THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY FOR 10/30/2000

Boo!

Did I scare you? No? Hmm...well let me try again.

Vince Russo is WCW's last hope of keeping the WWF from buying them out!

Now that is a scary thought. Gives me the creeps...or at least the heebie jeebies. 

Well anyway, happy Halloween to all of you. What's the skinny, friends? Michaelangelo here, as usual, to throw some more of my personal opinion down your throat. Open wide, kiddies, here it comes!

The WCW is rebounding from a PPV that has Scott Keith puking in his shoes. If you get a chance, hop over toe Wrestleline and read his recap. It's brutal, really. 

Now last week, I offered some comments on the WWF's No Mercy PPV, in spite of not having seen it. A couple of you wisely chose to call me on this, saying that I really should not criticize an event I had not seen. I say this in my defense: If you read my comments last week, you will notice that I do not comment on the actual matches, rather the results. I only offered my opinion on the booking, not the actual in-ring performance. That's allowed, right?

I hope so, 'cause I am about to do it again.

WCW's Halloween Havok seems to me to be a kind of by-the-numbers/status-quo booking job. Only one title changed hands, and not much else seemed to be resolved. I guess with the future of the company up for grabs, they figure that they'd best not be too drastic with any changes. I mean, they could go and do some crazy spiteful stuff like giving Nitro Girl Chiquita the World Title or having Vampiro job to a German Shepard. This would backfire hard if the WWF doesn't buy them out, so instead they give us stagnant results. Here are some quick bulleted comments.

• I like Jindrak and O'Hare and am glad they won without having to have Sanders come out and restart a loss. How about we have them keep winning on their own now?
• Reno? Eh.
• How many times is Luger going to turn on people? I mean, we have come to expect it these days. It's like some sort of sick in-joke now. Would you ever be his friend?
• Having a kickboxing match end with a count out? Am I the only one who finds that just this side of lame?
• Vampiro jobs again. Nuff said.
• Five fake Stings and two guitar shots gave Jarrett the victory. Overbooking has been take to a new level.
• I would be pissed if I paid $30 to see Steiner and Booker for the World Title only to have it end in a lame-ass DQ.
• Kronik has been officially castrated. Christ. I would have booked them to win. We all see exactly where this Goldberg thing is going and do we really want to wait for him to beat 180 guys before things change? Having his streak be broken by a team consisting of two huge guys would not have sucked Goldie's heat and would have kept us all guessing as to where the big bald guy would have to go from here.

But that's just my opinion.

WWF will continue to focus on the reign of the cowardly World Champion, Kurt Angle as well as The Rock and whatever he is doing these days. Also, Steve Austin takes on Rikishi in a steel cage. That's worth the price of admission.

Alrighty then. Let's get to it.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly for Monday, October 30, 2000

WCW MONDAY NITRO

INTERESTING: A new CEO? What the hell is that about? Are they trying to play off the Internet rumors of a buyout and expect us to think someone named McMahon is going to get out of that limo only to have us be shocked and surprised when it is someone like Ric Flair instead? 

GOOD: I have to admit, it did grab my attention.

GOOD: Filthy Animals versus NBT to start off the night. There's always a good outing when these four are in the ring together.

BAD: They really should start giving some other talented people the chance to open the show. It seems as if it's always the same six guys.

GOOD: Madden (to Konnan, RE: Jindrack and O'Hare): "You have to admit that they are one of the greatest tag teams of all time." Konnan: "They suck."

GOOD: The in-ring work. Couple of botched spots but overall a solid match. 

UGLY: Jesus, Rey takes serious bumps. You gotta give it to the little guy, they keep booking him to be tossed around like a rag doll and, boy does he get thrown around!

QUESTION: What's the deal with the Armstrongs as referees? Are they going somewhere with this or is it just an opportunity for the brothers to get some work?

BAD: Madden insists on comparing Jindrack and O'Hare to Arn Anderson and his many partners. I admit that these two men are good, but sorry, they are in no way similar to Arn and anyone he ever teamed with. For starters they are far more aerial and technical while the Andersons were brawlers. Need I go any furhter? Nah, not for Madden I don't.

