The first thing I learned was that long in-ring interviews just don't fly with the house crowd. I was getting bored by the time Ken Shamrock came out but on TV it worked great. I loved all the Bret Hart chants and signs. Congratulations to my pal Jamie LaBrash whose "Without Bret Raw is a Bore", "Ottawa Needs ECW" and "TAKA RULES" signs were prominently featured throughout the night. Being in the second level, my "TAKA 3:16" sign was a mere white blip. Which is another thing I should mention, the higher up the seats go, the less enthusiastic the crowd. I really couldn't understand this, sure I'd love to have had ringside seats but that didn't deter me from enjoying the show as much as possible, screaming at the top of my lungs trying to rally the upper deck fans to chant along with those down below. I mean, if you like wrestling enough to buy a ticket then why sit on your hands just because you didn't get a good seat? Oh yeah, I don't like the new DX music at all, I think Michaels' old music was great and I missed it. After the show went to commercial Shamrock mooned DX (and us).

TAKA Michinoku and Devon Storm had a good short match. Storm looked better than he did last time he was on Raw and TAKA was just TAKA. This was the only match that I enjoyed more live because I'm such a TAKA mark and I could have easily watched these guys go twenty minutes. The reason I think a high- flying style match works so well live is that you get a good look at everything they're doing even up in the rafters. I was glad that TAKA got a decent reaction.

For some bizarre reason I really dug Goldust's new look. He just looked completely nuts. I can't believe I'm slightly stoked by a Vader feud. Again, the Vader walk-in and powerbomb worked better on TV.

Steve Austin's interview was good, better than last weeks and it looks like he's going to feud with Rocky. It's amazing how much better Rocky is as a heel , he's getting great heat. I wonder if Austin will ever be able to really wrestle again though. I didn't see Survivor Series but all accounts say he and Owen were limited in what they could do. Last night in an 8-man dark main event Austin did a couple of arm wringers and a stunner but that's it.

I thought the bunkhouse tag team match was pretty great for what it was. Bradshaw was getting over and he looked good kicking ass. Road Dog took some stiff shots from a piece of wood and a chair. A well booked match. Road Dog and Bad Ass are growing on me too.

I always wondered how pre-taped interviews like Jeff Jarrett's came across live. The sound was great and everyone watched the big screens and listened. There wasn't a strong reaction either way to Jarrett although I was surprised that a few people clapped when he said he was going to be the future world champion. I liked this segment.

I thought HHH vs. Shamrock was really bad live but on TV they looked good and it was pretty stiff. Shamrock has all but denounced his UFC gimmick as he wrestles more of a straightfoward pro style each time. He's good at it though. I was distracted at the finish, yelling at Slaughter ;), but I think what happened was that HHH got the three count but I don't remember hearing a bell rung. Afterwards Shamrock made the comeback and pinned Michales while Slaughter counted to three. The crowd popped but I thought it was a really dirty Dusty finish.

The Headbangers/Truth Commission match was a good time to rest my voice but it was actually watchable on TV due to Jackyl's commentary. A second scare as I find myself less than totally loathsome of the Commission.

We had no idea what the Steve Blackman/Boriquas angle was all about. And on TV it looked even worse because of Blackman's lame kicks.

The Butter Bean/Mero angle was another one that didn't play well live. The problem is that when they do the ringside interviews, the house mic is not always on. We couldn't hear anything until Mero grabbed the mic. Kind of stupid.

The Undertaker/Cain thing was probably great if you like that kind of stuff but I've made no secret of the fact that I think all the doom and gloom hell stuff is crap. The fireworks were nice but that's all the good I can say about it.

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