[1997-01-13-WWF-Raw] Sid promo / Interview: Shawn Michaels

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Any benefit they would have gotten from the Pete Lothario angle the week before - and it wasn't much - is ruined by Michaels acting all happy-go-lucky this week instead of seeking revenge. Sid does one of his fun promos in an empty Alamodome that actually does a great job hyping the Rumble match. Extremely well done.

 

Shawn does an on-location promo surrounded by fans at Park Place in San Antonio, wherever that is. A good promo, but he seems a little wasted, and I don't really understand the build to this match.

[goodhelmet]

Park Place was a nightclub that had 4 different clubs in one. They had the disco club, the country club, a karaoke bar and maybe a modern dance club... don't quote me on this. I actually had quite fond times there... some I remember.

[Childs]

These guys seemed to be on completely different pages in building for the match. Sid was fine as the disconcerting psychopath. But what were they thinking shooting a semi-stoned Shawn at a nightclub? The Lothario as mentor thing was always a stretch, but given that they had gone this far with it, we should have at least gotten an emotional Shawn talking about vengeance.

[Death From Above]

I honestly think Shawn's a pretty bad promo overall. To me he seems like an all-time leader in just bad lines that make you roll your eyes, or segments where he comes off as pretty insincere at times he really shouldn't.

 

I like him much more as a wrestler on the whole than I do as a talker.

[soup23]

Two weeks in a row of subpar build for this one. It seemed inevitable that Shawn was winning. Sid actually did a better job at doing his promo in the Alamodome but Shawn at Park Place just felt disconnected. Also weird that neither one of them was live the week before the show.

[Kevin Ridge]

Sid is carrying this whole thing right now. His yelling gets a nice little echo in the empty Alamodome. Shawn looks like he is reading off cue cards for his promo.

[Robert S]

I honestly think Shawn's a pretty bad promo overall. To me he seems like an all-time leader in just bad lines that make you roll your eyes, or segments where he comes off as pretty insincere at times he really shouldn't.

 

I like him much more as a wrestler on the whole than I do as a talker.

Shawn's a bad face promo, as a heel we was usually pretty effective (might be reflective of his real-life personality ).

I have to agree with the assessment that Sid's promos are carrying the fued at this point. Shawn did not seem interrested at this feud anyway, maybe he was already looking past that at a Bret Hart fued.

[El-P]

Sid is carrying this whole thing right now. His yelling gets a nice little echo in the empty Alamodome. Shawn looks like he is reading off cue cards for his promo.

 

Indeed. Shawn's promo is just blah, and he does look like he's actively reading off cue cards.

 

Meanwhile, Sid does a very good promo in which he quotes Nietzsche. That has to be a first in a wrestling promo. The empty Alamo Dome echoing Sid's voice and the way he turned the camera around made for pretty cool visual and sound effects.

[PeteF3]

Sid quotes Nietzsche! Holy shit! Uh, yeah, what El-P said. Sid's promo is good but both guys are equally guilty of downplaying the Pete Lothario angle. Shawn is OUT of it.

[Exposer]

Sid's promo is fucking awesome. I'm hyped to see the match because of it. This is probably his best promo ever. Shawn's promo is fine out of context but he doesn't seem too upset about Pete Lothario getting attacked. Shawn as a babyface is really lame at this point.

[...TG]

Loved the Nietzsche reference from Sid here. Makes me imagine an alternate reality where instead of pro wrestling and softball Sid is a philosophy professor at the University of Memphis, giving his lectures with this same cadence and delivery.

 

And man Shawn is stoned and/or drunk at that nightclub. Don't know how he managed to stay upright much less give a coherent promo.

[KB8]

Count me in with the crowd who flipped for Sid of all fucking people quoting Nietzsche. This feud is kind of all over the place as the big angle from last week seems to have been forgotten bar some paid lip service. At least Sid incorporates it into his promo - which I thought was really fun overall - so that's something. Shawn of course makes a subtle comment about having a big dick, and tells us more than once how he'll kick Sid's teeth down his throat. I thought his promo was actually alright, if mostly pretty garden variety, but his best stuff on interviews this year definitely comes when he's heel. 

[dawho5]

Sid's promo was absolutely great.  Shawn's was pretty bad.  And he spent half the time not looking at the camera.