Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #183 May 17th, 1999 The Opening Word: Monster rating for RAW last week. Most watched cable wrestling show ever, most watched show in the history of the USA Network (not counting specials, sporting events and movies), possibly the highest rated cable show of all time (again, not counting specials, sporting events, movies and news specials). This has all been talked to death, though, so lets move on. ECW had another PPV Sunday. The show, getting almost solely positive reviews, was overshadowed by what may be Shane Douglas's exit from the company. Saturday night, at the "Break the Barrier" indy supercard, Douglas delivered a scathing shoot speech aimed at ECW and its owner, Paul Heyman. He was then a no-show at Sunday's Hardcore Heaven PPV. Douglas was replaced at the show by Sid, who made a somewhat surprising return to ECW. Douglas has since indicated that he considers himself an ECW employee until he hears otherwise. Subsequent comments from Paul Heyman indicate that "otherwise" has arrived. A jump to the WWF now looks highly possible, though taking Douglas at his word, outright retirement is also a strong option. If Douglas does show up in the WWF, he could be a major player. More on this if/when it happens. The WWF also had a PPV, "No Mercy", which took place and aired in the UK. Reviews are that the show was okay, but nothing happened which advanced the ongoing storylines. ... which brings us to this Monday. Without further ado ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours+. Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - A white limo pulls up to the arena. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Charles "Little Naitch" Robinson, and Asya ("because she's bigger than Chyna") and Diamond Dallas Page exit. After a crowd shot they return to the back, where Robinson is shown pulling a Roddy Piper name plate off a door (marked "President of World Championship Wrestling"), and replaces it with a Ric Flair nameplate. Flair and ensemble make their way to the ring. Arn Anderson kicks things off by telling "Mean" Gene Okerlund that later tonight, the Horsemen, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, will take the World Tag Team Titles from Raven and Saturn. Ric Flair then takes over, informing the crowd he is still President of WCW. Straying from tonight's proceedings for a moment, let me just confirm that this is now indeed the case. Flair reasserts his claim of control over WCW and Piper and Eric Bischoff, who are yet to come tonight, barely dispute it. That means Flair's match against Piper at the PPV for control over WCW was a sham. So were Bischoff's "firing" of Flair. Strangely enough, though, even though Bischoff apparently has no power in WCW (in storyline terms), his pivotal decision in the Diamond Dallas Page/Kevin Nash World Title Match will stand. I guess you'd call that "selectively screwing over the fans". We complain about what happened in the Flair/Piper match because it didn't make sense, but ultimately I think nobody (myself included) really cares all that much. Doing a Dusty Rhodes title switch, though, would really piss the fans off. So WCW knows when to leave well enough alone. I guess the bottom line in WCW is that the storylines don't mean shit, so why should we fans bother following them? Flair then goes off on a weird tangent and tells Ted Turner that he better get rid of Bischoff, or he'll make a play for Jane Fonda. Flair then brings out Diamond Dallas Page, who will be getting a rematch against Nash later tonight. DDP complains about being screwed at the PPV, and then for no real reason brings out Bam Bam Bigelow, who is watching DDP's back. The crowd chants for Goldberg, because he's the only star left in this two-bit company. Sorry, I know that was mean. Too bad Goldberg isn't in the building tonight. Also set up during all this is a "mixed tag" match between the team of Flair and Robinson against Randy Savage and Gorgeous George. (Does this mean Robinson is Flair's bitch?) - DJ Ran kills some time. No Nitro Girls tonight, as they're off with several other WCW stars (including Goldberg, I believe) on the Bruise Cruise. - Taped interview with Eric Bischoff, who says he is proud of making WCW the number one wrestling company, mentions the 80+ week ratings winning streak, and how his own complacency led to things getting more competitive. I'm assuming the last six months of reading the ratings every Tuesday are what turned his hair stone grey. - A video package highlights Bret Hart quitting WCW, injuring Goldberg at the PPV, and Kevin Nash making his $250,000 challenge on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". It's assumed that Hart will accept the challenge this Tuesday, and a match between the two will take place on Leno's show late in the week (or next week). I predict boffo ratings for "The Tonight Show". I also