______________________________________________________________________ Apologies for a long absence. I went to an after hours clinic yesterday and the doctor told me I must be working too hard, that I need a vacation or loads of rest. I have pink eye and strep throat. Wonderful. The semester is almost over; I have one more final exam to grade (tomorrow). In September, I'll be teaching two courses, one class with 350 first-year students. ______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ - WCW had New Blood Rising on PPV this past Sunday. Now, WCW's TV product went into the toilet again after two weeks of some the best finishes in North America in years. Okay, maybe that's a little overdone, but my disappointment at the change in philosophy was bigger than Kevin Nash's ego. Still this show had some strongly promising elements on paper. What didn't make sense was the hype for the triangle match with Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner vs. Kevin Nash, built up as a shoot because they really hate each other, but completely killed by anything that happened between these guys in the ring. The whole shoot promotion really makes no sense, but I guess Vince Russo has a jones for that. Overall, I had to give the show a thumbs down. I was way too disappointed with the show as a whole, especially the juvenile mistreatment of Lance Storm. They have no idea how to make a star, so the practically killed Storm off in his overbooked, overly creative, junky match. Very disappointing. Rundown: * Three Count beat(?) Yung Dragons in a double ladder match: The gimmick was that Three Count's gold record and recording contract were on the line, with both hanging over the ring. I guess the winning team would have to get both items down, but they never explained what would happen if each team claimed one item. Oh well, like the famous WWF tag ladder match, this was more a collection of stunt man spots than an actual wrestling match with stunt man spots thrown in. Karagias worked the match with his ankle in a protective cast. That injury occurred when they did an angle involving the ladder to set up this match. It suggested that something nasty could happen here. Well, they did a bunch of spots based on the ladders. Jamie-san did a plancha to the floor off the ladder in the ring. They did numerous wrestling moves off of side-by-side ladders. The crowd was chanted "Three Count sucks," and then started popping for spots. Hey, at least there was heat, even if it was the same WWF crowd instead of wrestling fans. Kaz took a power slam on a ladder. Yang did Satoru Sayama's turnbuckle somersault spot on a ladder leaned into the corner -- a lot of crazy things took place in this match, but that was what struck me as dangerous. Sling shot with the ladder. Double splash on Shannon Moore. Jamie-san got the gold record. Three Count knocked him over, Tank took the record, and the commentators explained that the match continued until the contract was seized. "They don't want the recording contract. They just don't want Three Count to have one. Don't you understand the logic in that?" Tony Schiavone is brilliant, he wrote sarcastically. Tank ran in and knocked over both ladders, even though Shane Helms was on one of them. Evan climbed to the top and took down the contract. It was scary watching him climb slowly. Well, it was just a stunt man show that did as little for me as that acclaimed WWF tag ladder match, but, like that match, it was at least exciting. Who was the winner? Is it a draw? I dunno. I guess this was a strong opener. * Great Muta beat Ernest Miller: Miller attacked Muta before the bell. As great as Keiji Muto has been in the past, as Great Muta he's rarely been all that great, and outside of his youth he's often been lazy and unmotivated. That said, he's delivered some incredible matches, but this wasn't going to be one of them. His knees are toast after all of those moonsaults, age has taken away pretty much all of his fire, and being in North America will take the rest. During the match, Scott Hudson said Muta was champion of "the IWGP," as if that exists. Match sucked to high heaven. Tigress (Tygress?) came out. Why? This is WCW, and we need to see lots of black people because of "the lawsuit." Cat was actually well-received by the fans. Muta hit the dragon screw, and the fans had no clue what it was. Muta went for a moonsault, missing it. What a nut. There was no reason to do that. He misted Miller. As the referee cleaned up Miller, Tygress nailed Muta with a chair shot off the top. But Muta kicked out of the delayed