Unforgiven '01

Legacy Review

Unforgiven '01

September 23, 2001 from the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA

 

Commentary: Jim Ross and Paul Heyman

 

September 11, 2001. It's kind of scary to me, in the "I'm getting old" sense, how many adults are alive today that have no memory of that day or what a massive blow to the national psyche it was. I was in college and still remember large details of that day vividly more than pretty much any other day I can think of my entire four years there. I could write a whole article on that alone, but that's outside the purview of both this review and the whole blog in general. What is relevant here- it was the WWF that held the first large public event just two days after the attacks, a live Smackdown in Houston on the 13th, when many people were still reluctant to congregate in one place for fear of follow up attacks (MLB would stay shut down into the next week and the NFL postponed all of week 2), and the entire show was reworked to be a full patriotic showcase as well as a tribute to the fallen with most wrestling storylines taking a back seat. Now, barely two weeks after the attacks, the WWF is still holding this PPV on time and on schedule. 'Murica.

 

Away from larger real world events, here in our WWF bubble the Invasion angle continues, now headlining its third PPV. Once again there's been a bunch of title changes since the last time we were on PPV, as well as more roster movement and defections between the two companies. Both were in an attempt to give the whole angle some juice, but in reality all they did was make people numb to it all. By now I think consensus had been set among fans that the Invasion angle was a flop and there was likely no saving it unless WWF suddenly got in some of the really big names from WCW that they hadn't to this point. Fortunately the quality of the actual wrestling was helping to make up for some of it, like at Summerslam.

 

After the WWF signature we start right up with a rendition of America the Beautiful (black church version), which Vince always liked more than the National Anthem. USA! USA! USA! Following that we go to the normal show intro video, focused on the two world title rematches from Summerslam we'll be getting tonight. In fact, Kurt Angle is getting another shot at Steve Austin's WWF Championship in his hometown.

 

