It’s the go home show for Judgment Day and Austin is back tonight I believe. Vince is going to be mad after the whole rape thing that happened last week. Anyway tonight main event is Austin/Rock vs. the Brothers, which has to be awesome based on star power alone. Rock is rising quickly and along with Austin is going to take everyone with him. Let’s get to it.

We recap Vince’s plot to get the title off Austin over the last five or six weeks.

Vince drove himself here tonight. This isn’t a good idea for him as you’ll see later. The Stooges help him into his wheelchair.

Tag Titles: New Age Outlaws vs. Animal/Darren Drozdov

Hawk is here too, sitting in on commentary. It’s strange to hear him without the over the top voice. Hawk is officially the alternate at this point due to his past issues, but he says he’s cool with that and that he’s sober. Droz and Roadie get us going and the champs take him down for some double teaming. The DOA, LOD’s opponents on Sunday, jump Hawk at ringside. Animal goes to the floor and it’s a big brawl. Now the Headbangers come in and break a boombox over Roadie’s head. The Bangers have a match with the Outlaws on Sunday apparently. The match is thrown out.

HHH has been stripped of the IC Title due to a knee injury so tonight there’s a one night tournament for the title. No entrants are announced yet.

Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman

Blackman is returning from an injury for this match. It’s an eight man tournament. There’s actually a history here, due to a brawl from two months ago. Shamrock starts fast and hits a powerslam before heading to the injured knee. Blackman is in trouble early on and gets caught in a Robinsdale Crunch of all things. Blackman tries a quick comeback but it’s ankle lock time and Shamrock advances. Basically a squash.

Post match the Blue Freaking Blazer jumps both guys and runs away. Shamrock puts the ankle lock on Blackman again.

Undertaker is arriving in street clothes. Vince is intrigued.

We get a retrospective of Goldust to play up his return tonight.

Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Marc Mero vs. Val Venis

The girls that would become PMS are at ringside too. Val runs into a drop toehold to start but he grabs the arm a few seconds later. Butterfly suplex gets two. Mero comes back with a DDT for the same. Someone has arrived but JR doesn’t know who it is. Terri distracts Mero and the fisherman’s suplex gets the pin for Val to advance.

Jackie beats up Terri post match.

Paul Bearer with a briefcase was the arrival. Vince isn’t pleased.

We hear about Sable on Pacific Blue last night and Sable goes after Jackie. She drags Jackie into the arena but Mero makes the save.

Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Mankind vs. Mark Henry

Mankind gets Shamrock on Sunday and earlier today he said that Shamrock’s chair shots aren’t hard enough. Before the match, Henry has a love poem for Chyna. Here’s Chyna very quickly after the bell and the distraction allows Mankind to take over very quickly. Henry comes back with the power game and goes after Mankind’s leg. He goes up for a middle rope splash but Foley gets out of the way. There’s the double arm DDT and he takes his shoe off to get to Mr. Socko. Well that didn’t take long. Mankind still has the piano music.

Post match Chyna tries to ask why but Henry says it’s out of his hands and leaves.

Austin drives up in a cement truck. The Stooges say they’ll go look at it and Slaughter falls on Vince’s bad leg on the way.

Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac

Jarrett jumps Pac to start and pounds away on him for a bit but X-Pac comes back with a spin kick (clearly missing by 4 inches) and a flipping clothesline. Pack loads up a superplex but gets knocked to the mat. Small package gets two for Jarrett, as does a powerslam. Pac fires off the kicks in the corner but the referee goes down too. Bronco Buster is countered by a boot to the groin and Jeff goes for the guitar. Instead he finds Head in the case, allowing Pac to roll Jarrett up to advance.

Rating: D+. Nothing of note here but it wasn’t bad. The idea here was about pushing Snow vs. Jarrett in a feud that was pretty much out of nowhere. There was a story to Pac and Jarrett due to a feud from a few months ago, so this wasn’t all that bad. It was way too short to mean much of anything though.

The remaining brackets:

Ken Shamrock
Val Venis

Mankind
X-Pac

Austin pours cement into Vince’s Corvette in a classic moment.

Here’s Austin in the arena to a big pop. He says on Sunday, he’ll beat them both up and then raise his own hand whether Vince likes it or not. Cue Vince in wheelchair with attack dogs behind him. Austin can’t quite go at them so Vince yells and makes Austin/Rock vs. Kane/Undertaker.

Vince says Austin is going to need eyes in the back of his head. Austin shouts at Vince and Vince breaks down, talking about how bad his last three weeks have been, including the Zamboni, his ankle being broken, the hospital stuff, and now the car being destroyed. Vince says if Austin doesn’t raise the winner’s hand, he’s fired. Austin says Vince doesn’t have the balls to do that but Vince says he’ll humble Austin one way or another.

Intercontinental Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Ken Shamrock vs. Val Venis

Shamrock jumps Val during his entrance and throws him into the steps before the bell. Into the ring and there’s the bell, but Shamrock has a huge advantage. Shamrock works on the back and puts on a reverse chinlock which he releases very quickly. Val hits a big boot but Shamrock kind of no sells it in a weird way. Ken comes back with a pair of suplexes and then a Boston Crab. Val FINALLY makes a rope before starting a comeback. He has to bump and grind though so his big boot only gets two. Shamrock quickly chop blocks him and the ankle lock puts him in the finals.

Rating: D. Again this was more or less just a squash. Shamrock has steamrolled everyone in his matches so far tonight and it would make sense to have him win at this point. The match wasn’t all that entertaining and I wasn’t a fan of all the back work before we finally got a chop block and an ankle hold for the win. To be fair though it lasted five minutes so how much can I complain?

Before Val can get up Goldust returns and does his mind games with Val before hitting Shattered Dreams.

Mick tries to console Vince about his car and tries to get the briefcase and the keys out of the car full of cement.

Rock says he isn’t worried about the Brothers because he’s beaten both of them, which makes him #1 contender. He doesn’t like being Austin’s partner, and here are Henry and Brown to complain about Rock not being partners with one of them. Rock says shut up and that’s about it.

