The Wrestling Menu - Survivor Series & Raw Reviews
    Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, November 20, 2002 at 4:38 AM EST



    THE WRESTLING MENU #23

    Welcome one and all to the 23nd edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

    Before I get started, I'd like to thank all of you who took the time out to e-mail me your feedback for the LOP main page debut of The Wrestling Menu. Everyone got a response & you all know that any feedback is appreciated.


    APPETIZERS-PPV Ratings System

    Now as a rule, I do purchase all of the WWE's pay-per-view events. Call DaveyBoy a sucker if you want to, but the last ppv I did not see was early last year. It might have been Backlash I think, but my memory isn't the greatest in the world. I do remember the reason I didn't purchase it though & it was exactly the same as why a fan won't purchase a ppv now; I didn't think it was going to be worth the money. For some reason though, I have felt the need to watch whatever the WWE has thrown at us this year. Boy, I wish I could have the choice of passing on WWE Unforgiven (in September) over again!!!

    Anyway, I've reviewed & rated the last 3 pay-per-views on the LOP Columns Forum & have made some subtle adjustments to hopefully have you looking forward to my 'PPV Review' each & every month. My reviews will basically just be a brief description & opinion of each match. I will also rate each match out of 10 & then convert the total ratings into a percentage. I like the percentage idea as it is a good way to compare the performance of each ppv event from month to month. I also include in the overall ratings, any sports-entertainment segment which I deem to take up enough time to warrant inclusion in the review. As a general rule, these segments will have to last at least 7 minutes.

    I will tell you right now that the system does have its flaws. I remember after finishing my SummerSlam review, that I was upset that the rating only came out to be 78. I thought that was a tremendous card & would have graded it an 'A' if that's the way I based my 'PPV Review'.

    So what I did, was come up with a little key of sorts, to better explain to my readers what the final PPV Rating means:

    <50: Ask for a refund for not only your money, but also your time. [F]
    50-54: Mediocre & disappointing. [D] (EG: UnForgiven 2002)
    55-59: Average. [C]
    60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: No Mercy 2002)
    65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B]
    70-74: Very good. [B+]
    75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: SummerSlam 2002)
    80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

    I hope that's clear enough. It's almost impossible to score above 85 or below 40 with my PPV Ratings, so that key should help you when reading this review column. I may play around with those comments in the future, but they are pretty self-explanatory as they are.

    In my Dessert section today, I will quickly discuss what happened on Raw & any future consequences. But the night before Raw was the event we have come to love since 1987; Survivor Series. Here comes my review, in the order of the way the matches appeared on the card:


    MAIN - Survivor Series

    BUBBA-RAY, SPIKE DUDLEY & JEFF HARDY defeated RICO, ROSEY & JAMAL in a Tables Match: Good choice as the hot opener of the night. Sure, this 15 minute spotfest was a little sloppy at times, but the new ingredient of 3 Minute Warning added something extra to the tried & true formula. The match ended when D-Von came out to help Bubba-Ray 3-D Rico through a table for the win. This match contained the loudest berating of a colleague that I have ever heard in the squared circle, when Rico screamed at Jeff to hurry up & get to the ring to take part in a spot. Jeff had just gone through a table off of a balcony. Expect Rico to be punished somehow, very soon. Match Rating...7

    BILLY KIDMAN defeated JAMIE NOBLE to win the Cruiserweight Title: Solid, if not spectacular, cruiserweight match. This reminded me a lot of last months Noble vs Tajiri bout (except this match was announced to be on the ppv). Hopefully, future c/w title feuds can be built up better than those over the last few months. The false finishes in this bout started a little too early for my liking, but the 2 competitors made the most out of the 8 minutes that were given to them. Match Rating...7

    VICTORIA defeated TRISH STRATUS in a Hardcore Match to win the Women's Title: I expected a huge effort from these 2 & was not disappointed. The major letdown in this bout was the sudden & uninspiring finish. After 7 minutes of action that was as good as anything that the WWE Hardcore Division gave us in its prime, Victoria won the title with a simple snap suplex. Match Rating...6

    THE BIG SHOW defeated BROCK LESNAR to win the WWE Championship: Next up was the 4 minute strength test for Brock. Oh, I'm sorry, this was a wrestling match? Could have fooled me!!! Two things really annoyed me about this bout; Firstly, as soon as Heyman said "I'll do anything it takes to see my client win", it became too obvious that he was going to turn on Lesnar. Secondly, The Big Show has just won the most prestigious title in the company, by doing not very much at all. Why not have a 15 minute slugfest where TBS shows great effort to win? Maybe he hasn't got it in him...??? Hard match/segment to rate. I can't pass it, but the intensity was there & Brock proved what he had to. Match Rating...4

