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This is responding to JD's over at http://cpwtapes.tripod.com 's latest column. He's in red.

There are going to be a lot of things said in this column that I never thought I would say. Last nights RAW was awful!

SummerSlam was solid, but the fans really let WWE know that they are sick of The Rock.

Fans were loudly cheering for Brock Lesnar and that is sad. Brock Lesnar is not ready to be the champion and who didnt know he was going to win? He has been rammed straight down our throats. When he bombs as champion, Vince will see how badly he booked himself into a corner.

Well I'm willing to wait and see on Brock. The WWE needs to try to create new stars and they tried it the right way. The problem is politics seem to be getting in the way already as Taker and HHH seem to have weaseled their way out of putting him over (they also should job to him clean as the Rock did) while at the same time making him look like he's running from them. Quite brillant politics on their part.

I really hate The Rock right now. He needs to ether wrestle or act, not both. You can't keep a consistent story going with him. The fans are sick of it, I'm sick of it to. He is one of the greatest ever, but he is tainting his legacy with his "part time" job of being a wrestler. Rocky, I'm of your biggest fans, but right now you suck!

Rock is doing way more then he most would. Rock has the opportunity to make more money without hurting himself acting. He can have a more stable home and his family can accompany him more often to movie shootings then he would WANT them to on the road with him in wrestling. He doesn't have to ever show up at a wrestling show yet he does and he gives 100%. Hey any sane person would choise acting over wrestling and if it comes down to it I'm sure Rock would as well because wrestling will ALWAYS be there for the Rock if his movie career bombs it might not be the other way around. Think of it like in the old territory days where Andre came in for a couple of months did a hot feud drew money then left.

SummerSlam overall was a very good show. Looking at the card I was thinking to myself; "What would suck?"

agreed

Nothing sucked except for the main event. Everyone knew who was going to win and the match was too short and not very good.

Naw the main event was a good solid main event with better crowd heat then Shawn vs HHH. And Rock did the right thing putting over the WWE's monster heel. Sometimes doing what is expected is the right thing. Hell I know the results of lots of matches I watch i'm used to it.

Shawn Michaels stole the show. Thank you Shawn for giving us HBK marks another thrill to add to the many you have already given us.

Naw Shawn basically sucked in the match. HHH was working for 2. Shawn got better as the drugs wore off (I'm pretty sure from the way he started he doped up.) But really HHH was bumping around like a madman to make Shawn's weak offense look good and then worked hard carrying Shawn around while he got out of the stupor and setting up the story of Shawn being the underdog with the back work which Shawn promptly no sold when he did the kip up. HHH also was doing as good as he could to sell for the 30-60 seconds it was taking for Shawn to set up the next spot. It was the best HHH has looked since he got injured and just infrurating how he'll work like this for his friend who means nothing but as Chad at TOA said becomes Road Warrior HHH against Jericho, Angle, or Benoit.

Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit are the best things going right now. They both delivered at SummerSlam as they do every night. I do believe Kurt is going to get lost in the shuffle

In the US at least and yes they are awesome. They've both got that Ric Flair need to put on a great show everynight. As far as getting lost in the shuffle yep but so is Benoit. Like I said they just keep shuffling them back and forth doing jobs it keeps them all in the midcard. Kurt though is to good to hold down much longer.

I really like Test and I hated to see him lose, but I knew The Undertaker was not going to do the job. He sucks right now also. He was doing better now he is back to sucking!

Undertaker shouldn't have lost this match. He needs to do some big jobs to Brock or Angle or someone like that and Test isn't someone like that. No need for Taker to destroy the tag champions but there was no reason for him and HHH to bury Brock on Raw.

Booker T. is really hot right now. I hope he gets a feud with one of the top heels like Chris Jericho. It would really help Booker's push!

Jericho has no rub to give Booker because he jobbed clean to Flair killing his credibility. Really Booker should probably get a shot at HHH or if they hadn't done the Brock exclusive to smackdown him. Those are the only top heels that might be able to help Booker. Not that a Jericho vs Booker feud wouldn't be entertaining it just would keep them both running in place. Also sense when are they pushing Booker?

Triple H take your ass on somewhere! PLEASE!! You suck!!!!

I hate him but I wouldn't do a loveathon over Shawn stealing the show when HHH was working like a madman to get that match to the 2 1/2- 2 3/4 star level it achieved.

Raw really, really, really, sucked last night!!!!!!

It was good to see Kane back though. He looked to be in great shape. One positive thing from RAW!

Hope Kane stays healthy but as I said before Kane the Komedian won't draw. Kane the vulnerable mentally but invulnerable physically monster will and possibly could be a main eventer if Undertaker didn't have to alway pin him clean whenever he started getting heat.

Will they please get someone for the Island Boyz to wrestle!?

I don't know this has some potential and is a nice way to introduce a new talent. Patience my friend.

The WWE has no one the carry the torch right now, No one that they are going to let carry it for that matter.

Lesnar sucks, Taker sucks, Triple H really sucks, and Rocky sucks,

Well 2 out of 4 ain't bad. The WWE has a very deep roster and the ratings have stabilized. They should build Angle up as the top guy and build towards a huge showdown with Lesnar not.....

The cure to all?? STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!!!

That is the only man that can save the WWE right now. I love Steve Austin. He is the man that people want to see. He needs to be the one to come in and lead the charge. Vince also needs to sign some new BIG names. Goldberg, Jeff Jarrett, Ken Shamrock would all help boost interest in the WWE. Austin vs. Goldberg? MONEY!

