Jul 29, 202022 min read

Nerd Watch Wednesday: Invasion 2001

Here's Nineties Mike on his pick this week:

"So, I picked WWF InVasion for this week’s NWW. 19 years ago, 22nd July 2001. The PPV that could, and probably should, have launched a plethora of new stars, as well as taking professional wrestling to a whole new level. Alas, we know what went down that night, and we know what happened next. That’s not why I’m here. I am here to talk about the main event, The Inaugural Brawl, and the build up to it is just as important, so please indulge me.

We all know about Vincent Kennedy McMahon squeezing his competition to death (with a little internal help), and the contract had the name of McMahon on it, but it was Shane’s, along with his turtle neck. We also know that Stephanie gazumped Vince, buying ECW from right under his nose, aligning herself with Paul Heyman.

We also know that over the weeks and months leading up to InVasion, the likes of Booker T, Buff Bagwell, Billy Kidman and Diamond Dallas Page from WCW, Raven, Lance Storm, Rhyno and Tazz from ECW interfered and even featured on WWF shows. Among the many twists, turns and double-crosses, Vince asked a recently-calmed Stone Cold Steve Austin to return to his old Rattlesnake ways and help turn the tide.

Despite declining Vince’s request, on the last Raw before InVasion, Austin eventually put the beers down, came down to the ring, Stunnered everyone in sight, helped the WWF superstars clear the ring of their competitors and stood tall. Was this a portent of what was to come? What do you think?"

EDGE & CHRISTIAN vs. LANCE STORM & MIKE AWESOME

By Ross Casey

On paper, this match looks an absolute banger. All four men were in great shape here and I am really looking forward to it. There are absolutely zero rest holds to start this match as we go at 100mph from the off.

There's a scary moment when Christian falls off the top rope, but luckily his opponents catch him before he does himself some serious damage. It more than wakes the crowd up, though, who chant you fucked up.

The tide turns in the favour of the Alliance and Christian takes the heat from Storm, the highlight being thrown ribs first under the bottom rope into the ring post. Honestly, the bloke is bumping for Canada.

He somewhat stupidly lands a crossbody despite having hurt ribs and that means he is unable to get the hot tag to Edge. Awesome hits him with more power moves, taking even more wind from the lungs including an Awesome Splash, but Edge makes the save.

Mike Awesome attempts the top rope Awesome bomb, but gets back body dropped off the top and FINALLY Christian gets the tag! Edge is on fire and hits a multitude of moves at a great pace on both of his opponents.

There's an AMAZING close fall from a roll-up by Edge and then the match completely breaks down with miscommunication from both teams, near falls and double team moves. It's really fun and the finish is cool, with Awesome attempting a suplex on Christian only to get speared by Edge.

SUMMARY: This is a great opener for a PPV. The action was crisp, fast paced and told a great story with Christian's ribs being targeted. Very enjoyable stuff.

WINNERS - EDGE & CHRISTIAN VIA SPEAR

EARL HEBNER vs. NICK PATRICK

By Matt Connolly

So it is well known in Wrestling Should Be Fun circles that I have a very big disliking for Earl Hebner. The thought of him officiating a match brings me out in hives. The thought of him wanting to have a wrestle intrigues me however.

I mean, firstly it means he isn't the ref so the worry of shenanigans is automatically lower. Secondly it means at some point he will take a whack round the chops and I can loudly chant "You deserve it" at my Telly. There is no way this match with Nick Patrick is going to be any good, but will it be fun?

Earl is a Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer after all (even if he only ended up there for selling hooky merch like he's bloody Del Boy!) Your special guest referee Mick Foley is out first. He was well use to being used as a ref at this point and dons the white shirt spray painted with black lines that he so often wore.

Patrick is out first and he looks mean. Well, he has a scowl on. He is accompanied by 3 other refs including Little Natch! I'm a big fan of their white WCW polo's. They look like a stag do. One that is still wild enough to match tops and play some golf with a couple of cans but sightseeing and bed by midnight are the strict rules.

