Wow, I think it has been a month since I had an opportunity to send a "Benediction" out to you, the readers of slashwrestling.com. Please forgive me; as you can imagine, Christmas is a busy time for pastors.

I am definitely looking forward to the new year. Let's face facts...because wrestling is at an ebb right now in the national consciousness, and because the WWF messed up two can't miss angles in 2001 (The "Invasion", return of ECW), it can't get too much worse for them in 2002. So, I expect business to pick up, to steal a phrase from some other "Ross." But how? I have a few ways that the WWF can really improve itself in 2002.

1. Split the rosters. While this is probably going to happen soon, probably within the next month or so, this may be the best thing that can happen to the WWF roster. The Fed has more quality wrestlers than they know what to do with, and a split roster can showcase the buried, but talented mid-carders that populate the WWF right now. In addition, the idea of a talent "draft" has been in the works for a while now, but if they plan it right, they can really pop their ratings and draw in the casual fans that they lost after the Invasion failed so miserably. (Note: the next Benediction will have a mock draft and a way it can be booked.)

2. Push Triple H's return, and then job him to Chris Jericho. The WWF are putting all of their promotional eggs in the basket of Chris Jericho. But if they want to truly legitimize Jericho in the eyes of regular and smart fans alike, then they should job him out to Jericho, and convincingly. We all know that Triple H is going to get pushed to the moon, and as a babyface, to boot. However, Jericho can get a major rub if Triple H does a convincing series of jobs to him over the coming months. Imagine how arrogant Jericho's character could be if he beats "The Game", with his arrogance being the key to Jericho's heelishness. Making Jericho a believable, credible, and hateable bad guy could really do wonders for the WWF.

3. Reform a heel DX. Kevin Nash will be signed any day now. Shawn Michaels is flirting with coming back again. X-Pac's almost ready to return, and we already talked about Triple H. All the band will be back together--maybe except for Scott Hall--and all of them will be healthy. You want to get the smarts talking? This would be the perfect way to do it--again, if the writers book it right, if the wrestlers are motivated, and if the Clique keeps out of trouble.

4. Do not reform the Four Horsemen. I am as big a fan of the Four Horsemen as anyone who grew up in the eighties can be. And that is precisely the issue; I grew up in the eighties, when the name "Four Horsemen" meant something. However, if the WWF revives the Four Horsemen, even though there are plenty of wrestlers that could do an admirable job in performing those roles, over 90% of the fan base would have no idea who or what The Four Horsemen was all about. Here is an example: there is a kid in my church who is a big wrestling fan. He is fairly knowledgable about what is going on in today's wrestling scene. However, when I started talking about Arn Anderson in a wrestling conversation, he had no idea who he was. Thus, how would he and other fans like him get into The Four Horsemen if they weren't even alive to remember them in their prime? So, I hope the WWF writers don't get too smart for their own good and try to recreate something that most of today's fans will not understand.

5. Continue to elevate RVD. This is more of a long-term move than anything else. Steve Austin and The Undertaker are probably going to retire in the next two years. Who is going to be the next mega-babyface in the WWF (assuming that they don't sign Goldberg)? Rob Van Dam is poised to be the "next big star" that the WWF is going to build upon. Let's hope that they continue to gently push him into upper card territory, because he will be a major asset to the WWF in the distant future.

6. Establish a "minor league" wrestler. The WWF has a ton of talent in their developmental leagues (HWA, OVW, UPW, Puerto Rico). They need new faces to round out their roster, especially ones who could be upper card wrestlers in the future. They have seven new faces that should make their debuts within the next few months (Rico Constantino, Ron Waterman, Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, Randy Orton, and The Island Boyz {Matt Anoai and Eddie Fatu}). Of those seven, there are more in OVW and HWA who could make their debuts by the end of 2002 (Nick Dinsmore, The Prototype, Leviathan, Doug Basham, Charlie Haas, Mike Sanders, Flash, Damaja). Who among the preceding can the WWF persuade their fans to get into? That decision can give the fans another reason to turn or their TV's or tell their friends about the "new guy" in the WWF.

7. Have as much "McMahon Free TV" as possible. There is only one person who should be a full-time WWF contributor on TV, and that is Shane McMahon. Look, I know that the Vince vs. Austin stuff is funny sometimes, but in my opinion, Shane is the only McMahon who could talk and wrestle full time. When Vince is on TV, he is automatically the number one heel, not a wrestler like Chris Jericho or Booker T. Heck, the only wrestler more heelish than Vince is Triple H, and he is coming back as a "good guy". Thus, Vince should stay off TV. Then there is Stephanie--who is like a TV sponge; everything revolves around her when she is on the screen, instead of around the wrestlers. Therefore, if you want to give the wrestlers a chance to get over, then the McMahon's should stay behind the curtain as much as possible.

These are my ideas for a successful WWF in 2002. Please send me your ideas, and I'll post them in a later Benediction. As far as the rest of the American industry is concerned, I am not so sure that there will be any serious competition for the WWF to worry about...but I hope by the end of 2003 that one of the bigger indies has a cable deal that can give the WWF a run for their wrestling money and get Vince motivated again. Who knows; Ted Turner does have control of programming at Time Warner, so wrestling may enter their airwaves again. We shall see, eh? But I hope that wrestling will regain some of its luster lost in 2001.

In closing, here is a more important benediction for all of you as you begin the new year. May God bless you, your families, and your educational and vocational endeavors in 2002. From my family to yours, may you be safe, may you be successful, and may you enjoy the peace of Jesus Christ in all that you do.

Peace,
"The Right Reverend"
Rev. Ross Mowery
[slash] wrestling