In Your House

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Yes, I meant to mention that generic theme Triple H used here. I was expecting Boss Man or the Acolytes or someone to come out.

[cwoy2j]

Yes, I meant to mention that generic theme Triple H used here. I was expecting Boss Man or the Acolytes or someone to come out.

 

Yeah it definitely sounded like something Boss Man or Mideon should've entered to. I guess they just had to give him something other than DX music at that point and they hadn't recorded My Time yet.

[Brian Fowler]

I haven't seen it in 15ish years, but I remember loving that Triple H/X Pac match.

[cwoy2j]

The one with Taker is just brutal. It's a weird match though. Nothing else like it that I've ever seen.

 

I liked watching it on tape. It's definitely a match that I couldn't imagine watching in the arena though. IIRC they set up tv's around ringside for people to watch. They didn't have a Titontron or any giant screens back then did they? That had to be a tough match for people in the arena to watch.

[cwoy2j]

 

The Undertaker Vs Ken Shamrock: This was dire. Long and boring, and the silence from the crowd was only broken up by the occasional 'boring' chant. Weird, as this isn't the first Undertaker match from this era to be given this reception from the crowd.

 

I'll definitely have to go back and rewatch this one b/c I do remember it being really weird. We were used to seeing Taker using all of his supernatural goofiness or being in wild brawls with Austin and Foley at this point so it was odd seeing him in a mat based match. It was almost a prototype of the matches he'd have later in his career where he started incorporating MMA stuff into his repertoire. Also, I think Bradshaw came out after and beat on Shamrock with a baseball bat. I don't think that was ever followed up on though.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF No Mercy UK.

 

Show starts with the Corporate Ministry out to cut a promo. Pay-per-views should not start with in-ring promos. Shane basically sets up the night's matches, finishing with the bombshell that the main event triple threat match for the world title will now be no disqualification. I think 75% of main events from this era have been changed to no dq at the last minute to try to screw Austin. It has worked 0% of the time. This Corporate Ministry look like a really shitty stable, by the way. Apart from Taker, I don't buy these guys as a big threat at all.

 

Tiger Ali Singh Vs Gillberg: Again with Singh? Is this some kind of rib on the UK or something? The Gillberg character fucking sucks. Not even funny, and then add in the fact that Goldberg was cool as hell and a legit star, and it makes it especially lame that they target him.

 

Viscera and The Acolytes Vs The Brood: This is basically a rerun of the 6-man from the last show, but with Vis instead of Mideon (which makes it a better match). The Brood is growing on me as a faction.

 

Steve Blackman Vs Droz: Pretty boring match, as is Blackman's style. Droz seems to be improving a bit. I wonder what his ceiling would have been.

 

Kane Vs Mideon: Short match dominated by Kane, before the Ministry ran in for the dq. Kane looked good in this.

 

Nicole Bass Vs Tori: This was supposed to be Sable wrestling Tori, but she said she had a chest cold (cue jokes from Lawler), so Bass stepped in. I don't know why they made Sable a heel, considering how popular she was.

 

Shane McMahon Vs X-Pac: Shane brings the European title out of retirement for this match. X-Pac is just a great babyface, and makes this match really fun. Triple H and Chyna interfere, helping Shane retain. Not as good as their Mania match, but still enjoyable.

 

Billy Gunn Vs Mankind: The Corporate Ministry attack Mankind in the back before this one, but he still hobbles out. Billy Gunn sucks and is the last guy from DX they should have been pushing. This is a decent match to be fair. Gunn wins with a Fameasser on a chair.

 

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs The Undertaker Vs Triple H: This is typical triple threat stuff for the most part. Of course, Taker and Hunter end up turning on each other because both want to be champion. Don't these heel groups ever foresee this happening in these situations? The whole Corporate Ministry comes out to interfere, which brings out X-Pac, Kane, Mankind and the Brood to even the odds. I love a good lockerroom-clearing brawl. Austin pins Hunter after a stunner. Everyone brawls to the back leaving just Austin, X-Pac, Shane, Trips and Chyna, and the faces just take turns hitting their finishers on the bad guys, which is actually really fun. It's cool seeing X-Pac get some revenge on these guys, and basically be treated like the number 2 face in the company. Then we end with Austin, Pac and Earl Hebner drinking beers. Hebner was drinking beers at the end of the last UK show too. Was that in his contract?