Earl out next and he actually gets a pop! Sickens me. One loser has even made him a sign. Wait, two losers! He's rolling with five of his 'Fed boys because he's a coward and no doubt only picked this fight because he had the numbers advantage. He's about as intimidating as a puddle. He's dressed in his ref uniform. Why have these guys worn uniform? Get the trunks on boys. This is your one time to show some flair.

There is some clumsy offence to start from both Men but when Hebner hits an Irish whip in the corner the crowd do bite. It's bowling shoe ugly but if this crowd isn't entertained then their voices are not playing along. Patrick puts the boots in on Hebner but at the halfway point (1 minute 25 seconds) Hebner fights back and hits ten strikes in the corner that the crowd count along with.

Hebner is like prime Hogan here and the fans are reacting like he might be The Real American, until Patrick hits a blatant low blow that Foley misses. I would feel bad but Earl's blurry peep holes would of almost certainly missed it too. Patrick then sends Hebner to the outside with an acceptable looking baseball slide and this is when all the refs start brawling on the outside.

Foley sends all the WCW refs to the back which isn't completely unfair as they did start it but then he rolls Hebner into the ring. I'm not sure why Foley is doing that. Patrick rightly has a word and as he turns around Hebner runs into him and gets a three.

I think it was meant to be a Thesz press but it wasn't even a press. Anyway Earl wins and this one ends. It was pretty fun but the wrong man won.

WINNER - EARL HEBNER VIA THESZ PRESS, KINDA

VINCE MCMAHON RALLY CRY #1

With Edge & Christian just having successfully seen off Lance Storm & Mike Awesome, VKM is positively buzzing. William Regal enters and informs him that Stone Cold & Debra have arrived. Vince wants to let Austin get himself settled and focussed before he speaks to him. In an attempt to gee up Regal, Vince uses George Washington’s actions in the revolutionary war against King George’s Red Coats as an example of what he should do to Raven. A clearly confused and upset William Regal wanders off, giving Vince a hesitant thumbs up.

APA vs. CHUCK PALUMBO & SEAN O'HAIRE

By Ross Casey

The pop for APA's theme music is huge. You forget just how hot they were as a tag team around this time with their bar brawls and smash mouth style. Quite the opposite can be said about their opponents, but boy do i love seeing O'Haire wrestle.

Compared to the crispness of the previous tag i reviewed, this is very different, with rugged being the word I would use to describe the action. O'Haire shows off his prowess for being agile plenty of times though, which looks even m ore impressive against dudes the size of Simmons and Bradshaw.

He easily has the most exciting moveset of these four men, but none are holding back and the snug work is actually played out at a pretty decent pace, which makes for a slobberknocker.

It's a shame that the crowd seem disinterested as all four blokes are working super hard here. The psychology is simple - he who knocks someone out first wins. Bradshaw lands a sick looking boot to Palumbo shortly followed by a clothesline to hell and that's all she wrote.

SUMMARY: This was a decent HOSS battle with at least three or four strikes making me physically wince. Having been treated to AJPW of late by Brum, this was missing the psychology of those great matches, but it was cool to see that physical style on WWE PPV.

WINNERS - APA BY CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL

VINCE MCMAHON RALLY CRY #2

The APA have rather comfortably bested Natural Born Thrillers, and Vince starts ranting about an annihilation. The WWF now 3-0 up, he’s positively buzzing. His next inspirational speech is for Chris Jericho, who goes on to rag on WCW, claiming they had no leader, but ECW do, and that man is Paul E(www, gross) Heyman.

He goes on to point out that although he’s crazy, and overweight and has terrible hair, he’s passed on his nastiness to The Alliance and Vince’s kids. On the other hand, WWF is mad and angry and will get, get, get even. Vince agrees and says The Alliance will never, eeeveer be the same again.

