Yo-Yo's Roomie

Michael Cole's acting when Heyman and Rollins shook hands was hilariously terrible: "Are y-y-y-y-you telling me that Heyman and R-R-R-R-Rollins were in ca-cahoots?" It was like Porky fucking Pig was in the booth.

Don't forget Grasshoppers Zurich.

I gotta disagree with you a bit on this one. I felt like this match showed that neither guy was ready to go for 30 minutes without tons of bells and whistles at that point in their career. Rock must've thrown about 50 clotheslines during this match. I feel like the ladder match was the one where you looked at them and said, "yeah, both of these guys are going to be big someday." Just my opinion. To be fair, I don't know that either guy was ever able to go 30 minutes without tonnes of bells and whistles (though Triple H clearly thought he could), nor was it really required of them to make it to the top in that company. I guess I just meant that you could see their progression as workers from where they had been, that they had the fans fully on board, and they executed the match perfectly. I didn't notice the excessive clotheslines from Rocky, but I don't doubt you on that. To me it felt like a "they've arrived" moment, and it seemed inevitable at that point that they'd be in the main events within the next year.

Thanks for clearing that up. my favorite part of that is Vince standing up thru the sunroof in the limo and giving Austin the weirdest looking middle finger ever. i remember it being absolutely ridiculous. I nearly mentioned that. It was indeed ridiculous.

In Your House: Breakdown. Owen Hart Vs Edge: Edge gets a pop from the Hamilton crowd, but Owen is still the favourite. So-so match, which ends with the debut of Christian, who causes a distraction to Edge long enough for Owen to pin him. Al Snow and Scorpio Vs Too Much: This started out okay, but quickly fell apart. I don't know if Scorpio just didn't give a crap or what, but his WWF run has been really disappointing so far. He's sloppy as hell, and just generally seems unmotivated. Snow's act was really over at this point. Marc Mero Vs Droz: Droz is really limited. Mero busts out all his high flying offence, which I thought he'd knocked on the head due to injuries. In fact, I thought he whole point of him turning heel was because he couldn't do the crowd-pleasing shit anymore. I like Mero. He's just a scuzzball unlikeable heel in an era when too many heels were playing it cool. So unlikeable that he can do things like the shooting star press and not get cheered for it. No nuance to the character whatsoever, but it was effective. Bradshaw Vs Vader: Falls count anywhere, and these two go at each other hard, as you'd expect. Bradshaw kicks out of a Vader Bomb, and Vader kicks out of a Clothesline From Hell, before succumbing to a second. I wish someone would lie down for poor Vader. D'Lo Brown Vs Gangrel: D'Lo is good, but Gangrel looks to get gassed pretty early into this. Henry helped Brown win, but Gangrel spat blood into Henry's face for some revenge after the match. The Rock Vs Ken Shamrock Vs Mankind: Inside a cage. I hate triple threats and I hate escape the cage rules, so I didn't have much hope for this one. Escape the cage triple threats are extremely problematic, as it seems so easy for one guy just to walk out the door while the other two are fighting. What's most notable about this is how over the Rock is, and it seemed like he was right on the verge of turning face here. The crowd pops for everything he does, while Shammy gets a "Shamrock sucks" chant. Canada is bizarre world, Lawler points out. The guys work as well as they can with the gimmick, and actually got me with the finish. Foley nails Shamrock with a chair and climbs the cage, and I was so fixated on the escape rules, which they'd played up all match, that it ended up being a really cool finish when Rocky simply covered Shamrock for the 3. Crowd loved it too. Val Venis Vs Dustin Runnels: What a weird angle this was, with Venis screwing Terri. I'm not entirely sure who's supposed to be the babyface in all this, but Terri's the only face in my eyes. Dustin treated her like shit, so she's just getting herself some. Dustin is doing the preacher gimmick, and Venis is just so sleazy that I can't possibly like him. JR seems to be siding with Dustin, which would be some indicator that he's supposed to be the face, but the crowd are well behind Val. Terri accompanies Val in lingerie, and is looking fine. That was my big takeaway from the match. I was hoping we'd get some good stuff out of Dustin, but the match just didn't click. X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws Vs Jeff Jarrett and Southern Justice: Jarrett has the short hair and guitar now, and this is just his WCW act but with the Godwinns instead of Standards and Practices or Terms and Conditions or whatever the Harris brothers were calling themselves at that point. It occurs to me that Billy Gunn didn't really fit in with DX. The others just seemed natural in their roles, whereas he came across as forced. Not a terribly interesting match, won by DX. Pac ate a vicious guitar shot though. Kane Vs The Undertaker Vs 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin: This is Vince's master plan. Kane and Taker can only beat Austin, not each other. Inevitably they turn on each other during the match. Lots of brawling, and double teaming on Austin, with some decent hope spots for the champ. There was no reason for this to go over 20 minutes though, and it really starts to drag. Kane and Taker both pin Austin after a double chokeslam and Vince runs off with the belt. MOTN: I think I'd just about give it to the triple threat cage match, at around 2 3/4 stars. Slim pickings though. Show rating: This is a real step down from Fully Loaded. Nothing too terrible, but nothing even approaching great. I wonder why no Triple H or Chyna on the show. 2 and a half.