Intercontinental Title Tournament Semi-Finals: X-Pac vs. Mankind

Mankind suplexes out of a headlock and pounds on Pac in the corner. They go to the other corner but X-Pac hits a spin kick out of the corner. They head outside and Mankind grabs a chair which is dropped pretty quickly. A kick in the corner drops Mankind and ther’es the Bronco Buster. Foley comes back with a forearm and hits a neckbreaker on the floor, but here’s Shamrock. He pops Mankind in the previously injured knee with a chair, allowing Pac to roll him up for the easy win.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to get anywhere, but flash back with me to the review of last week’s show. This is another great case of matches between guys of completely different styles. There are still differences today, but rarely are they this striking. The match was ok but the ending didn’t help it much.

Post match Shamrock destroys Pac with a neck hold and we go to a break before the match.

Intercontinental Title: Ken Shamrock vs. X-Pac

HHH is on commentary. Pac can barely move but keeps fighting as much as he can. Shamrock stays on the neck including a dragon sleeper while Shamrock is on the floor and Pac is on mat. X-Pac comes back with a pair of spin kicks but he can’t follow up on the cover. There’s the Bronco Buster but again he can’t follow up. There’s the ankle lock but we get a rope break. The hold goes on again and this time it’s over, giving the title to Shamrock.

Rating: D. The problem again here, and this isn’t their fault, is that having about four minutes just isn’t enough. The idea here was that with Pac being so hurt the match wasn’t entirely fair, but Shamrock will take it because he’s becoming evil. For his three matches, Shamrock only wrestled less than fifteen minutes. That’s not a bad night’s work.

Kane/The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin/The Rock

Ok so apparently Rock IS #1 contender. I think what messed me up last week was that he was #1 contender to a title that had no owner, so I thought Kane and Undertaker would be considered the contenders. Say it with me: it’s a brawl to start. Kane and Austin go to the floor while Rock beats up Undertaker. Austin and Rock double team Taker down but he sits up. We start with Austin and Undertaker while Kane is on the floor.

Here comes Paul Bearer, which is good as I had forgotten he was here. Taker hits a clothesline for two before working over the arm. Austin comes back and wraps Taker’s leg around the post before tagging in Rock. He loads up the People’s Elbow but Taker sits up. Rock kicks him right back down before hitting the elbow in a move that I’m sure has been on highlight reels before.

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.

A double tag brings in Austin to face Undertaker again and things pick up. Austin can’t quite drop him as Henry and Brown beat down Rock on the floor. Austin gets caught in the ropes and Taker pounds away. That doesn’t last long as Austin escapes and hits a clothesline for two. Thesz Press is broken up by Kane and the security guard from earlier with the dogs run in and hits Austin with a stick before unmasking to reveal Big Bossman. The match is thrown out.

Rating: D+. This is one of those matches that sounds better on paper than in reality. This was more about Austin getting beaten down by Vince’s guy which is ok, especially when the main event on Sunday is about Austin vs. Vince with the title and the Brothers being thrown in. Not a bad match but the important thing here again is to have Rock rubbing elbows with these top guys.

Austin gets beaten down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is a hard one to rate because of the tournament sucking up the middle of the show. The matches weren’t good but they had to do it at some point given HHH’s injury. It’s interesting looking at the main event scene here as it’s clearly all about Vince vs. Austin and everything else is thrown in on the side. The perk though is that the main feud is so awesome and works so well that it’s easily accepted. Not a horrible show here but the tournament hurt it a lot.

Here’s Judgment Day if you’re interested:

It’s another week closer to Judgment Day and we have two Raws left before we get there. Tonight we’ll likely hear more about the main event for the PPV which is Austin refereeing Taker vs. Kane for the vacant world title. You know that’s going to rival a Thesz vs. Gotch classic for basic wrestling skills of course. Anyway there isn’t much else announced for that show so let’s get to it.

We open with a quick look at Taker and Kane breaking Vince’s leg/ankle last week.

European Title: X-Pac vs. D’Lo Brown

Pac is defending and he’s coming out before JR can even welcome us to the show. Brown charges right into a spin kick but he comes back with a powerslam. Legdrop hits Pac and a leg lariat gets two. Off to the chinlock and Brown yells at the crowd. He always was good at that. Someone serves Chyna with papers and Henry is smiling.

The champ fights out of the hold and hits a belly to back suplex. His elbow misses and Brown hits one of his own off the middle rope for two. Side slam gets the same. The Low Down misses and it’s slugout time. Pac speeds things up and hits the Bronco Buster, but Henry trips him up and rams Pac’s back into the post. That and the Low Down gives us a new champion.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but it was more about building up the DX problems as Chyna didn’t help Pac out for no apparent reason. Brown would hold onto the title for awhile until the title fell into obscurity. You know, as in more than it already was at this point. I’ve always been a fan of Brown’s work so I can’t complain much here. Decent opener.

Vince is in a hospital bed and complaining about getting the wrong kind of juice. OH IT’S THIS SHOW!!!

The Oddities played football earlier today.

Here are the Headbangers who apparently aren’t scheduled right now. They call out the Insane Clown Posse and I can easily see why I’ve never heard them cut a promo before. The Oddities come out but the Headbangers want the Clowns.

Headbangers vs. Insane Clown Posse

Please make it short. The Oddities have to go to the back and the Clowns come in. I’m not sure if this is an official match or not. Shaggy takes a flapjack and it’s a double suplex for Jay. There’s no tagging so far at all. There’s a Super Bomb for Shaggy and Thrasher gets a chair. The Clowns get laid out with chairs and it’s a big beatdown until the Oddities make the save.

We see Austin looking for Vince last night with an ax in his hand. He took over the production truck and hacked the feed to Vince’s hospital. I mean that literally.

Austin had a metal CD. Ok then.

We get a clip from last week with the Zamboni attack and the announcement of the PPV main event. Vince called the Brothers handicapped (one physical and the other mental) and Taker threatened them. Vince flipped them off and the Brothers destroyed his leg.

We go to Vince’s hospital room and the nurse says he has a large visitor. Vince says no visitors and it’s Mankind. Vince’s heart rate monitor beeping in time with his panicking is great. Mankind gives him candy and balloons and has a visitor. It’s female entertainment. “She does a trick with a dog that you won’t believe.” It’s Yurple the Clown. Vince being given stickers and balloon animals is great. Foley says he has another visitor and it’s….MR. SOCKO!!! Vince finally snaps and throws them out.

