Post by Choose Slack on Jan 23, 2007 12:49:05 GMT -5
Just got ahold of this DVD last night and thought I'd do a brief review on it...
Kurt Angle beat Rey Mysterio: Very very good opening bout of the evening. Right from the beginning, Rey continued playing the pesky, but competitive, opponent to the ex-WWE Champion. While the pace wasn't super quick for a 9 minute match, it fit the storyline well. Furthermore, this encounter had above average psychology, some excellent reversals, and most importantly, 2 great performers. ****
Ric Flair beat Chris Jericho: I remember at the time really being disappointed with the way the WWE set this match up. It could have been classic, yet I wasn't looking forward to this match as much as I should have been. Having said that, I usually enjoy watching Jericho perform & Flair gave quite a performance considering his age. Although, Flair's variety of moves had already diminished at this stage (chops, low blow, chops), the match was better than I expected it to be. It was a surprise that Flair won, and at the time, I thought the feud was going to go on to bigger & better things (ie: who is the dirtiest player in the game). Unfortunately, it never really did. *** 1/2
Edge beat Eddie Guerrero: Another match where I was a little disappointed with the set-up to what was obviously going to be a great feud. But these guys really did let their in-ring work do the talking. Twelve minutes was only just enough for these two, but in that time, they showed that they were both going to be worthy of future WWE Title reigns. The pacing of this bout was excellent, as was the variety of moves. There was also good psychology, where Eddie worked on Edge's shoulder like only the heel Eddie can. Some critics won't like the way Edge bounced back from the attack & defeated Eddie, but it didn't bother me a great deal. If you recall, Edge was slated to get a WWE Title shot at the end of 2002, so he had to pull out the victory somehow. ****
Lance Storm and Christian beat Booker T and Goldust to retain tag titles: This was the classic (hated) heels vs the (over) faces tag match. The UnAmericans were getting a huge push at the time & the WWE were basically doing anything & everything to get them heel heat. The bout included everything we could expect from the match, without being anything spectacular. Test interfered to keep the title away from the super-over faces, and I could have sworn that referee Nick Patrick was staring straight at him at the time. *** 1/2
RVD beat Chris Benoit to win the IC Title: At the time, this was a Raw vs SmackDown match, as Benoit had jumped ship to SmackDown with the InterContinental Title. The slowish pace at the start of this match told me that these two were going to get at least 15 minutes (they got 16). Because of this, the crowd was surprisingly quiet at first, but came to their feet after Benoit gave RVD 3 Northern Lights Suplexes!!! These 2 then continued to give a stellar performance. I thought their styles might clash, but RVD really seemed to work off of Benoit's intensity amazingly well. A surprise win to RVD resulted. ****
Undertaker beat Test: OK, who put this match so late on the card? I wasn't expecting too much of a match out of these two, but really thought the WWE might try something different. They didn't, but it was definitely watchable. However, The Undertaker manhandling 3 opponents seemed to contradict the push that The UnAmericans were getting!!! ***
Shawn Michaels beat Triple H in a 'street fight': This is the match that critics love to argue over, as when viewed with a microscope, it does have holes in it. I will go on record now as stating I don't really give a crap. This was a match that was supposed to be viewed for entertainment purposes, and in that light, is purely amazing. Firstly, kudos to the WWE for the production on the preview before the match. It has to be remembered when viewing this bout, that it was HBK's first match in 4 years!!! I remember expecting the quality to be average with both men being really careful & maybe concentrating on 2 or 3 big spots. But exactly the opposite occurred. This 28 minute contest had it all & was reminiscent of the April '96 match between HBK & 'Diesel' Kevin Nash. After the upset victory to Michaels, Triple H increased his heel heat by clubbing Shawn Michaels in the back with his sledgehammer. My 2002 Match Of the Year. *****
Brock Lesnar beat The Rock to win the World Title: There are a lot of things to discuss about this match. Firstly, the WWE needed to have some sort of a segment before the match to cool the crowd down from the excellent HBK-HHH match, thus the silly segment involving Finkel & the ladies. Secondly, the New York crowd did to The Rock what they did to HBK at Survivor Series '96 & booed him constantly, which surprised the hell out of me. Considering this, it was very difficult for both wrestlers to play off the crowd the way they would have planned to before the match. Considering the circumstances, I thought they both did ok (especially The Rock). After 16 minutes of good action, Brock Lesnar hit the F-5 to become the youngest ever WWE World Champion, only 5 or so months after his debut. On original viewing, I rated this match *** 1/2. However, I thought I would view it later on to judge it independently from the event (due to the HBK-HHH match). On second viewing, it was a very good match, with some real competitive action befitting the most prestigious title in the business. If anything, I was a little disappointed that Brock Lesnar didn't pull out the Shooting Star Press to win the title. ****
