Five-Star Conversation 10.20.09: Booking The Unified Tag Titles, The World Title, John Cena to SD!?, RIP Lou Albano and A Humble COMMENTPALOOZA

Posted by Geoff Eubanks on 10.20.2009

Is WWE doing a good job booking JeriShow and they're opponents? Is CM Punk dropping The World Title to The Undertaker "A Good Thing"? Does it make more sense to see John Cena stay on Raw or jump to Friday? We also remember the Great Captain Lou and have some humble pie a la mode.

RIP Captain Lou Albano
When I started watching The WWF when I was 13, there were basically three main managers in the company: Freddie Blassie, The Grand Wizard and Lou Albano. Unfortunately, the former two were on their way out, but The Good Captain stuck around for a few years and boy am I glad he did.

There was such a unique energy that he lent the program. He was damn good at what he did and the rubber bands dangling from his face, shivering and wiggling as he blabbered a million miles a minute about his evil charges never ceased to amuse my brother and me. But, oh, could he rile me up! When I first started watching, his sneaky, underhanded tactics were enraging! Quite frankly, I think there were times that I preferred to see him get his, more so than his protégés, and when he was in danger, he just seemed to be floating as he waddled to safety! One of my most cherished memories as a kid was rejoicing when Albano's Wild Samoans were defeated for The TTTs by Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas, mainly because I knew Albano was gonna be pissed about it!

By the time the whole Rock-&-Wrestling thing heated up, I had cooled on my hatred for him, as, even though he was opposing my hero, Cyndi Lauper, I knew enough about the product to know they were really friends behind the curtain and anything he did against her was all part of the act. I loved Cyndi Lauper, because here was a freaky little chick, cute as a button, who basically taught me it was okay to be myself. (I incidentally met her at The Abbey a couple months ago. Sadly? NOT a pleasant woman.)

But all too soon, Lou disappeared from my TV, replaced by the likes of Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart and Sherri Martel, all great at what they did, but none like Lou Albano, because there was never anyone like Lou Albano. For those too young to remember, or those who would like to, here's a couple clips that pretty much sums up what Lou Albano was like. Often imitated, never duplicated, indeed!:





BOOKING TITLES, Part One: THE FLAIR WAY
We've been taking a trip down Memory Lane these recent weeks, looking into the history of World Championship Wrestling. Amid a slew of recent consternation from The IWC concerning CM Punk having dropped the belt to The Undertaker at HELL IN A CELL, in addition to my own personal frustration where the booking for The UTTCs, Chris Jericho & The Big Show, has led them (specifically Jericho), I thought we'd look back and do a little compare-and-contrast. Is McMahonagement doing the right thing…?

Let's begin by establishing a base for what is widely considered the blueprint for Successful Title Booking 101. Breaking down said blueprint to the very basics, we can revert back to the first match on the WCW DVD set for a perfect Exhibit A. I'll just reprint what I wrote originally:

Here we see Ric Flair in prime championship form, putting himself over to Tony Schiavone, the live in-studio audience and all those watching on TV about how he's the greatest, the living legend, and running down his entire list of challengers, discounting their ability and likelihood of ever unseating him for his title. Having been summarily discounted by Flair during this classic soliloquy, Magnum TA joins them at the announcer's podium, pulls out $1,000 cash money and challenges Flair to an impromptu match, betting the grand he brought that Flair couldn't beat him in TV time remaining. Flair, chuckling, slides off his robe and removes his belt, telling Schiavone, "I've given this kid every opportunity to stay out of my path…" And the match ensues.

