Just sitting here listening to the new Pearl Jam...and man is it amazing. If you like Pearl jam, I definitely suggest picking this one up. Anyway, I wanted to thank all the people that took the time to write to me last week. It was quite overwhelming actually. I must say mostly everyone agreed with my assessment of the Iron Man Match, and the more I think about it the more horrible the idea seems, this despite the very respectable showing from the Rock against Benoit on RAW this week. But before I start talking about the WWF, I want to talk about the ECW as they are coming off a very entertaining PPV this past weekend.

So on with the Rants:

The reviews for this PPV have been very lukewarm in my opinion, and I think this is undeserved. I feel that wrestling fans are getting higher and higher expectations and I think these expectations are unwarranted. No there were no giant swerves on Hardcore Heaven, but each and every wrestler who appeared on the PPV came out and busted their ass to entertain us fans. Every single one came out and gave us their all, risking their bodies in dramatic ECW fashion and all they get is a lukewarm thumbs in the middle. This is bullshit. The wrestling was fantastic, each and every match for the most part was filled with countless high spots, and more than one holy shit moment. Was it the best PPV I have ever seen...NO, but it sure as hell got an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

And one of the major reasons for giving it a thumbs up is this: Jerry Lynn FINALLY got his much deserved, overdue win over the Whole F'N Show Rob Van Dam. I have to say I am shocked that more people have not made a big deal over Jerry's win. I mean RVD had a 2 year undefeated streak going into the match, which Jerry finally broke. What to say about the contest...it was amazing. My one complaint, like most people who I have spoken to, was the pointless run ins by the network in the middle of the match. I really didn't understand the purpose of these RI's as Christian and Edge call them, and they definitely subtracted from the overall greatness of the match. Scotty Anton turning on RVD I can understand, but why did Corino and Rhino have to come down and interject themselves in the match as well. It turned a beautiful contest into a giant clusterfuck, and this was unfair to both Jerry Lynn and RVD. That being said, there isn't much more to complain about here. Both men came out and gave us everything we expected from them. In no way did it look like either of these men have spent the last 3 months on the disabled list. In fact Jerry Lynn looked as sharp as I have ever seen him look, and showed us a hunger and a brutality that I have not seen from him before, but I'll tell you I loved it. On this particular night I think he completely outwrestled RVD, who took a very serious beating throughout the match. Of course being the huge Jerry Lynn mark that I am, this match made the show for me, but even if I didn't like either of these men, this match was amazing. So congrats to Jerry Lynn for getting the big win, and hopefully this will lead to a feud with Rhino so he can finally wear the TV title that should rightfully be around his waist.

Speaking of Rhino, his match against Sandman was much better than I expected, but since I wasn't expecting much that isn't a huge compliment. Still, I have to say Lori Fullington is one sick bitch as she took that jumping piledriver through the table off the ring apron move that should kill a normal human being. Then her and the Sandman were gored through a table in decisive fashion. Still, I am less than thrilled with Rhino as the champ, and would much rather see it on Jerry Lynn. He can bring the kind of respect to the belt that RVD had, because his in rings skills are some of the best in the business today.

Ok, so let me go back to the beginning of the PPV and give some of my thoughts on the matches.

I caught the opening contest between Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney in the middle unfortunately, but I thought it was an excellent opener which really got the crowd into it. I was ecstatic to see Masato Tanaka back in the ECW ring, as I feel his matches are always extremely entertaining. The last five minutes were truly amazing, with the trading of some of the most brutal chair shots I have ever beheld and then each of the men kicking out the others end moves. This match had the crowd on its feet and rightfully so. After Tanaka picked up the victory, him and Balls, shook hands and then hugged. I loved this, as I am such a sucker for that mutual respect thing. Great opener.

Next up was a three way dance between Little Guido/Mikey Whipwreck and Simon Diamond. Who the hell are those freaks in Simon's stable, and why is he going around with a Musketeer. I have never seen anything so stupid. Mikey looked very good out there, as he is constantly improving every week. There was a lot of Big Sal squashing the freaks in Simon's stable...and surprisingly Guido came out the winner. I thought for sure Mikey was going over...but it was definitely a good solid contest.

