No Mercy 2000 - Pepsi Arena, Albany New York, October 22nd, 2000

An incredibly tense video package welcomes us to the second annual No Mercy PPV. The focus is all on the “in ring” return of Stone Cold Steve Austin and his quest to…I dunno…murder? Rikishi. In the arena, the commentary is drowned out as the WWE Network plays some royalty free production track to mask whatever the original theme song was that they don’t want to pay for.

JR also explains quickly that the Texas Rattlesnake isn’t here yet. That’ll be the classic “show long story” for the first half of this PPV as everyone - including Rikishi - anxiously awaits the arrival of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Rather insensitively for a man who was run over, the graphics and transitions for this PPV are all tire marks and the sounds of wheels squealing. 

There’s a big card change to the Intercontinental title match due to Eddie Guerrero’s leg injury which we’ll get to, and the show opens with the first of two matches that were added earlier tonight on Sunday Night Heat (where it was all kicking off). 

The Dudley Boyz Tag Team Table Invitational

The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) vs. Lo Down (Chaz and D’Lo) vs. The Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather) vs. Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) vs. Raven and Tazz 

This match wasn’t announced ahead of time so was probably added earlier tonight on Heat. It’s basically a gauntlet and/or Tag Team turmoil composed entirely of Tables matches. 

The first two teams are Too Cool (with a new theme song that they debuted a couple of weeks ago and then stopped using, and then have gone back to) and Lo Down who ALSO have a new theme song. It’s D’Lo’s “Danger at the Door” theme with Chaz and D’Lo sort of rapping over the top of it.

The fans get all over Lo Down with loud “D’Lo Sucks” chants as the two teams kind of just brawl with all four in the ring at once. The action is very disjointed as they trade suplexes and bodyslams and wrestle to get tables setup in the ring. The rules here are that only one member of a team needs to go through a table to eliminate that team. 

D’Lo gives Grandmaster Sexay a Sky High with such force that the bump causes one of the tables to collapse. 

Lo Down goes for a double elimination with a superplex on Scotty through one tabl and a frog splash to Grandmaster through the other but Scotty shoves Chaz off the top through the table and Grandmaster rolls clear sending D’Lo crashing through the other. Lo Down are the first team eliminated at 3:54. 

The next team out is Tazz and Raven. Tazz has shifted his focus to a sort of bad stand up comedian gimmick as commentator with Michael Cole on Sunday Night Heat, and Raven has lost most of his matches since debuting at Unforgiven. 

Tazz and Raven try to double suplex Grandmaster out of the ring but Scotty saves him. He then tries a sunset flip powerbomb on Raven out of the ring but his legs break the table by accidnet (getting a short “You Fucked Up” chant but they recover and after a Worm by Scotty on Raven, Tazz beats up both members of Too Cool and he and Raven drive Scotty through a table with a double suplex. Too Cool is eliminated at 7:10. 

The next team out are the table specialists and the men who suggested this match, The Dudley Boyz. The action is fast as the four ECW alumnus work smoothly together, and the fans scream “Wassup” so loud for the double team headbutt that the mics blow out and I can’t hear a word JR and King are saying. Bubba’s “D-Von, GET THE TABLES” gimmick has now fully caught on and D-Von does and with minimal fuss after a short back and forth they drive Tazz through a table via D-Von coming off the top rope with a leg drop. Tazz and Raven are eliminated at 9:10.

The final entrants are The Right to Censor’s Goodfather and Bull Buchanan. Edge and Christian were also apparently supposed to be in this match but are “unavailable” (more on that later). 

The men in white shirts dominate as despite having become some of the most hated heels in the company, they are still massive. 

Bull mounts Bubba in the corner and hits him with punches until he walks out of the corner and powerbombs him through a table! The Dudleyz have the match won but the referee didn’t see it. Goodfather blasts Bubba with a steel chair and then lays him in the table wreckage just as the referee pays attention and he incorrectly awards the match to the RtC.

