?Reported by Eric Lewis of WrestleView.com

On Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at 12:46 AM EST

Alright, so it's been a long time. Like a month, at least. I've been busy. Too busy. I'm sorry! Anyway, it's 12:30 a.m. for me right now, and RAW just ended a few minutes ago. I should be in bed, but I now have all these wrestling thoughts in my head, so here I am.

My biggest thought is the worry over Batista as champ. I think it's a warranted worry. And no, not because of Dave Batista's ability or lack-thereof, depending on your position. His strengths are simply that he's physically huge, he's a fairly strong guy (though he doesn't seem as strong as he looks), and he has this inate ability to say so much with so little. A smirk, a certain look, just the way he says things. Tonight on RAW, before draping Jim Ross's arm over Triple H (after the most boring 10 - 15 minutes of the show... a freakin' brilliant main event. Thanks WWE.), he looked at the crowd, smiling. I didn't know why, and then he dragged JR over. But he looked again to the crowd. Not looking for permission to do what he was about to do, but just to look and say, "Hey, look what I can do!"

It was great. Very well played out. And to have Batista show up in Madison Square Garden driving the limo, having taken over for himself and not relied on some lacky to speed up. It was a nice tough. The WWE can't simply forget these little details that make his character work. Fans are very fickle now, as am I. You need to pay attention to detail. Batista, assuming he keeps his ego in check, could be a modern-day Hulk Hogan. No, he'll never be AS big as Hogan. But who will be? No one. But Dave has the same things working for him. Size, strength and the ability to simply smirk and get a crazy reaction. Plus, Dave, while he's not too young, will probably grow more in a short time than Hogan did. Wrestling fans demand that now.

Batista isn't great in the ring, but his key is intensity. If he keeps the clotheslines, punches and spinebusters coming with the same intensity he used tonight, there is no reason for his popularity to decline. And don't give him the mic for too long either. He needs to forcefully make his point, then move out. Be sarcastic, laugh at Triple H for being so pathetic he needs to beat up announcers to make himself feel better. Don't let him back down. Every week counts here folks. Dave Batista can do this, provided he's watched carefully. And maybe he'll grow more on his own, if he has that strong guidance. He'll add another move or two. His popularity grew to what it is simply because the fans wanted it to.

In other news, Chris Jericho might be the next to be fired. Not really, but in the political world that is the WWE, I can't say I'd be too surprised. If you haven't read what Ryan Allen posted on Wrestleview earlier, Jericho was quoted as saying (about the Matt Hardy situation) on a radio show: "an extremely f***ed up situation, to lose your job and your girlfriend in a short period of time, for doing nothing wrong." Now, the WWE would have you believe Hardy sealed his own fate by talking publicly about his personal life. Yeah, it was a mistake. But tell me fellows... who of you wouldn't temporarily lose your mind if you found your longtime girlfriend completely screwed you over for a road buddy and friend of yours? I'd freak too, and it wouldn't matter if I was in a public place or not. I dare say anyone who cared about their girlfriend or boyfriend would. I'm not saying the WWE was totally at fault. They had to do something, and Edge and Lita are both prominent characters, so Matt was expendable. I just don't see why moving Matt Hardy back to Smackdown was not an option... or something else.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. Lita will be in Moncton, New Brunswick, where I'm from, this weekend signing autographs at a car show. I don't know if I even want to go. I think she's super-talented, not to mention gorgeous... but she just disgusts me now. I nearly cheered on the crowd at MSG tonight for yelling "You screwed Matt!" to her. I hope that stings her.

Speaking of the women's division... I've wrote about this before. I'm not even going to bother writing about how Molly Holly left. I can't blame her. And they let everyone else go, while signing pretty, talentless women like Christy (though I honestly like her, she has no business making more than the actual performers) and whoever else. The releases are done. But now, why is there even a women's division? What for? There are three... yes, that is THREE legitimate contenders for the women's title. That's pathetic. How do you build a division around that? Trish is a great character now, Lita is and Victoria was before she became a glorified Nitro Girl. Did anyone ever find out why she hated Trish so much? No? Didn't think so. But she was exciting to see then, wasn't she?

Ok, here's what we do with Triple H. Even if the above comments about Batista don't work out and he fails miserably as champion... Triple H can't be given the strap again. Not yet. Benoit should have another run. Look at the guy! The fans love him and he never, ever disappoints. But anyway, with Triple H, what do we do? Look no further than his old buddy Shawn Michaels. No, not another feud between the two. "H" just needs to follow his example. Michaels has a reputation for being as arrogant as anybody else. But you don't see him in the title scene right now, do ya? He's still in a prominent mid-card fight, and everyone still loves him. Triple H can do the heel thing, everyone will hate him... but maybe he doesn't have to be chasing the title? Why can't he just have a good old feud? Someone might argue that by taking "H" out of the picture leaves no guys to really carry the heavyweight division. Yeah, that's an issue. But I promise you, things are never going to improve with Triple H continuing to monopolize things. I don't think we'll be in any worse shape with guys like Chris Benoit, Batista, Shawn Michaels and Edge carrying the ball. Maybe bring Kane into the picture, and even give guys like Chris Jericho, Christian and Shelton Benjamin a chance. If the stories are built right, these guys can do the job. Just get Triple H out of our faces for a while after Backlash or the following pay-per-view. Please.

Where is Marty Jannetty? I was so excited to see him come back, kick ass and then get signed. I hope they do something good with him, like throw him in the title run for any of the mid-card titles.

Anyways, it's really late. Hope this all made sense. Let me know! I'll try to keep writing right after RAW to keep myself up to date and to keep things fresh.

Cheers,

Eric
kissfan_5@wrestleview.com