Message-ID: 

> * Cowboy Bill Orton looks a touch on the chunky side.  Which years was
>   he around, and was Michaels ever around at the same time?

If they were ever around at the same time, it wasn't for very long. Cowboy
Bill would have been in his fifties by then.

How much of
>   Randy's style is influenced by his family? by 3H? by Flair?

Not all that much. You can see certain moves have been influenced by his
family or associates but most of his style seems to be Hart/Michaels circa
1990-esque

Come to
>   think of it, how much of Rock's style is influenced by *his* family?

None, Rock's relatives used a very different style although Rocky Maivia
lifted at least one move from his dad's selection: That powerbomb-style
shoulderbreaker he used as a finish right at the begining of his WWF career.

>
> * Michaels does the Flair Strut.  The parallel of Michaels/Orton to
>   Michaels/Flair hasn't been played up.  Probably a good idea; you want
>   Orton to learn from Flair, not stand in his shadow.  Flair doesn't
>   interfere right away, probably for the same reason.  And Michaels
>   waits a while after the first bout of interference before retaliating.

Michaels/Orton would be a lot more accurate though. Orton is now what
Michaels was eight or nine years ago, he's a good-looking guy (which helps
his chances of cross-media presence no end) with every tool it takes to be a
star, all he needs is time plus, Michaels and Orton have similar styles
whereas Michaels and Flair wrestle totally different styles. Compare
Michaels circa teh "Boy Toy" era (Sherri Martel was his manager) to Orton
now and both of the to Flair circa about 1985.

> * Michaels doesn't quite do the Flair Flip.

Has that ever worked (in storyline) for anyone who's used it? I can't
remember Flair getting it off once.

> * Jericho commiserates with his countrymen and their hetero life-mate,
>   hinting at upcoming plot linkages.

Oh goody! Anti-American, pro-Canada heels, it's only the sixteenth million
time.


> * Lita bleeds from the mouth:  a trickle at first, some more later.  Is
>   that a blade job?

Doubt it. What would be the point of blading her mouth or lip? The blood
would be slight unless she really gashed herself and she'd instinctivly
swallow most of it.

> * Lita is a bit slow on those head scissors, and seems (I didn't get a
>   good look at this one) slow on the Lita Bomb as well.  (As opposed to
>   last Monday's, which looked like a Last Ride.)  Twist of Fate and
>   moonsault are fine.

At least she's got more than two moves now.

> * Kane's appearance on Unmasking Night remains unexplained.  Was his
>   dementia so thorough that he put makeup on himself?

Explanation 1: The interior leather of the mask was stained, which ran in
the sweat.
Explanation 2: The writing crew screwed up again.

> * I recall Kane being called "unstoppable" a couple of weeks
back.  Are
>   they teasing a feud with Goldberg?

Great Maker, no! I like Goldberg but he'd be the first to admit he needs
carrying most of the time and Kane certainly can't do that (nor can Tripper
but he wasn't even trying)

> * Shane swings a chair at Kane's chest, Kane blocks, Shane pulls the
>   swing short and whacks Kane's knees instead.  Why doesn't this happen
>   more often?

Wouldn't be amusing.


> * Yup, Kane's bleeding a bit from the back.  Is *this* a blade job?

How on earth would he blade his back?

> * Kane does a choke slam and waits for the ten-count.  Why doesn't he
>   grab the chair that's still *right there*, in case Shane does gets up?

Well, Kane's never been portrayed as over bright.

> * Another of Kane's unique uppercuts.  What is it about those?  Are they
>   open-handed, or is it just the exact way he twists his body beforehand?

They're open-handed.

> * Shane gets thrown into the sign repeatedly.  Angle sending him through
>   two panes of glass was more impressive.  (Was that also a LMS match,
>   or just hardcore?)

Neither, it was a streetfight which is why Kurt had to drag Shane back to
the ring to make the pin after that little stunt.

> * Shane is carried head-first into the *front* of the Spanish announce
>   table.  That's different.  Then the table is dropped on him.  I bet
>   they actually dropped it right in front of him.  Wait, he got out of
>   the way *in storyline*!  And shows us where the *boom* camera got
>   its name.  Nice touch showing a replay from that camera's perspective.