It's an absolutely solid ten minute match and, as I said, on it's own, is one of my favorites. It's a shame Magnum's career was cut so short, so definitely and so soon. However, because we had just that extra five minutes of promo time, even anyone who had no idea who Flair or Magnum were could have turned this on as we join the broadcast on the DVD and know exactly what was going on. From Flair's promo we know that he's been the NWA WHC for so long, he muses aloud about the possibility of having to simply bequeath the belt to someone from a rocking chair, that he's been the man in The NWA for the last four years, and that Magnum is a fresh face in the neighborhood who has more stars in eyes than he does gas in the tank. Or so says Flair, which is Magnum's cue to hit the stage and prove he's so much more than that, and goes on to actually do so, as Flair does not manage to defeat Magnum in the remaining TV time, thus here do we see a young talent getting the thumb's up from Creative.

Of course, Magnum never went on to defeat Flair for the title, although he would have had his career not been abbreviated by that fateful car accident, but the basic premise remains unchanged. Flair, as the quintessential champion, shoots off his mouth about how unbeatable he is as a champion, which pushes the buttons of someone in the back and they eventually end up in the ring in a non-title affair where the upstart talent proves himself as a solid match for Flair, which hypes the fans who tune in week after week to see someone finally do just that. But when it comes down to it, one way or another, more often than not, Flair finds some way to eek out a victory and retain his belt. However, a good amount of talent benefitted from just this type of booking (and that goes for Flair, too, because he wouldn't always keep the belt through nefarious means; he got some honest-to-God victories, as well, which contributed to maintaining his legitimacy).

Now, of course, this was certainly not the only means employed to this end and NWA Creative shook up the booking to keep everything fresh, but, as was the case with The Rock-&-Roll Express (especially in Snortin' Ricky Morton's regard) creating the blueprint for modern-day tag team wrestling, so too did this era of Flair's booking help to create a tried and true booking cliché.

It seems to me that it is just this sort of booking we are seeing where JeriShow are concerned. So why then am I generally displeased with the outcome? I will admit up front that, and this is no secret, that I think Jericho still has way too much mileage as a singles performer and should still be in contention for The World Title on his native SmackDown!, still working as that same pompous heel who held such disdain for the fans and earning that spectacular heat as a top heel.

My original notes for this portion of the column asked, "When was the last time Jericho, solo or teamed with Show, managed to string together two consecutive victories?" Then I stopped and allowed my inner-mark to catch his breath and take a moment to really analyze what's been going on in his regard, which is where I started to draw parallels between the way JeriShow is, for the most part, being booked to follow the Flair blueprint, although with varied success.

We first saw Chris Jericho teamed with Edge, a professional union I saw as leading to a meltdown, then to a program against one another, triggering a face turn for Edge where he would, thus, move on to legitimize on a greater level his largely tarnished main event success as the evil "ultimate opportunist". Of course, his untimely injury left this situation in limbo and Edge was replaced at Night of Champions by Jericho with The Big Show and JeriShow was born. They successfully defended their belts against Legacy, who had bigger fish to fry with D-Generation X anyway; besides, McMahonagement wasn't done with JeriShow.

I think things were quite on track when the champions' first task was set to become Cryme Tyme. I've cited here numerous times how markedly JTG and Shad Gaspard have improved, both in terms of ring ability as well psychology, since having returned to WWE and their smaller man/bigger man dynamic worked well against the similarly-sized JeriShow. Cryme Tyme are crowd-pleasers, even if fans don't necessarily expect them to rack up a wealth of victories; however, a lop-sided win-loss category for fan favorites makes those fans' hearts thump a little more fondly. Just ask Tito Santana.

And so it was a pleasant surprise for Cryme Tyme fans when they began to find themselves getting their hands raised and, if not so, at least looking solid and competitive against such formidable opponents, champions to boot! The experience and expertise of the veteran JeriShow helped Cryme Tyme along quite a bit and the outcome was quite an entertaining month. Here, if we saw either or both members of JeriShow come up with the short end of the stick, to quote Gorilla Monsoon, it was to build up a fledgling team showing promise. That's good stuff.

