In Your House

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF Backlash 2000.

 

Edge and Christian Vs Road Dogg and X-Pac: Debra makes her return as the guest ring announcer, and she's introduced like some kind of returning legend. She sucked at it. I never thought Debra was worth a damn- didn't even think she was hot (though obviously we all have different tastes). This was a really hot opener. The crowd hate DX here, especially X-Pac. Edge and Christian are the de facto faces, meaning we get Christian as fip- good stuff. Can't believe how much the crowd are into this. X-Pac eats a shot to the head with the ring bell for the finish, and is busted open in the process.

 

Dean Malenko Vs Scotty Too Hotty: This match has a rep as a bit of a hidden gem, and it definitely holds up as a fine match. Malenko is just ruthless going after Scotty's leg, and Scotty's selling is good (except when he hits the worm). The top rope DDT for the finish is sick.

 

The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan Vs The Acolytes: This needed more clubbering. Bull has some nice agility spots for a big guy. Bull and Boss Man get the win thanks to nightstick shenanigans.

 

Crash Holly Vs Hardcore Holly Vs Tazz Vs Matt Hardy Vs Jeff Hardy Vs Perry Saturn: For Crash's hardcore title. Crash had to be involved in the decision for it to end, so we just got lots of 'guy going for pin on Crash, other guy breaks it up' spots, which is really boring. The only time it really comes alive is when they work the set (these big swinging blades) into things, with Matt taking a big dive off the set, and then Jeff swinging on one to deliver a hurricanrana. Crash escapes with his belt.

 

Big Show Vs Kurt Angle: Short comedy match. Show comes out as 'the Showster', and does a good Hogan impersonation, before beating Kurt in a couple of minutes. Amazing how just over a year into his run in the comedy, Show has turned heel/face 5 times, and is now reduced to doing this comedy act.

 

T&A Vs The Dudley Boyz: This is set up by the fact that Bubba wants to put Trish through a table. Ends up being a decent match after a rough start, with T&A using some impressive power and double team moves. They end up with the win, but Bubba gets his wish of powerbombing Trish through a table, to a huge pop. Trish is taken out on a stretcher, at which point JR decides that 'it isn't fun anymore'.

 

Eddie Guerrero Vs Essa Rios: Eddie and Chyna are coming straight from his prom. Eddie wrestles in tuxedo pants, cummerbund and bow-tie (with the added nice touch of white socks). The crowd are clearly behind Eddie at this point, though he's technically still a heel, as he stops to berate the fans. Match is pretty flat, until Rios gets rolling with some of his flashy offence, including an Asai moonsault and a somersault plancha over the turnbuckle. Eddie wins. Lita then strips off Chyna's evening gown, but she ends up liking the attention.

 

Chris Benoit Vs Chris Jericho: Really good match between these two. They really weren't afraid to lay their shots in to one another, which makes their matches stand out from other 'workrate;-style matches. Benoit does a number on Jericho's abdomen, which JR and the King totally no-sell, to the point that they don't get why Jericho is selling his stomach after hitting the Lionsault. The crowd were somewhat tepid at the start, but really got into the match, and were hot by the end. Nice callback to the way Jericho lost the IC title to Angle, as this time he hits Benoit with it as Benoit comes off the top with the headbutt, only for the ref to see it and DQ him. Jericho puts Tim White in the Walls.

 

Triple H Vs The Rock: Shane is guest ref, Vince and Steph are in Hunter's corner. Austin was meant to be in the Rock's corner, but Vince announces that he had 'transportation problems'. Oh, Vince, you rascal. This is an awesome match, which the crowd are white hot for. Just a near perfect example of bells and whistles sports entertainment-style wrestling. The spot where Rocky Rock Bottoms Trip and Shane together through the announce table is an all-time great. Vince and Steph's reactions are fantastic. Awesome pop when Austin's music hits, and him just wiping everyone out with chairs and then leaving is great. Rock wins the belt, and Austin comes back out to celebrate with him. Everyone played their roles so well in this, making this one of my favourite WWF main events.

 

MOTN: Several good matches to pick from, but that Trips/Rock match takes the cake. I have that at 4 and 3/4. Benoit/Jericho at 3 and 3/4, Malenko/Scotty at 3.5, and the tag title match at 3.

