Tag Archives: HHH

Pro Wrestling

Wrestlemania XXXIII Preview

It is the biggest show of the year. Unfortunately, WWE treats it that way. Now you may say “isn’t that a good thing” but in this case it’s not. WWE manufactured every single “moment” at Wrestlemania XXXII, somehow failing to realize that the best part about Wrestlemania moments are when they are organically created. I mean The Rock basically came out with a neon sign that said “Wrestlemania moment coming now”.  It was a terrible show.

Has WWE learned from that? Wrestlemania XXXI was basically the opposite, with fans not entirely being excited about the card and instead getting an amazing show filled with great moments (The DX and NWO run-ins and Seth Rollins’ shocking title win, for two examples). What Wrestlemania will we get tonight? Let’s go through each match, pre-show and all, and throw in some potential appearances that could turn into real, organic moments.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville© vs. Austin Aries

Should be a really fun match on the pre-show and definitely the highest profile match for the division possible without Brian Kendrick. I expect Neville to retain the title though, he hasn’t held it long enough for the credible reign he needs. Potential moment? Some crazy high flying move from Neville probably.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

It’s kind of a shame that this is on the pre-show. Last year it was moved to the main card and rumors ran rampant that John Cena was going to win it…only for that move to mean Shaq was in it. Baron Corbin winning was pretty good though and WWE did capitalize it. Braun Strowman seems like the obvious winner, but I kinda think they are going to give it to Big Show again as a token of appreciation, especially with the Shaq match falling apart. Moment potential is Show’s win if it turns out to be his last match, or perhaps someone slamming him out like Cesaro back at Mania XXX.

Smackdown’s Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss © vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natayla vs. Naomi vs. Mickie James vs. Carmella

I was a bit surprised to find that Naomi made her return on Smackdown and was announced for the match. That could have been a cool Wrestlemania moment unless WWE thought she would be a disappointing surprise entrant. Also, I’m not sure if other Women can still be in this match or if it’s an official six-pack challenge. I’m not sure who’s winning here, but I am guessing the title will go back to Naomi here.

Raw World Tag Team Title: Gallows and Anderson © vs. Enzo and Cass vs. Cesaro and Sheamus

Throwing a ladder into the mix seemingly made this match feel more important. It should be a bit of a real old school ladder match though, as there isn’t a high flyer in this thing and that’ll be interesting. Seems about the right time for Enzo and Cass to win the titles, which would be a moment in itself.

Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose © vs. Baron Corbin

It’s been a rough year for Ambrose. He finally got a crack at the top and was completely exposed at that level. Now he’s in the IC title picture and should be dropping the title to Corbin. And I think he will. Not sure what moments can come from this really other than Corbin’s win. Making Corbin a clutch Wrestlemania type guy (he won the Andre Battle Royal last year) would be a great thing for him.

WWE Hall Of Fame

 

I don’t really know when this is going to happen on the card. But seeing Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania would be something. Maybe Angle will get involved in something?

John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

Kudos to The Miz to getting himself into a high profile match at Wrestlemania. It’s a shame he’s not winning but really it’s what WWE does with Miz over the next year that really matters. The potential moment here is obvious, John Cena proposing to Nikki Bella. Get ready for that wedding at Summerslam.

United States Title: Chris Jericho © vs. Kevin Owens

JERIKO EXPLODES. It’s a bit of a shame this isn’t for the Universal title, but it should be a good one nonetheless. I also have a sneaky suspicion Chris Jericho is going over here, only for him to lose to Owens at Extreme Rules or whatever the next PPV is. Moment here could be something involving Jericho emotionally being upset about their Friendship being destroyed.

RAW Women’s Title: Bayley © vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

I really don’t buy Nia Jax in this match. She’s just not ready. I expect her to get Big Show at Wrestlemania 2000’d and be out quickly after a triple team. From there, it could be anyone and I think it’ll be Charlotte. It’s not like WWE suddenly pulled the plug on making Charlotte important. Potential moment: Sasha gets eliminated 2nd and turns on Bayley, leading to the Charlotte title win.

Shane McMahon vs. A.J. Styles

While I was hoping for a different match for Styles, putting him with a McMahon is still the highest profile match he’s ever had. And if anyone can get an amazing match out of Shane, it’s Styles. I’m pulling expecting some crazy jump from Shane that he’ll miss and AJ will win as a result. That’ll be your moment obviously.

Legends Segment

The Rock? Stone Cold? HBK? Mick Foley? I kinda expect Foley since it would be a shame he’d miss Mania after being around most of the year. As long as it isn’t the mess the Rock did last year it could be entertaining. Maybe Ronda will show up?!

Seth Rollins vs. Triple H

Can’t fault HHH for putting over Reigns then Rollins back to back. This match should be quite good, and frankly I am surprised it isn’t main eventing. It’s the only match other than Styles vs. Shane that guaranteed to be good and has big match appeal. Rollins will then sink or swim as a top guy afterwards. I expect Samoa Joe to be involved…and if somehow HHH wins a Summerslam rematch will take place too. Then again Finn Balor could show up to fight off Joe.

WWE World Title: Bray Wyatt © vs. Randy Orton

I really wanted this story to continue. Orton’s turn came too early for me, and a triple threat with Luke Harper is much more interesting. I really hope we just aren’t going to see Orton pin Wyatt and that’s that, but Vince has reportedly been impressed with Orton, and he kinda owes him one for what Brock did to him at Summerslam. I see the title switch here, unfortunately.

WWE Universal Title: Goldberg © vs. Brock Lesnar

Either there will be tons of smoke and mirrors, or Lesnar is going over in three minutes max. I really hope it’s the latter. The Goldberg thing was interesting for a bit, but the ending needs to be Lesnar squashing him and moving on.

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

This is the rumored main event, which makes me think it’s Undertaker’s last match. Sad to say, but Taker looked pretty bad at the Rumble and Roman’s getting booed out the building. Undertaker deserves better than this if this is the end. I’m sure A.J. could have gotten a great match with him. The right decision is for Roman to go over, sadly.

And that’s Mania. I don’t like how it sounds, but WWE has surpassed the hype before and I hope this is one of those times. Enjoy.

Pro Wrestling

Wrestlemania XXXII Predictions

Wrestlemania 32! This year’s Wrestlemania card seemed lacking at first glance, but hopefully the natural progression of Dean Ambrose and the nostalgic excitement around Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker can save the show. Anyway, let’s get some Wrestlemania predictions going!

wm32kalistoryback

The Kalisto-Ryback rivalry goes back to Survivor Series when Kalisto upset Ryback in the WWE Championship tournament. While WWE clearly hasn’t given up on Ryback  yet and he’s now sporting a new look I think WWE really likes Kalisto and are going to give him a Mania win.

Winner: Kalisto

wm32divas10

Brie Bella’s last match! Truthfully I really dislike how these teams are set up as Lana and Summer Rae were enemies last year and I don’t think anyone on the Total Divas team likes Eva Marie. My suspicion is that WWE wants to get Eva Marie over and a Mania kickoff win will be the way to do it. Plus the Total Divas TV show is probably going to go over.

Winners: Team Total Divas

wm32usosdudleyz

No reason for the Dudleyz to win here unless they are going to challenge the New Day in the upcoming months. I assume they are going to put the Usos over here.

Winners: The Usos

wm32newdayleague

The New Day have to fight 3 to 4 odds, but the fans will be behind him and with Wade Barrett on his way out he’ll probably be the one to take the fall. There’s a backstory here too that I’m sure has been forgotten…that the New Day walked out on Sheamus at Survivor Series.

Winners: The New Day

wm32andre

I think Braun Strowman is the popular choice here but I think WWE’s quickly losing faith in him. Another popular theory is that Cesaro will return and win his 2nd Memorial Battle Royal. I’m going to go one greater than that. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the Battle Royal was moved to the main card. And with recent reports that perhaps John Cena is healthy I’m going to call him as a surprise return pick to win the Battle Royal and give it the prestige that it lost when it was moved to the kickoff last year.

Winner: John Cena

wm32ajjericho

While this is a dream feud, we saw these two fight last month. It really only makes sense for Jericho to put over AJ Styles here. Perhaps Jericho wins and AJ wins the rubber PPV match next month, but I hope that’s not the direction that its going.

Winner: AJ Styles

wm32ictitle

It’s too bad we’re not getting Owens vs. Zayn straight up. Anyone I’d be shocked if anyone other than one of these two won this match and I think the belt is staying with Owens.

Winner: Kevin Owens

wm32divastitle

I guess this is proof of the Divas revolution? While Sasha Banks is probably the crowd’s favorite to win I think WWE is going to build to Bayley vs. Charlotte for the title. Charlotte will cheat to win again.

Winner: Charlotte

wm32takershane

I am stunned at how many people think Shane McMahon’s winning this match. While I understand that people want to move past the Authority, Shane was clearly brought in as a short term part timer and isn’t going to be sticking around. There just simply wasn’t anyone else to put against Undertaker. Undertaker might not have the Streak anymore, but losing to Shane at Mania will devalue what Brock did two years ago and put a damper on the history of those other 22 victories. And I think WWE realizes that. And Goldberg’s not showing up either.

Winner: The Undertaker

wm32ambrosebrock

This is the big chance for WWE to make a huge star out of Dean Ambrose. Is Ambrose wins here he immediately becomes a bonafide Main Event guy. Too bad that I don’t think WWE is going to take that chance. Not that they really have to either, since Brock is still amazing.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

wm32hhhroman

The Rock is going to show up and help Roman beat HHH to win the title. I’d be shocked if this went any other way. If I thought Rock would wrestle another match in the future I’d go Rock heel turn and Roman vs. Rock next year, but that’s not happening.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews Summerslam ’99

WWF Summerslam ‘99
August 22, 1999
Minneapolis, MN

There’s an argument to be made that right here, at this point, we were at the highest level the WWF would ever be. RAW Ratings were out of orbit. PPV buys were huge. The WWF was beating down WCW Nitro so badly Eric Bischoff was weeks away from losing his job. Vince McMahon was only a couple of months away from the WWF going public. Some argued that Stone Cold Steve Austin was a level above what Hulk Hogan was in the 80s. Other WWF stars began to transcend wrestling. The Rock was climbing fast toward megastar status. Mick Foley wrote a New York Times Best Seller. To say the WWF was riding high here was an understatement.

But there were some cracks in the armor as well. Stone Cold’s body had slowly begun to betray him. The Undertaker’s knees were going out on him. Foley’s body was pretty much at the point of done.

Would Summerslam ’99 be a continuation of the dominance the WWF had shown over the last year and a half…or would the wheels begin to fall off here?

The Card

We go over a year and a half of The McMahons screwing Stone Cold to explain why Jesse Ventura is our referee tonight.

Ventura and Triple H go face to face right away in the back. Ventura lays down the law, and HHH says he’ll break every rule.

We get some Y2J after that with ”Harold” Finkel. Jericho was hilarious in his early WWF days.

Intercontinental Championship and European Championship
D’Lo Brown (Both Champs) vs. Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett comes out with Debra and wow at Debra. Jarrett gets awesome heat when he sends Debra to the back…and then D’Lo brings her back out!

I don’t want to spoil it here, but there’s some really smart booking going on. JR on commentary brings up that Jarrett doesn’t want to win by countout when D’Lo was on the outside…just as Debra was looking to help D’Lo up.

The crowd is super hot for D’Lo. Huge reaction on the running powerbomb.

Jeff Jarrett pins D’Lo Brown to win both titles in 7:28. Debra and Jarrett distract the ref…allowing Mark Henry to run in and betray D’Lo with a guitar shot. Jarrett gets the win…and it turns out Debra, Jarrett and Henry were all on the same page! Jarrett would hand the European title to Henry. Fun opener with a good story and a great crowd! Strange how both men wouldn’t have much of a WWF career left. Jarrett would bolt for WCW in two months…D’Lo sadly accidentally paralyzed Droz, and was never the same.

Michael Cole interviews a wooden Edge and Christian. Of course, both would end up being great on the mic.

Tag Team Turmoil

The winner of this would become the #1 Contender to the Tag Team Title.

Edge and Christian begin against The New Brood…Matt and Jeff Hardy.

Something the Attitude Era did was create stars. Matt and Jeff were outright jobbers until 1999.

Fun start, although the match so far is a bit slow considering the four men in the ring.

Screw the start. Edge spears Jeff Hardy by jumping off the barricade just as Jeff was jumping off the other side. What? Matt comes off the top to the outside with a moonsault for good measure.

Christian pins Matt to eliminate the Hardys…and Mideon and Viscera are next. Can’t we just have the Hardys again?

We last saw Viscera at Summerslam when he was Mabel and in the WWF Title match. Crazy how much changed in four years.

I always thought Vis’s spin kick was awesome.

Viscera accidentally avalanches Mideon, then Edge and Christian double dropkick Vis out. Spear to Mideon, and Edge gets the pin. Prince Albert and Droz are next.

Not much here…Edge gets the Downward Spiral for the win. Acolytes, the favorites, are next.

The Hollys come out early, and Bradshaw takes out Christian with the Clothesline From Hell and we get a heel vs. heel finale. What a disappointing finish. I like both teams, but running it with one face team (E and C) means they needed to get to the end.

The Acolytes win when Faarooq pinned Hardcore Holly in 17:27. The Hollys argue and that leads to the spinebuster. This was fun with Edge and Christian…but after that who really cared?

I’m pretty sure the whole Al Snow think jumped the shark when he started talking to other things other than Head.

Road Dogg here…but it’s Y2J time!

Jericho was crazy over. The crowd goes nuts for the countdown.

