The Wrath of Tito - Full RAW review, Tunney, Tate, Fairplay, and more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 at 2:14 PM EST
Welcome to the latest edition of the Wrath of Tito, the column that's dish best served cold. Today, I have freezing rain outside and I'm stuck indoors. I actually got out earlier, fighting for my life to get out of the driveway. Nothing like a sheet of ice covering everything, and my P.O.S. (Piece of...) has backwheel drive. The rain has turned to snow, thus making much more of a mess outside. Whoopie! Can't wait to fight my way out of the driveway tomorrow for work.
I did NOT see the Royal Rumble. I was out of town for Sunday morning and afternoon, and raced home before Sunday evening's snow could hit. It started around 6 pm, to which I couldn't drive to my usual destination to which I watch the Royal Rumble. I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting a tape of the event, and if not, I'm willing to buy it just to see Chris Benoit actually get some damn credit by the WWE for a change. I'm also wondering how bad HHH vs. HBK and Holly vs. Lesnar were, which is the general sense I'm getting from the internet. Double count-out? Well, the purpose of the match was to keep the title on Triple H for HHH vs. Benoit at Wrestlemania, in addition to keeping Shawn Michaels strong (especially given how Triple H has crapped on many other main event faces). Thinking this way, I really see no problem with the ending. Then again, I haven't seen it yet, so I can't tell you how I'll react to when I watch the match.
Speaking of HBK vs. HHH... I agree with the majority of the internet in saying Vince McMahon's finger-pointing to their match as the new standard to WWE matches was completely wrong. I bet you lower midcarders on the RAW roster would look great in a 25 minute match, too, but instead, they deal with 5 minutes AT MOST. Televised matches on RAW are too short, and great matches usually have double digit minutes attached to them. Secondly, can Triple H look good in 25 minutes without working with Shawn Michaels? With the exception of Chris Benoit now, NO HE CAN'T. The RAW roster was given a Godsend with Chris Benoit now, for he's a guy who can always pump out a watchable match with any pile of crap who wants some. How about a possible Benoit vs. Michaels match? More Benoit vs. Jericho? Benoit vs. Booker T? The list goes on, and Benoit will bring out the best in Triple H. Too bad Triple H can't bring out the best in others.
I also see the point in the new less-flashy style used in the WWE. Yeah, it may protect a crippled wrestler, like Triple H, but I can only see Van Dam flipping around the ring so much. The matches, lately, are especially hurt by crowd noise. Why? Because when the crowd is fully behind a match, it kicks in the adrenaline for the wrestlers and allows them to make a regular looking match look a little better. Why is the crowd silent? Because the storylines given to the wrestlers absolutely suck. IF you're going to tone down the wrestling, then improve the storytelling. It just irritates me to see how screwed up the whole Jericho/Trish situation has become, in addition to pushing Bob Holly as a main eventer when he has no main eventer credibility heading into the match! Tell the stories better and people will believe in any toned down match you throw out there.
It's sad to hear that former WWF figurehead president Jack Tunney has passed away at the age of 68, probably from old age or any disorder associated with old age. He was good at what he did, and that was to act as president of the WWE and come out occasionally to make announcements. Now granted, I thought his choice of Hulk Hogan to become #1 contender heading into Wrestlemania 8 was a bit far fetched, given that Sid threw Hogan out of the 1992 Royal Rumble. May he rest in peace.
I completely disagree about letting Lionel Tate go free. Tate's the one, at age 12, who brutally killed a 6 year old girl. At first, the family AND media placed blame on the WWE and wrestling in general because Tate claimed he was imitating moves he saw on television. This blame would drag the WWE's name through the mud (as if they need this to do that) and it gave merit to the parental groups who were trying to attack the WWE at the time. Pro wrestling was cleared through the legal process, for Tate brutally killed this young girl with his bare hands. I'm sure if you have younger cousins and have performed wrestling moves on them for fun, you'll know that you can hurt them with certain moves. Tate did this killing at age 12, at a time where he should know his rights and wrongs. He killed that girl with murderous intent, and even if he used SOME wrestling moves, he was slamming her extra hard in order to kill her.
The fact that he goes free is ridiculous after just 3 years in juvenile prison. He should have served longer to get rehabbed longer, get an education while in jail (whether it's job training or high school/college) and maybe get out during his 20's when he's more mature. Not at age 16, where he still hasn't grown up enough to realize his mistakes. I would also like Tate and his family to personally apologize not only to the family of the girl he brutally killed, but to the WWE and professional wrestling for placing blame in the wrong place.
