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Wrestling Recap [3:16 Day]: Austin vs. Dude Love (Over the Edge ’98)

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“Talk about your psalms, talk about “John 3:16”…Austin 3:16 says I just whupped your ass!”

With those immortal words, spoken by the legendary pro wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin after winning the King of the Ring tournament on 23 June 1996, a momentous wrestling career was about to unfold before our eyes that would see everyone’s favourite beer-swigging, finger-gesturing anti-hero become not just an industry icon but a mainstream icon as well. Here’s to yah, Steve!

The Date: 31 May 1998
The Venue: Wisconsin Center Arena; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Vince McMahon (guest)
The Stakes: Initially a main event match for the WWF Championship with Pat Patterson as the guest ring announcer and Gerald Brisco as the guest timekeeper wherein Austin loses the belt if he touches McMahon, later altered to a no disqualification, falls count anywhere match

The Build-Up:
Any wrestling fan worth their salt will be fully aware of the ratings war between the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which became must-watch television thanks to one of the greatest feuds of the WWF’s “Attitude Era”: the rivalry between abrasive anti-hero “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and WWF Chairman Vince McMahon. After the infamous “Montreal Screwjob”, Bret “The Hitman” Hart left the WWF and McMahon’s evil “Mr. McMahon” character clashed with Austin, who had captured the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XIV and refused to conform to McMahon’s vision for the company. After wrapping up his first feud with the Undertaker, the sadistic Mankind debuted a new, carefree persona, Dude Love, with whom Austin briefly held the WWF Tag Team Championships before Dude randomly attacked both Austin and McMahon on weekly TV. This led to McMahon forcing the two to face each other for the WWF Championship at Unforgiven: In Your House, but Dude Love came up short thanks to Austin getting himself disqualified. McMahon punished Dude Love by forcing him to fight his long-time friend and mentor, Terry Funk (who was operating under the “Chainsaw Charlie” gimmick), wherein Dude Love dismantled his friend and forged an alliance with the WWF Chairman in order to curry favour with the boss and capture the elusive championship. McMahon further stacked the deck by not only installing his stooges, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco, at ringside but also by naming himself the special guest referee in a bid to get the belt off his hated rival.

The Match:
I became a wrestling fan at the end of the nineties, pretty much in the year 1999. Around then, my friends and I were playing the games on Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, and I would occasionally catch the odd episode or segment whenever I was at the house of my one friend with a Sky subscription. All this is to say that I came in at around the time of the Cactus Jack/Triple H feud and that, as much as my friend being a big Mick Foley fan, was enough to make Foley one of my favourite wrestlers at the time. As the years passed and I got my hands on more WWF content, I marvelled at his early matches in Japan and his bizarre promos as Mankind and his later Hell in a Cell antics, but it was his character work that really won me over and, to this day, I can’t help but watch the “Three Faces of Foley” segment from 1997 without chuckling. However, Dude Love is probably my least favourite of Foley’s three personas, simply because I enjoy his more extreme and surreal antics, but it’s definitely one of the most complex and peculiar since this is the façade he adopted to try and get in McMahon’s good graces, and which McMahon happily manipulated simply to try and get the WWF Championship off Steve Austin. Much of this is expressed at the start of this match, where Pat Patterson spent a couple of minutes bigging up both McMahon and Dude Love as they entered the ring and Foley (blue blazer and all) happily shook hands with the boss and his stooges, although their jovial mood was immediately soured right before the match started as the Undertaker came down to ringside to level the playing field.

The brawl quickly became extreme as McMahon changed the rules to favour Dude Love.