Of the people you named only Goldberg has ever drawn money. Jarrett is a midcarder, Shamrock was as well. The WWE doesn't really need to be saved. They need to get some talent over to RAW, continue to get Brock over for main events, set Angle up as the top challenger, continue to build Cena and Edge as the next guys to break through, keep Benoit as a threat for the main event and rebuild Jericho. Things are stable no need to panic. Plus last I heard Austin quit and didn't want to come back. When he does obviously take him back. Remember ratings weren't much better with Steve.

In response

First off, I never said smoking weed was healthy.Of course it's bad for you,you're inhaling smoke into your lungs,it doesn't really take any scientific study to realize it's damaging to your health.Alcohol and tobacco are both also health damaging,along with the pharmacutically dispensed drugs valium,codeine,and morphine. I'm not so insane that I'm going to argue that it's healthy,that was my point for writing the original article,to dismiss the lies that some marijauna users would have you believe i.e. it's makes you more creative, cures depression,and so on.Still,as far as the study on memory loss goes,they usually use the worst case examples for these studies.If you use marijuana all day,every day for the next 24 years,your brain is going to be mush,but just as a responsible alcohol user really sees no adverse effects neither will responsible marijuana users.As far as I know marijuana has no real health value other than as a painkiller,which brings me to medicinal marijuana use.
The reason people want to use medicianl marijuana over the alternatives is two fold.One the alternatives are incredibly too strong,instead of the slight buzz they get from smoking marijuana the alternative medicines that use thc cause a strong "numbing" reaction which would basically knock the user on his ass and keep them from living as normal a life as they possibly could.
The second reason is that marijuana helps with the cancer patients appetite where as the alternatives that use thc don't help the appetite but hinder it as they usually increase stomach problems because of the disorientation caused by the drugs.
Now as far as legalizing increasing usage. Have it being more readily availible may cause more people to try marijuana,but I really don't believe it's going to cause more day-to-day marijuana users than there will be if it remains illegal. The reason alcohol and weed can be compared is that both are used for the same reason, to get high.Just as most Americans have learned to control their alcohol usage,the same will happen with marijuana. The worst I can really see happening is that legalizing weed will cause competition between marijuana and alcohol. There will always be those screw-ups who will abuse any drug available to them but why should we all be punished for the screw ups out there.Guns are legal but occassionally some moron is going to kill somebody,that's the nature of the beast we call society.
Finally,I'd like to quote Jared,"So I say use it but if you grow it or sell it go to jail. " By legalizing it's use but continuing to force people to buy it on the black market you take away the most socially redeeming value to legalizing marijuana,ending the use of money spent on marijuana being spent on illegal weapons exchange,terrorism,and the cultivation of more harmful drugs such as cocaine,heroin,and ecstacy.Through legal growth and distribution you put an end to any criminal activity involved with marijuana,thus ending any benefits to criminals.

Now when Im comparing marijuana to alcohol or tobacco it must be remembered that THC is about half as addictive as Alcohol and about one third to one quarter as addictive as nicotine (heroin isnt even as addictive as nicotine.) However much misinformation about how harmful marijuana actually is has went around. There had been a movement (largely reported) to try to downgrade how harmful marijuana was but recently studies (largely ignored) have shown marijuana use to be more dangerous then we initially thought. A marijuana cigarette deposits 4 times as much tar in the lungs as a filtered cigarette for instance and has as much or more of every carcinogin in tobacco.

The most recent one titled Chronic heavy marijuana users show memory and attention impairment from Pain and Central Nervous System Week was pretty disturbing. A long term user had a mean of 24 years smoking as opposed to 10 years for short term users. Here is what the study said.

"On the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, long-termusers recalled significantly fewer words

than either shorter termusers or controls; there was no difference between shorter termusers and

controls. Long-termusers showed impaired learning, retention, and retrieval compared with

controls. Both user groups performed poorly on a time estimation task [versus controls]."

"Performance measures often correlated significantly with the duration of cannabis use, being

worse with increasing years of use, but were unrelated to withdrawal symptoms and persisted after

controlling for recent cannabis use and other drug use,"

How much recovery is made is as of yet unknown. This was the largest study ever and the most recent one but it must be noted that some other studies are not as bad. Ive seen various studies on how much more cancer causing Marijuana is then cigarettes from 2 times as bad to 10 times as bad usually averaging out to 5 times as bad. As far as medical use goes it works but we have drugs that work better. Does that mean it shouldnt be used? No because it might work for some people that the other drugs dont have. Ive heard numerous other recent studies but I cant find them and I dont like to spout off without a source. But basically marijuana is not as innocuous as some would have us believe in contrast to how it used to be not nearly as harmless as some would have us believe.

Tim makes a nice contradiction when he at one point claims he hopes its passed to make getting weed easier and cheaper and without any risk of arrest but says it wont increase use. Tim that violates every economic principal I know. Whenever cost of a product go down (all those things reduce the total cost of weed) more of the product is bought always. Of course legalizing it will increase use if it does those things there is no other way. Neatherlands proved that. They honestly believe in a lenient marijuana policy but things got so out of hand that they have had to increasingly restrict it. It hasnt been a disaster but it hasnt been good for them at all.

Basically decriminalizing it Im for I dont see any reason for Tim to go to jail ;). But if you want to legalize it completely your going to have to deal with the fact it will be more common, it will be used in larger quantaties. So I say use it but if you grow it or sell it go to jail. Since if you want it you can get it right;).

Well since Ehren kept saying JD asked if I was going to rip his column I guess I will. JD deserves credit first off for going beyond the normal http://cpwtapes.tripod.com (good friends of mine and good people's website) fare of Raw and Smackdown reviews. Ehren's actually developed a style for his recaps which has helped the quality a little bit.

