A little short on time this afternoon, so here's a little review of the ECW show from last night.
-We recap Holly's huge surprise turn, brought on by no one cheering for him during the epic vs Test about three weeks back. Lots of slow shots of the Alabama Slam on a chair, low sound, Haymen smiling, and honestly, they're trying too hard to make it important.
-Elijah Burke joins Joey this week, why did they pick him? They could have easily used Paul for this, but we'll see how Burke does. Terkay is with him, which means someone will go nose to nose with him tonight, giving December to Dismember two whole matches! Anyway, as you probably know already, Paul offers Hardcore Holly the spot in the Elimination Chamber, Bobby Lashley interrupts and signs the contract himself, which of course makes it legal and Haymen, who probably wrote it himself with crayon, cannot do anything about it.
-The heels complain about Paul's stupid contract plan, and wow, I'm so happy they mentioned it and that Test, Holly and Big Show questioned the logic. They almost never do that kinda self aware booking. Paul promises to "lawyer up" and makes Holly vs Lashley for later tonight.
-We're finally ready for a match:
Mike Knox vs CM Punk:
We have a rematch from last week's Elimination Chamber qualifier, and because CM Punk does nothing but rematches. Punk controls early after some kicks and a belly to back. You know, given the pesudo Muy Tai gimmick they've given Punk, I could easily see him confront Sylvister, or get beat down by him. Mike gains control after something happens to Kelly on the outside, and Punk goes back first into the ring post. Sorry, I missed whatever happened while typing, and then Joey spent a minute fialing to explain whatever happened. Knox tries very hard to turn Punk into a Boston Crab, but he can't do it, so he settles for a poor slingshot into the corner, some forearms...and a dropkick?! Knox meets an elbow and Punk makes a small comback before being met with a uranage backbreaker, minus the lift. Knox tries the boston crab again and gets it! Punk eventually makes it to the ropes as the crowd seems to get behind him a bit, and pops for the rope break. Well, the crowd is obviously sweetened, but that's also partially the affect of the sound back work already done, and the early boston crab tease. Knox with a bow and arrow, "CM Punk" chant, and Punk counters a suplex with a knee to the face, while up in the air. Big side kick by Punk and the pace picks up big time. Knox cuts him off with and elbow but misses a scissors kick. Punk nails a springboard dropkick and follows witha suicide dive, drawing the first "ECW" chant of the night. Back in with a springboard clothesline for a very close two. And now starts the CM Punk finish: Mui Tai "strikes", running knee, and running bulldog gets 2! Knox cuts him off with a tilt a whirl backbreaker, and Elijah points out the solid back work. Punk flips out of a suplex, kicks, backfist, Uranage, and the Anaconda Vice for the finish. If they're really ending this fued, you'd think Kelly will leave with Punk...but no, she holds Knox's hand as they go to the back so um, either this fued will continue after Punks two vicitories, or Punk really is just addicted to compeition. What an angle!
As a side note, they failed to remind me that Kelly is an exhibitionist this week, thank god I didn't forget.
Crap, gotta run, a very solid match, and Knox looked decent and tried to work in some psychology. So we go 1 for 1 and finish the show tonight when i get home.
Still to come: Matt Striker! Bobby Lashley takes on Hardcore Holly! and More!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
Bootscrapes ECW B-Sides! a compilation overview!
i have no idea what is on this...i imagine this is a comp of fancam matches, though i could be totally wrong!
-ok, TV opening with Joey in the ring and Alfanzo interrupts about .5 seconds in. It's 1996, and Fonzie rants about things he hates, fan signs, and why Taz isn't getting an interview. Joey tells Fonzie to shut up, here comes Taz, and yep, this is from House Party 1996 and I think we're going to see 911/Rey Misterio Jr. vs the Eliminators. Anyway, Taz is about ready to kill Styles, 911 comes in, Taz beats the hell out of him, and we start the tag match I've seen about a billion times. I think i'll move on and see what else we have here. If you're curious, the match is pretty much 911 laying around while Rey takes a beating while pulling off a few nice hope spots. 911 finally gets back up, and they do the chicken fight ending, with Rey hurricanraning Saturn off of Kronus; shoulders, while he's on 911's shoulders. Decent if you like, have never seen Rey Misterio every.
-and we hit the fancam as Chris Jericho is making his way to the ring, and I'm going to guess the opponet is Sabu...Yep! This match is readily aviable on the Extreme Warfare comp ECW put out. Seen this as well, lets see what else we have here...as for this match, check it out of you haven't seen, if only for the novelty factor of Jericho vs Sabu.
-Next up is the first match between Sabu/RVD against Dan Kroffet and Doug Furnes. I believe this is the first match, as the second one was during the "High Incident" arena show, and there's no "scaffold" to be seen here. I will watch this in full soon, promise
-a bit of Hype Central which leads into a Dreamer promo hyping Ultimate Jeproedy 96 match. Dreamer talks about his pain, and how much he loves it, Beulah stands there dripping wax on him or something. I get that Tommy's character is some ultra tormented masochist, but I was never sure why. I thought he was the popular kid at camp who dissed fat Beulah. Why the heck did she go back to him? Dreamer, as a worker, is kinda underrated when you look at his overall career, but those promos seem Hot Topicy in their "my pain gets me off" kinda way. Still, Dreamer did try as hard as anyone, and his matches were just layered with references to previous bouts in his career (i have weird love of the Lawler-Dreamer blow off for this Tommy Dreamer's career subtext...we'll have to look at that later)
-Now we have the FBI in the ring...it's the Smothers and Rich version. They're going up against then Tag Champs, Storm and Candido. That's a fun pairing. Will definately watch this later. Though...i wonder, what were the requirements for this comp? I totally expected seven or eight Tajiri/Super Crazy fan cam matches and something involving New Jack.
-awesome, next is one of the Michinoku Pro six mans that predated the Barely Legal one. The difference here I think is Gran Naniwa on the face team instead of um...who was it? Sasuak, Hamada, and um...Yoshi something? The heels are of course Kaienti DX. Another one to watch later. I'll probably just edit this post. But I had a fun 10 hours at work today, I can't concentrate enough to review anything.
-Great, the Impact Players vs Jado and Gedo. I heard some pretty good things aobut this when it happened, but never waded through my ECW TV discs to actually watch it. I see this comp is pretty much good TV matches people probably missed or forgot about, which is totally cool with me...
-The next match is Steve Corino vs Tajiri and this is the one that really established Corino later ECW character of "bleeder". The one with the blood on the camera baseball slide dropkick. My problem with this, and the Jerry Lynn "DIE" match that perceded it, was that while they in some way helped Corino reach the main event...he didn't win. I dont remember one major Corino win until he got the title, aside from a number one contenders match with CW Anderson, though there you couldn't buy CW as a possible title contender (maybe after the surprising GREAT Dreamer fued). Still, just a beating as Corino hits a gusher, one of the good matches to slip of the muck that was ECW vs the Network, one of the worst defined heel groups ever. The logic of "TNN wants to replace the hip and cool RVD with the woman piledriving RHYNO, because that's best for ECW" makes no sense from a corporate standpoint
-And that's the comp. I had seen this listed for a while and never knew what was on it (why didn't I ask, i'm lazy...). And now you know, a very nice assortment of TV matches that run a little under two hours. Give it a whirl if you want a nice cross section of ECW.
I'll finish up that Nitro either later tonight or early tomorrow while I'm waking up...stay tuned!
-ok, TV opening with Joey in the ring and Alfanzo interrupts about .5 seconds in. It's 1996, and Fonzie rants about things he hates, fan signs, and why Taz isn't getting an interview. Joey tells Fonzie to shut up, here comes Taz, and yep, this is from House Party 1996 and I think we're going to see 911/Rey Misterio Jr. vs the Eliminators. Anyway, Taz is about ready to kill Styles, 911 comes in, Taz beats the hell out of him, and we start the tag match I've seen about a billion times. I think i'll move on and see what else we have here. If you're curious, the match is pretty much 911 laying around while Rey takes a beating while pulling off a few nice hope spots. 911 finally gets back up, and they do the chicken fight ending, with Rey hurricanraning Saturn off of Kronus; shoulders, while he's on 911's shoulders. Decent if you like, have never seen Rey Misterio every.
