be figured in to the main events shortly, although he faces Chris Benoit at Backlash. Shane said he & HHH wanted to face Jericho & Rock on this night. Jericho snagged the title belt and whacked HHH once before running off. Before going to a commercial, we saw Eddie Guerrero & Chyna. The story line is that Eddie has earned his GED, and he & Chyna are set to attend the prom. If it's possible, Eddie's stereotypical squeaky Hispanic accent has become even more degrading. I think Eddie is awesome in the ring, but every time he delivers a line in this new character I lose some respect for him. Road Dogg challenged Chris Benoit for the IC Title. For some reason, Edge & Christian came to ringside; they face Road Dogg & X-Pac at Backlash. Edge & Chrisitan bluntly explained that if Road Dogg had the upper hand at the three our four minute mark, they were going to run in and cause him to not win the title. They actually said that they would steal the win from him, which made little sense 'cause he'd get a win if they attacked him, right? Ah, as Christian distracted the referee, Edge speared Road Dogg. Benoit came down with the head butt for the win. There ya go. Great wrestling. Edge & Christian laid out Road Dogg. Tori made the save and took a bump. Hollyz faced Hardyz. Jim Ross said that Bob Holly promised Hardcore on the Holly name that he would not attack Crash on this night. Hey, one of the Hardy Boyz attacked Crash would Jim Ross say a second match had broke out? Could Crash be pinned here and not lose the Hardcore title? After Crash took a boot to the groin and tagged his "cousin" Bob, Jim Ross said that "there may not be any more Holly cousins for a while." Hmmm, who exactly is Crash sleeping with? In the ring, Bob scored the quick pin on Jeff as Matt & Crash tussled outside. As Crash was leaving, the Hardyz laid him out two-on-one. In the new ECWish formula, it made perfect sense that this was a hardcore title match. Saturn ran in. So did Tazz. In the melee, Matt Hardy scored a surprise win on Crash to get the Hardcore title. Back from a commercial, Trish Stratus showed us her boobs. I think we were supposed to notice that she was waxing a table. Big Slow faced Bull Buchanan & Big Boss Man. Every time Big Slow has to actually move for a bump or to deliver a big blow, they cut camera angles. Maybe not every time, but it feels that way. In this case, the few times they didn't it was hard not to laugh at how bad things looked. As Slow was about to do a double choke slam, Kurt Angle ran in to attack Slow. He hit a reverse fireman's carry on Slow. Acolytes ran in to chase off Boss Man & Buchanan. A limo arrived; Jim Ross told us that "the evil genius" Vince McMahon had arrived. I like "vulgar visionary" so much more. Trish Stratus showed us her hips and legs. We were supposed to notice a table. Vince McMahon came to the ring. He summarized the previous week, told HHH never to touch Linda again, and said that Shane would not be in the tag match this night. Vince tried to sow trouble between Rock & Steve Austin, who will return to be in Rock's corner at Backlash, bringing up the dangling story line of the Steve Austin hit-and-run. It was a good promo, but it was so long; still, nobody explains WWF story lines as well as Vince. Godfather & Al Snow faced D'Lo Brown & Steve Blackman. This followed Blackman turning on Snow on Heat and D'Lo turning on Godfather on Smackdown. At least D'Lo vs. Snow started the match, so they kept my attention for a minute or so. They drew heat on Godfather, in theory anyhow. Godfather is the worst. D'Lo hit the Lo Down on Al Snow for the win. Afterwards, Al Snow was dumped out of the ring by Godfather when he tried to get the hos to dance with him. Trish Stratus showed us he boobs again. Eddie Guerrero faced Val Venis. They mentioned that Eddie vs. Essa at the PPV is on the same night as Eddie Guerrero's prom. Jeez, I can understand making Kane's or Godfather's matches about something other than wrestling, but why would you do that to Eddie's matches? While putting uncatalogued wrestling tapes in boxes a couple of weekends ago, I watched a snippet here and there. One of those clips was of a Val Venis match from Mexico, where he wrestled as Steel. Now, he didn't have anywhere near the experience he has now, but he somehow seemed so much better. It just seems odd. Word is that Val may be paired with Stevie Richards as a tag team. This Venis match was better than pretty anything he's been in in many recent months, thanks to Eddie, who is a god in the ring. Essa Rios came down to ringside. They both bumped for Chyna, until Lita hit a cross body on Chyna. In the ring, with no noticeable interference, Venis scored a splash win on Eddie in the nontitle match. Lita & Essa attacked Eddie, who was saved by Chyna. Dudleyz faced Edge & Christian. Jim Ross talked about the PPV, at which Dudleyz face Test & Albert, wondering if Trish will get wood on Sunday. Test & Albert carried a table out to the rampway, with Trish on the table. As the Dudleyz looked like they were going for 3D, Trish Stratus started table dancing, distracting Buh Buh, with D-Von getting pinned. Rock cut a promo. Can the Poontang Kid trust Stone Cold? Chris Jericho & Rock faced HHH & Chris Benoit, HHH's replacement partner, with Shane McMahon as referee. Rock hit the hot tag, cleaned house, and had the pin on HHH, with Benoit & Jericho tangled up outside. Stephanie & Shane talked on the apron. Vince McMahon came in, and Benoit saved Vince from getting laid out. HHH hit the pedigree with all of this human wreckage in the ring, with Shane counting the pin. More crap. Again, this stuff might be okay for TV, but I wish they'd put together something clean for PPVs. And the genius braintrust in WCW sees the WWF get away with this stuff, so they think that they can do it as well, not realizing that they have to rebuild the relationship with the fans that they totally pissed off over the past year. Nitro Nitro on 04/17/2000 was more of the same stuff. After two weeks of WCW TV in this "new era," I'm already depressed. I don't know how turning Billy Kidman into Hulk Hogan's job boy can be considered as pushing him. Hogan has to go. The big cliffhanger was whether Bret Hart whacked Hogan or Eric Bischoff with a chair. It was really weird to see the commentators on WCW Saturday Night asking that question instead of answering it. Surely, the morons were present in the building or otherwise knew the answer. It was beyond stupid. Nitro on 04/24/2000 opened with Terry Funk defending the hardcore title against Bam Bam Bigelow. Ernest Miller attacked Bigelow for a second at the start, apparently because Bigelow bumped Cat out of the US Title tournament at the PPV. Terry is so sad to watch. He scored a fluke win. They showed footage of Bret Hart whacking Hulk Hogan with the chair last week. During the summary of Hogan's story line, Tony Schiavone said that Hulk Hogan severely injured Kidman last week by banging around the dumpster that Kidman was in. Kidman came to the ring with his ribs taped up. He called out Hogan, also challenging him to a match at Slamboree. Backstage, Bischoff acted surprised that Kidman was in the ring. Norman begged Vince Russo asked to give him a match against Terry Funk for the Hardcore title. Vince told him he that he and a partner could face Terry Funk in a handicap match at the PPV. Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff, and the nearly incomparable Kimberly came to the ring. Of course, Kimberly asked DDP for a divorce. David Arquette jmped into the ring and kicked Eric Bischoff. Kanyon saved Arquette from Jeff Jarrett. Arquette challenged Eric to a match tonight, with DDP getting a title shot tonight against Jarrett if Arquette wins. Chris Candido & Tammy faced Artist & Paisley. Earlier in the show, Vampiro beat up Sting. Sting was now looking for Vampiro. Just in case you were interested in this match, Tony informed us that they'd cut away from the match if Sting managed to track down Vampiro backstage. Tammy Sytch tried to be sexy, but looked battleworn. She wore a tank top and a skirt. She used to be the most attractive woman in pro-wrestling, but age, her extracurricular activities, and the upping of the stakes as women like Kimberly & Torrie Wilson hit the scene, have changed all of the that. The women did a little catfight as the guys were outside. Tammy hit a plancha on the guys. TSN cut away from Tammy being suplexed, which I assume was a butt shot. Tammy pinned Paisley. Sting stormed out to the ring, even though Vampiro wasn't there. Tammy looked scared. Candido didn't even turn around, as Sting came in to scorpion death drop him. Tammy crawled over. She's a nonstop butt shot show. (Say that three times fast.) Sting challenged Vampiro to face him later in the night in a first blood match. Lex Luger & Ric Flair faced Brian Adams & Bryan Clark. It was a mess, with Buff Bagwell and Shane Douglas coming in. Remember everybody praising that first week of Nitro, saying that they didn't try to put everybody out there in every segment? Eric Bischoff said that Mike Awesome & Billy Kidman would face Hulk Hogan & partner, if Hogan could find one. Bischoff announced that he would be the referee in the Kidman vs. Hogan match at the PPV, surely meaning that Kidman will once again not be given a chance to establish some credibility in this feud. The tag match came immediately, making it seem impossible that Hogan would have a partner ready. Somehow, though, and much to my disgust, Hogan managed to take control on his opposition. Kidman kept running away from him. It was depressing. The commentators tried to explain that Kidman wasn't getting in the ring because his ribs were injured. Tony even explained that Awesome was only in there to help Kidman, who was too injured to face Hogan. Pretty much everything Hogan did looked terrible, almost Godfather-level bad. Even when they did attack him two-on-one, Hogan managed to get the upper hand. Awesome got in a a few moves, but looked bad because this was hardly the kind of match that Awesome needs to work to look good in. Hogan yelled at Mark Madden because Madden was criticizing him. Kidman finally whacked Hogan with a chair. Where was the referee during all of this? This was the same "no real rules" wrestling that I just love. Hogan bladed. Awesome power bombed Hogan through a table in the ring. Awesome pulled out a second table. Backstage, Kevin Nash noticed the attack on a monitor. The commentators pushed that Hogan has no friends in the locker room. Kidman splashed Hogan through a second table and then mocked him, ripping off his "Hulkster" shirt, putting his hand to his ear. After a legdrop by Kidman, the referee actually counted the win for Kidman. Yeah, Hogan laid down for Kidman again with out putting him over again. Kevin Nash inexpicably saved Hogan, but Torrie kicked him low, so he took a beating as well. Awesome used a steel chair on Nash's bad ankle. Eric Bischoff faced David Arquette with the above stipulation. The commentators kept pointing out that this was David Arquette's first wrestling match ever, which made me scared that there would be a second match. Bischoff stomped David. David speared Eric and did Scott Taylor's worm, which was actually the funniest thing on Monday night TV. The referee was laid out. Jeff Jarrett came in the ring. Bischoff hit a loq blow. By accident, Bischoff was guitared by Jarrett. Kanyon cleared Jarrett from the ring. The referee miraculously recovered to count the pin. It was horrible wrestling, but it's understand the desire to link the promotion with some celebrities again. And, hey, they dropped Courtney Cox's name more than a couple of times. If only she were really there. Another skinny chick with implants, she'd fit right in. Afterwards, backstage, a scantily clad blonde (Kanyon's chick) congratulated Arquette, who said, "Thanks...I'm a married man," which was funny as well. Scott Steiner cut a promo on Booker T. You know, my 21-month-old daughter was given those exact same sunglasses as a gift. Booker walked to the ring, saying that he wasn't apologizing for what he did. Booker insulted Steiner's women, who slapped him. Steiner attacked. He should be the friggin' world champ. We cut to a commercial break. When we came back, they showed these two guys brawling, with security breaking it up. Buff Bagwell & Shane Douglas faced Brian Adams & Bryan Clark for the tag titles. The implication was that Vince Russo had to give them this match because they help injure Luger & Flair earlier in the night. They called Adams & Clark "Kronic," which I just find funny. Douglas & Bagwell were already to leave, so they came out in their street clothes. One pocket in the crowd chanted boring. Brian Adamas moved really quickly for a minute or two. Bagwell dumped the referee. Kronic dumped Shane. Russo ran in and batted Adams. Shane batted Clark. They must have batted the referee, but TSN had enough and spliced in a crowd shot. Tank Abbott came out. As I've mentioned in the past, WCW is interested in bringing Don Frye in from New Japan. There is talk that they will bring in Don and some other UFC/shootfighting vets (maybe Brian Johnston or Mark Coleman) to form a small shootfighting program. That's something I could get into. Tank said he was going to beat up somebody again. He chased away a comera man, dumping his camera. He beat up the WCW.com guys. Tony begged Goldberg to stop this. Diamond Dallas Page faced Jeff Jarrett in a cage match for the WCW title. Jeez, how will they work a run-in into a cage match? Russo came out with Jarrett. The match started outside the ring, as Page had climbed on top of the cage and whacked Jarrett before he realized where DDP was. They walked through the crowd. They finally got in the cage. Jarrett eventually took control for a minute, but it was mostly Page, with an earnest Russo at ringside. Out of nowhere, Mike Awesome surfaced, laying out the referee. Jarrett took control again in the ring, so the guys outside the ring didn't react. Diamond cutter in the ring, with Awesome coming in by ripping the door off the cage. Kanyon appeared in the ring immediately, knocked Awesome aside, and the referee counted three. David Arquette was also out for the celebration. So, Vince Russo's best friend lost the title back to Eric Bischoff's best friend, with the two best friends set to headline the upcoming PPV. Sting faced Vampiro in a first blood match. Sting lowered himself to the ringside area. Sting's cable didn't come loose so quickly when he reached the floor, so Vampiro probably ad-libbed a bit, not wanting to look like an idiot, and attacked him. The cable sprung free. They brawled. Vampiro was dumped from the ring. He climbed onto the commentators' table, made some gestures, and a bucket of red koolaid poured down on Sting, just like in "Carrie." Except she was a woman at the prom. Vamp hit his nail in the coffin. New Blood members came out to attack Sting, with everybody slipping and sliding a bit. It could have been really funny, but nobody slipped up. They ended up taking Sting out to his hook in the aisle. They hooked him up, and, somehow, Sting was lifted a few feet off the floor, hanging limply and swinging around. It was a neat image, but by the time Nitro or RAW is over I get totally bummed out by all of the nonfinishes or finishes that are really nonfinishes. Thunder on 04/26/2000 opened with Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff & Kimberly arriving at the arena, lugging David Arquette to the ring. Poor David was still wearing his wrestling garb from Nitro. Jarrett explained that they snatched him at the hotel earlier that day. DDP & Kanyon ran down the aisle, stopping when Jarrett threatened to break Arquette's neck. This set up Jarrett & Bischoff vs. DDP & Arquette in a tag match with the WCW Title on the line. Buff & Shane blocked the aisle, but Flair & Luger, all better apparently, whacked them. Evferybody chased everybody, with DDP staring down with Kimberly in the ring. She slapped him, and he almost hit the diamond cutter on her. When he relented, she hit the low blow on him. We were left thinking that Bischoff & Jarrett still had Arquette. Cat tried to back out of his match with Bam Bam Bigelow, but when he said that Bigelow's "breastseses" are bigger than his momma's, Bigelow attacked. Miss Hancock came out to take notes. The Cat hit his kick for the pin. Cat sucks. Bigelow laid him out afterwards. Shawn Stasiak faced Kanyon. They call Stasiak "the Perfect One" because they want to use Curt Hennig and his old gimmick to get him over. It's pretty funny Stasiak so perfectly messed up his finishing move during his debut run-in on the first "new era" Nitro. Hennig walked down to ringside to watch. Match was so-so. Hennig nailed Stasiak with brass knuckles, and Kanyon scored the pin. Afterwards Hennig attacked Stasiak in the ring. Mike Awesome came out to attack Kanyon. Kanyon could be a good opponent for Awesome, who german suplexed Kanyon. Awesome attacked Kanyon outside the ring, powerbombing him through the commentators' table. He finally went in the ring and attacked Hennig. Earlier on, he stood next to Hennig without attacking him. DDP came out. Awesome pushed Stasiak into DDP, who hit the cutter on him and then checked on Kanyon. DDP agreed to the tag title match. Kidman faced Horace Hogan. This actually seemed like a pretty good idea, since they could play up Hulk Hogan's injury and the relationship with Horace. Of course, Kidman won after Torrie used the testicular claw on Horace, Billy bulldogged him through a table, and Bischoff counted the pin. I guess they were making the point that Eric being the referee in the PPV match could sway the result, but I took away the conclusion that Kidman can't beat anybody cleanly. Kidman got more out of Horace than most do. Tank Abbott came out to attack someone. Marc Mero, who had been shown sitting at ringside earlier in the show, was picked out by Abbott. They ended up in the ring in a boxing match, and it was ridiculous to see Mero hold his own for a few seconds. Abbott at least laughed at Mero's lame attempt to hurt him. I don't think that beating up nonwrestlers every week before finally being held even by a former wrestler nobody has