Anyone else remember the StunCam from teh second Rocky/Austin match? This
was the period when Rocky had a habit of grabbing a headset and doing
mid-match commentry. On this occasion, he grabbed a camera and filmed
himself giving Austin the bird before panning across the crown whereupon a
familiar bearded mug pops into view and Stunner's Rocky, camera and all.
They showed the StunCam's eye-view there too.

> * Shane jumps from an insane height, Kane moves, Shane embeds himself
>   into the (wooden?) platform for the ten-count.  Is this the first time
>   Shane has missed a jump from an insane height *in storyline*, as opposed
>   to a move that supposedly hurt the hell out of his opponent (but was
>   actually a glancing blow at best)?

The platform seemed to be balsa wood or similar with crash mats beneath.
It's not teh first time. Shane fell from the top of the TitanTron in a match
with Steve Blackman a few years back (anyone remember the card?) with a
similar result. What was more impressive was Blackman hitting an elbow from
there with pin-point accuracy (i.e. Shane survived) to take the win.

  Brock's moonsault at WM 19, also a
>   glancing blow at best, was promptly admitted to be such.

That was a shooting star press but yes, he came up well short although Kurt
tried to cover for him by rolling away as he landed.

> * How come the Walls of Jericho sometimes pulls the legs up and tries
>   to bend the waist, and other times sits down on the back and tries to
>   bend the entire lower body (similar to a Boston crab)?  *Is* there a
>   difference between the latter version and a Boston crab?

Nope. The Walls Of Jericho / Liontamer is an elevated boston crab. What he's
doing a lot these days is a standard boston crab although it's still called
the Walls because it's Jericho doing it.

> * Ref starts counting to ten on both Christian and Jericho, while RVD
>   is on the outside.  So was the ref counting on RVD as well?  RVD gets
>   in the ring-- if the ref reaches ten, does he win?  RVD is too (a)
>   dumb, (b) proud, or (c) all of the above to find out, so he goes for
>   a pin as the ref reaches nine.

or option D) Too stoned (my favourite sign of all time: "RVD 8:40, twice as
stoned as before")

> * Jericho and RVD atop the corner.  Jericho is sitting on the back of
>   RVD's neck, presumably setting up for some move or other; RVD is said
>   to be trying to counter with an Electric Chair, which I guess would
>   involve picking Jericho up from his current position and dropping him
>   on his back.  Christian powerbombs them both; Jericho fell further,
>   but RVD folded up, so they sell him as hurting worse.  They had a
>   couple of three-man car wrecks like this on NWA TNA's five-dollar, no,
>   three-dollar, no, two-bits, no, one-cent-keep-the-change clip show.

My mark-out moment of the night. I don't catch NWA that often so I hadn't
seen this before.

> * Christian retains the IC title.  So how will Jericho make Austin
>   "crack" tonight?  He didn't win the title like he promised.

The nice thing here is that Christian finally established himself as a
credible champion. That'll do him a lot of good and give us a lot more
viable match ups.

 Imagine
>   that-- a heel's mouth writing checks that his ass can't cash.  That,
>   like, *never* happens.

Not to H3 certainly.

> * Interview with 3H, at about the 2:05 mark.  I "don't believe in fairy
>   tales".  I am the biggest "commodity" in the
business.  (Will he team
>   up with the "franchise" next?)  I will end "Bill
Goldberg's storybook
>   career".  Interview lasts less than two minutes.

Much as I hate Tripper, he normally does half-decent interviews but this one
sucked. Wonder if he had something on his mind?


> * Who will announce this match?  Just after I think it, Lawler says
>   it.  No one, as it turns out.  It's weird watching a match where no
>   one is talking at all, except for the occasional in-ring taunt.

Although it did allow us to hear the priceless old woman bickering between
the four.

> * ISTR Lawler wrestling as a heel in WCCW and a face in USWA at the same
>   time.  Didn't they merge for a while?  If so, what did they do with
>   Lawler's storyline(s)?  Or was WCCW just absorbed by USWA at some point
>   on its way to becoming GWF?

I seem to remember they were just absorbed.

