The Wrestling Menu - Unforgiven & Raw Reviews + The Raw Main Event Scene
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 11:05 AM EST




THE WRESTLING MENU #61

Welcome one and all to the 61st edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Today, my column will be entirely devoted to Raw, so I will quickly mention the September-18 edition of SmackDown now. Another great show, with a tremendous main event. I just pray that the WWE don't look at the ratings & decide that actual wrestling is not what the fans want to see on their television shows. It's hard for many people to sit still for 60 odd minutes, and a heavily hyped 30 minute match where no time limit is announced, would have succeeded in drawing ratings better.

Have I ever mentioned that 'Identity' advertisement to the right of this screen (if it is still there) is cool. I missed out on watching that movie at the theatres too, which is a shame as most people say it's one of the movies of the year. Anyway, back to what this column is all about; Professional wrestling.....


APPETIZERS

The Raw Main Event Scene

This topic was originally going to be purely on Chris Jericho & where he fits into the Raw main event scene, after what he has been booked to do over the last few weeks. But I thought I would expand on that a little more & take a quick look at what we are in store for on Monday nights over the next 3 months or so. Now, as most will remember, I did state last week that Raw was desperately in need of a title change at Unforgiven. Luckily, a new champion in Bill Goldberg was crowned. But does this mean that the main event scene on Raw is going to be given a new lease of life...???

Well, the answer to that, should be a resounding "yes". Following a nine month title reign by any wrestler, how can there not be some fresh air breathed into the main event scene!?!?!? But will theory be put into practice on this occasion? I really really hope that Goldberg is not just keeping the belt warm for our good old buddy Triple H. Furthermore, if so, I hope that title change does not occur as soon as Survivor Series.

What got me thinking on this whole line of thought was Chris Jericho. I got many e-mails last week saying the same thing; "There is no way that Chris Jericho will win the InterContinental Title at Unforgiven... It makes no sense for him to win that title... He is above that title & will do nothing for it." Basically, by the time Unforgiven rolled around, I had already been convinced that one of my predictions was wrong. By the way, I got 6 out of 8, missing on Jericho & Ross/Lawler.

BUT... it initially didn't appear that it was because Jericho was finally heading back to the main event, as to why he did not win his match at Unforgiven. As soon as he interfered in the Commentators match & gave his reasons why following the bout, my head dropped in amazement. They were going to put him in a feud with a non-wrestler (Stone Cold Steve Austin)!!! I couldn't believe it. Sure, there will be some very entertaining segments, but that would happen no matter who Jericho was feuding with anyway.

The other thing that irks me about all this is that you just know that Austin will get the upper hand on most occasions. He is the over face who has pretty much done what he likes since his return to WWE television. He appears in way too many segments & has no positive effect on the majority of them. That may sound a little harsh, but I believe it to be fact. He is a non-wrestler who still is treated like a wrestler. Whether that is his fault or that of WWE management is anyone's guess.

Anyway, so things look to be getting bleaker & bleaker on Raw, until the main event comes around & Jericho gets a World HeavyWeight Title shot at Goldberg. Now, the result was always going to be predictable, but the fact that he got the shot means that he is still there or thereabouts. Furthermore, the quality of the match was as good as anyone could hope for in a television match including Goldberg. Could this open the eyes of the WWE in the coming months & show them what a money feud this could be? I mean, this is Chris Jericho, and at different times this year, he has feuded with 3 wrestlers at once. There is no reason why he couldn't feud entertainment-wise with Austin, and wrestling-wise with Goldberg. I know I'm crossing my fingers.

But the more likely scenario is that Jericho will battle it out orally with Stone Cold, while he fights the occasional midcard bout. So who does this leave Goldberg to feud with!?!?!? I cannot believe that he will just wander around twiddling his thumbs & occasionally demolish an opponent like he did in WCW, until Triple H comes back around the time of The Survivor Series. Sure, it could happen, but I won't believe that it will.

To me, the obvious next opponent is Kane. The feud setup is easy; Goldberg could come to the rescue of Shane during another attack by the big red machine next week on Raw. Kane's size & decent agility should fit quite well with Goldberg's style, while the monster character should make for a feud with sufficient intensity. As for when the match comes around, we will have to wait & see on the quality of that.

Ok, I'm starting to rant here, so I better stop. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the WWE really have to be very careful with how they book the main event scene over the next 3 months or so. If it is done badly, 2 things will happen: (1) The belt will be back on Triple H in a flash, and (2) fans will start to think that it doesn't matter who the champ is, as the roster is so bad. To me, the answer is Jericho. But why do I get this feeling he is going to miss the boat (in the short-term) again...!?!?!?


