I quote Bill Murray: "WOW! Does THAT stink. And now...I have to kill all of you!"
What an anticlimactic piece of crap. Way to make Mick Foley look like a first-class wuss and a total coward. True, I fully expected Mick to lose - JR & the King were talking him up *way,way* too much over the course of the night. But to have him turn tail and walk out? How are they planning to explain that in two weeks (remember, next week is the "Best of 2003" show!)?
Additionally:
* Goldberg's out for thirty days. Why put one of your biggest draws out and leave Hollywood-bound HHH out there? (Especially when HHH takes weeks off when he pleases.)
* JR, King: catchphrases like CLB didn't get over the first time. Give it up.
Steph
(edited by Stephanie on 15.12.03 2219) I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
It had to happen eventually: Wiener Of The Day - June 10th, 2003
This kind of crap writing makes you want to tune in? To each his own, but it honestly makes me want to never watch RAW again.
Let's see what we accomplished tonight:
1) We stacked the odds for the main event so much in Foley's favor that the chance Foley would lose was shoved up into "Absolute Metaphysical Certitude"
2) We have "deactivated" (why not just say suspended?) arguably RAW's biggest draw. If that's not gonna get ratings juiced, I don't know what will. [<< sarcasm]
3) We have managed to not only completely erase any actual belief that Foley could be any kind of a contender in the ring EVER AGAIN, we've also made him look like a humongaloid wimp.
Can you imagine what a brand new wrestling fan is thinking now? They see the beautiful Foley Tribute Video, and then see Foley basically stand up and say, "Yeah, my balls are M.I.A"
4) I just realized this: we had no main event! What the hell! You build an entire show up to this point, and then squelch it?
This makes me wonder what Foley did to piss off Hunter.
If I can be serious for a minute... Dear WWE Writers:
Nice way to book yourselves into a corner and make a wrestling legend look like a complete coward within three weeks after he returns. May you dumbasses receive a swift kick in the gonads with a steeltoe.
At first I thought it was just Foley's plan to lure Orton backstage, where Foley is in his element. Or, he was going to come back out into the arena as Cactus Jack. But instead, it was just bizarre.
Oh Tino...put some pants on for God's sake.-- Chuckc14 in the Worst Album Covers thread Click Here (The W)
Manny [Ramirez] could show up for spring training with ice-blue hair, a "Free Lee Boyd Malvo" tattoo and a batting helmet made out of chorizo and I wouldn't be surprised. Hey, it's just Manny being Manny.-- Bill Simmons
Watching "Mad Dog Time" is like waiting for the bus in a city where you're not sure they have a bus line.-- Roger Ebert
Well nobody is complaining about how Triple H and his band of friends wrongly lost tonight. I mean the WWE builds them up as a dominant stable with all the gold then they go and lose a handicap match. Makes no sense.
Correct me if I'm wrong (and bear in mind that I was pissed like all of you when there was no match) but wasn't the stip that if Foley won, Bisch was gone, and if Orton won, Foley was gone? There was NO MATCH. The whole time that the "main event" was going on, I kept saying to myself "Hey, there hasn't been a bell or anything", and that makes me believe that we might see Bisch and Orton basking in their success next week, only to have Foley make *another* surprise return. But that's just me, I'm trying to be an optimist here.
(Oh, and if there was a bell and I didn't notice, my bad on that one)
In any event, I wanted to see him come out from behind the curtain with a bangbang and take it to Orton for awhile. At the very least I thought we'd have all the superstars that Foley saw on the way to the ring put a nice beatdown on Orton, mainly because he is such a prick.
Oh well though, I guess not watching in awhile made me expect too much.
"She's screaming like crazy...You have this myth you're sharing the birth experience. Unless you're passing a bowling ball, I don't think so. Unless you're circumcising yourself with a chainsaw, I don't think so. Unless you're opening an umbrella up your ass, I don't think so." --Robin Williams on birth
You may be right, but at this point that doesn't matter. Here you had a basically face character that virtually cannot be buried if they just leave him alone and don't mess around, and they've gone put a huge dent into his persona.
The fans (marks and smarks alike) don't need Mick Foley to win to keep cheering for him. He is a guy who genuinely appreciates the fans, takes sick bumps for our entertainment, and gives his best out there every night, be it in the ring or in some other sort of role. I can't remember the last time Mick won a match clean, but it doesn't farking matter, we cheer for him no matter what.
If you wanted to put off the match, then have Evolution attack him as he's walking to the ring, after being wished good luck by all the faces. Or have him get ready to leave, go up the ramp, turn around to go back down and fight only to be jumped in the back where the stipulations would not have applied. Come on, there are a bunch of ways to avoid a match and leave Mick with his dignity, maybe laid out and bleeding, but that's the Mick Foley we love and respect.
