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Submitted by Wevv Mang on Monday, October 9, 2006 at 3:56 AM EST
Ridin’ With The Bossman – Stephanie McMahon vs Vince Russo Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Ridin’ With The Bossman. The column that JR loves to read when he’s getting loaded on leftover stock of his barbeque sauce. Welcome back JR! I love your blog. Well, last week I said that WWE finally had a clue. Well, it only took 12 hours for WWE to show me who’s boss. Steph. Still, there’s a PPV tonight (Sunday), which will be over by the time I post this column, so I’ll try to throw some results in at the end. Big news this week? The Main Event for No mercy has been changed to a 4 man brawl. Also, the Boogey Man is back! That’s right, you can't keep a good kook down, and the Boogey Man has been rehired, barely a week after his release. Boogey Man, he’s coming back, to get YOU! Also, Nash has apparently been rehired by TNA, so the DX-NWO feud is no longer a possibility. Or is it? Because it could still happen, just without Nash. But first, let’s take a look at this week’s happenings on TV. WWE – The TV Series Raw Recap courtesy of Chad Matthews We start out with DX and highlights. From Unforgiven. Which was what, three weeks ago? DX Speaks. DX starts off the show, and it’s funny that HBK has to dance around to get people to cheer. I wonder what would happen if he just walked. Coach interrupts and asks DX if they think they run the show. H says yes, yes he does. So, Coach calls for a Texas Tornado match. I’m not going to bother going into detail about what happens. You already know. DX squashes six guys. Coach then runs away. Nitro vs Hardy Good IC title match. Nice commercial break in the middle too. But, it was ten minutes of solid wrestling, and Hardy got the win and the belt. More DX Coach has locked himself into a room, and DX is outside, doing an old Saturday Night Live bit. H then says that Coach is beating off, and that Shawn says that’s a sin, and we get a quick cut. THAT cracked me up. “Shawn says that’s a sin.” CUT! Hardy Speaks Hardy says that he came back to Raw to be the IC champion. Right. Melina then shows up and starts screaming. Jeff covers her mouth. Where’s that guy who yelled cut? Because the bit goes on. Hardy removes his hand, Melina screams some more, and Hardy covers her mouth again. Yeah, it was two minutes of hell. More DX Coach is on the phone to Vince. So, instead of making a match of H vs HBK, Loser Gets Fired, we get more stupidity. Tangent That’s my biggest problem with this whole DX crap. Vince has no balls. He fires people all the time, and humiliates them as well. But when it comes to DX, he doesn't do squat. He’s made a point of being the president and having all the power. Yet, he doesn't use it. He just lets it happen. That’s stupidity. From a storyline point, Vince could just fire DX. Make them wear dresses, make-up, wrestle in gravy, whatever amuses him. But no. H has his balls. Which must have shrunken down to the size of peas from their once grapefruit implied size. Back to the show Vince tells Coach, over the show, to take control. Coach then sneaks out of his office and looks around for DX. No sign. Then, suddenly, H is at the end of the hallway. Coach turns around, and there’s Shawn. Coach runs. And trips. He gets back up and runs. Into the women’s locker room. DX enters after him. H hits on some chicks. Coach is still running, and falling down. He runs into another room, where CHRIS DEJOSEPHS takes off his clothes. You know him, he’s the fat guy who loves to dance around nearly naked. Tangent Wow, that CHRIS DEJOSEPHS is just hilarious. He’s more popular than DX. Why, he should be on the show AT LEAST four or five times. He should be listed on the roster page on WWE.com for crying out loud! Give that guy more screen time! That guy?!? THAT’S CHRIS DEJOSEPHS!!!! Remember that name! He’s going to be a legend! Hell, he already is! Back to the Show Yes, it’s not over yet. DX finally catches up to Coach. They then throw him out of the building, into a garbage can. Of course. That was fifteen minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. H must have really done a number on the guy who yelled “CUT!” earlier, because we really could have used him at least six times during that skit. It’s Not Over Yet Well, after beating up six guys, humiliating Coach, DX needs more screen time. A lot more screen time. So, who could they squash next? Why, the Spirit Squad, as if DX hadn't already done a number on them. So, DX approaches the Spirit Squad and they say something. I don't