High Road/Low Road 08.04.06: Chavo Guerrero
Posted by Sat on 08.04.2006
If it ain't white it ain't right! Oh wait, he's Chavo again.
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 Great Khali/Undertaker Feud:
High Road: 34%
Low Road: 66%
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.
Matt Short Writes:
Hey guys,
I've been reading your column for awhile now, but the one on the Great Khali and Undertaker feud compelled me to write some feedback.
I've definitely gotta go low road on this feud. Maybe a couple weeks ago I would have said high road as I would have hoped the Punjabi Prison match would be the ultimate blow off to this completely ridiculous feud. Unfortunately, because of liver enzymes it seems we're doomed to another month of this crap. It has been an interesting ride in that Khali got a clean pin over the Undertaker and the hype for the Punjabi Prison was pretty decent.
But like I said, there was no blow off. In my opinion this feud and any continuation of it is really just going to be a waste of time. If there's another Khali vs. Taker match at SummerSlam all it really does is take up PPV time that could be used to forward more interesting feuds like Kennedy/Batista or god forbid allow a follow up to the great tag team match that London and Kendrick had with the Pitbulls (which also might not be possible with Kash getting pulled from the road).
Honestly, this feud does nothing for anyone. The Undertaker doesn't need this, like Rajah said he's already over. Saying Khali will get a rub from Taker is pointless because I really don't see the guy being around for much longer. The fans haven't even benefited from this. We expected an end to this at GAB, but instead we're treated to Big Show and Taker and a almost certain promise that there's going to be even more of this crap. If they wanted to use the Undertaker to give the rub to somebody, why not someone who needs it and clearly has potential to be a main eventer down the line? Why not Kennedy? Hell, why not have him feud with Gregory Helms like Rajah suggested? Helms is doing nothing and I think he could easily become an upper midcarder some day.
Seriously, enough of this feud. Its boring, it has advanced at a snail's pace, and all its done is feed Vince MacMahon's obsession with big, meaty, men.
Sat: The Undertaker/Khali feud was very difficult to defend. Personally, I have also seen enough of this feud, but the WWE still feels like this feud has got some legs. Let's not even talk about the tag team division. With the Pitbulls gone for a month, SmackDown is officially out of tag teams. The tag team division has gotten pathetic and I expect a team to be thrown together. And I am not really surprised that this feud has gone at a snail's pace because the Undertaker is rarely on TV, meaning that they have to start dragging the storyline out.
Rajah: I agree with all the points you made. The Undertaker's feud with Khali has no payoff. Khali will not be a main event star. It's ‘taker's feud with Heidenreich.
Zach Writes:
Man, I feel sorry for Sat. He has some very difficult subjects to defend. He actually managed to convince me on Umaga, but I couldn't give the Khali vs. Taker feud a high road vote.
I don't see the Undertaker having a match at every PPV this year anyway so I'd have to agree with Rajah on the reason this feud is happening is because for some reason Vince is just in love with big men and loves pushing them to the top way too fast.
Anyway, I thought it was a good point by Sat on how having Khali squash Taker was definitely different, but that still didn't make this feud any better.
Good column again this week. Looking forward to the next one.
Sat: This topic was actually worse than Umaga and I don't expect many high roads at all. When I was writing the high roads, I thought what is Khali going to do after he feuds with the Undertaker? Personally, I can't see him doing much, which makes me question, why they gave Khali a squash victory in the first place. The only thing that I can think of is that Vince does plan on keeping Khali around and using him in a prominent role. Now, if the fans are mad about Khali feuding with the Undertaker, they will really be mad when they see him main eventing SmackDown.
Rajah: Don't feel sorry for him, he deserves it.
Natedogg Writes:
Oh my god do I have to vote low road on this. The reason being is that The GREAT KHALI!!!!!!!!!! Doesn't deserve to be in the WWE. He can't wrestle. His move set is as follows, stand still, big boot, chop, push, fall forward slam, pin. I mean this guy killed someone for god sakes. At least the big show can have somewhat decent matches. Khali literally can't do anything nor have good matches. The first match between Underdooda(as Khali would say) and Khali wasn't entertaining and it isn't any better now. I pray that the Undertaker goes back to badass biker taker because he should be in the world title hunt and it's a shame that he's not as thin as the SD roster is. On a side note I personally enjoyed the Punjabi Prison match because it was something new and it was interesting. I like big cage matches like the elimination chamber and hell in a cell. I think that if they just used 2 regular steel cages and a feud with a big build they could have another prison match and make it good
Sat: I have to agree with you about the Great Khali not being able to wrestle, but when as that stopped Vince. Mark Henry anyone? Vince will have Khali wrestle in match that don't involve wrestling (Hardcore matches, Last Man Standing matches, etc.). I don't see the Undertaker going back to the biker person. The WWE has had a lot of success with the cage matches and they are banking on some type of cage match selling an entire pay per view. In the past year, we have seen them try to sell Armageddon with Hell in a Cell and New Year's Revolution with the Elimination Chamber.