predict Leno will do nothing but crack jokes at the expense of the wrestlers, belittling whatever they do. That's the thing WCW continually fails to realize in their ongoing relationship with Leno and NBC. They get all the ratings, while WCW gets to be the butt of the joke. But they do get name recognition, right? Right?! - Maybe they're airlifting wrestlers in from the cruise ship, or something, because it's time for another Bischoff interview. Bischoff explains that he did what he did at the PPV because it was the right thing to do. He then explains that things will stand the way they do because things came down at the discretion of referee Nick Patrick, who has final say in such matters. Cut to Schiavone live, who clarifies the whole shebang: Bischoff has no power at all, but because the referee made a decision, it will stand. Damn, that's all logical enough that I'll accept it at face value! No, really. Since we're on a roll here, how about another Bischoff clip. Eric tells us there's going to be a lot of changes in WCW from now on. That's nice and all, Eric, but didn't you just admit that you have no pull in the company? He kind of rambles on and on here, saying he'll do what it takes to get the fans to trust him, how much he loves WCW, how he's been an asshole, how he likes wearing women's clothing, etc. Okay, he didn't say those last few, but the upshot here is Bischoff's doing a major mea culpa to get us all to like him. He should just have someone kidnap his daughter--it's quicker. - Piper and Bischoff arrive at the arena. - Mike Tenay updates us on the Bret Hart situation. Hart will answer the challenge Tuesday night. - PPV clip. - EVAN KARAGIAS vs. REY MYSTERIO, JR. Thirty minutes in, yeah, I'd say it's time for a match. Mysterio pretty much squashes Karagias, getting the pin in just over two minutes. The workrate fans take a hit tonight. - Ric Flair answers a knock on his door. Little Naitch and the Horsemen have rounded up Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, who we learn will face David Flair a bit later tonight. Flair says everyone else is pushing their own sons in the business, so he'll do it too. Flair gets Parker to agree to do the job for David, and in return Flair will make sure he's "taken care of". Parker is supposed to take the dive when Arn flashes him a signal. After Parker leaves, Ric knocks on the door and it's answered by David and Torrie Wilson. Ric tells his son that he'll face Parker tonight. David looks pleased. Torrie gives Flair a final "you better keep your promise" after David leaves. For Flair's sake I hope David and Torrie weren't WATCHING NITRO on TV inside that office, otherwise they'd be wise to his scheme. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be Flair really pushing his son, or if it's further revenge for being committed (as he did two weeks ago by booking David against Meng). - "Mean" Gene interviews Booker T., who manages to rile up the crowd a bit. Booker calls Rick Steiner out. - DAVID FLAIR (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs. SGT. BUDDY LEE PARKER Parker, besides being a longtime WCW wrestler, is also the head instructor at WCW's Power Plant. I'm assuming he's here because he's the one who's been training David, giving him an opponent he knows he can wrestle against and look relatively good. The match unfolds with all the most basic holds and moves. Quickly it's looks apparent that Parker isn't going to play ball with Flair and do the job (or so the announcers say). Then Parker misses a move off the top and sells a knee injury. David slaps on the Figure Four, Arn flashes the signal, Parker submits, and the ref (Charles Robinson) calls for the quick bell. Whether David deservedly got the win, or Parker saw Arn's signal and threw the match, isn't clear (though the announcers assume the fix is in). Lasting less than three minutes it was hard to tell one way or the other. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - RIC FLAIR/CHARLES ROBINSON (w/ Asya) vs. RANDY SAVAGE/MADUSA What's the deal with "Miss Madness" anyway? Who the hell is she? Why is she there? Why does she wear such non-revealing clothes? Gorgeous George comes to the ring on crutches, so Madusa takes her place. Not sure what to say about this match: Flair is in his 50's, Savage has all the mobility of a stack of cinder blocks, Robinson only has the most basic of wrestling skills, and Madusa's rep as a wrestler has been overrated since the late 80's. I guess this is "comedy", but it's hard to laugh at more than a few of the sight gags. Robinson starts off against Madusa and, like at the PPV, imitates all of Flair's mannerisms, which is good for a chuckle. Savage is way over with the crowd, which is annoying because HE'S A HEEL, BUT THE CROWD DOESN'T KNOW IT (or they've forgotten, or they don't care). Things get really low, though, when Flair and Madusa hook up. Flair actually lets