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WrestleMania X-Seven - April 1st 2001 PART 3 Triple H and Undertaker are warming up in the back, but their match isn't next. Instead we have...hold on to your hats... 8. Tables Ladders and Chairs: The Dudley Boyz (c) vs The Hardy Boyz vs Edge and Christian Everybody brawls to start, and the Hardys take the early advantage, hitting a poetry in motion on both Dudley Boyz - but nobody cares about that. We just want to see some ludicrously dangerous spots. E&C oblige, immediately bringing a ladder into the ring and using it to brain Matt and Jeff. The younger Hardy eats a double drop-toehold into an upright chair, which Edge then uses as a platform to clothesline Matt off the side of the ladder. Lovely stuff. He goes for the belts himself, but Jeff now uses his prone brother as a stepping stone of his own! Down goes Edge, and he quickly falls victim to stereo legdrops from a pair of ladders. You know the spot. The one where the Hardys point at one another and go "Hey bro! We got this!". The Dudleys clear house and...continue to focus on Edge. Poor guy! He's taking all the punishment at the moment. They hit the wassup headbutt and D-Von kindly fetches the tables. Edge is laid across the wood, but Jeff jumps in to disrupt things. He proves himself Idiot Of The Day by going for a hurricanrana, leaping handily onto Bubba's shoulders. The Dudley needs no second invitation, and absolutely FUCKS him into Edge at some speed! Three ladders are set up in the ring, and everybody climbs. It's not long before the bodies start to fall however. Matt and Christian go CLEAN over the top rope! Jesus that must have hurt! Jeff and D-Von take slightly nicer hangman bumps onto the top rope, leaving Edge and Bubba to continue to battle on the central ladder. Bubba wins, shoving Edge harshly to the canvas, but the recoil sends him tumbling off as well. Everybody takes a moment to recover, and Edge is the first to his feet. He starts to climb again, but here comes Spike Dudley from the back! He nails a ladder-assisted Dudley Dog, before taking Christian off the apron with a second Dudley Dog through a table! Awesome stuff from the little guy. The Dudleys take control, but here comes RHYNO (first appearance in the thread!) to even the odds. Ladder shot to D-Von! GORE to Bubba! GORE to Matt Hardy through a table in the corner! He's on team E&C, hooray! Aren't we all? Edge is looking to climb again, but now Lita runs out from the back and smashes his head into the side of the ladder! Rhyno presses her over his head, but Spike Dudley saves her with a sneaky low blow. Lita hits a nice hurricanrana from the top, and Spike finishes the job by absolutely WAFFLING Rhyno with a vicious chairshot! He collapses into the ladder and unwittingly sends Edge hurtling onto the top rope. The Dudleys absolutely make sure Rhyno is taken care of (can the guy not catch a break!?) and hit him with their Road Warriros rip-off manoeuvre. Lita, meanwhile, shows absolutely no thanks to Spike for saving her earlier, smashing him with a chairshot of her own! The bitch! The big brothers are similarly unamused, and hit Lita with a 3D as she turns around. The pace of this match has picked up a great deal since the sidekicks got involved. Here comes Edge now with a chairshot to D-Von. He then tosses the chair to Bubba...allowing Christian to smash it into his face with a second chair! My boys! Jeff has managed to incapacitate both Rhyno and Spike on the outside, and drags them onto a pair of tables. He pulls out a huuuge ladder and heads up top...MASSIVE SWANTON ONTO BOTH! Mannnnn, Jeff does it again, for the second year in a row. Perhaps not quite as iconic as his dive onto Bubba, but arguably a more difficult spot to execute in the narrow space between apron and crowd barrier. The opportunistic Christian wastes no time in stealing the huge ladder for himself, setting it up under the title belts. He and D-Von climb and grab a belt each, but Matt moves the ladder away and leaves them hanging. D-Von falls first...then Christian. Jeff has somehow recovered (BULLSHIT! Should have kept him out for the rest of the match) and is tiptoeing across the top of a group of ladders towards the belts. He botches the spot sadly, and has to climb one the conventional way. Now Bubba moves the ladder out from under his feet....and EDGE FLIES FROM AN ADJACENT LADDER TO SPEAR HIM DOWN! loving hell, what a spot! He timed that to perfection! Now Matt and Bubba are climbing...but RHYNO TOPPLES THE LADDER, sending them both into a cluster of tables at ringside. drat, they both fell hard. Back in the ring, D-Von and Edge are climbing the same side of a ladder, but D-Von looks to be reaching the title first. On the other side, however, Rhyno lifts Christian onto his shoulders and scoots him up the ladder, allowing him to snatch the titles from under D-Von's nose! Two in a row for E&C at 'Mania! Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge and Christian 4/5 - Fell short of last year's epic match, but only just. Still a great encounter of insanely high spots and incredible bravery. Edge's mid-air spear is one of the most perfectly timed executions of a difficult spot I've ever seen, and capped a wonderful performance from him throughout. Everybody was impressive however, including the three interferences in Lita, Rhyno, and Spike. The boys stagger to the back with Rhyno, titles in hand. Bodies are everywhere. Here come a couple of true WrestleMania legends in Mean Gene and Bobby Heenan! They're here to call the Gimmick Battle Royal, which is up next. 9. Gimmick Battle Royal: Bushwhacker Luke vs Bushwhacker Butch vs Duke "The Dumpster" Droese vs The Iron Sheik vs Earthquake vs The Goon vs Doink The Clown vs Kamala vs Kimchee vs The Repo Man vs Jim Cornette vs Nikolai Volkoff vs Michael Hayes vs One Man Gang vs The Gobbledy Gooker vs Tugboat vs Hillbilly Jim vs Brother Love vs Sgt. Slaughter That's a lot of has-beens (and even more never-weres). I'm not sure how on earth to call this, as it's absolute chaos from the bell. I think the Repo Man is an early elimination, as is the Gobbledy Gooker. I've heard of all of these men except for The Goon by the way. Can anybody enlighten me? Earthquake eliminates Tugboat - no friends here! - but is chucked out himself by Kamala. Kamala's trainer Kimchee may well have been an entrant here, because a figure clad in all white just got hoisted out and I'm not sure who it was. I'll put his name in the match title above. No harm done. Cornette is still miraculously in there, flailing about with his tennis racket. Oops, no he's not. Hillbilly Jim ends his night, and it's really tough to call who deserves to be in the final four. I'll go for Sheik, Slaughter, Doink and Volkoff. Let's see how close I am. Volkoff almost immediately goes, but Doink is still going strong, single handedly taking on both Bushwhackers. Kamala must have been studying tapes of Kane at the Royal Rumble two shows ago, because he suddenly goes on a tear, throwing out both Doink and One Man Gang in quick succession. Aaaghh, as soon as I say that, Slaughter sneaks up behind and dumps him out. Suddenly we're down to a final four of Slaughter, Sheik, Hillbilly Jim, and erm...Brother Love. Two out of four ain't bad. Brother Love is predictable the first to go, thrown out by Slaughter. Jim sneaks up behind Slaughter and throws him out. SHEIK SNEAKS UP BEHIND JIM AND THROWS HIM OUT! SHEIK WINS! SHEIK WINS! Winner: The Iron Sheik NA/5 Slaughter is pissed and slides back in. He slaps on the Cobra Clutch and Sheik is out after a brief struggle. That's very mean. A hype package builds up Triple H vs Undertaker for us. Gee, an Undertaker match at WrestleMania. I wonder who'll win! Triple H cuts a promo, bitter about not being booked in the main event at WrestleMania. He says he has beaten everybody there is to beat, but 'Taker interrupts and says he's never beaten him. He promises to make Hunter famous in a match. Later, the Game jumps Undertaker backstage and chokes him with a chair. He claims he doesn't need a match - he's already famous for crippling people. The following show Undertaker waits in the parking lot for Triple H to arrive. When he does, 'Taker smashes a window of his limo and tries to get inside, but Triple H has enlisted police protection and they force Undertaker away. He's arrested later in the show for attempting to attack the Game in-ring, and Trips wants to press full charges. Regal issues 'Taker with a restraining order from Stephanie, allowing her to protect Trips during his matches. Undertaker instead sends Kane after Steph, and the Big Red Machine dangles her over a balcony backstage until Regal agrees to make a match between 'Taker and Triple H at 'Mania. We close with footage of the Game wrecking Undertaker's bike, but who HASN'T done that in a feud with BikerTaker? Motorhead are in the building to play Triple H to the ring, and holy poo poo, Lemmy knows NONE OF HIS OWN LYRICS! This is amazing! 10. Triple H vs The Undertaker The pair brawl on the outside before 'Taker's music has a chance to die down. UNDERTAKER IMMEDIATELY PUTS TRIPLE H THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE! It's not as impressive as it sounds. Shane McMahon destroyed the real one earlier in the show, so they dragged out a flimsy Dudley Boy-variety table for them to use. Undertaker hit a single right hand and Trips sat down slightly heavily on top of it. That was enough. An unintentionally comical start here, but 'Taker continues to beat the Game around the ring regardless. JR briefly mentions that the Deadman is undefeated at WrestleMania, but it doesn't really seem to be a big deal at this stage of his career. The beatdown continues in the ring, including a HUGE back body drop. He sets Triple H up and shouts out "Old School!", like a Digimon announcing his own attack. I'm sure I've used that reference somewhere in this thread before, perhaps for Matt Hardy, but it's equally appropriate here. Triple H is able to reverse it and drag 'Taker off the top rope, perhaps because he knew what was coming. So yeah. Don't be a Digimon. Another thing I hated about Digimon was that they could talk, and also that they could evolve and devolve at will to whichever state they wanted. Why didn't they just walk around in their most powerful form all the time? It was such bullshit. (You're not missing much by the way. Triple H is just working Undertaker over with his slow, meticulous offence.) I mean, Pokemon really nailed the formula first time around, so there was no real chance for any imitators. Don't even get me started on Yu-Gi-Oh. Triple H hits a neckbreaker for two, and tries repeated unsuccessful covers. He gets frustrated and backs the ref into a corner, but good ol' Mike Chioda isn't intimidated. 'Taker regains control and whips Triple H into the ropes, but the Game hits his facebuster with authority! He heads outside the ring and doesn't even ask the timekeeper to get out of his chair. He simply hoists him over the crowd barrier. What a dick. Trips isn't after the chair however, he's after the sledgehammer hidden behind it! He measures Undertaker in the ring, but the ref rips it out of his grasp. Undertaker whirls Triple H around...and gets immediately set up for the Pedigree! It's reversed however, and 'Taker slingshots the Game right into the referee. CHOKESLAM! The ref recovers pretty loving quickly! Good job! 1...2...Triple H kicks out! Undertaker is in disbelief and nails the ref with an elbow drop. And he's the face here!? They head to the outside and Triple H gets horribly backdropped over into the crowd! What a nasty bump that must have been, but they executed it about as safely as possible. They battle through the crowd to some kind of production area, filled with monitors, sound desks and the like. Undertaker batters Trips with relentless right hands, but the Game grabs a chair and cuts him down. He wails on the fallen Deadman with shot after shot, before beating his chest and gesturing to the crowd. Undertaker rises and Triple H measures him for a final chairshot...but GET CHOKESLAMMED OUT OF THE PRODUCTION AREA TO THE CONCRETE BELOW! We don't actually see him land, so they may well have had a crash mat there and dragged it quickly out of sight, but it looked legit. Ah wait no. A second camera angle blows the illusion. Good job guys. An EMT checks on Triple H, but Undertaker tells him to move the gently caress out of the way and leaps with a diving elbow drop! He picks Trips up and drags him through the crowd all the way back to ringside. They get back in the ring (where the ref is STILL unconscious from that single elbow drop to the back) and Undertaker snatches up the sledgehammer. He measures Triple H who begs him to stop, before nailing a sneaky low blow. A leaf out of Flair's book there. He picks up the hammer and charges, but 'Taker his an instinctive big boot to drop him. They have a slow exchange of right hands in the middle of the ring, before Trips ducks a big strike and scoops Undertaker up for...the Tombstone!? The Deadman falls back into a reversal and nails the move, but there's no referee to count the fall! He revives Mike Chioda and sets Triple H up for the Last Ride, but the Game manages to grab the sledgehammer as he's lifted...and SMASHES UNDERTAKER IN THE HEAD! 'Taker drops Triple H and looks to be out of it. 1...2...no way! The Undertaker kicks out! At WrestleMania! Triple H freaks out and drags Undertaker over to the corner. He heads up top and goes for some punches, but leaves himself vulnerable. As easily as a Machamp scooping up a Pikachu (see earlier Pokemon/Digimon rant), Undertaker lifts Triple H and slams him with a second Last Ride. This one's enough for the three count. Winner: The Undertaker 3/5 - All the ingredients of a great match, but executed at a very slow pace. The stuff in the crowd and on the sound deck seemed a tad over the top, especially as the payoff was a bump onto a clear crash mat. Nevertheless, both guys did pretty well here. Triple H bumped like a madman to put 'Taker over, and the sledgehammer counter to the Last Ride was particularly cool as well. Undertaker celebrates with a pretty dazed expression on his face. He looks to have legitimately been busted open, probably by that sledgehammer shot. It looked as though Triple H may have caught him with the wood rather than the end of the weapon (which I'm sure was softened for safety). He looks in considerable pain, but still manages to get on his bike and speed off in victory. Main event up next.
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Jul 6, 2014 03:14
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WrestleMania X-Seven - April 1st 2001 PART 4 The Rock stalks through the backstage area, belt in hand. Austin is in the locker room holding his head in his hands. He looks up briefly, eyes full of intensity, before standing up to leave. We see this awesome video package. You'll almost certainly have seen it before, but on the freak chance you haven't, hear it is. It is FANTASTIC. Here are my favourite moments in no particular order: - Rock stalking Austin for the Rock Bottom and startling him when he turns around, but choosing not to hit the move. - The Rock's selling in the aftermath of Austin's first Stunner, lifting his torso to watch Stone Cold walk up the ramp. - "Let's just go ahead and take Debra out of the equation. Bam, she's not a factor." - "My Way" gently kicking back in as Austin hits the second Stunner. - Austin chugging the four beers, before turning around into a Stunner from the Rock. - The whole passive-aggressive beer clashing segment, which suddenly explodes into an exchange of right hands as the chorus begins. - Austin's frantic beer waving at 2:51 onwards. - "I need to beat you Rock. I need it more than anything you could ever imagine." Before the entrances Fink announces that the match will not end on a disqualification, shocking JR and delighting the crowd. 11. WWF Championship No-DQ Match: The Rock (c) vs Stone Cold Steve Austin Austin is out to a raucous reception, while the Rock's entrance (although popular) is decidedly quieter. The champ is very much on enemy territory here, attempting to beat Austin in his home state of Texas. Rock poses on the turnbuckle...and turns right into an ambush from the Rattlesnake! Stone Cold immediately scoops up the belt and goes for a KO shot, but Rocky ducks and fires off some right hands. A desperate start from Austin, reflecting his earlier statement that he NEEDS to beat the champion. He looks to be moving at twice his usual speed as he hits a Lou Thezs press and a few big elbows. Rock is back to his feet and goes for an early Rock Bottom! Austin elbows out and goes for the Stunner...but Rock battles out and goes for a Stunner of his own! Austin shakes him off and tosses the champ out of the ring, but not for a breather. They battle into the crowd and back out again, Rock smashing Stone Cold's head onto the announce table. They head back in the ring and Austin uses his knee brace to rake Rock's face. He might even throw a couple of bites in there as he chokes Rock over the middle rope - the camera angle made it hard to tell, but I do hope so. He drops a leg over the back of the champ's head for two, and we finally get a short rest from this explosive opening. They head tentatively up top and Austin hits a nice superplex for two, but wastes no time in springing back to his feet and removing a turnbuckle pad. Rocky takes control before it can come into play however, scoring with a huge jumping clothesline for two. They brawl to the outside again and the champ beats Austin down in the timekeeper's area. Hebner tries to break it up but Rock is livid and backs him down, sending him sprawling over the ring steps. He turns back to Austin...WHO CLOCKS HIM WITH THE RING BELL! The Rock is flat out, Hebner is furious, and Austin is in a state of constant rage, hurling the timekeeper to the floor for simply being near him. The champ tries to use the announce table to get back to his feet, but it collapses under his dead weight. Oops. I hope that hasn't wrecked a big spot for later in the match. They return to the ring where Austin tries to use the exposed turnbuckle from earlier, but Rock saves himself and whips Stone Cold into the ropes...but the Rattlesnake catches him on the way back with a BEAUTIFUL neckbreaker for two. The Rock's bleeding from that earlier ring bell shot, but Austin shows no mercy, clambering onto the champ and pounding away at his head with right hands. He stomps a mudhole but turns away to argue with Hebner, and when he turns back around the Rock utterly DECIMATES him with an outrageous clothesline to the face! That looked like legitimate knock-out material. The Rock backs Austin down into the corner with right hands, but instead of laying the smackdown (as he usually would), he instead talks trash for a brief second, grabs the back of Stone Cold's head, and charges the length of the ring to the exposed turnbuckle! Wham! Not relenting for a second, Rocky fetches the ringbell and cracks it into Austin's skull. poo poo, that looks like a heavy bladejob. We did learn at the Rumble, however, that Austin's level of badass increases the more he bleeds. It's his version of the Rock's PPV Resiliency. They head to the outside again and Stone Cold slingshots Rocky headfirst into the ringpost. That was sold amazingly by the Brahma Bull, one of the best executions of the spot I've seen. Rocky eats a sickening TV monitor shot, but just about kicks out when Austin rolls him inside for a pinfall attempt. They return slowly to their feet, and Stone Cold raises a pair of mocking middle fingers. Here comes the Stunner...but Rock catches the kick! A right hand knocks Austin to the canvas, leaving him open to the sharpshooter! Shades of Bret vs Austin! He struggles towards the ropes but Rock drags him back to the middle of the ring...but Austin drags himself all the way back to the ropes, and snags them in his hands! Rocky has to release the hold, but looks to reapply it straight away. He bends down to flip off the challenger before turning him over...BUT AUSTIN RAKES HIM IN THE EYES! He knocks the Rock down and applies a sharpshooter of his own...and oh. Austin's is clearly, clearly better. Far closer to Bret's. Rock kicks him off, but Stone Cold reapplies - however, this time the champ is close enough to the ropes to grab one. Hebner instructs Austin to let go, but he flips the referee off and keeps the sharpshooter in place to a big pop. Eventually he lets go and waits for the Rock to stagger back to his feet, only to apply the Million Dollar Dream!? Austin delves deep into his past to submit the Rock, but the People's Champ raises his arm at the third time of asking. He pushes off the middle rope into a perfect pinning predicament, forcing Austin to release the hold to break the fall! Amazing scenes. Stone Cold looks to be closing in on the victory, but ROCK REVERSES AN IRISH WHIP AND DROPS HIM WITH THE STONE COLD STUNNER! 1...2...Austin kicks out! Vince McMahon struts down the ramp - still in his ring gear - to chants of "rear end in a top hat, rear end in a top hat". Meanwhile, Rock charges into a glorious spinebuster for another near fall. I can't overstate how epic this match has been. Now Rock hits a spinebuster of his own and sets up for an exhausted People's Elbow! It connects, but surely that can't be the fall!? 1...2...Vince leaps into the ring and drags Rock off! I'm also delighted to see that Austin raised an arm anyway (because I refuse to believe that a loving People's Elbow would have finished him in the main event of WrestleMania. It's Steve Austin). Rock looks at Vince and clearly mouths "you motherfucker", before snapping and chasing him around the ring. McMahon scoots under the bottom rope and allows Austin to intercept the pursuing champ...and HOLY poo poo! Stone Cold hits an absolutely hellacious Rock Bottom, arguably better than most of the Rock's own attempts! In fairness, some of that was also down to how loving high the Rock was able to jump as well, so kudos to both. He kicks out by the way. Heyman makes a great call, pointing out how Austin ignored his hatred for McMahon and went straight for the Rock, so desperate is he to win the gold. Stone Cold looks for the Stunner, but Rock pushes him off and he knocks Hebner through the ropes to the floor. The Rattlesnake resorts to a straight-up punch to the balls to regain control...before gesturing to Vince on the outside!? He instructs the boss to bring a chair into the ring. Austin holds Rock steady, allowing McMahon to blast him across the head! Stone Cold covers while Vince revives the referee. 1...2...ROCKY KICKS OUT! Austin is absolutely furious and snatches up the chair for a final blow...ROCK BOTTOM TO STONE COLD! Vince grabs Hebner before he can count a pinfall, so Rock strides over and drags McMahon over the top rope into the ring. He lays the smackdown on Vince before turning...RIGHT INTO A STUNNER! 1...2...BUT THE ROCK KICKS OUT AGAIN! New levels of PPV Resiliency! Austin has had quite enough and grabs the chair. He measures Rock...and ENDS HIM with a running shot to the head! 1...2...usually I'd call bullshit, but special circumstances allow Rock's kickout here to stay within the realms of logic. The crowd love it as well, but Vince and Austin are less amused. Stone Cold grabs the chair again and fires off a barrage of vicious strikes to the downed champion. Consider this karma for what you did to Mick Foley at the 1999 Royal Rumble, Rocky. One final cover is made. 1...2...3. Winner and NEW WWF Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin 5/5 - An utter epic. This match told a better story than any match I've reviewed in the thread so far, and was certainly up there with the best of them in terms of in-ring action as well. Both men delivered performance beyond even their own high standards and created something truly special. Many will disagree with the decision to turn Stone Cold heel (and it didn't really register with the Texas crowd, who still popped huge for that final three count), but it remains one of the most shocking and dramatic moments in wrestling history. Amazing. Austin is presented with his belt and stalks straight over to Vince. They eyeball one another before ending the Attitude Era with a handshake. Stone Cold poses on the turnbuckles, but interrupts his expressionless celebration to blast the recovering Rock with a parting belt shot. Vince and the new champ open a couple of beers and leave the ring, Austin eyeballing the crowd all the way. They depart as the Rock struggles alone on the canvas, JR insisting that nothing will ever be the same again. loving wrestling, everybody.
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Jul 7, 2014 03:50
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WRESTLEMANIA X-SEVEN SUMMARY Match Of The Night The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin - Of course, although the TLC match was a classic as well. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Stone Cold Steve Austin - A fast, frantic, desperate performance, finally re-establishing himself as top dog in the WWF following his comeback. 2. The Rock - The champ was never going to outshine Austin on his night, but also delivered in spades. Wrestled far beyond his usual ability without sacrificing any charisma. 3. Edge - Didn't put a foot wrong in a match where botches can be common and dangerous. Also stole the show with his ludicrous mid-air spear on Jeff Hardy. 4. Triple H - Lost an intense brawl with the Undertaker and bumped like a madman for his opponent. Reliable as ever. 5. The Undertaker - The best we've seen of the Deadman since his gimmick change. Hopefully signals a much-needed return to form. It feels harsh leaving out the other members of the TLC match (especially Christian), as well as Spike, Lita, and Rhyno who all made entertaining cameos. Angle and Benoit also put on a solid match but it failed to live up to its insanely high potential. Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 12 2. Chris Jericho - 8 3. Triple H - 6 4. Chris Benoit - 5 The Rock - 5 5. Kane - 3 Edge - 3 6. Eddie Guerrero - 2 7. The Undertaker - 1 WRESTLEMANIA X-SEVEN SCORE: 9/10 A PPV with a five star main event was never going to score low, no matter how underwhelming the undercard is. As it happens, most of the other matches were underwhelming but solid. Benoit/Angle and Jericho/Regal were okay, while even poor-quality matches such as the APA's feel good tag win served a purpose. Really though, the score for this show is built on the back of three matches. THAT main event, THAT tag team championship match, and that (lower case) Triple H/Undertaker brawl to back them up. A rollercoaster of a show, and one with perhaps a slightly inflated final score, but I certainly don't have the balls to argue with Rock vs Austin and the TLC match.
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Jul 7, 2014 04:08
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 - Rosemont, Illinois PART 1 Just look at that poster. Ridiculous. Hello and welcome to Backlash 2001! Last year's edition actually topped WrestleMania, but this show is unlikely to do the same. 'Mania 17 - sorry, "X-Seven" - featured a couple of all-time classics. This card seems quite a step down in comparison, but we still have a potentially good show on our hands. Austin and Rock had a rematch on the Raw immediately after 'Mania, battling in a steel cage. Triple H interfered on behalf of the Rock amid growing tension between himself and Vince, but swerved everybody by assaulting the People's Champ and allying with sworn enemy Austin. This represented the birth of the Two Man Power Trip, which I thought was utterly fantastic as an eight year old. As mentioned previously - and for reasons quite unknown - I was a huge Triple H mark, but always secretly thought Austin was awesome as well. This partnership finally made it okay to cheer for Stone Cold! Meanwhile, The Rock Shortly after, Trips won the Intercontinental Championship from Jericho, lost it to Jeff Hardy, and won it back again. This meant that the two members of the Power Trip held the top two belts in the company, as well as the backing of Vince McMahon. Meanwhile, following their respective wins at WrestleMania, the Brothers of Destruction fully united as a legitimate tag team. Kane lost his Hardcore Championship to Rhyno, but the brothers quickly won the Tag Team Championship from my boys Edge and Christian (noooo!  ). Interestingly, this was both Kane and Undertaker's fifth tag title reign, but the first together. Let's have a look at their previous wins.quote:1. Kane first won tag gold with Mankind, defeating the New Age Outlaws on an episode of Raw in July 1998. Well there we go. I don't know about you, but I actually found that more fun than it was probably worth. Anyway, 'Taker and Kane captured their fifth reigns (but first together) from E&C on the April 17th Smackdown. This leads us FINALLY to Backlash 2001, the main event of which sees The Brothers of Destruction face off against the Two Man Power Trip...with ALL THE BELTS ON THE LINE! That means if Kane and 'Taker win, they become the new WWF and Intercontinental champions, whereas Triple H and Austin become tag champions should they persevere. I really, really hope we don't get a screwy DQ finish with no title changes. That's all I ask. JR screams his welcomes! Again he is joined by Paul Heyman and they hype the main event. We have six-man tag action to get us underway. 1. The Dudley Boyz vs The X-Factor The Dudleys here consist of Bubba, D-Von, and Spike. That's fair enough, but WHAT THE gently caress IS X-FACTOR!? We have an absolutely ludicrous teaming of X-Pac, Justin Credible, and Albert!? Who on earth had this idea? As for their theme music, well. Judge for yourselves. It's an Uncle Kracker masterpiece. They brawl before the bell and the faces take control. Albert takes a double suplex from the bigger Dudleys, before Spike comes off the top rope and STOMPS ON HIS CHEST! loving hell! D-Von and Bubba launch the runt of the family over the top rope onto Credible and X-Pac, before Justin and Spike finally square off to start the match properly. Credible wastes little time tagging in Albert, but Spike grabs his head and goes for an immediate Dudley Dog...only for Albert to launch him miles across the ring instead! The "we want tables" chants are already deafening. Credible tags back in and misses a baseball slide to Spike in the corner, instead crotching himself around the ringpost. D-Von and X-Pac tag in. The Dudley takes control, only for Albert to give him a sneaky club in the back from the apron. He staggers forwards into a nice spinning heel kick from X-Pac, before Albert distracts the referee - allowing the heels to engage in some heelery on D-Von outside the ring. X-Pac tags in now and gets the better of the Dudley, uprooting him with another fantastic flying kick. Albert's turn now, and he delays an underhook suplex for an outrageous amount of time, holding D-Von upside down for a good few seconds before planting him into the canvas. X-Pac and Credible attempt a double team, but D-Von finally gets the upper hand with a double flying clothesline, and makes the hot tag to hot tag specialist Bubba Ray. Suplex to Credible! Suplex to X-Pac! Bubba Bomb to Credible! BIG sidewalk slam to X-Pac! 1...2...Albert tries a splash to break the pin, but Bubba moves out of the way early and X-Pac takes the brunt of it. D-Von clotheslines himself and Albert out of the ring, but scoots quickly back up to the top turnbuckle to nail the wassup headbutt on poor Justin. "D-Vonnnnnn! GET THE TABLES!". JR attempts to christen the Dudleys "the wizards of the wicked wood" (not sure that'll get over) as D-Von slides a table out from under the ring. BIG BOOT by Albert stops that plan dead in its tracks. The heels gang up on Bubba in the ring (where the gently caress is Spike!?) but he battles bravely on. He misses a running splash to the corner...and gets squashed by Albert! Double superkick from Credible and X-Pac! 1...2...3! Winners: The X-Factor 2/5 - A decent opener. Pac was the best wrestler on show, Bubba brought the energy towards the end. It's a shame we didn't get to see any table action, although that could change any second now... Albert beats down Bubba, but not before throwing up an X in victory. He's loyal, yo. Bubba looks set to go through a table, but here comes the cavalry. D-Von deals with Albert, Spike hits a Dudley Dog on Credible, and suddenly X-Pac is on his own. Spike hits a low blow and sends him toppling backwards...right into a 3D through the table. Is anybody else getting bored of the Dudley's shtick or...? The Duchess of Queensbury arrives and is greeted by William Regal. He'll be having a "Duchess of Queensbury Rules" match with Jericho later tonight, so this makes sense I suppose. Angle is backstage in the locker room preparing for his match with Benoit later. He's pretty chilled, and says that he knows he has Benoit's number. Presumably this confidence comes from beating him at the last PPV. 2. WWF Hardcore Championship: Rhyno (c) vs Raven Raven wheels his usual shopping cart full of plunder down to the ring. He starts bringing various weapons into the ring but Rhyno charges him at the bell...right into a drop toe hold! That was a surprising turn of pace from Raven, sending Rhyno's head crashing into a stop sign. I've just noticed that both of these guys have animal names. That's fun. Raven smashes a garbage can into Rhyno's head, but the Canadian returns the favour. Nope, wait. I just fired up Wikipedia and he's actually from Detroit. drat. I just assumed he was Canadian because he's tight with E&C, etc. The ALL AMERICAN Rhyno charges and Raven lifts a garbage can up to protect himself, but Rhyno just charges right on through and knocks him out of the ring. USA! USA! He leaps straight out and makes a cover (falls count anywhere, remember?) but can only get a two count. Rhyno re-positions the ring steps and sets up a chair opposite. He sits Raven in the chair, backs up...and uses the steps as a platform to dive onto Raven WHO MOVES OUT OF THE WAY! Ouch! Now Raven runs up the steps and hits a nice diving clothesline for two. They brawl down the entrance ramp and Raven gets laid out with a trash can lid. Rhyno takes a "KEEP OFF" sign from the crowd barrier and nails his opponent with that too. The pair return to the ring, shopping cart in tow, and Raven hits a drop toe hold right into the side of the cart. Usually signs are kind of a "meh" weapon in hardcore matches (not stop signs - the little rectangular ones), but Raven goes absolutely NUTS on Rhyno with one. It's perhaps the best sign-based assault I've ever seen in a wrestling match. I'm not sure how lofty a compliment that is, but it sounded good in my head. Raven hits a bulldog for two and both men retreat to pick up a weapon. Rhyno goes for the shopping cart and presses it above his head, but Raven is craftier and jabs the end of a garbage can into the champ's face. Rhyno falls, as does the cart, trapping him underneath. That looked really painful. Raven gets another near fall but Rhyno kicks out and recovers in a corner of the ring. Raven grabs the cart, psychs the crowd up, and rams it into his opponent's gut as he rises to his feet! He hits the ropes...but Rhyno smashes him in the head with that pesky sign from out of nowhere! 1...2...kick out! Rhyno sets up for the Gore and charges...but Raven moves out of the way and the champ's head goes straight into the interior of the shopping cart! loving hell! Rhyno is trapped allowing Raven to wail on the top of the cart with a (literal) kitchen sink. He drags Rhyno out and covers. 1...2...kick out!? Raven is similarly in disbelief and grabs the sink to dish out further punishment, but he turns straight into a GORE! GORE! GORE! Heyman loses his poo poo as Rhyno makes the cover. 1...2...3! Winner and STILL WWF Hardcore Champion: Rhyno 3/5 - A shockingly good hardcore match here. Both men bumped around like crazy for one another, and Raven was on especially good form. Rhyno's gore into the shopping cart was a unique and sick spot too. Well done guys! JR and Heyman hype a Last Man Standing match between Shane and the Big Show later tonight. This seems to have been set up by Vince as revenge for his son's actions at WrestleMania. JR goes on a rant about how brave Shane is, and how he's not intimidated. Heyman brilliantly interrupts, yelling "well he SHOULD be". We flashback to Smackdown where Shane sits backstage reading from a copy of Jack and the Beanstalk, except he's crossed out "Jack" and written "Shane" in its place. He gets a surprisingly big face pop, although that may have been piped in. He reads a feud-recapping rhyme, each punchline receiving that suspiciously familiar WWF cheer - the one that sounds like an electrical fan starting up. We cut now to Shane in the Backlash interview area with Michael Cole. They're interrupted by Stephanie who urges Shane to just apologise to Vince - then maybe he'll call off the match. Shane refuses and Steph says he lives in a fantasy world. Stone Cold and Debra arrive in the building and are stopped by Kevin Kelly, who asks Stone Cold if he's worried about losing his belt tonight with all the titles on the line. Austin angrily retorts that he isn't going to lose a drat thing because he's Stone Cold Steve Austin. All Triple H has to do is play his part and everything will be fine. Coach is backstage with the Duchess of Queensbury and asks her to enlighten us on the rules of her match. She's about to answer, but Regal runs in and tells Coach to bugger off. Looks like he wants to keep those rules to himself. A hype video recaps the feud between Jericho and Regal, but we've seen most of it before at WrestleMania. The only new feature is Regal challenging Jericho to this Queensbury Rules match. Jericho admits to not knowing the rules match, but vows to kick Regal's rear end anyway. Regal is out first and greets the crowd enthusiastically. He welcomes the Duchess of Queensbury to the ring and she takes her seat at ringside next to the announce table. Regal hilariously signals for JR and Heyman to stand as she approaches. Such a gent. Heyman tells off JR for simply calling her "ma'am" instead of "your majesty". Jericho makes his entrance to a big pop and the Duchess looks thoroughly unimpressed. Y2J expresses surprise that she's the Duchess. He thought a Duchess looked more like...(he points to a picture on the 'Tron)...that. It's Regal. Classic stuff Chris. He adds that he's not sure which one of them looks more like a man. Regal is outraged. Jericho says that Chicago may be the windy city, but Queensbury is clearly the UGLY city. Who the gently caress wrote this? 3. Duchess of Queensbury Rules Match: William Regal vs Chris Jericho JR reminds us that nobody but Regal and the Duchess actually know the rules here. Jericho gains control of the opening exchange and hits (WOO!) some big (WOO!) chops to the chest (WOO!). The crowd are still hot for him, despite him having been out of the main event scene for quite some time now. Regal rolls to the outside for a breather but Y2J goes straight after him and continues the beating. They roll back in and Jericho goes for a missile dropkick...but catches nothing but air. Regal hits a vertical suplex for 2 and we get a shot of the Duchess looking worried. William starts to bust out the English offence, hitting a trio of knees to the face and a few European uppercuts for good measure. He heads up top but Jericho crotches him with a dropkick to the gut, before following him up and hitting a snappy hurricanrana. Y2J follows up with a bulldog and the Lionsault, and a pinfall looks academic here. 1...the bell rings!? The Duchess has a quick word with Fink, who explains to everybody that the time limit for Round 1 has expired. Jericho leans over the ropes to complain...but Regal schoolboys him from behind! 1...2...and a kick out. Y2J has clearly lost his composure here as he attempts a Flying Nothing (my favourite move!) which Regal easily counters into a catapult, sending Jericho's head bouncing off the top rope. The commissioner hits a big German suplex and looks to apply the Regal Stretch. Jericho struggles and eventually grabs the bottom rope. Regal applies a waistlock but Y2J rolls through...and breaks off his own pinfall to apply the Walls of Jericho! Regal taps and Jericho looks to have this won - his music even plays - but the Duchess explains (via Fink) that submissions do not count. Both Jericho and the crowd are livid, and Y2J stomps outside of the ring to question her. Her two bodyguards stand in his way, as does Regal, who rips the Duchess' sceptre from her hands and clocks his opponent with it. The bell rings again, but apparently disqualifications don't count either! Regal rolls Jericho back into the ring and makes the cover, but Y2J kicks out just in time. William is getting annoyed now, and sits Jericho down with a pretty brutal back elbow. A double underhook suplex also results in a nearfall but Y2J turns the tide, landing on his feet from a back suplex and hitting a sweet enziguri. Both men battle to their feet and slug it out. Jericho trips Regal and goes for the Walls again, but remembers that he can't win by submission and simply boots the commissioner in the nuts instead. Regal rolls out to recover but Jericho hits an immediate baseball slide, sending his head right into the Duchess' crotch. Regal is mortified and turns right into a clothesline. Jericho shoves the bodyguards out of the way and snatches the Duchess, rolling her into the ring. He slaps on the Walls, but Regal quickly slides in and saves her with a cluster of chairshots. 1...2...3. Winner: William Regal 1.5/5 - Decent enough in-ring action, but the whole stipulation really dragged here. It's depressing to see Jericho in such gimmicky feuds when his talent is obvious, and Regal is above this sort of thing too (although he does comedy pretty well). Regal helps the Duchess to the back. Hopefully we never, EEEEEEEEEEVER, see her, AGAIN. JGKing fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 8, 2014 03:30
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 PART 2 Vince is backstage with the Big Show, psyching him up for his upcoming match against Shane. He asks if Show is ready. Show replies that as long as his last name is McMahon, he's getting destroyed. HUH!? That sounds suspiciously face-turney, but Vince doesn't pick up on it at all. Surely they wouldn't have made it that obvious. Hmm. Kurt is out first with a mic and he runs down Chicago. We're in Rosemont, which I assume is near Chicago because everybody is getting angry. He says he's going to make Benoit squeal like a pig. It's homoerotic. It's drat homoerotic. 4. 30 Minute Ultimate Submission Match: Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit They spend the first few minutes strictly wrestling. No strikes, no power moves or anything like that. Angle takes down Benoit a few times, they struggle on the floor, one grabs a limb, and the other quickly breaks away. Lather, rinse, repeat. At one stage Benoit almost cinches on the Crossface, but Kurt scurries into the ropes before you can say "he's making GBS threads himself at the prospect of the Crippler Crossface". Benoit continues to look for his finisher, but Angle bails out of the ring each time he comes close. This is a tedious opening. The Wolverine grabs a waistlock and Kurt scurries out of the ring with Benoit attached to his back. They struggle and bash each other into the apron...and Benoit slaps on the Crossface! Angle taps immediately, but of course it doesn't count. Benoit has apparently never watched wrestling before and demands that the fall count. The referee is all like "get the gently caress back in the ring you idiot". Good. Angle stalls A LOT on the outside, even contemplating bringing a chair into the ring for his own safety, but is eventually convinced to venture in empty-handed. Benoit stomps over...but Angle dashes behind him and slips him into a pinning predicament! He transitions into a heel hook and Benoit immediately taps to preserve his knee. Smart. 1-0 to the Olmypian. Benoit decides it's finally time to bring out the strikes, and lights Kurt up with a few chops to the chest. Angle, unfazed by the WOOing of the crowd, fights back with a few chop-blocks to the knee. He charges for a final big one...into the Crippler Crossface! Angle fights Benoit off partially, but the Wolverine rolls over into a textbook armbar and Kurt has to tap! We're all square at 1-1. Benoit presses the advantage with a few more chops and another attempted armbar, before nailing a shoulderbreaker. He's definitely trying to weaken the arm for an upcoming Crossface, but Angle is staying alive. He cowers in the ropes and Benoit slaps on a headlock. The referee pulls him off and the Wolverine angrily shoves him to the canvas. Kurt uses the distraction to nip out of the ring and retrieve a chair, which he slams right into Benoit's head! He disposes of the evidence and slaps on the Ankle Lock, which a weakened Benoit has no choice but to submit to. 2-1 Angle. loving hell, we're only ten minutes in and this is dragging. Angle wastes no time in continuing the offence and locks in...the Crippler Crossface!? Benoit suffers the indignity of tapping out to his own hold, and we're already at 3-1. Angle continues to press the advantage but east a biiiiig back body drop to the outside. They brawl around until Benoit eats the ring steps, and Kurt applies the Ankle Lock as the referee tries desperately to pull him off. Back in the ring Angle applies a long armbar and a long abdominal stretch. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I'm finding this match really tedious to watch. Just as I say that we get a really nice exchange. Benoit rolls through Angle's hiptoss and locks on an armbar of his own, which Kurt is quick to jump out of. He's really selling that arm now. The Wolverine trips him and applies the Sharpshooter, surely this is another submission...NO! Angle makes the ropes! Angle goes for a German but Benoit rolls through and slaps on a single-leg Boston crab, with his knee on the back of Kurt's neck! He wastes no time in tapping, and rightly so. 3-2. Angle begins to stall now, stumbling in and out of the ring to avoid Benoit as the clock counts down. We have about 10 minutes left. They finally meet in the ring and Angle hits a vertical suplex followed by a drop toe hold, but Benoit wriggles away from the attempted Ankle Lock. They brawl back out, then back in, and this time Benoit nearly grabs an Ankle Lock. Angle applies a loving LOOOOOOOOONG headlock on the ground to kill some time, which Benoit eventually breaks out of with a stunner (although JR calls it a jawbreaker). Angle reasserts control with a couple of belly-to-bellys, but Benoit breaks out his three German suplexes in response! He can only get two however, as Angle swings with an elbow to escape the third. The Wolverine trips Kurt, but the Olympian rolls him into an Ankle Lock...which Benoit reverses instantly into an Ankle Lock of his own! Angle struggles...and taps! 3-3, and we only have two minutes left. Benoit is - well - rabid as he goes after Angle's leg with chop blocks. Kurt hits a sneaky low blow to fell the Wolverine, and slaps on the Ankle lock. Benoit reaches the ropes, but Kurt keeps re-applying as we count down the final seconds. He clasps a final lock on with ten seconds left! The Wolverine holds on....and there goes the bell! He taps just after. Winner: Draw Angle thinks he's won and begins celebrating to the back. Fink announces that we're going to have sudden death. Good, I don't think this match had gone on QUITE LONG ENOUGH. Angle looks like he's about to cry with frustration (I know how you feel buddy) and rolls back in. He stomps down the Wolverine and hits another belly-to-belly, before heading towards the ropes. COULD IT BE HIS FABLED MOONSAULT!? Ahhh, sadly no. He was just faking us out. Benoit charges with Angle into the corner and they both fall to the mat. Angle locks on...some kind of awkward submission thing. It's like a headlock or abdominal stretch - I can't quite tell. Anyway, he's got his foot on the ropes and the referee is right there, so he's not going to win that way. Benoit doesn't give a poo poo and rolls right into the middle of the ring with Angle in tow...CROSSFACE! Angle has nowhere to go! He taps! 4-3! Winner: Chris Benoit 3/5 - An unbelievable effort by both guys for sure, but this was a huge effort to watch. Some of it was brilliant, some of it was sloppy. Angle looked bizarrely off his game here (still better than your average wrestler, of course) while Benoit was pretty sharp. Some people will undoubtedly see this as a classic but I dunno. Something just didn't click for me. Maybe I'm too unsophisticated to be a fan of that amateur wrestling/submission style. Whew. Well that's finally over. Really not sure what to make of that match. My head was telling me it was great, but my gut was screaming at me to fast forward. Very confusing.