 

Show rating: I think this has always had the rep as a very good show. I know it did with me, and I was glad that it held up. A bit of a slump in the middle, but nothing you'd call outright bad. Another thing that stood out is how hot the crowd was, pretty much throughout. You'd get Attitude Era crowds that would pop for the entrances, but then be dead for the matches, but this crowd were reacting to everything. Several good matches, and a very memorable main event. Great show. 4 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF Insurrextion.

 

Too Cool Vs Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko: Solid opener. There's dissension in the Radicalz already. Malenko continues to impress, both as a tag worker, and as being a good stooging heel.

 

Kane Vs Bull Buchanan: Throwaway short match.

 

Road Dogg Vs Bradshaw: Road Dogg weirdly wrestles this as a babyface. It doesn't go very long. Dogg wins.

 

The Kat Vs Terri Runnels: Arm-wrestling match. Just an excuse for some T&A basically. Terri pulls the Kat's top off and it looks like the crowd got an eyeful, but they cut away.

 

The Big Show and Rikishi Vs The Dudley Boyz: Show is Showkishi. It looks like the Duds are gonna win, but Edge and Christian run in and cost them the match. Afterwards we get Too Cool, Show, Kish and the Dudleys all dancing together, which was kinda funny.

 

Kurt Angle Vs Chris Benoit: Benoit had a nasty shiner for this one, and it started bleeding during the match. They only get about 5 minutes, but make decent use of it, and work the eye into the finish.

 

Crash Holly Vs The British Bulldog: Crash was on commentary for the previous match, saying that he couldn't find an Englishman to fight him for the hardcore title. That led to this impromptu match, which Bulldog won pretty quickly. He looks pretty terrible at this point.

 

The Hardy Boyz Vs Edge and Christian: E&C's tag titles are on the line. Another good match between these two. The Hardys are working Rock N Roll Express spots, and E&C (I wish they had a team name, because that's clunky to type) have impressed me since turning heel, and finding their characters.

 

Eddie Guerrero Vs Chris Jericho: A coin toss determines that Guerrero's European title will be on the line. Pretty decent match between the two, but nothing that really stands out. Chyna gets involved, enabling Eddie to pick up the win.

 

The Rock Vs Shane McMahon Vs Triple H: Main event time. The build-up for this had been based around who Mr McMahon was going to favour. It turned out that the plan was for Triple H to get the win, as Shane pretty much stands out of the way and lets the other two go at, helping Trips out now and then. Cute spot with Shane doing his "Shane shuffle", and then Triple H following suit. This leads to the Rock making a comeback and doing a shuffle of his own. Inevitably, the Regime's plan falls apart, and Shane and Hunter start to go at it. It becomes a convoluted mess, with the ref being knocked out, and eventually Earl Hebner comes out (to a huge pop) and counts the 3 for the Rock. This was reasonable for the most part.

 

MOTN: The tag title match- 3 stars.

Show rating: This should be exhibit A in the UK shows being just taped house-shows argument. Nothing of consequence at all here, lots of throwaway stuff, and even the main event is a real 'money main event' (which would be Hunter Vs Rock one-on-one). Basically a forgettable show that probably would have been fun live, but leaves no impact watching after the fact. 2 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF Judgment Day 2000.

 

Too Cool and Rikishi Vs Kurt Angle and Edge and Christian: Funny 5 second pose from ECK, dressed as a jug band. This was an entertaining 6-man, but it looked like the finish was botched. It seemed that Kurt was supposed to break up the pinfall, but he made it in just too late, and Teddy Long counted to 3. Long had the look of a man who'd messed something up. It's amazing just how over Too Cool, particularly Rikishi, are.

 

Eddie Guerrero Vs Perry Saturn Vs Dean Malenko: So, I guess the Radicalz are done for now. Eddie and Chyna have developed into a good act. They both look to be having fun together. This is a pretty shitty triple threat, won by Eddie after using a lead pipe concealed in a bunch of roses.

