Welcome to the News & Views and the fourth week where I’ve started to make it a weekly column again. This week will be business as usual. Raw thoughts will start it off, The News will follow (there'll be more commentary there than usual because of the recent releases by WWE), the Three Count will be next and I'll bring it home as usual with your questions and comments, of which there are plenty since it followed WrestleMania 21. With all that said, time to get started.
Raw Recap for 04/11/05
This is the second Raw after WM21 with no sign of a draft lottery in sight. What a letdown. They need to shake up the rosters fast.
Christy & Victoria vs. Molly & Trish
Wow, they remembered that Victoria and Molly are employed. That's nice. This match featured the whole women's "division" by the way. What a deep division. (Oops, Molly's released now, so that's three whole people. Wow.) Anyway, Trish was her usual awesome self, Victoria and Molly were merely in the background and Christy gets the rollup win on Molly for the pin. They did this almost exact same finish in some mixed tag a few weeks back. I'm probably at fault for remembering such a thing. Anyway, post match Kane comes out after Trish because I guess he remembered this week that he's married to Lita. Good for him. Wait, so in storylines Lita hasn't cheated on Kane? Come on, let's be realistic here, WWE!
They showed Orton's shoulder surgery. Sucks that he's out for at least four months, but I liked how they did it. He came across as a bitter guy that is going to get revenge on Batista when he gets back. I like that. Also, hopefully I don't get a bunch of emails in the next four months asking where Orton is.
Then we go backstage where some girls are dressing as Kane & Trish walked in. I have to stop here for some questions, though. I wonder about that scene. How come Stacy was in a towel? What was she in a towel for? Do you need to take a shower at the arena when you do absolutely nothing? Why was Candice getting dressed? I'm not complaining, she obviously spent good money on her body, but what is she dressing for? Was she not dressed before? Then you've got Maria in the back fixing herself up for what? I'd love to have those questions answered. At this point my assumption is they had a lesbian orgy. If that was the case, when can I buy the DVD?
Triple H came out to the ring for his usual promo saying it's Batista vs. HHH at Backlash. What, so he makes the matches now? I mean, I know that in a way he does backstage, but on screen it's supposed to be Bischoff announcing these things. He goes on about finding Batista's weakness, saying it's his eyes and that the Pedigree is what Batista fears. Anyway, Hurricane interrupts asking for a fight. That leads to match involving Rosey too.
HHH vs. Hurricane & Rosey
If you asked yourself if two jobbers equaled one ten time champion the answer is no. If you asked yourself the last time Hurricane & Rosey won a match that mattered (ie. not on Heat or a house show) then you'd be hard pressed to find the answer. And no, I don't need people emailing me when the last time was. I don't care. Trips won fairly easily, although I liked the creative nature of hanging the fatass Rosey upside down in the ropes while then Pedigreeing (is that a verb? It is now) Hurricane for the win. The post match Pedigree on Rosey on the floor was fun too. He vows to Pedigree Batista tonight. This was fine. It's not like Hurricane & Rosey had any credibility anyway. I might have to pop in a WCW PPV tape from like 2000 when Helms was actually used right just to remind myself of how good he was and can be.
Chris Masters over some jobber. Don't even know his name, don't care. They showed a video of Masters matches as if they were impressive or something. He does his usual Polish Hammer and Masterlock (aka Full Nelson) finish as the crowd chants "BORING! BORING!" during the end of it. Good for you, crowd. Funny how the announcers mention chants a lot except when it's detrimental to the product. Anyway, post match he says he'll put up $1,000 for anybody that can break the Masterlock next week. My guess is it's a returning Mark Henry because this character is already bad and Henry's the guy to make it really bad! Oh and yeah, $1,000 looks totally lame, but so is this gimmick and this character. Maybe if half the roster didn't have the same muscles that he has he'd stand out more.
Diva Search? Ugh, again. I don't mind seeing women in wrestling. I just don't understand the need for this again. What are you telling women? You're saying you too can whore yourself up, stand in one place, dance poorly to some overplayed song that nobody likes and one day be on Raw in backstage sketches that make absolutely no sense. World Wrestling Entertainment: It's Fantastic! (Sorry NBA, I had to steal the fantastic catchphrase.) Seriously though, what woman with any sense of self respect would want to take part in this thing? I guess it's the money. That's really all I can see. If the women they hired from this thing were used as heel valets (or even babyface ones) and/or wrestlers then I say go for it. If they're there to do nothing then I wonder what the point is. Again, nothing against beautiful women, but make them actually work.
