Kane, Disc 2 (of 3) Review
Hey folks, ThatNickGuy here. Sorry I didn’t get this done sooner, but things have been a little hectic, lately, with work and getting ready to return to school. Anyway, here’s the second part and I’m hoping to get the third one done by next week. *crosses his fingers*
WWE’s Worst Nightmare: But, wait, wasn’t he already WWE’s worst nightmare? Is he now…MORE nightmarish? Series of clips with various JR quotes such as “he’s the most destructive force in the WWE” and “Kane is a possessed man!”
I Like Weapons: No one was more deserving for pain with weapons at the time than Triple H. It was like taking candy from a baby. And you know, Kane is EVIL, so he knows personally what that’s like.
For those that missed the first disc’s review, I prefer to just do random thoughts, rather than a full play-by-play.
Triple H vs. Kane, Judgement Day ’01, WWE Intercontinental Chain Match
-Trips is out first with Steph, carrying the World belt for him (I think; it looks too big to be the woman’s title). Weird, the blue globe symbol on the IC belt is blurred out. Triple H must be imitating his idol, Ric Flair. Sorry, H, but Flair did it with one of the tag belts.
-Kane’s out carrying a big chain and it’s on, bitches!
-Why was this match set up, again? Why was it for the IC belt, not the world? My history by this point sucks, so I can’t remember. Maybe Austin had the World belt at the time?
-Kane has a bandaged up left arm, which HHH takes full advantage of.
-It’s so weird to hear Heyman on commentary. I always thought he was a breath of fresh air, bringing back the more classic heelish comments that Ventura and other heel commentators brought to the table.
-And NOW the chain is fastened between them. Valentine vs. Piper this won’t be.
-I hate not knowing what the backstory on this match is.
-Kane was in the ring while HHH was grabbing a chair…and Kane hauls on the chain from the middle of the ring, sending HHH into the post. Okay, that was damn cool and it popped the crowd.
-Seriously, why the hell was HHH IC champ at this time? Was one belt not enough for his ego?
-Titantron has a neat design with a pair of hourglasses on either side of the screen.
-Love her or hate her, Steph has some great reactions to the match.
-Sign in the crowd says “Rambo”?
-And now Austin is out. Again, I have no idea why he was out at the time. Was this when he and HHH were partners? I guess this was when Austin had the heavyweight belt.
-HUGE pop for Kane winning the belt. Just another justified means, I guess?
Surprisingly entertaining match and HHH bumped his ass off. ***
The Olympic Flame Burns out: Fighting Kurt gives Kane a chance to destroy a national hero.
Wrestlemania X8 (3/17/02) Kane vs. Kurt Angle
-“You suck! You suck!” Oh, poor Kurt. Also, it’s weird to see Kurt with hair.
-One sign says “You suk”. Well, that’s wrestling fans for you, but I’m ashamed as a Canadian to see that (this WM took place in Toronto).
-If Kurt had won his medal the way this country (Canada) had one its figure skating medal, he would have shot himself in the head. He’s the big red, white and blue machine. After tonight, Kane’s going to wish…BOOM! Heh heh. I love when promos are cut off like that.
-The mesh on Kane’s tights has moved down to the legs on his pants, making me wonder if his tailor is Brutus Beefcake.
-Man, the logo blurring is bad, here. It must be an early time of blurring.
-There are some really weird signs in the crowd. Blame Canada.
-A sign asks, “Where’s Pete Rose?” THANK YOU!
-Sign: “Hi Dave!” Is it considered uncool if I said “Dave’s not here, man”?
-You know, for Wrestlemania (and Toronto), they crowd’s not all that hot. Wait, scratch that. Kurt just worked the crowd a bit.
-Dueling punches still look weird without the “Boo! Yay!” It’s like someone doing a chop without hearing “Woo!” every time.
-Signs: “Chief (arrow pointing down)”, “Adam loves Andre”, “Dopey”, “Hi Emily”. Like wrestling tights, if you overthink wrestling signs too much, you’ll go mad. There’s so many I’m just dying to know the story behind.
-You know, watching this match again, the ending makes sense. Kurt couldn’t beat Kane with the Olympic Slam or the anklelock (pre-second deadly ankle lock days), so had to beat him cheaply.
Not a bad match. ***1/2
What Torture Really Means: Now he’s going to show Triple H what torture really means. What? Repeat his loss to Ultimate Warrior? Eh, everyone makes that joke. Alternate joke: What, making him job as a Blueblood again in WCW?
