For those of you who are questioning where the Grade was for yesterday's column... After I finished the Survivor Series review and the rest of the column, I went back and realized that after ranting for a while, I forgot to grade the show. I gave it a C- (C minus) for a boring main event and the lack of a breakthrough for a Pay Per View.
And speaking of that Main Event between the Alliance and the WWF, I can't believe that some people got off on it, saying it was a great match. Obviously, they don't fall for repetition like most, nor do they get bored easily.
But to hell with the Survivor Series! It's time for change! It's time to review RAW! On to the PDC!
Vince McMahon walks out to the ring to start the show. Where have we seen this before? However, this one meant something, as he provides some news or changes in the WWF. He praises Kurt Angle for what he did, and pronounces that ECW and WCW are officially dead. Both have been dead since early 2001. Then, Vince oddly renames the WCW World Title into the World Title. What does that mean? I say just let Rock keep the famous belt at his home, and push the WWF belt as the real title. Vince then informs us of the new Kiss-My-Ass club that will start, which will be quite embarrassing later.
But then, we are awarded with a surprise, as one of the 2 big rumors became true. Vince called out Paul Heyman, and Heyman immediately went to the announcer's table. I thought this would be a cruel joke, but then, Heyman is invited to the ring and gets FIRED in Vince's famous voice. After that, the REAL replacement comes out and it's Jerry "The King" Lawler, to a gigantic pop! Yeah, screw the XWF! Any federation that puts you with Tony Shiavone and has a booker named Kevin Sullivan will never do you any good. Jerry seemed to pick up as if he never quit before Wrestlemania. Lawler did seem to be in good shape though, as if he was actually forced to wrestle a bunch of independent shows to make a living. Oh wait, he did. Props to 1wrestling's Dave Scherer for breaking the story, despite many other news sites saying it would never happen.
The first match of the night was Lita vs. Trish Stratus. Why, why, why?!?!? After a hot sports entertainment segment, why kill the crowd with sloppy wrestling? I'd rather get Test shoved down my throat instead of seeing two women trying to wrestle. I'd rather see them looking great outside the ring and selling posters instead of creating an eyesore of a match. I wonder if the WWF was counting on Trish to carry Lita to a good match? Trish won the match after Matt Hardy threw Lita into the ring to beat the outside count. This feud continues, and I'm pissed that Matt didn't yell at Jeff Hardy for blowing last night's match. Geesh, the writers are still missing the little things.
Next, it was Rob Van Dam vs. the Dudleys in a handicapped Tables match. Vince McMahon booked this one after talking trash on the remaining Alliance members. This is RVD's first handicapped tables matches, as the Rock and Jericho could have given him advice on how to wrestle them, for the many times they've fought in those matches. The match would have been decent, but the nasty table bumps by RVD and that weird top rope neckbreaker made it a little shocking. The top rope neckbreaker by D'Von on RVD was so nasty! Then, RVD tries to become Superman and leaps after a table that's a wee bit far away. He ends up breaking the table with his face, which couldn't have felt good. Then, he didn't break through the table with the 3D, so the Dudleys did it again! Get RVD some ice!
Pretty good segment with the Rock and Kurt Angle. Right before our eyes, the WWF is slowly turning Angle into a full-fledged heel, and they did a darn good job of it.
And of course, we must somehow fit in Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon. Shane walks out with pride, meaning he'll probably disappear from the scene for a while. He'll just work extra hard to push the Big Show, Test, and we'll see the return of Steve Blackman, too (all Shane's buddies). Stephanie begged and begged with her father to spare her soul, but it was to no avail. Triple H will be coming back soon, and that will be the reason for Steph's return. Oh joy! Can't we keep her off television for at least 6 months? 3 months? Nobody wants to see that fake boobed bimbo any more!
Funny how Vince McMahon said he doesn't mind people with Massive Egos backstage. I guess Vince knows how to deal with himself, along with such wrestlers as Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Honky Tonk Man, and at times, Steve Austin.
Holy cow! Mr. T was shown at ringside! I pity the fool who didn't like seeing Ric Flair on RAW!