know what. At this point, I turned off my TV. I’d seen all that I needed to see. Tangent I had totally forgotten that there was a steel cage match between Cena and Edge later on in the show. Oh, WWE told me plenty of times, but the DX stuff just buried it. And I knew that I still had at least half an hour more of DX Hijinks, and I was sure it would be along the same lines as what I had already seen, and well, it wasn’t good. Not at all. Except for CHRIS DEJOSEPHS!!!! That guy needs way more screen time. Like DX time. He could be the new Chyna. In fact, the kinda look alike. Wait, what am I saying? CHRIS DEJOSEPHS is no joke! That guy is funniest guy on TV! So, what did I miss? Chad is my hook up. - Umaga beat the crap out of Snitsky. - Randy Orton got to talk. - Randy Orton then beat up Carlito. Again. - Spirit Squad came out dressed as female cheerleaders. Skid mark joke as well. Yeah, I didn't need to see that. Any of it. - Sgt Slaughter beat Nicky of the Spirit Squad. Wait, Sgt. Slaughter was on TV? Good grief. - Mickie James beat Victoria. DX was on the mic. DX made the chicks wrestle in lingerie. Why? Was CHRIS DEJOSEPHS tired from dancing? - Eric Bischoff was there. DX came up and talked to him.. This may be the only thing I regret missing. Cena beat Edge in the Steel Cage match. DX ran in for the save, and basically, gave the match to Cena. Murdoch and Cade were helping Edge, and DX came in to chase them off. Edge and H had a face to face, but H threw him into HBK, who Superkicked him into the door, which slammed on Edge’s head, allowing Cena to get the win. After the match, DX and Cena stood in the ring. Yeah, no loss missing the rest of the show. All I have to say is: WELCOME BACK STEPH! Yeah, DX got way too much time, was made to look way too strong, and next week is the family re-union. Where, ECW, Raw, and Smackdown will all be on the show, but it means so much more than that. It means that the McMahons will be back. It’s a Family Reunion. Get it? ECW Recap Info Courtesy of Eddie Martin Paul Heyman opens the show. He’s talking with Bob Holly. Bob Holly is a tough bastard and thanks for reminding us Paul that Bob nearly died from a staph infection. Like I said, I bet the rest of the guys were really happy to be rolling around in Bob’s blood. But Bob wants to wrestle tonight. Bob threatens Paul, and then Test shows up and whacks Bob in the back with a steel chair. Hurray! That hopefully means that there’s a Test – Bob Holly feud on the horizon. Smell the ratings. Sandman and Sabu vs Big Show and Matt Striker Decent opening bout. Sandman does some actual moves. Sabu and Show were solid. Very good ending. Sandman goes for the White Russian, but Show holds onto Strikers arm, thus nullifying the move. Show then splashes Sandman for the pin. Kelly and Trinity Hyping the Extreme Strip Poker game next week. Kevin Thorne w Ariel vs Tommy Dreamer Dreamer works over Thorne and then Throne has the comeback, Dreamer counters and Throne cheats to win. Match in a nutshell. A good match, and Dreamer and Throne were basically training, working a strong and weak position. Maria Speaks More strip poker hype. Maria says that she’s been getting tips. Throw away cards that you have two of. Also, never keep all of the same kinds of cards. These tips will ensure that everyone wins. CM Punk vs Danny Doring Very physical match. Punk has the majority of offense. A lot of MMA style moves in here. Punk picks up the win. Post match has Kelly come out and flirt with Punk. Knoxx then comes out and wants the flirting and teasing to end. Punk says he does too. Knoxx then backs off. The tension mounts between Knoxx and Punk. I hope the match can deliver, because the feud has been really well developed. Ashley and Krystal More hype for a card game. A card game in which chicks will be taking off their clothes, but still a card game. Hey, I ain't complaining. Tangent I wonder how WWE is going to pull this off. If it happens in the middle of the ring, with announces calling every move, well, that would suck. Seriously, not a good idea. Because it screams sports entertainment. And not in a good way. CHRIS DEJOSEPHS bad. Also, it would then mean that the game is going to over and done with in a short period of time, and a gimmick like this needs to unfold slowly. Videotape would be a good way to go, except for the fact that creative then has a chance to add corny music, bad sound effects, and cheesey cut away shots. The game is going to be cheesey all on it’s own, and doesn't need any help. Of course it’s rigged, but still, it could be a great bit of sports