FLAIR Still Rules

[Professor S]

It never ceases to amaze me what Ric Flair can still do at his age. His match with Austin last night was fantastic, and it had a HOT crowd with only ONE punch thrown. This shows that the wrestling audience is still just that... a WRESTLING audience.

And did you notice that just by making a closed fist illegal, it auto maticall made 2 things happen:

1) The punch became a SLEDGEHAMMER. When you put as much value on a closed fisted punch the way that Flair and Austin did last night, it makes the effect of it to the audince that much more. Did you see how Austin sold Flair's punch? It was like he got hit with a car! And we all bought into it.

2) It makes for a more entertaining match. A closed fist is a CRUTCH. Closed fists aare used by many to hide poor ring skills. Notice how much more Flair and Austin did last night when they couldn't use a punch? They actually WRESTLED and used ring psychology. When Flair worked on Austin's knee, Austin sold it for the whole match and made it lok real. When you can't throw fifty punches in match, it makes the wrestlers work harder and do more.

I also have to say the booking of the match was great, also. It kept Austin's heat, since he had basically 2 wins over the much older Flair in the same night, but also let Flair look like he could still hang with the big boys in HIS STYLE MATCH. It was classic Flair with numerous eye gouges, working over of the legs, stiff chops and even the infamous Flair Flop (I popped huge for it). ustin was great also, even though I think he is aacting like a baby now behind the scenes.

In other words, GREAT MATCH!!! Made me want to watch wrestling again.

[nWoCHRISnWo]

I loved that whole Raw. The last two Raw's have been great, with a great main event each.

[Professor S]

That was the first Raw in a LONG time that i watched all the way through without flipping around. It was great, but there were 2 areas that I thought they went too far, and they both involved bodily fluids.

They need to get Tommy Dreamer away from his "Jackass" gimmick and move him on the the big time. He has the charisma and a underdog appeal that I haven't seen in quite a while. Plus he busts his ASS in the ring and will do anything that the creative team can think of. The tobacco spit last week? Oh, it was QUITE real. I've swallowed tobacco spit before by accident (I used to chew) and I got sick just watching that. But making him tap out to Taker's non-finishing move was hard to watch if you've ever seen him in ECW,l especially when Ross pointed out that he had never tapped out in ECW. This is what they should have done:

Have the Undertaker BRUTALIZE Tommy, and I mean almost beat him to death. Blood EVERYWHERE, and if you've seen him in ECW, you know he can bleed... a lot. Then the Taker slaps him in the Dragon sleeper and Tommy passes out, BUT DOES NOT TAP OUT. This would make the Taker look like more of a monster than he already is, plus give Tommy tons of heat because he never gave up.

The next Raw the show opens with Tommy Dreamer in the ring with stitches in his head, and he starts talking trash on the Undertaker, saying he wants respect, but won't give it, and then ends the promo by calling the Undertaker a PUNK. Hit Takers music. The Taker comes out and tells Tommy he just doesn't know when to give up and then they start an impromptu match. It is mostly dominated by the Undertaker, but with plenty of hope spots from until he finally gets chokeslammed through a table and then Taker does that viscious looking chair to the throat spot. The Taker leaves Tommy lying and starts making his way up the ramp, his music blaring, when Dreamer grabs the mic lying in the ring bloody and barely conscious says:

"Hey, Taker. Is that all you got? You call yourself Big Evil? More like Big P*SSY!" (instant catch phrase)

Taker is FUMING. Runs back in the ring, picks Dreamer up by the throat and choke slamms him again, and then points to the stage. he then drags Dreamer up the ramp, and with proper dramatic pause, gives him the last ride from the top of the stage through 2 tables to the floor. the taker walks of with an insane look in his eye.

Throughout the show they show paramedics working on Dreamer, putting braces on his neck, and Ross and King are playing this up like he might be paralyzed. Very serious. Then he is put in an ambulance and it drives off with no one knowing how badly he is hurt.

Next Raw, they show Dreamer back stage in a wheel chair with a brace on his neck and arm. Later the Taker is in the middle of the ring and does a promo on Dreamer saying he didn't show him the proper respect, and now he is paying for it. Out comes Dreamer, but he's in a wheel chair with a vlanket over his legs and says:

"Respect? You want respect? How can I respect you? You put me in a wheel chair!!! You've taken my livelihood from me!! Wrestling is all I've ever wanted to do in my life, and now that could be over! Respect you? F*CK YOU!!!" Real word, bleeped out, we're going for maximum realism here.

The Undertaker says you can't teach an old dog new tricks and starts up the ramp. Dreamer tries to run but the joystick for the powered whellchair is stops working. He looks panicked. The Taker grabs the wheel chair and starts heading to the end of the stage with it, he has a big smile on his face.

But Dreamer pulls a baseball bat from underneath the blanket and cracks the Taker over the head!! Dreamer then pops up and starts beating the CRAP out of the Undertaker with the and then puts the Undertaker into the wheel chair and RUNS THE TAKER OFF THE STAGE (onto those blanket covered pads they use of course). Dreamer then grabs the mics and screams:

"You want my respect, you'll have to beat it out of me!!! I challenge you to a Respect match!! The only way you win is if you make me say "I respect you". Anything goes!"

Go to Pay Per View.

What do you guys think of that? I think thats some of my best fantasy booking yet.

[nWoCHRISnWo]

That would be awesome, but if anyone thinks WWF will do anything remotely close to that, then label yourself "stupid."

Anyhoo, while WWF could do something like that, it just boggles the **** outta me why they waste their talent like they're doing now.

And back on the Flair match, it was pretty sweet but they used too many chops for my liking. Actually, I liked the chops, but they pretty much just replaced the usual punches with those chops.

[Jonbo298]

This was one of the few Raw's I sat through all the way too. But I especially liked the announcement of the new nWo member, HBK:eek:*what a shocker! he's back again!*. The second I heard that music, I was happy as hell. But nWo 4 Life!

[Professor S]

The big quetion with HBK is if he's going to be just a manager, or step back into the squared circle and cinch up those tights. My bet is he'll be a moutpiece with a limited in ring role.

I do think that he has one great match left in that wrecked back of his, so don't be surprised to see him selling like a madman one more time.