First off, it’s always sad when a wrestler passes away, and in some cases even sadder when it’s a tragic death, such as Owen Hart. But Gorilla’s death was the cause of a heart attack, a natural death, that was caused partially by his size and his age. Gorilla was never a small guy, or even a very fit wrestler, but he did have the heart and enthusiasm for the sport. I never did have the chance to see him wrestle, but I have seen some clips, and articles on his wrestling days. I mostly remember him as the play by play man for the WWF in the late eighties and early nineties. Also, I remember him as the "Interim" President of the WWF. One of my most recent memories of him was when James E. Cornette, showed up with Vader on RAW, and Monsoon came out to bark at Cornette, but ended up getting squashed by the man they call Vader. I’ll also remember one of the first Announcing team feuds, with Heenan talking trash about Monsoon, but hiding from the Gorilla when confronted. 

Now, Droz’ injury.  A lot of people may not like what I’m about to come out with. But I think it has to be said sometime down the road. Droz’ injury, is a tragic one, and he is paralyzed from the waist down, or neck down, I have heard both reports. Yes, he may recover, and wrestle or may not depending on how it all works out. But all these wrestling fans on the internet, crying the blues, and saying they are going to miss Droz, and he was so gifted in the ring and everything else, is utter BS. Let’s go back three weeks ago, if I had of asked any wrestling fan on here, did they like Droz’ or did they think he was a great worker, what do you think they would have responded with? "Hell NO! He sucks!" Now, their tunes have changed, now everyone is wishing him a good recovery, which is fine, since it was a tragic accident in the ring, but don’t sit there and say you want him back in the ring, and you thought he was a great wrestler. Just look back on some RAW’s or Smackdown’s and the guy got next to no heat. Probably the only reason there was any crowd heat, was, a security guard was taking a beach ball from the crowd, or a girl flashed her "puppies" or a fight broke out. I wish Droz’ a speedy recovery, but I hope the guy doesn’t get back into the ring, simply because he sucked, and I didn’t like him, and I’m willing to bet, probably ninety five or even ninety eight percent hated the guy in the ring. I just thought of something, this whole paragraph, has probably been the most publicity Droz has gotten in a wrestling column on the internet. 

Now that some of you are fuming, let’s move on to the undisputed king of loop holes. Everyone said Chris Jericho, was the Man of Loop Holes? Well, I think Hollywood-Hulk Hogan has him beat. Let’s see, Hogan whines for the past five years in WCW about even losing a match, or rather, even WCW making him WRESTLE, I bet he starts whining about. Anyway, he has dominated WCW for 5 years, Bill Busch comes in, exit Bischoff, Hogan still sticks around, hoping to pucker up to Busch at bit to stay on the top of the mountain and when he succeeds, what does Mr. Busch do? Brings in Mr. Anti-Senior himself, Vince Russo and his sidekick, Ed Ferrara. What I would like to know is first off, is Hogan seriously going to leave, or this going to be one of his lame revamps which he leaves for two months and comes back "refreshed" and as good as ever, when in reality, it’s just the same huge ego, with a battered, older body, every time. Hopefully this will the final end of Hulkamania, BROTHER. Go on back to Venice Beach, eat your fruit and be cool, just don’t show up on a wrestling show. While I’m on the subject. Vince Russo, last week the whole Pain Tolerance column was practically dedicated to the matter of Russo signing. After a week, there isn’t much new to the story, except Russo will begin working as a writer for WCW the Nitro after Halloween Havoc. What will Russo’s plans be for WCW? We’ve already heard he believes Disco Inferno is full of talent and charisma. Who else is on his list? Everyone thinks this is a blessing for guys like Benoit and Malenko, but the last time I checked, to do well in a Russo booked show, you had to have the ability to talk through a mic, and not just shoot out lines, you had to put enthusiasm into them. Which, Benoit has not shown. Yes, he has shown the desire to win, but has he shown the enthusiasm to succeed? That answer so far, is a NO. 

