Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #263 November 27th, 2000 The Opening Word: Sometimes when you fall fast, it's hard to believe that you've fallen at all. That's what's happened to WCW and ECW. Both companies had major problems looming on their respective horizons, and both companies failed to deal with those problems until they caused a fast descent from whatever peak level of prosperity they had enjoyed. The problems facing those two companies may have been different, but in many respects they are now both in the same position: tottering on the brink of financial ruin. Then there's the fall that is more like a gradual downward curve. You're going down, not because you ignore your problems, but because from your perspective it looks like you're still traveling in a straight path. That's what's happening to the WWF. From their perspective everything looks okay. Certainly statistics bear that out, what with PPV buyrates remaining up, merchandising up, live events still doing great, and TV ratings, after a drop following their move from the USA Network, lately holding steady. Numbers aren't everything, though. Lately there seems to be a growing disinterest amongst fans in the WWF product. Disinterest, and maybe more than a little frustration and anger. There are lot of reasons for that, the biggest probably being that the WWF isn't as good right now as it was just as recently as six months ago. There's also the decline of WCW and ECW putting an additional burden on the WWF. Wrestling fans rely now more than they have in a long time on the WWF to entertain them. A "same-old, same-old" WWF is going to disappoint, and a drop in quality makes things seem even worse. I think there's a fear amongst fans if the WWF continues to slide, what wrestling is there out there that can be watched and enjoyed? It's certainly not WCW nor ECW--not right now anyway. WCW's struggling to improve itself to the point where they're back where they were a few years ago. Right now there's nothing in the cards for them that will allow them to catch up to, much less overtake, the WWF. And ECW, most wrestling fans can't even watch them anymore since their show was canceled by TNN. Right now, and for some time to come, the WWF has a chance to fix many of their problems. In some ways they're about in the same position WCW was in back in 1997 or 1998. The problems can still be fixed. Give it another year or so, though, and the WWF could hit the wall like WCW did and take a big fall. One problem is creating new main event stars. WCW grew stagnant with the same few faces at the top for so long. To the WWF's credit they do have a slight edge over WCW in this department. They don't have a Hulk Hogan working so hard to protect his spot and kill off everyone else coming up (though they do have Triple H, who I'll come back to later). The Rock, Kurt Angle and Triple H are all relatively young guys. The Rock has only really been a top guy for about two years now; Triple H has been on top about a year; Kurt Angle much less than that. Then there's Steve Austin, who's an older star, but his current character and ride at the top has only lasted about three years. Used right Austin still has quite a bit of time left in him at the top. The only top star who really falls into that WCW category is the Undertaker. Things were fine when the WWF used the Undertaker as a special attraction, but now he's getting more and more time in the spotlight, to the detriment of somebody younger who could be elevated. The current plan for the Undertaker seems to be to use him to put over current WWF Champion Kurt Angle, but the booking of late has been too protective of the Undertaker, just as it was for Hulk Hogan and the other older stars in WCW. The only rub Angle is getting from the Undertaker is his shoulders rubbing the mat, because that's where the Undertaker always ends up leaving him laying. Another major problem is the backstage political scene. Put bluntly, Hunter Hearst Helmsley is practically running the WWF. Credit to Triple H, he's put in a hell of a lot of hard work to reach the position he's in now. He's not someone who's been elevated to the top who hasn't produced results. There's no argument that Triple H has carried the WWF on his back for the last year, and in many ways he maybe deserves to be in the position he's in. But there have been many times where you can see things done in the WWF which have had his fingerprints all over them which have been detrimental to the company. Holding back guys like Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, while making sure his friends in DeGeneration X continue to get pushed, is just one example. Resisting a babyface turn and killing off an angle the WWF spent a year building is another. Speaking of that, the WWF dropping the Triple H/Kurt Angle feud with no resolution is but one example of a problem that's become very common in the WWF lately, and is one of the big things which hurt WCW in the eyes of the fans. Far too many storylines of late have been abandoned, unresolved: started one week then forgotten a week or two later. Many of the things that have been dropped were