Fatal Four Way Elimination Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz (c) def The Hardy Boyz, The Hurricane & Lance Storm and The Big Show & Spike Dudley in 14:22- Hurricane is making his WWF PPV debut, and recently defeated Matt Hardy for the European title. Show and Spike are the ultimate little guy/big guy team. The Dudleyz defeated the Brothers of Destruction for the titles on the Raw before this show. Did I mention the Invasion had an insane amount of title hotshotting? As soon as the Dudleyz hop on the apron they're attacked and we're on. Start proper with Matt and D'Von in the ring. Hurricane quickly tags in to continue his feud with Matt. He gets a nice fireman's carry takedown and hits the superhero pose. Matt gets an armdrag and mocks said pose. Jeff tags in and is wrestling with a baseball cap on. OK then. Bubba Ray grabs Jeff's hair from the apron and pulls him over the top rope to the floor. And also makes him lose the cap in the process. Jeff pulls Bubba Ray down off the apron, maneuvers around Hurricane, dropkicks him in the back to send him into Bubba Ray (knocking him off the apron again), and rolls Hurricane up for 2. Spike DEMANDS to be tagged in. He has a beef with Hurricane for offering his girlfriend Molly Holly a superhero gimmick (which we know she'll later take). Spike tags in and Hurricane immediately bails, tagging in Storm. Storm backbreaker on Spike. Straight slam. Now Hurricane wants back in. Slam, pose, and Spike dodges an elbow drop. Inverted atomic drop and clothesline from Spike. Storm blind tags in and they hit Spike with a double team cutter. Show distracts Storm, which lets Spike roll Storm up for 2. Dropkick from Storm on Spike. Bubba Ray wants in to teach his little brother a lesson. The Dudleyz double flapjack Spike. Meanwhile on the apron, Hurricane gets the cape! THE CAPE IS ON! Crossbody off the top rope on Spike! He flies like a superhero! The cape is back off. Gutbuster on Spike followed by a half nelson cradle for 2. Spike tries to fight back on Storm but Storm jawbreakers him. Spike ducks and Storm takes out Hurricane! Dudley Dog on Storm! Tag to Show! Clotheslines for both Alliance teams. The Hardyz run in and we're DONNYBROOKING. Show tosses all the Alliance guys out and the Hardyz plancha them all. Spike climbs up top, then onto Show's shoulders, and dives down onto everyone! The crowd loves that. Oh shit. Show's pointing at the top rope. No. Freaking. Way. He's going up! Bubba Ray cuts him off! HUGE boos for that. Hurricane goozles Show! Yeah, that's not happening. Show swats him aside like a fly. Storm tries coming off the top rope, right into Show's waiting hand! Chokeslam! Pin and the Storm/Hurricane team are gone! Hurricane's got his mannerisms down right from the start, it's a lot of fun, but it's weird seeing him do it as a full heel. The Dudleyz immediately come in after the fall and start pounding on Show. Double back suplex! Show tags Spike in. Matt blind tags in on D'Von, helps Spike knock him out of the ring, then rolls Spike up for 2. Every team for themselves. Spike gets a victory roll on Matt for 2. He counters a Twist of Fate attempt into a Rude Awakening style neckbreaker for 2. Matt counters out of a Dudley Dog. Twist of Fate! Pin and Spike and Show are gone. It's down to the old rivals the Dudleyz and the Hardyz. Poetry in Motion on Bubba Ray. Jeff takes the shirt off. They go for Poetry in Motion on D'Von but Bubba Ray pulls Jeff down from the apron. Chops from Bubba Ray on Jeff as he goes in peril. Flying back elbow from D'Von. Big backdrop from Bubba Ray. They get ref Teddy Long tied up with Matt and hit Jeff with the Whazzup Drop. D'Von then grounds things with a chinlock. Arm drops and Jeff fights back up. D'Von counters with a powerslam for 2. Bubba Ray whips Jeff into the stairs and shouts "Get up you punk!". Cover by D'Von for a long 2. They keep Jeff isolated in their side of the ring, until Bubba Ray tries a corner whip and eats a springboard Whisper in the Wind. Both sides tag. Hot tag run from Matt. He DDTs D'Von for 2. Both Dudleyz end up on the floor. Matt moonsault off the top rope to the floor! Legdrop off the second rope back in. D'Von counters out of a Twist of Fate. 3D! D'Von covers. Jeff hits a Swanton Bomb to break the count up! Bubba Bomb on Matt. D'Von covers again and gets the pin. Fun stuff with everyone working hard, though a bit predictable in how it played out. I like the Bubba Bomb finally being treated like a potential finisher, because it's always looked like one. ***

 

RVD arrives at the arena. Steph arrives to try to walk him through his promo. She offers to help RVD any way she can since he's taking on her nemesis Chris Jericho tonight. RVD says he wants a dressing room befitting his superstar status. Steph tells him to take whichever one he wants.

 

Michael Cole is with Kurt Angle's family in the front row. And I thought RVD was bad at promos.

 

