Well, ECW on TNN has been on for two weeks now, the Introduction to ECW, which had a the great match between Lynn and Van Dam, but the commercial breaks during the match really slowed down the impact of the match, since every time a high spot occurred, they went to commercial break. They did a great piece on showing which major stars in the Big Two, never did accomplish the feat of winning the ECW Heavy Weight Title. It’s refreshing to see a company actually dare to come straight out and talk about the other feds, unlike WCW, who claim they don’t even know who the Kiss Demon is for example, when only a week before we saw Bryan Adams get into the Limo of Kiss.  

The Second ECW show on TNN, which was the first full show, was pretty well done, the graphics and technique of the format could be better done, and in that factor, I do not believe we will be seeing "The Big Three" until ECW gets better production values. It looked a lot like an indy federation, taping their show to sell on home video, hopefully they will improve on that aspect of the show. Other than that, the show was pretty good. The Dudleyz last ECW appearance was well done, and had perfect timing with the redebut of Raven in ECW, connecting with the even flow, for the ECW Tag Team Titles. It’ll be interesting to see how well the Dudleyz go off in the WWF. They showed up on Smackdown, and honestly, do not look that great with out a chair in their hand and a table near by. I don’t really see them going anywhere in the WWF, and will probably have the same fate as the Public Enemy, simply because, the fans don’t know how to react to these guys with out weapons in hand. Look at on Heat, The Dudleyz came out to a loud ECW chant, then during the match, the fans didn’t know what to expect, or do, and then at the end, chant ECW.  The Dudleyz, will probably be around the WWF for longer than the Public Enemy, and will probably get a Tag Title run to put them over, but I’d say they’ll be in the WWF no longer than a year or so. Maybe even sooner, like Royal Rumble time? 

Smackdown has been a really great show so far, I do not however believe there’s any truth to the rumor about ABC offering the WWF money to switch RAW to a different night. Vince McMahon, set up RAW on Monday night, for the fans, I don’t believe he’d be that selfish, and I don’t think it would be that easy for him just to switch it like that, since USA Network, most likely has a deal with the WWF for so many years or so, and probably guarantee advertisers certain ratings for that time slot, which has become the bread and butter of Monday nights on the USA. Also, the WWF may not have Smackdown in Canada yet, but, if they did away with RAW, then that would totally ruin the WWF’s marketing in Canada, and it would breach the five year deal with TSN to air RAW. 

RAW, was kind of plain this week, nothing too spectacular, even when the Rock and Mankind won the titles, I wasn’t that thrilled, because now with these two guys as champs, who is going to take them off them? The Rock is the top draw in the WWF, and I do not see him losing to Edge and Christian or The Acolytes, it’s definitely, going to be a screw job, or maybe both Mankind and Rock will get upset and throw away the titles, and hold them up for a tag title tournament. Some way or another, Edge and Christian, are due their run with the gold, and I think it’ll be sooner than later that’ll we’ll see the gold around that young team’s waist. 

Nitro, well, wow, another boring show, except for one part, and that was the Berlyn entrance, sure it looked awesome, and finally WCW had the brains, to make a gimmick work, but how long will this guy be in spot light? With Hogan and company running the show, who will allow Berlyn the shot? Berlyn is still a young guy, and I doubt he will go any further than a TV title reign, if, even that. Look at the past of WCW, even guys like Bret Hart have been pushed further and further away from the spot light, and I predict before Millennium is here, we’ll be seeing Berlyn in the opening match of Thunder or Saturday Night. Maybe even sooner, more like the end of November, and WCW won’t know what to do with him, so they’ll stick him in a feud with a guy like the Disco Inferno. Nothing against the Disco Inferno, but with that gimmick, he’s a natural Mid Carder through his career with that gimmick. Nothing more. Oh, just for the record, I do not care if the Hummer was pink, purple, black, white or even multi-colored. This angle is so stale, and really was already solved before, remember the fake Sting sitting in the BLACK hummer? 

Well, I’m sure everyone has been keeping track of the WCW Saga backstage with a few wrestlers, taking Bischoff up on his bluff. This has been brought up by everybody and anybody, so there’s nothing much else, I can add, but all I have to say, is DDP stated in one of his UDC list or whatever, that he respected Raven for getting up and leaving right away, but he also respected Bischoff for standing up, and taking control. What control? All he did was dangle a piece of meat in front of a pack of hungry dogs, and the dogs went for it. First Bischoff, teases them with the option, they can leave and go where ever, then with some thought, he decides they aren’t allowed to go to the WWF if they go. Mark Madden said Bischoff made a smart move, and that it would have been bad business, but all he did was prove how spineless and how much of a liar he is, by taking back his original offer. I’m actually surprised there weren’t more guys that got up and left, due to witnessing the debut of Jericho on RAW and what the WWF has been doing with him. 

Finally, to wrap this all up, the Fail Gimmick of the Week. The failed gimmick of today’s week, really isn’t the performers fault, but more the company. The Women’s Division of the WWF. The WWF has teased this division for some time now, first only doing a T&A division with Sable at the top, then when left they brought Debra into the picture, but finally something smartened the WWF up, and they got some real women wrestlers, and the gave the title to Ivory. Well, since then it’s gone down hill. The Women are of and on, and never have had a full promo. The closest thing to that was SummerSlam with Tori Vs. Ivory, well a lot of people hated that match, and considered it the worst match of the Pay-Per-View. I actually liked that move a lot, yeah there may not be any stiff shots like in a men’s match, but some of the moves were pretty good, including that flip over the head by Tori, near the closing end of the match, that got the loudest pop of the match. The WWF, if they are willing to get this division going, and the same thing with the Light weight’s division, have to stop making the matches into T&A teasings, and actually let the women develop their characters. Only woman so far to do that, is Ivory, who is pretty comical. Please WWF, either drop this division, or get it geared up and at least let the women "TRY" to get over. 

Just a note of that question in the Q&A section, my favorite wrestler for the past 3 years or so, has been Triple H through out his different paths in the WWF. 

That’s it for today’s edition of Pain Tolerance, I’ll be back next Monday with another.