LOL....

Get back to me when you DO form an opinion on Nitro.

I send my producer a 7500-word Nitro report, and he gets on my case because I can't give him a number! Can you BELIEVE this world?

You may or may not be interested in them...

I believe that ESPN's Dan Patrick says it best when he says, "En fuego." I won't go so far as saying that last night's Nitro was a home run. It was more like when your baseball team comes in, and your entire starting lineup, your established veterans, your newly acquired free agents, and your younger players, gets on base, continues to score runs, and delivers solid pitching all the way through.

It's a new season and apparently it's the season of the shoot interview.

Let's hit the three, and only three, bad things that I saw last night.

1. Scott Steiner definitely deserves to be pushed as part of the new blood. I think he is a slow wrestler with a boring workrate, but he has paid his dues, and the fans like him. But Scott should not do speeches. Last night he looked and sounded like some over-roided beast whose tongue has inflated the size of his muscles, so he can no longer put together full sentences. And to sandwich him in between Shane Douglas and Ric Flair is a huge mistake.

2. Someone really needs to explain to me why Sean Stasiak and The Wall get to be involved in actual fights, but Booker (T) gets barely thrown in at the end just to show that he is a part of the New Blood. Excuse me? The Wall is a big talentless nothing, who will be lucky if he is able to become the next One Man Gang. Sean Stasiak could be a phenominal wrestler and a great talent, but it's not like he made everyone in the arena sit up and take notice. Booker could have taken either of those two spots. Or, unless the man is completely gone from WCW, you could have had Booker go after Terry Funk or something like that.

3. Finally, not a bad thing for last night, but a warning. The run-ins started to get predictable towards the end. Not who was running in, but rather that someone would run-in. Not a bad thing for last night, because WCW had to set the table, and I like their arrangement (except for the previously mentioned Booker thing). Now, WCW can play that game again on Thunder to reinforce where the battle lines are drawn. But after the PPV, if Nitro starts to become a run-in fest like last night, things will start to get boring.

Now, onto the rest of the list as to what worked last night.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, WCW, Russo, and Bischoff for making sure that Ric Flair had a place in your reindeer games. Both Russo and Bischoff had problems with Ric Flair in the past, and when I saw Flair arrive in the limo, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now maybe Ric Flair won't get the treatment that he wants in WCW. Maybe he's just doing it to ensure a place for his son in the regime, but both sides seem to have made some piece. And it looks like The Nature Boy will spend the last few years of his career in WCW as a part of the card and not buried under it.

Here's an interesting twist that (really I'm not kidding) no one has tried before. The faces are wrong and the heels are right. Normally when that happens, the heels stop being heelish, but Hogan, Sid, Flair, and some of the others were "in the wrong" and called out by their opponents. And yet, Kidman and Bischoff punked out Hogan with the chair. Shane Douglas attacked Ric Flair from behind. It was great. Truly ingenious. Owing quite a bit to ECW for turning shoots into angles.

The Verne Gagne quote from Kevin Nash had me rolling on the floor. The softball and scissors comments by Bischoff had me howling. Kidman's comment about Hogan's unnatural orange skin was great. I hope someone transcribes the words this evening.

Excuse me, the big Orange Goblin is facing Kidman. Damn, Perry Saturn will have to apologize. Hogan playing an obvious egomaniacal face, interesting slant. Probably the best was to combine the Hulk Hogan and Hollywood Hogan personas into one. If Russo and Bischoff can do that right, and have Hogan pass the torch to a few wrestlers in some way, then Hogan will enter the 2000s the right way. It might actually happen.

Now that was "The Franchise" Shane Douglas that WCW paid for last year. I saw Troy Martin on my television in WCW a lot of times in 1999. But he just didn't have that fire and that cockiness that he had in ECW. He was buried in a "Revolution" angle that lost the direction in which they were revolting halfway though the push. That was a Franchise interview. He didn't hold back and he went after Flair. Top notch.

Ummmm, fans of Denver, Colorado, we need to go over one of the nuances of the wrestling two-step again. Now, when a wrestler grabs a microphone and calls out a wrestler saying that "He's going to destroy everyone in his path until you return to the federation and face him.", that almost always means that the wrestler is not in the building. So you can chant for him all you want when the faces are getting their clocks cleaned, but he still ain't gonna show.

Wasn't it refreshing to see Eric Bischoff without that cocky smile on his face. Did anyone else see the hunger in his eyes for the first time ever. I actually was rooting for the man who I couldn't wait to get out of the WCW office. Talk about a turn-around.

Here's one for the conspiracy theorists. I think the entire last 9 months has been a complete work orchestrated by Eric Bischoff, Terry Taylor, Vince Russo, and some selected members of the talent roster designed to lighten the salary load and get rid of the good old boys that were undermining Eric Bischoff. It took 9 months and cost WCW the talents of Saturn, Malenko, Gurerro, and Benoit, but WCW is now hotter than it was last year, with a smaller payroll, and the cancers like Dillon and Sullivan are gone.

Bwah hah hah hah hah! "The white hummer from last summer, it's back. I should have known it was Bischoff all along." BWAH HAH HAH HAH HA HA.... Eric way to make a great joke and tool on yourself.

Just for Dave Scherer- rhetorical questions

Did anyone else love Vicious being dressed down by Bischoff?

Did anyone else's eyes light up when Bischoff apologized for his mistakes, especially Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan.

Could any wrestler in WCW, other than Vicious, have handed the belt over to Bischoff and kept credibility?

After watching the "impact" of Mike Awesome last night. Does WCW still think he is worth six figures to pay ECW?

Did I dream it last night or did both Hogan and Rock juice last night? (and did they juice hardway?)

Now, I know Hogan is getting a new push, and he has never been portrayed as an MIT graduate, but my blind grandmother knew that Bischoff was going to whack Hogan with the chair, how could he not see it?

Was anyone else screaming in joy when Douglas attacked Ric Flair?

Anyone else think that showing Terry Taylor on television was a validation of his place in WCW?

(not that he's all that, but a rhetorical question dedicated to Hyatte): I hope no one else was surprised when the evil one, Doug Dillenger, showed up in WCW. Bookers come and go, but the Evil One's power will always remain.

If you're going to have Sean Stasiak imitate Curt Hennig, then shouldn't you make sure he can hit the gum with his hand?

Did anyone else find it extremely difficult to watch 18 minutes of the Rock and Vince trade verbal cues while WCW was showing you matches?

Did Tony Schiavonte actually do a top-notch job of announcing last night?

And finally, why would the censors bleep the crowd chanting "asshole" but allow WCW to show the disgustingly pale and blubbery back of Mark Madden (As Joey Styles once said "we've done it, we've finally gone beyond the realms of good taste. This is too extreme even for ECW. Where are the censors when you need them?)

Peace

Robert J. Schwabe
Princeton Softech

Hey CRZ,
First of all, I thought Nitro was awesome...but what I was actually writing in about was Bischoff's comment that it is "a long hard life in West Memphis, Sid" hit a little too close to home, as i too preside in the proverbial hellhole of America about four or five miles from good ol' Sid....and have actually been to more than a few of the infamous "softball games"...if you noticed not too long after the West Memphis comment Sid peacefully handed over the belt as would anyone threatened with a life of depravity and hopelessness of West Memphis, AR... I am not saying I am gonna jump just yet but hey any show that demeans my hometown and is now a nightmare for the local city council deserves my respect...
Peace out,
Trip

What DOES "two tears in a bucket" mean, anyway?

Other than being in the DX theme song and rhyming with "Suck it"? I have no idea.

"Ess so reeeeeeeeeeal...."

That commercial is so funny. That look on his face when he says it is priceless.

Rana! (Well, if Albert knew how to do a complete flip...)

Jeff won't be the one that kills himself in the ring, it'll be Albert. Jeff had to do a handstand to avoid landing on his head. Albert looked like he forgot to jump to help him there.

Big Show sells Chef Boyardee spaghetti (with jumbo meatballs). It's pretty funny, but let's see what I think about it the five hundredth time I've seen it.

It was funny, but I was waiting for the rock to show up and say "Meatsa Ballsa." That would have been funny.

BALD VENIS v. WELL IT'S THE BIG SHOW

While Big Show was doing his little spiel, all I could think about was Val on GTV making fun of Big Show's "Big Show." I was waiting for Val to bring that up. Damned inconsistent storylines.

Wes Vansandt

All I could think when seeing the Madden/Tank Abbott segment was:

"Who's the man? It's my birthday!"

This segment was a personal "mark-out" moment for me, because it took Mark out... ;)

Chuck Thresher

Howmuchyouwannabet that Jarrett gets relegated to the other side by the end of the PPV, that there will be a hidden title shot and the belt gets placed on somebody else? I mean, shit, they could've done Page vs. Jarrett nine months ago, and JJ BELONGS in that group. Ifwasme, I'd take the shot away from JJ during Thunder, make it Page vs. Kidman.

Tony Dela Cruz
Managing Editor
HOTELS magazine

The way I look at it - neither one of you two guys would be here right now if it wasn't for Scott and I. Russo, you know for a fact Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, when you were in the World Wrestling Federation, saved you from being decapitated from Shawn Michaels on numerous occasions. And you, Eazy-E, if it wasn't for the Outsiders, there'd have been no NWO, and you know what - you'd still be bringing Verne Gagne coffee up in Minnesota!" Tony: "We're shootin' here!" Har har har.

You know what's scary? He probably WAS shooting..

Just one other thing...

Stasiak's move was the "Meat Grinder". Maybe we should call it the "Microphone Check", huh...

I remain your fan,

Sam "The Other" Zimmerman

Rocky's blade job last night was only a .5 Muta? Are you kidding me? I've never seen Muta's famous gusher but how could it really have been twice what Rocky did last night? I was almost nauseated when Rock sat up and it just flowed right out of the wound to the ground. I think that was a better bladejob than HHH at Rumble, and people called that a .8, but hey, maybe CRZ's just more bloodthirsty than most. :)

~stinger~

I think if it had been given more time to develop, it would have gone much higher on the scale. But Muta's blood covered EVERYTHING - him, his opponent, the mat...Rock did pretty good hitting .5 in only..what, two minutes? Don't misunderstand me, it was a SPECTACULAR blade job!

The only other time I remember Rocky blading was the Rock/HHH ladder match for the IC belt....unless he was bleeding on accident which I doubt....

E. Saunders

Farooq & Bradshaw out to help the Rock? Any bets that the next step is the reformation of the Nation? Might keep D-Lo from jumping ship so soon.

On another note, isn't it about time to put the Hardcore title on Perry Saturn? All four (ugh!) Radicals with gold could signal the start of their breakaway from the McMahon/Helmsley regime. This could lead to an epic feud eventually.

Awaiting your Nitro recap,
Steve Newlin

Hey CRZ,

I think I have a viable lawsuit against Madden.

My wife and I were watching NItro. Immediately after Madden was relieved of his shirt, exposing his fat, pale, Jell-O like gut, my wife decided she was a lesbian and left me.

What do you think? Can I get $1 million out of him?

Matt Stergos

Trust me - he don't HAVE a million to give you.

The Rock bladed in the Ladder Match with HHH, SummerSlam 98...that's the only one I can remember. Maybe on Raw with Foley during their feud too...not sure.

Jeremy Brenton

CRZ,

I'll keep this short. First of all, I love all the recaps. You are great, man. I just have one thing to point out: You wondered if The Rock had ever bladed before. I seem to recall that at Summerslam '98 during the I-C Ladder Match he had with HHH that I marveled that he actually bladed. I doubt he ever has at a house show, so that may have been the last time he ever did until Monday.

Kevin Wang

...I really enjoy your Nitro and Raw reports on WrestleLine.

I enjoyed the drama and "what's gonna happen next" side of Nitro last night, but the reality is most of the TV time STILL went to the old guys. I haven't watched Nitro steadily in about 2 years. Hopefully, things will change, but the jury's still out...

In regards to The Rock's blade job getting a .5 on the Muta scale, I think it was more like a .9. When he sat up, blood poured out of the wound as hard if not harder than Muta's in the J-Cup. :)

Thanks again for entertaining reading.
Bronc
(Proud to be a Pro Wrestling fan since 1969)

i thought it was a great show...as did the wrestling observer webpage. i'm going to stick with reading his webpage for now on. you are just too negative to read anymore.

steven salati

hi.

i have been having an argument with a frien of mine and i think you could help clear it up. who was the person to win the hardcore title from mankind when he first had it. i say road dogg and my friend says bossman. i hope u can help us settle this little dispute, thanx

SpeX

It was Boss Man. Check out the entire lineage of this historic treasure (heh) with Hisa's title history at http://www.albany.net/~hit/puroresu/titles/wwf/wwf-hard.html.

CRZ,

Do you think Madden had a woody when Tank was kicking his ass?

Mark Jaskowski

This line would have been even funnier if you'd used the word "chubby."

the nitro set seemed familiar...hmmmm...black ring surround, simple set with bigscreen and extras on either side... yep, looks like Raw. Pretty soon Juvie will come out with nicole bass and Lation Heat will raise it's ugly head.

Go Wall!!!

:)

Matt Blake

Chris --

I just got done reading your Nitro and RAW reports (as I have done for about the last year) and I finally ... for some unknown reason ... felt compelled to drop you a line. Partly to say thanks for providing an enjoyable (and usually DEAD ON) recap of what I watched ... or didn't watch (which, thankfully, happened to be your Uncle Marky half-naked last night ... even reading it made me want to vomit).

