REMEMBERING OWEN: I read fellow Oracle Tanvir's column, "The Response Given" and I think it's true that a lot of people forgot until right up until today. It's easy to argue that some of the People completely buried it in their minds and chose to forget.

It's really easy to argue from my side that some of the People will NEVER forget. I sort of knew Owen--knew him from his words and actions and what the Torch, et al, had to say about him. Since I live in San Diego and 95% of my family lives in the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it's safe to say I knew him better than I would a cousin, at least. Owen always entertained me, I cheered when I was supposed to and booed when I was supposed to, and don't tell anybody, but sometimes I'd cheer when I was supposed to boo. And he died, which has been gone into with more than enough detail pretty much everywhere in this circle.

The "RAW" the night after was the first time I'd cried at that point in about 6 years. My mom saw me crying and kind of looked at me with that "I don't get it" face, but screw her, she's the one who decided her son couldn't go to the prom with a white girl (only other point in the previous 6 years where I'd felt like crying). I quickly decided to do something from my little corner of the world. I petitioned my friends to have Vince give Owen a posthumous belt and/or rename KotR for him, and I'm proud to say that a little around the horn action got 289 responses before I mailed it (no response, obviously). In my biweekly writings to them, I sign off with a little prayer to Owen no matter what. And it occurs to me, as I grabbed a notebook from my backpack to jot down this week's rough draft of the Word, that as long as my hiking backpack stays up, I'll always have him with me.

At the bottom, in giant blue letters written with permanent marker 366 days ago, there's simply one word: OWEN.

Some of the People have forgotten.
Some of the People will never forget.

Let's CORE RESPOND DANCE, shall we?:
Sammy Castenon has seen the light: Just finished reading your latest CRZ column. Good stuff as usual. Before I give you my insight, let me say one thing:

I need someone like Miss Hancock in my life!!!

After weeks of seeing her come to ringside for some mysterious reason, I finally see her infamous dance routine. All I can say is: WOW!!! She sure knows how to move and she seems pretty decent (in a school girl kind of way). I like her a lot:)

The last few weeks on RAW have been decent, but I have to admit that sometimes the excitement leaves me for a second. Don't get me wrong; the WWF still kicks ass, but they need to pull off some major shockers in the coming weeks to keep them fresh and on the mountain top.

I hope the Rock/Triple H feud comes to an end at Judgement Day. Shawn Michaels' involvement adds some intrigue to what promises to be a classic match. However, I smell a screwjob ... if that's what on Vince's mind. I could live with that, but only if the Undertaker returns right after the Rock get screwed and condemns the McMahon-Helmsley Regime for all of the sins they've comitted recently. Remember, the 'Taker "left" on bad terms with Vinnie Mac late last summer. You could throw Kane in the mix and, as you've probably already heard elsewhere, and you've got the most devasting duo in the history of professional wrestling. Can you see it?

I loved the Young Simba tag that Shane gave himself. He is just so damn entertaining on the mic. I had to rewind the footage where he got plastered by the WWF.COM sign. Too hilarious!!!

Overall, a good RAW. I await the aftermath of SMACKDOWN and JUDGEMENT DAY with the promise of a new day in the WWF.

Over on NITRO, Ric Flair has become one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. I've always respected Flair for what he has accomplished in the sport, but ever since Vince and Eric took over, he has just captivated me with his greatness in the ring and on the mic.
The Flair Vs. Flair angle is brilliant. We finally got to see a side of the Nature Boy that most people were curious about: his personal life. 'Naitch having to deal with all of the crap that has been thrown at him only made his title victory that much sweeter. It's great to see Flair being given the opportunity to still be a relevant part of wrestling history.

Vampiro Vs. Sting, for some reason, has hit a chord with me. I saw the montage detailing their prior alliance before their "House of Pain" match and I was clearly touched by it.
Here you had Vampiro, who has obviously been influnenced to some extent by Sting, lending a hand to save one of his idols. The Stinger then returns the favor and Vampiro is visibly in awe and grateful that his hero has formed a bond with him. This bond ultimately led to Vampiro becoming fixated with what Sting could and should be and caused him to turn on him. Vamp won't rest until Sting is gone. I like where this is going, even though Monday's match was a bit of a letdown. In the process, Vamp has become something of a main-eventer and Sting is as popular as he has ever been. This is the way an angle should work.

I'll leave you on this note: Miss Hancock, will you be mine:)
-->As for Ms. H, get in line, I was first. I think she's actually splitting time between WCW and Townson U in Baltimore, and while she's really hot and all, the other side of the nation to stalk her? All that work...Hope you're happy to see the JDay results, and the impending 3-way. Y'know, they don't call Ric Flair the Man because he needs another nickname, OK? OK. If WCW could build the Vamp/Sting half as well as you did...well, they probably wouldn't be this far behind then, would they?

Simply Mancuso: Hey, I was checking out your latest article and I think it was pretty cool putting what some people wrote to you, their opinions and then commenting on them. Well, here is my opinions on some of the 15 items that are on your list.

15: I agree that a Corino TV Title reign would rule.

13: I don't really Tori and as much as I am against violence of women in wrestling. I am kind of hoping they put her through a table. I am also hoping the Dudley's put X-Pac and Road Dogg through burning tables this Sunday.

12: Why would Onita be rolling over his grave? First of all, Onita is not dead, he may look dead sometimes, but he isn't. Onita was a cruiserweight 20 years and he really wasn't successful. However, if it is hardcore that you are talking about then I bet Onita would not be happy with what he is seeing.

