The Wrath of Tito - RAW and Bad Blood reviews, Bradshaw, Lesnar, and much more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 3:53 PM EST
Welcome back to the column that's a dish best served cold, the Wrath of Tito. We've got an action packed edition of the Wrath, discussing various points of wrestling, news, and then reviewing RAW.
I did catch WWE Bad Blood, but I lacked time yesterday to write about it in column form. However, I put brief notes about the show in my BLOG, as posted here:
"Just some quick thoughts, for I don't have time to write a column today:
-Benoit/Edge vs. La Resistance: This unfortunately had disqualification written all over it. The match was starting to really get going after a slow start when Grenier was in the ring.
-Chris Jericho vs. Tyson Tomko: Tyson looks like a crazed Bill Goldberg and I'm surprised no chants started. Not too bad, for Jericho carried him though a watchable match. Jericho won the match and I hope this Christian feud is over.
-Randy Orton vs. Shelton Benjamin: I liked the last few minutes, but the rest of the match was such a bore. Orton certainly lacks energy in his matches, and when you're with a guy who can't get over based on items outside of the ring (i.e. mic skills), good luck. Orton won after loads of interference by Ric Flair.
-Women's 4 Way: This was my bathroom break. I guess Trish Stratus won?
-Eugene vs. Coach: Same thing, basically, with the Johnny Nitro match.
-Kane vs. Chris Benoit: Started off slow, but it picked up late and the match had a sweet ending. The Crossface off of Kane's clothesline was sweet, as was the roll up pin after Kane kept fighting the crossfaces.
-HBK vs. Triple H, Hell in the Cell: These two had a good 40-50 minutes given to them to wrestle, and boy did they take it. There were points where the match was getting good, but overall, it just kept dragging on. I wouldn't say it was a total letdown, but it was given too much time. I did like the psychology of attacking HBK's back by Triple H, which actually angered Mrs. Tito (so you know it worked, to HHH's credit).
Overall, I'd give this show a [ B- ] (B-minus)."
I am somewhat relieved that I didn't pay the ridiculous spiked ticket prices to see Bad Blood live, in addition to paying for higher gas prices, parking, food, and whatever else. Decent show overall, but nothing spectacular. The Hell in the Cell match wasn't that great and wasn't the classic pushed on RAW. It's not bad because they went out of the cage, oh no. It just had many points of downtime in the match and I thought the ending was really weak.
-I've been watching Quantum Leap, Season One on DVD lately, which was released recently. I love Quantum Leap, for I get off on seeing Time Travel stuff. QL is about Sam Beckett travelling through time and playing the role of someone at a certain period of time. His job is to play that person and to "correct what once went wrong" at a given period of time. It got me thinking... if I could go back into Wrestling History, what points would I fix?
1) Obviously, I'd fix Owen Hart's death. I'd show the WWE that the equipment for Owen's leap was unsafe and "leap" when Owen Hart survived that night. He was too young and too good of a person in professional wrestling to die that night.
2) I would correct the booking of the first Nitro in 1999. I'd have Bill Goldberg cleanly destroy Kevin Nash instead of seeing Kevin Nash jobbing to Hogan with the Finger Poke of doom.
3) Go back to the 1994 WWF Steroid Hearings and provide a better case for the prosecution. That way, the steroid problem would be less of a problem than it is today in wrestling.
4) Go back to 1997 and tell Paul Heyman to stop outspending himself after several ECW wrestlers jumped to ECW. After that, he began signing ridiculous long term deals that he couldn't afford and began boosting production costs. This was the unfortunate beginning of the end to ECW, which eventually folded due to financial problems.
I'm sure there are many more instances, but you get the point.
-I went to an independent show on Saturday by XWF Inc.. Pretty good show, overall, from the XWF. I was with friends from a local backyard fed, and screamed our lungs out to heckle the heels. I'll continue to go to any show they put on, for I support my local independent wrestling!
Some wrasslin' news and notes...........