The best would be Bryan winning the rumble, then beating Lesnar in an epic main event... Then Seth Rollins' shitty music hits and he comes out to cash in. The match starts, Bryan shows a little fire before getting overwhelmed. Rollins sets up the curb stomp, then Ambrose comes out of the crowd, grabs Seth's leg or something, causes a distraction, Bryan locks in the Yes Lock and Rollins taps. Ambrose finally gets his ultimate payback on Rollins, lives up to his promise to never let Rollins cash in the briefcase, Bryan gets the great comeback story, and the two cult heroes can celebrate to end the show.

In Your House: Fully Loaded. Val Venis Vs Jeff Jarrett: The Godwinn's are now Southern Justice. Decent match, featuring Yamaguchi-san on commentary, which is really distracting. I guess the angle is Yamaguchi's wife made a porno with Val. We know where this is leading. Venis doesn't come off very likeable here, mocking Yamaguchi for having a small dick. But it's the Attitude Era, so, y'know? D'Lo Brown Vs X-Pac: D'Lo is very proud to be European champ, and it's actually kind of sweet when he looks into the camera and says "I have a belt!" He's starting to come into his own a bit as a worker and personality too, and X-Pac was always a great worker, so this is a decent match. Faarooq and Scorpio Vs Bradshaw and Terry Funk: Funk announces before the match that he's going on a 6-month hiatus after this, and Bradshaw isn't very happy about being kept in the dark. Can't say I blame him. The match gets a boring chant, but I thought it was pretty fun, with the four guys just throwing bombs at each other. It does kinda fall apart towards the end though. After Faarooq and Scorpio win, Bradshaw turns heel (I guess?) by beating all three guys down, and looks really good doing it too. Mark Henry Vs Vader: I guess I was wrong about Vader being gone after the last show, and look, it's a DVDVR dream match! This was damn good actually for a short match. Henry was just raw potential at this point, and he could have got better a lot quicker in a more in-ring focused promotion, I imagine. I wish Vader was treated a bit more like a star at this point, but I guess the writing was on the wall anyway. Kane and Mankind come out with Paul Bearer to cut a promo about the main event against Austin and Taker, and how Taker isn't at the arena yet. They are interrupted by the Outlaws who demand a tag title rematch the next night on Raw. A brawl breaks out. The Disciples of Apocalypse Vs LOD 2000: Paul Ellering is with the DOA now, and Sunny appears to be done. This is made entertaining by Ellering's continuous interference, which makes JR crazy. DOA win. Owen Hart Vs Ken Shamrock: The Dungeon match. Heard about this but never seen it before. Wow, this is different, and actually pretty cool. This guys are really laying it into each other, and taking some hard shots against the walls of the dungeon. Nice use of their surrounding too, with Owen using an overhead pipe to propel himself into Shammy, and then lifting Shammy so his head makes a hole in the ceiling. Didn't need the ref (Dan Severn) bump for the finish though, but I like that they put Owen over. I liked this more than the lion's den match. Vince comes out and announces that if Taker doesn't show up, Austin will be teamed with the Brooklyn Brawler. A lot of promo segments on these shows now. I don't care for that on a pay-per-view. The Rock Vs Triple H: 2/3 falls with a 30 minute time limit for the IC title, and this is a doozy. Some really solid work between the two guys, well booked, a hot crowd, and really good use of outside interference, from Henry, D'Lo, X-Pac and Chyna. Henry hits a sweet splash on Hunter on the floor, and the crowd comes unglued when Chyna DDTs Rock on a chair for the tying second fall. They go the full 30 and it ends in a tie, which is the perfect finish and illustrates how effective time limits can be in advancing angles and protecting guys. This definitely felt like two future world champs going at it. Sable Vs Jacqueline: Bikini contest. The King got a peak of Sable's bikini before the show, and has been taking about it all night. Before this starts Dustin Rhodes comes out and prays for the souls of everyone watching. Can't remember Dustin doing this angle. This is just a meat market, with a tale of the tape giving us measurements for hips, butts and "bombs". Jacqui's bikini is scandalous enough (including her popping her tit out), and then Sable tops it with the hand prints. Amazing how this company has consistently presented women stripping or sexualizing themselves as this act of female empowerment. Steve Austin and the Undertaker Vs Kane and Mankind: Austin and Taker win the tag titles. Well-booked match with the expected hot crowd. Serviceable, but nothing special, in the ring, but a crowd like this always makes things feel bigger and better than they are. They work the story of where Taker's loyalties lie into the match well. MOTN: Rock and Hunter at 4 stars. I give Vader/Henry, Owen/Shamrock and the main event 3 stars. Show rating: This might be the best ppv of the Attitude Era. No bad matches on the show really, and that one really good one. I'd give this 3.5 stars.