Bret Hart is the greatest pure wrestler of all time!!

I assume from the title this may have been inspired by my contest on this very website. It should be noted that I had nothing to do with who came out in the final four. I did a poll featuring 108 wrestlers and I believe 3 rounds and the few readers of my site at the time selected those names. But the contest is very simply who is the best in the ring. I wanted to leave out all that other stuff that makes things so complex. Espiecally since I really don't know how well El Hijo Del Santo cuts a promo. So how can I compare him to say Ric Flair? I can tell by what they do in the ring only.

I was reading some stuff on the net today and I got to thinking about who I thought was the greatest all-around wrestler of all time.

Thinking is always a good thing

I know that it takes more than in ring ability to be a great pro wrestler, take Hulk Hogan for example. It takes a good look, personality, charisma, skills on the mic and a marketable gimmick. Many wrestlers have all these traits, but couldn't wrestle to save their lives. Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Sid, The Undertaker, and The Big Show first come to mind.

Well Nash and Taker have actually proven carriable in the past. Show hasn't shown that yet but he hasn't been in the ring with Bret or Shawn either. Hogan during his peak years was also carriable but he drew regardless of if he was being carried by Savage or having revolutionarily bad matches with Andre and Kimila (who he drew big numbers with if you have ever wondered how big a draw Hogan was.)

NONE of them can wrestle, but have all held the WWF/WWE and WCW titles. I think this is a damn same. Ted DiBiase, Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Beniot and Dean Malenko are some of the greatest wrestlers never to hold either one of those titles. Holding the title for one day doesn't count.

Well Benoit had a longer reign planned but he quit the company. Dibase was supposed to get the NWA title once in the early 80's and it didn't pan out. Then he was supposed to win the WWF title at Mania 4 but Honkey Tonk Man refused to job the IC title to Savage (for understandable reasons btw) and so to make up for it they had to give Savage the world. Back then the world title didn't jump back and forth so since Ted got jumped twice it just never came around to him. He was the top heel in the WWF and the franchise of Mid-South which in my book means about as much.

Out of all the wrestlers I just named, which ones would you rather watch? I know the answer to that question. After saying that I narrowed it down to a certain few that I thought had all those traits and to really go in the ring! I though of Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, The Rock, Jeff Jarrett, Eddie Guererro, Ted DiBiase, and Sting.

Where talking the best ever and you throw Jarrett and Sting out there? Eddie is in but Benoit isn't? Kurt Angle is in already? Its a bit early for him don't you think. Ricky didn't have much charisma but was awesome in the ring. Jericho is a solid all around performer but stand him next to Steve Austin. Is there anyway in which Jericho is as good as Austin? Jarrett is another solid guy but not great at anything.

These guys had all those things all rolled into one. Sure there are better wrestlers than some of those guys, but they really didn't have any personality. Like I said before it takes more than just in-ring ability to be a great pro wrestler. If all you had to do was just go out and tear it up in the ring every night, Chris Benoit would have to be considered as one of the top 3 greatest of all time.

Well Chris is pretty fucking great but not 3 of all time great. He never got as good as Liger and I think even he would agree with that. Although he got close.

I know a lot of you out there are saying what about international superstars? I have seen a lot of Japanese and Mexican wrestling.

No you haven't you've seen some. I've seen a good deal of Japanese but only some Lucha and I've seen more then you by good deal.

Japanese stars such as Kenta Kobashi, Mitshuharu Misawa, Keiji Muto, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Toshiaki Kawada, Genichiro Tenryu, Cima, Ultimo Dragon, and Great Sasuke are all great wrestlers, but none of them are on the scale of Bret Hart, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels.

Here is the challenge. Take Kobashi vs Kawada 1-19-95 ompare it to Bret vs Shawn at Mania 12 Look at both matches carefully and coldly to seperate your passions from the matches. First compare the moveset write down what moves they do. Then compare how the moves are executed and the stiffness etc. Then compare the believable near falls list them . Then make an analysis of the psychology as best you can understand it. Look at what you've written and what you've just seen and then tell me Kawada and Kobashi don't compare. Watch the Kawada vs Misawa match from 6-3-94 and compare to Bret vs Owen the same way and tell me they don't compare. Watch Jumbo vs Tenyru 6-5-89 and compare it to Flair vs Steamboat from Clash 6 and tell me Jumbo isn't the best of the four. When analysis it the 1990's All Japan was on a different level then what we've ever gotten here and is going on anywhere in the world right now.

Mexico also has produced some great wrestlers: The Shocker, Negro Casas, Olympico, EL Hijo Del Santo, Chavo Guerrero Sr., Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Silver King, and of course Eddie Guerrero just to name a few. All great in the ring, but none of them have it all.

You just listed Eddie as someone who did! And btw Shocker really does have it all in everyway as far as charisma and ring abilty. Santo hasn't been one of or the biggest draw in Mexico for 15 years now because he wasn't a balanced performer. Of the names you've listed only Flair compares to that as far as longevity of drawing power goes. And BTW how the hell does Hecter Graza fit into that list? And I've only seen one Chavo Sr. match do you have any tapes you need to be trading me?

The reason I say this is because these three men are the very definition of a pro wrestler.

Well if being a drug addict, refusing to put people over, faking injuries to get out of jobbing a title, burying people you don't like, threatening to walk out of the company because they didn't get you Corona's makes you the definition of a pro wrestler then Shawn Michaels certainly fits.

I am sure that in many people's eyes that is a false statement, but this is my opinion. I get more enjoyment out of watching these three men than any of the Japanese heavyweights.