-and we hit the fancam as Chris Jericho is making his way to the ring, and I'm going to guess the opponet is Sabu...Yep! This match is readily aviable on the Extreme Warfare comp ECW put out. Seen this as well, lets see what else we have here...as for this match, check it out of you haven't seen, if only for the novelty factor of Jericho vs Sabu.
-Next up is the first match between Sabu/RVD against Dan Kroffet and Doug Furnes. I believe this is the first match, as the second one was during the "High Incident" arena show, and there's no "scaffold" to be seen here. I will watch this in full soon, promise
-a bit of Hype Central which leads into a Dreamer promo hyping Ultimate Jeproedy 96 match. Dreamer talks about his pain, and how much he loves it, Beulah stands there dripping wax on him or something. I get that Tommy's character is some ultra tormented masochist, but I was never sure why. I thought he was the popular kid at camp who dissed fat Beulah. Why the heck did she go back to him? Dreamer, as a worker, is kinda underrated when you look at his overall career, but those promos seem Hot Topicy in their "my pain gets me off" kinda way. Still, Dreamer did try as hard as anyone, and his matches were just layered with references to previous bouts in his career (i have weird love of the Lawler-Dreamer blow off for this Tommy Dreamer's career subtext...we'll have to look at that later)
-Now we have the FBI in the ring...it's the Smothers and Rich version. They're going up against then Tag Champs, Storm and Candido. That's a fun pairing. Will definately watch this later. Though...i wonder, what were the requirements for this comp? I totally expected seven or eight Tajiri/Super Crazy fan cam matches and something involving New Jack.
-awesome, next is one of the Michinoku Pro six mans that predated the Barely Legal one. The difference here I think is Gran Naniwa on the face team instead of um...who was it? Sasuak, Hamada, and um...Yoshi something? The heels are of course Kaienti DX. Another one to watch later. I'll probably just edit this post. But I had a fun 10 hours at work today, I can't concentrate enough to review anything.
-Great, the Impact Players vs Jado and Gedo. I heard some pretty good things aobut this when it happened, but never waded through my ECW TV discs to actually watch it. I see this comp is pretty much good TV matches people probably missed or forgot about, which is totally cool with me...
-The next match is Steve Corino vs Tajiri and this is the one that really established Corino later ECW character of "bleeder". The one with the blood on the camera baseball slide dropkick. My problem with this, and the Jerry Lynn "DIE" match that perceded it, was that while they in some way helped Corino reach the main event...he didn't win. I dont remember one major Corino win until he got the title, aside from a number one contenders match with CW Anderson, though there you couldn't buy CW as a possible title contender (maybe after the surprising GREAT Dreamer fued). Still, just a beating as Corino hits a gusher, one of the good matches to slip of the muck that was ECW vs the Network, one of the worst defined heel groups ever. The logic of "TNN wants to replace the hip and cool RVD with the woman piledriving RHYNO, because that's best for ECW" makes no sense from a corporate standpoint
-And that's the comp. I had seen this listed for a while and never knew what was on it (why didn't I ask, i'm lazy...). And now you know, a very nice assortment of TV matches that run a little under two hours. Give it a whirl if you want a nice cross section of ECW.
I'll finish up that Nitro either later tonight or early tomorrow while I'm waking up...stay tuned!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
First Entry! Intro with Nitro!
So welcome to the blog, where i'll be keeping a running tab on anything and everything I watch. Yep, in between work, writing, and sleep, we fit in some rassling...ok, I got a huge box of stuff yesterday, and a long with the Avengers cartoon (when the heck was this on), the Fantastic Four cartoon (Marvel Action Hour!), and the 2002 TNA shows (JERRY ESTRADA~!), we have these...the 1998 Nitro set. So random, so wonderful, lets begin.