Triple H vs. Kane, No Mercy ’02 World Heavyweight Championship vs. Intercontinental Championship Match
-Kane’s now sporting the mask with the mouth cut out, which would be its last version until unmasking. Admittedly, it did allow him to cut promos better.
-Does anyone ever think Triple H walks as if he has a wedgie?
-Oop, commentators are talking about a “car accident” that Kane was in twenty years ago, so we know what point we’re at, here.
-I don’t know why, but it seems like many of these moves are awkward or slightly off-timed (Kane tossing H into the corner, HHH’s neckbreaker, etc). You would think by this point, they’d have good chemistry.
-It’s funny to see the crowd reactions at this point, rather than the earlier Attitude era. The crowds are sitting on their hands much more often.
-Here we go, the chemistry’s better, now. They just had to get a little warmed up.
-A sleeper while on Kane’s back? What does he think this is, The Princess Bride?
-Weird missed elbowdrop by Kane. He wasn’t even near HHH’s head.
-Problem with this match, I just don’t feel the apparent rage Kane should be having right now.
-And now, WOO! It’s Flair time! And the ref is down.
-Now, the crowd’s waking up. And out comes Hurricane (oh right, he and Kane were tag partners!) comes out to…get trounced by Flair.
-JR: “Powerslam! Powerslam! That should be it…” Yep, I can’t count the number of times Kane’s won with that powerslam.
-Sledgehammer introduced to add MORE shenanigans to the match. Attempted tombstone gets Kane a belly full of sledgehammer.
-Second referee is taken out by Flair and oh, my frigging god, just end this match. It’s had like twenty different endings, already.
-Pedigree finally ends it.
Not that great, but I blame the dead crowd, some awkward spots in the beginning and way overbooked finale. *1/2.
Oil & Blood: Over the years, many brave souls thought they could look into Kane’s soul. RVD is one, but they were like oil and water. Or should he say…oil…and blood. Because blood is much more eeeeevil than water.
RAW 1/6/03 – RVD & Kane vs. Chris Jericho & Christian
-Huh, Randy Orton accompanies Jericho and Christian. I love seeing matches where you get obscure wrestlers. I wonder whatever happened to that guy?
-Aaaaaand, now HBK’s out to be in Kane/RVD’s corner. Um, okay, why?
-RVD’s tights have a design of a boney spine down the back. Huh.
-Orton is now 93% healthy. I miss the Orton Update.
-Orton looks weird with so much hair. It’s like seeing Angle with hair.
-Orton beats up on RVD on the outside and HBK with a superkick knocks him out. Great, now we’ll start getting Orton Updates for his chin.
-Kane is a house of fire!! …urgh, sorry. It’s just unavoidable.
-GodDAMN, Kane got height on that flying clothesline to Christian.
-Sign: “HBK Lives Forever”. Well, compared to a lot of guys in the business, he kind of does.
-Chokeslam and Five Star Frogsplash for the win.
Nothing fancy, but it was fun. **.
My True Self: Series of clips for the match where Kane was unmasked. I’m surprised the match in full isn’t on here, but we’ve already had enough Triple H matches. Although, the editing was strange here: Kane’s face immediately after unmasking is all distorted to make him look even more monstrous. Well, anything to cover up that he looks like one of the Three Stooges.
-RVD helped Kane find his true self. Um, wasn’t that Triple H’s fault?
Raw 9/8/03 RVD vs. Kane (Cage Match)
-Like Foley, RVD is selling his ass off for Kane to make him look monstrous in his “first” match.
-Why does the ref bother warning Kane about choking against the cage? What’s he going to do, disqualify him?
-Five Star Frog Splash from the top rope...misses! It would’ve been more impressive from the top of the cage and I’m surprised he didn’t go for it.
-Heh heh, Kane doing the RVD thumbs gesture. Nice touch.
-Holy crap, he tossed RVD into the cage for like the fiftieth time and it breaks the cage; RVD to the floor…
-Bischoff: …”No, no, no! Stop! Right! There! The rules say the winner can either go through the door or over the cage to the floor, not through the cage!” A nice reaction by the commentators regarding Kane gleefully smiling.
-Kane to RVD while Rob tries to crawl up the cage: “Come on! You can do it! You’re RVD!”