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Aug 2, 2014 17:20
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A Real Horse posted:Well I know what I'm watching later tonight, because that actually sounds pretty interesting, if a bit on the long side. I'm fully prepared for you to come back and say "what the gently caress Jack, it was amazing!" and I apologise in advance.
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Aug 3, 2014 17:15
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 PART 3 Kane and Undertaker are talking backstage. Kane looks to have a slightly injured arm. COULD THIS PLAY INTO THE MAIN EVENT LATER? We get a quick build-up to the Shane vs Big Show match. Since defeating his father at WrestleMania, Shane has been trying to recruit WWF superstars to join him at WCW. One such wrestler is the Big Show, but the giant sides with Vince and chokeslams the boy wonder in the middle of the ring. Vince books the match, hoping to see his son beaten down. On the Raw before the PPV, Big Show absolutely demolishes poor Test backstage. Like, destroys him. I think the point at which this thread begun probably signalled Test's downfall, because wasn't he quite promising in 1999? 5. Last Man Standing Match: Big Show vs Shane McMahon Shane hides under the ring and Show stupidly peeks under to look for him. This of course allows our hero to scamper around the other side and hit a sneak attack. He starts loving whaling on Show with a kendo stick! Oh he's up for this one alright. He climbs onto the crowd barricade and leaps...right into a goozle! Oh but Shane fights back with more stick shots and avoids the chokeslam! Bam. Big Show decides he's had enough of this poo poo and clotheslines his head off. An explosive start here! They head into the ring and Shane continues the assault with a chair, punctuating the exchange with a leaping blow reminiscent of his decapitation of the Rock. I was a huge fan of that chairshot - see my review of No Way Out 2000  .Big Show is down, but answers the count at 5. Shane is unperturbed and fetches a bag from under the ring. He brings out a facemask (for himself) and a chloroform soaked rag (for Big Show). This is outrageous! He piggybacks onto Show and forces him to breathe in the fumes, and it just straight up works. Show is down. That's pretty loving heelish you guys. The referee sells the effect of it slightly (awesome!) while JR pretends he can smell it too, which is absolute bullshit. He's miles away. The ref begins his count, but Vince charges to the ring and hits Shane with a couple of chairshots of his own. They're not as good though. Daddy clearly didn't teach Shane how to swing a chair - he must have snuck out of the house to an ECW show. The ref begins a double countout which Show answers at 8. It looks as though Shane O'Mac is done for, but Big Show scrapes him off the canvas at 9 (YOU IDIOT!) and launches him into the corner. Heyman rationalises Show's thought process, saying that this isn't about victory for him - it's about punishment. I do see his point. It wouldn't really make sense for Show to just take the win and walk away happy after being bested so far. Shane takes a big sidewalk slam and gets up at 9, which angers the giant further. A Final Cut (remember that finisher?) ends Shane, but Show picks him up at 8 to hit a Chokeslam. He AGAIN picks him up at 8, and the ref is looking worried. Okay take a second to guess which move Big Show does next. I bet you don't get it. Ready? Make your guess now. ... ... ... ... Did you say the Torture Rack? If so, congratulations! But there's absolutely no way you did, and I won't even believe you if you say so, because it's SO out of left field. Is Show secretly a big Luger fan or something!? Mercifully, before I can ponder this to death, MY BOY TEST RUNS OUT TO SAVE THE DAY! I like how he's stayed loyal to Shane pretty much throughout this thread. Does anybody remember him interfering against babyface Show on behalf of heel Shane in a 2000 PPV? He smashed a cinderblock over his head I believe. Anyway Test smashes a big boot into Show's face, ending the Torture Rack once and for all. Mounted punches! More mounted punches! MORE mounted punches! Go Test, go! He tries to revive Shane but leaves himself open to attack from the giant, who hurls him out of the ring. They clash on the outside and Test ends up in the front row, but Show isn't done and drags him back out. They brawl up the ramp and Test grabs a sing from the crowd to batter the giant with, but Show rams him into part of the set to regain the upper hand. Here comes Shane to help out, and he's found a sign of his own! He blindsides Show, so the furious giant grabs a metal pipe...and Shane absolutely shits himself! I would too, as Show swings wildly and chases him across the stage. Shane proves himself to be a total idiot now, leaping out of Big Show's grasp and climbing the side of the set. Um, do you remember the last time you did this? Steve Blackman (our warrior-king) almost MURDERED you. Show ties to follow Shane up, but Test is there to stop him. Jesus, Test absolutely BATTERS Show and lays him out at the side of the stage. He looks up and gestures for Shane to jump off and crush him - are you loving serious Test!? Shane obliges, because he's Shane McMahon, and FLIES WITH AN IDIOT LEGDROP FROM THE TOP OF THE SET!!! He clearly lands on a cardboard sort of area, but it's still a ridiculous and dangerous spot. Test, instead of immediately checking on his friend's well-being, is all like "gently caress YEAH! Now get up and win the match!". He might be asking slightly too much though, as Shane is totally out of it. Test, ever the loyal friend, picks him up and hangs him from a nearby rail. The referee sees absolutely no problem with this and counts Big Show only. He doesn't move. Winner: Shane McMahon 1.5/5 - This felt like less of a match and more of a ridiculous segment of an angle. The action was all acceptable I suppose, kind of a mixture between a small underdog vs hoss bout and your standard garbage stipulation match. I added on a whole bonus point for Shane's daredevil spot, but then took off .5 for that ridiculous ending. I'm not sure how the referee deemed Shane to have answered the count. If I was Big Show I'd be having serious words. Test scoops Shane over his shoulder and carries him from the arena to the strains of "Here Comes The Money". Friendship wins. #HeelLockerRoom time as we join Vince, Stephanie, and Triple H. Vince ain't happy. Trips tells him not to worry; Show might have lost to Shane, but he and Austin will win the tag titles in tonight's main event. Vince says he only has one son, and that's Triple H. Wow. GOOD NEWS! STEVE loving BLACKMAN IS AT WWF NEW YORK! Bad news. He's joined (and overshadowed) by Grandmaster Sexay. loving bullshit. I demand 30 minute Steve promos at every PPV from now on. The Gospel of Blackman needs to be heard. We see a very brief recap of last Thursday's Smackdown, at which Matt Hardy beat Eddie Guerrero for the European Championship. It looks like an absolute clusterfuck, but a fun one, involving interference from Perry Saturn, Terri, Jeff and Lita. Nice, a singles push for Matt! I always knew he had the greater potential of the two. That Jeff better pray the tag team stays together, because his career is going nowhere. Real talk - Matt is the better Hardy Boy though. By far. 6. WWF European Championship: Matt Hardy (c) vs Christian vs Eddie Guerrero Hoo, this could be a banger. Christian and Eddie agree to team up for now, and beat the champ down at the opening bell before tossing him out. Christian immediately sucker punches Guerrero from behind, making that perhaps the most short-lived alliance in wrestling history (still a better tag team than X Factor). The pair fly around the ring in a quick exchange, ending when Eddie reminds me how much I absolutely love him with an outrageously good hurricanrana. Nobody can move like him in a ring. It's obscene. Matt's back in now and sets Christian up for a superplex, but Eddie lifts him onto his shoulders and Christian looks for the Doomsday Device! Woah! Hardy instead falls into a victory roll - missing Christian by inches - and rolls up Guerrero for two! Nice spot. The champ shoves Eddie into Christian and catches him on the rebound looking for the "AAAH!" Twist of Fate, but my boy C-dog stops him with a quick clothesline. Eddie hits a nice drop toehold on Christian, and Matt hits a...not so nice sunset flip on Guerrero, leaving them both tangled in the ropes. Guerrero is shoved out of the ring and Matt gets a near fall on Christian, before just punching him in the face. Seriously, he just potatoes him in the jaw and the ref's cool with it. Brutal. Eddie drags Matt out of the ring and Christian decks both men with a baseball slide. Matt charges back at him and the challenger lifts him onto the apron...but Hardy does a handstand, springs off the ropes Tajiri-style, and nails a DDT on the way back down! Very unique. Eddie isn't too impressed, dragging Matt back onto the apron by the hair and hitting a BRAINBUSTER INTO THE RING! Jesus! ANOTHER brainbuster!? COVER HIM! Matt kicks out at two!? Booooo! I guess the second brainbuster might have been a vertical suplex. Eddie goes for a frankensteiner from the top, but Christian sneakily holds Matt in place and Guerrero crashes to the mat. Now Christian goes for a superplex, but the champ hurls him off onto the downed Eddie. Double clothesline from the top! Matt's on a roll. The girls in the crowd are screaming. He heads up to the middle rope this time and hits his "AAAAAAHH" legdrop on Eddie! 1...2...no! Eddie sends Matt to the outside, and the champ scrambles to his feet at the foot of the ramp. HAHAHAHA! Edge comes SCREAMING down the ramp and nails him with a Spear! That was awesome! Early shades of Edge's Rated R Superstar persona with the villainous intensity there. He rolls Hardy back in for Christian to cover...but Eddie shoves him off and tries to steal it! 1...2...Matt kicks out! Jeff is out now to help his brother (about time) and jumps Edge. Oh wow, he's dressed like an utter scumbag. That is perhaps the trampiest hat I've ever seen. Christian hits the Unprettier on Guerrero and covers him, but the ref is distracted by a livid Edge! Jeff heads up top and hits the Swanton to break the pinfall before clearing out of the ring. Matt is up and so is a groggy Christian. "Aaah" Twist of Fate! A very weak shout there, but it's good enough for the three count! Winner and STILL WWF European Champion: Matt Hardy 3/5 - A really fun, fast-paced match, and the perfect response to the more gimmicky Show vs Shane bout. My only gripe was that it was a little short. I'd have happily shaved some time off the mammoth Angle vs Benoit clash to make this longer, but never mind. Matt was good, Christian was great, Eddie was Eddie. More from these guys please.
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Aug 5, 2014 03:32
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 PART 4 Recap reacap. We flash back to 'Mania and Austin's betrayal. The following night on Raw, Rocky gets a rematch in a steel cage. Vince interferes but a tweenerish Triple H furiously runs down to save the Rock...only to smash him in the head with a sledgehammer and ally with the champ! Trips soon beats Jericho for the Intercontinental title and look set to dominate the WWF. Kane and 'Taker have something to say about that, intimidating Regal into giving them a match with the two heels. He agrees as long as they can beat Edge and Christian for the tag titles, which they do. I'm expecting this to be a war. 7. WWF, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Championship Match: The Two-Man Power Trip (c) (c) vs The Brothers of Destruction (c) (c) JR mentions during Kane's entrance that his elbow was injured in a previous attack by HHH. The crowd are hot for the Brothers who look absolutely terrifying on the outside. HHH and Austin agree, bailing from the ring as the faces slide in. They try to re-enter a number of times but get scared away. 'Taker punches Trips down as he gets onto the apron, and the heels stall for a long time checking on the Game's eye. It would be tedious, but HHH's heeling makes it great as he shouts "he punched me in the eye!" to Hebner. We get that classic spot where the heels decide to just leave, so the faces chase them down and drag them to the ring. Everybody brawls for a while until we begin properly with HHH and Kane in the ring. Trips survives the initial onslaught and takes control with a high knee, before we cut to Stephanie applauding from the outside. By the way, he thought it was a good idea to bring Stephanie out to the ring. I know. Austin and 'Taker tag in now, and Stone Cold plays possum in the corner. It just looks wrong. Undertaker hits four consecutive Irish whips on Austin, each smashing him into the turnbuckles and reminding me of my own strategy in wrestling games as a child. Fantastic. Austin begs for a handshake on his knees but 'Taker responds with a kick to the face. Triple H comes back in (Austin scrambling to make the tag like a coward) but eats an old school for his troubles, as does an interfering Stone Cold. The Power Trip try to leave again, but Kane chases them down with a double clothesline. I'd appreciate a little less of the chickenshit antics to be honest. The heels take control with quick tags and double-teaming, isolating the Undertaker and wearing him down. Slowly. 'Taker fights back and shakes off a Triple H facebuster to hit a big DDT in retaliation. He doesn't pin him because then he'd be the Intercontinental Champion, and who the gently caress wants that? Undertaker makes it to his feet but rejects the tag from Kane. Interesting. JR claims it's because he's worried about his brother's injured elbow, but there's an undertone of selfishness about it. Maybe he wants Austin's gold. Stone Cold tags in and hits his Thesz press, but 'Taker goozles him nicely as he tries to drop a follow-up elbow! He sets for the chokeslam but HHH runs in to save...and gets goozled as well! They fight off the double chokeslam attempt but eat a (sloppy sloppy) double clothesline instead. Soooo...when does Undertaker become good at wrestling again guys? Kane blind-tags himself in a clears house with some of his signature moves - including a nice diving right hand from the top. His chokeslam attempt fails as Triple H targets the injured arm. The Undertaker runs in to save him, but it only serves to distract the referee and allow Austin to nail the injured arm again, this time with a chair. The heels work Kane's arm for a LOOOOOONG time and the crowd are getting restless (as am I). Finally Kane starts to fight back....aaaand....Triple H hits a Pedigree out of nowhere. What the gently caress? He tags in Austin who makes the cover, but 'Taker breaks it up. What kind of strange disjointed match is this!? Stephanie gets on the apron and bullies Hebner while Austin eats a chokeslam from Undertaker. Hebner is sick of her bullshit and pushes her to the floor! Triple H just stands there and doesn't give a poo poo! What is going on!? Kane hits Trips with an enziguri and FINALLY makes the tag to his bro. Undertaker clears house and hits a massive Last Ride on Triple H. OH BULLSHIT! Earl refuses to count the pinfall because he didn't see the earlier tag. Undertaker was clearing house for a good twenty seconds with Hebner doing nothing to stop him. This match is ludicrous. Austin is back in now and hits a low blow to Undertaker. STUNNER to Kane! 'Taker tackles Austin out of the ring (Hebner takes a bump) and battles with him into the crowd. Meanwhile Stephanie his slid a championship belt to Triple H, and he measures Kane...BIG BOOT TO THE GAME! Stephanie dashes in...BIG BOOT TO STEPHANIE! Now Vince is out with a sledgehammer, but Kane sets him up for the Chokeslam...only for Triple H to snatch the hammer and drill it into the monster's elbow. He smashes Kane in the head (missed by the camera which is focusing on Vince reviving the referee) and covers him for the excruciatingly slow pinfall. Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: The Two-Man Power Trip 0.5/5 - This was akin to watching a play in which the actors have all forgotten about half of their lines and decide to improvise because they know the general direction of the plot. Something was clearly off out there - a lot of stuff was sloppy, we had that incredibly long period of wearing down Kane, and the finish was thrown together in a ramshackle sort of way. An incredibly disappointing end to the show. The crowd are disappointed except for one guy in the front row who is going CRAZY for Triple H. Vince gets Steph the gently caress out of there while the new Champions of Everything crawl onto the entrance ramp. 'Taker is back in the ring next to his fallen brother and I think we're supposed to sympathise with them, but that doesn't even work in kayfabe terms. If I didn't know wrestling was fake, I'd still assume Kane and 'Taker were off their game tonight. They just looked slow and strained, and didn't deserve the titles in all honesty. Blegh. Summary to follow.
