Claire's Report - Issue #1 - 11/26/2001
This is my first column for this website. I have lots to say this week and I will try and produce a new column every week so please keep checking back.
Survivor Series was a night to remember. A night when the World Wrestling Federation and the Alliance put everything on the line. In the end there could only be one winner. After a great battle our so called Olympic hero Kurt Angle showed his true colors when he turned against his fellow team mate Stone Cold Steve Austin and helping The Rock gain a victory for the wwf. But what does this mean for the alliance?
The Alliance were totally screwed and now there out of business. Vince McMahon did say in a recent interview that Raw and Smackdown will continue as normal. All other wwf shows will be abolished and be replaced by a seperate TV show run by wcw and ecw. Wonder if these two federations will stick together? We'll just have to wait and find out.
Its quite obvious what the wwf are trying to do. Putting Chris Jericho against The Rock isn't going to be the best storyline if they're both babyface. It reminds me of Wrestlemania 17 The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Fans didn't know who to support. In the end Austin turned heel its just the way things go in the World Wrestling Federation. Putting two babyfaces (or good guys should I say) together isn't going to get good ratings. Hell the fans dont want to have to choose between there two favourite wrestlers. Thats why the wwf have to change either Jericho or The Rock heel. Its a bit obvious that The Rock will always remain a fan favorite. We've already seen the turn of Chris Jericho. Lets take Survivor Series for example. Chris Jericho didn't care about wwf staying in business, he didn't care about the fact that thousands of jobs would be on the line, he was just thinking of himself. Then we have Raw and Smackdown. Chris Jericho violently abusing The Rock when he was down. He wouldn't face him like a man. I'm pretty sure that in the next week or so chants of "Jericho sucks" will be heard throughout the arena. People are already starting to hate him. Everytime two fan favorites face each other we always get the same results one of them turns heel while the other stays babyface. I suppose the wwf will need heels now that the alliance have finished.
Speaking of heels Stone Cold seems to be turning babyface? Or is it just me? It seems like fans are dying to get the old Austin back. We are already seeing Stone Cold in a bitter rivalty against Kurt Angle who doesn't seem to be liked at the moment. On Smackdown we not only seen Stone Cold give William Regal the Stunner but we also seen the ex-alliance members beat the hell out of him. Think about it, William Regal nobody shows an interest in this guy in fact nobody likes this guy, who wouldn't wanna see Regal get stunned? And who likes the ex-alliance members? What? What? This catch phrase is becoming a favourite quaote. Theres definitely something going on here. If you ask me, Stone Cold is on his way to becoming a babyface. No, I haven't forgotten about Ric Flair either. Actually I heard that with Jerry 'the king' Lawlers return on Raw last week and Ric Flairs shocking appearance that ratings for wwf Raw and Smackdown have gone up. The plan seems to be working. Who knows we could even see Ric Flair get his wrestling gear on and get back in the ring. I think Ric Flair will end up a babyface like Austin. Vince is slowly begining to turn heel along with Kurt Angle andthe ex-alliance members. Good old Ric seems to have returned at a very good time. Who knows what will happen? Does any of this have something to do with Triple H I wonder?
Overall I thought Raw and Smackdown were great. With Regal kissing Vince's Ass it certainly was something to laugh about! Including the returns of Ric Flair and The King and some great matches. I was very suprised on smackdown when Vince was planning on knocking the Undertakers head off! Wonder why the dead man just walked away? I'm sure we'll have answers next week. I loved it when Rob Van Dam and The Rock teamed up. I honestly thought they should of won the Tag Team champions. Oh well maybe next time. The WCW belt getting changed to the World Title is another big step the WWF made. Introducing a new title. I really think theres too much already without adding even more. Soon everyone in the Federation will be holding a belt. Really, I mean years back titles hardly ever changed hands unlike today when superstars loose the title as quick as I can count 1 2 3.
As many of you might of heard the wwf are getting lower TV ratings especially compared to last years. The wwf are cutting jobs and even websites have been cut. Wrestlers such as Essa Rios, Funoki, Gangerel, Tori and more have been cut. Some names have not been released yet. This is rumoured to put the wwf back into business and hopefully better storylines for the year 2002. They are going to increase there stocks and a wwf head office will be in London. This means more appearances in the UK!! With the failure of XFL I dont know what Vince and Linda are gonna do if this wcw/ecw TV show doesn't go as planned. Speaking of the new alliance TV show, I wonder who will be in it. No big names surley. No Rob Van Dam, Stone Cold, Test, Dudley Boyz, Christian, Kurt Angle it doesn't look too good. The main guy looks like its gonna be Booker T. I dont think the shows will get good ratings unless more fan favourite superstars appear like RVD. This guy was a fan favourite even when he was in the alliance. If RVD goes to the alliance TV shows I'm pretty sure the ratings will jump up.
Well as far as injurys go.....I heard that Triple H has fully recovered. We should see him very soon. I reckon the wwf are holding him back with the return of Ric Flair and The King, Triple H's return wont be big. If they leave his return for a while then this could lead to huge storylines and great ratings. I wonder were Triple H will stand when he returns? If you ask me I think his return will be at Vengeance. It seems like the right time.