perhaps done so because they weren't going over with the fans. That's a sign of poor preparation beforehand, poor execution during, and poor handling afterward by not quickly wrapping up the storylines before getting rid of them. Some of it is also a lack of confidence in their own writing, too quickly killing off storylines that might work if given more time. Another noticeable problem in the WWF right now is simple bad match booking, which is starting to affect the in-ring product. Thankfully the actual wrestling in the WWF is still pretty good--much better than most of WCW's wrestling when they first started having their problems. What's hurting it is the match booking, particularly the finishes. Suddenly we're seeing a lot of run-ins, DQ's, or so-called "sports entertainment" non-finishes (like Austin vs. Triple H at Survivor Series). Whether the booking team's well has run dry, or it's guys refusing to do jobs, or whatever it is, it's becoming much more noticeable compared to the better TV the WWF was putting on earlier this year. Perhaps most troubling is the word coming out of the WWF of the rise in influence Stephanie McMahon has had in the writing and booking. Many are crediting (or blaming, depending on your outlook) her with being the driving force behind the recent creative direction of the WWF. Stephanie is rapidly becoming the Internet fan's scapegoat for the slump the WWF is currently in. Wrestling has always been a "what have you done for me lately?" kind of business, both within the industry itself and in the eyes of the fans. In Stephanie's case her job is pretty secure being the daughter of the owner, until Vince McMahon can tear himself away from the XFL to critically evaluate the job that she's doing. Wrestling fans, though, aren't likely to go so easy on her, and already there are calls for her to be removed from the WWF's creative team completely. Until that happens, or until her writing improves, or something happens in the WWF to make the fans perceive some kind of improvement, Stephanie's going to take the brunt of the rapidly growing Internet anti-WWF sentiment. And speaking of Vince McMahon, it's more than a coincidence that these problems have arisen at a time when his attention has been diverted away from the WWF. Finally, there's this overall sense that nothing really all that interesting is going on in the WWF right now. Certainly nothing controversial or provocative. Trying to go more mainstream, and butting heads with the PTC, has caused the WWF to tone down their product. Of late they've only had one interesting storyline, the Stephanie/Hunter/Angle love triangle, and with that gone the WWF suddenly seems excruciatingly boring. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours. Location: Rockford, Illinois. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson & Mark Madden. HOUR ONE: - A scrawl at the bottom of the screen announces a special bulletin, as we see a podium with the seal of the President of the United States on it. As "The Press" looks on Some Guy comes out and says the votes have all been counted, and the President is--at which point he's laid out by a Jeff Jarrett guitar shot. Jarrett then looks in the camera and says "live ... from Rockford ... it's Monday Night!" No, actually he says slapnutz. - Stills are shown from the PPV. - 3 COUNT vs. LT. LOCO/CPL. CAJUN Decent action, but quickly Evan Karagias runs in and hits one of 3 Count with a ladder, leading to a Misfits pin. - Elix Skipper hits on Miss Jones, the Cat makes the save, but he's then knocked out by a chairshot from Lance Storm. - Stills of the Steiner/Booker T match at Mayhem are shown. Booker T was apparently injured, and will be out of action for some time. With Sting also injured (he was supposed to get a title shot tonight), Steiner is left without any main event competition. - WCW Champion Scott Steiner comes out and tells the fans to kiss his ass, among other things. Steiner gets a mixed reaction, some fans buying his bad-ass image and cheering him, others booing. CEO Ric Flair comes out and grants the Steiner is The Man for being champion, but that he doesn't call his own shots. Flair says he's bringing in someone special to face him at Starrcade, and that there Flair will wish Steiner good luck, not the opponent. Steiner asks who it is, Steve Austin? Steiner says he kicked Austin's ass when he was in WCW. He says the Rock doesn't have the balls to face him, "if you smell-la-la-la ..." The crowd eats it up, now thinking some big WWF star is coming in to face Steiner. You do what you have to to turn business around, I guess. Knowing who's out there on the market, it has to be Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sycho Sid or Scott Hall. Stevie Ray then comes out and demands a match. Steiner says he'll give him one if he puts his career on the line. Flair tries to talk Stevie out of it, but Stevie agrees. Go, Scott, Go! Of course the announcers are already in "WHO IS THE MYSTERY OPPONENT?!" overdrive. - Disqo Inferno tries to hire Kronik, but their price is too high. - Pamela interviews General Rection, who declares war on Bam Bam Bigelow. - JUNG DRAGON YANG (w/ Leia Meow) vs. LANCE STORM (w/ Major Gunns) Why does Madden call Gunns a tramp? Like the previous match this goes along well for a few minutes, then there's a run-in--this time the Cat, who knocks out Storm with a tossed chair (caught by Lance) which he then kicks. Yang covers for the pin. The announcers play up the upset aspect of this for all of five seconds. - Storm chews out "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan backstage. - Stevie Ray tells someone on the phone that he knows what he's doing. - Disqo finds the Harris Brothers' price to be much more reasonable: two sandwiches and two drinks. - Lex Luger comes out and talks for a few minutes. I have no idea what he said. Something about Goldberg not really beating him at the PPV and an appeal to Ric Flair. Even Schiavone asks if Luger had a point. A limo has arrived, presumably bearing Steiner's mystery Starrcade opponent. - A "paid announcement" from Jimmy Hart lasts about twenty seconds and accomplishes nothing. - Jarrett and Mean Gene swap profanities. This delightful scene comes to an end when the Filthy Animals throw eggs at Jarrett. - Big Vito bosses his sister Maria around. After he leaves she hooks up with Reno. - JAIME KNOBLE/EVAN KARAGIAS vs. ALEX WRIGHT/THE HARRIS BROTHERS H-Bomb on Knoble, then Wright covers for the pin. What is WCW's fascination with replacing injured tag team wrestlers with another whole tag team, making three-on-two handicap matches? Just don't replace the injured guy and you get the same effect, usually with the same result. Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page have arrived. - A "Blood Runs Cold" promo runs, which the announcers incessantly badmouth. - Another look at the limo outside. - In a piece taped in his office, CEO Ric Flair announces that he's reviewed the Lex Luger/Goldberg match from the PPV (guess that's what Luger was talking about), and that even though Goldberg did spear the referee, which should have caused a DQ and brought Goldberg's winning streak to an end, the reason the ref was speared was because Luger pulled him in the way. Flair announces a rematch between the two to settle the issue at Starrcade. Warts and all, I'd have to say this was the best first hour of Nitro WCW has put on in a long time. HOUR TWO: - Nash and DDP come out. The two proceed to talk about their past together, and the Outsiders, getting the fans chanting Scott Hall's name again. At this point I have to assume WCW plans to rehire Hall and bring him back. Otherwise they're handing over to whoever hires Hall a huge audience hungry to see him again. Of course that also would mean that Hall's firing was just a PR move to get heat off them over the Juventud Guerrera and Bret Hart firings. Anyway, Mike Sanders leads Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire out, saying they'll get a shot at Nash & DDP's newly-won Tag Team Titles at Starrcade. The champs ask why wait, so ... KEVIN NASH/DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. MARK JINDRAK/SEAN O'HAIRE The other Thrillerz run in, causing a DQ. Chuck Palumbo & Shawn Stasiak leave with the tag belts. - Mean Gene interviews Stevie Ray. - Squash. Spear. Jackhammer. Pin. Lex Luger then runs in and puts Goldberg in the Torture Rack. - Mean Gene interviews the Filthy Animals. - GENERAL RECTION vs. BAM BAM BIGELOW BO-RING! Restholds to start kill off the crowd. Bigelow then goes for a table and takes forever to find one under the ring. A-Wall comes out to dispose of the table, and Rection puts Bigelow away with the No Laughing Matter. Ugly match. - Mean Gene gets comments from Steiner, who eventually leaves the interview and goes outside to check on the limo. It's full of women. M.I. Smooth tells him that's Flair's limo, so Steiner beats up Smooth. - JEFF JARRETT vs. REY MYSTERIO, JR. (w/ Tygress) Some interesting stuff here, but the chosen finish of the night plays out when the other Filthy Animals interfere, and in the melee Jarrett knocks out Mysterio with a guitar, causing a DQ. There have been run-ins and/or DQ's in every match so far tonight (and the one that didn't have one was the three-on-two match). - Jarrett's pissed, and challenges the Filthy Animals to a six-man tag on Thunder. He won't say who his partners will be, but either the Harris Twins or Kronik is a safe guess. - Another limousine has pulled up. - STEVIE RAY vs. SCOTT STEINER (w/ Midajah) Mere moments into the match Stevie ray is sucking wind, his large gut evidence of the time he's spent out of the ring. He gets in some offense, and a near pin or two, but Steiner dominates most of the match, at one point even foregoing a pin so he could do push-ups. A Recliner puts Stevie away, ending his career (for the near future--hopefully forever). Suddenly, the lights dim and Sycho Sid's music plays. And there he is. Blink and you'd have missed him, as the show quickly ends. - This Wednesday: Filthy Animals vs. Jarrett & ???. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Hour One was solid. Hour Two wasn't, due to some boring and pointless matches. They laid all the groundwork for the main event and Sid return in the first hour, then once RAW started they just threw matches out there to kill time until the main event. Looks like the BattleDome angle has been killed. So, which side won? Steiner's World Champ, Nash & DDP are Tag Champs, Sid is back ... will WCW use most of this aging talent to build up the younger stars, or are they just putting the big names of the past back on top out of desperation? We'll have to see how this plays out. Done right it could be what builds to a strong future. Done wrong and WCW will end right back in the hole they've been in. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Ames, Iowa. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - Highlights package opens the show. - WWF Champion Kurt Angle heads to the ring. Long story short, Angle says there's too much random violence in the WWF (citing the Undertaker chokeslam and Triple H car crushing as examples), and adds that if things don't change he's taking his belt and going home. Commissioner Mick Foley (w/ Lt. Commish Debra) come out. Foley brings Stephanie McMahon's name up. Angle notes that she hasn't been around for weeks, and that he no longer needs her. Foley says he's talked to Stephanie and that she and Triple H are on their way to the arena, delayed by traffic. Foley announces that the Rock will face Rikishi to determine the number one contender, while Angle will defend the belt tonight, but Foley doesn't say who his opponent is. (Maybe it's Scott Steiner?) I'd probably be intrigued here, if the WWF hadn't announced on their website earlier today that the Undertaker will be defending the title against the Rock at Armageddon (or so I've heard). Yoiks! Maybe it's a swerve. The Rock has arrived. - Angle, Edge & Christian figure out it must be the Undertaker getting the shot. - HARDCORE HOLLY/CRASH HOLLY/MOLLY HOLLY vs. T&A/TRISH STRATUS The whole match seemed to build to the women tagging in, which they eventually do, only to quickly fight their way to the floor. A miscue between Test and Albert leads to Hardcore Holly pinning Albert. Angle invites Kane to his home for Christmas. - Clips of the Rock on "DAG," a show I know nothing about and have little interest in seeing. - Michael Cole interviews Rikishi. - The Undertaker is working on his bike when he's jumped by Kane. Elsewhere, Angle, Edge & Christian share a laugh. Another commercial? - EDDIE GUERRERO vs. "THE ONE" BILLY GUNN I actually like Gunn's new theme music, though "The One" is a lame nickname. Gunn won the Intercontinental Title from Guerrero last Thursday in a decent match. This one isn't quite as good, with Saturn and Malenko coming out to interfere, to no avail, and Gunn hits his finisher to retain the title. Chris Benoit then comes in and he and the other Radicalz leave Gunn laying. Where's Chyna? Rikishi ... the Rock ... NEXT! - Kurt Angle joins the announce team. During the break the Undertaker demanded, and got, a match against Kane. So either the website story was wrong, or the WWF goofed and had to change their booking, or it was all a swerve. - RIKISHI vs. THE ROCK Not much of a match. Rikishi still looks banged up and has problems moving in the ring. The finish sees the Rock apply the Sharpshooter, but referee Tim White is comically ignoring the two wrestlers, pretending to be looking for or dealing with something at ringside. After what seems like forever Kurt Angle finally runs in, the ref just ignoring him, until he gives the Rock the Olympic Slam, at which point the ref calls for a DQ. Terrible finish--Angle must have missed his cue to run in. Until Angle ran in it looked like the ref was screwing the Rock over, which the announcers had to ignore because that obviously wasn't the plan. Even with the DQ victory the announcers aren't sure if the Rock is now the number one contender or not. Rikishi gives the laid-out Rock a Banzai Drop. - Foley's looking for Angle. - At WWF New York William Regal bemoans the manners of the people eating there. - Dean Malenko hits on Lita. She isn't receptive, asks him which hand he uses, and tells him to go home and "entertain" himself. The door they're standing by suddenly whips open, knocking Lita to the floor. Benoit asks why Malenko's bothering with that broad? All four Radicalz begin to leave, at which point the Hardy Boyz come in and find Lita. A fight breaks out, the Hardyz and Lita left laying. - Kane bumps into Salman Rushdie and beats him up. - The Undertaker ... NEXT! WWF WAR ZONE: - THE UNDERTAKER vs. KANE Our second marquee match of the night, and our second bad finish as Edge, Christian and Angle run in to interfere, causing a DQ win for the Taker. - Foley, waiting for Angle in his dressing room, rips into him for interfering in two matches tonight. Angle says that means a lot coming from a guy whose biggest achievement was sticking a sock in peoples' mouths. Foley announces that Angle's opponent tonight is none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin. Great, that makes three marquee matches tonight, and no doubt this will be the third to end in a run-in, when Triple H finally shows up and costs Austin the Title. - ROAD DOGG/K-KWIK vs. STEVEN RICHARDS/VAL VENIS (w/ Ivory) K-Kwik and the Dawg didn't rap as long as they