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WrestleMania XVII Review

March 23, 2009 | Posted by Rob McNew
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WrestleMania XVII Review  

-4/1/2001 from Reliant Astrodome in Houston, TX

-Hosted by Jim Ross & Paul Heyman

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho © vs. William Regal

This match was set up when Regal was made WWF commissioner, and Jericho had the nerve to “besmirch” Regal by taking a leak in his tea. Regal takes control early whipping Jericho into the corner, but Jericho is out with a clothesline. Jericho hits the ropes and delivers a flying forearm. Regal ducks a clothesline off the ropes, but runs into a spinning heel kick sending him to the floor. Jericho goes flying over the top rope with a cross body and drops Regal on the barricade. Back inside Jericho hits a back elbow off the top for a two count. Jericho counters a rollup attempt by Regal, and goes for the walls, but Regal counters out with a forearm. Regal sends Jericho shoulder first a pair of times into the ring post. Regal takes Jericho down with a wristlock and gets a two count. Regal grabs an armbar, but Jericho fights out. Jericho fires back with a reverse elbow, and goes for the lionsault hitting the knees of Regal. Regal gets a rollup, which gets two, and a back suplex, gets another two count. Regal removes the top turnbuckle pad and fires Jericho into the exposed steel twice. Jericho fires back with an enzaguri and a dropkick. Jericho connects with a forearm, and hits a dropkick off the second rope for two. Regal gets fired into the corner, and Jericho misses on a splash attempt. Regal goes to the top rope where Jericho sits and delivers a double underhook suplex which picks up a two count. Regal goes for a back suplex, but Jericho lands on his feet and goes for the walls. Regal counters the walls attempt into a Regal stretch. Jericho makes it to the bottom rope to break the hold. Jericho fires back with a series of brutal chops, but runs into a kick off the ropes. Jericho comes back firing Regal into the exposed turnbuckle and delivers a bulldog. Jericho hits a suplex and then scores with the lionsault which finishes somewhat out of nowhere at 7:09. Pretty good match for the time they got, about what you’d expect out of these two. Felt a little like a Raw match, but still a nice hot start.

Winner: STILL WWF Intercontinental Champion-Chris Jericho (Pinfall-Lionsault **1/4)

-Shane McMahon arrives in the WCW limo.

-The APA discuss the history of the Astrodome. Bradshaw gives a big inspirational speech and they head to the ring.

The Goodfather, Val Venis, & Bull Buchanan (w. Steven Richards) vs. The APA & Tazz (w. Jacquelyn)

Right to Censor was a parody of the Parents Television Council, which was on Vince’s ass for his questionable programming. Richards gets on the mic, but the entrance of Tazz immediately interrupts his promo. The RTC attacks in the aisle immediately, and Tazz ends up in the ring with Venis. Tazz delivers a clothesline sending him to the floor, and Jackie comes in to give Richards a DDT. Finally Faarooq and Buchanan end up in the ring to start and Buchanan gives Faarooq a clothesline off the second rope. Faarooq comes back with a powerslam and tags in Tazz. Tazz delivers a t-bone suplex, but hits the ropes running into a big boot. Venis tags in and hammers away at Tazz in the corner. Venis delivers a pair of knees to the gut, and a side Russian legsweep gets a two count. Tag to the Goodfather, and they deliver a double elbow to Tazz. Legdrop connects to Tazz, and a back elbow follows that. Goodfather connects with a back suplex for a two count. Tazz gets fired into the buckle, and Goodfather connects with the Ho Train. Vader bomb misses by the Goodfather, and Tazz makes the tag to Bradshaw. Big boot and clothesline connect for Bradshaw, and he follows up with a powerslam. Buchanan comes in and runs into Bradshaw’s boot, and Venis comes in and gets a fall away slam. Buchanan tries to attack but runs into Faarooq. Venis hits the ropes and the APA delivers a double flapjack. Bradshaw goes to the top with Val and delivers a back suplex. Buchanan attacks from behind and he and Goodfather deliver a double powerbomb to Bradshaw. Buchanan sends Faarooq to the floor, which leaves Goodfather and Bradshaw. Ho Train attempt from Goodfather misses, and that allows Bradshaw to deliver the clothesline from hell, which finishes things at 3:54. Very short, but for what it was it was very good. Crowd was hot for it, which is all you really ask.