They can revive the King of the Ring and call it King of the Brass Ring with the winning having to carry around a huge brass ring. Which they can cash in at any time in exchange for an honest-to-goodness WWE push (ie. being built up to be fed to Cena). The ceremonial cashing in of the brass ring involves them bowing on one knee before Vince McMahon and presenting him with the ring, saying "I kneel before you having grasped your brass ring, and I now exchange it for confirmation that I have 'it'". Vince either takes the ring or presents to them his own ring (ie. his anus) for a kiss, which equals a failed brass ring cash-in.

This was the point I stopped watching wrestling, and didn't get back into it until right at the end of 1999. I can't remember why I stopped. It certainly wasn't dissatisfaction with the company direction (the same applies to WCW). I think it was just the guy who was bringing me the tapes stopped for whatever reason, and then I went to college and had other stuff going on. Anyway, the next year and a bit is going to be pretty much all new to me (I'll be familiar with most of the major angles, and will have seen some of the matches in isolation too, but the undercard stuff will probably be virgin territory). I'm looking forward to it.

In Your House: Over the Edge LOD 2000 Vs Skull and 8-Ball: Droz comes out with LOD, which meant my wife had to leave the room as she has a vomit phobia. Did Droz ever actually puke in the WWF? This match was about as bad as you might expect, but Sunny was looking good. The Rock comes out to cut a promo but gets attacked and piledriven by Faarooq. Jeff Jarrett Vs Steve Blackman: Well, Jarrett has his old music and look back, but this whole act seems so out of place in the Attitude Era. That could have worked to his favour, but for whatever reason, it didn't. Match was boring. Blackman had some cool offence, but that's about all. Tennessee Lee helped Jarrett win. Marc Mero Vs Sable: If Sable wins she gets her freedom, but if she loses she has to leave the WWF. She was supposed to get someone to wrestle for her, but said that she got herself into this, and she was going to get herself out. Mero cuts a promo about the good times they had together, and pretends he's going to lie down for her, but when she covers him, he small packages her and wins. Mero celebrates like crazy while Sable sadly walks away. Kaientai Vs Taka Michinoku and Bradshaw: It's really weird seeing Kaientai and Taka working in the WWF, and weirder thinking about how long Funaki lasted with the company. I really enjoy Kaientai's act, from their work to their personalities. Bradshaw busting out a release Dragon Suplex. Dick Togo was awesome. Fun seeing Kaientai trying to swarm Bradshaw. Kaientai steal the win. Apart from a bit of no-selling from Taka, this was a good match. The Rock Vs Faarooq: Rock is told by Commissioner Slaughter that he must compete or he'll be stripped of the title. Seems a bit unfair after he was attacked earlier. Match is pretty much wank, with a shitty finish to boot. They do a false finish with Rock's leg on the rope, but Tim White seems unsure whether he's supposed to count 3 or not. That leads to Rock winning his feet on the ropes. The Nation attack Faarooq after the match, but D-X even the odds. Kane Vs Vader: Mask match. Lawler sounds stupid trying to play up the intrigue of what Vader looks like under the mask, since A. you can see his face through the mask, and B. he takes the mask off all the time, and even came out without it on. Anyway, these two had a pretty good match a couple of months back, but they just can't get it together for this one. Highlight is Paul Bearer putting on Vader's mask and mocking him after the match. Then we get the infamous "fat piece of shit" promo from Vader. Vader was done after this, right? I've found his WWF run far from the bust its been made out to be, and think that more often than not his matches have been good. Shame it had to end on this note. Next there was a little presentation for Mad Dog Vachon and Da Crusher, who both got a great reception (especially the latter). They turned it into an angle when Lawler started running them down. It turned into a skirmish, with Vachon getting his leg taken off (you'd think he's have learnt after last time), but Crusher fighting Lawler off. I think it would have been a nicer moment without the angle, but they probably enjoyed getting to do a little something in front of a big crowd one last time, so who am I to gripe? Triple H and the New Age Outlaws Vs Owen Hart, D'Lo Brown and Kama Mustafa: Man, the crowd is largely dead for this one, which is a bit of a surprise. D-X took way too much of the match for me, although it eventually got decent when Road Dogg worked fip. Owen pinned Trips to win, after a Pedigree on the European belt. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs Dude Love: Bells and whistles Attitude fun, with Vince as guest ref, Patterson as guest announcer, Briscoe as guest time keeper, The Undertaker out to make sure McMahon calls it down the middle, rules being changed on the fly making ti first no DQ, then falls count anywhere, and some wild brawling incorporating a set made up of cars. The long-winded introductions for the guest officials are funny, but probably take at least 10 minutes. The match starts slow-ish, but when it hits the outside it never looks back. The crowd is molten, a startling contrast to the last match. They briefly go out into the crowd and JR sounds like he's going to have a heart attack such is his excitement. Foley's crazy bump of the night is a missed Cactus Jack elbow from the top of a car to the concrete. The finish is wild, with both stooges being chokeslammed through tables, Vince taking an inadvertent chairshot to the head from Dude, and Austin using Vince's limp arm to count his own fall after a stunner. Just a tremendous match. MOTN: Dude/Austin. As good an example of that type of match as you'll get, and I'll put it at 5 stars. The Kaientai match sneaks a 3. Show rating: Some pretty bad stuff on this, but totally worth sitting through for that main event. 3 1/4.