First things first ... when the R-to the-O-to the-A-to the-D to the D-to the-O-to the double-G (or whatever crap he's running these days ... at least the WWF doesn't funnel the black wrestlers into the ghetto/Harlem Heat stereotype ... just the redneck guy with the dreads ... HEY ... MAYBE WHEN BRAD ARMSTRONG'S KNEE GETS BETTER ... ) anyway, when he says "two tears in the bucket," I assume he's censoring the phrase "Fuck it ... Cry two tears in a bucket." Not that it makes a lot more sense considering the context he says it in, but that's about all I can figure. Suddenly, his attempts to be cooler than the rest of us leave me longing for the relatively trite days of 'sing-along with Road Dogg' when he at least made sense ... sort of.

Second ... and this goes for all the feds ... is there NO SUCH THING as a clean ending anymore?? I mean, are those just for Heat and WCW Saturday Night these days?? I mean ... and correct me if I'm wrong ... but before the McMahons and their family struggles became so much more important than the in-ring product ... and before WCW was revamped (which time, you ask??) there seems to have been a time when matches ended in a clean pin or submission. No interference ... no run-ins ... and if there was cheating involved it's because the heel pulled something out of his panties. Maybe it's me, but it all just seemed so much more entertaining then. But then, that was also a time when two guys could step in the ring and work for 20 minutes without the need for pyro ... or a skank with watermelon sized implants ... or anything like that to get over. Maybe I'm just a total MARK, but there are times I'd really like to see some of that again.

Finally, I'm going to follow your lead and withhold my judgement on the allegedly all-new WCW at least until Thunder ... but I'm already skeptical. Two hours of forced worked/shoots and absolutely ZERO clean finishes doesn't do it for me. I know they said SHIT and JACKOFF and lots of other dirty words last night, but lets face it, it still lacked a lot. Granted, the journey starts with a single step, and they did TRY to take a LEAP last night (and GOD KNOWS getting the straps OFF Sid and DOA ... or the nWo ... or the Harrises ... or whatever they are THIS week) is a BIG step. But, just to keep things from getting too balanced where you might really think they'd do some things differently, it was mostly Jeff Jarrett TV with his co-hosts Sleezy-E and Vic Soprano. Granted, that IS different ... but is it really better?? And could they POSSIBLY have wasted a chance to debut Mike Awesome any more than they did?? They practically STOLE ECW's champ, and they threw him into the mix with all the grace and aplomb of a drunk monkey.

I'm really not sure if Nitro was BETTER or if RAW has just gotten so stale that it seemed that way.

Regards --
RD

Damn, and some people think *I* was too hard on WCW for getting on their case on WEDNESDAY - HERE'S a guy who beat me by an entire day! And good for him!

One show does not a season make, or make up for. I'll reserve my praise for later down the line......like SIX MONTHS later. But a not too shabby start nonetheless. If the WWF doesn't cease and desist with Skippy and Vinnie Mac show, they could hand Mondays back over to wcw. But I won't hold my breath.

pjf

I had to look through your text archives, to settle a quick argument, and see if Bischoff could have used the HUMMER on Nash and still have it make any sence.

Savage had the bucket of sewage he wanted to dump on Nash that evening and that Eric laughed like a hyena, during commentary when that plan backfired. So how could be two places at once?

The clincher was Bischoff did leave commentary so he could "talk on WCW's website" at the time of the accident. So if you buy into the fact someone posed as Bischoff, he could have driven it.

However you called it, in your quote from the 6/07 recap: "Schiavone is still asking who was driving the Hummer. Hey, maybe it was Vince McMahon! No, wait. MAYBE his initials were "E.B." Oooh, what a shocker THAT'D be, huh?"

Still no one cares about the cameraman or the girl in the bag. What gives?

Andrew F
Director of Continuity and CRZ FAQ's
[slash] wrestling

Call me a rookie, but what is 'blading'? Is that a reference to the old tale of 'rasslers' using razor blades to make tiny incisions that are easily opened up? If so, the Rock did an excellent job last night. The repeated attempts to get up brought the sympathy card in the crowd well, I'll bet.

pjf

You are correct, sir - it's slicing yourself up for the crimson.

Chris:

Great column. Not only did you (once again) have me smiling all the way through (your inclusion of Mark Madden's email address had me laughing out loud - he's not going to be a happy camper), but you rescued me from the uncertain oblivion (or, as my Catholic ancestors might have said, "purgatory") of wondering if I was the only individual on the planet who watched the show and thought it was ... well ... I'll be kind and just say it wasn't the greatest two hours (and 13 minutes) of wrestling ever to air (or should that be err?). Within a month, all the fanboys will once again be yammering about what a couple of losers Russo and Bischoff are - as if April 10 had never happened - 4/12 Thunder or no.

Or maybe I'm just a crabby old bastard.

Or both.

Either way, keep up the good work. I look forward to your summaries every Tuesday and Friday.

Not a fanboy, but a crusty old fart who's even older than (gasp) Ric Flair,
Dave Fields

BTW, did I ever tell you I once attended UCR?

We're shooting here, you know... <g>

Why do you think anyone cares what your opinion is? As if it matters.

CardsChick

The only people that think this, usually, are the ones that bother to write me trying to convince me that my opinion DOESN'T matter. Weird, ain't it?

Actually the Rock DID blade against HHH in that ladder match at SummerSlam '98 I believe. But other than that I've never seen him before.

William Ricks

You can always tell when I make a "mistake" because people will ALWAYS bombard me with "corrections." And I usually deserve them, too. ;-)

Chris -

NewMeat here. In your 4/10/00 Raw recap, you wondered if 4.983 seconds was a good time for a Funny Car. Yes, it is. Anything under 5 seconds flat is very competitive.

The WWF has a stable of two Funny Cars running in the NHRA National Event Circuit. This is the NHRA's premier event series, much like NASCAR's Winston Cup. The WWF is the major sponsor of the Stone Cold Steve Austin Funny Car driven by Jerry Tolliver. Tolliver was the winner of last year's final race and two races out of four so far this year.

The other car was the Undertaker machine last year, but now I guess it's gotten a Kane paint job. It is driven by Jim Epler, and he just won the NHRA race last Sunday. So, the WWF team of two cars has won four out of the last five events, the fifth race being the last one of 1999.

I don't know how much you know about drag racing, but this is really quite an accomplishment. Consistency in nitromethanol fuel racing takes highly skilled mechanics, engine tuners, drivers, plus piles and gobs and mountains of money. To be consistently successful on this circuit takes $5-$10 million dollars per season per car. The WWF Racing team is spending lots of money, but I would say they are getting their money's worth.

The NHRA circus comes to Sears Point Raceway this summer. It's worth checking out, if you've never been.

-- Steve Dougherty

Yeah, but is it A SPORT? ;-)

so everyone can rate the two show but you? come on! what a cop out. you can rate RAW but you " have to wait " to rate nitro? give me a break.

Hate WCW if you want, you have PLENTY of reason to do so, but be fair. have some stones to make a decision. But you made a " wait and see " cheap and silly cop out. Weak move. weak.

Mark Pelletier

Sorry, DUDE.

Chris -

One more note. I used to follow NHRA racing closely, but not for the past few years. One of the main reasons the WWF team is having such success is that their crew chief is a legendary nitro engine builder/tuner, Dale Armstrong. For many years, Armstrong crewed Kenny Bernstein (sponsor: Anheuser/Busch) to Funny Car and Top Fuel success.

The WWF has signed a major talent in Armstrong, and you can be assured that he didn't come cheap. Kinda like in the wrestling ring, WWF Racing suffers from an abundance of talent.

-- Steve Dougherty

It sounds like the prize money doesn't cover the tremendous outlay. So why are they doing it? Perception?

Hey Chris, I haven't talked to ya in a while. I think the new WCW was good ... that night. But one show doesn't turn things around, it's all in the long run. That show seemed more of a getting the storyline established than wrestling. Hopefully they will build on it. Gotta love the new set though.

Later,

Paul Wolfstien

Well I give 'em this, i sure as hell want to see what happens next. If this is truley a clean slate, I dont mind the lack of wrestling. The angles were presented in a good way, even though its supossedly what the boys wanted to say anyway. At any rate I cant argue w/ Mr. Big Stuff Mark Madden gettin beat down, "Who drove the hummer?" put to rest, Russo, Flair, Kidman, Stiener, Douglass, Nash all saying what the truley believe about each other (I think) makes for a decent 2hrs of entertinment. Not perfect but a damn good effort. But like you said lets see what happens on Wed.

PEACE,
Damon "Mr. Basic Cable" Anderson

So I was bored while watching the start, and decided to see if I could come up with an anagram of his name, but couldn't come up with anything good, but I was able to come up with what his name might stand for...

Merely Another Rasslin/Reporting Kook, Madden's Annoying Donkey Drivel Entertains Nobody.

I marked out and cheered when Abbot started wailing on him, and wished that it was a shoot.

~herb

Won't it be a letdown when Madden's back behind the table (with his mouth wide open) Monday? Hell, maybe he'll be on the PPV team tonight! Won't THAT suck? :)

I now know distinctly that you have some sort of an agenda against WCW. It's become so much the 'in' thing to do to trash each and every WCW event that many like you will never actually be able to review parcially.

I enjoy both WCW and WWF, it's better for me when both feds have it together. Last night WCW had it together. What were you expecting anyway? As a matter of fact, WCW outshined WWF last night in my opinion. I don't know what you were watching last night or expecting, but it is obvious from your review that you watch nitro looking and hoping for something negative to say. I have noticed things that you love to point out, like the losers theme music playing after a match in WCW, occur in the WWF, but you haven't mentioned it once. The agenda here is obvious, and it is a shame because WCW deserves a fair shake. I think I enjoyed wrestling much more before Ii bought my home computer and had access to Wrestleline, DDT Digest, and the like... Anyway, we're both obviously passionate wrestling fans and you're entitled to express your opinions, just as I am. There was a good bit of 'good' last night on Nitro, sorry you missed it.

MGW

Perhaps YOUR "good" and MY "good" are different concepts. Is it possible?

You are the only one with any since on the whole staff.

After one Freaking show, in which WCW pulled out all the stops, it is a competition again? I am definitely not sold. To me, it looks like the reverse NWO ...An entire promotion on one side, and 8 guys on the other. But at least this time, the entire promotion is not getting manhandled. I always wondered why EVERYONE in wcw couldn't all get together, and beat the NWO when they only had SIX members.

And as for the continued storylines ... I am clueless. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

I will concede, Hogan did look pretty good beating the HELL out of Kidman. But the other matches sucked. Top shelf talent being beaten in 4:00 specials with weak run-ins. And the fans didn't know who's side to be on. My assumption is that the Millionaires Club are suppose to be the good-guys ... But why?

Oh, I get it ...Evil Bosses run roughshod over the entire promotion and select certain wrestlers to do their bidding ... Its WWF South!

I'll be looking for you after Thunder ... Perhaps I will be a bit more sold!

Akiva Freeman

KANYONY2K

Blank messages are KEWL. Seriously, what was so great about it, in your opinion?

What do you mean Triple H IS Ric Flair?

And as for The Rock blading ... Man he did a good job! It was all over the place. I didn't think it was suppose to pour like that ...

I think McMahon was "shooting" when he said he was going to give the Rock anything. Translation, if you want to beat Triple H for the belt, you are going to have to go through what Triple H did to get it away from Austin and Mick Foley ... BLEED, and BLEED alot. Michaels, Austin, Foley, and Triple H have all worn the crimson mask on multiple occasions. It is only fair that the Rock endure the same. I don't like it, because the Rock is my boy, but at least he will have truly earned his title this time.

Last year, I always felt The Rock got off easy in his matches with Foley. Rock bled a little, Foley bled lots. I don't think that will be the case with Triple H.

And is it just me, or did it seem like Triple H really had hatred in his heart for the Rock last night.

Is there something going on there?

Akiva Freeman

Good recap, but hey..about the Sting vs. Jarrett or DDP vs. JArrett, seriously....we could have a ***+ there, and i don't think Sting gives a damn anymore..so why not ?

Oh...bet ya love Tank Abbott now uh?;)

The Chosen 1

you obviously are a wwf fan, so I guess the main event on raw was probably was exciting to you

KANYONY2K

But I thought we were talking about Nitro! Why would you drag RAW into it? Again, what was so great about Nitro?

typical wwf fan

KANYONY2K

Typical clueless WCW fanboy.

what do you mean when you say .5 muta. Is that a good blade?

BrdManBrad

Considering he only had about two minutes to let it flow, that's DAMN good. And, hell, I'm not even a Rock fan!

..Look at the shows that nitro had before....dull meaningless matches...no storylines to follow...one week they go with something the next week you never hear about it again. What were they going to do? Start the show with a match? not talk about whats been going on? not develop a story and angles for the PPV? Hell the ppv is this sunday. Obviously they cant have a whole bunch of matches in the 2:13 that was given to them. The wwf needs wcw to get better....why?....because look how wrestlemania ended up, it was nothing more than a good raw show! and the following night was suppose to be a "big" raw show after the much overly hyped wrestlemania, and that was a boring show as well Lasts nights main event was the rock vs bossman and his sidekick? whats that? sounds like a match from the wcw days when you would have goldberg vs meng or whoever. Vinny mac needs to make the wwf more interesting for now on. Stop with this family fued thing already! WCW took a step in the right direction, they will only get better

KANYONY2K

Well, FINALLY some substance. But I'm not sold. WHY can't people talk about WCW WITHOUT bringing the WWF into it? I tend to believe that these kinds of arguments are real weak...

