Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #229 April 3rd, 2000 The Opening Word: WrestleMania's getting mixed reviews. Unfortunately there's not much I can add to one side or the other of the debate. My own vote would be a Thumbs in the Middle. I liked it, but was disappointed that Mick Foley didn't win the WWF Championship. Of course there's judging a show based on what one wanted to see, and judging the same show based on what was actually delivered. I think the WWF delivered a very strong show. I think most of the complaints, my own included, come from not seeing certain things we *wanted* to see. So based on that, I give it a lukewarm positive review. Show me anyone's praises or complaints and I'm apt to agree with many of them. Lots of questions left up in the air for RAW this week. What did Vince McMahon turn heel again? Are all the McMahon family members on the same page? Where does this leave the Big Show? Are any of the lower card guys tapped to move up the ladder? And what is the next big angle which will set us off on the path to the next PPV, Backlash, at the end of this month? WCW Nitro is a clip show this week, showing memorable moments of WCW's past, and using them to set up the new regime of Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo, which begins next Monday. I hadn't planned on doing a review of the show, but after watching it, I just had to relate just how goofy and bizarre it turned out to be. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Taped. Length: Two Hours+. Location: An empty arena somewhere. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone & Mark Madden. HOUR ONE: - Schiavone, looking slim dressed in black, and Mark Madden, looking the total opposite of slim, immediately begin hyping what revolutionary geniuses Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo are. First up we see footage of Bischoff's first master stroke: bringing Hulk Hogan to WCW. For nearly ten minutes they show clips--even clips of old clips packages!--showing how great Hulkamania once was. Anyone the slightest bit tired of Hogan's routine would have a hard time keeping their bile down during this segment. The very first Nitro, held at the Mall of America here in Minnesota, is talked about in depth. I was at that first Nitro, and I can tell you that show came off 100 times better on TV than live. Most in the crowd only recognized Flair, Sting, and the ex-WWF guys. Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, competing in a dark match, was probably the most over guy on the show, just because of his physique. A lot of people thought Jushin Thunder Liger was the Great Muta under a mask! Unless you were right at ringside you couldn't hear anything coming out of the sound system, so the infamous Lex Luger arrival which capped off the show played out in pantomime for most of the fans. The commentary thus far has been incredible--and I don't mean that in a good way. All hail Bischoff & Russo, the visionary geniuses who between them singlehandedly brought WCW and the WWF to the pinnacles they've reached today! Fact & fiction, work & reality are freely intermixed to lay the groundwork for Bischoff & Russo's return next week. - Lots of generic Nitro clips, circa late 1995 to mid 1996. Now we get a lot of footage of the current Radicalz in the WWF. Madden goes out of his way to call them "little guys", saying WCW did more with them and others like them than anyone else could. - Nitro was competing with RAW, says Schiavone, but they were one big thing away from becoming the number one promotion. That one big thing turned out to be the arrivals of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan turning evil, creating the New World Order. Okay, so that's three things. It's funny to watch the tapdance Schiavone has to do to credit Bischoff with all these things, yet not contradict the storyline aspects as they played out on TV. Somehow Bischoff was responsible for bringing in the Outsiders, yet their arrival was a total surprise--even to Bischoff! They play up the angle where Bischoff was powerbombed by Kevin Nash through the stage, and his subsequent back "injury", as legit. - The NWO run roughshod over WCW. Lots of Mr. Bischoff ego footage. God, the NWO idea got old after a while. For all the success they may be having in showing how big WCW once was, they haven't yet come up with a way, without outright breaking kayfabe, to connect the dots, and make anyone understand why Bischoff should have been credited with any of WCW's success. I've written at great length about Bischoff wanting to play a heel on TV and be booed, yet also wanting to be credited with what he did backstage. You can see all that being dredged back up here. How do you separate the on-screen personality from the real person? Schiavone & Madden try, with Madden saying Bischoff is as much a jerk in real life as he was on TV. - The transformation of Sting into his current persona is relived. HOUR TWO: - Nitro Girls video package. Yup, put the T&A up against the start of RAW. Russo's definitely back. The 100th Nitro is singled out as the point where WCW is the #1 wrestling promotion. Lots of talk about WCW winning the ratings war. Madden's getting really cocky now, saying Bischoff went up to the tiger (Vince McMahon) and shot it between the eyes. Madden thinks he'll do it again. Clips from the 100th show, which featured Lex