Kid cash took on C.W. Anderson next in an excellent contest. It all started when Jazz came out to take out that nasty skank Electra. Now I have to say, I do not get the appeal of this woman, she is disgusting...and I certainly didn't need to see her very peculiar body in that string bathing suit or whatever it was. Well, Jazz makes short work of her, and then gets her ass kicked by the New Dangerous Alliance. Kid Cash comes out to defend the honor of his friend Jazz I guess, and the contest is on. The crowd started off unsure of this match, but quickly got into it when kid cash showed off his insane aerial offense. I'm telling you I would pay good money to see Kid Cash take on Jeff Hardy, now that would be a great contest. The match was all Cash for the most part and he picked up the win in a decisive fashion. At first I didn't think their styles would mesh, but they did and this ended up being quite a nice little match.

So the stupid Baldies come out next, and my eyes roll into the back of my head because I hate them, but then Nova & Chetti come out and then Doring and Roadkill and suddenly we have a pretty exciting contest. The holy shit moment for me was when Roadkill did this flying splash off the top rope to a table on the outside onto Grimes who had come to the ring to interfere...seeing that 350 pound guy jump off the top rope like he did was one of the most insane things I have ever seen. Nova looked very sharp, and him and Chetti looked very tight as a tag team. Nova was pulling out his patented insane and original offense and stole the match in my opinion, well besides that insane bump by Roadkill. Chetti and Nova get the win with a Tidal Wave, a crazy move where they both jump off the same turnbuckle onto their opponent in the middle of the ring. Chetti looks like he lost a few of the pounds he had gained while injured and was a lot more fluid in the ring. I loved the pace of this match and despite the participation of the Baldies, this was a great match in my eyes.

Next after the tag team match was stupid New Jack aka a waste of perfectly good television time...and you guessed it he beat people with things from his garbage can and took a pretty insane jump off a very high balcony. I covered my eyes, being the wimp that I am because I didn't want to see him get killed...but he didn't and walked back to the ring...and that's that.

In a nice surprise, Steve Corino took on my man Tajiri in a great contest. Corino bladed early, and I don't know what he did, but blood was just pouring out of his head. It was really gross, and it actually distracted from the match, but just a little. Seriously though there were literally puddles of blood everywhere in the ring. Tajiri got the win after his killer stepping on his opponents chest through the table spot, and then some japanese wrestler came in and jumped him. But I think the real winner of this match was Corino who looked so impressive out there, even with all the blood loss, that this should quiet all the people who have ever said that he wasn't a very good wrestler. He went into the match with my respect for his mike skills, and left with my respect for his tenacity and wrestling skills. Great match, and no kidding the blade job was INSANE.

I already mentioned the Rhino/Sandman match which came next...and of course I started off by mentioning the amazing Jerry Lynn/RVD match. Besides the run ins, the major story out of this match was Scotty Anton turning on RVD which Sharon and just about everyone else predicted...so we will see where this goes. Probably a mini feud with Scotty before RVD steps into the Main Event, which is where the man belongs.

The main event for the PPV was supposed to be a three way dance between Justin Credible/Lance Storm and Tommy Dreamer(for some reason I thought it was a four way with Raven, so I apologize for my error last week) but Justin comes out and says he only wants Lance, and if anyone else comes out to fight him he will throw the belt in the garbage. Tommy Dreamer comes out and Justin says just test me. Paul E runs out and begs Tommy to go to the back, Lance comes out and passes Tommy, and they shake hands, very wierd...I had a very strong feeling at the time that this was going to be the last we would see of Lance Storm in an ECW match for a long while, and sadly I was right. I was very happy that Tommy was removed from this match but the crowd seemed confused as they didn't know who to root for at all. The match itself was really solid, but something was missing. Lance Storm himself in his latest commentary which is a really really great read said that he had a lot on his mind, and perhaps that is why the match came across poorly. I didn't think it was a poor match but the ending was really anticlimactic with Justin hitting two Thats incredible piledrivers for the win...good match, crappy ending.