Shawn Michaels vs. Daivari
This was supposed to be Michaels vs. Hassan, but Hassan changed that saying it would be Daivari and that Michaels had to beat him in order to get Hassan. Match was pretty fast paced as Daivari showed that he's more than capable in the ring. Nice top rope legdrop from him. I'd heard good things about him in the indies and he came through here. He goes for a ring bell, Hassan interferes, ref takes out the bell, low blow from Hassan and Daivari pins. His first match on Raw and he beats Michaels in three minutes. Smartly booked, I'd say.
Following the break, Bischoff tells him he has to pick a partner to face Hassan & Daivari at Backlash. Michaels is upset, but agrees with the ruling. I thought he was picking Jannetty. I was wrong.
Jericho talks with Shelton
I guess there's no rule on number of Highlight Reel appearances since Benjamin was on it like three weeks before. Jericho is upset about his losing streak, so he calls out Benjamin to rip on him as the IC champion. Jericho's been champion more than anybody, but Benjamin is the one that beat him at Taboo Tuesday. They traded insults and I felt like Shelton scored the best one when he said he can use his "fist to create more hits than the last Fozzy record." It's funny because it's true. They started to brawl and it was good stuff as they went to the floor before the refs came out to break it up. I thought it came off great. This should lead to a match at Backlash, which should be solid. Only thing is Jericho should be a heel for it. Oh well. Intense face vs. face matches between two good workers are fine by me.
Kane's backstage again when he meets up with his "wife" Lita backstage with her crutch. She says their mindgames with Trish are just getting started. Then they kiss because I guess getting raped by the guy and forced into a marriage is okay with her. Why are they babyfaces again? Kane is so much better as a heel that it's not even funny. There's a joke about Lita kissing a guy, but you can do that on your own.
Shawn Michaels came out on the stage to ask for Hulk Hogan to be his partner at Backlash, answering the fans wishes of "one more match" during the Hall of Fame ceremony. That's cool with me because he probably can't do much in the way of singles matches. Should be a nice moment, at least. I don't mind seeing Hogan one more match if it's in a tag scenario.
Chris Benoit vs. Christian
Edge was on commentary for this one and I have to say he was great. He was doing a wonderful job on there. I almost thought they'd remember that E&C are "brothers" on WWE TV, but they never went that far. Continuity? Who needs it? Anyway, the match was pretty damn good, I have to say. Much like last week's match with Edge, it was Christian working on Benoit's left arm the whole time. The match was pretty long too, almost reaching the twenty minute mark with neither man able to get the win. Then the shenanigans began as Benoit got control, Tomko got on the apron, then Edge got on the other apron and Christian was able to pin Benoit after the Unprettier. That's about as clean a win as they can give Christian even if it is tainted. He doesn't get much more than that. Match was ***1/4 or so, I'd say. The usual from a long match from wrestlers of this caliber. And hey, what about that big "PEEPS" sign in the crowd. Best sign in a long time.
Main event interview was Jim Ross interviewing Batista. This was just an okay performance from Batista, but nothing special. You can tell that he's a lot more comfortable speaking backstage than in the ring. Some parts of it were good, but other parts were just really forced. Trips came out, got into a fight with the big guy, and took a backdrop to the floor when he went for the Pedigree. Then he went up on the ramp and said next week it will be HHH vs. him. Most thought it was Batista, but no, it'll be Jim Ross. Ugh. Weak ending, I thought.
Final Thoughts
I can't walk away from this show without thinking about the booking logic of it. First, HHH gets to say when he gets his title match against Batista and then later on he gets to pick who he fights on Raw next week. What does Eric Bischoff do, then? He's supposed to be the guy in charge on camera. Instead, this week he came on to tell Shawn Michaels he can't have a handicapped match, yet HHH's demands are met? I thought Bischoff wasn't a heel GM anymore. Booking stupidity aside, I liked the majority of this show. The handicap match was done well all things considered, the Michaels/Daivari thing was fun, Jericho/Benjamin was outstanding, Benoit/Christian gave us the usual Raw match over three stars and the interaction between Batista and HHH was good as usual although the announcement of a Jim Ross match leaves things on a sour note. Call this one slightly above average.