WCW Monday Nitro 3:16, 1998
Will Steve Austin appear tonight? heh...moving right along...
YES, it's a club La Vila show. I question for a moment if there are any wrestling fans in the audience, only to remember, yes, WCW was quite popular. And unexplainable "Larry" chant, which I'm sure, to someone, justified the amount of screen and angle time Zbyszko got during 97-98. And...there goes my dvd player, the heck?
(switching players)
And here comes the nWo as Teney, Tony and Larry talk about how amazing Uncensored was. Bischoff sums up for us that, no, the nWo isn't falling apart. Glad to know, let's fast foward...someone is going into the water, TONIGHT!
Lodi vs Goldberg
Tony lets us know that Goldberg is "literally stalking" to the ring, as opposed to what? Oh, a press slam...spear...Jackhammer. So while the pin happens I'll ask, where did Lodi come from? He never seemed to wrestle, ever, except maybe a handful of matches. I can only guess he went to the powerplan like Sick Boy, but that doesn't seem right. Anyway, the entier Flock is attack Goldberg, except for Saturn. They would have a pretty good match at Spring Stampede that year, and a so so rematch at Slamboree. 0 for 1
Fit Finlay vs Ultimo Dragon
Interesting. This is Finlay's first match with the short blonde hair whic he still sports to this very day. Does anyone want me to do some sort of rating? Stars, thumbs up or down...not sure. Anyway, Finlay controls for a moment, but Dragon comes back with the corner headstand spot (Finlay is confused!) and the kick combo. Now Fit goes for the nerve hold, mask pulling, elbows, and Dragon gets up and is slapped. Finlay drops him over the top rope for two. And another cover...someone mention that Finlay keeps covering "because each cover expends some energy." European uppercut...Dragon flips out of a body dro, dropkick, and misses a plancha. Oh, Finlay throws him chest first into the sie of the ring. Back in the ring, rolling samoan drop! I love that move, and a double stomp. Another upper cut, and I should mention there was a dragon chant a minute ago. Finlay escapes the Dragon Clutch and continues the mauling. Seconds later, Dragon counters a suplex into another Dragon Sleeper, and FINLAY TAPS! whoa...aw, dang. Well done though. "Sometimes that's what it takes, a counter to a counter" thanks Tony. 1 for 2
Nitro girls, i expect the crowd to start booing, there's probably more risque things occuring right now in the crowd.
nWo music?
oh good, its a match at least
ah ok, you know, I think I'll just crib the Keith video rant style *goes back to assign points to previous matches* As you might know, one point for a good match...
and onto the next match
Scott Norton vs "Gentleman" Chris Adams
Adam's nails the Superkick like a minute in, which doesn't do much. Splash in the corner and Norton tosses him over the top...which is legal now according to Tony! Let's see if that even lasts through the show. Knees and elbows in the corner. Short arm clothesline as Larry goes on about how none of the nWo have no soul, god his rants are boring. Buff notes that this isn't England...Chops in the corner. Anothe corner charge misses, hip toss and drop kick, but Norton swats down a missle dropkick. Shoulderbreaker and that's the pin. I really wish he would follow that with an arm bar of any kind. But i guess the theory is, if you break the shoulder, he can't lift it! 1 for 3
they crowned miss nitro....johnny grunge got to help with it! as did Scotty Riggs, Rocco Rock, and my fast forward
Davey Boy Smith/Jim Neidhart vs Mike Enos/Wayne Bloom
The Destruction Crew! I never understood Enos' run in WCW, he was tagging with Dick Slater for most of it, they did ok, and then they finally brought in Bloom and didn't let them have any wins. Maybe I just have a strange love for former AWA tag champs. Tony says they are slowly moving up the ladder in WCW, and Wayne and Enos hit a nice spike piledriver on the Anvil. Enos controls Neidhart, but Jim gets a very awkward body lift back body drop thingie...tag into Bloom...and i accidently scroll forward a bit, right to the hot tag. Bulldog in, elbows and clotheslines. Powerslam on Bloom for 2, and its a pier six brawl! Wayne and Davey Boy in, running "Oklahoma" slam (according to Tony) for the three. Not bad, very basic, there was a spike piledriver. Larry Zbyszko goes on about his AWA title loss to Saito and being "jobbed out". How odd. Anyway, 1 for 4
So Nitro was three hours by this point, I wish Bischoff would have explained this in his book. Three hours just seemed too much, no matter how many Yuji Nagata vs Barry Darsow matches we got out of it.
