Summerslam 2000
Date: August 27, 2000
Location: Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Attendance: 18,124
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Of all the shows that I’ve seen multiple times over the years, there is something about this show that never stands out. I can never remember anything about the show, down to barely being able to come up with the main event. That’s a weird one as this is from one of the most well received years in WWF history. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is designed like some art house/weird film, featuring Freddie Blassie watching a video on the main event. That would be Rock defending the WWF Title against HHH and Kurt Angle, but the real story is the love triangle between HHH, Angle and Stephanie McMahon.

Jim Ross brags about the $1.1 million gate and that always sounds weird.

Right To Censor vs. Rikishi/Too Cool

Before the match, Steven Richards says he was thinking the Right To Censor would be better received here in the Bible Belt. Rikishi brings two of the Goodfather’s former ladies with him, with one of them being identified as Victoria. It’s a brawl to start until Scotty gets two hammer Bull down in the corner. Too Cool’s double suplex lets Scotty dance a bit so it’s off to Goodfather. That doesn’t go well either as Sexay knocks him to the floor, where he shoves the women down.

Back in and a double big boot gives Bull two as JR has fun saying “Sexay”. Richards adds a powerbomb for two, only to get caught with a superplex. The diving tag brings in Rikishi (not holding the tag rope because rules mean nothing) and house is quickly cleaned. Victoria sends a departing Richards back inside and the villains are stacked up in the corner. Three straight running hip attacks look to set up the Stinkface but Buchanan makes the save. The Steven Kick finishes Scotty at 5:23.

Rating: C. Well, ok then. I’m not sure why you would have Rikishi and Too Cool lose in the opening match and kill the mood like that but the Right To Censor was a slightly bigger deal at the moment. The match itself was what you would expect, but I was actually surprised at the result, which is kind of a nice feeling.

Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon went to find each other earlier, despite HHH not being here yet.

We look back at Angle kissing a concussed Stephanie on Smackdown, in a story that could have gone a long way.

Hardcore Champion Shane McMahon supports Stephanie’s decisions….and has to run away from Steve Blackman.

Road Dogg vs. X-Pac

This is the result of X-Pac headbutting Dogg off the apron and through a table, which left X-Pac surprised for some reason. X-Pac takes him to the mat for some riding and Dogg isn’t happy. Back up and Dogg sends him outside before hitting a clothesline back inside. X-Pac kicks him into the corner though and the Bronco Buster connects. The chinlock brings Dogg back up so X-Pac kicks him in the face for two more. Another Bronco Buster connects but this time Dogg is back up with the shaky jabs. The pumphandle slam is loaded up but X-Pac kicks him low and hits a quick X Factor for the pin at 4:40.

Rating: C. Not much to this one either as they’ve had a pair of short matches to start the show. That would seem to be a heel turn from X-Pac as the villains continue their hot start. X-Pac and Dogg teamed together for a bit but it never felt like the real DX. The Outlaws would have made for a better feud like this but with Billy Gunn out injured, this is about all you can get.

Post match X-Pac says they’re still a good team, but Dogg gets up and hits the pumphandle slam.

Eddie Guerrero and Chyna are ready for their mixed tag for the Intercontinental Title. Chyna says one of them are getting lucky.

Trish Stratus and Intercontinental Champion Val Venis are ready for the match, but Venis gets annoyed at Stratus saying she would be a better centerfold than Chyna.

Intercontinental Title: Chyna/Eddie Guerrero vs. Trish Stratus/Val Venis

Venis and Stratus are defending and it seems that only Stratus can’t leave as champion. Eddie and Val start things off with Eddie hitting a jumping elbow and grabbing a northern lights suplex for two. Back up and Chyna comes in to deck Venis in the face and it’s a double flapjack for two. Val cuts Chyna off with a knee to the ribs but Chyna blasts him with a clothesline.

Chyna makes the mistake of going after Trish though and Val is right on her with a suplex. Another suplex has Chyna adjusting her gear and even JR has to comment on how….non-existent some of the gear is. Eddie tries to come in and that’s enough for Chyna to get in a low blow.

That and a DDT are enough or Eddie to come in and clean house, including the hurricanrana out of the corner for two. Venis’ Blue Thunder Bomb gets the same so for some reason it’s off to Trish. This goes as well as expected, as Chyna wrecks her with some clotheslines until Venis makes a save. Eddie pulls Venis out though and Trish’s clothesline makes her fall down instead. A gorilla press gives Chyna the pin and the title at 7:04.

Rating: C+. There’s the first feel good moment of the show as Chyna exploits the completely legal loophole to win the title. That being said, it makes a lot more sense, as Venis, even the serious version, did not feel like someone who belonged as Intercontinental Champion in 2000. Eddie and Chyna really were great together and you could feel the chemistry here.

Eddie puts the title on Chyna in a nice moment.

We look at a WWF Radio live broadcast from WWF New York. Mick Foley danced and Chyna liked his worm.

Stephanie McMahon makes it very clear: Kurt Angle kissed her…..but he’s good at it.

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler

Tazz attacked JR and it’s time for Jerry to stand up for him. For a bonus, Tazz attacked Jerry’s rental car with JR inside, hurting JR’s eyes. As a result, here is Tazz with a Tazz themed JR hat and a cane to really be a jerk. Lawler punches him in the face to break up the blind bit and even adds a dropkick into the corner. There’s the middle rope fist but a second misses, allowing Tazz to hammer away.

Tazz rips at the face and before having to headbutt Lawler a bit low to cut off a comeback. For some reason Tazz goes up and misses a Swanton of all things, meaning it’s time for the strap to come down. The piledriver connects but the referee gets bumped. Tazz gets the Tazmission but yells at JR once too often, causing JR to break a jar of candy over his face. Lawler gets the pin at 4:25.

Rating: C. You know what you’re going to get with a Lawler match and that limited offense was on display here. That being said, Lawler’s matches still work because the fans care about him and wanted to see him beat Tazz up. It’s someone standing up to a bully and that is always going to work, no matter how limited Lawler happens to be in the ring.

Shane McMahon has to run from Steve Blackman again.

Hardcore Title: Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman

Shane is defending and runs into the ring to hide from Blackman, as apparently hide and seek isn’t Shane’s strong suit. Blackman brings in his own kendo stick and trashcan, which are enough to have Shane running again. Actually hold on as Blackman is nice enough to throw the stick to Shane and turn his back. Blackman isn’t that stupid though and grabs the stick to chase Shane off for the….are we at four times already?

They go into the crowd with Blackman getting in a trashcan shot as the beating begins. Back to ringside and a hard kick drops Shane again as this is destruction so far. The spinning trashcan lid shot to the back of the head keeps Shane in trouble (and looked PAINFUL) and now it’s time for a bunch of weapons. Blackman puts the trashcan on Shane and unloads with the sticks (JR: “Like Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7!”) before grabbing a leather strap.

Said strap is tied around Shane’s neck so he can be pulled off the middle rope for a crash. To make things interesting, Blackman grabs a half crab while still choking but here are Test and Albert for the save. As Lawler points out that JR is bleeding from something, Albert crushes Blackman in the corner and Test adds a hard clothesline. Test’s always good looking top rope elbow crushes a trashcan lid onto Blackman’s chest and now Shane is back up for the dancing punches.

A quick comeback bid is cut off in a hurry and Shane hits a jumping street sign to the face. The strap is tied around Blackman’s neck for a change and they take him up towards the entrance. Test can’t quite shove a speaker onto Blackman as he rolls away but can’t do anything else. Albert kendo sticks Test by mistake though and NOW the comeback can be on.

Well for all of a few seconds at least, as Shane gets in a cheap shot and then runs away. Shane makes the mistake of climbing the set (like I said: hiding isn’t his strong suit) but Blackman is there with more stick shots to knock him down for a twenty five or so feet fall down onto a bunch of stuff. After climbing down a bit, Blackman drops a huge elbow for the pin and the title at 10:17.

Rating: B-. The wrestling wasn’t the point here (obviously) but this was a heck of a star making performance for Blackman. Granted there is only so far you can go with this kind of a personality but this worked well for him. Blackman fought off three people at once and then hit the big elbow at the end for the win. This was WAY more fun than I would have bet on and was a nice change of pace from the rest of the show.

Shane is taken away on a stretcher due to reasons of HE FELL A REALLY LONG WAY.

Stephanie McMahon freaks out over the whole thing when Kurt Angle comes in. She immediately asks about Shane, who Kurt says had the wind knocked out of him (Lawler: “THE WIND KNOCKED OUT OF HIM???”). Mick Foley comes in and references the kiss from Smackdown before leaving rather quickly.

Video on Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho. They hate each other so now it’s time to go 2/3 falls. Shane McMahon has been in Benoit’s corner but….yeah.

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit

2/3 falls. They go straight to the mat for the slugout to start until Benoit avoids a charge to send the shoulder into the post. It’s too early for an STF or the Crossface so Jericho snaps off a belly to back suplex. A shoulder breaker takes Jericho back down as Lawler talks about how much he hates being in 2/3 falls matches. Jericho is right back up with a missed Lionsault and now the Crossface goes on. Jericho taps at 3:16, which Lawler thinks was a strategic move (or, you know, the Crossface hurts a lot).

The Crossface goes back on (smart) and Benoit cranks HARD until Jericho makes the rope. Benoit ties him in the Tree of Woe so he can pull on the bad shoulder some more. Back in and the shoulder is sent hard into the post as Jericho can’t get anything going here. Benoit does it a second and third time but Jericho slugs away with the good arm. That’s fine with Benoit, who snaps off a German suplex. A second attempt is countered into the Liontamer though and Benoit has to tap at 8:40 to tie it up.

Jericho hits a backbreaker for two and a top rope elbow to the jaw gets two. The arm gives out on a powerbomb attempt so Benoit is back with a dragon suplex for two of his own. Benoit goes up but gets pulled down with a super hurricanrana for the double knockdown, with Jericho landing on the bad shoulder again. Back up and Jericho hits some running clotheslines, followed by the spinwheel kick for two. The Lionsault connects but the shoulder gives out again. With nothing else working, Jericho stomps away but Benoit grabs a cradle and uses the ropes for the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B. I wasn’t wild on the ending, if nothing else because it made me think of the same way Benoit vs. Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania X7 went about eight months later. What matters here though is how good the chemistry between these two really is. They know how to work off of each other and the arm vs. back stuff worked well. You know that these two are always going to work well together and that was the case again, as they had some time and put together a heck of a match.

HHH JUST NOW arrives so we look at the Smackdown kiss again, plus the near second kiss from earlier tonight.

We recap the Tag Team Title match. Edge and Christian, the Dudl….it’s the first TLC match. You get the idea.

Tag Team Titles: Edge and Christian vs. Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz

Edge and Christian are defending. The Hardys grab some chairs to start but Edge and Christian take over rather quickly. It’s already time for the first ladder but Bubba sends it into Edge’s face for a nasty smash. Bubba’s climb is cut off by a Hardys powerbomb, with Bubba’s leg being caught in the ladder for a nasty landing. Edge is back up with a double Russian legsweep to bring D-Von and Jeff off the ladders and the Bubba Bomb drops Christian hard as well.

Jeff is knocked off a ladder and lands on another, sending it straight into Matt’s face for more pain. D-Von puts a ladder in the corner and that means it’s What’s Up to Edge. It’s time for the tables (that sequence still works) and a 3D puts Christian through one. Four tables are stacked up on the floor (uh oh) but Edge grabs a chair to save Jeff from a rather large powerbomb. Ever the grateful one, Matt hits a Twist of Fate on Edge, setting up the legdrops from/over the ladder to hit Edge again.

Jeff rams a ladder into D-Von’s face (ouch) as Matt crushes Edge inside a ladder. Christian goes up and is rocket launched onto the ladder onto Edge onto the ladder. With that not being enough, the big ladder is set up on the floor so Jeff can….miss the Swanton to Bubba through the table.

Matt throws the normal ladder outside and grabs the big one so everyone but Bubba and Jeff can go up. The other four come crashing down so a very staggered (thanks to a chair shot) Bubba comes in but Edge and Christian shove him through the pile of tables at ringside. Cue Lita to shove Edge and Christian’s ladder over for a double crotching so Matt can go up.

That ladder is shoved down as well, with Matt crashing through more tables at ringside. Edge spears Lita down but somehow Jeff is back up to climb with D-Von. They both grab a belt but the ladder is moved, leaving D-Von to crash. Edge and Christian are back in to spear Jeff down with the ladders (ouch again) and the titles are retained at 14:47.

Rating: A-. You know what you’re getting with these matches and they continue to be incredible. This was all about having six people (and Lita as a bonus) going out there and wrecking each other in pure carnage. It also doesn’t feel like a bunch of random spots as you have stuff set up and paid off later, with the teams actually working together. This is so much easier to watch (and remember) than having six to eight people going nuts, with the bumps and crashes looking better as well. Awesome stuff here, and somehow they would do it even better.

Everyone gets a well deserved standing ovation.

HHH yells at Stephanie McMahon (who apparently he hasn’t seen since Smackdown) about the kiss, with Stephanie saying Kurt Angle took advantage of her. He orders her to stay away from Angle, but she insists HHH is the only man for her.

The Kat vs. Terri

Stinkface match and Al Snow is here with the Kat. Cue Perry Saturn to cover Terri up, with JR not getting the logic. Lawler: “Why can’t we get this match? I get Tazz!” Kat slams her down to start but Saturn pulls Terri outside. Back in and….I’m not sure if that was a spear or a clothesline but it sets up the catfight. The Bronco Buster connects as JR notices they’re both in rather large heels. The referee gets crushed so Snow throws in Head to knock Terri cold. Kat gives her the Stinkface for the win at 3:03.

Rating: F. To call this wrestling would be an insult to wrestling as they’re not hiding what they’re going for here. This stuff is embarrassing these days and while Terri had some value as a manager, this was a total waste of time. I know why it was there, but put anything else on instead of this nonsense.

The Acolytes toast Vince McMahon at WWF New York. And seem to take his money.

We recap Undertaker vs. Kane. Undertaker came back a few months ago and as is custom, Kane turned on him. It’s time for the first Biker Taker vs. Kane showdown.

Undertaker vs. Kane

The fight starts in the aisle, with Kane being sent into the post. Undertaker goes evil by trying to rip off the mask so Kane grabs a chair (the referee had said he would let them fight). That’s broken up so Undertaker chairs Kane down and manages to rip off part of the mask. That fires Kane up so he sends Undertaker in the steps, only to have said steps hit the post.

Undertaker grabs the steps to hit Kane in the face instead and the bloody Kane is sent back inside. A low blow gives Kane a breather and he slugs away until Undertaker spears him down. More of the mask is ripped off and Undertaker kicks him low to block a chokeslam attempt. Undertaker gets the whole mask off and Kane walks out at we’ll say 7:20.

Rating: B-. It was barely a match, but I’ll take these two having a slugout fight instead of watching them do a regular match. That’s what you would want to see from this and they made it work. It never made a ton of sense to have them going technical and with chinlocks and such ala Wrestlemania XIV, so go with what makes sense here and get some more value out of the thing.

Kurt Angle calls….Stephanie, as HHH is getting ready next to her. Stephanie: “Hi….mom!” HHH wants to talk to her but there’s no one on the phone.

We recap the WWF Title match, with the love triangle being the main story and The Rock, the champion, just kind of being thrown in on the side. Angle and HHH got a double pin in a triple threat #1 contenders match to set this up and they’ve been off to the races since.

WWF Title: The Rock vs. HHH vs. Kurt Angle

The Rock is defending. Before the match, Angle apologizes….for not doing what he did a lot sooner. Cue HHH and the fight is on fast, even with no Rock. Angle manages a Cactus Clothesline to put both of them on the floor and Angle gets posted. HHH loads up the announcers’ table but it collapses as he tries the Pedigree, with Angle bouncing face first onto the floor.

With Angle clearly knocked loopy, HHH grabs the sledgehammer but here is the Rock to officially get things going. Rock hits a clothesline and heads to the floor as well while Angle is taken out on a stretch. HHH manages to drop Rock onto the other announcers’ table and they head back inside as this has turned into a singles match for the time being. Rock gets sent back outside as HHH runs up the aisle to pull Angle back to ringside (even Lawler thinks this might be too far).

Rock comes back to break that up and takes HHH back to ringside for a low blow…..as Stephanie McMahon comes out to check on Angle. With Angle gone, HHH hits a clothesline on Rock but here is Stephanie to cheer on HHH. The jumping knee gets two on Rock and HHH tells Stephanie to get the belt. Stephanie slaps the timekeeper and comes in with said belt, which hits HHH by mistake.

HHH is back up with a low blow and demands Stephanie go to the back, as we settle down for maybe the first time so far. Back in and a sledgehammer to the ribs drops Rock, which sends JR into a rant about someone GETTING THE HAMMER. Some shoulders to the bad ribs keep Rock in trouble and the facebuster gets two. The slow beating (and JR’s rants about the hammer) continues but Rock is back with his swinging neckbreaker.

HHH knocks him down again and goes up, earning himself a superplex for a huge crash. We cut to the back where Stephanie is imploring Angle to get off the stretcher and help HHH. He says he’ll do it for her, with Lawler thinking this might be too much. Cue a rather concussed Angle as Rock fires off the right hands in the corner.

