It may be the world’s most dangerous soap opera, but the World Wrestling Federation is a soap opera nonetheless, with heroes and villains, triumphs and heartbreaks.
As in any soap, the story revolves around a few central characters whose lives are as intertwined as the ropes of a wrestling ring.
As the WWF goes network in the form of UPN’s “WWF Smackdown” (Thursday, 7 p.m., WPWR-Ch. 50), here is an episode of the continuing drama “As the Body Slams”:
The cast
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin: The ex-WWF heavyweight champion; an iconoclast who is beloved by fans.
The Undertaker: The sinister, dark side of the WWF.
The Rock: “The People’s Champion”; a flamboyant, heroic loner.
Triple H: The brash, up-and-coming villain.
Chyna: Triple H’s female bodyguard.
Supporting players
Paul Bearer: The Undertaker’s devious manager.
The Big Show : The Undertaker’s 7-foot, 500-pound partner.
Kane: The Undertaker’s voice-scarred brother.
Vince McMahon: The nefarious, currently unseen founder of the WWF.
Shane McMahon: Vince’s sniveling son.
Stephanie McMahon: Shane’s sister; Shane disapproves of her relationship with the wrestler Test.
Billy Gunn: Chyna and Triple H’s scheming buddy.
X-Pac: A high-flying wrestler who shares a heartwarming friendship with Kane.
Jeff Jarrett: A mean-spirited wrestler who is aided by his confidant, Debra.
Mankind: A rumpled, wide-body, everyman fan fave who is the new WWF champ.
The plot
The dust has settled from Sunday’s “SummerSlam” event, where Mankind — after a months-long layoff — wrested the belt from Austin during a three-way match that also included Triple H.
But even though WWF has a new heavyweight champion, there are still troubling questions for many stars: Is Austin lonely, missing any kind of friendship? Is the Undertaker unfulfilled because he can’t reconcile with his voice-scarred wrestling brother Kane? Is the Rock lost and confused because the championship glory of a WWF heavyweight title eludes him? Is the rift between Triple H and Chyna — established when Chyna temporarily took the No. 1 seed to wrestle Austin from HHH — still there?
For answers to these and other questions, tune in each Thursday for another installment of “As the Body Slams” — we mean, “WWF Smackdown.”
