The Wrestling Menu - The Lesnar & Angle Turns, SummerSlam & Raw Reviews
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 1:18 PM EST




THE WRESTLING MENU #58

Welcome one and all to the 58th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Firstly, I must congratulate the 2 newest column writers to the LOP main page; Wevv Mang & Jim Forzese. They have both been busting their asses in the columns forum for quite some time now, and their promotion has been well deserved. The good thing is that you very much have the broad spectrum with these 2 columns; Wevv's warped sense of humor, and Jim's original & descriptive take on things. Check out both their columns if you have the chance, as I highly recommend them.

In fact, Wevv knows so much that he gave my column a plug saying that my 'PPV Predictions' were uncanny. Well, guess what? I went 100% with my predictions at SummerSlam. Sure, there were only 7 matches, but you can only predict what's been put in front of you!!!


APPETIZERS - Lesnar & Angle

It seems like a little comment that I made in my predictions column last week almost got the most attention from the whole column. That quote was: "This time we have the evil Brock up against the face Kurt, which is how it should have been at WrestleMania in my opinion. I had quite a few comments returned via e-mail that revolved around this quote, and most were disagreeing with me, if not all in the same way. Some concentrated on whether or not Kurt Angle is a better heel, while others concentrated on Lesnar's adjusted current heel character & whether he is ready for the main event. There's enough in all of that for an 'Appetizers' topic, me thinks.....

Firstly, remember that it's my opinion. It doesn't necessarily mean that I'm correct. In fact, I have sort of spoken indirectly about this topic before. It was in edition #47 of The Wrestling Menu back in May, when I talked about whether or not Kurt should return from injury as a face or heel. In that column, I openly stated that I, like most others, believe that Angle plays a better heel, than face. But I went on to state that didn't necessarily mean that he should return as a heel, and it would depend on many factors. The main factor would be the "best fit for the SmackDown roster as a whole".

What I'm trying to get at is that I genuinely believe that Brock Lesnar plays a better heel right now in his fledgling career, than a face. I'm not even going to get into the whole SummerSlam '02 match between Brock & The Rock, where I disagree with what the Madison Square Garden crowd did on that night, because I have before & received abuse from seemingly everyone in New York State. All I will say is that Brock should, even to this day, never have turned face. Hell, he hasn't even been in the WWE for 18 months & he's already had 2 turns!!!

While Angle's face character is flawed & he doesn't seem completely natural in the role, being the more experienced of the 2 wrestlers would lead me to believe that he should have been the one playing the more uncomfortable role of face, on the biggest day of the professional wrestling calendar back in March. To still put on such a great match that day is a credit to both men, but to say I wasn't impressed with the majority of Lesnar's face run is definitely fair.

Now we have Brock back as a heel, and while the booking of his character is a little out of the ordinary so far (being involved with Vince, Spanky & Zach), I'm pretty sure I like the slight adjustments that have been made to his original heel character. He's still a monster, but there's an extra air of cockiness & experience thrown in. So there should be too. He is now a former champion, and as the months & years go by, these are the traits that become inherent in any sportsman.

On the other side of the ledger, we have the Kurt Angle debate. "Look how ordinary he is doing as a face" is what I keep getting told. True, I've already said it doesn't seem to come natural to him. But just for a moment, think of the whole angle/storyline since Lesnar turned. It has almost exclusively been focused around Brock Lesnar, and not Kurt Angle.

The WWE realize it is currently more important for them to get Lesnar's heel character correct, even though it is Angle that is champion. If they get Brock's persona right, Kurt's talent at all levels will eventually blend in perfectly to the whole SmackDown main event scene anyway. For those that viewed SummerSlam, I think the first major piece of this puzzle fell into place very well. For that, I commend the WWE.