A quick Pedigree gives HHH two, with Angle pulling HHH out and whipping him into the steps. Angle gets his own two on Rock and hits a belly to belly for the same. The Rock Bottom gets two with HHH making the save this time and let’s get the sledgehammer again (JR getting more and more sick of it is hilarious). HHH’s right hand hits Stephanie by mistake so Angle sledgehammers HHH down. Rock clears Angle out and drops the People’s Elbow to retain at 20:07.

Rating: B-. This was a VERY uniquely booked match and I’m not sure it worked. The idea of having Angle taken out of the match for such a long time was strange enough but Rock vs. HHH was THE feud of 2000 so it was hardly a stretch. The problem seems to be more that Rock is just kind of there while everything else is playing around him and that makes for an odd match. It was still good, but it’s much more of an oddity than anything else. Also, just to make it worse, according to Angle, the concussion was scripted but he wound up getting a legitimate one and has pretty much no memory of the match.

Overall Rating: B. This show started slowly but once it picked up, it picked up very well. The first three or four matches are pretty much nothing to see but once Steve Blackman comes out to save it (….didn’t expect to say that), it was mostly awesome, safe for a few bumps in the road here and there. Overall it’s certainly worth a look, with the unfortunately forgotten TLC I and Benoit vs. Jericho certainly being worth your time.

 

Ratings Comparison

Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi
Original: B-
2013 Redo: C
2023 Redo: C

X-Pac vs. Road Dogg
Original: C-
2013 Redo: D
2023 Redo: C

Val Venis/Trish Stratus vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chyna
Original: D+
2013 Redo: D+
2023 Redo: C+

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler
Original: C+
2013 Redo: D
2023 Redo: C

Steve Blackman vs. Shane McMahon
Original: B
2013 Redo: B-
2023 Redo: B

Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho
Original: A
2013 Redo: A-
2023 Redo: B

Dudley Boys vs. Edge and Christian vs. Hardy Boys
Original: A-
2013 Redo: A
2023 Redo: A-

The Kat vs. Terri
Original: F-
2013 Redo: N/A
2023 Redo: F

Undertaker vs. Kane
Original: B
2013 Redo: C
2023 Redo: B-

The Rock vs. HHH vs. Kurt Angle
Original: B
2013 Redo: B
2023 Redo: B-

Overall Rating
Original: A
2013 Redo: A-
2023 Redo: B

There is a lot of jumping around in here and it made for quite the interesting rewatch.

 

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Summerslam 1999
Date: August 22, 1999
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 17,130
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s been a bit since I’ve looked at this show so we might as well try it again. The main event is a triple threat match with HHH and Mankind challenging Steve Austin for the title with Governor Jesse Ventura as the guest referee. Other than that, The Rock is facing Billy Gunn for reasons I don’t quite understand. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of the main event, which has involved a bunch of guest referees over the years. Now Jesse Ventura is the ultimate guest referee, as he is the governor of Minnesota and the biggest power around. Makes sense, in a wrestling way at least.

Jesse Ventura tells HHH that he knows all of the cheating that can happen out there so don’t even bother. Chyna needs to set HHH straight.

Chris Jericho gets on “Harold” Finkel for being late, especially when Jericho is trying to save his job.

Intercontinental Title/European Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. D’Lo Brown

Jarrett, with Debra, is challenging for both titles. Actually hold on as Jarrett ejects Debra, much to Lawler’s chagrin. Actually hold on again as Debra runs into Brown in the back and offers to manage him instead. Brown, like a moron, actually agrees. Jarrett jumps him to start fast but Brown is back up with a flying forearm.

A powerslam gives Brown two and Jarrett jumps into a sitout spinebuster for the same. Brown tries a middle rope bulldog but gets pulled into a side slam for a pretty unique counter. Jarrett sends him outside for a baseball slide and a ram into the steps. That earns him a clothesline over the barricade so Jarrett comes right back with a posting to cut Brown off again.

Back in and Jarrett starts in on the arm, with a tornado DDT on said arm leaving Brown in a lot of trouble. Jarrett stops to yell at Debra though and it’s a running Liger Bomb to give Brown two. The head shaking legdrop and a suplex have Jarrett in trouble but Brown misses a random Swanton. Debra gets on the apron for a distraction so Jarrett grabs the guitar. Cue Mark Henry to take it away and clock Brown, giving Jarrett the pin and the titles at 7:29.

Rating: C+. So in an opener that runs about seven and a half minutes, we had a (seemingly fake) split, a new pairing, a guitar shot and another turn in the end. All in a match for a double championship. What makes this all the more annoying is Jarrett and Brown are more than capable of having a good wrestling match without all of the shenanigans. Let them do their thing and save this nonsense for people who actually need it.

And of course Debra was in on it all along.

Earlier today, Edge And Christian were ready to start the Tag Team Turmoil match. They want to be the #1 contenders and who better to start against than the Hardys?

Tag Team Turmoil

Six team gauntlet match for the #1 contendership with Edge And Christian in at #1 and the Hardys (the New Brood but the graphic has the other name and I’m going with it) in at #2. The Hardys jump them to start fast until we settle down to Edge Russian legsweeping Matt. Christian comes in for a spinwheel kick which clearly misses (fair enough as Matt popped back up) but Gangrel gets in a cheap shot.

That allows the Hardys to take their shirts off (high pitched pop still in development and Jeff’s springboard moonsault gets two. Christian is cut off again and it’s a suplex into a Swanton with Jeff having to make a save. A double reverse layout DDT gets Christian out of trouble though and it’s back to Edge to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Jeff tries to run the barricade, only to get speared out of the air by Edge. Gangrel gets in a cheap shot but Christian hits a big springboard dive, with Matt moonsaulting onto all three of them. Back in and Edge electric chair faceplants Jeff, setting up Christian’s top rope elbow for the pin at 5:02.

Viscera and Mideon are in at #3 with Viscera jumping Christian and giving him a Samoan drop. A double elbow lets Mideon choke away but he misses a middle rope elbow. Edge comes in and gets dropped by Viscera’s rather impressive spinwheel kick but Viscera splashes Mideon by mistake. A double shoulder puts Viscera on the floor and the spear finishes Mideon at 7:38 total

Prince Albert and Droz are in at #4 and commentary gets in an argument over whether college football careers matter at all. JR points out that Lawler doesn’t know a thing about Albert but Lawler points out that you can tell everything you need to know by looking at Albert. Well, yeah. Albert misses a charge in the corner and Christian takes Droz out on the floor. A chop block and the Downward Spiral finish Albert at 9:37 total and the Acolytes are in at #5.

Christian is taken outside and rammed into the post, leaving Edge to hammer on Bradshaw in the corner. This allows Lawler to mock JR’s football obsession but JR says Lawler hurt his feelings. A powerbomb out of the corner drops Edge and it’s off to Faarooq for more pummeling. Edge’s spinwheel kick (popular move this match) drops Faarooq but Bradshaw is right there to cut off the tag. Faarooq gets a rather cocky two and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and the Dominator is reversed into a DDT, allowing Edge to bring Christian in. The dropkicks abound and a tornado DDT gets two on Bradshaw. Cue the Hollys (apparently jumping the gun) as Bradshaw blasts Christian with the Clothesline From Bradshaw for the pin at 14:42 total.

So the Hollys complete the field at #6 and go after the Acolytes, who don’t seem impressed. The Dominator plants Crash but Holly makes the save. Naturally this results in the Hollys fighting over who gets to stomp Faarooq, earning Hardcore a double shoulder. A suplex gets Hardcore out of trouble so Crash tags himself in, only to get clotheslined. Lawler mocks JR for saying he doesn’t know which Holly is tougher, even as Bradshaw gets two off a swinging neckbreaker. Hardcore comes back in and get in a fight among themselves, leaving an annoyed Faarooq to spinebuster Hardcore for the pin at 17:36.

Rating: C+. Believe it or not, Edge And Christian and the Hardys tore the house down while they could and most of the rest of the teams were just there. That’s pretty much the story of the tag division until the Dudley Boyz showed up in a few months but for now, it was those teams and no one else. This was at least different, though dang I could have gone for the Hardys and Edge & Christian getting that much time instead.

Al Snow tries to calm down his dog, Pepper, about the Big Boss Man with advice about Judy Garland.

Here is the Road Dogg for a chat. He’s not happy with being out of the Hardcore Title match but wants to face the winner tomorrow on Raw. Cue Chris Jericho (who had only debuted a few weeks ago) to interrupt (JR: “It’s Jericho.” Lawler: “How do you know?”), saying he can’t believe that Summersham is worse than Raw Is Bore.

There are a lot of terrible performers on this show and the worst is in the ring right now. Jericho mocks Dogg’s lack of reaction, with Dogg smiling at the cheers he receives. The reality is that DX and Dogg suck so Dogg calls him a b**** to wrap this up. What a nothing segment but it was a way to get Jericho on the show.

Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man is defending and Snow leaves Pepper in a pet carrier in the back. Dogg is on commentary but jumps up with a mic to do roving commentary. Snow climbs onto the set and dives onto Boss Man during his entrance and they go backstage, where Boss Man is put through a table. Boss Man fights back and throws Pepper’s pet case, earning himself what looks like a chalkboard to the back.

A crutch shot drops Snow and Boss Man rams him into a Pepsi case. Boss Man shoves the case over but can’t crush Snow in the process so they go outside instead. The fight goes across the street and Snow kicks him down for two outside of a restaurant. Boss Man sends him through some outside tables and they go into a bar, where Boss Man hits him with the Yellow Pages.

Snow fights back, flirts with a woman, and gets punched further into the building. A broomstick is broken over Boss Man’s back and let’s go to the men’s room. They go back to the bar where Snow hits him with a beer and a chain (as all bars have), followed by a moonsault off the bar through a table. Now it’s time to go to the pool area, but Dogg hits Boss Man with his nightstick. Snow gets in a low blow with some pool balls to get the title back at 7:21.

Rating: B-. Why not? This was the kind of insanity that you could get with the hardcore stuff and it wound up being a lot more memorable. Leaving the arena is always cool and while I prefer the Friendly Tap, this was fun stuff and it was insane enough to make the whole thing work.

Post match Snow immediately runs back to check on Pepper, having to beat up Stevie Richards and the Blue Meanie, who might be trying to steal him.

Jesse Ventura gives Mankind the same kind of speech saying he’s not counting a fall off a chair shot or something like that. Mankind would rather talk about Geraldine Ferraro being underrated as a candidate but Ventura wasn’t a fan. That is exactly the kind of response I would have expected from Mick Foley.

Women’s Title: Ivory vs. Tori

Ivory is defending after using shoe polish to write some rather mean terms on Tori’s stomach and back. Tori runs in and grabs an early powerslam to send Ivory bailing to the floor. Back in and Tori knocks her down again, only to get choked on the ropes. We go old school with the giant swing but Tori comes back with a spear. An Alley Oop sets up a high crossbody but Tori’s sunset flip doesn’t even get one. They try it again and Ivory awkward sits down on Tori for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: D. Yeah this was terrible and there wasn’t much of a way around it. The Women’s Title situation was pretty much a disaster at this point and that would be the case for a few more years. Ivory was trying but Tori was only so good. They did the smart thing by keeping it short but there was only so much that could be done. Just not good.

Post match Ivory tries to rip off Tori’s top but Luna Vachon runs in for the save, much to Lawler’s ire.

The Rock interviews Michael Cole, mocks his tie, asks if he’s a bit….however you spell what Rock said, and then promises to beat up Billy Gunn in about 45 minutes.

Billy Gunn has someone under a tarp.

We recap Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman, which is basically over which one is tougher and more violent. Cars and condoms full of blood were involved so you know it’s serious.

Steve Blackman vs. Ken Shamrock

This is in the Lion’s Den, which is a small cage with weapons at the top next to the entrance. Blackman is in first and hides some nunchucks in his pants but the early shot is shrugged off. Shamrock goes for the leg and finds the nunchucks, only to have his leg swept out. Blackman chokes him with a stick so Shamrock grabs a cross armbreaker. With that broken up, Shamrock throws the nunchucks out and hammers away as things slow back down.

It’s time for the kendo stick but Blackman whips him into the cage to take over. Blackman uses the sticks to pound Shamrock down and a big shot drops Shamrock again. A belly to back suplex out of the corner gives Shamrock a breather and he snaps off a powerslam. Blackman is back up with the kendo stick to strike Shamrock down and a big shot to the head knocks Shamrock silly (Lawler approves). For some reason Blackman won’t just leave though as Shamrock is back with a belly to belly. Some kendo stick shots knock Blackman cold and the referee calls it at 8:58.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t really wrestling for the most part but it was the right way to present two guys like this. It felt like a fight between two people with some unique talents and it wound up working. The violence worked and they didn’t go on too long to the point where it got ridiculous. In other words, the whole thing was nuts, but it was well booked nuts.

Earlier tonight, Shane McMahon attacked Test and banged up his ribs.

Test vs. Shane McMahon

This is a street fight and it’s Love Her Or Leave Her, meaning if Shane wins, Test has to break up with Stephanie McMahon but if Test wins, Shane has to stay out of their relationship. You can feel the Russo soap opera writing all over this one and in this case it still works. Hold on though as here is the rather injured Mean Street Posse to sit in the front row, much to Shane’s, ahem, surprise (he has no idea why the couch and lamp are waiting on them).

Test jumps him to start but Shane spears him down to go after the ribs and hammer away. Back up and Test knocks him to the floor, with the fight quickly heading into the crowd. Shane goes after the ribs but dives into a powerslam onto the floor. Test goes over to shove the Posse but gets champagne to the face to slow things back down. He can see well enough to throw Shane at the Posse and beat them up, only to have the numbers game catch up to him.

Rodney slams him onto the platform and Shane hits him with a mailbox, followed by a Do Not Enter sign. A framed picture of the Posse and Shane is broken over Test’s head so they can go back inside. An elbow to the face sets up Shane’s Spiral Tap (!), which only hits mat. Test gets in a powerbomb but Rodney’s distraction means it’s only a delayed two. The referee gets bumped (of course) and a running clothesline puts Shane on the floor again.

The Posse goes after Test again though and put him on the announcers’ table, setting up the REALLY flying elbow to put Test through the table (JR sells the heck out of it to make things better). Now the referee is back up so Rodney distracts him while the rest of the Posse throws Test inside. Why they need to distract the referee is beyond me but Test kicks out anyway.

Pete Gas hits Shane with a sign by mistake and Test gets two, with Joey Abs pulling Shane out at the last second. Rodney’s cast shot gets a very delayed two so here are the Stooges to beat up the Posse (the fans love that one). Shane misses a charge into the post and the pumphandle powerslam plants him again. Test’s top rope elbow finishes Shane at 12:12.

Rating: B. It went longer than it needed to and the Posse got involved once or twice too often, but dang this was fun. The Stooges getting involved at the end was great as the fans’ reaction made it even better. The fans were all the way into this one and carried it that much higher. It’s pure insane drama but they beat the fire out of each other and you know Shane is going to leave everything out there if he gets the chance. Good stuff here.

Post match Stephanie McMahon runs out to hug Test in a rather over the top celebration.

We recap the Unholy Alliance (Big Show/Undertaker) challenging X-Pac/Kane for the Tag Team Titles. X-Pac and Kane are the unlikely duo with the titles and Show/Undertaker are the big evil monsters. Show/Undertaker want to hurt everyone, including the champs, because they just like to beat people up.

X-Pac says this is a mismatch on paper but this isn’t paper. Kane’s inverted black and red gear makes this that much better.

Tag Team Titles: X-Pac/Kane vs. Unholy Alliance

The Alliance is challenging and has Paul Bearer with them. It’s a brawl to start with Show being knocked outside and X-Pac’s high crossbody getting two on Undertaker. The kickout sends X-Pac flying though and it’s already time for the beating. X-Pac gets in some right hands and hands it off to Kane for more of the same. Undertaker isn’t having that and knocks X-Pac silly but Kane breaks up a chokeslam on the floor.

Back in and Undertaker gets in that running DDT of his, allowing Show to come in for the rather loud chops. With the chopping not getting him very far, Show goes with the chokes and knee drops. A powerslam drops Kane again and it’s back to Undertaker, meaning it’s a double clothesline to leave them both down. X-Pac comes back in for the spinwheel kick, earning himself a right hand to the face.

They go outside with Undertaker crotching X-Pac on the post, followed by a low headbutt from Show to really emphasize the point. The bearhug goes on so X-Pac bites the nose and goes low on both monsters (works for the referee, who even winces at it). Kane comes back in and everything breaks down, with Undertaker getting knocked to the floor. X-Pac posts him but walking to Show’s chokeslam back inside. Show’s cover with one foot gets two but it’s a ticked off Undertaker with a Tombstone for the titles at 12:10.

Rating: C+. This went too long and while I do love seeing 1999 X-Pac get pummeled, it lost its charm by the end. There was pretty much no conceivable way for the champs to retain here and it made sense for the monsters to just turn it on and win in the end. X-Pac and Kane have grown on me a bit over the years and they were good as the big man/little man team. At some point the little man has to lose though and that’s what happened in the end here.

Steve Austin has no time to listen to Jesse Ventura.

Billy Gunn vs. The Rock

The loser has to give the winner a kiss in a certain area but Gunn brings out a lady (you can guess what she looks like) for Rock to kiss instead. Gunn jumps him to start and gets knocked outside for his efforts. Rock drags him to the entrance for a right hand as the referee is again fine with all of this. They trade rams into the barricade until Gunn is sent into the Lion’s Den cage.

Back at ringside and Gunn sends him into the steps, followed by a bell shot as they actually go inside (after about five minutes on the floor). A neckbreaker cuts off Rock’s comeback and Gunn drops an elbow on the apron. Back in and Gunn’s bulldog gets a rather delayed two so Rock hits that running clothesline out of the corner. The Maivia Hurricane drops Gunn again and they’re both down.

Rock’s swinging neckbreaker gets two but Gunn is right back with a heck of a Fameasser. Instead of covering though, Gunn brings the woman in and she leans over in the corner. You know exactly where this is going and the disgusted Gunn is Rock Bottomed and People’s Elbowed for the pin at 10:12.

Rating: C. This was all about setting up one screwy ending and there was no reason to believe that the Rock was going to leave here. That’s not the most thrilling thing, but it’s better than trying to take a man named Mr. A** seriously. It’s not terrible, but this was more about the comedy and that made for a long ten minutes. Gunn is a talented wrestler. He just wasn’t going to be a big deal with this gimmick no matter how much he was pushed.

And then there’s no kiss after the match. What a ripoff.

We recap the WWF Title match and….yeah this was a lot. So WWF Champion Steve Austin was attacked and Chyna became #1 contender but then Mankind became the #1 contender but then HHH became the #1 contender as well thanks to two guest referees. It was so bad that Linda McMahon got involved to announce the triple threat title match. Got all that? Yeah it doesn’t really matter because it’s 1999 and a lot of stuff didn’t wind up mattering.

WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Mankind vs. HHH

Austin is defending, Chyna is here with HHH and Jesse Ventura is guest referee. Before the match, Ventura grabs the mic and says that he has been criticized for doing this. He’s proud that he was a wrestler and he’s proud to be here tonight. Here here indeed. HHH jumps Austin on the way in but gets taken outside by Mankind. Austin gets in a clothesline on HHH as JR sounds surprised by Austin and Mankind having chemistry (a rare miss to not bring up them being former Tag Team Champions).

Back in and HHH gets double teamed some more with Mankind hitting the running knee lift…but hugging Austin. He earns the ensuing right hands from Austin but the Stunner is blocked, with Austin being sent into HHH. The two of them head outside with Austin dropping Mankind with a clothesline but getting jumped by HHH. A chair to the leg has Austin down and Ventura asks the crowd if HHH uses the chair. Chyna crotches Mankind against the post and that means an ejection, much to HHH and Chyna’s annoyance.

Austin is back up so HHH wraps the knee around the post and then gets in a chop block as Mankind is down in the other corner. Back up and Mankind actually helps HHH double stomp Austin in the corner, which has the fans confused. Austin sends Mankind outside but HHH wraps the knee around the post again to cut that off. HHH gets pulled into the post and they all fight into the crowd, with Austin taking over again. Back in and HHH is catapulted into Mankind, who gets dropped with the Stunner.

HHH makes the save with a chair and then chairs Mankind down but Ventura shakes his head no. Instead Ventura just soaks in some cheers and then says no again, making sure to motion HHH using a chair so the fans get the idea. Here is Shane McMahon to yell at Ventura but Austin is up to give Shane the Stunner.

Ventura throws Shane over the top and yells about how that’s for Shane’s old man (my goodness if there was a way to book a Vince vs. Jesse match, it could have been amazing in so many ways). Austin and HHH clothesline each other but Mankind is back up with a double Mandible Claw. HHH kicks him low and tries a pedigree, with Austin breaking it up. The Stunner hits HHH but Mankind makes a save of his own. HHH Pedigrees Austin but Mankind jumps HHH and grabs the double arm DDT to pin Austin for the title at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was a good match with Ventura being the real highlight, as he felt like he understood the assignment and lived up to the expectations. Austin losing the title isn’t a bad thing as his body was falling apart at this point and he needed the break, but points for him taking the fall in the middle of the ring. Ventura was the big deal here, but the other three worked hard and made it work, even with Austin being so banged up.

Post match Ventura and Mankind leave so HHH destroys Austin’s knee with a chair. Austin is done to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There are some rough spots in the middle but I liked this for the most part, with the main event and street fight both working. You could tell Russo was still doing a lot of stuff here, but the talent involved was good enough that it could overcome a lot of the insanity. It was a good enough show and if you get rid of some of the weaker midcard stuff, it could have been that much better.

Results
Jeff Jarrett b. D’Lo Brown – Guitar shot from Mark Henry
The Acolytes won Tag Team Turmoil last eliminating the Hollys
Al Snow b. Big Boss Man – Pool balls shot
Ivory b. Tori – Sitdown splash
Ken Shamrock b. Steve Blackman via knockout
Test b. Shane McMahon – Top rope elbow
Unholy Alliance b. X-Pac/Kane – Tombstone to X-Pac
The Rock b. Billy Gunn – People’s Elbow
Mankind b. HHH and Steve Austin – Double arm DDT to Austin

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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So back in the days of the WWE Network, there was a section called Hidden Gems.  When the Network was being shut down in America, I rapid fire reviewed as many of them as I could, though I couldn’t get all of them.  For one reason or another, I kept putting off posting them and I might as well just start doing it.  This is more than 50 pages of completely random stuff that has probably popped up elsewhere since then but it’s better than having it sit on my laptop.  There is no connection to these matches/segments but that makes it more fun.  Let’s get to it.

NWA World Title: Harley Race vs. Dick Murdoch
Date: April 2, 1977
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Commentators: Boyd Pierce, Bill Watts

From Tri-State, which became Mid-South. Race is defending and we’re joined in progress late in the match. Murdoch’s leg gives out on a suplex attempt and Race cranks back on it as he is smart enough to do. Murdoch kind of collapses into a clothesline for two on Race, who drives him into the corner for two of his own. A shot to the face puts Race back down and Murdoch stomps away for two more. Skandor Akbar gets in the ring for a distraction but Race manages an O’Connor roll to retain at 3:40 shown. No rating due to how much was clipped but these two could have a classic if given the chance.

Post match Murdoch punches Akbar, who seems to be his manager, out but here’s a masked man (Dr. X?) to go after Murdoch. The beatdown is on so we cut to an NWA graphic because the NWA doesn’t think we should see it. A quick shot shows us Murdoch tied in the ropes to wrap it up.

From September 15, 1976 in Championship Wrestling From Florida.

This is a segment instead of a match as Greg Valentine drops some elbows through boards. Think a martial artist breaking through them with kicks, but with elbows instead. He does this over and over for two minutes. End of segment.

Mercedes Martinez vs. Victoria
Date: June 12, 2006
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, Stage College, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Jonathan Coachman, Todd Grisham

From Sunday Night Heat and Martinez is a jobber. Victoria headlocks her to start and hammers away with some right hands to the head. They go to the mat but Martinez pops up with a headlock of her own, only to get reversed into a headscissors. Back up and Martinez hits a dropkick into a nothern lights suplex for two but Victoria knees her in the face. A hot shot sets up the Widow’s Peak for the pin on Martinez at 3:12.

Rating: D+. Just a step beyond a squash here but it worked out well enough. This is one of the best kinds of Hidden Gems as there is something so cool about seeing a future star still becoming a thing. You could see some of the skill and polish in Martinez though and it is no surprise that she would be around so many years later. Victoria was pretty much nothing in WWE at this point though and that is a shame as the division could have used her.

Bobby Rood vs. Albert
Date: October 19, 2002
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Marc Lloyd

That would of course be Bobby Roode and he actually gets a hometown entrance. Albert drives him into the corner for a shot to the face as the SHAVE YOUR BACK chants start up. Roode slips out of a slam and kicks away at the leg but gets run over with a shoulder. An over the shoulder backbreaker drops Roode again and some forearms to the back make it worse. The catapult sends Roode throat first into the rope and we hit the neck crank. Roode fights up and hits a bulldog as commentary talks about Scorpion King being a big hit in the rental market. Albert has had it with this and hits the bicycle kick for the pin at 3:39.

Rating: C-. This was better than I would have expected as Roode got in a tiny bit of offense rather than running Roode over. You can have a squash but it doesn’t have to be a complete one, especially in a situation like this. Albert won decisively but it wasn’t anything embarrassing for Roode, which is nice to see for a change.

Post match Albert hits the Baldo Bomb to leave Roode laying.

Tazmaniac vs. Skippy Taylor
Date: May 5, 1993
Location: Exposition Building, Portland, Maine
Attendance: 2,700

Dark match from a Wrestling Challenge taping and this is just the hard cam shot, meaning the camera does not move an inch. I’ve seen this one before on the awesome Unreleased DVD set from a few years back and this is Taz vs. Scotty 2 Hotty. It’s so strange seeing Taz as the Tazmaniac caveman gimmick but it’s kind of fascinating.

Taylor cranks on the arm to start and hits a dropkick into a hiptoss. The t-bone suplex cuts him off and we’re already in the Tazmanian chinlock. That’s broken up but Taylor spends WAY too much time loading up a DDT, allowing Tazmaniac to suplex him into another chinlock. Taylor knocks him out of the air (not your typical Taz) but walks into an overhead belly to belly for the pin at 3:55.

Rating: C-. It’s another historical curiosity more than anything else, including trying to wrap my head around the fact that one of the wrestlers was named Skippy. The Tazmaniac was a dead end gimmick too and thank goodness he found the much better Taz deal, which wound up being a heck of a lot better for everyone. Nothing match of course, but it was an interesting pairing.

Big Daddy Ritter vs. Jim Neidhart
Date: May 11, 1979
Location: Victoria Pavilion, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Commentator: Ed Whalen

This is from Stampede Wrestling and that would be Junkyard Dog. The audio is rather choppy here as Neidhart shoves Ritter outside to start. Back in and Neidhart hits the shoulder in the corner but Ritter taunts him into a missed charge into the post. What might be a loaded glove to the head rocks Neidhart as even Whalen can figure out that something is up with the thing. Choking ensues and there’s a headbutt to knock Neidhart down again. A rake to the eyes takes Neidhart down again and back to back powerslams finish for Ritter at 4:26.

Rating: D. Total squash here and it’s bizarre to see Neidhart so young. He was only 24 here and took quite the beating as Ritter liked that loaded glove. It was bizarre to see Ritter as the heel too, as it isn’t something you ever see outside of Stampede. It’s also weird to see a full match from Stampede, as they liked the joined in progress format most of the time.

Post match Ritter gets in another right hand for a bonus.

Ted DiBiase vs. Tom Magee
Date: December 7, 1988
Location: SunDome, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 9,176

Another Wrestling Challenge dark match and Magee is a heck of a specimen. The stands are a good bit empty as this seems to be rather early in the night. Magee shoves him down to start and hits an atomic drop into an armbar. Audio goes out (no commentary anyway though) as Magee flips him over into a better armbar. Back up and DiBiase unloads against the ropes but Magee kicks him to the floor and flips around a bit.

Magee strikes away in the corner and flips over DiBiase, only to be sent outside in a heap. They go outside with DiBiase stomping away, followed by a middle rope ax handle for two. Audio is back as a clothesline gets two more on Magee. The falling middle rope elbow misses though and Magee nails a spinwheel kick. A dropkick gives Magee two but he walks into a powerslam for the pin at 7:35.

Rating: C. I know Magee was Vince’s dream come true but you really could see how completely green he was every time he was in the ring. He doesn’t seem to have the natural timing or instincts to make it work and while that can be learned over time, it never clicked for him. The match was far from bad, though it’s hard to have a bad match against DiBiase.

From Mid-South, September 3, 1983.

We see a pair of rather large cowboy boots (yes, believe it or not, in Mid-South), one of which is much larger than the other. Cut to Bill Watts in a suit that is much too big for him. Watts says it takes a lot to fill another man’s shoes, much like you just saw there. That large boot and this large coat belong to Andre the Giant, who comes in for a chat.

Andre is proud of losing 15lbs to get down to 485 and talks about some of the travel problems he has to deal with everywhere he goes. He’s also hoping to do more acting work, such as on the Fall Guy. Watts talks about a 400lb college wrestler who would look like a baby next to Andre. Finally, he’s proud of Steve Williams, his former partner and no he does not have 185 teeth. This was a weird bit that felt like it belonged on a talk show where the interviewer didn’t know much about wrestling.

From NWA Western States, February 1, 1971.

Dory Funk Sr. is in the studio and is ready to train with his sons, NWA World Champion Dory Jr. and Terry in an empty arena. Sr. narrates as Terry tries to take Jr. down, saying they are going about ¾ speed. A fireman’s carry takes Jr. down as Sr. keeps critiquing them in the ring. Terry takes Jr. down for the spinning toehold but Sr. calls him off. Sr. takes Terry down with ease and pats him on the head.

A quick head fake lets Sr. take Terry down and Jr. takes Terry down with ease. Sr. explains to Terry that it isn’t fun to be slammed and then tells Terry to calm down. Terry even picks Sr. up for a slam but puts him down with a laugh. Back in the studio, Sr. praises his sons. This was quick but rather cool as you never see this kind of thing, especially with legends like these three.

Barry Hardy vs. Brian Armstrong
Date: August 16, 1994
Location: Lowell Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Attendance: 2,000

Dark match from a Wrestling Challenge taping and Armstrong is better known as Road Dogg. Armstrong, who is rather energetic, takes him into the corner and hits a dropkick to the floor. Back in and a gutwrench suplex sets up an armbar on Hardy, who comes back with some shots to the ribs. Armstrong grabs some rollups for two each and a knee lift sets up the jabs. There’s a big boot to drop Hardy again and a missile dropkick gives Armstrong the pin at 4:04.

Rating: C-. It’s so bizarre seeing Armstrong as a pretty run of the mill guy when you know the star he would become. He looked good enough here, though it isn’t like he would have stood out all that much. Going with the Roadie gimmick not too long after this was a good foot in the door, but you could see the talent out there, even in a short match like this one.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 11, 1999
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 33,375
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Well this is an upgrade. We’re in a huge stadium and it happens to be the last Raw before No Mercy, where HHH will defend the WWF Title against Steve Austin. Other than that, the Terri Invitational Tournament continues with Edge and Christian facing the Hardy Boyz in one cool match after another. Let’s get to it.

Here is Smackdown if you need a recap.

We open with a tribute to Gorilla Monsoon, who passed away last week. That’s a big one, especially for people who grew up in the Golden Era.

Opening sequence.

Here is Vince McMahon, who is very happy to be here in Atlanta (WCW’s hometown of course) and wastes no time in bringing out Steve Austin for a chat. Austin says he’s been gone for a few months and it’s because of HHH and that’s all changing tonight. For the last few months, HHH has been attacking Jim Ross and a rattlesnake in a bag.

Neither of those are Austin though and he isn’t scared of anything HHH is doing. Austin wants HHH out here right now so here he is, with the fans not being happy to see him. They argue over the fans getting on HHH, who says that Austin knows he can’t win at No Mercy. No one here can beat HHH…and yeah sure he’ll fight Austin right now.

Or instead he’ll go outside and shove JR’s hat off. This time JR actually gets up and hits him with a fan, allowing Austin to come outside for the real fight. They get back inside, with JR hammering on HHH some more until Chyna makes the save. Austin lays Chyna out so HHH issues the challenge for the tag match tonight. And of course Austin and JR are in.

There are a bunch of bulldogs in the back. Georgia bulldogs?

An annoyed Mankind is pacing in the back.

We look at Mankind and the Rock getting into a fight/argument on Smackdown.

Billy Gunn vs. Crash Holly

Road Dogg and Hardcore Holly are here too, with Dogg calling out the Hollys for not being real super heavyweights. Gunn hammers away in the corner to start and grabs a Jackhammer (or Jackknife according to JR) for two. The other two get in a fight on the floor and Gunn hits a Fameasser for the pin at 50 seconds. I don’t think Crash got in a single bit of offense.

Post match Hardcore brings in the scales to hit the Outlaws in the face.

Mankind is rather proud of his guest appearance on G vs. E last night but he wants to talk about the Rock on Smackdown. Maybe he wanted to hit the Rock with a chair because one of them isn’t a team player. There is no I in team, Rock or Sock and he needs a commitment from the Rock before he can move forward with the team’s endorsement deals.

Mae Young vs. Ivory

Non-title. Before the match, Ivory complains about how annoying Young and Fabulous Moolah have been, even threatening to beat the regularity out of her. Ivory hits her in the back with a belt before the bell, right in front of the referee, who says the bell can ring anyway. Moolah runs in and jumps Ivory for…well I guess a no contest at about 30 seconds as the bell didn’t ring.

Post match Moolah beats Ivory up until she runs off.

Jim Ross calls the Rock and tells him about Mankind’s issues from Smackdown. Rock doesn’t really care and he’s on his way to the show, where he’ll turn the Georgia Dome upside down. Wouldn’t that make it a Georgia Pit?

British Bulldog has no idea why those dogs are here and doesn’t care about the Rock and Mankind tonight. At No Mercy, he’s beating the Rock to get closer to the WWF Title.

We look at Stephanie McMahon getting hit in the head at Rebellion and seemingly losing her memory.

Earlier today, Stephanie (with Shane McMahon) sat down and said she can’t remember anything happening to her in the short term. She can’t remember any of the feelings she has for Test and Shane has to calm her down.

Val Venis and the British Bulldog jump Mankind and leave him laying.

Mark Henry and a woman arrive in a limo.

Edge & Christian vs. New Brood

This is the fourth match in the Terri Invitational Tournament (Edge & Christian are up 2-1) and Lilian Garcia describes this as a “non…..tag team match.” Also can we please just get to them being the Hardys already and drop the New Brood stuff? It’s a brawl to start with the Hardys getting sent into the corners for some running shots.