Jericho wrote in Undisputed that this was his first great segment…and he’s 100% right. Jericho’s absolutely awesome here.

This would lead to Jericho’s WWF debut match at Smackdown…which was a bit of a let down (as was Jericho up to Survivor Series).

Hardcore Championship
Big Bossman© vs. Al Snow

One of the most creative starts to a match…Al Snow jumps up on the set and dives onto Bossman as soon as he goes through the curtain. Nice!

Road Dogg does an on the scene commentary that’s more annoying than not to be honest.

Bossman just grabs a random guy’s crutch to hit Al Snow. That’s a great heel move.

Match goes all the way across the street into a bar. Have to say, this is pretty fun. Maybe I just haven’t seen one of these in a while.

Al Snow pins Bossman to win the title in 7:25. Bossman takes a shot a Road Dogg and Road Dogg responds with a nightstick shot to Bossman to let Snow win the title. For some reason The Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards attack Snow. Hell if I remember why.

Women’s Championship
Ivory© vs. Tori

I think Tori’s pretty bad as a wrestler, so I don’t have high hopes here.

Eat your heart out Cesaro…Ivory with a big swing!

Ivory retains by pin in 4:11. Some weird finish with a flying sitting drop. Ivory tries to disrobe Tori, but Luna makes the save.

Lion’s Den Match
Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman

While I didn’t realize it then, Shamrock being this far down the card should have been a sign that he wasn’t long for the WWF (this was actually his last PPV match).

The Lion’s Den is a UFC style octagon.

I don’t really like the idea of this match. A No DQ match would have been fine.

Ken Shamrock wins by KO in 9:05. A few Kendo Stick shots take Blackman out and the ref counts him out. I didn’t really like this at all. I don’t even remember what else Blackman did until “Head Cheese” in early 2000. If Shamrock was leaving, he should have put Blackman over.

”Love Her or Leave Her”
Shane McMahon vs. Test

Is Test wins, Shane stays out of Test and Stephanie McMahon’s relationship. If Shane wins, Test and Steph break up. No option for “Steph marries HHH instead though”.

Test opens by taking Shane down with tons of aggression. Where was that during the rest of Test’s career?

The Mean Street Posse get their own couch in the crowd! This matters because Test tosses Shane into all three of them which was a pretty funny spot.

Did Shane just bust out a Sky Twist Press? Holy hell!

I believe this was the debut of the flying Shane elbow off the top through the Announcer’s Desk…and it’s pretty awesome. A perfect hit.

Patterson and Brisco come out and own the Posse. Brisco with an awesome street sign shot!

Test pins Shane McMahon in 12:14. I would have bet money after this one that Test was set for multiple World Titles in his future. Somehow…this was the peak of Test. He only went downhill from here. In retrospect, Shane’s “richest backyard wrestler” shtick probably carried this. Nonetheless, this match was really good. In a lame twist, Shane would ignore this stipulation on Smackdown.

World Tag Team Championship
Kane and X-Pac© vs. Big Show and Undertaker

I never really got into the whole Taker controlling Big Show deal when Show chokeslammed Taker through the ring once, but whatever.

I did enjoy the Kane-X-Pac tag team though, if just for Kane’s character development. It gave him something past being Undertaker’s brother…even though it didn’t completely work and ultimately weakened Kane’s character. At least they took a chance and tried.

Lawler with a great line: “I’ll never forgive that idiot X-Pac for taking this monster and making him a human being.” Not a bad point there.

Kane debuts the “road” jersey here, which is a look he should have went with for the rest of his career honestly.

I think it was obvious at the time that Taker and Show were winning…and I think having the Acolytes win earlier was supposed to give fans the idea Kane and Pac were winning.

One of the bigger surprises of the match is Kane playing face in peril. Match is surprisingly working since we have Big Show, Kane and 1999 Undertaker in here.

Undertaker just turned X-Pac into a wishbone. Ouch.

Undertaker and Big Show win the title in 12:00. Big Show actually gets the chokeslam, but Show does a one foot on the chest cover and Taker is livid when Pac kicks out. Taker shows him how it’s done with a Tombstone. So much better than it had any right to be. Multiple stories worked out here concurrently. X-Pac forced a tag late to try to prove he could hang with the three monsters. Undertaker continues to “teach” the Big Show. Well done all around.

Kiss My Ass Match
The Rock vs. Billy Gunn

Billy Gunn brings a”full-sized” lady for the Rock to kiss on the ass when he loses.

Rock is megaover, of course.

The first half of this is pretty dull. Some fighting down the ramp but nothing really inspiring going on.

It does pick up back in the ring, especially with a nice neckbreaker counter from Gunn.

Pretty good set-up for the Fameasser…but the match goes downhill after that.

Gunn brings in the woman, but Rock counters and Gunn’s face goes in her ass. Great.

The Rock pins Gunn in 10:11. Rock Bottom, People’s Elbow. That goodness that’s over. Match was getting kinda good too. Gunn would be back in the midcard with the Outlaws in a few weeks (and was a good guy for some reason again right after this).

WWF Championship – Jesse Ventura is the Special Referee
Stone Cold Steve Austin© vs. Triple H vs. Mankind

There was a pretty convoluted story to even get to this point that had Chyna as the #1 Contender. Less said the better. I don’t even know storyline wise why Mankind was added either, although backstage there were two possible reasons (I’ll get into that later). According to the video, Mankind won it from Chyna. Works I guess. HHH and Mankind then did the pinning one another at the same time deal (which a variation was used for Summerslam 2000 as well) to get our triple threat.

In case anyone was wondering, Stone Cold was still the most over man in wrestling by far. His pop is nuts.

THe early Austin-Mankind partnership is a nice flashback to their tag title run two years prior.

The story begins…HHH whacks Austin in the knee with a chair.

Mick Foley, nutcase that he is, decides to bust out his somersault crack smash off the apron…and he misses. Jeez Mick.

Ventura refuses to count for HHH after HHH uses a chair. Ventura’s a great ref here. As a bonus, Ventura tosses a middling Shane McMahon, and adds the quote “that was for your old man you bastard!”

Mankind wins the title when he pinned Austin in 16:24. HHH gets the Pedigree, but Mankind knocks him away and hits a Double Arm DDT on Austin for the shocking win! HHH proceeds to destroy Austin’s leg with a steel chair. For all intents and purposes, the HHH Era began right here…and the Stone Cold Era as we knew it was over.

Match was really fun all in all. Mankind’s title win is the result of either one or both of these scenarios: Austin didn’t want to job to HHH and/or Ventura wanted to raise the hand of a face at the end. I believe it’s the latter, especially since Austin goes down to HHH at No Mercy ’99 (and No Way Out 2001). HHH would beat Mankind for the title the very next night.

A really up and down PPV, but I definitely enjoyed the ups. I liked the opener. I liked most of the tag turmoil. Jericho was fun. The Hardcore Title match was fun. Test vs. Shane was very good as was the main event. I didn’t care for Shamrock-Blackman or Rock-Gunn though.

Historically, somehow this PPV is forgotten. It’s crazy because again, this is basically where the HHH Era begins and the Austin Era ends. Sure, Austin would still be in the main event until Survivor Series, and his 2000 comeback was entertaining, but Summerslam 1999 was the end of Stone Cold as THE MAN. From each point forward you could either argue The Rock (who’s late surge stole him many Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Awards) or HHH as the man.

Overall, this was still enjoyable.

Final Grade: B

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews: WWF Wrestlemania X7

WWF Wrestlemania X7
April 1, 2001
Houston, TX

It’s over.

Good bye WCW. It was a good run and you put on a great effort, but the WWF has won. When the last Monday Nitro basically became a commercial for Wrestlemania X7 it was over for good.

The WWF set one of the truly great stacked PPV cards of all time for Wrestlemania X7. They were fortunate as unlike last year, no top guys were injured. Last year the WWF was missing The Undertaker and Stone Cold. For Mania X7, they have both. The WWF also did an effective job making new stars, evident by Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit’s run in the latter half of 2000. The WWF owns the wrestling world now. Things can only get better from now on, right? (Hindsight says…ha!)

Let’s talk a little bit about Stone Cold.

Is he as popular as he once was? Is he on the way down? Is he stale? Why are ratings not as strong? Why didn’t his comeback lead to another big ratings streak?

All great questions. At the end of Wrestlemania we’ll see how Vince answered them.

The Card

Houston Astrodome is packed. This is also the first Wrestlemania promo where I really felt the epicness of the event.

Limp Bizkit’s “My Way” was a perfect fit for this event.

Paul Heyman, replacing the temporarily departed Jerry Lawler here, says ECW about three minutes into the broadcast. I chuckled.

Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho© vs. William Regal

It was an interesting time for Jericho. After spending last summer as nearly a top guy, Jericho found himself back in the midcard…at least for now.

Regal was still a relative newcomer, debuting in September. But, we are also at the beginning of perhaps Regal’s best work, as he was clean at this point and a great heel as the Commissioner.

This was the feud that had Jericho peeing in Regal’s tea. A legendary moment if there ever was one. This also had Jericho running in on Regal when he was dressed as Doink.

Fast start, probably because they know they only have about 8 minutes for this.
Jericho almost overshoots Regal on a flying bodypress to the outside. Would have been a bad start to Mania there.

Double underhook suplex on Jericho from the top. Nice move from our Commissioner!

Regal’s STF makes me wonder how WWE ever thought John Cena could pull it off.

Chris Jericho retains by pin in 7:08. Lionsault out of nowhere gets the win. Crowd even seemed surprised. They tried to jam a 15 minute match into an 8 minute match, and while it wasn’t a bad match, it was nothing special and a bit disappointing.

Shane McMahon arrives in a WCW limo!

Bradshaw explains just how important this match in Texas is by going over historical events that took place in the Astrodome. Six man tag is next.

The APA and Tazz vs. The Right to Censor

I don’t recall how Tazz got involved, but the APA and RTC didn’t get along for obvious reasons.

Weird botch when Tazz gets whipped into the ropes and just falls into them and rockets back. Quite strange there.

The APA and Tazz when Bradshaw pinned the Goodfather in 3:52. Clothesline From Hell wins it. Just a way to get the guys on the card and to pop the crowd early on. This would be the end of the RTC (well, Undertaker would end them for good a week later) and virtually the end of Val Venis, Goodfather, Steven Richards and Bull Buchanan. None of these four would ever regain the popularity they had before.

Trish Stratus rolls Linda McMahon into the Astrodome, and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley says she’s late. I kinda forgot about the whole Linda in a catatonic state thing.

Hardcore Championship
Raven© vs. Big Show vs. Kane

While a step down for both Kane and Big Show, Kane it seemed to work for while it just seemed like something for Big Show to do. Show would be stuck in mid and even lower card hell until Survivor Series 2002.

Big Show never even gets to the ring as we’re fighting in the crowd now.

Raven pops up out of nowhere to attack Kane. The story of this match will be Show and Kane going at it, and Raven attacking out of nowhere.

Kane tries to throw Raven through a wall. Ouch.

Smartest move of the match: Big Show locks himself, Raven and the ref in a cage with Kane out. Kane rips the door off its hinges anyway.

Raven gets thrown through a window by Kane. Crowd responded to that for sure.

Show and Kane actually go through a wall this time. Raven attacks. One thing I didn’t like about this match: Raven basically no sells being thrown through a window.

Raven nearly gets run over by a golf cart. I hope he got a good paycheck for this match.

Kane wins the title by pinning Big Show in 9:17. Big Show presses Raven over his head to throw him off the stage, but Kane boots him and they both go flying off. Kane follows with a flying legdrop and wins the title. Garbage wrestling, but it was well done garbage wrestling. This is one of my favorite Hardcore title matches in the history of WWE. Shame they went back to 24/7 soon afterwards. Paul Heyman also somehow makes Raven look like a million bucks on commentary, which is a bonus.

Kurt Angle angrily watches over his tapping out to Benoit. Edge and Christian joke around, but Angle’s serious. Alliances like Angle, Edge and Christian are just things you don’t see in wrestling anymore. They aren’t a team, but they work together and are friends.

European Championship
Test© vs. Eddie Guerrero

No one cared about Test at this point. He had just come off the T and A run, which got Trish over more than anyone else.

Unfortunately, Guerrero was on his way down too. Personal problems had been catching up with Guerrero and he wouldn’t last much longer.

Perry Saturn seconds Guerrero and has a ridiculous hat on. It would only get more ridiculous for Saturn as 2001 went on.

Test actually gets a decent pop. Maybe he was cared about here and I didn’t remember.

Test gets his foot caught in the ropes. I don’t think it was intentional. Guerrero gets him out.

Ref definitely saw Saturn interfere there.

Eddie Guerrero wins the title by pin in 8:30. Test has it won with a big boot, but Dean Malenko pulls him off. Guerrero hits Test with the European title for the win. Match wasn’t bad, it really looked like Eddie Guerrero was doing just about everything to make it good. Test would get a strong push in 2001, but by 2002 it was pretty much over for him as a top guy. Guerrero would fall apart…but then get his life together in 2002 and go on a great three year run. Still, in the long term this match meant nothing.

Mick Foley is the king of the cheap pop.

Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle

There wasn’t much of a story here, it basically spawned from Angle being shut out of the world title picture and Benoit and Jericho’s feud running its course. Most recent storyline between them: Benoit made Angle tap out on RAW.

Angle runs down Texas. Brilliant mic work.

We get a straight wrestling match to start. It’s an interesting way to start as 2001 didn’t have a lot of that.

Predictably, Angle takes the first liberty. Amazing how the can make a punch a heel move, but here it is.

