Introduction:
Hello everyone and welcome back to Television Rewind. This is where we take a trip down memory lane and review the memorable moments of wrestling TV. We have been all over the place so far on this trip and this time it is not different. We are going back to the year 2000 and the culmination of one of the bigger storylines of the time. We are going back to who ran over Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1999. We are going to Raw from October 2000 and we are doing this for…….The Rock!
Show Opening:
They show what has happened between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. It shows Stephanie helping out Kurt Angle and Kurt asking Stephanie to be in his corner full time going forward. They also show Austin beating the hell out of Mick Foley as well as Foley suspending him indefinitely. Austin asks Foley to reconsider and he ends up stunning Foley again. They then cut to their music opening and all that pyro hoopla. Time to get this thing started.
Ross lets us know that tonight is the night that Mick Foley is going to tell us who ran over Stone Cold. They show a shot of WWF New York as well. Crowd is insane with signs and whatnot.
In Ring Segment: Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels
Foley comes down to the ring and gets booed by the crowd because some of the decisions he has made recently. Foley says he likes to get cheap pops but not at the expense of doing his job correctly. Foley says he is glad he suspended Austin indefinitely on Smackdown. He isn’t happy that he got stunned and embarrassed again by Stone Cold. Foley says he is on Austin’s side and he has spared no expense to bring in a very important person here tonight. It is somebody who likes Steve Austin and is a fellow Texan. The guy is also a former WWF champion and one of the greatest competitors of all time. Foley then calls out Shawn Michaels.
Foley welcomes Shawn Michaels to Anaheim, California the fellow broken down washed up wrestler. Foley says he is not going to accuse Shawn of running down Steve Austin. Foley is giving Shawn the chance to explain where he was that night. Shawn says Foley flew him out first class, put him in a five star hotel, and they dusted off the old HBK music. Shawn says he is not going to tell him where he was that night but what he was doing the whole damn day.
Shawn said he remembers waking up and giving his wife a squeeze on the butt and a kiss in the morning. Shawn then questions whether he flew to Detroit and snuck into the Joe Louis Arena and then run over Stone Cold. Shawn says, despite the chair shots, he would remember running Austin down. Shawn says the person who did it needs a motive but he doesn’t have one. Shawn says he hopes he finds his man and attempts to walk away but Foley stops him.
Foley then shows the video of Shawn getting pinned by Austin from Wrestlemania 14. Foley says he gets asked all of the time what his greatest match is. Foley says it is Foley vs. Shawn at Mind Games. Foley says nobody remembers 1996 and appreciates the trail Shawn blazed that allowed the wrestlers today to rake in the cash. Foley says if all that happened to him he would have ran the son of a bitch over himself. Foley says Shawn has the motive because Austin flipped him off at Wrestlemania 14.
Shawn says he never wants to see that footage on the screen again. Shawn then says that Foley has a whole lot of nerve to say what he just said. Shawn asks if everyone wants the truth. He says he is going to finally give it to them on where he was that night. Shawn says he was sitting at home watching Survivor Series thinking to himself what in the hell the World Wrestling Federation has come to with guys getting ran down backstage. Shawn says he doesn’t like Stone Cold but he doesn’t hate him either. Shawn says if he did it he would be the #1 guy in the WWF again. Shawn says that he thrives on being #1 and being in the spotlight but it wasn’t him. Shawn says he has an idea about who it was.
Shawn says there is one guy who loves the spotlight more than HBK even more than HBK. Shawn says he has the whole world wrapped around his finger. If you smelllllll what I’m cookin!
Match 1: Hardcore Rules WWF Women’s Title Match: Lita (c) vs. Jacqueline
Before the match they show some highlights of the feud, thus far, between Lita and Jacqueline. Jacqueline comes to the ring pushing a shopping cart and you can’t even see her behind the cart. Lita comes out after Jackie and floors her with a forearm shiver. Lita then throws Jacqueline into the ring and hits her with a bulldog type move. Lita goes out for some hardware but Jacqueline comes out and decks her with a baking sheet right to the head.
Jacqueline grabs a broom and breaks it across the back of Lita. Jaqueline sets up the trash can in the corner between the top and middle rope and whips Lita into it back first. Jacqueline then takes a hair dryer and nails Lita right in the head with it. That thud was brutal sounding. Jacqueline goes outside and gets a fire extinguisher and tries to spray it into the face of Lita but she didn’t pull the pin so it didn’t work. Lita then low blows Jacqueline and gets the advantage of the match. She goes outside and grabs a ladder and puts it into the ring. Lita sets the ladder up in the corner of the ring. She gets it set up then Jacqueline attacks her from behind. Jacqueline puts a baking sheet in the middle of the ring and drops Lita with a DDT on it. The thud on that shot was insane.
Jacqueline goes outside and climbs up to the top of the ladder and Lita ends up climbing up on the other side. Lita goes for a superplex off the ladder but Jacqueline pushes her off. Jacqueline then jumps down and ends up climbing up the ladder on the inside. She goes for a cross body and misses. Lita grabs the fire extinguisher and sprays it in the face of Jacqueline. Lita then nails Jacqueline with the cookie sheet and gets the 1-2-3. Your winner by pinfall and still WWF Women’s Champion…..Lita!
Recap:
This was a pretty entertaining opening match if you ask me. Some of the shots Lita took were just brutal. She took an unprotected shot with the cookie sheet and a hair dryer. The thud on the DDT sounded terrible but it really made the match stand out. The finish was kind of flat but all in all a nice little hardcore match here that wasn’t bad. Pretty good stuff.
Backstage Segment: Chyna and Debra Meet
They go to the back where Chyna is walking down a hall way and sees Debra. They embrace. Debra pulls back the hair of Chyna and asks what is this? Chyna says “a big set of boobs.” Classic. Debra says she is the one with the puppies. Chyna then asks Debra how her honeymoon was and Debra said it was wonderful. Debra says she missed her and wishes she was there with her? Why the hell would you want that? Anyways, Chyna said she won’t be far behind and asks Debra if she has seen Eddie. Debra says no but she is looking for Foley. Chyna tells her where his office is located as they cut to commercial.
Backstage Segment: Debra finds Mick Foley
They come back from commercial in the laundry room with a shot from the ground. They then show Debra walking and her wonderful legs. My goodness what a nice pair. Foley thanks Debra for showing up and asks how her flight was. Foley asks how Steve is and Debra says he is a little ticked off. Foley says he has some news that may make him feel better. Foley says being run over is a horrible incident but not everything that happened afterward was all that bad now was it?
Debra is confused as to what Foley is talking about. Foley says when Steve was hurt he needed someone there to nurture him and bring him back to health. Foley asks Debra how the wedding and honeymoon went. Foley says nobody hates the lives of a wrestler more than the wife of a wrestler. Foley then confronts Debra and accuses her of running him over. Debra says that is her husband and she loves him very much and it hurts her more than anything seeing him laying around hurt. Foley tells her not to leave the arena and to have a nice day as Debra walks off.
Backstage Segment: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
Triple H can’t believe the match that Foley made with Jericho as his partner. Triple H says a month ago he was destroying him in last man standing matches and now he is his partner. Triple H is also mad that he has to fight his best friend X-Pac. Hunter says the only good thing about this is the fact that he gets his hands on Benoit.
Stephanie says this is exactly what she is talking about and why she is needed. Stephanie says he can’t trust Jericho and that Benoit and Foley are loose cannons. Stephanie says she is needed ring side. Hunter says we have been over this a million times and that he made a business decision and the decision is final. He doesn’t want her ringside and that’s it. Hunter says speaking of business decisions that he is glad that Stephanie decided not to accompany Kurt Angle to the ring full time.
They show a limo arriving and out steps Linda McMahon. They then show Foley welcoming Linda to the arena.
Match 2: Raven vs. Steve Blackman
This is a non hardcore match so the Hardcore title is not on. Blackman gets the early advantage with a nice looking side kick to Raven. Blackman hits Raven with an atomic drop then a right hand to stay in control. Blackman charges at Raven and Raven throws him over the top rope and to the outside. Raven then goes off the ropes and goes for a dive over the top but he gets hung up on the ropes a little bit and barely hits Blackman.
Blackman picks up Raven in a weird ass position and just drops him head first on to the steel steps. So, Blackman challenges Raven to a non-hardcore match then they go outside within 30 seconds and fight on the outside for the majority of the match. Just make it a damn hardcore title match and get it over with. Raven ends up hitting Blackman with a drop toe hold right into the steel steps. They then get back in the ring and try to put on a decent match.
Raven hits Blackman with a spinning discuss punch and gets a two count. Blackman gets Raven in a backslide and gets a 2 count out of it. We are getting sloppy here. Blackman ends up nailing Raven with a kick to the sternum and goes for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. Your winner by pinfall…..Steve Blackman!
After the match Raven hits Blackman with a clothesline that sends him out to the ring. Blackman grabs his sticks and nails Raven with them 4-5 times as Raven rolls out of the ring.
Recap:
The backstory of this one was that Raven wanted to challenge Blackman to a non-hardcore rules match. Blackman accepted and we got this match. Within 30 seconds both guys were outside and brawling using the rail and stairs. If you are going to dumb shit like that you might as well just have a hardcore title match and get it over with. Once they got into the ring and tried to put on a match it went south rather quickly. Raven was sloppy and just missing stuff. Blackman was Blackman and he was over and thats about the best thing I can say about all this. Skip this crap and move on.
Backstage Segment: Mick Foley talks w/ Linda McMahon
Foley says he thinks his office is a little homie. Linda says she did not run down Stone Cold Steve Austin. Foley says he found a hotel registry with Linda’s name on it from the night on the Survivor Series. Linda says its not unusual for her to be in the city whenever there is a PPV in a city. Linda says there is usually a lot of business she has to take care of during a PPV. Foley says that Austin has humiliated her husband and has beat up her baby Shane. Linda says outside of the ring Vince, Shane, and Stephanie handle their own business.
Linda says take her family out of it and as the CEO of the company it would not be smart business to take out one of the top stars in the WWF. Foley says that is true and he wants to know since Austin went down who has benefitted the most from merchandise sales and whatnot. Linda says it is the Rock.
Match 3: Triple H/Chris Jericho vs. X-Pac/Chris Benoit
Jericho and Triple H get some words in with each other before the match starts. X-Pac and Jericho go after it while Benoit and Hunter go at each other. All four men are still brawling until Triple H and Benoit get into the ring to get this thing started. Benoit lays in some rights and lefts until Triple H ends up hitting Benoit with a back elbow then a suplex. Jericho tags himself into the match and ends up nailing Benoit with a flying forearm. Triple H then tags himself back into the match.
Benoit tries to hit Hunter with a clothesline but Hunter ducks and hits Benoit with a neck breaker. Jericho then tags himself in and this pisses Hunter off so they start arguing until Benoit pushes Jericho into Hunter. Jericho and Benoit have a great bit of offense here until Jericho hits Benoit with a running bulldog type move for a 2 count. Jericho goes up to the second rope and goes for a drop kick but Benoit moves out of the way and Jericho crashes to the mat. Benoit tags in X-Pac and he starts laying in the chops to Jericho.
X-Pac does a leap frog then Jericho just floors him with a vicious chop. Jericho is stuck in the corner of Benoit and X-Pac and he did his best to keep them off him but Benoit ends up pulling Jericho nut first into the steel post so that he and X-Pac can get control of the match. Benoit dumps Jericho with a belly to back suplex and follows that up with a back breaker. Benoit tags X-Pac back in. X-Pac drives Jericho into the corner and nails him with his 3 kicks. X-Pac goes for a bronco buster but Jericho ends up nailing him with a clothesline. Both guys end up getting the tag so we got Benoit and Hunter again.
Hunter nails Benoit with his high knee. He then follows that up with a knee to the face again to Benoit. Hunter and Jericho double team Benoit into X-Pac comes in and throws Jericho off the apron. X-Pac hits a beautiful spin kick and lays Jericho out. Hunter ends up decking X-Pac, thinking it’s Jericho, so he checks on him and Benoit ends up hitting him with a German and damn near gets a 3 count. Benoit puts Hunter on the top rope and is going for a move but Hunter pushes him off. Jericho then clotheslines X-Pac over the top rope and this racks Hunter on the top rope. Hunter falls down the mat and Benoit goes for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. Your winners by way of pinfall…..Chris Benoit and X-Pac!
