QuestionMan

The 3/3 show saw both a taping for 3/10 with the finals of the second America's X Cup, as well as the live show. Because of ICP being there, they had a nearly packed house of 1,300. Based on the lines, it looked like about one-third paid. The show is now pretty much designed to get Vince Russo over as the all-knowing babyface and Jeff Jarrett as his heel adversary. The announcers and the babyface wrestlers all put Russo over like its Dusty Rhodes in the late-80s for Crockett. It got so silly in the main angle, which was the build for the 3/17 Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Harris match, that Harris, an unproven challenger (by that I mean someone who doesn't have a long history of beating top guys in singles main events) was said by Russo, the babyface authority figure, in the last live angle before the match, that he's not ready for the title match. In the immortal words of Tony Schiavone, that'll put butts in the seats. Either. Harris wins, to prove Russo wrong, or Harris loses to prove Russo right. Anyway, we'll see on the 17th. The deal was that Harris beat Kevin Northcutt in the opener, and then had to come back and wrestle Shane Douglas in the main event. Harris survived help from Jarrett and a chain shot from Douglas to win after James Storm gave Douglas a superkick. Russo got mad because Storm helped Harris win two matches in the past two weeks, showing he's not nearly ready for a singles match with Jarrett. At least in the 80s, when Ricky Morton would challenge Ric Flair, you didn't have Dusty or David Crockett saying the week before the match that Morton isn't ready and there is no way he can beat Flair. The interest level is continuing to fall. Our poll this week had 3 thumbs up (21.4%) and 11 down (78.6%). It's actually stunning how few responses we got for a live show. Best match was Abyss vs. A.J. Styles with 12 and worst was Harris vs. Northcutt with 8. The big surprise was a ten-man with Ron Killings, Sonny Siaki, D-Lo Brown, Konnan, & Simon Diamond over Johnny Swinger, Glenn Gilberti, David Young, & Kid Kash, & Michael Shane which was a fast paced good match, and even told a story with Swinger avoiding Diamond the entire match. They did a post-match deal where the heels beat on the faces so ICP, Rude Boy, and 2 Tuff Tony could make the save. Konnan in particular looked the best he had in recent memory. They saved the ICP match for last, after the PPV is over (yeah, ICP is now TNA’s Hulk Hogan), but about 35% of the crowd left at 10 p.m. So they missed the finals of the America's Cup, where Team AAA of Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, & Mr. Aguila beat Team Canada of Teddy Hart, Johnny Devine, Jack Evans, & Petey Williams. Before the show there was a little controversy, as the plan was for Guerrera to be eliminated early, with the story of the match being that Team AAA is wrestling without their captain and biggest star, but they come back to win. Scott D'Amore gave the Mexicans the finish and Guerrera started complaining, saying he was the most well-known guy on the team so he should be there at the end. When Guerrera asked who came up with the idea, D'Amore said Jarrett, and Guerrera quickly quieted down. But before he did so, and he said this in front of the other three guys on his team, that if they beat him and eliminate him, people will start leaving because they don't know the other guys. People aren't sure if he said it in English thinking the other three wouldn't have understood it (Garza and Aguila both worked for several years in the U.S. for WCW and WWF and knew the language well enough that they understood), or just didn't realize how the other three would view that statement. The idea was to beat Guerrera as a surprise and reward Garza, who they thought did well the last time he was in. Guerrera even shot back before finding out it was Jarrett's idea, saying that if he was eliminated, nobody would care about the match, which made him really popular with the rest of his teammates. The match wasn't that good from what we've heard, coming down to Garza being left with both Hart and Williams, and pinning both. Part of the problem is that they went about 8:00 without elimination. Ref Mike Posey was given the word backstage that they were going too long so he gave them the word to speed things up, and they sped them up way too much. They did seven eliminations in around 3:00 which came off looking bad. The AAA team this time got to celebrate without being interrupted. ICP, 2 Tuff Tony, & Rude Boy lost to Kash, Young, & Gilberti when Monty Brown (a former member of the New England Patriots) returned and helped the heels. The next taped show is 4/7, which means it'll be taped on 3/24 and 3/31. The working idea is Team AAA defends the America's X Cup against a Japanese team. At this point, there are no ideas who would be on the team. In the other Mexico vs. Canada matches, Guerrera & Negro beat Hart & Evans when Guerrera used a half crab to beat Hart, who was selling his knee. Hart had his chest chopped to smithereens by Guerrera and when he showed up on the live show, it was cut and welted up like crazy. This was said to be very good. An interesting note is that Evans is engaged to Hart's sister. Hart & Evans are also calling themselves the New Generation Hart Foundation. According to Hart, they were originally Hart Foundation 2.0, but Bret told him (I have no idea if this is true but it's his story) that 2.0 will be an obsolete term in a few years when new computer programs are written, while New Generation won't be. The other was Devine & Williams over Garza & Aguila when Williams pinned Garza (which set up Garza pinning Williams to win the elimination match final). There were no major incidents this week with Hart, which I guess is news, other than people being frustrated with him as he'd go from selling his knee (since the match where he "injured" himself with Aguila airs on the same show as his two matches this week) to doing his springboard moves. The black eye was that all week they were advertising Abyss, who won both tag belts with Lex Luger's help, defending with his new championship partner (strongly teased as Luger but never outright said, so I sensed that as a near bait-and-switch, and they don't seem to even realize that nobody cares about Luger in the first place and you only piss your fan base off when you do this crap) against Styles and a mystery partner. Whomever it was supposed to be fell through in both cases, so when the show started, they announced that Russo had stripped Abyss of the belts because of Luger's interference. Luger got $2,500 for his brief run-in, as opposed to the $5,000 he was getting for doing a match, so that may have something to do with it. If he doesn't lose a singles match or clean in a tag to Styles in the right away, then it makes him being there make no sense. However, they said Russo hadn't decided what to do about the tag titles, and they made Abyss vs. Styles into a singles match. Styles went all out, taking crazy bumps and even doing a flip dive off the balcony. They ended up with three ref bumps in the same match. With no refs left, Don Harris came out. Both guys punched him so it was ruled a double DQ. They are building toward a ladder match on 3/17. Julio Dinero, CM. Punk, and Jim Mitchell were all gone, and seemingly replaced by The Naturals, Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens, in the feud with Raven & Sabu. After Frankie Kazarian had pinned Jerry Lynn (who sold a shoulder injury throughout the match), Raven came out and DDT'd Kazarian. He was doing a promo when Douglas threw powder in his eyes and the Naturals did a number on him. The lights went out, and Sabu made the save. A sign which read, "I came to watch wrestling, not rapping clowns or Survivor losers" was confiscated. They were told, “No more negative signs.” Everyone has been told to tone down the language because people from Fox Sports Net have been watching. B.G. James on the broadcast even cracked about the 3 Live Kru signature line, "Let's do the damn thing" they were told can't be used and he said, "Let's do the darn thing." Uh, what is the name of FSN's signature prime time show? Arturo Rivera missed the taping to do the Spanish announcing for the X show, and Konnan had been sent home, so they used a local guy doing color. Johnny Fairplay is being universally considered a flop. On the 3/3 show, his only appearance was doing a fan in the crowd throwing choke on Styles, and that didn't even lead to a finish. Vince Russo, who was his strongest supporter, is said to have soured on him to the point of only wanting him to do his interviews backstage pre-taped and not in front of the people.

UPDATE Scherer is now reporting that Angle more than likely needs more neck surgery and it will probably be career-ending.

The only reason I had been interested in RAW recently were for those "supernatural happenings".

"There's a shakeup going on involving Brock Lesnar, and Bill Goldberg may not be the only WWE superstar who could have his last match for the foreseeable future at WrestleMania. According to numerous sources, both wrestlers and a few friends of Lesnar's outside the wrestling business, Brock has not been a happy man backstage lately. Lesnar is said to be very upset that he had to fly all the way to South Africa "just to wrestle Hardcore Holly" instead of being used in a higher profile match on the tour. Lesnar, who has a long term deal with WWE (said to be seven years long), reportedly doesn't feel he is being protected properly for the long term by the promotion. Lesnar was also said to be upset that he was programmed to wrestle Undertaker after WrestleMania. Lesnar doesn't feel, since he is supposed to be a long term money player for the company, that he should be "fed to the Deadman." Lesnar is not alone in his feeling there either, as a lot of Smackdown wrestlers hate the fact Taker is coming back in his old persona since it means that he doesn't have to sell for people any more (due to the nature of the character). There was already a concern among many Smackdown workers that Taker gets too big of a push for an aging talent when the brand is in dire need of pushing new, young workers at the top of the cards. He is viewed by many on the Smackdown roster as "our HHH", in that he beats everyone, is always pushed at the top and has a huge amount of power backstage. Taker's calling of his pay per view match with John Cena, where Taker, as described by one Smackdown wrestler, "gobbled up Cena like Cena was a job boy" has wrestlers upset and concerned about his return. Lesnar and McMahon apparently had a very tense discussion last week and Lesnar has told a few other wrestlers he might just take some time off after WrestleMania to cool down. According to one wrestler Lesnar considers a friend, "even with his own airplane, the travel is burning him out, and this South Africa trip was handled all wrong." As of right now, the company is not making any post Mania plans for Lesnar. I have been told the company has removed Lesnar's name from all voiceovers on upcoming shows after Mania but he is scheduled to work on the UK tour later this month since he was previously advertised on it." credit: Dave Scherer/PWInsider

When was the last time HHH lost clean in a non-tag team match to a guy not named Bill Goldberg?

My friend had a theory that it actually makes sense that UT came back dressed like that since that was what he was buried in. Personally though, I didn't like it at all, because when I see him dressed like that, all I think of are motorcycles and Limp Bizkit. But since UT is dead set againt going completely back to the old character, this is the best we're going to get.

Go to a Hooters or something. No cover charge.

