And since No Way Out is really the main focus of the column, I'll delay the NES Wrestling History, part 6, until Wednesday with the review of Wrestlemania Challenge. We will then have Tecmo World Wrestling for next Monday to close out 1990, and finish up with the final 2 WWF games, Steel Cage Challenge and King of the Ring.
Before we get to the PDC, I just want to say thanks to Andrew Calvi for holding up his LoP/Tito sign at a Battlebots taping. That's awesome, and we here at LoP very much appreciate it. CLICK HERE to view the sign.
So anyway, on to the PDC.
We get an opening interview on No Way Out.... however, it's the New World Order, as Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan told everyone not to give them a bad rap and that they aren't the cancer or poison that Vince portrayed them. Not much crowd reaction, as the newer 1998 fans have no idea who these guys are or what they did to WCW. The interview, to me, sounded more like a play to internet fans about the backstage problems, which is dangerous territory, as only a small percentage of wrestling fans are "in the know".
Our first match was the Tag Team Turmoil match. Poor choice of openers, in my opinion. They should have ran the Tag Team Championship match beforehand to counter the predictability. But hey, the WWF countered that by having the APA win the Turmoil match. Ok, if you are going to push these two, then push them. Don't just have them squash one team, and disappear for a while like the WWF always does (disappearing meaning working Heat). And since the APA are the #1 contenders, they'll have to wrestle a heel team. Oh gee, it looks like Chuck & Suck will be winning the titles on an upcoming episode of RAW or Smackdown. Well, shit on me. Match was OK, but nothing to get excited about.
Next match was Rob Van Dam versus Goldust. Yecch, another clash of styles. Van Dam is just struggling with the wrestlers who have the WCW style of psychology, especially from the early to mid 1990s, under their belts. Dustin Rhodes or Runnels didn't give RVD much to work with tonight, but RVD made something of it. Luckily, the righteous man won, as RVD beat Goldust, as we should hope that Goldust does the Heat/Jakked tour from now on. Goldust is a reminder of the bad gimmicks from the 1996 - 1997, when the WWF was really down on their luck.
Funny how the NWO offered Steve Austin a 12 pack of beer. You'd figure that Scott Hall would snatch the beer up and chug it ALL at once on live television. I'm sure he's that talented to do so.
Tazz/Spike vs. Booker T/Test was up next. As I figured, Booker T and Test would be lameduck contenders, as the team of Spike and Tazz actually picked up the win. I liked how Tazz choked out Test, who hardly ever does the clean job anymore, thanks to his good pal Shane McMahon. Match was shades of a decent Smackdown match, though. Nothing stood out, and the crowd was still dead. RVD was the only thing that received any good cheers tonight. Tazz and Spike will probably lose the titles on television, VERY SOON.
Next, it was William Regal vs. Edge. *Yawn*, William Regal won the match. This feud just isn't fun to watch at all, for some reason or another. Regal found another way to win cheaply with the brass knuckles, meaning that Edge will probably get a rematch soon. I'm thinking he'll win the IC title back on a television show, thus setting him up with a new feud for Wrestlemania.
Next, oddly enough, was the worst match of the night. Undertaker vs. Rock was a stinker, as the Rock could only use his punches against the Undertaker and the Undertaker was his usual bad wrestling self. I have this bad feeling that the WWF is aiming for Kevin Nash vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Oh lord! The match had its share of overbooking, as both Ric Flair and Vince McMahon got involved, and Flair got the upperhand by helping the Rock beat the Undertaker. Regardless, this was a bad match by two of the company's "biggest stars". The Rock is good, but someone within the WWF's authority has to realize that the Undertaker is WAY past his time or prime.
Kurt Angle vs. Triple H was our next bout, which was probably the best match of the night. The match went so well until the ridiculous ending involving Stephanie. God, it's pathetic on how much she loves herself. She cares more about herself than how the WWF product does. Too bad the success of the WWF makes her money. Kurt Angle won the match, thus becoming the #1 contender for Wrestlemania. Triple H will definitely win that back on television, meaning that the #1 contendership, World Tag Titles, and the Intercontinental Title will change hands in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. Leave it to Stephanie McMahon to clusterfuck everything. Ric Flair will likely give Triple H a match with Angle, possibly on RAW tonight.
The Rock had his own confrontation with the NWO. Rock badmouthed them, meaning that he'll probably get his tonight on RAW. Maybe Hogan will crack the Rock with his famous weightlifting belt?
The Main Event was Steve Austin vs. Chris Jericho. Not bad, but not their best. You just knew that the NWO would run down for this match, which really killed the momentum of this match for me. They attacked Austin, and helped Jericho win the match. Yikes, Scott Hall hit Austin with his own Stunner. Looks like Austin is willing to work with AlcoHALLic. Let's hope Hall shows some good behavior, because by pairing him with Austin, it could cause locker room morale to worsen since many wrestlers have been dying to have a chance at Austin on a Pay Per View, especially Wrestlemania.
LAST WORD: A so so Pay Per View for me. Definitely not great, but I've seen a LOT worse by the WWF and other federations on Pay Per View. The dead crowd hurt the show, but the WWF didn't really put on any true standout matches to give them a reason to cheer. The show didn't provide much hype for the New World Order, which could be dangerous territory leading into Wrestlemania. I'll give this show a
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@That's all for today. I'll be back, tomorrow, with my RAW thoughts. Until then, chill.......
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.
