On to the PDC.
Next, it was the referee bout, which was pretty lame. The addition of Mick Foley as the referee was a nice thing, but it can't stop two guys from having a crapper of a match. Hebner won off of what was one of the worst spears ever attempted.
The Acolytes versus Chuck Palumbo/Sean O'Haire was probably the Natural Born Thrillers WWF test, as the Acolytes somewhat manhandled them and beat them cleanly like a Smackdown or RAW match. It seems as though O'Haire isn't allowed to do any of his great offense since he's burst on to the WWF scene.
X-Pac vs. Billy Kidman wasn't as good as I thought it would be, for maybe X-Pac was dogging it since he knew he was losing. I better say this before anyone else does: I wouldn't doubt that X-Pac will defeat Kidman on RAW tonight. It's funny how X-Pac thinks. He'll take the loss on a Pay Per View, but when the rematch comes on National Television, he'll always win. Gee, how does that happen?
I don't know what they were thinking by booking Raven vs. William Regal. The Cleveland fans didn't know how to respond to something like that. The WWF better get their shit together and start preparing shows a lot more earlier than they currently are, because you don't book matches on the fly. That's so ECW or WCW. I guess since the Invasions have occurred, it's beginning to rub off.
Oh God, what a half-assed joke of a match that Big Show, Billy Gunn, and Albert vs. Kanyon, Stasiak, and Morrus was. Why the hell would you even waste time on guys who haven't proved to be big players in the WWF yet or of recent times? The worst of WCW versus the worst of the WWF should be saved for an episode of Jakked and not a Pay Per View. A Crash Holly match (har har) would have made more sense than this slop of a match. Just note that individuals like Matt Hardy weren't included on this show, but slackers like Gunn and Big Show, and unproven WCW guys, were.
Tazz vs. Tajiri was way too short to amount to anything. But hey, you must chop down the time so that Gunn/Big Show/Albert vs. Kanyon/Stasiak/Morrus get proper time to absolutely suck!
Awesome match between Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. They were the only guys who really delivered a good match on the show, and they put on a Hardcore match, and not a hit me with Trashcans match like we've been accustomed to on other WWF "hardcore" matches. RVD with the Hardcore Title sets up a HUGE Philly RAW is WAR next week. I hope that the WWF officials notice on what match stole the show.
The Bra and Panties match was about what I expected, although I thought Kiebler and Wilson would cheat to win. Guess not. Thank God Kiebler didn't attempt a handspring elbow.
Wow, some good booking by the WWF on the Austin turn. It's about time they used their heads for once to really set up a Rock vs. Austin match, which we would have been forced to see anyway. The 10 man brawl was OK overall, but it was no where near as great as the DX/Radicalz vs. Foley/Rock/Too Cool/Rikishi 10 man match last year on RAW. Wait, nobody can top the excitement of that match. Hopefully, on RAW tonight, Austin explains why he turned, and not just a "you guys don't deserve it" mention like he did on his last heel turn.
LAST WORD: It's a damn good thing I didn't spend a couple hundred buckos on getting tickets for this event. Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy is the only thing really worth watching this show, with E/C vs. Storm/Awesome to be the next best thing. Now watch the WWF screw up this Austin turn tonight on RAW. I'll give this show a C.
But other than that, what can I predict? Besides Rock vs. Austin at Summerslam, the WWF is still scrambling to book the next week's worth of shows. I figure that there will be some focus on ECW, this week and next, since the WWF is truly in ECW territory right now.
Sorry for being so short. I have a splitting headache today.
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@That's all for today. Hopefully, RAW will be a hell of a lot better than Invasion. That should be easy to accomplish, and embarrassing if they (the bookers) can't at least achieve that. See you tomorrow.
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