To many, the biggest match at this year's Wrestlemania is Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg with Steve Austin as ref. It's been largely expected for months that it will be Goldberg's last match. What wasn't expected is that Lesnar's future looks to be tenuous as well. Goldberg has committed to doing the judging at the upcoming Hockey Gladiators PPV, something he couldn't do while under WWE contract, which means there is no work as far as the idea he's got as of press time that he's done. He's been telling friends that for months, and WWE has been under that assumption as well. Over the past week, Lesnar and Vince McMahon have had issues, and all post-Mania plans for Lesnar are off the boards. Exactly how the Lesnar issues with the company will play out are uncertain at this point. There were unconfirmed reports at press time that Lesnar had quit the company at the 3/9 tapings in Atlantic City and that Wrestlemania would be his final match. There were also reports he was interested in trying out for an NFL team for this coming season. Lesnar has said many times that if he hadn't signed to be a pro wrestler, he would be playing in the NFL. He has the size, power, and athletic ability to play in the NFL, but never even played college football, so without the technique, would be a long shot. Still, Stephen Neal, who beat Lesnar for the NCAA title in 1999, also never played college football and is now with the New England Patriots. Goldberg has also talked for years about doing a PPV match, promoted on his own, against Austin. He and Austin are friends and the idea of Austin getting major points in the show would be a probable. But it doesn't seem viable for Austin to leave what at this point looks to be a long term job with WWE if he wants it, for a theoretical quick score that would be high risk in the current environment. Nobody knows for sure in life, but unless Austin leaves on his own or has a blow-out with McMahon, I can't see him being dropped at any point in the next wrestling lifetime since McMahon himself recognizes Austin was the most important component in the rebuilding of the current brand. The value of that match is probably five plus years past its peak. Even though there is strong marquee value in that match if handled correctly by WWE at the right time, it is questionable what kind of business it could do without WWE promoting it and without weekly television building it up. There are a lot of issues that involve Lesnar, some having to do with his personal life and others having to do with being tired of the grueling schedule. Unlike Kurt Angle, who mentally did not have the athlete's mentality when it comes to winning and losing as a wrestler, and just believes in doing anything to entertain people (which has often worked against him becoming a top draw), Lesnar has been protected from the start. In four years of college, he was a wrestling stud, both in JC and at the University of Minnesota. He got a big contract to start wrestling, and the minute he was brought to the main roster, it was with the idea of being groomed to be world champion. So from the spring of 2002 until winning the title at SummerSlam, it was all upwards. Even when he lost the title on several occasions, the losses were always temporary since the idea was he would get the title back shortly. The loss to Guerrero was different, because there was no long-term plan for him to get it back, as there are no plans on the book for Guerrero to be taken out of his current position on top. Lesnar's post Wrestlemania program was scheduled to be with Undertaker, starting on the post-Mania European tour. It's been said for months that Undertaker, in his old gimmick where he's not selling much and is largely going over strong on everyone, was something Lesnar didn't want to be feeding. Ultimately, with the possible exception of OVW, he's had largely the preferential treatment that comes from being a college sports superstar, and a wrestler on the rise. That treatment is now going to Guerrero. He hasn't been given long-term programs because so much of the booking for months has been geared toward Mania, and there is very little decided for just about anyone for post-Mania. There are those who think this is what happens nine times out often when someone is given the monster push in wrestling without a lot of time in the business. He felt when going to South Africa and mainly wrestling Bob Holly two weeks ago that it was a long trip and it showed they had no ideas for fresh programs for him. Others think his complaint that he's working a full-time schedule while wanting time off, while others on top are working less dates, is a reasonable issue. The feeling is that a few years ago it wouldn't have been, but when the rules were changed for Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Undertaker, HHH, Scott Hall, Bill Goldberg, Ric Flair, and would be no doubt changed if requested for Kurt Angle, that Lesnar has a valid point. Of course the others are all a lot older, and more physically banged up, but Lesnar's style at his size also leads to plenty of injuries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vince McMahon did an interview for