Before I begin, I thought I'd apologize for taking over a month between News & Views columns. The month of October was really hectic for me personally, so I wasn't able to write a whole lot. I did do a For Love or Money column with Matt Seagull, but that's all I really had time for. I was able to respond to almost all of the emails that were sent to me since my last column following the Raw homecoming on October 3 and now I think I'll be able to hammer out this column on a weekly basis again. At least I hope so. This week's edition is loaded with content as I try to get back into the swing of things, so every section is going longer than normal. I figure I owe that to you.
Most of the time when I do the N&V column I write about Raw. Frankly, though, Raw has been boring me lately and I think Smackdown has been better than Raw since Summerslam. So before I get to the news section and my commentary, as well as your questions, I'm going to talk about the November 11th (Remembrance Day here in Canada) version of Smackdown.
Smackdown Recap for 11/11/05
I'm not going to be THAT detailed with this recap, but I will try to go over everything and give some thoughts on the major happenings.
I missed the first five minutes, but basically it was a pep talk by Long to the locker room about Survivor Series. I'm cool with that. Apparently he announces that Batista will be part of the Smackdown Survivor Series although now that he's hurt, who knows about that.
Orton vs. Mysterio was our first match of the night with the winner joining the Survivor Series team. Pretty good back and forth action although their match a couple months ago was a bit better. Plus this had the screwy ending. The end with Bob Orton pulling Rey's leg as he was about to springboard is a bit weak. It's alright, though. I'm fine with no clean finish in this match because they're probably going to meet down the line at some point. The ending with Hardy coming out to attack Orton worked well, I thought. Got a new feud there, I guess.
Backstage, Orton threatens revenge on Hardy. That's good of him.
Next was a filler segment as MNM came out to make fun of some chick from America's Top Model. That show is still going on? Then the Mexicools, who are babyfaces for some reason, come out for the save. Well, at least that will make a nice match in the future.
Video package of Lashley was next. Awesome. I love this guy already. You can tell they're going to want to book him as simply Lashley. I guess because fans are too stupid to remember two names.
Lashley creamed Orlando Jordan. I like it. Lashley impresses the hell out of me, so I'm interested in seeing how WWE books him now that he'll be wrestling with and against top guys in the Survivor Series match. I still haven't been that impressed with OJ. Lashley, on the other hand, has main event potential. That's an understatement.
Edge tries to get out of the street fight with Batista. Long says he can get out of it, but only if he can convince Batista. This was fine.
Next up was Guerrero vs. Mr. Kennedy…Kennedy. I love Kennedy too, just like Lashley. People that don't watch SD are really missing out by not seeing these two talents. The end was terrific. The writeups in spoilers don't do it justice. Both guys were just perfect. Robinson is down, Eddie gets a chair, sees Robinson getting up, slams the chair on the mat to make the crashing noise and then tosses it to Kennedy as Robinson sees Ken with it, then rings the bell. Eddie's laughing, then Kennedy just drills him hard in the head with the chair. Very well done. Again, if this is a tease for a future feud between these two guys then that's for the better. I don't mind two matches ending in DQ like that.
Backstage, Eddie's got a concussion it looks like, so he won't be able to help out Batista should there be trouble.
Next we got a midget match. This is just filler. I'd rather see an attempt made at a cruiser division than this stuff. But I've been complaining about that for years, so that's nothing new.
We got Edge telling Lita he's going to see Batista. Then just as Edge leaves, the Boogeyman appears behind the couch. Then I laugh. I'm supposed to be scared, but I only laugh at how bad this gimmick is. I can't wait until he's in a match and I can laugh some more.
Edge talks to Batista, but big Dave says the match is on because he is a man of the people, or something like that. Edge says it's a big mistake. He was right!
We meet the Dicks for the first time on Smackdown. Lots of dick jokes. Great. I'm sure to somebody as immature as Vince McMahon it's hilarious, but to us normal people it's something that may get old fast. Or it may get hard! Get it, I'm just so hilarious!