Winners: The APA & Tazz (Bradshaw pins Goodfather-Clothesline from Hell **)

-Trish arrives with a sedated Linda in the wheelchair. Stephanie gives Trish some orders, and lets Linda know that she had one child who turned out okay.

WWF Hardcore Championship Triple Threat Match-Raven © vs. Kane vs. The Big Show

Raven shows up pushing a shopping cart full of goodies to use during this match. Raven attacks before The Big Show even arrives. Kane press slams Raven onto Big Show as he makes his entrance. Show catches him and goes to deliver reverse DDT, but Kane comes flying off the top rope with a clothesline to Show. Raven goes for the cover on the floor, but it only gets two. Kane fires Raven over the barrier, and the fight goes to the crowd. Kane catches up to Raven, and picks him up, but runs into a boot from Show. Show and Kane brawl into backstage area, as Raven waits for them ambushing Kane with a street sign. Kane throws Raven into the wall breaking it, and Show shows up delivering a slam to Kane on some wooden pallets. Show chases Raven into a caged area in the back and locks him and Raven inside. Kane just rips the door off, and blasts Show with a broom. Kane blasts show with a board, but Raven grabs a garden hose and attempts to choke Kane with it. Kane backs Raven through the chain link, and then chokes Raven with the hose. Kane then biels Raven through a glass window with the hose! Holy shit! Big Show fires Kane through a door breaking the door, and they continue to fight in an office. They end up going through a wall into another office. Raven shows back up and blasts a table over Big Show. Raven commandeers a golf cart and attempts to ride away, but Big Show jumps on the back. Kane and the referee jump in another golf cart, and Kane runs over Raven with it. They fight down the aisle, and Show throws Raven into a drink table. Kane fires Show into a trunk, and then fires Raven into a dry erase board by the entrance. They head back up on the stage inside the stadium, and Kane blasts away at Big Show. Show fires back with a clothesline on the stage, and turns his attention to Raven. Show goes for a press slam on Raven, but Kane delivers a big boot sending them off the stage and through a platform down below. Kane then drops a leg off the stage onto Show and gets the pin at 9:18. Seriously one of the most entertaining hardcore matches I’ve ever seen. It was hilariously entertaining, and had all the holy shit spots you could want in one of these matches. Great stuff.

Winner: NEW WWF Hardcore Champion-Kane (Pins Big Show-Diving Legdrop ***1/4)

-Kurt Angle goes over the video of him tapping out to Chris Benoit. Edge and Christian try to lighten the mood, but Angle is too obsessed with the video claiming if there wasn’t an official present it doesn’t count.

-The Rock arrives at the Astrodome.

WWF European Championship: Eddie Guerrero (w. Saturn) vs. Test ©

I must mention the hat that Saturn wears to the ring sets a new standard for ridiculousness. They trade blows at the outset, and Eddie runs into a flapjack. Power bomb from Test gets two and Eddie bails to the floor. Test follows him outside, and after a short brawl Eddie slides back in. Eddie catches Test on the way back in and pounds away in the corner. Eddie gets whipped to the corner, and then Test delivers a press slam snake eyes for two. Test hits a back elbow to Eddie, and delivers a bodyslam. Eddie catches Test on the second rope, and then goes for a hurracanrana off the top. Test holds on though and counters. Test comes off the second rope with a back elbow for a two count. Test hits the ropes, but Eddie pulls the rope down and Test gets hung up in the ropes. The ref gets tied up with Eddie allowing Saturn to deliver a few shots from the floor. Eddie unties Test so he falls to the floor, and then delivers a series of boots on the floor. Eddie drives the knee of Test into the floor, and then fires him back inside. Eddie puts the boots to the knee of Test, and then drops an elbow on the knee. Eddie continues the work on the knee by dropping down on the knee after placing it on the bottom rope. Eddie jumps on the back of Test with a sleeper hold, and after getting Test to fade lets go of the hold. Eddie hits the ropes, but Test comes back with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Eddie hits the ropes again and runs into a tilt-a-whirl power bomb, which gets two. Test whips Eddie into the ropes, but charges into a back elbow. Test grabs a full nelson, but Eddie goes low. The ref gets tied up with Eddie, and Saturn runs delivering a cradle suplex. Eddie covers but only gets a two count. Eddie delivers a brainbuster suplex, and heads to the top rope. Eddie goes for a hurracanrana, which misses. Eddie ducks a big boot, but gets hit with the pumphandle slam. Saturn provides a distraction and gets sent off the apron, but the slight delay allows Eddie to kick out at two. Test calls for the big boot, but Saturn runs in again and he gets the big boot. Test then delivers the big boot to Eddie, but Dean Malenko runs out to pull Test off. Test pulls Malenko onto the apron and knocks him off, but as the ref attends to him Eddie sneaks in with the belt and delivers a shot to Test. The ref turns around to make the three count giving Eddie the title at 8:05. Way too many shenanigans for may taste here, and the match wasn’t that great either.

Winner: NEW WWF European Champion-Eddie Guerrero (Pinfall-Belt Shot *1/2)

-Michael Cole catches up with Mick Foley who will officiate the Shane-Vince match. Foley promises to call it right down the middle.

-Steve Austin arrives at the Astrodome.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Kurt hilariously admonishes the state of Texas for missing 49 stars on their flag. Then tells them to lose the freakin cowboy hats. They’re not 12 years old anymore. I miss goofy Kurt. They do a chain wrestling sequence to start with neither man getting an advantage. A second sequence draws a nice ovation from the crowd. Finally Benoit grabs for the crossface, but Angle reaches the ropes to break. Benoit goes for it again, and again Angle gets to the ropes, and then bails for the floor. Angle finally gets frustrated, and decks Benoit before throwing him to the floor. Angle goes out after him and rams Benoit into the barricade and the Spanish announce table. Angle whips Benoit into the ringsteps, and fires him back inside. Angle delivers a suplex for a two count, and hits a back suplex for another two count. Angle rams the head of Benoit into the top buckle and stomps away in the corner. Angle slides to the floor and delivers a pair of elbows to Benoit’s sternum as he lies on the apron. Back inside Benoit fires back with a series of chops, but hits the ropes and runs into a belly-to-belly suplex from Angle. A second belly-to-belly suplex connects for Angle, but Benoit fires back with a clothesline. They trade chops in the corner, and Benoit delivers a knee to the gut. Benoit whips Angle off the ropes and delivers an elbow for a two count. Suplex from Benoit connects for another two count. Benoit sets Angle up on the top rope, and delivers a super-plex picking up another two count. Angle gets whipped sternum first into the corner, and Benoit follows up with the rolling Germans. Angle counters the third German, and goes for the ankle lock. Benoit counters out of the ankle lock and grabs one of his own, but Angle kicks away. Benoit takes down Angle into the crossface, but Angle counters into his version of the crossface. Benoit reaches the ropes to break the hold. Angle pulls Benoit to the center, but Benoit kicks away knocking the referee down. Benoit catches Angle in the crossface and Angle taps, but there is no referee. Benoit goes to revive the referee, but Angle sneaks up from behind with the Angle slam for a two count. Angle hits a bodyslam, and goes to the top rope for a moonsault attempt. Benoit gets the knees up to block the moonsault, and then goes to the top rope for the diving headbutt, which connects. Angle kicks out at two, and Benoit goes for a German suplex. Angle stops that with a low blow. Angle cradles Benoit in a rollup from there and with a handful of tights picks up the win at 14:02. Not anywhere near the level of their classic a few years later at Royal Rumble. The finish was pretty stupid, and this was about as poor a match as these two could have with each other. But it was still a damn good match.

Winner: Kurt Angle (Pinfall-Rollup ***1/2)

-Kamala and Kim Chee invade Commissioner Regal’s office.

-Highlights from the Wrestlemania Pep Rally at Ft. Hood

-Kevin Kelly catches up with a victorious Kurt Angle, but Chris Benoit interrupts and puts him in the crossface forcing him to tap out again.

-Recap of the events leading to Chyna and Ivory.

