PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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We get our first reference to "The Big Valboski," as well as the first of about 9 million "did you find the [small household object]?" questions as euphemisms for blowjobs. -
THAT'S the Foley we need to see--he's storming out, pissed at not getting a re-match for the title. Vince confronts him, but makes sure that we the viewer don't get to see it. "I OWN THAT MIC, I OWN THAT CAMERA, SHUT IT OFF!" Now they're mitigating the Dude Love promos a bit by making it clear that he's basically acting that way under Vince's orders.
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As I mentioned at the end of 1997, Vince is (for a little while) putting an end to the necessity of the "cool heel." There's nothing cool about this and it's all the better for it. He begs for sympathy and doesn't get it, announces an impromptu title match tonight, appoints Gerald Brisco as the referee with the capacity to fire Austin and strip him of the belt if he touches him, and gets thrown off a bit as the crowd starts chanting for Austin. That kind of spontaneous reaction is something you tend to miss out on in the world of scripted promos. Vince and Brisco emphasize that Gerald will officiate according to the TIME-HONORED TRADITION of WWF officials.
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I didn't hate this but it sure wasn't a main event money promo. I'm hoping the button-down, white-collar Dude will be much better.
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DX singlehandedly wins the Monday Night Wars as we see here. In all seriousness this was a bold segment and one of the first direct potshots at the competition by either side in a long while, and for once it didn't feel forced and desperate either. WCW suddenly seems way less cool than it did six months ago on a number of levels. It should be noted that "Do you think WCW sucks?!" doesn't get much of a reaction from the fans we see.
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I really think that not even Bret knows what he's supposed to get over here--so he wings it, coming from a real place (that line about the wrestling business being "run by pimps & thieves where good men die like dogs" was an eye-opener) and getting off some good lines, but not really clearing anything up and at times almost shooting on that fact when he says there's no rhyme or reason in wrestling anymore. Of course this whole segment was basically a cheap bait-and-switch to get you to watch Thunder where presumably we'll see Bret's *real* explanation, but he'll only say it face-to-face with Hogan.
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Not a particularly good segment, as the WCW title is barely mentioned and is pretty much an afterthought--Hogan's not even in the building a week after his big win. Nash and Savage are sort of doing this modern-day WWE act where they have to do their normal shtick at all costs whether the story demands it or not. Savage is the newest member of the Wolfpac, at least until Nash introduces the new newest member: Konnan, who recites through *his* standard spiel and yes, I hate this guy already.
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I'm writing this almost a week after the fact but I didn't have much to say that hasn't been said already--it was fun, but not much more than that. Another strike this match had going in is that I don't know if there was any possible way for anyone to really believe Foley was walking out with the belt, Crash TV or no Crash TV, Vince or no Vince. This PPV main event being sort of an afterthought was a necessary evil since the focus right after WM had to be on establishing Austin vs. McMahon as the top feud, but it does end up hurting the match slightly. I have a feeling that things will perk up once we get a more elaborate plan from Vince next month.
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I used to think that, but thinking about it more--after already punching the fans in the gut by having Warrior lose to the evil Iraqi sympathizer, I don't see any way you can further have Hogan eliminated from the Rumble. Even if Slaughter interferes or something to set up WM7. Andre winning wouldn't have made up for that--you needed the best feelgood ending possible. I suspect Andre and Undertaker would have had their big face-off with Andre putting over the new monster by being eliminated by him. That's almost exactly what they did down to the letter in 1993 when Earthquake faced off with Yokozuna.
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Billy Robinson in Memphis. The Rock 'n Roll Express in 1998 WWF. The Freebirds in the AWA. He was over and it worked, but Bobby Heenan always seemed out of place in Georgia. A guy who was a Northerner/Midwesterner all the way in a southern-fried wrasslin' promotion that wasn't really a managers' territory.
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Jesus, this just kept going. Former undercarder and New Kid Tony Williams is now Kyd Wykkid or something-or-other, and we can tell how serious he is because he crams every shoot term he can think of into this promo. Shane Douglas would find this guy long-winded. There aren't many promos that have false finishes in them, but we have one here.
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I wish I could give this MOTY consideration, but only the first two falls meet that standard. In the third, Casas eats a cannonball off the top from Black Warrior and sells it like death, to the point where you suspect it's a legit injury or at least a Japanese-style shoot angle. But it's just some very long and drawn-out selling and it sort of kills the flow of the match. The finish didn't bother me, but this didn't quite build to an incredible climax teased by the first two caidas. Too bad because those falls are indeed spectacular--I'm hard-pressed to think of a lucha trios match on these Yearbooks with a better combination of star power and working ability than this. Three major programs are put over and all three rivalries are worked differently--hate between Casas and Santo, beautiful technical exchanges between Atlantis and Panther, and sort of a combination of everything from Warrior and Niebla. Hopefully there's more lucha goodness to come.
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Another war, with a few nice wrasslin' spots to break up the matwork. This was STIFF matwork too, vicious and fluid at the same time. Definitely a low-level MOTYC and one of the best of the year so far. Ishikawa with another victory that really feels earned as Greco was tying him in knots for a big chunk of this.
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Are there more examples of Norton the big bump machine? I've never seen him this active before. The match isn't bad nor is it good but of course none of this is really the story here. Bagwell's head collides with Rick's back in a pretty horrific scene and Thunder is held up for close to a half hour so Bagwell can be immobilized and removed from the ring. Schiavone does an excellent job during this, bringing to mind Michael Cole after Jerry Lawler went into cardiac arrest on Raw. I'm also somewhat relieved that the South Carolina crowd remained rather well-behaved during this delay--some other crowds might not have been so patient.
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This is an okay-ish promo that gets completely derailed by a pathetic attempt to make this look like a shoot with Paul E. trying to get Taz's mic cut and Taz explaining that "this ain't like the McMahon-Austin angle." Oh, fuck off, all of you. Styles behaves a like a complete tool and really sort of asks for the treatment he's getting. Please don't ever make me watch Styles attempting to act, because nothing will kill a "shoot" vibe quicker.
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Definitely the best use of Radiohead to score a wrestling promo that I've seen today. Gertner sometimes threatens to veer into James Mitchell trying-too-hard-to-be-shocking territory and sometimes he leaps right into it, but he successfully skirts the line here with some outrageous but amusing remarks while also giving proper hype to Wrestlepalooza.
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This *did* drag quite a bit after the first power bomb, a phenomenally sick bump, so I can see how it can break one's concentration. But man, once Shinzaki starts his first comeback this gets pretty awesome. So many awesome counters and then counters to counters, plus payback spots, all with a psychological basis. Shinzaki really comes off as a gutsy bastard and I'd say this is the singles performance of his career, if not his best work period. After being jumped before the bell and being on the ropes for most of the match and having his moves and mannerisms constantly mocked, his victory really feels earned and is a feel-good moment.
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Cornette tried that with Sunny on not one, not two, but three different occasions. Tony Atlas was originally supposed to be her first protege when she debuted and was looking for someone to manage, but that fell through. Then he wanted to put her with the Gangstas and she refused. It was like a mental block with him trying to ramrod this angle to its conclusion.
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Raven's run continues. I would never put him on a GWE list but my thoughts on him are closer to El-P's now than they were before this set. He takes some great bumps to get Goldberg over and throws in just enough of his own stuff to keep him looking like a moderate threat. This crowd loses its shit at the first spear and then it just keeps on going as Goldberg destroys most of the Flock, en route to the U.S. title. This is the coolest thing WCW has pulled off in a long, long time.