Ever tell Madden that he was big boned and not fat? You'd have been lying. I think he should have to fight Abbot in a legit shootfight, if only to settle the feud...

Waffle318

I guess objectivity is not your strong suit, Nitro absolutely rocked last night and it's too bad that you did not recognize it, maybe you should be condemned to watching endless reruns of the McMahon Family Feud, Let's see... Vince Sr. undermining Steve Aus... oops! Excuse me that was The Rock, WOW! How original! How consuming! How absolutely boring! Hey Dude, get off your high {possibly too high bro} horse, and come down and mingle with low lifes like myself, Nitro blew Raw off the planet last night, whether you like it or don't , learn to live with it, and oh yeah, try to be objective, you so-called "journalist", I am the Matboy, you can only strive. Love, Matboy

John Sabo

Any letter with "objective" and "journalist" in it doesn't "get it." By the way...if WCW was so great...how come you have to compare it to the WWF?

Just a little thing to point out. I'm not sure if you noticed, but when the Rock had his cage match monday night JR said that the cage was locked "to the best of his knowledge" I think that was a pretty smart move considering all the crappy things that happen in cage matches. They have run ins after the announcers go to great and elaborate detail to tell us the cage has been padlocked. Tuche JR.

-Simeri

I'd agree, except there was a pretty plain shot of the locked door before JR made that comment. Subject: quick point

CRZ,
Great recaps. I'm surprised you weren't more overjoyed at Mark Madden's beatdown by Tank Abbot. Sure, it was probably more painful for us to watch his hideous white lardness than it was for him to be hit by Tank, but at least he was gone for the rest of the time. The only problem I had is that if Tank is supposed to be a heel, and if Russo is even half as familiar with the internet as he claims to be, then he's gotta know that Madden is one of the most hated entities in existance, which actually results in a face pop from us for Tank. Also, it seemed like it ws done for the sole purpose of interesting us internet smarks, but hell, I don't mind. Really, that describes my reaction to the show overall.

Anyway, I didn't write to ramble. I just wrote to point out that the Rock bladed in his summerslam match against Triple H in '98.

Keep up the good work!

Nick

thanks for the transcript of big poppa pump....I could not understand a word of what steroid boy said on the 8pm nitro or the midnight replay.

BoBBy

I'm here for you, yo.

Raw

SCOTTY TOO HOTTY & RIKISHI PHATU and TAZZZZZZZZ v. CHRIS BENOIT & DEAN MALENKO & PERRY SATURN

covers and gets the pin (3:52). Why was Tazz even there?

He's feuding with Saturn. I guess you mean why wasn't he tagged in? Probably because you have a 6 man tag match some of the expected spots (the Wurm!) take a long time the ref said "bring it home" before Tazz got a chance to get tagged in.

The ALL NEW Nitro
So without further ado, it is my honour and my privlege to introduce you to the man who once was Vince McMahon's best kept secret, who will once again change the game - the Power IS...VINCE RUSSO!" "Iron Man" plays... and out he comes. He got "Iron Man" as his theme? Steady on....

I thought the choice of music was funny. So long as they don't KEEP playing it for him it's ok by me.

"You know, after giving six years of my life ...
Vince sounds like he knows what he's doing on the mike.

Hey, what's up Sid, no softball game?

I'm enjoying these insider references. The "scissors" ref KILLED me. Wow!

DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE (with Kimbrrly) v. THE NARCISSIST (with Liz) ...
Of course, the crack production staff misses this as they're busy looking at the crowd. (Hey, if you think I'm being overly critical, go back and read about all the production upgrades we were promised over the past two weeks and THEN come back and bitch about it.)

For all the mistakes you saw I felt that the production was stiil better than it was a few weeks ago. Progress.

YEAHBABY TANK YEAHBABY ABBOTT YEAHBABY YEAHBABY walks out to the ring.
Yup - ol' roly poly is pounded on, relieved of his shirt (sweet merciful CRAP!), then put in the ring - Abbot strikes away.

Cool segment. Madden did a good job setting up by saying how much he enjoyed seeing Tank beat people up.

The music hits and out comes YOU KNOW WHO to a moderate pop. HIS music isn't cut off, I should probably note. "Who in the hell do you think you are, Kidman? Kidman, I've been sittin' in the back, and this isn't the first night I've listened to your crap - I've been watching you the last couple months - I've been hearing you crying 'when am I gonna get the break? When am I gonna get the push?'

I guess this is Neo-Wrestling.
1900 till sometime around 1920 most pro matches were real.
1920's-1950's you had pre-arranged results but MOSTLY regular wrestlers doing regular stuff. (strict Kayfabe maintained)
Sometime in the late 40's-early 50's Gorgeous George shows up (who i think is the most important pro wrestler of the 20th century) and we get characters that are so OUT THERE that kayfabe is strained.
1950's-1980's. Most people have caught on to the "fakeness" of pro-wrestling but the wrestlers usually maintain Kayfabe.
1990's. Wrestlers freely break Kayfabe so far as acknowledging that outcomes are pre-determined and such. Most of the behind the scenes stuff is a mystery to the fans.
Late 90's. Mass exchange of info via Internet and other avenues leads to fans looking at things like bookers and pushes and contract negotiations.
WCW April 10th, 2000. Neo-Wrestling. Who's getting a push, who the head writer is and who he favors are now angles. Reality merges with Fantasy. Layers within layers. Complicated but so far it's fun.

Hogan leaves the ring - Kidman out after him - but Hogan sidesteps the leap and he eats the barricade
NICE booking! The wily veteran lets the enthusiastic but (relatively) inexperienced upstart blow himself out and gains control of the match.

Backstage, Hogan rearranges some furniture and gets muted for swearing. Hey, I saw the boom mic and light dude!

Russo was saying (WCW Live) that Hogan wasn't being used properly before - that Hogan was willing to do new stuff if he was given new stuff to do. I LIKE the way Hogan has been used on this show.

Steiner puts in some joke teeth. "'Meeeeeeeeean Gene! I'm a limousine-riding, jet-flying, backstabbing son of a bitch! I got more loose skin that a Sharpei puppy...'" SHANE DOUGLAS is out, spinning Flair around and unleashing a right cross! Holy Moly! My mark out moment of the night. I didn't know Shane was back. In a recent XPW show, Shane BURIED WCW. I think about that. I think about Hogan putting down Kidman in interviews over the last few months. My head hurts. Neo-Wrestling.

Well, lookee here. It's AWESOME MIKE AWESOME come out to beat down Nash.
I had heard that he was going to be on Nitro. But there was so much stuff on the 'net about restraining orders and such it was unclear to me that he would be able to show up. Then I kept expecting him and seeing other guys. So when he finally did show up, I was surprised. Sort of like Jeff Jarrett's appearance.

And we cut to another shot of .... of ..... of ..... of ....

...of a white Hummer running into Hogan's limo.

HA HA HA HA! Funniest moment of the night. Surreal.

Arthur Kimes

I'm a big fan of yours, I love reading your witty Nitro Recap every week, but your Recap of 4/10 wasn't really entertaining at all. All you seemed to have were jokes you've overused and comments that were grasping at wit but didn't reach it. I hope you have better luck with Thunder.

Colin

Would you believe I was RESTRAINING myself in order to present more of what happened and less of my own comments about it? I mean, some of these OTHER letter writers won't believe it, but....

I really do need a life.....but I STILL GET MORE ASS THAN MARK MADDEN !

XxXGooNXxX

Well God bless ya - did he write you back?

CRZ,

Great recap, as usual. Are you as puzzled as I am by the fact that WCW has effectively turned the entire roster except for DDP/Sid/Sting/Luger/Flair/ Hogan/Nash/Hall heel? It's just so sad seeing Bichoff and Russo out there doing dueling Mr. McMahons. I just finished watching the replay and...i don't see where they come off saying it was a home run. It was just too mismashed angle upon angle upon angle...oy vey...dios mios...and other foreign language phrases i can't remember right now. Take it easy and keep up the kick ass reports.

For every winner there are dozens of losers, odds are you are one of them.

Craigerson

So dx has all the belts, huh? Strange, i never knew Crash Holly was a member of dx.

EJPdude

Okay, all the belts that MATTER, then.

Did Rock blade or did he get cut from a shot with the brass knuckles. He had a head wound on his forehead that was dripping too much blood to be a blade wound. It looked like a puncture wound from perhaps the brass knuckles.

DANIEL TAGLIAFERRO

You're the kind of guy who would complain your wife couldn't cook even if she was Jennifer Love Hewitt

Kevin Kittle

Hi Chris-

If any of your readers were confused by Vince McMahon's suggestions that the Rock be Bastion Booger or the Gobbeldy Gooker, we have profiles of both up over at Wrestlecrap.com. I don't know if anyone would not know those gimmicks, but we'd be more than happy to educate them!

Thanks,

Randy Baer
http://www.wrestlecrap.com

Man your not the only one freaked out about this!!!Late friday night i was shroomin with friends and the trippin began.Sosa floated out of the wall and started spinning saying es so reeeeeeeeeeeeel,adam es so reeeeeeeeel"I was just like oh my fucking god then a monkey appeared! He was hanging on a vine from the celing fan eating a banana talking in an english accent tellin me to hide the lucky charms from sammy!! Thats all i pretty much remember but my friends said i had my head in the A/C vent yellin for a goblin named krem krem to come out.They said i dared the ventgoblin to steal my lent.I dunno i now know im stayin away from that shit and sammy sosa will always scare me.

Later,
Adam

Vince Russo ... "It's going to be a new beginning" but wait a minute. Isn't that Uday Hussein???

Ivan

Wow, even *I* don't get THAT reference.

Glad you weren't caught up in the orgasm of Nitro. I was in a so-so mood after the show. We still had Luger and Sting and DDP and Sid and Jarrett for the title. I don't remember any really athletic matches. What we have is Russo and Eric acting like their last names are now McMahon. Awesome was badly awesom. I guess Flair has to eat shit again. The Kidman thing was okay but will end up as Hogan killing the poor kid. Maybe the Tori will end up with Hulk too like Liz did. I would have given the show a thumbs up if only Chavo had been running a little hot dog(make that taco) stand taking in the bucks.

MrMango

I can't believe you didn't mention Eddie's new T-shirt (or is it not new and I missed it on Smackdown or Heat last week?). VA-CHYNA.

heh

Ric

Well, that's not exactly a NEW T-shirt...

Didn't you recap both shows? If you can provide your bullshit petty commentary, why can't you vote? Your head is so far up your ass, you can't make a decision without checking with your wwf butt-buddies first. You and the wwfmaniacs are a joke.

Id tent

Damn, why does this bother you so much?

Hello:
I stopped watching wcw for awhile, then heard through the grapevine that Barry Wyndham died during a wcw stunt. Is this true? I have tried to locate info on this, but couldnt. What actually happened and when? He was a great wrestler to watch.
Linda

I think you misheard about Bobby Duncum Jr.'s death.

Whats it like being such a jerk.???

Hammerhead

YOU'RE asking ME?!?

how can you be so wishy-washy towards what has to be one of the best Nitros ever. We saw a bloody Hulk Hogan get his car ran into, and his limp, tan ass dragged off in an ambulance. I was marking out like a mother. I haven't enjoyed myself so much since I showed up at my friends wedding , got drunk and called the bride's mother a "dumb slut". I'm going to go kick a dog. Sean Shannon sucks, by the way.

E. Buffalo

What might bookers have to say about the chicken crossing the road? It might go something like this...

Eric Bischoff: "He didn't even get across the road; he was run over by the hummer."

Vince McMahon: "I don't have to answer to you people! Yeah, that's it! You don't deserve to know why it crossed the road!"

Vince McMahon (one week later): "Because he wanted to get to the other side. There's your answer. Happy?"

I don't know what Vince Russo would say. Probably something about how it started to cross the road, but then turned back, surprising all of the joke's fans, and then he'd talk about how he saved the joke, blah blah blah.

This isn't as funny as I thought it would be. I apologize.

Enrique31

I thought your most recent Nitro recap was fairly accurate (given your flippant and sarcastic nature) and absolutely hilarious. I must say, however, that despite all of Nitro's surprises and big promises I almost had to turn off the program midway through...simply because seeing Mark Madden stripped topless was one of the most frightning and disgusting things I've seen on prime time TV. WCW should know that they could easily lose die hard WCW fans (I've stuck with the company over the unbelievably lame few months, believe it or not) by repeating such antics.

