The Wrath of Tito - Christmas recommendations, Smackdown thoughts, and more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Sunday, December 18, 2005 at 2:32 PM EST
Before we start today's column... I just wanted to alert everyone to a good cause for this Christmas season. I listen to the "Bob and Tom" show every morning at work and they have a really good program going with the United Services Organization (USO). For the simple donation of $25, the USO will send a $90 valued care package to a soldier who are fighting in Iraq or Afganistan. Agree or disagree with the wars over there, the simple fact is that they are fighting over there while we're talking about wrestling online. This care package idea is a great idea not only for a donation by yourself, but maybe make this donation in someone else's name? For instance, if you have someone you know who doesn't want anything for Christmas... well, then make a donation to a soldier this year in their name. That's a great gift. It's only $25 per care package shipped and the rest of the net value of the package is backed up by sponsors. The package will include phone cards, sunscreen, disposable cameras, toiletries, a Bob & Tom CD for laughs and entertainment, as well as a personal note of "thank you" to the soldiers for doing what they do.
It's a great idea by all means and if you'd like to participate on this cause, CLICK HERE. God Bless Our Troops.
WIN FREE STUFF!!!!!!!
So far, the current winner stands at 14 Questions Correct. This exam to win FREE PRIZES, such as:
BRAND NEW "Bret the Hitman Hart" DVD
"Bret Hart: Best There Is, Was, and Ever Will Be" Coffee Table Book
"Bret Hart: Wrestling with Shadows" music soundtrack
"Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart" book written by Owen's widow, Martha Hart
"Pure Dynamite" book by the Dynamite Kid, Tom Billingon
"In the Pit with Piper" book by Roddy Piper
will expire at Midnight after December 26th will only be won via a PERFECT SCORE. These questions are examined by accuracy of questions and who gets their questions in the quickest. For instance, if you get 14 right on your entry right now, you can't win. You MUST get 15 correct! Here are the Rules of the contest as well as the questions, in case you missed the last column:
RULES
1. ONLY ENTER ONCE! - Multiple entries will be discounted and those submitting multiple entries will be DISQUALIFIED. The first email you send in will be your "final answer".
2. Winner determined by accuracy AND speed. - I will accept the quickest, most accurate entry. For instance, if someone got 10 right on Monday and another person got 10 right on a Wednesday... the one who submitted on a Monday would win. Note that during the last contest, nobody got a perfect score (13 was the highest), so maybe you should take the time to get the answers right rather than being the fastest entry?
3. Send email to wintitosstuff@yahoo.com ONLY! - All entries must be sent to wintitosstuff@yahoo.com and wintitosstuff@yahoo.com only. Do NOT send it to my regular email address. Remember, send all entries to wintitosstuff@yahoo.com.
4. The Deadline will be 11:59 pm EASTERN TIME on December 26th, 2005, which is a late Monday night. - Once the clock strikes midnight and December 27th/Tuesday begins, the contest is OVER.
5. NO COST OR OBLIGATION TO ENTER! - This contest is FREE to enter. I'll pay for shipping to the winner!
6. All answers will be judged upon by Mr. Tito and Mr. Tito only. - This contest is picking MY brain. When I say a specific quote, I'm looking for a specific movie, for instance. Maybe it was said in another movie? TOO BAD.
That's all you have to do... This is FREE SHIT to win, people, and the Bret Hart DVD is well worth busting your ass for. It's especially good for areas where the DVD is hard to find... and you get some great reading with this prize package. Easily, a retail value of maybe $75 to $100, based on where you're pricing. It's FREE to enter!
THE QUESTIONS
As I said above, I want specific answers. This tests for accuracy and speed. These questions are challenging and nobody got a perfect score on test #1. Keep that in mind if you really want to have a strong entry. Ok, here are the questions:
#1 - Which came first? Bret Hart's Sharpshooter or Sting's Scorpion Death Lock?
