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Morning Glory RCC: Brock
Drago?
Rocky IV is one of my
favourite movies of all time. It’s my favourite from the ‘Rocky’ series,
and although it can be argued that Rocky I is the most realistic, or Rocky III has the
coolest opponent, there is no matching Rocky IV for entertainment. The storyline? For
those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s this: Rocky’s best friend and
trainer, Apollo Creed, the man who Rocky originally defeated for the World Title, is
challenged to an exhibition match by the Russian champion Ivan Drago. Drago proves to be
‘unstoppable’, and Creed dies after suffering a massive beating. Rocky then
takes up the challenge, trains his ass off in the mountains of Russia, then defeats Drago
against all the odds in the final bout. Yes, this movie is somewhat corny. Yes, it is
definitely unrealistic (Communist Russians cheering for Rocky?). But after watching it,
you can’t deny that it is a satisfying movie to watch.
So why, you ask, am I ranting about Rocky IV in a wrestling column? Because this week on
Smackdown, the WWE attempted to get Brock Lesnar over by making him into an Ivan Drago
clone. They attempted to push the feud between Lesnar and The Rock as a feud as intense as
that between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago. And for this viewer, they succeeded. Up until
this week, I honestly wasn’t interested in the Rock/Lesnar Summerslam main event.
When Lesnar won the King Of The Ring tournament, making him #1 contender to the title at
Summerslam, I was annoyed in a big way with the WWE’s booking. At that time, Lesnar
was nowhere near over. He hasn’t even been booked as a proper ‘monster’,
needing the interference of Paul Heyman to defeat both Test and Rob Van Dam in the
tournament. Lesnar’s entrance garnered little or no fan reaction, and was certainly
not at a level to main event a PPV, let alone the second biggest of the year, Summerslam.
Lesnar simply bored me. When I found out that The Rock had won the WWE Title at Vengeance,
I was still not hyped for the Summerslam main. Sure, Rocky/Lesnar will make a better match
than Taker/Lesnar, but I’m not into either Rock or Lesnar like I am Taker. I was
expecting a mediocre main event at best.
Until this week. The first sign that the WWE would push this feud in the ‘Rocky
IV’ mould was the vignettes of The Rock training, shown on RAW. It gave me a
flashback to the scenes in every Rocky movie, of Balboa training up for his big match. The
vignettes gave the match more of a ‘big match’ feel, and it worked. It made me
more interested than before. However, Smackdown was when the feud finally made me hyped
up, and desperate to see Summerslam. The opening video package was a classic. Showing the
career highlights of the legendary Hulk Hogan, then questioning whether he could actually
beat the ‘Next Big Thing’. I was certainly not looking forward to Hogan/Lesnar,
but as Smackdown went on, the build continued, and I wondered what would happen. I even
had a feeling at one point that Hogan may win the match, setting up a huge return match at
Summerslam. But as the match began, I realised exactly what they were doing. Hogan-Lesnar
was Creed-Drago.
Sure, the match wasn’t a squash. Lesnar did have most of the offence, but Hogan got
in his fair share, hit the legdrop, and Heyman even interfered. But the end of the match
was where the drama kicked in. Lesnar hooked Hogan in a bearhug, and Hogan was counted
out. Hogan was left bleeding from the mouth, and Lesnar left to heel heat, some of his
loudest yet. But Lesnar wasn’t done. He returned to the ring, and as Heyman tried to
stop him, yelling “You’ll kill him!”, Lesnar smashed Hogan with a steel
chair, busting him open. The way Heyman yelled this, audibly, was perfect. It gave the
match even more of a Drago/Creed feeling, and when Lesnar rubbed Hogan’s blood onto
himself, the effect was fully complete. The fans were booing like crazy, and chanting
‘ROCKY! ROCKY!’ just like in the movie. Sure, Hogan didn’t die or anything,
but the thought was there. Lesnar had destroyed the legend, the man who The Rock had
defeated earlier in the year. The Rock’s friend. And now Lesnar, like Drago, was
daring The Rock to step in the ring with him. And the match, in my eyes, was made into a
huge main event.
Of course, the question that has now been set up is this. Does The Rock play Rocky Balboa
at Summerslam? Or does he become another Apollo Creed, another victim, as Lesnar’s
meteoric rise up the card continues. Usually, I’m always one to spit out fantasy
booking, and explain what I would do. This time however, no clue. There is no doubt that
Lesnar’s first defeat should come at the hands of a highly established superstar, and
of course, there is none higher than the current WWE champion, The Rock. However, Rocky
doesn’t really need a win against Lesnar, as he can’t go any higher than he
already is. Lesnar needs the win a lot more, and to win the WWE title would cement him in
the top of the card. The question then, of course, is who finally does play Balboa? Who
gives Lesnar his first clean defeat? Rhyno is one name that for me immediately comes to
mind. He is just as much of a monster as Brock, and could easily get over as a huge face.
Another contender is of course Kurt Angle, but if Angle is serious about doing the 2004
Olympic games, I don’t see the point in handing such a huge win to him. Of course,
someone like Triple H could beat Lesnar at any given time. Who knows? Lesnar could even
(in a nightmare world) end up jobbing to Goldberg or something. As it is now, I’m not
even trying to guess the end of the Summerslam main event. I’m enjoying it for what
it is: a huge spectacle that reminds me of one of my favourite movies.
And one more thing……if during a pre-match staredown, Lesnar tells Rocky “I
must break you.”….I will mark out like a 12 year old! Over and out….
Scott.newman@ntlworld.com
AIM: thesuperstar24
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