Or does he? Another referee comes down to let him know what happened and the match is restarted. Bubba and D-Von rally and quickly give Goodfather a 3D through a table to officially win the match, eliminating the Right to Censor at 12:18. The Dudley Boyz win their own invitational. 

This match wasn’t good but it was fun and full of table breaks.

Backstage Test and Albert discuss strategy with Trish Stratus. The strategy seems to be that she’s going to flash Bradshaw and Faarooq to distract them. Fair. That would work on most people.

Rikishi is pacing around backstage carrying a sledgehammer awaiting the arrival of Stone Cold. Jerry Lawler and JR discuss at ringside whether Stone Cold is not showing up because he’s worried, and that earlier tonight on Heat (it was all kicking off) and Rikishi promised to run over Austin again and make him “Stone Cold Roadkill”. 

The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) and WWF Women’s Champion Lita vs. T&A (Test and Albert) and Trish Stratus

WWF Women’s Champion Lita enters first for this match which was born out of the APA and T&A having a gambling dispute last week. Trish and Lita have been feuding on and off for months.

The APA’s music plays but Bradshaw and Faarooq are no where to be seen. Their music plays for a while before we cut backstage and find out that Test and Albert have jumped them and used a variety of weapons and heavy backstage equipment to take them both out. Test hits Faarooq in the knee with a tire iron before they lift a huge box - so heavy it takes them both to lift it - and drop it on Faarooq’s knee. The APA are hurt. This was to explain their absence for a while so that Bradshaw could have some knee surgery.

Lita goes backstage to check on her partners but runs into Test and Albert and then she’s jumped from behind by Trish. 

This isn’t an official match as T&A help Trish absolutely destroy Lita with a running bulldog. Before Test and Albert can take the beating any further Matt and Jeff Hardy run to the ring and rescue her including Jeff hitting an amazing boost into a dropkick which looked really cool. The match officially is a no-contest but the big story is that the APA are hurt and hurt badly.

Backstage, Lillian Garcia speaks to Edge and Christian about their bout of food poisoning that stopped them from being in the opening multi-team match. There’s a lot of innuendo about nuts. They say that they’ll be cheering on Los Conquistadores against The Hardyz later. This is all very funny and clever and I will talk about it in plenty of detail when we get to the tag team title match.

Rikishi is shown still waiting for the arrival of Austin, getting impatient as Jerry Lawler says that maybe Stone Cold has gone chicken. 

Steel Cage match

Chris Jericho vs. X-Pac

Last month at Unforgiven I called this whole feud a step down for Chris Jericho who spent most of this year looking like a main eventer in waiting. My opinion on that hasn’t changed, despite how heated it’s gotten.

King is still mostly a heel on commentary but it’s a funny quirk of his feud with Tazz that he does now cheer on some of the babyfaces he used to trash talk, especially Chris Jericho who was his partner multiple times.

Before the match, Jericho says he’s been feuding with X-Pac so long he doesn’t even remember why he hates him before rattling off some insults. Y2J says that the feud must end tonight inside the steel cage, which he calls the Y2Jail. (He’s used that before). 

I’ve mentioned it in every article since Summerslam but X-Pac FINALLY has some proper new ring gear - the same singlet, but it’s now black, red and silver with no DX logos. Thank God. He still has his DX music though.

Jericho jumps Pac before he enters the cage and the two of them fight around the ring for a bit before the match even begins with Jericho chopping X-Pac and ducking an attempted steel chair shot. 

X-Pac manages to slam the cage door on Y2J’s head and enter the ring so the match can officially begin. 

X-Pac dominates in the early going with spin kicks but he tries to climb out too early and Jericho drop kicks him off the ropes. 

Jericho has control and tries to climb out. X-Pac stops him but Y2J rallies and comes at him with a missile dropkick, but the follow up Lionsault is blocked with the knees.

Jericho is run into the steel cage multiple times, sliding down the wall against the ropes. He counters a charge with a backdrop into the cage and the two trade kicks and punches. The action in this match isn’t bad but it also doesn’t flow well as they’re mostly just taking turns to be in control. 

X-Pac gives Jericho a Bronco Buster and starts to climb up the corner, getting to the top of the cage. Jericho follows and hits an amazing powerbomb with X-Pac at the top of the cage and Jericho standing on the top rope. A huge height to come down from.

A little more back and forth has X-Pac try to crawl out the door. Jericho stops him but he manages to drag a steel chair back in with him and blasts Jericho in the head. 

X-Pac climbs and gets to the very top of the cage but as he stands, Jericho trips him and follows up and in a great looking stop manages to lock X-Pac in a Walls of Jericho standing atop the steel cage, 15 feet in the air. X-Pac uses a low blow to block it, and shoves Jericho sending him crashing to the ring mat below.

stopping to stand on the door. Jericho dropkicks the cage making X-Pac lose his balance and land - crotch first - on the top of the door! He dangles limply from the door allowing Jericho to walk out of the cage and win this match.

This was decent enough with a creative finish. Somewhere in this match X-Pac suffered an injury and so this was the last time we’d see him for a few months.

At WWF New York, Hardcore Champion Steve Blackman does a live martial arts demonstration. I’d have thought this would be a good spot for someone to attack him as part of the 24/7 rule but it doesn’t happen.

Rikishi goes to see Commissioner Foley and is furious that Austin isn’t here yet. Mick says that the Rattlesnake is always closer than you think, and he’d go and get ready. But he does promise that if Austin doesn’t show up in time for the match he will walk to the ring and declare Rikishi the winner via forfeit. 

Earlier tonight on Heat, Eddie Guerrero’s scheduled Intercontinental title match is cancelled as Eddie is injured (he hurt his hamstring during a match with Chris Jericho on Raw) and so the match has now been changed to a tag team match of Val Venis and Steven Richards against Mr. Ass and Chyna. They have been feuding anyway so that’s a fair replacement. 

There’s a little pre match interview where Chyna says she’ll be intimate with Eddie again but it’ll be her fist in his crotch. Mr. Ass promises that he and “the most beautiful thing in the WWF” will destroy these two dweebs tonight. 

What happened to Latino Heat and his Mamacita? Well if you’ve been reading my Previews you’ll know but it was the sad, slow dissolution since Summerslam. What began as jealousy over the Intercontinental title became jealousy over Playboy and then just as it seemed they’d mended all fences - GTV (in what I think might be the last appearance of the black and white hidden camera gimmick - It was never revealed who was behind it) let us all know that Eddie Guerrerro was cheating on Chyna with former (and I guess current) hoes Victoria and Mandy. Devastating. Part of me wonders why they didn’t save the reveal for the wedding day? It seems a shame that Eddie and Chyna’s on screen relationship ended without a classic Wrestling Wedding segment. We never do get the Eddie vs. Chyna singles match you’d expect either and everyone moves on from it very quickly - a shame really as Eddie’s pairing with Chyna is very fondly remembered and a career highlight for both of them. 

The Right to Censor (Val Venis and Steven Richards) vs. Chyna and “Mr. Ass” Billy Gunn

Before the match, Steven cuts a pre match promo about how he and Val would never lay a finger on a woman unless absolutely necessary and it is tonight as they will “absolutely thrash” Chyna and her “rectally obsessed friend” Mr. Ass. The way he prounounces “ass” is a bit hilarious. I don’t even think it’s on purpose - that’s just how he talks. 

This is Billy’s first proper match since returning from his shoulder injury back in February. 

Billy and Val start it out in the ring with the much bigger Mr. Ass dominating. Val rtrats to the outside and tries to get a cheap shot on Chyna but it backfires as she sends him to the ringsteps and back inside.

Val gets an opening and tags out but Richards is easily slammed by Billy who then tags in Chyna and lets her throw him around by his tie to the crowd's delight. 

Chyna and Billy tag in and out and have fun working over Steven until he slips free and tags Val who goes right to work on Mr. Ass’ surgically repaired shoulder.

