Greetings, sports entertainment fans! I was feeling a bit burnt out last week so I took a little break. Now I'm back with my news and views. First of all, some shilling-a big welcome to the Crippler Hellspawn and a little wave to the 'PurOracle', Josh Haggard! As always, my girls Rebecca & Heather get props too.( Soon, girls, soon!) And a big 'hey' to Todd Thomas too! I was sorting through the archives and found out that August 2 was my official 1st anniversary with CRZ! (Sharon was the first female to write for the site, too! Check out her pseudonymous debut here. - CRZ) Wow-and I lasted this long without referring to my breasts or my oral skills! Well, hormones have crept into my columns but that's because wrestling is chockfull of good looking men with beautiful bodies and I can't help but comment! Sure, some guys don't appreciate it (except for a few special ones) but the little girls understand, as the old blues song goes.

Okay, enough of this, let's talk wrestling! I'm still enjoying the WWF but I have to admit, it's getting just a tad stale. However, I refuse to believe this has anything to do with Vince Russo, no matter what he'd like to think! So, my focus this week is on ECW, the little fed that could. I hear that USA & Paul E. are hooking up; I think this is great news! They deserve a chance to show everyone what they can do and maybe through USA, they'll be able to earn their place as the REAL #2 federation.

There are 4 jewels in Paul E.'s crown: Jerry Lynn, Kid Kash, Tajiri and of course, Rob Van Dam. These 4 wrestlers are so talented that they can carry anyone to a good match! This is no dis to the other roster members, btw. I think Paul E. has a great eye for talent, witness how many WWF/WCW people have come from ECW! Last week saw a great match between RVD and Amish Roadkill, which I questioned at first, I admit but the Amish dude really showed his stuff!

I've complained before about RVD's excessive showboating for the fans and this week Joey Styles explained why he does. (Hmmm...could Joey have read my col-naahhh) He said it was a way of psyching out your opponent, leaving him to stew in the ring would rile him up to the point of distraction, leaving him vulnerable to mistakes. Okay, makes sense to me. The interesting thing is it didn't work on Roadkill, or Kid Kash this week.

What a match between Kid Kash & RVD! Kid's defensive moves were incredible! This was the first time I've seen RVD glassy eyed (then again it could've been his stash before the match) He got out of the ring a few times, telling the crowd how good the Kid was! Kash even got a few near counts! Aside from Jerry Lynn, I've never seen anyone bring it to RVD like that! I'm really looking forward to any rematches these two have!

Now, as I said Paul E. has an eye for talent but I really don't get the booking sometimes. Okay, I know nada about booking but this tag team tournament has really left me perplexed. Let's look at the teams: Rhino & Justin Credible? I can understand the network needing a heel team in the tourney but why 2 guys who already hold big belts? Why couldn't Cyrus have chosen an established heel team like the Baldies or Simon & Swinger? Well, I guess it's a moot point because the network won't get those belts.

Now we have Chilly Willy & the Sandman? Geez between Sandman coming through the crowd and Willy dancing, how long will it take for this match to start? And their opponents are Justin & Rhino so we have cane against cane and Willy trying to avoid being gored. Hmmm...I'm curious to see how it comes together. It really seems strange. Speaking of strange, we have Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck- language barrier aside, I think these two could work very well together. Their styles could mesh very well and going up against the FBI-wonder if Guido's partner will be Sal or Tony? This should be an interesting match too.

Then we have Kid Kash and RVD. While I can see the Kid earning his spot here, what is RVD doing? He's bigger than the tag team title! Frankly I'm surprised he hasn't challenged Justin for the HW belt! But then, where would he go after that? He was TV champ for almost 2 years. Anyway, this is a match I'm looking forward to because RVD/Kash's opponents are Jerry Lynn & Tommy Dreamer! I expect to see an awesome match between these guys but I'm sorry, Tommy's out of his element here. Tommy's a brawler and the rest of these guys have the skills to fly or mat wrestle, I really can't see him doing much here.

The rest of the tournament has established teams like Doring/Roadkill, Swinger/Diamond, and my favorites Nova & Chetti as well as newcomers York/Matthews and Fantastico/EZ Money. I'm sorry I'll miss the show in NYC but hey, I'll be heading to SummerSlam so I can't complain too much.

So let's take a stroll over to Atlanta and see what they're up to! I watched Nitro this week, not because of this big work with Russo & Hogan but because it's gotten better since Booker became champ and Lance Storm came in. I must admit I had trouble controlling my gag reflex when that 'shoot' with Russo came on, as a matter of fact, I fast-forwarded through most of it! Judging from the recap, I missed nothing! And looking at that news item about whose contracts may be bought out, I couldn't help but think of Fox and this new fed they're allegedly forming. I admit I'm a mark but I'm not that BIG a mark!

Speaking of Marks, damn that Madden is annoying! He seems to be trying to be Jerry Lawler but it ain't working, kids! And hearing him make snide remarks about overweight people is really obnoxious! You know, it's funny to hear Russo say the WWF's been stuck in a holding pattern since he left but it sure hasn't stopped him from trying to use that pattern! Booker T is now the 'people's champ', his finishing move is the Roc-er, the Book End; Jeff Jarrett is still doing the guitar shtick and oh my, Lance just said he was 'that DAMN good!' Okaaayy.........

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