The Wrestling Menu - RVD & Kane + Judgment Day & Raw Reviews
    Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 at 4:18 AM EST


    THE WRESTLING MENU #46

    Welcome one and all to the 46th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

    A big thank-you to all those readers who took the time to e-mail me over the past week. As per usual, it's very appreciated. An extra special thanks to the half a dozen or so who encouraged me not to change my style or content. If you recall last week, I flirted with the idea of being a little more controversial (maybe even negative) in my column. I do know that the fact that I don't go out of my way to be like this, is actually a strong point of my writing, and indirectly why some of you guys out there, read my column loyally.

    Having said that, what you are about to read in the 'Appetizers' section of this column just has to come out of my head & onto your screen. It has really got me annoyed lately & I feel that I have no choice but to at least mention the topic. After some thinking through though, I have toned down my original thoughts to not be so over-the-top.


    APPETIZERS - RVD & Kane

    Before I get to the point, I suppose I should just clarify my opinion on a couple of things before I get started. As most of you would already know, I'm strong on the fact that both myself & everyone else out there on this site are merely stating opinion, not fact. For that reason, I don't really feel strongly one way or the other when even the majority of internet wrestling fans state an opinion that I may not agree with. That's why this is a really strange case, because this situation has somehow annoyed me.

    Furthermore, I have no great allegiance to the 2 wrestlers involved. Apart from viewing both Rob Van Dam & Kane as fairly decent & entertaining midcard wrestlers, when all is said and done, that's probably where they belong. I do have hope that RVD may one day reach genuine main-event status with further improvement & continued loyalty towards the WWE, but right now, he is not ready & behind Chris Jericho & Booker T in my opinion.

    My beef if you haven't worked it out by now is the continual negative reaction that the tag-team of Kane & Rob Van Dam are getting from internet fans. I do understand that some of the criticism is not actually aimed at them personally, but the WWE, whether that is because people believe the duo should not be teaming, or whether they think that the WWE has ruined the division over the past year or so. But I still tend to disagree, or at least believe that the grudge has been taken too far.

    I won't go into any detailed opinion on whether they are a great tag-team or not. It's too early to be really relevant to the discussion. I could probably just say that I don't think they will still be a team come 2004, but that's more a compliment because they will be too useful in singles competition. Their original teaming came about for good reason. The WWE thought they could be entertaining together (both in & out of the ring), while thinking there was (rightly or wrongly) no room for them in the main event picture. That seems like fair reasoning to me.

    The initial reaction of fans (including myself) was "here is the second coming of Booker T & Goldust". The team sometimes known as BookDust was treated rather unfairly by the WWE when it came to winning the big match time & time again. Even when Kane & RVD won the titles, it was still presumed that they would be treated the same way. Be honest; Who thought their title reign would last a month at best...??? Guys, you were wrong. Admit it & get over it. Don't shift blame & ignore the fact that they are still champs. I personally thought that their reign would be longer, because some small details initially made me come to the conclusion that the WWE had learnt from their mistakes concerning BookDust.

    When you think about it, I think that my last statement has turned out to be true. Even if they lose the titles next week on Raw, they would have held those titles for over 2 months. Nowadays, 2 months can be considered a fair title reign. Not only that, but the duo have definitely defended those titles on a sufficient amount of occasions. Furthermore, they have had enough good matches to make their reign a success. Their Backlash bout was the Match of the Night, and 2 weeks earlier on Raw, they were involved in an exciting 3-team title match.

    Some critics suggest their feuds have been stale & pretty much constantly against the same 2 teams (The Dudleyz + Lance Storm & partner). While this is partially true, RVD & Kane haven't been together long enough to suggest that anything they have done is stale. And none of their matches in May have been against either of these teams, and May is nearly over.

    When I think about it a little more, I feel that this situation is one where some fans just can't change their initial thoughts & opinions for some reason. In most situations, the fans will just be thankful that their negative thoughts were wrong. But in this case, it seems like they want to sweep what has been a successful reign under the carpet. Is it because these people don't want you to remember that they were wrong in the first place? I doubt it. Maybe, it's because they have become used to viewing the WWE's decisions negatively? Again, I doubt it. I just can't put my finger on it. In my opinion, this has been a successful title reign that has resulted in easily enough entertainment both in & out of the ring, and has helped to kick-start what was admittedly a rather ho-hum division previously.


    MAIN - Judgment Day Review

    Once more, I had the opportunity to view a WWE pay-per-view in a cinema down in Melbourne, Australia. Judging from the attendance, the lack of interest in this pay-per view was worldwide.

