By Lee Stevens, PWTorch Specialist

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling report - Week 8 Finale
Originally aired Dec. 6 on CMT
Report by Lee Stevens, PWTorch specialist

Going into the season finale of Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, I had never understood one of the most popular concerns of several of my readers. They had complained that with the only prize of the competition coming in the form of a belt, there really wasn't much at stake. That did nothing to take away my enjoyment of the show throughout the season. The show was entertaining and I was genuinely impressed at the progress of several of the contestants.

The finale made me realize the credibility of their complaint. With nothing substantial on the line, the season finale felt like every other episode. If you won, you took home a belt. If you lost, well, at least you didn't have to dust off a belt every few days. Other reality shows have featured prizes of $50,000 all the way up to $1,000,000. Staying with wrestling, the winner of "Diva Search" or "Tough Enough" would receive a contract. Granted, some non-winners have gone on to achieve success (The Miz, for one example), but there was a sense of loss for the losers and a greater sense of victory for the winner.

If the show returns for a second season, perhaps the final prize can be re-worked to include something of benefit for the celebrities. A performance contract may not be practical as most of the celebrities aren't looking for a second career as a full-time wrestler, but I'm sure many of the b-or-c-level celebs would cherish an appearance contract which would provide them with Monday night exposure and a possible WrestleMania paycheck.

With something for the trophy case on the line, the final four celebrities prepared for the final night of competition. The four would compete in a tag match, with the judges determining the final two.

Before we reach the CCW Arena, the remaining four go back to training and Dustin Diamond goes back to school. Based on last week's weak performance, Diamond is forced to go to "chop school." Diamond is naturally very excited about this proposition.

"Chops suck"

First, he has the opportunity to practice on everyone else, however he is the one who suffers the most damage, bruising his hand, much to the delight and astonishment of the trainers. If you have been paying attention this season, you know that one of the later themes was "receipts." Butterbean tried to collect one on Dennis Rodman and tonight, everyone kept their receipt for Diamond, with Rodman, Bean, Todd Bridges, the trainers, the neighbors, Mr. Belding and a guy walking past the gym chopping Diamond across his chest. His scarlet red chest showed everyone that his initial assessment was correct.

"Chops suck"

The tag match for the night would be Rodzilla & Bean vs. Diamond & Bridges. The two sides rehearsed their match with a combination of old moves they had learned throughout the year, plus new twists. The biggest concern this week wasn't a new set of moves; it was the length of the matches. All the competitors had to remember two matches, both of them longer than their work from earlier this season. All of them had trouble remembering the order, most vocally, Bean.

I realize that many wrestlers call the matches as it progresses, but this is a great look at the planning that goes into a match and the attention to detail which is required. With thousands of people watching in person, the pressure of live TV and the threat of Vince McMahon firing you, your children, and your dog, it's amazing that more wrestlers don't look lost in the middle of a live event.

Before the competition picks up, "by popular demand," the jobroni's return. It's called an "unprecedented" jobroni match, but anyone who has watched Ricky Ortiz enough knows that this level of match has happened before.

The eliminated ladies square off with varying degrees of sloppiness. Candy Girl & Tiffany vs. The Red Hot Redneck & the Mistress of Mayhem also bring the return of Frank Stallone as the manager of the heels. Stallone is obviously disappointed the he missed the gimmick challenge as he walks to the ring in full costume, being introduced as Frank J. "Cleopatra" Stallone. M.O.M. gets the pin after a decent flying body press off the top rope onto Tiffany.

After the match, we get our first glimpse of Dangerous Danny Bonaduce as he confronts Stallone. "Cleopatra" gets in his final shots of the show before Danny chases him off, surprisingly without throwing a punch.

The tag match highlighted the best four of the season, with all four showing that they clearly deserved to be the last ones standing. In the end, the judges determined (correctly) that Bridges and Rodman deserved to square off for the title. If you remember my predictions from last week, this is a match-up of the person I said should win against the person I said would win.

I received an e-mail last week asking why I hated Rodman. I don't think I've ever written anything that would indicate a bias against Rodzilla. My concern with Rodzilla is that he had more experience than anyone, yet others looked smoother than him, especially Todd Bridges. While Rodman energized the crowd, which I'll admit is an important part of the in-ring product; I felt that Bridges worked a match more smoothly than him.

After Rodman got the final 1-2-3 of the season over Bridges with a middle rope clothesline, all that was left was crowing a champion. The judges acknowledged that both men performed well, but Hulk Hogan gave the inaugural crown to Rodzilla. It's tough to argue with the decision as Rodman performed better than Frank Stallone or Tiffany, but for me, Bridges was the surprise hit of the first season.

I would not be surprised to see any of the final four in a limited wrestling-related role at some point and Bonaduce has shown that he's crazy enough to do just about anything. If Elliot Sadler continues to be on TNA's speed dial, I'm pretty sure Bridges or Bean could get some work if he wanted it. Diamond was obviously excited about his time and vowed to return next season.

As for casting season two, looking at athleticism, reality show experience and the need for exposure, the first person I would call would be Vanilla Ice. If you saw Ice on "The Surreal Life," he brings the size of Rodman, the stability of Bonaduce and he rocks a mic like a vandal, lights up a stage and waxes chumps like a candle. How could we lose?

Questions of the week: Would you watch if the show returned for a second season? Who would you like to see return for a second run at the CCW title? Do you think the prize should be changed? Comment below or e-mail me.

Thank you very much for following along with me this during the last few weeks! I hope you'll join me as I go "Under The Microscope" every week for Raw and Smackdown.

You can write to me at GLStevens.Torch@gmail.com

RELATED STORY at PWTorch.com: Hulk Hogan responds to Season 2 rumors and Eric Bischoff responds separately to Season 2 rumors

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax