Saturday, July 23, 2005

WWE Raw – September 9, 2001

1 – Kane and Bradshaw vs. Lance Storm and Christian
This match wasn’t really bad. Bradshaw looked especially stiff, even for him. The champions (Storm and Christian) didn’t get much offense in at all, which made them look pretty weak. The match moved well, though, until the end was tainted by unnecessary interference. Who’s Kane kidding?

2 – Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Steven Richards
Richards rushed through a few of his sells. Bubba was pretty stiff, per usual. It was a little longer than I expected. Their finishing sequence came off looking contrived.

3 – Stacy Keibler and Victoria vs. Terri and Trish Stratus
This was a jumbled mess. One of the worst excuses for athletic competition on W.W.E. programming this year.

4 – Christopher Nowinski vs. Tommy Dreamer
Was this even a match? Tommy Dreamer came down and interrupted Nowinski’s promo. When they actually started fighting the only person in the World looking more confused than I was probably Dreamer himself. He didn’t seem to know what he wanted to do in there at a moment or two. He nailed Nowinski with about a dozen cane shots in a puzzling waste of time.

5 – Triple H vs. Spike Dudley
Whoever told Triple H he was the best wrestler of the year must be delusional. I simply loathe Spike’s horribly weak offense. This match will be remembered however due to Spike executing the ugliest flying head scissors ever. Triple H blocked a Dudley aerial attempt with a forearm. Right. Triple H nailed the Pedigree, but Dudley landed on his right hip and arm instead of flat. A sleeper hold came out of nowhere in an odd placement in the match, which coincidently was the finish to this dud. The “game” would be more aptly titled the “shame”.

6 – William Regal and Test vs. Booker T and Goldust
There was an awkward moment where Regal and Goldust had a miscommunication and both threw punches at the same time, and then kind of stood there perplexed before Regal just stiffed him and took back over. Goldust was in the ring the majority of the match getting pummeled, which itself wasn’t paced well. Probably the slowest of the actual matches on the show. At one point Goldust kicked Test and instead of selling the impact of the move, Test climbed in-between the ropes and literally leaped out of the ring. Booker nailed his big axe kick on Regal, only to have him sell it 10 seconds later. The finish was soiled by interference, which is a bad trend on this weekly program.

7 – Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho vs. Big Show vs. Jeff Hardy – Four-Way Elimination Match
Big Show attempted to assist Jericho by boosting his splash on Van Dam in what was titled a “rocket launcher” and easily one of the more hideous spots of the night. Hardy and Van Dam nailed consecutive top turnbuckle dropkicks on Big Show in a cool spot. Jericho unleashed some pretty sick chair shots on all the other participants. Big Show tried to do his one spot where he punches a chair when someone swings it at him, which drives it into their face. But, instead he missed completely and looked like a big oaf, as Jericho stood by confused. Jeff Hardy threw some strikes that looked weaker than Judy Bagwell’s. Jericho pinned Hardy with a Lionsault he hardly connected with. Jericho killed Van Dam with a brutal german suplex. Jericho was visibly caught talking to Van Dam during an infamous Van Dam forearm frenzy. I must say Van Dam was pretty damn solid on his aerial attack, which can sometimes by downright sloppy. Just to let everyone know who’s fucking the boss’s daughter, Triple H made his presence felt before the show was over.

2 comments:

Jessie said...

i'm remembering that match with hhh and spike...what an ego stroke, as if he's the only guy that can win with a sleeper hold

Brian said...

the sad thing is, spike's offense looked almost more credible than hunter's!