We get FOOTAGE! from last week, the same package from Heat. With them harping on this, does it mean The Evolution is dead and gone?
Regal and Rocky are still in the opening.
...and a Fashion Report, too.
Shawn, in black tshirt with white radiant cross "All things are Possible" and blue jeans, is out, to intro Whoo!, in grey sportscoat and khaki tshirt and slacks. The jist: Shawn admires Flair. Um "will always be...the greatest wrestler in the world today." doesn't exactly make sense. Book a match. Thhhor, in blue shirt (top two buttons undone) and black slacks, belt over shoulders, is out, saying he feels hurt by Flair's newfound independence. DeadCowMan, in black leather sportscoat and white tshirt, changes the match to the PPV, and books a DIFFERENT match tonight. So is it Bischoff's or Austin's PPV?
JR, in black hat and white shirt, and King, in same ol' purple/gold jacket, are your hosts tonight. Oh boy, ANOTHER week with lazy writers.
Booker, in black hot-crotch, flamin' "BookerT" undies, vs. Test, in white full-cuts with black crotch-and-butt designs, with Stacie, in white sparkly dress and medallion. So the Test/Steiner thing is done now, right? Or are we gonna have to deal with them STILL fighting over the, um, services of Stacie? Well, to answer, SPP, in Chainmail and black "Freakzilla" tshirt/tights carries-off Stacie from the heel-turning Test. Booker wins, okay match.
Austin, with a black eye, watches in back, in his black "Stunner Inc." tshirt with white radiant skull, while HHH tries to weasel out of his match. NOw HHH goes all Fashion-Report-y and compliments Steve's shirt, and his body, but the match is still on. H is flustered.
Isn't Mobile home of the Hollys? Trish is out for guest commentary.
Val, in towell and black undies with blue crotch-and-butt "V"s and a witty line, vs. Stevie, in pink "SR" fullcuts (they've got eyes in the front), with Victoria, in black and a new perm. Trish is less witty. King surfs porn, I can assume. If Val is from Vegas, where was Chief from? Okay match, Val wins.
Nash, in black "BD" tshirt, answers Coach's insinuations, cockily. Meanwhile, Terri questions Christian. $700 haircut? What, does that thing cure cancer? Golddust...gets bleeped? Booker wants in on this segment, too. Meanwhile, Bisch and Stevecompare matches they've booked, and argue over who's PPV it is (I say Maxim), then book a...something at the PPV.
Lillian, in one-strap black top, camo skirt and high-heeled boots, sings, but the Frenchies, in black "La Resistance" tights with black, yellow-trimmed berets, and French flag, interrupt. Their elbow-and knee-pads are yellow, too. Austin, lower torso clad in jean shorts, kickwhamstunners the Frenchies outa here, then Lillian AND he sing. Then he drinks, while Lillian lets it pour down her chest. Mmm - Lillian chest beer. Meanwhile, Flair poses and "Whoo!"s, but a masked man in white suit appears in the mirror.
Christian!, in gold tights with black "C" on right thigh, wearing the belt, with black boots, vs. Golddust, in wig and gold robe with arm flaps, and black/gold latex "Golddust" suit thereunder. Christian kisses the belt before the match. Man, WAY too much gold in the ring - don't the bookers take into consideration the wrestlers' outfits when they book these matches? Fuck you, Lawler. JR gets HIS hair cut at a barber school, maybe why he always wears a hat. Goldie wins? Okay match, but they make the champ look pretty weak.
Mack, in black sleeveless hooded sweatshirt, with Teddy, in a WHITE suit, vs. Bubba, in black "3D" shirt and black warmups with white stripes. Mack has silver "Back the Mack" undies on, too. Harvard interferes, Mack wins at 2:30, and DVon makes the belated save.
Meanwhile, Bisch appeases the Frenchies by booking a "Flag Match". What the heck is that?
Wait - ANOTHER "Charlies' Angles" movie?
Rob, in black singlet with red and white slashes and "RVD" on right hip, belt over shouldr, with a little more Kane, vs. FrenchieA, in same as before, and blue sparkly military-style-coat robe. Rules: get YOUR country's flag. Did I mention it's ON A POLE? Frenchie B runs a little interference, Rob KOs the ref, who can't see him winning, Kane gets involved, and FrenchieA puts the USA flag back ON THE POLE! Ooo - bastardly cheating. FrenchieA eventually wins the okay match, thus getting his team a shot at the belts at the PPV.
