By Scott Keith

- This is nothing really -- just a semi-disconnected series of stuff that I wanted to touch upon without having to work it into a Retro Rant.

- First of all, there seems to be a rather large fear among Canadian readers that in fact the TNN feed will be simulcasted with the TSN feed and thus my talk of an unedited and unpreempted showing of RAW up here in Canada was unwarranted. Okay, I'll be honest here: I'm being an optimist about the situation, true, but I've heard two different versions of the story from people at TSN (actually three counting two different opinions on the fate of Nitro) and the general concensus for the moment appears to be that no one actually has a clue what's going to happen come Sept. 25. The last I heard (from Jeff Marek, I think) is that TSN is basically going to give up RAW quietly and try either some sort of live sporting event or Nitro in RAW's place. If I were a betting man, which I'm not, I'd put money on Vince McMahon pulling a power play on TSN to get off that network ASAP so that his power base (having a live show on TNN across North America) isn't diluted. It's a small and petty consideration, but Vince is a small and petty man, so it's fitting. TSN themselves, despite their overtures of love and devotion to the viewing audience, pretty much hates wrestling and would love to be rid of it at this point. The only thing they like about it are the ratings. Keep in mind also that TSN is about to be sold to CTV Sportsnet and having the WWF deal messing things up would only complicate matters with the CRTC (especially given all the heat on TSN for the violence and sex shown on RAW as it is), and a parting of the ways at this point would be best for all concerned. Just my opinion. If the TSN deal doesn't die when the switchover occurs and we're forced by the fascist cable systems of Canada to watch the TSN feed, then I'll stick with Smackdown and all bets are off for our big switcheroo. Stay tuned, I guess.

- One thing I am somewhat surprised at is the near-total lack of feedback for the "History of the Fast-Forward Button", which was specifically designed to irritate people with it's sheer uselessness. Instead, I got a couple of people telling me how funny it was, and not much else. It's nice to have a break from an overflowing mailbox, don't get me wrong, but it caught me off-guard in this case.

- Speaking of feedback, whereas most of the feedback from the XPW rant was of the "Yeah, I bought it, wish you'd warned me sooner" variety, I actually had two pieces of mail (via my Wrestleline feedback address, of course) that were distinctly different. The first one was from a reader who informed me that I just wasn't giving XPW a fair chance, and surely if I saw their SECOND video, "Baptism in Blood", then I'd change my opinion towards them. Right. As if two hours of that wasn't enough to form a "fair" opinion as it is. Besides, as I often have to repeat over and OVER again, I have no obligation to be "fair" towards anyone. My job is to review a given show or tape or PPV and tell you, the consumer, whether it's worth your money or not, plus whatever else I want to throw in there in terms of personal opinions. It's survival of the fittest out there, and even if it IS only XPW's first tape, if it sucks that bad they deserve to never have another one released again. Another slightly different letter enquired as to why I don't quit offering advice to wrestling promotions and simply start promoting shows myself, albeit in less polite terms. The answer to that is quite simple: Because wrestling promotions are, by and large, a total money pit that don't make money for anyone but the wrestlers. The common theory amongst casual fans seems to be "Well, Vince did it, so anyone with money and half a brain can", which would normally be true if you weren't dealing with Vince himself. The strategy that the WWF has always employed is to suck the competition dry of any assets they might have, then crush them mercilessly. That's why Vince is making billions while WCW is losing millions. There's a term for people with money who foolishly start a wrestling promotion: Money mark. Just another sucker in a three-piece to swindle and leave for dead. Frankly, if I had enough money to start a promotion, I'd invest in something more solvent instead, like Ronco or pet rocks. The highest up the power ladder I'd be willing to go is booker, where I'd have the fun of creating the shows without the hassle of being the promoter. Well, maybe I'd marry Stephanie McMahon and then have both McMahon kids killed and take over the WWF myself, but that's more long-term than anything right now. Just joking -- I'd spare Steph.

- Final note on XPW: Someone else asked whether it's "Painfully bad" or "Laughably bad". PAINFUL. Very very PAINFUL.

- That's all I got for now. Just wanted to respond to some stuff without doing another rant. Thanks for reading, and keep checking back for Summerslam 96 and New Blood Rising this weekend!

- Scott Keith