MONDAY NIGHT? NOT!
Modem Marauder
month, they're widely available as of today. The PPV's scheduled by
Titan Sports (WWF) for the 12th and the 18th are 3 hour slots that
are billed as WM IX replays. It would be *very* difficult for McMahon
to schedule in another PPV event this late and it would be an equal pain
for him to try to change the scheduled billing rates for the replays
currently scheduled.
I dont think we'll see a "Monday in Mississippi" or the like.
I'll go out on a limb here and make a few predictions:
Hitman pins Yokozuna -- The whole idea of this match is to give Bret
Hart some credibility as the WWF champion. They figure taking down
a monster like Yokozuna will do the trick. If it works, and barring
any contract disputes, look for Bret Hart to probably still be
champion this time next year as the WWF wants to create some
stability with the title and really "market" Bret Hart as a
superstar to help fill some of the void left by Ultimate Warrior
leaving and Hogan and Savage easing into retirement. McMahon
tried creating excitement by turning titles over very quickly,
but that hasn't worked. He also realizes that the "fad" of
wrestling from the 80's has passed. The people left who are buying
the tickets and PPV are the hardcore wrestling fans who want to see
fights, feuds and wrestling instead of body builders and circus
acts. Bret Hart is the only true wrestler the WWF has that is
big enough to be viable as the World Champ.
Hogan & Beefcake over Money Inc. -- This looks like a no-brainer, but
without some behind the scenes info on Hogan and/or Beefcake's
contracts, I wouldn't put alot of money on this one. They'll get
the belts if both Hogan and Beefcake are going to wrestle full
schedules thru the summer. If either of them isn't, anything
could happen in this match.
Undertaker over Giant Gonzales -- This *is* a no-brainer. Gonzales
is nothing more than another version of "Zeus". I thought it might
have changed from his days as El Gigante since he was gone for a
long time, but this Giant still cant wrestle a lick. This will
probably be a dirty win so they can keep the Giant viable as a
super villain to be feared by all, but no way does he pin The
Undertaker.
Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect -- Pick 'em! This one is a toss-up for me.
And this should be the best match of the night. I look for a BS
ending such as a count out or DQ. If one of these guys loses on
a pinfall, you can be sure he's fallen out of favor with McMahon
and will probably lose to some other bigname opponents throughout
the summer and depart when the contract expires. Luger should have a
fresh contract, but the fact that he was relegated to spending 2
weeks wrestling in the USWA on the WWF/USWA exchange program and
a recent pin by the Hitman, Luger's stock may be dropping in
McMahon's eyes. On the other hand, Hennig looks healthy, and is
enjoying popularity as a good guy, but he may have run his course.
If someone held a gun to my head and made me pick a winner, I
would pick Mr. Perfect just because I think the WWF is going to
shift slightly toward favoring guys who can actually wrestle over
the body builders this year.
Steiners over Headshrinkers -- This should be a fun match. The WWF tag
belts will be around the Steiners waists by Summer Slam at the
latest. This one will get rowdy.
Crush over Doink -- This one is for the kiddies. The ever popular
Crush must get some payback on that evil old Doink the Clown.
Sorry guys, Doink is Papa Shango's replacement as one of the
upperclass whipping boys, he'll be losing matches left and right
by the end of the year. Remember, the kiddies have a big influence
on what happens in the WWF. It's just like a Saturday morning
cartoon, good will win out over evil every time eventually. Since
Vince Jr. has had the reigns of the WWF, cumulatively, how long
has a bad guy held the world title? About 8 months if memory
serves me correctly. Slaughter from Rumble to WM 2 years ago. Then
Flair from Rumble to WM last year. Plus a couple of title reigns
measured in days for Undertaker and Andre. And Doink is clearly the
"kiddie villain", he's gotta go down, plus McMahon would love to
build Crush into a superstar as well. Last year we had Shango and
his voo-doo for the kiddies, this year we've got Doink the Evil
Clown. It's scary to think what we might see this time next year.
And before anyone pounces, yes, I do realize Doink can wrestle
circles around Crush and has 10 times better moves. Borne has to
be having a ball with this role after being Big Josh for a year.
But he's going down.
Anyone want to speculate on who might show up to surprise the crowd?
Warrior again? A reconciliated L.O.D. as bad guys? Jake Roberts?
Sid Vicious?
I have no inside info on this one, but I have a hunch Sid Vicious might
somehow factor into the Megamaniacs vs. Money Inc. match....
If I'm right, I'm starting my own 900 psychic line...heh...