#2 - "Hospital? What is it?"
#3 - What famous Chicago song was almost a Kenny Rogers song?
#4 - "What you're about to see is not a news broadcast" is from what?
#5 - Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were about to do a serious makeover to the Indiana Jones movies, but this certain show discouraged them from doing that.
#6 - Did you know that Hulk Hogan had a cameo in a Steven Spielberg produced movie? Which one?
#7 - What's the square root of negative 4?
#8 - Name an animal who's always ready for traveling.
#9 - Moses put how many of each animal on his Ark after it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, according to the Bible?
#10 - What was Undertaker's finisher when he wrestled in WCW?
#11 - Each year at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH, the annual "King's Royal" is held and it's one of the top Sprint Car races in the nation. Who has won the most King's Royal wins and who actually owns that racetrack?
#12 - Who'd win if Lemmy (lead singer of Motorhead) or God had a wrestling match?
#13 - Who said "white men can't jump" in a certain movie?
#14 - Who was the first ever Black Diamond Wrestling heavyweight champion?
#15 - What is the actual age of Mr. Tito? (Not the gimmick... the actual age of the person)
Again, only enter once, accuracy + speed will determine the winner, all applicants will be accepted through December 26th, and only submit your answers to wintitosstuff@yahoo.com. Simple? Have fun and best of luck.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday... Welcome to the Wrath of Tito. Christmas is JUST a week away. Easily, my favorite time of the year. Not just for the gift giving, but for good family times, giving (as I've grown older, I've liked giving gifts as much, if not more, than receiving gifts), and the fantastic Christmas music. Chicago's Christmas CD is fantastic, by the way... But anyway, Christmas is just a great time of the year and there's nothing like it.
As sort of an old tradition in my columns, I used to give Christmas Recommendations for a wrestling fan. So if you're a parent or you know someone who's a wrestling fan, here are some great ideas:
Tito's Christmas Recommendations
-WWE Day of Reckoning 2 for the GameCube - I'm SERIOUS when I say this is the very best wrestling game of all time. Easiest control and the best wrestling action that I've ever played.
-Bret Hart DVD - Well worth winning a contest over... No, this sucker is a 3 discer and it's great to hear Bret reflect on his career. Great collection of matches.
-Wrestling Superstars of the 80's DVD - A great crash course for newer wrestling fans, as well as a great collection of matches/mini-documentaries on older wrestlers. I would mainly recommend this one for newer fans who missed out on all of the 1980's goodies.
-Ric Flair Collection DVD - Still the best DVD on the market... Probably more available after high demand created scarce supplies. Probably the best selection of matches for individual wrestler DVD's.
-Rise and Fall of ECW DVD - The documentary is incredible on this sucker!
-BOOKS: DDP, Foley's 2 books, Dynamite Kid, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, and Martha Hart's Owen book - I haven't read HBK's book, so I cannot comment on that. I might be getting that one for Christmas...
-Monday Night War DVD - Good documentary on the war and lots of classic footage.
-Chris Benoit DVD - Great Benoit story and it shows you how proud he is to be champion during 2004. Great matches on this guy!
-Eddie Guerrero DVD - Good story on Eddie and good matches. I understand it's becoming hard to find these days.
So there you have it... if you have a wrestling fan in your family, maybe try one of my recommendations.
NOW, ONTO BUSINESS! I actually watched WWE Smackdown. Not live... taped it and watched it Saturday morning. I haven't given much attention to Smackdown, outside of their various RAW invasions. Why? I've actually been in somewhat of a boycott of Smackdown ever since Eddie Guerrero was disrespected as World Champion during the summer of 2004. With Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar out of the picture after Wrestlemania 20, Smackdown started to wain. Guerrero was scapegoated for Smackdown's summer blues and his title reign was cut short to John Bradshaw Layfield. NOTHING AGAINST JBL, for he's not writing the storylines or making the champion decisions, but I felt Eddie deserved a longer title reign and that JBL wasn't ready AT THE TIME. Then, after Eddie lost his title, he was soon taken out of the World Title picture and was never given any real attention by the WWE through the day he died. The Undertaker vs. JBL borefest was basically my final nail in my Smackdown coffin.