JBL/Benoit was about 15 minutes or so and was the last match to determine who was on the SD Survivor Series team. I thought it was good. Plodding like all JBL matches are, but the crowd was into it and Booker T's guest announcing with Sharmell was very good. I'm digging them as heels, suckas. The US Title has some meaning now, which is great. I also notice that I like JBL a LOT more when he is not around the world title. Once again, I liked the booking here. Nothing clean, but at least we got a winner with JBL moving.
So the Smackdown team is Batista, Eddie, Rey, JBL and Lashley. Now we know Batista is probably out, but we'll have to wait to find out about that for sure.
Main event saw Edge never actually wrestle Batista. Kind of ironic how Edge was hurt and they booked around that, then Batista ended up getting hurt. Masters attacked Long backstage, then the other four guys on the Survivor Series team chased after him in JBL's limo and then Kane and Show came out. They beat up on big Dave, the Smackdown jobbers came out to get them, but it didn't work. Yes, Smackdown hates Raw so much that they will send short guys after them. Feel the hate, Raw! Feel it! Where were the freaking midgets? Geez! Way to be a part of the team. Okay fine, they did send Holly, Animal and Heidenreich, but it would have been nice to see more people. I also love how they attack them ninja style, one guy at a time. Has that ever worked? Nope. Ah well. It's the thought that counts. Anyway, the show ended with Kane, Edge and Show standing over a fallen Batista.
For those that are wondering, they did not mention Batista's injury on the show. It wasn't that noticeable either.
Overall, this was an above average edition of Smackdown with smart booking, good matches and a strong finish that will make people actually remember it come next week. Things are clicking really well on Smackdown right now. I feel it's the better show of the two right now. Next week should be fun with Batista vs. Orton vs. Guerrero for the title. My guess is Orton wins the title and feuds with Undertaker over it. I wouldn't mind Eddie winning, though. I think he deserves another shot as champion. As for this show, once again, a big thumbs up from me.
7.5 out of 10.
The News
- The biggest news this week is about Batista. At the Smackdown tapings, he injured his back/shoulder (official injury is a torn right latissimus dorsi) after taking a double chokeslam from Kane and Big Show. He went to see Dr. James Andrews in Alabama and according to WWE.com will have a decision this weekend about whether he wants to have surgery that would keep him out for three months or try to continue to work while rehabbing the injury. I think he should opt for the surgery because they're going to need him at 100% at WrestleMania 22, so it's probably best to have the surgery, come back fresh in early 2006 and pick up where he left off.
As for where the title goes, WWE.com has already announced a Batista vs. Orton vs. Guerrero World Title match on Smackdown this week that will probably put the belt onto Orton or Guerrero. Both Raw and Smackdown are being taped on Sunday this week due to an overseas tour so we won't have to wait long to find out who the new champion might be, if there is one after all.
- Chris Jericho was up to his trickery again, putting a logo of TNA Genesis on his website during the week. It's down now, though. Jericho said in a radio interview a couple days ago that when he did it the first time a few months ago it was just his way of joking with the internet fans. On another Jericho note, I'll be seeing Jericho with Fozzy in concert on November 19th at a club that is about 10 minutes from my house. It's only $20, so I figure that's enough money to meet Jericho. I'm not a huge fan of the music, but that's nothing a few shots of whiskey can't cure.
- WWE will be releasing another ECW DVD to capitalize on how well the previous ECW DVD sold. This one will be called "ECW's Most Violent Matches." No word on when it will come out, but I think it should sell well because violence always seems to do good business.
- You're probably aware that Bret Hart will be a guest on the WWE.com audio/video show Byte This this coming Wednesday, Noevember 17th. I haven't watched/listened to the show in years, but I think I'll check it out in the archives because I'm such a Bret Hart mark. However, that's not even the best Hart interview this week since he will be on Wrestling Observer Live Sunday night between 8-10pmET. Not sure if he's on the whole show or not, but I will be listening. Go to the Wrestling Observer website for listening details on that. It's as easy as clicking on a link in the top part of the site. Very good show that I try to listen to weekly. If you miss the show then check out the recap to be posted at that site probably on Monday at some point.