Recap:
This match wasn’t long enough to amount to anything special. The guys worked hard and it progress the feuds that were involved in the match. The finish came across as flat and the crowd gave no reaction towards it. It’s as if they didn’t expect the match to be over at that point but it was and they didn’t know what to do. All in all this was nothing special but it wasn’t terrible either. If you are a fan of any of the guys then I’d recommend checking this out just once and moving on.
Backstage Segment: Mick Foley w/ Edge & Christian
Foley is talking to his boys Edge and Christian when Hunter comes barding into the commissioners office. Hunter says that he wants Benoit because he has head butted his wife, cost him the #1 contendership for the WWF title, and he has busted his head open. He wants him and Benoit one on one. Foley says it will be Hunter and Benoit at No Mercy. Foley tells him to get out of here because he has business to tend to.
Hunter leaves the room and Edge says that was totally uncool of the Game. Edge then says The Game what is up with that? Who’s his manager Milton Bradley? What a reekazoid. Foley asks Edge and Christian where they were at Survivor Series. Christian says they were getting ready for a four corners match against the Hardyz, Too Cool, and the Holly Cousins. Edge says with competition like that we were getting ready for the match in our locker room. Edge says they gotta bail because they have surfing lessons.
Backstage Segment: Triple H and Stephanie Talk
They show Hunter walking through the back furious where he ends up in the locker room with Stephanie. Stephanie apologizes for the loss and says that Hunter hasn’t been winning a lot since he told her to stay in the back. Stephanie tells Hunter to think about that he and he looks pissed as they head to commercial.
Match 4 WWF Tag Team Title Match: Hardy Boyz (c) vs. Lo Down
The Hardyz attack Lo Down as they get into the ring. Matt throws out Chaz as they both start working over D-Lo. They hit D-Lo with a double suplex before Jeff and D-Lo settle in as the starters of the match. D-Lo tags in Chaz as Jeff tags in Matt. Matt goes off the middle rope with a leg drop as Jeff drops to legs into the midsection of Chaz. All four guys are outside as Matt hits Chaz with a clothesline off the apron. Matt tries to get back in the ring as D-Lo grabs him and drops him face first on the guard rail.
D-Lo gets the tag and hits Matt with a one legged drop kick. D-Lo ends up nailing Matt with a nice looking spine buster and he gets a 2 count out of it. Chaz gets the tag back in as he comes in and continues to work over Matt Hardy. Chaz and D-Lo exchange tags and continue to work over Matt Hardy. Matt stumbles out of the corner to go for the tag but D-Lo drops him with a clothesline, a body slam, then a leg drop. D-Lo tags in Chaz once again and gets Matt in a reverse death valley driver. That was pretty sweet looking.
Chaz goes for a big leg drop off the ropes but Matt rolls out of the way. Matt tries to get a tag but Chaz knocks Jeff off the apron to prevent the tag. Matt ends up distracting the ref so Lita comes out and trips up Chaz and racks him with the turnbuckle post. Chaz and Matt both get the tag. Jeff hits D-Lo with a flying clothesline then a leg scissors take down. We get some poetry in motion on D-Lo and then Chaz. Matt dumps D-Lo out with a clothesline. Jeff slams down Chaz and goes up top for the Swanton Bomb but the Conquistadors come out and push Jeff off of the top rope. Chaz puts Jeff on the top rope and hits him with a super plex followed by the Lo Down but Matt comes off the top rope with a leg drop and Jeff rolls over and pins D-Lo Brown for the 1-2-3. Your winners by way of pinfall and still the WWF Tag Team champions….The Hardy Boyz!
After the match Chaz nails Matt with the tag team title belt and poses over both of the Hardy Boyz.
Recap:
This was a typical Raw tag team match. Heels worked over the good guys then we got the hot tag and a quick finish. The “debut” of the conquistadors was funny but nothing special. Chaz and D-Lo really made no sense as a team and they weren’t very good. They have nothing on Power N’ Glory’s Power Plex finish. Lo Down’s sucked compared to that. Not a bad match here but nothing memorable and nothing special. Not really worth the time to watch it.
Backstage Segment: Mick Foley & Al Snow Talk
European Champ Al Snow says he is going to portray the country of Sweden because they are a country full of blonde people. Foley is trying to accuse Snow of being the culprit in stupid ass fashion but no dice. Foley tells Snow to change his wig since he has a match next.