The Highlight Reel - Jericho, in pink sparkly "Jericho" outfit, same set as last week, says he's got The Rock next week. Jericho's spiel: Nobody wants Goldberg in WWE, he tells a short about the WCW days, and wants a match at the PPV. Goldberg, in black "Next" tshirt and blakc jeans, chases Jericho from the ring, accepts the challenge (in too many words), and gets MACED and speared.
During the break, the Raw Curse strikes as Jericho is unable to start his car.
HHH, in red iron-cross undies, wearing the belt, vs. Shawn, in scaled top and chaps, black tights with hearts (sundered) under, and Flair, in sparkly red "Nature Boy" robe and red undies. Nash watches in the back. Match starts at 10, and I smell something fishy. Flair turns on Shawn and, in the meanwhile, MaskedMan takes-out Nash with a chair. Um, okay, I think we deserve an explaination next week. Diesel recovers from the chairshot (wow, he nosells backstage stuff, too) to take-out HHH and Flair, but MaskedMan comes out and finishes stuff. They unmask MaskedMan to reveal good ol' 95% Randy Orton.
Overall: An okay Raw. Nothing particularly outstanding, but nothing really horrible, either.
Fashion Reporter Extraordinare
Wisdom is learning from one's mistakes. Greater wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others.
What is up with cars and Raw? Jericho couldn't start his car this week. Maybe it is a running gag, like the Spanish Announce tables at PPVs used to be. Also, why couldn't Ross say Jericho used Mace? It was obvious so just say it. Unless Mace is trademarked or something an they couldn't use it.
I didn't see the point of the Frenchies winning the flag match on a holiday. I was expecting someone else to run out and give teh crowd something to cheer about. Maybe this is the start of a RVD/Kane-Frenchie fued. Yeah, that would be great, 2 people who are great representatives of America, Kane and RVD.
But a good show that I called the ending in about 2 seconds. For some reason I was loving Austin singing with Lillian.
January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
Flair turning on Michaels was easily predictable, but hey! Orton returned, so that was cool…
Christian using the “Mobil Alabama” line was a cheap pop for me. I loved the deal Edge and Christian had going with Edge’s “food poisoning in Mobil Alabama” that they continued over a couple of shows and ultimately led to the “nuts” promo at the next PPV…
I have a suggestion for the WWE online polls…”How worthless are the WWE online polls?”
Jericho’s show is just what he needed to become Super Heel again. I popped huge for his spearing Goldberg. Now that’s “building a feud”.
I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so sick of these stupid 'handicap match where one guy turns' endings. The only suspense was whether Flair or Michaels would turn, and glory be, it was Flair, since lord knows WWE wouldn't want to push the one old guy that might actually still draw and can still work.
Over 1250 posts and still never a Wiener of the Day!
In the issues of December 16th, 2000 to November 10th, 2001, we may have given the impression that George W. Bush had been legally and duly elected president of the United States. We now understand that this may have been incorrect, and that the election result is still too close to call. The Economist apologizes for any inconvenience. --- The Economist, 11/17/01
Austin once again proves his status as THE MAN tonight in his duet with Lillian. He had me cracking up and loving every second of it. I was also impressed with Lillian...the girl can put away some beer! NHSlasher should be proud.
I'm curious...who was the vignette for? I can't think of anyone ready to debut. The voice almost sounded like Nathan Jones...
The only gripes I have were the awful promo by Nash and Sylvan winning the flag match. As soon as it was announced that if they won the tag match that they'd get a title shot, we all should have known the ending.
The best part of the show was The Highlight Reel (Jericho spearing Goldberg was great, great stuff).
The Rock returns next week!!!
Stuff I really liked was Golddust breaking out his ultra cool powerslam and great promos all around, with the best at the beginning. Like him or not, HHH is the best heel around.
Another Raw that shows once again why it's better than Smackdown.
The following post expresses the opinions of a raving Jerichoholic. He is biased, opinionated and bitter. You have been warned.
Could be Ultimo Dragon. It could be somebody we've never heard of. It could be a returning Jeff Hardy, although I doubt thgat and think it would be a bit soon to revamp the whole gimmick.
The preceding post expressed the opinions of a raving Jerichoholic. He was biased, opinionated and bitter. You were warned.
As of Monday, May 9 at 1:14 PM, the Boston Red Sox' Magic Number to clinch the AL East is 135. A combination of 135 Red Sox wins and New York Yankees losses will guarantee the AL East for the Boston Red Sox.
Originally posted by gugsCould be Ultimo Dragon. It could be somebody we've never heard of. It could be a returning Jeff Hardy, although I doubt thgat and think it would be a bit soon to revamp the whole gimmick.
