Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #197 August 23rd, 1999 The Opening Word: Thursday night my Dad returned home from the hospital in Fargo. He is doing better, and will now continue his dialysis treatments at the local hospital here in Bemidji. He's got a tough road ahead of him, but for the time being things are looking better than they did two weeks ago. With him home again, and my Sister-in-law's baby doing well also, some semblance of normalcy has returned to our family. Barring no further surprises, I'm back writing the "Monday Night Recap" and working regularly on the website. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who wrote to me, or mentioned my family on their websites. The support was greatly appreciated. So, where to begin ... Recaps of the two weeks I missed are available on the website. They are very brief, with no commentary as such, just match results and key interviews mentioned. There's a thousand things I'd like to comment on, but I could spend the next two weeks just talking about those two weeks I missed. Best to just move on ... ... to SummerSlam. Probably the biggest news of the week were efforts made here in Minnesota to stop Jesse "The Body" Ventura's participation in the PPV. Public opinion is still divided over Ventura, though his approval ratings remain high (helped no doubt this week when tax rebate checks totaling $1.4 billion went out to the working taxpayers of the state--a rebate brought about largely by Ventura's efforts as Governor). Two separate groups attempted to block Ventura's referee plans, and in both cases the efforts failed. You can read them it all at Ventura's website (www.jesseventura.com). Those two hurdles cleared, Ventura was free to participate in SummerSlam. SummerSlam turned out to be an excellent show. My thoughts on it are available on the website. That brings us to this week's Monday night shows. RAW, with the PPV out of the way, is wide open--anything could happen. Nitro is expected to be a loaded show, with Hulk Hogan taking on Sting, and KISS set to perform musically. Bret Hart is even rumored to be putting in an appearance. Let's geddidon! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours+. Location: Las Vegas, Nevada. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Nitro Girls. - MIKEY WHIPWRECK vs. CHASE TATUM I'm sure I wasn't the only one looking toward the entryway to see how long it would take Sid to come out. Turns out it was quicker than I was able to finish typing the previous sentence. WCW is making a huge mistake here in throwing out matches which will obviously see a Sid interruption. Fans wonder "why are these nobodies wrestling?", then moments later that question is answered. It's as if WCW *knows* Sid is going to come out, so they throw out some sacrificial lambs. Aren't they supposed to prevent that from happening? Or are run-ins encouraged. (Well, walk-ins, actually.) I doubt the average WCW fan analyzes it as such, they just see what's happening and recognize it as being lame. Anyway, Sid says he's now "68-0" (confirmed by signs being held up by referee Charles Robinson, who is following Sid around). Kidman bumps into Kimberly and apologizes for anything offensive he might have said about her last week. She says it's no problem, and that she'll try to calm down Diamond Dallas Page. - Goldberg pulls an Austin and arrives late at the arena. He enters just in time to see DDP and the Triad beating up Kidman. WCW officials swarm the scene to prevent a brawl. Why are there like three or four cameras filming this, yet we don't see a single cameraman? It's hard to buy into the "spontaneity" of an encounter when the cameramen have had advance warning and time to hide behind doors, curtains, etc. It just looks phony, is all I'm saying. - DDP and the Triad come out and do their catchphrases. I think Tony mentions the backstage action we just saw, but no on acts like it was all that big a deal. - Sting comes out and offers some words of warning to Hulk Hogan (they'll square off for the WCW World Title later tonight). Lex Luger then puts in a surprise appearance (big crowd reaction). Luger gets to voice a lot of the reservations we fans have had, warning Sting not to trust Hogan. Sting says he's going after the title and that is that. So ... who's turning on Sting tonight: Hogan or Luger? Neither? Both? The interview here is a bit distracting because over Sting and Luger's voices I can hear the Voice of God picking the camera angles. Weird. Let me note here that I'm writing this portion of the Recap as the show is happening live. Half of the first hour has gone by and there's been about two minutes of "action". There has been some angle development, I'll give them that, but overall things are just poking along. - Mike Tenay is on the scene outside the building waiting to interview Eric Bischoff. Hey, is Bischoff driving a Hummer? Tenay asks Eric if he's in line to be the new President of WCW? Eric asks if he got that off the Internet. That's right Eric, badmouth some of your most loyal fans. Classic WCW strategy: use your website, Hotline, and mouthpieces like Mark Madden and Bob Ryder to spread rumors, then piss all over the Internet for believing the rumors. Is it any wonder that 1) so many Internet fans dump on WCW, and 2) WCW's business is in the toilet right now? The "marks" hate the garbage WCW is putting on TV, while the "smarts" are reacting negatively to the fundamental disrespect the company levels at them. Shouldn't WCW at least pick one audience and suck up to it? - ERNEST MILLER (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. BUFF BAGWELL Lex Luger comes out for no apparent reason and chases Sonny Onoo around the ring. Bagwell hits the Buff Blockbuster for the win. Is this the payoff for this whole feud? And why didn't Sid come in during this match? - DJ Ran. Nitro Girls. - The Triad is out to badmouth Goldberg again. Goldberg comes out and levels both Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow with spears. After DDP runs away Goldberg grabs a mic and tells him he's next, next week. Was this supposed to be a match? Well, unless Goldberg has a squash scheduled for later tonight, WCW has just given a good chunk of their fans what they tuned in to see. I predict massive viewer layoff until the main event. - Debut of the West Texas Rednecks "Good Old Boys" video. The song sucks, but the video itself is somewhat funny. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Some deranged fan at a Nitro party admits his love for Lodi. Whuh? - LENNY (w/ Lodi) vs. JUVENTUD GUERRERA Lenny won the Cruiserweight Title last Thursday on Thunder. Here, after about ten minutes of decent action, Juvi has the title all but won. Sid then comes out, chokeslams him, powerbombs both wrestlers, and pins both, "raising his record" to 70-0. Sid then spends the next five minutes or so doing his "Millennium Man" schtick. Man, with RAW being live, and Monday Night Football showing the big Green Bay/Denver game, Nitro may draw all-time low ratings this week. - Curt Hennig, after badmouthing Chad Brock and KISS, leads the Rednecks in a lip synched rendition of "Good Old Boys". - THE FIRST FAMILY (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. THE REVOLUTION I'm still doing this live and I have to say, this is one of the last matches I would ever be interested in. The Revolution looks like such a joke for wasting its time in matches against the likes of the First Family, Steven Regal's team and the Texas Rednecks. Having to fill seven hours of TV each week forces these guys to compete in matches the fans could do without. Rick Steiner runs in, for reasons having something to do with the Revolution getting into a feud with Steiner and Sid on Thunder last week. Saturn is knocked out and Jimmy Hart's team scores the pin. Chris Benoit runs in and challenges Steiner to a U.S. Title match. - Berlyn promo. - INSANE CLOWN POSSE (w/ El Vampiro) vs. KIDMAN/REY MYSTERIO, JR. Kidman shows no ill effects from the brutal beating he suffered at the hands of the Triad earlier. The ICP can take bumps, and do high spots, but that's about it. Like Shane McMahon, come to think of it, though Shane has the decency to stay within the bounds of his limitations. If he beats someone it's because he cheated, had help, etc. He doesn't go in the ring and go toe-to-toe with his opponents, putting himself over as an equal. That's where the ICP differ. They now see themselves as WRESTLERS, and aren't all that concerned about making their opponents look good. Shane should be dead meat every time he steps into the ring, and only quick thinking on his part prevents that. The ICP, we're supposed to believe, can kick just about anyone's ass. Similar skills, but different presentations. Sorry, went off on a tangent there. Actually, Shaggy 2 Dope is the one who does all the work, taking the bumps and doing the high spots. Violent J does a suplex and a press slam, and that's it. Kidman gets the pin after a clothesline from Vampiro goes astray and clobbers Shaggy. Kidman and Rey are then stomped into the mat until Eddie Guerrero makes the save. My reservations about the ICP aside, this was still the best match of the show thus far. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Hulk Hogan come out and do the same interview they've done for the last fifteen years. Hogan mentions Luger's meddling, further playing up the notion that someone is going to turn tonight. I wonder if Hogan will continue to get the big pops when WCW goes back to their usual haunts like Atlanta and Charlotte, and not these cities they've been in the last month, where WCW rarely--if ever--does shows (Sioux Falls, Boise, Denver, Sturgis, Las Vegas). HOUR THREE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - CHRIS BENOIT vs. RICK STEINER When was the last time Steiner defended his TV Title? Run-ins by Saturn and Sid keep this one from amounting to much (DQ). As much as I hate to admit it, Steiner is looking a tad bit better than he did before this monster push of his began. An attempted "Rev-o-lu-tion!" chant by Benoit goes nowhere. - WEST TEXAS REDNECKS vs. HARLEM HEAT Barry and Kendall Windham represent the Rednecks. Regular interference, and the eventual use of a cowbell, lead to Hennig knocking out Booker and the Rednecks becoming the new Tag Team Champions. Hmmm ... last Thursday Mysterio lost his belt ... this week Harlem Heat lose theirs ... if I didn't know better, I'd think WCW had something against minorities! (Of course Lenny's gay, so that kind of kills that train of thought.) - Berlyn promo. - EDDIE GUERRERO vs. EL VAMPIRO Hands down the best match of the show, save for the totally predictable finish. Eddie is on the verge of victory when the ICP come out. An ugly plancha from Eddie levels the two out on the floor, but back in the ring Eddie gets whipped up and over Vampiro. Shaggy 2 Dope, up on the apron, cracks heads with Eddie. Vampiro covers the dazed Eddie for the pin. Kidman and Rey Rey run out to chase off the clowns. - A long-ass stretch of commercial is briefly interrupted to show a few seconds of the Nitro Girls. - HULK HOGAN vs. STING I wonder if Hogan demanded his match go on before KISS so that any dip in the ratings they might cause wouldn't reflect on him? Michael Buffer does the ring introductions. Hogan looks pretty bad here. The man can barely walk. The first few minutes of the match see the two stall, trade armbars and such. A takedown into a pin attempt is the first "move" Hogan does. Slowly they escalate the action, though neither man gets out of first gear. To the floor they go, where they walk each other around the ring. Hogan lays on the announce desk and lets Sting hit him. A clothesline from Hogan and a Stinger Splash is about as physical as this one gets. Hogan misses an ugly legdrop. A later one connects, and Hogan seems on the verge of going into his usual winning routine when Sid and Rick Steiner run in. Goldberg runs in for the save, followed by Lex Luger. Hogan shakes Goldberg's hand, and offers Sting another shot at his belt next week, so long as Goldberg and Luger come out to watch their backs. Sting accepts. - KISS performs "God of Thunder" to a good crowd reaction. Late in the song the drum platform rises, and stage hands push out a large iron maiden type contraption. It opens, and out emerges Brian Adams in his Gene Simmons makeup. - This Thursday: Benoit & Saturn vs. Steiner & Sid. - Next week: DDP vs. Goldberg. Hogan vs. Sting ... again. Comments: I like KISS, though I'm not a diehard fan. I only know maybe a half dozen of their songs. I thought they sounded okay here, but I'll leave it up to KISS fans to decide whether or not they kicked ass. As far as their impact on the show, it'll be barely negligible, as they appeared after 11:00 PM Eastern. Whatever rating they drew, good or bad, won't have much affect on Nitro's overall rating. KISS is an odd phenomenon. Their recent live tours have been monster events, invariably being the most successful rock shows around. I believe too that their "Psycho Circus" video was a huge seller, and they've been the subject of a successful line of toys put out by "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane. Beyond that, though, KISS hasn't exactly taken the world by storm. They haven't charted an album or single in years (that I'm aware of), and their potential as a TV or film draw is totally mixed. The recent movie "Detroit Rock City", about a group of teens trying to attend a KISS concert, was a massive box office flop. It opened in 12th place two weeks ago, and to date has only earned $3.6 million. With KISS performances being a regular staple on MTV and VH1, would an appearance on Nitro draw that many viewers? No doubt WCW's bringing in the band was something of a coup, but it came at a price: at least a half million bucks. Was it worth it? As I pointed out above, they were used in such a way as to be ineffectual in their quest for high ratings. WCW will have to see if the KISS Demon gimmick gets over with the fans, because at this point, that's all their money will be getting them. Say, doesn't the ICP have "legit heat" with KISS, and weren't they supposed to come out and kick their ass or something? Yet another of those damnable "Internet rumors" that was quietly started by WCW itself. Speaking of rumors, where was Bret Hart? I'd gotten something of a break from WCW recently in that I barely paid any attention to Nitro the last two weeks. I watched about five minutes of Thunder last week--none the week before. I came into this week's show with my batteries somewhat recharged and, I thought, my mind a bit more open. Even I'm surprised at how much I hated this week's show. Maybe I had two week's worth of disgust to vent. Maybe they suffered by comparison given how good the WWF has been lately (especially taking into account SummerSlam). Or maybe they really did suck a whole lot this week. Okay, let's focus on the good: ... ... ummm ... Alright, there was a lot of good wrestling this week. But that's true of Nitro most every week, isn't it? There is, however, a difference between "good wrestling" and "good matches". While I appreciated a great many moves and spots throughout a number of the matches, not one of those matches in their entirety appeared on my interest radar. Breaking it down by hours, Hour One was a total wash, with something like five minutes of actual wrestling and five minutes of angle development being stretched out over sixty minutes. At best the hour teased us with promises of better stuff to come (I'm giving WCW a great benefit of the doubt in saying that). In short, nothing happened in Hour One. Hour Two had three matches. The first was the usual good match ruined by a Sid walk-in. The second match was dull (Revolution vs. First Family), and the third was the only good thing in the hour (ICP vs. Filthy Animals). As is so often the problem with Nitro there was nothing to tie the whole hour together. When WCW isn't giving us an actual wrestling match to focus on the show looks like a big train wreck. Hour Three was kept busy with a number of matches, featuring the best wrestling of the show. Things then went all to hell with the main event, and subsequent anticlimactic KISS performance. It's hard to rate this show in the overall ranks of Nitro's this year. It's better than some of the worst, but if you ask me it was still pretty bad. Pushing Vampiro, ICP, Eddie, Rey and Kidman is a good thing. Benoit's push is good, I guess, though the whole Revolution thing is really starting to drag him down. Everything involving Sid and Hogan sucks. Everything else is in this huge spinning vortex where from moment to moment things make no sense, contradict logic, and range from mediocre (at best) to really awful (at worst). Storylines are dropped at a moment's notice, while others are started with such little fanfare the fans don't catch on. So much of the bulk of WCW's program is done with such an uneven hand that the fans have a hard time following what's going on, and are given little chance to become interested. Face it friends ... WCW is a mess. There's a saying about someone bleeding to death from a thousand paper cuts. I can't remember how it goes exactly, but that's my feeling about WCW right now. The company is bleeding in a thousand places, and all WCW is doing is applying tiny little bandages. What's worse, they apply a bandage, then stop to brag about it, ignoring all the other still-gushing wounds. For all their claims of trying to improve, WCW is really in the same shape they've been all year. I think that about says it all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Ames, Iowa. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - PPV stills open the show. - Jim Ross is in the ring to interview the new WWF Champion ... Triple H? Helmsley and Chyna come out to the ring. Seems the former DeGeneration X member is livid because Mankind stole the title from him at SummerSlam. Triple H had Steve Austin down and out following a Pedigree, but Mankind swooped in, hit Austin with the double arm DDT, and covered for the pin. Helmsley goes off on Jim Ross for being pleased at the turn of events. Despite his protestations, Triple H lays into Ross, forcing him to his knees with and armbar. Triple H calls for Mankind to come out, or he'll break Ross' arm. Mankind arrives on the scene. He tells Triple H that he didn't have to assault Ross to get a title match, merely ask for one. The match is his if he lets Ross go. (Funny to watch Ross there trying to tap out!) Triple H complies, but not until he jams Ross' arm. A rather ineffectual "*crack*" sound effect is added and Ross drops to the mat, his arm flopping at an angle. Mankind checks on Ross, then tells Triple H that since because of his heinous act, he will go back on his word and NOT give Triple H a shot at the belt. Out comes WWF owner Shane McMahon. With Commissioner Shawn Michaels absent this week, that leaves McMahon free to call the shorts. He orders Mankind to defend his belt against Triple H. Medical personnel come out to help Ross. (I'd accuse Ross of doing a Scott Hudson here, but didn't Hudson take his beating the week *after* Ross was punched out by Triple H at the announcer's desk?) Remember when Mankind once wrangled a title shot out of Vince McMahon by doing this EXACT SAME THING to Shane McMahon? (Though he didn't break Shane's arm, obviously.) That's now come back to haunt Mankind as Shane gets revenge by forcing Mankind to put up his belt. THE WWF ROCKS! - Following replays of what just went down, we see Ross being loaded into an ambulance. He flashes Mankind a weak thumbs up. Michael Cole joins Jerry Lawler at the announce table. - ROAD DOGG vs. AL SNOW The two have just enough time to set up a ladder/table spot (which flops) when the "Y2J" Countdown flashes on the Titan-Tron. The lights go out, then back on, revealing Chris Jericho attacking Road Dogg. Those two brawl up the ramp. The Big Bossman then comes out, whacks Snow, and runs away with Snow's dog Pepper (in a handy carry-all). Cut to the back, where Jericho and Road Dogg are still fighting. The Bossman blows by, deposits Pepper into a nearby waiting rental car, and blows out of the arena. Snow gives pursuit on foot. - Snow is wandering backstage looking for Pepper. - THE ACOLYTES vs. THE UNDERTAKER/BIG SHOW (w/ Paul Bearer) Kane and X-Pac sit in for color commentary (well, X-Pac anyway). Faster than you can say "schmozz" they get involved and the match is thrown out. Test and Stephanie make gooey eyes at each other backstage. - "Three nights ago, two sports entertainers disappeared in the woods near Ames, Iowa while shooting a documentary. Yesterday afternoon, their footage was found. The Blonde Bytch Project" This would be REALLY funny if everyone wasn't already doing it. Camcorder footage of the Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards as they plan to go off in search of the Blonde Bytch. To be continued on Smackdown. Wouldn't it be something if they found Sunny? Actually, my guess is that this has something to do with Cindy Margolis, who said on her website that she'd be involved with the Smackdown taping. The sad thing is this blows all to hell a piece I was writing for the nWWWo called "The Flair Bitch Project". Flair goes to Japan ... never seen again ... footage later found ... you get the idea. It was funny idea when I started writing it. Then I went on hiatus, and EVERYONE did their own "Blair Witch" parodies. Timing is everything ... - New WWF ring announcer Lillian Garcia intro's Test. Test talks about how hard it was to win the hand of Stephanie. The crowd gets a bit uneasy, as a Val Venis "kick her to the curb" vibe starts to spread. Stephanie comes out. Test starts to ask her an important question, but is cut off by Shane McMahon. Shane says he promised to stay out of Stephanie's life, but that Test is going too far here. Stephanie chews him out, then asks Test to continue. Test drops to one knee ... and asks Stephanie to marry him! (*Sniff!