Match Results
Christy & Victoria over Trish & Molly - 3/4* (I'm tired of Christy.)
HHH over Hurricane & Rosey - *1/4 (Okay for what it was.)
Masters over Jobber - DUD (Whatever.)
Daivari over Michaels - * (Fine for a shot match.)
Christian over Benoit - ***1/4 (The usual from these guys.)
5.5
The News
- The biggest news coming out from the past few days deal with WWE releasing talent. I'm going to hit on the names and just throw in some comments about them.
Matt Hardy: This was a shocker. As I'm sure you all know by now, his real life girlfriend Lita cheated on him with his married friend Edge. Matt let it be known to the public through his website and apparently that's one of the main reasons why WWE fired him, according to the Torch. The other reason was they felt he wasn't marketable. That's funny because they think he's not marketable, yet a Snitsky or Heidenreich is? What a joke.
At first I thought maybe he asked to be released because he's so pissed off with Edge & Lita, but then it came out that WWE called him to let him know that he was fired. Wow. Remember also that a couple weeks back he was in a car accident where he nearly got killed by a drunk driver. The thing that really sucks is that his girlfriend cheats on him with a married wrestler and Matt's the one that takes the punishment for it because he told the public about it? Lame. Weak. Pathetic. What's that telling other wrestlers on the roster? You can do whatever you want if you are high up on the card, but if you're not then you better kiss ass or get ready to be fired? It's damn sad. I feel for Matt. Knowing how he is, you have to think he'll persevere through this.
This whole thing, the marketability thing, is the biggest problem I have with WWE. They give these major angles and matches to Heidenreich and Snitsky (guys with very little talent) while the guys with talent that just needs to be groomed like a Matt Hardy sits on the sideline doing nothing because he's "too short" or whatever other stupid reason management can come up with. Matt Hardy loves the business. He loved WWE. His whole life was wrestling. They need more guys like that. Guys who are willing to put in the work, to put their bodies on the line and make sacrifices for the product. I understand Hardy hasn't been used properly, but it's not his fault. It's WWE's fault. They continue to misuse talent.
I guess this answers the question as to what WWE will do when Matt gets back. They'll fire him. That's what. What a classless move. A low blow if there ever was one.
Rhyno: You probably read about this one. He got in an argument with his ex-wife (or soon to be ex-wife), broke a vase at the WrestleMania party and was sent home. He was then released. This isn't that surprising since he had such a limited role on WWE TV. A guy like him, who was a veteran with little upside was expendable.
Molly Holly: This one came out today with WWE saying they "mutually agreed" to part ways. In other words, Molly was probably sick of all these girls being hired who have no idea what they're doing in the ring while a trained wrestler like her has to sit back and do nothing for months on end. I hope she stood up to management, told them to kiss her ass and walked out. I'd have so much respect for her. She's probably too nice to do something like that, but damn would that be cool. Late word tonight has said that she went to WWE asking for the release, so it wasn't something WWE initiated as far as we know.
Aaron "Jesus" Aguilera: He came in with Carlito, feuded briefly with John Cena (at that Armageddon PPV that nobody watched), hurt his neck and has been gone since. Now he's been released. Tough break for him.
Another wrestler got released, Chilly Willy, but since he wasn't on WWE TV what's there to say? He did serve overseas and did appear briefly in ECW in the past. Never made it to WWE TV, though.
I would suggest that you keep checking out the main page this week for more releases because they are coming. WWE does this every year after WrestleMania. It's like their own way of spring cleaning, I guess.
- No news on the draft lottery. It's still probably coming in the near future, but it could be a month from now, two months from now or even six months. Who knows? All we know right now is that there's no specific date. Some think that it will happen once Vince McMahon is fully able to walk out to the ring on his own to announce the draft lottery. That could be a couple months off. If that's what they are waiting for, why not just do some "satellite feed" interview with Vince that would accomplish the same thing.