usually do, meaning the crowd wasn't killed off before the match could start. Highlight of the match is K-Kwik going into some kind of spazz dance attack, leading to a flying plancha to the floor, wiping out the RTC members. K-Kwik gets the upset pin on Richards, meaning he and Road Dogg earn a shot at the Tag Titles held by the Goodfather & Bull Buchanan. A look at the Hardyz backstage. - Debra, looking for Foley, finds him in the parking area. Who should happen along then but Tiger Ali-Singh and Lo Down. They demand a match with someone--anyone! Foley grants them a title shot. Tiger, that is, in a match against Steve Blackman for the Hardcore Title. - THE HARDY BOYZ/CHRIS JERICHO vs. THE RADICALZ Looking at this match we have five great wrestlers ... and Perry Saturn. Okay match, though Jeff Hardy is starting to look really beaten up. He spends most of the match in for his side, building to Jericho eventually tagging in. Jericho forces Malenko to submit to the Lion Tamer. Eddie Guerrero then runs in (yee-GADS!) and the Hardyz and Jericho are left laying. Has any stable *ever* gotten over by never winning matches and only beating people up because they outnumber them? Austin cinches up the old knee braces. Steve Blackman nearly kills Al Snow while warming up. Head Cheese! Head Cheese! Head Cheese! - Edge & Christian give Angle a peptalk. - STEVE BLACKMAN vs. TIGER ALI-SINGH Who in God's name thought it was a good idea to put this match on so late in the show (or at all, for that matter)? Blackman wins easily, pinning him after the usual use of plunder. Singh wrestled in street clothes (losing a shoe early on) and did nothing. The Rock jumps Edge, Christian and Angle backstage. Foley comes along with security and ejects everyone from the building except Angle. - KURT ANGLE vs. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN Pretty good match, but as predicted Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Triple H show up, Stephanie first distracting Austin, then Triple H coming in through the crowd to cause the DQ. Austin and Triple H brawl, with Helmsley coming out on top, standing over Austin as the show ended. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Solid wrestling, for the most part, but all the run-in DQ's and lack of overall substance and storyline development made for a bad show. Like on Nitro, the main event seemed secondary to the fact that someone (Triple H) was supposed to show up ANY MINUTE. Triple H is the WWF's Big Poochie, because when he's not on screen everyone else talks about him. Building up to Austin vs. Triple H at Armageddon seems almost a waste, as that's a match better suited for a major show like the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. I can already foresee Triple H getting a screwy win at the PPV, then returning the favor to Austin in a gimmick match where Austin can win without pinning Triple H. Wait ... they just fought at Survivor Series, didn't they? Damn, the WWF has switched gears on things so fast that the last month no longer registers an impression in my memory. It's sad watching a show like this, coming on the heels of what I thought was a pretty good SmackDown! last week. That show had several very good matches, and the Thanksgiving skits, while not great, were amusing in a harmless sort of way. The show had a big feel to it, which this show lacked. Nothing being built up within the show itself was hyped all that well, and we're only getting the barest beginnings of hype for Armageddon. Beyond that, the WWF isn't giving any indication that they have any long range plans. That's scary. I don't know if this is more of Stephanie taking over the creative reigns, or perhaps her being pushed aside and the other writers reasserting themselves, or what--all I know is this show had the feel of one of those shows last year right after Vince Russo left, and the WWF was scrambling to figure out what to do next. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I can't be as disgusted as usual with WCW this week because they tried really hard, and at least half of their show really impressed me as being thought out in advance. I don't think I'd have given them a second notice if the WWF had put on a good show this week. The shows always look better or worse when you compare them to the other. It's ironic that so many fans still go nuts over the idea of WCW stars facing WWF stars. Had Vince McMahon bought WCW we'd probably have seen that. Yet everyone complained about Vince having a monopoly and the wrestlers not getting high salaries and such. So Vince doesn't buy WCW. And what happens ... ? Vince still has his monopoly and nobody in the business has any leverage to sign a big contract. And the WWF's quality is starting to suffer, which everyone swore would happen if Vince bought WCW. Like I wrote before, all the stuff people put up as reasons for Vince not to buy WCW have come to pass anyway. Well, at least WCW is trying to put forth an effort now. Perhaps Vince will wake up and address all those problems I brought up above. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 263 of the "Monday Night Recap", November 27th, 2000.