Falls Count Anywhere

01-13-04

Fine, Vince, it's MY fault.

Welcome to Falls Count Anywhere! My name is Chris, the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

RAW
Last week's show ended up being pretty bland, and a fair portion of this week's fell into the same trap. The ending this week saved it, much like the San Antonio episode.

First things first: Coach. I don't think he should be anywhere near the mic, but they put him out there with JR and The King again. Now, they did use him properly later, but still, keep this man away from the announce position when there are serious matches to be done.

Trish and Lita, who are forming a pretty decent regular tag team, took on Molly and Jazz in a match that was OK. It wasn't anything special, though Lita busted out a very nice One Legged Monkey Flip. There is a Judo name for it, but my Japanese is rusty. Jazz is solid in the ring, and Trish is great, but this was sorta just there. Having Jericho make the save when Jazz and Theodore R. Long were double teaming Trish was a nice touch, and it set up a match for later. Decent segment.

Matt Hardy comes out to complain about Stone Cold and how he hasn't been around because Austin was running things. Austin comes out and brings back Goldberg. Goldy does some business, sells a little for Hardy, which no one should complain about since he's on his way out and any rub he can give an undercard guy will help. Goldberg hit the Press Slam Jackhammer, and then the spear for the win. He looked a little weird with the full beard and no hair on his head.

Austin has a little tete-a-pate with Bischoff, telling him that he didn't go through proper channels to deactivate Goldberg. At least they had a good way of bringing him back nice and proper.

D-Von Dudley took on Bautista in a battle of the former religious tag team they formed in 2002. This was not a good match, but having Flair and Buh-Buh around helped it a little. They tease a table spot, which leads to a match at the Rumble with Flair and Bautista taking on the Dudleys in a Tables match.

A couple of backstage segments go here. Teddy Long talks about how Bischoff failed to tell him how much power Austin had and promised Mark Henry a match with Jericho. Goldberg runs into Scott Steiner, who he refers to as Scotty, and they talk a little. Scott poses, and Steiner announces that he is in the Rumble and will take Goldberg out.

Something can happen to end it all...

The Shawn Michaels vs. HHH talk-a-thon was intense, there's no question. It went a little long, but both guys were giving their best mic. HHH probably did his best promo since announcing the bounty, and HBK was as good as ever. HHH did the "Student of the Game" thing, basically saying that he considered Michaels one of the best. In turn, Michaels said that every moment something could happen to end it all, which led to him giving Coach a HUGE Superkick, KOing him to a big pop.

Seriously, the people hate Coach so much that they popped big when Michaels knocked him around. HHH sorta looked at Coach on the ground and then did the staredown after. This built their match, gave the crowd a good pop, but it did go too long for my tastes.

They were doing the Randy Orton propaganda commercials throughout the show. These are funny, as the Friends and Supporters of Randy Orton bit works. They are burying Mick a lot, as you never want your face to look like a coward, but if anyone can get around that with one interview, it's Mick Foley.

They also did a promo for Steiner vs. Steven Richards on Sunday Night Heat, basing it on the Test vs. Richards feud. It's a good sign that they are now trying to rebuild their side shows as well as the main storyline programs.

Booker T and Kane fought. It was a bad match with an ending that was either a DQ for Kane tossing Booker into the steps, or a double count-out. Not sure which, but it was a weak ending, that's for sure.

Jericho took on Mark Henry and nearly worked a minor miracle by pulling a fair match out of him. He used a lot of dropkicks, which worked, and Henry seemed to actually try. Trish came out to counteract the interference of Jazz, and they brawled into the ring, which allowed Mark Henry to get the World's Strongest Slam for the pin.

Listen for the wah-wah...

Stacey and Trish were talking about how Trish needs to let Jericho know her true feelings or things will just keep on keeping on. Good advice for all us Fanboys to remember. Christian and Jericho then had a segment where Christian said that the whole Trish thing was getting in the way, that Christian had friends on Lon-guy-land, and they would hit the town. Jericho left with him and Trish came to find him, but he was gone. The Wah-wah you hear is justified.

The Randy Orton vs. RVD match was really good, save for the fact that Orton used the body-scissors for a little too long. Orton was busted open early, but still did a decent match that the fans got into. They were popping for near falls and cheering on RVD. I still love that Over-the-Back Neckbreaker that Orton does. There was a sweet section where Orton was trying to play possum after a ref bump and low-blowing RVD. RVD made it to his feet, Orton went for the RKO, but RVD gave him a big kick in the face. It was a great escape. Orton is good, but needs to work on his transitions and groundwork. He's going to be huge, as I predict he'll improve at a Rock-like rate, which was almost phenomenal.

I'd say this was a slightly better than average show that had a few good things going, but too much non-wrestling.

NEWS
Stone Cold Steve Austin will be on Regis this coming Wednesday. I wonder whatever happened to the Janis Joplin pic that Austin had supposedly gotten a major role in?

