Raw is War - May 1st, 2000

The Rock’s first defence, and Earl Hebner in the spotlight

For the first time since March 28th, 1999 The Rock is the WWF Champion. There’s some odd audio silence at the start of the show which tells me they’ve edited out something JR and/or King said.

In the arena, former WWF Champion Triple H (who has his arm in a sling - he was heavily selling his arm in the late stages of the match at Backlash which appears to have been legit) leads the entire McMahon-Helmsley regime to the ring. He’s flanked by WWF Women’s Champion Stephanie, X-Pac, Tori, Roaddogg, Patterson, Brisco, Shane McMahon and bringing up the rear, Vince McMahon.

Triple H says he’s sure the people are happy he’s no longer champion which gets a huge cheer, and a very loud “Rocky” chant. He says that The Rock is probably happy too having won the title and beat “the best there is” to do it. But The Rock won’t be as happy as he should be because it probably bothers him that he needed Stone Cold’s help to do it. That doesn’t even make sense - Triple H had five other people helping him. Triple H says that he had Stone Cold’s help, he had Linda McMahon’s help, and he had Earl Hebner to help him. He says Rocky should enjoy being the champion while he can because it won’t last long. He ends by addressing Jim Ross’s commentary at Backlash. He says that JR is the best at what he does, but when he said “Game Over” he was wrong. “The Game is not Over, The Game is just beginning”. He’d use that line a lot. When Stephanie takes the mic she’s drowned out with “slut” chants. She’s never been more proud of her husband or her family. She basically just repeats everything Triple H just said. Vince says that Stone Cold isn’t here tonight (which gets “Austin” chants and makes it seem like he will be, but he won’t.) He then confirms that Linda has reinstated Earl Hebner officially  to the WWF, and that Linda has lived a charmed life being married to him. Vince says that if Linda shows up tonight he will get physical with her. Shane looks horrified, but that doesn’t go anywhere. He ends by saying history will be made tonight and draws our attention to a steel cage hanging above the ring, which JR and King would speculate about for the next few matches and segments.

Backstage, Vince McMahon tells Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco to do him a favour and bring Earl Hebner to see him. They do, and he asks to be left alone with the senior official. I’ve made it pretty clear how much I hate Earl Hebner in these articles so I’m not a fan of him being made a full on character. Vince berates Earl for his role in Triple H losing his title last night and barks insults in his face. Earl just wants to do his job. Vince says that Hebner better stay out of their business going forward. 

Roaddogg and X-Pac demand a rematch for the Tag Team titles. Vince says that they’ll get one but not tonight because tonight is family night, and it's a DX night. He says he has a special job for Roaddogg, and he needs X-Pac to defend his daughters honour against Chris Jericho.

Earl Hebner actually gets a ring introduction when he comes out to referee the Jericho and X-Pac match. I’m sure he loved that - my main issue with him is the way he’s constantly in the way and trying to stay the centre of attention during matches. Loves the spotlight. 

X-Pac has a big bandage on his forehead from Christian splitting his head open with a ring bell at Backlash. Jericho says that it's funny that X-Pac is defending the integrity of a woman who has none. Jericho actually misspells the word “Honor” while making fun of Stephanie too. I mentioned it during the Backlash article but JR and King make a couple more homophobic jokes about the Millenium Pride parade that took place in Washington DC the same day as Backlash did. Come on, guys. Jericho hits the double powerbomb and a Lionsault and has victory in hand but Tori distracts the referee so Jericho dropkicks her off the apron. X-Pac gives Jericho the Bronco Buster and when Earl Hebner tries to get him off (I’m not even sure why? Storyline I guess?) they shove each other so Earl disqualifies X-Pac. Jericho locks Pac in the Walls of Jericho until Roaddogg runs in and saves his buddy. Earl Hebner shoves him too and a load of referees and officials run down to restrain both Y2J and Earl Hebner.

The New WWF Champion The Rock arrives. This Raw is the one where he’s wearing his infamous cow-pattern furry waistcoat. It’s certainly a distinctive look.

The Rock says that he is finally WWF Champion and that he kept his promise last night. He says that Stone Cold Steve Austin also kept his promise and so gives him an “Oh hell yeah” as thanks. This promo is also the debut of his “Just Bring It” catchphrase and he tells the McMahon’s to bring whatever surprises they have for him. That does bring the entire McMahon-Helmsley faction out onto the ramp. They seem to be really hammering home that Patterson and Brisco are back in the fold for some reason. Vince says that history will be made tonight as The Rock has the shortest reign in history. Tonight’s main event will be The Rock defending the WWF title in a steel cage against his son, Shane McMahon. That seems to be news to everyone - Shane is happy and flattered, but Triple H looks furious. All Shane has to do to win the WWF title is escape the cage. The fans chant “Shane’s a pussy” very, very loudly. The Rock ends by saying that tonight won’t be the shortest reign in history, it’ll be the longest night in “your candy-ass son’s life”. That was a good line. 

In a couple of different segments, Tori intentionally spills coffee on Earl Hebner, and Triple H intimidates him. 

Backstage, Triple H gives Shane a part-pep talk but is mostly upset that Shane’s going to win the title but it’s Triple H’s title. Shane says that it shouldn’t matter as long as the title is “in the family”. Triple H isn’t happy. He’d later complain about the same thing to his wife. 

When Shane enters for the main event he’s lead by Vince, Steph and Triple H. He also has Patterson and Brisco, both in referee shirts. That explains why they were all so confident Shane would win the title. When the match begins, the McMahon-Helmsleys do everything they can to help Shane including Vince trying to pull Shane out of the door and Triple H poking The Rock through the mesh with a long stick. Of course when The Rock tries to climb the cage and escape he’s also stopped, so Rocky grabs the stick and pulls it into the ring before breaking it over Shane’s back before bouncing him off the steel cage over and over. Shane manages to climb the cage and as he reaches the top, The Rock runs his head into one of the big motors in the corner which knocks him out. Patterson stops The Rock from climbing and even tries to push Shane off the top of the cage to the outside so he gets a Rock Bottom for his troubles.

The Rock stops Shane from escaping by grabbing his hair and in a wicked bump, brings Shane back into the ring the hard way. The Rock follows up with a People’s Elbow, but still has to escape the cage to retain his title. Brisco slams the cage door on his head, and Triple H gets into the ring and hammers The Rock with punches with one arm. The fans very loudly chant for “Austin”. I said it was a mistake for Vince to mention him earlier! They get even louder chanting “we want Austin” as JR scrambles to explain that Stone Cold is in Texas. Eventually as Triple H hits The Rock with punches, Earl Hebner comes to the ring. He attacks Gerry Brisco and then slams the cage door on Triple H’s head. Vince chase's Earl, and The Rock climbs up and out of the cage where Hebner declares him the winner! The Rock retains the WWF title thanks to Earl Hebner. 