Rock versus Kurt Angle was next, and boy, was it a punch fest! Both guys were swinging those righthands. Some have suggested that they did this because they were tired from Survivor Series. Uh oh, they still have to wrestle one more night for the Smackdown tapings. Anyway, the Rock got the interesting roll-up victory, which opened my eyes, to beat Angle. Lots of roll-up victories lately, eh? After the match, Angle attacked the Rock, which prompts Chris Jericho to come down to attack as well. A Jericho and Angle faction? Hmmm...
FINGER OF SHAME to the WWF for the William Regal induction into the Kiss-My-Ass Club, with Regal actually laying a quick kiss on Vince's bare ass. That just goes beyond the realm of tasteless, and nobody should be required to do such a sick thing whenever employed. They went a bit far, and I'm sure various news programs will use this clip in their future bashings of wrestling. With Flair back, I hope that none of the former Alliance members have to go through this again. But hey, with Regal, he's already tasted piss when Jericho took a whiz in his tea, so I guess you can't go wrong by making him kiss an actual ass.
Our next match was Kane vs. Chris Jericho. Man, nobody can pull out a great match from Kane like Kurt Angle did a few weeks ago. The match seemed short, with a lame DQ finish. Well, it wasn't too lame, as the chairshot was quite vicious. Afterward, Jericho continued his attack on Kane, showing that he's a new heel around the WWF.
Speaking of heels, Kurt Angle continued his tirade into slowly turning heel before our eyes, instead of a stupid swerve that we witnessed about 3 weeks ago (not a month like the Rock said). Edge makes sure that Angle knows that he did what he did for himself, and not the good of the company.
Next, we witnessed a very short pounding of Tazz from William Regal. Man, Tazz is getting his ass kicked anymore. I guess Regal's dominance was a way to "get his heat back". I know those Tazz marks are fuming at their heels right now!
And we have Sports Entertainment as our final segment of the show, instead of a Main Event. But hey, I will NOT complain this week because something very big happened. Vince McMahon was about to hand Kurt Angle the WWF World Title until the man came out. Ric Flair baby! Whooooooooo!!!! Time Warner/AOL contract has been bought out!!! Flair came into the ring, and Vince was confused as to why he was there. To visit with friends? Salute the home crowd? Not at all.
You see, folks, the WWF writing team actually filled in a gap last night. Back when the Alliance formed, Stephanie and Shane sold all of their WWF stock to fund it. However, we never knew who bought it up, which is a significant stake of ownership in the WWF. Ric Flair apparently bought up the stock, thinking that the kids would fail in their effort to takeover the WWF. That was the "bet" he was mentioning. Had the Alliance won, Flair would have been out millions from dead stock, as would Vince McMahon, as the whole WWF would be out of the job. I can't believe it, this angle makes sense and is compelling to watch and wonder about!
And with this, it prompts the finally arriving Steve Austin to come after Kurt Angle, the man who screwed the Alliance. It turns Austin face, which was the WWF's new goal because of the crowd's recent face pops for Austin, and Angle and Vince would then run out of the ring. Then, Austin and Flair stare at each other, and form a new bond. Well, actually an old bond, for Ric Flair was grooming Steve Austin to be the next big heel in 1994 before Hulk Hogan came in and ruined everything in WCW. Awesome!
LAST WORD: The Wrestling Gods have saved us! After poor writing on the WWF's part and lame storylines or blown storylines to question ourselves as wrestling fans, the WWF makes a great move. The addition of Flair and his new role should create a buzz that will bring back some of the lost Old School fans, at least I hope. The wrestling on the show wasn't up to par, but the Sports Entertainment was the best in years! Therefore, we'll give the whole show an
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@Isn't it amazing how many times Ric Flair has saved wrestling? First, he made NWA/WCW a classy rival to the WWF in 1989. Then, he professionally filled in as the Black Scorpion at the end of 1990. Next, he saved WCW's ass at the end of 1993 by filling in for Scissors Sid at Starrcade to take on Vader. The list goes on! Man, I'm so excited! Flair for President! I'll see you tomorrow with more PDC, hopefully.
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.