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Aug 13, 2014 15:12
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BACKLASH 2001 SUMMARY Match Of The Night Raven vs Rhyno - When I watched this match I was surprised at how good it was, and thought it would perhaps support the upper-card matches of the show in creating a good event. I didn't realise it was actually going to be the best match. Congratulations to the pair for putting on a great show well above their usual quality, but this also shows how weak the PPV's uppercard was. Special mention to Matt Hardy vs Christian vs Eddie Guerrero, which was good but slightly too short, and Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle, which was good but far too long. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Raven - Led the way in the shock MotN, not only showing off his usual hardcore style, but providing an unusually flowing match as well. 2. Rhyno - The less-skilled of the two, but still carried himself well throughout. The shopping cart spot was awesome. 3. Eddie Guerrero - It's great to see him back to his best after a weak match with Test at 'Mania. 4. Christian - A similarly impressive performance in the European Championship match, proving he can get it done as a singles competitor. 5. Chris Benoit - Did his best to help an unusually sloppy Angle through their encounter, but hampered by a long time limit. Matt Hardy narrowly missed out here for his part in the EuroChamp match, as did X-Pac for his nice performance in the opener. A conspicuous lack of true main eventers here (because they all had a shocker, with the exception of The Rock - he's in Hollywood for the time being). Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 12 2. Chris Jericho - 8 3. Triple H - 6 Chris Benoit - 6 4. The Rock - 5 Eddie Guerrero - 5 Raven - 5 5. Rhyno - 4 6. Kane - 3 Edge - 3 7. Christian - 2 8. The Undertaker - 1 BACKLASH 2001 SCORE: 5/10 Another notable case of a shoddy main event hamstringing a decent show. The European and Hardcore matches were both pretty good, but the real tale of Backlash is one of wasted potential. Jericho vs Regal should have been great but for its stupid gimmick. Benoit vs Angle had the potential to be a classic, but dragged like a motherfucker. The main event was obviously appalling. This is a disappointing step down for the WWF after one of the best WrestleManias in history. We'll see if they can turn it around next month - a good start would be the proper use of hot midcard stars like Jericho and Eddie, currently stuck in limbo. JGKing fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Aug 18, 2014 |
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Aug 13, 2014 15:32
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Senerio posted:You have Christian in the top 5 but not on the top list for whatever reason. Well spotted. Fixed.
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Aug 18, 2014 23:53
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Insurrextion - May 5th 2001 - London, England PART 1 So it's been a pretty good start to 2001, with the Royal Rumble, No Way Out, and especially WrestleMania producing great cards. Unfortunately Backlash acted as a c-c-c-combo breaker, bringing a sudden end to the WWF's momentum in lacklustre fashion. Never fear - we've got Insurrextion next to save the day. Insurrextion 2000 currently holds the lowest score in this entire thread with an impressive 3/10. Not only were the matches poor and wrestlers unmotivated, but the storylines went precisely nowhere. I understand that the bookers won't want to blow a huge title change on an exclusively British PPV, but they could at least have given us something as opposed to endless non-finishes and DQs. So yeah, I don't have high hopes for this one. It's made even worse when JR isn't present to SCREAM HIS WELCOME! Instead we have Michael Cole (taking charge of his first Pay Per View I believe), but at least he's backed up by the eternally brilliant Paul Heyman. Commissioner William Regal opens the show from backstage, announcing that the whole card has been reshuffled. Luckily I didn't have a clue what the scheduled card was, so I don't really have a cause for concern. This does absolutely REEK of bullshit for the paying fans though, especially those who turned up live to see the advertised matches. Strangely, Vince McMahon is similarly pissed off. He asks Regal the reason for doing so, and the Commissioner replies that it was actually Linda's decision. Hmm. TURN IT UP! 1. Grandmaster Sexay vs Eddie Guerrero The crowd pop for Too Cool, but are perhaps left a little disappointed when only the less-over of the pair dances out from the back. Then I pop for Eddie Guerrero because he's fantastic, and he can surely help Grandmaster to a good match even on an off day. Eddie looks absolutely livid during his entrance - he's in full blown heel mode here, eyeballing the crowd and pulling disgusted faces. Or maybe he's genuinely furious about something; so many shoot interviews mention his notorious bad temper. He jumps Sexay at the bell and goofs around with his sunglasses before hurling them into the crowd. Cole and Heyman mention one change to the card: instead of taking on Austin 1-on-1, Undertaker will be facing both Stone Cold and Triple H in a handicap match, which apparently he requested. I really hope this isn't more bullshit "ooh the Undertaker is so tough and badass" booking, because I've had my fill of that for his entire run in the thread so far. I fear we're in for more however. Sexay regains control with a missile dropkic and a NICE baseball slide to the outside! He wastes time by dancing however, allowing Eddie to storm back in and take him down. Guerrero hits us with some mocking dancemoves of his own, but almost falls victim to a sneaky rollup. Grandmaster busts out more of his surprisingly impressive offence, nailing an enziguri and a superkick on the way to a nearfall. Aaaagh he ruins all that good work by botching a powerbomb, but neither guy looks badly hurt. That was lucky. Eddie rolls out the way of a Hip Hop Drop and heads up for the Frogsplash, but Grandmaster cuts him off and throws him from the top. Sexay charges crotch-first into the turnbuckles as Guerrero dives out of the way, before falling prey to a rollup pin (with a little extra leverage from Eddie's feet on the ropes). Winner: Eddie Guerrero 1.5/5 - Very short but decent. Shame about that botched powerbomb and the slightly underwhelming finish. Triple H and Stephanie are in a lovey-dovey mood in the #HeelLockerRoom. Trips is so relaxed he brushes off concerns about facing the Undertaker later tonight. Careful Hunter! The Undertaker is the most feared and awesome badass in the entire WWF - everyone knows that! Next up we have a six-person intergender tag match between The Hollys (including Molly) and The Radicalz (feat. Terri). Oh wait, NO WE loving DON'T. In the first card shake-up of the night, Terri gets on the stick and demands that the match be turned into a regular tag contest. She claims the UK didn't have wrestling boots for her to compete in. 2. The Radicalz vs The Hollys The Radicalz are represented here by Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko. The good guys storm the ring and Molly goes straight for Terri. They exchange slaps before Terri gets absolutely planted with some kind of northern lights variation! Referee Teddy Long is so startled that he goes to count the pinfall, despite Terri just telling us that the women aren't contestants in this match. Hey, perhaps he doesn't recognise her authority, in which case fair enough. Perry and Hardcore start things off properly, but sadly my boy can't gain control and eats a clothesline from Bob. Hardcore hits a back suplex for two but Saturn answers back with a jawbreaker and an ugly clothesline. It's a generally ugly contest I'm afraid, on various levels. Cole tells Heyman to watch out for this next move as Hardcore winds up...and straight up kicks Perry in the balls. Amazing. Michael covers by describing it as a boot "to the lower abdomen" as Crash gets the tag and looks to press the advantage. He can't however, as Saturn hurls him overhead and...OH MY GOD! After what feels like FOREVER, we finally see the return of...THE POINTLESS FORWARD ROLL TO THE CORNER! Perry I love you! Malenko gets the tag but runs right into a drop toehold from Crash. The smaller Holly gets in a few shots before tagging Hardcore back in, and I've just noticed that Molly is standing on the apron with the Hollys as if she's also competing. Terri is quite correctly on the outside. Is this supposed to show Molly's fighting spirit or is this a result of the last minute card shakeup? Anyway Perry helps out his partner with a dirty clothesline from the apron, before tagging in and hitting Hardcore with a BRAINBUSTAAAAAH~! It only gets minimal crowd reaction and a 2 count because this isn't Japan, so Perry applies a camel clutch to stay on top. Holly powers out but eats a suplex, before Saturn heads up top and drops a terrible elbow. Even CM Punk would be embarrassed with that. Luckily Hardcore rolls out of its path and goes for the Alabama Slam, but he just drops Saturn to the canvas. He's either totally botched that or is selling his fatigue and I genuinely can't tell which; if it's the latter, he's done a very good job. Crash gets the mildly warm tag and hits a great tilt-a-whirl on Saturn, but the bigger man delves deep into his moveset and responds with a clothesline. Crash fights back and heads up top, dropping Perry with a hurricanrana for two. He follows it up with...a Dudley Dog!? That's flagrantly stealing Spike's finisher, you bastard! It looks as though that'll be enough for a three count, but Terri interferes and drags him out of the pinfall. Bam. DQ her, surely. No!? Teddy lets this one continue for some reason, but Molly is on hand to save the day. It all breaks down as the two women catfight around the ring (check that use of "catfight" as a verb), but Perry doesn't give a poo poo about concepts like "rhythm" or "the flow of a match", striding right over to Crash and hitting him with the Moss-Covered Three-Handled Family Gredunza for the win. Winners: The Radicalz 1/5 - A poor match partially saved by Crash Holly's impressive performance, but the other three guys didn't contribute much of note. At least Jericho would approve of Saturn's use of one of his 1004 holds. Regal cuts a quick promo about how happy he is to be back among the civilised. I've been to London and I'm not sure I agree with him. #ShotsFired We were supposed to have Big Show vs Test now, but in another of the card changes tonight, Linda McMahon has called it off due to an injury to the babyface. We flashback to two weeks ago backstage on Smackdown, where Big Show jumps Test during a hardcore match with Rhyno and absolutely destroys him. I'm guessing that's where he picked up the injury. Show's music hits to the surprise of Cole. He's heading out anyway despite the cancellation of his match. He grabs a mic and calls Test a coward for not fighting regardless of his injury. He commands his opponent to drag his carcass out and raise his hand as the victor. Test's music hits and he does indeed come out, but I doubt he's going to succumb to Shows's demands. drat, he's really selling those injured ribs - it was two weeks ago! I'm pretty sure Cena and Triple H have recovered from far worse injuries in the short few hours between WrestleMania and the following Raw. Hunter even no-sold death when Austin dropped him from that forklift, lest we forget. Test enters the ring and takes off his shirt to fight, but Show jumps him and beats him down with ease. Test battles bravely but eats a big sidewalk slam and the Final Cut. The indignity of having to sell such a weak finisher probably hurts as much as those injured ribs. Referees run out to save Test while Big Show calls out anybody on the roster, branding them all cowards. Nobody answers so he heads up the ramp to leave, when suddenly... ...oh it's only Bradshaw. The APA member strides down the ramp and batters Show all the way back down to the ring. The bell sounds, so I guess this is a match. 3. Big Show vs Bradshaw Heyman describes this as a "bonus match", the cheeky fucker. Big Show gains control with a sidewalk slam and begins to beat Bradshaw down, while EMTs head from the back to treat Test on the outside. Man they're really putting Show over as a danger here. He takes the Acolyte to the outside and knocks him down with a clothesline, before...sort of scooping the referee out of the way with a chair. I hesitate to call it a chairshot because it was really pathetic. Show snatches Test from the sanctuary of the EMTs and rolls him into the ring. He lifts the steel chair...AND TEST BOOTS IT BACK INTO HIS FACE! Nice spot. Test bails, leaving Bradshaw to nail Show with the Clothesline from Hell to pick up the three count. Winner: Bradshaw 0.5/5 - A good Big Boot from Test doesn't hide how bad this match was. Very slow and very boring, but the booking baffles me the most. Why build Big Show up as such a monster only to have him beaten by Bradshaw? It continues the feud with Test sure, but now I see Show as a huge dude who just lost to a tag team guy.
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Aug 28, 2014 04:14
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Insurrextion - May 5th 2001 PART 2 Now you'll recall that the tag championships are currently in the hands of Triple H and Austin, but the tag division shows no signs of slowing. Up next we have elimination action between three of the most entertaining tag teams in the world. And also X Factor. 4. Elimination Tag Match: Edge and Christian vs X Factor vs The Dudley Boyz vs The Hardy Boyz Albert is at ringside to accompany Justin Credible and X-Pac. Matt Hardy is still the European champion, and Jeff gestures to the belt all the way to the ring. It looks really strange, but I've come to expect that from the Hardys in hindsight. Who'd have thought they'd become so weird? They seemed so down to earth back in the day. Justin and Bubba start us off with an entertaining exchange; they seem to be having a blast in contrast to the unmotivated stars of last year's Insurrextion. Credible bails in cowardly fashion and tags in Matt to a big girly pop. Bubba tags in Christian and the pair go at it with headlocks and dropkicks. Jeff gets the tag and the Hardys appear to be over in the UK. He beats on X-Pac for a while until Albert sneak attacks him while the ref's back is turned. This is all fast and furious action so far, as expected. Matt Hardy tags in an suffers a Bronco Buster for his troubles, but he's able to take down both members of X Factor with a double clothesline. How long were X Factor around for in the WWF, because I really struggle to remember them at all. They can't have long left. The Hardys hit poetry in motion on Credible, but X-Pac ducks out of the way of a similar fate. The Dudleys are bored of waiting around on the apron now and kickstart a brawl with Edge and Christian on the outside. Meanwhile, Matt hits the Twist of Fate (without his customary "aaargh") on X-Pac. Albert charges the ring to save the day but Matt keeps him busy while Jeff hits a spectacular Swanton Bomb on Pac to end X Factor's participation in the match. X Factor aren't happy and beat down Matt on the outside. This leaves Jeff alone in the ring to contend with both Edge and Christian. He sets Edge up for a Twist of Fate of his own, but Christian is there to cut him off with the Unprettier! Yes! Do it! 1...2...The Hardys are gone! My boys are running wild! The crowd are livid and I don't even care! The Dudleys run roughshod over E&C for a while, but the heels regain control with some heelery and slowly pick apart D-Von. The crowd is slowly deflating, but when Bubba gets the hot tag I think the place is going to explode. He eventually does get it and clears house in explosive fashion, the pick of the moves being a ludicrously high back body drop on Christian. He plants poor Christian with an equally big Bubba Bomb before setting up Edge for D-Von's wassup headbutt. The Dudleys are rolling. They head outside for a table but Edge and Christian try to put a stop to that with a double baseball slide. They miss and get clocked with the folded up table before the action returns to the ring. The ref gets distracted just in time for...GORE! GORE! GORE! Rhyno charges down to save his buddies, folding up Bubba Ray as Heyman loses his poo poo on commentary! Edge makes the cover and that's all! Winners: Edge and Christian 2.5/5 - Decent, if a little house show-esque. The usual suspects performed well here: Edge, Jeff, Bubba, and especially Christian. Rhyno brings the table into the ring which seems quite unwise, given the company he finds himself in. Here comes Spike to even the odds, nailing Edge with a Dudley Dog and trapping Rhyno in the corner. Bubba and D-Von recover, dispatch of Christian, and sent Rhyno through the table with a crowd-pleasing 3D. Same old same old, but we can probably forgive that at Insurrextion. Kurt Angle is backstage and promises to take back his gold medals. Benoit stole them. Only in wrestling is the simple act of thievery the work of a rebellious babyface. That and Robin Hood I suppose. And heist films. And Mission Impossible I suppose. Alright nevermind. Next up is the Divas' Battle Royal, except it's not because Right To Censor come out to stop everything. Ivory calls out Lita, Jacqueline and Trish Stratus, calling them slappers. That's the English word for sluts, although I think it's fallen out of fashion. I haven't heard it used as an insult for ages. Slags is more common. The girls come out and strip Ivory down, sending her hurrying to the back. Trish flirts with Steven Richards, the others pull down his trousers, and Lita finishes things off with her Moonsault. Pointless segment really. 5. 2 out of 3 Falls: Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle Benoit gets a big pop. Angle gets big heat. Kurt is without his medals - which are in Benoit's possession apparently - and he has some words prior to the match. He demands to know where they are and Benoit assures him that they're in a safe, warm place. Ugh. Not only is that disgusting, but Benoit also doesn't really play the role of mischievous babyface very well - surely Jericho would have been better in this role. The pair begin with some impressive mat wrestling. Benoit almost gets the Crossface in early but Angle snatches the bottom rope. Angle almost gets the Ankle Lock in response but Benoit rolls through and flips Kurt out of the ring. They battle some more and Angle almost falls victim to a second Crossface. The Olympian begins to bust out the suplexes, hitting a vertical and a belly-to-belly to gain control. Benoit fights back with chops and hits Eddie Guerrero's three amigos, although Heyman claims it's actually a tribute to the Dynamite Kid. Can anybody verify this? I don't know anything about the Kid's moveset. Benoit gets the three German suplexes and heads up top for the Diving Headbutt! It gets the three, because this only a two out of three falls match, so of COURSE secondary finishers have more of an impact. First fall to Benoit. Angle plays possum and scoops Benoit out of the ring as he approaches. He beats the Wolverine around the outside before they head back in. Just once I'd love to see a 2 out of 3 falls match end at 2-0. Has anybody seen this happen? I imagine ROH might have done it at some point. Angle gains the upper hand with some brilliant belly-to-bellys, but Benoit kicks out of every pinfall attempt. The pair trade chops (Benoit's are harder of course) before the Wolverine nails a DDT to keep both men down. They struggle back to their feet and Angle goes for the Olympic Slam, but Benoit lands on his feet and nails three Germans again. He goes up for a second Diving Headbutt but Kurt rolls out of the way, slapping on an Ankle Lock as Benoit tries to get to his feet. Benoit rolls through and clamps on the Crossface! Angle powers out! Oh poo poo, Benoit catches everybody by surprise by rolling Angle up and GETTING THE THREE! IT'S A 2-0 VICTORY IN A 2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH, HOLY poo poo! Winner: Chris Benoit 2.5/5 - Another decent effort by these two, but the crowd's enthusiasm was absolutely gone, and mine wasn't doing too well either. Still the best two performances of the night so far. Fair play to both men. Benoit rolls straight out of the ring and Angle is furious. He throws a tantrum as the Wolverine strides to the top of the ramp and grabs a microphone. He claims that he was true to his word. Angle's medals are in a very safe, warm place. He reaches into his pants and brings them out. Disgraceful - he's supposed to be the babyface! Kurt is understandably cross. JGKing fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 23:26
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Insurrextion - May 5th 2001 PART 3 Stone Cold and Triple H are chilling with Debra in the back. Austin orders her to fetch them some drinks and she refuses. It's because they're bad guys you see? We get a quick recap of the Jericho vs Regal feud, which is starting to feel quite lengthy now. I thought the Duchess of Queensbury rules match last show would be the end of it, but no. We now have a match for the "Queen's Cup", which is revealed to be a hefty trophy at ringside. Cole stresses its monetary value. It's clearly not going to survive the night. 6. Queen's Cup: William Regal vs Chris Jericho They exchange holds to begin until Regal thinks he's thrown Jericho out of the ring, but Y2J holds on and scampers up top. He drops the Commissioner with a flying elbow. They brawl briefly on the outside with Jericho maintaining the upper hand, before nailing Regal with a crossbody for two back in the ring. This is something of a squash so far. They run through a complex series of reversals on the mat, almost culminating in the Walls of Jericho. Fortunately for Regal he's able to escape, and gains a measure of revenge by ramming Y2J's shoulder into the ringpost. Heyman mentions a pair of really nasty looking bruises on Regal's thigh, using them to play the Commissioner up as a legitimate tough guy. Cole bafflingly points out that he's not a tough guy - he has the power of McMahon, Austin, Triple H and Stephanie backing him up. Heyman correctly points out that Regal's out here on his own tonight as Jericho blasts him with a frankensteiner. Regal fights back and hurls Jericho overhead with a suplex, Y2J appearing to land on the top of his skull (although I think it's actually executed safely and properly). Regal hits some knees to the head and wears Jericho down with a Regal gets the nearest of near falls with a viciously hard suplex, but Jericho counters the next move with a victory roll. He transitions from a pinfall to the Walls of Jericho, and Regal IMMEDIATELY taps. Winner: Chris Jericho 2.5/5 - A nice match here, but one which suffered slightly from a few too many restholds on Regal's part. Jericho was great - it's good to see him approaching his best again after a lengthy spell of boring matches. He needs to get out of this feud and back up the card. Referee Teddy Long presents Jericho with the Queen's Cup, which he hoists above his head. Regal isn't happy and gets his heat back by - you guessed it - blindsiding Y2J and beating him down with the trophy. It breaks at one point, as it should, because this is rasslin'.