-And again, the cage match wins by a pinfall, even though Bischoff, not even five minutes ago, stated how someone wins the match. Note to WWE: quit putting refs inside the cage!
Not a bad match, another ** match, but it got Kane’s character over. Huh, when he’s standing on the top of the ramp, he looks a bit like Ron Pearlman. Apologizes to Ron Pearlman for the comparison.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
July 21, 2003: Kane has been on a rampage! Kane tosses RVD into the Titantron and sparks fly. He grabs Linda McMahon (great reactions from her, surprisingly) and tombstones her on the hard, unforgiving, cold steel!
-Kane says those McMahon’s never learn. For his whole life, Shane has had his whole life handed to him on a platter. Kane wasn’t going to change that trend. He was going to serve him food? Ohhh, he’s going to hand him the beating of a lifetime. Gotcha.
Last Man Standing Match, Shane McMahon vs. Kane – Unforgiven ‘03
-Kane out, first, wearing a black towel that I thought was kind of a cool visual in light of his long hair.
-Shane’s immediately out with a chair, serving up an ass kicking. Again, those unprotected chairshots to the head are just scary.
-Kane goes to block another headshot and gets one…well, a little lower. Oh, it’s the kneecap. Well, where’s the fun in that?
-I gotta admit, the match itself is pretty fun so far. Shane’s really selling the anger of the angle.
-Damn good height on the chokeslam.
-And once again, the problem with a Last Man Standing is a lot of standing around.
-Sign: “Frank (down arrow). Hi Frank!
-Kane is saying something to Shane before going to grab the steel steps. And JR & Lawler don’t know what he’s saying. That’s what we call “Doing a bad job commentating”!
-Sign: “Kane = Uncle Fester”. It’s funny ‘cause Kane is bald!
-Shane’s keeping Shane down by holding the steel steps over him in the corner. But, wouldn’t Kane be strong enough to push them off if he’s strong enough to lift them? Ah, well, Van Shaninator hits, anyway and the crowd does the first “Holy shit” chant. RVD who?
-Crowd’s chanting something else while both guys are down, but of course, the commentators don’t tell us. Damnit, DO YOUR JOB!
-Brawling on the outside and it’s starting to feel like the end of the match. There’s no giant stack of barrels to use in this case, though.
-Shane thrown face-first into the Unforgiven sign…and a second time…and a third…and a fourth. Dayum. It’s all about that unforgiving Unforgiven steel sign.
-Shane thrown into the side of the Spanish announce table, which is now situated near the entrance? And now Kane turns over the whole table onto Shane! Gotta admit, it looked heavy.
-Kane goes to check on him…but it’s a ruse! Shane got out of the way in time.
-Boom camera to the face of Kane! Nothing fancy about this match, but damn, it’s fun! Heh, and the boom camera shot now has a broken lens in a nice touch.
-Both on top of the Spannish announce table-less stage, now, and definitely feeling the end of the match now. Chokeslam blocked into a DDT.
-Heh, instant replay shows the boom mic hit from its point of view. Now we’re getting more shots from said cam.
-Crowd is LOVING this match.
-Shane’s climbing up the side of the entrance and here we go…
-…Kane moves! And that’s it. Shane can’t get back up.
DAMN fun match and probably the best of the DVD so far. Shane, as usual, brings the goods. ***1/2.
Sending Him to Hell: Being beaten and left for dead wasn’t enough for Shane. It wasn’t going to end until Kane wanted it to. And it was only going to end by sending Shane straight to Hell! In an ambulance. Huh, who knew that’s how you’re transported.
-Epic music from Excalibur builds up the feud. Kane coming back repeatedly from being burnt alive or getting in a car accident reminds me of Jason Vorheez.
Shane McMahon vs. Kane – Survivor Series ‘03
-Ambulance has a warning to “Stay Back 500 Feet”. I get the feeling that rule is getting broken. Because this match has NO RULES!
-This is an “advanced” ambulance (name of the company). So advanced, that it can send someone STRAIGHT TO HELL.
-The two pyro posts closer to the camera’s view sputter out before the back two.
-There’s a big bulldozer in the background. Was there a Buried Alive Match at this event, too? Oh, maybe ‘Taker/Vince? I think it’s about the same time.
-There’s a lot of black: the steps, the mat, the ring apron, the ropes. No wonder people thought this time in wrestling was so depressing. Although, I wonder if they’ve ever thought to put advertisements on the mats? It’s like a giant advertising canvas just waiting to happen.
