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triplexpac posted:The "Vince puts Linda in a coma" storyline is one of the worst things WWE has done, but at least it has a good payoff at Mania. It was barely mentioned at all. They threw it out alongside "Vince wants a divorce" as though it was equally normal, but didn't go into the reason behind it or even how it happened. Do you remember?
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Apr 11, 2014 19:33
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JGKing posted:It was barely mentioned at all. They threw it out alongside "Vince wants a divorce" as though it was equally normal, but didn't go into the reason behind it or even how it happened. Do you remember? Okay my memory on this whole thing is kind of hazy but here's how I remember it going down: • Linda backs up Foley as commish, or does something else to piss off Vince • Vince says he wants a divorce, Stephanie is traumatized • HEEL TURN Stephanie actually loves Vince and also wants Linda out of the picture • Linda has some sort of breakdown (off camera maybe?) • Vince puts her in some kind of hospital, there's a scene where he & Trish are wheeling her around in a wheelchair. Now Vince can do whatever he wants without his wife nagging him, hooray! • DELETED SCENE • Linda gets her revenge at Mania, triumphantly getting out of the wheelchair and kicking Vince in the nuts
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Apr 11, 2014 20:28
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triplexpac posted:Okay my memory on this whole thing is kind of hazy but here's how I remember it going down: They really, really over-did Feudin' McMahons.
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Apr 11, 2014 20:34
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This is what comes to my mind when I think Linda McMahon
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Apr 11, 2014 22:14
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No Way Out - February 25th 2001 PART 2 Oh poo poo! The Three Stages of Hell match is next! This is sensible booking - gives the crowd a break before the WWF Championship match later. A hype package recaps the feud between the two, from Triple H's reveal as the mastermind behind the attack on Stone Cold to Austin's return and near-killing of the Game. They both cost one another title matches against Kurt Angle, before Triple H tries to wreck Stone Cold's chances at the Rumble. The Rattlesnake manages to win the match anyway and has a title match at WrestleMania. Triple H uses his clout to book a Three Stages of Hell match and picks the falls. I'm not sure about his choices. Surely a street fight and cage match play more into Austin's hands. Sledgehammer on a pole perhaps? Vince enforces a "no physical contact" rule until the match itself, otherwise Austin will lose his title shot and Triple H be suspended for six months. The Game jumps Stone Cold immediately after the contract signing and beats him down, before revealing that he only pretended to sign his name. He then does so. On the next edition of Raw, Austin gives Stephanie the Stunner in the middle of the ring. That's pretty loving heelish. Triple H gains a measure of revenge by Pedigreeing poor old JR on Smackdown. Both are livid and can't wait to get their hands on each other. 4. Three Stages of Hell: Triple H vs Stone Cold Steve Austin Quick reminder for you all - first fall is a simple singles match, second fall is a street fight, third fall is a cage match. I wonder if that third one will be required  . Stone Cold charges the ring and Triple H clocks him with a right hand. Bam. Instant six month suspension, the bell hadn't rung. Nobody else notice that? The ref certainly didn't and the match begins. Disgraceful. They brawl and Austin stomps a mudhole to huge chants of his name. Triple H reverses a Thesz press into a hangman over the top rope, but it's messy. He goes for an early Pedigree but Austin counters into an armbreaker. He uncharacteristically works the arm for a while (Stone Cold with a gameplan!?) and it pays off as a second Pedigree attempt fails after Triple H can't get the arms hooked. A Thesz press connects and Austin rains the punches down, but only gets a two count for his efforts. He ventures slightly outside of his moveset and hits a turning spinebuster, but gets caught with a book to the face after a flying nothing from the second rope. Triple H hits a couple of neckbreakers and the announcers do a good job of hyping Austin's weak neck.Triple H works the leg for a while and locks on a figure four, occasionally grabbing at the nearest set of ropes for leverage, but Austin eventually manages to roll over and reverse the pressure. The Game makes the ropes to break the hold but continues to work over the leg, until Stone Cold eventually forces him off by driving his leg into his opponent's face again and again. Great from Austin. Triple H eats ELEVEN turnbuckle smashes and another Thesz press, but again kicks out at two. Stone Cold lines him up for the Stunner but gets pushed off into the ropes and suffers another big neckbreaker. We're about a third of the way through the video of the match I'm watching, so surely the end of the first fall is imminent. I'm so meta. Austin goes for another Stunner but the Game grabs him and rolls backwards into a pinfall! 1...2...Austin rolls through! 1...2...Triple H kicks out! Great sequence. Trips ruins it by stupidly heading up to the second rope and leaping off with the most nothing of flying nothings I've ever seen. Kick, wham, Stunner. 1...2...3! Austin wins the first fall! He hurls Triple H out of the ring and hits a vertical suplex on the entrance ramp. Austin has a wonderfully vicious look on his face. He hits a second suplex before journeying around the ring and SMASHING the Game with a monitor from the Spanish announce table! Jesus. He hurls three chairs in the ring - one of them is RED! - and Trips tries to escape through the crowd. Austin hunts him down and batters him on the arena stairway surrounded by cheering fans. It's pretty cool. They return to the ring and Triple H suffers a couple of chairshots to the spine. I'm amazed he hasn't taken the opportunity to blade from that earlier monitor shot. The game crumples to the canvas and Austin goes crazy with chairshots! Jesus, he's relentless. Trips tries to escape by dragging his carcass over the crowd barrier but Stone Cold intercepts and hurls him into the timekeeper's table. What's this? AUSTIN'S GOT FOLEY'S 2x4! Awesome callback to last year, as the Rattlesnake looks to drive the barbed wire into the Game's head...but he leaves himself open for a desperation low blow. 2x4 SHOT TO AUSTIN! He collapses between the tables and JR screams that he's busted open. King makes an awesome call, saying "he's not busted open, he's lacerated from that barbed wire!". I miss old Lawler. Austin bleeds all over the announce table and it looks awesome. They brawl onto the table and JR's headset gets ripped off. Thank gently caress for that. King panics and calls for the referee to help Austin as Triple H batters him with right hand after right hand. They stand up and the Game looks for the Pedigree...BUT AUSTIN BACKDROPS HIM THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE! Man, I can't believe he bridged that gap. If he hadn't made it it would have been disastrous. Really brave bump from Triple H. Austin grabs a beer can and smashes it over the Game's head before hitting mounted punches. This fall has been great. Hebner tries to pull him off but Stone Cold just shoves him to the floor. He looks demented. Austin's one of those wrestlers who seems even more awesome once he's busted open. Others who share that trait: Eddie, Foley. Others who don't: HBK, Cena. Discuss. They get back into the ring and Triple H nails Austin with a surprise shot from the ring bell (which the Rattlesnake hurled in there earlier). He kicks out at two! Neckbreaker onto a chair! Stone Cold writhes in agony, 1...2...he kicks out again! These are Rock levels of PPV resiliency. They battle to their feet and Triple H gets clamped in a sleeper hold...but reverses it into a back suplex onto a chair! AGAIN Austin kicks out! They set up for a Pedigree onto a third chair, but Austin backdrops him HIGH over the top rope to the floor. Stone Cold heads out after him. BAM! Chairshot to the skull! Steel steps to the head as well! They're just knocking years off each other's life expectancy right now. Trips is busted open now, but grabs his trusty sledgehammer from under JR's position at the announce table. Lawler hilariously blames him, claiming that he put it there for Austin. He measures Stone Cold who punches him in the gut to make him drop the weapon. JR is protesting the use of a sledgehammer, claiming that you don't use it on another man. This is coming from the same announcer who smashed a glass jar into Tazz's face and eyes. They return to the ring and Austin stomps a tired mudhole. He turns away and Triple H grabs the sledgehammer...but Stone Cold kicks him in the gut! Stunn...NO! The Game pushes him away with one hand...SLEDGEHAMMER TO THE SKULL! Pedigree! Austin's hosed and the scores are levelled at one fall each. The cage descends and I really want Triple H to get another pinfall straight away so they have to raise it right back up again. JR drops the "No Way Out!" reference as they're enclosed inside the cage, and you might be able to hear my groan from wherever you're reading this. Triple H drags Austin to his feet but the Rattlesnake fights back with rights. The Game is all business now and hurls his opponent into the wall. Stone Cold's on his knees and Triple H has the barbed wire-wrapped 2x4. He rakes it into Austin's face and drags him around the ring. poo poo, this is brutal. CHAIRSHOT by Stone Cold, who snatched the nearest weapon and swung it up over his own head. Now it's Triple H's turn to get raked in the face, culminating in an axe-handle smash with the weapon. It gets a two count, and Triple H hits an instinctive DDT into a chair. The Game tries to escape the cage but Austin's up after him, and they trade head smashes into the wall. OOOH, Austin falls and crotches himself onto the top rope. He falls and Triple H heads to the top turnbuckle, but Stone Cold grabs him and hurls him onto the canvas. Trips staggers to his feet and Austin tries to hit the Stunner, but he gets shoved off into the cage wall and rebounds...into a Pedigree! 1...2...HE KICKS OUT! Triple H nails Austin in the skull with a steel chair and sets up for a final Pedigree, but the Rattlesnake trips his legs and slingshots him into the cage wall. Stunner! Oh, it's taken poorly by an exhausted Triple H. 1...2...he kicks out! This is getting silly. Trips grabs his sledgehammer while Austin has the 2x4. They nail each other and the Game lands on top. 1...2...3! Winner: Triple H 3/5 - They should have just had the street fight; a longer version of the second fall would have been on par with the Foley/Triple H wars of early 2000. Here however, the first fall was alright, the second awesome, and the third dragged quite a bit. I also deducted half a point for that silly finish. It doesn't really put either guy over. Triple H just looks like he got lucky, while Austin was beat. I get that they're trying to make both guys look even, but it kind of backfired in my eyes. Both men lie broken on one another while the cage raises. They stagger slowly to their feet and Austin hits a great Stunner on Triple H (what's the point though?). He rolls out of the ring and staggers to the back.
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Apr 13, 2014 20:28
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No Way Out - February 25th 2001 PART 3 JR is shocked at what he has just witnessed, but King excuses himself. Apparently he has some business to attend to. He stands up and leaves the table while we go to a video package. We cut to an episode of Smackdown and a Women's title match between Ivory and The Kat. Right To Censor interfere and behalf of the champ and Lawler tries to protect Kat, but ends up on the receiving end of a beatdown from the heels. Backstage Steven Richards leads a team talk with the rest of his stable, claiming that tonight he fights the good fight. Elsewhere we see The Kat in a state of (PG-14) undress. JR explains that tonight King and Richards will be fighting over Kat's "right to nudity". Should Lawler win, we'll see Kat naked right here tonight. The Attitude Era, everybody. Tazz's music hits and he joins JR to help call the match. This still seems ridiculous after last summer's blood feud. We learn that if Lawler loses, Kat has to join the RTC. 5. Steven Richards vs Jerry "The King" Lawler Richards is accompanied by Ivory, Lawler by The Kat. Sign in the crowd: "GET NAKED". Another sign: "Vote: Right to Nudity. Don't Vote: Right to Sensor". I highly doubt that's a deliberate misspelling, but we can dream. I would love it if this match brought out Richards' old ECW side and he just went crazy on Lawler with weapons. They talk trash as the bell rings and King wins the opening exchange with three big rights. Steven scuttles outside to recover but is hit with a clothesline and powerslam upon his return. Again he retreats, and everybody except me is on Lawler's side. I just love Steve Richards. More than the possibility of seeing Kat naked? It's 50/50. Richards has some trouble with his shirt on the outside and rips it off before re-entering the ring. JR says "I don't think that did anyone any favours", as though he's got a terrible body or something. King chucks him right back out and follows, but Ivory gets in his grill. He spins her around and holds her back, allowing Kat to get a free slap to the face. Ivory is furious and the ref has to split the girls up, while Steven whips Jerry into the ringpost. They slide back in and Richards gets a two count, before setting Lawler up in the corner for the Ho Train. It's nice that the RTC share moves. King evades the Train and heads up top to hit twenty right hands. He pauses to wipe his brow and hits six more to the delight of the crowd, before earning a two count of his own with a bulldog. Richards battles back and hits a vertical suplex. He slides to the outside and...GRABS A CHAIR! Yes! Get extreme! ECW! ECW! Ivory distracts the ref as Steven lines up Lawler, but the King hits a crafty low blow. DDT! And another! Jerry makes the cover but Ivory distracts the ref again. Kat doesn't like this one bit and charges the ring, but this only preoccupies the ref even more. The Women's champ slides her belt to Richards who swings...but Lawler ducks and flattens him with a single right hand! Ivory attacks the King who gives her a bodyslam, before the ref makes an absolute hash of getting her out of the ring. Why is Lawler trying to help him? Concentrate on your opponent. Richards has the Women's belt and swings, but again Lawler ducks and hits a big right. HE GOES BACK TO IVORY! WHAT THE gently caress ARE YOU DOING!? Steven's up and he grabs the King. Meanwhile Kat has the title belt and swings...but Richards turns Lawler right into the blow. Kat accidentally clocks Lawler and he's out. Richards makes the cover, the ref counts three, and you can sense the crowd's disappointment. Winner: Steven Richards 0.5/5 - Sloppy, slow, STUPID finish. The remainder of RTC hit the ring, throw a sack over The Kat, and carry her to the back. Richards and Ivory celebrate up the ramp. We get a flashback to Raw for the set-up of this upcoming tag titles match. Edge and Christian instruct a backstage worker to go and tell the Undertaker that somebody is messing up his bike. They then invite the Dudley Boyz into the parking lot for a brawl. The devious masterplan works as the Dudleys arrive on the scene just as Undertaker gets there, and he assumes they're the no-good bastards wrecking his bike. He jumps D-Von, but the Boyz beat him down together (holy poo poo! Nice job guys!). The Dudleys set off in search of E&C, because apparently one backstage brawl just isn't enough, while Kane comes along to find his brother slouched against a wall. He goes to help him and...BAM! Conchairto to the head from Edge and Christian, who leap out of their hiding place where they were waiting all along. Genius! That was fun, but I'm not looking forward to seeing the four midcarders get utterly torn apart by the hosses in this upcoming match. Cole is backstage with the Brothers of Destruction, and he points out that they've never held tag team gold together. Undertaker says that this isn't about gold. The match itself is about gold, sure, but he and Kane are about pain and suffering. Way to build up the titles dude. He says that the four other guys are in his and Kane's yard and bla bla bla bla. Kane promises that they'll do more than put their opponents through tables - they'll put them through hell. 6. WWF Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Table Match: The Dudley Boyz (c) vs The Brothers of Destruction vs Edge and Christian Kane and 'Taker enter first and cut off the bottom of the entrance ramp. E&C come out second and don't want any part of that, but find themselves boxed in by the Dudleys behind. The heels jump off the side of the ramp and head down to the ring to escape, leaving the Dudleys and Brothers to slug it out. The latter team get the upper hand, chucking both Dudleys off the side of the ramp. Kane and 'Taker Double flapjack to D-Von and my boys head to the outside for a couple of chairs. Bubba ducks a big conchairto and slingshots Edge chair-first into Christian's face. Inventive spot. A far less original spot follows, as they hit the Wassup headbutt to Edge. "D-VONNNN! GET THE TABLES because they factor into the stipulation of this match and we can legitimately win, thus retaining our championship titles." D-Von heads outside but gets jumped by the Brothers of Destruction, leaving Bubba alone in the ring with both Edge and Christian. He eats an Unprettier (a move I saw argued about in the WWE discussion thread the other day. I like it, for the record). The Bros hit the ring and hit huge stereo powerslams to E&C. They head up top - 'Taker pausing to casually punch Bubba off the apron - and hit a couple of diving clotheslines to the heels. The Dudleys bring some tables into the ring and are immediately dominated by the Brothers, but Edge and Christian recover to help out. The feuding teams put their differences aside to clothesline Kane and Undertaker out of the ring - n'awwww  . The truce doesn't last long as the Dudleys isolate Christian and set him up for the 3D through a table. Undertaker rushes back in to intercept him, saving him from the 3D but setting him up for a chokeslam through the table. Christian gets hoisted up...but D-Von shoves 'Taker over and saves the tag titles! BAM! Spear to Bubba from Edge, and it's all happening now.Edge and Christian hook 'Taker up and hit a double vertical suplex, but Kane flips the table out of the way just in time. Everybody gets to their feet...stereo chokeslams to E&C (Kane's is better)! The Dudleys jump the Brothers but find themselves set up for a second pair of chokeslams, and everybody's favourite demonic siblings are sensing victory. They set up two tables and look to powerbomb Edge and Christian through both...but here comes Rikishi and Haku to save them!? Those pesky Samoans! Undertaker beats the gently caress out of Rikishi while Kane no-sells a Haku headbutt (bullshit) and smacks him to the canvas. The brawl continues to the outside where Rikishi hits the world's weakest chairshot on the Kane. Back in the ring Edge leans a table against the corner and looks to Spear Bubba through, but the Dudley moves and Edge BOUNCES OFF! Ugh, it doesn't break. I can't tell if that looks better or worse, but it certainly looks more painful. Christian proves himself to be an idiot by brawling with D-Von right into position for a 3D, which the Dudleys duly hit through a table. Winners and STILL WWF Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz 2/5 - I enjoyed this. A nice brawl with some cool spots to pop the crowd and mask some clumsier moments, but marks are deducted for two reasons. The telegraphed ending was quite an anti-climax, and the booking of Kane and 'Taker did no favours to anybody else in the match. I got the impression that the Brothers were on their way to a really easy win, and neither of the other teams would have had a chance were it not for the interference. The Dudley's music hits while the Samoans, Kane and 'Taker continue to brawl on the ramp. Oh wait, no they don't. Haku and Rikishi take a final couple of punches before turning and walking to the back, and the Brothers simply let them go. They turn and glare at the champs in the ring with mildly pissed off expressions on their faces. Well, on Undertaker's face anyway.
