The MeeThinks Friday FreeThinks 11.20.09

Posted by John Meehan on 11.20.2009

D.C. plays host to Survivor Series as Raven, Hogan, Burchill and Batista face the future.

Welcome back, folks. And thanks for tuning in for the regularly scheduled week-end wrap-up of all things pro wrestling -- with a positive twist, wherever possible (prices and participation may vary, see store for details). Plenty of news in store this week, including a quick look into the future prospects of a Raven, a Ripper, an Animal, and an Icon. While we're at it, we're tackling the week-that-was in this pseudo sport of kings, and throwing in cheap plugs wherever possible to join Mee THIS SUNDAY NIGHT at the Verizon Center in Washingtonton, D.C. as WWE presents Survivor Series LIVE from our nation's capital.

Say, that sounds like a perfect intro for...

411 is Coming to Survivor Series
Sunday's PPV Eminates from Washington, D.C.

THIS SUNDAY, Survivor Series invades Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center. To celebrate, I'm inviting all of the 411 readers in the D.C. area to join Mee at nearby Fado's Irish Pub in downtown Chinatown for a "pre-show" happy hour.

From 6 p.m. until show time, throw back a few drinks, make some new friends, and talk wrestling. Then we'll split up, head on over to the arena for the show itself, and sit back and enjoy all that Survivor Series has to offer.

Date: Sunday, November 22 (that's THIS WEEKEND!)
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Fado Irish Pub (808 7th St NW)

Open invite to all 411 readers and Washington-area wrestling fans! Feel free to shoot Mee an e-mail, or spread the word.

The SELL of the week goes to Paul Birchill, who "did business" the proper way on this week's ECW broadcast by putting over his opponent in a clean fashion on what looks to be his final appearance in the Land of Extreme. In the bout that put Paul and Katie Lea Birchall's ECW contracts against The Hurricane's mask, The Ripper sold every near-fall and kickout with an increasing sense of desperation, at one time even going as far as to shout for his sister to "HELP ME!!!" when The Hurricane continued to withstand even his most impressive of offensive maneuvers. Paul's attitude and mannerisms throughout the match really helped hammer home the "lose and you're out" stipulation, and the guy earns sell of the week honors from Mee as a result.

The TELL of the week goes to whoever was in charge of the music and entrance cues in WWE's Gorilla Position on Monday Night RAW, as they really screwed up the timing of Kofi Kingston's "just-in-the-nick-of-time" introduction, and made Randy Orton look like a complete fool in the process. The plan was simple: Orton knocks Rowdy Roddy Piper to the floor and sizes up for his patented punt to the skull, he charges in for the kill, the music hits, and Kofi Kingston makes the last-second save. Only problem was, the entrance music came a good second or so too late, and so Orton was forced to stop his punt attempt prematurely (I suppose we're supposed to think that he had simply miscalculated his three-step-drop pattern and muffed the kick?), and the segment started off on a really sour note as a result. Granted, it redeemed itself shortly thereafter -- but the botched timing on the skull punt was definitely a business-exposing gaffe all the same.

Raven - former ECW Champion and longtime veteran performer Raven made his surprise return to TNA iMPACT! last Thursday night, aligning with "Doctor" Stevie (Richards) and Daffney in an alliance against his storied rivals in Mick Foley and Abyss. Raven was last seen as a regular member of the TNA roster just after Turning Point 2007, though he did make a cameo appearance for the company earlier this year. During his last contracted stint with TNA, Raven spent much of his final months with the company wrestling sporadically while he struggled with injuries and weight issues as a result of a thyroid condition.

For the time-being, it appears as if Raven will remain a part of the TNA roster -- if only through the duration of the Abyss/Foley/Richards storyline. As for adding him back to the company on a full-time basis, however, no word has yet been given.

Now then: MeeThinks?

I've long been a fan of the Raven character. The gimmick of an articulate outcast with a cult-like following is a tough one to pull off, and Scott Levy was pretty much born to play the part he has made so famous and successful over the past fifteen-plus years in each of the major professional wrestling companies across the United States. At his best, Raven is enigmatic, shocking, and unique -- a rarity in this industry. And as a master manipulator (take note, Edge) and as a ringside mouthpiece, the Raven character is often one of the best gimmicks in all of professional wrestling's midcard (much like a modern-day Jake Roberts, really).

The only problem?