This whole match is the prototype from their amazing Royal Rumble 2003 match. The biggest difference? The fans didn’t truly trust Benoit as a good guy yet.

Angle taps to the Crossface! But there’s no referee. That guarantees this program would continue (and it would be great).

Kurt Angle pins Chris Benoit in 14:04. Angle gets a crucifix pin after a sequence, and holds the tights for the win. Finish makes sense to continue the feud, but it was a pretty cheap win for Wrestlemania (next year would be worse). This is a very good match, but they would have better.

Kamala has invaded Regal’s office! Great stuff.

Great line from Heyman. JR: “Why aren’t you in the gimmick battle royal?” Heyman: “What, you want me to bring my telephone in the ring?”

Benoit attacks Angle post-match, and Angle taps out again!

Women’s Championship
Ivory© vs. Chyna

This is the ending of the Chyna broke her neck angle. Considering Chyna is considered equal to the men, there’s not a chance in hell Ivory wins.

Chyna wins the title by pin in 2:38. Chyna begins the burial of the division here. Shame she went crazy, as she was still mega over. Chyna finished with a Gorilla Press Slam, which I wonder was a reference to Warrior going over HHH at Mania XII (or a shot at HHH).

Street Fight: Mick Foley is the Referee
Mr. McMahon vs. Shane McMahon

Vince foreshadows his alliance with Stone Cold in a quick interview with Cole.

I always wondered how Shane got away with being a momma’s boy without being booed for it.

This was also the famous feud where Shane showed up on Nitro and stole WCW.

Shane absolutely destroys Vince…until Stephanie pulls Vince off a table than Shane was flying towards.

That’s all it takes for Trish Stratus to wheel down the comatose Linda McMahon!

Trish turns on Vince! Trish beats up on Stephanie afterwards.

Trish chases Stephanie away, and Vince takes Foley out with a chair (including a chair shot to the back of the head, which Foley wasn’t expecting). Vince rolls the comatose Linda into the ring.

Of course Linda awakens and kicks Vince right in the jewels.

Shane McMahon pinned Mr. McMahon in 14:12. Shane-Terminator (ECW’s gone a month and already we’re stealing moves) puts an explanation mark on a very entertaining street fight. Sure, it’s not really the best “match”, but it was fun all the way. Also, if you’re into the McMahon storylines, you would have loved all of this, as I did.

This is already a pretty great show…and we’re only half way through!

World Tag Team Championship: Tables, Ladders and Chairs
The Dudley Boyz© vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz

At No Mercy ’99, Edge and Christian along with the Hardyz changed the Ladder Match game with their tag team ladder match. At Wrestlemania 2000, the Dudleyz were added. Summerslam was the first official TLC match. All these matches were amazing and stole the show. There had also been lesser known matches in-between, such as a Tables match with the Dudleyz and Hardyz at the 2000 Royal Rumble, for example.

It doesn’t take long for E and C to introduce the ladder and take out the Hardyz!

Something you don’t see in a lot of multi-man ladder matches anymore: build up. We get some minor knockdowns off the ladder early on here.

The Hardyz bring it to the next level by doing their legdrop/splash combo onto Christian off a pair of ladders.

The Dudleyz build a table fort on the outside…back when we may have not realized they would be involved in the finish.

Spike Dudley runs in and hits a Dudley Dawg on Edge off a ladder, then hits Christian with one from the ring to the floor.

Here comes Rhyno!

GORE GORE GORE!

Now Lita’s here! She stops Edge from getting the belts.

Lita breaks a chair over Spike’s head…but then gets the 3D!

Jeff Hardy relives his moment from last year with another 20 Foot Swanton Bomb through a table on the floor!

I believe the hanging off the belts spot was invented here. Jeff Hardy almost hopsteps ladder to ladder to ladder, but the ladder gives. Still ridiculous.

Jeff Hardy in another famous spot, he ends up hanging off the belts…and Edge spears him off a ladder! Crazy. Just crazy.

Rhyno comes in and sends Matt and Bubba through the table fort create earlier off a ladder.

Edge and Christian win the title in 15:47. After that, Rhyno helped Christian up the ladder to get the belts. In my opinion, this is still the greatest multi-man ladder match in history. Innovative spots, crazy bumps, excellent use of Rhyno, Lita and Spike. Just crazy. 2001 is where WWE would oversaturate the ladder match though. Hell, they gave away a TLC on Smackdown two months later (that was also insane).

It’s a shame this match meant nothing in regards to the titles though. The Hardyz were supposed to win, but it was switched when it was decided Undertaker and Kane were getting the belts for Backlash, so heels needed to win.

Still. Amazing.

Gimmick Battle Royal

I won’t get into all the gimmicks, but Doink gets a huge pop. And of course the Gobbledy Gooker. Hillbilly Jim did as well.

The Iron Sheik wins in 3:07. Sheik last gets rid of Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter with a post-match attack. It was horrible, but that’s the point. It was just a fun battle royal with all the old timers. Bobby Heenan seemed like he had more fun on commentary than he had in years.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

The story was simple. HHH beat Austin at No Way Out and pointed out how he beat everyone that there is to beat. Undertaker told HHH he “ain’t ever beat me”.

HHH Motorhead Live entrance is pretty awesome.

JR brings up that Taker is 8-0 at Mania at this point. Probably the earliest mention of the Streak, other than a 4-0 mention at Mania XI.

This match had no waiting out period. Taker and HHH are just beating the hell out of each other right away. Well, Taker is at least.

It only takes about five minutes, but we have a sledgehammer!

The referee is bumped and Taker gets a chokeslam…but the ref only makes a 2 count. Taker then beats up the ref…and the brawl all over the arena is on!

They end up fighting in the tech/computer area, which is something you don’t see every day. It leads to some awesome visuals, especially when HHH hits Taker with the chair. It feels like a real fight with spectators surrounding them.

Speaking of cool visuals, Taker chokeslams HHH off the tech area, which is like a 10 foot drop (although a replay shows the soft landing for HHH). It looked like Taker dropped HHH off the face of the earth. The moment HHH is up in Taker’s grasp is awesome. Taker comes flying off with an elbow drop for good measure!

We get a Tombstone, which had just become special…but the ref is still gone (way for there to be no 2nd ref!)

In perhaps the forgotten great near Streak-stopper, Taker lifts HHH for the Last Ride, but HHH brings the sledgehammer with him and just whacks Taker in the head with it. I was amazed when I was younger that didn’t finish it.

Undertaker pins HHH in 18:57. HHH makes the mistake of corner punching Taker, as that leads to the Last Ride and 9-0. Just a great knock down drag out brawl. Easily the best Undertaker match of the early American Bad Ass era, at least until Mania X8.

We still have the main event left!

WWF Championship
The Rock© vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

Of course, the promo video for this may be the best over. (Limp Bizkit’s “My Way”).

Austin gets a huge pop and The Rock gets booed for the 1st time as a top babyface…although it wouldn’t be the last time.

Again, no wait period! Austin and Rock tear right into one another!

Kind of a funny moment, but Rock is on the announce table trying to get back to his feet, and the table just falls apart.

In all seriousness, this is an amazing brawl.

Rock explodes out of the corner and nails Austin with a clothesline and the crowd boos the shit out of him. It’s Austin’s crowd in his home state!

There’s something brilliant about having a bloodied Austin trapped in a Sharpshooter at Wrestlemania.

Another amazing idea: Austin busting out the Million Dollar Dream! And JR explains why it’s a big deal!

Here comes Vince!

Rock gets the People’s Elbow, but Vince pulls the Rock off. Some fans boo, realizing what’s about to happen.

It becomes official once Austin asks McMahon for a chair.

Stone Cold wins the title by pin in 28:07. In another genius finish, The Rock, who was getting booed out of the building earlier, gets some big cheers as he survives Austin’s onslaught. Austin pounds The Rock with a chair some 16 or 17 times and gets the pin. Austin and Vince shake hands, which basically marked the end of the Attitude Era and the last boom period in professional wrestling. Great great match. Arguably Austin’s last great match, although I like the Mania XIX match too.

This was the perfect match: two of the biggest wrestling stars of all time at the top of their games. It wasn’t like Hogan-Andre because Andre wasn’t in his prime. It wasn’t like Hogan-Warrior because Warrior wasn’t a sure thing and it was treated like Hogan was passing the torch. It was two guys at the very top of wrestling going toe to toe at the height of wrestling’s popularity at the WWF’s biggest event of the year.

And yet, that’s what makes the ending such a disappointment. Wrestlemania X7 is perfect with the hometown hero completing his comeback and winning the WWF Title. Instead, we got a shocking heel turn that no one wanted. No doubt, Austin was a great heel, but he was a once in a lifetime babyface. The WWF hasn’t reached the level they were at here since. The real Stone Cold was gone, as Austin devolved into a (still entertaining) comedy heel with a serious side to him. Austin wrote in his book about how he thought about just calling an audible when he saw the crowd reaction, realizing that Stone Cold still had the potential to be an elite top face. The finish also showed stubbornness, as Vince had to know he had to change plans after acquiring WCW.

Look, if you have any issues with this show, pro wrestling is not for you. I once thought Wrestlemania XX was the superior show, but really, it’s not. This is perfection, sans the ending. It’ll have to go with 99.9% then.

Hands down, the greatest professional wrestling PPV ever.

Final Grade: A+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF No Mercy 2000

No_mercy_2000

No Mercy 2000
October 22, 2000
Albany, NY
Reviewed on March 23, 2014

Background: The WWF-WCW war for all intents and purposes was over. The WWF had a checkmark next to every conceivable comparison you could make. Biggest stars? Check. Best wrestlers? Check. Most compelling storylines? Check. Characters fans cared the most about? Check. I could go on and on, but the war was just about over.

But interestingly enough, and this is sometimes forgotten over time, but the WWF had actually passed their peak as well. While numbers were still quite strong across the board, the RAW rating had went from a consistent high 5s to mid 6s (and sometimes low 7s) to high 4s to sometimes 6 flat. Once again, obviously great numbers, but not the super sky high numbers the WWF did through 1999 and early 2000. There were some reasons for that. One of which was the main storyline here, but also who those new characters were.

Although I personally prefer a combination of great wrestling and great storytelling…Crash TV at one point really was the way to go for the highest ratings. In 2000 the WWF moved away from that. There was a new focus on great matches and a lot of it had to do with the new talent WWF acquires or brought up though 2000 (Radicalz, Kurt Angle, William Regal, emergence of Edge, Christian and Hardyz). And well, the real draw of wrestling usually isn’t wrestling.

The other big thing going on at the time that really is up for debate is what Stone Cold Steve Austin’s return to the WWF meant in terms of business. For whatever reason, it didn’t do the crazy great business that Austin’s name on the marquee used to do. Once again it isn’t to say that it wasn’t successful, but ratings didn’t bump and actually trended downward once Austin came back. Now, while I’m using Austin’s comeback as a reference point here, I actually don’t think its Austin’s fault that ratings didn’t rise when he came back. It’s just the WWF, great matches and all, had its time in the Crash TV era. You can only have the same guys on top for so long before people don’t care anymore, at least in TV land. What Austin was doing in 1998 and 1999 was revolutionary. In 2000, it was the norm. I assume that’s why they went with the heel turn in 2001.

Anyway, I do think the main storyline coming into his comeback also hurt a bit. I get the idea to elevate Rikishi to the top, he was getting great face reactions, but this was totally out of left field and even the WWF kinda retconned it when HHH was the accomplice (even though, I did like Rikishi’s reasoning). This storyline needed a big payoff (HHH was logical, although it’s too bad HBK wasn’t active here). For the record this angle is my reasoning of why Undertaker can’t lose his Wrestlemania streak to just anyone to get them over. The fans won’t buy it. It needs to go to a top or near top guy to further cement them (like Daniel Bryan!)

Anyway, No Mercy 2000! The return of the Rattlesnake!

The Card

Awesome opening promo. It’s a takeoff of Stone Cold’s Survivor Series 96 promo with Bret Hart (the black and white I’m gonna kick your ass thing). “I’m looking at Rikishi, and I’m looking at deadman”.

Dudley Boyz Tag Team Elimination Invitational
Too Cool vs. Lo-Down vs. Raven and Tazz vs. the Dudley Boyz vs. Goodfather and Bull Buchanan

Funny enough, Too Cool look like Public Enemy bringing a table with them and dancing.

This is like a Tag Team Turmoil match…just you gotta put someone through a table to eliminate them.

D’Lo looks a bit out of shape. This was his last gimmick before he was gone.

Some talk about Edge and Christian being sick and unable to be in this match. This is part of something awesome later.

Both Lo-Down members end up going through a table. Too Cool advances.

Tazz and Raven next. This could have been an ECW dream match at one time.

Grandmaster Sexay’s feet accidentally destroy a table. That didn’t give away that it was gimmicked now did it? (And Big Show should be angered he lost the IC title for the same thing in 2012).

Scotty does a WORM under a table. Nice.

Scotty gets double suplexes through the table right after. I swear Scotty loses more matches when he does the worm than when he doesn’t.

Dudley time. They didn’t even get last position in their own match.

It’s amazing how the former ECW Tag Champs are destroying two former ECW World Champs.

D-Von legdrops Tazz through a table. Here come the RTC!

The Dudley Boyz win in 12:18. Stupid finish here. Bull accidentally clotheslines the referee. Bubba powerbombs Bull Buchanan through the table, but the ref didn’t see it since he’s out. Goodfather with the chair shot takes out Bubba and he lands in the table wreckage Ref wakes up and calls it for the RTC…which would have been a fine finish for the heels cheating to win. But a 2nd ref comes in and tells the 1st ref what happened…match restart…3D through table for win. So, why don’t we have two referees for everything then? Still a fun little match though.

