The Raw is War Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Raw is War by Oliver Postlethwaite
Monday, May 25th, 1998
What Worked
Vince MackMan's glory and subsequent humiliation in the opening segment
of Raw may have been his best act ever. And to some that's still a bad
thing but I love the way he embodies everything every wrestling fan has
ever disliked about his reputation. Of course any serious consideration
of the arrest angle would find a huge hole with Steve Austin's beating on
a handcuffed McMahon not itself being considered a criminal act. But that
would be overlooking the whole purpose which is to spellbind the crowd
and this angle certainly did that.
Now before you go off half-cocked that Jackyl's Human Oddities was an all
time low for the WWF and a serious blight on the history of "wrestling",
let me contend that it was a transcendent return to modern wrestling's
carnival sideshow roots. Besides that, it was cool as fuck. Golga, a slim,
trim John earthquake avalanche shark Tenta cannot wrestle a lick, no
matter what the rumours said but he did creep me out in a gimp-ish sort
of way and he may give me worse nightmares than Mr. Pogo. I wondered if
Paolo Silva knew what the hell was going on. I'm thinking of getting
Hank to do a workrate report for me after his insightful comment on the
match. I'm glad that Luna Vachon still has a job, it'll be interesting
to see how she fits into the group. Crackhead Bob seems like a real nice
guy.
Vader vs. Jeff Jarrett was passable, Vader was feeling it slightly more
than usual and Jarrett didn't bring it down, the Kane run-in did that but
given the context of the TV show, Jarrett being involved and Paul Bearer
being on camera, everything was A-ok.
TAKA vs. Dick Togo was a great four minute highlight reel of what these
guys are capable of doing and the best use of Kaientai so far in the WWF.
These guys would get more heat if they didn't have the worst ring attire
in the company. They should let 'em stick with the outfits they wear in
Japan. They'd get heat because Men's TEIOH walking to the ring in a fur
coat would piss stupid people off. The match delivered with hot moves by
both guys including TAKA's phenomenal springboard plancha and Togo's tope
con hilo from the ring apron. I can't wait until these guys go at it on
PPV since they'll get more time to build a story and it'll be one of
those guaranteed great matches that WCW usually has at least one of on
their undercards. These guys just about make up for calling Raw a wrestling
show.
The Pat Patterson profile was number one and will be the best thing on television
all week. I can't believe they brought up the old crushed apples angle. Why
don't they do stuff like that on TV anymore?
3H vs. Rocky Maivia was ok in a real old fashioned punch and kick wrestling
kind of way. I mean, it was solid, the selling wasn't outrageously bad and
even the double countout finish seemed right, given the rampant jobophobia
running wild in the WWF. I'll throw the DX goofy stuff in here as well, it
was mildly amusing but they're not really upping the ante much in their
assault on WCW which they have to do for these segments not to become routine.
I liked the Rockabilly standoff the best.
I guess the Undertaker chokeslamming Vince makes sense because he's still
enraged about Kane but then why aren't they having another useless rematch
on PPV? I liked it though and loved the teased tombstone spot. Kane was
even useful for once to clear the stage for Austin vs. McMahon. Dude Love's
run-in was so predictable but at least it didn't ruin another great chapter
in the world title feud.
What Didn't Work
Standing next to the LOaD and across from the DOA, Darren Drozdov looked
pretty good but then so would Shane Douglas. Rim shot! I like his choice in finishing
moves, a Liger bomb, and goddamn if I didn't actually laugh whenever Jim
Ross called him Puke, each time with a straight face. But you know this sucked.
Owen Hart and Dan Severn had a real style clash which surprised me given
the mix of Owen's reputed mat skills and Severn's background. These guys
just didn't gel at all though. What really killed the match was Severn
suddenly going pro with a whip into the ropes. The run-in sucked too because
it didn't help Severn and only made Owen look bad because he was saved
from a losing predicament.
Marc Mero vs. Faarooq was boring as hell and pretty bad, but I have to
praise the clean finish. The contract angle between Sable and Mero reminds
me of the Guerrero's WCW angle with all the stipulations but guess which
one I think is actually good.
Ollie
