Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #260 November 6th, 2000 The Opening Word: The near-instantaneous flow of information across the Internet is its blessing, and sometimes also its curse. When wrestling fans first learned that WCW might be sold, and later learned that Vince McMahon and the WWF were the leading prospective buyers, they wanted to know *instantly* whether the deal was going to take place or not, when it would happen, what it would mean for the business, etc. The problem is no one involved in the deal is talking. The WWF would only confirm that they've had talks with Time Warner about buying the company. WCW ... well, they haven't said much of anything (much to the chagrin of their own employees). No one who can answer any of the wrestling fans' many questions will do so. That has led to speculation and rumors. One day we hear Vince has already bought the company. The next we hear the deal has fallen apart. The next it's Vince doesn't really want to buy WCW, he's just playing with them to drive the price up for whoever does buy it. One day Eric Bischoff is back in the hunt to buy WCW; the next day we hear he's in no way, shape or form involved in any deal to buy WCW. Now the rumor is that Time Warner has decided to not sell WCW after all. Odds are there is and never was anything to any of these rumors. Any deal to buy WCW isn't going to be slapped together overnight. A deal of that magnitude will take weeks--maybe months--to put together. Not knowing when WCW first started talking to people about selling the company, there's no way to even guess when a deal might be finalized. It could be tomorrow. It could be next year. Or maybe WCW won't be sold at all, for any of a thousand reasons that won't be known until after the fact. All of this is just a sad postscript to the tragedy that has already befallen WCW. People debate the merits of Vince McMahon buying WCW versus Eric Bischoff buying WCW, or WCW not being sold at all, not stopping to think that none of these outcomes really change anything. There's a line in "The Late Shift", the film based on the book of the same name, which chronicles the transition of "The Tonight Show" from host Johnny Carson to current host Jay Leno, that I think of when I think of WCW. In the movie the David Letterman character, passed over for "The Tonight Show" host job, tells a confidante that he desperately wants to host that show, even willing to pass up a better offer from CBS to get it. His friend asks him what show he means? Letterman says "The Tonight Show". His friend replies "you mean 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'?" He tells Letterman "that show is gone forever." What he'd be getting is "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". "You're getting damaged goods." That's what WCW is. The WCW of ten years ago, five years ago, even two years ago, is dead and gone--maybe forever. It doesn't matter that WCW's TV ratings went up two-tenths or three-tenths of a point last week. It doesn't matter that some people say they enjoy the product WCW is putting out right now. It doesn't even matter that some of the lockerroom cancers of the past have been eliminated or brought into line. If you want to know what matters, just take a look at the paid attendance of last week's Nitro/Thunder show. Less than EIGHT HUNDRED people paid to see that show. The total attendance was somewhere around 2000, meaning more people got into that show for free than actually paid to see it. Does it matter how many people were there if the show did a good TV rating, and that WCW's ratings are still, even at their low levels, considered fairly good for cable TV? You damn well bet it does. There's a reason WCW will lose somewhere between $60 and $80 MILLION this year. Some of it is the wrestlers' salaries. Most of it, though, is the simple cost of putting on a televised wrestling show. It costs money to haul all that equipment to a new city each week. Renting the arenas costs money. The lighting and pyrotechnics cost money. Security costs money. Airfare for the wrestlers costs money. Catering costs money. Everything costs money--lots of it. Millions and millions are spent over the course of a year to put those shows on, and right now there's nowhere near enough money coming back in to cover their costs. (800 paid attendance--did that even pay for the pyro they blew off at the show last week?) WCW has been so bad for so long that they have turned off far too many of their fans who were once willing to pay money to watch them, past the point where WCW can continue to exist. That's the truth those who defended WCW over the last two years have tried to ignore. Not that any of those people ever thought things would get this bad. I'm sure most of them, and most wrestling fans in general, figured