MazFin-:-Wrestling-:-Fin's Thoughts

MAZFIN.COM---WRESTLING---FIN'S THOUGHTS

The Week In History...

Hi folks,

I am pleased to say that I didn't receive too much hate mail after my verbal berating of Chris Jericho in last weeks column. in this column, I am going to go over and analyse the goings on of the past week in the crazy world that is sports entertainment. The past week has been quite an eventful one, Vince McMahon played his "get out of jail" card by having Trish strip on Raw(a segment that was unfortunately edited out in the UK) Also, we can't forget that my personal favourite "Prime Time" Elix Skipper advanced along with Kid Romeo in the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team tournament, by the way, does anyone else think Prime Time's music kicks ass?

First of all, let's take a look at Paul Heyman's debut as colour commentator on Raw along side good ol JR shall we? After watching Raw I was quite pleasently surprised by Heyman's performance, it was very professional although I feel that he tried too hard to get over as a heel. Yes, I thought Heyman's performance was good but when I say "good" I am being generous. Acceptable would be a better word to use, lets face it, Paul Heyman was no Jerry Lawler. Incidentally I was appaled when i heard that anyone who took signs saying something like "WE WANT KING BACK" would have them confescated and destroyed! Jerry Lawler was the glue that held WWF broadcasts together, there is a hole in the show without the King and I feel that the WWF will sorely miss him. Heyman was OK and he will improve but he will never get over like Lawler did. On a sad note, Heyman's appearance on Raw must surely spell the end of ECW, some fans are still trying to hang onto it but I tihnk we've all gotta except that ECW has now gone to Wrestling Federation heaven. I am going to dedicate a future column to ECW so watch this space.

Now I'm going to summarise Raw with a few sentances.......
1. Hardy Boyz holding the titles?!?! Argh!! I have to accept they deserve the titles because they are so over but they are just not my "cup of tea" and the Matt/Jeff/Lita angle is very bland and uninteresting in my opinion.

2. Christians multicouloured sweater, I felt the need to grab a pair of sunglasses on viewing that hidious piece of "fashion"

3. Kurt Angle breaking Scottie Too Hottie's ankle, scene as Scottie is going to be out with his back injury they might have well as used an angle to cover it up and it helps get Angle away from the "cowardly heel" role into the "serious and violent heel" role.

4. Jericho v Guererro was a solid match, Benoit's face turn is a bad move in my opinion. This guy looks like such an evil heel and was well over as a heel so why bother turn him?

5. Although I didn't get to see it, I think the Trish stripping angle was a desperate attempt by Vince to get homself some ratings. Lets face it, the XFL is a flop, Vince needs to get back on track by getting some serious ratings and what better way to get ratings than to have Trish Stratus strip? I know I'd watch!

6. I have always respected and admired Al Snow, the guy has a phenomenal work rate and is entertaining, did anyone else think that the chair bump he took at the hands of The Big Show was great!? On a side note, I hate the Show but having him wear the Hardcore title around his arm is a pretty cool idea, it gives him more of a "Giant" look and makes him more intimidating.

7. The main event was entertaining but I still think the main event scene needs freshening up a little. Having Debra as Rock's manager was uneccessary I thought at first, however it will add a little spice to the build up of Rock/Austin at Wrestlemania.

One subject that has been much talked about this week is the whole "Vince/Linda/Trish" angle which took place on Smackdown. Many people have very strong opinions on this including Tommy Boyd of TalkSport who is writing a letter to Vince McMahon expressing his concern about the angle. The majority of people feel that this angle is sick and I completely agree. Sometimes you have to wonder what goes on in the mind of Vinnie Mac? Yes I can understand that he will do anything for ratings but is this really the way to go about getting ratings? I think not, this is going to make people turn off WWF television and I don't blame anyone that does.