Overall: *** 3/4
Kurt Angle beat Rey Mysterio: Very very good opening bout of the evening. Right from the beginning, Rey continued playing the pesky, but competitive, opponent to the ex-WWE Champion. While the pace wasn't super quick for a 9 minute match, it fit the storyline well. Furthermore, this encounter had above average psychology, some excellent reversals, and most importantly, 2 great performers. ****
Ric Flair beat Chris Jericho: I remember at the time really being disappointed with the way the WWE set this match up. It could have been classic, yet I wasn't looking forward to this match as much as I should have been. Having said that, I usually enjoy watching Jericho perform & Flair gave quite a performance considering his age. Although, Flair's variety of moves had already diminished at this stage (chops, low blow, chops), the match was better than I expected it to be. It was a surprise that Flair won, and at the time, I thought the feud was going to go on to bigger & better things (ie: who is the dirtiest player in the game). Unfortunately, it never really did. *** 1/2
Edge beat Eddie Guerrero: Another match where I was a little disappointed with the set-up to what was obviously going to be a great feud. But these guys really did let their in-ring work do the talking. Twelve minutes was only just enough for these two, but in that time, they showed that they were both going to be worthy of future WWE Title reigns. The pacing of this bout was excellent, as was the variety of moves. There was also good psychology, where Eddie worked on Edge's shoulder like only the heel Eddie can. Some critics won't like the way Edge bounced back from the attack & defeated Eddie, but it didn't bother me a great deal. If you recall, Edge was slated to get a WWE Title shot at the end of 2002, so he had to pull out the victory somehow. ****
Lance Storm and Christian beat Booker T and Goldust to retain tag titles: This was the classic (hated) heels vs the (over) faces tag match. The UnAmericans were getting a huge push at the time & the WWE were basically doing anything & everything to get them heel heat. The bout included everything we could expect from the match, without being anything spectacular. Test interfered to keep the title away from the super-over faces, and I could have sworn that referee Nick Patrick was staring straight at him at the time. *** 1/2
RVD beat Chris Benoit to win the IC Title: At the time, this was a Raw vs SmackDown match, as Benoit had jumped ship to SmackDown with the InterContinental Title. The slowish pace at the start of this match told me that these two were going to get at least 15 minutes (they got 16). Because of this, the crowd was surprisingly quiet at first, but came to their feet after Benoit gave RVD 3 Northern Lights Suplexes!!! These 2 then continued to give a stellar performance. I thought their styles might clash, but RVD really seemed to work off of Benoit's intensity amazingly well. A surprise win to RVD resulted. ****
Undertaker beat Test: OK, who put this match so late on the card? I wasn't expecting too much of a match out of these two, but really thought the WWE might try something different. They didn't, but it was definitely watchable. However, The Undertaker manhandling 3 opponents seemed to contradict the push that The UnAmericans were getting!!! ***
Shawn Michaels beat Triple H in a 'street fight': This is the match that critics love to argue over, as when viewed with a microscope, it does have holes in it. I will go on record now as stating I don't really give a crap. This was a match that was supposed to be viewed for entertainment purposes, and in that light, is purely amazing. Firstly, kudos to the WWE for the production on the preview before the match. It has to be remembered when viewing this bout, that it was HBK's first match in 4 years!!! I remember expecting the quality to be average with both men being really careful & maybe concentrating on 2 or 3 big spots. But exactly the opposite occurred. This 28 minute contest had it all & was reminiscent of the April '96 match between HBK & 'Diesel' Kevin Nash. After the upset victory to Michaels, Triple H increased his heel heat by clubbing Shawn Michaels in the back with his sledgehammer. My 2002 Match Of the Year. *****
Brock Lesnar beat The Rock to win the World Title: There are a lot of things to discuss about this match. Firstly, the WWE needed to have some sort of a segment before the match to cool the crowd down from the excellent HBK-HHH match, thus the silly segment involving Finkel & the ladies. Secondly, the New York crowd did to The Rock what they did to HBK at Survivor Series '96 & booed him constantly, which surprised the hell out of me. Considering this, it was very difficult for both wrestlers to play off the crowd the way they would have planned to before the match. Considering the circumstances, I thought they both did ok (especially The Rock). After 16 minutes of good action, Brock Lesnar hit the F-5 to become the youngest ever WWE World Champion, only 5 or so months after his debut. On original viewing, I rated this match *** 1/2. However, I thought I would view it later on to judge it independently from the event (due to the HBK-HHH match). On second viewing, it was a very good match, with some real competitive action befitting the most prestigious title in the business. If anything, I was a little disappointed that Brock Lesnar didn't pull out the Shooting Star Press to win the title. ****
Overall: *** 3/4