 

Shane McMahon Vs The Big Show: Falls count anywhere match. Fun to see Show ragdolling "Simba" (as Shane was referring to himself at the time) around. Boss Man and T&A run in but get dealt with. Bull Buchanan is the difference-maker though as he attacks Show with his nightstick, and then Shane tips some electrical equipment onto Show's leg, and crumbles a cinderblock over his head for the 3. That looked really fake. You would think they had big plans for Bull based on this.

 

Chris Benoit Vs Chris Jericho: Submission match. This was a salty little affair. Not as good as their last encounter, but still pretty good, with lots of feeling. If you're at all squeamish about Benoit matches, you may want to avoid this one though, as he wins by choking Jericho out with the crossface.

 

X-Pac and the Road Dogg Vs The Dudley Boyz: Tables match. Man, is this Judgment Day or WCW Uncensored? Not up to much really. Just highlights how good the Hardyz were in this environment. Gerald Brisco interferes to give D-X a cheap win.

 

The Rock Vs Triple H: Iron man match. First time I'd seen this, and I thought it was really good. I've heard the criticism that them getting pinned by DDTs and piledrivers and stuff was kinda silly, since that would never happen in a normal match, but I thought it made sense here, with the idea that they'd already taken so much punishment (and each other's finishers, which accounted for the first 2 falls), that those moves were more deadly. It was worked smartly, and in general they did a good job of selling the effects of wrestling in such a long match. If I was gonna make a criticism it would be that the match seemed to laid out to make Hunter look like the better man. The finish got convoluted with the McMahons, DX and then the Undertaker all running in (I forgot about those creepy Taker return vignettes), and they mistimed the finish, with Taker clearly hitting the tombstone after the buzzer went. I think that ended up working though, as it gave the impression that Shawn made a big mistake by DQing the Rock. Shawn sold this really well, and him backing up the ramp stalked by a pissed off Taker was a nice callback to Shawn's refereeing job at Summerslam 97. I hated Taker in this gimmick, but he looked pretty badass just taking care of everyone in his path. Shawn's referee shorts deserve a mention too.

 

MOTN: The iron man, 4 stars. Jericho/Benoit, 3 stars.

Show rating: This was a good show on the whole. Not too many memorable matches or anything, but I think they did a good job making the matches there were at least mean something in the context of the show. I'd call this a 3 and a quarter star effort.

[twiztor]

WWF Judgment Day 2000

 

me & my friends ordered pretty much all of the PPVs in these days. that said, i pretty much have no recolection of any of the 99-00 events save SummerSlam and WrestleMania. i remember seeing this VHS and buying it. must've been a year or so later. the card looked fantastic so had to pick it up.  

we played WWF No Mercy on the n64 endlessly at this point, but none of us could figure out why one of the weapons was a bouquet of roses. then i got this VHS, saw the Eddie/Chyna deal, and it all made sense.

 

looking back, this has to be one of the only events to not have a single one-on-one, no stipulation match, right?

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

The only one on one match at WrestleMania 2000 was Terri Vs The Kat in a catfight, so I don't know if that counts.

[cwoy2j]

 

 

The Rock Vs Triple H: Iron man match. First time I'd seen this, and I thought it was really good. I've heard the criticism that them getting pinned by DDTs and piledrivers and stuff was kinda silly, since that would never happen in a normal match, but I thought it made sense here, with the idea that they'd already taken so much punishment (and each other's finishers, which accounted for the first 2 falls), that those moves were more deadly. It was worked smartly, and in general they did a good job of selling the effects of wrestling in such a long match. If I was gonna make a criticism it would be that the match seemed to laid out to make Hunter look like the better man. The finish got convoluted with the McMahons, DX and then the Undertaker all running in (I forgot about those creepy Taker return vignettes), and they mistimed the finish, with Taker clearly hitting the tombstone after the buzzer went. I think that ended up working though, as it gave the impression that Shawn made a big mistake by DQing the Rock. Shawn sold this really well, and him backing up the ramp stalked by a pissed off Taker was a nice callback to Shawn's refereeing job at Summerslam 97. I hated Taker in this gimmick, but he looked pretty badass just taking care of everyone in his path. Shawn's referee shorts deserve a mention too.

 

The way I see the finish to the Ironman was that HBK saw Taker chokeslam HHH and that was the DQ b/c Taker got the chokeslam in before the bell and you can clearly see that HBK saw it. I think JR said something to that effect right after the match. 

 

And like you said, the "normal moves as finishers" argument is silly. They were getting pinned from piledrivers and huge ddt's after wrestling for 30 minutes. A piledriver should pretty much be a death move anyway, let alone after 40+ minutes of wrestling and taking multiple finishers and chairshots.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

 

 

 

The Rock Vs Triple H: Iron man match. First time I'd seen this, and I thought it was really good. I've heard the criticism that them getting pinned by DDTs and piledrivers and stuff was kinda silly, since that would never happen in a normal match, but I thought it made sense here, with the idea that they'd already taken so much punishment (and each other's finishers, which accounted for the first 2 falls), that those moves were more deadly. It was worked smartly, and in general they did a good job of selling the effects of wrestling in such a long match. If I was gonna make a criticism it would be that the match seemed to laid out to make Hunter look like the better man. The finish got convoluted with the McMahons, DX and then the Undertaker all running in (I forgot about those creepy Taker return vignettes), and they mistimed the finish, with Taker clearly hitting the tombstone after the buzzer went. I think that ended up working though, as it gave the impression that Shawn made a big mistake by DQing the Rock. Shawn sold this really well, and him backing up the ramp stalked by a pissed off Taker was a nice callback to Shawn's refereeing job at Summerslam 97. I hated Taker in this gimmick, but he looked pretty badass just taking care of everyone in his path. Shawn's referee shorts deserve a mention too.

 

The way I see the finish to the Ironman was that HBK saw Taker chokeslam HHH and that was the DQ b/c Taker got the chokeslam in before the bell and you can clearly see that HBK saw it. I think JR said something to that effect right after the match. 

 

 

 

The thing with that though is that it looked very much like Shawn was warning Taker not to deliver the tombstone, and then when he did he called for the bell. It was a timing mistake, in my opinion. But, like I said, it didn't take anything away from the match for me.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWF Fully Loaded 2000.

 

The Hardy Boyz and Lita Vs T&A and Trish Stratus: So, Lita is with the Hardys now, and we have the start of the Lita/Trish rivalry. Lita had a great connection with the fans, and I wonder if they could have made more of that. Maybe if she was competent beyond just a couple of high spots. Trish was a special kind of hot, but looks totally lost during her brief time in the ring here. T&A are looking like a solid big man team. I think they booked Lita too strong here. Weird to have her kick out of a powerbomb by Test, then she ends up pinning Trish with the moonsault. Trish whips her with a strap after the match.

 

Tazz Vs Al Snow: This was way more even than it should have been. Tazz should have plowed through Snow (get it?) here.

 

Perry Saturn Vs Eddie Guerrero: For Eddie's Euro title. More male on female violence with Saturn going after Chyna. They work a decent Nitro-style match, but Saturn was always too spotty for my tastes. Terri helps her man steal the title.

 

The Acolytes Vs Edge and Christian: E&C had been caught trying to fool Commissioner Foley into thinking Christian was sick. They cut a promo on Dallas, but then Bradshaw responds with an impassioned defense of his home state. The match is a short and intense brawl, ending in a dq. Entertaining stuff.

 

Val Venis Vs Rikishi: Cage match for the IC title. Kish is so over I think the fans would have accepted him as world champion at this point. Val is with Trish now, and Lita comes out during the match to extract some revenge with the leather strap. The fans are loving this. For too much of this match I didn't really feel the hate that would warrant a cage match, but the Rikishi splash off the top of the cage is an all-time great spot. Tazz costs Rikishi the match by hitting him with a camera.

 

The Undertaker Vs Kurt Angle: Billed as the first of 3 main events, but that's generous. Shenanigans earlier in the night saw Taker chase Kurt around th eback on his bike, Kurt fooling around with said bike, and finally Kurt attacking Taker with a wrench. The match was short and uneventful with Taker going over strong.