Unfortunately for Cryme Tyme, they failed to get that crucial win at SummerSlam when the belts were on the line and they were not granted a rematch. Furthermore, nothing of real note has been done with them since, other than help to get over Eve Torres, who accompanied them to the ring and appeared with them in a number of backstage skits, as her rise as a talent to watch in the women's division culminated with a trade to Raw.

That is scary to me, in Cryme Tyme's regard. We saw them form briefly a union with no less than John Cena months ago, a grouping that made real sense and was set to give the pair a massive rub, but it was soon dissolved and they were moved away from to SmackDown!. Now we're seeing them being used to give a platform to Eve Torres. Two men to help get over one woman. The last time we saw a male used to put over a woman, it was Layla and Ricky Ortiz. It's as if they're pulling a Hollywood Blonds, in that McMahonagement gives them a role to utilize contracted talent, but over-excel, the fans love it and wants to see them used in a greater capacity and the plug gets pulled.

We saw much the same happen on Raw in the lead-in to Breaking Point the following month when Mark Henry & MVP were paired up to challenge the champions, and virtually the same formula was employed, although, and this is just my own perception, fan reaction to MVP seems to run hot and cold and never seems to be really consistent…am I wrong here? I'm open to being swayed one way or another on this. But, from my current standpoint, I think that hurt the entire program. It seems to me that fans could go either way in Henry's regard, such as, if he were paired with Cena to face Legacy, say, I think we'd see fans warm up quite a bit to Henry, but when MVP's reaction is inconsistent, that left Henry on shaky ground, as well. Like I said, it's just a theory, so speak up!

At any rate, like I said, I felt as if we pretty much got the same thing on Raw that we had on SmackDown! with Cryme Tyme (although, judging from ratings, there's an arguable million or so viewers on Mondays who wouldn't have known the difference because they don't watch SmackDown!); MVP and Henry get a fire lit under them and start to make good on the champions, they lead to a PPV match with the belts on the line and JeriShow pull it off and move on and, again, virtually nothing of note occurs to help the challengers capitalize on any rub they may have received from squaring off for a title.

From here, the booking scheme becomes a little less about using established main event talent in what we can call, for all intents and purposes, a midcard role to help further establish midcard talent, which is what it seems to me should have been the purpose of JeriShow all along, once McMahonagement had to shift gears following Edge's injury. Rather, with Batista returning, his long-standing friendship with Rey Mysterio was capitalized upon to form a common bond against the heel champions, leading to a UTTT match at the following PPV, Hell in a Cell, where, again, JeriShow retained. There's a larger force at work here, though, that makes sense and I don't necessarily have an issue with what went down here, which we'll discuss in the next segment.

What really has bothered me is the manner in which JeriShow has been used where their current feud with D-Generation-X is concerned. The further along we see JeriShow roll with the belts, the more we see Jericho losing his edge (so to speak) from being a top heel, to being a comedic self-parody who gets talked down to by smug celebrity hosts and vomited on by intoxicated announcers who can't hold their whiskey and vintage shrimp. Granted, it took both members of DX and the entire offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers to make Jericho look like such a fool, but the fact is, he shouldn't be put in such a position to begin with.

I know, I know. He's a heel and a cocky, obnoxious one, at that, and it's wrestling tradition that his type of character gets his come-uppance, plus, it's pretty obvious that he's having a great time doing what he's being asked to do in this role. I would argue, though, that, if we're going to use a talent such as Jericho in this manner, making him a laughing stock to our new crop of nine year-old fans, that we at least see his contributions in the ring matter to those against whom he faces. In short, if he's busting his ass performing twice as often as anyone else on the roster, jobbing left and right to give credibility to his midcard opponents, make it mean something by having something of worth for those opponents to do once the angle finishes up.

(For the record, it's my humble prediction that, before JeriShow eventually go on to lose The UTTTs to DX at Survivor Series and fail to win them back in what will be an awesome match at TLC in December, I think this whole "DX outsmarts JeriShow so as to divide them such that we have Show on our team" thing is going to backfire and that JeriShow knew exactly what they were doing by allowing Show to join Team Raw. In essence, JeriShow just served Team Raw with a Trojan horse.