Good call on Ultimo, but I thought he was going to Smackdown. I am thinking it is a returning star with a new character. Or it is Sting! OK, maybe not,
Again, about the online polls. Why have them if what the fans want don't happen? What is the incentive for people to log in if they have seen that what they say doesn't matter? It turns into a negative for WWE if this trend continues.
January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
Well...RVD and Grenier actually had the start of a decent match there before the overbooking kicked in. And I always like seeing Bubba Ray in a singles match. The Goldberg/Jericho confrontation was great, but dragged on too long on an already talk-heavy show. And other than that, feh. Why is Christian jobbing clean to Goldust? Wouldn't it make more sense to have him cheat to beat Goldust, giving Booker more reason to want to beat him and avenge his friend?
It's nice seeing Randy back, but what do you actually DO with him now? Using him as squash fodder for Nash would be a waste (so that's what they'll probably do). At least they seem to have mercifully forgotten the "Goldust develops Tourette's" angle.
"next to of course god america i love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh say can you see by the dawn's early my country tis of centuries come and go and are no more what of it we should worry in every language even deafanddumb thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum why talk of beauty what could be more beaut- iful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think they died instead then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"
I liked King calling out JR on his hyperbole in the opening segment. Poor JR is slowly growing more and more insane.
It's really starting to bother me how transparent the booking has been lately. It's not even a matter of being a "smart" fan, it's just that fucking obvious. It was obvious that Flair wasn't going to lay down for HHH last week, it was obvious Flair was turning this week, it was obvious Grenier was going to win the flag match, and so on and so on. Trying to pretend like these events are unpredictable is just insulting the fan's intelligence.
Flair/Michaels makes Bad Blood better than Judgment day just by default.
Trish is going to be paired up with Val soon. Whoop-de-do. Val and Stevie did have a fun little match. Raw needs a lot more Stevie and Victoria. Yes it does.
No Teddy Long on commentary makes Rodney Mack matches suck. I am the only person who likes Bubba as a singles wrestler, but this wasn't too good outside of the German Suplex spot.
Anytime Austin sings, it's GOLD. Lilian chugging did rule.
Christian jobbed to Goldust? I guess it's pretty much a given that Booker is going over, but it wouldn't hurt to build up Christian in the process.
I like the idea of the fan polls during the shows, but if they're going to deliver the least desired result every time, it's pointless. It is wonderfully symbolic of the product as a whole, though.
In theory, Rock will save next week's show. I await the potential bait-and-switch. At least Goldberg sells for mace.
The flag match was a horrible idea. Overbooking a bad gimmick does not make it better.
Yet again, HHH is booked into a "how's he going to win" scenario, and yet again he wins. He's the best face since Hogan. WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T SHAWN PIN HUNTER AFTER THE SUPERKICK??? When did the Sweet Chin Music become a transition? That was so annoying.
Originally posted by Ubermonkeys<< At least they seem to have mercifully forgotten the "Goldust develops Tourette's" angle. >>
Guessing you missed his promo with Christian and Book.
I, in turn, missed the mystery promos everybody's talking about. :(
They actually seem to have added to the Tourette's gimmick by having Goldust throw up his hand and go "ahh ahh ahh!" as he runs towards an opponent for a move. It started a couple of weeks ago.
And about Austin...was I the only one that noticed it wasn't just a black eye? His nose was poofy and messed up, there was a huge bruise on his left arm, and I could have SWORN there looked to be some sort of slice or cut mark going across his neck. He looked in terrible shape - I wonder when we'll get a full report of what happened.
The odd lil commerical rambling about our lives being metaphors...that the Dragon?
Worse....the English Student! He can team with Chris Harvard.
Over 1250 posts and still never a Wiener of the Day!
In the issues of December 16th, 2000 to November 10th, 2001, we may have given the impression that George W. Bush had been legally and duly elected president of the United States. We now understand that this may have been incorrect, and that the election result is still too close to call. The Economist apologizes for any inconvenience. --- The Economist, 11/17/01
Originally posted by dskillzAgain, about the online polls. Why have them if what the fans want don't happen? What is the incentive for people to log in if they have seen that what they say doesn't matter? It turns into a negative for WWE if this trend continues.
Ummmmmm...
The only thing I can touch this with is the fact that those polls never ask what the fans want to see, it's what they think they will see. I think it's some sort of oddball tool to help somebody *cough - Gerwitz - cough* create swerves by going with a game plan that is contradictory to what everybody suspected (See - Lance Storm tries to murder Goldberg?)
Then again, any old ECW fan would agree that Lance Storm playing Jericho's monkey boy is kinda weird.