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Apr 14, 2014 02:18
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No Way Out - February 25th 2001 PART 4 Title match time. Angle is intensely WALKING backstage. A video package recaps Angle's reign spanning the five months between No Mercy 2000 and now. The Rock hypes the fact that he has headlined the past two WrestleManias, and that nothing is going to stop him from making it three in a row. He neglects to mention that he lost in both cases (to Austin in 1999 and Triple H in 2000). Rocky beats Big Show in a number one contender's match on Smackdown and promises Kurt that his days of being champion are numbered. "Tick tock, tick tock". Cole is backstage with Rock who cuts off his question and urges him to listen. "Tick tock, tick tock. Kurt Angle, your time as champion is over". That's it. No catchphrases, no yelling, no hyping up the crowd. An oddly minimalistic and mind-games type promo from the People's Champ. 7. WWF Championship: Kurt Angle (c) vs The Rock Tazz hypes Angle's chances, stating that he's been in the ring with both of these guys and knows what they're like. Um, you beat Kurt in a squash at the 2000 Royal Rumble. You of all people should be backing the Rock here. There's a stare-down before the bell and ANGLE SWINGS WITH A BELT SHOT! Rocky ducks and fires away the first right hands of the match as the bell rings. They battle evenly for a while until Rock hits a nice Russian legsweep, but Angle reverses momentum with a clothesline and a beatdown in the corner. The Brahma Bull charges but gets taken down into a drop toehold and Kurt looks for the Ankle Lock. Rock shits himself and immediately scrambles to the bottom rope. I guess they've been getting the move over in recent weeks; I can't recall Angle using it previously in the thread, so it must have been first added to his moveset sometime around now. Rock suffers a couple of belly-to-belly suplexes, but retaliates with a decidedly more ragged one of his own. It's deliberately so, though. He knocks the champ off his feet with a flying clothesline and slaps on his awful version of the sharpshooter. Angle struggles and makes the ropes before eating a Samoan drop for two. He gets crotched on the top rope and superplexed all the way to the canvas for a second near fall (this one REALLY close) but manages to hurl Rocky to the outside for some breathing space. The camera accidentally catches two security guards escorting a fan out through the crowd. I wonder what he did. Meanwhile, Rock returns to the ring and surprises Kurt with a lightning quick DDT to lay out both men. "WELLLLLLL! WELL IT'S THE BIG SHOW!". Show's music hits and I'm reminded how amused I am by the flagrant nature of music-accompanied run-ins. Out strides the new Hardcore champ, and he just straight up chokeslams the ref. Chokeslam to Angle! Chokeslam to the Rock! His music hits again and off he goes. Haha, well that was very no-nonsense and pointless. It did confirm Big Show as chaotic neutral however. A couple of refs run out and help the injured official to the back, while Earl Hebner stays behind to complete the match. I should have known something fishy was happening when the main event ref wasn't Hebner at first. He slides into the ring as Kurt recovers first and makes a cover. 1...2...the Rock kicks out! Of course he does. #PPVResiliency allows you to kick out of up to 150% more finishers than you usually would - available while stocks last. Hebner slides back out to continue helping the injured referee to the back, allowing Rock to snatch the belt from ringside and blast Kurt in the face with it! You loving dirty heel! He's slow to make the cover but eventually does as Earl returns. 1...2...Angle kicks out! Rock walks over to complain to the ref and KURT SLAPS ON THE ANKLE LOCK! Tap you motherfucker! Rock screams in pain and Kurt temporarily releases the hold to smash his knee into the canvas, before quickly slapping it on again. The People's Champ looks in trouble as we very clearly hear Kurt saying "tap you son of a bitch! I'll break your loving ankle!". Jesus, the intensity. Rock just about makes the ropes and the champ is livid. He stomps away at the leg but Rocky makes it shakily back to his feet and fights back. Angle charges...into a spinebuster! The People's Elbow connects (although it's a slightly slow set-up, the Rock remembering to sell his ankle as he hops over) and the cover is made. 1...2...ANGLE KICKS OUT! A minor ref bump causes Hebner to stumble, allowing Angle to low blow Rock and rip the padding from the top turnbuckle. Rock goes for a surprise Rock Bottom! The champ elbows out just in time and smashes Rocky's head into the turnbuckle. OLYMPIC SLAM! 1...2...oh bullshit, that should have been the finish! The Brahma Bull is on his feet now, forcing Kurt into the corner with right hand after right hand. He goes to lay the smackdown, but Angle cruelly stomps on his weakened ankle as he turns to spit! Vicious. Kurt charges...but Rock launches him into the exposed turnbuckle! Kurt's down and is having trouble returning to his feet. The People's Champ measures him...Rock Bottom! Hebner counts 1...2...no!? Angle definitely didn't kick out but Earl stopped at two! What the gently caress!? The Rock looks pissed and scoops Kurt straight up for a second Rock Bottom. He hits it, pauses to yell something at Hebner, and covers for the actual three count. Botchy botch botch. Winner and NEW WWF Champion: The Rock 2.5/5 - A harsh score, but ultimately fair. The pair did alright; not the best match I've seen either man in, but certainly not the worst either. Big Show's run in seemed utterly pointless and disrupted the flow of the match in a major way, while Hebner's gently caress-up at the end was disastrous. I'm not sure whose fault it actually was, although both Angle and Rock seemed to think the first Rock Bottom was the finish (and hey, they're the workers after all). It's fortunate that Rocky was booked to win here, otherwise there'd be a highly confused and pissed-off group of fans venting their frustration. No shenanigans after the bell. Rock grabs his newly won belt and celebrates, while Angle backs up the ramp empty-handed and distraught. Ah well. I was rooting for Kurt but you can't argue with Rock vs Austin at WrestleMania. Summary to follow.
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Apr 16, 2014 01:48
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NO WAY OUT 2001 SUMMARY Match Of The Night Chris Jericho vs X-Pac vs Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit - A very nice showcase of four arguably under-appreciated talents (yes, even X-Pac). Narrowly the best match in terms of quality, but also the most entertaining and fun bout by far. However, had Triple H vs Stone Cold only consisted of an elongated version of their second fall, we'd be looking at a different winner here. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Stone Cold Steve Austin - The star of the show. An absolute force in the Three Stages match, oozing intensity, bumping and selling like a madman. 2. Triple H - A typically huge effort from the Game, although Austin shades it in my opinion. Their second fall in particular was my favourite section of the PPV. 3. Chris Jericho - His run of form continues with a dazzling defence of his Intercontinental title. The most impressive man in the bout, backed up by... 4. Eddie Guerrero - Benoit and Jericho probably had the most work to do, but Guerrero was flawless in his limited role. Push this man. 5. Chris Benoit - Some great exchanges with all three of his fellow competitors, most notably the spots in which he and Eddie turned on one another. Don't tell anybody, but I was secretly quite relieved that Earl Hebner and Big Show did all they could to gently caress up the main event, otherwise I'd have had trouble working out where Rock and Angle fit in. They'd have probably taken 4th and 5th from the two Radicalz, but the stop-start nature of their match prevented them from building up any great momentum. Unlucky guys. X-Pac is also unlucky to miss out here, but was simply the least impressive of the four Intercontinental competitors. Still a good performance from him. Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. Chris Jericho - 8 2. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 7 3. Chris Benoit - 5 4. Triple H - 4 5. Kane - 3 6. Eddie Guerrero - 2 7. The Rock - 1 NO WAY OUT 2001 SCORE: 7/10 Didn't quite live up to last year's No Way Out, but still a very decent bridge between the Rumble and WrestleMania. The Intercontinental match was great, while the Three Stages of Hell match was certainly entertaining in stages (hindered only by its length and questionable finish). The main event looked great on paper but can be seen as a let down. Some might question the chemistry of The Rock and Angle, especially considering the underwhelming nature of their earlier singles match at No Mercy, but the potential quality of both matches have been limited by interference and arguable overbooking. The hardcore opener was incredibly silly, as was Richards vs Lawler, but all six participants in the tag title match delivered a nice brawl to keep the crowd going. Finally, Trish vs Stephanie was predictably awful in terms of sheer quality, but unspeakably entertaining. I still can't work out why. A mixed bag all in all, but the good clearly outweighs the bad. JGKing fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Apr 16, 2014 |
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Apr 16, 2014 02:11
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WrestleMania X-Seven - April 1st 2001 - Houston, Texas PART 1 Grandaddy time once again. You might notice that this PPV is held on April Fools' day, and the joke here appears to be the title. "X-Seven"!? What were you thinking Vince? We have a bevy of beautiful matchups to look forward to. Here's a quick preview of those already on the card and the reasons behind them. The Rock vs Stone Cold - Champ vs Rumble winner. Simple simple. Triple H vs The Undertaker - Triple H demanded to be put into the main event after beating Austin at No Way Out, claiming that he had already beaten everybody in the WWF. Undertaker took exception to this and claimed he had never fallen victim to the Game. These two have never faced each other one-on-one at a Pay Per View. Raven vs Kane vs Big Show - Triple H's feud with 'Taker got entangled with a Kane and Big Show rivalry. Trips jumped Undertaker on his way to a match with Big Show. Kane jumped in to save his brother, Big Show jumped in to batter Kane. Raven kind of got lumped in as an afterthought by Commissioner William Regal, but this does mean that his recently won Hardcore title is on the line. Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon - Oooooh. With WCW going out of business, Vince's egomania reached a new high. He turned on Trish Stratus and humiliated her with the help of Stephanie, with wife Linda still powerless in her comatose state. On a groundbreaking Raw/Nitro simulcast (you've all seen it) he demanded that Ted Turner come to WrestleMania and personally hand over WCW. He was interrupted by a returning Shane who revealed that he had shockingly bought the company from under his father's nose, and challenged Vince to a Street Fight at 'Mania. Foley then returned and explained that, prior to her nervous breakdown, Linda had promised him a special guest referee slot in a match of his choice. Guess which one he chose... And apparently SEVEN other matches! Jesus. The theme music of Limp Bizkit's "My Way" kicks us off, which immediately reminds me of the amazing Rock/Austin video package. I'm sure we'll see it later. It's spine-tingling. Jim Ross screams his welcomes and is joined by PAUL HEYMAN! gently caress yes. Heyman reveals that this is his first WrestleMania and says he can't wait to witness the showcase of the immortals. Chris Jericho jerks the curtain and he'll be facing off against Commissioner Regal. A hype package details their feud so far. Jericho takes issue with Regal's appointment on Raw and insults him, causing the commish to book a four-on-one handicap match between Y2J and all of Right To Censor. The punishment continues on Smackdown as Jericho is put in a two-on-one handicap tables match against those drat Dudleys. He gets a measure of revenge by sneaking into Regal's office and pissing in his tea, which is - in my book - the act of a disgusting heel. I'll be cheering on my fellow Englishman in this one, chaps. 1. WWF Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs William Regal Jericho makes a hot start, hitting a nice spinning heel kick to the mush. He scarily overshoots a crossbody to the outside but seems to be fine. A broken neck would have really put a dampener on the opening match. Back in the ring Y2J gets our first near fall with a diving elbow smash from the top rope, before attempting to slap on the Walls. Regal grabs a handful of hair and punches him away before he can be flipped onto his stomach. Heyman is brilliant on commentary by the way, but you already knew that. Jericho suffers a few attacks to his shoulder (setting him up for a possible Regal Stretch later) but knocks the commissioner down and goes for the Lionsault...but eats knees! Regal chucks Y2J with a dangerous looking back suplex, before removing a turnbuckle pad and ramming the champ shoulder-first into it. Looking like a podgy Daniel Bryan, he fires a few kicks into the chest of Jericho, although they don't really have the same snap to them as our favourite little wildman's. Jericho hits a nice missile dropkick from the top, but Regal proves himself equally capable from up there, hurling Y2J into a double underhook superplex. The champ only just gets a shoulder up before the three count and backflips out of a follow-up suplex. He trips the legs...Walls of Jericho! He can't quite turn Regal over, who counters with a drop toe hold and locks in the Regal Stretch. Jericho screams and writhes, finally grabbing the bottom rope. There were quite a lot of squeals of fear from the crowd for a second there. Female admirers, or particularly excited male ones? He battles to his feet and his a bulldog on Regal. Vertical suplex! Lionsault! 