Wrestler of the Day – November 8: Brothers of Destruction
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Undertaker/Kane vs. Steve Austin/???
Before Austin gets in the ring, Billy Gunn comes out to be his partner. Ok then. Brawl to start with Kane hammering Billy to the floor. Austin and Taker start things off with Austin hitting the middle finger elbow. Off to Billy who has to stick and move. Taker misses a big boot and gets caught by a Fameasser for two. Back to Austin who sends Taker into the corner but gets clotheslined down.
Again on Raw, October 12, 1998 for a pretty big showdown.
Kane/The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin/The Rock
Kane distracts Rock so Taker can hit a HUGE chokeslam. Off to Kane now as Brown and Henry come out too. Back to Taker for some choking and then to Kane again. Rock finally comes back with a DDT as the referee tells them seven minutes left. Kane blocks the tag and drapes Rock over the top before tagging in Taker again. Kane hammers on Rock on the floor but comes back in for a Samoan Drop.
Undertaker/Kane vs. Haku/Rikishi
From a few days later on Raw, February 5, 2001.
Tag Titles: Undertaker/Kane vs. Dudley Boys
Von hits a dropkick (???) to put Kane down. Off to Bubba and Kane takes him down with relative ease. Top rope clothesline by Kane gets two. Taker comes in and cleans house, dropping Old School on Bubba.
Von manages a neckbreaker and brings in Bubba.
Von and Kane head to the floor while in the ring it’s a chokeslam to Bubba. Cue Edge and Christian for no apparent reason. Not that it matters as their Conchairto misses. The referee sees a chair down and Bubba down and that’s good enough for a DQ. LAME!
Rating: D+. Not much of a match as the styles clashed pretty badly here. I think this set up a triple threat later which wasn’t that good. This was just ok and the only answer for Edge and Christian was that they didn’t want to face the Brothers. The ending sucks either way and it wasn’t a great match prior to that anyway.
Time for PPV at No Way Out 2001.
Tag Titles: Undertaker/Kane vs. Edge/Christian vs. Dudley Boyz
This is a tables match but not elimination style. Uh sure. The Brothers go after Edge and Christian in the aisle but stop when the Dudleys come out and corner them. Dudleys are champions here. The Canadians hide and it’s on early. It’s a massive brawl of course. Tazz is still on commentary here. The table HHH went through is still just in pieces on the floor which is funny for some reason as it always is.
The Dudleys are down and the Brothers beat up the Canadians. The champs make the save from a double powerbomb but Bubba slips on a chair and falls on his back. For the first time we get in the ring and Bubba gets his crotch stepped on. What’s up to Edge makes up for that though. This is just a big mess of course but it’s fun. Taker and Kane stop the getting of tables and Christian hits Unprettier on Bubba in the ring.
Stereo powerslams by the big men and then they both go up. Taker goes airborne which isn’t something you see that often really. We get some near endings but a bunch of saves are made including a low blow to Taker. A pair of chokeslams hit but there aren’t any tables. The Dudleys get chokeslammed too and the Brothers stand very tall.
They set for stereo powerbombs but Rikishi and Haku waddle down to stop it and brawl with the monsters. Have we ever had a generation without an evil Samoan team? For some reason Vince thought these Samoans would be a good choice for a team, even though Haku wasn’t Samoan. The monsters all go up the ramp to tick off the crowd. 3D on Christian ends it.
Rating: C+. Just a fun match here but somehow this was supposed to set up monsters vs. monsters, even though the ethnic monsters were gone very soon. This wasn’t much but it definitely wasn’t bad. The constant double teaming got pretty stupid after awhile but it wasn’t horrible. Passable match for what it was, but with TLC 2 next month, it’s hard to stay underwhelmed.
Back to Raw on March 5, 2001.
Haku/Rikishi vs. Kane/Undertaker
Heyman calls the Samoans children of the jungle. Is that like Children of the Corn? The brawl begins on the ramp and everything is a bit nuts. Finally we get down to Taker vs. Haku in the ring and we actually get a bell. To the shock of no one, this is a slugout. The Samoan hits a German on the American for two. Taker can’t hurt Haku’s head so he calls some spots instead, namely running into an elbow. Off to Rikishi as those two had been in there way too long. And never mind as Haku is back in maybe 8 seconds later. DDT puts Haku down for two. Off to Kane and everything breaks down. Chokeslam ends Haku rather quickly.
Rating: D. Match was flat out horrible as I’d almost think Kane was hurt here as he did almost nothing at all. Taker in 2001 isn’t someone you want to have fight this long on his own, especially against Haku. Rikishi would be gone very soon due to an injury so this was one of the last moments for the Samoans. Yeah Rikishi would work Smackdown the next night and then was gone for two months.
And again on March 26, 2001, the go home show for Wrestlemania X7.
Undertaker/Kane vs. The Rock/Steve Austin
Kane vs. Rock starts us off. All four guys are faces here which is a rather weird thing. Taker comes in as we’re just waiting for the hot tag to Austin at this point. Austin gets the tag as we’re totally going through the motions here. Thesz Press to Taker as it’s pretty clear they’re in a slow gear here.
Taker shoves Austin into the Rock and grabs him by the throat. JR thinks it could be for the chokeslam. Gee you think? HHH pops up out of nowhere and drills Taker with a chair, allowing Austin to get the pin. Austin drinks beer after the match but walks into a Stunner to end it.
Rating: N/A. No one cared here and everyone knew it. They did manage to get the Game on the show though, so that’s always a plus.
