In Memoria: Benny Carter and Compay Segundo, two men who reminded everyone that listening to music that’s a little out of your normal choice is a very satisfying experience.
Happy Anniversary: Today marks the 20th anniversary of the initial release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Weird to think that the NES is older than most of the writers over in the Games section, huh? And you guys don’t get off the hook from the smart-ass remarks until you start doing more PC games. What do I have to do, go over there and write them myself? Done it before, you know.
Look, I’m just pissed off that Bioware is denying me Knights of the Old Republic for the time being. Fuck X-Box. Fuck all consoles, in fact.
I’d like to do something unusual this week and start off with a letter from Semi-Regular Antwon Jackson. It asks a question that a lot of people have been wondering about, and not only about me:
I’m not trying to pick a fight, but I was just wondering, why do you still watch wrestling? What do you like about it?
I’ve haven’t watched any wrestling since whenever Goldberg and The Rock were back in February/March/April or whenever it was, and that was like for 2 episodes and that’s it. Before that I, watched it like 6 months before that. I’ve been an off and on wrestling fan for about 15 years…on; 1985 to about 1993 or so…I jumped back on from the introduction of NWO up until about 2000. I started up again with the Invasion angle and I was happy at first in anticipation of what could be…then I spent the next year and a half waiting for it to get better and it hasn’t…so I stopped and to be honest I don’t think I’m going back…
But I’ve stayed reading 411 (in large part to me getting hooked to your column every since your first day here). So I still keep up on stuff. But WWE is REALLY BAD right now and I’d rather watch Monday Night Football or 7th Heaven at this point.
So what I guess I am asking is…do you only watch the WWE now because of your column?
Honestly, much of the time, yes, the only reason I watch Raw is because of the column. It’s part of the implicit contract when you do a Tuesday news column. If I had a Friday column again, there’d be a Short Form about Smackdown too. That’s because they’re a major, major part of the wrestling news for that previous day, and need to be covered. You have to do a lot of things that you don’t necessarily want to do when you accept a particular responsibility. There are times that I will state directly that I won’t be watching Raw, so forget about the Short Form. The September 30th column this year, for instance; there is NO FUCKING WAY that I’m watching Raw, not with Bears/Packers at the opening of Renovated Soldier Field on MNF.
That being said, there are wonderful individual moments on each show, lasting from a couple of seconds in length to a full promo, but they’re not enough to justify watching the whole thing. However, you have to watch the whole thing to see those moments. It’s those moments that make me remember that, yes, this is why I once enjoyed this show on a consistent basis. Those moments give me a little bit of hope that they still know how to do something right. The problem is that those moments don’t contribute very much to the big picture of what Raw is trying to present. Raw is stuck in a major rut creatively; episodes are becoming almost interchangable. Smackdown is saved from this by the fact that they’ve pushed the people who are creating those great moments, but not even Kurt Angle and John Cena can counteract the Borgias.
And, please, don’t mix up watching wrestling with watching WWE programming. There are perfectly good alternatives out there; they’re just ones that I don’t want to pony up for or seek out at this time. Fortunately, we have people who are that way contributing great columns here on a weekly basis that allow me to keep up.
So, yeah, I watch Raw for the column. That doesn’t mean that I’m not a wrestling fan. It does mean that I treat this gig professionally enough to keep doing it.
DON’T EAT THE YELLOW CAKE
I’m not going to go off on a major invective about Dubbaya lying in the State of the Union Address about Iraq and uranium. I’ve said too many times that not only Dubbaya but his entire family are so twisted they screw their pants on in the morning, so going off in detail contributes nothing to what I’ve already been saying. I will make the following observations, though:
0) “Darn good intelligence”. Is that like David Lynch’s “damn fine cup of coffee” or something? “Darn good intelligence”, by the way, does not mean “correct intelligence”, so don’t go spinning this one.
1) And speaking of spinning, here’s Ari Fleischer, since this is the last time I’ll be able to nail his ass: This revisionist notion that somehow this is now the core of why we went to war, a central issue of why we went to war, a fundamental underpinning of the president’s decisions, is a bunch of bull. So why did Dubbaya give that reason during the State of the Union address? And if it wasn’t, what was the reason we went? Oh, yeah, oil.
And this beauty: It’s important to understand whether one specific sentence based on yellowcake was wrong, that does not change the fundamental case from being right. But it’s the one sentence that was specifically said and used as a justification. Letter of the law trumps spirit when you’re talking about going to war, Ari.
