Just a point about the Wolfman winning the lottery. It was not the NH State Lottery, but Powerball which runs in 21 states. A good friend of mine lives on the same street as him. Wolfman turned his little cape into a seven bedroom, five car garage mansion but still has his crappy pick-up truck sitting out in front of his home.
I'm just sittin' here amazed at the rips being aimed at Chad Brock. The newcomer scored a significant hit (Top 10'ish) earlier this year with his debut single "Ordinary Life". His 2nd single "Lightning Does The Work" is #25 on the R&R Country Chart for the 2nd week in a row. He made his Grand Ol' Opry debut in March. He's opened for (among others) Alan Jackson on the road & will have his debut album released later this year.I'm solidly in the ranks of those who aren't happy about all the entertainment & wrestling connections WCW is trying to make, but let's not kick Chad Brock's music around in the process. He's as valid a musical performer as the cartoon freaks from ICP. Wait a minute, now I damning him with faint praise.
It's not Chad Brock I'm pissed about. I don't like country music, but I can respect the fact that people perform country for a living. What upsets me is that WCW takes valuable time they could use for showing a great match or advancing an angle and blow it on musicians. To paraphrase an old Arn Anderson quote, the last time I checked the marquee, it said World Championship Wrestling.
WCW should realize that not everybody likes guys like Master P, Megadeth, Chad Brock or KISS. While they may please one section of fans by showcasing their respective talents, they'll piss off a greater deal of fans than attract. It would only make sense to showcase WRESTLING in a professional wrestling show. Save the musicial acts for MTV.
I love seeing live music (but no country) so I always check Pollstar.com for tour dates of my favorite bands. When looking for happenings around my town, who do I see but our half-wrestler/half-country-singer mutant putz Chad Brock. Try it for yourself. Go to pollstar.com and do an artist search on him.. 34 concert dates, almost all at state fairs.Gotta love WCW's talent search.. c'mon, state fairs?! What's next, the bearded lady in the "new" WCW women's division? :)
I can hear Tony Schiavone a month from now:
"We're live for another three solid hours of NITRO!! And tonight, folks, this will go down as the biggest Nitro in the history of our sport!! Because we have for our capacity crowd tonight the third, fourth and fifth best street lugers in the United States!! And get this, our competition had to give away tickets for their show tonight and still didn't fill the house!"
Watching Macho Man is bringing me back in time to a point dangerously close to the WWF circa '93, '94 when we had things like Doink the Clown. Savage is killing the WCW, just killing it. Between him and Sid, I am actually dying to see Hogan. I can't watch much of the WWF because I like actual wrestling too much, but I do not know how much longer I can continue to watch the WCW.I've also pretty much given up on the idea that Benoit may actually go over. Four and half minutes against DDP? Yet we get more air time for Buff? The Buff dancing or whatever he does has to go also, he looks like he is having a convulsion. So now Benoit and DDP get the rubber match at RW, but who really cares? There's no title on the line and so what if Triad and Douglas run in, we've seen it every week for the past 6 months.
I think next weeks trivia question should be "Is there even one reason left to watch WCW?". I know its the same stuff over and over every week. Don't mean to vent, but its really starting to get to me.
Well, at least they didn't follow-up on Chucky last year by bringing back "Cheatum, the evil midget."
In your Thunder column you wondered why Goldberg is going for the TV Title, well the match with Steiner at Road Wild is being billed as a "Non-Title" grudge match.
As for the No-Heat-Soldiers Tag Team of BA and Swoll, I liked the "Armstrong plays face-in-peril until he tags off to a bigger, lesser talented face who unrealistically cleans house and scores the pin with a weak looking finisher" the first time I saw it, when it was the New Age Outlaws.
And if you're not down with an embarrasing rapper gimmick and a man who can't sell a ballshot to save his life, then I got two words for ya -- Hootie Hoo!
Okay, I'll admit that was really bad. Sorry.
I wouldn't consider myself a big WWF fan, but I did watch that promotion almost exclusively between 1992 and 1996. I mean, let's face it, when you have gimmicks in WCW like the Shockmaster, Yeti and Zodiac, you'd run away too. Anyway, I've been hearing the hype about how the WWF might be slowing down in the chat rooms and on some of the sheets. I don't know whether that is true or not, but for the sake of argument let us assume that the WWF has it in cruise-control right now. I have an idea that could extend the life of the "Attitude Years," as coined by Xavier Doom:
Re-sign "Mr. Bob Backlund."
Okay, your jaws may stop dropping now. I know he's an old guy and is probably a shell of what he used to be. But, if you can forgive the WWF for giving him the "goody-two-shoe" gimmick years ago, I think said gimmick would be a great idea today. Everyone is always talking about the increase of obscene language and sexual overtones that are apparent in the WWF today. That is why Mr. Bob Backlund would make the perfect heel.
Have "Stone Cold" Steve Austin come out and start drinking beer and swearing about Triple-H. Mr. Backlund then comes out and berates Austin for his use of language, then eats a Stunner or two. You could have the two wrestle on a RAW and have Backlund score a cheap victory after heel interference. This would allow Austin to retaliate at the next PPV by squashing Backlund and giving him two or three Stunners. Backlund wouldn't lose much face, since he had already scored a win over Austin prior to the PPV, and Austin would have regained his revenge for the loss and can move on.
Okay, I can understand that Austin has too much star-power to do this plotline. So, why not take a mid-carder? Someone like Jeff Jarrett would be perfect for this. Especially with a hot valet like Debra who likes to show her canine fortitude at his opponents. Of course, this is all assuming that Debra is still Jarrett's valet by the time this feud would begin.
Same deal as above, Debra takes her jacket off and right before she shows her puppies, Backlund interrupts and berates Debra, prompting Jarrett to act. It would get Jarrett over as a face and having Backlund stop Debra right before her top would come off would garner INSTANT heel heat. Again, have Jarrett win at the PPV, but allow Backlund to get a cheap win beforehand. Similar feuds could be established for other "adult" characters like Val Venis and/or The Godfather.
Granted, this wouldn't last forever and it could probably be much better booked than what I transcribed, but hey it's not a bad idea. But, if it is a bad idea, that's why I'm an amateur internet reporter and not a backstage booker.