I was planning to read more of Mick Foley's second book for a future review this weekend, but I wasn't even able to touch it. Argh! Well, since all of my midterms are over, hopefully, I can find some time to read that damn book, and then move on to Kurt Angle's book. If I was only paid to write this column everyday, instead of working and going to school to better myself, then life would be so nice and I would have much more free time to sit down and read a book about wrasslin'. Instead, I have to read a book over a long period of time.
Today, we'll take a look at what could be in store for the "Follow up RAW to the Best Ever RAW", or whatever. No Heat review, because I didn't have time to watch that heaping pile of shit of a show. Actually, I never really plan on making time to watch that show on a regular basis. I did hear, however, that the show was more stacked than usual, and I probably would have liked to have seen the Booker T vs. Edge match. Ah well, I'm sure RAW will recap something.
I highly doubt that this Heat stacking will last for long. The WWF creative team will cite that it's too hard on their schedules, although they never write in advance for any shows. Hmmm... since the WWF does the booking on the fly stuff, would that mean that the creative staff only works 3 times a week, if that? Probably not, but from wasting what could have been great Invasion angle, I'd say they write like it.
And here's one more thing about Sunday Night Heat. If the WWF is starting to stack Sunday Night Heat, where will that leave the regular wrestlers always wrestle on Heat? Uh oh, the WWF sharks could be lining up for some talent cuts very soon. That's something that I do NOT wish upon any wrestler trying to get by, but yet getting over trumped by the WWF writers or Vince McMahon.
Speaking of which, it must feel sickening to be a wrestler, knowing that a bunch of writers and ex-wrestlers on a creative team hold your fate, your career, and your well being on the line. Like, say for instance, you get depushed in the storylines. The long term effects are quite harmful if you so choose to make a living as a wrestler. You wonder why a lot of wrestlers cuddle up to the writers, bookers, or owners of a company.
At times, it makes me feel good to just write about wrestling, and not live it. No matter what I say, no matter how bad I criticize a wrestler, I will always give props for the effort and the determination a wrestler has to stay in the business, despite having their backs to the wall. I might seem like a bastard at times when criticizing someone, but I'll never fault how they got to where they are at, nor will I lose respect for them being a wrestler.
Some of the stuff that wrestlers go through, like the daily stress, are way above most of the viewers who enjoy watching wrestling every week. I'll always admire the wrestler's persistance.
But anyway, let's hype RAW (no longer called IS WAR) and send this one home!
In one match, already signed by the WWF, we'll be seeing Kurt Angle and a mystery partner take on Stone Cold Steve Austin and a mystery partner, who will be selected by the Alliance. You can just guess that Rob Van Dam will be selected as a partner of either Angle or Austin. The other partner, well, that's unknown. Maybe someone like Booker T, or in that realm. Maybe Angle/Undertaker vs. Austin/Booker T? I'm not sure.
Also on the card, we'll smell the ratings with a Handicap match. *Yawn* I swear, I've seen more handicap matches or 6 man matches than I can personally handle. I guess that's what happens when you have extremely unoriginal creative minds on the WWF booking staff, including McMahons. The match will be the Dudley Boyz against Big Slow. If the Duds lose this match, then what point will it be to have Big Show having a partner at No Mercy?
I'm actually looking foward to how the Rock and Chris Jericho feud plays out. To keep a very hot feud going, one would suggest for Chris Jericho to win the match at No Mercy, since the feud just started. However, it's the Rock we're talking about, who is very hard to beat at a Pay Per View (besides Austin and Triple H, who are known to have booking power), and Chris Jericho isn't exactly a favorite among WWF officials for his blown spots and at times, sloppy and stiff moves. Who knows?
Just note that we're in Canada, tonight, (Ottawa), so the reception for Chris Jericho, against the Rock, could be tremendous. The WWF will most likely do something to protect the Rock from negative cheers, just like they did for the Christian match at the Toronto RAW. They do that because if you remember, Bill Goldberg was booed, and hard, at a Canadian Nitro a while ago, in which WCW put the noise boxes (machines playing crowd noise) up full blast.
RAW has no "Best Ever RAW" hype to live up to this week.
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@That's all for today. I hope to be back, tomorrow, with a full review on RAW. Until then, check out the LoP Message Boards for discussions on wrestling, sports, music, movies, and more!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.
Before we go to the RAW review, let me just congradulate the New York Yankees on winning the World Series. If you think that the Mariners have a chance, despite winning 116 games, you're crazy. The difference between the Yanks and the rest of the league is that they know how to win when they need to. I felt that the Oakland A's were the only team that stood a chance, as they matched up well position by position. Seattle is good, but right now, I wouldn't want to face New York's pitching. They KNOW how to win in the Playoffs, and the Yankees will easily destroy either the Braves or the Diamondbacks.
Another year of Yankees winning the series, thanks to their high payroll. They wonder why baseball couldn't be bigger than what it is now.
Ooops, I'm talking baseball again. Let's talk some wrasslin', so on to the PDC!
FUCKING TERRIBLE opening interview with Mick Foley, and then Trash Stratus. FINGER OF SHAME to the WWF for even doing this. It was nothing but a horrible, and I mean HORRIBLE promo for Foley's Halloween book, and Trish's part in the whole thing made absolutely no sense whatsoever. If you liked this "sports entertainment", then I'm sorry to say this, but you are NOT a wrestling fan but an incredibly stupid viewer of wrestling.