-Bradshaw has lost his gig on CNBC, thanks in part to his Nazi salute during the Germany tour. It's likely that this salute will hurt any outside opportunity for Bradshaw and it makes you wonder how long his radio talk show will last (if it's even still on?). It's unfortunate, but Bradshaw's actions were fierce. He insists that it was part of his character. Does Bradshaw have character control now? Last time I checked, road agents or the creative department told the wrestlers about ways to establish themselves as heels or faces. Something that specific is definitely given by a creative department, if necessary. Bradshaw did it in response to a heckling German crowd and that's that. Is Bradshaw a Nazi sympathizer? No way, far from that. But was he wrong in his actions? For sure, and he should offer any apology necessary so that we could move on from this controversy and that he could continue working on outside projects.
-I heard that Steve Austin merchandise was on clearance at the Bad Blood Pay Per View in Columbus, OH. That's funny, because when I went bowling last night in a league, two guys from the same team had brand spanking new "Fuck Fear, Drink Beer" Austin t-shirts on.
-I caught Brock Lesnar's segment on Sportscenter. Given his 4.7 speed and size, he seems to have some potential of getting into the NFL, surprisingly. I read an article where he was considered to be a "project with a capital 'P'". That's understandable, since he hasn't played football in so long. Given that his size and speed are there, I honestly think he can pick the rest up. Being an NCAA heavyweight champion, Lesnar can probably takedown offensive players somewhat easily. It's just timing, picking up plays, and just overall football smarts is what Lesnar needs to seriously work on. He's pretty dead-on serious about joining the NFL and best of luck to him. I'm still amazed, though, at the millions he turned away from in the WWE... but I respect it.
-Unfortunately, I have yet to catch NWA-TNA Impact on FOX Sports. I'm sorry, for Friday is usually a busy day with work and other things. Plus, I seem to get lazier on taping wrestling programs, as seen with yours truly missing Smackdown this week, too.
-Speaking of Smackdown, they performed a 3.0 broadcast rating, going head to head with ABC's Lakers vs. Pistons game AND Mtv's Movie Awards. The basketball game, especially with the top drawing Lakers, takes away a good portion of the male audience and the Mtv Awards takes away a portion of the teen audience. While I can't find the final rating for the Lakers/Pistons game, it did a massive overnight of a 12.6, a 45% increase from last year's NBA finals. This is in comparison with the WWE's 3.7 overnight rating... Mtv had a 4.9 overnight rating for the evening. Both are considerably higher than RAW, especially the NBA finals. Thus, a 3.0 broadcast rating for Smackdown is actually a good rating...
On to the RAW review!
RAW is TITO
The show started off with Kane entering Eric Bischoff's office for a rematch against Benoit, but when he wasn't given that, Kane trashed Bischoff's office.
The show then went to the ring with Jim MY GAWD Ross was in the ring to settle a truce between Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Excuse me, but what was the purpose of HBK vs. HHH? HBK used to say that "I'm this close to beating HHH", meaning he's chasing HHH for a victory. Yet HBK loses the so-called final match and the heel wins the feud? In any other situation, this wouldn't happen. However, I guess spending time with your wife changes things, in addition to HHH's funny attempt at becoming an actor getting stalled this summer. Both wrestlers came out and just as they were about to possibly shake hands and end the feud, Kane came out to the ring. He stared down both wrestlers and then attacked HBK. Triple H was smart and got out of the ring, and Kane then unleashed a vicious beatdown on HBK. Kane placed a chair around HBK's neck and then stomped on it, causing HBK to spit blood and for the fans to assume his throat was crushed. Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are recycling the Macho Man vs. Ricky Steamboat feud. Well, at least they are creating a long term storyline with HBK and Kane, and Kane's insanity was shown earlier when he trashed Bischoff's office. Well done segment, albeit a rip off of an old WWF storyline (I guess when it's 17 years ago, it's fair game?). Not the first old WWF rip off of the night....
Next, we had Lita/Matt Hardy vs. Tyson Tomko/Trish Stratus. Question... if Lita is in her early stages of pregnancy, how could getting bounced around a ring be good for that baby? Seriously, she would probably be miscarrying that baby already in any normal circumstance. I'll give the WWE credit if they actually put a fat suit on her and make her a wrestling pregnancy... ok, I'm kidding... Bad match, as Matt Hardy and Tyson Tomko had zero chemistry together in the ring, especially when Tomko tried to slam Hardy off the ropes. I've seen backyarders pull off a better slam than that. Credit goes to Chris Jericho, who actually made Tomko look decent at Bad Blood... Lita/Matt won when Lita hit Trish with the legkick DDT, which the announcers argued made Lita the #1 contender. Gail Kim and Victoria have completely disappeared from the Women's program, despite the months hyping their feud or involvement in that division.
Backstage, Triple H demanded the #1 contendership from Eric Bischoff. However, Bischoff suggested he'll become the #1 contender when he beats someone he's never defeated before, next week on RAW: Eugene. Kudos, again, to RAW for continually booking in somewhat of a long term fashion.
Jesus Christ, what was with the bigtime plug of Joe Schmo 2? Why not plug this show on CBS, Mtv, UPN, VH1, or any other network or avenue Viacom owns instead of shoving it down WWE fans' throats? It's getting worse with the WWE, as they are promoting their own reality show, too, with the Diva contest, which I heard will have a full 15 minutes devoted to it every week on RAW. As if the best show the WWE has needs this bullshit.
Since it was Flag Day, we had La Resistance vs. Hurricane/SHIT, for which the winners would have their flag raised. As if Hurricane and Rosey had any chance, whatsoever, of winning. Bad match and the Quebec flag was raised. Just release Hurricane already so that he can show his potential in possibly NWA-TNA. Quit wasting my time everweek with this pathetic tag match that will never get any justice. The 2nd old WWF ripoff was in this match, as La Resistance was yet another duo who stole the Warrior/Rude finish to Wrestlemania 5.
Next, we had Chris Jericho's highlight reel, with Eugene as the guest. Jericho warned Eugene about his favorite wrestler, HHH. Kudos to the WWE creative department for thinking ahead when they had Eugene say Triple H was his favorite wrestler. Good job. Evolution came out to the ring and Triple H was quite sick in his role when tricking Eugene. Quite cruel and it was some of the best stuff Triple H has ever done on the microphone. Good build up to next week's showdown and after Eugene left, HHH threatened Jericho his words regarding Triple H earlier. That hooks Jericho into the 6 man elimination match later... good job there.
Oh no... Lita takes an EPT and is PREGNANT! MY GAWD, KANE'S SPERM HAS BROKEN LITA IN HALF!!!!!!! Another pregnancy angle, ladies and gentlemen, one already discredited by Lita wrestling at Bad Blood and RAW. She is comforted by Stacy Keibler, who thinks it's Matt's baby. It's odd how Kane is involved in several storylines at once.
Next match was Stacy Keibler/Nidia vs. Molly Holly/Gail Kim. Oh boy, what a sad tag match this was. At least they made Gail Kim win via submission, even though her push is meaningless when the WWE shows bias towards Trish and Lita for everything in that division.
Next, we had a pathetic PICTURE package of the Hell in the Cell match. This was hyped throughout the show, and the fans only get pictures of what happened. Here's my stance: don't bother buying the replay on the Hell in the Cell match. It wasn't THAT great.
The main event was Jericho/Benoit/Edge vs. Flair/Orton/Batista. Bigtime overrun this week on RAW, for they went over at least 20 minutes. Payment for the Joe Schmo plug? Pretty good match, as it was an elimination type bout, adding some drama to the match. The faces won the match when Benoit made Randy Orton tap, showing the IC champion his place on the WWE roster.
LAST WORD: This show was storyline intense, which I guess is a must after a Pay Per View. Only one match worth talking about, and that was the main event. I liked the beginning of RAW, with HBK getting taken out. I also liked HHH's sick acting with Eugene. However, outside of this, the rest of the show struggled and the Lita pregnancy is ridiculous. I'll give the show a [ B- ] (B minus) for some good storyline aspects and a strong main event. However, the rest of the show is unforgiving.
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@That's all for today. Thanks a million for reading.
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