Team SD! will get rolled over early on and newer guys like Eric Escobar, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler will fall to DX early, Kane will go nuts to eliminate Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston, Kane and Mark Henry will eliminate one another, fighting up the ramp to a mutual count-out, Show and Rhodes will take out Cryme Tyme, leaving Jericho on his own, popping the crowd who want to see him get his ass handed to him. Jericho will face first and eliminate Rhodes, and then Show turns on DX, taking out HHH as Jericho blindsides HBK for the pin, Show tossing in HHH's limp body for Jericho on who to apply The Walls of Jericho for the humiliating "submission", setting up The UTTT match at Survivor Series.

After JeriShow is forced apart by having lost The UTTTs, each belonging to a separate show, this betrayal to his brand could give him a role whereby we see him as The Huge Hunted by the entire brand. This could kill two birds with one stone: 1) the face who inevitably gains the appropriate measure of revenge on Show would be a Raw hero in one of Vince's favorite storylines, David & Goliath – heck, the timing would be such that he'd be a marked man in The Rumble, which is where you set this whole thing in motion, then stick them both in the Elimination Chamber the next month, such that they have contact, but no real resolution, then have the face overcome the odds at a WrestleMania sub-main-event; 2) it would lend Show some relevance after the split of the team, because I somehow get the feeling McMahonagement doesn't have a lot on the blackboard else for him to do otherwise.)

BOOKING TITLES, Part Two: BUILDING LEGITIMACY IN THE CHASE
However, I fully admit to being a complete Jericholic mark and that I have this lofty opinion of how he should be handled because I want to see one of my all-time favorites excel to the best of his ability; too, though, there are times we must put aside our own personal feelings about this performer or that team to consider and accept the greater good and the bigger picture. Right now, that greater good is establishing Punk as a solidly-entrenched main event character, much the same as we saw in Edge's regard a couple years ago.

It seems that the main gripe among The IWC consensus upset over Punk dropping The WT to The Undertaker in The Cell is that Punk was just beginning to gather momentum and come into his own as the champion and, many would argue, the top heel in WWE.

Having already had a wealth of experience playing the "I'm Straight-Edge and that makes me better than you and your flawed heroes" gimmick in Ring of Honor, it was easy for him to don those work boots again and absolute child's play to do so against Jeff Hardy, all things considered. It seriously was a matter of properly aligned stars. Jeff was on his way out of the company and more over than ever (and that's saying something in his case!), and, even though people are now complaining about the number of title switches we've seen in WWE this year, it strikes me that it was a necessary evil on SD!, all things considered. Punk got a hell of a rub and quite a running start into this World Title tenure as a result of Jeff having been given one last title run before bowing out the company altogether. Punk winning the loser-leaves-WWE match to banish his foe from the company only compounded his heat. Punk was, indeed, holdin onto the tail of a lahtnin-bolt, eef you wee-yull (there ya go, Angry Bear).

Punk went literally directly from ridding himself of his "drug-addled" nemesis to being called out by no less than the conscience of WWE himself, The Undertaker. Paul Heyman did a brilliant article on what an intelligent move this was, because having Taker appear in the ring the way he did at the very end of the final Jeff/Punk match got Jeff out of the ring without fanfare or a hero's departure, and really wiped the immediate memory of him from the collective consciousnesses of the fans and programmed them to now care about the next step, of Taker returning and calling out Punk for the belt.