Edge and Christian

The show opens properly with the WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian who come down with big smiles on their faces. For the first time, they come down the entrance ramp rather than through the crowd. Edge and Christian join commentary to watch a match between the now-officially babyface Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley (despite the really uncomfortable segment at Backlash where Bubba slammed her through a table) and their opponents, T&A. Test and Albert don’t have Trish with them (JR says she's basically fine, but is still at the hospital). Edge and Christian show a ton of villainous energy on commentary with Edge really shining when he talks about people selling locks of his hair on ebay, and Christian does when King asks them to teach him some insider lingo so he talks about “shooting” and “doing a run-in”. Funny stuff. The match is shorter than their one at Backlash so it has a lot more energy and moves a lot quicker. Edge keeps calling Test and Albert simply “T” or “A” and says that The Dudleyz attire makes them look like “The Bushwackers 2000” which is excellent honestly. Christian says that the champs are offering an open challenge later tonight, but it has to be a person or team that they haven’t already beaten. Just as The Dudleyz hit a 3D on “T”, Edge distracts the referee and Christian plants D-Von with a reverse DDT and rolls Test onto him for the cover and a victory. Edge and Christian mock The Dudleyz as they leave.

Edge and Christian return to the ring for their open challenge. The titles will be on the line and the only rule they’ve set out is that it has to be two people they haven’t already beaten. Edge speaks before the match and addresses that they won’t come through the crowd anymore because the people are “a bit much” but to show that they’re still men of the people they will pose for five seconds so that their fans can take photos. This gimmick caught on! Their challenge is accepted by the team of Rikishi and The Big Show - who is dressed like Rikishi. He’s Show-kishi! He even has it on his ring gear. The big men dominate until Edge gets he and Christian intentionally disqualified with the ring bell to save their titles. They almost get a pair of banzai drops but roll out of the ring and to safety…until Roaddogg and X-Pac attack them on the ramp and send them back into the ring to get a pair of duelling Stink Faces instead. The big lads dance after the match despite not winning the tag team titles.

Other Happenings

• Hardcore Champion Crash Holly arrives in the parking lot and a parking attendant attacks him and tries to win the Hardcore title. I think this is the first time a member of the public tried to win the title, rather than a fellow WWF Superstar. 
• Michael Cole interviews Crash Holly who is a paranoid wreck because of the 24/7 rule on the Hardcore title. He’s attacked by Steve Blackman with a trashcan and they fight through the backstage area and out into the crowd. Blackman dominates but can’t get a three count and as Crash tries to run away, a couple of local spots guys jump him and try to win the title! Crash kicks out and the Houdini of Hardcore gets out of there.

• Grandmaster Sexay returns from his knee injury and teams with Scotty 2 Hotty to take on The Hardy Boyz. Both these teams are very popular. It’s a fun match and in somewhat of an upset, Too Cool picks up the win when Grandmaster shoves Matt into the ropes which knocks Jeff off the top rope, and then finishes Matt with a superkick for the three count. Too Cool gave us their victory dance after the match too. 
• The Kat teams with Jacqueline against Terri Runnels and Ivory. There’s only one proper wrestler per team so they obviously start and the action isn’t bad between Ivory and Jackie. It’s messy in spots, and the finish comes when Kat has Terri pinned until Ivory drops an elbow and reverses the pin. Jackie does the same and Kat and Jackie officially win with Kat pinning Terri despite both women being out cold. 
• In a Backlash rematch, Esse Rios challenges Eddie Guerrero for the European title. Lita is wearing the red prom dress that she tore off Lita last night. Eddie beats Esse a lot easier than he did last night but with the same move and then after the match, Chyna tears the dress off Lita and exposes her bra and panties. She doesn’t get to show off as much as Chyna did at Backlash though.
• Tazz challenges Chris Benoit for the Intercontinental Championship. Benoit’s face looks alright here after getting his nose burst open by the IC title belt at Backlash. Perry Saturn walks down to the ring and distracts Tazz and Benoit retains with a fisherman suplex. Tazz and Saturn fight outside the ring after the match, and Hardcore Holly casually walks to the ring and lays out Benoit, and then Tazz and Saturn as he leaves.

Smackdown! - May 4th, 2000

Earl Hebner leads to Main Event Chaos

Smackdown opens with a big introduction for Earl Hebner. They’re in Richmond Virginia which is his hometown it seems.

The McMahon-Helmsley faction arrives, and then heads out to the arena. Vince McMahon talks about how Richmond Virginia is the home of the confederacy. They probably shouldn’t be proud of that. He keeps going on and gets a lot of cheap heat before building up to their worst accomplishment - being the home of Earl Hebner. He books tonights main event - Earl Hebner makes his in ring debut, teaming with The Rock in a handicap match against Triple H, X-Pac and Roaddogg. And the WWF title will be on the line! If either The Rock or Earl is pinned, The Rock loses the WWF title.

Jonathan Coachman interviews Earl Hebner who is very nervous and scared of getting in the ring tonight. He’s a very poor promo. In another segment, he goes to see Vince McMahon who sarcastically tries to reassure Earl. 

The Big Show enters dressed as a big viking. Tony Chimmel announces him as “making his WWF debut”, Show-nan the Barbarian. He does an impression of Arnold Swartzenegar on the mic beforehand. His opponent is Bull Buchanan. Bull attacks with his nightstick before the bell but all that does is make Show angry who throws off his wig and loses his temper, hammering Bull with a pair of monstrous one-armed chokeslams.

Backstage, Big Show goes to see Shane McMahon and asks what he thinks of his fun loving antics and comedy stuff. Shane gets angry and says that Show let him down at Wrestlemania. All he’s done since Mania is goof around and become a joke. The fans love him these days but Shane says he’s not entertained and calls him that he’s a pea brained joke, and an unmotivated slob. None of the people will ever care about him. That makes Big Show cry. Bless.

Kevin Kelly interviews The Rock who promises that he’s not going to lose his WWF Championship tonight and tells Vince to take all of DX, roll them into a ball and shove them straight up his candy ass. Fun, but predictable.

King refers to every referee, multiple times, as having been “Hebnerised” and blames every decision he doesn’t like on that. He must have said “Hebnerised” about 86 times during this episode of Smackdown.

When DX enters for the main event, Triple H still has his arm in a sling from his “slightly separated shoulder” from Backlash. Different times - these days he’d be off TV for two months because of that. DX have all three McMahons, Tori and The Stooges with them too. The crowd is so loud chanting “Rocky”.

