The Pez
06-23-2004, 05:19 AM
Hello readers and welcome back to another exciting Gettin' Heat column! That's right, yours truely is back with brand spankin' new topics! Are you ready to feel the heat? Well you better be because this week's hot topics are none other than John "Bradshaw" Layfeild and Kane.
First up, JBL.
Now there's a guy that's going places. I'm glad he's finally getting a chance to prove himself as serious main eventer. The days of the APA are gone, Ron "Faarooq" Simmons is now just a memory. After Simmons' firing, and given the lack of main eventers on SmackDown!, Paul Heyman (then GM of SmackDown!) challenged Bradshaw to make an impact. Heyman tried to show Bradshaw that he was better than everyone else. Hell, he is a financial genius, so why should he be held back in the APA shadow? Why not embrace his good fortune? Well, Bradshaw took Heyman's advice and made an impact when he gave the Clothesline from Hell to Eddie Guerrero. Even after that, he won the Great American Award from Kurt Angle, which meant he also earned a title shot against Eddie.
At the time, critics said JBL could never be main event material. Well, at Judgement Day, JBL proved the critics and nay-sayers wrong. JBL and Eddie had an all-out slugfest which resulted in both men getting bloodied up. Now, at the Great American Bash, JBL gets another shot at the WWE title in a Bullrope match.
JBL has proved that he CAN hack it in the main event. There is no doubt in my mind that he will one day become WWE Champion.
Next on the list is Kane, who has had quite an interesting year...to say the least. It was one year ago that Triple H beat Kane, in Madison Square Garden, to retain the World Title. However, there was an added stipulation added to the match. If Kane lost, Kane would have to remove his mask. On that night, Kane's character was thought to be destroyed especially when he transformed into his current incarnation. However if you look back over Kane's history, it makes sense that he is and always has been a monster.
Think about it, if you were locked up in a basement only to be burned, would you be angry? Yes, the WWE did botch Kane's character with the Katie Vick angle, but there could also be a loophole. If, all along, Kane "burns" were superficial, it would make sense that he would want to be an outcast from society. But, what if someone, a la Katie Vick, did not care about Kane's appearance and loved him for him. Fast forward a few months maybe and Kane and Katie are dating. One night, Kane and Katie are driving home from a date and Katie accidentally makes a comment about getting burned (similar to the coffee incident that started the Jericho/Kane rivalry back a few years ago). Kane snaps and stops the car. He tears at Katie, knocks her unconcious and rapes her. Then, while she's still unconcious, he runs the car into a tree (or whatever it was said the car ran into), instantly killing Katie.
Before the mask was removed, Kane was just a shell of himself. Kane kept his anger in check. After the mask was removed, all that hatred and all that anger and fury came to a boiling point and exploded. Kane was finally able to be himself again.
Both JBL and Kane have good things going for them. I applaud the WWE for giving these deserving guys a chance, and I can only hope that both men win their respective title matches (JBL's being at GAB and Kane's being on Raw the next night).
That's it for this week. As always, I would love some feedback. Let me know what you thought of this article and let me know what you'd like me to talk about next.
Until next time,
Josh Pesme
First up, JBL.
Now there's a guy that's going places. I'm glad he's finally getting a chance to prove himself as serious main eventer. The days of the APA are gone, Ron "Faarooq" Simmons is now just a memory. After Simmons' firing, and given the lack of main eventers on SmackDown!, Paul Heyman (then GM of SmackDown!) challenged Bradshaw to make an impact. Heyman tried to show Bradshaw that he was better than everyone else. Hell, he is a financial genius, so why should he be held back in the APA shadow? Why not embrace his good fortune? Well, Bradshaw took Heyman's advice and made an impact when he gave the Clothesline from Hell to Eddie Guerrero. Even after that, he won the Great American Award from Kurt Angle, which meant he also earned a title shot against Eddie.
At the time, critics said JBL could never be main event material. Well, at Judgement Day, JBL proved the critics and nay-sayers wrong. JBL and Eddie had an all-out slugfest which resulted in both men getting bloodied up. Now, at the Great American Bash, JBL gets another shot at the WWE title in a Bullrope match.
JBL has proved that he CAN hack it in the main event. There is no doubt in my mind that he will one day become WWE Champion.
Next on the list is Kane, who has had quite an interesting year...to say the least. It was one year ago that Triple H beat Kane, in Madison Square Garden, to retain the World Title. However, there was an added stipulation added to the match. If Kane lost, Kane would have to remove his mask. On that night, Kane's character was thought to be destroyed especially when he transformed into his current incarnation. However if you look back over Kane's history, it makes sense that he is and always has been a monster.
Think about it, if you were locked up in a basement only to be burned, would you be angry? Yes, the WWE did botch Kane's character with the Katie Vick angle, but there could also be a loophole. If, all along, Kane "burns" were superficial, it would make sense that he would want to be an outcast from society. But, what if someone, a la Katie Vick, did not care about Kane's appearance and loved him for him. Fast forward a few months maybe and Kane and Katie are dating. One night, Kane and Katie are driving home from a date and Katie accidentally makes a comment about getting burned (similar to the coffee incident that started the Jericho/Kane rivalry back a few years ago). Kane snaps and stops the car. He tears at Katie, knocks her unconcious and rapes her. Then, while she's still unconcious, he runs the car into a tree (or whatever it was said the car ran into), instantly killing Katie.
Before the mask was removed, Kane was just a shell of himself. Kane kept his anger in check. After the mask was removed, all that hatred and all that anger and fury came to a boiling point and exploded. Kane was finally able to be himself again.
Both JBL and Kane have good things going for them. I applaud the WWE for giving these deserving guys a chance, and I can only hope that both men win their respective title matches (JBL's being at GAB and Kane's being on Raw the next night).
That's it for this week. As always, I would love some feedback. Let me know what you thought of this article and let me know what you'd like me to talk about next.
Until next time,
Josh Pesme