Would point out that Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi were heavyweights and were clearly better then any Junior other then Liger.

Now as far as in ring ability, as a group the Japanese cruiserweights are the greatest in the world! These are the reasons I am saying the Bret "The Hitman" Hart is the greatest all-around wrester ever. He had personality, a good look, a marketable gimmick, he had good mic skills and he could absolutely tear it up in the ring.

Bret's record is far from perfect. Bret took till about 97 to become a good promo cutter. Before then he was pretty much a bad promo cutter. Bret really only had one year where he really connected with the fans and that is 97. He never could get off his feet in WCW because of politics. Before that he was over but never super over. Bret was always considered a relatively weak top draw. Bret is important as a stabalizing force. Generally the WWF would regain their footing and make some slow progress with Bret on top before Vince would go off on some crazy idea like a year long Diesal reign. Or the one that finally worked Steve Austin feuding with the boss.

That is why I say that Bret Hart is the greatest ever. He carried wresters to great matches night after night, day after day, and year after year.

Well that's another knock on Bret. He occasionally would phone in house shows. I've seen him do some awesome house shows but I've heard more then a few stories. Bret rarely carried bad wrestlers to great matches (no one ever has consistently done that no matter what a Ric Flair mark may tell you). Bret had a sound enough psychology, and a steady hand that allowed him to get matches out of people far above their mean.

He didn't play politics, he didn't do drugs, and he showed up to shows, he stayed loyal to Vince McMahon until the very end, even during the hard times. If Vince hadn't screwed Bret he would probably still be in the WWF/WWE.

Bret wasn't like HHH as far as holding down young stars and fucking the head booker but he had influence. Bret kept to his own storylines but when you watch Wrestling with Shadows its clear Bret is a political force. (Bret was also leaving before the screw job because Vince couldn't pay him for a bit, then when Vince found out he could Bret decided to leave anyway because WCW offered him the perfect deal and he was against the direction the WWF was going in.)

Bret Hart personified what it is to be a man, a professional, and a pro wrestler. NO ONE EVER CAME CLOSE!! I know I'm going to get a lot of negative feed back from this column, but I'm just expressing my opinion. It would take a lot for someone to ever change my mind. 5-30-02 7:47PM CST THANKS EVERYONE AND GOD BLESS

You know I'm a big fan of Bret's but this column's problem is its not based in facts. Its Ra RA stuff with no backbone behind it. Bret's a great wrestler. If you were to stay away from hyperboli and check your facts this column could become a nice cheappop. Anyway nice try JD at least you went a different direction and stuck your neck out there. The other writters at your site never will do that.

Again I have to play the role of logic for they boys over at http://cpwtapes.tripod.com . Again its Ehren you wrote this mess. He's always welcome to respond (but he won't cause he's scared.) Ehren's comments are in red mine are in white.

The Dawg-Ehren Schaffter Hey Vince Hire Me, Tom, and JD

No Idea about Tom. I know JD doesn't have his mind around wrestling well enough yet to be a good booker. He still in the phase of push who I like job who I don't like which is never a good quaility for a booker. And how have I dropped off the list all the sudden? See your first mistake right there.

Dear Vince,

At least you start off right.

You suck!

Since your trying to sell yourself as a booker a better thing to say might be. You need help.... Help I can give you.

I use to watch your WWF programming and be so happy that it was
on. I sort of called it my relaxation from the real world. Here recently
after watching some of your programming I think sitting outside in the
pouring rain in 20 degree weather is better. Lets break down some of the
problems bit by bit.

Well you called it like you see it here no beef.

Problem 1, You and your Family
Yes Vince, we know that Stephanie is hot and sexy as hell. By the way I did love seeing her ass last night. However, she is ruining storylines like no one else. The whole angle with her/Jericho/HHH is just so lame. For Pete's sake Vince you ran over a dog last night. How pitiful is that? Where does Jericho even fit into this whole thing anyway. The story is just Steph and Hunter. On the other side of the table, we have you trying to regain control. Look pal, with less then a week before Mania I do not need to see 30 minutes of a damn board meeting, that resolved nothing. If your going to do the split then do it damn it. We have been hearing the split talk for about a year now, and it is driving me crazy. The best person in your family right now is Shane. The reason why is, he knows when to get his ass off TV. Also, when Shane comes back on TV he never really gets involved like you and Steph so kudos to Shane.

On the McMahon's we basically agree. Although you give Shane a bit to much credit. He was the one who presented himself as a bigger threat to The Rock then Booker T. Steph just needs to be off TV for a very very long time until they can think of a new thing for her to do. Vince is a bit overexposed as well though he isn't as annoying and turn the channel off inspiring as Steph.

Problem 2, Your champ
Vince tell me why Jericho is your champ again? No one gives a flying flip if he is or not. In the WWF they care about Austin, Rock, and HHH. That is about it. Have you not learned that all ready? He looks like an idiot being a coward all of the time. I have this bad feeling too that he will retain at Mania. You want to know why you would do that? Because Steph needs to be on TV more so she thinks that if she books Jericho to retain then her and HHH can still fued over and over again. Earth to Vince, Jericho is not the man.

