wrestling recap

Wrestling Recap: Raven vs. Terry Funk (Barely Legal ’97)

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The Date: 13 April 1997
The Venue: ECW Arena; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Commentary: Joey Styles
The Referee: John Finegan
The Stakes: No disqualification singles match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship

The Build-Up:
Back in the nineties, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) were the undisputed “Big Boys” of the professional wrestling scene, vying for television ratings and poaching talent on a weekly basis, but Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) stood out as an alterative product to its mainstream rivals. Initially founded as Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992, the company was re-branded by wrestling guru Paul Heyman in 1993 and soon established a cult following with the rabid Philadelphia crowd at the ECW Arena. While best known for its violent and controversial matches and content, ECW also delivered pure wrestling and was instrumental in inspiring the WWF’s “Attitude Era” and giving future wrestling stars a stage to hone their craft. Prior to 1997, ECW primarily hosted non-televised supercard events from the ECW Arena but that all changed when Heyman negotiated a deal to air their first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, on this day in 1997. Easily one of ECW’s biggest stars was Raven, a morose manipulator who was seemingly the embodiment of grunge, whose later rivalry with Tommy Dreamer delivered some of the company’s most intense storylines. At the time, Raven was reigning as the ECW Champion and had been embroiled in a deeply personal feud with the Sandman over the belt, while also dealing with issues with his stablemate, Stevie Richards. Richards had faced Raven’s wrath after costing him the ECW Championship at Ultimate Jeopardy the previous year; though Raven had regained the belt from the Sandman, tensions continued to brew between he and Richards until the latter finally snapped, turned on his leader, and broke away from Raven’s “Nest” of followers. Although Richards had previously come up short against Raven in a championship bout, he and the Sandman got another chance to face Raven for the belt at Barely Legal when they tangled in a triple threat match with the legendary hardcore icon Terry Funk, with the winner of that contest getting to face Raven in the main event of ECW’s first-ever pay-per-view event.

The Match:
As difficult as it was for to watch even WWF and WCW programming as a kid, it was pretty much impossible for me to watch ECW as I have no idea if it was even shown on Sky TV back in the day. So my exposure to the product has always been through their competitors showing up in the WWF and from videogames and documentaries produced around this time, but I distinctly remember watching the bout between Tazz and Jerry “The King” Lawler from Unforgiven 2000 and being shocked when a raggedy guy interjected himself into the match, hit Lawler with a DDT, and helped Tazz secure the victory. Of course, years later I would find out that Raven’s time in the WWF paled in comparison to his runs in ECW and even WCW, but Raven was always one of my favourite wrestlers simply because of his look. Before getting into the match that’s the subject of this review, I think it’s only fair to talk a little bit about the three-way dance that preceded it. This was a triple threat elimination-style match between the Sandman, Terry Funk (who found himself in that match thanks to his protégé, Tommy Dreamer, graciously stepping aside to allow his mentor the chance to challenge for the championship), and “Big Stevie Cool” Stevie Richards (who was accompanied by his newfound friends, the “Blue World Order” (bWo), one of wrestling’s most successful parody groups). After the Sandman’s ridiculously long entrance and shenanigans with alcohol, the match started with the three exchanging chops and a short-lived alliance between Funk and the Sandman that ended in emphatic fashion when the Sandman randomly brought a ladder into the match. Not only did Funk get blasted in the face by the ladder, he also clambered up it for a Moonsault, the damn thing was sent catapulting into the audience courtesy of the Sandman(!), and Funk used the ladder to repeatedly knock down both his opponents with an airplane spin.

Following a grueling three-way dance, a bloody and battered Funk was easy prey for Raven.

The three brawled viciously, though it was the elderly Funk and the upstart Stevie who took the brunt of the damage, with the latter eating a nasty-looking piledriver, getting buried under the ladder, and finally eliminated from the match following a double powerbomb from Funk and the Sandman. This was the Sandman’s cue to whip out a length of barbed wire that had reams of streamers from a previous match stuck to it, but Funk quickly used the weapon against the Sandman, lashing his bare back repeatedly. Undeterred, the Sandman wrapped the barbed wire around his body and repeatedly splashed into Funk, tearing both of them up in the process, but ultimately it was Stevie who was the deciding factor in the match’s end as he returned to the ring, hit a Superkick on the Sandman (who was blinded by a garbage can) and allowing Funk to get the victory off a Moonsault. Battered and exhausted, Funk was given exactly zero time to prepare for his championship match as Raven immediately entered the ring and clobbered Funk with the ECW Championship. Raven then set up a chair in the ring and smacked Funk head-first into it with a drop toehold before delivering a massive chair shot to the downed Funker’s head, turning his face into the literal crimson mask. Raven continued to dominate his helpless challenger, ramming his face into the canvas and pummelling the punch-drunk hardcore legend before awkwardly suplexing a table onto him on the outside of the ring. After a brief struggle, Raven then set another table up between the ring and the metal barricade; he laid Funk over it and then crashed himself through his opponent, and the table, with a running dive from the inside of the ring to the outside!

Thanks to the timely intervention of Tommy Dreamer, the elderly Terry Funk dethroned Raven.

Although a doctor continuously tried to see to Funk’s injuries, Raven simply knocked him down with a punch, rolled Funk back into the ring, and called for his followers. Reggie Bennett attacked Funk with a terrible sit-out powerbomb and Raven took to the microphone to taunt his long-time rival Tommy Dreamer, who had been doing guest commentary; although Dreamer had refused to get involved since he wanted his mentor to win through his own efforts, the interference and Raven’s words were enough to trigger Dreamer. Despite a sneak attack from Big Dick Dudley, Dreamer reversed a chokeslam into one of his own and sent the tie-dyed terror crashing through a stack of tables piled up near the commentary area. Dreamer then took out the rest of Raven’s Nest and nailed Raven with a jumping DDT off an Irish whip attempt, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Although Raven kicked out of the subsequent pin attempt, Funk immediately caught the champion with an inside cradle, which was enough to keep the champion down for the three count, awarding Funk the victory and the ECW Championship. Exhausted and covered in blood, the fifty-three-year-old hardcore icon celebrated in the braying crowd alongside an emotional Tommy Dreamer, and the strained elation of Joey Styles. Even for ECW, this match was cluttered and chaotic; Funk was clearly gassed after the previous match and got basically zero offense in on Raven, only winning because Dreamer made the save. This did play into the story being told, that being that Raven’s arrogance and mind games saw him dismiss Funk’s threat and be more focused on riling up Dreamer, which ultimately cost him despite him dominating the entire match. The ending seemed to be a bit of a botch as the bell rang when Funk covered Raven off the Dreamer DDT but the crowd didn’t seem to care; they were too busy losing their minds over Funk’s big victory, so I’d say it was a mess, but a reasonably enjoyable mess.

The Aftermath:
Despite all the rigmarole of even getting a network to air the event, Barely Legal 1997 proved to be successful enough that pay-per-views became a regular occurrence for the upstart ECW. A few months later, in August, they aired Hardcore Heaven but, by that point, much of the landscape had changed. Although Terry Funk successfully defended the ECW Championship against the likes of Raven, the Sandman, and “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, he was ultimately defeated by the “The Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death–Defying Maniac” Sabu in a brutal barbed wire match at the Born to be Wired supercard event. He challenged for the belt again at Hardcore Heaven in another three-way dance but ultimately came up short and later left the company, celebrated for his achievements, in one of his many infamous “retirement” matches. Raven’s issues with Funk, Dreamer, and Richards would continue up until June, where Dreamer defeated his rival and banished him to WCW for about three years. Although Raven never quite reached the same level of main event status in WCW, he made a considerable impact as a mid-card player with his newest stable, the Flock. He briefly returned to ECW in 1999 to team up with Dreamer before jumping ship to the WWF; after the WWF rebranded to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), all three men would eventually be involved in the WWE’s various revivals of the ECW brand in some form or another and Raven would continue to cross paths with both Dreamer and Funk during his stints in Total Nonstop Action (TNA) and various independent promotions.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to the ECW Championship match between Raven and Terry Funk? Who did you want to see win the match at the time? Were you a fan of Raven’s time in ECW? What did you think to Terry Funk being the ECW Champion? Were you invested in the ongoing issues between Raven and Tommy Dreamer? Did you watch ECW back in the day and, if so, who were some of your favourite wrestlers and what were some of your favourite matches and moments? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave them below or drop a comment on my social media and be sure to check out my other ECW content across the site!

Wrestling Recap: The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan (WrestleMania X8)

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The Date: 17 March 2002
The Venue: SkyDome; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Mike Chioda
The Stakes: “Icon vs Icon” grudge match

The Build-Up:
On 31st March 1985, Vince McMahon forever changed the face of the wrestling world with the very first WrestleMania, an elaborate pay-per-view event 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! For nearly two years, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) went head-to-head with rival World Championship Wrestling’s (WCW) Monday Nitro but, in 2001, WCW was crippled by bankruptcy and shockingly purchased by McMahon, bringing the “Monday Night Wars” to a surprising end. When McMahon’s attempts to keep WCW alive fell through, the WWF began a storyline where WCW “invaded” the WWF; unfortunately, since WCW’s top names sat out their high-paying contracts, the WWF was forced to rely on lesser names, resulting in one of the biggest missed opportunities in wrestling. Ironically, within months of the Invasion ending, WCW stalwarts debuted in the WWF, including the dreaded New World Order (nWo). First teased when Scott Hall gatecrashed Nitro, the rechristened “Hollywood” Hogan led the nWo in hijacked WCW’s programming, recruiting numerous allies, capturing the top WCW titles, and even to their own ill-fated pay-per-view before ultimately outstaying their welcome and unofficially dissolving when WCW folded. When the original trio came to the WWF, it was as a “lethal dose of poison” McMahon planned to use to kill his company in a bid to push his rival, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, out of the WWF. The nWo soon ran afoul of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the Rock; when Austin quashed a feud with Hogan due to backstage politics, Hogan and the Rock began a rivalry that saw Hogan and the nWo brutalise the Rock and even attempt to kill him by crashing a truck into an ambulance that the People’s Champion was trapped inside, thus setting the stage not just for a clash of icons but also a blood feud that spanned generations.

The Match:
Everyone knew Hulk Hogan back in the day; hell, I’d wager everyone is aware of him now, for better or worse, but even I knew he was a big multimedia star back when I was a kid and barely able to watch wrestling outside of a few choice matches and segments. It was the WCW/nWo videogames that introduced me to the nWo and the despicable “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan but, while I was vaguely aware of the group during my early years as a wrestling fan, I wasn’t able to watch WCW back then, so it was quite the moment when Hogan, Hall, and Nash showed up at No Way Out in 2002. I was a keen watcher of wrestling by then, especially the SmackDown! brand, and was excited to see what these much-hyped interlopers would bring to the table, but even I was immediately disappointed when they downplayed their threat and made it more about their egos than actually taking over the WWF. Still, the hype was real for Hogan vs. The Rock; while, in hindsight, a six-man tag pitting Rock, Austin, and the Undertaker against the nWo might’ve been the bigger, better match for WrestleMania X8, it ultimately worked out all the better for the fans and wrestling history given how rare it was (and still is) to see generational stars clash like this. The first hint that the match wasn’t going to go exactly as planned can be heard the moment that god awful nWo music hits and Hogan saunters down to the ring playing air guitar and pandering, with his usual smug bravado, to a chorus of cheers. Yes, despite Hogan literally trying to murder the Rock in the build up to the match, the Toronto crowd were absolutely unashamed Hulkamaniacs and cheered Hogan all the way down that ridiculously long entrance ramp. It was so obvious that that J.R. had to point out that Hogan’s legacy and star power have almost superseded his more heinous actions and even Hogan seemed confused by the barrage of “Hogan! Hogan! Hogan!” chants coming from the nostalgia-drunk audience. To be fair, it’s not like the Rock was met by anything less than a rapturous reception, but was pretty clear that the fans had altered the execution of the match the moment the two went face-to-face, eye-to-eye in the ring and were met with duelling chants and, after exchanging sly looks with each other and the audience, the two clearly agreed to toss out the plan and give the people what they wanted.

Right as the match started, the crowd insisted on a double turn and both men readily accepted!

The two locked up in a test of strength that Hogan won to the adulation of the crowd; a second lockup saw the Rock caught in a side headlock and then blasted to the canvas by a shoulder tackle. In between each move, the Rock’s facial expressions told the whole story; he was stunned, livid, at Hogan’s power and the crowd’s reaction to his foe’s signature posing, and he flailed like a ragdoll as Hogan chopped at him and cut him down with a clothesline. Although many in the crowd cheered when the Rock floored Hogan with a flying shot of his own and got in his face, these were quickly drowned out by a chorus of boos that the two men milked to the nth degree. A bit of schoolyard shoving led to a flurry of punches from the Rock that caught Hogan off-guard and saw him catching his breath on the outside. The Rock followed, attacking from behind and rolling Hogan into the ring for a few more shots to the face and another explosive clothesline. Dazed, Hogan seemed primed for a Rock Bottom but he fought out of it, much to the delight of the crowd, and regained control with a bionic elbow off an Irish whip. Hogan dropped a few elbows and stamped on the Rock’s face, but the crowd didn’t care (if anything, they encouraged it!), they just kept chanting Hogan’s name as he whipped the Rock from one corner to another and pummelled him with big haymakers and clotheslines. The Rock got himself back in the game with an awkward-looking tackle, however, spitting barbs at the rapturous crowd after they jeered his attempts at a comeback. The audience leapt to their feet when Hogan planted the Rock with a back body drop for the first near fall and they even cheered when Hogan tied the Rock up in an abdominal stretch and attacked his ribs, raked his back a couple of times, went to work smacking him with the old school ten punches, and even biting the Rock’s forehead!

The fans refused to boo Hogan; no matter what he did, they were firmly behind the wrestling icon.

The Rock turned the tables and chopped Hogan, mocking him and the crowd between moves, but found his momentum shut down with a surprising chokeslam-like manoeuvre from Hogan. Even when Hogan blatantly choked the Rock, the crowd wouldn’t be dissuaded from cheering the Hulkster and this only became more apparent as the two exchanged punches and Hogan launched the Rock from the ring to a thunderous ovation! Hogan pressed his advantage by slamming the Rock into the steel steps and the barricade; then they cleared out the announce table, only for the Rock to try to smash his head in with a steel chair. The referee intervened, however, which allowed Hogan to floor the Rock with a stiff clothesline, but poor Mike Chioda got blasted by the Rock after Hogan countered an Irish whip. The Rock got back into it with a spinebuster and his patented sharpshooter; no stranger to the leg lock and operating on pure instinct, Hogan powered to the ropes but the Rock simply dragged him away, giving the Hulkster no choice but to tap out. However, Mike Chioda was still out, robbing the Rock of an early victory, so the People’s Champion roughly tried to bring the referee to his senses (to chants of “Rocky sucks!”), only to walk right into a low blow from Hogan. Hogan followed up with a Rock Bottom but only scored a two count thanks to the referee struggling to make the count. Frustrated, with Mike Chioda still somewhat out of it, Hogan took off his belt and whipped it across the Rock’s back but ended up being planted by the Rock’s super-slick DDT. The Rock then grabbed Hogan’s belt and got a measure of revenge, lashing Hogan over and over and even spitting on it to add insult to injury, but his attempt to finish Hogan off with a Rock Bottom led to the Immortal One powering out of the pin!

Although the Rock won, Hogan won back his fans and embarked on an unexpected nostalgia run.

The crowd leapt to their feet as Hogan “Hulked Up” in the ring; fists clenched, teeth gritted, he shrugged off blow after blow and answered with clubbing blows to the Rock’s face. Hogan whipped the Rock off the ropes and floored him with his signature Big Boot and the crowd were literally frothing as Hogan came crashing down with his patented Atomic Leg Drop. Mike Chioda fell to the mat but the crowd, Hogan, basically everyone lost their damn minds when the Rock kicked out at two! With Toronto at a fever pitch, Hogan went for his finishing combination again, but the Rock rolled out of the way and scored with another Rock Bottom. Rather than go for the cover, the Rock purposely hoisted Hogan up and hit a third Rock Bottom before springing to his feet and earning himself the three count off a People’s Elbow! While the crowd might have been torn, if not against the Rock, throughout the match, they were unanimously elated with this outcome and showered both men with a standing ovation. This only escalated when the clearly exhausted and wounded Hogan sheepishly offered his hand in a show of respect; still milking the electricity of his impromptu heel turn, the Rock hesitated but ultimately shook the Hulkster’s hand and the two briefly embraced before Hogan humbly stepped aside for his better. Unimpressed, Hall and Nash attacked their nWo teammate until the Rock made the save and, together, Hogan and the Rock fought off Hall and Nash to effectively (if unofficially) disband the nWo. Fatigued, Hogan then tried to leave the ring but the Rock couldn’t help himself; he stopped Hogan and all-but begged him to perform one last pose down and, despite his obvious pain and discomfort, Hogan conceded and basked in the unanimous show of respect and adulation from the uproarious Toronto crowd, much to the Rock’s obvious glee!

The Aftermath:
This match has been heralded as one of the best wrestling clashes of all time, and for good reason; both men worked extremely well together and played to each other’s strengths and the Rock did a masterful job of working around Hogan’s limitations. What really makes this match, though, is the crowd; they are as big a part of the proceedings as the in-ring action and, without them causing an impromptu double-turn, I don’t know if this would’ve been as memorable as it was. However, the stars aligned perfectly, allowing Hogan to redeem years of wicked deeds during his time in the nWo with this one match and embark on an unexpected nostalgia tour over the next few years. Indeed, if it wasn’t obvious from the ending to this match, Hollywood Hogan turned face for the first time in years after WrestleMania X8. He would team up with the Rock (and Kane) to battle his former nWo teammates and found himself drafted to the SmackDown! brand, where he donned a new version of his classic red and yellow attire and rode his renewed fame all the way to a title shot, and victory, over Triple H the very next month at Backlash. The Rock was pivotal in securing Hogan this match as he gave up his own championship opportunity to film The Scorpion King (Russell, 2002); by the time he returned to the ring, not only was the WWF now known as WWE but Hogan had lost the Undisputed Championship to the Undertaker and was busy feuding with the likes of Kurt Angle and defending the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside Edge. Hogan and the Rock would, of course, face each other again a little under a year after this match. By this time, the Rock was firmly in the midst of his own “Hollywood” heel turn as an abrasive egomaniac and Hogan was embroiled in a feud with Vince McMahon. Before the two faced off at WrestleMania XIX, however, Hogan was forced to battle the Rock again at the 2003 No Way Out pay-per-view to the same result, but with the caveat that the Rock’s victory came after assistance from McMahon and a crooked referee. While both men would go on to have numerous other matches, their next biggest in-ring encounter came during the opening segment of WrestleMania XXX where Hogan, Rock, and Steve Austin shared the ring in an iconic (and hilarious) WrestleMania moment.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

What did you think to the Icon vs. Icon clash between the Rock and Hollywood Hulk Hogan? Do you think the match would be as memorable without the rampant Toronto crowd? Who was your pick to win this match at the time? Were you a fan of the nWo’s brief stint in the WWF? Would you have preferred to see Hogan face off against Steve Austin? Which generational wrestling icons would you like to see go one-on-one? How are you celebrating WrestleMania’s anniversary this year and what’s your favourite WrestleMania moment? Drop your thoughts below or leave a comment on my social media to let me know what you think about WrestleMania X8 and be sure to check out my other wrestling content across the site.

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: Royal Rumble 2001

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The Date: 21 January 2001
The Venue: New Orleans Arena; New Orleans, Louisiana
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Stipulation: Thirty man over the top rope battle royale for a WWF Championship opportunity at WrestleMania
Notable Competitors: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (Winner), Jeff Hardy (#1), Rikishi (#30), Kane (Most Eliminations), and Drew Carey (Celebrity Competitor)

The Build-Up:
Since 1988, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has brought fans Royal Rumble. The brainchild of the legendary Pat Patterson soon evolved into one of the most exciting events of the year as the winner of the titular over-the-top-rope battle royale would go on to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Following arguably their best ever year of business in 2000, which had seen the rise of new stars like “Y2J” Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, the coronation of The Rock as then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Champion, and the return of white-hot competitors like Steve Austin and the Undertaker, the WWF took a commanding lead in the ratings war that would see them dominate the industry and anticipation was high for upcoming WrestleMania X-Seven. Heading into the event, five competitors were spotlighted as the odds-on favourites to win: the aforementioned Steve Austin (who had made a dramatic return after being away from the ring for over a year), The Rock (who had recently lost the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle), the Undertaker (simply because of his legendary status), Kane (primarily because of his recent momentum), and the newly-evil Rikishi, who had adopted a mean streak and be propelled into a questionable main event run after it was revealed he helped injure Austin and who had earned the right to enter the match last. The big question heading into the event was whether Kane and the Undertaker were in cahoots; although they’d fought earlier in the year, they had seemingly reforged their alliance in the weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, and whether WWF Chairman Vince McMahon was seriously going to let comedian Drew Carey put his life on the line by competing in the match!

The Match:
This was peak WWF for me; I was finally able to watch WWF programming thanks to a deal they struck with Channel 4, meaning I was actually able to tape and watch this Royal Rumble event on Sunday night. I was really into everything that was happening at the time, especially the on-again, off-again issues between Kane and the Undertaker, Austins big return, and The Rock’s toppling of Triple H and the McMahon-Helmsley regime. It seemed as though everything the WWF produced was a guaranteed win at the time, with new stars, blockbuster main events, and stellar in-ring action and drama captivating audiences, especially me, and it’s largely because of this time (and this, my first real Royal Rumble match) that I became a life-long fan of wrestling. The match began with Jeff Hardy, one half of the high-flying Hardy Boyz who had electrified audiences with their death-defying antics, taking on Bull Buchanan, the stern-faced muscle of the infamous Right to Censor group, who were universally hated for their grating siren music and for opposing violent and risqué content. Although Jeff valiantly tried to topple and outpace the bruiser, Buchanan’s power and surprising agility saw Jeff taking quite a beating until, conveniently, he was joined in the ring by his brother, Matt. The two immediately teamed up to dump Buchanan over the top rope and then, after a respectful fist bump, began going at it (though, as The King rightly pointed out, it would’ve made more sense for them to work together until the end of the match). After a short exhibition between the two, they paused their fight to intercept Faarooq, one half of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA), who picked up where Buchanan left off with the power game and very nearly tossed out Jeff before falling victim to a Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combination and being thrown out of the ring. The Hardyz celebrated by stripping off their shirts (much to the delight of the audience) and going at it again until the fastest two minutes went by and Drew Carey sauntered out, tracksuit and all, slapping hands with the fans as Matt and Jeff took each other out of the match.

Kane was the undeniable highlight, featuring in comedy spots and dominating the in-ring action.

Basking in the adulation of the crowd, Drew’s jovial demeanour was immediately quashed when Kane came to the ring; barely able to continue his excitement, Drew hilariously tried to buy Kane off but promptly eliminated himself from the match after Raven rushed the ring and attacked Kane, sparing the comedian from taking a Chokeslam. Raven came equipped with a kendo stick, kicking off an entertaining impromptu hardcore match as the competitors started bashing each other with plunder and weapons in keeping with the madcap hardcore division. Raven quickly realised he needed these weapons to withstand Kane’s power, blasting him in the face with a fire extinguisher before being attacked by Al Snow, who jumped to gun to extract a measure of revenge against Raven for taking him out of action a few weeks previous. Al Snow went to town, smashing both men with a bin lid and rolling a bowling ball right into Raven’s crotch! Al Snow and Raven soon set aside their differences to keep Kane at bay with metal bins Perry Saturn joined the fight, targeting Kane’s leg, and the competitors ganged up on the Big Red Machine to beat him to the canvas. The hardcore fun continued as the “Lethal Weapon” Steve Blackman rushed the ring with his escrima sticks, attacking everyone in sight, and Grand Master Sexay danced his way into the match. However, Kane got so pissed off with everyone going after him that he went on a rampage and smashed everyone with a bin, clearing the ring in seconds in impressive fashion, only to be met by the Honky Tonk Man! The self-proclaimed greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time cut a promo in the ring and started signing his song, but Kane was having none of it; he bludgeoned the Honkey Tonk Man with his own guitar and tossed him from the ring with a shake of his head for another memorable comedy spot. Things really started to get serious when The Rock rushed the ring and went right for Kane; however, despite the unanimous crowd support and a flurry of strikes, The Rock was quickly overpowered by Kane, who pressed his advantage after taking a quick breather while The Rock made short work of Buchanan’s Right to Censor teammate, the Goodfather. Every time The Rock tried to build some momentum, Kane shut him down; even Tazz racing to the ring was of little consequence as Kane unceremoniously eliminated him within seconds!

Things slowed in the middle until the Big Show and the Undertaker spiced things up with their power.