cover. Miller hit a bunch of kicks. You know, it isn't saying much, but this is better than Cat as ever look. Miller got the pin on the once-Great Muta after big kicks. Hey, you knew the black guy would win. It hardly matters, since neither result could have been built into good business. * Buff Bagwell beat Kanyon to retain Judy Bagwell as a valet: Shouldn't Kanyon have to lose to get Bagwell? Apparently, the boards on the floor in Vancouver were tested beforehand and they realized that Judy Bagwell couldn't walk out to ringside on them. Give them credit, since they brought her out on a forklift. Kanyon drove the lift. He raised it up all the way at ringside. Were they teasing the surprise plancha into the ring? Kanyon hit some anti-Canada remarks for easy heat. Kanyon said that the match became a "Judy Bagwell on a forklift" match because he couldn't find a pole strong enough to "support that fat old battleaxe." Bagwell charged. They brawled into the crowd; we saw nothing. Kanyon bumped over the rail to ringside. Kanyon hit a neckbreaker on Buff off the ropes. Judy screamed at Buff throughout the match. I know it's been done, but now would have been the time for Bagwell to lie down on purpose so that he could lose his pain-in-the-ass mom. Judy could become an even more bitter and angry mom as a heel looking after her ersatz son Kanyon. Sadly Buff looked like he wanted to win. They did a cobra clutch spot, with Bagwell powering out. Kanyon signalled for the cutter, missed it, and took a couple of telegraphed bumps into an exposed turnbuckle. Judy kept shrieking. Kanyon hit a cutter for two count. DDP's music came up. "Former world champion," David Arquette came to ringside. Huh, why would he distract Kanyon? He whacked Bagwell with a construction hat. Kanyon scored a two. Bagwell took them both down with a double clothesline. Double blockbuster. Bagwell scored the pin on Kanyon. The commentators explained that Arquette was in Vancouver filming a movie. I thought he hadn't even been paid for his previous work with the company. He must enjoy this stuff a lot to work with them again anyhow. Afterwards, Kanyon hit a cutter on Arquette in frustration. Weak finish. * As Lance Storm arrived at the building, the commentators explained that Bill Goldberg was injured in a serious motorcycle accident in Sturgis the day before and that they didn't know whether he would be in the triangle match later. They said he wasn't in the building yet and they didn't know if he would make it. Boy, that line made the triangle match seem important, didn't it? The most-hyped match on the show might not take place and the commentators have absolutely no late-breaking information. It makes it seem like the promotion doesn't give a shit, so why should we? * Kronic beat Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Hare and General Rection & Corporal Cajun and Chuck Palumbo & Shawn Stasiak in a fourway match to retain the Tag Titles: For some reasons, the Filthy Animals were the guest referees. That made zero sense, especially when Konnan announced that the Animals had a title shot on Nitro tomorrow against whoever came out of this as champions. Konnan's commentary was funny, as he laid into the limited talent level of most of the wrestlers in this match. Disco Inferno proclaimed himself the inring referee while the other Animals were ringside enforcers. As Brian Adams faced Palumbo to start, Konnan said, "these two guys should both get a refund on their wrestling classes because they both suck." Kronic have been enraged by this sort of commentary in the past, leading to backstage incidents. The commentators explained that anybody coudl tag anybody, partners could face partners, and the champs could lose the titles without losing the match. All of the match gimmicks that I hate. The crowd popped for power spots. Disco slow counted for Kronic. Konnan was pretty hilarious. On a serious tip, he tried to argue that the fans were into the match because they could see how hard everybody was working. Konnan called Rection Hugh Morrus. Tygress hit a bronco buster on Rection, who smiled throughout. Disco counted slowly for Cajun and Stasiak too. Hmmm, was he going to count quickly for Jindrak & O'Hare? That's the way it built. O'Hare did his Seanton Bomb. Vampiro & Muta ran in to screw up Kronic. Palumbo got a slow two count. The commentators started complaining that Disco wanted Jindrak & O'Hare to win. Palumbo was laid out by Kronic for a slow two count. Chavo Guerrero Jr. ran in, decked Disco, and counted the pin for Kronic. The commentators explained that