seen for several years is really the way to get Abbott over. Sting arrived at the building, walking like a zombie, covered with caked-on koolaid. DDP discovered David Arquette lying in the backstage area, unmoving as though injured. Apparently, the camera man who was back there during the angle decided it was better to film a writhing Arquette rather than save him. It reminded me of that episode where Vince McMahon was held hostage. Wall faced Sting in a tables match. The ringside area was filled with set-up tables. The rules were "simplistic" said Tony, meaning "simple." As Sting started to attack Wall, they cut to the package of Vampiro dousing Sting on Monday. Mike Tenay tried to argue that Wall had the advantage in the match because of his history with tables in recent months. Good lord. String tried to do a sunset flip over the top on Wall through a table, bu he lots his grip. Time stood still for a second. Sting actually moved into sunset flip position one more time, with Wall just staying in the right position for him. Sting essentially powerbombed Wall through the table, with Wall popping right back up. Vampiro charged into the ring out of nowhere. Vampiro & Wall two-on-oned Sting for a second, but Sting was a "man possessed" and they ran away. Question: Do any of the current story lines (Hogan vs. Kidman, Sting vs. Vampiro, Flair & Luger vs. Douglas & Bagwell, DDP vs. Jarrett) give the impression that the younger side can actually hand with the older side? "Iron Man" came up. Out came Vince Russo, described by Tony as "the man who has turned around WCW." Shane Douglas & Bugg Bagwell joined him. Shane basically said he'd beat Flair at Slamboree. He and the commentators talked about the history of this rivalry, a history that maybe 10% of the viewers probably knew. At the time that Shane was ranting about Flair in ECW, what sort of exposure did his comments have, anyhow? Flair & Luger came out. Flair said Hogan was the man. He talked about Sting and Luger, too. I guess as a true pro he wants to get his side of this feud over. Flair talked about the mid-1980s, when he was "the blood of this sport. We made these people love wrestling." Not these people, Ric. They love something totally different than wrestling. Flair told Russo he was a mark for the business, Flair, Luger, and Sting. "Until you've wrestled Kerry von Erich in Texas Stadium in front of 50000 people, until you've wrestled Bruiser Brody in Budokan -- that's in Japan --,...," Flair went on. Flair still does one of the best jobs in the business on the microphone. The fallout was an added stipulation: if Flair beats Shane at Slamboree, Flair gets Vince Russo for five minutes. Wow, they'll let Flair win? Luger also cut a promo on Buff. Russo said he was glad that Luger survived the "Lex Express," which was kind of funny. Russo announced that WCW owned Liz's contract, so he had security try to seize her. Flair & Luger charged the ring, but the guys in the ring ran off (getting over again, right?). Russo grabbed Liz in the aisle and carried her away, looking like he was going to drop her the whole time. Back from a break, the security goons dragged Liz to Russo's car, and Russo drove off with her. Chris Candido & Tammy came out to stripper's music. That's apt. Tammy reminds me of that stripper at the strip club who hangs out past the time that the other fresher girls have surpassed her looks, but tries to get by by being raunchier than the younger girls, who still try to cling to whatever self-respect they still have. Unlike Monday, when Tammy's outfit profiled her butt, Thunder's outfit profiled her boobs. Tammy faced Paisley. The commentators called it a catfight. Tammy did some rudimentary wrestling moves. It was no worse than most WWF women's title matches, except that Tammy was cheesier than her skin-flashing heyday. Tammy hit a stunner on Paisley. Tammy climbed to the top and jumped on the men, with Candido pretty much catching her. Candido went in to attack Paisley, but she did the splits and hit him low. Paisley did a lame handspring elbow. Artist crotched Tammy on the top rope. Tammy tried for a northern lights suplex, but Paisley countered with a DDY for the pin. This was ridiculously bad and perversely entertaining because of it. Afterwards, they all brawled, with Tammy delivering really bad punches to the mat beside Paisley's head. Really, this segment was beyond belief. If you could get Candido in your promotion, this would be exactly the way to book him to negate all of his ability. This blonde interview bimbo asked Booker T what he