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Aug 31, 2014 18:07
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Insurrextion - May 5th 2001 PART 4 FUCKKKK! I wrote the update and then my internet cut out as I pressed the submit button and I lost it all. I'll give a recap because I really don't have the willpower to slog through that whole match again. Sorry you guys. The title will not change hands on a fall involving Triple H. 7. WWF Championship: Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) and Triple H vs The Undertaker The Undertaker comes out to Limp Bizkit as usual - which is never something I will get used to, nor want to accept as part of my own concept of reality. - The heels stall for a long time at the bell because Undertaker is such a badass and they're scared of him. - Triple H spends most of the match as the legal man, wearing down Undertaker and protecting Austin's title from being taken. - Whenever one of the heels is in trouble the other jumps in and saves him. Austin even breaks up a Triple H pinfall on Undertaker, even though this would result in the match ending and him keeping his title. What the gently caress? - Undertaker chokeslams Triple H through the announce table, isolating Austin in the ring for a while. He almost gets the pinfall with another chokeslam, but Trips just makes it back in time to save Stone Cold. - Austin hits Undertaker with a chair while Stephanie distracts the ref, but Undertaker kicks out just in time. - Vince comes down to the ring and misses Undertaker with a chairshot, accidentally hitting Triple H instead. It's very house show-esque. - Undertaker chokeslams Vince, chokeslams Triple H, and picks up the win with a pinfall on the latter. The title doesn't change hands. - Undertaker doesn't seem too annoyed at his own stupidity, instead demolishing the three heels with a chair and leaving victorious. What a loving idiot. Winner: The Undertaker 0.5/5 - Slow, sloppy and pointless. This was going to get a 1/5 or a 1.5/5 but the idiotic booking made it even worse. Why on earth would 'Taker go for the pin on Triple H knowing that it wouldn't result in him winning the title? Shouldn't he have just kept wrestling until he got a chance at Austin? This win does precisely nothing for Undertaker in kayfabe terms. Outside of kayfabe it sends the fans home happy, I guess? Undertaker gets onto his motorbike and rides into the distance, his place as the biggest badass in the WWF cemented as the two top heels in the company (and the top authority figure) lie unconscious in the middle of the ring. He pauses at the top of the ramp to lap up the adulation of the UK fans and raises an arm aloft, successfully winning all of the heat for himself. I can't even remember who he was facing. Hooray for the Undertaker you guys. Hooray for the Undertaker. (I might stick to shorter formats like this after all. It makes it much easier to write admittedly, but also probably far easier to read. What do you guys think?)
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Aug 31, 2014 21:13
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Squalitude posted:Inxurrextion is the only time I've been to a live wrestling show, but it's actually a struggle to remember if it was this one or the one the following year. My biggest memory is that we arrived late (idiot!) and Eddie Guerrero was celebrating as we came in, but that doesn't really help as according to wikipedia he had an early match both years. Looking into it a bit closer I must've seen 2002's show, although now I'm more annoyed at our lateness because I also missed seeing Mr. Perfect in action (was he still any good in 2002?). I'm really excited to get past these latter stages of the Attitude Era (although it arguably ended with that handshake at 'Mania 17) because I remember very little from the Invasion onwards. One of the few things I do remember is Perfect making a shock appearance in the 2002 Royal Rumble and making it pretty far. I'm guessing he must have still been pretty awesome if they entrusted him with such an important slot - in any case we'll find out! Dias posted:NXT had a 2-0 in a 2/3 falls between Sami Zayn and Leo Kruger. It served as an excuse to phase out Kruger and bring in Adam Rose, mostly. I don't follow NXT at all and am currently only half up to speed with modern day WWE. Is there any word on how close Zayn is to a full roster call-up? Likewise for Steen and Devitt.
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Aug 31, 2014 21:18
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INSURREXTION 2001 SUMMARY Match Of The Night Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit - Another good technical display by these two, and fair less tedious than their mammoth Iron Man match last time around. Also a rare example of a 2 out of 3 falls match finishing 2-0. May have faded into obscurity on a stronger card however. The big four-team tag match was fun as well, as was Jericho vs Regal, but nothing on this card set the world on fire. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Kurt Angle - Back to his sharp self and in desperate need of points after a poor start to the year. 2. Chris Benoit - The more consistent of the pair in 2001, but slightly overshadowed by a resurgent Angle this time. 3. Chris Jericho - An impressive showing one more from Y2J, but he's suffering from a second poor feud in a row (the first with Kane). 4. William Regal - The Commissioner played his part and reminded everybody why he's held in such high technical regard. 5. Christian - Once again the standout performer in a cluttered tag division. Jeff Hardy looked great in the big tag match, but his very limited role sadly wasn't enough to get on the top five here. Triple H also deserves a special mention for being the only main eventer not to see his performance drop. Austin was noticeably sloppier, and Undertaker has still yet to impress me in this thread at all. Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 12 2. Chris Jericho - 11 3. Chris Benoit - 10 4. Triple H - 6 5. The Rock - 5 Eddie Guerrero - 5 Raven - 5 Kurt Angle - 5 6. Rhyno - 4 7. Kane - 3 Edge - 3 Christian - 3 8. William Regal - 2 9. The Undertaker - 1 INSURREXTION 2001 SCORE: 4/10 Like the previous year's Insurrextion, a pale imitation of a real WWF Pay Per View. Admittedly this one didn't suffer quite as heavily from the same lack of motivation which plagued 2000's edition, but this card had very little to offer in terms of in-ring action (and effectively nothing in terms of storytelling). Three decent matches prevented a total disaster thanks to the tag division, Regal, Jericho, Benoit and Angle, but the main event was a huge let down. It seems as though WWF main events of this era are incredibly hit-and-miss. When they go right they're incredible, but poor ones are particularly shoddy.
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Aug 31, 2014 22:55
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Judgement Day - May 20th 2001 - Sacramento, California PART 1 The most homoerotic poster we've seen yet can only mean one thing: it's time for Judgement Day! Last year's Judgement Day saw the most controversial rating of this thread so far. My DUD rating of the Iron Man main event caused some reader backlash, and I eventually admitted I was overly-harsh and revised my score - but not by much. The match completely failed to deliver, culminating in a horrendously screwy finish and the poorly-timed return of the Undertaker. Hopefully this event's uppercard does a lot better. The feud between the Two Man Power Trip and the Brothers of Destruction seems to have streamlined into an Austin vs Undertaker rivalry in recent weeks. Although still assisted by Triple H and Kane respectively, the pair have been more directly at one another's throats. They'll face off in the main event in a No Disqualification match (presumably to prevent Austin from weasling his way to a DQ loss and saving his title). I predict that this match will be bloody and kind of entertaining, but ultimately not very good. It may well just turn into one of the ugly Austin vs Rikishi brawls we saw during the mid-to-late 2000 period. Also Undertaker really needs to become a good wrestler. We all know he is a good wrestler, I've seen those WrestleMania matches and so have you. The only problem is, I'm really not sure when he stops sucking. Was he good in the 90s? Is this just a slump? I know he was over in the early Attitude Era but that might have just been down to the gimmick. My 90s knowledge is very shaky. We also have a CHAIN MATCH between Triple H and Kane. Apparently the Power Trip further attacked his injured arm the night after Backlash, sidelining him for two weeks and explaining his absence at Insurrextion. If there's one match that's suited to Kane's style and character this would probably be it. I'm expecting innovative spots and lots of carnage here - therefore I think it'll be better than the main event, although both matches will probably be upstaged by something lower on the card. JIM ROSS SCREAMS HIS WELCOMES! It's so good to have him back after Cole was a little bit mediocre at Insurrextion. Heyman's alongside him, so this should be a strong event from a commentating perspective. Regal's music hits to boos. Another Jericho match!? Hasn't that feud died yet? He gets on the mic and starts to run down...Rikishi!? That's a better feud! Two decidedly lowercard guys, good workers, and a clear face/heel divide, thereby freeing Jericho up for a push. Great booking. It also means we must have had a Rikishi face turn at some point. Regal details how Rikishi gave Stephanie the stink face after she tried to distract him in a match with Austin. Yup, that'll turn a guy face. He calls out the Samoan and warns him not to try the same thing tonight. 1. William Regal vs Rikishi Rikishi's Too Cool theme tune is back, as is his overness. Big cheers for the big man.  He wins the opening exchange and goes immediately for the stink face, but Regal low blows him sneakily. The Commissioner hits a sunset flip but Rikishi doesn't fall...BAM! He slams down to the mat but Regal just about scoots out of the way. That could well have killed him. They brawl into a corner and Kish is favouring his arm heavily. Good selling or a legit injury? He destroys Regal with a clothesline and squashes him in the corner before signalling for the crowd to raise the roof...but only with one arm. That could be a legit tweak to the shoulder. He gives Regal the stink face and the Commissioner bails immediately afterwards, staggering around the ring with a brilliantly disgusted facial expression. Rikishi follows him out and whips him hard into the ring steps, busting the Commissioner open hardway. This match could have gone badly wrong but they're holding it together out there, credit to both guys. They return to the ring and Regal's forehead is busted. He eats a superkick but bounces back up and hits Rikishi with some sort of neckbreaker variation. A quick Wikipedia search reveals it to be the Regal Cutter. It's good enough for the three count. Winner: William Regal 2/5 - Potentially disastrous with Rikishi's injury (another Wikipedia search reveals he did indeed hurt his arm) and Regal's involuntary bleeding, but they held it together really well and delivered an entirely passable, understandably short opener. Two true professionals. Wow, apparently that injury will keep Rikishi out for the rest of the year. Jesus. Regal backs up the ramp, crazed expression on his blood-stained face. He looks awesome. Rikishi is in the ring clutching his injured arm, poor guy. It's a shame - just as he was getting back on track after that disastrous heel run. Edge and Christian are backstage hyping the Tag Team Turmoil match later tonight. I guess Austin and Triple H vacated the tag belts to focus on their singles matches. If the boys win they'll become eight time champions - which Christian claims gives the WWF no choice but to induct them into the Hall of Fame. If only they knew. I'm sure Christian will get there eventually (and if he doesn't, gently caress the WWE. Seriously). Edge says he's a little worried about Jericho's involvement in the match, explaining that Y2J is teaming with a mystery partner. Kurt Angle interrupts - the whole gang are back together  - and asks if E&C have any advice. The third fall of his 2 out of 3 rematch with Benoit is under a ladder stipulation. He's certain that it won't go to a third fall, but if it does he wants to know what he should do. Edge advises him that falling off sucks, so don't do it. Christian says that if he does fall off, be sure to do it with his medals in hand. I guess the match is for Kurt's medals too. Interesting, and potentially a feud-ender. Although the Benoit/Angle feud should have been amazing it hasn't really delivered in my opinion.Triple H and Stephanie arrive backstage and enter the #HeelLockerRoom. Vince greets them happily but he's worried. He asks if the Power Trip were wise involving Undertaker's wife Sara in their feud. Apparently Austin anonymously called 'Taker and claimed Sara had been in a car crash, but when 'Taker rushed home he found her unharmed. Austin then appeared on the Tron and revealed it was he who placed the call during an Undertaker vs Triple H bout on Smackdown, costing the Deadman the match. Trips asks Vince if he should really be concerned about the Power Trip messing with another guy's wife when he was responsible for sedating Linda. Vince retorts that he was messing with his own wife, not somebody else's. A hype video shows the Benoit/Angle feud over the medals. Benoit stole them and kept them down the front of his pants, as revealed at Insurrextion. He challenges Kurt to a match at Judgement Day to win them back: first fall pinfall, second fall submission, third fall a ladder match. Angle agrees and beats down the Wolverine on the following episode of Smackdown. He retrieves the medals from Benoit's crotch and holds them aloft, but the Canadian blindsides him and slaps on the Crossface. Angle taps - dropping his medals in the process - and Benoit gets them back. 2. Three Stages of Hell Match for Kurt Angle's Gold Medals: Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit Benoit presents the belts to the referee and is immediately jumped by Angle. Kurt comes out like a house on fire and nails three German suplexes (he does them better than Benoit too). He goes up top and continues to steal his opponent's moveset, attempting a Diving Headbutt and crashing into the canvas as the Wolverine rolls clear. He staggers to his feet...and BENOIT NAILS THE OLYMPIC SLAM! 1...2...3! Chris Benoit wins the first fall! What an ingenious and explosive start to the match - this is great! Submissions only now for the second fall and Benoit goes immediately for the Crippler Crossface. Angle just about makes the ropes and slides out of the ring, but Benoit follows him with chops and a head slam to the ring steps. They brawl around the outside of the ring and Kurt gets the upper hand, slamming Benoit's head repeatedly into JR and Heyman's table. Paul brilliantly screams "the Spanish guys are over there!" They return to the ring and Angle goes for the Ankle Lock but Benoit rolls through...and goes for an Ankle Lock of his own! Kurt kicks him off and almost falls victim to a Crossface, but he grabs the ropes to stop the assault. The pair exchange suplexes and strikes, but each time one builds up a head of steam they're almost snagged in a submission hold out of nowhere. It's compelling wrestling. Benoit grapples Angle to the canvas and applies...a Liontamer!? He has it on good as well - the knee is on the back of the head and everything, but Angle topples him off before substantial damage can be done. Benoit's just showing off his repertoire now, slapping on a picture perfect figure four leglock. This is what their Ultimate Submission match at Backlash should have been like. Benoit continues to work the leg with a few stomps and a dragon screw, but Angle takes the action out of the ring to gain some respite. It doesn't last for long as Benoit forces him back in...but falls victim to the second Olympic Slam of the match, this one by it's true owner! Angle clamps on the Ankle Lock and forces Benoit to tap, thereby winning the second fall of the match. The referee gets Angle to release the hold before attaching the gold medals to a lowered wire. It raises in the air again, signalling the start of the third fall. Kurt whips Benoit into the steel steps and grabs a ladder from under the ring. It's red and pretty small and there's a full-sized version already propped up on the entrance ramp, but Angle makes do with the miniature. He climbs and is almost within reach but needs to be on the very top step...but Benoit charges the ring and pushes it over before he can climb further! He takes Angle outside and throws him into the front row, taking the full-sized ladder back into the ring with him. He climbs, but the Olympian makes it back just in time and yanks him down. Angle uses the ladder as a weapon to bludgeon his opponent, but the Wolverine backdrops him out of the ring in avoiding one last charge. Benoit climbs again but Kurt hits him with a low blow and pulls him down yet again. The ladder ends up propped in a corner and used as a target, as the pair whip one another into it. Angle tries to avoid a collision by scampering halfway up, but Benoit simply pulls the ladder back and crushes him undearneath on the canvas. He sets it up horizontally in the turnbuckles but ends up whipped chest-first into it himself as Angle takes advantage. The Olympian now sets up the ladder diagonally against the ropes and hits a sickening snap suplex, crashing Benoit's spine right into the steel! The Wolverine staggers to the apron and yanks down one end of the ladder, see-sawing the other side up into Kurt's face. It's a spot I like to call: The Spot That hosed Up Joey Mercury's Face. Benoit sets up the ladder over Kurt's body and climbs, but Angle has enough strength to topple it over and send the Wolverine's head snapping into the top rope. Kurt charges and runs...straight into a Crippler Crossface! He taps, but of course that doesn't count in this fall. Benoit keeps it locked on and shows no signs of letting go...when suddenly MY BOYS Edge and Christian run down to the ring! They yank Benoit out and keep him busy on the outside. The Wolverine battles bravely but can't make it back in time to stop Angle from grabbing his medals and winning the match. Winner: Kurt Angle 4/5 - A hell of a match as the Angle/Benoit feud finally delivers. This was well-paced and didn't suffer too many rest periods, while the high-octane stuff was executed really well. Even the cheap finish didn't really have an adverse effect, although it might have been nice to see a clean ending if this was the blowoff. Benoit shoves the ladder over but it's too late. Kurt bounces into the ropes and falls to the canvas, and Benoit is immediately on him with stomps. Edge and Christian bail him out under the bottom rope and gleefully help him to the back.
