CRZ.net [slash] Wrestling [slash] Guests [slash] Gillon

Hi again everybody, hope you all had a good week. I concur with CRZ, why is everybody so damn young on here, 21 year olds everywhere. I feel so old. Thanks once again for your e-mails. Must say a big thanks to CRZ for making me a regular fixture on Slash, hope you all continue to enjoy my stuff. Now that I'm settled, maybe I'll do a heel turn sometime in the future....hmmm, there's a thought.

Yes Ian Sorotkin, you pinched the only sort of trademark sign-off that I had going, unintentionally though so you're forgiven. As a result, I have taken the serious and drastic measure of coming up with another, more individual, one. For more details, see the end of the column. Also, as Ian mentioned in his article, I am a new inductee into the Heatrate Cru....which is nice. During a spate of e-mailing, I asked Ian about his 'Cru', and he very kindly made me a member in his reply. Thinking about it, Ian actually has a good point. For those who don't know, Ian's opinion is that heat is actually a more important factor in the wrestling world than workrate. A wrestler can be the most amazing worker around, but if he doesn't get much heat week in week out he's not going to go anywhere. Obviously, there are occasions when a wrestler's workrate gets him the desired amount of heat, for example Chris Benoit, but think of the big superstars around and you'll find that the Benoits of this world are a rare breed. Most of the time it's gimmicks which catch the imagination, jeez why does Hogan still getting any sort of pop from the fans in WCW if that's not the case? Anyway, my Heatrate Cru name is now Mr Bill....does that mean I have the same sort of stature and power as Mr McMahon?

A big hi also to another of my fellow columnists, Kelly-Marie, the Super Vixen. Her column of last week was one of the funniest things I've read in a while, even funnier than Nitro's predicted line-ups of the past few weeks. The Undertaker being led to the ring by Richard Simmons.....the mind boggles!!!!!

My fellow Scot, Richard Craig, has also made his first appearances as well, and top stuff his articles are. I remember the first time I remember the WWF coming to the UK, we're going back to the very early part of the decade here. It was in the Royal Albert Hall, and featured such illustrious names as The Undertaker (still undefeated at this point) against Hacksaw Jim Duggan (for some reason doing his USA shtick in the capital of England...no wonder Undertaker was the fan favourite here), Earthquake, Jake Roberts, Greg Valentine, Jim Neidhart and of course Davey Boy Smith. It opened my eyes as to how spectacular wrestling could really be and put me on my way to being a huge fan.

Chuck Carlin's Raw Drinking Game sounds like fun, might give it a try sometime. Get a few mates round, sit down in front of the box with a few cans and off we go. Is Chuck a bit mad or what? Also Chuck, we're still waiting on that pizza recipe you promised us a few columns back :)

Have to admit, my must read article of the week has to go to the RANT AGAINST HOGAN by the Fred World Order on the 5th August. I found Hogan's comments amazing, the fact that he just seems totally oblivious to the crap he's spouting. If you haven't read it yet, I urge you to go there immediately you've finished this and have a look. Fascinating stuff, and FWO's comments are good as well.

Finally in this intro, just have to mention the Meltzer chat last Thursday evening. I decided to drop in, and considering that is was gone midnight over here when it started and how much I like my sleep, that's a pretty damn impressive sacrifice on my part I can tell you. After entering the chat link I thought something fishy was up when I saw that, even though there was somebody called Dave_Meltz on there, there were no what you would call familiar names around, ie. CRZ, MiCasa etc. People were firing questions at Dave and getting answers when they were lucky, until somebody actually brought up the thought that this wasn't the real Meltzer...damn right. In the end the guilty party admitted his dastardly deed and scarpered. After another quarter of an hour or so of looking around I was lucky enough to get into Meltzer's chat, which was pretty busy to put it mildly. From what I can gather there was some kind of technical problem, probably to do with the amount of people wanting to enter the chat area. The chat was pretty impossible to follow due to the amount of comments and questions being brought up.

First a general comment. This was the week which showed why WCW is such an inferior product at the moment compared to the WWF. Whilst the WWF brought up lots of new, attention grabbing stuff, WCW brought back things which fans got hacked off with eons ago. What would you rather watch, the Raw debut of Jericho or Hogan reverting back to his old, really annoying Hulkamania days? I would hazard a guess that the majority would go for the first option. To counter what was always going to be a spectacular Raw, Nitro had to come up with something surprising, shocking (maybe as shocking as CRZ's tie), which they failed to do. Anyway, let's get on with the shows, there's lots to talk about...