Perry Saturn def Raven (w/Terri) in 5:07- Well, I managed to avoid it in the Summerslam review. But now, I have no choice. I have to talk about Moppy. Dammit. So. Saturn fell in love with a mop, put a face on it and named it Moppy. It's like Al Snow but not a quarter as good. His eternal frenemy Raven from all the way back in their WCW days, along with his new bit of fluff Terri (who was with Saturn but switched sides when Saturn lost his everloving mind), tried to "help" him by putting Moppy through a woodchipper. Complete with Raven making screaming sounds for Moppy. That brings us to tonight. Saturn charges in, tackles Raven and pounds away on him. Springboard dropkick. Heyman: "He's fighting over the memory of a mop! A MOP for crying out loud!". Have to agree with him on that one. Seems the crowd does too as Saturn's getting nothing after they were red hot for the tag title match. Terri distracts and Raven baseball slides Saturn. Russian leg sweep into the barricade. Drop toe hold into the stairs. JR mentions the Flock from WCW and Heyman blames Saturn for being the one to break them up. Pretty much true. Bulldog back in the ring from Raven for 2. Saturn tries to slug back but Raven puts him in a cobra clutch! That's a new one for him. Arm drops and Saturn runs Raven into the corner to get free. Raven kneelifts him back out to the floor. He shoulderblocks Saturn to keep him out of the ring. Saturn responds by snapping Raven over the top rope. Sunset flip from Saturn, but Raven grabs the top rope to block it and get a leverage cover for 2. Raven tries a misdirection clothesline but Saturn dodges and hits a superkick. T-bone suplex. Clothesline. Belly to belly suplex. Saturn's bleeding from somewhere around his eye. Springboard flying forearm for 2. Saturn leapfrogs over a charging Raven, lets him bounce off the corner and rolls him up for 2. Raven hits a clothesline off the second rope for 2. Sunset flip from Raven for 2. Saturn rolls through that into a slingshot position and sends Raven into the corner. Twisting fisherman's suplex from Saturn and he gets the pin. Raven landed too close to the ropes on that and had to get his foot off the bottom rope. Technically it should have been a break. Pretty messy, but sadly still better than what either guy had been doing recently. *1/2

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Christian def Edge (c) in 11:53- After being teased for months the big Edge and Christian breakup finally happened after Summerslam, in Toronto of all places, all due to Christian being jealous over Edge's recent singles success. This is the one WWF vs WWF match tonight. "CHRISTIAN! CHRISTIAN! At last you're on your owwwwwwwnnnnnnn"....one of the greatest music intros ever. And the rest is pretty damn good too. Edge also has new post-breakup music from Rob Zombie that won't last long. Edge puts the belt down on the stage and strides in, a good message that this is about way more than the title. Christian attacks him as soon as he's in the ring. Edge gets a quick double leg takedown and takes his turn to pound away. Flapjack from Edge. He goes for a DDT but Christian escapes to the floor. Slugfest on the ramp. Edge knocks Christian down on the stage and slingshots him into one of the pillars that make up the stage area. Back in the ring Edge pounds Christian down all the turnbuckles in the corner. Christian begs off, then uses the opening to pull Edge shoulder first into the post. Barricade shot for Edge. Back in Christian screams at Edge to get up. He ducks an Edge punch and hits a neckbreaker for 2. Stiff kick to Edge's back and Christian soaks in some boos. He slams Edge by his hair a couple of times. Powerslam from Christian for 2. Chops in the corner. Edge chops back and yanks Christian into a Russian leg sweep. Edge fights off a Christian superplex attempt. He goes for an elbow off the top, sees Christian dodging, lands on his feet, and hits a German suplex for 2. Now Edge is bleeding from his eye area. What's going on with that tonight. In fact, Christian is bleeding some from his nose too. Christian hits a dropkick for 2. Simultaneous crossbody collision! It looks like Edge has a really good cut under one of his eyes. Christian tries mounted punches but Edge tosses him away and hits some clotheslines. Backdrop. Now he gives Christian a receipt by slamming him by his hair. After a long counter run Edge counters out of an Unprettier attempt for 2. Christian momentum tosses Edge over the top rope. Edge goes under the ring and sneaks to the other side! He climbs up top behind Christian. Crossbody for a long 2. Spear from Christian! Edge kicks out! Christian goes out and gets not one, but two chairs. He sets up for a one man conchairto. Edge dodges and trips Christian. Now Edge sets up for the conchairto. The ref takes the chair away! Christian uses the other chair to low blow Edge! Cover and Christian gets the pin to win the title! Decent match but nowhere near the level you'd be right to expect from these two. I think part of the issue was the first part was put together as a brawl rather than a pure wrestling match that would have suited them better, then getting that cut under his eye clearly messed Edge up. **3/4

 

WCW Tag Team Championship: The Brothers of Destruction (c) def KroniK (w/Steven Richards) in 10:21- KroniK originally formed in WCW and are recent arrivals in WWF. They're comprised of Brian Adams (formerly Crush in WWF) and Bryan Clarke (formerly Adam Bomb in WWF), and were brought in by Steven Richards as an attempt at revenge for Taker killing off Right to Censor. Taker's got a US flag on his singlet top. To the surprise of no one it's another jump start on the floor. Taker big boots Adams in the ring and hits a legdrop for 2 as we settle in. Adams manages to back elbow Taker but runs into a drop toe hold. Taker drops some elbows for 2. Kane tags in and stomps Adams down in the corner. Corner clothesline. Slam/elbow drop combo for 2. Adams gives Kane about the weakest back elbow you'll ever see. Backbreaker on Kane. Clarke tags in and gives Kane a bunch of shots in the corner. Bicycle kick from Clarke for 2. Kane responds with a neckbreaker. Shoulderbreaker from Kane. Taker cranks on Clarke's arm a bit and hits old school. He hooks on a cross armbreaker but Adams breaks it up. Clothesline from Clarke and Taker gets caught in the wrong corner. Dropkick from Adams for 2. Taker gets a boot up in the corner, hits the ropes, then he and Adams lose their place for a second. Taker quickly recovers to throw some more punches. After some more awkward exchanges Adams 360 clotheslines Taker to the floor. Taker drags Adams out and tries to push him into the post but Adams doesn't even bother trying to do it. For frak's sake. Clarke comes off the apron with a flying tackle on Taker. Kane runs over and gets beat down. Double tackle on Taker from KroniK back in. Taker slowly fights out of an Adams chinlock but runs into a slam. Leaping DDT from Taker on Clarke and tag to Kane. He takes out everyone. Big boots on both guys. Side suplex on Clarke. Goozle. Double goozle! KroniK weakly fight free. Triple clothesline! Kane sits up and tags Taker. Both KroniK guys are looking more and more lost as this match goes on. The BOD squash them both in the corner. Taker hooks up for a chokeslam on Clarke. Richards tries to run in but quickly gets decked by Taker. Adams needs a solid five seconds to get Taker into right position for a jawbreaker. Kane clothesline off the top on Adams. Taker chokeslam on Clarke and this one is mercifully over. This was only KroniK's second televised WWF match, and it would be their last. This match was so awful they worked themselves right out of a job. WWF had so much roster depth now they didn't need to bother keeping people around that clearly weren't going to work. DUD

 

In the back, Tazz annoys Booker and Shane by interrupting their prematch routine. Elsewhere, Coach directs Steph to the locker room RVD picked. Steph knocks on the door and lets RVD (and everyone else) know that it's her birthday tomorrow and it'd be the greatest present ever if RVD beats Jericho, saying his stay in the Alliance would be a very "pleasurable" one if he did. I guess we're forgetting about Trips while he's off injured. Unfortunately for Steph, Jericho is right behind her. The usual Jericho verbally abusing Steph hilarity ensues. 

 