Kane’s attempt to eliminate The Rock saw the People’s Champion finally start to mount a comeback, but both men were down when Bradshaw (also of the APA) entered the match, allowing the brawler to take immediate advantage. The Rock joined Bradshaw in working over Kane, but Bradshaw ended the alliance in emphatic fashion almost as quickly, flooring The Rock with a clothesline, which in turn earned him a Spinebuster in retaliation which allowed Kane to return to a dominating position. Albert, formally of the tag team T&A, then joined the fight, adding more meat to the match; Kane and Bradshaw briefly teamed up to know the big man down as the match slowed down a little for some brief elimination spots and clubbing offense. Hardcore Holly was out next and joined the lower-carders in trying to eliminate their main event competition; The Rock was able to hold on to the bottom rope but Kane was downed by Albert’s impressive bicycle kick, which very nearly was enough to see him eliminated. K-Kwik was out next and immediately got on the wrong side of Albert; the Right to Censor’s Val Venis hit the ring, followed by the European Champion, William Regal, and Albert’s former tag team partner, Test, to really pad out the middle portion of the match with a lot of rope-hugging, stomping, and miscellaneous grappling in the corners. Test tossed out Regal before going after Albert and then targeting Kane and The Rock continued to find himself absorbing punishment or in a precarious situation despite all his pre-match talk of dominating the match. Things finally got interesting when the Big Show made a dramatic return to th company after an extended absence; the Big Show made his presence known by wrecking everyone with huge Chokeslams before tumbling out of the match courtesy of The Rock. Enraged, the Big Show pulled The Rock under the ropes and sent him crashing through the announce table, effectively eliminating The Rock from the match for some time. Crash Holly entered the ring and the remaining competitors ganged up on Kane once more but he was saved by his brother, the Undertaker, who rode down on his motorcycle and officially solidified his rekindled alliance with Kane by fending off his attackers. The reunited Brothers of Destruction then launched every competitor from the ring and teased a fight before being interrupted by poor Scott 2 Hotty! Despite the horror of the fate that awaited him in the ring, Scotty bravely slid through the ropes and was manhandled, planted with a double Chokeslam, and tossed from the ring like he was a piece of trash.

Neither Haku’s return, Triple H’s attack, or Kane’s impressive performance could keep Austin from victory.

The Brothers of Destruction were then denied the chance to put their newfound partnership to the test against Steve Austin as Triple H attacked Austin during his entrance; earlier in the night, Austin had cost Triple H the WWF Championship in his match with Kurt Angle as part of their ongoing rivalry so the slighted Triple H assaulted the Texas Rattlesnake, busting him open and battering him around the aisleway as The Rock returned to the ring to take a beating from Kane and the Undertaker. As referees desperately forced Triple H off Steve Austin’s bloody, battered body, “The One” Billy Gunn hit the ring and the Brothers of Destruction were momentarily scuppered by the returning Haku, who entered to near silence as many (including myself) didn’t know the notorious former Meng. The final entrant, the sour-faced Rikishi, was attacked by Steve Austin, who then stormed the ring and assaulted everyone before Rikishi sent the Deadman tumbling out with his impressive side kick. Rikishi then tried to crush his cousin with his immense ass, but The Rock countered with a low blow and sent the big man out of the match, leaving the final four as The Rock, a bloodied Steve Austin, a heavily fatigued Kane, and, oddly, Billy Gunn. Why Gunn was chosen over the Undertaker or even Rikishi I don’t know but it was a moot point as he was launched from the ring by Austin within seconds so he could have an electric stare down with The Rock. Although The Rock came out on top when they traded blows, he couldn’t hit the Rock Bottom and ate a Stone Cold Stunner, but the People’s Champion was able to recover when Austin got distracted kicking Kane in the balls. A Rock Bottom shut Austin down but, when The Rock tried to heave Austin out, Kane came up from behind and shoved both men from the wring. While it seemed like the Big Red Machine had won, Austin had managed to hold on; although a Chokeslam seemed to do in Austin, Kane got distracted going for the Tombstone Piledriver and got another kick to the balls as a result. Austin then hit the Stunner and absolutely decimated Kane with repeated chair shots to the head, staggering the Big Red Machine and ultimately forcing him from the ring to award Austin his third Royal Rumble win and a first-class ticket to the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven!

The Aftermath:
Although the match meandered in the middle, with the ring filling up with disposable bodies, the 2001 Royal Rumble is largely regarded as one of the best of its kind; Kane’s mammoth stint and dominating performance wouldn’t be toppled for some thirteen years and his reward was a fun match at WrestleMania X-Seven that saw him capture the Hardcore Championship and an extended push alongside his brother throughout 2001. Rather than facing Rikishi and Haku at WrestleMania X-Seven alongside his brother, the Undertaker fought and defeated Triple H and went on to become a primary figure in the resulting “Invasion” storyline. Although he didn’t win the Royal Rumble, The Rock found himself in the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven when he recaptured the WWF Championship the following month at No Way Out. In the weeks leading up to their epic second WrestleMania clash, tensions would rise between Austin and The Rock, especially after WWF Chairman made Austin’s wife, Debra, The Rock’s manager. However, no one could have foreseen that Austin would brutalise The Rock and forge an unholy alliance with McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven to regain the WWF Championship, kickstarting an ill-advised but somewhat entertaining heel turn for the Texas Rattlesnake that saw him become an unhinged egomaniac who turned his back on friend and foe alike during the Invasion storyline.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy the 2001 Royal Rumble match? Do you think it deserves the praise it gets or do you find it a bit dull in the middle portion? Who was your pick to win and what did you think to Kane’s phenomenal performance? Which of the returns did you think was best and did you know who Haku was? What did you think to the hardcore brawl? Were you excited for WrestleMania X-Seven at the time? Who’s your pick to win this year’s Royal Rumble? Whatever you think about the 2001 Royal Rumble, and the match in general, drop a comment below or on my social media and check out my other wrestling content across the site.

Wrestling Recap: Elimination Chamber Match (New Year’s Revolution ’06)

Dr. K1 Comment

The Date: 8 January 2006
The Venue: Pepsi Arena; Albany, New York
The Commentary: Joey Styles, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Jonathan “The Coach” Coachman
The Referee: Mike Chioda
The Stakes: Six-man Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship

The Build-Up:
In 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was the undisputed titan of the sports entertainment industry. After buying their competition, the company split their expansive roster into two brands; Raw and SmackDown! each had exclusive wrestlers, belts, creative teams, and even pay-per-view events. While this gave a platform for the fabled “SmackDown! Six” and frustrated audiences with Triple H’s “Reign of Terror”, it inevitably led to an expensive prospect for wrestling fans and an overall sense of brand dilution. Dubbed the “Ruthless Aggression” era, this period saw the rise of up-and-coming stars like John Cena and Batista, the in-ring return of the “Heart Break Kid” Shawn Michaels, the ascension of long-time tag team performer Edge to the main event, and the debut of some ground-breaking match concepts such as the Money in the Bank ladder match and the six-man Elimination Chamber match. Long before he became one of their most divisive figures, John Cena captured his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21 and was immediately drafted to the Raw brand to capitalise on his popularity, where he clashed with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. Although he triumphed over Bischoff’s hand-picked opponents throughout the year, many of his rivals came back with a vengeance after winning qualifying matches to earn a spot in this Elimination Chamber match, which was the fourth time the company had produced this stipulation. However, waiting in the wings was Edge, who had captured the first ever Money in the Bank briefcase, which allowed him the opportunity to cash-in the contract within for a championship match anytime, anywhere, meaning that the deck was constantly stacked against the streetwise champion.

The Match:
As ever, the first five minutes or so prior to the start of the match was dedicated to selling the brutality of the structure and the rules of the Elimination Chamber before the competitors came to the ring. First up was Kane, right in the middle of his psychotic unmasked gimmick and a World Tag Team Championship run alongside the Big Show, closely followed by one of two rising stars who really didn’t fit in this match, “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters, a ‘roided up freak whose only selling point was his physique and his lame-ass Full Nelson submission that, somehow, managed to get over. The second unlikely star in this match was Carlito, who had history with Cena from their feuds over the United States Championship but was another guy I just found to be bland no matter how many apples he spat in people’s faces. Thankfully, the star power returned to the match when Kurt Angle came to the ring, accompanied by chants of “You suck!” and his unnecessary manager at the time, Daivari, meaning it would be the champion, John Cena, going the distance and starting off against Shawn Michaels. Thanks to finally having a Sky subscription around this time, I was very much invested in the Blue Brand and remember John Cena’s inauspicious debut against Kurt Angle and his evolution from a white-meat rookie into an annoying, self-entitled rapper. However, I never really had strong feelings for or against Cena and it wouldn’t be until the WWE kept going back to Cena as champion again and again at the expense of new stars that I tired of his shtick, but he definitely got his fair share of boos here as the crowd had already started to turn against him.