Rikishi seems to be healing fast too, I guess the big man will probably make a return round about March, thats if things go according to plan. The same with Benoit, he seems to be doing fine but a later return for the crippler round about May/June. A long wait I know. I am dying to see all these guys back in action! Oh and not forgeting X Pac who is seeing a specialist about his neck.
Its so great to have the womens title back in the wwf. Many of us have been waiting for that time to come! I think I prefered Chyna being the champ. Oh well. The battle royal was very entertaining. With Jazz, Trish, Lita, Jaqueline, Molly Holly and Ivory. It would of been even better if the likes of Torrie Wilson and Stacey Keibler took part. Its a shame some of these superstars are no longer part of wwf.
I would of never expected Trish to win the womens battle royal. With the likes of Jaqueline, Lita and Ivory who are very experienced I never really thought that Trish stood a chance. Trish has been very impressive the last week or so. She has defended her womens title against Lita and Stacey Keibler and not only were her matches very entertaining but Trish managed to regain her title on both occasions. Shes also becoming a regular face on TV and becoming very popular with the fans. I never even imagined Trish becoming the womens champion it was a big shocker! Hopefully Trish will remain the womens champion for some time. Shes a great champion, I'm glad she stayed with the wwf.
My superstar of the week would have to be Rob Van Dam. Vince is taking all his anger out on this guy because he wouldn't join the wwf. Mind you thinking about it, Vince does have a point. But Rob Van Dam is still my superstar of the week. After his handicaped match against The Dudley Boyz I think RVD really was the better man, he should of won. He seems to be fitting in well in the wwf and is great role model for fans. I'm sure Vince will make a lot of money putting RVD on wwf tv. I dont know about the rumours which have been involving Rob about going mad in matches. As far as I see it Rob Van Dam is just a talented superstar. Those who complain about Mr Monday Night are just completley jealous. They're jealous because all the attention is going to RVD. Fans are crazy about him and superstars dont like it, thats why they want him out. I honestly dont agree. I think RVD is one of the hardest working wrestlers the wwf have at this current time, lets just hope that he keeps up the great work.
I thought I should also comment on Matt Hardy and Lita's relationship. Of what I've seen on television anyway. These two lovebirds are drifting apart. No, I dont think its Jeffs fault at all. However, I do think that Jeff made a huge mistake at Survivor Series but doesn't everyone make mistakes sometime in their lives? Matt isn't exactly perfect himself, hes made numerous mistakes so who is he to have a go at his Brother? He should be supporting him not blaming him. Did anyone notice on the replay on Raw when Lita was talking to Jeff about Matt being 'weird'. The room that Matt walked out off was also the same room which Trish walked out of later, it does sound like something is going on here! I do know one thing, if there is something going on then I think the Hardy Boyz will split. Hopefully we will see Team Xtreme getting back to themselves in the next few weeks. But, if I was to blame anyone then I would blame Matt. Oh should I mention, I think Lita and Jeff would make a great inter-gender tag team!
I dont know if its just me but is anyone getting bored of seeing Edge and Christian go face to face all the time? I know I am! Ever since Christian turned his back on Edge the two haven't stopped. All the house shows and events including raw and smackdown is Edge vs. Christian. I honestly think this rivalry has been going on for long enough. Maybe one more match to determine who is the better man will help. All the Edge vs. Christian matches I've seen so far Edge has picked up the win. I also think that Christian would do much better if he just stayed with the rest of the alliance his role in the wwf at the moment is not needed at all.
I have heard news that Ken Shammrock has been having words with wwf. Dont ask me if its true or not. It would be great to have 'the world most dangerous man' back in action. Even if hes not actually wrestling. He was one of my all time favourite superstars and he really did lighten things up in the ring. Reminds me of the old Stone Cold we used to see actually. Anyway I hope what I heard is true because it would be great to have him back! I'm sure many of you agree. I know the wwf have been having talks with a lot of superstars latley. I do feel sorry for the superstars who have never been able to play a part in the wwf recently with the whole invasion which had been going on. They certainly deserve it thats for sure. They've been with wwf since day one. Yet they cant even get on tv at all.
The way the wwf are going fans are going to forget the superstars who they haven't seen for months. Now the wwf are gradually getting back to normal maybe this will mean more show time for the other superstars who have been waiting for ages just so they can appear on TV.
Its not like the wwf have too many talented people and the others just wont get ratings up at all. Its nothing to do with that. We are forced to watch the likes of Justin Credible, Chuck Palumbo and Chavo Guerrero just to name a few. Hey dont get me wrong there is nothing wrong with these guys at all. But surely fans would much rather watch guys such as Hardcore Holly ; Crash ; Spike Dudley ; Goodfather ; Bull ; Val Venis and many more. All these superstars are just getting pushed out of the picture.
Anyway thats all I have to say this week. I'll be back next week with more news and thoughts.
Take Care,
-Claire