Show was okay, but admittedly, I had better things to watch than some hotshot bait and switch in the Main Event. I knew Flair was turning the second he lost his reservations and acted like the old Nature Boy. Frankly, I saw what I wanted to see in the first hour and 50 minutes.
I'm guessing the vignette was for Ultimo Dragon. Of course, what do you do with him on Raw? I guess you could feud him with Hurricane for a while, but what then? On another note, I'd LOVE to see a Dragon/RVD match.
Oh goody, the French Freedom team gets a tag title shot. And like Billy and Chuck last year, they'll more than likely win the belts just because there are no other heel teams out there. You can almost see the La Resistance/Dudleyz feud coming a mile away.
UNLESS...tonight's White Boy Challenge takes a radical new direction. Bubba struck me as an odd choice, but think about it. What if Theodore Long gets into D-Von's head? We could see another Dudleyz split with D-Von joining the Long camp. Things could get pretty interesting. I'm intrigued.
When I said I wanted to see new people in the main event, Flair wasn't what I had in mind, so I don't get where all this sudden love for Flair is coming from. Weren't we all just calling for his retirement a few weeks ago because he couldn't even do his Flair Flip anymore?
I was almost expecting Goldberg to punch the Jeritron, but that result in Limo Window 2003, wouldn't it?
Can we PLEASE just get the Test/Steiner feud started already just to get it over with? Hogan/Savage '89 this ain't.
Nice to see Orton back, but with the condition of his foot, his mobility will be severely limited, so I can't say I'm looking forward to his matches anymore. Oh well. Limited mobility never stopped Triple HGH.
THE ROCK is coming back next week? Why do I smell bullshit? This can either end in a bait and switch or Rock live "via satellite" from the set of his next movie. It'd actually make sense. Rock comes to us via satellite from the Jeritron and THEN Goldberg punches the Jeritron and breaks his arm. Hey, it could happen.
(edited by It's False on 26.5.03 2250)
Ok, so maybe all the other guys haven't worked, but will THIS be the man to save WWE???
First, the purely personal stuff: Most Mondays I end up working, and I usually get home in mid-RAW (around 10 or so). When there's a day like today that I'm not working (and it isn't that rare), invariably something happens and I don't get to sit down and really enjoy RAW. Tonight it was my parents; their computer broke down, and so they called me and needed me to check their e-mail and do some online shopping for them, and of course it couldn't wait. Arrggh. I mean, I'm happy to help my parents and all, I just wish the timing was better.
Anyway...
As others have already said, Flair's turn was incredibly obvious.
Why do you have your new tag-team get tossed around like rag dolls by Austin, and then have them beat the tag-team champs later in the same show? Why do you want to bury them and push them at the same time? If Austin hadn't manhandled them their win would have meant a lot more. RAW could certainly use some credible heels. When WCW did flag matches (mostly during the Misfits angle) did you have to get your own flag, or the other flag? I was thinking the latter. Did my ears deceive me, or did Good Ol' JR refer to the American Flag as the "Stars And Bars"? Um, no, JR, the Stars And Bars isn't a flag that *I* would salute...but maybe he would.
The polls thing is just getting out of hand. Who could possibly care about how fans answered the "Will Goldberg Spear Jericho?" question? I was half-expecting them to put up another poll after the segment:
What do you think Jericho sprayed into Goldberg's eyes?
Well, I'm all for him coming, I've heard some rave stuff about him, and look foward to seeing him.
As for if he's going to RAW, I think they're just doing the thing where they do the vignettes on both shows, like they did with O'Haire, Steiner, and Jones. And this week just happens to be the start of the vignettes playing.
Nonetheless, I hope he comes to Smackdown, seeing as I don't get RAW here.
Was I the only one who noticed Nash's pausing and blanking out during his boring-ass promo? Was he drunk or something? Burying the French by having the two of them get beat up by a non-wrestler was absolutely retarded. When Trips commented on Austin's shape and his arms, my brother said "that my wife-beatin' arm" which was pretty funny. As for Austin in his role, it's good. It works for him, but again, he shouldn't be destroying anyone since he can't take a bump anymore and therefore almost guarantees they won't get their heat back.
Everything else was cool. I actually didn't see the Flair thing coming, mostly because I found it so uninteresting. The Flair love around here is ridiculous. He's just another example of the same booking problems/philosophies that have gotten us in this pickle in the first place. He's an older guy, a non-threat to Triple H, and for that reason he's going to be prominently featured.
Fans seemed to really be into Jericho and Goldberg. That could rock.
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