I will admit that wrestling is easily more interesting to think about now than it was a few months ago. At least the New World Order adds interest to the television shows and to the internet. On television, with the NWO's presence, you are thinking of dream matches that could occur with any of the current WWF roster. And yes, I WANT the New World Order to succeed in making the WWF better. Hell, I even hope that Scott Hall DOES turn his life around and become the good wrestler he once was as Razor Ramon. That should say a lot, because I'm one of the more critical ones about Hall's life of drugs, alcohol, and his other problems. For the internet, the NWO provides much more insider news than before.
I was truly getting frustrated with the WWF during the Invasion angle, and how poorly they portrayed what should have been successful. Hell, I was even considering retirement as Mr. Tito and I'd probably stop watching the WWF all together. Flair's return helped gain my interest again, and the possibility of the NWO returning helped too. And now, I like what goes on for the main storylines on the WWF shows, although I'd say that there's still a good deal of crap going on for the WWF shows, which I'll discuss in the RAW recap.
Speaking of that, on to the PDC.
Our first match of the night was Chuck & Suck versus the Hardy Boyz. Excuse me, the Hardly Boyz, since they are never taken seriously by the WWF writers, where new teams that are slapped together, like Chuck Palumbo and Billy Gunn, are pushed to the moon!!! Let's not forget that the Hardys are WAY more over than Chuck & Suck, and that they probably bust their ass much more than Gunn or Palumbo would even try, at least in the ring (not in the gym, obviously). But hey, allow Chuck & Suck to defend their new titles at Wrestlemania, where they'll probably retain against the lameduck team of the APA. The match was the usual bump-for-Chuck & Suck, with Palumbo hitting Jeff Hardy with a cheap Jungle kick for the win. What the fuck did Palumbo do to his hair?!?
Hmmm.... I don't know what is going on with the Diamond Dallas Page and Christian angle here, as they met up during a segment where Christian was telling Arn Anderson to find Flair so that he could quit the WWF. Anyone care to bet that the angle will be dropped very shortly? It's involving DDP, so the chances of that are very likely.
Next, we get half-assed booking by having a 3 way match between Big Show, Rob Van Dam, and Lance Storm to determine the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania. Who writes this stuff?!? Man, I'm just begging for at least a 5 minute bout between Storm and RVD, in a one on one match. I thought we'd have one, until Big Show came down. God, Big Show is getting worse on the weight by each show. I found it funny that he showed up at 500 pounds for the Stacker 2 commercial. Yeah, way to sell that product with someone clearly overweight. The match was decent when Storm and RVD went at it, but bad whenever either guy had to sell for the Big Slow. RVD won, thank God, telling us that he'll probably win the IC title at Wrestlemania 18. Where was Edge in this match?
Next, it was Rikishi vs. Booker T. Notice the dead crowd? Here's the problem: both guys always get hints of pushes, but in the end, they get squashed or humiliated with one of the bigger guys. OR, they'll have some stupid gimmick, like the stinkface or anything stereotypical against Booker T, that the WWF writers will push instead of their wrestling careers towards a title. Thanks to that, nobody cared about this match, including me, and Booker T is my favorite WWF superstar. Booker T would win the match. Man, I only wish Booker T was the IC champion right now to take on Rob Van Dam at Wrestlemania.
And now, it's time for Stephanie to HOG the spotlight of the show. She came out with Jericho to the ring, and they talked and talked about Triple H, and how their new business arrangement was going to rock Triple H's world. The Game would actually come to the ring, and deliver a great line about Stephanie: "sex with her is like flying a 747 into the Grand Canyon". That tops the "like throwing a hotdog down the hallway comment" that I used to hear in High School about girls who used to get around. Kurt Angle would make his way to the ring and say that he was going to fight Jericho, tonight, for the title instead of Triple H wanting to fight Jericho in a non-title match. I was guessing that the WWF was going to hotshot Jericho vs. Triple H already, but good thing they proved us wrong. After Angle made his challenge, Triple H attacked Jericho.
What the hell was Mr. Perfect trying to say backstage?
*YAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWNNNNNNN* at the Women's title match, between Molly and Jazz. God, this division is beyond lame, especially with Jazz as the champion. You know, having Chyna as a Women's champ and having her say that she'll "spank" her defeated opponents doesn't sound like a bad thing right now. Hell, having Sable as Women's champ, again, doesn't sound bad either. To take it a step further, having Stephanie McMahon as Women's champ doesn't sound too bad as well. Did you see that running splash that Jazz did on Molly? I've seen much better splashes done by backyard wrestlers than that. I laugh at those so-called "wrestling purists" who claim that Jazz is a great women's wrestler. Jazz won, and I hope the WWF doesn't bother wasting time for her to defend her title at Wrestlemania, even if it's against Lita.
Decent segment with the Undertaker pounding the living crap out of Arn Anderson. I guess it just adds to the psychology of the 'Taker wanting Flair for Wrestlemania. Nasty bladejob done by Arn, too.
Next, it was Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho. Decent match, but the crowd's confusion on who was the heel hurt the match overall. Stephony would make her usual distractions, and then Kane would help Jericho get the win. Cool. The WWF is running Angle vs. Kane at Wrestlemania. Given that 2 out of 3 of their last television matches were Kane's best ever, a Pay Per View bout between the two will be an excellent match on Pay Per View with 10 or more minutes to use.
Weird segment of Hulk Hogan talking to a cardboard cut-out of the Rock. If the WWF was smart, they'd have Hogan go to Hollywood to "invade" Rock's screening of the Scorpion King. Ooops, the Rock is selling the injury, so scratch that idea.
Oh lord, the WWF sunk to a new low. The Friendly Tap apparently turned into a gay bar, as they had various guys holding and dancing with each other. The WWF should have renamed the bar as the "Blue Oyster", as seen in various and quality Police Academy movies. Good old Chuck & Suck just happened to be there, setting the APA up for an attack. I can't wait to see the Wrestlemania promos for this match: they could recap the ambush of what happened in a gaybar!
Our Main Event (?!?) was Mr. Perfect vs. Steve Austin. Not a bad match overall, as Hennig looked better against Austin than he did against Kane. MUCH better. Austin seemed to know how to carry wrestlers like Hennig, who like the old-school style of wrestling. Austin would win the match, and then get attacked by Hogan, Hall, and Nash. Good scene with Hall destroying Austin's knee with the cinder-block. If Hall works on that knee at Wrestlemania, it will even make it better. I believe this was done for Austin to do the tour of Asia? Man, good thing every wrestling fan doesn't have the internet to find out all of the information.
LAST WORD: Watchable show overall, as the angles are solid leading up to Wrestlemania. The matches somewhat lacked of any interest, again, as we've seen throughout the past few weeks in the shows. Guys like Big Show, Rikishi, Chuck & Suck, and the Women's division can really drag a show down with their matches. The upcoming shows could be hard to watch without Rocky and Austin around. Overall, the show was a
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@That's all for today. I'll be back, tomorrow, with a video game review of WWF Steel Cage Challenge for the NES, along with a nice plate of Daily Apples. Until then, why not chill?
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.