WCW: First off, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why the hell was Schiavone back??? As I thought last week, the Hudson being attacked by Steiner slot was to allow Schiavone back on to Nitro, to impress us all with his all round knowledge and attention to the matches. Does this ring a bell with anyone....Tonight, over on Nitro, Tony Schiavone, yes the Tony Schiavone, who used to do commentary up to three weeks ago and really annoy the hell out of everybody was watching because of his incredible crapness, will return to the commentary booth. Huh, I bet that'll put asses in front of the TV and get the ratings up, snigger, snigger, snigger? Jeez, the general feeling amongst fans is that Hudson was a huge improvement on Schiavone, yet Tony is back on our screens. Can anybody explain it????

I try, I really try, to be fair to both sides, but WCW....come on what are you playing at??? Sting is no longer President. Why?? Such a big thing was made of Sting being made President, yet a couple of weeks later the position has been handed back, just like that, with just the slightest mention. Savage promises to bring in the Hummer Driver on Nitro (that confused me for a start, why bring that back up?) yet nothing comes of that either. Angles come and storylines go without any explanation or real thought behind them. Sure WWF are guilty at times of the same crime, but WCW just gives the impression most of the time of just being thrown together, throw the cards in the air and see what ones land face up, and until that improves then they have no hope of making a dent in WWF's huge lead in the ratings war.

First match on this week's Nitro brings on the Dead Pool. Now, I've mentioned this before but Raven is MY FAVOURITE WRESTLER EVER, but even leaving that fact aside, the Dead Pool angle is in my opinion the best thing about WCW right now, and by the looks of it many people share my view. I hated the ICP in the WWF, but they're growing on me here, probably because they're having more involvement than just doing a bit of rapping and waving South Park toys in the air. I love Vampiro, and some of his moves are just superb, especially the Nail in the Coffin. I hugely love their entrance music, and so long as Raven does his mysterious guru character I'm hooked. Of course, WCW seem as though they want to portray the group as heels, and to do this the bookers have them feuding with Rey Mysterio and Konnan, possibly the most hated 'faces' in the fed, although the introduction of Eddy Guerrero into the feud has possibly done the trick to a certain extent. Anyway, Nitro is well worth watching for me if the Dead Pool are showing up every week. Vampiro and Raven for the tag team titles in the future. Next member for the group....I'd like to see Kidman!!!!

History was made on Nitro!!! No, not the return of Hulkamania, but Chris Benoit getting a title!!! Now while I'm not as sold on Benoit as 99% of the internet wrestling fans seem to be, he deserves a title or two. First of all, as I mentioned above, he's a fantastic worker and secondly he's shown willingness (perhaps too much) to job in the past for the good of the company. Having said this, I'd be happier if this didn't seem like a sweetener to keep everybody happy until DDP takes the title at Road Wild. Again it's one of these things that I think will happen but I really, really hope I'm wrong. Knowing WCW they'll have David Flair interfere in the Benoit-DDP match, giving the title to DDP.

The supposed big clincher to the show was the return of Hulkamania, as Hogan once again puts on the yellow and red and Tony raves about it. Sorry, but I will not be watching this match on Nitro this week (for people who don't know, we in the UK don't get it until Friday evening), I think I'd prefer the reforming of the NWO to this. Hell, I'd prefer Konnan and Rey Mysterio in a tag match against Buff Bagwell and Dennis Rodman to this!!!! Apart from the fact that his teaming with Sting and Goldberg just makes no sense whatsoever, the whole Hulkamania shtick is tired and just plain annoying and had run it's course even before Hogan left the WWF, and if WCW think that this is the way forward then you might as well bury the company now. To put it bluntly, WCW's ratings will not go up until Hogan ceases to be the centre of the company's product, and if you read FWO's column mentioned above you'll realise that that won't be for a long time yet, and all wrestling fans should feel sorry at this.

Difficult one to call this. Personally, I'd like to see the Triad members keep the title but I've got a feeling that Harlem Heat will get the win, it'll make sense after their reunion. Harlem Heat really don't grab me for some reason. Lots of people rave on about Booker T, but his matches are predictable. Booker gets into real trouble, starts his comeback with a bit of breakdancing, kicks etc for the eventual win. Maybe I've forgotten what they're like as a team after a couple of years. Kanyon I like, and Bam Bam's good for a big man. Harlem Heat to get the win.