Luger beating Hulk Hogan for the World Title. - Bischoff creates Goldberg at the Power Plant. Goldberg beats Hugh Morrus, then a bunch of other guys. Footage of the fans, and how excited they used to get when WCW was good. - Enter Vince Russo, who stepped up and helped the worn down, burnt out Vince McMahon turn the WWF around. They lay out a laundry list of problems Bischoff had to face, such as Hulk Hogan being injured, Bret Hart being injured, Scott Hall's personal demons, and Bischoff's feud (on-screen and--only implied--offscreen) with Ric Flair. It all added up to burn Bischoff out. Russo, meanwhile, revolutionized Monday night wrestling. Madden actually says Russo used some of Bischoff's own ideas against him, thus completing the circle of Bischoff's overall greatness. - Ah, Bischoff wasn't removed--he "stepped down." The WWF, meanwhile, peaked under the guiding hand of Vince Russo. Overnight, Russo jumps to WCW. You know, they're telling an interesting story here, and technically most of it's true. The problem is it leaves out far more reality than it includes. Like the business about the WWF peaking. Russo likes to point out the WWF hasn't gotten any higher than when he was there. The problem with that is under Russo, they weren't at that level very long. He didn't stick around long enough to prove his approach could maintain that level. Also left unsaid is the fact that the WWF has stayed at that level *without* Russo for many months since he left. Obviously, though, I'm a fool to expect WCW to do anything more than slant the whole story to their benefit. - Clips from that period after Bischoff handed the book to Kevin Nash and before Russo came in, which included the Sid/Goldberg feud, Hogan laying down for Sting, Sting turning heel for no reason, and Ric Flair being buried in the desert by the Filthy Animals. Not one word is said about Nash's reign as head booker, and how the company took a huge nosedive during this period under Bischoff's watch. Vince Russo's entire run as creative head of WCW is covered in a video package showing lots of T&A. Oh sure, they show Jeff Jarrett coming in, and Ed "Oklahoma" destroying the Cruiserweight Division, but mostly it's just T&A. This seamlessly runs into the current WCW product, showing clips of Vampiro, the Artist and the Wall. Nothing involving the "Powers That Be" is shown. Where's all the talk about the ratings now? - Schiavone describes the last three months in WCW as trying to "find itself." Then Brad Siegel announced that a rejuvenated Bischoff would be brought back, and that Russo was on his way back as well. (If Russo is so great then why did he leave in the first place? You could fly a jumbo jet through the gaps they're leaving in the story.) Madden defines "Crash TV" (though he doesn't offer an opinion whether it was good or bad for WCW). Clips of the various wrestlers sharing their thoughts on Bischoff & Russo's return. The show ends with Madden suddenly reversing himself on his stance throughout the show and voicing doubt that Bischoff & Russo can get along. He says there's a chance for huge success, but also a chance for great disaster. Whatsamatter Mark, don't want to play the total shill, just in case the ship sinks after all? - This Wednesday: Another clip show. - Next week: Bischoff & Russo's return. Comments: Okay ... so what exactly was the point of this show? Hardly a "Best of" show by any stretch of the imagination. They didn't show a single match in its entirety. I have no idea what WCW's going to do next week, but their goal here seems pretty clear: to create an army of marks for Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo. Generate enough hype for their return and hopefully no matter what they do will go over with the fans. I wish I could put into words why I think this is such a bad idea. Obviously those who actually know what's been going on over the last year aren't going to buy any of this. They know Eric burned out, buckled under the pressure and allowed the company to slide into the tank. They also know Russo came in and did an even worse job. Kevin Nash and Kevin Sullivan aren't even mentioned, so obviously the damage they did to the company wasn't even addressed. To anyone who knows the real story, there was nothing on this show to give them the slightest hope that WCW has a clue in what to do about turning things around. All we have is Schiavone's claim that Bischoff has been "rejuvenated". Is that enough to be optimistic about? WCW was on a creative downward slide for a year before Bischoff "burned out". And nothing on this show addressed whether Russo was a success or failure or whatever. All we know is he came, then presumably left, for reasons not mentioned. The problem for WCW is if you don't know what went down behind the scenes then so much of this show, and the story they tried to lay out here, made no sense. The more casual fan is likely to look at what was shown and ask simple questions, like where is Goldberg & Bret Hart, what happened to the good wrestling matches, and why did all those guys jump to the WWF? Those who remember Bischoff do so as a character on TV who was associated with the NWO, then came back briefly for a half-hearted run as a good guy. Russo is still faceless to the fans. WCW acts like all the fans follow the ratings, and that they know the troubles WCW is facing now. They talked a lot here about how WCW