We get a quick Trish, Test and Albert discussion about it being okay if Trish’s boobs fall out. I’m sure everyone agrees.

By gawd, it’s Rikishi! He’s got a sledgehammer!

At lot of the commentary during the tables match was that Stone Cold wasn’t at the arena yet. JR guarantees he will be.

Lita and the APA vs. Trish and T & A

Lita had the worst theme music in the WWF at this time.

Story here: Strip poker game with Trish, Test, Albert and the APA went wrong. Also Trish hates Lita. SO here we are.

T & A beats the crap out of the APA backstage.

It’s a 3 on 1 attack on Lita…but of course the Hardyz make the save. I mean, it would have been stupid if they hadn’t, right?

No match, which is always stupid, but I don’t think it was made until late anyway, and it’s way to get them all on the PPV I guess.

Edge and Christian backstage and not sick! Pretty awesome interview using the word nuts. Anyway, they’ll be there to watch Los Conquistadores win the tag titles!

Steel Cage Match
X-Pac vs. Chris Jericho

I believe the story stems off of the HHH vs. Jericho feud through the summer. Jericho beat X-Pac at Unforgiven. They’ve been feuding since.

Weird start where Jericho baseball slides X-Pac as he was coming through the door. So they end up fighting around the outside. I usually don’t like cage matches that have outside fighting, with a few exceptions.

Jericho rockets X-Pac into the cage…and I do believe X-Pac injured his neck there which is why we don’t see him again until February.

Backdrop into the cage and X-Pac lands on his head (although the ropes helped break the fall). That might have been where the injury happened.

X-Pac goes for the pin. I never understood those spots where people go for pins in non-pinfall matches.

Big boos for the Bronco Buster.

Powerbomb from the top rope. To be honest, some of these spots are cool, but the match just isn’t clicking.

Jericho gets a Walls on the top of the cage, but it looks like crap…and Jericho goes crashing back into the ring.

Chris Jericho wins by escape in 10:40. Okay, here is one of the best cage match spots ever. X-Pac has it won and is about to escape. X-Pac stands on the top of the open door and celebrates, and Jericho dropkicks the cage making X-Pac crotch the door! Jericho escapes for the win. Finish was great. Match was fine I guess. Problems with it were that fans were disappointed Jericho had went from fighting HHH and Benoit to X-Pac so they never thought he was losing…and X-Pac heat started around this time.

Steve Blackman at WWF New York!

Foley’s Office. Rikishi demands to know where Austin is. Foley said if he doesn’t show, he’ll raise Rikishi’s hand.

Apparently Eddie Guerrero got hurt against Billy Gunn on RAW for an IC title match. So…

Eddie Guerrero and Chyna vs. Val Venis and Steven Richards

This was the last days of Mr. Ass. At least until 2003. Gunn would lose the name to the RTC in a few weeks.

Chyna was still very over at this point. I don’t know where it went off the rails for her exactly, but she was done in nine months. Gunn would be done as a potential top guy after having a bad match with Benoit in December.

I do think they should have went with the Outlaws again here as they would have been a perfect foil for RTC.

Some psychology! They work on Gunn’s shoulder, which he just came back from having surgery on.

Never liked Chyna’s cartwheel elbow. The elbow part was always so weak.

Val Venis and Steven Richards win when Val pins Chyna in 7:10. Goodfather and Bull take out Gunn (to no DQ?). Chyna is about to Pedigree Val, but Guerrero wins in and smashes her in the back with a pipe disguised by flowers. Val gets the win. Nothing really to say here. Not bad, not good. Not anything. RTC were natural heat magnets and Chyna was pretty damn over.

HHH is backstage. This was his small time as a face before the Austin angle played out. Stephanie McMahon wants to be at ringside with HHH. HHH thinks it’s too dangerous for her to be at ringside with Benoit out there. They start to argue a bit when she talks about helping her business partner Kurt Angle.

No Holds Barred
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Rikishi

Just as Foley comes out to raise Rikishi’s hand…here comes Austin in a truck!

Austin gets a huge pop of course.

This is ALL Austin. All Austin. I’ll explain why that wasn’t the way to go afterwards.

Austin beats the shit out of Rikishi with a chair. Rikishi’s busted. Rikishi has gotten a little offense and a kick in.

Stone Cold and Rikishi wrestled to a no contest in 9:21. Austin puts Rikishi in his truck and brings him to the street. Austin then tries to run over Rikishi, but the police intervene and arrest Austin. Pretty sure that means Rikishi should be the winner, but whatever. The brawl is pretty good for what it is, but the problem is the booking all the way. I’m going to take some time to explain what’s wrong with this angle and where and why it went wrong, assuming that no matter what the WWF was going to go with Rikishi. And by the way, if Austin gets arrested here, shouldn’t Rikishi have been arrested for running over Austin in the first place?

Okay, so I wrote earlier in the background about why Rikishi was not the best choice for the angle…but once WWF decided it was him, they had to stick with it. The first match between the two here at No Mercy needed to be a 50:50 (or even a Rikishi beat down)…although understandably you want Stone Cold to look good and kick ass on his return match. Here’s why you can’t have an Austin beatdown: it kills Rikishi.

Think of it this way. Wrestlemania XXX, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt. If Cena kills Wyatt in a 10 minute match, what happens? It’s practically the end of Wyatt. What if Wyatt beats down Cena or it’s a 50:50 match where Cena barely wins? Heck what if it’s a five minute squashing of season, what happens? Makes Wyatt look like gold and doesn’t hurt Cena one bit. For example, Wyatt beating Daniel Bryan at the Royal Rumble is perfect. Made Wyatt look great, didn’t hurt Bryan one bit.

Well the idea of taking Rikishi seriously as a top guy went to hell. Rikishi had flashes with the main event…but this was his first true test and he looked like a chump. AND when he went back to a dancing fool eight months later well, I believe that was one of the storylines that killed the goodwill of the fans from the Attitude era. Even if he flopped as a heel (not like his turn to babyface worked or anything), the thing he did (running over Austin) was bad enough that he had to stay there. By the way once HHH was involved in the feud, well, you might as well have stuck a fork in Rikishi as it is. (Also for the record, the four guys WWF was pushing toward the top in 2000 were Angle, Benoit, Jericho and Rikishi. The only one to get a big win over a main eventer was Angle, and not surprisingly, he was the biggest star of the four up until 2008).

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

WWF European Championship
William Regal© vs. Naked Mideon

Regal tells us that Foley said Mideon had to wear clothes. Thank god.

Early on Mideon teases the shirt taking off and Regal is disgusted. Regal’s facial reactions are amazing.

Shirt comes off. Ugh.

OH MY GOD CENSOR THAT SHIT NETWORK. Pants went flying off.

William Regal retains the title by pin in 6:10. There is a funny moment at the end as Regal goes for the Regal Stretch but doesn’t want to touch Mideon (understandable) and goes for the Regal Cutter instead. By otherwise that was awful. How Naked Mideon didn’t win the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Worst Gimmick is beyond me. Yes this is worse than the shit WCW did to Mike Awesome.

Now for some awesomeness. They show the Kurt Angle-Rock “interview”. Angle spliced up old Rock interviews to make it seem like he ran down Stone Cold and that fans don’t want Rock to win tonight. Great stuff. Angle was hilarious.

Now for some more awesomeness! The Los Conquistadores! They are interviewed by Kevin Kelly (no idea Kelly made it this long). Of course Kelly gets no answers.

WWF World Tag Team Championship
The Hardy Boyz© vs. Los Conquistadores

Story here: The Hardyz beat Edge and Christian and Mick Foley said no more tag title shots. Suddenly Los Conquistadores returned to the WWF and won a tag team battle royal to win this title shot. Oddly they never seem to be in the same video shot as Edge and Christian…so of course everyone thinks they are Edge and Christian. At this moment we don’t have proof though.

They play it up so great. Somersaults. The way they walk to the ring. Conversing with the Spanish announcers. Edge and Chri….I mean the Los Conquistadores are great.

The worked disgust of Jim Ross is incredible.

Another awesome thing here. The match sucks…but it has to because Edge and Christian have a totally different moveset than Los Conquistadores.

We finally do get a flying dive over the top that Christian normally does. But still.

Los Conquistadores win the title when Uno (I think) pins Matt Hardy. Matt unmakes Dos…but Dos has ANOTHER mask on! Brilliant! Uno hits the Unprettier for the win! Crowd pops for it too! Match sucked…but it was supposed to! Great stuff.

Ugh it must have been cut out for some reason…but there’s an interview afterwards with the new Tag Champs and then Edge and Christian walk into the shot and make the challenge for tomorrow on RAW! That had a great payoff as well. Great angle to extend the Hardyz vs. E and C feud.

Triple H vs. Chris Benoit

Story here: Benoit headbutted Stephanie. HHH wants revenge.

HHH works on the knee. I don’t think the technical route made sense for the story…but that’s not a big deal. Not like it’s Orton vs. HHH at Mania which made no sense.

Lawler and Ross state that they are shocked that HHH is outwrestling Benoit. Which just puts both guys over.

HHH busts out an Indian Deathlock! How come we don’t see that anymore?

He then bridges the Deathlock with a neck vise! Nice!

Now Benoit works on the arm. Hammerlock back suplex. Great old school technical wrestling match.

Perfect inverted suplex from HHH. This is really shaping up as a great match.

Full nelson suplex from Benoit!

Another one!

HHH gets out of a Crossface by getting to his feet and hitting a Death Valley Driver!

Stephanie’s out here! Slap to Benoit! This leads to…

Triple H pins Chris Benoit in 18:33. Great Crossface to Pedigree to Crossface to Pedigree counterfest that HHH ends with a low blow, the Pedigree and the pin. Great match. Shame that it didn’t propel Benoit to the main event. I feel like in this match HHH was out to prove that he’s just as much of a wrestler as Benoit is. He isn’t, but I mean, he can be damn good when he wants to be.

AH! Here’s the Edge and Christian-Los Conquistadores backstage thing I was wondering about earlier!

WWF World Championship
The Rock© vs. Kurt Angle

Story here: Match has weird dynamics storywise, as The Rock is caught between two storylines…the Rikishi-Austin one and the HHH-Stephanie-Angle triangle. Stephanie is in Angle’s corner because she is out to prove she’s not a liability at ringside.

Match is suddenly announced as a no DQ match.

Really driving home the Stephanie factor early as Angle takes control over a Steph distraction.

Also establishing the Angle meanstreak with a chair shot.

HHH is watching this match on a TV that is seriously blue.

Rock smashes a steel chair on Angle’s ankle! Ouch!

Rock with a good sharpshooter! Angle taps…but Steph distracts the referee. I don’t like Angle’s tapout there to be honest, way too early.

You know what’s weird? Watching an Angle match with him going for the Ankle Lock every two minutes. Angle didn’t have that in his arsenal I believe until February 2001 and the rematch with the Rock.

More Steph interference…and Angle gets a belt shot to the head on The Rock! But Rock survives!

Rock and Angle just have awesome chemistry.

I always liked Rock’s belly to belly suplex/throw.

Rock Bottom to Stephanie!

Angle just stops the People’s Elbow on Stephanie though.

HHH is down here. Pedigree to the Rock after he attacked Angle!

Now we have Rikishi down here.

Angle knew to attack him…Rikishi hit him back and rolled him back into the ring.

Kurt Angle wins the WWF Title by pin in 21:01. Rikishi accidentally nails Rock with a butt avalanche and a superkick. Olympic Slam to Rikishi! A perfect Olympic Slam to The Rock for the 1…2…3! Angle ends the show with one of the most iconic World title victory celebrations with the dropping to the knees and crying. Rock bitches out Rikishi, and rightfully so. Interference was a bit much, but a great match is a great match.

I already expressed my frustration with the Rikishi-Austin angle earlier. The rest of it was fine, although proving Stephanie matters was a bit much. I can’t put this show in the A range though. While there is some really good stuff, including basically all of the last half of the show there was a lot of stuff that didn’t matter (Cage, sadly Austin-Rikishi). Also Naked Mideon is the absolute worst.

I can’t get past Austin-Rikishi. Fun brawl sure, but if I paid for this show when it first aired, I would have felt a bit ripped off with it. And it was the first step that killed Rikishi.

Very good show overall though.

Final Grade: B+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF Judgment Day 2000

jday2000

Judgment Day 2000
May 21, 2000
Louisville, KY
Reviewed on April 8, 2014

Background: WCW was just coming off a period where David Arquette was the World Champ. That alone should tell you everything about were the WWF vs. WCW war was at.

This is an interesting time period for the WWF. Stone Cold’s future was in doubt. Other than Backlash, we hadn’t see Stone Cold and again wouldn’t until September. Vince had put all of his eggs in two new baskets: The Rock and Triple H. The Rock was more natural here, he was already megaover and there was a good chance that if Austin never had to take time off that Vince would have run with him in 2000 anyway. HHH was more of the question mark. He was already being groomed as a top heel in 1999, in fact he was champ when Austin went out, but it always did (and still does) feel a little forced. It’s not as if the WWF had a choice though. They needed new top guys. Austin and Undertaker were hurt, Mick Foley was retired, Kane still wasn’t quite there and Big Showwasn’t grabbing the opportunities being thrown at him. So Rock vs. HHH was a natural on top.

