[WWF] The Netcop RAW Rant for Feb. 9 /99 (SPOILERS AHOY!)
Scott Keith
- As a matter of consideration, I'll be recapping the 90 minute pre-game
show to provide spoiler space for those in the US who don't want to know
the results. Not that it spoils anything that's the LEAST bit interesting,
because this show sucked the meat missile.
- First show: Gallagher.
- Featured guests are Sable, Debra and Chyna. Debra is having a really
lousy day, apparently. Chyna gets major heel heat. Debra is such a
ditzy redneck. Sable runs a close second. Debra confirms that she is
NOT married to Mongo anymore. Chyna tries to trick John Gallagher into
taking the LOWBLOW OF DOOM. Doesn't work. Chyna notes that she has no
interest in the Women's title and it would only take two seconds to win
the title anyway. Sable and Chyna proceed to sit and take potshots at
each other over breast augmentations. Nasty stuff. On posing for
Playboy: Debra is THERE if the money is right, Chyna isn't comfortable
with herself yet. Nothing else to report here.
- Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
- Foley's direction in life came from watching wrestling and wanting to
make "classic moments" rather than "classic matches".
- He recounts the hitchhiking to see Jimmy Snuka story.
- Wrestlers who maintain kayfabe in mainstream interviews bug him.
- Thinks that Mankind appeals to people who want to be Steve Austin but
don't have the self-esteem.
- Thanks that Vince is hardcore because he takes chairshots, but he
doesn't have to take them.
- His kids color in Mr. Socko for him.
- Mick does NOT like wearing the belt. That is, he likes being the
champion, but he refuses to actually wear the belt.
- They go over Hell in a Cell, covering the Big Fall, the chokeslam, the
teeth, and the injuries the resulted. He took one day off.
- They discuss Mick's incessant need to kill himself for our pleasure.
- Mick warns kids to use some common sense before they get into
wrestling. Get a degree first, and then start your career.
- He was working on a backdrop where he'd land on his HEAD, but he
couldn't find a way not to end up paralyzed. Well, duh.
- Mick brings up the Man of the Year poll thing.
- We finish with some word association. On Paul E. : He's a genius, but
he looks terrible for 33.
- Second show: Off The Record with The Rock.
- Rock discusses his family roots and the fact that he's the first WWF
champion "of color" as he puts it.
- Rock defines "jabronie" for Landsberg.
- Rock writes his own "Rockisms".
- They talk about the Survivor Series finish and how it was based on the
finish from the year before.
- They go over the Rockisms and where they came from. Nothing exciting.
- More talk about Rock's start in the sport.
- Austin is Rock's best opponent.
- Rock confirms that Giant is coming in, Severn is gone, and the Blue
Blazer was indeed Koko B. Ware. They finish by discussing Ahmed
Johnson's personal issues. Nothing much exciting on the show, but it's
a great hype job for THE BIGGEST RAW EVER!
And now, without further adieu, the BIGGEST RAW EVER!
- Live from Skydome, in Toronto, Ontario.
- Your hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.
- Big-ass recap of Austin-McMahon starts us off.
- That is like the biggest damn crowd I've ever seen.
- An Austin interview kicks us off, and the crowd isn't really into it.
Hey, it's Canada, just wait until the Rock comes out. Austin goes
through the usual and Mankind comes out to rebutt. Vince and the
Corporation join the party, and Vince guarantees that no one from the
Corporation will interfere. I think we all know who that leaves.
- Opening match: D-Lo Brown v. Jeff Jarrett. D-Lo brings out "Ivory",
a woman who'll do anything for Mark. Match lasts all of a minute before
JJ gets the figure-four, and Ivory distracts him enough to allow D-Lo to
get the Skyhigh for the fast pin. Well, that was...something. Sign in
crowd: "CRZ is God". Don't give him any ideas. Ivory and Debra get
into a pseudo-catfight, which is quickly broken up.
- Val Venis and Ryan Shamrock are out for an interview, but Shamrock
runs in and beats the shit out of Venis and just about every referee in
the building. Note to Ryan: Girls go under the MIDDLE rope when they
leave.
- Goldust v. Gillberg. The spear does nothing. Goldust reels off a
couple of moves...and then Bluedust appears on the video wall...naked.
Ewwwwwwwwww. But this is enough to distract Goldust...and Gillberg gets
the pin! Goldust is first! The lights go out...and Goldust gets a
Blue-bath.
- Earl Hebner makes the statement that no refs will work the Shamrock
match on Sunday, and if no one step forward Shammy forfeits the title.
- D-X (including Road Dogg, who looks fine) comes out for a gab session.
HHH makes some genitallia remarks about Chyna. Jammes does the intro,
which is really LOUD. Billy Gunn reveals a referee's shirt, thus tying
up that referee thing from earlier, so he'll be the ref on Sunday for
the I-C title. Very loud "Suck it".
- Mankind v. Steve Austin. Vince is the ref. He goes over the rules:
Anything is legal and will be encouraged. Kicks to the groin will be
appreciated. Austin and Foley aren't down with this plan, so Vince ends
up eating the Mandible Sock. A big brawl erupts with the Corporation
getting cleared out by the faces. What is this shit? This isn't Nitro,
Vince, deliver your damn matches. This show is sucking.
- After the break, Vince is back. Vince announces that Austin will have
to run the Gauntlet against the Corporation.
- The Godfather (w/ Hos) v. Viscera. Someone sent me a really good joke
about Viscera, but he doesn't deserve it. Midion does commentary and
goes all weird on us. Viscera lumbers around for a while and then
Midion runs in for the DQ. They destroy Godfather. The crowd doesn't
care. What the HELL is that thing in Midion's jar? An eye? And
where's the Canadian talent tonight? Who the hell wants to see these
idiots?
- Backstage, Shamrock and Venis are fighting, so Bill Gunn breaks it up
and beats up Venis himself.
- X-Pac v. Kane. This is non-title. Kane just hammers X-Pac, tossing
him around like a child. Wow, what a beating. X-pac knocks Kane off
the apron and takes over with some kicks, but Chyna breaks things up for
the DQ. She wallops on X-Pac for a bit and goes for a pedigree, but HHH
makes the save. Best of the night so far, but that's not saying much.