Not much on RAW, we saw the furtherment of the "Where’s Rocko" angle.  This is probably one of thos e angles that should be back in the old days of the WWF, when the Goon, and the Sultan were being praised as up and comers. The Rocko angle has to be one of the silliest and stupidest angles the WWF has put out. And everyone thought Vince Russo was a genius! Boy, were we wrong.  Anyway, main event of RAW, a dream match, and will probably happen down the road maybe at SummerSlam 2000, for the WWF championship? Chris "Y2J" Jericho Vs. The Rock. This match had it’s moment, but for the most part, was a pretty normal match. A lot of people are saying Y2J, has already been swiped of the drive with an anti virus scanner, meaning his mic skills are stupendous, but when he steps in the ring, he flops. For the most part, I’d agree, but if you watched HEAT this past Sunday you would have seen different. I am willing to beat, Chris Jericho, will be the first WWF champion to be able to pull of a spring board cross body. Anyway, the ending of the main event on RAW was predictable. Did anyone think that Jericho, a guy that has said from day one, he wants to earn his way up to the number one spot, would actually beat The Rock on his first time out? If you did, then your either suffering from a severe case of stupidity, or your just a really big Jericho fan, and think he’s your savior.  

ECW on TNN, this week, I did miss, first time since it started airing on TNN, anyway, from reports I didn’t miss much. Even the Tammy Sytch interview was a bit ridiculous I have heard, but whether it was or not. I am just happy to see her back in one of the three wrestling promotions. Hopefully she will rekindle her feud with Dawn Marie soon, and Chris Candido will be back in action. I think it might have been better, if they had of had both Candido and Sytch do the shoot interview on their past, and problems. Anyway, it’s good to see her back, even at a small capacity. 

Heat. Sunday Night HEAT. The god of wrestling shows? Nah. But it’s one awesome show for that much. Decent matches with the mid carders, the smaller angles/feuds receive the air time on this show, like the Chaz/Marianna angle. Also, the segments the WWF has put together, are pure gold. The Hot Spot, which basically brings you up to date on a wrestler’s feud in the past, and a little bit of a history along with it. This week’s Hot Spot was on Bull Dog. Talked about his past and the titles he has held.  Following that, they had the second segment, Deja Video. Basically takes you back to a match from a few months or sometimes a few years back, and has several of the wrestlers, or commentators describe the match, the feeling, their thoughts on it afterwards. This week was X-Pac Vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 15 for the European title. Really a good match. Then the last segment, a recap of a feud, this week’s was Mankind/The Rock. Pretty interesting, though not much than you have seen if you have been keeping up to date. Anyway, I’m really in to the new Heat lay out, and I hope the WWF keeps it this way. Some recap mixed with some actual wrestling matches. Great show.  

Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view. This pay-per-view, was good, but it sucked. Some matches were decent, some were cool, and brought back some memories, like seeing the 15 foot snake "Damien" get brought out and dropped on a guy. Then, there were some matches that just plain sucked. It was good to see some of the old timers that the average fan like myself who doesn’t go to indy shows, got to see some of the people responsible for making it all happen. It was great to see Snuka leap off the top rope again. It was class to see the snake, it was classic to see Cowboy Bob Orton "cheat" at a card game. Interesting to see Sherri Martel back in the mix of things, showing her "love" for George the Animal, but then knocking him silly with a chair. Classic heel Sherri Martel. One Man gang and Abdullah the Butcher tearing it up, and bleeding all over the place, damn that was the first true hard core we ever got to see.  Just a pretty decent show, I was actually surprised at some of the wrestler’s work rates. Some where pathetic however. Jake Roberts looked terrible, and was really breathing heavy, at least 30 seconds into the match. The promoter screwed us out of the 1000 pound match, by changing it to a tag match with Jake Roberts/Yokozuna Vs. King Kong Bundy/Jim Neidhart. 

Well, I’m almost done this week’s column. Just one thing to go, this week’s failed gimmick of the week.  Can you guess who it is? It’s a WWF wrestler. He’s British. I guess I gave it away. The Bull Dog. What is his gimmick? First he’s a thankful man to get a spot in the WWF. Then he snaps, and begins to demand title shot after title shot. He gets one, no contest finish. Begins whining to McMahon, goes after Chyna. What is his deal?! If he wants a title shot. Go after Austin or Triple H! Don’t bother with Chyna. What can she do for you? Make you look like an ass, when she low blows you? Bull Dog’s character right now, is just all over the place. I do not like how McMahon brought him in either. Should of brought him in from the bottom, and let him work his way up. When he first came back, he seemed like an enthusiastic, thankful guy, no he looks like an ungrateful, un-proven, whiner. Just doesn’t go well. He should of started off a feud with a mid card heel, and continued his way up. Make him look like a viable contender. 

That’s it for this week’s column, have a happy thanksgiving if your in Canada, if your in the US have a happy Columbus Day, and if your not in North America, well have a good week.