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WORK OR LEGIT? SEPTEMBER 20, 2001
Tonight as I turned on Smackdown, I was running in and out getting the few packages we had brought home from the grocery, on my last trip through, I noticed that the commentators had gotten unusually quiet. As I looked on in horror and disbelief, it appeared as if Kurt Angle had been paralyzed by Steve Austin via piledriver on the bare concrete. This was the EXACT same thing that happened to Austin that caused the bone spurs in his neck which required surgery, but his was in ring. This one being on concrete and Angle's previously broken neck definitely had me worried. By all indications and the sincerety put forth, this was a career ending injury, only to be flipped around as a work for the setup for their upcoming PPV Unforgiven. Only one other time has the WWF gotten me so badly on a worked injury. Back a few years ago, Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) were pushed off the stage in a trash dumpster falling the 12 or so feet to the concrete at what looked to be an awesome velocity. The dumpster was rushed with WWF officials and EMTs and after they got the lid open on the dumpster, both Funk and Foley looked as if they were dead or dying. Hell, they drew it out so long and made it look so horrible, my candy ass was almost crying for the loss of the two greatest hardcore icons ever. It was a damn work too. My point is this, wrestling is so damn brutal sometimes and, I love every second of it, and for God
sakes, the emotional rollercoaster is something else, but let's not kill the freakin' guys only to make em come back in 45 minutes all pissed off, and PLEASE, if they get the bright idea to FAKE an injury for time off for promotional purposes, DO NOT do it like they gay-assed Chyna "Neck Injury of Whiplash and Total Destruction". There are enough guys getting injured on a daily basis without some primadonna like Chyna faking something as serious as paralysis just to visit the talk show circuit, and it was faked badly I might add. Angle is alright and I am very glad, he has such a future with the WWF, but come on man, Angle, you are so much better than that fake broken neck, come back as terminator crap...it's true, it's damn true...

   SMACKDOWN SEPTEMBER 13, 2001
WWF Smackdown tonight, with its opening and vignettes between commercials struck home in a hard way just how much this total debacle of terrorism has affected us all. The singing of the National Anthem by Lillian Garcia actually choked me up. I could see I was not alone as many of the Superstars were either holding back tears or visibly crying. Tonights show was very meaningful to everyone involved, alot of Superstars hail from New York, and it was definitely an appreciated effort on behalf of the sports entertainment community to show that, as Vince Mcmahon said, we WILL not hide in a corner or under a rock and I defy you to say that Vince and the WWF roster are not true models of American patriotism, regardless of what the bias PTC organization has to say. If I were in battle I guaran-damn-tee you that ANY citizen would rather have Vinnie Mac or Kane by their side instead of Al or Tipper Gore.

   GETTING OVER SEPTEMBER 6,2001
Shane "Hurricane" Helms...three weeks ago, nobody could have given two happy craps about this former member of 3 Count in WCW and now with his new superhero gimmick, he's getting over. What tha'? His matches before this gimmick change were as silent as a Test pop (props to Foley!) and now there are chants of HURRICANE while he is in the ring, not to mention he gets great pops upon entry to the arena. Why you may ask? Sports ENTERTAINMENT is exactly why. The same reason noone cares for Big Show while he plays the angry behemoth, but the same fans go nuts for him as "ShowKishi", "The Showster", and his recent sendup of Booker T and flailing around on his side trying to do the dreaded Spinarooni. This is a breath of fresh air into dying careers and if being utterly goofy is what it takes to get over, then so be it! Long live The Hurricane!

   WHAT'S THE DEAL? AUGUST 29, 2001
There is a message board I go to on a pretty regular basis called 411 Wrestling Fan Forum. It seems to me that a great deal of the fans that post on this site have a deep hatred for two of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Triple H and Undertaker. Why? These two consumate professionals are held in high regard by "the boys" in the locker room and are looked to for guidance and leadership. There is alot of talk of backstage politics and Taker and Trip holding the "new blood" back for the sake of holding their spots. Anyone who is thinking this is sadly confusing the WWF with the horrid regime' of WCW and the Hogans and Nashes of the wrestling world. Vince Macmahon will not, nor has he ever, (i.e. Hogan's departure from the WWF in 1992, Bret Hart's temper tantrum and "screw job") taken any crap from the men or women in his roster. He knows leadership and ingenuity when he sees it and sure, as much as I hate to admit it, Taker's very best years are behind him, but will continue to have an impact on the wrestling world and talent to come for years. Triple H is still the best at what he does, and that's being a badass heel. Taker said it best when he said, "I may not come out to scary music dressed in all black anymore, but that don't mean I ain't still down with tha' Devil."