Matt fights back and stomps Christian down in the corner, with Jeff hitting a springboard moonsault. The flipping splash/falling punch combination hits Christian, with Jeff adding a legdrop in the ropes. Jeff: “DID YOU SEE ME???” Uh yeah, yeah we did Jeff. Back in and both Hardys miss something off the top, allowing the tag off to Edge. Matt grabs a rollup with feet on the ropes for two but Edge gives Matt a Downward Spiral.

It just happens to be right in front of Jeff, who comes off the top with a Swanton for the save. Christian Unprettiers Jeff (Lawler: “Can you do that JR?”) and Matt dives off the top to take Edge out. Jeff dives onto the two of them and Edge’s running flip dive hits both Hardys. They all brawl on the floor and it’s a double DQ at 4:56. Kind of odd to see that instead of a countout but it’s the same thing for all intent and purpose.

Rating: B-. That’s probably going to be the match of the night and that shouldn’t be a surprise. These guys are clearly giving everything they have now that they are getting the chance. As it turns out, it’s working very well, which is saying a lot when this was one of the lesser of their series.

X-Pac demands Kane not come out to the ring during his match no matter what.

The Rock finally arrives and post break, says he doesn’t care Mankind feels about the team. As for the British Bulldog, Rock isn’t just another nobody and no one cares about Bulldog anyway. Bulldog is nothing and apparently Rock has brought those dogs to the show for whatever reason.

He can’t seem to remember his catchphrase, going through some Flair, Savage and Hogan before getting it right. Cue Mankind who wants an answer right now. Rock tells him what to do with his gear and where to put it but here is Vince McMahon to give them a match against Val Venis and the British Bulldog. Rock says tonight is about winning one for the scooper, which has Mankind confused.

X-Pac vs. Faarooq

During the entrances, we get a statement from the Drozdov family, thanking the fans for wishing Droz well. That’s kind of random but it’s still nice to hear. There’s no Kane here but Bradshaw is here with Faarooq, who gets kicked in the corner to start things fast. Faarooq is right back up with a whip into the corner and gets two off a backbreaker.

The powerslam gives Faarooq two and we hit the bearhug as Kane is watching backstage. X-Pac gets out and kicks away before avoiding an elbow in the corner. Bradshaw gets up for a distraction but X-Pac escapes the Dominator and sends them into each other. The X-Factor finishes Faarooq at 3:20.

Rating: C+. This is about as far as I can go with X-Pac hanging in there against a powerhouse, with Faarooq being someone who can lose to him without it going too far. The good thing is that X-Pac is a rather talented star and someone who could get fans behind him. At the same time, the X Factor still doesn’t feel like a great finisher and that isn’t helping things here.

Post match the beatdown is on but Kane comes out…to stay on the stage, even as X-Pac is double powerbombed. Bradshaw puts X-Pac on top but Kane finally runs in for the save. The ungrateful X-Pac is mad at Kane for helping him out. You know, Kane has a match on Sunday too so stop being a selfish jerk.

We look at the setup for the tag match and JR heads to the back to get ready.

We look at Mark Henry’s second sex therapy session, with the therapist (the woman from earlier) saying we need to go extreme to make it work, even starting tonight. Henry likes the idea and busts out some handcuffs, but the therapist isn’t happy.

Michael Cole replaces JR on commentary.

Chris Jericho/Curtis Hughes vs. Headbangers

This is the Headbangers’ reunion after a pretty horrible attempt at a solo run for Mosh. Jericho and Mosh start things off, with Mosh launching him into a hot shot. Jericho gets hung up in the ropes for a jumping splash from Thrasher. Back up and a butterfly backbreaker plants Thrasher to put him in trouble for a change.

It’s off to Hughes, who gets clotheslined by Mosh, followed by a double clothesline for a double down. Mosh comes back in and has to be saved from the Walls. Hughes runs Jericho over by mistake so Jericho hits him right back and walks out. The Stage Dive (and a bad one at that) finishes Hughes at 3:21.

Rating: C. So that’s it for the Hughes/Jericho partnership and that’s about how it should have gone. Hughes felt like he was dragging things down for Jericho and it’s good to see Jericho getting away from him to be free. The Headbangers being back was nice to see as well, but it’s not like they were ever a great team in the first place.

Big Show is upset in the back when D’Lo Brown comes up to check on him. Show’s father has terminal cancer and Brown says he’s there for him anytime. Well that got a lot more serious.

Rock has Mankind sweep up the dogs’ waste and put it on a big tray.

Godfather vs. Mark Henry

Godfather has about thirty women with him this time…because this is a Ho Jack match. Apparently this is the sex therapist’s idea of extreme measures to cure Henry of his addictions. Sweet goodness how 1999 can a show be? Henry is sent outside where he seems to enjoy the women’s company. Back in and Henry gets beaten up, only to be distracted by the women again. The Ho Train sets up a rollup to pin Henry at 1:28.

Post match Henry is jumped by the women and Henry couldn’t seem happier.

HHH, with Chyna, says Steve Austin should always be worried about him and it’s going to be a good piece of business for JR. HHH doing a JR impression is a rather disturbing thing.

Big Boss Man vs. Big Show

Before the match, Boss Man says he doesn’t care about Show’s problems because Boss Man is the real problem. Even Lawler thinks that’s too far and here is a rather emotional Show. A superkick drops Boss Man in the aisle and the bell rings, with Show hitting a flying shoulder inside. Boss Man hits him with the nightstick for the DQ at 36 seconds.

Post match the beatdown is on until Al Snow runs in for the save but gets beaten down as well.

Mankind has collected quite a bit of waste.

HHH/Chyna vs. Jim Ross/Steve Austin

Lawler loses it over JR having his wrists taped. Austin, in street clothes, finally bothers coming to help and brawls on the stage with HHH. They fight back to ringside, where Chyna and JR are nowhere to be seen. HHH gets whipped into the steps and Austin even dives off the steps with a right hand. They fight out into the crowd as Chyna is beating JR up back in the ring. Austin and HHH brawl out of the back of the building as Lawler loves JR getting stomped by Chyna (Lawler: “He always had a foot fetish!”).

Chyna gives JR a Pedigree but here is Jeff Jarrett to hit her with a toaster. Miss Kitty wheels down a laundry cart and Jarrett throws Chyna inside before wheeling her away. Austin and HHH brawl back into the arena, with Austin throwing him into a beer stand. Naturally Austin stops to have a beer and then goes to celebrate at ringside as I guess the match just ended. I’m not sure it ever started but when has that ever stopped them?

Rating: C-. I guess there was a match in there? Maybe? Somewhere? This felt like a way to get Austin officially on the card for a stadium show without having him have to really wrestle. That’s about all you can do if he’s that banged up and you don’t want to risk him getting hurt even worse. JR was barely a factor here, with Chyna’s weird status as a hero at some points and a villain at other times is still weird.

In the back, Jarrett shoves the laundry cart off a ledge and into the parking lot. Post break, Chyna is helped by medics.

Oh and I guess Jim Ross was eaten by rabid ferrets or something.

Val Venis/British Bulldog vs. Rock N Sock Connection

Naturally Mankind brings out the dog waste and I think you know where this is going. Cole: “This should be a good one.” Based on what? Nothing about this seems good, and Mankind almost being knocked onto the tray to start isn’t changing my mind. They get inside where Venis hammers away in the corner with Bulldog getting in his shots as well. A running faceplant puts Venis down for two and it’s off to Rock to hammer away in the corner.

Rock hits his big clothesline to cut Venis off again and it’s already back to Mankind. The general clubbering continues until Rock comes back in and gets elbowed by Venis. Rock fights back on Bulldog in the corner but the Rock Bottom is broken up. That means Venis’ fisherman’s suplex gets two so Rock gives him the Samoan drop to even things back up.

Mankind comes back in with a double arm DDT to Venis as everything breaks down. The brawl heads out to the floor and Mankind loads up Mr. Socko to chase Venis up the ramp. That leaves Rock to grab the tray and throw it inside, where Bulldog is Rock Bottomed onto said tray. Well onto what is on the tray. The People’s Elbow is loaded up…but Rock just stops and poses instead as I guess we’re done at around 8:15.

Rating: C-. Well, it was in fact a match and they had more time than any other match on the card, but how good was this going to be? They were mainly focusing on the tray and teasing the big spot with the thing. It’s also another match without an actual fall, because Venis is getting a singles match on pay per view in six days so he can’t take a pin here.

HHH jumps Austin in the back but Austin has a rattlesnake waiting on him.

We get some Extra Attitude, meaning a clip from after the show, which is Austin coming out to drink beer (and pour some of it on the dog waste). JR comes out and drinks some as well. The only thing I get out of this: Austin’s ability to catch beers with one hand is still incredibly impressive. This really didn’t do much whatsoever and didn’t need to be included.

Overall Rating: D+. There were some ok matches on here, but the focal points were two tag matches which didn’t end with an actual fall and the big deals at the end were dog waste and a snake. That’s in addition to a Ho Jack match and Ivory feuding with Moolah and Mae Young. While Vince Russo is officially gone, there are still a lot of remnants of him hanging around (though the dog thing had to be a Vince McMahon idea) and this show was a rough watch as a result.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: January 18, 1997
Location: Denim & Diamonds, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross

This is the third episode of the show and it’s back when Shotgun was actually VERY different. The original format saw the show airing from a bar (like this one, the night before the Royal Rumble) with some far less family friendly content. This one has a pretty infamous segment and it should be fun to see it again. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence, which does make the show look rather awesome.

We run down the card, featuring the logo saying it’s live from New York City, which is quite the unforced error. Also of note, Vince praises JR’s black hat, which wasn’t quite a regular thing yet.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rocky Maivia

Helmsley’s Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line and he promises to win both of his matches at the Royal Rumble. Oh and he’ll steal Marlena from Goldust too. The fans are VERY pro-Rocky, which was a rare thing at this point. Some armdrags send Helmsley into the corner (of the far smaller than usual ring) to start and some right hands make it worse.

Another armdrag sets up the armbar but Helmsley gets up for some knees to the ribs. That’s fine with Maivia, who armdrags him right back into the armbar. This time it’s broken up with an atomic drop…and here is Jake Roberts with the snake to clear the ring. We take a break and come back with Helmsley holding a chinlock and Roberts on commentary, saying he was just testing both of them.

Maivia fights up and makes the comeback, including a crossbody. Helmsley knocks him down for a quick two and we hit the chinlock again. This one doesn’t last as long and it’s Maivia fighting back with the right hands into the corner. A powerslam drops Helmsley and they both need a breather. Cue Marlena as Maivia strikes away, including a dropkick out to the floor. Helmsley sends him into the barricade but stops to look at Marlena, who says something we can’t hear. Cue Goldust to chase Helmsley for countout at 13:06.

Rating: C+. You could see some chemistry developing between these two but this was a long time before Rocky was the star he would become. At the same time, Helmsley’s feud with Goldust really did not work, with their Royal Rumble match being one of my all time least favorites. This was a fine enough match though, with the still brand new Maivia doing well enough.

Earlier this week on Raw, Sid talked about how he was going to have to become a monster at the Royal Rumble to retain the WWF Title. Shawn Michaels would say the same thing, but Sid promises to grab Michaels by his throat. Michaels’ mother will see the look on his face and Jose Lothario will stay out of it this time because he knows better. The friends and Mexicans (whom Lothario will summon) will know that Sid is the master and ruler of the world. This was in an empty arena and the echoing of Sid’s voice was great.

Bob Backlund is walking through the streets of New York and shouting a lot.

Mini Mankind/Histeria vs. Mascarita Sagrada Jr./Venum

Venum and Histeria (the non-minis) start things off with McMahon mocking JR’s descriptions of their gear. Venum’s springboard headscissors takes Histeria down but he misses a charge. A springboard flip dive drops Histeria outside and it’s off to the minis, with Sagrada sending him outside. That means a big dive to the floor as Steve Austin joins commentary (Vince: “And I don’t know why.”).

Back in and the non-minis take over with Venum being tossed outside as Austin isn’t sure why they’re here. Austin: “These guys in the Royal Rumble?” Sagrada comes back in to take over on Mankind as Austin is just going off on commentary, saying there are going to be 29 pieces of trash in the Royal Rumble and one Superstar.

Sagrada hits a dive to the floor as Austin complains about his chair being too small and offering McMahon an elbow in the face if he keeps insulting him. Venum comes back in and misses a corkscrew moonsault, allowing Histeria to hit a powerbomb for the pin at 5:53 (this is listed as 12 minutes on most online sources I can find, and unless there is some incredible editing, that’s not accurate).

Rating: C+. This is a weird case where the commentary is the focus. Austin was an absolute force out there, with an incredible run of lines. There is no question about why he became such a star, as the intensity he brought was second to no one. The match itself was an interesting enough idea, but as usual, it’s just random wrestlers having a match, which isn’t quite enough.

Super fans George and Adam are at the Alamodome. They’re the only fans there, because apparently the building has no security.

Here is Terry Funk for a chat and Austin isn’t pleased. Vince: “Texas’ own!” That is too far for Austin, because Funk is just from Texas. Funk: “This is my state!” Austin: “Wrong.” Funk: “This is my town.” Austin: “Wrong.” Funk: “I’m in the heart of Texas!” Austin: “Wrong.” Funk is a wristlockin, toe holdin, knee dropping (and other things) son of a son of a gun and tougher than a rattlesnake. He wants to know what number he is, but he wants to start at #1. Maybe he can rumble with Todd Pettingill!

Where are all the cowards from WCW? Where is Vince McMahon? Now he wants Jim Ross, calling him something censored. Or maybe….Steve Austin? You can see the look change in his eyes and Austin gets in the ring to go toe to toe with him and the brawl is on. Unfortunately it doesn’t last long and we go to a break, which is a shame as that was starting to get awesome. Well, more awesome as Funk was incredible here, with Austin being able to hang with him, which was impressive given what he was up against. Outstanding stuff and worth a look, though find the uncensored version, which is even nuttier.

Faarooq vs. Jesse Jammes

The Nation Of Domination is here with Faarooq. Jammes does his singing on the way to the ring but we miss part of it due to a microphone issue. The Nation stands there to start so Jammes jumps one of them, only to get hammered into the corner by Faarooq. A missed charge in the corner lets Jammes get in an armdrag, followed by a headlock. The lefts and rights in the corner don’t do much to Faarooq so Jammes goes with a belly to back for two. Back up and Faarooq hits a spinebuster, followed by the Dominator for the pin at 1:54.

Goldust vs. Steve Austin

HHH is here watching as well, which isn’t a great sign. They stare at each other to start and lock it up into the corner. Austin stomps him down with the exact style you would expect but Goldust is back with an elbow to the face. A low blow cuts Goldust off and it’s time to drive the shoulders in the corner. Goldust comes back with an oddly times hammerlock and we take a break. We come back with Terry Funk coming in to brawl with Austin for the DQ at 5:20. Not enough shown to rate but they weren’t being lazy in the time they had.

Post match the brawl stays on and here are a bunch of people for a big fight, with Austin and Funk fighting into a bar. HHH beats up Goldust with a pool cue and Funk is sent into a beer tub to end the show in wild fashion.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling really wasn’t the point here and it still made for a really awesome show. Obviously the Funk/Austin interaction was the one that really stood out here, but the whole aura of the show was so different. After years in the New Generation, this show had some energy and edge. That’s not something that was common back in the day but it worked here. Check out that Funk/Austin bit for sure, as it’s two masters going at it in a great segment.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Royal Rumble 1999
Date: January 24, 1999
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Attendance: 14,816
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

As much as last year’s show was a necessary evil, this show is just evil in general. The company is firing on all cylinders right now but it’s much more about drama than anything else. Mankind won the world title in a shocker 20 days before this, beating the Rock in an impromptu match on Raw. Tonight is the rematch in an I Quit match, which is the only match Mankind knows he can’t lose to Rock. It turns out to be one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen in wrestling. Also the Rumble is nothing but a backdrop for Austin vs. Vince, which isn’t a good thing either. Let’s get to it.

Luckily for me, I’ve been reviewing the Raw’s leading up to this show, so the stories will actually be fresh in my mind for a change.

This version opens with some interviews by guys in the Rumble, talking about how the bounty on Austin (Vince has offered $100,000 to whoever knocks Austin out) has them extra fired up. Chyna getting #30 is also discussed.

Opening video is what you would expect. Also the theme song for this show is No Chance, which would become Vince’s theme song after tonight. The idea is that Austin is #1 in the Rumble and Vince is #2, meaning if Austin wants to go to Wrestlemania, he has to run the gauntlet.

Big Boss Man vs. Road Dogg

Roadie is Hardcore Champion but this is non-title and a regular match. Dang it I forgot Boss Man is a tag champion here so I can’t call one of them a champion. Boss Man runs the ropes to start so Roadie tells him to suck it. The fans get on Boss Man so he shoves Road Dogg into the corner and pounds away. The Big guy misses a splash in the corner and Dogg pounds away. The announcers ask a very good question: why isn’t this for the title? Vince could make it for the title if he wanted, but instead he makes it non-title? Why?

Anyway, Road Dogg crotches Boss Man on the post to take over but gets knocked to the floor by an elbow. Back in and Boss Man pounds away but Dogg steps on his foot to escape. That lasts for about five seconds as Boss Man kicks him in the face to take over again. We hit the bearhug and Boss Man thrusts his hips into Dogg’s crotch. There’s an image I certainly didn’t need.