Then Francine runs in grabs the belt, doesn't even really check on Justin who is lying on the ground. Dreamer comes to the ring, and canes Justin then makes like he's going to cane Francine. She begs him not to, he puts down the cane hugs her then gives her a totally brutal Spiccolli driver. Pretty good end there.

All in all a very good PPV in my estimation, with lots of great action. Now speaking of PPV's the WWF have yet another one for us this weekend. Man, does it ever end. I have to say, I think I am getting slightly burned out. It is almost to much and it is getting harder for the WWF in my opinion to keep coming up with good storylines and matches particularly in the Main Event. The announcement that HBK would be the special guest ref did nothing to make me think that the 60 minute iron man match would be any less terrible. Benoit vs. Jericho should be amazing, esp. since it's a submission match, something new for these two, at least new for their WWF feud. Guerrero vs. Malenko vs. Saturn should be extremely solid and entertaining as well, as these men know each other so well, and could put on a great contest, which in my estimation might just steal the show.

As much as I hate DX, I have to say I kind of like this feud with the Dudleys. Of course if DX goes over the Dudleys at the PPV we'll see if I continue to like this feud. But still, a table match has me salivating of the prospect of seeing Xpuke go through a table, but somehow I think it will be anyone but him going through the table. Speaking of going through tables, I have to give credit where credit is due, and as much as I hate her, I was impressed with Tori's splash on Buh Buh from the top rope...so obviously she is somehow going through a table on Sunday, it would be esp. cool to see Buh Buh put her through Xpuke and the table...ha ha...hell it happened to Christian and the Hardys, why can't it happen to Xpuke...

Speaking of the Hardys, I have to get something off my chest. Suddenly it seems like the Hardys are being totally depushed. Here you have one of the top 3 tag teams on the roster and for the second PPV in a row they are stuck without an angle and without any real rivalry. This is just plain wrong. In my opinion, it should be the Hardys feuding with Christian and Edge for the titles not Too Cool. Yeah Too Cool are a good team, but in my mind they don't deserve to wear the tag team gold. The next in line to wear gold should be the Hardys. I don't know where the WWF is going with them right now, but I say let them talk. Let them answer Christian and Edge when they call them "boyz". When they come out and don't say anything in response to Christian and Edge's recent attitude change they look foolish. Look what giving the mike to Christian and Edge did for them, and I think with some practice, it could at least put the Hardys back into the race for the tag team belts, rather than in limbo land with D'Lo Brown where they seem to reside now. Now Sharon tells me that they are not even on Smackdown, and that's fine, because hell they deserve some time off, but does this mean that they are not going to be on the PPV. I know this PPV will have fewer matches, but they are bumping the Hardys...well they haven't done it officially, but they really don't have a rivalry, so I don' t know where they would fit in...ok, so I have another reason to hate the iron man match...anyway, I hope the Hardys come back with a better angle, and some mike time, and are able to go after Christian and Edge which is what they should be doing.

Ok, enough negativity...just a little mention of Christian before I sign off. Did anyone catch Heat this past week. It should have been called the Christian and Edge show because they were all over it, and they continue to just get funnier and funnier every week. I am ecstatic that they continue to improve every week, and come up with new and funnier things to entertain us with. Christian punking out Michael Cole with his "why do you dye your hair like a 14 year old girl" comment was my personal highlight for RAW. That and the amazing, except for the recycled for the 10000th time screwjob Survivor Series ending, Benoit/Rock match.

Sorry I was so long winded this week, but I wanted to give the ECW PPV the time it deserved, esp. since it was obvious that all the wrestlers busted their asses out of there. To Lance Storm, although I hate the WCW, I wish you the best of luck, and I have to say you are one reason I would tune in to their product, because you are just that damn good, and not even the WCW could mess that up...