Keep it up

-Jeff Arcaro

Has WCW gone communist? It sure looks like it. A complete overthrow of the current structure, led by those who have been oppressed for years, is taking place within the now-communist state known as World Championship Wrestling. Bischoff and Russo, the Lenin and Trotsky of today, are leading a band of savages to overthrow the current elite, which has held power for years. They do so in the name of a level playing field- to create a perfect classless utopian state that will eventually spread the revolution abroad, so that the evil fascist dictator known as McMahon and his filthy regime fall in mercy. Mind you, the revolution that is about to take place will, by no means, be a peaceful one. It will be a grueling, ruthless coup d'etat led by a newly-assembled military of young and hungry workers. It will be violent and bloody, and nobody will be spared- not until the transition is complete, the bourgeoise is eliminated, and the proletariat is propelled to the top. So my friend, the question I have for you and all of North America is, how can we idly stand by while communism is being relaunched within the confines of the impermeable borders of North America? Something must be done, or we may actually suffer from quality programming from World Chamionship Wrestling, and nobody wants that!

Name Withheld
Vancouver, B.C.

BTW, last time I remember Rock bleeding was against Triple H in the IC title ladder match, but I can't remember if he bladed or not.

Antonio Gil

I am not sure what happened afterward, but didn't Chris Benoit win the world title before he left WCW? According to the WCW web site, he is suddenly missing. Check out: http://www.wcw.com/2000/superstars/world/

Just wanted to pass along.

--RSKJ

You know last nights Nitro was one of the best wrestling shows that the wrestling industry has seen in about 2 years. Admit it, Raw is the same exact thing every single show. When I wacth Raw or Smackdown it feels like I am wacthing the same show from 30 years ago. You think you know so much since you work for wrestleline. How you got there i don't know. Cause you are the worst mark on the nternet. And i am tired of reading your bias reports towards WCW. WCW is going ot beat the crap out of WWF admit it. WWF has 3 main eventers. Rock, Big Show, Triple H. Big Show can't get heat for his life. WCW has about 8 to 12. So choke on that slapnuts. And start being serious on you WCW reports. Us internet fans can't help it that you know nothing. By the way your official web-site sux. And you look like a freakin girl. Cut your hair you f@g. And start reporting.
sincerly
The real fan

Trevor pickering

THIRTY years ago??

Now how am I supposed to respond to THIS??

DEAR CHRIS WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT NITRO AND RAW AND WITCH ONE WAS THE MOST SUPRISING.

monica for ever

Do people READ my reports or just write me?

Here's the skinny, you have a website, get tons of email, blah blah blah, greatest site. K, said my peace. Now, whats up with those camera men? I had the ultimate sign in Denver. It read "I am the master and ruler of Squirrels" I was sitting right underneath the same skybox that Bret Hart was in, annnnd, the very same Skybox that hogan ran through. I'm thinking we need a few good more camera men howz about you?

It was an interesting show. I was this close || to doing a recap from just under the box seats. I was impressed seeing Hogan do the blade. And as a sideline note, the Mayor of Denver proclaimed the 10th of April Bill Goldberg day

keep up the good work

A disgruntled fan.

Derek

You are right I should not of emailed you to make fun but to ask you about wrestling. Sorry. Listen, you have an inside look at then wrestling buissness and why are you bias towards WCW. WCW is a company that is trying to improve their product. It is trying to make things work. For a while it wasnt workking, bu they were trying. Thtas why I think people that are high up in the internet need to support WCW. The product was much better than WCW's last night. It may not of been a great wrestling show, but the most creative man in the history of wrestling made compelling storylines, and shockd us all. WWf is getting old. It's no linger the frsh, new, and compelling show that it used to be. Ever since Rusoo left I have noticed a decline in the product. Not wrestling wise, but entertainment wise. I have always been a nigger fan of crach T.V. than actuall in ring wrestling. But take my word if WCW consistantly puts out a show like last ngiht I would give the WWF 6 months. By the way do you have thunder spoilers. Hey what do you think about an Abott vs. Goldberg macth. Also I had an idea, would'nt Steiner ang=d Goldberg be an awesome heel tag-team.

sincerly
trevor

See, most people who bitch at me usually turn it around when I actually write THEM back using politeness and respect. Of course, you don't get to see THOSE emails from me, so you're stuck thinking I'm a total and complete smartass. That's what YOU get for not sending me mail and getting a personal reply, I guess. ;)

well i must say crz, once again you have continued to astonish me, you continue to bad mouth wcw in your nitro reports, and then praise the wwf's "slightly above mediocre" show... On April 10th, the creative geniuses Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff put together a show that will be remembered for the ages, no one can deny that, if you think i am wrong than look a round, atleast 90% of the wrestling internet sites have agreed with me, yet you, still believe that wcw sux, and the wwf is going strong, hate to tell ya buddy, times are changing, maybe not at the speed of light, but changing none the less, you may say look at the ratings, i agree, with one show Vince Russo raised Monday Nitro's second hour ratings half a point. So for the wwf morons like yourself keep watching your show with practically the same main event every night. It's seems it always ends up the McMahons/ Helmsley vs. the Rock. No wait, I stand corrected, the other night on Raw the WWF exceeded it's normal great matches with the Rock vs..... the Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan, yah McMahon's a real genius.

In conclusion, Vince McMahon, without Vince Russo has absolutely no booking intelligence whatsoever. Also, within a few months WCW will have surpassed the wwf in ratings and people who give the wwf a bad name will be sorry... Sincerely, Q

p.s. Please reply back soon, i can't wait to see your next email with hopefully even more wrestling knowledge displayed than usual...

I'd like somebody to remind me to reprint this letter in...oh, let's say THREE months. Veee shall seeeeee...

when is stone cold coming back to wwf

Munty21

It's nice to see that some questions will always be asked no matter how "hot" Nitro was. :) Ross says look for Austin in a few months.

Jarrett just beat up David Arquette on Thunder. YES! Bischoff and Russo know what ALL of AMERICA wants to see!

Okay, so I didn't bother watching anything before 10pm, but I think this last five minutes of overtime deserves the best ratings of the week.

Rob Brunskill

I very much look forward to reading your take on the abismal editing job by the WCW's crack production team for Thunder.

It was weird. They came back from commercial after showing Bischoff telling the Villanos to kill Sting, and showed the finish of the match. I know I had turned over the a rerun of the Simpsons for like two minutes, but I didn't think I could miss the whole segment!

Of course, everything panned out as the show went on and I came to the obvious conclusion they fucked up the editing of the show. I guess Dubya-C-Dubya still has alot to work on. They can spend time to edit out some dumb sign from the crowd, but it's apparently too much work to actually put the show in the correct order.

Matthew H. Gardner

hey crfuck

i just finished reading your raw and nitro report,and your ratings of the two shows

do you know what??

i think that you are a fucking asshole

you have absolutely no clue what is going on in professional wrestling you fuck

all you want to see is the same shit that has been going on for years

i don't know if you are an aids spreading monkey fucker or a fat whore dog but i kind of like the new angles being taken by both nitro and raw

and i think that you suck the proverbial bag for disagreeing

fuck you

i hate you

Jeremy Gibson

Do ALL you Canadians have some foul mouths?

Nice try, avoiding the question! Maybe one of these days you will write a real honest report on a WCW product. Instead of being a WWF schill!

Hammerhead

I'm sorry I avoided the question "Whats it like being such a jerk.???" I'll try to do better.

I don't think you'll like my Thunder report, either...

I gotta admit, at least your honest!
WCW can only get better!

Hammerhead

YES! Another troll turned into the light!

CRZ -

I can understand your worries about lack of wrestling on Nitro - but how could they possibly start with a clean slate and not do a large amount of storytelling? I mean, it's understandable to me that the run ins were pretty neccessary to establish feuds - i.e. sting/vampiro, flair/douglas, bagwell/page, etc. I think that it would have been hard to just pair off different sets of wrestlers and say "here, go have a feud". All the run ins were sort of "necessary evils" to get some of the feuds started. I think we'll have to wait until the PPV to really gauge the quality of the wrestling we're going to see. I'm pretty pissed that sting isn't in the main event...he's still the most over wrestler in WCW and should probably be champ. I don't think I can accept Jarrett as world champ right now...

Rich Grech

Thank You!

I couldn't think of any other way to start this e-mail. By the time I saw the segment mix up I was half asleep and thought that I had fallen asleep or something and was watching the replay. And I have to agree with you completely in the sense that WCW's future rests on what they do at Spring Stampede.

John Orlandella

Hey CRZ,

Always love your recaps and I had an interesting point I thought you might like. Back in the Russo-era of the WWF, do you remember all the people that would bitch and moan about the endless segments and matches with screwball finishes (i.e. run-ins and DQs)? Isn't it funny how many of those same people are now praising Nitro when it had the same style as the WWF Russo-era?

Just a thought.

Daki

Maybe it's me, but I swear that the axe kick and breakdance move in Booker's entrance video came from the match that he was just about to enter...But I don't tape Thunder, imagine that.

'Cause when he did the moves on The Wall, I had some Deja vu...

Don't know. Maybe Booker is that good - and no way the TV crew for WCW are competent enough to do the trick. Or maybe I'm just stupid. (I WAS watching Thunder after all)

Anonymous Thunder watcher (even though part of my name is in my email address)

I am soooo glad I wasn't the only one that saw the Flair Flop 2000 segment. I thought perhaps I had gained the abilty to foresee the future. Damn guess I am mortal after all.

I watched Thunder for the first time in like a year...give em the benefit of a doubt and check out the new era. Well guess what - its already Stale. Same crappy production values, same hype, same blah.

Thank You!
Douglas

you have absolutely , positively nailed it. great report.

PS; I still can't believe they killed off big pussy.

Nick Lashmet

I'm the only guy you know that doesn't have HBO....

If Sting would just watch the lucha action on Galavision, he would have known that Villano III unmasked three weeks ago(and is one UGLY mofo, by the way.) Hell, if Sting would've just watched the damn backstage monitor, he would have seen himself get coldcocked several minutes before it actually happened! Not only is Russo a genius, he's also a PSYCHIC with the ability to project his visions of the future onto video tape!!!! All hail VinnyRu!!!!!!! Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my medication.

WVRiffRaff2000

CRZ, I'm glad that ONE other fucking person on this planet sees things as I do: more dirty finishes, more screwjobs, car crashes....this is fucking wrestling? This crap is going to get old quick. Those two assholes are fucking the proverbial unscrewable pooch that the WWF has given them: a weak RAW on Monday and an unopposed Thunder. Smells like a bigger NWO to me, man. Steiner, a new blood? Finlay? Knobbs? Give a motherfucking break, man......

pjf
disgusted in san diego (but hey, the waves are supposed to be 4-6 feet at 15 seconds by tonight!)

Whoops, it only took two days to lose this guy, WCW!

HI CRZ

You know, its hard to tell if your serious about your comments. You always like to go against the grain. Look no further then your cheerleading of Steve Blackman of all people.

Nothing wrong with being the outsider. It's always good to have someone play devil's advocate. The problem though it does not lend it self to serious, objective commentary. Of course discussing pro-wrestling in a serious objective way it is an oxymoron to begin with....HA!

Clearly Nitro was the better show on April 10th. If for no other reason the show was such a breath of fresh air. Your fellow wrestlineers all rated Raw high, because Raw was a good show. You yourself gave it a 7. Nitro put on the best show it has in ages. The show actually held your (well maybe not *your*) interest. Giving Nitro an 8 seems about right. Sure there were no ***** matches on Nitro. But ***** matches don't drive the WWF either. It's always been the storylines on Raw.

What is revealing about your comments is that Raw hardly ever delivers quality wrestling. Only recently with the addition of the Radicals has Raw put on some good matches for the workrate crowd. But Raw always revolves around the storylines, skits, promos and angles. To critize Nitro for doing the same is, for lack of a better word, biased (oh oh!).

As for the run ins, screw job finishes, and spray paint, you are right to point out and say we have seen it all before. Instead of the NWO it's NB. It all goes back to Bishoff wanting to create a brand within a brand. That helps sell merchandise, which makes money. It's pretty clever actually. You will have NB logos and shirts. I would assume the Millionaires club will get there's too. It's an idea that McMahon copied in making DX.

This is what most of you internet smarts lack....business smarts. You only have to listen to the crowd at Thunder last night to realize that the angle is already generating heat for both sides (was that a Sid chant I heard?). I would venture to say that most fans no longer want to see a match go more then 5 minutes. This maybe upsetting to you, but most of wrestling's new fans are interested in the entrances, the catchphrases, T&A, the sheer spectacle of it all. It's why Raw is #1. They put on a **Show**. I don't think fans would miss the 'walking' segments, I concede you that!

One more point about seeing it all before. McMahon has just rehashed his feud with Austin by inserting the Rock. I don't see you all over that. Raw and Smackdown is the same show week in and week out. Rock attacks Vince, Vince gets revenge, remix with some midcarders (last month it was Two Cool/Radicals, now its the APA/BossnBull) and repeat as necessary. It's a tired formula, but the sheep eat it up. You may not be a WCW sheep, but you are WWF sheep (I am not even sure what I mean anymore...HA!)

In the end, *I* found Nitro and Thunder to be entertaining this week.

BTW, I got a good chuckle from your Hyatte joke.

Later,
Dave

Shows like Monday's Nitro will KILL the live gate. Would you pay $20 to sit through five non-matches? Now, I may not have the "business smarts," but I would think that even the fools at WCW would figure this out. Maybe, they don't care.

Chris,

I do STILL think Nitro deserved an 8. The company was (and maybe still is) in the shittiest position possible and at least put together what I thought was compelling TV. The rating wasn't given for how the future looks or how Thunder would turn out. I was asked to give a rating based just on one show and I still think that they did ALMOST as good as they could have given the circumstances.

