Vince McMahon must really be excited about this fan interaction business. Rather than waiting to see if it is at all successful he seems to be bounding full speed ahead. Viewers are voting on who will wrestle whom at Taboo Tuesday, and he has also indicated that he is seriously considering the format for Monday Night Raw. Besides the matches themselves, they will vote on the stipulations for Eric Bischoff’s match against Eugene. Now, I’m not at all sure that this is a good way to go. First, how are we to be sure that the matches will go according to votes? As with shows such as American Idol, (or the Diva Contest for that matter), I can’t say that I really believe the voting was all on the up and up. Sorry, that’s just how I feel. The flip side of that is of course, will we ever really know that, and does it actually make a difference? No, probably not, and if the matches are following the fans’ lead, it won’t really matter. McMahon and company just has to listen to what the fans tell him, something I have repeatedly said he is not very good at. We’ll have to see what he comes up with.
There is another problem with Taboo Tuesday, and that happens to be…Tuesday. The buy rate of the pay-per-views have been constantly declining, and that is when a PPV is aired on a Sunday at 5:00. What is the sense in having one on a weeknight when most people are coming home from work? The majority of those I have spoken with have said that they have a hard time with that, and most do not like to tape the shows to watch later. It’s just not the same atmosphere for them. And one other thing; this is the second time there have been three PPV’s in six weeks. At this point they would be better off to have one GOOD program every other month rather than inundate us with all these shows that have no real build-up. People could care less at that point. We are being pay-per-viewed to death here, and they don’t come cheap. Ultimately the only one who is really suffering for this is the company itself – they are cutting their own throat.
I didn’t get a chance to see last weeks SmackDown!. I taped it, but then never watched it, so I can’t comment on the show. Raw is another story. Once again the program started out with a speaking segment as it so often does. Bischoff yaps this time, then Triple H and Shelton Benjamin. Blah, blah, blah. I really did enjoy the segment later in the show with Ric Flair and Randy Orton, though. I thought Orton was great in that spot. That was the best I’ve heard him on the microphone. He was trying to tell Flair that HHH has been pushing him down to where he is almost nothing, and told Ric to think about it. It wasn’t a big surprise that Flair once again sided with 3H later on in the program, but Randy was convincing enough that a Flair turn at some point would not really amaze me. Frankly, I have been waiting for Batista to tell Triple H to screw off for a while now – maybe he and Flair will eventually leave together. For right now though, they probably need to stick together. After all, just how often does one wrestler win without assistance from the others? That would be never.
William Regal, Eugene and Bischoff were embroiled in a really silly bit in which they were going over what the stipulation for their match at Taboo Tuesday would be. Will the loser have his head shaved, be a butler for the other, or have to dress like a woman? And just when it seemed that things were as bad as they’d get for the evening we had to endure Trish Stratus’ little party for the new Diva, Christy. Well, I figured that at least we were done with Carmella. Oops, wrong again! There she was on the Titantron, acting like the spoiled brat she is. Can’t we be done now?!?
There was some wrestling during the evening, but all in all it was pretty dull. I love Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels together, but of course they had to lose to Tyson Tomko and Christian. Overall another lackluster show for Monday night.
No Mercy is this Sunday and there are six matches offered up so far. The Undertaker challenges John Bradshaw Layfield for the WWE Championship in a Last Ride Match. That sounds as if it is right up ‘Taker’s alley, and for that reason I don’t think he will win. The United States Championship is between the champ Booker T and John Cena. This will be the last match in the best of five series, and frankly I don’t know how this will play out, but I’m going with Booker to keep the title. The last title match is the WWE Tag Team Championship between the belt holders Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree against Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio. RVD and Mysterio deserve to be single, but I sure hope they are victorious here. I really dislike Suzuki and Dupree, and cannot figure out why they wear the belts in the first place.
I’m not at all sure about the other three matches on the card. Kurt Angle will face Big Show after shaving his head a week ago. Angle’s great, but I don’t know just how good a match this could be. Show has never been a favorite of mine, so I know that enters into it. I’ll pick Angle to win. Then we have Eddie Guerrero against Luther Reigns. Someone tell me why? This is what Guerrero’s lot is now? Actually, this could be a good match, but I really think Eddie should be in something a little bit more important, and he better win! Finally, Billy Kidman faces off against Paul London. That is of course, if he comes down to the ring at all. Kidman has been walking off lately, and has been told that if he doesn’t wrestle he’ll be fired. That, and there would only be five matches if that were the case – won’t happen. London is an exciting young superstar with a lot of talent, and I’d like him to get the win here.
Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ray Traylor, who passed away at the age of 42. What more to say?
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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