PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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They almost lose the crowd early on because they don't get Austin's matwork, which I thought was a cool wrinkle well-explained by the announcers. But...it doesn't get over. And I can't really bitch about late-'90s Attitude Era crowds only popping for catchphrases because this was a hot crowd all night who popped for all the right spots and seemed to "get" wrestling as you expect a NYC crowd might. By the end, they're back into it, and all in all you can't really say they ripped anybody off. They had the opportunity to climax with a great main event to mark this as an all-time classic PPV--instead you "just" get a good solid main event that sort of pales in comparison to other WWF title matches over the past year in terms of action, drama, and theater. It's probably not any worse than the WM14 main event but lacks that match's real-life implications and sense of a sea change in wrestling history--so in the end, WM14 remains the superior show. Still, going in this match was going to have completely suck for this not to be a lock for #2 PPV of the year and maybe #2 show of the year overall, and it didn't do that. -
A breakout match for both guys for sure. It's not as good as the Shawn-Razor series but it's a hell of a match in its own right. On the worse side, the pre-ladder action isn't that great, but it benefits from the looser restrictions, which means we get a lot more hatred and violence and blood than the previous ladder matches were allowed to show. There was some pretty ridiculously slow ladder-climbing, though as the match went on I thought they were able to cover for it fairly well with Triple H's (rather legit) bad knee and Rock not being able to see for the blood in his eyes. Outside of WM14, almost all WWF PPVs for the past 2 years had been characterized by weak undercards and saved by a strong main event--this definitely feels like one of the rare complete shows from the time period, with good stuff up and down the card.
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Yeah, the Outlaws really can't bring the goods in the ring to back up their entrance--this match proves it, though Foley does his damnedest to try to make something out of it and get sympathy on himself by being absolutely brutalized. It's just that the NAO can't really sustain a compelling control segment. JR does a really good job of trying not to heel the Outlaws too much by pointing out that this match is the fault of McMahon and Kane, not them, but Gunn's post-match promo sort of ruins that. Kane appears in the Dumpster and brings a sledgehammer down, presumably on Mick's head, as JR loses it.
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I liked the Dungeon Match a bit more because it felt more like a real fight in a gritty environment--I have no problem with going for wrasslin' over faux-MMA here but this is the type of match that's probably better served as a quick and decisive war as JR predicted. Instead, it's a bit more drawn-out. But man, what a balls-to-the-wall closing stretch. Shamrock was incredible here, probably his best performance in the WWF--maybe my personal favorite overall considering how low I am on the PWFG stuff. I expected WM14 to be a runaway winner for Major Show of the Year, but if I end up being higher on Austin-Undertaker than the other comments, then this show could find itself in contention.
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Mankind decides that playing in traffic is a better idea than facing the New Age Outlaws with no partner, and is about to drag Cole out with him until Vince does what Vince does, and talks him out of it. Inspired by his past hitchhiking escapades and love for MSG, Foley is pumped to go into a falls-count-anywhere handicap match in a quest for MSG immortality.
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Lawler: "I always knew Howard Finkle was a degenerate." Ross: "So what?" Yeah, no way that exchange wasn't a rib. Jarrett is now "Double J" only--a name change that hopefully doesn't stick. Really good little match, to end a relatively old-school-type feud. Jarrett still isn't that over but X-Pac is, and Finkle actually does a great job as cornerman leading the crowd into cheering on X-Pac's comebacks, and they work some fine near-falls in the closing stretch. Droz and the other people whom Jarrett had shaved coming out to ensure that he gets his hair cut was a nice finishing touch.
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Probably Hales at his best--he's become pretty fully comfortable on-camera and the awkwardness is at a minimum here as he does a fine job of keeping up with a guy who can eat you alive if you can't talk. I also like how he's couching this as wanting to help Lawler as a friend, just to increase the mystery factor of it all--is Hales sincere, is Baxter working him, is this a plan between the two, or is he even being played by Stacy & Lawler?
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There was some good promising stuff here but most everyone seemed like a shallow imitation of somebody else. Crazy Max = Kaientai (and boy did the commentary do them no favors in that regard), Dragon Kid = Rey Jr., Magnum Tokyo = Alex Wright, Ryo Saito brings to mind the ruthless spot-blowing efficiency of Sin Cara, etc. The coolest parts of this were Magnum's funky roll-ups and some of CIMA's offense. As for the rest...it's the same problem I have with most of the Toryumon I've seen in that they failed to really make me care who wins or loses.
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"Pink tights...what a load of crap. This ain't no ballet class, son" ... Anyway, I *did* think this stood out, at least to the other BattlArts in '98, and actually think it's a good starting point for people as the style can be a bit obtuse for newcomers such as myself. This has tons of heavy-hitting suplexes but also some really well-done wrasslin' stuff to get your attention, like Otsuka busting out a somersault tope. One of my favorite BattlArts matches so far and maybe the best match on the Japan low-level indy scene this year.
