Offbeat Shenanigans
By The Phoenix [ Team_RECK_Rules@hotmail.com ]

"I am best in the business today!"
or
Triple H: Deconstructing The Game

Hello everyone and welcome once again to "Offbeat Shenanigans." As per usual, I am your merry madman of a mouthpiece, The Phoenix. I don't usually do this, but I'd like to take a brief second to look at the world of "real sports" (no, not the HBO show that Vince McMahon tweaked out on) and gloat that my New England Patriots captured their second franchise Super Bowl Championship in what was one of the best football game I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Many comparisons have been made between the matchup this year and the one from two seasons ago, with New England playing the role of St. Louis and Carolina playing the role of New England. Carolina, this season, was a very good team, and shouldn't be at all ashamed of their performance at the big game. Jake Delhomme surprised a lot of people, myself included, and very nearly took New England out of the picture. So, for you disappointed Carolina fans, don't feel too bad - what your team did was something special and you should revel in the fact that they went from 1-15 two seasons ago to being the NFC Champions (defeating Dallas and a very good Philadelphia team to get there) and almost won the Super Bowl. So, congrats to the Pats and a round of applause for the Cats. Okay, enough football talk.I'm starting to feel like Jason Powell over here.

Speaking of the Torch writer, it was a colleague of his that actually inspired this column. As many of you might not know, I am a Torch Subscriber and have been since December of 2002. I frequently plug the various writers, not because I don't have loyalty to this site, but because they are all very good at what they do. One writer in particular is a legend in this particular field and has written some excellent columns in his time. In fact, it was a couple of his best that pretty much convinced me to try it out. So, as much as I look up to and admire Derek Burgan, James Guttman, Ellen Amy Cohen (of Feud-O-Meter fame and significant other of our very own Metalhead), Dr. Keith Lipinski, and the rest of the Torch Asylum patients, one Bruce Mitchell has, time and again, been the one to step out of nowhere and deliver phenomenal work after phenomenal work. However, it was the underrated Pat McNeill, this time, that wrote the thing that made me sit back and think in the second most recent Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter. When the Big 5 (Wade Keller, Powell, Mitchell, Guttman, and McNeill) where handing out their top 5 picks for Best Heel of 2003 (Brock Lesnar won the honor on top of being 2003 Torch MVP), McNeill had this to say about Triple H (whom he rated #4; H took #2 overall): "Not much has changed since last year except that the new Dirtiest Player has his own crew of Faux Horsemen to back his plays. Portraying The Game as a fading, insecure legend who needs a bunch of allies to help him head off potential challenges seems to work for Paul Levesque."

I'll be honest: as much crap as I give Mr. Levesque's alter-ego in the confines of this thing, I've always kinda liked the guy. He gives pretty good promos, can make anybody look good (when he wants to), and has always done a great job as the heel champion that the babyface has to chase. For those of you out there that complain that he holds the belt too long and never puts over any new stars, be thankful you weren't around about 20-30 years ago, where the average title reign lasted about 2-3 years at a time, including the times when heels like "Superstar" Billy Graham, Ivan Koloff, and, of course, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair were on top. It also wasn't too long ago that Hollywood Hogan held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for a full year before finally dropping it (though he regained it fairly quickly if memory serves). The simple fact of the matter is that a promotion almost always draws more money with a babyface challenger chasing a heel champion. Whenever a title change is in order, the new run rarely lasts as long as the one before it or the one after it, when the former heel champion takes it back or a new heel challenger wins it and becomes the new heel champion. Lather, rinse, and repeat as necessary. Yes, occasionally there's a wrestler that draws exceptionally well as champion, so the decision is made to keep the belt around his (or her) waist for awhile longer than the norm, or to let them win it back soon after dropping it. These champions have included Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Goldberg, amongst others.