I've mentioned in a past column that I really like The Cat, one of the few, and my position on him hasn't changed. He makes me laugh, and he gets heat, the wrong kind of heat according to some. Buff is not the stuff to me, he should go back to being a heel where he was pretty entertaining. Now he's all clichés and sucking up to whatever town WCW happens to be this week. As a result I'd like Miller to get the win here, but will it happen? Like hell it will. If Bagwell is still of the opinion that he shouldn't job to anybody, then he'll get the win or there'll be a DQ of some kind.

Does anybody really care??? This shouldn't be on a PPV, and Rodman's apparent indifference to the wrestling business confirms this opinion. This match will suck big time for the time it will last. Savage sucks. Rodman is slightly interesting, no more. As for the result, I can see a DQ or some chaotic finish to this match. If I had to go one way or the other, Savage to get the win. I don't really care.

Prediction of the week...Rick Steiner will not win this match. Jeez, I've stuck my neck out there. Either a DQ of some kind for Steiner to retain the title or a Goldberg win, which if WCW has any sense left, will be the result. I'll give WCW the benefit of the doubt, Goldberg to get the win.

Sting deserves to lose this just for giving back the Presidency, even though he sucked at it. I don't know, I kind of like Sid, and if anybody can tell me why then they get a namecheck next week. I'd like Sid to win this, but in all likelihood Sting will come out with the victory. What will happen with him then is anybody's guess, as it doesn't look like he'll be heavily involved in the main title picture for the foreseeable future. Sting for the win.

You read the talk too? Nash is trying to work a way to a title program with Bret Hart in return for doing the deed to Hogan. I thought Hogan would retain the title before this, but that just confirms it. Inevitably, Hogan for the win. Again, a match I don't really care about. Nash has gone downhill drastically in the last few months, and Hulkamania is back and you know my feelings about that. Somebody wake me up with the result.

WWF: Well, what can you say about this week's Raw offering? I've said it before, but just to reaffirm, whilst Nitro this week, with some exceptions, seemed tired and cliched, Raw gave the impression of being new and exciting with some surprises thrown in (Austin v Chyna???? More on that later). Let's go through a few thoughts.

Of course I have to start with the one and only Chris Jericho!!!! Well, despite the best efforts of Sid Vicious, Chris Jericho is indeed the new Millennium, and what an entrance he's made. Surprise number one is that he seems to be starting off by feuding with The Rock, which is a bit of a pull for me as The Rock is one of my favourites in the WWF. Thinking about it, good move, as you now have probably the two most charismatic wrestlers in the WWF in an angle together, and it will bring Jericho to the attention of those unfamiliar with him straight away. I can't wait to see Raw this week just to see his spectacular entrance and the retort from The Rock, and basically just to see Jericho after all this time. In case you can't tell I'm a bit of a Jericho fan and not ashamed to admit it. Reading his opening blast this week it just sounds like vintage Jericho, arrogant, confident but confused..."You people have been led to believe that mediocrity is excellence. Uh uh...JERICHO IS EXCELLENCE." Don't know about anybody else, but you can take that sentence two ways, and knowing Jericho's best stuff, that's how it was meant to be. Roll on next week....RAW IS JERICHO....GO JERICHO GO!!!!

Phew, back down to earth now. Well, perhaps not, as what do you make of the other huge news to come out of Raw, Chyna coming out of the main event and so going on to challenge Steve Austin for the title at Summerslam???? That was unexpected!!! Thing is, will Chyna still be in that position come Summerslam? Some ways I'd like to see Austin and Chyna in the main event, but in others I wouldn't. On the one hand it's different, it's new and let's be honest even the die-hard WCW marks would probably like to see it out of curiosity value. On the other, can you honestly see the title changing hands? Can you see Austin, who has supposedly refused to work matches with Jeff Jarrett and Billy Gunn because he doesn't feel they're up to his level as yet, working a match with Chyna and even putting her over? No, me neither, even though I'd love to be proved wrong. I can see HHH being back in the challenger's position come 22nd August even though, and I'll say it again, I'd love to be proved wrong.

And there's more new stuff....Jesse Ventura and Shawn Michaels!!!! And remember, WCW's response to all this was Hulkamania!!! Now, there's been a lot of fuss on some quarters about Ventura's involvement with WWF considering he's a newly elected governor. I'm not too up on US politics so don't know about how governors in general are viewed over there or how much importance they have in the broader spectrum of things, but for those who are criticising Ventura, hey he's an ex-wrestler and a well known one, where's the harm in him doing a turn for a while? Would you rather him being in wild affairs/ wholesale drug taking/ international espionage/ beating up aliens with Arnie? As for Michaels, so long as he's not doing his ultra-face shtick he always goes down well with me. Can't wait to see them together with HHH.

