WWE - Taboo Tuesday (DVD)

...were two different shows of WWE action; Raw, shown on a Monday night in America, and Smackdown, which recently changed from a Thursday to a Friday night. It got too much for many people, even for the 'marks' (or the die hard, soap opera like fans) of the show who were fed up with seeing the same guys on top all of the time and hogging the coveted Championships.

When the WWE announced their first ever 'fan interactive' pay per view ...
...a year in which the WWE don't mug us. I can never really see the point in buying the pay per view anyway; you might as well wait for the DVD to come out. Here, however, I shoved a tape in the cassette player the following day when it was repeated on Sky Sports and watched in 'awe' as history was made in the world of wrestling.

Match #1: Chris Jericho defends his Intercontinental Championship against; Shelton Benjamin, Batista, the ... more

(Please Note: this is a film - or pay per view - only review; no extras or DVD features are discussed. Thanks)

After the buzz and excitement surrounding the shifting world of wrestling from the latter part of the 20th century and into the early naughties, it's fair to say that after that everything went a bit downhill; the bouts weren't as entertaining - mainly because the influx of wrestlers from defunct companies like WCW and ECW were one sided, boring matches that were awfully predictable. Then there was the fact that there were two different shows of WWE action; Raw, shown on a Monday night in America, and Smackdown, which recently changed from a Thursday to a Friday night. It got too much for many people, even for the 'marks' (or the die hard, soap opera like fans) of the show who were fed up with seeing the same guys on top all of the time and hogging the coveted Championships.

When the WWE announced their first ever 'fan interactive' pay per view in the early part of October in 2004, I met it with a much cynicism as I would have with any of the companies 'pre determined' events. I knew from the start that the commentators, wrestlers and general managers (or the on screen bosses) would be 'lightly persuading' the fans into which stipulation or wrestler to vote for during each match.

WHAT WAS TABOO TUESDAY?
Now known as Cyber Sunday (because they changed it to a Sunday night...it would look kind of foolish calling it Taboo Tuesday now), the original idea for Taboo Tuesday's interactivity would be that the fans created the bouts that evening, via the internet and the fans who attended the live show that night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

For each of the eight matches of the night, there would be three options or opponents for the fans to choose from. For example, for a shot at gaining World Championship gold against Triple H, the fans had to choose between Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit and Edge. The participant with the most votes went on to face 'The Game' later on that night. Where a weapon or type of match would be decided, let's pick Gene Snitsky vs Kane, the fans had the pleasure of choosing between a lead pipe, steel chair and a chain (don't worry, I'll get to that act of stupidity a little later on!).

The only match this wasn't applicable for was the Intercontinental Championship match, in which there were many more than just three options. That was about the most unpredictable as the whole thing got in all fairness, which is pretty shameful really.

The voting for each of these matches started the previous night on Monday Night Raw and halted just before the condition for each match was announced. I think this was the pay per view where they sternly told fans that 'every vote counted'; you had to put in a special, personalised number every time you voted, so that you couldn't cheat. Shame really as it might have been a little more enthralling.

THE MATCHES
Although there were eight matches - and I use that term most loosely, as you will realise later on - none of them lasted for very long at all. Sometimes, I was grateful for this, other times, not so much so.

1. Chris Jericho defending his Intercontinental Championship (10.55 minutes)
2. Women's Battle Royal for the Championship (5.30 minutes)
3. Gene Snitksy vs Kane w/Lita (14.17 minutes)
4. Eugene vs Eric Bishoff (2.00 minutes)
5. La Resistance defend the World Tag Team Championships. (16.15 minutes)
6. Christy Hemme vs Carmella DeCesare (1.49 minutes)
7. Triple H defends the World Heavyweight Championship (14.05 minutes)
8. Randy Orton vs Ric Flair (10.35 minutes)

THE PAY PER VIEW
Thankfully, here in England, we got it for free. I think we get about four ppv's a year in which the WWE don't mug us. I can never really see the point in buying the pay per view anyway; you might as well wait for the DVD to come out. Here, however, I shoved a tape in the cassette player the following day when it was repeated on Sky Sports and watched in 'awe' as history was made in the world of wrestling.

Match #1: Chris Jericho defends his Intercontinental Championship against; Shelton Benjamin, Batista, the Coach, Rhyno, the Hurricane, Rosey, William Regal, Tyson Tomko, Val Venis, Chuck Palmumbo, Steven Richards, Maven or Rodney Mack.
My Pick: Shelton Benjamin
Audience's Pick: Shelton Benjamin (37% of the votes)

The Match: Although the initial vote may not have been as clear as some may have liked, I was so happy when Shelton got the vote; I really anticipated a match between him and Jericho of legend, and was pleased to say that neither man disappointed. There was a lot of fast paced, good back and fourth action between the two athletes and I honestly expected nothing less than a solid opening bout which is exactly what we got. I think that this match really displayed Jericho's ability to work well on a level with a new, up and coming superstar and Benjamin shone as a worthy competitor for the gold.

Marks out of 10: 9 - in an interview some time after this match, Jericho revealed that he had no idea he was to be facing Benjamin that night. If that is indeed the case, then I am honestly completely shocked; both men gelled so well against each other and started Taboo Tuesday off with a bang. My only problem was that the match should have been a bit longer. At not even 11 minutes long, the ending felt a bit abrupt considering some of the rubbish that was to follow.

Match #2: Trish Stratus defends her Women's Championship against Molly Holly, Stacy Keibler, Jazz, Nidia, Victoria and Gail Kim in a 'Fulfil Your Fantasy' Battle Royal.
Match options: School girl, Nurses or French Maid outfits.
My Pick: - - - - -
Audience's Pick: School Girl (53% of the votes)

The Match: As a straight woman, this match was completely pointless. I actually found the whole school girl outfit picking to be slightly sick, especially with Jerry 'The Perv' Lawler's comments across the headsets. None the less, avoiding the attire, it is hard to deny that this match wasn't even about the women's title but more about old men getting their cheap thrills. It was a shame really as I'm sure many fans - both male and female alike - would have loved to have seen some of the better Diva's get involved in a more competitive scrap rather than a kiddie cat fight. It was clear that not all of the women were overly keen on wearing the outfits and it reflected badly in their wrestling performance. Many took the opportunity of being thrown over the top rope as being a bid for freedom and rightfully so!

Marks out of 10: 2 - completely and utterly worthless. Whenever a move was executed, 9 times out of 10 it missed and the whole match looked messy and ill advised. One to fast forward unless you like that sort of thing with it seeming to last for hours rather than minutes!

Match #3: Gene Snitsky vs Kane w/Lita in a Weapon of Choice Match.
Match options: Lead pipe, steel chair, chain.
My Pick: Chain.
Audience's Pick: Chain (41% of the votes)

The Match: As I predicted, this one was slow and painful from the very start. The whole match followed a tasteless storyline involving a fake miscarriage. It baffled me as to why the company took a half talented woman's wrestler out of action for about half a year for this storyline instead of one of the bimbos who can't work to save their lives! The problem was that Lita wasn't exactly known for her acting ability either so I found myself laughing at both her and Snitsky at rather inappropriate moments. Anyway, that aside, the end result was mildly shocking but narcolepsy may have set in too early to see it. I picked the chain as the weapon of choice thinking that it would be a little more entertaining than all of the others and that a lot could be done with it. Alas, the finish involved the steel chair! Wow, wrestlers really ARE dumb!

Marks out of 10: 5 - the only reason this dire display got that high a mark was because of the hilariously insincere commentary from Jim 'JR' Ross and Jerry Lawler. Without them, this match would have been unbearable, except for at the end, after the match which showed the most unintentionally side-splitting moment of the night. An all time great moment in the career of Gene Snitsky who has had very few since.

Match #4: Eugene vs Raw General Manager Eric Bishoff in a 'Choose The Loser's Fate' Match.
Match options: The loser would either have to have his head shaved bald, wear a dress or be the winner's servant for a month.
My Pick: Servant.
Audience's Pick: Hair match (59% of the votes)

The Match: This was the most personal - apart from the latter - of all the matches that night and the one that perhaps had the more bearing over future storylines and events. The slow but lovable Eugene is Bishoff's Nephew and he is none too happy when he gets a place on Raw, at his storyline sister's wish. This one could have been better than it was; it had a nice build up and the fans clearly loved Eugene at that point. Eric is a trained black belt in Taekwondo so it could have been an interesting couple of minutes if it was chosen to be. Alas, it wasn't and it degenerated rather quickly into a bad comedy match with a sloppy finish. It didn't have too long to digress into a proper wrestling match after all, which might have been a good thing considering Eugene's rather endless list of poorly executed, second hand moves from the 'Legends' of the business.

Marks out of 10: 4 - as the stipulation winner was announced after the match, it built up a little bit of suspense with what was to follow. There was a funny little skit involving Jonathan Coachman and the crowd, with the big Boss of the WWE - Vince McMahon - power walking his way down to the ring. Then it all got even duller.

Match #5: La Resistance defended their World Tag Team title belts against Chris Benoit and Edge.
As the two opponents who lost out to the public voting for the World Heavyweight Championship match, Benoit and Edge were forced together as an unlikely tag team to face off against the anti-America duo and reigning champions of La Resistance. To me it was quite a predictable pairing of the two men who had missed out on the public vote, although Edge only missed this narrowly by about 6%. The ending was a good one which did set up for a couple of week's worth of storyline so in that respect, it was a valuable match to behold. Other than that, it was profoundly dreary in places, but I have never thought either member of La Resistance to be anything but dreary and tedious!

Marks out of 10: 6.5 - a steady bout. However, it's not one that I would personally pick out as any of the participants finest work, especially not in the case of the challengers. As with the rest of the pay per view, the entrances were severely dragged out and the match could have benefited from this time being spent on the match.

Match #6: Christy Hemme vs Carmella DeCesare
Match options: Lingerie pillow fight, aerobics workout or an evening gown match.
My Pick: - - - - -
Audience's Pick: Lingerie Pillow Fight (56% of the votes)

The Match: In order for you to appreciate the complete viewer apathy that I felt during this match, I want to set the scene for you. Two women, each plucked from some form of a modelling agency, both enter the WWE's 2004 Diva Search contest. This is where slutty women get a chance to showcase their wonderful, amazing personalities to the world in a bid to win a quarter of a million dollar contract. Building up this kind of rivalry for a match was pretty simple for the WWE except for one thing; neither bimbo, I mean lady, had any form of wrestling training what so ever so it couldn't be too taxing for the poor dears. Instead, the 'creative' department decided to thrust them into the public spotlight in little more than bra and panties. Wow.

Marks out of 10: 0 - it gets more than pathetic when two people can't even hit each other with pillows correctly! The entrances to this match took forever because the WWE insisted on the two girls getting changed behind translucent covers. Hemme, who won the contract prior to this match, did improve as a wrestler but is now in the rival company of TNA. Figures.

Match #7: Triple H defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels.
The Match: As Shawn has and always will be my favourite wrestler, he was of course the most obvious choice for me as to who should face Trips for the belt. I did, however, have two reservations. The first of these was the fact that there had already been literally thousands of matches between the two; did the audience really want to see another one? Well, yes actually, they did as Michaels barely, just barely, won the vote with 38%. However, the night before this event - just as the voting was about to begin - Shawn got badly injured in the Triple Threat match on Raw against Benoit and Edge. Oh dear. None the less, people must have had confidence in him to do the match, taped up left knee and all. Although it wasn't his best, not by a long shot, it showed Shawn's strength in being able to deliver for the fans in a believable and charismatic way. Shawn and his adversary in this match are best friends in real life and it really showed in my opinion with the confidence in the performances by both men although Triple H played the part of the dastardly, unforgiving bad guy perfectly.

Marks out of 10: 7.5 - obviously, if Shawn had lost out on the vote and been made to wrestle in the tag team match instead, it would have certainly been easier on his torn meniscus. A good attempt at a Championship match, considering the circumstances that ended in an unpredictable and intriguing way that made the whole arena boo in sheer disgust!

