[1998-09-13-WCW-Fall Brawl] Raven vs Saturn

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Saturn saying it doesn't matter if he wins or loses before the match starts is incredibly dumb - ok, there goes a reason to care about this match. This is actually a really fun series of storyline payoffs, though. The nearfalls for the run-ins from Kidman and Kanyon were great, and Lodi takes a bump through a ringside table. They also get a great nearfall pop off of Raven's DDT. There isn't much to the match other than the kickouts, but the kickouts are very well set up and get great heat.

[soup23]

Match is pretty fun but I was right there with them in the ending sequence with Kidman setting himself apart and Lodi getting his receipt. Then, we get a great tease with Kanyon hitting his finisher and the DDT by Raven. However, Saturn then just comes up and hits the DVD for the win in very anti-climatic fashion. Some call this a classic and some rate it fairly low. I am pretty much in the middle and indifferent either way. (***)

[El-P]

Love it to this day. Great dog and pony show by Raven, which gets great heat and terrific nearfalls.

[Migs]

Entertaining dog and pony show, but not really on the level of the classic Raven's Nest dog and pony shows in ECW.

[PeteF3]

This is a tale of two matches, as the stuff before the gaga is really, *really* dull and heatless. It's easy to complain about Raven's matches being way overbooked, but you watch the work here and you can see why it had to be done. I'm about ready to write this off as an overrated mess that people only liked because it sucked less than the rest of this card, but then we get a rather masterfully constructed spot where Kidman is about to drop the shooting star press on Saturn, only to level Raven with a dropkick for a monster pop. Saturn follows up with the DVD, but Lodi distracts the ref just long enough for Raven to kick out. We go through myriad false finishes and twists and turns and it's all frankly quite overdone, but it *works.* The crowd gets louder and louder with every kickout and even cynical old me is guessing and wondering what's going to happen next. I really can't name many matches that started off this badly and then got this good.

[xlynwoodx]

I was surprised to see a decent recap of the feud prior to the match.  Essentially, Saturn was fed up with despicable acts of the Flock and Raven wanted to embarrass Saturn and test how deep his integrity went.  The match had some classic WCW tropes, including Kanyon getting handcuffed to the ring post not being announced prior to Raven's entrance.  The spot where Kidman turned was awkward as well, I didn't even realize he was in the ring until he was dropkicking Raven and running off.  The match wasn't great, but they had me biting on every near fall.  Besides the main event, they probably did the best job at getting the crowd involved.