 

MOTN: Shane Vs X-Pac at 3 stars.

Show rating: This starts horribly, but eventually turns into something watchable. Nothing must-see though. Probably 2 1/4 stars.

[The Nature Boy]

I remember the UK shows basically being televised house shows. Aside from One Night Only, it seemed like nothing that happened there ever really factored into continuity. 

[cwoy2j]

I remember the UK shows basically being televised house shows. Aside from One Night Only, it seemed like nothing that happened there ever really factored into continuity. 

 

Wasn't there a UK show that had a Brock/Heyman vs. Edge handicap match? I think that was the closest we ever got to a one on one Edge/Brock match. That would've been an interesting dynamic back then. Hell if Brock would've come back in 2007 or 08, Rated R Edge vs. Brock would've been pretty awesome with Edge cheating his ass off to try to overcome Brock.

[MoeCristyV.1.6]

You crazy? Stephanie McMahon lost her memory on an UK PPV!

[cwoy2j]

 

Steve Blackman Vs Droz: Pretty boring match, as is Blackman's style. Droz seems to be improving a bit. I wonder what his ceiling would have been.

 

Blackman was dreadfully boring until the hardcore stuff. I got a kick out of his awkward, "It's party time!" catchphrase during that era.

[cwoy2j]

 

Tiger Ali Singh Vs Gillberg: Again with Singh? Is this some kind of rib on the UK or something? The Gillberg character fucking sucks. Not even funny, and then add in the fact that Goldberg was cool as hell and a legit star, and it makes it especially lame that they target him.

 

Very true. Gillberg was a cute one-off thing but that's about it. And Singh fucking sucked. In his book, Hardcore Holly said that Singh talked a bunch of shit about being a bare knuckle champion but pussed out when it came time for Brawl for All.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Over the Edge: I had no intention of watching this, but when I got to it, the anal completist in me kicked in, and I just couldn't skip over it. At any rate, it doesn't feel right doing a full review for the show, so I'll just say that I really enjoyed the opening tag match between Kane and X-Pac and D'Lo Brown and Mark Henry, and move on.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF Fully Loaded 1999.

 

Jeff Jarrett Vs Edge: For Edge's IC title, which he won the previous night in Toronto. Pretty dull match, as neither of these guys is terribly interesting at this point. Gangrel interferes to cost Edge the title.

 

The Acolytes Vs The Hardyz and Michael Hayes: The Hardyz are the tag champs. This is Acolytes Rules- why would your own rules be that you are at a numerical disadvantage? Anyway, the Acolytes ragdolling the brothers is pretty fun. Hayes gets his ass kicked, and is pinned, giving the Acolytes the tag titles.

 

D'Lo Brown Vs Mideon: Another title change here, with Brown regaining the Euro title. They seem to be done with the idea of Mideon as a real threat, as Brown doesn't have too much trouble putting him away.

 

The Big Boss Man Vs Al Snow: A better than average hardcore match, thanks to the Boss Man laying in his shots a bit more. Boss Man wins the belt, making us 4 for 4 on title changes.

 

The Big Show Vs Kane: This is the start of Show's allegiance to the Undertaker. Hardcore Holly is the guest ref, and helps Show win. Taker and X-Pac both get involved in the aftermath.

 

Ken Shamrock Vs Steve Blackman: Iron Circle match. This only goes about 3 minutes, and is just crap in concept and execution.

 

Road Dogg and X-Pac Vs Mr Ass and Chyna: This is for the D-X trademark. Ass and Chyna is about the worst possible team you can put together during this time. Pac and Dogg are close to the best. The match is okay, and I'm happy that the faces won. Been surprised at how likeable these two are in this era. Maybe not Pac, because he was always a great babyface worker, but James is surprisingly good at playing sympathetic.

