by Bob Morris

Seems like there's never a shortage of issues to cover in wrestling these days, although some people complain about how stale the wrestling scene has become. But, it appears we have plenty of stuff to talk about, even if wrestling is supposedly stale…and even if I share that particular opinion about wrestling being stale.

Issue #1: Goodbye Meng, hello Haku.

For those who remember the things that led to the AWA's demise, they will agree that one of them was Vince McMahon signing away various AWA talent, even if Vince didn't have a good reason for doing so. Certainly Vince was smart to sign guys like Curt Hennig and Shawn Michaels, but what was he thinking when he signed Playboy Buddy Rose?

Now fast forward to today, where Meng jumps to the WWF, reprising his role as Haku. The big story behind this: Meng is without a WCW contract, yet was given the WCW Hardcore belt. Certainly, that's a black mark for Eric Bischoff a mere week into Fusient's acquisition of WCW.

Actually, you can't blame Bischoff here, because Meng was without such a contract long before this Fusient deal was completed, and it was the WCW bookers who made the call to put the belt on him, while Bischoff stayed out of that. Not until Nitro the next night after Sin did Bischoff supposedly start giving more direction to the bookers.

Still, if I were Bischoff, I'd stop with allowing anybody to work with WCW without a contract. After all, regardless of how important a WCW wrestler is to the WWF, the majority of the WCW wrestlers are important to WCW, because they are the ones WCW needs to aggressively promote if the company ever wants to get back on track.

Oh yeah…Meng/Haku returned the Hardcore belt to the Barbarian…and if I'm not mistaken, Barbarian is not under WCW contract, either. Better hope the WWF doesn't get any ideas about bringing in Headshrinker Sionne.

But the first issue that leads me to this…

Issue #2: Meng is a monster, but Haku is just a jobber.

I know I'm gonna get some flak from the guy's fans for that statement, but having watched this wrestler from his WWF past, and from his WCW stint, the above statement is true. WWF has never treated Haku as anything more than a competent mid-carder, and his stint was mostly unmemorable.

The Islanders may have been a cool team, but the fans were into Demolition more, so the Demos got the tag team titles. When Tama left the WWF, they tried pushing Haku as a singles by making him the new "king of wrestling" but it never got over. In fact, when I rented the 1989 Royal Rumble, the Haku/Harley Race match was not on the tape. Did the WWF think it was an insignificant match or something?

And the summer of 1989, Haku loses his "kingship" to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and is shoved into the midcard for a while…that is, until he was paired up with Andre the Giant as the Colossal Connection. However, there was only so much Andre could do, and by the time Wrestlemania VI arrived, the team split up after losing the tag team titles, and nothing else in Haku's previous stint ever stood out.

Oh, but he's got the afro now, right? And those cool pants, too…can't forget about those. Come on, folks… when he was in WCW, you never said THEAFROMENG, and you never said THECOOLPANTS MENG, did you? No, his name was THEMONSTERMENG. That was a key element in how Meng got a fanbase…he was an unstoppable monster who demolished midcarders and didn't think twice about it.

If WWF is serious about wanting this guy, then push him as the unstoppable monster and have him demolish the midcard. Pairing him up with Rikishi may seem like a good idea on the surface, but the WWF tried another "Wild Samoan" type tag team with the Headshrinkers, and they never caught on. And I especially doubt they'll catch on now, if they are just there to be squashed by Undertaker and Kane.

I certainly wish Haku the best in his WWF stint, but before he can be declared a good pick-up for the WWF, the WWF better show they know what they are doing with him.

Thus leading to the next topic…

Issue #3: WWF's problem: It's the writers, stupid.

Is Stephanie McMahon the head writer for the WWF? Is she just a contributor? Is she somebody taking notes from writers? Does she even have any say at all?

The question that should really be asked is this: Does it really matter? Because, regardless of what Steph is or isn't doing for the writing team, the present WWF writing team sucks.

This writing team wants you to believe that HHH can come back, fit as a fiddle, after being dropped 20 feet in the air inside a car. The same team seems to think Chyna can come back from supposed "career-ending" injuries from a spike piledriver, then dominate Ivory in a title match, only to have a "stinger" after doing a handspring elbow (I won't even get into how it was played up by the commentators…or at least, based on what those reviewing the show said it was played up as). And this team also seems to think they can wrap up the HHH/Angle storyline by having Steph side with HHH, Trish Stratus side with Angle, and then have the two ladies get into a catfight.