Annoucers jibber jabber. WCW's team always seemed incredibly dorky, from Tenay being a wrestling dork, Tony looking bored or fake half the time (and it just got worse each year), and Larry being a one man Larry Zbyszko promotion machine. Ross and Lawler, to thier credit, seemed just more passionate about the product.
I think we're going to get a Randy Savage promo. Skip time.
Raven is in the ring, and he's ready for Benoit! YES!
Raven vs Chris Benoit
Raven says the fued will end tonight, with the winner going on to job to Dallas Page. And it will Raven, as he segways into a rambling promo until he mentions that "the snake is watching" which we know, never led to anything. Benoit comes out, and the announcers are spending time going over DDP and Raven breaking into the biz together, instead of the history between Benoit and Raven, so the conclusion is in very little doubt. The Crippler goes in strong and stomps a mudhole, german suplex, chops Raven to the outside and nails a baseball slide. Crowd is very into Benoit. Benoit chops him toward the crowd, down the ramp across the water, and finally back to the ring. Benoit slaps the back of Raven's head and stomps him more in the corner. Elbow off the ropes and Benoit gets two. Raven comes back with a whip into the corner, gets met with boot, and that was the quickest offense shift ever. Back from the commerical and the match has moved to the entrance. You know, in essence, this is the same structure as Dragon-Finlay, with Benoit just totally dominating to the point where there's no way he's going to win. Only it's a lot more obvious here. Bridge suplex for two...which makes sense, because its not like Benoit has any leverage with that move. Raven's shirt is torn and he gets chopped as Tony notes "I dont read tatoos" when Larry asks about Raven's ink. Benoit slaps him and taunts, and for those who say Benoit can't talk, his in ring "mic" skills are great (remember the 95 ECW against Al Snow). Snap suplex, and Benoit rolls into two more and its time for the headbutt...which misses. Raven brings in a chair for his first offense of the match. Great chair bulldog, and Raven tries to whip benoit off the ropes for the chair drop toe hold, Benoit holds on and goes to bring Raven down the crossface, but as he drives down, he hits the chair. Well of all the dumb luck. Evenflow onto the chair, and Raven wins. What a fun Benoit beating, but Raven came out looking just lucky. Pretty creative with the chair placement, but it again, Raven just looks lucky. Either way, it was a Benoit showcase, 2 for 5
Back from commerical, and it's time for the next match already...
Yuji Nagata vs Ernest Miller
Bobby Heenan has joined Tony, and we're down probably one of the worst commentary teams ever, and Tenay. At least in my mind, they never got along and when Tony would always tell Bobby to "shut up" you just got the feeling he ment it. What a dick. I'm amazed Nitro views stayed during matches like this so far into the show and while RAW was on. Heenan notes that Mui Tai sounds like food, just to remind me that he has lost a step or two by now. Not much going on, plus this is happy karate figter Ernest Miller. Nagata doing some ground work as the crowd bring out the "boring chant". Rear chinlock and it's NWO DISCUSSION TIME! Bischoff and Randy, arguing, Hogan not getting along with Savage, so much drama. Nagata controls with some forearms, but the Cat comes back with a spin kick. Some of his kicks did look good. Miller doesn't go low enough for a leap frog and that goes baout as well as you'd think. Terrible clothesline, a bodyslam and Cat hits the Feliner (top rope spin kick back leg round front kick) for the pin. Nagata controlled, as he should of, but he controlled with rest holds. Ugh, 2 for 6
we're halfway through, and I need a break, finish up this show later tonight, still to come, Luger and Sting meet Hogan and Savage! Scott Steiner in action!