- WWE signed Super Crazy to a three year deal. For those that don't know, he's a former star in ECW that is a phenomenal cruiserweight worker that will be able to put on some high quality matches with the current WWE crop of cruisers. Of course, that is if they actually use the cruisers. They've also recently signed Psychosis and Frankie Kazarian, so they are making strides in the cruiser division. I hope.
- The WrestleMania 21 DVD will feature all matches from the show as well as the movie parodies, the RAW vs. Smackdown Battle Royal that didn’t air, live appearances and the Hall Of Fame ceremony. It will be a three DVD set like last year. I'd call it a must have since the show was great and the Hall of Fame ceremony is usually good fun. I hear it was a very boisterous crowd that chanted a lot of things, so I wonder if they edit that some.
That's really all I got for you in the news department. Sorry if it seemed short, but with WWE overseas in Australia last week it means a slow news week.
The Three Count
One longer take and two shorter ones this week.
1. First thing I wanted to touch on was Raw's Backlash PPV. Let's take a look at the card from what we know to be happening and what will likely be happening.
Batista vs. HHH - I hope they add some sort of gimmick to it. Make it a street fight or something. I think they need to do something to separate it from their last match aside from there being a new champion. I think Batista retains here.
Michaels/Hogan vs. Hassan/Daivari - You know this is happening. I don't think of Michaels/Hogan as some dream team because they're different wrestlers that come from different eras, really. For one match, though, it'll be cool to see Hogan back doing his thing. The opponents are perfect too. They can take a loss and not lose much.
Edge vs. Benoit - This should be fun since they haven't had a PPV match yet in singles. I think they could add Christian to the mix, but I'd like it if it was just singles. Since Benoit won on TV last week, Edge would probably win here to have him continue his roll.
Benjamin vs. Jericho - Based on last night's Raw it would seem like they're doing this too. Fine by me. Two great workers in a now heated feud. I like it.
Trish vs. Christy - Just a guess, but since these two and Victoria are the only active women on the roster right now I think this will happen at Backlash too. Wouldn't be surprised to see the belt on Christy.
I could take a guess on other matches, but they would be random at this point. With another two weeks of Raw to go before Backlash there will be plenty of time to build up to it. Looks like a pretty good card to me.
2. I think when the year is over and done with we're going to look back on this Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio feud as a thing of brilliance. It has been handled well so far with a slow heel turn by Guerrero. The match at WrestleMania seemed like an appetizer for what is to come in the future. I can see these two wrestling on PPV another two or three times in the future with Mysterio ultimately coming out the victor as a guy who moved a notch up the card. I know there are those who think Guerrero as a heel won't really work because the fans love him too much. Personally, I think it can work because Guerrero knows how to push the right buttons. He can come across as a conniving heel as well as anybody. It just takes the right build and so far it's been good in that regard. By the time the year is done I think this will be one of the year's three best feuds. Or at least the three of us that watch Smackdown will remember it.
3. I know I don't write about TNA much (basically because it's not available in Canada, not because I'm trying to slight them), but if you've looked around the net you'll have probably seen some news that it is on its last legs right now. They're just hanging on at this point and most wrestling insiders are looking at the next three months as the final curtain on that company. I used to really like TNA. I followed it closely for the first eight months back when it started three years ago. I liked it. It was a nice alternative to WWE. It was never perfect, but it was sometimes very good and it made you say wow every one in a while (usually in an AJ Styles match). I miss that TNA. I don't know as much about today's TNA because, as I said, I didn't have a chance to see it. Now that TNA is probably gone, maybe it's time I bite the bullet (and the wallet) to go after some of this Ring of Honor stuff that so many of my friends are loving. I like WWE, but I'm always wanting more. As wrestling fans, I think we all are. Never settle. That's just the way it is.
Reader Questions & Comments
There was a lot of mail this week coming off Mania, but I responded to all of them except for eight or nine in the last couple days. I'll get to those when I can. I'm responding as fast as I can. Just be patient and I'll get to it. Your email questions and comments. Reader comments will be in yellow, while mine will be in white.
