Great American Bash '97

Legacy Review

Great American Bash '97

June 15, 1997 from the MARK of the Quad Cities (that's a mouthful) in Moline, IL

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

Ultimo Dragon def Psychosis (w/Sonny Oono) in 14:20- Mike Tenay checks in for this one. Oono turned on Dragon the last PPV to cost him the TV title and in the weeks since has started managing Psychosis, leading essentially to a double turn. After the bell Psychosis stalls to talk to Oono. A quick Dragon armdrag sends Psychosis flying all the way out to the barricade, and he stays out there to have a think. Back and forth mat wrestling back in leading to another Dragon armdrag that sends Psychosis back out, and he's getting pretty pissed off. He and Oono stall some more while the crowd goes nuts for Dragon. Psychosis gets back in and spits at Dragon. Speed run, Dragon leapfrogs, Psychosis punches him out of the air! Psychosis drops down and Dragon drops an elbow on him. He does the corner handstand, flummoxing Psychosis, and goes into a huge kick flurry. Another Psychosis powder. Dragon and the crowd count to 10 way faster than the ref does. After resuming Dragon tiltawhirls Psychosis into a crucifix backbreaker. A simple kick counter to a backdrop by Psychosis turns the match around. Like it's 1983 again. Corner clothesline. Dropkick. Dragon backdrops Psychosis onto the apron, snaps his neck over the top rope and Psychosis does a great flop to the floor. A Dragon plancha attempt is dodged. Oono gets some kicks in. Psychosis baseball slide. Dragon gets draped over the middle rope. Psychosis guillotine legdrops him off the apron! After some corner elbows Psychosis does a magistral cradle for 2. He tosses Dragon out for some more Oono kicks. Dragon blocks! He lifts Oono up to suplex him off the floor. Psychosis leaps over the top rope to make the save. Back in Dragon connects with more rapid fire kicks. Handspring elbow. A headscissor roll sends Psychosis back to the floor. Asai moonsault! Dragon hits a brain buster for 2. Tombstone! Man, he planted Psychosis on that. That gets a 2 count. Psychosis goes up top and hits a diving heel kick. Dragon rolls out. Psychosis dive over the top rope down to the floor! Back in Dragon hits a flash hurricanrana. Psychosis reverses the cradle for 2. He goes for a moonsault. Dragon dropkicks him in midair! He puts Psychosis up top and hits the hurricanrana! Dragon hooks up for the tiger suplex. Oono gets on the apron. Dragon chases him off. Psychosis sneaks up top and hits a missile dropkick for 2. The heels try to double team but Psychosis takes Oono's kick to the head! Dragon hooks on a dragon sleeper! Psychosis taps! Your usual wonderful cruiserweight opener. Dragon in particular was really locked in, and the crowd was super into him so soon after his face turn. Too bad Syxx has been holding the cruiserweight title hostage for months. ***3/4

 

Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri) def The Steiner Brothers by DQ in 12:02- This is a #1 contender's match even though the Steiners have already won the titles multiple times this year only to be screwed by Bischoff. Scott and Ray start with Scott immediately dropping Ray down and pounding away on the back of his neck. Ray gets a hiptoss and off comes the Breathe Right strip! But how will he breathe during the match now? Shoulderblock standoff. Scott says screw the rest and quickly nails Ray with a forearm to the head! He's ornery tonight. Then he runs into a Ray back elbow. Big boot from Ray. Scott ducks another and does one of his half and half suplex tosses. Both Heat go down as the Steiners clear the ring and pose. Rick tags in. Ray quickly pounds on him. Rick hits a powerslam. Heat try to double team and get run off again. Booker tags in and Rick jumps him from behind with another wicked stiff looking shot! Was there some legit heat here we don't know about? All four guys are really going at it almost like a real fight. Booker wants a test of strength with Scott and works it into a full nelson. Scott powers out the hard way and hits a double underhook suplex. Rick comes in with a regular suplex. Scott hits a press slam. He comes off the second rope "into" a Booker boot. They misjudged that badly and Booker had to compensate by moving after Scott sold the supposed hit. Side kick from Booker. Cactus clothesline! Scott reverses a whip into the guardrail. Rick anticipates a shot from Ray, knocking him off the apron. Booker uses the opening to hit Rick from behind and toss him out. Ray slams him on the floor. Booker covers for 2. Ray hits a high knee. Booker snaps Rick over the top rope and Ray covers for 2. Double team Hart Attack style side kick for 2. Booker spins for another kick. Rick ducks, lifts and drops him. Tag to Scott. Slams for everyone. Belly to belly suplex. DONNYBROOK! Scott sets Ray up on the top rope and hits a super Frankensteiner! Vincent runs out and all the way into the ring. He drops an elbow on Ray! That draws the unbelievably cheap DQ, giving Heat the win. The NWO screws the Steiners again. After the bell the Steiners murder Vincent. I may or may not be exaggerating. I get the story, but it's still a horribly lame finish. Before that the match was really trying hard to be good but never managed to get beyond OK. It wasn't lacking for intensity, that's for sure. This would quietly turn out to be Sherri's last regular WCW PPV appearance. She'd leave the company later in the month, but did come back for a few additional appearances during the awfulness that was WCW 2000. **

