The Steel Cage

A few musings from an eventful holiday weekend in the pro wrestling world:

. I'm too young to have lived during the prime years of Walter "Killer" Kowalski's wrestling career, but his menacing scowl burned into my memory from the first time I saw him during a local news report on him about 16 years ago. I remember hearing him laugh maniacally about ripping off an opponent's ear. Even in his 60's, Kowalski was scarier than most of the heels I was watching each week.

Just last month, I attended a my first house show at the Westchester County Center in White Plains and got a kick out of an old poster hung inside the arena advertising a bout held there between Bruno Sammartino and "The Killer." Much as today's young generation of wrestling fan hears all the folklore of the days of Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man, 20 years ago I would listen in amazement at my father's stories of watching Sammartino, Johnny Valentine, Buddy Rogers and Kowalski.

The term legend is sometimes thrown around cavalierly in the wrestling game, but it would certainly apply to Kowalski. They just don't make bad guys like that anymore. May he rest in peace.

. I wrote last week that, despite John Cena being WWE's top attraction, I didn't think his latest injury hiatus should be that big of a blow to WWE - in part because the rest of the roster was relatively healthy.

Now, less than a week later, WWE seems to have lost a lot of that cushion with news that Shawn Michaels suffered a torn triceps during last weekend's Monday Night Raw taping that could table him for several months, and jeopardize his highly-anticipated match with Chris Jericho this Sunday.

To say I'm upset with the news would be a tremendous understatement. Short of a WrestleMania marquee match, I can't remember when I've looked forward to a pay per view match as much as I have been HBK and Jericho's unsanctioned score-settler at Unforgiven. I imagine I am not alone in feeling that way. The work that Jericho and Michaels have done in making their rivalry the hands-down feud of the year has been nothing short of inspirational, transcending wrestling storylines as we've come to know them. Even if Michaels works through his injury and goes ahead with the match, it is bound to suffer from Michaels' limitations.

Unfortunately, the alternative is to squander the tremendous momentum Michaels and Jericho have built up over several months. Sure, WWE can pick up the feud down the line when Michaels is healthy, but we know it won't be the same. Just look at what Matt Hardy's injury did to his red-hot feud with MVP last year.

A week ago, I was pulling for this match to go on last, in the main even slot of the pay per view. I felt it was that important. Now, I'll be lucky if I get to see it at all.

. Not to step on the toes of my buddy Joe Fernandez over at the "Fightin' Words" blog, but I was absolutely floored by today's announcement by UFC head Dana White of a November 15 heavyweight title match between Randy Couture and former WWE champion Brock Lesnar. Don't get me wrong, I want to see this match as bad as anyone, but I can't help but think this pairing is premature to say the least. Lesnar has won exactly one match in UFC. Couture is arguably the greatest heavyweight fighter ever to step into the Octagon, and the rightful owner of UFC's heavyweight championship.

White has vowed from the outset that he would not fall into over-hyping Lesnar just because of his undeniable star power. Indeed, White seemed to almost overcompensate in putting Lesnar against top level fighters in his first two bouts - not giving Lesnar the chance to gain some experience in "squash" fights. But this match just reeks of the kind of publicity-driven booking that leads to joke fights like Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock over at Elite XC. Sure, Brock looked damn impressive in his match against Heath Herring last month, but what in the world has he done to earn a title shot? White has done a commendable job in making UFC's championships the most valued in all of mixed martial arts. He should be mindful about compromising their integrity with freak show match ups.

That said, I wouldn't miss it for the world.