10. Here's a way the WWF could build to having Rock-Austin and HHH-Angle at Wrestlemania: forge the HHH-Austin alliance. How to do it? After the Survivor Series debacle, it's obvious that something happened with the two of them. Play it up. They were faking the feud to cost Angle the WWF Title, and they can do that at the Royal Rumble by turning on Kurt and making him a babyface ex-champ. Would it turn Austin heel? It would if he put Stephanie on his shoulders. I think they stop the bleeding and Austin either wins the title on Monday or turns heel, or both.

9. What can Edge/Christian - Hardyz - Dudleyz do in 2001 to top what they did in 2000? Those three tag teams had an *amazing* year when they fought each other. Witness it:

****-Dudz/Hardyz (Royal Rumble) I still maintain this match is underrated. It is amazing, and I stand by the rating.

***3/4-Hardyz/Blondes (No Way Out) Super match here.

*****-Hardyz/Blondes/Dudz (Wrestlemania XVI) The triple switch gives this amazing match the edge over the TLC match.

****3/4-Hardyz/Blondes/Dudz (Summerslam) Still a great spotfest.

***1/2-Hardyz/Blondes (Unforgiven) Not the best of the series, but still a kickass match. I wonder if Jeff Hardy's early elimination was intention.

I've heard a lot of suggestions about TLC 2: Ladder in the Cell is whatever, but I don't want anyone to die and I don't think they should take it to levels that they can't bring it down from. I think the Dudz/Blondes non-gimmick match at the RR is a good first step. They don't need the spots to get over, they need a storyline.

8. In those ladder/TLC matches, aren't the guys concerned that when the do the move of the ladder where there isn't a lot of room, that somone's head will hit the rope? And if that happened, what would be the reprecussion? Anyone have any thoughts on the kinds of injuries you might suffer there? I would think you could break your neck with a Side Russian legsweep off the ladder, and your head hits the rope from that height.

7. There is so much criticism of the huge guys on the internet. "Kane sucks. Undertaker sucks. Big Show sucks. Nash sucks. Sid sucks." All right, Nash and Sid do suck. Those guys are horrible. Sid's only good singles match was against HBK. And the was his only singles match that was REMOTELY good. Sid-Benoit at Souled Out blew, let me tell you. Nash was good before he stopped having any incentive to perform well. After he came to WCW, in other words.

But back to the point: Mark Calloway just does not have the mobility that smaller guys have. And it's beyond him to carry someoneÑimagine carrying someone in a match where neither ocmbat has a huge range of movement. Mark's had a lot of injuries. He's huge he can't help it. Look at the KaneÑUT series. I mean, the two of them had a couple of stinkers, but WM 14 was pretty damn good. And how about the Kane-Show series? A lot of people said they sucked, but they just had to get in the grove. One RAW main event, they got it right. Here's a flashback:

Kane (with Tori) v. The Big Show. Triple H and Stephanie come out to start. Kane gets in some offense, but Show gets a Russian legsweep and an elbowdrop for two. Both guys lay some stiff shots in until Kane gets a killer enziguiri and then comes off the top rope onto the floor. Plancha. Holy shit. He's got his working boots on tonight. What happened to him? Show slams Kane on the outside and drop him on the not-so steel rail. Kane throws him into the ringpost HARD. Kane is really in tune with his gimmick here. Then Show takes the chair to Kane and Chioda calls for a DQ. 3H says that there is no DQ, and they resume. Then Show goes for the chokeslam on the outside. The likelihood of him performing this move is about the likelihood of Tammy Lynn Sytch performing a Northern Lights Suplex or, you know, staying clean. Kane breaks it up and Show Samoan drops him (!) over the barrier HARD. Choida counts them out, but Steph says there is no count out. Hunter then adds the FCA stipulation. Then Kane backdrops Show over the barrier to the floor. He comes off with the clothesline. These moves gets the replay, as Kane gets two on the outside. Show's head gets taken to the steps. Some brawling lets Big Show drop Kane in a belly-to-back on the floor for two. Holy shit, that looked like it hurt. I always enjoy that bump. The two men slug it out. At least there's no headlocking. Kane gets thrown into the steel HARD. Show picks up the stairs and is about to throw them on Kane, but Kane dropkicks the stairs. The Outlaws come out. Kane picks Show up but drops him as he sees they are two close to Tori. Then Show POWERBOMBS KANE THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE FOR THREE. That was truly meaningful. *** Maybe the best Big Show singles match I have ever seen. Good brawl.

I reviewed it at the time, and I stand by that review. Now check out WWF Summerslam '00, which, for those of us who thought the Rumble sucked, was the pay-per-view of the year, featuring a ****3/4 match in the TLC encounter, a ****1/2 match in the Jericho-Benoit 2/3 Falls, and a Rock-Angle-HHH main event around ****. Undertaker v. Kane, match three bazillion.

Undertaker v. Kane. Undertaker comes out with the Kid Rock entrance complete with motorcylce and huge pop. Taker's SARA tattoo is still kind of disorienting. I wonder if Calloway and Glenn Jacobs like each other in real life. UT comes out to the aisle to meet Kane. They both lay in some stiff shots, and UT takes him to the post outside the ring. Ut rolls in, and bring Kane up. UT tries to tear off the mask, but Kane breaks free. Kane brutalizes UT back in the ring. The mask Kane wears is a bit different. Kane brings a chair in the ring. Ut fights out of it and knocks the chair away, UT hits a chairshot, hard. Why else would they do that? That's effort. UT begins to tear the mask off, and he gets the top of it off. The piece of mask hangs off him. Kane fights back and tries to hit UT with the stairs, but hits the ringpost instead. UT picks up the steps and literally THROWS them at Kane. Kane is bumping like nuts to make up for UT's injury. I can't believe he threw those stairs. UT pounds on him some more. Kane is bleeding. Groinshot, and Kane's eyebrow is visible.The blood looks like burnt skin, oddly enough. Kane kill UT with right hands, and they are pretty stiff. UT spears him, and returns the favor. UT rips the mask full off practically, with his eyes & southward covered. Kane tries a chokeslam, but UT stops him, and the mask comes full off. You can see his ace, and god knows he looks like Glenn Jacobs. I can and will rate this **1/2. Obviously, the finish is undesirable, but Kane did a hell of a job covering up for UT's weaknesses, and generally bumping like hell to give the audience a memorable moment. I wouldn't have wanted them to go 15 or whatever anyway, because it would have killed the heat for HHH-Angle-Rock.

These guys have worked hard at time, especially the Undertaker inspite of his injuries. I'm sick of anyone saying Calloway should retire. Move him out of the top card, sure. I still think a big money UT-Benoit feud would draw, and I think post-WM or at WM they may explore that very matchup. If their styles match up well, it could be good.

6. Let's talk about Scott Steiner. There are many people who assert that Steiner is a liability as WCW Champion. That he can't be controlled backstage. That his ego overcomes him. That he can't bring the company back. Steiner could go off at any moment, they say.

Now, let's go back. Let's talk about Bret Hart. There are many people who assert that Bret is a whiner. That he's too selfish and deserved the current state he's in. That he's a hypocrite and brought on all that happened to him.

Let's talk about Dwayne Johnson. There are many people who asser that The Rock has a big ego. That he's let his popularity get the better of him. That he won't sell for anybody, and he steals other people's moves. That he needs guys to carry him to great matches because he doesn't work hard enough.

This a case of the smark becoming the mark. If Scott Steiner didn't play a lunatic champion on television every week, there would not be nearly the amount of criticism that there is about him. Certainly there is part of Scott Steiner himself in Scott Steiner the character. But don't confuse the two. Lots of people buy the line that Steiner has deteriorated as a wrestler, and to a certain extent, it's true. But don't say he's lazy or he won't work. Because looking at what Scott Steiner has done, it's hard to argue he's any kind of liability. Steiner has waited for the opportunity he has now. He's seen years and years of the top guys in his company dogging the big PPV matches. He's seen politics give Hogan, and then Nash the title. He's seen these men hold him and Goldberg down for their own benefit, chosing who they wanted to push, whether it was DDP or Savage or Sid.

Finally, Scott Steiner is where he should be. He's the top champion in the wrestling business today. He has the most credibility of anyone. He should have it from both a mark and smart perspective.

The guys I mentioned earlier? The Rock and Bret Hart. To a certain extent, the marks have screwed them out of the smark respect they deserve. Bret Hart suffered through a horrible political environment that had him doing jobs to Yokozuna at WM 9, that had him fighting Bob Backlund while the Clique took over the top card at WM 11. He was the one that was willing to do the job to Shawn at WM 12. He was the one that was willing to work with Steve Austin, that helped Austin to become the wrestler of the 90s. The Rock is at every showÑhe hardly ever gets injured and it was him who held the title while HHH shunted him practically to the midcard with a storyline that went nowhere. He bore the blunt of the company's tough times. He doesn't play politics, and he's one of the hardest working wrestlers out there. Both men have been denigrated against not because of the men they are, but because of the characters they portray.

Scott Steiner is the first WCW champion in a long time that is capable of putting on main-event caliber matches. He put on a ***1/2 affair with Goldberg at Fall Brawl, he carried Sid to something watchable at Starrcade, and I have high hopes for the eventual Flair v. Steiner match, and his Goldberg rematch. He isn't pushing any of his political buddies and he's sick of what DDP doing the same. When asked who he thought should be WCW Champion, Chris Benoit quickly responded, Scott Steiner, because he cares about the product he's putting out there. He not only has credibility, he has integrity. If I was him, I'd be much angrier than my character.

5. Letters: "HHH-Cactus Jack Royal Rumble. I challenge anyone to find a reason this match should be ****3/4. It's perfect. Should have been MOTY. Damn."

Reason 1: The barbed wire board that was hidden under the Spanish announce table, which came back out mysteriously rewrapped and rubberized. How thoughtful of the Spanish announce team, huh?

Reason 2: The handcuffed-Jack part. Why was Howard Finkel holding handcuffs to begin with?

There's some reasoning. Not saying you have to agree, just saying.

- Scott

Reason 1: Yeah, that was weird. I don't know what that's about.

Reason 2: 3H gave them to him, as I remember. I wouldn't deduct anything, in any case.

Yeah, I see what you're saying, though. Not connected to this is the idea that for a match to receive ***** it should feature a great angle involved in it, and should be a main event, or at least a main attraction. Keller was talking about that on the Torch website awhile ago, and I think the argument he made for the tag team Bash match over Hogan-Warrior makes senseÑbut still, historically, which match will anyone remember?

This got me thinking that arguing about star ratings is really pointless. It's just a subjective take on the match anyway. I appreciate them when I read recaps because it gives me an idea of what I missed or how my tastes compare to someone else'sÑbut it's not worth losing a pint of blood over it. Which some have done. I won't mention any names.

4, 3, 2, 1. I'm a bit tired, so let's finish up with a pay-per-view preview:

ECW World Heavyweight Title: Steve Corino (c) vs. The Sandman vs. Justin Credible

I think they stop the bleeding here and put the belt back on someone who looks like a world champion. Sadly, none of these guys do, but Credible will have to do. I'm hoping for a psychotic brawl with some heat that might improve on the Snoozefest at 34th Street main event. * to **1/2, most likely.

ECW World Tag Team Titles: Danny Doring & Roadkill (c) vs. E.Z. Money & Julio Dinero.

I would have preferred Simon & Swinger to get the title shot here; it seems odd that they aren't. There is no reason to protect S&S, and them doing the job to Doring and Kill would give the two some legitimacy. I look for a good match here, in any case. Champs to retain. ** to ***1/4, leaning up.

Number One Contenders Match: Tajiri & Mikey vs. F.B.I. vs. Super Crazy & Kid Kash.

I guess ECW is trying for a Match of the Year here, and no better way to do it than to put your best workers in one much. This is the main event, for all intent and purposes, and I'd like to see Paul give them thirty minutes, even if it gets sloppy. This is what we're paying for. I think Super Crazy and Kid Kash go over here, because I wouldn't would either of the other two teams to job to Doring and Roadkill in the meantime. ***1/2 to ****1/2, hopefully not a clusterfuck.

Jerry Lynn & Cyrus vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews.

I could give a shit about this match. No point in putting Lynn or Cyrus over, so put this down as a win for the Hardy Boyz and hope they keep it short. **, tops.

I Quit Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. C.W. Anderson.

Perhaps they'd like to call it the "I Suck" match. I wasn't pleased with last month's effort but it'll be watchable. It's to see Dreamer put Anderson over, anyway. Anderson goes over again, because there is no point to Dreamer winning. * to **3/4, and I'm being generous.

It will be an impactful night for Rhino

I doubt there will be a Lance Storm appearance here, but I wouldn't put it out of the question. It's more likely Rhino will destroy Spike Dudley and throw him into the crowd. I'd prefer them to take the title off Rhino and put it on a good worker, but whatever. Better not to give him an opponent.

Holy shit surprise!

I'm better on something in the ring here, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a past ECW star appearing. Shawn Michaels, of course, is always a possiblity. But I'll be watching, so we'll see.

Look for a pay-per-view rant from me afterwards.

Again, watch for a Gulity as Charged Rant, maybe and definitely a column next week. First letter I recieve gets included in the next column, no matter how insane...

Hit me at gould41@aol.com.