WCW Monday Nitro 3:16, 1998
Will Steve Austin appear tonight? heh...moving right along...
YES, it's a club La Vila show. I question for a moment if there are any wrestling fans in the audience, only to remember, yes, WCW was quite popular. And unexplainable "Larry" chant, which I'm sure, to someone, justified the amount of screen and angle time Zbyszko got during 97-98. And...there goes my dvd player, the heck?
(switching players)
And here comes the nWo as Teney, Tony and Larry talk about how amazing Uncensored was. Bischoff sums up for us that, no, the nWo isn't falling apart. Glad to know, let's fast foward...someone is going into the water, TONIGHT!
Lodi vs Goldberg
Tony lets us know that Goldberg is "literally stalking" to the ring, as opposed to what? Oh, a press slam...spear...Jackhammer. So while the pin happens I'll ask, where did Lodi come from? He never seemed to wrestle, ever, except maybe a handful of matches. I can only guess he went to the powerplan like Sick Boy, but that doesn't seem right. Anyway, the entier Flock is attack Goldberg, except for Saturn. They would have a pretty good match at Spring Stampede that year, and a so so rematch at Slamboree. 0 for 1
Fit Finlay vs Ultimo Dragon
Interesting. This is Finlay's first match with the short blonde hair whic he still sports to this very day. Does anyone want me to do some sort of rating? Stars, thumbs up or down...not sure. Anyway, Finlay controls for a moment, but Dragon comes back with the corner headstand spot (Finlay is confused!) and the kick combo. Now Fit goes for the nerve hold, mask pulling, elbows, and Dragon gets up and is slapped. Finlay drops him over the top rope for two. And another cover...someone mention that Finlay keeps covering "because each cover expends some energy." European uppercut...Dragon flips out of a body dro, dropkick, and misses a plancha. Oh, Finlay throws him chest first into the sie of the ring. Back in the ring, rolling samoan drop! I love that move, and a double stomp. Another upper cut, and I should mention there was a dragon chant a minute ago. Finlay escapes the Dragon Clutch and continues the mauling. Seconds later, Dragon counters a suplex into another Dragon Sleeper, and FINLAY TAPS! whoa...aw, dang. Well done though. "Sometimes that's what it takes, a counter to a counter" thanks Tony. 1 for 2
Nitro girls, i expect the crowd to start booing, there's probably more risque things occuring right now in the crowd.
nWo music?
oh good, its a match at least
ah ok, you know, I think I'll just crib the Keith video rant style *goes back to assign points to previous matches* As you might know, one point for a good match...
and onto the next match
Scott Norton vs "Gentleman" Chris Adams
Adam's nails the Superkick like a minute in, which doesn't do much. Splash in the corner and Norton tosses him over the top...which is legal now according to Tony! Let's see if that even lasts through the show. Knees and elbows in the corner. Short arm clothesline as Larry goes on about how none of the nWo have no soul, god his rants are boring. Buff notes that this isn't England...Chops in the corner. Anothe corner charge misses, hip toss and drop kick, but Norton swats down a missle dropkick. Shoulderbreaker and that's the pin. I really wish he would follow that with an arm bar of any kind. But i guess the theory is, if you break the shoulder, he can't lift it! 1 for 3
they crowned miss nitro....johnny grunge got to help with it! as did Scotty Riggs, Rocco Rock, and my fast forward
Davey Boy Smith/Jim Neidhart vs Mike Enos/Wayne Bloom
The Destruction Crew! I never understood Enos' run in WCW, he was tagging with Dick Slater for most of it, they did ok, and then they finally brought in Bloom and didn't let them have any wins. Maybe I just have a strange love for former AWA tag champs. Tony says they are slowly moving up the ladder in WCW, and Wayne and Enos hit a nice spike piledriver on the Anvil. Enos controls Neidhart, but Jim gets a very awkward body lift back body drop thingie...tag into Bloom...and i accidently scroll forward a bit, right to the hot tag. Bulldog in, elbows and clotheslines. Powerslam on Bloom for 2, and its a pier six brawl! Wayne and Davey Boy in, running "Oklahoma" slam (according to Tony) for the three. Not bad, very basic, there was a spike piledriver. Larry Zbyszko goes on about his AWA title loss to Saito and being "jobbed out". How odd. Anyway, 1 for 4
So Nitro was three hours by this point, I wish Bischoff would have explained this in his book. Three hours just seemed too much, no matter how many Yuji Nagata vs Barry Darsow matches we got out of it.