 

Chris Jericho Vs Triple H: Last man standing. Earlier Jericho had attacked Triple H, after luring him to his locker room by sending Stephanie flowers, with the implication being that they were from Kurt Angle. This is really the kind of match Triple H would become defined by (and criticised for, by some); a long, fairly pedestrian (though smartly-worked) heat section (in this instance, going after Jericho's taped ribs), bleeding a gusher, a Flair tribute in the form of a shoving match with the official, and then him going over. At this point, as opposed to later in his career, the work was that much crisper, and Hunter moved around a lot better, plus here you have Jericho giving a really good underdog babyface performance. I don't see any reason that Hunter should have won this match. I've read that people were disappointed at the time that with these three main events they had the chance to put some new, younger guys over. Well, this definitely seems like the one they should have pulled the trigger on, more so than Angle and Benoit.

 

The Rock Vs Chris Benoit: Earlier in the night (lots of angles happening on this show) Benoit had got into the Rock's dressing room and tore up his wardrobe. I don't know why the Rock had a full rack of expensive clothing with him. Well, I guess it fits his character actually. Benoit came out for the match wearing one of the ripped up shirts, and Shane had on a pair of the Rock's sunglasses. The hype video for this was great, and really made Benoit look like the most dangerous man in the company. That's why I was disappointed with the match, as it seemed to be laid out in a way to make Benoit look not on the Rock's level. The Rock was cutting off Benoit's offence left and right, and Benoit only really got an advantage when Shane interfered. They were working the "title can change hands by disqualification" gimmick, but they didn't really play it up too much. Finally Shane hit Hebner with a chair and conned him into thinking it was Rocky, so briefly it looked like Benoit was the new champion, until Foley came out and demanded the match restart. Rock, now bloodied up after a Shane (of course) chair shot, polished off Benoit. I don't think even at the time I bought that Benoit was walking out with the title.

 

MOTN: I'd probably say the LMS just edges it, at about 3 stars.

Show rating: A show that flatters to deceive in many ways, as it looks quite strong on paper, but most of the matches end up disappointing. On the other hand, there's nothing I'd call outright bad either, and there's certainly enough to keep one entertained. Probably about 2.5 stars.

[cwoy2j]

 

Chris Jericho Vs Triple H: Last man standing. Earlier Jericho had attacked Triple H, after luring him to his locker room by sending Stephanie flowers, with the implication being that they were from Kurt Angle. This is really the kind of match Triple H would become defined by (and criticised for, by some); a long, fairly pedestrian (though smartly-worked) heat section (in this instance, going after Jericho's taped ribs), bleeding a gusher, a Flair tribute in the form of a shoving match with the official, and then him going over. At this point, as opposed to later in his career, the work was that much crisper, and Hunter moved around a lot better, plus here you have Jericho giving a really good underdog babyface performance. I don't see any reason that Hunter should have won this match. I've read that people were disappointed at the time that with these three main events they had the chance to put some new, younger guys over. Well, this definitely seems like the one they should have pulled the trigger on, more so than Angle and Benoit.

 

In his 2nd book, Jericho said they had to alter the finish to Hunter suplexing him from the barrier through the table b/c Saturn and Chyna broke the other table. Apparently the agents set big signs up backstage saying, "STAY AWAY FROM THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE" but somehow it got broken anyway. The original finish was supposed to be Hunter suplexing Y2J from one table through the other. Y2J was afraid that they'd slip off the barrier or miss the announce table and they'd crack their heads open on the concrete b/c Hunter really couldn't see where he was going to be suplexing him or something like that. They managed to pull it off without a hitch though.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Oh yeah, I remember reading that now you mention it. They executed the finish very 'safely', and that explains why. Perry and Chyna barely touched the other table, and it collapsed, so that explains that too.

[cwoy2j]

 

 

 

 

The Rock Vs Triple H: Iron man match. First time I'd seen this, and I thought it was really good. I've heard the criticism that them getting pinned by DDTs and piledrivers and stuff was kinda silly, since that would never happen in a normal match, but I thought it made sense here, with the idea that they'd already taken so much punishment (and each other's finishers, which accounted for the first 2 falls), that those moves were more deadly. It was worked smartly, and in general they did a good job of selling the effects of wrestling in such a long match. If I was gonna make a criticism it would be that the match seemed to laid out to make Hunter look like the better man. The finish got convoluted with the McMahons, DX and then the Undertaker all running in (I forgot about those creepy Taker return vignettes), and they mistimed the finish, with Taker clearly hitting the tombstone after the buzzer went. I think that ended up working though, as it gave the impression that Shawn made a big mistake by DQing the Rock. Shawn sold this really well, and him backing up the ramp stalked by a pissed off Taker was a nice callback to Shawn's refereeing job at Summerslam 97. I hated Taker in this gimmick, but he looked pretty badass just taking care of everyone in his path. Shawn's referee shorts deserve a mention too.

 

The way I see the finish to the Ironman was that HBK saw Taker chokeslam HHH and that was the DQ b/c Taker got the chokeslam in before the bell and you can clearly see that HBK saw it. I think JR said something to that effect right after the match. 

 

 

 

The thing with that though is that it looked very much like Shawn was warning Taker not to deliver the tombstone, and then when he did he called for the bell. It was a timing mistake, in my opinion. But, like I said, it didn't take anything away from the match for me.

 

 

Yeah it was definitely a timing mistake. Kayfabe wise, they could've just said, "HBK saw the chokeslam and that was the DQ" but the announcers sold it like the DQ was for the Tombstone.

[cwoy2j]

Oh yeah, I remember reading that now you mention it. They executed the finish very 'safely', and that explains why. Perry and Chyna barely touched the other table, and it collapsed, so that explains that too.

 

That was the weirdest table collapse ever. Especially after RR00 where Foley piledrove HHH on the table and the thing didn't budge. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

 

  

 

Yeah it was definitely a timing mistake. Kayfabe wise, they could've just said, "HBK saw the chokeslam and that was the DQ" but the announcers sold it like the DQ was for the Tombstone.

 

 

Ah, okay, thought you were saying you actually thought the DQ was for the chokeslam, rather than just using that to cover for the mistake.

[cwoy2j]

 

 

  

 

Yeah it was definitely a timing mistake. Kayfabe wise, they could've just said, "HBK saw the chokeslam and that was the DQ" but the announcers sold it like the DQ was for the Tombstone.

 

 

Ah, okay, thought you were saying you actually thought the DQ was for the chokeslam, rather than just using that to cover for the mistake.

 

 

JR did try to cover for it a bit and said something like, "I think Taker got the chokeslam in before the bell" but then they kept talking about the Tombstone. Could it have been a "mistake" on purpose? A way for Triple to win the match but protect The Rock and have some controversy? He won b/c of HBK but HBK wasn't overtly biased. That might be giving Vince and whoever booked that match too much credit but then again, 2000 WWF was pretty well booked and Chris Kreski did storyboard out a bunch of stuff so who knows.

[cwoy2j]

 

 

The Acolytes Vs Edge and Christian: E&C had been caught trying to fool Commissioner Foley into thinking Christian was sick. They cut a promo on Dallas, but then Bradshaw responds with an impassioned defense of his home state. The match is a short and intense brawl, ending in a dq. Entertaining stuff.

 

This was the first time I'd ever heard Bradshaw talk at length and I remember thinking, "maybe they ought to let this guy get on the mic more." 

[cwoy2j]

 

 

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.

 

Bob Holly talked about this match in his book. He said that you could hear Shane McMahon cussing Jarrett up and down and trying to fight him while Jarrett was in the office with Vince and Shane trying to get his money. Jarrett wouldn't go into the ring until his wife called him up and told him the money was wired into his account and that after the match, he went back, picked up his stuff and went to the airport. Didn't bother changing out of his gear or even showering all of the flour and crap off of him. Road Dogg watched his stuff while he was in the ring so that no one would fuck with it.

[SirSmUgly]

I just saw IYH 6 the other day and HBK/Owen held up REALLY well, but Bret/Diesel cage did not. 

 

Roddy Piper was still somewhat early in his "annoying shitty rambling promo" days that got absurdly terrible when he went over to WCW and spent fifteen minutes at a time cutting the worst fucking promos in the world. That skit with he and Cornette/Mason was awful except for Mason spitting and wiping his mouth with his handkerchief after Piper put his hand over Mason's mouth. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

 

 

 

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.

 

Bob Holly talked about this match in his book. He said that you could hear Shane McMahon cussing Jarrett up and down and trying to fight him while Jarrett was in the office with Vince and Shane trying to get his money. Jarrett wouldn't go into the ring until his wife called him up and told him the money was wired into his account and that after the match, he went back, picked up his stuff and went to the airport. Didn't bother changing out of his gear or even showering all of the flour and crap off of him. Road Dogg watched his stuff while he was in the ring so that no one would fuck with it.