Kronic and MIA had an alliance of sorts. Konnan acted like their plans went awry and that he was upset that they had to face Kronic the next night. Are they really going to put Kronic in the ring against Juvi & Rey? For me, the show was dragging by this point. * Billy Kidman beat Shane Douglas in a strap match: Good thing they added the gimmick to this match, 'cause it has been proved that Douglas sucks outside of the ECW framework. They explained that the match would end by pinfall. Crowd chanted "she's a whore" at Torrie Wilson, which is just so sad. Douglas wore a horrible-looking Franchise shirt. Kidman went out to taunt Torrie. I can't believe how poorly they are using the prettiest woman in wrestling. They drew heat (in theory) on Kidman, with Torrie even interfering. The crowd could not have care less, which speaks to how weak this program is. And, sadly, we don't even get a great match out of the sad program. Kidman rallied. Kidman hit a rana for a minor pop and weak applause from some fans in the first few rows. Kidman strapped Douglas' groin for the only moderate pop of the match. Kidman kicked out of the fisherman suplex. Torrie and Douglas collided. Kidman pinned Douglas. Kidman tied the strap to Torrie, who cowered instead of untying herself. Kidman whipped her butt a couple of times before Douglas hanged Kidman. Big Vito ran in for the save. Hopefully, this means that Vito moves into this feud and Kidman moves out. Perhaps not, as Reno ran in to attack Vito. They brawled. What a poor use of Kidman. * Jeff Jarrett attacked Booker T in the parking lot, slamming T's leg in the door of T's car. * Major Gunns beat Miss Hancock in a "Rip Off The Camouflage" mud pit match: The received no ring introductions. Hancock was much taller than Gunns or referee Charles Robinson. Hancock did a handspring elbow. They did some pseudo wrestling. They did a lot of crotch shots, sort of, with the camera crew sort of trying to avoid the partial nudity. They ripped off some clothes. I guess this is women's wrestling. Hancock did a nice kip up. They did a lot more wrestling than I expected. Let me rephrase that: they attempted a lot more wrestling than I expected. Gunns took a post shot. Gunns was stripped to a bikini. Hancock was stripped to a bikini top. Gunns bumped into the mud pit. She pulled in Hancock. Crowd chanted for puppies, I think. Hancock started crying and holding her belly. Oh, a miscarriage angle. Yay. David Flair ran out to look after her, diving into the mud in his suit. They cut to the commentary table. The male commentators couldn't figure out a transparent angle. Even after an interview break, the commentators still just talked about her severe abdominal pain. They showed her being carted to an ambulance, but didn't even speculate at what a monkey would guess was the explanation. * Sting beat Demon: Demon is a piece of shit. Earlier on, Vampiro explained that Demon was not part of his "Dark Carnival," but that this was his entrance exam, so to speak. Vampiro said he wasn't going to help Demon in the match, that Demon had to prove himself. The commentators, of course, called Demon part of the Dark Carnival. Sigh. Sting descended from the rafters. Is that still bad taste? When in Canada? Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop for the pin in a few seconds. That was as it should be. Vampiro & Muta ran in to kill Sting. Kronic saved. Kronic said that Vancouver is "down with Kronic." He offered a tag title shot to them later this night. Like we needed to see Kronic and Muta again. At this point on a WCW, I would usually be dreading the remainder of the show. And after this midcard, I would have been extremely negative. But, hey, there was hope yet for this show. * Lance Storm beat Mike Awesomet to retain the Canadian Title: The called Lance the triple crown champion. I guess he drew a good reaction coming to the ring. Earlier on, they mentioned that this match would have a special guest referee, which surely had to be Bret Hart, with Storm hopefully beating up Hart after the match. Lance's prematch shtick drew a good reaction. They should put this bit into a video package to hype Storm on Nitro and Thunder. When Lance announced a special referee, the crowd chanted for Bret Hart. The commentators acted like they had no clue. Well, no Bret Hart. Out came Jacques Rougeau carrying the Canadian rule book. He had a Canadian flag on his shirt. The anthem drew a strong reaction. This match had to turn the show around. And Storm and Awesome at least have the ethic to always work their asses off to deliver the best match they can. Still, Awesome's best stuff is garbage wrestling. He opened strong on Storm, who rallied to good reactions. Rougeau sat at ringside as an enforcer referee, I guess. Explain to me some time why they put Storm vs. Booker on Nitro. Awesome pulled out a table. Crowd chanted for ECW. Lance hit a nice missile dropkick for a two count. Awesome slipped off the top rope when going for his clothesline. The fans laughed at him. The commentators tried to push how Awesome recovered gracefully from the stumble. Awesome scored a three count after a power bomb, but Rougeau said it was a two count. As Awesome was announced as the winner, the crowd chanted "bullshit." Rougeau consulted with the announcer, who declared that Canadian rules require a five count for a victory. So, bingo, Mike Awesome hit a submission with a dragon sleeper, but Rougeau proclaimed that submissions were not allowed in a Canadian rules match. The crowd was glad that Lance screwed the American, but this just hurt him, didn't it? Wouldn't a great wrestling match, along the lines of their tournament match, have worked to get over both guys and the title. Awesome scored a four count. He hit the frog splash for the five count. Rougeau interjected again. The crowd was laughing at the comedy and I was crying. I guess I'm not a fan of sports entertainment. Rougeau explained that after a five count pin the pinned man has a ten count to get up and have the match continue. Lance scored a four count on Awesome after Awesome slipped a table in the ring. Awesome & Storm both tumbled through a table. Crowd halfheartedly chanted "holy shit." Rougeau announced that the first man to his feet would be champion. Rougeau decked Awesome behind the referee's back, giving Storm the win. What a pile of crap this match was. And what it could have been. After the match, Bret Hart came down to ringside. What a great reaction. Well, maybe they could salvage something good out of this after all. I don't like crap even when it serves the purpose of setting up something good later, but maybe... Bret hugged Storm & Rougeau. Bret didn't look good. At least for me, it was sadly apparent why they couldn't use him in a different, more active role. * Vampiro & Great Muta beat Kronic to win the Tag Titles: I guess they added this match because of the Goldberg situation. What's the only way that this match could start? Right, Kronic bounced Vampiro around like a pinball. "Brian Adams is amazing!" I would have laughed had I not been so disappointed by this show. Who would have guessed that the haphazard stunt man six-man would be the best item of the evening at this point? Boy, does Adams suck. I decided to hit the bathroom, returning to see the referee take Muta's mist. Oh man, the Harris twins returned to lay out Kronic and set up the title change. Kronic vs. Harris Boyz? Those matches seem to have great potential. Surely the return of the Harris Boyz will lead to huge ratings spike on Nitro! What a mess. * Kevin Nash beat Scott Steiner & Goldberg in a triangle match to become number one contender: They explained numerous times that Goldberg would possibly miss the show. Of course, they never mentioned it in the live pregame show (although I honestly might have missed it). The commentators and Nash suggested that Goldberg might have decided to miss the show because he was not going to win. The commentators even said that there was a lot of speculation at who would "go over" in this match. Tony Schiavone reminded us that Vince Russo said he liked two out of the three guys in the match and hated the other. Tony concluded that Goldberg was the hated one. The commentators also all picked Nash to win because he guaranteed it, etc. I guess that pretty much guaranteed that all of those conclusions were wrong. Goldberg's music played, but he didn't come out. They played the music again. The fans were booing. Madden tried to argue that they were trying to show up Goldberg. In reality, if Goldberg wasn't going to work this night it was just the promotion that was shown up. This supposed shoot started off exactly as a worked match would have started. They went to the floor to brawl. Goldberg ran out, with his ribs bandaged, laying out Nash with a chair. Goldberg also had his forearm bandaged. To get over all of that shoot talk, when Nash squared off with Goldberg, they traded wrestling punches: you block mine, I take yours, I block yours, you take mine, etc. Steiner snuck in with a suplex or a clothesline here and there. Nash set up Goldberg for a power bomb, but Goldberg pushed him off, they stared