The Brothers would be the main opposition to the Two Man Power Trip at Backlash 2001 with all the titles on the line at once.
WWF World Title/Intercontinental Title/Tag Titles: HHH/Steve Austin vs. Undertaker/Kane
Kane has a bad elbow/arm here so that’ll likely play into the ending. Oh and if HHH wins he’s a Grand Slam Champion. The heels stall a lot and Austin can’t even throw his vest into the ring. There’s the bell and it’s time to go. Kane gets a shot into HHH’s head and we stall even more. HHH finally gets in alone and down he goes again. They’ve been on the floor about three minutes now.
Finally the tall dudes go out to the floor and the slugout begins. HHH goes into the announce table as Austin and Taker are actually in the ring now. They switch off with HHH and Kane in the ring now. No idea if anyone is legal yet. Kane chokes both guys but his arm is hurting. Ok so HHH and Kane are the official starters now. There’s the jumping knee and down goes the big fried freak.
HHH brings in Austin but Kane gets the tag and Austin tries to run. His reward is having a mudhole stomped into him. Taker destroys him for a bit and Austin offers a handshake. This is the guy that a month before was at war with Rock. Wow indeed. Taker reluctantly tags in Kane, which makes sense here. Back off to Taker and HHH and Old School hits. Old School to Austin also and Taker clears the ring.
The Two Man Power Trip tries to leave but Kane makes the stop. Back in the ring and HHH breaks up the Last Ride. Double mudhole is stomped into Taker in the corner and we head to the floor again. Austin vs. Taker now in the ring and make that HHH instead. The challengers (kind of) are tagging in and out rather well. Taker fights out of it and gets a DDT on HHH but won’t tag. Not can’t, but won’t.
Austin hits a Thesz Press but the middle finger elbow is caught in an attempted chokeslam. HHH makes the save but Taker gets a double clothesline to put all three guys down. Kane tags himself in and hammers on Austin. Another chokeslam is broken up by HHH and Kane avoids a Stunner. HHH finally wakes up and works on the arm. This is kind of a mess. Austin gets a chair shot to the arm and it’s an ARMBAR in the ring by the Game.
Kane’s face is pounded on a bit more but Kane reverses to pound on Austin a bit more. HHH makes another save as it keeps seeming like this is a handicap match rather than a regular tag. Top wristlock goes on which Kane fights out of again. HHH gets tossed to the floor where he’s able to break up a tag. Austin comes in sans tag and he and Kane botch something badly. It looked like it was supposed to be a clothesline but Austin didn’t go down or anything like that.
HHH tries to comes off the top but Kane gets a foot up but still can’t tag out. He picks up Kane’s leg and Kane looks like he’s setting for an enziguri but he just hops for awhile and HHH takes him down. Pedigree hits and HHH tags out for no apparent reason. During the confusion Taker comes in and chokeslams Austin. Stephanie distracts Hebner so he shoves her down and counts two on Austin.
Kane hits the enziguri this time which makes me think they blew the spot earlier. The referee goes down for a bit and doesn’t see the hot tag to Taker. Taker pummels them both and it’s a Last Ride to Taker but he’s not legal a minute after being tagged in. Low blow by Austin to Taker and a Stunner to Kane. Taker and Austin brawl into the crowd and HHH gets a tag title belt, only to get it kicked into his face. Chokeslam is loaded up but Stephanie comes in, only to get kicked in the face also. Vince runs in with a sledgehammer which HHH gets for a pair of shots to Kane, one in the head, for the tag titles.
Rating: D+. This was about half an hour long and the whole thing didn’t work for the most part. It was just a big mess with everything going all over the place and nothing of note going on other than the arm work. It was more about everyone doing random moves instead of a coherent match, which is rarely a good thing at all. Not a good main event.
Back to Raw in the InVasion era, starting on July 16, 2001.
Diamond Dallas Page/Rhyno vs. Undertaker/Kane
From two weeks later on Raw, July 30, 2001.
Dudley Boys vs. Kane/Undertaker
A table is brought in but so is Kane. D-Von is left alone with Taker who loads up a chokeslam, but Nick Patrick shoves the table away. Page runs in with a low blow and they load up a superbomb for Sara through the table. She holds Bubba off until Kane and Taker get bac up and Ray is chokeslamed through the table for the victory for the tall brothers.
WCW Tag Titles/WWF Tag Titles: Undertaker/Kane vs. Diamond Dallas Page/Kanyon
And a more infamous one at Unforgiven 2001.
WCW Tag Titles: Kronik vs. Undertaker/Kane
He cleans house and a big boot puts both guys down. A side slam to Clark does the same and Kane loads up a chokeslam. Adams makes the save and we get the rare triple clothesline to put everyone down. Taker comes back in and it all breaks down. He sets for a chokeslam on Clark but Richards comes in for the save. Double chokeslam to Taker is broken up and Kane hits his clothesline and a chokeslam ends Clark to keep the titles on the Brothers.
One more match before a big jump. From Raw on October 22, 2001.
Undertaker/Kane vs. Booker T/Test
Out to the floor and Booker rams him into the steps. Back in and the beating continues. Yes, Undertaker is actually selling some of this stuff. The ax kick misses and the side kick is caught in a slam move. Double tag brings in Test and Kane with the masked one cleaning house. Kane hits a big boot to both guys but Booker breaks up the chokeslam to Test. Booker and Taker go to the floor as the other two hit big boots at the same time. Chokeslam to Booker and after Taker saves Kane from the pumphandle slam, the Tombstone by Kane pins Test.
Undertaker/HELL NO vs. Shield
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