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Dedwyre's Shock Therapy
March 3, 2004
“Shock Therapy – Look Forward To the Future”
Hey, everyone, how's it hanging? Glad to be back up writing some more stuff. Let's talk wrestling...
RAW (Feb. 23) wasn’t bad. The opening women’s match had a lot of emotion at the end, with Victoria getting the gold and stuff. I love her and Stevie Richards together; they both play insane well. Val vs. Orton was all right, from what I saw. I like Orton more than some columnists I read. Triple H annoys me, but every other writer on the ‘Net has gone into his backstage clout and whatnot, so I won’t waste your time. I will say that Benoit’s booking stinks and the triple threat match is a disappointing turn of events. Having trouble seeing RVD and Booker T. as champions, but RAW needs teams, and they’ve been buried in singles matches too much anyway. I missed the Foley thing, sorry. Christian vs. Trish was expectable, but at least the angle’s moving now.
Then there was that whole deal with Vince. We all knew there was going to be a Vince vs. Eric Bischoff match. I’m glad they didn’t decide to make it the main event of a pay-per-view. Heck, I’m kinda glad they didn’t do what I was expecting, and have Vince just totally whoop Bischoff. The whole thing with everyone coming down to the ring to talk to Vince has been done, but something about it works. I hate anything that has to do with Playboy, and the Playboy Evening Gown match will be a stain on Wrestlemania history. Kane interrupting the Vince and the “ladies” was a relief. I’m weird for liking Kane now, I don’t care. Finally, we have Stone Cold come down and take referee duties for Goldberg vs. Lesnar at ‘Mania. Onto Vince vs. Bischoff. Is Eric pulling his kicks, or does Vince just sell badly? And why did Austin chastise only Vince during the match? It was really cool to see Lesnar do a run-in and F-5 Austin. Talk about a surprise, and what a reaction Brock got. Goldberg vs. Lesnar should work.
Big props to a friend of mine from Kansas who got to talk to her favorite wrestler, Matt Cappotelli, via telephone. She went to the SmackDown! tapings here in Kansas City, too, because she seems to have connections with the Coach. I, uh, know Trevor Rhodes…kinda. Am I cool yet?
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the point of this installment.By now, it’s pretty much old news that WWE has been cutting some talent. Kanyon, Ernest Miller, Zach Gowen, and Dustin Rhodes, as of now, won’t have any involvement in the 2004 WWE. Spanky could be added to that list, I suppose, but he kind of left on his own power a considerable amount of time before the other cuts. I’m not going down the typical path of complaining about great talent like Kanyon being let go, nor will I heap praises towards whoever decided to get rid of the Cat. Instead, I think I’ll evaluate each wrestler’s strengths and predict some possible dream matches….
Kanyon – I used to hate Kanyon when he was in WCW. Not because I thought he was a bad wrestler, but because of his nickname, the “Innovator of Offense.”At the time, WCW seemed to be stealing a lot of idea from ECW, my favorite federation. One of those things was Kanyon’s subtitle, an obvious rip-off of the term “Innovator of Violence,” usually used to describe my favorite wrestler at the time, Tommy Dreamer. But after all that bias wore off, and I actually watched Kanyon as a wrestler, I realized that the name fit rather well. He has an arsenal of moves in his repertoire, and can adapt to opponents of various styles. While I haven’t seen enough of him to justify saying he’d fit in with Ring of Honor’s style, I do think groups like 3PW, NWA-TNA, NWA Wildside, etc. would suit him well. I’d like to see Kanyon get in the ring with CM Punk, Chris Harris, The Stro, Homicide, or even his old buddy Raven. If he came to my neck of the woods, Harley Race’s WLW would be smart to pit him against Superstar Steve for sure.
Ernest “The Cat” Miller – I used to like “the Cat” for some reason. Back in his early WCW tenure, just as he turned heel, I liked him. Now I’m not sure why. He’s never been too impressive as a wrestler (and I’m not nearly as picky as some), and the dancing certainly doesn’t do anything for me. I know I was intrigued when I heard that he was becoming an announcer, but I didn’t know what to think when I finally heard him. I do know this, though: he’s a better talker than he is a wrestler. If he decides to continue his wrestling career, he should do it as a manager. Think about it. He could be used to talk for a worker who doesn’t quite have the mic skills just yet.He’d be perfect for outside interference, because people could actually believe that a three-time karate champion could do damage to someone. And he has a gimmick already. I’m not quite sure who (on the indies) really needs a manager, but I recall watching an NWA Florida DVD and not being at all impressed with some of the interviews…
Zach Gowen – I think I’m becoming slightly biased against this guy because I heard he has an ego, and I’m not a big fan of wrestlers who let things go to their heads. Nevertheless, Gowen is a talented wrestler, dare I say, for one with such a handicap. The problem with thinking of matches for him is that a clean loss to a one-legged wrestler tends to ruin one’s credibility. I know he’s had a few matches on the indies before his WWE tenure, most notably against BG James on NWA: TNA. In fact, he’s already worked in IWA Mid-South since his release. To tell the truth, though, I never saw a Gowen match when he was on TV, so I can’t really judge his style.
Dustin Rhodes – Well, once again it appears that Dustin will have to prove that he’s got talent past an over-the-top gimmick. That’s fine with me, as I like him better without the paint. Dustin appears to be working in Japan a little, as he either has had or will be having a tag match with his daddy, Dusty. He also appeared on TNA, though I’m surprised it hasn’t been more often. I can see Dustin fitting in many places, from NWA Wildside to Canada’s Border City Wrestling, and maybe even in ROH. I’d like to see him take on the Stro, too. In WLW, he’d fit in perfect, as Harley likes to focus on old school heavyweights. Trevor Rhodes (no relation, some resemblance) would be an obvious opponent for “the Natural,” as would Wade Chism, Ron Powers, or even Buff Bagwell, who frequents the fed.
Yeah, I know, I’m plugging my local fed. What’s so wrong with that? This is a wrestling site, and WLW is wrestling, after all.
Hey, speaking of, Harley Race just started doing a wrestling talk show on a local AM station here in KC. 1340 AM, I believe. It’s called “The Main Event,” and it’s on for an hour at 4 p.m. (central). I enjoy it. Harley’s site, www.harleyrace.com, is starting to archive the show, too.
Before I go, I’d like to express my love for certain video production company. Takedown Masters has been releasing a lot of independent and old school wrestling shows on DVD for low prices. I’ve recently purchased NWA Florida’s “Tradition Is About To Change” and Ring of Honor’s “The Era of Honor Begins” at my local Suncoast for only $9.99! Admittedly, this version of “Era” is missing a couple matches, but they aren’t ones I’m interested in anyway, and the video quality, I believe, has been remastered. Plus, you can’t fault 10 bucks. Takedown Masters has also released some Future of Wrestling’s “King of Carnage” and a couple old school DVDs featuring Dusty Rhodes and such.
All right, that’ll do it for me. I’d better get out of here anyway, before I get dropped for advertising too much ;-).
Dedwyre
e-mail: Dedwyre@msn.com |
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