was, for a while, number one, yet they don't really explain how or why they no longer are, except to say Eric became burned out. The problems that came after aren't just underplayed--they're ignored entirely. Take WCW very literally at what they showed here and one would expect the return of the NWO next week, appearing in "Crash TV" segments. It's as if WCW tried to look the fans straight in the eye and said "okay, we're going to level with you and explain how WCW got where it is today." They then turned around and laid out this convoluted worked story which took little bits of truth, little bits of TV storylines, and left out a whole ton of essential information which the fans would have to figure out for themselves. And like I said above, those who know all the bits needed to fill those holes understand that WCW's just trying to turn them into Bischoff & Russo marks, and hope they'll forget how badly the two failed in the recent past. I can see those last few fans loyal to WCW looking at this show and feeling good about WCW again. The WWF fans, they can't help but watch and laugh, as WCW cooks up a fantasy worthy of some of Vince McMahon's best attempts at revisionist history. The rest of the masses out there, they probably looked at this show and wondered just what the hell it was all about. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Los Angeles, California. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - The usual lengthy interview opens the show, the upshot of which being Vince McMahon reconciles with his daughter Stephanie, son-in-law Triple H and son Shane. Vince's only explanation is that he said he would "make it right" between himself and his daughter. The segment ends with Shane, Triple H and Vince all wanting to fight the Rock later tonight. The question for tonight is who will get the chance to face the Rock? Vince is really working the crowd here, playing off a Hollywood theme, making sure the people all know he's a heel again. Vince promises to drive the Rock out of the WWF and force him into a job waiting tables. The Rock's limo arrives. - CHRIS JERICHO (w/ Chyna) vs. EDDIE GUERRERO Jericho is defending his newly-won European Title. Eddie delivers some of his "Latino Heat" talk aimed at Chyna. Excellent fast-paced match. Lots of moves off the ropes, arm whips, clotheslines, stuff like that. Late in the match the ref goes down. Jericho covers Eddie, but no ref. Chyna comes in and makes a blatantly fast three count. She raises Jericho's hand in celebration, then kicks him in the gut! DDT! She puts Eddie on top, then rolls the ref back in. The fans actually count along, and there's a good sized pop as Eddie becomes the new European Champion. Chyna hands the belt to the stunned Guerrero. Eddie grins and the two hug. Chyna fell victim to Eddie's Latino Heat!!! Awesome angle. How cool is it that three of the four Radicalz now hold WWF gold? - Stephanie tries to talk Vince intro letting Triple H face the Rock tonight. He says he'll think about it. - ROAD DOGG/X-PAC (w/ Tori) vs. T & A (w/ Trish Stratus) Test & Albert do some power moves, but Road Dogg and X-Pac use their experience as a tag team to their advantage. X-Pac escapes a pumphandle slam attempt by Test, who is then knocked to the floor. They then take out Albert with a low blow and X Factor. Road Dogg covers for the pin. - Shane thinks Stephanie is manipulating Vince. He wants to be the one to face the Rock. - Kurt Angle tries to plead his case to Howard Finkel that he's the victim of a conspiracy. The Fink says that according to the rules of his match at WrestleMania, he's no longer a champion. Angle walks off, then assaults Finkel from behind, slapping on a crossface chickenwing and yelling "It's true! It's true!" - TAZZ vs. CHRIS BENOIT Some stiff chops and punches in this one. Not as long as the earlier Jericho/Guerrero match, Tazz is on the verge of winning with a standing Tazzmission when Perry Saturn runs in. Tazz is able to fend off his assault, keeping the match alive. This allows Benoit to perform a suplex with bridge for the win. Tazz refuses to stay down and goes after Saturn continually afterwards. There's Too Cool, Rikishi Phatu, and Rikishi's cheeks. - Shane tells the Big Show he did a good job at the PPV. Big Show tells Shane that he's still there for him whenever he needs him. He then says he's going to explore what Hollywood has to offer him. Looking puzzled, Shane wishes him luck. - Michael Cole brings out the new World Tag Team Champions, Edge & Christian. The two deliver a condescending interview, almost a parody of the one after their ladder match last year with the Hardyz, in which the two talk about how good they are, and how the Hardyz shouldn't be ashamed to have come in second or third in that match. The Hardyz comes out, as do the Dudleyz, who end up charging the ring. Everyone brawls. Chyna & Eddie, conversing in Spanish, climb into Eddie's low-ride convertible. Eddie lowers the front end before pulling away. WWF WAR ZONE: - RIKISHI PHATU (w/ Too Cool) vs. THE BIG SHOW A clarification from last week: I said I didn't like the Aggression version of the Rock's theme music. It's actually the Big Show's cut from the CD which I hate. Brain fog on my part. The Rock's theme is okay. "Stone Cold's" is alright, and I actually like the Run DMC track. (As if any of you care, right?) Things are going along normally in this match when