Whichever member of DX pins either Rock or Earl tonight is the new WWF Champion. The Rock goes it alone and fights off all three members of DX even pulling Triple H’s sling off so he just stops selling his arm. With it being three on one, they do get control and dominate The Rock and with him down, Triple H throws Earl Hebner into the ring to face X-Pac and Roaddogg but The Rock fights back into it and saves him from disaster. Shane runs in and gets a spinebuster, and then punches Patterson and Brisco too. With the odds badly against him, Chris Jericho runs down to fight with Triple H! Earl Hebner gives X-Pac a low blow and The Rock follows with a Rock Bottom to retain the WWF title in a wild, chaotic main event. DX get the last laugh as they hammer The Rock, hitting him with the title belt and then a Pedigree and then have fun beating up Earl Hebner. Triple H bursts his lip open with a big punch and the beating on both men just goes on…and on…and on. Triple H Pedigrees Earl Hebner onto a steel chair and then returns to beating up The Rock with a low blow. Rikishi comes down, followed by The Big Show and they fight off DX and the McMahons. The Rock tries to get back into the fight too but he’s shut down with a low blow, as does Big Show. The Dudley Boyz then come down carrying a table and finally, with the numbers advantage, the good guys clear out the McMahon-Helmsleys. They all escape apart from Patterson and Brisco and the former takes a Stink Face as Brisco is driven through a table by Bubba and D-Von with a powerbomb from the top rope. Smackdown ends with Chris Jericho, Rikishi, The Big Show, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley in the ring and medical personnel coming down to load poor bloody Earl Hebner onto a stretcher as The Rock checks on him. This was a weird close to Smackdown as it felt like it should have ended about six times before it finally did, but just kept on going! 

An unexpected title change

The opening match is Chris Jericho challenging Chris Benoit for the Intercontinental title in a rematch from Backlash. Michael Cole mentions that Benoit broke his nose at Backlash but it looks fine, and it looked fine on Raw too. I mention it because his face is an absolute mess at the UK Exclusive PPV Insurrextion which is only two days after this episode of Smackdown so I’m watching for the injury to happen. This is a good match. Benoit goes for a diving sunset flip off the top rope but he falls short and Jericho lands on his head which looks messy and painful. Benoit comes up bleeding badly from his nose. He shoves referee Earl Hebner and while he's down, Jericho uses the IC title belt as a weapon and knocks out Benoit, followed by a Lionsault! Chris Jericho is the new Intercontinental Champion! He did cheat though. I had no memory of Jericho winning the Intercontinental title again at this point so this was a shock to me! 

Crash Holly - attacked from all sides

As Crash Holly leaves the arena, he's attacked by Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko. They fight inside a bouncy castle before Crash escapes and heads down to the ring. With the 24/7 rule in effect, Dean is trying to become a double champion here. They fight into the ring and Dean uses a trash can and almost wins the title until his fellow Radical comes down to break up the pin and try to win the title himself. Malenko and Saturn get into a shoving match and fight over who gets to pin Crash, but he manages to roll up Dean and win this impromptu match to retain his title. The Houdini of Hardcore escapes and the two Radicals fight in the ring until referees split them up.

Other Happenings

• The first of many videos for Judgment Day. That is the name of the next PPV, but this isn’t about that. Judgment Day is coming. Someone is returning. There's another “Judgment Day is Coming” advert later which has creepy little girls who look like they’re from a horror film singing a creepy song in an abandoned warehouse.

• Edge and Christian sit backstage being demanding as they get facials, trying to exfoliate all of Rikishi and Big Show’s asses from their faces after the Stink Faces on Raw.
• European Champion Eddie Guerrero and Chyna face Esse Rios and Lita in a mixed tag team match. Lita looks very anxious and like she doesn’t want to be a part of this match. She’s scared of Chyna basically and stays out of the match and leaves Esse to be double teamed. Chyna and Eddie are a good team! Lita tags in when Chyna is in trouble but she’s easily dominated and dropped from a gorilla press slam and pinned with one foot on her chest. Chyna and Eddie win and we have to assume this feud is over now - Eddie has beaten Esse Rios three times in five days. 
• Kurt Angle - who was at the premiere of the movie Gladiator which is why he wasn’t on Raw - faces Hardcore Holly. Kurt makes some incest jokes about Virginia on his walk to the ring. Holly retorts on his walk to the ring saying no one cares about Kurt’s philosophy. Kurt fakes a knee injury and plays opossum, beating Holly with a roll up. Hardcore loses his temper and lays out Kurt with a suplex onto a steel chair. 
• WWF Tag Team Champions face one of their Raw opponents in a handicap match - Rikishi. Before the match, Christian reassures all of their fans that their faces are now 100% ass free. These guys are gaining confidence and getting really funny week by week. Personality for days on both of them. Rikishi quickly gets Edge down in the corner and gives him a Stink Face but the two on one odds are too much and the champs double team Rikishi. They fight outside and after some miscommunication sending Edge into the ring post, Rikishi gets back into the ring and wins by count out. The champs continue the beating and get the ring bell to use as a weapon but Rikishi is rescued by Too Cool. Scotty 2 Hotty gives Christian the Worm to a massive reaction and then the three of them victory dance. 
• Backstage, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Tori go to the vending machines and run into The Dudley Boyz. Steph gets in Bubba’s face and says that they are pathetic and it's sad that they have to lay their hands on women to make themselves feel good. She is right. Tori calls them pathetic too, and D-Von stops Bubba from doing the unthinkable. Imagine the repercussions for putting Stephanie McMahon through a table. Bubba smiles at the thought of it. 

• The Hardy Boyz face T&A. Still no Trish after being put through the table at Backlash. This is a good match with Test and Albert as big men against the two smaller men. The Hardyz pick up the win with a Swanton Bomb onto Test and Matt getting the pin. T&A sent Jeff to the outside and pummelled Matt two on one in the ring. They’re in a foul mood after losing Trish. Albert lays out Matt with a backbreaker and then Test finishes him with a top rope Elbow drop which looks awesome. 

Note: This next Raw takes place right after another UK Exclusive PPV - Insurrextion - which I’ve also covered so go and read that before continuing the Preview article here

Raw is War - May 8th, 2000

The McMahon-Helmsley Regime settles some scores

After a quick replay of the chaos at the end of Smackdown, the McMahon-Helmsley regime makes their way down to the ring en masse. JR and King are really playing up that they’ll be planning to punish all the men who were involved in that brawl on Smackdown. After bragging about the beating they gave Earl Hebner in his hometown, Triple H plays the footage to illustrate what happens to anyone that gets in his way. He then turns to The Rock and makes the main event for Judgment Day - an Iron Man match for the WWF Championship. He really hypes up “the hour” as the scariest thing in the world, and something no one else in the WWF would dare even attempt. He also hammers home that this is the match that will finally settle the issue, which he’d come to regret. He passes the mic off to Vince McMahon who is immediately interrupted by the new Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho. He mocks Shane for the “Shane’s a pussy” chants, calls Stephanie his parade of horrible insults and then ends by saying that Vince McMahon has a small penis. The McMahons and co are about to go up the ramp and get him but The Dudleyz, Rikishi and The Big Show arrive to be his backup.