 

Konnan def Hugh Morris in 10:34- Konnad and Humorous were both in the Dungeon of Doom and had started working as a tag team, until Slamboree last month when Konnan lost his temper after a loss to the Steiners and attacked his partner. They've been fighting ever since. There's zero crowd investment in this one as both guys are still heels. And because it's Konnan and Hugh Morris. They immediately slug it out at the bell. Morris hits a clothesline. Konnan does his roll right into a Morris dropkick. A palm shot from Konnan turns things around and he tosses Morris out, then into the steps. He dropkicks Morris as he's getting back in. Rolling clothesline for 2. More shotgun dropkicks and Konnan puts on a half STF half Tequila Sunrise. Morris grabs a rope. He gets right back up swinging wildly. Now Konnan takes a trip into the steps. Morris spinning heel kick for 2. He wraps Konnan's arms up in an attempt at a submission hold. Gutwrench suplex for 2 followed by some more half assed arm work. Konnan hits a pretty awful clothesline to counter. He tries for a stump puller but Morris is, er, not flexible enough. He settles for a neck crank into a headscissors. Konnan transitions into a cross armbreaker, but all commentary cares about is they think he has his foot on Morris' hair. They get up, fumble around a bit, Morris blocks a clothesline, Konnan rolls out of an arm hold. Konnan float over roll up in the corner for 2. Dusty, then all of commentary, starts talking about how gassed both guys are because "the match has been so intense" and I'm loving the unintentional shoot comments. Sure, intense match wore them down. Uh uh. Slam setup from Morris and he goes up top for the moonsault. Konnan drops him down face first into the turnbuckle. He hits a German and hooks on the Tequila Sunrise. Morris was already out from the buckle shot, the ref does the arm drops, and it's over. As bad as you'd expect. 1/4*

Mean Gene comes out with tonight's hotline shill: rumor is a wrestler that has "had problems with his current organization" will be appearing on Nitro in Chicago tomorrow night. For once the hotline was partially right. The guy in question was Raven, who'd just left ECW and would debut for WCW a few weeks after this, where he'd be booked as an invading outsider like the original Nash/Hall debuts. After that Mean Gene brings out Public Enemy for a promo. Being Public Enemy, they have a table and set it up. They get Okerlund to sit on the table for the promo, which is just some ranting about how they've been overlooked in the tag division.

 

Glacier def Wrath (w/James Vandenberg and Mortis) in 12:02- Yup, this is still going on. The crazy thing is the story and characters are so unusual for mainstream wrestling at the time that it might be pretty good if it had better wrestlers working it all. Per WCW officials' edict Mortis is handcuffed to the ring for this match, naturally close enough to where he can still get himself involved. Newly reinstated and rehabilitated from evil ref Nick Patrick is working this one. Tenay is in again for this one, which is weird as this isn't the kind of match he normally calls. I'll still take it though, he should be doing the whole show. During intros Tony gives away the match order for the rest of the night. Wrath wins the lockup and pounds away in the corner. Glacier rolls under a wild kick, wraps up an arm wringer and hits a hook kick. A single leg dropkick sends Wrath 360 to the floor. Glacier with a plancha! After an attempted Vanenberg distraction Glacier hits a superkick on the floor. Wrath tries to fight back but gets whipped into the steps. I just noticed there's a bunch of silver discs on the floor on top of the mat. Weird. I don't think they were there earlier, and they're not there after this match. The Black Scorpion is up to something again. Back in Wrath dodges a splash in the corner. Mortis grabs Glacier to distract him and Wrath jumps. He lifts Glacier up for a powerbomb but drops him with a nasty looking hot shot instead. Chinlock time! Glacier fights out and turns on the jets. Wrath dodges a crossbody and Glacier slides to the floor. Wrath hits a cannonball senton off the apron. Clothesline off the top back in. He takes his sweet time then covers Glacier with one foot. That's not going to do it. He gives Glacier some mocking slaps. Glacier goozle! Wrath hits a knee to the gut and backbreaker. Glacier dodges a Vader bomb elbow off the second rope. Sweep kick from Glacier. My go to Mortal Kombat move from a knockoff Mortal Kombat character. Yes, I suck at fighting games. Flying elbow for 2. Wrath hits a side suplex. He goes up top but through a sloppy, confusing sequence gets crotched. Superplex from Glacier. Mortis gets on the apron and Glacier pops him. Wrath hits a back suplex. Now Vandenberg gets up to distract Patrick. Mortis tosses a chain in the ring, but badly overshoots Wrath and Glacier gets it. He pops Wrath with it, hits his kick finisher, and covers for the win. After the match the heel group does their usual group beatdown. That felt 30 minutes long. 3/4*

 