Sable joins in on commentary.

Vader vs. Marc Mero

Sable says she wants the Women’s Title which would come soon enough. The whole Vince is Sable’s Boss thing is pretty much forgotten at this point. Vader pounds away on him and they head to the floor where Mero hides behind Jackie. Back in and Vader runs Mero over, sending him right back to the floor. After a Jackie eye rake it’s back to the ring and Mero takes over with his usual stuff. Vader beats him down again and a splash gets two. Jackie dives onto Vader and gets caught, but a Mero low blow and the Marvelocity (Shooting Star) gets the pin.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as Mero was only there as a surrogate for Jackie and Sable. That would tend to be the case for awhile as Mero never really meant much after this. This was also Vader’s last match on Raw which is kind of pitiful but he was so far past his prime in WWF that it never quite clicked.

Jackie gets on the mic post match because I haven’t suffered enough so far. She challenges Sable who gets in, but Mero distracts her so Jackie can jump her. Jackie cuts Sable’s hair.

William Regal makes his own orange juice.

Edge vs. Owen Hart

We hear about Edge’s younger brother, which is a new revelation. His name is Christian. Owen comes out in street clothes. Last night he tried to walk out on a match with X-Pac but got rolled up anyway. He’s distraught because of the injury to Severn last week. He says he’s sorry but he can’t wrestle tonight. Owen walks out and it’s a forfeit.

Post break Owen says it’s over and he’s done before leaving the arena.

Kane vs. Ken Shamrock

See, THIS is something you don’t get today. These guys have very different styles and it’s cool to see them clash. Today almost everyone but two people have the same style so you can plug in anyone. It’s something that really is missing today. Shamrock is on the verge of turning heel but he’s still a tweener here. He uses his speed advantage and fires off some strikes to take over early.

Shamrock goes for the leg but gets caught in a powerslam when trying a cross body. A dropkick staggers the big man but his rana is caught in a powerbomb. Kane chokes him down and chokes on the mat before a powerslam gets two. Off to a chinlock which Shamrock fights out of but here’s Undertaker to watch. Shamrock fires off a bunch of stuff but it takes the rana to put Kane down. Not that it matters as Kane is up to his feet first. Kane goes up top but Undertaker gets up and crotches him, allowing a belly to belly superplex to give Shamrock the pin.

Rating: C-. Like I said the conflicting styles were a nice touch here. That’s something you NEVER get anymore. We don’t have many power monsters and even fewer MMA style guys, so it’s nice to see something like this. Think about it: how many people work the same exact style today and how uninteresting does it get after awhile?

Val Venis finds Terri’s wedding ring. Guess where it was.

Val Venis vs. Gangrel

Val talks about Magic Johnson before the match. He starts fast with a powerslam and some knees to the ribs followed by the bump and grind. JR takes a shot at WCW by saying this is action and not two 45 year olds on the microphone. Val hits a big boot and here comes Edge. He gets in Christian’s face but Gangrel runs out to DDT Edge on the floor. They stomp Edge and the match is thrown out. Oh ok Val wins by countout. That makes sense.

Val and Terri make out in the ring but a movie usher shows up. He hands Val a gold envelope, the contents of which freak Val out. Cue Goldust’s music and the man himself on the screen. Goldust’s world premiere is next week apparently.

We get a clip from last night of Austin yelling at Shane on Heat.

Vince is in the hospital and wants another nurse and something for his pain.

Al Snow vs. Jeff Jarrett

They go to the mat and it’s a nice technical exhibition to start. Snow is like screw that and catches him with the trapping headbutts. He knocks Jarrett to the floor and grabs a chair but Jeff knocks him down. Slaughter comes out here, demanding the Head from the referee. Snow hits a kind of Air Sabu move against the barricade but as Al goes after Slaughter, Jarrett hits him in the back with a chair. Back in the ring Snow hits an enziguri to come back and goes up but Slaughter crotches him for the DQ. Fun while it lasted but this was about Slaughter vs. Snow, which isn’t interesting at all.

Road Dogg vs. Mark Henry

There’s no Billy here so Roadie brings in a blowup doll. Lawler gets the papers that Chyna was served earlier and it’s a sexual harassment by Henry. Road Dogg takes over to start and hits the shaky knee for two. He walks into what would become known as the World’s Strongest Slam to give Henry the advantage. Brown trips up Dogg and a legdrop to the back of the head half kills him. Chyna comes out and drills Brown, allowing Pac to kick Henry low and hit an X Factor for Dogg to get the pin. Another short match.

Henry chases after DX with a chair post match.

Vince is in the hospital and wants more juice.

We go to McMahon for an interview but he isn’t ready, so we look at Austin’s Zamboni stuff from last week again. We get the attack on Vince as well.

Vince is getting hit blood pressure taken when Austin, dressed as a doctor, jumps him. Austin pounds on his broken ankle, hits him with a bedpan, and zaps him with the cardiac paddles. To end it he anally rapes Vince with an IV. To quote Punk: “SECURITY AROUND HERE SUCKS!”

The Rock vs. The Undertaker

They have a lot of time for the main event here. Rock is on fire and this is one of his biggest matches to date. He’s still listed as part of the Nation here but it’s really just in name only at this point. Taker immediately jumps him and the fight starts fast. The jumping clothesline puts Rock down again as it’s been all Taker so far. Out to the floor and Rock reverses a whip into the steps.

Here comes Kane to watch the match ala Undertaker in Kane’s match earlier. The distraction alows for a powerslam from Taker to stop Rock cold again. Henry and Brown come out but get glared away by Kane. Taker starts in on the arm and here’s School. Off to the chinlock which is quickly broken by a belly to back suplex. Rock gets thrown to the floor and the beating is on in the aisle.

This has still been almost all Undertaker and it continues to be as he slams Rock into the steps. Back into the ring and Rock’s comeback is easily stopped by a right hand. Sunset flip out of nowhere gets two for Rock. Again he fires off punches but Taker easily clotheslines him down for two. Rock grabs an O’Connor Roll for two and a clothesline for the same. Big boot takes Rock down for another near fall.