Had they had more wrestling featuring guys who aren't washed up and almost all clean finishes, I would have given it a 10.

All that having been said, Thunder makes it look like they are still in a downward spiral and I cannot believe Russo hasn't learned that you have to give clean finishes at least some of the time.

Late
Ben Miller

My POINT was that you COULDN'T give a rating based just on the one show - that was the flaw, and that was why I thought it was a mistake for WrestleLine to attempt to get those ratings out of us for the sake of a few hits. I think Thunder bore that out for me...don't you?

Dear Chris,

Ever since you started recapping monday nights on wrestlemaniacs.com, I have respected you as an intelligent and witty writer. So why do you have to prove me wrong by pulling shit like this? I don't know why you hated Nitro so much. It was good--damn good. If it wasn't, believe me, I'd be the first to admit it. You complain about the lack of wrestling on the show, but what do you expect?? They had to lay down a foundation for their storylines. Do you think they could throw in a 20 minute Kidman vs. Candido match for no reason and expect people to tune in? And you are being very hypocritical by complaining about the lack of wrestling, since for a while, WCW has provided us with much better wrestling matches and you still said the WWF was the better company. I admit Thunder screwed up by airing two segments out of order, but it is still the first week of the new regime--give them a break. Would you rather have recapped a Thunder from a few weeks ago, when they threw in two nobodies who couldn't wrestle for crap? Why can't you just admit that Nitro was good and enjoy it? In terms of WCW having no new ideas (you said this regarding the labeling of Meat as the perfect one)--well the whole idea of an entire corporation vs. the #1 face has been done before, two years ago (if you don't remember, it was Austin vs. the corporation). Also, I have seen the Rock vs. HHH about 300 times. I have seen 2 cool and Rikishi vs. the Radicals more times than I can stand. On the other hand, I have never seen Kidman vs. Hogan, and it was damn fun to watch. I'm hoping that you'll respond to this and provide some explanation about why you continue to blindly love the WWF. I assume you won't. But if you decide not to, or you decide to make fun of me in your column, you will have permanently lost a very loyal fan.

John

WHY don't people notice the frequent, copious amount of bitching I do in my WWF reports? There's no "blind love" there! Dammit!

Congratulations on one of the best Thunder reports I've ever read. Way to take no shit. (I especially liked the close.) Keep up the good work.

Jason M. Laughman

It's often a fortunate thing that right after a hatemail, there's usually a word of encouragement like this. Thanks, Jason.

Preach on Brother CRZ!

Bischoff and Russo always feed us the line about how they're in tune to the fans and the internet. Well, at least on the sites I frequent, all we really want is a couple of ten minute matches a show between two guys that have more than a bodyslam and clothesline in their offensive repertoire.

I can see only screwjobs and sports entertainment in their future.

Ted, who's off to watch some All-Japan tapes

ps Keep up the good work!

You know, I didn't watch Nitro because I wasn't buying the hype. I was not pleased to see that all the Wrestleline folks were just bubbling over with the new program. From reading your recap, it sounded like they did what we thought they would do so I must have missed something else somewhere. Then there was your rating and "Amen" to keeping it real. Now I read your Thunder recap and I agree - Still want to give Nitro an 8? I even tried to watch part of the show but after the 6-man, it stunk so I watched I love Lucy, instead. Everything that I saw was the same old crap - and just like I don't care if I never see another McMahon, I already don't care if I see Ruschoff again either. Maybe it's us, huh? We just think too much and therefore will not accept sh*t even if they serve it up on a golden platter and all around us are calling it caviar.

Tasha N. Williams

. . . I bet you think I'm about to bitch at you.

Wrong.

I'm continually impressed by your re-caps. I realize most of the columnists for Wrestleline are fans, but I expect SOME objectivitiy.

That is not one of your problems. In fact, I don't have much to criticize at all. Your re-caps are succinct, well written, and often humorous. I when you do mark out, which isn't often, it's muted. You're the closest thing Wrestleline has to a real reporter.

I too have some major problems with the angles and events over the last two programs the WCW has produced.

1) The Kabong shots bugged me in the WWF, and they bug me now. What purpose does the guitar shot on Kymberly serve for a storyline, other than showing that it's ok for men to assault women? The HOs on WWF bug me too (I know they're models, or real life strippers, but . . .), and the Kane/Tori thing (thank God that's over) serves up the same message as JJ and his guitar. What about Buff and his "molesting" of Elizabeth at ringside? With no consequences, what does that say to the younger kids in the crowd? I'm not the Moralistic type, Chris, but I was taught that you just don't do that. Ever.

2) The WWF continues to excel in production values, but the WCW seems to be getting worse. What's up with that?

3) Why are the "New Bloods" getting heat, while the crowds are popping for "the Millionares Club"? I thought the WHOLE point of the new direction was to establish some of the talent that WCW has wasting away on the sidelines while the old farts continue to headline.

4) As a wrestling fan, I hate it when Vince McMahon takes an active hand in messing around with matches. Why should I like it when VR and EB do it? What story are they trying to tell here? Making VR and EB both assholes makes me wonder what stories they have planned in the future, and my thoughts lead me down one path, and it ain't good.

Well, I've said enough and you're a busy guy. Take care and keep up the great reports.

Todd J. Wendt
Former AWA Mark

I'm gonna keep it brief... when I watched the thunder replay at midnight (I didn't see the show at its normal start time at 8 or 9 or whatever) the segements were in the right order. I'm not complaining, I love your column, but I'm just stating that I saw it in the correct order... weird, huh?

Bill Brown tiny1777

Well, you'd HOPE that they'd at least correct it for the replay! :)

I can't believe that Thunder had 2 segments out of order, i was drunk and watching the replay and couldn't figure out if i was psychic or on an acid flashback. How could that happen, doesn't anyone check for that kind of thing. Anyway, give WCW more of a chance. The wrestling should come back, but you gotta understand. You are never going to get more than 2 or 3 quality matches on a program. The thing is, there are a few people out there who really care about the wrestling part of the show. THe majority will not care until there is a reason for the action. that is what they are setting up right now hopefully. If you couple that with the fact that 4 of the top in not the 4 best workers in the company left a couple months ago and it is going to be hard to put on a lot of quality matches unless you go just the youngest of the new blood. Going with the just the youngest new blood like Kidman,Helms..ect..will not get ratings. Put Kidman in a program with Hogan and establish his character and then put against another young guy who built himself up with the rub from an older guy and you got something. This New Blood vs Millionairres club will not last forever. You already saw Booker buck the trend and go against Bitchoff and Russo's wishes. ITs "reality" based programming Chris, and well you are going to have to deal with that for awhile or get an ulcer from watching the 4 shows everyweek. I love a good match as much as most, but as good as workers were sometimes on Saturday it did not captivate me like Nitro did. Like Nash said.....'what happened to that sweet little wrasslin show we had?' It got a bunch of people thrown on the street and helped drive WCW in the biggest whole its ever been in. Give them a chance to get out of it and learn to appreciate what it is that pop culture like about wrestling. Its storylines, its moments and sometimes a great match. Sorry to ramble but i had time to kill before my class. later

Abstract95

An ulcer? Trust me, it doesn't affect ME personally whether they put on a good show or a bad (although I seem to get better email when they're bad, as it SEEMS to make ME better :) ) - once the TV is off, I tend to forget about it. Honest! Well, except when I'm on Delphi or tOA. ;-)

It's bad enough that it's called sports/entertainment, but it's even worse that Schiavone repeats the phrase over and over again, esp. considering that Vince McMahon came up with the damn description! Why not just call it wrestling? DAMN IT!

galileo5

Well, it AIN'T wrestling, mostly.

why is Kanyon a member of the Millionaire's Club? Wouldn't it make more sense for him to be one of the guys bitching about never getting a shot? Or did Russo and Bischoff finally realize an angle where 6 people fight 20 is destined to suck? Just be glad Russo and Bischoff didn't redebut as "Rhythm and Blues". Sorry....Wrestlemania ALL DAY LONG made me think of that...

Greg

I'll agree that that the run-ins suck and are occuring way too often. I'll also agree that if another ref falls flat on his face for five minutes due to the touch of a wrestler, I'll puke. But the fact remains that Spring Stampede has sold 12000 tickets, people are excited and WCW seems to have momentum. I see Russo and Bischoff fading themselves out once the storylines and letting the wrestlers take advanatge soon, but obviously the wrestlers were not doing a good job before the Two AMigos came or the two of them wouldn't have come back.

I hope Spring Stampede will be more wrestling and I have a feeling that the next few Nitros will have more and more. I think your analysis has way too many negative aspects for two shows who had to set up a completetly new PPV.

Respectfully
Dave Douglas

Hi CRZ,

I agree wholeheartedley with you about wcw. They need to prove themselves over a period of time. But let's be honest. They can have Shakespeare and John Grisham write their television. But if Barney Fife is running production and Tony Schiavone is doing commentary they will not get any better.

If Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff both get on the mic and say last night at nitro, and Mike Tenay says 48 hours ago at nitro, you will lose instant credibility. Don't get me started on the editing.

I enjoy reading your show re-caps. Keep up the good work.

TVMSL

Hyatte made reference in his Mop-Up to Hennig going out of his way to screw up Stasiak's finisher on Monday because of something that Stasiak has done before. I'm totally clueless on Stasiak's past; would you mind enlightening me a little bit as to what Hyatte's referring to?

~stinger~

Stasiak used to be surreptitious with a tape recorder in the WWF locker room and on the road. That's why he was fired.

Bill

From reading your Thunder report it seems you have 2 valid concerns. The first is that the same people are still being featured the most promininently, the second is the lack of in-ring action.

I think the fact that the majority of Wresteline's staff gave the 4/10 Nitro high marks DESPITE the fact that the people wrestling were Page, Luger, Sting (x2), Sid, Jarrett, Hennig, Flair, and Douglas is actually testament to how well written the show was and how the first show presented by the Bischoff-Russo team gives WCW and its fans reason to believe things can be turned around. The storyline of the show managed to take characters who either havent been relevant in over a year (Page, Luger, Hennig, Flair, Hogan) or have grown very stale in recent months (Kidman, Sting, Jarrett, Steiner, Sid, Nash, Bagwell) and use them as the centerpiece of a very exciting show.

I for one was happy to see the show was built around these existing characters rather than the show most of us were expecting built around conflict between bookers or Mike Awesome throwing the ECW belt in the trash when 80% of the people watching don't even know who he is. The first step in rebuilding WCW is to make fans care about SOMEBODY in the promotion based on what they are doing NOW..not what they did in 1986 (Hogan and Flair) or in 1996 (Hall and Nash) or what fans on the internet think they should be doing (Kidman and Booker)..and I felt the promo writing and storyline of Monday's show was a very good first step in doing that.

I think you also need to take into account that in-ring performance is only half the equation in building a successful program. I don't think you can argue that Kidman did more to establish himself as a star in 3 minutes on the microphone on Monday night than he did in the 300 or so minutes he spent in the ring defending the cruiserweight title a year and a half ago. I also am excited at the prospect of seeing what some of the other guys in WCW who were known previously for their in-ring work can do on the mic now that they will get their chance, Booker, Vampiro, and Kanyon immediately come to mind as people that can deliver some excellent promos if given the chance and apparently now they will be. I regret that instead of getting to see Benoit cutting a promo on one of the established stars that held him down so much, we now have to be content with seeing Rikishi's rear end get stuck in his face every Monday night. I've seen all of these guys wrestle 10 minute matches for the last 3 years..now I want to hear what they have to say. I'm glad Bischoff and Russo are giving them that chance.

Nick P.
Hoffman Estates, IL

I wish I could say I'm looking forward to promos....but I just can't.

You probably wont post this, but let me just say it anyways. YOU ARE DA MAN.....LATER.

RajP33

Why wouldn't I post THAT? ;-)

The out of order segments aren't bad production, it's part of the "New and Improved" WCW. It's called, "Pulp Fiction Booking". They meant to do it.

Mike

Is the cheque in the mail for Mr JF??

CRZ,

Once again, I find your opinions nearly duplicating my own.

I was stunned by how everyone thought Nitro was so wonderful. As a WCW fan, I was vastly disappointed. Literally every match followed the exact same pattern, it was just a matter of guessing who would do the run-in. If just one of the run-ins had failed, it would have made a huge difference. Why not let Sting see Vampiro coming and just plant his overrated ass to the mat?

Spray paint. Bats. Run-ins......boring, boring, boring.

Thunder was just more of the same.

Neither show deserved more than a 6, which would be quite an improvement on what they have been, but still short of the 8's and 9's being passed around.

Keep up the good work,
Huey
Salina, Kan., wrestling fan

Just had to say that it was about time I came across someone who wasn't totally blinded by the "new" WCW. From the few wrestling sites I checked out, most seem to have thought that Nitro script was handed down from God Yes, I'm over exaggerating, but no one really brought up how poorly done Nitro actually was. I mean nothing gets a young star like Kidman over, as a legit wrestler who can be popular on his own, like having the boss do run ins to save him. And the "Millionaire's Club" members are just so dangerous and overbearing, they were always outnumbered and overcome with nearly every situation against the New Blood. And who needs wrestling when we can have clips of Hogan walking around backstage and Mike Awesome using his vastly "talented" mic skills (he's one step below Goldberg, circa '99, with those)?

