Welcome to the News & Views. This week is going to be quick because I'm only going to do a recap of this week's Raw. It's a long one, though, so it's not like there is a lack of content here. Next week I'll return with the usual assortment of news, commentary and Q&A. So without further Apu, it's review time.
Raw Recap for 10/03/05
I was a bit disappointed at the start when there was no new theme song and the set didn't change all that much. I was also hoping the announcers would be moved to ringside, but I guess WWE felt those changes weren't necessary.
Piper's Pit with Foley
We start with Mick Foley. He gets a nice pop that is well deserved. He introduces Piper, who is supposed to interview him. Backwards is fun, I guess. Anyway, Piper asks him when Foley will be back in WWE, which I guess means when he'll wrestle again. Foley gives the clichéd "when the time is right" answer. He'd make a great politician. Then Randy and Bob Orton came out. Randy ripped Piper for having his father take all of Piper's beatings for him. Randy hit Piper, Roddy hit back, Bob hit a cheap shot on Foley and then Randy hit RKO's on both legends. Never mind the logic hole of a Smackdown guy being on Raw, but this was an alright segment. Looks like there will be a follow up on Smackdown this week. I didn't love this segment. It was just okay.
Bischoff yelled at Long about SD being on his show and he threatened him.
Angle vs. Michaels in a 30 minute Ironman
To say I was excited about this would be an understatement. The word giddy is more appropriate. I thought the pacing of the match was pretty good. It's always wise to have the heel be ahead in a match like this because it makes the babyface comebacks all that more appealing. I loved Angle early on working on Michaels' back and I especially love the powerbomb into the turnbuckle. That may be my favorite non-finisher move in all of wrestling. Just vicious looking. Angle Slam off the top for the first fall was a perfect start. Next fall came at about 15 minutes with Michaels scoring with a rollup for the three count. A few minutes after that, they did the beautiful Ankle Lock sequence with Michaels trying to fight it off and then succumbing to the Ankle Lock by tapping out to make it 2-1 for Kurt. Then we came back with about 7 minutes left with the crowd becoming rabid for Michaels' comeback. I thought Shawn sold the ankle really well, limping through everything, even his climb to the top for the elbow. I was a little upset there was no fight for the superkick, he just set it up and hit it. Kurt should have caught it at first and had Michaels have to stagger him a bit more before hitting it the way they did in their other matches. Minor gripe, I know. The final few minutes were terrific with Angle locking on the Ankle Lock again and Michaels kicking out of it even with Kurt grapevining the leg. I may be wrong, but I don't recall anybody breaking the Ankle Lock when Kurt has the grapevine on. Michaels hitting the superkick with no time left was not a surprising finish, but it was still good. I enjoyed the match. I'll rate it at ****1/4 and remember it for a very exciting final seven minutes. The earlier parts were very good, but their matches at Mania and Vengeance were both better in terms of timing, pacing and psychology, in my opinion. If you're scoring at home I got WM21 at *****, Vengeance at ****3/4 and now this one at ****1/4, so that's pretty damn great. Bring on match number four!
As for Angle walking out on the challenge by Michaels to continue, I love it. It's perfect.
They show Kevin Von Erich at ringside and he gets a huge pop. Good for him. Good for his family. They were so influential in the careers of so many wrestlers that they deserve that ovation right there. Von Erich was probably there because recently WWE signed a deal with him to show World Class Championship Wrestling on WWE 24/7 in the future, which is great. Another reason for me to get WWE 24/7.
Bischoff tries to suck up to Vince. Doesn't work. Vince gives a speech about how he's evil, sick and twisted. Then Lillian Garcia does a hilarious introduction of him by reading off a card obviously sent by McMahon. Reminds me of Over the Edge '98 when Pat Patterson did the same when Vince was a ref. Yes, I'm a wrestling geek for remembering that off the top of my head.
