Very Brief WCW Thoughts
I have very little to say about the Bischoff/Russo Nitro that is set for this Monday but I am looking forward to seeing it. Since Nitro airs Tuesday night here in Canada I can watch both shows separately without flipping channels. The hype is definitely there so they have done a good job on that end but I am anticipating what will happen. I hope Booker gets the push to main event status that he has deserved for three years. It probably won't happen but I will still watch because I love wrestling and I always will. If he does get that push I will be extremely happy but if history tells us anything I will be disappointed yet again.

Final WrestleMania Thoughts
In my post WrestleMania column on Monday I said the PPV was very good and I got some heat for it. There are some people out there who realized that it was a good show featuring three very good matches and one great match. If you expect to see eight or ten great matches than your expectations are way too high. Anyway, here are a few emails about the show with reader comments in italics and my part immediately following.

From: GroundZERO0
WWF WrestleMania 2000... quite a show to say the least. Of course many of the internet "smarks" did not like the PPV. I however thought the show was excellent. Maybe even the greatest WrestleMania ever. Gasp! Did someone say best WrestleMania ever? Yep. And here's why.

Most of the talentless jobbers (excluding the big bossman) were in the Hardcore Battle Royal which was kept to 15 minutes. And this was a 3 hour 15 minute PPV. So no complaints there.

Bull Buchanan really impressed me. I expected him to be no more than a younger Big Bossman, but he really did some good moves. Not a great wrestler, but more watchable than The Bossman. The Tag Team Title Match was superb. I marked out like it was the 80s during that match. Even though I was rooting for the Hardyz, the Canadianz deserved their first reign. Now I'll probably get some heat for this, but Chyna worked her ass off last night. Sure, she's not a great wrestler, but she gave it her all last night and got the crowd going. Woulda much rather seen the Radicals win, but hey it was a good match. GO PETE ROSE!

And the Main Event was excellent. Big Show was eliminated quick, Foley had a great final match, a Vince heel turn, and Triple H (In my opinion, one of the greatest heels of all time) retaining the WWF Title being the first heel to walk out of WrestleMania as the World Champ. As the late great Gorilla Monsoon would say, "An unprecedented event."

That's what made this WrestleMania so spectacular. Like another Big 3 Oratory writer said, it certainly was better than some of the crap on some older WrestleManias. Usually there's one or two great matches per WrestleMania, but this one I think had some great matches, and only a couple horrid matches.

Thanks for the mail. It's always good to hear from people who can appreciate a good show when they see it. I don't know why so many people hated the PPV. I got a lot of emails after my column with most of the comments either saying they loved it or they hated it. Why do people expect so much out of WrestleMania? Sure, the hype is there but do people really think there have been a lot of good WrestleMania's?

From top to bottom the best WrestleMania was probably 14 but even that one did not have a spectacular match. WrestleMania 10 is the one that I say is the best ever because of two five star matches. The rest of the WM10 card was crap but like I have said many times before, two five star matches on the same card is unprecedented so I can look over the bad for the good. WrestleMania 3 and 6 had some huge matches on them but were they really that great as a whole? Last year's WrestleMania was atrocious; even Austin couldn't save that one.

If I were to rank WrestleMania 2000 (16) I would put it in the top three WM's of all time. Think about it for a second. It had a very good match (tag ladder match) and three other matches that were good as well. I think some fans expect way too much out of WrestleMania and that's why they end up being frustrated after watching the show. I could have done without the first forty minutes or so but the rest of the card was entertaining. The only other complaint I have is that there were no major turns this year. Last year Triple H and Chyna turned heel and it was very memorable but this time around it was only Vince.

If you want to see a PPV that is great from top to bottom go watch a Super J Cup or something of that nature. Believe me, if you expect eight good matches out of every PPV then you will be disappointed. Next time ‘Mania rolls around, try to filter out the bad stuff and soak in the good stuff because that is the only way you will enjoy things. The success of wrestling today may not last forever so enjoy it before it is too late. By the way, this is the last of my WrestleMania talk in a column so let's just move on and look forward to Backlash.

The Greatest WWF Match Ever
The feedback for the column about the Hart/Austin match from WM13 that I wrote a week ago has been pretty amazing. I really enjoyed writing it and I enjoyed reading your opinions of it as well as some of wrestling's other greatest matches. I have selected one of the 200 plus emails not because it was the best one (although that is the case sometimes) but it has left me with some final thoughts on the subject.

From: Alex Payette

Your column on the Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin "I Quit" Match at Wrestle Mania 13 is just......great. You really put everything in the match in your column. The match was probably the best match I've ever seen.

It had the double turn, the psychology, the great skills, and no low points. It truly was a match that had you hanging on every single move. Be it a punch, or the famous Sharpshooter that left Stone Cold out cold (it's not the Sharpshooter heard round the world, no that belongs to Shawn Michaels).

I especially like how you kept on getting back to the swerve of 97. It's odd that the year could start on such a high note, yet end on such a low one. All in all, you wrote a column that I know I enjoyed for so many reasons.

It's a reminder of what wrestling once was. The Internet was unheard of to me, so I didn't know about who would be wrestling and I didn't know about plans for turns. Wrestling was still something that surprised me, and this was a very pleasant surprise. I didn't appreciate the talent in the ring when it took place, but I sure do now.

Thank for reminding me,
Alex Payette

First off, I am glad you enjoyed the column. At the time of the match I honestly did not know what to expect from it. I did not have the internet in March '97 but I did hear about the rumors for the double switch from friends who had the 'net. The double switch is something that has been attempted so many times but it does not always work. I knew the match quality would be good because it was Austin and Bret.

