Post 0015: XV

What a coincidence. My 15th post is going to be all about the 15th anniversary special of WWE Raw. Haha. But first, let's go down memory lane with this...

... fifteen years ago, ...

... I was nine years old. Elementary student. Wala pang muwang sa samu't-saring kamunduhan, ni hindi ko pa alam kung bakit tumatayo si "kapitan" on certain occasions. I haven't been into a real fight back in the day, and I firmly believed that what I saw sa WWF those days were the real thing. Lumaki ako sa piling ng mga legends tulad ni Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The Rockers (Marty Jannetty at Shawn Michaels), The Undertaker... I could go on all day pero syempre dun lang muna tayo sa mga naaalala ko talaga. Hehe. Minsan sa mga larong namin dati someone would impersonate Ultimate Warrior then I'll do an Undertaker impression then we duke it out to see who's the real invincible guy. When it came to merchandise, andami ko dating laruan. I remember having a Ric Flair figure na nakaka-headlock. That was so cool. Ang pinaka-favorite kong wrestler nun was Shawn Michaels, especially during the "childhood dream" era. I was so sad when he got a concussion from Owen Hart (which was fucking fake pala). I had my first taste of diva fanboyism when Sunny started appearing as a manager for a tag team I forgot the name of *wait, Wikipedia wisdom incoming* ... The Bodydonnas pala. That's when I realized that there was another use for "the captain". XD My delusions that wrestling was real shattered when I stumbled upon this TV program that exposed the whole thing. Still, I had the admiration for all the sportsmanship and ingenuity these guys exhibit show after show. Hindi nasira yung pagtingin ko sa mga wrestlers and the sports entertainment industry, in fact, lalo pang lumaki ang respeto ko sa kanila. I saw some of them as role models. I wanted to be like them when I grow up, I said to myself.

Nung nag-high school ako, I remember one fateful night when I was switching between channels right after Monday Night Raw sa cable, I happened to turn to a channel featuring Hulk Hogan together with the other former WWF superstars and other new faces having a slobberknocker on what appeared as a ring smaller than that of WWF (or is it just me). It was called WCW. Being an avid fan of wrestling in general, hindi ko pa rin maisip kung bakit walang dating sa akin ang WCW. Maybe it's because of the way they present their wrestlers. Maybe because of the storylines. Maybe it was because they looked more scripted than WWF. Sabagay, tingin ko lahat na halos ng fans e nagsawa na kapapanood sa ibang lumipat sa WCW. At the time of the ratings war, WWF was busy promoting their new superstars like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley (aka Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love) and Dwayne Johnson (that's The Rock for you) while fortifying the mainstream status of wrestlers like Michaels, Triple H, and The Undertaker. I guess that WWF made a wise decision when they underwent The Attitude Era because that was, in my opinion, the start of their rise to mainstream audience awareness. Everyone was donning the Austin 3:16 shirt, trying to raise their eyebrows like The Rock does, and doing crotch chops and saying "suck it" because it was all the hype. Nun pa lang alam ko nang WCW was sooner or later going to lose this battle. Pero syempre I tried to watch some episodes of Monday Nitro and found great talent in the likes of Chris Jericho, Eddie Guererro, Rey Misterio and Booker T, and how I wished they would jump to WWF and have dream matches with those whom I thought would make good opponents for them. 2001 saw the start of the realization of this dream, as WWF finally devoured WCW not only in the ratings war, but also by being acquired by the former, absorbing what was left of the latter. And oh, this era, I was an Austin, The Rock and DX fan (who wasn't anyway). My diva was Sable. Hehe

*trivia: in 2000, WWF changed its name to WWE kasi World Wildlife Fund (yeah, the one with the panda logo) sued them. nakakalito nga naman kasi eh.*