Rajah: I have to disagree with your notion that the Undertaker should be in the world title hunt. Besides the fact that he does get unwarranted title shots, he is by far too old to be holding the belt. I don't get the Undertaker's character right now either. He's floundering.
Terra Writes:
The Taker feud with Khali has to stop. Khali sucks and so does Daivari. They need to take Khali & Daivari and put them in a loser leaves WWE fatal fourway with Umaga and Estrada. They could have Estrada win and get rid of the other three (cause they all suck). Now for UT. He needs to put some guys over. Batista would be a good start. Then UT could put over Lashley. Now that may seem premature for Lashley but SD needs main event guys, and if the feud is built up right a big blowoff win would be huge for Lashley. (it helped Brock Lesnar). Then finally at WrestleMania the Taker streak is stopped by John Cena. That's right. Cena is the chosen one and like him or not he is at the top of the game. And to make it work even better they should have UT call out Cena for a interpromotional match. This could work if they have Cena eliminate UT in the Royal Rumble. That would start the program. A win at Mania over UT would push Cena even further to the moon. Also at Mania Randy Orton will take the World Title from Edge in a triple threat match that would also involve Triple H. Orton would pin Edge. Then you build to an Orton vs. Cena main event at SummerSlam. I wanna run a WM 23 lineup at you and see what you think.
Raw vs. SD tag title unification match-c-Finlay & Regal vs.c-Haas & Benjamin
Winners Haas & Benjamin
Interpromotional match- UT vs. Cena
Winner Cena
Interpromotional match- CM Punk vs. HBK
Winner CM Punk
ECW WT match- c-Kurt Angle vs. RVD vs. Sabu vs. Tommy Dreamer
Winner Tommy Dreamer
Legends match- Hulk Hogan vs. Stone Cold
Winner Stone Cold
M.I.T.B. match- Flair vs. Nitro vs. Umaga vs. Test vs. Mike Knox vs. Miz vs. Hardy vs. the returning Christian
Winner Christian
What do you think? I'm out TROY
Sat: Daivari needs to go back and become the Daivari that was with Muhammad Hassan. That was such a great character and the WWE ruined him. It is early for WrestleMania, but I'll throw a few things out there. I think that Orton will win at SummerSlam and then lose at WrestleMania to Hogan. I don't see the Undertaker wrestling any of the big name superstars; I see him wrestling the Boogeyman. An easy win for the Undertaker and his streak can continue. I think it'll be Edge and HHH for the WWE title with Triple H winning. That still leaves with Cena and HBK with nothing to do. I absolutely agree with your SmackDown main event because it is obvious that is what they building for.
Rajah: If Christian returns to the WWE he'll be jobbing more than Matt Hardy. But other than that, it's so hard to book WWE with the Wellness program and whatnot. So I try to stay away from that.
Uncle Trunx Writes:
Hi guys,
Another enjoyable column, as always.
I fear I'd be a hypocrite if I went any way other than low road, given that I've written lots of emails to you in the past complaining about their matches and Khali in general. However, I'll try to be objective and deal with the very valid positives raised in the column. So to address some of your points one by one:
The idea of a 'taker vs. Boogeyman match at WrestleMania makes me shudder. I can't see him feuding with Booker, as Booker will be busy (I hope) with title matches, which is not where 'taker needs to be at this point in his career. The SmackDown roster is horribly depleted but I see no reason why 'taker can't be used in an interpromotional match for WrestleMania; perhaps taking on Edge, as one of them looks to lose the undefeated streak. 'Taker is best as a special attraction these days, and using him in an interpromotional feud is a good way to do this, in my opinion.
I'd rather not see 'taker and Khali in a Punjabi prison match. I'd rather see the match saved for people who can make it look good. I'd rather not see 'taker vs. Khali at all.