You know that the music industry is having bad albums come out when WWE Originals debuts at #12 on the Billboard charts. I'll review Originals in the future, and it won't be pretty. WWE theme CDs have done respectable on the Billboard charts, and I'm guessing Originals got the small push on the charts from the past success of WWE albums. Then again, the music industry has put out half-assed albums lately, insomuch that it makes me wonder why the Recording Industry doesn't see why music is downloaded. WWE Originals beat out a lot of overrated artists for that 12th spot, so it makes me laugh when a bunch of wrestlers on an album can beat out mainstream artists who make a career out of music. The Originals CD was put out for fun.
I find it funny that NWA-TNA is baffled as to why Johnny Fairplay's appearance on their shows isn't getting any mainstream press. Let me ask you this: has member of the survivor cast branched off into something successful? One female tried to act in the movie "The Animal" with Rob Schneider (I can't wait for Carrot and the Stapler!!!), but it was a flop. With Survivor, every contestant has 15 seconds of fame and then you never hear about them again. I remember when the WWE almost dished out top dollar for the female cast member of the first Survivor for the promo she cut on the finale.
As for Johnny Fairplay... did you know that he worked for LordsofPain.net at one time? Probably about 4 years ago, he had an audio show. This was before the WWF handcuffed their wrestlers on interview selections, so he had pretty decent guests. I'd say that the success of his show went directly to his head, just has his role on Survivor went to his head. I remember an incident where a wrestler roughed him up in a bar, and he posted a message on LoP (which was shot down quickly) going on an endless tirade or bash of the wrestler who roughed him up (I forget which wrestler did it). I know a wrestler did something to him that made him mad, if it's not a bar fight, and taking down that post led to his demise from LoP. He went on to attempt his audio show at other places, but with minimal luck. He was pretty big on LoP at one time, even though I didn't personally like the cocky attitude he had. Kudos to him for making 15 minutes or seconds of fame from Survivor, but a word of wise to NWA-TNA: he won't draw any extra Pay Per View buyers to your show.
Congrats to Shane McMahon and his wife Marissa for expecting a baby soon.
I have NO problems with Brian "Spanky" Kendrick deciding to leave the WWE on his own will. He was unsatisfied with his role in the WWE as Velocity wrestler, and it has to be frustrating when you go up to the McMahon "yes-men" creative team and hear that they have nothing for you. Just pathetic. No glass ceiling in the WWE, no way! There are many wrestlers who are just stuck in a lower position, with none of the creative team members willing to give them a chance. With Spanky, you had a guy a good wrestling ability and he HAD charisma. The simple fact that he was a newer wrestler (not a good ol' boy), had flashy moves, didn't have past credentials, and wasn't over 6 foot 5 inches tall was the death of him on Smackdown. I completely admire him, just like I admire Nathan Jones, for leaving the job when you're unhappy. I admire Spanky more because he gave a notice to the WWE about his resignation. Good luck to Spanky, and please show the WWE up where ever you go.
I'm getting through Steve Austin's book. I'm just baffled at how quickly the book blows over some material, such as his days in WCW and Wrestlemania 13 of all places, a bigtime pivotal point in his career. My wish is that Austin writes a longer book AFTER he retires from the WWE and doesn't have the WWE spin on it that this book has.
I am the KING of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the Gamecube. I beat the All Tour Cup on Mirror Mode to be awarded the Parade Car. Now, I can go back and race for fun and be absent of the stress you get when you're winning a tough race and a blue spike shell or a red shell hits you on the last lap before crossing the finish line. Let me say that the 4 player mode on this game is FANTASTIC and I'd love to one day hook 2 Gamecubes up to make an 8 player mode.
On to the Wrath!
RAW is TITO
Finally, a RAW with a Wrestlemania feel to it! We haven't had one of those since Hogan and Rock were face to face in the ring during 2002. Then, Hogan had the Rock's ambulance hit with a semi-truck....
RAW started with Chris Jericho coming out and wanting a RAW World Title match against Triple H as his Survivor Series favor. Eric Bischoff returned, utterly disgusted with the performance in the Royal Rumble by the RAW superstars and wanted to make an example of Chris Jericho. He shows Jericho a match he booked for later on, and it was Trish Stratus vs. Kane. Bischoff offered to erase that match if Jericho would not want a title shot. Well, this would have been good if Jericho and Trish got back together, but instead, they just shook hands later that night. Geesh, what a miserable booking plan for that storyline. My hope is that Jericho and Christian finally break their friendship next week on RAW to determine the #1 contender's for the Tag Titles. Nice shot at the OC, too, by Christian. I HATE that show, and the hype behind it as well.
Bischoff wanted to make an example out of both Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam, the final RAW competitors in the Rumble, and made them wrestle Ric Flair, Batista, and Randy Orton in a handicap match. We were treated to a decent around 20 minute tag match, with good stuff resulting whenever Jericho was in the ring. RVD is so stale at this point, especially when every other wrestler tries to tone their spots down. RVD doesn't. Good to see these wrestlers were given time to develop a watchable match, and that's what counts, Vince McMoron. The finish was botched, but strength in numbers prevailed when Orton RKO'd Jericho out of a submission hold to win the match.