Ah at last, the WWF has an english commisioner. I am a big fan of William Regal and must admit that I am very surprised at how quickly he has progressed and established himself as a good heel in the WWF in such a short amount of time. Regal's had a couple of stinkers with Hardcore Holly but on the whole he's been a revelation! On his day and if booked right, Regal can tear the house down. Apparently he and Chris Benoit has one of the best pure wrestling matches in years at the Brian Pillman memorial show. I am pleased for Regal, I thInk he was under used by WCW and is now getting what he deserves in the WWF. Anyone who besmirches Regal will feel my wrath!

Undertaker v Triple H at Wrestlemania? I hope not! Triple H is capable of carrying most people to a good match but I just don't think he and The Undertaker will have a good match. Many casual fans will love it, one of the biggest faces taking on the biggest heel however, I thinkt he match will be very slow and hard to watch. Since The Undertaker returned he has done nothing that has impressed me, he's well past it unfortunately. In my opinion, the WWF should give him one last run on top as "The Phenom" before Mark Calloway finally hangs up his boots after an illustrious career.

Now onto the poor relations....WCW. New WCW? Well I must admit I haven't seen much changes since the supposed new WCW, Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell are still on TV for starters. They are pushing the hell out of the washed up Rick Steiner who seems to ahve abysmal matches even with the best of them. Maybe I'm being a little harsh on WCW. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those WCW haters who hates the company just because they are WCW, infact, I prefer the majority of the WCW in ring product to that of the WWF. Maybe nothing much has changed in WCW because the Fusient dela hasn't quite been finished and Bischoff hasn't had the cance to work his magic. On the bright side, the cruiserweight tag team tournament has been a revelation. Some of the matches we have seen so far in the Cruiserweight Tag Tourney have been great, Prime Time and Kid Romeo taking on AJ Styles on Air Paris was very entertaining with all athletes giving it their all. The cruiserweight pool that WCW has is amazing and is the one point where WCW have a distinct advantage over WWF, WCW have made the right move in exploiting this advantage. On a side note let me give you my prediction on what will happen in the cruiserweight tag team tournament......the final will be Rey and Kidman taking on the Jung Dragons, Rey and Kidman will win in an amazing contest....having the belts on such a well known and over pair liek Rey and Kidman will help get the belts sufficiently over before they relinquish them to the amazing and hard working Dragons.

The return of Booker T was great but I tihnk they should have possibly left it until the "New WCW" is underway, will Booker T be able to carry Rick Steiner to a good match at Greed? The segment on Nitro a couple of weeks ago where Jarrett took the piss out of Dusty Rhodes was hilarious and I felt it helped add some more heat to Jarrett's feud with Dustin Rhodes. However, WCW this week brought Ric Flair and Dusty into the feud which was a big mistake in my opinion. Both Ric and Dusty are legends but let's face it they aren't what they used to be. I think that Jarrrett would have carried Dustin to a good one on one match but now with Ric and Dusty involved the match will be a farce. Let's hope that Bischoff can get WCW back on track when he officially takes over.

The Rumour Mill As always, this is the part of my column where I confirm or shoot down rumours that have been flying around the net or other places...

1. Many people have been saying Ken Shamrock will return at Wrestlemania to possibly go after Kurt Angle to show who's the "best" at executing the ankle lock submission hold. I very much doubt that this rumour is true!

2. A regular rumour is HBK returning at Wrestlemania. This rumour could be true but I doubt he'll be wrestling, he may return at Wrestlemania or before in some kind of capacity.

3. As always, we have Hulk Hogan will return, THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN ANY TIME SOON IF EVER. Hogan is an egomaniac who claimed to be playing bass guitar with metallica!

4. I read one rumour that claimed there would be a match at Wrestlemania involving Vince/Steph v Shane/Linda. Now this rumour could very well come true but once again I doubt it.

Well that just about concludes the column for this week people. i hope you enjoyed reading and if you want to mail me heaping praise upon me, the address is fin090@cableinet.co.uk I'll be back same time next week with more fascinating insights into the world of professional wrestling. Cheers, Fin.