Notes From The Nose Bleeds #3
March 8, 2009
By: Matt O’Brien of WrestleView.com
WCW: Alone It Was Not
You didn?t have to pay for this seat so claim it! Grab your post-its and dried out pens, and pull out that can of Old Milwaukee you stole from your buddy’s garage because its time to take some Notes from the Nosebleeds!
Last week I took a look at Uncensored and some of the awful things that happened on those shows yet how some stars were able to shine through the mud and save these shows. While WCW was truly a cluster, WWE is far from perfect. In fact, WWE has had some terrible shows that they have made you pay to see. Yeah, you have had to pay to see matches more confusing than a First Blood Cage Match. I am going to list off a handful of some really bad WWE shows and what went wrong and how wrestling improved. I do not mean any disrespect to the people who put so much work into these shows, but let’s face it, they were awful.
December to Dismember:
I really don?t have to say much more to say. However, I do want to add that ECW could get away with only promoting a couple matches for a pay per view, but this show quickly proved that it will not get the job done these days when fans were only told of two matches before the show.
Wrestlemania 2000:
While this monster of a show lacked two huge stars with The Undertaker and Steve Austin on the injured list, it was an opportunity for others to rise up and seize the day. We saw just that with a spectacular Ladder Match for the Tag Team Championship, as well as a Two Fall Triple Threat Match, but we also witnessed one of the worst main events in mania history. It was the big championship match being put up between four men; Triple H, The Rock, The Big Show, and Mick Foley. As happy as I was that Foley was in a Mania main event, I personally believed he belonged in the championship match the year before. Also, if you go back and listen to the crowd reaction when Foley was eliminated during this match, the fans? did not boo because they were disappointed that a good guy had lost, they were mad that Foley had come out of retirement only to fall to the guy who originally sent him into retirement yet again. Big Show’s place in the match was deserved, but he was almost immediately eliminated. The show also only featured one singles match. When you have nine matches, one of which is a battle royal, and only one of those matches is a one-on-one affair, you know you have an overloaded card. In some ways this match mirrored past Wrestlemania’s by featuring several tag team matches, but this show was just too packed. The following month’s Backlash was more of the real Mania as we saw one of the greatest shows of the year with a climactic main event with The Rock and Triple H going at it with Steve Austin in The Rock’s corner.
Armageddon 1999:
The two big matches on this show were Triple H fighting Vince McMahon in a street fight and The Big Show defending his championship The Big Boss Man after Boss Man broke into Mama Show’s house and revealed the champion to be a bastard. We?ll just stop there.
Wrestlemania 18:
Does it make me a bad person that I didn?t like the Hulk Hogan-Rock match? Probably. The real show was Ric Flair vs. The Undertaker. Surprisingly, another good match was Christian challenging Dallas Page for the European Championship. Other than that, this show featured Steve Austin in a midcard match, Chris Jericho being crushed by Triple H, Edge fighting Booker T over a shampoo commercial, and the last Wrestlemania appearance of the I-C Title only given five minutes to open the show.
Royal Rumble 2006:
Two not-so-great championship matches and the greatest Rumble win ever in Rey Mysterio’s record breaking time turned into an afterthought by being placed in the middle of the show. Mysterio then went on to win the Championship at Mania an still didn?t get the main event. I guess if you win the Royal Rumble when it is a midcard match, you get to go to Wrestlemania and wrestle in a midcard match.
I know so many people work so hard to make these shows successful but something hinders their execution. While it is frustrating to wrestling fans, we can only hope that the business learns and moves on.
December to Dismember was the last brand exclusive pay per view and that is the way it should be. They also learned to announce more than two matches before a show. Some conspiracy theorists may think that they intentionally made the ECW pay per view disastrous, but I?ll leave that up to you to decide.
Since 2000, no Wrestlemania has been overly packed with matches. Some of the recent Manias such as 19, 21, 23, and 24 featured a reasonable number of matches given what Wrestlemania is supposed to mean in terms of quality and not quantity.
We still see awful storylines but at least we haven?t seen any more storylines over bastard children?oh wait!
The Rumble has gained much more of its momentum in recent years and a big part of that is its return to the main event of the show which is where it should be. Also, the championship matches have returned to a more epic feel as big matches are featured instead of rematches or midcard challengers.
Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian, The Hardyz, Ric Flair, and The Undertaker are just a few that have managed to save a show on more than one occasion. In some strange way, we needed these shows to be bad so we could truly appreciate the great matches. The brawl between Taker and Flair at Mania 18 would have been overshadowed if the rest of the show had lived up to its potential. Mysterio’s Rumble win may have been overshadowed, but they haven?t made the same mistake since. The two Triple Threat Matches at Mania 2000 were two of the most memorable matches of a memorable year. I guess the wrestling business is just even stranger than we think sometimes.
Blood drops:
I Have My Fingers Crossed Note of the Week: Rey Mysterio fails to qualify for Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 25 but legendary Ladder Match pioneer, Mark Henry, has a spot on the show!
Quote of the Week: So much of my love of professional wrestling is built on nostalgia. (Alfonso Castillo)
Rumors Excite Me Note of the Week: There may just be a Divas Battle Royal at Wrestlemania. I hope the divas get their chance to shine.
Triple H vs. Randy Orton may be the most personal and passionate main event in Wrestlemania history.
There is a lot of talk over which legend will emerge to confront Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania, but I really wish they wouldn?t use a legend at all, rather a younger star with respect and ties to tradition. Why not Rey Mysterio?
How would Cody Rhodes look dressed up like Goldust?
Maryse needs to not talk right now?and she should eat something. I?m pretty sure I?ve had Twix bars bigger than her.
Congrats to my buddy Shane who is happy to have his main man The Undertaker going against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania.
Any great memories of some awful shows or maybe some blood d rops of your own? Email me at obrien.matt@live.com. Thanks for reading!