Today, we'll have our usual rundown of Monday Night RAW, and how the show did in the week before Backlash. I believe that wrestling fans aren't used to the pace of one show per division yet. Everyone is used to the whole roster using up 2 shows a week, instead of some wrestlers or feuds just happening once a week. It will take time, which is why I'm doubtful the WWF even cares if they take a ratings hit for the time being.
Anyway, on to the PDC.
-How low does Mick Foley have to feel when seeing himself doing a commercial for TNN's Robot Wars on RAW? I just shook my head at how sad that was.
-Plenty of backstage interviews tonight. Everyone and their mother had something to say. I'm guessing that the WWF is doing this to adjust to the new format change from the split?
-What? No Curt Hennig on RAW tonight? (sarcasm) As a penalty, we get Crash Holly instead.
SHOW REVIEW
RAW started out with a LONG interview regarding Ric Flair, who even at the start, said that he didn't want to take up much time. HA! He would dog Austin for his Stunners, to which Steve Austin would come out and say "What?" about 83743738774358748754879987439879874328794378 times. That's a lot. Austin would start ripping on the Undertaker, to which the Undertaker would then come out. After yawning several minutes later, the NWO would come out for Flair and Austin's sake. Brawling would occur, and Bradshaw would eventually join the fun. After this segment, Flair would throw a tantrum and set up the main event.
Our very first match of the night was Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Raven. Ok, ok, I get the joke already. Let's start doing some innovative things with the Hardcore division, aside from the overdone 24/7 rule and the same weapons used for every pathetic bout. I mean, you could see the effort by Raven and Bubba, but given the restrictions set by the WWF, it's still a typical hardcore match. Raven would win the title, only to lose via the 24/7 rule to Tommy Dreamer. Steven Richards, in rather weird looking tights, beat Dreamer via 24/7 rule, and Bubba would regain his title with a guitar. Yeeeeeeeee Haw! Say it with me kids: CLUSTER - FUCK. It's apparent, too, that this is the year 2002, and NOT the year 1996 or 1997, when all of these ECW wrestlers were, you know, hardcore.
What's the purpose of developing talent anymore? The WWF brings back Shawn Stasiak after a period of injuries, and what do they do? They make him goofy on his interview, and have him get destroyed by the Big Show. Why, why, and why? I'm convinced. The Big Show is the Derek Bell of the WWF. If you never followed the Pittsburgh Pirates, then you should know that the Pirates signed the aged Derek Bell to a million dollar contract last year. However, his talent was already gone or diminished, as he hit in the 0.100 range for last year's season. However, due to his salary, the Pirates had to justify the wasted money by actually playing him. The Big Show gets these stupid squashes and time on television because the WWF has to justify the Show's large salary, which was because of picking him off the WCW roster in early 1999.
Next match was Crash Holly vs. Jackie. Oh boy, let's push a Mtv Heat feud onto RAW, hoping that the less than half of the RAW viewers who might watch that show could catch on. All joking aside and shots at Crash, but this match was ridiculously short. They just came out, did several moves, and BOOM, it was over. And why not blow that feud off on Heat? At least send Crash Holly over to Smackdown so that he could maybe reform a tag team with his cousin Hardcore, or maybe insert him in the Cruiserweight division. No need to bother having him lose to a no-so-over woman or to keep using him on Heat (or before, Jakked).
Next, we had Rob Van Dam/Spike Dudley vs. William Regal/Eddie Guerrero. Very fast paced match! But yet, a very good one. Lots of stiff stuff, too. Guerrero vs. RVD is going to be a hot match, baby, as Eddie appears to have his head on straight and RVD seems to bring it, week in and week out. How about that new move he debuted after the match? My jaw dropped when he tossed Guerrero up and dropkicked him immediately after. Just awesome! Match of the Night.
Not only is RAW featuring the wonderful Hardcore division, but the Women's one too! Well, at least Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly is decent, like it was last week. Molly won last week, and Trish won a fluke pin this week. Looks like Trish will win the title belt at Backlash, I hope, and then continue feuding with Molly. As much as I enjoy the new look for Molly, the WWF didn't need to say that she's a "virgin". She has that mean look to her now, and to make her a heel, they play her off as if she's pure and innocent. Yet, Trish was Vince's playtoy at one point, and she's the face? Who knows? But what I do know is that Molly seems to be more brutal in the ring when she's a heel, which is a good thing.
I'll tell you what, Paul Heyman was quite demented when he was hitting on Lita.
Booker T/Goldust vs. the Hardly Boyzzzzzzzzzz was next. Stupid segment to explain why Booker T and Goldust were a team, as it dates back to last week's blown hardcore match. Ok? The match was relatively short, but the point was to push Heyman as a psycho manager, as he brought out Lita's bag and was openly looking through it. Just demented. Matt Hardy would then run to Heyman, only to be met by Brock Lesnar. Lesnar showed some weakness this time around, as he sold a ballshot by Hardy well. Brock would kill Matt with his move, thereby hyping Matt Hardy vs. Brock Lesnar at Backlash. I'd love to see Lita swerve the Hardys at Backlash, just for shits and giggles.
The Triple H interview was a total waste of time. Just yacking, over and over again. No points were truly made, other than the fact that he's wrestling a SMACKDOWN wrestler and the possibility of wrestling either Austin or Undertaker.
The Main Event between Hall, Undertaker, X-Pac vs. Steve Austin, Bradshaw wasn't bad, although the uneven team won the match cleanly. What does that say about Undertaker or Scott Hall? I'm curious to how the Bradshaw vs. Hall match will turn out...
LAST WORD: They did a decent job selling the Pay Per View for the RAW wrestlers, and some of the matches were decent. Still, this show suffers from a lack of talent and poor midcard matches. The Big Show remains the top eyesore of the show, and that qualification will be hard to take from him, that is, unless the Big Bossman wrestles on the show for a regular basis. I'll give it a
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@That's all for today's column. I'll be back tomorrow with more PDC. Until then, why not chill?
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.