Title vs Career Match for the WCW Women's Championship: Akira Hokuto (c) (w/Sonny Oono) def Madusa in 11:41- Supposed women's wrestling expert Lee Marshall is in the booth again for this. He does name drop some women Madusa defeated from the days they were both in AWA. Hokuto spits and slaps after the bell, then goes into the usual women's heel 101 hair tosses and various chokes. She pulls Madusa's hair in the ropes, then hits a piledriver. Off the ropes Madusa hits a slingblade. Shotgun dropkicks. Madusa lays in some corner jabs. Hokuto goes back to the chokes. Suplex and yet more chokes. Gutwrench suplex from Hokuto and she bites Madusa's shoe. Not sure how effective that's supposed to be. Madusa fights back with a kick flurry. She goes for a suplex. Hokuto rolls it into a flash cradle for 2. Madusa flips over the top rope, goes up top and hits a double ax handle. But she appears to hurt her knee on the landing. Hokuto quickly hits a kneebreaker to take advantage. She hooks on a surfboard. Northern lights suplex for 1. She gets up on the second rope but Madusa headscissors her off. Powerbomb from Madusa for 2. Hokuto superplex for 2. She hooks Madusa up in a legbar. After a long fight Madusa gets to the ropes. She dodges a Hokuto missile dropkick. German from Madusa. Oono pulls on her bad leg to break up the pin. Hokuto works the knee some more. She comes off the top rope but Madusa gets her knees up. Not sure how smart that was. Instinct I guess. Madusa manages to get up enough to hit a running clothesline. She lifts Hokuto but her knee gives out. Northern lights bomb! That gets the pin. Madusa's career is over. It would turn out so is the WCW Women's title. Hokuto would take the belt back with her to Japan right after this and neither would be seen in WCW again. Madusa would take some time off and return in '99 as part of Randy Savage's Team Madness. The match started rough but got much better once Hokuto dropped the generic heel shtick and started wrestling properly after the hurt knee stuff started. Definitely the best WCW match between these two. **1/2

As Madusa's getting helped out of the ring Mean Gene comes in and demands a full medical evaluation of her knee injury, which is apparently something that can be done based on sight alone. Then he shoves the dagger right in Madusa's chest, demanding to know how she feels now her career is "history, over, toast!". Madusa rightly tells him to piss off. It's so bad the crowd chants "Leave her alone" at Okerlund. Not his finest hour.

 

Death Match: Chris Benoit def Meng in 14:59- Speaking of things continuing. This is the second straight PPV these two are having a location non-specific death match. And if you think that's bad, if Benoit wins he gets another match with.....Kevin Sullivan. Again. It's well past time for everyone here to move on. It's submit or KO rules only for this one. Benoit dives out with a tope suicida during Meng's entrance! He runs Jimmy Hart off and pounds Meng on the floor. Headbutt off the top! The crossface is already on! Meng deadlifts Benoit up to get out of it and puts him on the top rope, then tosses him across the ring. Benoit gets the crossface back on and Meng grabs a rope to break it. Per commentary, rope breaks are a thing in this death match. Roundhouse kick to Benoit's head. Benoit slides to the apron and suplexes Meng out to the floor. Meng hit the top rope on the way down, not sure if that was intentional or not. Back in Meng hits a kick and Benoit falls off the top rope into the tree of woe. Meng kicks away on him. Chop exchange. Meng hits a spinebuster. A splash off the top rope hits. Meng covers but the ref reminds him no pins. He counts and Benoit is up at 8. Another Meng roundhouse kick puts him right back down. They go to the floor and Meng gets whipped into the guardrail. Benoit hits a couple of Germans back in. Meng shrugs off punches and hits an inverted atomic drop. Tongan Death Grip! He hangs Benoit over the top rope, which lets Benoit get free. Slugfest on the floor. Back in Meng grounds things a bit with a chinlock, then hits a back suplex. Benoit dodges another splash. The crossface is on again! Meng gets another rope break. More fists flying. Benoit ducks another Death Grip attempt and hits a dragon screw. Crossface! Meng is only inches from the ropes but can't quite get there. After a bit he fades, and the ref calls it! As is tradition now for Benoit matches like this they do a double stretcher job, but there's only one stretcher so it's really a single stretcher job done twice. Poor planning. The match was good but not quite as good as the last one because it didn't have that one's stiffness. Better result though, even if it does lead to ANOTHER Benoit/Sullivan match. ***

 

Kevin Greene def Steve "Mongo" McMichael (w/Debra McMichael) in 9:21- For the second straight PPV it's Mongo (who's barely capable of wrestling himself) trying to carry a football ringer through a singles match. Fortunately Greene has a little bit more experience than Reggie White did. Two whole tag matches to be specific. Mongo gets a very small pop since we're not that far from Chicago. Greene charges in and it's on. 3 point stance clothesline. Mongo fights him off and rolls out. He pulls Greene down and hits his knee across the apron, then kicks Greene on the floor. Mongo gets into it with a bunch of people in Greene jerseys that I assume are his family. Greene's mom whacks Mongo with her purse! She forgot to load a brick into it first. Bad form. Greene goes over to check on his mom, giving Mongo time to recover. When he rolls back in Mongo drops an elbow on him. FG kick from Mongo and he tries to do some knee work. Neckbreaker for 2. Greene with a Thesz press! Mongo hits a tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. Back and forth slugging in the corner. Mongo hits an inverted atomic drop and dropkick. He remembers the "hurt" knee and tries to do some stuff with it that goes nowhere. Greene push kicks Mongo out of the corner and hits a tackle off the top rope for 2. Mongo gets 360 clotheslined to the floor. Greene slams Mongo on the floor. Debra fakes hurting her ankle to distract Greene, but Greene sees the elbow drop coming this time and dodges it. Mongo dodges a corner tackle. Debra gets on the apron. Jeff Jarrett runs in with the Halliburton of Death #2. Greene supposedly pulls Mongo into it, but it looks like Jarrett straight nailed Mongo with it on purpose. No one ever gets up from the Halliburton of Death, so Greene covers for the pin. Debra is furious at Jarrett. It's better than the Mongo/Reggie White match at least. 1/2*

