FromTheSouth
You don't want it with me.
If you like this, I might do another one.
Certain ideas truly enrapture the mind. What if JFK has been allowed to finish his Presidency? How good could the Rockets have been if T-Mac and Yao had ever been healthy at the same time? What if Clinton's meteor really had foreign life on it? What would happen if WCW and WWF went to war?
Well, one of these can be answered. Three championships for the Rockets. Another one had a promising start, and fell flat on its face. The InVasion angle was this concept.
It started well, as Vince showed up on Nitro to announce he was buying WCW. He was undermined by Shane, who bought it first, and boom, we have a wrestling war. Finally, we get what we've wanted to see for all these years. We can see Sting vs. Undertaker, Goldberg vs. Austin. This sounds awesome. Once ECW became involved, it was sure to take off.
There was a problem though. Vince bought WCW in it's dying days. There was no nWo, and many of WCW's established stars wanted nothing to do with Vince. We were left with WCW's midcard vs. Vince's ego.
The night of the turn, when the ECW guys invaded and joined with WCW was amazing. It was one of the true holy shit moments in the history of wrestling. It was, at the time, the swerve to end all swerves. The problem was that after than amazing moment, we weren't getting Sting vs. The Rock, we were getting Booker T vs. The Rock. Now, take nothing away from Book. He has had a successful career. He has put on amazing matches and played his character very well. The problem is that the once great WCW, which spent nearly two years as the number one program in wrestling, had fallen on hard times. The nWo has kept many young stars down. The truly great talents did not have main event experience, and at the end of the company, there were thrown into main events featuring David Arquette and Tweeter. So, finally, once Vince Russo was done finishing Hogan's kill, WCW was ripe for the picking, and Vince decided that he was going to squeeze the last bits of life out of his once great rival. This is how we arrive in the Gund Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio. Cole and JR on the call.
We begin with a video package where Vince McMahon hints that he is like FDR. I think that makes Brisco Stalin, and Pat Patterson Churchill. That makes sense, as they were quite dandy. I would also guess that Vince's calling himself FDR means that he was calling Shane Hitler. According to Godwin's Law, Vince has lost already, but alas, we continue anyway. The main advantage Vince has is that he gets to rewrite history. Let's see how worthy of a competitor he makes WCW look like.
Onto the show!!!!
Lance Storm is out first, and he wants to be serious for a minute. I always used to think that this was just an act, and he had to be quite a cut up backstage. I discovered his column and understood that this was his fun side on TV. Well, the man who makes the missionary position look dangerous has something to say. He is out with his partner, Mike Awesome. For those of you who don't Mike Awesome was a member of the Hogan family. Awesome was quite impressive in the ring during his career, but could never get the traction with the crowd that Uncle Terry could, so he hung out with Horace. Mike Awesome actually started the invasion of the WWF when he took the hardcore title in MSG.
Lance Storm could get some heel heat. He's about to tell us how tonight changes history. I wanted to know, but Edge and Christian were a little impatient. Christian looked weird with long hair and a fishnet T-shirt. Mike Awesome was a true powerhouse, and he starts taking Christian to task. Edge and Christian are seven time champs, but Edge had just won King of the Ring, so this was one of their final PPV's as partners. JR has mentioned rodeo's already. Storm and Christian pulled an interesting spot. You know how people slide Rey Mysterio out of the ring on his belly? Well, Storm threw Christian that same way into the ring post. Christian is in full Ricky Morton mode here. It is awesome to watch Lance Storm work with Edge and Christian, as his entire moveset is available without showing anyone up. Storm was the consummate professional and Mike Awesome was in the match too.
This match is the problem with *Hold on, Mike Awesome just did a frog splash at least halfway across the ring. He is 280 pounds. Amazing* the invasion angle. Can you imagine the rub Edge and Christian could have gotten with a win over The Outsiders? I know they had been gone for a while, but it shows my point. This wasn't WCW that battled WWF invading. This was a watered down version. This match ends when Awesome picks Edge up for a power bomb, and gets speared by Edge's brother, Christian.
This match gets a B. The actual wrestling was never the problem with the angle. Many of the matches were quite good. It's just that the matchups were never as epic as they were supposed to be. This is an example. This was a nice little match, but, meh...where's Sting?
We cut backstage and McMahon claims E&C reek of awesomeness. He does an odd dance, and Regal walks in. Regal is wearing a polo and trunks. This is what I am wearing when I wake up after a bender, but Regal puts it on to appear before millions of people. That takes balls. Regal wants to talk about Austin. McMahon doesn't. He wants to talk about Regal. Regal will be facing the toe rag known as Raven. McMahon tells Regal to take it to him like Washington took it to the Redcoats. Awesome.
We get a preview of the awesomeness known as the Earl Hebner/Nick Patrick feud. Nothing like two out of shape 40 year old refs going at it.
Mick Foley is out next to ref this amazing semi main event. He is dressed to the nine as usual. I think Dewey painted his shirt. Nick Patrick is out first. He is being followed by the WCW refs. The backstory here is that Nick Patrick has been biased in his officiating, which led to a locker room confrontation between he and Hebner. Hebner is out next followed by WWF officials. You would think that two guys who spent this long in the business would wear some fighting clothes instead of ref unifroms, but whatever. Earl Hebner is a work rate king, and he spends the first part of this match stomping a mudhole in Patrick. Hebner climbs the ropes like a cat and gives Patrick ten to the face in the corner. I wish more guys would climb up and allow the crowd to count along. Hebner gets thrown to the outside, and the WCW refs attack. We have a melee between the refs. Foley sends the WCW refs to the back, Patrick whines, and Earl Hebner ends it with a flying shoulder block. Nick Patrick is now well enough to argue with Foley. Bad move bro. Nick Patrick is about to eat a sock. Believe me, I would much rather have swine flu than have anything from Mick Foley's pants in my mouth.
Rating: G. This is worse than F. Useless filler.
We now get a video package featuring DDP and Austin. DDP has just finished stalking Undertaker's wife and now he is kidnapping Austin's. Wasn't he kind of a fun loving guy in WCW? Sara and Debra argue about which on of their husbands was going to hurt DDP worse.
Next up we have the APA vs. Palumbo and O'Hair. O'Hair was a very agile big man. He featured a Swanton, and he was nearly 300 pounds. Palumbo and O'Hair were a pretty dominant force in WCW. Palumbo was a great athlete, and, as I said, O'Hair was quite impressive. JBL was so amazing on the mic back then. The APA was stupid over with this crowd. They were actually the locker room leaders, rousing the midcard every chance they got. This match is champion vs. champion.
APA is out first to a ridculous pop. P&O run out. No time for intros, and we has us a brawl. I just noticed that Teddy Long is the ref. Palumbo shows the athleticism he used to have by attempting a cross body into a prone JBL in the corner. JBL catches him and we get a fall away slam. JBL is moving pretty well, and we're about to get us some Ron Simmons. O'Hair looks like Dane Cook on lots of steroids. No one threw a spine buster in 2001 like Ron Simmons. Seriously, JBL is moving quickly and his powerslam on Palumbo was just sick. Palumbo gets way up on a drop kick. For those of you who only saw Palumbo in his last days, you missed out. He used to be an athletic machine. Clothesline from Hell, and it's 3-0 WWF.
Rating - C+. This was four power guys being powerful. O&P did some nice athletic stuff. APA had to go over here, as the way they were being pushed on Raw merited it. The locker room leaders couldn't have lost here, so it was what it was.
Backstage, McMahon and Jericho. This looks promising. We need to remember here, that while Jericho came from WCW soon before this, he is a loyal WWF guy. Jericho shoots on WCW by saying the inmates ran the assylum and then he calls Paul E. fat for two solid minutes. Vince and Jericho duet "Never be the same a-gain." Stephanie McMahon was so hot back then.
Now we get Shane, Stephanie, and Paul E. trying to fire up Kidman. Kidman is about to teach us why X-Pac sucks. This is cruiser champ vs cruiser champ.
X-Pac is out first. JR reminds us that WCW fired him via Fedex while he was hurt. So far WCW has been completely buried. X-Pac does something cool and steals Kidman's belt and holds them both up together. The crowd is chanting X-Pac sucks and all of a sudden this WWF crowd is rooting WCW. So am I. X-Pac is wrestling as the heel here for no fucking reason. This is why I hate X-Pac. His ring psychology is ******ed. WWF are all supposed to be faces on this show, and X-Pac is showing off and slapping him in the back of the head. These guys do cruiserweight things and miraculously recover in time to do more. X-Pac does what every cruisermatch needs - RESTHOLDS!
God, this crowd hates X-Pac.
Waltman has a sleeper on Kidman where you can clearly see the space between his arm and Kidman's face. Pac continues to play heel. He is a fucking idiot. X-Pac tries a 450 spalsh and gets about 270 degrees around. Seriously, I hate myself for marking out when he beat Razor Ramon. X-Pac goes for the Bronco Buster, gets kicked in the balls and Kidman hits the Shooting Star Press about three hundred times better than Evan Boring dreams about doing. 1-2-3 and it's 3-1.
Rating - D. This might be unfair because I hate X-pac and am not a big fan of cruisers. I did always like Kidman though.
DDP is in the locker room with the heel leaders. Stephanie McMahon lost a fight to a crimper. They tell DDP to focus.
Torrie and Stacy are in the locker room telling us how hot they are. I agree.
Next up, we get the long anticipated Raven vs. Regal match.
Raven is out first. He is representing ECW. At the beginning of this angle, Raven was WWF, but he defected, and Regal, as commissioner, felt he needed to give retribution. Regal got his push too late in his career. He was always featured in broadcasts, but the guys would have made a great heel champion. It is fun to listen to JR and Cole describe ECW. The fans are cultlike and the matches had barbedwire. Thanks for wrapping that one up nicely with a bow for us. Remember when I said that Vince gets to rewrite history? Here is an example.
Regal looks impressive, and so does Raven. I used to love Raven, but his gimmick got stale to me. He is still great on the mic, and I wish they would have given him some mic time. Interesting note, Regal just gave Raven the knee to the head that is his finisher now, and here, he doesn't even go for a cover. The JR checklist is almost complete with his mention of "catch as catch can." Someone is going to have to tell me what that is and why it is desirable. The ref got distracted, Taz comes out and T-Bones Regal. Evenflow and WCW gets the win. It is now 3-2, with WWF still in the lead.
Rating - B. Regal was always serviceable in the ring. Raven was quite good back then. Bonus points for allowing me to see Taz wrestle. Taz's injuries were a shame. I always thought he was going to get a title run. In his debut with the company, he ended Kurt Angle's undefeated streak.
Backstage, The Brother's of Destruction (with Biker Taker) and Sara are preparing for their match. I know I said earlier that APA were the locker room leaders, and that wasn't a lie, but they led the midcard, while the entire roster rallied around Taker. Vince is trying to coach and inspire Kane and Taker by reminding them of embarassments. Taker chokes him and walks out of the locker room. Apparently, Vince enjoys that and gets a sick smile on his face.
Next out to the ring is Big Show. He looks odd with hair. His partners in this six man tag are "The One" Billy Gun and the Intercontinental Champion Albert. Yeah, I know, Albert. No one ever gets to complain about the midcard again. There opponents are Sean Stasiak, Kanyon, and Hugh Morris. Our first spot is awesome. Billy, who was wuite strong and well put together, Show and Albert all press slam an opponent at the same time. The visual was amazing, and a metaphor for the entire angle. Let's take a look at the teams. A multiple time World Champion, a 53 time tag team champion, and Japan's favorite tag team wrestler vs. The biggest underachiever in the history of the business, Stasiak, crazy ass Kanyon, and fat Riddler. Hmmmm, how is this one going to go? Albert was incredibly agile, strong, and misused. He should have been world champion at some point. Oh, hat size reference from JR. Someone has to have Bingo by now. Anyway, the WCW guys win by nefarious means and then get their asses kicked by the faces afterward. Why doesn't Big Show do the Alley-Oh anymore?
Rating - F. The wrong team won from a kayfabe sense. Show never got in the match. It was short, and Billy Gunn was involved.
Booker T and Shane decide to dance.
Tajiri is in Regal's locker office. Regal just inspired me to go fight Taz.
Here comes Taz. I love Taz. His music is awesome. His towel is awesome. His smoke is awesome. Oops, no towel tonight. Now, for the youngsters out there, Taz was the most dominant wrestler in ECW. He held ten titles in his time there, and became known as the human suplex machine. He told stories in the ring, and relied on throws. Imagine Chris Benoit with a gimmick. Tajiri is in the match too. Taz is just dominating Tajiri. Taz had already been in WWF for a while before the invasion. He was a color commentator for Heat, and had defected shortly before this event. JR calls Heyman a manipulator as if Paul E. would be defended. If you didn't know, I was a fan of Taz's. Taz is just dominating Tajiri. Speaking of Tajiri, did anyone else think that Torrie Wilson looked hot in that Geisha outfit he kept her in? Maybe I'm sick, but I thought it made us focus on her face which is just so beautiful.
Tajiri is still getting killed. Tajiri puts the Tarantula in Taz. That move is illegal but effective. Tajiri kicks a lot. Just once, I want to see a Japanese wrestler whose finisher isn't a kick. JR and Cole call every Taz move a suplex, but not what kind. I hate that. It's a fucking T-bone Ross. I have no idea how people think you are the best. Anyway, Green Mist and a roundhouse kick, and Vince kicks me in the balls, giving Tajiri the win. WWF leads 4-3. Holy shit, halfway through the show, and we have had seven matches.
Rating - D Taz dominated here, and then lost to racism. Green Mist and a kick? Why not have a Jew negotiate someone into letting him pin you?