Annoucers jibber jabber. WCW's team always seemed incredibly dorky, from Tenay being a wrestling dork, Tony looking bored or fake half the time (and it just got worse each year), and Larry being a one man Larry Zbyszko promotion machine. Ross and Lawler, to thier credit, seemed just more passionate about the product.
I think we're going to get a Randy Savage promo. Skip time.
Raven is in the ring, and he's ready for Benoit! YES!
Raven vs Chris Benoit
Raven says the fued will end tonight, with the winner going on to job to Dallas Page. And it will Raven, as he segways into a rambling promo until he mentions that "the snake is watching" which we know, never led to anything. Benoit comes out, and the announcers are spending time going over DDP and Raven breaking into the biz together, instead of the history between Benoit and Raven, so the conclusion is in very little doubt. The Crippler goes in strong and stomps a mudhole, german suplex, chops Raven to the outside and nails a baseball slide. Crowd is very into Benoit. Benoit chops him toward the crowd, down the ramp across the water, and finally back to the ring. Benoit slaps the back of Raven's head and stomps him more in the corner. Elbow off the ropes and Benoit gets two. Raven comes back with a whip into the corner, gets met with boot, and that was the quickest offense shift ever. Back from the commerical and the match has moved to the entrance. You know, in essence, this is the same structure as Dragon-Finlay, with Benoit just totally dominating to the point where there's no way he's going to win. Only it's a lot more obvious here. Bridge suplex for two...which makes sense, because its not like Benoit has any leverage with that move. Raven's shirt is torn and he gets chopped as Tony notes "I dont read tatoos" when Larry asks about Raven's ink. Benoit slaps him and taunts, and for those who say Benoit can't talk, his in ring "mic" skills are great (remember the 95 ECW against Al Snow). Snap suplex, and Benoit rolls into two more and its time for the headbutt...which misses. Raven brings in a chair for his first offense of the match. Great chair bulldog, and Raven tries to whip benoit off the ropes for the chair drop toe hold, Benoit holds on and goes to bring Raven down the crossface, but as he drives down, he hits the chair. Well of all the dumb luck. Evenflow onto the chair, and Raven wins. What a fun Benoit beating, but Raven came out looking just lucky. Pretty creative with the chair placement, but it again, Raven just looks lucky. Either way, it was a Benoit showcase, 2 for 5
Back from commerical, and it's time for the next match already...
Yuji Nagata vs Ernest Miller
Bobby Heenan has joined Tony, and we're down probably one of the worst commentary teams ever, and Tenay. At least in my mind, they never got along and when Tony would always tell Bobby to "shut up" you just got the feeling he ment it. What a dick. I'm amazed Nitro views stayed during matches like this so far into the show and while RAW was on. Heenan notes that Mui Tai sounds like food, just to remind me that he has lost a step or two by now. Not much going on, plus this is happy karate figter Ernest Miller. Nagata doing some ground work as the crowd bring out the "boring chant". Rear chinlock and it's NWO DISCUSSION TIME! Bischoff and Randy, arguing, Hogan not getting along with Savage, so much drama. Nagata controls with some forearms, but the Cat comes back with a spin kick. Some of his kicks did look good. Miller doesn't go low enough for a leap frog and that goes baout as well as you'd think. Terrible clothesline, a bodyslam and Cat hits the Feliner (top rope spin kick back leg round front kick) for the pin. Nagata controlled, as he should of, but he controlled with rest holds. Ugh, 2 for 6
we're halfway through, and I need a break, finish up this show later tonight, still to come, Luger and Sting meet Hogan and Savage! Scott Steiner in action!
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