To start off the show even worse, the first match was Big Show versus the Dudleys in a handicap match, with Big Show being the guy who is handicapped. You could read that one both ways. Horrible match here, with Tajiri running down to make the save. I take it that Spike Dudley is out of this feud, or what? Maybe Tajiri was making the save since Stacy "I'm Tito's Age" Keibler was managing the Duds? I'm not sure. But what I'm sure of is that I personally didn't like this at all. WORST RAW of all time at this point. If it continued this ridiculous momentum, I'd retire from watching wrestling ever again! However, the show got better...
The only thing I really enjoyed about the Hurricane/Molly/Lance Storm vs. APA/Jackie match was the final sequences with the CLOTHESLINES FROM HELL. First, as a superhero, Hurricane tried to drill Bradshaw with a Clothesline from Hell. However, Bradshaw didn't move. Hurricane was stunned, and he would then take one of the most vicious clotheslines that Bradshaw has EVER delivered. Either that, or Hurricane was one of the best ones to sell it.
The Alliance vote was somewhat comical. I found it funny that Steve Austin threw away Debra's vote, which must have been for Rob Van Dam. Austin would then announce that everyone voted for Booker T, in which the wrestlers, in the ring, did a poor job of selling the controversy. Later, Billy Kidman would argue that everyone voted for RVD and NOT Booker T, which would make Tazz mad enough to challenge Kidman for a match. In 1997, that would have been an interesting match, back when Kidman was hot as a Cruiserweight and when Tazz was a legit badass in ECW. Oh, how times have changed.
Interesting match with Rock vs. Rob Van Dam. Not because the crowd, at times, somewhat favored RVD over the Rock, but because RVD didn't bust Rocky open! Ha! Not a bad match between these two. I liked the psychology of the ending, where Chris Jericho lived up to his promise to not get involved with the Rock during his match. Jericho would get his later. Too bad this feud COULD end at No Mercy, because it's making Jericho interesting again. I remember how much intrigue his WCW heel turn did for him in 1997, back when he would throw temper tantrums whenever he lost a match.
Our next match was Billy Kidman versus Tazz. Kidman made short work of Tazz. Wow. Tazz's stock must really be dropping. If Tazz's contract is only for 2 or 3 years, where he signed to start 2000, don't be surprised if the WWF just lets it run out sometime. If another heel announcer gets hot, too, don't be surprised if Tazz gets turfed off Smackdown and wrestles the undercard of Heat or Jakked for the remainder of his WWF career. Kidman looked solid, although the WWF has NO storylines to surround him, despite being WCW Cruiserweight champion. See, this is why I always bitch about the WWF writers.
Chris Jericho vs. Rhyno was decent, but I'm not much for NWO Alliance run ins anymore. I got sick of those things in 1996, so why keep repeating them in 2001? I did like the end, however, with the Rock making the save, and then Rock Bottoming Jericho to keep this feud hot. The only good writing in the WWF right now......
Hmmm, I don't really know where this weird Diamond Dallas Page thing is going. My guess is that he'll keep taking shots at face wrestlers or crowds in his promos, so that he can return with lots of heat on him. That's my only guess. But once he returns, he won't have any opportunities at big money feuds, despite being one of the more recognized WCW wrestlers. The WWF Good Ol' Boy Network © just loves to put the shaft towards DDP, among other WCW/ECW wrestlers. Yeah, and thanks to screwing the Alliance wrestlers, the WWF company, as a whole, will continue to slide, lose money, which would cost them their jobs anyway. DUH!
Decent match up between Edge and X-Pac. Edge is one of the future pieces for the WWF, and X-Pac can look good when he wants or feels like it, as he did last night. After the match, Jim Ross told Edge that his mother was sick or something, to which he met up with Christian to maybe go see her. However, the Alliance B-team was waiting on Edge, to which he received a massive beatdown, all set up by Christian. Then, to make this booking more insulting, Paul Heyman reveals Christian to be the newest member of the Alliance. Oh, I'm sooo shocked! Why couldn't they have turned Christian to the Alliance dark side in the first place?
To keep using this word, but decent main event to end the show. I actually predicted the partners for this match in yesterday's column, if you believe, what you see above, is yesterday's column. The Undertaker can always look decent when he has Steve Austin, who he's fought too many times, and Booker T selling everything for him. Poor Kurt Angle was busted open for this match. WWF trainers must be tired of stitching him up! I liked the psychology, too, of this ending, where Rob Van Dam 5-Star Froggie Splashed Angle instead of Austin, which helped Austin/Booker T win the match. During this match, also, Kane ran down to stop an interfering Test. Oh joy, thanks for reminding me of that match, WWF.
LAST WORD: My lord, this isn't a good follow up to the "Best RAW Ever" hype that we saw for last week's show. After somewhat disappointing fans last week, you'd figure that the WWF wouldn't make the same, if not worse, mistakes as this week with poorly booked matches or angles. However, they did, and in my opinion, this show gets a
CLICK HERE to listen to the latest show. Note that new Wrestle Palooza shows are produced every Sunday and Thursday of the week. Be sure to check regularly for any announcements concerning possible guests on the show. Also, listen to the archives, which features interviews with Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, Harley Race, Daffney, Spike Dudley, Dr. Death, Dusty Rhodes, Lenny Lane, Kid Kash, Madusa, and more!
KOLTERSHOCK!!!! You KNOW you want to check it out!
Gamerave - The Ultimate Videogame Site: Reviews and Previews of Gameboy Advance games, along with information about future gaming systems!
@That's all for today's edition of the PHAT Daily Column. I hope to be back tomorrow with probably some backlash on RAW, ratings, or whatever else is affecting the wrasslin' world. Until then, just chill till the next episode!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.