See this is an area where your booking skills come into question. First off right now no one cares much about HHH either. HHH is a talent on the level of Jericho and Angle who gets pushed like he's Rock or Austin. He shouldnt' be included in the same list as Rock or Austin. But lets say people only care about Rock and Austin. According to you that means they should be the only people to ever hold the belt and you should just give up on everyone else. HHH didn't get over until a few weeks into his 3rd championship reign. If the WWF had taking the attitude you suggest he would never have succeeded. They've botched Jericho's reign from the start and he's done without question as well as he could do. He deserves credit and a strong push. Although it may be to late to save his title reign. But see you failed to diagnosis one of the WWF's major problems since mid 2000 (the failure to elevate in real terms there upper card guys.) They've failed everytime they've "tried" and its one of their major problems. They shouldn't give up because if they did it right they have guys who could really get over. If all I'm going to get are Rock/Austin/and HHH under your book I don't see how that's different then the last 18 months.

Problem 3, NWO/Austin/Rock
I thought the NWO was supposed to be poison. Who or what have they
poisoned? They have been either big bullies or cowards on every
programming. Hell Nash does not even have a match at Mania. Now I will give you credit. Hogan vs Rock will be huge. The sad part is people are high fiving each other when Hogan whips Rocky. They are not booing like you want them too. Some people are cheering when Hall gives Austin the stunner. You do not want that either do you? The fans are supposed to be against poison not routing for it. Duh!

As long as there making noise right? See again you miss the major problem. The problem isn't that the fans are cheering the NWO occasionally. The problem is the angle is totally tanking. The averaged a lower rating this month with the NWO then last month without it. Attendence hasn't went up and I'll be shocked if Rock and Hogan does the buyrate Austin and Rock did last year. Basically its like I said these guys drawing power had been killed in the last years of WCW and they were going to have to be rebuilt. The WWF doesn't rebuild very well right now. The WWF has to decide if they are going to give this angle the Hard Sell (put Hogan over the entire company to rebuild his drawing power at the risk of your other stars) or give up (put Rock over Hogan as a notch in his belt.) They may try to go in between by putting Rock over Hogan and then giving Hogan the belt but I have a feeling that going half way won't work. (See Ehren that's analysis you should try it some time.)

Problem 4, RVD
Did anyone else recognize the WWF faded out the ovation that RVD got on Raw? When his music hit the place went nuts, then all of a sudden you can hear Vince say, "RVD is not going to be that over on my show, fade out those fans chanting RVD." It happens all the time. DDP and Raven both started getting over and Vince killed them. Now it is RVD who is getting the huge ovations. Its time Vince realizes RVD is a star, and he needs to be pushed like it. If RVD does not when at Mania, it will because Vince truly does not want him to get over.

My oppinon on RVD is well known but I'll prove it to you. Yes RVD gets a big pop. Its the same big pop he got when he came into the federation and the same big pop he got when he was fueding with Austin. In other words RVD has a group of very loyal fans who LOVE him. That's good. It doesn't seem to matter what you do with him he doesn't gain or lose fans (that's good and bad.) The reason RVD isn't getting pushed is because his push totally bombed (and they did a decent job with him.) He sold some t-shirts, foam fingers, and got some pop but nothing else. He main evented No Mercy, which evidently did bad enough buisness it got the WWF to panic and kill the alliance angle. He got to be the first challenger to the Undisputed Championship. And here's where your RVD argument goes out the window Ehren. In his first one on one shot for the belt ( he had a 3 way shot yes) against a vulnerable heel champion he did the worst rating that the WWF has done without a holiday in 5 months prior and the 3 months since. Jericho has defended the belt against many others including a Heel vs Heel match with Angle, he has main evented tag matches (the one that did the worst number included....you guessed it RVD) and his worst rating BY FAR was against the guy that Vince should make a star. I gave you Metzler's ratings analysis which again showed RVD as a ratings loser. Now Dave's list isn't scientific but that just goes to show you that the fans arn't clamoring for more RVD like you seem to think. He's like the Road Dogg basically. Great pop and he'll move some merchandise so keep him strong and on TV but keep him away from the main events!

Problem 5, Val, Goldust, Booker, Rikishi, Test, Lance Storm, and a
guy named DLo Hey Vince what do these 7 guys have in common? You don't know. How about hey are 7 of your better workers in the company, and only one of them actually has a mania match. Yes I know Rikishi, Test, and Lance are to be on Heat but don't they deserve better. Is it really that hard Vince to find a program for these guys to be in? If so let me know. I will be your mid card booker. Why did you bring Val back if he is never on TV? What is the point of having DLo on the pay roll if he is stuck in HWA and OVW, knowing
he is better then half the guys you got up in the WWF? Why does Booker and Test always get shit on? Booker helped carried WCW for months and him and Test maybe your best tag team in the WWF, besides the Duds. So what do you do Vince? Split them up. Can't you see we actually like watching these guys on TV? Probably not since they are not in a program with you and Steph.

Well you know my feelings about Val. I think he's one of the best all around talents in the WWF right now. D-Lo may never get out of the doghouse. It was kinda dumb to go backstage to Nitro and tell people you were going to get out of your contract to join Russo in WCW. Test has one of the worst gimmicks in the Fed and is an average at best wrestler. Goldust is a decent gimmick and Dustin is an underrated worker but he ain't someone I'm going to elevate if I get the book. I like Rikishi but they need to update his gimmick a lot. Booker is dead. It would take more effort then even his talents are worth to save him now. There is so much they could do with Lance though. He'll never main but he could be a great midcarder for them. Put him and RVD in a tag team for instance (kind of an odd company team) RVD hits some big spots to open, Lance works the body , Hot tag to Rob more spots go to the finish. Boom Tag team division is revitalized. RVD is pushed but not to the point where he can fuck things up.

