This week, the good brother and recently married Charlie Robery picked Survivor Series 99 for our sins. Can it hold up to the very fun Summerslam 92 from last week? Let's find out!
GODFATHER, D-LO BROWN & THE HEADBANGERS v THE DUDLEYZ & THE ACOLYTES
What a way to start a PPV, JR - HOES! Ah yes, the Attitude Era...
The Godfather gets a huge pop from the crowd, just about gets over the top rope and then dances with his 'restaurant quality hoes' according to JR.
D'Lo and The Headbangers are introduced - but The Godfather's music is still playing and they all come out dressed as pimps too. It's pretty funny, to be fair.
Their opponents The Dudley Boyz are out next - in their traditional ECW attire. Ah, the memories. Buh Buh Ray stammers when asking if they are going to get offered the hoes. Of course the guy with the stammer got this match to review! It's all innocent fun compared to what the hoes had to deal with, I guess!
Godfather mockingly stammers when he says no to the laughter of the crowd and the hoes. Actually... fuck these lot! I'm team Dudleys and Acolytes!
Mosh and Buh Buh start - with Buh Buh pulling off the afro wig. The exchange is actually really crisp and fast. Good stuff. The style changes when Bradshaw tags in - the tough Texan boots the hell out of Thrasher and it's not long before he lands a VICIOUS Clothesline from hell and eliminates him.
Lawler says "Look at that blonde ho, JR. She can suck the numbers right off my credit card, I'll tell ya." WOW. Just wow.
Blind tag from Buh Buh and the Dudleyz land a 3D to eliminate Mosh. That move looks amazing still, to this very day. A thing of damned beauty. D'Lo comes in and takes control of Buh Buh before knocking Bradshaw off the apron.
The future JBL ain't having that, grabs a chair and cracks D'Lo in the back before wrapping a BRUTAL chairshot around the head of Buh Buh (his own partner). That's a tough watch! Bradshaw is quite rightly eliminated for a DQ. D'Von goes to pin the fallen D-Lo, but Faarooq leg drops his own partner and goes for the pin himself.
The ref has lost complete control here, going for pins at both times - who is actually legal? Matt would be going absolutely apoplectic if he was watching! D-Von and Faarooq brawl to the back leaving Buh Buh to fight his stammer bullies alone.
D-Lo hits a gorgeous looking Lo Down and gets a two count, before Buh Buh lands a top rope powerbomb! That looked horrific for D-Lo. I forgot when they first came from ECW, The Dudleyz pretty much kept their moveset.
D-Lo somehow kicks out, tags in The Godfather, who hits the Ho Train in the corner, then tags D-Lo back in for the frog splash on Buh Buh and complete the win. Post match, Timmy White dances comically with the hoes - wearing a big old smile on his face.
The match had psychology that made little, if any sense, featured some toe curling sexism, an unprotected chair shot to the head and the bullies won... however, it had some incredible moves (mostly when Buh Buh was in) and it was pretty bloody fun. Flawed fun, but fun!
WINNERS - THE GODFATHER & D-LO BROWN
KURT ANGLE VS SHAWN STASIAK
Pre match here and we are treated to a video package of debutant Kurt Angle. It's a fairly short promo in which he lists off his wrestling achievements. He does not mention that he won his Medals with a Broken Freakin' Neck which is disappointing - but this is Primitive Angle.
Then Shawn Stasiak enters the ring. He's ripped to the Gills and has a nice tight pair of orange trunks on. He seems to have left his charisma in the dressing room, but he looks the part and that counts for something.
We then get shown a short montage of Stasiak's Dad, Stan Stasiak. A former WWWF champion who we see administer a Heart Punch. When the camera cuts back to Shawn - he has no reaction. I think this was meant to add some legitimacy to Stasiak.
Next we have Kurt Angle. There is little, to no applause. He's wearing his Blue American get up and has a big old cheesy grin. He poses on the top rope to no fanfare. Then we are underway. Angle starts with a firemans carry. His first ever move is as crisp as most of his future ones would be. We get about 10 seconds of chain wrestling and then the crowd start a Boring chant. BRUTAL!