Many are those who say that some of the RAW regulars could be that kind of champion if given the right opportunity. Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Chris Jericho all have strong fanbases (as does Goldberg), but the powers that be in WWE don't seem to feel they have what it takes to be the top babyface, never mind the reigning babyface champion. So WWE has decided to utilize Triple H as the long-term heel champion (again) while developing new top babyface challengers, among them Chris Jericho (who is still in the midst of a turn and playing a tweener role right now), Chris Benoit (if the trade rumors are true), and perhaps Randy Orton down the line. People have been calling for more of an old school approach to professional wrestling for a long time and this is, I believe, WWE's answer to more "old school" promotions like Ring of Honor and, at time, NWA-TNA. These promotions have focused their top spot around 1 main guy (Samoa Joe for RoH and Jeff Jarrett for NWA-TNA) with a few constant challengers, one of whom, every once in awhile, upsets the champion for awhile. The old NWA, AWA, and even ECW used this booking philosophy too. NWA had, at various stages, Harley Race, Flair, and Dusty Rhodes as their centerpiece, while the AWA had Nick Brockwinkel, and ECW had The Sandman, Raven, and Taz. These guys controlled the belts for long periods of time and were typically playing heels when they did so. Triple H and, to a lesser extent Brock Lesnar, is WWE's version of this kind of champion. And, as history has shown, that kind of champion draws well. Say what you will about the match quality of H's various encounters throughout 2003, but the buildup was always pretty well done, from his playing smaller man with a complex to Scott Steiner to his desire to prove Goldberg is nothing but the product of a lot of hype, Triple H has always done a good job making a case for why his challengers should beat the snot out of him and take his title. That he always holds on to it through the shiftiest of means simply proves what Pat McNeill said about him is true: he is a fading, insecure legend.

Triple H's character is one obsessed with being "the best," so much so that he has anchored to himself the greatest world champion of the modern era, Ric Flair. However, instead of it being a Shawn Michaels-Jose Lothario type of relationship, Flair has been cast almost as Hunter's handmaiden, though they've done a much better job in recent months establishing him not as a manservant, but rather as a veteran second-in-command that realizes his best days are probably behind him and the best way to keep his career going is by attaching himself to the guy that told him all that awhile back. Losses to Chris Jericho, Rico, Rob Van Dam, and Triple H himself have cemented that in Flair's mind, so he has no qualms playing mentor to the up-and-comers like Batista and Orton while skippering Evolution while Hunter is away. However, Triple H maintains his position as World Heavyweight Champion (or top contender when he's without the title) while Flair gets nary a sniff. Sooner or later, this might come to a real head, instead of the one-night-only rivalry between them before Flair stepped back into the bounds of Evolution. However, given Flair's legend status, chances are he'll be facing Randy Orton and his own protégé Batista before he goes tête-à-tête with Triple H. I'm not saying that Flair doesn't have one last, good run in him or even that he'll never hold the World Heavyweight Championship ever again, but for the time being, he is simply the veteran presence behind Triple H, the ace up the sleeve and in the hold when all else fails.

That all else is the other two members of Evolution, Randy Orton and Batista. (And, to get off-topic for a second, am I the only one that feels they should pick up a female member so as not to seem like Evolution is a direct rip-off of the Four Horsemen? Plus, then they could have a chance at really owning all the gold.) Last time around, I provided you guys with a glimpse into the past of the new Hardcore Legend. Therefore, since I'm talking about his other newcomer teammate as well, it's only fair that I provide some insight into the beginnings of Dave "Batista" Bautista. Batista, like Randy Orton, was groomed for his WWE run in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he wrestled as Leviathan, the Demon of the Deep. He looked much the same as he does now, only he didn't talk. at all. Kinda like Michael Myers from the Halloween movies, only not in that vein of a character. However, his introduction as Ric Flair's pet project wasn't the first time he'd been on WWE TV. And for those of you saying, "Well, duh, he was Deacon Batista alongside the failed Rev. D-Von character on SmackDown first," I know. That's not what I'm talking about. Dave Bautista was trained by Afa of the Wild Samoans and started out working for his WXW (World Xtreme Wrestling) promotion after a televised appearance for WWE that saw him appear as a nameless worker answering an open challenge from Gillberg.a challenge Batista won in short order. Anyone remember that? He worked for WXW as Kahn, winning his debut match, but shortly thereafter being signed to his WWE developmental deal that led him to OVW. There, as Leviathan, he never spoke, rather having his female manager Synn do all his verbal communication for him. Leviathan's power in the ring was the only voice he needed for the longest time and helped him score victories over Kane and Val Venis (Kane later evened the score).

