PeteF3
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"Uh-oh, better call Brisco!" '90s New Generation Vince tells us it's worth the drive. More fantastic self-deprecation from a normally self-serious company.
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I like this gimmick but maybe it wasn't the best use of Adam Copeland's smartass personality. Of course Scott Levy is a smartass as well and it didn't hurt the Raven gimmick any.
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Kelly drops some verbal diarrhea on Austin in the form of Vince's various announcements tonight. Austin remains unfazed. Well, maybe a little fazed.
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The drawn-out lengths it took to actually get Snow wrestling on WWF TV (was it really necessary to job him at KOTR just to do that Head-and-Shoulders gag?) show that all was not rosy among the WWF booking committee even at this stage, and renders the decision not to put the ECW title on him even for a quick turnaround run all the more puzzling.
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A great, near-legendary segment that gives as much credibility to the Dude's title chances as can be done. One of the interesting subtexts that may or may not be intentional that's running through this program is the self-deprecation and winking to the audience that the WWF has never been known for, before or since. There's a strong undercurrent of, "Yeah, we've been getting our asses kicked for the past 2 years, and maybe these guys are the reason why." It makes for a stark contrast with the self-serious, often-depressing soap opera going on in the WCW main events, and a great contrast in portrayals between Heel Vince and Heel Bischoff. If Vince were to challenge Bischoff to show up at a PPV in Georgia, it'd have been treated on-air by JR & Lawler as the joke segment that it obviously was.
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The same disease that infected the WCW locker room for the past 2 years has now infected the Wolfpac, as these guys who are supposedly a tight-knit stable are nowhere to be found for one another when a member is getting their ass kicked by NWO Hollywood. Another segment that starts off with great heat and then just dies as the old guys go on, and on, and on, on the mic. What a mess of a segment. Piper's the guest ref now for Bret vs. Savage because God knows that match needed a hook to it.
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Maybe the last really strong beginning-to-end angle in WCW history (though of course Slamboree isn't really the end).
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Well...I do get the idea of not wanting both Giant and Nash on the babyface side, and I get the idea of Giant turning because he hates Nash so much. Just like Santo turning heel in late '96 and dear God I can't believe I just made that comparison. Nash gets beat down and spraypainted (but doesn't bother to take a Chokeslam) and somehow Hogan and the Giant back off when K-Dog, Hennig, Dusty, and Savage hit the ring even though it seems like Giant ought to be able to take all four of those guys by himself. A mess of a segment with Hogan doing more shooty-shoot, below-the-belt stuff and Nash's cool responses being the main saving grace.
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Yeah, two years ago this definitely would have been a "The following segment has been paid for..." bit with the videotape filtered through black and white and done in response to a more authentic WCW-centered party.
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I remember this being a sort of bizarre tie-in where people would vote on music videos in head-to-head battles and the video would be represented by a wrestler and they'd have a match afterward with the winning video wrestler winning...you still with me? Good, because I'm lost myself. The rain didn't help and neither did the fact that his was hosted by guys like Matt Pinfield and Carson Daly and probably that red-headed loudmouthed douchebag contest winner VJ who--oh, I'm channelling my bitter high school self again--instead of somebody who knew a thing about wrestling. Pale imitation of the hot brawl they had last week.
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This might be the worst Dusty promo I've ever seen. More self-indulgent, overlong, and rambling than his most egomaniacal WTBS stuff. Even the "Shelter from the Storm" reference he loves to make so much seems tired. The only highlight was this being about the closest thing to honesty anyone in WCW has publicly been regarding Scott Hall's whereabouts.
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If you could combine the WWF's main event scene with the WCW undercarders, you'd have the greatest--oh, I think I beat that point to death in 1997. This is a LOUD Kansas City crowd but this segment has the most sustained heat of all the segments that we've seen so far. The main eventers get great initial reactions but the noise dissipates the longer each segment goes.
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So Savage wants Hogan in the ring for a fight and Nash wants Hogan to concede ownership of the NWO and all associate trademarks and catchphrases to him. That about sums up the two extremes of thought right there. No idea why they had to separate these two segments (other than Becuz Ratings).
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Alex stands up for himself in the most revolutionary dance-related protest since Men Without Hats.
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Bischoff has great heat to start and then it just dissipates, because instead of getting an anticipated answer to Savage's challenge--you know, something that may keep us, the viewer, with their eyeballs on THIS show tonight, he instead blithers about DX visiting his offices, about Sean Waltman, and his infamous open challenge to Vince McMahon. Reacting to Waltman was just playing right into the WWF's hands and unlike his trash talk in '95, here it strongly indicates that Vince and the WWF have gotten into Eric's head. Speaking as one who was in high school at a time when all the cool kids were actually watching wrestling but not following online or in newsletters, I can guarantee you that had it not been for Bischoff's closing statement, many, MANY wrestling fans would have truly believed that there'd be a confrontation at Slamboree. Of course, attempting this shit at all seems like a major risk considering the 1996 lawsuit regarding Hall & Nash was still ongoing. Have I gone through all 374 reasons why this idea was so terrible, or should I keep going?