WWF Womens’ Championship: Ivory © vs. Chyna

Chyna had suffered a broken neck at the hands of the RTC who were upset at Chyna posing for Playboy. That led to a match at Royal Rumble, where Chyna aggravated the injury and was stretchered out. Chyna came back for revenge and was forced to sign a hold harmless agreement to get the match. In return for that, The RTC was banned from ringside. Ivory attacks with the belt right away and delivers a series of stomps. Ivory delivers an elbow drop and pounds away at the back of the injured neck. Ivory tries a kick, but Chyna catches the leg and throws Ivory away. Chyna delivers a series of forearms and stomps in the corner. Ivory hits the ropes and gets a hip toss. A pair of clotheslines and a backdrop connects for Chyna. Chyna hits a powerbomb, and goes for the cover but pulls up Ivory at two. Chyna connects with a press slam and that finishes at 2:39. Total squash for Chyna in what ended up being pretty much her WWF swan song. She’d be gone a few months later moving on to be the trainwreck we all know and love today.

Winner: NEW WWF Women’s Champion-Chyna (Pinfall-Press Slam DUD)

-Vince goes over the last minute preparations with Trish, Stephanie, and Linda. Michael Cole stops by for a word to get Vince’s thoughts on Shane’s shocking purchase of WCW. Vince says if we want shocking tonight we’ll get it, and he guarantees it.

-A recap of the events leading to Vince vs. Shane.

Street Fight: Shane McMahon vs. Vince McMahon (w. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley)

So Vince was cheating on Linda with Trish Stratus, and demanded a divorce that sent Linda into a medication induced trance. That was enough to make this match very personal, but then Vince was able to purchase WCW, so they gave a kayfabe explanation that Shane bought it out from under him to amp things up a bit. Shane gives a shout out to some of the WCW wrestlers in a skybox and then brings out special guest referee Mick Foley. Vince pounds away at Shane in the corner to start, and stomps him down in the corner. Vince delivers a few knees, but Shane comes firing back with a clothesline. Shane connects with a spear, and a series of double axe handles. Shane delivers an elbow drop, which brings Stephanie into the ring to deliver a slap. Vince rolls to the floor, and Shane comes out after him with a baseball slide. Shane whacks Vince with a metal sign he found in the aisle, and then chokes him out with an extension cord. Shane continues the assault firing Vince into the ringsteps. Shane flies off the barricade with a clothesline, and then fires Vince into the barricade. Shane goes under the ring and finds a kendo stick, which he uses to abuse Vince with. Shane delivers a series of punches, and then clears off the Spanish announce table. Shane bashes Vince with a TV monitor and sets him up on the table. Shane goes to the top rope and drops an elbow, but Steph pulls Vince out of the way sending Shane crashing through the table. Trish pushes Linda down to ringside to get a closer look, and goes to the assistance of Vince. Trish helps Vince to his feet, and then delivers a smack to the face. Stephanie smacks Trish, which sets off a cat fight. Trish drops Steph in the ring, and a pull apart brawl commences. Mick pulls Stephanie off of Trish and gets a smack for his trouble. Mick goes after her and Steph takes off running. Trish follows and that sends the ladies back to the locker room. Meanwhile back at ringside Vince gets up and sees Linda. Vince goes after her, but Mick gets in the way and tells him to back off. Mick pushes Linda to safety, but Vince attacks him from behind with a chair knocking him out. Vince throws Linda into the ring, and sets her up in the corner so she can watch. Back out to the floor goes Vince to fire Shane back in the ring. Vince chucks four garbage cans in the ring, and bashes Shane over the head with one of them. Vince bashes Shane with a garbage can again talking trash to Linda the whole time. Finally Vince goes to deliver a third shot, but Linda rises up from her chair and the crowd goes absolutely batshit. Linda delivers a kick to the nuts of Vince, and then Mick rolls in with a series of right hands to Vince pounding him down in the corner. Mick charges with a knee, and Shane gets back up and sets up the trash can on the face of Vince. Shane goes to the top rope and delivers the coast to coast on Vince. That gets the pin at 14:11. Afterwards Shane and Linda embrace. This was about as entertaining of an overbooked mess as you could possibly get. The perfect illustration of what the McMahon’s do best in these type of matches. The big spots were all timed perfectly, the crowd popped for each one of them, and the finish provided a pay off everyone wanted. Sometimes a match is greater than the sum of its parts, and this was certainly a perfect example.

Winner: Shane McMahon (Pinfall-Coast to Coast ****)

-Kevin Kelly catches up with The Hardy Boyz at WWF Axxess.

-Triple H and The Undertaker get warmed up for their match.

WWF Tag Team Championship TLC Match: The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz ©

Big brawl to start, and Christian gets a double flap jack from the Dudleys. The Hardys send Bubba into the corner, and whip D-Von into him. Poetry in motion connects to the Dudleys as E&C bring in a ladder. Double clothesline with the ladders connect to both the Dudleys and The Hardys. Christian ties Matt up in the tree of woe, and then give Jeff a drop toehold into a char that was set up. The Dudleys pull Christian outside, as Edge sets up the ladder in the middle. Matt pulls Edge down, and begins to climb himself. Edge jumps off the chair and clotheslines Matt off the ladder. Edge starts to climb again, but Jeff delivers a dropkick catapulting off the chair. Double baseball slide into a ladder by the Hardys send the Dudleys into the barricade. Matt and Jeff set up ladders in each corner and slam Christian in the middle of the ring. They both come off with a legdrop and splash to Christian. The Dudleys come back in and toss the Hardys outside. Edge gets slammed which sets up the Whassup headbutt from D-Von. Bubba calls for D-Von to get the tables, and they both slide tables inside. Bubba sets one up in the middle and sets Edge on top it. Jeff comes in and goes for a hurracanrana, but gets power bombed by Bubba into Edge and through the table. The Dudleys set up four tables out in the aisle two wide and two high. Matt slides a ladder into the ring and sets it up in the middle, and then fires Christian to the floor. The Dudleys come back in the ring and deliver a shot to Matt. Three ladders get set up in the center and everyone starts to climb for the belts. Everyone eventually goes crashing down to the mat after a short brawl at the top. Edge is the first one to begin climbing again, but Spike Dudley runs and delivers an acid drop to Edge off the ladder, and then gives one to Christian through a table on the floor. Jeff begins to climb for the belt, but Rhyno runs and pulls him off. He clotheslines D-Von with the ladder, delivers a gore to Bubba, and then a gore to Matt through the table. Edge goes to climb but Lita runs in. JR utters his famous line that Lita is “jerking Edge off….the ladder!” Rhyno grabs Lita and goes for a press slam, but Spike delivers a low blow to make the save. Lita delivers a hurracanrana to Rhyno from the top rope. Edge gets close to the ladder, but Spike shoves Rhyno into the ladder knocking Edge off. The Dudleys deliver a Dudleyville Device to Rhyno, and Lita comes in with a sick chair shot to Spike. Lita turns around and walks into a 3D from the Dudleys. Edge slides and delivers a chair shot to D-Von, and then throws the chair to Bubba who gets blasted by Christian. Jeff finds the twenty foot ladder, and puts Spike and Rhyno on tables on the floor. Jeff delivers a swanton off the twenty footer putting Spike and Rhyno through the tables. Edge sets up the big ladder in the middle of the ring, and Christian and D-Von begin to climb for the belts. They both get to the belts, but Matt pulls the ladder out from under them. D-Von and Christian hang from the belts with no ladder, eventually giving way and both crashing to the mat. Jeff is back up and he tries to walk across three ladders to get to the center, but is unsuccessful. Eventually Jeff finds himself hanging from the belts with no ladder, and Edge climbs the twenty footer and delivers a sick looking spear sending both him and Jeff crashing to the mat. Bubba and Matt climb for the belts, but Rhyno pushes the ladder over sending them crashing through the four tables that were set up in the aisle. D-Von starts to climb, but gets stopped by Edge. On the other side Rhyno gives an assist to Christian to claim the belts at 15:41. Maybe just a notch below the match from last year, but still an absolutely tremendous car wreck. I think watching the two matches back-to-back takes away from the second a bit, because a lot of the spots are repeats. Still that’s a minor complaint, because this match was an absolute classic.

Winners: NEW WWF Tag Team Champions-Edge & Christian (Claims the belts ****3/4)

-Highlights of WWF Axxess

-The Fink announces the Astrodome attendance record of 67,925

-Mean Gene Okerlund & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan make their returns to the WWF to call the gimmick battle royal.

Gimmick Battle Royal: Participants-Bushwhacker Luke, Bushwhacker Butch, Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, The Iron Sheik, Earthquake, The Goon, Doink The Clown, Kamala, Kim Chee, Repo Man, Jim Cornette, Nikolai Volkoff, Michael “P.S.” Hayes, The One Man Gang, The Gobbledy Gooker, Tugboat, Hillbilly Jim, Brother Love, Sgt. Slaughter

This was really all about the entrances more than the match. Heenan comments that by the time that the Sheik gets to the ring it will be Wrestlemania 38. The exchange for Repo Man’s entrance is also classic. Heenan says that last week he repoed his own car. Mean Gene replies that about five years ago he got his mother in law’s. Heenan’s response? About four years ago everybody got your mother in law. Repo Man gets tossed, and Tugboat tosses the Gooker. Quake throws out Tugboat. Heenan comments that this whole thing looks like a riot at Lets Make a Deal. Kamala tosses Quake, as guys are flying out fast and furious. Kim Chee goes flying, and Cornette sends Luke out. Hillbilly tosses Cornette, and Droese gets tossed as well. Slaughter throws out Volkoff, and Doink tosses Butch. Kamala tosses Doink, and Michael Hayes gets thrown out. Kamala tosses the Gang, and gets immediately thrown out by Slaughter. Slaughter tosses Brother Love, but gets thrown out by Hillbilly Jim. The Iron Sheik sneaks up behind Hillbilly and tosses him to win the shortest battle royal in history at 3:04. The story that is most generally accepted is that Sheik was incapable of taking the bump over the top so he won. After the match Slaughter comes in and puts out Sheik with the cobra clutch. They kept it short, which they needed to. Incredibly fun little comedy match that was aided by Heenan and Okerlund’s commentary.

Winner: The Iron Sheik (last eliminates Hillbilly Jim *)

-Recap of the events leading to Taker and HHH

Triple H vs. The Undertaker

After defeating Austin at No Way Out Triple H had to open his big mouth and say he had beaten everyone. That led to Taker letting him know that he had never beaten him so we get this match. Motorhead plays Triple H’s theme live for his entrance. Brawl starts out on the floor before the bell. Taker sends HHH crashing through the new makeshift Spanish Announce Table, and fires HHH back in the ring. They trade blows once in the ring, and Taker ducks a clothesline and runs into a high knee. Taker gets right back up and pounds HHH in the corner. HHH hits the ropes and runs into a big backdrop from Taker. Clothesline connects for Taker in the corner, and he follows up with a back elbow. Taker delivers another clothesline and hits a powerslam. Elbow drop from Taker misses, but after ducking a clothesline a flying clothesline connects to HHH. Taker goes to the top rope to go for old school, but HHH pulls him off the top. HHH ducks a clothesline and delivers a neckbreaker for two. HHH delivers a series of right hands, and then delivers an elbow to the back of the head. HHH goes to the floor and delivers a pair of elbows to Taker as he lies on the apron. Back inside HHH hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. HHH and the referee have words after the two count, and that gives Taker time to regroup and deliver a series of shots. HHH hits the ropes, and delivers a facebuster. HHH goes to the floor and finds his sledgehammer. Back in the ring the ref warns HHH, and then takes the sledgehammer away. HHH ducks a right hand from Taker and goes for the pedigree. Taker counters and delivers a slingshot sending him into the referee and putting him out of commission. Taker hits a chokeslam and goes for the cover, but the ref is slow to count and gets a two count. Taker takes out his frustration with a kick to the ref and an elbow drop. Taker sends HHH to the floor, and follows him out. HHH blocks a trip to the ringsteps and sends Taker into them. Taker answers with a backdrop sending HHH over the barrier and into the crowd. They brawl through the crowd, and end up back on the soundstage. They exchange blows with Taker getting the better of it pounding HHH to the ground. Taker fires HHH to the third level of the soundstage, where HHH finds a chair. Taker follows him up there and gets blasted with the chair over the back and to the head. HHH continues just destroying Taker with the chair. He goes for one more shot, but Taker comes up with a goozle. Taker delivers a chokeslam off the soundstage and out of the picture. They show HHH and you see that his landing wasn’t as far down as it might have seemed from the initial camera angle. EMT’s try to tend to HHH, but Taker drops down from the soundstage with an elbow drop. Taker continues to pound away at HHH, and begins to walk him back towards the ring. Finally Taker fires HHH over the barrier and back to the ringside area. Back into the ring they go, and the referee still lies out cold. Taker finds the sledgehammer, and stalks HHH with it. HHH begs for mercy, and that buys him enough time to deliver a low blow. HHH gets a hold of the sledgehammer and charges at Taker, but runs into a big boot. Taker and HHH trade vicious right hands, and Taker again gets the better of it. HHH comes back though with a kick. HHH hits the ropes and ducks a clothesline. HHH looks to give Taker the tombstone, but Taker reverses into a tombstone of his own. There is still no referee though to make the count. Taker goes and revives the ref and goes for the last ride. HHH grabs the sledgehammer though and nails Taker with it while up in the power bomb. Taker kicks out at two, and HHH goes back on the offense in the corner. Taker is busted open, and HHH delivers the ten punches in the corner. Taker counters into the last ride out of the corner, which finishes at 18:17. The referee being knocked out for like 10 minutes was really stupid, but the match itself was tremendous. This was an amazing brawl that went all over the arena. Rumor has it HHH was actually supposed to win this match until Shawn went and fucked it up by showing up in no shape to do his scheduled run in. Its probably best that it worked out the way it did though for a variety of reasons. Taker’s streak is now part of his lore, and Shawn’s fuck up is one of the things that flipped the lightbulb on and caused him to clean up.