* ... there's something in my eye.) Steph says she needs some time to think it over and gives him a hug. Shane and Test exchange evil stares. - Chris Jericho and the Fink are backstage. Jericho tells "Edward" that if he wants to be at his side, he has to be a true warrior. FINKEL IS RALPHUS! The Fink gets a funny, determined look in his eye. - Jeff Jarrett, Debra and Mark Henry hit the ring. As a token of his gratitude for helping him win his IC Title back, Jarrett *gives* Henry the European Title belt. Yeah ... who needs title matches any more?! Jarrett then thanks Debra for her part in the scheme by giving her a personal assistant ... Miss Kitty. A large pair of breasts bob their way to the ring. Lawler is going to make "Here, Kitty Kitty!" every bit as big as "Puppies!" Jarrett, once again affirming his status as the Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time says he's left an open contract in the back. He then orders Henry to make light work of his opponent tonight, Meat. Backstage we see D-Lo Brown beating Meat (as Terri Runnels looks on). Wait ... that didn't come out right. D-Lo comes out, having apparently taken Meat's spot in the European Title match. - MARK HENRY vs. D-LO BROWN In no time at all Jarrett interferes, causing the DQ. Boo! Billy Gunn is desperately trying to find a pen to sign Jarrett open IC Title match contract. Chyna comes along and Gunn asks her to stand there as keep anyone else from signing it as he goes off to find a pen. Chyna nods, smiles, then whips a pen out of her cleavage and signs the contract herself. EVIL! The Rock is in the building. - Gunn, having learned that Chyna signed the contract, would like to have a few words with her. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - THE ROCK vs. GANGREL The Rock is more than holding his own when the Hardy "New Brood" Boyz come out. One Hardy distracts the ref as another attacks the Rock. Out come Edge and Christian to chase the Hardys off. A Rock Bottom and People's Elbow later and the Rock has scored the pin. The Rock takes the mic and asks why the hell he's facing guys like Gangrel, when a whiner like Triple H gets a title shot? He says it's time to take matters into his own hands and do something about that. Howard Finkel is in a gym warming up. "I'm a warrior! I can do it!" - Kevin Kelly gets comments from Tori, who thinks Ivory has a humiliation fetish. She proposes an "Evening Gown Match" for Ivory's Women's Championship, to take place on Smackdown. - Cue the Ultimate Warrior's music. WHAT?! Out runs Howard Finkel. Once in the ring he shakes the ropes, a la the Warrior. The Fink sings the praises of Chris Jericho, and calls out the Road Dogg. The Dogg, highly amused, saunters to the ring. Finkel starts a shoving match, which the Dogg does his best to laugh off. He finally gets annoyed, at which point the lights go out and the "Y2J" Countdown kicks in. As happened earlier in the show, the lights come on in time to see Jericho attack Road Dogg, this time from the opposite direction. Jericho gets the upper hand, laying out Road Dogg and planting a foot on his chest. Jericho and Finkel depart. Al Snow is taking Pepper's abduction hard. Gunn comes across Triple H in his search for Chyna. Triple H warns Gunn that if he looks to hard for her, he just might find her. Kevin Kelly gets comments from "Hardcore" Holly. - "HARDCORE" HOLLY vs. "CRASH" HOLLY Punch. Ask if cousin is okay. Repeat. Funny, but starting to wear thin. No winner, as the two brawl away from the ring through the backstage area. Backstage, Kevin Kelly gives us an update as to Steve Austin's condition. Triple H's vicious chair attack left Austin suffering ligament and tendon damage. Mankind strolls in to deliver a few comments of his own regarding Triple H. Al Snow's curled up in a little ball, mourning the loss of Pepper. - X-PAC/KANE vs. VISCERA/MIDEON The Undertaker and Big Show are out for color commentary. The new ring announcer slips up, saying this match is scheduled for "one round". She must come from the boxing world. The Acolytes come to ringside. When the ref isn't looking they pull Kane out and beat on him. That leaves X-Pac outnumbered, and he falls victim to a splash and pin by Viscera. It'll sure be nice when the Dudley Boyz come in and spark this division up a bit (though I'm not necessarily a huge Dudley Boyz fan). We already have "Monday Night RAW is Jericho", say the Millennium Man, but if Finkel keeps working hard, we may soon have "Thursday Night Finkdown". - Mr. Ass hits the ring and calls out Chyna. He demands that she give up that shot at Jeff Jarrett's IC Title. She refuses. Jarrett suddenly appears and he plasters Chyna from behind with a guitar. Miss Kitty, at ringside, holds up another guitar for Jarrett to use, but Gunn gets his hands on that one and uses it on Jarrett. Debra comes out and chews out Kitty for her screw-up. So, when is this Jarrett/Chyna match supposed to take place? Smackdown? The September "Unforgiven" PPV? The Rock is on the