Before I get started, wanted to touch on the Ric Flair shinpad question from last week. I didn't know why his pads were on his shins rather than his knees. The answer, which I think is right, is that Flair has said in interviews that he has small calf muscles, so he wears those pads to cover those up. That's it. Wrestlers are always worried about their image. Onto the mail…
I'm writing you this email to ask you a question that you could use in a future column (seeing as how I pretty much agree with everything you said about 'Mania, so feedback would be like beating a dead horse): Where do you think Angle/Michaels ranks among the all-time greatest matches we've seen from the two participants? In other words, was it Angle's greatest match ever? Shawn's greatest match ever?
If you need to watch it a few more times (which I'm sure you will, I know I will), go ahead, but I was just curious as to where you would rank it among Angle and Michaels' all time greatest matches. Maybe even all-time WWE matches (it has to be up there somewhere)? Anyway, hope my queries are worthy of you exercising your fingers with an answer, and now that it's over, we can pray for Angle/Michaels II - Ironman Match!
-Edgehead
I think Angle/Michaels is right near the top for both guys in terms of their best matches. I think for Angle I'd probably put it behind the match he had with Benoit at the 2003 Royal Rumble just because I liked that more since it was a straight up wrestling match. Then again, if I thought about it more I could think of another ten matches off the top of my head that I'd say are close to or at that level too. It's hard.
For Michaels, it's a lot harder. He's had a longer career. My favorite HBK match is HIAC #1 with Taker and I don't think that's going to be topped in part because I think heel Michaels is better than face Michaels. With that said, this match is probably in his top ten somewhere sitting behind the two ladder matches with Ramon and on par with a lot of the other really good stuff he's done with Mankind, HHH and in last year's Mania main event.
It's hard with these guys. There's just so much to pick from, you know? I feel like I'm leaving stuff out because there's so much. They've been so damn good. I hope that helped. Sorry I couldn't be more conclusive. Maybe one day I'll come out with lists for these two. I did a top twenty list for Michaels, but it was done five years ago and doesn't include matches since he came back three years ago. The link is here if you want to read it. As for Angle, I haven't done an official list although it's one of those things on my "to do" list one of these days.
Regarding a possible Angle-Michaels Ironman match. I'd love it. It would be unreal.
John,
I read your recap of Wrestlemania 21 and I was just wondering, which do you think was better Wrestlemania 21 or 20. Also you said Wrestlemania 21 was one of the top five Wrestlemanias ever. What are your top 5?
Thanks
-Alex
I think WM21 was better than WM20 as a whole even though I loved the ending of WM20 more than this year's. Have to remain unbiased, though!
Top five. Off the top of my head I'd go with...
1. WMX7 - I think it's the best WWE show ever because it had something for everyone and probably the best main event of any WM.
2. WM21 - The most recent one holds up. Angle-Michaels is classic one to remember forever.
3. WM19 - Plenty of good to great matches here with a memorable main event and also the Michaels return against Jericho.
4. WM20 - A couple of great matches with the main event, Eddie/Kurt and Jericho/Christian makes this a top five one.
5. WM8 - Strong show. Loved Flair/Savage and Hart/Piper. The end with Ultimate Warrior surprisingly coming out to save Hogan was very memorable at the time.
Hope that answers the question. After the top five it's hard to order them, but I'm pretty sure those are the five I'd go with.
Hey John, I was wondering if you think that Undertaker will ever win a major title again before he retires? I mean, the undefeated streak at WM is great but I honestly think that the WWE dropped the ball by having him lose twice to JBL. Triple H is on the verge of being an 11 time champion and yet Taker's only had it like what, 4 or 5 times? I would love to see him champion at least one last time before he calls it a career.
- Jordan
I think Undertaker as champion could happen at anytime really. However, I don't think it will happen because they see him as a veteran performer who can give the rub to his peers just by being in the ring with him and that by putting the belt on him probably wouldn't bring in new viewers, which is what their goal is. I think we'll see him sniff the belt many more times (meaning he loses title matches), but I don't think he'll be world champion again. Could be wrong, obviously. If I had to say yes or no, though, I'd say no.
Hey John,
I've been reading your columns for quite some time now and I very much enjoy your insights and thoughts on everything that is wrestling. With that in mind I have a few comments and questions for you. Do you think that Batista will likely suffer the same fate as Orton after winning the belt? I mean, Orton was pushed huge on the audience and I honestly thought that after beating someone like Benoit, that Orton was considered more legitimate as a champion, yet he lost the belt after one month to Triple H. This makes me wonder more and more if anybody will ever be able to crawl into a strong top face role as long as Triple H is attached to the business.
