High Road/Low Road 07.28.06: Great Khali/Undertaker Feud
Posted by Sat on 07.28.2006
The Great Khali and the Undertaker have been feuding since April. Is this a good feud or a bad feud? Find out in this week's edition of High Road/Low Road.
Welcome to another loaded edition of the column for Gods—the High Road/Low Road! A brief explanation of the column for you High Road/Low Road virgins: Rajah takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for the Umaga:
High Road: 36%
Low Road: 64%
E-Mails:
Below are some of the e-mails that we received this week. We read every e-mail that we get, but we are unable to respond to all of them. That being said, keep the e-mails coming. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Manu Writes:
HA! That was f'n hilarious! I already voted (low road), but wanted to send feedback anyways and tell you how much I enjoyed this edition. I feel your pain, Rajah. But I will say this - stereotypes are awesome. If you don't believe me, go watch 'Cars'. Every character in that movie is a stereotype. But that doesn't mean they belong in wrestling. If they did, most of the characters would be brainless muscleheads who don't get hurt when flair gives them a low blow.
Rajah had a lot of good points, such as where Umaga will be after he and Estrada split up. Estrada is over, Umaga will be done.
Umaga's win over Cena is like the Brooklyn Brawler's win over HHH a few years back - meaningless because they're on such wildly different levels.
"Look he's a savage BOO him! Look he's mentally challenged, feel sorry for him! Look he's not from America! BOO him! Look they are male cheerleaders! BOO them!"
And oddly enough, they want us to cheer for a guy in a dress (Vito). How strange is that?
"What the fuck??? That has to be the worst high road EVER. You can't be serious. There is no fucking way you are serious. Fuck that shit. It doesn't even deserve a response. Goddamn, that was awful. I can only hope we don't lose any readers' because of that shit. What the hell is wrong with you?????????? I need another week off."
Priceless!
Sat: First off, defending Umaga was very tough and if you enjoyed that edition, then you are probably also going to join this edition as well because it is another difficult topic for me. Stereotypes aren't good, but they are an easy way to get somebody some heat. You can't have a bunch of wrestlers getting the "Haas Pop". As for that last high road, I was short one high road, so I decided to really start stretching and Rajah jumped all over it. No big deal, at least everybody had a good laugh.
Rajah: Good point on the Brawler and Triple H. And I'm glad you liked my rant. Everything I do, I do for my...our...readers.
Uncle Trunx Writes:
Hi guys,
Good to see the debate back again. The low road final paragraph at the end of the column had me laughing out loud!
As for Umaga, I'm afraid it's another low road for me. Whilst I agree that WWE needs decent heels and that a monster heel push is often a great way to make a legitimate contender out of a relative newcomer, Umaga shows all that is wrong with the WWE approach. He's a racial stereotype, he's a wrestling cliché, he's a limited worker and his finisher is dreadful. While I love seeing decent (male) managers back in the WWE, I'd prefer to see them put with people who can actually entertain with their in ring work.
For him to be pushed ahead of guys like Carlito is bordering on criminal.
Sat: Another person that enjoyed the last low road. Sure, Umaga's ring work isn't that good, but Umaga isn't awful in the ring. The problem that Carlito and Shelton Benjamin have is that they don't have Umaga's size. You should not be pushed on what you look like; you should be pushed on what you can do in the ring. But, we all know that is not going to happen.
Rajah: Sat, you are just too positive. Just say it—Umaga Sucks! And Uncle Trunx is right as usual. Umaga shows all that is wrong with the WWE as did Mark Henry but Umaga is number one now.
This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
Great Khali/Undertaker Feud
High Road:
The Undertaker has feuded with everybody on SmackDown leaving very few options for who he could face next. The Undertaker can't feud with Batista and Rey Mysterio because it would be face versus face match. Most likely there will not be a draft this year, so The Undertaker has to make it to WrestleMania with only two options. These two options are Ken Kennedy & King Booker. I think that Taker/Kennedy would be a short feud, but the King Booker/Taker feud is the only major feud left for The Undertaker after The Great Khali. So, The Undertaker can feud with Khali for two more pay per view, get one with Kennedy, two with King Booker and at WrestleMania he can face the Boogeyman. The feud between The Undertaker and The Great Khali has to continue because The Undertaker has very few opponents that he can face.
Low Road:
That's bullshit. Undertaker could feud with anyone on the SmackDown roster. Are you telling me the SmackDown roster is so depleted that ...oh wait.... Well, anyway, Undertaker could feud with anyone that is still available on the SmackDown roster. What about Gregory Helms—he's a good heel. You just can't say Undertaker has no one else to feud with. The WWE can also introduce new talent, you know, wrestlers that can actually wrestle. Why can't they feud with The Undertaker? The problem is that Vince and Company have a hard-on for Khali and big men in general. So the only "wrestlers" that can gain main event level pushes out of the gate have to be large like Khali. And The Undertaker only works main event style so Helms is never going to feud with the Taker. And again your fantasy booking sucks.