You can say a lot of things about Sunny, but the girl certainly had a personality.

It's easy. Ding had the big bell beginning, and Dong had the big bell end.

In Your House: Unforgiven Faarooq, Steve Blackman and Ken Shamrock Vs Rocky Maivia, Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown: There's nothing like a good 6-man tag to open a show, and this is nothing like a good 6-man tag (ba-dum-tssh). This is seriously boring, with Faarooq rather surprisingly pinning Rock to win. It's funny looking at the Nation, you've got the Rock, in his second year in the business, ditto Mark Henry, D'Lo is a little more seasoned but not much. So that leaves bloody Papa Shango as your experienced vet of the team. If only there was a seasoned pro and good work guy they could add to the group to carry some of the workload... Owen Hart Vs Triple H: It's kinda bullshit how they squandered all the heat Owen had coming back just to put Triple H over. Chyna is suspended above the entranceway in a cage. The match is pretty dull, with Trips being boring when in control, and Owen not being particularly interesting working from underneath. It picks up a bit when Owen makes a comeback and hits some big moves, but really the most interesting thing is Chyna trying to get out of the cage. She bends the bars and the cage is lowered (by Road Dogg, we find out), and the distraction all this causes allows for X-Pac to come in and hit Owen with a fire extinguisher and give Hunter another win. D-X getting these cheap wins was already old at this point. Owen cuts a promo after the match saying that he's had enough and something has to change. If only there was some kind of gang he could join to even the odds against D-X... Austin came out to threaten Mark Yeaton not to participate in any screwjob tonight, otherwise he'd beat his ass. I should say that I hated Austin pretty much until after he'd retired. Part of it was residual hate from his feud with Bret and the Hart Foundation, but I just hated the character. Totally overbearing and annoying to me, and it was only after he'd gone for good and I started looking back at his old work that I appreciated him. He came off as a big bully here. The New Midnight Express Vs The Rock N Roll Express: This was a bonus match, I guess a little bit of nostalgia since the show was in Greensboro. The match is okay I guess, but it's kinda sad watching Cornette work his shtick in this setting. When he does the fight the referee bit is particularly embarrassing. Luna Vachon Vs Sable: Evening gown match, notable for just how much of a childish perv Lawler is. I mean, I was a 16 year old virgin at this point, and I wasn't near as fucking horny as the King comes across here, with lines like "panties aren't the best thing in the world, but they're next to it" and "sex is the most natural and beautiful thing money can buy". Obviously the match is terrible. The New Age Outlaws Vs LOD 2000: Sunny and LOD just weren't a good match, and they look goofy in their new gear. This is a pretty crap match with a terrible finish. Hawk hits a german suplex on Road Dogg, but the referee inexplicably counts Hawk's shoulders down. LOD are announced as the new champs, before the referee corrects Finkel. More Greensboro nostalgia with the Dusty finish? I think I ranted about a similar finish in the Shawn/Bulldog match from Beware of Dog, but at least that one was a draw. There would just be no reason for the ref to count Hawk's shoulders and not James'. Made especially bad by the fact Hawk's shoulder is clearly up. The ref deservedly eats a Doomsday Device after that. Jeff Jarrett comes out for a