- Al Snow (with a bunch of toys to play with) challenges anyone in the
arena to a hardcore match tonight, but no one answers. So he proceeds
to, well, beat himself up. Bob Holly comes out to talk some sense into
him, and Snow decks him. So they proceed to do a "hardcore" match that
really sucks. I mean, it's just brutal, and not in the good way. Crowd
is gone. Where are the Canadians? Where's Edge? Where's Test?
Where's Owen? Would an actual match have killed them?
- Droz punks Kevin Kelly for calling him a punk on Heat. Kelly took a
couple of good shots.
- Steve Blackman v. The Rock. Yeah, this is really appropriate for the
BIGGEST RAW EVER. Rock gets the best pop of the night. Crowd chants
"Rocky" at various points. Rock Bottom and Corporate Elbow gets the
pin. Rocky is way over in Canada.
- Ken Shamrock v. Steve Austin. This is match #1 of the gauntlet for
Austin. We go back and forth and Austin hits the Stunner, but Test runs
in for the DQ, setting up...
- Test v. Steve Austin. Austin hits the Stunner quickly, but Kane
breaks it up for the DQ, giving us...
- Kane v. Steve Austin. Kane wipes out Austin and chokeslams him, but
it only gets two and Austin gets the Stunner, leading to Chyna breaking
it up for the DQ and we get...
- Chyna v. Steve Austin. Stunner, DQ. Bossman runs in...
- Big Bossman v. Steve Austin. Gee, think this'll be a DQ too? Bossman
gets the nightstick and chokes out Austin for the DQ, and Vince comes in
to finish it.
- Vince McMahon v. Steve Austin. After Bossman finishes brutalizing
Austin with the nightstick, Vince pins him. What? The Corporation
holds Austin down while Vince blathers something about "Never being the
same" after Sunday.
The Bottom Line: What a brutal show. Horrible ending. Bad matches.
No atmosphere. Sure, in the States it's just a tossed off setup show
for the PPV on Sunday, but after all the months of hyping it up here I'm
pretty pissed off that this is what we got. This is the WWF Attitude?
"Get it?"
More like "Forget It."
See you on Thursday for my regular Thunder report.
Scott "Netcop" Keith, co-moderator rec.sport.pro-wrestling.moderated
ske...@home.com / ske...@mindless.com / ICQ # 28819658
Official Wrestling FAQ URL: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4693/faq.html
Netcop Rant URL: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4693
Rob Blake
Scott Keith wrote:
>
> The Netcop RAW Rant for Feb. 9/ 99.
> - Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
Good show, not great, but good. Mick looked like shit - dress up for
once! It wouldn't kill you!
> - Second show: Off The Record with The Rock.
Rock was too in-character, and Landsberg is slightly annoying.
> And now, without further adieu, the BIGGEST RAW EVER!
THE BIGGEST AWWWWWWWWW [SHIT~!] EVER!
> - An Austin interview kicks us off, and the crowd isn't really into it.
> Hey, it's Canada, just wait until the Rock comes out. Austin goes
> through the usual and Mankind comes out to rebutt. Vince and the
> Corporation join the party, and Vince guarantees that no one from the
> Corporation will interfere. I think we all know who that leaves.
Austin is quickly losing his pop, and Vince is to blame. Memo to Vince:
the people liked Austin because he kicked asses. Now, he barely
wrestles, and instead, spends all his time fighting the boss. Give it
up. Start over. Start wrestling!
> - Opening match: D-Lo Brown v. Jeff Jarrett. D-Lo brings out "Ivory",
> a woman who'll do anything for Mark. Match lasts all of a minute before
> JJ gets the figure-four, and Ivory distracts him enough to allow D-Lo to
> get the Skyhigh for the fast pin. Well, that was...something. Sign in
> crowd: "CRZ is God". Don't give him any ideas. Ivory and Debra get
> into a pseudo-catfight, which is quickly broken up.
Ugly, ugly! No more f'n women! Just let D'Lo go, already. Give him a
chance.
> - Val Venis and Ryan Shamrock are out for an interview, but Shamrock
> runs in and beats the shit out of Venis and just about every referee in
> the building. Note to Ryan: Girls go under the MIDDLE rope when they
> leave.
Shhhhh!
> - Goldust v. Gillberg. The spear does nothing. Goldust reels off a
> couple of moves...and then Bluedust appears on the video wall...naked.
> Ewwwwwwwwww. But this is enough to distract Goldust...and Gillberg gets
> the pin! Goldust is first! The lights go out...and Goldust gets a
> Blue-bath.
I kind of like Meanie, but the crowd was dead by this point.
> - D-X (including Road Dogg, who looks fine) comes out for a gab session.
> HHH makes some genitallia remarks about Chyna. Jammes does the intro,
> which is really LOUD. Billy Gunn reveals a referee's shirt, thus tying
> up that referee thing from earlier, so he'll be the ref on Sunday for
> the I-C title. Very loud "Suck it".
Blah, blah, blah. Keep X-Pac away from the mic, and just wrestle, ya
clowns.
> - Mankind v. Steve Austin. Vince is the ref. He goes over the rules:
> Anything is legal and will be encouraged. Kicks to the groin will be
> appreciated. Austin and Foley aren't down with this plan, so Vince ends
> up eating the Mandible Sock. A big brawl erupts with the Corporation
> getting cleared out by the faces. What is this shit? This isn't Nitro,
> Vince, deliver your damn matches. This show is sucking.
This sealed it for me - what is the big deal, here? Just wrestle the
fucking match! Screwed the fans big time, by this point.
> - The Godfather (w/ Hos) v. Viscera. Someone sent me a really good joke
> about Viscera, but he doesn't deserve it. Midion does commentary and
> goes all weird on us. Viscera lumbers around for a while and then
> Midion runs in for the DQ. They destroy Godfather. The crowd doesn't
> care. What the HELL is that thing in Midion's jar? An eye? And
> where's the Canadian talent tonight? Who the hell wants to see these
> idiots?
I kind of like Midion, but damn, just put the Brood out there. I would
have rather seen Edge/Gangrel/Christian against Meanie/Holly/Scorpio -
wouldn't you?