- Don't know if you saw this or not, but check out the radio recap of Sid "Vicious" Eudy because it's hilarious. The best part is when he tries to call himself a bigger draw than Austin and Rock. That's about as factual as Rey Mysterio saying he's taller than Big Show. Sid has always been crazy, though, so this isn't unexpected. I always thought Hulk Hogan spewed more bullshit than any wrestler, but Sid has him beat. By a lot.
The Three Count
1. One of the biggest stories in the past month while I was not writing was Steve Austin's no-show of Raw on October 31 and Taboo Tuesday on November 1, both of which were events he was advertised for. There's two stories. The first is that Austin claims to have thrown his back out moving furniture and was unable to make the trip to the shows or perform in a ring. The other story is that Austin simply refused to put over Coachman because he found out it would not have led to Jim Ross getting his job back as the main announcer on Raw. At this point nobody really knows what is true and what is not.
I'll say this, though. I agree with Austin for walking out because he thought the booking was stupid. It WAS stupid and if the payoff that they were teasing was never going to happen then WWE is at fault for doing it in the first place. They did these angles to make JR seem like the biggest star on Raw for what? For nothing. That's the problem with the company these days. The booking team is too short sighted. You have to think big picture. You have to think what's next. Steve Austin, for all he's done for WWE over the years in becoming the biggest draw ever, should not be asked to job for a second rate, below average heel announcer. The guy's first "match" in over two and a half years and you want him to job to friggin' Coach? Wow. I hope the back story isn't true. I hope Austin didn't walk. Because just like with the proposed loss to Lesnar on Raw three years ago, he did the right thing. I'm not just saying that because I'm an Austin fan. I'm saying it because when the writing team thinks up something that stupid then every wrestler should have the right to say "that's stupid, I'm not doing it." Just because they write it, doesn't make it right. Get it?
2. The other news is Christian has quit WWE to pursue a career in acting, pursue the education he left when he decided to be a wrestler and most likely show up for TNA as soon as this Sunday at the Genesis PPV they are running. He lives in Florida, so is close to the Orlando theme park where TNA tapes all their events. I can't say I blame the guy. WWE never understood just how popular and over he was with the fans. In their mind, he was too small to ever be a top guy, so he bailed and I believe he will be better off in the long term for it. Plus, the demands and the grind of the WWE schedule are such that I'm sure at some point in a guy's life he wants to change things up. Eight years of that can be tiring. With TNA he'd only have to work a couple of times a month based on their current schedule. The money isn't great, but if he saved up his WWE money then it's more than manageable.
The other part of the story was that WWE wanted to pay him less than what he was making currently. What those figures exactly are we don't know, but I know if I'm doing the same job I've been doing for eight years that I'd like to at least stay at the same salary rather than take a pay cut.
Don't be shocked if you see more and more wrestlers jumping ship. Chris Benoit's name is rumored as a possible candidate since his contract is up soon. This is not the wrestler's fault. Blame WWE for investing too much money in the WWE Films project that never seems to take off and not enough money on the people that made them the money in the first place. You're a wrestling company, WWE. Pay your wrestlers! It's not hard to figure out. Who benefits from WWE neglecting its wrestlers? Other companies like TNA.
There's more on the Christian situation in the Q&A section that will follow.
3. Since I wrote about Smackdown this week, I thought I'd throw in some general thoughts on Raw of late:
- I would LOVE to see Kurt Angle with the WWE title sooner rather than later. Nobody deserves to be World Champion on either show right now than Angle. It's not that I dislike Cena or anything. I just think long babyface title runs get boring after a while and a change in this case would do good. Plus it's been over two years for Kurt. He's proven he can stay healthy. Give the man a shot.
- I like the call to bring in Joey Styles as the main play by play announcer on Raw. Big upgrade over Coachman. Still miss JR, but with his colon surgery this is simply something they had to do. Styles is a good announcer, probably the best replacement they could get for JR. Hopefully he is given the job full time and thrives in the role. I think he will.
- The Triple H/Ric Flair feud has been pretty good. What I hate, though, is that the IC title is basically thrown away in this feud. Put the belt on somebody who could use it rather than make it part of a feud that doesn't need it. The story of Flair winning the belt was nice, but there's no follow up to it.