Now, at the time, some were even questioning if Taker was a good choice in the first place at that point in Punk's championship tenure, especially considering the rumors that Taker was rushed back following surgery, an operation that has been reported to have varied in seriousness. I'm not going to speculate at all about the nature of Taker's health. I have absolutely nothing concrete to offer, and anything I'd say would be pure speculation, and we've seen what happens when I get off on that tangent…The only circumstantial evidence to be considered is that he'd been used sparingly in a physical manner prior to challenging for The WT in The Cell, was said to have been slow when he did mix it up and The Cell match was only 10:00, which seems short considering this is "his" match. That can be juxtaposed with the fact that taker is scheduled to headline WWE's upcoming United Kingdom tour, so one could surmise that, if he's really that bad off, they wouldn't stick him on a plane around to the other side of the world and expect him to headline.

But back to the issue at hand.

The question comes down to, if not Taker, then who? The only really credible options for Punk at that point, it seems to me, were John Morrison, who is (and should be) busy defending The ICC, Rey Mysterio and Batista, who are doing their own thing and we'll get to them, and Matt Hardy. Matt makes an interesting choice and a logical one, too, considering Punk had just banished his brother from the company, living his dream, etc. However, when that feud was teased, fans didn't shit on it, but there was nowhere near the same level of excitement. It's long been a fact, Jeff just has a certain "it" factor that allows him to perform at a level Matt can't, even though I'd submit to you that Matt has a greater aptitude for "getting it" than does his brother.

Too, and I don't mean this as a swipe at Matt, of who I am, always have been and always will be, a huge fan, but at this point, for Punk, matt seemed a step down after such an passionate and high-profile program with Jeff. However, on the other hand, was setting him against Punk too high a step up? Considering the other options, I don't think so and I actually give props to McMahonagement for having had faith in Punk and allowing him the opportunity to soar with the eagles in this manner. Isn't this the sort of thing for which we criticize WWE all too often (and, all too often, have a legitimate gripe)?

Ah, but Punk lost, you say. And that leads us to the point of this discussion…The Chase. Now, normally, the value of a title chase is discussed in terms of the fans following along with their favorite hero (and, I suppose, for some, Punk could qualify) as he battled uphill, sometimes for months in an attempt to unseat an evil incumbent champion, the final pay-off, if staged properly such that fans invest emotionally in the face, stands to be the stuff legends, part of the reason we watch professional wrestling in the first place. Again, this applies to Flair as the heel champion holding Big Goldie just out of the reach of his opponents.

But let's really look at the situation. When Punk sent Jeff packing, fans were crushed and outraged. In the course of a week, Jeff went from being on top of the world to having lost his title and his job, the dream of his childhood, crashing down around him, and, with that, the admiration and devotion of his fans all over the world, and, not only that, but at the expense of edifying the self-belief of this pompous turncoat in Punk, many fans still feeling the sting of his betrayal to Jeff and, by proxy, to them.

Then here came The Undertaker, appearing out of nowhere, when I don't even think the smarkiest of smarks even knew he was set to return, much less in the building set to challenge for the belt. Suddenly fans were elated thinking, "Ooh, Taker gone kick yo AAAASSSS!" Fans were just conditioned to believe that Punk, while he might put up a good fight, could not match up with such a legend.

Then came their first title bout at Breaking Point and the Montreal Screwjob finish that allowed Punk to retain, even if on a trumped up technicality. But, in the overall story, it allowed Punk to retain and that PISSED OFF fans, and for several reasons. But, did you see that go-home for the following PPV, Hell in a Cell, the SmackDown! Tenth Anniversary show? The fans were on the edge of their collective seats waiting for Taker to tag in and get his hands on Punk…but that never happened! Oh, Taker won the match by Tombstoning Orton, but that's not who he wanted and that's not who wanted to see him plant. But if they wanted to see it, they'd have to buy the PPV. If nothing else, that's great storytelling and even better salesmanship.