Problem 6, The Cruiserweights
I did not put Tajiri, XPac, and Kidman in problem 5 because I wanted to put them here. How long have we heard Vince that the cruiserweight divsion is about to take off? How long now? 3 years? How hard is it to get it off the ground. If you want to get it off the ground, this is what you do Vince. You take Tajiri, XPac, Kidman, Jeff Hardy (because the Hardy's as a team suck now), Christian (because no one cares anymore), Jamie Noble, (who you have in HWA), A.J. Styles (who is in developmental), Funaki, Taka (once he rehabs), you finally get off your ass and sign Rey Jr., Dean Malenko, Crash Holly, Randy Orton (who is in OVW), Christopher Daniels, Scoot Andrews, and
Lo Ki (who all work Dark Matches all the damn time), Hurricane, Shannon Moore, Spike Dudley, Chavo Jr., and you bring them all to TV Vince. That is what you do. Its hard I know but you take these 20 guys and you let them have a tournament or something. Hell let them have a battle Royal or an elimination bout for crying out loud. These are 20 guys the fans would love to see get about 10 minutes in some matches. I am tired and tired of you taking your time and evaluating the division. If you want to get it going this is how. Hell Vince you could even let your boy Shane wrestle in it. Shane vs Rey Jr. would be sweet.

Well for the most part we agree here. Chavo Jr. and Taka are probably 2 of the 5 most gifted wrestlers on the company roster. Hell when I watch an MPRO tape from 1994 (Taka's second year i believe) and I see him carry a horrid worker at the time in Jadoh to a near 4 star match I think he may be one of the most gifted wrestlers I've ever seen. But they aren't the right skin shade. Vince will never push cruisers we know that so why bother.

Problem 7, Tag Team Division
Okay now Vince try and follow me here. We have the APA, the Duds, Scotty and Albert, Hardy Boys, Billy and Chuck, and I guess Tazz and Spike are still a team. What do you see here Vince? Thats right, I am glad you are following me. There are no fresh faces. Everyone is tired of these same old tag teams. Lets just play ring around the tag division, and just trade belt with the same old tag teams. Vince I know by now you are loving my ideas but here is another thought I had. What about those Island Boys? Yeah I can see it in your face, you actually remember these guys. You know Rikishi's cousins? How about bringing those guys up? Or better yet bring up Lesnar and Benjamin. Or maybe Vince, just maybe you can bring back up Shawn O'Haire. How about the SATs? Ooh I can see you are understanding me now.
Freakin Moron!

Again the insults won't help. Billy and Chuck and Tazz and Spike are new teams. They just suck. SAT's are way to short, spotty, and sloppy to make it to the WWF. If the Hit Squad got in shape and loosened up their moveset a bit they might be able to make it. I've made my suggestion to move RVD with someone who can wrestle to the tag division. Hell put him and anybody who can work together and keep Christain and Lance together. Maybe DDP and RVD could have a weird chemistry they both go by there initials and Page can go and is over. See Ehren again I'm offering solutions.

Problem 8, Hardcore Title
Damn it Vince if you are going to have a damn title at least give it to
someone who deserves it. Maven and Goldust as hardcore champions. C'mon Vince. How about guys like Raven, Saturn, Spike, Tazz, Al Snow, Hardcore Holly (when healthy), Dudley Boys (you know ever once in awhile it would not hurt), DDP (he could go), or what about signing guys like Crowbar and Vampiro? You know just a thought.

I thought Golddust was one of the seven guys the WWF should push? And he doesn't deserve a hardcore title reign? Hardcore title should just be dropped for all I care.

And Finally do these three things for me Please
1. Pick up the phone and call Bret Hart. Enough is enough, and I want him
back. He does not have to wrestle just bring him back.
2. Get Shawn in a damn rehab and back on TV. Look if you can bring Hall
back with all his problems Shawn should have been back 3 years ago.
3. Pray that Benoit, Rhyno, Kanyon, and Awesome can hurry up and come back
from their injuries. We are in need of seeing some faces back.

Well Vince I hope you got this in time, before you ruin my wrestlemania. It
would not shock me to see you do it.

Later Vinny Mac,

What Vince would have to do to make it so Bret could come back with his head raised Vince will never do. Bret does kinda blame him for KILLING OWEN! Shawn and Bret in their physical conditions arn't the answer anyway. Although I'd rather see them in rolls of power then Vince and Stephanie. As far as the injured list... Awesome's on it? I thought he just put people on it! But good luck to them all. As for you start putting more thought into these booking papers!!! Its to easy for me to punch holes into them.

Match of the Year:Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin(SummerSlam) -I've got to admit that at first I was hardly even looking forward to this
match but by the end like everyone who was watching this match I was completely enthralled.Up to the point of this
match Austin had been playing the pussy heel but he went into this match with the savagery that always lays inside
of Stone Cold.Angle of course played the perfect hero,never giving up,doing his best to combat the evil before him.
The only hinderance to this match of course was the ending even though honestly Nick Patrick made the right call,I
still would like to have seen a clean finish.
Runner Up:Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit (RAW is War)-This match followed right on the tails of Angle vs. Austin and I think either
one deserves to be Match of the Year,but I just enjoyed Angle vs. Austin a little bit more.

JHM- Personally I think Benoit vs Austin on Smackdown was clearly superior to either one of them. I also would put the Jericho/Benoit vs HHH/Austin match above it but neither of these are outrageous selections

Worst Match of the Year:Anything with Justin Credible.I'd rather watch the Rock than this pile of sh** and if you knew
me you'd know that that is a really strong statement.