The Hardyz are in the back. I guess WCW only had one real tag team, as Jeff has a match and Matt is looking oh so manly in a fishnet shirt and jeans. Matt isn't worried about Trish and Lita's match against Torrie and Stacy. He is worried about RVD, as he should be. RVD attacks Matt with a chair. Jeff Hardy vs. RVD. Awesome.
Lster
Bob Holly is signing autographs at WWF New York. Some kid wears a WCW T-shirt and Holly pulls it off of him. Maybe they should have found someone who wasn't a foot taller than Holly for that segment.
RVD is on his way to the ring. WWF is muting his cheers here. The entire crowd is on their feet and you hear no sound. Part of the problem with this angle was that RVD could not be a heel. They wanted him to be a leader of the heel faction, but it didn't work. Jeff Hardy is out next to not nearly the pop he would get today. This is going to be awesome. This match is for the Hardcore Title. They do a lot of flips and miss. I know I rail against flippy shit a lot, but these guys do it right. It makes sense here. JR brings up that Hardy won the Intercontinental Title from HHH earlier in the year. HHH must've liked Jeff Hardy from day one. He was always jobbing for him. HHH gets a lot of shit for holding guys down, but he made Jeff Hardy, and took a decade to do it. This is an HC title match, and there have been no weapons. RVD is apparently in the matrix and drinks Kool-Aid. Holy shit chant from the Gund crowd. Apparently, Jeff is the WWF's most eligible bachelor. What the fuck is JR talking about? Someone spiked his BBQ sauce. Remember that move where Jeff jumps on the railing in front of the crowd? Well, he and RVD just both did it and basically had a chicken fight up there. They are fighting in the crowd. These guys are literally trying to kill themselves. Spinning guillotine leg drop from RVD. JR calls it a spinning heel kick. What an idiot.
Loud ass RVD chant from the crowd. He takes a bow, and then he takes a sunset flip powerbomb to elicit a holy shit chant. Jeff Hardy grabs a ladder. There is a reason this match is regarded so highly. 20 foot fall from Jeff Hardy. RVD gets a chair. Jeff is limping. These are two of my favorite wrestlers and this match is part of the reason why. They make an interesting point in that both men failed with their weapon of choice. Van Daminator. Jeff was infront of RVD who, was on his knees, and during Jeff's windup, Van Dam went from his knees to a jumping pin kick. If you haven't seen this, it is quite impressive. I want to applaud Michael Cole for saying resilience, which is a word, instead of resiliency, which is not.
Michael Cole has not once said vintage.
Jeff is bleeding, and RVD misses a split legged moonsault. I love how the ref has to carry the belt the whole time in an HC title match, but never just puts it on to keep his hands free. Jeff misses a swanton. ***** frog splash and we have a new WWF Hardcore Champion, R-V-D!
Rating - A- The pace never slowed. The crowd was hot. There was psychology in a hardcore match, not over the top weapon use, and told a story. Jeff lost because he wanted revenge. This match could have gone longer, but that's not the fault of the guys in the ring, who did amazing things.
McMahon is met by Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle just said bullshit on WWF television. Kurt kicked ass in the Olympics and he's going to do it again tonight, and that's true, damn true.
Up next, bra and panties tag team match. Let's see here, Torrie and Stacy whom I love vs. Trish, who I also love, and Lita who makes me sick. This match is over The Hardyz. God I love everyone in this match except Lita. That video package did a great job of showing Stacy's ass. Out first is your referee, Mick Foley. Good job Mick. Good job. I am jealous.
The WCW girls are out first and I am almost erect. So is Mick. LOL JR said he's done a lot of research and bra and panties matches by watching the Briscoes vs. The Funks. Stacy is out second. Man, she is so fine. Trish is out next. This is before her lips surpassed the size of her head. Lita is out next, and my erection is gone.
The faces charge the ring and it's on. The object of the match is to strip your opponents to their undies. JR is wearing boxers and not a thong. Thank God. We always get to hear how great Trish and Lita are in the ring, but Stacy and Torrie were never terrible. Stacy was just vicious and Torrie was athletic. The heels don't want in with Lita. Apparently, Matt Hardy is no longer worth fighting for. Stacy's shirt is off. Her bra is yellow. Her body is amazing. Lita's top is now off. Emo's aren't supposed to have boobs that big. Lita did something from the top rope, which apparently makes her awesome. Nevermind that that was all she could do. The faces are making Torrie and Stacy look really good. That is nice of them. Trish's top is off and while it was getting pulled off, Trish rolled Torrie over and took her pants off. It was creative but not nearly as exciting as it should have been. Stacy's pants come off and we're all winners.
Rating A+. I love three of these women and they are half naked. Enough said. The event is now tied.
The heel leaders are inspiring The Dudleyz, Rhyno and Booker T. It is uneventful and loud.
McMahon is with Austin and Debra. This is after Austin had gone soft, but Debra was kidnapped and he is fired up now. The score is even and the next match is the inaugural brawl. We get Kane, Undertaker, Stone Cole, Kurt Angle, and jericho vs. DDP, Booker T, The Dudleyz and fucking Rhyno, who doesn't belong. This is another example of the watered down WCW/ECW product that we were left with after Vince bought it. Sting, Flair, Nash, Hogan, and Hall should have been taking on the WWF team. If we would have gotten this match, with a Hogan/Austin double turn, the InVasion would have been the best angle ever. Instead, we get Rhyno.
We get a video package that brings us up to date. It began with Mike Awesome pinning Rhyno on top of a ladder. They are now on the same team. Then they show us the turn on Raw and we see Paul E embracing Shane. Stephanie comes to the ring in the hottest pink dress ever. I love her. Now we get caught up on Austin hugging Vince. Austin is sad. This is an example of the brandsplit looking bad. This story needed fours a week to develop. Nice Classy Freddie Blasie sighting. Here comes Austin save the day. He gives everyone a stunner and shakes Undertaker's hand. I know I have been dumping on WCW's midcard invading, but that wasn't their fault. Everyone in this angle did their best to make it intense. In retrospect, it wasn't good enough, but at the time, it did make WWF programming must see TV. The story was well written. The lack of the top WWF stars, and the burying of WCW kinda killed it. But, up until the night of the PPV, it was very well done. Shane is out first, followed by Stephanie and Paul E. I bet Stephanie is a terror in the bed, maybe even Savage-like. You see what I did there. Vince comes out next and stares down his family.