Austin and Dude Love kicked things off with a bit of a tie-up and Austin immediately showed the boss exactly what he thought of him by flipping him off after McMahon physically separated the two. Dude Love won the second tie-up and scored a two count off a clunky-looking shoulder block, which raised Austin’s ire as he accused the WWF Chairman of counting too fast on the pinfall. Austin and Dude Love tangled again and again the Dudester got the upper hand with a knee to the gut and a series of side headlock takedowns that earned him a couple of one counts, before Austin knocked him down with a back elbow and gave him a taste of his own medicine with a ground headlock of own. Austin brought Dude Love to his knees off an awkward Irish whip exchange and knocked Foley’s false teeth out; Austin then crushed them under his heel, but this distraction was enough for Foley to start beating on the champion in the corner. Austin exploded back into action with his patented Lou Thesz Press and then sent Dude Love tumbling over the top rope and to the outside with a clothesline, however Foley quickly regained the upper hand by tossing Austin into the steel steps at ringside. After rolling back into the ring, Austin fell victim to a Russian leg sweep, kicked out at two, and then found himself being choked and even chewed on in the ring corner! Despite Dude Love’s tenacity, Austin continued to kick out and even countered an Irish whip into a neckbreaker, which finally allowed him to build some momentum with a series of clotheslines. Austin even tied Foley up in the ring ropes after countering his signature nerve hold, the Mandible Claw (or should I say the “Love Handle”?) When the two resumed brawling around the announce tables, J.R. just about blew a gasket when Patterson announced that McMahon had changed the rules from a simple one-on-one contest to a no disqualification bout so that Dude Love could choke Austin with a piece of cable.

Austin and Dude Love battled on the outside, crashing into cars and concrete alike.

However, as much as Mick Foley thrived in a no disqualification environment, this stipulation also greatly favoured Austin; he launched Dude Love into the timekeeper’s table and hammered on his forehead with closed fists, bashed his head off the steel barricade, and then clotheslined him into the braying crowd. Back in the ring, Austin choked Dude Love on the bottom ropes but missed his trademark running rope knee attack, which allowed Foley to kick him to the outside with a baseball slide and then deliver a neckbreaker on the entrance ramp. Sensing the tide turning in favour of his flunky, McMahon frantically had Patterson announce that the match was falls count anywhere and dove in to count the pin, only for Austin to twice kick out at two. Austin answered back with another clothesline, kicking off a brawl around the cars dotted around the entrance ramp; Austin was launched into a windshield and had his head bashed off a car hood, but returned the favour with a flapjack into another car for a couple of close two counts. Austin then forced Dude Love onto a car roof and ended up taking a nasty tumble to the floor before Foley performed a sunset flip (which had to hurt him more as his tailbone bounced right on the concrete) for another near fall. Dude Love’s attempts to assault Austin with a metal pipe were thwarted by another flurry of punches from the champion, though Foley was able to counter a piledriver attempt into a back body drop. With Austin down and bloody from the challenger’s assault, Dude Love clambered onto a car and went for a diving elbow but ate nothing but concrete when the champion rolled out of harm’s way (though Foley was still able to get his shoulder up off the pin fall).

Thanks to a stray chair shot and the Undertaker’s assistance, Austin triumphed over the odds.

Austin battered Dude Love back into the ring, where Patterson tripped Austin off an Irish whip, allowing Dude Love to get back in control and further split open Austin’s head wound by driving him head-first into the exposed steel ring bolt. Defenceless, Austin was easy prey for Dude’s stomps and patented running knee strike in the corner; Austin tried valiantly to rally against Foley’s assault but ate two more shots into the exposed bolt. However, when the champion still kicked out, McMahon ordered Patterson to hand the challenger a steel chair and Dude Love wasted no time putting it to good use, driving it into Austin’s gut, cracking him across the spine, and then planting him head-first into the chair with his signature Double-Arm DDT. Incredibly, inexplicably, Austin still kicked out; he then booted the steel chair back into Foley’s face, grabbed it for himself, accidentally smacked himself in the face with it, and then damn near caved Foley’s skull in with a massive shot to the head! However, McMahon refused to make the count, enraging the Texas Rattlesnake, who barely kept himself from lashing out at his hated enemy. He did get a measure of revenge, however, when he dodged Dude Love’s sneak attack, resulting in McMahon getting brained by a chair shot, but this backfired on him as there was no one to make the count when Austin nailed Dude Love with a Stone Cold Stunner! Referee Mike Chioda tried to step in but he got taken out by Patterson; when the stooges tried to interject their own officiating to count a pin fall off the Mandible Claw, the Undertaker finally stepped in and sent Patterson and Briscoe crashing through the announce tables with a couple of chokeslams! Dude Love tried to reapply the Mandible Claw but ate another Stunner; Austin then made the cover and grabbed McMahon’s lifeless hand to count the pin fall, thereby awarding himself the match. The crowd were very happy with this ending, and on their feet for most of the match, but it was a bit overbooked and plodding at times; I don’t know if Foley was wrestling hurt (but it’s a safe bet he probably was) or if it was just his purposely subdued in-ring style as Dude Love but he seemed a bit ungainly and a step or two behind here. The brawling out by the cars was quite fun, but it does bug me when a falls count anywhere match ends in the ring like normal and I think Austin was booked a little too strongly here as he kicked out of so much stuff, like hitting the ring bolts and being walloped by a steel chair, when the story of him overcoming the odds was strong enough, I think.

The Aftermath:
This would be Dude Love’s last shot at the WWF Championship; the very next night on Raw is War, Austin pivoted into a feud with Kane, who defeated his brother, the Undertaker, to become the number one contender and McMahon’s newest weapon in his war against the champion. Austin’s rivalry with Kane quickly escalated, with the Big Red Machine showcasing supernatural powers and even vowing to set himself on fire if he lost his first-blood championship match at the King of the Ring. Since this presented quite the quandary as the WWF overdelivered on the stipulation for this match, Kane would defeat Austin for the WWF Championship only to stupidly drop the belt back to Austin the very next night! Dude Love was disgraced by his loss here and reverted back to his Mankind persona, now sporting a dishevelled corporate appearance that would become his most iconic look. He rekindled his feud with the Undertaker, which resulted in their infamous Hell in a Cell match at that same King of the Ring. This match would cement Foley as a hardcore icon, facilitating not only him becoming a beloved babyface but also another shot at the main event, where he was far more successful in realising his championship dreams in bouts against the Rock. Although the Over the Edge branding returned the following year, Over the Edge 1998 would be the last time the WWF used the In Your House moniker for over twenty years, though the Over the Edge pay-per-view itself would be discontinued after the tragic events of the 1999 event.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to the bout between Steve Austin and Dude Love at Over the Edge: In Your House? Which of Foley’s personas is your favourite? What did you think to the brawling and the innovative ending? How are you celebrating 3:16 Day this year, what are some of your favourite matches and moments from Austin’s illustrious career? What dream match would you have liked to see him involved in? Whatever your thoughts, share them below or drop a comment on my social media to let me know what you think about “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and check out my other wrestling content across the site!

Wrestling Recap: Undertaker vs. Mankind (King of the Ring ’98)

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The Date: 28 June 1998
The Venue: Civic Arena; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Tim White
The Stakes: Hell in a Cell match between heated rivals

The Build-Up:
The Undertaker had been a force of nature within the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) ever since debuting as part of the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Team on this day at the 1990 Survivor Series. Over the years, the Deadman built up an impressive list of rivalries with some of wrestling’s most talented, and notorious, names, and one of his strangest and most bloodthirsty foes was Mick Foley. Foley, who had made a name for himself as the “King of the Deathmatch” and putting his body on the line in hardcore matches in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Cactus Jack, debuted as Mankind on 1 April 1996 and one of his first feuds was against the Undertaker. The two battled in the first-ever Boiler Room Brawl and the Undertaker’s long-time manager, Paul Bearer, even allied with Mankind back in the day, a partnership which was reignited after Kane made his dramatic debut and began targeting his older brother. Mankind became embroiled in the ongoing feud between the Undertaker and Kane, which included an on-again/off-again partnership between the Brothers of Destruction but, with Kane booked to challenge for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s WWF Championship at this same event, the Undertaker looked to end to his rivalry with Mankind in the second-ever Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker had, of course, been involved in the first Hell in a Cell match the previous year; the structure, a wire-mesh cage with a roof and a locked door, was, at the time, regarded as the WWF’s most dangerous match ever and this match went a long way to not only cementing Foley as an absolute madman (whose career was noticeably shortened by this match) but evoking an unrivalled sense of danger surrounding the Hell in a Cell thanks to both men, but particularly Foley, putting their bodies on the line for the sake of our entertainment.