BAD: A run-in screws the match ending.

GOOD: It wasn't too bad for a run-in. It made some sense. At least it wasn't Sid coming to the ring to take everyone down for no reason at all.

BAD: How long are they going to keep the CEO in that limousine? 

UGLY: Kwee Wee is coated with glitter. Gawd that's an ugly gimmick.

BAD: Kwee Wee, all shiny and sparkly and pink trying to be all nasty by screaming while calling out Reno. Why doesn't he just stay in character? This "I'm the Hulk, don't make me angry" shit just doesn't fly. If he wants to be a bad-ass, he should wash off the glitter and lose the dress. Otherwise, he should act like...well...Kwee Wee.

HA!: Reno is covered in glitter one minute into the match. I'd be pissed if I had to get that crap all over me.

EH: This match. It's decently performed but largely uninspired. 

BAD: Tony claims that we have "gone back to traditional hardcore rules where anything goes." Um, what did they do before? Oh yeah, we had DQ's in hardcore matches. My mistake.

GOOD: Having the NBT involved in the match. Yeah, I know I complain of screwjob endings. However, in hardcore matches, run-ins and outside interference is okay by me since there is a no DQ rule and any wrestler with any brains would have backup in case he gets into trouble. It just makes sense. It's all legal, so if you're smart, you'll do it.

EH: So Rection takes the United States Title finally. Um, does anyone really care? The angle lasted too long and slowly lost heat as the weeks went on. At this point, I really don't care who has the title.

HMMM: The Canadian logo is still on there. This must be the great removal ceremony.

GOOD: Morrus' interview. Sure it was worked, but there was a bit of truth there, I am sure. 

BAD: Madden makes an asinine comment about Gene giving Morrus "the clap" when the applause begins. Naturally.

I WONDER...if he knew the locker room was going to empty out in his honor. Well, duh, of course he did. however, considering that his career nearly ended due to injury at one point, I am certain that it still got to the big man, just a little bit. 

INTERESTING: Goldberg offers props to Hugh. Heh. There's irony. Morrus was the first guy that Goldberg took out to start his initial streak.

BAD: Goldie makes mention of it during his mic time. Attaway to put yourself over during someone else's moment.

I HOPE...that the limo has a television in it. That CEO has got to be getting bored.

BAD: We still hear Daffneey scream during David Flair's entrance.

BAD: Buff is not the father of the baby. Do we have to continue this angle now? Can't we just let it die?

BAD: If Buff was not the father, why didn't he just take the DNA test and get it over with? Why did he put himself through all that crap with David?

UM...OKAY: So we get Smooth versus David? Can you say "squash"?

GOOD: There is a marked improvement in Dave's in-ring prowess and timing. Don't get me wrong, he still sucks, but he is improving. I guess I am trying to say that he is less awful than he used to be.

BAD: Hart gets some mic time, but did you notice the fine print? He paid for it! Oh man!

BAD: Does Tony really think that Rick Dees or Howard Stern will wrestle Jimmy Hart? Jesus, Stern wouldn't even judge a bikini contest. He sent those freaks in the Whack Pack instead. Sheesh.

BAD: It doesn't make any sense for Sanders to feed the Boogie Knights to Goldberg. Didn't they just help his friends retain their Tag Team Titles?

GOOD: At least his arrival gets some heat.

OH: He's not wrestling them. He's just tossing them, so we have no idea why Disco and Alex were sent out there.

BAD: The camera stationed outside the limo completely missed the CEO exiting and going to his dressing room. Why not just hype the appearance and have the car pull up at five minutes until 9 instead of showing us the car three times and then giving us a set of legs walking to the ring?

GOOD: I don't plan on turning the channel when we get back from commercial, so they have hooked me at least until I see who the new CEO is.

BAD: How can the announcers be boggling about whether Sanders is the CEO? Now wasn't he talking to Nash backstage while the "CEO" was in the limousine? Think, morons. Believe me, your fans are not stupid. Don't treat them as if they are.

WELL, OKAY: Flair is the new CEO? Kind of predictable, but if it means mic time from him, I won't complain.