The Dudleyz are the first wrestlers out. I miss this version of The Dudleyz. Those of you who think of them as TNA stars missed out. It was never pretty in the ring, but it was a good show, and Bubba could always give a promo. This was even a watered down version of the Dudleyz, but they were still so awesome. Next out are The Brother's of Destruction. I never understood why they did the intros like this. It makes me think of a Final Four game. One side, then the other. Kane is looking absolutely beastly here, and still in a mask. Kane is the single most misused star in the history of the company. Seriously, he was huge, and could go, and when he debuted, I was legit scared of him. He lost too much, and should have multiple world title reigns. Rhyno is out next. Boooooooooo!! Rhyno is kind of a big deal in that he was the last ECW and ECW TV Champion, but whatever, I hate him. Next out is Y2J. He was awesome here. He was soon to be the first Undisputed Champion of the World. He was just hitting a stride that he is still on. Chris Jericho is one of the top 25 guys of all time in ring and on the mic. He is the total package, and his time as a maineventer happened because he starred in this angle. Booker T is out next. He also has two titles right now. JR tells us that he is no Ric Flair and no Sting. JR is finally right about something.
Kurt Angle is out next and he gets the loudest pop I have ever heard him get. I loved his music. Yeah, you could sing "You Suck" to it, but fuck it, that music fit his character and always signaled that something great was about to happen. DDP is out next. Heel DDP was always weird to me. He was always a fun loving guy, and Vince took his character and turned him into a psycho, which didn't fit. We are brawling in the aisle as Austin walks out and the roof blows off the building. I thought Angle got a loud pop. I was wrong. There are two refs and bodies flying everywhere. The WWF guys get the upper hand and Austin and Rhyno start it off. There is a mudhole being stopped. Lou Thesz press. Elbow. This is following Austin's formula.
Rhyno is getting killed. Awesome. Superplex by Austin. Devon saves the match. Jericho is in next. The crowd doesn't whoo at chops yet. They should. It makes the chop more effective. Big Y2J chant. Rhyno gets an advantage and tags in Booker T. This crowd is hot. They boo the heels and cheer the faces. Sidious would call them idiots for this. I call them educated fans who know that they are part of the show. Jericho hits a nice springboard drop kick and then a missile drop kick. Angle is in and the place roars. Angle looks funny with hair, and he stomps a mudhole into Booker T. Booker T could throw a kick back then. This match is awesome in that all of the guys were either entering or in their primes, with the exception of Austin and DDP. Austin had been wracked by injuries and DDP had been around a while. For Austin it didn't matter, as athelticism was not his forte, and for DDP, well, it showed.
Kane and D-Von are tagged in. Kane was about 250 and solid as a rock back then. He could move too. The Dudleyz hit a modified 3D. Bubba is in, and Kane is handling him. Kane from the top rope. Kane tags in his brother, The American Badass. How many times per episode of Raw do you think they said "ass" back then. The answer is a billion. Undertaker decks DDP. JR calls DDP ugly. I agree. JR just mentioned BBQ sauce. So far we have hat size, shoe size, BBQ sauce, mudhole, and rodeo. No Oklahoma Sooners references yet. Rhyno is in and is dominating Taker in the corner. DDP begs for a tag now. Taker hit DDP about ten times in two seconds, but fell prey to the discus clothes line, which was also misidentified.
Booker T is tagged in and he goes to work on Taker. Taker has decided to go Ricky Morton for us. Desperation DDT from Taker. Taker tags in Austin. Austin had beef with Booker over Booker's attacking him at King of the Ring. Austin is owning Booker. This match, in and of itself, is awesome. All of these guys can really go in two minute bursts. Jericho is tagged in. Hegoes for the walls. Jericho decides to own DDP and Booker at the same time. D-Von is a great heel. He cheatsd at every opportunity, and gets tagged in. He works Jericho over and tags in Bubba. Classic heel double teaming and Bubba works Jericho over. Jericho starts to fight back.
JR perfers sports entertainment to koolaid, neutering, and dormancy. Angle is tagged in and suddenly suplexes have names. He works over both Dudleyz. Who knew that almost eight years later, these three would still be main eventing against each other? D-Von gets tagged in following a Bubba Bomb. Paul E. sucks chant. Rhyno is in. Who knew that eight years later, Rhyno would still be forcing Kurt to move slowly to avoid making him look bad? Booker is back in to fight Angle. Who knew.....Go TNA! Booker hits the axe kick and follows it with a spinaroonie which is a waste of time according to JR. Once Booker goes face, JR will mark out for it.
Austin hasn't been in in a while, so he hits someone. Austin is begging for the tag and the crowd chants his name. Bubba is in and DDP distracts the ref so the Dudleyz can hit a Whasssuuuupppp. JR just said resilliency and I cringed. DDP is in now and hits what we would now call a modified Dream Street. Angle tags in Austin, but the ref didn't see it thanks to a distraction. What great heel wrestling! DDP hit a diamond cutter and we have us a Dawnybrook! Everyone is in. Rhyno misses Y2J and goes booker T. We're left with DDP and Taker. Chokeslam by Taker to DDP. Charles Robinson interrupts a last ride so he gets one for his troubles. Stupid Mini Naitch.
Kane and Bubba are brawling. Taker and DDP fight into the crowd. Bubba is bleeding. Austin is hurt and being attended to by a paramedic. Kane is clearing off the announce table, but gets stopped by the Dudleyz. I always wondered if Austin was legit hurt here. The Dudleyz grab some tables. Devon just got chokeslammed through the announce table. The Spanish announce team looks shocked and offended that it wasn't their table. Bubba and Rhyno comply with their wishes and Kane gets suplexed threw the Spanish announce table. Y2J drive Rhyno through another table. There are three broken tables and six broken bodies. Vince looks worried. Austin is still with the paramedic, and there has been no mention of it. This is why I think it was legit. Back in the ring Angle is getting beaten by Booker and Bubba. Angle Slam onto Bubba and an ankle lock for Booker T. Watching this match makes me think that TNA has a bright future.
This is the obligatory main event rest spot where everyone is hurt. McMahon throws the title belt to Angle, but Shane intercepts. He hits Vince and then gets beat down by Angle. Kurt has Booker in the ankle lock and Austin throws the ref in the ring. And then, Austin flies into the ring and------kicks Angle? Stunner and Booker covers for the win. Austin has turned his back on the WWF. Oh my God!!! JR is about to have a seizure. The alliance wins and JR sells the hell out of it. Austin is in the ring with Shane, Stephanie, and Paul E. They share some beers. Only one man can save the WWF at this point, if you smell what I am cooking.
Rating A - Ok, so this whole time I complained about the angle not working and WCW getting burids. Up until this point, it was looking good. WCW won and got a hold of the WWF championship. They also won the hardcore championship on this night. Of course, there were other alliance battles, most notably the Survivor Series match, where this angle would go wrong. It was not Booker T's or DDP's fault that the big WCW stars did not come right over. They were billed as the best WCW had, and they all preformed well in this match. The turn at the end was Holy Shit material at the time, and the match was very entertaining.
Overall rating for the show - B+
They tried to pack too much into the show. There could have been two less matches. There was no need for the referee shit or X-Pac. With nine matches, you could have given Jeff and RVD and E&C a bit more time, but I am nitpicking. I loved this show the first time and was more than happy to rewatch it. The angle would go south from here, true, but on this night, all was good. I give this show a B rating overall.
