PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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This has to be a record for most segments on a Yearbook from one night of wrestling. One of the most noteworthy Mondays in awhile, even if WCW was mostly noteworthy for the wrong reasons. This is a fun little tag with Rock and especially D'Lo really going all-out. The People's Elbow is now named and the entire shtick, except for the elbow pad toss, is there. It's still not over and neither is the Rock Bottom, though. D'Lo might be the best worker in this match and this feels like a coming-out party for him, with JR doing a great job of getting over what it would mean if D'Lo were to pin Austin. Vince CLOTHESLINES AUSTIN in what was a mindblowing development at the time, but Austin makes his own comeback against the Stooges before being attacked by Dude Love. But here comes Dustin, then here comes DX, and the Nation's in, and--and--...how soon until next Monday night??? -
DX are fully playing to the crowd now as the turn is complete. X-Pac directly responds to Bischoff's promo from earlier in the night in one of those cool only-in-the-late-'90s deals. HHH's weekly double-entendre is cut off by Owen Hart, who's about to take on DX by himself before he reconsiders and brings out the Nation. Owen's babyface run ended up being a waste but the turn was another example of strong booking, as he "initiates" himself in the Nation by destroying their enemy Ken Shamrock and now has allies in his fight with DX, all while setting up a future feud. Good, logical storytelling.
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Goldust is out a week after getting destroyed by Kane because of his failures the week before that. That's the final straw, as he sets his Goldust attire on fire and blames Vince for his estrangement from his family. It may have been time to get away from Goldust for awhile, but yes, the follow-up really wasn't there and this quickly is going to become Owen Hart Redux.
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Link is missing a slash between "27" and "wrestling." Put it in and you're there.
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Of course, the magic of Google Earth has since told us that the building itself notwithstanding, the area around Titan Tower in Stamford isn't much better. Kind of a coup getting employees or tourists or whatever to do the crotch chop in CNN Center. That closing shot of CNN Center blowing up has sadly aged pretty poorly.
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Crash TV, baby! We segue right from Sable to this with no break, with the idea that Undertaker's entrance was "unplanned." Bearer promises to bring proof next week that he's Kane's father while Lawler eats a tombstone for his remarks last week. Still lots of strong week-to-week booking with consequences begetting consequences, even for goofy over-the-top stuff like this.
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That's at least 3 references to Viagra in the past week, so clearly that was the hot news item of the day. Lawler is rapidly approaching his "PUPPIES!" levels of obnoxiousness as he drools over Sable. This was fun, as Mero is so shamelessly into his role as a stooge, and even Sable's actually pretty good here.
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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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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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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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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?