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Fuck, I didn't want to see Hogan vs. Savage again the *last* time they were pushing it--I know that put me in the minority compared to the 1998 audience, but enough already.
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"It's not easy being a hero" was a great line that got great heat, and I admire Bret's fire. But yes, this is a dream match (not literally their first, but close enough) that doesn't really feel like it. Why is it we can't get an explanation of why he helped Hogan now, after weeks treating that secret like Bret was about to drop the formula for Coke on us? Oh, and the other highlight is Bret fulfilling my expectations and hopes by referring to the upcoming PPV as "The Slamboree."
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Best indy match since the heyday of the Lightning Kid. In some ways this is just as much of a cosplay performance as the previous OMEGA bouts--Anderson & Parker even resemble Ole & Gene physically in addition to the style and the crimson ring attire--but the fundamentals are executed so much better and D&D stand out so much precisely *because* they work a fairly antiquated style that it makes for a much more enjoyable match. They do some terrific heeling through all this, with some old-school trademarks like Parker loading his boot and using a string to choke Helms, and some great mocking of the crowd chants and of the Serial Thrillaz' posing for the crowd. When they attempt the more advanced '90s-style moves they get a little sloppy, but the overarching story is good enough to make up for it and you sort of have to admire the effort to update the classic southern formula a little. Helms is even sloppier at this point, but he at least knows how to sell and that can get you 90% of the way sometimes. And the height on his dives is really incredible. Maverick doesn't do a lot but he's clearly holding this together from the babyface side, and aside from the big dives he's the best part of every babyface offensive sequence. A promising blend of what's to come--a '90s indy aesthetic with classic Crockett touches that the Hardyz grew up watching. -
Austin is so far ahead of everyone else in wrestling at this point that his commentary, good as it is, tends to overshadow even a crazy war like this one. His headset going out right as he was about to talk about the alleged Foley-McMahon conspiracy was a great touch. Funk goes all-out trying to get Mick over, doing a moonsault off the balcony and taking and giving some hellacious weapons shots. This is good work with some fantastic booking, as Foley establishes himself as both a sellout and a bloodthirsty savage willing to cripple anyone to get what he wants, and we even continue the slow build to the Stooges become full-fledged on-air characters, first with Brisco last week and now Patterson this week. And of course, that ending--maybe the best closing image in the history of Raw. This could end up being the most enjoyable WWF TV match of 1998.
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Not sure why they *can't* do this stuff now--they do it for NXT. This was a terrific video, on the level of the stuff setting up WM14. An unspoken implication is, "This is what these guys did to each other when they were *friends*!" Makes you want to see what they'll do as enemies.
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I was just reading a Cracked article a few days ago about how "porn superstar" is one of several jobs made obsolete by the Internet. It sure as hell isn't my field but there aren't really any Jenna Jamesons around nowadays, it doesn't seem.
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This works better than a typical "shoot" segment because these guys break character in a way without actually breaking character or kayfabe at all. A good bit of inside-television stuff that still gets the proper storyline across. "I wasn't fat like I am now--in fact, Jerry, I was kind of studly!" Lawler and Bearer share a good laugh over how Undertaker's mother seduced virginal young Paul on the kitchen floor of the funeral home, resulting in Kane. Lawler does an "out of character" (again, not really) apology afterward.
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"When I came out, you threw Dude Love into my face. How does it feel to have the truth thrown into yours?" *smack* One of Vince's best lines ever, and a great capper to an awesome segment that shows just how far ahead the WWF had pulled in front of WCW in terms of storytelling and thought put into each segment. We finally get a sea change for Mick's character as Vince delivers a speech that he's probably delivered during contract negotiations a hundred times. Austin responds by trashing the Love Shack and forcing Vince to attempt to defend himself with the ring bell and hammer.
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Yes, a dumb angle that was as obvious as the most hackneyed, cliched Memphis segment except Memphis segments tend to have good interviews. Okerlund's bad here, too--he seems to have checked out along with all the rest of the WCW announce crew, all of whom have deteriorated badly this year. Brian Adams does a shoulder breaker on the floor, which apparently is more devastating than a shoulder breaker in the ring. And yet, various combinations of Scott, Rick, and Bagwell would repeat this same basic angle over and over and over and OVER for at least the next 6 months!
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A bullrope match for Slamboree? Yeah, I'm down with that. Another strong in-ring (sort of) segment as Raven continues the workrate run of his career. In an ideal world this could possibly, conceivably set up Raven as a semi-main event player but of course the Glass Ceiling is now in full effect in WCW.