WWF Hardcore Championship: Rob Van Dam (c) def Chris Jericho in 16:33- Two months into his WWF tenure and RVD has already fully earned his Mr. Pay Per View moniker. I got on him earlier for his lack of promo ability (blame the pot), but there no denying his ability in the ring. The crowd is nuts for RVD, he's gotten over with the WWF crowd in no time, they'll have no choice but to turn him face soon. He's also learned how to time his thumb point with his intro! Small but important step. Jericho gets a very nice pop too. Hardcore isn't exactly Jericho's wheelhouse, at least at this point of his career, and this title is not the direction he should be going in, but I won't argue getting him and RVD together no matter the reason. Lockup! In the Hardcore match. Wrestling is weird sometimes. They do some basic arm wringer tradeoffs into a mat exchange. Both guys hit armdrags. RVD rolls under and both guys try dropkicks at the same time! Reset and an appreciative round of applause from the crowd. Jericho grabs a couple of headlocks. RVD counters with a headscissors. Jericho works out and they do the bridge up/backslide spot with RVD getting a 2 count. Chops from Jericho to crank things up a bit. Another long counter run into some cradles, but this time they seem to lose a grip on things a bit and mutually agree to move on. Another big "RVD" chant from the crowd after that. RVD gets in Jericho's face about him getting more cheers and does the thumb point with the crowd chanting along. Jericho slaps him! Flying forearm from Jericho into some ground and pound. More dodges and Jericho hits an enzuguri for 2. RVD hops to the second rope and hits a leaping back kick. Time for the educated feet to go nuts. RVD does a bodyscissors cradle for 2. They have another small rough spot and Jericho hits a sort of flapjack. RVD goes out to the floor. Jericho goes for the springboard dropkick but RVD dodges and Jericho splats on the floor. RVD plancha! Cover on the floor for 2. He drapes Jericho over the barricade and goes for the legdrop off the apron. Jericho dodges! Jericho goes under the ring and gets a ladder out! He runs it into RVD's face! Then drops it on RVD! Back in RVD starts running through his corner shoulderblocks, but Jericho dodges the big one and RVD's shoulder goes into the post. Jericho makes sure it hit good by throwing him in again. Then Jericho brings the ladder into the ring. He suplexes RVD onto the ladder! Cover for 2. RVD reverses another attempt and gives Jericho a suplex receipt on the ladder. JR goes through his "HOW DO YOU LEARN HOW TO FALL ON A LADDER WITH YOUR KIDNEYS?" lines. Jericho dodges a dropkick and goes for the Walls! RVD flips free and hits a high kick. Rolling thunder splash for 2. He goes for a split legged moonsault but Jericho gets his knees up. Running bulldog from Jericho. He goes for the Lionsault, RVD dodges but Jericho lands on his feet, and RVD nails Jericho with another high swing kick. Now Jericho's bleeding somewhere around his eye! What in the world is going on with that tonight, almost every match someone's gotten inadvertently busted open in that area. RVD springs to the top. Jericho dodges the Five Star Frog Splash and wraps RVD up in a half nelson cradle for 2. Jericho charges with the ladder, but RVD ducks and drops him into the ladder with a drop toe hold. RVD props the ladder up in the corner, then goes out and gets a chair. Jericho gets slammed on the chair. RVD fully sets the ladder up and climbs. Jericho throws the chair into RVD's head, then climbs up and joins RVD. He grabs RVD's legs and wraps up a reverse Walls over the top of the ladder! Then he pushes RVD off the ladder, sending him down to the floor. Jericho steps from the ladder to the top rope and leaps off. RVD dodges and Jericho flies into the barricade! Jericho goes under the ring and grabs another chair. RVD goes for a tope suicida. Jericho blocks it with the chair! Cover from Jericho on the floor for 2 as we now get some "Y2J" chants. He runs RVD's shoulder into the post to start working on that hurt body part again. Back in RVD counters into another high kick for 2. Jericho hooks on a Fujiwara armbar! RVD grabs a rope, but it's no rope breaks since it's a Hardcore match. Instead he uses the ropes to drag himself and Jericho out to the floor. Stair shot for RVD's bad shoulder. Back in Jericho gives the shoulder some chairshots. Steph runs out and grabs the chair away from Jericho! Jericho swings at her with the chair! Steph just ducks in time to save her life. Jericho turns around and RVD hits the Van Daminator! Five Star Frog Splash! RVD gets the pin to retain! Mr. PPV delivers on PPV again, with Jericho showing his adaptability and working essentially an RVD style match beautifully. You'd like to see it without interference, but it plays into the Steph/Jericho feud and actually gets Steph a rare point up on Jericho so it's more forgivable. RVD's selling of the hurt shoulder was spotty too but that's RVD for you. Other than that, hell of a match. ****1/4

 

Wonder if Steph kept her promise about making sure RVD's stay with the Alliance would be "pleasurable" if he won?

