Six Minutes
November 13, 2005
Doug Maynard
Have you ever had one of those days where everything is going well. It's a beautiful day and you just feel good. And then, all of a sudden, you see something or hear something and it's like a kick in the stomach. It's just a total shock to your system and nothing feels right anymore.
That was this afternoon for me. I was sitting here at this computer, writing a new edition of "Six Minutes" and just relaxing. I did my predictions for the TNA PPV and did a few cheap plugs and a new "Who Am I?" And I just need one more thing - a main topic to start things off and get the flow started.
So I save all my work and go to see what I can find on the net that's worth a good rant or two. And then I saw the headline. I felt a hard lump in the pit of my stomach. I felt a cold numbness overtake most of my body. And I knew that this was a moment that I was going to remember for a long time to come.
Eddie Guerrero is dead.
Even after giving it a few hours to sink in, it just doesn't feel right. I keep wanting someone to shake me awake and tell me it's all just a bad dream.
But that's not going to happen. Eddie Guerrero aka "Latino Heat" was found dead this morning in his hotel bathroom. Early signs suggest heart failure. He was 38 years old.
I remember the first time that I ever saw Eddie Guerrero wrestle. I knew of his brothers, Hector and Chavo (Sr.) from the Apter mags, but Eddie was the baby of the family. He was the new kid. Back in 1994, I remember watching the "When Worlds Collide" PPV. I didn't know who most of these folks were, but I remember the action was exciting and wild. I think 2 Cold Scorpio and Tito Santana were the only guys I'd actually heard of. But there were some exciting performers on the show. Rey Misterio Jr. Psicosis. La Parka. Konnan. And a hot team made up of "The American Love Machine" Art Barr and that kid, Eddie Guerrero.
Not long after that, I was reading my magazines and that Guerrero kid was working up in ECW. I managed to see some video of Eddie and he was fresh and exciting. And next thing you know, he's in WCW. This was when I was really able to appreciate the talents of Eddie Guerrero and began to realize just how good he really was.
The L.W.O was awesome. And who can forget Eddie coming to the ring with his bags and calling out Eric Bischoff? How about that crazy feud with Chavo Guerrero Jr. Remember the shirt that Chavo was forced to wear saying, "Eddie Guerrero is my favorite wrestler." It was just classic stuff.
Things changed and Eddie, along with Benoit, Saturn and Malenko jumped ship to the WWE from WCW. The first night out, Eddie broke his wrist while doing a frog splash. But that didn't stop him. He stuck around and showed everyone that he was a top player. Feuds with Benoit, Angle, HHH, Brock, etc. turned Eddie from a star to a superstar.
"Latino Heat" was a great angle. "Lie, Cheat and Steal" was even better. And WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero was the best of all.
His recent feud with Rey Mysterio over the fate of Dominick was a hard storyline to get over, but Eddie and Rey pulled it off. And the recent pairings with Batista were quickly becoming some of the best parts of SmackDown! each week.
Damn, I guess I'm just saying that it's been a helluva ride with Eddie. We've been fortunate to have this man as a part of our lives for close to ten years. And now, it's over.
Rest in Peace, Eddie Guerrero. You will be missed! My prayers and condolences go out to Eddie's wife, Vickie and their two daughters as well as the entire Guerrero family and all of people who has Eddie as a part of their lives.
Damn, it really sucks! Only the good die young. Eddie was 38 years old. You do the math..
And now - the mood changes a bit. I wrote everything below earlier today, before I found out about Eddie. So if it seems tasteless or whatever, just keep that in mind. I'm going to go lay down now. I feel sick!
-Doug
CHEAP PLUG ALERT # 1 ...
Go visit the official website of Chris Kanyon at http://www.chriskanyon.net. It's a great site to find out the answer to the burning question, "Who betta?" No one and that's the fact, Jack! Belee' dat!
LOOKING FOR FRIENDS IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES..
