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What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw - March 17, 1998

-Jim Ross and Michael Cole are in the booth and they are taped from Phoenix, Arizona.  This is a special Tuesday St. Patrick’s edition of Raw because Raw was pre-empted by USA Network’s Moby Dick.  Today, RAW would get cute with this being St. Patrick’s Day, but this is the Attitude Era so we do not have leprechauns or green set themes for this show.


-Kevin Kelly interviews Ken Shamrock and his introduction of Shamrock tries to channel Howard Finkel and fails miserably.  Kelly asks Shamrock if he can control his temper at WrestleMania and Shamrock says that the Rock has to worry the most about him losing his temper.  Intercontinental Champion the Rock and the Nation of Domination walk out and the Rock busts out the first “Know your role and shut your mouth.”  The Rock says that if Shamrock can last two minutes with any member of the Nation that he will defend his title against Shamrock and drafts a reluctant D-Lo Brown to do his bidding.  Shamrock’s mic work here was better than normal and the Rock continues to bring the usual entertainment.  1 for 1

-Opening Two Minute Challenge:  Ken Shamrock beats D-Lo Brown by disqualification when the Rock interferes at 1:48:

D-Lo attacks Shamrock from behind to kick off this challenge and the crowd busies itself with a “Rocky sucks” chant.  D-Lo gets through the first minute without difficulty, but Shamrock turns the tide and puts him in the ankle lock.  Before D-Lo can submit with twelve seconds left in the challenge, the Rock nails Shamrock with a chair and then gives him another sick shot to the head.  As WWF officials tend to a knocked out Shamrock, Faarooq argues with the Rock about his actions and the Rock jaws with fans on the way back to the locker room.  THIS is how to build heel heat.

-Kelly says that Shamrock has suffered a concussion and other elements of his medical condition are uncertain.  Shamrock is shown not wanting to go to the hospital and woozy.

-Sable comes out and challenges Luna Vachon to a match tonight.

-The Phoenix Sun gorilla rappels from the rafters, trampolines into the ring, and jumps around before taking up a position at the broadcast booth.

-Jeff Jarrett (w/Tennessee Lee) defeats Tom Brandi via submission to the figure-four leglock at 1:48:

Jarrett makes his entrance on a horse in electric lights.  Jarrett’s rebooted push continues here against the hapless Brandi whose fifteen minutes of fame with Marc Mero and Sable are long game.  At least Jarrett does some setup for the figure-four this week.

-Kelly tells us that Shamrock is being sent to the hospital, but the Rock interrupts his report and says that he is now worried about who he is going to face at WrestleMania since Shamrock won’t be able to make it.

-Lawrence Taylor’s victory over Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania XI is the M&M WrestleMania Millennium Moment.

-A video package hypes the Shawn Michaels-Steve Austin WrestleMania main event by providing comprehensive retrospectives on Shawn Michaels career.  The good thing about this video package is that it puts over the importance of the main event and the WWF title and puts a focus on the future and not on the past, which is a problem with the product today.

-Handicap Match:  The Headbangers (NWA Tag Team Champions) beat The Rock N’ Roll Express & Jim Cornette when Mosh pins Ricky Morton with the Stage Dive at 2:06:

This grew out of a Superstars match where Cornette pinned Mosh after the Headbangers beat the Rock N’ Roll Express in a title defense after the usual NWA shenanigans.  The Headbangers hit the Stage Dive out of nowhere to win this without Cornette ever being part of the match.  However, when the Headbangers try to beat up Cornette, the repackaged Bart Gunn and Bob Holly come out and attack them.  Cornette announces them as the New Midnight Express and they are now named “Bombastic” Bob and “Bodacious” Bart.  Cornette has the New Express beat up the Rock N’ Roll Express because the Rock N’ Roll Express has done a poor job protecting him.  Since the New Midnight Express did not have the old Midnight Express’s awesome theme music this was a failure out of the gate much like the rest of the NWA angle.  (2 for 3)

-Call 1-900-737-4WWF to hear what the plan is for D-Generation X to eliminate Steve Austin before WrestleMania!

-Gennifer Flowers says that Shawn Michaels could be her “boy toy” anytime, that Steve Austin would not be “stone cold” with her, and that she could make the Undertaker rise from the dead.  So that’s who we can blame for American badass Undertaker…

-The Phoenix Sun gorilla keeps jumping around in the ring and unveils a “Gorilla 3:16” t-shirt.  Kane and Paul Bearer take exception to that as the lights go out and Kane lays the Gorilla to waste.  HUGE heel heat for that.  3 for 4

-Jerry Lawler comes out to do commentary for hour two.

-Footage is shown of European Champion Owen Hart breaking his ankle against Barry Windham on last week’s show.  He comes out to do commentary for the next match.  They clearly edit out a part where Ross tells the fans to quit reaching over the guardrail and messing with the commentators.

-Chainsaw Charlie beats Billy Gunn (w/The Road Dogg) by disqualification at 2:23:

This was setup from last week’s show where Gunn nailed Charlie in the back with a chair.  Ross tells the fans that the tag team championship match at WrestleMania will be a dumpster match.  The Road Dogg proceeds to commentate the match on the house mic and when things get sour for Billy after he refuses to pin Charlie after two piledrivers, the Road Dogg runs in and creates the disqualification.  After the bell, Charlie fights off the heels, gives Gunn a DDT on a tag team title belt, and Cactus Jack comes out to help Charlie tie up Road Dogg by the feet and lift him several feet in the air.  Nice segment that allows the faces to get revenge for the attack the Outlaws launched against Cactus and Charlie on last week’s show.  (4 for 5)

-Steve Austin’s bullying of Vince McMahon on last week’s show is the Bop It Slam of the Week.

-Luna Vachon tells the announcers from the backstage area that she accepts Sable’s challenge, but it will be at a time that she decides.

-Vince McMahon walks out to a chorus of boos and is interviewed by Kevin Kelly.  McMahon considers Austin’s conduct on last week’s show unprofessional, but considers it somewhat justified by Mike Tyson joining D-Generation X.  McMahon gets tired of Kelly going back to last week’s footage and says he did not hit Steve Austin last week because he wanted to save the WrestleMania main event since he would have broken Austin’s jaw.  When asked if he wants to see Austin win the WWF title at WrestleMania, McMahon says that if Austin would be willing to be molded into the WWF’s corporate image that would be okay for the company, but if he won the title in present form it would be a public relations disaster.  McMahon says that Austin and WWF fans cannot handle his answer, but when Kelly presses him for an answer, McMahon relents and says his answer is not only a “no,” but a “hell no.”  McMahon hits another segment out of the park here as McMahon gradually morphed into the Mr. McMahon character over the course of the interview and let his disdain of Austin be publicly aired.  5 for 6

-Ross says that Lucky Luke and Prince have been chosen to rap Mike Tyson to the ring at WrestleMania.  Owen makes me laugh by saying that he hates rap.  A Tyson video package is aired.

-Steve Austin gets a career retrospective video package to hype his participation in the WrestleMania main event.  It talks about his WCW firing and Ringmaster gimmick.

-Triple H walks out and questions Owen’s manhood.  He challenges Owen to a European title match tonight and when Owen refuses, Triple H tosses water in his face and pushes him down.  This leads to a brawl that leads to…

-European Championship Match:  Triple H (w/Chyna) beats Owen Hart (Champion) by referee stoppage at 45 seconds to win the title:

Owen pounds on Triple H on the floor and tosses him into the ring, but Triple H distracts the referee, thereby allowing Chyna to smash a baseball bat into Owen’s injured ankle and roll him into the ring.  Triple H puts Owen in an ankle lock and the referee stops the match to give Triple H his then-record setting second European title reign.  You really want to root for Owen in this feud, but it is becoming increasingly impossible when he’s made to look like a fool each week.  You would almost think that is the point of all this…

-Confrontation:  Sable (w/Marc Mero) and Luna Vachon (w/Goldust):

Both women come out to confront the other and brawl, but WWF officials will not allow it to take place and the fans are not very happy.  Mero and Goldust assist by holding their valets back, leading the crowd to work up a “Let them go!” chant.  Sable eventually gets free of Mero and chokes Luna and rips her clothes as the crowd explodes.  At the end of the segment, Sable appears to have suffered a knee injury.  The booking team went way overboard on the injury angles this week.

-The lights go out and Kane returns and in a really awesome heel move Mero flees the ring to “get help,” thereby leaving Sable alone.  Sable begs for her life when the lights go out again and the Undertaker shows up on top of the Titantron and tells Kane that he felt his wrath at the Royal Rumble and now it is time for him to feel his.  The Undertaker uses his powers to set a casket that has Kane in effigy alight as we go off the air.  Everything from the Sable-Luna brawl through this shows in about five minutes why the Attitude Era was an awesome time to be a fan.  6 for 7

The Final Report Card:  Since the WWF was not facing competition from WCW with this show they decided to use it to hype the WrestleMania main event with two long video packages for Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin, which was a good move.  The show also played up the “WWF corporate executives do not want Austin to be the WWF champion” and it was the first time that Vince McMahon portrayed a heel character on WWF television (although USWA fans saw an early version of the character in 1993).  Good effort this week in exposing the product to new fans and any WCW fans that were starved for wrestling action on a Tuesday night.

Monday Night War Rating:  N/A


Show Evaluation:  Thumbs Up

Comments

  1. Ah, the semi-famous Rock chairshot to Shamrock! Absolutely vicious. And absolutely awesome. Rock was so awesome during his run here as he sped ahead to superstardom.

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  2. I know others have said it in past threads, but thanks for these reviews. It's great to read through them and see how some of the unforgettable moments played out as well as be reminded of some of the great stuff I forgot about. Well done.

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  3. Oh I don't blame him at all. I love seeing people enjoy their work.


    I like it when they crack up on SNL as well.

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  4. well, then I guess the reason isn't in the broadcasting department, is it? otherwise Vince would certainly have tried to make it a big deal.

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  5. He wasn't sidelined really though. He just couldn't wrestle for a while. Though having him come out and superkick other wrestlers with AJ and Big E in tow for a while longer would have done wonders for him.


    They chose to give the belt to ADR because Vince has always thought ADR was a draw for some reason.


    I'm guessing video footage of the him working out.

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  6. another huge difference between 1996 und 2014. today a guy like Droese would never get such a spot. but I think the randomness of a undercarder competing for a Rumble spot made it even more interesting.

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  7. That chair shot was one of my favorite Raw moments for the longest time. Rock just MURDERED Shamrock with that one, and Ken's "OH $#&^!" sell was just great. So brutal.

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  8. Your_Favourite_LoserJanuary 7, 2014 at 3:07 PM

    mike(y) mondo still wrestles for roh

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  9. Fandango only settled into JTTS because of a concussion. He was going to be the IC Champ. Then Curtis Axel got the call up to become IC Champ, and promptly JTTS.

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  10. Don't blame the crowd. It was a boring show.

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  11. Send for the man!


    And yeah, it's moments like this where you can see just how much someone enjoys it that make it special.

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  12. One of my favorites ever. Shamrock on his knees asking for it and BAM!!

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  13. Dolph has been very promising for a while now, and honestly I don'g think it will ever be realized....and a substantial part of that is his fault.

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  14. "but thankfully John Cena is there to save the 21-time World champion from having to defend himself"

    Except Flair is now almost 65 and looks like it. You can respect his past accomplishments, but he shouldn't be perceived as a physical threat by anyone at this point. Maybe if he suckers them into a low blow and goes straight to the figure four.

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  15. Oh, I agree that he isn't in the main-event and isn't looking so hot, I just disagree with the parameters you used to reach that conclusion.


    Deciding booking by looking at stuff on a week to week basis is troublesome. I mean, a few Raws ago Sandow was the top advertised heel...


    Cena and Lesnar and Batista and Punk are all obviously more important than Bryan, but Bryan is right beneath that. He expressed interest in a championship, has actual intrigue and drama in his current position (unlike any other mid-card feud) and most importantly...is not portrayed like a loser.


    Did he give up and join the Wyatt's? Yeah, he did (maybe, we'll see how the angle goes) but he's not their slave, he's an active participant who's fucking with the established order of things by overshadowing the prior members.


    Bryan might be shuffled down to face a stable, but he's not being portrayed as a mid-card wrestler, his matches have the same feel to them (different moves which was a very cool) the same amount of offense traded, and he didn't look weak in the finish.

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  16. It would be weird and shady if the stock tanked, and it didn't. She's pretty much just going to the "ATM for the insanely wealthy" for whatever reason.

    Also, she's a pretty public figure...I would think she's smart enough to know A) Insider trading laws and B) That breaking said laws so visibly earns her a stay at Chez FCI.

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  17. The Daniel Bryan thing hurts a lot, as mentioned.

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  18. I love watching wrestlers genuinely have a good time out there. Reminds me of some of my favorite free-wheeling Attitude Era promos.

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  19. I rewatched the 96 - 98 Raws last year. Not only are Logan's reviews interesting but FWIW I find myself agreeing with his opinions on what worked and didn't.

    I find that interesting about the Attitude era. Not everyone liked it, but everyone seems to agree on what was good about it.

    So, you would think it would be easy to just apply the same lessons to today's product. It seems easy.

    So why is today's product so divisive among fans, why aren't those lessons learned? It honestly confuses the hell out of me.

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  20. Welcome to the BOD man!

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  21. Didn't Shamrock suffer a legit concussion from that which was why their WM match was so short?

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  22. Interesting that this story coincides with this announcement

    http://www.wwe.com/inside/groundbreaking-announcement-january-8-26173662

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  23. I'm sorry, even I have to down vote this.

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  24. I don't get why they think people would cheer a pompous singer, given how they shat on a pompous dancer already

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  25. I look at that page, and I think to myself, how does Vince look five years younger?

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  26. also I realize Cesaro is crazy strong, but the idea of giant swinging someone OVER the top seems... implausible.

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  27. That would be one of the highlights of the nights.

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  28. Please be Rey, please be Rey.

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  29. As a 9 year old kid i loved the story of HBK and Bulldog starting at 1 & 2 but i was pissed when Shawn came back in and eliminated Bulldog... It's one of the best rumble endings of all time and made up for the lack of star power.

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  30. The reason stock is up is because they're trying to sell their tv shows to the highest bidder and the network will soon be out. It doesn't mean these ventures will suceed, but they've convinced a ton of people it will so everyone wants to get on the gravy train.


    In fact, since these ventures will most likely fail, the best time to sell your stock would be now and when business goes down again, Steph will be able to buy her stock back at a much lower price, guaranteeing her a profit.

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  31. They had a weekend fan fest last year where a battle royal took place with NXT guys, I guess they would do the same

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  32. Yeah, sounds like a good combo.

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  33. He has picked up Khali before, the man can do anything.

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  34. This might have been your best review yet.

    As for The Rock and mic skills, seems like he always naturally had them. The other night I watched him talk with Kevin Kelly before his MSG debut and even then (despite just being a peppy baby face), he was extremely well spoken.

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  35. Hearing Jake basically overcome with joy and emotion in that little spot made my day.

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  36. Jay-z shows, disney on ice, big rock acts, pop stars, I think the Barclay is one of the hottest arenas to play in the country right now. I have no doubt the wwe will be able to sell out NYC at the very worst of times, I think even in like 1995 the WWF could sell out msg, NYC is the home base, but I don't know if they can bring in as much cash for Barclay's as these other acts. I actually tried to look this up but then I had to stop and do real work for awhile

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  37. My issue isn't the strenght, it's the angle. I don't see how you would pull that off without spinning them into the mat first.

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  38. He reported the entire hhh taking control of the company story line before it happened and if Vince does return to challenge hhh dave will have been right about wm all year

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  39. That's... Not how that whole thing works.

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  40. Yes...that is...how...that works

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  41. Fair point. What was I thinking

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  42. Why not let someone like English or a Sami Zayn do the marathon man sort of deal in the Rumble? Instant recognition and respectability for a debuting guy

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  43. Love your reviews man.

    Still remember the "hell no" mcmahon segment. As you noted, he really was coming into his own at this point. This WM build all around is some of the best shit they've ever done.

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  44. I remember being 13 and completely confused why the NWA angle existed. Between obese Barry Windham, a literally decomposing Rock & Roll express and then this grand reveal of the Midnight Express with early 90's Ninja Turtle exclamations for names, WHO WAS THIS FOR????

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  45. Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm glad to know people are enjoying them. With these shows I find myself marking out over some things because I forget they happened or happened a certain way. For example, I forgot how awesome Marc Mero was playing this character and how McMahon organically morphed into his role.

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  46. Vince didn't want Austin to be the CHAMP not just focusing on the "face" of WWE. Huge difference, and the Vince stuff managed to not consume the concept of Austin Vs. Shawn 1 on 1 for the strap.

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  47. After 2 weeks of incessant back-and-forth on the blog about the current problems with the booking, you nailed it in 2 sentences. Well done, sir.

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  48. Now watch Ambrose get buried for it.

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  49. Given that people who fight back against their demons and "win" (in as much as you ever win) are apparently one of the things that Vince can't help but show his human side over, I bet it was emotional for him too.

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  50. No, it really isn't. The NFL cuts settlements to make the bad PR that a lawsuit would bring go away. If a similar lawsuit were brought against the WWE today, they might settle, but they wouldn't lose.

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  51. Even she has had enough of the way Bryan is being used....

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  52. You may want to do a little research into how liability law works or even just about the case the players brought against the NFL. They settled to save a fortune, not to avoid the bad PR hit they took anyways. These are all issues that can be brought in front of a jury

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  53. The obvious answer is that the Attitude Era can now be viewed with the benefit of hindsight. It's not like opinions were nearly as unanimous at the time. On top of that, there are pretty much zero periods in history where EVERYTHING worked. Even if WWE's current creative learned lessons from this period (and it's apparent that they haven't), they still wouldn't be nailing every angle. It's simply too hard to gauge how an angle will get over live versus on paper. You could put together an all-star cast from the 40 years of Saturday Night Live and some skits would still tank.

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  54. Hopefully he will take it as a sign that he should stop selling punches like bomb blasts and look after himself.

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  55. As I said below, if some court finds the Chiefs liable that just opens up a can of worms for EVERY sport where concussions take place. Hell, they even happen in baseball and it was recently found that Ryan Freel suffered from CTE. Are we just going to ban all sports? Then again, considering how America is keen on banning everything these days, I wouldn't be surprised. Guess we better get used to the Boston Marathon being our new national past time! GET TO RUNNING!

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  56. How dare you besmirch Fandango? Dude is money.

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  57. The Ghost of Faffner HallJanuary 7, 2014 at 5:45 PM

    Too bad it wasn't Pete Rose in the gorilla suit. :)

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  58. Sure, I'm not saying it would be a recipe for perfection. And the only thing I remember on the Internet from the late 90s is IS WALKING~!

    But ratings are the best judge of popularity, from just before the WWE became in vogue again and from say, 2000 - 2001. When it was attracting and then keeping fans.

    If I worked in creative I would sit down and watch some of those (and throw in maybe some SNME) with a target audience, and just see what they liked and what worked still.

    And then for pity's sake throw (or even plan!) that stuff at the current show. Why can't there be more mysterious, quasi-magical characters, who could be brothers with a dark past? Add more non-US patriots to the Real Americans and redo the Hart Foundation story while building up interest abroad. Reenact the "Misogny is bad, kids" Sable / Mero story with I dunno, some fake couple up from NXT. And her onscreen boyfriend too lolz

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  59. (Those are just off the too of my head, not what I consider pivotal stories by the way!)

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  60. The Wyatts need a female manager! Missy Wyatt~!

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  61. I think maybe we were all too distracted by Sable's rib cage and Mero the wrestler being a shell of his former past to notice at the time.

    Looking back I found him always "on". I actually think of he hadn't been in such an amazing period for strong characters with great mic skills, he would have been main eventing by 1998.

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  62. Helmsley Manor.

    Nothing about the McMahons or the weird robber barons of wrestling vibe they give me would make me doubt they want to build a huge crib.

    And who knows, maybe make some investments elsewhere, perhaps relating to social media venues like Tout. Who knows, it's her money, she's earned it.