the 3/9 Hollywood Reporter’s special section on Wrestlemania. When asked, in hindsight, about the folding of WCW, he said, "Hindsight being 20/20, I don't know that it may have been just a matter of time before we killed each other off. I don't know. Our understanding of the business on a long-range basis really gave us an advantage. We were overmatched in terms of assets, but they were overmatched in terms of work ethic and in terms of understanding how to build a brand. And in the end, our formula worked. Quite frankly, though, I was surprised when (they) threw in the towel. I didn't think that would ever happen." He complained about the World Wildlife Fund, claiming the agreement ten years ago not to use the WWF initials for promoting outside of North America was an agreement they were strong-armed into signing. He claimed they signed because they were threatened with a lawsuit, but signed it under duress (which I guess, in McMahon's world, means that's an excuse for signing an agreement and then ignoring it). He again claimed that 70% of the viewers of Raw and Smackdown were specific to the brand. How come when I go to Raw and Smackdown house shows, I see the exact same 2,500 people? It was noted that the WWE's deal with InDemand is coming up soon. He said he wouldn't settle for any less than the current deal (45% of the total takes). He also said he doesn't believe that pro wrestling is cyclical (which is nice since his wife seemingly does, based on the investors' conferences). He did note that even though they weren't on fire, the company was still profitable, whereas Hollywood studios lose millions in between hits. When asked about usage of the company tape library, he said they could do a digital TV channel, or an analog channel (although he noted that would be expensive). He also talked about video-on-demand. He said he didn't think the company had done a very good job of taking advantage of its international popularity, and its goals were to do more licensing and merchandising overseas. When asked if he was working or shooting when he lost his cool with Bob Costas and Armen Keteyian, he said the TV character is a performance, but when he was on those HBO shows, that was him. He said they were looking for him to be the bad guy, and if they make him out to be one, "sometimes I don't disappoint them." Upcoming movie projects from the company, besides "Jornada del Muerte," the HHH vehicle, will be two movies starring Glen Jacobs (Kane), a horror movie, as yet unnamed in a Freddy Kruger mode, and an action movie called "The Anvil." They also have another film, called "The Marine," similar to the movie "First Blood," as a vehicle for Austin. McMahon also claimed once again that Mr. McMahon's days as a TV character are numbered, citing his age as the reason. The plan for the Benoit vs. Michaels vs. HHH Mania match to be a ladder match was changed. At this point, the plan is for HHH vs. Benoit on 4/18 in Edmonton at the Backlash PPV to be a ladder match. I'm guessing the feeling was it would be stronger for the world title match at Mania to end with a 1-2-3. Based on the interview on Raw calling the match the main event, the presumption is it will go on last and will go 30-35 minutes. They did try out matches as Michaels was sent to the house shows in Syracuse, Elmira, and Baltimore this weekend to work it out. The basics of the match look to be that there will be one guy injured and the other two will work spots with each other until someone (most likely HHH as the heel) is just about done, and the other face will stagger and recover just in time to make the save and keep the match going. Pat Patterson and Michael Hayes came to the Baltimore show to give input to all three for how to help the Mania match. Besides the Hall of Fame inductees, there will be other 80s/90s WWF names that will be at Wrestlemania and the Hall of Fame banquet who were asked to be there to present the awards. Harley Race asked Ric Flair to present his award and I believe Jim Ross will be presenting Bobby Heenan with his. When The Rock was on the "Richard & Judy" prime time talk show in the U.K. plugging "Welcome to the Jungle," (as "The Rundown" is being called internationally), he noted that his WWE contract expires next year. Bob Backlund turned down the WWE Hall of Fame induction after at first agreeing. He said he didn't think the time was right when he declined. No word on whether the Pete Rose thing had anything to do with it but there were people who were really into the honor and now feel a little different about it. The 10 people in the cruiserweight match at Mania are Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Jamie Noble, Nunzio, Funaki, Tajiri, Akio, Billy Kidman, Shannon Moore, and Ultimo Dragon. Well, Dragon did get to achieve his career long goal of wrestling at Wrestlemania. Also added to the show is Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty defending the Smackdown tag titles in a four-way against APA, Bashams and Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas. With Edge and Benoit moving from Smackdown to Raw, there is a good chance, although it's not finalized, that Rob Van Dam would be moving in the other direction. At this point there are no plans for either Undertaker or Kane to switch sides, and the program at last word was scheduled to end at Mania. A correction from last week's story on Wrestlemania regarding the Michaels rundown: Michaels' first Wrestlemania match was in 1989 at Trump Plaza, with the Rockers vs. The Twin Towers (Akeem & Big Bossman). So he's done ten matches, not nine going into this weekend. As I recall, that match was pretty good for a match with the sound off when you consider One Man Gang was involved, but with the sound on, it was the same match. Also, in the Monday Night War piece, the Mick Foley first WWF title win over Rock was in Worcester, not Providence. Randy Orton suffered yet another concussion last weekend. He was throwing up and everything but still worked the Raw in Atlanta because it was the advertised main event with Michaels & Benoit and it was important for their Mania angle, as well as he had to be there for the big Mania angle. It was announced publicly that he had suffered a virus. He was pulled from his OVW main event mid-week as well as the weekend house shows. Edge's injury wasn't as bad as first feared. He was running the ropes in OVW trying to get his cardio back when he messed up his foot. At first they feared it was torn tendons, but that wasn't the case. He's still wearing a protective boot at this point. Molly Holly has a neck injury, but worked all weekend on it. She's been in Louisville training and watching 80s and Japanese videotapes for ideas for her Mania match. The injury’s why she did only a 2:00 match with Victoria in Baltimore. WWE Originals sold 10,044 copies last week to fall to No. 143 on the Billboard charts. Howard Stem on 3/9 was asked about doing Wrestlemania. He said he was asked by Vince again this year (he's been asked many times by Vince to do big shows) but that the WWE writers couldn't come up with anything entertaining for him to do. He said he asked Vince what he wanted for him to do and Vince said, "Well, what do you want to do?" He said he doesn't exactly spend his days thinking about ideas he can do on a wrestling show. He also said that he was looking for $1 million to do the show and Vince was talking about $5,000 or $10,000, so they were far apart. He said he'd need a lot more than $5,000 to "lower himself to do a wrestling event." Charlie Haas had his tooth cracked while in South Africa from Bradshaw's clothesline, I think on the 2/26 show in Cape Town. It was apparently painful as hell because the crack went into a nerve. There was a minor injury when somebody as a rib poured a bucket of water on Richards, and he slipped on the floor, but he worked the show and also worked the next night. At Raw in Bridgeport, Kenzo Suzuki debuted, beating Nick Dinsmore in a dark match. Suzuki has been in OVW for the past several weeks, but hasn't been used on any of their shows. He looked terrible. What a shock. Tokimitsu Ishizawa (Kendo Ka Shin) was at the show looking for work. Nicole Fink (Nikita) was cut by WWE developmental more than a week ago. She's remained in OVW working out her notice. This came as a surprise to a lot of people. Nikita had become something of an OVW fixture, as the manager of Doug Basham, and more recently of Mark Magnus. There had been ideas to use her as Torrie Wilson's evil stepsister in the aftermath of the death of Al Wilson angle, as well as in a Smackdown role to feud with Dawn Marie, but they never got off the drawing board. On the decision, and I hate to write this but this is the reality of the business, she had a WWE body but not a WWE face (not that she's unattractive, but Alexis Laree, who is there, is a prettier woman) and that's the only answer I can come up with for what ultimately kept her from being called up. There has been frustration with her injuries that haven't kept her from performing on television as a manager, but have kept her from training in the ring to wrestle. Her bikini contest last year with Jackie Gayda drew the highest quarter hour OVW has ever done (2.8 locally). I can't evaluate her wrestling because they rarely used her in that role on TV. As a manager, she understood how to walk to the ring, position herself, and had the body language of appearing to be someone important, which sounds easier than it is. I saw her & Magnus in OVW as a ready for major league act except that Magnus' work is a long way from ready. WWE developmental is not there to provide OVW with good workers, but to train people for WWE, and I guess the feeling was, after two years in the system (the old Steve Bradley/Flash Flanagan decision making), they weren't going to bring her up. At the same time, with the clueless stripper looking women they've signed of late, and Jillian Hall, who is the company's best prospect as a worker but who doesn't have the WWE body (i.e., hasn't starved down and no implants) not having a contract, it just tells you the reality of women in wrestling. No definitive word on when Scott Steiner will be back from his groin and hip flexor injuries, but the estimate looks to be in the six week range. Onyx from NWA Wildside was asked to cut a promo when he did his 3/1 Heat match in Atlanta and 3/2 match in Savannah at the Smackdown tapings. He was told they were going to fly him in for Mania. There were no Smackdown house shows over the weekend because they were letting people rest until Mania, with the exception of the TV shoot, after the exhausting South Africa trip. There may be some unhappy wrestlers when the payoffs come in from South Africa. Wrestlers saw four sold out houses with good crowds, but the average price per ticket was way down from most international tours, probably because of the economy in that country. The grosses were a lot better than they would be in the U.S., but only a tiny percentage of the kind of money that was drawn on the Japan tour, even though this tour drew far more fans. It drew, in dollars, less than half of what the gates would have been had they been in places like Europe or Australia, and the wrestlers are paid on the gates. The four dates totaled roughly $1 million at the gate, as compared to more than $3 million for a three-day swing in Japan, which didn't draw crowds as large except in Saitama. In addition, because of the tour, there were no house shows this past weekend. That's usually not an issue because there is so much more money earned on overseas events and the long trips are tiring so people welcome getting the next weekend off. Even with the weekend off, there is probably more that would end up being earned by going to South Africa for four dates than in two weekends domestically. Bobby Heenan noted on Wrestling Observer Live on 3/8 that on 3/13, he'd be inducted to the Hall of Fame, and on that same date in 2002, he had surgery to remove his lymph nodes due to cancer. Hulk Hogan did an interview with Bill Apter where he did complain about not being invited to Mania, saying he thought there was something wrong with that. I guess the whole TNA deal was most likely exactly what everyone thought it was—his attempt to get Vince off the dime and Vince didn't swallow the bait like he did with the XWF bluff. Catching up on last week, the 2/24 Smackdown TV tapings in Kansas City drew 5,200. The 2/27 Raw in Montgomery drew 3,300. 2/28 Raw in Birmingham drew 2,100. 2/29 Raw in Chattanooga drew 2,500. For the South Africa Smackdown tour, the 2/26 show in Cape Town did a sellout 6,700, 2/27 in Durban did a sellout 8,200, 2/28 in Johannesburg drew a sellout 14,000, and 2/29 in East Rand did a sellout of 5,700. Angle worked as a face in his match with Holly (worked as a heel against Guerrero) because the TV in South Africa isn't caught up and his turn hadn't aired. 3/5 Raw in Syracuse drew 3,900. 3/6 Raw in Elmira drew 3,000. 3/7 Raw in Baltimore drew 5,300. 3/8 Raw TV tapings in Bridgeport drew a sellout of about 7,000, once again because of The Rock. In Syracuse, they had the Wrestlemania title match try out with HHH, Benoit and Michaels. In this one, HHH pinned Michaels with the pedigree after more than 25:00 of a very good match. Michaels was the most popular when it started, but as it went on, Benoit was the most popular. It was booked that way as Benoit was made to look the strongest. That was because the finish saw Michaels superkick Benoit, but then Michaels turned around into the pedigree. Report we got was that if the Mania match is like this, it should be good. With Orton out, RVD & Booker defended against Jindrak & Cade finishing with the ax kick on Cade. Victoria and Molly Holly also worked a singles match. Benoit did the same crossface spot on Coach. They also did the try-out Jericho vs. Christian match, with Jericho going over with the walls. Match was very fast paced. Elmira was the same show as Syracuse, again ending with HHH giving Michaels the pedigree to win a three-way which included Benoit. In Baltimore, both Flair and Foley were at the show. They came out for an angle which started with Stacy Keibler coming out, and they pushed her being from Baltimore. Foley came out after a while. Coach started ripping on him until Foley threatened Coach. Flair came out and said that Foley thinks he's great because he wrestled all over the world and fell on thumb tacks, but that he was the man all over the world. They went back and forth and it was apparently awesome. Flair sucker punched Foley and they worked a short brawl with Flair, broken neck and all, taking all his regular bumps all over the place. Foley finished it with a Mr. Socko on Flair, and then did another one on Coach. To practice for Mania, they did a three-way with Booker & RVD over both Cade & Jindrak and La Resistance. The Dudleys were there but didn't wrestle on the show. D-Von was flagged by the doctors for high blood pressure. I don't know why they just didn't put Bubba & Spike in, since both were at the show and neither worked. It was announced in the building that the Dudleys were wrestling Storm & Venis on Heat (Baltimore was an afternoon show) for the final Mania slot. It was said the live match would be the three teams who are already in Mania. HHH's main event over Benoit and Michaels was said to be ***1/2. Since Hardy worked the weekend with Dinsmore, and nobody knows Dinsmore, Hardy was a big-time babyface at all the shows. They may as well turn him, since after all these years of him being a heel on TV, the people still cheer him anyway.

