Colling’s Corner:
Seventh Edition
Written By: Bob Colling
YAH or NAY Volume #1:
Question #1: The Jerry Lynn versus Rob Van Dam feud from ECW is a overrated feud?
Answer: YAH: In my opinion they put on some very good contests but to me a feud involves a story being told. The only story I can think of regarding these two guys was that Lynn could never win the ECW Television Championship from Rob Van Dam. To me that is not a interesting story. Lynn came close several times but we never got that satisfaction of seeing Lynn beating RVD for the championship. A feud also to me involves the men in the feud trading wins. Rob Van Dam won almost every single contest they competed in. Lynn only beat RVD one time and that was at ECW Hardcore Heaven 2000. It got to the point where it was expected that Lynn would lose to RVD. When that happens it takes away from the contest. Who wants to watch a match on a regular basis knowing the outcome? I sure don’t want to. The question isn’t whether or not they put on good matches, because they did, but as far as telling a story it was lackluster and pretty bland. It was a wrestling based feud with very little storytelling, in my opinion.
Question #2: Was turning Goldust baby face in late 1996 a good decision?:
Answer: NAY: Goldust was by far one of the most entertaining and interesting characters in the WWF at that time. Goldust was getting a incredible amount of heat and played the character extremely well. The way the character was presented, he excelled at going over the top and doing things that fans found disturbing. As a baby face, Goldust wouldn’t be able to do what he is best at doing and had a difficult time getting over. When he was a baby face in 1997 he was being booked as a sympatric character. The bizarre one needed to remain a heel and do some really bizarre things. The baby face version of Goldust was just a bland baby face and didn’t offer much to the company.
Question #3: TNA resigning Sting when his contracted expired in 2008 was a bad decision?
Answer: YAH: In my opinion, Sting shouldn’t be wrestling on a fulltime basis. Sting should only work maybe four pay per view events a year. If I had to choose it would be the January, April, June and October pay per views. Sure Sting can hold his own in the ring, but the fact is that he isn’t making the company any money. Sting hasn’t been relevant to me for over ten years. Why he continues to be brought back to TNA is baffling. One big issue I have with Sting’s run in TNA is when he is the world champion he has never worked house shows. If you are the champion, you better work the house shows. If you aren’t going to be working those shows, then do not accept the responsibility of being a champion. Dixie Carter needs to let him go and give his spot to someone who is willing to work.
Question #4: Should Rikishi have been the guy who ran over Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1999?
Answer: NAY: Riksihi had always been known as the loveable comedic character who dances around. When he was revealed as the guy who ran over Steve Austin he was presented as being a heartless human being. Riksihi didn’t have the personality to pull off the actions he did. He also never really won major matches to be looked at as a threat to any of the top baby face guys in the WWF. So, if Rikishi shouldn’t have been the guy who ran over Steve Austin who should it have been? I have always wondered what would have happened if a guy like Chris Jericho were to have been turned heel at this time. His reasoning was better than Rikishi’s. Rikishi’s reasoning was to help the Rock get respect, which didn’t make much sense considering the Rock had been adored by fans and had been a champion several times. A guy who could have played the respect card and jealously card would have been Chris Jericho. Jericho obviously has blonde hair so he would have fit the description of the culprit. Some may say that it would have been too soon to turn him heel since he hadn’t been a baby face for a year yet, but I think if he were to have been turned Jericho would have made up for it with the money made from a Austin vs. Jericho feud leading into Wrestle Mania XVII. It is pretty obvious that Rikishi’s heel run was a failure as he was turned back to a baby face by May 2001.
Question #5: Bam-Bam Bigelow versus Lawrence Taylor at Wrestle Mania XI should have been the main event?:
Answer: NAY: Shawn Michaels and Diesel should have been the main event on the show. Their angle started all the way back in August at Summer Slam and it remained a interesting angle for several months. They put on a great match on the show and while it didn’t save the show from being a disaster at least their was enjoyable match on the show. The only reason why LT and Bigelow were in the main event was because of LT being a former NFL star. Considering the WWF was going through a rough patch they needed to publicity and by having LT compete in the main event on their biggest show of the year, they got what they needed. However, they didn’t deserve the spot as their angle has just started in January at the Royal Rumble. I am old school when it comes to title defenses. I will forever believe that the main event on a pay per view should be a world championship title defense. That is what people are most interested in and to put that on in the middle of the show shows that the championship isn’t important. That isn’t a good message to be sending to your fans.
Feel free to send me questions to find out my thoughts on a given topic by sending all questions to bobcolling@gmail.com
Thanks for reading.