    EDDIE/CHAVO GUERRERO defeated EDGE/REY MYSTERIO & KURT ANGLE/CHRIS BENOIT to win the WWE Tag-Team Titles: I was initially worried that the triple-threat format of this match might not allow these 6 great athletes to show their best. However, the match was predominantly well paced & structured, with the exception of a few hiccups resulting from missed spots. It's really hard to rate these matches nowadays, as all combatants have become a victim of their own high standards. I didn't think this bout was what it could have been, yet it was still very good. Match Rating...8

    CHRISTOPHER NOWINSKI, MATT HARDY & SCOTT STEINER Segment: Just short of 10 minutes, this segment went for long enough to deserve to be a part of the overall 'PPV Rating'. Achieved its purpose I suppose. Continued Nowinski's & Hardy's heel push, while debuting Steiner without giving away which show he will appear on. It's not what you would call a memorable debut, but it showed what an impact player Big Poppa Pump can be in the WWE, if he remains healthy. Segment Rating...6

    SHAWN MICHAELS defeated TRIPLE H, CHRIS JERICHO, KANE, BOOKER T & ROB VAN DAM in an Elimination Chamber Match to win the World Heavyweight Title: Got off to a good start when Eric Bischoff clearly explained the rules. Furthermore, choosing RVD as one of the initial entrants was also a good decision, as he was able to do his spots before the match turned into a bloody slugfest. The remainder of the match was very intriguing, and with the exception of Booker T practically playing no part in the proceedings, the elimination's were well timed & the order made sense. Whether HBK or Jericho should have dethroned Triple H will be argued in the weeks to come, but for the purpose of this title match, it didn't really matter. Should the chamber be brought out once a year? I'm not so sure. But it definitely served its purpose for the 2002 version of Survivor Series. Match Rating...8

    PPV RATING (46/70) = 66

    Looking at the key (in the 'Appetizers' section), I have basically given Survivor Series a 'B' grade & said that it was 'a good event that was worth the money'. Yep, I'm definitely happy with that rating & comment. An improvement over the last 2 pay-per-view's, Survivor Series was still a fair gap below the best event that the WWE has put on this year. Having only 6 matches can be forgiven due to the hype & format of the Elimination Chamber. Of the 6 matches, 2 were very good, while 3 others were solid. Unfortunately for the third month in a row, the non-main event World Title match let the card down overall. Something must be done about this in the future, as three times in a row is a trend, not a fluke. I understand that there may have been extenuating circumstances due to Brock Lesnar's rib injury, but I have to call it the way I see it. We can only hope that the WWE are on an upward spiral at the moment & the momentum continues for many months to come.

    Now I would normally leave this section there, but I felt that there was one other thing that I should mention about Survivor Series. What in the blue hell was up with the microphone picking up anything & everything? On (at least) 4 separate occasions, I heard things that as a viewer, I surely am not supposed to hear: (1) Rico telling Jeff Hardy to hurry up for a scripted spot. (2) Someone (a crowd member, crew guy or maybe Tazz) dropping the F-Bomb while Benoit & Angle had their backstage segment. (3) Kurt Angle clearly asking Rey Mysterio if he was alright after a missed spot & (4) Scott Steiner dropping the F-Bomb when asking for the microphone. I personally, am not necessarily complaining that I heard these things, but the WWE usually set such a high standard with their production values, that this genuinely surprised me. Furthermore, embarassing wrestlers (Hardy) & possibly turning off younger viewer's by broadcasting the infamous 'F' word is not what the WWE needs right now.


    DESSERT - Raw

    I like to follow my pay-per-view review every month with a summary of the next night's Raw. I'll warn you now that it's not as serious as the 'PPV Review' & I will throw in the odd sarcastic comment. I also do it in point form so that I don't rant on too much. I usually look forward to seeing the Raw after a pay-per-view for many reasons. The WWE occasionally come up with a surprise or two & it's good to see the ramifications of the show the night before. It also throws up many questions such as; Will this feud continue? Who will he feud with next? & How will a certain wrestler react to last nights win or loss?

    I was actually strangely looking forward to this Raw, to see if the WWE were going to continue a weird trend that has happened over the last few months. It's definitely unintentional, but lately the quality of the ppv & following Raw have been completely opposite to each other. That is; Good PPV = Bad Raw & vice-versa. It's probably my warped view on things, along with my annoying fascination with trying to pick up on patterns & trends concerning WWE programming. Oh well, let's find out how Raw performed, shall we:

    - Did Flair say "Raw without Triple H"? That almost would call for a name change for the show, wouldn't it? Let's see whether the other wrestler's can survive without him.

