COLUMN: TOSSING SALT WORLDWIDE NEWS
Doug Maynard 03/15/2004
"Dream on....Dream on....Dream until your dreams come true..." No doubt those classic Aerosmith lyrics were running through the head of the "Canadian Crippler" Chris Benoit last night at the end of the biggest WWE PPV ever, Wrestlemania XX. It's just a surreal moment to say the least. Benoit locks Triple H in the crippler cross-face. After much struggle and resistance, the champ taps and we have a new World Champion in the WWE. Wrestlemania is where legends are made. Isn't that how the hype goes? Well, last night, they lived up to the hype and Benoit finally cemented his name among the legends of professional wrestling.
Oh yeah - by the way - I'm Doug Maynard and welcome to the latest edition of the most electric wrestling column anywhere, Tossing Salt. My head is still spinning and I'm not sure if it's from watching Wrestlemania XX last night, watching "Nature Boy" Ric Flair do a "people's elbow", or making like Peaches and Herb and reuniting with the ex last night after coming home from watching a fantastic PPV event. I'm not going to bore you folks with the details of that, but I don't think I'm single anymore. It was just a surreal night all around.
I've got a lot of ground to cover. I want to take a look back at Wrestlemania XX and some of the high points of the event. I also have a few other things to speak on including Brock Lesnar, the Druids at WMXX, some great wrestling action from the UK that took place a few days ago, a great upcoming card in Mount Airy, NC and who knows what else. Also, an all new "Who Am I?" and a ton of classic wrestling quotes. I may be jumping around a bit, even more than usual but bear with me and it'll all make sense in the end (I hope).
The main thing on everyone's mind is obviously Wrestlemania XX. I have to give the WWE a big hand here. There was doubt if they could put together a show that would hold fan interest for almost 5 hours. This one ran four hours and forty-some minutes and was very well booked with twelve great matches and kept my attention for the whole show. The Cruiserweight Open wasn't what it could have been and could have used about 10 -12 more minutes of time to really let the guys strut their stuff, but it wasn't bad by any means. Even the Evening Gown T & A match was much better than expected. The highlights of the night were obviously seeing Benoit finally win the big one in the main event match and, in my opinion - seeing Christian get a huge victory over Chris Jericho in their match. It was cool to see the Undertaker return and Molly get her head shaved and all that. But seeing Benoit in the ring holding the big gold belt. Then he was joined by WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. If that isn't a true Wrestlemania moment, then I don't know what is. Let's do a quick run-down of the matches.
John Cena beat The Big Show to capture the United States Championship. Good for Cena. He's got a good character that is really over with the WWE fans. The Big Show can move on and concentrate on the WWE Championship scene, which is really where he belongs and Cena can work on building up the prestige of the United States Championship which has suffered a bit under Big Show. I predicted this one right.
Booker T and RVD won the Fatal 4-Way to retain the World Tag Team Championships. I missed this one by a mile, It was an OK match. Not really outstanding, but RVD and Booker are really beginning to mesh as a top tag team. Jindrak and Cade looked good, but they still need a gimmick and a manager to put them over. Otherwise, they remain "Pure Vanilla".
Christian beat Chris Jericho. Trish "accidentally" hits Jericho and Christian gets the pin. Trish gives Y2J some slaps and leaves with Christian. I got this one half right. I predicted that Trish and Christian would end up together, but I expected Jericho to get the win first. But the "CLB" really deserves a taste of glory and I'm glad to see him finally get a little taste of recognition as a singles wrestler.
Evolution defeated Mick Foley and The Rock. A great match that showed very well why Ric Flair, Mick Foley, and The Rock are the best in the business. Orton looked fantastic and Batista showed some signs of greatness as well. Ric stole the show though with his version of the "People's Elbow". He is truly "the man!". Whooooo!
Sable and Torrie Wilson beat Miss Jackie and Stacy. Whoop-Dey Doo. It was the T & A portion of the show and served it's purpose well, but it was nothing special. The girls looked fantastic and we have a potential feud set up with Stacy & Jackie. Not bad. I predicted this one wrong though. I expected Sable to turn on Torrie. But it was still decent.
The Cruiserweight Open. I missed the mark on this one, but it was still good to see Chavo retain his gold. The match was rushed and could have used much more time. I'll bet the Ultimo Dragon feels like an idiot, slipping off the ropes like he did. And Kidman almost hurt himself again with the "shooting star press". All of that could have been avoided if the guys were given just a little more time. But for the time they were allotted, it was decent.
Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar. Finally, one I got right. The fans really tore into Brock Lesnar last night. I almost felt sorry for him. I don't think he was expecting the negative reaction that he got. "You sold out!" and the "Na-na-na-na" song. Never underestimate the ruthlessness of a wrestling fan. I'll go more into this later, but Brock was really slaughtered. The match started off slow, but was passable. Goldberg won with the jackhammer and the clean pin. Brock and Goldberg then both got a going away present in the form of a "stone cold stunner" from "Sheriff" Stone Cold. Great ending to an OK match.
Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty won the Fatal 4-Way to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships. My question is why? I predicted the World's Greatest Tag Team to win this one and still feel that they would have been the better team to win. But the WWE is obviously behind Scotty & Rikishi. A decent match with good action. Just a lousy ending.
Victoria beat Molly to retain her WWE Women's Championship. Molly got her head shaved as a result. The match sucked. Molly and Victoria are both capable of so much more than they showed last night. But in the end, Victoria kept the gold and we get to see Molly lose some hair. I'm looking forward to tonight as we see Molly debut her new "GI Jane" look.
Eddie Guerrero defeated Kurt Angle in a fantastic match to retain the WWE Championship. Both men are excellent performers and put on a tremendous effort. No complaints here. Hats off to both men.
The Undertaker with Paul Bearer at his side returned to defeat the evil presence that is his brother Kane. I'm not sure what the look was for the Undertaker. Kind of a mixture between the American Bad-Ass and the Dead-Man look - I guess that means he's a dead bad-ass. But Taker looks to be in great shape and ready for a good run. I'm not a big Undertaker fan, but I marked out last night big time. I'm glad to see the Dead Man back.
And finally, the Triple Threat between Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chris Benoit. I don't like triple-threat matches and still feel that HBK had no place in this match. But all three guys worked really hard. The match was booked really well and in the end, Triple H did the right thing and after putting on a tremendous showing, tapped to Benoit in the middle of the ring. A fantastic match with a fantastic ending.
I went 6 - 6 on my predictions. I really think the scenes with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, both in the locker room and in the ring at the end were fantastic. Who would have ever thought that when the Radicalz left WCW four years ago to come to the WWE, that Edie and Chris would be the two top guys in the company on their biggest show ever. After the PPV went off the air, Benoit's father, his two children, and his wife Nancy came to the ring to celebrate with him. I'm just wondering when the WWE is going to sign up Nancy (aka "Woman") to join their ranks. I've mentioned using Arn Anderson as a manager for Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade, but an even better solution presented itself last night. Jindrak and Cade managed by "Woman". She's got mic skills, looks fantastic, and doesn't mind getting involved in the matches. And she's got instant credibility from her days with the Horsemen and ECW. It's just a thought.
Vince McMahon apparently told the Hollywood Reporter that his days as "Mr. McMahon" are limited. I have to agree with Vince on this. I do enjoy seeing the evil "Mr. McMahon" come out and screw with people. But he has two great people being used as "General Manager" characters in Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman. Both Shane and Stephanie are good characters with a mean streak that shows itself from time to time. It's time to put a younger face on the WWE. Vince is the boss and that's not going to change. But make the appearances few and far between so they really seem like a special occasion when the Chairman of the WWE shows up. At almost 60 years of age, Vince needs to stay out of the ring. Be a strong presence, but more of a surreal "authority figure" than the ego-maniac pervert than "Mr. McMahon" has come to represent.
Brock Lesnar is leaving the WWE. He wants to give the NFL a try and go play football. I'm not sure really where to go with this. I have much respect for Brock in that he's willing to leave behind an unhappy situation to chase a dream. He's giving up a sure thing for what is probably just wishful thinking at best. But then I look at his career. No one in memory have ever received the kind of push Brock has. He's a bonifide superstar because of the push he was given by the WWE. Undertaker jobbed for Brock. So did Hogan, Rock, Angle, Big Show, etc. Pretty much everyone on the WWE roster. They sacrificed to help make Brock a superstar. And he repays the favor by walking away from the business. I really don't think Brock realizes just how much of a betrayal this is to the wrestlers and fans of the WWE. He may be beginning to realize it. I think Brock was counting on the fans of the WWE going with him and supporting him as he leaves to try new things. It's a hard world out there, Brock. There are ways to do things, but there is never a good way to say goodbye. I expect he'll be back in a year or so. But I don't expect he'll get the same welcome and support when he does return that he was getting. Without realizing it, Brock burned a lot of bridges really quickly. I wish him the best of luck. I don't think there's a place for him in the WWE anymore.
Did you see the Druids last night. There was a little incident backstage right before the Druids came out where a couple of them apparently caught themselves on fire while lighting their torches. Hmmm! Nothing like BBQed Druid. Ha! Anyhow, the Druids were played by wrestlers from Chaotic Wrestling and the New Jersey based Independent Wrestling Federation. The wrestlers donning the robes were Roman, John Walters, Fred Sampson, Kevin Knight, Chad Wicks, Ken Phoenix, Johnny Heartbreaker, Vince Vicallo, and "Heat" favorite Arch Kincaid.