After the match, Orton wanted Bischoff to find Foley. However, Sheriff Austin had Mick Foley showing up at the arena anyway.
Next, it was a watchable women's match between Lita/Victoria vs. Jazz/Molly Holly. Lita is so out of her league here, and Molly/Jazz must roll their eyes every time they have to wrestle the poor girl. Can't she be taught in-ring psychology to mix with her big high-flying spots? Victoria is clearly becoming the prize of this division, too. In addition to having beauty, she's got great ability and some very devastating power moves. The problem with Victoria as a face is that the babyfaces are now greater in numbers against the heels (Gail Kim has disappeared off RAW and Ivory flip flops). The faces won the match and the Victoria face push continues. GOOD. How about a Stevie push? He beat Test on RAW and nothing was ever made of that.
Triple H comes down to run his mouth, and Shawn Michaels announces that the feud isn't over when he came down. Steve Austin would find it upon himself to come down and say that only the Royal Rumble winner gets a World Title shot and Chris Benoit came out!! Holy cow! Good reception for Benoit, too, as I'm still amazed he's getting the bigtime push. I like the loophole to get Benoit on RAW. Benoit won A title shot, not a certain title shot. Since Heyman said he couldn't get a Smackdown title shot, he's going for a RAW one instead. I bet Goldberg will get traded to Smackdown to ease the tensions between Bischoff and Heyman. I still insist that Bill Goldberg would go over big on Smackdown, but we'll see on that.
Next match was Kane vs. Bubba Ray. Quick match with a DQ ending. Can Kane ever beat anybody? Is he allowed? After the match, the arena got dark and a video package of Kane burying the Undertaker alive was shown, and hints of the "Deadman" Undertaker returning were given with the lighting and the gongs. Joy. Can't wait to suffer through THIS feud.
Rico vs. Rob Conway was up next. Hey Rico, GET A F'N HAIRCUT!!!! Your usual midcard match between two still unknown OVW stars. Jackie flashed Conway to enable Rico to win the match. I bet she used the flesh colored covers, which Dawn Marie used on Smackdown one time. After letting one of her boobs pop out one time, which created a lot of buzz, the WWE creative team might be on to something with her. Afterward, Jackie and Stacy Kiebler tried to act as though they were the 2 females auditioning for the Playboy WWE duo issue. That's funny, because internet marks clearly know that Stacy said she wouldn't do a Playboy spread at this point in her career and it's well known that Torrie and Sable already signed that deal.
Our next match was Bill Goldberg vs. Coach. Coach made Bischoff mad earlier, so hence this match was created. Teddy Long and Mark Henry (or Predator - credit the many readers who sent that one in!) come out and offer some help. Goldberg came out and it was, at first, Goldberg vs. Predator... or Mark Henry. After Goldberg disposed of Predator, he went after Coachman. Spear, Jackhammer, it's over. Funny how the creative team wanted Goldberg to use the spear only as his finisher. That's so ridiculous. The Jackhammer defines Goldberg, and I'm glad he has some character veto to keep the move. Afterward, Goldberg and Henry looked at each other as if they'll be wrestling next week. Goldberg looked into the camera and said that Brock Lesnar was "next".
No main event, but it was Mick Foley returning to RAW to explain why he was absent. He said he lacked the anger and hatred he once had to wrestle, so hence he walked out on Randy Orton. I guess that's an OK explanation, but walking out on a hyped match was still a letdown by WWE writers, just to see it 3 months later at Wrestlemania. He called Orton out to spit on him again, and it drove Foley insane. Fighting ensued, Evolution ran down, and Foley ended the show with chasing each member with a steel chair. Not bad, not bad... Funny how Foley has been used to put over so many WWE stars to the next level. We're talking Triple H, Steve Austin, and the Rock. He gave HBK and the Undertaker great opponents. The WWE keeps going to the well with Foley, and why? Nobody else is willing to make new stars.
LAST WORD: Better than usual wrestling (which doesn't say much) and this show had a lot of storyline advancing. We saw Foley return, Benoit debuting on RAW, and Goldberg saying Lesnar was next. Plus, for the first time, there was some actual tension between the RAW and Smackdown brands over a joint Pay Per View. It's about time. I thought the brand extension was supposed to create competition between RAW and Smackdown? I'll give this show a generous [ A- ] (A minus) because I really liked the direction parts of the show was going in. Wrestlemania 20 is truly shaping up to be a great show. I'm anxious to see how the ratings deliver.
Willygoat Valley Wrestling - A Backyard Fed that's Still Alive and Kickin'!
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@That's all for today. Thanks a million for reading.
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Tons of Backstage No Mercy News: Comedy Segments Cut from PPV, What Match WWE Officials Didn't Like, More Injuries, HBK, MORE!