her ride him around the ring like a horse, then sells some chops in the corner. The two flub a backdrop. After some uninterrupted offense Flair slaps on the Figure Four, which Madusa barely bothers to sell (only giving a grimace and lazily waving an arm). The most devastating Figure Four in the history of wrestling has little effect against Madusa? Aw, screw it, let's cut to the finish: Savage drops the elbow off the top and pins Robinson. Look, I'm all for comedy matches in which Charles Robinson is humiliated, but does Flair (who admittedly I'm not wild about anymore) have to be dragged down too? And how about an actual babyface wrestler delivering the humiliation, and not just a heel who gets a face pop because of the position he's in? By the end of this show the 10,000 or so fans in attendance are going to feel bad because they cheered Savage on earlier in the show. - DJ Ran fails to work up the crowd. Riki Rachtman must be on the cruise. - "Mean" Gene interviews Roddy Piper. No beating around the bush here: this interview SUCKED. Piper, clipboard in hand, says he's the President of WCW, and delivers ten reasons why Flair shouldn't be allowed to run WCW. Rather than bore you with these (quote)JOKES(unquote), I'll just summarize by saying this is one of the lamest interview segments I've ever seen. Piper's observations, as always, are ancient, involve accusations of wearing women's clothing, homosexuality ... I can't go on. At times the crowd is so quiet you can hear Piper's metal hip joint squeaking. Okerlund makes things worse by highlighting just how bad Piper is sucking. It goes on for about five minutes, but in TV time it may as well have been an eternity. Piper finally wraps it up and calls out Bischoff, who receives a totally neutral reaction from the crowd. Bischoff is referred to as the "Executive of WCW", whatever that is. Piper then helps Bischoff take several steps back in pointing out what a crud he's been over the last three years. The fans, egged on by Piper, start to boo Bischoff when he speaks, requiring Piper to then asks the fans to give him a chance. SHOOT ME NOW! Out comes Randy Savage (with broads in tow) to demand a match against Kevin Nash. Sure, why not. Piper, saying he's the "Commissioner of WCW", will give him a shot when it's his turn. That's not good enough for Savage. The crowd, having cheered for Savage just a few minutes earlier, have no idea how to react to all this. Savage gives them the right idea by grabbing Piper's face. Gorgeous George, meanwhile, who has snuck up behind Piper, whacks him across the back with one of her crutches. The poor camera angle makes it look like Bischoff actually sells the hit, as he's the one that drops to the mat! (A replay later shows Madusa kicked him in the head.) Savage piledrives Piper, then bodyslams Bischoff. He then prepares to drop an elbow on Bischoff, but out comes Kevin Nash for the save. Insults are traded and a match is set between the two at the next PPV. Walking out of the ring Bischoff forgets that he was just kicked in the head and bodyslammed. Piper, meanwhile, the pro he is, is still selling the crutch shot and piledriver. I wish I could adequately describe how ridiculously bad the preceding segment was. - A video clip glorifies Gorgeous George's victory over Charles Robinson at the PPV. Even the production crew can't remember who the faces and heels are. - Hak and Chastity Venis make their way to the ring. Hak brags about how hardcore he is (while Chastity wishes everyone would stop using that term). On the big screen Fit Finlay interrupts, says where he comes from *is* hardcore, and ... - HAK (w/ Chastity) vs. FIT FINLAY Well this was sure out of nowhere. After about ten minutes of hitting each other in the head with stuff, Brian Knobbs runs in and causes a DQ (in what is essentially a no DQ match). - BOOKER T. vs. RICK STEINER So how much of this show is going to be a rehash of Slamboree anyway? Oops. No match, as Booker T. never shows. Steiner, who has a new evil blond stripe died in his beard, apparently took him out backstage, or something. Rick throws out a challenge, and who should accept it but ... - RICK STEINER vs. STING Sting's on fire, then misses a splash in the corner, then Rick takes over. After a few minutes of this Scott Steiner comes out. Then Lex Luger comes out. Even though they've played Lex as a heel for the last few months, he comes to Sting's assistance. So what was that press conference about two weeks ago? And where's Liz? And why should I care enough to even ask these questions? HOUR THREE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - KONNAN vs. CURT HENNIG I'd say this match is at least an hour too late in the card. Maybe two. And what is it with these really long matches that are so boring? Benoit, Malenko, the Cruiserweights, okay that's fine, but fifteen minutes of Konnan and Hennig? Ugh. What's Hennig doing there with