And this one…oh, boy: The burden is on the critics to explain where the weapons of mass destruction are. No, it isn’t. The burden is on the Junta. They’re the ones who invaded a country on the pretext that there were WMDs. You made the case, you prove it. Anyone who’s ever had to defend a thesis or participate in a high school debate knows that.
Has anyone thought about teaming Fleischer up with Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf in a modern-day version of Liar’s Club? You know that now that al-Sahaf’s out of hiding, he’s getting offers. Could you imagine the ratings for him doing a one-shot on Letterman? What about him on Crossfire? God knows he makes more sense than Robert Novak, and he’s just about as truthful.
2) Here’s Colonoscopy Powell: …to single out this one statement having to do with an intelligence picture that wasn’t entirely clear with respect to what he might have been trying to do with respect to acquiring uranium in Africa, I think is quite an overstatement and quite an overreaction to this one line. The president wasn’t in any way trying to mislead. Then why was the line in there and what exactly was Dubbaya trying to do when he said it, if not lie to the American people about the “threat level” that Iraq posed to the US?
3) If you need a good liar, turn to the Brits. Here’s how Tony Blair’s been spinning the whole issue: We made quite clear we acknowledged the mistake that one part of that briefing paper — one part — should have been sourced to a written record of a review that was published sometime before…That part of it that was expressed to be based on intelligence was indeed based on intelligence. In other words, we were doing our job with the inside stuff, and the rest of it we stole from the Internet. Sounds like the Torch, not the British gummint.
4) Rumsfeld, you ask? Why, certainly: The United States did not choose war. Saddam Hussein did…they had an international obligation to destroy its weapons of mass destruction and to prove to the world that they had done so. He refused to do so. So, therefore, if, oh, China asks the US to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, which we know exist, and the UN backs them up, and we refuse to do so, the Chinese have a perfect right to invade? Just curious.
5) Poor George Tenet, being made into the fall guy for Dubbaya’s ambitions. The funny part is that he stopped Dubbaya from yapping his mouth off once about the whole fissionable material issue, in a speech last October. Here’s Scary Ari on that one: The reference that the CIA recommended be taken out of the Cincinnati speech was a very specific to the country of Niger and to the quantity of uranium that Iraq sought from Niger…The language in the State of the Union says ‘sought uranium from Africa,’ not just Niger, because there was other reporting from other countries beyond Niger. All of a sudden, Bubba’s request for a definition of sex starts to look sane.
6) Yah Boo Sucks To You for throwing Professor Rice to the wolves on this. The presumption is simple: no good liberal in their right mind (and stop saying there’s no such thing, John and Ralph) would want to argue with an intelligent African-American female and make her look bad. Maybe she’ll get a clue, see how they’re turning her into a token and an Aunt Jemima, and head back to Stanford. She doesn’t deserve the treatment she’s getting from the Junta.
6) Congrats to Bob Graham and my man John Kerry for going on the Sunday shows and tearing the Junta a new one. Finally, the Demos are waking up and starting to strike back. Keep hitting, boys. And be sure to go after the Patriot Act while you’re at it. One good comparison to the brownshirts in front of Tim Russert is all you need to make headlines.
So what does this add up to? Two words: Tonkin. Gulf. But this time, it’s not a master bullshitter like Lyndon Johnson doing the lying, and it’s not taking place in an America that still respects the presidency. If Bubba lying about getting a blowjob was impeachable, what’s the proper punishment for lying to the American public about something that took us into a war?
DON’T EAT THE YELLOW JERSEY
Well, this was inevitable. After the team time trial last week, everyone knew it was simply a matter of when. Would Lance make his move on Saturday or Sunday? The answer was “Sunday”, during the steepest of climbs on the Tour. Lance did what Lance does best, even when he admittedly wasn’t at his best (his words, not mine). It’s pretty much over now, barring disaster. But big bravos to Tyler Hamilton, staying in the top ten despite that broken collarbone (in fact, he’s fifth after Monday’s stage). Is One-Two for the US possible? Hamilton’s out of second by a minute and a half. Doable, but difficult in the extreme.