was going to do to Mike Awesome. Booker said Awesome was in WCW "straight from the independent circuit." Booker faced Awesome. As Booker came to the ring, all I could think was that he should be pushed through the roof. They teased the run-in before the match, as Scott Steiner left his locker room. They also replayed Booker's kick on Steiner last Nitro, and they even had Steiner come to the commentators' table before the match started. Awesome looked really good as Booker tried to work some hammerlock reversals with him. That's sarcasm. Awesome looked good in spots, but the size element that made him a monster in ECW is negated when he's out there with Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and even Booker. He garbaged it up a bit, whipping Booker around outside the ring. Awesome took control back in the ring. They worked off a facelock, which put the crowd to sleep. Booker hit the axe kick. As Booker went to the top for the missile dropkick, Steiner whacked him with the belt. That led to Awesome hitting his power bomb for the pin. I hope that this means that Booker wins the title. Steiner went in and put the recliner on Booker. Lash Leroux & Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Hugh Morrus & Van Hammer tried to make the save. They helped Booker clear the ring. Booker acted like he didn't expect the help. They aired an interview with Bret Hart by Scott Hudson. Hudson brought up the Montreal Survivor Series and the early 1990s (codeword for Hogan not losing to Bret). Bret said that he would have defeated Hogan at any time in the past, but Hogan avoided him. Bret said Eric promised him Hulk Hogan and said he believed Eric when Eric said Hogan killed the match. As always, Bret Hart brought so much credibility and believability to his story line. He talked about being concussed, calling it "by far the single-worst injury he's suffered in wrestling." He was honest in saying that he didn't know what his status will be in wrestling. He said that even if he couldn't wrestle any more he would make Hulk Hogan pay. DDP tried to convince David Arquette that he was in no condition to go the ring. Oh, don't tell me the injured actor was going to lead to DDP losing the singles title in a tag match. Eric Bischoff & Jeff Jarrett faced DDP & David Arquette for the WCW title. JJ & Eric left the ring. They signalled for the special to come out: Kimberly, looking like she was from a whole other planet on the sexiness scale when compared to Tammy. Eric & Arquette brawled (okay, I'm being charitable) to the entryway. Kimberly didn't really count for DDP. Her pants slipped down just enough that we could see the top of her thong. "That thong, thong, thong, thong, thong," as Sisqo would say. Eric came back to ringside, with no sign of Arquette. Long time fans had to expect the traditional late run-in by an injured partner to make the desperation tag with his partner who has been doubleteamed into submission only to succumb to his injuries. Well, sort of. Arquette hobbled to ringside as DDP was controlling the match. DDP kissed Kimberly. Arquette speared Eric. JJ covered DDP. A new referee ran in. He counted for Arquette, who was announced as the new world champion. DDP laughed about it, making that title seem worth even less than the dime it seemed to be worth by this point. Well, that just seemed stupid. - The WWF has Backlash on 04/30/2000. Line-up has * Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rock for the WWF Title, with Steve Austin in Rock's corner * Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit for the IC Title * Road Dogg & X-Pac vs. Edge & Christian for the Tag Titles * Essa Rios vs. Eddie Guerrero for the European Title * Test & Albert vs. Dudleyz - WCW has Slamboree on 05/07/2000. Line-up has: * Jeff Jarrett vs. Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW title in a triple cage match * Scott Steiner vs. Booker T for the US title * Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Kidman with Eric Bischoff as referee * Norman & partner vs. Terry Funk for the Hardcore title * Shane Douglas vs. Ric Flair * Buff Bagwell vs. Lex Luger - The WWF has Judgment Day on 05/21/2000. - The WWF has King of the Ring on 06/25/2000. - The WWF has Fully Loaded on 07/23/2000. ______________________________________________________________________ If you have any feedback regarding my web pages, please send me e-mail. Don't forget to delete the leading "x" from my e-mail address; that "x" is my web spider spam guard. ______________________________________________________________________