    - I usually hate it when Raw doesn't start off with a match, but HBK starting the show was always going to happen. He didn't really say much in the 5 minutes he had & then RVD comes out & sucks up. Hey, that's a match I'd like to see... but Bischoff apparently doesn't. HBK then practically states that he's a wrestling fan (just like all of us) & is going to single-handedly get rid of all the crap storylines from Raw. He'd be God if he could do that! But I wish him the best of luck.

    - The Dudley Boyz have new music & D-Von is officially on Raw! Could the WWE be realizing some mistakes they've made in the past? D-Von actually looked really good in this 6 man match. I'm sure he's more motivated than anytime in the past 3 months. Rico got pinned by the 3-D for the 2nd time in 24 hours. In an interview after the match, Rico mumbled something about Jeff Hardy causing his loss tonight (See what I mean about the sarcasm, folks?).

    - Are Stacy's shorts getting, ummm, shorter? If Steven Richards reforms 'Right To Censor', I will not be a happy camper!!!. Biting off fingernails; Hopefully the WWE don't go overboard with Victoria's deranged gimmick.

    - Time to shut up & wrestle, as we've gone 45 minutes & had only 1 match. Speaking of wrestling, here comes Storm & Regal. I'm not 100% sure about the potential of this team, but they keep winning. This time it only took 2 minutes.

    - Big Poppa Bicep runs through every catchphrase he can think of. Yes! A Jericho interruption; just what every sports-entertainment segment needs (this time I'm serious). LOL at calling Steiner, King Arthur. Jericho is doing it all right now & a feud with Steiner could be real good.

    - Victoria from the Women's Division defends her title against Stacy from the Eye-Candy Division. If you recall my column from last week, you'd know I hate it when this happens. BUT, did you see that new finishing move that Victoria just unleashed? Holy cow!!! What started out as the Gory Special, turned into some sort of inverted VertaBreaker. Wow!!! She should have debuted that move last night, instead of winning with a snap suplex. Trust me guys, this woman has wrestling talent. Her alliance with Richards may also solve her fan reaction problem.

    - Amusing Hardcore match which saw Nowinski defeat Al Snow, after Al missed a huge moonsault onto 4 chairs. Was Nowinski imitating The Undertaker when he was holding up that skull? Don't do that Chris, or your career will be over before it started.

    - It looks as if Valbowski Venis has followed Batista, Maven & D-Von to Raw. Let's hope he gets a fresh gimmick to work with & I'm not talking about Right To Censor.

    - Flair tried to beat Kane with words. At least he realizes he can no longer wrestle. Dave Batista comes out & turns heel after a 2 week face run. It's a good turn in my opinion, as he's better off establishing himself as a heel initially. If he has aligned himself with Triple H & Flair, that would mean we only need one more horsemen. Oh & by the way, get well Randy!

    - Very good, if sometimes disjointed, 12 minute main event which eventually saw Steiner come out & destroy Jericho, leading to an easy pin for RVD. Booker T's lack of involvement in the finish, leaves me wondering what he has done wrong. Jericho was just so on top of his game tonight. I'm looking forard to the interesting World Heavyweight Title Match between HBK & RVD next week.


    This Raw was a good tv show coming off the back of a pay-per-view. It had its downside in that there were only 5 legitimate matches (2 of them lasting only 2 minutes), but with so many new feud's, storylines, direction's & even personalities, I can forgive that to a large extent. That being said, there was way too much talk in the first hour for my liking. Those segments should have been more evenly spread throughout the show. However, having pointed out the negatives, I do not believe that the trend I mentioned previously has continued. There were just way too many positives on this Raw. HBK vs RVD & Jericho vs Steiner are feuds that really interest me. A Batista vs Kane feud would also be intriguing. On top of that, The Dudley Boyz & Victoria came out of the show looking better. Now if only the WWE can find something useful & deserving for Booker T to do... How does a feud with Triple H sound?

    As always, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail letting me know what you thought of Survivor Series and/or Raw. I can assure you that all feedback will be very appreciated & I will attempt to respond to all e-mails. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

    If all goes to plan, next Wednesday on the 24th edition of The Wrestling Menu, you will be reading why I call myself DaveyBoy, who is my favourite wrestler of all time, and discuss a very important unseen element of the WWE which actually has links to that wrestler. The week after, this column hits the 'Quarter Of A Century' mark & I have already started writing something very special for you all. I'll see you at the same time & place next Wednesday. Until then, this is Davey Boy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.




    *NEW GALLERY* Must See New and Rare Photos of NATALYA NEIDHART!

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