Certain ideas truly enrapture the mind. What if JFK has been allowed to finish his Presidency? How good could the Rockets have been if T-Mac and Yao had ever been healthy at the same time? What if Clinton's meteor really had foreign life on it? What would happen if WCW and WWF went to war?
Well, one of these can be answered. Three championships for the Rockets. Another one had a promising start, and fell flat on its face. The InVasion angle was this concept.
It started well, as Vince showed up on Nitro to announce he was buying WCW. He was undermined by Shane, who bought it first, and boom, we have a wrestling war. Finally, we get what we've wanted to see for all these years. We can see Sting vs. Undertaker, Goldberg vs. Austin. This sounds awesome. Once ECW became involved, it was sure to take off.
There was a problem though. Vince bought WCW in it's dying days. There was no nWo, and many of WCW's established stars wanted nothing to do with Vince. We were left with WCW's midcard vs. Vince's ego.
The night of the turn, when the ECW guys invaded and joined with WCW was amazing. It was one of the true holy shit moments in the history of wrestling. It was, at the time, the swerve to end all swerves. The problem was that after than amazing moment, we weren't getting Sting vs. The Rock, we were getting Booker T vs. The Rock. Now, take nothing away from Book. He has had a successful career. He has put on amazing matches and played his character very well. The problem is that the once great WCW, which spent nearly two years as the number one program in wrestling, had fallen on hard times. The nWo has kept many young stars down. The truly great talents did not have main event experience, and at the end of the company, there were thrown into main events featuring David Arquette and Tweeter. So, finally, once Vince Russo was done finishing Hogan's kill, WCW was ripe for the picking, and Vince decided that he was going to squeeze the last bits of life out of his once great rival. This is how we arrive in the Gund Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio. Cole and JR on the call.
We begin with a video package where Vince McMahon hints that he is like FDR. I think that makes Brisco Stalin, and Pat Patterson Churchill. That makes sense, as they were quite dandy. I would also guess that Vince's calling himself FDR means that he was calling Shane Hitler. According to Godwin's Law, Vince has lost already, but alas, we continue anyway. The main advantage Vince has is that he gets to rewrite history. Let's see how worthy of a competitor he makes WCW look like.
Onto the show!!!!
Lance Storm is out first, and he wants to be serious for a minute. I always used to think that this was just an act, and he had to be quite a cut up backstage. I discovered his column and understood that this was his fun side on TV. Well, the man who makes the missionary position look dangerous has something to say. He is out with his partner, Mike Awesome. For those of you who don't Mike Awesome was a member of the Hogan family. Awesome was quite impressive in the ring during his career, but could never get the traction with the crowd that Uncle Terry could, so he hung out with Horace. Mike Awesome actually started the invasion of the WWF when he took the hardcore title in MSG.
Lance Storm could get some heel heat. He's about to tell us how tonight changes history. I wanted to know, but Edge and Christian were a little impatient. Christian looked weird with long hair and a fishnet T-shirt. Mike Awesome was a true powerhouse, and he starts taking Christian to task. Edge and Christian are seven time champs, but Edge had just won King of the Ring, so this was one of their final PPV's as partners. JR has mentioned rodeo's already. Storm and Christian pulled an interesting spot. You know how people slide Rey Mysterio out of the ring on his belly? Well, Storm threw Christian that same way into the ring post. Christian is in full Ricky Morton mode here. It is awesome to watch Lance Storm work with Edge and Christian, as his entire moveset is available without showing anyone up. Storm was the consummate professional and Mike Awesome was in the match too.
This match is the problem with *Hold on, Mike Awesome just did a frog splash at least halfway across the ring. He is 280 pounds. Amazing* the invasion angle. Can you imagine the rub Edge and Christian could have gotten with a win over The Outsiders? I know they had been gone for a while, but it shows my point. This wasn't WCW that battled WWF invading. This was a watered down version. This match ends when Awesome picks Edge up for a power bomb, and gets speared by Edge's brother, Christian.
This match gets a B. The actual wrestling was never the problem with the angle. Many of the matches were quite good. It's just that the matchups were never as epic as they were supposed to be. This is an example. This was a nice little match, but, meh...where's Sting?
We cut backstage and McMahon claims E&C reek of awesomeness. He does an odd dance, and Regal walks in. Regal is wearing a polo and trunks. This is what I am wearing when I wake up after a bender, but Regal puts it on to appear before millions of people. That takes balls. Regal wants to talk about Austin. McMahon doesn't. He wants to talk about Regal. Regal will be facing the toe rag known as Raven. McMahon tells Regal to take it to him like Washington took it to the Redcoats. Awesome.
We get a preview of the awesomeness known as the Earl Hebner/Nick Patrick feud. Nothing like two out of shape 40 year old refs going at it.
Mick Foley is out next to ref this amazing semi main event. He is dressed to the nine as usual. I think Dewey painted his shirt. Nick Patrick is out first. He is being followed by the WCW refs. The backstory here is that Nick Patrick has been biased in his officiating, which led to a locker room confrontation between he and Hebner. Hebner is out next followed by WWF officials. You would think that two guys who spent this long in the business would wear some fighting clothes instead of ref unifroms, but whatever. Earl Hebner is a work rate king, and he spends the first part of this match stomping a mudhole in Patrick. Hebner climbs the ropes like a cat and gives Patrick ten to the face in the corner. I wish more guys would climb up and allow the crowd to count along. Hebner gets thrown to the outside, and the WCW refs attack. We have a melee between the refs. Foley sends the WCW refs to the back, Patrick whines, and Earl Hebner ends it with a flying shoulder block. Nick Patrick is now well enough to argue with Foley. Bad move bro. Nick Patrick is about to eat a sock. Believe me, I would much rather have swine flu than have anything from Mick Foley's pants in my mouth.
Rating: G. This is worse than F. Useless filler.
We now get a video package featuring DDP and Austin. DDP has just finished stalking Undertaker's wife and now he is kidnapping Austin's. Wasn't he kind of a fun loving guy in WCW? Sara and Debra argue about which on of their husbands was going to hurt DDP worse.
Next up we have the APA vs. Palumbo and O'Hair. O'Hair was a very agile big man. He featured a Swanton, and he was nearly 300 pounds. Palumbo and O'Hair were a pretty dominant force in WCW. Palumbo was a great athlete, and, as I said, O'Hair was quite impressive. JBL was so amazing on the mic back then. The APA was stupid over with this crowd. They were actually the locker room leaders, rousing the midcard every chance they got. This match is champion vs. champion.
APA is out first to a ridculous pop. P&O run out. No time for intros, and we has us a brawl. I just noticed that Teddy Long is the ref. Palumbo shows the athleticism he used to have by attempting a cross body into a prone JBL in the corner. JBL catches him and we get a fall away slam. JBL is moving pretty well, and we're about to get us some Ron Simmons. O'Hair looks like Dane Cook on lots of steroids. No one threw a spine buster in 2001 like Ron Simmons. Seriously, JBL is moving quickly and his powerslam on Palumbo was just sick. Palumbo gets way up on a drop kick. For those of you who only saw Palumbo in his last days, you missed out. He used to be an athletic machine. Clothesline from Hell, and it's 3-0 WWF.
Rating - C+. This was four power guys being powerful. O&P did some nice athletic stuff. APA had to go over here, as the way they were being pushed on Raw merited it. The locker room leaders couldn't have lost here, so it was what it was.
Backstage, McMahon and Jericho. This looks promising. We need to remember here, that while Jericho came from WCW soon before this, he is a loyal WWF guy. Jericho shoots on WCW by saying the inmates ran the assylum and then he calls Paul E. fat for two solid minutes. Vince and Jericho duet "Never be the same a-gain." Stephanie McMahon was so hot back then.
Now we get Shane, Stephanie, and Paul E. trying to fire up Kidman. Kidman is about to teach us why X-Pac sucks. This is cruiser champ vs cruiser champ.
X-Pac is out first. JR reminds us that WCW fired him via Fedex while he was hurt. So far WCW has been completely buried. X-Pac does something cool and steals Kidman's belt and holds them both up together. The crowd is chanting X-Pac sucks and all of a sudden this WWF crowd is rooting WCW. So am I. X-Pac is wrestling as the heel here for no fucking reason. This is why I hate X-Pac. His ring psychology is ******ed. WWF are all supposed to be faces on this show, and X-Pac is showing off and slapping him in the back of the head. These guys do cruiserweight things and miraculously recover in time to do more. X-Pac does what every cruisermatch needs - RESTHOLDS!
God, this crowd hates X-Pac.
Waltman has a sleeper on Kidman where you can clearly see the space between his arm and Kidman's face. Pac continues to play heel. He is a fucking idiot. X-Pac tries a 450 spalsh and gets about 270 degrees around. Seriously, I hate myself for marking out when he beat Razor Ramon. X-Pac goes for the Bronco Buster, gets kicked in the balls and Kidman hits the Shooting Star Press about three hundred times better than Evan Boring dreams about doing. 1-2-3 and it's 3-1.
Rating - D. This might be unfair because I hate X-pac and am not a big fan of cruisers. I did always like Kidman though.
DDP is in the locker room with the heel leaders. Stephanie McMahon lost a fight to a crimper. They tell DDP to focus.
Torrie and Stacy are in the locker room telling us how hot they are. I agree.
Next up, we get the long anticipated Raven vs. Regal match.
Raven is out first. He is representing ECW. At the beginning of this angle, Raven was WWF, but he defected, and Regal, as commissioner, felt he needed to give retribution. Regal got his push too late in his career. He was always featured in broadcasts, but the guys would have made a great heel champion. It is fun to listen to JR and Cole describe ECW. The fans are cultlike and the matches had barbedwire. Thanks for wrapping that one up nicely with a bow for us. Remember when I said that Vince gets to rewrite history? Here is an example.
Regal looks impressive, and so does Raven. I used to love Raven, but his gimmick got stale to me. He is still great on the mic, and I wish they would have given him some mic time. Interesting note, Regal just gave Raven the knee to the head that is his finisher now, and here, he doesn't even go for a cover. The JR checklist is almost complete with his mention of "catch as catch can." Someone is going to have to tell me what that is and why it is desirable. The ref got distracted, Taz comes out and T-Bones Regal. Evenflow and WCW gets the win. It is now 3-2, with WWF still in the lead.
Rating - B. Regal was always serviceable in the ring. Raven was quite good back then. Bonus points for allowing me to see Taz wrestle. Taz's injuries were a shame. I always thought he was going to get a title run. In his debut with the company, he ended Kurt Angle's undefeated streak.
Backstage, The Brother's of Destruction (with Biker Taker) and Sara are preparing for their match. I know I said earlier that APA were the locker room leaders, and that wasn't a lie, but they led the midcard, while the entire roster rallied around Taker. Vince is trying to coach and inspire Kane and Taker by reminding them of embarassments. Taker chokes him and walks out of the locker room. Apparently, Vince enjoys that and gets a sick smile on his face.
Next out to the ring is Big Show. He looks odd with hair. His partners in this six man tag are "The One" Billy Gun and the Intercontinental Champion Albert. Yeah, I know, Albert. No one ever gets to complain about the midcard again. There opponents are Sean Stasiak, Kanyon, and Hugh Morris. Our first spot is awesome. Billy, who was wuite strong and well put together, Show and Albert all press slam an opponent at the same time. The visual was amazing, and a metaphor for the entire angle. Let's take a look at the teams. A multiple time World Champion, a 53 time tag team champion, and Japan's favorite tag team wrestler vs. The biggest underachiever in the history of the business, Stasiak, crazy ass Kanyon, and fat Riddler. Hmmmm, how is this one going to go? Albert was incredibly agile, strong, and misused. He should have been world champion at some point. Oh, hat size reference from JR. Someone has to have Bingo by now. Anyway, the WCW guys win by nefarious means and then get their asses kicked by the faces afterward. Why doesn't Big Show do the Alley-Oh anymore?
Rating - F. The wrong team won from a kayfabe sense. Show never got in the match. It was short, and Billy Gunn was involved.
Booker T and Shane decide to dance.
Tajiri is in Regal's locker office. Regal just inspired me to go fight Taz.
Here comes Taz. I love Taz. His music is awesome. His towel is awesome. His smoke is awesome. Oops, no towel tonight. Now, for the youngsters out there, Taz was the most dominant wrestler in ECW. He held ten titles in his time there, and became known as the human suplex machine. He told stories in the ring, and relied on throws. Imagine Chris Benoit with a gimmick. Tajiri is in the match too. Taz is just dominating Tajiri. Taz had already been in WWF for a while before the invasion. He was a color commentator for Heat, and had defected shortly before this event. JR calls Heyman a manipulator as if Paul E. would be defended. If you didn't know, I was a fan of Taz's. Taz is just dominating Tajiri. Speaking of Tajiri, did anyone else think that Torrie Wilson looked hot in that Geisha outfit he kept her in? Maybe I'm sick, but I thought it made us focus on her face which is just so beautiful.
Tajiri is still getting killed. Tajiri puts the Tarantula in Taz. That move is illegal but effective. Tajiri kicks a lot. Just once, I want to see a Japanese wrestler whose finisher isn't a kick. JR and Cole call every Taz move a suplex, but not what kind. I hate that. It's a fucking T-bone Ross. I have no idea how people think you are the best. Anyway, Green Mist and a roundhouse kick, and Vince kicks me in the balls, giving Tajiri the win. WWF leads 4-3. Holy shit, halfway through the show, and we have had seven matches.
Rating - D Taz dominated here, and then lost to racism. Green Mist and a kick? Why not have a Jew negotiate someone into letting him pin you?