THE ALLIANCE SUMMIT #1

Billy Kidman, Steph, Shane and Heyman have all seen Vince and Jericho’s little speech, and they are not happy. Steph hates Jericho and can’t contain her rage, despite Shane’s attempts to control the situation. He gives Kidman a pep talk, saying X-Pac may be good (hmmm) but he’s better (no shit). Kidman makes the mistake of saying it is all under control, and Paul E, who was sitting quietly in the corner loses his rag, and points out that it all rests on Billy’s shoulders. Billy tells Heyman to relax as he will show why everyone says “X-Pac sucks”.

BILLY KIDMAN vs. X-PAC

By Dom Van Dam

G’day lads and welcome to another champion vs champion showdown here at Invasion. We join Kidman backstage in The Alliance dressing room with their 3 bosses. The pressure is well and truly piled on the Allentown native in this upcoming match as The Alliance are 0-3 on the main show scorecard so far. If Kidman is feeling the pressure he doesn’t show it and is very confident he can ‘show everyone why they say “X-Pac Sucks!”’

X-Pac enters to a chorus of boos which is strange because he clearly wants to be working as the babyface in this one. Kidman doesn’t get the warmest reaction either from the outset but X-Pac quickly assesses the situation and works the heat on Kidman; Billy getting the hope spots through the guts of this one.

Speaking of hope spots- X-Pac tries to hit a Powerbomb but: (say it with me lads) “You don’t Powerbomb Kidman!” Kidman’s reversal into facebuster is the beginning of the end and the Shooting Star Press finish not only gets the 1-2-3 but The Coalition’s first babyface pop of the evening. It won’t be the last…

WINNER - VIA SHOOTING STAR PRESS, BILLY KIDMAN

(Comma Count: 0)

THE ALLIANCE SUMMIT #2

It’s a very different scene now as The Alliance revels in Kidman’s victory, and they are joined by Diamond Dallas Page. He tries to tell them about what he got up to with Debra when he kidnapped her on Smackdown, but nobody wants to hear it (least of all Steph by the look on her face!!). All Shane cares about is winning the Inaugural Brawl tonight. DDP tries to reassure them all, saying he is in the heads of The Undertaker and Stone Cold, and the Inaugural Brawl is theirs for the taking.

RAVEN vs. WILLIAM REGAL

By Brum

Two of my all-time boys scrapping tonight! I’m interested in how their styles will clash. They are both cerebral competitors but they go about in different ways so this could be good.

I think Regal was a comedy heel at this time, so not sure what sort of reaction he’ll get. Raven out first. They’ve given him some terrible music with a cawing raven soundbite on repeat. The crowd give him nothing. Regal out next to not much better. Hopefully the crowd pick up a bit during the match.

Regal starts on top, with suplexes & strikes. He goes for a couple of pinfalls. Cole nicely points out Regal’s arm over Raven’s face during the pin. Raven turns things around & gets things to the outside straight away. He hits a nice side Russian leg sweep into the barricade.

You can hear the crowd but it sounds like people chatting to each other rather than being into the match. A bit of a back & forth section, I’m not really sure what the story is here. For a bit, it looked like Raven was trying to get the match to the outside but that stopped quickly. Now it’s maybe looking like he’s zoning in on Regal’s ribs but there’s not much to it.

Raven goes to the top rope twice & the second time Regal catches him. Raven turns things round. This is just two guys doing moves to each other. There are then some sloppy pin trades. Taz comes out when the ref is not looking & suplexes Regal. Raven hits an Even Flow DDT, called here as The Raven Effect. Regal sells it poorly. Raven wins in probably not much over 5 minutes.

SUMMARY: I’m now of the view that if a match has no internal story or doesn’t further on the external story of its participants, it needs to be really exciting. If not, then don’t waste the time of the wrestlers & the fans. Raven & Regal didn’t do a great job here but they had nothing to work with. The crowd were shit but I can’t blame them too much. This was a major disappointment. I’m going to go watch Regal vs Cesaro & Dreamer vs Raven to cleanse my mind of this match.