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  63. Have you been paying attention to the Intercontinental title over the past couple years? "IC Champ" and "JTTS" are the same thing.

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  64. So because he posts at NPP is enough for everyone to downvote him even though it's a very valid point? No wonder everyone shits on you guys.

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  65. I skipped Raw this week because I'm just really not into the product right now. It took awhile, but the joy I felt when Bryan won the belt finally got squashed away. I still really love the guy, but christ...so much of what WWE presents isn't entertaining to me.


    And, I'm ok with the Wyatt turn. In fact, I wound up watching a few segments via Hulu a bit ago; Wyatts - because I wanted to see how DBry handled the change in character (dug it), Piper...and Jake. Goddamn it.


    Why do I watch wrestling? At the end of the day, for the same reason I indulge in just about any form of entertainment...because when it's done well, it can be an emotionally moving experience. Y'all have your moments; so do I. Add to them a nearly 60 year old Aurelian Smith Jr looking really good, all things considered. I starting crying like a little girl, and I'm not ashamed. Why was I moved? Because the man who remains my all time favorite wrestler and the reason I started watching regularly seems to have beaten back most of his demons, thanks in no small part to DDP repaying an earlier kindness. Will it last? I don't know. I sincerely hope so, with nearly all that I am.


    But for one moment on one night, I was supremely happy.

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  66. She is the true Higher Power

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  67. And their own R&B show: The Wyatt Storm

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  68. The 1996 Royale Rumble was much better than the previous year. The balance of competitors during the match kept the suspense high. Neat little match-ups neighbourhood Backlund vs. Funk and Vader vs. Yokohama. And a nice introduction to Vader. These two rumbles represented the best and worst of the Royal Rumble. I enjoyed the 1996 rumble as much as I hated the 1995 rumble.

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  69. I'm going to stick with the idea that she's a crack addict.

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  70. I was with up until you said she's earned it.

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  71. Okay I admit that line was kinda trolling ;)

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  72. Plus one on the upvote

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  73. Shawn Michaels was clearly tossed over the top rope by Vader. Everything after that has been a SHAM by Michaels!

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  74. His terrible ring name does not fall on him

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  75. If Giant Gonzalez could toss the Undertaker over the top without being in the match then Vader tossing Michaels should be legal.

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  76. What was up with the Owen booking? Were they really that mad at him for wanting to quit? He never got one up on HHH in this feud.

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  77. Charlie from It's Always Sunny?

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  78. Not sure if they were 'mad' at him. But Owen by many accounts was a guy who didn't really have a lot of passion for wrestling, and didn't really immerse himself in backstage politics. HHH on the other hand is a guy who went out of his way to get involved with the 'creative'/booking and production side of things. As history of shown, he's a guy who is always going to push backstage for situations where he comes out at top. Plus his best friend at the time had Vince's ear.

    So in hindsight it's kind of easy to see why it was such a one-sided feud.

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  79. Hell, I'm older and grew up as a huge fan of Windham, the R&R Express and the Eaton/Lane Midnight Express. And I wondered what the hell they were doing on TV. It really made no sense, unless you believe the stories that Russo was just fucking with Cornette.

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  80. Yeah it does actually. Dolph was his grandaddies name. The fact that it was the also the name of Hitler's favorite artist is just an unfortunate coincidence.


    And I'm more talking about his utter inability to be a likable babyface.

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  81. Your_Favourite_LoserJanuary 7, 2014 at 7:40 PM

    hornswaggle

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  82. I like when they brought Dan Severn in, but yeah, it was a very puzzling angle for me around the same age because I had no idea who the Midnight Express were. I had seen a little of the Rock N' Roll Express in USWA/Smokey Mountain, but that was it. I remember that the Apter mags trolled the angle as a poor man's NWO angle at the time, which just made it worse.

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  83. Same here - not having them on-screen together, but I was hoping for a mention from Bray that they live out in the middle of nowhere because he refuses to pay taxes.

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  84. Gotta say, I was VERY intrigued by Bryan's desire to be a mentor to Harper and Rowan. Could this actually be leading to the suggested angle of Bryan using the "Wyatts" to take down the establishment?

    I'd be totally into that. Sure, it doesn't make much sense (one would think that Cena, Punk, and Show would be better allies), and Rowan sucks, but it's certainly something different and creative.

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  85. They wanted to push Hunter, and were actively de-pushing Owen probably due to his links to Bret. Owen was hot as HELL post Montreal and they went out of their way to job him out

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  86. Owen was hot as HELL post Montreal and they went out of their way to job him out

    This right here is what I don't get. I don't want to get ahead and start talking about mania but that was just a depressing finish knowing how this feud went. We get on HHH about what he did to Booker T, but this is starting to look worse the further we get in these reviews.

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  87. I would say that Owen had a passion for wrestling, but he didn't have a passion for getting ahead by any means necessary. Combined with his dislike for the increasing creative falderal, and what had to be a disillusionment from the whole Bret/his own contract situation, and you could see that there was only so much he wanted to do for "success".
    He felt that he had success at home, and that it rocked for him.

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  88. The show would work even better with that premise. Imagine a current wrestler talking about how they admired Jake or Backlund or AA, then maybe a nice video presentation for each Legend. Make it an event.

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  89. I think it was for Cornette, and one of those examples of Vince and Company just pusing something for the sake of embarassing someone. In this case, Cornette.


    NOW, this was also the time Russo had the book, and I believe Russo and Cornette were constantly fighting with each other over the kinds of angles and booking they should be doing (with Cornette wanting this more "old-schoo" and Russo obviously wanting to push the envelope), so that infighting might have had something to do with it.


    And also, the hot angle in WCW was the nWo and this was the N.W.A. so maybe they were trying to create a bit of marketplace confusion, too.

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  90. I believe this to be true, yes.


    Between Shamrock, Michaels (fucked up back) and Owen Hart (broken ankle) it's a wonder they had enough warm bodies to put on a show!

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  91. I agree they wanted to push Hunter. I don't agree they were actively de-pushing Owen. I think it just happened. The Owen/Hunter feud was a very logical extenstion of the DX/Harts rivalry. I just think -- like Michaels says in his book -- that Owen wasn't very forceful in his own booking and so when they needed someone to job, he was agreeable.


    They put him over Shamrock a couple of times, but by then the damage was done... I did like he and Jarrett winning the tag belts in 1999, because at least they were good workers who could have good tag matches.

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  92. I thought that's what it is in NXT?

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  93. An instance when they had a HOT BABYFACE and they went out of their way to cool them off? Good thing that doesn't happen in today's WWE!


    Let me sign up for Hulu.com so I watch last week's Raw...
    (and that's how I get it back to Daniel Bryan).

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  94. When you realize what NPP is, you'll understand.

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  95. Understood, but I really think they were going somewhere with Fandango. Of course, Vince was always going to get tired of him, but I feel like he would have been the first in a while to not be treated like a jobber with that title.


    The current Big E run is the best we've gotten in a long time.

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  96. I loved the look of Severn coming in with all those belts on him.

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  97. Yeah, I still remember the big "HELLLL NO!!" Vince gave, and how much of an asshole he looked. It says something that the build is mostly around Austin (as Shawn is often barely on TV due to his injury), and setting up his next opponent so thoroughly well.

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  98. Yeah, I recall hearing about the angle being used to deliberately embarrass Cornette, as Russo hated the "old school" stuff and trotted out some has-beens to deliberately make the old school look silly. Of course, he was ALSO a huge Jarrett supporter, but maybe he wasn't at this time.

    I agree with the NWA/nWo comparison- it was probably a bit of a way to get a dig in without being super-obvious about it.
    Jarrett himself is at near-Billy Gunn levels for getting so many chances to get over in such a long period of time.

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  99. Regarding Mero, I can't help but think that if he hadn't been humiliated so thoroughly by his wife at the time, and been a bit better physically (I mean, wasn't he basically just GONE from wrestling after he left?), he'd have been a bigger star. The "Heel who bullies his girlfriend" angle is fantastic as always, and he was getting NUCLEAR heat for refusing the fans glimpses of Sable's barely-clothed body- he was doing great in the role, but once Sable Powerbombed him it was like nobody else wanted to do business.

    The fact that Sable was becoming a huge egomaniac at the time, and Mero was defending her and linked to her, probably didn't help.

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  100. The only time Jarrett was ever over for me was when he was on his way out and before facing Chyna was beating up on all the women....

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  101. Amazing when ya look back that wrestling's hottest era was when Hogan turned heel in WCW and Vince went heel in WWF....

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  102. Zayn would be perfect for a long stretch in the Rumble. Give him a few spots to show what he can do and again he would get people talking.

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  103. He'd break at the knees and everything above his shins would go flying.

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  104. Pretty bad when they need to bring back legends to "pop the crowd" though, wouldn't you say? It's already bad enough that their biggest draws are the part time wrestlers from years past... Rock, Lesnar, Taker, and now add Batista to the mix. I remember going to shows in the 90's and people were going nuts for the DARK MATCH. Face it, people. The wrestling pop, on a consistent basis, is gone, unless some "bearded goat" is doing his cute kid friendly YES chant and that's gone too. So you have nothing. Punk's baby face gimmick is dying by the week and the crowd still have mixed reactions for a guy who is the FACE OF THE COMPANY. They have no one to draw pop.. unless it's who I mentioned before (Rock, Taker, Lesnar, and Batista) who aren't even on the full time roster. Whatever, though. It's not just the writers fault, it's a collective effort because the writing blows and even if they had great writers, they don't have dick for talent to use it with, barring a few guys.

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  105. You know you're a complete nerd when you're rating a professional wrestling match.

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  106. I doubt he was grinning because he was "living a dream" but probably grinning because he has a damn snake on his face. Either that or he was terrified and grinned to relieve the tension.

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  107. Used to hate Ryback but the guy definitely has the chops to talk like a heel. He had me cracking up the majority of the match.

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  108. How have they not made that the name of Bray's finisher by now? That's a much better name for a finisher than the Sister Abagail.

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  109. I always like the story Shawn tells in his book of Vince vehemently telling him prior to the '95 Rumble not to dangle on the ropes and be all melodramatic with his faux-elimination. "I know how you are, just hit the one foot and come right back up incase you can't control yourself." So of course Shawn blatantly ignores it. Made for a great looking finish though.

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  110. Actively depushing Owen seems a little over the top imo. Owen by most accounts wasn't very assertive in how he was booked, and he had been around for awhile so was stuck in limbo. They needed accounts vet to help get hhh over and he was a good next step in the hart/DX thing.

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  111. Dan Severn's best night in wrestling was the night after WM XIV when he came into the WWF for the first time in a suit and tie and decimated the Headbangers with suplexes, stood up, and fixed his tie. Huge badass at that moment. It was all downhill from there.

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  112. True....remember, when he finally won the European title, it was from Goldust dressed as HHH - not HHH doing the job

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  113. I would agree. Not to mention he's changed his look so many times. He was over like crazy in Memphis, but never really got there in the big leagues

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  114. That was a vey gruesome image you just painted.

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  115. Is she selling them by the sea shores?

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  116. The guy went from one of the hottest babyfaces in the company post-Montreal to rapidly moving from a Shawn feud to a Hunter one, then lost to Hunter at every turn. Then they stuck him in the Nation of Domination and shunted him to the midcard. It seems pretty clear to me that he was de-pushed.

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  117. There are plenty of good streaming sites for watching any live sport. Just takes a little digging around. I've got sites for any NHL game (only watch Flyers), any NBA game, and most any other sport can be found. Google is your friend!

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  118. Are they... legitimate TV channels?

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  119. Sorry, once again NO JAKE ROBERTS IN THE RING! Please, it was bad enough in front of a couple hundred people at an indy show watching him out of breath just hitting the short arm clothesline and a botched DDT, but to see him do it in front of millions. Rather not, save the spot for some of the NXT stars and let's promote the next generation, not the previous.

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  120. ...and I'd be OK with that.

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  121. Basically yeah. They're people streaming the channels from their TV to their computer and sharing. It's how I followed the Boston Bombing news right from the Boston channels.

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  122. Dr. Guildo used to do it 9 times in every match!

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  123. Exactly. It doesn't even have to signal some big rocket push or anything. Just let the guy go out and try to impress people with a lengthy performance.

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