ON THE BENOIT TRAGEDY: DON'T JUDGE THE LAST 3 DAYS ONLY

The Driver Seat
by Hub Pacheco

Before anything else, let me just share a quote from my Theology textbook. It's about conscience.

"Conscience is our capacity to discern what is morally good or evil, with the feeling of being obliged to do the good and avoid evil....Conscience can be defined as our subjective norm of moral behavior, which determines how we should act by applying objective moral norm(s) to a specific moral act."

Much like Eddie Guerrero's tragic demise back in 2005, I was caught by surprise by the news of Chris Benoit's double murder-suicide. Much like in 2005, I was in class when I was informed of the news.

By now, the US media will have been all over the Benoit tragedy, debating "'roid rage" and drug abuse as the main cause for what has happened. Being a media student, it can as no surprise that reports spread like wildfire all over newspapers (It made the front page of our national daily here.) and the Internet. The truth, whatever the investigations can tell, is very much vague.

I don't really know the whole story (does anyone? I mean, it was murder-suicide after all.) Speculation is all that can be interpreted by the people in this debate. Internet reports have very little credibility. And since almost everything has been said, let me just go straight to the point:Chris Benoit should not be remembered for the last three days of his life. His is a wrestling career that should be admired by wrestling and non-wrestling fans alike. As far as I know, from watching him on TV, we has always a good hard worker. And his legacy should not be tainted by the last three days of his life.

Let me give an analogy to make my point clearer: Let's say that Osama Bin Laden, being a crazy-ass terrorist that he is, keeps on doing that shit until the last few days of his life. Before he dies, the confesses all his sins and is given penance. Would you remember him as a good person? Or would you remember him for all the shit that he did?

We can never know what Benoit was thinking when he did what he did. We have no right to judge him, even if we constantly do. Let's just leave that judgment to the Big Guy above.

Now leave him be. Chris, Nancy, and Daniel. Rest in Piece.

WRESTLEMANIA 23: ALL F-CKED UP

Taker's win: the only good thing from WM 23. (photo from wwe.com)


The Driver Seat
by Hub Pacheco

Let me just start of by apologizing to the little girl who sat behind me during the airing of Wrestlemania 23 this morning. It was not my intention to curse profusely (much like sweating) because I had no idea that the show was going to be THAT f-cked up.

It was a pretty lackluster show to say the least, with Taker's win the only great thing in the entire four-hour "extravaganza." The MITB Ladder match was pretty okay, too, although I expected it to last a little longer. Kennedy winning was also a good choice. Melina retaining, great! (Ashley does not deserve gold around her waist until she learns how to wrestle.) Kane jobbing, damnit! MVP losing to a headbutt, weird. McMahon bald, expected. ECW originals dominating, surprising, but good, nevertheless. All that leaves us is the so-called "main event" of the night.

Although it should come as no surprise that Cena would retain, I for one do not approve of that decision. For two straight Wrestlemanias, Cena has been in the main event. He won both matches. He made both opponents tap out. He was booed like crazy both times. What does that say about his tenure as champion?

He is made to seem so invincible that no one can beat him singlehandedly. There's a lot of danger in that. You know, I could go on and on about this for several more paragraphs (or essays, if I'm feeling it. But I don;t want to waste my time on bullshit topics) but the point is, if they (Management) don't want to turn Cena heel, at least have him drop the goddamn title! Make him chase it again. That's why last year's Unforgiven was such a success. You had Cena chasing his title with fire and passion.

He may have stopped evolving his character since he dropped his thug identity and went all "ooh im gonna salute my every opponent and act all cheesy and say im here as the champ." Fine. Make him stay that way for all I care. I just find it unfair that HBK went through all the trouble to carry that soggy SOB all throughout their 'Mania match and ended up on the losing end. HBK deserved that top spot more than Cena will ever be (for now).

Triple H tapping out last year was fairly acceptable in one way or another, but HBK tapping out this year? It's just plain bullshit.

After watching Wrestlemania 23, I will say this. I am so close to never patronizing WWE programming ever again. So close.

