Greetings, salutations, howarya, and welcome to the all-new Brew Spew!

I gots to thinkin' (I do that occasionally), and I began noticing that it was getting exceedingly difficult to write really solid Yin and Yang columns every single week. It's not easy looking objectively (more or less) at both sides of an issue. And, I noticed that some times there's just some things I'd like to communicate to you good folks that don't really fit into the mold of that column. So, I have decided to incorporate Yin and Yang into an occasional feature of this new article. Thus, in doing so, you'll at least get SOME guaranteed quality mixed in with my thoughts on RAW, my thoughts on current events, and of course, my 100% no-holds-barred marking out for Test. Mehopes you enjoy the new format.

Things You Want To Know About Me But Were Afraid To Ask:

1. I mark out. A lot. And I enjoy doing it - especially for Test. So prepare yourself.

2. I'm nearly 29 years old, I'm 6'4", and I weigh 350 lbs. So don't make me mad. Have you ever seen a near-29 year old mad? It ain't pretty. Plus, I don't want to have to run after you - I tire easily, which is natural for near-29 year olds.

3. I'm a big-time optimist. The glass is always half-full. Therefore, I always look for the good in all things wrestling - it makes my life easier. However, this gives YOU a chance to tell me why the glass is actually half-empty. Which leads me to my final point:

4. I whole-heartedly encourage to let me know your thoughts. I love it when people do that - It's like DRUGS, man! And, I will be more than happy to mention your name if/when you do. Sure, it's not a shout-out from Mr. Z, and it's not even CLOSE to a shout-out from The Shooter Dean Malenko, but it's better than being on the receiving end of Test's Whitby Boot Of Death! So, whether you love me like a brother, or whether you think I utterly SUCK because I don't mention Essa Rios when I talk about Light Heavyweights like my new buddy Zachary T.Rearick does, let me know - I'll love you, even if you don't love me. Love, love, love. It's all you need!

SO! Without any further blah blah blah, let's commence the Spewin'.

Spewin' On RAW - I may mix up the order of all the matches and promos, but they'll all be there. Unless I forget something.

Edge vs. Angle

Great stuff. These two are great together, and Angle showed (again) just how good a mat wrestler he is. You tend to forget how inSANEly quick he is. He made me wish Edge would get some mat wrestling lessons just to he could keep up - and I'm an Edge fan!! Angle losing the title surprised me, and Kane's return was well done - his pyro actually surprised the shit outta me. Now I gotta clean my shorts. And the couch. Terrific.

Tazz wants a piece of Austin

Tazz's promo skills are among the best in the entire company. Knowing the match is non-title, I thought hey, maybe Tazz will finally get a little piece of revenge - something he DESPERATELY needs. I really WANT to take him seriously when he's in the ring, but what's his win/loss record - 5-206?

Hardyz vs. T & T

Again, very surprised by the title change, but I started getting that "we're gonna have 17 title changes again tonight" feeling. If the Hardyz weren't officially "Team Cheat To Win" before, they sure as hell are now. Some nice work to advance the Lita/Matt storyline, but I would have like to have seen a little more than just an upset look, considering how they're supposed to be at the pinnacle of the storyline (aren't they?).

And, if you want MORE proof that Test is the new Backstage Powerhouse (besides the fact that BOOKER got pinned, and NOT HIM), you have only to see him stand right where Booker's pyro was to go off. You see?! Test didn't LET it go off until HE WANTED IT to go off! Test RULES!

Chavo and Hugh meet Mr. McMahon

Very refreshing to see two different guys get some mic time. Chavo and Hugh did really well. Definately lent credence to the "Why Do Only The Owners and Three Or Four Members Of The Alliance Ever Talk On A Constant Basis" complaint, however.

Austin vs. Tazz

Well, shit - so much for the "Tazz gets revenge" theory. Match had great heat from the crowd - all 25 seconds of it. Damnit, Tazz has all the skillz to be a mid-to-top guy, and i think it's safe to say he's paid his dues....get 'em up there! And speaking of guys who should be up there, why the hell isn't Val Venis back yet?!

Shane wakes up the Alliance

Shane did a nice job of showing he's still in charge - and that's good; I mean, he IS the owner. Austin, Angle, and Booker made the whole promo by shoving back and forth the whole time.