Dogg bites his way out of the hold but gets kneed right back down. The buckle pad is taken off and Boss Man gets two off a spinebuster. Boss Man wins a brief slugout and chokes away again. Lawler cheers for Boss Man but Dogg grabs a sleeper to get himself a breather. Boss Man goes up for some reason and is slammed down almost immediately. Dogg comes back with his usual and gets two off the shaky knee, but the Boss Man Slam ends this out of nowhere.

Rating: C-. Meh. That’s the only word that came to my head after watching this. At the end of the day, when the Outlaws play things seriously, they get pretty dull. Boss Man was fine in this role and he played it as he always did, but that doesn’t mean he should be having twelve minute matches with the Road Dogg. Not a bad match at all, but I don’t quite get why it existed.

We get a quick recap of Billy Gunn vs. Shamrock. Gunn hit on Ryan Shamrock (Ken’s sister) and Ken snapped, giving Billy a title shot for some reason as a result.

Intercontinental Title: Billy Gunn vs. Ken Shamrock

Surprisingly enough Gunn is the aggressor to start but Ken is a bit of a better ground fighter, giving himself control. Billy comes back with a clothesline on the double (tag/IC) champion as things slow down. A suplex gets two for Gunn but he misses a charge into the corner, allowing Ken to fire off some kicks. Ken fires off more kicks to the chest and back of Gunn and gets two off a spinwheel kick.

Billy comes back out of nowhere with the yet to be named Fameasser to buy himself a breather. He pounds away in the corner but Shamrock dumps him to the floor before pounding Billy into the barricade. The beating continues as Gunn is sent into a chair to keep Shamrock in control. They fight to the apron where Gunn makes a quick comeback, hitting a kind of Stroke into the announce table.

Back in and Shamrock goes right for the knee to take over. No ankle lock yet though as Ken busts out a Robinsdale Crunch of all things. Well if nothing else he has good taste in leg moves. For those of you younger people, it’s basically Shamrock wrapping his legs around Billy’s leg and crushing it between his own knees/legs. A HARD kick to the head puts Billy down again and we hear about Billy’s bad ankle from Raw. Not that he has tape on it or has been limping for the first ten minutes of the match or anything, but apparently he has a bad ankle.

Billy comes back with a clothesline but the referee is bumped. Cue Val Venis who also has issues with Shamrock to DDT the champion, giving Billy a two count. Gunn pounds away but goes up (with a bad ankle because he’s an idiot) and crashes on the ankle. Ankle lock and we’re done.

Rating: D+. Too long here and the Venis thing didn’t change anything at all. Billy’s ankle injury was pretty stupid because you didn’t really need the stuff from Raw to set up what happened here. Shamrock got a solid midcard push around this time and even had some cups of upper midcard coffee (only $5.95 at Starbucks!). The Corporation and DX would keep feuding for a few more months.

Shane fires Vince up in the back.

European Title: Gangrel vs. X-Pac

The vampire is challenging. This is another of those matches that is there so they can have another title match on the card, meaning there’s no story that I can think of. Road Dogg might have gotten a blood bath recently but that’s about it. They hit the ropes very quickly to start with Pac grabbing an armdrag to take over. Gangrel grabs a headlock but they speed things up almost immediately again.

Pac hits a quick legdrop but misses a kick in the corner to shift momentum again. We hit the chinlock to give the guys an earned breather. The champ fights up and gets thrown into the air for two. Gangrel misses a top rope elbow and Pac gets two off his jumping clothesline. A big spinwheel kick takes Gangrel down again and X-Pac hits the Bronco Buster.

The third spinwheel kick in about four minutes takes Gangrel down, but Pac gets crotched on the top, continuing a theme tonight. Pac tries a cross body but Gangrel rolls him through for a botched near fall by referee Teddy Long (he countered three but Pac’s shoulder was up). Not that it matters as the X Factor retains the title a few seconds later.

Rating: C+. Referee’s botch aside, this was a nice surprise. Gangrel is hardly known for his in ring abilities but he looked pretty good out there tonight. Pac was better here against a smaller guy as usual, and we got a good match out of it. After the two longer and not great matches earlier, this was a nice pick up.

DX says they’re united tonight but the $100,000 bounty makes it every man (Chyna: “And woman”) for themselves. Billy was nowhere to be seen here for some reason.

Here’s Shane to be ring announcer for the next match for no apparent reason.

Women’s Title: Luna Vachon vs. Sable

Scratch that ring announcer line as apparently he’s here to accept Sable’s forfeiture of the title. This was supposed to be a strap match which had a total of 18 seconds of build on Raw. That’s not an exaggeration either. They came out during another match and that was the only mention. Luna attacked Sable on Heat before the show tonight and injured the champ’s back, but Sable wants to fight anyway.

This is the four corners variety so Sable can look TOUGH here. Sable shoves her into the corner and whips Luna to the floor. She keeps whipping Luna and gets three corners but Luna makes the stop. We get more choking and whipping before Luna drags Sable around with both of them getting the buckles at the same time. You know, like in every other strap match EVER. Shane gets up on the apron before Sable gets the buckle, but Sable’s psycho fan Tori uses the distraction to deck Luna, giving sable the win.

Rating: D. Sable was insanely over back in 98, but at this point it was starting to wear thin. I always felt sorry for Luna who never got to win the Women’s Title. She really would have been a good choice for an evil chick for some blonde heroine to beat, but instead we got worthless lumps like Jackie. Nothing to see here but it could have been worse.

The Corporation says it’s everyone for themselves.

We recap Rock vs. Mankind, which we’ve covered already. Rock lost the title on January 4 on Raw so he wanted a rematch. Mankind kept saying no until Rock said he’d quit trying, which Mankind immediately accepted. The idea is that Mankind has never quit and has been through so much punishment that there’s nothing Rock can do to beat him.

Rock says that he isn’t just some other guy to Mankind, and he’s going to be the first man to make Mankind give up. If you’ve never seen it and have a stomach for blood, I can highly recommend the documentary Beyond the Mat, which is about the behind the scenes world in the WWF and this match is a focus of the film. This promo was being filmed by the documentary cameras and Mankind was about three feet from Rock here. More on this later.

WWF World Title: The Rock vs. Mankind

I Quit rules here. Rock is in his workout gear, which means his male breast enlargement surgery scars haven’t quite healed yet. There isn’t a single bit of sarcasm or humor in that statement. Mankind is defending and had to fight on Heat against the 500lb Mabel. Also the champ has recently gotten his most well known theme song, but it’s still the original version here which doesn’t have the clapping in it yet.

Mankind takes over early and hits his running knee to Rock’s head in the corner. He pounds away on Rock but Rock isn’t ready to quit yet. Some mic shots to the head keep Rock down but he still won’t say it. The Cactus Clothesline puts both guys on the floor but Rock gets in a shot to take over. They head to the commentary desk where Rock talks some trash to King before getting hit in the back by a chair.

Back in and there’s the double arm DDT from the champ. Mr. Socko makes an appearance to put the Claw on Rock. King: “But you can’t talk with your mouth full!” The hold puts Rock out, meaning he can’t say he quits. Not the smartest move in the world there Mick. We brawl into the crowd but Rock hits a kind of suplex to take them back to ringside. There’s the bell ringing spot (Rock puts the bell on Mankind’s head and rings said bell) before singing a bit as only Rock can pull off in the middle of a match.

Rock loads up the Rock Bottom on the table but it gives way, crashing them to the floor. They slug it out some more and head up the aisle where Mankind clotheslines Rock down. Up to the tech area now and Rock hits the snap DDT onto the concrete. It’s ladder time (almost kind of foreshadowing in a way) but Rock gets crushed underneath it before he can use it. Mankind misses an elbow drop onto the ladder and both guys are down again.

Rock sets up the ladder next to the tech area and they climb up to a ledge in front of a balcony. The slugout ensues and Mankind is knocked off the ledge and onto the electrical stuff which shoots sparks and knocks out the arena lights for a few seconds. Mankind is mostly dead on the floor so here’s Shane to come out and ask Rock to chill a bit. Rock says he’s going to make Mankind say he quits, but he won’t ask him. You know, because Mankind isn’t going to say it and Rock knows this. Cole of course doesn’t get it and whines for about five minutes about it.

We head back into the ring where Mankind is basically out on the mat. Cole: “How is Mick Foley standing?” HE’S FREAKING LAY…..never mind. It’s not worth trying to get through Cole’s thick head. Anyway, Rock finds some handcuffs and this is about to get bad. Rock starts pounding away at Mankind’s unprotected head. Somewhere in there the champ was busted open.

Mankind comes back with a pair of low blows and headbutts (remember his arms are handcuffed behind his back). Rock clotheslines him down….and grabs a chair. We get the Corporate Elbow on the chair on Mankind’s head, but that’s just the beginning. Mick won’t quit, so Rocky hits him in the head (remember, unprotected) twice with HARD chair shots. Here are three more to finally knock Mankind down and out to the floor.

Even Lawler says that’s enough, but Rock hits Mankind in the back and side of the head with the chair. There is blood EVERYWHERE. Rock has a clear shot at Mankind’s back but instead waits for him to stand up and hit him in the head again. ANOTHER shot (we’re up to about 12 now) to the head puts Foley down and Mankind SCREAMS that he quits. Note that Mankind isn’t moving an inch and there’s a noticeable echo to his voice which there hasn’t been all night. That would come into play on Raw the next night.

Rating: B. This is a REALLY hard one to grade because the last five minutes are nothing but disturbing. We saw a guy completely defenseless and having his head smashed in with a piece of metal by a world class athlete. Pre Benoit or post Benoit, that’s a completely unnecessary risk and a terrifying thing to see. I love these two fighting, but this was legitimately disturbing.

Again, if you’ve never seen it, check out Beyond the Mat. It shows Mankind’s wife and family in the audience in terror watching this, but you can only hear the sound of the chair shots. If it was a horror movie it would be absolutely chilling. Also it shows Foley in the back looking at himself after the beating and the first time he looks in a mirror he stops almost cold. This went WAY too far.

We recap the Rumble, which is literally all about Vince vs. Austin and Austin’s path back to the title which begins tonight. Vince keeps screwing Austin out of the title but he’s kept coming back to get another shot. That’s most of the year in a nutshell actually.

Earlier tonight Austin came in on a monster truck limo for no apparent reason. He got in Vince’s face earlier as well, resulting in the Stooges getting beaten up.

Royal Rumble

There’s a $100,000 bounty on Austin’s head and we have Austin at #1 and Vince at #2. I think you can see what’s coming from here. The intervals are 90 seconds here. Howard goes into a REALLY long winded explanation of the rules, causing Lawler to freak out on him. Vince of course takes the chance to show off his impressive physique. Austin immediately pounds away as Cole sums up Vince vs. Austin: “How often do you get to see an employee rip the CEO of a Fortune 500 company apart?”

Austin destroys Vince for a few moments with basic stuff until Golga is #3. There’s the Thesz Press and Golga slides in but Austin knocks him out in 15 seconds. Vince rolls to the floor and heads into the crowd with Austin chasing after him. They brawl (read as Austin punches him and Vince staggers away) up the crowd as there’s no one in the ring. Droz comes in at #4 with no one to fight. See, why did Golga have to be eliminated? It doesn’t sound great but having Droz vs. Golga is better than nothing.

Anyway, Vince and Austin brawl into the back and into a ladies’ room where the Corporation jumps Austin. Naturally the camera feed is lost so we don’t see what actually happens. We come back to the arena to see Droz just standing there. The years away from meaning anything Edge is #5 to actually give us some action. After about 45 seconds, Gillberg is #6. The hilarious entrance takes forever and Edge dumps him in about five seconds.

We cut back to the bathroom and Austin is out cold on the floor. Steve Blackman is #7 as the low level stuff continues. I mean, at the end of the day NO ONE in the ring at the moment is going to be bought as a serious contender here. Austin is being treated by EMTs as Blackman fires off kicks to Edge. Dan Severn and his wet t-shirt are #8. He and Blackman have the WWF style MMA fight as we see Austin on a stretcher. That’s about the fourth time we’ve cut to Austin and away from the ring.

Tiger Ali Singh (think an Indian Ted DiBiase with ZERO charisma) is #9 as we see the ambulance drive away. The five nothings in the ring continue to waste our time until Blue Meanie is #10. Again in way less than 90 seconds, there’s no #11. We cut to the back (running theme tonight) and see Mabel beating up Mosh to take his place in the match. He immediately dumps Severn and Blackman plus Singh. There go Meanie and Droz, leaving us with Edge, Mabel and Road Dogg who is #12. Road Dogg dumps Edge and there go the lights.

Taker’s music hits and we have the Acolytes and Mideon in the ring beating up Mabel. They dump him out, yet AGAIN leaving us with just one person standing there. Taker and Bearer pop up and stare down Mabel, apparently hypnotizing him, which would lead to Mabel becoming Viscera. Gangrel is #13 with his rocking entrance music. There goes Gangrel so we stand around a bit more.

Kurrgan is #14 and destroys Dogg with power stuff. Psycho Al Snow is #15 and helps double team Kurrgan. Snow tries to get on the ropes for more leverage and is immediately dumped by Dogg. Goldust is #16 and Kurrgan gets double teamed again. With the big man down, Roadie tries Shattered Dreames on Goldie. Kurrgan saves Goldust for no apparent reason and it’s Dogg that goes down instead.

Godfather is #17 but the Ho’s leave, ticking off the fans. After about 30 seconds of Godfather being in the ring, here’s Kane at #18 to FINALLY give us some star power. The ring is cleared in about 30 seconds and the place goes nuts for Kane. Since having Kane as a dominant monster to set up a showdown with another big name would be interesting, the people from the insane asylum come out to try to institutionalize Kane (just go with it), so he eliminates himself.

Shamrock is #19 with no one to fight. Vince comes back out to do commentary. Billy Gunn limps to the ring at #20 and is immediately taken down with a leg shot. The beating goes on for awhile until Test is #21. We cut to the back (AGAIN) to see Mabel being beaten into a hearse. An ambulance pulls up and it’s being drive by a certain bald headed Rattlesnake. Because clearly a guy can be beaten down, wake up less than 20 minutes later, get out of an ambulance bed, take over the ambulance, and get back to the arena in under half an hour.

Austin comes back to the ring as Boss Man is #22. Austin chases Vince around and into the ring but gets jumped by Shamrock. That’s it for Kenny so here’s HHH at #23, giving us three tall guys with long blonde hair. Billy goes after Austin for the sake of the money as Vince plays cheerleader. Vince tries not to slip into commentator mode as he talks about people wanting the money.

Val Venis is #24 and Austin dumps Billy. X-Pac is #25 and Val pounds on Austin. He kicks Steve to the floor as we’re just waiting on the Austin and Vince interaction. A spinwheel kick from Pac puts Austin down as Mark Henry is #26. Henry swings for Austin but decks Boss Man instead. Jeff Jarrett is #27 and nothing happens again. Pac kicks at a lot of people and hits the Bronco Buster on Boss Man.

In a somewhat famous bit, HHH is clearly heard asking Val if he can hang on if HHH throws him over the ropes. After that punch to kayfabe’s stomach, D’Lo Brown is #28. Austin dumps Test and X-Pac to give us some more mat space. Boss Man and Jarrett team up to try to eliminate Austin but he fights them off again. There goes Jarrett as Owen Hart is #29. Austin spits at Vince as the ring is way too full.

Chyna is #30, giving us a final group of Chyna, Austin, Vince, Boss Man, HHH, Venis, Henry, Brown, Hart and Chyna. Chyna manages to dump Henry but is knocked out almost immediately by Austin. HHH throws Val out to get us down to five. There’s a Stunner to dump HHH and get us down to five guys. Austin avoids a dropkick from Brown and they fight in the corner a bit.

Owen hits the enziguri on Austin and is backdropped out just a few seconds later. Boss Man takes Austin down and Brown hits the Low Down. Brown poses too long though and Boss Man tosses him, only to get tossed by Austin. We’re down to Austin vs. McMahon and the beating is on. Austin destroys Vince with a chair shot and the boss is in big trouble. We head back inside and Vince hits a quick low blow to give himself a breather. Austin comes back with the Stunner and beats on Vince until Rock comes out. Rock and Austin have their staredown, allowing Vince to dump Austin and win the Rumble.

Rating: F. No. This was a failure on every level. The premise was stupid, the execution was TERRIBLE, and Vince winning makes the whole thing a big joke. We had THREE part where the booking resulted in the ring being empty. Who in the world thought that was a goo….oh yeah this is still Russo Time. Absolutely horrible here and the worst Rumble of all time, pretty much by far.

Vince has a BIG celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The Rumble SUCKED, the title match was decent, and the rest of the show was either bad or forgettable. That’s more or less 1999 in a nutshell. On top of that, this would all mean NOTHING by the next week, as we had Halftime Heat coming up to give Mankind the title back, as well as Vince forfeiting his title shot at Mania, resulting in Austin going anyway. Just awful overall.

