Falls Count Anywhere

03-09-04

Do you think Dawn Marie enjoys experimental film?

Welcome to a condensed Falls Count Anywhere! My name is Chris and the Cinequest Film Festival has been tough…tough but fair.

SmackDown!
SmackDown was one of those shows that built to the coming PPV well, but if it hadn't had that, it wouldn't have been good on its own. They are so much smarter about building to Mania than anything in a long time.

In short, the highlights included Dawn Marie looking Hot as a Frying Pan. Seriously, they need to get her into the pages of Playboy and quick. Brock was really good on the stick after driving Austin's ATV to the ring. His match with Holly wasn't bad either. I seriously think that he'll keep improving as long as they keep giving Brock good things to do.

Angle had a nice little segment, but the return of Funaki was awesome. The match wasn't bad, but Chavo Sr. dropped the greatest piece of commentary of all time: "This is a Shenanigan!" I was rolling.

Should we call him the Rattlesnake?

The Paul Heyman vs. Eddy Guerrero thing is another spoke in the "Turn Eddy into Austin" wheel. Heyman is great in the role originated by Vince McMahon, and Eddy cuts some terrific promos that are highly entertaining. Eddy is way over, and he'll continue to be as long as they keep pushing him like a star. Great in-ring interview segment.

The Six-man with Kidman, Dragon and Mysterio taking on The Yakuza was really good. They are pushing the Cruiserweight Open very smartly. The bit with Bradshaw and Farooq confronting The World's Greatest Tag Team was a little too 1997 for my tastes, but they are at least trying to give guys personalities. They have all the wrestling skills, they just need a serious reason to use them to get in with the crowd.

The final match, with Eddy having one arm tied behind his back, was an obvious angle, and one I think they did with Austin too. IT was obvious that Angle was going to leave him laying, but the story worked for me.

Again, good building show.

RAW
RAW was only OK, as they've blown their wad with amazing shows the last few weeks. Still, there was plenty of good.

Introducing the casket and setting up the return of Undertaker wasn't needed, but it was a nice touch. The eight man wasn't bad, as the guys they are trying to build up, Cade and Jindraik and La Resistance, are fairly decent in the ring. The Hurricane bit with the Rock was funny, but the last time these two were together was far better.

The Matt Hardy vs. Chris Benoit match was good, but way too short. Hardy is so ready for a real push, but he's being saddled with the losing streak gimmick. If they made wins and losses really count, like having graphics showing the number of wins and losses, breaking a losing streak would mean something. Benoit looked good, and got an OK reaction, but not one that would give Vince much reason to hope that Benoit will draw big as champion.

The post-match in-ring interview with JR was good, as the crowd reacted to Benoit as a face and to Michaels as a heel. This actually will work in favor of the match at Mania as the Face Benoit will have to overcome long odds to win, which is a much better story.

I think she's going to lose her hair.

Molly took on Lita in a match that showed how far Lita has to go to catch up with the rest of the ladies. Molly kept attacking until Victoria made the save. She's actually making an OK face, like Bugsy McGraw back in the old days of the NWA.

Austin did some talking, Evolution took on Rosey and co.

The rest of the show was OK, but it all built to Foley: This IS Your Life. That was funny stuff. Evolution coming out and attacking was plainly in sight, but the Sit-Out Powerbomb that Batista gave Rock was really sweet.

All in all, not too shabby, but not spectacular.

NEWS
Hercules Hernandez passed away on Saturday of a heart attack. I would say he was in his late 40s. He was a star in the WWF during the boom period, though he rarely drew a dime. He wrestled a classic, though not very good, feud with Billy Jack Haynes over who had the better full nelson. At WrestleMania III, Herc was trapped in the nelson outside the ring and Billy Jack puked on his back. Herc also wrestled in various small feds like Memphis and Florida, and worked WCW as Super Invader. This is another death of a guy who was massively juiced for most of his career.

There has been a lot of wrestling talk at the Cinequest film festival. There was one of the screenplay finalists whose screenplay featured wrestling, and another who has the rights to the life story of the legendary Sputnik Monroe.

That's all for this abbreviated Falls Count Anywhere! I'll be putting up more news from Cinequest over the week and will be back on Monday with a jumbo edition.

Chris Garcia