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Outsiders (c) (w/Syxx) def "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in 10:02- The new, and final, design of the WCW tag belts makes its PPV debut tonight. Flair and Hall start. Hall gives him the toothpick flick. Surprised Flair didn't bump off of that. They trade shots in the corner with Hall going down and Flair strutting. The NWO regroup on the floor. Flair Flip! Into a Nash big boot! Flair chops back on Hall. Syxx grabs Flair's boot (after Flair had already stopped and started to look at him) and Hall hits a clothesline for 2. Nash tags in and crotch chops at Piper. Think that's gimmick infringement. Nice shout out to the old Kliq crowd though, DX was just getting going on the WWF side at this time. Classic Nash corner knees and elbows on Flair. Huge side suplex for 2. That had some mustard on it. Snake eyes. Hall hits a clothesline from the apron. Flair low blows Nash behind the ref's back! Don't mess with the dirtiest player in the game. Tag to Piper! Hot tag run. Sleeper on Hall! Hall lifts Piper, crotches him on the top rope, and back suplexes him. Flair runs in and seems to pull the ref over to his side on purpose so Syxx can run in and kick Piper. Guess the ref lost his place. Flair is all over Syxx! He pounds Syxx up the aisle, to the back and out of camera view. He left Piper by himself. Hall covers and Piper kicks out. Piper crawls to his corner but there's no one there to tag. He slugs it out with Nash. Nash wins. Still no Flair as the Outsiders knock Piper around at will. Piper tries to fight back but the numbers are too much. Hall hits the Razor's Edge and it's over. It was much better when Flair was in there. He's still a giant ball of energy clearly happy to be back after being out for so long, but the last part of the match was yet another no drama NWO ego trip easy win. *3/4

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Diamond Dallas Page (w/Kimberly) in 16:56- This is the much hyped second match in their long feud. They do the whole "lights out" bit before the match starts. Kimberly comes out on the stage to distract while DDP attacks Savage from behind out of the crowd! He goes for the Diamond Cutter early. Savage squirts free and bails. Plancha from DDP! That hurt his taped up ribs and both guys are down. Savage tries to hide behind Elizabeth. DDP tosses her away! About time someone did that. DDP puts Savage back down in the ring. Clothesline off the top. He tosses Savage over the top back out, which counts for extreme in WCW's world with the dumb over the top rope rule. Savage goes to the ol' eye poke and clotheslines DDP over the guardrail. They brawl through the crowd into the arena. Savage gets run into an arena wall. And through a door. DDP gets a crutch from someone (hope they didn't really need it) and whacks Savage with it. They fight back through the crowd toward ringside. DDP gets run into the steps. Liz gives Savage some powder. DDP is coming in with a DDP sign. Savage gives him the powder in the face, then breaks the sign over DDP's head. Did someone bring a *glass* DDP sign to the arena? Savage pulls the tape off DDP's ribs and attacks them. The ref tries to stop that, so Savage decks the ref! Piledriver on the ref! DDP slugs back and hits a headbutt. Savage lays in some corner jabs. Ref #2 runs in. Ref #2 goes down. Savage tosses him out. DDP's flurry gets cut off with a corner boot and clothesline. DDP shoos legally deceased ref #1 away to make some space in the ring, and Savage 360 clotheslines him to the floor. Savage grabs Kimberly. Nick Patrick (ref #3) runs in and saves her. They work up the aisle. We see a hilariously out of place "picnic area" for "VIPs". They have zero sight of the ring from way back there. Some VIPs. Just there for the party and not the show I guess. I mean, I've seen that at baseball games. DDP throws Savage into the picnic area and they all scatter. He breaks a tray over Savage's head. Savage gets slammed through a picnic table! DDP dumps the contents of the grill onto Savage. They run back up the aisle into the ring. DDP slides under in the corner and crotches Savage on the ring post. He hits the faceplant piledriver. Another call for the Cutter. Savage jawbreakers to counter. They go back out and Savage lifts the mat up. He goes for a piledriver on the floor. Patrick physically pulls DDP down to save him. Down goes Patrick! Savage then attacks a photographer for no reason. He's snapped. DDP with a chairshot! Back in Savage hits a low blow. He goes for a suplex. DDP counters into the Cutter! No ref. Scott Hall comes out with his tag belt. He stomps on Patrick on his way in which is pretty funny. DDP ducks a belt shot. Inverted atomic drop on Hall. Savage gets the belt and nails DDP from behind. Hall has a hell of a time lifting DDP up for the Razor's Edge, finally gets him up and hits it. Savage stomps on Patrick on his way up the top rope and hits the elbow. Hall lifts Patrick up, dumps him in position to count, and Savage gets the pin. The show must be running long because Tony signs off as soon as the 3 is counted. Good match, but not quite as good as its reputation. Bischoff era WCW was completely incapable of having a clean finish in a main event and that really hurt here, NWO or no NWO. They now have one win each so a rubber match is definitely in order. ***1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- There's some bumps in the road but overall it's an average Bischoff/NWO era PPV. Kinda sad to see GAB, the second NWA PPV ever, relegated to the clear B PPV before Bash at the Beach, which had become one of WCW's biggest shows of the year.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

