• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

March Wrasslin' |OT| Don't Forget, You're Here Forever.

shaowebb

shaowebb

Member
Huh...just found out what Bo Dallas' finisher is. Damn thats uh...pretty lame. My immediate reaction was "wait that was it?"
I guess he wanted an exploder suplex but since he more or less just gets a hip into them like a hip toss and just hugs and falls its not even like he gets any lift on that move. No really...thats it.Weaker than most normal suplexes really. Barely above armdrag levels of excitement.

Does anyone have a flatter finisher in WWE? I mean I'd even put Roman's weakest spear over this thing.
 
L

Lothar

Banned
This is it, Blue. You're watching the first Raw that beat Nitro in the ratings in 80 weeks. You realize that, don't you? The tide has turned.
 
B

Bluekaveli

Member
Lothar said:
This is it, Blue. You're watching the first Raw that beat Nitro in the ratings in 80 weeks. You realize that, don't you? The tide has turned.
Click to expand...
This Raw other than Taker has been nothing short of garbage. Americans just want to see someone best up their boss because that's all they like is being drunkenly violent.

4.7 4.6 damn lol
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
Heroman said:
cuVGP80.png

HHH vs Rock in the main event of WM for the title in 2016
Click to expand...
I doubt the title would have been up for grabs in that match had it gone down.
This Mania was always drawn up to be Roman's true coronation.
 
L

Lothar

Banned
Bluekaveli said:
This Raw other than Taker has been nothing short of garbage. Americans just want to see someone best up their boss because that's all they like is being drunkenly violent.

4.7 4.6 damn lol
Click to expand...

This is Attitude Era at its peak. I can remember calling all my WCW watching friends that night, telling them "Fuck WCW, put WWF on right now hurry up and don't change the channel the rest of the night." The only time I've ever done that.
 
R

rrc1594

Member
HHH Vs The Rock match truly would of been a end to a era. The promo could of been epic going all the way to SS match for IC title to Iron-man match for WWF Title.
 
B

Bluekaveli

Member
Lothar said:
This is Attitude Era at its peak. I can remember calling all my WCW watching friends that night, telling them "Fuck WCW, put WWF on right now hurry up and don't change the channel the rest of the night." The only time I've ever done that.
Click to expand...
I still don't understand how the Tyson episodes did jack shit for the ratings. You would think they would be the ones that broke the streak tbh.
 
G

GunBR

Member
UberTag said:
I doubt the title would have been up for grabs in that match had it gone down.
This Mania was always drawn up to be Roman's true coronation.
Click to expand...
I bet the plan was Reigns vs Ambrose vs Rollins for the title

Just don't know who would face Brock. Anyone know if is true the rumor that they wanted him to fight Austin?
 
L

Lothar

Banned
Yeah, Tyson's impact is overrated. This is when WWF started overtaking WCW and Tyson was a distant memory.

Here's John Petrie (90s Raw recapper) on this Raw and what a big deal it was that Raw finally broke the streak.

http://rspw.org/petrie/980413.txt

For nearly two hours the WWF engaged in one of the most riveting, compelling storylines ever. At the last moment they swerved everyone and pulled a bait-and-switch which resulted in little more than a standard heel turn and establishing the championship contender for the next PPV. I understand why they did it, and taken as a whole it was a reasonable way to build up Foley as Austin's next challenger. Still, I'd much, MUCH rather have seen the match take place, as well as all the intriguing possibilities that could have resulted from that. The eventual outcome heavily overshadows the tremendous job done building up to the point, though I'm sure most people (myself included) are most upset because, for just a moment, the WWF suckered us into really believing the match was going to take place. We all should have known better but, dammit, the WWF did it to us again!

Setting aside the storyline for a moment, which carried through the entire show like no other angle I can think of offhand, this was, wrestling-wise, one of the weakest shows in memory. With the exception of the Owen/Gunn match, every other match on the card was either a squash, meaningless, or for some reason didn't take place. They also again set up a number of mystery surprises which didn't pay off, though as usual the fault there lies both with the vague hype machine of the WWF, as well as the wishful thinking of the fans. (No Abdullah the Butcher, no Pit Bulls, etc.)

