Hour 1:

Coach and Trish Stratus are hosting this week's show again. They thank Michael Cole and Al Snow for hosting last week's show, due to the terrorist attacks. They promise lots of Smackdown recaps, as they are aware that several areas missed the second hour of Smackdown due to President Bush's speech. They hype the pay-per-view.

Undertaker-Steven Richards-Kronic clips.

Dudleys-Hardys clips.

Stone Cold-Kurt Angle clips. Coach and Trish are very vocal in their support for Angle. Trish keeps mentioning how interesting it'll be to see how Stone Cold reacts to "Angle" and "USA" chants.

Torrie Wilson joins Coach and Trish in studio. Coach is standing between the two of them (I'm jealous). Torrie says Stone Cold yelling at her was humiliating. She says Stone Cold is intimidating. She says she was scared. She says she thought Stone Cold would hurt her.

Torrie says Tajiri is "the sweetest guy she's ever met in her life." She says they have good conversations. She says she can speak Japanese. She says she's with the Alliance but loves Tajiri.

A caller asks if Torrie likes Tajiri (duh?; the WWF is obviously not screening the calls). A caller asks if she prefers bra and panties matches or normal matches. Torrie says she's not in the same league as Ivory or Lita. Torrie says she prefers gimmick matches, like bra and panties matches. Trish says she doesn't have a preference. A caller asks how Torrie got in the business. She said when she moved to Los Angeles, she went to a wrestling show backstage and met the wrestlers. She enjoys the traveling, and learning how to wrestle.

They show an in-depth look at Torrie's photo shoot for the current Raw magazine with RVD is on the cover. All I can say is WOW.

Torrie comments on fitness magazines vs. wrestling magazines. Caller asks if Torrie knew Trish before wrestling. Torrie says yes. There seems to be some legit heat between Torrie and Trish, as they make a few comments to one-up each other about their number of fitness covers.

Torrie says her main goals are to help Tajiri beat Rhyno in Sunday's PPV, get a more prominent role in the alliance, maybe persuade Tajiri to join the alliance, and maybe someday becoming women's champion.

Maven from MTV's WWF Tough Enough joins the show. Clips are shown. Maven says his chances are 33 percent (Josh and Chris are also left). A WWF internet poll is shown. With 68,453 votes, it's Maven (50 percent), then Josh (35 percent), then Chris (15 percent). Maven says his favorite woman in wrestling is Jackie. Torrie says she favors Josh. Maven says his mother is still sick and he'll head back home if he loses Thursday, and he'll focus on the future if he wins. Maven said he expected the physical challenge but not the mental challenge. Maven said the days went from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., which isn't portrayed.

Torrie says the WWF is a positive experience and that the schedule is heavy and hectic. Maven said it's nice to meet the superstars. Maven says the four-day trip to Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis was the best part of Tough Enough. Maven said Triple H made the biggest impression on him.

Moppy highlights. Saturn-Raven highlights (they'll battle at Sunday's PPV).

Edge and Christian clips.

Edge joins the show via phone from a house show in Reading, Pa. Edge says he's been traveling by himself these days. Edge says he's going to tear Christian apart. Edge said he chose his new video and song because he's a big fan of Rob Zombie. Edge says his music smokes Christian's music. Edge says it seems like Christian has been jealous. Edge says he adored the band Kiss and liked superheroes growing up. Edge says wrestling's superheroes appealed to him. Edge says he watched Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Owen Hart, Bret Hart, Cowboy Bob Orton, Ted DiBiasse, Randy Savage, Curt Hennig and Barry Windham. Edge says he was a huge Hulkamaniac. Trish says she was also. Coach says there is definitely nothing wrong with that. Edge says he was at WrestleMania 6. Edge says he'd like to be world champion someday.

Hour 2:

Rock clips.

Stacy Kiebler joins Coach and Trish in studio. Stacy says Shawn Stasiak is just a nice guy but is not her type. She says Stasiak just makes mistakes. Video clips of Stasiak's blunders are shown. Stacy, Trish and Coach laugh at them. Stacy says he tries and she'll stick with him. Caller asks if Stacy really thinks about the People's Strudel. Stacy says, "doesn't everybody?" Trish says she does. Regarding whether she'd ever pose for Playboy, Stacy says, "Never say never." (I can't wait for that issue). A caller asks about the women's title and when the champion will return to defend it. Stacy says her skills aren't up to par right now with others, but maybe in the future she'd go after the title.

Chris from Tough Enough joins the show. Chris's shiner on his eye is shown; he was posted. Chris says he doesn't care about Maven and Josh. Chris says he isn't brownnosing; he's trying to learn. Stacy says girls don't like Chris, as Chris said he'd put his girlfriend second behind wrestling. Chris says he'll still be wrestling if he loses. Chris says his favorite superstar is Al Snow. Coach asks whether he is brownnosing again, seeing how Snow is one of the judges. Stacy implies that she'll hook up with Coach (pick me Stacy, not Coach). Chris says clips of his wrestling in the independent leagues were horrendous compared to the greater knowledge that he has now because of Tough Enough.

The vault match is shown. Bret Hart vs. the British Bulldog, Aug. 29, 1992 Summerslam from Wembley Stadium. This was the first-ever PPV in Europe. Hart was defending the Intercontinental title. Lennox Lewis escorted the Bulldog to ringside. Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan were commentating. Hart kicked out of the powerslam. Hart kicked out of a superplex. A double clothesline took both men out. Bulldog reached the ropes while in the sharpshooter. A sunset flip by Bulldog and hooking the legs into a pin gave him the title.

Booker clips.

PPV rundown: RVD-Y2J; Kronic-Kane/Undertaker; Edge-Christian; Booker/Shane-Rock; Stone Cold/Angle.

Show ends with more Stone Cold, Angle clips.

Wilen's grade:

Torrie and Stacy were my favorite women in wrestling before they even joined the WWF, back in the dark days of the old WCW. I'm happy to say I saw Stacy's Bash match against Daffney live. I must say I was extremely impressed with how upfront, honest and sincere they both were in their appreciation for the business. Both admitted they weren't in the leagues (wrestling wise) of a Lita or an Ivory. Both came across as not only having great looks, but great personalities to match. Stacy didn't say "no" when asked if she'd ever pose for Playboy; I wonder what Torrie's answer would be. Speaking of Torrie, I agree with her that she should do more bra and panties matches. The photo shoot clips they showed were superb; I'm not taping over this show.

The Edge interview was among the items that helped promote Sunday's PPV quite well. Seeing the Bulldog-Hart clips made me appreciate the Bulldog's use of the suplex, when he would hold a wrestler up in the air for what seemed like an eternity. The last episode of Tough Enough (this Thursday) was also promoted well, as the WWF gave Maven and Chris a turn (Josh was on a previous show). The best part of the show was the number of calls and e-mails that were taken. I don't believe they were screened all that well either, as I thought for a moment Chyna's name would be brought up (Stacy didn't respond on that part of the question). This is by far the best Excess show yet. Yes, a lot of that has to do with Torrie and Stacy, but the number of callers getting through is a great thing.

FYI:

1. Monday (Sept. 24) It's Pamela Anderson all day long on TNN before Raw.
2. The finale of Tough Enough is Thursday. It's live and it lasts one hour (10 p.m. to 11 p.m.).
3. Perry Saturn and Kanyon will be on next Saturday's Excess.
4. The Rebellion PPV will be in Manchester on Nov. 3. This was mentioned after the vault match.

Jeff Wilen
http://www.news-journalonline.com/column/anglendx.htm