Wrestling Rant
Friday, January 24, 2003
Well, the Royal Rumble has passed. I didn't see it, but we all know the results by now. Brock Lesnar won the Royal Rumble match itself. Kurt Angle is the WWE (SmackDown) champ and Triple H is the World (RAW) Champion.
Another thing that happened just a little while ago.... The final episode of Tough Enough 3. I actually got to see every episode of this season. It was a lot more enjoyable this season than it was last season. As you know, Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles were the winners last year. Well, to make up for having two lame winners last year, WWE did us right by giving us two names with lots of potential. Those two being John and Matt. I was very pleased to see these guys win. Just hearing John's story about how he wasn't picked for Tough Enough 2, and how here he was going all the way (not unlike Jackie Gayda who wasn't picked for TE1.) As for Matt... the moment I saw him in the first episode, I thought to myself: "he's got the right look". He has this Jeff Hardy meets Brian Pillman appearance, not a big guy, but has alot of presence. As time went on, these two flourished. The clip of John doing a standing Shooting Star Press with such great form (I've only saw one other guy do this move--that being former star of CZW and other indies, the Amazing Red, who I believe is calling himself "Flago Guerrera" and wearing a mask during his current tour of Japan, and getting over there big.) I was let down by TE2's winners and I was even let down a little by one of the TE1 winners, I must admit I was pulling for Josh Matthews for the first one. For the first time I was pleased by the outcome.
In speaking of new faces. We've got two arrivals appearing soon in the WWE rings. Nathan Jones and Sean O'Haire. Neither of which are really new, Sean first came over during the Invasion angle, and Nathan Jones first appeared during the WCW Austrailan tour close to the end of that company. Nathan also did quite well in matches for World Wrestling All-Stars. The big deal about Sean and Nathan is that they are building these guys up with these little video packages. Nathan's shows him in prison... he was locked up for armed robbery as a teenager and after getting out got into wrestling. Sean O'Haire has this unique character they're showing him in. Clearly his speaking skills have improved a thousand fold seeing these promos. O'Haire's character is this "Devil's Advocate" type deal... questioning things that are important to some, love, religion, the government. Personally, I love this character, and the way he's being presented. He's got a great sounding voice and just the right tone to make it sound interesting. O'Haire has a new look, his hair is longer and they've shown him in a long coat in one promo and an all black suit in the other two. It's like you take a little of the "Jackal" character that was played by Don Callis in WWF and mix in a little bit of Raven, then give it to an individual with an incredible look. What they should do with O'Haire is run with it, have him talk like this even in his interviews... then put him into matches against the baby face wrestlers who are over like Rob Van Dam or Booker T. Not just is he questioning God and the I.R.S. but the people the wrestling fans idolize. They've already got a decent working catch phrase right now "I'm not telling you anything you don't already know." A little wordy, but "And that's the bottom line, 'cause Stone Cold said so." is already taken.
In speaking of Stone Cold... he'll be back soon. So will the Rock, but only for a couple months, his next film starts in April. Finally Hogan vs. McMahon will be on Wrestlemania. WWE wants to cut a limited, open-ended deal with Bill Goldberg. All I have to say is that anything is better than Triple H hogging all the limelight.
Another person I mentioned a few lines up is Raven, if you haven't already heard, he and Justin Credible have been released from WWE. Clearly Raven didn't get the 90-day clause in his contract, because he showed up on NWA: TNA the other day, stealing the world title belt. It looks like Raven will be on Vince Russo's "Sports Entertainment Xtreme" faction. He's got the mike skills to be the lead character in this faction, if they want to take away some of the limelight from Russo. Also it keeps Russo out of wrestling matches. Thank God.
Well, not much else is going on. I'll try to get back next week to do another. Thanks for reading.