After a long week in court, there’s nothing like rambling on about the latest happenings in the wild and wacky world of professional wrestling.  Help me wind down from lawyer mode to smark mode as I ask a few questions of you, the intelligent wrestling fan.

CROSS EXAMINATION

1.     How many times do you think Vince McMahon will remind us how much we owe the troops on this week’s Tribute to the Troops special?

2.     Will Abyss’ secret be revealed that Vince McMahon is his father?

3.     If the WWE booked PPV’s as well as they did last week’s RAW, would they be worth $39.95?

4.     Wasn’t it good to see DX sell a beating for Team RKO?

5.     Don’t you miss Don West selling sports cards?

One great fight left: As I watched Rocky Balboa (a fun film by the way), I kept thinking of the parallels between the film and Ric Flair.  Both are well past their prime but still capable of entertaining.  Given Flair’s rumored financial woes (the always deadly tag team of the IRS and a divorce), it’s clear he’s going to be in the ring for a long time to come.  Still, why not capitalize on the Man’s popularity while he still has some fumes left in the tank.  I think a Ric Flair “One Last Flair for the Gold” program leading into Wrestlemania would be money.  As Flair has proven time and time again, the fans never tire of seeing him. 

As for Flair needing to wrestle; given the man’s contribution to the sport, it’s a shame that he has to risk life and limb night after night.  I hope it’s a case of Flair refusing to take a contract like Hogan and Foley rather than a case of the WWE not giving him a soft way to pay off some bills.  Flair wouldn’t be the first legend that made major bank but ended up living in a one room apartment but it’s downright tragic if the WWE isn’t doing everything possible to preserve his physical well-being.

Is three hours of RAW too much?-certainly not if it’s booked like last week’s edition of RAW/  The special episode featured an extra hour of programming and to the surprise of many, it was more than just filler.  The extra hour featured a very entertaining battle royal (with the winner getting a title shot against John Cena), an exciting main event, and lots of good stuff in between (save for the always awful Cryme Tyme).  It boggles the mind that the WWE can’t seem to book a two hour show every week but somehow three hours isn’t a stretch.

Double your pleasure, double your fun-unfortunately the WWE went a little overboard with running two or three matches with the same wrestler.  When done right (such as the match two weeks ago where Triple H’s singles match with RKO turned into a six-man match between DX and Ric Flair versus Rated RKO); they can be fun if used sparingly.  However last week’s RAW went crazy with wrestlers working double-duty (and in Edge’s case, triple duty).  Given the problem the undercard guys have in breaking out of Heat; I’m sure they weren’t happy to see the main event guys working two or three matches that could be given to them.  There’s also the problem that Edge worked a battle royal, a world title match, and a tag match with little or no mention of how exhausted he should have been.    It definitely stretches your suspension of disbelief that Edge could work all those matches with no sign of fatigue as the night progressed.   Never mind the fact that the added risk of injury and inconvenience for the wrestlers themselves. 

The ECW experiment: recapping last week’s episode of ECW, I saw the same problem TNA Impact faces every week; balancing angles and matches over sixty minutes.  Last week’s ECW show featured five matches and several promos; none of which lasted long.   Some worked and some didn’t.  The three minute challenge between CM Punk and Hardcore Holly was a good example of how to do a lot in one segment.  The short main event on the other hand showed the problem with squeezing in too much undercard and not leaving sufficient time for the main event. 

Is ECW dead? Few people would argue that the current ECW product is anything like the original.  With Paul Heyman gone, there’s little chance of it coming back (and many would argue that even under Heyman, it never returned) but does that mean that the show should be abandoned?  When ECW was initially brought back, Vince McMahon saw it as a place for wrestlers to make the transition from Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and the “big time” of RAW and SmackDown  Over the last two months, it’s become a dumping ground for the guys that the SmackDown! writers don’t want to use.  It’s definitely not too late to turn things around though.  ECW has a lot going for it.  The expectations for ratings aren’t high and it’s the kind of show where you can really experiment without having to worry about harming the big brands.  Ideally, ECW should be utilized as a training ground and a place for the WWE to play with ideas.  With MTV’s upcoming wrestling show on the horizon (and reported to air against ECW), why not experiment a bit and try something new. 

WWE Champion Umaga-given the tremendous push enjoyed by the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga over the last few months, one would think a title win over John Cena is in the cards for their match at the New Year’s Revolution PPV. Despite big wins over all of RAW’s top babyfaces however, I just don’t see anything more than a transition run for Umaga with him winning the belt and dropping it at the Royal Rumble.  Umaga just doesn’t have the depth to maintain a long title reign and I don’t think he’s over enough to make him a main event draw at Wrestlemania.  Who then to pit John Cena against?  Randy Orton and Triple H are being mentioned but Trips had a long (and in my opinion) unmemorable program with Cena last year and Orton hasn’t done much as a singles star of late (in fact, I’m enjoying the DX/Team RKO feud so much that I hope they run it through Wrestlemania).  I think the WWE needs to capitalize on the brand split and consider a Title Unification Match at Wrestlemania between Batista and Cena (with the ECW belt being given more of an IC or US championship status).  The WWE really dropped the ball during the early days of the brand split when they abandoned the Unified Championship and gave Triple H his own world championship to play with.  A touring champion who travels between RAW and SmackDown! is a natural way to build up the world championship as well as invigorate the individual brand PPV’s. 

TNA’s 1.2 Last week, TNA fans gushed over TNA’s recent 1.2 rating for Impact. While it’s nice, it’s about the same rating that the WWE’s AM RAW show gets.  Keep that in mind.

Thanks and Happy Holidays:  Special thanks to Sir James Guttman, M.B. for giving me the opportunity to write here at World Wrestling Insanity.  Sir James has been nothing short of great in allowing me to write all sorts of columns as well as spout off on Audio Updates.  I also appreciate all of the positive feedback from you, the reader.  Your email and posts in the forum make this a labor of love.  One last thank you to all the men and women involved with sports entertainment.  Wrestling isn’t always pretty but it’s pretty rare that it’s not entertaining in one way or another.   Whether you’re setting up the ring, calling the matches, or working in the ring, I appreciate the hard work you put into entertaining the fans as well as the personal sacrifices made.  Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much wrestlers sacrifice to make it in the business and stay there.  For all of you reading this, best wishes for a happy holiday and may your 2007 be healthy and prosperous.