> * We mostly see Lawler vs. Snow, but also see Lawler vs. Coach from time
>   to time.  This leaves JR in the role of Robert Gibson, which kind of
>   makes sense (Coach's ego-tripping makes him willing to get in the ring
>   earlier), but it's still weird.

Lawler / Snow wasn't too bad, Lawler ' Coach was kind of funny.

> * Coach sets up for the Bronco Buster by moving his hands in sort of an
>   hourglass-figure-hot-babe motion, as opposed to Waltman's knife-chop
>   signal.  Later, he screams "not the face!" as JR
slo-o-o-o-owly delivers
>   a series of punches.

JR / Coach on the other hand, royally sucked.

> * Earlier, someone mentioned that JR and Lawler had been the RAW announce
>   team continuously since 1996.  I guess they mean "JR and/or Lawler".

JR and Heyman was so much better (aided no end by the fact they really do
loathe each other)

> * The winner becomes the RAW announce team, "starting
tomorrow".  So JR
>   and Lawler go back and announce the rest of the PPV?  Yup, which gives
>   them a chance to do a tearful goodbye as their lame-duck period starts.

Yawn. Did anyone actually care at that point or was this just an excuse to
indulge JR's ego?

> * Sometimes people attack their opponent before the bell rings to start
>   the match.  Sometimes they even use international objects.  How come
>   no one ever hits 3H with a sledgehammer before the match starts?  Other
>   people get *their* gimmicks ripped off sometimes...

Other people don't book their own storylines, meet with the writing crew to
dissect the product after every TV show and sleep with the head writer /
bosses daughter. No-one else would have got away with making so little
effort in a big match like this either.

> * Goldberg beat Hogan for the WCW title five years ago in the Georgia
>   Dome.  How close was it to being the exact same date?

Not sure but it was exactly six years to the day since Goldberg's first pro
match.

> * Any parallels between 3H/Austin and 3H/Goldberg?

They're both bald and bearded? They're both much more entertaining than 3H?
Then again, so are Chyna, Billy Gunn and the A-Train on Tripper's present
form.

> * Hit 3H with a Pedigree, I think to myself!  Maybe he'll let you rip off
>   *that* gimmick.  Nope, spear countered by high knee.

Interesting counter, although my favourite is still Tajiri stopping the Gore
(essentially the same move) with a well-placed buzzsaw kick to Rhyno's head.
Is it just me or does Goldberg's spear look pretty pathetic next to Rhyno
looking like he's breaking ribs? Maybe it was a deliberate move to have them
on seperate shows so as to avoid the comparison?


> * Ref bump-- you *knew* there would be one!

Of course, it's a Triple H match, every shortcut in the book is going to be
in there.

Low blow

Obvious rulebreaking for teh purposes of getting heat, shortcut two.

, DDT, but no pin
>   can be made.  3H out of the ring, grabs a sledgehammer.

Foreign object, shortcut three

  Goldberg practically no-sells the sledgehammer
>   shot.

About time someone turned the tables and no-sold Trips

  Spear, jackhammer, and "finally 3H has been defeated" (sign in
>   the audience).

Finally is right. It's been nearly a year with Trips only dropping teh title
briefly to his best friend. Not sure how the writing will be handled while
Steph's on honeymoon but if she's left instructions, look for Goldie to
defend the title against stiffs who make him look bad. Meantime, Tripper's
slated to turn face and feud with an Orton-led Evolution on his return which
will make him look good off of Orton's raw talent and Flair's mouth. It also
means he'll be soaking up loads of prime-time TV while Goldie and the title
will be relegated to the secondary spot because everything on Raw revolves
around Triple H.

Of course, right about now, some Triple H mark is going to wade in and tell
me he's not that kind of man. Problem is, he's exactly that kind of man.
He's proved in the past taht he's willing to do anything, including carrying
HBK's baggage to shacking up with the bosses daughter (although I'll do him
the credit of assuming that was an incidental bonus) to get ahead. He's
still not an especially good draw and these days, with his body falling
apart, he's one of the worst wrestlers on the roster. Meanwhile, Goldberg is
stuck doing comedy angles with Golddust which despite Triple H's lover
writing the show and the inevitability of an H3 / Goldberg match, has
nothing to do with him.

Sorry, needed to vent there.


--- Internet Rex 2.29