That stops Vince in his tracks. Vince guarantees that Jericho won’t leave Raw with his championship. Shane asks Big Show what he’s doing siding with these guys and says Big Show is a fool. He says they’ll settle their issue tonight. Vince then books The Dudleyz in a handicap tables match against Gerald Brisco, and Rikishi against Pat Patterson. That seems like a punishment for his stooges but Vince ends by assuring us all that he is a genius and we’ll all see his plan in action tonight. 

Kurt Angle enters and says that he is honoured that the McMahon-Helmsley regime has picked him to take the Intercontinental title from Jericho and he’s privileged to defend the honour of Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. He goes a bit overboard with the compliments for Stephanie. This is a decent but short match, which surprisingly Jericho wins clean as a whistle by making Angle submit to the Walls of Jericho.

Backstage, The Big Show rushes into Shane McMahon’s locker room and grabs him by the throat. Shane explains himself - he didn’t want to upset Show, he just wanted to fire him up and get him to drop all the comedy stuff. He’s going to give Big Show a shot at the Intercontinental title! He wants Show to realise his potential and drop the comedy stuff. Show seems to accept his explanation and offer and leaves.

The Dudleyz enter first for their handicap tables match against Gerry Brisco. It’s all very suspicious as this is supposed to be a punishment for Bubba Ray and D-Von. Brisco enters and reveals that its not a two on one handicap match, it’s three on two and brings out his partners T&A. Bubba is the first one to introduce a table to the ring but this is for all intents and purposes a normal tag team match with minimal weapons. The Dudleyz win with a 3D on Test driving him through a table in the middle of the ring. The previous table matches specified that every member of the opposing team had to go through to end it but this was just one and done. The Dudleyz get their hands on Gerry but Roaddogg, X-Pac and Tori run down for the save. Bubba gets too focused on Tori and it allows DX to beat them down and lay Bubba on a table so that Brisco can splash him through it off the top rope. Brisco is hilarious really as he celebrates like Hogan while Real American plays. 

Chris Jericho makes his second Intercontinental title defence in less than an hour and he looks exhausted when he enters. The Big Show is very much back to being serious, main event heel Big Show and has Shane McMahon with him. Big Show dominates and as he looks ready to win it, we see footage on the titantron. It’s sort of GTV but not really - earlier tonight after Show left his office, Shane McMahon made fun of Big Show to whoever was on the phone and bragged about how he had Show wrapped around his finger. Big Show chases Shane McMahon up the ramp and away from the ring meaning that Y2J wins via countout and retains his IC title for the second time. Show chases Shane all the way out of the arena and to the parking lot where he escapes in a waiting car. Backstage, Stephanie says to her daddy dearest that he promised Jericho would lose his title tonight so Vince says that Y2J can make his third defence later tonight against Chris Benoit. 

Rikishi faces Pat Patterson and unlike Brisco earlier, he seems unaware of any plan. Fortunately for the stooge, Vince McMahon comes out with Brisco and introduces Pat to his tag team partners - its Roaddogg and X-Pac. Rikishi actually fights off all three of them with ease until they overwhelm him and use low blows to get him down. Rikishi wins by disqualification and then Rikishi is beat down in the corner allowing Patterson to pull down his shorts and reveal white underwear with a massive comedy skidmark to give Rikishi his own Stink Face. King laughs hysterically as JR makes the same joke about it smelling “like mouldy fruit” three different times. Because Pat Patterson was gay, y’see.

Ahead of the main event - Jericho’s third IC title defence - Triple H comes out dressed as a referee to officiate it. Jericho hams it up a bit during his entrance. He looks exhausted but comically so. Maybe he’s just depressed because he knows he can’t beat these odds again. Benoit’s eye has healed up a little since Insurrextion (check out that article if you haven’t already) but still pretty nasty. THis is a good, back and forth match until Triple H who was acting as the second referee on the outside punches out the original referee and takes his place. Jericho rallies and gets Benoit in the Walls of Jericho and Benoit looks like he might tap out. Stephanie comes to ringsid and so Triple H goes to see his wife and misses the tap out. Jericho gets in Triple H’s face so he shoves him right into a waiting Crippler Crossface. Triple H immediately rings the bell and awards the match to Benoit via submission. Benoit is the new Intercontinental Champion and then as the rest of the McMahon-Helmsley faction comes to ringside, Triple H begins a beating on Y2J. The rest of DX joins in and as Vince gets ready to hit the now former IC champion with a chair, The Big Show, Rikishi, Too Cool and The Dudley Boyz run down and clear out the ring. Raw ends with the two factions staring at each other from across the arena. 

The Radicals Explode

European Champion Eddie Guerrero (with Chyna) faces The Godfather (with four hoes) but it is a non-title match. Before the match, Godfather gives Chyna compliments for how she looked in her underwear at Backlash, and asks if she wants to join the ho-train. Chyna looks oddly flattered but then hits Godfather with her bunch of roses, and the match begins properly. Chyna distracts the referee allowing Godfather’s former partner D’Lo Brown to run in and lay him out with the Sky High. That leaves him easy pickings for Eddie Guerrro and Latino Heat wins. I wonder why they didn’t have the European title on the line?

Backstage, Malenko and Saturn continue their argument from Smackdown. It seems like Saturn is angry that he’s the only Radical with no title victories. Benoit tries to calm them down, and then Eddie Guerrero enters. This is the first time we’ve seen all four of them together in weeks. He suggests that Malenko is sexually frustrated, and that maybe Saturn should challenge Dean for his Light Heavyweight title. That leads into the next match which is Malenko and Saturn against The Hardy Boyz. There’s some miscommunication as Saturn accidentally kicks his own partner which leads to a Swanton Bomb from Jeff and Matt sliding into the cover. The Hardyz win and leave as the two Radicals shove and argue in the ring. Eddie Guerrero along with Chyna comes down to the ring and try to calm things down. Saturn hits Eddie, and Malenko hits Chyna! They go back to arguing with each other and referees arrive to stop things from escalating any further.

Other Happenings

• Edge and Christian open the show and have the APA with them. Edge and Christian explain that they’re offering another open challenge for their tag team titles and so they have hired the APA to make sure no one interferes. After giving Long Island a six second pose to take pictures (Long Island gets an extra second because they’re not used to seeing good looking people) Edge makes a joke about how much the APA drinks. Bradshaw takes issue with it and after giving Edge and Christian a refund, accept the open challenge themselves and go on the attack! The bell rings and this is an official WWF Tag Team title match. The Acolytes dominate and hit Christian with a clothesline from hell and then a double spinebuster on Edge. Christian goes to their new go-to strategy and grabs the ring bell but it's confiscated by Bradshaw who uses it instead. The APA run off the tag team champions until they’re attacked by The Bossman and Bull Buchanan who lay waste to the APA.