JHM- Justin Credible has this terrible heel routine that turns people off and he mistakes it for real heel heat. Hes a mediocre worker. I had major problems with him when he was being pushed as the top guy in ECW but as a undercard guy in the WWF he really isnt that offense and hasnt had any terrible matches. He espiecally hasnt had any matches as offensive as Undertaker/Kane vs Kronik. Or the second HHH vs Jeff Hardy match where HHH took it upon himself to make sure no one could ever take Jeff seriously again. The third match was even worse were HHH pinned Jeff as an afterthought so he could help Austin fight Undertaker. You can rant all you want to about Rock vs Booker but Rock never made Booker look like a joke like HHH did here.

Wrestler of the Year:Steve Austin-I don't think there's any question as to why I picked Austin.His comeback in my opinion started
a little shaky but this year Austin turned the volume up to 10.He was out there full force busting his ass and I don't
think anyone came close to having the intensity of Steve Austin.

Well Kawada has more intensity but Austin was the man in the WWF last year and should be the wrestler of the year even taking Japan into account. His babyface turn isnt really working though as the fans like chanting what but dont seem to care less about anything else.

Worst Wrestler of the Year:The Rock-As usual Rock continued to rely on his mic skills and charisma and continued
to make any effort to improve his matches.He completely killed Booker T,turning him into a total bore.Of course,
Booker T feuds with Austin and they instantly become the most interesting angle on WWF television.

Ill combine this with the worst fued. First off Rock was coming in off a long hiatus and had been jobbed way to often before that. He shouldnt have been jobbing at all for a few months (he did however put over Rhyno and RVD and Jericho basically sacrificing himself to create new stars. It was Rock not HHH or Austin both of whom had chances before hand to make Jericho who finally treated Jericho as his equal so Jericho could get his shot. Just like last year when Rock was the first main eventer to put over Kurt Angle. Thats a consistent unselfish pattern by the Rock.) Hence Im pretty sure he had nothing to do with the way Booker was treated. Vince McMahon buried Booker. Vince had the attitude that he wasnt going to push anyone from WCW to prove that the WWF was superior it was silly but look at the facts. DDP got squashed (again the Undertaker treated him like a Joke something Rock didnt do to Booker.) Booker was booked as a guy who couldnt beat anyone clean. Not Angle, not Austin, not Rock, not Jericho, not RVD, not anyone! In fact he jobbed clean to all of them. Its hard to blame Rock for the fact that Booker was jobbed to Angle and Jericho when no one else every jobs to either of them. Lets look at Rock in the ring. He had match of the year candidates as follows
Vs Angle at No Mercy
Vs Austin at Wrestlemania (very strong one here)
He took off and then had the fued with Booker who in my opinion didnt deliver in the ring with anyone except Jericho then had two more match of the years with Jericho the one at No Mercy doing more to elevate Jericho then anything else had done in his entire career. In 2000 Rock had MOTYC with HHH, Benoit, and Angle, and a pretty shockingly good match with Rikishi. Thats a pretty varied group of strong matches (close to 10 of them actually) for a guy who is a pile of shit in the ring.

Feud of the Year:Steve Austin & Triple H vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho-The basic story of this feud was the most
intriguing thing last year.Of course,the injury of Triple H and the subsequent surgery of Chris Benoit cut it short but
let's look at the overall premise.The two top dogs of the company are running over everybody,and even running out
the #1 hero of the company(the Rock). Who should come along as the saviors of the company but two former rivals.
Two up and comers who have had to sit back and watch as the same was done before but they've had enough.Where
others have hidden in fear they stand in the face of evil.Like I said before Triple H's injury hurt the storyling.It was obvious
it was building toward seperate matches one betweeen Triple H and Jericho and one between Austin & Benoit.
Instead we got Austin vs. Jericho vs. Benoit,which was a poor match,one because of Benoit's ailing kneck and two
because Jericho wasn't really at the top of his game.If Benoit and Triple H had not been put on the shelf,this
storyline may have been strong enough to run through the summer.

Past history says if HHH hadnt gotten injured then at King of the Ring HHH would have beat Benoit, Austin would have beat Jericho, then they would have teamed to beat them both to prove it was a fluke. HHH isnt into elevating people Tim HHH basically sabotaged Austins heel turn which basically caused the WWFs ratings spiral. The plan was that Austin would turn heel then fued with a face HHH for a few months till Rock came back. So to avoid doing the job for Austin HHH stayed heel then made Austin look like his kid brother who he was bossing around. Austin always took the ass kickings for the team and came off looking weak when it was pivotal for his heel turn that he look strong so the fans would want to see him get beat. HHH sabotaged Austin and it caused the ratings collapse.

Here are Star ratings for the Vengence using my normal (hard) scale
RVD vs Taker 2 stars
Angle vs Austin 3 stars
Rock vs Jericho 3 1/2 stars
Jericho vs Austin 2 3/4 stars

Yesterday at the PPV my cousin made the remark that he had only seen one RVD match because they are all the same. Ehren who happens to be a huge RVD mark (which is fine) countered by saying everybody wrestles basically the same match. I didn't have time to argue so detailed a point last night but this is the perfect forum for doing such a thing.

Now as far as moves go yes everyone basically uses the same moves every match. Overtime movesets evolve of course but generally everyone uses the same moves and works pretty much the same style. Low-ki someone many people say has worked many different styles this year hasn't really worked anything other then a low-ki match that I've seen they are all his style. However I hope that we are above judging matches by how many moves a person does. I strongly disagree that good wrestlers however always wrestle the same match. Now RVD basically does and many spot machines like him do as well. That is what keeps them from ever being good wrestlers or having a 3 1/2 star match.