Khali beat the Undertaker clean, and this is indeed impressive. However, the vital point here is it's a worked sport; he was given a clean win over 'taker. This would have been better used to build another, less limited wrestler who is a better long-term prospect. Imagine if Booker had beaten 'taker. He'd now be so much more of a threat in his feud with Batista. Or if it had been given to Batista, or someone like Lashley, or even Finlay, or anyone in the mid card who needs a hand moving up to the main event. Instead, it's wasted on Khali, who I can't see being the future of SmackDown. Heaven help us all if he is, because we'll get five minute main events consisting of weak looking kicks and chops.
In short, the Undertaker has very limited time left, and he's best used to help build new stars. In using him to build another 2 move giant, they're wasting him. Not only this, but they're wasting him in a dull feud that most people I talk to want to see ended as soon as possible.
Now, after that burst of negativity, I have a few ideas for future "High road / low road" columns. They include The McMahon DVD, Using Eddie Guerrero's death as a storyline, Edge as a world champion, the use of Raw / SmackDown wrestlers on ECW and monthly pay-per-views. I'd be honoured if you used any of them. I wouldn't charge royalties!
All the best guys,
Sat: The Edge/Undertaker at WrestleMania would be an excellent idea, but I don't see it happening. The Undertaker will want to keep his streak alive and the Boogeyman can lose to make it happen. If the Undertaker/Edge match happens, then without a doubt, Edge has to win because he is the future of the company. But again, I don't see if happening. Somewhere up above, I wrote that it makes no sense for the Great Khali to win unless the WWE has big plans for him. If Booker T and Finlay had beaten the Undertaker, then they would have benefited, but it wasn't going to help long-term because both of them are pretty old. Your ideas for future High Road/Low Roads are pretty good. I don't really want to do a High Road/Low Road on using Eddie Guerrero's death as a storyline, but I will give it a shot. No guarantees on that one. We are already working on using RAW/SmackDown wrestlers on ECW and that could be done by next week. I am not sure if you want us to do the High Road/Low Road on the monthly pay per view concept or on each of the individual pay per view, so I will discuss both of them. The monthly pay per view is a good High Road/Low Road, which we will do and post when one of us is unable to do the column for a week. Rajah and I are split on the individual pay per view, he wants to do it and I don't. So, maybe for SummerSlam, we will do a High Road/Low Road on it and ask the readers if they want to see us do a High Road/Low Road on the pay per views. As for the Edge as world champion and the McMahon DVD, I can put them on the list, but again no guarantees on both of those. Mostly likely Edge as World Champion will happen (unless he loses the title).
Rajah: This Boogeyman is not losing to the Undertaker at WrestleMania. This Boogeyman is probably going to win the world title at WrestleMania. And I can't wait!!!!! WOOHOO BOOGEYMAN!!! Let's GO Boogey!! Let's GO Boogey!! Let's GO Boogey!! Uncle I don't understand why you don't like this Boogeyman. Anyway, It's odd that you mention monthly pay-per-views because Sat told me that nobody wants to read about pay-per-views. Yeah, but they want to read about Umaga. Sat's on crack if you ask me. But Sat deals with all the topic stuff and everything else so I have no say in it nor do I want any say because then I'd be responsible for any mistakes. Another point about the Undertaker, all his feuds are the same at this point so maybe they should just put him on RAW to freshen him up a bit. And also they should make him dress the way he used in the early nineties. This new look he has been using since WrestleMania 20 is crap.
This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
Chavo Guerrero
High Road:
Chavo Guerrero has the potential to be a star on SmackDown and that was only going to happen if he became a heel. SmackDown only has a few legitimate heels and they are King Booker and Finlay. The WWE thinks Kennedy is a heel, but I don't consider him a heel because he has been getting cheers. Chavo Guerrero can capitalize on this opportunity and become a major superstar.
Low Road:
Chavo will not become a major superstar after this feud. This is a one-shot deal for Chavo and then he's done and back down to Velocity. Actually Velocity does not exist anymore, so I have no idea where he's going after his feud with Rey. This entire feud is based on Eddie. How long can they continue to use Eddie's death to get wrestlers over? Hey, maybe they can bring back Hector and Chavo Classic and make them main-event superstars as well. This isn't going to get Chavo over as a monster heel. I don't see Chavo being anything but a curtain jerker after this feud is done.
High Road:
Chavo Guerrero hasn't had the opportunity to show what he can do in the ring, since he went to RAW. Chavo Guerrero is an excellent wrestler and he will always have a good match. On RAW, he usually had a short TV match or a HEAT match. Chavo Guerrero will have an opportunity to show what he can do in the ring because SmackDown features more wrestling than RAW. Chavo Guerrero will also be involved on the pay per views and he will be allowed to wrestle the longer matches. Chavo Guerrero will now be able to show his wrestling skills something that he was not able to show on RAW.
