RAW Workrate Report 10/6
What Worked
PAS- The Lita v. Gail Kim match was really well laid out for match that was very poorly executed. If you were reading this TMN’ed by some dork on the Other Arena you would think it would be ***1/4. I prefer smart ugly wrestling to prettily executed Future v. Future TNA matches any day and twice on the Sabbath.
TKG: WWF has alwas been about well layed out wrestling with weak execution. This is the minimum I want out of my WWE wrestling. This felt more like it was Slaughter layed out than Finlay layed out. Lita still can’t work and this Kim girl seemed pretty worthless but this is how you work that match. Amused by all the rest holds...kept on waiting for Vince to run out and ring the bell so Tajiri and Rhino could have a bikini contest.
PAS: I always liked Lance Cade, always liked Randy Orton and always kind of dug that Flair guy and this match owned it. Cade looked really good with simple looking stuff which is where the “workrate” tag fell apart. I don’t think I have seen Jindrak since he was working the Bill Lambeer gimmick on WCWSN, but he looked fine. Flair still bumps bigger then any other guy in any match he is in, plus had alot of fun punches and chops.
TKG: I’m a big Cade fan. In HWA he did a great Barry Windham style jumping bulldog...I thought at time “Why is this guy in the WWF developmental doing a well executed bulldog, he’s never gonna get called up”. He starts to execute a bulldog with a headlock in this match than at the last minute realizes “aw fuck...I’m not allowed to do this”...we’ll never see him again. Cade looked like best guy on show. Sold well for Flair and Orton. Flair is fun as Buddy Roberts. Randy Orton’s Ace crusher isn’t anywhere near as good looking as his crossbody. But I guess you can’t use a crossbody as a heel finisher. Lawler amused me selling Flair going over Jindrak as big upset.
PAS: Ric Flair calling Maven “boy” moments after I said, “When is he going to call Maven boy?”
PAS: Mixed tag had more smart work, and was better executed then previous WWE Joshi. Steven Richards may be the best worker on this whole stink bomb of a show. Maven had a nice dropkick. For matches set up by Flair dropping a racial slur I think Flair v. Maven will be better then Flair v. Rufus R. Jones and Flair v. Junkyard Dog but not as good as Flair v. Skip Young or Rocky King.
TKG: I think Cade may be better than Richards. But yeah, them two are the workers of the show. What the hell is Maven’s finish supposed to be? I have less high hopes for Flair vs. Maven than Phil. I doubt it ‘ll be as good as Flair vs. Burrhead Jones. And for the record, best Flair match set up by racial slur was Flair vs. Jack Brisco.
PAS: Goldberg v. Mark Henry was really great as a poor man’s Josh Barnett v. Scott Norton. I always liked both of these guys for shitty wrestlers, and this is the match they should have, even the interference was done well. This was the only smartly booked and well worked thing on the show.
TKG: this match was the reason I wanted to watch this show...it was either gonna deliver, be a squash or SUCK HARD. Yeah I’m a Mark Henry fan, and I don’t understand why he hasn’t been used more effectively. And I enjoyed all the Goldberg vs. Jerry Flyn poor man’s UWFi matches. Meltzer’s gonna hate this match since this had alot of Goldberg selling and Meltzer doesn’t think Berg should sell. I enjoyed the two stiffing each other and all the “Goldberg can’t lift Henry spots”, the cross arm mat section, the Goldberg can’t Irish whip Henry stuff etc. Fine US heavyweight match. This smoked any Helmsley match I’ve seen in ages.
What Didn’t Work
TKG: HHH trying to co opt Ted DiBiasse since the WWE is worried that Ted’s Christian promotion is starting to outdraw Raw.
PAS: Shane McMahon’s disco shirt for a violent run in.
TKG: they’re actually trying to make Vince vs. Steph, “I quit” the selling point for that PPV. Is anyone really gonna buy a PPV for that match? Are they timing it right so they can do the Tully vs. TA finish with the chairleg to Steph’s cooter without her having to blade?
PAS: WWE should be saving their money, wrecking a limo feels like Hammer gold plating his sinks after that Gospel album bombed.
TKG: Coachman is taller than Jericho, Christian and Lance Storm...don’t put them in the ring together. Also HHH should be less worried about making sure everyone else has a haircut and worry more about making sure no one else takes HGH. It isn’t the hair that makes Jericho look like Helmsley, its Jericho’s expanding forehead.
PAS: Rock was hitting every talk show possible to pimp his movie. Hint to the WWE production folk, showing a guy on Wayne Brady doesn’t make him look bigtime it makes him look sad and desperate. It is clear that Vince is riding Rocky for all of the money he can get, I get the feeling that Vince bought a portion of Dwayne when he was a baby. It was the 70’s, Rocky Johnson was a wrestler, I am sure he had the habits of wrestler in the 70’s, he needs money, I can see Vince as Rumplestilskin. For every Rocky and Randy Orton he owns working on his shows, he has Tito Santana’s son cutting his grass and B. Brian Blairs daughter in the basement as a plaything for Shane.
TKG: C’mon she’s there for Linda, not Shane. What’s up with not showing the clips of Rock on Byron Allen?
PAS: That workrate tag match had some nice spots, but the fundementals were more poorly excecuted then any scramble tag I have seen. When you are in the WWE and your punches suck worse then Johnny Kashmere you are in trouble. That match could have used Dunn and or Marcos to hold it together.
TKG: Lance Storm bumped well in this for a face. There were points that they were able to get crowd behind RVD. I think Jericho asked RVD to stiff him, since all his kicks to Jericho looked really stiff, while all the kicks to Christian looked like RVD’s typical shitty kicks. But really felt meaningless and messy.