 

Triple H Vs The Rock: Strap match for the number one contendership. Of course, they start by brawling all around ringside. This goes on way too long, and they don't really do anything creative with the gimmick (and actually work part of the match without being connected by the strap). Chyna and Gunn run in to help Trips but Rock fights them off, only to turn into a Pedigree. I feel like I've seen that finish a few times now, with someone interfering for Trips, his opponent fighting them off, but then Hunter winning anyway with a pedigree. I know that was the finish to the X-Pac match.

 

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs The Undertaker: First Blood match- if Taker wins, Austin can never challenge for the world title again, if Austin wins, Vince is gone for good! Taker busted Austin open on Heat, and Austin returned the favour about half-way through the ppv, so I was interested how they were going to work this. It just meant a lot more punches. Plodding brawling for the most part. Vince is on commentary, so you get some good facials from him. Shane and Vince both interfere, then X-Pac comes out and hits a Van Daminator on Taker to avenge Taker chokeslamming him in the aftermath of the Kane/Show match. Austin busts Taker open with a camera, and that's your lot. Taker and Austin brawl post-match with way more intensity than they have at any point during their long feud. I love anytime X-Pac gets in the main event mix, and in general I like how stories and rivalries get interweaved during this time frame. Could use more of that now, I think.

 

MOTN: There isn't really anything I'd call good on the whole show. I'd probably say the main is as good as it gets, at about 2.5 stars.

 

Show rating: Well, you get some title changes, and the 'end of an era' main event (even though I didn't feel like the stakes of that one were really played up enough), so it's not a show without incident, at least. Maybe 2 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Unforgiven 1999.

 

Val Venis Vs Steve Blackman: Pretty boring match between these two. Venis is probably the most disappointing wrestler of this timeframe from my viewing. I always remember him as a good wrestler, but he hasn't shown me anything yet.

 

D'Lo Brown Vs Mark Henry: Here we go, signs here of the Mark Henry we all know and love. The trash talking and playing to the crowd, the good-looking offence, the bumping. It hasn't all come together yet, but you can definitely see the progression. Henry tries to duck out of the match, saying that he suffered a "braineurism", but D'Lo attacks. Pretty good match, though maybe a bit longer than is in Henry's comfort zone. Brown regains the European title.

 

Jeff Jarrett Vs Chyna: IC title match. Jarrett is in the middle of his sexist gimmick here, and it's totally base, offensive, lowest-common-denominator garbage... and really fun. Jarrett puts in a good display here, essentially wrestling himself. Moolah and Mae get involved, and end up getting a beatdown from Jarrett, a move that has Lawler in fits of hysterics. Debra hits Jeff with a guitar (she mistimes it because she sucks) giving Chyna the win, but it gets reversed when "Head Scab Referee" (this was during the refs on strike angle) Tom Prichard shows a replay of the interference. So, Chyna beats the shit out of Prichard. Fun stuff that the crowd was really hot for.

 

The Acolytes Vs The Dudley Boyz: I had reasonably high hopes for this one, but it didn't deliver at all. Started off plodding and then turned into a clusterfuck, ending with Stevie Richards coming out dressed as an Acolyte.

 

Ivory Vs Luna Vachon: Hardcore match for the women's title that starts in the back and never makes it to the ring. Ivory wins. Only about 3 mins, and I give them credit for not shying away from anything the men would do.

 

The New Age Outlaws Vs Edge and Christian: So, the Outlaws are back together and tag champs again. It seems like in the last couple of months every member of DX has turned on each other, and been aligned with each other. E and C show potential as a team here, playing de facto heels and using some nice double team moves. This isn't bad all together, ending when Gangrel and the Hardyz cost Edge and Christian the match.

 

Al Snow Vs The Big Boss Man: This is my first time watching the infamous Kennel From Hell match. Whose idea was this match again? Absolutely terrible from all aspects, and the crowd rightly shit on it. This whole angle with Pepper the dog sucks, in fact, although JR saying he sympathises with Snow because "his dog was butchered, and then he ate it" was funny.

