We open the final Raw before Wrestlemania 12 with Shawn Michaels and his "Kliq-Cam" as he film the crowd and readies for his match against Leif Cassidy. Who? Leif Cassidy is our pal Al Snow, who has done away with his ninja gimmicks of Avatar and Shinobi to become Marty Jannetty's partner in the New Rockers. The name Leif Cassidy being a take on beloved 70s pop stars Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy. Shaun grabs a mic to play to his hometown crowd of San Antonio. He introduces his mentor Jose Lothario to the crowd. Jose says that at Wrestlemania, they will bring San Antonio the only heavyweight champion in the world, Shawn Michaels.
Bret Hart makes his way to the commentary table as Jerry Lawler takes his leave. Headlock and shoulder block spot by Shawn. Leapfrogs and counters from both men, but Shawn dominates with an arm drag and arm bar. Cross body and a cover by Shawn, who covers for two. He returns to the arm bar. Leif catches Shawn with a rough spinebuster that sees Shawn smack his head hard on the mat. Uranage by Leif as Marty Jannetty heads to ringside to cheer on his tag partner. Surfboard lock by Leif as we go to break.
When we return, Leif is still in control, hitting a suplex. He places Shawn into a chinlock until Shawn breaks free. Shawn has a noticeable cut on his head as we get a series of roll up exchanges from both men. Thumb to the eye by Leif followed by a really bad alley oop spot. I think he meant to send Shawn throat-first, but Shawn's feet catch and he crashes into Leif. Leif hits a superplex off the top buckle. Slow cover only gets a two count.
An exchange of shots until Leif goes for a second Superplex. But Shawn shoves him off hard and follows with a clothesline off the top. Atomic drops from both ends and a hard ram to the buckle. Shawn goes to run at Leif, but Jannetty grabs Shawn by the tights and holds him until Bret makes the save. Leif misses Shawn as Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music for the win. Post-match, Shawn and Bret get in each others faces and argue while Jose tries to cool Shawn before their encounter in the iron man match at Wrestlemania. Shawn then gets on the mic and says he has respect for Shawn, but at Wrestlemania 12, in the 60 minute Iron Man match, he has no choice whatsoever but to pound Shawn into the dirt.
As for this match, not very well coordinated. Lots of botchy spots from Leif and neither man really clicking in the ring. Definitely not a strong showing for Shawn going into Mania.
Up next, Hunter Hearst Helmsley is in action against Aldo Montoya. Jerry Lawler returns to the commentary table now that Bret is long gone. We get a video package for the returning Ultimate Warrior as Hunter enters the ring. Aldo is distracted by Hunter's valet as Hunter goes in with stiff uppercuts. Aldo reverses a whip and hits some slams. He tries for a splash, but Hunter gets his knees up. Another stiff uppercut from Hunter who then goes in for the choke. High knee to the face follows, along with some knees to the ribs.
Suplex by Hunter followed by a knee drop. Cover only gets a two. Another elbow to the face and a series of cover attempts, but Aldo continues to kick out, much to Hunter's frustration. Aldo tries a sunset flip, but Hunter easily stomps him down. Aldo gets a slingshot cross body and a dropkick in. Hunter tries to slam Aldo, but Aldo turns it into a headscissors and a clothesline. He goes up for a cross body and connects for a two count. Aldo whips Hunter and tries for a back drop, but Hunter turns it into a pedigree for the win in a basic match.
We get a vignette from Goldust's Hollywood backlot. He quotes Pinocchio before groping a mannequin dressed like Roddy Piper. He says that he has brought out the naughty dreams and darkest nightmares of the Hot Rod. He says they'll be joined at the hip in eternal bliss. He then takes the mannequin and smashes it.
Up next, we Vince interviews Paul Bearer and The Undertaker. Bearer says that there was no doubt that Undertaker had Bret beat at Royal Rumble, but Diesel cost him the match. He brings us up to speed with the last few weeks. From Taker dragging Diesel down, Diesel destroying Undertaker's casket and clotheslining Paul Bearer. All leading up to last week when Diesel saw his own body in a casket. Undertaker asks his creatures of the night if they're prepared for the feast, because all that will be left is the battered carcass of Big Daddy Cool. Diesel has left him no other option. At one time he may have been content with beating him and embarrassing him, but now that he laid his hands on Paul Bearer, the corpse he saw laying in the casket represents Diesel's future. Diesel's soul and fate lies in the hands of the reaper.
We get another video package setting up the Iron Man Match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. Mostly a lot of what we saw the past few weeks. Shawn training in the gym with Jose Lothario, while Bret is working on the treadmill and swimming. We then go into the vignette as they play up how important this is for both men.
Up next, it's the main event. Owen Hart taking on Ahmed Johnson. Owen tries a wristlock, but gets shoved down with ease. Owen tries a headlock only to be shoved off just as easily. We see Diana Hart in the crowd watching intently. Headlock and shoulder block spot from Ahmed. Speaking of Diana, her husband British Bulldog makes his way to ringside with Jim Cornette. After Ahmed mocks Owen with a test of strength, Owen starts clubbing him, only to be set on the buckle. Dive by Owen is caught with a sloppy spinebuster. Cover only gets a two.
Bearhug by Ahmed while Owen directs Bulldog to distract Ahmed. Owen gets in a spin kick as we go to break. When we return, Owen hits another big spin kick. Ahmed gets a spinebuster on Owen and calls for the Pearl River Plunge. However, Bulldog attacks Ahmed, causing a DQ. Ahmed ducks a double clothesline and hits one of his own. Vader shows up and starts attacking Ahmed. The trio continue to pummel Ahmed until Yoko and Jake make the save.
Well, instead of the Billionaire Ted segment this week (thank god), we instead get a music video for Bret Hart. The "You Start the Fire" video. We see Bret Hart and his fans (which feels more like Bret trying his hardest to get away from rabid crowds). We get some shots of Bret on the Lonesone Dove set and doing various television interviews and vignettes. Definitely does a good job at showing Bret's popularity. Does this mean we're done with Billionaire Ted? No. But we'll get to that when we cover the Slammy Awards.
For the last Raw before Wrestlemania, this was a pretty average episode. The in-ring was basic stuff with Shawn vs Leif being a bit underwhelming, Hunter vs Aldo being basic television wrestling and Owen vs Ahmed being an angle (much like all the matches of this six-man tag angle). I do like the stuff with Bret and Shawn as they have done a fantastic job in building the importance of this iron man match. doesn't just feel like another wrestling match or silly goofery, or like we saw at WCW Uncensored, an overbooked mess. It feels like an important fight for both of these men. And if Raw did anything right this week, it definitely got me interested in Wrestlemania 12 a lot more. As for this episode however, I think a C+ is fair.
No comments:
Post a Comment