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Mr. T

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IN QUOTES
Second Thoughts and General Chaos

Wacky Colour Update: I think I've got that out of my system :-) except for the red, which I think is cool. Chris's Green N' Yellow Results formatting isn't too bad, though, so bye-bye, rainbow colors.

What Do You, the Reader Think?: Someone mentioned in passing that the CRZ 1999 In Quotes [quotes taken from the RAW and Nitro reports] is done by readers, and more specifically, should be done by yours truly, seeing as I'm [Slash]'s resident quoter of quotes. What do you think? Drop me an email and if enough of you think so, I'll do it! [For the RAW Reports].

Before We Start The Column Stuff: Props to Marvellous Martin and Andy, go send them some email! Speaking of our WWF PPV Recapper, since he JUST HAD to go there and start the 'Sucka' jokes, I must rename him "Marvellous" Martin Mero and be done with it. More plugs [not my drain plug, not a hair plug, a plug]: Go Answer Michaelangelo's Question of the Week in the Expansion Column, which I'm sure will be up by now around here somewhere? [Thank you for contributing to the Sledgehammer of Plot's There Should Be A Link There Chris Fund, take your raffle ticket.] 

Guilty as Charged: Second [AKA Final] Thoughts: Well, it's been a week or so, and having a rare day off from work [and not even gonna go near Souled Out], so I did an impromptu rerun [starting from the Six Person Tag] for a "Retro" look at the PPV. Much to my surprise, even on the third viewing, I saw several striking things I felt like I should comment on [lucky you]. Here goes:

    Cyrus the Quality Commentator Virus: I don't think I can do justice how valuable Cyrus is as a color commentator. To pick on one thing, during the Dream Partner tag, Guido boxes the ears, and Cyrus explains that boxing the ears can screw up your equilibrium and balance: his skill at putting over the talent [listen to him switch gears during the Dream Tag], and he manages to deliver the comedy decently. Vince, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING when you let the Jackyll go?

    My Play by Play is Hit-N-Miss: I got extremely positive reviews -- as a matter of fact...   
    CRZ in Quotes: "Bitchin Recap man, the ECW gig is yours if you want it." -1.10.2K
    Where Was I?: Oh, anyhow, my play-by-play got a lot of praise, but watching it again, I just can't BELIEVE how much I missed or didn't call in my report:

  • A referee doing a plancha onto the wrestlers during the Six Person Tag
  • The "Shut the Fuck Up" chant during Corino's prematch speech
  • Dave Scherer and his minions holding up a "We Want a Raise Joey" sign at the ECWWrestling.com booth [ha!]
  • The fact that Corino escaped with Dusty's hat [angle alert!]
  • The surprisingly good interview given by New Jack pre-match
  • The [face] heat Dusty Rhodes was getting [EGAD!]
  • RVD leaving with Fonzie [shades of a similar angle between Taz and Sabu?]
      Nobody's perfect, but even with my "exhaustive"(™CRZ) recap, I'm surprised how much I managed to leave out. [Maybe I'll do the whole thing from tape next time? NAAAAAH.]

    I Reverse Myself: My opinion of the show, one week later, was surprisingly unchanged with the exception of two things: 
    1. New Jack Interview - I didn't pay much attention to the interview the first two times around, so this actually is an addendum to the report. The match still gets a Thumbs Way the Hell Down, but this Interview gets a Thumbs Up.
    2. The Dusty Rhodes Stuff - Here's where I reverse myself: As I said, I don't care about the American Cow. With that in mind, it's INCREDIBLE the huge heat Dusty [and Corino] got in this segment. Despite the retarded execution, this segment was well done in that it got Dusty over HUGE with the Alabama crowd, and Steve Corino wrote the book on cowardly heel, stealing his cowboy hat. So, shocking even myself, I do a 180 and retroactively award this segment a Thumbs Up.

GOOD GRIEF: I just gave something that prominently featured DUSTY F'N RHODES a thumbs up! I can't think of a more appropriate note to end on, so we turn our attention to Dusty's former employers...

Dave Meltzer in Quotes: "Vince Russo's idea to save the show was presented to Bill Busch. The ideas for the show included adding a Battle Royal or Rumble style match and putting Tank Abbott over for the title. He also wanted to put the cruiserweight title on Oklahoma. Brad Siegel ended up being involved when Busch nixed the ideas. At this point, it wound up with Russo's power being greatly diminished. He was invited to stay with the company as a television writer but with less authority. Based on the last information we have, he hadn't agreed to stay or to go." -1.14.2K  

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum Once Again: Kevin Nash back in power? The mention of Kevin Sullivan causes the midcard en masse to ask for their release? CHRIS BENOIT is the World Champion? You can bet your piggy bank that there is a "Don't Quote Me" coming on this one, later on this week.      

For now, for those of you celebrating, I'll note that every time Nash has held the book in any remote capacity [including his WWF run in 1995, where he was given "Creative input" into his booking], his shameless self-promotional and raging "Cliquitis" has run the promotion into the ground.   

Backstage Politics Suck: Here's your obligatory history lesson for today: before the days of the Black - N- White, hell, before the days of Nitro, the much vaunted Clique was one in the WWF [Triple-H, Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall, Nash, Sean "1-2-3 Skid/Xpunk" Waltman, and Shawn Michaels] and they ruled the roost in 1994-5, and the WWF had some of it's worst years creatively in it's existance. In 1997, with the Hart Family in the WWF's main event angle [USA vs Evil Foriegner], the struggles for power in the back led to some of the most disjointed TV of the present-era (and eventually the Montreal Screwjob of DOOM!). It was only in the Attitude Era that Vince took control of his locker room and things really began to roll for the WWF. Take note, WCW: get rid of the egos. Even the Rock has laid down for Al Snow, the Bossman and Bob Holly; will names like Hogan and Savage do the same for Benoit?

Meet that New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: While something tells me that we haven't seen the last of Mr. Russo [call it a hunch], what's in store for WCW now? Ideas? Death Certificates? You have my ear (tanaka@ncw3.com) so stop by and tell me what you think!  

Time to bust out the catchphrase [just like opinions: everyone has one],

and you *can* quote me on that. 

Mr. T
[slash] wrestling (One World Leader - Purple Popsicles)

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