Y2J talks with Vinnie Mac

Nothing amazing, but it did plant some solid Jericho heel seeds.

Dudleyz vs. Scotty II Albert

Scotty and Albert had a good chemistry together. Definately some potential in this pairing....or maybe I just couldn't get over Albert smiling and jumping around like a crazy man. You be the judge, our lines are open Wasn't an actual match, but probably nobody noticed since Stacy had her pants down for the whole time, and it's a cool way to introduce them to the fans without anybody "suffering" from a "loss"....I guess.

Edge rocks with Rob Zombie

Man, it's Edge Night tonight. You loved it if yer a Zombie fan (or an EdgeHead), but otherwise...maybe not. It DID gave Heyman the chance to say the for me: "I can't WAIT to give that music to someone else!"

Rock talks to Vinnie Mac

So much for the Rock Heel theory. Make fun of the eyebrow, make fun of the elbow - but never (ever!) mess with the millions. Standard Rock/Vince stuff - but by standard, I mean good.

"My Sacrifice" - 'Taker style

Great little spotlight on the Undertaker. I loved the first video, and I love this version. The song goes perfectly with the myraid of emotions being shown in the videos. Am I the only one that is massively enjoying these? Probably...but that's what makes me SPECIAL!

Mick Foley Cuts A Promo

Just before he came on, I was thinking to myself "Y'know, where's Foley been?" And there he was. And thank god he was there.

That was the first promo in quite some time that really made me sit up and pay attention in the middle of it. This was EXACTLY what the WWF needed to give things a poke in the right direction. The title-unification stuff is interesting and unique, but Foley's 'reasons' for doing it were exactly what many of us (not ME, of course) have been complaining about ever since the InVasion started - too many damn belts. His anger about 'not being needed' and about the belt situation, his hate but respect for William Regal, his possible 'last act' as WWF Commisioner....all of it worked perfectly, and reminded us why Mick Foley is as good as Jake "The Snake" Roberts ever was when it comes to wrestling psycology. If you taped it - watch it again, and look into Mick's eyes when he's speaking. I DEFY you to tell me that you don't believe EVERY SINGLE WORD HE'S SAYING. And hey, maybe he did - that's the beauty of the 'worked shoot' when done correctly. Best psycological promo in YEARS, to the point where I'm gonna have to tune into the Torch or 1wrestling.com to make sure that wasn't un-planned. I'm 99.99% sure it was totally planned, but still....Foley puts that doubt in your mind. That's how awesome he is at cutting promos. And now we have a whole new range of questions, like "what about the WWF and WCW titles - will THEY be unified?", and "Is Foley off TV for good?" and "doesn't ANYBODY care about X-Pac?"

Undertaker vs. Rob Van Dam

Three words came out of my mouth when this match started: "Who Will Job?" The answer...The Taker! Great ending spot - nailing the 5-Star right after 'Taker delievered the super-plex was a great 'surprise move' and made the ending believeable. Van Dam off the TitanTron was SICK - Taker caught him more in his upper body then he was supposed to and the two of them hit the ground HARD. And it sure looked like Taker SMOKED RVD right in the face with one or two of those right hands.

Taker straightens out Team WWF

More Jericho/Rock, please. I love it. They've been great together, and they do nothing but help build the main event story. I'm very much looking forward to Jericho in full-blown heel mode....assuming they go that way. The Undertaker comes in to say "Smarten up!" to everybody, and everybody listens, 'cause he's been here 10 years; something he's felt necessary to say in every promo he's done for the last two or three weeks.

Rock vs. Regal

Much shorter than I thought it was gonna be. Nothing special, but Tajiri MISTing Regal was cool, building up to what will no doubt be a PPV match for them...but the Rock calling Austin out sure got my attention.

Rock and Stone Old Re-Live Old Times

That will probably go down in history as one of the most entertaining promos in WWF history. I've never seenn a promo have more fan interaction. I've never seen a crowd more enthralled by the show Rock and Austin put on. Rock is FANTASTIC at getting a crowd to interact in a promo, but Austin is the absolute MASTER. Austin set the fans up, and led ;em right down the path where they were dying to go anyway.