The Match:
It has to be said that there wasn’t a massive amount of build-up towards this match; instead, it was more like the WWF had pressed “Play” after pausing the Undertaker/Mankind rivalry for a while, and the main reasoning behind Foley wanting to put the Undertaker through hell was because the Deadman had attacked Paul Bearer, who was managing Kane at the time, who Mankind referred to as “Uncle Paul”. Indeed, even Foley later admitted that a big part of the reason for his ridiculous stunts in this match came because the feud didn’t have much momentum behind it and the Undertaker was currently dealing with a broken foot, so Foley was worried that the match would suffer as a result. This (and the anticipation for the main event) may explain why Mankind entered to next to no reaction from the crowd, but they soon perked up when Foley tossed a steel chair up to the roof and then clambered up the chain link wall to await the arrival of the Undertaker, which perfectly played into the mental instability of the Mankind persona as hyped up by J.R. and The King on commentary. The Undertaker received a far more rapturous response from the crowd upon the sound of his gong alone and, despite his broken foot, followed his rival up to the cell roof.

While the match started on top of the cell, it wasn’t long before Foley was crashing off (and through) the structure!

With the chain link roof buckling under their combined weight, the two exchanged blows and Mankind immediately landed chair shots to the Undertaker’s back. Looking to end his undead opponent early, Mankind prepared to deliver a suplex to the Deadman but the Undertaker fought back with his patented strikes, which knocked Foley loopy, then sent Mankind right off the roof and crashing through the announce table below! J.R.’s response summed up this heinous, absolutely insane spot perfectly: “Good God almighty! Good God almighty! They’ve killed him!” and one look at Foley’s prone body amidst the table debris makes it hard to argue with this statement! The crowd went absolutely bonkers, electrified by the unforeseen moment, and even the Undertaker later admitted that he was certain Foley was dead. If this were to happen in today’s climate, J.R. and The King’s declaration that the match was over would probably be true and this basically stopped the proceedings for about ten minutes as referees, doctors, Vince McMahon, and even hardcore legend (and Foley’s friend and mentor) Terry Funk rushed out to tend to Foley. No matter how many times you watch the replay (and it’s shown again and again to buy the guys time), it never fails to make an impact (literally and figuratively) as Foley’s body plummets right off the top and absolutely decimates the announce table. However, halfway up the entrance ramp, Mankind clambered to his feet, shoved aside the WWF personnel, and scrambled back up to the top of the cell for more! The Undertaker obliged by Chokeslamming Foley through the cell roof! Mankind landed with an almighty thud and had his face smashed by the errant steel chair, which caused a tooth to come out of his nose! This second fall was completely unexpected for everyone involved and, for the second time in the match, Foley was legitimately believed to be dead by everyone present. Terry Funk, Sergeant Slaughter, and WWF referees desperately tried to revive Foley and buy the two time to recuperate; Funk even took a Chokeslam from the Deadman that literally slammed him right out of his shoes(!) to give Foley a couple more seconds to get back in the game and, beyond all expectations, the match continued for about another ten minutes despite Mankind continually crumbling like a sack of potatoes from the Undertaker’s lightest touch. Again, this would never happen today; the match basically gets back on track, with the cage door being locked and the two continuing to fight, despite the fact that Foley is severely concussed and probably has some internal injuries.

The brutality of the match was unlike anything anyone had seen in the WWF before and cemented Foley’s legacy.

