Whew!! Do I have a lot of letters this week!!! I probably won't be able to answer them all today, but I will try. Don't worry, I will get to every one soon. First, some important notes:

I never truly thanked CRZ for being the F'N man and letting me do something I've been wanting to do for years. I'm referring to writing, not sexual intercourse with Lita. Thanks so much CRZ. I promise not to suck so bad as to cause you massive embarrassment. Who better than Zimmerman? Nobody!

In a non-wrestling sports note, look for my beloved Yankees to make it 4 in a row and 5 out of the last 6. If not on their sheer greatness, expect MLB to play a nice sized hand in it, since NY REALLY needs it this year, and 'cause of all the great patriotic PR it would bring MLB if NY were to be champs after all that has happened.

In another non-sports related aside, my even more beloved Knicks bought out Larry Johnson's contract this week. This is excellent news for Knicks fans. Not only did we dump the burden that was Luc "the Aussie Bitch" Longley but now we got rid of the biggest thing standing between us and cap space, LJ's contract. Don't get me wrong, I'm sad to see him go. Not only did he provide us with one of the all time great moments in Knick history with "the 4-point play" but he came up in the clutch time and time again, became a leader both by example and with his words, made any sacrifice he was asked to, and played for years through incredible pain. Even if the guy did father a full basketball team's worth of illegitimate children (allegedly) he was a courageous warrior on the court, and had a turnaround jumper that was even more potent than his sperm. By the way, I'm really into Fantasy basketball, so if anyone needs advice or wants to share advice, drop me a line.

Enough rambling, time for some letters!!!

From : Cindy-niugvb@look.ca
Subject : fuck me hard!!!, aszurg
Date : Friday, 12 October 2001 12:13

I am sooo WET and HORNY right now!
Please CUM and FUCK ME HARD!

http://290.202.218.10/hi5/upfwxbkia/

(*srersodqnpwfbechwjbpecizabvvwe*)

Point well taken Cindy!! I agree that Rob Van Dam is doing
something really amazing right now. I think the real story here is the
fact that the WWF could have had him at any time since like 1998 and
always snubbed their noses at the guy. People also don't seem to realize
that "Mr. PPV" could have just as easily not been signed at all. In fact,
if it wasn't for the combination of the ECW revival and Paul E's pleading,
RVD might STILL be on the Indy circuit.

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Reply-To : instabass5487@yahoo.com
To : <instabass6255@arabia.com>
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Date : Thu, 11 Oct 2001 15:39:05 -0400

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Well, Instabass..

While there are many little factors contributing to the WWF's recent decline in quality (and ratings) the biggest one comes from a 3 lettered organization that has nothing to do with wrestling (and that was the problem). Of course, I'm talking about the XFL. The reason why the WWF isn't doing so well is because it lost it's "attitude" or as I like to think of it, it's soul. In fact, look at the errie parallels between Vince and the XFL and Stone Cold and his initial heel turn: Vince had just fully returned to mainstream prominence after recovering from severe damage to his public image and was completely dominating the wrestling market. He saw the XFL as an opportunity to put that official stamp on the comeback. He found a way to accomplish this. He would turn his back on the people who supported him through thick and thin (USA network) and sign a deal with arguably his worst enemy, network television. Network TV absolutely despised Vince, who in return was kicking their ass on cable on a weekly basis with his popular programming. As a result, Vince and the WWF had to tone down their act (unless of course it benefited NBC), if he ever wanted to keep the XFL on the airwaves. In a way this was like Vince turning his back on his best friend(hardcore "WWF attitude" fans) in exchange for phony "friends" (network TV and mainstream media). This led to Vince becoming buddy-buddy with an entity that had tried to run him down and end his career (again, mainstream media). While Vince thought everything was cool and that he had full support, Vince's "friends", mainstream media and Network television, were doubting Vince and blaming him for every little mistake that was made. We'll stop here and I'll explain later.

Now onto the Austin Storyline:

Austin had just fully returned to mainstream prominence after recovering from severe damage to his spine and was completely dominating the wrestling market. He saw the WWF title as an opportunity to put that official stamp on the comeback. He found a way to accomplish this. He would turn his back on the people who supported him through thick and thin (the fans) and sign a deal with arguably his worst enemy, Vince McMahon. Vince absolutely despised Austin, who in return was kicking his ass in the ring on a weekly basis with his popular finisher, the Stunner. As a result, Austin had to tone down his act(unless of course it benefited Vince), if he ever wanted to keep the WWF title around his waist. Austin then turned his back on his best friend(Jim Ross) in exchange for phony "friends" (Vince McMahon and HHH). This led to Austin becoming buddy-buddy with an entity that had tried to run him down end his career (HHH). While Austin thought everything was cool and that he had full support, his "friends", Vince and HHH, were doubting and blaming him for every little mistake that was made. Of course the storyline ends here because HHH got injured.

Also, notice in the WM17 match against the Rock: The Attitude era was conceived at WM13 when Bret Hart slapped the Sharpshooter on the heel Austin, and Austin picked up his head, squirted some blood out and passed out, giving birth to babyface Austin that exact second. At WM17, Austin was in the Sharpshooter again, this time as the babyface. He picked up his head, squirted out some blood... and reached the ropes, turning himself heel and killing off babyface Austin that exact second. Want more proof? He then switched roles and HE was the one applying the Sharpshooter (i.e., the heel). Very next move? His old heel finisher, the Million Dollar Dream. When Bret Hart reversed the hold and pinned Austin and he wouldn't let go, it was the official conception of the babyface Austin. When the Rock did it an Austin let go, it was the burial. His uniting with McMahon just kicked dirt on the grave.

IMO, the Attitude era was put on life support when Vince made the XFL deal. It died when he signed his pact with NBC and moved to TNN.

Aside from ending the Attitude era of the WWF, the XFL also took Vince away from the WWF, causing a noticed decrease in continuity, direction, and quality in WWF programming right there.

So if you're gonna blame someone for this mess, blame the XFL.

Last letter:

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You know, I am hoping that WCW becomes a separate entity soon. In fact, the WWF right now has enough talent for 3 organizations!! They could actually make more money by running 3 separate promotions, making A, B and sometimes C shows, while simultaneously reducing the overall number of days their talent had to work. However, the current WWF roster depth is really one of their main problems right now. How do you determine who to push and who to put on the back burner when so many wrestlers deserve spots on the upper level of the card? Here's a quick list of 20 wrestlers who are IC level or higher on the current WWF roster:

Austin
Rock
Angle
Jericho
Booker T
DDP
Kanyon
RVD
Kane
Undertaker
Edge
Christian
Test
Regal
Rhyno
Big Show
Lance Storm
Bradshaw
Albert
Ok.. so I stretched for 19

But what about guys like Tazz, Raven, Hurricane, and X-pac who are on the cusp? And what happens when you throw in HHH, Rikishi, and Benoit? And you wanna add to that list by bringing in Steiner, Nash, Hall? Who do you push? Who do you put on the back burner? How long of a push does someone get? What about the younger lowercard talent?

Sure the WWF can string together about 1 or 2 years of Kickass shows with just those "20" on TV and an occasional new face thrown in, but what about developing new, interesting talent? What about the younger guys? Who do you cut from the roster (besides Big Boss Man)

I say split it all up evenly, Give the WWF 2 hours of the 4 main shows, and have ECW and WCW each have one. Then run all the house shows you want!!!

I'm WAAAAY outside the box, I know, but its still a possibility!!

Thanks SO much for reading everyone and PLEASE leave me feedback. I really want to improve and even if you curse me out, it will help.

Thanks again. Till next time,
Out like a 2 fingered something or another.

Russell Ray
Shotgun Reviews