VINCE RUSSO’S VIDEO BLOG – RAW, WHAT WAS IT GOOD FOR?
HOSTS: VINCE RUSSO WITH JEFF LANE
RELEASE DATE: SEPT. 15, 2015
LINK TO FREE PREVIEW VIDEO STREAM
Report by L.K. PWPodcast reporter
INTRODUCTION
This show was Vince Russo and Jeff Lane reviewing Monday Night RAW from January 26th 1998. The show is for the VIP “Brand” members at vincerussobrand.com and from this date onwards he will be chronoligically reviewing the shows from the Attitude Era every single Tuesday.
REPORT (WITH TIME STAMPS)
(0:00 – 2:30) Vince Russo and Jeff Lane start off with putting over the new subscription price for the month of September which is $2.99 and let everyone know it is the January 26th 1998 show that they will be talking about.
(2:30 – 6:20) Vince Russo goes on a rant about the Internet Wrestling Community about recent allegations towards him regarding him being the one behind the Attitude Era. He kept on refereeing to them as “Giggledicks” and “Nimrods” and sarcasticly insults the community as a whole. He moves on and starts talking about how during this Raw, he did make a few mistakes regarding the writing of this show and goes back to ranting about the IWC, calling them followers who don’t have a mind of their own. Side Note – Russo’s target paying audience is the IWC, not the smartest of moves less than ten minutes into the show.
(6:20 – 14:13) They talk about Mark Henry vs Ken Shamrock which ended in Disqualification. Russo puts over the “Fieldhouse” which is a smaller sized building and that’s why they started with a huge brawl because when a casual viewer turned on Raw and saw the chaos with the fans going nuts, it wouldn’t make them want to turn over. Russo also talks about how his philosophy of writing is to try and make each show better than the previous week’s show which for this particular show was difficult as the show prior to this was so entertaining.
(14:13 – 17:19) They talk about the Kane and Undertaker video package. Jeff Lane thought the video package was far too long and asks if things were ever cut in post production when Raw was taped on a Tuesday. Russo goes on to say that the only thing that was cut were rest holds during matches or matches that were generally too long, but that was very rare. Russo also talks about how he got goosebumps when he saw Undertaker and Paul Bearer segments and goes on a passionate tirade on how professional and good the roster was back in 1998.
(17:19 – 20:30 ) They talk about a NWA sanctioned match which was all Jim Cornette and Russo had nothing to do with these matches and at this point they were already going on for three weeks and Lane comments that he is already uninterested. The match was Legion of Doom vs Barry Windam and Jeff Jarrett. Jeff Lane thought it was a interesting finish as Animal kicked out but the referee still counted the three count, Vince didn’t notice this when he watched it. Russo noted that it was “Painfully,Painfully long” and talks about how Hawk use to call him “vic” after his Vic Venom character which he portrayed.
(20:30 – 27:56) Next they talked about a backstage segment which featured DX. Jeff took two minutes going through the promo itself which was “Painfully, Painfully Long” and Russo admits that he made a few mistakes in this pre-tape. However, he does put over Shawn Michaels amazing mannerisms whilst he isn’t even speaking and compares him to Dean Ambrose and laughs. Russo was very annoyed that it was visible to see Michaels referee shirt and the hidden mic was visible and he wishes he could change that.
(27:56 – 30:46) They talked about Goldust vs Vader. Lane notes that Vince Russo was name dropped by announcer Kevin Kelly at the time. Lane was shocked as Russo was doing the Vic Venom gimmick. Russo said that Kelly used to work for the magazine so he did it to get the magazine over.
(30:46 – 32:40) They talk about the New Age Outlaws vs. Catcus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie and Russo puts over Foley for his promo before the match as he wasn’t scripted at all, it was just all Mick Foley. Lane says that this match planted the seeds for the referee’s going on strike in a few months time as the referee bumped during this match. Russo then starts cracking up after finding out that Terry Funk was 54 when he did the Moonsault of the top rope and onto steel chairs.
(32:40 – 40:52) They talk about a Light Heavyweight Championship match next. Jeff Lane stated outright that the Light Heavyweight Division did not suit the WWE at the time and says they only did it to try and compete with WCW and their Cruiserweight Division. Russo liked how there was only a few big spots in the match and because of this, you will remember the big spots instead of not remembering anything at all. Russo was very high on Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross debating about Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher when it comes to Christopher being “Jerry’s kid” and how funny Russo thought it was. Jeff’s dog kept on barking, so Lane disappeared for a few minutes.
(40:52 – 50:23) They talked about Owen Hart vs Triple H next. Goldust came out as Triple H and both men thought the pretend nose of Goldust when mimicking Triple H was hilarious. Vince thought that this went far too long and would have changed the length.Sargent Slaughter who was the commissioner at the time awarded Hart the European Championship and it got a big pop which Vince thought showed how much respect the fans had back then even for a championship like the European Championship.
(50:23 – End of Show) Vince Russo claims that it was a shoot that Mike Tyson was not allowed to Wrestle for WWE because of some Nevada commission rule. Also, Russo puts over Jim Ross for how well he got people excited for next week’s show and how he always told you about ticket information for next week because JR wanted “Buts in Seats” Russo’s overal thoughts on the show was that he was disappointed and if he had to have a excuse it would be that it was a taped show and kind of a reset show. Russo goes on a rant about how he used to disect the TV Ratings when it comes to minute by minute compared to todays WWE were they don’t care what the TV ratings are and do what they want instead of eliminating what the viewers don’t want. They put over the VIP subscription service and close the show.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I enjoyed this Podcast a lot and love that it is in video format. There were some negatives about this show and that is Jeff Lane. I think he is a good podcaster when it comes to his content, but his voice is really high and I have my volume high because Russo has a very deep voice so at times it hurt my ears when Jeff Lane spoke, so maybe Jeff needs a new microphone. I love anytime Russo goes on his rants, but when it’s about his target audience, the Internet Wrestling Community, I do think that is a bad idea, especially when it comes to a subscription-based service. Otherwise, I would recommend anyone who has a interest in the Attitude Era to give this a watch!
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