> - X-Pac v. Kane. This is non-title. Kane just hammers X-Pac, tossing
> him around like a child. Wow, what a beating. X-pac knocks Kane off
>
> the apron and takes over with some kicks, but Chyna breaks things up for
> the DQ. She wallops on X-Pac for a bit and goes for a pedigree, but HHH
> makes the save. Best of the night so far, but that's not saying much.
X-Pac is probably their best pure wrestler right now, which isn't saying
much. I like to watch him wrestle, but he annoys me a bunch when
talking. I also like Kane, so this wasn't bad.
> - Al Snow (with a bunch of toys to play with) challenges anyone in the
> arena to a hardcore match tonight, but no one answers. So he proceeds
> to, well, beat himself up. Bob Holly comes out to talk some sense into
> him, and Snow decks him. So they proceed to do a "hardcore" match that
> really sucks. I mean, it's just brutal, and not in the good way. Crowd
> is gone. Where are the Canadians? Where's Edge? Where's Test?
> Where's Owen? Would an actual match have killed them?
Yeah, yeah. Edge vs Owen. There ya go. Edge vs Test. There ya go. Damn!
I could seriously write up a LONG RANT on what is wrong with the WWF. To
start, consider this - JUST WRESTLE. Wrestler X hates wrestler Y. They
battle for a bit, THEN FINISH IT with a MATCH. Don't give the fans this
garbage. Man, I am mad.
> - Steve Blackman v. The Rock. Yeah, this is really appropriate for the
> BIGGEST RAW EVER. Rock gets the best pop of the night. Crowd chants
> "Rocky" at various points. Rock Bottom and Corporate Elbow gets the
> pin. Rocky is way over in Canada.
Can't complain. Rock is nice, Blackman is nice, everything is nice.
[snip the garbage Austin matches. Gee, thanks for coming out.]
> - Vince McMahon v. Steve Austin. After Bossman finishes brutalizing
> Austin with the nightstick, Vince pins him. What? The Corporation
> holds Austin down while Vince blathers something about "Never being the
> same" after Sunday.
He hits him in the throat a couple of times, and then he gets pinned!?!?
WTF!?!? This is not the same SCSA. Vince is killing his heat.
> The Bottom Line: What a brutal show. Horrible ending. Bad matches.
> No atmosphere. Sure, in the States it's just a tossed off setup show
> for the PPV on Sunday, but after all the months of hyping it up here I'm
> pretty pissed off that this is what we got. This is the WWF Attitude?
> "Get it?"
>
> More like "Forget It."
More like "Fuck You, WWF". I seriously would have walked out of the
Skydome had I been there. This was, without exaggeration, the worst 2
hours of "wrestling" I have ever seen. I actually wished I was living in
the States, so I could watch WCW! Yes, WCW! I am prepared to jump ship.
> See you on Thursday for my regular Thunder report.
Thank God. I actually look forward to Thunder.
Jon Bence
>No atmosphere. Sure, in the States it's just a tossed off setup show
>for the PPV on Sunday, but after all the months of hyping it up here I'm
>pretty pissed off that this is what we got. This is the WWF Attitude?
>"Get it?"
The annoying thing is that the president of WWF Canada, Carl De Marco
kept hyping the show as the biggest raw ever and even did a big
promotion with tsn. What a waste. Carl de marco and tsn should have
called up Vinnie Mac and told him about all their hype...maybe they
would have given us a better show than the mabel and gillberg
suckfest....
It's like when WCW did their big nitro from altlanta with 40,000
people and they screwed them over for the main event (hogan won
title). WWF did the same thing here, they hyped mankind/austin and
didnt deliver in front of 40,000 fans.
I would have liked the show more if they at least let the wrestlers
wrestle a little. D-Lo/ JJ could have been cool if they had 5 or 7
minutesm but a 1 minute match after 25 minutes of talking? Followed
by 25 minutes of talking? UGH. I actually flipped away from RAW to
watch kids in the hall reruns, the first time I've done that in a
while.
>More like "Forget It."
At least RAW didnt have a 50 year old guy with a fake hip beat bret
hart for the us title.
Jon Bence - ben...@escape.ca
"I look forward to the day when I can
shower without wearing a wetsuit" - Me
Shawn Mullin
I got Agent! :)
>The Netcop RAW Rant for Feb. 9/ 99.
>- First show: Gallagher.
One word: Boring.
Sable seems to really take herself seriously, Debra seems like a total
bimbo and Chyna's getting a bit of an ego going. I don't think she
much likes the bimbo girls :)
I did find it funny when Galleger claimed that the women in the WWF
wern't the big and brawny type anymore.. instead they were good
looking.. while Chyna was right there.
>- Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
This was a good show. It actually kept me away from Buffy (which was
on at the same time here in Ottawa) for most of the show.
>- Thanks that Vince is hardcore because he takes chairshots, but he
>doesn't have to take them.
I found that argument kinda odd, because Vince is supposedly doing it
to raise up the ratings and quality of the show or whatever.
>- Mick warns kids to use some common sense before they get into
>wrestling. Get a degree first, and then start your career.
I really liked this part. He's very much right IMO. Learn the basics
and get in with professionals before you try insane stunts.
>- Mick brings up the Man of the Year poll thing.
and him being DQed from the contest seemed to really piss him off too.
>- We finish with some word association. On Paul E. : He's a genius, but
>he looks terrible for 33.
Did you notice how he didn't seem to have anything kind to say about
Ric Flair as a man, I wonder what that's about. Anyone know why Foley
wouldn't like Flair?
Oh! Something else I noticed. Did you see the part where they were
talking about Mick's contract and Foley said he wasn't worried about
being pushed out of his top of the card status.. like he so trusted
Vince McMahon to do right by him.. I found that kinda scary 'cause
trust like that will get you bitten in the ass.
Mick's such a class act, and you can tell he loves wrestling.
>- Second show: Off The Record with The Rock.
This was a good one too, but The Rock as a person is not as
interesting as Mick Foley.
He's very confident in himself that Rock. At least he gave props to
the legends.
If there was any man who was more molded into Vince's sports
entertainment mold than Rocky, I don't know who it is. Rock has
totally bought into the system.