In terms of the in ring product…the WWF was arguable in the best shape ever. Acquisitions such as the Radicalz, Chris Jericho and the Dudley Boyz bolstered the midcard. In addition homegrown talent like Edge, Christian, the Hardyz and Kurt Angle were just as good as those acquisitions if not better. Gone were the days of guys like DOA and Bluedust piling up in the midcard. The WWF arguably had the best pure wrestling in the world at this point.

WWF was now rolling. Let’s see how it continued to go.

The Card

McMahon-Helmsley Faction runs down the card for the most part. They also make Hardcore Champ Gerald Brisco get them coffee. Good stuff.

Brisco gets attacked by the Headbangers! He gets away I think.

Totally forgot about the HBK as the ref dynamic.

Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian vs. Rikishi and Too Cool

Angle stutters a lot in his promo.

Story: E and C had just turned heel and joined up with Angle. Too Cool was chasing them for the tag belts.

5 Second Pose! The Jug Band!

It’s amazing how in the span of a month Edge and Christian went from bland faces to amazing heels.

Crowd is hot for all six guys here.

Real creative save from Grandmaster on the irish whip to the corner to Scotty.

It’s amazing how over Too Cool was.

Huge Rikishi chant.

Angle gets the Stinkface!

Edge even had a spear in 2000, how about that.

Rikishi and Too Cool win when Rikishi pinned Edge in 9:46. Rikishi goes for the Rikishi Driver, but Christian whacks him with the ring bell. Grandmaster though drops the Hip Hop Drop…and Angle is just too late to break up the pin. Really fun opener. Matters so much when all six guys are over.

Michael Cole interrogates HBK.

WWF European Championship
Eddie Guerrero© vs. Perry Saturn vs. Dean Malenko

Story: Well, the Radicalz got their contracts, and now it is each man for themselves. Guerrero was with Chyna here…and was the face.

The WWE fans never really got Malenko or Saturn.

Match is wrestled well, but no one cares about anyone that isn’t Eddie here.

Top rope gut buster from Malenko to Eddie! Nice!

Saturn just steals everyone’s moves.

Eddie Guerrero wins when he pins Malenko in 7:57. Chyna takes out Saturn with a shot with the flowers…then drops Malenko face first on them. Of course there’s a pipe in there. Eddie rolls Dean up for the win. Fans were not really into it, but popped for Eddie’s win. Decent match, but disappointing considering who was involved.

Replay of Brisco winning the Hardcore title when Crash was sleeping.

Now we get Brisco all paranoid. I don’t like 24/7, but the Brisco stuff was hilarious. Brisco shits himself when he sees himself in the mirror…and then punches the mirror anyway. Great stuff.

Falls Count Anywhere
Big Show vs. Shane McMahon

Story: Big Show went Hollywood and wanted to have fun after Wrestlemania. Shane was pissed that Show was eliminated 1st in the title match at Mania which embarrassed Shane. Shane called Show a fat, unmotivated slob. Considering how this played out, I wonder how much real life played into this feud.

Big Show has that Aggression theme. I actually liked it for him here.

Show beats the crap out of Shane for a few minutes…but here comes the Bossman!

T and A out here as well to help Shane.

Funny moment as Big Show breaks a part of the stage to hit Shane…but he sells it as something really heavy. A few seconds later Test picks it up like it’s nothing.

Shane McMahon pins Big Show in 7:12. Shane tries to escape by climbing up the titantron, but Show catches him. Bull Buchanan comes in and beats Show up with a nightstick. Shane pushes a huge amp on Show’s leg, then smashes a cinderblock on Show’s head for the win. I usually hate Shane McMahon matches, but I like this one. Shane McMahon should never have any offense in matches against top guys, and he didn’t here. This was the only way he could win. Other than the Conspiracy angle a couple months later, Show was practically gone till Royal Rumble 2001. He was supposed to lose weight, but he returned fatter somehow.

Brisco tries to get a moment of sleep, but the refs move in to win the title. Brisco was upset.

HBK-HHH backstage discussion. Quite casual.

Intercontinental Championship: Submission Match
Chris Benoit© vs. Chris Jericho

Story: Jericho’s been chasing Benoit’s title. Jericho messed Benoit’s eye up at Backlash. Benoit asked for the submission match. So what’s the better submission, the Walls or the Crossface? Benoit has a brace because Hardcore Holly smashed Benoit’s knee with a chair on Smackdown.

Benoit works on the shoulder of course.

Jericho goes for a pin! Know the rules Jericho!

Jericho gets the brace off!

Jericho then beats the crap out of Benoit with the brace!

Awesome Walls of Jericho in the ropes! Benoit screams in pain!

Benoit counters a Walls with a brace shot to the face.

Chris Benoit makes Chris Jericho pass out to retain the title in 13:27. Benoit has the Crossface. Jericho tries to escape, but Benoit turns it into a choke crossface and Jericho passes out and the ref calls it. While I thought the finish was bad ass at one time…obviously it’s kinda uncomfortable to watch now because of what Benoit ended up doing. Anyway, match was hard hitting and quite good…and the worst Jericho and Benoit would have in the WWE. Which says a lot about those two. But good match, told a good story.

More Hardcore Champ action! He beats up a couple of vendors. Proactive champ!

Rock tells HBK that he better call it down the middle. They were playing off HBK screwing The Rock back on the first Smackdown.

Tables Match
DX (X-Pac and Road Dogg) vs. the Dudley Boyz

Story here: The Dudleyz wanted to put Tori through a table. Tori actually splashes Bubba through one. And here we are.

I love the Aggression DX theme.

Tori distracts the ref when the Dudleyz do the Wassup headbutt (pre-wassup though). I hate that. It’s a tables match, who cares if the ref sees?

Again I don’t get the normal tag rules. Lawler points out that the Bubba should just run over the ref. He’s 100% right you know.

Road Dogg drives D-Von with the Armstrong Slam through a table. That’s 1 Dudley.

Bubba powerbombs X-Pac through. So 1 vs. 1 table wise.

Bubba AND Road Dogg hip toss the ref through a table! GREAT! Ref was annoying.

Hardcore Champ Brisco is here.

3D through a table…but the ref is out!

DX wins in 10:55. Bubba tries to put Tori through a table, but Brisco saves her. Ref sees the X-Factor through the table and DX wins! Hated the structure of the match…as a regular tag match made no sense here. But the finish was fun and set-up a “rematch” (if you include dumpsters) the next month. Brisco gets driven through a table. No one tries to take his title though.

“As I lay me down to sleep…my soul is mine to keep etc. etc.” His Judgment Day is Coming! I wonder what that means?!?!

WWF Championship: 60 Minute Iron Man Match
The Rock© vs. Triple H

Story here: This was the feud of the first half of 2000. Rock vs. HHH. Rock won the title at Backlash. This is the rematch. HBK as the ref was supposed to play off what he did on the first Smackdown and the fact he was in the first ever 60 minute Iron Man match at Mania 12.

They kept the Finkel botch in this version! Finkel announced HHH as the WWF World Champion here. I think it is said he was reading the result.

HHH tells the Faction to go to the back…because he wants to do this on his own.

Lawler’s telling a great story early on about conserving energy.

The Rock hits a Rock Bottom out of nowhere in 10 minutes for the first fall. That is the only thing I dislike about this match…HHH shouldn’t go down to a random Rock Bottom in 10 minutes.

Figure Four by the Rock!

HHH gets his first fall at the 25 minute mark. Makes a lot more sense, as Rock can go down to a Pedigree in 25 minutes.

HHH rolls up a dazed Rock for a 2nd fall! Great booking there! Use that clock!

When we pass the 30 minute mark, Lawler says this is the longest match both Rock and HHH have ever had. Well, they both have lasted 50 minutes + in Royal Rumbles at this point…

Piledriver! HHH goes up 3-1! I like how once that Pedigree hit Rock’s health was very low and doesn’t recover. That’s how an Iron Man match should work. Half the match still to go.

The way this match is being built, every move, even a sleeper, matters. Just awesome.

They start to build up HBK not allowing HHH to break the rules. This will matter soon.

Floatover DDT gets a 2nd fall for the Rock. It was botched though, and just a regular DDT. Weird how I like HHH’s falls a lot better than Rock’s.

HHH blasts Rock with a chair in HBK’s clear sight at the 46 minute mark! We are tied! And HBK called it!

HHH then pins Rock to get the 4-3 advantage. Amazing spot. Fans got excited for Rock to tie…just for him to be in a worst spot now. Great stuff.

Sleeper works this time for HHH! Two fall lead with 13 minutes to go!

HHH’s Harley Race flip takes out a camera man. Still, can Rock get 2 falls in 12 minutes?

HHH kicks out of a superplex…which was masterful as it looked like a must win for Rock there.

Rock Pedigrees HHH on the Announcer’s Table! It gets a count out and Rock is within 1 fall! HHH makes it back just in time to avoid a 2nd fall. Three minutes to go!

McMahons are back!

People’s Elbow with 2 minutes left…we are tied!

All hell breaks loose now. HBK takes out Shane and Vince, but he gets knocked off the apron. DX gets in there…but the nursery rhymes begin. The Undertaker has return and he kicks the crap out of everyone! Huge pop!

HHH wins the title, winning 6 to 5. With 8 seconds to go, Taker chokeslams HHH, which HBK does see and later segments would show video evidence of this. I do think the finish is a little messed up, but it works enough. HBK calls for the DQ, and HHH wins. Incredible match. Best of Rock’s career. One of the best of HHH’s. Still the best Iron Man match in WWE history. It was sixty minutes of non-stop action that actually told a story throughout. Undertaker’s return was also a huge moment.

This PPV owns. You’ve got no bad matches and only one that’s merely ok (Tables). Opener was good. Euro was decent. Shane vs. Show was booked correctly and entertaining. IC was very good. Main event was absolutely top notch with a classic sports entertainment finish. Match also showed that Rock could go sixty minutes, which was a damn surprise…and I’m sure HHH gained tons of respect after this one.

Historically, this show didn’t matter other than the Undertaker comeback (Rock would take back the title the next month, and Benoit and Jericho didn’t move up the card yet). But sometimes a damn good show is just a damn good show. Bonus points for awesome main event, of course.

Final Grade: A

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF Royal Rumble 2000

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WWF Royal Rumble 2000
January 23, 2000
New York, NY
Reviewed on January 7, 2015

You knew WCW was dead when the WWF’s biggest problem wasn’t their competition anymore. No, the WWF’s problem was that for the first time in this wrestling boom, they were left without Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After Survivor Series, the main event seemed really thin without Austin and an injured Undertaker. Big Show had won the WWF Title, but was in a midcard feud with the Big Bossman. Mankind had gotten ridiculously out of shape, and was busy in tag teams with Al Snow. Kane had lost some of his luster for sure stemming from the teaming and now feuding with X-Pac angle. Only Triple H and The Rock seemed poised for the very top at this point. Someone had to replace Austin at the top, and who better than the Rock?

But the WWF built the 2000 Royal Rumble so well that none of this mattered. First off was due to the hard work of Mick Foley. Foley was debating about ending his career and wanted a last run as a babyface against HHH. Vince initially shot it down, telling Mick he was too fat (“Mick, you’re huge”) at this point and it wouldn’t work. But when he realized Big Show wasn’t ready for the very top yet and the crowd wasn’t there for him, he decided to go with Foley vs. HHH at the Rumble. This made tons of sense as well, as The Rock seemed like an obvious Royal Rumble winner. I assume Undertaker, who was due to return at the Rumble, would have been the Rock’s biggest hurdle, but Taker hurt his arm in rehab and wasn’t able to return yet. Suddenly, with a motivated Mick Foley, the Royal Rumble seemed like a bad ass show.

The Card

Awesome opening video. You know a Rumble card is built well when the World Title match is just as hyped as the Rumble match itself.

Kurt Angle vs. ???

Angle had been on a winning streak since his debut at Survivor Series. He had been an entertaining heel since his debut for sure.

There had been Tazz videos on RAW and Smackdown over the past few weeks. So it’s not like the opponent was really in doubt.

Angle runs down Patrick Ewing, with his 100% correct assessment that the Knicks can’t win a title with him.

The crowd pops HUGE for Tazz.

One thing that was absolutely true and was half the reason Tazz never made it as a top guy: he was too small, and he wasn’t a Benoit type.

Belly to belly off the top gets Tazz a close two.

Tazz suplexes Angle all around for a minute. See, the idea of “keeping someone strong” is bs sometimes. This didn’t hurt Angle one bit.

Tazz makes Angle pass out in 3:10. Tazz locks on the Tazzmission and Angle passes out. The angle is weird here, as King and JR call it a choke and not a sleeper, giving Kurt an out in regards to the undefeated streak. Angle does a stretcher job. Fun match that got the point across. A great moment too.

For the record, the other thing that killed Tazz was when Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn and Malenko showed up the next week. Became hard to care about Tazz’s debut at that point.

Tag Team Tables Match
The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz

This is when Terri was with the Hardyz. The Hardyz made themselves (despite a previous tag title reign) with the tag team ladder match back at No Mercy. This is the first ever Tag Tables Match.

We get a PG version of the Dudley ECW promo. Bubba Ray says his hero is John Rocker. Rocker of course was the Atlanta Braves closer who said bad things about New Yorkers.

Jeff justs nails Bubba with a chair. Ouch!

Bubba Ray Dudley throws a table into Jeff as he was running off the barricade! Nice.

Matt and Jeff drive Bubba through a table! Jeff off the top rope and Matt off a ladder. This was on the floor as well!

Awesome spot here. D-Von moves out of the way as Matt tries to drive him through a table and Matt goes flying though. But then D-Von moved to where another table was and Jeff tried to drive him though, but HE missed too.