Added to this we also have new tag-team champions, with Kane and X-Pac coming out victorious against The Acolytes (wonder how long they'll last at the top of CRZ's site?). Again, I've mentioned it in past columns, but I really like Kane, have done ever since the Kane character made his debut in the WWF (I had a soft spot for Isaac Yankem DDS as well, but keep that quiet). What's more Kane speaks without his voicebox, how can this be??? If anybody has a sound file of Kane speaking, can they send me a copy as I'm curious about what he sounded like? Whatever the Kane and X-Pac story is probably my favourite one in the WWF just now, I just find it, well, nice and would love to see it end in a singles title win for Kane at Wrestlemania, see past column for details.

All this and still new signings such as Stevie Richards and the Dudleys to come. The first time I came across Stevie was when the WWF had the ECW invasion a couple of years back, in the middle of the Blue World Order skit Richards and the Blue Meanie were involved in (my favourite memory of that is when The Sandman, from the crowd, spat beer into the face of Savio Vega...aah memories). Richards and the Dudleys have the potential to be big stars in the WWF. As always in the present climate, they've got a better chance of being used properly with the WWF than they would have in WCW. Is it any wonder the WWF is wiping the floor with WCW week in, week out?

For the best part of ten years The Undertaker has been a main part of the WWF. He's been there through the bad times when Hulkamania (ugh, that word again) was running it's course, and the good times when wrestling really took off and the WWF got the upper hand on WCW. In all that time The Undertaker has been a constant factor in the major storylines in Titanland. His feud with Hogan when he first took the title (remember the great moment when Flair threw the chair in the ring so 'Taker could tombstone Hogan?), his subsequent loss of the title days later in One Day In Texas, his partnership with Jake Roberts against The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage and his resulting face turn. His disappearance in the casket match with Yokozuna and his subsequent 'rebirth' against the fake Undertaker of Ted DiBiase, the Giant Gonzalez days, classic matches against the likes of Shawn Michaels and Mankind, and the feud/partnerships with Vince McMahon and Steve Austin. Through it all Undertaker has been there, and there have been a few glitches along the way (Giant Gonzalez didn't really work did it?). Yet, here we are and people are predicting the end of the Undertaker character. Maybe they have a point.

All I am saying is don't be so quick to write him off. Personally, I've liked the Ministry of Darkness angle (though not the CORPORATE Ministry) and I have to admit I quite like the partnership with Paul Wight, although it seems I'm the only one (by the way I also dig their new entrance music, pretty menacing in it's own way). Played properly, they could be a devastating pair, though not helped by their lack of moves, maybe Calloway and Wight could do with getting back in shape just a bit....Undertaker, take your brother's example. If they do get in shape, become a bit more mobile then that will improve matters. In the meantime, be patient, give the new angle and partnership time to develop. Undertaker has given us entertainment all through the nineties, don't we owe him that??

Well, that's it for this week. As always, please feel free to mail me about anything you like, comments, suggestions etc. Do you agree with all or something I've said, or do you think I'm talking utter crap? Again, thanks for reading and I'll speak to you all next week. Take care of yourselves.