Angle applies a front face lock and JR says this is a new style of competition. Its only been 30 seconds JR, pump the brakes Pal! We get hammerlocks from both. The Crowd are now chanting for the Detroit Redwings. A sports team I presume. I don't know in what field. I'm sorry. JR informs me they won a championship though.
Angle puts some moves together, ending with a Belly To Belly suplex and then strikes a pose that is unenthusiastically booed. Stasiak turns the tide. Hits some strikes, stomps and then a side walk slam. Then a suplex before a 2 count. Your referee Mike Chioda throws his hands up in the universally recognised "Rock On" symbol instead of the peace sign so the crowd know it's 2. I hate it.
JR and King are not even giving me any content to fill this with. Stasiak locks in a headlock. He looks bored. Angle breaks out and hits Stasiak with a clothesline. Crowd either on their hands or booing. Angle decides it's time to wake them up and goes to the time keepers area to bemoan the crowds lack of involvement. "You do not boo an Olympic Gold medalist!". This gets the volume levels up slightly. A
Angle returns to the ring and we get a bit more action. Nothing really noteworthy. It's not even bad, it's just by the numbers. Angle gets a small package for 2 and then a powerslam for 2. Chioda still persisting with the goofy hand sign as standard. Also commentary then try and tell me that it's Stasiak's PPV debut. We all know it's MEAT lads, just let him take his L and do the repackage another time.
He left after this for WCW anyway and joined that group of Body Guys. Pretty sure it was The Natural Born Thrillers? Sean O'Haire was in that group. I liked him. My mind is drifting and to be honest, it's because this isn't the best match.
Stasiak goes up top. He misses a splash. Angle hits him with The Angle Slam which commentary don't seem to know is the finish as there is no change in their tone. Thats your lot. There are boos for the result. Stasiak is up on his feet complaining. Don't bother selling that slam will you, Shawn?
Angle is then told by Chioda to go to the back as he celebrates. Not sure why he couldn't soak up the crowd - but whatever. My biggest takeaway here is Lawler went 5 minutes without saying anything controversial. I guess the match achieved what it had to, but the fans didn't really pop for anything, apart from the RedWings!
WINNER - KURT ANGLE
GANGREL, MARK HENRY, STEVE BLACKMAN & VAL VENIS vs BRITISH BULLDOG & MEAN STREET POSSE
This match quality couldn’t even outdo the 480p I had to stream it on. I tried looking into a bit of back story to further enhance my viewing. Wikipedia couldn’t even help as it came up with all the storyline info for the other matches, except this one.
So I pressed on hoping for a sexist comment from Jerry The King Lawler, but nada.
Maybe a high spot? nada.
It seems like this really was a bit of a toilet break for this event where JR and King could discuss whether or not JR does or doesn’t own a cashmere sweater.
On the plus side, the match was really short.
WINNERS - VAL VENIS & MARK HENRY
MOOLAH, MAE YOUNG, TORI & DEBRA v TERRI, JACQUELINE, IVORY & LUNA
Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young and Tori vs Ivory, someone and someone else is not a match that will live long in my memory. Thankfully I struggled to concentrate on the half naked octogenarians thanks to the commentary constantly pushing the boundaries of what these days is probably considered a hate crime.
Listening to The King talk about how ugly he found Mae and Moolah was like having your shittiest relative round to watch your favourite film. Every moment of dead air was seen as an opportunity to say something about tits or wrinkles by the old wrinkled tit sat at commentary.
Was he sat there for the whole of the attitude era? I can't remember it being that bad. That's not to say watching the match on mute would be much better. It was horrendous. And for some reason ended with Terri Runnels' clothes getting torn off.
Anyway, ultimately Moolah and Mae did a double clothesline on Ivory to win. Fair play Mae. Good on ya. Moolah, from what I've read it's no surprise you knew what it took to keep a young woman down. Not so good on ya.
Even if this match took place in the Tokyo Dome, Meltzer would have given it no stars and a little drawing of a plate of dog sick.