DON’T EAT THE YELLOW WALRUS
With Craig Stadler’s victory at the Senior Players’ Championship (And what is it about the seniors getting five majors (the British Senior a couple weeks from now is a major)? Isn’t Social Security enough?), the Senior Tour…oops, Champions Tour…has officially become fun, if rather overloaded with Toms (Watson, Kite, Purtzer, but not David, who should be a prime contender this week). I watched whatever coverage CBS was gracious enough to give us, and was having a great time watching these guys, especially on Sunday. Kite was showing his old form by tying the course record. Purtzer was throwing in birdies like this was his last day on Earth. Of course, we had the Watson/Bruce Edwards story for pathos. And the Elders Circuit is only going to get better. Jay Haas is on the verge of turning 50, just to cite one example. Time to start watching them again, methinks.
DON’T EAT THE YELLOW…OH, HELL, WHAT’S YELLOW IN THE COUNTY OF KENT?
Naturally, my mind isn’t on wrestling right now. It’s Open Week. My brain is focused only in the direction of Royal St. George’s, where a showdown of epic proportions is setting itself up. Tigger smashed everyone’s brains in at the Western, he’s been practicing on links courses since, and oddsmakers have set him as the overwhelming favorite. Boring Ol’ Ernie whipped the field in the Scottish over the weekend, and he’s the defending champ. The BBC video feed will be providing us enough shots of Padraig Harrington and a suddenly-resurgent Darren Clarke to make you think they’re your long-lost cousins. And if Kenny Perry decides to come over, who’s going to stop him (birdies at 17 and 18 on Sunday to win the GMO, folks)? Can anyone from Europe actually win this thing (no Euro has won a major since Paul Lawrie won the Open in 1999…yes, I had to look it up, because all anyone remembers from that one is Van De Velde)? Will anyone be able to stay in the fairway, even if they hit it? Stories, stories, stories, and no Anna Kournikova in sight for the tabloids to focus on.
This is what golf is all about. Nay, this is what sports is all about. So f*ck wrestling for this week.
DON’T EAT THE PINK SLIP
So WWE ditched Terry Taylor. Big f*cking deal. This is maybe the seventh time in the last five years that Taylor’s switched employers, so it’s deja vu all over again. Taylor has, miraculously, been able to burn exactly zero bridges in his career with anyone who has any influence whatsoever in hiring. It’ll be absolutely no surprise if, by next week, he’s working for the Jarretts. So there’s no need to dwell on it.
DON’T DRINK THE PINK AND BLACK KOOL-AID(TM)
Here’s a great one from Kevin Hutchinson about a topic that’s almost sacred-cow-level among the members of the IWC:
For a little background, I watched wrestling in the 85-90ish timeframe, and then skipped a few years until Austin was big. Explain to me the entire Bret Hart thing. What I remember is a dopey guy with slimy hair and pink tights. He had a wicked looking partner, in Jim the Anvil Neidhart. The Hart Foundation with Jimmy Hart were reasonably cool.
When did he become the Wrestling Messiah and Montreal his Calvary? I have to be honest, after reading the details of the famed “Montreal ScrewJob” my greatest reaction was “Nice Angle”. After seeing the rabidness of fans to the issue, my next thought was “Who cares?”
After reading Bret’s online commentary, my final thought is that the guy needs a shrink. He associates a business move with his brother’s death, his concussion, and ultimately his stroke? Wow. Impressive disavowal of the logic that rules reality.
If others were to follow in Bret’s thinking, we would have Austin on tonight’s RAW cutting a promo about how it is a GOOD THING that Owen Hart is no longer wrestling, or else EVEN MORE wrestlers than Edge, Angle, Lita, Rhyno, etc, etc.. would have suffered neck injuries in the last year. Good thing he is dead, huh? While this is outrageously tasteless, it is no more so than Bret blaming a match in ’97 with his brother’s tragic in-ring death.
And what is it with Stu Hart? I am sure that he is a great guy, but does he need to be mentioned in every column? Was he some wrestling demi-god who trained 1/2 of all the current and past starts on the roster? Was he a multi-world title holder for a little known, but influential wrestling promotion?
To summarize, please explain:
1. Why anyone should care about Bret Hart
2. What the deal is with Bret and Stu Hart
Bret Hart is a man who believes his own press, pure and simple. He’s been put up to be the God of Wrestling by a lot of influential people in the IWC (many of them Canadian, some of them residents of Alberta…yes, Scott, I’m looking at you, even though your Hart fetish isn’t as bad as your Flair fetish). His ego knows no bounds, and he believes he has free reign because of the fact that he was the victim of Montreal. Because of that, he feels it’s his role to eternally play the martyr, further justified by the fact that Vince was able to capitalize on Montreal in order to spark Attitude and the greatest business any wrestling company has ever done. Slap a neurotic-level persecution complex on top of it, and you have some serious, serious issues. Yeah, you’re right, the guy does need professional help. He’s consumed by it to such an extent that he apparently can only define himself by his persecutions. Not even Job did that.