Match 5: WWF European Title Match: Al Snow (c) vs. Test
European Champion Al Snow is representing Greece tonight and he comes out dressed as John Travolta form Grease. My goodness can this shit get any worse tonight. We got William Regal on commentary and he’s trashing Al Snow throughout. They work the mat a little bit until Snow gets it back to their feet. Test then gets control and slams Al 3-4 times before he starts clubbing him in the back. Al Snow regains the advantage but drop kicking Test in the knee. Trish grabs the leg of Snow and distracts him so Test goes for a big boot but Al moves out of the way and he racks himself.
Snow goes outside and tries to get Trish but Test levels him with a clothesline. Test rolls Snow back into the ring and gets in the ring himself just to get attacked by Snow. Snow lays in the clubs to the back and the right hands until he ends up running off the ropes. Test then comes out of no where and just floors Al Snow with an awesome big boot to the face. Test then puts his hand over his head as if he looking for the head of Al Snow then he does a it’s good field goal sign. That was hilarious and awesome.
The fight goes back and forth with some punches and kicks until Test nails Snow with a gut wrench power bomb for a 2 count. Al Snow climbs up to the top rope with Test and nails him with a super plex off the top rope. Al Snow lays in some rights, chops, and kicks until Test ends up getting him with a full nelson slam. Test then goes for a pump handle slam but Al Snow blocks it and nails Test with the Snow Plow for a 2 1/2 count. Al Snow grabs head and is about to nail Test with it but Trish gets on the apron and stops him. Test ends up running into Trish as Snow nails Test with Head and gets the 1-2-3. Your winner by pinfall and still European Champion…..Al Snow!
Recap:
Again nothing really special here. After doing over 3/4 of this show it comes across as they didn’t really care about the matches it was all about the segments. All the matches follow a similar formula and not much is going on during them. I understand the concept because you save the best for the paid shows but man these are hard to get through. Regal on commentary really saves this one. The action was good to be honest but theres just nothing special about the match at all and it’s really not worth watching like the majority of this show.
Backstage Segment: Chyna talking with Eddie Guerrero
Eddie finally shows up and Chyna is pissed off at him. Chyna asks him if he forgot he had a match tonight and Eddie points out that he is decked out in his wrestling gear so how could he forget. Chyna also says even though they are only fighting two members of Right To Censor, that they shouldn’t take the match for granted. Eddie says that he has never let Chyna down and he won’t start tonight. Eddie says he does it all for her and he has given his whole world to her. Eddie says where is the trust and Chyna says trust has nothing to do with. Eddie says we are supposed to get married and she doesn’t even trust him. There is some dissension in the ranks here and it appears Eddie is getting tired of Chyna’s shit.
They show Road Dogg at WWF New York being the DJ for a dance contest.
Match 6: Eddie Guerrero/Chyna vs. Godfather/Val Venis
Match starts with Eddie and Val in the ring. Eddie is a house of fire early and he lays in rapid fire rights then boots to Venis in the corner. Eddie and Val are still going at it then all of a sudden a weird ass noise comes over the arena and we get a GTV skit that shows up. The video shows what sounds like Eddie and a couple of women in a shower getting it on. Eddie is telling one of the ladies not to fight there is enough to go around for everybody. So clutch and hilarious. Eddie steps out of the shower with a towel on and says to keep it warm that he will be right back. One of the women pops their heads out and it’s Victoria and Mandy, Godfather’s Ho’s.
They head back to the ring where they show Chyna, who is devastated with what she has seen. Chyna steps off the apron and sits down on the stairs as RTC just destroy Eddie in the ring. Venis is in the ring now and he hit Eddie with a double arm suplex. They keep showing Chyna just sitting on the stairs devastated. Venis then picks up Eddie and gets him in a standing vertical suplex. Goodfather drags Eddie over to the corner where Chyna is at and he is just yelling at her. Goodfather then hits Eddie with a side suplex for a 2 count. Venis gets the tag and he comes in and slams Eddie and goes for an elbow but misses. Venis hits Eddie with a sit down power bomb and gets the 1-2-3. Your winners by pinfall…..Right to Censor!
After the match Stevie Richards gets in the face of Chyna and taunts her until Chyna levels him with a forearm. Val then grabs the hair of Chyna as the Goodfather puts Chyna in the ring. Val and Father hold up Chyna while Richards is yelling at Chyna. Mr. Ass comes out of no where and he dumps both Val and Goodfather. Gunn hugs Chyna in the middle of the ring and consoles her.
