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Jerry Root

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THE MAT POTATO

Were you watching, Hogan? Did you have somebody program your VCR for you? Did you even hear about what happened over in the WWF? No, then let me spell it out for you.

The Rock, their nr.1 guy, the top banana, the head honcho, the main attraction, the one who can arguably be said to be largely responsible for putting asses in seats, put Chris Benoit over CLEANLY!

Did this diminish the Rock's heat? Not one iota, I'd wager.

Did this elevate Benoit? Undoubtedly.

Will this do anything for the WWF ratings? Undoubtedly.

This one move, this one scenario that is totally incomprehensible to a lot of wrestlers, has done more to legitimize the WWF in a lot of eyes, than you could ever imagine. Let's face it, when the Flair/Hogan match was announced, most of what I read prior to the match said that there would be a screw-job ending, and that turned out to be the case.

However, who in their right mind would have predicted that the Rock would lay down for Benoit? Nobody that I know of. It's just one more stab at the WCW, without actually having to draw attention to them by name. It's Vince's way of saying, "Hey, Ted, look what you lost! Look what you got rid of and I have!".

Yeah, Benoit didn't win any gold from it, but he really doesn't need it (nor actually deserve it right now), but this one maneuver just solidified his position in a lot of the fans minds as a great tactician, a great wrestler and no doubt about it, a top-card wrestler.

Where does he go from here? I don't have a clue. Perhaps an eventual confrontation with HHH? A feud with Cactus Jack? (The latter especially if Foley manages to get the belt from HHH). The Rock winning the belt and feuding with Benoit? I can't even begin to prognosticate on that one.

But whatever the future holds for Chris Benoit and the rest of the gang of 4, you can believe that their future is suddenly a whole lot brighter.

So, Hogan, Nash and the rest of you who refuse to put the company first and do the job, take this as a lesson. Doing the job won't necessarily diminish your popularity (if you have any legitimate popularity to begin with), and will do much to elevate the talent around you. In the process, it elevates the company.

But that would require you thinking of somebody other than yourselves.

One other subject I'd like to touch on here. I managed to catch a bit of the Saturday night WCW show, and it was almost like viewing a time capsule. Heenan seemed to be in his old form with his antics. I fondly remember such Heenanisms such as "Chump Hogan" "Chico Santana" and "A friend in need is a pest". All that was missing was having Gorilla Monsoon seated next to him.

The one comment that really had me floored was when Sharkboy came out. Scott Hudson made the comment that Sharkboy never had anybody come to the ring with him. Heenan pointed out that he knew why. "He's a lone shark" (loan shark). Classic Heenan. I was rotflmao over that one.

Bobby, it's great to have you back. Sorry it has to be in such a backwater, but I'll take what I can get.

Jerry Root
[slash] wrestling

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