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Wrestling Recap: Elimination Chamber Match (Survivor Series ’02)

Dr. KLeave a comment

The Date: 17 November 2002
The Venue: Madison Square Garden; New York, New York
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Earl Hebner
The Stakes: Six-man Elimination Chamber match for Triple H’s World Heavyweight Championship

The Build-Up:
Over its many decades as the dominating force in sports entertainment, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has created some of the industry’s most successful competitors, changed the face of pay-per-view entertainment, and delivered some game-changing match types. In 1987, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) struck it big with WrestleMania, a pay-per-view showcase that was so successful that WWF Chairman Vince McMahon strong-armed many cable companies into showing their follow-up event, Survivor Series, over the National Wrestling Alliance’s (NWA) Starrcade pay-per-view. Although the show was famous for featuring a series of ten-man elimination tag team matches, this format was shaken up in 2002 with the introduction of the “Elimination Chamber”. This was a merciless steel structure that forced four men to wait in “bulletproof pods” as two others fought in the ring, with each participant joining the match at random at regular intervals and wrestlers being eliminated by pin fall or submission until only one is left standing. At this time, the WWE’s hefty roster was split into two distinct brands, Raw and SmackDown!, and the Elimination Chamber was first introduced by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff as a means to out-do his blue branded rival. The chamber would prove the perfect staging ground to force World Heavyweight Champion Triple H (who was in the midst of a “Reign of Terror” alongside his Evolution allies, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista) against his five top challengers, men he had spent the previous year humiliating and destroying both in the ring and in backstage segments. While Chris Jericho, Kane, Booker T, and Rob Van Dam all had legitimate beef with Triple H, the real story heading into the match was the return of Triple H’s former D-Generation X teammate, the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. HBK had been famously sidelined with a career-ending back injury in 1998 and Triple H had flourished as a main event heel in the interim. Although HBK functioned as an on-air personality, he made an unexpected in-ring return in June 2002 and was set to reunite with Triple H before his friend viciously attacked him, leading to a brutal street fight at the 2002 SummerSlam that briefly took HBK off television before he dramatically returned to Raw to be the final entrant in the first of what would become an annual event match for the WWE.

The Match:
I was massively invested in wrestling by 2002. While I was mainly watching SmackDown! due to the limitations of my Sky package, I still followed Raw and caught the odd pay-per-view so I was fully aware of Triple H’s dominating run with the World Heavyweight Championship. Honestly, 2002 was one of my favourite times in wrestling just for the stars and music involved: Jericho was played to the ring by Saliva, Kane was sporting perhaps my favourite look of his and had a banging theme song, and Triple H made regular use of Motörhead both as a singles star and as part of Evolution. Things went a little extreme during this time and Triple H started absorbing other belts along the way, which was a bit of a mistake (and clearly upper management agreed as they restored the Intercontinental Championship soon enough) but it was a good way to showcase new faces in the main event scene. Some of these guys, like Rob Van Dam and Booker T, were overdue their time in the sun while others, like Chris Jericho and Kane, could easily be slotted into the title picture without any issue. Of course, the big story of the year was HBK’s incredible comeback. HBK hadn’t been an active wrestler when I started watching but his reputation preceded him and I was completely caught up in the drama and hatred that quickly brewed between him and his former best friend since it was our best shot at seeing Triple H relieved of his championship belt. I remember also feeling a lot of anticipation about the first-ever Elimination Chamber match. I’d never seen a War Games match at the time so the closest analogy I (and most people had) was the Hell in a Cell match, but I was excited about it as it was a nice twist on the traditional Survivor Series match. Triple H and Rob Van Dam kicked off the match (literally in RVD’s case) and immediately rekindled their rivalry from earlier in the year, with RVD working Triple H over with his “educated feet” and martial arts agility.

RVD impressed throughout the match but almost killed Triple H with a botched splash off the top!

RVD continued to press his advantage by back dropping Triple H out of a Pedigree attempt, over the ropes, to the raised steel floor at ringside. RVD followed up by repeatedly launching “The Game” into the chained walls of the chamber, busting him open in the process, and even hitting his backflip/monkey flip combo out on the steel and his trademark Rolling Thunder over the ropes and to the outside! Triple H was unexpectedly saved from a potential Five-Star Frog Splash off a chamber pod when Jericho grabbed at RVD’s leg but the Game ended up crotched on the top rope and taking a rolling senton to the face anyway. Triple H continued to take a beating against the chain-link walls and in the ring, but was given a brief reprieve when Jericho entered the match and got into it with RVD. Things don’t go too well for the self-proclaimed “King of the World”, however, as he got nailed with RVD’s spinning kick for a two count and then took his jumping side kick out the corner, and RVD even managed to pivot in mid-air to briefly cling to the cage and then take Jericho out with a dive off the wall! Despite the blood loss and the beating he took, Triple H walloped RVD with a clothesline; this was enough for Jericho to plant him with a back suplex and try his awesome cocky pin. Although RVD valiantly fought back, Triple H’s Harley Race-style knee strike shut him down and he and Jericho put aside their differences to pummel RVD . RVD dodged a corner splash, however, only to get absolutely planted by a DDT from Triple H. Luckily, the odds evened up as Booker T entered the fray. He rode his recent wave of momentum to go after both Jericho and Triple H and even had time to celebrate with a Spinaroonie before he and RVD went at it. Although RVD still had plenty of gas left in the tank, a couple of big side kicks from Booker T led to a near fall. Not to be outdone, RVD got a two count off a spinning heel kick before Triple H interjected himself into their fight, only to eat a Scissors Kick for his troubles. Although Jericho attacked Booker T before he could make a cover, things got seriously bad for Triple H when his throat was legitimately crushed after RVD miscalculated a Five-Star Frog Splash off a pod. RVD was then anti-climatically eliminated from the match after a Missile Dropkick from Booker T.

Kane’s rampage came to a dramatic end and HBK eliminated Jericho to go on-on-one with Triple H.

Jericho and Booker T frantically went at it as Triple H recuperated, with Booker T dodging the Lionsault and planting Jericho with his snap spinebuster for a two count. Kane was then released from his pod and started hitting everyone in sight. He easily manhandled Jericho, ramming him into the chained walls and then threw him through the pod plexiglass! Kane beat on Triple H for a little before focusing on Booker T, nailing a Chokeslam that allowed the bloodied Jericho to eliminate Booker with a Lionsault. Kane continued to pulverise Jericho on the outside before dumping him back in the ring with a military press. He easily fended off Triple H’s desperate attempts to get back into things and scored a near fall off a suplex before tossing Triple H off the top rope. Jericho countered a Chokeslam with a kick to the balls and finally knocked Kane down with a Missile Dropkick, meaning all three men were down when HBK (and his atrocious brown tights) was finally unleashed. Shawn Michaels went after Jericho and Kane like a house on fire but his momentum stalled after Kane nailed him with a Chokeslam. Kane then hit another on Triple H and caught Jericho in mid-air for a third Chokeslam. However, when Kane tried to hit the Tombstone Piledriver on Triple H, he got blasted with Sweet Chin Music from HBK, drilled with a Pedigree, and finally pinned and eliminated off a Lionsault. Jericho followed up by ramming HBK into the cage wall, drawing blood in the process and leaving him a helpless husk for him and Triple H to beat on in a heinous assault. Triple H dumped his former friend to the outside so he could grind his face against the chains and bounce him off the plexiglass. He and Jericho then took turns pummeling HBK’s bloodstained face, dumping him on the steel floor, and repeatedly smashing him off the chain-link wall. HBK mounted a brief comeback with a flying forearm and a nip-up, but Jericho put a stop to that with yet another Lionsault. However, Shawn refused to be pinned and caught Jericho off-guard with a moonsault for a near fall. Triple H then saved Jericho when HBK had him in his own Walls of Jericho submission hold and started brawling with Y2J after he tried to eliminate his hated rival. Although Jericho almost made the Game tap with the Walls of Jericho, Y2J got nailed with Sweet Chin Music and summarily eliminated by Shawn Michaels, meaning that the match came down to the two former friends going at it once again.

HBK and Triple H’s bloody brawl ends with Shawn toppling the Game and becoming World Champion!