Winner: The Undertaker (Pinfall-Last Ride ****)

-Recap package for Austin and Rock.

WWF Championship: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Rock ©

This is the very definition of main event. The Fink announces to the surprise of the announcers that this is now a no disqualification match. The pop for Austin is absolutely off the charts, and probably should have signaled to the writers that anything short of Austin shooting Rock in the middle of the ring and he wasn’t getting booed tonight. One of my favorite images in wrestling history occurs right before this match as Rock poses on the second rope with the belt while Austin stands in the corner. You see both men, and the amazing crowd in the Astrodome. It’s truly amazing thinking back just six years earlier when Wrestlemania was held at The Hartford Civic Center and was main evented by a retired football player and a midcarder that the WWF came this far. Austin attacks right away, and tries to blast Rock with the belt. Rock ducks and hits the ropes ducking a clothesline but getting hit with a Lou Thesz press. Austin hits the FU elbow, and sends Rock into the ropes who answers with a swinging neckbreaker. Rock goes for the Rock bottom, but Austin counters into a stunner attempt. Rock blocks that and goes for a stunner attempt of his own which is also blocked. Austin then chucks Rock over the top to the floor. All of this coming in the first minute of the match. Austin goes out after him and hammers Rock with a series of right hands. The fight spills into the stands, and Rock regains the advantage firing Austin back to ringside. Rock bashes Austin’s head into the announce table, but Austin reverses an Irish whip and scores with a clothesline. Austin rakes the eyes with the knee brace and throws Rock back inside. Austin chokes Rock out on the second ropes, and then drops down on the neck for a two count. Austin sets Rock up on the top rope, and delivers a superplex picking up a two count. Austin gets back up and removes the top turnbuckle pad. Rock comes back up with a series of rights, and scores with a flying clothesline. Armdrag from the Rock gets a two count, and Rock then clotheslines Austin to the floor. Rock follows him to the floor, and drives Austin into the announcer and timekeepers table. Austin grabs the ringbell and comes back out delivering a shot with it regaining control. That busts Rock open, and Austin goes to work on the wound ramming Rock’s head into the ringsteps and announcers table. The announce table can’t hold the weight of the Rock as it collapses. Austin fires Rock back inside, and goes back on the offensive with the right hands. Austin mounts a fallen Rock and pounds away at the open wound. Austin tries to fire Rock into the exposed steel, but Rock blocks that and fires back with the right hands. Austin hits the ropes and scores with a swinging neckbreaker picking up a two count. Into the corner Austin stomps a mudhole into Rock, and then chokes out Rock with his boot. Austin gets tied up with the referee and that allows Rock to explode out of the corner with a clothesline. Austin comes back with a knee to the gut, but that advantage is temporary as Rock comes back with the right hands and rams Austin into the exposed buckle. Rock grabs the ring bell from ringside and blasts Austin with it. That busts Austin open and Rock covers for a two count. Rock comes back with a series of rights, and then takes the fight to the floor. Rock delivers a pair of Austin who was on the apron, and Austin falls to the floor. Rock attempts to ram Austin into the barricade, but Austin blocks it and fires back with a series of rights before dropping Rock on the barricade. Austin grabs the legs and slingshots the Rock into the ringpost. Austin picks up a TV monitor and levels Rock with it on the floor. Austin fires Rock back inside and covers for a two count. Austin goes for the stunner, but Rock blocks it and locks in a sharpshooter. This is an incredible image of a bloody Austin writhing in pain, as a bloody Rock struggles to hold on to the hold. Austin eventually reaches the ropes to break the