entertainment. Plenty of comedy and drama and gambling action all rolled into one. And you can bet, there will be a catfight. Or three. RVD vs Test What started out as a good match, with plenty of brutality degenerated into a mess. RVD and Test were beating the crap out of each other, and then Heyman’s security ran in. RVD distracted, low blow, and then a beat down on RVD. RVD fights back, Test with near falls, RVD starts a comeback, only for more beat down from the outside. RVD comeback again, Show comes out and pushes RVD off the top rope, and Test with a pin. Not a bad show. Here’s a first, some of that Extreme Poker hype could have been used to put another match in there. The hour-long format is a tough one. Time is the biggest enemy. It’s hard to tell a story in such a short amount of time, considering that matches have to have enough time as well. I do like the idea behind the RVD angle, in that RVD is an underdog, fighting against the odds, but the format has been done too many times, and perhaps, should be scaled back. It might be time to try and have RVD cut a promo to open the show. I know, it’s a risk, but with Heyman helping craft it, it could be strong enough to do the trick. It might also be time to give Holly some one to target. Like Show. Show needs to ease up on the action for a while. One week not defending the belt in a crazy hardcore match might be a good thing. Basically, it might be time to let the guys that have been established try their hand at holding an audience with their mic skills, and bring some fresh faces up and have them wrestle. Say, a fast paced match. The promos don't have to be long, they just have to be good. Oh, and before your even consider it WWE, just have Test stand next to Heyman while he talks. Smackdown Recap Info courtesy of Rudi Pavani It’s Pick Your Poison on Smackdown. And we waste no time in letting you know what’s going to happen. Booker says that Lashley will face Batista, and Lashley says that Booker will face Finlay. Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy vs Chavo and Greg Helms Fast paced action and lots of back and forth. Chavo is overwhelmed, and leaves with Vickie Guererro. Helms is left to his fate, which is to be pinned. Maryse Oullette Speaks I think that’s how you spell her last name. Her profile is not up on WWE.com. But Little Bastards is. Go figure. Anyhoo, she’s a Diva who was voted out second in this year’s Diva Search. Elijah Burke vs Tatanka Elijah speaks before his match. He claims that he has a 100 victories in boxing. Terkay is on the outside. Decent match, but outside interference decides the outcome. Terkay clocked Tatanka and allowed Elijah to roll up Tatanka and get the pin. The Marine Three letters and one word. DVD rental. Finlay vs Booker T Good match. Little bastard made an appearance and was holding a dead mouse. He scared Sharmell. Booker went to see what was going on, when Finlay whacked him in the knee with his shillelagh. Booker went down and Finlay got the pin. I wasn’t expecting that. Lashley vs Batista Another good match. Lots of power moves, and some good psychology. The ending sucked however. Finlay ran out and hit Lashley with an elbow. So, no winner. Beat down of Batista, Booker comes out and attacks Finlay, Lashley then runs in to make a save and get Booker. Teddy finally shows up and announces a Four Way Dance at No Mercy between Finlay, Booker, Batista, and Lashley. Teddy Speaks Booker has words for Teddy. Lashley shows up and says he’ll take on anyone. Finlay shows up and waves his club. Stop thinking about Vito. It’s an actual shillelagh. Batista shows up and says “Good decision”. Teddy then announces a tag match between Batista and Lashley vs Finlay and Booker. Looks like Finlay might be going face after all. Jimmy Wang Yang vs Sylvan Jimmy cuts another solid promo before his match. JBL then ruins a great match with horrible announcing, if you can call it that. Basically, he hates Jimmy, saying he’s not a redneck. Cole actually got the better of him, by pointing out his New York Shtick. Anyway, Jimmy really shows off and Sylvan keeps up, which is actually no small feat. Jimmy does the job again. A solid little feud here. MVP Speaks He’ll have his first match at the PPV. You know, I thought of a great twist to his gimmick. His first match, he comes out and pulls a hamstring. The most devastating injury of all of sports. I know it’s taking out all of my receivers. And I’m sure there are many fantasy players who had to suffer through a dreaded hamstring injury all season long. Of course, it’s now week 5, and most are back. Still, I think