Much like the aforementioned Jake Roberts, it is often something of a challenge to see where the onscreen persona ends and where the real-life performer begins. He pushes the boundaries. He lives the lifestyle. And (often to a fault) he actually seems to believe his own hype. As a result, the man behind the Raven gimmick has, on more than one occassion, become something of his very own worst enemy, and Scott Levy has seen much of his later career plagued by the very same "demons" (read: drugs, alcohol, injuries and addiction) which his character had so often referenced and channeled into onscreen "mind games" in order to make him so very successful in the first place.

In other words:

while Raven "at his best" is shocking and unique, Raven "at his worst" is just another undercard garbage brawler -- albeit with a bigger gut and a better promo.

(Case in point: Do we *really* need Mick Foley wrestling hardcore matches in 2010 or the Doctor Stevie storyline put on artificial life support a good year or so since its run its course?)

Bottom line --

I genuinely love the Raven character (and have since his ECW heyday). But the fact of the matter is that his many years of reckless living and substance abuse have more than caught up with him, and his in-ring abilities have declined to such a point where it's really just kind of painful to see him wrestle on a weekly basis. If he's being brought back into a company in a limited-run/manager/consultant/stable-leader's role, then I think he can add a lot (then again, Seratonin tells us otherwise). But if he's sticking around as a regular in-ring performer? History suggests that he just doesn't have what it takes to hold up as anything more than a needlessly violent cartoon character of a sideshow attraction. And if that's the case, there is really no reason for him to continue occupying a slot on the TNA roster that might otherwise be dedicated to a guy with the potential for long-term success in the company.

*Then again... maybe the problem is with Abyss. Big dude with a decent gimmick, but way too violent for TNA's mainstream, and way too freakish for their main event storylines. So long as Abyss remains on a TNA roster (using the Abyss gimmick), he'll probably be relegated to squaring off against fellow "freaks" and aspiring "giant-killers" on the outermost fringes of the TNA storylines. And once each new opponent is dispatched (think Raven, Sabu, Rellik, Black Reign, Judas Mesias, Mick Foley, etc.) -- TNA is pretty much forced to bring in aNOTHER sideshow-like outsider to keep feeding their resident monster.

And from there, it's a simple matter of "Rinse, lather, bleed and repeat." Nobody ever moves up the card, and the cycle begins anew.

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Johnny Andrews - local talent Johnny Andrews made a one-off appearance on this week's ECW on SyFy broadcast where he competed in a losing effort against fellow ECW newcomer Vance Archer. This marks the third week in a row that Archer (formerly TNA's Lance Hoyt) has earned a one-sided "squash" victory over a local, unsigned talent. Andrews is not believed to have signed a WWE contract at this time.

Presumably, this means that Archer will be moving into a proper feud against a contracted ECW superstar in the very near future, as there has been a pretty consistent pattern among the performers brought in as part of ECW's "new superstar initiative" to rack up a series of victories over smaller opponents for the first month or so of their tenure with the company before making the transition into a regular contracted feud.

Then again, he might just show up at the end of a Vladimir Kozlov or Ezekiel Jackson match only to spend the next month and a half laying out hapless jobbers with his finishing maneuver.

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Lisa Taylor - local talent Lisa Taylor made a one-off appearance on WWE programming this week when she was defeated by Smackdown! diva Beth Phoenix, who continues to look unstoppable in this, her third week of squash match victories. It is not believed that Lisa Taylor has been offered a long-term WWE contract at this time.




Paul and Katie Lea Burchill - due to the stipulation of Tuesday night's ECW broadcast, it appears as if Paul Birchill and his onscreen sister, Katie Lea, will no longer be seen as regular characters in the "Land of Extreme" in the weeks to come. While no official word has yet been issued as to the future plans (or "future endeavors," as the case may be) for these two performers, their profiles have since been removed from WWE.com.

So where to Paul and Katie go from here?

Provided that World Wrestling Entertainment actually keeps the duo under contract, I'm seeing three logical options:

1) Paul and Katie Lea Burchill head to Monday Night RAW -- The red brand is seriously lacking for quality top-level heels, and it's only a matter of time before WWE decides to elevate on of the show's midcard rulebreakers to a main event level in order to keep fans' interest. Randy Orton is stuck on the outside of the title picture looking in so long as John Cena remains the WWE Champion, and conventional logic (and a certain WWE Magazine cover story) seems to indicate that Triple H and Shawn Michaels will inevitably come to blows -- perhaps in time for WrestleMania XXVI.

This leaves The Miz (nowhere near main event caliber), Jack Swagger (ditto), and Sheamus as the three next biggest threats to RAW's main event heel cast of characters. If so much as one of these guys is pushed up the card even for a moment, the red brand would be well-served to bring in a lower-card rulebreaker to help fill the vacancy he leaves behind. Birchill is a great fit here, but this is, for all intents and purposes, little more than a lateral move for the guy, as his odds of working his way up the card on "The A-Show" seem pretty much nill so long as RAW's main event picture continues to be populated with merchandise and live-audience draws like John Cena, dX, and Randy Orton.

Sure, it's a job. But let's face it: nobody's paying main event money to see Paul Birchill on Monday Night RAW.


2) Paul and Katie Lea Burchill head to Friday Night Smackdown! -- The "Bragging Rights" champion show has proven kind to many an up-and-comer in 2009. With the elevation of guys like CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre, it seems as if the blue brand is actually one of the few places in the modern professional wrestling landscape where track record of success is not a prerequisite when working your way up the card.

Only problem is?

Let's face it -- great though it is to see all of these new faces getting a push, Smackdown's upper-midcard is running perilously close to "logjam" territory, meaning that more than a handful of new and/or quality performers (The Hart Dynasty, Eric Escobar, R-Truth, etc.) are pretty much just biding time until the next round of the WWE draft. And as a result, it seems like the blue brand really doesn't have all that much more room (at least at this stage of the game) to keep pushing new talent into a midcard that is already replete with fellow "newcomers" who are still struggling to find a worthwhile feud in their own right.


3) Paul and Katie Lea Burchill remain on ECW -- Sure, the stipulation said that Paul and Katie Lea would be banished from ECW forever. But in a fantastic "turnabout is fair play" change of plans, the duo could just as easily redebut on ECW programming while donning a pair of masks (Midnight Rider style), effectively becoming even bigger heels in the process by "throwing it in the face" of their longtime ECW rival in The Hurricane.

Granted, it's only a short-term fix, and it's really little more than a comedy act...

But a masked Birchill duo would instantly draw the ire of the ECW faithful, as fans have long been conditioned to believe that the only thing worse than a "bad guy" is a bad guy whose OBVIOUSLY cheating. Paul and Katie would probably only get a few weeks worth of marketability out of this obvious stopgap of a gimmick, which means that the creative team would have to work overtime in getting them over as masked megaheels. But as it stands now, the ECW roster is particularly light on up-and-coming rulebreakers, and the sheer volume of anti-Burchill fan response alone might just be enough momentum to power the onetime Pirate Paul and his onscreen sister into at least a television main event or two for his troubles.

And if the fans continue to boo the gimmick with the necessary fervor?

There's no reason a heelish twist on the Midnight Rider/Mr. America gimmick couldn't end up paying dividends for the Birchills well into 2010 and beyond.



Kurt Angle - Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle was reported to have "thrown out his back" several minutes into his PPV encounter with TNA newcomer Desmond Wolfe at last Sunday's Turning Point PPV. Thankfully, Angle was able to work through the injury (and deliver an OUTSTANDING showing along the way), and he it is not believed that he will miss any significant amount of time as a result.

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Rey Mysterio - Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio is reportedly working through a knee injury, and could be headed for yet aNOTHER surgery to repair the problem as a result (which explains the hold harmless agreement signing on last Friday night's Smackdown!). Should Mysterio indeed be headed towards the injured reserve list as a result of this latest knee issue, this could result in a premature conclusion to the Batista/Mysterio storyline -- which could unfold as early as this Sunday night's Survivor Series PPV.

MeeThinks?

Mysterio has gutted it out through knee injuries in the past, and has even managed to deliver some of his strongest in-ring work in spite of recurring knee problems (and painkiller addictions). His work in this year's Elimination Chamber and his feud with Chris Jericho are just two examples of how he can still bring his "A-Game" in spite of injury, and his real-life friendship with Batista seems to be more than enough reason for him to push himself to the best of his abilities in spite of any current medical concerns. Obviously nobody wants to see the guy hurting himself for the sake of our entertainment -- but it is good to know that he can (and has) work through injury and still manage to deliver a pretty impressive in-ring showing in spite of a bum knee.