 

X-Pac Vs Chris Jericho: Jericho talks in his book about having some teething problems with the WWF style, I think citing this match, and it's apparent here. There are several moments in the match where things go awry, mostly down to Jericho, but Pac seems off his game too. They manage to settle the ship somewhat, before a DQ ending. Curtis Hughes was a crap bodyguard, by the way, interfering right in view of the referee (prior to the DQ).

 

Triple H Vs The Rock Vs Kane Vs Mankind Vs The British Bulldog Vs The Big Show: 6-Pack challenge for the vacant world title, with Austin as special enforcer. Austin spends the majority of the match on commentary. This is pretty dull in the early going, but starts to get good as it spirals out of control. The crowd is really hot, and Rocky is crazy over. It felt like the Rock was passing Austin as the most popular guy around this time. I really liked the story of Mankind trying to work as a team with the Rock, and not getting physical with him, only to turn on him near the end and put him in the mandible claw. Finisher-train type deal for the finish, with the referees coming down to attack scab Jimmy Korderas, and Austin reluctantly counting the 3 for Triple H after Bulldog had hit the Rock with a chair. Hunter eats a stunner post match and we end with Austin drinking beers, as was the style of the time.

 

MOTN: A couple of contenders, but the main event edges it, thanks to a really hot second half. I'd put it at about 3 and a quarter, with the tag and Euro title matches at 3 stars.

 

Show rating: There's some really terrible stuff on this, but some pretty decent stuff too, and overall I thought it was an enjoyable show, if far from must-see. Around 2 and 3/4 seems fair.

[Brian Fowler]

If my memory serves, that was right when Russo left, and they got a real turning point towards longer matches and less crazy turns and stories.

Plus the Radicalz show up in a couple of months, and, obviously, the ring work improves dramatically with them around.

[Victator]

I remember the UK shows basically being televised house shows. Aside from One Night Only, it seemed like nothing that happened there ever really factored into continuity. 

They did a few minor title changes.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF Rebellion.

 

And speaking of UK shows... This show was interesting in that it was built around the Bulldog. It had the hilariously bad backstage bit with Bulldog "accidentally" throwing a garbage can at Stephanie, which leads to Michael Hayes going on about it all night on commentary and sounding really creepy about it. Vince must have liked Davey Boy a fair bit, what with the repeated main events in the mid-90s, despite not drawing at all, and then throwing him right back into the main event mix here.

 

Jeff Jarrett Vs D'Lo Brown: Show gets off to a flyer with Jarrett coming out with a hoover, and offering to pay any woman in the crowd to hoover up the ring. He insults the standard of British women, and I cracked up when he says of the girl he picks out "you'll do... you'll have to do". It gets even funnier when he slaps her in the figure four. The match with D'Lo is short, but fine. Man, I understand Austin's reasons for not wanting to work a programme with Jarrett, and it would certainly have been a step down for him after feuding with the Rock and Vince, but I think that could have been such a fun programme at that time. I've realised that the key to Jarrett is the goofier, and more outlandish the character he's playing, the better he is. Country singer Jeff with silly costumes and light up hat? Fun. Chauvinist pig Jeff beating up old women? Very fun. Tough guy Jeff as serious wrestler? I'll pass.

 

The Godfather Vs Gangrel: Short nothing match.

 

Val Venis Vs Mark Henry: It seems Henry is turning into more of a comedy character now. I mean, the Sexual Chocolate character was always a comedy character, but he was a badass too. Now it's becoming all about the comedy. Venis wins in short order, and has the laziest pre-match sexual metaphor. Something about the Big Valbowski being just like rugby because they both have balls and the object is to score.

 

Ivory Vs Luna Vachon Vs Tori Vs Jacqueline: This is garbage.

 

Chris Jericho Vs Road Dogg: Decent match, better than the Jericho/Pac match. The match has quite a bit of heat, and they both bring the intensity to their brawling.

 

Chyna Vs Jeff Jarrett: So Jarrett challenged Chyna to this impromptu match after she got involved in his match earlier. It doesn't go long before the Bulldog interferes and beats down Chyna, because of something she said to him in the back. She also said something about Jarrett having va-Chyna envy. Someone should have beat her down for that line too.

 

Kane Vs The Big Show: No DQ match where they don't really use the stip much until the end. Pretty crap match that seemed a lot longer than  it actually was.

