by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'd prefer the boredom.  You might even agree.  Me telling tales of my Thrilling Weekend Excursions and boasting about my undefeated and 25th-ranked Dayton Flyers would be easier reading for you (I think) than the ground I must once again cover today.

To wit:

• Another wrestling death to talk about today.
   
  Jerry Tuite, who is no doubt best known from his WCW run as "The Wall," passed away following the final show of an All Japan Pro Wrestling tour on Saturday.  He seemed to be fine following the Friday night show (on which he wrestled in a six-man tag match with partners Bull Buchanan and Justin Credible), and was present at a lunch the next day, but was found in his hospital room shortly thereafter.  Reports conflict on whether Tuite was already dead or merely unconscious when La Parka went to his hotel room to say "Goodbye," but it sounds like Tuite was dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.
   
  The cause of death is being given as a massive heart attack.  Tuite was all of 36 years old, however...  unlike the heart attack death of 60-plus-year-old Moondog Spot one week ago, this death of a wrestler still in what should have been his physical prime will probably mark a return of the whispers and rumblings about the life-shortening decisions guys in the business make.  For his part, Tuite had spoken frankly in the past about his own addictions, which were likely a contributing factor in his not making it to the then-WWF after he'd been one of the handful of WCW stars to have his contract picked up back in 2001.  However, anything other than noting those past battles would be inappropriate speculation at this point.
   
  There's probably plenty more appropriate to say about Tuite, but I'm not sure I'm the guy best equipped to say it.  Like Spot last week, Tuite's a guy who did most of his work off of my own personal radar.  
   
  I know that he was a late-starter in the wrestling business, already into his late-20s when he decided to give it a try in the mid-90s.  Tuite was a big man, and somebody probably just told him "You ought to be a wrestler," and he thought it sounded like an interesting idea...  and unlike most who stumble into wrestling that way and that late, Tuite made it stick.  Training in New Jersey, he caught the eye of, among others, Bam Bam Bigelow.
   
  It was that connection that paved the way for Tuite to get a spot with WCW in the late 90s.  At a time when WCW had fallen behind the WWF and was searching for a new direction, Tuite was viewed as a very promising prospect.  Although still raw and green when he got his WCW break, he was also 6'6".  And that, as they say, is something you can't teach.
   
  Tuite debuted as "The Wall," a vaguely Aryan-looking bodyguard for Alex Wright (who had adopted an odd "EuroGoth" gimmick as "Berlyn," and also briefly had a German-to-English interpreter as part of his entourage).  But as was the WCW custom of the time, the company could not afford to let him train, mature, and improve...  they needed to use him as a contributor to the TV product.  And so The Wall didn't really linger too long as a sideshow/bodyguard, and was rushed into in-ring duty.
   
  In that capacity, the Wall was a bit underwhelming.  When the Berlyn gimmick when south, the Wall was also left to develop a persona on his own... with similarly unspectacular results.  He became a generic sort of heel, and still used the shirt-and-tie ringwear that he'd started with.  Wall was pushed as a brawler, and if my vague recollection of WCW darkest days is right, he played around in the Hardcore division while it existed.  Attempts to imbue him with personality were revived by Vince Russo, who paired the Wall up with the "Misfits in Action" and gave him the new name of "Sgt. AWOL."  The same stable turned Hugh Morrus into "Gen. Hugh G. Rection" and Booker T into "GI Bro," so I don't think I have to expend much energy explaining just what a dead-end this particular avenue was for Tuite.
   
  However, though all the misguided attempts to push the raw prospect, he was still impressing management with his attempts to improve his own game.  No less a star than Hulk Hogan went out of his way to put Tuite over as a future mega-star in some interviews (with the press, not interviews in character), and Hogan even worked a TV match or two against the Wall when he was in his phase of working with the "new blood."
   
  When WCW went belly-up in 2001, the WWF apparently saw the same potential.  They only retained about two dozen of WCWs contracts, and Tuite's was one of them.  He was assigned to the developmental circuit, where the hope was that he'd polish his game and show up on WWF TV a much more complete performer than he'd ever been in WCW.  However, as WCW stars began showing up on TV over the next six months in the "inVasion" storyline, Tuite was not one of them.  He was, instead, quietly cut free less inside the year when his contract was not renewed.  If memory serves, his only WWF TV appearance came at WrestleMania X-7, when he got about 2 seconds of TV time in Shane McMahon's "WCW sky box."
   
  The indications at the time were that Tuite was released so that he could get his personal life in order, and that the door was open for him to come back to the WWF/E fold.  That seemed to be the case, as Tuite did work some dark matches for the company (as recently as earlier this year).  However, WWE was apparently never quite impressed enough to sign him back up.
   