Main	FROM THE BRIT SIDE Thought for the week......if I try to fail, and succeed, what have I done??? Hi again everybody, hope you all had a good week. I concur with CRZ, why is everybody so damn young on here, 21 year olds everywhere. I feel so old. Thanks once again for your e-mails. Must say a big thanks to CRZ for making me a regular fixture on Slash, hope you all continue to enjoy my stuff. Now that I'm settled, maybe I'll do a heel turn sometime in the future....hmmm, there's a thought. Yes Ian Sorotkin, you pinched the only sort of trademark sign-off that I had going, unintentionally though so you're forgiven. As a result, I have taken the serious and drastic measure of coming up with another, more individual, one. For more details, see the end of the column. Also, as Ian mentioned in his article, I am a new inductee into the Heatrate Cru....which is nice. During a spate of e-mailing, I asked Ian about his 'Cru', and he very kindly made me a member in his reply. Thinking about it, Ian actually has a good point. For those who don't know, Ian's opinion is that heat is actually a more important factor in the wrestling world than workrate. A wrestler can be the most amazing worker around, but if he doesn't get much heat week in week out he's not going to go anywhere. Obviously, there are occasions when a wrestler's workrate gets him the desired amount of heat, for example Chris Benoit, but think of the big superstars around and you'll find that the Benoits of this world are a rare breed. Most of the time it's gimmicks which catch the imagination, jeez why does Hogan still getting any sort of pop from the fans in WCW if that's not the case? Anyway, my Heatrate Cru name is now Mr Bill....does that mean I have the same sort of stature and power as Mr McMahon? A big hi also to another of my fellow columnists, Kelly-Marie, the Super Vixen. Her column of last week was one of the funniest things I've read in a while, even funnier than Nitro's predicted line-ups of the past few weeks. The Undertaker being led to the ring by Richard Simmons.....the mind boggles!!!!! My fellow Scot, Richard Craig, has also made his first appearances as well, and top stuff his articles are. I remember the first time I remember the WWF coming to the UK, we're going back to the very early part of the decade here. It was in the Royal Albert Hall, and featured such illustrious names as The Undertaker (still undefeated at this point) against Hacksaw Jim Duggan (for some reason doing his USA shtick in the capital of England...no wonder Undertaker was the fan favourite here), Earthquake, Jake Roberts, Greg Valentine, Jim Neidhart and of course Davey Boy Smith. It opened my eyes as to how spectacular wrestling could really be and put me on my way to being a huge fan. Chuck Carlin's Raw Drinking Game sounds like fun, might give it a try sometime. Get a few mates round, sit down in front of the box with a few cans and off we go. Is Chuck a bit mad or what? Also Chuck, we're still waiting on that pizza recipe you promised us a few columns back :) I see that, as I write, there's a distinct lack of 'CR Rants' this week. Wonder where the redoubtable CR Wilson has gone??? Have to admit, my must read article of the week has to go to the RANT AGAINST HOGAN by the Fred World Order on the 5th August. I found Hogan's comments amazing, the fact that he just seems totally oblivious to the crap he's spouting. If you haven't read it yet, I urge you to go there immediately you've finished this and have a look. Fascinating stuff, and FWO's comments are good as well. Finally in this intro, just have to mention the Meltzer chat last Thursday evening. I decided to drop in, and considering that is was gone midnight over here when it started and how much I like my sleep, that's a pretty damn impressive sacrifice on my part I can tell you. After entering the chat link I thought something fishy was up when I saw that, even though there was somebody called Dave_Meltz on there, there were no what you would call familiar names around, ie. CRZ, MiCasa etc. People were firing questions at Dave and getting answers when they were lucky, until somebody actually brought up the thought that this wasn't the real Meltzer...damn right. In the end the guilty party admitted his dastardly deed and scarpered. After another quarter of an hour or so of looking around I was lucky enough to get into Meltzer's chat, which was pretty busy to put it mildly. From what I can gather there was some kind of technical problem, probably to do with the amount of people wanting to enter the chat area. The chat was pretty impossible to follow due to the amount of comments and questions being brought up. Hey, what about some wrestling thoughts.... First a general comment. This was the week which showed why WCW is such an inferior product at the moment compared to the WWF. Whilst the WWF brought up lots of new, attention grabbing stuff, WCW brought back things which fans got hacked off with eons ago. What would you rather watch, the Raw debut of Jericho or Hogan reverting back to his old, really annoying Hulkamania days? I would hazard a guess that the majority would go for the first option. To counter what was always going to be a spectacular Raw, Nitro had to come up with something surprising, shocking (maybe as shocking as CRZ's tie), which they failed to do. Anyway, let's get on with the shows, there's lots to talk about... WCW: First off, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why