Hey all. Welcome to another edition of ...AMO. After a much-needed vacation, I've recharged the Duracells and am ready for more wrestling opinion and analysis, even if it is bad. Much has changed since I last wrote and with everyone putting in their two cents over the WCW purchase and all, I just decided to enjoy the moment and sit on my thoughts until after WrestleMania.

Speaking of WrestleMania: Great show. Period. The stuff most of us could have done without was kept to a minimum, IMO, which was good. And, like No Way Out, it was a well-balanced show with something for every kind of sports entertainment fan. If I spoke about my favorite moments, I would probably sound like a few other folks on the Net, so I'll hush for now. That, my friends, is two in a row for the WWF. That has to give diehard WCW fans hope, right??

Leftovers

Nothing of note in the fridge. Since WCW has been acquired by WWFE and Nitro won't compete head-to-head with RAW anymore, I thought that now would be a good time to go back to my roots if you will with ...AMO's format. I've decided that I will write more "traditional" opinion pieces like my first few columns were. I'll try to be a tad more thoughtful and little less markish. Or not. We'll see. Stick around, 'kay?

Speaking of previous columns, in my second one, I wrote some words about Austin and Rocky that I will now eat. No lie. You can find the entire column here, with the following experts leading this week's discussion. For those that perhaps don't want to click and read, the column basically spoke to the fact that neither the Rock nor StoneCold needed the WWF Championship. More specifically, I said the following:

The WWF Championship is the pinnacle of the company. It is the most important title a wrestler in the federation can hold. When placed on the right person, it elevates them to a completely different level of recognition and existence within the "wrestling world." The belt can make a former mid-carder seem like a perennial main-eventer, or make a long-time main-eventer seem instantly more credible...

The Championship should seem more important than the wrestler who wears it. The belt should seem like everything. It should come before the wrestler...

Frankly put, neither the Rock or Austin can make the cut according to these two reasons. Quite frankly, they are TOO OVER. Is there a such thing as being too popular? Probably not, but their individual popularity is so high, especially now (I know Rocky has been getting booed of late, but bear with me) that the WWF Championship would do little for either one of them. Don't believe me? Think back to the Rock's recent title reign. He was a champ without a story or a real contender. He had no angle. How does that happen?

When Rock was champ, it was like "IF YA SMELLLLLLL (pardon me, CRZ)!!!!!" with crazy pops and cheers coming to the ring, cutting his promos, whipping candy ass, and laying the smack down all over the place. And oh yeah, by the way, he was also the WWF Champion. The belt was an afterthought on the Rock. He was bigger than the belt. The belt became secondary, as was evidenced by Triple H having the hot angle and all the TV time during Rock's title reign. Same goes for Austin. He's so over, having the belt doesn't really matter. As long as he stuns someone and drinks a few beers, most viewers go home happy. They are both simply too popular to hold the title, if that makes any sense.

Save the championship feuds for the wrestlers that need the rub.

Over the course of the next 14 or so columns, I wrote about how I would love an Austin heel turn and how I was suspicious of he and McMahon getting along. Boy, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it and then some!!

The heel turn was done exactly the way it had to be done, IMO. I doubt that it shock any smart fans, but the casual folk have to be in hospital trauma units nationwide attempting to recover. The turn went/will go well for the following reasons: