wrestling / Video Reviews

From the Bowery: The Attitude Era (Blu-Ray Disc Two)

February 15, 2013 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
7
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
From the Bowery: The Attitude Era (Blu-Ray Disc Two)  

From the Bowery: The Attitude Era (Blu-Ray Disc Two)

-By the time this is posted it will be about a month since I posted Part I of this review and believe me when I say I have a good reason for the delay. In addition to that I had to watch my 49ers lose a Super Bowl they should have won and that left me bummed for a few days (weeks). With that said my 49ers will be dangerous as long as Kaepernick is under center. Now just do what you can to sign Mike Wallace and go trade for Revis.

WWF Intercontinental and European Championship Match: D’Lo Brown (Double Champion) vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/ Debra)
WWF SummerSlam: Aug 28, 1999

-The pop and roar from the crowd when Jarrett’s music hits are pretty impressive though all of it is in response to Debra and her puppies. This was around the time she started breaking out the bikini under the tuxedo look. Jarrett sends Debra to the back before the match and that draws an asshole chant from the crowd. D-Lo brings Debra back to ringside with him and now D-Lo is the biggest face in the world in the eyes of the Minnesota crowd. Jarrett jumps D-Lo before the bell as a way to keep Debra from taking off the tuxedo coat. D-Lo gets a powerslam as the camera keeps focusing on Debra’s cleavage. The King is in all his glory in this match, and I kind of miss the days when he fawned over the Divas in a non PG way. This is the opener to the show and the crowd is fucking jacked as they are popping for every offensive move from D-Lo. Jarrett sends Brown to the floor and connects with a baseball slide. He sends D-Lo into the stairs and the crowd is so concerned they start a “puppies” chant. Jarrett gets caught coming off the apron and gets sent into the security wall. A clothesline sends him into the crowd and they start a brawl from there. Jarrett escapes an attempt at a suplex on the floor and he sends D-Lo into the ring post. The crowd starts to rally D-Lo but he runs into a boot in the corner and Jarrett hits a middle rope armbreaker. Again, the crowd goes back to chanting for puppies as Debra’s presence is overshadowing the match. D-Lo gets them back on his side with a running powerbomb and that leaves both men on the canvas. Jarrett gets caught with a tilt-a-whirl slam and then the head bobbling leg drop. They exchange some blows in the middle of the ring and D-Lo connects with a bell to back suplex. He heads up for the Lo-Down, but Jarrett moves out of the way. Debra jumps up on the apron and that causes the ref to be distracted. Mark Henry hits the ring and feigns hitting Jarrett with the guitar, but instead blasts his friend, D-Lo Brown, and the crowd actually seems shocked by that. Jarrett gets the cover and both titles at 7:28. Debra, Jarrett, and Henry all leave together laughing and celebrating.

Winner and New Intercontinental and European Champion: Jeff Jarrett via pin at 7:28
-The story goes that Henry turned because he was tired of D-Lo working him to death in trying to get the big man to lose some weight. There’s an important lesson there as you don’t want to fuck with a man’s food. Henry was then given the European Title for helping Jarrett out. The match was solid between these two, but the Debra stuff and the heel turn overshadowed the match. **

Buried Alive Match: WWF Tag Team Titles: The Rock N Sock Connection © vs. The Undertaker and The Big Show
SmackDown: Sept 9, 1999

-As noted above this match takes place on 9/9/99 which was same night as MTV Video Music Awards and the same day as the release of the Sega Dreamcast. I actually owned a Dreamcast and played the shit out of Tony Hawk and the 2K sports series before Sega pulled the plug on being in the console business. I still have the system and break it out every now and then for fun. Mankind makes his way out first and since he isn’t too bright he jumps into the ring to face Show and Taker by himself. That goes as well as one would expect, but Rock heads down and Taker meets him in the aisle. As surprise to nobody this starts off as a brawl inside and outside the ring. The Rock sends Taker into the ring post and inside the ring, Show gets double teamed. The People’s Elbow is teased, but Taker drags Rock to the floor to break. They brawl on the announce table while Mankind gets dominated inside the ring by Show. He carries Mankind like a sack of potatoes towards the grave and they start brawling near the mound of dirt. The Rock takes out Taker with a chair and then saves Mankind near the open grave. A shovel gets used to abuse the Show’s balls and he gets sent into the grave. The Rock starts shoveling dirt as Taker beats the hell out of Mankind. The Rock gets the same treatment and Show crawls his way out of the grave. The Rock fights back with right hands and sends Taker down mound of dirt. They fight under the oval-tron and Rock gets sent into a guard rail. In a nasty bump, Show tosses Mankind off the stage and into the open grave. Foley is always there to take some crazy ass bump when needed. We have a camera in the grave as we see Mankind preps Socko and he catches Show by surprise. Their partners are apparently battling in the back as the fight in the grave continues. The crowd starts a socko chant as Show is seemingly out from the hold. Mankind starts shoveling dirt as we cut to the back with Taker and Rock brawling. HHH jumps the Rock from behind and Kane is there to make the save. Chyna uses a chair on Kane, but he shrugs it off and gives chase. We cut back to the grave and Taker is back out with a shovel shot to Mankind. He gets put in the grave, but fights his way back out before Taker sends him right back. He keeps fights to his fight so Show just smothers him inside the grave, but The Rock is back. HHH is out as well and for some reason after attacking The Rock earlier, he blasts Show in the back of the head with the sledgehammer and then finishes burying Mankind at 11:43. So on this show, HHH got to hit Kane with a sledgehammer (as Cole mentioned during the backstage brawl), attack The Rock, blasts show in the head with the sledgehammer, and bury Mankind to get the win in a match he wasn’t a participant. Damn, that’s a hell of a night. An ambulance pulls up after the match and Austin comes out the back and it pretty much sucks to be HHH right now. The crowd goes bat shit crazy as Austin beats the holy piss out of HHH and tosses him into the ambulance. He pulls the ambulance outside and then uses a semi to smash it with HHH inside. So I guess that’s where the n.W.o got that idea with The Rock. For some reason I don’t hear anyone wanting Austin arrested and complaining like they did with the n.W.o and The Rock.

Winners and New WWF Tag Champions: The Big Show and The Undertaker via HHH burying Mankind at 11:43
-This whole thing was a great encapsulation of the Attitude Era as there was shit going down all over the place. The wrestling, as a whole, was horrible but it was intense and a good brawl with run-ins and storylines intersecting everywhere. Thus I call this rather entertaining in an ADD type of way. **

HHH and Chyna vs. Jim Ross and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
RAW: Oct 11, 1999

-This is JR’s first match and HHH jumps him before Austin makes his way to the ring. The glass breaks and Austin unleashes hell on HHH. Cole reminds me that this is the go home show to No Mercy with Austin and HHH headlining the PPV. Austin and HHH do the heavy lifting on the stage as HHH gets suplexed. HHH fights back, but it does him no good as he gets tossed into the ring steps. Lawler mentions that we have yet to have an opening bell and at this point I wonder if we will even get one. The camera has yet to show what is happening with JR and Chyna, but I assume they are doing well. This is also the RAW that took place in front of over 40,000 fans in The Georgia Dome which is WCW’s backyard and also home of WrestleMania XXVII (which I attended). It is also the home of the Atlanta Falcons and the place where my 49ers open a can of ass whop on their way to the Super Bowl. Anyway, Austin and HHH brawled through the crowd and to the back as we finally see what’s happening with JR. Chyna gives him a pedigree, but Jarrett comes out to deliver a shot with a toaster (in 6 days they are facing off in a Good House Keeping Match). Miss Kitty brings down a laundry bin and he wheels Chyna to the back. Austin and HHH have great timing seemingly as they fight back into the Dome as just that exact moment. They fight at a nacho stand, and Austin sends him into a beer stand as well. He takes a few seconds to guzzle down a beer and then talks some trash before heading back towards the ring. Austin’s music plays and I guess this thing so over with no opening bell and no winner. Austin celebrates with some cold ones as we cut to the back where Jarrett sends the laundry flying off a loading ramp.

Winner: Nobody
-This whole thing ran around 8 minutes and was what you would expect from the Attitude Era I suppose. JR getting embarrassed would become a trend in the coming years, and seeing HHH get dominated was kind of fun as never going to see that anymore.

-RAW: Nov 8, 1999: They announce to the live crowd that Big Show’s father had passed away and they have the crowd rise for a 10 bell salute. The Bossman interrupts and reads a “sympathy” card. At the time this seemed in horrible taste, but it was so over the top that now I kind of get a chuckle out of some of it. The Bossman was squashed at the PPV by The Big Show to end this feud and blow-off the angle.

-RAW: Nov 29, 1999: Yes! This is the Wedding of Test and Stephanie McMahon. Steph looks fantastic by the way as I still contend she looked her best during her early run with HHH. The crowd is pretty stoked for this one. The entire “Together” song (the one used during a video package about Savage and Liz) is performed without anyone interrupting and to hell with those who don’t enjoy it. That shit is just sappy enough to bring a smile to my face, and I will always associate it with Randy and Liz. HHH’s music hits before the nuptials are completed and Lawler mentions that Vince threatened to fire anyone who showed up that isn’t part of the family or wasn’t invited. HHH shows a video of him marrying a drugged out Steph in Vegas at a drive through chapel. HHH is pretty fucking hilarious with his commentary and is at his sleaziest. Good stuff all around here and it, coupled with the Steph heel turn made HHH into the hottest heel in business.

-SmackDown: Jan 27, 2000: D-Low and The Godfather have a match with Too Cool, but after Scotty does the Worm, the call the match off and decide to party with the Hos. Mae Young and Mark Henry interrupt to announce that Mae is pregnant. The crowd seems happy for them, but the 4 guys in the ring seemingly want to puke.

WWF Hardcore Title: Crash Holly © vs. Hardcore Holly
RAW: March 27, 2000

-This was during the 24/7 rule so I am expecting a lot of chaos. Sure enough Tazz heads down with a ref and The Headbangers soon follow. Viscera joins in as well as Crash does all he can to escape. The Mean Street Posse attacks crash in the back, but he escapes before Taka Michinoku attacks him. Everyone gives chase outside the building as Crash hides behind a garbage can, and then heads back inside to lock everyone outside. That ends the match I guess

Winner: I guess Crash since he left with the title
-What the hell was the point of this being included? They could have at least given us the Hardcore Title match from Mania or something more entertaining from this era in the title’s history.

WWF European Title: Chris Jericho (w/ Chyna) vs. Eddie Guerrero
RAW: April 3, 2000

-I guess this is the token Eddie match on this set as they always try to include one of his matches whenever they can. God bless them for it too! This is the night after WrestleMania 2000 (XVI) where Jericho won the European Title from Angle in that Triple Threat 2 Fall match that included Benoit (who won the IC Title from Angle in the same match). Poor Kurt never lost a fall in the match yet lost both his titles. Eddie puts the moves on Chyna before the match and makes mention of his Latino Heat. He also promises to win the Title for his ancestors from Spain. A fast start from Eddie, but he flirts with Chyna for too long and gets alley-ooped on the top turnbuckle. Jericho tries a powerbomb, but Eddie rolls through and regains the advantage. The Eddie Sucks chant breaks out as he locks in a sleeper hold. The crowd gets rather quiet so Jericho breaks with a back suplex. They fight to the floor as we cut away to the back and a weird shot of Steph talking to someone on the couch. I think that was a mistake as they quickly went back to the ring, and it was never mentioned again. Eddie heads up top, but Jericho rolls out of the way. Eddie sees him moving and rolls through the dive, but gets caught with a powerslam for two. The chops start flying and then the ref gets bumped off a drop toehold. Jericho gets the elusive powerbomb and he lifts him up for another powerbomb. The Lionsault follows, but there’s no ref to make the count. For some reason Chyna climbs in and makes the count and it becomes apparent why as she nails Jericho with a DDT. She puts Eddie on top and he wins the title at 5:38. That turn actually makes sense on a few fronts. First off it seems that Chyna really does dig Eddie’s Latino Heat, so there is that. Also Jericho originally won the title from Chyna during their feud the previous fall. During that feud Jericho smashed Chyna’s hand with a hammer, so I would say Jericho can only blame himself for trusting her. Eddie and Chyna celebrate in the low rider after the match.

Winner and New European Champion: Eddie Guerrero via pin at 5:38
-Solid TV match between these two with a heel turn that actually made sense. The pairing of Chyna and Eddie was a lot better than the pairing of Jericho and Chyna. **1/4

Steel Cage Match: WWF Intercontinental Title: Val Venis © (w/ Trish Stratus) vs. Rikishi
WWF Fully Loaded: July 23, 2000

-These two actually had a solid mid card feud and thankfully that is recapped before the match. Venis won the match a few weeks back when Tazz blasted Rikishi with a camera to give Val the win. Val immediately tries to escape, but Rikishi puts the block on that one. The cage comes into play early as Venis gets tossed repeatedly into the steel. Val is a bumping machine in this one as Rikishi dominates early and then climbs to escape. I am not sure how sound of a strategy that is from the big man, but he sure gives it a go. He stops when he sees Val crawling out the door, and he makes the save. A suplex tosses Val from one side of the ring to the other. Val gets smart and hits a chop block to ground his larger opponent. Now Rikishi gets sent into the cage and I have to say this match has some great intensity to it. Val gets stuck in position for the Stink Face and he does a great job of countering: namely punching Kish in the balls. Awesome! He comes off the top with a bulldog and delivers a clothesline that Rikishi sells with a flip. Always a great spot from the big man! Both men make the climb and Rikishi ends up crashing to the mat below. Val follows off the top with an elbow and that gets him a two count. Even JR questions the strategy of that one as he seemingly had a chance to climb out the cage prior to the elbow. Val starts to climb up once again and builds some good drama before Rikishi catches him on top of the cage. He drags Val back inside the cage and back onto the top rope. The battle up there and this time both men drop balls first onto the top rope. Val is showing some wounds from this one as the blood is starting to flow from his head. Rikishi heads for the door, but Val cuts him off and goes to work with some right hands. Seeing his own blood has seemingly pissed off Val, but Rikishi cuts off that by tossing him back into the cage. A Samoan Drop follows and then we get the running back splash in the corner. Val is right fucked as Rikishi connects with the Banzai Drop, but Val gets his foot on the rope to save his title. Rikishi heads for the door, and Trish makes the save by slamming the door on his head. Hearing JR call Trish an ass is quite shocking considering how she eventually become the companies top female. Val hits the Money Shot, but Kish is out at two as this becoming a heel of match. Lita bounces down to the ring with a leather strap and she unloads on Trish with some hellacious shots. The crowd pop for Lita is rather insane and then it gets even louder as she strips Trish down to her bra to deliver even more shots. I am all for anything involving Trish and Lita, and I mean anything. Back in the ring the ref gets bumped as Rikishi sends Val off the top rope. In a fucking insane spot Rikishi climbs to the top of the cage and comes off with the mother of all splashes in homage to Superfly Jimmy Snuka. That draws a massive pop and a Holy Shit chant from the crowd as you would expect. The replays only add to the spot as I wonder what Val was thinking while waiting for Kish to make that jump. Rikishi heads for the door, but now Tazz is out and he uses the camera to blast Rikishi one more time. Val crawls off the mat and gets an arm on top to get the pin at 14:10.

Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Val Venis via pin at 14:10
-Hell of a match here, and I am glad they finally released this on one of these sets. The crowd was fully invested in this one, and the splash off the cage spot is one that has sadly been forgotten over the years. Lita using a leather whip on Trish adds some bonus points as well. ***1/2

TLC Match: WWF Tag Team Titles: Edge © and Christian © vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz
WWF SummerSlam: Aug 27, 2000

-A year earlier Edge, Christian, and The Hardyz redefined what could be done in a ladder match. In January The Dudleyz introduced tables into their feud with The Hardyz. The 3 teams met in a revolutionary Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania and this is the encore at SummerSlam thanks to Commissioner Foley who introduced the TLC Match concept. Things are going to get chaotic in this one and I will do all I can to recap whatever I can. The chairs get used first as Edge and Christian take out the other two teams. Our first ladder gets introduced and it immediately gets tossed into Edge’s face. The crowd chants for tables, but Bubba is more concerned with trying to retrieve the titles. He gets powerbombed by The Hardyz off the ladder, and then a second ladder gets set up. Edge takes Jeff and D-Von off the 2 ladders with a double Russian Leg Sweep. Christian and Bubba make a climb, and in our first insane spot, Bubba hits his full nelson atomic drop. The see saw spot from the previous year gets tweaked as Edge pushes Jeff off a ladder onto the see saw ladder and it cracks Matt in the face. Thankfully that worked out a lot better for Matt than it did for Joey Mercury years later. D-Von hits the What’s up Drop off the ladder on Edge, and it’s time to get the tables. I am slightly disturbed by JR saying he feels some wood coming on. Shudder! Our first table gets set up and Christian takes a 3D through the table to a massive pop. They prep a stack of tables on the floor and that won’t be good for somebody. They tease hitting Jeff with a powerbomb through the stack of tables, but Edge uses a chair to stop that noise. Matt shows his gratitude to Edge for saving his brother by hitting the Twist of Face. The yodeling leg drop follows, and Jeff leap frogs the ladder from the top rope and hits his own leg drop. All 6 of these men are out of their damn minds! Edge gets abused with a ladder and Christian gets tossed off the top rope and lands on the Edge and the ladder. Damn! Jeff climbs a rather massive ladder on the floor and tries the Swanton, but Bubba has learned from Mania 2000 and calmly rolls out of the way to leave Jeff to crash through the tables and to the floor. Sometimes a Holy Shit chant just doesn’t do justice to what you are witnessing. Bubba gets creamed with a chair on the floor as back in the ring 4 men climb a ladder. That ends with a car crash sequence and we have nobody standing at this point. Bubba is the first one to his feet and he makes his way up the ladder, but Edge and Christian push the ladder over and Bubba spills out the ring and through the 2 x 2 stack of tables on the floor. Absolutely brutal! The tag champs are the only ones moving as the climb each side of the ladder. Lita heads out to a great reaction and she knocks over the ladder to crotch the champs on the top rope. The crowd is on the verge of heart failure as they cheer on the hometown Hardyz to make the climb. Matt takes a fucking scary bump as D-Von tips the ladder backwards and Matt falls over the top and through a table on the floor. That shit was worse than what Bubba just went through. Lita checks on Matt and Edge spears her in nasty fashion. That last sentence could be taken a different way now after that whole saga, though I guess CM Punk is the one spearing her these days. The replay from the camera above the ring shows how nasty the fall Matt just took was. D-Von and Jeff make another climb and things get even crazier as they hang from the apparatus holding the titles as Edge and Christian remove the ladder. Jeff kicks D-Von off as he takes a sick looking bump to the canvas and the crowd explodes as they think Jeff has this one won. Edge and Christian hit him with a ladder and that sends him to the mat as well. With everyone else basically dead and gone, Edge and Christian climb the ladders to retain their titles at 14:51.

Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge and Christian via belt retrieval at 14:51
-Just an insane match that still holds up well over 12 years later. Many feel this is still the best TLC Match in history and I have no arguing that even though I prefer TLC II at WrestleMania X-7. With that said this is one the greatest train wreck matches you will ever see as these 6 men (and Lita) tore down the house. *****

Hell in a Cell: WWF Title: Kurt Angle © vs. “Stone” Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock vs. Rikishi vs. The Undertaker vs. HHH
WWF Armageddon: Dec 10, 2000

-This was basically a precursor to the Elimination Chamber as it seemed the WWF was looking for a new gimmick match. This match was made by Commissioner Foley as they tossed the 6 men from the top 3 feuds in the company inside a Cell Match to pop a buy rate in the usually dead December PPV spot. Vince McMahon tried to stop the match fearing what would happen with his 5 top guys (and Rikishi) inside a Hell in a Cell at the same time. When this was announced I remember flipping out at home as I figured this was going to be closest we would ever get to a brutal War Games style match in the WWF. Adding to the fun is that outside of a kind of working agreement between HHH and Rikishi, every person in this match hates everyone else. Every the consummate pro, Angle breaks out a white singlet and that should make the blood that is about to flow stand out better. Also as you would expect Angle is a little reluctant to enter the Cell, but Austin is the last one out and he makes sure to toss Kurt inside. Just utter chaos from that point on as everyone pairs off and start brawling inside and outside the ring. Conveniently everyone pairs off with the person they are currently feuding with at the time. Inside the ring The Undertaker dominates Kurt with a clothesline in the corner and some right hands. That gets the first pin attempt of the match. Rikishi and The Rock head into the ring as Austin and HHH have their war on the floor. The Rock drops Rikishi with a leaping clothesline and then they head back to the floor. Now HHH and Austin have a go in the ring and HHH connects with a facebuster, but Austin comes back with the Thesz Press and FU Elbow for two. Austin gets another two count and soon they are joined by The Rock and Angle in the ring as JR and Lawler make jokes about Lloyds of London. HHH targets the knee of Austin while The Rock gets a two count with a Samoan Drop. Taker sends Kurt back to the floor, kicks his ass, tosses him back inside the ring just so he can toss him out the other side. Poor Kurt! The Rock gets sent into the cell and Kurt actually goes after Rikishi to drive him the point that he is willing to do whatever he can to save his title. Austin lays out HHH with a clothesline on the floor as they have yet to get away from each other. HHH is the first one to start bleeding after he has his head grated against the steel. Austin targets the cut and grates HHH’s face across every side of the cell in a cool spot. He makes the mistake of getting to close to Rikishi however and pays for it. HHH and Rikishi shake hands to establish their collaboration, but HHH turns on him with a Pedigree. The Rock makes the save though, but Angle comes in to drill him with The Olympic Slam. That sets off a series of false finishes as Austin hits Kurt with the Stunner, and Taker hits Austin with the chokeslam. Twelve years before their Hell in a Cell War at Mania XXVIII, HHH and Taker go at it on the floor and HHH takes the worst of the exchange as he gets driven head first into the cell. Austin goes after Rikishi in the ring and lands a Thesz Press. Vince McMahon and the Stooges head down to the ring on the back of a truck. They start tearing the cell apart with a chain and the truck, but can only manage to rip the door off before Foley heads out to put a stop to Vince’s evil plan. That’s certainly one way to make sure the guys can get out of the cage. I mean it’s not as brilliant as Shawn’s attack of a cameraman, but still creative. Foley beats down the Stooges and then has security remove Vince from ringside. HHH, with a solid crimson mask, is the first out the door as he tries to escape but Austin is right on his heels. They brawl by the entrance and in a genius spot, Austin uses the camera crane to smash HHH in the head. The entrance way is littered with junked cars and they figure into things heavily. We get a replay of Austin decking HHH from the boom camera and it’s pretty sweet. Austin gets his head run into the window of the truck McMahon brought down and that’s enough to draw blood. The Rock takes over on HHH as the fight on the hood of a car. The Rock teases a Rock Bottom, but HHH breaks by hitting The Rock in the balls. He then hits The Pedigree on the roof of the car. Nasty! Now the Rock is a bloody mess as that accounts for 50% of the men in this match. This is just utter carnage as they continue to beat the hell out of each on the various vehicles. HHH takes a nasty sling shot from Austin onto one of the cars and the sound is a rather satisfying combination of a splat and a crunch. Some oil drums are also around the area so they get used as well including Austin trying to kill HHH with one of them. Meanwhile back at the announcer’s table The Undertaker uses the mic to blast Angle in the head as I wonder if that was a slight nod to Tully vs. Magnum (“Thunk”). Kurt show his intelligence as he grabs a chair and swings away at Taker to bust him open. HHH decides to climb the cell to get away from Austin and he pays homage to Flair by showing his ass as Austin tries to pull him back to the arena floor. They both make it to the top and the crowd is losing their shit now. Austin kicks some high quality ass as HHH teases falling off the edge, but he fights back to save his life. Angle is the next to get on the roof as he does all he can to escapes Taker. Austin catches HHH with a Stunner on the roof of the Cell, and Taker decides to join them up there which can’t be good for anyone. Angle gets his head bounced off one of the steel supports and that draws blood from him as Lawler freaks out over the fact that our Olympic Hero is tasting his own blood. Austin and HHH make their way back down the cell, but Rikishi and The Rock climb to make sure Kurt and Taker aren’t left alone. Taker screams at someone at ringside and makes them toss him a chair. After a few attempts it happens and Taker drills Angle with a sick shot. Rikishi gets his hands on the chair and he lays out both The Undertaker and Angle. The Rock has seemingly disappeared as I guess he couldn’t get up the cell. Angle gets stalked by Rikishi with the chair so he does the smart thing and crawls back down to the floor. Now Rikishi is left alone with a bloody and pissed off Taker and that’s not the best place for him. Sure enough Taker chokeslams Rikishi off the roof and into the bed of the pickup truck. Thankfully the saw dust and wood chips in the back hides what Rikishi really landed on, but doesn’t chance fact that the he was man enough to take that kind of bump. The crowd goes nuts now as Austin and The Rock come face to face in the middle of the ring and clearly this is like a Mega Powers explode kind of a moment. They start trading blows as you would expect and after a tease of a Stunner, The Rock hits a spine buster. He prepares for the People’s Elbow, but HHH cuts that off with a clothesline. The Rock pays him back with some right hands and sends him to the floor with the spit punch. He then catches Angle with The Rock Bottom, but Austin breaks the count. Austin catches the Rock with a Stunner and as usual The Rock sells it in breath taking fashion. Now HHH is there to make the save and while the fight over a neckbreaker, Angle crawls out of a pool of blood and gets a hand on The Rock to get the pin at 32:12.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: Kurt Angle via pin on The Rock at 32:12
-This was just a brutal war with all 6 men busting their ass. The beginning was a little slow as they took turns going at it in the ring, but once they went into that opening finisher sequence everything was golden. Angle retaining was the right call as they had some more time before getting to Austin/Rock II at Mania and after hearing the way they crowd erupted when they locked eyes you had to know it was coming. HHH gets props for taking a grade A ass kicking from Austin in this one and Kurt (who was only a year past his debut match) looked right at home in this environment. Even Rikishi did his part with the crazy ass bump. ****1/4