WINNER - RAVEN VIA RAVEN EFFECT

VINCE MCMAHON RALLY CRY #3

This should be interesting. “The Best Pure Striker in WWF”, The Undertaker and Kane are getting psyched up in their dressing room. Here comes Vince to get them battle-ready. Taker audibly sighs as Vince starts his pep-talk. He says they have lost two in a row, they can’t afford to lose any more, and they both need to be at their best.

He uses what The Alliance has done previously to them as inspiration. Kane looks ashamed at being reminded that he was jumped by numerous superstars and “beaten like a dog”. When Vince reminds Taker that DDP stalked and videoed his wife, the Deadman has had enough and pins VKM against the wall and tells him that tonight he’ll see the best of The Undertaker. As Taker stalks off, Vince grins to himself having got exactly the reaction he wanted.

KANYON, SHAWN STASIAK & HUGH MORRUS vs. BIG SHOW, BILLY GUNN & ALBERT

By Matt Connolly

Second match for me this week is a big thrown together six man. Team Alliance is represented by the middle of the midcard as Chris Kanyon, Hugh Morrus and Shawn Stasiak team up against a WWF contingent of former WWF and WCW world champion The Big Show, former King of The Ring winner and multiple time Tag Team champion Billy Gunn and lastly the man of a thousand gimmicks who at this point is going under the name Albert.

If this goes longer than five minutes I have seriously underestimated the WCW lads but on paper this screams squash. The ref is WCW though so you never know. Big Show, Billy Gunn and Albert all get individual entrances. Billy is using his under-rated "The One" theme music and Albert is unfortunately still employing that awful "X-Factor" one that Uncle Kracker did. He is the Intercontinental champion though.

The WCW lads all come out to Stasiak's theme because F them guys. They get the jump on the WWF boys to start us off here. The opening encounter is Kanyon and Gunn and it's pretty tidy stuff. Nothing to write to your Mum about but solid. It does feel like they are cycling through their shit a bit. Stasiak tags in and all his strikes are greeted with "Meat" chants.

Match breaks down and this is a chance for Albert to clean house and do bits. He tags back to Billy Gunn. Morrus tags in for the opponents and Billy hits a fameasser that should surely end this. In all the commotion Stasiak is able to enter and hit a pretty unimpactful reverse DDT on Gunn and Morrus falls into the cover for a surprise win.

Then The Big Show just runs in and murders them all. Forgettable but expectations were pretty low anyway. No fault of these lads. They tried with the time given.

WINNERS - TEAM WCW BY UNIMPACTFUL REVERSE DDT

THE ALLIANCE SUMMIT #3

As Shane shines up Booker T’s WCW World Heavyweight Title, he informs him that the score is now 4-3 due to Chavo Guerrero beating Scotty 2 Hotty on Sunday Night Heat (pre-show counts guys!), they are in the lead. The Inaugural Brawl is the big one, though, and they must win. Booker T reminds Shane that he’s beaten Jericho and Angle, and that he owns Stone Cold Steve Austin. He is the WCW Champion, the US champion, and the superior athlete, and can you dig that suckaaaaaa?!

VINCE MCMAHON RALLY CRY #4

It’s Angle’s turn now, and he enters Vince’s office looking like a man on a mission. He uses the beating he also took on Smackdown, and then he tries to use Angle’s patriotism to psyche him up. Kurt has heard enough of VKM’s Americana Bullshit! At the Olympics, he didn’t just win a gold medal, he kicked some serious ass. Which is what he’s going to do tonight, he’s going to do it for his country and his company, and mostly he’s going to do it for Kurt Angle.

TAJIRI vs TAZZ

By Ross Casey

Boy, oh boy what happened to Taz? These two faced off at Heatwave 1999 for the ECW Championship in a match where Taz basically jobbed Tajiri out as a dominant ECW Champion.

Less than two years later and Tazz has gained a z'' and looks like a janitor when wrestling. The gear did him no favours and it hid his incredible leg and neck muscles and of these two wrestlers here in 2001 it is easy to see why Tajiri was the one that was a success in the WWF.

The match itself is short, with Tazz attempting to bully Tajiri, only to ultimately get caught in a Tarantula and then suffer the green mist to the eyes (Tim White was faffing about doing anything else than ref) and a buzzsaw kick to the face.

SUMMARY: This was short and bittersweet. Tajiri showed his class whilst you sadly see the demise of the man once thought of as one of the best in the game.

WINNER - TAJIRI VIA GREEN MIST & BUZZSAW KICK

WWF HARDCORE TITLE MATCH: JEFF HARDY (C) vs. ROB VAN DAM

By Dom Van Dam

G’day lads, DVD here again, back from Nerd Watch Wednesday retirement after less than a week for double duty. I’m sure that you lot are just as sick of my RVD fan boy write-ups as you are of my nauseating use of commas. But on both accounts; I don’t give a shit, dear reader.

This, unsurprisingly, was my favourite match of 2001 and I watched it so many times that the VHS that I used to tape this PPV was onion peel thin. On an unrelated note if you are interested in buying 1000+ hours of taped VHS footage that is now available for free on the WWE network; email domvandam@hotmail.com.

I decided to watch most of the show back here and I’d say this was the hottest the crowd had been, throughout the night so far. The fans pop huge for the trademark Van Dam spots, especially the Corkscrew Guillotine Leg Drop on the guardrail. I guess for the majority of the audience, this would be the first time seeing a lot of this offence.

This is a typical Van Dam match from this era and the story is that each wrestler briefly gains an advantage by countering his opponent. Most of the high spots are reversals of the opponent’s trademarks. RVD stops Hardy from “Running the Rails” by meeting him on the guardrail for a clothesline of his own.

When Hardy pulls out his trademark ladder, Mr PPV up-ends Jeff from the apex to the concrete. Similarly, when The Whole F’N Show reaches for his favourite steel chair, Hardy counters to take control of the weapon. Of course you are never safe swinging a chair at Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy eats an incredible Van Daminator into the pit in the staging.

There’s plenty more back and forth: The Skateboard from Van Dam busts Hardy open and when Jeff misses a Swanton Bomb (the final reversal of this counterfest) RVD unleashes what is undisputedly the best (5 Star) Frog Splash in the industry for the 1-2-3.

WINNER - AND NEW HARDCORE CHAMPION, ROB VAN DAM VIA 5 SPAR FROG SPLASH

(Comma Count: 12)

BRA & PANTIES MATCH: STACY KIEBLER & TORRIE WILSON vs. LITA & TRISH STRATUS

By Ross Casey

I actually refused to even watch this as it is such a misogynistic, disrespectful match type for four wrestlers to have to compete in. The thought of seeing them undress eachother as the crowd whoop and the commentary team say questionable things didn't appeal to me. I have however included a GIF from the match to prove that this shit doesn't belong in wrestling now thank God.

I know the women's wrestling revolution is a bit of a joke thanks to Stephanie Mcmahon and the timing of Evolution ahead of their first ever Saudi show, but please let's commend even the WWE on how far they have come. Lita and Trish in particular should be proud for playing their part in changing the game in their time too.

WINNER - WOMEN WRESTLERS FOR NOT PUTTING UP WITH THIS SHIT ANYMORE

THE ALLIANCE SUMMIT #4

We have the whole of The Alliance Team, Steph, Shane and Heyman. Steph says their time is now and it’s do or die. Heyman tells them they have the chance to change history, and show the difference between a loser and a winner, a failure and a god. Shane has heard enough. The time for talking is over. “Let’s go and get this done”. Fists are in, and a rally cry begins!