Every match a wrestler has should be different in that it tells a different story. Every match should have a story it wants to get accross and that story is what makes matches unique. For instance every Misawa vs Kawada match told a different story always based on what had happened the previous meeting, what was on the line and where each man's career was at. I could write a dissertation on the uniqueness of each Kawada match and the different stories he told. Yet I don't want this to come off like something only the best wrestler ever does.

Let's take several matches RVD had where he should have worked totally different. We'll say Vs Jerry Lynn, Tazz, Scotty Anton, The Undertaker. In the matches with Jerry Lynn he was the ace of the company trying to defeat a man determined to steal his spot. Against Tazz he was working a dream match between the two men most identified with ECW although one was leaving. Against Scotty Anton he was a man fighting his former best friend who had betrayed him. Against the Undertaker he was the underdog trying to prove that he was equal to a legend while the legend tried to show that he was still dominant. So obviously Rob needed to tell those stories in the ring. His attitude, when he did things, his viciousness, how much he sold and when, and how fast he paced the matches should have been different in each of those matches. They were not at all different though as far as Rob's performances went.

Now take Chris Jericho a wrestler Ehren doesn't think much of in the same night last night back to back he delivered two diverse matches. Let's compare his first match against Rock to his third. In the first he was venting a lot of frustration from being perceived as a chocker. So he did many dickish things to vent on the Rock early. Then he threw everything he had at the Rock and when that didn't work he took advantage of a chanceand won. Having the weight lifted off his shoulder he went crazy on ego and this time against the Rock their was no venting. His ego is so large he doesn't consider the idea that his win was a fluke. The fact that Rock won the rematch on a fluke allows Jericho to think this. So Jericho basically just took it to Rock with hatred because he hates the Rock. He wanted to win and hurt the Rock. He barely even cheated until again he had thrown everything at the Rock did he finally rely on outside interference. He has no issue with Steve Austin so he shouldn't wrestle him the same way. Hense against Steve there was no proving he was a better man he just wanted to get the belt and get out of there. So he basically cheated terribly throughout the match and relied on outside interference and ref bumps throughout. Same night and Jericho showed enough psychology to work differently in both matches. For instance against HHH in a similar situation to his first match against Rock (where he was trying to prove he could win the big one). Jericho didn't vent or anything that match was more focused on HHH trying to destroy this young punk. So in that match Jericho played it clean showed lots of fire and sold his ass off. It was actually exactly the performance RVD should have gave last night. That is the difference between a 2 star match and a 4 1/4 star match. And that is the difference between a good wrestler, Jericho, and an average at best wrestler in RVD. Because every Jericho match isn't the same. I could give other examples but i think i proved my point.

Responding again to the Shaft.

This is going to be fun these are for ehren's latest G-dawg bites over at cpwtapes.tripod.com (don't you hate when people try to give themselves nicknames?)

ES- For Pete's sake, someone please tell me why I am not allowed to book Raw? No honestly, I could not do any worse of a job then those who are now.

JHM- No not if you were going to do what you say later.

ES-Booker is the man right now. He is a complete riot, and Austin has to be given some credit for that also

JHM- Yeah that Austin guy is pretty good. Of course all those 4 star matches Booker has had in the WWF make him the man.......except he hasn't had any. Well what about 3 1/2 stars............no 3 1/4 nooo........ 3 stars 3 matches!!!! WOW he da man! His matches with the Rock were Rock's worst PPV matches since he wrestled the Big Show (that includes the suprising Rikishi match.)

ES-Tazz not winning again. Let me tell you WWF no believers. This man is over, and he could be huge right now if you guys would get off your short guys can't be taken seriously additude. If I was Tazz, I would leave the WWF. They are totally killing him. He got beat in 3 mins. Just awful booking. Did you hear the pop for the Tazzmission?

JHM- Ehren Ehren Ehren. I don't have a short people can't be taken seriously attitude ( i don't know what an additude is). I have a don't push guys who can't sell, get blown up if they wrestle more then 5 minutes, have never worked a good match, promos are cliched, cause trouble in the locker room, use zero psychology, and when given a push in ECW drew no money attitude. Tazz just like RVD came in very over because of ECW fans. Tazz just like RVD looked more over then he was because ECW fans are VERY vocal. Tazz just like RVD doesn't draw money because just like RVD he is a Hyman creation. Get over it Ehren, the WWF isn't not pushing Tazz because he is short, they are not pushing Tazz because Tazz just isn't good.

ES- Strike Two: Wasting Fueds. The WWF just blew RVD vs Jericho, and they are giving us Rocky vs Test on Smackdown this Thursday.

JHM- Rocky vs Test is just a pre rumble fued to give Rocky something to do before he enters the rumble. Its not a long term program and I doubt they intended to make it a PPV match. RVD vs Jericho drew the second worst rating of the year so if they were thinking of having it main the Royal Rumble they shouldn't now. That rating kills the RVD is a draw myth dead. Jericho is insignificant in this one because the RVD if he were over going for the title should have drawn. If RVD were as over as he seems like due to arena pops (remember Ehren you can't book for pops tm JHM) his first one on one shot for the title and the first good chance in the fans eyes for him to win should have drawn a good number. He's not a draw they should cut this insane push out until he is.

Strike 3: The WWF told HHH will be back Jan. 7

JHM- There you go again booking for pop. The WWF needs to increase their ratings not get one good pop. Advertizing HHH's return should draw them a good number. They should book a killer show so that maybe some of the fans who will be watching who don't normally watch will come in. Its fine to bring back some people for a suprise. With one of your top three wrestlers like HHH though you milk it for every cent its worth.

ES- They did the same crap with the Rock earlier this year. C'mon guys.

JHM- Rocks return spiked the ratings by more then half a point(.6 a believe) real dumb huh.