Legendary Hall of Fame Referee Morgan Dollar sent me some news of a great card coming to Mount Airy, NC on March 20th at the National Guard Armory. The bell time will be 7:30 pm with the doors opening at 6:30pm. The event is called "The Road To The Championship" and will feature such stars as The Southside Playas, Iron Horse, "Wild" Shane West, Derik Flair, The team of M.I.B. (Jake Jones & Mr. Smooth), The Carolina Wrestling Federation Champion "Slick" Ric Converse, former CWF champ Corey Edsel, Sean Powers, and Mitch Norris. The card will also be featuring the return of local hero "The American Shadow". This looks like it'll be a great event for all the wrestling fans in Mount Airy, NC. If you live in Mount Airy, NC or in the surrounding areas, you should really go check out this great card. The big shows of the WWE and NWA TNA are great, but there's nothing better than an indy wrestling event and these folks are among the very best. For more information about this card and other SWA events, go to www.swanc.net.
It looks like the fans of Ring of Honor are all willing to forgive and forget. This has been a helluva week for the promotion as owner/founder Rob Feinstein was implicated in a sting by internet watchdogs www.PervertedJustice.com on trying to pick up a14 year old boy for sex. This whole past week has been one of denials and statements by Ring of Honor. Feinstein resigns from the company. He's reported back at the company. Dream Stages Entertainment from Japan is revealed as the money behind the company. Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan bail. Dusty Rhodes signs up. And none of it matters in the end. Ring of Honor had two shows over the weekend and set new box office records with both events. The problem is Feinstein and I think most fans have realized that the behavior of one person can not be used to judge an entire organization. Feinstein is a sleazy degenerate of a human being. Imagine that. A dirty sleazy wrestling promoter. Who would have ever thought. But the wrestling at Ring of Honor is still great. The matches are excellent. The guys are tremendous talents and really work hard to entertain their fans. And the bottom line is, that's what really matters most. The Wrestling.
"What was he years ago? Sick Toddler?"
~ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan talking about Flock member Sick Boy at WCW.
"I was hoping I'd get what I wanted for Christmas, but I woke up Christmas morning and the state of Connecticut was still there."
~ James E. Cornette ~
"If the Rock ever broke his jaw and couldn't talk, I think it'd be like a terminal illness for him!"
~ James E. Cornette ~
FWA Academy 3/12/04 "Power play 3" Portsmouth, England
Eamon Shrahan, James Tighe, PJ Black, & Aviv Maayan defeated Stixx, Paul Birchall, Mark Sloan, & Mark Underwood.
Chris Justice wrestled Raj Ghosh to a double count-out.
Stixx & Paul Birchall beat James Tighe & Mark Sloan
Mark Underwood defeated PJ Black
Ant Laeayo wrestled Tom Beattie to a no contest.
Ross Jordon & Alan Gallagher defeated Rishi Ghosh & JC Thunder
Eamon Shrahan stopped Aviv Maayan
Harry Mills beat Dan Head
Dan James defeated Max Voltage
"Look out! There's a blimp behind you!"
~ Larry Zbyszko talking about Dusty Rhodes ~
"Yadda! Yadda! Yadda! Talk to the hand!"
~ Chris Benoit ~
"That's not Booker T. That's Wesley Snipes!"
~ Kevin Nash ~
Who Am !?
The last "Who Am I?" got a tremendous amount of responses and I want to thank everyone who answered. The answer was none other than Madusa. Getting the answer correct was: ANDREW MONTGOMERIE, KEITH MILLER, JOSEPHINE NUCCIO, "THE HANGMAN" BRUCE POBANZ, LEE WILLIAMS, PETER MATICE, ROBERT ROGERS, STEPHEN JOYAL, DEMONLITION23, DOUG HAYNES, & GEORGE GUNDERSON. All of ya'll did a fantastic job. Congratulations. And now for the new one.
I started wrestling in the mid-sixties after being trained by former World Champion "Whipper" Billy Watson. I really started to achieve success when I put on a mask and became "The Crusader". I wrestled under the hood for about four years and then began wrestling under my own name to moderate success including several runs as the NWA Canadian champion. I did a run in the Mid-Atlantic region where I was managed by former NWA/WWF World Champion Buddy Rogers. In 1984, I totally revamped my image and found what was "Missing" when I shaved part of my head and began to wear face paint. I worked mainly in Texas and the WWF and even had my face featured on a page in Sports Illustrated. I began to slow down my career in the early 90's and had a kidney removed in July of 1993. Even today, I still put on the tights for an occasional match, but I spend most of my time serving on different groups dealing with substance abuse. My son, Jason Sterling has also wrestled occasionally in Canada and on the independent circuit. Who Am I?
And that's gonna do it for today. If you know the answer to the "Who Am I?" or have any questions, comments, or good jokes to share, drop me a line at either Doug28352@yahoo.com or DougMaynard@wrestlinginformer.net. Just an hour to go until Monday Night Raw and we get to see the fall out from last night's Wrestlemania event. It should be a slobber knocker. Until next time my friends, I'm Doug M. and I'll see you at the matches. Take it light!
3.15.04
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