Ratings Comparison

Big Boss Man vs. Road Dogg

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Ken Shamrock vs. Billy Gunn

Original: D+

Redo: C+

X-Pac vs. Gangrel

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Sable vs. Luna Vachon

Original: F

Redo: D

The Rock vs. Mankind

Original: B

Redo: B

Royal Rumble

Original: F

Redo: F

Overall Rating

Original: D-

Redo: D

It still sucks.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/18/royal-rumble-count-up-1999-please-make-it-stop/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Survivor Series 2000
Date: November 19, 2000
Location: Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 18,602
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s old school time and as luck would have it, we’re going with something from one of the best eras the company has ever had. Steve Austin is back from his neck surgery and going after the mastermind behind his attack with another match against HHH. At the same time, we have the Rock vs. Rikishi, who famously did it for da Rock. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at HHH being the mastermind, which was the best thing they could have done after the big question mark of picking Rikishi. See, back then they saw when something wasn’t working and FIXED THEIR MISTAKE. I know that’s a foreign concept these days but it really did happen back in the day.

T&A/Trish Stratus vs. Steve Blackman/Crash Holly/Molly Holly

This is before Trish was a wrestler, Molly is still the wholesome Holly cousin and Blackman is Hardcore Champion. Blackman strikes away at Albert to start as JR actually recaps the story for this one, because this match actually has a backstory: the APA went on vacation and left Crash in charge of the office so T&A took over.

See how easy it can be to give what would be an otherwise ice cold match a backstory? And how weird it is for the faces to be in the bottom right hand corner of the ring? How did WWE even manage to have a designated face and heel corner in modern times? Crash’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air so Blackman dropkicks him in the back for a save. Trish comes in but kicks Albert low by mistake, allowing Crash to bring Molly in.

The chase gives us a double tag to Crash and Test with a hurricanrana giving Crash two. Test’s pumphandle slam is broken up as Crash rams him into Albert and it’s off to Molly to beat up Trish. Test pulls Molly down by the hair but she is fine enough to suplex Trish with ease. Crash has to save Molly from a gorilla press but Trish grabs the middle rope bulldog for two. Back up and Molly hits a middle rope sunset flip to put Trish away at 5:03 with Lawler losing his mind as she nearly falls out of her top.

Rating: C-. Today this would have been a Kickoff Show match but that doesn’t mean it was bad. Instead what we had was a match that didn’t overstay its welcome and had a fast enough pace that it still worked. Molly was the best choice for the pin and it’s not like Trish getting pinned is going to hurt her. The more I watch Molly the more impressed I am with her as she can do so many different things. Here she’s almost the All American girl and she would be doing her chaste stuff just over a year later before becoming kind of a hybrid. That takes talent, which she certainly has.

Kurt Angle comes up to Edge and Christian in the back but they have their own match tonight and can’t help Angle against Undertaker. Oh and Christian ate some bad chili and came down with mono. Angle: “You guys with your crazy antics.” He just wanted them to go out and celebrate, as long as he can find non-alcoholic beer.

Earlier today, Low Down and Tiger Ali Singh weren’t on the security entry list. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Radicalz vs. Billy Gunn/Chyna/K-Kwik/Road Dogg

Survivor Series match and it’s so bizarre to see R-Truth here nineteen years ago in a different enough character. Gunn and Chyna may have a bit of romance going on but it isn’t clear. Terri is here with the Radicalz, Malenko is Light Heavyweight Champion and Eddie is Intercontinental Champion. Gunn hammers on Saturn to start and it’s Chyna coming in for a double suplex.

A powerslam gives Chyna two but the handspring elbow is countered into a waistlock. You don’t do that to Chyna, who kicks Saturn low, knocks Eddie off the apron and hits a DDT on Saturn. Everything breaks down and Eddie hits Chyna with the Intercontinental Title for the pin at 2:33.

That takes away a lot of the fans’ interest in the match, even as Dogg gets beaten up for a change. Eddie starts in on the knee so it’s time to talk about the World Title match instead of what’s going on here. Dogg catches Eddie on top with a superplex, allowing the tag off to Gunn. The tilt-a-whirl slam and sleeper drop get rid of Eddie at 6:01 to even things up as WWE keeps trying to make the Gunn singles push a thing.

Malenko and Kwik come in with the latter flipping around but getting driven into the corner for a tag to Benoit. A headscissors takes Benoit down but it’s a heck of a bridging German suplex to get rid of Kwik at 7:19. Dogg comes in and gets beaten up in the corner as well as Lawler tries to figure out why JR is talking about an accordion. Malenko gets two off a suplex but Dogg hits Saturn in the head to get a breather.

Saturn is right back with the northern lights suplex to get rid of Dogg, leaving us with Saturn/Benoit/Malenko vs. Gunn. The Radicalz waste no time in beating Gunn down in the corner and a cheap shot from Saturn makes it even worse. Saturn misses a superkick on the floor and hits Benoit by mistake (or he got close at least with a camera cut making the save), leaving Malenko to take the Fameasser for the pin at 10:58.

The Jackhammer gets two on Saturn but Benoit slams Gunn down and drops the Swan Dive for his own two. Gunn fights back with an elbow to the face and Benoit gets knocked to the apron. That means a suplex back inside but Saturn pulls the leg and holds it down to give Benoit the pin at 12:41.

Rating: D+. Pretty uninspired match here but the Radicalz winning was the only way to go. The team had been around for a long time now and it would be ridiculous to have them lose to the remnants of DX. The match wasn’t even any good with the Radicalz easily picking the team apart, mainly because it was the former Outlaws, Chyna and R-Truth.

Rock wouldn’t talk to Lilian Garcia as he arrived.

Chris Jericho thought is issues with Kane started over some spilled coffee but it is more complicated than that. It is about a man who looks in the mirror and sees the evil monster inside. Jericho is talking about himself though and he’s ready to prove that to Kane.

We recap Kane vs. Jericho, the latter of whom spilled coffee on Kane and made a reference to burning. Kane wasn’t happy and started torturing Jericho, including throwing him through a window and chokeslamming him onto the announcers’ table.

Kane vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho has a bad back coming in from the attacks. They slug it out to start with Kane getting the better of it as the Y2J chants start up. The dropkick puts Kane on the floor and the dive barely connects as Jericho’s foot gets caught on the rope. The springboard dropkick knocks Kane back to the floor as it’s a lot of getting in the shots that he can so far. Back in and Kane drops him face first onto the mat as we hit the monster stretch.

A belly to back suplex is countered and Jericho hammers away, only to get his head clotheslined off. Jericho gets choked over Kane’s back and the announcers continue to do a good job of selling the David vs. Goliath aspect here. A turnbuckle pad comes off and Kane goes to send Jericho face first into the steel (because Jericho is handsome and Kane hates anyone who isn’t a freak) but a raised foot is enough for the block. Instead Kane sends him to the floor and into various things, which is what monsters tend to do.

Back in and Jericho crotches him on top, gets shoved down, but still manages to dropkick Kane out of the air. A basement dropkick sets up a missile dropkick for two and the Walls go on. The rope is grabbed after a long stretch that didn’t have a lot of drama, mainly because Jericho was barely cranking on the thing. Jericho pulls him back and tries again but gets kicked in the face this time. The bulldog into the Lionsault (with Kane having to scoot over about a foot and a half) is blocked with a grab of the throat though and there’s the chokeslam for the pin at 12:35.

Rating: C. The ending would have been better had Kane not been so out of place at first but the rest wasn’t exactly great. For some reason I never got into this one and it just didn’t have that much drama. I do like Kane winning as it gives us a reason to keep things going, and this is the kind of thing that can go on for a bit.

Terri comes in to see the Radicalz and tells them that HHH is in the building and he’ll meet with them later. Laughter ensues.

European Title: William Regal vs. Hardcore Holly

Regal is defending in a match that was set up on Heat. Before the match, Regal mocks the Florida fans for not being able to elect a new President or understand something as basic as manners. Holly’s music cuts him off and I don’t think that counts as good manners either. Holly starts fast and hammers away but Regal goes with the wrestling by turning it into a lockup.

Regal pulls him chest first into the middle buckle and starts cranking on the arm, which had been broken earlier in the year and kept Holly on the shelf. Holly gets sent face first into the mat with a wristlock and Regal kneels down onto the arm again. A cross armbreaker keeps Holly in trouble until he manages a crossbody for a breather. Holly gets his arms tied in the ropes but manages to get free and knock Regal down. Sick of the wrestling thing, Holly grabs the title and hits Regal in the head for the DQ at 5:47.

Rating: D+. This felt like it was thrown in to fill time and odds are that is what they were doing. Holly got beaten up the entire time and then got disqualified in the end, which felt like more of a heel move than anything else. Just not very interesting of a match and it didn’t seem important either.

Trish comes in to see Angle and offers her, ahem, assistance tonight. He appreciates it but she can tell Test and Albert that he’s got Undertaker tonight. Kurt: “See you later!”

We recap the Rock vs. Rikishi. Last year, Rikishi ran over Steve Austin and accused Rock of telling him to do it. That wasn’t true though, with Rikishi saying that he did it for Rock because people like them weren’t going to get a shot in this company. Rock beat him up so Rikishi, with the help of real mastermind HHH, crushed Rock’s chest with a sledgehammer.

Rock vs. Rikishi

Rock has a bad chest coming in and charges in to hammer away. The Samoan drop (more like a backdrop) lets Rock grab a chair but the referee pulls it away, allowing Rikishi to superkick him down. Rock’s right hands don’t get him very far as Rikishi slams him right back down to take over again. Rikishi gets sent outside and his head goes into the steps….which shouldn’t hurt him.

It doesn’t seem to be that bad and Rikishi is back with a ram into the timekeeper’s bell. The ref gets bumped (of course) so it’s time to grab the sledgehammer. Since Rikishi is a bad villain (like, a really bad one), he takes so long that Rock can hit a Rock Bottom for a very delayed two. A headbutt to the chest puts Rock down and another one to the head has him rolling around in pain.

There’s another Samoa drop and Rikishi sits on his chest for two. Rikishi crushes him in the corner and gets in the Stinkface, which is the kind of embarrassment you don’t get from Rock too often. The hard clothesline turns Rikishi inside out and there’s a spinebuster, which only hurts the chest again. He’s fine enough to hit the People’s Elbow for the very delayed pin at 11:19.

Rating: C. Thank goodness, as having Rikishi beat the Rock would have been as ridiculous as having Rikishi be the big bad in a major storyline. This was as good as it was going to be and even then it was just a simple injury story. Rikishi is not believable in this spot and that is painfully obvious. At least he lost here, but it isn’t making this any less of a head scratcher.

Post match Rikishi superkicks him again and hits FOUR Banzai Drops. So yeah this is going to continue. Lucky us.

Raven is at WWF New York.

Steve Austin arrives. Dude it’s an hour and twenty minutes into the show. That’s bad even for you.

HHH and the Radicalz aren’t concerned so here’s Commissioner Mick Foley to say the Radicalz are banned from ringside and the match is now No DQ. HHH still doesn’t seem to mind.

Women’s Title: Ivory vs. Lita

Ivory, as part of the Right to Censor, is defending. Lita throws her down to start and the beatdown is on in a hurry. They get sloppy early on with Ivory shoving her away as Lawler talks about Lita’s underwear. Lita gets choked down in the corner as her eye is busted open BAD. More right hands keep Lita in trouble until she snaps off a headscissors for a breather.

Cue Steven Richards as Ivory is sent outside, meaning Lita gets to dive onto both of them. A high crossbody gets two on Ivory but Richards pulls her away from the Litasault. Somehow that isn’t a DQ, even with the referee looking right at her. The distraction lets Ivory grab the title but Lita suplexes her down. Now the Litasault hits the belt and Ivory retains at 4:56.

Rating: D+. They packed a lot into this one and that eye cut was nasty but it was a pretty weak effort, as was often the case around this era. The biggest problem is trying to put in so much stuff into a five minute match, as there is only so much you can cram into so little time before it stops working. That was the case here and it showed pretty badly.

Post match Lita is a bloody mess and has to be helped out.

Rock is pretty banged up.

Jericho jumps Kane in the back with a chair and drives him into a steel door. Various weapons are used until referees pull Jericho off.

We recap Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker for the WWF Title. Angle has been the greatest rookie in company history and Undertaker won a four way match to become #1 contender. Undertaker doesn’t think much of a nitwit like Angle, who isn’t laying down for anyone.

Undertaker talks about debuting here ten years ago and tonight, Angle takes his Last Ride.

WWF Title: Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker

Undertaker is challenging. Before the match, Angle talks about how this is his anniversary so the fans can vote on their favorite rookie year moment. Angle even lists them off until Undertaker’s entrance cuts him off for a tried and true idea. With Angle bailing, Undertaker holds up the title to get in Kurt’s head in a hurry. Undertaker grabs a chair so Angle hides behind the referee like a great coward.

That’s fine with Undertaker, who throws the chair to Angle….who uses it before the bell to take over early on. Angle stomps him down in the corner but you don’t do that to Undertaker, who switches places with him and hammers away. The big leg gets two and an elbow is good for the same, though the second one sees Undertaker pull him up. Old School connects as the fans are happy, though I can’t get around Undertaker’s near camouflage pants.

Angle snaps off the first suplex and Undertaker rolls to the floor, only to catch a diving Angle and drive him into the post. Back in and the big boot misses in the corner, which tends to be the case more often than not. The leg gets bent around the ropes as Angle is a lot more comfortable with the slower pace. Undertaker pulls him down into the Fujiwara armbar but cue Edge and Christian to distract the referee as Angle taps.

The distractions allow Angle to get up and take him back down by the leg, meaning it’s time to lay down and crank a bit. That’s broken up as well so Undertaker goes outside and beats up the Canadians, followed by a chokeslam for two on Angle. The champ is right back up and goes after the knee again, which does at least take Undertaker down for a bit. Angle grabs the Figure Four but gets it turned over for the break.

Undertaker gets two off a powerslam but Angle takes the leg again and Figure Fours it around the post for a bit. The leg is fine enough for Snake Eyes to get two and they’re both down again. A quick low blow (with the referee looking at them) doesn’t have much effect as Undertaker tries the Tombstone with Angle getting out to the apron. Angle tries to crawl underneath the ring but gets pulled back out for the Last Ride. That’s good for two….because the referee is counting the wrong man. That would be Kurt’s brother Eric, allowing Kurt to run back in and roll Undertaker up with tights for the pin at 16:03.

Rating: D+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as the leg stuff kept going but Undertaker kept getting back up without selling the thing. The ending was creative enough (or at least fresh) and that’s better than the selection of stupid finishes they could have used. Just not the best chemistry here and Undertaker never felt like he was in danger of taking a regular fall, which took away any drama they could have had.

Post match Kurt jumps in his car and gets out.

Video on the XFL cheerleaders. Like that’ll have any shelf life.

Edge and Christian/Right To Censor vs. Dudley Boyz/Hardy Boyz

Survivor Series again and Goodfather/Bull Buchanan, with Val Venis, are Tag Team Champions. Buchanan and Bubba start things off with nothing of note happening so it’s off to Goodfather to shoulder D-Von down instead. Everything breaks down in a hurry and it’s a quadruple DDT to plant the villains. The Hardys pull off their shirts to reveal Dudley camouflage but it takes too long, allowing Edge to hit the Edge O Matic to get rid of Matt at 3:58.

D-Von clotheslines Edge and Christian down but a Buchanan distraction sets up the Unprettier to get rid of D-Von at 5:08. Bubba comes in for a heck of a backdrop on Christian and it’s Jeff coming in. That goes better for Christian, who whips him ribs first into the post. Buchanan comes in and gets to stomp away, only to miss a charge so Bubba cane come back in and clean house.

Edge spears Buchanan by mistake and Bubba pins Bull at 7:32. The Bubba Bomb hits Edge and Christian splashes him by mistake to give Bubba another pin at 8:00. So it’s Bubba/Jeff vs. Christian/Goodfather in a bizarre tag match. The Death Valley Driver lets Goodfather get rid of Bubba at 8:42. Jeff is back up and takes Christian down for the Swanton and the pin at 9:34. Goodfather misses a splash in the corner though and Venis clotheslines him by mistake, allowing Jeff to steal the final pin at 10:05.

Rating: D. Oh this didn’t work as it needed about twice as long. They were flying through everything at once and nothing had a chance to make any kind of an impact. Jeff didn’t feel like he won as much as he was the only one they didn’t have time to eliminate. These eight are capable of WAY better but there is only so much that you can do in ten minutes with seven eliminations.

Post match the Right To Censor comes in to destroy Jeff but the Dudleys come in for the save. RTC is put through some tables for the big moment. They really needed to do this here instead of giving the match the extra time? I do miss Bubba’s trance for putting people through tables though.

HHH tells the Radicalz that they know what to do.

We recap HHH vs. Steve Austin. Rikishi ran Austin over last year but Austin came back and beat Rikishi up. Since it was Rikishi vs. Steve Austin, it was clear that someone had to be Rikishi’s boss, which of course was revealed as HHH. JR being stunned that the top heel in the company being the top heel in the story isn’t his best moment. Now it’s about revenge.

Steve Austin vs. HHH

No DQ and the Radicalz are banned from ringside. Austin goes straight to the slugging (as you may have guessed) and sends HHH head first into the buckle. A knee to the ribs sets up more shots to the face before Austin starts going after HHH’s bad back. The Thesz press and middle finger elbow send HHH outside as there is no point in trying for a cover yet. They fight up to the entrance with Austin picking up a piece scaffolding but getting punched back down.

The fight goes backstage for a bit before coming back to the entrance where Austin gets in a suplex. Back to ringside with both guys going into the steps and Austin stomps away at the timekeeper’s area. There’s a monitor shot to the head, followed by Austin picking up the cooler….but thinking twice about it because that’s what Austin does. Austin stomps away to leave a bloody HHH laying, meaning it’s time for a beer.

