Corner to Corner: The Austin Theory
    Submitted by Stan Grubb on Saturday, January 18, 2003 at 10:28 PM EST


    Pain is a feeling that haunts each of us, hurts all of us, and terrifies most of us. Most, if not all, people would do all they could to avoid pain if they knew that they could without failure. And who likes to fail? Still, there is a burning thought. What if I told you pain could be a great motivator? What if I told you that pain could also be the easiest thing to handle when working on a dream? Is it so crazy? Is it so nuts to accept that pain can push us further than any pleasure ever could? After all, what would pleasure be WITHOUT pain?


    Corner to Corner: Return from Grace


    After long last, HELLO EVERYONE AND WELCOME BACK TO CORNER TO CORNER! I'm your host Stan Grubb and I hope you all brought a chair, because we're in for one long return segment. Was that a run on? Ah well, nobody said I was perfect! So, we've been enduring quite a bit of wrestling nonsense and quite a few more cases of foreshadowing within the past month or so. I wonder where it all leads? Come friends, let us explore.


    The Top 100


    I'm sure this will break a lot of hearts, but I am NOT going to post the complete Top 100 here on LoP. Why? Honestly, I don't want to spend an entire issue doing what EVERYONE else, almost, already has. Instead, I'm going to finish tabulating the results. I have gotten enough of the results to announce to Corner to Corner: Top Wrestler of All Time! This is according to the votes of the Corner to Corner readers who took the time to send in their votes and their points. So, if you please, let's hear the DRUM ROLL!


    And the winner of 'Corner to Corner's Number 1 WRESTLER OF All Time Award' is...


    The Nature Boy Ric Flair!!!!


    It was amazing to see just how many poured out their appreciation for a man who would die for this industry. I think it speaks volumes for his accomplishments and work to be voted by the modern day fan as the Number one Wrestler of All Time. The most used answer for why Flair is the top guy is that Ric Flair was always the guy who would give whatever it took to make this business better. Granted, Flair had his hands in WCW's booking 'cookie' jar for awhile and I thought that would hurt his politics ranking, but not many people penalized him for it. Bottom line, Ric Flair has been able to go from main star to manager rather effortlessly and without complaint and that gives all the more reason to support him. When it was time to finally step aside, he didn't try any sly tricks with the bookers, he just did his job and he did it well. Ric Flair, on behalf of Corner to Corner, congratulations for being voted the Top Wrestler of All Time.


    I will post when the finished listing is 100% complete.


      RAW X- The Austin Theory- Smackdown's Killing



    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


    Oh wait, you wanted more? Well! Why didn't you say so?


    Yes sir, I watched WWE's Raw Tenth Anniversay Special. No sir, I did not like it one bit. First off, the 'SLAMMYS' suck. I never understood why a business that is all a work would want to give their fictional characters AWARDS! I suppose it's a little 'markish' of me, but come on! Hey, Brock is a good wrestler but did he get an award for it? Hell no! They leave out the real stars in order to further their own storylines. How typical is that of the WWE lately? In a time where Triple H can literally moon the world and get away with it, should we even be watching this nonsense? It must suck to be Booker T right now I mean good god, even Triple H's ASS gets more television time than him!


    And what was up with doing the show in character for some but out of character for every one else? Does anyone out there notice these things? Am I really the only guy who sat there and said to myself, "Stan this is the worst WWE show I've ever seen." And the sadder part of that is that I WANTED to see the recaps! Scott Steiner sits at the same table as Shawn Michaels? I wonder how their conversations went. Boy, to be a fly on the wall for those! Shane Helms sits of the other side of HBK though, so maybe it was just random seating.


    Here's a thought, why suddenly put Shane McMahon on television if you have no intent on using him? That's right folks, it's called FORESHADOWING. Expect Bischoff to succeed in his remaining '30' days? SORRY! Not gonna happen! A lot of what I saw on the show was laziness. I mean whoever sat down and said 'Yeah, this will work,' should be fired. I mean, how is it that you can't fly the Rock in for the 'biggest night in Raw history?' And what about the SPECIAL GUESTS? I didn't see one special guest in the mix. Again, WWE is your company, RAW is your company on crack, ANY QUESTIONS?


    The Austin Theory


    Steve Austin doesn't show? Well damn, there's a surprise. Look, this guy has problems of his own, he doesn't need a titanic show to pull him further down. If indeed he comes back, I want to be the first person to say 'WE GOT WORKED!' You mean to tell me that a man can WALK OUT of his job and just waltz right on in to a huge response? Come on! I didn't see it at first and then a friend of mine asked 'well what if it was never a shoot at all?' I guess my brain was working on half speed, because I didn't see it until it was too late, but I will at least warn you, the readers. This is so damn obvious I deserve to be kicked for not seeing it sooner. When is the last time we all witnessed such a shake up inside the ranks of WWE(F)? If you said the 'ATTITUDE Era' you get a gold STAR!