BAD: If Vince McMahon buys the company in the next week or two, this angle will fall by the wayside.

GOOD: Flair puts over the company and the talent backstage.

SAD: They are trying the "it's a new day in WCW" talk again. How many new days are they going to have under the current regime, anyway? It just doesn't work anymore and it hasn't the last two times they tried it.

BAD: Jarrett's mic is off.

GOOD: Jarrett plays off it well and moves right on. 

BAD: Flair says to Jarrett, "The only time you're the chosen one is when you are in a room full of girls." What the hell does that mean?

GOOD: The quick dialogue between Flair and Jarrett.

BAD: It just kind of peters out without any sort of logical conclusion. Flair just says that he's the boss and Jarrett walks off. Hmph.

GOOD: Luger looks great physically.

BAD: He still sucks as a wrestler.

GOOD: Bagwell and Luger get it on in a spur-of-the-moment match. 

BAD: The ring rust on both these guys is evident...Bagwell delivers the worst double arm DDT I have ever seen and Luger still hasn't learned anything besides a clothesline and The Rack.

WOW: Bagwell jobs clean and submits. Interesting way to help build Luger for his eventual fight with Goldberg.

BLEAH: The Nash/Perfect Event interview. Sure, yeah, right, they patched things up. I believe you...NOT.

WORTH A LAUGH: Nash bending over to accept a butt slap from Pamela Paulshock. 

GOOD: Kronik versus Perfect Event. Four big guys who don't suck are worth my time. Let's see what they do here.

FUTILE: The crowd is chanting "We want Scott Hall." He's out, and this time it may well be for good. Time to give up the ghost.

BAD: Madden credits Nash with teaching Palumbo the dropkick. Nash never dropkicked anyone or anything in his life...not on purpose, anyway.

FUNNY: Staziack gets beat on outside the ring and Nash tells him to "Walk it off." I don't know why, but that just strikes me as funny.

UGLY: Brian Clarke's tan. He's the same color as Winnie the Pooh.

BAD: Staziak walks out on the match again. Time to move this angle forward once and for all. No more reunions and promises of "being on the team." Just extricate him from the Thrillerz and move on.

GOOD: The Cat!

BAD: He is no longer commish so we don't get to see him in the backstage vignettes anymore.

GOOD: Cat runs down Madden again. "I hate you Mark Madden!" I love you Ernest Miller!

GOOD: Cat wins clean in a decent bout.

ON THE FENCE: Looks like a Shane Douglas/Cat feud is in the works. I like the Cat but I really see Douglas as a potential major player and feuds with midcarders isn't going to get him there. On the other hand, we could see some good matches with these two. Throw in Torri and Ms. Jones, and things can get very interesting.

BAD: Mike Awesome could conceivably be a World Title holder. "That 70's Guy" will never hold the belt.

WHOAH: Is it me, or have Midajah's breasts seem to get higher every week?

GOOD THEN BAD: Steiner starts out strong with his promo but then flubs his lines over and over until I completely lose track of what he is saying.

GOOD: Booker and Steiner go nuts on each other to start the match. Considering the fact that they worked last night, they look good in there.

BAD: What the hell is taking Awesome so long to get to the ring?

GOOD: Ah, there he is. Must've taken him longer than usual to change out of the polyester suit.

GOOD: These three men put on a good show. It's actually long enough to tell a decent story too. Kudos all round.

GOOD: Booker retains.

BAD: Steiner again does not do the j-o-b.

OVERALL: Actually, this was a decent show. I nitpick a lot of little things because I am still hoping that WCW gets itself together, so take it for what it's worth. Most of the matches were well booked. The main event was hot and actually held the crowd for a short time. The return of Ric Flair is always something I will always approve of. Let's just keep him out of the insane asylum this time around, okay?

WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW

GREAT: God, I love the recap video packages that WWF runs before their shows start. The sound and editing is just incredible.

SIGN: Poke Smot. Clever.

GOOD: Rikishi and Austin in a steel cage. Rocky versus Jericho. X-Pac at WWF New York! Gonna be a good night.

BAD: The Kat dressing as Chyna again. I am not sure I really need to see that little girl and her wigs anymore. I just don't find her entertaining. Maybe it's me.