The empty can goes upside HHH’s busted head and it’s time to go inside again for a lot of punching. HHH’s low blow slows things down a bit and a neckbreaker takes him down. HHH crushes Austin’s head against the post and gets two off a clothesline. Austin grabs a spinebuster but misses the middle rope elbow. It’s back to the floor and a Pedigree attempt on the steps is countered with a backdrop through the announcers’ table.

Back in and the Stunner connects…for no cover. Instead Austin grabs the chair because it’s time for revenge. Austin gets a pretty disturbing smile on his face as he wraps the chair around HHH’s ankle. Hang on as let’s make it the neck instead, only to have HHH roll to the floor. They fight backstage again and here are the Radicalz to jump Austin with Eddie escorting HHH away.

Agents and referees try to break it up so Austin gets up and chases Benoit outside. HHH is out there as well but we’ve lost Austin so HHH is hiding in a car. Benoit goes off to find Austin and it’s HHH doing a near voiceover, saying we need to finish this. Cue Austin in a forklift to pick HHH’s car up and drop it down (HHH: “HOLY S***!”) to end the show. We’ll say the match ended at about 25:00.

Rating: B+. They did exactly what they should have done here and didn’t try to do anything else. This was all about violence and Austin getting some aggression out because HHH tried to kill him. Austin even had the big moment near the end with the Pillmanizing of the neck. This went well and outside of the ending with the car, it was a heck of a brawl with HHH not getting squashed, as he shouldn’t have.

Overall Rating: D+. The main event helped a lot but this just wasn’t a very good show. It was all about the one big match, Undertaker vs. Angle with a screwy finish and then the just ok Rock vs. Rikishi match. Things were in a weird place here with Austin and Rock now fighting over the top spot and it is clear that Rock took a step down at least for tonight. Rikishi being in one of the bigger matches on a major show is hardly a believable spot and this show just does not hold up, outside of the main event.

Ratings Comparison

Steve Blackman/Crash Holly/Molly Holly vs. T&A/Trish Stratus

Original: D+

2012 Redo: C-

2019 Redo: C-

The Radicalz vs. Team Chyna

Original: B-

2012 Redo: C

2019 Redo: D+

Kane vs. Chris Jericho

Original: B-

2012 Redo: C-

2019 Redo: C

William Regal vs. Hardcore Holly

Original: D-

2012 Redo: D-

2019 Redo: D+

The Rock vs. Rikishi

Original: B

2012 Redo: C+

2019 Redo: C

Ivory vs. Lita

Original: D+

2012 Redo: D

2019 Redo: D+

Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker

Original: B-

2012 Redo: C+

2019 Redo: D+

Team Dudley Boys vs. Team Edge and Christian

Original: C-

2012 Redo: C-

2019 Redo: D+

Steve Austin vs. HHH

Original: D-

2012 Redo: B-

2019 Redo: B+

Overall Rating:

Original: D+

2012 Redo: C-

2019 Redo: D+

Dang I’m all over the place with this one but yeah it’s not a great show by any stretch.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/24/survivor-series-2000-i-never-remember-this-show/

And the 2012 Redo:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2015/11/07/survivor-series-count-up-2000-no-selling-a-car-crash/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Smackdown
Date: October 7, 1999
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Attendance: 12,133
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We’re almost up to No Mercy and the card is starting to come together. The big story coming out of Raw is the British Bulldog being the most prominent heel in the company, which is quite the questionable move. Hopefully they find something a bit more interesting, though that might be asking too much. Let’s get to it.

Here is Raw if you need a recap.

Of note: during this taping, Droz was injured during his match against D’Lo Brown and would be paralyzed as a result, obviously never wrestling again. This was of course edited out of the broadcast, leaving the show a bit shorter than usual as they only had so much time to change anything.

We open with a tribute to Gorilla Monsoon, who passed away earlier this week. To say he was a huge factor behind the scenes in the company would be an incredible understatement.

Opening sequence.

X-Pac/Kane vs. Mideon/Viscera

X-Pac, still wanting to prove his worth, starts with Mideon as I question the value of fighting with Mideon in the first place. The flipping clothesline takes Mideon down and it’s off to Viscera, who misses a splash. Mideon comes back in and X-Pac fights back but won’t tag. Instead Kane tags him and dropkicks Viscera to the floor. The chokeslam finishes Mideon off at 2:41.

Post match the Acolytes run in and beat down X-Pac and Mideon.

The Rock is not impressed with the British Bulldog and mocks the sound of his bark. Right now though, the bigger issue is Val Venis running around with a Rocko sock in his tights. Tonight, Rock is playing director and showing Venis a movie about him taking a beating.

Post interview, Mankind thanks the Rock.

Post break, Mankind says he’s been thinking about sitting around and being a financial consultant, but instead, the Rock is fighting his battles for him. That’s what a friend does, so Mankind is going to fight the Rock’s battles when he faces the British Bulldog tonight. He’s going to take the microphone, turn it sideways and…and…hit him with it!

Hardcore Holly vs. Road Dogg

Their respective partners are here too. Dogg slugs away to start but gets knocked down, allowing Holly to kick him in the head. Some distractions on the floor don’t mean much and Holly grabs the chinlock to keep things slow. Dogg is sent outside for a beating from Crashs, naturally with the referee dealing with Billy Gunn. Holly goes up but dives into a raised boot, allowing the comeback to start. The shaky knee looks to set up the pumphandle slam but the seconds get in a brawl. That’s enough for Holly to grab the Falcon Arrow for the pin at 5:14.

Rating: D+. This was a good example of a match that made sense on paper as the story was there but the action was just dull. There was nothing here that made me want to see these teams fight, which is kind of the problem with the Outlaws in general. They could be entertaining, but then the bell rang and it doesn’t hold up very well.

Post match the brawl is on with the Outlaws cleaning house.

And now, sex therapy with Mark Henry. He hits on the therapist, then reveals that his first encounter was with his sister at 8 years old. And yes they still have, ahem, relations, as recently as a few days ago. Yep, this was about what you would expect.

Here is Jeff Jarrett, in waders, to walk into a mud pit. This is the only place for the women in the company to wrestle so tonight it’s Miss Kitty wrestling in the mud. You win by taking your opponent’s top off, which doesn’t sit well with Kitty. Oh and Jarrett will beat Chyna at No Mercy.

British Bulldog doesn’t care about what happened with Stephanie McMahon in England or what happens with the Rock tonight. He wants to be the WWF Champion…and here is Mankind to jump him.

There are a bunch of snakes in a room. Ok them.

Edge And Christian vs. New Brood

Match #3 in the Terri Invitational Tournament with Edge And Christian up 2-0. Cue Terri to make this a Texas Tornado match. The Hardys are sent into each other in the corner a d double hiptoss brings Jeff down. Stereo headbutts give Edge two and they head outside, with Matt hitting a DDT on the floor. Back in and a double suplex gets two on Edge, followed by Matt planting him for two more. Christian gets back in and Edge hits a spear for two on Jeff, who is sent outside. An assisted superplex drops Matt but Jeff is back in with the Swanton for a double pin on Christian at 6:12.

Rating: B-. Another match where these guys are being given the chance to go out there and do whatever they want, which makes for an entertaining match. The good thing is these matches are getting a bit longer every time and that makes things quite a bit better. The WWF knows what they have here and that is an encouraging sign for everyone’s future.

Val Venis admires himself in a mirror and pulls Mr. Rocko out of his jeans.

Here is Jeff Jarrett to introduce Ivory for the mud wrestling match. Miss Kitty gets in and we’re ready to go.

Ivory vs. Miss Kitty

I’m assuming this is non-title. Kitty rips off Ivory’s dress but gets her top taken off to lose at about 1:05. This was another level of dumb.

Post match the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young show up and get thrown in the mud as well. Cue Chyna to kick Jarrett in with them, where Moolah and Young beat him up.

We look back at British Bulldog throwing a trashcan at Rebellion over the weekend and hitting Stephanie McMahon in the head. Vince McMahon and Test are not happy about the whole thing.

Shane McMahon says that Stephanie is suffering from amnesia. When asked about the Bulldog’s comments, he just walks away.

British Bulldog vs. Mankind

Bulldog jumps him to start and Mankind hammers away in the corner. The running knee connects and they go outside, where Bulldog gets in a headbutt. A whip sends Mankind into the steps for a nasty crash, followed by a chair to the head as I guess this is No DQ. Back in and a slam sets up the chinlock to keep Mankind down. A low blow makes it worse but Mankind is back with a double arm DDT for the double down. The Mandible Claw goes on but the referee gets shoved and then crushed in the corner. The match is thrown out at 6:10.

Rating: C. The problem here was very simple: there just wasn’t much for the Bulldog to do in the ring. He’s a generic brawler and feels out of place in 1999, as he doesn’t have much in the way of being a developed character. Other than “he’s British and mean”, what else does he have? It’s not a bad match by any means, but it’s really not interesting whatsoever.

Post match they fight into the crowd.

Jim Ross is with Steve Austin, who is shooting HHH themed targets. Austin is back to get his revenge and the WWF Title. He mocks the Game nickname and talks about how the title means everything. The name No Mercy is appropriate given what’s going to happen at the pay per view.

HHH goes into the room of poisonous snakes and opens one of the tanks.

Big Show vs. Big Boss Man

Michael Cole is on his own here as Lawler is off to “check on Miss Kitty”, which is code for “this match was taped for Heat and put onto the Smackdown taping to make up for the Droz accident”. Cole even updates us on Droz’s condition, acknowledging the terrible injury. Boss Man jumps him to start but gets sent into the buckle for his efforts. Boss Man actually fights back and manages a Boss Man Slam (not a great one but you could tell what it was) for two. Show is back up with a chokeslam attempt but Boss Man hits him with the nightstick for the DQ at 2:25.

Post match Boss Man tries to handcuff Show but the handcuffs don’t work. A chokeslam ensues instead. This was about all they could throw in from Heat (you could see the orange ring skirts) and it was fine for a last second replacement.

HHH is in the room with the snakes and talks about how he’s not afraid of them, just like he’s not afraid of the Texas Rattlesnake. Some of the snakes are put in a bag and HHH crushes it with a sledgehammer. HHH brings the bloody bag out to the stage and says this is nothing compared to what will happen to the other rattlesnake at No Mercy.

Val Venis is rather fired up to fight the Rock when Mankind runs in to jump him. The British Bulldog goes after Mankind and the villains leave him laying.

During the break, the Rock walked past Mankind and asked what’s wrong with him. Mankind tells him to go out there and win one for the Micker. Rock: “Who the h***’s the Micker? Idiot.”

The Rock vs. Val Venis

Rock jumps him to start and sends him out to the floor as this is apparently No DQ. They fight into the crowd with Rock knocking him right back to ringside. A swinging neckbreaker sets up a chinlock on Venis, who gets to the floor and tries to walk out. Rock isn’t having that and rams him into the set, followed by a suplex onto the ramp. Venis fights back at ringside, only to be sent hard into the steps.

Rock sends him over the announcers’ table but Venis is able to get in a spinebuster back inside. We hit another chinlock, this time on Rock, who is right back up with a fisherman’s suplex for two. Venis knocks him right back down and grabs a chair but here is Mankind to cut him off. Mankind swings the chair, which hits Rock by mistake. The Mandible Claw goes on so Venis kicks Mankind low. A Rock Bottom to Mankind sets up a Rock Bottom to Venis to give Rock the pin at 10:15.

Rating: C+. This was little more than a squash until the ending screwiness, which is what it should have been. Venis is not someone who is on the Rock’s level and suggesting that he could beat Rock in a straight up match would be beyond a reach. Mankind and Rock having issues isn’t a surprise, and now we get to see where they go next.

Rock poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Not much to see on this one, though they did have to make a quick change with the Droz tragedy. As usual though, outside of the Edge And Christian/Hardys match, there was only so much in the way of good action on the show. I did like the HHH promo save for the crushing of the snake as it was overkill, but at least they had a theme. Not a great show here, but it could have been far worse.

 

 

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Smackdown
Date: September 30, 1999
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

We’re coming off an all time Raw segment with This Is Your Life Rock, which is not likely to mean much around here. Instead, we’re likely going to be hearing more about the British Bulldog costing the Rock his WWF Title shot and then attacking champion HHH. That should be enough for the big story as we’re coming up on No Mercy as well. Let’s get to it.

Here is Monday Night Raw if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Chris Jericho vs. Road Dogg

Billy Gunn is here with the Dogg and Mr. Hughes is here with Jericho. The bell rings and they brawl into the crowd as the Hollys join commentary. Dogg sends him back to ringside for a whip into the steps and hammers away inside. The referee doesn’t like the violence and gets tossed to the floor, which is enough for Dogg to get disqualified.

Post match Gunn throws in a table and Dogg tries to put Jericho through it (as payback for an attack a few weeks ago). The Hollys jump him from behind though and Dogg gets put through the table again.

Vince McMahon isn’t happy with HHH and fines him $25,000 for his actions on Raw. In addition, he’s going to defend the WWF Title against the British Bulldog TONIGHT. Oh and The Rock will be the guest referee.

Here is Mankind (in the Rock N Sock Connection jacket) for a chat. He talks about This Is Your Life Rock and thanks the DOZENS AND DOZENS of fans for making it work. There is one person who messed it up by taking something that didn’t belong to him though, so Val Venis needs to get out here.

Cue Venis, who says hurry up because he has two beautiful women in the back and it isn’t his birthday. Mankind: “Val, I know what you’ve got in your pants and I want it.” Actually he needs it, which has Venis rather confused. Mankind is willing to turn his back so just whip it out and give it to him. Cole: “This is your life Mick Foley!” Venis says he doesn’t swing that way so Mankind describes it (Cole: “MICK THIS IS NETWORK TV!”) and says put it in his hand or he’ll put it in Venis’ mouth.

Venis didn’t know Mankind was like this but he doesn’t putt from that side of the green. Mankind has no idea what that means, but we see the GTV segment of Venis taking Mr. Rocko out of the trash and putting it in his pants. Venis realizes he got caught but says it was a joke for all the boys in the back. Mankind says neither he nor the Rock appreciates that and he goes for Venis’ pants. Venis bails and offers to go get the sock for him (thankfully acknowledging that he’s changed his pants since Monday). Mankind is a bizarre man but he can somehow make this stuff work.

HHH and Chyna are looking for Vince McMahon. During the break they find Vince and Shane, with HHH saying Vince is trying to find ways to screw him every week. HHH will find new ways around it ever week too.

The Rock thinks this show has turned into Let’s Make A Deal and Vince McMahon is Monty Hall. He’s fine with being the guest referee tonight and be completely unbiased because HHH can put his nose….oh you know by now.

Edge and Christian vs. New Brood

Gangrel is here with the New Brood and this is the first match in the Terri Runnels Invitational Tournament. Cue Terri Runnels to join commentary as Lawler thinks this should be called the Ryder Cup, which takes some time for Cole to get. The camera stays on Terri and Lawler for a bit as Terri explains the tournament: it’s really a best of five series for her managerial services and $100,000.

Jeff knocks Christian down and it’s off to Matt for a suplex into the Swanton for two (that’s so weird to see). Christian and Matt collide for a double down and Edge comes in to clean house. The Downward Spiral drops Matt for two as Lawler tries to say the tournament’s name without sounding dirty. Matt is knocked outside and a Doomsday suplex gives Christian the pin on Jeff to go up 1-0.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have much time here but these guys work well together every time. It’s so interesting to see their early days as they’re figuring things out and Gangrel is little more than window dressing for the Hardys. Things would get a lot better and you can see the fire in all of their eyes, which is making for a promising future.

The British Bulldog is ready for the main event and wants Rock to stay out of his way.

Mankind explains the Mr. Rocko/Val Venis situation but Rock isn’t sure who Rocko or Venis are. Mankind promises to figure this out to keep the Connection alive, with Rock telling him to go do it.

European Title: Big Show vs. D’Lo Brown

Brown is defending and Droz/Prince Albert are on commentary. Show throws him down and hits a suplex as Droz is complaining about “the bookers in the back” holding himself and Albert back. Brown fights up and hits a top rope clothesline to actually drop Show. The Low Down gets two as Albert gets up to watch from ringside. Droz distracts Brown as Albert goes up and dropkicks Show for the DQ.

Post match Brown gets beaten down again until Mark Henry runs in to chase Droz off. Brown leaves Henry again, with Henry saying they need to talk. With Brown gone, Henry talks about various addictions and says he has one of them. The reality is he’s a sex addict and it’s not a joke. He’s lost friends, family, his fiance, and a lot of money as a result of this. Now his mom has to see this, along with the people who know him. Henry starts crying and talks about how he can’t stop thinking about sex. It’s time to get some professional help and he walks off. Well that’s just depressing.

Stephanie McMahon and Test look through bridal magazines. Well Test wants to watch the game but he’s there too.

X-Pac/Kane vs. Acolytes vs. Dudley Boyz

Elimination tag for the #1 contendership and Bubba Ray has stolen the Rock’s Rock N Sock Connection jacket. We cut to the back where Stevie Richards shows Mankind about the stolen jacket before cutting back to Kane beating up D-Von. Bradshaw comes in for a boot to Kane’s mask but Kane hits a running DDT.

X-Pac comes in and gets taken down with a fall away slam, only to spin kick Faarooq in the face. The Acolytes double team X-Pac…and that’s a DQ. X-Pac kicks Bubba down and it’s off to Kane for the top rope clothesline on D-Von. Everything breaks down and it’s a Bronco Buster to Bubba, followed by the chokeslam to pin D-Von.