-Oh yeah, there’s a match going on, here!
-Air Shane gets a LOT of height on an elbowdrop from the top rope to the table.
-Sign: “Shortman 3:16”. As I said, if you stop to think about it, you go mad.
-Brawling to the backstage and you can hear the crowd die down…and the camera goes dead, too! Crowd didn’t like that.
-Shane beats him down with a stick and then…backs a truck into Kane, sending him into the glass in the security booth!
-Shane shouts into a radio, “Send it. SEND IT!” Ohhh, he means the ambulance.
-Waaaait a minute, that ambulance is a Greater…something EMS truck. If it’s not the same ambulance, will it count for the win? You know, like that dumpster match?
-Kane’s up and alive, tossing Shane back and forth into the walls of the hallway.
-And the camera cuts out again. Crowd does NOT like this. And they come back through the curtain into the arena.
-“Ambulance” is spray-painted backwards on the truck. I wonder if that’s to be helpful for people with concussion? You know, like “What does the sign say?” “Ambulance” “Okay, you’re reading it backwards. We’re taking you to the hospital.”
-Shane thwacks Kane with the back door of the ambulance. So, are those the GATES TO HELL!?
-For all the negative treatment the crowd’s received (brawling backstage, camera’s going out), they’re surprisingly into this match.
-Shane setting up a big block on top of Kane and a trashcan for good measure…climbing on top of the ambulance…
-Van Shane-inator!! Crowd, of course, chants “holy shit”, but it’s half-assed. Probably due to the power of Satan being so close to the ambulance, so it’s not so “holy”.
-Kane’s arm blocks the door from being closed and drags Shane into the ambulance! They were BOTH halfway to Hell!
-Kane tosses Shane headfirst into the ambulance. It’s about a .5 on the Nash/Rey scale.
-Tombstone on the concrete floor near the ambulance. Man, they’ve BARELY been in the ring at all.
-And that did it. Shane is GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL! Lawler says Shane’s going to the hospital, but this is Kane’s DVD, so I’m going to believe Kane, first.
-That’s two matches in a row where Shane is taken away by medics. Must be a McMahon thing.
Again, a damn fun match, minus the technical difficulties. These two had a really strange, fun chemistry. **1/2.
My Appetite for Agony: Kane will feast on the fear of the innocent. Wait, Lita is innocent? That’s news to me.
-Awww. We get a big, romantic moment between Matt and Lita with cheesy music and all. Oh, but Kane has an announcement: the baby she’s carrying? It’s KANE’S! A nice consolation: the baby MIGHT be Matt’s!
-Oh, right! This is where we had the whole Snitsky “it wasn’t my fault!” bit. Classic.
-Man, props to the promo guys because this whole silly angle feels EPIC!
Matt Hardy vs. Kane – Summerslam ‘04
-Sign: A Decepticon symbol. Dude, you’re at a wrestling event. People already think you’re a nerd. Don’t make it worse.
-Lita’s wearing a sundress to “hide” that she’s pregnant. She looks a little chunkier, but I’m about 90% sure that she wasn’t legitimately pregnant at any point.
-Matt Hardy Version One-a! Sadly, no Matt Facts.
-Anyone else think Matt’s face looks like someone played with the face features in The Sims a little too much?
-Sign: “Close Mondays”. Um, okay?
-What is it with matt’s tights where he has white tights, but giant black blocks where the pockets and his kneepads are supposed to be? As I said, you stop to think about it and you’ll go mad.
-Twist of Fate on the outside!
-Lita’s grabbing the bell. Isn’t that more of a heelish thing to do? Or is it less evil when taking on a giant monster?
-Sign: “Kane (badly drawn sperm with Kane’s face on it)”. Ew.
-HUGE chokeslam from the second rope and finishes it. GREAT finish.
Well, that was short, but good and a really kickass finish. **1/2
-Lita runs away, arms flailing, in fear of having to marry Kane. It would’ve been a lot more effective if she didn’t flail her arms like an idiot.
Special Features
1) Kane is Ready…Are you Ready?
