They need WCW

Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #285
April 30th, 2001

The Opening Word:

It's funny how quickly one's interest in pro-wrestling can evaporate ...

A friend of mine was going to try and make it over Sunday, and if he did
we'd have watched Backlash. Turned out he couldn't make it, so I passed on
getting the show. I didn't even bother checking out the results of the show
until Monday afternoon.

With work, family, friends, relationships and life in general always having
to compete for your time, interest in a hobby that's lost its appeal can
diminish pretty quickly. Wrestling is a hobby I've enjoyed for nearly twenty
years. Yet there have been times in the past where my interest has waned and
I've all but walked away completely.

The last time that happened was in 1992, when I could no longer watch the
WWF because seemingly every station here in Minnesota that carried it
dropped them (and my cable company didn't carry the USA Network). That left
just WCW, which at the time was going through one of its worst periods ever.
I ended up only watching the Clash of the Champions shows, and the
occasional weekly show (so I'd know when the next Clash was going to be on).
I didn't really get back into wrestling until late '94, when we finally got
USA and I could watch the WWF again. Then the Internet came along, and there
was that whole ECW buzz going on, and I started trading tapes, getting
caught up on what I'd missed in '93, etc.

I don't know how close I am to walking away again, but when a week goes by
and I can only barely bring myself to watch a few minutes of SmackDown! and
Heat ... maybe that time is drawing near.

Backlash, from the reviews I'm seeing, looks to be the first WWF PPV in some
time that's generally getting bad reviews, not because it was bad, but
because there wasn't anything special about it.

SmackDown! had a lot of solid wrestling on it last week, yet it ended up
drawing one of its lowest ratings ever.

RAW last Monday continued to sink back down to pre-WCW demise levels in
terms of viewership.

There are those who say some wrestling fans aren't being fair to the WWF.
I'd agree with that--at the same time being one of those who probably aren't
judging the company on the merits of the product its delivering. The stories
are fine, the wrestling's pretty good, and there's a remarkable absence of
stupid gimmicks and angles.

So what is the WWF doing wrong?

Like I've said for weeks now, they need to step things up a notch, or two,
or fifty. They need to come up with something that will make wrestling fans
perk up and say "holy crap!" Turning Steve Austin heel isn't going to cut
it. We've all seen guys go heel, and these days there's no one who has been
a face long enough for that turn to mean enough. They need something like
the NWO angle that will shake up the wrestling world and knock the fans on
their asses.

They need WCW.

I know it can't be rushed, but this thing needs to get off the ground. They
need to get back up and running, and right out of the starting gate we fans
have to be given the impression that it's really trying to compete with the
WWF. It has to look like they're trying to one-up the WWF, and on the very
next WWF show after the relaunch they have to respond, saying "no--WE are
the better wrestling promotion." Whether they do it with big angles or great
matches it doesn't matter. The two promotions have to set a tone and go with
it, pushing it to the limits, bragging about whatever aspect of their
company they say is the best. Let one give us great matches while the other
does awesome angles. Or try to outdo each other in those areas.
Whatever--just make it seem like the war is back on and the shit's about to
hit the fan.

Vince is going to have to break out his checkbook and make some major talent
be a part of all this. The "new" WCW isn't going to catch on if its biggest
star is Sean O'Haire or Chuck Palumbo. They're the next wave of stars that
have to be built up for a year or two or three down the road. McMahon is
going to have to dig deep and bring back Goldberg, or take a shot with Rob
Van Dam, or--heaven forbid--let Hulkamania run wild one last time.

Get the fans talking about wrestling again. Make them want to tune into the
new WCW show, then tune into RAW to see how the WWF reacts. Make wresting
again seem like something you're afraid to miss, rather then the same old
thing week-in and week-out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

WWF RAW is WAR:
Live/Taped: Live.
Length: Two Hours+.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Hosted By: Jim Ross & Paul Heyman.

WWF RAW:

 - Tonight: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Kane for the WWF Championship.


~~~~~~~~


The Bottom Line:

Who indeed?

Did anyone else hope there at the end that the Hardy Boyz would run out for
the save, setting up a Tag Title match on SmackDown!?

So basically we're back where we were the night after WrestleMania. Austin &
Triple H are sitting easy atop the WWF. Vince McMahon seems to have no
problem dealing with his clueless wife. Kurt Angle is feuding with Chris
Benoit, Chris Jericho is feuding with William Regal, the Dudley Boyz are
feuding with X-Factor, and the company as a whole is lacking a top babyface.
Who indeed can stop McMahon's boys running roughshod over the WWF? Kane has
been shown to be a liability for the Undertaker, who by himself (and, as we
saw at the PPV, as a team) can't beat the Terrible Trio. Test was cut off at
the knees before he even became an option. The Hardy Boyz have been
unceremoniously dumped back down to the midcard, squabbling with Edge &
Christian over the European Title.

The only possible candidate is the Rock, and he's off making movies.

Maybe it's all a SWERVE, and the Rock will actually come back sooner than
this summer, in which case the WWF would be building up to ... things being
the way they were leading up to WrestleMania.

Sounds thrilling.

I hear "Everybody Loves Raymond" is a pretty fun show to watch Monday
nights.