Although Angle came in all intense, a single superkick was enough to eliminate him in quick fashion…

Thanks to the will of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels and John Cena got the match started (to chants of “Cena sucks!” that the commentary team unsuccessfully tried to explain away) with a bit of chain wrestling that quickly turned into a slap-and-slug-fest and the two trying to ram each other into the heavy chains that made up the cage walls. Back in the ring, HBK won the favour of the crowd with some stiff chops and a dominating performance, scoring the first near fall of the match, though it wasn’t long before Cena turned the tide and HBK was flailing like a fish on the top rope. After HBK took a clothesline over the ropes, Carlito joined the match and immediately attacked Cena, hitting a dropkick and crushing HBK with an impressive somersault senton over the ropes and to the steel floor on the outside! The crowd continued to boo everything Cena did and cheer even Carlito when he planted Cena with a modified flapjack, though Carlito made things worse for himself by targeting both the champion and Shawn Michaels, leading to the two working together to shut him down with a double flapjack for a two count. This two on one situation evened out when Kurt Angle joined the fray and started planting everyone with German Suplexes over and over in an explosion of intensity. Angle specifically targeted Cena and Michaels, two men he’d been feuding with throughout 2005, splitting HBK’s forehead open on the chains, ramming him into a plexiglass pod, and mercilessly beating Cena down in the corner. With his rivals down, Angle tried to score the first elimination when he caught Carlito in his patented Ankle Lock, but Carlito’s ally, Chris Masters, rushed the ring and floored everyone with stiff lariats and power moves. However, when he tried to put the Master Lock on Angle, the Olympic Gold Medallist slipped out and put him in the Ankle Lock, before immediately switching to slapping the hold on Cena after slipping out of the FU, but Angle’s time in the match was suddenly ended when HBK hit the Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere for a three count!

Sadly, the star power was removed from the match, leaving Cena with Masters and Carlito.

Carlito and Chris Masters then isolated Cena and HBK, wearing them down with sluggish, uninspired offense and repeated tosses into the steel mesh of the cage. Any attempt by Cena to fight back was instantly shut down by the double team attack, leaving the two rivals beaten on the mat when Kane finally entered the match. Kane went right for the two men standing, planting Carlito and Masters with a big boot and a sidewalk slam before planting both Shawn Michaels and John Cena with Chokeslams. Chris Masters saved Carlito from the same fate, receiving a sock to the jaw for his troubles, but this bought Carlito enough time to briefly down Kane with the Backstabber. When Kane continued to sit up and fight back, the two took him down again and then anticlimactically scored the second elimination of the match after Master press-slammed Carlito onto the Big Red Monster and the two piled on top of him to pin him down. Consequently, the match returned to the previous formula of Carlito and Masters squaring off against Cena and HBK, with Carlito punishing Shawn on the outside and Masters manhandling Cena in the ring before they isolated HBK. Shawn Michaels made a sudden comeback, however, taking both men down and even delivered his patented diving elbow drop to Cena. Though he was too exhausted to go for a pin, Shawn tuned up the band in the corner and damn-near took Cena’s head off with the Sweet Chin Music but Carlito and Masters made the bizarre decision to rush him before he could eliminate the champion from the match and Carlito even pinned Shawn after hitting one of the lamest and piss-poor finishers I know, the damn Cross Rhodes!

Although Cena survived the Elimination Chamber, Edge cashed in to steal his first WWE Championship!

So, rather than have this lacklustre match at least end with John Cena versus Shawn Michaels, the final stretch was a protracted two on one situation pitting the champion against Carlito and Chris Masters, two young prospects, yes, but guys simply lacking the charisma to get the crowd as invested as an HBK/Cena clash. The crowd, already against Cena, instantly saw this as an attempt to paint the champion as an underdog so the jeers filled the arena as Cena overpowered his two assailants with his “Five Moves of Doom”. Masters saved Carlito from the FU and delivered a brutal DDT to the steel floor, busting him open and leaving him helpless to save himself from being rammed into the steel or being bludgeoned by a beatdown. After planting Cena with a double back body drop from the top rope, Masters tied him up in the Master Lock but was unexpectedly betrayed when Carlito hit a low blow and rolled him up to take him out of the match. Unfortunately Carlito couldn’t capitalise as Cena immediately rolled him up to retain the WWE Championship. Bloody and battered, Cena celebrated to a mixture of cheers and boos, but his night took a turn for the worst when Vince McMahon appeared and announced that Edge was cashing in his Money in the bank contract! Accompanied by Lita, Edge rushed the ring and attacked Cena, frantically trying to pin him quickly and stomping away at the battered champion. Fatigued and caught off-guard, Cena was easy prey for a Spear, but shockingly got his shoulder up off the pin attempt! Stunned, Edge charged ahead with a second Spear and finally put Cena down for the three count to win his first-ever WWE Championship for a much-celebrated feel-good moment for the dastardly heel that almost made this bore of a match worth sitting through.

The Aftermath:
Edge’s win set the standard for future Money in the Bank cash-ins; rarely would a briefcase holder name a time and place for their championship opportunity as it was much easier to cash-in on a beaten and tired champion and the briefcase was generally used as a tool to spotlight an up-and-coming future champion. For Edge, it was his ticket to the main event scene and he began a short feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship. Sadly, Cena would regain the belt from Edge at the Royal Rumble but it wouldn’t be the last time Edge won a World Heavyweight Championship and he was compensated with a star-making performance against Mick Foley at WrestleMania 22. At that same event, Cena defended the belt against Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ issues with Mr. McMahon came to a head in a bloody and brutal no holds barred match between the two. As for Kurt Angle, he jumped back to SmackDown! and captured the World Heavyweight Championship, which he then lost at WrestleMania 22 to Rey Mysterio in a triple threat match, thereby setting Rey on a course for his first emotional, if poorly booked, main event run. Finally, Carlito and Chris Masters would tangle with Kane once more when they challenged the Big Red Monster and the Big Show for the World Tag Team Championships in a losing effort at WrestleMania 22; they would then split up and face off in a short feud that ultimately led to Carlito coming out on top. Of course, this wouldn’t be the last Elimination Chamber match; the infamous “Extreme” Elimination Chamber was held in December 2006 and audiences were guaranteed to see at least one a year when it graduated to a self-titled pay-per-view in 2010, however the following year’s New Year’s Revolution event would be the last carrying that brand name.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to the fourth Elimination Chamber match? Do you enjoy the match concept? Were you a fan of John Cena or were you already sick of his schtick at this point? What did you think to the competitors in this match? Were you shocked to see Edge steal the victory at the end? What’s your favourite Elimination Chamber match and Money in the Bank cash-in? Did you enjoy the New Year’s Revolution event and would you like to see it revived? Whatever your thoughts on the 2006 Elimination Chamber and its participants, share them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Wrestling Recap: Kurt Angle vs. Sting (Bound for Glory ’07)

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The Date: 14 October 2007
The Venue: Arena at Gwinnett; Duluth, Georgia
The Commentary: Mike Tenay and Don West
The Referee: Rudy Charles and Andrew Thomas
The Stakes: Main event singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

The Build-Up:
On the 27 May 1996 edition of WCW Monday Nitro, Scott Hall declared war on World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He, Kevin Nash, and their “third man”, Hulk Hogan, hijacked WCW programming as the New World Order (nWo) and WCW dominated the “Monday Night Wars”. WCW’s saviour in this period was Sting, who disappeared into the rafters for almost a year before returning in a persona heavily inspired by The Crow (O’Barr, 1989; Proyas, 1994) to defeat “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship in an infamous match on this day in 1997. By 2007, however, the wrestling landscape had vastly changed; the unthinkable happened on 26 March 2001 when Vince McMahon, chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), appeared on Monday Nitro to officially announce his purchase of WCW, thus ending the Monday Night Wars. While a handful of WCW wrestlers jumped to the WWE for an ill-fated “Invasion” angle, many chose to sit out their big-money contracts, and one WCW star who repeatedly turned down WWE was “The Icon”, Sting. Instead, Sting signed on with upcoming promotion Total Nonstop Action (TNA), an alternate to mainstream WWE founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett and initially part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Initially, Sting’s time in TNA was focused on opposing Jeff Jarrett, who held a stranglehold over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, and in various feuds with Christian Cage and Abyss. When the NWA stripped TNA’s champions of their belts, Sting briefly captured the newly-christened TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a match mired in controversy. While Sting was undoubtedly one of TNA’s biggest signings, so too was former Olympic champion Kurt Angle, who made a shocking debut on October 6, 2006 and captured TNA’s top belt by making Sting tap out earlier in the year. After a short run with the TNA World Tag Team Championships, Sting earned himself another shot at the big belt and these two wrestling legends met once more in this one-on-one contest.