all it would take is one hot angle or storyline to turn things around. Another New World Order or another Goldberg, and WCW would be back in the ratings war with the WWF. The fans who left would forgive and forget and come back, once again packing the arenas. I'm sure there are people in WCW who still think that. I believe I once described WCW as bleeding from a thousand small cuts, and that as the company slowly applied one bandage at a time they were ignoring the overall condition of the body. Well, somewhere along the line the body bled to death. Time Warner, Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, and whoever else--they're all just grappling over what to do with the corpse. And the fans ... it's just killing them that they don't know RIGHT NOW what's going to happen, little realizing it doesn't matter who--if anyone--buys the company. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours. Location: Chicago, Illinois. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson & Mark Madden. HOUR ONE: - Clips from last week open the show. - Earlier today Scott Steiner attacked Sting as he arrived. - Mike Sanders says "S.O.L." Why? Because they want to sell t-shirts. - Lex Luger--did he have that bleach-job last week?--confronts Mark Madden over comments he made about him last week. On the list of things that need to be done in this company, is babyfacing Mark Madden one of them? In the ring Luger says he's a real superstar, and that he'll put an end to Goldberg's new winning streak. Commenting on Goldberg's book ("working on it for eighteen months ... I thought he was reading it"), Luger pulls out a WCW Magazine with an excerpt. He then calls out Ross Foreman and complains about not being covered in the magazine. Foreman goes for a ride in the Torture Rack. Luger says Goldberg's next at the PPV. Goldberg has arrived. - Foreman was stretchered out during the break. - Pamela interviews Coach Kevin Nash and the Natural Born Thrillerz. Nash comments on Shawn Stasiak's interview on Thunder. Nash wants a shot at Booker T tonight. Stasiak then comes in and apologizes. Nash tells him to take a hike. Stasiak says he'll prove he's a team player. - LANCE STORM (w/ Team Canada) vs. KWEE WEE (w/ Paisley) Storm wins quickly with the Canadian Mapleleaf. Good match while it lasted. The beating continues afterwards. Paisley calls a "Code: Bad Hair Day," and in comes Meng for the save. Meng's got the monster afro thing going. - Goldberg, while interviewed backstage, is jumped by Luger and Bam Bam Bigelow. - Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson talk about Battledome, and Diamond Dallas Page's appearance on their show. Footage is shown. Madden blasts the Battledome competitors for being actors, not athletes. I didn't know Battledome was still on TV. I watched the very first episode and haven't watched much since. - SHAWN STASIAK vs. RENO No match. Backstage we see Kronik walking away from a downed Reno, the Thrillerz rushing to his aid. Stasiak is declared the winner by forfeit. This was a Hardcore Title match, so shouldn't Stasiak now be the champion? - Reno, being checked on by EMT's, says it must have been two guys who knocked him out. This sets up another strained "S.O.L." reference. - WCW CEO Ric Flair comes out. Up to this point, starting at the beginning of the Storm/Kwee Wee match, Schiavone has been hyping Flair as having several "bombshell" announcements tonight. Flair announces the following for the Mayhem PPV: H-(*mute*--"Hugh G. Rection"?) vs. Lance Storm ... Goldberg vs. Luger ... Steiner vs. Booker T in a Steel Cage. Flair adds that Steiner's conduct of late will not be tolerated. Steiner comes out, grabs Flair, and calls him an "old bastard" and "sonofabitch!" Booker T rushes in for the save. Flair says their match at the PPV will have a straightjacket suspended over the ring. Whoever gets it can put their opponent in it. Didn't WCW already do that once with these two? If Steiner touches any non-wrestler before the PPV he'll be fired. I'm still waiting for the "bombshell" announcements we were repeatedly promised. - Jimmy Hart rattles off a number of radio DJ's names. In comes Chicago DJ Mancow. Mancow grabs Hart, but is jumped by Shane Helms and Shannon Moore. - 3 COUNT vs. THE JUNG DRAGONS vs. MARK JINDRAK/SEAN O'HAIRE Basically a "Texas Tornado Match" without being declared such. Everyone's is in the ring at the same time, no attempt made to do tags or wrestling. Lots of high spots. Evan Karagias eventually runs in and interferes, attacking one of the Dragons. O'Haire follows with a Seanton Bomb, and Stasiak covers for the pin. Everyone then pounds on Karagias until Jamie San of the Dragons makes the save. The crowd, which has been really hot thus far, wasn't all that much into this one, surprising given all