He eventually parted ways with Synn, however, when his babyface appeal became too great for OVW to ignore, and won the OVW Championship from "The Machine" Doug Basham (yup, that one), though he would later lose it to The Prototype (John Cena), although not before successfully defending it against another established WWF Superstar: D'Lo Brown. Following his title loss, he made his way up to WWE to be Deacon Batista on SmackDown. His first televised match was an impromptu loss to Rikishi (of all people) and he never really quite recovered. That and the fact that the Rev. D-Von gimmick went over like a lead balloon didn't do wonders for his career, so he was "fired" by D-Von, which led to Stephanie McMahon demanding that the Reverend find a way to get him back before Eric Bischoff got a hold of him or lose his own job. He didn't and.well, he didn't, though he was eventually traded to RAW anyway. If you recall, there were a handful of vignettes that showed Batista pumping iron at a gym. The tagline, I believe, was "The Genetic Revolution is coming." However, soon after these little promo spots starting airing, word leaked out that WWE was in negotiations with a wrestler that also used the word "genetic" as part of their gimmick: "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, the genetic freak. Genetic Revolution or not, Batista debuted as a monster that apparently came from a rough childhood. Flair saw the raw talent in the big man (he was really the only one that did at the time) and told him to channel that rage. As Flair's apprentice, Batista had a prominent spot on RAW but didn't quite get off the ground despite wins over just about everyone with whom he matched up. Once he became a fixture in Triple H's Evolution stable, he began to get noticed a little more, but injuries cut that rise short. A couple bicep tears put him on the shelf for awhile before he made his return to claim the Goldberg bounty and demonstrate that he has improved a lot since his first appearance. His two big power moves are a wicked-looking sitout powerbomb (his finisher) and a weak-looking spinebuster. He has also shown a penchant for being a fairly good talker, though I don't know if he was when he was in OVW or not. Either way, he's not exactly the most loquacious of wrestlers, but he does a good job when he does get the stick, which is a good sign for his future. Okay, everyone got that? Good.

With Flair as the veteran mind, Batista as the enforcer, and Randy Orton as the obligatory young lion that will probably one day challenge for the top spot (I don't know why every group has to have one of these guys.I mean, don't they see it coming?), Triple H is pretty much guaranteed to have backup whenever he needs it. In the meantime, he spreads the wealth, wearing nice suits and sporting shades when not wrestling, as well as driving around in limos with the rest of his crew. Granted, Flair used to do this and it's probably a nod to the Nature Boy's past, but for someone that has been slowed by injury and has the biggest target in the world around his waist, it seems a little excessive, if not a desperate "look at me" cry. You know, the sort of thing a fading legend would do. Consider that Dennis Rodman's biggest publicity came from the way he dressed, not the impact he brought to the Chicago Bulls franchise as his NBA career wound down. If you want further proof, just look at Michael Jackson, and I don't mean the child molestation charges, but rather the extravagance of his life and the sheer media frenzy he created wherever he went, which is really all the publicity he was getting since his music career was tanking faster and faster with each new release. So here we have Triple H, a man that had it all for awhile as part of the McMahon-Helmsley "Facgime," but lost most of it when his now ex-wife (storyline wise) decided to make his life a living hell after their televised breakup. He won the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania X-8, only to lose it to (of all people) Hulk Hogan the next month. After that, it was quite awhile before Hunter saw gold again. Stephanie walked off with then-Undisputed WWE Champion Brock Lesnar after SummerSlam, making him the exclusive property of SmackDown while RAW GM Eric Bischoff was left holding the bag right after Triple H eked out a #1 contender win over Undertaker in the main event of RAW.

With Undertaker jumping to SmackDown to continue to compete for the title, Eric Bischoff dusted off the old World Championship (née WCW World Heavyweight Championship) and presented it to Triple H. Triple H ruled that belt for a long time, with the exception of a brief month without it after Shawn Michaels won the Elimination Chamber main event title match at Survivor Series 2002 before dropping it back to H at Armageddon 2002 in a Best-2/3-Falls Match. Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Ric Flair all challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship over the next few months, but his title was never really in jeopardy until he met Bill Goldberg, a powerhouse of raw, animalistic fury and sheer brutality in the ring. In Triple H's mind, this was the equivalent of a pebble in his shoe, the ultimate in unproven opponents. Triple H spent a month telling people that Goldberg was nothing but hype, but then needed Flair to hand him a sledgehammer in the main event of SummerSlam (also an Elimination Chamber) when it came down to just Da Man and The Game in order to retain. When they met again one month later, it was a different story. Triple H was defeated in a fairly dominating fashion, and even his backup players couldn't stop this supposed walking, talking piece of hype from taking his most precious possession from him. To Triple H, this was a sign.but one he refused to accept. Instead, he regrouped, pulling out the old bounty gimmick, promising the bucks to whomever took Goldberg out. At the time, a lot of people questioned this logic; how could Hunter win the belt back if Goldberg was out of commission? It's tough to pin a man that isn't around to compete. However, this was exactly the reason Trips did it. If Goldberg was injured to the point of being unable to compete (which was the goal), he would be stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship, which would then go to whomever won whatever scenario with which co-GMs Bischoff and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin came up. Presumably, Triple H would be able to worm his way into said scenario, which would allow him to win.with a little help (if necessary), again. Meanwhile, Goldberg would be out of his hair for awhile.