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No, not everything here works, but as I've said...when you're as hot as the WWF, those types of things just don't matter in the big picture. The company, because the production is so slick and focused in all facets from the camera work to the commentary, can make you overlook those types of things while WCW usually does the precise opposite and draws even more attention on a given angle's shortcomings.
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Shawn, to his credit, practically leaps out of his chair trying to put all this over. Bart makes mincemeat out of Bradshaw and there *may* have actually been some way to capitalize on this, but of course the Wrong Guy won the shoot tournament, because that possibility wasn't predictable at all. I like the idea of running Bart vs. Shamrock, even if just to put Shamrock over in a one-off PPV match.
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This was a FANTASTIC segment--one I vaguely remember from the live airing but something I found almost spellbinding this time. Rock is such a despicable, contemptible piece of shit here, of Tully-esque proportions. It's hard to imagine him sinking any lower. It's also good to see the Nation get more heat on DX for the second week in a row. Despite the threatened sexual assault taking place I couldn't help but laugh out loud when Rock passed up the opportunity to kiss Chyna and instead told Mark Henry to do it. One because the delivery was so funny and two because this will lead to a pretty fun storyline before it goes completely off the rails. It'd be easy to point to this as another example of Russo misogyny in action but this segment actually works, because Chyna is otherwise portrayed strongly and because of Rock's total commitment to being a scumbag that it leaves no doubt who the face and the heel are. Oh, and the surprise return of Shawn was a big deal as well--you had to think that this was leading to an in-ring return.
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This was crazy--some truly cringeworthy shots, but at the time it seemed awesome and it's all done with a sense of fury and hatred and deeper storyline that makes this rise above your usual brainless stunt show. Undertaker and Kane are out to end Mankind once and for all and almost do it--Mankind is now a fully sympathetic character. A DQ in a Hell in a Cell match should probably not be let any more off the hook than the Capital Combat main event, but I guess there's a difference between a PPV title main event and a match on Raw given about 30 minutes' notice. A super-hot post-match once again makes us forget about feeling ripped off, as the WWF has done time and again over the past 12 months.
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Maybe he thought to stick a microphone inside the boots themselves to get the full audio effect. This does lead to the death of Double J and through sheer force of will, a gimmick makeover that *sort of* has fans caring about Jeffrey Jarrett.
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Awesome little promo with Mankind channeling a bit of his old partner Mikey Whipwreck. Mankind will get his ass kicked by Kane inside the Cell and he knows it--so he's going to start on the roof again.
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Ah, focus in the main event scene. Nitro had almost made me forget what it was like. Short of Vince stepping into the ring himself this really does feel like the biggest money match the WWF has in its holster.
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Goldberg & Nash vs. Hogan & Giant ends with Goldberg pinning Curt Hennig, because why not? "Hennig asked to be a part of this match!" --Tony Schiavone. Okay, you can run in as long you "ask" first. One of the most tepid post-match brawls in history takes place afterward--it seems like I've been typing something to that effect a *lot* for these show-closing clusterfucks on Nitro. Watch the stomps on Goldberg in the corner by the NWO and you'll see what I mean, though. This whole thing is muddled and badly-timed...the run-ins seem late (and it takes the geriatric WCW crew a while to get there), and Team WCW just sort of stands around for awhile until we get the Nash-Goldberg face-off on the floor. Yet another head-shaking edition of Nitro.
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Dumb and unnecessary is a good way of putting it. Bret can come *close* to saving all this because his delivery and gravitas still carry weight, but it's not quite enough. At one point Schiavone would incredulously bring up the Giant chokeslamming Ray a bunch of times, even if he couldn't even try to explain it--now he's given up on even doing that.
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Warrior does a bit of his old running entrance...and blows up. What a promising sign. IT'S COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT IF YOU WANT TO EXCEL IN ANY FIELD, YOU STUDY THE MASTERS, EMULATE THE CHAMPIONS, MODEL THE VIRTUES OF THE PREEMINENT INDIVIDUALS IN THAT PARTICULAR FIELD. Nice and punchy, Warrior, good going--can we have Konnan back out here again, please? His promos are infuriating but at least they're concise. Warrior stumbles around saying nothing and then chides the crowds for their impatience. Like it or not, it's a new world now, Warrior--adjust or die.
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The ladder match doesn't really have that "holy shit" vibe it would carry later on--too much turnover from the big matches of 1994-95 to now. Rock has a few new phrases that would recur more often ("rooty-poo candy ass" and "rung by damn rung...") later on. It's still refreshing to see Rock doing straightforward promos incorporating this stuff a little more organically than his later promos as a catchphrase-spouting babyface.
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Yeah, but they also insisted on having Reigns do at least one job to Show, which was rather stupid and counterproductive no matter what the "payoff" was supposed to be.