I could say something positive about WWF right here...... but the WWF kind of backed itself into a very boring corner by not drastically changing the main storyline (involving Rock/HHH/McMahons) at Wrestlemania. Now the Rock is totally alone against all the McMahons (sans Linda) and HHH. Not always the best thing to do when he is supposed to take off in a month or so to start shooting a film.

That's enough idiotic ramblings from me.

Jason S

CRZ,

I enjoy reading your reviews on wrestleline.com. Informative and damn funny. I guess I like reading them cuz you say the same exact things I would have said. The stuff about people "WALKING" kills me. I've complained to WcW before about that (WWF isn't as bad). I not a "smart" fan, just a smart fan. Anyway, what prompted me to write was actually one thing I disagree with you on. David Arquette Cox at Thunder last night. I thought he sold all the moves much better than any WcW performer in the last six months. He hit that railing hard, and took the Stroke right on his noggin. He even did a good job of rolling away so Kanyon could throw JJ to the ropes without stepping on his head. If WcW performers could do that sort of thing I think they'd be in much better shape. Instead we get weak-ass Bischoff chair shots and weak-ass Luger everythings. I taped Thunder last night and haven't watched it yet, I can't believe they put sequences out of order! That is too funny/sad. I'd give them a few more shows before you start ripping them too bad. I know their suckiness is frustrating, but we gotta give them a chance to turn it around. 5 more shows I think. Anyway, looking forward to your next column.

RJR

I've liked what I've seen so far. Though I will admit the editing the posters and crap is stupid. Though they didn't do it on Nitro. But the worst thing was SHOWING the Jarrett thing IN THE WRONG ORDER! That was one of the worst production screw up's I've ever seen out of any television program. But maybe it's not as bad as another McMahon promo to start of WWF television!

Later,

PaulWolfstien

PS. Nitro must have been doing something right when every wrestleline reporter said it was better than RAW and wrestleline has been refereed to as wwf.com by a ton of people.

They didn't get EVERY WrestleLine guy - some didn't send in responses. And, hell, they didn't get ME, and I'M still a WL guy...aren't I?

The Wrestline ranking was for Nitro. It wasn't for "The Future of WCW" it wasn't about "Thunder" or anything else. It was for Nitro.

So how do you, in your complete ineptness, give a N/A rating? Its a cop out.

But I wanna see Thunder first... why? Its not about Thunder or Russo/Bischoff, or who scams who. It was a rating for the Monday show.

Now, onto Thunder. all of a sudden you have a problem with run-ins and screwjobs? All of a sudden the reset button only works for one Fed?

Funny, that you say that we must balance Nitro and Thunder, then you dismiss Nitro because of the Thunder screw-up? nice balance.

J'3

It's EASY to throw out accusations of what you THINK I said about the WWF way back when, but how come EVERY time I ask people to provide actual DOCUMENTATION of me saying or acting this way, they fail to back it up? Is it too much work to go through the archives...or are they just wrong because there IS no proof that I've acted this way?

Hey CRZ

I just wanted to say thank you for having the balls to tell it like it is. I didn't understand where some of these writers were getting that Nitro was such a great show. It seems to me that a show packed full of run-ins, interviews, and general non-wrestling filler is what we got from Russo the first time he was in charge. You are completely correct in stating that the "new" WCW has just as much potential to suck as the old one did, perhaps even moreso. Let's face it: the new WCW isn't that much of a step up from what we had previously. Why? Well, how about the fact that the angle they're running to push the new talent is making the old guys that no one wants to see the obstinate faces? How about the fact that there's still a lack of real WRESTLING on WCW programming? How about the fact that instead of being content to merely book the fed around themselves, the new Powers That Be find it necessary to be doing run-ins, and giving themselves more airtime than a great deal of the REAL talent?

Let's get real here. In a couple of weeks, WCW will be back to doing 30 seconds "matches" on Nitro, booking T&A (no, not them) over wrestling, and Russo and Bischoff will be the undoubted center of the promotion. How long until they give themselves the tag belts? Hey, if Vince could book himself to be World Champ, why can't the PTB make themselves tag champs?

I know I've rambled somewhat here, but damn...the potential for suck in WCW is as high as it's ever been, and not too many people seem to realize it. Keep telling it like it is.

Tom Cruz
"KEEL DEM ALL AND EET DER BONEZ" - that Lavender guy

Tom, for you, I'll keep on keepin' on. ;-)

Dude, I'm a longtime reader, but I've gotta tell you: this Nitro rating thing is starting to show a little of your bias.

YOu mean to tell us that simply because Nitro had screw-job endings and not as many matches as usual that it's unworthy of any kind of high-rating?? You're saying that a *hot* storyline doesn't makeup for any of that?? Well, that never seemed to bother you in late 1998/ early 1999 when Russo's RAW had *very* hot storylines, but was ALL screwjob endings and short matches. Get where I'm going with this???

I am NOT a huge Russo fan. Or even a WCW mark. But Monday's NITRO was about as much fun as I've had watching wrestling in a while. The show ranks up there with a couple of the February RAW's and several other Smackdowns as the best wrestling programming of the last twelve months.

You gave RAW a 7 and said Nitro could either be a 3 or an 8. Let me ask you, would you rather see the Rock get screwed by Vince & HHH for the 479th episode in a row, OR see Hulk Friggin' Hogan getting PUNKED OUT by Billy Kidman?!

That's a no-brainer to me.

I know RAW delivered a better strictly wrestling product (with Radicals-TooCool, SuicideBlondes-DX, Hardyz-TNA, and Jericho-Guerrero), but there was no *sizzle* to any of those matches because the storylines are all stale and old.

Over on NITRO, we didn't see much in the way of great wrestling (Sting & DDP can really put on a show when they are given enough time though --remember Feb 99 and the double-title change nitro), but we had about TEN of those magical tv moments, ("oh shit" moments, as one of your fellow 'maniacs likes to say).

Now maybe you're *only* concerned with the wrestling and not the storyline in these shows. If that's the case, though, let's be fair about it. In late 1998, when Nitro was giving us Booker vs Steiner, Booker vs Hart, Guerrero vs Kidman, Mysterio vs Juvi, Benoit/Malenko vs Raven/Saturn/Kanyon vs Mysterio/Kidman, etc... you were trashing those shows for having stale storylines and weak main events. At the same time, RAW was drawing praise for showing Mankind vs the Undertaker and Austin v McMahon in the main event, but undercards with crap like Southern Justice vs the Headbangers and NAO vs Golga/Kurrgan. Know what I'm sayin'?

Now the tables have turned. Nitro's got an interesting story, but little talent, and RAW's got a stale, boring story (mcmahon is evil, what else is new) but incredible undercard talent. let's just be fair about our appraisals, shall we?

And, quite frankly, whether Thunder or any other show in the future or past of WCW sucks, should have a grand total of ZERO effect on your appraisal of this past week's "NITRO".

Even if WCW proceeds quickly back into the toilet (who knows? it might), you've still gotta give them credit for putting on one HELL of a show Monday night.

Everyone knows you're the man on the reviews, and, as such, you've got a responsibility to be fair. So let's get with the program, OK?

Peace,
-C. Newman

There's that trap again. I'm NOT a journalist, I AM biased, I have been QUITE consistent (if ONLY you'll check the archives through the years)...I can say this EVERY week and STILL people will write to me as if I've NEVER said ANY of this stuff. I grouse and kvetch about the WWF's top storyline in the RAW and SmackDown! reports, but it's ignored because "CRZ is blindly loyal to the WWF." I praise quality wrestling in the WCW but it's ignored because "CRZ hates WCW." It's a no-win for me - all I can continue to do is keep being myself...many people eventually come around, and, hell, I sleep much better when I know I'm telling it like it is, how I see it, how I REALLY feel. Replying to email privately often helps my cause, as well...

When the Inter-Fed PPV comes, Booker and the Rock will *have* to do a double-uranage spot. Complete with arms around each others shoulders, hands in the lower backs, eyes gazing out and up into the crowd, and then four feet into the air, followed by both backs flat to the mat.

Corwyn Newman

That WOULD be cool!

Hey bub
Nash is commissioner and don't you forget it

Rob Jowaisas

I admit it...I forgot it

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!
Finally, a sensible voice of reason. I thought that I was the only one who didn't treat the "New WCW" as the Second Coming. It's great that someone else is being objective and keeping a "wait and see" attitude. Keep up the GREAT work!

Alfonzo LaShawn Tyson

Yeah!

You are absolutely correct about your assessment of Nitro. In fact, you were a little soft. I thought the show sucked ass. First of all, I hate work-shoot interviews which obviously was the entire first segment. Secondly, the camera work still sucks. Thirdly, hyping the young blood in your federation and then starting things out with Diamond Dallas Dork vs. Larry Loser is hardly hyping young blood. Hogan vs. Kidman: another work-shoot. Let's face it, there's no chance in hell that Hogan is going to lose a long term war to this guy. Finally, Raw came on the air and that was the end of my Nitro experience.

Keep up the slagging of WCW

Matsfann

Oh man, "a little soft?" Now you're just BEGGING for me to get into trouble...

Good call on Nitro and Thunder. The angle (which is, just like the nWo, another one-trick pony to distract from the fact that there are no other real angles) looked ALMOST promising until about three minutes in, when I realized that the talented, deserving "New Blood" was evil, and that the whining, aging crybaby bitches were the schmucks I should be cheering for. I'd say Nitro was about a 3. Maybe.

kelly wells
mankato, mn

Thank you for writing me back CRZ.

My prespective is that I enjoy the storylines more. So that was why I felt that Nitro was the better show April 10th.

You do need good in ring action too. It is a *wrestling* show after all. Its striking the right balance which is the hard part. I am not a fan of the "cue run-in, DQ" finish. On Monday it worked for me because of the suprise value of "who is going to come out next?"

Later
DTH

Let's see what you say in a month if they're still doing that. On the other hand, let's see what *I* say in a month if they STOP doing that!

Yeah, after Monday, I was GOING to apologize to you on the basis that since I don't watch WWF, I hadn't seen any GOOD wrestling in many months and had forgotten what it was. Then I saw your Nitro report. And then the Thunder report. Voice of reason? More like voice of ignorance. Have you noticed what everyone around you is saying? Even that guy who I hate who is calling it "Wcw" because he only has a third of respect for them (THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT IT IS A PROPER NOUN!!!) says having no wrestling on one day is a good move because of the way they're rebuilding it. You think Wrestline is the only place giving the Nitro good reviews? Look at WCW Feedback (never thought I'd hear myself saying THAT...) Also, then there's your CONSTANT (cause you did this a month ago, too) complaining that a match never ends without someone interfering...SO??? First of all, most people (and I don't mean ignorant-public type of most people, I mean, MOST PEOPLE) don't care about the actual MATCHES. Second, interference is a GOOD THING. People like it. Why do you think it's in wrestling in the first place? It's fun, its unexpected, etc. The fact that so many on this very staff (not to mention some of you who have emailed me over the past 48 hours) are so quick to discount the entirety of "wrestling" in favour of "storyline" greatly worries me. Weirdo. You're starting to sound like one of those beer-guzzling violence loving hicks we're being sterotyped as (as if I don't have to worry about THAT besides stuff from the fellow fans...BTW, do you know you're the ONLY person I ever have to e-mail to complain about something? Really! I regularly talk to people across the country who agree with the majority of my opinions) BTW, does anyone else care THAT MUCH about the production stuff? Sure, they promised us better production, but it's not like they NEEDED to. It's like a "Don't sweat the small stuff" thing. And this is small stuff. Yeah, the Jarret guitar thing was NOT small stuff, that was a huge, huge mistake, but asides from being confused and slightly angry, it's not like a really cared. It didn't really detract from anything (though by that time Thunder was kind of putting me to sleep anyway, about 15 minutes from the end) Our commentators (and the TV-PG-DLV) reveal to us that Ric Flair is irate OH MY GOD! You made a typo! You said Ric Flair instead of Vince Russo! That means your review must COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SUCK!!! Vampiro - this is the NEW era! - jobs...I mean gives it up. What, because he got put in a Steiner Recliner after he was Scorpion Deathdropped from behind? Hey, Steiner Recliner is actually VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. I don't see how it's considered jobbing because of interference. By Sting, none the less. but they hung on for that all important "top thirty finish!" Hey, that's GOOD in pace car racing. Besides, he crashed. And it's not like they can just not show it just cause they lost. I guess the "reset button" missed this feud, right? Yeah, like the Rhodes-Funk thing isn't going to last for all eternity...what, you couldn't tell? So you can pin your own partner? Well, it IS a Hardcore match...and you can't say "Why didn't he do that to begin with?" because the other guys would've beat him up before he could... The only complaint I had about Thunder (aside of course from the huge editing error) was like I said the last 15 minutes were kind of boring, and DDP vs. BIGELOW AS A MAIN EVENT?! Well, actually, now that I think about it, that's not THAT bad, seeing as this is Thunder...if it was Nitro, then there'd be a problem. Speaking of Nitro, I had absolutely NO complaint abou that (aside from the rampant cussing and middle fingers and such...but I actually hadn't voiced that complaint to anyone until now...actually you're the first person who I've been able to voice it about I'm on spring break and the person I usually talk to hasn't been online...) Anyway, despite that I gave you the last argument, you still suck. You can't give WCW, nay, anyone a break (seeing as you said you would've been just as hard on the WWF...)

bgrx106

"I regularly talk to people across the country who agree with the majority of my opinions..." I need to remember that one.