By the way, I have set up an account at MySpace.com and I'm always looking to meet new and uber-cool people. So if you're a member of MySpace, come check me out. Just run my name through the search-engine or else come visit me at http://www.myspace.com/salt_palace. Don't be shy. Say hello.
WHO AM I?
On the last "Who Am I?", only one person got it correct. That was "Bama Boy" Chad Burttram. The answer was none other than former WCW Champion Sting. Whassup wit dat? Are you ready to try it again? Come on now, folks! Give it a shot! What have you got to lose?
I'm a television actor. My godfather is Terry Funk. I used to date Missy Hyatt and got involved in a wrestling angle with her and Paul E. Dangerously at a "Clash of the Champions" that resulted in Paul E. busting me over the head with his telephone. I'm good friends and an occasional business partner of Eric Bischoff. Who Am I?
Come on now! Everyone should know this one. Who do you think is is? Send your answer to me at Doug28352@yahoo.com or Doug@thewrestlingheadquarters.com.
CHEAP PLUG ALERT # 2 ...
Go visit the largest (and best) wrestler-owned fan site on the net today, www.kronikwrestling.com. Find out the latest happenings and news about Brian Adams and Bryan Clark. The photo galleries are incredible and the site is growing more every week Go check it out and remember, it's all about Kronik!
TNA GENESIS 2005 - PREDICTIONS
Tonight, it's TNA Genesis 2005, live on PPV. And of course, that means I have to do the prediction thingee. I think it's a law somewhere that if you write a wrestling column and a PPV comes up, you have to make predictions. If it's not a law, well it should be. That, along with active wrestlers not being allowed to be part of the booking committees. But that's a rant for another day. Back to what I was getting back to. TNA Genesis 2005. Let's get this bad mama-jama rolling with my predictions. Joining me, as always, is "Babs".
RHINO & TEAM 3-D versus JEFF JARRETT & AMERICA'S MOST WANTED (with Gail Kim)
A six man tag match as the main event doesn't really do anything for me. I think the NWA champion should be defending his championship. But that's my own personal peeve. This will be the former Dudley's first real chance to shine on a TNA PPV and I think they're going to be ready to make an impact tonight. Jarrett and AMW have all the titles, so they can afford to take the loss in this match. Look for some "wood" tonight, because someone is going through a table.. and my money will be on Gail Kim. Look for the GORE! GORE! GORE! and then, Brother Devon, get the tables as the extreme dream team takes that trip to the pay window.
Winners: THE ECW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
"Babs" says, "Hopefully so!"
X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
A.J. STYLES (c) versus PETEY WILLIAMS (with Coach D'Amore)
Styles is a fantastic performer and just came off an impressive series of matches with Christopher Daniels. He's on a roll and hotter than ever. But look at Petey Williams? He just won two X-Division matches over the past few weeks and can really be said to be on a roll as well. This match could easily go either way and it wouldn't be an upset. I think the deciding factor will be the third man outside the ring, Coach D'Amore. He should be the deciding factor and upset the balance just so much in favor of his wrestler. Will it be enough to overcome AJ and take away the X-Division title for Petey? Yep! I think it will. Look for a new champion as Petey Williams takes the nod in a knuckle-biter of a match.
Winner and new X-Division Champion: Petey Williams
"Babs" says, "Absolutely!"
ELIMINATION X-MATCH - ELIMINATION RULES
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS, SAMOA JOE, ALEX SHELLEY & RODERICK STRONG versus CHRIS SABIN, MATT BENTLEY (with Traci), SONJAY DUTT & AUSTIN ARIES
An elimination match means chaos, especially when talent such as these eight men are involved. Look for communication between Daniels and Samoa Joe to cause their elimination and set up a future feud. I don't think Strong, Bentley, or Sabin will make it to the end either. So it comes down, in my opinion to Alex Shelley versus Dutt & Aries. Alex is a talented young man and a fantastic performer, but Dutt is really coming into his own and Aries is a great talent as well. Look for the Sabin, Bentley, Dutt & Aries team to capture the win with Sonjay and Austin as the final survivors.