Hogan’s uneasy about teaming with Kane. Rock does an impression of both King Kong Bundy (Hi! HI!) and Kamala. Kane comes along and Rock tries to psych him out. Kane is ready. And he asks if Rock is rea…IT DOESN’T MATTER IF HE’S READY! He talks about the 20,000 Kanenites and asks whatcha gonna do when Hulk Hogan and The Rock and the Big Red Machine run…WILD ON YOU! *pose, pose, pose*
So, I wonder how Evil Kane would rationalize that? “I was merely playing mind games with The Rock and Hulk Hogan. It brought me great pleasure to give them a “what the fuck?” look. I didn’t care if it was a popular backstage segment. Or that it popped the crowd. In fact, I looked forward to watching from the apron as the nWo mercilessly beat two legends to a pulp.”
2) Chicks Dig the Mask – 3/28/02
Jericho says that he is a huge rockstar, not to be intimidated by a big red jackass in a scary mask and…uh…(Kane: You are what?). Like Jericho said, this interview is over. Marlena (I can’t remember, was she always Marlena?) called makes out with Kane after he kissed her last week while Reporter Gregory Helms watches on. Chicks dig the mask.
Evil Kane’s probably rationalization: “I’m a freak. And I knew that Marlena liked freaks. I also knew that our making out would make my tag partner uncomfortable. So, I let him think it was for the mask, because I’m evil.”
3) Kane is Quite Disturbed About the Current Situation – 12/26/02
Kane feels like unleashing Hell, the likes of which…
RVD: Kane is quite disturbed by the current situation.
He’s going to cram his fist down his throat so far…
RVD: Kane looks forward to working all these issues out in the spirit of competition.
Even if he has to work them out himself…
RVD: Or with the help of his new best friend. Rob. Van. Dam.
Kane doesn’t appreciate being mocked. RVD isn’t mocking him, though! They’re cool, dude, but he thinks Kane gets a little too amped up and needs to release inner Kane. His inner child. Coach says it’s like going to Disneyworld and sings It’s a Small World After—ah!! It’s not a small world, it’s a painful world! A fact that Batista is going to find out…right now!
RVD: It’s a small world? Dude, what have you BEEN smoking.
Heh. Okay, that was pretty funny.
4) Jim Ross Interviews Kane – 7/14/03
-This is post-unmasking. Flashback shows Austin trying to turn him back into a monster.
-Kane was a happy, normal child until fire turned him into a horrible monster.
-RVD and Austin are his friends.
-Kane’s burn marks are superficial! All they wanted was to show his face to make fun of him.
-Kane’s very oddly shaved head, with the back of it as a bit of fuzz, looks ridiculous. Not quite Damien Demento ridiculous, though.
-JR is blatantly reading his lines from the clipboard in his lap. This is almost as noticeable as Marlon Brando reading the script lying in Kal-El’s ship when doing his speech in Superman.
-DON’T MAKE FUN OF KANE, J.R.! *glass shatters* And out comes Austin to talk some sense into him.
-You wanna know why Kane does the things that does? The only way is to experience them yourself! J.R. needs to feel Kane’s pain! And he tosses J.R. to the floor, pours gas on him and sets him on fire.
-Funny, the gas must’ve given J.R. an instant weight loss because he looks about 50 pounds lighter. And he makes his voice look badly dubbed over rather than being right there. Someone puts out the fire, J.R.’s put 50 pounds back on and oddly enough, there are no signs of burns. It’s a miracle!
5) Kane & Lita Get Married
-Red lights on the crowd and everything is white, including the musicians, the priest, the…midget…ring bearer? And midget flower girl? Lawler wonders if the flowers might be poisonous.
-Spooky, ominous music and it’s Kane’s music via violin and piano. It…actually sounds kinda cool. Reminds me of Mankind’s exit music. And of course, Kane is wearing all white for the first time since his Isaac Yankem days.
-Here comes the bride…all dressed in black. Heh, as silly as all of this is, the visuals are fun.
-Signs: “Don’t marry Kane, Lita!” “Honeymoon in Hell”. That’s odd; I don’t see any ambulances for them to drive away in.
-Bischoff has some things to say. Let’s hope he doesn’t believe marriage lasts three minutes. Aw, he wants to read his favourite passage from the Bible. I’m getting teared up here.
-The groom has put together a special video to show his love for Lita. And it’s a beautiful montage of moments between the two, put to soothing music. *sniff* Excuse me, I’ve got…some ash in my eyes.
-Kane’s vows: When he first chose her to be an instrument to carry his seed, he saw her as nothing more but…his instrument? But now, she is also his property. She will never feel the embrace of another man (until Edge). Until the day she dies. You are his! *grabs a hankee* I’m getting choked up, here.