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Sep 1, 2014 01:59
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Judgement Day - May 20th 2001 PART 2 In a wonderful piece of improvisation, Regal is in his office getting his cut stitched up. Somebody enters an he snaps at them to go away - he's busy. The mystery man grabs his shoulder and Regal is horrified to see that it's the Undertaker. The Deadman intimidates William into making the main event a no-DQ match, a decision Heyman and JR predict will hurt Austin's chances. Up next we have a continuation of the Test/Big Show feud seen at Insurrextion (which itself sprouted from the Big Show/Shane clash at Backlash) - and Rhyno's Hardcore title is thrown into the mix as well. 3. WWF Hardcore Championship: Rhyno (c) vs Test vs Big Show Big Show and Test brawl during Rhyno's entrance, allowing the champ to bring a section of ring steps into the ring unchallenged. The two smaller guys (if Test can ever be described as small) double team the giant, but he clotheslines Rhyno to the outside and brawls with Test against a crowd barrier. Show gets whipped into the barrier but hoists Test over into the front row in retaliation, before evading a charge from Rhyno and booting him over the guardrail as well. All three man brawl through the crowd and end up backstage. Show whips Test into a concrete pillar, but the babyface responds by choking the big man with a velvet security rope. Inventive. Rhyno rams a trolley of metal containers into Big Show but he recovers quickly and tosses the other two around with ease, even making a crater in one wall with the help of Rhyno's body. The champ gets scooped up and pressed against a wall, and THE REF COUNTS THE NEAR-FALL!? That's the first time I've ever seen a vertical pinfall, and I'm not sure I liked it. Test is hooked up for a chokeslam down a small flight of stairs, but Rhyno saves him and the Big Show gets double-teamed. He's driven backwards and falls heavily onto a stack of crates, leaving the other two to slug this one out. Test hurtles around the backstage area, hurling Rhyno's body into walls and containers. They battle all the way back into the arena and back down to the ring through a slightly different section of crowd to the one they left by. I'm glad they didn't get lost during the backstage segment. Actually no I'm not. That would have been great. They return to the ring - not before Rhyno fetches some weapons from underneath - and Test smashes a trash can lid into the champ's head. Rhyno retaliates with a DDT onto the lid for a near fall. The Big Show has made his way back into the arena and enters the ring now, interrupting the champ's beatdown of test in the corner. Rhyno charges...misses...and is DRILLED with a really nice chokeslam! BIG BOOT FROM TEST out of nowhere on Show! 1...2...no. They show a replay and miss Rhyno goreing the gently caress out of Big Show as Test dives out of the way. Rhyno turns back to deal with the other challenger...but Test BRAINS him with a trash can lid! 1...2...no! I'd bought that as the finish. Test fetches a fire extinguisher from under the ring and swings at Rhyno who ducks, and Big Show is there to goozle him. Test fights out of it by spraying the extinguisher in his face, before nailing him for a very near fall! Rhyno ends Test's involvement tonight with a huge trash can shot, sending him rolling out of the ring. He tosses the can to Big Show and charges with a leaping Gore from a set of ring steps! 1...2...3! Winner and STILL WWF Hardcore Champion: Rhyno 2/5 - I thought this was going to be awful when they headed backstage, but they came back to the ring and saved the match with some great (and admittedly garbagey) sequences towards the end. Not quite on the level of Rhyno's match with Raven from Backlash, but still perfectly acceptable. Heyman puts over Rhyno. Of course he does. 4. WWF Women's Championship: Chyna (c) vs Lita Yo, Lita is over. She gets a big pop upon entering, but Chyna counters this by...dressing as a peacock. She's got a big feathery headdress on, which I assume she'll remove before the bell. They hug to start off as a show of respect and it gets booed. Haha. Collar-and-elbow tie up to start and Chyna uses her superior strength to shove Lita down. She helps her up and they continue. Chyna gorilla presses Lita over her head, but the challenger reverses into a roll-up as she falls. It gets two and she extends a hand to help the champ up in return for earlier. Chyna accepts...and pulls Lita into a small package! 1...2...but the challenger kicks out. Chyna begins to dominate with hard forearms and clotheslines but Lita hits a swinging DDT. Instead of going for the pin she jumps on top and pounds away with rights. They seem to run out of ideas for a minute or two, with Lita kind of working the arm and Chyna repeatedly knocking her down. It's not very compelling but Chyna gets things back on track with a swinging neckbreaker. A sloppy powerslam gets a near fall, which Chyna follows up with a huge gorilla press slam. 1...2...OH NO, YOU DIDN'T JUST DO THAT! Chyna takes a leaf out of Undertaker's lovely book and lifts Lita's shoulder before three. Gaaah I hate it. Lita ensnares the champ in a surprise armbar and cranks back, but Chyna survives and reverses into a headscissors submission. Woah what!? Out of nowhere, like a spectre from the past, Eddie Guerrero walks slowly out to the top of the entrance ramp. Are they really bringing this angle back? Chyna goes for a powerbomb but Lita counters into a (slightly botched) hurricanrana for two. She goes for the Twist of Fate but Chyna reverses and this time is able to nail a powerbomb, but loving hell that looked unsafe. Lita could have landed on her neck. It's good enough for the three, thankfully. Winner and STILL WWF Women's Champion: Chyna 0.5/5 - I was going to give this 1/5 for some innovative spots and decent psychology, but that finish looked sloppy and potentially unsafe. Lita wasn't as impressive as usual here - Chyna was actually the more solid worker until that bad finishing sequence. The Eddie involvement was confusing but didn't really affect the match at all, so we'll see what happens next. Chyna eyes Eddie warily but he doesn't advance any further than the top of the ramp. The champ helps Lita to her feet and sportingly raises her hand. Cole interviews Angle as he walks backstage asking if recapturing his medals closes this chapter of his life. Kurt says this is just the beginning. He plans to have a full Olympic ceremony re-enactment tomorrow night on Raw. He passes Edge and Christian and stops to thank them for "supporting him". He says he knows he did it all by himself, but those guys were there cheering him on and he sees them as true pals. He departs and Edge is relieved never to have to hear Kurt bitch about losing his medals ever again. Christian is looking forward to shutting down Y2J and the rest of the competition in the Tag Titles match later tonight. The #HeelLockerRoom is looking pretty full with Austin, Triple H, Vince, Stephanie, and Debra all present and correct. Vince is nervous. He says that just because it's Judgement Day doesn't mean he wants to be the ones getting judged. He says that the only way to get through these two matches (Austin's no-DQ bout and Triple H's chain match) is to stick together. Austin says he has no problem with that - Triple H agrees. He says himself and Stone Cold are judge, jury, and executioners. Guys, I think this PPV is called Judgement Day. Oh poo poo, the chain match is next! A video package reminds us of the feud so far. Austin and Triple H jump Kane and smash him arm repeatedly with chairs, keeping him out of action for two weeks. He returns and attacks the pair on an episode of Smackdown, leading Triple H to chastise him for not staying away on the following Raw. He challenges Kane to a chain match so he can "finish him off", with the title as an incentive. Undertaker appears on the stage and accepts the match on his brother's behalf...and suddenly Kane comes out of the crowd and jumps the Game from behind with (appropriately) a chain. 5. WWF Intercontinental Championship Chain Match: Triple H (c) vs Kane Stephanie is carrying Triple H's tag belt, which means I was wrong earlier. I guessed that Austin and Trips had vacated their tag belts to focus on singles action, but now I realise that the Tag Team Turmoil match later is for a SHOT at the titles, not for the straps themselves. Now I just want Edge and Christian to win even more: doesn't everybody dream of a big marquee Austin/Triple H vs Edge/Christian match? Kane comes out, chain in hand, and swings it wildly at the Game as he enters the ring. Jesus he looks terrifying tonight, like something off the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Triple H agrees and bails all the way to the top of the ramp for the remainder of the entrance. Maybe he just wanted a good view of the pyro. The ref tries to convince Kane to allow him to attach the two of them together so the match can begin, but Triple H jumps the monster from behind and blasts him with a bundle of...chain to the head. Bundle of chain? Does that work? The bell rings, although it shouldn't because they're not tied together yet, and Triple H heavily goes after Kane's injured arm. He grabs a chair and smashes it into the Big Red Machine's spine, before laying his arm out across the Spanish announce table and crushing it with the steel. They return to the ring and are finally attached together by the chain. Kane gains the advantage using the weapon as a whip, but Trips comes back with a chain-assisted axe handle from the top. They head outside and Triple H dishes out more punishment on the injured arm, before grabbing another chair for further punishment. Kane counters brilliantly by sharply diving back into the ring, dragging Triple H face-first into the ringpost. There was some chair in there too. It was a head-chair-ringpost sandwich and it got a big reaction. Stephanie rushes over to check on her husband and, surprise, he's bleeding heavily. Kane storms back out and smashes the Game's head into the ringsteps repeatedly - he is looking especially monstrous here as Steph runs for cover. They return to the ring and the Big Red Machine drags the chain into Trips' wounded forehead. He drops the champ over the top rope and loving HANGS HIM WITH THE CHAIN! Triple H just about keeps one foot on the outside floor, but slips into semi-unconsciousness as a result of the choking. He's brought back to the ring and Kane heads up top, but the Game drags him off with the chain. They head outside again and Kane punches his opponent into the front row. Trips tries to gain an advantage by climbing onto the barrier, but Kane puts a stop to that with a hard gorilla press back into the ringside area. They go back to the ring yet again and Triple H looks for the Pedigree, but Kane trips his legs...and straight up smashes the chain into his groin! Ouch. Kane goes up top and hits a diving chain-shot (instead of his customary leaping right hand). He hits the Chokeslam and victory is in sight...but here comes Stone Cold! Austin dives into the ring...and is immediately chucked out the opposite side by a rampaging Kane. It buys Triple H enough time to boot Kane down low, but when Austin returns with a chair his wild shot misses the Big Red Machine and clocks his tag partner instead! Kane sees off Stone Cold with a big right hand and collapses onto the Game! 1...2...3! Winner and NEW WWF Intercontinental Champion: Kane 3/5 - This was a fairly long match but seemed to fly by; the action was fast and very brutal. Triple H was a brilliant foil for Kane here, making the challenger look like an absolute machine with his bumping and selling. Kane, in turn, raised his own game which made for a very good match. My only issue is with the finish. They didn't properly work the chairshot to make it a clear miss. Austin seemed to swing at both of their heads and only Triple H fell (I think Kane forgot to duck, or didn't duck enough). It put a disappointingly sloppy ending on a very impressive match, but aside from that I was pleased. Kane gets a MAMMOTH pop for ending the Power Trip's grip on the four major titles. Stephanie and Austin are shocked on the outside as Kane raises his new title over the carcass of a bloodied Triple H.
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Sep 1, 2014 05:08
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Judgement Day - May 20th 2001 MYSTERY PARTNER OOOOOOH PART 3 Jericho is being interviewed by Coach. He says that his mystery partner is a real party animal (hmm?) and that, while he's making no guarantees that they'll win the match, he's aiming to take Edge and Christian down. A bloodied Triple H is livid at Vince backstage. Supported by Stephanie he demands to know where on earth his support was. I guess he's pissed at the lateness - or maybe ineffectiveness - of Austin's run-in. Vince stresses that they all need to keep working together to prevent Undertaker from winning the main event. A quick reminder that the next match determines the number one contender for the Power Trip's tag belts. The only problem is that I have no idea how many teams are in this thing. How will we know when the last elimination has occurred? 6. Tag Team Turmoil The Acolytes are the unlucky first team out to face the gauntlet. Their first opponents (equally unlucky I suppose) are The Radicalz, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko, accompanied by Terri. They brawl at the bell and Saturn gives Faarooq an awful belly-to-belly which JR calls as "a nice suplex". Lies. Everybody brawls messily with a lot of disjointed interference until Perry charges right into a big spinebuster from Faarooq. That's three. Elimination #1: The Radicalz (by The Acolytes) A nice payday for Dean Malenko there, who hit about two moves in total. The Dudley Boyz are next up and are jumped while they pose on the turnbuckles. Faarooq hits a powerslam for two on D-Von, but is nailed with a shoulder block in retaliation. Spike is out wit the Boyz by the way - he's scurrying around on the outside. Bubba and Bradshaw now trade nearfalls, the former getting the advantage with a back suplex. He shouts "C'mere you big fat Texan!" which nobody really picks up on, but I think it's genius. D-Von tags in and gets the nearest of near falls with a Russian legsweep. The crowd aren't really interested in this action, chanting instead for tables. Bradshaw hurls D-Von overhead before smashing him with a big boot, but Bubba breaks up the ensuing pinfall attempt. Bradshaw is blasted with the doomsday device and Faarooq takes a wassup headbutt - the Dudleys are doing their thing. "D-VONNNN! GET THE TABLES!" D-Von obliges and sets it up on the outside but here come...the Hollies? Crash and Hardcore interfere, the latter splattering D-Von through his own table with a hellacious Alabama Slam! Apparently the two teams are feuding. Bradshaw hits the Clothesline From Hell on Bubba and picks up the APA's second victory in a row. Elimination #2: The Dudley Boyz (by The Acolytes) The Hollies stalk to the back, satisfied with their work. Next up is nobody's favourite team,X Factor, accompanied by Albert. X-Pac hits a nice spinning heel kick to start us off, but soon finds himself double teamed by both APA members. The fight moves to the outside and Credible finds himself launched into the barricade. Albert LEVELS Bradshaw with a big boot out of the ref's eyeline. Back in the ring Bradshaw makes the mistake of tagging in Faarooq, and we're subjected to his horrible offence for a while. X-Pac tags back in and immediately gains some X-Pac heat. Bradsahw gets back in and sets him up for that overhead toss of his, which I should really learn the name of. Hiding behind the apron, Albert trips Bradshaw and keeps ahold of his foot, allowing X-Pac to fall on top for the dirty three count. Simultaneously, Faarooq almost breaks Credible's neck with a Dominator. Elimination #3: The Acolytes (by X Factor) I'm really glad that section of the match is over - it was terrible. The Hardy Boyz are next up and waste very little time in removing their shirts. I think Jeff has had a haircut; he's rocking the side-shaven Srkillex look a decade early. In other words, he looks awful. X Factor agree and double team him on the outside (with a little help from Albert) before X-Pac gives him the Bronco Buster back in the ring. The Hardys fight back with some nifty double team moves of their own, culminating in a poetry in motion on Pac. The crowd are still really hot for the Boyz, particularly Jeff. They've lost no heat over the course of a year despite not really going anywhere on the card. Impressive. Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb and Matt makes the cover, but Albert pulls him out of the ring at two! Jeff dives with a BEAUTIFUL PLANCHA to wipe him out! That was great. Matt gets back in the ring and sets up X-Pac for the Twist of Fate...Superkick by Justin Credible! Pac makes the cover, 1...2...3.. Elimination #4: The Hardy Boyz (by X Factor) Chris Jericho's countdown hits next and he strides out onto the stage. He pauses halfway down the ramp, turns, and waves out...Chris Benoit!? They've been fierce rivals for pretty much the entirety of this thread, but now it looks as though Y2J and the Wolverine are on the same page! They storm the ring and beat X Factor down, Jericho stopping only to dropkick Albert off the apron. He vaults over the ropes to continue the assault but big Al catches him and slams him into the ringpost. Benoit, tired from his earlier match with Angle, is easily beaten down by Credible and X-Pac. He's set up for the Bronco Buster...but moves out of the way, leaving Pac to crash and burn groin-first! Jericho gets the tag and clears house, but accidentally takes out the ref with a diving tackle. Credible and Pac nail a Double Superkick to put him down, but there's no ref! Here comes a second one. 1...2...Y2J kicks out. I really don't get the booking here. Why are they trying to make the hot new tag team look weaker than X Factor? Jericho and Benoit show off some double team moves to put their feud firmly in the past, double suplexing Albert and knocking him out of the ring. Pac and Credible charge in again...but fall victim to synchronised submission holds! Credible gets caught in the Crossface while Pac finds himself trapped in the Walls. They both tap! Elimination #5: X Factor (by Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit) The final pair out (I think) are of course Edge and Christian and they're looking nervous. Benoit and Christian scrap on the outside, the latter hitting a drop toe hold to send the Wolverine into the ring steps. He then leaps up to help Edge deliver a 3D on Jericho across the top rope! Holy poo poo that was sick! Nobody really popped for it either! E&C double isolate Jericho for quite a long while until he attempts a Lionsault on Edge...only to be met with knees. Benoit occasionally shouts things from the apron like "come on Y2J, fight it". He's not a very good actor. Jericho evades E&C's crossbody version of the Poetry in Motion and hits a bulldog on Edge, finally making the hot tag to Benoit. BIG German suplex folds up Christian with a perfect bridge! 1...2...so close! Jericho lifts Christian onto his shoulders and Benoit hits a missile dropkick from the top! Jesus! He landed quite heavily on Y2J but it still looked decent. E&C fetch chairs from ringside - is Tag Team Turmoil no-DQ? - and eat tandem baseball slides to the face. Now the faces have the chairs and set up for a con-chair-to on Christian, but he ducks as Edge simultaneously wipes out Jericho with a Spear. Christian rolls up Benoit! 1...2...no! Now E&C set up for a con-chair-to of their own, but Jericho trips Edge and Benoit evades Christian's chair. Crossface! Christian taps! Elimination #6: Edge and Christian (by Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit) Winners: Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit 2/5 - This should really have just been E&C vs Jericho and Benoit - their section of the match was great. Everything else was average to poor, but the payoff of Benoit as Y2J's new partner got a big response from the crowd. X-Pac, Christian and Jeff Hardy all impressed here. The Radicalz, Acolytes and Dudleys did not. Jericho and Benoit are exhausted but victorious as Edge and Christian lie battered and beaten. The crowd are happy. JGKing fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Sep 1, 2014 |
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Sep 1, 2014 18:21
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Judgement Day - May 20th 2001 PART 4 A video package for the main event does a great job of making Austin seem absolutely terrifying. They warp his voice at one point and he sounds genuinely demonic. We recap the storyline where an anonymous caller - revealed to be Stone Cold - led Undertaker to believe that his wife had been in a car crash. Undertaker is understandably furious and assaults Austin on an episode of Smackdown, dragging him all the way from a guest-commentary position to the backstage area and throwing him through a window pane. Austin is strapped to a gurney and loaded into an ambulance, but the driver is revealed to be 'Taker and he resumes the attack! He pounds away on a helpless Stone Cold until Vince has security take him away. 'Taker tells Austin to give his soul to the lord, because at judgement day his rear end belongs to the Deadman. Heyman and JR hype the upcoming match but are cut off by the surprise interruption of Vince McMahon. He doesn't cut a promo though - he's just joining them on guest commentary. Very suspicious. I'll be rooting for Austin in this one. I'm a big fan of his heel persona at this stage and Undertaker hasn't done it for me at any point in the thread. Hopefully he'll begin to turn that around tonight. JR informs us that not only did Undertaker force Regal into making this a no-DQ match earlier tonight, Austin readily accepted. 7. WWF Championship: Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs The Undertaker 'Taker isn't out on his bike tonight for whatever reason. There was a bit of a delay before he came through the curtain - maybe the engine didn't start and he abandoned it. He jumps Austin during the champ's entrance and beats him around the stage area. They brawl down to ringside and Undertaker throws his headband at McMahon on commentary. Now they brawl all the way back up to the stage...this is getting quite repetitive. Undertaker belts Stone Cold with a fire extinguisher to the head and drags him back down the ramp. FINALLY they get in the ring and Stone Cold hits a swinging neckbreaker, the first actual move of the match. He misses a big chairshot and is hit with Undertaker's big flying clothesline. A near fall frustrates the Deadman and he heads outside to threaten Vince, who hides behind the two Spanish announcers. Austin jumps him from behind and works the leg for a LONG time. Like five minutes or so. Undertaker finally regains the upper hand and tosses Austin outside. CHOKESLAM through the announce table! Austin is laid out at JR's feet as Vince runs for cover. I don't really get why 'Taker is so interested in terrorising Vince. This feud is primarily between Austin and Undertaker; surely he should care more about hurting his rival and winning the gold. Are they trying to make Undertaker into the new Stone Cold? He rolls Austin back inside and goes for the cover, but the champ just about gets a shoulder up at 2. The Rattlesnake runs for cover and ends up back at the feet of JR. 'Taker chases him...and get brained with a TV monitor from the wreckage of the announce table! Undertaker staggers to his feet busted open while Stone Cold flips off the crowd. He resumes the assault and 'Taker looks severely weakened for perhaps the first time in this thread. The pair trade big right hands back in the ring and Austin hits a Thesz press with right hands. He's got a psychotic smile on his face and tries several pinfalls, but 'Taker gets a shoulder up each time. A low blow also yields a two count but Stone Cold keeps up the assault. A big chairshot sends Undertaker down for good, but instead of going for the pin Stone Cold yells at him to get up. 'Taker defiantly flips him off so Austin nails the Stunner! 1...2...NO! I would have loved that to been the finish - just a dominant Austin victory over Undertaker. A controversial choice but it would have put his title reign over huge. Stone Cold starts to batter the prone challenger with the chair but is stopped with a low blow. Chokeslam connects! Now it's Undertaker's turn to hit his downed opponent with chairshot after chairshot. Here comes Triple H! Jesus, he looks an absolute mess. He's all bandaged up after his loss against Kane, but he has a sledgehammer in hand. gently caress! He charges at 'Taker and gets immediately taken out with a huge chairshot to the skull! Big shot to Austin as well and Undertaker makes the cover! 1...2...McMahon breaks it up (although he was almost a shade too late. It looked a little off). Undertaker backs Vince into a corner and starts wailing away but here comes Austin with a chairshot...which predictably misses 'Taker and hits the boss with full force. The Deadman sets Austin up for the Last Ride...sledgehammer shot from Triple H! Austin makes the cover! *BOOM!* The stage explodes and Kane comes charging out to save his brother...and he's way too late as the referee counts the three. What the gently caress!? Winner and STILL WWF Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1.5/5 - This would have been a 2/5. It was very slow and plodding but there was some good brawling and selling from Austin especially. He's definitely the best performer on the roster from a character perspective, telling a good story throughout. That finish knocks half a point off for me, unfortunately. It predictably turned into a huge clusterfuck, but predictable doesn't necessarily save it from being bad. The late Kane run-in was baffling as he didn't even reach the ring to save the day, but they decided to give him full pyro and music. I'd have had him chase off Triple H and Vince to make it a 1-on-1 contest again, only for Austin to finally get the win in brutal fashion. Nevermind though. Triple H intercepts Kane and stops him from getting in the ring, but there was no way he'd have made it anyway. If we're supposed to believe he was about to break up the pinfall that's bullshit - he was at the bottom of the ramp as Earl's hand came down for three. The heels bail and stagger up the ramp. Austin throws his hands up as the Brothers of Destruction look on vengefully from inside the ring. That's the end. Let's have a look at who this main event puts over. Austin? - Nope. He would have lost if it wasn't for the interference of Triple H and Vince. Undertaker? - No, he lost. We saw The Rock win against similar odds many times last year, but the Deadman couldn't get it done. Kane? - Hell no. He just has horrible time management skills. That leaves... Triple H? Yes! The Game comes out looking the best in all of this, because not only did he save Austin from losing, he actually [i]won the match for him[i/]. Triple H's sledgehammer shot was the final blow which put Undertaker down for three. Triple H is shown to be the most effective and dangerous man in the WWF. Who'd have thought it? Summary to follow.