The sister of UFC and MMA star Vitor Belfort disappeared this past weekend. There's been no sign of her, but kidnappings are frequent in Brazil.

Antonio Inoki is saying that he will be holding an Inoki Bom Be Ya in Las Vegas this coming April. That would be a big deal, but Inoki is famous for announcing events that never happen. The last thing I can think of that Inoki did in the US was the World Wrestling Peace Festival in LA in 1996. It was a big deal, as a lot of Mexican and Japanese stars that hadn't done much in the US were all over here for a big show. He was also talking about using Ken Shamrock, which is a far distant thing due to his UFC contract.

A lot of folks on RAW were upset with the way that the Coach / JR / Lawler stuff on last week's show was handled. Vince was feeding Coach lines through his headset, but most folks think that Vince was more booking to amuse himself than to put on a good product. Coach isn't very highly thought of in the world of wrestling, as folks see him as a guy who got his position by having the right look and friends, but has some promise as a heel. He's already being thought of as JR's eventual replacement.

Give more...GIVE MORE...

There is a big ole meeting called after RAW to try and get everyone to give more for the product. Seriously, it's not that the folks aren't trying, it's that the booking is bad and Vince keeps going against ideas that work. Vince is scapegoating, and in any other time this sorta thing would have driven folks to jump to another promotion. Things on RAW aren't looking up as they have very few new talents to push other than Randy Orton and Bautista.

The problem with having two young guys who are about to be pushed to the next level on the same team is you get to see too few new match-ups. If one was a face and the other a heel, then you'd have twice as many new matches to program, leading to the two new-comers facing off at a big event after each has proven themselves.

Then again, without HHH being involved, no one gets elevated. He also said that folks were blabbing too much about what's going to be at WrestleMania XX, which pissed Vince off. I actually think it's going to help TV ratings to see how they bring these matches about. Who knows?

FlashBack!
The best way to think of Bob Backlund is to imagine Kurt Angle's 2000 gimmick and make the fans love it. That's a little over-simplified, but it's basically the idea. He was the All-American Boy and one of those guys who, in the 1970s, was groomed from the start for the World Heavyweight Title. He had the look they all wanted in a non-ethnic (as most of the big time babyfaces in the Northeast were built around ethnic fanbases): he was clean-cut, had a decent physique, and a lot of charisma.

He also had an amateur wrestling background, including a Division II NCAA championship while he was at North Dakota State. He had tremendous stamina, as he was well known for his Harvard Step-Test performances, sometimes lasting hours doing the step-up, step-down. He would often do various feats of endurance on TV in his early days, which only added to his fame. He wrestled in the AWA, in Georgia, and the Mid-West, being a top-rated favorite everywhere he went.

An All-American Boy...

In 1978, he came to the WWWF and began a challenge for Superstar Billy Graham's World Heavyweight Title. On February 20th, 1978, Backlund pinned Superstar Graham to win the belt to end the first long reign of a Heel as champ in the WWWF. From the beginning, Backlund played fair and well and was a big success drawing at the most important arena in the world: Madison Square Garden.

In my opinion, one of the reasons for Backlund's MSG success was the fact that he did so many cage matches during an era when they weren't as common as they are now. The cage match had the mystique that ended feuds back then, and Backlund participated in more than any other WWWF champ up until Hogan.

His first feud as champ saw him take on Superstar Graham in a series of rematches. The first was stopped due to bleeding. The second took place in the cage. All three matches sold out.

Backlund wasn't a great worker. He had a great amateur background, but wasn't great at the pro style. The cage match format helped him greatly, since he didn't have to build a match the traditional way. Since all WWWF cage matches featured the Escape The Cage format, it allowed for a match that naturally had tension, and the crowds responded with great enthusiasm. He had cage matches against a number of legends, including Greg Valentine, Ken Patera, Don Muraco, Pat Patterson, Adrian Adonis, and Stan Hansen.

The most famous of his cage matches had to be against Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, where Snuka missed his Superfly Splash off the top of the cage, allowing Backlund to crawl out. The Snuka, Patterson, and Hansen matches can be found on the WWE Bloodbath - The Most Incredible Cage Matches DVD set. While they aren't as high impact as recent cage matches, they certainly show a match format that the fans responded to.

Bob Backlund was the last Old School WWF champion. After Backlund lost the title to the Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan came in and took over. The next generation had begun to impact wrestling with the national expansion, and the days when a guy like Bob Backlund could be taken seriously ended. Backlund stuck around a little while, but after they pitched the concept of turning heel and dying his hair, he left the WWF for a decade.

When he returned in the early 1990s, he had his old gimmick again, but this time he was played as a heel who would flip out and keep people in his crossface chickenwing submission for far too long. His last big run was with Bret Hart in a feud that I think was the highlight of that period. He won the WWF title for a second time before losing it in six seconds to Diesel.

That's all for Falls Count Anywhere for Tuesday. On Friday, you'll receive more of the same from me, including a look at the Wrestling Observer Year End Awards.

Chris Garcia