Winners: THE HIGH FLYERS WITH THE HOT CHICK AT RINGSIDE
"Babs" says, "No Way!"
NO DISQUALIFICATION
SABU versus ABYSS (with James Mitchell)
My apologies to Sabu Steve on this, but Abyss is being pushed as a top contender for the NWA Championship. Sabu is a phenomenal performer, but he's been getting jobbed out right and left since signing with TNA and I don't think it will be ending tonight. Look for Sabu and Abyss to be disturbing, bloody, warped, totally insane, and whatever other adjectives you want to include in describing the carnage. It'll be a match to remember, but in the end, Abyss will take the victory.
Winner: SINISTER MINISTER'S CABIN BOY
"Babs" says, ""Hopefully so!"
CONTENDERS MATCH
"THE APLHA MALE" MONTY BROWN versus JEFF HARDY
I like to watch "Skittles" perform and would love to see a Hardy being pushed in the main event matches. Of course, now that Batista's been injured, Matt still may have a chance on SmackDown! Who knows? But in TNA, it's not going to happen. Not right now anyhow. "Skittles" will be tasting the rainbow and the mat as he falls victim to the PPOOOOOOOOUUUNNNNNCCCCCCCEEEEEE! 'Nuff said! "Rainbow Brite" gets sent to the showers as Monty takes home the win.
Winner: MONTY BROWN
"Babs" says, "Absolutely!"
TEAM CANADA (A1, BOBBY ROODE & ERIC YOUNG) versus 3 LIVE KRU (BG JAMES, KONNAN & K-KWIK)
Special Referee: KIP JAMES
It finally happens tonight. Kip screws up and costs the Kru the match. Konnan attacks Kip. BG defends his former "ass of a partner" and bless my booties, the "James Gang" is back together again. One of the stipulations of this match is that hockey sticks are legal and will be available in each corner. Who's coming up with this stuff? Did they hire back Vince Russo? Geez! Anyhow, chaos ensues and we can just blame Canada because Terrance & Phillip's favorite TNA will take home the victory.
Winners: BLAME CANADA!
"Babs" says, "Not sure! Ask again!"
JAY "CHRISTIAN" RESO - the talk is that Jay Reso, better known as Christian, will be making his TNA debut at the PPV tonight, less than 2 weeks after leaving the WWE. If Reso does appear tonight, I expect we'll see him interfere in the Monty Brown - Jeff Hardy match. Why? Because Jeff versus Christian means great wrestling, great matches and ratings! Just consider it a warm up as "Captain Charisma" starts down the path to his place in history as a future NWA World Heavyweight Champion. I don't think they need to put the title on him.. yet! Give the TNA fans that may not know who Christian is (is there anyone really who doesn't know who Christian is?) a chance to see what this man can do and show everyone who watches TNA why the WWE was stupid in letting him go. Hardy would make a great way to start and it would only get better from there. So if the "creepy little bastard" does appear, this should be the match where he pops up. That's my opinion anyhow!
AND FINALLY...
In closing, I want to send out best wishes to legendary lady wrestler and former World Champion Penny Banner. Penny has been in and out of the doctor's offices quite a bit lately and, according to Gerweck.net, she's been diagnosed with cancer. The speculation is that is may be ovarian cancer. I'm not sure of the validity of this report. I'm a member of Penny's Yahoo group, Banner Days, and she has not mentioned it in any of her recent online posts. But the folks at Gerweck.net are usually pretty reliable sources, so I'm not sure what to believe right now. But she is a fantastic lady and a true class act in every sense of the word, so please keep this professional wrestling icon in your thoughts and prayers.
And that's it for me today. Any questions or comments, just drop me a line at Doug28352@yahoo.com. I love feedback so go ahead and write. I won't bite... much! I'm Doug and I've got skills. Until the next time, see you at the matches. Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment