Maybe it was because we were a little under the weather. Maybe it was due to the actual dreary weather. Maybe we weren't tuned in to the right channel. Shoving these possibilities aside, we really have to wonder if the World Wrestling Federation's creative team decided to take the week off. In any event, we sit here amazed. Last week at this time, we sat here writing about how it was quite an exciting time to watch wrestling. One would think that since the WWF has been performing poorly in the Nielsen ratings as of late - at least compared to its own standards - that the tense story-lines would continue to escalate to the point where channel-changing viewers would be compelled to drop their remotes. Up until this week, this had been the case.
This week, we honestly can't tell you what was going on. Perhaps we take some things for granted as wrestling fanatics, but last Monday Night's Raw could have been one of the worst episodes ever broadcast. This was evident in the lack of crowd response the entire night. Sure, there is such a thing as having an off week, but this critical time of the month - right before this Sunday's Survivor Series pay-per-view extravaganza - is no time to slack off. At any rate, let us proceed with the analysis of the show.
The debacle began with Kurt Angle cutting a weak promo from the ring, minus his usual catch phrases, only to then announce he was going to defend his world title against Crash Holly. We most definitely agree that it was a great idea to pit a lesser-known superstar against the champion in order to elevate his status in the Federation. At this point, RAW was going along just fine. However, too many moves like this, one after another, caused the show to sink into the quicksand of bad sports entertainment.
Let us delve further. The outcome of the Kurt Angle title defense was the always-predictable interference and disqualification finish. After some post-match whining to Commissioner Mick Foley, Kurt Angle was thrown into yet another match on the show. We were sooooo on the edge of our seats, gnawing at our fingers in anticipation, when it was announced that Angle, Edge, and Christian would take on Crash Holly, Hardcore Holly, and the Undertaker. All sarcasm aside, this is when we realized that RAW was headed into its downward spiral. But wait, isn't this Hardcore Holly's return match after being shelved for several months with an injury? Yes indeed, but he sucked before he was injured, and still sucks now. Some wrestlers just aren't entertaining, and he's one of them.
The show rolled on slowly: we were treated to a segment of Edge and Christian singing along with improvised lyrics to Crash Holly's entrance theme. This was actually one of the brightest spots of the evening, as Edge and Christian's dry sense of humor finally managed to be entertaining. They have won our hearts.
Keeping with the musical theme, a Road Dogg vs. William Regal match came to an abrupt end when an unidentified character (referred to by the announcers as K-Quick) ran down to the ring with a pair of microphones and convinced Road Dogg to start rapping with him. Mick Foley was then shown grinding with Lt. Commissioner Debra in the back of the building. The show then cut to a commercial.
It's at this point that we would argue that the show's focus really fell through. There were attempts to be humorous, but there was little story-line development. Lita and the Hardy Boyz were involved in a six-man encounter against the Hardy Boyz. The match was exciting in terms of the actual wrestling, a rarity in sports entertainment these days. The only truly noteworthy thing about this match, however, was that Lita's pants managed to sink down a little lower than usual and reveal more of her ass. We were quite delighted to say the least.
So we went on to see the Kurt Angle six-man tag match, and other meaningless matches, all the while waiting for the program to end. The main event featured an eight-man tag match, pitting The Radicalz against the Rock, Steve Austin, Chyna, and The One Billy Gunn (on a side note: what is Billy Gunn's deal? In the past year, he has gone from Billy Gunn to Bad Ass Billy Gunn to Mr. Ass and, more recently, from Billy G to The One. This name changing from week to week has to stop). The main event was, simply put, boring - one of the worst in recent memory.
In the end, the Rock was battling toe-to-toe with Chris Benoit in the backstage area, when out of nowhere came Rikishi and Triple-H in a speeding automobile (they were supposedly out injured and not present tonight). They managed to take out the Rock when Triple-H drove the car past and Rikishi whacked him with a sledgehammer.
The hit-and-run thing has become quite stale in our opinion. Furthermore, why is Kurt Angle fighting the Undertaker on Sunday at Survivor Series? This match came out of nowhere, and had no storyline built around it. While he and Triple-H had bad blood, Triple-H was thrown into the Austin angle to give him his heel status back.
The Rock is also scheduled to fight Rikishi. All this time, Rikishi claimed to have hit Stone Cold for the Rock as a way of combating racial discrimination. Now that it's been revealed that he was in cahoots with Triple-H, where does this whole race thing figure in, and why is the Rock still fighting Rikishi? None of this makes any sense. Where did Stephanie McMahon go? What is Vince doing now?
It's a disappointing week for sure. The only advice we may offer is that the WWF should deliver answers at some point. All we can do for now is keep the faith.