Richards gets some cheap shots in on it from the outside too. 

Mr/ Ass finally fights out of a shoulder submission with a double clothesline and there’s a hot tag on both sides to Chyna and Val.

She dominates and gives him a handspring elbow in the corner before a low blow on Steven, who stumbles into a Fameasser.

This match looks to be in the bag for the good guys until Billy sees Goodfather and Bull coming down the ramp and goes to fight them. 

Chyna sets up a Pedigree on Val in the ring but her former fiancé Eddie Guerrero hobbles into the ring and hits Chyna across the back with a bunch of roses, allowing Val to get the pinfall.

The roses would of course be revealed to contain a lead pipe, but the victory goes to the RtC, thanks to Eddie Guerrero.

Backstage Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley once again asks her husband Triple H to reconsider - he doesn’t want her at ringside for his matches anymore, to keep her out of harm’s way. She was slighted and so took her “managerial skills” to Kurt Angle. The Game still isn’t interested, so she instead gives him a tape of Benoit giving him the Crossface on Raw, as she thinks the footage will help him in his match with Benoit later. Steph goes off to help Kurt Angle get ready.

Now I hinted at this before but you might wonder why in the past month Stephanie has been so much more proactive in her role at ringside, cutting multiple promos about how the WWF is her family business and needs her? You may be wondering why she’s being portrayed as a genius manager who has tons to offer, and in segments like this providing Triple H with insights even he had missed? Well the answer is pretty simple really.

Stephanie is head of WWF Creative now. She had been contributing more and more but as of this PPV, she was running the show. So I hope you’re all excited to see her portrayed as the smartest woman in wrestling, and for the return of a ton of McMahon Family focus. 

No Holds Barred match

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Rikishi

The video package tells the story into this one better than i can

Rikishi enters first, debuting his new theme song. It’s a slow, serious beat proclaiming him as “a bad man”. It’s not great. The story tonight remains that Stone Cold is not here yet. He’s come out here to be declared the winner via forfeit, and he demands that Mick Foley come out and do just that.

Foley’s music hits and it seems like that’s exactly what’ll happen as the Commissioner heads to the ring. 

Austin’s music finally hits and the Rattlesnake is here! He drives directly to the ring in his pickup truck - the same one Rikishi smashed up with a sledgehammer on Smackdown. The fight is on!

Austin gets into it with Rikishi, hammering him with punches and running him into the truck over and over before slamming the door on this head! Austin is showing No Mercy! The fans are at fever pitch and it’s a thrill seeing Austin beat up the man that ran him over, running him into the ring steps and throwing him up and over the announce table to the concrete.

They fight into the crowd and Rikishi gets a little bit of offence in, fighting back and kicking Austin backwards the ring before backdropping him on the concrete. Austin isn’t dressed to compete, fighting in shorts and a t-shirt and it pays off as he takes his belt off and whips RIkishi with it before stomping him in the chest at ringside.

He wraps a bull rope around Rikishi’s neck and tries to hang him, strangling the 400lbs Samoan. 

Rikishi gets very little offence in, but he makes it count throwing Austin over the announce desk and giving him a superkick. He grabs a steel chair and swings but it hits the ring post and Austin unarms him, blasting Rikishi with three stiff chair shots to the head busting him wide open. Austin grabs JR’s cowboy hat and puts it on, giving him one from Ross too before continuing the assault around the ring hammering the now bloody Rikishi with chair shot after chair shot.

Riksihi’s sledgehammer for the head a couple of times but Rikishi avoids it. Austin keeps the pressure up using his truck’s tailgate as a weapon before sending him to the back of the truck with a final running, stiff chairshot. 

With the badly bloodied Rikishi loaded into the back of his truck, Austin gets in the driver’s seat and swigs some beer before backing out of the arena with him. Where on Earth is the Rattlesnake taking Rikishi?

He takes him out to the parking lot and sits him against a concrete wall, backing up and wanting to run Rikishi over with his truck but as he charges forward a police car gets in the way and saves Rikishi from certain death! Austin backs up and rams the car again but an army of police officers arrive, arresting Stone Cold Steve Austin for - all joking aside - attempted murder. This match ends, I think, in a no contest as Austin is arrested and Rikishi lays in the parking lot as the victim of one of the most one-sided beatings in WWF history. Austin promised brutality and he gave it to us. 

Rikishi is out and humorously he’s being ignored by all the medical staff as they tend to the officer who was driving the car Austin crashed into. The Rattlesnake is in some serious trouble. 

So I haven’t really touched on it during the Previews, just covering it all as it happened but now that the dust has settled, what did the world make of Rikishi’s pivot from fun-loving fat man to the most evil man in all of wrestling? At the time, it felt like a very odd choice of culprit - a midcard babyface with an unserious gimmick. The company wanted to get behind Rikishi and make him a main eventer but sadly his reasoning and invoking of the race card turned everyone off immediately. That kind of storytelling was a little too on the nose for the WWF in 2000 and is probably even more inappropriate now. That angle on it was quickly abandoned and the company scrambles to rescue the storyline in the coming weeks by focusing on Rikishi’s accomplice and possible true mastermind. I do quite like the “did he or didn’t he?” about The Rock aspect to it. To be continued. 

WWF European Championship

William Regal © vs. Naked Mideon

This match was announced earlier tonight on Sunday Night Heat. Regal won the title on Raw, and I’m still confused as to why he didn’t win it on this PPV from Al Snow as that was a real feud. 

William Regal cuts a pre match promo about how excited he is to defend the title, but he’s repulsed that it’s against Naked Mideon. He has insisted that Mideon will be forced to wear clothing for this match, which I think we’re all glad of.

Mideon wrestles in a loose fitting Undertaker vest and what we’d call in the UK “trackie bottoms”. 

This is a comedy match and a welcome reprieve after the previous ultra intense affair. Regal gets the advantage, but then backs off in disgust as Mideon teases removing his clothes. 

This is Mideon’s first PPV singles match since February 1999 where he wrestled The Big Bossman in a stinker.

The fans are restless and bored, but pop when Mideon finally removes his vest.

Mideon finally gets his bottoms off and hilariously on the WWE Network his entire lower half has been pixelated. If i recal he’s wearing a bum bag/fanny pack, and a flesh coloured thong. 

Regal has the chance to apply the Regal stretch but doesn't want to hav to touch Mideon too much so flattens him with a neckbreaker and wins via pinfall instead. 

Earlier tonight on Heat, Kurt Angle “interviewed” The Rock. I can’t do it justice so here’s the video

For anyone who doesn’t watch the video, Kurt asks him incriminating questions about Stone Cold, implying he was involved in Rikishi’s hit and run and getting Rock to admit he’s going to lose to Angle tonight at No Mercy. He does this with comically poor editing as The Rock’s hair and clothing changes multiple times back and forth. It’s footage from other interviews spliced together.

WWF Tag Team Championships

The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) vs. Los Conquistadors (Uno y Dos)

The story for this one is pretty clever, and I think it had the legs to last longer than the two weeks it did. Basically, Los Conquistadors are pretty obviously Edge and Christian under the masks. Commissioner Foley told them that they couldn’t have another Tag Team title match as long as The Hardyz were champions so after trying and failing to cost them the titles a couple of times they’ve decided to throw on some masks and do it themselves. I included their pre match interview with Kevin Kelly in the above video of Kurt Angle and The Rock’s phoney “interview” as well. 

The lowlight of this match is JR and King’s discussion of Lucha Libre and Latin American wrestling and mask culture bordering on extremely racist. 

The Hardyz are very quick, isolating “Dos” who I believe is Christian until he tags out to “Uno” which would obviously be Edge. Uno and Dos have promised to give Edge and Christian a title match tomorrow night on Raw if they win the titles here. 

Los Conquistadors use the old “twin magic” trick to switch places behind the referee's back and isolate Jeff Hardy working him over.

After a flurry of dives to the outside, Matt and Jeff seem to have the match won but Matt gets too focused on unmasking Dos. He pulls the mask off to reveal…another mask! Uno comes from behind with a reverse DDT and in a shocking upset, these “masked newcomers” win the WWF Tag Team titles in a fine match.

Backstage as Triple H gets ready to face Chris Benoit, he studies the tape his wife gave him and apparently sees something he likes and gives him an idea. It actually doesn’t come into play during the match so let’s not analyse it. The point is more that Stephanie’s genius insight has aided The Game in his preparation. 

Triple H vs. Chris Benoit

There’s no video package for this one, but rather a reel of their various interactions over the past month so I’ve captured that instead. I like to paint a picture.

This match should have fans of technical wrestling excited as Benoit in his prime was always in a class of his own but Triple H is certainly no slouch. There’s a strong argument in fact that at this stage in his career Triple H was the best in the world.

He has become remarkably popular out of his feud with Kurt Angle and the New York fans give him a warm reception and start a “Triple H” chant when the bell rings.

Jerry Lawler gushes about how smart and beautiful Stephanie is more than usual, which is another sign she’s head of creative now. 

They grapple in the corner until Triple H uses his size advantage to rattle Benoit with punches and then starts to work on his left knee, driving it into the mat multiple times and then wrapping it around the ringpost while the referee admonishes him. 

Benoit keeps control, dropping elbows on Benoit’s legs and the booking of this match seems like Triple H took all of Benoit’s claims to be the best technical wrestler personally and delighted in booking a match where he out-wrestles and outclasses Benoit. He even debuts a move in this match which would become one of his trademarks, the old Indian deathlock.

After a long stretch of working Benoit’s legs, Triple H is finally countered with a slingshot into the ring post on the outside and Benoit shows off his brawling abilities and focuses his attack on Triple H’s arm with an arm breaker and running him shoulder first into the ringpost.

He works on Triple H’s arm and gets near falls with a Northern Lights suplex and a German suplex but The Game keeps kicking out.

Benoit takes aim with a Diving Headbutt from the top rope, right onto Triple H’s arm and shoulder. 

Triple H goes for a small package but Benoit kicks out and goes right back on the attack as JR and King call it a desperation move.

Triple H locks in a reverse DDT but swings Benoit overhead with a sort of backwards suplex and that gives him a chance to recover.

Deep in the match with both men struggling Triple H goes for broke with a superplex off the top rope and both men are down again. They’re throwing bombs at each other.

Benoit hits a Tiger suplex, but Triple H’s foot is on the ropes. He hits a German suplex but Triple H kicks out. The Game rallies with a facebuster but runs right into a Crippler Crossface. Benoit rips and pulls at Triple H’s arm and almost gets the submission victory but Triple H uses his size and strength to stand up and drop him with a sort of modified Samoan drop. 

With both men down, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley runs to the ring and slaps Benoit in the face. The distraction allows Triple H to follow with a Pedigree but his arm is too sore to lock it in. Benoit counters out into another Crossface attempt so Stephanie distracts the referee allowing Triple H to use a low blow and finally hit the Pedigree to win a very good wrestling match with a solid story that kept both men strong.

For the record though, for anyone who thinks Triple H using political power and backstage friendships to help his career came later, he has lost only one PPV match this year and that was at Backlash due to a lot of interference. He’s now beaten The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit all at the peaks of their pushes. 

Backstage, a sweaty and out of breath Edge and Christian congratulate Los Conquistadors on their Tag Title victory. The new Tag Team Champions have now remarkably changed size and shape. They’ll make their first defence tomorrow night on Raw against Edge and Christian. 

No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship

The Rock © vs. Kurt Angle w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley

The video package for this one really highlights how much trouble The Rock is in.

Kurt Angle is on a roll and has a new manager, and The Rock is in a weakened mental state with all that has gone on with Rikishi and Stone Cold. 