the high spots. During the match Schiavone spots the Battledome guys sitting at ringside. Smooth makes funny faces by the limo bearing some big WCW superstar Ric Flair has reinstated. HOUR TWO: - Diamond Dallas Page returns. Right away he rolls out the old catchphrases and mannerisms. He even "shoots" with us (we know this because he says so). DDP says he decided it wasn't worth it to be negative. Ooh--what a shoot. He says Flair called him (so much for shooting) and asked him to come back. Yawn. "Jacked! BANG!" Whatever. DDP then spots the Battledome guys. I have no idea who any of these guys are. DDP calls out his "brothers": Ernest Miller, Buff Bagwell & Rick Steiner. (Isn't Steiner a heel?) I don't need to describe the obligatory pull-apart between the two groups, do I? This thing had Eric Bischoff's stink all over it. Expect a whole lot of this if Eric buys the company. - Pamela interviews Stasiak. - JEFF JARRETT/SCOTT STEINER (w/ Midajah) vs. STING/BUFF BAGWELL Wow, this match came out of nowhere. I'm so sick and tired of Jarrett's slapnutz/guitar-swinging character. It's funny how Steiner used to really be unpredictable, but now has to go out of his way to act unpredictable. Nothing special here, an average match, but given the quality of WCW matches it looks like four stars. Sting plays whipping boy until he can tag Buff in. Buff hits the Blockbuster on Steiner, but stops to pose. The ref decides to ignore the imminent pin and pay attention to something going on outside the ring. That allows Jarrett to come in and bash a guitar over Buff's head. Steiner then slaps him in the Recliner for the win. - ALEX WRIGHT (w/ Disqo Inferno) vs. GENERAL RECTION (w/ MIA) Lance Storm sits in on commentary. Disqo, serving as Alex's interpreter, tells the fans he's going to rename the U.S. Title the German Title. The match, at times, looks like it's being fought underwater. Wright dominates totally, until Disqo jumps on the apron to deliver a chairshot. The other Misfits pull him off and chase him away. Rection then gets one shot in, and hits his moonsault for the win. Bam Bam Bigelow is on the move. - "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan barks some stuff into a camera. - Pamela interviews Booker T. - BAM BAM BIGELOW vs. GOLDBERG Bigelow gets in a bunch of offense, but after Lex Luger comes out to watch Goldberg hits the spear and Jackhammer. Why are they still doing the streak angle? Why wouldn't Ric Flair just call it off? - That Steiner, he's so unpredictable and all, he's back out in the ring swearing up a storm, and they're not bleeping any of it. What a loose cannon. He joins the announce team. Another commercial now? - KEVIN NASH vs. BOOKER T The fans chant "we want Hall!", but Steiner says they're saying "we want Pump!" The first few minutes are killed with some action on the floor, a chairshot by Booker, a big boot in the ring by Nash, and a clothesline off the top by Booker--Nash taking his one bump of the match. The crowd is sure hot tonight. It's not very big, but it's hot. Sidewalk Slam by Nash. He then goes to a resthold. There follows a flurry of moves, culminating in the ref going down from a Booker kick. In comes Shawn Stasiak. He hits Booker with a pair of brass knux, but when Nash goes for a powerbomb Stasiak hits him too. He puts Booker on top, and drags the ref over to make the count, the pin drawing a subdued reaction from the crowd. Steiner attacks Booker as the show fades out. That last commercial break made the latter half of the match really rushed. Another dead finish because there's still more matches yet to be taped for Thunder. - This Wednesday: Thunder starts at 9:00 PM Eastern from now on. - Next week: Taped show from London, England. Comments: A lot of Crash TV tonight, mixed with overhype for the simplest of things, added to no wrestling in the first hour and a lot of average wrestling in the second, total a pretty weak show. Okay, so it's better than it was two months ago, but really, what is that saying? That's like saying a punch to the nose is preferable to a 2X4 over the head. I'm sure some liked this show and thought it took positive steps in the right direction and such. The problem is you can't take baby steps forward and make up those huge steps back every show takes. WCW needs to put on shows where the good far outweighs the bad, and do so for several shows in a row. People have pointed out positives in every show WCW has put on in the last two years, and look where it's gotten them. The only real positive I can point out in this show was that there were no jaw-droppingly stupid moment, as had become the norm with Vince Russo writing the show. But again that's saying it's good by comparing it to its all time low. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Houston, Texas. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - A highlights package opens the show. - Vince McMahon enters to a loud mixed reaction. Long story short, McMahon exhorts the WWF fans to go out and vote tomorrow. Enter Stone Cold Steve Austin, the fans going nuts to see these two together in the ring again. Vince offers a handshake. Austin ignores it and grabs a mic. He says he was listening to McMahon in the back and got to thinking, Rikishi may be a tough guy, but he's not the smartest guy in the world. Maybe Rikishi was paid to do what he did, and who would have done that but the WWF's master manipulator? Vince is really overdoing his facial reactions here. The fans are dying for a Stunner, but it's not to be as Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley come out. Angle suggests maybe George W. Bush hit Austin after a few cold ones, not McMahon. Angle says he's renouncing his ties to Texas. Stephanie asks Austin who the hell he thinks he is? Austin tells her she might want to step back before she finds out. Angle then attacks Austin from behind. Austin counters with a Stunner and leaves Angle laying. Vince and Stephanie bid a hasty retreat. That segment started slow, got interesting for a bit, then went off the tracks. It didn't hit 20 minutes, but it was close. The Undertaker nearly runs over some people backstage. - Vince says he has a feeling tonight will be a momentous night, and insists that Stephanie leave the building with him. Kurt Angle tells the departing limo that yes, tonight will be a momentous night ... for Triple H. - THE UNDERTAKER vs. VAL VENIS It's hard to ignore the parallels between the Undertaker and Kevin Nash (the Undertaker even does a Sidewalk Slam and big boot!), but I've got to point out the Undertaker does just as much here as Nash does, and this is the first match, whereas Nash was in Nitro's main event. A rather lengthy match, which the Undertaker winds with a powerbomb and pin. Triple H finds commissioner Mick Foley in his chain-linked office. The two share a laugh over the booger Kurt Angle had in his nose the night he won the title. Triple H wants a piece of the Radicalz. Foley says he can have all four of them if he finds three tag team partners. Steve Austin then comes in and demands to know why Foley put him in a tag team match with the Rock. Foley says he thinks the Rock is innocent and that he wanted to give the two a chance to smooth things over between them. Triple H warns Austin "DTA: Don't Trust Anybody." Austin warns Foley that if the Rock turns on him not only will his ass be on the line, so will Foley's. - No sign of the Rock yet. - Kane tells Michael Cole that the reason he's facing Hardcore Champion Steve Blackman tonight is so he can win the Hardcore Title. That way when he faces Chris Jericho he can disfigure him, and it'll all be within the bounds of a hardcore match. Seems to me it'd just be easier to challenge Jericho to a hardcore match outright, but no one ever said Kane was supposed to be smart. - Triple H gets Road Dogg to be a partner, but the Dogg's got doubts about the next guy Triple H wants to ask. - Triple H talks Billy Gunn & Chyna into re-forming D-X, for one night only. Thank god nobody said "we're getting the band back together." - T&A (w/ Trish Stratus) vs. TOO COOL There's a nice move early in the match where it looks like Scotty Too Hotty has Test softened up for the running bulldog which precedes the Worm, but Test instead turns and kicks the charging Scotty in the face. Imagine that at full speed, and you'll get some idea how cool it looked. Scotty eventually hits the Worm on Test, followed by a Hip Hop Drop from Grandmaster Sexay. Trish ties up the ref, allowing Albert to come in and give Sexay a sitdown powerbomb. Test covers for the pin. It's almost embarrassing, how hot the crowd was here. T&A are then attacked by Crash Holly and ... some girl. I do believe that's the former Mona in WCW. She spears Trish, dodges a charge into the corner, drops Trish's head across the top rope, then hits her with springboard dive. She has the same design on her pants as Crash Holly ... Mona Holly? D-X ... the Radicalz ... NEXT! Battledome hits both shows this week, an ad for the show airing during this commercial break. WWF WAR ZONE: - Roger Clemens is at ringside. - DEGENERATON X vs. THE RADICALZ This is like a lite version of that big eight-man tag match the Radicalz were in here in Houston earlier this year. Things are pretty even all the way through, the entire match building to a Triple H hot tag. Once in he gives Dean Malenko the Pedigree and covers for the pin. Kurt Angle then runs in and he and the Radicalz leave D-X laying. that Triple H, he wins a lot of matches. Finally, the Rock has come back to Houston, Texas ... - BULL BUCHANAN/THE GOODFATHER (w/ the RTC) vs. THE HARDY BOYZ (w/ Lita) There's something really hot about that skirt and WWF Women's Title belt Ivory wears. Ivory and Lita get into it, causing the two to be ejected from ringside. During the match the subject of political candidates comes up. Lawler says he won't say who he's voting for, but that he wouldn't vote for Gore & Lieberman. Ross has to add the disclaimer that Lawler's views are not those of the WWF. Sure. The Hardyz are on track to win this one when Edge & Christian run in. Jeff Hardy dodges an Edge spear, but is grabbed by Christian for a Tomakaze. Matt Hardy makes the save. They then take out Buchanan with Poetry in Motion. They set up the same for the Goodfather, but Steven Richards catches Jeff in the face with a Tag Title belt. The Goodfather covers and 1 ... 2 ... 3! New Tag Team Champions! Are the RTC getting the Push From Hell or what?! Kurt Angle attacks the Rock in his dressing room. - Edge & Christian celebrate the Hardyz title loss by playing Chris Benoit's theme music on the kazoo (Edge making up lyrics). Mick Foley butts in, informing them that since they didn't take his advice to take the night off, he's booked them in a "Table Match" against the Dudley Boyz. - KANE vs. STEVE BLACKMAN Despite this being a hardcore match Kane mostly wrestles a normal match, only using a garbage can lid as a weapon. Blackman keeps in the contest because of his willingness to use weapons, such as sticks and trashcans. Kane is about to put Blackman away for good when he brings in the ring steps, carrying them over his head. Chris Jericho suddenly runs in and smashes the steps with a steel chair. Kane is trapped under the steps and Blackman covers for the pin. Looking for Angle, the Rock instead finds Steve Austin. The two come to an uneasy understanding. - RAVEN (w/ Tazz) vs. JERRY "THE KING" LAWLER Tazz sits in for a minute or two of commentary, then decides to interfere in the match (after seeing Lawler deliver a drop-kick). Lawler wins by DQ. Al Snow runs in for the save. The Dudley Boyz ... Edge & Christian ... NEXT! - The members of RTC celebrate their big win. - THE DUDLEY BOYZ vs. EDGE/CHRISTIAN Late in the match Buh-Buh Ray Dudley has Edge set up on a table, but Christian stops him before he can come off and put him through it. The two set up for a double suplex. Here come the Hardy Boyz, pulling the table out of the way so Buh-Buh hits the mat instead. Guess these Table Matches are no DQ. Edge is knocked to the floor. Lita then gives Christian a huracanrana. Christian staggers back to his feet right into a waiting 3-D by the Dudleyz through the table. Meanwhile Jeff Hardy puts Edge through a table on the floor with a Swanton Bomb off the top turnbuckle! Rikishi, wearing a protective facemask (he's got a broken nose), tells the Coach that Austin won't have any help tonight--the Rock was Rikishi's accomplice. - Lt. commissioner Debra is at WWF New York sampling the food. - Michael Cole interviews Kurt Angle. - Steve Austin is on the move. So is the Rock, when suddenly he's run down by a large rolling equipment dolly! After checking on the Rock (knocked out from being slammed against a concrete wall), the camera pans around. Whoever did it has disappeared (or ducked behind the big stack of crates there). - EMT's check out the Rock. He stumbles trying to get up, so Foley calls for a stretcher. - RIKISHI/KURT ANGLE vs. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN The Rock is taken out of the arena in an ambulance. Austin dominates early on, but once Angle and Rikishi get on the same page Austin is dead meat. Rikishi pulls out a sledgehammer from under the ring. Austin nails him, Rikishi dropping the sledgehammer, but Angle jumps Austin from behind. The fans start looking for the run-in. So here comes ... Triple H? Triple H sends Angle reeling. He grabs the sledge. Austin dumps Rikishi out of the ring, turns, and walks into a hammer shot to the head from Triple H! Triple H then pulls out a black glove--meaning he was Rikishi's accomplice. Triple H goes to work on Austin's now-bloody forehead. Dragged to the corner ... Rikishi drops his ass on Austin. Over the mic Triple H tells Austin that his search is finally over. JR: "Why, Triple H?! You son-of-a-bitch, why? Tell me why?!!" - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: For the sake of that live crowd I hope the Rock came out after the cameras went off and beat the hell out of Triple H, Angle & Rikishi. Houston is the site of the upcoming WrestleMania, and this is one crowd I wouldn't think you'd want to send home unhappy. So is Triple H just Rikishi's accomplice of late, or was he the one who paid Rikishi to run Austin over? If so then the whole angle does finally makes sense. Triple H's denials to Austin, Rikishi's "island boys" excuse, and throwing the shadow of suspicion on the Rock, were all to get Austin (and the fans) looking the other way. I liked a lot of this show, though I thought the final angle came off a bit flat, and as a whole I have mixed feeling about the direction things are now going. There's been a lot of debate lately about whether or not Triple H has too much pull backstage. This week we see him not only put together a D-X reunion, and beat the Radicalz, but he gets himself put into an instant top-draw program against the WWF's top guy. Meanwhile he's already feuding with the current WWF Champion. Triple H *is* the smartest man in wrestling. Or should we point the finger at Stephanie? She's part of the WWF's writing team, and has now positioned herself as an onscreen character "married" to the top heel in the company, as well as managing the WWF Champion. Does this mean Triple H will be beating Angle for the belt, only to lose it to Austin at some point after that (maybe at the Royal Rumble)? Do the other members of D-X turn with Triple H, or will they go out of their way to show that they disapprove of what he did, keeping them babyfaces? Back to Triple H and Angle, where does that story go from here? If they have the two suddenly friends, perhaps saying their animosity was part of the plan to trick Austin, then you kill off all those months of storyline we've been sitting through waiting for Stephanie to make her choice and pick one or the other. It's probably dead anyway. The logical next step of the story was for Stephanie to dump Triple H and choose Angle. She's not going to do that now, right? The whole point of that was for Triple H to come out a huge babyface. Now you almost have to have Stephanie dump Angle and go with Triple H (if and when he wins the title from him). Where does that leave Angle? I'm not sure the fans are ready to buy Angle as a babyface. More likely Angle's dead in the water, a victim of Triple H getting what he wants. Here we were all wondering how Austin and the Rock were going to get along, trying to share the spotlight at the top. Suddenly Triple H comes along and jams himself in between them. I dunno ... I'll have to see how they follow this up on SmackDown! before I say any more. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: With the WWF settling the wrongful death lawsuit with the Hart family, the whole debate over how the WWF handled Owen Hart's death has come up again. Should they have stopped the Over the Edge PPV, should they have done the tribute show the next night, etc. I've said my own piece on that topic, and won't go into it again, but I will bring up this one thing for everyone out there to think about ... At the ECW November to Remember PPV Jim Mitchell ("The Sinister Minister") was seriously injured when a fireball-shooting prop malfunctioned, blowing off part of at least one of his fingers, slicing open his wrist, and driving shrapnel into his stomach. The accident took place backstage, off camera, before the PPV even started. Mitchell, who went into shock, was rushed to the hospital. Word is he'll recover. Now ... here's a hypothetical question: supposing he had been killed in the accident, should ECW have called off the PPV? I know a lot of ECW fans will quickly say no, pointing out that it happened before the show, not in front of the fans, etc. They'll point to whatever circumstances they can to support that position. Those who say yes, the show should have been stopped, would do the same. For example, one of the main complaints about the WWF was that it was awful to force their wrestlers to continue with the show knowing Owen had died. Couldn't you make the same argument here? To ECW's credit they informed the fans in the arena before the show that Mitchell had been injured, something the WWF didn't do when Owen Hart died. But would ECW have made that same announcement had Mitchell actually died? Would they have dared to commence with the PPV after making such an announcement? Some might point out the financial trouble ECW is in, and how it is more important for them to go through with the show than the much more prosperous WWF. In other words, the WWF can afford to cancel a show, even a PPV, while ECW cannot. Is that even an excuse, though? These are some tough questions and hey--I don't have the answers. I'm not sure anyone does. There isn't a rulebook to follow when things like this happen. I don't think there are any right or wrong answers, just decisions to be made. You just have to take them as they come, make your decision, and go to sleep that night hoping you made the right one. I'm just glad Jim Mitchell's going to be okay, and that for once the debate about what somebody could have or should have done is merely hypothetical. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 260 of the "Monday Night Recap", November 6th, 2000.