By Scott Bowden
June 30, 2005
Scott Bowden issues a Don Jardine-like Spoiler warning for this week’s edition of the KFR Heat Lamp, as he discusses the Draft Lottery switches, Hulk Hogan’s return to RAW, and the showdown between the former Olympic gold medalist and the 16-time World champ.
Stop right where you are if you don’t want to know about the latest draft picks for tonight’s SMACKDOWN!
Cena Gets RAW: Make no mistake. John Cena is RAW now. Sure, we all know it’s Triple H’s show, but Cena is now, officially, the show’s top babyface star. The kid’s got star power and the company believes in him. Cena’s disdain for the announcers is funny, nearly as entertaining as when the Rock did the same bit. As I’ve said many times, Cena’s only going to improve, especially now that they’ve given him the ball. Cena and the WWE title will no longer be mid-card fare, as it was with Sunday’s VENGEANCE. While not much work-wise, Monday’s bout was handled perfectly, from Hogan using Cena’s “you-can’t-see me” gimmick to the Hulkster drinking in the cheers with the Champ, and finally, the young stud giving way to the two WWE legends and paying homage before gracefully exiting the spotlight (called nicely by Jim Ross).
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Cena seems to step up his work in the big bouts, so all he needs is some consistency in the ring and then’ll be no stopping him. Of course, it might be only a matter time before Cena bites the dust after a pedigree, but rest assured the company sees something in the this kid and they’re going to be very careful with his push. And because Cena’s WWE title is now RAW, I’d expect the title up be built back up, which is nice because they treat that title as the one having lineage to Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Hogan.
A Helluva Angle: The interview segment and subsequent match between Kurt Angle and Ric Flair was enjoyable and exactly what it should be. Loved the idea of Flair admitting he might not be able to keep up with Angle as a wrestler, but still could hold his own in a street fight. I think the fans bought it, too, as they stayed with the bout, even after a miscue on the turnbuckle caused Flair to awkwardly fall to the floor.
Flair may have overdone it a bit with all the modified Von Erich claws to the testicles in front of the referee, but that’s what you’d expect from the dirtiest player in the game, a fact hammered home by Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. The King even had a great line at the finish — which saw the Nature Boy finally tap to the ankle lock — screaming, “Bite something, Ric! Bite something.”
Backdraft: For the first time in a while, RAW feels like the hot, star-studded show it used to be in 1998. No wonder — with the Draft Lottery, RAW cherry-picked some of SMACKDOWN’s top stars, including Monday’s picks The Big Show and RVD. While not a fan of the draft concept per se, I am pleased with the end results, as Van Dam and Angle in particular desperately needed a chance of scenery. Once RVD’s healthy, perhaps he’ll finally receive his breakthrough push to superstardom, especially if he continues to deliver the spot-on shoot-like promos about himself and ECW. Some have complained that SMACKDOWN! post-draft is still the talent-thin, redheaded-stepchild show it was before the draft, but at the very least, Batista made the switch, along with the World title. Yes, all titles in wrestling have been devalued to an all-time low in the fans’ eyes, however, the World title has been built up as the WWE’s most important, so that should help give SMACKDOWN! a tad more prestige.
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In fact, SMACKDOWN! has the potential to be a pretty hot show, with Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero continuing to heat up, and the new additions of Randy Orton and Chris Benoit. Most who attended Monday’s SMACKDOWN! taping after RAW agree that new-arrival Christian in his debut was already more over than nearly every other SMACKDOWN! performer.
Still, it’s a bit disappointing to see that Batista’s first big challenger will be JBL, whose push as a main-eventer continues to drag on. I love JBL’s promos, but I don’t think fans will buy him as a legit threat to Batista, who scored three high-profile wins in a row over Triple H, including Sunday’s brutal Hell in a Cell win at VENGEANCE. (Incidentally, the boys really need to drop references to “war” during promos. Cena challenged Jericho to go to war a couple of weeks ago, and Batista, in his last promo on RAW for a while, compared the Hell in a Cell bout to war, not once, but twice. That’s a big no-no when the country is at war, in my opinion.)
The Next Big Comeback: Former WWE champ Brock Lesnar, who left behind a promising career in the business to pursue a childhood (not to mention childish) dream of playing professional football, is pushing hard to return in the media. In an interview with the BISMARK TRIBUNE, Lesnar claims he wants to settle his lawsuit over a non-compete clause in his contract and return to WWE. Lesnar, sounding much more mature than the guy who hastily left the business about a year ago, admits he wasn’t ready for the fame, fortune and travel demands that go with being a WWE superstar. (Which could explain why he bought that jet to make arena shows.)
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“I’m ready for it now,” he says. “With the lawsuit and everything going on, I just hope we can resolve this thing, and Vince can open his doors to me and just give me a second chance. I have no idea — I guess it stands on the end of your pencil, when it gets out on the Internet. That’s probably where he’ll [Vince McMahon] catch the news. It’s either that or me calling him. But I don't know what else I’d be. What else is there for me? I wasn’t ready for what they put on my plate. I couldn’t eat it all. I tried to, you know? That's just me being me. He asked me, ‘Are you ready for this?’ and I just said, ‘Bring it on. Let's go.’ I wasn't ready to be traveling 300 days a year. I wasn’t ready for the money. I wasn’t ready for the responsibilities. I wasn’t ready to be a father. I wasn't ready to be a husband. I wasn't ready for a lot of things.” Lesnar apparently wasn’t ready to be a defensive lineman either, as the Vikings cut him during training camp shortly after he’d signed for the rookie-minimum $230,000. According to Vikings head coach Mike Tice, Lesnar worked really hard and impressed with his toughness, but the fact that he hadn’t played football in more than nine years had left him too far behind technique-wise.
Vince has to be enjoying this immensely, as he reportedly took Lesnar’s departure really personally, and rightfully so in a sense. McMahon took a chance and pushed the kid to the moon, crowning him champion over The Rock after successfully building him up as The Next Big Thing. Lesnar’s departure came at a horrible time, when the SMACKDOWN! lineup was already thin compared to RAW in terms of star power. Lesnar’s not a complete dummy — he knows it’s going to take some groveling to get back into the fold. McMahon in all likelihood will take him back, but he’ll have to pay his dues all over again. Still, if handled correctly, Lesnar would make for a good match-up with Batista, especially with the current World champ’s jump to SMACKDOWN!
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