all of a sudden Big Show starts to do the Worm! The crowd goes wild, cheering him on as he does the chops before dropping the elbow--unfortunately missing by a mile as Rikishi has plenty of time to move. Wild! Samoan Drop sets up the butt smash in the corner. Grandmaster Sexay then needlessly interferes, drawing a DQ. Scotty Too Hotty shows how the Worm is supposed to be done. Big Show looks on, perhaps jealously, from the stage as Too Cool and Rikishi do their dance. A look at the door of the Rock's dressing room. - Vince, Shane & Triple H draw straws to see who gets to wrestle the Rock. Vince, holding the straws, is allowed by Shane to choose second (after Triple H). Of course Shane ends up with the short straw. The implication, I guess, is that Vince set Shane up, and that Shane doesn't really want to face the Rock. - Big Show's back in the ring. He tells the fans there's more to him that chokeslams and such. He asks if they saw him on "Saturday Night Live"? He says he's a funny and entertaining guy, and that it's time he started showing it. He tells the production truck to hit the music, and dances to Too Cool's theme! He's bad--so bad that it's funny. The crowd starts a "go Big Show, go Big Show!" chant. The music is suddenly cut off as they go to ... ... Kevin Kelly interviewing the Rock. The Rock talks about Vince's great decisions, such as creating WrestleMania and getting a penis implant. He vows his revenge on the McMahon family. - Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty Too Hotty agree that the Big Show sucked. - CRASH HOLLY vs. HARDCORE HOLLY An early foreign object shot scrambles Crash's marbles, leaving him groggy and open for other objects Hardcore can find under the ring. Suddenly the Acolytes come out and they destroy Hardcore. Crash apparently hired them. He covers, and regains the Hardcore Title. Makes me think the finish to the Hardcore Battle Royal at the PPV was botched, and that Crash was supposed to retain the title. On his way out Crash is jumped by several wrestlers, as his 24/7 defense of the Hardcore Title is back on. Triple H tries to offer Shane advice for his match against the Rock, but can't come up with anything the woefully overmatches Shane could use to his advantage. - Big Show asks Grandmaster Sexay if his dancing was really that bad? Sexay says yes, so Big Show splashes him through a table! - VAL VENIS vs. KURT ANGLE Angle says he doesn't want to taint his body wrestling Venis, so he starts putting on a pair of rubber gloves. Venis attacks. Another good match, which Angle wins with the crossface chickenwing after Venis misses a Money Shot off the top. Vince assures Shane that he has his back covered. Uh-oh. - KANE (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. BULL BUCHANNAN (w/ the Big Bossman) Bull's chance to impress here comes up short as he blows a move: an attempted springboard off the ropes in the corner. Kane whips him in, but Buchannan isn't able to plant his feet, and falls clumsily to the mat. Kane puts him away quickly with a chokeslam and the pin. Bull & the Bossman then handcuff Kane into the corner and smash his hand with a steel chair. One last look at the Rock. - SHANE MCMAHON vs. THE ROCK This one doesn't really go anywhere. Shane & Vince run from the Rock, leading him up the ramp, where Triple H awaits. Vince had had a talk with referee Earl Hebner before the match, so it appears anything goes in the match. The action is okay, but it's mostly the Rock being beaten up by three guys. He eventually rallies back and gives Shane the Rock Bottom. An attempted People's Elbow is broken up by Triple H. Pedigree. Somewhere during all this the ref was bumped, so he makes the slow crawling count after Shane is laid on top. The Rock kicks out. Shane & Vince end up leaving, with the Rock fighting Triple H. The Rock winds up covering Triple H, and the ref counts a pinfall. The crowd goes nuts, with some probably thinking the Rock has somehow won the WWF Championship. Vince and his progeny look on in exasperation on the stage. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: On a night when WCW delivers what may be, by default, the worst Nitro ever, the WWF pulls out all the stops and delivers one of its best RAW's. Surprises, humor and good matches combined for one hell of a show. If I had a complaint it would be that the ending was somewhat flat. The show seemed to be building to something, but never really paid off. We didn't get the usual good RAW main event, so that is a legit strike against the overall quality of the show. That aside, though, this one was great. The crowd seemed to be totally into the Chyna swerve and her alignment with Eddie, as well as the stuff involving the Big Show. No sign of Head Cheese tonight. Wonder if that's punishment for their stinker of a match and angle at the PPV. T & A were on, though, so maybe there's nothing to it. Dean Malenko and a number of others weren't on the show either. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I think I'll let things go at that, and save up my energies for next week. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say on the dawning of the new Bischoff/Russo Era. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 2000 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "USLink". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 229 of the "Monday Night Recap", April 3rd, 2000.