  That was OK, however, as Tuite was thriving overseas and on the US indie circuit.  He was, in fact, a staple performer for quite some time on NWA-TNA's weekly PPVs.  It's there that I saw him again for the first time in probably over 2 years...  sporting a totally new look (shirt/tie and flat-top replaced by tattoos and long hair) and wrestling under the name "Malice," Tuite was an NWA Title contender as the company got started, and continued to be a regular for much of TNA's first year.  His role in the company was diminished as 2003 went on, however, as they began spending their talent/travel budget bringing in guys like Raven and Shane Douglas, instead.  The Tuite I saw maybe a half-dozen times on TNA shows was certainly a different one than "The Wall" that I had remembered; not just cosmetically, but in terms of being an utterly credible in-ring performer.  I'm still not sure what he might have brought to the table in terms of character or a gimmick, but in terms of in-ring aspects he struck me as being at least as good as any of the other big men that WWE has signed just on the grounds of them being big.  Sorry if that compliment sounds a bit back-handed or half-hearted... but I mean it sincerely and do think it's apt and accurate.
   
  Tuite was also an international star.  In addition to the All Japan tours on which he was a regular, he did the World Wrestling All-Star tours of Australia and Europe.  On the just-completed AJPW tour, Tuite was wrestling under the name "Gigantes,"
   
  And so with that, we add another name to the distressingly-long list of wrestlers and wrestling personalities who have passed away in 2003.  The family, friends, and fans of Jerry "the Wall" Tuite have the condolences of the entire OO community...
   
  
• It's not nearly as tragic, and I'm not even sure if it isn't, in its way, good news for everybody involved...  but there is another late-starting big man who gets headlines today because he's wrestled his last match.
   
  Maybe.
   
  Nathan Jones, in a huff, quit WWE and the wrestling business in general in the middle of the SD! brand's Pacific tour.  Jones, already less than enamored of the rigors of being an everyday wrestler, finally had enough of the grind, and quit prior to a show in his homeland of Australia on Saturday (or Friday, our time, or something, damn that International Date Line).
   
  I know some have already played the "homesick" card, noting that Jones quit in proximity to his home country.  There are others who cite a very bumpy plane ride/landing in Korea as the straw that broke the camel's back.  Still others think Jones was getting fed up with the workload and what was being asked of him in terms of WWE wanting him to improve and polish his in-ring work.
   
  I don't know Nathan Jones, have never met the man... but this sounds like a textbook case of "A little from Column A, a little from Column B, a little from Column C."  You don't just quit a lucrative job over one simple matter...  it's almost certainly a combination of factors, maybe even some we don't know about.
   
  Paul Heyman and Big Show tried to talk Jones down, and tell him to reconsider, to do his job, clear his head, and think about this again in a few days... but Jones was having none of it, and walked out, missing his scheduled match in Perth, Australia (where, I believe, WWE was going to let Jones work as a face in front of his countrymen, in a singles match against Chuck Palumbo).  The nature of his departure has many saying that even though Jones no doubt acted in haste and might want to backtrack on his resignation, WWE will not be so quick to welcome him back.  Still, time has a way of healing all wounds and hell freezes over in the wrestling business with some regularity, so who's really to say?
   
  At the very least, I think Jones' disappearance will "stick" for the near future.  And more than likely, he really will walk away from the wrestling business.  His own job dissatisfaction is a very real thing, and Jones (with his size and look) should not have trouble going back to pursuing a career as an actor/stunt man.  If he was unhappy as a pro wrestler, then why should he recant his walk-out?  It might be a good thing, and he could end up being just as successful (and much happier) in another job... and for the company, it's probably not a bad thing that a potential morale problem has eliminated himself from the equation, either.
   
  And then there's us.  The fans.  For our part, well, I'd be lying if I said we're gonna miss Jones much.  Sadly, much of our dislike of Jones probably stems from February's misguided babyface run (where Jones seemed like a fish out of water, and then didn't help his cause much by WORKING like one, too).  In my opinion, since returning as a heel, Jones had found a niche for himself; he actually did seem to have a sort of heel charisma this time 'round, and was connecting a bit with the audience, unlike his previous run.  That comfort level seemed to have translated into ring work that was at least reasonably plausible.  I actually found myself thinking that a Jones/Matt Morgan tag team might be the best way to mask the deficiencies of both while waiting for their proficiencies to shine through as they matured.  In that way, hey, I'm not exactly dancing a jig at the prospect of a Jones-free SD!...  he was poised to be an inoffensive contributor to the show.  And if I have to win back my Smark Credibility after admitting to that, let me do so by mentioning that, now, I do no look forward to Morgan having to go out there alone to suck out loud.
   