Another question I have is this...in your honest opinion, who do you think could benefit most by switching rosters in the upcoming draft lottery? I know that you said you don't know who is going where, but if it was up to you, who would be going where (keeping in mind that you can only have 6 people switching from each roster)?
I also have one quick comment too. In my opinion, I think that Smackdown has the talent to go farther than they have been going lately, but they lack the one major thing they need to get to the next level...being a live show. I know that many people agree with me on this, that on the rare occasions that Smackdown has been seen live, I honestly feel more drawn into it, and you can see that the fans are too along with the wrestler as well. I think that Smackdown only needs to be given that chance to be great.
Thanks for listening and keep up the good work,
Ben
I think Batista can definitely suffer the same fate as Orton, but there is a difference. In Batista's case, he has been built up very well to the point where the fans were into him before he was the champion. In Orton's case, he was a heel when he won the belt and then they tried turning him face from there. This is different because it's not forced. My worry is how do you make Batista look vulnerable or sympathetic because that's the way you have to portray babyfaces. It's not like he's a smaller wrestler in an underdog role. He's the biggest guy on the show, so after a while it may be hard for fans to love a guy that is bigger than everybody else. It'll be interesting to see what they do with him should they put him against somebody other than HHH.
Like I said, I have no idea who is moving, but I'll throw some names out there for the hell of it. I'll just do three from each show.
From Raw to SD:
Rob Conway - Ditch the Quebec gimmick, let him be a straight heel wrestler and move him to Smackdown. I think he's got the goods in the ring and I've heard good things from him on the microphone going back to his OVW days.
Hurricane - The gimmick is a joke, but the wrestler is a talent. Move him to Smackdown, let him wrestle under the name "Sugar" Shane Helms and allow him to show how good he is. I don't care if little kids buy his mask. The gimmick has run its course.
Chris Jericho - You need a bigger name on Smackdown, so go with him. It seems like if he's on the same show as HHH he can never go up even if he's a face. I think he'd thrive on Smackdown no matter what role he is in.
From SD to Raw:
Big Show - He's so dead on Smackdown right now. Move him to Raw, make him slowly turn heel and have him be the guy that faces Batista once Batista is done with HHH. Remember Show vs. Lesnar? It was a fun big man feud. Show is perfect in that role.
Danny Basham - I think he's the weaker one of the Bashams, so move him to Raw and let Doug become a star on his own on Smackdown. I think Doug is the better performer.
Michelle McCool - She seems athletic and willing to learn how to wrestle. Put her on the show where they wrestle. Couldn't hurt.
I almost was gonna say Carlito because I love that guy, but I think if he was on Raw he'd be too similar to Christian (who I also love), so I don't want that to happen.
As for Smackdown being live, you're right. It's just that with the way WWE currently tapes stuff it would cost a lot of money to do it live weekly. Right now they're not even on the road on Thursdays. It's easy for them to tape Raw live on Monday, then drive the TV trucks to the next town close by for Smackdown. If you did SD live on Thursdays then you're leaving those trucks on the road for three days just do it live? It's not economically feasible. I agree that Smackdown being taped probably hurts the interest of some fans, but from a business standpoint it's the right thing for them to do.
Hey there. First off I wanted to say that I really enjoy your column. Okay secondly, I just wanted to get your take on the current status of Shawn Michaels. He is without a doubt my favorite wrestler of all time. He is the best on the mic, and in the ring and no matter what he always puts on a good match. But ever since he came back he is been lacking it like crazy. I HATE the way the WWE is using him. He has hardly won any pay per view matches he has been involved in. And the way they kept making him loose to HHH was humiliating to me as a hardcore HBK fan.
Dont get me wrong, I think HHH is good but for him to only have beaten Triple H once on pay per view since coming back is pathetic. He seems like he "lost his smile" again. I dont know if he is trying to put some of the newer talent over or what but its awful now because you always know HBK is gonna loose his match.
