News and Rumors for Saturday, August 9th

Hey, welcome back for yet another News & Rumors report. The WWF presented us with an absolutely terrific episode of RAW last night.

If you missed the show, feel free to kick yourself in the nuts (or perhaps have someone else assist you), and then read the RAW Report to find out why your nuts hurt. You missed out on an awesome show, one that has to be considered one of the top RAW's of the year. We saw two great matches, two returns, two risky bumps, an unexpected confronation towards JR, and some huge angle advancement where the Triple H/Stephanie/Kurt Angle scenario is concerned. All that and more, crammed into a two hour show last night with the extremely hot New York City crowd made for a very memorable show, which, believe me, I have plenty to say about.

Not only was the action exciting on RAW last night, but one of the things that we came away with after the show was a somewhat clearer picture for the Summerslam card. As I reported over the weekend, Commissioner Foley did indeed order a number one contender's match, which ended up including Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Chris Jericho. The decision saw Triple H and Angle pin Jericho at the same time, which, in theory, means that they both won the match and both earned the number one contenders slot for Summerslam. But with the confusing finish, this leaves the WWF in a position where they can take a number of approaches towards the main event. Option number one is to pit Triple H against Angle in a one on one match in the future to determine which one is the only true number one contender. Option number two, which from where I sit is the most likely, would be to keep both Hunter and Kurt as number one contenders, and have them wrestle the Rock in a Triple Threat Match at Summerslam. Another idea would be to have the number one contendership slot change several times in the weeks remaining before Summerslam. As you may remember before last year's Summerslam, several people held the number one contendership in the weeks prior to the event, including Triple H, Chyna, and then Mick Foley. The actual PPV match ended up with Triple H and Foley challenging WWF Champion, Steve Austin in a Triple Threat Match. With Summerslam a little under three weeks away, a lot can happen between now and Raleigh, and we could see the number one contender spot change multiple times, just as it did last year. Whatever the case, I tend to think that a Summerslam Triple Threat will be logical in this situation, because with other top names like Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, The Big Show, and The Undertaker already seemingly penciled in for matches of their own, Angle and Triple H both fit as top contenders for the Rock's Title. I'm sure we'll receive some clarification about the end of RAW from "The Commick", Mick Foley, on Smackdown later this week.

Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit will do battle at Summerslam. Two weeks ago on Smackdown, we saw Benoit destroy Jericho, and last night Y2J retaliated by costing Benoit the WWF Title in a No DQ match against the Rock. These two have a history, and now that their other foes (Triple H, Rock) seem to be busy elsewhere, I'm sure we'll see them continue to get at each others' throats in the weeks to come, before they square off at Summerslam. When Jericho and Benoit feuded earlier this year, it was over the Intercontinental Title, and they tore the house down at Backlash and Judgment Day with two stellar technical wrestling matches, one of which was a very psychologically based Submission Match. But now they're no longer midcarders, but rather main eventers, and their proposed Summerslam battle will be right at the top of the card. It will be interesting to see whether that difference will cause them to adjust to more of a brawling style, as many main eventers use, or whether they'll be allowed to go at it in a solid old fashioned wrestling match for twenty minutes. Of course that largely depends on what type of match they'll engage in. Right now there's no word on any gimmick or stipulation that will be added, but I would expect something to come up within the next few weeks.

The final "main event" secnario involves The Big Show, The Undertaker, and Kane. It's hard to see exactly how the three of them will fit into a Summerslam match-up, but something will surely develop sooner or later. The Undertaker could wrestle The Big Show one-on-one, but it's more probable that Shane McMahon will team up with Show to do battle with Kane and The Taker in a tag team match. To me, this feud is just getting started since we haven't really heard much from the paritcipants to build up their stance against each other. We've seen The Big Show and Shane take out the Undertaker for a couple of weeks, we've seen Show chokeslam Kane through the Smackdown set, and we've seen The Undertaker toss Show off the RAW ramp, and cause Shane to wet himself. So we know they're willing to beat the living crap out of each other, but we still haven't heard Taker verbally confront Show about what he's done to himself and Kane. Once we hear what everyone has to say, expect Shane McMahon to become more physically involved against Kane and The Undertaker, thus giving them a reason to seek to destroy Shane as well. It will also provide Shane to become more active as a wrestler again, and help him figure into the tag match as a wrestler.