The Match:
As much of a wrestling fan as I am, it’s always been difficult for me to watch WWE on a consistent basis; over here in the United Kingdom, we usually have to pay extra for sports channels to watch the weekly shows, which is something I’ve never been interested in, so it was rare and exciting to have wrestling programming available on channels I was already paying for as part of my television package. TNA was one of those shows, and I dipped in and out of the product for quite some time; I watched some of the early years in the Asylum, where many of the low-tier WCW and WWE guys would battle it out over that piece of scrap tin the NWA called a championship and got my first taste of future stars such as AJ Styles, Abyss, and Samoa Joe as well as seeing personal favourites like Raven return to the ring. My peak for the company was when it transitioned to Impact Wrestling, a move I still disagree with, but I remember them signing big names like Sting and Kurt Angle and it really making me sit up and take notice. Sadly, a series of blunders meant that TNA/Impact never quite managed to reach the same level as the WWE but, for a while there, it was easily the number two wrestling promotion in the United States and things were legitimately very exciting in this much-needed alternative to the WWE mainstream. Where else, after all, would you get to see Sting and Kurt Angle battle for a World Heavyweight Championship? All this context is to say that, while TNA wasn’t quite as polished as the WWE powerhouse, they did the best they could to provide a different brand of wrestling and put on some truly exciting matches, and their hype package for this main event was emblematic of that as the video, while not to the standards of WWE’s production, set the stage for these two wrestling icons clashing in Georgia, the birthplace of WCW and Sting’s most memorable moments and of Angle’s Olympic gold medal victory.

A lengthy feeling out process soon saw Kurt Angle take control.

A couple of things I really enjoyed about TNA, especially during this time, was that they used a six-sided ring instead of the traditional four; while I’m sure this was difficult for many performers to adjust to, I always thought this helped the promotion stand out from the competition and thought it was a dumb move to remove that feature when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came along. Mike Tenay and Don West also liked to breakdown the match and its performers in a “Tale of the Tape” segment, which always lends an air of legitimacy to the contest in my eyes and essentially paints both competitors as being on somewhat even ground, although Angle was benefiting from a recent edge to his character and an association with Kevin Nash. Sting came out first to the unanimous support of the admittedly small audience and his absolutely dreadful TNA theme (nothing beats Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy”, in my opinion) and carrying his trusty baseball bat; Kurt Angle followed and man, it is weird not hearing the crowd chant “You suck!” at him and to see his vices still taking their toll. Once the bell rang, the two seemed a little cautious; they exchanged collar and elbow tie-ups and go-behinds at the start as part of a feeling out process, with Sting backing away whenever Angle grabbed the ropes to break his holds, but Angle’s wrestling prowess saw him get the upper hand in the early going with a takedown and a wrist lock. Sting showed he wasn’t just some showboat, however, by giving as good as he got; both men targeted the wrist and arm (a strange strategy considering both favour a leg-based submission hold…) and tried to out-wrestle each other with headlock takedowns. Things finally started to speed up once Sting whipped Angle off the ropes; Angle scored with a shoulder block, but Sting landed a beautiful hip toss that was enough for Angle to flee to the outside. Angle took his time getting back into the ring and switched from indulging him with tie-ups and went on the offensive with a gut kick, a European uppercut, and some knife-edge chops against the ropes.

Sting’s tenacity took a beating thanks to Angle’s resourcefulness and Nash’s interference.

A burst of adrenaline saw Sting shrug these off, however; he landed some chops of his own followed by the ten punches in the corner. An awkward reversal exchange saw Angle block Sting’s next attempt to whip him into the ropes, but he ate a dropkick and took a clothesline to the outside after Sting frantically kicked him off a potential Ankle Lock attempt. Sting eventually followed and rammed Angle into the guard rail and onto the announcer’s table before tossing him back into the ring. Angle’s attempt to regain some momentum saw him fly shoulder-first into one of the ring posts but a rake to the eyes allowed him to escape the Scorpion Death Drop. Suddenly, the match turned in Angle’s favour; he planted Sting with a snap German Suplex, followed up with a backbreaker and a couple of unsuccessful pin attempts, before once again beating on Sting and choking him in the corner. A vertical suplex scored a two count, then Angle locked in a body scissors around Sting’s ribs, which he transitioned into a headlock and ended with a belly-to-belly suplex that tossed Sting across the ring. Angle continued the pressure with a chin lock to keep Sting grounded, allowing both men to catch their breath and building tension as Sting rallied for support to power back to his feet. A double clothesline saw led to a dramatic ten count and another chance to the clearly winded competitors to recuperate; a slugfest followed, which saw Sting repeatedly plant Angle with a series of clotheslines and a big spinebuster. Sting’s first cover of the match resulted in a two count and directly led to him hitting his patented Stinger Splash on an absolutely drenched Angle, and then another to the champion’s back followed by a running faceplant. Oddly, Sting then went to the top rope; not sure why or what the hell he was thinking but it was a moot point as Angle leapt up and tossed him down with a big suplex for another near fall. Sting slipped out of an Olympic Slam and tried a roll-up for another close two count, then Angle got pissed and started pounding the life out of Sting with not one, not two, but three successive German Suplexes. Feeling the intensity raging through him, Angle dropped the straps and slapped on the Ankle Lock, but Sting was able to roll over and, inexplicably, reverse it into the Scorpion Deathlock! Unfortunately for the Icon, Angle’s wife, Karen, rushed to the ring the distract him and the referee, which allowed Kevin Nash to plant him with a clothesline.

In the end, Sting’s trusty bat and finishing move secured him his first, if brief, TNA Championship.

Angle then scored with the Olympic Slam but the referee was busy dealing with Karen so he was a little too late for the count, meaning Sting kicked out. Angle then sat Sting on the top rope but, while Sting was able to fight out of a belly-to-belly suplex, his attempt at a diving splash saw him eat nothing but knees, though he still kicked out of the pin. Angle then planted Sting and hit this trippy somersaulting knee drop, like a version of the 450 Splash, but it still only got a two count. Frustrated by Sting’s tenacity, Angle went for the Ankle Lock again, this time right in the middle of the ring; Stin rolled out and sent Angle flying into Nash. However, when Sting ducked Angle’s wild clothesline, referee Rudy Charles got taken out and thus Sting was left frantically motioning for a new referee after planting Angle with the Scorpion Death Drop. Referee Andrew Thomas tried to make the three count but Nash yanked him out of the ring and punched him out before putting a beating on Sting in the corner. Sting took both Nash and Angle down with a double clothesline, however, but got a good ol’ shot to the nuts from Angle for his efforts. Tenay tried to say that Sting managed to block a shot from Angle with his own baseball bat but he clearly wasn’t fast enough as you can see the bat hit him and he ends up bleeding as a result. Still, Sting snatched the bat away and busted Angle open before finally taking Nash out of the equation. Sting then hit another Scorpion Death Drop and Rudy Charles came around long enough to make the final three count, thus awarding Sting another World Heavyweight Championship, much to the delight of the crowd, the announcers, and Sting himself. Sadly, though, this was quite the lethargic affair; considering the two had a bit of a grudge heading into the match, the energy was lacking and it was a very slow and by-the-numbers affair, possibly to cover for Sting’s limitations and Angle’s physical issues. Both guys seemed to get winded very quickly and the referee bumps and interference weren’t really necessary, and the whole contest felt like it was on the verge of kicking into a higher gear but just never got around to it.