the hell was Schiavone back??? As I thought last week, the Hudson being attacked by Steiner slot was to allow Schiavone back on to Nitro, to impress us all with his all round knowledge and attention to the matches. Does this ring a bell with anyone....Tonight, over on Nitro, Tony Schiavone, yes the Tony Schiavone, who used to do commentary up to three weeks ago and really annoy the hell out of everybody was watching because of his incredible crapness, will return to the commentary booth. Huh, I bet that'll put asses in front of the TV and get the ratings up, snigger, snigger, snigger? Jeez, the general feeling amongst fans is that Hudson was a huge improvement on Schiavone, yet Tony is back on our screens. Can anybody explain it???? I try, I really try, to be fair to both sides, but WCW....come on what are you playing at??? Sting is no longer President. Why?? Such a big thing was made of Sting being made President, yet a couple of weeks later the position has been handed back, just like that, with just the slightest mention. Savage promises to bring in the Hummer Driver on Nitro (that confused me for a start, why bring that back up?) yet nothing comes of that either. Angles come and storylines go without any explanation or real thought behind them. Sure WWF are guilty at times of the same crime, but WCW just gives the impression most of the time of just being thrown together, throw the cards in the air and see what ones land face up, and until that improves then they have no hope of making a dent in WWF's huge lead in the ratings war. First match on this week's Nitro brings on the Dead Pool. Now, I've mentioned this before but Raven is MY FAVOURITE WRESTLER EVER, but even leaving that fact aside, the Dead Pool angle is in my opinion the best thing about WCW right now, and by the looks of it many people share my view. I hated the ICP in the WWF, but they're growing on me here, probably because they're having more involvement than just doing a bit of rapping and waving South Park toys in the air. I love Vampiro, and some of his moves are just superb, especially the Nail in the Coffin. I hugely love their entrance music, and so long as Raven does his mysterious guru character I'm hooked. Of course, WCW seem as though they want to portray the group as heels, and to do this the bookers have them feuding with Rey Mysterio and Konnan, possibly the most hated 'faces' in the fed, although the introduction of Eddy Guerrero into the feud has possibly done the trick to a certain extent. Anyway, Nitro is well worth watching for me if the Dead Pool are showing up every week. Vampiro and Raven for the tag team titles in the future. Next member for the group....I'd like to see Kidman!!!! History was made on Nitro!!! No, not the return of Hulkamania, but Chris Benoit getting a title!!! Now while I'm not as sold on Benoit as 99% of the internet wrestling fans seem to be, he deserves a title or two. First of all, as I mentioned above, he's a fantastic worker and secondly he's shown willingness (perhaps too much) to job in the past for the good of the company. Having said this, I'd be happier if this didn't seem like a sweetener to keep everybody happy until DDP takes the title at Road Wild. Again it's one of these things that I think will happen but I really, really hope I'm wrong. Knowing WCW they'll have David Flair interfere in the Benoit-DDP match, giving the title to DDP. The supposed big clincher to the show was the return of Hulkamania, as Hogan once again puts on the yellow and red and Tony raves about it. Sorry, but I will not be watching this match on Nitro this week (for people who don't know, we in the UK don't get it until Friday evening), I think I'd prefer the reforming of the NWO to this. Hell, I'd prefer Konnan and Rey Mysterio in a tag match against Buff Bagwell and Dennis Rodman to this!!!! Apart from the fact that his teaming with Sting and Goldberg just makes no sense whatsoever, the whole Hulkamania shtick is tired and just plain annoying and had run it's course even before Hogan left the WWF, and if WCW think that this is the way forward then you might as well bury the company now. To put it bluntly, WCW's ratings will not go up until Hogan ceases to be the centre of the company's product, and if you read FWO's column mentioned above you'll realise that that won't be for a long time yet, and all wrestling fans should feel sorry at this. Let's look on the bright side, it's Road Wild this weekend and it's going to be a great show right? Let's have a run through the card. ROAD WILD PREVIEW Bam Bam Bigelow/Kanyon v Harlem Heat for the tag-team titles Difficult one to call this. Personally, I'd like to see the Triad members keep the title but I've got a feeling that Harlem Heat will get the win, it'll make sense after their reunion. Harlem Heat really don't grab me for some reason. Lots of people rave on about Booker T, but his matches are predictable. Booker gets into real trouble, starts his comeback with a bit of breakdancing, kicks etc for the eventual win. Maybe I've forgotten what they're like as a team after a couple of years. Kanyon I like, and Bam Bam's good for a big man. Harlem Heat to get the win. Buff Bagwell v The Cat I've mentioned in a past column that I really like The Cat, one of the few, and my position on him hasn't changed. He makes me laugh, and he gets heat, the wrong kind of heat according to some. Buff is not the stuff to me, he should go