Regular Phil Watts puts it nicely:
As much as I like Bret Hart, the fact that he has let all his bad experiences from his 16 or so years in wrestling eat at him like an ulcer is getting tiresome. You’d think that he’d spend the rest of his days just having a nice little retirement, without even thinking about the wrestling business, but that’s apparently too difficult for him. It’s getting to the point where the only way for him to get over it is to call Dr. Kevorkian and end it all right now.
As for Stu, well, it is Bret’s column, Stu is Bret’s dad, trainer, and inspiration, so Stu gets his props from his son. Stu is also responsible for the careers of Bret, Owen, their brothers, Jericho, Storm, and Our Lord and Savior, among many others, so he deserves his props, but not to the extent that Bret gives them.
The main problem in the IWC with criticizing Bret is not really because Bret’s a sacred cow per se, it’s that the earliest and most vocal criticisms of Bret Hart came from Sean Shannon, who started in on Bret just after Montreal. Shannon went so overboard with his criticisms, though, that it discredited any criticism of Bret (if you think that I overdo it with Flex, that’s mild compared to Shannon and Bret, believe me; you really had to be there). Of course, dimming memories of Shannon and starting-to-fade memories of Bret in the ring have created a new atmosphere for reevaluating Bret, his impact, and his continued bouts with fantasy.
And speaking of bouts with fantasy…
YOU’RE A MORON: PLAYING WITH DOLLS DOES NOT PREPARE YOU FOR PLAYING WITH ME
Ah, I’ve encountered some retards in my time, but Marc Lopez is one of the rare ones who can teach other retards new techniques. First of all, this guy wrote me on June 20th, asking me the following:
i wanted to know when the divas 3 pack ation figures will come out and what store please tell me when and where.
I couldn’t believe that when I saw it. First of all, we have an entire section of people who deal with these pressing issues, the Figures section. This type of mail should definitely go to them. However, this ‘tard was too mentally crippled to scroll down the f*cking main page to find it. So he goes and asks me, the News columnist. The guy at the top of the page. The guy who does not deal in triviata such as this.
Second of all, there’s the belief here that I actually give one flying f*ck about where glorified Barbie dolls are coming out and are going to be sold. Have I ever said anything in any column about dolls?
Well, let’s just say that, when I got this, I wasn’t in the mood to direct him over to the Figures section, because I think it’s a place that anyone on 411 that possesses five active brain cells could get to. So I responded to him in my own inimitable manner:
Go ask your daddy about what your wee-wee can do other than pee-pee, then get a clue that real men don’t play with dolls.
Fuck off.
You know, your Typical Eric S. Response. And nothing more was heard.
Until yesterday. Four weeks later. This guy actually decides to respond to this, and get this, folks:
excuse me you dont have to be rude
He hasn’t read my column very often, has he? My raison d’etre is to be rude.
ok i collect wwe action figures
That’s your problem, not mine.
i’m going to send a copy of your response to the person higher than you ok.
And who would that be? WidShish? Send it to ’em, kid. They’ll tell you that you should be happy to get away with being treated as nicely as you did.
i’m a customer ok and its your job to be nice a polite.
You’re a what? A customer? A CUSTOMER?! Since when are you paying for this content? You are a reader, nothing more, nothing less, and you are a reader who happens to plays with dolls. It is not my “job” to be polite to you, especially when you ask the main news columnist about when Jakks is putting out some rebranded Barbies when we have a lot of people who actually know this shit and might answer you. So, again, f*ck off.
YOU’RE A MORON II: KEEP THE BLINDERS ON, KID
Ryan LaRoche seems to have some issues concerning my attitude toward Steve Austin:
I just have one question: what gives you the right to judge another man?
I am the Lord Your God. You shall have no other IWC Personalities before me.
You are by no means perfect,
Bets?
so to say that someone isn’t allowed to like Steve Austin because he hit his wife (he didn’t beat her) is ridiculous. You may never have hit another woman, but, regardless, you have no right to judge Steve Austin.