>And now, without further adieu, the BIGGEST RAW EVER!
or.... the BIGGEST DEAD CROWD EVER
>- Live from Skydome, in Toronto, Ontario.
>
>- Your hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.
Please come back JR, PLEASE, Michael Cole is trying way too hard to be
funny and to tow the company line.. it's boring and he sucks.
>- Big-ass recap of Austin-McMahon starts us off.
>
>- That is like the biggest damn crowd I've ever seen.
Honestly, the only moment on the show I really want to go back and
relieve is the opening. The crowd was massive and set up a great
atmosphere. That's why it was even more frustrating to see them waste
it.
>- An Austin interview kicks us off, and the crowd isn't really into it.
I noticed that too. He got a pretty good pop, but not spectacular.
We remember him trashing our Hart Foundation heroes! No one interupts
Oh Canada and gets the mega-face pop only 2 years later :)
>Hey, it's Canada, just wait until the Rock comes out. Austin goes
>through the usual and Mankind comes out to rebutt. Vince and the
>Corporation join the party, and Vince guarantees that no one from the
>Corporation will interfere. I think we all know who that leaves.
Yeah, talk about blatant setup. Did you also notice Foley and Austin
doing some major foreshadowing of Vince getting his ass kicked? They
just said "somebody will get their ass kicked" and whatever. It made
me smell a screwjob.
on a positive note, I like the Corp's theme.
>- Opening match: D-Lo Brown v. Jeff Jarrett. D-Lo brings out "Ivory",
>a woman who'll do anything for Mark. Match lasts all of a minute before
>JJ gets the figure-four, and Ivory distracts him enough to allow D-Lo to
>get the Skyhigh for the fast pin. Well, that was...something.
Talk about wasting a match that had "good" written all over it.
Instead, we get nothing.
and did anyone else watch Owen walk out seconding Jarrett in front of
a massive Skydome crowd and think.. "what a waste"
Yeah, another woman! You know how many women are around the WWF now?
Chyna, Sable, Luna, Jacky, Terri, Debra, Terri Power and now this one.
Talk about over reliance on sex appeal. Just 'cause Owen/Jarrett
needed a woman to get over it doesn't mean everyone does!
>- Val Venis and Ryan Shamrock are out for an interview,
add her to the list of regulars. Geez. She's a good lookin' one, but
come on. Overkill!
>but Shamrock
>runs in and beats the shit out of Venis and just about every referee in
>the building.
This was one of those "quick, we need heat for an upcoming match"
segments. Shamrock's mad, so he attacks. There wasn't even any real
substance to the interview. It was rushed, uncreative and sucked.
This is where I was starting to realize that they were killing the
crowd. The opening segment was fine, but after that nothing would get
a thumbs up that I can think of.
>Note to Ryan: Girls go under the MIDDLE rope when they
>leave.
not skanky porn star girlfriends :)
>- Goldust v. Gillberg. The spear does nothing. Goldust reels off a
>couple of moves...and then Bluedust appears on the video wall...naked.
My problem with this was that Gillberg's enterance was longer than the
match. Do they have to parady everything about Goldberg :)
The Gillberg joke is dead though. it was a nice one time thing, and
OK at the Rumble, but actually wasting time on TV to say "look,
Goldberg sucks" is stupid.
>Ewwwwwwwwww. But this is enough to distract Goldust...and Gillberg gets
>the pin! Goldust is first! The lights go out...and Goldust gets a
>Blue-bath.
I was honestly hoping this was gonna be the Brood pushing Christian's
match with Gillberg, but no, we get no Brood. We get more Blue Meanie
crap. haha, it's BLUE! that's so funny! he did the same thing,
except it's Blue!
You know, parodies are supposed to be more then just copying what the
guy does, there's supposed to be a joke in there somwhere.. and "it's
blue!" isn't a joke.
>- Earl Hebner makes the statement that no refs will work the Shamrock
>match on Sunday, and if no one step forward Shammy forfeits the title.
I was scared they were gonna do a Scott Steiner rip-off here. That
woulda sucked. When the WWF starts looking to Steiner for some sports
entertainment bits you know they're going too far :)
>- D-X (including Road Dogg, who looks fine) comes out for a gab session.
>HHH makes some genitallia remarks about Chyna. Jammes does the intro,
>which is really LOUD. Billy Gunn reveals a referee's shirt, thus tying
>up that referee thing from earlier, so he'll be the ref on Sunday for
>the I-C title. Very loud "Suck it".
The crowd was OK for this segment, DX did everything they could to
liven them back up. However, this woulda blown the roof off the place
if they'd have kept the crowd hot with something that didn't totally
SUCK in the first hour.
>- Mankind v. Steve Austin. Vince is the ref. He goes over the rules:
>Anything is legal and will be encouraged.
I was looking forward to this. I though... "OK, maybe my instinct was
wrong and they'll do a superlong match (justifying the placement at
the start of the hour) and all will be well with the world. But no, I
shoulda listened to my gut.
>Kicks to the groin will be
>appreciated. Austin and Foley aren't down with this plan, so Vince ends
>up eating the Mandible Sock. A big brawl erupts with the Corporation
>getting cleared out by the faces. What is this shit? This isn't Nitro,
>Vince, deliver your damn matches. This show is sucking.
no kidding. Hell, you have to at least give Nitro credit for
delivering on their "Biggest Nitro Ever" at the Georgia Dome back when
they set up Hogan/Goldberg. The crowd was rocking the whole night as
far as I can remember, because they delivered what they promised. No
one there woulda traded the title match to seeing Goldberg spear
Bishoff.
>- After the break, Vince is back. Vince announces that Austin will have
>to run the Gauntlet against the Corporation.
I was hoping they'd just say "we're moving the match to later" but no,
we get a crappy, rushed Gaunlet of suck.
>- The Godfather (w/ Hos) v. Viscera.
Why Viscera and not the Brood? Why!? Doesn't anyone in that office
have a damn clue? Did they not watch the Canadian raws from Summer
97? You gotta cater to us to get us going! This show reminds me of
the RAW I saw in Ottawa (the post-Survivor Series screwjob show).
Rushed, crappy, low on talent and not catering to its' audience.