 

 

Thanks for these little insights. I feel like you're this thread's colour analyst.

[MonteCarl]

I remember in the recap of the Iron Man match the next night on RAW, they specifically showed how Shawn Michaels saw the chokeslam from outside the ring, going so far as to do one of those "darken the rest of the screen and put a light circle around Shawn Michaels on the outside watching the chokeslam" things to prove it. No doubt that the end was supposed to be UT tombstoning HHH a second or two before the end of the match to be the cause of the DQ, but the timing was off and this was how they covered for it.

[cwoy2j]

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Bob Holly talked about this match in his book. He said that you could hear Shane McMahon cussing Jarrett up and down and trying to fight him while Jarrett was in the office with Vince and Shane trying to get his money. Jarrett wouldn't go into the ring until his wife called him up and told him the money was wired into his account and that after the match, he went back, picked up his stuff and went to the airport. Didn't bother changing out of his gear or even showering all of the flour and crap off of him. Road Dogg watched his stuff while he was in the ring so that no one would fuck with it.

 

 

Thanks for these little insights. I feel like you're this thread's colour analyst.

 

 

No prob! I highly recommend reading Bob Holly and Jericho's books b/c I'm basically just regurgitating what they wrote. They both give very good insights on the period that the IYH's cover. Holly's is really good b/c even though he comes across as an ass a lot of the time, he was around for one of the most influential times in wrestling and didn't really have any agenda to push or any delusional dreams that he should've been main eventing or whatever. That made for a very honest read as I felt like even though he was kind of a dick, he was probably telling the truth about what he saw.

[cwoy2j]

Are you planning on doing the WCW ppv's from this time period? I think that would be interesting to compare what the two companies were doing at the time.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

I actually went through a watched all the WCW pay-per-views a couple of years ago, so it will probably be a good while before I revisit any of those again. I just plan on doing these pretty much until I catch up to real time, and then probably do ECW TV and ppvs, since I never really followed that company too closely.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Unforgiven 2000.

 

Right To Censor Vs The Dudley Boyz and The Acolytes: I really liked RTC as an act. Great heels. This was just a short match, won by RTC, but with the faces putting Steven Richards through a table after the fact. WWE never seemed very good at holding off on a heel getting his comeuppance, as that seemed like something they could have built to for weeks.

 

Tazz Vs Jerry Lawler: Strap match. I totally forgot this was how Raven made his debut. I was so super disappointed in that at the time, as I had this ridiculous fantasy booking scenario where Raven would debut by sending an actual raven after Kane. I guess Raven was the first guy to come in where I'd heard about it on the internet beforehand (or maybe that was Tazz himself actually), so me and my friends were super-hyped, and him coming in as Tazz's sidekick just didn't cut the mustard with us.

 

Steve Blackman Vs Perry Saturn Vs Test Vs Crash Holly Vs Al Snow Vs Funaki: Another multi-man for the hardcore title. Blackman retains. Nothing really to write home about.

 

Chris Jericho Vs X-Pac: Last time these guys fought on ppv it didn't go terribly well. By now Jericho has found his sea-legs in the WWF, and this match is pretty great. They only complaint is that they don't have more time (about 10 mins), and thus are sometimes rushing through things a bit too much. 5 more mins would have been great. It seems a bit of a comedown for Jericho from feuding with Trips to feuding with Pac.

 

The Hardy Boyz Vs Edge and Christian: Cage match for the tag titles. This has been the best in-ring rivalry in the company over the last year I think. They just have great chemistry. Match tells a pretty good story with Jeff escaping the cage, leading to E&C double-teaming Matt and trying to keep Jeff from coming back in. Jeff takes some silly bumps. Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage was a bit ridiculous, seeing as his own brother was one of his targets. An injured Lita runs interference and hits a hurricanrana on Christian off a ladder. I like Lita a lot more in this rewatch project. She really was fearless, and you have to respect that. Hardys get the feel-good win. I'm pleased that E&C have held up so well as a team. Really good act, good heels, and they couild keep pace with the Hardys, but they also worked a good old school heel style as a team. The Hardys are a better team, but I prefer Edge and Christian.