The Aftermath:
Sting’s first of four reigns as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion wouldn’t last long; he dropped the belt back to Kurt Angle two days later on an episode of TNA Impact! after interference by Kevin Nash. The two then faced off again the following month at Genesis in a tag team match; Sting and the recently-debuted Booker T took on Angle and Nash, with Angle again emerging victorious. Sting then took a bit of time away from TNA and even teased his retirement, before returning in 2008 and joining forces with Angle, Nash, and Booker T and Scott Steiner as the Main Event Mafia to battle TNA’s younger stars in a turf war. This not only saw Sting reclaim the top belt but reignited his feud with Angle, which eventually led to the stable turning on the Icon, and he and Angle continued to trade wins, losses, and the championship belt even as Sting’s sanity began to slip. Sting and Angle last shared a TNA ring together in 2013 when they reformed the Main Event Mafia to oppose the Aces & Eights stable; both men were inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame (with Sting being the very first inductee) and the WWE Hall of Fame and even showed up on WWE programming later down the line. However, while Angle officially retired from in-ring competition in April 2019, Sting bounced back from what seemed like a career-ending injury to become an active mentor and competitor in All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to the contest between Sting and Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory 2007? Were you excited to see Sting and Angle be a part of the TNA roster at the time? Did the pacing and interference bother you? What did you think to Sting and Angle’s time in TNA and what are some of your favourite matches and moments from their time there? Were you a fan of TNA? Which of Sting’s “Crow” eras, personas, and matches are your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on Sting, and this match in particular, feel free to voice them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Wrestling Recap: Extreme Elimination Chamber (December to Dismember ’06)

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The Date: 3 December 2006
The Venue: James Brown Arena; Augusta, Georgia
The Commentary: Joey Styles and Tazz
The Referee: Mickie Henson
The Stakes: Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship

The Build-Up:
Back in the days when the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) competed in a vicious ratings war, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) offered a different brand of sports entertainment. First founded in 1992 as Eastern Championship Wrestling, the company was re-branded by one of wrestling’s greatest minds, managers, and promoters, Paul Heyman, in 1993 and came to be known for its violent and controversial matches and content, which was instrumental in inspiring the WWF’s “Attitude Era”. Unfortunately, despite ECW’s rabid cult following, the company was unable to sustain itself after losing its television deal; many of ECW’s stars jumped to the WWF and the company officially closed its doors in early-2001. ECW lived on, however, not just in the rise of independent promotions but also in the confines of the rebranded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE); the success of their Rise and Fall of ECW documentary (Dunn, 2005) saw the WWE host a special throwback event, ECW One Night Stand, in 2005 to celebrate the brand. It was so successful that a second event followed in 2006, one that would see ECW and many of its stars return as a third WWE brand. Unfortunately, despite initially being presented as an alternative product and a showcase for new talent, the WWE ECW was doomed to fail: it lacked the “Extreme” edge fans expected, Heyman’s influence was limited, and its top star and champion, Rob Van Dam, was stripped of his championship belts after being arrested on drug charges! The WWE seemed to lose interest soon after; although they promoted this pay-per-view event, very few matches were announced beforehand and the card was supplemented by Raw and SmackDown! talent. The entire show was built around this Extreme Elimination Chamber match, with former champion RVD being the first announced for the contest. There was also some drama surrounding Hardcore Holly’s involvement; he was initially scheduled to be a part of it before Bobby Lashley attacked him and took his place, failed to gain a spot in a match against RVD, and was finally included after Sabu was mysteriously attacked earlier on the show, a decision that irked the ECW original but would be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this universally lambasted event.

The Match:
Considering ECW December to Dismember 2006 was already criticised for its lacklustre card and padding its runtime, it’s perhaps not surprising that this match was preceded by not just a hype video emphasising its violent and brutal nature, but also a lengthy pre-match promo from ECW general manager Paul Heyman. While the crowd, and even the commentary team, have no love for Heyman, who turned heel by ditching the ECW originals for up-and-coming stars like Bobby Lashley and CM Punk (and, naturally, the Big Show) as the future of the company. This promo went on for about three minutes and, afterwards, the show wasted even more time by dwelling on the chamber’s lowering around the ring. What made this match unique, and “Extreme”, compared to previous elimination chamber matches was that each competitor also carried a weapon: CM Punk had a steel chair, Test a crowbar, Lashley a table, and the Big Show had a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Otherwise, the rules were the same; two men (RVD and Hardcore Holly) started the match and, around every five minutes, another competitor was released to join in. As was often the case whenever the Big Show actually got a serious push, much of Heyman, Styles, and Tazz’s commentary emphasised the champion’s size and strength; despite the fact that the Big Show had been beaten like a drum over the years by this point, he was hyped as “unbeatable” simply because he was a huge man with a newfound motivation since capturing the championship. Of all the competitors, rising star CM Punk,the epitome of an indie darling, and the ever-popular RVD made the most waves during their entrances. Even now, as big a fan of Test and even Hardcore Holly I am as a dependable midcarder, it’s hard to deny that these two stick out like a sore thumb; nobody in the audience wanted Holly in this match and their inclusion really speaks to how limited and lacklustre the WWE ECW roster was.

RVD proved the MVP of this thrown-together match, closely followed by crowd favourite CM Punk.

As mentioned, RVD and Hardcore Holly started the match after what felt like an ice age of stalling and entrances and they kicked off what was sold as the most devastating match in the entire WWE by…trading lock ups and punches. A clothesline exchange was enough for Holly to go for the cover, which earned him barely a one count, then Holly gently tossed RVD to the raised steel floor outside the ring. RVD leapt to the cage wall when Holly dodged his dive, which was admittedly pretty impressive; unfortunately, he ended up hitting the ropes when he tried a follow up dive, which was apparently enough to draw an “ECW!” chant from the crowd. Holly pressed his advantage by running RVD into the chain-link wall and slamming him on the steel but crashed and burned when he uncharacteristically went for a dive off the top rope and ate a boot for his troubles. RVD capitalised with his patented Rolling Thunder manoeuvre from the ring, over the ropes, and to Holly’s prone body on the outside, only to find himself deposited back into the ring from a suplex for a two count. Holly and RVD traded blows, with Holly landing his trademark dropkick, before CM Punk joined the action. The crowd exploded when Punk launched his steel chair right at Holly’s face and took out RVD with a springboard clothesline, only to be blasted with that same chair when RVD tossed it at his head! RVD followed up with his rolling monkey flip in the corner, which saw Punk slightly graze the chair with his tail bone, only for Punk to duck RVD’s spin kick and sweep him onto the chair with his speed and martial arts skill. Punk kept Holly out of the game with a springboard dropkick and continued to work over the busted open RVD, thrusting him head-first through the chair as it was wedged in the corner, only to have his momentum cut off when Holly swung him into the chain link wall for a near fall.

The crowd were unimpressed when RVD and Punk were eliminated, and by the botched pin on Holly.

Holly continued his attack with a sidewalk slam to Punk before dumping him on the ropes and booting him right in the head and driving him to the mat with a superplex. Regardless, CM Punk kicked out of two follow-up pin attempts and all three men were fatigued when Test brutally attacked with his crowbar, slamming, clawing, and choking Punk and RVD to give Holly time to recuperate. RVD somehow found a second wind, attacking with the chair then eliminating CM Punk with the Five-Star Frog Splash, which initially caused the audience to pop but their cheers quickly turned to boos when they realised what’d happened. Test then shockingly hit Holly with his Big Boot; however, despite the referee not counting to three and Tazz insisting that Holly kicked out, Hardcore Holly was summarily eliminated in confusing, frustrating, and anti-climactic fashion. RVD then flew in with a side kick off the top rope that downed Test and left him in prime position for a Five-Star Frog Splash off the top of the Big Show’s pod; however, the Big Show grabbed at RVD and interrupted the move, allowing Test to attack with a chair, dump him off the pod, and land a massive elbow drop from the pod to the steel chair, which took RVD out of the match and left the audience incensed as they realised their two favourites were gone.

After some stalling, shenanigans, and mediocre action, Lashley captured the championship.

There was a huge lull in the match where Test was left to awkwardly stumble about the ring as the counter wound down; then, when Heyman’s riot squad refused to let him out, Lashley broke out of his pod by smashing the roof with his table. Although he almost slipped off the top rope, Lashley, hit a diving clothesline, kicking the chair in Test’s face, and smashing him in the gut with the crowbar. The Spear that followed then took Test out of the match, leaving Lashley to stalk around the ring for over a minute as he waited for the Big Show to be released. The Big Show lumbered out with his barbed wire baseball bat and hammered at Lashley, who desperately defended himself with the chair; quickly, Lashley tricked the Big Show into getting the bat caught in the cage wall, allowing the challenger to drive the champion into the steel mesh and right through a pod, busting him open and leaving him prone for a beating. The Big Show rallied, effortlessly tossing Lashley into the ring and flooring him with a clothesline; however, when he went for his trademark Chokeslam, Lashley countered into a huge DDT! The Big Show got pissed when Lashley deftly ducked his haymakers and tried to plant him with a running powerslam, but Lashley easily slipped off, hit the ropes, and collided with a Spear to finish the clearly winded champion and capture the ECW Championship to reluctant applause. I can understand why this match is so poorly regarded; there’s just not enough star power, heat, or intrigue behind it. The weapons added some spice but they were barely used and there was too much waiting around, not to mention the two clear fan favourites being unceremoniously dispatched and that botched pin on Hardcore Holly!