Now you can complain about the match order if you like, or the length of the bout, or that Punk shouldn't have lost in terms of his own championship momentum and continuity, and there are certainly legitimate arguments implicit in all those claims. However, it makes perfect sense that the heel should lose the belt at this juncture in the program, especially considering the existing circumstances. Punk screwed over Taker in their first meeting, so they meet again in Taker's environment, in The Cell and Taker emerges victorious. Really, for Punk to have won, one of two things would have had to have happened: 1) Something even screwier than the whole Montreal deal would have had to go down, and it's really difficult to come up something that doesn't look foolish and desperate in a Cell match, or, 2) Punk would have had to have gone over Taker twice in two months, the second time in Taker's signature match (barring the Casket match, of course). Was Punk ready for that quality a rub that soon?

Furthermore, now Punk gets to stew and be angry, and gather his reserve. Punk's whole motivation as a heel is that he is Straight-Edge and that means he's better than you and your heroes, and how does he prove that? By holding that World Title, because that belt signifies that he's the best there is and without it, he knows that there's a certain hollowness to that claim. Now he knows that he has to get back that title and he knows he has to take it away from one of the very best of all time to do it. If he can't, then not only does his credibility as a performer come into question, his entire hierarchy of self-belief begins to crumble. He can't say being Straight-Edge makes him better than everyone…oh, except Taker. But, oh, what an egomaniacal monster we'll have on our hands if he does…

I, for one, whole-heartedly believe that he will. He almost has to, to be honest. I've been saying from the beginning that Punk will have a corporate mandate for success in this, The Age of Wellness, because there will be no scandalous little surprises in his future by which to embarrass or complicate the company. He's great in the ring, an exceptional heel, young and devoted. He's a dream employee. Plus, at this stage in his career, Taker is going to start having handing out rubs to the new kids coming up; Punk seems like the right person at the right time. This should happen. But if Punk can defeat The Undertaker for The WT, where does he go from there…?

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO, NOW?
I'm writing this on Monday evening, 5:28 PM, PST. This could be John Cena's last night on Raw. The question is, will he be bounced over to SmackDown!? Well, before we jump into any quick decisions, let's break down the rosters on both brands (I think we can rule out ECW, don't you?):

RAW
Faces: Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry
Heels: Randy Orton, The Miz, The Big Show, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger (Chris Jericho)

SMACKDOWN!
Faces: The Undertaker, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Batista, Matt Hardy
Heels: CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler (The Big Show)

Yes, of course, there's more than that occupying the rosters, but, for our purposes, we're having a look at the main event on down to the mid-card. I've outlined my thoughts on how I'm inclined to believe the situation surrounding The UTTTs will play out, with DX locking horns, to eventually emerge victorious over JeriShow (which will send Jericho packing back to Fridays nights exclusively). So if Cena does, indeed, end up on Fridays as well, who is there left to challenge Orton for The WWET?

Considering how thin the face list becomes once we factor out DX and Cena, I have to think that, with the DX/Legacy program winding down, and considering we have this huge tag match at Bragging Rights, especially where Cody Rhodes pinned Ted DiBiase, I think Legacy has just about served its' purpose and run its' course. This tag match is a great means by which to stall as the final chapter in Cena/Orton is written. Considering Rhodes is in the tag match and DiBiase isn't, there's a little time to allow DiBiase to stew about it and for his resentment to grow against his partner. Perhaps he'll be the reason Rhodes is eliminated, come to think about it…?

Once Orton banishes Cena from the flagship show, coming off this seemingly eternal program with the belt and having ultimately gotten Cena out if his, erm, hair, Orton stands to be as pompous and intolerant as ever and will not stand for any dissention from DiBiase. I can see an excommunication in the near future that will ultimately pit Orton versus DiBiase, especially considering the high hopes WWE brass seem to have in DiBiase's regard. With DX busy with The UTTTs for a bit and considering how lon this Orton/Cena program has lasted, it may not be out of the question for DiBiase/Orton to last through WrestleMania.