    For those that cannot recall my previous PPV review columns, this is the key (of sorts), that explains 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 '02, Armageddon '02, No Way Out '03 & Backlash '03)
    65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: Survivor Series 2002 & Royal Rumble 2003)
    70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: WrestleMania 19)
    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+]

    JOHN CENA, CHUCK PALUMBO & JOHNNY STAMBOLI defeated CHRIS BENOIT, RHYNO & SPANKY: Four lousy minutes is all this match received. I know what the WWE were aiming for; A quick hot opener. But if you're going to give 6 men only 4 minutes to work with, then forget about it. Hell, Rhyno was never even tagged into this match. Maybe he could have gone up to the skybox for a beer & jalapeno!!! The rating is harsh on the wrestlers involved, but it's a true indication. Match Rating...4

    LA RESISTANCE defeated SCOTT STEINER & TEST: This match was what everyone thought it would be; Average. It wasn't terrible by any means. Even Test looked quite good on occasions. But there wasn't enough talent or storyline interest around this match to make anybody care. The storyline & result of this bout was just so predictable. Match Rating...5

    EDDIE GUERRERO & TAJIRI defeated SHELTON BENJAMIN & CHARLIE HAAS to Win the WWE Tag-Team Championship Entertaining, if nowhere near perfect, ladder match. I was fine with the choice of Tajiri as Eddie's partner. I would have preferred Rey or Benoit, but I'm not complaining. Throughout the 15 minutes, there were some botched & rough moves, but that was to be expected with Chavo's injury. You can't just go out there & have a great ladder match, as the spots need to be rehearsed. There was enough in this to make it the 'Match Of The Night'. Match Rating...7

    CHRISTIAN Won the InterContinental Title in a Battle Royal: Who the hell booked this!?!?!? Talk about a botch job!!! I mean we were basically down to 4 men within 2 minutes. The likes of RVD, Morley, Storm & Kane had less time than Benoit & Rhyno. It basically turned into a 10 minute tag match after that. I liked the way the Goldust & Jericho eliminations were done, but without totally disagreeing on the eventual winner, I hated the ending. It doesn't do a great deal for Christian's credibility & you could see it coming a mile away. Why was there only one ref out there? Does Finkel or Patterson have a voice? Couldn't they just tell the ref what happened? Suspension of reality I suppose. Match Rating...5

    TORRIE WILSON defeated SABLE in a Bikini Contest: I include segment ratings in the overall 'PPV Rating' if I deem that the segment took up enough time to warrant it. This one definitely did. I could go on about how this was pathetic because anyone reading this has the internet where they could see more. Yes, it was a waste of time. Yes, it would have been better if the opener was given more time instead of having this, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc... Put it this way, it wasn't the worst of these segments I've seen, as both women did look mighty fine. I can't give it a pass mark though. Segment Rating...4

    MR.AMERICA defeated ROWDY RODDY PIPER: Well at least this match only lasted 5 minutes. I'm not sure if anything really happened during it though. In fact, with Vince McMahon, Sean O'Haire & Tenacious Z (Zach Gowen) out there, so much more should have happened. But it just ended up boring the hell out of me. Hogan posed some more after the match wasting more time & making me yawn even more. Match Rating...4

    KEVIN NASH defeated TRIPLE H by Disqualification in a match for the World HeavyWeight Title: Only lasting a little over 7 minutes, the actual match was as bad as everyone had predicted. The lack of crowd enthusiasm could tell you that. They really did show us all that they had 2 weeks earlier on Raw. Not having Flair & Michaels out there was another terrible decision for the night. The bout was slightly saved by the aftermath, including a very messy looking powerbomb. But at the end of the day, here was another match which I can't give a pass mark to. Match Rating...4

    JAZZ defeated TRISH STRATUS, VICTORIA & JACQUELINE to Retain the Women's Title: Not a bad match by any means. In fact, it was quite good. But like I said in my predictions column last week, this division (& more specifically this match) needed something extraordinary to occur here. You just cannot continue for over half a year with the same ingredients in the one division. Unfortunately, nothing extraordinary did happen. Match Rating...5

    BROCK LESNAR defeated THE BIG SHOW in a Stretcher Match to Retain the WWE Championship: Here was the pleasant surprise of the evening. It actually had a lot of things going for it which made up for a few minutes of tedious action here & there. Firstly, Brock Lesnar showed shades of his intense & aggressive self during this bout. Secondly, The Big Show lasted 15 minutes!!! Of course, you also had Rey Mysterio coming out for some entertainment value. Finally, I thought they did a real good job of using the stretcher match stipulation to their advantage. Good stuff & a good ending to the pay-per-view. Match Rating...7

    PPV RATING (45/90) = 50

    Looking at the key, I have given Judgment Day a 'D' grade & have said that it was 'Mediocre & Disappointing'. You're damned right it was. Four failing matches/segments. Three more just scraping home. For that matter, the whole ppv just scraped in from me not asking for my money back. If you did not order this event, I can assure you that you have not missed much. In fact, they showed enough on Raw the following night to make me wish I hadn't paid to watch it. I have a streak of 2 years going regarding watching consecutive ppv's. While this wasn't a complete write-off, I have to say that it was the worst ppv over the last 2 years. For those interested, last year's Unforgiven main-evented by the terrible Triple H vs RVD & Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker matches scored 51 on my ratings system.


    DESSERT - Raw Review

    So, could Raw give us some glimmer of hope the next night? Remember to not take this as seriously as the 'PPV Review', as I will often throw in the odd sarcastic comment.