I remember the Karate Fighters '97 tournament, which was home to the official Goldust face turn when Jerry Lawler cut his "queer" promo.

HHH interview and will his nose be larger by Sunday by Justin Transue I was listening to ESPN Radio today and at about 530pm, on "The Sports Brothers", HHH came on. It was about a 10 minute interview and HHH contradicted himself a few times but he came across as mostly well spoken and very humble. I don't have a transcript but here are the key points he said: *What is a wrestlers dream venue to perform in? What's the Yankee Stadium of pro wrestling? Hunter said it was the Garden in Manhattan and that even for house shows they go out and give them PPV performances because it's home. *In light of the recent steroid scandal in baseball, does HHH (he asked to just be called "Hunter) think wrestling has a steroid problem? He can't speak for every worker in the country buit overall no. He notes that other sports have athletes getting taller and heavier and more cut but in pro wrestling it's considerably gone down from 20 years ago. They ask Hunter if he's ever used steroids and Hunter answered yes, perscribed by a doctor for his torn quad but never recreationally, only under perscription. *They ask him about his bodybuilding and Hunter denies being a real bodybuilder and says he only has ever competed in Mr New Hampshire as a teenager but he is definitely a fan and amazed by the professionals, and also tries to attend Mr Olympia every year. *They bring up steroids in wrestling again and Hunter says wrestling isn't just an appearance business, you need a full package of story telling, athleticism, showmanship, charisma, a good look, etc. Hunter thinks "steroids get a bad rap... it's not like it's heroin". He says that he doesn't believe steroids are that bad and if enhancing performance is a bad thing then athletes shouldn't be allowed to train or do cardio or lift weights because all of those enhance performance (wow). *"What's one thing about Vince McMahon, a man I find entirely fascinating, honestly, that I don't already know?" Hunter says it's that Vince isn't the type to say "it's my way or the high way" and isn't a power monger. He says he listens to all his talent and writers and the rest of his staff and has to juggle them all to try andmake everyone happy and funnel all of their work into the best it can be. *They ask about drug addictions in wrestling and Hunter says there definitely are some out there but under the WWE Vince pays out of his own pocket to send them to rehab and set them straight. He cites William Regal and Eddy Guerrero situations as examples and really puts over Guerrero as a great man and supremely talented and now successful as WWE Champion. I may have forgotten a question or topic but I'm pretty sure that was the whole thing. Seems a little long to have been 10 minutes so it was probably actually 15. Was a good interview. Justin Transue credit: Dave Meltzer/WrestlingObserver.com