 

Handicap Match for the WCW Championship: The Rock (c) def Booker T and Shane McMahon in 15:24- World title rematch from Summerslam #1 tonight, where Rock defeated Booker for the first Big Gold Belt change under the WWF banner. WCW owner Shane tried to interfere in that match and I'm sure would again tonight so he's being fully added in here to stack the odds against Rock and try to make what's clearly a foregone conclusion maybe seem less so. During the video package we get clips of Booker complaining about being disrespected since coming to WWF. He's not wrong. He was not taken seriously at all for a long while. Vince and WWF clearly thought they had to completely tear him down before attempting to build him back up, which is a shame because he easily could have walked in an instant star like RVD did. Quick sluggy start with Rock getting the upper hand. Swinging neckbreaker from Rock for 2. Shane broke the pin up, showing the handicap advantage early. Back suplex from Rock and again Shane runs in. Booker goes ahead and tags Shane in. Rock's back on his feet and Shane runs. Rock does a good job of cutting him off getting back in the ring. Booker kicks Rock from the apron and Shane clotheslines him. JR wonders what the greats that have held the WCW Title would think of Shane as champion. I'm amazed he never name drops David Arquette during that thought. Booker hits a side suplex for 2, then holds Rock down for Shane to get some shots in. Rock reverses a whip and tosses Shane across the ring. Shane is still back up first, dancing and jabbing. Rock punches him down and hooks on the World's Shittiest Sharpshooter. Booker quickly runs in and breaks it up. Shane pulls the top rope down to send Rock crashing to the floor. Flying clothesline off the barricade from Shane. Booker works ref Nick Patrick to let Shane crotch Rock on the top rope. Rock sidesteps Booker and momentum tosses him over the top rope. As soon as he does Shane attacks him from behind again, sending Rock to the floor. Rock dodges a Booker chairshot swing and Booker hits the post instead, but Shane joins him and the two on one quickly gets Rock down again. Booker slingshots Rock into the post. Snap mare/kneedrop combo from Booker back in. Spinaroonie! Rock rolls Booker up right after for 2! Clothesline from Booker and he tosses Rock out again. Booker sets up the Spanish announce table. JR is all over Patrick for letting the Alliance team do essentially whatever they want. Shane sets up on top but Rock fights free from the Spanish table before he can jump. Clothesline for Shane from Rock. Booker superkicks Rock back on the Spanish table, but then he brings Rock back in the ring. No tables will be broken tonight. Small sigh of relief and thank you prayer from Spanish commentary probably. Samoan drop from Rock. Shane has the belt and brings it in the ring. Rock ducks and Shane takes Booker out with the belt! Shane recovers and gives Rock a belt shot! Again Patrick lets it go and JR is furious. He's just reffing how WCW did their last few years, they let everything go no matter the match type. Booker crawls over and covers Rock for 2. Shane tags in and goes up top. Rock dodges the elbow drop! Shane crawls and tags Booker back in. Rock slugs away on both of them. Double clothesline from Rock. Full corner smackdown punches on Shane. DDT on Booker for 2. Shane comes out of the corner with a clothesline. Shane kip up! He sets Rock up in the middle. Elbow pad off. Shane starts going for his own elbow. Rock pops up and cuts him off! Rock Bottom! Spinebuster on Booker! Test runs in and murders Rock with a clothesline! Big boot on Rock on the floor. Bradshaw runs in and chases Test off! Guess that checks "run in" off our mandatory main event checklist. Patrick carries Rock back into the ring and tells Booker to cover! Guess they are going with the crooked ref stuff after all. WWF ref Mike Chioda comes out and yells at Patrick, but Patrick points out this is a WCW Title match and he's the WCW ref assigned for it. Shane covers Rock. Chioda pulls Shane out of the ring! This is getting silly. While the refs argue on the floor Booker covers Rock. Patrick gets in but Rock kicks at 2. Chioda tackles Patrick out of the ring! Booker nails Chioda! This is getting very silly. Booker hooks Rock up for the Bookend but Rock fights out. Rock Bottom! But there's no ref. Here comes Hebner! He runs in and counts 3 for Rock to retain! Everyone in the match did their parts fine if unspectacularly, but all the overbooking was ridiculous and unnecessary. WWF's days of not taking Booker seriously are definitely coming to a middle. **1/4