Low Road:
But Sat, it's not about wrestling. It's about SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT!!! If you think the WWE is going to start selling wrestling instead of SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT!!! then you need help. But you're right, we'll get to see a good match. Then afterwards we get to watch Khali vs. The Undertaker so it balances out.
High Road:
Chavo Guerrero hasn't really had a breakout feud since he came to the WWE. The only one that I can recall is his feud with Eddie Guerrero and that was not has good as it could have been. With Chavo as a heel going against the very popular Rey Mysterio, only good things can arise from this feud. I expect this feud to be like the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio feud from last year minus the soap opera stuff. Also, Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero have had excellent matches in the past and will keep that trend going with this feud.
Low Road:
Only good things can come out of this feud? Uh, I beg to differ. This is going to get ugly and it will not be fun to watch the storyline develop. Obviously the Guerrero family will be involved and Eddie's son Dominic might be involved as well. Hey, and maybe we'll get another "Eddie's in hell" reference. Boy, I can't wait! Or maybe Chavo can desecrate Eddie's grave to get some instant heel heat! That would make him an instant main event level superstar. While he's at it maybe he can start hitting on Eddie's wife. You know that would make him one of the WWE's TOP heels! Or maybe to have the feud reach a climax Chavo can reveal it was actually he who killed Eddie! Chavo would totally become the greatest heel ever!!! And this feud will be so cool and ENTERTAINING!!!!!!!! Because it's all about SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT!!!!!
High Road:
Chavo Guerrero has been misused since he was drafted to RAW last year. Chavo Guerrero has had a horrible run on RAW from being Kerwin White to being on HEAT. Chavo Guerrero is a capable athlete and he should be on RAW or SmackDown, not on their B-Shows. Chavo Guerrero will definitely get a chance on SmackDown because a bunch of the mid-carders have been getting some time on SmackDown that do not deserve it. I am all for bringing Chavo Guerrero to SmackDown because hopefully it will start to cut down on the amount of time that these mid-carders are getting.
Low Road:
IF IT AIN'T WHITE IT AIN'T RIGHT. I had to get that in there. I liked the Kerwin White character. It was interesting and he would have made a good solid mid-carder. What killed it was he didn't get any time to show his stuff on RAW. But anyway you want to get Chavo on SmackDown to cut the amount of time that the mid-carders get. WHAT THE HELL IS CHAVO? He's only a mid-card wrestler. He's not main event level. His promos aren't great and he's a good solid wrestler. He's like Finlay and Regal and all the other mid-carders on SmackDown. He hasn't been used to that potential but that's what he is.
High Road:
Chavo Guerrero needed to turn heel because he is much better as a heel. In my opinion, he isn't that good as a face. Chavo has had all of his success in the WWE as a heel and for him the best option was to turn heel. When he turned his back on Eddie Guerrero and went heel, he was awesome. Chavo Guerrero also had a great run as a heel, when he won the cruiserweight title multiple times.
Low Road:
When Chavo turned heel on Eddie where was he a few months later? He was holding the belt that means nothing-the Cruiserweight championship. He's not a main eventer if he's holding the cruiserweight title. And I thought your whole point was that Chavo will be a good main event star. It's all a moot point however if he doesn't get the airtime to show he's a good heel. So yes Chavo is a good heel but so is Helms. As long as you don't get management behind you, it doesn't matter how good you are.
High Road:
There are a bunch of reasons that Chavo Guerrero could give on why he turned his back on Rey Mysterio, but in the end Eddie Guerrero's name will be dragged into this feud. Personally, I don't have a problem with them using Eddie Guerrero's name in this feud because at the end, I believe that Chavo Guerrero will win this feud. Also, I don't see Eddie Guerrero's name getting trashed in this feud because there is no reason for either of them to bash Eddie Guerrero's name. And if this feud can help make Chavo Guerrero a star than I don't have a problem with it. By the end of this feud, I believe that Chavo Guerrero will be a star because Rey Mysterio will want to return the favor and let Chavo Guerrero beat him a few times.
Low Road:
So it's fine that Randy Orton mocked Eddie because he lost at the Royal Rumble? No, it's not okay. It doesn't matter who wins this feud they shouldn't try to exploit someone's death. If you don't think Eddie is going to get trashed in this feud, you don't know the WWE's idea of entertainment. How else is Chavo going to get his heat? Hmmm, insult someone who is revered and died a year ago. That'll do it. Sat, I can only hope that you are right.
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...
