Wrestling 101: The Dorm Room - Thank You...
Submitted by Mike Matthews on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 10:54 PM EST



I'm back again folks, ready to bring you another wonderful rendition of "The
Dorm Room." With finals and graduation crap coming up, it's going to be a
very long month of May. Anyway, enough about me, let's discuss what's going
on in the world of the WWE.

NEWS & NOTES

- I thought Backlash was a solid PPV. Good opener with the WWE Tag Title
match but bad idea having them steal the titles. Let both of those teams move
on. If you read my column last week, you know where I would head with Eddie
and Chavo. I hate Goldberg's new music. The match was pretty good. I'll miss
The Rock. I'm disappointed with the RAW six man tag, not much came out of it
besides the fact that we're going to have to deal with a Nash/Helmsley fued.

- RAW was mostly on the down side for me. They had something going with the
beginning until they brought out Rico, Richards, and friends. A Jericho vs.
Goldberg fued could be money if done right. I'd save it for the first RAW
only PPV and go with Goldberg vs. Christian this month. The 50/50 thing is
old and it's not something that interests me. We saw it in 1999 with Vince
and Shane against Austin. We saw it in 2001-2002 with Flair vs. McMahon. It's
going to end with one of them, probably Austin, gaining full control of the
program. Not exactly unpredictable, compelling television.

- The man in line for YET ANOTHER main event push just tosses Mysterio into a
post. I just don't get what they see in him. He doesn't draw. Another fued
with Lesnar would be a disaster. He's a waste, has no respect for his
opponents, and doesn't care what kind of shape he's in. Ever since The Big
Show entered in 1999, he's been given numerous oppurtunities and failed every
single time. I just don't get why they continue to feed him down our throats.

Was it me or did the Texans take almost every QB in the draft? And why did
they feel the need to draft a couple of QB's when they still have big holes
on the O-Line? This is why I'm a fan and not a coach, I guess. Moving on.....

TOPIC #1- DO NOT INSULT MY INTELLIGENCE

The WWE can ignore me all they want. Triple H can come out and say he does
not care about the fans. I do not agree with them, but everybody, and every
company, has a right ot their opinion. The first amendmant awards us freedom
of speech. I have no problem with anybody expressing what they have to say.
What I don't need them to do is insult me as a fan, and more importantly, as
a human being.

First, let me say thanks to everyone who sent their feedback regarding my
idea of "New vs. Old" for the RAW brand. It's something I enjoyed writing and
I'm glad it went over well with all the readers. Anyway, I received a lot of
e-mail saying that I should send the idea to the WWE. At first, I laughed it
off but then I figured why the hell not. I asked Calvin if he knew of any
addresses to which I could send it to. I also found another address while
searching the Internet. The idea was then sent on it's way to the WWE. Then,
I got my reply.

The first line of the reply was standard bull crap. "The WWE would like to
thank you and blah blah blah, please alllow us to review your letter and blah
blah blah." It's the next part of the reply that I found puzzling. I will use
the direct quote from the letter.

"Please note that WWE does not accept any ideas for storylines, character
development, etc., as per company policy. If submitted, these types of
responses are forwarded to our legal department."

Ok, so they don't accept any ideas "per company policy." What policy that is,
I don't know. It's fine with me that they don't accept any ideas but on the
same day they sent the reply, I also got an e-mail and it was the survey that
was being given out to the fans at live events. That's when I lost it.

Do not sit there and mail me a survey that you would like to be filled out
because "you care what we want" because it's absolute bull shit. Do not sit
in your corporate offices and make up a survey for us. If you don't accept
any ideas, what the hell is the point of a survey? So that the fans can tell
you they want to see Rock and Austin, only to get more Triple H as well? So
the fans can say they want more stars like Lesnar, and you interpret that as
being they want more Big Show? Please. That survey is an insult to every WWE
fan walking on G-d's green earth.

The WWE does care about the fans. I believe that. If they didn't, they would
go out of business. The truth of the matter is, I have no idea why they dec
ided to send out this survey. The thing is a joke. It serves absolutely no
purpose, and I believe it was only set out to make us think that the company
did care about what we had to say. The reply I got to my e-mail only tells me
otherwise. It tells me that the WWE does not want to listen to anything we
have to say, no matter how good or exciting any ideas might be. It tells me
that they think they have it all figured out, and that this survey is nothing
more than a pawn to please the fans. The survey to me, is nothing more than
an insult to my intelligence. You have just written me a letter saying we
will not accept any ideas, and THEN you want MY input on a stupid survey.
Hypocrites.

Thank you WWE. Thank very much. Thank you for insulting my intelligence.

TOPIC #2- A HELL OF A CAREER

Stone Cold Steve Austin made his return last night to become the co-GM of
RAW. It looks as though his wrestling career is over. He might have one more
left in him but he's past his prime and is not who he used to be. That's easy
to see. Now that his wrestling career looks to be over, I just want to take
this time to thank Steve Austin. Without Austin, I would not be writing this
column today. I would not be watching the WWE anymore.

I've been watching wrestling for about 15 years, but when I began high school
back in 1996 my obsession with pro wrestling began to die down. I really
couldn't tell you much that happened in 96 or 97. At the beginning of 1998 I
went over to my friends house and we were watching RAW. It was the night
"Iron" Mike Tyson was going to appear. I had no clue what was going on. I
only knew Steve Austin from his WCW days and his early "Ringmaster" days. I
knew very little about the Stone Cold Steve Austin. What happened that night
was electrifying.

I absolutely loved the way Austin was an in your face SOB and didn't give a
damn about authority. I was once again hooked on the world of pro wrestling.
From that point on, I have tried my best to not miss one single RAW,
Smackdown, or Pay-Per-View. Austin appealed to most people who were in my age
bracket because most teenagers grow up wanting to defy their parents, who are
their authority. Austin was doing what myself, and many teenagers I grew up
with, wanted to do. He gave the "salute" to everyone who got in his way.

I had the chance of attending WrestleMania 15 and watched on as Austin won
the ,then WWF, title for the third time. I think it was his best work with
The Rock in any of their matches. The celebration afterwards was amazing. The
crowd was on fire. I went with about a group of ten, all around 18 years old,
and we had the time of our lives.

As Austin's career went on, his antics became old and tiresome as anything
would when you see it time after time. Still, it was because of him that I
was watching the WWE every week. It was because of Austin that I was able to
see the entertaining promos of The Rock. I was able to experience DX during
it's best run. I was able to see MIck Foley winding down his career, and then
becoming the greatest commissioner in the company's history.

I don't care how you feel about Austin. I don't care if you hated seeing him
do the same things week after week. For a very long time I found it to be the
most entertaining part of my week, and I will continue to watch him do it
every week, whether he's wrestling or not. It might be old, it might be
tiresome, but it my eyes, it's still the man who brought me back. For that, I
say thank you.

Thank You Steve Austin. Thank You for bringing me back to something I've
loved since Hogan slammed Andre. You've had a hell of a career, and I can't
wait to see you in the ring again. Thank You.

That's all for this week. I've gotta go get ready for finals and do this
graduation thing soon. For all of those who are in college, or about to
attend college, cherish EVERY second of it. It will be the greatest time of
your life, because when it's over, the real world is about to begin.

As always, send all feedback to WFed22CEO@aol.com

See ya next week in "The Dorm Room"

Mike Matthews








*NEW GALLERY* Very PRIVATE Shots of Maria & CM Punk MAKING OUT!!

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