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THE JOHN REPORT
WWF, WCW Thoughts and Some HBK Corrections

Thanks to Drq for the new banner! Check out that pic of Shawn coming off the ladder. Sweeeeet!!

After every edition of Raw I get emails from people asking me where the Raw Report and R&R is. The answer is that the old Raw Report I used to do is in the past because I work long days on Tuesday and I have absolutely no time for it. It bothers me because the WWF is really hot right now and I would love to write more about them. Maybe I will bring out the Raw Report and R&R at a future date but for now it's in the past. Even though I have been writing less, I really have enjoyed writing about past events in wrestling history, the PPV previews and things of that nature. If you want my opinion on something, email me or talk to me on AOL Instant Messenger about it. This will be a shorter column by my standards although it will cover a lot of things I wanted to talk about. It will mostly be short thoughts on a variety of subjects rather than a long column about one topic. Here she blows...

Before I get to it let me first say that I thought this week's episode of The Simpsons was hilarious this week. Am I the only one that heard them say they are a "Northern Kentucky" family? Man, this is earth shattering news that had the office buzzing. Anyway, onto the wrestling talk.

Judgment Day is a Huge Success
When I wrote the J-Day preview last week I was enthusiastic about the card. I was anticipating the main event, the submission match and I wanted to know how much time the undercard would be given. Overall, I think the show delivered on all accounts and hopefully paved the way for more good wrestling in the future. No star ratings from me because I have not watched the event on tape yet and I only rate matches after I see them twice. I say Backlash was a better show with more good matches from top to bottom although Judgment Day is probably the second best PPV of the year.

My list for best WWF PPVs of the year is as follows: 1) Backlash, 2) Judgment Day, 3) Royal Rumble, 4) No Way Out, 5) WrestleMania. In my opinion, all of these PPVs were better than any of the PPVs from last year so the WWF is definitely at its best.

The main event did not really surprise me because I expected a good match. I think Triple H proved to everybody that he is a tremendous wrestler in every aspect and if you ask me he is very close to the level of WWF legends such as Michaels, Austin and Foley. The Rock also put on a great match showing that he can hold his own with just about anyone. I do not think Triple H did a huge carry job but he carried The Rock enough that it was one of the Rock's best matches ever. The finish was unique in that it left us wondering what really happened. Now we know that the Undertaker showed up a few seconds too late and it made for a sloppy finish. Even with the screwy ending it was still a very good match for nearly 59 minutes.

I liked the Benoit/Jericho match although I think the Backlash match was slightly better. The only problem with the Backlash match was the ending whereas the Judgment Day match seemed to lack in terms of building the match. Both were ****+ affairs, it's just that I thought the Backlash match was marginally better.

I like the new look Undertaker. Last year I was very vocal about my displeasure with the whole gothic Undertaker gimmick. He did not get great heel heat with it and his wrestling suffered because of it. Now he is back with a more human type gimmick and he is rejuvenated so I expect him to be in old, kickass form very soon. The Undertaker was at his best in '97 and '98 when he acted like a bad ass in black instead of the grim reaper. With this new biker gimmick, his best days could be ahead of him once again.

Other WWF Thoughts
Vince McMahon is probably the best actor in all of wrestling. His promo to open Raw was terrific as was the way he took the beating from The Rock. His best acting job was probably the night when Austin took him hostage after he "fired" him. Who could ever forget the infamous "Bang 3:16" and the "Vince McMahon 3:16 says I just pissed my pants" line? Ah, the good old days.

My guess for the KOTR finals is Angle vs. Rikishi.

If Vince Russo is such a genius how come he did not let Edge & Christian work the mic before? I always knew they were naturals on the stick (because of their many TV appearances here in Canada) and it is showing right now. If Russo really was smart he probably would have seen their potential.

Malenko with some ho's? Never thought I would see it but man that was a funny moment.

Raw was a good show this week although I never really got excited for it. It ended with a very hot ending that sent the crowd home happy after a Rock Bottom through the announcer's table. I doubt we will see Triple H vs. The Rock at KOTR although I think they may be a part of a triple threat or tag match to headline the event.

I like Saturn's brainbuster. I am glad somebody is using that move for their finisher because it is always a move that I enjoy looking at.

The next time they bring their legends back they should have them come out together. Imagine the reaction if Austin, Michaels and Foley all stood in the same ring.

WCW Thoughts
Kevin Nash won the world title on Thunder. This is a guy who has proven on more than one occasion that he is a horrible draw as world champion. The longer Nash holds the belt, the deeper the hole will be that WCW has to dig itself out of.

Major Gunns aka Tylene was my favourite woman in wrestling when she was an NWO girl. I'm glad they have given her a more active role because she is a pleasure to look at. I could throw out a lame "mouth to mouth" joke here but I have heard 'em all and I am sure most of you have too.

My guess is that the main event for Starrcade 2000 is going to be Russo vs. Bischoff because they probably believe they are the biggest draws in wrestling today.

Russo's idea of pushing Booker T. is by putting him in a feud with Shawn Stasiak. Why? So he can go over a younger wrestler who has zero credibility to begin with. Why is the U.S. Title being wasted on Scott Steiner when a good, popular wrestler like Booker T. is stuck feuding with Stasiak? Steiner is fine (I guess) but if he is not going to defend the belt what is the point of keeping it around his waist?

The best thing about WCW right now: They have the hottest women in wrestling.

Jeff Jarrett had a one day title reign this week. If Russo really believed in him wouldn't he keep the belt on the guy for a long period of time instead of handing the belt around like a $2 New York whore? Has he even had a successful title defense?