- It's nice to see that Gregory Helms has dumped the Hurricane mask, but will this really lead to a push? I doubt it. There's too many young heels on Raw that need pushes. There's not enough room for all of them.
- Boy, that return of Mick Foley to action sure went to shit, didn't it? I'm surprised Mick agreed to it. If he's going to wrestle, build it for 3 or 4 months. Not some two week thing. It doesn’t work as well.
- Two weeks ago Shelton Benjamin took a pinfall on Heat in a tag match against Matt Striker and my boy Kerwin White. Last week he lost to Carlito for the 561st time. Who the fuck did Shelton piss off? There is no talent more misused in WWE than Shelton Benjamin. Well, maybe Paul London.
- I'm loving the Mickie James-Trish Stratus angle right now. Will be great to see when Mickie turns full heel on her. Is there a Trish angle that I don't love? No. I only have love for the woman.
- So I guess nobody is going to bring up the fact that Daivari just showed up on Raw even though he should be on Smackdown since he was moved there in the draft lottery? Ah well, whatever, I enjoy the guy. He's entertaining.
- I'm going to Survivor Series. Okay, that had nothing to do with Raw. I just wanted to brag. That's all.
Reader Questions & Comments
As always, reader comments in yellow and mine in regular font.
The first question up is about Ric Flair…
Hey John! Great column. I enjoy reading it each week. My question concerns the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Here's a guy in his 50s with mediocre wrestling ability at best, yet he is incredibly over with the crowd. What do you think has added to his longevity and popularity? Let me say that I'm a huge Flair fan and love that the WWE is giving him a push in the twilight of his career. I look forward to what could be Flair's final match, possibly at the Royal Rumble against Triple H? Your thoughts.....
Jonathan
East Brunswick, NJ
I think he has staying power simply because of his name, his ability to cut a promo that you can tell comes from the heart and also the passion with which he performs. You can see when you watch Ric Flair that he gives a damn. That he's not some former football player that failed in that and went to wrestling to make money. The guy lives the business. You can't "fake" that. I think fans see that, they are drawn to it and that has allowed him to be put in big feuds despite his being 56 years old or whatever he is these days. About a year and a half ago I wrote a column on Flair. Here's a link: Brilliance Never Fades. I think it's still relevant and if you are a Flair fan you will enjoy it.
Next up is a question about the largest man in wrestling today, the Big Show…
My question is about the Big Show. I want to know what you think about this guy and his current status in the WWE and RAW. During that 8-man tag match a couple weeks ago he was soooo over with the crowd that I was sitting there scratching my head in disbelief. He seems to be getting huge pops from the crowd and they really like him for whatever reason. We all know he's not the best worker in the world and his array of moves is extremely limited outside of the chops, headbutts and chokeslams, but will they give him a legit feud with someone? The people seem to like him, so shouldn't they scrap the Snitsky thing b/c the crap is over with and find someone for him to "wrestle?" I appreciate your comments.
Kevin Mueller
St. Louis, MO
I think the Big Show is the hardest guy in wrestling to book. He hasn't had that many feuds since the thing ended with Cena at WrestleMania 20, really. There's been little stuff here and there, but nothing very long or drawn out. Sometimes they book him as a comedy guy, but the problem with that is they book comedy guys to lose quite a bit, just look at Carlito and Christian. Then you can say oh, give him some big push. Well, the problem with that is you want main event guys to work 10-20 minute TV main event matches every other week or so. If Show is in a match that long it's going to suck. He's great for five minutes, but after that? Not so fun. It's very hard to book the guy. I think the best time for Big Show as a character was the six months or so when he was challenging the likes of Lesnar and Angle on Smackdown. Of course the quality of those two guys really helps, but I think Show held his own too. That Lesnar/Show stretcher match is one of my favorite big men matches ever. Then there's the one where they did the spot with the ring breaking. That was great. I guess to add on to your point, I too would like to see Show in a real feud again. I just don't know who the right opponent would be or at what level he would be best suited to be wrestling at. Like I said, he's probably the hardest wrestler to book.
This next question is about Survivor Series…
Gidday John,
Big fan of your column. I have been a fan of the WWE for too long to remember. I am wondering why the WWE have decided to stop the 4 on 4 Survivor Series matches occurring every year. Nowadays it's just one or two of these matches, billed as "classic" matches.