• Too Cool faced the team of Bossman and Bull. In somewhat of an upset, Too Cool defeats the much larger team when Bossman lays out Scotty, but Grandmaster counters it with a Leg Drop to the back of the head and reversing the cover while Bull is distracted. The men in black try to punish Too Cool after the match but are rescued by the APA who chase them off. That leaves Too Cool in the ring to victory dance much to the joy of the crowd. 

Smackdown! - May 11th, 2000

The Stooges play Matchmakers

The Dudleyz open the show for a tag team match. As they get to the ring, Gerry Brisco comes out and shows footage of himself putting Bubba through a table on Raw with DX’s help. He says he did it because he’s a fighter for women’s rights and then introduces the returning Trish Stratus and T&A as their opponents. Trish gives Trish a kiss on the cheek and they all head to the ring. Shane McMahon then comes out and says that one of The Dudleyz victims could have easily been his own sister and calls Brisco his friend and hero and gives him a big hug. They stay at ringside with Trish to watch the match. The Dudleyz use their tag team top rope headbutt to the groin. It doesn’t have a name, or the famous “Wazzup” taunt to go along with it yet but that must be imminent as King made a “Wazzup” reference during Raw. It’s from an old beer advert, but anyone over 30 knows exactly what I mean already. There’s some miscommunication as Trish is knocked off the apron into Brisco. The Dudleyz have the match won but Shane McMahon pulls the referee out of the ring and Test capitalises with an elbow drop and wins it for T&A. The Big Show runs to the ring and chases McMahon. Test tries to help and gets a huge chokeslam for his troubles. Shane did manage to escape though. It was an awesome looking chokeslam too - they showed like four replays.

The entire McMahon-Helmsley faction heads down to the ring, and weirdly it’s Pat Patterson who speaks first. He shows footage of him giving Rikishi a Stink Face (with skid marked undies) and then says tonight DX will face Too Cool and Rikishi in a six man elimination tag team match. Shane McMahon then makes fun of The Big Show (“which way did he go? Which way did he go?”) and then says that he’ll face his new buddies The Dudlez (who’ve already wrestled tonight) in a handicap table match. Triple H then mentions that The Rock wasn’t on Raw because he’s scared of him. He also says “that’s good crap” which is an inside joke about Vince McMahon saying “that's good shit” about things he finds funny.) He says that The Rock isn’t here tonight either and his excuse is that he’s filming a movie (The Mummy 2, which he actually was and was the start of his entire movie career). Triple H bangs on about his physical condition and that as good as The Rock is, he isn’t as good as Triple H and cannot hang with him for an entire hour. Vince then waffles on for a bit about how life isn’t fair and mocks the people who complained that the way he treated Jericho on Raw wasn’t fair. He also says “mirror” funny. “Mirrah”. He finally ends on the “Life sucks, and then you die!” line. 

The Dudleyz enter for their handicap table match and set a table up at ringside right away. Their opponent, Big Show, has been their ally recently against the McMahon-Helmsley regime but they’re being forced to face each other. Show has had a big brace on one of his knees in his last couple of appearances and his knee is bothering him. He’ll be taking some time off for surgery soon. Shane McMahon comes out to watch this match up close. Show pretty easily throws The Dudleyz around and plants Bubba with a chokeslam before going out to get the table. He lays Bubba on it and wants to jump off the middle rope onto him but D-Von stops it and with the extra height they manage to 3D him from the middle rope through the table to win the match. Shane McMahon sneaks to the ring and attacks Big Show while he’s down and out, shouting at him and throwing punches. Bubba Ray and D-Von see what's happening and grab another table and come back to the ring! They want to put Shane through the table but X-Pac and Roaddogg are there to rescue him. The fans chant “DX sucks” and Tori slaps Bubba and D-Von across the face while DX holds them up.

D-Generation X enters first for the main event followed by Rikishi and Too Cool, who are teaming up for the first time in weeks because of Grandmaster Sexay’s time off for his knee injury. Scotty 2 Hotty is the first man eliminated when X-Pac hits him with an X-Factor as the illegal man for Roaddogg’s cover. Moments later, Triple H uses a low blow and a Pedigree to eliminate Grandmaster Sexay which makes it three on one for Rikishi. He puts up a good fight and stacks all three of DX in the corner for a charge but Triple H pulls the referee in front as a shield. DX are free to swarm him and pummelled him three on one with no referee to stop them until Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley arrive to help out. A 3D on Roaddogg, and then a 3D on X-Pac and then stack them both in the corner. Rikishi sits on them both and the referee counts the three, eliminating both and leaving this as one on one for Triple H and Rikishi. The Game stomps Rikishi down in the corner, and Pat Patterson comes down with his skidmarked pants to stuff them into Rikishi’s face. King is the only person laughing, but Vince McMahon famously loves toilet humor. Rikishi fights back against Triple H and pulls Pat into the ring before using the dirty pants on Triple H! Stephanie McMahon gets into the ring to help her husband and ends up squashed by Patterson accidentally and collapses in the corner. Rikishi gives Patterson a Stink Face in one corner, and then the crowd explode as they realise Stephanie is in position for one in the opposite corner! Triple H manages to save her at the last moment and finishes Rikishi with a Pedigree to win this match officially. No Stink Face for Stephanie. Not yet. 

Radicals at War

Backstage Eddie and Chyna play rock-paper-scissors to see which Radical they will face. In the end, Chyna says she’ll face Dean Malenko and Eddie can face Perry Saturn. The Chyna match is next and it's for Dean Malenko’s Light Heavyweight title. He offers Chyna a handshake and when she accepts he tries a cheap shot. Eddie comes down to ringside to watch this match after it starts. Chyna hits a handspring elbow but Dean pulls the referee in his way. With the referee down, Perry Saturn comes down and throws Eddie into the ring steps. He then thinks about hitting Dean but gives Chyna a brainbuster instead. Dean covers just as the referee wakes up and retains his Light Heavyweight title. 

Eddie Guerrero defends the European title against Perry Saturn. Perry has Dean with him too, so they seem to have made up over their shared dislike/jealousy of Eddie and Chyna now. It’s a good match and Chyna hits Saturn with her bunch of roses behind the referee’s back. He’s knocked out cold and Chyna reveals there’s a huge metal pipe hidden inside. Eddie retains the title.

Intercontinental Showdown is set, and the Tag Champs make a friend

The Godfather (with four hoes) faces Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit. Michael Cole and King discuss his unfair victory on Raw, and he quickly taps out The Godfather. Michael Cole gets in the ring and asks Benoit how he feels to be the champion when he knows that Chris Jericho never actually tapped out. Benoit says that he admits that he didn’t hear Jericho submit, but he knows how dangerous the hold is and knows that he would have. He then offers Jericho a rematch at Judgement Day, in a submission match.