  So thus ends the one-year tale of Nathan Jones, WWE Superstar.
   
  
• Just one other note about the SD! overseas tour... correcting myself from Friday: WWE wound up not shuffling the cards much at all, and in fact, Benoit vs. Lesnar main evented all three shows.  I thought I had gotten a note saying that Cena was going to headline the Perth show against Lesnar, but either I was misremembering, or WWE decided to change it to Benoit getting the show all three nights at the last second.
   
  Don't know what, if anything, you should read into that.  Two weekends ago, Cena replaced Benoit in main events against Lesnar on house shows...  this weekend, Benoit gets the full slate of international house show main events despite schedules to the contrary.  But then the final set of SD! brand shows before the holiday break this weekend are back to Cena (after originally slated to feature Benoit).  Huh.
   
  I wonder if SD! is just testing the waters, trying to gauge the level of the room before deciding what their Road to WM plans are?  If I get my wish, and WWE decides to forego the Champion vs. Champion idea for WM, then either Benoit or Cena would be the likeliest challengers.  Cena seemed, to me, to be the guy more likely to get a crowd behind him... but in the last week, Benoit sure as hell as made a case for himself.  His and Lesnar's styles have meshed very well, to say the least...
   
  
• Some SD! stars will have more traveling in a couple of weeks... following the 12/16 tapings (for the 12/18 SD!), a crew of SD! stars will travel to Iraq to boost holiday morale for some of our troops over there.  No word on which guys (and girls) will be included or exactly what they'll be doing... but WWE does intend to feature footage from the goodwill tour as part of their canned Christmas night SD! on UPN.  I wonder if the plan is to maybe do a stripped-down sort of live event for the troops?  Certainly, you can't milk any significant footage for X-Mas night out of glad-handing and meet-and-greets....
   
  No rest for the weary after the tough tour of the Pacific rim this past weekend... but it is for the proverbial Very Good Cause.
   
  
• Hey, how about going back to some Road to WM20 talk?  Remember how Friday I sort of made fun of the smarks for some of their fantasy booking ideas and who they were impractical?  Well, at least one of those smark wet dreams is getting some mainstream press.
   
  Click here for an article from a Pittsburgh newspaper that seems to think that Steamboat/Flair at WM20 could happen.  I still say "No way, not a chance in hell" to the match... but I'm happy those of you who were displeased with my dismissal of your fantasy ideas got a little something this weekend to e-mail back and stuff in my face.
   
  And I still know that I could fantasy book a WM20 that'd have you moistening your under garments and that would also have the added benefit of being ABSOLUTELY 100% PLAUSIBLE.  And I will continue to taunt you with this until I can completely set aside this nagging, festering notion that I might like to write up the full three-month epic like I last did in 2001.  Only once I realize what a giant pain in my ass that would be and that I have no desire to add to my site-related workload will I quit mentioning it!
   
  Just give me another week or two.  Once I'm into the hell of compiling the OO Year in Review, I'll think reviving the Fantasy Universe gimmick is the dumbest idea I've ever heard.
   
  
• In a Fresno newspaper interview meant to hype a weekend house show, Shawn Michaels made some surprising revelations.  Namely, that he's OK'ed a huge increase in his work schedule.  Upon his return last year, Michaels was on a two-TV-matches-per-month schedule for a while.  Over time, he's added sporadic special house shows and his TV availability was seemingly up to every week.
   
  Now, according to these latest comments, he's basically taking on the full plate: 3 and 4 nights per week on the road.  Michaels claims he's never felt physically better, crediting a "miraculous" recovery following his back surgery of of almost five years ago.  The last year of steadily-increasing work has convinced him that he'll be alright to return to the full schedule.
   
  I really hope he's right.  Michaels (along with Chris Jericho) is one of the few guys on RAW who you can put in the ring in almost any situation and expect to get a top shelf match.  From a purely selfish standpoint, I'd hate to lose that bankable performer because he decided to push himself too hard.  From a more compassionate standpoint, it'd also suck for Michaels to have to suffer another debilitating injury after working hard to get back to where he is.
   
  In any case, a Michaels who is willing and able to be a full-time performer opens a few new possibilities for RAW... for one, his feuds will no longer have to have the taint of "part-time legend trying to do the right thing by putting over the next generation."  And two, remember back when I said I wouldn't mind seeing HBK as a top contender for the World Title?  Doesn't sound quite as far-fetched all of a sudden, does it?  And tell me you wouldn't be just a little bit excited for the possibilities after seeing Michaels work a match (at Survivor Series) that left me wondering if this was 2003 or 1993....  if HBK was 38, or if he was 28.  The guy's still got it, and "it" is something that you want your top guy, your month-in and month-out main eventer, to have.  "It" is something that few on the RAW roster have...
   
