3 Minute Warning vs Bobby Roode and Mark Maraculi WWE Sunday Night Heat 11-03-2002
It took a lot for me to miss an episode of Monday Night Raw.
For every Monday from when it aired until I went off to college, I saw pretty much every single Monday Night Raw live. It was just part of the routine, and a way I built my weeks around. I'd go to school, which I never liked, and my rewards for getting through the worst day of the week was getting to watch guys in tights fight each other. I so rarely missed an episode. The only show I was more hardcore about watching was The Simpsons. I remember being so nervous on vacation that the news coverage of Princess Diana's death would mean I couldn't see the new Simpsons. I was so hardcore about wrestling and The Simpsons, that when a PPV was on the same night as a new Simpsons....I became obsessed with flipping channels real quick between matches to get as much info about the episode as possible. That way I could track it down easier in syndication. I know I missed more RAWs, than Simpsons but not by much. It'd take a big deal for me to miss one. Like someone had to die...like an uncle or an aunt or
Ted Williams
Ted Williams is the greatest hitter that ever lived and one of the greatest Red Sox. He would have broken the all-time HR run record if he didn't go overseas to serve as a member of the Air Force. Twice. Check his stats, if he hadn't gotten injured and kept even half of his pace....he would have broken Babe's record. I was a baseball history junkie as a kid. That fucking Ken Burns documentary voice still pops into my head when I'm like doing laundry. Folding my clothes and " Kennesaw Mountain Landis" and old timey music all of a sudden in my noggin. I was a Red Sox fan, all we really had was history because the modern era sucked. So when Ted Williams died my family and I somehow got tickets to go to Boston for a special Ted Williams tribute night.....I had to go. I had to make the sacrifice of Monday Night Raw. I mean the night was fine, it was either the first or second time I'd been to Fenway and there was a lot of legends there just talking. I just remember the subway ride home and all I could think about was what happened on RAW. I rushed home and immediately went to Rajah.com to get the results. RVD WRESTLED JEFF HARDY IN A LADDER MATCH? GODDAMNIT TEDDY BALLGAME, YOU COULDNT WAIT 3 DAYS. The rock faced Eddie Guerrero? Son of a bitch. D'lo Brown faced Shawn Stasiak. Oh...ok, that's a weird match even then. Post-match they were attacked by two big Samoan guys?
The fuck?
I had to wait a whole week to see what the hell people were talking about. This was back when it wasn't easy to get footage off recent events, so I had to wait and figure out just who these two big Samoan boys were. Well, the very next week Eric Bischoff decided Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah were too boring and I saw those guys for the first time as they fucking destroyed two old ladies. Holy shit. That was the first time I saw 3 Minute Warning and they were insane. They so rarely wrestled back then, all they did was destroy people.
I loved them
In fact , other than this match here I can probably remember only o ne or two 3 Minute Warning matches. I just remember their awesome gimmick as, show up once every show and splash the crap out of someone. Let's see if my fond memories of them translate to in ring.
It's Sunday Night Heat and 3 Minute Warning will be taking on the team of Boddy Roode and Mark Maraculi. Yes that is the same Bobby Roode who will become Bobby Roode, except this one is younger and skinnier. Yes that is the same Mark Maraculi who I've never heard of before. 3 Minute Warning are of course made up of Rosey and Jamal, the future Umaga. I'm saving the Umaga blog debut like a trip to Pizza Hut. We don't have Pizza Huts around here. Its a legitimate delicacy. Stupid Actual Italian neighborhoods and their actual pizza. 3MW's act had at this point expanded to including Rico as their manager. I can only assume Rico's hairdresser gimmick extended to braiding Jamal's hair. The 3MW entrance theme doesn't make anyone's all-timer list, but I do find myself singing it to myself when I'm in a rush. Rosey starts against Roode and hits some clubs to the back before a big shoulder block. I forgot just how big Rosey and Jamal were. Rosey decides to bring Maraculi into the match by grabbing him from the outside. Jamal tags in but gets caught in a double drop-toe hold and a double shoulder block. The Wimpies celebrate but JAMAL KIPS UP!
Holy shit I didn't know he could do that.
I can't do that.
Actually I did it once outside a Friendly's at 1AM after I saw The Expendables.
BUT NEVER AGAIN.
Jamal then hits a huge double clothesline and sends them both out of the ring. Maraculi goes out in an especially violent manner. Outside the ring Rico hits some kicks to Roode. Did they ever explain how Rico is a hairdresser but also knows Karate. WAS HIS GIMMICK BASED ON JON PETERS? HE'S FROM THE STREETS. Some tandem offense as Rosey hits a big splash on Roode followed by a big knee from Jamal. Maraculi climbs the top rope and tries to catch Jamal off guard but JAMAL TURNS IT INTO A SAMOAN DROP. Its a Samoa Drop by a Samoan, that means it hurts twice as much. Rosey goes for the pin, but decides he isn't done. I'll never not get sick of people deciding wimpies aren't done yet. THEY DIDNT HEAR NO BELL. Jamal hits A TOP ROPE SPLASH for the win. God this ruled
Great squash match and I loved 3 minute warning. I'm sure there's some reason they never seemed to get an actual tag run, but I'm also sure it's not a good one. There is nothing in wrestling that is better than two large Samoans kicking the shit out of wimpies. Where's my Ken Burns documentary about that huh. I NEED SOME SIDWAYS PHOTOGRAPHS OF JAMAL KICKING DUDES IN THEIR FACE
TLDR Review
Did I just hear myself say three minutes? No I didn't. I heard myself talk about what an enjoyable squash this was
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