It has been way too long since I had the chance to sit down and write a "Benediction." Such is the life of a busy pastor. But, after an awesome Super Bowl (nevermind that the Eagles should have been facing the Patriots), and a good time had at the house of "Benediction" reader Pete Barton, here is the latest Benediction, brothers and sisters.

For those of you who remember the last article I posted many moons ago, when Mrs. Right Reverend and I conducted a mock draft in anticipation for the upcoming WWF draft, I will post the results of that draft after Wrestlemania, when the actual draft is slated to happen. According to different news sources, the draft will occur after WM X-8, after the Fed adds extra days of house shows, so that the house shows and the live TV shows will be split equally between the halves. Until then, we wait for the return of the nWo.

I don't know about you, but I do not care what happens when Nash and company arrive and get ready for (limited) work. I do think that the Fed is booking this angle just right so far; they are building good anticipation and keeping things fresh. But all's I hear on the Web is how poor a worker the Undertaker is, how slow the Big Show is, "I am surprised they got a good match out of Test" and so on. What makes anybody think that Nash, Hall, and an octogenarian Hogan are going to be any better? Look, the Undertaker is at least in good shape and starting to bump for people (i.e. the last Smackdown with Rock, Angle, and HHH)--will Nash put in the same effort? I seriously doubt it. I don't even have to argue my case about Hogan; he is only here to make one last face run before he retires. So, why should I mark out for their return to a WWF ring? My main concern with this angle is how the nWo will help push other stars in order for Nash, Hall, and Hogan to retire the right way. Thus, the next few months will be interesting.

A random thought: I think the "What" line is still funny however the fans, Austin, or whoever uses/responds to it. If I were at the house shows, I would be yelling it and laughing just like anybody else. If I may put on my fantasy booker's hat on for a minute, I would love to see Booker T put a beatdown on Austin, and then recreate the scene from Pulp Fiction with a not-so-cowardly Austin "Say what again. Say what again one more goshdarn time (edited)."

Finally, Mrs. Right Reverend, Right Reverend Junior, and I had a chance to visit my best friend down in Birmingham, Alabama (great town, by the way). We drove from suburban Philadelphia all the way to Birmingham, and on the way back, we decided to stop in Bristol, Virginia. We were tired, hungry, and I wanted to watch Monday night Raw--espcially after the Rumble. So we stopped at the Damon's there, figuring that we could watch Raw on one of their big screen TV's. Thus, I asked the waitress if she could turn on TNN for Raw, and she refused. She said "if we turn on wrestling, we'll be fired." I laughed at her, and then collected my thoughts lest I say some un-pastor-like things, then asked for a manager. The manager, in as polite a way as possible, told me that her corporate manager doesn't consider wrestling a sport, so it shouldn't be on our TV, and if he walked in and saw it, they'd be fired. Needless to say, the family and I walked out and went to a Logan's Roadhouse where the people there put on Raw in a TV with our own booth (they even gave me the remote, after laughing their heads off after the story I told about the manager at Damon's). Have any of you encountered people who hate wrestling so much that they steadfastly refuse to watch it or refuse to let anybody else watch it? Even my senior pastor at the church where I serve, as straight-arrow serious a man as I have ever met, thinks wrestling is funny. Gee, just when you thought the PTC was dead...

Well my friends, it was good to write all of you an article again. Remember, please say a prayer for Bobby Heenan and his battle with cancer, and lift up the family of former trainer and junior heavyweight Nelson Royal, who passed away today. God bless you, and may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

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