 

The British Bulldog Vs X-Pac: Another short match. Decent but not long enough to get good. Bulldog goes over strong.

 

Edge and Christian Vs The Acolytes Vs The Holly Cousins: This is elimination stylie, with the Hollys going out first leaving us to a straight tag for the most part. Really nothing to get excited about.

 

Triple H Vs The Rock: Cage match for the WWF title. This was pretty much the only match that mattered on the show, and the announcers spent the whole night either talking about this or poor Stephanie. Rock cuts a promo on top of the cage before the match. It's pure catchphrases, but he has the crowd eating out of his palm. I remember seeing this after I got back into wrestling at the end of 99, and just imitating the Rock for days. Everything was "it doesn't matter..." and "roody poo". Really dull cage match for the most part, but then they threw everything at it to spice it up, including a ref bump, Rock escaping the cage while the ref is down, brawling around ringside, Triple H being busted open, and run-ins from the Bulldog, Chyna and Shane and Vince McMahon. Hunter finally wins thanks to the Bulldog's interference, and Vince's big revenge on Bulldog for putting his daughter in the hospital was to lock the cage door so that Rock could give him a People's Elbow. Punishment didn't really seem to fit the crime.

 

MOTN: The cage match heated up finally, but the Jericho/Road Dogg match impressed me more as a complete match. Barely 3 stars for that one.

Show rating: Way too many matches on a show that's barely over 2 and a half hours. Apart from Jarrett, the aforementioned match, and the end of the cage match, it's pretty much all tripe. 2 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF No Mercy 1999.

 

The Godfather Vs Mideon: How shitty do you like your opening matches? These are just about the two worst guys on the roster right now, and have a match that fits that billing.

 

Ivory Vs The Fabulous Moolah: This is for Ivory's women's title, and is dreadful. I guess I'm unsentimental, because I have no interest in seeing these grannies on my screen, especially Moolah. It was at least funny seeing Mae bumping for Ivory a bit. Ivory nearly kills herself with a suicide dive. I don't know that doing a suicide dive on a septuagenarian is a smart idea. Moolah wins the belt, much to King's amazement.

 

Crash and Hardcore Holly Vs The New Age Outlaws: This was supposed to be a tag title match, but the Hollys helped Rock and Sock beat the Outlaws for the belts on Smackdown. Way to cost yourselves a title match. Standard match, which the Hollys win by DQ.

 

Chyna Vs Jeff Jarrett: The infamous Good Housekeeping Match, and the end of their feud. And it occurs to me that this is the rare time that WWF actually did a pretty progressive storyline, with a feel-good conclusion. Chyna beat the chauvinist pig and bully on her own, she didn't need help from any man, she didn't cry or play the victim. It sticks out like a sore thumb, especially in an era when you have the Godfather as a babyface. The match itself is okay for a garbage match. The only thing I didn't like was the false finish, which saw Jarrett get the win initially, but then Teddy Long deem that the match must continue because he used the belt as a weapon, which isn't a household object. I think this lessened the impact of Chyna's win. JR makes what I took as a pretty explicit reference to Mae Young being gay here. King says the salami that was used as a weapon must have been left out there by Mae, to which JR replies that he didn't know Mae liked salami. Miss Kitty leaves with Chyna (to become the Kat), and I believe that's the last we see of Jarrett in the WWF. He goes out on a high, in my opinion.

 

The Rock Vs The British Bulldog: It's apparent that the Bulldog can't really go anymore. This match is pretty bad, and Rock basically runs through him like he's a jobber.

 

The Hardy Boyz Vs Edge and Christian: Ladder match that really holds up well. What's striking about this is that the WWF put four young guys out there, who weren't particularly hot acts at the time, gave them a bit of time and a ladder and told them to get themselves over. I can't imagine that happening in today's climate. And get over they did. It's quite exhilarating actually watching them wow the fans like this, as the crowd starts off lukewarm at best, and by the end is giving both teams standing ovations. Really enjoyable match. 

 

After this Rock comes out and challenges the winner of the main event, only for Triple H to attack him with a sledgehammer. That fucking sledgehammer.

 

Mankind Vs Val Venis: I don't really get the decision to push Val as a heel here, at the expense of Foley, and I certainly don't get how the winning testicular claw is a legal move (nor how it made Foley pass out). Average match, but Mick deserved better.

 

X-Pac Vs Bradshaw Vs Kane Vs Faarooq: Not bad for a multi-man match. Pac sells good as usual, but I think they could have told the story (Pac trying to prove himself against the big guys) just as well, and had a better match, if this was a standard tag match.

 

Triple H Vs 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin: No holds barred for the world title. I hate that the build for this had Trips pretending to get bit in the face by a rattlesnake, which was made out to be some genius plan, even though an idiot could see through the bad make-up job. Anyway, this is a typical Austin match, but the two go at it with gusto, and the visual of them brawling on a hardwood floor at least makes it feel a little different. Loses a bit when they get back into the ring, and the finish of the Rock coming out but accidentally costing Austin the match was really obvious. Still, I thought this was a good Attitude-style main event.

 

Match of the night: The ladder match holds up as a great example of the genre. I'd give it 4 stars. The main event is around 3 1/4.

 

Show rating: To be honest, this is mostly a terrible show, though the high points are worth seeing. 2 1/4.

[badfish69]

I watched the ladder match and yeah they really won that crowd over huge.  Really fun match, but listening to perv Lawler really sucks.   We get it Jerry, she has a a nice ass.  You don't have to mention it every ten seconds.

 

Also the idea that any of those guys would care more about Terri than 100 grand especially considering at that time all four of them could go to a club and have their choice of any woman in the room is pretty funny.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Armageddon 1999.

 

It was around this point that I started watching on a weekly basis again. I think Survivor Series actually was my first show back. I remember my friends and I would walk into our IT class at college every week doing the New Age Outlaws intro spiel. Ha, how obnoxious we were. Anyway, it will be interesting for me rewatching this stuff, as some of it I have really clear memories of, and some I don't remember at all.

 

8 tag team battle royal: Entrants, in rough order of overness, are: The Hardys, Too Cool, The Godfather and Mark Henry, Edge and Christian, The Acolytes, The Dudleys, The Headbangers and the Mean Street Posse. The Acolytes last eliminate the Hardys to earn a tag title show at the Rumble. Standard battle royal stuff.

 

Kurt Angle Vs Steve Blackman: My first look at Angle for this project. This is a very basic match, but it fine. Blackman looks better than he has previously.

 

Ivory Vs Jacqueline Vs BB Vs Miss Kitty: Evening gown match in a pool of water for the women's title. Wow, this is something. Not even the pretense of this being an athletic contest. Kinda feel sorry for Ivory being reduced to this. Kitty wins the match and then flashes her tits, even though the mean old bosses tried to force her to wear underwear. I like her accent. BB is probably Vince's idea of a perfect woman.

 

The Hollys Vs Rikishi and Viscera: Short match which the Hollys win after Vis accidentally hits Kish with a spinning kick. Not very good.

 

British Bulldog Vs Val Venis Vs D'Lo Brown: Bulldog's European title is on the line. I very clearly remember thinking this was a great match at the time. Boy, was I wrong. This is pretty terrible, with several noticeable botches, bad timing, and the usual trappings of the triple threat match. Bulldog just looks done as a wrestler at this point. Val wins the title. Not sure if he's a babyface again now after the feud with Foley.

 

Kane Vs X-Pac: Cage match. The Kane/X-Pac friendship/team has been my favourite storyline of the year, so it's a shame it had to end in the rather predictable manner of Pac turning on Kane. I was a big Kane mark at the time, and this project has made me something of an X-Pac mark. This isn't very long, and they don't really treat Pac as a real threat to Kane, but they do a decent job regardless. Tori eats an X-Factor, and then there's a nice spot of X-Pac climbing over the cage, but Kane going out and catching him on his shoulders and bringing him back into the ring (Kane can only win by pinfall). Kane hits a clothesline off the top of the cage and then a tombstone for a definitive win.