MAIN - SummerSlam Review

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 '02 & Judgment Day '03)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: Bad Blood '03)
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 '02 & Royal Rumble '03)
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 '02)
80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

LA RESISTANCE defeated THE DUDLEY BOYZ to Retain the World Tag-Team Titles: Well, I suppose the major strength of The Dudleyz right now is their ability to get the crowd involved, so it only made sense that this was the opening match. They controlled about 80-85% of the offense in this 8 minute bout as well, until Rob Conway predictably interfered to keep the titles on the Frenchmen. Passable, if mediocre. Match Rating...5

THE UNDERTAKER defeated A-TRAIN: Hey look, Sable is with A-Train; That must mean he is successful!!! Some of the offense in this bout (especially from 'Taker) was just so terrible. I don't think I've ever seen him look so sloppy. Strangely enough though, this match got better, the longer it lasted. Again, a passable 10 minutes of big-man action, if nothing more. Match Rating...5

SHANE McMAHON defeated ERIC BISCHOFF: Hehe... Coach turned heel!!! I can't remember anything else that happened in the bout, as I was too busy laughing at his turn & JR impressions. Oh that's right, there was the usual Shane-O-Mac suicide spot. Apart from that, this match (for want of a better word) was monotonous & sucked. But Coach turned heel... Hehe. Match Rating...4

EDDIE GUERRERO defeated CHRIS BENOIT, TAJIRI & RHYNO in a Fatal Fourway Match to Retain the U.S Championship: Initially, this was a little bit of a mess & the fourway stipulation (compared to the elimination alternative) looked to be a bad decision. But as the match went on & the the spots got more scripted, this turned into a very good bout. But then at only the 11 minute mark, the match ended & Eddie retained his title. Up & down, this was a good, if slightly disappointing match. Match Rating...7

KURT ANGLE defeated BROCK LESNAR to retain the WWE Championship: Make no mistake about it folks, this was a very good match. Try not to get blinded by the fact that nothing super-duper spectacular happened. This bout came off just very natural, was well paced & had good psychology. A good mixture of everything befitting a title match, all this 22 minute bout needed was that something spectacular. That, and the absence of the botched move, I suppose. Match Rating...9

KANE defeated ROB VAN DAM in a No Holds Barred Match: Hard to critique & even rate a match that went in fits & bursts as much as this one did. I suppose that's the main criticism of RVD. But it's also indirectly his main strength, as his matches often still come off as entertaining, despite all the weaknesses. Kane's botched top-rop spot didn't help this bout out. Match Rating...7

TRIPLE H defeated BILL GOLDBERG, CHRIS JERICHO, SHAWN MICHAELS, RANDY ORTON & KEVIN NASH in an Elimination Chamber Match to Retain the World HeavyWeight Title: I had to rely on Triple H winning here to have a perfect predictions record at this pay-per-view. But guess what??? I didn't want to be perfect tonight. But it doesn't matter what I want, it's what Vince McMahon wants that matters. And on this day, Vince wanted DaveyBoy to be perfect & Triple H to continue on as the World Heavyweight Champion.

Good first half of the match involving Jericho, Michaels, Orton & Nash. I thought the latter 2 were used as well as they possibly could have been in this match. Goldberg's rampage was predictable, but effective. While our Trips didn't really do all that much at all. The ending was way too abrupt & took a rating point off. Surely the Triple H-Goldberg feud will continue to Unforgiven where we will finally have a new champ!!! Match Rating...7

PPV RATING (44/70) = 63

Looking at the key, I have given SummerSlam a 'C+' grade & have said that it was 'Worth A Watch'. That pretty much sums it up well, in my opinion. Nothing was too bad or offensive, but nothing really stood out either. While I felt the Lesnar vs Angle match was very good, it wasn't what you would call a Match Of The Year contender. Everything else was either just passable, or good. I think the fear a lot of us had before the pay-per-view, that the WWE did not concentrate on what many believe to be the 2nd best event of the year, turned out to be true. I definitely have the feeling right now, that they are concentrating on making the brand-exclusive ppv's as successful as possible. Unfortunately for us, SummerSlam got a little left out in the big picture.


DESSERT - Raw Review

Most may recall that I like to review Raw the night after a Pay-Per-View, as I often feel that the 2 shows which come just 24 hours apart, are inter-linked. It is also when many shocking & surprising things will happen. As per usual, my Raw review is not as serious as the 'PPV Review' & I will often throw in the odd sarcastic comment. I also do it in point form so that I don't rant on too much.