The 15 or 20 "What?"'s that the crowd followed right along with was only Step 1. Now that Austin has them where he wants them, he pauses between each of his statements to allow the crowd to yell "What?". Then the "What?" after asking for the "Hell Yeah" surprised the fans, and made them realize that their participation in this promo wasn't over just yet. Absolutely BRILLIANT stuff. Now, maybe it wasn't the best promo ever to advance a storyline - but it didn't have to be, did it? I mean, it's not like Rock/Austin don't have a past history - hell, they have THE past history. But if you can honestly tell me that you were not entertained by that last segment, then you should stop watching the WWF altogether, because you'll NEVER (ever!) be happy. (Daryl, you idiot, you're NUTS. - CRZ)

Overall - if you missed it, find a tape! Best show in quite some time, especially promo-wise.

Spewin' On Latino Heat

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie! What are you DOING?! Don't you realize the WWF needs you? Why are you driving into people's gates while drunk?? I was real excited after reading Eddie's interview on WWF.com - it looked like he had won his battle with his personal demons and that we'd be seeing him back on TV where he belongs.

But, could we really blame the WWF if they sent him the way of Brian Christopher? One could make the argument that they should. The WWF preaches professionalism, and the Grandmasta was a stiff example of that.

Let's assume for the moment that this incident is related to Eddie's personal demons. If you were the WWF, what do you do? If you keep him, you keep one of the best workers around, but what does the locker room think? If you let him go, you've lost a very talented performer, but you're enforcing the professionalism which you've preaches all this time.

I certainly hope it was an isolated incident, and that Eddie's got control of his life, first and foremost. The WWF could certainly use some Latino Heat right now. And Eddie/Christian Euro Title feud would do very nicely for starters.

Spewin' On Survivor Series

Be careful reading this section: it could spoil Survivor Series for you!! Why? Because I KNOW WHO'S GONNA WIN THE MAIN EVENT! And chances are, so do you.

Does anybody see absolutely ANY possibility for the Alliance winning? Seriously - any possibility at all? I submit to you the following questions:

a) Would the WWF ever ACTUALLY drop it's style of programming and all it's superstars in favor of WCW or ECW programming? No way, no how.

b) Hugh Morris and Chavo Guerrero were "fired" on Raw. Chuck Palumbo was "fired" a couple of weeks ago. Betcha Tommy Dreamer and gets "the boot" on SmackDown!. Maybe Kidman too. Rhyno's hurt. Kanyon's hurt. Not much of the Alliance left to watch, is there?

c) If you were Vince McMahon, and you had a chance to book a Pay Per View which pitted WCW/ECW vs. WWF and the winner controlled sports entertainment....who would YOU book to win?

And so, for all these reason above, I am confident that The Alliance will win the Survivor Series, because the bookers loooove to PROVE ME (yeah, ME, specifically!) WRONG. YOUR Sole Survivor: Shane McMahon. FEEL THE PAIN.

In other matches, I predict:

- William Regal defeats Tajiri

- Edge defeats Test to unify the I-C and US belts (Yep, Test is doin' a favor for his fellow Canadian. What a guy!)

- The Dudleyz will defeat the Hardyz to unify the Tag Team Belts

....and that's all the matches so far, isn't it? Man, that ain't much. I guess more will be made on SmackDown! - I'm sure Christian will wrestle somebody for the Euro title. Or, each match could be OVER FORTY MINUTES! Wouldn't THAT be something, eh? Note To WWF: Stop making feuds on the last SmackDown before a PPV, because they don't help the buy-rate any, and the poor guys who are thrown into the matches are likely not to have much heat because there's no storyline behind the match.

Therefore, the WWF is really up against the with this PPV. Coming off of No Mercy (which was outstanding), and not having much buildup to any of the matches save the main event, it's pretty tough to envision Survivor Series being one of the top PPV's of the year. However, the WWF is ALWAYS at it's best when it's up against the wall, so I'm sure the show will be better than it looks like it's going to be right now (there's that optimism again...doesn't it just turn your stomach?).

One more self-shill, while I'm at it - thanks to all those who e-mailed or posted on the EZBoard all the positive things on my No Mercy recaps. I enjoyed myself so much, I plan to do it again for Survivor Series, so GET READY!

A Final Thought: Do you realize that CRZ has a CAR named after him? I mean, why ELSE would Nissan call a car "The Z"? Coincidence? I think not!

BrewGuy
[slash] wrestling