Mega Powers Running Wild!

The legendary 'Macho man' Randy Savage teams up with 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan to take on Ted Dibiase and Andre The Giant in the first ever WWF Summerslam!

Shawn Micahels vs. Mankind

The Heartbreak Kid defends the WWF Championship against Mankind in a thrilling main event at WWF In Your House: Mind Games.

The Birth of the nWo

From Hulk Hogan's shocking turn at WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 to the addition of Ted Dibiase, THe Giant Syxx and more, relive the very beginning of the New World Order.

Austin 3:16 Says I Just Kicked Your Ass

It's one of the most famous promos of all time; Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the 1996 King of The Ring and serves notice on all the WWF superstars. Check it out in our complete review

Wrestlemania 12 Review

The boyhood dream comes true as Shawn Michaels battles champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart in a classic 1-hour iron man match. Plus, Diesel vs. Undertaker and more.

WCW Fall Brawl 1996 Review

Was Sting in cahoots with the New World Order? Would Lex Luger be able to get along with the Four Horsemen as they faced the nWo in War Games? Find out in this review

Showing posts with label Big Boss Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Boss Man. Show all posts

Thursday, 19 March 2020

PPV REVIEW: WCW Bash at the Beach 1994

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Event poster
July 17, 1994
Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida

As most regular Retro Pro Wrestling readers will know, our attempt to cover every PPV from Wrestlemania 1 - 30 has been done mostly in chronological order since we hit the mid-1990s.

At time of writing, we're half-way through covering the year 2000,  with next week's review scheduled to be Bash at the Beach 2000.

That show is important for two reasons:

  1. It's the last ever Bash at the Beach PPV
  2. It features the last live appearance of Hulk Hogan on a WCW wrestling show.
When you think about it, that's somewhat fitting; a true case of everything coming full circle.

After all, it was six years earlier, at the first-ever Bash at the Beach pay per view in 1994 that Hogan made his in-ring debut for the company, challenging Nature Boy Ric Flair for the WCW  title in a much-publicised match.







So, this week, it felt appropriate to take time out from reviewing pro wrestling as it was at the turn of the millennium and jump back to the start of Hogan's WCW career.

With that in mind, join me as we go back to the year 1994 as the first Bash at the Beach show came to us live from Orlando, Florida.

Live From Orlando, The Match of the Century

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund
Unsurprisingly, tonight’s opening video package focussed on the main event pitting ‘12 time WCW champion’ Ric Flair against ‘five-time champion’ Hulk Hogan in the match of the century.

WCW’s PPV openings get a lot of stick around these parts, but to give credit where it’s due, this was a pretty good little video by 1994 standards.

The video was followed by the ever-present voice of Tony Schiavone, who welcomed us to this historic occasion and introduced us to his broadcast colleagues Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan (or Bobby ‘The Brain’ Hernandez as my autocorrect would have it) and Mean Gene Okerlund.

Schiavone and Okerlund were hyped to see Hulk Hogan tonight but Herman, naturally, wasn’t so impressed.

Displaying the kind of passion that would be completely gone from his character by the end of his WCW run, The Brain cut a scathing promo on The Hulkster in which he promised that by the end of the evening, everyone in Orlando would be pointing at him and calling him a loser.

God bless you, Weasel, you were one of a kind.

Sensuous Sherri Injured Sting

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Daron Norwood sang the national anthem
Out in the ring, country singer Daron Norwood gave us a respectable rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner before we went back to the men with the microphones for more chatter.

This time, Schiavone, Heenan, and Okerlund discussed the fact that Sting wouldn’t be here tonight after he was injured by ‘Sensuous’ Sherri on WCW Saturday Night.

Flashing back to that show, we saw the Stinger lock Flair in the Scorpion Deathlock as Hogan sat on a chair at ringside watching on. At that point, Sherri came out dressed a bit like Charlie Chaplin and raked his eyes.

Hogan intervened, lifting Sherri for an automatic drop and copping a good feel of her bum in the process.

All hell broke loose, with Flair and Sherri escaping as Jimmy Hart, Mr T, and Mr T’s giant earrings all stormed the ring.

All this was shown to tell us that Johnny B. Badd had replaced Sting in tonight’s TV title match.

Finally, eight whole minutes into the broadcast, we got on with that match.

World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship
WCW TV Champion Lord Steven Regal (w/ Sir William) vs. Johnny B. Badd

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Johnny B. Badd challenged Steven Regal for the TV title
Clocking in around 14 minutes, this was as good an opening match as you were going to get in 1994.

Certainly, there was no way the WWF would ever showcase a bout like this one back at that time.

A proper wrestling match, this one had a lot to like about it and only lost this writer’s interest for a few brief moments in the middle.

After a solid, back-and-forth effort from both men, Steven Regal retained his gold with a sloppy-looking roll-up and a handful of tights.
Your Winner and Still WCW TV Champion: Steven Regal

Afterwards, Johnny B. Badd extracted a modicum of revenge for the loss by giving Sir William (Bill Dundee) by giving him a back body drop.

Yeah, that’ll show him.

Lord Regal is Sick of These Bloody Legends

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Antonio Inoki was honoured by the company but then disrespected by Steven Regal
After a word from our commentators, Mean Gene Okerlund stood in the ring to present some kind of plaque to Antonio Inoki.

Okerlund gushed over Inoki and only just stopped short of telling us that the Japanese legend was the greatest human being who ever lived. He then gave him the plaque in recognition of what an awesome dude he was.

Okerlund never actually told us what the plaque actually was. An award perhaps? An induction into a Hall of Fame? A lifetime achievement thing? We didn’t know. It was just ‘Antonio Inoki is cool. Here’s this thing.’

And here was another thing - an interruption by Lord Steven Regal. With confetti from Johnny B. Badd’s confetti gun plastered to his sweaty back, Regal returned to the thing to bemoan these bloody legends like Inoki getting all the recognition while he got none.

The TV Champion claimed to have been in Japan recently and beaten all of the top stars but didn’t see Inoki anywhere in sight.

Feeling disrespected, Inoki took his jacket off and stalked Regal around the ring, only for the Englishman to take a powder at the urging of Sir William.

This was kind of pointless, but at least Regal was his usual entertaining self.

Killing even more time, we returned once again to the announce table where Bobby Heenan has been replaced by Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura.

Vader (w/ Harley Race) vs. The Guardian Angel

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) faced The Guardian Angel (Big Boss Man)
The Guardian Angel stood for law and order. We know this because Schiavone told us about 15 times.

Apparently, he also stood for respecting copyright, which is why Ray Taylor had ditched all other aspects of his Big Bossman gimmick.

This was a weird one because it was not a bad match, but Angel made Vader look like a total chump.

You know Vader, right? Big, huge brute of a monster heel? Yeah, well Guardian Angel picked him up and threw him about the place as if he were Duane Gill.

Vader mounted a comeback, of course, but after he squashed Angel with both the Vader Bomb and his famous moonsault, Angel got up again a second later and continued fighting like it was nothing.

The finish was silly too. The referee took a tumble, so Harley Race gave Vader a nightstick. Guardian Angel stole it and teased hitting his opponent with it but never actually touched him.

The referee came to, saw Traylor merely holding the stick, assumed the worst and called for the bell.

Man, that was so disappointing.
Your Winner by Disqualification: Vader

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Jesse Ventura joined Schiavone to call a few matches
On the plus side, it was awesome to hear Jesse Ventura on commentary again. The last time I reviewed a show with Jesse on it was Wrestlemania VI, and I wrote that seven years ago, so it’s nice to hear him again.

After a brief shot backstage of Chris Cruise and a chubby Mike Tenay manning the WCW hotline, Ventura and Schiavone introduced us to a video which recapped the feud between Dustin Rhodes and the team of Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk.

To be honest, I didn’t really follow it, but it had something to do with Funk going after Dustin because he couldn’t get to Dusty Rhodes, and the future Goldust asking Arn Anderson to be his partner so he could face them.

Then, because this show was all about wasting as much time as possible, we were shown a clip from the pre-show shenanigans.  A female wrestler called Molly McShane beat two radio guys in what looked like an awful match with Jimmy Hart as referee.

Finally, we were ready for some more action, and about time too. We were 45 minutes into the show by now and we’d seen, at most, 20 minutes of actual wrestling over two matches.

Bunkhouse Buck & Terry Funk (w/ Col. Robert Parker & Meng) vs. Dustin Rhodes & Arn Anderson

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Bunkhouse buck puts a hurt on Dustin Rhodes
All that time-wasting was worth it because this was great fun.

Dustin Rhodes wrestled the entity of the match for his team, putting up a valiant effort against the two wily veterans and, of course, paying tribute to the American Dream by dropping bionic elbows with gusto.

Yet the real star of the show was Terry Funk. Middle-aged and crazy as ever, the Funker got knocked goofy in the early going and sold it for the entire match, flopping around the place and generally acting like he had no idea where he was at any moment.

It was the kind of commitment to selling that you just don’t see these days, and it was a thing of beauty.

As for Arn Anderson? Well, if you didn’t see his inevitable heel turn coming from a mile away, you must have been blind.

After watching his partner wrestle the whole of the match, Anderson finally tug in and planted Dustin with a DDT. He dragged a fallen Funker on top of the young Rhodes and this brilliant bout was over.
Your Winners: Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk

Post-match, Funk and Buck joined Double-A in a Dustin Rhodes beat down until Doug Dillinger came down with Randy Anderson and Greg Gagne to break it up.

Mean Gene called Anderson’s then one of the most disposable things he’d ever seen, but Double-A said he’d only talk to him if he joined them at the party they were heading to.

To Be the Man...

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Ric Flair and Sensuous Sherri
After a quick interview with baseball legend Hank Arron in which he claimed to be rooting for both Hogan and Flair, Schiavone and Heenan wasted more time with their tween-match banter before throwing it back to Mean Gene.

Standing backstage with Sensuous Sherri and World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair, Okerlund asked Flair for his comments on tonight’s main event.

Sadly, we didn’t get a ‘Mean WOO Gene’ from Flair, but we did get one of his usual stellar promos.

The Nature Boy was elated to see his buddy Arn Anderson back on the right side of the heel/face divide, but he was even happier to be facing Hogan tonight.

He couldn’t wait to walk that aisle, style, and profile and remain our world champion.

For her part, Sherri reminded us that to be the man (woo) you had to beat the man and that tonight, Hogan was the one with everything to prove.

This was good stuff from both.

World Championship Wrestling United States Championship
WCW United States Champion Stunning Steve Austin vs. Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat


WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Ricky Steamboat challenged Stunning Steve Austin for the US title
Sadly, Ricky Steamboat didn’t have that cheesy theme song from Slam Jam Vol. 1 that was all about what a great guy he was for not cheating on his wife.

He did, however, have the whole breathing-fire-and-wearing dragon wings to the ring with him.

Meanwhile, Stunning Steve Austin came down using a theme that would later be used for Marty Jannetty, Greg Valentine, and a bunch of others.

The two men locked up and gave us a match that was so, so good.

Stunning Steve was a brilliant smarmy, devious heel, trying every dirty, underhand trick in the book to get the better of his opponent.

It also helped that both he and Steamboat were excellent wrestlers. Together, they gave us a long, compelling match that was a joy to watch.

After trading the advantage several times, the dastardly Austin reversed a Steamboat pin attempt and got the three by putting his feet on the ropes.
Your Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Stunning Steve Austin

Out in the back, we were shown Pretty Wonderful speaking to Chris Cruise about their upcoming title match for the WCW Hotline.

Elsewhere in the arena, Hotline lover Mean Gene accepted his invite to Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk’s party. Along with Anderson and Col. Robert Parker, the group glugged champagne that looked awfully like cheap beer and gloated about getting one over on The Natural Dustin Rhodes.

World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship
WCW World Tag Team Champions Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan (w/ Dave Sullivan)  vs. Pretty Wonderful (Pretty Paul Roma & Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff)

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Pretty Paul Roma teamed with Paul Orndorff to challenge Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan for the WCW tag team titles
Neither of these duos may have been the greatest tag teams of all time, but they did achieve something pretty special here:

Helping to redefine the very meaning of the word ‘tedium.’

Whereas the previous encounter had been a tour-de-force of exceptional pro wrestling, this tag team title match was a snore-de-force of lifeless mediocrity.

At one point, things became so dull that the crowd started entertaining themselves with repeated, area-wide Mexican waves.

This wasn’t just something you happened to spot in the background, either. The cameras opted to focus on it and the announcers opted to talk about it because it was a thousand times more interesting than the ‘Cactus Jack Fifty-Hour Armbar Extravaganza’ going on in the ring.

Around the same time, cameras also cut to WCW President Bill Shaw ignoring the match and having a chat with Hank Aaron.

Seriously, the match was so boring that not even the president of the company had any interest in it.

Pretty Wonderful won and not a single person in the crowd looked as if they cared.
Your Winners and NEW WCW Tag Team Champions: Pretty Wonderful

At this point in the show, there are still 43 minutes on the clock with Schiavone and Heenan telling us it was time for the main event.

Seriously?

A few minutes were killed with Michael Buffer introducing WCW Commissioner Nick Bodkwinkle and Shaquille O’Neal to the ring to lend an air of gravitas to the occasion, but otherwise, this thing was on.

World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair (w/ Sensuous Sherri) vs. Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart & Mr T)

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Hulk Hogan made his WCW in-ring debut, capturing the world title from Ric Flair
On a somewhat related note, I think this might also be the WCW debut of Michael Buffer, though I wouldn’t want to put money on that.

He spent so long introducing everyone and going off on some random tangent about the moon landings that we only had half an hour left to watch Hogan and Flair wrestle.

The two only used twenty of those minutes for actual wrestling, but oh how they used them well.

Hogan will always have his detractors (from an in-ring standpoint and otherwise), but this was an incredibly fun main event.

Sure, it was mostly just Hogan and Flair playing their greatest hits coupled with an abundance of Sherri Martel interference and a single instance of Hogan busting out the kind of technical wrestling he usually reserved for Japan, but all of that combined made for a great performance in front of a red hot crowd.

The best Hulk Hogan match in years by a good mile, this 21-minute encounter ended predictably with a win for The Hulkster, but man, did we get a lot of good stuff before then.
Your Winner and NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan

WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 - Brian Pillman crashed Hulk Hogan's celebratory promo
After the usual Hogan post-match celebration, we found him walking down the corridor where he bumped into his buddy Ed 'Brutus' Leslie and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Hogan and his boys then went into a room for a big celebration. Speaking to Mean Gene Okerlund, Hogan cut a big, long promo in which he said that "everything that was once old is now new" and basically gloated about being our new champion.

The best part of all this was the random appearance of Brian Pillman, who edged ever closer to the Hulkster as the promo went on, permanently smiling like somebody who had no clue what was going on.

Or, who knows, maybe he was just a big fan of WCW's newest and biggest superstar.






And so, Hulkamania had well and truly arrived in World Championship Wrestling and the organisation would never be the same again. As for Hogan's debut, it had been a great start, that's for sure. Wrestling his best match in years, Hogan had gotten his WCW run off in a much better way than it would eventually end at this very same event six years later.

The rest of the show wasn't bad, either. Sure, the tag team title match was atrocious and the Vader/Guardian Angel lacked a little something, but combine a hot main event, a decent opener, and the Austin/Steamboat classic, and what you're left with is a pretty good show.

The greatest WCW event of all time? Absolutely not, but if you're bored and looking for something to watch, you could do far worse than the first WCW Bash at the Beach PPV.




Other 1994 pro wrestling reviews:

Other WCW Bash at the Beach reviews
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Thursday, 23 January 2020

PPV REVIEW: WWF Backlash 2000

WWF Backlash 2000 - Event poster
April 30, 2000,
MCI Center in Washington, D.C

For a decade between 1999 and 2009, WWF/WWE Backlash was the one night of the year when all the fall out from that year's Wrestlemania would finally be settled.

Which is just as well given just how much fall out there had been in the wake of Wrestlemania 2000.

Having betrayed The Rock at the aforementioned 'Mania, Vince McMahon had now joined forces with his daughter Stephanie and her husband, WWF Champion Triple H, despite waging an all-out war with Hunter back at WWF Armageddon 1999.

With D-Generation-X now playing the role of HHH's lackeys, the unified McMahon-Helmsley Faction ( boring name if ever there was one) were now fully at war with The Great One, who had earned a rematch for the title on tonight's show.

Just to make things more interesting, Stone Cold Steve Austin -last seen getting mowed down at Survivor Series 1999- had recently made his return and was now inexplicably in The Rock's corner for tonight's show.

Could The Brahma Bull trust The Texas Rattlesnake?

Would the McMahon-Helmsley Faction be able to keep the belt around Hunter's waist?

Let's find out as we head to the MCI Center in Washington D.C for WWF Backlash 2000.





All Hell Breaks Loose

WWF Backlash 2000 - Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler hosted the event
We began tonight's show with the obligatory opening video package recapping everything we've just discussed.

The video also featured an Austin in which he claimed that while he may physically be in The Rock's corner, the only side he was really on was his own.

Cue intense pyro, a crowd with a thousand times more energy and enthusiasm than you'd find at today's WWE shows, and a greeting from none other than Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler.

Debra is Your Special Guest Ring Announcer

Much like her real-life partner, Steve Austin, Debra hadn't been seen since the previous year's Survivor Series.

Tonight, she and her puppies made their long-awaited return to the World Wrestling Federation, much to the delight of the perpetually horny Jerry Lawler.

At this point in her career, she was in the same position that Sunny was in before her ill-advised partnership with the LOD. That is, creative wanted her on camera, but since she couldn't actually wrestle, they had to scramble around to find her stuff to do.

Much as they did with Sunny, they put Debra in a Special Guest Ring Announcer role for our upcoming contest.

World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian vs. D-Generation-X (Road Dogg & X-Pac w/ Torri)

WWF Backlash 2000 - X-Pac w/ Tori
I could be wrong, but I swear that Debra introduced the Road Dogg as "Go-Go Jesse James."

Sadly, a helicopter did not appear out of Roadie's helmet, nor did rollerskates pop up from his shoes.

Talk about disappointing.

Speaking of disappointing, I kind of felt bad for X-Pac and Road Dogg - their titantron featured lots of shots of Triple H and lots of shots of Run DMC (who sang the updated DX theme), but not one shot of them.

Fortunately, the one thing that didn't disappoint was this match.

After Roadie got the crowd worked up, he and X-Pac locked up with a tag team championship team who were INSANELY over.

Despite slowly transitioning into a heel role, Edge and Christian got a huge ovation as they battled their more experienced rivals in a very enjoyable opener.

Usually, when you got Road Dogg in a tag team match, he played face-in-peril for half a century and sucked the life out of everything, but as a heel, he was in a much better position to contribute towards a very good bout.

After a lot of back-and-forth action and a red hot finishing sequence, Christian took one step closer to being a true heel by blasting X-Pac with the ring bell behind the referee's back.