  You can get the full interview with Shawn by clicking here.
     
  
• While news about Michaels is about as good as can be, his buddy Kevin Nash is playing things close to the vest, resulting in some confusion about his true health status.
   
  Nash is coming across as vaguely optimistic in some interviews, saying that although his neck surgery and recovery have been a bit more difficult than anticipated, he is still hoping to return to TV very soon, possibly by the New Year.  Not discussed is exactly what kind of role he'd be in (Nash has, previously, admitted that a non-wrestling bodyguard role would be something he might have to consider).
   
  And from other channels, Nash is apparently privately less optimistic, and "a bit more difficult than anticipated" might translate into never being physically able to maintain a full wrestling schedule.
   
  Complicating matters: Nash's WWE contract expires in mid-February.  That means even if the more optimistic projections work out, WWE would only have Nash's services for a month or two before having to hammer out a new deal.  And it's a situation where I wouldn't necessarily wager on a new deal being worked out.  WWE would be insane to offer Nash a contract extension anywhere near the terms of his present deal (a guarantee in the high six-figures) based simply on health concerns.  But Nash has made a TON of dough in the business in the last decade since breaking out as a major star and would have no reason to accept a lowball offer.  Nash, simply put, isn't negotiating his next contract because he needs money to pay the bills.  He'll negotiate it in an attempt to get what he feels his his market value.  Would Nash be amenable to doing something like Roger Clemens did this year (taking a short-term, below-market-value contract out of loyalty/wanting to finish his career on his terms)?  I don't know... but that just might be the only way we'd see Nash in WWE past February.  
   
  I've never been one of the internet Nash haters, and so I'm left in the position of feeling like Nash just evaporating in two months would be kind of anticlimactic end for a guy who honestly did entertain me.  And yet I can't get past the fact that Nash also showed no signs in 2003 of being able to sustain the performance level that would make a genuine "farewell push" anything but a hollow, ego-serving gesture.  I'm not sure what I'd like to see happen here... but I hope whatever ends up going down, it's a compromise that benefits the company, doesn't insult Nash, and which results in a entertaining content on TV for fans.  
   
  
• OO's Man in Cleveland, Howard Primer, says he spotted RB Clinton Portis posing on the sidelines with a replica World Title belt (old NWA/current RAW belt) during yesterday's Broncos/Chiefs game.  Can anyone confirm?  And better yet, can anyone tell me why Portis would have such a thing lying around?
   
  I know the RAW crew was in Colorado over the weekend...  was Goldberg hanging around at that game, or something, maybe?  If so, did he get to the sidelines and let Portis celebrate with his belt after he had his big game?  I thought this was one of the weekends Goldberg was off the road, but still, that's the best answer I can come up with...  Any help?
   
  
• Don't know about this one for sure, but word has traveled up I-75 to me that Shannon "Daffney" Ward is going to be cut loose from her WWE developmental deal.  It strikes me as odd mostly on the grounds that it was less than 6 months ago that WWE deemed her worthy of signing, so... I don't know, if this winds up being accurate, it's sort of unexpected.
   
  I believe Ward had been working primarily as a valet in OVW, although in the interim between working as "Daffney" in WCW and getting the developmental contract, she worked hard to become a passable in-ring worker.  I don't know what kind of role WWE projected her to fill (wrestler on RAW or valet on SD!), but I had thought for sure she'd make it to WWE TV and succeed.  Just being hot is well and good, but can result in getting lost in the shuffle (see: Dawn Marie or Sable).  "Daffney" (or whatever new character would be created) would almost certainly have still showcased some of Ward's unique mentality.  Then again, maybe it wouldn't have been so unique: Daffney was sort of a mix of Victoria's craziness and Lita's punk rock grrrrrrl-ness.  Those two archetypes are currently filled on WWE's roster, and I'm not sure what sort of gimmick "Lucy" (Ward's OVW persona) was....  then again, those two archetypes are nowhere to be found on SD!, so...
   
  Eh, what the hell's the point? What's done is done.  Probably only about 5% of you care about The Rick's Developmental System Scouting Reports.  Even if they involve the babes.
   
  
• To close out with something of more interest...  a look at tonight's RAW.
   
  In some ways, I'm drawn to the show and am very interested to see what goes down.  In others, I'm kind of repulsed (after only one week of missteps) by the direction the brand seems headed.
   