J.R. and The King continued to express shock and awe at just how physically tough and reliant Mankind was, and Foley proved to have a little fight left in him as he interrupted the Undertaker’s signature rope walk to send the Deadman crashing crotch-first to the ring ropes and then made himself a meme with his bloodied smile. Staggered, limping, and favouring his ribs, Mankind knocked the Undertaker to the outside but was in too much pain to lift the steel steps. The Undertaker, however, had no such qualms and repeatedly rammed the steel steps into Foley’s arms and head at ringside! Somehow, Mankind dodged the Undertaker’s torpedo dive through the ropes, causing the Deadman to crash head-first into the cell, and then grated the Undertaker’s already lacerated forehead against the chain link wall to really get the crimson flowing. Mankind then hit the Undertaker with a Pulling Piledriver onto the steel chair, but ‘Taker kicked out at two so Mankind delivered a leg drop onto the steel chair after laying it across the Undertaker’s bloodied face, but was again frustrated by a two count. The Undertaker then got dropped by Mankind’s signature Double-Arm DDT and Foley pulled out a bag of thumb tacks(!) and sprinkled them everywhere, much to the commentators’ shock and the crowd’s delight! Mankind delivered shots to the Undertaker’s head, sending the Deadman teetering, only to be shut down by the last reserves of the Undertaker’s strength. Mankind resorted to applying the Mandible Claw to try and cause the Undertaker to black out, which resulted in Foley clambering behind the Deadman and ultimately sealing his fate as the Undertaker staggered to his feet and dropped Mankind, back-first, right onto the thumb tacks! With dozens of the sharp pins sticking into this flesh and tattered clothes, Mankind walked right into a Chokeslam onto the tacks and, finally, mercifully, was put down with a Tombstone Piledriver. For their efforts, the crowd gave both men (but particularly Mick Foley) a standing ovation and filled the area with applause as doctors and WWF officials were finally able to attend to Foley’s battered, bloody body but, in a final show of guts and perseverance, Foley refused to be stretchered out and was instead assisted to the back by Funk and Slaughter to a standing ovation.

The Aftermath:
As impossible as it may be to believe considering the horrific abuse they suffered in this match, neither Mankind nor the Undertaker were done on this night; both men ended up interfering in the main event, which saw Kane emerge as the WWF Champion after Steve Austin got busted open, and two months later Mankind was back in a Hell in a Cell match as he faced his former partner one-on-one on an episode of Raw is War. Foley’s injuries in this match were substantial and greatly contributed to the softening of his Mankind character, who eventually became a loveable goofball and enjoyed a successful tag team run alongside The Rock before Foley was given the company’s biggest prize and, eventually, made plans for his in-ring retirement. As for the Undertaker, he shifted into the main event picture soon after, forming an alliance with Kane and targeting Steve Austin and the WWF Championship before eventually getting back into it with his brother. This wouldn’t be the last time the Undertaker and Mankind met in the ring, either; they fought on Raw is War two nights later, battled over the WWF Tag Team Championships, and were included in multi-man championship (or contender) matches throughout 1998 and 1999. While Foley would later end his lengthy and storied career in another Hell in a Cell match, this particular contest would be one of the defining moments of his career; while the actual in-ring work was somewhat pedestrian, the match impressed on sheer spectacle alone and has been evoked (for better or worse) in video packages, hype for the brutality of the match concept, and in subsequent Hell in a Cell matches.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to the battle between Mankind and the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell? How would you rate it against their other matches and against Hell in a Cell contests? What was your reaction when Mankind went sailing off the top of the cage? Do you think the match should have ended right there, or after Foley’s second fall? How are you celebrating the Undertaker’s debut this year, what are some of your favourite matches and moments from his long and distinguished career, and what dream match would you have liked to see him involved in? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below and or let me know what you think about the Undertaker on my social media.

Wrestling Recap: A McMahon in Every Corner! (WrestleMania ’00)

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The Date: 2 April 2000
The Venue: Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim; Anaheim, California
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Earl Hebner
The Stakes: Fatal-four-way elimination match for the WWF Championship

