Vince McMahon wears a wheel chair well and I dug his show opening promo
berating the fans for their lack of morals. He makes a good point but
he's still the heel.
Steve Blackman vs. X-Pac was good because Blackman's got this anti-charisma
thing going which ends up working anyway, the effort is there and he's slowly
building up a cool set of offensive moves, like the wicked standing dropkick
into the corner. X-Pac has it all and Ross doesn't need to keep reminding
people every week that he's small because he works so well that no one would
notice if he would shut up.
Kane vs. Gangrel wasn't a good wrestling match but Gangrel made it entertaining
with his great selling and facial expressions. Edge's unexplained heel turn
worked because he, Gangrel and Cage make a cool vampire trio. All though they
could have gone a bit further, I gotta applaud the booking for letting them
get the best of Kane for a little while longer than they probably would
have normally.
The Shane McMahon interview was good and great, really, when compared to
his insipid announcing work on Raw a few weeks ago. It was a little long
and Shane stumbled over a line so it didn't blow the roof of the place
but I have to give the man his due. Of course, it was also the ultimate
act of nepotism to have your company's top babyface put over your son. The
Mean Joe Green thing at the end may be a bit old a reference for the young
'uns but it was corny and good in the goofy wrestling way. And Vince McMahon's
emotional breakdown after the angle was really, really good. A lot of people
complain that Vince overacts. I disagree. He does great wrestling acting,
which is exagerrated by nature. Acting should be judged in context. It's like
how good sitcom acting isn't the same as good dramatic acting because you judge
them against different standards.
The New Age Outlaws vs. Al Snow and Mankind kind of fell apart before it
really got going but I liked it anyway because of Mankind. I like Al Snow
but his star is dimming with me. In his last big match in ECW he kind of
shred the moronic side of his head gimmick, which was good while it lasted,
and was moving it in a more serious direction. But now in the WWF his
character has reverted back. And whereas before his interviews where
satirically funny, now they're stupid. It's like when Steve Richards left
ECW having split with Raven and then when he jumped to WCW he was Dancin'
Stevie Richards all over again.
Ken Austin and Ken Shamrock had a great little heavyweight match, and
it was the best one on the show. This was real good, in despite of the booking,
and they have a hot future program on their hands. Austin is so cool
in the way that he's the top star but isn't afraid to do his share of
selling to make a match work. Shamrock is the best technical wrestler
in the WWF, hitting cool moves right on the head. His high knee lifts
to Austin's head outside the ring looked awesome. The Mankind assisted
finish didn't kill the match because Austin made it more than decisive
with that stiff as shit chairshot. Of course, no one ever actually says
"I quit" in an "I quit" match.
The Droz vs. Rocky was bearable but not very good at all. At least it
had a clean finish.
The Motely Crue thing wouldn't have been bad if they didn't switch to
the soft focus cheesy music video lens. Remember when wrestling was the
one trying to win over fans in the rock and wrestling connection?
Tiger Ali Singh and The Godfather had one of the worst matches in modern
Raw history. This was so bad because there was a complete lack of direction
and spots were being blown or looking lame all over the place. And the
crowning jewel was the mercy finish from out of nowhere.
Although I really hated the way Kurgan, Golga and ICP vs. Kaentai DX was
booked I was also impressed with the hard work of the ICP who while they
aren't exactly good wrestlers still gave it everything. Shaggy's top rope
leg drop was all that. I won't even bother with the rest of the match
because if I have to explain that to you then you wouldn't understand
anyway.
Marc Mero and Goldust had an issue not too long ago and I don't think I'll
ever be ready to see these two guys wrestle each other again. Goldust's new
finish gets a good pop and looks cool even though it's obvious he's just
hitting the turnbuckle.
Ollie
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