Match #8: Randy Orton vs Ric Flair
Match options: Steel Cage Match, Falls Count Anywhere Match or Submissions Match.
My Pick: Falls Count Anywhere Match.
Audiences Pick: Steel Cage Match (68%)

The Match: The reason why I was so reluctant to watch this match was because I have no faith in Ric Flair being able to carry a main event. With all the respect in the world, back to his days when he more or less carried another company called the NWA on his soldiers alone, at over 50 years of age, trying to wrestle in a fast paced style just doesn't work. And it showed. Badly. The Steel Cage matches are always predictable and boring, being the main reason as to why I didn't pick that option anyway; they follow the same bland psychology that just doesn't keep me interested for any length of time. In fact, the highlight of this one was when Flair's trunks fell down and the referee pulled them back up for him! Can anyone say Full Moon?!

Marks out of 10: 6.5 - due to its bloody content, it was perhaps a good job it was saved until last although but you did kind of get the feeling that it was only the final match on the card because of Shawn's injury. If that was the case, it would have been given even less time. However, there was a happy Polaroid moment at the end which would end in tears the next week on Raw.

COMMENTARY
Now, the reason why this got an entire section to itself is because I can't believe how bad it was throughout the whole night! With the exception of the Snitsky vs Kane match, where it made it much more entertaining, it was all such utter rubbish. Jim 'JR' Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler - up until recently - had been calling matches together for nearly a decade on Raw. They were both on a par with one another in terms of how terrible they were but there were some occasions that just really got to me throughout the night.

Lawler's perving over the Diva's is so not necessary. In fact, it's pretty darn disgusting. It's even worse as later on in the night, JR picks him up on it, during the epic bout between Shawn and Triple H as he is mocking Michaels' injury. It was the most genuinely heated moment of the night but the fact of the matter was that it detracted too much of the attention away from the actual matches. JR does sound fairly passionate in his delivery - some of the time - and his moments of madness may have been a result of Lawler's constant drooling over the Divas.

OVERALL
This is a pay per view I have very mixed feelings on; although I want to encourage people to go out and buy it, in all truthfulness, it would be unfair to do so. You could purchase it on the basis that it is the first of the WWE's 'fan interactive' pay per views, making it historic in its own right. However, there are too many drawbacks that simply can't be ignored.

The commentary is one of them but if you are looking purely at the matches, many of them are far too short so they don't get as good a build us as many deserve. Far too much time on the night was devoted to video packages of previous nights on Raw (i.e. free TV) which we could, quite frankly, do without seeing again and again. Then there is the issue with them playing a very long recap of the night so far just before the final match. They don't normally do that so you've got to wonder why the company insisted on wasting so much time with utter rubbish.

If you add it altogether, and as the pay per views get roughly a three hour time slot, the matches in total came to about 74 minutes of action - not even half way through the three hours! I'm not sure whether, if you bought this in America whether you would get the adverts in-between but from my understanding, there were still promotional or backstage skits played out during the intervals.

Most of the segments were in a desperate attempt to try and convince any dubious fans that the pay per view was completely fan interactive, with La Resistance and Triple H complaining about not having any time to prepare because they didn't know who their opponents would be. Never mind the fact that the company had been manipulating the viewers since day one - with more interviews and promos - into which match or which wrestler to vote for. Even when I did vote in an opposite way, many fans didn't so you did kind of get the feeling that your vote was, in many cases, useless anyway and if the company wanted to change the line up, they could have done what they pleased anyway.

The Orton vs Flair match was seriously not a strong ending to the night; undeniable, it would have been the Championship match if not for the knee injury but it ended the pay per view the way it had carried on throughout the majority of the night; in a sloppy, slow paced fashion that was - regrettably - a waste of time on many occasions.

The only recommendation I can give is that it's perhaps a good one to have in your collection to reflect on in years to come because of it being the first 'fan interactive' pay per view. But, obviously, how much you can argue that can be debated on so many levels. 

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