Let's see, that's 1993-2001. Eight years na. I probably missed a couple of shows but remained loyal nonetheless. When I stepped to college, mas lalo pa akong nagkaroon ng oras para manood ng WWE kasi broken scheds and shit. I even watch re-runs twice or thrice. Eto na yung time na hindi na lang Raw ang palabas nila; they introduced Friday night SmackDown! para naman may choices pa rin ang audiences. It was kind of like WCW without the logo, and twice as cool. Hehe. Nung mga panahong ito, Sobrang Y2J fan ako. Though during this time, I could say that I didn't watch as much wrestling as I used to for the past 8 years. Siguro dahil I was changing as a person, and my preferences with regards to TV programming was developing. Siguro dahil wala na akong gaanong nakakausap tungkol sa wrestling at sa takot na maging social outcast sa school. Or maybe because of the silly plots they were inserting - syempre wala ka na nga namang karibal, bara-bara man e kikita ka pa rin. Who knows why. If it wasn't for this guy na akala ko e Eminem wannabe, I think I wouldn't be watching as much wrestling as I do now (save the fact that I watch WWE dahil kay Trish Stratus, but that's a story best told some other time). Yes, I am talking about one John Cena. Kahit na heel sya nung nagsimula sya, I saw charisma with the guy. I knew he was going to be big soon. And wouldn't you know it, he reached household name status like Hulk Hogan did. By the way, nung February 26, 2006, hindi ko pinalampas ang pagpunta ng WWE dito sa 'Pinas. Kahit na librang general admission tickets lang ang nakuha ko, kuntento na ako. At least I was watching the damn thing live. Sana maulit uli yun. Otherwise I'd get myself a ticket, and fly to watch a live event. Hehe. At present, WWE exhudes talent with every superstar they have, and I think continues to push the envelope with new storylines and developing new talents.

Buti na lang at nalaman ko in advance na may 3-hour special ang Raw kasi 15th year anniversary na pala nila. Napaisip ako dun. Fifteen? Has it been that long already? Anyways, nung Tuesday alam kong may mga results na sa Intarweb pero I didn't want to spoil the chance of watching it sa Jack TV. You could only imagine how excited I was to go home para makapanood. Buti na lang at 7pm ang pasok ni Rikki-chan at umuwi na ang kasambahay namin para mag-alaga kay Sean so bumulusok ako pauwi. Akala ko nga e mami-miss ko yung unang oras kasi sobra ang trapik sa Alabang-Zapote road (X-mas shopping madness, what else). Pagdating ko ng bahay at around 8:15, wala pang tao. Dere-deretso ako sa taas para mas malaki ang TV na pagpapanooran ko. Habang nasa hagdan ako eto yung tumatakbo sa utak ko:

"bakitkayawalapangsilasaankayasilanagpuntaSHETBAKANAMISSKONAYUNGGOODPARTSnagugutomnaakoahmaypagkainkayasababaSANAHINDIKOPANAMIMISSYUNGSEGMENTNITRISHSHETSHETSHETaylalakarinngapalanaminbukasyungsabinyagkelangankongmakuhayungTRISHTRISHTRISHSANAHINDIPATAPOS"

Dali-dali kong kinuha yung remote, hubad ng accessories, harap sa screen, waiting for the boob tube to produce an image... and then, it started. I caught the Carlito-Jeff Hardy ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship midway. I missed the McMahon family portrait, ruined by Triple H. Nothing big. Wala akong paki dito sa match na ito or the part that I missed, I thought. Where's all the nostalgia? Hindi naman pala ako mabibigo, for they showed footages everytime before they went to an ad break.

Eto yung comments ko sa rest of the program.

Evolution reunion/HHH-Batista-Flair vs. Orton-Edge-Umaga - This had me standing. One of the most powerful wrestling factions, together again for one night only? Whoa. Pero I had a hunch that Orton would not join them, being the bastard heel that he was. Though hindi ko na-realize yung Rated RKO thing. Silly me. Hindi ba obvious kung ano yung ending? The two heel pussies abandoned Umaga, Evolution beats the crap out of Ekmo. The sight of the three reuniting was nice.

RVD vs. Santino Marella - Wow. RVD's back! Too bad the match was short. Talaga bang ganun lang ang papel ni Santino sa Raw? Tanggalin na lang kaya siya or i-develop into a better persona? I hope RVD's back for good.

Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali - I knew that somehow, may darating para iligtas si Horny, pero hindi ko inakalang si... Hulk Hogan. Epic sana yung kung na-body slam nya rin si Khali, the same way he did Andre The Giant dati. The guy still looks in tip-top shape!

Old School Rumble - 15 wrestlers from the past, celebrating 15 years of sports entertainment glory. Irwin R. Schyster won, then Ted DiBiase walked to the center of the ring, gave IRS some cash. The guy bought the victory bragging rights! Vintage Million Dollar Man, a LOL moment.