back to being a heel where he was pretty entertaining. Now he's all clichés and sucking up to whatever town WCW happens to be this week. As a result I'd like Miller to get the win here, but will it happen? Like hell it will. If Bagwell is still of the opinion that he shouldn't job to anybody, then he'll get the win or there'll be a DQ of some kind. Randy Savage v Dennis Rodman Does anybody really care??? This shouldn't be on a PPV, and Rodman's apparent indifference to the wrestling business confirms this opinion. This match will suck big time for the time it will last. Savage sucks. Rodman is slightly interesting, no more. As for the result, I can see a DQ or some chaotic finish to this match. If I had to go one way or the other, Savage to get the win. I don't really care. Rick Steiner v Goldberg for the TV title Prediction of the week...Rick Steiner will not win this match. Jeez, I've stuck my neck out there. Either a DQ of some kind for Steiner to retain the title or a Goldberg win, which if WCW has any sense left, will be the result. I'll give WCW the benefit of the doubt, Goldberg to get the win. Sting v Sid Vicious Sting deserves to lose this just for giving back the Presidency, even though he sucked at it. I don't know, I kind of like Sid, and if anybody can tell me why then they get a namecheck next week. I'd like Sid to win this, but in all likelihood Sting will come out with the victory. What will happen with him then is anybody's guess, as it doesn't look like he'll be heavily involved in the main title picture for the foreseeable future. Sting for the win. Chris Benoit v Diamond Dallas Page for the US Title I've mentioned my reservations about this above. While I would love for Benoit to get a reasonably lengthy title run, I just can't see it. DDP to get the win with some interference. Well, what else do you internet people want, Benoit got his title????? Hulk Hogan (he's gone in the head and he's back in red) v Kevin Nash (I was interesting as Diesel) for the World Title You read the talk too? Nash is trying to work a way to a title program with Bret Hart in return for doing the deed to Hogan. I thought Hogan would retain the title before this, but that just confirms it. Inevitably, Hogan for the win. Again, a match I don't really care about. Nash has gone downhill drastically in the last few months, and Hulkamania is back and you know my feelings about that. Somebody wake me up with the result. WWF: Well, what can you say about this week's Raw offering? I've said it before, but just to reaffirm, whilst Nitro this week, with some exceptions, seemed tired and cliched, Raw gave the impression of being new and exciting with some surprises thrown in (Austin v Chyna???? More on that later). Let's go through a few thoughts. Of course I have to start with the one and only Chris Jericho!!!! Well, despite the best efforts of Sid Vicious, Chris Jericho is indeed the new Millennium, and what an entrance he's made. Surprise number one is that he seems to be starting off by feuding with The Rock, which is a bit of a pull for me as The Rock is one of my favourites in the WWF. Thinking about it, good move, as you now have probably the two most charismatic wrestlers in the WWF in an angle together, and it will bring Jericho to the attention of those unfamiliar with him straight away. I can't wait to see Raw this week just to see his spectacular entrance and the retort from The Rock, and basically just to see Jericho after all this time. In case you can't tell I'm a bit of a Jericho fan and not ashamed to admit it. Reading his opening blast this week it just sounds like vintage Jericho, arrogant, confident but confused..."You people have been led to believe that mediocrity is excellence. Uh uh...JERICHO IS EXCELLENCE." Don't know about anybody else, but you can take that sentence two ways, and knowing Jericho's best stuff, that's how it was meant to be. Roll on next week....RAW IS JERICHO....GO JERICHO GO!!!! Phew, back down to earth now. Well, perhaps not, as what do you make of the other huge news to come out of Raw, Chyna coming out of the main event and so going on to challenge Steve Austin for the title at Summerslam???? That was unexpected!!! Thing is, will Chyna still be in that position come Summerslam? Some ways I'd like to see Austin and Chyna in the main event, but in others I wouldn't. On the one hand it's different, it's new and let's be honest even the die-hard WCW marks would probably like to see it out of curiosity value. On the other, can you honestly see the title changing hands? Can you see Austin, who has supposedly refused to work matches with Jeff Jarrett and Billy Gunn because he doesn't feel they're up to his level as yet, working a match with Chyna and even putting her over? No, me neither, even though I'd love to be proved wrong. I can see HHH being back in the challenger's position come 22nd August even though, and I'll say it again, I'd love to be proved wrong. And there's more new stuff....Jesse Ventura and Shawn Michaels!!!! And remember, WCW's response to all this was Hulkamania!!! Now, there's been a lot of fuss on some quarters about Ventura's involvement with WWF considering he's a newly elected governor. I'm not too up on US politics so don't know about how governors in general are viewed over there or how much importance they have in the broader spectrum of things, but for those who are criticising Ventura, hey he's an ex-wrestler and a well known