The Build-Up:
On March 31st, 1985, Vince McMahon changed the face of the wrestling landscape forever by bringing together the biggest names in wrestling (alongside a number of celebrity guests) for the very first WrestleMania, a pay-per-view extravaganza that became the hottest event of the calendar year for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and what better way to celebrate than by looking back at one of the event’s most historic matches. By the late-nineties, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was clawing back to prominence after being beaten in the weekly ratings by World Championship Wrestling’s (WCW) Monday Nitro for nearly two years. Amidst the adolescent antics of D-Generation X and the violent rivalry between the Undertaker and Kane, fans were caught up in the rivalry between the loud-mouthed, anti-authority “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and WWF Chairman Vince McMahon. Unfortunately, Austin was written off television using a hit-and-run angle so that he could get much-needed neck surgery, and the main event scene of the WWF came to be dominated by Triple H. Triple H became an extremely powerful figure, both on- and offscreen, after marrying McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, and throwing his weight around as WWF Champion, crushing those with either his political power, his trusty sledgehammer, or his buddies in D-X. After Cactus Jack failed to unseat Triple H, costing the man behind the persona, Mick Foley, his career in the process, the people’s last chance laid, fittingly, in the People’s Champion himself, the Rock. However, the Rock’s path to the WrestleMania main event was disputed by the Big Show following a botched finish to the Royal Rumble; the Rock’s attempts to regain his championship match were further thwarted when the Big Show aligned himself with Vince’s son, Shane, so Vince returned to the Rock’s corner to get a measure of payback against his children. Although Chris Jericho was initially scheduled to be added to the WrestleMania main event, Linda McMahon entered the fray and announced that she would accompanying Mick Foley to the ring at the Showcase of the Immortals and the sage was set for a fatal-four-way with a member of the McMahon family in every corner!

The Match:
I should say that, while many fans and critics out there don’t think too much to this match (or this WrestleMania, there’s a very good reason that I’m choosing to review it; this was the very first WrestleMania I ever watched, and I had just started really getting into wrestling just prior to the Royal Rumble, so I was all about Mick Foley, Triple H’s dominating run as champion, and the intrigue surrounding these larger-than-life competitors. As such, considering the emotional ending to their Hell in a Cell bout at No Way Out, I was fully onboard with J. R.’s call that Foley was the “sentimental pick” for this match and had absolutely no qualms about seeing him added to the contest so close to his “retirement” because it just added a lot more emotional stakes to the match after seeing him push Triple H to the limit as Cactus Jack and knowing it could very well be his last shot at reclaiming the WWF Championship. Arguably, if there’s anyone that people didn’t seem too interested in seeing in this match, it’s the Big Show; the mammoth Paul Wight had already switched alignments a handful of times by this point, and been the WWF Champion himself and, despite the allure of his size and strength, just wasn’t as beloved, hated, or revered as the other three competitors so he kind of stands out a little bit. Once the Rock comes out, it’s pretty clear who the crowd is really behind; despite being accompanied by the hated Vince McMahon, the Rock was firmly entrenched as the most popular star on the roster at this point and the people had been begging to see him dethrone Triple H ever since he won the Royal Rumble. And then, of course, there’s the champion himself; Triple H’s big run at the top wasn’t quite as self-serving as his later reign of terror, but he had gone out of his way to make sure that he was the most hated man in the WWF at that point; from throwing his weight around, stacking the deck at every turn, to firing and the retiring Mick Foley, Triple H had every advantage at his disposal, to say nothing of being physically capable of going toe-to-toe with any man, especially each of his opponents in this match.

Despite his size and strength, the Big Show is the first to go after the others team up against him.

With no count-outs, time limits, or disqualifications in effect, and three former World Champions gunning for him, Triple H was at a distinct disadvantage here; not only did he not have to be pinned to lose the belt, he could also be eliminated from the contest entirely if he wasn’t careful, and the four wasted no time in pairing off for a slugfest that saw the Game renew his rivalry with Foley and the Rock and the Big Show go at it in the other corner. Hyped up on adrenaline and emotion, Foley was able to beat Triple H down in the corner and hit his running knee spot, but both men were soon floored by a double clothesline from the Big Show, who showcased his physical dominance in the early going by manhandling each of his opponents indiscriminately with headbutts, tosses, and huge Gorilla Press Slams. Foley’s attempt to choke out the Big Show left him crushed beneath the giant’s weight, and he easily shut down the Rock’s offense with a sidewalk slam, but surprisingly Foley saved the Game from falling victim to the big man’s patented Showstopper chokeslam with a kick to the nuts. Triple H, the Rock, and Mick Foley then got on the same page to pummel the Big Show and finally knock him down for a group stomping. It’s Foley who breaks up the alliance, attacking Triple H and sending himself and the Game to the outside with his Cactus Clothesline; while the Big Show overpowers the Rock on the inside, Foley attacks Triple H with a steel chair in front of the announcers, then wallops the big man across the spine in retaliation for Shane tripping the Rock. Stunned by the shot, the Big Show lumpers right into a Rock Bottom and is summarily eliminated from the match.