hold. Rock tries to go back to it, but Austin rakes the eyes and locks in a sharpshooter of his own. The Rock powers out of the sharpshooter, and Austin goes back to work driving the knee into the mat. Austin stomps Rock in the midsection, and goes back to the shaprshooter. Rock breaks the hold again by getting to the ropes. Rock struggles to his feet, and Austin locks in the Million Dollar Dream. Rock busts out Bret’s counter by pushing off the ropes, but Austin gets out at two. Rock reverses an Irish whip and scores with a stunner, and picks up a two count. That brings out Vince McMahon to ringside to get a closer look. Rock hits the ropes and runs into a spinebuster from Austin picking up a two count. Austin beautifully with each two count sells his mounting frustration. Austin hits the ropes and runs into a spinebuster from Rock. That sets up a peoples elbow, which connects, but McMahon runs into the ring and pulls Rock off to break up the count. Rock slowly realizes what happened and chases McMahon around the ring. Into the ring they go and Austin catches Rock on the way with a Rock Bottom getting a two count. Austin goes for a stunner, but Rock pushes off and referee Earl Hebner falls to the floor. Rock goes to pick up Austin, but gets hit with a low blow. Austin requests a chair from Vince, as it starts to become obvious what is going on. Austin holds Rock and Vince delivers a chair shot. Austin covers and Vince throws Hebner into the ring, but Rock gets out at two. Austin goes back to the chair, but Rock comes back with a Rock Bottom. McMahon jumps on the apron to keep the referee from counting, so Rock pulls him into the ring. Rock beats on Vince in the corner, but turns into a stunner from Austin. Rock kicks out at two, as Austin sits in stunned disbelief. McMahon hands the chair back to Austin, and he bashes Rock with it but again Rock is out at two. Austin picks the chair back and absolutely destroys Rock with it delivering about 20 chair shots with vile force and that finally picks up the three count at 28:07. After the match Vince and Austin stare at each other and in one of the more shocking moments in WWF history they shake hands. Both men stare at each other without a smile and it really makes the moment work. As if they aren’t doing this because they want to, but rather because they have to. Jim Ross, who probably turned in the performance of his career during the match really amps it up with his epic call in disbelief. As for the match itself it was probably the best example of this style of match ever. There was absolutely no down period at any point, and the crowd was red hot throughout. Normally I’d hate a finish like this one, but for some reason it works here. Neither guy can put the other away, and Austin has to sell his soul to “Satan himself” to quote JR to get the win. The rating I’m going to give this match is going to be a little bit controversial, and will probably get me some serious hate, but I truly believe its warranted here. This was the defining match of the attitude era and featured the two defining stars of the attitude era in arguably their greatest performance. There’s not a thing about this match I would change.

Winner: NEW WWF Champion-“Stone Cold” Steve Austin (Pinfall-Chair Shots *****)

The 411: To me this is the greatest wrestling show of all time, and frankly I don’t think its even close. It has something on it for everyone. You like technical classics? I give you Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle. You like spotfests? I give you TLC II. You like overbooked dramas? I give you McMahon-McMahon. You like brawls? I give you HHH and The Undertaker. You like epic main events? I give you Austin and The Rock. A five star main event, three more matches checking in at four stars, two more at three plus. It’s the perfect wrestling show. A show may come along some day and match it, but nothing will ever top it.
411 Elite Award
Final Score:  10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]  legend

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Rob McNew

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