1...2...3. Winner and STILL WWF Intercontinental Champion: Chris Jericho 2/5 - I can't knock the booking of an over babyface winning to start the show, but this wasn't really the high-octane bout required at WrestleMania. Perfectly acceptable, but unlikely to set anyone's pulses racing. Shane McMahon arrives in a limo bearing the license plate "WCW1". The APA and Jacqueline are backstage playing cards and smoking cigars. Bradshaw is pacing, anxious to get out there and fight. Faarooq and Jacqui tell him to relax, so he gives them a rousing speech all about Texas. I really don't understand a word of it, but I'm sure it's significant to the people of Houston. It works anyway, and the other two are all pumped up. Shameless pandering to the hometown crowd, but I'm not sure it received the level of pops they were aiming for. RTC try to cut a promo but are immediately cut off by the music of Tazz. Oh look, he's face now! 2. Right To Censor vs The Acolytes and Tazz RTC are represented by Venis, Goodfather, and Bull, with Richards watching on from ringside. Jacqueline is out in support of the APA. The non-combatants get immediately involved, however, as everybody brawls to start things off. Tazz clotheslines Val over the top rope and Jacqueline hits a pretty nice DDT on Richards. The bell finally rings and we begin with Faarooq and Buchanan in the ring. Heyman says what I've been saying since the start of this thread and immediately points out Bull's agility, as he springs to the top rope and flies with a huge clothesline. I am officially a Paul Heyman guy. Tazz tags in and lifts Buchanan over into a suplex like he weights nothing! Big boot to the orange midget and a few kicks to the spine. Bull is turning it on for WrestleMania. Goodfather and Venis get involved, taking it in turns to decimate the smaller man with fast power moves. The Ho Train connects, but Tazz rolls out of the way of a following high-risk splash and tags in Bradshaw. DO IT FOR TEXAS, JOHN. Big Texan boot. Big Texan elbow. Big Texan backdrop. The heels charge in to help, but the Power of Texas is too much. Venis dives with a crossbody but Bradshaw catches him like a child and hurls him overhead! Impressive. Val takes further punishment in the form of a back superplex from the top, before Faarooq joins in to fold him up with a double powerbomb. Goodfather misses a Ho Train on Bradshaw in the corner and eats a huge Clothesline From Hell! 1...2...3! Winners: The Acolytes and Tazz 1.5/5 - Really, really short, but served its purpose entirely. A feel-good face win with the APA in particular coming across as total badasses. Stephanie is in the back with a wheelchair-bound, comatose Linda. She says that it's such a shame Shane had to turn on the family by buying WCW, but at least her mom still has one good child. Trish Stratus is pushing the wheelchair, because of course it's totally normal to place your wife under the care of the woman you've been having an affair with. Also, I guess Trish is face now because she's looking after Linda!? Steph bosses her around with instructions to prepare Vince's post-victory afterparty, which she accepts through gritted teeth. 3. WWF Hardcore Championship: Raven (c) vs Kane vs Big Show Raven pushes his usual shopping cart of assorted weapons to the ring. During Kane's entrance, JR postulates that "this young man" is the future of the WWF. A quick bit of research informs me that Kane will have been rapidly approaching his 34th birthday at this point, and he's hardly a newcomer to the Federation. Baffling, Jim. Baffling. Kane and Raven start brawling before Big Show's music has even hit. He strides down the ramp and Kane hurls Raven at him, before leaping from the top turnbuckle with his flying right hand. The champ tries to steal a pinfall at the foot of the ramp but it's broken up. Kane uppercuts Raven into the front row and they brawl all the way through the crowd to the back. All three end up backstage and Raven almost breaks clean through a drywall with his head. Big Show brings up the rear and slams Kane onto a crate before stalking menacingly after the champ. Raven does a great job of selling his terror, scuttling down the corridor and tripping over his own feet. They enter a caged storage enclosure and Show tries to lock himself and Raven inside, but Kane rips the padlock off without much trouble. The two giants smash one another with weapons before Raven gets a piece of the action, trying to choke Kane with some sort of wire. They brawl out of the cage door back into the corridor, and Kane simply slings the champion through a glass window! Big Show uses Kane as a battering ram, demolishing a locked door, and the pair tumble into an empty changing area. They grab one another by the throat and smash through a (suspiciously flimsy) wall into the adjacent room to the delight of ten year olds everywhere. Seriously, I loving loved backstage brawls as a kid. I think Falls Count Anywhere was my favourite stipulation bar none. Raven enters the room and drops a small table onto the pair, before thinking better of it and looking to make an escape. He hijacks a golf buggy and Big Show leaps onto the back, strangling the champ as he drives away. They scoot around a corner and crash into the wall, narrowly missing a cable on the floor. I'm pretty sure I've seen a shoot interview where Raven claims that severing the cable would have knocked out the Astrodome's power, plunging WrestleMania into darkness. Lucky escape! Kane hops into a second buggy and chases the pair, the referee hilariously clinging onto the back. They scoot down the corridor and drive right into Raven! Holy poo poo! He tripped slightly before the buggy reached him and it drove straight into his knee! That's loving nasty. The champ screams in pain and I hope he's just really good at selling, because that could be a broken leg. They continue down the corridor and brawl into some boxes and crates. Styrofoam is EVERYWHERE. I'd be pissed if I was the janitor. They finally re-emerge at the top of the stage and the crowd cheer, although their enthusiasm has been pretty much extinguished. Big Show stands tall over both other men after a couple of big headbutts. He presses Raven over his head and looks to throw him off the stage...but Kane hits a big boot to send both men tumbling over the edge! I'm not sure exactly what they fall onto, but it makes a delicious crunching sound upon impact. Kane follows them off with a big legdrop, and lands across Show for the pinfall! Winner and NEW WWF Hardcore Champion: Kane 1/5 - An unapologetic garbage match. I wish the golf buggy spot had come off properly, but Raven crashed on the first corner and we never got to see it develop. This really should be a dud, but earns a bonus fun point for being entertaining in parts. The window, wall, rundown, and finishing spots were all fairly memorable, so it's at least got that going for it. Angle is backstage in front of a TV monitor, watching footage of Benoit making him tap to the Crossface on Smackdown over and over. Edge and Christian burst into the room - "Hey Kurtski!" - and suggest they all go out once they've won their respective matches. Kurt ignores them and furiously states that a submission doesn't count if it's not in an officially sanctioned wrestling match. E&C tentatively agree and silently leave, while Angle continues to stare straight ahead. Jonathan Coachman is in the crowd interviewing an Australian woman who has travelled the furthest of anybody to attend the event. It's always an Australian. Every year. I don't care. The Rock arrives backstage to a screaming ovation. A very brief Raw replay shows Eddie Guerrero screwing European Champion Test out of a non-title match against X-Pac. Some IDIOT made Eddie the referee, and he wilfully ignored interference by Albert before jumping the champ after the bell. Boooo. 4. WWF European Championship: Test vs Eddie Guerrero Guerrero is accompanied by fellow Radical Perry Saturn. Perry amazes me by consistently coming up with new ways for me to love him even more. Tonight he's wearing a big fluffy white top hat for no reason. Eddie tries to brawl with Test before the bell, forgetting that he's far, far smaller and weaker. The champ hits a big flapjack and a HUGE powerbomb, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the three count straight away. It's not, and Guerrero gets pressed high into the air and thrown headfirst onto the top turnbuckle. Ouch! Test heads up top but Eddie goes after him and looks for the frankensteiner...but the champ cunningly holds onto the ropes and allows Guerrero to crash to the mat. A jumping back elbow gets two, and provided neither of these guys commit a serious botch, they're already heading for the best match of the night so far. Test charges but Eddie pulls down the top rope to send him tumbling to the outside. He gets his ankle caught in the ropes and Saturn lays in a few punches as the referee turns away. Eddie improvises and begins to work the same leg that was caught, smashing it into the floor and laying in with boots to the knee. They return to the ring and Test gets worn down with a sleeper hold, but counters with a heavy tilt-a-whirl slam. Eddie tries to regain control with a headscissors, but it's countered into a MASSIVE sitout powerbomb. Test slaps on a full nelson but Guerrero hits a sneaky low blow with his heel. He then distracts the referee and Saturn runs in to drop the champ with a rolling neckbreaker. Eddie goes up for the Frogsplash but Test moves, forcing Guerrero to roll nimbly out of his dive. He ducks a big boot but gets scooped up and planted with a pumphandle slam! Saturn gets up on the apron as a distraction, and it buys Eddie just enough time to kick out at two. Perry gets into the ring again, and now Test is pissed. BIG BOOT to Saturn! BIG BOOT to Guerrero! He makes the cover, 1...2...Malenko is at ringside and pulls Test off! The champ leans over the top rope to argue, before turning RIGHT into a title belt shot from Eddie! That's all, folks. Winner and NEW WWF European Champion: Eddie Guerrero 2/5 - This was okay, but a major slowing of pace in the middle of the match (coupled with its clusterfucky ending) prevented it from being anything special. It also featured the worst referee in the world. He missed SO much poo poo. A ref bump should definitely have been used at some point, because it just looked as though he was incompetent in there. Eddie grabs his new belt and the Radicalz celebrate back up the ramp. Those bastards. JGKing fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Jul 8, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 23:49
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Was the rope thing in the Test/Eddie match a botch? It seemed that way, especially when the ref can't get Tests foot out of the ropes and Eddie has to help him. I remember it being hilarious. I'm doing the same as you and just stopped on this thread, it's been a fun read. I'm a little ahead, watching Backlash right now. Be sure to listen out in the Angle/Benoit submission match for when a fan (or the ref) tells Benoit he "has a booger showing, bro" when Benoit is on the floor by the guardrail.
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Apr 20, 2014 14:05
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I hope this isn't over. I just caught up on rewatching stuff on the WWE Network using this thread to pick and choose.
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May 4, 2014 18:02
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Not over but I'll take this opportunity to announce a medium-length hiatus for about 3-4 weeks. Real life intervening once again. Thanks for the feedback and support as always guys.
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May 5, 2014 02:09
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JGKing posted:Not over but I'll take this opportunity to announce a medium-length hiatus for about 3-4 weeks. Real life intervening once again. quote:Raven enters the room and drops a small table onto the pair, before thinking better of it and looking to make an escape. He hijacks a golf buggy and Big Show leaps onto the back, strangling the champ as he drives away. They scoot around a corner and crash into the wall, narrowly missing a cable on the floor. I'm pretty sure I've seen a shoot interview where Raven claims that severing the cable would have knocked out the Astrodome's power, plunging WrestleMania into darkness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVU_AKOQseo&t=184s I have a DVD set of Wrestlemanias 16-20 that I pop out from time to time. This match is one of the more memorable for the golf kart nonsense. I think I like the way it ended up more than Raven's original idea. Raven and Big Show traveling all of fifteen feet before he wipes out, and then getting hit by Kane, was hilarious to me.
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May 7, 2014 06:41
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVU_AKOQseo&t=184s Oh my god. I've never seen this before. That could've really hosed Raven up Christ.