Other than The Rock and Chris Benoit, who had the Garden going insane, and all the Triple H/Kurt Angle stuff, my favorite part of RAW had to be Tazz confronting Jim Ross, before getting punked out by Jerry "The King" Lawler. Tazz didn't make much of an impact as a babyface after his debut in the WWF, and his heel turn was a start in the right direction, but last night might have very well been a turning point in his WWF career. Tazz was getting decent heel heat while attacking several fan favorites, and costing Rikishi the Intercontinental Title, but last night he stepped up into a completely different level of crowd reaction. The whole scenario didn't do anything to further his feud with Rikishi, or lead to any sort of Summerslam match, but what it did do was solidify him as a bad-ass heel, and really get the crowd going. The one factor that made the entire segment a success is that it was played to perfection by Tazz, Ross, and Lawler. Last night was the first time Tazz actually impressed me on the mic. I thought his previous mic spots where he confronted Triple H as well as his first heel promo were he refused to explain his actions were average at best with a lot of glaring weak spots. But last night was different. Last night, Tazz cut a GREAT promo- and I was thinking that before JR slapped him. Bottom line, the segment came completely out of left field, and was a pleasant surprise to all thos watching. Tazz spoke very well, Ross did his part, and Lawler made the save out of nowhere, coming to the aid of his broadcast partner. See kids, they each rile the other up sometimes, but they really do care about each other. Sweet, ain't it? Awesome segment.

The way things look now, Val Venis is headed for a showdown with Eddie Guerrero. The two continued their ongoing rivalry last night when Val piledrove Eddie on the arena floor (ouch), only for Eddie to comeback and cost Val the decision in his six man tag team match. This one has Summerslam IC Title Match written all over it.

So after RAW last night, it looks to me like the Summerslam card will look something like this:

World Title Match: The Rock (c) vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle
Insert Gimmick Here Match: Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
The Undertaker & Kane vs. The Big Show & Shane McMahon
(I Can Only Hope This Will Be A) Ladder Match for the Tag Team Titles: The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian (c)
Intercontinental Title Match: Eddie Guerrero vs. Val Venis (c)
Insert Gimmick Here Match: Tazz vs. Rikishi
I don't know about the rest of you, but to me that looks like a very strong card. Throw in Saturn, Malenko, The Dudleys, the RTC, X-Pac, The Road Dogg, Too Cool, Blackman, Snow, and more in other action, and it's seems to me that Summerslam will look to shape up to be a tremendous success.


One angle that has kind of grabbed my interest recently is X-Pac and Road Dogg's game of "one-upsmanship". It's difficult to see exactly what the whole thing is building to, which is one of the reasons it's starting to appeal to me. I like mysteries, and I like surprises, and I like it when I can't tell where exactly an angle is leading. It's one thing when two wrestlers have an issue with each other, they attack each other and wrestle against each other in tag matches to build to their PPV match, then they have the match and blowoff the feud. That's all well and good, but I enjoy situations where there are certain unclear factors that keep each and every week new and exciting. That's another example of why I liked the Tazz/JR segment so much; I didn't see it coming at all. But, for instance, do you think I'm counting on seeing Val Venis attack Eddie Guerrero during a match some time during the next week and a half? I sure am. It's very predictable, and it will take their feud one step farther. I think I like a lot of the WWF's angles right now because they're not so cut and dry, not so straightforward. You have Triple H and Kurt Angle despising each other, yet they haven't lost it and started brawling with each other yet. Then you have the Rock fending off several different challengers, then you have Jericho going nuts on Triple H AND Benoit, then you have Benoit attacking everyone... except it's cool when HE does it. Then you have X-Pac and The Road Dogg, the relationship between Steve Blackman and Al Snow, and Edge & Christian dominating the Hardyz, accept doing it by taking them apart one at a time. Lots of interesting stuff, in my opinion.

Speaking of the Road Dogg (because I believe at some point I was starting to speak of the Road Dogg), word is that the reason he missed the weekend house shows was because his wife had to have emergencey dental surgery, and he had to fly home to be with his children. As a result, instead of the originally booked Too Cool vs. X-Pac & Road Dogg matches, fans in Cleveland and Washington, D.C. were instead given X-Pac vs. Scotty Too Hotty in singles action.