I'm sure the WWE sees them as not crowd pullers, but the SS to me is probably my favourite PPV. My favourite teams in the past were the Rude Brood, any team with the Million Dollar Man and the same with Macho Man. These feuds were excellent!
If we were to have a full SS card this year what do you reckon would be the teams? It would be great to have interpromotional teams as well, like JBL and Murdoch/Cade, and Cena/Batista/Michaels/Hogan vs Angle/Orton/HHH/Flair the possibilities are endless.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
I'm with you as far as being an old school fan that loves when there were a few 4 on 4 matches at Survivor Series in the past. I think WWE is making a big mistake by not having 3 or 4 of those matches at every Survivor Series. Sure you can have three singles matches or grudge matches, but if you want to make the event unique then you should have more elimination matches. The biggest reason is because aside from the Royal Rumble, every PPV is the same. This is the only other one that could be different because of those elimination matches. Since they seem to refuse to make it special in that area it probably will turn some fans off that remember the unique matches they had in the past.
They're gonna do Long vs. Bischoff at Survivor Series. Ugh. I hate non-wrestlers in matches. A lot.
Next up is an email about a question I posed last month with regards to a potential Hogan/Austin match at WrestleMania 22. This email was written to me on October 4, so if it appears out of date then that is why:
To be honest, I was shocked when I logged online after the show and read all of the negative comments posted about the Hogan/Austin match. People complained that it would put the emphasis at Wrestlemania 22 on the older guys instead of the younger ones. To be honest, these statements are in some ways true. However, many look at all the negatives of the match and do not look at the positives. First of all, there should be no concern about this match taking up the main event slot. Over the past few years at Wrestlemania, some big dream "main event-caliber" matches have been presented at the event, and the company has put the World, or WWE, title ahead of those dream matches. For example, at Wrestlemania 18, Rock VS Hogan was undoubtedly thought of as the major match of the show, but WWE put the WWE title match ahead of that ICON VS ICON match. The same situation goes with Lesnar VS Goldberg and Michaels VS Angle from the past two years.
To me the advantages of this match far out way the negatives. The huge promotion that will go along with this match will bring many new and old fans together to watch this historic show. Older fans who may have left the product will want to see this match to see who truly is the "Greatest of all-time." Newer fans who may have never watched or barely watched the product will still recognize these two names because they are in a sense household names, and these fans will see something familiar in the show that will compel them to order. The greatest reason this match should go down is because it is truly the ultimate dream match, and one of the few dream matches of the previous era left. I've heard some say that this match should have happened years ago, but does it really matter that it didn't? Now that these two men have careers that are obviously coming to end, both in and out of the ring (at least with Austin, I feel), this may be the only time that fans will be able to see a match of this caliber. Sometimes matches aren't about the actual in-ring action - they're about the moment. Many of the most memorable matches are not ones that are five-star material, but are rather monumental in their conception. If Austin VS Hogan does happen, I will do everything in my power to attend, or at least watch on television, this match. It is something I have always wanted to see and is a match I know I will never forget.
Alex Beene
I agree with this wholeheartedly. While I think the match would not be so great technically, it's the anticipation factor and the moment when they go face to face that people most want to see. They could thumb wrestle for 20 minutes for all I care. I'd mark out. So would a lot of you.
Next up is a two part question. First is about the Undertaker and that's followed up with the importance of who wins the Survivor Series match between Raw and SD:
My question is about Survivor Series...
Do you think the Buried Alive match between Undertaker and Randy Orton is another opportunity for the Undertaker to take a lengthy break, or possibly to change to his 'bad-ass' gimmick?
Also, I heard that there would be a Raw vs. Smackdown Survivor Series style match. As Raw is already considered the better show, do you think it is important that Smackdown leave Survivor Series with a win to boost the reputation of the show?
Aaron H.
Good questions. I think it's likely that the Undertaker will return with a new look, although I don't know if it's the biker gimmick again. I'd like it to be because I think the "Deadman" gimmick is something that is way past its prime at this point. It was nice in the '90s, but fans are more sophisticated today and I don't think it works as well now.
As for the Raw vs. SD match, I haven't really thought about who wins the match, to be honest. I don't think it matters match because they have yet to put up some sort of prize for the winner. The feud is nice to see, but it has holes. Like when wrestlers from Raw go to Smackdown why don't ALL the wrestlers come out to attack the Raw guys instead of just the cruiserweights that can take bumps. It's classic WWE. The potential for a good angle is right in their lap, but they fail in executing it. It's a shame. To answer the question, I think Smackdown does need a win more, but it'll probably go to Raw because WWE can never seem to admit that Smackdown is better. I think it's MORE important for there to be some sort of prize (like maybe the winning team members get the last five spots in the Royal Rumble) because otherwise it just comes off as some tag match. It needs to be bigger than that.
The next question is a two parter, first about Austin and then about wrestlers getting injured in matches.
Hey I have a quick few questions that have been on my mind. Do you think Stone Cold will ever come back full time like HBK did after a supposed "career ending" injury? I remember when HBK broke his back supposedly and thought he'd never wrestle again, then he took five years off and came back to wrestle part-time, and now he wrestles almost every RAW. Then you have Stone Cold with a supposed career ending neck injury who hasn't wrestled in a few years, but now has a two match a year contract I hear. Does he have the passion that HBK does to want to wrestle full time again, and how does his injury measure up to HBK's?
Also...do you remember any matches where the outcome was changed due to an injury? As in a wrestler gets injured during the match and can't kick out even though he was
scheduled to win. I think the women's title match a few years ago might have ended that way when Jazz got injured and Gail Kim won the title in her first match even though she wasn't supposed to. How are matches booked on the fly when something like that happens? Any others come to mind? Thanks...and awesome columns, never miss one.
Aaron
I don't see Austin coming back full time ever. He's in worse shape physically than HBK was in three years ago. Plus he's now 40 years old, has accomplished everything you can accomplish in the business and probably doesn't need the money, so there's no reason for it. I think HBK came back because he didn't leave on his own terms and wanted to keep going. So he has done so. Plus he probably needed some money after not working much for almost four years.
I know of at least two matches that were changed due to injuries:
One was at the WWF Final Four 1997 PPV in February, the month before WM13. The belt was vacant after Shawn Michaels gave it up (the "I lost my smile" speech) and there was a four way elimination match with Austin, Bret Hart, Vader and Undertaker in it. Austin was scheduled to win, but hurt his knee during the match. He ended up getting eliminated, then they put the belt on Bret. Bret lost it the next night to Sid (was going to be Austin losing to Sid) due to Austin interfering. Austin ended up not wrestling for a month until WM13, when he first donned the knee brace and had that classic match with Bret Hart that I feel is the best WWE match ever.
The other one I remember is from February 2000. When Eddie, Benoit, Malenko and Saturn joined WWF from WCW they were against DX in a couple matches. I don't remember exactly, but Eddie was tagging with Saturn against Gunn and Road Dogg, Eddie did a Frog Splash, landed wrong on his hand, broke a bone and then they told Dogg to cover him because he wasn't able to move.
I'm sure there are others that we may not think about off the top of our heads. It's something wrestlers have to deal with, though, whether they want to or not.
As for how matches are booked on the fly, it's simple. Look at the ears of the refs. They have a piece in one of their ears. In the piece is somebody backstage (probably Vince) giving them orders. A lot of the time the ref will be the one to tell the wrestlers to finish a match just by doing a hand gesture or whispering in their ears. So when a wrestler goes down to injury unexpectedly, it's up to the ref to inform the wrestlers of it. You've also got the timekeeper at ringside with a headset on as well, so he gives signals too.
It's pretty cool to think about this stuff. As fans, and as internet fans specifically, we do know a lot about the business, but there's still a lot out there that we really are in the dark about. I think that's the appeal of the business. We just always want to know more and more.
This next one is about Gregory Helms.
Maybe I'm just too cynical towards the WWE, but I really believe no matter how cool "Gregory" Helms is there is about bum dick chance of him getting a push over 3 months. Since that is probably the case, wouldn't it be a better idea for a guy in his position to bust ass, wait for the inevitable firing, and go to TNA. It's where his in ring skills will at the very least get him the X Division title. Really thing of all the people in that Division alone he could feud with. Guys like Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe(not really X-Div but would fit nicely), and deer lord the real breaker AJ Styles. It really seems to fit him better, and, with the chance for TNA to really break open in the next 6 months to a year, he could really make himself one of their leading guys. I was just wondering what you thought about his options/chances?
I agree with you 100%. I don't see him getting pushed. He's a very good talent, but because of his height I'm hesitant to believe that WWE will ever give him a good chance at getting over based on his talent. He would thrive in TNA. So would a lot of people. Doesn't mean it's going to happen.
I hope TNA breaks out too. Not because I want to WWE fail. I just want more wrestling and more opportunity for the wrestlers to make money and make careers for themselves.
Last email for this edition is about Jim Ross and Christian…
Hi John,
Two quick questions for you:
First...what's the real deal with Jim Ross? Is he or is he not a WWE employee right now? I've seen so many conflicting reports that the only thing I can conclude is that nobody really knows.
The firing seemed like a work (Linda balling him in the ring). The surgery skit...etc. Things got pretty weird with Austin not beating Coach up to get him re-instated. Are they just trying to burry Ross to put Coach over?
Second...Was letting Captain Charisma Christian walk "good business?" How can they keep guys named "Boogeyman", a fat sack of crap like Viscera, and push a boring, past-his-prime Booker T but let Christian walk?
Tell me it ain't so...
I miss the John Report.
- Ken C (no relation).
On the JR thing, he is still a WWE employee. He had the colon surgery, they knew about it before the firing on TV and they even contacted him before the whole colon surgery skit that they showed too. Now, as far as if he will be on TV when he is healthy again (which is a couple months away), I think the answer is no. They want to change things up. They wanted Mike Goldberg of UFC for the job, but he passed. Now it's probably Joey Styles' job if he wants it, which he probably does. I think he's got another year on his contract, so what they would do with him in that time is up in the air. My guess is he gets free of his contract, then does some college football announcing somewhere and maybe TNA or ROH could persuade him to work for them.
They didn't let Christian walk. They made him a lowball offer. They forced him out, basically, is how I see it. He walked because it was the right thing for him to do. Think about it. He's busted his ass for them for 8 years, putting his body on the line in things like TLC matches and has not been a troublesome guy in the locker room. So when it was time for his contract talks to come up they lowballed him. They gave him an offer that was about half of what he was making before. If that's how they reward loyalty then he's right to walk. He's right to say I'm outta here. He'll be a success in TNA, Japan and any other places he decides to work. He has talent. WWE never saw enough in him to really push him, so he should have left. It's bad business by WWE. If that's how you're going to reward loyalty then every guy that has a contract up is going to do the same thing.
How You Can Be Here
Email me a question with regards to anything WWE related. Ask me what I think about a wrestler, something from the past that you were wondering about, 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. Another option is write me a commentary that's around 500 words at the most and I'll consider posting it.
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. A location is fine too. That's up to you. Remember this too: The better your grammar, the more likely it is that you'll be in the feedback section.
I really enjoy answering your questions and hearing your ideas for stuff. It's a lot of fun, so please keep them coming.
Column Flashbacks
Since I wrote a lot about Christian here, I might as well make the flashback be a column I wrote over three years ago entitled, Why Not Christian?. I think a lot of the points there are still relevant today. I wouldn't change that much.
In Closing…
That's it for this week. I'm probably going to write a column at some point in the next week about how excited I am now that TNA is presenting a good product to come at WWE, as well as why UFC is going to be successful in this climate as well. It's a column that basically explains why I'm loving the wrestling business these days (and yes, UFC is not in that, but I will explain in the column) due to the competitive nature that has returned at least for the time being. That means no News & Views next week, but I will bring it back probably on November 22 or 23 so I can write a quickie preview of Survivor Series. So regular column next week, then N&V the week after.
Don't forget to check out the John C. Blog for my takes on wrestling, the NFL, Lost (that show is addictive) and whatever else is on my mind.
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.
