Guest TSMAdmin Report post Posted July 11, 2003 WWE Confidential June 21, 2003 Whomever coined the term “lazy days of summer” ought to be shot and dumped in a ditch. I have been busier in the month of June than any other time in recent memory. Yet, here I am, somehow muscling through an hour of the WWE. Just as a sidenote before we get down to business, my Confidential reviews will now also be available on TV Tome, so check that out. They are also going to be appearing on ANOTHER website: wrestlepain.net (links for both can found after the review). If anyone can name a WWE TV show repot that appears on more websites than this one, let me know. Keep in mind, my work not only appears on the sites listed at the bottom of each column, but COUNTLESS other sites regularly post these very reviews on their sites without my permission. Talk about an ego trip, eh? Although do my habitual lateness, reports from 411 and 1wrestling are beginning to get stolen ahead of mine, BUT we all know that if I posted these in a timely fashion 411 and 1bob would have nothing on me. One Year Ago Diamond Dallas Page’s career 1/1 BTWS: Stacy Keibler 1.5/2 William Regal’s reptiles/RVD vs. Eddie in a Ladder match 2.5/3 Lita’s depression due to her injury/McMahon comments on Austin 2.5/4 DDP on his learning disability 3/5 The divas talk about proms 3/6 You can find this review HERE. This week on Confidential: Madison. Square. Garden. ‘Nuff said. Gene talks about how Vince Sr. sold out 21 straight shows at MSG and was then inducted into the MSG Hall of Fame. Since then the WWE always has (and always will) consider Madison Square Garden its “home”. The segment picks up from there. Stephanie McMahon always feels the spirit of her grandfather when they hold a show at MSG. Bob Orton Sr. and Freddie Blassie share their thoughts. Fabulous Moolah is proud that she was one of the first women to wrestle in the arena. Tommy Dreamer used to be a regular, as he attended EVERY monthly show. Jim Ross claims that the pop HHH received when he returned from his injury was the biggest he ever heard. As if JR had ANY credibility left, that line would have taken whatever he had remaining away. Two words: Hulk Hogan. Tazz calls his debut match against Kurt Angle the greatest professional moment of his life. Everyone always busts their ass at MSG… blah blah blah… It’s the pulse of the WWE… yadda yadda yadda… History will continue to be made there… etc. etc. etc. This segment could have been SO MUCH better. I don’t know, maybe highlight the biggest matches to ever happen at MSG? All they mentioned was Snuka, Hogan winning the title, Patterson-Slaughter and HHH’s return. There is a hell of a lot more that could have been included in this segment. Not to mention the fact that they ALWAYS mention those three matches when discussing MSG. Seriously, spice it up a little. Offer us something new. Segment 1: 0/1 Brock Lesnar joins us to examine his F5. Supposedly he came up with the move while watching Japanese tapes and after consulting with Johnny Ace. Isn’t the F5 more or less Marc Mero’s old TKO? I mean sure Brock makes it look better, but essentially it is the same move. A move that even SABLE had pulled off on occasion. Brock talks about exercises like squats and log carrying which help him to deliver the move. I wonder how many logs Sable had to carry in order to TKO Marc Mero. His favorite F5 was against the Big Show at the Survivor Series. He is also proud of using the move on Rikishi and Mark Henry. What was the point of this segment? Any idiot with a half a brain should be able to tell how an F5 is performed. Maybe the WWE should put out a DVD of the Superstars teaching us their finishers, like the time the Steiner Brothers taught all of us suplexes on Coliseum Home Video. I’ve been dying for an instructional video depicting the Pedigree. Once I know how to correctly hit that move I will be able to keep everyone down. Now was that joke so bad that it was good, or just plain bad? Segment 2: 0/2 One on One: Kurt Angle There is a chance that this segment will not suck. Then again the same could have been said for the opener. Velour is back in fashion. How much credit do you take for that? None. We know Kurt Angle could do anything, but is there anything you are bad at? Bathing, showering. Anything that has to with personal hygiene. As someone who lives in Pittsburgh, you do know that the Pirates and Steelers haven’t won anything since the 70s? I know that you idiot. He gives Josh Matthews a good whack for asking that one. This segment is already better than the other two. Who is the bigger Pittsburgh icon: Willie Stargel, Terry Bradshaw, or Kurt Angle? Kurt Angle, but the other two are close second and third. Was American Idol named in tribute to Kurt Angle? No, I’m an American hero. What is your favorite angle: Right, Obtuse, or Acute? He starts by saying right, but then rattles off the names of all his finishers. In conclusion, he likes anything that has the word “angle” in it. Maybe he just doesn’t know what an acute or obtuse angle are. Who cried the loudest while in the Angle lock? Chris Benoit. He cried like a little wuss. Uh Oh, was that shot at the IWC? Is it fair to say that your broken neck is an average man’s sprained ankle? Are you an idiot? I had a broken freakin’ neck. A broken neck is a broken neck. A sprained ankle is a sprained ankle. If I had a sprained neck I never would have left. Did any athlete at the 1996 Olympics overwhelm you? After taking offense to the last question, Kurt takes out his aggression on Matthew’s questionnaire. Shaquielle O’Neal. Yeah I spelt it wrong. Get over it. Why has Mary Lou Retton been on a Wheatie’s box, but Kurt Angle hasn’t? Josh really struck a nerve with that one. Kurt doesn’t know why. Maybe it was timing. Either way he is getting fired up. Josh makes sure to note that MANY people have been on Wheatie’s boxes before. This prompts Kurt to note that Josh came from Tough