  On the latter front, I need go no further than pointing you towards the line-up for Sunday's Armageddon PPV.  Is there, out of the five announced matches, even one that REALLY interests you?  If so, you're ahead of me.  Neither the storytelling nor the prospects for ****  (or even **) in-ring action are particularly good heading into any of those matches.  In Booker/Henry and Michaels/Batista, you have infuriating wastes of talent in "feuds" that have about as much heat on them as the proverbial witch's teat.  In the World Title three-way, you have a storyline that is one part six-month-old retread and one part out-of-nowhere-and-not-yet-explained-third-guy-whose-only- claim-to-fame-over-those-same-six-months-is-beating-up- non-wrestlers.  The tag title four-way is the purest laziness in terms of storytelling (no one single thing has "stuck" in the tag division, so they just throw a bunch of luke-warm things together into one match).  Only RVD/Orton has shown some semblance of progression or momentum and seems like it might also deliver the goods in the ring.  And I HATE the thought that I'm actually crediting Randy Orton as being one-half of what might have to be the "show saving" match.
   
  But that's only half the story.  On the former front (the "drawn to the show" one, if your attention span has betrayed you), I can't help but notice that there ARE only 5 matches lined up so far.  And a TON of talent is just sitting around, talent that could help fill up the PPV if the Fed handles things well tonight.  Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy, Christian, the women... there's at least one, and maybe 2 decent matches (with engrossing storylines backing them up) for the PPV right there.  I also can't help but keep in mind that Mick Foley's on the job, and can snap his fingers and add to the PPV card (and to the general excitement of RAW) in a heartbeat.  There are, despite the craptacularity of the existing PPV card, reasons to be enthusiastic about not just the additional matches to be added but the manner in which they are added tonight.
   
  Tonight's RAW will be headlined by Goldberg defending the World Title against Kane.  This will afford RAW an "anchor" type match, something to make tonight feel like a big show.  But just as importantly, it'll give them a reason to address Kane's sudden interest in the world title and to try to put a little sizzle into the Goldberg/Kane/HHH PPV three-way.  As it stands right now, I feel like I have very little reason to care about Goldberg/HHH Part 5 and even less to care about why Kane suddenly threw his hat into the ring.  Tonight's Goldberg/Kane match can not only be sold as a huge, PPV-worthy contest, but should also provide the backdrop and context for some kind of twists and turns to make Sunday's PPV main event a more interesting issue than it is currently.
   
  The next steps in the Jericho/Christian "bet" to see who would nail Trish or Lita first is another double-edged sword.  On their own, the next steps will color my perception of whether the once compellingly-genuine Love Rhombus will be worth even one-tenth of the interest I've invested in it.  Combined with Foley and Bischoff needing to fill up a PPV card, they can also lead to some combination of match or matches for the big show.  My expectation is that it'll suck on the first count (Jericho will do the lame-ass "She's All That" thing, I just know it), but could lead to good things on the second count (a PPV match against Christian, after he declares that the bet was mean and stupid and Christian is an asshole, would not be so horrible a thing, although it would sort of pigeonhole WWE into a certain direction for any future Jericho/Trish storylines, one which I think of as uncreative and uncompelling).  And then you can find something for the women to do (Lita/Molly is the obvious top-level feud right now, Trish might have to just be ringside for a Jericho/Christian match), and fer chrissakes get Matt Hardy into something (and not just as Molly's lovely valet, either), and you'll have yourself three matches that probably best four out of the five already booked.
  
  That'd be eight matches.  Which is about right.  I think we'll also see something tonight to further the Infuriatingly Lazy "Save Steve Austin" Petition that might lead to an Austin segment at the PPV (which would fit, since I don't see the top level announced matches going 25-30 minutes, which you usually need from top level matches on 8-match cards).  I'm not sure exactly what form this would take, but it'd be vintage WWE to figure out some rationalization for Austin to be invited to the PPV in order to squeeze a few more PPV buys out of the fans.  I'm not saying that's good or bad... but I am saying that if all we get is "WWE Management has decided, based on all the people who signed the petition, that Steve Austin deserves a forum to make his case for a return, and we'll give it to him at the PPV," then you could not possibly have handled this storyline in a less creative fashion.
   
  We'll have to see how it goes.  Tonight's a RAW that sort of tickles me as an intellectual exercise, even if it doesn't do so much for getting the mark in me to countdown the hours till 9pm.  That is better than nothing, though.
   
  Check out RAW tonight, or come on back for my full report tomorrow.  Right here.  At OO.  Thumbs up.  Cheap pop.  And I'm out. 
   

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
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Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH.  He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.

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