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May 7, 2014 07:10
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WrestleMania X-Seven - April 1st 2001 PART 2 Mick Foley is backstage. Cole asks him about his upcoming role as special guest referee for the big Vince vs Shane fight. He vows to call it right down the line...and he's gonna do it right here in Houston, Texas! Austin enters the building. Everybody screams. Kurt Angle is out, mic in hand. He looks very nervous, forgetting even to throw his arms up for his pyro. He runs down Texans for being Texas-like, telling them to lose the cowboy hats and so on. Heyman helpfully points out that JR wears one, but Jim brushes it off. 5. Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit The pair begin with an impressive exchange of mat wrestling, but neither can gain the upper hand. It goes on for slightly too long - I just want somebody to hit someone. JR and Heyman hype how both men made one another tap to their respective finishers this past week, although both submissions occurred outside of a legitimately sanctioned match. Benoit almost locks in the Crossface a couple of times, but Angle quickly makes the ropes. Kurt finally heeds my wishes and smacks the Wolverine across the face, finally ending this extended period of mat wrestling. Heyman puts over Angle's frustration, claiming that Benoit may have outwrestled him. Kurt smashes Benoit's head into assorted surfaces at ringside, before sliding him back in and hitting a vertical suplex for two. Paul Heyman is spouting canned phrases like a Woody doll, but instead of "there's a snake in my boot!" we get "Kurt Angle is not only my Olympic hero, but my WWF hero as well". The Olympian hits a couple of perfect belly-to-bellys, and suddenly this match is looking strangely like a squash. Benoit puts that theory to bed with a short-arm suplex and takes control for a while. A big superplex gets 2, followed by a couple of German suplexes. Benoit goes for a third...but ANGLE ROLLS HIM INTO THE ANKLE LOCK! Now Benoit rolls through into an Ankle Lock of his own! Kurt kicks him off and they return to their feet, but the Olympian STUPIDLY swings with a wild left hand. NEVER swing with a wild left against Chris Benoit; you WILL end up in the Crippler Crossface. However, just as Benoit reversed the Ankle Lock, Kurt is able to roll over and slap on a Crossface of his own. Benoit makes the ropes. This is supposed to have quite an epic feel, I think, but it's all slightly pedestrian so far. Benoit boots Angle away and he knocks over the ref. Hahahahaha, the crowd give an audible "awww  " as he ref goes down. I didn't realise they hated screwy finishes so much in Houston. The Wolverine applies another Crossface and Angle taps WAYYY too quickly! Have some balls, man. Benoit has to break the hold to revive the ref, but backs into an Olympic Slam as he does so! For the first time in this thread, JR calls it the Angle Slam (but then backtracks and calls it "Kurt Angle's Olympic Slam", which sounds like a whimsical wrestling musical). I wonder when the official transition from Olympic Slam to Angle Slam occurred. I prefer the former, for the record. ANYWAY, Benoit kicks out at 2! Heyman says that he's never seen somebody kick out of that move, which is an incredibly bold claim. Angle heads up for my favourite move ever, his gorgeous moonsault, but he misses it like always. Benoit takes advantage and scoots up top to nail a Diving Headbutt for a very close 2 count. The Wolverine goes for a German suplex and Angle hits a low blow with his heel, the BASTARD. They both collapse onto the canvas and Benoit instinctively rolls the Olympian up...but Kurt reverses into a pinning predicament of his own (with a handful of tights, according to JR), and that's enough to get the 3!Winner: Kurt Angle 2.5/5 - The best match of the show so far, but one which definitely failed to live up to its potential. This could have been a far more intense, hard-hitting encounter, but the pair seemed to be moving from move to move in second gear. Of course, for Angle and Benoit, second gear is still better than most wrestlers' full effort, but it definitely left the match a little disappointing. The finish suggests their feud will continue though, so they'll hopefully get more chances to impress. Regal enters his office to find Kamala running wild atop his desk. Oh WrestleMania. We see footage of a US army pep rally held by the WWF. Superstars present include Bikertaker, Angle, Trish Stratus, Jacqueline, and Bradshaw. Kurt stays heel throughout and it's amazing. Angle is backstage with Kevin Kelly, who asks if he respects Benoit in the wake of their match. Kurt denies this and claims that the better man won. He's about to go on a rant...but Benoit jumps him from behind and slaps on the Crossface! A flock of referees dive on him to break it up, and this feud is definitely continuing. Ugh. Speaking of feuds continuing. 6. WWF Women's Championship: Ivory (c) vs Chyna This is Chyna's return to in-ring action after "breaking her neck" in her last bout with Ivory. The ref turns his back and Ivory smashes Chyna in the back of the neck with her belt. The Ninth Wonder crumples, and the champ wails away on the neck with punches. Jesus. This is making Ivory look pretty brutal. Chyna stops the beatdown by catching a kick and hurling the champ across the ring. She hits a sloppy hiptoss, a sloppy backdrop, and a BIG powerbomb. It's dawned on me just why Chyna is so ugly in the ring. She NEVER bends her knees, ever. It makes her look so stiff. The referee counts the pinfall from that huge powerbomb, 1...2...ohhhh. Chyna takes a leaf out of Undertaker's book and breaks her own pinfall. I suppose it makes more sense in this context at least. A big gorilla press follows, and Chyna lounges nonchalantly on Ivory for the three. Winner and NEW WWF Women's Champion: Chyna 0.5/5 - A short, simple squash match. Did it's job. My only gripe is Chyna completely no-selling the damage done to her neck at the opening bell. We cut backstage to the #HeelLockerRoom just in time to catch Vince revealing his evil plan. He, Stephanie, and Trish stand around a sedate, wheelchair-bound Lynda. Vince makes sure that Stephanie has supplied his wife with a double dose of medication, and instructs Trish to wheel Linda to the ring once Shane is completely immobile (presumably to watch her son be defeated). Michael Cole barges in and asks for Vince's thoughts on recent developments this week (namely Shane buying WCW). Vince claims that we haven't seen anything shocking yet, at least not compared to what he has in store tonight. A video package recaps Vince's affair with Trish Stratus and subsequent demanding of a divorce. At some point (although it STILL isn't made clear) Linda is sedated and kept motionless in a wheelchair. She is wheeled out onto the ramp and forced to watch Vince and Trish kiss in front of her. On an episode of Raw, Shane confronts his father in the ring and beats him down, before challenging him to a match at 'Mania. We then see the Raw/Nitro simulcast, where Vince gloats over the purchase of WCW and promises to sign the finalising contract at WrestleMania. Shane then comes out on Nitro and reveals that he has already signed, making him the owner of WCW. I like how in the wrestling world, one can simply take something bought by somebody else by signing the contract before them. Nobody questions this at all. Vince acts shocked and amazed, sure, but he doesn't call bullshit. He's just like "welp, I've been bested". Shane comes out to "No Chance" and cuts a promo in the ring. He gives a shotout to some of his new friends, the stars of WCW - "WHAT'S UP BOYS, YEAH!" - and....wow. The camera partially zooms in on a skybox in one section of the arena, but stays deliberately far away enough that we can't quite make out any of the figures inside. Let's just assume it's Goldberg, Sting, and the rest of the lads having a great time. 7. Street Fight: Shane McMahon vs Vince McMahon (Special Guest Referee - Mick Foley) Vince also comes out to "No Chance", with Stephanie in tow. She has "Daddy's Little Girl" on the back of her shirt - a nice touch. Vince breaks off the staredown by slapping Shane across the face and we're under way. He beats his son down in the corner, but Shane takes control with a clothesline and a spear-tackle. Not a Spear. A spear-tackle. Stephanie jumps in to protect Vince and gives Shane a slap, but the boy wonder is quick to resume the assault with a baseball slide to the outside. He batters Vince around with...what looks like a flimsy piece of cardboard, before coming off the crowd barrier with a diving clothesline. Nice. Shane goes under the ring and brings out a kendo stick...and OH poo poo! HE CAN DO THAT TWIRLY THING WITH HIS WRIST! Vince is surely in trouble now. Shane goes in on Vince with the kendo stick for a while, before doing a few of his delightful dancing punches. The Spanish announce table gets stripped down and Vince takes a monitor to the head. Shane lays Vince across the table and heads up top (where he is inexplicably at home. Seriously, has there ever been a non-wrestler as good from the top rope as Shane O'Mac?). He flies with a GORGEOUS elbow drop, but Stephanie pulls Vince out of the way just in time! Referee Foley scurries over to make sure Shane is okay, although I like to think he's whispering "you pussy, I did that from the top of the cell". Everybody's attention turns to the entrance ramp, as Trish wheels Linda down to ringside. They come around to the far side of the ring, where Shane still lies immobile. Trish helps Vince lovingly to his feet...BEFORE SLAPPING HIM BACK TO THE FLOOR! Face turn! Stephanie slaps Trish, but Stratus remembers that she's (supposedly) the only wrestler in this match, and smashes Steph's head into the ring apron. The pair brawl into the ring and Foley breaks it up. Uh oh. Stephanie slaps Mick across the chops because she's an idiot, or because she still has a lingering resentment for him since his feud with Triple H a year ago. I am a master of kayfabe logic. Foley is about to gently caress Stephanie up, but she flees the ring and Stratus chases her to the back. MEANWHILE, back at the announce tables, Vince realises that Linda is sitting sedated a few feet away from him. He moves aggressively towards her, but Foley heroically steps in and tells the boss to back off. He begins to wheel Linda to safety...but Vince snatches the timekeeper's chair and cracks it over Mick's back! Booooo! A second shot to the face incapacitates the special guest ref, leaving Linda at the mercy of her husband. Vince drags Linda out of her wheelchair and into the ring, propping her up on a steel chair in the corner. He then rolls Shane in after her and tosses garbage can after garbage can in as well. Four in total! Are they his version of Triple H's sledgehammer? Jesus. He beats Shane down with the weapons, all while trash-talking Linda. Wait a minute... Suddenly, to a surprisingly massive pop (considering the clusterfuck that is this angle), Linda rises from the chair and boots her husband in the crotch! She bails to the outside, and in comes Foley to take over. He beats Vince down in the corner and delivers a sick running knee to the head. Shane is back to his senses now and rests a garbage can against his father's head. He heads up to the adjacent top turnbuckle...VAN TERMINATOR TO VINCE! That was awesome! Also, since this is slightly before RVD's debut in the WWF, has Shane just delivered the first van Terminator in WWF history? Oh, that's enough for the three count of course. Winner: Shane McMahon 2/5 - An absolutely ungodly match, but unquestionably entertaining. Bonus points for Shane's two big spots (the elbow to the announce table, and the van Terminator at the end) and Vince's excellent heeling throughout. I really hope that brings an end to this ridiculous angle, but kudos to everyone involved for somehow salvaging a dramatic conclusion from the wreckage. Shane and Linda embrace on the outside. We also get a shot of the "WCW superstars" applauding from inside their skybox, although only the backs of their heads are shown. Hmmmmm.
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Jul 5, 2014 16:08
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My favorite Pay-Per-View of all time.
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Jul 5, 2014 16:14
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The whole sedated Linda thing was weird as hell.
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Jul 5, 2014 20:08
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Frankston posted:The whole sedated Linda thing was weird as hell. Not only that, but her dramatically snapping out of it made no sense either. At first I thought the face-turning Trish must have deliberately neglected to sedate her, but in the backstage promo Stephanie says she made sure to do it. So either... a. Linda is somehow immune to sedation. or b. Linda's love for Shane/hatred for Vince is too strong, and she's able to shake it off in a time of need. I can just imagine how this idea came about backstage. quote:Vince: We need Linda to play a big role in this storyline, but she can't act for poo poo, dammit!
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Jul 5, 2014 20:25
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WrestleMania X-Seven - April 1st 2001 PART 3 Triple H and Undertaker are warming up in the back, but their match isn't next. Instead we have...hold on to your hats... 8. Tables Ladders and Chairs: The Dudley Boyz (c) vs The Hardy Boyz vs Edge and Christian Everybody brawls to start, and the Hardys take the early advantage, hitting a poetry in motion on both Dudley Boyz - but nobody cares about that. We just want to see some ludicrously dangerous spots. E&C oblige, immediately bringing a ladder into the ring and using it to brain Matt and Jeff. The younger Hardy eats a double drop-toehold into an upright chair, which Edge then uses as a platform to clothesline Matt off the side of the ladder. Lovely stuff. He goes for the belts himself, but Jeff now uses his prone brother as a stepping stone of his own! Down goes Edge, and he quickly falls victim to stereo legdrops from a pair of ladders. You know the spot. The one where the Hardys point at one another and go "Hey bro! We got this!". The Dudleys clear house and...continue to focus on Edge. Poor guy! He's taking all the punishment at the moment. They hit the wassup headbutt and D-Von kindly fetches the tables. Edge is laid across the wood, but Jeff jumps in to disrupt things. He proves himself Idiot Of The Day by going for a hurricanrana, leaping handily onto Bubba's shoulders. The Dudley needs no second invitation, and absolutely FUCKS him into Edge at some speed! Three ladders are set up in the ring, and everybody climbs. It's not long before the bodies start to fall however. Matt and Christian go CLEAN over the top rope! Jesus that must have hurt! Jeff and D-Von take slightly nicer hangman bumps onto the top rope, leaving Edge and Bubba to continue to battle on the central ladder. Bubba wins, shoving Edge harshly to the canvas, but the recoil sends him tumbling off as well. Everybody takes a moment to recover, and Edge is the first to his feet. He starts to climb again, but here comes Spike Dudley from the back! He nails a ladder-assisted Dudley Dog, before taking Christian off the apron with a second Dudley Dog through a table! Awesome stuff from the little guy. The Dudleys take control, but here comes RHYNO (first appearance in the thread!) to even the odds. Ladder shot to D-Von! GORE to Bubba! GORE to Matt Hardy through a table in the corner! He's on team E&C, hooray! Aren't we all? Edge is looking to climb again, but now Lita runs out from the back and smashes his head into the side of the ladder! Rhyno presses her over his head, but Spike Dudley saves her with a sneaky low blow. Lita hits a nice hurricanrana from the top, and Spike finishes the job by absolutely WAFFLING Rhyno with a vicious chairshot! He collapses into the ladder and unwittingly sends Edge hurtling onto the top rope. The Dudleys absolutely make sure Rhyno is taken care of (can the guy not catch a break!?) and hit him with their Road Warriros rip-off manoeuvre. Lita, meanwhile, shows absolutely no thanks to Spike for saving her earlier, smashing him with a chairshot of her own! The bitch! The big brothers are similarly unamused, and hit Lita with a 3D as she turns around. The pace of this match has picked up a great deal since the sidekicks got involved. Here comes Edge now with a chairshot to D-Von. He then tosses the chair to Bubba...allowing Christian to smash it into his face with a second chair! My boys! Jeff has managed to incapacitate both Rhyno and Spike on the outside, and drags them onto a pair of tables. He pulls out a huuuge ladder and heads up top...MASSIVE SWANTON ONTO BOTH! Mannnnn, Jeff does it again, for the second year in a row. Perhaps not quite as iconic as his dive onto Bubba, but arguably a more difficult spot to execute in the narrow space between apron and crowd barrier. The opportunistic Christian wastes no time in stealing the huge ladder for himself, setting it up under the title belts. He and D-Von climb and grab a belt each, but Matt moves the ladder away and leaves them hanging. D-Von falls first...then Christian. Jeff has somehow recovered (BULLSHIT! Should have kept him out for the rest of the match) and is tiptoeing across the top of a group of ladders towards the belts. He botches the spot sadly, and has to climb one the conventional way. Now Bubba moves the ladder out from under his feet....and EDGE FLIES FROM AN ADJACENT LADDER TO SPEAR HIM DOWN! loving hell, what a spot! He timed that to perfection! Now Matt and Bubba are climbing...but RHYNO TOPPLES THE LADDER, sending them both into a cluster of tables at ringside. drat, they both fell hard. Back in the ring, D-Von and Edge are climbing the same side of a ladder, but D-Von looks to be reaching the title first. On the other side, however, Rhyno lifts Christian onto his shoulders and scoots him up the ladder, allowing him to snatch the titles from under D-Von's nose! Two in a row for E&C at 'Mania! Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge and Christian 4/5 - Fell short of last year's epic match, but only just. Still a great encounter of insanely high spots and incredible bravery. Edge's mid-air spear is one of the most perfectly timed executions of a difficult spot I've ever seen, and capped a wonderful performance from him throughout. Everybody was impressive however, including the three interferences in Lita, Rhyno, and Spike. The boys stagger to the back with Rhyno, titles in hand. Bodies are everywhere. Here come a couple of true WrestleMania legends in Mean Gene and Bobby Heenan! They're here to call the Gimmick Battle Royal, which is up next. 9. Gimmick Battle Royal: Bushwhacker Luke vs Bushwhacker Butch vs Duke "The Dumpster" Droese vs The Iron Sheik vs Earthquake vs The Goon vs Doink The Clown vs Kamala vs Kimchee vs The Repo Man vs Jim Cornette vs Nikolai Volkoff vs Michael Hayes vs One Man Gang vs The Gobbledy Gooker vs Tugboat vs Hillbilly Jim vs Brother Love vs Sgt. Slaughter That's a lot of has-beens (and even more never-weres). I'm not sure how on earth to call this, as it's absolute chaos from the bell. I think the Repo Man is an early elimination, as is the Gobbledy Gooker. I've heard of all of these men except for The Goon by the way. Can anybody enlighten me? Earthquake eliminates Tugboat - no friends here! - but is chucked out himself by Kamala. Kamala's trainer Kimchee may well have been an entrant here, because a figure clad in all white just got hoisted out and I'm not sure who it was. I'll put his name in the match title above. No harm done. Cornette is still miraculously in there, flailing about with his tennis racket. Oops, no he's not. Hillbilly Jim ends his night, and it's really tough to call who deserves to be in the final four. I'll go for Sheik, Slaughter, Doink and Volkoff. Let's see how close I am. Volkoff almost immediately goes, but Doink is still going strong, single handedly taking on both Bushwhackers. Kamala must have been studying tapes of Kane at the Royal Rumble two shows ago, because he suddenly goes on a tear, throwing out both Doink and One Man Gang in quick succession. Aaaghh, as soon as I say that, Slaughter sneaks up behind and dumps him out. Suddenly we're down to a final four of Slaughter, Sheik, Hillbilly Jim, and erm...Brother Love. Two out of four ain't bad. Brother Love is predictable the first to go, thrown out by Slaughter. Jim sneaks up behind Slaughter and throws him out. SHEIK SNEAKS UP BEHIND JIM AND THROWS HIM OUT! SHEIK WINS! SHEIK WINS! Winner: The Iron Sheik NA/5 Slaughter is pissed and slides back in. He slaps on the Cobra Clutch and Sheik is out after a brief struggle. That's very mean. A hype package builds up Triple H vs Undertaker for us. Gee, an Undertaker match at WrestleMania. I wonder who'll win! Triple H cuts a promo, bitter about not being booked in the main event at WrestleMania. He says he has beaten everybody there is to beat, but 'Taker interrupts and says he's never beaten him. He promises to make Hunter famous in a match. Later, the Game jumps Undertaker backstage and chokes him with a chair. He claims he doesn't need a match - he's already famous for crippling people. The following show Undertaker waits in the parking lot for Triple H to arrive. When he does, 'Taker smashes a window of his limo and tries to get inside, but Triple H has enlisted police protection and they force Undertaker away. He's arrested later in the show for attempting to attack the Game in-ring, and Trips wants to press full charges. Regal issues 'Taker with a restraining order from Stephanie, allowing her to protect Trips during his matches. Undertaker instead sends Kane after Steph, and the Big Red Machine dangles her over a balcony backstage until Regal agrees to make a match between 'Taker and Triple H at 'Mania. We close with footage of the Game wrecking Undertaker's bike, but who HASN'T done that in a feud with BikerTaker? Motorhead are in the building to play Triple H to the ring, and holy poo poo, Lemmy knows NONE OF HIS OWN LYRICS! This is amazing! 10. Triple H vs The Undertaker The pair brawl on the outside before 'Taker's music has a chance to die down. UNDERTAKER IMMEDIATELY PUTS TRIPLE H THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE! It's not as impressive as it sounds. Shane McMahon destroyed the real one earlier in the show, so they dragged out a flimsy Dudley Boy-variety table for them to use. Undertaker hit a single right hand and Trips sat down slightly heavily on top of it. That was enough. An unintentionally comical start here, but 'Taker continues to beat the Game around the ring regardless. JR briefly mentions that the Deadman is undefeated at WrestleMania, but it doesn't really seem to be a big deal at this stage of his career. The beatdown continues in the ring, including a HUGE back body drop. He sets Triple H up and shouts out "Old School!", like a Digimon announcing his own attack. I'm sure I've used that reference somewhere in this thread before, perhaps for Matt Hardy, but it's equally appropriate here. Triple H is able to reverse it and drag 'Taker off the top rope, perhaps because he knew what was coming. So yeah. Don't be a Digimon. Another thing I hated about Digimon was that they could talk, and also that they could evolve and devolve at will to whichever state they wanted. Why didn't they just walk around in their most powerful form all the time? It was such bullshit. (You're not missing much by the way. Triple H is just working Undertaker over with his slow, meticulous offence.) I mean, Pokemon really nailed the formula first time around, so there was no real chance for any imitators. Don't even get me started on Yu-Gi-Oh. Triple H hits a neckbreaker for two, and tries repeated unsuccessful covers. He gets frustrated and backs the ref into a corner, but good ol' Mike Chioda isn't intimidated. 'Taker regains control and whips Triple H into the ropes, but the Game hits his facebuster with authority! He heads outside the ring and doesn't even ask the timekeeper to get out of his chair. He simply hoists him over the crowd barrier. What a dick. Trips isn't after the chair however, he's after the sledgehammer hidden behind it! He measures Undertaker in the ring, but the ref rips it out of his grasp. Undertaker whirls Triple H around...and gets immediately set up for the Pedigree! It's reversed however, and 'Taker slingshots the Game right into the referee. CHOKESLAM! The ref recovers pretty loving quickly! Good job! 1...2...Triple H kicks out! Undertaker is in disbelief and nails the ref with an elbow drop. And he's the face here!? They head to the outside and Triple H gets horribly backdropped over into the crowd! What a nasty bump that must have been, but they executed it about as safely as possible. They battle through the crowd to some kind of production area, filled with monitors, sound desks and the like. Undertaker batters Trips with relentless right hands, but the Game grabs a chair and cuts him down. He wails on the fallen Deadman with shot after shot, before beating his chest and gesturing to the crowd. Undertaker rises and Triple H measures him for a final chairshot...but GET CHOKESLAMMED OUT OF THE PRODUCTION AREA TO THE CONCRETE BELOW! We don't actually see him land, so they may well have had a crash mat there and dragged it quickly out of sight, but it looked legit. Ah wait no. A second camera angle blows the illusion. Good job guys. An EMT checks on Triple H, but Undertaker tells him to move the gently caress out of the way and leaps with a diving elbow drop! He picks Trips up and drags him through the crowd all the way back to ringside. They get back in the ring (where the ref is STILL unconscious from that single elbow drop to the back) and Undertaker snatches up the sledgehammer. He measures Triple H who begs him to stop, before nailing a sneaky low blow. A leaf out of Flair's book there. He picks up the hammer and charges, but 'Taker his an instinctive big boot to drop him. They have a slow exchange of right hands in the middle of the ring, before Trips ducks a big strike and scoops Undertaker up for...the Tombstone!? The Deadman falls back into a reversal and nails the move, but there's no referee to count the fall! He revives Mike Chioda and sets Triple H up for the Last Ride, but the Game manages to grab the sledgehammer as he's lifted...and SMASHES UNDERTAKER IN THE HEAD! 'Taker drops Triple H and looks to be out of it. 1...2...no way! The Undertaker kicks out! At WrestleMania! Triple H freaks out and drags Undertaker over to the corner. He heads up top and goes for some punches, but leaves himself vulnerable. As easily as a Machamp scooping up a Pikachu (see earlier Pokemon/Digimon rant), Undertaker lifts Triple H and slams him with a second Last Ride. This one's enough for the three count. Winner: The Undertaker 3/5 - All the ingredients of a great match, but executed at a very slow pace. The stuff in the crowd and on the sound deck seemed a tad over the top, especially as the payoff was a bump onto a clear crash mat. Nevertheless, both guys did pretty well here. Triple H bumped like a madman to put 'Taker over, and the sledgehammer counter to the Last Ride was particularly cool as well. Undertaker celebrates with a pretty dazed expression on his face. He looks to have legitimately been busted open, probably by that sledgehammer shot. It looked as though Triple H may have caught him with the wood rather than the end of the weapon (which I'm sure was softened for safety). He looks in considerable pain, but still manages to get on his bike and speed off in victory. Main event up next.
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Jul 6, 2014 03:14
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I think we can put Linda's recovery down to the Power of Love, wrestling can and does use most other cliches from fiction, after all. I remember that just before she nails Vince he spreads his legs nice and wide for her to have a go at him. My immersion!
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Jul 6, 2014 21:28
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Wasn't Linda just faking being sedated? Thought that was clear at mania.
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Jul 6, 2014 22:10
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I always assumed Linda was actually being sedated for awhile but since Trish turned face she had stopped doing it and was in on the plan with Linda.
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Jul 6, 2014 22:19
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JGKing posted:I've heard of all of these men except for The Goon by the way. Can anybody enlighten me? 
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Jul 6, 2014 22:53
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The Chyna / Ivory match is interesting because it's a total squash but the crowd loves it. Chyna was ridiculously over.
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Jul 7, 2014 02:32
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WrestleMania X-Seven - April 1st 2001 PART 4 The Rock stalks through the backstage area, belt in hand. Austin is in the locker room holding his head in his hands. He looks up briefly, eyes full of intensity, before standing up to leave. We see this awesome video package. You'll almost certainly have seen it before, but on the freak chance you haven't, hear it is. It is FANTASTIC. Here are my favourite moments in no particular order: - Rock stalking Austin for the Rock Bottom and startling him when he turns around, but choosing not to hit the move. - The Rock's selling in the aftermath of Austin's first Stunner, lifting his torso to watch Stone Cold walk up the ramp. - "Let's just go ahead and take Debra out of the equation. Bam, she's not a factor." - "My Way" gently kicking back in as Austin hits the second Stunner. - Austin chugging the four beers, before turning around into a Stunner from the Rock. - The whole passive-aggressive beer clashing segment, which suddenly explodes into an exchange of right hands as the chorus begins. - Austin's frantic beer waving at 2:51 onwards. - "I need to beat you Rock. I need it more than anything you could ever imagine." Before the entrances Fink announces that the match will not end on a disqualification, shocking JR and delighting the crowd. 11. WWF Championship No-DQ Match: The Rock (c) vs Stone Cold Steve Austin Austin is out to a raucous reception, while the Rock's entrance (although popular) is decidedly quieter. The champ is very much on enemy territory here, attempting to beat Austin in his home state of Texas. Rock poses on the turnbuckle...and turns right into an ambush from the Rattlesnake! Stone Cold immediately scoops up the belt and goes for a KO shot, but Rocky ducks and fires off some right hands. A desperate start from Austin, reflecting his earlier statement that he NEEDS to beat the champion. He looks to be moving at twice his usual speed as he hits a Lou Thezs press and a few big elbows. Rock is back to his feet and goes for an early Rock Bottom! Austin elbows out and goes for the Stunner...but Rock battles out and goes for a Stunner of his own! Austin shakes him off and tosses the champ out of the ring, but not for a breather. They battle into the crowd and back out again, Rock smashing Stone Cold's head onto the announce table. They head back in the ring and Austin uses his knee brace to rake Rock's face. He might even throw a couple of bites in there as he chokes Rock over the middle rope - the camera angle made it hard to tell, but I do hope so. He drops a leg over the back of the champ's head for two, and we finally get a short rest from this explosive opening. They head tentatively up top and Austin hits a nice superplex for two, but wastes no time in springing back to his feet and removing a turnbuckle pad. Rocky takes control before it can come into play however, scoring with a huge jumping clothesline for two. They brawl to the outside again and the champ beats Austin down in the timekeeper's area. Hebner tries to break it up but Rock is livid and backs him down, sending him sprawling over the ring steps. He turns back to Austin...WHO CLOCKS HIM WITH THE RING BELL! The Rock is flat out, Hebner is furious, and Austin is in a state of constant rage, hurling the timekeeper to the floor for simply being near him. The champ tries to use the announce table to get back to his feet, but it collapses under his dead weight. Oops. I hope that hasn't wrecked a big spot for later in the match. They return to the ring where Austin tries to use the exposed turnbuckle from earlier, but Rock saves himself and whips Stone Cold into the ropes...but the Rattlesnake catches him on the way back with a BEAUTIFUL neckbreaker for two. The Rock's bleeding from that earlier ring bell shot, but Austin shows no mercy, clambering onto the champ and pounding away at his head with right hands. He stomps a mudhole but turns away to argue with Hebner, and when he turns back around the Rock utterly DECIMATES him with an outrageous clothesline to the face! That looked like legitimate knock-out material. The Rock backs Austin down into the corner with right hands, but instead of laying the smackdown (as he usually would), he instead talks trash for a brief second, grabs the back of Stone Cold's head, and charges the length of the ring to the exposed turnbuckle! Wham! Not relenting for a second, Rocky fetches the ringbell and cracks it into Austin's skull. poo poo, that looks like a heavy bladejob. We did learn at the Rumble, however, that Austin's level of badass increases the more he bleeds. It's his version of the Rock's PPV Resiliency. They head to the outside again and Stone Cold slingshots Rocky headfirst into the ringpost. That was sold amazingly by the Brahma Bull, one of the best executions of the spot I've seen. Rocky eats a sickening TV monitor shot, but just about kicks out when Austin rolls him inside for a pinfall attempt. They return slowly to their feet, and Stone Cold raises a pair of mocking middle fingers. Here comes the Stunner...but Rock catches the kick! A right hand knocks Austin to the canvas, leaving him open to the sharpshooter! Shades of Bret vs Austin! He struggles towards the ropes but Rock drags him back to the middle of the ring...but Austin drags himself all the way back to the ropes, and snags them in his hands! Rocky has to release the hold, but looks to reapply it straight away. He bends down to flip off the challenger before turning him over...BUT AUSTIN RAKES HIM IN THE EYES! He knocks the Rock down and applies a sharpshooter of his own...and oh. Austin's is clearly, clearly better. Far closer to Bret's. Rock kicks him off, but Stone Cold reapplies - however, this time the champ is close enough to the ropes to grab one. Hebner instructs Austin to let go, but he flips the referee off and keeps the sharpshooter in place to a big pop. Eventually he lets go and waits for the Rock to stagger back to his feet, only to apply the Million Dollar Dream!? Austin delves deep into his past to submit the Rock, but the People's Champ raises his arm at the third time of asking. He pushes off the middle rope into a perfect pinning predicament, forcing Austin to release the hold to break the fall! Amazing scenes. Stone Cold looks to be closing in on the victory, but ROCK REVERSES AN IRISH WHIP AND DROPS HIM WITH THE STONE COLD STUNNER! 1...2...Austin kicks out! Vince McMahon struts down the ramp - still in his ring gear - to chants of "rear end in a top hat, rear end in a top hat". Meanwhile, Rock charges into a glorious spinebuster for another near fall. I can't overstate how epic this match has been. Now Rock hits a spinebuster of his own and sets up for an exhausted People's Elbow! It connects, but surely that can't be the fall!? 1...2...Vince leaps into the ring and drags Rock off! I'm also delighted to see that Austin raised an arm anyway (because I refuse to believe that a loving People's Elbow would have finished him in the main event of WrestleMania. It's Steve Austin). Rock looks at Vince and clearly mouths "you motherfucker", before snapping and chasing him around the ring. McMahon scoots under the bottom rope and allows Austin to intercept the pursuing champ...and HOLY poo poo! Stone Cold hits an absolutely hellacious Rock Bottom, arguably better than most of the Rock's own attempts! In fairness, some of that was also down to how loving high the Rock was able to jump as well, so kudos to both. He kicks out by the way. Heyman makes a great call, pointing out how Austin ignored his hatred for McMahon and went straight for the Rock, so desperate is he to win the gold. Stone Cold looks for the Stunner, but Rock pushes him off and he knocks Hebner through the ropes to the floor. The Rattlesnake resorts to a straight-up punch to the balls to regain control...before gesturing to Vince on the outside!? He instructs the boss to bring a chair into the ring. Austin holds Rock steady, allowing McMahon to blast him across the head! Stone Cold covers while Vince revives the referee. 1...2...ROCKY KICKS OUT! Austin is absolutely furious and snatches up the chair for a final blow...ROCK BOTTOM TO STONE COLD! Vince grabs Hebner before he can count a pinfall, so Rock strides over and drags McMahon over the top rope into the ring. He lays the smackdown on Vince before turning...RIGHT INTO A STUNNER! 1...2...BUT THE ROCK KICKS OUT AGAIN! New levels of PPV Resiliency! Austin has had quite enough and grabs the chair. He measures Rock...and ENDS HIM with a running shot to the head! 1...2...usually I'd call bullshit, but special circumstances allow Rock's kickout here to stay within the realms of logic. The crowd love it as well, but Vince and Austin are less amused. Stone Cold grabs the chair again and fires off a barrage of vicious strikes to the downed champion. Consider this karma for what you did to Mick Foley at the 1999 Royal Rumble, Rocky. One final cover is made. 1...2...3. Winner and NEW WWF Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin 5/5 - An utter epic. This match told a better story than any match I've reviewed in the thread so far, and was certainly up there with the best of them in terms of in-ring action as well. Both men delivered performance beyond even their own high standards and created something truly special. Many will disagree with the decision to turn Stone Cold heel (and it didn't really register with the Texas crowd, who still popped huge for that final three count), but it remains one of the most shocking and dramatic moments in wrestling history. Amazing. Austin is presented with his belt and stalks straight over to Vince. They eyeball one another before ending the Attitude Era with a handshake. Stone Cold poses on the turnbuckles, but interrupts his expressionless celebration to blast the recovering Rock with a parting belt shot. Vince and the new champ open a couple of beers and leave the ring, Austin eyeballing the crowd all the way. They depart as the Rock struggles alone on the canvas, JR insisting that nothing will ever be the same again. loving wrestling, everybody.