one, where's the harm in him doing a turn for a while? Would you rather him being in wild affairs/ wholesale drug taking/ international espionage/ beating up aliens with Arnie? As for Michaels, so long as he's not doing his ultra-face shtick he always goes down well with me. Can't wait to see them together with HHH. Added to this we also have new tag-team champions, with Kane and X-Pac coming out victorious against The Acolytes (wonder how long they'll last at the top of CRZ's site?). Again, I've mentioned it in past columns, but I really like Kane, have done ever since the Kane character made his debut in the WWF (I had a soft spot for Isaac Yankem DDS as well, but keep that quiet). What's more Kane speaks without his voicebox, how can this be??? If anybody has a sound file of Kane speaking, can they send me a copy as I'm curious about what he sounded like? Whatever the Kane and X-Pac story is probably my favourite one in the WWF just now, I just find it, well, nice and would love to see it end in a singles title win for Kane at Wrestlemania, see past column for details. All this and still new signings such as Stevie Richards and the Dudleys to come. The first time I came across Stevie was when the WWF had the ECW invasion a couple of years back, in the middle of the Blue World Order skit Richards and the Blue Meanie were involved in (my favourite memory of that is when The Sandman, from the crowd, spat beer into the face of Savio Vega...aah memories). Richards and the Dudleys have the potential to be big stars in the WWF. As always in the present climate, they've got a better chance of being used properly with the WWF than they would have in WCW. Is it any wonder the WWF is wiping the floor with WCW week in, week out? I'm going to end this section with a defence of a wrestler who's always been another of my favourites but who is going through a bit of a rough patch just now by the looks of things. So, I give you.... THE UNDERTAKER - IS IT TIME TO REST IN PEACE??? For the best part of ten years The Undertaker has been a main part of the WWF. He's been there through the bad times when Hulkamania (ugh, that word again) was running it's course, and the good times when wrestling really took off and the WWF got the upper hand on WCW. In all that time The Undertaker has been a constant factor in the major storylines in Titanland. His feud with Hogan when he first took the title (remember the great moment when Flair threw the chair in the ring so 'Taker could tombstone Hogan?), his subsequent loss of the title days later in One Day In Texas, his partnership with Jake Roberts against The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage and his resulting face turn. His disappearance in the casket match with Yokozuna and his subsequent 'rebirth' against the fake Undertaker of Ted DiBiase, the Giant Gonzalez days, classic matches against the likes of Shawn Michaels and Mankind, and the feud/partnerships with Vince McMahon and Steve Austin. Through it all Undertaker has been there, and there have been a few glitches along the way (Giant Gonzalez didn't really work did it?). Yet, here we are and people are predicting the end of the Undertaker character. Maybe they have a point. All I am saying is don't be so quick to write him off. Personally, I've liked the Ministry of Darkness angle (though not the CORPORATE Ministry) and I have to admit I quite like the partnership with Paul Wight, although it seems I'm the only one (by the way I also dig their new entrance music, pretty menacing in it's own way). Played properly, they could be a devastating pair, though not helped by their lack of moves, maybe Calloway and Wight could do with getting back in shape just a bit....Undertaker, take your brother's example. If they do get in shape, become a bit more mobile then that will improve matters. In the meantime, be patient, give the new angle and partnership time to develop. Undertaker has given us entertainment all through the nineties, don't we owe him that?? I'd like to sign off with a new segment in my column, not an original one admittedly, but what they hey, nobody else on here's doing it....so here we go.... AWARDS OF THE WEEK WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Chris Benoit winning the US Title, and not before time. ANGLE OF THE WEEK: The appearance of Chris Jericho. Anticipated for weeks, Jericho's first appearance seems to have lived up to all expectations. SHOCK OF THE WEEK: Chyna earning the right to challenge Austin at Summerslam. Totally unexpected, but will she be in the match against Austin? DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK: Ignoring the obvious Hulkamania, Tony Schiavone back in the announcer's chair on Nitro. Expected at some point, but I had distant hopes that they'd stay with Hudson, and a lot of people think the same. SPECIAL MENTION TO: The Dead Pool - light at the end of the tunnel? Well, that's it for this week. As always, please feel free to mail me about anything you like, comments, suggestions etc. Do you agree with all or something I've said, or do you think I'm talking utter crap? Again, thanks for reading and I'll speak to you all next week. Take care of yourselves. Hey CRZ, I reckon Steve Regal could take Blackman with his eyes closed!!!!! Spellchecker fun this week...let's see.....Gunn can be changed to Goon. Hmmmmm. No further comment. Oh yeh, my sign-off.... SLAINTE. Bill Gillon [slash] wrestling Mail the Author	..
Main

..

Main