The Raw is War Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Raw is War by Oliver Postlethwaite
Monday, December 29th, 1997
Sorry for the lack of action on this page the past couple of weeks...the
holidays really screwed with my schedule but things should be back in
order now.
What Worked
Dustin Rhodes in a diaper, aw heck, may as well. Interesting segment, I
couldn't have imagined how they could use an outhouse as a foreign object
in a wrestling match. You either love or hate the Dustin Rhodes Experience
but the stiff shots he took against the outhouse had to make any wrestling
fan happy. Now Steve Austin... it's so obvious the guy can't wrestle a match
anymore. How long are they going to keep the charade up?
Personally, it's a damn shame that Chyna caved to societal pressure and got
breast implants. I always thought it was cool that the female member of
Degeneration-X was the polar opposite of the type of woman you would figure
to be hanging off Shawn Michaels' arm. Now she's just another walking sack
of silicone. That said, the goofball in me really enjoyed the brazenous of
the segment. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, finding the entire
thing offensive, tasteless and way too adult for prime time TV. And I can
appreciate that point of view as well.
If it had been anyone else than Terry Funk under the hood as Chainsaw Charlie it
would have been a ridiculous gimmick, but HEY!, it's Terry FunK! And once he
(hopefully) unmasks, the team of Funk/Cactus Jack will rule! With the New Age
Outlaws and the hardcore dream team set to feud, there's finally something to
look forward to in tag team wrestling.
The main event was decent enough and a nice prelude to a longer PPV match
between Owen Hart and Shawn Michaels. For a guy with such an ego, Michaels
sure has no problem selling his ass off and putting over his opponents by
getting DQ'd when it looks like the match is lost.
What Didn't Work
When George Steele flailed down the rampway I had a quick flashback to the
very first Saturday Night Main Event where I got my first good look at
Steele. And for the first two minutes the nostalgia was enough for me to
actually dig this match, but the quick DQ really cheapened it. I was looking
for the old formula: TAKA gets beat on by the cheating heels
until he FINALLY tags to Steele who puts Lawler in the hammerlock
submission for the win. It appears this was all to set up a Lawler vs. Steele
match. Yippee! But if the payoff is a Lawler moonsault, it won't be all bad.
The DOA & Boriquas had yet another meaningless no-sell-athon brawl. The Boriquas
have such a cool entrance that they deserve better than this. A regular team of
Vega and Perez Jr. would be a good addition to the slowly growing interesting
again tag scene.
Ken Shamrock beat Kama. Rocky's on his way out of the DOA. Kick Ass!
Hey Jim Cornette, what happened to SMW? Hey Lawler, what happened to USWA?
You may not like what you're seeing on TV but there's no denying the resurgence
of interest in wrestling and there's no denying that it's the ideas of guys
like Bischoff and McMahon and Heyman that have to do with that resurgence.
While I agree with what Cornette had to say in principle, it sounds like sour
grapes to me.