Bischoff's Speech - Rightly interrupted by none other than a former employee of his during the WCW days, Chris Jericho. It was sweet to see him slap the face of Bischoff and make Randy Orton tap out when the latter decided to interfere. Could this be the fate that RKO suffers this Sunday at Armageddon?

Old Rivals - Okay, prepare for the fanboy comments on this one. Nung lumabas si Jillian Hall, I knew I did not miss the best reason I had for watching Raw XV. When she was screeching a preview of her new album, I heard a familiar entrance song. My eyes widened, my heart raced, and tears started to well up. IT WAS TRISH! I was thankful no one was around to hear me shouting so loud as I threw stuff around the room out of excitement. Wow, how long has it been since I saw her on TV? A year? And she looked so gorgeous... As in mo-e. Her presence knocked me off my feet. *stops writing for 15 minutes to watch footages of that part and bathe in fanboy love* So ayun, after exchanging a couple of lines with Jillian, the sort of unexpected happened - Lita's entrance song played. Tumayo ang balahibo sa braso ko. After a long time, two rivals see each other face to face again sa ring. Two of the best WWE divas, gracing the ring again. At first I thought they were about to settle an old grudge, but after Jillian prodded the two to start a catfight, I knew what would happen next. They beat the living crap out of the would-be singer diva, and throw her out of the ring, then give a warm hug to each other to signify setting their differences aside para sa reunion. That made me wish I was there to watch the damn event live.

Marty Jannetty vs. Mr. Kennedy - Of course we know who wins this shit. Couldn't believe Marty was still that athletic, though. May konting DX reunion pa sa bandang huli. HHH was all over the place, literally.

The Greatest Superstar in Raw History - ... is none other than Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr. Here's my say.

- Sa isang banda, tama lang. He's the Walt Disney of sports entertainment. If not for his endeavors, wala. Ampangit ng wrestling. He made the ultimate sacrifice of being the almighty heel to elevate the whole company.

- Of course, from the storyline POV, mali. We could name a lot of superstars in WWE deserving of the title. Sa poll sa WWE.com, Undertaker got the highest votes, and rightly so. He's the only wrestler na nakasurvive ng more than a decade sa WWE, straight record.

With point #2 in mind, syempre justice needed to be served. A Mankind impostor came out to stuff Mr. Socko down Vince's throat (you know it ain't Mick Foley; he'd most probably appear as he is, not by any other personas of his). And if that wasn't enough, The Phenom came out to chokeslam the chairman into oblivion. Of course, what Vince McMahon-related event would be without Steve Austin opening kegs of whoop-ass all over the place? As Vince laid with both insult and injury served unto him, Austin opens a couple more and toasts as he declares who the real Greatest Superstar in Raw History was (well, were)... the fans. At that point, kahit na alam kong re-run na lang ang pinapanood ko, I still felt connected with the audience. Yeah, isa ako sa mga taong pinasalamatan ni Austin. I stood up and applauded. Yeah, fifteen years. After that, tinawag nya yung lahat ng wrestlers sa backstage to have a beer sa ring. It was one of those sights that you'd probably see once lang in your entire life - faces and heels sharing beer, laughing, talking to each other. Sana pagdating ng Raw XXV, andun na mismo ako para makapanood.

Konting kritisismo muna tayo. Parang... kulang ang celebration. Asan si Bret Hart? Si Rock? Si Ultimate Warrior? The other legends? Yung mga na-feature nila sa "Where Are They Now?" segment nila sa WWE.com? Tribute para sa mga namatay na superstars like Owen Hart, Curt Hennig and Eddie Guerrero? I mean, magce-celebrate na nga lang sila, hindi pa nila i-todo, diba...

How does all this relate to my life, you ask? WWE started with getting children drink their vitamins and say their prayers at night, grew up to become a company "with an attitude" to find its own identity, and is now constantly striving to become a better entity, which would set it apart from any competition. I grew up in a family where morals was a major issue. The problem was, we were a bit dysfunctional and I didn't want to fall so I developed my "attitude", and up to now, trying to become a better person. I have become both the heel and face of the show that is my life. I know that there's a lot of people there who can easily relate to my story, growing up with WWE as their substitute for Batibot. For us, happy fifteenth anniversary.

All for now, I guess. Class dismissed.~