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Sep 2, 2014 16:01
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JUDGEMENT DAY 2001 SUMMARY Match Of The Night Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit - For the second PPV in a row, an Angle vs Benoit two out of three falls match is the best on the card. The first was clearly a rehearsal for the second, and it showed as this match was vastly superior. Great work by both guys. Kane vs Triple H upstaged the main event as a much better match, and the latter stages of the Tag Team Turmoil match were up there as well. Perhaps a Benoit/Jericho vs Edge and Christian match would have delivered far more without all the extra teams cluttering it up. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Chris Benoit - Pulled double-duty and did well in both instances, especially his MotN performance against Angle. 2. Kurt Angle - Seems to be building up some steam now with his second heavy-scoring event in a row. A return to form? 3. Triple H - Brilliant work essentially acting as Kane's victim. Bumped and sold in a way we sometimes forget Triple H can. 4. Kane - Looked monstrous in part due to Triple H's help, but an excellent performance in his own right too. 5. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Essentially saved the main event with his charisma and psychology. Undertaker wasn't awful but the booking was. Christian and X-Pac were my two main candidates to just miss out on a place here, turning in the most impressive performances in the big tag match. Credit also to Regal and Rikishi for acting professionally and competently in what could have been a disastrous opener (in terms of Rikishi's legit injury and Regal's hardway bladejob). Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. Chris Benoit - 15 2. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 13 3. Chris Jericho - 11 4. Triple H - 9 Kurt Angle - 9 5. The Rock - 5 Eddie Guerrero - 5 Raven - 5 Kane - 5 6. Rhyno - 4 7. Edge - 3 Christian - 3 8. William Regal - 2 9. The Undertaker - 1 A new leader this month, I just hope he doesn't stay there for long. Because, y'know, it's Benoit... JUDGEMENT DAY 2001 SCORE: 6/10 Throughout this thread there have been many events deserving of either a 6.5/10, and I usually determine whether to round them up or down on the strength of the show's booking. In this case, unfortunately, it was poor. The main event was a clusterfuck reminiscent of the endless Triple H vs Rock battles of 2000, while the Tag Team Turmoil match could have been excellent were it trimmed of all the surrounding fat. Luckily Angle and Benoit delivered, as did Triple H and Kane. The other matches were all fine with the sad exception of Lita vs Chyna. I certainly expected better from the former, but she didn't show up this time around. JGKing fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Sep 5, 2014 |
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Sep 2, 2014 16:41
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King of the Ring – June 24th 2001 – East Rutherford, New Jersey PART 1 That's really quite a morbid poster but it can only mean one thing... Woooo, King of the Ring time everbody! As I did in my introduction to the 2000 event, I am again going to bemoan the lack of KotR in today's WWE. It would provide such a boost to the otherwise stagnant midcard and pack as much wrestling into PPVs as possible. Chances of it returning are slim, but with Triple H at the helm who knows? Unfortunately, whereas the 2000 PPV featured the quarter finals onwards, this year will only show the semi finals and final. Anyway, let's have a look at the contestants. Rhyno has slummed around the lowercard since his debut, occasionally venturing higher up to interfere in Edge and Christian's matches on their behalf. He's mainly been seen in hardcore matches, more recently as champion, facing off against opponents such as Raven, Test, and Big Show. He was recently beaten for the belt on TV by Test. As an ECW alumnus - and the last champion before they folded - Rhyno is put over heavily by Heyman on commentary whenever he wrestles. "GORE! GORE! GORE!" He defeated Tazz and Tajiri (who we are yet to see make his PPV debut) to get this far. Kurt Angle was my Wrestler of the Year for 2000 and won this tournmanet last year. He began 2001 as WWF Champion but slowed noticeably after dropping the belt to The Rock at No Way Out. He has spent the rest of the year embroiled in an overly-long feud with Chris Benoit which, although delivering technically sound matches, has been heavily overshadowed by the main event storylines. Angle won the feud (although it is Benoit who has found himself propelled back up the card) and will be looking to rise again at King of the Ring. He bested Hardcore Holly and Jeff Hardy to reach the quarter finals. Edge is almost exclusively a tag team wrestler, competing with Christian and finding great success in the tag team division. The duo had a great 2000 but lost their titles to the Dudley Boyz at the 2001 Royal Rumble. They won the gold back at the second ever TLC match at WrestleMania, but lost them to the Brothers of Destruction shortly thereafter. Edge defeated Test and Perry Saturn to reach this stage. Christian, like Edge, hasn't really had a chance as a singles competitor yet. He and his partner attempted to win back the gold from Austin and Triple H, entering a Tag Team Turmoil match to determine the new number one contenders. Ultimately they fell at the last hurdle, losing to Chris Jericho and his surprise new ally Chris Benoit. Christian somehow beat Kane and Big Show in earlier rounds. You might have noticed that all four semi-finalists comprise a sort of pseudo-faction. The four have formed an alliance and often interfere in each other's matches, so loyalties will be tested here. This could get interesting... Some important news before we kick off. Triple H suffered a legitimate quad injury on Raw during the Tag Championship match between the Power Trip and Jericho/Benoit. It's a chaotic match which you can find here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJb9sC4I2J8. Anyway this means that Trips will be out for the foreseeable future, leaving a big hole at the top of the card. In other, potentially even more earth-shattering news - WCW are coming. WCW owner Shane McMahon interrupted Angle's mock-Olympic celebration the night after Judgement Day to inform everybody of an invasion to take over the WWF, but it has yet to properly materialise. Only Lance Storm and Hugh Morrus have made any impact so far, interfering in midcard TV matches, while Diamond Dallas Page has busied himself stalking Undertaker's wife Sara. Speaking of DDP, he's here to open the show! He strides out of the crowd dressed entirely in black - he looks badass. Page cuts a promo on Undertaker threatening to release x-rated footage of his wife, claiming that it gets "more than a thumbs up". I'm so used to seeing DDP as a good guy that it's weird saying him as this ultre-creepy stalker heel. He says that he's going to kick Undertaker's rear end tonight and tomorrow become the first WCW superstar to set foot in Madison Square Garden. He ends the promo and takes a seat in the front row, goading Undertaker into finding him. He brings out a "MAKE ME FAMOUS" sign and holds it above his head. Hahaha, that's awesome. Heyman seems actually to be taking Undertaker's side in this feud despite his status as a heel commentator, probably playing on his historic hatred of WCW. He and JR hype up the main event, a triple threat between Austin, Benoit, and Jericho. They talk up the rumours flying around that both challengers may be in negotiations with WCW, meaning that a win would lead them to jump ship tomorrow night on Raw. Very intriguing stuff. There is definitely a calm before the storm atmosphere to this PPV. Angle vs Christian will start us off. MORE NEWS as if we haven't had enough already. Angle is pulling double duty tonight, participating in the KotR tournament AND in a Street Fight with Shane O'Mac. That's a huge effort. 1. King of the Ring Semi Final: Kurt Angle vs Christian Christian looks intimidated but charges Angle at the bell and takes control. Kurt soon fights back with a huge suplex and some boots in the corner. He almost gets the Ankle Lock but Christian wriggles free, only to fall victim to a belly-to-belly. Angle beats Christian around the outside for a while and shoves him off the top turnbuckle, his head bouncing off the guard rail. Kurt resorts to a variety of suplexes to pick apart his opponent, but Christian almost steals a sneaky pinfall with an inside cradle. Angle rakes the eyes and resumes control again, but here comes his later opponent Shane to ringside (in a WCW t-shirt, no less). Kurt sets up for his BEAUTIFUL MOONSAULT...but Shane distracts him and Christian rolls out of the way, leaving the Olympian to crash into the canvas. Poor moonsault. Christian assumes control and hits his inverted neckbreaker for two. Angle goes for a German suplex...reversed into an Unprettier...reversed into the Ankle Lock! Christian grabs the referee's leg and crawls over him to get to the ropes. Angle Slam...reversed into the Unprettier! 1...2...NO YOU DICK! Shane pulls Christian out of the ring and hurries back up the ramp! A confused Christian gets on the apron...and Angle hits the Olympic Slam all the way back into the ring! 1..2..3.Winner: Kurt Angle 2/5 - A decent, short opener. More of a storyline advancement than a match, but it was in the hands of two very good workers. Angle's in the final and I think Shane's plan is clear here. He's trying to wear down Kurt with as many matches as possible before the Street Fight. Does that mean the Street Fight is happening after the final? How low down on the card is the final!? Coach interrupts Austin and Debra to get a quick interview with the champ. Stone Cold has a question first - he wants to know if "Mr McMahon" is in the building. Coach says he hasn't seen him and that Vince said he wasn't coming tonight. Austin's aware that tempers flared on Smackdown (they must have had a falling out) but it'll all blow over and Vince will be here. Coach repeats that he hasn't seen him, but asks if Stone Cold has heard the rumour of Benoit and Jericho's potential defection. Austin is rendered speechless by this news. We get a video package recapping the Undertaker/DDP feud. A mystery stalker films the Deadman's wife at the gym, in her car, and even at home, recording creepy videos and airing them on Raw. Things escalate as he releases footage of the inside of the house, even scrawling "I know where you are" on the bathroom mirror. Eventually a hooded figure makes an entrance on Raw to Undertaker's theme music, even riding his bike down to the ring. He unmasks and it's...Diamond Dallas Page! He cuts a promo about wanting to take down the biggest dog in the yard - the stuff with 'Taker's wife was just to get in his head. That's quite an extent to go to dude... Heyman now interviews DDP from his front row seat, but suddenly a video airs on the Tron. It's footage of DDP eating lunch at a diner earlier. Somebody's stalking the stalker! I imagine it's just Undertaker playing some mind games of his own, but if it's not we could be in for a very interesting storyline. 2. King of the Ring Semi Final: Edge vs Rhyno Scattered "ECW" chants greet Rhyno as they stare down before the bell. Rhyno spits in Edge's face but the Canadian comes back with a nice spinning heel kick. Rhyno misses a charge and gets lifted over to the apron, where Edge dropkicks him to the outside. He lands HEAVILY. drat. They brawl on the outside and whip one another into guard rails, etc. Rhyno rips the padding off a middle turnbuckle as opposed to the customary top turnbuckle - we'll see where he goes with this. OH it works immediately, Rhyno whipping Edge chest-first into the middle turnbuckle. The ECW alumnus rams Edge into the corner several times and gets a two count before slapping on a bodyscissors, aka an inventive resthold. He then heads up top and hits a BODYSPLASH!? I didn't know that was in his arsenal. Edge hits a neckbreaker and heads up top, but Rhyno intercepts him. SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB! This match his little fluidity but these guys are busting out spots I had no idea they were capable of. Spinebuster by Rhyno sets Edge up for the Gore. He charges...AND EDGE MEETS HIM WITH THE SPEAR! They clash in the middle of the ring and bounce apart, neither man fully connecting. They stagger to their feet and Rhyno goes for a bodyslam, but Edge floats over and rolls him up! 1...2...and a kick out. Rhyno's up and goes for another Gore, but Edge moves and he crashes into the exposed turnbuckle from earlier. Impaler DDT by Edge! That'll do it. Winner: Edge 2/5 - Very decent. Again they didn't get much time, and the match didn't quite have the flow of Angle/Christian, but they made up for it with some nice set-piece spots and a good finishing sequence. That sets up an Angle vs Edge final, the Olympian looking to make it two King of the Ring victories in a row. JR explains to us the feud between the Dudley Boyz and little Spike Dudley. Spike has begun a relationship with Molly Holly, a move the Dudleys saw as a betrayal since they were feuding with Crash and Hardcore at the time. The Dudleys have turned heel (at last!), beating down Spike and almost putting Molly through a table, only for Spike to lay across it to break her fall. We cut to Spike live backstage who announces that he's found a mystery tag partner to help him tonight against the Dudleys for the tag titles. Looks like Jericho and Benoit's reign as tag champs didn't last long. Jericho is in the locker room being interviewed by...Tazz! He's back! Dunno where he went, but here he is. Tazz asks Jericho if there's any truth to the rumours that he could jump ship to WCW if he wins the title tonight. Y2J trolls, teasing both "yes" and "no" answers without actually revealing anything. He does say that they might not be so bad now that they have a good boss in Shane McMahon, but refuses to comment further. We flash back to Smackdown where the Dudleys defeated Benoit and Jericho for their belts. It turns out they were about to lose, but for the help of an incredibly high-profile run-in from Stone Cold Steve Austin. 3. WWF Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz (c) vs Spike Dudley and ??? The Dudelys are out first with their belts, waiting nonchalantly in the ring for Spike and his mystery opponent... THE STAGE EXPLODES! Out strides Spike with the Intercontinental Champion Kane in tow! The Dudleys have brilliant "what the gently caress!?" expressions on their faces. Spike charges the ring but Bubba scoops him up with a gorilla press. He throws him at Kane, who catches the little guy and throws him right back onto Bubba, almost gaining a pinfall. A big boot gets another nearfall and Bubba scurries back to his corner, eager to tag out. D-Von is equally hesitant to get involved and gets beaten around by Kane, but gains control once Spike is tagged back in. The Dudleys pick apart Spike but Kane breaks up an attempted pinfall. Bubba gains control with a loving monkey flip of all things, before countering a hurricanrana into a massive powerbomb! Bubba is balling tonight. Kane gets the hot tag and picks apart both Dudleys, crushing Bubba with a ridiculously high powerslam. 1...2...aaaahhh noooo! It's a massive gently caress up! D-Von was supposed to get in and break up the pin but he was late, and Bubba didn't kick out of his own accord. We all have to pretend that he got a shoulder up because JR told us so. The crowd aren't happy. Kane throws the Dudleys out of the ring and launches Spike onto them with a big gorilla press. Spike rolls Bubba back in and he meets Kane's diving right hand from the top. 1...2...this time he kicks out, although D-Von was so eager to save his bro that he accidentally knocked the ref off his feet. This is on the verge of a shambles. Some smart-arses in the crowd call for the 3D just because Bubba whipped Spike into the ropes, but it's actually a standard move...and it's reverses into the Dudley Dog! 1...2...D-Von breaks it up! The Boyz hit Kane with the wassup headbutt, but there's no wassup this time. Because they're heels now. Spike takes both men down with a missile dropkick from the top, but D-Von quickly gains control and sets him up for the 3D! Kane's too far away to make the save. 1...2...3. Winners and STILL WWF Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz 1/5 - A pretty sloppy match, although that was mainly down to the Dudleys having an off day. Kane and Spike were fine and played their part, although the Big Red Machine proved to be quite a useless mystery partner huh? The Dudleys fetch a table to heap further punishment upon Spike, but Kane comes to the rescue with a powerbomb on D-Von and a chokeslam to send Bubba through the wood. Arm raise. PYRO! Kane carries Spike to the back. N'aww. Sorry about the long update - so many storyline changes to cover! Seismic shifts are acomin'.
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Sep 2, 2014 21:08
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Hijo Del Helmsley posted:...Oh no. I remember what happened at this show. Okay well now I'll be watching the rest of this from behind the sofa.
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Sep 2, 2014 21:53
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King of the Ring – June 24th 2001 PART 2 Christian finds Edge backstage and has one thing to say. Tensions have apparently been running high between the two since they were both involved in the tournament. Edge snaps at him, guessing that he's jealous of his passage to the final. Christian just wants to wish him good luck - he wants him to "win this thing". Edge looks apologetic. Another creepy video of DDP is shown on the Tron. Page loses it at ringside, demanding that the Undertaker get out here and make him famous. Billy Gunn is at WWF New York. He cuts a heel promo bitter about how he's stuck in New York, and how he wasn't even in the tournament this year. That's a different approach... The two finalists make their way out to the ring. Angle grabs a mic and apologises to Edge for getting mad at him last week. He wants nothing to come between their friendship and offers a handshake, which Edge accepts. Kurt brings up his Street Fight with Shane later tonight and says that, since there's no realistic way Edge would win this match anyway, he should do the right thing and forfeit. He's confident Edge will do the right thing because "I think I know you." Nice reference there. 4. King of the Ring Final: Kurt Angle vs Edge Edge answers with a right hand to start the match to a big pop. He dominates the early going with a flapjack and a spinning heel kick, until Angle answers emphatically with a belly-to-belly OVER THE TOP ROPE! Holy poo poo! Edge gets whipped into the steps and tossed around with suplexes once they return to the ring - is he out of his depth here? Angle goes for a top-rope German supelx but Edge rolls - sloppily - down the back and gets a schoolboy for two. The match slows down as Kurt hits a snapmare and applies a headlock, so some airhorns start sounding in the crowd. What is this, Insurrextion? Edge almost goes to sleep but fights out of it and whips Kurt into the ropes. It gets reversed and Edge ends up tossed hard over the top rope to the outside. Angle hangs him out to dry over the guardrail and returns to the ring, but Edge comes back strong with a frankensteiner for two. I'm sadly underwhelmed so far. I thought this would be higher on the card, and at least more intense. Angle goes for the Olympic Slam but Edge lands on his feet and tries the Edgecution/Impaler DDT, but Kurt trips his feet and goes for the Ankle Lock! He almost has it locked in but Edge rolls through and gets a two count. They return to their feet and Edge hits the Edge-o-Matic. He makes the cover...but here comes Christian to distract the referee! NOOOOO! </3 You bastard! While I'm still reeling from the possibility that my favourite tag team might be breaking up, Angle almost steals the win with a very convincing roll-up for two. Edge misses a tackle and nails the referee - more shenanigans? Kurt sneaks up and slaps on the Ankle Lock and Edge taps, but of course the ref is incapacitated! Suddenly Shane McMahon comes through the crowd and into the ring! Spear to Angle!? What about his patented diving chairshot? Shane is straight back out of the ring and into the crowd as Edge hits the Impaler DDT! 1...2...3! EDGE WINS! EDGE WINS! Winner and NEW King of the Ring: Edge 2/5 - Slightly overbooked and slightly sloppy workrate-wise, but who cares!? Edge is the King of the Ring! The camera cuts briefly to Shane celebrating as he gets out of dodge. Edge's music hits and he struggles to his feet, celebrates briefly, and heads to the back. That's it!? Tazz is backstage with Benoit and asks him about the rumours of jumping to WCW if he wins the title. Benoit is enraged and asks what the hell kind of question is that!? He then smirks and says it's a pretty good one before exiting stage right. Dick. An increasingly paranoid DDP is shown again in the front row, now looking over his shoulder a lot. Edge is backstage with Cole and he's back to his goofy self after a serious few moments. He says that he likes the sound of being King of the Ring. It reeks of royalty. Here comes Christian to celebrate with him and says that he didn't mean to distract the ref, he was just coming out to help Edge. Edge is all like "I know. Why else would you have come out?", the naive fool. Christian runs off to get some balloons to celebrate. Angle is storming around backstage ranting and raving. He vows that if any WCW wrestler comes to the ring during his match with Shane he'll have Vince kick them out of the WWF. 5. WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Hardy (c) vs X-Pac This could be a sleeper hit of a match. Both men are out without their respective tag partners but don't worry, X-Pac still comes out to the X Factor theme. Thank god for Uncle Kracker. X-Pac hits an amateur wrestling takedown and outclasses Jeff on the mat. Hardy responds with a fantastic armdrag and a headscissors, sending Pac to the outside. Jeff does his run and dive along the rail and almost takes a child's head off, but the kid gets out of the way just in time. X-Pac whips Hardy into the corner but the champ bounces back with a HIGH corkscrew attempt, which the challenger avoids. They trade abdominal stretches before X-Pac throws Jeff over the top rope and springboards onto him! Great little match this. They head back in and Jeff builds up a head of steam, but Pac says "gently caress that" with a nice spinning heel kick! The champ crumples. Jeff again tries to mount some offence but Pac again brings it to an end with a spinning heel kick, this time a jumping version for two. Hardy avoids the bronco buster and...aahh nooo, a botch! Pac tries to leapfrog over Jeff and they collide heavily. They atone for it by not repeating the spot (good!) and Jeff hits his corcscrew this time. He goes for ten punches in the corner, stopping midway through to rip off his shirt, but X-Pac pushes him down and nails the X Factor! Hardy's shirt somehow got trapped around his neck, which just made the move look more effective. 1...2...3, wait no! Hardy has his foot on the ropes. Jeff hits a jawbreaker and heads up top, but X-Pac goes up to intercept him. Hardy pushes him back down and hits the Swanton Bomb! 1...2...3. Winner and STILL WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Hardy 2/5 - This would have been a 2.5 if it weren't for the glaring botch two-thirds of the way through, and the match was kind of downhill from there. They held it together though, and delivered certainly the best match we've seen so far. Great work by both guys. Commissioner Regal is in his office with new assistant Tajiri. Austin storms in and uses the phone without asking. He brilliantly begins by saying "Vince? Yeah it's Steve Austin. Vince it's Stone Cold Steve Austin, the World Wrestling Federation Champion". He tells Vince about the rumour that Jericho or Benoit could defect to WCW if they win the title tonight. He says he needs Vince hear and almost begs him to come to the venue. He ends very uncharacteristically, thanking Vince for his help. Back at ringside, yet another video of DDP airs. Page has had enough and storms the ring. He demands that 'Taker come out here and face him. On the Tron the footage is still rolling, but the camera suddenly pans around to reveal that it's Sara who's been stalking DDP all day. Okay. What does that prove exactly? DDP still gets what he wanted - a match with Undertaker. Not sure what this was all about. 6. Unsanctioned Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs The Undertaker Undertaker strides out (sans bike again, for the second PPV in a row) and you can tell he means business because he's wearing street clothes. They look like his usual biker ring attire, except now he's wearing JEANS! 'Taker brings out his gloves from the waistband of his jeans - that's where all badasses keep their flightin' gloves - and slowly puts them on at the foot of the entrance ramp. We've heard far more of Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'" than I ever needed to. We're deep into the second verse here; Fred's talking about old school soldiers passing out that hot poo poo, that rock poo poo, and bouncing in the mosh pit. Finally he enters the ring and they begin slugging away, Undertaker of course gaining the upper hand. I'm reminded just how tall DDP actually is. Page gets beaten down comprehensively in the corner but comes back with a low blow. He doesn't stay on top for long, instead finding himself knocked out of the ring after a big Undertaker right hand. Sara comes down to ringside and films from a handheld camera as 'Taker beats DDP around the ringside area. Suddenly Page has a chair and rams it into Undertaker's ribs. He rears back for a big headshot, but the Deadman tackles him over the announce table as JR and Heyman scurry for cover. There's no commentary for a while as Undertaker beats DDP down in the announce area, before finally throwing him back in the ring. Heyman's first words back on air: "what the HELL is going on here JR?". Undertaker tells Page this is his chance to be famous - he hopes he's enjoying it. DDP begs for a timeout but Undertaker boots him out of the ring. He decides he's had enough and exits through the crowd. I never knew Page had such a good "gently caress this poo poo" walk, but he apparently does. Winner: N/A (The Undertaker) 0.5/5 - Hey guys, I know what we'll do. We'll take our hot new acquisition following the close of WCW and job him out in a squash match (not even a glorified squash, just a straight-up squash). We'll have him literally beg for mercy and eventually run away, because that'll definitely get him over. It'll also really sell WCW as a force to be reckoned with in the run-up to their impending invasion of the company. Brilliant. I love DDP which made that all the more difficult to stomach. gently caress. They could have done so much with him in a début feud and instead they feed him to the Undertaker? Undertaker's music hits and Sara films her victorious husband as he celebrates. Hooray.