Smackdown no longer became a priority for me to watch on Thursday nights, now Friday nights. When I usually went out on Thursdays, I taped Smackdown. But soon after Eddie was out of the title picture, I stopped taping Smackdown. If I happened to be home and not with Mrs. Tito on a Thursday night, I might have caught some parts of Smackdown. But I no longer taped it or made it a priority to watch. I don't feel bad for my decision, too. Looking at the results and wrestlers who have been on the Smackdown roster since Eddie lost the title, I haven't missed much. WWE doesn't care about Cruiserweights, it's still Undertaker's show, and the storylines are either recycled or lame. RAW has the starpower I want to see, whereas Smackdown has a bunch of wrestlers I could care less about seeing (Randy Orton, Undertaker, for example), and Kurt Angle jumped over to RAW this year. Depushing Christian on Smackdown was another reason for me to avoid.
Looking at my schedule, and seeing how I now have weekends off, I gave Smackdown a chance. I've heard of a few good things lately about that roster, though one of the good things is currently injured (Ken Kennedy). So I tuned into Smackdown and what was first? The fucking Boogieman! Didn't the WWE learn their lesson with Papa Shango? Maybe the whole Ministry angle would have taught the WWE to stay away from the Supernatural. The Boogieman is more laughable than scary. How can that gimmick be successful in an "entertainment" arena where it's treated as a sport when titles are involved? In addition, fans have grown up. There's a higher demand for more real characters than cartoonish. We learned that with Steve Austin during the late 1990's and wrestlers, these days, are referred to by names instead of gimmicks. Boogieman might have been interesting 15-20 years ago, but like with most things in the WWE, they are behind the times...
Next, it was a prime example of what I was talking about... Kid Kash vs. Super Crazy, in another federation, would have been a dazzling match up. In the WWE, they are told to NOT act like Cruiserweights and outshine the rest of the roster. It seemed like both Kash and Crazy were holding a lot back for that match up. I did like, however, Kash using the old Brainbuster as the finisher. That's a move that has been lost in wrestling history. I especially wish they would cut Crazy loose. He's currently a 2nd or 3rd wheel for the Mexicools and they won't let him thrill the crowd with his charisma and graceful moves. But whatever... don't try to make the Cruiserweight division successful. It was only one of the staples that made WCW so damn successful during 1996-1997, in addition to the NWO and great midcard.
I really liked the M&M vs. Rey Mysterio/Batista match up. Both Mercury and Nitro worked insanely well with Mysterio, while Batista cleaning house off of the hot tag was great. Crowd was electric for this bout, too, and they have yet to line up against the giant RAW team. That should be a fun PPV match. Odd that it could potentially be Titles vs. Titles, too, for Mysterio/Batista won the titles by defeating M&M. In addition to making traveling Women's champions again, I wonder if the WWE is pushing the idea of a traveling Tag Champions? How about merging the rosters instead?
Lashley doesn't impress me, whatsoever. I felt that I was watching Ahmed Johnson, Hercules, Sid, Brock Lesnar when he first started, Dino Bravo, etc... Just wrestlers whom the WWE is trying to get over based on being POWER wrestlers. I'm curious... can anyone name a power wrestler who has been successful? Brock Lesnar was only successful when he was allowed to wrestle, so keep that in mind. Can't say Big Show, Undertaker, or Kane, for they do moves based on their size. Do you remember how quick Ahmed Johnson busted as a wrestler? Yeah, he started working stiff and refused doing jobs, but fans soon lost interest. Sid has never excelled as the #1 guy. Lashley needs psychology and charisma, not power move after power move. The WWE is trying soooooo hard to create another Monty Brown. Here's a way to make him like Monty: once he starts to catch fire, turn him heel and put him with Triple H, just as Monty was placed with Jarrett while on fire.