Dudleyz put a table on the steps in the ring…and Matt gets powerbombed through!

Random genius booking about these matches: the fact that when one member of a team goes through a table they DON’T get sent to the back leaving a handicap match.

First ever table stack, but it’s Bubba who goes flying through as Matt nails him in the head with a steel chair. First time we’ve ever seen that.

The Hardy Boyz win in 10:19. Matt puts D-Von on two tables, and Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb off the balcony for the win. Awesome. One of the matches that led to the TLC era. Also one of matches that really put the nail in the coffin for ECW, as this was a well produced version of the balcony stuff ECW had done in the past.

While I cringe at concussion based angles, Kurt’s pretty hilarious here with “did I win? Did I win? I’m undefeated?”

Bikini Contest: Jacqueline, BB, Ivory, Terri, Mae Young, The Kat and Luna

Ugh. Terri famously steals the show here, only for Mae Young’s top to come off and for her to be crowned the winner.

It’s interesting to see the state of the WWF Divas (well they weren’t called that yet) after Sable but before Lita and Trish Stratus. I mean outside of Chyna, the most popular women were Kat and Terri.

Thank god that horriblness is over. That might have been the worst moment in WWE and Madison Square Garden history. Mark Henry did make the save.

I will say Lawler’s comments about the Kat are a lot funnier in retrospect.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho© vs. Chyna© vs. Hardcore Holly

Yeah, Jericho and Chyna were both the IC Champion. Not a very memorable moment for the IC title for sure. Jericho and Chyna can’t decide who gets to bring the title out, so Earl Hebner does.

I can’t remember for the life of me how Hardcore Holly got dragged into this.

Chyna gets booed by the MSG crowd while there’s a big pop for Jericho.

I do think it’s a shame Chyna was nuts, because I think there was a lot of money to be made with her.

Holly going for a hurricanrana was begging for a Walls counter. I mean really.

I don’t think Chyna is trying. Gets tossed on the outside and doesn’t land correctly. Then misses a dropkick when trying to kick a chair in Holly’s face.

Double top rope splash! Thankfully Holly kicks out.

Chris Jericho becomes undisputed IC Champion when he pinned Chyna in 7:31. Bulldog and lionsault for the win. I think there’s a spot there where Jericho doesn’t know what to do, but either it’s edited or it’s not as obvious as Jericho made it out to be. Anyway, the Chyna-Jericho angle wouldn’t end till a couple of months later when she went with Eddie.

Rock promo. As long as he can get by Mosh and Crash, he’s unstoppable in the Rumble!

WWF World Tag Team Championship
The New Age Outlaws© vs. The Acolytes

Fun fact: this would be the last pre A.P.A Acolyte match.

Ref bump 2 minutes in. Okay then.

The New Age Outlaws retain when Gunn pinned Bradshaw in 2:35. Fameasser for the win. This got cut for time obviously, as HHH vs. Cactus Jack is getting a half hour. BUT, we couldn’t cut a minute or two off of Mae Young?

WWF World Championship: Street Fight
Triple H© vs. Cactus Jack

Amazing build for this one. HHH fired Foley during the beginning of the McMahon-Helmsley era, but The Rock forced a Foley comeback. Mankind, in what today is still a top 10 Smackdown moment, transformed into Cactus Jack and got this street fight. HHH promised that what Rock did to Foley at the 99 Rumble in the I Quit match will pale in comparison to what happens at the 2000 Rumble.

We get the early establishment that HHH isn’t completely scared of Jack…but he has to make sure he has a chair with him when challenging him.

Legdrop on HHH’s face with a chair. Ouch.

Some really great brawling early on. Suplexes on wooden pallets and garbage cans.

Barbie in the house. That would be Foley’s nickname for his 2×4 with barbed wire.

Earl Hebner takes Barbie and hides it behind the Spanish announce table…but when Jack threatens Hebner he gives it up! Nice creativity you don’t see anymore.

Jack beats the living shit out of HHH with Barbie, including a head shot that leads to HHH bleeding all over the place.

Jack goes for the piledriver on the desk, but HHH counters with a backdrop.

Some more violence and out come the handcuffs…shades of last year’s Rumble.

Wicked chair shot that breaks the chair…and Foley stays on his feet! He ends up taking another shot and crashing to the floor with no way to protect himself, being in handcuffs and all.

Underrated great spot here: Jack is begging HHH to smack him with the chair, and HHH goes to do so…only for The Rock to come out and nail HHH with a chair and leave. Jack gets freed by a cop.

Piledriver on the desk happens this time and it doesn’t break. It looked like it killed HHH though.

As if this wasn’t violent enough…thumbtacks!

Jack gets backdropped on the tacks!

Jack kicks out of the pedigree…and the crowd goes NUTS.

Triple H retains by pin in 26:55. HHH follows up with a Pedigree on the thumbtacks! The pin follows and with that, an argument for both Mick Foley’s and HHH’s best matches ever. HHH gets stretchered out…but somehow Cactus Jack isn’t done with him. HHH takes another shot from Barbie for good measure.

An incredible, knock down, drag out violent brawl. This match is the one that turned HHH into upper midcarder ridiculously hanging with Austin and Rock to bonafide bad ass top heel here. It’s also jarring watching the last eight months of Mankind matches…then watching this one. Incredible all around.

2000 Royal Rumble

D’Lo Brown is #1 and Grandmaster Sexay is #2. Not quite Austin and McMahon.

JR with the comment of the night. Lawler: “Grandmaster Sexay? I thought he was luckier than this.” JR: “Some say Grandmaster was unlucky at birth”. Sexay is Lawler’s son, of course.

#3 is Mosh. Rock was worried about him!

It always seemed weird that the Headbangers didn’t make it in the Attitude Era.

Taka Michinoku and Funaki run out. The story here is that they were angered they weren’t in the Rumble. They are taken care of quickly.

#4 is Christian. He would have a big 2000.

#5 is Rikishi. Rikishi had been getting big reactions and got put over with a near win over HHH for the title. A long run here could really cement him as a major player. He gets a huge reaction here and dumps Mosh right away.

Rikishi gets rid of Christian right away too. He tosses D’Lo, and then we are left with RIkishi and Grandmaster.

#6 is Scotty 2 Hotty. In a memorable moment, they dance. Right at the end Rikishi tosses Scotty and Grandmaster, stating it’s just business. Good stuff.

Steve Blackman is #7 to face off with Rikishi. Rikishi gets him out in a minute.

Viscera is #8, creating the monster vs. monster show down and stopping Rikishi’s momentum.

Maybe not, Rikishi eliminates Vis on his own! #9 is the Bossman.

Bossman stops Rikishi’s momentum a really smart way…by not getting into the ring until #10, Test comes down. Test and Bossman had a feud of some kind I think here.

#11 is The British Bulldog. #12 is Gangrel. Not really a lot happening here.

Funaki and Taka run in again…and again are tossed out. Taka takes a crazy bump over the top there and gets knocked out.

Good reaction for #13, Edge, but really outside of Rikishi this has been a really weak first half of the Rumble.

#14 is Mr. Bob Backlund! JR with another great line: “What the hell is Bob Backlund doing here?”

Everyone tosses Rikishi, really killing any star power the ring had. Still, a star making performance from Rikishi there.

Crowd erupts for #15, which is Chris Jericho. He dropkicks Backlund out.

The Rock’s other fear, #16 is Crash Holly!

#17 is Chyna. She suplexes Jericho out…and Bossman eliminates her quickly. Lame.

#18 is Faarooq. At least he’s fresh! Mean Street Posse run in, which leads to Faarooq’s elimination from the Bossman.

#19 is Road Dogg. #20 is Al Snow. We’re waiting for Rock and Big Show here.

Road Dogg gets the Bulldog out.

#21 is Val Venis. Funaki is back…but he is gone once again.

#22 is Prince Albert. He and the Bossman have an issue and they go at it. Edge is gone as well.

This is Rumble where Road Dogg held onto the bottom rope the whole time. Genius stuff.

#23 is Hardcore Holly.

#24 is FINALLY The Rock. Gets rid of Bossman right away.

#25 is Billy Gunn.

The Rock eliminates his biggest rival: Crash Holly.

#26 is the Big Show. The main players are here.

Big Show kicks Test out of the Rumble, and Gangrel is next.

#27 is Bradshaw. The Posse wastes no time in attacking Bradshaw. Bradshaw takes care of them, but the Outlaws dump him.

#28 is Kane. Funny thing here: the build-up basically told us Show or Rock was winning this thing, but on Smackdown the WWF must have realized they needed to make it seem someone else could win, thus, Kane won a three man battle royal between him, Rock and Show. WWF really didn’t know how to book Kane without Undertaker being involved.

Kane gets rid of Val.

#29 is Godfather. Always an easy pop.

Kane gets rid of Albert.

Funaki is back for a fourth time! And he’s gone again.

Lawler took way too much pleasure in Taka getting hurt.

#30 is X-Pac. Your winner is in the ring (he was before this too). I believe X-Pac won a match for #30.

Hardcore Holly is gone. As is the Godfather.

Rock gets rid of Snow. Billy Gunn dumps his partner. Kane gets rid of him too.

Kane, Big Show, Rock and X-Pac.

Rock tosses X-Pac, but ref was dealing with Kane and the Outlaws on the outside. Interesting they used the cheating angle here.

Big powerslam from Kane to the Show! But X-Pac gets rid of him!

Big Show military presses X-Pac and he’s gone. Rock vs. Big Show.

The Rock wins in 51:54. Big Show chokeslams Rock, then takes his time to toss him. Rock counters though and hangs onto the top rope…and Big Show crashes to the floor. Rock cuts a promo, but Big Show attacks!

I found this to be a pretty weak Rumble overall. Other than Rikishi’s run, the first 2/3rds of it is a whole lot of nothing. Just midcarder after midcarder after midcarder (with Bob Backlund!). Still, everything after the Rock showed up was hot, and the right man won (kinda, the storyline would be that Rock’s feet actually hit, allowing Big Show to get a rematch with him at No Way Out…which led to the 4 Way at Mania).

Average Rumble aside…this is one of those times the rest of the show on the Rumble card was really fantastic. Opener was a great moment, Tag Tables was awesome, World Title match was incredible. If there wasn’t some random garbage in there (tag titles and Mae Young), this would be a clear easy A. But it’s still not much worse than that.

Final Grade: A-

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF In Your House XIX: De-Generation X

IYH19

WWF: In Your House De-Generation X
December 7, 1997
Springfield, MA
Reviewed on March 15, 2014

Background: Where to start? This was the first PPV after the infamous Montreal Screwjob. The WWF was looking toward the Stone Cold Steve Austin era, but now had this lull between Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. Reportedly, Bret vs. Shawn was supposed to be the top feud to get us to Mania for Austin vs. Bret, but here we are.

The WWF had just turned to the Attitude phase of their marketing. You can’t really blame them for their lack of success though…WCW was promoting the Match of the Century: Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting which everyone watched. All eyes for the short term were on Bret Hart as well, so WCW really had all the momentum (and with a great Starrcade could have really put the pressure on the WWF). As the WWF was in the lame duck status, they decided to try to get some money out of Ken Shamrock and threw him in the main event with Shawn. The WWF had two really big time things here: DX was in fact revolutionary, and Austin was on the rise.

The Card

WWF Lightheavyweight Championship Tournament Final
Taka Michinoku vs. Brian Christopher

You knew the WWF blew the Lightheavyweight title when Brian Christopher was in the final of the inaugural tournament.

Match starts off with a LOT of stalling.

Taka’s springboard plancha was always a thing of beauty.

Taka is doing all he can to steal the show. Nice Asai moonsault using the corner.

Most of the commentary is about Christopher being (or not being) Jerry Lawler’s son.

Taka Michinoku wins the title when he pins Christopher in 12:00. Christopher misses the Tennessee Jam and Taka gets the Driver for the win. Way too much stalling from Christopher for this to have any flow. At least Taka gets a good pop when he wins the title.

The Disciples of Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull and 8-Ball) vs. Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez Jr, Jesus Castillo Jr, Jose Estrada Jr.)

The sooner this is over the better.

Does anyone care about this feud anymore? This spawned from when Crush and Savio Vega were members of the Nation of Domination, but were fired. They created their own gang and have been feuding with each other ever since. The Truth Commissionalso got involved at some point. The Gang Warz these are, and they suck.

Miguel Perez gets the Albert shave your back chants.

Miguel Perez with a standing moonsault. More excitement that I expected.

Skull or 8-Ball (can’t be assed to figure out who is who) can’t even take an Irish Whip correctly.

Los Boricuas win when Estrada pinned Chainz in 7:58. Perez was faking a knee injury! Somersault legdrop on Chainz! Perez puts Estrada on Chainz for the win. Ridiculously boring.

Toughman Match
Butterbean vs. Marc Mero

Story: Mero thinks Butterbean is a nobody. Mero’s also been treating Sable like crap, which Butterbean doesn’t like.

The only person to get over from this whole thing was Sable, and well, that’s how it should be.

Four round boxing match here. This is a WRESTLING PPV you know.

A whole lot of nothing happens in round 1.

Mero takes a cheap shot in between rounds.

Mero with some heel tactics in round 2. A knee to the back and a choke with tape.

Boring chants are faint, but there.

Mero nails Butterbean with a dropkick after the bell.

Mero gets his ass kicked in round 3 but is saved by the bell. Butterbean then tosses ice cold water on Mero at the end.

Butterbean wins by DQ in 10:20. Mero gets nailed again early in round 4, and Mero lowbridges Butterbean for the DQ. This sucked and the finish sucked. What a waste of PPV time. No one cared.