his nipple, by the way? This marathon of mediocrity is interrupted by Randy Savage announcing that he's going to kick Konnan's ass. And so he does, as Madusa, Gorgeous George and Miss Madness look on. Hennig seizes the opportunity to slap on his HennigPlex and score the pin. This was some kind of message from Savage to Nash, by way of Konnan, who until two or three weeks ago was Kevin Nash's bitter enemy. - They interrupt a commercial break to tell us what match is next. Then they take another commercial break. - THE HORSEMEN (w/ Arn Anderson) vs. RAVEN/SATURN (w/ Kanyon) As you'd expect, a good match (maybe great, depending on your tastes), which sees Arn Anderson interfere, knocking Raven and Benoit to the floor. Malenko then goes up top, but is pushed off by Kanyon ... into the waiting arms of Saturn, who puts him away with the Death Valley Driver. It's the one match per week like this which keeps the workrate fans in WCW's pocket. Heaven forbid the WWF should assemble a crew like this and make a go at it ( ... *foreshadow* ... ). Backstage, after the match, the winning team meets up with Bam Bam Bigelow. The Bammmer credits Kanyon with their being able to win. The champs tell Bigelow to go dig up a partner of his own and make a run at them. Um, did we just see the Horsemen get written out of the Tag Title picture? And why do I have the feeling that Bigelow and DDP will take the straps (WCW's way of getting DDP away from the World Title picture)? - KEVIN NASH vs. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE This show sure flies along when 1) they put all the non-wrestling crap in the first 90 minutes, and 2) I stop paying that much attention. It takes almost no time at all for Bam Bam Bigelow to come out, and offer a bit of assistance to DDP when the ref isn't looking. That, and punches and chokes seem to comprise the bulk of the match. Shortly after the clock passes the top of the hour Randy Savage runs out, causing the DQ. He, DDP and Bigelow beat the crap out of Nash. Why is Savage rubbing lipstick on Nash's face? A fan runs in and Savage clobbers him. Savage then terrorizes Heenan and Schiavone at the announcers table just before we fade out. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: This was some scary stuff here. The lack of action, mediocre matches, stories that don't make any sense, and Roddy Piper once again delivering what may have been the worst moment in televised professional wrestling history. Speaking just for myself I saw little that was genuinely entertaining anywhere in the show. Workrate fanatics should have enjoyed the Horsemen match, I would assume, but that's probably about it. I think it's pretty rare, though, to find many fans who could have enjoyed all, or even a lot, of what WCW presented this week. Those fans online who seem to have the loudest pro-WCW voices (and anti-WWF leanings) can't seriously have enjoyed a whole lot of this show. But, ultimately, that's just speculation on my part. Maybe I'm misreading the average WCW fan. All I know is that this show, far as I'm concerned, was a turd. Not much I can add to that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Taped 5/11. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Sunrise, Florida. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - X-PAC/ROAD DOGG/KANE vs. D-LO BROWN/MARK HENRY/BILLY GUNN Jim Ross barely has enough time to bark out some opening hype before bodies start heading to the ring. After watching a full hour of Nitro which had barely over four minutes of wrestling, this match seemed awesome by comparison. No finish, though, as after several minutes everyone winds up outside the ring and the match is thrown out. Typical PPV builder. - Shane McMahon leads members of the Corporate Ministry to the ring. Shane promises "armageddon" for the members of the Union tonight. Said Union members are late arriving at the arena due to some kind of car trouble, which Shane probably knows more about than he's letting on. Backstage Vince McMahon and his stooges, Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco, look nervous at the absence of their 2X4 wielding muscle. They begin to barricade themselves (and a cameraman) into a small room. - Shane's leading the Ministry to wherever it is Vince is holed up. After Ross hypes tonight's card, we see Shane trying to get Vince to let him in. Viscera is ordered to knock the door down. - More of Vince and the Stooges under siege. Pat, in the worst acting performance of the year, asks Vince to look in that closet over there to see if there's anything else they can use to barricade the door. Why are there two cameras filming all this? Vince opens the closet door and out pops the Undertaker and Triple H. The lights go out and we hear shouts. If RAW is WAR were a dinner buffet, this brief segment would be the cheese platter. I'm not sure what that means. - Vince is wheeled off to a waiting