It wasn’t long before Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection were battling for victory.

Triple H offers to join forces with each of his two opponents to take out the other, and ends up getting suckered in by the Rock as a result; the former WWF Tag Team Champions stomp the shit out of Triple H, smacking him back and forth between them and flooring him with a double clothesline before dumping him to the outside. Every time Triple H attempts to mount a comeback, the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection shut him down, but Triple H is wily enough to duck a shot from the Rock that sees Foley get blasted in the head with the ring bell! Triple H follows up by running the Rock into the steel ring steps to turn things around, dropping the Rock chest-first on the barricade, but he’s left cowering in ear with Foley pulls out his trusty barbed wire 2×4! Thanks to a kick to the dick, Triple H fells the former Hardcore Champion and then uses Foley’s own weapon against him; thankfully, the Rock interrupts before Foley can get too shredded, giving Mick the opportunity to hit the Double-Arm DDT and pull out Mister Socko for the Mandible Claw. The Rock then smashes the WWF Championship over Triple H’s face, but Foley interrupts the People’s Elbow by slapping the Mandible Claw on the Rock (which a vocal majority of the crowd are not happy about) and this dissension allows both men to fall victim to a double low blow form the Game. The Rock and Triple H make it to their feet first, and Vince surreptitiously slips a steel chair into the ring for the Rock to use, but nearly has a heart attack when Foley attacks the Rock and almost scores a pin fall off the Double-Arm DDT. Foley’s momentum is cut off, however, when he charges at the Rock with the chair and gets a face full of steel for his efforts, but Triple H breaks up the Rock’s pin attempt (which the announcers question and hastily try to explain as the Game wanting to personally eliminate Foley from the match).

After injuring himself on a risky move, Foley is eliminated and Triple H focuses his wrath on the Rock.

Triple H then clotheslines the Rock down and he and Foley agree to team up to eliminate the Rock and then settle their score, which the crowd also isn’t happy about. Suddenly fending off two men at once, the Rock is pummelled by the unlikely duo’s attacks and double teams but refuses to let himself be pinned to the mat. Foley knocks the Rock to the outside, smashing the Brahma Bull in the face with the steel stairs and leaving him helpless as Triple H lays him across the Spanish announce table. Foley ascends the nearest turnbuckle and absolutely crashes and burns on a diving elbow drop, momentarily taking himself out of the match and leaving Triple H to quickly cover up by smashing the Rock through the table himself. With the Rock incapacitated at ringside, Triple H is infuriated when the injured Foley still manages to kick out of a Pedigree s he smashes the former King of the Death Match over the head with a steel chair and finally puts his dreams to rest with a devastating Pedigree to the chair. The crowd is a sea of boos at seeing their beloved hero eliminated, but applaud his efforts, continuously respectful of his tremendous effort and the sacrifices he made not just throughout his career, but also in this match. Before he leaves, though, Foley clocks Triple H in the head with the barbed wire 2×4, busting him open in the process and allowing the match to boils down to, arguably, the two men who should’ve had the main event to themselves all along: The Champion, Triple H, and the people’s last, best hope, the Rock. After kicking out of a pin fall attempt, Triple H gets decked by the Rock’s signature right hands, and then clotheslined to the outside after a brief miscommunication; the Rock forces Triple H up the aisleway for a brawl on the concrete and, naturally, out into the crowd and back over to the announce table. Triple H uses a steel chair to smack the ring steps into the Rock’s face and pin him to the floor, attacking the steps with the chair to increase the pressure, and then plans the Rock with a piledriver onto the other steel steps! Despite J. R.’s pleas to stop the match, and that such a spot probably should’ve been the finish, the Rock not only kicks out of a pin attempt but even fires up enough to go for a Rock Bottom! Triple H countered out of it but was toss over the top rope and back to the outside when the Rock countered the Pedigree!

Vince screws the Rock out of his victory, but the People’s Champ gets the last laugh on the McMahons.

The two brawl at ringside and through the crowd a bit more, an exchange that sees the Rock slam Triple H to the padded floor with a spinebuster and then smash Triple H through the remaining announce table with a beautiful suplex! When Triple H trips the Rock into the ring steps with a drop-toe hold, Vince attacks the Game and ends up being smashed in the head by a television monitor courtesy of his son. The two McMahons brawl at ringside and Vince gets busted open from a chair shot to take the focus off the ring and give the competitors a chance to catch their breath; this results in the Rock exploding with a series of punches and scoring a near-fall off a DDT and that cool twirling powerslam he used to do around this time. Triple H turns things around with Foley’s 2×4, but the Rock is able to slingshot the Game into Triple H and then plant the champion with a Rock Bottom. Unfortunately, the Rock is too fatigued to capitalise, but is saved from Shane’s chair shot by a returning Vince, who slaps his son around to thunderous applause. Vince grabs the chair and prepares to hit Triple H, but psyche! The WWF Chairman stuns the crowd, and Stephanie, and smashes the chair over the Rock’s head instead! When the Rock kicks out of the pin fall, Vince is infuriated and hits the People’s Champion again, harder this time, and Triple H finally snags the three count, becoming the first heel to ever successfully defend the WWF Championship at WrestleMania. The Rock is left a quivering, beaten mess, the crowd is so pissed off that they’re throwing trash in the ring, and Vince embraces Stephanie and Shane to birth a new alliance in the WWF. Angered at the betrayal, the Rock hits the ring and plants all three McMahons with Rock Bottoms and then hits the People’s Elbow on Stephanie to placate the crowd somewhat.

The Aftermath:
Naturally, the Rock wasn’t finished with Triple H following the end of this match; over the next few weeks, the People’s Champion was continuously on the backfoot as the combined forces of the McMahons and D-X conspired to beat him down at every opportunity. Although the Rock was able to earn a one-on-one shot at Triple H at Backlash, the McMahons stacked the deck against him by naming Shane as the special guest referee and Vince’s stooge, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco, in supporting roles. This led to Linda announcing that Steve Austin would be in the Rock’s corner at the event; although the Texas Rattlesnake wouldn’t show up until literally the very last minute during the match, his appearance not only helped the Rock to defeat Triple for the WWF Championship but also result in one of the most lauded and financially successfully pay-per-views of the year. The Rock’s issues with Triple H and the McMahons continued for a few months, with Triple H regaining the belt thanks to the return of the Undertaker, and the Rock continued to be pestered by Shane even as he faced new challengers like Chris Benoit.

Each competitor continued to play a pivotal role in the wrestling for years to come following this match.

The Big Show slid down the card after this and was reduced to a impersonator gimmick before being taken off TV completely so he could lose weight; he would make a dramatic return at the 2001 Royal Rumble, languish in the Hardcore division for a while, before finally getting renewed push to the top when he was paired up against rookie Brock Lesnar. Triple H saw out the rest of 2000 feuding with Kurt Angle and the Undertaker, before a horrific injury saw his power team with Austin disrupted. He returned to the ring to main event WrestleMania X-8 and remained in the main event picture scene for years thanks to his time in Evolution and feuds with Shawn Michaels and John Cena and transitioning into an authority figure. As for Mick Foley, he was soon back on TV as a beloved authority figure and mainly acted as a comedic figurehead or special guest referee. Foley returned to the ring in 2004 to team up with the Rock against Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and Batista of Evolution; Foley’s in-ring return was specifically to help sell Orton’s “Legend Killer” gimmick but he had a number of notable matches in the years after this against the likes of Edge, Ric Flair, and Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer in WWE, and against such names as Scott Steiner, Sting, and Kevin Nash during his time with Total Nonstop Action (TNA).

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy the main event of WrestleMania 2000? What did you think to the a McMahon being in every corner? Who was your pick to win this match at the time? What did you think to Mick Foley returning to the ring so soon after his retirement? Would you have liked to see Chris Jericho in this match? Did you agree with the finish? How are you celebrating WrestleMania’s anniversary this year and what’s your favourite WrestleMania moment? Drop your thoughts below by signing up or leave a comment on my social media to let me know what you think about WrestleMania 2000 and check back for more wrestling content throughout the year.