-Lita’s vows: She hates Kane more than life itself. She has no choice but to marry him, but loves and will always love Matt Hardy (until Edge). She keeps flubbing her lines, actually, but she sincerely hopes Kane rots in Hell. Again, where’s the ambulance, damnit!?
-If anyone objects to this marriage…silence. Oh, but no, it’s Trish and…OH. MY. GOD. If this were a match, this would be SIX stars just for Trish’s outfit. She wants Lita to know that everything is going to be just fine. All she has to open her heart…just like Lita opened her legs (to Edge)…CATFIGHT! Best. Wedding. EVER.
-Lita, do you take this man yadda yadda yadda? She…she does.
-Kane, do you yadda yadda yadda. OH YEEEEAAAH! Whoops, that’s not Kane or the Kool-Aid Man, that’s Matt’s music. He takes out Kane and rushes with Lita up the aisle…and blocks their exit with a wall of fire. Sadly, Matt will not WALK THROUGH THE FIRES OF HELL, KANE. Chokeslam off the ramp onto the table.
-Kane screams at the pastor to finish this and straightens himself in a funny little moment. He may now kiss the bride.
-Goddamn, that was entertaining in a trainwreck kind of way. Ten stars! Yeah, that’s right. Ten. Mind you, as I established, six of those are for Trish’s outfit, alone.
I hate to be a troll, but this review is just horrible. It’s not really a good idea to provide random thoughts with no description as to what’s going on for a dvd we’re not watching with you.
I have to respectively disagree. I really enjoyed this review; I think the “style” is a breath of fresh air these days, and it feels like a lot of the same (or similar) comments I might make myself watching this.
Great job, looking forward to Disc 3!
err, respectfully, I meant. Dur. 8 hours of work and head cold will do that too you.
I do appreciate the honesty and can see why you don’t care for the random thoughts. If you see the first disc, I did do a play-by-play for the first match and I didn’t really enjoy it as much. It felt like it took forever to type out descriptions of near everything that was going on, having to stop and rewind, etc. I don’t know how Scott does it.
That said, the previous disc did get a lot of positive feedback. And I still cover the major points of the matches, for the most part, so I’d like to think you can get what’s going on.
But, as the old adage goes, you can’t please everyone. But thanks!
I like this reviewing style, but I have a freakishly good memory when it comes to wrestling, so I remember all of the storylines in question.
However, I could see why some others wouldn’t like it, if they’re not familiar with what was going on.
It feels like Hyatte’s Mop-up style, though Hyatte will always be the king of that.
Do you have a link to an example of this that I could refer to? Just for my own curiosity, to see if maybe there’s something I could to do make it a little more reader-friendly.
He doesn’t really do it anymore, but this is his latest one: http://hyatte.blogspot.com/2009/04/wrestlemania-jason-powell-and-how-about.html
I like this style of “review” a lot although to be honest, it’s more like a written version of a DVD commentary since it assumes you’ve already seen the matches/movie/main feature.
As for ambulance being written backwards, I always thought it was for drivers ahead of an ambulance to see in their mirrors to influence them to move aside and let the ambulance through. I don’t know how the flashing lights and loud siren wouldn’t be ENOUGH of an influence, of course.
I couldn’t be bothered with any of it. He listed the first match as for the IC title, then wondered if HHH’s wife was carrying the World or Women’s belt, then wondered why HHH was World and IC champion… I have a freakish memory for detail, but even if I didn’t, if I were writing a review of a show, I’d care enough to just look up the results of the show on Wikipedia so I’d have some idea what’s going on. But if the author doesn’t care to understand the storyline of the match he’s reviewing, I’m not gonna bother with the rest of his work. He’s clearly not going to have any real insights.
Plus, it’s a KANE DVD. Seriously, who gives a shit?
Don’t bother with part 3.
*shrug* Your perogative. I’ve been a casual wrestling fan, at best, in the last five years or so. I used to have a huge cache of useless memory for this stuff up until all the belt changes, unifications, etc. I seriously don’t CARE about the history and really, for the casual fan who might be interested, WWE should have taken better care to explain some of the backstory, even briefly, through their great montages.
I explained why I bought the Kane DVD in the first disc review.
I’ll bother with Part 3, but you’re welcome not to read it.