All that said --

Fans are slowly warming to the idea of a "bad guy" Batista, but he's still pretty fresh into his first heel turn in the better part of a half decade. Mysterio, meanwhile, is as sympathetic a babyface as WWE has to offer, and beating him (nay, *destroying* him) in as viscious and convincing a fashion as possible would really do wonders in helping to cement Batista's full-on return to wrestling's dark side. In other words: if the Batista heel turn is ever going to take, then he really has no choice *but* to beat Rey Mysterio, and beat him badly, at that.

Bottom line?

Batista has to do something drastic if his heel turn is ever going to work -- and it's going to have to be DOUBLY drastic since he'll be performing this Sunday in front of his home town crowd in Washington, D.C. (cheap plug: SEE YOU THERE!!!). For as unfortunate as Rey Mysterio's real-life injury may well indeed be (and it is, and we obviously wish him a speedy and safe recovery), it really could not have come at a better time in regards to his current onscreen storyline. If he needs to take time off, the exit storyline writes itself for this Sunday's showdown. Because in the end, the D.c. crowd is still going to love Big Dave in spite of his recent actions unless he seriously does something nasty -- and having a rampaging monster absolutely decimate one of WWE's most sympathetic babyfaces is probably one of the fastest ways to get EVERYONE (even the D.C. audience) to accept the fact that their beloved Animal has officially become a full-on rulebreaker.





In this segment, I'll be firing off a handful of micro-commentaries at some of the industry's biggest stars and stories. Where appropriate, I'll even try incorporating some one-liners from the week that was in the 411 wrestling zone's comments section.

For those of y'all who aren't familiar with Twitter-style posting, the format is simple:

@Recipient's Name - 140 character message goes here. #MessageTopic

And before you ask: No, these aren't actual tweets.

FAKE TWEETS OF THE WEEK

@Bastion Booger - Nice win over Jay Lethal -- but what's with the hot pink tights? #OhMyGodThatsActuallyJimNeidhart

@Raven - Flash paper and a fireball that misses by a mile? Yup, he's back, alright. #HulkHogan

@Eric Escobar - Don't feel bad. Most new guys aren't included on Survivor Series teams anyway. #Sheamus #McIntyre

@Batista - I know, I know... the ring ropes are an impenatrable force field. #NextTimeChaseAfterHim

@TNA Turning Point - Outstanding double main But where to we go from here? #HulkstersJobSquad2010

@Shawn Michaels - "Buy the book after the show?" What Barnes & Noble in the world is open past 11:05 p.m.? #PoorPlanning

@Hornswoggle - "World's LITTLEST Member" -- I see what you did there. #dXarmyTshirt

@Kofi Kingston - Congrats on the push. And I hear you're fighting Team Orton at Survivor Series, eh? Unprecedented. #SurvivorSeries2008

@Vince McMahon - Love the Jack Skellington getup. Little late for Halloween, though. #NiceSuit

@Curt Hawkins - Saw Zack Ryder on Tuesday and it got me thinking -- are you still under contract? #NotForLong




Ooh... speaking of Twitter:

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None - Perhaps in light of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, employees and employers alike have been on their best behavior over the past seven days. Barring any major flapups, I'd expect this trend to continue through the Thanksgiving break, as touring schedules and backstage tensions traditionally tend to lighten up over this time of the year.




At the start of the NFL season, I compiled a season-long guide to the Monday Night Football matchups and attempted to venture an educated guess as to how WWE's ratings would likely fare against each game. Half way through the season, I scouted midseason performance records, re-evaluated which MNF matchups still looked like ratings-getters (and which ones suddenly appeared unappealing altogether), and posted a revised schedule accordingly.

I've found that this helps us set reasonable, positive expectations for each new week's broadcast. And more often than not (I'm officially 10-1 on the year), the predictions have been dead-on. Rather than freak out every week RAW's ratings dip a few points here or there, the goal was to give wrestling fans a good idea of what they're up against (based on the strength of the competition), and the hope is to save us from the typical "sky is falling" knee-jerk pessimism that is often so rampant among internet wrestling fans.

LAST WEEK'S PREDICTION:
Week 10 PITTSBURGH at DENVER | Monday Night Football lucked out huge with this one, as Pittsburgh and Denver pits the defending Super Bowl Champions squaring off against the Cinderella Story of the year -- and that typically translates to some respectable ratings to boot. As such, November 9's matchup might even draw bigger numbers than the Saints/Falcons showdown from the week prior (which means bad news for RAW).

ACTUAL RESULT:
WWE Monday Night Raw scored a 3.5 rating, a marked increase from last week's 3.1. Raw's main competitor came in the form of the Monday Night Football showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns which scored a 7.4 metered market average rating (the nationwide ratings were delayed) -- a sizable drop from last week's 10.7.

