Now I have been reading a lot of lukewarm reviews of the PPV from this past Sunday, but I couldn't disagree more! I loved it. I thought it was a great mix of good wrestling matches, and great story development, esp. with my now favorite storyline, the turning of Stephanie McMahon from the sweet, innocent daddy's girl, to the evil, smirking degenerate. I mean there really isn't much to complain about with this one, except of course the "women's match" otherwise known as a sad excuse to showcase T & A in a pool. But of course, I know I am in the serious minority with this one, esp. since all I have read about for the past two days is how all you guys out there finally got to see tits on WWF programming. So I will leave my ranting on this subject to a minimum, and simply say, I see exactly what having Miss Kitty, eerrr, the Cat as women's champion means...and that's fine, since I do have a remote control for these very instances, but I do ask that in the future, to please leave Kane out of the joke the women's division has become. I mean to see the Big Red Machine slipping and sliding in chocolate pudding was humiliating for him, even though I did get to see xpuke get thrown in the pudding which was great. I couldn't believe he allowed his hair to actually get messed up. But seriously Kane is better than this...but I digress, and I want to touch on the Kane thing later on, and give his awesome cage match the respect and time it deserves...

Ok, so I was very weary of the PPV, because last's month's Survivor Series, well lets be honest, blew chunks. But I started to get a feeling after Smackdown that perhaps it might be good after all. I mean you had the 16 man battle royale, the Kane vs. X-puke match, Chyna vs. Jericho, and the Rock and Sock taking on the outlaws. Plus if you read my column last week, I actually, along with just about everyone else called Stephanie turning on her dad. So, there was definitely potential there. So I am watching Sunday night heat, and I am looking at the amazing set they have and the great recaps of the fueds, and I actually start getting excited. I just had a feeling, that it would be a lot better than the Survivor Series...although it would be quite difficult to be any worse than that.

Time for the first match, and I am pleasantly surprised to see it's the Tag Team Battle Royale. Great way to start it off. Can't say I was very happy to see Mark Henry, the Godfather or the Posse there, but at least they got defeated early on. I was ecstatic to see the best tag teams in the WWF left in there at the end, namely, Christian/Edge, the Hardy's, the Dudleyz and the Acolytes. I of course wish that Christian and Edge weren't then eliminated in such quick fashion, but watching the Hardy's in there with the Acolytes and the Dudleyz was really great. It was great seeing this great team of smaller guys holing their own against the monsterous Acolytes and Dudleyz. My only wish for this match was that it could have been a little longer with the last four teams in there. Take away 10 minutes from the Main Event and give it to these guys. Did McMahon and HHH really need to take their action outside or into that dark corner? But that's McMahon for you, always having to be the center of attention. No real complaints here, as it was a hell of an opener.

Next up was the Blackman/Angle match. Now I have heard this match called a snoozefest, but I couldn't disagree more. I thought it was an exciting technical contest, and will wonders never cease, Blackman was actually able to garner some sort of face heat, esp. with the post match beatdown of the hated Angle. I gotta give Angle credit, because he surely has a ton of Heel heat, and we know how hard that is to come by. Good match, that definitely kept my interest, despite the initial boring chants from the crowd.

Ok, I might get the order messed up as I am doing this from memory, but I do believe the striptease, I mean women's match was next. I was literally stunned that Miss Kitty showed her REAL (again will wonders never cease!) breasts on TV, but my favorite part was when Mae Young then took it on herself to strip down too. I was dying over this, I mean to hear the capacity crowd squealing in horror, just as they were squealing in delight a few second earlier, had me squealing with laughter. I officially love Mae Young, she's one crazy broad. And then as if that wasn't enough on RAW we have the GTV with her and Mark Henry in bed. I have never laughed so hard in my life. Even my brother, who hates wrestling was chuckling over this one. My question is: Is there anything that either Mark Henry or Mae Young won't do?

The Battle of the Super HeavyWeights is next, as we get to hear Rikishi talk for the first time. Not bad...I am really impressed with this guy, as he is amazingly agile for a big man. This match was basically set up to start a rivalry between Big Vis, who appears to be in the middle of a semi-decent push, and Fatu. I expect some interesting things from these two huge but agile big men, and I wonder what is next for the ever entertaining Holly's.

The European match was somewhere in here, and I have to say I was a little disappointed in this match. When Val and D'lo were in the ring, the pace was great, and the match exciting, but when Bulldog came in the pace slowed, and the match seemed to drag. Also, D'Lo had a couple of obviously blown spots, but nonetheless, at least Bulldog is left without a title, and we have some good D'Lo vs. Val matches to look forward to, at least until D'Lo gets into the very exciting IC title race.