It would have worked too (if it weren't for you meddling kids), except Triple H failed to count on the sheer stubborn nature of Goldberg, who returned to action a week after Batista (who claimed the bounty) shattered his ankle. However, by some twist of fate, Triple H was given a one-on-one rematch against Goldberg for the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series, a match he ended up losing despite Goldberg's "injury." Now, stop and remember for a second that this is Triple H we're talking about, a man who's beaten everyone there is to beat. In case we don't know who those people are, he reminds us all the time. There's a method to this madness, however, as the viewing audience for any wrestling promotion is always fluctuating, be it from the casual tuning in and out of those who are, appropriately, casual fans, or from the return of former fans that gave up for awhile, or ECW/WCW fans that are finally giving it a chance. In order for a former WCW "enhancement talent" to be taken seriously by anyone that has never been a big WWE watcher, it's important for him to rattle off his list of people he's retired or defeated. Sure it's all because he was getting pushed, but it does add a sense of legitimacy to his position. Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, H lost, but made it known to Eric Bischoff (now the lone GM) that without Evolution's help, his team wouldn't have been victorious at Survivor Series. Eric, being the pushover that he has been portraying, immediately caved in to Triple H, despite the fact that he lost his rematch. I'm a firm believer that every former champion deserves a rematch.but only one. Hunter used his rematch and lost.again.this time by disqualification when Kane interfered. By some strange logic, he was given another shot at Armageddon in the Triple Threat Match and finally came through with the title win, a fluke at best given the finish. He quickly saw to it that Goldberg was eliminated from his list of challengers, but quickly wound up on the wrong side of Shawn Michaels leading into their current feud, one that has already produced two matches that, singularly, were better contests than any of his bouts with Da Man combined. After the smoke cleared, however, Triple H was still the World Heavyweight Champion.and the majority of the fans were still pissed.

Triple H, for all his faults, plays a very important role on WWE TV. Yes, he's married to Stephanie McMahon and in good with her father. Yes, he has job security so long as those relationships hold up well. Yes, he sees himself as the modern-day Ric Flair and is booked to look like the greatest thing to grace a wrestling ring since Lou Thesz. Yes, his bodybuilding obsession has led to his gaining a lot of extra muscle mass since his 2000 MVP season and it has slowed him down in the ring to the point where a new in-ring style is being pushed within the company. Yes, there have been reports in the past of how his desire to be in title-based program with big name after big name that WWE has negotiated with have led to his retaining the title over names people wanted to see him lose the title to, such as Booker T, Kane, and Rob Van Dam. Yes, he has willingly participated in storylines that make his opponents look like crap while he continues to shine instead of using his stroke to push for better angles that would leave them as viable contenders down the line win, lose or draw. And, finally, yes, there was a long period where he won far more matches than he should have in dominating fashion, only putting over the likes of Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, and even retired wrestler Mick Foley while squashing up-and-comers like Maven and The Hurricane.

What good could he possibly be doing then? I said earlier that the role of the dominant heel champion hasn't been around since Hulk Hogan lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after his year-long reign way back in the mid-90's. After that, title changes became routine. Every 2-5 months (if not sooner), there was a new world champion crowned. It went from top babyface to top heel of the month to top babyface to top heel of the month to second level babyface right back to top heel of the month or to top babyface. By comparison, there were far more title changes in the mid to late '90's than there have been in the four years since the calendar starting having double zeroes in between the first and last number. I started watching wrestling in early 1999, when The Rock was the WWE Champion. He went to WrestleMania XV and lost the title to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (1) who lost it a couple months later to The Undertaker (2), who then dropped it back to Austin the day after King of the Ring (3). Mankind won the title at SummerSlam (4) and lost it to Triple H the very next night (5). Three weeks later, Mr. McMahon won the title thanks to an assist from Austin (6) then vacated it to whomever won the Six-Pack Challenge at Unforgiven, which ended up being Triple H (7) who went on to lose it to Big Show at Survivor Series (8). Eight title changes in one year, and that's not even including the back-and-forth between The Rock and Mankind in January and February. There were nearly a dozen new champions crowned in 1999 alone in one company (I'm not even going to touch WCW).