I would think that a man beating a woman while drunk (and don’t play semantic games, he beat her) is something that wouldn’t be in the grey area of judgment. It’s wrong, period.
As a viewer I am only interested in what a person does on screen, not what they do in their personal lives.
So apparently the fact that Austin removed himself from WWE programming twice because of selfish, petty reasons must upset you as much as it does me, huh? Guess not, though, because you’re defending him.
Austin hits his wife once and suddenly he is a wife beater, a horrible person? Does that mean someone who takes one drag off a joint is a drug addict and a horrible person? I just don’t follow your logic.
Probably because with that “one drag off a joint” statement, you just demonstrated that you don’t have any sense of logic. I don’t see how you could compare acts of violence committed against another person to smoking a substance that most people believe should not carry the criminal status that it does.
You have this macho attitude, as though, like you stated, you’re superior (to who, I don’t know, though I suppose you mean to everyone);
Yep, that pretty much covers it.
but if you stepped back a bit you’d see that even with your trumped up superiority you can’t say I’m a bad guy for enjoying Steve Austin on RAW every week. I support his performances on RAW, I don’t support his decision to hit women; there’s a difference. Someone could support Winona Ryder the actress, but not Winona Ryder the shoplifter. I see no reason why that can’t be done with Austin.
I think that by supporting him, you’re supporting a reprehensible human being. And, frankly, there isn’t much of his performance on Raw to support anymore. He’s committed the greatest sin possible to an audience: he’s worn out his welcome. Kinda like Winona Ryder.
And this from a person who is quickly becoming a major nuisance, HabBeeb13 (AOLuser):
Ok now for the issue of Austin beating his wife….Whitney Houston did coke people still oved her… R Kelly Urinates on 15 year old girls faces people DEFEND him….Nate Newtown got caught with a forest of weed…. people like him still…Austin Beat his wife and charges dropped it seems to me your the only one who wont let it got faggot…
So the fact that someone is popular trumps the fact that his or her behavior is reprehensible or outright illegal? Absolutely not. Condoning an ivory-tower attitude toward celebrities destroys the fact that they are human. I don’t care if they are who they are. Whitney Houston is both an atrocious singer and a cokehead. Nate Newton is a retired football player and pothead. R Kelly…hey, I live on the South Side of Chicago. I have friends who’ve known R Kelly from pre-celeb days. They have all told me they knew for a long time what a deve he is, and immediately say that they gave up defending his actions a long time ago. Only stupid people defend him, people who think they’re something racist in every word said by every white person alive. Steve Austin is a shadow of the Sports Entertainer he once was, a wife-beater, and a drunk. Period.
And speaking of said wife-beating drunk, let’s have a look at the show he’s on:
THE SHORT FORM
Match Results:
Team Big (Sump Pump, Gimpy, and Tits) over Test, Victoria, and Stevie Richards (Pinfall, Nash pins Richards, Saddest-Ass Powerbomb I’ve Ever Seen): Despite the presence of Stratus and Victoria, there was nothing to prevent this from being a black hole. Too bad that Lawler and Coachman (Coachman…oh, yeah, Kevin Dunn, who needed Schiavone, huh?) didn’t mention the fact that both Nash and Steiner led rival NWO factions back in the day. That might have been a little bit of fun to listen to. But, otherwise, this was a waste, period.
Maven over Lance Storm (Pinfall, uh…reversal of…something): Well, Maven continues his slight sloppiness (although nowhere near the level of Van Dam), and Storm even stumbles a few times. But Storm’s “boring” negative push is going along quite well (Memo to Aaron Welsh: a push delivered through perpetual losing is called a “negative push”. It’s worked reasonably well with performers such as Christian and Disco Inferno in the past.). Give him someone higher up the food chain next time, please. Maybe even consider having him go over, if that won’t blow the push. Just let Lance be Lance.
Trip, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton over Buh Buh Ray, D-Von, and Spike Dudley, Six-Man Elimination Tag Match (Orton pins Spike, RKO; Orton pins D-Von, French Flag abuse by Trip; Trip pins Buh Buh Ray, Pedigree): A six-man elimination with a 3-0 result? Well, that’s what happens when Trip’s there…oh, sorry, when Evolution’s being pushed. Gee, can’t mention Trip’s powermongering, since that’s boring everyone to tears. That kinda blew the “he can’t wrestle tonight” thing too. And we were so looking forward to another week of Trip being out of the ring. Kinda “bleh” for the transition match, though.