MAIN - Unforgiven 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: Judgment Day '03)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: Bad Blood '03)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: SummerSlam '03)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: 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+]

THE DUDLEY BOYZ defeated LA RESISTANCE & ROB CONWAY in a Tables Match to Win the World Tag-Team Titles: The Dudleyz are quickly becoming the warm-up act for the crowd, with the amount of pay-per-views they open. It makes sense I suppose. If this wasn't a tables match, it wouldn't have had many redeeming features & would have been pure monotony that we've seen many times before. With the stipulation, it was at least watchable. Conway took one hell of a bump through a table!!! The Dudleyz regain after 10 minutes. Match Rating...5

TEST defeated SCOTT STEINER to Win the services of Steiner & Stacy Keibler: In yet another monotonous feud that has seemed like it has lasted forever, these 3 (Stacy's contribution to this match shouldn't be under-estimated) put on an ok 7 minute bout. Steiner only botched one move (a powerbomb) that I could see, while Test is finally improving in the ring. It's a shame it has been so gradual & he struggles to add to his repertoire though. Good finish & I pray this feud is over, but I don't think it is. Match Rating...6

RANDY ORTON defeated SHAWN MICHAELS: It was very hard to pick a 'Match of the Night' at Unforgiven, and this bout could definitely stake a claim. It wasn't far off being very good, put it that way. It just lacked a little in pacing & had too few spots for a 19 minute match. HBK is still putting on great matches against practically any opponent, while Orton is another who is gradually improving. I didn't mind the finish with Flair's shenanigans causing a restart to the bout. Match Rating...7

TRISH STRATUS & LITA defeated MOLLY HOLLY & GAIL KIM: Disappointing. For the amount of apparent hate that the heels had here, there was not enough intensity. For Lita's big return to wrestling, there was not enough excitement. The rematch the next night was a lot better. At least this was kept relatively short at 7 minutes. Man, compare Lita's moonsault to Kurt Angle's & you would think they were 2 completely different moves. Match Rating...5

KANE defeated SHANE McMAHON in a Last Man Standing Match: Some will call this the match of the night, even though I don't recall seeing too many wrestling holds being applied. Obviously very spotty, this bout was fairly well choreographed & decently performed. The booking which saw Shane control most of the match was puzzling though. As I predicted last week, McMahon climbed the entrance-way & threw himself off of it. Unfortunately for him, Kane rolled out the way to become the last man standing at the 20 minute mark. Match Rating...7

CHRISTIAN defeated ROB VAN DAM & CHRIS JERICHO to Retain the InterContinetal Title: If I had to choose one bout, I'd probably choose this as the match of the night. That is despite it not really flowing well for almost half of it's length. The first 10 minutes saw Jericho & Christian's allegiance last way too long, and I was starting to think that the WWE made a huge mistake in not having a singles match here. But the following 9 minutes was well put together, fairly unpredictable & had something for everyone. Christian pins RVD to retain the title & hopefully we will get to see a decent feud between these two. Match Rating...7

AL SNOW & JONATHAN COACHMAN defeated JERRY LAWLER & JIM ROSS to become the Raw Commentators: You know you're in trouble when the first move of the match is practically botched!!! The WWE foolishly chose to have no commentators during this bout, and that unfortunately just made this 8 minute match drag out even more. I'm a fan of Al Snow, but it's been a while since he even wrestled on ppv. The only positive that existed for mine is that it could have been worse!!! The heels win following interference from Jericho. Match Rating...3

BILL GOLDBERG defeated TRIPLE H to Win the World HeavyWeight Title: Satisfactory main event that was pretty much 'by the numbers'. At 15 minutes, the length of the match was about right. The intensity of the 2 combatants was sufficient, and while nothing really memorable happened, nothing disastrous occurred either. I would have preferred for the ending to be a little less abrupt, as it didn't really give a chance for the crowd to go nuts for a title change. It wasn't inspiring, but at least Raw finally crowned a new champ. Match Rating...6

PPV RATING (46/80) = 58

Looking at the key, I have given Unforgiven a 'C' grade & have said that it was 'Average'. Right on, if I do say so myself. It only got one extra rating point over the previous Raw pay-per-view, Bad Blood, and that my friends is not a good thing. Apart from the commentators match, there wasn't anything too disastrous or embarrassing about this event, but when you have to toss up between 3 ok matches as your match of the night, you know you're in trouble. Nothing stood out whatsoever!!! This is pay-per-view for goodness sake; Reward the purchaser. Oh well, there's always a SmackDown pay-per-view just around the corner.