Meanwhile, over on SmackDown!, I have to agree with Angry Bear in that I smell a Batista heel turn coming. Just a look at the break down above, we only have Punk, Jericho and Ziggler above the midcard in terms of heels. We've just returned Matt to face status following his brother's departure, Morrison has recently turned denomination, as well, and has had a wealth of face stock invested in his turn and I don't know that Mysterio could be turned at this point. I suppose Taker could get all bitter once he fails to retain/regain The WT from Punk, but then where does that leave him?

It just makes sense for Batista to turn. His character is stale and one-dimensional as a face and would be much more interesting and scary as a heel. Also, consider the fact that it was his little buddy Mysterio who 1) was pinned by JeriShow at Hell in a Cell, and 2) just pinned him cleanly last week on SmackDown!. Who wants to bet that Mysterio also somehow prevents Batista from winning The WT at Bragging Rights? This is also the perfect opportunity for Taker to lose the belt without actually being pinned, leading to a rematch at Survivor Series where Punk pins him outright one-on-one (not as satisfying as if Punk actually went over Taker and defeated him for the belt, but this sounds like just the sort of compromise Taker would be willing to make).

With all of this going down, it makes sense for Cena to come to Fridays and feud with Punk over The WT and I'd be willing to lay odds that's exactly what ends up going down. You can even look at it from a ratings point of view. SmackDown! has been pulling in crummy numbers since the brand split, even as Raw's have trended upward since the implementation of the celebrity guest host spot. To a novice like me, at least, it makes a certain amount of sense to move a top player like Cena over to a brand limping in the ratings, especially since it stands to reason that it also stands to reason that the bulk of Cena's fan base isn't out on Friday nights knockin back brewskis and slipping dollar bills in g-strings. If a nine year-old can stay up till 11 on a Monday night, I can certainly him/her getting the okay to watch SmackDown! till 10 on Friday.

Time will tell.

COMMENTPALOOZA!
Well I sure stepped in it and tracked it in the house last week. On Mom's clean floor, no less.

I made some absolutely foolish comments about Dallas Page last week that were just stupid to gotten so ignorantly wrong and I apologize categorically. To claim that Page ripped off the moniker "The People's Champion" from The Rock as well as his Diamond Cutter from Steve Austin was one of the most irresponsible faux pas I've ever committed here at 411 and I apologize to everyone. I've honestly been sick about that all week.

And you good folks let me know about it. Some simply pointed out the error:

DDP used his finish way before austin, and he was calling himself the people's champ before rock too
Posted By: guest

I can understand your dislike of DDP, but please get your facts straight: the Diamond Cutter was NOT a ripoff of Austin's finisher - he first began using the move in early 1995. When DDP's megapush to the top of the card kicked in in mid-1997, the announcers (Schiavone in particular) began referring to him as The People's Champion due to his propensity to enter & exit through the crowd. I believe Rock didn't give himself that moniker until he broke away from the Nation and became a solo heel in 1998 or so.
Posted By: Guest#5606

a. Ali was the original "people's champion" because of his refusal to be drafted into military service. When he was imprisoned, the governing bodies of boxing stripped him of his title. The moniker people's champion referred to the fact that he never lost the belt and that he stood for all the oppressed peoples of the world.

b. DDP was solid on the mic, but he's indirectly responsible for Scott Hall's career. He managed Hall as the Diamond Stud, a character that exhibited many of his Razor Ramon facets. Remember Hall failed as Gator Scott Hall earlier in WCW/NWA.
Posted By: Iron Knee

I could have sworn that Page used "people's champion" before the Rock used it. Say what you want about DDP, but he got himself over with the fans, and was pretty decent guy in the ring.
Posted By: educated savage

I'll just echo what other people have said about DDP. Say what you will about him as a performer, but he's in no way a knock-off of the Rock or Austin.