WINNERS - MOOLAH, MAE YOUNG, TORI & DEBRA
KANE v X-PAC
Last week, I had the pleasure of reporting on the Summerslam 1992 encounter between Kamala and The Undertaker. This week, we’re rolling it forward 7 years and some to the Attitude Era for the other brother of destruction, Kane, as he squares off against former tag partner and now fierce rival, X-Pac.
The rivalry was personal, as Tori (then girlfriend of Kane) explains in the pre match interview. First down the aisle comes X-Pac. Formerly the 1-2-3 Kid and Syxx in WCW and one of my personal favourites growing up. His TitanTron video entrance, easily one of the best from the day. Why have they all disappeared? Bring back the Titan Tron video!!
Next up, the big red machine, Kane! As for iconic entrances, this must be right up there alongside Stone Cold’s glass smash. Hell, fire and brimstone, to quote Good ol’ JR. With his trademark pyro explosions from each corner of the ring in its full glory, X-Pac wastes absolutely no time in attacking the big man. This may seem like a David vs Goliath bout and it soon becomes apparent it may well be, after a few non-effective chops from X-Pac, Kane switches on the DX man.
However, you can never rule out Sean Waltman, mainly due to his ‘educated feet’ as Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler says. He corners Kane, for all of a few seconds, before being floored. As soon as he’s on the floor, he’s up in the air, by his throat in a goozle. It doesn’t look good for X-Pac. I’ve never been a fan of the ‘big man’ going for the high risk maneuver. Maybe Sid’s leg break done that to me…needless to say, X-Pac is back in this, by knocking Kane off the top turnbuckle. Sore nuts to boot!
The action continues, back and forth in the ring and X-Pac lands a sweet spinning heel kick. Just like The Undertaker last week, Kane sits straight up! A second spinning heel kick knocks Kane to the corner and an extra boot to the face for good measure. Kane slumps on the bottom turnbuckle, meaning it’s time for the Bronco Buster (DON’T RIP YOUR ARSE, SEAN!). For me, this has got to be one of the moves I’d never like to experience. Sweaty bollocks in the face, can’t wait!!
LUCKILY for Mr Jacobs (see what I did there), he’s up and he has X-Pac by the throat. X-Pac fights back but runs straight into a tilt-the-world backbreaker. Kane’s going up top again (yikes…) and nails it! Kane has X-Pac up for the chokeslam!! 1…2…AND ROAD DOGG PULLS KANES LEG TO BREAK THE COUNT!!
Kane is after Road Dogg, nails him but comes back to be hit with an X-Factor. AND KANE POWERS OUT AT 2!! X-Pac goes high risk and it backfires. Kane is ready to put him away with the tombstone…AND OUT OF NOWHERE, HHH WITH THE TITLE BELT. It’s an ambush! 3 on 1, DX against Kane.
Tori comes to the aid…and gets a boot to the face by (future lover) X-Pac. Kane gets to his feet quicker than you can say burning funeral home and comes to protect Tori. DX are out of there and Kane is the winner by DQ. If only Kane knew what a turncoat Tori would become later on…
WINNER BY DQ - KANE
BIG SHOW v ALBERT, BIG BOSS MAN, VISCERA & MIDEON
Last week on Nerd Watch Wednesday, I got the chance to write an essay of appreciation on Bret Hart v British Bulldog from Summerslam 1992. This week I get an equally enticing chance to write about this… match?
So Big Show finds himself in a 1v4 Traditional Survivor Series Match. You’d think hold on a minute, this is a bit unfair right? Turns out Big Show decided to attack his teammates on Heat and they walked out!
I’m not saying Kai En Tai and The Blue Meanie are the Harlem Globetrotter of teammates but I’m not sure about the strategy by the ponytailed Big Show. Not much in the way of action on this one, Big Show runs (pretty well to be fair) down to the ring, throws a couple headbutts, bangs a few chokeslams, hooks some legs and before you know it he’s eliminated Visera, Mideon and Albert in about a minute.
Big Show finally gets his chance to put a beating on Bossman who - if we remember - attacked the behemoth at his dad’s funeral… when suddenly Bossman bolts it to the back for a count-out and Show stands victorious after about 90 seconds. Attitude era, amirite?
WINNER - THE BIG SHOW
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP - CHYNA (C) v CHRIS JERICHO
Dan here with, I think, my first post on WSBF. Jericho comes out first oozing that classic Jericho swagger (personal top 3 entrance themes of all time btw). JR and King are discussing what happened just before (this is the PPV where Stone Cold was infamously run over and thus was out of the WWF title match later that night).
Chyna is out next with Miss Kitty (Chynette as she was known during her stint with Chyna) and her entrance theme starts: "Don't treat me like a woman, Don't treat me like a man, don't treat me like you know me, treat me for who I am." Still, to this day, I don't get what that even means.
The bell goes and Jericho goes straight for Chyna and promptly pushes Miss Kitty to the floor. She then hits Jericho with a clothesline. The two Chyna's start beating down on Jericho and it moves to the outside of the ring. Jericho starts choking Chyna with the camera cable. Classic heel move.
Jericho gets Chyna back into the ring, Irish whips her into the corner whilst JR and King continue to talk about what happened just before this match. Jericho then puts her into a waistlock, which gets reversed, so then he tries to back punt Chyna in her nether regions which doesn't work because she's neither a woman nor a man - as her theme song suggests.
Chyna then goes into a rather weird looking modified hurricanrana and beats down on Jericho again in the corner. The action moves to the outside as Chyna gets whipped over the top rope and Miss Kitty comes to her aid. Cue Lawler's overdue comment about her outfit.
Jericho then launches himself off the top rope onto Chyna. "Come on you bitch" is shouted from Jericho. Classic Y2J. Jericho then decides it's time for Chyna to get a water break and pours a water bottle over her head. Who says chivalry is dead?
Jericho then rips off the protective foam around the barrier and slams Chyna into it, beats down on her and drags her back into the ring. JR expresses his continuous concern on the Austin situation.
Kitty is clearly concerned and Jericho decides now is an ample time to give the Kitty some milk, kisses her and chucks her into the corner. That seems to wake Chyna up! She spears Jericho and whips him into the ring post. Momentum is seemingly swinging in her favour, but Jericho proceeds to powerbomb her into next week.
Chyna hits her signature flips and elbow in the corner, a DDT and ref counts a 2. Jericho grabs the IC belt (which is conveniently in the corner) and collides it straight with Chyna's head.
"Ever the opportunist" Lawler says. Have to agree with you there King. Anyway Jericho grabs the still dazed ref and demands he count the pin. 1, 2 KICK OUT. Jericho is shocked so picks Chyna up to deal more damage but instead gets hit by a PEDIGREE! Jericho kicks out at 2 3/4.
Jericho reverses a hurricanrana into a savage looking Walls of Jericho. Chyna gets to the rope and the ref breaks the hold. Jericho plants her onto the top rope. He goes to superplex her but gets low blowed thanks to Miss Kitty's distraction. Chyna then hits a pedigree off the top rope? I watched it back 4 times and I still don't know what that move was!
Jericho is out of it nonetheless and Chyna pins him for the win! I was never a massive fan of Chyna's singles run - but this match was one of the better ones I've seen. Jericho doing Jericho is always a fun watch. You stay classy WSBF.
WINNER - CHYNA
THE HOLLYS & TOO COOL v EDGE, CHRISTIAN & THE HARDY BOYZ
It’s nostalgia city here for our next traditional Survivior Series elimination match for dozens of reasons; firstly The Hardys are in their semi-goth gear; Edge and Christian begin the match as babyfaces; Too Cool, without Rikishi, have mega heat and, probably most ear-catching, is Jerry Lawler’s Commentary during the Hardy’s (Terri’s) entrance. “Here they are! (Are you talking about the Hardy Boyz?) Oh are they here too?” “I heard that her skills are so good…that during sex she shouts her own name.”
Moving right along now with the first bell, JR tells us in a convoluted fashion that the rules in this one are that when one member of a team is eliminated, both members of the team are dismissed. So it’s 2 eliminations for victory. (Edit: These are definitely not the rules, as you will see later in the match).
You might think this would mean a cautious approach from the 8 superstars in the early going, but that’s definitely not the case. Grandmaster Sexay (may praise be upon him) hitting a beautiful sunset flip bomb to the floor is probably the most eye catching of the frantic offence.
Back in the ring and thankfully, The King can also be funny without objectifying women. Jerry’s kid hits a running bulldog and Lawler proclaims that “I don’t know where he learnt this, but I used to do it myself from time to time.” From here pandemonium is running wild and a miscommunication sees Edge eliminated with a Hardcore Holly schoolboy and then Matt Hardy is drilled with a diving DDT from the top by Scotty 2 Hotty for the 1,2,3 and what I thought was the end of the match.
It would seem however, that every man from the opposition team needs to be eliminated for a victory, so Jeff Hardy and Christian are still alive. Jeff is taking the heat from the heels here. Scotty nails the Worm and Too Cool hit a lovely double team powerbomb and rainbow coloured hair is being splattered all over the canvas.
There is no hot tag though as the referee loses all control. Hardcore and Crash (may praise be upon him) are having a family feud and thanks to a diversion from the founder of P.M.S, Jeff Hardy is able to hit a 450 splash on Scotty for an elimination.
Hardy is next eliminated with a really cool spot, he jumps off Christian’s back, trying for poetry in motion but Double H intercepts with a missile dropkick from over Crash’s head in the corner. This leads to a Hip Hop drop from Sexay and it’s now Christian left to carry the flag.
Christian goes to work immediately, eliminating The Grandmaster (I can’t believe I’m repeatedly typing this name) with a reverse DDT. Christian is fighting an uphill battle here, but hits the Unprettier on Crash and we are down the one on one.
Unfortunately this is where the Cinderella story ends with Hillary Duff getting caught in the Bret – Owen, victory-roll reversal finish, from Wrestlemania 10. Hardcore Holly is the Sole Survivor. “Hey I got an ideal! Give me the belt!” Drink lots of water; look after your mates. DVD
WINNER - HARDCORE HOLLY
WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - NEW AGE OUTLAWS (C) v AL SNOW & MANKIND
We are going back in time almost 20 years. I was a young teenager, 10 months into my wrestling fandom at this point, having been hooked by the Rock at the Royal Rumble 1999. One of my favorite wrestlers was Mr Ass. What a theme tune. What a dropkick. So as soon as Charlie picked a 1999 event I immediately shotgunned whatever match Billy Gunn was in.
This show times in at 2hrs 38mins. That is less time than a bloody Raw these days. In the semi-main is our guy teaming up with the Road Dogg to take on Al Snow and Mankind. Jerry Lawler is mainly talking about Stone Cold getting run over. The New Age Outlaws like a vintage Adam Cole run through their sing-a-long entrance enduring themselves to the crowd. Muppets.
Foley is the big star here. Never a huge fan myself. Lawler is pointing the finger at Mr Ass as the driver of the vehicle that knocked over Austin. Mr Ass wins the rock paper scissors contest with Road Dogg and starts the match.
Ross is shilling Mankind’s book. Billy Gunn is taking the Tetsuya Naito approach and wrestling in his t-shirt. It’s main event or nothing for the Assman. Hilarious ‘We want Head’ chants from the crowd. In the match there is a lot of punches. Al Snow did a move that was good. I don’t know what It was called.
Al Snow just drills Road Dogg in the chest with a chair. Then Mankind twats him in the back. Where is Roberts???? Two chair shots, what was he doing, catching up on Love Island with Billy Gunn??? Mankind has worse offence than Crush. Pretty sure Lance Archer pinned Will Ospreay with Crush’s finisher on Saturday.
Al Snow with angry stomps the corner. Snow and Mankind are playing the heels here. Working heat on Road Dogg. Mankind with a running knee. As someone who bloody loves running knees, this one is not on the Level of an Arisa Hoshiki or Matt Riddle.