High Road:
The poll on WWE.com says that the fans said that one of their favorite matches at the Great American Bash was the Punjabi Prison Match. So, this means that the fans were happy with what they saw. The Great Khali and The Undertaker are not known for their wrestling skills, so this calls for another Punjabi Prison Match. Why you ask? The last Punjabi Prison Match also had two guys that are not known for their wrestling and the match was decent. That's really all you can ask from two big guys and Khali/Undertaker can also give a decent match. And I'd rather see Khali/Undertaker in a Punjabi Prison Match, instead of them actually trying to wrestling.
Low Road:
Did you actually go check or you just pulling that statistic out of your ass? If fans said one of their favorite matches at GAB was the Punjabi Prison Match then they should be put in a Punjabi Prison. In any case, you want another Punjabi Prison Match? The whole reason the stipulation worked this time was that nobody knew what it was. But what would the intrigue be now? You have no clue what you are talking about. Nobody wants to see Khali versus The Undertaker. The only reason the fans "voted" for Punjabi Prison Match as their favorite is because of The Undertaker. Don't forget The Undertaker is OVER. Of course fans love his matches. He could go out there and just shit in the ring and fans would vote it one of their favorite moments.
High Road:
Rajah, you are always saying that The Undertaker's feuds are exactly the same, but this feud has been completely different. The Undertaker's feuds have been the same lately, but this time the feud has been different. The Undertaker is usually beaten with some type of cheating in the ring or The Undertaker is killed (Orton burning the casket or Heidenreich driving a bronco into a hearse that contains The Undertaker). Then, the WWE makes the fans believe that The Undertaker is "gone' forever. The WWE went with something new and they decided to go with The Great Khali embarrassing The Undertaker and forcing him to not show his face. This was something new. The Undertaker usually wins the first match, but this time The Great Khali won the first match. This feud has not been the same as The Undertaker's other feuds.
Low Road:
That's lame not new. They still followed the same basic formula. "Fill in the Blank" doesn't fear The Undertaker. "Fill in the Blank" seemingly destroys The Undertaker either by burning him destroying him in a match etc. Thus it seems as though the Taker is gone forever. Then The Undertaker returns and some stipulation matches ensue, most likely a casket match. Finally some talent is buried. It's all the same.
High Road:
The Great Khali is one of the only people in the last few years to beat The Undertaker. This makes The Great Khali a great foe for The Undertaker because you don't know who is going to win the next match. The Undertaker has very few wrestlers that can be considered a threat to beat him. That is why it is important for this feud to continue because the fans don't know what is going to happen next.
Low Road:
I know who's going to win at the end. The Undertaker.
High Road:
Okay, even if The Undertaker wins at the end, The Great Khali has also gained something from this feud. The Great Khali will always be able to say that he beat The Undertaker clean. Randy Orton did not beat The Undertaker clean and Kurt Angle did not beat The Undertaker clean. By beating The Undertaker, it will help his wrestling career in some way.
Low Road:
You know what...it is damn impressive that Khali beat The Undertaker straight up. But what does it do in the long run? I can't see Khali as a long-term wrestler for the WWE. He's boring. I don't think he is worth the investment that the WWE is putting in him.
High Road:
SmackDown is really hurting right now because of all the wrestlers that are having liver problems and injuries. This makes The Undertaker/Great Khali feud that more important because The Undertaker has the opportunity to make The Great Khali a possible main eventer. He doesn't have to be the man, but if he can fill Mark Henry's void, then I think that can be considered a success. This feud is very important in establishing The Great Khali as a potential superstar.
Low Road:
Why can't the WWE find other wrestlers to fill the void? And more importantly do we want anyone to fill Mark Henry's void? The only reason Khali is getting his push is because Vince likes big ...wrestlers. It's stupid to give someone a push based solely on their size. Why not also look at crowd reaction to decide if wrestlers get a push? I think a Matt Hardy, a pre-jobber Matt Hardy, feud with Undertaker would have been interesting. The possibilities are endless but it seems as though we just get the same repetitious scenarios from the WWE.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
Plugs
We are taking the high road on these articles so you should read them...
Larry Csonka has a look at Victory Road in the 3R's and also has a look at Between the Ropes: Wrestling's Greatest Triumphs and Failures in the 411 Book Review
Steve Sullivan has a look at what happened on the OVW TV show in OVW TV Report and he also has a look at who is performing the best in OVW over the last five weeks in The Crystal Ball
O'Dog has a look at the fatal four way match for the I.C. title from No Way Out 2001 involving Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, & X-Pac in Forgotten Goodness.