Recap:
This match was nothing more than an angle to get Chyna and Eddie broken up. The GTV skit was pretty cool and worked this go around. The match itself was a beat down by RTC with Eddie getting no help from Chyna, rightfully so. The post match stuff was pretty good with Billy Gunn coming to Chyna’s rescue like a good friend should. All in all this was a pretty good segment and one of the better ones on the card.
Backstage Segment: Mick Foley talks to Crash & Scotty 2 Hotty
Foley is on a pay phone when Crash shows up. Foley tells him he talked to his cousin Hardcore and Crash asks if he’s coming back soon. Foley says no but he did say he was going to kick his ass. Foley then questions Crash about him growing out his hair and where he was when Austin got ran down. Crash asks if he can leave and Foley says sure then Scotty 2 Hotty showed up. Scotty says that he, Grandmaster, and Rikishi in the locker room all night long waiting for the Rock so they can go party.
Backstage Segment: Chyna leaves the building
They show Chyna leaving the building with her bags while Eddie is chasing her down. Eddie says he knows it looks bad but he wants a chance to exchange. Eddie says those women mean nothing to him and that she means the world to him. Chyna says she’s not a ho or a floozie and that she loved Eddie. Chyna says she loved him and respected him. Chyna then took off the engagement ring and said it was the most important thing in her life. She then throws the ring to Eddie and says she never wants to see him again. Eddie gets on his knees and begs for forgiveness as Chyna pulls out.
Billy shows up and tells Eddie that he lost the best thing he had over 2 cheap ass ho’s. Billy tells Eddie to pick up his cheap ass ring, take it to the pawn shop he bought it from, and get his $20 bucks back. Billy says that will be the closest Eddie gets to Chyna as long as he is around and then he mocks the fact that Eddie is a Mexican. Billy turns around as Eddie grabs a glass bottle and smashes it over the head of Billy Gunn. Eddie then tells Billy to stay out of his business as we head to commercial break.
Match 7: The Rock/Rikishi vs. Kurt Angle/Kane
Kurt tries to calm Kane down but Kane floors him with a right hand. Kane then sends Angle packing over the top rope to the apron and then Kane hits him with a big boot to send him off the apron. Angle is then laid out on the outside. Kane just took out his partner before the match even starts. Rikishi gets in the ring and Kane attacks him right away. Kane continues to work over Rikishi until the Rock’s music hits as he comes out and starts working over Kane.
Rock hits the ropes until Kane nails him in the face with a big boot. Kane continues to work over the Rock in the corner. Kane comes out for a clothesline but the Rock ends up nailing Kane with a clothesline first. Rock then tags in Rikishi as he comes in and lays in the right hands to Kane. Kane gets whipped into the corner but Kane bounces out and nails Rikishi with a clothesline that turns him inside out. Angle props himself up on the guard rail as he watches the match. They then show Stephanie watching the match in the back. The Rock gets tagged back in as they exchange lefts and rights to each other.
The Rock goes into Kane and Kane picks him up and drops him with a power slam. Kane drops the Rock and then follows it up with a leg drop to the Rock as Angle continues to stand outside and not helping his partner. The Rock tries to get the advantage but again Kane drops him with a back elbow. Kane suplexes the Rock and gets a 2 count out of it. Kane then gets a reverse head lock on the ground to get a little bit of a rest. The Rock breaks free and hits the ropes again but again Kane drops him with a sidewalk slam. They show Angle on the guard rail as well as Stephanie watching the match from the back.
Kane goes for another clothesline but the Rock hits Kane with a nice looking spine buster. Rock finally gets the chance to make a tag to Rikishi and he makes it. Rikishi comes in and lays in the right hands. Rikishi hits Kane with a clothesline then a leg drop as he gets a 2 count. Kane hits Rikishi with a DDT then a choke slam. Angle gets up on the apron and asks for a tag from Kane. Instead of tagging in Angle, Kane drops him with a choke slam from the apron. Kane then gets out of the ring and leaves Angle by himself in the ring.
