Falls Count Anywhere

08-12-03

On Sunday I had a private beat-down and wine-swilling.

Welcome to Falls Count Anywhere. My name is Chris and I am the last best hope.

RAW
Well, I only got to see RAW after the fact, so fast forward was an option…and one that I exercised. Not a great show, somewhat clumpy, in fact.

The opening segment with Bischoff was acceptable, but not overly so. He has that charm that makes you hate him, and he is usually entertaining, but he plays it so big that it can come off as forced. JR got that big ole pop when he came out. That section wasn't bad at all. For all his faults when he is out of the announcer's booth, JR came off very well here, and even Lawler was better than usual. When Austin came out, it lost it for me. The angle has been done so many times before, and the obvious bait and switch was lame. Austin got the good reaction, and his mic work was solid as always, but it just deflated the scene.

Rico and Jacky Gayda (which always makes me think of my Boston friend Janice saying "Gaydar") had a terrible match with Scott Steiner and Stacey. It was awful when Steiner was in, even worse when Gayda got the tag. Rico is talented, but if they want to get anything out of him, they'll have to repackage him under a mask as they have blown all possibilities with him otherwise. It looked like Jacky landed ass first right side of Stacey's face during the finish. Man, she really does suck.

The Dudleys and La Resistance was just the short little business that was needed to set-up the big beat down and wine-swilling. This was a good idea done rather well. The attack was good, especially after replaying the Dudley attack from last week, and the pouring of the wine and burying Buhbuh under the flag was great. La Resistance got some pretty good heat, too.

One day, Goldust will live his dream of being a Power Rangers villain.

The Molly and Goldust stuff with Lance Storm was funny, but again, it built to nothing. The Goldberg/HBK/Nash stuff was just there.

Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't get it, but the Kane stuff outside of his attacks on the McMahons has really not interested me. I hated the stuff he did with Bisch out at the ambulance. I wish they would just make him a monster, have him run through everyone and get some money out of him.

Having Christian enter with Booker T's music was a nice touch. The injury to Booker must be pretty bad if they had to do the switch off on TV. Christian vs. Spike was a longer match than it needed to be, but I liked it. Spike makes for a good feeder to a new champ, and always gets good reaction to his comebacks. I loved the double footstomp in the corner by Spike.

The Kane vs. Bischoff match was lame. I understand that it set up the story that they are planning on following, but why not just have Kane beat him down and then become the real monster? Well…why not? The RVD post-match was OK, but they need to do this feud right and I am still not feeling it.

The three-way for the belt was 'eh. I do like Gail Kim, but she can't hang with Trish and Molly. They know this game too well.

Can't hang like Trish.

I like the Shane vs. Bischoff match they set up with that contract signing. I really like Shane, and I am fairly certain that he'll step it up for the match.

Hey, the Rosie stuff about being a Super Hero In Training continues to suck. Hurricane continues to rule as he beats Rodney Mack. No Teddy Long, so I was bummed. What I expected from this match, and Hurricane was as good as always.

I was not a fan of the Highlight Reel this week, mostly for the obvious jokes. Jericho was good, and the concept of a Nashole is one that I will always treasure.

The Goldberg vs. Flair match was just another example of what they have been doing wrong all over. Not keeping Goldberg rolling with win after win hurts him, even if he eventually gets the win. The match was average, though better than many Goldberg matches, and having him win against long odds was nice to see. The brawl after was OK.

I'd say this didn't do much for the overall, though they did set up Shane vs. Bisch. I'm not terribly interested in the RAW stuff for SummerSlam yet. They gotta bring it together with the next show.

NEWS
Well, it looks like Booker is going to out for a while with the back injury. I've seen reports of 6-8 weeks, but I'm betting a little longer as he has had back troubles before.

Hulk Hogan lost a suit against WCW and Vince Russo. Basically, they said that the suit was groundless as Hogan was claiming that the Russo tirade against the aging star at the 2000 Bash at the Beach was defamation against his character. The judge said that it was against the character Hulk Hogan and not against Terry Bollea, so that got dropped. There is still a breach of contract deal to be settled from the same incident.

FlashBack!
My dad used to tell me all about Ray Stevens. Dad hated Stevens from the first time he saw him wrestle, and even when he went face, Dad never accepted him as a good guy. As it was Dad that introduced me to the matilogical arts, I followed him in that opinion for many years, not coming around until he showed up in the AWA with my all-time hero, Nick Bockwinkle. The reason Dad hated Ray so much stemmed from what many folks think is the greatest angle in the history of Bay Area Wrestling.

Pepper Gomez was a big star muscleman type around the Shires San Francisco territory. He was one of the best built wrestlers of his era, and best known for his indestructible stomach. He would no sell a body shot every time which got him way over.

The man with the iron stomach and the golden smile.

Well, on TV one week, they had a challenge where Pepper would allow the baby faces to jump off the ladder and put the big double stomp onto his stomach. The guys were jumping off from the middle or near the top and Pepper was taking it well. Ray Stevens, a heel who was on the rise, came out and started telling the guys to jump harder and from higher. Eventually he got on the ladder and came off, which Gomez took easily. He then asked to do it again from the very top, on the step that is not a step.

Instead of coming down with the double stomp to the gut, he delivered the big Bombs Away (flying knee) to the throat. The move had been banned and everyone started screaming. Pepper started coughing up blood and writhing in pain. The crowd was hotter than fire for blood, and Ray ran off.

This set up the rematch that sold out the Cow Palace and I believe still holds the record for wrestling in the venue to this day. 17,000+, far beyond capacity and fire marshals were threatening to shut it down (legend says that they were placated with autographs, but I've never known whether or not to believe it).

The match was huge, got coverage on all the wrestling magazines around the world, and both Gomez and Stevens were celebrities showing up on talk shows and at the weekly Roller Derby shows as stars. The match was great, as Stevens was one of the best workers in the world at the time, and the ending left everyone wanting more. They started talks of holding a rematch at Candlestick Park, and they might even have managed to sell it out if they had done it right away, but Stevens, a hard liver if there ever was one, broke his ankle racing go-carts and the match had to be postponed.

Ray Stevens died in 1996, and I believe Pepper Gomez is still alive and living in Texas. San Francisco wrestling has been dead since 1980. The record still stands and whenever Dave Meltzer is on KNBR he always gets at least one caller who asks about the Stevens/Gomez feud. Maybe every wrestling booker working today should be forced to study it. Or maybe the days when a huge deal could be made of a simple wrestling angle are well and truly gone.

That's all for today. I'll be around Friday with more news, views, and fun.

Chris Garcia