In 2003, the year opened with Kurt Angle and Triple H as the reigning champions of their respective brands. Kurt lost the title to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX, won it back at Vengeance, and lost it after SummerSlam. The WWE Championship didn't change hands for the rest of the year aside from those three switches. Triple H ruled the World Heavyweight Championship until Unforgiven, where he lost it to Goldberg, before winning it back at Armageddon. That's a combined total of five title changes in one year, at least half the number there was four years prior. Granted, head writers like Paul Heyman and Stephanie McMahon had a lot to do with that, but Triple H helped make sure it's stayed in place, in part by allegedly shooting down proposed title switches, but also by showing that he made a good champion. If you can't give anything else to Triple H, you have to admit that he makes a damn good heel champion. He may deliver boring promos every once in awhile, but he has become a master of controlling the crowd and has finally realized that in order to be a good champion, you have to show ass every once and again so people pay to see what will hopefully be a title win. In his day, Ric Flair amassed multiple NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Championship reigns, though that number would be a lot less, many say, if he'd shown some backbone and refuted requests for him to drop the title. This mentality is perhaps one that Triple H has taken to heart. Title changes mean more if the champion has been champion for a long time and doesn't lose all that much when the belt is not on the line.

What that doesn't mean, however, is that you win every match you're in for a year aside from the occasional non-title or tag job to whichever challenger you just convincingly turned away. Due to his recent penchant for picking up nagging, minor injuries, Triple H has cut down his in-ring time which, in turn, has made his matches seem more important (his squash of Spike Dudley notwithstanding). Title matches are rarely seen on WWE TV anymore, being saved for the PPV unless they help set it up (a lá his match with Michaels at the first RAW of 2004). This is a return to the old school style of booking, where the champion isn't forced to come out every week, lace up his boots, and go to work. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and others like Kevin Nash and Yokozuna made rare title defenses on TV, but that changed over time as the idea of a fighting champion evolved. When "Stone Cold" Steve Austin first won the title, it was another step in his war with Mr. McMahon, so Vince was constantly making him defend the title in the hopes that he would lose it and be out of the boss's hair. Like anything else, this storyline ran its course, but the mentality stuck around. People wanted to see Austin come out, kick ass, drink beer, and flip people off. They still do, even though he's been forced to retire. For Austin (and Goldberg in WCW), the idea of wrestling every week with the title on the line worked. For other champions since then, especially those that aren't known for being able to have quality matches with any opponent, this style of booking doesn't work as well. Given Triple H's dominant in-ring style in 2003, frequent match appearances quickly wore out his welcome with the fans, yet they continued.

Now that he's scaled down the number of times he's in the ring on free TV, be it due to injury or other commitments, his appearances seem more important, as it's always something we, as fans, haven't seen for a little while. When he's coming off the heels of a strong performance, like he had against Michaels, the idea is fresh in our minds once again that Triple H can wrestle as good as anyone else in the business and it's more tolerable when he wins. When he won the title back from Goldberg, I'll admit that I was upset. Now, I'm far from a Goldberg fan due to his backstage problems and inability to channel his abilities in the ring (see: Hart, Bret), but he was gaining momentum as a strong babyface champion for RAW and probably should have held the title at least another month or two. Had the plans for a title vs. title match at WrestleMania XX not changed, he probably would have. They did, however, so he didn't, and I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to WrestleMania a lot more now than I was when the main event was rumored to be Brock vs. Bill in a title unification match. Aside from it being too soon to do that, that combination to me doesn't scream "WrestleMania main event" enough to justify it being cast as such, especially not at what is going to be, for all intents and purposes, the 20th anniversary of the broadcast that really got things going for Vince & Co. Triple H vs. Goldberg for the title would actually have been better, in my opinion.