The two bloodied, exhausted one-time allies traded punches, an exchange that ended with Triple H scoring a two count off a massive Arn Anderson-like spinebuster. HBK then found himself tossed outside again and catapulted right through the plexiglass of a pod when he dared to try and hit Triple H with a Pedigree on the steel, though is only resulted in another near fall as Shawn refused to die. Frustrated, desperate to inflict more punishment, Triple H urged HBK to his feet and the two got into a heated slugfest that ended with Shawn getting smashed with Triple H’s knee facebuster. HBK got a measure of revenge on the outside, however, when he reversed a Pedigree attempt into a catapult of his own that saw Triple H’s battered face bounce off the chain-link wall one more time. Shawn Michaels followed with his signature Diving Elbow from the top of a pod but chose to tune up the band rather than go for the pin. Triple H caught Shawn’s foot, however, and drilled him with a Pedigree but the champion was too hurt to immediately capitalise and HBK got the shoulder up at two. Triple H then tried for another Pedigree but Shawn countered with a back drop and then nailed Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere and scored the victory to an absolutely thunderous applause. He then celebrated his big comeback and title victory with tears in his eyes and under a shower of confetti. Considering no one knew what to expect from this first-ever Elimination Chamber match, this was a really good and well-paced contest. The competitors made really good use of the space to showcase how dangerous the structure is and give a taste of the athletic and innovative manoeuvres the chamber’s walls and pods could offer. While it somewhat undermined the narrative of the plexiglass being “bulletproof” to have it smashed in this first match, it worked wonderfully to showcase Kane’s brutality and Shawn’s never-say-die attitude. It’s amazing that Triple H was able to continue the match considering he could’ve been killed from RVDs freak botch, but it didn’t interrupt the flow of the match as these guys all knew how to buy him time to recover. RVD and Jericho stole the match in the early going. RVD’s athleticism and conditioning really impressed me and I was surprised to see Jericho score the most eliminations, and off the Lionsault no less! Kane got a good showing with his power game but I think more could’ve been done to help him stand out as a force of nature, but the one to watch was clearly Booker T. The guy was so popular at this point and I think the crowd would’ve been just as happy to see him or RVD get the win as much as HBK. However, you can’t take away from Shawn’s incredible comeback story. We never thought we’d see him back in the ring, much less a World Champion again, and this was a really emotional, cathartic moment for him and those who just wanted to see Triple H dethroned as champion.

The Aftermath:
Although Booker T, Kane, and Chris Jericho largely faded out of the main event scene in the immediate aftermath to this match, Shawn Michaels and Triple H were far from done with their rivalry, and poor old Rob Van Dam got caught up in the middle of it. RVD was defeated by Triple H to earn the Game a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship in a “Three Stages of Hell” match at Armageddon the following month, where Triple H regaining the belt after enduring a street fight, a steel cage, and a ladder match. While Triple H was busying stinking up the main event scene in horrendous matches with “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner, Kane, Jericho, Shawn Michaels, RVD, and Booker T all competed in the Royal Rumble match and all came up short. Although Booker T earned himself a shot at Triple H’s World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XIX, he was resoundingly defeated despite everything pointing to a big babyface victory! Kane and RVD formed a tag team in the interim and eventually ended up at odds with each other after the Big Red Machine’s dramatic unmasking. Jericho and HBK got into an emotionally-charged feud that only got worse after Y2J’s temper tantrum at WrestleMania XIX, and Triple H went on to have lacklustre matches against Goldberg throughout 2003. HBK and Triple H rekindled their rivalry near the end of 2003. HBK appeared to defeat Triple H for the belt on an episode of Raw that was ruled a draw and the two again went to a no contest in a Last Man Standing match at the 2004 Royal Rumble. This led to HBK interjecting himself into the WrestleMania XX main event. Though he was ultimately unsuccessful, his tumultuous relationship with Triple H would continue on and off over the next few years before the two finally got back on the same page and reformed D-Generation X in 2006.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to the first-ever Elimination Chamber match? Who was your pick to win at the time? What did you think the the level of violence on show in the match? Were you impressed that Triple H was able to continue after his injury? What did you think to Shawn Michaels’ big comeback and championship win here? Which Elimination Chamber match or event is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on the Elimination Chamber, feel free to leave them below or drop a c and be sure to check out my other wrestling reviews!