BOTTOM LINE:As expected, the Browns/Ravens game was a total bust in its ability to draw a national audience. World Wrestling Entertainment's heavily hyped return to Madison Square Garden certainly didn't help Monday Night Football any, and RAW managed to snag more than a handful of otherwise errant viewers as a result of one of the weakest games in all of this year's MNF calendar.

This week's Monday Night Football game will likely continue the trend of middle-of-the-road teams leading to a decent shot for WWE at retaining a sizeable RAW audience, but the game is almost assured to draw a larger audience than last week's MNF offering.

NEXT WEEK'S PREDICTION: (cut-and-pasted from October 30's column)
TENNESSEE AT HOUSTON: At the season's outset, Tennessee was supposed to be fantastic while Houston was all but forgotten. Flash forward eight weeks, and it's the Titans who are struggling while the Texans (particularly their offense) rack up some of the best stats in the entire league. Still, the "on-paper" lopsidedness of the showdown probably means that the game won't have that same level of nation-wide appeal as other MNF offerings. As such, this should be another strong week for RAW.




TNA Turning Point Delivers
Underwhelming midcard saved by two show-stealing main events

Let's cut to the chase...

Desmond Wolfe versus Kurt Angle was as good a match as anyone thought it had any chance of being.

And mere minutes later, AJ Styles versus Christopher Daniels versus Samoa Joe was even BETTER.

All in all, two great showings from five of TNA's brightest stars coming out of this past Sunday's PPV. Even in the loss, Desmond Wolfe looks like a fantastic new top-level addition to the TNA ranks, and Kurt Angle continues to prove why he is one of the (if not the single) biggest assets currently employed on the TNA payroll -- and this all comes in spite of a bad back, no less!

Meanwhile in the championship bout, AJ Styles retained his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against two of the company's most formidable "home-grown" stars (if you look past their ROH days, that is) in AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. Four years after their first triple threat match for the X Division Championship won critical accolades across the board, these three men managed to bring the awesome yet again, and delivered what was arguably the single greatest TNA pay-per-view main event of the entire year (with most reviewers awarding it anywhere from four to five stars as a result of their efforts). Though not as fast-paced as their first encounter, last week's triple threat was actually less spotty as a result, and all three men come out of the contest looking like the very best that TNA has to offer thanks to an outstanding performance from all parties involved.

The only problem now, of course, is just *where*, exactly, each of these men go from here.

Especially in light of the impending arrival of You-Know-Who...



We discussed this one at length in last week's column, but the Cliff's Notes version goes a little something like this:

Casual fans have heard that Hulk Hogan signed with TNA. And once Hogan is actually free to start appearing for the company, these same casual fans are going to expect to *SEE* Hulk Hogan on TNA programming. There's no running from it, there's no hiding it, and there's no denying it. Video packages have been airing for WEEKS hyping the guy's arrival, and a handful of segments ON THE PPV ITSELF were actually dedicated toward pre-taped video packages with various performers and backstage personalities discussing just how important an addition to the company Hulk Hogan is to TNA.

In short -- the overwhelming majority of these people are going to want to see him. And not "see him" in a backstage role, but actually "SEE HIM see him," which means he'll need to appear as an onscreen character, and likely in a high-profile (read: main event) position. Past his prime though he may be, he is still the biggest name in professional wrestling among mainstream circles. The fans know it, the wrestlers know it, The Hulkster knows it -- and the company knows it.

Problem is, guys like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels just busted their ass for one of the single greatest PPV matches in the company's history. But there is only a limited number of spots at the top of the company, and at least one of those spots will almost assuredly be handed to Hulk Hogan from the second he sets foot in the iMPACT Zone (not that he hasn't earned the spot, mind you -- but it is a tough call as to whether or not he can still prove worthy of it in this day and age).

As such...

It seems like only a matter of time before one (or more) of TNA's current "up-and-coming stars" like AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Christopher Daniels or Samoa Joe finds themselves tumbling down the ladder and back towards the TNA midcard. Kind of like "real" jobs in a bad economy the world over, one-time high-profile employees are taking pay cuts to work for smaller companies all around the globe, and as the "big guns" fall *down* the ladder and cling to the highest available rung, the up-and-comers can't help but find their momentum halted in spite of their best efforts, simply because there are more well-established performers available to take those free slots that these younger stars might otherwise have warranted.