ambulance. See Eric, THAT'S how you sell an attack by your company's top heel. - JEFF JARRETT/BLUE BLAZER (w/ Debra) vs. VAL VENIS/GODFATHER (w/ Ho's) To be honest, there were a few too many breasts at ringside for me to follow this one. Nicole Bass comes out to jaw with Debra, and somehow the Blue Blazer ends up being pinned by the Godfather. Those two will go at it this Sunday at the PPV, while Val Venis will team up with Nicole Bass to take on Jeff Jarrett and Debra. In case you're wondering, the Union had finally arrived at the arena. - The Rock and Steve Austin are shown backstage in clips wrapped around a commercial break. - TEST vs. MEAT (w/ PMS) No, Meat doesn't have PMS, he's *with* PMS, who last night on Sunday Night Heat added Ryan Shamrock to their coven. This is a battle to see has the worst nickname. Test is like a smaller version of Diesel, while Meat looks like a smaller Sycho Sid. Ugh ... what an awful match that would make. This one is a bit better than that, though neither man wins because Jacqueline drop-kicks Test off the top rope. DQ. Then, just to make things more interesting, Tori comes out and beats up on Ryan and Jacqueline. Join the WWF today and you're guaranteed a dumb name and sexy valet! - Backstage a cameraman sneaks up on the Corporate Ministry. See, cuz they're evil, and plotting evil deeds, and such. - The WWF is in Florida this week (that is to say last week, when this was taped), so of course Dan Marino is in the crowd. - Steve Austin is out to spread some of his 3:16 gospel. Is the show over already? Austin NEVER works the first hour. He promises to kick major booty at the Over the Edge PPV. Out comes Shane and the Ministry to give him what for. Shane lets slip his dogs of war, but the quickly pull back when from behind Shane is attacked by Ken Shamrock. The Ministry lays into him, only to be met by the remaining members of the Union (Mankind, Paul Wight and Test). Somehow Paul Bearer winds up at ringside and Austin delivers some whoop-ass, much to the chagrin of the Undertaker. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - THE UNDERTAKER vs. THE ROCK The Undertaker's in control ... now the Rock. Backstage the Ministry and Union are going at it. Now Triple H and Chyna are out at ringside. Did I mention this was a "Casket Match"? Now you know. Helmsley has a sledgehammer, and uses it to bust the cast the Rock has been wearing. These things are usually no-DQ affairs, so the ref lets it go. From there it's a formality to toss the Rock into the casket and the Undertaker to shut the lid, earning the win. Shane takes one of those casket keys and locks the lid shut. Triple H then goes medieval on the casket with the sledgehammer, knocking it of its stand, then smashing in the lid and knocking several holes in the metal exterior. I'm not sure how this would hurt the Rock (like when they put a trashcan on someone's head and hit the can), but it sure looked cool. - Backstage WWF officials (including Sgt. Slaughter) pry open the lid of the casket with crowbars. Once opened they pale at what they see. Slaughter asks for an ambulance. - THE BROOD vs. MICHAEL HAYES/THE HARDY BOYZ This match was prompted by a scuffle between the two groups on Heat. ***NEWSFLASH*** As I write this my Brother, waiting in line for "Phantom Menace" tickets, got three people away from the box office when the premiere midnight showing sold out. Sometimes life can be so cruel. Umm, where was I? Hayes looks in better shape now than when I last saw him in action regularly in WCW. Too much action to call here (yeah, like I do that anyway). Highlights include Edge OBLITERATING Jeff Hardy with a Spear which would make Goldberg's jaw drop in awe. Things get a bit wild, bodies are flying everywhere, and the ref, not used to all this WRESTLING action, calls for the bell. A downer of a finish, but if the WWF plans on doing matches like this in the weeks to come, WCW is in even more trouble than usual. - The Rock, his face a crimson mask, is being loaded into an ambulance. - Shane McMahon, powerwalking with the Ministry backstage, lets his troops know that only Austin remains on their hit list. - Al Snow makes his way to the ring to hold a eulogy for Pierre, his deer head which Bob Holly destroyed on Heat. The trashed head (wearing a neckbrace) is in a large box. Snow places several of the head's favorite items in the box with it, in preparation for eventual burial. This was funny, but not enough to recount in any kind of detail. Suffice it to say Bob Holly comes out, Snow knocks him out, and a Hardcore Title rematch is on for the PPV. - Michael Cole is waiting backstage to interview Steve Austin. Nearby, the Ministry waits, intent on attacking Austin when he appears for that interview. This is another of those instances where if Austin is actually WATCHING THE SHOW, the plan couldn't possibly work. Shane: "How'd you figure out our plan?" Austin: "I was watching the monitor, you jackass!" How cool would that be? - The Ministry is set to attack, but are suddenly themselves attacked by the Union. This comes during a string of commercials and product promos (Coast Guard "Rescue of the Week" type clips). At this rate, there's going to be a nice long, uninterrupted stretch to close out the show. - PAUL WIGHT (w/ the Union) vs. THE BIG BOSSMAN (w/ the Ministry) All the hangers-on brawl away from the ring, leaving the Bossman alone to face the Big Show. Chokeslam. Pin. Our main event is next. - ... but first, another "Beaver Cleavage" skit. NEXT!!! - The Ministry and Union are last seen peeling out of the parking lot in separate cars, with the Ministry fleeing and the Union in pursuit. - "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN vs. TRIPLE H (w/ Chyna) Total mayhem erupts as these two brawl all around the ring area. The announce table (no Spanish commentators this week) gets abused, but not demolished as usual. You wouldn't know this was just a free TV match with all the bumps these two are taking. Once the match settles down in the ring the two go back-and-forth on offense and defense. More brawling down on the floor. Chyna and Shane interfere liberally. Eventually (ten minutes or so into the match) both the Undertaker and his dagger-like symbol make their way to the ring (the symbol lowering from the ceiling). The Undertaker attacks, which pretty much ends the match (but no bell rings). The Ministry is back too, and so is the Union, and they continue their brawl up on the stage. The Undertaker tries to handcuff Austin to the symbol, but Austin fights him off, and manages to cuff the Undertaker instead to his own symbol. Austin signals to hoist him up, and someone, somewhere, obliges him. The symbol rises slowly to the roof of the arena. the Undertaker, suspended forty feet or so in the air, gives an evil grin, and mouths the words to something garbled which is playing over the speakers. Setback or not, the Undertaker is prepared to make Austin pay at Over the Edge. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: A by-the-numbers PPV hype show, and damned if it didn't come off with nary a hitch. All the matches got plugged, with each match having a nice build to it, and almost any outcome being possible. This should be one of those PPV's where things are a beginning more than they are an end. Every title could change hands and not hurt any pushes. Here's Over the Edge: * Steve Austin vs. the Undertaker. WWF Championship Match. * The Rock vs. Triple H. * X-Pac & Kane vs. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry. Tag Title Match. * The Godfather vs. the Blue Blazer. Intercontinental Title Match. * Al Snow vs. Bob Holly. Hardcore Title Match. * Billy Gunn vs. Road Dogg. * Jeff Jarrett & Debra vs. Val Venis & Nicole Bass. I'm sure I'm missing a match in there. The Union vs. the Ministry perhaps. Six-man tag? I'm not sure if they officially announced it for the card or not. There's speculation that D-Lo may turn on Mark Henry, since D-Lo is again drawing good heel heat, while Henry works better as a babyface. I think the Godfather gimmick has reached the point where he no longer needs the IC belt to be over with the crowd (if he ever did to begin with). I could see the Blazer stealing it with Jarrett's help. They also seem to be teasing something between Owen/Blazer and Jarrett. Maybe a split between those two, and Debra siding with the winner? We've only gotten a taste of this Brood/Hardy Boyz feud. Wouldn't surprise me to see it flare up again at the PPV, or at least on the live Heat countdown show. I expect Triple H to score a win over the Rock, just because the WWF seems intent on pushing him up to the Rock's, the Undertaker's and Austin's level as the second biggest heel in the company. And speaking of the number one heel, I think the odds are good that the Undertaker regains the WWF Title from Austin. Austin's won all the battles lately, so it just makes sense for the Taker to come back and win the war by taking the belt from him. Austin, once again, is so over that he doesn't need the strap anyway. Maybe Triple H will interfere, which would start the build to Austin/Triple H match which seems destined to headline SummerSlam. That would leave open the Rock to feud with the Undertaker, and it wouldn't surprise me to see the Rock get the belt back at SummerSlam. (Though SummerSlam is a ways off, with both King of the Ring and another In Your House coming before that.) The WWF looks to have a strong summer on tap for us this year, and Over the Edge should be the show which kicks it off. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: My turn to get in line for "Phantom Menace" tickets. I'm outta here! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1999 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 183 of the "Monday Night Recap", May 17th, 1999.