Wow, I knew you were a prick, but I had no idea a Kings fan could be so up his own ass. I'm aware you like to 'note' the WWF's faults, but in truth you don't miss a beat and try to pan it off as part of something everyone has to 'get'. And it must be simple to pass off fans' negative critiques of you using the WWF-bias thing. It may have started as a crutch for fans to rip you... now its a crutch for your ego, cuz if they don't dislike your 'work' cuz they prefer WCW, then you might actually be writing crap, and that can't be. Raw with Bossman/Bull is a 7? I watched the show, it wasn't a 7 before they came out for the Main Event, so how can it be after?

OK, I'm naive? But you insist that a wrestling program must have more matches than stories. Thats naive.

Do you consider yourself 'part of the business'?

J'3

Hell, no!

Chris-
I'm kind of suprised that you're the only person who didn't like the new Nitro. I don't say that in a bad way (or least don't mean to) because there were endless parts that pretty much sucked (like the lack of details such as giving Sting and Sid their full entrances). It might have to something to do with the poor quality of the last several months of Nitro so that anything remotely positive, makes the show great. I started to think that the fact that I didn't like Nitro all that much confirmed my status as a WWF mark. But then I kinda forgot about that when I realized how sick I am of seeing anyone with the last name McMahon on Raw or Smackdown. Even if I am a WWF mark now, I can always say WCW drove me to it.

Anyway, I was switching between Thunder and South Park (guess I don't have very refined veiwing tastes) and thought I had just missed the Sting/Villanos match. Imagine my suprise to see it later. Just of curiosity and for lack of something better to do, I watched the Thunder replay. On the replay, all of the segments were in the correct order. Of course, does it really matter if you know you're fucking up, if you don't fix it when it counts?

One last thing. On Nitro during the Tank Abbott segment, it dawned on me after seeing Madden's shirt ripped off that we'll never see the promotion of white Jell-o.

Thanks for the great work-
Brad Melton

I was just wondering if I'm th only one that noticed that every time WCW gets a so called face lift, the run the "face lift" angle into the ground. Before ever other word out of the ring anouncers mouth was * the powers that be". All you would here is powers that be this powers that be that. Now every other word is new blood. It's only been two shows and I'm already sick of hearing them say it! And isn't this new blood gimmick the NWO all over again? "Screw Tradition", Where taking over" and all that other stuff? I know I heard it somewhere before. I don't see any changes Bitchoff is still Bitchoff WCW is still WCW and THEY STILL SUCK!!!

DaNetmasta

Oh, you're just BIASED.

No offense pal, but who do you think you are? Why do you think your opinion is so much more valuable than a majority of people who disagree? People like you, who will suck on Vince Mcmahon's pecker until the cows come home, don't have any place writing for a wrestling website that attempts to maintain some integrity. You are saying that all the other staff writers opinions combined are not as valuable as yours? That is not only arrogant, but it is stupid and wrong. Don't expect me to ever read any of your articles again.

ZG

I never wanted YOU as a reader.

I enjoyed this one more than the Nitro recap. I could've gone without hearing Nitro rants (seeing as how they were trying to get storylines off the ground so they can have quality wrestling later), but your rants about the misplacement of the Sting/Villanos match were more than justified. You'd think that when Team Bisso is under extreme pressure to put out an above-average product, they'd pay attention to detail - or at least the order of the gawdammed matches! I wouldn't have expected Jadoubleredoublet to be the third Villano, so they ruined what might've been the only real surprise of the night.

The 6-man match was spectacular. [Remember 3 Count vs. the Jung Dragons? That was a great 6-man match. Hey! Where the hell are the Jung Dragons?!] And I for one never imagined that Daffney could do a hurricanrahna (or reduce her ass size).

It was also good to see Page doing Diamond Cutters that actually looked like Diamond Cutters. Maybe Team Bisso told him to stop fucking up his own move.

Also along those same lines, have you noticed that everyone is selling moves better this week? Even the Total "Tin Man in Disguise" Package was able to sell moves. Usually I find myself muttering "... oil can..." during his matches.

The wrestling was better this time around, so maybe they'll incorporate more wrestling into each show.

Spraypaint, Bisch on the mic, Vinnie Ruse whining loudly, lack of clean finishes, Bisch using a chair, and Kimbrrly's nipples [no, wait, I liked that... a lot] all are holding the shows back. And the main event matches need to be of main event caliber. Page vs. Sting? Page vs. Trippa B?! Come on!

I enjoyed Thunder, but it left me asking two questions: "Shouldn't Bret Hart have shown up?" and "Can we see David Arquette get his assed kicked that bad on EVERY show?"

Keep up the good work. I'm rootin' for ya!

Colin

You'd have more luck rooting for WCW! ;-)

OK, I just wanted to say, Mr. Voice-of-reason, now YOU know what it's like being the only person who thinks one way! Now YOU know what it's like to be so frustrated! Welcome to my sad, pathetic little world! HA HA HA HA HA! (no reply necessary)

bgrx106

Wait, don't the majority of the people across the nation agree with the...ohhhh, my head hurts.

It was a good show, it definitely wasn't a show where they were trying to show wrestling, more of trying to show the storylines ect. They had a lot to fit into two hours. I will even say I was disappointed in Thunder but I don't really ever think I have liked thunder, either. Hopefully they can do something with that show, I think most importantly they need to focus on getting a better lead announcer heh. I mean when was the last time we have heard play by play on Nitro ... When Hudson took over those two weeks way back when. But we'll see what we get on Monday eh?

Whelp, later

PaulWolfstien

Hey Chris, I was glad to see your thoughts on the "new" Nitro in the Thunder reports and your repose to the grades that WrestleLine gave to the monday night shows. I thought I was the only online opinionist who thought RAW was better and that WCW still sucks. But of course, you proved me wrong and that's a damn good thing. It's like all of a sudden, everyone has turned WCW-mark overnight from Monday to Tuesday... and it's quite retarded. Anyway, I'm the webmaster of www.outragewrestling.com and also post there. Just on Tuesday I did a post reflecting on RAW and Nitro. If you've got a few minutes, it'd be cool if you could read it: OUTRAGE - Fuck this, fuck you, fuck that, fuck it, fuck everything (http://www.outragewrestling.com/outrage/opinions/articles/849.html). It sort of has an aggressive viewpoint (as you can see just by the title of the post), but that's just the way I write when it comes to wrestling opinions... I guess it's sort of a gimmick, or something.

Talk to you later,
-'Madd' Matt Jedrych

Trust me, when WWF did the more soap opera, less wrestling thing, people screamed bloody murder over it. I think they're holding off on WCW because Hogan is actually putting a mid carder over (and since the smarts run the wrestling internet, they like being fed all the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" deals from Russo and Bishoff, just so they can scream "I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY SAID THAT ON TV!").

I have no clue what's going to go down at Spring Stampede (outside of Jarrett saying the word slapnuts in another way that sounds forced), but I'm sure it'll just be another PPV that is just a plug for the Monday night show which will be another string of run ins, filled with "nudge, nudge, wink, wink"s, filled with more of Bishoff's oddly colored hair, and an ending that probably should have happened on the PPV.

Jason S

Jason's onto something - have V&E managed to find a way to "work" the Internet fandom? Look how many people fell for it on WrestleLine! Hell, even *Scaia* was under their spell for something like 24 hours!!

Umm...I do not quit understand this email. I never watch wrestling. It seems someone sent a message using my email address. I your debate work out. Later.

ZG

Oh, that explains it.

Whats up chris I just wanted to drop you a line and give u my take on your comments about wcw. First off wcw hasnt put on a good show in quite some time, I thought that mondays show was great. I think that bishoff and russo started great story lines with the young blood vs the big money ballers, The Franchise (sp) vs Ric Flair and Hogan vs Kidman. I know that we have seen ''a new era'' before but i think that this time is diff. First off they have the guy who put wrestling back into the mainstream (bishoff) and they have the guy who brought the wwf back from the grave(Russo) on the same team. That has to mean that WCW is on its way to the top and if not the top then at least back to competitive with wwf. And last but not least you are way off on the wrestling aspect of this past monday nitro. If i can remember correctly when the wwf started to win back the ratings war they did it with soap opera story lines, t&a, and the use of curse words they didnt have good wrestling. Now they've gotten back to the wrestling aspect of the business and there show is over all better because of it. Most people who watch wrestling watches it because of the "sports entertanment".aspect. Thank you for your time.

Mary Nicotra

how bout calling them the New Blood Order?

Heather Dawson

That is UNBELIEVABLY BRILLIANT and I will. Thanks!

Stop being a fucking wwf mark and do your job.You are so fucking biased you would not give nitro a rating.As for thunder watch smackdown which was no better.Want to know why thunder was not as good.Cause bischoff said they had to pull shit off the show because of the awesome situation and he had no time to help russo write the show thanks to awesome.Thats why it had problems, but why the fuck are you harder on it then before.Dont be a fuckin prick, nobody will come to this site if wcw gets more fans, and you will be out of a job.Do you want to stop doing nitro recaps cause its getting good again and your afraid?Get a life and stop spending time trying to ruin wcw!Grow fucking up cause what goes around comes around.

Monty

I'll be out of a job....HAAAAAAAAAAhahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Oh, could you please say "fuck" one more time? Thanks

Why the hell do you complain about nitros lack of action.THey had one week to build angles you stupid fuck.ALl i ask is you grow some balls and stop trying to ruin wcw and get a life.Wrestling does not sell a show completely.Im sure if raw put a shitty show on and wrestleline staff gave it an 8 you would piss your pants with excitement.Fucking mark do your job, and dont be biased and dont fucking post these letters use them to learn!!!

Monty

Oh, sorry, I wasn't supposed to fucking post these letters. But they were so CHOICE!

You are a biased idiot. How many frickin times is the Rock gonna take on HHH for the damn belt. That is almost as bad as the Undertaker Vs. Austin. WCW is at least trying to come up with something NEW. I f I were to sit there and dissect WWF like you do WCW, i would really hurt your feelings. The WWf has gotten so damn predictable it isn't fun anymore. You are the only one on the wrestleline staff with no imagination. I did not like Nitro because they had no good matches, but as i watched i understood that it was the only way to start over. they have left it open for anything to happen. You don't like Sting, you don't like DDP, you don't like.....screw you. They are the WCW. You can't bring in new talent without them you dumbass. No one wants to sit and watch guys they've never heard of. What was wrong with WCW in the past year. Sting was out, DDP was out, Goldburg gone. Wake the hell up. That is why WCW sucked so bad. They had to start from scratch but had nothing to do it with. You just watch. WWf is starting to crack and it will only be a matter of time. I'm not saying that the ratings race will change only that WCW will have changed. Well, i'm bored of critizizing you now, cause after the past few weeks it has gotten OLD. Have a great night.

Mike (STYX)

oh the irony of Smackdown opening with, Oh My, a Ref bump! Obviously the show is going to hell, no way out... Clearly they have a lot of work to do.

How long were they going to go without telling us who Paul Wright was immitating?

And all that talking, her trainer?

J'3

You're taking this awfully personally, aren't you.

I need Robert Stack here....How did a re-capper like yourself EVER get the job you have on WrestleLine???? First of all, you are NOT funny, second of all, you NEVER, ever, EVER give credit where it's due. Christ, even Chis Hyatte, CHRIS HYATTE, gives credit now and again for what he feels are genuine efforts by WCW and the WWF to please the fans.

I'm an avid WWF fan, but I also watch WCW and ECW. I enjoy watching the competition, seeing what they do, and that makes the whole thing more compelling, seeing them trying to "up the ante" on one another.

Why do you feel it's SO necessary to constantly rip on (specifically) WCW's efforts? I'll say this once again, I'm an avid WWF fan. But I thought their (WCW's) efforts were pretty damn good on both Nitro and Thunder. So what if they're still featuring the "old established" guys?? To have a young vs old feud, you have to have THE OLD STARS IN THERE ALSO!!!!!!!! (WOW, I never thought of that!!!)

They are at least TRYING to listen to the internet community. Give them credit for that at least.

You know, you do seem to have an influence on what people think, the internet community that is. (Only God knows why. Again I say, "We need Robert Stack in on this one") Why (for once in your wishy washy-I want to be cool- so I'll bash everone's efforts-life) don't you be a man, and say what you think? Don't try to "be cool," be a MAN, take a stand.

By the way, why do I get the feeling that if you ever won the lottery, you would bitch and complain about the taxes the government took out????

x 1

If you KNEW my tax situation, you wouldn't ask. :( If Vince and Eric were TRYING to listen to the Internet community, then I *HOPE* that my comments haven't fallen on deaf ears. I personally think that's a whole crock of shit, myself, but what's MY opinion matter, anyway?

By the way, don't let the "N/A" rating fool you. I DID take a stand this week. You just had to be able to read what I was saying. Did you?

I used to complain about the commercial breaks WCW would place smack-dab in the middle of matches. Now, I think I would not mind hearing "The tape machines are rolling! We'll be right back!".