Taker loads up Old School again but since you can’t hit the same match twice in a match, Rock arm drags him down. JR declares Rock the #1 contender for some reason. Swinging neckbreaker gets two for the Not Yet Great One. Tombstone is escaped into a side Russian legsweep and the People’s Elbow connects. The referee gets crushed in the corner and everyone goes down. Time for Kane but Undertaker sits up. Kane kills Taker in the back with the chair and the Rock Bottom looks to finish but there’s no referee. Kane slides the chair in and a Tombstone onto said chair gets the pin.

Rating: B. These two don’t do that well on PPV together, but man they were cooking here. Rock was on fire at this point and more or less would stay on fire for the next two years or so. Seeing him get beaten down and then fight back time after time, including hitting a solid Rock Bottom, only to get screwed was a nice ending to a good match. That’s how you give someone a rub by the way.

Overall Rating: B-. They’re clearly running on all cylinders at this point and it’s clear that WCW having stuff like Warrior vs. Hogan is merely a band-aid trying to stop the tidal wave that is Raw. With Rock on the verge of being revealed as the Corporate Champion and Mankind’s rise up to the top of the company, this is going to get great and it’s going to do it in a hurry.

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It’s the final series. This feels like the last week at school when you realize that it’s over after this. This show is probably what Wrestlemania should have been. The company was on fire at this point and this might be the best show of the year for the best year of the company. The main event is Rock vs. HHH for the title with Shane as guest referee. There are also rumors of a Rattlesnake sighting. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Rock vs. HHH who has most of the McMahons in his corner. The idea here is McMahons/HHH vs. Rock/Austin. Austin blew up a bus or something recently.

Here’s a VERY drunk Debra to announce the first match. This is her return to the company after awhile.

Tag Titles: Edge/Christian vs. D-Generation X

This would be Road Dogg/X-Pac and the Canadians are the champions. I do miss DX’s Kings of Rock theme. I also miss Tori. Debra is GONE. Edge vs. X-Pac gets us going. Pac speeds things up and armdrags Edge down. Edge takes him down as well and hits a spinwheel kick to clear the ring. Back in Pac spits at him and tags out to Roadie. The champs hit Poetry in Motion and it’s off to Christian vs. Dogg.

The Canadian gets guillotined on the top and Pac kicks Christian’s head off. He’s sent to the floor due to a Tori distraction, resulting in him being sent into the steps. Back in Road Dogg stops a tag and the Bronco Buster keeps Christian in trouble. Some hard kicks to the back get two for Roadie. Christian comes back but gets caught in the dancing punches to a big reaction. Shaky knee gets two.

I think they’re both supposed to try a cross body but Christian looked like he just jumped into the one from Road Dogg. Pac breaks up the tag but while he’s being put out, Edge drops a swan dive on Road Dogg which gets two for Christian. Christian escapes a double something into a double reverse DDT. Everyone but Edge is down and there’s the hot tag. Pac’s rana is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two. Unprettier is broken up but Edge spears down Road Dogg. Tori gets up and Pac accidentally drills her, getting a rollup for two by Edge. X-Factor takes Edge down but Christian hits him with the bell so Edge can pin him.

Rating: C+. This was a good choice for an opener as both teams were moving well out there. That’s what you do for an opener: get the crowd fired up and make them cheer, even though the Canadians were on the verge of turning heel anyway. Good solid opener here and it was fast paced enough to fire up the fans.

Debra can barely say WWF Tag Team Champions. Pac was busted open.

Rock is here.

Light Heavyweight Title: Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Dean Malenko

Dean is champion and this is Scotty’s rematch I believe. Scotty dances with Lillian pre-match. Scotty starts off fast with some near falls. Belly to back puts Dean down and Scotty nips up into the Moonwalk. He sets for the bulldog to set up the Worm but Dean clotheslines him down instead. Dean, the heel, tries to get the buckle pad off but can’t quite get it. He rams Scotty into the buckle anyway and we head outside.

A dropkick to the knee gets two and Dean works the leg over a bit. After a quick leg lock he wraps it around the post a few times. Back to the leg lock and then a leg lace. Dean hits a knee crusher but Scotty comes back with an enziguri. That gets him nowhere so it’s back to the knee by Dean. He tries a spinning toehold but Scotty kicks him into the corner and rolls him up for two.

Malenko kicks at the knee again but then charges at Scotty, sending both of them out to the floor. Back in Dean hits a superplex to put both guys down. Dean is up first but walks into a backslide for two. Scotty bulldogs him down and it’s Worm time! That gets two so Malenko rolls him up with feet on the ropes for two. Things are speeding way up. Tiger Bomb gets two for Dean and he’s frustrated.

Scotty comes back at him again but walks into a powerslam for two. He tries to put Dean on the apron but gets guillotined down on the top rope. Malenko goes up top but Scotty pops him with a right hand. Scotty goes up for a superplex but Dean counters in mid air into a DDT. FREAKING OW MAN and Dean retains. SICK counter.

Rating: B. Malenko is awesome but unfortunately he never quite did anything of note in the WWF. The Light Heavyweight Title was almost exclusively defended on the late night weekend shows which meant that most people didn’t know the title was around or who held it. Dean would hold it until a few weeks before the next Wrestlemania. This was a really good match though and that ending is GREAT.

The McMahon-Helmsley Era (I think that’s their name at this point at least) is in the back and Patterson and Brisco swear their loyalty. Vince says it’s all hands on deck tonight.

Big Boss Man/Bull Buchanan vs. Acolytes

Brawl to start and it’s Bradshaw vs. Buchanan to get us going. A DDT puts Buchanan down and Bradshaw goes up top for a shoulder which gets two. A spear puts Bull down as does a fallaway slam. Off to Boss Man vs. Farrooq with a Boss Man Sucks chant at the same time. Farrooq suplexes him down for two and Boss Man goes to the floor. Bradshaw puts him into the steps to keep the Acolytes in control. This is a VERY fast paced match.

Bradshaw sends him to the floor again where Farrooq gets in a few shots. It’s basically been a squash up to this point. Simmons comes in legally and finally gets taken down by Boss Man. Off to Buchanan who drops an elbow and pounds Farrooq into the corner. Farrooq plays Ricky Morton which some pretty original casting.