    - Stone Cold Steve Austin starts the show with an in-ring segment. I need to make a mental note to program a shortcut key to type that, as I think it will be a common occurrence over the next couple of months. It was actually a good segment, but seeing it lasted 13 minutes, it could have done much more than just set up tonight's main event.

    - A mediocre 7 minute match between The Dudley Boyz & 3 Minute Warning followed. The crowd were practically silent, and the only person that drew any heat whatsoever was Rico. Afterwards, Rico rather awkwardly stated that he was leaving the consistent losers, Rosey & Jamal.

    - Austin sighting #2 (I may as well count them). Bischoff hurls again; I saw enough of that the night before & in the opening segment. Then Austin runs into Big Kev & confirms our worst fears that there will be a Nash vs Triple H rematch.

    - Chris Jericho's 'Highlight Reel' is up next & his guest is the new InterContinental champion; Christian. Christian's new look (haircut & clothes) are ok, but he looks a little too much like Billy Gunn when he had his 'The One' gimmick, for my liking. I wonder if the WWE finally made him cut his hair!?!?!? After some stern words, Jericho forgives Christian. Then RVD comes out & gets the crowd a little more involved. A beatdown ensues, Kane makes the save & Austin sighting #3 occurs to set up match #2.

    - Good tag-team title match next. I should program a shortcut key for that too. Not that anyone will listen because RVD & Kane were involved (see: 'Appetizers'). After 10 minutes of back-and-forth action, Christian & Jericho get disqualified for attempting the conchairto. This ultimately results in Booker T cleaning house.

    - A nice little segment follows as HBK attempts to talk Ric Flair into not lying down for Triple H later in the night.

    - Here comes what I call the 'Remote Control challenge'; Try not to change the channel within 5 minutes when Rodney Mack wrestles. At least this time, his opponent (Spike Dudley) is faintly familiar to us. The WWE needs to realize that Mack is extremely boring in the ring & his style appeals to no type of fan. The crowd got involved in this bout, as Spike taps out at 4:59 to Mack's version of the 'Million Dollar Dream' called the 'BlackOut'.

    - Off subject, I actually did change the channel during that last match to see the replay of the Spurs-Mavs game. Why do my Spurs always look shaky with any sort of lead...??? Mind you, 49 straight free-throws is rather extraordinary!!! I hope the Spurs can go all the way this year to bid David Robinson farewell in the best possible manner.

    - Austin sighting #4 (yes, he's still had more segments than matches so far tonight). He thinks Bischoff needs a woman or two, which cues our monthly Moolah & Mae Young sighting. Just lovely!!!

    - In a Judgment Day rematch, La Resistance defeat Test & Steiner in a little over 2 minutes. The pin was rather clean too. Then again, this mini-feud is nothing but a poor & predictable setup for a Test vs Steiner feud to follow. The two have a tug-of-war with Stacy afterwards, and Stacy just walks off.

    - 29% of people who voted on WWE.com thought that The Rock attempted to run over Goldberg!!! Well, that's the biggest laugh I got all night. I don't think I'm going back to that website ever again!!!

    - Austin sighting #5 in a silly segment with Lance Storm being identified as the hit-and-run man from a couple of weeks ago. Then, from one extreme to the other, as Ric Flair turns tomato red to tell Triple H that he isn't lying down for him. Old Naitch still has something to offer, that's for sure.

    - Goldberg squashes Lance Storm in one minute & the WWE thankfully don't stretch out the predictable this time, as Lance names Jericho as the brains behind the attempted hit-and-run.

    - Extremely fun 7 minute main event between Triple H & Ric Flair. I have been quite critical of both of these men in the ring over the last year, and actually was initially a little confused as to why this match was booked. But I have to admit it, they both pulled off a highly entertaining bout. Austin sighting #6 ends the show as the Bad Blood rematch between Nash & Triple H is confirmed as a 'Hell In A Cell' match. At least my interest for that feud just rose from a 1 out of a 10, to a 2.


    Overall, I enjoyed this Raw. It was extremely patchy, but 2 good matches and a few entertaining segments is all I really expect from a tv show. The great matches should be left for pay-per-view. Maybe the focus has changed, as there seemed to be a lot of highlights of Judgment Day throughout this show. That's something the WWE don't like to do. Austin is entertaining as the co-GM right now, but seeing him 6 times is a couple of times too many for my liking. Oh well, if he sets up Bad Blood well enough, I can take looking at his head all the time. Especially after the Judgment Day debacle. Like I said, a good Raw, and it continues to liven up the debate over whether or not it is now better than SmackDown.


    That's another column in the books. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please do not hesitate to flood me with e-mails regarding your thoughts on RVD & Kane. Am I the only one who is annoyed by the way most internet fans treat his very good tag-team...??? Also, any further opinions on Judgment Day and/or Raw would be welcome. You know I will respond to anyone who writes. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

    Next Wednesday in The Wrestling Menu, I've got absolutely no idea what I am going to write about. I should have a column though, as there are quite a few topics floating around my head. Too many maybe. Whatever I have for you, look out for the column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is Davey Boy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.









    *NEW GALLERY* Very HOT and Revealing Gail Kim Photos! WOW!!!

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