Last night, we saw a great deal of hypocrisy shown by the RTC, as The Goodfather drove one of his ex-ladies through a table. In the past, Steven Richards and company have prevented the Dudley Boyz from using tables because they felt that violence like that has no place on television. Yet last night, they felt it fine to completely ignore everything they've been preaching and put a woman through a table themselves. I can't wait for their next hypocritical action. I can only hope that eventually it will get to the point where Richards will try to tell the fans not to buy tickets to the WWF, and convince advertisers to pull their ads from WWF TV, but one would think that might become a little counterproductive. I suppose if they did that, the WWF would have to pull a role reversal and censor them. Anyway, I still think the RTC angle is cool, and it's funny how NO ONE in the company likes them. The other heel wrestlers don't like them, and the heel announcers, namely Jerry Lawler, hates them. They're a completely isolated group of nutballs that the company as a whole disagrees with and is bothered by, and that's why it's such a well-done parody.

The Rock will be on Jay Leno, I believe, this Friday. He will also be presenting an award at the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday September 7th.

As I'm writing this, I see that it has been confirmed that long-time WWF employee Dave Hebner suffered a heart attack yesterday. Fortunatley, Dave will be alright and is doing fine. Dave is a road agent for the WWF, and has been a key backstage employee for the WWF for what seems like forever now. His twin brother, Earl Hebner, is the WWF's Senior Referee. Watch some old WWF tapes, and you'll recognize Dave as one of the "suits" that may have to come down to ringside to restrain a wrestler or break up a fight. Everyone at RajahWWF.com certainly wishes their best for Dave, and I hope he is able to make a speedy and full recovery.

I stopped by WWF.com and apparently the final Gettin RAW internet broadcast ever is up. That's kind of sad to hear about because I like the show and Lucas and Jimmy did a terrific job with it. Over the last several months, Gettin RAW was home to much laughter, tears, and good natured Rajah-bashing. I urge you to watch the final webcast, here. Good luck to Lucas and Jimmy in all their future endeavors; I'm going to miss listening to those guys.

OK, it's time to check out the Ross Repo... eh, what? This is Tuesday? Then what the hell am I doing the rumors for? Regardless, I think we'll pretend I told you about what JR had to say, and skip to some final thoughts. It's the only way I know.
- Another Perry Saturn match was bumped from RAW again last night; oh well.
- Wasn't that six man tag supposed to be T & A & Val against Too Cool and Eddie? Eddie gets his brain scrambled on the floor, and Chyna just up and takes his place in the middle of the match? How does that one work?
- Chyna recently filmed a commercial for Stacker 2, the world's strongest fat burner. Later this month, Chris Jericho will be filming a Chef Boyardee commercial. You might remember that Mankind and The Big Show were featured in commercials for the same company within the past year. Too Cool & Rikishi are also featured in a current commercial, though the product escapes me at this time. The point is, the WWF is everywhere.
- If it is indeed The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle at Summerslam, I think it'd be cool to see the Rock became a smart ass over the next couple of weeks, and try to turn his opponents further against each other at every given opportunity. You know, just to mess with them.
- It's coming up on a year now that Triple H has been on top of the wrestling world. Last year, at Summerslam, he wrestled in his first major PPV main event, and won the WWF Title the next night. From there, he won in the main events at Unforgiven and No Mercy, before losing the Title at Survivor Series. Then he beat Vince McMahon in the main event at Armageddon, regained the Title at the first RAW of 2000, then retained it in a Street Fight against Foley at The Rumble, and a Hell in a Cell at No Way Out, ending the Hardcore Legend's career in the process. He broke tradition at Wrestlemania, becoming the first "bad guy" to leave Wrestlemania with the World Title, and headlined the next four PPV's as well, wrestling The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, and Chris Jericho, in everything from an Iron Man Match to a Six Man Tag, to a Last Man Standing Match. If he's in the Main Event at Summerslam, it will mark the thirteenth consecutive PPV he will main event. Believe me, when he says he's the best in the business, it's not just because he needs another catchphrase; it's the truth.
~ You know, I was actually supposed to be at the awesomeness that was RAW last night, but was screwed out of attending due to shady backstage politics that I'd rather not get into at this time.











With thanks once again to RajahWWF for providing these rumours!