move. - MANKIND vs. TRIPLE H The Rock has joined the announce team. He'd like to know who's booking him into crap matches against Billy Gunn and Gangrel? Hah! Shane McMahon comes out in a referee shirt. Uh-oh. Mankind controls early on, with Shane finding ways to be in the wrong position or looking the other way when Triple H cheats or Mankind has a pin cover. The Rock is pure gold on commentary, expressing his fears that WWF matchmakers will have him fighting the Brooklyn Brawler soon. Mankind pulls out Mr. Socko, but Shane eats the Mandible Claw instead of Helmsley. With McMahon out, Chyna is free to come in (still showing the effects of Jarrett's guitar shot) to help Triple H. Mankind takes her out with a Claw as well, then hits a double arm DDT on Helmsley. Referee Earl Hebner comes in a split-second too late to count the pin for Mankind. From there the action goes in and out of the ring. Chyna manages to distract referee Hebner. Shane, just coming to, hits Mankind with a weak chair shot. An angry Mankind turns, meeting a vicious chairshot to the head from Helmsley. Triple H then positively MURDERS the Rock with a shot to his head. Mankind is rolled into the ring. Shane clobbers Hebner, Triple H Pedigrees Mankind, covers, and Shane counts the pinfall. New World Wrestling Federation Champion! - This Thursday: Smackdown premieres! Ivory vs. Tori in an "Evening Gown Match". - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Several weeks ago I figured Mankind would be the one to unseat Triple H after he beat Austin for the title. Turns out I wasn't too far off, just had it a bit backwards, as the next week they brought Mankind in, introduced him into the SummerSlam mix, gave him the belt, then had him hand it off to Triple H. I'd say it looks now like this feud will continue a bit, with Triple H ultimately prevailing, only to eventually lose the belt to the Rock. Gazing into the crystal ball I could then see the Rock lose the belt to the Big Show, then the Big Show dropping it to Austin next year at WrestleMania 2000. The Undertaker could fit in there somewhere as well. Whatever comes about, it looks like there's enough in place to get us saying "Steve Austin who?" for the next few months. I see Austin taking a few months off to rest up his knees, which have been bad for some time (and not because of Triple H's chair attack). Do some TV or movie work. Maybe pull a Michaels and show up on RAW occasionally to pop a big rating. The WWF may even play it up that his career is over, thus making his eventual return all that much bigger. Pretty good show this week. Can't see much worth pulling out and ragging on. There were maybe too many DQ finishes, I'll note. Other than that, good stuff this week. I can't even begin to guess what we'll see on Smackdown this week. I myself plan to avoid the 'Net on Wednesday, so as not to spoil the show by reading taping results. I won't be doing a Smackdown Recap. If anything big happens on the show, I'll mention it on the "Headlines" section of the Website, and examine it in next week's Monday Night Recap. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Some have wondered why WCW didn't hype Goldberg's "Universal Soldier" appearance more than they did. Turns out that was a smart plan on WCW's part. "Universal Soldier: The Return" opened this week in 7th place, earning a mediocre $4.6 million. Just the latest in a string of box office flops for Jean Claude Van Damme. The WWF has had their own box office flop connection to deal with. "Mystery Men", whose star Ben Stiller appeared on RAW recently, has earned a dismal $24.5 million in three weeks. It's expected to end it's run here in the States with about $30 million. The movie cost more than $60 million to make, and won't break even until it opens overseas (and perhaps not even then). The Andy Kaufman biopic, "Man in the Moon", which stars Jim Carrey and features Jerry "The King" Lawler as himself, opens this coming Christmas. The movie is drawing some good critical buzz, but it's potential as a box office draw is up in the air. It's a risky proposition for a wrestling promotion to latch on to a specific movie, TV show or what have you. Celebrities are a double-edged sword in that respect. If they're hot, then so are you for associating with them. If not, you take the fall when they do. Think WCW was pleased to hear about Dennis Rodman being arrested this past weekend? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 197 of the "Monday Night Recap", August 23rd, 1999.