Dogg with Shake Rattle and Roll, looking for the hot tag to Mr Ass, but Foley stops it illegally. Such a weird dynamic of a match. Brawling on the ramp. JR has a got at Roberts for losing control. Road Dogg hits a double axe handle to the outside on Snow. Mr Ass is in, now he’s out again.
Road Dogg with punches. The originally hot crowd are now quiet. Road Dogg mimes Face Fucking Al Snow. Lawler says ‘Doggie Style’. Not Quite Jerry. Mr Ass fameasser. Road Dogg cover. Roberts turns round. Kick out at 2.99. Good late kickout!
Road Dogg for Pump Handle. Adds some Doggy style and Mankind kicks him in the bollocks. ROBERTS. WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING? Double arm DDT on Mr Ass. Al Snow hits the Snow Plow on Road Dogg. Here comes Socko to Mr Ass and Road Dogg.
Double Low blow as Roberts is obviously looking somewhere else. In comes Snow twats Mr Ass with Head. WHERE ARE YOU ROBERTS????? He’s not even down. Matt Connolly would be going ballistic at this.
Mankind makes the cover of the Head shot and we don’t see if he won as the camera is focused on Road Dogg and Al Snow on the outside. Apparently it was a 2. Mankind with punches. Road Dogg trips Mankind on the outside.
Spike Piledriver and it’s over. Thankfully. The Outlaws retain after one of seven moves in the match. Mr Ass still has his t-shirt on. He’s better than this. People who say wrestling was better in the Attitude Era are remembering it wrong...
WINNERS - NEW AGE OUTLAWS
WWF CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - TRIPLE H (C) v THE ROCK v BIG SHOW
Charlie Chaplin, Charlie Sheen, Charlie's Angels... I've had an irrational hatred for anything Charlie related all week since Charlie Robery chose this show for Nerd Watch Wednesday and I drew the main event to review.
Wrestling Should Be Fun is not just a brand, it's a mantra that we all believe in but thinking about this PPV makes me angry. Let me explain... When you think about the Attitude Era then Stone Cold, The Rock and HHH are three of the first names that come to mind.
At this point Austin was one of the biggest stars wrestling had ever seen (his best year grossing more than Hogan's peak), Rocky was ascending to the household name he is today and HHH was about to get a rocket (and Stephanie McMahon) strapped to him. For a month they built up to a triple threat between the three of these stars to headline Survivor Series '99. This is not the match we got.
WWE knew that Austin wasn't able to compete but they still advertised him to perform in the main event, a blatant case of false advertising to pop a buyrate. I didn't even pay to see this show but I still feel like I got robbed by this really shitty business practice. The angle earlier in the night where Austin was runover by a thong wearing fatty does nothing to redeem this.
So we get HHH (c) vs The Rock vs A Mystery Opponent. Who is the mystery man? We are in the midst of the Monday Night Wars, they MUST have a huge star to replace the gaping void left by Austin. Could it be Hogan? Savage? Goldberg?
Mr Maivia is out first looking like he fell in a swimming pool; body glistening and mind focused. He is sweating star power. The champion is out next and I'm reminded what a massive upgrade Motorhead were when they replaced the theme he has here. Triple H steps onto the apron with the precursor for what would become his famous water spray taunt - but here is a mere dribble.
And now the moment of truth, who is the huge star that will round out this triple threat... "WELLLLLLLLLLLL! WELL IT'S THE BIG SHOW!" Motherfucker. The camera pans to The Rock and he doesn't look impressed. 13 year old me isn't impressed. 32 year old me is downright pissed off. Triple H then mouths the word "shit" in unison with the 448,000 Americans that ordered this PPV.
Let me preface this by saying that I loved The Giant in WCW. He looked like a giant, he acted like a giant and he was OVER. Don't believe me? Go watch a random Nitro from 1998. The Big Show, or Paul Wight as he started out in WWF, signed a 10 year deal at the start of '99 to jump from WCW. He was a perfect fit for an organisation that had done such great business with Andre the Giant and made him the first ever inductee to their Hall of Fame. There was no way they could drop the ball with Wight, he was a giant and he was ATHLETIC.