- Good opening segment involving Goldberg & Triple H. Their feud was continued, a stipulation match was set up for the next pay-per-view, Goldberg successfully received further fan support, and all this was done in a segment that did not drag on & on & on.

- Decently put together Women's match between Trish Stratus & Gail Kim to get things started in the ring. No botched spots here thank goodness, and Gail Kim is slowly getting more confident & better in the ring from week to week. This match was definitely nothing special, but was ok. Some strange by-play between Molly & Gail occurred afterwards.

- Mark Henry makes his first appearance on Raw in quite some time, as the new addition to Theodore Long's stable. He teamed with Rodney Mack to defeat Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade in a very short & bad match. Looking hard for a positive; Jindrak looked pretty good for the short time he was in the ring.

- Good stuff next with a series of segments involving Goldust, Lance Storm, Rosey & The Hurricane. Both tag-teams could genuinely work if handled carefully.

- Rob Conway finally gets introduced to us all as the American ally of La Resistance. He goes the well-worn "No War" speech & handles himself quite well on the microphone. However, the real reason why he was promoted from OVW was to help out Dupree & Grenier in the ring. Yet, in the subsequent 6 man match against The Dudleyz, Conway was unfortunately hardly in the ring. Spike added some impact to this bout, but it was too short for anyone to really notice.

- Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel" is next & everyone is laughing at his "Arizona Jack-Rabbit" analogy for Linda & Bischoff. But then his segment turns into the McMahon Family soap opera, as Vince, Linda & Shane take over. Yep, that's correct, Vince showed up on Raw..... again!!! Jericho then continues to prove his loyalty to Vince (this time in the storylines) by attacking Shane & setting up our main event of the night.

- Randy Orton defeats Maven in the next bout. It was actually quite a good match, but the presence of Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels at ringside definitely helped. Orton winning with 'Sweet Chin Music' was a nice touch to his upcoming feud with HBK.

- Then we have a long in-ring segment involving Bischoff, Coach, Austin & Christian. I really had no idea where this was heading, and I got the feeling that the participants didn't at one stage either. It actually ended setting up an InterContinental Title match between Christian & Jerry 'The King' Lawler. It was all pretty ho-hum except for Christian getting pi$$ed off for being ignored during the segment. The bout itself was tedious & used mainly as a backdrop for JR & Coach's banter on commentary. Gee, Christian couldn't even defeat a commentator cleanly!!!

- First Lawler, now Shane-O-Mac. Damn, I hate main events involving non-wrestlers. Usual Shane McMahon match which was sufficiently entertaining, until Kane predictably came out to interfere. We then had to wait an eternity before Kane & Shane ended up backstage, where Kane was pushed into a burning dumpster!!! Things just keep getting better for Kane, don't they!?!?!?

Well, I never expect the in-ring action to be anything special on a tv show that occurs the night after a pay-per-view. But this was a really disappointing episode of Raw. I'd have to give the Match of the Night to Orton vs Maven, which isn't really saying all that much. I really liked the opening segment involving Bill Goldberg & Triple H, but everything else was either ho-hum or bad. It was great to see the ratings increase this week, but you just have to wonder how many viewers will drop off after watching this show. Unforgiven is only a touch over 3 weeks away now, and is going to be a very important event for this Raw roster. Here's hoping that the WWE can come through with the goods.


That's another column in the books. I hope you all enjoyed it. As per usual, please do not hesitate to e-mail me regarding your thoughts on any of the 3 topics discussed today. I'm always interested in the opinions of my readers & you know I will respond to anyone who writes. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

I'm really unsure what will be served up next Wednesday in The Wrestling Menu. I'm hopefully going to get some time to watch a DVD and/or video this weekend, so you may see a review of some sorts. Otherwise, there are a few topics buzzing around in my head which I could write about. Whatever comes your way, 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 Photos of Alicia Webb aka X-Pac's Sexy Girlfriend!

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