For nearly one week, I had nostalgic visions back to 1998. Whenever I closed my eyes, I'd see over sized motor vehicles running roughshod in my dreams, middle fingers flailing in my subconscious, and beer flowing through it all. The dreams turned to reality on Monday..........sort of, as Stone Cold Steve Austin made his return to Monday Night Raw to serve as guest host. Fully equipped with 3 "Wrestlemania Rewind" matches and a scheduled contract signing for the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match, the show was about as can't-miss as you can get hype-wise. While this seemed to be the show of shows on the road to Wrestlemania, I would argue that this show didn't quite live up to its billing. That is not to say that it wasn't a solid show, but when the expectations are so high, it is quite difficult to live up to them. Let's examine the show and see what worked and what did not.
Fans were not teased long, as after a promo hyping the Hart/McMahon storyline was shown, the glass shattered and out came the rattlesnake! Looking trim and fit, Austin might be closer to Gillberg these days, but I think it works for him. There was a lot of buzz from internet troublemakers that due to WWE's current PG rating, Steve Austin would be relegated to being a shell of his former self. Perhaps fitting for the Toughest S.O.B. on the planet, his opening promo featured a reference to opening a can of whip ass, drinking a beer, and fans giving a Hell Yeah, Unfortunately, the live fans saw Austin and also brought back the worst cheer in the history of professional wrestling.........the WHAT! cheer. I have never been able to stomach that one and every time I hear it at a live show, I want to personally go over to everyone doing it and scratch a blackboard next to their ears so they know how i feel. I digress, but as for the opening promo, if you look past the nostalgia factor, it was average at best. The catchphrases were uttered, the point was made, but it wasn't "vintage Austin" if you will. I suppose when you aren't directly involved in something, it's harder to cut a promo from the heart, but I still think it could have been better. What made the entire segment for me though was what happened after it was over.
Once Austin was done spouting catchphrases, John Cena's music hit. Austin reacted like Cena was coming out to confront him, and I'm sure everyone in the arena was hoping for some sort of interaction. What we got was Cena doing his normal entrance, but as he did his bouncing off the ropes, Austin set up behind him like he was going to stun him. Cena turned around and flinched, only for Austin to fake it and smile. I'll admit, I was amused. Following that, Austin did Cena's "you can't see me" taunt and walked out of the ring. Big Show's music hit and the Wrestlemania 20 rematch was set to go, but not before Austin waved at Big Show as if to say "hey buddy, remember when I used to kick your ass?" I actually found Austin's non verbal communication to be a lot better than his promos on this show. What I didn't find impressive was this match. When Cena fought Big Show at Wrestlemania 20, the F-U he hit gave him instant stardom. The showing of brute strength was sort of a modern day Hogan slam on Andre the Giant, as super strength is something fans will pay to see. However, once it's done, it's not new anymore. After the pageantry of lifting a large man, you are brought back to the reality that 500 pound men simply cannot move around a wrestling ring and put on exciting matches on a consistent basis. While this match was decent, I just ct couldn't get excited for it. Again, Batista comes out to mess with Cena's head, leading Cena to get distracted and walk into a knockout punch by Big Show for the pin. A lot of people have been complaining about Big Show's "weak" finisher. I want to go on record and state that I like it a lot. If you don't, I challenge you to take a punch to the face from a 500 pound man and tell me if it would knock you out. In this day and age, I believe finishers need to be something that looks like it would legitimately hurt, and what could be worse than a gigantic fist directly to the face? As for the Wrestlemania significance, Big Show looks great as he knocked out Cena, so why not Truth or Morrison? Cena still looks like the underdog who is doubting himself and will probably "overcome the odds". Gee, have we ever seen that before? I'm actually starting to hope he loses at Wrestlemania for the sheer fact that most expect him to win.
As I did last week, I'm going to avoid talking about all the videos promos if I can, but just know that since it's Wrestlemania time, there are A LOT of video promos. After a Jericho/Edge one, we get what was supposed to be a Sheamus/Evan Bourne match. When I saw the matchup, I immediately thought "another squash to make Sheamus look strong that will inevitably make Evan Bourne look like he has as much of a chance to win Money in the Bank as Tiger Woods does at winning a marriage faithfulness contest. What we got was actually slightly better. Sheamus blindsided Bourne and beat him up so that he could cut a promo. This doesn't make Bourne look nearly as week as he could have, and it gives Sheamus a chance to look devious. His promo had all the ingredients to be epic, but something was missing. I think it was that he started talking about his admiration for the heel Triple H and went on to talk about himself without talking about how Trips went soft. I think that element might have added more fuel to the fire. I do like the imagery painted by saying "The Celtic Warrior will take your throne", but if this promo was on a scale from 1-10, it could get no higher than a 7 due to being incomplete. However, for a guy in the WWE less than a year, it shows the potential to be excellent on the mic moving forward, which is good, because he'll have to be as older stars step away.