 

Chris Jericho Vs Chyna: IC title. This has been a terrible feud, now featuring Jericho hitting Chyna's thumb with a hammer. The crowd are a bit more mixed than the pro-Jericho crowd at the Survivor Series, though Jericho is still the favourite. He makes Chyna tap, but the feud would only continue from here (and arguably get worse).

 

The Rock and Sock Connection Vs The New Age Outlaws: This is pretty dull, and the crowd aren't as into it as you'd think. The Outlaws were better as faces. Well, Road Dogg anyway, with Gunn it doesn't really matter. Al Snow runs in and costs Rock and Mankind the title, because he's getting pushed as a heel for some reason.

 

The Big Show Vs The Big Boss Man: This would have been a fun little feud for the midcard, but as your world title feud, it's pretty embarrassing. This goes all of 3 minutes before Show wins.

 

Triple H Vs Vince McMahon: Man, this just goes on and on. 30 fucking minutes for these two? To be fair, they make it more entertaining than it has any right to be, thanks mainly to Vince taking some crazy stiff shots (a mounted machine gun being swiveled into the back of his head is a stand-out), but by the time they've brawled all the way into the back, Triple H has narrowly avoided murdering Vince by running him over, and then got all the way back into the ring (with a quick stop for Vince to take a bump from the set onto a crash mat- so this match features two of my least favourite spots in wrestling- vehicular assault and a crash mat bump) you just want them to get to the pay-off of Steph turning already. JR, of course, is absolutely sickened by that turn of events. The McMahon-Helmsley Era begins in earnest. What strikes me as odd is that Test is nowhere to be seen throughout all of this (and indeed, has been a surprisingly peripheral figure throughout the whole year on ppv).

 

Match of the night: I have to give it to the cage match, which might just earn 3 stars.

 

Show rating: This is bad. It feels very much like the show of a company in desperate need of the kick up the backside that the McMahon-Helmsley Regime provided. Austin is obviously out, you've got Rock and Mankind buried in the midcard, a title match which is maybe the worst (on paper) they've ever booked for a pay-per-view, and then Trips and Vince in a long main event that doesn't really feel like it should be carrying a ppv. One match barely makes it to good, the rest ranges from average to poor. 1.5 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

3+ star match-getters through 99:

 

Steve Austin: 12

Bret Hart: 11

Mick Foley: 11

Undertaker: 10

Vader: 9

X-Pac: 8

Triple H: 7

Owen Hart: 7

Kane: 7

British Bulldog: 6

[cwoy2j]

I was there for Armageddon 99. One of my friends who was with me leaned down to pour some of the alcohol we smuggled into the venue into his soda and totally missed The Kat flashing her tits. It was only about a second and a half so by the time he leaned down and looked up all he saw was Slaughter hauling her off and everyone cheering. That was the highlight of the ppv. That and Jericho being a huge face b/c he kidnapped a woman, beat her thumb with a hammer and tortured the injured body part the entire match. I don't know how it came off on tv but the live crowd around me HATED Chyna that night.

[Jiji]

Man, that Vince/Trips match is probably the worst WWF PPV match I've ever see and I've seen most of them. What a meandering turd. And, yeah, Test needed to man up and get involved but by that point he had become completely neutered and was done as far as a future main event project. 

[cwoy2j]

Man, that Vince/Trips match is probably the worst WWF PPV match I've ever see and I've seen most of them. What a meandering turd. And, yeah, Test needed to man up and get involved but by that point he had become completely neutered and was done as far as a future main event project. 

 

IIRC, Trips beat Test in a pretty short RAW match soon after the Steph turn. I might have the timeline mixed up a bit though.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF No Way Out 2000.

 

Chris Jericho Vs Kurt Angle: Pretty good opening match sees Angle become Euro-Continental champion. Jericho and Chyna have zero chemistry together. Jericho, in particular, looks like he really hates being associated with her. Nice finish with Angle countering the Lionsault with a belt shot to the face. Angle spends the rest of the night celebrating with fans, until Jericho and Chyna jump him and stuff him into the boot of his car.