King of the Ring '99

Legacy Review

King of the Ring '99

June 27, 1999 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

For the first time since 1995 (involuntary shudder) the King of the Ring tournament quarterfinal matches will be on the PPV card instead of just the semifinals and finals. There have been some significant story developments since we were last on PPV for the tragic events of Over the Edge. With the Undertaker's WWF Title win, the Ministry of Darkness/Corporate Ministry's "higher power" could finally be revealed, and it turns out the man behind it all was....."IT'S ME, AUSTIN"! Yup, it's Vince McMahon. JR's "Aw, son of a bitch" reaction was a perfect summation of how everyone felt about this "shocking" reveal. Basically it's the most disappointing long term angle reveal since the Black Scorpion. Now, we've learned in the years since there were other ideas being thrown around, including WWF signing young Christopher Daniels to play the part, but when all else fell through they just went back to the same old same old. Of course this also means it was Vince behind the months of psychological and sometimes even physical torture of his own daughter Stephanie, and the whole Vince/Shane split was just a Russo RUSE. Never analyze Russo booking too deeply. It's like a Michael Bay movie. But that's not all. Steph was understandably upset about all this, and so was one Linda McMahon. That's right, the whole family is now on TV. Linda used her influence with the Board of Directors to appoint a new CEO to WWF, and that man was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin! Austin was now Vince's boss. Obviously Vince didn't take to kindly to the flip of power, and he and Shane have challenged Austin to a handicap match tonight to once and for all determine who will control the WWF from this point forward. Not just any match either. A Ladder Match.

The show opens with footage of some stuff that just happened on the Sunday Night Heat preshow. Commissioner Shawn Michaels tried to put a wrench in the McMahons' plans and ordered Vince to have a match with Ken Shamrock. Shane stepped in to take Vince's place. During the course of the match Shane got hurt, then Steve Blackman ran in and attacked Shamrock, injuring him. Both are now up in the air for their matches on the PPV proper.

Quarterfinals: X-Pac def Hardcore Holly by DQ in 3:02- Lockup! Followed by a basic start. Are we sure this is a 1999 PPV? Pac gets up holding his neck, which had recently been hurt again. Speed run, Pac hits a hiptoss, and Holly dodges a charge in the corner. Pac hits a springboard crossbody for 2. Powerbomb from Holly. He works Pac's neck some more and gets into it with ref Mike Chioda. Pac gets a back suplex. He ducks a clothesline and hits a spin kick. Corner kicks and the bronco buster hits. Holly rolls out, gets a chair, and whacks Pac with it. It's not a hardcore match, so that draws the DQ. After the bell Holly continues attacking Pac's neck until Road Dogg makes the save. 3/4*

Terry Taylor is back with WWF, as a road agent behind the scenes and as an interviewer on screen. He stops Holly backstage to ask what the hell. Holly hilariously doesn't know who Taylor is, then says we're playing by his hardcore rules now. During the interview there's a chalkboard at Gorilla in frame that I think has the spoilers for the rest of the tournament. Or it could just be a legit bracket, it's hard to read. They made sure to hide it after a minute though. We then cut to Michael "Adam Schefter" Cole, who says Shane is questionable to return tonight. After that we get some footage from last week's Raw of Big Show getting into it with Holly and pushing a car around because he's big and strong.

 

Quarterfinals: Kane def The Big Show in 6:36- The two monsters go nose to nose before the bell. Back and forth slugging. Show hits some chops and tosses Kane around because he's big and strong. He looks so wrong in those trunks too. Kane dodges an avalanche but soon gets tossed around again, runs into a Show big boot and gets clotheslined. Enzuguri from Kane! A horrible double big boot puts both men down. I guess from the moving air because that wasn't close to contact on either side. Kane clothesline off the top for 2, then he does some ground and pound and choking. Show hits a jawbreaker. The ref took a glancing blow from that. I'm not sure if he was supposed to go down then and messed up, but a Kane dodged kick from Show catches the ref right after and puts him down for good. Hardcore Holly runs in with a chair to try to get some revenge on Show. Because having a straight up match between the two of them made too much sense. Kane cuts Holly off and chokeslams him. After a bit more back and forth Kane goozles Show. You think he's going for a chokeslam, but he's just choking Show out. Show slowly goes down and the match grinds to a halt as they stay in the same position for what seems like 15 minutes. With the ref still down. DO SOMETHING. The crowd turns on Kane and/or the match. Show FINALLY swipes Kane's arm to get free. Man, after all of that dead time they could have done something a bit more interesting. Kane takes the chair, whacks Show with it, covers, and the ref recovers to count 3. Woof. 1/4*

Vince pops his head out of the locker room door to talk to Cole. He'll never forgive Shamrock, says Shane can't go tonight and wants EMTs RIGHT NOW. We can hear Shane protesting behind him.