Speaking of older stars (how's that for a transition!), we get the first backstage segment of the night. A half hour of WWE television before a backstage segment....that is not normal! The wait was worth it, however, as this segment featured Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and Chris Jericho. Great job hyping their match later and 'Mania, but what I loved most was how Jericho and Austin were "laughing about the old times" at the end when Austin abruptly stopped laughing and told Jericho to get out of his office. I'll take that for my comedy in wrestling over bad singing and midgets any day.
If you want some good comedy though, look no further than a Maryse match, which we got next. I know I've been harsh on Maryse, but she deserves every word of criticism. The only good part of this match was the pre-match stuff where Maryse did her hair flip move and Kelly Kelly did a little dance on the turnbuckle to try to show she was sexier. It got the crowd going, but that quickly evaporated once they started to actually wrestle. Luckily, the match was kept short, with Maryse winning and then proceeding to beat down Kelly. Eve and Gail Kim came to help Eve, but Simply Flawless came down to clean house and stand tall with Maryse. I'm not sure why those two were on Raw, but I hope it doesn't lead to some stupid, all encompassing Diva event at Wrestlemania. I'm still holding out hope for a singles or Triple threat match for the woman's belt, but that dream might be diminishing fast. I was amused though with Vickie's new jacket that says "excuse me" on the back. If ever there was a perfect fit.........
After the worst match of the night, we got the best match by far. Whenever HBK and the artist formerly known as Y2J lock up, good things happen, and this time was no exception. Some pretty decent spots for a somewhat short match, and I absolutely love the booking for the ending. Jericho walked out before Michaels could hit sweet chin music to the chagrin of the live audience. However, as the ref's count hit 10 and Jericho stood on top of the entrance ramp, Edge's music hit and he attacked! What I liked is that Edge didn't interfere in the match itself as Jericho got heat for walking out. They brawled back to the ring where Edge got the upper hand and got retribution for Friday by hitting the spear. He then grabbed the mic and in one word captivated the crowd. "SPEAR!" I'm beginning to dig how one word is transcending an entire feud, and simply uttering that word to Jericho is building fear in his mind over the thought of that spear costing him his World Heavyweight title. This feud is working out better than the WWE could have ever expected. I personally thought they might have blown it by having Edge win the Royal Rumble, but the booking has worked out where it has been more fun than predictable. I love this feud and I hope it goes past Wrestlemania.
Another feud that I was loving was the Legacy feud, and now I finally know how it will play out at Wrestlemania. The announcement of a triple threat match between Orton, Rhodes, and Dibase is made official and followed by a backstage interview with Randy Orton. If it wasn't obvious that Orton was at least a tweener, it was blatantly obvious after this interview. Orton talked about respecting Triple H because he is on his level (a definite face thing to say) and followed that up by saying the Legacy boys are not on his level. In fact, they are nothing (a more heelish thing to say). Orton is really developing into an Austin-eque character in that he is showing signs of a heart which previously weren't there, but has that rebel, loner type presence that the fans are starting to love. I am higher on him now than I've ever been and I think this tweener role suits him. In this tweener role, Orton was to take on Triple H in a rematch of last year's heated Wrestlemania main event. Given his personality change, there was a much different feel to this bout, as Orton whipped out the more face type moves, like his monster dropkick. It's a little hard to describe, but watching this match, you could tell it was not a traditional face vs. heel match. I actually liked this match until the ending, as both men worked exceptionally hard and it showed. There were some heavy bumps in this one, and certainly seeing both men flying in and out of the ring is not something you see every day. The ending, on the other hand, was somewhat predictable, but necessary. Legacy attacked Triple H after he hit the pedigree on Orton, effectively ending the match. I think the attack could have waited until after, but that might be nitpicking. As it was, they attacked Hunter to get to Orton, and assaulted their former mentor while Sheamus came from the stands and attacked Triple H. Great spot on the outside as Cody hit Cross Rhodes on Orton onto the concrete floor. That move looks nasty IN the ring, so hitting it on hard floor looked even worse. It was hard to see though, as simultaneous attacks were going on, and even though they both furthered feuds, it was a little confusing. What I'm also a little confused about is the teamwork of the Legacy tag team. I wonder if they will work together and only interfere with each other in the match to try and gain pin falls. It might be smart to keep them as a tag team, though since they were unable to turn face, perhaps they will have to split with one going full face to feud in the midcard with either McIntyre or Miz depending on the draft. I think this one will come down to antics in the 'Mania match, and it certainly should be interesting to see how it develops.