What the writers did with this was stupid and it was a terrible way to treat a guy like Mick. Whatever silly justification they come up with in a couple of weeks or months to bring him back, his image is tarnished and it served essentially no purpose.
Ramblin Wreck, I really can't argue with most of the points you make there, because they are valid, and they are good. But still, doesn't the possibility that Foley comes back in two weeks, perhaps incensed by Orton's spitting, and morphs into Cactus Jack seem a little feasible? And then he beats Orton by cheating and going crazy, and we have a crazy Cactus as a commish, constantly putting the heels in miserable situations. I think that that possibility should at least offer a little hope.
But once again, you make very good points, and I can't really argue with any of them. The writing has been horrid, and in many ways this is a perfect example of how bad it has gotten.
"She's screaming like crazy...You have this myth you're sharing the birth experience. Unless you're passing a bowling ball, I don't think so. Unless you're circumcising yourself with a chainsaw, I don't think so. Unless you're opening an umbrella up your ass, I don't think so." --Robin Williams on birth
Originally posted by HitTheSnoozeButtondoesn't the possibility that Foley comes back in two weeks, perhaps incensed by Orton's spitting, and morphs into Cactus Jack seem a little feasible?
He's incensed only two weeks after it happens? That's pretty bad reflexes, even for ol' Mick.
You never saw Austin get punched in the face, leave, grab a flight home, catch the Cowboys game, get a good nights rest, catch a flight back, and then punch the guy in return.
I just think anything that makes Foley look "cool" or tough is impossible at this point. The only way I can see them going is with the "I promised my fans I retired, and I decided to keep the promise" although he's already broken it. Besides, no matter where they go with it, having him leave in total silence no matter what was said or done to him is what kills any chance of this working. The execution just left the taste of dog crap in too many people's mouths.
Tribal Prophet
Wrestling exists in the eternal present. What is, has always been, and when it no longer is, it never was. It has no past and no future, and sometimes even today is in question. - Madame Manga
Originally posted by HitTheSnoozeButtondoesn't the possibility that Foley comes back in two weeks, perhaps incensed by Orton's spitting, and morphs into Cactus Jack seem a little feasible?
He's incensed only two weeks after it happens? That's pretty bad reflexes, even for ol' Mick
Well yeah, TV will do that to you...still, I do agree that Austin would be in someone's face right away...but IMHO, Mick has been the type of guy that might hold it in for a little, just to go crazy later. But once again, you make very good points, and slowly I am starting to see that this might not have been as potential-laden a scenario as I first thought. Oh well, that's what I get for trying to give the WWE the benefit of the doubt.
"She's screaming like crazy...You have this myth you're sharing the birth experience. Unless you're passing a bowling ball, I don't think so. Unless you're circumcising yourself with a chainsaw, I don't think so. Unless you're opening an umbrella up your ass, I don't think so." --Robin Williams on birth
Probably one of the dullest, "bowling shoe ugly"-est editions of Raw I've ever seen.
I'm starting to lose hope in the fricking WWE. What the hell are these guys thinging, anyhow?
Next week is the Best of Raw Rec(r)ap -- it'll be interesting to watch, but all I really want to see is the Flair appreciation bit after Raw all those months ago.
I'm beginning to see why the WWE doesn't bother with good writing, most of their fans have no ability to look more than 30 seconds in to the future...
Tonight's ending, while certainly anti-climactic, is the perfect setup for the one thing Foley does better than take huge bumps.... cutting the most intense promos of all time.
In two weeks, I have a feeling we're going to see one of Foley's best promos. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that it'll include the return of Steve Austin, but you take the bad with the good.
The thing I hope and pray for is that MICK FOLEY would never wrestle in a match of this magnitude. Again, I was expecting (hoping for) Cactus Jack to pop out, but in reality, Mick Foley didn't wrestle as Mick Foley. He was Cactus Jack, or Mankind, or Dude Love. More than likely, we'll see Mick snap, and the return of Mankind.
Or, maybe that pep talk with Shawn Micheals will come into play, about how he really wanted to stay retired, and was afraid to lose it all and want to come back. We could all say the WWE hasn't the intelligence to write this kind of stuff, but seeing as how a fanboy came up with it, it can't be much better.
Kane gets flustered that he didn't get to do something silly this week. Ho hum.
I'm sure they just switched the tag match for Billy/Tajri. Not too bad, besides the different apron and green lighting. And they did mention it at least.