The Raw is War Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Raw is War by Oliver Postlethwaite
Monday, June 29th, 1998
What Worked
The heavy circumstance of the WWF championship presentation was done very
well. Oh, what a happy day! Vince is taking a very wise step back from the
spotlight so I've only got good things to say about him this week. Steve
Austin was really great on the mic and Kane managed without saying a word
to carry the torch to the end of the angle without dropping it.
I don't know whether Paul Bearer is actually getting better on the mic,
I'm going completely insane or Vince just finally put him in a good
angle but I didn't feel an incredible urge to leave the room at the sound
of him.
Kick ass! Steve Regal is on my fucking television screen! Sure, he didn't
give Darren Drozdov the ass whipping that he deserves but Drozdov sold a
whole lot so I can't complain about him for at least a week. Regal lost
enough weight to get rid of his gut cupping pullover tights and he looked
good wrestling wise, pulling off a nice top rope butterfly suplex. Why the
hell they brought out Sable to distract the TV audience with her insightful
commentary instead of putting over the match is completely lost on me. As
well, the choice of Regal's entrance music is really confusing at this point.
Hey! The Brawl for All tournament isn't as bad as you think. I liked that
the wrestlers were being put over in a completely legimitate way by the
announcers and the ability they all had to do some serious looking fighting
without any of the wrestling goofiness that we all know and love but like to
get a respite from more often than not. I'm not saying that either of the
two matches were mind blowing stuff; they could have been better but I
think that if they stick with it long enough to give it a chance, the heat
will improve and there's potential for success when they show us the first
knockout bout. It's suspicious that the WWF is trying out a form of fighting
that is similar to K-1 which is set to debut on PPV in North America shortly.
Of course, the big difference between the two is that where the WWF has
takedowns, K-1 has kicking which is a hell of a lot more exciting. K-1 has
been very successful in Japan where its mix of legitimate and worked fights
with big pro-wrestling hype has found a huge fanbase.
Val Venis had his best Raw match thus far with Dick Togo, probably because
Venis has worked a bunch in Mexico and Togo's a very respectable luchadore
in his own right. What I liked about it was that Venis sold a bunch for Togo
which only serves to make both wrestlers, and more importantly the match,
look good in the process. No-selling may work for Goldberg but not everybody
can get away with it. The post-match angle wasn't great but it really was a
step up from the crap they've put Kaentai DX in so far. These guys rule and
I really want those of you who have never seen them before the WWF to see
what I mean. Goldust came out during the match and began his new gimmick as
a born again christian. I could get into it.
The 3-way King of Kings dance was a decent angle and a pretty ok match, even
if it did skimp on the stoyline. The moves were good and the psychology as far
as breaking up the pinfalls and co-operating with each other was solid. It
only made sense to give Shamrock the pinfall otherwise it would have hurt
his heat as the current titleholder. Too bad it was another screwjob.
The return of Paul Ellering could have been worse, much worse, and people
may start to give a shit about the DOA if Ellering can carry them on the mic.
I didn't see the angle coming at all, and me being such a jaded wrestling
fuck, it must have been good! Right?!
What Didn't Work
Well thank-god! the Austin vs. Kane main event was so uneventful that I won't
look like a complete WWF boot licker by giving everything a passing grade. It
was one of those matches that was passable for heavyweight wrestling in
North America but given that it was a title match, which have been consistently
good in the WWF for some time now, it wasn't as good as it should have been. I
didn't see the one on PPV but with Kane there's just not much of a chance of
pulling off a miracle. One day title reigns can really suck the heat out of a
title, especially when the finish comes with a Hogan-esque hulk up routine.
The boot to the face has been replaced with a boot to the stomach, and both
finishers have the hero landing on his ass! Feel the deja-vu!
Ollie