10: The only problem with the House of Pain cage was the lack of weapons in the cage. As I expected more weapons than just handcuffs on the cage.

5: To me, compared to RVD, Jerry Lynn is the whole F'N show.

2: I think that WCW should have Jarrett hold the WCW Title for a much longer period, if they really want Jarrett to be a top heel. It has worked before. Especially in today's state of wrestling. (Example: Triple H)

Keep writing the good articles-->CRZ would put "Shouldn't that be ARE your opinions?" but I won't. Really. The author is 100% correct on his points, btw. Jarrett is now scheduled to drop the title to Michelle Kwan at next week's Thunder.

And the Whole F'N recapper Tanvir comes back again: Greetings, fellow comrade, compadre, compatriot Butch! Sorry for taking up so much space on your last column! Your readers want more ROSSER and less RAQUIB. Hey, our last names are six letters! Go fig...

The first thing I wanna say is I like your columns. They're totally different than any regular column that I've ever read. I also dig the term 'CORE RESPOND DANCE.' How come I can't think of anything as cool like that?

Kudos on being first on CRZ' Thunder Recap. Hopefully, the other 6 or 7 people give you the same kudos.

Raw was...acceptable. At least, I thought it was. I was watching RAW in the living room while the painter was chipping away the walls. He says Stephanie is ugly. I have to agree that she wasn't looking fairly hot on RAW. I dug Tori's top rope plancha on Buh Buh through a table. That was pretty cool. Maybe D-Von can wear preacher garb so Vinnie Mac can piss off EVEN MORE PEOPLE - what do you think?? Sure, it would be sacrilegious, but Vince is an atheist, I hear. Everytime I see Trish, she reminds me of Pam Anderson with shinier boobies. I'd bang her, however.

Vampiro and Sting just bore me to death. Those two have the combined charisma of well, SOMEBODY REALLY REALLY UNCHARISMATIC!

Speaking of females, who do ya prefer? Christina Aguilera or Brittney Spears? I dunno, man. Christina has that whole innocent clean thing going for her. Brittney looks to be the more dirtier one of the bunch. I think I'd pick Christina, but she's a snob in my opinion. But her songs are okay. Hey, Butch - I predict that Brittney Spears will become the next Dana Plato. Maybe we'll all be able to score with her! (just kidding, well maybe not! )

One last thing: You might wanna check out my latest effort on [slash]. It's titled 'Predictions'. I think you and Barker will be pleased!
-->Nothing like a blowjob push to pick me up when I'm down. Only 3, but thanks for playing. I also call dibs on Trishie--I get a list of 5 wrestling babes and 5 famous ones. Christina is an airhead wanna-be Chola. Britney, well I've gone off on that subject many times. (That was just SICK, btw). May they both hop a plane heading into the Sun.

And then there was LISTO DEL FUEGO:

15) **BRISCO IS HARDCORE**
That's got to be one of the longer reigns in the past 6 months already, right? At least we KNOW this one's supposed to be a joke now.

14) **RAVEN GONE?**
What would they do with him in the WWF? I like the pairing him w/Saturn idea...however, it would be really cool if he screwed around with Crash's mind for a couple months, turning him into a legit bad-ass, and mentoring him. Word.

13) **CRASH IS INSANE**
Didn't he hear what Bradshaw does when his stocks dip? Forget messin' around with Jim--you don't screw with Justin if the long-term IRAs are dipping!

12) **JARRETT WINS THAT MEANINGLESS THING AGAIN**
But I thought it didn't matter anymore? Why didn't it lead off the show then? This is exactly like ducks in a barrel, btw.

11) **FUNK WON'T QUIT**
SHOULD, but won't.

10) **M(ajor Guns)IA**
I'm sure Russo thinks if he puts a hot babe in every segment, guys will watch more, right? Oh, if it weren't for that tricky VCR...

09) **WHAT'S NEXT FOR LITA?**
I'd actually like to see a match between her and Essa...

08) **ROCK ON THE WARPATH**
A face? Acting like a HEEL? That's just CRAZAY, yo. (Was I the only one who heard the theme from "Jaws"?)

07) **TRISH WORKS THE STICK**
You sickos. Microphone! The mic time and attacking of goodies will help her get over as a heel--do all Canadians have that cocky attitude and smirk or what?

06) **UT IS BACK**
911 lives! If he can actually wrestle, you might as well get him in there while the crowd is hot for him.

05) **BENOIT RULES ALL**
See above.

04) **THEY'RE BOTH IRON MAN**
The stores are all out of crow, now. What a good match. ****, IMHO. And today's fan doesn't have the attention span to sit for an hour--how many different ways (big and little) can Vin Man find to bitchslap Russo around this year?

03) **VAMPIRO "BEATS" HOGAN**
If this is progress, take me back to the Stone Age.

02) **MISEDUCATION OF BOOKER T.**
Hey, whatever happened to the US Title shot anyway? Whatever happened to the US Title, come to think of it?

01) **THE 3 FUNNIEST MEN IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT**
The best part of it was the crowd cheered them when they were supposed to, then booed them, than cheered them AGAIN before booing them AGAIN. They've got us in the palm of their collective hand, they SO do. It's true! It's true.

@LARGE: Big Show out, Chyna on 3rd Rock, D'Lo/Godfather confrontations, 4-way IC tension, Daffney Cruiserweight Champ, crowd finishes hHh's catchphrase (bum bum bummmmmmmmm)

Split my predictions. Low-level booing and hissing at Marvellous and Sharona (you know why!), and I think that'll do it.

I'm outta here like a two-time Slammy Award Winner! WHOO!