musical concert next. Didn't we see this angle before? Last time it was fun, but I don't see why they had to do it again here. I forgot that Robert Fuller was with Jarrett at this point. He's no Roadie as a hype man. Jarrett is obviously lip-synching. Sawyer Brown performs backing vocals, whoever that is. Blackman comes out and attacks Jarrett afterwards, but Fuller/Tennessee Lee brains him with a guitar. The Undertaker Vs Kane: Inferno match, and the fire around the ring is a great visual. It doesn't lend itself to a very good match though, as these two are restricted to keeping the action within the ring. I give them a tonne of credit though, because they work hard and against the odds this ends up being good. The finishing stretch is particularly good, starting with Taker throwing Kane over the top rope, and then Vader coming out to attack Kane. Taker does his tope on Kane and Taker, and then busts Paul Bearer open with a drum. Kane's arm getting set on fire looks hokey, and I don't think Kane should have lost this one anyway after losing at Mania. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs Dude Love: I loved this whole angle with Austin and Dude. Dude was kinda shitty as a babyface, but I thought he was a great heel. Just the inherent goofiness of the character, mixed with the viciousness of Foley's work made for a great combination. This starts off as a wild brawl, including fighting onto the band stand, and Foley taking a crazy back bump off a hiptoss from the bandstand to the concrete floor. It settles down a bit back in the ring, which is Vince's cue to come out and add some crazy mannerisms. Austin gives Vince a crazy chair shot to the forehead, which leads to the finish- the ref is down, Austin hits the stunner on Dude, and counts his own three count. It's announced as a DQ win for Foley after the fact, as Vince is taken out on a stretcher. Very exiting start and finish, with a bit of a lull in the middle. MOTN: The main event is by far the best match on the show, at about 3.5 stars. Kane/Taker just about make it to 3 stars through hard work and the impressive visual of the fire. Show rating: Lots of boring and annoying stuff on the undercard, but saved somewhat by the top two matches, especially the main. I get the feeling that I'll be saying this a lot over the following couple of years of shows. 2 and 3/4 stars.

I'd rather they do a Powersauce gimmick, and unleash the awesome power of apples.

Yeah, I think it's one where you could go either way on. It's entirely possible that my pro-Hart anti-Shawn bias has coloured my opinion on the match too much, but it just seems like such a case of Shawn being a real-life selfish prick that it overrides any good qualities the match has. I also hated how much DX interfered, as it just made the Hart Foundation look stupid/weak for not coming out to even the odds.

He did the through the turnbuckle dive, the Santito-style somersault plancha onto a grounded opponent, a standing top rope hurricanrana, and some other stuff that was really spectacular and unexpected. I was trying to work out who Pantera was, and when I came onto Wiki and found that he was just... Pantera, I wondered why I hadn't heard much about him. The guy had a long career too. I enjoyed the early part of the main, where it was tornado style, even though it was hard to follow and there were a few too many goofy weapon shots, but once "the ref got control" of the match, it was pretty unspectacular. I think at the time I was okay with Savio as the mystery man, just because I really like Los Boricuas for whatever reason. In general it is a pretty good ppv.

