My letter this week is from Elbob/Bill Dearth in Cincy in followup to a letter in my previous column:

Hey Mario,

I just read your last article and i want to know what in the hell that guy was thinking when he wrote " oh and the Rock has ring rust". Don't get me wrong I'm not a very big fan of the Rock but this guy has NO IDEA what the hell he's talking about. I think he heard or read the term "ring rust" on the internet somewhere and decided that he would be cute and put that in his letter so everyone would think to themselves " Damn, this guy really knows wrestling". From what i could tell the Rock has not missed a beat since returning. I don't even know why I'm writing this, i just get pissed off when someone tries to act like they're big wrestling aficionados.

BTW, you covered everything about this past Raw EXCEPT for Shawn Stasiak's little "tribute" to Stone Cold. I thought it was friggin hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Of course i may have been a little buzzed too but nonetheless, much hilarity ensued. A little "maryjane" will always make a mediocre Raw much much better.

Elbob
Cincinnati, OH

Thanks for the letter Elbob. I agree The Rock hasn't missed a beat and add that he seems to be in really good shape. The time off from wrestling has allowed him time to heal any nagging injuries and come back fresh. Shawn Stasiak IS hilarious and I hope he finally becomes more than the scrub he's been his entire career. And hey, "I've got 5 on it", If you smell what The Rock is smoking!!

Smackdown! Notes

RVD vs. Jeff Hardy for the Hardcore Title
Is a feud really a feud when neither wrestler cuts a promo about it? The answer of course is yes, but being that neither guy is much of a promo cutter, their characters and feuds are much harder to develop. It makes you miss the days of a good mouthpiece manager ala Jim Cornette and Bobby Heenan. Jeff took a sick tablespot as he tried the swanton off of a 15 foot ladder through a table that didn't seem to break his fall much and onto the floor. My only problem with their match ending there was that he walked to the back rather than using the stretcher that was following him. That would have made it much more believable if they had strapped him in and wheeled him away. Raven comes out and attacks his fellow Alliance member. RVD hits the 5Star Frog Splash and gets the pin. Out comes Steph stiT and tries to get them to kiss and make up. That doesn't work so SCSA w/Sara, I mean Debra, comes out. Austin yells at both wrestlers, what? and out comes Y2J. Is this whole show going to be part of this with no breaks or what? Anyways, someone feels like Y2J's sloppiness of late has earned him a title shot. I appreciate Denver, Co not buying into his semi-funny promo.

Slo-Gunns defeated The Dudleyz
Did the Duds piss somebody off to be jobbing to these guys?

Kurt Angle defeated Who Better than Kanyon
I like Kanyon's energy and he worked well with Kurt so keep pushing them both. Angle wins it with the Olympic Slam and Anglelock, but of course you know it was a non-title match.

Rhyno, Booker T and Testicle defeated Nation of Domination, I mean Corporation, I mean APA and The Rock
Nothing special. Next

Kane and Undertaker defeated Edge and Christian
Shouldn't they be defending against someone in The Alliance?

Ivory defeated Lita
Finally a women's match with some actual wrestling moves. Green Lantern comes out to interfere so of course Ivory wins. Matt Hardy comes out too late to make the save but being that Lita is always there for him, shouldn't he be there for her matches? I know if my woman was rolling around with another woman, I'd sure as hell be there!!!

Raven challenges RVD. Hey, a promo with RVD!!!!! This is what I was talking about earlier. A 30 second promo isn't going to kill you!

SCSA defeated Y2J
Before the match, Commissioner Regal comes out to inform us that since Y2J has been so sloppy lately and not so funny, this match will be for the WWF Title. It was a good paced match and not as sloppy as Y2J's been lately. Hmmm, motivation??? He of course loses as everyone knew he would and we are outie.

Til next time,

5000