Austin vs. McMahons X 4
With Vince's heel promo going you could tell where this is going. Not that I'm complaining. After a few clips of Vince humiliating Austin (I was at that Raw from February 1999 in Toronto when a bunch of heels beat Austin down), the glass breaks and I mark the fuck out. It's been what, six months? I miss the guy. The banter between Vince and Steve was fun. I can't remember the last time they did that act. Was it as good as six or seven years ago? Probably not, but because the whole show had a nostalgic feel to it I was able to enjoy it for the fun it was. Stunner on Vince. That was nice. Here comes Shane. He says nothing, but eats a Stunner. Vince still hasn't moved. Then there's Steph. She asks Austin what he's doing. WHAT? See, that's a perfect time to use that. She acts all bitchy, he thinks she's hitting on him and then she slaps him. Then he Stunned her although I never saw it since TSN edits that stuff out. Vince still hasn't moved. Then just as you think it's over, here comes Linda. She asks for an apology, he does it, then they share some beer as he spills some on Linda. Then she eats a Stunner. Again, didn't see it because of TSN edits. I'm not really complaining. I won't lose sleep over missing how poorly Steph and Linda sell the Stunner. This was fun. Austin seemed fresh here and genuinely excited to be out there. I know some will complain about it being stale or that a man charged with spousal abuse attacked two women (I already got an email about it), but I think most fans understand and took it as a light hearted moment.
I love how Vince doesn't even move the whole time. How long did he lay face down? Like ten minutes? And yes, I know a face down joke could be made along with the name Lita, but I'm going to refrain. I do have one question, though: Where was HHH when the McMahon's were down? Imagine him coming down the aisle in a suit and JR going, "Oh my god, it's Paul McMahon!" It'd have been classic. You know it. (I'm being sarcastic there, for those that have their sarcasm meter on low.)
When we get back from the break, Vince is being put in his limo and says somebody will be fired soon because of what happened to him.
Edge over Hardy in a Ladder Match
I enjoyed this. Surprised by a lack of a video build to it, though. They came out with some great intensity and the start was really cool with Edge racing up the ladder to try to win early. They took some nasty bumps. They had some innovative spots in there too. I loved how Matt had the match won only for Lita to cost him. That fit the story perfect. It makes the finish come off as cheap because you know if Lita isn't there then Matt wins. The finishing sequence was terrific with Edge putting Matt in the ropes, then Lita wrapping her limbs around Matt's arms in order to prevent him from getting out. Just great heel work there. Really good match that I'd rate at ***1/2 or so. Their best match was at Unforgiven in the cage, which was **** to me. Oh yeah, and I loved Lita's look here too. Normally I'm not THAT into her, but she was looking fine.
After a break, we see Matt leave. Ross actually said, "Have fun wrestling Nunzio on Velocity, Matt!" Okay, maybe not.
Then Trish is having trouble tying her shirt. See, she NEEDS me. I could do it for her. Anyway, she checks out Ashley's boobs to see if they're alright. Is that what happened? I was busy drooling. Mae Young comes in to do her crazy old lady schtick, then the girls kick her out and Dibaise, Duggan and Snuka just happen to be there. Ted offers her money. Yeah Ted! Everybody has a price. Everybody is grossed out except Jimmy, who clearly wants some of Mae. There's Mark Henry doing a run-in! Okay, maybe not.
Flair talks to Dumb Maria. Even though he has turned on people about 850 times in his career he is oblivious to what will happen next.
Hunter and Flair over Masters and Carlito
Good, solid tag match here. Hunter got a great pop that he deserved and showed tremendous energy in there. The hot tag provided another great pop, leading to the finish with HHH nailing Carlito. I thought the turn would be there, but it ended up being post match. Flair bled like crazy. Hunter beat the crap out of him. They both did a great job of getting over how vicious it was. I love how JR asks why HHH would do that. Um, because he's evil, JR. It's not tough to figure out. Most of the time I love JR, but I hate when he has to play dumb. When they came back from a break, he beat up Flair more in the backstage area before chucking him into a limo that just happened to be there. The match was about *1/2 while the segment was excellent. Should be great to hear HHH's reasoning next week.
In ring, Dusty Rhodes was on the microphone as some legends (and that short guy named Dean Malenko that McMahon never used right) stood behind him. Rob Conway came out, told some bad jokes (which are good by the standards of the current writing team) and took a beating from the legends. Kevin Von Erich busted out the claw! God, I love that move. Then my favorite moment here came when Jimmy Snuka gave Conway the Superfly Splash! As a huge Snuka mark, I went crazy at that point.
Trish & Ashley over Victoria, Candice & Torrie in a Bra & Panties Match
This was what it intended to be. I'm a grown man with a girlfriend that I care very deeply about, but I still like this stuff. I'm not blind. I can appreciate the investment these women have made on their bodies and for that I say thank you ladies. Good job. The two highlights were Victoria's underwear and when she teased taking off Trish's pants when Trish was upside down. No idea where they go from here.
Bischoff made his match No DQ since Vince wasn't there to change it and Angle agreed to be at ringside for him.
Smackdown match time…or not. So they decide to take like five or six minutes to introduce all the guys, then when it's about to start, Bischoff turns the lights off. Then because they're all dumb I guess they just stop and leave the ring quietly. At least there was a follow-up.
Hogan interviewed by Mean Gene
In typical Hogan fashion, I love how he distorted the truth. Did he say something about how he "beat" Rock? Um no, Hulk, you actually got pinned once. Twice in fact by Rock. I'm sure Shawn would love to lose to you again. I doubt it happens. Then he actually put over Austin a bit saying how he heard the crowd get behind him and that he'd like to step into the ring with him. That's your WrestleMania 22 main event, folks. I'm glad Austin didn't answer. You got another six months. Save it for later when you need a big rating. This was cool with me.
John Cena over Eric Bischoff
What a quickie. I'm not complaining much. I'm guessing this was cut short because the Austin segment went long I love how Angle is the smartest guy in the ring, but when he's running at somebody with a chair in his hands he ends up bouncing it into his face. The FU finished it from there. If this was all they had for Cena then they should have had him do a promo earlier. If he's going to be your top guy going forward then he needs a bigger impact than this.
Post match was a lot of fun. I LOVED the Raw vs. Smackdown fight at the end. Please carry that into a tag match at Survivor Series. When Michaels went after Rey I was loving it. Now THAT is a dream match. The ending was really strong and hopefully has people interested in what might happen on Smackdown, as well as next week on Raw.
Final Thoughts
I think there was tremendous pressure on WWE to put on a good show. I think they lived up to it and delivered a great show. With two really strong matches in Angle/Michaels and Hardy/Edge, this match would have been really good without anything else. The other stuff like Austin's rejuvenated performance with the McMahons, HHH beating the crap out of Flair, seeing some of the legends again and Hogan basically challenging Austin will make this a show to remember. Best Raw of the year, passing that one where they had the Gold Rush Tournament.
One final note. WWE needs to put this on DVD. Put the WWE Exposed special on there, put the whole 3 hour show on there (include the stuff during commercials that was on WWE.com) and I have every right to believe that it will sell damn well.
8.75 out of 10.
In Closing…
That's it for this week. I'll be back Tuesday or Wednesday with the regular News & Views feature. Don't forget to check out the John C. Blog for my takes on wrestling, the NFL, Lost and whatever else is on my mind.
For the Q&A segment next week, I'll ask you a question this week and maybe share some of your answers in that next week. This week's question is: Do you think Austin vs. Hogan @ WrestleMania 22 is a good idea? Email me your answer. The best ones will be posted with my replies. Also, if you've sent me a mail in the last couple of weeks I will be replying to it. Please be patient. I am a busy man.
Smell ya later,
John C. - oratoryjohn@gmail.com
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