Booker T over Christian, Intercontinental Title Rematch (Pinfall, scissors kick): Ah, the good old Dusty Finish, executed to its obvious perfection. Thank God for Nick Patrick, who knows how to carry one of these things off the way they’re supposed to be. All in all, another good Booker/Christian match. The problem is that WWE can’t book one of those every week…oh, God, they’re going to try to do that, aren’t they?
Trinity over Agent Holly, Women’s Title Match (Pinfall, roll-up rana): Like anyone paid attention to this. These are the women wrestlers with the two smallest bustlines on Raw, and interest in women’s matches increases in proportion to breast size.
Angle Developments:
A True Highlight: Of course, you probably can already figure out that I considered Jericho’s comments viz. Austin’s presence being desirable a shoot. My attitute to Austin has become thus: I was riveted to the screen when Jericho and Bisch were on it. When I heard the glass break, I started making myself some nachos. As for the petition, exactly how many times can I sign it, Chris?
This Is The Way To Celebrate Independence?: I was waiting, just waiting, for La Res not to show up so that I could lay into WWE for not taking advantage of Bastille Day. La Res should have just not bothered to show up. Yes, let’s honor the ally that helped the US win independence in the first place by having Canadians mutilate one of the greatest national anthems on the face of the Earth. Then let’s have the paragons of what America stands for, the Dudleys, come out to interrupt and pummel. And then let’s brutalize the Star-Spangled Banner on top of it. This whole routine dishonors both France and the United States. If given time, I could probably make a case that it dishonors Great Britain and the Bourbons too.
In the words of Slique Rique:
Does anyone even remember why we’re “supposed” to be pissed at the French anymore? I mean yea they were selling shit to Saddam that they shouldnt-oughta, but we’re not innocent there, and yea they opposed the war (sight unseen we dont care non non non) but they didn’t get their way, so in the long run what does it matter?
I love this country as much as the next guy and I think you know that I swing more to the conservative side, but that little jingo-fest with the Dudleys was neither necessary nor entertaining…
Derrek Croney decides to take the American perspective:
I don’t know what was worst – the fact that Bubba Ray Dudley sang the National Anthem in about as many keys as there are stars and stripes on the flag, or that the crowd in Indy followed perfectly…
That song is a pain in the ass to sing, and utterly sucks as a national anthem. Desperately needs to be changed to “God Bless America”, ASAP.
As for La Res’ future, I’m going to do a ditto with a further Rick bon mot:
Instead of pushing the hyper-patriot button on something that people are quickly forgetting, just go with the Holy Grail French angle for La Res. Everyone of English descent loves to crack on the French just on General Principles, so dress them up in outrageous penis-helmets and have them taunt their opponents in the manner outlined in the Python film.
Kane’s Pain Is Ross’ Pain Is Our Agony: What a pathetic job by Kane setting Ross on fire. Parts of one leg and a bit of his hips? Please. Take some pride in your mayhem. As for the production crew, it sure took them a long time to find a fire extinguisher. Frankly, the moment Kane pulled out the gas can, someone should have had the presence of mind to make sure the extinguisher was at arm’s reach, if only for the sake of accident (hot lights, the possibility of vapors, etc.). No safety-consciousness, that’s the problem with society today.
In the words of the memoed-earlier Aaron Welsh:
You know, I try to look at WWE with as much of a smile as I can, but jesus buttf*cking christ. What was with that crap with Kane and JR? I know we’re supposed to suspend our disbelief, but Vince and Co. are asking us to throw it out the damn window. Like anyone in the world can get away with setting the Vice President of Gobbledygook of the company they work for on fire and not be punished, let alone thrown in jail. Raw is just getting worse and worse (I was lucky enough to be working on the night the Necrophilia junk was shown).
Well said.
As for the interview itself, the lack of injury was, as the aforementioned Slick One put it, a good out for the incompetent makeup department. And did Austin really need to go out to the ring to speak to Kane? Whatever happened to backstage monitors? Oh, yeah, then we couldn’t get Bisch coming out and saying to the entire audience that Austin was going to be fired by Linda next week.
Now, have all of you figured out by now that Linda’s going to come out next week, fire Austin, then fire Bischoff as well and bring in Shane?
Screw it. Tomorrow, Mailbag, but not Smackdown Somewhat Spoiled since it was taped on Sunday. I’ll wing the rest of it. Enjoy.
About Eric Szulczewski