Heel vs. heel matchups just don't cut it, people. The fact that most reviews show that the fans were quiet for the match until the catfight broke out and Steve Austin ran in proves that the fans just didn't have anybody to root for in the match. A face vs. face matchup works, especially if fans truly are divided as to who to root for (which is why Rock vs. Austin is still the best pick for the WM main event…but that's another topic), and naturally, when it's face vs. heel, the fans want to see the face go over and ride off into the sunset (doesn't always happen, but at least the fans are rallying behind somebody in hopes that it does happen). But with heel vs. heel, who really cares?

Besides, the whole HHH/Angle match wasn't about those two, it was about the fact that Steph hates Trish and vice versa. THIS is the way we supposedly pay off one of the hottest storylines in the year 2000? Sure, Steph turning on HHH and siding with Angle would be predictable, but it was the best ending available, and it's one I would have dug, just like Steph turning heel and siding with HHH was predicted by many for the 1999 Armageddon show, but even when it happened, people were digging it.

And what is Angle's current issue supposed to be, anyway? HHH has a bigger issue with Austin that he does with Angle, Rock seems to be preoccupied with Big Show, and Undertaker and Kane are dealing with Samoans. You see, THIS is the reason Angle's title reign is so weak…he doesn't have an issue with any particular guy, until two weeks before the next PPV, when we suddenly remember he has a title to defend. Otherwise, he's had no clear direction since Survivor Series.

It's not the fault of guys like Angle and HHH, though, as HHH has emerged into a very capable worker, and Angle is doing the same, so we know they are going to put together a well-worked match. But as far as the storylines go…that's where the writers come in, and presently, the writers are not doing their job well.

Shifting gears to WCW for a moment…

Issue #4: It's a new WCW? Not again…

Rumor alert: WCW will supposedly shut down again for a week or two after Superbrawl, in preparation for new set designs, announcers, etc., and hype up the pending Nitro and Thunder shows during this absence…meanwhile, angles will play out at Superbrawl to set up said shut down.

So in other words, we're gonna spend time hyping up a NEW WCW, a NEW Nitro, and quite possibly a NEW direction?

This is the last thing WCW should be doing…talking about how "things are new, things are different, things are gonna change" like they really mean it this time, when previously, the new "leadership" hype did nothing but harm to WCW. It's one thing to do a phone conference to announce the sale of WCW, it's another thing to make it a focal point of the company and its storylines.

The sale of WCW was widely known through the Internet wrestling fanbase, and it probably made big headlines in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and other major cities. But in the majority of newspapers across the country, I'd be willing to bet that the most attention this sale got was an AP newswire story buried somewhere in the entertainment section, and likely clipped down to a few paragraphs. Or more likely, just a couple paragraphs in one of those columns on the sides of the inside pages.

The truth is that the majority of common fans who watch WCW don't particularly care about "who's in charge" but care more about the product itself. Rather than engaging in another shutdown, the company should just quietly go about its business of easing in changes, so that while they may be noticeable, they aren't disruptive. And by all means, do NOT hype said changes.

Note to Fusient: You want to play up a NEW WCW champion, go right ahead. Just knock it off with the NEW direction hype if you really want to succeed.

And in other WCW news…

Item #5: Out with the hardcore, in with the cruiserweights.

I certainly welcome the news that WCW is considering a cruiserweight tag team division, and if it is true that WCW will ditch the hardcore division, that's good news as well.

The hardcore division concept is played out. You can have a hardcore match, which is supposed to be a "no DQ" match, and have ANOTHER no DQ match on the same card. So what's the difference between the two? More plunder in hardcore matches, that's what. So you won't just see chairs being swung, you'll also see somebody get THE TRASH CAN TO THE HEAD.

The hardcore match has become boring, and just about every hardcore match ends up as the same damn match. WCW would be well-served to retire that division and focus on an area where it can truly be innovative, the cruiserweight division.

WCW can easily present itself as an alternative to the WWF by hyping up the fast-paced action that the cruiserweights can bring, and adding a tag team division just may bring more excitement, and make all those 3 Count vs. Jung Dragons vs. Knoble and Karagais contests mean something.

It also opens the door for WCW to bring back some of the luchadors and allow them to showcase their talents rather than being used as jobbers to the stars in the heavyweight division. You could offer both quality mat wrestling and high-flying action in these matches, and it just might be good enough to bring some attention back to the company.

Here's hoping the emphasis of the cruiserweight division continues in WCW, as it just might make WCW considered innovative in one area, rather than just imitating the WWF in all areas.

And I suppose there are other issues I could address…but I'll save those for another time.