Wrestling Recap: Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T (Bash at the Beach ’00)

Dr. KLeave a comment

The Date: 9 July 2000
The Venue:  Ocean Center; Daytona Beach, Florida
The Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, and Mark Madden
The Referee: Billy Silverman
The Stakes: Main event match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

The Build-Up:
On 4 September 1995, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) changed the face of the wrestling industry with the debut of WCW Monday Nitro, a weekly broadcast that kicked off the “Monday Night Wars” by directly competing with the World Wrestling Federation’s (WWF) Raw is War. Over eighty-four weeks, WCW dominated this ratings war thanks to signing wrestling’s biggest names to lucrative contracts and the incredible success of the New World Order (nWo). Unfortunately, this boom period wasn’t to last; the nWo soon outlived its welcome and the WWF’s dramatic change of attitude saw them outpace and ultimately dethrone WCW before long. In desperation, WCW turned to controversial wrestling writer and figurehead Vince Russo, who spearheaded a bold new direction for the company that focused on dramatic swerves, blurring the lines between what was “real” and “fake”, and pushing his favourite talents at the expense of WCW’s established stars. This earned him the ire not just of thousands of wrestling fans for years to come thanks to his wacky match concepts and inconsistent storytelling, but also famed wrestling icon “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, who infamously clashed with Russo over the direction of this pay-per-view event and their dramatic on-air grievances overshadow what little intriguing in-ring action remained in the dying WCW.

The Match:
To say that WCW, and the state of their World Championship scene, was in chaos during the year 2000 would be an understatement. WCW had tried everything, from an ill-fated rebranding, to stripping all their championships, reviving the nWo and trying to push young stars, to regain their foothold in the ratings but a slew of departures and backstage politics and drama meant that the company was haemorrhaging money and effectively on life support at this point. For me, the two biggest indicators of this were the increased, obnoxious onscreen presence of the divisive Vince Russo and the unlikely appointment of perennial mid-carder “The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett not just to the main event, but into the role of WCW World Heavyweight Champion. WCW’s desire to blur the lines between fantasy and reality backfired big-time at this event, which saw Russo, Hogan, and the commentary team make numerous scathing insider references to the backstage politics, Hogan’s lucrative contract, and the state of the company, and this all came to a head earlier in the pay-per-view when “the biggest stars in the universe”, WCW Champion Jeff Jarrett and “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan met for a championship contest. Rather than actually fighting for the company’s richest prize, Hogan was left incensed when Russo simply tossed him the belt and ordered Jarrett to lay down for the Hulkster, who pinned the champion with one foot after going on a tirade about Russo’s “bullshit” influence. Russo later returned to the ring and fired back with his own “shoot” outburst, burying Hogan for holding down WCW’s rising stars, firing him onscreen, and announcing that Jarrett would defend the belt against Booker T in the main event. The commentary team begrudgingly lauded Russo’s declaration and spent most of the night, and this match, attacking the Hulkster for being a politician and a negative influence on guys like Booker T, Jarrett, and keeping WCW from moving forward with new blood.

With Hogan out in controversial fashion, Booker T finally got his shot at the belt.

Thus, with all that drama and confusing nonsense clouding the entire event, the company, and this match, Bash at the Beach concluded with reigning WCW Champion Jeff Jarrett facing Booker T, who had previously appeared on the event in a losing effort against “Positively” Chris Kanyon but was awarded this shot simply because of his work ethic. The commentary team spend a lot of time hyping up that Booker, despite being unprepared for the match, wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity and casting both guys as being the fresh blood WCW has needed for some time, which might be true about Booker, but I’ll never see any positives in pushing Jarrett to the top. Regardless, the match begins with the crowd firmly behind Booker and Jarrett reluctant to lockup with the fired-up challenger; indeed, while Jarrett wins the early exchange, Booker easily overpowers him and shoves him down to build anticipation. The two continued to exchange fundamentals, an odd choice for such a match and it’s almost as if the two weren’t sure what to do with each other. Despite eating a shoulder block, Booker showcased his speed and agility with a leapfrog and a dropkick that saw Jarrett take a powder to the outside to regroup. Back in the ring, Jarrett resorted to straight shots and slamming Booker’s head off the turnbuckle pad to build some momentum, but Booker shut him down with a big jumping side kick and took the fight to the barricade with a double axe handle off the ring apron. Booker and Jarrett wandered through the raucous crowd for a bit but didn’t really do anything before returning to the ringside area, where Jarrett smashed a steel chair over his spine and hit a super stiff looking piledriver on the announce table (which didn’t budge an inch), which the referee apparently was okay with despite this not being a no disqualification match.

After enduring Jarrett’s dull offense and underhanded tactics, Booker T finally captured the gold!

Back in the ring, Jarrett pressed his advantage with some stomps and punches and shut down Booker’s rally with a sleeper hold to really grind the match to a halt. Naturally, Booker fought out of it, feeding off the energy of the crowd, and returned the favour with a sleeper of his own. Jarrett escaped by attacking Booker’s leg for the first time with a single move, which was all the opportunity he needed to go for his patented Figure Four Leglock. However, Jarrett was almost pinned when Booker countered into a sudden roll up. Jarrett retaliated with the Figure Four, forcing Booker to again feed off the crowd’s support, turn the move in his favour, and reverse the pressure to force Jarrett to scramble out of the hold. Jarrett continued to target Booker’s leg afterwards, but Booker fired back with the Scissors Kick, celebrated with a Spinaroonie, and planted Jarrett with a spinebuster for a close two count. Jarrett wisely dodged another Harlem Sidekick, causing Booker to get hung up on the top rope, and then briefly took the referee out of the match by shoving Booker into him. Jarrett tried to take advantage with a belt shot but Booker ducked and decked Jarrett with the title belt, but the referee was a little too slow to make the three count and too dazed to notice when Jarrett hit Booker in the nuts. Although Booker avoided being rammed into the chair and drove Jarrett into it instead, the champion still kicked out of the follow-up pin attempt. Jarrett then snapped and attacked the referee, laying him out with the Stroke and kicking Booker in the dick for good measure. Jarrett grabbed his guitar and went to the top rope, but Booker caught him with the Book End and referee Mark Johnson hit the ring to make the three count and award Booker his first of what would eventually be five reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. A monumental moment for Booker, to be sure, and one he truly deserved, but this was a lethargic and cumbersome main event match. It really needed some energy, some underhanded tactics from Jarrett to keep the heat up, and a bit more life to it. The opening sequence where they traded lock-ups and takedowns should’ve been replaced with Booker going on a tear and forced Jarrett to resort to cheating to regain the momentum. Still, it’s a great moment for Booker T, it’s just a shame it came when WCW was spiralling the drain.

The Aftermath:
This wouldn’t be the end of Jeff Jarrett’s quest to be the top dog in WCW; he and Booker T squared off again at the following month’s pay-per-view, New Blood Rising, in a losing effort at an event apparently so bad that the crowd were openly calling for Russo’s firing. Although Booker T would lose the belt to “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash not long after New Blood Rising, he regained it by defeating Nash in a steel cage match at Fall Brawl by the end of the month, before trading the belt with Jarrett and, of all people, Vince Russo, and securing his fourth World Heavyweight Championship after feuding with “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner in the last days of WCW. Of course, the real story coming out of Bash at the Beach 2000 was the fallout from the Hogan/Russo drama; Hogan would sue both Russo and WCW’s parent company, Turner/Time Warner, for defamation of character and never returned to the company, choosing to sit out his lucrative contract until he finally returned to the WWF in 2002.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to Booker T’s historical first WCW World Heavyweight Championship win? Were you engaged with the chaos surrounding WCW at the time or did all the shoot promos and swerves put you off? What did you think to Jeff Jarrett’s rise to the top of the WCW main event scene and how did you rate this match? What are some of your favourite matches and moments from WCW’s Bash at the Beach pay-per-views? Whatever your thoughts on Bash at the Beach, and WCW, feel free to voice them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Wrestling Recap: Team WWF vs. Team Alliance (Survivor Series ’01)

Dr. KLeave a comment

The Date: 26 November 1987
The Venue: Richfield Coliseum; Richfield Township, Ohio
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Paul Heyman
The Referee: Earl Hebner
The Stipulation: Ten-man elimination tag team match to decide the fate of both organisations
The Competitors: Team WWF (WCW Champion The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and The Big Show) and Team Alliance (WWF Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, WWF Hardcore Champion Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and WCW Owner Shane McMahon)

