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Submitted by BlazingPhoenix on Sunday, February 23, 2003 at 3:45 PM EST
Out of the AshesBefore you all start grabbing your guns, just hear me out. You’ll get it shortly. Welcome back to Out of the Ashes. I am Blazing Phoenix, and I’m actually rather staying on schedule for a few columns. I bet it won’t last. It’s been a rather long couple of weeks. Schoolwork, work work, and basically just being a normal college student does take its tolls. However, this coming Friday I get to go home for a one week spring break. I intend to sleep through most of it. Good times. Couple of things to talk about before I get into it, so let’s get it going. Flashfrying the WWEI’ve seen bits and pieces of the last couple of weeks of Raw. Unfortunately, the majority of both those parts featured Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy is in such a sad state right now. I don’t know what he’s thinking out there. Chris Jericho carried him to a pretty horrendous match, in my opinion, two weeks ago, and then again in a tag match, along with Christian. Tonight’s match at No Way Out will probably be just as bad. He needs to clean up his act, take a break, and probably go down to OVW to relearn some basic skills. Shawn Michaels has apparently admitted that he knew about the Montreal Screwjob. This reminds me of a few months ago when Jerry Lawler admitted that his thing with Andy Kaufman was a work. See, it’s no surprise to anybody, because we already knew. Way to go, genius. Although, Shawn did make the legitimate comment that he can’t believe Bret still carries the grudge. If anything, I’d hate Goldberg for ending my career. Speaking of Goldberg, the WWE is reportedly closer than ever to striking a deal with him. Have they not learned from their grievous error of hiring Scott Steiner? I will admit, however, that there are certain matches I’d like to see, including Goldberg/Austin, Goldberg/Rock, and Goldberg/Triple H. Yep, that’s right. Seeing as how the two supposedly had words a while back, I’d like to see what might happen in a match. Finally, the WWE has announced the plans for a “hard split” between the two brands, which means separate PPVs, except for the major 4. This is a terrible idea. Any and all Raw PPVs will fall flat on their asses unless the writers basically start from scratch. It will be a waste of money. Although it may finally convince Vince to do something about the shitty, shitty Raw brand. We’ll see what happens. Fanning the Flames - Shoot Me!So, I’m sitting in my friends’ suite on Friday night, drinking some beer and watching the Mavs play (he’s from Dallas). During a commercial, we flip through the channels and see Tank Abbot on The Best Damn Sports Show. This led to a nice conversation about UFC. Suddenly, I was struck by the urge to see some UFC. But I don’t buy PPVs. No funds. So, later that night, I get back to my room. In a spur of the moment thing, I open up one of my peer-2-peer programs, and run a search for UFC. Man, I found several great videos. There were a number of “best of” videos, including Ken and Frank Shamrock, Royce Gracie, Tank Abbot, and Tito Ortiz. There were also a few highlight vids from Pride events. And, of course, my personal favorite, UFC’s Best Knockouts. As I sat watching this videos, I started thinking. Why can’t these guys get a primetime deal and go up against the WWE? I remember during the summer that they would show some events on FSNE, the same station that The Best Damn Sports Show is on. I would tune in to see those, and I would love watching them. There’s just something magical about watching Tito Ortiz pound the living hell out of some guy in about 45 seconds. But the great thing about UFC is that it’s real. These people really go head to head, people get injured, pride is defended on a regular basis. There’s always a potential for a real upset, because you’re never certain who’s going to win. I watched some guy get lucky against the champion, and catch him in a choke, get him to tap, and win the belt. And the best part about that is, when there’s a rematch, you don’t already know that the ex-champion will win in a squash to get his belt back. It’s unpredictable. Not crazy Tyson unpredictable, but still unpredictable. I mean, come on. Boxing has become a joke lately, but it’s got a timeslot on ESPN. Why can’t UFC? It can only be good for the WWE. They’ll finally realize that they need to satisfy the fans, and drop all the ridiculous soap opera bullshit, the protected positions, and the repetitive angles and matches. That’s also why I’d like to see NWA-TNA on cable. I’ve never seen any of them because they’re on PPV. How many more viewers might there be like me, who’d watch if it was on free TV? I can also see a downside, though. It might be the final nail in the coffin of wrestling’s “fakeness”. After seeing UFC’s blood and guts, maybe people wouldn’t want to go back to blading and table spots. Well, I, for one, don’t believe that. I watched UFC, and loved it, and I watched wrestling, and still loved it. If you’re going to be good in UFC, you don’t necessarily need to be skilled. Take Tank Abbot for example. He wasn’t fast, or technical. He just tried to bludgeon you into unconsciousness. But then you turn to Smackdown, and you see guys like Benoit, Angle, and Rey, who are just so fun to watch, because you can see how gifted they are. In fact, it might even boost the prestige level of the sport. Think about it. Shamrock brought an extreme style into the WWE. Why can’t the UFC bring it to TV as a whole? Dousing the BlazeThat’ll do it for this week. Let me know what you think. Give me ideas. For the love of god, just talk to me! Til next time, I am... Blazing Phoenix Email: HuckFins@aol.com HIW: We put the "extreme" in "postmodern extremism". Yeah... *NEW GALLERY* Must See! Lots of Rare and Hot Photos of Randy Orton's New Wife Samantha!
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