Off to a chinlock which doesn’t last long as it’s off to Bradshaw. Everything breaks down and Bradshaw goes up. Boss Man slows him up so that Buchanan can suplex him down for two. Buchanan misses a charge and the Clothesline gets two. A nightstick shot stops Bradshaw dead and an ax kick from the top (cool!) gets the pin.

Rating: B-. What in the world was this??? Who would have ever thought these four would have had a match that was almost faster paced than DX and Edge/Christian? The ending was great too with Buchanan’s ax kick looking great, although it wound up being more like a Fameasser. Still though, good match and a HUGE surprise.

The Hardys are in the back and say they’ll fight if they have to over the Hardcore Title.

Hardcore Holly is looking forward to beating up Crash for the Hardcore Title. Crash offers a handshake and gets slapped in the head.

We go to the announce desk for a quick talk. That’s normal but for some reason a name graphic comes up that says Tim Russert. I rewound it to see if that’s what it said and it certainly did. How odd.

Hardcore Title: Crash Holly vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Perry Saturn vs. Tazz

Matt was defending against Jeff when Crash came in and stole the title. You can only win here by pinning Crash or Crash can win by pinning anyone. That’s a unique twist on multi-man rules. Crash runs into a cameraman during Saturn’s entrance. Saturn immediately suplexes Crash for two. Hardcore powerbombs him for the same. The idea here is pretty clear: everyone is going after Crash one at a time and then they’ll fight each other. Northern lights suplex gets two for Tazz. Remember there’s no point in anyone covering anyone but Crash.

Crash runs up the ramp and climbs the structure (it’s the cool one with the swinging hooks). He’s followed by Matt and winds up getting hung upside down by his knee. Everyone gets him down so Matt dives on all of them. The fans are impressed. Saturn does something to Matt that we miss and a piece of the structure breaks off. Jeff dives off part of it as well to take down Saturn. Matt and Crash head to the ring and Jeff joins them for some double teaming.

This is one of those matches where you can’t really keep up with what’s going on. Saturn hooks a freaky arm bending hold on Crash but Matt breaks it up. Even the announcers can barely keep up with what’s going on here. Tazz gets a clothesline and Matt covers for two. The Hardys beat up Tazz and Hardcore on the floor. Hardcore suplexes Crash out there for no cover. There are some signs being used as weapons now.

Back in the ring and Crash dropkicks Tazz down for two. There’s an extension cord in the ring now and all six guys are in as well. Tazz pops the Hardys with a sign and gets two on Crash. C rash barely has any offense at all for the most part here. Saturn suplexes Hardcore and gets two on Crash. The Hardys both have cookie sheets and they clean a few rooms. Jeff hits a Sabu style moonsault on Crash so Saturn can get two. Hardcore superplexes Crash for two. A Falcon Arrow onto a chair gets the same.

Jeff brings in a ladder (JR: “The ladder gets a pop!”) and beats up everyone in sight not named Matt with it. This has already gone on way too long. Hardcore gets thrown into the ladder while Saturn is outside on the announce table. Jeff Swantons Crash from the top of the ladder and Matt steals a two count, leading to a brotherly fight. Tazmission to Crash but Saturn clocks Tazz with a stop sign. Jeff dives on Saturn and Crash steals the pin on Tazz to retain. The Hardys music plays for some reason.

Rating: D+. You can’t say Crash didn’t earn it after a beating like that. The match went on too long though, clocking in at over 12 minutes. The problem was they ran out of stuff to do about 8 minutes in, so from about that far in until they bring in the ladder, this was a lot of laying around and doing nothing of note. It would have been better with less time.

Shane says he doesn’t have a conflict of interest tonight.

We recap Angle vs. Show. Show has “gone Hollywood” resulting in some funny imitations. HHH gave Angle and Show a tag title shot but Angle didn’t like Show being a fat Scottish guy so Angle jumped him. This went badly, setting up the following match.

Kurt Angle vs. Big Show

Angle runs down Marian Berry, who is mayor of Washington DC. He’s also a former crackhead. The lack of integrity is what’s wrong with America. That means we need a Real American…..and that’s what we get. Here’s Big Show doing the absolute best Hulk Hogan imitation you’ll EVER see. He’s got a Showster t-shirt with the rips in the back, yellow boots, a bald skull cap with blonde hair down the sides, he does the hand to the ear, rips the shirt and throws it, and does the swinging arms warmup that Hulk did. And then, he talks.

Doing an even better Hogan imitation, he talks about being to the top of the mountain and says dude and brother more times than should be humanly allowed. Angle jumps him but Show HULKS UP almost immediately. Right hand doesn’t work (JR: “The old no sell!”) so Show punches him three times and hits the big boot. LEG DROP gets two and a bigger reaction than anything else so far, which is saying a lot as the fans were going nuts the entire time so far.

Angle goes for the leg and the fans chant for Hogan. Show (who has his goatee dyed too) rips off the cap and hair and destroys Angle in the corner. Chokeslam ends this quick. It’s too short to rate but as a match it was worthless. From an entertainment perspective, this is one of the best and funniest moments you’ll ever see. Check this out as it’s well worth it if you’re a Hogan fan.

We recap T&A vs. the Dudleys. The Dudleys are the hot new team and Bubba likes to put women through tables. The only one he hasn’t been able to do it to is Trish, so Trish has been making these sexy videos about tables. She keeps kissing him to keep from being put through the tables and then T&A would put him through it instead.

Trish, still the evil chick who wears skin tight tiny outfits and has more sexual innuendo than Lawler could ever dream of, says Bubba will see how she feels in a minute.

Bubba is in another of his trances.

T&A vs. Dudley Boys

Brawl to start of course and Bubba chases Trish around on the floor. Albert and D-Von get us going with the future Japanese bore taking control. D-Von takes him down for two and I have no idea who the faces are and who the heels are here. Off to Bubba who takes his head off with a clothesline. That and an elbow drop both get two. Off to D-Von and the Dudleys hit a double suplex and the yet to be named What’s Up.

