Well, after a break from writing columns (I was on a roll there for a while), I’m back with a quiet and simple return to the wrestling community. A lot has happened while I was away, hasn’t it? We have new top champions for each show, we have quite a few releases as WWE gives an even better meaning to Spring Cleaning, and WWE Raw will move back to the USA Network in October while SpikeTV is apparently looking into NWA: TNA. Possible new Monday Night War? Plus, Daivari proved to be more than the next Jimmy Hart on Raw, while two legends will be brought together, possibly for the first time, at WWE Backlash. All that, and another Raw Diva Search. Dear loyal X-Factor reader, you MUST contain your excitement over another diva search. I know the prospect of a good 20 minutes a week devoted to a search for more eye candy on Raw is awfully exciting, but you must hold it back or you may break your computer.
~Wrestlemania 21 Recall- Oh yes, Wrestlemania 21 not only lived up to the hype, it may have exceeded ALL expectations that I had for it. Even if you take away the short Womens Title match and Big Show in a sumo costume. The less said about the latter, the better, so I wanted to touch lightly on the Womens match. Christy was rumored to be apologizing to Vince McMahon about the match (these are, after all, just rumors). I don’t think she should feel bad about this, I think putting Christy in her first major singles match against the Womens Champion FOR the Womens Championship was big enough, but it was on the biggest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. Christy is up-and-coming, and whether she can hold her own in the ring is still not determined, but I think putting them in a match at Wrestlemania was way too much, and way too soon.
Calling Wrestlemania 21 legendary may have two meanings. The other meaning would have to be the legends that it brought out. The three most prominent legends would be Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Steve Austin. The Piper’s Pit segment was everything I thought it would be. I didn’t expect much more and much less from it, and I knew someone would have to interrupt. Piper was spot-on, and I wish WWE could have made more of him when they had him in 2003, or his run wouldn’t have seemed so mediocre. It wasn’t Austin’s segment, it was all Piper, and he did a great job. Austin’s time came when he got to open a big can of whoop-ass on Carlito, and set up a Stone Cold Stunner on both Carlito and Roddy Piper, but who didn’t expect that? Before that, Hulk Hogan taught Hassan and Daivari what it is to be a “Real American”, and it left me speechless. That short time in front of the crowd really was something else, and I miss Hogan. He appears to be coming back at Backlash for another match, and that is great news. No Mr. America, no “Hollywood Hogan”, hopefully just the true Immortal one in one more match. It may be just me, but something about hearing “Hulkamania will live forever” brings a tear to my eye.
The two major semi-main events for each show (Orton vs. Taker, Angle vs. HBK) were also fairly solid, and I thought that all four competitors did fine job. Okay, HBK and Angle’s match was by far a classic Wrestlemania match, and comparing Taker and Orton to them would be tough. The back and forth wrestling between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle was phenomenal, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire match, especially the drawn-out ending.
Finally, the two main events. One certainly outweighed the other by far, even if I am a little biased towards Raw and Batista. I felt like I had just watched a match from Smackdown from Cena and JBL, and I don’t mean a Smackdown Wrestlemania match. I mean just a plain-ol’ televised match. Seriously, if JBL wasn’t champion, that’s all it would have amounted to. Who do I blame? I can’t blame anyone, really. JBL and Cena did the best they could do. Vince and Co. did the best they could do with the minimal time they had. It’s just a little sad that the WWE Title match had to be trimmed, presumably for the Womens match and the Sumo match. As for Batista and Triple H… wow. Match of the year quality? No, not quite. But, it was exciting as hell. Batista powering up at the end, and taking the win was HUGE with me and with the crowd. He was definitely over the most for the roster guys (Hogan was obviously the biggest and most popular guy overall at WM21). He proved to me he can put on a damn fine match, that is neither a squash match nor a 5 minute match. Welcome to the future indeed.
~Batista: The Man Indeed- Before I get into a few other topics that have been brought up over the past few weeks, I’d like to talk about Batista, THE Man. For me, Batista is the best thing going. He is so damn good, and I think holding back on any major in-ring promos or segments is great, because they don’t overdo it (like with Eugene and Orton), and it leaves you wanting more, but not so much that you won’t watch unless he talks a lot more. His interview with JR this past week was near-flawless (except for messing up “reflection”, but let’s face it, Triple H makes mistakes too, and most would agree he’s at the top of his “game” when it comes to talking on the microphone). It just packed a punch that really makes him seem like a man of few words, but the words he has have impact. It’s too soon to tell if Batista has lasting power (if he loses to Triple H at Backlash, that will definitely kill him big time, like Orton last year), but this is the best we have had yet. John Cena has his own thing on Smackdown, and I admit he’s probably over more with the younger crowd that WWE is catering to, but Batista is an all-around good guy, who can be well-liked by anyone. The Man Indeed.
~WWE Raw Diva Search 2?- If you thought seeing The Rock emcee a pie-eating contest was bad, if you thought seeing Carmella being bashed unanimously for weeks on end was boring, and if you thought fifteen minutes of week on Raw taken away for a diva search contest was one lousy decision on everyone’s part, then this may be the saddest, most depressing day of your life. I try my best to make my opinion sound like I’m not trying to give WWE a few pointers here and there, or that I’m generally disgusted with today’s product, because I’m not going either things.
But the Diva Search is where I draw the line.