The Hardyz are in the back. I guess WCW only had one real tag team, as Jeff has a match and Matt is looking oh so manly in a fishnet shirt and jeans. Matt isn't worried about Trish and Lita's match against Torrie and Stacy. He is worried about RVD, as he should be. RVD attacks Matt with a chair. Jeff Hardy vs. RVD. Awesome.
Lster Bob Holly is signing autographs at WWF New York. Some kid wears a WCW T-shirt and Holly pulls it off of him. Maybe they should have found someone who wasn't a foot taller than Holly for that segment.
RVD is on his way to the ring. WWF is muting his cheers here. The entire crowd is on their feet and you hear no sound. Part of the problem with this angle was that RVD could not be a heel. They wanted him to be a leader of the heel faction, but it didn't work. Jeff Hardy is out next to not nearly the pop he would get today. This is going to be awesome. This match is for the Hardcore Title. They do a lot of flips and miss. I know I rail against flippy shit a lot, but these guys do it right. It makes sense here. JR brings up that Hardy won the Intercontinental Title from HHH earlier in the year. HHH must've liked Jeff Hardy from day one. He was always jobbing for him. HHH gets a lot of shit for holding guys down, but he made Jeff Hardy, and took a decade to do it. This is an HC title match, and there have been no weapons. RVD is apparently in the matrix and drinks Kool-Aid. Holy shit chant from the Gund crowd. Apparently, Jeff is the WWF's most eligible bachelor. What the fuck is JR talking about? Someone spiked his BBQ sauce. Remember that move where Jeff jumps on the railing in front of the crowd? Well, he and RVD just both did it and basically had a chicken fight up there. They are fighting in the crowd. These guys are literally trying to kill themselves. Spinning guillotine leg drop from RVD. JR calls it a spinning heel kick. What an idiot.
Loud ass RVD chant from the crowd. He takes a bow, and then he takes a sunset flip powerbomb to elicit a holy shit chant. Jeff Hardy grabs a ladder. There is a reason this match is regarded so highly. 20 foot fall from Jeff Hardy. RVD gets a chair. Jeff is limping. These are two of my favorite wrestlers and this match is part of the reason why. They make an interesting point in that both men failed with their weapon of choice. Van Daminator. Jeff was infront of RVD who, was on his knees, and during Jeff's windup, Van Dam went from his knees to a jumping pin kick. If you haven't seen this, it is quite impressive. I want to applaud Michael Cole for saying resilience, which is a word, instead of resiliency, which is not.
Michael Cole has not once said vintage.
Jeff is bleeding, and RVD misses a split legged moonsault. I love how the ref has to carry the belt the whole time in an HC title match, but never just puts it on to keep his hands free. Jeff misses a swanton. ***** frog splash and we have a new WWF Hardcore Champion, R-V-D!
Rating - A- The pace never slowed. The crowd was hot. There was psychology in a hardcore match, not over the top weapon use, and told a story. Jeff lost because he wanted revenge. This match could have gone longer, but that's not the fault of the guys in the ring, who did amazing things.
McMahon is met by Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle just said bullshit on WWF television. Kurt kicked ass in the Olympics and he's going to do it again tonight, and that's true, damn true.
Up next, bra and panties tag team match. Let's see here, Torrie and Stacy whom I love vs. Trish, who I also love, and Lita who makes me sick. This match is over The Hardyz. God I love everyone in this match except Lita. That video package did a great job of showing Stacy's ass. Out first is your referee, Mick Foley. Good job Mick. Good job. I am jealous.
The WCW girls are out first and I am almost erect. So is Mick. LOL JR said he's done a lot of research and bra and panties matches by watching the Briscoes vs. The Funks. Stacy is out second. Man, she is so fine. Trish is out next. This is before her lips surpassed the size of her head. Lita is out next, and my erection is gone.
The faces charge the ring and it's on. The object of the match is to strip your opponents to their undies. JR is wearing boxers and not a thong. Thank God. We always get to hear how great Trish and Lita are in the ring, but Stacy and Torrie were never terrible. Stacy was just vicious and Torrie was athletic. The heels don't want in with Lita. Apparently, Matt Hardy is no longer worth fighting for. Stacy's shirt is off. Her bra is yellow. Her body is amazing. Lita's top is now off. Emo's aren't supposed to have boobs that big. Lita did something from the top rope, which apparently makes her awesome. Nevermind that that was all she could do. The faces are making Torrie and Stacy look really good. That is nice of them. Trish's top is off and while it was getting pulled off, Trish rolled Torrie over and took her pants off. It was creative but not nearly as exciting as it should have been. Stacy's pants come off and we're all winners.
Rating A+. I love three of these women and they are half naked. Enough said. The event is now tied.
The heel leaders are inspiring The Dudleyz, Rhyno and Booker T. It is uneventful and loud.
McMahon is with Austin and Debra. This is after Austin had gone soft, but Debra was kidnapped and he is fired up now. The score is even and the next match is the inaugural brawl. We get Kane, Undertaker, Stone Cole, Kurt Angle, and jericho vs. DDP, Booker T, The Dudleyz and fucking Rhyno, who doesn't belong. This is another example of the watered down WCW/ECW product that we were left with after Vince bought it. Sting, Flair, Nash, Hogan, and Hall should have been taking on the WWF team. If we would have gotten this match, with a Hogan/Austin double turn, the InVasion would have been the best angle ever. Instead, we get Rhyno.
We get a video package that brings us up to date. It began with Mike Awesome pinning Rhyno on top of a ladder. They are now on the same team. Then they show us the turn on Raw and we see Paul E embracing Shane. Stephanie comes to the ring in the hottest pink dress ever. I love her. Now we get caught up on Austin hugging Vince. Austin is sad. This is an example of the brandsplit looking bad. This story needed fours a week to develop. Nice Classy Freddie Blasie sighting. Here comes Austin save the day. He gives everyone a stunner and shakes Undertaker's hand. I know I have been dumping on WCW's midcard invading, but that wasn't their fault. Everyone in this angle did their best to make it intense. In retrospect, it wasn't good enough, but at the time, it did make WWF programming must see TV. The story was well written. The lack of the top WWF stars, and the burying of WCW kinda killed it. But, up until the night of the PPV, it was very well done. Shane is out first, followed by Stephanie and Paul E. I bet Stephanie is a terror in the bed, maybe even Savage-like. You see what I did there. Vince comes out next and stares down his family.
