Jeff Jarrett vs Al Snow
Dug Al Snow’s flip off the ring stairs onto Jarrett right at
the start. From there, we have a quick three-minute match, with Jarrett looking
great. Lovely crisp looking punches, and Jarrett’s performance makes up for the
fact that Snow looks a bit off, maybe a step or so behind. Snow wins with a
Head shot.
Big Boss Man vs Steve Austin
Another quick match, this one being more angle than match.
Austin is on fire early, laying into Boss Man, before a low blow turns the
tide. It also slows the match right down, with Boss Man’s offence making a
three-minute match drag. Austin makes a comeback only for Boss Man to assault
him with his nightstick for the DQ.
Steve Regal vs X-Pac
The beloved “Real Man’s Man” era of Regal. The quicker X-Pac
dominates, until he misses a corner charge, and Regal grounds him to take over.
Love the nasty kneedrop to the head, and Regal catapaulting X-Pac halfway
across the ring. Aside from that, a lot of this is just killing time until the
end – it’s logical, but not particularly exciting. They fight outside, and both
guys get counted out. Odd that the longest match so far gets a fuck finish,
though we’ve not had a clean win yet.
Ken Shamrock vs Goldust
This starts off really well. Clearly, neither guy is afraid
to lay in the shots here, with Goldust especially laying in some lovely punches
when making his comeback. Another abrupt ending, sadly, as the ref prevents
Goldust hitting Shattered Dreams, allowing Shamrock to hit a sloppy rana, the
belly-to-belly and the ankle lock for the win. You can tell there’s a better
match just dying to get out.
The Rock vs Big Boss Man
Makes Gill/Mankind look like an epic. Roll up, 1-2-3
Undertaker vs Kane
Pretty half-arsed effort by both guys. Some basic plodding
brawling outside the ring kicks things off. I did appreciate the idea of Taker
working over Kane’s leg early on, even trying a figure four, but they soon
brushed over this idea and continued to brawl. I liked Kane blocking a Taker
chokeslam and hitting one of his own before the inevitable dumb ending. Paul
Bearer distracts Kane from the apron, and he walks into a tombstone for the
Taker win. Bland.
Mankind vs Al Snow
Head has Mr Socko tied around it, with backstage footage
revealing it was Vince who put it there. Just like the last match, we kick off
with some outside brawling, as Snow hits chairshots that don’t get him DQd.
Foley flapjacks him onto a chair in a fun spot.
Back inside, Vince’s plan is revealed, as the sight of Sock on Head drives
Foley berserk, though Snow is still able to hit a powerbomb for two. Foley
SPIKES Snow with a double-arm DDT and puts on the Socko claw to win.
The Rock vs Ken Shamrock
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Shamrock has had the
two best matches of the night so far, his intensity seemingly wont let him
half-arse a match. They go at it with real urgency from the start, with no
resthold in sight – until the Big Boss Man comes out again, with his presence almost
urging Shamrock to lock on a chinlock. Shamrock atones for the shitty rana from
earlier by catching Rock midring with a beauty. I loved the Rock taking
advantage of Boss Man distracting the ref by giving a lowblow to the heel
Shamrock. Rock Bottom attempt is reversed to a belly-to-belly, and Boss Man
tries to throw Shamrock his nightstick. Of course, the Rock intercepts it and
waffles Shamrock with it. Really fun match, highlight of the show so far. At
the time, it never occurred to me that Shamrock was in the ascension at the
point Boss Man threw the nightstick….
Sable vs Jacqueline
There’s a great bit of Lawler commentary at the start, where
he refers to Sable getting jumped from behind on Heat earlier, calling her an
idiot, only for her to get jumped from behind here. Lawler loves it. Really
basic match, with Marc Mero and Jacqueline bumping around to put Sable over.
Sable Bomb is enough to win the women’s title
Mankind vs Steve Austin
Obviously this isn’t given enough time to reach the levels
of some of their greater matches, but this is still pretty fun. Loved Austin
disrobing Foley during the match, including taking his shoes off to use as a
weapon. They predictably brawl outside the ring, before going inside for a long
Foley chinlock. This is ended by Foley hitting a double arm DDT on a chair for
two. We head into overbooking central, but it’s actually all pretty
entertaining. Austin hits the stunner, but Vince pulls out the ref and decks
him. A second stunner sees Shane McMahon come out (during the storyline where
Vince had demoted him to referee), only to flip Austin the finger and not
count. A Gerry Brisco chairshot gives Mankind the win. Despite the long
chinlock in the middle, this was still fun and the run-ins were done to perfection.
Arguably Russo’s finest hour
The Rock vs The Undertaker
By now the “wrestlers are outside brawling within the first
two minutes” trope is getting overplayed. It’s like the company had run out of
ways for matches to start. Taker takes a big bump to the floor, so he’s putting
in a bit more effort than with the Kane match. They brawl in the crowd, as
X-Pac and Regal are probably sat backstage complaining that they were counted
out in their match. Boss Man comes out yet again, and again the Rock uses his
appearance to hit his opponent in the bollocks. Kane comes out and chokeslams
Rock to screw Taker over, putting Rock in the final via DQ. This was passable.
The New Age Outlaws vs the Headbangers vs D-Lo Brown &
Mark Henry
This was an almighty mess, and likely only made the card to
provide some breathing time for the Rock before the final. There was no real structure
on display here, and a continued lack of logic, with guys trying to make pins,
despite having another opponent stood right next to them ready to break it up.
The referee also made some horrifically business-exposing counts on pinfalls,
seemingly refusing to count until he was sure someone was in place to break it
up. There were some good moments though: I dug Mosh’s springboard crossbody to
the outside, and I enjoyed the double-teaming by the Headbangers. Also worth
noting that Mark Henry was already pretty decent by this point, selling his leg
pretty well and looking like a brick wall. Billy Gunn picks up the win
eventually with a piledriver on Mosh.
The Rock vs Mankind
You could really tell both guys were beginning to run on
empty, both physically and mentally. I did appreciate the cautious start, with
both guys slowing the pace and not rushing into anything. However, they didn’t
really seem sure how to fill the time here, with the early parts split between
dull brawling outside the ring and Mankind chinlocks inside the ring. Luckily, Foley
takes a few choice bumps to increase the excitement of the match in the second
half. He lets the Rock hit the stairs into him, ending up trapped beneath them
on the floor. He hits a nice elbow from the apron to the floor and, most
impressively, goes crashing through the Spanish announce table with a missed
elbow spot. The tempo increases inside the ring with a few nearfalls, before
the finish of Rock locking in a Sharpshooter, and Vince calling for the bell in
the first (and best) Montreal screwjob reference. Started poorly, but got
somewhat decent by the end.
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