I can sit here for hours on end, telling you what I would rather see in the Raw Diva Search’s place: Viscera vs. Rosey Iron Man Match; Triple H yelling the names “Orton”, “Batista” and “Eugene” all in a row for 20 minutes straight; The Big Show vs. Akebono for the WWE Title; Jerry “The King” Lawler spazzing out completely at the thought of puppies, puppies, PUPPIES!; Vince McMahon strut around the arena to the music of “Stayin’ Alive” (okay, that one I think might be downright hilarious); Gene Snitsky vs. Kane: The Last Match (We Swear It’s The Last Match!); and maybe, just maybe, a Heidenreich Poetry Marathon. I can go on for hours, trust me. I never EVER opposed to the idea of an hour a week devoted to both The Raw Diva Search and The Smackdown Tough Enough Challenge, but as two separate TV shows. I think I would prefer that. But don’t eat up more time on Raw and Smackdown, because a lot of times, two hours is not nearly enough (doesn’t it fly by sometimes?).
If we MUST go on with a second Raw Diva Search, and it MUST be actually on Raw, I think the best bet would be to do away with the Mickey Mouse challenges that these girls embarrass themselves with. I think fans would take it more seriously if they did REAL work as divas. Maybe a match or two here and there, to prove they actually can be divas. With the actual women wrestlers down to two (if you exclude the Smackdown eye candy, as well as any Raw eye candy, Stacy Keibler, Christy Hemme, and the currently injured Lita), Raw doesn’t need more of the women who have those high when they’re ditzy, deep when they’re devious divas. They need actual female wrestlers, so why can’t we have like a female Tough Enough? It’s only a thought, WWE. I just know I’m not alone when I say that I don’t want to see ten women try to make an ice cream and look sexy at the same time.
~WWE’s Spring Cleaning II: This Time, It’s Actually Spring- Ah yes, it’s that wonderful time of year, where it’s getting warmer outside, where nature is really coming alive, where people plan out their summer vacations, and when WWE decides to cut off the weakest links of their company. Or, in this case, some of the weak links, and some of the potential stars. Why did they let Matt Hardy go? That was a horrible decision, and if it had ANYTHING to do with the Edge/Lita/Matt fiasco, then I’m deeply disappointed that they let Matt go because he was the least profitable of the three. No wonder, he’s been out with an injury for the last few months. On Smackdown, I think he did a great job as Matt Hardy Version 1.0, and I saw some potential in Matt Hardy on Raw as a babyface. An IC Title run was surely not out of the question at all. So why did they let him go? Why? NWA will no doubt profit from this, when they get to reunite The Hardy Boys.
Another rumor going around is that Molly Holly requested leaving WWE, when she found out of the next Raw Diva Search and that she had to lose to Christy Hemme. I say rumor because I wouldn’t want someone from WWE being uptight about me talking as though it was a fact, when it may not be at all. I talk about what I have to work with, is that so hard to comprehend? No? Good. This leaves us with Trish Stratus, Victoria and Lita as the true WWE Divas. The “Eye Candy”? Well, we got Christy, Stacy (although she is quite beautiful, and I will never deny that, so she’s fine with me), Torrie, Dawn, Joy, Melina, Miss Jackie, just to name a few. This isn’t Cheerleaders of Wrestling, you know. They might as well do away with women wrestling altogether, because none of these eye candy divas are going to cut it when it comes to wrestling for the Women’s Title. And, I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen about enough of Trish Stratus vs. Victoria to last me a life time.
And how about Rhyno? Again, it’s the rumor, but apparently Rhyno threw a hissy fit (sorry, but honestly, arguing in public and breaking things?) in public, broke something, and got really angry. Apparently, people were scared that Rhyno would get so mad, he was going to gore someone. Get it? Wait… that’s not funny. Not even clever. Damn, oh well. Rhyno has never really had the best to work with when it came to the WWE. I think NWA actually is a better place for him, and I say that with the utmost respect for Rhyno, the NWA and the WWE. All three parties will benefit, in my eyes. For WWE, it’s a chance to focus more on the talent that is on the rise. For Rhyno and NWA, it’s new blood and a new start.
~Fan Factor II: I want your input again!- A few months ago, I asked you, the reader, to send in your answers to ten questions concerning wrestling. The response was great, and I had a lot of fun doing it, and I am ready for another shot at it. That’s right, I’m ready for a second fan participation column (which I have now called “Fan Factor”). All I need from you is your opinion! Is that so hard? Of course not. I throw out my opinion to the public every week or so, and now it’s your turn to give something back to me, no matter how little I give in my thoughts and opinions. Last time, I asked various questions. Some of which pertained to WWE, some pertained to NWA, and the response was mixed, meaning there was plenty of differing opinions to make it interesting. I’m looking to do it again, and I’ll be ready to dole out ten brand new questions for you, the readers, to respond to and e-mail your responses to me. So, be ready next time, because I will be looking for lots of feedback.
A few odds and ends I had to get out of the way, and I’m glad it’s done. There is talk of a draft lottery soon, and the rumored date was tomorrow night, but seeing as how there was zero advertisement for it, I doubt it’s going to be tomorrow. But… then again… I think it’s a Raw/Smackdown double show, so it’d be simple enough to have all the guys on Raw or Smackdown for the lottery. Who knows? Maybe it’s already advertised for tomorrow night, and I just didn’t realize it. As always, feedback on this column is welcome, and you’re urged to leave all feedback at carl_macqueen@ns.sympatico.ca and be sure to check back this week for another new column, most likely focusing on a draft lottery. If the draft is indeed tomorrow night, I’ll have lots to talk about, and if it’s not, I’ll give my thoughts on who should and shouldn’t switch to the other show. Until then, this is Mr. X signing off again. Buh-bye!
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