Was it only me or was everyone else hoping that on RAW after Wrestlemania 21 when HBK came out, he was gonna cut a heel promo and totally turn on the fans like he did after he special refereed for the Taker/Bret Hart match? It would have been great to see him come and tell the fans off for booing him the night before. He is so much better as a heel. I want the obnoxious DX type HBK to come back. It would create a little more competition for Batista. I want to see him in more title match situations. Even putting the title on him for a few months, I mean we all know he is championship material.
I just wanted to see what your perspective on it was. It would be great to hear back from you, even if you dont post it on the website, just an email back. But it's so frustrating to watch him wrestle and be a jobber now. Thanks a lot for your time. Keep up the good work.
- Jordan
Two Jordans this week. Different emails and last names, so not the same person.
Good email. I think as I've said before in a column recently (I write so much I don't even remember when!) that it would be tough for Michaels to go heel because he's so loved and respected by fans at this point in his career. He has also said himself that it would be tough for him to go heel considering his religious beliefs. I also think he's great as a traditional babyface. Can anybody sell moves better than him? I don't think so.
I don't think Shawn has "lost his smile" again. I think he's happy and content with WWE. He loves the business and he loves performing more than anything.
I understand what you say when you think he's like a jobber now because he rarely wins. Fact is, he's 39 years old now with maybe two or three years left in him. In wrestling, it's tradition (and also the right thing) to put the younger guys over when you are near the end of your career. It's just the right thing to do. Sure, I'd love to see another HBK title run and I think it still might happen, but I don't think it's a travesty if he loses more than he wins. Wrestling isn't about winning. It's about getting over, getting your opponent over and making your matches seem special. Nobody does that better than Shawn.
I like Michaels as much as anybody. I'm not too upset with how they use him now. I think they use him the right way for the most part and that he's loving what he's doing. You can see that on his face.
At the end of HHH's long segment (raw) he got in the face of a fan. The guy with the red cap on with a blue button shirt unbottoned. I have been to the last three WWE events here in Corpus Christi, each time he's had a front row seat. He always has crazy signs and every time he gets heat from the wrestlers. He even got a couple of kisses from the divas. On to the point, he was also at last week's smackdown front row. I did not order Wrestlemania so I don't know if he was there. I don't know if this has been addressed before, but does WWE have employees posing as fans?
Thanks for reading,
Placido Casiano JR
I think I know who you're talking about. They had a story on him on Confidential last year or so. He's just a guy from Texas who goes to a lot of WWE shows and he often makes the trips for the big events like this one. He's not an employee of WWE, but apparently he's friendly enough with the workers that they'll show him on TV. Yes, he was at WrestleMania. I saw him there too. To answer the question, he's not a paid fan by WWE. He's just a hardcore WWE fan that really gets around.
How You Can Be Here
So now you're wondering how you can be in this column, right? Well, there are two choices for you. First choice is you can send me a commentary you may have about something current in WWE, or maybe something from the past if it's relevant. My rule is it has to be 350 words or less. I plan on posting a couple, so I don't want you to go really long. The other choice is you email me a question with regards to anything WWE related. Ask me what I think about a wrestler, what I think about a match from the past (I can give you a star rating and thoughts on it, for example), a storyline going on or anything else. My only request is no fantasy booking. I know people like to do that. I just don't want to do that in this column.
Send all comments and/or questions to me at oratoryjohn@gmail.com and throw in a name for me to reference to as well. I won't post your email address, but a name would be nice. Maybe even a location is fine too. That's up to you.
One request, though. No more questions about the draft lottery for now. Until we know a specific date, save the questions about who is moving where. I offered some choices up in the reader mail already that I hope will suffice.
Closing Time
I'll see you next Tuesday night for the next edition of the News & Views. The week after that I won't be able to do a N&V because I'll be on vacation for a week. It's my yearly vacation, so I'm very much looking forward to it. I may post some sort of abbreviated N&V a day or two before I leave, but I'm not sure about that yet. I'll let you know next week. Another thing to look for is the next For Love or Money, which is probably going to be next week. For now, I'm out. Have a good week.
Smell ya later,
John C. - oratoryjohn@gmail.com
Links to check out:
The Oratory - The Best Wrestling Columns on the Net!
The John Report Archives - Missed something that I wrote? That's the place to go.
WrestleLine - Another great site I write for.