Wight debuted at St Valentines Day Massacre to help Vince McMahon in his cage match against Stone Cold but instead caused him to lose the match. At Mania he faced Mankind for the right to referee the main event but he lost. 3 days before this PPV, Big Show took his father's coffin to the funeral but he lost that as well.
Along the way he turned from heel to face, back to heel and then back to face in what would become the trademark of his career and the punchline of terrible jokes by memelords everywhere. In just 9 months, The Giant had gone from being one of the hottest free agents in the world to "Just Another Guy™".
Gone is the wild hair and the Andre style leotard. In its place are a greasy ponytail, a sleeveless T-shirt and cycling shorts (the irony that Show is probably the only one in this match that wasn't 'cycling' is not lost on me).
He looks like a scrub. Maybe I should have forseen this when he debuted in the same month as TLC released their classic song on the subject. As soon as Show is in the ring, he's attacked by HHH and Rock but he responds with a jumping double forearm smash. Show goes for the chokeslam on HHH but Rock inexplicably saves him.
There are a lot of punches and kicks in this match and not a lot of wrestling. The crowd are dead. There is no flow whatsoever and the opening minutes are quite frankly pretty dull. Rock wakes the crowd up with the People's Elbow on Show only for HHH to break up the pin. I look at the timer and there is still 15 minutes of this PPV left... Punch, punch, kick, punch...
They brawl at ringside towards the titantron and HHH gets PUNCHED through a table by The Rock. Enough with the strikes already....
Rock hits show with a fire extinguisher and then suplexs HHH on the concrete before HHH returns the favour of saving Rock from a chokeslam. The Attitude Era was great for a lot of things but ring psychology was not one of them.
Punch, punch, kick, punch...
Rock hits Show with a ring bell and then HHH and Rock double suplex Show through the announcer's table in the highlight of the match.
Rock and HHH brawl into the crowd and by my estimation we're averaging less than one wrestling move a minute at this point. Earl Hebner gets knocked out and HHH gets hit with the Rock Bottom but there is no referee to make the count. After a good 10 seconds, Shane McMahon runs out in a ref shirt but HHH kicks out at 2.
Rock hits another Rock Bottom and this time Big Show pulls Shane out before he can make the count. Show then beats down the Rock outside the ring and whips him into the ring post. Meanwhile, HHH is in the middle of the ring and he's got the title belt. Shane rips it out of his hands and eats a pedigree for his troubles. Big Show gets the upper hand but then DX run in and attack him. Vince McMahon starts power walking to the ring and something is about to go down.
DX magically disappear from the ring courtesy of one chokeslam to Billy Gunn. Vince swings the belt at HHH's head who ducks but runs into the Big Show, he then turns around and Vince clocks him to a big pop. Show hits the chokeslam and Vince counts the 1-2-3!
For the third year in a row Survivor Series ends with a Vince Mcmahon screwjob, the law of dimishing returns is in full effect here as I forgot this even happened. The crowd pop for the title change and then quickly fall quiet and uninterested. The Big Show makes history as (I believe) only the 4th man to win the WCW and WWF heavyweight titles and he drops to his knees in tears.
In truth, the crowd couldn't care less and all their attention is on Vince, Shane, HHH, DX and The Rock who are making their exits. Big Show's celebrations are ignored by the majority of the fans who don't want no scrubs.
If it's not clear I did not like this match or this PPV. The main event was BORING and 95% of it consisted of punches and kicks. Big Show winning was merely an afterthought and it felt like it was only done to set up the Vince vs HHH match at the next PPV.
HHH would win the belt back a mere six weeks later and would go on to defend it in career making matches against Mick Foley whilst the Rock would win the Royal Rumble. 2000 would not be so kind to The Big Show as he would become demotivated (understandable considering his booking which included a comedy run and PPV loss to Shane McMahon), gain weight and be shipped off to OVW.
The best thing I can say about this match is I will never have to watch it again. Thanks a lot Charlie. WINNER - NEW WWF CHAMPION, THE BIG SHOW
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