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Jul 7, 2014 03:50
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WRESTLEMANIA X-SEVEN SUMMARY Match Of The Night The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin - Of course, although the TLC match was a classic as well. Wrestler Of The Night 1. Stone Cold Steve Austin - A fast, frantic, desperate performance, finally re-establishing himself as top dog in the WWF following his comeback. 2. The Rock - The champ was never going to outshine Austin on his night, but also delivered in spades. Wrestled far beyond his usual ability without sacrificing any charisma. 3. Edge - Didn't put a foot wrong in a match where botches can be common and dangerous. Also stole the show with his ludicrous mid-air spear on Jeff Hardy. 4. Triple H - Lost an intense brawl with the Undertaker and bumped like a madman for his opponent. Reliable as ever. 5. The Undertaker - The best we've seen of the Deadman since his gimmick change. Hopefully signals a much-needed return to form. It feels harsh leaving out the other members of the TLC match (especially Christian), as well as Spike, Lita, and Rhyno who all made entertaining cameos. Angle and Benoit also put on a solid match but it failed to live up to its insanely high potential. Wrestler Of The Year Standings 1. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - 12 2. Chris Jericho - 8 3. Triple H - 6 4. Chris Benoit - 5 The Rock - 5 5. Kane - 3 Edge - 3 6. Eddie Guerrero - 2 7. The Undertaker - 1 WRESTLEMANIA X-SEVEN SCORE: 9/10 A PPV with a five star main event was never going to score low, no matter how underwhelming the undercard is. As it happens, most of the other matches were underwhelming but solid. Benoit/Angle and Jericho/Regal were okay, while even poor-quality matches such as the APA's feel good tag win served a purpose. Really though, the score for this show is built on the back of three matches. THAT main event, THAT tag team championship match, and that (lower case) Triple H/Undertaker brawl to back them up. A rollercoaster of a show, and one with perhaps a slightly inflated final score, but I certainly don't have the balls to argue with Rock vs Austin and the TLC match.
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Jul 7, 2014 04:08
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That match is so loving good.
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Jul 7, 2014 04:22
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Beef Jerky Robot posted:That match is so loving good. It's really as good as the wwe format can be, or could ever be , I would imagine.
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Jul 7, 2014 04:56
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And in a case of lightning striking twice, not only was Rock/Austin possibly the best WWE match of all time, it was accompanied by possibly the best video package of all time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srhd2fZyDB4
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Jul 7, 2014 11:40
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Hijo Del Helmsley posted:And in a case of lightning striking twice, not only was Rock/Austin possibly the best WWE match of all time, it was accompanied by possibly the best video package of all time. I'm surprised WWE didn't release a Stone Cold/Rock Greatest Rivalries set YEARS ago. It just seems like the obvious follow-up to the Bret/HBK set.
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Jul 7, 2014 11:49
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The low key interview portion of that is my favorite. These two don't even have to shout anymore, just sit in the same room and calmly say "I have to beat you." The TLC match also to me feels like it set the tone for the next few years (the so-called "Ruthless Aggression" era)- wrestling was starting to cool and the top stars were on their way out so it was up to people who could put on crazy spectacular spotfests to try and keep people's attention.
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Jul 7, 2014 16:42
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 - Rosemont, Illinois PART 1 Just look at that poster. Ridiculous. Hello and welcome to Backlash 2001! Last year's edition actually topped WrestleMania, but this show is unlikely to do the same. 'Mania 17 - sorry, "X-Seven" - featured a couple of all-time classics. This card seems quite a step down in comparison, but we still have a potentially good show on our hands. Austin and Rock had a rematch on the Raw immediately after 'Mania, battling in a steel cage. Triple H interfered on behalf of the Rock amid growing tension between himself and Vince, but swerved everybody by assaulting the People's Champ and allying with sworn enemy Austin. This represented the birth of the Two Man Power Trip, which I thought was utterly fantastic as an eight year old. As mentioned previously - and for reasons quite unknown - I was a huge Triple H mark, but always secretly thought Austin was awesome as well. This partnership finally made it okay to cheer for Stone Cold! Meanwhile, The Rock Shortly after, Trips won the Intercontinental Championship from Jericho, lost it to Jeff Hardy, and won it back again. This meant that the two members of the Power Trip held the top two belts in the company, as well as the backing of Vince McMahon. Meanwhile, following their respective wins at WrestleMania, the Brothers of Destruction fully united as a legitimate tag team. Kane lost his Hardcore Championship to Rhyno, but the brothers quickly won the Tag Team Championship from my boys Edge and Christian (noooo! ). Interestingly, this was both Kane and Undertaker's fifth tag title reign, but the first together. Let's have a look at their previous wins.quote:1. Kane first won tag gold with Mankind, defeating the New Age Outlaws on an episode of Raw in July 1998. Well there we go. I don't know about you, but I actually found that more fun than it was probably worth. Anyway, 'Taker and Kane captured their fifth reigns (but first together) from E&C on the April 17th Smackdown. This leads us FINALLY to Backlash 2001, the main event of which sees The Brothers of Destruction face off against the Two Man Power Trip...with ALL THE BELTS ON THE LINE! That means if Kane and 'Taker win, they become the new WWF and Intercontinental champions, whereas Triple H and Austin become tag champions should they persevere. I really, really hope we don't get a screwy DQ finish with no title changes. That's all I ask. JR screams his welcomes! Again he is joined by Paul Heyman and they hype the main event. We have six-man tag action to get us underway. 1. The Dudley Boyz vs The X-Factor The Dudleys here consist of Bubba, D-Von, and Spike. That's fair enough, but WHAT THE gently caress IS X-FACTOR!? We have an absolutely ludicrous teaming of X-Pac, Justin Credible, and Albert!? Who on earth had this idea? As for their theme music, well. Judge for yourselves. It's an Uncle Kracker masterpiece. They brawl before the bell and the faces take control. Albert takes a double suplex from the bigger Dudleys, before Spike comes off the top rope and STOMPS ON HIS CHEST! loving hell! D-Von and Bubba launch the runt of the family over the top rope onto Credible and X-Pac, before Justin and Spike finally square off to start the match properly. Credible wastes little time tagging in Albert, but Spike grabs his head and goes for an immediate Dudley Dog...only for Albert to launch him miles across the ring instead! The "we want tables" chants are already deafening. Credible tags back in and misses a baseball slide to Spike in the corner, instead crotching himself around the ringpost. D-Von and X-Pac tag in. The Dudley takes control, only for Albert to give him a sneaky club in the back from the apron. He staggers forwards into a nice spinning heel kick from X-Pac, before Albert distracts the referee - allowing the heels to engage in some heelery on D-Von outside the ring. X-Pac tags in now and gets the better of the Dudley, uprooting him with another fantastic flying kick. Albert's turn now, and he delays an underhook suplex for an outrageous amount of time, holding D-Von upside down for a good few seconds before planting him into the canvas. X-Pac and Credible attempt a double team, but D-Von finally gets the upper hand with a double flying clothesline, and makes the hot tag to hot tag specialist Bubba Ray. Suplex to Credible! Suplex to X-Pac! Bubba Bomb to Credible! BIG sidewalk slam to X-Pac! 1...2...Albert tries a splash to break the pin, but Bubba moves out of the way early and X-Pac takes the brunt of it. D-Von clotheslines himself and Albert out of the ring, but scoots quickly back up to the top turnbuckle to nail the wassup headbutt on poor Justin. "D-Vonnnnnn! GET THE TABLES!". JR attempts to christen the Dudleys "the wizards of the wicked wood" (not sure that'll get over) as D-Von slides a table out from under the ring. BIG BOOT by Albert stops that plan dead in its tracks. The heels gang up on Bubba in the ring (where the gently caress is Spike!?) but he battles bravely on. He misses a running splash to the corner...and gets squashed by Albert! Double superkick from Credible and X-Pac! 1...2...3! Winners: The X-Factor 2/5 - A decent opener. Pac was the best wrestler on show, Bubba brought the energy towards the end. It's a shame we didn't get to see any table action, although that could change any second now... Albert beats down Bubba, but not before throwing up an X in victory. He's loyal, yo. Bubba looks set to go through a table, but here comes the cavalry. D-Von deals with Albert, Spike hits a Dudley Dog on Credible, and suddenly X-Pac is on his own. Spike hits a low blow and sends him toppling backwards...right into a 3D through the table. Is anybody else getting bored of the Dudley's shtick or...? The Duchess of Queensbury arrives and is greeted by William Regal. He'll be having a "Duchess of Queensbury Rules" match with Jericho later tonight, so this makes sense I suppose. Angle is backstage in the locker room preparing for his match with Benoit later. He's pretty chilled, and says that he knows he has Benoit's number. Presumably this confidence comes from beating him at the last PPV. 2. WWF Hardcore Championship: Rhyno (c) vs Raven Raven wheels his usual shopping cart full of plunder down to the ring. He starts bringing various weapons into the ring but Rhyno charges him at the bell...right into a drop toe hold! That was a surprising turn of pace from Raven, sending Rhyno's head crashing into a stop sign. I've just noticed that both of these guys have animal names. That's fun. Raven smashes a garbage can into Rhyno's head, but the Canadian returns the favour. Nope, wait. I just fired up Wikipedia and he's actually from Detroit. drat. I just assumed he was Canadian because he's tight with E&C, etc. The ALL AMERICAN Rhyno charges and Raven lifts a garbage can up to protect himself, but Rhyno just charges right on through and knocks him out of the ring. USA! USA! He leaps straight out and makes a cover (falls count anywhere, remember?) but can only get a two count. Rhyno re-positions the ring steps and sets up a chair opposite. He sits Raven in the chair, backs up...and uses the steps as a platform to dive onto Raven WHO MOVES OUT OF THE WAY! Ouch! Now Raven runs up the steps and hits a nice diving clothesline for two. They brawl down the entrance ramp and Raven gets laid out with a trash can lid. Rhyno takes a "KEEP OFF" sign from the crowd barrier and nails his opponent with that too. The pair return to the ring, shopping cart in tow, and Raven hits a drop toe hold right into the side of the cart. Usually signs are kind of a "meh" weapon in hardcore matches (not stop signs - the little rectangular ones), but Raven goes absolutely NUTS on Rhyno with one. It's perhaps the best sign-based assault I've ever seen in a wrestling match. I'm not sure how lofty a compliment that is, but it sounded good in my head. Raven hits a bulldog for two and both men retreat to pick up a weapon. Rhyno goes for the shopping cart and presses it above his head, but Raven is craftier and jabs the end of a garbage can into the champ's face. Rhyno falls, as does the cart, trapping him underneath. That looked really painful. Raven gets another near fall but Rhyno kicks out and recovers in a corner of the ring. Raven grabs the cart, psychs the crowd up, and rams it into his opponent's gut as he rises to his feet! He hits the ropes...but Rhyno smashes him in the head with that pesky sign from out of nowhere! 1...2...kick out! Rhyno sets up for the Gore and charges...but Raven moves out of the way and the champ's head goes straight into the interior of the shopping cart! loving hell! Rhyno is trapped allowing Raven to wail on the top of the cart with a (literal) kitchen sink. He drags Rhyno out and covers. 1...2...kick out!? Raven is similarly in disbelief and grabs the sink to dish out further punishment, but he turns straight into a GORE! GORE! GORE! Heyman loses his poo poo as Rhyno makes the cover. 1...2...3! Winner and STILL WWF Hardcore Champion: Rhyno 3/5 - A shockingly good hardcore match here. Both men bumped around like crazy for one another, and Raven was on especially good form. Rhyno's gore into the shopping cart was a unique and sick spot too. Well done guys! JR and Heyman hype a Last Man Standing match between Shane and the Big Show later tonight. This seems to have been set up by Vince as revenge for his son's actions at WrestleMania. JR goes on a rant about how brave Shane is, and how he's not intimidated. Heyman brilliantly interrupts, yelling "well he SHOULD be". We flashback to Smackdown where Shane sits backstage reading from a copy of Jack and the Beanstalk, except he's crossed out "Jack" and written "Shane" in its place. He gets a surprisingly big face pop, although that may have been piped in. He reads a feud-recapping rhyme, each punchline receiving that suspiciously familiar WWF cheer - the one that sounds like an electrical fan starting up. We cut now to Shane in the Backlash interview area with Michael Cole. They're interrupted by Stephanie who urges Shane to just apologise to Vince - then maybe he'll call off the match. Shane refuses and Steph says he lives in a fantasy world. Stone Cold and Debra arrive in the building and are stopped by Kevin Kelly, who asks Stone Cold if he's worried about losing his belt tonight with all the titles on the line. Austin angrily retorts that he isn't going to lose a drat thing because he's Stone Cold Steve Austin. All Triple H has to do is play his part and everything will be fine. Coach is backstage with the Duchess of Queensbury and asks her to enlighten us on the rules of her match. She's about to answer, but Regal runs in and tells Coach to bugger off. Looks like he wants to keep those rules to himself. A hype video recaps the feud between Jericho and Regal, but we've seen most of it before at WrestleMania. The only new feature is Regal challenging Jericho to this Queensbury Rules match. Jericho admits to not knowing the rules match, but vows to kick Regal's rear end anyway. Regal is out first and greets the crowd enthusiastically. He welcomes the Duchess of Queensbury to the ring and she takes her seat at ringside next to the announce table. Regal hilariously signals for JR and Heyman to stand as she approaches. Such a gent. Heyman tells off JR for simply calling her "ma'am" instead of "your majesty". Jericho makes his entrance to a big pop and the Duchess looks thoroughly unimpressed. Y2J expresses surprise that she's the Duchess. He thought a Duchess looked more like...(he points to a picture on the 'Tron)...that. It's Regal. Classic stuff Chris. He adds that he's not sure which one of them looks more like a man. Regal is outraged. Jericho says that Chicago may be the windy city, but Queensbury is clearly the UGLY city. Who the gently caress wrote this? 3. Duchess of Queensbury Rules Match: William Regal vs Chris Jericho JR reminds us that nobody but Regal and the Duchess actually know the rules here. Jericho gains control of the opening exchange and hits (WOO!) some big (WOO!) chops to the chest (WOO!). The crowd are still hot for him, despite him having been out of the main event scene for quite some time now. Regal rolls to the outside for a breather but Y2J goes straight after him and continues the beating. They roll back in and Jericho goes for a missile dropkick...but catches nothing but air. Regal hits a vertical suplex for 2 and we get a shot of the Duchess looking worried. William starts to bust out the English offence, hitting a trio of knees to the face and a few European uppercuts for good measure. He heads up top but Jericho crotches him with a dropkick to the gut, before following him up and hitting a snappy hurricanrana. Y2J follows up with a bulldog and the Lionsault, and a pinfall looks academic here. 1...the bell rings!? The Duchess has a quick word with Fink, who explains to everybody that the time limit for Round 1 has expired. Jericho leans over the ropes to complain...but Regal schoolboys him from behind! 1...2...and a kick out. Y2J has clearly lost his composure here as he attempts a Flying Nothing (my favourite move!) which Regal easily counters into a catapult, sending Jericho's head bouncing off the top rope. The commissioner hits a big German suplex and looks to apply the Regal Stretch. Jericho struggles and eventually grabs the bottom rope. Regal applies a waistlock but Y2J rolls through...and breaks off his own pinfall to apply the Walls of Jericho! Regal taps and Jericho looks to have this won - his music even plays - but the Duchess explains (via Fink) that submissions do not count. Both Jericho and the crowd are livid, and Y2J stomps outside of the ring to question her. Her two bodyguards stand in his way, as does Regal, who rips the Duchess' sceptre from her hands and clocks his opponent with it. The bell rings again, but apparently disqualifications don't count either! Regal rolls Jericho back into the ring and makes the cover, but Y2J kicks out just in time. William is getting annoyed now, and sits Jericho down with a pretty brutal back elbow. A double underhook suplex also results in a nearfall but Y2J turns the tide, landing on his feet from a back suplex and hitting a sweet enziguri. Both men battle to their feet and slug it out. Jericho trips Regal and goes for the Walls again, but remembers that he can't win by submission and simply boots the commissioner in the nuts instead. Regal rolls out to recover but Jericho hits an immediate baseball slide, sending his head right into the Duchess' crotch. Regal is mortified and turns right into a clothesline. Jericho shoves the bodyguards out of the way and snatches the Duchess, rolling her into the ring. He slaps on the Walls, but Regal quickly slides in and saves her with a cluster of chairshots. 1...2...3. Winner: William Regal 1.5/5 - Decent enough in-ring action, but the whole stipulation really dragged here. It's depressing to see Jericho in such gimmicky feuds when his talent is obvious, and Regal is above this sort of thing too (although he does comedy pretty well). Regal helps the Duchess to the back. Hopefully we never, EEEEEEEEEEVER, see her, AGAIN. JGKing fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 8, 2014 03:30
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Was that Ravens best WWF match?
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Jul 8, 2014 06:07
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Hijo Del Helmsley posted:And in a case of lightning striking twice, not only was Rock/Austin possibly the best WWE match of all time, it was accompanied by possibly the best video package of all time.
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Jul 8, 2014 10:11
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 PART 2 Vince is backstage with the Big Show, psyching him up for his upcoming match against Shane. He asks if Show is ready. Show replies that as long as his last name is McMahon, he's getting destroyed. HUH!? That sounds suspiciously face-turney, but Vince doesn't pick up on it at all. Surely they wouldn't have made it that obvious. Hmm. Kurt is out first with a mic and he runs down Chicago. We're in Rosemont, which I assume is near Chicago because everybody is getting angry. He says he's going to make Benoit squeal like a pig. It's homoerotic. It's drat homoerotic. 4. 30 Minute Ultimate Submission Match: Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit They spend the first few minutes strictly wrestling. No strikes, no power moves or anything like that. Angle takes down Benoit a few times, they struggle on the floor, one grabs a limb, and the other quickly breaks away. Lather, rinse, repeat. At one stage Benoit almost cinches on the Crossface, but Kurt scurries into the ropes before you can say "he's making GBS threads himself at the prospect of the Crippler Crossface". Benoit continues to look for his finisher, but Angle bails out of the ring each time he comes close. This is a tedious opening. The Wolverine grabs a waistlock and Kurt scurries out of the ring with Benoit attached to his back. They struggle and bash each other into the apron...and Benoit slaps on the Crossface! Angle taps immediately, but of course it doesn't count. Benoit has apparently never watched wrestling before and demands that the fall count. The referee is all like "get the gently caress back in the ring you idiot". Good. Angle stalls A LOT on the outside, even contemplating bringing a chair into the ring for his own safety, but is eventually convinced to venture in empty-handed. Benoit stomps over...but Angle dashes behind him and slips him into a pinning predicament! He transitions into a heel hook and Benoit immediately taps to preserve his knee. Smart. 1-0 to the Olmypian. Benoit decides it's finally time to bring out the strikes, and lights Kurt up with a few chops to the chest. Angle, unfazed by the WOOing of the crowd, fights back with a few chop-blocks to the knee. He charges for a final big one...into the Crippler Crossface! Angle fights Benoit off partially, but the Wolverine rolls over into a textbook armbar and Kurt has to tap! We're all square at 1-1. Benoit presses the advantage with a few more chops and another attempted armbar, before nailing a shoulderbreaker. He's definitely trying to weaken the arm for an upcoming Crossface, but Angle is staying alive. He cowers in the ropes and Benoit slaps on a headlock. The referee pulls him off and the Wolverine angrily shoves him to the canvas. Kurt uses the distraction to nip out of the ring and retrieve a chair, which he slams right into Benoit's head! He disposes of the evidence and slaps on the Ankle Lock, which a weakened Benoit has no choice but to submit to. 2-1 Angle. loving hell, we're only ten minutes in and this is dragging. Angle wastes no time in continuing the offence and locks in...the Crippler Crossface!? Benoit suffers the indignity of tapping out to his own hold, and we're already at 3-1. Angle continues to press the advantage but east a biiiiig back body drop to the outside. They brawl around until Benoit eats the ring steps, and Kurt applies the Ankle Lock as the referee tries desperately to pull him off. Back in the ring Angle applies a long armbar and a long abdominal stretch. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I'm finding this match really tedious to watch. Just as I say that we get a really nice exchange. Benoit rolls through Angle's hiptoss and locks on an armbar of his own, which Kurt is quick to jump out of. He's really selling that arm now. The Wolverine trips him and applies the Sharpshooter, surely this is another submission...NO! Angle makes the ropes! Angle goes for a German but Benoit rolls through and slaps on a single-leg Boston crab, with his knee on the back of Kurt's neck! He wastes no time in tapping, and rightly so. 3-2. Angle begins to stall now, stumbling in and out of the ring to avoid Benoit as the clock counts down. We have about 10 minutes left. They finally meet in the ring and Angle hits a vertical suplex followed by a drop toe hold, but Benoit wriggles away from the attempted Ankle Lock. They brawl back out, then back in, and this time Benoit nearly grabs an Ankle Lock. Angle applies a loving LOOOOOOOOONG headlock on the ground to kill some time, which Benoit eventually breaks out of with a stunner (although JR calls it a jawbreaker). Angle reasserts control with a couple of belly-to-bellys, but Benoit breaks out his three German suplexes in response! He can only get two however, as Angle swings with an elbow to escape the third. The Wolverine trips Kurt, but the Olympian rolls him into an Ankle Lock...which Benoit reverses instantly into an Ankle Lock of his own! Angle struggles...and taps! 3-3, and we only have two minutes left. Benoit is - well - rabid as he goes after Angle's leg with chop blocks. Kurt hits a sneaky low blow to fell the Wolverine, and slaps on the Ankle lock. Benoit reaches the ropes, but Kurt keeps re-applying as we count down the final seconds. He clasps a final lock on with ten seconds left! The Wolverine holds on....and there goes the bell! He taps just after. Winner: Draw Angle thinks he's won and begins celebrating to the back. Fink announces that we're going to have sudden death. Good, I don't think this match had gone on QUITE LONG ENOUGH. Angle looks like he's about to cry with frustration (I know how you feel buddy) and rolls back in. He stomps down the Wolverine and hits another belly-to-belly, before heading towards the ropes. COULD IT BE HIS FABLED MOONSAULT!? Ahhh, sadly no. He was just faking us out. Benoit charges with Angle into the corner and they both fall to the mat. Angle locks on...some kind of awkward submission thing. It's like a headlock or abdominal stretch - I can't quite tell. Anyway, he's got his foot on the ropes and the referee is right there, so he's not going to win that way. Benoit doesn't give a poo poo and rolls right into the middle of the ring with Angle in tow...CROSSFACE! Angle has nowhere to go! He taps! 4-3! Winner: Chris Benoit 3/5 - An unbelievable effort by both guys for sure, but this was a huge effort to watch. Some of it was brilliant, some of it was sloppy. Angle looked bizarrely off his game here (still better than your average wrestler, of course) while Benoit was pretty sharp. Some people will undoubtedly see this as a classic but I dunno. Something just didn't click for me. Maybe I'm too unsophisticated to be a fan of that amateur wrestling/submission style. Whew. Well that's finally over. Really not sure what to make of that match. My head was telling me it was great, but my gut was screaming at me to fast forward. Very confusing.
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Aug 2, 2014 17:20
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Well I know what I'm watching later tonight, because that actually sounds pretty interesting, if a bit on the long side.
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Aug 2, 2014 19:59
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A Real Horse posted:Well I know what I'm watching later tonight, because that actually sounds pretty interesting, if a bit on the long side. I'm fully prepared for you to come back and say "what the gently caress Jack, it was amazing!" and I apologise in advance.
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Aug 3, 2014 17:15
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What the gently caress Jack, it was amazing! No, but seriously, while I enjoyed it it did go on too long. Maybe if they had done a 15 minute match instead, with a lower score (final of 3-2 instead of 4-3) or something it would be better. Also, I tend to overrate Kurt Angle matches because his amazing entrance music which I still to this day find myself doing over and over again in my head. I might have brain problems.
