(The following column is the opinion of Rob Taylor alone…)
Greetings and welcome to THT… Relaxed and ready to rumble after a busy Christmas & New Year (including my Dad’s wedding) I first, cast my eye over recent events…
New Years Revolution could easily be renamed Annus Horriblis for WWE… Not only did the show appear weak booking wise, but execution wise, it seemed a lot of people were “not on the ball”. An example was the lack of commentary during the Hassan/Lawler match, sure we understand that JR and King are the 1st string announce team, but why bring Coach out for the following match and leave an important debut devoid of atmosphere? Surely they could have rustled up Todd Grisham for the 10 minutes of the match? Perhaps the plan was to get over the fans hatred of Hassan and Davairi, but it didn’t seem to work at all, Brock Lesnar was more hated than him…
Timing seemed to be off for many on the night both in the ring and out of it… Eugene’s injury was nothing but bad luck, 99 times you throw a dropkick, one time, something can go.. but Lita’s injury, easily the more serious of the 2 seemed down to her rushing. Lots seemed to rush spots on this show, there didn’t seem to be a clear plan of how long matches should last, possibly cos of the enforced shortening of 2 of the matches…
Shelton/Maven was very poorly thought out, for it to end that way killed any momentum Maven had managed to build… Surely it would have made more sense for him to demand a 3rd match and steal it? with a rematch on RAW?
As for the Elimination Chamber itself, it was very impressive, the first timers in the match, like Batista filled their roles perfectly. This was the first EC match that any of the 6 could have won… There was no fodder here…and no bad performances. It was a shame for Edge and Benoit, that the 2 who forced the match were the first 2 out of it… the MVP of the match had to be Chris Jericho, he took ragdoll duties to an amazing degree, yet still looked capable of a shock upset, his timing was great for the lionsault and on a few other moves… Jericho has probably moved above Edge in the title pecking order after that match and rightfully so. The teased feud with Benoit will be a great one to lead into Wrestlemania for both guys…
Trips was pretty good value for the win, his cut was nasty as hell and he must have been groggy by the end…Batista took a giant leap to superstardom, the only slight letdown was Randy Orton, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he was not ready for the belt when he had it, and still isn’t… It looked slightly like the pressure got to him, just my opinion, but the match seemed to flatten when he and Trips were left alone it needed the interference. What this match probably will lead to is a Triple Threat at WM, but on this performance, Orton won’t be seeing Gold before Batista. Batista coped well with his first foray into the main event, even handling the cock-up with his chamber door not opening (they KNEW he was coming out for 5 minutes before hand for godssake)
In all I can only rate the show as a B-, the EC match WAS the show, and they couldn’t even get that 100% right… Must Do Better…especially if guys like Batista are to seriously get over…
On other things, it’s good to see New Jack is in with a shout of a WWE return, this can only mean good things for the ECW return, I could see him as the guy who shows up on SD and RAW and bullies guys like RVD, Rhyno, Tajiri and The Dudz to return to their old ways…
Will Abyss join WWE? maybe…but god help us if someone decides we need to see ManKind v Mick Foley
It was interesting to see NWA Wildside and Bill Behrens could become WWE affiliated. How? Well the NWA name associated with WWE in any way instantly undermines TNA and 2nd, Behrens is agent to some major TNA talent like Christopher Daniels, come contract time, that could make a big difference… Perhaps those who want to see “The Fallen Angel” in WWE might get our wish, though knowing our luck it will be “Curry Man”.
Anyhow, onto my main topic for this week, THT is starting a campaign! a proper campaign, related to the WWE Hall Of Fame this year…
For those who don’t know, WWE posted a list of “potential candidates” on their website last week, with many names on it, including Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart, Ric Rude, Ted DiBiase, Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart…
Conventional wisdom says it’s more likely that Hogan will be the big inductee this year and that WWE will save Bret for another time…
My campaign is simple, I want all 5 members of the Hart Foundation to be inducted together…this year…
The 5 members I refer to are Bret, Owen, Davey, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman.
Collectively and individually all 5 men contributed greatly to the fabric of WWE, Bret and Jim were the WWE’s top team of the 80’s and ’90’s, Davey Boy drew WWE’s biggest ever foreign crowd, Owen’s legacy is indellible and Pillman helped father WWE attitude, and helped create the monster that become Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The fact that only 2 of these men survive means that WWE should induct the group, while they still can, after all Bret has had a close call or two as well… Bret is much more likely to bury the hatchet for a night and make a WWE return if he is honoring his “brothers” as well as himself.
So those of you have haven’t voted, please vote for one of these guys, Davey Boy or Owen… Let WWE know that these guys mean as much as the obvious Hogans and Sammartinos… Fire off e-mails if that is what you think will get it done Let’s make this happen and get the greatest collection of wrestlers WWE ever had into their rightful place in the Hall Of Fame…Together…
As ever if you have any feedback, feel free to mail me at [email protected].
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you all soon…
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