The no disqualification stipulation is added to the match at the last minute, and it comes as a massive shock to both JR and King when the ring announcer tells us during Kurt’s entrance. 

Kurt takes the match to the outside quickly and takes immediate advantage of the no disqualification stipulation, hitting The Rock across the back with a steel chair.

Kurt Angle leaves the ring and takes a walk to get his senses back but The Rock follows him up the ramp with a bit clothesline and the two fight around the top of the ramp with Rock throwing Angle through the No Mercy staging to the back, and then bringing him back out the same way.

The Rock beats Kurt from pillar to post around the top of the ramp before leading him back to the ring and bouncing him around the ring, pulling Angle crotch-first into the ring post. He grabs a steel chair and bangs it against Kurt’s leg and ankle trapping it between the chair and the ringsteps as Stephanie looks on very worried.

The Rock is showing a real mean streak which you could argue is ahead of a pending heel turn and reveal that he WAS in cahoots with Rikishi or perhaps he’s just extra angry because of all of that.

The Rock locks Angle’s injured leg in a sharpshooter and has the submission victory but Stephanie distracts the referee as the fans rain “slut” chants down on her. The Rock chases her around the ring in a rage but as he re-enters the ring he runs right into an overhead belly to belly suplex from the challenger. 

Angle dominates for a few minutes picking up some near falls but The Rock fights back with right hands and brings it back to a brawl, ramming Kurt over and over into the announce desk on the outside. Angle regains his composure and throws The Rock into the ring. Stephanie hands him the WWF title belt and Kurt charges trying to hit the champion with his own belt - The Rock ducks it and fights it off but Angle is persistent and hits him with the title belt anyway for a very close near fall.

The Rock comes back with a suplex and both men are down. We’re in the deep water for both men.

Angle hits a high angle back suplex and attempts his classic moonsault which looks beautiful but just like everyone else, The Rock rolls clear and he misses.

The Rock lights Angle up with punches and hits a spinebuster but as he prepares for a People’s Elbow Stephanie gets in his face so The Rock gives her a Rock Bottom! He wants to give her a People’s Elbow too but Kurt stops that and that’s when Triple H runs down! He attacks Kurt - he told him to take care of his wife - and sends him to the outside before giving The Rock a Pedigree! He did hit his wife, so that’s fair too.

Triple H scoops up the unconscious Steph and carries her to the back as Kurt crawls into a cover…but The Rock kicks out! 

With Stephanie gone, Kurt tries to keep his distance and regain his wits and leads The Rock on a merry chase around the ring in slow motion until he finally catches him and slams Kurt into the announce table.

Rikishi makes an appearance - head heavily bandaged, face covered in dried blood he hobbles to the ring and attacks Kurt Angle. This also is fair enough - Rikishi says he ran over Austin to help The Rock’s career so it makes sense he’d try to actually help The Rock keep the title.

Angle runs into a Rock Bottom in the ring but The Rock is too hurt to cover and by the time he finally does, Kurt Angle kicks out! So many realistic near falls and false finishes.

Rikishi enters the ring and tries to corner charge Kurt but he pulls The Rock in front of him who takes the brunt. He then tries to give Angle a superkick but Kurt ducks and The Rock takes that too.

Angle follows up with an Olympic Slam on Rikishi and then one on The Rock and Kurt Angle wins the WWF Championship! Kurt Angle wins a wild, chaotic main event to add the WWF Championship to the most impressive rookie year in WWF history.

With The Rock in the ring angrily questioning Rikishi’s motives, Kurt celebrates. Rocky didn’t want or need Rikishi’s help and it backfired badly. But with all this talk of Rikishi having had an accomplice on Smackdown to dupe Stone Cold, is it all a little too inconvenient? 

The PPV ends with Kurt Angle in tears, celebrating winning the WWF Championship the same way he celebrated winning the Olympic Gold Medals. Kurt Angle is the WWF Champion only 11 months into his WWF career.