Oh god…here comes The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna. This shit is just disturbing. He reads Green Eggs and Ham.

JR wins the segment by apologizing to Dr. Seuss.

You know there’s not a Mick Foley or Kane match on the card for this shit.

Luna then shoves Goldust down and then pulls him by his chain. It’s over thank god.

LOD promo. Hawk compares the Outlaws to a booger. At least there was intensity there.

World Tag Team Championship
The New Age Outalws© vs. The Legion of Doom

Let me say this, the LOD may have not really worked here…but they way they put over the Outlaws was fantastic. They received instant legitimacy from this feud.

Very strange start with LOD trying to fight NAO and the Outalws just running to the back to stretch.

Funny spot where Road Dogg crawls to a corner where Billy Gunn isn’t.

It ends up happening again, but at least Dogg crawled to the correct corner (Gunn was knocked out from Hawk earlier).

Ice bucket shot to the head! This match kinda sucks.

Road Dogg busts out the worm? The hell?

Hawk sells the knee to the gut with a spin. Well at least he sold it.

The New Age Outlaws win by DQ in 10:32. Doomsday Device set up…but Henry Godwinn comes down and smacks Animal with a bucket. Hawk goes nuts with the bucket and gets DQed. Match and finish sucked. I guess putting over the Outlaws again was too much to ask.

Promo video putting over Sgt. Slaughter. Look, Slaughter looked washed up against Hogan at Mania VII. This was a bad idea at this point.

Boot Camp Match
Triple H vs. Sgt. Slaughter

Slaughter has the Kurt Angle music…although I assume it was considered The Patriot’s music at the time.

This match starts with all Slaughter. What?

Slaughter goes for the cover on the outside but ref says it has to be in the ring. What was the point of that?

HHH finally takes control. Slaughter takes his over the top rope corner bump which shocks the hell out of me to be fair.

HHH tries to grab the ring bell, and the timekeeper holds on for dear life. HHH smacks him with it. How randomly awesome was that?

Slaughter does the Ric Flair slammed off the top spot.

Powder to Chyna!

HHH pins Slaughter in 17:36. Chyna saves HHH from the Cobra Clutch. Pedigree on the chair for the win. Horrible match. Slaughter shouldn’t be in the ring. What was the point of making HHH barely beat Slaughter and for Slaughter to look like the better wrestler? Absolutely horrible on all accounts.

Jeff Jarrett interview! He calls Michael Cole “Mark”.

The Undertaker vs. Jeff Jarrett

This was a quick push Jarrett got as he just returned from WCW. His gimmick was to shoot on things. It would lead to the midcard and the NWA North American Champion gimmick. I’m a Jarrett fan, but this sucked.

This is a pretty random match for Undertaker.

Jeff Jarrett wins by DQ in 2:52. Here’s Kane! Jarrett tells Kane to attacks Taker, so Kane chokeslams him for the DQ. Funny as he got Taker DQed the same way at Deadly Games. Kane wants to fight Taker. Taker doesn’t want to fight him…yet. Nothing match that felt longer than three minutes, but I guess the postmatch is what mattered.

Jeff Jarrett with the postmatch attack! This Jarrett push did not last. Jarrett gets chokeslammed for his troubles.

Michael Cole is in the crowd with [Mark Henry! Henry will return from an injury soon! Woo?

Intercontinental Championship
Stone Cold Steve Austin© vs. The Rock

There are a lot of similarities between early Randy Orton and early Rock.

This was the classic feud with the 3:16 beeper. This was the first real attitude Austin feud.

Rock is out with the entire Nation.

Austin drives the truck into the arena!

D’Lo gets backdropped on the truck. Stunner on the truck!

Austin whips Kama into the truck!

People’s Elbow didn’t have a name yet!

Austin accidentally stuns the ref! Nice spot that worked into the story on RAW!

Steve Austin retains when he pinned Rock in 5:31. Stunner gets the win. You can see the first ref calling for the DQ. Fun little match, although too short. The ref bump would led to Austin forfeiting the title to Rock on RAW. This became the standard Stone Cold main event style, so historically, this match is a huge deal.

We get a recap of HBK vs. Shamrock. Then a bland Shamrock promo.

WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels© vs. Ken Shamrock

Great kick from Shamrock that HBK sold like a million bucks.

Overall HBK is just making Shamrock look like a million bucks.

Despite the great selling from HBK this match isn’t clicking. A lot of slow Shamrock stuff with HBK ducking and moving.

DX getting involved. Slam by Chyna!

HBK with a splash from the apron. That’s new.

Shamrock near the end gets caught in the top rope in a weird way and it hits his eye it seems. Strange.

Ken Shamrock wins by DQ in 18:27. Shamrock makes a comeback and hits the belly to belly. Ankle Lock but HHH and Chyna cause the DQ in record time. Match didn’t click at all and I assume how this went ended any chance of a Shamrock main event run (I always assumed it would have been Austin vs. Shamrock at some point in 98). Finish blew as well. You know that was the fourth DQ finish of the PPV. Not good.

As HBK celebrates on the apron Owen Hart shows up out of nowhere and shoves HBK off and through the announcer’s table (although the camera misses it). It’s a cool moment though and it’s a shame they don’t run with HBK vs. Owen (this would have worked at No Way Out, as both had a history with Stone Cold). Rumor has it that HBK didn’t want to work with Owen (ugh) and we know Austin didn’t (a lot more understandable). So, Owen’s main event push was DOA.

Anyway, this PPV is awful. No really good matches. A lot of crap. A boxing match. Whatever the fuck that was with Goldust. Bad finishes. Boring main event. Very close to F status. But this show has a big redeeming quality that helps it tremendously.

This was THE SHOW where Stone Cold vaunted to the main event. He was still really an upper midcarder at this point. This also showed The Rock could have a fun match and be that upper midcard guy for a while. HHH was also shown off here, even if the match blew, as another guy at that Rock level. Kane too continued his path of destruction. At least storylines showed progression here. This PPV also showed that some guys just weren’t going to make it on top. Shamrock and Jarrett, I’m looking at you two.
And again, the Owen thing was pretty cool, just a shame it went nowhere.

Final Grade: C-

Pro Wrestling

The Fastlane to Wrestlemania

FastLane replaces the Elimination Chamber
FastLane replaces the Elimination Chamber

WWE Fastlane replaces the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View (rumored to be done later in the year) as the penultimate PPV stop on the Road to Wrestlemania. After a lackluster Royal Rumble, WWE has created one of the least exciting atmospheres on the Road to Wrestlemania in recent memory. While a lot of this has to do with the Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns, it moreso is the issue of new talent not being pushed properly, popular talent being made fools of (see Ambrose, Dean) and a thin roster overall. The most interesting rivalries are HHH vs. Sting, Bray Wyatt against whomever he is talking about, presumably The Undertaker and Daniel Bryan vs. Reigns, which seemingly has a forced narrative after Reigns was booed out of Philadelphia at the Royal Rumble. Three of the six of those matches have legendary guys that don’t (or rarely) wrestle on any of the other PPVs, one is Wyatt, who while interesting, is interesting despite of the booking crew. Bryan of course should be the top guy in the company right now no question, and Reigns is the guy WWE wants to be the top guy.

Fans want Bryan at the top
Fans want Bryan at the top

This forced push of Roman Reigns has led to WWE spinning their wheels. Roman Reigns has an amazing look and a ton of charisma, and is even a bit underrated as a worker (not different than Kevin Nash in 1995 really) but his monster push has turned fans against him. WWE might be turning him heel here…in the long run him fighting Bryan is only going to lead to a heel turn where WWE intended it or not. This is the best route though. If Reigns beats Bryan at Fastlane and gets his WWE Title shot against Brock Lesnar, Lesnar would be just fine as a face. The strength of Lesnar’s character is that for all intents and purposes what you see is what you get. Lesnar is a prize fighter who doesn’t really care about the business and is out to make his money. He doesn’t pretend to like anyone. He is true to himself. And honestly, while the reasoning is quite heelish, as a fan I can cheer that. I want to see Lesnar destroy the “WWE’s golden boy” Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns would be better off doing the same in being true to himself, and aligning himself with the Authority.

Rollins made himself a star at the Rumble
Rollins made himself a star at the Rumble

My favorite scenario for Wrestlemania? Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Bryan vs. Money in the Bank Winner Seth Rollins. Lesnar is the champ. Having both Reigns and Bryan there make sense given their storyline at the moment. Rollins would be a great guy to say “hey, I almost beat Lesnar and Cena at the Rumble. I deserve to be in the main event at Wrestlemania and I’ll force my way in”. Also make this an elimination match. If Lesnar is leaving, you can still have Reigns Superman punch him to take him out of the match and give him that rub. Let Bryan and Rollins steal the show. Put the belt on Bryan and have Rollins and Reigns chase him, then Wyatt and Rusev afterwards. And don’t tell me there isn’t money in another Bryan vs. Cena match.

The other matches at Fastlane don’t quite excite me. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro hopefully will get a nice run with the tag titles. They remind me a little bit of Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid. I really don’t care about The Bella Twins anymore and I’m one of the few who isn’t a huge Paige fan, although her appearance on Total Divas is making me one. Rusev vs. Cena is interesting in the sense that Wrestlemania won’t be the beginning of their feud, and hopefully will end it. I’m fine with Cena ending Rusev’s undefeated streak for sure, but I want Rusev to come out on top at the end. Bad Bews Barrett I think is a little past the point of where I really care about him. It’s a shame as I wanted Barrett to be the World Champ every year through 2013. Ambrose, good as he is, just hasn’t been the same since the Shield broke up. That’s another booking disaster. I can’t say I care about the Dust Brother feud. I like them both and as a face team I enjoyed them. This is the closest they’ll get to that dream feud Goldust wanted between him and his brother years ago at Wrestlemania. I assume Sting shows up and I hope they fix that music. At the end of the night, we’ll know where we are at for Wrestlemania. I just hope it’s a good place.

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews the WWE 2003 Royal Rumble

Royal_Rumble_2003

WWE Royal Rumble 2003
January 19, 2003
Boston, MA

The Brand Extension is in full force.

The WWE has established their monopoly of pro wrestling in the United States at this point (TNA was still pretty new…although they’d never be a real threat anyway). Vince McMahon decided he needed to instill competition into the product and the Brand Extension was born. The Brand Extension allowed WWE to push new talent, although it would be shown a lot of them weren’t ready for the challenge.

One of them that looked more than ready was Brock Lesnar. Lesnar, who just dropped the WWE Title at Survivor Series was on his way to the massive face push that would make him the WWE’s top guy (Lesnar would be the Hogan on Smackdown, where HHH would be the Flair on RAW). In a post Austin and full time Rock world, WWE needed to create some megastars on top in the babyface mold. HHH showed he was a lot better off as a heel. Undertaker would never fit that mold. Austin was gone, Rock was basically gone. Goldberg wasn’t here yet. Angle was a heel at the time (although he got a shot at the face run later) and Benoit would never have the charisma to be that guy, although he got a shot later.

Still, the early days of Brand Extension provided interesting content on both sides for sure. Returning legends (HBK, Hogan, Flair), guys way too talented not to be in the main event but somehow not in it (Jericho, Benoit, Booker T), top guys who weren’t ready to leave the top (Taker, HHH) and top newcomers (Lesnar) were just some of the elements out there. I mean in that group I didn’t even mention Angle or Big Show.

Let’s see how the first Brand Extension Royal Rumble plays out.

The Card

Winner Gets in the Royal Rumble
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show

Story here: Lesnar dropped the WWE Title (and was pinned for the first time) to Big Show at Survivor Series when Paul Heyman turned on him. In actuality two things caused that change: Lesnar had injured ribs that WWE wasn’t sure of the extent of, and WWE was planning Lesnar vs. Angle at Mania and decided to switch the face/heel alignments, so had to make Lesnar a face. Of course, face Angle had to beat heel Big Show for the belt, which led to a weird Angle heel turn, but I guess that was the best way to make this happen. Angle would JOIN Heyman afterwards, and for some reason this didn’t turn Big Show face.

Back to the story, Lesnar then cost Big Show the title at Armageddon against Angle. So we got this match. I’m usually not a big fan of these type matches, as for a storyline like this it’s obvious Lesnar is winning this match AND the Rumble. There was one other option for the Rumble winner, which I’ll get into when we get there.

The way Lesnar would just suplex Big Show all over the place was ridiculous.

The way Show would throw Lesnar around was also ridiculous. While he obviously could, no one else did anything like that to Brock up to this point.

Big Show does a great, if not hilarious shocked face when Lesnar kicks out of the chokeslam.

Brock Lesnar pins Big Show in 6:29. Lesnar escapes a 2nd chokeslam attempt, and gets the F5! That’s so damn impressive and the crowd pops huge. Lesnar gets the pin and is in the Rumble. Good match, if only for how smooth Lesnar is in throwing around Big Show. These two had a strange chemistry.

Terri interviews Chris Jericho. She asks him about Jericho choosing #2 when he had the choice to pick any number. Jericho says because HBK was #1 Jericho HAD to be #2. This was setting up the Jericho-HBK feud.

Jericho sure got A LOT of mileage out of beating Austin and Rock the same night to become Undisputed Champion (as he should have).

RAW World Tag Team Championship
William Regal and Lance Storm vs. The Dudley Boyz

This would be the third Rumble in a row that the Dudleyz were in the World Tag Title slot. They are already 15 Time World Tag Team Champions at this point.

Regal and Storm were what was left of the UnAmericans. Test started being advertised by male genitalia. Christian became Jericho’s sidekick.