Blu-Ray Exclusives

King of Kings Match: Ken Shamrock vs. HHH (w/ Chyna) vs. Owen Hart
RAW: June 29, 1998

-Shamrock won the King of the Ring the previous night in Pittsburgh and Owen challenged him to a match since he is a previous King of the Ring winner. HHH then challenged both men and thus we have this match. Shamrock jumps Owen before the match, and HHH just watches from inside the ring. Smart! All three men start to brawl in the ring as Shamrock audibly calls spots in the corner with HHH. He never really did get the hang of hiding that as well as others around him. Owen ground Shamrock and goes to work on the ribs, but gets cut off by HHH. He drops Owen with a suplex and drops a knee, but the cover is broken up by Shamrock. Owen and Shamrock takes turns beating on HHH, but Shamrock soon turns on Owen with a stiff clothesline. Owen hits a swank piledriver on HHH, but no cover as Shamrock sends him to the mat. Owen reverses a hold and hits a bridging belly to back suplex, but the count is stopped by HHH. We head to a break and as we come back Owen has Shamrock locked in a Boston Crab. That gets broken up by HHH and for some reason the bell rings, but apparently that wasn’t supposed to happen as the match continues. Owen catches Shamrock with the sharpshooter, but before we can get a tap, HHH saves. HHH preps Shamrock for the Pedigree, but Owen drops him with a spinwheel kick. Shamrock regroups and sends Owen crashing into HHH in the corner. A stiff kick sends Owen back to the mat and he gets a near fall from that. HHH charges into a powerslam from Shamrock and after a rana, Owen gets trapped in the ankle lock. HHH breaks that before Own can tap and then gets sent to the floor for his trouble. Chyna pulls down the rope to low bridge Owen and he brawls on the floor with Shamrock. The Rock heads out and blasts HHH with the IC Title and Shamrock gets the pin at 9:38. DX attacks The Rock from behind and that brings out The Nation as we have a gang war. Owen is more concerned with Shamrock as he locks in the ring post figure four in an attempt to break the ankle.

Winner: Ken Shamrock via pin on HHH at 9:38 (shown)
-So, I guess that King of Kings nickname doesn’t really belong to HHH after all. The match was fine and was a decent inclusion as a Blu-ray extra. Things were kind of disjointed at times and followed a typical triple threat dynamic, but it was solid enough. **1/4

The Oddities (w/ The Insane Clown Posse) vs. The Headbangers
RAW: Sept 28, 1998

-ICP rap The Oddities to the ring and The Bangers jumps The Oddities before the match. Golga (John Tenta in a mask) gets abused to start the match as JR lets us know that the previous week The Headbangers destroyed the Cartman doll that Gold carried with him. That explains why he opened a present and pulled out a new Cartman doll before the match. The ICP trip Thrasher and Kurrgan finishes with a splash for the pin at 1:56.

Winner: The Oddities via Kurrgan pin at 1:56
-I guess they figured they needed to get the Oddities and ICP on here somehow. DUD

-RAW: Jan 18, 1999: Chyna heads down to the ring and she brings out Mark Henry. She makes Henry admit that the two didn’t have sex on their date. Chyna still decides to roll the footage of Mark getting a blowjob from Sammy and then discovering she is a transvestite. “Sweet Jesus, you’ve got a penis.”

-RAW: April 26, 1999: Stephanie McMahon gets carried to the ring on The Undertaker’s symbol by the Ministry. Jim Ross and Jim Cornette are on commentary as they remind me that Vince is gone as he took off thinking Steph was taken elsewhere. They both fear Steph is being sacrificed, but we soon find out that Paul Bearer is going to join the two in an Unholy Union. Ken Shamrock tries to make the save with a baseball bat, but he gets squashed by Viscera. The Big Show is out next and he does better than Shamrock until Taker blasts him with the baseball bat. Before Taker can seal the union with a kiss, the glass shatters, and Austin beats the piss out of Taker and then drops Mideon with a Stunner. He then grabs a chair and kills anyone that moves including a nasty shot on poor Mideon. Austin unties Steph and she hugs her dad’s longtime enemy and Austin isn’t sure what to make of the situation. Vince makes his way back and reunites with Steph. Of course we would find out later that Vince was behind the entire thing in the Greater Power angle, but that’s not included on this set.