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Sep 3, 2014 02:08
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Hijo Del Helmsley posted:...Oh no. I remember what happened at this show. Memento posted:Oh sweet jesus it's coming. I forgot how hard Angle worked on this show. What the gently caress you guys!? Will I definitely know it when I see it?
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Sep 3, 2014 03:24
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King of the Ring – June 24th 2001 PART 3 Austin is frantically harassing a backstage worker wanting to know when Vince is due to arrive. He seems very on edge. We flash back to the Raw following Judgement Day. Shane interrupts Angle's Olympic ceremony to promote WCW and Kurt gives him the Olympic Slam off the top of the podium. JR calls it as the Angle Slam now, so I guess we've reached the name changeover. I always preferred Olympic Slam sadly. The feud mainly consists of Shane gaining the upper hand with numerous sneak attacks on Kurt, once with a kendo stick. Shades of Steve Blackman. 7. Street Fight: Shane McMahon vs Kurt Angle Shane is billed as weighing 234lbs. Legitimate. Angle charges the ring and starts hitting suplex after suplex. Shane fights back with a dragon screw of all things, followed by an armdrag. He clumsily takes down Kurt and slaps him around the head before scooting out of the ring. Angle offers him the advantage with an amateur wrestling position, before immediately reversing and beating him down. More suplexes follow and we see that Kurt has been busted open hardway, possibly from an errant strike by Shane. Angle dominates with some amateur wrestling before backing Shane into the corner and slapping him hard across the face. This has been a stiff match so far. Angle again offers Shane the dominant wrestling position, but this time McMahon doesn't fall for it and just boots him in the ribs. Kurt charges Shane who bails and runs away around the ring. He leaps up onto the crowd barrier and jumps backwards into Kurt, before getting back up on the barricade directly behind JR and jumping over the announce table onto his dazed opponent! The referee is really annoying me here. Angle approached Shane who was waiting for him on the barricade, and the ref tried to stop Kurt from approaching his fleeing opponent during a street fight. Too much involvement. A replay shows that Shane's leap over the announce table didn't really make good contact with Kurt, but it was an inventive spot so we'll give him that. Shane pulls a kendo stick from under the ring and goes to town on Angle with really loving stiff shots. Angle fights back but charges into the ringpost, before being clotheslined over the barrier into the crowd. They battle back to the ringside area and Shane shoulder tackles Angle into the ring steps. He covers Kurt in the ring only for Angle to fully bridge out of the cover. He breaks out of three successive pinfalls this way so Shane drops a frustrated elbow onto his torso. McMahon brings an assortment of weapons into the ring and wails away on him with a sign. It's not quite Raven vs Rhyno levels of sign-mastery, but we do get to see a diving sign-shot reminiscent of his infamous leaping chair attack. Sorry about that monstrosity of a sentence. Angle somehow conjures a reversal out of a standard kickout and goes for an enziguri, but Shane ducks and slaps on an Ankle Lock! Angle kicks him off and eats a floatover DDT (which Shane actually executed quite competently). McMahon struggles to lock on a sharpshooter but eventually does to the delight of the crowd, and HEBNER CALLS FOR THE BELL! WHAT THE gently caress!? ANGLE IS LIVID! Nah I'm just kidding. Kurt grabs the kendo stick and...erm...spanks Shane to break the hold. Shane ducks a few vicious kendo shots and does his stupid boxing spot, which we're supposed to believe is capable of knocking down a legit athlete. It doesn't just knock him down, it also gets a near fall! Shane hits a few trashcan shots and places it across Angle's torso. He heads up top...SHOOTING STAR PRESS, WHAT THE gently caress!? Angle rolls out of the way and Shane almost kills himself, but he does manage to fully rotate in time. Man that was close. Angle takes Shane up the entrance ramp and tries a vertical suplex, but Shane reverses into a BIG suplex of his own. They're both looking pretty beaten up now. Kurt slams Shane into a big pillar (acting as part of the set) and drags him over to the side of the stage area. There are several panes of glass emblazoned wit the King of the Ring logo...AND ANGLE LAUNCHES SHANE INTO ONE WITH A VICIOUS BELLY-TO-BELLY! WHAT THE gently caress!? That was horrible! I thought it was glass at first but it didn't break at all - Shane landed fully on top of his head! Oh god, what a horrible spot! I'm assuming that's what everybody was warning me about. Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be surprised if they called it off here. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Shane carried on because he's almost certainly a lunatic. Angle drags Shane to his feet...OH CHRIST, IT IS GLASS! Shane goes for a ride clean through the pane - it looks absolutely spectacular but there's blood everywhere. Shane's forehead is cut open, as is Angle's shoulder and back. What the gently caress have they used real glass for!? Kurt follows Shane through the hole he created and...oh god! He gives him a third belly-to-belly back through a different pane, except this one doesn't break either! Again Shane lands headfirst, although at least this time it was onto Angle rather than the concrete. AAGH WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? THEY TRY AGAIN, AND AGAIN IT DOESN'T BREAK! Shane lands on his back this time, but it's still brutal. Oh man, Kurt's had enough. Now Shane goes FACE FIRST THROUGH THE GLASS! It sure as hell broke that time! Okay so now Kurt looks like a killer, can they call this match off? He's easily gone over. Nope, they're carrying on. Man, that was one of the most brutal things I've seen in a wrestling match - certainly in a WWF bout. Shane's actually dead now, so Angle fetches a trolley and uses it to wheel his opponent back to the ring. 1...2...Shane kicks out!? Hmm. There was a long time between Shane's murder and the pinfall attempt, so I'll just about allow it. Should probably have been the finish though. Angle prepares for a shot with the trashcan lid...low blow by Shane! If he wins this match I'm giving it a DUD, I swear. There's suspension of disbelief, and there's being forced to accept that a medically deceased man can win a wrestling match. Shane pimp slaps Angle with the lid and hits an Angle Slam, but he's too weak to make the cover! Finally he does! 1...2...no! Angle goes for the Ankle Lock but Shane struggles, so he slingshots him stomach-first onto the top turnbuckle. Kurt fetches a big board of wood and places it across the top rope...oh my god! He balances both himself and Shane on the board and hits a huge Angle Slam into the middle of the ring! 1...2...3! Outrageous. Outrageous. Winner: Kurt Angle 4/5 - Not a good wrestling match. Incredibly brutal and entertaining. I would probably have given this a 3/5, but I'm adding on .5 for the actual death of a man, and .5 for that amazing ending spot. Bravo. Angle leaves. He looks shaky as gently caress. Shane is helped to the back and receives a standing ovation. I hope they're okay. I mean they're clearly not, but I hope they are. JGKing fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 16:49
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King of the Ring – June 24th 2001 PART 4 Jericho is walking~! backstage. He looks focused. We cut to Benoit doing some last minute exercises. We cut again, this time to the parking lot. Austin is anxiously waiting for Vince and there's still no sign of him. A backstage worker (is that the Brooklyn Brawler!?) comes and informs him that it's time for his match right now. Stone Cold reluctantly leaves, but not before instructing the parking lot attendant to let Vince know where he is. A hype video shows the injury of Triple H while losing the tag titles to Benoit and Jericho. Austin then claims that Triple H is selfish and cuts ties with him (which is convenient since he'll be on the shelf for a good few months). Stone Cold becomes increasingly deranged, beating up relatively defenceless members of the company such as Molly Holly and Michael Cole. He costs Benoit and Jericho their tag championships to the Dudley Boyz through interference. He also appears to be increasingly reliant on a very bemused Vince McMahon, often forcing hugs upon him and forcing him to choose between Linda and himself. It was Linda who booked this main event after Austin bragged he could beat Jericho and Benoit at the same time, a decision Stone Cold declared a "conspiracy" to rob him of his title. The video package ends with Vince giving Austin an ultimatum: either he walks out of King of the Ring as champion, or their alliance is through. 8. WWF Championship: Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho Austin stalls during his entrance, constantly looking behind him for Vince's arrival. The challengers tire of this quickly and jump him at the bottom of the ramp. He tries to escape through two different sections of the crowd but they finally get him into the ring. Austin tries to start a chop battle - which is a ludicrous idea when facing Benoit or Jericho on their own, let alone together - and is justifiably lit up. Jericho hits a shoulder block and goes for the cover but Benoit pulls him off. Ooh. They square off and Stone Cold uses this distraction to knock both down and gain the upper hand. The numbers game catches up again, but Austin ducks a spinning heel kick from Y2J and Benoit is wiped out. The two challengers begin to brawl and now we've got a true triple threat match. Benoit is stomped out of the ring and Jericho squares off against the champ...almost immediately getting the Walls! Benoit dashes back in to break it up, but man Y2J looked strong there. Benoit suplexes him to the outside, his head clipping the apron on the way down. Ouch. Benoit almost locks in the Crossface on the champ, but he crawls to the ropes immediately. The Wolverine begins to dominate with a snap suplex and multiple pinfall attempts...and the crowd are SILENT. Maybe it's just weird seeing Austin being dominated so much, especially as a heel. Benoit gets thrown over the top rope and Austin slams his head into the steps a couple of times. He fetches his belt and tells the Wolverine that it'll never be his. I love when wrestlers do stuff like that, just little extra things to get their character across in matches. CM Punk probably is (or was) the master of it in the modern day WWE. We cut to Jericho on the outside. He's still down and I think he's been busted open hardway; that fall was pretty nasty. He might legitimately have had his bell rung. Austin begins to dominate Benoit, but here comes Jericho staggering up onto the apron (to a pop, I might add). Ahhh, Stone Cold immediately whips the Wolverine into Jericho and sends him back down. Austin flips off the crowd (he's actually done that several times already this match) and sets up Benoit for the Stunner. It's reversed...STUNNER BY BENOIT, but the referee got knocked down just beforehand! 1....2.....Austin gets the shoulder up on a very slow count. The ref is still groggy, so Benoit grabs the title belt and clocks Austin with it! 1.....2.....Jericho breaks it up! The two challengers slug it out on the outside until the Wolverine goes for a ride into the ringpost. Y2J slides back in to fight Austin but gets tripped and almost caught with his own finisher. He kicks the champ off and almost applies a Walls of his own, but the Rattlesnake makes the ropes before it's locked in. Austin his a nice spinebuster but it only gets two as JR and Heyman wonder where McMahon is. Heyman likens the rumours of Jericho/Benoit's defection to Montreal, and praises McMahon for doing what he had to do to keep the title in the WWF. JR simply says "I was there". Austin hits a Crimean legsweep and locks in a sleeper hold, but Jericho backdrops out of it. They trade punches on their knees on the way back up and Jericho builds up a head of steam. Bulldog! Springboard dropkick to Benoit on the apron! Lionsault...meets knees. Austin goes for the Stunner but gets pushed off. A sloppy Thesz press gains control, but here comes Benoit with a chair. BAM! Austin moves and Jericho catches it full on top of the head! Not nice to see. Stunner to Benoit, who rolls out of the ring. Austin covers Jericho....but he kicks out at two! They head up top and Stone Cold hits a really nice superplex. They head up again and he hits a second! Again Jericho kicks out, so Austin sets him up for a third, but here comes Benoit. One German, two, three, four, five, and finally a low blow from the champ. Jericho gets the Walls on Austin, and Benoit applies the Crossface at the same time! Austin taps! Austin taps! Hebner breaks it up. He sees there can only be one champion, so the match continues. What!? Surely they should give it to Y2J for applying the submission first, or at least eliminate Austin and let the other two slug it out. Both challengers are pissed off, as they should be. Jericho charges at Benoit...CROSSFACE! Jericho rolls expertly out and applies the Walls, but Benoit kicks him off. They trade hard chops and Austin tries to bring a chair in, but the Wolverine baseball slides it back into his face. Jericho dumps Benoit out but snaps his head into the top rope as he does so, and all three men are down. I'm expecting a Vince run in now. BOOKER T COMES IN FROM THE CROWD! SCISSOR KICK ON AUSTIN ON THE OUTSIDE! THE INVASION EVERYBODY! IT'S HAPPENING! The WCW Champion slams the WWF Champion through the Spanish announce table and the crowd are finally alive! Security come out to apprehend Booker so he disappears back into the crowd. Back in the ring Benoit hits a couple of Germans on Y2J, but Jericho rolls through and applies the Walls. Benoit gets the ropes and this one's still going. Jericho lands on his feet out of a back suplex and hits a bulldog, before attempting an ambitious Lionsault more than halfway across the ring. It doesn't really connect. They end up outside the ring and Benoit gets knocked down. Y2J brings Austin back in and hits a LOVELY MOONSAULT! 1...2..Benoit drags him off! He throws Jericho out and hits the Diving Headbutt, but Y2J pulls Earl out of the ring at two! Benoit puts Jericho on the top rope and punches away at his kidneys. He heads up top and hits a back superplex, leaving both men laid out. Austin rolls over and covers Benoit. 1...2...3!? WHAT!? Winner and STILL WWF Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1.5/5 - A thoughtfully structured match with the exception of that horrendous finish. What on earth was the point of that? Booker T's run-in was an exciting moment but the crowd were absolutely dead for long stretches preceding it. This could (and should) have been great given the talent involved, but Benoit was unspectacular, Jericho veered between awesome and sloppy, and Austin's heel turn and subsequent new wrestling style seems to have robbed him of his dynamism. I'm really quite disappointed with that, especially the ending. Austin grabs his belt and walks to the back, still champ even though Vince never showed up. He looks relieved but shaken. That's the end. Summary to follow. JGKing fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 23:02
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KING OF THE RING 2001 SUMMARY Match Of The Night Kurt Angle vs Shane McMahon - One of the most punishing matches I've ever watched. Shane was obviously cut up after this one, but Kurt Angle actually walked away the most hurt. He hosed up his tailbone from the vertical suplex on the ramp and (this one's less certain) allegedly suffered a concussion in his opening bout against Christian. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Kurt Angle - Proved himself to be a really tough bastard by ploughing through the match. The finishing spot was amazing. 2. Shane McMahon - The wrestling segments of the match were actually passable, but Shane gets on here for all the ludicrous extra poo poo. 3. Stone Cold Steve Austin - The only consistent participant in the main event match. Unspectacular, but this is a very weak top five. 4. Chris Benoit - Drifted in and out of the match. Good when he had to be, but certainly not the best we've seen from him. 5. Chris Jericho - This was a tough choice. Y2J edges it on here because he was very good at times in the main event. It just about makes up for his sloppy moments. I'm really not happy with this top five. Aside from Angle and Shane, the bottom three places were really open for anybody, but nobody's performance seemed to warrant it. Edge was overshadowed despite winning the event's entire gimmick, Christian and Rhyno didn't wrestle enough to really be considered, and the 'Taker vs DDP "fight" was laughable. Oh and there was a tag title match, which I only remembered because I scrolled down to check I had everything. Not the best show in terms of people stepping up. Jeff Hardy and X-Pac would be on here but a big botch ruined their potentially excellent match. Sorry guys. Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. Chris Benoit - 17 2. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 16 3. Kurt Angle - 14 4. Chris Jericho - 12 5. Triple H - 9 6. The Rock - 5 Eddie Guerrero - 5 Raven - 5 Kane - 5 7. Rhyno - 4 Shane McMahon - 4 8. Edge - 3 Christian - 3 9. William Regal - 2 10. The Undertaker - 1 A top four seems to be edging away from the rest of the pack, but it's an unpredictable race. Austin closes the gap on Benoit and Angle leaps back into contention, while Shane O'Mac gets on the board! Our first non-wrestler? Well, unless you count Regal as an authority figure. KING OF THE RING 2001 SCORE: 4/10 One good match does not a PPV make. There was something wrong with every single other thing on the card, sometimes a minor error, sometimes a big booking mistake. The main event was a bit of a mess in truth. The three guys did okay but were slightly off their game, and the booked finish was an absolute joke. The King of the Ring tourney itself was a massive disappointment considering the four guys in the semi finals - it should have been a lot better. If I was Edge I'd be pissed off; there wasn't nearly as much fanfare as when Angle won the year before. The tag match was fairly boring, while the Light Heavyweight match was almost great but for a catastrophic, momentum-killing botch. An unsatisfactory show, but the impending invasion looks like it could give things a much-needed shake up. Save_Us.Booker
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Sep 4, 2014 23:20
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:IIRC the title match ending was due to injury. I admit that everyone was bumping a lot (to the point of injury) but I'd challenge the idea that it was one of the better shows of the year. The King of the Ring tournament itself was really strangely booked - Edge's win was't made a big deal out of at all. It all actually seemed to serve as build-up to the street fight. Maybe my expectations were too high coming into this. It certainly seems like one of the best cards of the year, but the main event under-delivered and we got a lot of unpolished performances.
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Sep 5, 2014 00:32
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