Welcome back to another edition of Reading Between The Ropes. I hope that everyone enjoyed a nice holiday with their friends and family. Personally, I had Thanksgiving dinner at my parent’s house, then heading over to my in-laws house to have yet another dinner. Needless to say, I had my fill of turkey and then some. Anyway, let’s get on with the show!
Creativity in the WWE!
Before I really dive into the meat of this column, I wanted to take a quick moment to note the significance of the intro to last week’s Monday Night Raw. The NFL parody was great, and the reference to the NBA’s disgusting brawl between the Pistons, Pacers, and the classless Detroit fans was a nice touch. It’s good to see that every once in a while the WWE can pull out a new trick. I especially loved the part where Vince asked Shelton if he realized he was African American. Classic stuff.
The Biggest Turkey of Them All: Bob Holly
My longtime readers know that I have a little bit of a negative view towards Bob Holly. Ok, let’s face it, I despise the man. He represents everything that a professional wrestler should not be, and his tendency to “teach the kids a lesson” is downright dangerous.
For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Holly attacked Renee Dupree at a house show this past week. That’s right, I said attacked. There is no way that what he did could be considered wrestling. While Dupree was down outside the ring, Holly started beating on him viciously, leaving the 20-year-old French Phenom laying in the fetal position with the left side of his face badly bruised and swollen. According to reports, Holly went as far as to chase Dupree into the backstage area. Disturbing, isn’t it?
I think that Renee’s age played a large part in why Holly decided to attack him. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that he was delivering a similar beating to the eventual Tough Enough 3 champion, Matt Capotelli. After the attack on Matt, Holly defended his actions by saying that he was trying to prepare the kid for the real world, and that if he couldn’t take it he was in the wrong business.
Of course, what Holly fails to understand is that Al Snow had been rightfully preaching respect and safety to his students. It’s not just about putting on a good match, it’s about doing everything you can to make sure that your opponent isn’t seriously injured. I think that all that bleach has seeped into Holly’s redneck brain, because he can’t seem to grasp this concept.
Since that incident, Holly had laid relatively low, although he still worked incredibly stiff against some of less experienced opponents. Then came the attack on Dupree, and Holly has returned to the forefront as the biggest ass in the business.
For some unknown reason, Holly feels like it is his duty to provide this hazing of sort to the young talent. Personally, I think he feels threatened by them. Holly himself has minimal mic skills, and his in ring abilities are pretty much limited to his admittedly impressive drop kick. Considering the talent and potential of a young guy like Dupree, it’s not hard to fathom Holly feeling like his spot is in jeopardy.
That leads me to the next point. Shouldn’t Holly’s spot be in jeopardy? As I stated earlier, he is horrible on the mic, and can’t do much in the ring either. Plus he is a liability every time he steps in the ring. One of these days he is going to seriously hurt someone, maybe even end someone’s career. So why keep him around? The WWE just cut a plethora of stars that have way more talent than Holly, yet somehow he slipped through the cracks.
The fact that Holly made it through the recent lay offs makes me think that he has some low friends in high places or for some reason Vince thinks he has some value to the company. However he does it, it’s clear that the WWE isn’t going to punish Holly. In this case, I think it’s time that the wrestlers take things into their own hands. Normally I wouldn’t condone this, but someone needs to give Holly a taste of his own medicine.
Next time one of the young guns gets in a match with Holly they should treat him the same way he does everyone else. Work stiff with him, bruise him, beat on him, put a little extra into every punch, kick, and clothesline. Give Hardcore the beating that he so rightfully deserves.
Will this actually happen? Probably not. The notion that Holly needs to get what is coming to him stems mainly from my own desire to see the guy taken down a few pegs. But I am not a wrestler. To them, to get back at Holly in this manner is almost unthinkable. They have been taught better than that. Unfortunately, no one ever taught Holly.
Who is the Champ?
So as we saw on Raw last week, there is a big question mark regarding who the World Champion is. Benoit made Edge tap at the same time as Edge pinned Benoit, and there was no clear winner. Only one thing is certain: Triple H was the loser.
So, has Triple H really lost his title? Knowing the WWE, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t somehow get the title back next week through a loophole or something like that. Chris Jericho is going to be the GM of the show, and I would expect him to just make a Benoit vs. Edge match for the belt, which is exactly the problem with it…it’s expected.
Here is how I think things should play out. Please note that I said, “should”. I still think that Triple H will worm his way back into the title, but this is what I would like to see happen.
When Jericho comes out on Raw, he should talk about the World Heavyweight title and how when he was the undisputed champion, he had to go through both Stone Cold and The Rock to get the title. Jericho would then make a match between Benoit and Edge for the belt, with the winner facing him right after in a title match.
Edge could cheat and pull off the victory over Benoit, and then Jericho could defeat Edge to become the champ. Edge would then try to take out Jericho with a steel chair, but Benoit would run down and make the save. This gives Jericho the push as champion that he has been waiting for, and let’s Edge keep his heel “I deserve the title” gimmick. Benoit would further his feud with Edge by foiling Edge’s post match attack on Jericho.
So there you have it, that’s how I would resolve the title situation. The biggest problem with my show thus far is where Triple H fits in, as he would likely try to get back into the title picture.
To get Triple H out of the way, Randy Orton could cut a promo where he talks about how he cost Triple H the belt. Triple H would come out to confront Orton with Evolution, and Jericho and Benoit would come out to even up the sides. Jericho would say that he knew Triple H would be trying to cause trouble tonight, and since they need a definite champion before the night is over, he is giving Triple H the night off so that he doesn’t interfere in the title matches. If Triple H doesn’t follow Jericho’s orders, then he will be suspended.
Ok, that should do it. The title situation is resolved cleanly, and Triple H is out of the way for the night. Hmmm…maybe Jericho could make an Evolution vs. Orton, Regal, and Eugene match, then after that Triple H and Evolution has to leave the building. Yeah, I kinda like that one better; this way Orton gets a shot at Triple H.
All right, that’s enough revising. That’s my solution for the World Champion problem!
See Ya
Ok gang, sorry if it seems like I am a little scattered in this column. I am completely swamped right now and have had a hard time focusing on getting this column done without getting distracted by term papers or work.
Anyway, email me your thoughts at Trevor@wrestlepower.com, and be sure to come check out my site, WrestlePower!
See ya!!
Trevor Lane