The Build-Up:
During its many decades as the dominating force in sports entertainment, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has created some of the industry’s most successful competitors, changed the face of pay-per-view entertainment, and delivered genre-defining match types and wrestling cards. In 1987, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) successfully gambled on WrestleMania then, as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was due to broadcast Starrcade over the 1987 Thanksgiving weekend, WWF chairman Vince McMahon strong-armed many cable companies into airing his showcase of ten-man elimination tag team matches, the Survivor Series, or risk losing out on WrestleMania IV. By 2001, some of the WWE’s biggest events had taken place at the event and, this year, it was chosen as the final battle between the WWF and the alliance of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The WWF and WCW had gone head-to-head in a ratings war since 1996 but, by 2001, WCW faced bankruptcy and, in a shocking moment, the McMahon purchased WCW and the “Monday Night Wars” came to a surprising end. After attempts to keep WCW alive on WWF television fell through, the WWF began a storyline where WCW joined forces with ECW (also now owned by McMahon) and attempted to “invade” the WWF as the “Alliance”. Unfortunately, as many of WCW’s top names sat out their high-paying contracts, the WWF was forced to rely on lesser names and, all too soon, the angle was more about McMahon feuding with his kids, Shane and Stephanie, and the increasingly paranoid Steve Austin holding onto his WWF Championship. More and more WWF guys joined the Alliance, including one-time saviour Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho slowly turned heel in his quest for gold, and even Austin seemed to consider jumping ship as the angle wore on. Eventually, with viewers and audiences turning away from the product, the decision was made to ditch the entire thing with this “Winner Take All” elimination match that would decide which organisation would prevail. Initially, Vince himself was scheduled to compete on Team WWF but he named the Big Show as his replacement and went about sowing the seeds of dissension throughout the Alliance in the lead up to this premature end to what should have been one of the biggest and longest angles in wrestling history.

The Match:
Considering I wasn’t really able to watch much wrestling as a kid, let alone truly be a part of the Monday Night Wars, I was deeply invested in the Invasion storyline at the time. I was pissed when Austin turned heel at Invasion and became a paranoid, self-deluded, cowardly asshole who was obsessed with the WWF Championship. Although the Alliance was missing key figures like the New World Order (nWo), Goldberg, and Sting and had dramatically repackaged top WCW stars like Diamond Dallas Page and Booker T into heels, I was well into their attempts to tear down the WWF. Unfortunately, far too many WWF guys jumped ship for no reason, but I’m not here to re-book this angle, I just wanted to say I was into it, delighted to see these fabled WCW and ECW stars on television, and extremely invested for this match. The build-up was quite good; things weren’t all hunky-dory on Team WWF as Jericho had been feuding with the Rock over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and, to make matters worse, the Alliance won all but two matches on this Survivor Series card, meaning the stakes were further escalated heading in, something Vince was sure to emphasise backstage when he riled up his competitors with a stirring speech. The match kicked off with its two biggest stars, Austin and the Rock, trading blows; the two went at it in the corner but Austin gained the upper hand with a Lou Thesz Press and an elbow drop for the first near fall. Austin pressed his advantage using his knee braces, but the Rock ducked under a clothesline and hit a Lou Thesz Press and a taunting elbow of his own to rapturous applause and a pin attempt that was broken up by Shane. Thanks to Shane’s interference, the Rock was helpless as Austin tagged in Booker T, who had ridiculously been painted as a poor copy of the Rock during the Invasion storyline when, realistically, the two had barely anything in common!

Things got off to a heated start and only escalated as Shane constantly interrupted pin falls!

Booker laid in some chops but got quickly taken down with a big clothesline for a near fall that was again interrupted by Shane, but the Rock was still easily able to tag in Jericho, who lit up Booker with some chops and planted him with a flapjack. Jericho didn’t press his advantage, however, meaning RVD was able to tag in; of all the new faces from this time, RVD was clearly the most dynamic and popular, so much so that even J.R. had to mention it. RVD showcased his athleticism by nipping up, leapfrogging the charging Jericho, and rolling across his back in a beautiful sequence but, not to be outdone, Y2J answered with a lovely spinning heel kick. RVD showed his cunning by holding the ropes and avoiding a dropkick; he followed up with a slick cartwheel moonsault for a two count. However, when RVD backflipped out the corner and went for a hurricanrana, Jericho countered and locked on the Walls of Jericho; once again, Shane put a stop to this, which also allowed Booker T to tag in. However, Booker got cold feet when Kane (sporting a weird alternative version of his bad-ass vest attire) also tagged in and gladly allowed Kurt Angle to take his place. Angle (who had recently made Kane tap out) tried using his speed to avoid Kane’s power but ended up launched into the corner and assaulted by a flurry of strikes; Kane then whipped him to the opposite corner and crashed in with a clothesline and simply sat up after eating a big German Suplex. Stunned, Angle went for the strikes and ended up taking a sidewalk slam and Kane’s huge flying clothesline off the top. Shane again broke up the pin, so Kane tagged in his big brother, the Undertaker, who also manhandled Angle and then switched his attack to Booker when Kurt made a desperate tag.