Next up was my favorite match of the night, Chyna vs. Jericho. I knew Chyna was dropping the title, and I was just hoping for a great effort on her part as well as Jericho's. Well, I certainly wasn't disappointed as these two put on the most entertaining and technically sound match of the night. There is no one out there that can say after witnessing that match, that Chyna does not belong in the ring with men. For all you anti-Chyna fans out there, I want to remind you that Chyna has had some of the four best matches on the card on the last 4 PPV's. Her extremely entertaining match with JJ at Unforgiven (remember I was there), their rematch at No Mercy which saw her using everything including the kitchen sink, her match with Jericho at Survivor Series (the only halfway decent match on the card, where the woman bumped like crazy) and the match at this PPV. There were even some Chyna chants going around the arena, which is impressive considering how over Chris Jericho is. But of course she lost, but it was definitely a hard fought battle, and something tells me it ain't over yet, and I can't wait to see what happens next, as I am thoroughly confused after Raw this past Monday as to what direction she is going. But Chyna is a smart lady, and I am sure she has some grand scheme planned. Side Note: I was talking with my friend Heather, and we both noticed how Chyna has recently gotten involved in not one but two matches with members of DX, where she appeared to help them out. Now true they were against Jericho, but it makes you wonder, if Chyna will sometime soon stake claim to her true role, which is now being held by Stephanie McMahon, I mean Helmsley.

Ok, so the good matches keep coming as it was announced on Heat that the match between X-Puke and Kane would be in a cage. Notice how they are allowing Kane to speak more, which has got to be a good sign for a possible title push. After all, everyone is always saying how he can't be the champ as long as he doesn't have mike skills, well they are giving him the chance to talk, and I thought he did a really good job. Hell, he's about a thousand times better than X-Puke on the stick, but then again, just about everyone is...So I am thinking, this could be really great, and maybe my hope to see X-Puke busted open will become a reality. Well we didn't get blood, but we did get a tremendous flying clothesline off the top of the cage by the near 7 footer, which not only looked incredible, but it got the crowd to go absolutely crazy. Kane looked tremendous in this match, and I am super happy, till once again, the WWF decide to job him out on RAW. Yeah, yeah, I know it was against two guys, and I know they are the tag team champs, but Kane shouldn't have lost. I do have to say, I was impressed with the way Billy Gunn was able to lift him up with relative ease, but still, Kane should have destroyed these two guys. I really hope this is leading up to Kane wreaking havoc over DX till he injures them one by one, saving HHH (who by that time will be the champ again) for last.

Speaking of the tag team champs, there match was up next, shockingly, as I was surprised that the WWF decided to put the Big Show higher in the card than the Rock. I mean I guess it should be that way, since Show is the champ, but somehow, it doesn't seem right that Show vs. Bossman should be higher than the Rock n' Sock taking on the Outlaws. First off, I have to point out that obviously the Rock has the same ideas about the Outlaws as me and Sharon do, or else he has been reading our columns. That bit he did on Heat about Road Dogg licking Billy Gunn's testicles about put me over the edge. I was wondering if it was coincidence or not, that Billy Gunn's family was sitting ringside at RAW...no folks, he really is married with kids, he couldn't possibly be gay or anything....

Anyway, back to the match. Of course Al Snow was going to make the run in and cost Rock n Sock the match, but it was still a decent match. I wonder what its like to work a match with someone who is as over as the Rock. I mean, its seems like the crowd could not care less about anyone else in the ring. Foley could be working his ass off, but no they are only chanting Rocky, Rocky. The WWF need to get this guy back to the Main Event, and back in the race for the title. The Big Show just doesn't have what it takes to be the kind of prestigious champion the WWF needs to bring back credibility to the belt. Not to say that Big Show hasn't improved because he has. He definitely has a new fire to him, but a program against the bossman, just isn't going to cut it. It wasn't that great at the PPV, and I certainly didn't need to see it again on RAW, even if Prince Albert was officially added to this match. Get Big Show into a rivalry with someone else, someone who if he wins, it will actually make him look good. OOOHHH he won the Bossman, hell, so have _ of the midcarders on the WWF roster, give me something else.

So we finally have the Main Event, HHH vs. Vince. Now this match went on for 30 minutes, and went all over the arena, with Vince taking a serious ass beating by HHH. The thing about this match was all I was waiting for was the end. The other parts of it were unimportant to me. I knew when Stephanie came out with the leather jacket that she was definitely turning, but the thing is, when she did turn, I wasn't at all disappointed, in fact I loved it. Her and HHH have great chemistry together, and I can't wait to see the trouble they are going to get into in the future. Hell if RAW is any indication, the WWF better watch out.