The storytelling, the blade job, the workrate and the psychology made this match a five star affair but the fireworks that ended '97 made it that much more special. It was one of those matches that proved you don't need highspots to have a great match. All you need are two very good workers who are willing to bust their ass and you can have success. It's nice to see people like The Hardys fly all over the ring but I can appreciate a Steve Austin match just as much, if not more, because of his work ethic and desire to succeed.

The match at WM 13 changed the life of Austin and Hart in very different ways. Austin went from high midcarder to icon status within a year while Hart went from icon status to fallen hero in that same time period. Then again, both guys made at least $3 million in 1998 so on that level they were similar. Remember I'm an accountant, we always think about money. Thanks for the mail, I appreciate it.

My good friend and disgruntled Cincinnati Bearcat (poor Kenyon!) fan Fred Richards wrote me about a number of things that I wanted to talk about. Here's a look at some of it:

I am sick to death, angry as hell that Mick Foley did not win that match. I must say you made some very good points in your post WM column about booking for the future, Mick being off these days and at a good point to retire. I just wanted him to win so bad. However, I knew deep down that he wouldn't win. It was too obvious and I believe that Vince has this deep down need to always go against the obvious to try to remain as unpredictable as possible.

Also, I wanted the Dudleys to retain as long as possible. You know I'm big on Buh Buh. Besides, I think is time for Edge to go it alone and a break here would have worked well. He proved that on Raw. He showed that he has charisma to spare and can work the Mic. If he would just bulk up a bit and improve his psychology during the matches he will be huge.

I rented the "'Cause Stone Cold Says So" video and watched it. You were not kidding about Austin's blade job. Mind you, I can't watch the match now and feel the same emotion and heat that was going at the time it actually occurred, but I still thought it was top notch. Your article on this match, the more I think about it, was a work of art. It helped my re-create some of the heat in my mind while watching the match. You truly have a lot of knowledge about wrestling and I think you could probably have a lot of success booking.

Anyway, I'm still pissed about the out come of 'Rasslemania and that's the bottom line. But that's just me and I'm sure I'll get over it. I just wanted to go on record with that. Anyway, I have a difficult week and my head is killing me so I better get back to doing nothing in particular for my clients.

Have a Nice Day!!
Fred

Fred, I think a lot of people are upset about Foley losing but Mick knows what he is doing. Let me ask you this though, how many people out there represent the business as well as Foley? He represents everything that is good about wrestling. In his last three big matches he lost to the same man in order to elevate a guy who is going to be wrestling for years to come. He gave Triple H the biggest rub I have ever seen and that is why Foley deserves everyone's respect. The mark in all of us wanted Mick to win but deep down I think all of us know that what Mick did will benefit the WWF in the long run. At first, I was upset at Mick for coming back after his retirement but I see why he did it and I regret ever writing anything remotely negative about the guy.

In my post 'Mania column I said that Christian is more gifted than Edge and I believe that. In the ring he has a better sense of ring psychology, he bumps more and his moveset is slightly larger. On the mic he is not as comfortable as Edge is but in time I know Christian will be able to cut a good promo. The downfall for Christian is that he is smaller than Edge and he will always be looked upon as Edge's little brother even though they are not really related. Edge was in the WWF before Christian and people will always remember that. The size issue is one that has bothered me for years but I know it exists. The same thing is holding back Eddy Guerrero and I have a feeling Christian will fall to prey to the same "he's too small" theory that is unfairly given to so many wrestlers. Overall, I think Christian is better than Edge but since he is the smaller one people tend overlook him. It's a shame really.

Personally, I think the Austin/Hart match is just as good today as it was three years ago. There are some older matches that are hard to appreciate when we look back at them today but this match was different. This match was the greatest match in WWF history and people will be enjoying it for many more years. The storyline was absolutely magnificent, the action was top notch, the psychology was fantastic and the fact that the crowd bought the double turn made it that much more special. I really busted my ass on that column and I am glad the people that read it were able to enjoy it. As for booking, I have to admit that I have liked fantasy booking in the past but the one complaint I have is that it takes a lot of time and effort. I may do some fantasy booking in the future but only when I have the time and patience to write it all out. Thanks for the mail Fred.

In Closing...
Before I wrap this up I just want to let you all know that I may not be writing about current happenings in wrestling for a little while. I am going to work on talent evaluation columns about all three federations so that will eat up a lot of my time over the next couple of weeks. First up is the WWF, after that I will do ECW and by the time I get done those two I think I will have a good grasp on Russo and Bischoff's direction over in WCW so I will do a WCW one as well. These are not the same talent evaluations that you have seen other writers do, it will be with my own little twist and I promise you will enjoy all of them. I will rate the person on their past, present and chances for improvement in the future. Believe me, this will be the most thorough evaluation you have ever seen.

I will continue writing PPV previews but I am not going to do a column proclaiming my thoughts on TV shows, news or rumors. I have wanted to do talent evaluations for a long time but never got around to doing them for various reasons. If I like a certain thing on Raw or Nitro and feel the need to comment on it than I will. However, it won't be in-depth like I am used to doing. I have already started on the WWF talent evaluation column and if everything goes right this bad boy will be up by late next week. I also have a Spring Stampede preview to do next week as well but hopefully I can wrap up the WWF column before that. These talent evaluations will probably take up the month of April (maybe longer) for me and after that things will be back as they were before. I may be doing some fantasy booking after that because I had a lot of fun with it the last time but at this point I do not know for sure. I just wanted you to know where I am headed in the next couple of weeks.

If you have any comments or questions feel free to email me at wwfjohnc@hotmail.com and I will do my best to reply to you as soon as possible.