    Not since the Montreal incident that we just can't seemt o let go of, me included, has an event hit the industry so hard. The facts are simple. Number one, Raw was quickly becoming a sinking ship. The introduction of the nWo began the situation and I am pretty sure Austin talked to McMahon about how it was. While there may be some legitimacy to Austin not wanting to do the described ending to his match with Scott Hall, I don't believe that ANYONE would have publicized it with such vigor if indeed it was a shoot. Furthermore, the fact that it hurt the brand extension is just a problem with story, not a problem that came from a shoot. See, I don't think WWE ever intended the split to be a success. I mean, how could they when they knew that leading into the deal that their top stars were going to be away for most of the time? The Rock had already signed on for his latest film, Austin probably DOES has a problem with alcohol and needed the time out, and we all knew Hogan was on his way out, so who else was to carry the load? The Undertaker and Triple H? Come now, I don't care how lame television has been lately, the writers know that it takes MORE than two to tango in the instance of sports entertainment. Kurt Angle has been grooming Edge and others so they could come up. Brock Lesnar got to work with the Taker so he could come up. Triple H had to fight HOW MANY PEOPLE leading to this point? The point is guys and gals, that there are too many DAMN HOLES in this story to just have it all be such a huge coincidence. Austin probably WAS unhappy but that doesn't mean he's going to walk.


    So this leads to the big question, would the WWE be able to engineer their own 'demise' in effort to give their stars a much needed break? Perhaps we should also ask this question; if it meant that you could keep your company alive and successful for years to come, would you allow your stars to have a year or so off to give your product a chance to breathe? The answer to both questions, of course, is YES. Why would you NOT do what it took to keep the business and your company afloat? Why not go ahead and write a story where your company sucks ON PURPOSE? Nobody else has EVER done that before, so why couldn't the WWE? See, this isn't some case of crap writing by accident. No, accidents happen, but seldom in the very same place every single week. This is the WWE's time to filter out their bad investments. This is their time to get their money's worth and then to move on. Look at A-Train. Here you have a guy who's talent is top of the low-card, occasionally mid-card, but just not main event material. There's no special ingredient to add, no magic spell that will make him marketable, he's just not at that level. So, why is he on television? Easy. He has a contract that the WWE gave him. They are just doing what they can to get their money out of him and when they finish, he'll either be gone or he'll be back to Heat and Velocity mopping the floors with the rookies as a way to 'break them in.' Maybe Bob Holly will be kind enough to help him out? What happens when the big guys are ready to come back? Slowly but surely, you start involving them in segments and videos. You start training your audience to expect them on your tv shows again. Next thing you know, they're back and business picks right back up. The only thing I figure that may be different is just how much it really picks up. So many people have packed up and left that I wonder if the WWE missed their cue and forgot to bring the guys back in time.


    Smackdown Killings
    No, I'm not talking about 'The Truth,' I'm talking about Smackdown KILLING off a character. Did I miss something in the past week or so? Did I miss the memo that said sports entertainment got changed to plain ole entertainment? Hey, when I want a soap opera I'll write a book about MY life. Until then, get that crap off my set and put some wrestling on it! I'm so tired of watching it and yet, I'm drawn to it like a moth to flame. I don't know if I'm dedicated or if I'm just getting dumber with age. Either way, I don't have ANY DESIRE WHATSOEVER to watch Al Wilson's funeral. On the other hand, if you want to have Dawn Marie kiss Torrie Wilson again, hey I will not complain. Quite the catch twenty two, eh guys and gals? See, we tell the WWE we want more wrestling but then we complain because we don't get the TnA that we used to. Who wins? Well it's becoming obvious that nobody is winning anymore. As I said in the 'Austin Theory,' this is self-inflicted wound on the WWE and they will stop the bleeding when they're damn good and ready.


    Enough already about what I don't like, as I think I've taken enough of my time to thrash on WWE television. Let's point out what I did like!


    WWE'S Good Stuff!


    Team Angle is a good way to elevate Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. I hope to see these two guys continue in tag action and maybe some hot matches with Los Guerreros.


    Another thing I dig is how Scott Steiner may go through with the games they get him to play on the 'Triple H Show' but he always manages to come out looking better and better. While his early promos may sound scripted and painfully predictable, it's stil better than his illiterate nonsense that he spewed in WCW. "Me Scott no like you. Me kick your ass, RAAAARGH." Bottom line on Scott is that 'Titan Training'(thanks Hulk) is just what the doctor ordered.


    Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels couldn't ask for a better feud right now. For Michaels, this is one helluva chance to see if he can still hang with a more active style. For Jericho, this is his chance to finally end the myth that he was a Michaels wannabe. I enjoy the segments involving these two because both of them are charismatic enough to do a back and forth banter and make it mean something. And the idea of Jericho wanting to be better than Michaels gives you the idea that at least one CHARACTER is setting his goals high.


    Rob Van Dam teaming with Kane is best for both right now. I think at this point, it's going to take a few months for both guys to get their confidence back after Triple H shattered them. I don't find either star to be boring or unneccesary at all, but it's clear that the WWE is trying to re-design how they do a main event. Why not have them team and help RVD get some degree of depth and Jacobs get a further idea of how to continue the evolution of his character? It just seems right to me.


    Booker T and Goldust got the short end of the stick on their time as champion, but in the end this was really for the best. If they want to get Booker into that main event and keep his ties to the face routine then they had to have the team get robbed of the belts. This gives the heel squad of Regal and Storm some much deserved rewards for their efforts and it gives Booker a chance to move on. Goldust could probably take this chance to go back to his comedic routine or to finally go back to his roots and just be himself, Dustin Rhodes. Either way, I am not unhappy with either prospect.


    When we look at what is being done right, we have to point out the recent attention to the WWE Cruiserweight division. Matt Hardy being put into this deal with Kidman and Funaki gives the environment popularity and attention. Kidman needs this as the champ, so I think he's doing all he can to keep himself in the spotlight. That's good because that is exactly what the champion is SUPPOSED TO DO. Let's not forget Mattitude EITHER! Mattitude could be the one thing to FINALLY give the cruiserweight division the flavor it needs to spring up and stay up. That and seeing Shannon Moore wrestle is pretty damn cool. I think all that is needed now is Rey Jr to get himself involved finally, and the cruiserweight divison may finally have it's honest chance.


    Brock Lesnar's feud with the Big Show is not as pointless as most would say also. In this feud we get two things. Number one, we will more than likely get the victory of Big Show for Brock. That's important because he needs to get the payoff from this feud so he can move on. Number two is that the Big Show will be able to move on and maybe even turn face after this. It gives him places to go and things to do. Why not do what you can with such a big human being rather than let him sit home and get paid? I for one, while I don't necessarily like his style, can totally agree with the WWE on this one. The Big Show is still considerably young when you consider the big picture so his time spent in that ring is very important. I think his demeanor has improved and his style has adapted very well when he has been in the ring with Angle and Brock. So this gives him some credibility and maybe some respect for being able to give Brock such a hard time. Plus, with Brock going over we will get to have the Undertaker vs the Big Show and I don't think that's bad EITHER. WHY? Who else would you put the Undertaker against on his way back from being 'injured' by the Big Show? THE BIG SHOW! This is called following through with a storyline and that's precisely what WWE is trying to do. I agree with it, mostly because it just plain makes sense!


    Chris Benoit is getting a shot at the WWE Title, but more than that, it's against Kurt Angle! How coudl I not like that? This will be good for business in that it will be a helluva wrestling match. They have yet to have a BAD match.


    Rumble Rumblings


    If you know me, then you know that the Royal Rumble is my favorite event of the year because I LOVE battle royals. The idea that the entire roster gets in the ring and fights till there is only one man left really interests me. Besides that, it's always interesting to see the surprise rumors and the actual surprises. They seldom, if ever, match. I don't think Austin will show up yet, but I do think he's on the way soon. The Rock MIGHT show, but I'm not convinced of that yet either. The Undertaker's return will be the same biker guy we've seen recently, so I don't think that will be very meaningful yet. Triple H will probably defeat Scott Steiner, and that's because he is that DAMN POLITICAL. I want to see Benoit and Steiner both win, but my gut says we'll see neither. It's funny, the WWE likes to dangle that stuff in front of us like carrots, what happens when they run out of carrots? Food for thought, I guess.


    The bottom line is that no matter what comes from the pay per view, we're in for quite a ride till the rest of the 'Austin Theory' plays itself out. Like I said, pain can be a motivator. And you can't tell me that the WWE is not in pain right now.


    As I close out for this edition, I want to give a special prayer to a special someone. I know you may not see this, but you're missed and I know you'll be back soon. As always, my support and my love is with you.


    Thanks again for reading and I'll see you back here, Thursday or Friday night! Take care! Click my name to email me any thoughts on this or any edition of Corner to Corner!


    --Stan Grubb--


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    *NEW GALLERY* Whoa Payton!! VERY HOT Modeling Shots of Payton Banks!

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