BTW, what was with that run in? Godfather knocked fat tub down once
and all of a sudden Median has to run in to save him from being
pinned? Give me a break, that match lasted not even a minute. Not
that I wanted to see them wrestle, but this show had so many screwjobs
and they were all BAD screwjobs.
>- X-Pac v. Kane. This is non-title. Kane just hammers X-Pac, tossing
>him around like a child. Wow, what a beating. X-pac knocks Kane off
>the apron and takes over with some kicks, but Chyna breaks things up for
>the DQ. She wallops on X-Pac for a bit and goes for a pedigree, but HHH
>makes the save. Best of the night so far, but that's not saying much.
It had potential if they let it go for a while, but no. They were
just starting to get into a groove when all of a sudden Chyna decided
Kane couldn't survive those kicks to the chest (WTF!?!?) and decided
she needed to run in. Give me a break. That's another bad, pointless
screwjob.
>- Al Snow (with a bunch of toys to play with) challenges anyone in the
>arena to a hardcore match tonight, but no one answers. So he proceeds
>to, well, beat himself up.
This was so bad. Talk about ruining my escape from reality. You
could see Snow block his own head from hitting the table as he threw
his own head into the table. This was horrible. I was _really_
hoping they'd send Edge out for this match.. but I guess this was
"cool" to somebody. Probably Russo :)
Are they trying to turn Al Snow heel or something? This was odd and
boring.
>- Droz punks Kevin Kelly for calling him a punk on Heat. Kelly took a
>couple of good shots.
that right hand was stiff. But, beating up announcers won't get you
heel heat. Maybe that hat he was wearing will...
>- Steve Blackman v. The Rock. Yeah, this is really appropriate for the
>BIGGEST RAW EVER. Rock gets the best pop of the night. Crowd chants
>"Rocky" at various points. Rock Bottom and Corporate Elbow gets the
>pin. Rocky is way over in Canada.
Once a few fans started cheering for him it was like they gave
permission to the rest of the crowd to cheer from him.
This is why I believe the Rock can't stay heel for long. The crowd
_wants_ to cheer the Rock. Hell, the crowd wants to cheer the
Undertaker. The WWF is making bad decisions like that. They stopped
paying attention to what the crowd wants and crowd reactions have been
dying down lately. Except for Foley.
<Snip first 3 corp matches>
All those matches really bothered me, because they once again took
away from the escape from reality bit. Come on now, all of a sudden
Austin can have guys like Shamrock, Test and Kane beat in like 2
minutes? Usually it takes a long match for Austin to stun and take
out a guy, now (Because of the gauntlet stip) he's doing it in record
time and destroying the realism.
>- Chyna v. Steve Austin. Stunner, DQ. Bossman runs in...
I liked the stunner on Chyna :)
>- Big Bossman v. Steve Austin. Gee, think this'll be a DQ too? Bossman
>gets the nightstick and chokes out Austin for the DQ, and Vince comes in
>to finish it.
>
>- Vince McMahon v. Steve Austin. After Bossman finishes brutalizing
>Austin with the nightstick, Vince pins him. What? The Corporation
>holds Austin down while Vince blathers something about "Never being the
>same" after Sunday.
the little Vince thing at the end sorta worked.. but the buildup to
that sucked. It was boring, there was no good action and no one
cared. At the end there was no big "the roof goes off the place
cheering" moment. It was so totally unsatisfying and probably the
worst Raw of 1999 so far, especially under the circumstances.
This is one case where it's fair to say "Fuck you, WWF" because they
promoted the hell out of this, got all those fans to fill up a dome
and they put on a shitty show just because it'd be a throw away week
in the US.
>The Bottom Line: What a brutal show. Horrible ending. Bad matches.
>No atmosphere. Sure, in the States it's just a tossed off setup show
>for the PPV on Sunday, but after all the months of hyping it up here I'm
>pretty pissed off that this is what we got.
I agree 100%. You hype something for that long you damn well better
deliver. If you don't live in Canada you probably can't understand
how much hype there was. Every week on RAW Dok Hendrix went on and on
about how great this show was gonna be, and we got a "worse then the
regular Saturday RAW" throw away piece of garbage.
>This is the WWF Attitude?
>"Get it?"
>
>More like "Forget It."
I still dont' share some people's "the WWF's new direction is going
too far" and all that. I still say they're putting on the same kinda
show they've been putting on for the last 2 years (basically) but
they've just been doing some really terrible booking lately. The
matches have been really short and they've really sucked. Look at
this show and the problem wasn't that it was "an action adventure
show" the problem was that they just had a bunch of pointless shit
that no one cared about. Most of the stuff was in the ring and based
around matches... but they all sucked and went no where.
It was just bad booking that killed this show, not "Attitude" or
"Sports Entertainment".
Shawn Mullin - shawn_...@canada.com
===========================================
"Man who conquers other men is strong,
man who conquers himself is all powerful"
Chris Benoit
===========================================
ShawnWeb - http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/angband/156/smweb.html
Sven Mascarenhas
Shawn Mullin wrote:
> This is one case where it's fair to say "Fuck you, WWF" because they
> promoted the hell out of this, got all those fans to fill up a dome
> and they put on a shitty show just because it'd be a throw away week
> in the US.
And no Owen. That's just *totally* inexcusable, especially when the last card
televised from Canada had an Owen / Edge match on it, and Christian making
his debut. Now *that* was catering to Canadians. This? This was CRAP. Pure,
relentless unmitigated crap. I stopped my tape after the D-Lo / Jarrett
match, because I knew that was it for the show. They haven't lost me yet
(that'll take Owen *losing* the tag title), but it's getting very close.
And I heard Nitro jobbed Bret, too. What a waste.
> >The Bottom Line: What a brutal show. Horrible ending. Bad matches.
> >No atmosphere. Sure, in the States it's just a tossed off setup show
> >for the PPV on Sunday, but after all the months of hyping it up here I'm
> >pretty pissed off that this is what we got.
>
> I agree 100%. You hype something for that long you damn well better
> deliver. If you don't live in Canada you probably can't understand
> how much hype there was. Every week on RAW Dok Hendrix went on and on
> about how great this show was gonna be, and we got a "worse then the
> regular Saturday RAW" throw away piece of garbage.