A three-count later and this one was over.
Your Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge & Christian

Post-match, a dazed-looking X-Pac sported a nasty gusher on his forehead.

Meanwhile, out in the back, The Rock arrived at the venue.

World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

WWF Backlash 2000 - Scotty 2 Hotty challenged Dean Malenko for the Light Heavyweight Championship
If I was Scotty 2 Hotty, I would definitely rank this Light Heavyweight Championship match up there as a career highlight.

Given how popular the whole Too Cool schtick was with the dancing and the ridiculous but stupidly over Worm, it's easy to forget that Scott Taylor was a good wrestler in his own right.

Here, he proved that in a long and dramatic war with Dean Malenko that had the crowds on the edge of their seat from start to finish.

The two had recently traded the title back and forth, with Scotty beating The Ice Man for it on Raw before Malenko stole it back on the following week's Smackdown thanks to a ropes-assisted pin.

Here, Dean was once again a step ahead of his opponent, spending a large portion of the match working over Taylor's knee and generally getting the better of him at every turn.

Despite this, the Too Cool member more than held his own and came close to winning with several gripping near falls.

In the end, however, Malenko reversed a superplex into a beautiful top rope DDT to put an end to what was a surprisingly awesome match.
Your Winner and Still WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: Dean Malenko

Out in the back, Vince McMahon was hanging out with Hunter, Stephanie, and The Stooges.

Shane McMahon, the referee for tonight's main event, stopped by to show off his new referee's shirt while Vince double-checked that Pat Patterson and Gerald Briscoe were really on board with his evil plan.

All the while, Stephanie flashed her legs, which was just about the only thing this writer could focus on.

Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan vs. The Acolytes (Farooq & Bradshaw)

WWF Backlash 2000 - The Acolytes faced Bull Buchanan and Big Boss Man
After two thrilling matches that really got the crowd worked up, Backlash 2000 needed something that could slow the pace down and allow the D.C faithful to catch their breath.

This was the perfect match for it.

On the face of it, Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan vs. Farooq & Bradshaw was a perfectly serviceable tag team match.

All four men played their roles well and Buchanan in particular with some impressive athleticism for a man of his size.

Yet as solid as this might have been, it never felt like anything more than filler, or a way to deliberately cool down the crowd.

After a decent all-round effort, Buchanan jumped off the top rope and hit Bradshaw with the match-winning scissor kick.
Your Winners: Bull Buchanan & Big Boss Man

Out in the back, The Hardyz agreed that even though they were brothers, they would have no problem fighting each other in the upcoming hardcore title match should the need arise.

Across the way, Hardcore Holly told Crash Holly that even though they were cousins, he would have no problem beating his ass all over the arena.

The younger Holly tried to convince Cousin Bob to work together, but got a wicked slap across the face for making such a suggestion.

World Wrestling Federation Hardcore Championship Six-Man Match
WWF Hardcore Champion Crash Holly vs. Tazz vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bob Holly vs. Perry Saturn

WWF Backlash 2000 - Crash Holly defended the WWF Hardcore title
This was a lot of fun with a brilliant story.

Poor Crash Holly got his ass handed to him from start to finish. All five of his opponents took turns to beat him, body slam him, suplex and generally kick his head in, yet whenever anybody tried to pin the defending champion, another competitor broke it up.

Though the match started to drag a little towards the end, it was a good effort with a finish that made this writer laugh out loud.

After spending most of the match being dead, Crash got put in the Tazzmission, but Perry Saturn came in and blasted Tazz with the largest stop sign in the world.

Before the former Eliminator could capitalize, however, he was dragged to the outside.

Tazz and Crash both lay dead in the middle of the ring, then Crash got in what was literally his only offensive move of the entire match - draping an arm over a fallen Tazz to retain his title.
Your Winner and Still WWF Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly

Out in the back, Shane McMahon promised interviewer Johnathan Coachman that he would be an impartial referee in the upcoming Rock/Triple H match.

R.I.P Paul Wight's Career

In the 14 months since he had made his WWF debut at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, In Your House, The Big Show Paul Wight had never truly been presented as the kind of credible main event threat that a man of his stature and status should have been.

Putting the final nail in the coffin of his credibility, Show had gone from headlining Wrestlemania 2000 into a terrible angle where he dressed up as midcarders like Val Venis and Godfather and pretended to be them.

At one point, Show was so wrapped up in pretending to be a Scotsman that he cost himself and Kurt Angle a random shot at the WWF tag team titles.

Naturally, this angered the Olympic Gold Medalist, who vowed to beat some sense into the former Giant when the two met on tonight's show.

Kurt Angle vs. The Showster (Big Show)

WWF Backlash 2000 - Big Show dressed up as Hulk Hogan to become The Showster
As was his tradition, Kurt Angle came out talking smack about how he was the greatest thing since sliced bread and how he was going to wipe the floor with his opponent.

Offering a response, The Big Show came down doing his best Hulk Hogan impression, complete with wig and Real American blaring through the PA.

Credit where it's due,  Show's impression was spot on as he took to the microphone to go through the whole "Whatcha gonna do, brother?" routine.

Once the bell rang, Show stayed in character, no-selling Angle's offense, Hulking up and planting him with the Leg Drop of Doom for a near fall.

The crowds ate it up and a loud Hogan! Hogan! chant broke out through the arena.

"There's more people chanting for Hogan than there has been in years," said Jim Ross, a man who could never resist getting in a cheap pop at the competition.

Angle mounted a comeback, but eventually, Big Show snapped out of his silliness, dismantled the Olympic athlete in the corner then put him away with a chokeslam, ending the match in less than three minutes.

OK, so this was tremendous fun and Big Show was hilarious, but I'd still rather see him be utilized as the monster that he was.
Your Winner: The Big Show

Prior to the next contest, we got a look back at the rivalry between The Dudley Boyz and T & A.

Honestly, it was the kind of rivalry that could have only existed in the Attitude Era.

WWF Backlash 2000 - Michael Cole interviews Trish Stratus
As the story went, Bubba Ray Dudley had some kind of fetish for putting women through tables. Over the previous weeks, he had slammed Terri Runnels, Mae Young, and Lita through the wood, but every time he tried to do the same to Trish Stratus, she would either flirt with him or kiss him, sending Bubba into some kind of trance.

Trish had flaunted this by writing around on a table in her undies talking about how much tables made her horny.

I bet she was great fun at Ikea.

She was fun here too, as she gave a backstage interview to Michael Cole while Test and Albert stood by.

Trish teased Cole while talking about how she had the ability to make men lose their minds.

As a perfect example of her hypnotic powers, Bubba Ray was seen staring at the Trish/Cole interview on a TV screen, completely in a trance.

Of course, he was snapped out of it by Devon Dudley, who gave his half-brother a good talking to before tonight's match.

WWF Backlash 2000 - future NWA owner Billy Corgan was in the crowd Despite All His Rage, He Is Still Just a Fan of T & A

Before the competitors made their way out, we were shown Billy Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins sitting at ringside.

This all makes a lot of sense now.

Corgan was such a big fan of Test and Albert that, fifteen years later, he would try to buy the wrestling company named after them.

The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D'Von Dudley) vs. T & A (Test & Albert w/ Trish Stratus)

Like the earlier Acolytes/Boss Man & Buchanan bout, this was a straight-up big man brawl, but it worked brilliantly.

WWF Backlash 2000 - Bubba Ray Dudley glares at Trish Stratus
Though it was far from the best tag team match of all time, both teams played to their strengths to keep this at an acceptable level from start to finish.

After a decent ten minute outing, Trish shook her sexy self against the ring ropes to distract Bubba Ray, allowing her men to attack and pick up the three count.
Your Winners: T &A

Post-match, The Dudleyz battered Test and Albert. Trish tried to kiss her way out of getting put through the wood, but this time it didn't work, allowing Bubba to finally get what he wanted, drilling Trish through a table.

I have to say that all of the other times he did this with women, it looked like he fully protected them, but not this time. Man, he slammed Trish hard through that table.

That said, even though they had to stretcher her out of there, I'm sure Trish didn't actually mind. After all, she loved her some table.

Latino Heat is Back from Prom

With Trish firmly on the stretcher, a bunch of referees and Sgt. Slaughter escorted her backstage into a waiting ambulance. This was a perfect excuse to take a camera backstage in time to catch Eddie Guerrero and Chyna arriving back from Eddie's prom.

Apparently, Latino Heat had just completed his GED and had been to prom to celebrate with The Ninth Wonder of the World.

Jack Doan ran up to tell Eddie that his match was next, and if he didn't get to the ring immediately, he'd have to forfeit his European title.

Not wanting that to happen, Eddie shrugged his shoulders and drove his car to the ring, the first instance of a gimmick that would become his trademark for the rest of his career.

World Wrestling Federation European Championship
WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero (w/ Chyna) vs. Essa Rios (w/ Lita)

WWF Backlash 2000 - Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
As Eddie was stripping out of his tuxedo (he wrestled in suit pants and a bow tie, which looked awesome), a video played which informed us how this match came about.

It started when Chyna admitted that, following months of trying to woo her, Eddie's Latino heat had proven too much for her to handle.

Then, the pair had somehow gotten tangled up with former Light Heavyweight Champion Essa Rios and his manager, Lita, leading to a tag team match pitting Eddie and Essa against The Dudleyz.

Lita ended up costing the team the match, causing Chyna to toss her to The Dudleyz for the table spot mentioned earlier and, ultimately, causing tonight's match.

I won't lie, I was excited about this one. Although he mainly competed on Sunday Night Heat, I had a soft spot for Essa Rios back in 1999 - 2000, and I was wondering if he'd ever show up on one of these PPV events.

Thankfully, this one didn't disappoint.

Clocking in at just shy of nine minutes, this was a fast-paced, high-flying affair with plenty of captivating spots that did more than enough to keep this fan entertained.

An exceptional effort on both men's part, this very enjoyable bout ended with Eddie lifting Essa up for a Gory Special but then spinning him around and planting him with a neckbreaker instead.
Your Winner and Still WWF European Champion: Eddie Guerrero

WWF Backlash 2000 - Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Afterward, Essa dropkicked Eddie into Chyna, allowing Lita to strip Chyna out of her prom dress and down to her underwear.

Jerry Lawler nearly had a braineurysm, yelling "BRA AND PANTIES! BRA AND PANTIES!" so excitedly that you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the first time the then-50 year-old had ever seen such things.

Chyna was mortified at first.

Then she lightened up and posed for the crowd, much to the delight of Latino Heat.

Stone Cold May Not Show Up

Out in the back, Jonathan Coachman interviewed Triple H, who said nothing interesting but did remind us that he was The Game.

Turning his attention to Vince McMahon, Coach asked the Chairman what his 'big surprise' was going to be for tonight.

Vince couldn't say, but did allude to the fact that Stone Cold Steve Austin hadn't arrived yet, and insinuated that he may have had something to do with Austin suffering from 'transportation issues' that would prevent him from appearing.

Chris Benoit Has Emotions

Elsewhere in the arena, Michael Cole interviewed WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit about his upcoming match with Chris Jericho.

"Chris Jericho likes to compare me to a robot," said Benoit. "But the difference between me and a robot is that I have emotions, and tonight I'm going to express my emotions all over Chris Jericho."

Right you are then.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho

WWF Backlash 2000 - Chris Jericho puts the Walls of Jericho on Krispin Wah
Before the two locked up, Jericho cut a promo on "Chris Ben-oyt," likening him to a politician and promising to beat him up. Though it may not have been Jericho's finest moment on the mic, he was, naturally, very entertaining.

Then the bell sounded, and the two had their first PPV singles since WCW Fall Brawl 1996.

Four years after that encounter, the two held nothing back to deliver an incredible match which, up to this point in the show, stood out as Match of the Night.

That's really saying something when you consider just how high the bar had been set by some of the earlier matches on this show, but trust me, this was excellent.

Working pretty stiff, the two traded strikes, submissions, and the occasional aerial move. They chopped one another, they chain wrestled one another, and they even gave us a wicked brawl on the outside.

Almost everything about this match was perfect, apart from the finish.

Referee Tim White got knocked down, so The Crippler picked up his IC belt and smashed Jericho in the face with it. He dragged White over and got the nearest of near falls, then scaled the ropes for his patented head butt.

However, as Benoit came into landing, Jericho smashed him in the face with the belt, prompting White to call for the bell.
Your Winner via Disqualification and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Chris Benoit

Man, that was awesome. Even the DQ finish wasn't so bad when you consider it gave the two Canadians a perfectly valid excuse to do battle again further down the line.

The Wrath of Jericho

One person who wasn't happy with the finish was Y2J himself. After the bell, Jericho snapped and slapped Tim White in the Walls of Jericho, prompting a gaggle of officials to rush to his rescue.