GOOD: Chyna delivers a decent interview...it might be a tad wooden, but no heavy complaints.

I HOPE...The rest of the Radicalz interfere in this match and bring Eddie back into the fold.

BAD: Ugh, there's Miss Kitty. Didn't these two used to be friends? Why is she attacking Chyna now?

BAD: Eddie has to move a step slower to keep pace with Chyna in the ring. She's still not quite there.

BAD: Production glitches during the match interfere with the flow. That's been happening a lot lately.

BAD: A run-in during the first match. Ah, well. 

UGLY: Gunn's haircut. He looks like Frankenstein now.

HEH: So Angle does not have to defend the title tonight. We all know that that doesn't meant that he won't have to "wrestle" tonight.

GOOD: Maybe since Steph is sick, we won't have to hear her give a 15 minute monologue.

GOOD: Is it me, or do Edge and Christian just crack you up too? "Dude you were totally born today!" Oh, and that thumbs up pose at the end? Well, I laughed.

FUNNY: Al Snow bribes Jerry Lawler with candy if he will be his partner in a match against Raven and Tazz. In spite of what Foley says, I enjoy seeing Snow. The word "hijinks" comes to mind.

GOOD: We are going to see Ivory wrestle for the first time since she joined the RTC.

GOOD: Ivory on the stick. She's a perfect fit for this stable.

HOW...is Ivory going to wrestle in a long skirt?

OH...surprisingly well.

COOL: A hot jumping DDT by Matt on the Goodfather.

WOW: Lita nearly broke her own neck with that plancha on Bull and Goodfather while they were holding Matt.

BAD: Again with the Steven Richards interference. 

BAD: The Steviekick completely misses Jeff's face. Looks like he hit him above the shoulder.

FUNNY: Edge, Christian, and Angle are all wearing pointy birthday hats, and Angle has the World Title Belt around his waist. It's comical in so many ways.

GOOD: HHH glaring at Angle the minute he tries to say anything.

INTERESTING: A fair amount of heat for Regal's music...is he getting over?

COOL: Regal runs down the Beantown crowd over the Boston Tea Party...heh "lodge a complaint with parliament" indeed!

HEE HEE: Chowder and beans. The Red Sox. Regal takes cheap heat and twists it well.

WOW: UT is back? He slipped under the Internet eyes, didn't he? Nice surprise.

BAD: Poor Regal is on the receiving end of a finishing move from a main eventer again.

UGLY: Looks like UT had some trouble getting the Englishman up for the powerbomb. I hope he didn't reinjure his crotch.

GOOD: "You talk funny." What else is there to say? 

UGLY: The People's Pimple. Ugh. Right over Rocky's eyebrow. Squeeze it! Ewwwwwww!

BAD: The angle of T&A redecorating the APA's office. I just can't seem to give a shit. If they have to keep this going until Farooq and Bradshaw recover, it could really grate on my nerves.

I HOPE...that when all is said and done that poor little Crash gets inducted into the APA. He's been taking beatings on their behalf all month.

YIKES: Another movie star appearing on a wrestling show. This time it's Adam Sandler. Hopefully it will just be a crowd shot.

WOW: Savage elbow on Crash inside a trashcan. Yeesh! Who did that hurt more?

GREAT: Edge and Christian serenading the "partygoers" by performing their and HHH's entrance themes. If you didn't laugh, you have to get that board out of your ass. You'll be much more comfortable, I promise.

TO PAR: Stone Cold's interview. He's got his old shit down, let's hear some new stuff now.

GOOD: The massive heat for the Austin/Rikishi match. That's interesting. The WWF hype a match and then, deliver it. What a concept!

BAD: Both these guys are moving slow. I suppose they both have theirs reasons to.

OW: Austin slamming the cage door in Rikishi's face. That look like it hurt for real.

GOOD: Rikishi juices early in the match. 

GOOD: The match picks up after a few minutes. They haven't lost the crowd, keep going, guys.

BAD: Bit of a squash there...

GOOD: The match ended clean.