Not much in terms of backstage segments and interviews on this show, as next is another match, this one pitting Batista against Kofi Kingston. I was confused by this, as I thought after Drew McIntyre qualified for MITB, a 10th participant would be added and undoubtedly, that participant would be Kofi. Now, I am completely unsure as to where Kingston will fit into Wrestlemania, but he needs to be on the card! Hell, the guy was feuding with Randy Orton merely a couple of months ago! I hope they figure something out, but for now, having him test the waters against Batista was fine. He held his own until one false move led to his annihilation by the vicious animal. The match was even cooler given that Batista legitimately got cut open. I'm not thirsty for blood, but the fact that he bled and was offered a towel and pushed it away just gave the "I'm too tough to give a crap" persona a bit more steam. Without planning it, that turned into a perfect spot. Couple the bleeding and turning down the towel with a convincing victory over a budding star, and Batista is being made to look downright bionic. They are really making him look unbeatable, and I hope that is the case. Cena beating him on the first try would kill all credibility of his uber-heel push and he needs that as he's easily the hottest heel this side of Chris Jericho.
While at first it seemed odd to me that none of the "Wrestlemania rewind" matches were the main event, it quickly dawned on me that the contract signing with Steve Austin as overseer was the obvious choice for closing the show. Bret limped his way to the ring first, crutch in arm, limping his way there. Vince was out next, mocking Bret's limp all the way down. For some reason, I could not stop laughing at this, as Vince's face in his mockery was just classic. Once both men were seated, the glass shattered and Austin was out again. It was odd to me that Austin was used less than most guest hosts considering who he is, but the main thing he was there for was this signing and I suppose they didn't want the focus to stray from this main event. It was worth it, as all the men worked the mic very well. It was awesome to see Stone Cold basically demand that Stu Hart go into the Hall of Fame this year and Vince accept it, making Stu the second hall of fame announcement of the night (the first being Gorgeous George who was the first major heel in the 40s and 50s and will be inducted by his 96 year old ex wife!). That wasn't the only major news though, as both men signed on for the match without much hesitation from Hart, but a little from Vince. What Vince didn't know was, his hesitation was more justified than he thought. First, Hart tells Vince that he wants it to be a no holds barred match and they agree. This is good as it allows for two men who are nowhere near their prime to fight more than wrestle, thus allowing "the excellence of execution" to maintain his title without having to try and wrestle a technical match. With that development, Austin began to walk out, but got to the top of the entrance ramp and said "there is one thing I forgot to tell you, but I'll let Bret tell you himself". At this point, many were expecting the announcement of Stone Cold as guest referee for the match, but instead we got something just as good. Vince turned around to find Bret's cast on the table! Bret announced that he set Vince up to make sure he'd agree to the match! He and Cena set it up and now that it's signed, Vince can't back out and thus, Vince screwed Vince! Hart gives Vince a few shots with the cast and walks away proudly to end the show. I predicted this as one of two ways to go with the injury when it happened, but I couldn't have predicted the execution to be better. Vince's face when he saw the cast was priceless, and even with limited wrestling skills, Vince's acting more than gets you amped up for him to get his ass kicked. As for Austin, while it would have been exciting to have him at Wrestlemania, this moment is about Hart and it's better that Austin isn't involved. All of us longtime WWE fans are waiting for that moment that Hart locks Vince in the Sharpshooter, and having Austin there to probably stun Vince after would just kill the moment. Even though we all love Stone Cold, this is all about Hart, and deservedly so. However, no stunners from Austin at Raw was a pretty big surprise.
The show had a very different feel to it, as most of it was matches and interferences, with very little backstage banter. In a sense, it was a very serious show, and that was probably necessary. In retrospect, 6 major Wrestlemania feuds were developed further by this show, so it more than did its job to hype the big event. I must question the Money in the Bank booking though. First off, will Kofi get in? Whether he does or doesn't though, not one match on Raw or Smackdown has been done to hype the match and it seems somewhat forgotten. I hope that with 3 shows left (2 Smackdowns and 1 Raw), something will happen to get the fans to remember and get excited for that match. Other than that, the feuds that got airtime today progressed nicely. Couple that with some pretty good wrestling after the first 2 matches and an appearance by the Texas Rattlesnake, and call me a satisfied viewer. I may have picked on little things throughout the show, but overall, it was quite a good show. In case you missed it, I've included the conclusion of Raw with the major announcements and revelations in the Hart/McMahon saga, but I recommend not missing a minute of WWE programming with just 3 shows until Wrestlemania!
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