 

The Dudley Boyz Vs The New Age Outlaws: I was begging for the Outlaws to lose the belts at this point, and here it was. Short but okay bout. Road Dogg blames Gunn for the defeat, which sets up their breakup.

 

Mark Henry Vs Viscera: Man, this is awesome. Well, as awesome as they possibly could have made it given the time they were given (about 4 mins). Hard to take Henry seriously as a badass when he's coming out to the Sexual Chocolate theme, and defending the honour of his 76-year-old pregnant girlfriend. Vis, on the other hand, has never looked badder than he does here. They just go right at each other with the clobbering. Vis gives Henry a straight kick to the face. Watch the way Henry just obliterates the steel steps the first time he's sent into them, and then bumps like a madman the second time. Of course the match gets boring chants. Mae does a run-in, and Vis tries to splash her again (that's what set up the match), but Henry hits a powerslam for the win. 4 minutes well spent.

 

The Hardys Vs Edge and Christian: #1 contenders match. Another very good match between these two teams. Terri has hired the Acolytes to protect her from the Dudleys. E&C win when Terri turns on the Hardys. When the Hardys confront Terri, the APA attack, and Faarooq nearly breaks Jeff's neck with a dominator that Jeff doesn't rotate down for, taking the move on the back of his neck instead of as a front bump. Nasty.

 

Tazz Vs The Big Boss Man: This was more angle than match, as Tazz quickly got the Tazzmission, forcing Albert to run in for the DQ. Boss Man and Albert then beat the shit out of Tazz, who won't stay down. Obviously this was to get Tazz over as being tough as nails, but it would have made more sense to do this on TV to set up the ppv match.

 

X-Pac Vs Kane: No holds barred match. Nice video package to set this up, showing Tori turning on Kane, and Paul Bearer returning (and looking in great shape). I was a huge Kane fan back then, and this reminded me why, as he came off as such a badass. The match is decent, but doesn't get enough time to really develop into something more. Pac wins by pinning Kane with the steel steps.

 

Rikishi and Too Cool Vs Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn: This is about 3/4 of a very good match, and then it just falls apart due to having more endings than Return of the King. They tease a couple of different finishes, and then the one they finally go with, Rikishi just pinning Malenko clean, feels anti-climactic. Malenko is actually the star of this match, running interference at every turn, and being weasly in refusing to get in with Kish. Malenko was an underrated tag worker in general, I think. Scottie was a good fip, and the Radicalz were as crisp as you'd expect. I can't say I agree with the decision to beat them in their first ppv match, but then I think they were booked poorly from their first night in the company. 

 

The Big Show Vs The Rock: Winner to face the world champ at WrestleMania. Not much of a match. Show dominates but doesn't really work his size very well. Rock's hope spots are mostly just punches. I love that float-over DDT he used to do though- someone should bring that back. Shane interferes and hits Rock with a wicked chair shot to give Show the win. Show totally had the match won moments earlier with a chokeslam anyway, but nobody was around to count because of some stupid feud between Earl Hebner and Tim White. Not to mention the fact that Big Show clearly won the rumble anyway, so he shouldn't even have been in this match.

 

Triple H Vs Cactus Jack: Hell in a cell. I really think Jack should have gone over here, especially since he ended up working the Mania main event anyway. Would have been a great feel-good story. This is a very good match, with both guys bleeding and working really hard. Really feels like a big match too. The two of them on top of the cell with Jack holding the flaming barbed wire 2x4 is a great visual, and then you have the memorable bump through the roof of the cell and the ring. Nice standing ovation for Foley at the end. I feel like Foley was kinda underappreciated by the company. He went out there and killed himself to get guys over, but you sense that they never really saw him as a real top guy. Given the shape he's in now, it's probably a good thing that he called it quits here (although I'd rather have all his comebacks condensed and just tacked on to the end of this run, to get another good 6 months or so out of him).

 

Match of the night: Cactus Vs Hunter. Definitely one of the better HIAC matches. 4 stars. Jericho/Angle, Henry/Vis and Hardys/E&C all make 3 stars.

Show rating: This is a really good show. Nothing terrible on the show, a couple of filler matches but that's about it. I'd go 3.5.