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WEEKLY RAMBLINGS

Personal Note: I knew I'd get home a little late on Monday night so set the VCR for Raw. I was watching the second hour of Nitro when I realized Raw wasn't actually getting taped. Sufficed to say I immediately switched over around quarter of ten.

HOWEVER... I did go back to check out the Gen. Rection/Steiner match-up, and was pleasantly surprised. That really was a kick ass match and was a) definitely pay per view material, and b) on par with any of the matches we've been seeing on Raw lately.

Of course, I still say the whole MIA thing has run it's course, and Morris would be way more over if he dropped the gimmick. See, it was good while it lasted, and it did what it was supposed to do, which was get him over. But at the same time, it a stupid gimmick, and it doesn't make much sense... these were originally guys that were fired from the company, but bonded together to form an alliance, but if he's got the belt then it 's all sort of nonsensical... then again it is wcw and what the hell am I doing looking for logic in a wrestling angle anyway.

The year is almost over (since I'm talking about wcw) and it completely boggles the mind thinking about what Russo did in wcw this year. Taken one at a time, there was so much shit on wcw programming that I really couldn't stomach much of it. But when you now look back and collectively gauge the fuckup that is Russo, words just can't do it justice. (This coming from a journalist who is supposed to find words to convey things to the public.)

And this whole Sid thing is such a waste of time. With the roster wcw has going for them, and the underutilized talent at that, why did they have to bring in Sid? Why not finally build up Storm to where he belongs? Why not have Awesome get a bad ass gimmick and rise to the top? However, now that I think of it, wcw's main event is lacking, while the undercard is thriving. And while I'm not the biggest Jarrett supporter, and agreed with Stone Cold when he said he didn't belong at the top of the card, he was there in wcw, and at a time when the upper card is thinning, why was he pushed back to mid-card status? God, Jarrett sucks... I'm sorry, but it's true. He gimmick got stale so fast it's frightening, yet people still treat him like "the chosen one."

Enough on wcw. I'm still intrigued by Armageddon's main event for Sunday, and I definitely think there's some swerves in the works, but I think people are jumping the gun about this whole "Advance Royal Rumble posters got released early and they're spoilers." These are probably the same people who were sure Show was winning the King of the Ring because of his prominence in advance posters. Whatever.

But here's an interesting scenario. Remember how Undertaker came up from under the ring one year and dragged (can't remember who the hell it was at the moment) someone under there with him? I'm talking about right up from the mat into the ring. Well, here's my cool idea for the week. The hell in the cell is going on... after 25 minutes or so Big Show pops up from the ring a la Undertaken circa 1990's... and he just starts kicking everyone's ass. The match goes on for about 10 -15 more minutes, and Show wins, and therefore gets the belt. However, the next night on Raw he gets stripped of the title leaving it open for the Rumble. Show needs to kick serious ass to get over in the show. And at the Rumble he could go on a elimination spree (a la Diesel) and get further over. See, the mismanagement with the Big Show is a)his name, and b) the fact he isn't used correctly.

See, Big Show debuted as a monster which is the best way to handle him due to his size. He threw Stone Cold THROUGH the steel cage. But after the initial introductions he was relegated to sort of mid-card status. When's the next time he gets the biggest pops? He chokeslams Undertaken THROUGH the ring (still one of the coolest things ever to happen on regular TV.) But when he's the champ he's fighting with the Bossman, who may be a great company guy, but really just drags down anyone he's in a program with. Show needs to return on a rampage.

So, I really hate fantasy booking, but fear I'm falling into that category lately... must get feedback concerning this.

By the way, thanks for the feedback on the UFC game.. I finally played it the other day and really liked it. Now it's just a matter of getting my own copy... but I know it's not too hard to find used, which is the way to go for Dreamcast games because they're so damned expensive.

Memory Lane: It's interesting to look back at early 90's wrestling and come to realizations about certain things. My father recently shipped all my wrestling tapes (which include most of the original broadcasts of the PPVs). Anyway, let me take you back to 1990, Summerslam. One of my favorite matches at the time was Warlord versus Tito Santana. Now, here was my general thinking at the time. Warlord was a monster back then. And I loved seeing him destroy Tito. That still stands, but now that I'm older, I also appreciate workrate, and basic skills, and that's where this match lacked. Of course, there was also never really any point to the match, unless it was Tito getting back at Slick over something to do with the Model.

Of course, one of the coolest matches ever was the IC title match a year later between Perfect and Hart. Definitely check it out, and try to find one that wasn't clipped. I do believe it was Hart's first IC title as well.

Speaking of Hart, I have been reading his Sharpshooter lately, and it's just so sad that he is so bitter that all he can ever do is badmouth wrestling now. I caught him on a television appearance the other day too and after being asked something completely unrelated to wrestling, he still managed to spew forth his poison. Get over it Bret, I don't think anyone wants to listen to your bitching.

That goes for Lawler's constant Gore comments on Monday. Everyone's already commented so I'll keep it to one brief statement: He came off as an arrogant ass with comments both unwarranted and completely out of place with anything going on in or out of the ring.

And last but not least: one of my favorite bands of all time, Alice in Chains, just released a live album. Go get it, you will not be sorry.

Right now I'm compiling my "best metal albums of the year" column... not that it really gets onto CRZ.net... but just in case anyone was interested... the top albums will at least get a mention here as soon as I done.

That's all for this week. Later

Tom
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