 

In Commissioner Regal's office, the Commish is considering banning everyone from ringside for the next match to protect his buddy Tajiri's hurt ribs, but Tajiri and his new girlfriend Torrie Wilson beg and Regal relents. We then get some footage of Stacy Keibler shaving her legs. Look, Stacy's hot as hell, but that's one end of things no guy needs to see. I'd say no guy wants to see but that's probably considered high end content on some website somewhere. Not for me.

 

WCW United States Championship: Rhyno def Tajiri (c) (w/Torrie Wilson) in 4:50- I guess there were no women available for the cool down match. Tajiri defeated supposed Alliance MVP Kanyon for the US Title a couple of weeks prior on Raw. As mentioned, Tajiri's coming into this match with hurt ribs thanks to a GORE. Lockup! Tajiri quickly momentum tosses Rhyno out to the floor. Asai moonsault! Superkick from Tajiri back in. He's already sold the ribs more than RVD did the shoulder. Big corner chops from Tajiri. Rhyno reverses a corner whip and rams his shoulder right into Tajiri's ribs. Tajiri goes down in a heap. Powerslam from Rhyno for 2. Tajiri takes advantage of Rhyno playing with his food to cradle him for 2. Rhyno responds with a belly to belly suplex for 2. Tajiri flips out of a powerbomb attempt and hits a hurricanrana. Leg lariat for 2. Handspring elbow for 2. Rhyno plants Tajiri with a spinebuster for 2. He continues to punish the ribs as Torrie gets on the apron. Rhyno chases her around and into the ring. One of Torrie's shoes gives out while she's in the ring and she can't get up. Rhyno sets up to murder her. Tajiri cuts it off with a kick to the head! Rhyno kicks out! Tajiri goes for a tornado DDT. Rhyno blocks it, but Tajiri uses that to hook on an octopus hold, then gets around the ropes and puts on the full tarantula. Rhyno ducks a kick and hits a half an half suplex. GORE GORE GORE! Rhyno gets the pin and takes the US Title. This could have been a really good power vs speed match, both guys were plenty capable, but they got screwed by the card placement and lack of time. *1/4

 

Our main event is world title rematch #2 from Summerslam. The build for this rematch included the legendary "Milkomania" segment on Raw when Angle drove in a milk truck and drenched the Alliance, playing off Austin's beer truck spraydown of the Rock a few years prior. It also included Austin stealing Angle's gold medals and throwing them into a river. After that Angle kidnapped and blindfolded Austin, and threatened to throw him in the river if Austin didn't give him another title match. When Austin said yes Angle pushed him into a kiddie pool.

 