The Big Show’s brief rampage was shut down by a finish-fest and, naturally, Shane scoring the pin!

The Undertaker easily knocked Booker down with a big boot and scored a big leg drop for another pin attempt that was again interrupted by Shane; J.R. was getting as annoyed as the WWF competitors, the crowd, and me by Shane’s constant meddling. The Undertaker worked over Booker T’s arm and hit his trademark “Old School” rope walk strike and an arm take down that ended in an armlock on the mat. Shane’s interference allowed Booker to not only kick out of a pin but also tag Austin back in; Austin went right at his old foe, stomping a mudhole in the corner as the crowd sang “What? What? What?” over and over in what is still one of the most annoying chants in wrestling. The Undertaker avoided Austin’s running rope attack and then hit another Old School, only for Shane to break up the pin once more; Team WWF was so riled up that the referee had to hold them back, allowing Team Alliance to work the Undertaker over in their corner and bringing Kurt Angle back into the ring. Angle weathered the Undertaker’s assault and hit a neckbreaker for a near fall but fell to a DDT after missing out on a German Suplex. The Undertaker then made the hot tag to the Big Show, who went on a rampage somewhat neutered by J.R.’s observation that the Big Show often makes big dumb mistakes! RVD illegally charged the ring and ate a clothesline and a standing military press for his efforts; the Big Show then smacked up Team Alliance and went for the Chokeslam but Angle was able to fight out and hit the Angle Slam! Booker T followed up with the Scissors Kick and the Spin-A-Roonie before tagging in RVD, who came crashing down with a Five-Star Frog Splash. Shane then tagged in to hit his big top-rope elbow drop and, naturally, got the pin fall to eliminate the biggest man from the match.

Some eliminations were quite lacklustre as it came down to a four-on-two disadvantage for the WWF.

Thankfully, Shane immediately got his comeuppance as the Rock beat the hell out of him and then tagged Kane back in so he could drill Shane with his trademark One-Arm Chokeslam. The Undertaker followed up with a Tombstone Piledriver, and then Jericho finished Shane off with a Lionsault to finally get him out of the match. Jericho and Angle then went at it; although Y2J won the early advantage with a sick butterfly backbreaker, Austin broke up his pin attempt, allowing Angle to take him down and bring Booker T back into the fold. However, after three consecutive scoop slams and an elaborate knee drop, Booker switched with RVD; RVD landed a kicking combination but his corner shoulder thrusts were countered into a near fall off a roll up. Jericho tagged Kane back in; Kane brought the power and even caught RVD’s fist mid-swing and planted him with a powerslam, fought off Booker T’s interference, and shrugged off the Five-Star Frog Splash. However, as Kane readied a One-Arm Chokeslam, Booker T nailed a Harlem Sidekick; as a brawl broke out, RVD caught Kane with a sidekick off the top rope that was somehow enough to score him the three count. This pissed the Undertaker off so much that he beat up the opposition single-handedly; Snake Eyes and the big boot left Angle primed for the Last Ride but a distraction from Booker T allowed Austin to plant the Undertaker with a Stone Cold Stunner and drape Angle’s lifeless form over him for another elimination! Bolstered by their four-on-two advantage, Booker T attacked the Rock once more, scoring with another Harlem Sidekick but almost being pinned off a desperation DDT and a Samoan Drop, with both pin attempts broken up by Austin. Out of nowhere, the Rock then whipped Booker into Angle and anti-climactically eliminated Booker T with a simple roll-up (your five-time WCW Champion, everybody!) RVD took his place and worked the Rock over with some kicks, before a top rope slam bought the Rock the time to tag in Jericho. A flying forearm, shoulder tackle, and a running neckbreaker scored Y2J a near fall; however, although he managed to land on his feet when RVD countered the Lionsault, Jericho couldn’t avoid a spinning kick. RVD then glanced Jericho with the split-legged moonsault (J.R. postulates that Jericho “got a knee up”) and then ate a pin from the God-awful full-nelson faceplant Jericho was trying to get over as a finisher at this time (I believe it was called the Breakdown…) to even the odds. Things broke down into a brawl again but Angle and Jericho soon paired off in the ring while Austin assaulted the Rock on the outside; after wearing Jericho down with a chin lock and some stomps, Angle tagged in Austin, who planted Y2J with a superplex for a two count.