In Your House: No Way Out of Texas The Headbangers Vs TAFKA Goldust and Marc Mero: There was really no subtlety to Mero's act, was there? It was still fairly entertaining though. Here he sends Sable to the back, so Luna can be the only woman at ringside. Goldust is dressed as Marilyn Manson. Oh, the late 90s. Decent match, marked by Thrasher getting quite badly busted open, and a win for the 'Bangers. TAKA Michinoku Vs Pantera: Brian Christopher is out for commentary. The Christopher/Lawler father and son denial story is funny and all, but I don't need it taking up the whole commentary like this. Also, Christopher calls TAKA a slant-eyed something or other, which is just mind-boggling. This match is actually really fucking good. TAKA probably sells for too much of the match again, but Pantera's offence is really cool, flashy and well-executed. This match would definitely be right at home in WCW's cruiserweight division. The Godwinns Vs The Quebecers: There's an alternate reality where 1995 WWF had Pierre Oulette and Henry Godwinn kicking the shit out of each other over the WWF title. I'm not saying I'd like to live in that reality, but I would probably be okay paying it a visit. This is a weird match to put on a pay-per-view, being heel/heel, and with neither of these teams working a terribly crowd-pleasing style. Godwinns win. Bradshaw Vs Jeff Jarrett: This is for the NWA North American heavyweight championship. I remember quite liking this NWA stable at the time, so we'll see how it holds up. Windham and the Rock N Roll Express are sent to the back. Jarrett still looks like a goof, and Bradshaw isn't much good. Bradshaw wins by dq when the rest of the NWA guys come back out. LOD make the save. Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, Chainz, Skull and 8-Ball Vs Faarooq, Rocky Maivia, D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry and Kama Mustafa: Billed as a War of Attrition match, which didn't actually mean anything. Dissension is forming in the Nation between Faarooq and Rocky. Okay match, worked mainly at a fast pace, and playing to Shamrock's strenghs- he gets to come in for the hot tag and clean house, making the Rock tap to the ankle lock. The Rock blames Faarooq for the loss, and they get into a shoving match, before Faarooq pulls rank and lines his troops up for the black power salute. Kane Vs Vader: Pretty good monster Vs monster match, with both guys hitting their big bombs, and no selling shit. They really played Kane perfectly in these early months. He wins with the tombstone, and then hits Vader with a wrench, which leads to this gem from JR: "we don't want to alarm Vader's fans or family, but it looks like his face has been caved in". Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie Vs Triple H, The New Age Outlaws and Savio Vega: This starts off as a wild brawl, and it should have stayed that way, being billed as an 'unsanctioned match'. I hate when no dq tag matches aren't worked tornado-style. The highlight once the action gets under control is Savio wrapping Cactus in barbed wire. Finally Austin gets the hot tag and, stunners Road Dogg for the win. After the match he gives the stunner to Chyna, which is played up as a really big deal. Is that the first time anyone had got physical with Chyna? This match should have been better than it was. MOTN: Taka Vs Pantera, which is a bit of a hidden gem. I'd put it at 3.5 stars. Kane/Vader and the main event at 3. Show rating: I enjoyed this quite a bit actually. Probably the easiest to get through of the 3 hour shows. 3 and a quarter stars.

So, I know star ratings for matches are kinda frowned upon, and I admit I feel kinda dickish throwing them out for this project, but I wanted to keep a record of all the matches I think are safely good (3 stars+) on these shows, just as a reference for myself more than anything. So, that said, here's a rundown of the all the guys with 3 star+ matches through 1997. Obviously, just my opinion. Bret Hart: 11 Shawn Michaels: 8 The Undertaker: 7 Vader: 7 British Bulldog: 5 Steve Austin: 5 Owen Hart: 4 Mick Foley: 3 The 123 Kid: 2 Razor Ramon: 2 Diesel: 2 Triple H: 2 Sid: 2 Ken Shamrock: 2 Brian Pillman: 2 Goldust: 2 The Patriot: 2 Hakushi: 1 Jeff Jarrett: 1 The Roadie: 1 Jean-Pierre Lafitte: 1 Dean Douglas: 1 Marc Mero: 1 Savio Vega: 1 Yokozuna: 1 Ahmed Johnson: 1 Taka Michinoku: 1 The Great Sasuke: 1 Jim Neidhart: 1 Hawk: 1 Animal: 1

No-one's arguing that Dustin was Hogan or Austin, but to come on DVDVR, of all places, and claim that no-one ever paid to see him wrestle, makes you seem incredibly ignorant.