 

Quarterfinals: Mr. Ass def Ken Shamrock in 3:37- That's right, we've hit the point in Billy Gunn's failed singles push where he's now called simply Mr. Ass. I'm really not sure how anyone thought that was a good idea. He's also got one of the tag title belts. The Acolytes are the official tag champs at this point, but there were some Russorific shenanigans with Gunn in a 6 man match recently on Raw that I really couldn't be bothered with the details over, it's all forgotten in a week anyway. Gunn gets a mic and cuts a promo goading Shamrock to forfeit. We cut to the back to see Shamrock toss the EMTs aside and come to the ring. Gunn ambushes him with a dropkick to the gut, since the suspected issue with Shamrock is internal bleeding. Thankfully not anal bleeding. Shamrock ducks a shot and kicks Gunn in the head. Gunn catches a crossbody attempt and hits a backbreaker. Shamrock uses a cover to try and grab the ankle lock but Gunn fights free. They become the first match to go out to the floor tonight. Again, are we sure this is a 1999 PPV? Shamrock takes some barricade shots. He goes for the ankle lock again on the floor but it turns into a giant fumble session that looks more awkward than a couple of high schoolers after prom. Back in Shamrock dodges a splash off the top and hits a couple of leg lariats. As he's getting up at one point he clearly shouts "Fuck!", selling the injuries. Gunn counters a hurricanrana into a powerbomb. Shamrock's coughing up blood again, so ref Teddy Long calls it. Gunn getting a ref stoppage over a clearly injured man, like the name change I'm not sure how that was supposed to help him. After the match Shamrock tosses Long out of the ring because that's what he did. 1/2*

 

Quarterfinals: Road Dogg def Chyna (w/Triple H) in 13:19- The ex-DX continue to get into it with the still DX. Lockup! Leverage fight in the corner and Chyna shoves Dogg across the ring. Arm wringer tradeoff into a hammerlock exchange. Chyna hits a back elbow, then powers out of a headlock and puts Dogg down with a forearm. Another forearm and corner shots on Dogg as Chyna is dominating early. Hard corner whips. Dogg reverses and Chyna does the Trips flip out to the floor! HHH comes over to get involved. Dogg cuts him off, so Chyna pushes him into the post. Now HHH gets his shots in and rolls Dogg back in the ring. More corner beatdown stuff from Chyna. Chops and a back elbow for 2. Dogg hits some punches to the gut to try to come back. Chyna hits a DDT for 2. She slams Dogg and drops some elbows, then mocks Dogg's signature kneedrop. Sleeper! Dogg goes down but eventually gets free. After some counters Dogg puts on a sleeper. Hebner starts the arm drops, and HHH puts Chyna's foot on the rope before the third one. Dogg argues and Chyna rolls him up for 2. Hebner takes a shot and goes down. HHH gets a chain out and punches Dogg with it, then drapes Chyna on top. Henber recovers and counts. Dogg kicks out! Commish Shawn makes his way out. Dogg gets going hitting his signature jabs and the real kneedrop. HHH gets on the apron again. Shawn pulls him down! They argue with Shawn pushing HHH back to the back. Chyna comes from behind and low blows Dogg. Wait, she hurt her own arm on that? Dogg's wearing a cup! He hits the pumphandle slam and it's over. That sets up an all DX semifinal between Dogg and X-Pac. Chyna still looks plenty competent in the ring with the guys, but the longer singles match also exposed how little she could do at this point. Dogg's not exactly the carrying type either. *1/2

 

WWF Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's Match: The Hardy Boyz (w/Michael Hayes) def The Brood (w/Gangrel) in 4:49- We're getting the Hardyz official PPV debut and the first PPV Hardyz vs Edge & Christian match all in one go. True, E&C are still in the Brood with Gangrel and the Hardyz are in that weird early period when Freebird Michael Hayes was managing them for no reason, but it's a start. They tried to have a match earlier in the night on Heat, but the Acolytes interfered and took everyone out so the match was rebooked for the main PPV with a #1 contender's stipulation. Take that, APA. The Hardyz charge in and it's on! Things quickly settle in with Matt and Christian having a good basic exchange. Christian gets caught in the wrong corner. Jeff whips Christian around the corners until Christian gets him up and gives him a gutbuster. Jeff flying headscissors on Edge. That sets Edge off. After some beating he takes advantage of Jeff being on the second rope to give him an Alabama slam. The Hardyz do their to be classic "leap off the back" double team. Christian does a nice flop sell of a Matt boot. Matt fights out of a Christian reverse DDT attempt into a northern lights suplex. The shirts are off! Christian hits the reverse DDT. Might want to put the shirts back on. Both sides tag with Edge getting the hot tag run. Gangrel gets on the apron while Hayes gets all the way in the ring and pops Edge from behind. Jeff northern lights suplexes Edge. Christian comes in to break the pin up. Edge spear on Hayes! The Hardyz try their double team again. Edge comes off the second rope and spears Jeff out of midair! That was awesome. Christian springboard dives onto Matt on the floor. Gangrel loads up the blood spit. Jeff ducks and Edge gets it! Jeff hits the as yet unnamed Twist of Fate and gets the pin. After the bell the Brood tease issues but they sort it out pretty quickly. Nothing special, but it definitely shows the promise of what was to come and is by far the best thing on the show so far. **1/2

Vince makes his way out to the ring. He says that Shane has been downgraded from questionable to out for tonight, and therefore the handicap ladder match is now cancelled. Commish Shawn comes out and says wait just a damn minute. Vince then does a complete 180 and says he'll have a "suitable placement" for the match like that was what he originally said in the first place. That whole segment gave me whiplash. The Rifftrax movie I watched last night had a more coherent plot (Terminus, by the way, which was in no way plot coherent whatsoever).