No DQ: The Rock vs. Val Venis
SmackDown: Oct 7, 1999

-While HHH and Austin were feuding in the Main Event during the later summer and fall, The Rock was stuck feuding with the mid card guys. This feud stems from Venis stealing Mr. Rocko and wearing him on his dick. Yep! Mankind jumps Venis in the back before the match, but The Bulldog puts a stop to that. In a funny moment The Rock checks on Mankind and he tells The Rock to go win one for the Micker. “Who in the hell is the Micker?.” Fast start as The Rock pounds away and then hits a suplex for an early two count. Venis gets sent to the floor and the brawl is on from there. They head into the crowd and then back to the ringside area with the Rock in firm control. He tosses Val back into the ring and gets a two count off a swinging neckbreaker. The Rock hooks in a reverse chinlock, but Venis breaks rather easily though he charges into an elbow. Val heads to the floor to create space, but Rock gives chase. The brawl continues on the stage as Val gets tossed into a section of the Ovaltron. The Rock hits a nasty looking belly to back suplex on the ramp grating. Back to ringside we go and Val finally gets some momentum as he sends the Rock into the ring post. The chops start flying from Val, but Rock stops that by tossing him into the ring steps. The Rock takes time to do some commentary as that is always fun. He talks trash on Val and introduces him to Mr. Table-o (as called by the Rock). I love The Rock! Back inside the ring Val gets a fluke two count out of nowhere and seems to have regained the lost momentum. He gets another two count off a suplex and then he goes to the reverse chinlock. The ref checks the arm, but The Rock is still alive before it drops a third time. A fired up Rock makes the comeback as he starts to lay the smack down. He floats over with a DDT for two and then catches Val with a boot. The Rock charges out of the corner and gets caught with a powerslam for two. Val heads outside to get a chair, but Mankind heads down and accidentally decks The Rock with the chair. The crowd freaks out as they think we are about to see a huge upset, but Rock is out at two. Mankind uses Socko on Val, but a low blow breaks. The Rock has had enough of everyone as he gives Mankind a Rock Bottom and then Val receives one as well to finish things at 10:13.

Winner: The Rock via pin at 10:13
-Interesting match as we got to see someone like Val go out there and try to hang with a megastar like the Rock. They had some decent chemistry, but the crowd never bought that the Rock was in any danger of losing until Mankind accidentally hit him with the chair. **1/2

Survivor Series Elimination Match: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Kane, and Shane McMahon vs. D-X (HHH, X-Pac, and The New Age Outlaws)
SmackDown: Nov 4, 1999

-Lawler takes a shot at WCW during the introductions and that is one of the things I miss about the Monday Night/Thursday Night Wars. Just once for shits and giggles it would be nice to see someone on RAW take a shot at TNA or even just reference them. The last one I can remember was Cena telling Vince that if he was going to be fired he would go elsewhere, brother. Shane starts with Road Dogg as Cole mentions that Shane nearly won the title on RAW against HHH and for some reason I don’t remember that match. X-Pac gets the tag and we get the rematch of what was a damn fine Euro Title match between the two earlier in the year at Mania XV. DX does all they can to keep Shane in the match, but he makes the tag to Kane and then all hell breaks loose with everyone getting involved. Kane comes off the top with a clothesline to X-Pac, but Billy Gunn breaks up a chokeslam attempt. The Fame-Asser and X-Factor eliminates Kane at 2:50. Kane kills X-Pac with the chokeslam before he leaves, but nothing comes off it as X-Pac eliminates Shane at 3:58 following a commercial break. That was a weirdly timed elimination. That leaves Austin and Rock against the 4 members of DX and really I’d put my money of Rock and Austin. The Road Dogg gets dominated by The Rock and gets a two count off a Samoan Drop. DX attack The Rock in the corner, but The Rock fights out and eliminates The Road Dogg at 5:52 with a Rock Bottom. Now X-Pac heads back into the ring and catches The Rock with a spin wheel kick. HHH gets the tag and he makes sure to blast Austin to draw him into the ring. Billy Gunn connects with a Jackhammer for two and then makes the tag back to X-Pac. I laugh as Cole calls X-Pac well rested though he was just in the match and looks to be in the worst shape out of the guys left for DX. The Rock catches X-Pac to leave both men down and the hot tag is made to Austin. He whoops ass on everyone and X-Pac eats a Stunner at 8:20 to send him packing. Gunn gets caught with a Thesz Press and then the FU elbow. He stomps a mud hole in the corner and then makes the tag to The Rock. He hits Gunn with a slam and preps for the People’s Elbow, but HHH stops that noise. Austin takes out HHH and The Rock reverses a roll-up to eliminate Gunn at 9:28. Only 30 seconds later The Rock gets hit with the Pedigree and he is gone at 10:00. We are now down to Austin vs. HHH and I forgot to mention that Vince is now at ringside. A double clothesline leaves both men down and Vince decides to get in the ring as the ref tries to get Rock to the back. HHH grabs the chair, so Vince grabs the WWF belt and accidentally hits Austin. HHH gets the pin and the win for his team at 11:17 (shown).

