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WRESTLING COLUMNS

It Looked Good on Paper
August 23, 2003 by Brian Bertrand



Ever since Ric Flair took it upon himself to become the "on-screen" co-owner of the WWE things started and that's when the shit hit the fan. The nWo make their dismal return, Ric puts himself in useless matches, and the roster gets split in two. When the roster gets split, many good teams were disbanded forcefully as well as good storylines that could have happened and with Stone Cold going off on a hissy fit it's no surprise that he knew that it would suck. Now Stone Cold Steve Austin is calm and now he's running the Raw roster with Eric Bischoff, a man who is a pretty decent business man. Meanwhile, Vince and Stephanie McMahon are running Smackdown! The tag teams that were separated at the roster split have all reformed but one (the Hardy Boys but we know the reasons) but here are some good reasons why the WWE would need to reform the full 50+ roster.

10-Having The Rock on one show only: He may be electrifying but that doesn't mean that he's too good to be called a wrestler and hop between shows every time he comes back from a movie shoot. Now I know I hate The Rock but given he's the hottest prospect that the WWE has. But with all this hopping its going to bring down the morale of both locker rooms. Especially the Smackdown! roster because that's supposedly HIS show since it's HIS catch phrase.

9-Both shows would be equally more appealing: It's hard to say which show is better. Raw has some good entertainment with about mediocre talent while Smackdown! has good talent with mediocre talent. If WWE decides to reunite the rosters imagine how much better the shows will be. Hell, they put most of the pay-per-views with both shows and just about 80% of the time they are a hell of a lot better than the crap they pulled with the recent Bad Blood and Vengeance. With the shows together they would even out the playing field.

8-Fantasy Matches come true for once: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker vs. the new, demented Kane, why not Tajiri vs. Bischoff =D. Many of these matches are what some people really want to see. There are a lot of wrestlers that are coming in but that only goes for about 40% of the thrill. What about that other 60%? And with Sting on his way to WWE there's going to be a lot more fantasy matches that we may or may not get to see.

7-Bigger boosts for younger talent: Face it! The WWE is desperately boosting talent just to boost ratings. Hell they gave Hogan the belt AGAIN so that's a clear indication that they were a bit desperate. But if they are going so desperate as putting a one-legged man in a serious ass-kicking contest against the Big Show and winning just because he had help just blasts desperation right in our faces. It's a call for help. Gail Kim got the instant push when she won the Women's Title for her debut match. With both shows burning up old talent Smackdown! is just wasting TV time with stupid and pointless feuds against Vince McMahon.

6-Cities singled out: It's nice to see WWE come back to your city more often than a lot of other places. All together I've been to about 6 Raw events, 7 house shows, and 1 pay-per-view (Royal Rumble '98) before the split, now after the split I believe we only had a house show and a Smackdown! taping here. BTW I live in Silicon Valley, California so of course I'm referring to the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Smackdown! event was really boring too.

5-No appreciation for more deserving wrestlers: Here's how I see it. Triple H sucks as a champion. Brock Lesnar is getting annoying yet with his heel turn again he's gaining his great aspect that he once had with Paul Heyman. The least they can do is strip Triple H of that belt and give it to someone that DESERVES it. Someone like Rob Van Dam or hell maybe Kane. But we all know that Triple H's backstage politics have to play a substantial role or else he'll walk. Triple H is getting very pathetic with the formation of the Evolution. Brock is kind of the same way but not as much. He actually earned his title instead of getting it handed to him. But I think it's time he gave it up. If I ran the Raw Champion would be Kane for his uncontrollable factor. With his power and his hunger for pain this title would be in the bag for him. For Smackdown!, the champion there would be Rhyno because if you look back on his ECW history he obviously has the power to dismantle his opponents and keep that title for as long as possible.

4-Good wrestlers on wrong shows: It all seems good when you first thing of it. This all started when Flair put the whole nWo on Raw. Wrestlers should be on a show that best fits them. On some aspect this is a confusing subject. We all know that a good trade would be Christian and Scott Steiner for the Undertaker and Big Show (now that Stacy is with Test it's possible) would boost both shows substantially. The Undertaker could help with the current Kane angle against RVD or hell he might turn heel again and join Kane. Big Show can get revenge on Goldberg for whipping his ass in WCW so damn much while on the road for the Raw Championship. Meanwhile, Steiner would become the next Godfather moving in to get Torrie Wilson from Billy Gunn and Nidia from Jaime Knoble. Christian...well...he can do some good with Rey Misterio.

3-Less WCW/ECW discrimination: Hasn't Vince McMahon humiliated WCW and ECW enough? I mean it was no surprise that most of the great talent went on to other feds and things instead of conform to Vince, forcing the WWE to use some of their already used talent and some of ECW's biggest names and WCW's worst. The storyline didn't do any good either. Now, with the split, Raw only has Goldberg, RVD, Lance Storm, and Goldust getting the bigger pushes. Smackdown! only has Rey Misterio, Chris Benoit, and Rhyno getting any sort of push they can. What about Tommy Dreamer, little Spike Dudley, or even poor Sean O'Haire, who's only push were his promos and his time with Roddy Piper? They all should go on some title runs.

2-Pay-per-views and storylines WORTH watching: So far the only good storylines I've seen for both shows are the Trish Stratus/Gail Kim feud and the Guererro/Tajiri/Rhyno/Benoit feud(s). It's bad enough that St. Anger is the theme for Summerslam '03. Why must they rely on those storylines to gain any support? I mean the 4-way battle if going to be great but what about some of the other matches? The Elimination Chamber might be fun to see but I'm a bit skeptical.

1-More prospects!!!: This is a great reason why it could happen. Because before the InVasion but after the purchase heard around the world Buff Bagwell actually was on WWE television with his own theme song. And Scott Hudson was actually commentating for that match. I bet they were ecstatic when they came out. Hell I'm sure with this whole thing over with Chris Sabin, Shark Boy, A.J. Styles, Shane Douglas, and a lot more NWA: TNA guys and indie guys would love to get a nice slice of the WWE with bigger offers than originally proposed.

Sure you may agree with me or you may not. This whole thing has become a boring storyline and I sure as hell bet that it all seemed great when they first thought of it. But all in all it's the only way WWE can keep mainstream competition with itself and not acknowledge the meaning of heart that NWA: TNA has been showing as of late with their inovation. More and more guys are refusing to join up with WWE. Maybe if something good happens they might reconsider their decisions.

All from your local neighborhood deadbeat:

by ~Brian Bertrand


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