Page may have had some friends in high places, but he also worked hard and became very popular w/ fans. The Diamond Cutter was, for a time, the most over move in pro wrestling. The idea that you could "never see it coming" really got over. Page-Goldberg should have headlined Starrcade. But then again, WCW threw away Goldberg vs. Hogan & Goldberg vs. Sting on random Nitros...so I guess it is good that it made it onto a PPV at all.
Posted By: JDW

DDP was super over in wcw from late 96-early 99. His tag team with biglow and kanyon was one of the best in the history of wcw. The Danger Allance was the best stable in wcw I have to agree. Everyone one of the members could wrestle and was great workers. To bad they did not get a longer run.
Posted By: ek187

And, believe me, I appreciate you guys! Because there were others…

DDP was awesome. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Posted By: WCW fan

Dude, Page was using the Cutter back as far as 1994(I first saw him use it at Superbrawl) which is way before Austin was using a stunner. Page had been calling himself "The People's champ" starting in 1997(which is when he first turned face) Rock didn't start using it until he broke away from the Nation of Domination.

So what you have proven is, you are a dumb WWE-mark fan boy. Congratulations....

Oh and one more thing, your comment about Bischoff not having a soul or professional ethics. While I can't argue against that, I guess you, being the WWE-mark that you have proven to be, would like to tell me that Vince McMahon didn't get to the top the same way? and if I remember right, didnt a guy( I think it was Kennedy) say upon leaving, that working for WWE had become what everyone complained about WCW being like?(I.E. no direction, treating guys like crap, worried more about ratings than anything else)
Posted By: JWestmoreland

All I can say is... To each their own...

Im not saying DDP was putting butts in seats, but he was OVER from about late 96-99 (his first title win)

You identify "the people's champ" moniker with the Rock cuz all you saw was wwf, but really DDP was using it as early as July 97. I think it predates the Rock using AD NAUSEUM.

And i am a Rock fan, but i think he swiped that from DDP, not the other way around.

Also, The cutter and the stunner while similar is not a swipe from Austin... From Johnny Ace yeah.

Austin got the Stunner from Mikey Whipwreck.

Mr. Eubanks, I usually love your articles but your feelings about WCW are slanderous and sacrilege...

I hate you.
Posted By: The Fuj

You're not alone Fuj.
Posted By: Propagandhi

I understand and appreciate the vitriol. I suppose a childish error of foolish neglect deserves similarly childish responses.

To respond, JWestmoreland, a dumb WWE-mark fan boy? Negligent in this instance, sure, I've no defense against that, but dumb? Did Mr. Dictionary fail us?

I've discussed many times how and why I am a fan of Vince's product and I think we've gone over plenty of times, too, the best and worst of Vince's business practices. Just because I don't bring it up in a discussion about Bischoff's (or Watts' or Heyman's or Gagne's) just to make sure everyone knows how fair and balanced my reporting is, doesn't mean I don't acknowledge and believe it.

Mr. Fuj, I actually kind of laughed reading your comment, because you can actually trace the level of your anger boiling over the longer you write until you get to the grand finale. Look, I know you've left comments before and I've appreciated them. I've never suggested Page was or wasn't a draw, that he didn't work his ass off to be as good as he was, that wasn't incredibly over during a period of time and I think I actually complimented his psychology last week. And regardless of my regrettable, foolish error, I still refuse to apologize for the fact that he never connected with or appealed to me. The fact that I allowed my distaste for him color my obligation to write a factual piece about him, though and I freely admit that I was very much this pwn3d:



As for you, that last one. You may hate me, and yet here you are week after week. That's your choice and I assure you Ashish, Larry and I all appreciate your continued patronage. Keep on clickin, cuz it sounds like dollar signs to the bosses and as long as that cash register keeps a-ringin, I'll be here. Thanks again.

To all, can we please forgive and forget and have a laugh?



There were several other great comments, but I think I'm just going to let this stand for this week and address the remainder next week. I hope you enjoyed this week and didn't suggest that, because Snoop hosted Raw this week that we can expect Evan Bourne to be WWE Champion by the end of the night.

RESPECK