Had the Austin/McMahon angle not been so masterfully executed this would actually have gone down as a pretty bad installment of RAW. As it is, though, it is the incredible execution of the angle which saved the show, and makes it one of the most memorable ever.

---

If you've checked out some of the wrestling news sites, you've undoubtedly heard that RAW has finally beaten Nitro in the ratings, ending Nitro's winning streak at 83 weeks. This one win certainly won't diminish what WCW accomplished during that streak, as Nitro truly did deserve to win on many of those occasions. What this win does do, however, is justify to many WWF fans their support of the promotion, and their claims that the WWF, while not always the better of the two groups, was still deserving of some respect for the quality product they often delivered. The WWF, and their fans, knew that they couldn't win in a straight-up comparison of "big names", "quality" wrestlers, or even in a comparison of money spent on production values. For the last year-and-a-half the WWF has had to rely on innovation, originality, some in-your-face shock value, and an overall superior ability to tell a story in the ring. Not everything they've done has worked, and they've had to endure some rocky times because of it, but in the end it has all served to galvanize the support among the fans, as well as generate new ones and attract WCW fans through their efforts. It's been a controversial approach: abandoning the image of "sports entertainment" and foregoing the once very lucrative children's market in favor of a more mature audience demographic. They've had to endure talent injuries, roster defections, network tensions, and a general sense of unease, unrest and distrust in the lockerroom.

What they've also done--to some extent--is prove me wrong. I never really thought the WWF could win a ratings battle again without WCW simultaneously suffering a serious slip of their own. Some may argue that that's precisely what did happen. In a minor way I'd agree, but not to the extent to which I thought would be necessary for Nitro to lose on a Monday night. How much of this win was sheer novelty value and hype on behalf of the WWF, and how much of it was a feeling on behalf of WCW fans that Nitro simply got boring and repetitive ... well, there's no real way to know which was the deciding factor. Next week's ratings will again be interesting because it would tend to show which of the above two phenomena was at work this week. If RAW is anywhere close to Nitro in the ratings, it'll prove that this comeback of theirs is for real. I fully expect Nitro to win again next week, and for many of the weeks after that. However, from here on out the ratings war could go either way, and "business as usual" may no longer be enough to ensure a ratings win for Nitro.

And on that subject for a moment, WCW has no one to blame but themselves. They knew what was at stake this week. Sure, they'll downplay this loss like crazy, but let's face some facts: aside from the ratings, WCW doesn't have much of a lead on the WWF when it comes to any statistical or financial data. House show attendance and earnings are booming for both, PPV buy rates are close (with WrestleMania's buyrate zeroing in on a 2.2 or 2.3), the WWF apparently leads in merchandise sales, as well as all foreign revenues. With "who's better?" being a debatable topic with no solid winner or loser given the differing tastes of the fans, all WCW really has to validate their claim that they're "number one" is the TV ratings.

For at least one week the WWF gets to borrow that title from them. For at least one week the numbers bear out what many WWF fans have felt for a long time: that quality matters and that the WWF--like them or not--just may be the "better" of the two promotions on occasion. The ratings may not be the final word on the subject, and they may not prove anything as far as either side goes, but for one week they serve as a validation and vindication of the WWF and their fans. For one week, and perhaps many more to come after that, the WWF is once again in the game on Monday nights.
Click to expand...

Edit: Oh Raw is on? So what? Everyone should be watching 1998 instead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

March Wrasslin' |OT| The March to Wrestlemania XXXIII!
397 398 399 400 401
20K
760K
FlammableD replied
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III |OT| The Eclipse Comes Early
29 30 31 32 33
2K
110K
Syder replied
  • Locked
NXT Takeover: San Antonio |OT| Glorious Rumble
24 25 26 27 28
1K
81K
Xion385 replied
WWE SummerSlam 2017 |OT| We Will Heel
76 77 78 79 80
4K
259K
Heroman replied
  • Locked
WrestleMania 33 Week |OT| The Ride Never Ends.
309 310 311 312 313
16K
878K
foltzie1 replied
Top Bottom