VINCE MCMAHON RALLY CRY #5

Steve Austin looks PISSED OFF. Nonetheless, McMahon decides to come in and psyche him up. I think we know where this is going! He tries to tell Austin he has confidence in him, but Austin tells his boss he doesn’t need motivating. He’s not here to sing, he’s not here to tell jokes, and he’s not here to hug anybody, he’s here to go out there and whip somebody’s ass. And that’s The Bottom Line cos Stone Cold Says So!

TEAM ALLIANCE vs TEAM WWF

By Nineties Mike

Team Alliance (Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T, Rhyno, The Dudley Boyz) w/ Paul Heyman and Stephanie & Shane McMahon Vs. Team WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane) w/ Vince McMahon.

It’s Go Time, and Shane O’Mac is the first out, swiftly followed by Heyman and Steph. Vince struts out next, and finally some wrestlers appear, beginning with The Dudley Boyz. The Brothers of Destruction are next into the fray and the crowd inevitably goes ballistic. Boos greet the emergence of Rhyno, before Chris Jericho enters to a cacophonous wall of acclaim. Not hard to tell which side this crowd is on!

Lukewarm boos for Booker T, who brings both of his belts and a look on his face that means business. JR tries to big up Kurt Angle’s ovation, and it’s so loud it threatens to drown out the pyro! No “You Suck” chants tonight. Crickets greet DDP as he makes his way to the ring. One thing that has dawned on me is why has Vince allowed The Alliance wrestlers to have pyro during their entrances?

Surely he has the power to stop that? Anyway, The Undertaker attacks Page during his entrance, and we now have a 9-man riot going on at ringside.

The familiar break of glass emits and Stone Cold wastes no time running into the melee, targeting DDP first before battering Rhyno to the floor. We have 2 refs here, Mike Chioda from WWF and Charles Robinson from WCW. It’s absolute chaos, with everyone switching targets and battering anything they can see in front of them. The match eventually begins and Team WWF have the advantage as Austin dominates Rhyno.

While stomping a hole in Rhyno in the opponents’ corner, Austin fends off Bubba Ray and DDP with big right hands. A Lou Thesz press and elbow drop earn Austin the first 2-count of this battle. A superplex is followed by a cover, however D-Von breaks up a possible match-ending predicament for Rhyno. Jericho in next and he keeps up the assault on a weakened Rhyno. He turns the tables though, and now Y2J is in trouble, trapped in The Alliance’s corner.

Booker T leads a fightback, but Jericho turns the tables and has a pin on Booker T. Rhyno runs in to save the pinfall, Jericho moves and Rhyno clobbers his own partner! Jericho removes Rhyno from the equation and lands a sweet top-rope dropkick on Booker for a 2-count.

Angle in now, and he is battering the WCW champ with big rights and big boots. Booker T reverses an Irish Whip and hits Angle with a back-kick. He tags out to D-Von, who appears to be doing a number on Angle, but gets careless and is caught with a big elbow, and Angle drags D-Von to the corner to tag in The Big Red Machine. It’s a bit of a mis-match and Kane lays waste to the Dudley Boy, hitting a sidewalk slam for a 2-count, which is broken up by DDP.

Bubba Ray in to save D-Von, he gets more of the same and is sent packing. Blind tag from Bubba Ray, though and he and D-Von manage to hit a 3D! Kane comfortably kicks out at 2 though. Bubba Ray takes it to Kane with elbow drop after elbow drop. Kane is up though and hits a big boot and flying clothesline from the top rope before attempting to pin Bubba Ray. D-Von saves the day again, only for Kane to tag in The Undertaker, who batters Bubba Ray with some of that famous pure striking of his.

Successive Irish Whips into the corners are broken up by an elbow, and suddenly Taker is rocked. He rallies back with a flying clothesline and lays one on DDP on the outside. Leg-drop from the Phenom gets another 2-count, and Undertaker is going Old Schoooooool. He attacks all of The Alliance on the outside, but DDP is smarter and reverses into a hangman on the top rope.