The Dudleyz are the first wrestlers out. I miss this version of The Dudleyz. Those of you who think of them as TNA stars missed out. It was never pretty in the ring, but it was a good show, and Bubba could always give a promo. This was even a watered down version of the Dudleyz, but they were still so awesome. Next out are The Brother's of Destruction. I never understood why they did the intros like this. It makes me think of a Final Four game. One side, then the other. Kane is looking absolutely beastly here, and still in a mask. Kane is the single most misused star in the history of the company. Seriously, he was huge, and could go, and when he debuted, I was legit scared of him. He lost too much, and should have multiple world title reigns. Rhyno is out next. Boooooooooo!! Rhyno is kind of a big deal in that he was the last ECW and ECW TV Champion, but whatever, I hate him. Next out is Y2J. He was awesome here. He was soon to be the first Undisputed Champion of the World. He was just hitting a stride that he is still on. Chris Jericho is one of the top 25 guys of all time in ring and on the mic. He is the total package, and his time as a maineventer happened because he starred in this angle. Booker T is out next. He also has two titles right now. JR tells us that he is no Ric Flair and no Sting. JR is finally right about something.
Kurt Angle is out next and he gets the loudest pop I have ever heard him get. I loved his music. Yeah, you could sing "You Suck" to it, but fuck it, that music fit his character and always signaled that something great was about to happen. DDP is out next. Heel DDP was always weird to me. He was always a fun loving guy, and Vince took his character and turned him into a psycho, which didn't fit. We are brawling in the aisle as Austin walks out and the roof blows off the building. I thought Angle got a loud pop. I was wrong. There are two refs and bodies flying everywhere. The WWF guys get the upper hand and Austin and Rhyno start it off. There is a mudhole being stopped. Lou Thesz press. Elbow. This is following Austin's formula.
Rhyno is getting killed. Awesome. Superplex by Austin. Devon saves the match. Jericho is in next. The crowd doesn't whoo at chops yet. They should. It makes the chop more effective. Big Y2J chant. Rhyno gets an advantage and tags in Booker T. This crowd is hot. They boo the heels and cheer the faces. Sidious would call them idiots for this. I call them educated fans who know that they are part of the show. Jericho hits a nice springboard drop kick and then a missile drop kick. Angle is in and the place roars. Angle looks funny with hair, and he stomps a mudhole into Booker T. Booker T could throw a kick back then. This match is awesome in that all of the guys were either entering or in their primes, with the exception of Austin and DDP. Austin had been wracked by injuries and DDP had been around a while. For Austin it didn't matter, as athelticism was not his forte, and for DDP, well, it showed.
Kane and D-Von are tagged in. Kane was about 250 and solid as a rock back then. He could move too. The Dudleyz hit a modified 3D. Bubba is in, and Kane is handling him. Kane from the top rope. Kane tags in his brother, The American Badass. How many times per episode of Raw do you think they said "ass" back then. The answer is a billion. Undertaker decks DDP. JR calls DDP ugly. I agree. JR just mentioned BBQ sauce. So far we have hat size, shoe size, BBQ sauce, mudhole, and rodeo. No Oklahoma Sooners references yet. Rhyno is in and is dominating Taker in the corner. DDP begs for a tag now. Taker hit DDP about ten times in two seconds, but fell prey to the discus clothes line, which was also misidentified.
Booker T is tagged in and he goes to work on Taker. Taker has decided to go Ricky Morton for us. Desperation DDT from Taker. Taker tags in Austin. Austin had beef with Booker over Booker's attacking him at King of the Ring. Austin is owning Booker. This match, in and of itself, is awesome. All of these guys can really go in two minute bursts. Jericho is tagged in. Hegoes for the walls. Jericho decides to own DDP and Booker at the same time. D-Von is a great heel. He cheatsd at every opportunity, and gets tagged in. He works Jericho over and tags in Bubba. Classic heel double teaming and Bubba works Jericho over. Jericho starts to fight back.
JR perfers sports entertainment to koolaid, neutering, and dormancy. Angle is tagged in and suddenly suplexes have names. He works over both Dudleyz. Who knew that almost eight years later, these three would still be main eventing against each other? D-Von gets tagged in following a Bubba Bomb. Paul E. sucks chant. Rhyno is in. Who knew that eight years later, Rhyno would still be forcing Kurt to move slowly to avoid making him look bad? Booker is back in to fight Angle. Who knew.....Go TNA! Booker hits the axe kick and follows it with a spinaroonie which is a waste of time according to JR. Once Booker goes face, JR will mark out for it.
Austin hasn't been in in a while, so he hits someone. Austin is begging for the tag and the crowd chants his name. Bubba is in and DDP distracts the ref so the Dudleyz can hit a Whasssuuuupppp. JR just said resilliency and I cringed. DDP is in now and hits what we would now call a modified Dream Street. Angle tags in Austin, but the ref didn't see it thanks to a distraction. What great heel wrestling! DDP hit a diamond cutter and we have us a Dawnybrook! Everyone is in. Rhyno misses Y2J and goes booker T. We're left with DDP and Taker. Chokeslam by Taker to DDP. Charles Robinson interrupts a last ride so he gets one for his troubles. Stupid Mini Naitch.
Kane and Bubba are brawling. Taker and DDP fight into the crowd. Bubba is bleeding. Austin is hurt and being attended to by a paramedic. Kane is clearing off the announce table, but gets stopped by the Dudleyz. I always wondered if Austin was legit hurt here. The Dudleyz grab some tables. Devon just got chokeslammed through the announce table. The Spanish announce team looks shocked and offended that it wasn't their table. Bubba and Rhyno comply with their wishes and Kane gets suplexed threw the Spanish announce table. Y2J drive Rhyno through another table. There are three broken tables and six broken bodies. Vince looks worried. Austin is still with the paramedic, and there has been no mention of it. This is why I think it was legit. Back in the ring Angle is getting beaten by Booker and Bubba. Angle Slam onto Bubba and an ankle lock for Booker T. Watching this match makes me think that TNA has a bright future.
This is the obligatory main event rest spot where everyone is hurt. McMahon throws the title belt to Angle, but Shane intercepts. He hits Vince and then gets beat down by Angle. Kurt has Booker in the ankle lock and Austin throws the ref in the ring. And then, Austin flies into the ring and------kicks Angle? Stunner and Booker covers for the win. Austin has turned his back on the WWF. Oh my God!!! JR is about to have a seizure. The alliance wins and JR sells the hell out of it. Austin is in the ring with Shane, Stephanie, and Paul E. They share some beers. Only one man can save the WWF at this point, if you smell what I am cooking.
Rating A - Ok, so this whole time I complained about the angle not working and WCW getting burids. Up until this point, it was looking good. WCW won and got a hold of the WWF championship. They also won the hardcore championship on this night. Of course, there were other alliance battles, most notably the Survivor Series match, where this angle would go wrong. It was not Booker T's or DDP's fault that the big WCW stars did not come right over. They were billed as the best WCW had, and they all preformed well in this match. The turn at the end was Holy Shit material at the time, and the match was very entertaining.
Overall rating for the show - B+
They tried to pack too much into the show. There could have been two less matches. There was no need for the referee shit or X-Pac. With nine matches, you could have given Jeff and RVD and E&C a bit more time, but I am nitpicking. I loved this show the first time and was more than happy to rewatch it. The angle would go south from here, true, but on this night, all was good. I give this show a B rating overall.