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Aug 4, 2014 01:25
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 PART 3 Kane and Undertaker are talking backstage. Kane looks to have a slightly injured arm. COULD THIS PLAY INTO THE MAIN EVENT LATER? We get a quick build-up to the Shane vs Big Show match. Since defeating his father at WrestleMania, Shane has been trying to recruit WWF superstars to join him at WCW. One such wrestler is the Big Show, but the giant sides with Vince and chokeslams the boy wonder in the middle of the ring. Vince books the match, hoping to see his son beaten down. On the Raw before the PPV, Big Show absolutely demolishes poor Test backstage. Like, destroys him. I think the point at which this thread begun probably signalled Test's downfall, because wasn't he quite promising in 1999? 5. Last Man Standing Match: Big Show vs Shane McMahon Shane hides under the ring and Show stupidly peeks under to look for him. This of course allows our hero to scamper around the other side and hit a sneak attack. He starts loving whaling on Show with a kendo stick! Oh he's up for this one alright. He climbs onto the crowd barricade and leaps...right into a goozle! Oh but Shane fights back with more stick shots and avoids the chokeslam! Bam. Big Show decides he's had enough of this poo poo and clotheslines his head off. An explosive start here! They head into the ring and Shane continues the assault with a chair, punctuating the exchange with a leaping blow reminiscent of his decapitation of the Rock. I was a huge fan of that chairshot - see my review of No Way Out 2000  .Big Show is down, but answers the count at 5. Shane is unperturbed and fetches a bag from under the ring. He brings out a facemask (for himself) and a chloroform soaked rag (for Big Show). This is outrageous! He piggybacks onto Show and forces him to breathe in the fumes, and it just straight up works. Show is down. That's pretty loving heelish you guys. The referee sells the effect of it slightly (awesome!) while JR pretends he can smell it too, which is absolute bullshit. He's miles away. The ref begins his count, but Vince charges to the ring and hits Shane with a couple of chairshots of his own. They're not as good though. Daddy clearly didn't teach Shane how to swing a chair - he must have snuck out of the house to an ECW show. The ref begins a double countout which Show answers at 8. It looks as though Shane O'Mac is done for, but Big Show scrapes him off the canvas at 9 (YOU IDIOT!) and launches him into the corner. Heyman rationalises Show's thought process, saying that this isn't about victory for him - it's about punishment. I do see his point. It wouldn't really make sense for Show to just take the win and walk away happy after being bested so far. Shane takes a big sidewalk slam and gets up at 9, which angers the giant further. A Final Cut (remember that finisher?) ends Shane, but Show picks him up at 8 to hit a Chokeslam. He AGAIN picks him up at 8, and the ref is looking worried. Okay take a second to guess which move Big Show does next. I bet you don't get it. Ready? Make your guess now. ... ... ... ... Did you say the Torture Rack? If so, congratulations! But there's absolutely no way you did, and I won't even believe you if you say so, because it's SO out of left field. Is Show secretly a big Luger fan or something!? Mercifully, before I can ponder this to death, MY BOY TEST RUNS OUT TO SAVE THE DAY! I like how he's stayed loyal to Shane pretty much throughout this thread. Does anybody remember him interfering against babyface Show on behalf of heel Shane in a 2000 PPV? He smashed a cinderblock over his head I believe. Anyway Test smashes a big boot into Show's face, ending the Torture Rack once and for all. Mounted punches! More mounted punches! MORE mounted punches! Go Test, go! He tries to revive Shane but leaves himself open to attack from the giant, who hurls him out of the ring. They clash on the outside and Test ends up in the front row, but Show isn't done and drags him back out. They brawl up the ramp and Test grabs a sing from the crowd to batter the giant with, but Show rams him into part of the set to regain the upper hand. Here comes Shane to help out, and he's found a sign of his own! He blindsides Show, so the furious giant grabs a metal pipe...and Shane absolutely shits himself! I would too, as Show swings wildly and chases him across the stage. Shane proves himself to be a total idiot now, leaping out of Big Show's grasp and climbing the side of the set. Um, do you remember the last time you did this? Steve Blackman (our warrior-king) almost MURDERED you. Show ties to follow Shane up, but Test is there to stop him. Jesus, Test absolutely BATTERS Show and lays him out at the side of the stage. He looks up and gestures for Shane to jump off and crush him - are you loving serious Test!? Shane obliges, because he's Shane McMahon, and FLIES WITH AN IDIOT LEGDROP FROM THE TOP OF THE SET!!! He clearly lands on a cardboard sort of area, but it's still a ridiculous and dangerous spot. Test, instead of immediately checking on his friend's well-being, is all like "gently caress YEAH! Now get up and win the match!". He might be asking slightly too much though, as Shane is totally out of it. Test, ever the loyal friend, picks him up and hangs him from a nearby rail. The referee sees absolutely no problem with this and counts Big Show only. He doesn't move. Winner: Shane McMahon 1.5/5 - This felt like less of a match and more of a ridiculous segment of an angle. The action was all acceptable I suppose, kind of a mixture between a small underdog vs hoss bout and your standard garbage stipulation match. I added on a whole bonus point for Shane's daredevil spot, but then took off .5 for that ridiculous ending. I'm not sure how the referee deemed Shane to have answered the count. If I was Big Show I'd be having serious words. Test scoops Shane over his shoulder and carries him from the arena to the strains of "Here Comes The Money". Friendship wins. #HeelLockerRoom time as we join Vince, Stephanie, and Triple H. Vince ain't happy. Trips tells him not to worry; Show might have lost to Shane, but he and Austin will win the tag titles in tonight's main event. Vince says he only has one son, and that's Triple H. Wow. GOOD NEWS! STEVE loving BLACKMAN IS AT WWF NEW YORK! Bad news. He's joined (and overshadowed) by Grandmaster Sexay. loving bullshit. I demand 30 minute Steve promos at every PPV from now on. The Gospel of Blackman needs to be heard. We see a very brief recap of last Thursday's Smackdown, at which Matt Hardy beat Eddie Guerrero for the European Championship. It looks like an absolute clusterfuck, but a fun one, involving interference from Perry Saturn, Terri, Jeff and Lita. Nice, a singles push for Matt! I always knew he had the greater potential of the two. That Jeff better pray the tag team stays together, because his career is going nowhere. Real talk - Matt is the better Hardy Boy though. By far. 6. WWF European Championship: Matt Hardy (c) vs Christian vs Eddie Guerrero Hoo, this could be a banger. Christian and Eddie agree to team up for now, and beat the champ down at the opening bell before tossing him out. Christian immediately sucker punches Guerrero from behind, making that perhaps the most short-lived alliance in wrestling history (still a better tag team than X Factor). The pair fly around the ring in a quick exchange, ending when Eddie reminds me how much I absolutely love him with an outrageously good hurricanrana. Nobody can move like him in a ring. It's obscene. Matt's back in now and sets Christian up for a superplex, but Eddie lifts him onto his shoulders and Christian looks for the Doomsday Device! Woah! Hardy instead falls into a victory roll - missing Christian by inches - and rolls up Guerrero for two! Nice spot. The champ shoves Eddie into Christian and catches him on the rebound looking for the "AAAH!" Twist of Fate, but my boy C-dog stops him with a quick clothesline. Eddie hits a nice drop toehold on Christian, and Matt hits a...not so nice sunset flip on Guerrero, leaving them both tangled in the ropes. Guerrero is shoved out of the ring and Matt gets a near fall on Christian, before just punching him in the face. Seriously, he just potatoes him in the jaw and the ref's cool with it. Brutal. Eddie drags Matt out of the ring and Christian decks both men with a baseball slide. Matt charges back at him and the challenger lifts him onto the apron...but Hardy does a handstand, springs off the ropes Tajiri-style, and nails a DDT on the way back down! Very unique. Eddie isn't too impressed, dragging Matt back onto the apron by the hair and hitting a BRAINBUSTER INTO THE RING! Jesus! ANOTHER brainbuster!? COVER HIM! Matt kicks out at two!? Booooo! I guess the second brainbuster might have been a vertical suplex. Eddie goes for a frankensteiner from the top, but Christian sneakily holds Matt in place and Guerrero crashes to the mat. Now Christian goes for a superplex, but the champ hurls him off onto the downed Eddie. Double clothesline from the top! Matt's on a roll. The girls in the crowd are screaming. He heads up to the middle rope this time and hits his "AAAAAAHH" legdrop on Eddie! 1...2...no! Eddie sends Matt to the outside, and the champ scrambles to his feet at the foot of the ramp. HAHAHAHA! Edge comes SCREAMING down the ramp and nails him with a Spear! That was awesome! Early shades of Edge's Rated R Superstar persona with the villainous intensity there. He rolls Hardy back in for Christian to cover...but Eddie shoves him off and tries to steal it! 1...2...Matt kicks out! Jeff is out now to help his brother (about time) and jumps Edge. Oh wow, he's dressed like an utter scumbag. That is perhaps the trampiest hat I've ever seen. Christian hits the Unprettier on Guerrero and covers him, but the ref is distracted by a livid Edge! Jeff heads up top and hits the Swanton to break the pinfall before clearing out of the ring. Matt is up and so is a groggy Christian. "Aaah" Twist of Fate! A very weak shout there, but it's good enough for the three count! Winner and STILL WWF European Champion: Matt Hardy 3/5 - A really fun, fast-paced match, and the perfect response to the more gimmicky Show vs Shane bout. My only gripe was that it was a little short. I'd have happily shaved some time off the mammoth Angle vs Benoit clash to make this longer, but never mind. Matt was good, Christian was great, Eddie was Eddie. More from these guys please.
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Aug 5, 2014 03:32
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Backlash - April 29th 2001 PART 4 Recap reacap. We flash back to 'Mania and Austin's betrayal. The following night on Raw, Rocky gets a rematch in a steel cage. Vince interferes but a tweenerish Triple H furiously runs down to save the Rock...only to smash him in the head with a sledgehammer and ally with the champ! Trips soon beats Jericho for the Intercontinental title and look set to dominate the WWF. Kane and 'Taker have something to say about that, intimidating Regal into giving them a match with the two heels. He agrees as long as they can beat Edge and Christian for the tag titles, which they do. I'm expecting this to be a war. 7. WWF, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Championship Match: The Two-Man Power Trip (c) (c) vs The Brothers of Destruction (c) (c) JR mentions during Kane's entrance that his elbow was injured in a previous attack by HHH. The crowd are hot for the Brothers who look absolutely terrifying on the outside. HHH and Austin agree, bailing from the ring as the faces slide in. They try to re-enter a number of times but get scared away. 'Taker punches Trips down as he gets onto the apron, and the heels stall for a long time checking on the Game's eye. It would be tedious, but HHH's heeling makes it great as he shouts "he punched me in the eye!" to Hebner. We get that classic spot where the heels decide to just leave, so the faces chase them down and drag them to the ring. Everybody brawls for a while until we begin properly with HHH and Kane in the ring. Trips survives the initial onslaught and takes control with a high knee, before we cut to Stephanie applauding from the outside. By the way, he thought it was a good idea to bring Stephanie out to the ring. I know. Austin and 'Taker tag in now, and Stone Cold plays possum in the corner. It just looks wrong. Undertaker hits four consecutive Irish whips on Austin, each smashing him into the turnbuckles and reminding me of my own strategy in wrestling games as a child. Fantastic. Austin begs for a handshake on his knees but 'Taker responds with a kick to the face. Triple H comes back in (Austin scrambling to make the tag like a coward) but eats an old school for his troubles, as does an interfering Stone Cold. The Power Trip try to leave again, but Kane chases them down with a double clothesline. I'd appreciate a little less of the chickenshit antics to be honest. The heels take control with quick tags and double-teaming, isolating the Undertaker and wearing him down. Slowly. 'Taker fights back and shakes off a Triple H facebuster to hit a big DDT in retaliation. He doesn't pin him because then he'd be the Intercontinental Champion, and who the gently caress wants that? Undertaker makes it to his feet but rejects the tag from Kane. Interesting. JR claims it's because he's worried about his brother's injured elbow, but there's an undertone of selfishness about it. Maybe he wants Austin's gold. Stone Cold tags in and hits his Thesz press, but 'Taker goozles him nicely as he tries to drop a follow-up elbow! He sets for the chokeslam but HHH runs in to save...and gets goozled as well! They fight off the double chokeslam attempt but eat a (sloppy sloppy) double clothesline instead. Soooo...when does Undertaker become good at wrestling again guys? Kane blind-tags himself in a clears house with some of his signature moves - including a nice diving right hand from the top. His chokeslam attempt fails as Triple H targets the injured arm. The Undertaker runs in to save him, but it only serves to distract the referee and allow Austin to nail the injured arm again, this time with a chair. The heels work Kane's arm for a LOOOOOONG time and the crowd are getting restless (as am I). Finally Kane starts to fight back....aaaand....Triple H hits a Pedigree out of nowhere. What the gently caress? He tags in Austin who makes the cover, but 'Taker breaks it up. What kind of strange disjointed match is this!? Stephanie gets on the apron and bullies Hebner while Austin eats a chokeslam from Undertaker. Hebner is sick of her bullshit and pushes her to the floor! Triple H just stands there and doesn't give a poo poo! What is going on!? Kane hits Trips with an enziguri and FINALLY makes the tag to his bro. Undertaker clears house and hits a massive Last Ride on Triple H. OH BULLSHIT! Earl refuses to count the pinfall because he didn't see the earlier tag. Undertaker was clearing house for a good twenty seconds with Hebner doing nothing to stop him. This match is ludicrous. Austin is back in now and hits a low blow to Undertaker. STUNNER to Kane! 'Taker tackles Austin out of the ring (Hebner takes a bump) and battles with him into the crowd. Meanwhile Stephanie his slid a championship belt to Triple H, and he measures Kane...BIG BOOT TO THE GAME! Stephanie dashes in...BIG BOOT TO STEPHANIE! Now Vince is out with a sledgehammer, but Kane sets him up for the Chokeslam...only for Triple H to snatch the hammer and drill it into the monster's elbow. He smashes Kane in the head (missed by the camera which is focusing on Vince reviving the referee) and covers him for the excruciatingly slow pinfall. Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: The Two-Man Power Trip 0.5/5 - This was akin to watching a play in which the actors have all forgotten about half of their lines and decide to improvise because they know the general direction of the plot. Something was clearly off out there - a lot of stuff was sloppy, we had that incredibly long period of wearing down Kane, and the finish was thrown together in a ramshackle sort of way. An incredibly disappointing end to the show. The crowd are disappointed except for one guy in the front row who is going CRAZY for Triple H. Vince gets Steph the gently caress out of there while the new Champions of Everything crawl onto the entrance ramp. 'Taker is back in the ring next to his fallen brother and I think we're supposed to sympathise with them, but that doesn't even work in kayfabe terms. If I didn't know wrestling was fake, I'd still assume Kane and 'Taker were off their game tonight. They just looked slow and strained, and didn't deserve the titles in all honesty. Blegh. Summary to follow.
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Aug 13, 2014 15:12
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