Needless to say, it's pretty amusing to see how the WWE just absolutely mismanages their Ohio Valley Wrestling call-ups. They are either overpushed (Orton, Batista), underpushed (Haas, Benjamin), or just given stupid gimmicks (Simon Dean [funny at first], Boogieman, and Rico). Thank God for shining stars like Brock Lesnar and Carlito or the WWE might as well shut down that operation.
Matt Hardy vs. Booker T was decent... My brother was absolutely correct on his Booker T analysis. Booker T would have retired already, but his wife's involvement has kept him around. Oh, absolutely. Part of being a wrestler is time away from your family. Now, he gets to take his beautiful wife on the road with him. I sincerely hope, however, that the wrestling bug doesn't kill their marriage, much as it has other relationships (Chyna-HHH, Hardy-Lita, King-Stacy, Sullivan-Woman, Savage-Elizabeth, etc). Booker T is ahead 3-0 on Benoit and I liked how Sharmell had the broom out to signify "sweep" for the best of 7 series. I'm thinking this is a bury job for Benoit's exit to NWA-TNA. Benoit in that forum should be very interesting for the in-ring product. However, like most guys going to TNA, they still must deal with a very egotistical and overrated Jeff Jarrett who is generous by no means.
My favorite wrestler ended the show... Randy Orton came out and said he's about to "retire" due to wrestling Undertaker in a Hell in the Cell match. Let's think about this for a second.... HOW IN THE FUCK can that match be, at all, good? Their Summerslam encounter, I felt, was solid and should have been an end to that feud. Now, they'll suck it up in the Cell. What can both guys do to make that match special? Orton better be manly enough to take a bump or else it would suck. If he doesn't take a bump, he better view and study the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Hell in the Cell (which I liked) and try to add something to that style of Hell in the Cell. Otherwise, it will be a letdown and just further ruin the Hell in the Cell gimmick. Teddy Long (holla holla) came out and insisted that Randy wrestle the Undertaker, who eventually came out to confront Randy. Taker came out with a bunch of druids and the "swerve" was that one of the druids was Cowboy Bob Orton. Cowboy had the urn, too, which I guess has power over the Undertaker again? ***ROLLS EYES*** Welcome to 2005, heading into 2006. This urn gimmick didn't draw money during the mid-1990's, so I suspect it won't do the same 10 years later. Put the Undertaker back on the motorcycle and allow him to loosen up the seriousness of the gimmick. The steel chair attacks by Orton were nice, but this feud isn't screaming at me to buy this Pay Per View.
Smackdown's LAST WORD: I'm not watching this crap on a regular basis. This show provided no reasons for me to even give a damn to tune in or tape it on Friday nights. It's the usual crap... Undertaker still sucks with the morbid gimmick, Randy Orton is still overrated (seriously, they are going to push him at the Royal Rumble and make him champion at Wrestlemania 22? He's 25! Why can't he get developed more? A United States title reign doesn't hurt anybody), and nothing, besides one tag match, screamed "WATCH ME ON A REGULAR BASIS". The WWE isn't doing much to appeal to UPN to renew their show for years to come, as well as other networks who might desire to have Smackdown on their channel. C for this wonderful show.
BIG FINISH
-Holy cow... best wishes to Tough Enough 3's Matt Capotelli who was discovered to have a brain tumor. It could be fatal or it could merely end his wrestling career, which as been cursed with problem after problem. Best of luck to him.
-So I heard that Ashley did some Playboy pictures in the past.... Guys, I'm really having a hard time finding those and I really don't know where to look.........
-Armageddon is tonight and am I watching it? Noooooooo.... The show wasn't remotely good enough to merit PAYING to see it.
In case I'm absent next week, have a Merry Christmas.
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