Jericho looked like a maniacal man possessed here. White looked like he'd never even seen the Walls of Jericho, selling the move awkwardly and unconvincingly. Still, I suppose we should cut him some slack since he wasn't actually a trained performer.

Austin 3:16 Said I Just Wrecked Your Bus

WWF Backlash 2000 - Michael Cole interviews The Rock
Before the main event, we got another look back at the rivalry between The Rock and WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The video package recalled everything we discussed at the start of this review, though there were two details I forgot to mention:

1: The reason why Stone Cold was in The Rock's corner is that Linda McMahon -the only babyface member of the McMahon clan- had decreed it so.
2: After being teased for weeks, Austin finally made his return on the pre-Backlash Smackdown and used a crane to drop something heavy on DX's tour bus, prompting Michael Cole to yell "Austin 3:16 says I just wrecked your bus!"

Speaking of Cole, he was standing by with The Rock for a pre-match promo.

The Great One guaran-damn-teed to make history with Triple H tonight and walk out of Washington D.C as our new WWF Champion if our noses were capable of detecting what The Rock had in the oven.

World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Triple H (w/ WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon & Vince McMahon) vs. The Rock (w/ Stone Cold Steve Austin)

Special guest referee: Shane McMahon

WWF Backlash 2000 - The Rock beat HHH for the WWF Championship
The WWF Champion was the first to arrive on the scene, his 'My Time' theme music blaring through the PA with its anti-McMahon lyrics while Vince himself stood next to The Game.

Brandishing a copy of the night's event program, Vince brought our attention to the old 'Card Subject to Change' caveat, earning a rousing chorus of boos for announcing that Stone Cold Steve Austin wouldn't be there after all.

The boos may have been loud, but it's not as though anybody took the news seriously.

Every time The Rock was in trouble -and he was in trouble *a lot* in this match- the fans chanted not for him but for Austin.

Was it any good?

Yes, absolutely.

Triple H and The Rock always worked well together, and while the first half of this match wasn't quite on par with their excellent Summerslam 1998 encounter, it was still a very good effort, with Hunter gaining the advantage thanks to biased officiating and McMahon interference.

Then the whole thing spilled to the outside, and things took a dramatic turn from "very good" to "all-out awesome."

Referee Shane McMahon tried to prevent The Rock from blasting Hunter with a Rock Bottom on the ever ill-fated Spanish announce table, so Rocky just grabbed Shane and killed both men with a  wicked double rock bottom.

With Shane totally out of it, Vince gave up any pretense of this being a fair fight by joining Hunter in the ring and blasting Rock with the title.

WWF Backlash 2000 - The Rock and Stone Cold celebrate with a beer
At one point, Patterson and Briscoe came out in referees shirts to make the cover following a Triple H pedigree. When The Great One kicked out, The Stooges put the boot to him and held him in place ready for a Triple H chair shot.

Inevitably, the glass shattered and Stone Cold Steve Austin stormed to ringside, taking out both Stooges, Shane, Vince, and Triple H with vicious chair shots before storming off as Linda McMahon walked stoically to the ring with Earl Hebner in tow.

HHH had recently fired Hebner, but it seemed as though Linda had reinstated him.

The place went crazy as Rock hit the People's Elbow, then Hebner took about five years to get in the ring and put himself in the right position to count the match-winning pinfall.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Champion: The Rock

Finishing what had been an almost perfect main event, Steve Austin came back to the ring in his Stone Cold pickup truck, towing the damaged remains of the DX bus with him.

He shared a beer with the new champion, and that was all she wrote for what had been one of the best WWF PPVs in years, if not of all time.






I don't make such a statement lightly, either.

I've seen a lot of disappointing, underwhelming, and just plain terrible wrestling shows lately, so WWF Backlash 2000 was truly a breath of fresh air.

Though some matches were better than others, practically everything on this show delivered in one way or another.

The opening tag team match was explosive, the hardcore match was crazy good fun, Benoit and Jericho put on a classic and Malenko/Taylor and Guerrero/Rios all proved mighty enjoyable. The main event was, naturally, on another level, not necessarily in terms of technical wrestling action, but certainly in terms of drama, suspense and compelling action.

Overall, this was an awesome show that I highly recommend you check out.




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Thursday, 5 December 2019

PPV REVIEW: WWF No Way Out 2000

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Event poster
February 27, 2000,
Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut.

The first time the World Wrestling Federation held No Way Out back in 1998, the company had tacked on the words "Out of Texas" to stop people thinking of the initials NWO and thus their biggest competition, World Championship Wrestling.

Two years down the line, having pulled themselves back from the brink of non-existence thanks to their game-changing Attitude Era, the WWF were so far ahead of their competition that they no longer needed to bother worrying about such things.

Instead, they came to us live from their own back yard in Hartford, Connecticut as the Road to Wrestlemania 2000 brought us to No Way Out 2000.

Here's what went down.





Cactus Jack has one goal left

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler called all the action
Our show tonight began with an engrossing video package in which Cactus Jack told us that after winning countless championships and being involved in countless wars, there was only one thing he hadn't done in his career:

Main event Wrestlemania.

Now, there was only one thing standing in his way:

World Wrestling Federation Champion, Triple H.

If Foley could beat Hunter inside Hell in a Cell tonight, he would become our new champion and go on to defend the title at 'Mania.

Shortly after, as we cut to the arena, announcers Jerry 'The King' Lawler and Jim Ross told us that if Cactus Jack lost, however, his career would be over.

On that ominous note, it was on to our opening contest

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho (W/ Chyna) vs. WWF European Champion Kurt Angle

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Kurt Angle battled Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship
I've said that Chyna was "with" Chris Jericho here, but Jericho didn' even acknowledge her once. This despite the fact that Ross and Lawler told us the two were now friends.

Once bitter rivals, they'd apparently developed a mutual respect for each other after Y2J beat The Ninth Wonder of the World for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble 2000. Chyna was still super popular, however, so she got a separate entrance to come down and watch this match from ringside.

Speaking of super popular, now-babyface Chris Jericho was incredibly over with the Hartford crowd and received the kind of ovation usually reserved for the likes of Stone Cold and The Rock.

Prior to the bell, he took to the mic to lambast his challenger, Kurt Angle, though not before Angle went into heat-seeking mode by cutting a promo on the local sports team.

Once the two locked up, it developed into the best match Angle and Jericho could have had at this stage in their respective careers.

That's not to say it was the best match they'd ever be capable of having, but Angle was still only a few months into his WWF run after debuting at the 1999 Survivor Series and was still finding his feet. Jericho, meanwhile, had gotten off to a rocky start in the company but was gradually adjusting to the WWF style.

Put together though, the two did delivery an entertaining opening contest with plenty of exciting back-and-forth action.

Towards the finish, Kurt Angle began growing frustrated that he couldn't put Jericho away and first tried to blast him with the European title.

When that failed, he went to the outside to try again with the Intercontinental Championship, only to be confronted by Chyna.

This gave Jericho the opportunity to attack Angle from behind, though this inadvertently knocked The Olympic Gold Medalist into Chyna, who took a nasty spill into the ring steps.

Jericho didn't seem to give two sh*ts about his so-called friend. He completely ignored her and took the fight back to the ring, where he attempted to bring things to an end with a Lionsault. As he came into landing, however, Angle blasted him in the face with the European Championship, a move unnoticed by referee Tim White who had been tending to Chyna on the outside the whole time.

Angle made the cover, White returned to the ring and this one was over.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Intercontinental Champion: Kurt Angle

Post-match, our new Eurocontinental Champion celebrated with his new goal as senior official Earl Hebner came down to try and talk sense into Tim White about the finish. White though was having none of it, and simply stormed off, exasperated.

Thou shalt not mess with The Dudley Boyz

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Michael Cole interviewed The Dudley Boys
Out in the back, Michael Cole reminded The Dudley Boyz that they had been given a tag team title shot against the New Age Outlaws.

D-Von Dudley refuted this, claiming that they hadn't been given anything, but rather had taken what they deserved, just as they would take the titles in our next match.

For his part, Bubba Ray promised that he and D-Von had two words for the champions...3D.

Technically that's one number and a letter, but ah well.

World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn) vs. The Dudley Boyz (D-Von & Bubba-Ray Dudley)

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - The New Age Outlaws defended the WWF Tag Team title against The Dudley Boys
Unlike some New Age Outlaws matches which dragged on forever so that Road Dogg could play face-in-peril for half a century, this one was kept short and sweet and was all the better for it.

The D-O-Double-G still received his regular ass kicking, and the crowd still popped big time when he made the inevitable hot tag to Billy Gunn but the whole thing didn't last long at all.

Instead, after a couple of minutes of relatively entertaining action, Bubba Ray took out Billy Gunn on the outside with a lead pipe then returned to the ring to help D-Von hit a 3D on Road Dogg.

A three count later, this one was over.
Your Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz

Out in the back, Kurt Angle celebrated his victory with fans over at the concession stand, giving JR an excuse to once again remind us that The Olympic Gold Medalist had only won by blasting his opponent in the face with a title belt.

Ross and Lawler also reminded us that Viscera had recently hit a big splash on a 'pregnant' Mae Young, prompting Young's lover, Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry to attack Big Vis earlier on Heat.

Yes, that meant we'd have to sit through a Henry/Viscera match next.

Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry vs. Viscera

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Viscera faced Mark Henry
Fortunately, this one was kept even shorter than the previous match.

Viscera basically threw Mark Henry around like a rag doll -no easy feat in itself- and took him to the outside where he sent him crashing violently into the upturned ring steps twice.

Just when he was about to finish off The World's Strongest Man once and for all, however, Mae Young ran down.

Unsurprisingly, the old lady could do little except get pushed to the ground by the evil Viscera, but at least the distraction gave Henry time to recover.

He met Vis' with a shoulder tackle and a big bodyslam then got the fall.

The match wasn't quite as terrible as you think it might have been, though that's about the best I can say about it.
Your Winner: Mark Henry

Out in the back, Chris Jericho told Lilian Garcia that there was no tension between himself and Chyna since Chyna had nothing to do with the finish of his match. He did, however, still have a problem with 'Kirk Angel' and warned the new champion that if he didn't stop running around the arena celebrating he (Jericho) would make him stop.

Elsewhere in the arena, Billy Gunn sold the lead pipe to the shoulder attack from earlier by wincing in pain and telling EMTs that he couldn't lift his arm.

The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy w/ Terri) vs. Edge & Christian

Winner earns a tag team title shot at Wrestlemania

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Terri turned on The Hardy BoysBefore the match, the newly-rechristened Acolyte Protection Agency came down after being paid by Hardy Boyz manager Terri to protect her in case the Dudley Boyz tried to put her through another table.

The match then got underway and, while it wasn't the highlight of the Edge & Christian/Hardyz rivalry, it was still pretty good in its own right.

The longest match on the card so far, this one built up to a dramatic finale that looked to have Matt & Jeff go over. At the last minute, however, that dastardly little she-devil Terri pushed Jeff off the top rope and gave Matt a slap.

Seizing the advantage, Edge hit the Downward Spiral on Matt Hardy to win the match for his team.
Your Winners: Edge & Christian

Afterwards, Edge and Christian seemed more bewildered than pleased about Teri's betrayal of the Hardyz while Matt and Jeff themselves were, understandably, pretty pissed off.

The two went to confront their new former manager, only for Farooq & Bradshaw to earn their payday and kick some Hardy butt.

As it would turn out, Terri wasn't hiring protection against The Dudleyz at all, but against The Hardyz. That no-good sexy she-devil.

Out in the back, Christian told Michael Cole that while he knew he and Edge were going to win the match, he didn't expect to win it like that. Edge, meanwhile, didn't seem too concerned. He was just happy that he and Christian were heading to Wrestlemania to compete for the tag team titles.

The Big Show has a point

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Lillian Garcia interviewed The Big Show
Back at The Royal Rumble, The Rock had technically won the Rumble match by hanging on to the ropes when The Big Show tried to eliminate him, sending Show to the floor. However, a replay would show, quite clearly, that Rock's feet actually touched the floor first.

Big Show had rightly been claiming that this meant he was the real winner of the Rumble and thus should be challenging for the WWF title at 'Mania. Here, he once again proved his point to Lilian Garcia before vowing to beat The Rock one-on-one tonight and take what was rightfully his.

The Big Boss Man (w/ Prince Albert) vs. Tazz

After getting attacked by Big Boss Man and Prince Albert earlier on heat, Tazz stormed to the ring and tried to destroy Boss Man, but after about a minute, Albert ran in for the DQ.
This was barely even a match.
Your Winner via disqualification: Tazz

Post-match, Boss Man and Albert beat up on Tazz, but the Human Suplex Machine kept coming back for more until a gaggle of officials came in to break it up.

The post-match beat down lasted about three times longer than the match itself.

Meanwhile, out in the crowd, Kurt Angle had found a megaphone and was preaching to the crowd about how great he was.

No Holds Barred
X-Pac (w/ Torri) vs. Kane (w/ Paul Bearer)

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - X-Pac and Torri
A lot had changed since these two last met in a cage match back at Armageddon 1999. Torri had turned her back on Kane and was now X-Pac's girlfriend. Kane had gone mental and been institutionalised but Paul Bearer had busted him out and was now back by his son's side.

Tonight, Kane and X-Pac looked to settle their rivalry once and for all in a tremendously fun effort which proved to be the best thing on the show so far.

Featuring a hilarious bit in which Paul Bearer beat up X-Pac then chased Torri around the ring, the real highlights were simply the two combatants laying waste to each other however they could.

After a relatively short but hugely entertaining contest, Kane drilled Torri with a tombstone, got waffled in the face with the ring steps by X-Pac. 'Pac then kept the steps on Kane's chest as he covered him for the three count.
Your Winner: X-Pac

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Michael Cole interviews The Radicalz
Out in the back, recent WWF arrivals The Radicalz told Michael Cole that they weren't nervous about making their WWF PPV debut and that they would defeat their upcoming opponents, Too Cool and Rikishi.

Sporting a sling for his recent injury, Eddie Guerrero revealed a small lead pipe that he planned to use later.

Rikishi & Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grandmaster Sexay) vs. The Radicalz (Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn w/ Eddie Guerrero)

Just a few weeks earlier, Chris Benoit had won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at WCW Souled Out 2000. At that same PPV, Dean Malenko had botched the ending of his final WCW PPV and Perry Saturn had enjoyed an entertaining match with Billy Kidman.

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - The Radicalz Head into Battle
Now, all three former members of Shane Douglas' Revolution stable were here with Eddie Guerrero on their first WWF PPV.

At first, it looked like Rikishi and Too Cool were just there to be warm bodies for the three ex-WCW stars to throw around in order to look impressive.

That's mainly because they did look very, very impressive. Yet this soon developed into much more than a one-sided squash match.

Instead, it was a fun back-and-forth battle that saw two different styles of wrestling combine to keep the crowd hot and this writer thoroughly entertained.

After twelve minutes of enjoyable action, Rikishi hit Dean Malenko with a Banzai Drop to ensure that The Radicalz lost their first PPV match.

Not that it seemed to matter. The group clearly shined here.
Your Winners: Rikishi & Too Cool

Post-match, an injured Rikishi tried to leave the ring, but Brian Christopher made the big guy put on the special sunglasses that always made him dance.

Miraculously, 'Kishi's injured leg healed up enough so that he could shake his big fat booty with Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty.

Meanwhile, out in the arena lobby, Eurocontinental Champion Kirk Angel was still celebrating his big victory with the fans.

Prior to the next contest, we got a video package recounting The Big Show's campaign to prove that he was the rightful winner of Royal Rumble 2000.

Winner Earns a Wrestlemania Title Shot
The Big Show vs. The Rock

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - The Big Show faced The Rock
This was about as close as you were ever going to get to a boring match involving The Rock.

For the most part, this was a basic Attitude Era brawl that was saved from being completely dull by the sheer popularity of The Great One. Fortunately, the match was pulled from the brink of mediocrity by a tremendously exciting finish.

After Earl Hebner got bumped, Big Show planted Rock with a clothesline that would have had The People's Champion down for the three count had there been an official there to count it.

Realising what was at stake, Tim White rushed down to do the honours but was pulled out of the ring by Earl Hebner.

On the outside, Hebner and White resumed their argument from earlier and actually came to blows as a returning Shane McMahon raced to ringside to a tremendous ovation from the live crowd.

The crowd quickly turned on McMahon, however, when he took a steel chair and blasted Rock in the face with it.

A three count later and The Big Show had reclaimed what was rightfully his in the first place.
Your Winner: The Big Show

Out in the back, Kurt Angle was seen walking to his car, humming Queen's We Are The Champions and still wearing his wrestling gear.

Before he could stop and think 'I probably should get dressed,' he was attacked by Chris Jericho and Chyna, who shoved him into the trunk of his car.

Finally, we got a video package for Cactus Jack vs. Triple H, and then it was onto the main event.

Hell in a Cell Match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Triple H (w/ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Cactus Jack

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Mick Foley faced Triple H inside Hell in a Cell
If Cactus Jack loses, his career is over

Mick Foley's Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998 may have been his career-defining moment, but this was arguably a much better match.

Building up from a basic brawl into an all-out war, both champ and challenger beat one another to a bloody pulp in a brutal, violent, and utterly captivating contest.

Inevitably, the two men ended up on the outside of the ring, where Cactus first tried to climb up the cage, only to be knocked down and sent crashing through an announce table.

Never one to stay down for long, he finally made it to the top of the cage where he set a barbed-wire-covered 2x4 on fire and smashed his opponent in the face with it.

Yet when he tried to piledrive The Game onto the evil weapon, the champion reversed it with a back body drop that sent Cactus up into the air, crashing through the cage and landing in the ring with such force that it broke the ring too.

It was a truly awesome, heart-stopping spot, but even that wasn't enough to put away the challenger.

With a never say die attitude, Cactus Jack climbed valiantly to his feet but succumbed to a pedigree and lost the match.
Your Winner and still WWF Champion: Triple H

Afterwards, a bloody and beaten Cactus Jack received a standing ovation as he refused medical treatment and walked slowly to the back as Jim Ross gave him an impassioned farewell.

It was an emotional moment and a fitting end to the career of Mick Foley.





Except, of course, that wasn't to be the end of Mick Foley's career. As we all know by now, he would be back in action just a few weeks later and would get his Wrestlemania payday moment after all.

Speaking of moments, No Way Out 2000 was full of memorable ones. From Angle becoming the Eurocontinental Champion to Terri's heel turn, The Radicalz looking awesome, Shane McMahon's return and that incredible main event, there was an awful lot to enjoy about this show.

So far, the World Wrestling Federation were having a great run of PPVs in the year 2000.



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Retro Pro Wrestling

New reviews of classic WWF/WWE events recalling every moment from Wrestlemania 1 - 30. You'll also find reviews of WCW, ECW, TNA and the occasional indie event, along with a look at old school magazines, merchandise and more.