by Greg Dillard

They always say that on the Internet you have to be either loved or hated.  Anything in between, any apathy at all, and you’re nothing.  If that’s the case then I guess it’s safe to say that The Edge has finally arrived.  Seriously, if any of you out there don’t follow things over on TheSmarks’s Delphi Forum I encourage you to do so.  I encourage you to go there and see over a half dozen separate discussions all ongoing about the demon seed of wrestling himself – Chris Hyatte. 

Chris Hyatte.  You know the guy right?  Hated rival of TheSmarks, sworn enemy of former TheSmarks Webmaster Sean Shannon.  The guy that seemingly has zero to offer the “intelligent” wrestling fan by way of his weekly “Mop Up’s” of Monday night wrestling.  Well, for whatever reason, since joining The Edge as the co-host Hyatte has definitely polarized the wrestling fans out there.  Instantly pegged by many as a one-dimensional “shock jock” Hyatte was loudly criticized by many RS loyalists.  They cried foul and begged for Scott Keith to pull him from the show.  They begged for Keith to dump The Edge from TheSmarks and to get back to the purity that this site once had. 

All this without ever even listening to the show. 

Oh, yeah, that’s right.  Most of this criticism was lobbed The Edge’s way without so much as a listen to see what Hyatte could or could not do.  Most of the critics even admitted this after being prodded.  They claimed they knew what they’d be getting, and then decided they wanted no part of it.  Well, to those people out there I can only say this…

You’re going to miss out. 

I’ll be the first to admit.  I was never a big “Mop Up” fan.  It never offended my sensibilities in any way, or harmed me personally.  Honestly I never took it that seriously.  I found it to be an entertaining look at the Monday night shows and an alternative to the ultra serious play by play and analysis that so many other recaps offer on a regular basis.  Still, it wasn’t my regular cup of tea.  I’ll also admit to being very impressed when I saw the other side of Chris Hyatte in his “And Another Thing” columns.  I don’t know if they are the “best thing on the ‘net” like he claims, but I thought they were very good and showed an intelligence that lies beneath the surface.

Intelligence and entertainment.  Infotainment.  What a concept.  What a concept for a audio show……

That’s what you’re going to be getting on each and every edition of The Edge.  At the very least you’ll get attempts at entertainment that will also be informative.  Together, Chris and I are dedicated to creating the best show we collectively can.  We’re dedicated to getting into the meat of the wrestling news.  We’re dedicated to ripping it to shreds to figure out if there’s anything worthwhile going on in this business.  We’re also dedicated to entertaining those listening to the show rather than simply serving as an alternative to Tylenol PM. 

Oh, we’re also dedicated to never dredging up the past with Sean Shannon.  Frankly I believe, and believe it or not Hyatte agrees, that ‘net politics are fairly boorish.  The normal listener to The Edge, and reader of RS for that matter, is more interested in what’s going on in the business rather than whether or not Tanvir Rakim Raqueeb is dishing on us over at CardsFan’s website.  Those wanting this type of thing can just go ask one of the Delphi factions for membership to one of their ultra private (but how private’s a door without locks?) forums where they can discuss that minutia all they want.  For the rest of us..we’ll discuss wrestling. 

With that in mind……

Vince Russo is back in the WWF – I have proof:

Can anyone, and I mean anyone tell me that the ultra forced swerve on Raw worked?  Let’s see, Vince shoots, Steph tells him off, Angle turns on Steph, Steph leaves the building, Vince and Angle agree to work in collusion, Vince then decides to turn on Angle, Vince embarrasses Angle, Angle and Vince work in collusion versus Foley, Steph saves Foley, Steph turns on Foley, Foley is fired…….all in the course of two hours.  This angle, effectively setting up the top heel group in the WWF.  Call it the McMahon Corporate Regime or something similar.  Call it what you will, but I’ll call it swervez the likes of Vince Russo has written over the past year in WCW.  This is exactly the type of crap that has been forced down WCW’s fans throats and exactly the sort of thing that has been bashed heartily across the Internet for quite some time.  When it occurs in the WWF though?  A lot of the Internet “experts” are willing to call it story telling.  They’re willing to allow it to go on, expecting the excellence of Vince McMahon as a super heel to carry it all to success.  They’re willing to give the WWF the extra rope that they were never willing to give WCW. 

I’ll be the first to admit, the WWF has earned that extra rope.  They’ve earned the patience of their fans.  Still, unless they collectively get a handle on their story telling and angle development an already shaky wrestling industry could be in for a very, very cold and dark winter.  Already the WWF has shown signs of stagnation.  Other than Kurt Angle, who’s validity of push is all dependant on your acceptance of “cowardly heel” as  a viable push, the company has failed to get any of it’s new talent over in a big way.  There have been many close calls.  Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Rikishi all were given the express elevator push only to be returned to the mid-card quickly.  The top of the card in the WWF now consists mainly of The Undertaker, The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, and Kurt Angle.  Beyond Angle nothing has changed from a year, or maybe even two years ago. 

In a industry that is falling apart at the seams, you’ve got to keep things ever changing.  You’ve got to keep the fans guessing, and you’ve got to keep the product fresh or you’re eventually going to hit the glass ceiling.  Your express elevator ride will eventually deposit you back toward the television and entertainment mid card if you’re not careful. 

Running angles and shows like Monday Night Raw this week will definitely not help keep things entertaining and refreshing in the eyes of the viewer.  Instead they will only remind viewers of Vince Russo’s “crash TV” booking in WCW. 

Call me crazy, but I don’t think that’s really what the WWF wants to have happen.  Either that or Russo is back in the WWF after all….