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Submitted by Shane Defy on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 at 1:16 PM EST
A Tale of Two NightsFor those who witnessed Sunday's Survivor Series, you were all probably believing that it was the end of the World Wrestling Federation. I'm not talking about the main event, either. Sunday's big match was set as the WWF vs. The Alliance, with the winner surviving as the dominant company in the world, and basicly the only company in the world, considering the loser would be out of business. The night came and went, and when it was all over, not a damn thing had happened. Sure, the WWF side had won, and Kurt Angle had flipped sides more times than a fish on a beach, but was it really such a surprise? Given that Christian, The Dudleyz, and Test had all won their respective matches, therefore keeping a spot on the roster, wasn't it pretty obvious that the WWF would win? If the Alliance would have won, there would have been no point in Test winning the Immunity Battle Royal. As the night grew on, the big picture just grew more predictable. When Test attacked little Scotty and set himself in the battle royal, you should have known right then and there that he would be the winner. You should have also figured out that Edge would win his match, because rarely will a wrestler win two matches in one night. Alliance victory after Alliance victory, in the matches that jobs on the line, came across the board until the main event. Here it was again, it was five on five, but we all knew it was going to be one on one: The Rock vs. Steve Austin. The Big Show, much like his sad WrestleMania main event two years ago, was eliminated first and never thought about again. Booker T was tossed away, along with Undertaker, Kane, Jericho, Rob Van Dam, and even Kurt Angle. There it was, just as we all suspected, The Rock vs. Steve Austin. Sorry Steve, but my watch says that Angle dropped the big title down on your head and you got pinned to the mat by the great one. The WWF had survived, and the Alliance was 6 feet under. Sure, the WWF had pulled off a huge victory and a great star was headed back to the company, but where do they go from there? Vince was on the rampway raising his arms, smiling from ear to ear, but where does this "reborn" company go? The evil Alliance was gone for good, despite half of the roster holding titles that would give them jobs, but there was no where to go. The ratings were falling. Buyrates were hidden. It was too little, too late... so we thought. Rolling along comes Monday Night Raw, with internet rumors buzzing but still low hopes. After such a disaster of a pay per view, there seemed to be nothing to save this doomed franchise. In the opening segment, we saw the sad ending of Mick Foley's great WWF career. He was fed up with the WWF, and he was gone. This seemed to be just another brick pulled out of the WWF's shakey foundation. Like we've seen countless times, at the begining of the live RAW, Vince McMahon did his happy strut down to the ring, swinging his arms more than ever. I expected a boring promo, a main event set up, and following it a sub-par show that would just pound the ratings even deeper. Instead, we were all treated with a great segment involving Paul Heyman coming to the ring, us being led to believe he had his job back, and then him being fired in the middle of the ring. That wasn't the best part though, my friends, the best part was the return of Jerry "The King" Lawler! "There is a God!" JR shouted. "All is well at the announce table," he added, as his long time pal was back with him. Don't get me wrong, I loved Paul Heyman and his commentating, but with him gone, it's really a fresh start, with the invasion mess far behind. It took The King just five minutes to say "Puppies" following his return, which was really getting old before his departure, but for this night, I could care less. Later in the night, after Vince really showed us that he hadn't lost his touch or his sanity, he came to the ring and eventually sent his kids far, far away. Shane, after being a man and admitting that he lost to the better man, walked out on his father. Stephanie, on the other hand, had to be dragged out by the security, to a huge pop. In, as Christian would say, "Mr. McMahon's" next in-ring appearance, William Regal earned his job back by doing some nice ass kissing. These writers sure did a great job, as they managed to get almost every worthwhile Alliance member back into the fold, besides Booker T, Lance Storm, and Diamond Dallas Page. I know we haven't seen the last of them yet. (Yeah, there's a few more, but they'll either be released or brought back in some other form.) Finally, the last segment came upon us, and just as Vince was going to hand the WWF Title to Kurt Angle, the wrestling business was slapped upside the head and turned 180 degrees around! That great Space music hit, and out came that god damn stylin', profylin', limo ridin' son of a gun, Ric Flair! Wooooooooo! I swear, if I had ropes in my bedroom, I would have been bouncing off them and strutting around, as Flair announced that he owned half of the company, watched Austin beat the hell out of Angle and Vince, and then chug down that Steve-weisers. >From a terrible pay-per-view to end a disaster of an angle on Sunday, to a slobberknocker of a Raw including the return of two huge names including arguably the greatest wrestling star of all-time, the wrestling world was saved. Already, we have seen the seeds of several big feuds planted to send us into the new year and beyond, to the biggest WrestleMania ever. Wrestling has been saved, and according to my watch, this miracle was definately a tale of two nights. If you don't believe me, check the ratings or ask any fan, anywhere.  Please visit the Gaming Coalition, a great video game website by the biggest X-Box fans in the world!-Shane Defy PS: I just saw a commercial for Celebrity Fear Factor, "including, known in the WWF as Chyna, Joanie Laurer!" Not only that, but at the end, the music was (honestly) Crash Holly's theme music. What a joke!
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