I liked the bit I read. Honestly, Kane is one of my least favorite wrestlers ever, so reading about his DVD isn’t that appealing for me. I also enjoyed that Kane’s music was performed at the wedding, nice touch.
I gonna be a smarky smark ass here… but frankly if you have no knowledge of the history going on… you shouldn’t be reviewing it… Scott please don’t let any shmo write on your blog.
Wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to long review and not particularly ‘funny’.
To quote SK…. Thumbs Down.
I had some knowledge, as by the end of the match with Triple H, I remembered it was the period when he and Austin were partners for awhile.
As far as remembering history, Scott’s slipped a few times, as well. I recall when he commented about Mr. Hughes managing HHH and not remembering it (something I remember, as it was just before Chyna came in).
I’ve been far too casual a fan in the last few years to care. I’ll go by memory and whatever they present to me. Disc 3 will be interesting, as it’s almost all stuff I’ve missed.
This isn’t a scholarly research paper where I spend days scouring Wikipedia or other wrestling sites for background. This is meant to be quick thoughts, as I watch it, reacting to what I see. If you REALLY want the historical background of a match, go ahead and read up on it yourself. Or just don’t read my quickie thoughts if you don’t enjoy them that much.
I’m going to go in a different direction and say I’ve actually enjoyed parts 1 and 2. Whats more remarkable is you’ve actually caused me to be interested in the set and Kane in general, something that hasn’t happened since the time post wrestlemania 14.
As far as the history goes, I’m in the same boat as some of the others with knowing too much, although after the invasion I definitely dropped out of watching as much as I used to. Anyways, solid review.
Good review overall, however the HHH v. Kane match was a major low-point that opened the review (and prevented a number of people from reading it.) I understand that you don’t care about the history, but if that is the case, don’t make FOUR separate bullet points concerning the history you don’t care about.
Your post in the comments section noting that the WWE has a massive video library that they should be taking advantage of before all DVD matches belongs in place of many of those lines where you just say you are confused. It would sway the reader from “this guy needs to use google more” to “…wow, the WWE is missing a golden opportunity here.”
While lots of people are getting down on you for not knowing history, I side with you in the “WWE should be using their resources better” department. I think a decent idea would be to attempt to offer a “casual fan” perspective when DVD’s do not provide enough background on some of the matches. If the WWE does not provide any substantial background prior to the match, why not write the review from the perspective of someone who has never seen much WWE television outside of the match that is presently airing. Give us insights on what you think the average fan would think the match is about only going off of the present action and commentary. Be satirical or serious or both. The result would probably infinitely more entertaining than copy/pasting from Google.
The last real gripe I have is that in the HHH v. Kane match, is that in addition to repeatedly drawing attention to that you don’t know what is going on (without arguing that the WWE should be cognizant of that issue arising for new/casual/forgetful fans), you can’t tell the difference between the World, Women’s, and Tag titles. And you are surprised by the blurring of the IC title, hinting that you don’t really know what that belt looks like either. If this is not the truth, your words need to be more clearly formulated in the next review.
And, in your confusion, you take a number of shots at HHH. Most of them fail:
“-Trips is out first with Steph, carrying the World belt for him (I think; it looks too big to be the woman’s title). Weird, the blue globe symbol on the IC belt is blurred out. Triple H must be imitating his idol, Ric Flair. Sorry, H, but Flair did it with one of the tag belts.”
Steph was carrying the TAG belt.
“-Seriously, why the hell was HHH IC champ at this time? Was one belt not enough for his ego?”
I don’t know if you would have attempted this joke if you knew he was the tag champ and IC champ as opposed to the World/IC champ, but either way it loses its effectiveness considering he dropped the IC title that night to Kane and the Tag straps to Y2J/Benoit the next night.
Entertaining snarky comments are few and far between, but these are pretty terrible as they are made EVEN AS YOU ADMITTEDLY HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON, and they fall flat(er) as a result. You are better than that and so is the rest of your review
Looking forward to the 3rd disk. Keep improving
Thanks for the constructive feedback, man. Admittedly, I was REALLY confused by that first match, mostly due to my poor memory in regards to the history at the time.
For the third and final disc (and potential future reviews), I’ll take your advice and try to make comments on how the video library on the DVD’s is ill suited for the casual fan, which is what I’ve become in the last few years.
Although, I think your point about starting out on such a low-point explains why I recieved more positive comments for the first disc.