Albert comes back with a bicycle kick and it’s off to Test. Double splashes in the corner get two on D-Von. I could listen to Bubba Dudley yell from an apron all day. I’d get pretty bored but I certainly could do it. The big evil (I think?) ones double team D-Von. Albert slams Test onto D-Von and shouts to TESTIFY TO THAT. Bubba: “SHUT UP!” The fans of course want tables but D-Von gets a neckbreaker on Test instead.

The referee misses the tag to Bubba and the beating continues. Albert hits his slingshot into the bottom rope for two. A sunset flip out of nowhere gets two for D-Von, but he’s quickly powerbombed for the same. The fans want tables and Trish isn’t sure what to think. Albert goes up but Bubba distracts him, allowing D-Von to hit a superplex and make the hot tag.

Reverse 3D (called the 3D by JR of course) gets two. Baldo Bomb kills Bubba but D-Von pulls him away from the big elbow. The Dudleys load up the REAL 3D (as in Bubba gets a running start) but Trish offers a distraction by taking her jacket off and shaking her hips. Keep in mind that this is before Trish let herself go in 2001/2002, and yes I said that right That lets Test kick Bubba’s head off for the pin.

Rating: D+. Anything with Trish in hot pink shorts and shaking her hips is never a bad thing. The match however was pretty bad, but the whole point was the post match stuff. Also the Dudleys were more or less turned face in this match due to the fans loving hot women being put through tables for some reason.

Post match Bubba hits the Cutter (called a neckbreaker by JR who is way off tonight) on Test and grabs Trish. She French kisses him but gets powerbombed through the table anyway. The orgasmic look on Bubba’s face is always great. Trish is taken out on a stretcher.

Chyna and Eddie arrive. Eddie is told he has a match next. They’re just arriving from the prom as Eddie has earned his GED if I remember correctly.

As Eddie is changing in the aisle, we get a quick recap of him hooking up with Chyna. Essa was Eddie’s partner one night and Lita accidentally moonsaulted Eddie. Chyna threatened her and Lita hit Eddie again. This is before Lita meant anything.

European Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Essa Rios

Rios has Lita with him. Eddie immediately dropkicks him down but Rios speeds things up to take over. A Saito suplex stops that completely and Eddie works on the arm. Rios tries to run the corner out of a wristlock but slips off the ropes and has to drop it. Instead an armdrag sends Eddie to the floor but Rios’ dive misses. Slingshot hilo hits Essa and Eddie is in full control. Apparently Trish has been taken to the hospital.

Rios is sent to the floor where Chyna drills him with a forearm. Rios comes back with a missile dropkick for two. The fans don’t really seem to care here. Things speed up and Eddie gets launched into the ropes by Rios’ feet. Eddie sends him to the floor with ease and Chyna fires off another big forearm. Eddie dives on him and you can hear the Spanish announce team talking.

Guerrero loads up a powerbomb on the floor so Lita goes up top for the save. Chyna shoves her off and Lita crashes into the table. Rios runs in and hits a HUGE moonsault off the top to send Eddie into the table. Back in the ring a missile dropkick puts Eddie down and to the floor where Essa hits a HUGE over the corner dive. Back in Eddie hits a superplex and a brainbuster, but Rios armdrags him off the top. The big moonsault (gorgeous one too) hits Eddie’s knees and a Gory Bomb into an airplane spin into a neckbreaker gets the pin to retain.

Rating: B. This started slow but once they started busting out the lucha stuff, this got very good very fast. Rios is a guy that never quite clicked in the WWF but his chick certainly did. Lita would hook up with the Hardys the next month and become as famous as she ever did in her career. Very fun match here.

Post match Lita rips off Chyna’s dress, revealing some very nice and very small blue underwear. This was when Chyna was still hot.

HHH is still in street clothes and says he has nothing to worry about. Vince is smug about Austin not being here yet.

Benoit says Jericho may say he’s great but Benoit is the champion.

We get the second schoolgirl video of the night. It says Judgment Day is coming. That’s Undertaker.

Intercontinental Title: Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit

Does this need a backstory at all? Benoit is champion and I think that’s all you need to know. Jericho is a face here…..I think? The fans chant for him so we’ll say he is. They jockey for position on the ropes and tumble out to the floor. Back into the ring and they hit a series of rollups I can’t keep up with. They trade skin ripping chops before Jericho gets on top of him with right hands. Benoit gets up and tries some Germans but Jericho grabs the top rope.

Instead Benoit throws him over the top and out to the floor. Suicide dive misses and Benoit crashes ONTO HIS HEAD on the floor. That’s a much scarier move knowing what we know now. Benoit gets back up and sends Jericho into the steps but he jumps over them to avoid contact. Benoit is cool with that and dropkicks them into Jericho’s knees to take over. Back inside Benoit gets two off a gutbuster.

The champ drapes Jericho over the top rope and hooks an abdominal stretch. Jericho comes out of it and hits the Lionsault but he can’t cover because of the ribs and a possible arm injury. Eventually it gets two and they get back up. Benoit gets his boot up in the corner but Jericho kicks his head off with a spinwheel kick. Jericho cradles him for two and then drapes him over the top just like Benoit did earlier. The challenger tries his springboard dropkick but Benoit avoids the contact.

Benoit goes up but gets crotched with his back to the ring. Jericho tries a belly to back superplex but Benoit spins around in the air and lands on Jericho for a delayed two. Awesome match so far. Jericho hits his double powerbomb for two but Benoit counters the cover into the Crossface. That gets broken up by a rope so Jericho tries the Walls but he can’t quite hook it before Benoit makes the rope.

They head into the ropes and Jericho accidentally forearms the referee. Benoit grabs the belt to blast Jericho in the face and tick off all the fans. That only gets two and the kickout gets an eruption. Benoit snap suplexes him onto the belt and goes up top for the Swan Dive. Jericho moves and Benoit hits the belt which was under Jericho……AND THAT’S A DQ??? Oh freaking blow me! JR flat out says that decision sucks.

Rating: A-. Seriously, WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? This was getting AWESOME and was probably on the way to being the best non-ladder match I can ever remember with these two, but then we didn’t get to see the ending. At least the replay shows that Jericho picked up the belt because it looked like he just moves and Benoit hit it. That being said, Benoit vs. Jericho with 15 minutes is more than worth watching.

Jericho puts the referee in the Walls post match. Good.