Angle gets up to his feet and hits Rikishi with the Angle Slam. Angle celebrates in the ring but when he turns around the Rock nails Angle with the Rock Bottom. Rikishi gets up to his feet and hits him with a bonsai drop and gets the cover 1-2-3. Your winners by way of pinfall…..The Rock and Rikishi!
Recap:
There was nothing special about this match either. It was more of a way to get everyone out to the ring that needed to be out there. We also got to progress the feud between Kane and Kurt Angle. So in that aspect this was a job well done but it was just filler to get to the meat of the show which is what happens right after the match is over. Not a bad match to end the action with.
Mick Foley Announces Who Done It
Right after the match Foley comes out and cuts a promo. Foley says he has made wild accusations in the past but tonight he is going to deliver the person who ran over Steve Austin tonight. Foley says this is the worst week of his professional career. He also says that all of the evidence points to The Rock. It was the Rock’s rental car, only his fingerprints, only his DNA, and a pair of The Rock’s sunglasses were in the glove box. Foley says that nobody had more to gain than the Rock. Who sold the t-shirts, who had the media appearances, who’s book went to #1, and who got the movie roles? Foley says that The Rock is not fooling him. Foley says the case of who ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series Mick Foley finds the Rock…..not guilty!
Foley says he is going to say who did it and then he points to Rikishi and says he did it. Foley says he didn’t figure it out until he talked to Scotty 2 Hotty. Foley says that Rikishi wasn’t even apart of Survivor Series and that he hasn’t even made his debut on television. Foley questions who else is close to the Rock to go into dressing room and to reach in the Rock’s bag and grabs his keys. Foley says the seat and mirrors were configured for a very large man and that large man was Rikishi. Foley says the only thing he doesn’t know is why.
Rikishi then takes the mic and lets us know why he did. Rikishi says that he did it. Rikishi says he ran over Austin. Rikishi says he didn’t do it for himself but he did it for…….The Rock! Rikishi says that he took the Rock’s keys out of his bag that night when he went to check into the hotel. He was going to the car to leave when he saw Austin standing in the back. Rikishi says he saw everything flash before his eyes. Rikishi says that the WWF has always been about the “great white hope.” Rikishi is talking about people like Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, and people like Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Rikishi says that the WWF has always let the island boys in but they were always held back. Rikishi says people like High Chief Peter Maivia could have became a WWF Champion but they held him back. He mentions Jimmy Snuka and says that they held him back as well. Rikishi says people like Afa, Sika, Samu, and the Tonga Kid were all held back. Rikishi tells the Rock that he ran Stone Cold over and he did this for him. Rikishi says he expects no favors and no payback for what he did. Rikishi says that the Rock had nothing to do with this and that he takes full responsibility for running Austin over. Rikishi says that the way the Rock is today is good enough for him and his people. Rikishi tells us one more time that he ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin and to tell the truth he would do it again.
Show Recap:
This is one of the harder shows to get there because there are so many backstage segments and not a whole lot of action. Segment after segment is fine but when you have to review it, then it’s not a lot of fun. The matches themselves kind of sucked and didn’t really peak my interest at all. The backstage segments became repetitive and boring about mid way through. The opening segment was pretty good because Shawn Michaels was involved but other than that the segments were all the same with different guys getting questioned. Really makes the show hard to get through.
The closing segment with Rikishi outing himself as the guy who ran over Austin is mixed with me. The promo itself and the reasoning behind it I am a fan of. The problem with the whole storyline in general is that people didn’t care enough about Rikishi to actually get behind this and make it believable. From a kayfabe standpoint this really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Nobody in their right mind would think that Rikishi had a chance against Austin considering what Rikishi did to him and what he cost Austin, storyline wise. Therefore, the feud was going to be one sided and a waste within a month or two and that is exactly what happened. This is one of the bigger storylines of the Attitude Era and it was completely useless in 1-2 months. Thats not what you want out of a storyline like this.
The show as a whole is nothing special and is a waste of time to get through. The last match and segment where Rikishi gets outed is the best part of the whole show but it is a chore to sit through the hour and 20 minutes to get to this point. I’d recommend checking out the last 15-20 minutes and thats about it.
Well that does it for this episode of Television Rewind. These shows tend to pop up here and there but there are more on the horizon sooner rather than later so look out for those. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I also hope you tune in next time as we relive some of the biggest moments in wrestling TV history.