After a commercial break, the two Chris’ are fighting out in the parking lot as referees and officials struggle to separate them.

In the arena, WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian enter and give their fan a five second pose for photos. They introduce their partner - the one man in the locker room that respects them and isn’t jealous of them - their friend, Kurt Angle. This is the birth of not just a long running dorky heel team, but Edge and Christian really stepped up their surfer doofus terminology during the promo. Kurt does show them lots of respect on the walk to the ring. Their opponents are Chris Jericho and The Hardy Boyz. The match doesn’t go long before Benoit comes down to fight with Jericho. The Hardyz hold up well and use their now familiar trademark finish when Angle has Matt covered and Jeff gives him a Swanton and reverses it. The referee is distracted though and Christian knocks out Jeff with the ring bell and allows Angle to get the pin and the victory. Angle runs up the ramp and helps Benoit get the better of Jericho too and he’s left laying. Backstage, Angle, Edge and Christian celebrate their victory like geeks, drinking milk and throwing it around.

Other Happenings

• The Bossman and Bull Buchanan pay a visit to a local bar and bully two young guys out of their seats and steal their stools at the bar. They’re both wearing WWF Attitude t-shirts because neither of them has their own merch. In later segments they’d continue to be rude to the locals, and the APA learned what was going on and set off to the bar themselves. When the APA turn up it predictably turns into a bar room brawl with Bossman and Bull using beer bottles, a TV and stools to get the upper hand before the APA fight back with pool cues and a box of beer bottles.
• Backstage at the arena, earlier today a young fan asks Edge and Christian for their autograph. They give it, but then demand $5 for it. They then offer to pose for a photo which Kevin Kelly takes, and then they insist on $10 for that.
• The British Bulldog defends his newly won Hardcore title against Hardcore Holly. He won the title at Insurrextion and is a babyface again. The match is stiff and they use a tool box and a fire extinguisher as a weapon. Thanks to the 24/7 rule, Crash Holly is able to come down with his own referee and use a trash can lid as a weapon to regain his Hardcore title. In a fury, Hardcore Holly suplexes Bulldog onto a steel chair. As it happens, this is Bulldog’s last appearance. He would pop up on Sunday Night Heat on May 14th losing a European title match to Eddie Guerrero before leaving the company the same day. He passed away roughly two years later in May 2002 making this short, uneventful WWF run his last televised appearance. 

Raw is War - May 15th, 2000

Heartbreak referee and Submission main event

The show opens with The Rock arriving at the arena. That seems odd but he wasn’t on Raw or Smackdown last week while he was off filming his tiny part in The Mummy Returns. In the arena seconds later, Shawn Michals arrives in the arena proper which is a big shock to the commentators and the crowd who give him a big reaction. He hasn’t been on TV since just after Summerslam when he cost The Rock the WWF title and sided with Triple H and Shane McMahon, which the cheers tell me the fans don’t remember. He introduces himself to the fans which seems silly but with the WWF’s popularity exploding in 1999/2000, there were a lot of new fans watching who’d never seen his heyday. I remember watching this as a kid with little to no idea of how important the Heartbreak Kid was. It is mentioned that he is still officially the WWF Commissioner, and he plugs his wrestling school and his own wrestling federation (which didn’t last long but did train future WWE Champion and all around legend Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson). He says he also got married and has a four month old baby and so has been very distracted and so resigns as commissioner because he’s dropped the ball and hasn’t been around to help out or make things fair (which is true). He then shows footage from the very first Smackdown and his screwing The Rock which I just mentioned. He basically takes the blame for starting the whole McMahon-Helmsley era by helping out his buddy Triple H, and the blame for not being around to save people from them. Vince McMahon comes out with a big smile on his face and seems very happy that HBK has resigned as commissioner. Vince says that Michaels wasn’t invited tonight but that’s ok because he doesn’t need one. Michaels then corrected him - he was invited by Linda McMahon. By order of her, he is no longer the commissioner but he is the official spokesman for the WWF, and that he will act as the special guest referee for the Iron Man match at Judgment Day. Vince tries to threaten Shawn, asking how resilient he is these days so HBK shoves him on his ass! Michaels’ music plays and that ends the segment with the major question - the last time we saw HBK he cost The Rock a match with Triple H as referee. Will he do the same thing again? 

Triple H, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Vince McMahon head down to the ring (to the Run DMC theme music which makes Vince look so white) and after throwing out a vague threat to Shawn Michaels, Vince books tonight’s main event - WWF Champion The Rock vs. Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit in a non-title submission match. Triple H then reiterates the rules of the Iron Man match and puts over how difficult it is to wrestle for 60 minutes. How gruelling and intense it is. He is right. Triple H is kind of shooting here when he talks about how no one in wrestling wants to do 60 minutes because I’m sure that’s true both from a physical ability point of view and from worrying that it will bore fans point of view. I’ll talk more about that at the PPV. Triple H goes on for a bit before telling HBK that he better call the Iron Man match “the way it should be called”. That bings out The Rock who officially accepts the challenge for the Judgment Day main event. Amazingly it was all just assumptions up until now. The Rock says that it keeps Triple H up at night that no matter how good he is, The Rock is better. He then issues his own warning to Shawn Michaels that he better call the match down the middle before ending saying that he’s going to kick Triple H’s ass so badly, 60 minutes won’t be long enough.

Chris Jericho faces Hardcore Holly in a hardcore rules match. This match seems to have been set up by the McMahons to soften up Jericho ahead of his match with Benoit at Judgment Day as a thank you for Benoit softening up The Rock for Triple H in tonight’s main event. It's physical but sloppy, and Jericho locks Holly in the Walls of Jericho in the ring. Chris Benoit comes down and puts Jericho in a dragon sleeper hold before releasing him for a stiff chairshot to the head from Hardcore which gives him the victory. 

Ahead of the main event, as Vince McMahon tells Benoit to make sure he injures The Rock, Michael Cole asks for an interview. Benoit talks about his own submission proficiency and hammers home that The Rock doesn’t ever use any submissions himself (which is true).

Chris Benoit vs. The Rock in a submission match with neither of their titles on the line main events. Before the match begins, Triple H and Stephanie come out and provide a distraction for Benoit to get the early jump. As the two wrestle and Benoit works on The Rock’s legs (even though his submission finisher focuses on the arm/shoulder) Vince McMahon comes down to ringside. There is a tense moment as Benoit locks in a sharpshooter and JR starts talking about Bret Hart and the Montreal Screwjob but Rocky gets to the ropes. The Rock rallies and uses all his trademark non-submission moves before locking in a figure four leglock. Stephanie distracts the referee which allows Triple H to get in the ring and drag him to the ropes to force a break. He’s knocked down by The Rock for his troubles but Benoit locks in the Crippler Crossface. Vince immediately calls for the bell to be rung and he screwed The Rock afterall. Benoit officially wins, and he and The Game try a two on one beat down. The Rock fights them off but gets distracted wanting to get his hands on Vince instead. Vince leaves but Chris Jericho is there to stop him. He’s trapped between the two and The Rock drags him into the ring but Triple H is there to make the save. Jericho rushes the ring and Jericho locks the Walls of Jericho on Triple H as The Rock drills Benoit with a Rock Bottom! DX runs in to save Triple H, followed by The Dudley Boyz and a table! The eight man brawl - and Raw itself - ends when The Rock drives Triple H through the table with a Rock Bottom! 

“Simba” vs. The Big Show

Out in the parking lot, D-Generation X arrives in a limo and is confused to see Shawn Michaels leaving the building unaware of his previous announcements. The Big Show approaches them demanding to know where Shane McMahon is. He isn’t there. Big Show would be shown waiting for Shane out in the parking lot a couple more times through the show. 

Big Show has been out in the parking lot waiting for him all night, including pulling two random people out of their limo in anger, but Shane McMahon is already here. He enters the arena solo and mocks Big Show. “Which way did he go? Which way did he go?”. I never really got that as a kid, and I don't really get it now either but it is funny. He addresses the “Shane’s a pussy” chants that have been all over Raw and Smackdown for weeks. He says that he is a cat - he’s a jungle cat and “young Simba” is going to prove how brave he is by challenging The Big Show to a falls count anywhere match at Judgment Day. That brings Show to the ring and after looking angry all night, he now has a big smile on his face. He says Shane has made his day by booking that match but doesn’t want to wait and so is going to cash in a few of Shane’s 9 lives (because cat) tonight. Shane bails out of the ring and gives Show a handicap match against T&A. Gerry Brisco is still accompanying Trish Stratus after he “stood up for women’s rights” and put Bubba Dudley through a table. Show isn’t dressed to wrestle and is in jeans and a “big nasty bastard” t-shirt. Show actually looks really soft around the middle - he’s put on a lot of weight since debuting last year. Test and Albert dominate Show and give him a very impressive double suplex. Show moves really slowly around the ring - he was struggling with a knee issue at the time, as well as the weight gain. Test tris to use a chair which is punched back in his face. Trish gets in the ring and slaps him so he teases, chokeslamming her. Brisco rescues her and he’s planted with a chokeslam instead. Shane hits Show with a chair and he barely feels it and chases off after “Simba”. Officially Show wins the match via disqualification. He catches Shane at the top of the ramp and in an awesome looking spot throws Shane up and into the metal beam of the titantron. 

Battle of the Stink Faces

WWF Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley comes out onto the stage and after praising Tori for putting Bubba through a table earlier in the show, discussed her trauma from almost getting a Stink Face from Rikishi on Smackdown. She then puts him in a match against Kurt Angle tonight, who comes out. They’re really playing up Angle’s McMahon butt-kissing, and he and Stephanie’s little crush on each other. They’ve interacted a few times in backstage segments etc. He runs down the local sports teams before saying that the Stink Face is not a sanctioned wrestling move and therefore should be banned. Pat Patterson - who gave Rikishi a Stink Face of his own last week - comes out with Angle’s newest best buddies the Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian and when Angle gets in trouble they rush the ring and attack to cause a disqualification. Rikishi fights them all off despite the three on one odds, and Too Cool comes down to join them and get a cheap shot on Patterson too. Rikishi and Too Cool victory dance afterwards and JR tells us there will be a six man tag team match involving these men at Judgment Day. 

Other Happenings

• I haven’t mentioned it for a while - the Raw intro has been updated in bits and pieces but still has more Ken Shamrock and D’Lo Brown than you’d expect for this late in 2000. It needs a full update.
• The Dudley Boyz - who will face DX in a tag team tables match at Judgment Day - face Steve Blackman and Al Snow. They’ve abandoned Head Cheese and Snow is now dressed like Blackman and acting serious. I say serious - they’re still very much playing this for laughs. X-Pac, Roaddogg and Tori come out onto the stage to watch this match unfold. The Dudleyz win a short sloppy match with a 3D on Blackman. DX rush them after the match and after taking out D-Von with an X-Factor, set up a table and beat down Bubba befor laying him on it. Tori jumps from the top rope to the floor and drives Bubba through the table which is honestly fair enough - a woman putting Bubba through the table is what he deserves, even if the woman is the evil Tori. Backstage, Bubba looks near catatonic in shock about it as D-Von promises his brother Tori will pay for it at Judgment Day.

• The WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian defend the titles against The APA and The Hardy Boyz in a triple threat match. Matt actually has the match won with a Twist of Fate on Edge but the referee is too distracted to count and Christian lays out Matt with a reverse DDT and the champions retain.

• The Godfather - along with four hoes and his original theme song rather than the Ice T sung one from the Aggression CD which he’s used since Wrestlemania - challenges Crash Holly for the Hardcore title. The much larger Godfather dominates Crash in and out of the ring but runs right into a stop sign when attempting the Ho-train. The sign actually flies out of the ring and hits a cameraman. D’Lo Brown runs to the ring and gives Godfather a Frog Splash and Crash a Sky High. Godfather breaks up the pin and one of The Godfather’s hoes slides into the ring and pins Crash. One of the hoes is the Hardcore Champion! As she celebrates, Crash rolls her up to regain his title and takes off at a sprint. 
• European Champion Eddie Guerrero and Chyna take on Perry Saturn and Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko. Eddie will defend the European title in a triple threat against both his former Radical buddies at Judgment Day. They mentioned it a bunch on Smackdown too but they are pushing that Chyna is the “Yoko Ono” of the Radicals and that it's her fault the Radicals have split. There’s a little miscommunication and Chyna accidentally low blows Latino Heat, allowing Saturn to finish him with a brainbuster and win the match.

Smackdown! - May 18th, 2000

Softening up The Rock

The McMahon-Helmsley faction opens the show. Stephanie starts by mocking Chris Jericho and promising that he’ll lose his match with Benoit at Judgment Day and saying that tonight Benoit will team with Hardcore Holly to face Jericho and a partner of his choosing. Shane then takes the mic and after repeating his challenge to The Big Show, is drowned out by “Shane’s a pussy” chant. He shows footage of Show throwing him into the titantron on Raw, challenges Show to a match tonight! Triple H then cuts the same promo about The Rock and the Iron Man match he already has about four times. It’s a good promo but it’s not new. Vince then also promises that The Rock will lose and says he can only win by making a deal with the devil himself. Finally he books tonight’s main event - a handicap, tables, lumberjack match. The Dudley Boyz against The Rock. 

Kevin Kelly interviews the WWF Champion and asks The Rock how he feels about Shawn Michaels being the special referee, and the rules change - Triple H has specified that count outs and disqualifications will count as falls in the match, which I thought was always the case. The Rock is fired up and after alluding to HBK and Triple H possibly being in cahoots, promises victory and that he will leave Judgment Day as the WWF Champion. 

In the main event, The Rock faces Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley in a handicap, tables, and lumberjack match. The lumberjacks enter first - it’s DX, and Roaddogg and X-Pac are carrying a table with them too. They’re followed by T&A, Bossman and Bull, Gerry Brisco and Pat Patterson and Vince and Shane McMahon. T&A and Bossman and Bull have tables with them too. T&A’s involvement is a bit silly given Test’s history with DX and Stephanie but I’ll talk a bit more about that at Judgment Day. The lumberjacks periodically pull all three men out of the ring and give them a beating until finally the dumb babyfaces realise they don’t have to do this match and Rock and The Dudleyz team up and attack the lumberjacks, with Rocky using a nightstick to take out Bossman and Bull before turning to Triple H. Its a chaotic brawl at ringside and despite Rock, Bubba and D-Von being outnumbered they put up a good fight. D-Von drives Test through a table as DX three on one The Rock. Bubba makes the save there too but with a little help from a Tori low blow to Bubba, X-Pac drives him through a table with an X-Factor off the top rope, and Roaddogg slams D-Von through another. The Rock is badly outnumbered and after setting up a table in the ring for him, Triple H returns the favour from Raw and gives The Rock a Rock Bottom through a table. The Rock at least did get to go down swinging and looked like a superhero fighting off the nine on one odds. 

Handicap Gauntlet match

The Big Show enters for his match with Shane McMahon but predictably he “doesn’t have his gear” and so gives Show a “gauntlet match” against T&A? They both get in the ring so it seems to be a handicap match rather than a gauntlet match. The two big men work over Show (who has his knee heavily braced) until he comes back, throws Test to the outside and plants Albert with a chokeslam. Shane then sends out Show’s next opponents - The Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan. So it’s a handicap gauntlet match, but he hasn’t beaten T&A yet. So it’s now just four on one. Show actually fights all four of them off too so Shane brings out two more - Roaddogg and X-Pac. Six on one, The Big Show is pummelled and Shane feels brave enough to come to the ring but Show throws all six men off and actually mounts a comeback. He prepares to hit X-Pac and Bossman with a double chokeslam but a Shane McMahon chairshot stops it and finally seven on one and a steel chair is enough to beat Show. With a huge amount of help, Shane McMahon actually chokeslams The Big Show and pins him to “win” this “match”. King spent this whole segment really hammering home Shane’s new “Simba” nickname, which wouldn’t stick. 

Defending the Hardcore title in his sleep

Crash Holly goes to see the APA. He’s jittery and jumpy - the Hardcore title being on the line 24/7 has it so that he can’t sleep or get any rest so he pays the APA to guard him while he takes a nap! 

One of the Godfather’s hos goes to see the APA - she’s the one that won the Hardcore title on Raw and while sweet talking Faarooq and Bradshaw, grabs a steel chair and has a referee with her so Bradshaw lives up to his job for Crash and sends her packing. 

After multiple segments with the APA guarding the sleeping Crash Holly, Gerald Brisco enters with Joe C (who is the kid that toured with Kid Rock back in the day) and after insulting him by calling him a little kid, he goes to drink with the APA leaving Crash unprotected. Later in the show, Gerry Brisco returns with a referee and pins the sleeping Crash with a finger on the chest, asking the referee to count slowly and silently. The segment is funny because even the commentators whisper. The referee trips over a chair and the noise wakes up Crash but Brisco takes off running. Gerry Brisco is the new WWF Hardcore Champion! Crash chases him all the way out into the arena and goes on the attack in the ring. Patterson runs down and distracts Crash so that Brisco can hit him with a trash can and during the attempted Stink Face, Brisco escapes. Crash kicks Pat low and takes off chasing the Hardcore champion again.

Other Happenings

• Val Venis comes to the ring in a move which Michael Cole says is unplanned. Val talks about being passed over and ignored lately and how often he’s told “creative has nothing for him” so he wants an Intercontinental title match. Chris Benoit comes out and accepts, willing to put the title on the line tonight but that brings out Chris Jericho. He makes some lame puns about Benoit “running into a wall” (he means the Walls of Jericho). Hardcore Holly follows shortly after and after telling Jericho and Val to shut their holes, wants his own Intercontinental title match. This breaks down into a tag team match with Val Venis being Jericho’s “hand picked partner” so that worked out well for him. Jericho gets the Walls on Benoit in the ring and Hardcore Holly grabs a steel chair and after blasting Val with a stiff blow to the head on the outside, does the same to Jericho getting his team disqualified before knocking out Benoit too! He hammers on Benoit’s knee with the chair until referees stop him, leaving Benoit heavily selling his leg. I thought the chair shot Holly gave Val was brutal but the one he hit Benoit with was especially stiff. 

• Scotty 2 Hotty faces Kurt Angle. Much like his decrying of the Stink Face on Raw he talks about how the Worm isn’t a proper move and would have got him kicked out of the Olympics. He is right. Kurt wins a short energetic match with a victory roll. 
• Chyna makes her way down to the ring and says that the triple threat European title match at Judgment Day is cancelled and now Saturn and Malenko will face each other to see who faces Eddie Guerrero one on one. She does insulting ring introductions for Saturn and Malenko, and then finally brings out Eddie as the special guest referee. There’s a funny moment during this match as Michael Cole talks about internet rumours and King mocks him for being a nerd “reading the internet all day long” which a couple of years later would just be…life, for almost every human being on the planet. The two former Radicals have a good match as Eddie fast counts and slow counts and seems to just generally stir the pot. Dean uses the European title belt as a weapon, so Eddie refuses to count and knocks him out too. The match is officially a draw, so it’s still a triple threat at the PPV but Eddie has softened up his PPV opponents. 

• One half of the WWF Tag Team Champions Christian faces Grandmaster Sexay. A fun match where Christian shows off a lot of his new conceited heel personality and Grandmaster is a fun loving goof. Sexay wins with a roll up too, just like Angle beat his partner earlier.
• Edge enters for his singles match with Rikishi, backed up by Christian and Kurt Angle. Tonight’s five second pose has the tag team champions dressed up as hockey players to mock some local sports moment. Rikishi has Too Cool with him, and when he attempts to give Edge a Stink Face he puts on the hockey helmet to block it. Rikishi then puts on the helmet himself so Christian and Angle rush the ring to cause a disqualification. That brings Too Cool in and the six men brawl with the good guys holding the ring. They perform their victory dance but with the lights out, Angle and the Tag Team Champs slip back into the ring and lay all three of them out with title belt shots. They then mockingly do their own victory dance to Too Cool’s music.