BEST & WORST OF 2006

Mr. Kennedy outside the Araneta Coliseum in Manila last October.

The Driver Seat
by Hub Pacheco

2006 was a great year for the WWE, far better than 2005. And I can attest to that greatness (and not so greatness) to the following reasons. A writing teacher of mine told me that a list is the easiest way to write something, a no-brainer if you will. And since I'm that busy (lazy), I give you the top 5 best and worst things in the WWE in 2006.

5 BEST:

1. Pay-per-views are worth watching.
- A departure from the ho-hum PPVs of 2005, 2006's PPVs were better in general, from backstage segments to the actual matches. Case in point: UNFORGIVEN 2006. That entire show is worth buying a home video of.

2. Booker T is the KING!
- King Bookeah revatilized the entire SmackDown! show for the last several months since he adopted the king gimmick and mind you, he's damn effective and funny! I will never forget that promo he did when SmackDown! came to Manila last October. He called the crowd "fruit pooties!" Damn I never expected Booker to be both so eloquent and hilarious at the same time! He is indeed, in his words, the ruler of the SmackDown Kingdom.

3. RAW & SmackDown! finally invades Philippine shores!
- With two shows per brand in a single year, this only proves that the WWE is highlights the World in World Wrestling Entertainment. And I am proud to say that I have watched all four shows even if it did end up blowing a big deep hole in my savings. I have finally watched a LIVE WWE show and for that 2006 is a personally memorable year for me, being a fan since the days of Hogan and WCW. And oh yes, Solar Entertainment, thank you and f--- you.

4. JBL is the new (and better) voice of SmackDown!
- No offense to Tazz, but JBL is funnier and more eloquent in English than Tazz will ever be. And add JBL's frequent intellectual side comments (his king references when Booker enteres the ring) and you get a more entertaining SmackDown!

5. The return of the Degenerates
- While I am extremely saddened by Triple H's quad injury at this year's New Year's Revolution, DX has been the highlight of RAW the past year. And it made for some really good segments: Vince peeing on Coach, DX in the WWE production truck, Vince getting shit all over him. Yes it may seem juvenile but it's funny as hell! Yes it's not 1996 anymore but HBK and HHH's comedic timing never gets old, especially their "let's get ready to s--- it" promo.

5 WORST:

1. ECW in general
- Don't get me wrong. I love ECW. But this new one seems lost from the start. I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right. Wrong pushes, de-pushes? Ambiance? Maybe it's the fact that it's WWE-produced that makes it awkward. And since Paul Heyman's out of the picture, I can safely assume that ECW won't last for long. The only consolation in ECW is CM Punk. And even he is getting some heat backstage (according to reports on wrestling-edge.com)

2. Vickie Guerrero
- I don't have to elaborate on this one as I've said my piece before. She does not belong in the world of wrestling. She needs to be with her family.

3. Kurt "Benedict Arnold" Angle goes to TNA
- I don't know the full story to it but in my estimation (and my colleague's estimation), Angle made a big mistake. But if you look at it positively, it kinda works both ways. At least we get to see Angle vs. Samoa Joe. Man, their first match was off the charts! Let's just hope that Angle is healthy enough to compete in the coming months.

4. Boogeyman is still a stupid gimmick.
- Why the hell did WWE ever sign him back after releasing him? It makes no sense. He is a stupid character with a character longevity issue. I can't imagine him winning a singles title and walking (?) to the ring with it. I hope Gregory Helms does not drop the Cruiserwight title to that moron. (Note: I am referring to Boogeyman the WWE character, not Boogeyman the person underneath the makeup and worms.)

5. Weird interbrand relations
- What is up with Johnny Nitro appearing in SmackDown! and Matt Hardy on RAW? And on ECW? I thought that was only for one night? Blame it on the lack of star power on some shows? Sure, you could say that. But whatever happened to rigid interbrand competition? The Raw vs. SmackDown! in 2005? Well, I guess that's out of the window.


Well, that's about it. Let's hope for a better 2007. What's that? Khali's on RAW? Okay, never mind.