Enough, and he didn’t even win the damn thing, thus he is a “LOSER”. Kurt abusing Josh has to be worth something. Segment 3: .5/3 Don’t you just love in when Confidential repeats individual segments from the past? I know I do. From my March 22, 2003 review: Current and past WWE staff members comment on the first WrestleMania. Gerald Brisco: The concept was first thought of in a meeting at Titan Towers. He mentions that one year earlier another promotion tried to do a similar show and failed. He is either alluding to the NWA's Starrcade or one of those joint-promotion shows under the AWA banner. I'm not really sure. Brisco knew that if anyone could pull off a show like this it would be Vince McMahon. Bruce Prichard: Originally thought it was the craziest idea he ever heard. He thought it was horrible for the business if wrestlers mingled with actors. Gerald Brisco: There were doubts going into the show concerning production, the live aspect, and the Closed Circuit TV theaters. Bruce Prichard: Although he was against the show, he still laid down the money to see it. Gerald Brisco: He was at a Closed Circuit venue in Florida and was shocked to see thousands of people show up. It all snowballed from there. Bobby Heenan: (Canned Footage) WrestleMania was the greatest thing he ever saw. Jimmy Snuka: (Canned Footage) His favorite event was the first WrestleMania even though he didn't compete. All he did was accompany Hulk Hogan and Mr. T to the ring, but it was unbelievable just to be a part of the show. This segment was mildly interesting. Nothing really fascinating was said though. It was just a bunch of comments that you would expect to hear. Since we saw this already and it pretty much sucked the first time, it gets no points. Segment 4: .5/4 Ric Flair visited Melbourne, Australia to promote an upcoming Raw brand show. He met with some of the Australian football players and they taught him how to play their country’s version of the sport. These guys are in the presence of RIC FLAIR and THEY are teaching HIM how to play football. Something is wrong with that picture. Finally Flair puts someone in the Figure Four to demonstrate that it is indeed a legitimate hold. Flair closes the segment with one of his “crazy old man” promos to hype the event on July 31. It was cool to see Ric Flair, a fucking legend, interacting with these guys as compared to the last bunch of segments we got devoted to wrestlers overseas. All those damn castles. Segment 5: 1/5 From the Vault: Nunzio Reason for choosing the match: He was there live and “coincidentally” it is also from MSG. WWF Title: Bob Backlund w/ Arnold Skaaland vs. Iron Sheik w/Ayatollah Blassie ~ December 26, 1983 Sheik jumps him before the bell as the announcers (Patterson and Monsoon) put over a prior injury to Backland’s left arm. Blassie yells, “BALI BALI BALI” at ringside as the Sheik goes to work on the arm. Sheik with an armbar as Backlund whips him off. [CLIP] Backlund begins to mount a comeback and he even sells the arm CONSTANTLY throughout. This is the reason why I love old school wrestling. The wrestlers actually followed through with injuries and did not act like ADD freaks while on the offense. The Champ fails with a suplex attempt. Blassie screams, “CHEAT!” from ringside. Gotta love Freddie. Sheik is back on the arm. Backlund with a headbutt and some stomps. He attempts a slam, but Sheik falls on top for 2. Sheik pulls back both of Bob’s arms and drives his knee into the back. Backlund tries to power out to no avail. Heel managers are great. They yell out directions through the entire match and the directions generally further the psychology of the match. Who needs referees and the participants quietly calling spots when a manager can blatantly yell them out from ringside? Backlund flips out of the hold and hooks Sheik’s legs for 2. Backlund applies a headscissors. Sheik counters for 1, which Backlund bridges out of. He goes for a backslide, but his left arm is too weak. Sheik drops an elbow, but Backlund rolls out of the way. Backlund counters a suplex with a rollup for 2. When Sheik kicked out Backlund landed square on his neck. Blassie instructs Sheik to go to work on the neck. He traps Backlund in the camel clutch. Skaaland (knowing Backlund would never quit) throws in the towel. (8:22) This match is historically significant for two reasons, one positive and one negative. First the negative, the only reason this match took place was because Backlund did not want to job the title to Hulk Hogan, thus he lost this match and the title in screwy fashion. The Sheik was a lameduck champion for a little under a month. In the long run this really didn’t matter since Backlund disappeared until 1993. This is where the positive comes in. Skaaland throwing in the towel is what fueled Backlund’s return, heel turn, and eventual title win over Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1993. He would then lose the title a few days later in a 6 second match to Diesel which took place at Madison Square Garden. And look at that, we are right back where we started, MSG. Go figure. As for the quality of this match, it was pretty good psychology-wise, but it was also a little on the dull side. All in all, I would rate this much higher than most of the From the Vault offerings we have had thus far. Segment 6: 2/6 THIS IS IT The show started off badly and ended on a relatively good note. Overall though due to majority of the segments sucking (and the rerun segment) this was a pretty crappy installment of Confidential. At least the From the Vault match made for a good conversation piece. Drop me a line. Take a look at my Archives. Check out my Amazon Wishlist. My DVD List (Profiler Version) My DVD List (Aficionado Version) 1. The Smart Marks 2. Wrestling Headlines 3. Wrestling Nation 4. Old School-Wrestling 5. The Wrestler Online 6. TV Tome: WWE Confidential 7. Wrestle Pain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