In Your House: D-Generation X Taka Michinoku Vs Brian Christopher: This is the final of the light heavyweight title tournament. Lots of bickering between King and JR over whether or not Christopher is Lawler's son, with Jerry leaving the booth at one point to check on his boy. Christopher had a lot of good-looking high-end offence, but not much else. He dominates Taka for most of the match, but misses the Tennessee Jam and gets caught with the Michinoku Driver for the win. This made Taka seem a little undeserving. They tried to make a big deal out of this, with lots of photographers and a presentation ceremony for the new champ. Miguel Perez, Jose Estrada and Jesus Castillo Vs Skull, Chainz and 8-Ball: Savio is sent to the back, while Crush is out thanks to an attack from Kane. Typical match between these two teams. The Boricuas steal it when Perez pretends to be injured, Savio comes out to take his place, which causes the distraction for Perez to come back in and hit a tumbleweed legdrop on whichever one of the DOA it was. Oh, and the Boricuas are rapping their way down the aisle now. Butterbean Vs Marc Mero: A toughman match, the rules of which were never really explained. Boxing for the most part, and, like most worked boxing matches, pretty boring, although Mero is amusing as a cheating weasel. Goldust and Luna come out doing their BDSM bit. Goldust reads some Dr Seuss before Luna socks him. Billy Gunn and the Road Dog Vs The Legion of Doom: The pre-Outlaws Outlaws are the tag champs. I've been generous in my praise of Jesse James, but I can't remember ever seeing a good Outlaws match. We'll see if that changes over the course of this project. This is mostly boring and ends when Henry Godwinn comes in with his slop bucket, and the ref catches Hawk using it on the Outlaws. Triple H Vs Sgt. Slaughter: Boot Camp match. Trips cuts a promo beforehand about visiting Sarge's wife after he wins. Sarge takes the best bump of the match, with his trademark over the turnbuckle bump. Otherwise this is plodding brawling. Chyna gets involved, of course, kicking Slaughter in the nuts leading to a Pedigree on a chair. Jeff Jarrett Vs The Undertaker: Everything about Jarrett here screams jobber to me, from his music to his gear. I know people criticise the look/gimmick of his first run, but I thought that was goofy enough that it gave him heat (plus the music was cool). This time around he just looks bad. Match is poor, honestly, and finally Kane comes in and attacks Jarrett, giving him the dq win. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs Rocky Maivia: Austin comes out in a pick-up, Rocky has the Nation as back-up. Short match in which Austin goes through everyone (D-Lo takes a stunner atop the pick-up, which I strangely remember really clearly from when this first aired) and wins with the stunner to retain the IC title. Fun stuff. Ken Shamrock Vs Shawn Michaels: Shawn is interviewed before the match and calls JR a fat tub of goo. JR seems genuinely annoyed by Shawn here. This match isn't up to much. Shawn's bumping around seems kinda hollow, and Shammy wasn't very interesting unless he was flipping out on people. Shawn wins by DQ when Hunter and Chyna interfere to break up the ankle lock. Most memorable about this though, is Owen Hart attacking Shawn after the match, driving him through a table and unloading on him with punches. That was a really well-done angle, that I wish Shawn had sold a bit more (he's up and celebrating to end the ppv). They really didn't make anything of what could have been a really hot feud. Owen Vs Hunter was a poor substitution. MOTN: As short as it was, Rock/Austin was probably the most exciting thing on the show, at about 2 3/4 stars. Show rating: This felt like the first Attitude Era show. You had Rock Vs Austin, Goldust doing what he was doing, the Outlaws. Plus, no really good matches. 2.5.

Except WCW the whole time he was there. And WWE, the whole time he was there. Including now.

It's hardly been brought up at all, which you would think defies the point of having an absentee champion. Who is gaining from it?

Yeah, that's what AJ meant when she said it...

AJ is apparently the least self-aware person ever. Calling Brie a skank? Erm... Bryan, Punk, Kane, Cena, Dolph, Primo, Hornswoggle, am I forgetting anyone (of course, this doesn't make her a skank, but she's not exactly in a position to be calling anyone else that). I don't think she meant to call her a skank (she was more insinuating that just because she's sleeping with Bryan doesn't mean she can wrestle like Bryan), the choice of words made it seem that way. And there's a ton of irony in that statement anyways. I was referring to the (paraphrasing) "last night you proved that you're an even bigger skank than Nikki" line.

AJ is apparently the least self-aware person ever. Calling Brie a skank? Erm... Bryan, Punk, Kane, Cena, Dolph, Primo, Hornswoggle, am I forgetting anyone (of course, this doesn't make her a skank, but she's not exactly in a position to be calling anyone else that).