The Aftermath:
This wouldn’t be the last time that the Big Show and Bobby Lashley clashed over the ECW World Heavyweight Championship; on the very next episode of ECW, Lashley defeated the Big Show in a one-on-one match, retaining the belt and temporarily removing the Big Show from WWE programming. Lashley continued to mix it up with his fellow chamber opponents, clashing with RVD on ECW and defending the championship against Test at Royal Rumble, but he ended up embroiled in a “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 23 as he represented Donald Trump in a match against WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s proxy, Umaga. This ultimately led to perhaps the most outrageous storyline of the revived ECW as McMahon and Lashley feuded over the championship, with the chairman actually capturing the belt in the process! Although December to Dismember wouldn’t be the end of ECW, it was the end of Paul Heyman’s tenure with the company, and the WWE, for some time; the show’s poor buy rate and attendance figures escalated tensions between Heyman and McMahon, with the former walking away from the company after his booking decisions regarding CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, and Bobby Lashley were ignored. Contrary to popular belief, ECW limped on for about two more years after December to Dismember, but the brand was never again afforded its own pay-per-view and December to Dismember went down in history as one of the worst produced, worst attended, and worst regarded wrestling events of all time.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

What did you think to the Extreme Elimination Chamber match? Who did you want to see win the match at the time? Were you annoyed that Sabu was swapped out for Hardcore Holly? What did you think to CM Punk being the first person eliminated? Do you think the match should have made better use of its weapons? Were you excited that Bobby Lashley won? What did you think to the WWE’s revival of ECW? Would you like to see the December to Dismember event make a comeback? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave them below or drop a comment on my social media.

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

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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.

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: Benoit vs. Sabu / Scorpio (November to Remember ’94)

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The Date: 5 November 1994
The Venue: ECW Arena; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Commentary: Joey Styles
The Referee: Freddie Gilbert
The Stakes: ECW Death Match between rivals / impromptu singles match

The Build-Up:
Back when the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) were going head-to-head in a heated ratings war, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) found a way to stand out from the “Big Boys” with their extreme brand of sports entertainment. Originally known as Eastern Championship Wrestling, ECW was re-branded by one of wrestling’s greatest minds, managers, and promoters, Paul Heyman, and came to be known for its violent and controversial matches and content, which was instrumental in inspiring the WWF’s “Attitude Era”. ECW also offered a stage for some of wrestling’s most talented technicians and luchadores and allowed future wrestling stars and Hall of Famers to hone their characters and craft. By 1994, ECW had developed a cult following with the rabid Philadelphia crowd at the ECW Arena, though they were still a few years away from airing their first pay-per-view, Barely Legal; instead, ECW hosted supercard events such as this one from the ECW Arena. Although November to Remember 1994 featured “The Franchise” Shane Douglas defending his ECW World Heavyweight Championship against Ron Simmons, the main event went to their “Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death–Defying Maniac”, Sabu, and former Pegasus Kid, Chris Benoit, after they previously battling to a count out on an episode of ECW Hardcore TV earlier in October. Aside from the greater controversy surrounding any Benoit match, which I’ll touch upon later, this match also gained infamy after a botched suplex saw Sabu suffer a broken neck, earning Benoit the nickname “The Crippler” and Sabu a reputation was one of wrestling’s toughest competitors.

The Match:
Although I’ve never had much history with ECW beyond what I’ve seen from their competitors in other promotions, I’m always interested to take a look back at what they were up to while the big guns duked it out over ratings and haemorrhaged money trying to put their competition out of business. Some of my favourite wrestlers got their start in ECW and, arguably, peaked while in the Land of the Extreme, and one of my favourite wrestlers when I started getting into the sport was Chris Benoit. He wasn’t the biggest guy or the most charismatic, but he was scarily intense in the ring and had a sadistic edge that made him seem so dangerous at the time. I, like many, fully bought him as an under-rated and under-appreciated talent and was pleased as anything by his ascension to the main event, but of course it’s extremely difficult to separate the man’s work from his horrendous final hours so it can be a bit tough to rewatch his matches. Still, this is one of his most notorious bouts so I wanted to get into it to get an understanding of how Benoit built an aura around his character following this match, and it’s very surreal to see him so young, and sporting a mullet!

A botched suplex broke Sabu’s neck and caused a brawl to break out to distract the audience.

Benoit was very anxious to get things underway at the beginning of the match; luckily for him, Sabu didn’t waste any time and went right at him, a decision that proved disastrous as Sabu ended up feeling the brunt of Benoit’s attack. A knee to the gut and a suplex over the ropes dropped Sabu, who was still recovering from three broken ribs, and then the match took a sudden and unexpected turn. Benoit hooked Sabu up into a kind of T-Bone Suplex and launched him into the air, but Sabu rotated awkwardly and came crashing down right on his neck! Sabu was able to roll out of the ring but it was pretty clear that he was badly hurt from the move as the referee and Paul Heyman frantically checked on him. Benoit played to the crowd and tried to keep the show going as best he could, something helped by Sabu’s cohort, 911, challenging him so Sabu could get medical attention. Benoit refused 911’s challenge since he didn’t sign a contract to fight him but eventually jumped him from behind to get some cheap shots in. 911 planted him with a chokeslam, however, and got the three count…though the bell didn’t ring so I’m not sure how official it was…The ECW Tag Team Champions, Public Enemy, then rushed the big man with baseball bats to keep him away from Benoit, then the rest of the ECW locker room rushed the ring for a massive brawl to take the attention away from the clearly injured Sabu.

Benoit and Scorpio battled to a no contest to try and salvage to show.

Eventually, Joey Styles declared that Benoit was the winner of the match by default since Sabu was unable to continue. Benoit then mocked Sabu on the mic, earning the ire of 2 Cold Scorpio and resulting in an impromptu match between the two. Benoit took Scorpio down with a clothesline and hit a huge powerbomb for a two count; a snap suplex followed but Benoit was floored after Scorpio ducked under a chop and hit a crescent kick. This was enough for Benoit, who took a powder to allow his Public Enemy buddies to jump Scorpio, only for them to be taken down by Scorpio’s martial arts skills. As the ECW locker room surrounded the ring, Benoit took control once again with a back elbow and a beautiful superplex for a near fall. Frustrated, Benoit sat Scorpio back on the top rope and tried for an avalanche back suplex only for Scorpio to counter it into a pinning predicament for a two count. The double-underhook suplex also earned Scorpio a two count, as did a really clumsy looking and potentially dangerous victory roll from the top rope (that was almost like a reverse Frankensteiner, of sorts). Shrugging off a side kick, Benoit took the action to the outside and smashed Scorpio’s face off the steel steps; Benoit then launched Scorpio into the metal guard rail and hopped into the ring but the match ended on a double count out regardless. Pissed off, Scorpio rushed Benoit with a steel chair and chased him from the ring before talking shit about him on the mic to end the show. Obviously, if you wanted to see Benoit fight Sabu then you’re going to be disappointed, but I think they did a decent job making the most of a bad situation. The crowd didn’t seem annoyed at what happened; if anything, they were cheering Benoit on as he took on Scorpio and they seemed to enjoy the brawl, but this was a bit of a mess thanks to that horrendous botch and just goes to show that anything can happen in a wrestling ring.

The Aftermath:
Sabu’s refusal to break character and speak English almost exacerbated his injury when he was taken to hospital following the botch. He managed to recover, however, and was back in ECW by 1995 for a very public firing when he chose to accept a booking for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) over defending the ECW Tag Team Championships in a match that would’ve seen him share the ring with Chris Benoit again. Since Sabu no-showed the match, he never wrestled Benoit again as the Crippler jumped back to WCW. This wouldn’t be the last time Sabu broke his neck, however; he broke it again in December 1998 during a match against Taz and came to be known for similar disastrous injuries and speaking out against World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Benoit would, of course, eventually make his way to the WWF and achieve his World Championship dreams only to forever tarnish his legacy by murdering his wife, son, and taking his own life in one of wrestling’s worst tragedies.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

Were you shocked by what happened at November to Remember 1994? Who were you hoping would win the match before the injury happened? Were you satisfied by the impromptu contest between Chris Benoit and 2 Cold Scorpio? What is the worst botch you’ve ever seen in a wrestling match? Were you a fan of Sabu? What are your thoughts on Benoit and his tarnished legacy? Did you watch ECW back in the day and, if so, who were some of your favourite wrestlers and what were some of your favourite matches and moments? Would you like to see the November to Remember event brought back? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave them below or drop a comment on my social media.