I've seen much better throwaways than what we got here. Promos from the
Brood, Venis, Owen... and nothing came out of it? No Edge / Owen rematch
(which makes sense?) No final job for TAKA to Christian? NOT ONE VICTORY BY A
CANADIAN ON THE WHOLE F'N SHOW!?!
> I still dont' share some people's "the WWF's new direction is going
> too far" and all that. I still say they're putting on the same kinda
> show they've been putting on for the last 2 years (basically) but
> they've just been doing some really terrible booking lately.
Maybe I was spoiled by the fact that in 1997, I finally got to see my dream
feud of the Hart Foundation vs. everyone else. Those were the days, with
Davey and Owen wrestling every week, Bret giving Vince-like interviews from a
wheelchair (LOTS of similarities in their characters, btw), and guys like
Shamrock showing promise. Now, the whole thing seems to have stagnated to the
point where it just isn't fun anymore. I know that the Tyson thing is what
kept the first bit of the Road To WrestleMania (tm) from stinking the joint
out last year, but this isn't helping at all.
To think, I actually held out hope for an Owen / Austin match right until the
show started. Damn you, Vince.
- Sven Mascarenhas
HSB
> >- Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
> Did you notice how he didn't seem to have anything kind to say about
> Ric Flair as a man,
Yeah that's right! Funny huh? Usually everyone kisses Flair's ass and
tell off Hogan. Foley said good stuff about Hogan and told off Flair!
> >- Second show: Off The Record with The Rock.
> >And now, without further adieu, the BIGGEST RAW EVER!
>
> or.... the BIGGEST DEAD CROWD EVER
I'd like to point out to people: The Canadians wrestled before Raw on
Shotgun. Ali jobbed, I wonder if a pink slip is in his future.
Afterall, Scorpio was fired recently.
Does this make sense? Kaientai, LHW division, Scorp, Severn gone.
Hogwins, Sparkplug kept!? Mable rehighered!?? And Angle and Giant in.
I will agree with one person that the WWF should of introduced Kulka at
this Raw.
> Yeah, another woman! You know how many women are around the WWF now?
too many valets
> The Gillberg joke is dead though.
Correction: Goldberg is a joke. Gillberg is funny. :-)
He's won now, so I'm guessing he's gone?
> The crowd was OK for this segment, DX did everything they could to
> liven them back up.
I'm getting bored of DX having an interview each and every week!
Even Austin took a month off.
> no kidding. Hell, you have to at least give Nitro credit for
> delivering on their "Biggest Nitro Ever"
This show was a taped show for saturday. Nothing more.
Just like Canadians were observers for the first UK PPV. We were for
our largest crowd Raw too. I can't understand how it's only me and the
yanks who can realize this?
> >- Al Snow challenges anyone
> >to, well, beat himself up.
>
> but I guess this was
> "cool" to somebody. Probably Russo :)
Try Red Rooster
> This is one case where it's fair to say "Fuck you, WWF" because they
> promoted the hell out of this,
I disagree. Of course they're going to promote this. It's at Skydome!!
I find it funny that on one cares when a wrestler says he's in it for
the money. But OH NO; never can a promoter be in it for that.
> I still dont' share some people's "the WWF's new direction is going
> too far" and all that.
Only thing I don't like with the new direction. Is the getting rid of
the LHW (I like Jr.Hvy Wt wrestling) and the rehighering of big fat
useless talent (like Mable!). It's hard to completely judge things
about the WWF soince the Superbowl commercial. WWF really had to rush
things for the IYH.
I should point out: IYH in Memphis. No Brain Christopher on the card.
I wonder if any Memphis RSPWM readers will complain like the Canadian
ones seem to be for Raw? WWF only books for the home crowd if it's HBK.
Ryan Siebel
>
> Shawn Mullin wrote:
>
> > >- Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
>
> > Ric Flair as a man,
>
> tell off Hogan. Foley said good stuff about Hogan and told off Flair!
Yeah, I noticed that too. Hmmm, makes you wonder if we should even
think about judging guys like Hogan and Flair unless we know them
personally.
> > >- Second show: Off The Record with The Rock.
>
> > >And now, without further adieu, the BIGGEST RAW EVER!
> >
> > or.... the BIGGEST DEAD CROWD EVER
>
> I'd like to point out to people: The Canadians wrestled before Raw on
> Shotgun. Ali jobbed, I wonder if a pink slip is in his future.
> Afterall, Scorpio was fired recently.
>
> Does this make sense? Kaientai, LHW division,
More likely lent out to other promotions. That's one of the things I
like about the WWF, they have an inclination to put talent where it
will be most useful--Al Snow to ECW, Bart Gunn to All Japan, Taka to
MPro/ECW, Togo to MPro, etc. I believe some of Kaientai are sticking
around for a proposed anti-American angle involving Steve Williams.
> Scorp,
Due to "insubordination" from what I hear. More like backstage
problems than any other workrate-related reasons.
> Severn gone.
Couldn't get over and didn't want to do some of the things Vince & Co.
proposed. They also gave him the option of terminating his contract
early since he wasn't a great fit in the first place.
> Hogwins,
Yeah, but at least Knight's been super-gimmicized. Can you imagine
Severn doing this? That's part of why the Godwinns are so
useful--they can be repackaged and repackaged and repackaged and no
one really cares.
> Sparkplug kept!?
Bob Holly? I've got no problem with him--Shotgun needs wrestlers too.
> Mable rehighered!??
One of the most pointless moves the company's ever made.
> And Angle and Giant in.
Two good moves, I think. Angle is a potential Benoit with slightly
better mic skills (he has a broadcasting background) and a bigger rep
to work with out the gate. And Vince has a number of ways to go with
Wight.
> I will agree with one person that the WWF should of introduced Kulka at
> this Raw.
>From what I hear, Vince doesn't want to clutter up the picture on the
Road to Wrestlemania.
> > Yeah, another woman! You know how many women are around the WWF now?
>
> too many valets
Absolutely.
> > The Gillberg joke is dead though.
>
> Correction: Goldberg is a joke. Gillberg is funny. :-)
> He's won now, so I'm guessing he's gone?