I'm not being a pessimist, mind you -- I'm just facing facts.

As recently as two months ago, TNA was all about "the future" of their company, which focused on young talents like AJ Styles, Matt Morgan, Hernandez (who's actually not all that young), and Bobby Lashley. Flash forward to the past few days, and...

Hernandez and Matt Morgan are back to jobbing to the unofficial "Midcard Mafia." And even if they come out of this feud on top in the end, the collective star power of Rhino and Team 3D still pales in comparison to the young guys' last onscreen rivals in Kurt Angle, Sting and Kevin Nash -- meaning that they're actually further down the card today than they were two months ago.

Lashley could well be done with TNA entirely and heading back to a full-time MMA career by 2011 at the latest, and...

AJ Styles just retained his title against two of his fellow TNA "Originals," but neither Samoa Joe nor Christopher Daniels seems to have a logical top-level feud to build from after their defeat (though it seems as if Daniels and AJ might continue going at it for a bit, if the post-match interview is any indication).

Long story short:

There's only so much main event real estate to spread around between these talents, and one or more of them will inevitably find their upward mobility stalled once the TNA main event picture becomes further crowded by the impending arrival of the biggest name in professional wrestling (and his invariable cast of "familiar faces" from the past -- e.g. Sting, The Nasty Boys, and any other former headliners that might consider joining him in the jump to TNA). It's not even cronyism as it is a simple truth of history: big names come into a company and attract other big names (and an audience) to follow, and that pushes homegrown stars further down the card with each new hire.

I mean -- just look at WCW.

In spite of its increased audience size following Hulk Hogan's arrival in 1994, WCW failed to create any homegrown stars (save for Bill Goldberg, and *maybe* Diamond Dallas Page) -- and the best and brightest of its young talent defected en masse to a rival promotion as a result.

Mick Foley...

Triple H...

Steve Austin...

Chris Jericho...

The Big Show...

Eddie Guerrero...

Chris Benoit...

For the sake of the future of TNA Wrestling, I hope that Hulk Hogan has learned from his past mistakes and is ready and willing to put fresh young talent at the forefront of his new wrestling venture in order to ensure the success of his company and so many of its incredible new stars for years to come. Turning Point proved that guys like Nigel, AJ, Joe and Daniels can more than hang with the big dogs if given the chance -- but only time will tell if their employer is at something of a "Turning Point" of its own which will inevitably leave them on the outside looking in once Hulkster comes aboard.

Hopefully, Hulk gets it right the second time around.




This week's random 'rasslin reference comes from Bruce Hornsby's newest album "Levitate," which was actually released just about a month ago, but hasn't yet been included in this column thanks to a slew of mainstream WWE television appearances over the past several weeks (better late than never, eh?).

What I like about Bruce Hornsby's work is just how good the guy is at lacing his songs with little seeds of doubt. Time and again, Hornsby will toss in a one-liner that is either ridiculously earnest or openly sarcastic, depending on the context (case in point: "That's just the way it is."). Though the technique can be unapologetically self-indulgent, at times, it's a great way to reward repeated listenings, and to force your fans to dig beyond a song's superficial meaning in order to discover the clearer, fuller picture of what all's being discussed.

Such is the case with this week's Random 'Rasslin Reference.

On the album-closing track "In the Low Country," Hornsby gives a bouncy, self-effacing glimpse into the everyday lives in the American South. Hunting wildlife, voting for Dubya, making friends at church -- you know, the usual. And what "slice of life" in the South would be complete without a passing mention of NASCAR and the [sic] WWF?

Here, take a listen right around 2:40...

Bruce Hornsby - "In the Low Country"

Is Hornsby giving these good ole' boys a pat on the back and saying "sure, you're different than us. But hey, you're alright" or is he just out-and-out ball-busting their redneck ways and little mongoloid children?

Either way, he's probably right. And it's a great song.

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And With That, I'm Outta' Here

That'll do it for Mee for now. I'll be back here in seven with a special Thanksgiving leftovers edition of the regularly scheduled news report. And if you're in D.C. this weekend, swing on by Fado's before the PPV and join Mee for a Guinness, yes? Till next time, enjoy the Survivor Series, stick to your guns and go for it on fourth down no matter what the critics will say (we'll see you in January, Peyton!!!) -- and always stay positive.

- Meehan

The National Domestic Violence Hotline : [phone]-SAFE.