This Week In Wrestling - The Rise & Fall Of WCW

What a week in wrestling it’s been. Where do I begin?

RAW, Dusty Rhodes, DX & The Shockmaster
We begin with RAW, guest hosted by The American Dream Dusty Rhodes. All in all it was a very entertaining RAW - more entertaining, of course, if you’ve gotten the referances made during the DX-Dusty Rhodes backstage skits about the WCW DVD. Since most of that material was written for less than 5% of the audience, let me shed a little light. But before I do, remember to register and join the Wrestling Page Roster to be automatically put into a drawing to win the “Rise & Fall Of WCW” DVD.

Ok, remember the skit where Triple H talked about “The Shockmaster” angle in WCW? The original angle occured in WCW during a segment on the show “A Flair For The Gold” well over 15 years ago. It was hosted by Ric Flair who was the top face at the time. It featured the debut of “The Shockmaster”, who was supposed to come crashing through the wall and scare the living daylights out of the heels. This, of course was Dusty Rhodes’ brainchild - he was a WCW booker at the time. However, the Shockmaster came crashing through the wall in his debut, tripped, fell, his helmet fell off and well - yes, it looked as rediculous as it sounds. The Shock Master was supposed to be this monster heel Dusty was going to headline with, and after he fell through the wall, it was all done. Here’s the complete segment.

The spoofed moment occurs at 3:28. Back when this occured it was Ole Anderson who was doing the voice. That’s why WWE had Arn Anderson “spotted” as doing the voice during the RAW spoof.  Ole Anderson was part of the original Four Horsemen,with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and manager James J. Dillon.

The WWE Spoof:

Triple H also asked Dusty Rhodes who’s idea was it in WCW to take a “no name, no talent bum like Marc Mero”, dress him up like Little Richard & call him Johnny B. Bad. It was Dusty’s idea, so he took credit for it. Of course, again, I’m sure no more than 5% of the fans know who Marc Mero is. Mero made some comments against the WWE during the wake of the Chris Benoit situation - as you can see, they are not over it.

Why is Chavo Guerrero A Comedy Wrestler?
We saw Chavo Guerrero battle Hornswoggle in another stupid gimmick match. Why!? Guerrero is one of the best wrestlers in the world - there’s no reason why he should be wrestling a midget! He should be wrestling guys like Evan Bourne, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, and other GOOD workers. THIS is what the lack of competition (WCW) does - it allows WWE to get stupid, at times. Well, alot of times.

Jeff Hardy / Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy said his final farewell LAST week on Smackdown. Yes, it’s true, oh it’s true. Jeff Hardy leaves the WWE. He’s off to get started on his reality show project. Hardy has become such a big star that he is charging $15,000 per appearance that he does while he is off from the WWE. This week, it was Matt Hardy returning to avenge his brother. Hardy looked a bit out of shape as he recently recovered from a medical procedure. But he had to come back and make up with his brother, make amends and fill the void before Jeff rode off into the sunset.

CM Punk & The Undertaker
I can’t wait for the match at Breaking Point between CM Punk & The Undertaker. I hope CM Punk holds on. He’s been one of the best, freshest and most intense WWE Champions of recent memories. His promos are spot on and he really knows how to draw heat. What a turn around from 2-3 years ago when CM Punk was in the WWE backstage dog-house and not getting a push. I think alot had to do with the fact that Paul Heyman was a big supporter of Punk - and well, Heyman and Vince McMahon didn’t exactly get along. McMahon, even during Punk’s early WWE days (when he was a face and Heyman’s pet project) always seemed to envision Punk being a heel. McMahon always thought that Punk should be a heel since he’s straight edge. He saw being straight edge as a quality of those who think that they’re “better than everyone else”. It looks like that manifestation is coming through rather effectively. CM Punk is featured in our PROMO OF THE WEEK, this week.

The Abraham Washington Show on ECW
I love the Abraham Washington Show, but I think I’m the only one. They’ve added Tony Atlas as the late night talk show “sidekick” who just laughs. It was funny, but the live crowds still hate it. They had “reporter” Gregory Helms on the show denying that he is Hurricane Helms. So we have Abraham Washington spoofing an 80/90s talk show host in Arsenio Hall, Atlas spoofing Ed McMahon and Gregory Helms doing the Clark Kent bit from the 80s. I think we can tell what era the WWE producers all grew up in. Washington even went on to say what a better talk show host he was then Arsenio Hall. Again, even though they were in Hall’s hometown for ECW, I doubt 80% of the crowd knew (or care) about Arsenio Hall.

Taz in TNA Wrestling
Taz has resurfaced in TNA wrestling. At first, he showed up as the mananger/mentor of Samoa Joe. Now he’s the colour commentator for TNA Impact. Taz has told his friends that he’s enjoying working for TNA much better than WWE. Less pressure, less hectic road schedule - and of course, as everyone who’s been an announcer says, no Vince McMahon screaming in their headsets when they say something VKM doesn’t like. This move, spearheaded by TNA head Dixie Carter, has been second guessed by many within the company since Don West was a mighty fine colour commentator since TNA’s inception. I, too, miss Mr. West’s 100 mile a minute pace and he was pretty damn funny. Taz did well and is also enjoyable. Hopefully we’ll see a better Taz on colour without the “Vince McMahon in his ear” thing holding him back from saying what he wants.

What To Look For…
Here’s what we have to look forward to this week. Bob Barker as host of RAW. Oh boy. No, no - Oh joy. This is going to be GREAT. I think that Mae Young could take more bumps than Barker. DX is always fun to watch. Even though they’re nothing compared to the PG-13 rated DX of the ’90s. I’m Mean Mike The Spike signing off until next time: Remember you’d better watch out, because the spike is agonna get ya! Whooooooooooo!!

I leave you with this from the Attitude Era DX. You know when they cursed, and stuff. Listen to this crowd!