a lot of football fans would get a kick out of it. Ken Kennedy Speaks Hey look! It’s Kennedy’s balls! He found them! Good for you Cheesehead! Great promo, and I hope you win. Paul London and Brian Kendrick with Ashley vs KC James and Idol Stevens with Michelle McCool Oh wait, it’s actually a chick match. Not bad for what it was, but not good either. Ashley and Michelle tried some moves. Some worked, some didn't but the important thing is, Ashley was not injured during this match. Michelle did win though. Batista and Bobby vs Finlay and Booker Good match. They played up the tension in the teams well. But the new Johnny Ace finish comes into play and Regal runs in and gives the DQ to Lashley and Batista. After the match it’s havoc, as the beat downs are about to commence, but the heels escape. Not a bad match, and they did have to think up something to explain the last minute change in the main event for the PPV. And no Vito, which is a damn good thing. JBL was still sucking the life out of the show with his constant bitching. I don't know what it is, but he starts out OK, and as the show goes on, he gets bitchier. Although he did have the greatest line ever tonight. Gotta give him credit for this one. “ How come when Vito is out here, we have close ups of his nasty hind quarters, but when we have two lovely ladies in the ring, we get camera angles from a freakin’ blimp?” Amen JBL, amen. Why indeed? The world may never know. Or want to know. You be the judge. And look, we got No Mercy results. No Mercy Recap Info courtesy of Chad Matthews Matt Hardy beat Greg Helms – Non-Title match pretty much said who was going to win. London and Kendrick beat The Teacher’s Pets Regal showers with Vito MVP beat a Jobber Kennedy beat Undertaker by DQ – Still a win, and a long match to boot Rey beat Chavo Benoit beat Regal - Benoit is back! Excellent Booker beat Batista, Lashley and Finlay And guess what? CHRIS DEJOSEPHS SHOWED UP! I told you, that guy is going to be the greatest thing ever. Much better than Steph. Way better. This sarcasm is killing me. So, the Steph Era, part 6, is in full swing. Next stop, Family Reunion. Over-Analyzing Wrestling Today’s Topic: Wrestling Wars In a bit of news released last Monday, an announcement was made that Smackdown Writer Alex Greenfield was leaving. He has a movie in pre-production. He also will start Hollywood writing gigs, like he did apparently before he was hired. So, a guy who knew the drill, is gone. Rumors state that he wanted to leave before Steph came back full time. So, one guy leaves, and another shows up. On TV. Over in TNA, Russo is settling in, and starting to shape the direction of the company. Not much backstage news leaking out of that camp. Except for one bit. Kevin Nash was rehired. For some reason. Well, I can think of a couple. Some of them actually good. It will take time for Russo to get a feel of who can do what. It will also take some time for Russo to get his plan into action. Steph is coming back, She fully up to speed, but has to wrap up the angles on Smackdown. Which she did with this PPV. Now, it’s time for her to take control and shape the destiny of all the wrestlers. We’ve already seen some of it. Vito was on the PPV. DX got a huge chunk of time on Raw. ECW seems safe, so far, but Steph’s hatred of Heyman is legendary. Yep, two of the creepiest people in wrestling are now the head creative forces for the two wrestling companies on TV. Brace yourselves. I haven't watched any TNA, preferring to start fresh when Angle comes onto TV. TNA has a two-hour show to set the pace for the company and really hype themselves and stand out. WWE has the edge of being the biggest and best-known, company, and has a foundation of some solid angles right now. Both companies are at a crossroads. TNA has a chance to really make a move, and WWE has a chance to use the foundation they’ve laid to go to the next step. Or back to where they once were. Back in the mainstream of the entertainment awareness. WWE has the money, TNA has the desire. WWE has the exposure, TNA is fighting to get more TV. WWE has technology, and TNA has YouTube. Or they did. TNA could still release videos by Dave Sahadi. The guy is a genius when it comes to promotional videos. It’s war folks, but not a flat out battle. TNA is smart enough to not try that route. But the real war is for the fans attention. TNA has an uphill struggle. WWE has to fight against stagnation. Creating some crazy controversial angle seems to be the favorite way to get attention. Vince Russo knows how to create controversy. That’s good and bad. Once off his