 

Semifinals: Mr. Ass def Kane in 5:25- Gunn goes into dodge mode at the start while the crowd already sounds like it doesn't give two shits about this match. Kane does his corner toss and hits some uppercuts with crazy Gunn sells. Short clothesline. Stomps from Kane and Gunn rolls out. Kane stalks and attacks again on the floor. Stair shot. Kane lifts the steps up. Gunn dropkicks the steps! Kane gets run into the post a couple of times. Back in Gunn bites Kane's....mask? Not sure what's happening there. He puts on a kind of half assed dragon sleeper/chancery. Gunn calls for the fameasser. Kane counters with a powerslam. Clotheslines and a big boot send Gunn out, and Kane dropkicks him off the apron. Gunn goes over and gets a chair. Big Show makes his way out. He takes the chair from Gunn, then whacks Kane in a way that I'm not sure was supposed to be intentional or accidental. Regardless, Gunn covers and gets the pin. So far tonight Gunn's won by ref stoppage over an opponent that came into the match injured, then pinned someone knocked out by someone else. Really looking strong there. Even as a heel it doesn't work because he's just fluking into stuff. 1/4*

 

Semifinals: X-Pac def Road Dogg in 3:08- The last two remaining members of DX go at it, guaranteeing that Gunn will be facing a former stablemate in the final. Both guys are serious and cautious, no fooling around. Pac works into a back suplex and hits a legdrop for 2. And we're chinlocking already. Dogg gets his dancing jabs and kneedrop in for 2, then hits some chops in the corner to some "WOOOOOOs" from the Flair country crowd. Pac hits a spinning heel kick for 2. Dogg dodges the bronco buster and goes for the pumphandle slam. Pac flips out, hits the X-Factor, and it's already over. At least it's finally a clean finish in a tournament match. 1/2*

Pure match quality wise, this KOTR tournament might be even *worse* than '95 so far. That's terrifying. The booking isn't much better either.

We get footage of Rock defeating Taker and Triple H on Raw in a triple threat/handicap match to become #1 contender, a match that ended with stablemates Trips and Taker coming to blows with each other. Trips has already challenged the winner of this match.

 

WWF Championship: The Undertaker (c) (w/Paul Bearer) def The Rock in 19:10- This is Rock's first shot at the title since his face turn. Given the card placement I don't like his chances. Huge "Rocky" chant before the bell. As ref Mike Chioda is taking the belt, Taker kicks Rock, then knocks Chioda down from behind! Because he can I suppose. Rock Bottom! There's no ref so I guess Taker knew in advance he was going to eat a Rock Bottom so took the ref out beforehand. Or something. Hebner runs in to count and Bearer pulls him out before he can get to three. Man, it's all go on overbooking screwjobs early isn't it? Taker hits a chokeslam! Chioda is back up to count. Rock kicks out! The match settles in as Rock pounds on Taker and 360 clotheslines him to the floor. Aisle and stage brawl time. Rock low blows out of a chokeslam attempt on the floor but runs into a clothesline. They go to the other side of the stage and Rock gets whipped into the barricade. As they work back Rock gets suplexed in the aisle. They slowly work back in the ring with Taker cranking Rock's arm in an attempt at some actual wrestling. He goes for old school but Rock crotches him. Rock gets a water bottle and spits in Taker's face. Taker gets clotheslined over the barricade and now it's time for the mandatory late '90s crowd brawl. They fight in front of one of the hard cameras and somehow we never cut to see things from that camera's perspective. Shame. When they get back to ringside Taker takes stair and timekeeper's table shots. Rock gets a chair. Taker blocks it with the bell! Bearer gets some shots in with his shoe. Who uses a shoe, honestly? Back in Rock slugs back and Taker cuts it off with a DDT for 2. Big boot for 2. Rock fights out of a chinlock and they have a hard time getting on the same page until Rock hits a Samoan drop for 2. Double clothesline. Taker scoops for the Tombstone. Rock squirts free and hits a DDT for 2. Whip reversal and Chioda goes down again. Rock hits the People's Elbow. Cover but yet again there's no ref. Taker hits a low blow. Bearer pours a bunch of ether on a rag (we know this by the stuck on label on the bottle that says "ETHER" in handwritten marker). Rock clotheslines Taker, then takes the rag and smothers Taker with it! Taker goes down. Triple H runs in. Pedigree on Rock! Both guys stagger back up. Taker scoops, hits the Tombstone, and it's over. Typical late '90s main event overbooked brawl. Not great, not awful, seen it dozens of times by this point. **1/4

Cut to the back and Triple H is being drug out by Shawm-directed security. Vince protests. "That's my partner!" Shawn retorts "No shit, Sherlock. You can't fool me". Vince gets out his late '90s cell phone and tells someone to "Turn around now, I need you!". At the end a very candid not in character not expecting to be on camera Rock pops up in frame which is pretty funny.

 

King of the Ring Finals: Mr. Ass def X-Pac in 5:53- Gunn jumps and goes right for Pac's hurt neck. Stinger splash. Pac dodges a second one. 360 clothesline. Pac with a plancha! Back in Pac hits a crossbody off the top for 2. Gunn bulldog for 2. Press slam. A Pac flurry is cut off with a powerslam. Fameasser! Arrogant cover. Pac kicks out! X-Factor! Slow cover and Gunn kicks out. Pac does his corner kick combo and hits the bronco buster. Gunn ducks a clothesline and hits a neckbreaker. He goes up top but Pac dropkicks him. Gunn fights Pac off the top rope. Super fameasser! That gets the pin, and Gunn is your 1999 King of the Ring. And the crowd goes mild. Not even mild. Barely tepid. The match wasn't as bad as others tonight but still nothing special. A bleh end to a dreadful tournament. *1/4

A video recap tries to salvage the whole "hower higher power" disaster, recapping the whole angle since its beginning right after Wrestlemania. This only makes it more glaring how little sense it made to have Vince be the one behind it all. Then we get to the Austin as CEO stuff, and that's genuinely funny. From Austin's over t-shirt tie at the announcement to the "beer drinking challenge" corporate meetings to "You're stupid looking, you're fired!". In a way it's a bit of a dry run for the fun Austin would have as the "sheriff" and co-GM of Raw in the first year or two after his injury forced in-ring retirement.

 

Handicap Ladder Match to Determine Control of the WWF: Vince and Shane McMahon def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 17:11- This is the first ever WWF ladder match to have a briefcase suspended above the ring. A tradition begins. Vince makes his entrance alone, then introduces his new partner for tonight: Steve Blackman! Zero reaction from the crowd because it's Steve Blackman. But wait! GTV is on! Also GTV is making a PPV appearance. Shane is in the back hanging out with the Mean Street Posse, clearly faking his injury! They all realize they're on live and scatter. Shawn stops them and forces Shane to go to the ring, kicking Blackman out. Glass shatter and Austin comes in a bit calmer than normal with no jump start. The bell rings with the McMahons on the floor. They try to walk. Austin charges out with a double clothesline from behind! Vince takes some pounding on the floor and in the ring. Thesz Press on Shane and he gets crotched on the post. Vince gets Austin to chase on the floor and he gets ambushed by a Shane clothesline. Double beatdown on Austin. Vince goes and gets the ladder. Austin charges in and jumps him. Vince gets run into the chain link fence tron on the stage. Shane climbs up on top of the giant ladder structure that makes up the entrance area. Austin follows and knocks him off. The next few minutes is Austin meticulously throwing both McMahons through all the ladders on one side of the structure, knocking them all down. Once that's done Austin pulls a chain, and the whole thing collapses on top of the McMahons! Austin gets the proper ladder and heads to the ring. Shane comes in and gets tossed right back out. Vince takes a ladder shot. Austin slides the ladder into Shane on the floor, and he does a crazy ass flop over the English announce table right into JR's lap! Austin sets Shane up on the Spanish announce table, then sets up and climbs the ladder. Elbow through the table! Vince and Austin both climb the ladder on the floor. Vince gets knocked down, but then the pushes the ladder down and Austin falls onto the English announce table! And it doesn't break, he has a huge bounce off it then slides down. Ouch. Vince sets the ladder up in the ring and starts to climb. Austin low blows him! He pounds Vince upside down on the ladder then tosses him off. More ladder shots for the McMahons. At one point Austin stands on top of the ladder, which is on top of Shane and Shane taps out. Austin sets the ladder up and climbs. Vince tips it over. He tries to get the ladder but Austin won't let him. Vince tries to boost Shane up to get the briefcase! That's not going to work. Shane gets up on the ropes, climbs onto Vince's back, and Vince tries to walk him under the briefcase! Still not tall enough. Austin tips them over from behind. Stunner on Vince! Stunner on Shane! Austin's free and clear. He climbs up, gets to the briefcase.....and it raises up out of his reach! What the hell? A pissed off Austin charges at the timekeepers and Fink demanding to know what's going on. Behind him Vince starts climbing the ladder. Austin joins him. Shane dumps the ladder over, sacrificing Vince to get Austin down. Shane climbs and grabs the briefcase that's now lower than where it was at the start of the match for easy reach to win. The McMahons get the hell out of town while Austin's still pissed in the ring. Again, not great, not awful. It's not nearly on the same level as the Austin/Vince cage match earlier in the year. **3/4

So how did they follow up on this? The next night on Raw the "raising briefcase" thing was implied to be the Big Boss Man, who Austin had fired while he was CEO, and the whole thing was pretty much forgotten. Then that same night Austin won the WWF Title back despite the best efforts of the McMahons. All in all, pretty pointless.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Another King of the Ring joins KOTR '95 on the list of worst WWF/E PPVs ever. Russo's crash TV booking style was really starting to wear thin, as were his ideas. Fortunately we're only a few months away from his departure to WCW.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D-