Gillberg's funny, but only in small doses and if they do something
different with him.
> > The crowd was OK for this segment, DX did everything they could to
> > liven them back up.
>
> I'm getting bored of DX having an interview each and every week!
> Even Austin took a month off.
One DX parody every few months = good.
One round robin DX speech every week = bad.
> > no kidding. Hell, you have to at least give Nitro credit for
> > delivering on their "Biggest Nitro Ever"
>
> This show was a taped show for saturday. Nothing more.
> Just like Canadians were observers for the first UK PPV. We were for
> our largest crowd Raw too. I can't understand how it's only me and the
> yanks who can realize this?
There are a lot of reasons the Skydome crew got the shaft, the fact
that RAW would air on Saturday in the US being primary among them.
Also, the show was the last one before the PPV with little chance to
shock the viewers.
> > This is one case where it's fair to say "Fuck you, WWF" because they
> > promoted the hell out of this,
>
> I disagree. Of course they're going to promote this. It's at Skydome!!
> I find it funny that on one cares when a wrestler says he's in it for
> the money. But OH NO; never can a promoter be in it for that.
Also, a lot of the "biggest RAW ever" hype was in reference to the
size of the show, not its actual content.
> > I still dont' share some people's "the WWF's new direction is going
> > too far" and all that.
>
> Only thing I don't like with the new direction. Is the getting rid of
> the LHW (I like Jr.Hvy Wt wrestling) and the rehighering of big fat
> useless talent (like Mable!). It's hard to completely judge things
> about the WWF soince the Superbowl commercial. WWF really had to rush
> things for the IYH.
My faith in the WWF is based around the fact that the changes I'd make
to RAW to make it better are very simple--more and longer matches.
That's really all it takes.
> I should point out: IYH in Memphis. No Brain Christopher on the card.
> I wonder if any Memphis RSPWM readers will complain like the Canadian
> ones seem to be for Raw? WWF only books for the home crowd if it's HBK.
I've seen a card which has Too Much vs. Scorpio & Bob Holly on it.
With Scorpio's supposed release and the Blue Meanie already having a
match with Goldust, I wonder what they'll do. Maybe sub in the
Acolytes, or even better, The Brood.
--
"Musicians are like mathematicians--
talented, knowing the techniques, practiced.
We're not musicians. We're entertainers."
--Pete Townshend
Jamie Rosen
> Shawn Mullin wrote:
>
>> >- Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
>
>> Ric Flair as a man,
>
> tell off Hogan. Foley said good stuff about Hogan and told off Flair!
No, he said "I paid to see Hogan and anything negative I have to say would
be hypocritical." and "I'm not sure how I feel about Flair the man." This
seems sort of logical, esp. since Hogan and Mick haven't been in a fed
together (unless there was a couple of months between Hogan signing and
Mick's release at WCW) and I'm sure they never butted heads. I'm sure the
Rock has little to say about either of them, since they're both in the
other fed.
--
Jamie Rosen - author, gamer, electronic musician, and general nice person
JoJo the Indian Circus Boy Fan Club Member #00002!
"It's not the belt that gives the wrestler credibility, it's the wrestler
that gives the belt credibility." - Chris Benoit
Shawn Mullin
>Yeah that's right! Funny huh? Usually everyone kisses Flair's ass and
>tell off Hogan. Foley said good stuff about Hogan and told off Flair!
I guess so.. I don't think he said anything "good" about Hogan exept
that he paid to see him so he couldn't really bash him. I don't think
that means Mick thinks Hogan is an awesome wrestler and guy.
As for Flair, it must just be something personal from back in WCW.
That's just assuming though.
>> or.... the BIGGEST DEAD CROWD EVER
>
>I'd like to point out to people: The Canadians wrestled before Raw on
>Shotgun.
So? Yes, they wrestled on Shotgun.. whooo! that made Raw
entertaining.
>Does this make sense? Kaientai, LHW division, Scorp, Severn gone.
>Hogwins, Sparkplug kept!? Mable rehighered!?? And Angle and Giant in.
Well, LHW division wasn't over, Scorpio wasn't over, Ali wasn't over
(and sucked).. Median is just the spokesperson for the MOD which I
guess they think is a good idea.. Holly must be doing something for
somebody 'cause he's been in the WWF for years of doing shit all.
Angle and Giant makes sense because they think Angle kicks ass
supposedly and the Giant is a major league wrestling superstar.
>I will agree with one person that the WWF should of introduced Kulka at
>this Raw.
Definately. He got a loud reaction last year in Ottawa
>Correction: Goldberg is a joke. Gillberg is funny. :-)
>He's won now, so I'm guessing he's gone?
Correction: Goldberg is a main event superstar who drew a 1.5 buy rate
with Kevin Nash at Starcade... Gillberg is a joke that was funny the
first time and is now a waste of 5 minutes.
>I'm getting bored of DX having an interview each and every week!
>Even Austin took a month off.
Agreed.. but it was something the crowd got into.
>This show was a taped show for saturday. Nothing more.
>Just like Canadians were observers for the first UK PPV. We were for
>our largest crowd Raw too. I can't understand how it's only me and the
>yanks who can realize this?
I realize that. We've all said that we realize it's a throw away show
in the states (their largest market) but.. that's exactly why they
should have thrown the Canadians into major and important roles on
RAW. Do big things that don't have much impact on the storyline and
send the crowd who's watching and the fans watching around Canada
happy. And they shoulda at least delivered the Austin/Mankind match
and done a screwjob.
Hell, how hard is it to say make Owen wrestle Shammy for the IC belt..
do a screwjob and have him attack Shane or Vince and put them in the
Sharpshooter. The crowd goes bonkers, Shammy doesn't lose his belt,
and since it was a throw away show they can just forget that Owen
attacked Vince because Vince has to focus on Austin. But, here that
woulda gone over huge and down in the states (sicne Owen isn't a major
player right now, and it was a throw away show) it wouldn't have been
a big deal. Hell, do that and than cut it out for a video package in
the states. ANYTHING.
>> >- Al Snow challenges anyone
>> >to, well, beat himself up.
>>
>> but I guess this was
>> "cool" to somebody. Probably Russo :)
>
>Try Red Rooster
How the hell do you know that? Anyway, it seems to me everyone's
impression of Taylor is that he's a wrestling kinda guy... so him
booking an Al Snow self mutilation wouldn't make that much sense.
>I disagree. Of course they're going to promote this. It's at Skydome!!
>I find it funny that on one cares when a wrestler says he's in it for
>the money. But OH NO; never can a promoter be in it for that.
You know what? The house shows at Skydome are 10 times better than
that RAW. You promote this as the Biggest Raw Ever than you don't
have to to deliever _that_ but at least you deliver something special
or your fans aren't gonna be around next time.
>Only thing I don't like with the new direction. Is the getting rid of
>the LHW (I like Jr.Hvy Wt wrestling) and the rehighering of big fat
>useless talent (like Mable!). It's hard to completely judge things
>about the WWF soince the Superbowl commercial. WWF really had to rush
>things for the IYH.
I'm not really judging the direction. I'm sure they'll have a
blockbuster WrestleMania. However, the TV shows we've gotten in the
last few weeks have sucked.
>I should point out: IYH in Memphis. No Brain Christopher on the card.
>I wonder if any Memphis RSPWM readers will complain like the Canadian
>ones seem to be for Raw? WWF only books for the home crowd if it's HBK.
Give me a break, remember summer 1997 in Canada? or how about Bulldog
headlining in europe. It's called good business. You please your
crowd. Canadian fans love watching their Canadian boys.. the only
thing the Canadian wrestlers did on this show were...
a) back up Jarrett (owen)
b) feel up Shamrock's sister and take a beating (Venis)
c) job to Austin in like 5 seconds (test)
and with no hype.
Also, I heard Christopher was on the card vs. JOB squad or something.
Curtis Chewbacca Desjardins
> bimbo and Chyna's getting a bit of an ego going. I don't think she
> much likes the bimbo girls :)
heat between the two, mainly over Sunny's "Princess disease" (as
people would say here in Korea ie. gongjoo-byung for those of you
who speak Korean). I get the feeling Chyna doesn't like the bimbo
girls who are full of themselves. Sunny and Sable fit that bill.
>>- Mick warns kids to use some common sense before they get into
>>wrestling. Get a degree first, and then start your career.
>
> I really liked this part. He's very much right IMO. Learn the basics
> and get in with professionals before you try insane stunts.
Like Mick jumping off his house as a promotional stunt? Hippocrtical
if you ask me (although the death of that backyard wrestler months
back only proves his point).
> He's very confident in himself that Rock.
Wangja-byung (ie. "Prince disease")
> Yeah, another woman! You know how many women are around the WWF now?
> Chyna, Sable, Luna, Jacky, Terri, Debra, Terri Power and now this one.
Enhanced, enhanced, enhanced, enhanced, blah blah blah
> Talk about over reliance on sex appeal. Just 'cause Owen/Jarrett
Talk about over reliance on silicone.
>>- Val Venis and Ryan Shamrock are out for an interview,
>
> add her to the list of regulars. Geez. She's a good lookin' one, but
> come on. Overkill!
And why is it Val always seems to pick up wrestler's "sisters" out of
the audience? I mean how many women does he have to choose from to
gyrate in front of, and he "just happens to pick the sisters? Yeah,
there's suspension of disbelief at work.
>>- After the break, Vince is back. Vince announces that Austin will have
>>to run the Gauntlet against the Corporation.
>
> I was hoping they'd just say "we're moving the match to later" but no,
> we get a crappy, rushed Gaunlet of suck.
Come on. NO WAY was this gauntlet match anywhere near the suckage
level of the Val/Kaientai gauntlet match. NFW! (Free the Michinoku
Four!...uh, wait, no longer necessary now is it? Yay!)
Curtis.
(the above email is a spam-trap, send private email to
pabo at net dot co dot kr)
=============================================================================
Alby's Law: Some days are actually worth the trouble of waking up.
Corollaries: 1. This is not one of those days.
2. If it chances to be, see Corollary 1.
=============================================================================
Gancarski
>
>HSB (h_ste...@yahoo.com) writes:
>> Shawn Mullin wrote:
>>
>>> >- Second show: Off The Record with Mick Foley.
>>
>>> Did you notice how he didn't seem to have anything kind to say about
>>> Ric Flair as a man,
>>
>> Yeah that's right! Funny huh? Usually everyone kisses Flair's ass and
>> tell off Hogan. Foley said good stuff about Hogan and told off Flair!
>
>No, he said "I paid to see Hogan and anything negative I have to say would
>be hypocritical." and "I'm not sure how I feel >about Flair the man."
Was Flair the former world champion (referred to in one of Mick's ECW
interviews) that told Foley he wouldn't be wrestling when he was 30 if he kept
working a hardcore style?
'Whitelist' Tony Gancarski:
Modern Life IS Rubbish!
Tribal Prophet
>> bimbo and Chyna's getting a bit of an ego going. I don't think she
>> much likes the bimbo girls :)
I wouldn't say that Chyna has an ego going. She was the first to
laugh at the idea of her being in Playboy. She mearly said that she
could take Sable in two seconds. I think there's a quote from a few
years back about Flair that fits here. Something about "it's only ego
if you can't back it up" or something. As far as I'm concerned (and
the crowd there, from what I heard from them) Chyna was simply stating
a fact.
> Chyna didn't exactly get along with Sunny either. Some real backstage
> heat between the two, mainly over Sunny's "Princess disease" (as
I don't remember a lot of people saying that they liked Sunny. Luna's
little fight with her comes to mind. Wrestlers have also said on OTR
many times that it got annoying to see her whining about how hard her
job of working mondays is while the guys are out there busting their
asses everynight and only get half the pop she does (at best), and
then complaining that she wasn't over enough or getting enough
airtime. That's what Chyna said was her biggest problem with Sunny
when Chyna and HHH were on OTR. HHH seconded that motion.
Tribal Prophet
The Greatest Lines in the History of our Sport:
Tony S: The dancing fools. The dancing dildos.
Tenay (proudly): They all fit.
Tony S (acknowledging): They all fit.
- Monday Nitro, July 13th