Winner and Sole Survivor: HHH via pin to eliminate Austin at 11:17
-Decent TV Match here, but more would be expected if this was on the PPV. The quick eliminations were kind of weak, but again they weren’t given much time to work. The time flew by as it was constant action, but no real drama was ever built even with the face team playing catch up for the majority of the match. **1/2

WWF Hardcore Title: Crash Holly © vs. Al Snow
SmackDown: June 29, 2000

-Al hides under the ring before Crash gets introduced, but nothing really comes off it other than Al surprising Crash when he searches for weapons. Crash gets caught with a face first wheelbarrow slam on the grated ramp in a nice bump. The plunder starts getting tossed into the ring though the action stays on the floor. Crash does all he can to escape, but he suckers Al into giving chase and then blasts him with a trashcan lid. Al comes back by tossing the trashcan at Crash, and gets a two count off another shot with the can. The next weapon used is a handicap placard, and now Crash has really had enough as he tries to run through the crowd. Al grabs a tray of popcorn from a vendor and uses that to smack Crash in the head. They fight back into the ring and Al brings in some more plunder. A broom gets put to good use and then gets broken over Crash’s back. A more conventional steel chair is next, but Crash ducks and hits a DDT onto the chair for two. Crash gets hammered with another trashcan lid and gets clotheslined in the corner. Al breaks out a bowling ball and puts on a bowling shirt. He then picks up the 7-10 split in the corner as Crash’s balls gets crushed. The stairs get tossed into the ring, but Crash uses the chair to smash the stairs back into Al’s face. Crash takes off again but realizes he forgot his belt and as he goes back Steve Blackman heads down and uses a weapon to lay out Crash and get the pin at 5:32.

Winner and New Hardcore Champion: Steve Black via pin at 5:32
-Still not the greatest example of what the Hardcore Division was about, but my guess this was on here for the bowling ball spot. *1/2

The Hardy Boyz and Lita vs. The Radicalz (Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero) w. Terri
SmackDown: November 30, 2000

-Dean is the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion and the story here is that Dean is infatuated with Lita. Dean starts with Jeff and takes him down with a clothesline and slam. He makes the tag to Eddie and launches him into the ring so he can hit a senton. He charges into the corner and gets alley-ooped face first onto the top turnbuckle. Lita suckers Dean into the corner by making him thing he is going to get kissed, but instead drops him over the top rope. She then hits a crossbody onto Eddie while the Hardyz have him up in the air with a double suplex. Terri runs interference to make the save and things settle back into Dean against Jeff. Eddie heads back in and Jeff kind of blows a back flip DDT spot, but it probably could have been worse. Jeff does connect with Whisper in the Wind, and then Lita hits Dean with a top rope rana. Next she jumps off Jeff’s back to hit Poetry in Motion on Saturn and then turns it into another rana. Matt comes back in and connects with the Twist of Fate on Dean. On the floor Jeff runs the security wall, but gets caught by Saturn. Before any damage can be done though Matt comes flying through the ropes with a suicide dive. Back inside the ring Lita hits a top rope moonsault on Dean, but Terri is there to distract the ref. Eddie has no problems taking care of Lita as he comes off with a Frog Splash to break up the pin attempt and Dean gets a hand on her to get the pin at 4:59.

Winners: The Radicalz via Malenko pin on Lita at 4:59
-This was just non-stop action from the opening bell. They crammed a lot of stuff into 5 minutes and this was certainly never boring as even the crowd couldn’t keep up with the craziness of the final minute or so. Fun stuff even if it was short and never got a chance to tell a real story! **1/2

Chris Jericho and The Dudley Boyz vs. Kurt Angle, Edge, and Christian
RAW: Dec 25, 2000

-Angle is the reigning WWF Champion and Edge and Christian are your reigning WWF Tag Team Champions. Angle has family at ringside including his brothers who are all sporting track suits. Jericho and Christian kick things off in this one and it’s kind of weird seeing Christian and Jericho with long hair and Angle with any hair. Jericho tries for the Walls, but settles for a catapult and Christian flies right into a right hand from Bubba and then one from D-Von. I nearly typed Bully and that reminds me that at some point I would like to see him make one more run in the WWE with his current character. Edge gets brought in and he gets hit with the Whazzup Drop. The crowd wants tables, and D-Von heads out after them. Christian heads out to the floor to put a stop to that and on the other side Angle and Jericho torment each other. Back inside the ring Christian has a go with Bubba and gets backdropped in impressive fashion. Jericho gets the tag as does Angle and they have a pretty strong exchange for only 40 seconds of work. Jericho sends Angle to the floor and then attacks the Angle brothers at ringside. Erik gets powerbombed by The Dudleyz through a nearby table and then they fight up the ramp with Edge and Christian. Jericho hits a missile dropkick, but Kurt gets his knees up to block the Lion Sault and the Angle Slam finishes at 5:05. The Angle family beats down Jericho after the match to many boos from the crowd.

Winners: Kurt Angle, Edge, and Christian via Angle pin on Jericho at 5:05
-Too short to be anything real exciting, but a solid match as you would expect with the men involved. **

The 411: Nice to have the Hell in a Cell War and the IC Cage match on DVD as both are forgotten about when it comes to mentioning underrated gems. The TLC match is spectacular but has been included on other sets. Everything else was kind of hit or miss but having some rare RAW and SD matches on here make for decent inclusions. This is a solid set for those who want to relive the Era or few newer fans that want to know what all the buzz was about.
 
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]  legend

article topics

Robert Leighty Jr.

Comments are closed.