How much different do you think that the reaction to Batista coming back and winning the Rumble would be if he had come in as a (legit) surprise entrant rather than advertising his return and having him show up at the go-home Raw and cut a "I came back to win the Rumble and main-event Wrestlemania" promo? (Obviously, the fact that his return was spoiled back in December prevented that from happening).
Yeah, but then they wouldn't have popped that one rating that one week. Because, you know, ratings and stuff.
Wow, a heel who was actually crazily over as a heel, and not just getting booed for taking up a spot on the card that could've gone to someone more deserving. What a concept.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a major difference between having a live mic and wrestling a match. I can't think of a time when the crowd tried to hijack a match and one (or both) of the workers put them in their place.
ReplyDeleteGreatest opening line in promo history.
ReplyDelete"WHO'S YOUR DADDY, MONTREAL!"
Greatest closing line in promo history:
"Ya don't believe me, ask Bret "The Hitman" Hart!" (drops mic, walks away.)
Also loved the strip tease throughout the promo, in a manly sort of way.
I'm not convinced the crowd in Montreal secretly liked Shawn...
ReplyDeleteAt the VERY least, they should have had Batista's first appearance be at the Rumble. It would have probably boosted the PPV numbers as well as the night after.
ReplyDeleteThe pop that Bret's music hit, my gawd King!
ReplyDelete"Got your hopes up just a little bit, didn't I?"
ReplyDeleteGod, what a fucking brilliant promo.
As great a promo as this was, it's not really something that can be used as an example of what guys should do. The Shawn-Bret dynamic in Canada is a unique situation that can't be replicated.
ReplyDeleteAm I oversimplifying that the Hunter hug fucked things up? Either hug, punk (n. cm) Orton, and be the new evil face of WWE, or, you know, don't make a guy you want the fans to cheer hug the wishy-washy-wonders of Authority
ReplyDeleteThis is the greatest promo in history.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that Montreal liked Shawn in 2005, that's for sure. However, I think that after this, they were ok. Remember, this was the first time Shawn had been there as a heel since 97. They wanted to get it out of their systems, but hadn't had the proper opportunity. But once they got the chance to let him have it with both barrels (and he turned back face shortly thereafter), they could let it go, more or less. Both sides merely needed to play their proper parts in that theatre of emotions.
ReplyDeleteBatista just needs to go heel. Problem solved.
ReplyDelete"Who's your daddy, Montreal?"
ReplyDeleteNot being recognized as the greatest promo in history? That's hard times!
ReplyDeleteThat opening line just kills it for me. You knew you were in for something special.
ReplyDeleteI love how Scott seems generally disguised with the product amd the questions surrounding the product. I sent you in an email today buddy, at least sell it a LITTLE.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone is disgusted with the product currently. Not exactly a good feeling a month away from WrestleMania.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wish Bret actually did show up during this promo.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, this is how you work a crowd.
It's not as mindlessly "feel good" as some other Rock, Austin, Flair promos, I can't argue with someone who says it's objectively the greatest promo ever. The crowd manipulation and control is just masterful.
ReplyDeleteYea, I don't blame him at all. It's just really funny. I've been reading his shit for like 15 years and this amd the hhh reign of terror are the most down on the show that I've ever seen him.
ReplyDeleteReally? To me, this just seemed up to par with his usual snark.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of when he stopped reviewing Impact last year.
ReplyDeleteHave you been reading his other reciews/analysis?
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I think the "sit in the ring and wait out the chants" bit would change Orton or Batista's heat from "go away" heat to "I wanna see somebody come down here and kick this guy's ass" heat. Similarly, if HHH would just EMBRACE being the bad guy and flat out tell the fans that yeah, he fucked over Bryan, and no, he doesn't feel bad about it, it'd be a helluva lot better than his wishy-washy directionless best for business rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteSkimmed really.
ReplyDeleteI'm the emailer, and I agree. Heel Shawn was the best, and a few months ago when it looked like he was coming back to fight Bryan, I could not have been more thrilled.
ReplyDeleteDammit WWE, just throw money at HBK till he says yes. It's worth it.
Read them from the recent few weeks and get back to me.
ReplyDeleteCheck out 0:11 in that clip. Puppies!
ReplyDeleteTJ: Austin's Punk/Bryan podcast with Meltzer. Overall pretty diplomatic. Let the callers do most of the bitching which he seemed to tacitly agree with. Thought it was funny the thing he got most worked up about was at the tail end talking about the tag team situation and how disappointed he is and how poor a job they're doing with it.
ReplyDeleteHe's my boy but "Boo-tista" feels like a Worst in the World comment. It's funny but I'm just trying to guess here
ReplyDeleteHonestly if it wasn't for DVR and the internet/torrents I would have peaced out on the wwe years ago. I legit stopped watching when hhh became the guy. Still followed the product online but I literally didn't know what Batista looked like until I watched wmxx to see if Benoit was going to get the title. I came back in the fold a few weeks after I got a DVR. The wwe really is dog shit. The angles suck. The guys they push suck. There's maybe 15 to 20 matches a year really worth watching. Yeah I liked Bryan vs Orton from raw but I've seen it before. Basically what I have to remind myself is that even though I do love watching the actual matches, the show is put together for the lowest common denominator. The wwe is aimed at really stupid people and children. I'd probably be better off just watching Japanese wrestling but its harder for me to get into it without knowing the promos and angles.
ReplyDeleteBoo-tista is widespread. It was the big punchline to end the Rumble Botchamania
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely missing today. The last time they had a great heel, it was Punk last year and he got mostly cheers.
ReplyDeleteYup. I do the same shit. I DVR it and can usually get through it in 40 minutes tops. Someone here, think it was Cult or Vinson, said that if you take out the matches that Raw would be the worst program in tv. It's SUCH a true statement.
ReplyDeleteHBK >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>≥>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HHH
ReplyDeleteI was trying to give WITW credit for it. Way to ruin it.
ReplyDeleteShawn's my favorite of all time. They could shove him down my throat as much as they do Batista and then some and it would make me happy.
ReplyDeleteVery similar, virtually stopped after WCW. Tried to get back into it for Benoit's run, didn't really stick. Barely paid attention to anything wrestling related post-Chavo-texting-scandal.
ReplyDeleteProblem is there's a gigantic signal to shit ratio for wrestling. Summer of Punk brought me back this round. Without a viable competitor, there's just so much crap to wade through for the one or two great things.At least when both companies were running you could time about a pretty solid night of wrestling with channel surfing. And it looks like one of those great things gets to count the lights via Pedigree at Mania.
Montreal is everything I ever said it was. Cold blooded.
ReplyDeleteI'm still pissed Michaels didn't stay heel after the Hogan match.
ReplyDeleteNow that's a heel promo.
ReplyDeleteLove the sign: "You Screwed Bret..for real" For real, dude.
I don't remember it running that long. If felt like he was stalling and even made the "stretch" motion to the camera at one point.
"yep"
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite promo ever, bar none. Shawn needed to get a longer heel run out of this. I liked him as a face, but when he's a true heel, he's one of the best ever. He has that perfect mix of talent and complete unlikeability.
ReplyDeleteThat's the first decent outfit I've ever seen HBK wear. That being said, this was classic.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, outside of this promo I have to disagree with the argument that Shawn was a brilliant heel in the Hogan feud. Outside of Canada, he seemed to be getting a more mixed reaction - probably because a lot of people agreed with the way he was mocking Hogan. Well, at least I know *I* did, so maybe I'm projecting my own feelings on everyone else.
ReplyDeleteBut I think overall he was too popular and respected to have been able to maintain a solid heel run after the feud ended.
Also this was when he became a born again christian. This would have been a million times worse before then.
ReplyDeleteThis promo makes me crack up 100 times out of 100. That look on his face when Bret's music plays is PRICELESS. One of my favorites of all time.
ReplyDeleteThis heel run was so damn short....did he go back to a face immediately after the Hulk match?
ReplyDeleteYes I was annoyed.
ReplyDeleteIt makes it seem like someone was supposed to come out and he just ad-libbed to make up for it.
ReplyDelete"You Screwed Bret!"
ReplyDelete"...AND I'D DO IT AGAIN!"