I have to say I love the new EVIL Stephanie McMahon and I loved her speech to Vince about why she married HHH. It actually fit and made sense. Hell I would be mad too, if my father had me abducted and forced me to marry the Undertaker, esp. during his horrible Ministry of Darkness period, I would be pissed off too. Hell, the bad ass biker Undertaker is a different story, but Cloak boy was a complete dork. Marrying her father's worst enemy (hey I guess Stone Cold has been replaced) was a great plot twist, and I am glad they are going all out with it too, by having them kiss and all. Of course its partly because I love seeing any kissing at all on WWF TV, but it also makes them as a couple more believable. Let's face it Stephanie was boring as a goody two shoes, but now she rocks. I mean when she slapped poor Test, and laughed as Test was leveled by chair, and then stood over him doing a crotch chop with the rest of DX, I was already thinking about what was going to happen on Smackdown. Now that's good TV.

Other Random RAW Notes:

I loved the new set, the three screens look really good out there. Good job by the WWF, but this of course isn't surprising.

Loved the Cage match between the Hardy's and Christian and Edge. These two teams have proved time and time again that they are willing to put it all on the line to entertain the fans. I just hope they are soon rewarded with the tag team belts. Hell, I think the Acolytes are a great team, but I really feel the Hardy's have earned their shot at the titles, with two excellently fought battles against the Outlaws where they should have won both times.

I also loved the nearly 15 minute match between the Rock N' Sock connection and another of my favorite tag teams, the Dudleyz. I wish they would have allowed the Dudleyz win to stand, because its not like the Rock needs a victory to be over, damn, the guy's popularity is mind boggling, but the Dudleyz can use a few big wins under their belts to start their run for the belts, which I feel is inevitable with their talent.

Please keep the Mean Street Posse of my television screen!

This is not really a RAW thought but more of a PPV thought. Will JR please quit calling Christian, Edge. I mean its bad enough that Edge gets all the recognition even though Christian is doing half the work, but please. Christian is the one who wears a shirt, Edge does not, it doesn't seem that difficult.

Ok, that's all for me in terms of the WWF. Since I already rambled enough I will keep my ramblings on the ECW short.

First off, I just want to say, I love the developing love triangle between Francine/Tommy and Raven. These two are always best when they are fighting over a woman, and after that "I understand" from Francine to Raven, it's only a matter of time till they are hooking up behind Tommy's back. And I'll tell you, I don't blame Francine one bit, I would have been all over that a long time ago...

Ok, back from my cold shower...

This weekend me and Sam (thanks for driving, and accompanying me on our long journey) went to Richmond to see my first ever ECW event. I found out to my delight it was a TV taping for TNN, and even better, I found out it was General Admission. Now my only experience seeing live wrestling has been with the WWF, so needless to say this was a huge change. The place they were performing only held 7500 people and they only sold 2000 tickets. We got the tickets the day before, so they were very high up, but when we went in we found out it was General Admission, so I ran down and got seats about 9 rows behind he ring. I can't explain how amazing it was to see professional wrestling in such an intimate setting, it was incredible. My only complaint was that the crowd sucked. They really weren't into it all. I of course was screaming my head off, hell I wasn't going to miss out on this opportunity to scream my favorite ECW chants, but the crowd was really dead. I mean not even the incredible match between little Spike Dudley and Rob Van Dam got the crowd going, although there was some excitement when RVD did a Van Daminator not 10 feet from where I was standing. To see these guys in person was a real treat for me, and they risk it all out there, and really put on an excellent show. Most impressive to me where, Jerry Lynn, (I think Tajiri says it best in this month's ECW Magazine when he calls Lynn: flawless), Lance Storm, (this guys technical skills are unbelievable, and his body ain't bad either), Mike Awesome, (to see what this guy does in person really gives you a real appreciation for how powerful and agile he really is), RVD (of course) , Lil Spike (not just for the punishment he takes, but for what he dishes out as well), and last but not least Sabu, who came in did one move, and blew the roof off the place, he definitely garnered the loudest crowd reaction of the night, and of course he did this with his leg in a huge brace. I was also very impressed with Roadkill, who did a top rope splash that shook the building. It was also great to see Raven, although he really didn't do much, but it was cool to finally see him in person. Unfortunately, one of my favorites, Tajiri wasn't there, and either was Super Crazy, but I really can't complain. I hope you all will try to catch some of it on TNN in the following weeks, as the in ring action was really great, despite the quiet reaction from the crowd.

Wow, a really long column this week, thanks for reading it all, if you've gotten to this point. I would love to hear your reactions to the PPV and RAW, good, bad for indifferent, so send them along. Until next time, See Ya.