Rating: C. This didn’t have time to do much and, as usual, there was a lot going on in a single match. You had the stolen jacket, the referees being all aggressive, the stuff in the back, and the match itself. That’s all crammed into about five minutes and that’s not much time to get that much going. As usual, it would be better to just slow things down a bit, but that’s not how this era worked.

During the break, Mankind asks Bubba Ray about the jacket and tells him to come get it. He calls Mankind a freak and leaves, with Mankind not being pleased. Granted he doesn’t do anything about it, but he isn’t happy.

Here are Jeff Jarrett and Miss Kitty to say that the match with Chyna is going to be the Good Housekeeping match. That means he’s going to get to beat Chyna up with any household item he can find. Jarrett is ready to demonstrate to any woman around and calls out Cindy Margolis (who he attacked a few weeks ago), who is sitting in the crowd. He challenges Margolis and fellow actress Heather Kozar (on the upcoming UPN show Shasta McNasty) to a handicap match but here are all the women that Jarrett has attacked.

Jarrett challenges all of them and Miss Kitty doesn’t think this is a great idea. Jarrett beats up Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young but here is Chyna to make the save. The women proceed to beat the fire out of Jarrett with brooms, frying pans and everything else they can find, eventually chasing him to the back (that is so, so Memphis). Moolah and Mae jump Lawler, whose face is hilarious as he tries to get away.

Mankind admits to Rock that he misplaced the jacket, which has Rock annoyed but he’ll wear a Versace shirt instead. Mankind: “Don’t wear Versace! Don’t wear Versace!”

We actually talk to the head of security, with interviewer Terry Taylor saying this is an odd choice. He’s not happy with Steve Blackman attacking him, and then Blackman attacks him again. Yep, kind of obvious there.

Here is Mankind to call out Bubba Ray Dudley to give him the jacket back so here are the Dudleys…and I guess this is a match.

Mankind vs. Bubba Ray Dudley

I think? D-Von was in at the bell but then drops out as Val Venis is here with Mr. Rocko. Stevie Richards (dressed as Dude Love) comes in with a Stevie Kick to Bubba, who takes the jacket back. Mankind says he wants Rocko back so Venis gets in the ring (I’m assuming the match is over).

Venis says that he owes a lot of his career to Mankind doing the things he has done, like flying off of a Cell. Therefore, he’ll give Venis Rocko back, but he wants Mankind to close his eyes first. Then he grabs a testicular claw to take Mankind down. Stevie Richards comes in for a failed save and the Dudleys beat both of them up and DESTROY THE JACKET. Venis keeps cranking on Mankind and leaves him laying as the Dudleys leave. As usual, this worked because while the jacket is stupid, it means something to Mankind and that makes it matter.

WWF Title: HHH vs. British Bulldog

HHH is defending and The Rock is guest referee. Rock jumps Bulldog before HHH comes out so HHH is fine with stomping away on Bulldog on the floor. The bell rings and HHH covers, but Rock is looking at the crowd. HHH yells so Bulldog hits him low (Rock doesn’t care) and we see Steve Austin watching in the back. They fight to the floor as Rock jumps in on commentary.

Bulldog drops HHH on the ramp and they get back inside (Rock too) where the powerslam is countered. The Pedigree connects but Rock applauds rather than cover. Rock gives HHH the Rock Bottom and gets back on commentary. Bulldog covers and Rock counts two before saying it doesn’t matter if he counts three. Rock hits them both with the belt and stomps away before laying them out. This includes a People’s Elbow with Rock sliding across the mat without leaving his feet, which WWE hyped up as amazing and….not really? Rock leaves with the title and HHH is confused.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what to say about a match like this as it wasn’t about the match itself (obviously) and was more of a chance for Rock to play to the crowd. It worked well in that sense, but otherwise it was just five minutes of waiting for it to end, which is pretty much what happened. Not bad, but also barely a match.

We go to the back where Rock jumps HHH but gets jumped by the Bulldog, leaving HHH with the belt. Then Austin is waiting in HHH’s locker room and jumps him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a special ninety minute episode for the sake of the Shasta McNasty (it didn’t last) pilot so they were a bit rushed. That being said, you still got a funny bit with Mankind and Venis, plus Edge and Christian vs. the Hardys. As was often the case around this time, things were moving very fast, but the show was still entertaining. Now it’s on to No Mercy, with some of the bigger matches already set, so things are looking in the right direction.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: November 6, 2000
Location: Compaq Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

This was a requested show and I can always go from some time in a different era. We are between No Mercy and Survivor Series, meaning that Kurt Angle is the new WWF Champion. In a bigger story though, Steve Austin is back and looking for revenge on Rikishi. Other that, Austin and the Rock already aren’t getting along so let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Rikishi accusing the Rock of being behind Rikishi attacking Steve Austin, which has Austin even more paranoid than usual. This resulted in Austin costing Rock a WWF Title shot and it’s time for some revenge.

Opening sequence.

Here is a returning Vince McMahon for a chat. Vince talks about how tomorrow is Election Day and you have to wonder who everyone is going to vote for. Who will Steve Austin vote for? Or the Rock? Even Al Snow’s vote matters! Vince wants all of the people here to vote because wrestling fans are always on the outside looking in to the political arena. Pundits don’t care about wrestling fans because they don’t vote.

The two major parties already have all of their voting blocks locked up but those people cancel each other out. How interesting is it that those groups will not elect the next President? The average American, a WWF fan, will make the pick. Vince encourages us to vote for the candidate who lies the least and wants us to vote no matter what.

Cue Steve Austin and dang I miss the look on McMahon’s face when that glass shatters. Vince welcomes him back and extends a hand but Austin just takes the mic instead. Austin says it’s fine and dandy to talk politics, but he’s here to fight. Tonight, he is teaming with the Rock, who gave him a Rock Bottom on Smackdown. If Rock wants to double cross him tonight, Austin will be dishing out knuckle sandwiches.

Other than that, Austin has been thinking about Rikishi being the driver of the car that tried to take Austin out, but Rikishi isn’t that smart. There has to be a mastermind who is trying to make people do what they want. Lawler: “Linda McMahon?” As Vince panics, Austin says he knows it wasn’t him…and here are Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon to interrupt. Angle: “Hold it right there bucko!” He doesn’t like Austin talking to Vince like that and thinks Austin should question George W. Bush!

Maybe Bush got drunk and tried to run Austin over. As an American hero, Angle is officially renouncing Texas because of all these drunk people. Stephanie gets in the ring to yell at Austin, saying he will NOT touch Vince or Angle. Austin respects Stephanie being a woman, but she might want to step back. Angle tries a cheap shot and gets Stunnered for his efforts. Long segment here, but Austin and Vince are always worth a look.

Post break Vince tells Angle and Stephanie that he has a special feeling about tonight. Vince has Stephanie get in the limo and they leave, with Angle promising something for HHH.

Undertaker vs. Val Venis

This is Right To Censor Venis but the rest of the team is barred from ringside. Undertaker slugs him into the corner to start and hits the one armed side slam. Venis is back with some kicks to the ribs and a neckbreaker but Undertaker easily wins a slugout. Back up and Venis manages a knockdown and hammers away but takes too long going up. That means a toss off of said top, followed by the big right hand. The chokeslam is escaped so Undertaker boots him in the face for two and they head outside. Venis is sent face first into the steps, followed by the Last Ride for the pin back inside.

Rating: C. It’s strange to see Undertaker in what is basically a glorified squash, as there was no reason to believe Venis had a chance here. This was a weird time for Undertaker though, as he was back as the biker, which opened up a bunch of doors for him. It humanized him a bit, and that was not something we had ever seen before.

HHH comes up to see Commissioner Mick Foley. He wants the Radicalz tonight but Foley says find some partners. Steve Austin comes in and wants Kurt Angle, with HHH telling Austin to not trust anyone.

We look at Kane attacking Chris Jericho, who spilled coffee on him.

Kane talks about how people don’t want to see a freak like him because they want someone like Chris Jericho. The more they cheer for Jericho, the more Kane wants to hurt him. Kane is going to win the Hardcore Title tonight and then challenge Jericho to a title match. That way he can do horrible things to Jericho and it’s all legal.

Road Dogg is on HHH’s team tonight but isn’t sure about….him.

Post break HHH and Dogg come in to see Billy Gunn and Chyna, the former of which is not happy to see them. HHH says he might have made a mistake, but for one night only, they can get together and take out the Radicalz. Works for everyone.

T&A vs. Too Cool

Trish Stratus is here with T&A, who jump them to start fast. Albert misses a charge at Grandmaster in the corner, meaning it’s a tornado DDT to slow Albert down. Back up and Albert hits a hard spinning powerslam to plant Scotty and there’s a catapult to send Scotty throat first into the middle rope. Test comes in for a nasty big boot but goes up for the dive that is only designed to land on a raised boot.

After one heck of a bump off such a simple crash from Test, Scotty gets over to Grandmaster to pick up the pace. A middle rope dropkick (with dancing) hits Test but Trish gets on the apron for a distraction. That’s enough for Test to hit Grandmaster in the back with a boot…for two. Scotty hits the Worm (still crazy over) and Grandmaster adds the Hip Hop Drop, only for Albert to come in with his namesake bomb to give Test the pin.

Rating: B-. Who in the world would have thought THIS would have been a pretty good match? That’s one of the things I love about watching these old shows, as you will see a match that seems to be nothing and it winds up being a fun surprise. At the same time, it’s kind of hilarious to look back and see T&A as anything but a vehicle for Trish, who has a star power to her that you just can’t fake. Yes a lot of the attention was because of her looks, but she had a presence to her and it took her the extra way.

Post match the beatdown is on but the Hollys, including the unnamed woman, make the save. A not exactly smooth springboard crossbody drops Trish and the heroes stand…well not very tall but close enough.

Triple H/Chyna/New Age Outlaws vs. Radicalz

Billy and Eddie start things off with the former hitting his always awesome tilt-a-whirl slam. It’s off to Chyna, who is happy to hit a swinging neckbreaker, sending Eddie straight over to Malenko. Dogg comes in for the dancing punches but Malenko knocks him into the ropes. That’s enough for Benoit to come in for some stomps, both before and after Dogg hits a crossbody.

A front facelock is escaped but the referee doesn’t see the tag, further proving how horrible they are at their jobs. Dogg and Saturn crossbody each other and it’s off to Gunn vs. Malenko, which is quite the remarkable size differential. A Jackhammer plants Malenko and the Fameasser gets two with Benoit making the save. Everything breaks down and HHH Pedigrees Malenko for the win.

Rating: C+. What we got went well enough but you would kind of expect DX vs. the Radicalz to feel a bit bigger. That’s a match that could have been a big deal on a pay per view but here it is as little more than a middle of the show match on Raw. DX had long since moved on, though it still feels like a case of what could have been under much better circumstances.

Post match Kurt Angle runs in to jump HHH as the Radicalz cut everyone else off.

The Rock arrives, as usual over halfway through the show.

Tag Team Titles: Right To Censor vs. Hardy Boyz

The Hardys are defending while Ivory and Lita are here too. It’s a fast start with the women getting in a fight of their own on the floor. They go off to the back, leaving Steven Richards with the villains as the Hardys suplex Buchanan down. Back up and Matt gets slammed down hard onto the mat as commentary talks about the election, with Lawler flat out saying he is voting for George W. Bush.

Goodfather boots Matt down but he knocks Goodfather off the top, setting up the big legdrop. Jeff comes in to clean house as everything breaks down and the referee gets sent outside. Goodfather is sent outside in a nasty landing and Matt dives onto him, leaving Jeff to hit the Swanton on Buchanan. There’s no referee though so cue Edge and Christian to go after the Hardys, allowing Richards to get in a belt shot to Jeff. Naturally the referee comes back in to give the Goodfather the pin and the titles.

Rating: C+. This is a rare instance of someone other than the Hardys, the Dudleyz or Edge and Christian getting the titles, which needs to happen every so often. There is only so much you can get out of having the same three teams trading the titles for months on end so switch it up every so often. Good enough match too, even with the screwy finish.

Kurt Angle jumps the Rock in his locker room and gets pulled out.

Edge and Christian celebrate screwing over the Hardys with a kazoo version of Chris Benoit’s theme. Commissioner Mick Foley comes in to say he senses something not going so well, so Edge and Christian can have a tables match with the Dudley Boyz!

Hardcore Title: Kane vs. Steve Blackman

Kane is challenging and they start brawling on the ramp. Blackman knocks him back and hits a diving kick off the barricade (that looked cool) before going for the weapons. Some trashcan lid shots have Kane in trouble but he suplexes Blackman down in a crash. One heck of a trashcan lid shot rocks Blackman and the side slam puts him down again.

Kane goes up but gets crotched on top, allowing Blackman to grab his wooden sticks. The rapid fire shots put Kane down and a low blow makes it worse. The trashcan shot takes too long as Kane catches him with a running powerslam and it’s time to bring in the steps. Cue Chris Jericho with a chair though, knocking the steps onto Kane so Blackman can steal the pin to retain.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of thing I can go with, as there was a unique story to it but it also wasn’t a squash. Kane is a monster and had Blackman in trouble but Blackman is enough of a hardcore master to hold his own for a good while. Good little surprise here, with Kane’s motivation being a smart way to go.

The Rock is hunting for Kurt Angle but goes to see Steve Austin instead. Rock says he doesn’t have to hide in the shadows as Rikishi’s boss because he would come after Austin face to face. Austin gave Rock the Stunner because he doesn’t trust anyone and he is looking for Rikishi’s accomplice. Rock says Austin can whip anyone he wants, but it won’t happen to him because Rock had nothing to do with it. Austin doesn’t seem entirely convinced. Sweet goodness the chemistry with these two jumps off the screen like almost no one else ever.

Jerry Lawler vs. Raven

Tazz joins commentary, much to Ross’ annoyance. Lawler slugs away to start (shocking I know) and the middle rope fist drop gets two. Raven is back up with his corner clothesline and bulldog for two but Lawler fights back. A dropkick hits Raven…and Tazz runs in for the fast DQ.

Post match the beatdown is on until Al Snow (including a bonus head with a crown) makes the save.

The Right To Censor is in a huddle (with the camera looking up from the floor) and talks about being this much closer to their ultimate goal.

Edge and Christian vs. Dudley Boyz

Tables match. Bubba and Edge fight on the floor to start and Christian sends D-Von outside to join them. Edge gets inside and avoids Bubba’s splash in the corner, setting up some Poetry In Motion. The posing table request takes too long and Bubba breaks it up, meaning Edge can get caught with What’s Up.

The Dudleys take too long to get a table as well, allowing the villains to dropkick it into their heads. Back in and a superplex is loaded up but cue the Hardy Boyz to break it up, allowing Lita to snap off a super hurricanrana. The 3D puts Christian through the table for the win. Lawler: “Can’t anyone have a match without someone else interfering?” Geez you would think he would get the idea by now.

Rating: C+. What you have here is a match that didn’t waste time and did exactly what it needed to. Edge and Christian were in trouble after interfering earlier and the Hardys came out to get their revenge. That’s all this needed to be and the match wasn’t even four minutes. Sometimes you do not need much time to make a story work and that is what this era of Raw understood.

Rikishi, with a nose shield, says tonight is going to be a handicap match because the Rock was the one behind everything. Tonight, the truth comes out.

Debra is at WWF New York and criticizes the food.

Kurt Angle brags about his successful rookie season and HHH us saw it. Soon, Steve Austin will get his. Angle: “Children love me d*** it.”

Someone attacks the Rock with an anvil case but since the camera operators are terrible, we don’t see who did it.

Post break Mick Foley says Rock can’t wrestle. The fact that he can barely stand would suggest this is a good idea.

Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle/Rikishi

Austin jumps Angle on the floor to start but has to stop to slug away on Rikishi. They all get in and Austin keeps bouncing between them, including the Thesz press to Angle. Some low blows have the villains down but Angle shoves off a Stunner attempt into a superkick from Rikishi. The double teaming is on but Rikishi misses a charge in the corner. Angle is back up with a sledgehammer though, meaning cue HHH to pound him down. Austin is up again to stomp on Rikishi….and HHH hits Austin with the sledgehammer for the not so shocking reveal. We’ll say the match is thrown out around here.

Rating: C. As you can guess, this was an angle disguised as a match and, again, they didn’t waste a bunch of time on it. This didn’t need to go on for a long time and it’s such a relief that it didn’t. Austin got in, looked like himself, and then got beaten down to do the big angle. What else did you need?

Post match HHH unloads on Austin to bust him open. Rikishi adds the Banzai Drop and HHH reveals that he is Rikishi’s accomplice to end the show. This is treated as a big shock and I was surprised when it happened live, but looking back, it’s just not that much of an impact. At the end of the day, Rikishi was not fitting as the new big bad, if nothing else because Austin couldn’t do much with him in the ring. That meant that a big villain was needed and, well, who better than the guy who had been the top heel for the better part of a year? It was absolutely the right move, but it might not have been that shocking.

Overall Rating: B-. I had a good time with this show and a lot of that is due to the act that they didn’t waste time. Everything on here was moving and there was nothing where I was wondering how much more time they were going to spend on it. The matches were mostly short, but they did what they needed to do. It made for a very fun two hours and I could go for a lot more of this. Good show here, with a bunch of logical stuff happening in a creative way.

 

 

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