We recap HHH vs. Rock. Vince turned on Rock to help HHH retain at Wrestlemania and said that Rock would never be champion again. Rock beat Boss Man and Buchanan in a cage to get a rematch but was beaten down after the match ended. Vince stacked the deck so Linda said Austin would be in Rock’s corner. He hadn’t been seen since November so this was a big deal. Austin blew up DX’s bus to end Smackdown.

Rock says if Austin isn’t here, he’ll win the title anyway.

WWF Title: The Rock vs. Triple H

HHH is champion, Vince is in his corner, Shane is guest referee, Stephanie is HOT in a little dark blue dress. Vince points out the card subject to change line in the program, which means that Austin isn’t here. Slugout to start and Rock knocks him down after a delay into the spit punch. Rock stomps him down in the corner but Shane drags him off. Brahma Bull charges at HHH but gets sent to the floor.

HHH sends him into the steps and then the announce table. Vince posts Rock and throws him back in as the odds are stacked very high already. That only gets two, as do the suplex and knee drop. HHH hooks on a long chinlock and puts his feet on the top rope. Shane has been leaving his eyes elsewhere of course. Rock finally gets up and drops HHH onto the buckle to escape. He fires off right hands and they clothesline each other.

Rock knocks him into the corner but Vince pops up with a belt shot to put him down for a very close two. Rock gets up and throws HHH to the floor where he may have hurt his arm. Back in the ring Rock hits a spinning DDT but Shane won’t count. Rock goes after Shane and they head to the floor where HHH gets in a shot to take over. Pedigree through the table is countered by a low blow but Shane doesn’t DQ him for some reason. Instead he gets up on the table too and it’s a DOUBLE ROCK BOTTOM through the table.

Both guys are half dead but Rock gets up first. There’s no referee, but it doesn’t really matter as Shane wouldn’t count a pin anyway. Vince gets in the ring with the guys and hits Rock in the back. That goes badly as you would expect because HHH gets back up and hits a Pedigree. Here are Patterson and Brisco to count but Rock kicks out. The Stooges pound on Rock and HHH gets in some shots too. His arm is clearly hurt.

Vince hits Rock in the head with a chair so hard that he falls down too. CUE GLASS SHATTER! Austin, to a MASSIVE pop, comes out with a chair and murders everyone in sight. Everyone is down so Austin leaves as Linda and the recently fired Earl Hebner come out. Stephanie gets shoved down and it’s a spinebuster and the People’s Elbow to give Rock the title back.

Rating: B+. Why this didn’t happen at Wrestlemania I’m not sure. Either way, it happened here and it was GREAT. This was the Attitude Era formula of throw EVERYTHING out there but give the fans what they want in the end. That makes the wild brawling ok and it gives Rock the title back, which is how it should be. Austin’s pop was incredible and thankfully for Rock’s time on top, Austin wouldn’t be back to action for about six more months.

Rock celebrates but here’s Austin in his truck. He’s hauling the remnants of the DX Express behind him. Austin and Rock drink beer to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. This was an EXCELLENT show with everything hitting on all cylinders. The worst match was certainly fine and the main event was great. You couple that with a hilarious moment in the Showster and a great main event that needed to happen and this could be nothing but great. Rock and HHH would trade the title some more over the summer and it was always awesome. Great show and well worth seeing.

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It’s the night after St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and the main story is that Big Show debuted in the Austin vs. McMahon main event. It’s the late 90s so you know that we’re going to get some Vince vs. Austin stuff. In other PPV news, Mankind and Rock fought to a draw, keeping the title on Foley. Let’s get to it.

We open with clips of the two main events from last night.

Cue theme song.

Here’s Commissioner Shawn Michaels to open things up. He introduces the men that will be facing off for the WWF Title at Wrestlemania: Austin and Mankind. Before Shawn can talk to them we get Vince who is in a big neck brace and has a big bandage on the top of his head. Vince talks about how he’s been humbled and defeated, although the fans aren’t thrilled with him. He wants to start things over and bury the hatchet.

For some reason Vince asks Austin for an apology. Austin apologizes for not giving Vince a worse beating than he already gave him. Vince talks about how Wrestlemania is going to see these two in the main event. There’s a problem with that though: Mankind didn’t win last night. It was a draw, so Rock should get a rematch tonight. Mankind says he’s in bad shape and asks for a week to get ready.

Here’s Rock who is banged up too. He says Mankind wants seven days but he doesn’t have seven minutes. This is when Rock has finally (see what I did there?) gotten his rhythm down on the mic. He doesn’t think much of Shawn but Michaels needs to make this match tonight. Mankind says he has testicles full of fortitude so he’ll face Rock tonight. Vince wants to make it a ladder match for some reason. Shawn says ok. Vince says one more thing: Paul Wight (Big Show. He wouldn’t get his more famous name for a few more weeks) is going to referee the title match at Wrestlemania.

Debra/Jeff Jarrett vs. D’Lo Brown/Ivory

Jarrett and Owen are tag champions here and this is fallout from a title match against Brown/Henry last night. Jarrett runs away from a charging Brown and we stall to begin things. Things get going and Jarrett gets taken down by a leg lariat and again by a clothesline. A middle rope knee drop misses though and Jeff takes over. There’s the Figure Four but Ivory comes in to rake Jeff’s eyes. Brown slams him and hits the Low Down but here come the girls. BIG reaction for Ivory when she goes after Debra. The match gets thrown out. This was nothing.

Debra KILLS Ivory with the guitar post match. Owen comes in to help with the beatdown but it doesn’t go anywhere.

Big Show is introduced to the Corporation.

Here are HHH and X-Pac for a chat. HHH yells at the now Corporate Chyna and calls out Kane as well. Apparently the four of them had a tag match last night and Chyna pinned HHH. Cue Shane, Chyna and Kane for HHH to ask for a rematch. Shane gives Chyna the night off so that’s a no. Pac thinks we should just swap Chyna for Shane and we’ll have a rematch that way. Shane says he has no attire but if Pac will put the European Title up in a tag match, it’s on. Pac says cool.

Mankind is having issues with ladder climbing practice.