BAD: But now where does this leave the angle? It would seem that this was the blowoff. The face beats the heel clean inside a cage. That's quite definitive as far as I can tell.

OH, I SEE: JR claims that it's not over because "Rikishi is still breathing!" Ah, so all angles now continue until one of the participants is dead? That explains the length of the HHH/Stephanie/Angle storyline.

GOOD: The second Stephanie's car is out of sight, HHH turns on Angle. Yeah we knew it would happen, but he does it so well.

BAD: JR says that he thought "Hunter and HHH" were getting along. I think they are, unless there is some sort of split personality angle going on that I was not aware of.

GOOD: The stips of his match are win/win for Gunn. If he loses, he drops the Mr. Ass thing. If he wins, he gets to humiliate his opponent. Why the hell would he want to keep being Mr. Ass, anyway? It's time for a gimmick change.

BAD: Horrible belt shot spot by Eddie and Gunn. It was a nasty shot to Billy's arm, too bad it missed his head completely.

GOOD: Stevie keeps selling his injuries. When the RTC members "help" him out of the ring, he stumbles to the mat and lands flat on his face.

GOOD: No Kane to interfere in Jericho's match with the Rock. 

BAD: There are just so many others that could get involved, and likely will.

GOOD: HHH and Foley both play to the crowd together. Is it me, or have these two found some serious chemistry and just keep pumping it out?

UGLY: Nasty cut on Rikishi's temple. 

INTERESTING: Torrie is back. Like the new hairdo. She's got the serious guns going on under that shirt! I think she didn't just get her shoulder worked on...

ON THE FENCE: Deborah has become the Lieutenant Commissioner. Not sure if that is a good thing...I will reserve judgment for now.

BAD: As CyanIndigo just pointed out, it does seem to resemble WCW's Cat and Ms. Jones pairing.

BAD: She's still using Jeff Jarrett's old music. Time to get her a new theme.

GOOD: More Edge and Christian antics. I love these two.

BAD: That E&C yellow T-Shirt. That's a joke, right? Are they really selling that butt ugly thing?

GOOD: HHH versus Angle. That's a PPV quality match anywhere.

WOW: Nasty looking clothesline sends Angle out of the ring! 

NOT BAD: For a free televised match, it's not too bad.

WHOAH: There goes the announcers' table. Notice how Angle took the brunt of the hit with his shoulder instead of his head this time.

GOOD: HHH just goes nuts and lays Angle, White, Edge, and Christian out. The crowd loves it and so do I!

GREAT: Rocky and Jericho dueling catchphrases. I particularly liked when Jericho stole the smellalalalalala line and Rocky followed up by co-opting the never eeeeeeeeeeever line. Great stuff from two great talkers.

UH OH: Rikishi is watching from backstage. I smell a run-in.

GOOD: It's great that Jericho is back in the main event/title scene, if only for a short time.

GOOD: Rocky's screams sell Jericho's chops like there is acid on his chest.

GOOD: Hebner drops like a stone when he gets the "kiss that right" punch right to the jaw.

BAD: Rocky screws up that leg whip on Jericho and it looks like he could have really screwed up Y2J's knee.

GOOD: Jericho does not seem to be injured.

BAD: This match is a bit overbooked for my tastes...two ref bumps and outside interference.

BAD: Jericho loses again...*sigh*

GOOD: Rikishi takes Rocky out after the match and twists the screws a bit tighter by accusing him of knowing all along about his actions against Stone Cold. The plot thickens...

OVERALL: I'd have to give this show a thumbs up. The returns of UT and Deborah were unexpected and the crowd reacted well to them. I enjoyed watching E&C and their antics as well. The matches were quite good as HHH/Angle, Austin/Rikishi, and Rock/Jericho seemed to hit on all cylinders. If they had added a Hardies/Dudley's table title match this could have been a PPV! I only wihs Benoit had shown up...

Good night to be a wrestling fan, I think.

Have a safe and happy Halloween, all. See you in a week.

Questions? Comments? Ghosts and goblins? Drop me a line at michaelangelo70@hotmail.com. All letters will be answered or ritualistically sacrificed.

I am Michaelangelo and will be for a while.