Ah, the day is finally here. Today I write my 25th column. First I would like to thank all my loyal readers. Second, I invite everyone to come to my interactive, live, real-time play-by-play of Ground Zero on September 7 at 6:30PM ET, at my chat room, http://members.aol.com/MogKQDulog/chat.html...I hope to see you there.
Now on to my big 25th column. I've known what I was going to write for a few weeks now, but I wasn't sure why--I hadn't found my inspiration. Yesterday, I found it.
On a one-day road trip to Boston, coming and going I caught glimpses of a virtual mecca to wrestling fans, everyone's favorite headquarters, Titan Tower. And as I stared up at the glorious, huge, glass-covered building, I shuddered to think of who might be in that building--and even moreso what they might be doing. Then I knew I had my inspiration.
So, looking back at the summer, and to summers, falls, winters, and springs ahead, and in celebration of my 25-week anniversary, I present THE BIG GUY'S HIT 25 LIST, a list of 25 predictions/opinions for people/angles.
1. THE GIANT--The Giant's future could be mixed. I see his roll continue to diminish (getting even lower than Rey Misterio's body guard) until his contract runs out, and then it's all Titanville from there. I would imagine that the WWF will call him The Giant-Paul Wight, as is the trend of things. But I don't see ol' Paul getting a decent push anymore except in the WWF.
2. VADER--Will the face turn give him the push he has deserved? As long as another huge heel doesn't come along. Examine the history--Earthquake is a huge heel, turns face, Yokozuna comes, beats up Earthquake, turns face, Vader comes, beats up Yoko...will this cycle end? I hope it will--but will the Giant start it up again?
3. JEFF JARRETT--The original double J gets the "What the hell happened" award. He was getting a decent face push and combating the nWo and now, well, just look at him. What happened Jeff? Kicked out the Horsemen for no reason, wins the US Title with little recognition, what next? Back to the North I guess...
4. THE PATRIOT--Will there be a push beyond the Canada/USA angle for the Patriot? Or will he lose all heat and take up permenant living in Jobberville USA? I think if the WWF tries giving Wilkes an feud that has nothing to do with foreign relations, he'll thrive. But knowing McMahon, after he scores some big wins against the Harts it'll be all downhill, as much as I hate to say it.
5. ALEX WRIGHT--Truly the success story of the summer, and I don't see Alex's mean streak ending any time soon. There's no one I like seeing get beat up more than Das Wunderpunk!
6. THE FOUR HORSEMEN--With Hennig as the new enforcer, will the Horsmen legacy be restored? You bet--I like this new group a whole lot, altough I still think they shouldn't have dropped Jarrett.
7. ULTIMO DRAGON--Last student of Bruce Lee? I doubt it. But I'm starting to really like this guy. He's got everything. Let's hope he gets his TV Title back and then we'll really see what he can do.
8. "ADULT ANGLES"--Actually, the complete lack thereof. Thus far Brian Pillman has done nothing to implicate that he wasn't just trying to annoy Golddust when he said Dakota was his. And Ross saying that Pillman and Marlena used to be "an item" is just stating the basis for Pillman's remarks. No one--except the internet--is treating this "angle" like it actually means anything.
9. SUNNY--After nearly a year out of the spotlight, I think we have some seriously Sunny days ahead. In what capacity, who knows?
10. THE EUROPEAN TITLE--Is it just me or is the Bulldog likely to retire this title? Three singles titles are way too much for the WWF's limited roster, so keeping the belt around Bulldog's waist without any attention seems like the best thing to do. That way, he can still draw the crowds on the European tours. I don't see this changing at all in the near future.
11. STING--Don't talk, Sting--ever again. Just wrestle. Please wrestle. I'm so tired of Sting on a string. Talking would hurt his character, but unless he wrestles soon we will have the ultimate boring angle on or hands.
12. THE NEW KLIQ--Shawn and Hunter. I see absolutely huge things for this duo. What's first? Two words: tag belts. Let's just hope that behind the scenes they don't let their egos get too big.
13. WWF LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION--The lightweights will obviously be drastically underpushed and the title will have little attention. What I would do is just scrap the entire division and use the current wrestlers in it in the regular roster--there's a lot of talent in the light division, and we all know what great battles they could have with the heavyweights.
14. LEX LUGER--It doesn't seem like there's much else for Lex to do, which means--nWo turn, in a big way. This gives Sting an angle beyond Hogan, and gives Lex something fresh to work with.
15. THE UNDERTAKER--With Steve Austin out for who knows how long, another Undertaker title reign seems likely. But I'm not complaining. UT's been forced to juggle about a hundred different angles at once lately, and he's been doing a great job. Besides, his second reign was pretty great.
16. WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE--It seems certain that the title will be up for grabs, probably at the battle royal at the MSG RIW. Who will win it? Put me down for Hunter-Hearst Helmsley. It would be a great addition to his pact with Michaels.
17. WWF TAG TEAM TITLES--With Dude and Austin out, and the Headbangers in, I fully expect Mosh and Thrasher to get the straps. Their popularity has been soaring while the LOD's has been dropping. Don't expect a long reign though, as the Bulldog Owen will soon pick up the belts.
18. WCW TAG TEAM TITLES--So how much long until the Steiners finally capture the gold? Probably at Holloween Havoc, freeing Nash to get the World Title.
19. DISCO INFERNO--He finally might be coming to the WWF. 'Nuff said.
20. DUDE LOVE--The heppest cat in the land is finally getting popular, it seems. Without the tag straps, what will he do though? With HHH my pick to be next IC Champ, maybe one of Mic's personalities can get the belt for his first WWF singles title.
21. BRET HART--If Ahmed can be a heel for a month and a half, it's safe to say that at Wrestlemania in the main event a face Bret Hart will go against a heel Shawn Michaels.
22. WHICH WILL BE THE CHAMP?--Will it be Bret or Shawn? I say Shawn, who will beat the Undertaker, who will beat Bret. If you don't think that Bret will be able to get over as a face again just look at all the mega-heels who became mega-popular, i.e. Lex Luger, Steve Austin, the Undertaker, Sid, etc.
23. DOA and LOS DORITOS--I don't see why these groups were even formed. It's wasting 6 perfectly good singles wrestlers and 1 tag team by having them act as two single units. Break these groups up and give each guy a push Vinnie!
24. MONDAY NIGHT RATINGS WAR--I'm not sure how or why, and it may take a few years, but eventually WWF will reign supreme--at least for a couple of weeks.
25. THE NWO--A couple of days ago I had a chilling thought--what if the nWo angle never ends? Think about it--it would be like one of those cartoons where the same good guys always fight the same bad guys. Of course, those guys would have to change with time, but what if the WCW booking staff decides that the way to keep a lock on the ratings is to never end the nWo? Sure, Hogan might be gone after Sting beats him, but with Nash set to face Sting after that, we could be looking at at least a year with Nash as leader. From there sometimes WCW would be on top, sometimes nWo, as the balance of power constantly switches. It could happen.
Thanks for reading everybody, and special thanks to Mog, my webmaster, Tim Embler for my second home, Falcon for having a popular page, Hamlet for a great newsletter, and last but not least Spartan for his idea and great attendance.
See ya next week-
The Big Guy ([email protected])
http://members.aol.com/MogKQDulog/wrestling.html
Until next time, I am The Big Guy.