at each other, and Goldberg walked out. He was met by Vince Russo in the entry way. Goldberg yelled, "What are you gonna do now? Fuck you!" Russo was yelling at Goldberg to get his ass in the ring. Meanwhile, Steiner & Nash did their thing. Madden said that Nash was a pro, that he could have nailed Goldberg against his will, but that he wouldn't do that. Even though he said he would in that shoot interview, right? Midaja came down to ringside. She tripped up the referee and hit Nash low. The commentators kept talking about Steiner (& Midaja) doing their own thing "if you know what I mean" and "going into business by himself. Nash kicked out at two. Midaja saved Steiner from another pin attempt. Nash went after her and Steiner went after him. Nash took down the straps for the second time. He power bombed Steiner for the pin. What a shitty result. Who really wants to see Nash challenging for the title? I thought that the debacle of his booking run helped established that nobody wants to spend money on this old fart. I think Vince Russo is going to spend the rest of his life trying to recreate the Montreal Survivor Series finish because lord knows that is what would revitalize WCW. In this iteration, we apparently had the wrestler who was supposed to do the job (Goldberg) beg off from what was presumably the planned finishing move of the match and walk out rather than do the job. Wrapped around this, though, was a lot of talk from the commentators that the jobbing wrestler might well not even be there for the match because of a motorcycle accident. There was insinuation that he wasn't going to show because he didn't want to job. But, wait, the hype for the show had this wrestler say he was going to shoot. So, when push came to shove during the match and that crucial supposed finishing spot was reached, why didn't he do something resembling a shoot? Was his inner turmoil so unreconciled that he decided to work the match up until that crucial point? He sure as hell wasn't shooting up until that point. It's a mess. It further diminishes the value of Goldberg, which used to be so great. It does nothing to generate interest because the promotional fact is that they have to push Nash for the next PPV main event, which surely isn't going to begin the turnaround. And, hey, if all of the extra stuff between Nash & Steiner was adlibbed after what should have been the finish, why did the show still manage to end on time. * Booker T beat Jeff Jarrett to retain the WCW Title: The commentators pushed Booker's bad knee. Booker sold it reasonably well, which translates to about ten times better than the Rock but only 75% as good as Bret Hart. Sorry, but this match wasn't going to save this show from a thumbs down. It could even be a match of the year bout without swaying my vote. After a good start for Booker, Jarrett started pounding his leg. They garbaged it up outside the ring 'cause Russo wants this to be the other Vince's product. As they hit chair and rail shots, I dreamt of the clean finishes on TV those two weeks what seems like a lifetime ago. Jarrett hit a Boston crab. Hudson called the match a classic at this point. They should learn from Jim Ross and not call the match a classic unless it is near the end and the match clearly is a classic. Booker hit a surprise two count with a roll up. I was actually unfair in the earlier sentence comparing Booker's selling in this match to Rock's. Booker was probably twelve times better than Rock here. Booker hit the axe kick. He spun up and knocked down the referee. Jarrett guitared Booker's knee. With the referee down, the crowd actually looked to the back, which of course was always the first signal that there were too many run ins going on, with failure to notice it being the death of many bookers' runs. Booker tried to reach the ropes to get out of the figure four. Jarrett broke when Booker reached the ropes. Jarrett belted the referee on the floor by mistake. Jarrett took a uranage on a table at ringside. A new referee ran out. Booker tossed Jarrett in and scored a two as Jarrett put his feet on the rope. Jarrett hit a low blow and chaired the second referee. Jarrett chaired Booker, but no referee. Charles Robinson ran in, counting a two. The commentators upgraded this overbooked match from "classic" to "epic." Booker hit a uranage for the pin right on schedule. The crowd could not have cared less. ______________________________________________________________________ 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. ______________________________________________________________________