The Raw is War Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Raw is War by Oliver Postlethwaite
Monday, February 9th, 1998
What Worked
Sunny knows we want her. I think she's a great gal and all but breast
implants are EVIL and I wish she'd stop exploiting herself. She's got
brains and does a great job ring announcing. Anyway, I can't say
anything bad about the LOD vs. Windham and Jarrett. They worked hard,
and the Roadies job all the time now so I can't rag on them too much.
I'm glad to see Barry Windham finally back to his old look after his
humble beginnings as the Stalker. I liked this one enough.
TAKA & Aguila vs. Brian Christopher and Pantera was the best match on
the show, and pretty good, but it looked bushleague next to the classic
cruiserweight matches that take place on an almost weekly basis in WCW.
Pantera's not as good as I thought he was. He's slow,
hesitates a lot between moves and his transitions aren't good. Maybe it's
just the style clash. Aguila is an amazing acrobat. He'll be awesome
in a couple of years with the right training. TAKA was ok but he's
really getting lost in the WWF mix. I don't look forward to his matches
much anymore. Brian Christopher was just there. Some people really
like his character but I don't think it works outside the USWA.
The Press Conference looked pretty good, probably much better in WWF
edited form. I liked it a lot when Shawn Michaels took on the mainstream
journalists who think wrestling is shit because I can't stand elitist
attitudes (and I'm probably guilty of a few myself). It was so cool to
see the wrestlers come off as true professionals while Mike Tyson
stumbled over his words on the mic. Actually, Tyson did a lot better
than he usually does.
The New Age Outlaws angle was a little lame but a couple of things
made me like it. The first was the captain ass comment because the
whole point of a guy calling himself mr. ass is hysterical. Really.
And the remark about bringing the Terry Funk dummy back to the hotel
room was real funny. Was that Jerry Lawler laughing too?
What Didn't Work
Hey, I wasn't in the mood for another Steve Austin interview, and it
was a taped Raw and all, so things started off really bad as far as I
was concerned. The culmination of this show long angle was ok but the
vignettes with Chyna and Los Boriquas really carried it (mainly just
the first one).
I don't know if the suicidal top rope tope (so what if he missed) and
the swank Chicoutomi Jam should save Pierre vs. HOG from the "Didn't
Work" list...nah, the finish really sucked. Pierre's really cool and
Jacques is funny in an unintentional way, so I'm digging the Quebecers
a whole lot.
Kane and Paul Bearer had another touching heart-to-heart with the fans.
Chainz and Ken Shamrock vs. Faarooq and the Rock was no worse than the
LOD/NWA match but I just don't care about any of these guys so I didn't
like it. I was a big Shamrock mark during his UFC/Pancrase days but
now he's just another face in the crowd. He did look good at the finish
though and took a chairshot like a man. His post-match breakdown has
potential. Maybe he'd work better as a heel.
Hey, Steve Blackman is the Magic Man of the WWF! Magic Man's this skinny
hippy who wrestles in Michinoku Pro. He does some simple magic tricks
before his matches which the crowd digs and it is actually pretty good
in a wrestling kind of way. But when the match starts he turns into this
total wimp. He had a pretty funny/terrible match with Jinsei Shinzaki
(Hakushi) last year that I got a big kick out of. ANYWAY, Blackman's
pre-match routine reminded me of him but I didn't enjoy this match at
all. The Jackyl speech was ok but I've kind of lost interest in him and
the whole cult angle. For one thing, he needs some better wrestlers to
manage.
The Goldust freak show is kind of cool because it's an unlikely combo
on the surface (Mero/Sable/Dustin/Luna) but the match quality sucks and
this one with Thrasher was no exception. I guess I should give up on
Dustin Rhodes ever being a good worker again but a nostalgic part of
me won't let it go.
How come Owen Hart wasn't on TV this week (except for a cameo at the
end) to promo the 8-man match?