WWF Championship: Kurt Angle def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) in 23:54- As expected, Angle gets a huge reaction in his hometown. Full US flag gear for Angle tonight too on this first post-9/11 PPV. Angle meets Austin on the ramp and it's on before Fink's half done with Austin's intro. Unlike Buffer he knows when to stop. Angle pounds Austin around ringside. When they get in the ring the bell rings to officially start. Austin looks extremely tentative in his response and Angle takes advantage of that. Angle Thesz press! He places Austin on the top rope and chops the hell out of him. Austin eventually tumbles down to the floor. On the top rope on the other side Angle pounds the shit out of Austin again and hits a superplex. Cover for 2. Austin reverses a whip and hooks on a sleeper for his first real offense of the match. After a bit Angle jawbreakers free and 360 clotheslines Austin back out. Austin grabs the belt and tries to walk. Angle tracks him down on the stage and continues the punishment. He tosses Austin off the ramp to the floor! Double middle finger in Austin's face and Angle continues to pound on him against the back guardrail. He picks Austin up and literally carries him back to the ring. Austin doesn't want to stay in the ring so Angle gives him some post shots. Angle pulls up the floor mat, exposing the concrete. Austin runs up from behind and knees him in the back. Austin sets up for a piledriver on the exposed floor. Angle backdrops out. Austin's busted open in that same around the eye place a lot of guys have been tonight, but I think this time it was intentional. Now Angle tries for a piledriver and Austin backdrops out. Suplex fight on the floor. Austin wins and drops Angle chest first on the Spanish announce table. Then does it again. And, after an Angle comeback flurry, again. We get a POV of a cameraman getting tossed down by Austin just because. Finally they're back in the ring. This has been an Attitude Era floor brawl style main event so far for sure, way more than their Summerslam match was. Austin cuts off a comeback with a knee to the gut and drops a knee on angle. More knees to Angle's neck with Austin using his knee braces to full advantage as a weapon. He takes a moment to go out and antagonize Angle's family ringside while continuing the punishment. Double ax handle off the second rope from Austin. He slows things down for a bit with a chinlock. When Angle fights back up Austin tries another knee to the gut, but Angle counters this time into a roll up for 2. Austin then has a kind of ugly counter to that into a cover for 2. Both guys take turns pounding on the back of each other's necks in the corner. Angle German suplex! Two! Three! But Angle hurt his own neck on that one after all of Austin's focus on it. He's still up first and climbs up for the moonsault. Austin gets up and crotches him. He goes for a back superplex, but Angle counters into a cover for 2. Spinebuster from Austin. He stomps Angle in the general near groinal area. Hebner reads him the riot act for it. Austin pounds Angle down in the corner and tosses Hebner aside for trying to stop him. Angle punts Austin right in the nuts while Hebner's back is turned! DDT from Angle. Austin lays on the floor for a long time but gets back in on his own before being counted out. Angle hits a Stunner! Austin kicks out! THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! Austin *just* slips out of an Angle Slam. Austin hits an Angle Slam! Angle kicks out! Austin tries to set Angle up for a piledriver but Angle keeps deadweighting him. Austin gets him up and hits the piledriver! That might be the last one in WWF for a very long time due to the ban. Angle still kicks out at 2. Austin goes nuts pounding away on Angle's neck and sets up to finish it. Double bird kick wh...NO Angle grabs Austin's kick and puts the ankle lock on! AUSTIN TAPS! Angle wins the WWF Title for the second time, in his hometown! Austin's 5th title reign ends at 175 days, which crazily enough was his longest one thanks to Attitude Era hotshotting. The match was really good again, but not quite as good as their Summerslam match despite a better ending. ***3/4

 

After the bell Angle's family and the whole WWF locker room come into the ring for a massive celebration. WWF is definitely trying to give us a big feel good moment after 9/11, and I have zero issue with that. I've seen some criticize this booking, but 1. again, WWF was doing their small part for some national healing and that's more than fine with me, and b. Angle came within a whisker of winning the title at Summerslam and Austin got himself DQ'd there to save it, so it's not like this was out of nowhere. However, the celebration would be short lived as Austin would win the title back two weeks later on Raw with help from WWF Commish Regal, who flipped to the Alliance that night. That would be Austin's 6th WWF Title win, tying him with Rock for the most ever at that point.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Once again the Invasion angle as a whole is not going so well, but there's still enough good matches and individual moments happening to help make these shows not be a total loss. Despite everything the roster clearly remains motivated as most everyone was working hard out there.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-