There are many who might argue that Chris Benoit vs. Triple H isn't an ideal WrestleMania main event either, due in part to Benoit's start-and-stop push that he's received since coming to WWE, but also because there are several other names that (admit it) jump to mind as being more intriguing than Benoit for Triple H's opponent. If you want an example, I think if Triple H and Ric Flair were given 30 minutes, it would be one of the best matches WrestleMania has ever showcased. And they still have plenty of time to do something like that if they really wanted to. Shawn Michaels's addition to the match is, in many people's eyes, an excuse for Triple H not to be the one getting pinned while Benoit can still get to hold up one of the two world titles at the end of the show. Still others see it as a way for Triple H to finally get the HBK monkey off his back for a time while killing Benoit's chances of finally experiencing his dream. Chris Benoit, though, has been WCW World Heavyweight Champion before (and was undefeated. mostly because he gave the title back that night and went to WWE), but there's never been a full-fledged title run for him. You can count me among the many that would have preferred to see him defeat Brock Lesnar to win what I still perceive as the real top title, but I cannot argue that Chris deserves to be announced as champion and have it stick for once. However, given that Triple H has been in title matches in three out of the last four WrestleManias and has a 3-0 record at those events, I'd say he deserves to be in that match just as much as Chris Benoit.

Triple H has gone, in only a few short years, from being the first fresh face main-eventer in a long time to being WWE's MVP, hailed as the greatest wrestler alive at the time to being a loathed power-hungry tyrant with a death grip on what is largely perceived as a vanity title. He is accused of abusing his political sway at every turn while main-eventing pay-per-view after pay-per-view and rarely doing a job. It could be argued that, without the advent of the Internet and dirtsheets like the Torch and the Lariat and the Observer that people would have said the same way back when about Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Harley Race, and maybe even Ric Flair due to either the length or frequency of their title runs. Despite all this, Paul Levesque has managed to become a mainstay of WWE and has proven his earlier detractors wrong by becoming a marquee star with real talent and charisma. Now that 2003 has passed, it seems as though he is finally past his phase of always getting to win and never look weak in the process. He still has a lot of critics to prove wrong, however, and I count myself as one of them. Perhaps it is the continued success of Brock Lesnar and the praise the Next Big Thing is earning for his excellent run as a cowardly-yet-dominating bully of a heel champion that has made Paul Levesque realize that he is not so irreplaceable or maybe it's because he has enough people in his ear, finally, that he gets that he has to show ass, lose, and put over his opponents in order for people to truly appreciate him as a champion. Maybe it's because of the prestige that Ric Flair continues to earn while people still refuse to buy into the idea that the Triple H character is the modern-day Ric Flair. Or maybe it's just because Jeff Jarrett, down in NWA-TNA, has become so much worse of a glory hound than Triple H ever was that we see Hunter as the lesser of two evils now. Who knows?

All I can say is that, while I am still not fond of the backstage politics that have set him up as the de facto go-to guy on RAW, I have come to appreciate Triple H a little bit more in recent weeks. Ever since he lost the title to Goldberg, he seems to be "getting it" more than he did a year ago and is doing a great job as the fading, insecure legend that Pat McNeill described him as in the Torch Year-End Awards number 4 spot that he gave him for Best Heel. In his matches since Unforgiven, he has looked to be half the dominant warrior he once was, but eking out a win in the end most of the time. This was the manner in which Ric Flair wrestled most of his matches in his heyday and is Paul Levesque's only real shot to go down in history as the heir to the Nature Boy's throne (though Kurt Angle is still giving him stiff competition). He had his Hulk Hogan year and is now settling back into the Flair mold as his career reaches its zenith. Because of this, I can say without any qualms that he deserves to be at WrestleMania XX in the main event. As long as he drops the title, that is. No need to overdue it, Trips. As one of my favorite bands, Dream Theater, once put it, "If there's a . wasted year, a man must learn to cope." Paul Levesque is starting to cope well. Let's hope it continues.

Alright, everyone, that's all I have for this time. I'll be back soon (I hope) with a look at the developing WrestleMania card, specifically the Smackdown side of things (since this was a focus on RAW for the most part) and the potential matches we could still see down the line. In the meantime, speaking of Dream Theater, "To the doubtful I demand, take me as I am," (from "As I Am," the first single off Dream Theater's amazing new album "Train of Thought," my CD recommendation of the week). See everyone real soon! Go Pats!

The Phoenix
Team_RECK_Rules@hotmail.com

FastCounter by bCentral