leash, Russo went nuts and over the edge. But he did get people talking about his antics. Just not in a good way. Steph is no slouch in her never ending quest to offend viewers. She too can create controversy seemingly at whim. She has gotten actual press. None of it was good, but it was in the papers and on TV. Neither side managed to attract viewers and actually drove viewers away. Steph and Russo do provide columnists like me with an endless supply of material to rip on them. WWE basically has the advantage in just about every category I could think of. From stars to exposure, to established feuds. I don't watch TNA, so I don't know what the angles are. All I know is that from recaps I’ve read, that LAX is really hot right now. And that is what it boils down to. Giving the fans something they like. TNA’s main goal should be getting the fans to change wrestling fans viewing habits. Getting them to tune in once is not going to be that hard. Making them come back will be. TNA has some tremendous potential, with big names coming in, and a move to a better time slot. Thursday night at 9 pm is a good time. Saturdays are a bitch. Even WWE couldn't draw a decent rating in prime time. The Saturday night timeslot is good for TNA, but the word has to get out to not miss the show. It’s a long-standing problem for TNA. Only now, with Steph coming back, and with a taste of what’s to come, DX all over the show and CHRIS DEJOSEPHS getting the push of a lifetime, the odds are that fans will be seeking an alternative. Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe motherhood will change Steph’s tastes and curb her taste for drama. But more than likely, it won’t. I just really hope that it doesn't turn into a battle for creepiest wrestling show. WWE had some momentum going for it. It’s taken a hit, but it’s not ruined, not at all. WWE has some great characters coming up. But it remains to be seen what will be done with them. There were some seeds planted that may or may not blossom into something good. The characters are ready and well defined. It’s just that WWE has Mr. Stephanie McMahon and TNA has Jeff Jarrett. Two big name characters that fans are rather polarized on, and the majority seems to say it’s a negative. TNA still has some time to adjust, and get the word out. The move is not going to happen next week. In fact, I don't remember when it will happen. November maybe? That date is approaching quickly though. Steph returns tomorrow night. It’s her show once again, and time to show what she can do. Should TNA be afraid? Show wrestling fans be afraid? It all depends on what happens on Raw, ECW, and Smackdown this week. It could be good, it could be ugly. All I can say is that it should be interesting, and it it’s not, well, that kinda says it all, doesn't it? All right, running out of steam. One newsbit to talk about and then it’s quick plugs and to bed. NWO reunion hopes dashed Kevin Nash has resigned with TNA. Thus, putting the kibosh on the rumored NWO angle with DX. Net fans breathe a sigh of relief. TNA wonders who will be next victim of Nash’s help. Yes, Nash is once again in TNA, but that doesn't mean the angle can't happen. X-Pac as the NWO, with his good buddy Henry Godwin could take over. WWE owns the name NWO. They can use it however they please. It just won't be Nash. Scott Hall, long shot, but could still happen. Nash gets to take TNA’s money again, and hey, the work with Shelley got over. Mainly because of Shelley, but it does give Alex a nice boost. Nash gets the IWC’s attention, and that’s a good thing. He can't wrestle, but hopefully, he’s not being paid to wrestle. The bad news is that he and Russo have a history and it’s usually of Nash wrapping Russo around his finger. Whatever Nash’s role, I’m sure we’ll hear about it sooner, rather than later. You never know, he could be come out as a wrestling penis. It’s Russo, anything can happen. And with one a wrestling penis joke, it’s time to call it a night. Quick Plugs, and that’s a wrap. LOP FORUMS New and Improved! The latest Sports, Entertainment news! What are you waiting for? LOP COLUMNS FORUM THE MOVIE BAR! Great place for reviews of DVD's, Music, and special video clips. Your one stop review spot. THE PROJECT LIVES! A creative site for creative people. Be sure to check out the forums! LOP'S PWA E-FED. Best E-Fed on the net. Period. That's all for this week. Thanks for Readin' and Thanks For Ridin' Wevv Mang mrwevv@mac.com - PLEASE LABEL ALL EMAIL AS FEEDBACK. THANK YOU. Amazing! RAW's KATIE LEA Looking The Hottest Ever!
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