Regal still had the brass knuckles gimmick going at this point as well.

The Dudleyz actually weren’t stale here, as they were split up throughout most of 2002 due to the Brand Extension (that led to Reverend D-Von!). D-Von was part of the Big Show to Smackdown trade and immediately rejoined Bubba at Survivor Series.

One of the problems with the Dudley reunion was they didn’t change anything up at all. They literally acted like the same team they always did, moves and all.

Chief Morley comes out to argue about something, and Regal has Brass Knucks!

The Dudley Boyz wins the title when D-Von pinned Storm in 7:24. Regal has the Knucks…but gets the 3D anyway. D-Von picks up the knucks and nails Storm for the win. A good pop for the Dudley title win. This is a waste of Storm and Regal though. Match wasn’t anything special and pretty boring.

Nathan Jones promo! He escaped from prison in Tasmania! It’s like Nailz all over again.

Stepmother vs. Stepdaughter
Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie

Oh god. This storyline was Wrestlecrap from the get go. Dawn Marie fell in love with Torrie Wilson’s father, Al Wilson. This at first seemed like an attempt to have a fling with Torrie, which was “shown” at Armageddon. Dawn and Al continued their relationship and got married, but Al died on the honeymoon because of a heart attack as a result of too much sex or something. Then Torrie and Dawn fought at the wake. It was actually worse than it sounds.

I mean who the hell thought any of that was a good idea?

Torrie doesn’t fall on the Dawn Marie armbar. That could have been a broken arm right there.

Dawn Marie with a springboard clothesline! How about that. It didn’t look great though.

Torrie Wilson pins Dawn Marie in 3:36. Swinging neckbreaker for the win. Torrie and Dawn are not really wrestlers, so to expect anything more than a bad match would be unrealistic. We got that springboard clothesline so there’s that at least? At least this was short. Storyline is still horrid.

Stephanie McMahon and Eric Bischoff meet backstage (where Bischoff was speaking to a still rookie Randy Orton). Steph tells Bischoff good bye, as Vince had given Bischoff 30 days to turn RAW around. Bischoff said he had a bombshell to save his job (which turned out to be Austin). Stephanie said she had a bombshell of her own (which turned out to be Hogan).

Sean O’Haire vignette! I still think he would have worked out if not for Roddy Piper’s involvement in the angle.

World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H© vs. Scott Steiner

Story: Steiner debuted at Survivor Series (as a face no less. Pretty sure that was the opposite of what the Big Poppa Pump character was about) and decided on RAW as his home. A part of the agreement was he gets a World Title shot.

The match actually has a solid start. Hard hitting from Steiner followed by a gorilla press slam. It would get worse though…

I hate Boston Crabs where the guy doesn’t sit on the back. That’s the point Steiner!

Steiner with a belly to belly suplex! He goes for the Recliner but Flair pulls HHH out.

Steiner is breathing HEAVY. He’s already exhausted.

Another belly to belly (kinda) from Steiner.

We get a weird Tombstone reversal sequence which ends with a botched HHH neckbreaker.

Steiner catches HHH coming off the top…for another belly to belly suplex.

Fans begin turning on Steiner….there’s ANOTHER belly to belly.

Another belly to belly. It’s clear Steiner has nothing else. Fans booing.

A sixth belly to belly.

Steiner goes for a double underhook suplex, and Steiner FALLS before the move is finished. Yikes.

HHH gets busted open by the leather part of the World Title.

ANOTHER BELLY TO BELLY.

Steiner doing his push-up taunt is like a NFL defensive lineman celebrating a sack when his team is down 30 points.

HHH tries to get counted out and DQed, but Earl Hebner won’t allow it. Steiner throws in yet another belly to belly while he’s at it.

Scott Steiner wins by DQ in 18:14. HHH finally uses the sledgehammer, forcing the DQ. Post match, Steiner destroys HHH and locks him in the Recliner. Crowd is dead for it. Match was historically bad, and has an argument for being the worst PPV World Title match ever. Scott Steiner was dreadful. There’s a reason he was a midcarder after this (although he did get a HHH rematch at No Way Out).

WWE World Championship
Kurt Angle© vs. Chris Benoit

We covered Angle’s story earlier. We’ll add here that this feud also involved the debut of Team Angle, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, which owned.

Benoit actually turned amidst all this as well, and became the #1 contender after being Big Show on Smackdown. Angle and Benoit were reluctant Smackdown Tag Team Champions back in October, and even had a match at Unforgiven as well. This was the end of Benoit the heel, as this face run would go through the rest of his career.

So, as all Benoit vs. Angle feuds go, it comes down to who’s the better wrestler?

Team Angle gets ejected quickly for trying to hold Benoit back.

Watching this match makes me feel that Steiner and HHH was in slow motion.

Benoit DDTs Angle on the apron! Nice.

Angle’s belly to belly suplexes are about 100 times better than Steiner’s.

This has been a non-stop action packed match from the get go.

Rolling Germans from Benoit…but Angle counters into his own!

Benoit re-counters!

I never got why Benoit did that snot thing.

Angle tosses Benoit off the top rope with a belly to belly!

Angle Slam attempt turns into the Crossface! Crowd is very into it. Angle survives though.

Benoit locks Angle into the Ankle Lock…but Angle reverses into his own Ankle Lock! THAT gets turned into the Crossface!

Angle counters a Crossface with an Angle Slam! Wow!

Another great false finish with Benoit countering a German with a victory roll.

Benoit gets a German…only it turns into an overhead release German where Angle lands face first!

Flying Headbutt 3/4th of the ring away!

Angle drops Benoit face first on the turnbuckles leading to another Angle Slam…but Benoit survives THAT too.

Kurt Angle retains by submission in 19:50. Angle counters another Crossface into the Ankle Lock. Benoit tries to escape, but Angle hangs on. Benoit does an amazing sell job here, screaming in pain. Angle grapevines the leg and Benoit is trapped, and taps out (makes you wonder why Angle didn’t always do that). I was blown away the first time I saw this 12 years ago, but it holds up today as well. Incredible match. This match was the match that showed Benoit could play an incredible underdog babyface, and he rode that all the way to winning the title at Mania XX (well, there was a haphazard team with Rhino in there). Just an amazing match. Benoit gets a standing ovation afterwards.

Kane and Rob Van Dam talk about how it’s every man for himself. This leads to a good spot later.

The Royal Rumble

#1 is Shawn Michaels. Jericho is supposed to be #2, but for some reason Christian shows up in the entrance way. Jericho attacks HBK from behind and beats the holy hell out of him. Jericho lays HBK out with a chair and HBK sells it like a million bucks. Chris Nowinski is #3, but he waits on the outside. Jericho beats on HBK a bit more then dumps him, to the horror of the crowd.

#4 is Rey Mysterio, and he owns Jericho for a bit. Nowinski finally gets in there to attack Rey from behind.

Edge is #5. Edge and Rey had been a team, so they natural work together. They eventually go at it though and there’s a false elimination that I think gets screwed up. I think Edge’s feet do hit the floor. No biggie though.

Christian is #6, for real this time. He tries to get on Edge’s good side to double team Mysterio. Edge spears him though.

Rey and Edge hit a double dropkick off the top to Nowinski, but the timing is off and I think Nowinski got hurt here as Edge’s leg lands on his face.

#7 is Chavo Guerrero. Good workrate early on for sure. Rey gets Nowinski out. Jericho gets out Rey. Great heat for Jericho eliminating HBK and Rey so far.

#8 is Tajiri. Crazy airplane spin on Chavo.

#9 is Bill DeMott. What a random push this was.

#10 is Tommy Dreamer. It’s Hardcore Rumble II! Dreamer accidentally legit cracks Jericho in the eye with a kendo stick, busting him open bad.

Con-garbage can lid-to on Dreamer! He’s gone by Jericho and Christian.

#11 is B2. Too lazy to super script here. He’s injured as John Cena turned on him on Smackdown. He lasts about 30 seconds. Jericho gets rid of Tajiri. Edge gets rid of Chavo. Jericho gets rid of Edge and Christian. Jericho is alone in the ring.

#12 is Rob Van Dam! A great near-elimination is in there, where Jericho barely hangs on.

Matt Strongly Dislikes Mustard. #13 is Matt Hardy! Hardy and Jericho double team RVD. Jericho takes a Five Star Frog Splash!

#14 is Eddie Guerrero. No reaction for Eddie…but boy would that change over the next year.

Eddie with a kinda botched Frog Splash there. Matt turns right on him and hits a Twist of Fate. Just in time for…

Jeff Hardy at #15! The Hardys did not get along at this point.

Shannon Moore tries to push Matt back into the ring with his feet. He then takes a Swanton for Matt! Shannon Moore was a great sidekick.

#16 is Rosey. Out goes the workrate.

#17 is Test. The Testicle marketing was just weird.

#18 is John Cena, and we get a whole rap on his way to the ring. He rhymes explain to ya and Wrestlemania. So there’s that. We get Latrell Sprewell and Mike Tyson references as well.

#19 is Team Angle’s Charlie Haas

RVD gets rid of Jeff when Jeff went to the top rope and RVD shoved him off.

#20 is Rikishi. Apparently he’s been in more Royal Rumbles than anyone else in history at this point. RIkishi’s spinning sell of the clothesline was already pretty good.

#21 is Jamal. Both members of Three Minute Warning are in there.

#22 is Kane. JR mentions no one has come close to Kane’s 11 man elimination record…even though the previous record was 10. He gets rid of Rosey on cue.

#23 is Shelton Benjamin. Both members of Team Angle in there now.

#24 is Booker T. This is the other possible winner I mentioned earlier. There were rumors he would win (which made sense since he eventually got the World Title slot at Mania against HHH), but Lesnar was the “safe choice”. In retrospect you had to do Lesnar for the story. But Booker was the dark horse.

Booker dumps Eddie!

#25 is A-Train. He immediately derails Cena, a precursor to the Tensai-Cena feud nine years later surely.

Shawn Michaels runs in and attacks Jericho, and it’s enough of a distraction for Test to eliminate Jericho. While this set up Jericho vs. HBK…what the hell was Test eliminating Jericho for? Weird choice there.

#26 is Maven. Not much to say here.

#27 is Goldust. It was pretty crazy Goldust actually got a full time run in 2002, but he wouldn’t last that much longer. He’d come back a lot later though. Charlie Haas eliminates him after about 40 seconds.

Team Angle surprisingly eliminates Booker T. Odd choice there too.

#28 is Batista with awesome music. He gets rid of Test and Rikishi.

#29 is Brock Lesnar! Team Angle double teams, but Lesnar sends them both out. Matt Hardy is F5ed onto them as well.

A-Train kills both Batista and Lesnar in one sequence. How weird does that seem now.

#30 is Undertaker. While the crowd pops, this was a pretty big disappointment. There were several promo videos about Taker coming back at the Rumble, but the first one hinted he could be the Deadman, and the second mentioned the Ministry. So there was hope he would be back in the Deadman character here.

Taker is the only man to have three #30 Rumble appearances I believe, ’97, ’03 and ’07.

Taker gets rid of Cena and Jamal. A great spot follows though, as Maven dropkicks Taker and immediately celebrates. Maven shocking eliminated Taker in this manner in 2002. Taker sends Maven out.

RVD, A-Train, Kane, Lesnar, Batista and Taker left. All the workrate didn’t make it.

RVD and Kane work together to get rid of A-Train. Then another great moment: Kane goes to slam RVD on Batista…only to toss RVD out instead! They foreshadowed this in their promo earlier.

Batista, Lesnar, Taker and Kane are your final four. Crazy final four considering what Batista would become later.

Lesnar and Taker almost mess up a hangman, and Taker almost goes over the top rope. Lesnar noticeably saves him.

Interestingly, Taker tombstones Lesnar here, but Lesnar’s head is obviously too high up. It’s interesting because the same thing happens at Wrestlemania XXX.

Taker clotheslines Batista out, then tries to convince Kane to double team Lesnar. Taker turns on Kane immediately (not a big fan of that either) and tosses him. Batista runs in with a chair but Taker takes him out and whacks him with the chair.

Brock Lesnar wins the Royal Rumble in 53:41, last eliminating the Undertaker. Taker says something to Batista, and Lesnar sneaks up behind him and dumps him. Taker shakes his head in disbelief and gives Lesnar props. I am not a big fan of this ending though and this only fueled the idea that HHH and Taker were holding people down (I’ve come to think Taker wasn’t really doing this though). Taker took out Batista twice, outsmarted his brother, and Lesnar could only beat him by a sneak attack? While there are certainly some good moments, the outcome was never in doubt and the Rumble itself, while fine, is mostly forgettable.

It’s rare that a Royal Rumble PPV is known more for the title matches than the Rumble match itself, but that is what happened here. HHH vs. Steiner is remembered for all the wrong reasons. Benoit vs. Angle for all the right ones. Having one of the worst World Title matches and best World Title matches back to back is quite the oddity. Steiner didn’t last too long as a main eventer and was a midcarder by Mania (and wasn’t on the Mania card!). Benoit eventually got to the top. So at least something went right there. The Lesnar win was expected obviously, but the finish was pretty weak. I love Undertaker, but that whole return was pretty weak as well, and there was no need to make everyone look bad there.

I’ll give this show a historical bonus though. Cena Royal Rumble debut. Randy Orton on PPV (his first time maybe? His first PPV match wasn’t until Summerslam I know that). Batista with his first top 4 Rumble finish (in fact, in every Rumble Batista has been in he ended up in the top 4). The Lesnar victory. These were small building blocks to the future.

Final Grade: B