Intercontinental Title: Billy Gunn vs. Val Venis

Val is champion and won the title last night when Billy was referee for no apparent reason and allowed the former champion Ken Shamrock’s sister Ryan, who is sleeping with Val, to interfere and cost her brother the title. Got that? Billy misses a charge to start and Val beats him down in the corner. Gunn comes back with a hip swiveling neckbreaker for two. Val charges into a boot and misses a headbutt as Billy punches away. Ryan gets on the apron but Val sends Billy into the ropes, knocking her to the floor. Val grabs a quick German suplex to retain. Another short match.

Ryan limps into the ring to celebrate with Val but he dumps her.

The Ministry is here.

Billy tells Ryan he’s sorry for what just happened when Shamrock comes in and beats the tar out of him.

Here’s the Ministry, which consists of Undertaker, Paul Bearer, the Brood (Edge, Christian and Gangrel), the Acolytes, Mideon and Viscera. Last night they kidnapped Boss Man who later escaped. Bearer and Undertaker say that they want to own the company and there’s nothing Vince can do about it. While Vince has been dealing with Austin, Undertaker has formed an army to destroy the Corporation. He talks about the Higher Power which would wind up being a confusing story even by Russo’s standards. Cue Boss Man who makes a challenge for a six man Corporation vs. Ministry match. Taker doesn’t seem to object.

European Title: Shane McMahon/Kane vs. X-Pac/HHH

I think only Shane can win the title here and I have no idea if he has to pin Pac or not. HHH jumps Kane to start but he can’t really hurt him. Shane runs from the Game and immediately tags Kane back in. DX tries to double team the monster but they walk into a double clothesline. They try some High Low and Kane goes down, but he launches Pac to the floor on the kickout.

X-Pac goes after Shane but walks into a clothesline from Chyna. Apparently Kane can win the title too. A flying knee puts Kane down but only for a second. Kane takes him back down and hits the top rope clothesline. Shane wants in now and hammers HHH down which doesn’t work at all. Off to Pac and the fans are liking this a lot now. Chyna interferes again but Shane accidentally drills her. Bronco Buster is broken up by Kane but HHH knocks Kane to the floor. Chyna hands Shane the belt and a shot to the head of X-Pac gives Shane the title.

Rating: D+. This was a big mess but it gave the Corporation more reason to be hated. Shane wasn’t any good yet but obviously he would improve a lot. This was more about Chyna vs. DX though which was what it should have been about. That being said, it would all be pointless after Wrestlemania anyway. Match itself was nothing of note.

Shane and the Corporation have a big party to celebrate.

Hardcore Title: Steve Blackman vs. Hardcore Holly

Bob is champion. Blackman jumps him on the stage and they head into the back. Not that they have a camera ready or anything but after a few moments of looking at the stage, we catch up with them backstage. Holly throws a TV monitor at Blackman’s head which misses due to a high chance of death. Blackman throws him into some barrels as we hear Bob’s first name: Thurman. Now they’re outside and both are rammed into various things. Holly gets thrown into a dumpster and here’s Droz to beat up Blackman with some object. Holly gets the easy pin. Another nothing match.

Bob comes to the ring and complains about how many bad gimmicks and partners he’s been given over the years. He issues an open challenge for next week and Bart Gun of all people accepts it.

Test/Ken Shamrock/Big Boss Man vs. Acolytes/Mideon

Big brawl to start until we get to Boss Man vs. Mideon in a rematch from last night. They do nothing of note until everything breaks down and the lights go out. Here’s Undertaker and the Ministry heads to the ramp. Viscera and the Brood come out with Shane unconscious. They present him to the Undertaker who says Vince probably doesn’t care about his boy anyway. Taker gives Shane what looks like an envelope and says this is from the Lord of Darkness and is for Vince.

WWF Title: The Rock vs. Mankind

Ladder match remember. Rock is in workout gear and I’ve heard rumors that he did this for awhile because he was recovering from surgery to remove male breasts he developed from using steroids. That might be a joke but I’m not sure. Further research says that he did have the surgery but I’m not sure if it was due to steroids. Rock tells Mankind to put some salt on his hand and take a shot of the Rock. Ok then. Austin comes out to do commentary and scout for Wrestlemania.

Mankind knocks him to the floor to start and the brawl is on. Rock reverses him into the steps knees first and grabs a chair. The knee gets rammed into the chair and Rock brings in the ladder. That goes badly for him as the champ gets the chair and beats the ladder onto Rock with it. People’s Elbow by Mankind puts Rock down and Mankind goes up, but Rock hits him in the knee with the chair.

A chop block puts Mankind down again. Rock puts the ladder around the leg and beats on it with a chair. Almost all Rock so far. He goes for a climb but Mankind throws him onto the top rope. A hard chair shot puts Rock down but Rock pops up and hits Mankind in the knee with the chair. Mankind lands in the ropes but unties himself quickly. Back to the floor and Mankind is somehow still walking.

They go up to the stage area through the crowd and Mankind drops a few elbows. They head back to ringside and Mankind takes over. Mankind sets to piledrive him through the table but a low blow lets Rock hit the Rock Bottom through it instead. For some reason the title isn’t over the middle to the ring but rather off to the left by a few feet. Mankind somehow makes the save and pulls Rock off the ladder for a double arm DDT.

Both guys are down and here’s Mr. Socko. Rock shoves the ladder into Mankind and DDTs him down. Time for another climb but Mankind goes up on the other side as well. Rock reaches for the title but Mankind puts the Claw on at the same time. Cue Big Show to chokeslam Mankind off the ladder. Rock wins the title back.

Rating: B. These two are one of the pairings that will always have good matches together and this was no exception. It’s not as good as some of their matches but for a final match to their feud this was fine. It also set up Mankind vs. Big Show until Wrestlemania as well as giving us Rock vs. Austin in the main event of Wrestlemania. Good brawl here and for a TV main event you can’t ask for much more than that.

Austin Stuns Rock to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a different kind of build to Mania as other than the main event, everything was pretty much continuing the stories they already had coming instead of doing anything new. That’s not a terrible thing but it’s certainly different. This wasn’t a great show but other than the main event, it was your usual Attitude Era mess. It’s entertaining, but if you’re trying to keep track of what’s going on, watching a one night show is a hard thing to do.

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