Anybody seen Berlyn or Buzzkill lately? Better question. Does anybody MISS Berlyn or Buzzkill? No? Okay, that's what I thought.

Yes, I am negative towards WCW but can you blame me? All this talk about a new WCW and all I am seeing are short title reigns, weak matches and the same old faces dominating the program.

HBK Related Feedback
When I posted the Shawn Michaels biography on Tuesday May 9th I expected plenty of feedback and I received plenty of it. The thing that surprised me was that so many of you decided to write in and correct on a few minor things that I forget or reported incorrectly. When I say minor details I mean MINOR details but I figure I should post it so you can correct it if you decided to print it or save it. After I post the list of HBK's greatest matches (not sure when that will be) I will post a batch of emails about the bio and the matches. Also, if you sent me an email about it I will get to your emails as soon as I possibly can. Reader comments in italics, my comments in regular font.

From: Paul. He took the time to write me with five corrections and under each one I will add a comment.

First off, I would like to congratulate you on a very well written column. It had everything. Just a few errors I noticed:

1. Shawn wasn't born in San Antonio, it was Scottsdale, AZ at Williams Air Force Base.
Every place I looked said San Antonio but I will believe that he was born in Arizona. One thing we do know is that he grew up in San Antonio.

2. Your pic of Shawn with the world title is wrong. It isn't the world title, it is the IC Title.
Yes it is. It was the best picture of Shawn with a belt that I could find. After editing the bio for nearly an hour I added the pictures and I mistakenly said it was the world title. Blame it on fatigue more than anything.

3. Bulldog didn't accuse HBK of stalking his wife, it was sexual harassment.
See what happens when I try to go into details!

4. At SummerSlam '96, Vader didn't win two falls by countout. He won one by countout and the other by DQ when Shawn hit Vader with Cornette's tennis racket.
This is also correct. I had not watched this match for a while and it kind of slipped my mind. I watched it recently in preparation for the greatest matches column and it turns out I was wrong. Oh well, tack on another error.

5. Shawn and Austin were stripped of the titles due to a real backstage fight between Shawn and Bret, where Shawn said he was going to Nitro. The WWF said Shawn got an injury from it to cover it up.
I said Shawn was stripped due to an injury. I also mentioned the backstage fight. I figured people could put two and two together and come up with the conclusion. For those that couldn't do it, Paul explained it. By the way, I think the whole "Shawn said he was going to Nitro" thing was way overblown. It was kind of like how they said Benoit would throw the WCW World Title even though he would never do such a thing. Believe it or not, some things are written to add intrigue to a story. I doubt Shawn said he was going to Nitro but that's for the individual to decide.

All-in-All, GREAT BIOGRAPHY!

Paul


Now, let's move on to Andrew Green and his corrections:

The Post-Concussion-Syndrome collapse was on Raw the day after Survivor Series, not at the PPV. He was wrestling Owen in a one on one match, and collapsed shortly after taking the enziguri. They also blamed the collapse on the Razor's Edge and Sid's powerbomb from the night before. Yeah, this is also correct. I said the angle happened at Survivor Series '95 even though it happened on the Raw episode the next night. Silliness on my part once again. For what it's worth, I actually enjoyed the Survivor Series '95 match Shawn was in which was billed as a "wild card match" meaning heels were teamed with faces on both sides.

Vince told the timekeeper to "ring the fucking bell", he didn't tell Earl Hebner. Hebner signaled for the bell to ring and Vince told the timekeeper (his name is Mark Eaton?, I think) to ring the bell. The only contact between Hebner and Vince during the match was a momentary glance.
I said he told Hebner. Once again, this is something that I knew it is just that I neglected to go into the intimate details.

Finally, I made a mistake when I mentioned the Rockers/Orient Express match at Royal Rumble '91. I said they faced Pat Tanaka and Haku (now known as Meng) and that was obviously wrong. Their opponents were Tanaka and Paul Diamond who wrestled as Kato. Thanks to Cindy for the help on that one.

Thanks a lot for all the corrections. I think at least 20% of the email I received from the bio were from people who had corrections for me. Most of them had the letters "HBK" in their email addresses just like Paul did. It should be noted that none of these things are MAJOR things, they are just little things that I simply forgot. Paul and Andrew were the first ones to write me about all of the errors in one email so that is why I chose this one. To everybody else who wrote me to say that "you were wrong" I would like to say thank you. At least Cindy, Paul and Andrew had the decency to say it was a great biography after they corrected my errors. I do appreciate it.

As I said in the bio, there were many things that even I did not know about Shawn. I am not afraid to make mistakes and that is why I encourage all types of feedback. I will treat everybody with respect, all I ask is that you try to do the same with me.

In Closing...
I really have nothing more to say that is wrestling related, however, I want to give a shout out to somebody that has made his return. I am talking about my good friend Matt Spence who has told me personally that he would be writing on a regular basis again. I will admit that things were rocky between us for a little while but we ironed things out and we are on the same page again. Welcome back buddy, we missed ya.

Considering there are no PPV previews for a few weeks I will probably do the next match in my look at wrestling's greatest matches in the near future. If you have any requests for which match you would like to see let me know and I will consider it. If you have any questions or comments about this column feel free to MAIL ME and I will do my best to reply to you as soon as possible. Have a great week.

Smell ya later,
John C.
Big3 Oratory

Mail John C.
AOLIM: JohnC1104
"The Drunken Wonder" Matt Spence is back, Patrick Ryan heaps praise on The Rock and Richboy writes a bio of Triple H. For all this and more, just Click Here!

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