 

Eddie Guerrero Vs Rikishi: IC title match. Eddie and Chyna have gone from being a fun act, to something too soap opera-y, with Eddie now being an abusive boyfriend (fiancée actually, since they got engaged), and Chyna being really miscast as the downtrodden girlfriend. Chyna saves the title for Eddie, so Rikishi beats the crap out of her, getting himself dq'ed. I can't think of any precedent where someone gets dq'ed for beating up a second, but he does throw her in the ring and beat her down, so I think it was justified. Kish acts pretty much like a heel here, which of course foreshadows things. Eddie cares more about the belt than he does Chyna.

 

Triple H Vs Kurt Angle: This match really isn't very good, which is a shame as the video package hyping it up was awesome, and this was a really well-constructed story up to this point. They just don't really convey any hatred for most of the match, and it's hard to take Hunter seriously as the de facto face here (I don't think he was officially a babyface by this point) given his very recent history. The fans certainly aren't too eager to cheer him. Plus, it goes way longer than necessary, in my view. Steph kicks Kurt in the nads to set up a pedigree for the win. I actually think Steph was a good performer in 2000, and would take this Steph over current Authority Steph any day. It isn't until she led the Alliance that I think she got unbearable.

 

Next they ran an in-ring bit where Shane claimed to have proof of who ran over Austin. He blamed Blackman, who then came out, followed by Austin. Blackman took a stunner, but stupid Shane tried to celebrate with Austin, and ended up taking 3 (including one of his trademark 'spit-take stunners). Just a waste of time really, though the crowd, of course, ate it up. JR called it a moment in time we would never forget, which was laying it on a bit thick.

 

The Rock Vs Chris Benoit Vs The Undertaker Vs Kane: I said that the Rock/Benoit match didn't really put Benoit over as a credible threat. Well, they made up for it here, as he was a pretty central and dominant force throughout, including walking out with the title after pinning Taker with a chair shot. Foley came out and ordered the match be restarted as Taker was clearly in the ropes, and you'd think they were building to a Foley/Benoit match (which probably would have been pretty good at the time). Rock retained, but this wasn't a very goo dmatch. It was mostly just 2 guys fighting in the ring while the other two tried to stay out of the way.

 

Match of the night: The cage match at about 3 and a quarter, with Pac/Jericho at 3.

Show rating: Another solid, but unspectacular effort. The top 2 matches disappoint, but there's enough fun stuff in the undercard to make this one worth a watch. Probably around 2 and 3/4 stars.

[cwoy2j]

 

Triple H Vs Kurt Angle: This match really isn't very good, which is a shame as the video package hyping it up was awesome, and this was a really well-constructed story up to this point. They just don't really convey any hatred for most of the match, and it's hard to take Hunter seriously as the de facto face here (I don't think he was officially a babyface by this point) given his very recent history. The fans certainly aren't too eager to cheer him. Plus, it goes way longer than necessary, in my view. Steph kicks Kurt in the nads to set up a pedigree for the win. I actually think Steph was a good performer in 2000, and would take this Steph over current Authority Steph any day. It isn't until she led the Alliance that I think she got unbearable.

 

This was such a disappointment.  You even left out the fact that Foley was the special guest ref and it's not glaring b/c he didn't do anything. I remember Angle worked on Trips' arm for most of the match and HHH did a sort of one-arm pedigree to sell that his arm was damaged. Oh and HHH with that weird bloody kiss to Steph at the end like he was marking his territory or something.The build-up was so awesome and just screamed for Steph to leave HHH for Angle. They ended up doing that stupid angle where Steph was Angle's business associate or something half-assed like that and the whole thing fell flat. To me, Angle didn't really find his true main event legs until No Way Out against The Rock. As WWF champ, he was basically booked as Honky Tonk Man 2000 until he started using the ankle lock and the "tick tock, tick tock my ass Rock" promo.

[Brian Fowler]

I always felt that would have been a fine first chapter in a brutal "you stole my wife you son of a bitch" feud.

Then it ended clean for Triple H, the kiss and... Nothing.