"Mike (Johnson) also reported to me that he heard there was some kind altercation over the past few days between Steve Austin and Billy Gunn at the Manhattan hotel where the wrestlers are staying. It took place in the hotel bar according to Mike." credit: Dave Scherer/PWInsider Anyone wanna bet Gunn made an offhand comment to a drunk Austin about refusing to work with him in '99?

We've heard the news that Brock Lesnar is quitting WWE after Wrestlemania to pursue a potential career in the NFL. This is the thread where you give your predictions and/or suggestions as to who will or should take Brock's spot as the #1 heel on Smackdown.

Man, Vince is really starting to look old. Break out the Just For Men, please.

I still have fond memories of the New York crowd reaction to The Rock's promo at the RAW 10th Anniversary show.

What athlete has actually died from steroids? Lyle Alzado's death was widely attributed to steroid abuse, for one. Yep, Alzado's cancer was the big thing that brought steroids onto the stage. His doctor stated that Alzado's brain cancer was specifically an effect from his years of steroid abuse.

I don't blame WWE for pushing Brock the way they did. 2002 was a time when they needed a new face fast to freshen things up and to legitamize the brand extension. They ditched all that pay your dues stuff because they needed a new star NOW. It's not WWE's fault Brock couldn't handle it. They pushed Rock the same way and he turned into probably the shining example of what it means to be a company man (when he's not doing movies). He puts over everybody and does everything he's asked with a smile.

Meltzer said the Backlash main event would definitely be Benoit vs. HHH, and I'm believing Dave Meltzer more than I am Pro Wrestling "OVW is dead" Torch. And plus, HBK has a torn-ACL and needs it fixed. And I doubt he'd keep going for a PPV like Backlash (esp. when he's not winning).

Looks like Torrie is finally getting the Playboy elitist syndrome.

They'll probably do the Judgment Day '98 deal where Steve Austin beats the shit out of everyone and declares himself the winner.

I remember Kurt Angle saying he tried out for the Pittsburgh Steelers after he won the 1996 gold medal and it didn't work out so well for him. But then again, Angle isn't Lesnar's size.

Since we're talking about dream matches, allow me to chime in: Brock Lesnar vs. Repo Man COME ON, BROCK! GO INDEPENDENT!

Yeah, but he did it because it made no sense since both were faces.

As long as he stays professional and does what he's supposed to on TV, I don't really care.

He did the job to and made Guerrero look like a total star in their title match at No Way Out. That's all the Team Player quality I need. Anything else I could care less about.

"Thank you, Big Show, for breaking one of my ribs a week before Survivor Series '02 and forcing WWE to take the title off me and kill my undefeated streak to you. I'll never forget it, buddy."