Falls Count Anywhere

12-23-03

The Wrestling Awards are coming.

Welcome to Falls Count Anywhere! My name is Chris and A Merry Christmas to All!

RAW
RAW was a review show, and if you thought that the selections were typical of the show, you'd think that RAW had a pretty good year. The match choices were very good, though there were a couple of questionable selections otherwise.

As it was a clips show, I won't go into every segment detail, but I'll say that they chose matches that had good heat (though I did detect some sweetening). RVD vs. Christian in the Ladder Match was solid, though far from the level of Christian and Edge's TLC classics or even RVD's match with Eddy Guerrero from 2002. The Frog Splash off the top of the ladder was a great spot. It also showed that RVD has his rough edges, but he can bring an entertaining match if he's given the right opponent and the larger spotlight. He's been waiting for the top of the card for a while, and if he can tone down the recklessness and pick up his consistency, he'll be a valuable new main eventer.

Yeah, I'd have that face if I were in his position, too.

Goldberg vs. The Rock was a match they needed to show right now. With The Rock likely returning in the next couple of months, keeping him in the spotlight is a good idea. Goldberg looked like a superstar in the match. So much heat that you forgot that Goldy has been waffling ever since. The match was good, with Rock doing everything he could to build the drama.

Why choose the Pie-eating Contest as a highlight of the year? It was nothing they should be bringing up again. It's not like they needed more Austin on the show, as he was all over the last half. This was an awful segment that they should have let rest in the vault.

The WWE will likely get a little heat for the tribute to the six stars who passed away this year. They chose Stu Hart, Miss Elizabeth, Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig, Crash Holly, Road Warrior Hawk, and Classy Freddy Blassie. They didn't mention The Sheik, who did good business with Sanmartino back in the day, or Larry Booker, who held the WWF Tag Titles as one-half of the Moondogs. Still, with the Evanescence song and the clips they chose, it was a nice segment. Closing with Blassie walking out into the light made me realize that I'm still not over it.

Easy, Big Fella...

They Rock Segments they chose were funny, including the one with the Hurricane backstage where the two of them were priceless (my favorite line has to be Rock rubbing his thigh saying "Easy Big Fella"). They should have shown the Rock vs. Hurricane match that was better than it had to be.

HHH vs. Flair was a real good match, even in the clip form they showed it in. I wish they had shown the celebration in its entirety, but the match alone was good enough.

Showing the Team Bischoff vs. Team Austin match from Survivor Series was a great way to end the show. It was a really good match, with good heat, and a performance by Shawn Michaels that had a great effect on the Christopher J. Garcia Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Wrestling Excellence. It also showed what the WWE used to know when it was still the WWF. You can do a Main Event with six, eight, or ten men and tell a compelling story that gets guys over. They used to do it every year as the July PPV, but they've pulled away from that a good deal. They should do it more often.

This was a fun show, but most review shows are. They managed to push Michaels vs. HHH from San Antonio a bit, too, which should make for a great match next week.

News
Well, there are reports that folks were concerned with the recent loss by Rey Mysterio to Brock Lesnar in front of Rey's hometown fans. The thought is that by having Rey lose in front of the SD crowd, it'll hurt the future box office for the city. There is an easily viewable precedent for this theory. In 1987, Starrcade came to the UIC Pavilion in Chicago with the Road Warriors looking to be winning the Tag Titles from Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard of the Four Horsemen. The Warriors lost by DQ, and the city, after being so hot for the NWA for years, didn't do big business again until the Nitro Era. Not sure if this will be as big a deal, but there may be troubles. (There is a semi-rebuttal to this theory in FlashBack!)

Lots of places are reporting that Ultimo Dragon is unhappy in the WWE and is looking for a way out. Well, Duh.

Speaking of ways out, Goldust was released from his contract a month early. The WWE had made it known that they were not interested in picking up his contract, but they let him go so he can get Indy bookings and work for various Japanese promotions. There is even talk of him reteaming with his Dad, Dusty, which would mean a serious mending of fences has happened since Goldust divorced his wife Teri.

FlashBack!
Christmas Night, 1982 in the Dallas' Reunion Arena. World Class Championship Wrestling had managed to get a date on NWA Champion Ric Flair for the lucrative holiday. They had been building the Von Erich boys chasing Flair's title and everyone expected that Kerry would win it on Christmas in Dallas. To ensure that everything would be on the up and up, Michaels P.S. Hayes was named referee.

Relive a classic screw job...

The Freebirds had been buddy-buddy with the Von Erichs for a while, to the point where earlier on the Christmas Show Freebirds Hayes and Terry Bam-Bam Gordy teamed with David Von Erich to take on Mike and Ben Sharpe and Kelly Kiniski to determine the first WCCW Six-man Tag Champs. The choice gave fans even more hope that Von Erich would win big. Gordy was also at ringside with the rest of the Von Erich family, just another piece of insurance. Things didn't quite work out like that.

The match itself was great. Flair was having his normal match and Kerry was at the height of his career, when he could still get a good match going if he had to. Flair looked to be ready to fall, as Kerry was beating him all over the ring. Kerry headed for the door, when Terry Gordy slammed it closed on Von Erich's head. I've been told by folks who were there that the crowd nearly rioted, that the heat was so intense that some folks feared for their safety. The heat carried over and set World Class on fire for years.

This type of booking was brilliant. Take a local hero, and Kerry Von Erich was about as big a local hero as you were going to find, and put him in a match where he can't lose. Now, you have him cheated out of it by his best friend and you've got return business for as long as you like.

It makes sense, but it has to be done right. They couldn't have done this as a DQ screw-job. They couldn't have done it where Von Erich wins but then Hayes reverses the decision. They had to do it the way they did, where they cost Von Erich the match when he is inches away from winning. It was brilliant booking.

That's another Falls Count Anywhere! Coming Soon: The Christopher J. Garcia Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Wrestling Excellence.

Chris Garcia