Despite Jericho’s actions, the WWF (and Vince) came out on top thanks to Angle’s last-second assistance.

An awkward miscommunication off an Irish whip eventually saw Austin switch with Angle. However, when Angle went for a German Suplex, Jericho rolled through and briefly applied the Ankle Lock to a massive ovation; although Angle escaped, he was visibly limping when he tagged out. Austin and Angle continuously tagged in and out but Jericho eventually made the hot tag and the match picked up again as the Rock tied Angle in the Sharpshooter; this surprisingly caused an immediate tap out and an aghast Paul Heyman to almost have a coronary! Austin, the last man standing for his team, Austin countered a diving crossbody and traded Walls of Jericho attempts with Y2J. Although he got his knees up to counter a Lionsault, Austin’s top-rope double axehandle didn’t hit and he barely kicked out after Jericho landed a missile dropkick. However, another awkward exchange saw Austin take Jericho out; although Austin and the Rock immediately rekindled their rivalry, Jericho spitefully planted the Rock with the Breakdown, completing his heel turn and earning him the admonishment of the Undertaker. Thankfully, the Rock was still able to kick out; when the Rock tried a comeback, he was launched outside and smashed off the ring post and the steel steps. Back in the ring, Austin’s spinebuster led to the Rock being trapped in a Sharpshooter that had Paul Heyman screaming for a repeat of the Montreal Screwjob; when the Rock reached the ropes, Austin tried to nail him with the WWF Championship and ended up in the Sharpshooter as well! The Rock countered a Stunner with one of his own, but couldn’t capitalise thanks to a low blow and interference from Alliance referee Nick Patrick. Austin took advantage to nail a Rock Bottom and was so incensed when the Rock kicked out that he took it out on Nick Patrick and forced Earl Hebner back into the ring. After the Rock ate a Stone Cold Stunner, the match seemed to be over; however, Kurt Angle suddenly nailed Austin with the WWF Championship! The Rock then hit the Rock Bottom and finally pinned Austin to eliminate him, win the match, and put the Alliance out of business. As the Alliance reacted in anguish and shock, Vince sauntered out to bask in his victory to really hammer home his superiority.

The Aftermath:
Considering how overbooked and chaotic this match was, it’s weird that Angle’s last-minute turn always comes across a little flat to me. Vince had hinted that he had tipped the odds in his favour prior to the match but I always felt like the execution was lacking. The next night on Raw, Vince rechristened the WCW Championship the “World Championship” and prepared to reward Angle by stripping Austin of the WWF Championship and giving it to his mole; however, the status quo of the WWF finally returned to normal by the decree of “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who returned to the WWF as a part owner after buying Shane and Stephanie’s shares in the company, turning Austin face again and Angle heel. The World Championship situation culminated in a tournament at the next month’s event, Vengeance, which saw Chris Jericho defeat both the Rock and Austin to become the first-ever Undisputed Championship and go on a disastrous main event run that ended with him dethroned by a returning Triple H. Every member of the Alliance eventually became part of regular WWF programming; some won their jobs at Survivor Series, others were quietly repackaged, and some were forced to kiss Vince’s ass on national television. Other WCW names, such as Eric Bischoff, the nWo, and Rey Mysterio, soon joined the company and the bloated roster eventually led to a brand split that also saw the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and United States Championship adopted by the company. Despite his emphatic victory, Vince never passed up an opportunity to reshape history in his favour or bury WCW; while ECW had an anniversary show and even a short-lived and catastrophic revival, WCW was rarely given its due unless it suited Vince’s purposes and has mainly been evoked to maintain the trademark on their pay-per-views and unique match types.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to this “Winner Take All” elimination match? Did you ever doubt that the WWF would come out on top? Who would you have preferred to see on Team Alliance? Were you annoyed at Jericho’s actions and how easily some guys were eliminated? Did you see Angle’s turn coming or were you expecting a different end to the match? What did you think to the Invasion storyline and how would you have improved it? Would you like to see WCW get more credibility or do you think it’s better off dead? Who were some of your favourite WCW competitors and what would your dream WWF vs. WCW team be? What are some of your favourite Survivor Series matches and moments? Whatever you think about the Survivor Series 2001 main event, feel free to share your thoughts below or leave a comment on my social media.