Ring Crew Reviews: WWE Survivor Series 2002

• Scheduled Card:
1. 6 Man Elimination Table Tag Match: Bubba Dudley, Spike Dudley and Jeff Hardy vs. 3 Minute Warning and Rico.
2. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Kidman vs. Jamie Noble (c).
3. Hardcore Match for the WWE Women’s Championship: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus (c).
4. WWE Heavyweight Championship: The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar (c).
5. Triangle Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Los Guerreros vs. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (c).
6. Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Booker T vs. Kane vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Triple H (c).

• We’re in MSG this year with the badass camera side entrance.

• 6 Man Elimination Table Tag Match: Bubba Dudley, Spike Dudley and Jeff Hardy vs. 3 Minute Warning and Rico. 3MW is Umaga and SHIT. How the hell did they pick the face team? This must have been when D-Von was doing his preacher gimmick with lackey Batista.

• It’s a brawl to start but the heels get shitcanned to the floor. Bubba press slams Spike onto 3MW but they catch him so Jeff springboards off Bubba’s back for the Air Hardy to the floor. Bubba and Rico pair off in the ring. Rico with nothing as the crowd chants for tables. Bubba with a few chops and dumps Rico. Spike with a rana on Umaga and then the What’s Up headbutt. Then Jeff hits the What’s Up lowblow legdrop off the top. JEFFANDSPIKEGETTHETABLES! Spike slides one to Bubba but Rosie is in to jump him from behind. Rosie flapjacks Spike down and backdrops Jeff to the floor. Rosie smashes Spike into the propped up table and goes for a spear but Spike moves and Rosie plows through the table. No go on the elimination as it must be an offensive manuever. Rosie then dumps the table on him and hits a spinebuster on Bubba. Jeff tries something off the top and Rosie is supposed to catch him but botches it. Crowd lets him hear it with fucked up chants. Umaga slides in a table and Rico sets it up. Rico tries a suplex on Spike but Spike blocks and tries the Acid Drop. Instead, 3MW catch him and instead back suplex him through the table and Spike is out at 4:30.

• 3MW body slam down Hardy and Dudley and go for splashes off the top but both faces recover to crotch them. The heels all collide in the corner from miscommunication. Jeff tries another Air Hardy but Rosie pulls him down and Rico roundhouse kicks Bubba. Rosie and Jeff brawl into the crowd back to the same entranceway where Jeff hit a super swanton on Bubba 2 years previous at RR. Umaga with a Ho Train but Bubba moves and Rico eats it. Bubba with a BubbaBomb on Umaga and comes over to save Jeff. Bubba picks up an usher rope pole and drops it on Rosie. Jeff starts heading up again for the Swanton and GOES FLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYING OFF AND ROSIE’S OUT AT 8:49.

• Umaga brings Bubba back to the ring and puts him on a table and Rico heads up for a moonsault. Jeff is too damn lazy or out of it to get back in time and Rico has to sell being held up by Jeff grabbing the ropes on the other side of the ring. Umaga dumps Jeff. Bubba with a superback suplex but Umaga moves the table. Jeff back in with Whisper in the Wind and counters a flapjack with a dropkick. On the floor, Jeff with a Sabu tableshot on Umaga. He tries the tightrope barricade run but slips and botches that too but luckily Umaga was going to throw the table back at him in another spot lifted from that tables match back in 2000 in MSG. Umaga puts him on another table and heads up top and this a splash on Jeff and he’s gone at 10:38.

• Bubba with the Dusty elbows on Rico and he goes up top but Umaga cuts him off. Umaga moves Rico off the table but gets powerbombed off the top for his trouble at 11:48.

• SHIT’s been eliminated but won’t leave and works over Bubba. King: “How many tables have been eliminated?” JR: “I’m not keeping track of the furniture.” Rosie with a belly to belly suplex on Bubba. And hell, Umaga decided he’s going to hang out too. D-Von Dudley has now come out as well to a HUGE pop. He has clotheslines for everyone and shitcans 3MW. The real Dudleyz then hit the 3D through the table and Rico’s out and the faces win at 13:58. The usual enjoyable chaos from this kind of match but nothing special other than The Dudleyz reunion. For what it’s worth, I thought Bubba was actually pretty over as a singles guy on RAW standing up to Triple H but after he jobbed to Trips, the company seemed to lose interest in the whole experiment. ***

• Next, we go to WWE The World. Stacy Kielber is there wearing quite the nice denim number and she introduces Saliva to theme song and play a montage. Not the most efficient use of 5 minutes but whatever.

• WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Kidman vs. Jamie Noble (c). Noble is accompanied by the underrated in the looks and talent department Nidia. Noble’s music sounds like a Pearl Jam B-side which is a compliment. Kidman with a few quick rollups for 1 counts and Noble takes a breather. Kidman brings him back in and hits a clothesline but Noble counters to a neckbreaker for 1. Noble charges him into the corner and chokes. Noble: GET UP, BOY! Noble goes to the anchor hold as Taz plays up Nidia. Taz: “You know Nidia, his main squeeze, has been blushing and been all over him in that double wide. [In attempted Southern accent] You know, Jamie, you better not lose that cruiserweight belt!”. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Taz attempt a Southern accent. Kidman escapes but Noble shitcans him and preps a suicide dive. Taz showing more effects of drug use earlier in the night: “Noble’s got something up his sleeves but since he’s not wearing a shirt, HE HAS NO SLEEVES!” Back in, Noble tries a crossbody off the top but Kidman counters to a dropkick. Kidman gets a back elbow and a flurry of offense. After a couple of reversals, Kidman gets a badman FU neckbreaker for 2. Nobles comes back with a Falcon Arrow for 2. Kidman with an atomic drop facebuster as the match breaks into a Teddy Hart exhibition. Kidman heads up top but Nidia pulls Noble to the floor. Kidman hits a splash off the top to the floor. Cole: “Love won’t say that.” Taz: “Then again, what’s love got to do with it? You remember that song? [Imitates Tina Turner] WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? It was big hit in the 80s.” Back in, Kidman with a slingshot guillotine leg drop for 2. They both counter some stuff and Kidman gets a head of steam but Nidia grabs him. She waffles him but Kidman no sells and then dodges a Noble charge and the heels collide. Kidman hits a Low Down powerbomb for 2. Thought that was it. Noble flips out of a powerbomb but Kidman tries a backslide but they botch it, so Noble says fuck it and hits the Gibson Driver. Kidman kicks out at 2. Noble runs into a boot in the corner. Kidman heads up top but Noble cuts him off. They jockey for position and Kidman hits the DEANO MACHINO TOP ROPE DDT! COVER GETS 1, 2—ONLY 2! Noble puts him up top and then hits the SHEER DROP ORTON DDT ALL THE WAY DOWN! BEAST! Cover gets only 2 again. Kidman comes back with an enzuigiri and pulls Noble over to the cover for the SSP but Nidia distracts. Kidman boots her away and then hits the SSP to win it at 7:29. A dearth of selling even for a cruiserweight hurts this some. Moveset was badass but like I said, Teddy Hart mode (squeezing every major move into 5 minutes) isn’t the best formula for an effective match. **3/4

• Meanwhile, Kurt Angle is in the back with Chris Benoit. Kurt says if “Billy freakin’ Kidman” can win the cruiserweight belt, there’s no reason they can’t win the tag belts back… IF Benoit stays out of the way of the “team captain,” Kurt Angle. Benoit says he didn’t hear Kurt and gets in his face and wants him to repeat it. Kurt says he’s not falling for that because they are a team, partners, busom buddies (TM Tom Hanks), friends to the end (TM Barney) and that together no one can beat them. Benoit offers him a shake to play nice. Kurt: “I’M NOT SHAKING YOUR HAND! TAG TEAM PARTNERS DON’T SHAKE HANDS! . . . They gotta hug! [Hugs] We’re going to get them tonight, buddy! [Pats Benoit on the back] Let’s get tough.” This was all kinds of awesome. Just perfect.

• Next, we see an “F-View” of Victoria talking to herself in a mirror and then spazzing out when she imagines the mirror saying that Trish is better looking like in Snow White.

• Hardcore Match for the WWE Women’s Championship: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus (c). For some reason, the opening riff of music for this package is ripped off from John William’s score of Hook and that’s quickly interrupted by a ripoff of the Psycho shrieking chords to indicate Victoria’s Norman Bates psychosis. Jim Johnston must have been bored this period with all the obvious knockoffs thus far. JR says it’s been over 3 years since the fed had this kind of match and Lawler says he remembers it but I suspect he’s remember a different hardcore women’s encounter. Victoria tears off Trish’s coat during her entrance to start and then chokes her with it for a few choke tosses. Victoria gets a weapon. A chair? The belt? Kendo stick? Barbwire thumbtacks? Nope, she gets a broom, a deadly weapon not seen since the famous Chyna-Jeff Jarrett Housekeeping Match. Victoria takes a few swings but whiffs. They use the broom as leverage for some counters and Victoria chokes. JR: “This will be like a convention of ex-wives: there will be no love here.” Victoria lifts her off her feet in the corner with a choke but Trish gets the high kick and pulls her off the top. Trish gets a trashcan lid but eats a broom shot that knocks the lid back into her face. Victoria with a few face smashes and Trish powders out. Victoria whips her into a trashcan that’s hanging from the ringpost like a pinata and then hits a slingshot senton leg drop for 2 back in. Victoria sets up a trashcan in the corner but Trish with a takedown and then catapults Victoria back into it. Trish punts a trashcan off her face for 2. Trish gets an ironing board and sets it up in the corner. Trish whips Victoria into it and hits a front kick for 2. Trish gets a Kendo stick and hits Victoria with it a few times. Victoria gets the boot up and gets ANOTHER TRASH CAN LID!~! Victoria got her nose busted open from a few shots with it and tumbles to the floor. Trish sends her into the stairs. Back in, Victoria counters to a powerbomb and gets a mirror from under the ring. Trish with another kick for 2. Trish tries to get a cookie sheet but eats a Kendo stick shot. Trish tries to counter a wheelbarrow into a bulldog but they botch it. Trish gets drop toe held int the Kendo stick. Victoria gets a fire extinguisher and gasses her and hits a snap suplex to win the belt at 7:04. Ordinarily, I care nothing for women’s matches but this was a solid enough throwback to the Raven/Al Snow/Bossman/Hardcore Holly WWF genre of hardcore matches that I could get behind. ***

• Booker’s in the back preparing for the Elimination Chamber by staring at his hand in case he needs to do the spinaroonie for the next 2 hours.

• Meanwhile, Coach is with Eric Bischoff and wants to ask him about the Elimination Chamber. Bischoff says they’ll see history and the future in the same night – history in the making and the future of the business. Bischoff says once more he’s outdone Stephanie McMahon. Show interrupts with his Huckster handlebar mustache and is pissed that Bischoff traded him. He tells Bischoff to watch tonight and he’ll see why he should regret it.

• Next, Brock is getting ready but has taped up ribs. Paul E. is clutching the world title and is nervous. He told Brock not to pick a fight with this guy. Heyman wants Brock to admit that nothing has been the same since HIAC and tonight he’s got to defend his title with a broken rib. Heyman says that Brock has got to man up because they are in MSG and Heyman will do everything in his power to make sure “his client” leaves tonight with the world belt. Nice noncommittal stuff that in hindsight foreshadows what would happen.

• WWE Heavyweight Championship: The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar (c). The build for this feud was Brock beating UT in the Cell and then Show destroying UT among others to show himself as the guy deserving of a shot. Heyman tried talking Brock out of the shot but Brock wouldn’t have it. Brock’s rib injury is from getting thrown off the stage by Show. Brock is fired up and piefaces Show to start. Lock up goes nowhere. Crowd chants for Lesnar as they have another stalemate. Show with a massive hiptoss and a reverse Ho Train in the corner but Lesnar Spears him. Show takes a breather but Brock follows out. Show picks him up and rams him into the ringpost to work the ribs. Lesnar gives him a back suplex and yes it’s pretty amazing even if Show barely gets off the ground. Show tries another reverse Ho Train in the corner but Lesnar moves and BEASTS him over with a German suplex. Lesnar wants the F5 but Show elbows out. Lesnar tries again but bumps the ref when Show moves. Lesnar throws him over his head with a belly to belly suplex and Heyman throws a chair in the ring between both. Show goozles but Lesnar goes low and grabs the chair. Show punches the chair back at him but Lesnar waffles him anyway and then gives Show a BEAUTIFUL F5! Another ref comes out and counts but Paul pulls him out to turn on Brock and waffles the ref. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU NO GOOD BASTARD! Lesnar gives chase but Show gives him a couple of chairshots and a ChokeSlam on the chair and Show wins the belt at 4:20. About as good as you’re going to get out of 5 minutes. Logical (other than Heyman’s heel turn), impressive moves, psychology. I will say Heyman turning on Brock and THEN turning on Show to get the belt to Angle within a couple of months is one of the great booking oddities of all time. **1/2

• Post-match, Show and Paul hightail it out of the arena.

• Triangle Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Los Guerreros vs. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (c). This was set up by the Smackdown 6 ruling the universe and Edge and Rey winning the belts from Benoit and Angle in a 2 out of 3 falls match. In a weird touch, the tag champs get separate entrances. Trash talking to start from all as things get chippy. Benoit and Rey are first in. Rey with a baseball slide but eats some chops. Benoit tries a flapjack but Rey counters to a rana and then gets a flapjack of his own. Rey drop toe holds Benoit into the turnbuckle and tags in Edge for a double hiptoss. Benoit comes back with chops and tags in Angle. Edge with a backdrop and a flying burrito on Angle. Angle smacks Chavo to tag him in. Chavo sends Edge off but eats a shoulderblock and a dropkick. Rey back in with a springboard splash for 2. Chavo tries a powerbomb but Rey counters to an arm drag. Chavo gets a flapjack and tags in Eddie. Rey gets one of those around the world headscissors and a monkey flip. Eddie tags in Kurt to escape the frenzy. Rey almost botches running off the ropes but gets a headscissors. He gets sent into the corner and flips up the turnbuckle and dodges an Angle charge who eats post. Angle tries to alley oop Rey onto the top turnbuckle and he slips and EATS IT ON HIS NECK! Brutal. Angle with a short arm clothesline and tags in Benoit who gets a neckbreaker and a high angle back suplex for 2. Angle back in with the same high angle back suplex for 2. Angle goes for the AngleSlam but Rey armdrags out only to eats a clothesline from Angle. Benoit back in with a snap suplex for another lateral press. Angle in with a front facelock and the Guerreros continue to taunt from the apron and Taz loves their strategy. Angle stays on the resthold for a while, a LONG while. Mysterio finally slides out of a suplex. Angle goes for a German but Mysterio lands on his feet and hits a spinwheel kick. Angle tries to tag in a Guerrero but they bail, so he tags in Benoit instead. Edge in with clotheslines, faceplants for everyone. Angle runs into a belly to belly suplex and Chavo gets shitcanned by him. Eddie tries a powerbomb but Rey counters to a rana and both tumble to the floor. Edge runs toward Angle but gets drop toe hold. Benoit hooks in the CC and Angle the AnkleLock for the DOUBLE SUBMISSION! Rey breaks it up though and hits a 360 body press on Chavo and Angle on the floor. Benoit goes to the Rolling Germans on Edge. He hits 1 but Eddie flies off the top for a sunset flip and Benoit hangs on for the wheelbarrow suplex hold on Edge. NICEEE! Both covers only get 2. After some reversals, Benoit just fucking SUPLEXES EDDIE OVER TO THE TOP AND TO THE FLOOR! Benoit with the Rolling Germans again on Edge and calls for the headbutt. Eddie back in and steals his thunder by hitting the Frog Splash instead and going for a cover. YES! Benoit breaks that up with the Diving Headbutt. Angle in with the Angle Slam and drops the straps and hooks in the AnkleLock and Benoit has the CC on Edge. The ref was distracted by Angle attacking the illegal man and that allows Chavo to waffle Benoit with the belt. Angle disposes of Chavo but grabs the belt and Benoit fingers him as the man who attacked him. Angle says he’s got the wrong idea but Rey dropkicks both together and they collide. Rey baseball slides into the Anti-Newtonian rana on Chavo. Edge then hits the Spear on Benoit and Angle/Benoit are out at 13:08.

• Crowd boos that elimination and Angle attacks Edge and Benoit attacks Rey after their loss. Chavo tries to sneak them and eats a suplex for his trouble. Angle with an AngleSlam on Edge. He and Benoit blame each other all the way to the back. Eddie tries a surprise cover on Edge for 2. He hits a vertical suplex and tags in Chavo. Chavo with a Euro uppercut and Eddie back in with the slingshot senton for 2. Eddie goes to the sleeper but Edge elbows out. Chavo with a blind tag and comes in with a dropkick for 2. The faces get pissed at the ref and that allows Eddie to choke behind his back using the tag rope. Eddie in with a back suplex and goes to the front facelock. Chavo back in with a basement dropkick for 2 and now Eddie in. They try a double clothesline but Edge ducks and hits a double flapjack. Edge with the hot tag to Rey. He cleans house with some lucha stuff and a tiltawhirl backbreaker on Eddie. Chavo tries a Stinger Splash but lands on Eddie by mistake. Rey with an IED in the corner. Edge alley oops Rey into Eddie on the top rope for a SuperRana but Chvo breaks up the cover for 2. Edge shitcans him INTO the ropes. They botch a whip reversal and Edge sends him INTO the ropes as well. Edge sets him up for the 619 and Rey hits it but Chavo’s got the belt. He waffles Rey behind the ref’s back. Eddie hooks in the Lasso from El Paso and Rey taps at 19:24. These guys were on the tail end of an UNBELIEVABLE streak at this point and just couldn’t miss. All of their chemistry was undeniable and none of them were broken down and immobile due to injuries yet. A few minor hiccups and an average first few minutes keep it from being a classic but still very good. ****

• Chris Nowinski is out next in his letterman jacket. I know things worked out for the best with Nowinski helping the sports and entertainment world through his research and advocacy into concussions. BUT if that hadn’t have happened, he would have been huge in wrestling. He had “it” – whatever the hell it is. Anyway, Nowinski runs down New Yorkers and claim they bought all of their World Series championships. Intelligence is something you either have or you don’t and trust me, NYC doesn’t have it, says Nowinski.

• Matt Hardy who likes the keep the room at a toasty 75 degrees and drinks lowfat chocolate milk interrupts. He gets the stick and says he’s here to tell us that New Yorkers AREN’T STUPID! [Crowd cheers loudly] IN FACT, THEY ARE LOSERS! Hardy says he can’t breathe because he’s choking worse than the Knicks right now. JR: “Where is this going, King?” King: “I don’t know but I wish it’d hurry up and get there.” They both argue for a little while and try to get the cheap pop (heat) for saying they are both stupid and losers; in fact, they are LUPID.

• Scott Steiner’s music plays and this would be his fed debut for the second time. He still had some mystique because he hadn’t yet thrown up a couple of stinkers at RR and NWO in early 03. He suplexes both a few times and the crowd chants for him. HUH?! He then shitcans Harvard and press slams Matt for reps onto Harvard. CUE THE PUSHUPS!

• Meanwhile, Terri Runnels chases down HBK and wants to know why he thinks he can win the World Heavyweight Championship. But before he can answer, we are interrupted by a special bulletin from RNN, Randy News Network. What’s that, you say? RNN? You mean you didn’t know Orton use to be a comedy heel with a mop top gheri curl? Behold, the power of YouTube. Basically, it was a Flex Kavana situation all over again where Orton was so hated as the over the top face that they turned him heel mainly using these disingenuous videos. In case you were wondering, Randy’s recovering well from his injury and please, keep sending your emails to [email protected]

• Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Booker T vs. Kane vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Triple H (c). The video package for this is just an eyelash under 3 hours and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Soundtrack for the classical music and Saliva song. The build for this included Triple H demolishing HBK at SS with his trusty sledge and being awarded the World Heavyweight Championship and then teasing a feud with Flair. Instead, HBK returned from an apparent re-career ending back injury and wanted a piece of Triple H and a whole lot of interrelated brawl sequences ensued. Pre-match, H with Coach cuts an effective promo backstage about the trials and tribulations that have brought him here. Bischoff comes out and at this point it’s been half an hour since someone was wrestling ON A WRESTLING PAY PER VIEW! Bischoff continues listing the cage’s vital stats like he’s trying to set it up on a blind date or start a Match.com profile and then hits various parts of it with a pipe to show that indeed it does make a clang with hit with a piece of metal. Even though I’m complaining, it is appreciated that they are going this in-depth in explaining the rules the first time through and Bischoff chews the scenery like no other when necessary so I’d consider the idea a partial success, the execution flawless, but the sequencing of FOUR time eating segments in a row is wretched. Of course after the entrances, we’re now at damn near 40 minutes since we’ve had a lock up.

• RVD and Trips to start. RVD with some weak strikes and a spinwheel kick. He gets the mule kick but telegraphs a backdrop and H gets a jawbreaker. He preps the Pedigree but gets backdropped to the grate. RVD sends him into the chain a few times and they break the little pin holding the door shut, but no one (even me) really cares. RVD with a monkey flip on the grate and H has bladed. RVD hits Rolling Thunder from in the ring to the grate and crowd pops for that. Back in, RVD with a slam and climbs up Jericho’s chamber but Jericho trips him up. Trips joins in but RVD crotches him and boots away Jericho. RVD then hits a flip splash off the top rope on H. He’s just blowing through all his stuff in the first sequence other than the Terminator and the Frog Splash which means he’ll probably get his ass kicked the rest of the match. H is stumbling around.

• RVD chokes in the corner as Jericho is next at 5:00. He runs into a couple kicks and a standing moonsault for 2. RVD gets the elbow up in the corner and hits a springboard back kick on Jericho and clotheslines him to the grate. RVD jumps off the top rope for Jericho but he ducks and RVD, 9 years before Parkour Morrison did nothing but lose, lands on the cage and JR calls him “Spiderman.” RVD springboards back with the crossbody on the grate. Crowd chants for RVD so H sensing his position in danger clotheslines him down. Jericho back suplexes him and gets the C’MON BABY for nothing. RVD fights back with shots but runs into a high knee from H. Jericho holds him back while H hits the rights. Jericho climbs the top rope and tells HBK to suck it with the crotch crop to some big heat. Jericho and H double team RVD into the cage and the grate. RVD flips out of a charge in the corner and takes down both but H pounds him down with a DDT.

• Next up is King Booka at 10:00 and he takes down the heels with some kicks. SPINAROONIE! RVD recovers and is pissed at him stealing the spotlight for faces. RVD flips out of a backdrop attempt but runs into a spinkick for 2. RVD with a stepover heel kick for 2 to come back. Jericho and H have now been selling clotheslines for a couple minutes. H recovers but eats an Axe Kick from Booker. Jericho dumps him but eats a dropkick from RVD. RVD goes ALL THE WAY up top on the chamber and goes for the 5SFS. But in case you don’t know, because of the chamber’s height and the roof being curved, RVD didn’t get enough hang time and essentially kicked Triple H in the throat from 10 feet in the air and broke his trachea. Triple H shows that, while he may be married to the boss’s daughter and booking his friends and himself into programs whenever possible, he’s numero uno in the toughness department and STAYS IN THE MATCH because ya know he’s worked through a torn quadriceps AND a hole in his calf from a wood pallet before so this is nothing. Booker hits the Missile Dropkick on RVD and High Times is out at 13:40.

• Boos for that elimination. Booker covers H but he gets the foot on the ropes and Jericho is able to cut him off. Jericho chokes Booker in the corner and chops away. Jericho with a bulldog and lands on his feet out of the Lionsault but runs into an Alabama Slam for 2.

• Kane is out next at 15:00. He hits a backdrop on Jericho and some rights on Booker. Kane talks on camera in attacking them some more and gives Jericho Snake Eyes into the cage. Kane then shitcans him into the “bulletproof” glass thus breaking it off the hinges. King: “It may be bulletproof but it’s not Kane proof.” That’s the exact same line JR would use about Goldberg the following year and the chamber. H has mostly laid around since having his throat destroyed. Booker tries a kick but Kane counters. Jericho with a low blow on Booker and that pushes him into a ChokeSlam from Kane. Jericho now with a Lionsault and Booker is out at 17:41.

• Kane now goes to work on Jericho who did a paltry blade job after the chamber shitcan. Jericho tries running away but Kane smashes him a few times and slams him back into the ring. H eats another shot and that oughta buy him more time recovering. Kane with a vertical suplex for 2. Kane whiffs on an elbow drop and Jericho boots him to the grate. Kane slams H off the top. JR says this is the proverbial human demolition derby and I’m driven to ponder who in the hell ever heard of a proverb about human demolition derbies?

• Crowd chants for HBK and he’s out last at 20 minutes and some change. He has rights for everyone but Kane hits a clothesline on him. HBK comes back with a flying burrito but no kip up. HBK with his turnbuckle flop and Kane choke tosses Jericho. Kane with a ChokeSlam on HBK and another on H. Jericho jumps off the top into another. Kane as usual gets to clean house and win nothing to show for it. H avoids a Pedigree and shoves Kane into Sweet Chin Music. Kane no sells so H pedigrees him and Jericho hits another Lionsault. Kane’s out at 22:54.

• HBK preps a backdrop but Jericho clotheslines him over the top. C’MON HBK, YOUSONOFABITCH! Jericho sends him into the cage several times. H and Jericho double team him with a Bossman attack and some right hands to the forehead. Jericho: BLEED! BLEED! BLEED! Jericho jukes and jives for his peeps. More rights from the heels. HBK blades and Jericho stays on him working the cut. HBK cuts him off and clotheslines H. HBK wants a piledriver but instead gets backdropped on the grate. H eats a flying burrito and HBK kips up but Jericho bulldogs him and hits a Lionsault. Cover gets only 2. The reason that works as a false finish is because it’s already put out a couple of men in this match, even if they had already taken other finishers. Simple yet effective. Jericho works the cover again and can’t believe it. HBK with a moonsault off the top and bridges into a cover for a nearfall. HBK rolls Jericho into a San Antonio Crab but Trips breaks it up with a DDT. Jericho tries to cover but H pulls him off. Uh oh. Heel dissension. Jericho: YOU GOTTA PIN HIS ASS! [SMACK]. H smacks back and gets a clothesline and a jawbreaker for 2. Jericho tries a crossbody but jumps off into a Pedigree attempt. He counters to the Walls of Jericho. H struggles and almost makes the ropes but Jericho pulls him back to the middle only for HBK to blindside him with the SCM. NIIIIIIIIIICE! Jericho is now gone at 30:45.

• H and HBK slug it out. Trips gets the advantage and a spinebuster for 2. HBK with a head of steam but gets backdropped to the grate. On the grate, HBK teases a Pedigree but of course gets reversed to a catapult into the unbulletproof glass. H covers for a close 2 after some exhaustion selling. Triple H tells him to bring it on and HBK does my favorite selling of the “using your opponent to pull yourself up because you’re out of it.” HBK Hulks up though and is feeling it. He comes back with rights but eats another jawbreaker. He no sells only to be clotheslined to the grate. Trips preps a Pedigree on the grate but now he gets catapulted into the chains. HBK now heads ALL THE WAY up top on the chamber. HBK hits the Macho elbow off the top but he’s too out of it to cover. Instead, he gets to his feet and tunes up the band. Triple H catches the kick in an identical spot from their street fight and againt spins him around for the Pedigree, but this time HBK doesn’t counter to a roll up for the victory. H hits the Pedigree instead but is too out of it to cover. Delayed cover gets 2. H goes for another but HBK backdrops out and hits the SCM and covers to win his last ever world title at 39:21.

• The pop for that victory is HUGE. Great moment even if his reign would only last a month. Ya know, there’s a lot to like in this match, but it never entirely clicked for me. In order for a match like this to truly get over with you individually, you have to be into each of the wrestlers, but by this point, RVD, Kane and Booker were just stale as dirt for me. I had been watching RVD since ECW’s heyday and his gimmick no longer did it for me. Booker wouldn’t revitalize his career for another few years with King Booka and Kane would continue to be Kane with or without the mask until the present. Jericho’s blatant heel douchebaggery was the best part of the various heat segments but 40 minutes is just asking a lot with the repetitive sequences with little variation. I know you could say the same for all EC matches but most aren’t this long, are quicker paced, and have some characters I like a bit better. ***1/2

The 411: Basically a two match show and the two matches aren't great enough to justify a high rating. The tag match is awesome but far from the best of the Smackdown 6 and there are better Elimination Chambers. A decent, average show but that's about it.
Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]