The Raw is War Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Raw is War by Oliver Postlethwaite
Monday, October 6th, 1997
What Worked
The 10-bell salute to Brian Pillman sure was a classy move, I wish the
business would go to these lengths to honour the dead more often. It's going
to take a while for this to sink in. I'm always more shocked by celebrity
deaths than saddened but after a few weeks without seeing Brian on my TV
every week it will become a hard reality. Pillman was always lurking
somewhere in my non-existent list of favourite wrestlers, both for his ring
skills (which had sadly and expectedly declined ever since his accident) and
his at times awesome mic work. I'll remember his great match with Jushin
Liger at Superbrawl II, his triumphant run with Steve Austin as the Hollywood
Blondes and their subsequent (short-lived) feud, the off-the-wall vignettes
he did for ECW (stabbing his hand with a fork, wrestling a pencil!) and
finally for his involvement with the Hart Foundation in one of this years
great angles and the Canadian Stampede PPV.
Shoot! Well, I guess it's fitting given his history that Pillman's "tribute"
show would feature so many strong shoot-style interviews. Michaels and co.
trotted out the old MSG clique footage and probably confused the majority
of the viewing audience but heck, I'm a fan too and I love this kind of
stuff. These types of interviews/angle sure get over a lot better with me
than the old Undertaker doom and gloom and rest in piece crap. It's amazing
to think just a year ago that this type of interview would get on the air
on WWF TV. This was like watching Shane Douglas on ECW TV circa early '95.
I could have done without Bret Hart's ignorant homophobic comments though,
lousy Canadian.
The return of Marc Mero was short and had one cool move and hey, it's free
Monday night TV, and that's enough for me. But really, I think boxer
gimmicks are lame and there wasn't much here to make me look forward to
seeing him again.
It sure was a treat to hear Jim Cornette's nWo diatribe from the horse's
mouth. This guy needs to be in front of a mic more often.
Steve Austin came out and did his thing, which as great as his interviews
are, is *starting* to get old. But just hearing the crowd reacting so well
to him makes his segments a must-see part of the show. Farooq was kind of
uneccessary but talking about eating collard greens with his hands was a
hoot! And who didn't love Steve Austin dropkicking Lawler's crown?
Vince was a buffoon during the Melanie Pillman interview, asking what I
thought were very sensitive questions to answer in front of a live television
audience of millions. The retrospective video that followed was good. And
Jim Ross' and Jerry Lawler's follow-up comments were a nice touch.
HHH vs. Bret Hart was fairly ok, but no matter how hard Helmsley tries he's
just got no charisma. Vince got his little dig in at WCW early on. "Hart with
a headbutt right to the head." should become a JR classic. Why don't I care
that Michaels has my countries flag up his nose? I thought it was kind of
funny. Cool screwjob ending 'cos if you're going to do a screwjob at least
have it make sense.
What Didn't Work
Ah, a purist's dream match, The Headbangers vs. The Godwinns in a lumberjack
match. And the reason for this stipulation was ... ? I ragged on the
Headbangers last week so it's only fair that I give the folks from Bitters,
Arkansas the same consideration...they suck...HARD. But you know, it must be
hard to be stuck with a hillbilly gimmick in the current hardcore wrestling
climate.
Rocky Miavia vs. Davey Boy Smith wasn't very good. It did have two cool things:
a clean finish and La Magistral!, my favourite goofy roll-up move. The
run-ins in the WWF lately have become mere afterthoughts.
Ok, I admit I watched Hawk vs. Owen Hart mostly in fast forward but I just
don't have that much time in my life to watch either of the Legion of Doom
wrestle. If someone can convince me this was something I have to see I'll go
back and review the tape.
Kane squashed the Hardy Boys. Paul Bearer gave an interview. That's all the
space I'm gonna waste on this one.