I fear that WCW is going to try to be a Raw clone. On many levels, that will not work. Mainly, however, it strikes me that despite Raw's popularity ( and I do enjoy watching Raw ), it is far from perfect in the art of storytelling. The best example is citing plot holes you could fly the space shuttle through in any number of angles...the "higher power" angle comes to mind...Who was driving the Lincoln that creamed Stone Cold?...etc.

In the past, I enjoyed the differences in the programs. In general, the WWF gave me a story and WCW gave me wrestling. I know that is oversimplifying, but that is my general memory from when both programs were strong. For example, I remember the match where Kidman first won the cruiser title ( against Juvi ). It was the same Nitro that Flair made his dramatic return to TV (sometime in Sept. of 1998, I think). Despite Flair's return, my strongest memory is of that match ( with commercial breaks! ) and the crowd marking out when Kidman finally got the three count. In a more general sense, I remember many of Bret Hart's "heel" matches versus Sting, Benoit, Booker, and DDP. Those matches had a sense of story, pace, and logic.

My point is that I hope it is still possible to have a "wrestling" show. Raw is fine, by and large, the way it is. Nitro is not. And Nitro will not become fine by becoming a clone. Surely, it is possible to tilt the story-wrestling balance more toward wrestling. In marketing, I think the term is "product differentiation." For example, what ever happened to the best two out of three fall matches? It struck me that, perhaps, the falls need not be back to back. In order to advance a story, why not have the competitors retreat to their locker rooms and go over strategy with managers, allies, etc. What went right? What went wrong? Should I have someone come out to watch my back? Etc. This idea might ultimately suck, but at this point, I think WCW is best served by taking a divergent path from the WWF.

Richard Lusso

P.S.--If you think the Kings are choking, check out my local Atlanta Hawks for a season long choke. Where did they get the idea that J.R. Rider would be of more value to the team than Steve Smith?

Richard, I hope you've sent this email to WCW. Well, except for the bit about the Hawks. ;-)

Hi Chris -

I wholeheartedly agree with you on the current "new" direction of WCW. How can all these WrestleLine idiots claim Nitro was such a good show when they didn't even have any wrestling. And what they did was the same old farts like Hogan and Luger.

I don't think Thunder did much to advance the theory that the shows will get better either.

Whatever.

Pieman

CRZ-

Are you turning heel? It sure seemed like it after reading your Thunder recap.

CP

I'm not a "heel" or a "face," I promise - I'm just me.

CRZ, You and I are on the same page. Keep shooting straight, and nevermind what these 'wcw redemption marks' use to spin into whatever 'truth' they would like for others to believe. You get, brother- and so do I. To thine own self be true. $900K to Buff Bagwell? Ho- lee- shit, Batman! Late...

pjf

P.S. The waves were tasty yesterday!

Damn, do you military guys do ANYTHING but surf? ;-)

If there is one good thing that comes out of this, I can sum it up in the following statement:

"Will all marks please shout your praise."

It really boggles the mind. One week they are bemoaning wcw for sucking the long one, next week they are praising this as the second coming. Personally I didn't see anything to get me excited. Only difference I see between now and then is the new sets. New Blood? Nah, let's call them what they really are, the New Blood World Order. I watched Nitro, I watched Thunder....they get 60 more minutes of my life on Monday. The magic number is 5. If I only see five matches total, or five or more of the matches they show have screwjob finishes, I change the channel and don't look back. I'll give the over/under on new era 5 at 8 months.

Daki

Your so fucking anti-WCW, it bugs you to hell when other people think they put on good shows. I'm going to do the first online fatwa and place a bounty upon your acne-ravaged head.

WCWChatra

Send all contributions to Mo Chatra, care of "Limeys who Know Meltzer for WCW", UK. I hear he's working on an article for some site or zine or something which will TOTALLY PUT ME IN MY PLACE. If you see it, please pass on the link to me...

Being a huge wrestling fan I read your columns and so on on WrestleManiacs often....saw a coupel Kings references in it, and read your smackdown report with the "kings update"..thought it was kool to find out you were a Kings fan...i am a huge fan....i've been a fan on Chris Webber since watching him play highschool ball and followed his career ever since....i knwo you could care less....but just dropping a note to say i enjoy your writtings and wil now definently continue to read.....i use to write for Kingsfans.com, and at one time i ran Da-Kings.com....but i didn't have the time to keep running it..

Do i need a signature line?

Jason Bristow

Oh, hey, the Kings lost again. AGAIN. Woof.

Come on man be a little easier on WCW at least their trying.NITRO and THUNDER have at least been unpredictible i can,t say the same for RAW is SHIT and CRAPDOWN.All it is,is a Mcmahon ,Helmsley fest with the Rock saying the same shit week after week thank god hes leaving soon.Bull Buchanon yeah hes earned main event status on the hottests program in wrestling Big Bossman oh he gets mega pops during his matches in the words of Gorrila (GIVE ME A BREAK)

Film676

Let's say that the WWF didn't exist - let's say that ALL you had to watch were Nitro and Thunder. Would you STILL go as easy on them, or would you want them to be BETTER?

You are still the man. I think things are WORSE!!! We're getting the same old hacks and all this was done to whip up enthusiasm for a pay per view??? This is the best they can do? Keep plugging away. I don't understand why people think Nitro is being written by God now. I think we'll be seeing all Kimberly, all the time. Kimberly smashed by a guitar, Kimberly pushed in the boobs, Kimberly wins title. Kimberly goes hardcore, Kimberly cripples Tammy, Kimberly drives hummer, Kimberly paints face, Kimberly does tonight show, Kimberly stabs Tori. Great TV.

MrMango

Can I be the one to push Kimberly in the boobs?

Hey I just wanted to mention that I noticed a couple of things. First of all, isn't it strange how all the remaining members of "The Nation" (D'Lo, Godfather, Farooq and The Rock) are all faces and DX (HHH, Road Dogg and X-Pac) are all heels and yet they were the opposite when they were Nation vs. DX? And second of all, something no one mentioned during the main event of the April 13th Smackdown. Four out of the six participants (Big Bossman, HHH and The Acolytes) were all part of the Corporate Ministry not too long ago. You might want to put this information in one of your columns next time you try and prove the non-continuing storyline theory. Keep up the good work.

Andrew Randazzo

Chris,

Another great job on the recap. 2 things:

1) You mentioned it once, and I didn't see the whole show, but the audience seemed REALLY quiet on the show. I guess they were all waiting for the main event??

2) If you've ever heard Tony Gwynn talk, you'd know he sounds like he's straight out of Tejas. Close your eyes and you can almost see the hillbilly. So I'm not sure why he would want to kill the radio either.

Thanks again for all your hard work.
Mike C.

As always, good work. I was reading your Thunder recap and the line "Schiavone wonders aloud what happened with Bret Hart, as if he just shut his eyes and went to sleep after they left the air." damn near made me piss my pants.

Thanks
Ian Wajand

Isn't it actually Punjabi top 40 playing on the boombox Gwyn destroys? Runkles isn't funny. Well..actually it kind of is..he he runk..hee hee Runkles!

Whatever. I suck.

Craig Letawsky
KBS Radio,
Creston, BC.,
Canada

C'mon, say it with me. It's funny, I swear!

RUNKLES!

HARDY BOYZ v. VANILLA MIDGETS - you think that the sight of Malenko and Benoit walking down the ramp, each man with a title belt over his shoulder, isn't some kind of karmic, giant "fuck you" to Nash? That'd make a nice vidcap to mail to all the columnists who swore these guys were really much better off in WCW, wouldn't it?

I don't know, they'd probably email you back a vidcap of Benoit with the World Heavyweight title.

mdb

Did NASH give Benoit that belt?

Hey Chris,

I'm just writing to tell you that I think Mike Awesome is the lowest form of life on the face of the fucking planet. Not only did he try to hold the ECW world heavyweight title hostage, but he didn't even have the fucking guts to confront the people of the company he tried to fuck over face to face. I thought you were supposed to be some sort of tough guy Awesome. I thought you had "The balls to face anybody anytime."

I don't usually like it when the big 2 take pot shots at each other, I think it cheapens the product. But in this case I'm willing to make an acception. I hope Tazz, Paul Heyman, and Vince McMahon do everything in their power to expose Mike Awesome for the lowlife he truly is. I hope that when it's all said and done, what little credibility he has left is flushed down the fucking toilet. Mike Awesome can have WCW, and they can have Mike Awesome. Judging from what has gone down in the past couple of years there, I'd say they were made for each other.

Eric Ambrose

Jeeez Dude that was harsh! Just the same I have to agree with you.

Corey L. Mitchell Jr.

Hahahahahahahahaa...thanks. I needed that. :)

We could not find Smackdown! on UPN last Thursday... There was some baseball game on. We even waited until after to see if it would start then, but it was just a Voyager rerun. Apparently we missed a hot one at that... the booking alone made it exciting. Too bad the crowd doesn't appreciate ACTION nowadays. If ya know what took place, please let us know.

Thanks,
John Stevens
BriJoysDaddy

Yeah, I kinda wrote a little report detailing what took place, but the link seems to have escaped me at the moment - wait - didn't you just WRITE ME from the mailto link at the bottom of my report??? Huh?

Heh heh heh....

-3D

Hey, the Kings had under 24 hours of rest after scoring 130 against the Warriors, the Lakers had ALL week to prepare for the Kings...AND, and I think this is the important point, the Kings REALLY SUCK!

It seems that you prefer better wrestling than good storylines, however, when WCW was showing fantastic wrestling and WWF was putting on shit wrestling with what many considered a better show, you still preferred it (even though the wrestling in WCW was of a higher standard than that of WWF).

But now, you seem to think that having a good storyline (WCW) is not as worthy as good wrestling, and considering NITRO and THUNDER are the first two shows of the 'NEW ERA', it can only be expected that it will take a little time to get story lines and entertaining wrestling back in WCW.

Personally, I don't think you should do the THUNDER review if you think it is so bad.

Hannah Mcaneny

Who would you LIKE to see doing the Thunder review? Better yet, why don't you go read the WCW.com version? It's guaranteed not to offend you!

Chris,

I'm african-american who loves wrestling. Whats makes me angry is the way WCW is not giving Booker a major push. Its been twenty three years since a african american held the US title and eight years since Ron Simmons held the WCW world title. WCW is pushing some of the young white stars who has not been in WCW more than one or two years. Booker deserves his just do title shot.

Please rely

A fan of Booker

Even worse, Booker deserves the title not just because he's a great African-American wrestler, but because he's a great WRESTLER. It's a crime that he's been held back so long...but I have a feeling that things might soon be turning around for him...

It isn't called a "front suplex". It's a reverse falcon arrow, and the exact name for that move is a "night driver". Just to point it out for future reference.

Linda J Gonzalez

I have a 50/50 chance of remembering this, I bet.

Hey CRZ,

What the hell is with that Muffy character? Look at the way she was dressed on Smackdown, April 13. She looked like Britney Spears!! What's the WWF thinking? Do they need more males in the age 15-25 demographic? Or is this "Muffy" another bad excuse for the Women's Championship?

KhenYian Cheung

That's Caryn Mower...her gimmick is that she's REALLY INTENSELY ANNOYING...and you'll find this out in coming shows...

Hey CRZ,
Long time reader
first time writer
I just finished reading your Thunder report and I just wanted to let you know something. It's not bad enough that Michael Buffer had a hot date at the RTR Premire but that's his freakin' wife. They both appear on the Howard Stern show pretty regularly. Here's the killer; she's 25 and she's from Germany (you outta hear her talk not that that's important) Buffer's such a fucking lucky bastard 'cause he's got the EASIEST job on the planet and a hot ass wife. WHAT A BASTARD!!!!
Just had to vent this thought somewhere.
Keep writin' and I'll keep readin'
'til then,
Joey

Ummm.....yes and no.

Why do recap wrestling shows for? You are always knocking the wwf and WCW. Why do you recap commercials? nobody gives a shit about the damn commercials. why in the hell can't you just write the wrestlers names? Does the average wrestling fan know why you call bret hart bret clark? that shit happend over a year ago with michael buffer. Why are you biased towards the wwf? you think liz is hot. i wonder what you think of mae young?if you think you could write better shows than WCW did why don't you do some fantasy booking?

Later BITCH

Michael Arms

Well, because fantasy booking EATS IT. Also, it's not MY job to make WCW better - it's those guys getting the six-figure deals. Mae Young isn't my type. I'm biased towards the WWF because they entertain me more, the average fan probably has no idea why I call him Bret Clarke, I don't just write the wrestler's names because it's my style, I recap commercials because years from now, that's the kind of shit I'm interested in reliving - also because I believe it provides a more complete picture of the show for folks who didn't watch it, and finally, I recap wrestling shows because I CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT THE KIND OF FEEDBACK I GET FROM LIMEYS LIKE YOU. That's all your questions in reverse order...thank you, drive through!

"Meet the new boss.."

WCW had a blank canvas.

So much promise...

So CRZ, your Sharks just beat the Blues...that's a good thing.

What's your take on ECW and world domination, not necessarily in that order?

Thanks for your time.

Sean

I think ECW and world domination will NEVER meet. ;-)

I think I read to much of this stuff. I don't know if you have seen it, but I watched "Eyes Wide Shut" last night and all I could think of was you writing a recap and over and over writing "he's WALKING."

If you haven't seen the movie forget I wrote.

Rick Griffith

Thank GOD I got a funny letter to close out this edition! You da man, Rick!