DESSERT - Raw Review

This could be the very last Raw review in this format that I ever do. Australian television is playing games with timeslots again, and Raw is moving from Tuesday to Friday nights. It just might be too untimely for me to continue using this format. Oh well, we'll see how we go. Let's see if Raw could win back some interest after the average pay-per-view...

- Lillian Garcia gets to utter the first words on Raw & not our new announce team. Then when Coach & Snow do come out, they are practically cut off by Goldberg's music. Oh well, I suppose we have to listen to them for the next 2 hours, so maybe that's a fair compromise.

- Goldberg is given all of about 1 minute to talk about his big win the previous night before the glass shatters & Austin comes out to say not very much at all & drink a beer or 8. Eric Bischoff follows, says he created Bill Goldberg, and gets a spear for his troubles. I'm unsure if all that really achieved anything.

- The WWE didn't waste any time in having the Christian vs RVD title match. The lack of build-up pretty much gave up the ending; Christian getting disqualified after 5 minutes. The bout was going really well up until then. Afterwards, Christian brings out a ladder & gives RVD a 5-star frog splash off the top of it. This feud could indeed be good, as could the ladder match next week.

- Anyone else find it ironic that Mark Jindrak was attacked by Evolution!?!?!? Are Evolution still looking for a 4th member??? Where is Batista??? Why is the sky blue??? Good promo by Triple H; "I beat myself, I didn't believe the hype, I look really angry, etc., etc., etc... Achieved it's purpose & didn't waste too much time.

- Apparently, Mark Henry now has his own 'White Boy Challenge'. Tommy Dreamer is the first victim. He may have only just lasted a minute. Lovely, another Mark Henry push!!!

- There was a lot more intensity in the women's tag-team rematch from Unforgiven tonight. The faces win again, and I still say that if feuds can be properly booked in this division, it could still be sufficiently respectable. The quality of this match proved that.

- Test has his fun with Scott Steiner backstage, while Shane-O-Mac continues the McMahon tradition of not having much luck in hospitals, as Kane attacks him.

- Mediocre & short tag-team bout between Rene Dupree & Rob Conway vs The Superheroes. This division just so sucks right now & it's really scary that it looks like being Mack & Henry who are next in line for a title shot.

- Better than expected 6 man tag match pitting Evolution against Maven, Jindrak & Cade. The youngsters acquitted themselves quite well, and they can hopefully use this bout as a launching pad. I'm a fan of Jindraks unique style, while Maven is steadily improving. I'm not sure Cade will survive long-term, as he is very generic. After the match, Triple H gives a short cryptic monologue insinuating we may not see him for a while. Why didn't he just say that!?!?!?

- Great to see The Rock on Raw again. As always, he was very gracious in thanking his wrestling colleagues (both on & off screen). He also did not hesitate to go into character while on the red carpet outside the premiere of his own film; I think that's great!!! Obviously, the monkey jokes haven't left the repertoire.

- Goldberg defeated Chris Jericho in a perfectly acceptable television main event tonight. The two really seemed to gel well together, and like I said in the 'Appetizers' section of this column, I really hope the WWE sat up & took notice of this match, because that is almost as good as anyone could hope for in a television match involving Goldberg. The champion predictably retained, with some shenanigans from Austin & Bischoff thrown in for good measure.

Well, well, well. That was actually quite a good Raw. I'm pleasantly surprised. Why was it good? Because there were 4 matches that were above average for free television, simple as that. If Raw can use that as it's basis, and plan all other segments around the matches, then maybe there is still some hope for the roster. It's going to be a tough 7 weeks for Raw & like I said earlier, the way Goldberg & Chris Jericho are used will probably be the determining factor on how they get through this period.


Ok, that's it for edition #61 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. That was almost too much Raw to handle today. I've already seen some differing views of Unforgiven, so please don't hesitate to let me know what you thought of the pay-per-view. I'd especially like to know what you think was the match of the night. Also, how would you book the next 7 or 8 weeks of the Raw main event scene leading up to Survivor Series...??? If I like one or two suggestions, I might even include it in my column next week. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I plan to continue my review series of the 1990's. 1994 is next up on the hitlist & it surely couldn't be any worse than 1993!!! Look out for that column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.













*NEW GALLERY* Very RARE and Personal Backstage Photos of the WWE Divas!

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