The Alliance start to dominate The Undertaker, with Rhyno hitting a Gore in the corner. DDP tags in and hits him with rights and a nice short-arm clothesline for 2. Taker tries to battle back with more striking, another clothesline gets another 2-count though. Booker T in now, and he continues the decimation of The Undertaker, until he hits a DDT on Booker to turn the tide.

Business is about to pick up as Stone Cold tags in, and goes for it with 100% intensity, taking the fight to Booker T. A thumb to the eye and from both men, but Austin keeps the advantage for his team. The battle spills outside and Austin makes the most of his surroundings, throwing Booker T over the barricade and then suplexing him back over it onto the mats in the ring area!

Back in the ring and Austin tags in Jericho, who climbs to the top and nails poor Booker T. He is taking one hell of a beating. Jericho tries to put Booker into the Walls of Jericho. DDP runs in to save his partner and ends up in Jericho’s next submission attempt. Jericho shrugs off DDP and counters an attempt from Booker T to finally get some breathing space.

Lionsault attempt from Jericho is dodged, and with a little help from D-Von, Booker hangs Y2J on the top rope. Booker T finally tags out to D-Von, who lays the boots into Jericho. He tags in Bubba Ray and The Dudley Boyz go to town on Y2J. Every time Jericho looks to be gaining some momentum, the Dudleys use their tag knowhow to keep him in his place, wearing him down. Just as all looks lost, though, Y2J hits a spinning heel kick on Bubba Ray and a forearm on D-Von and all three men are down and out.

The crowd rallies, and Jericho is up first tagging in Kurt Angle, who is up for this! He whips both men into the corner repeatedly, until he whips them into each other and dispatches them with belly-to-belly suplexes before covering D- Von, who is saved by Bubba Ray at 2. Angle can’t keep it up though, and with a distraction from DDP, Bubba Ray is able to hit the American hero with a Bubba Bomb for another 2-count.

D-Von is the legal man and continues beating on the Olympic gold medallist. Though Undertaker jumps in to break up a pin, the onslaught continues regardless. Rhyno in now to wear down Angle, and he is relentless in the pursuit of beating the crap out of his opponent.

It's Austin’s turn to break up a pinfall now, and when Chioda tries to remonstrate with him (in a no disqualification match), Stone Cold gives him the one-fingered salute. The Alliance keep taking turns laying into Angle and tagging in and out quickly and often.

A scissor-kick and Spineroonie combo lead to a pin attempt, but Undertaker is in again to break up the count. Tornado power bomb from DDP, this time Austin breaks up the pin viciously and spins to the outside to escape. DDP distracts the ref, and The Dudley Boyz hit Angle with a Wasssuuuppp. DDP still the legal man locks a weird-looking sleeper-slam thing on Angle and gets another 2-count. Front face-lock applied by DDP, and Jericho cheerleads from the top rope, trying to lead the crowd to assist the ailing Angle.

Kurt tries battling to his team’s corner, and makes it, tagging in Austin, Chioda didn’t see it, though, and waves Austin away and back outside. Meanwhile, The Alliance are literally putting the boot in on Angle, and he’s a million miles away from home again. A neck-breaker from Page, and Undertaker has seen enough, he’s in and going after DDP, leading to anyone and everyone attacking their opponents. Mike Chioda has, shock, lost all control!

The Undertaker and Page exchange blows, and, after performing a chokeslam, they fight into the crowd, but not before Charles Robinson tries to remonstrate with Taker and gets a Last Ride for his troubles. Austin is down holding his knee after Booker sent him flying into the steps and Angle is lying in the ring after the prolonged beating he just took.

On the outside, Kane is being double-teamed by the Dudley Boyz, but The Big Red Machine fights back, nailing a chokeslam on D-Von through the announce table. Bubba Ray and Rhyno attack Kane from behind and send him through the other announce table with a double suplex. It is breaking down here.

Jericho then sends Rhyno through a table with a shoulder block from the apron. Back in the ring, Bubba Ray and Booker begin a double-team attack on Angle, he fights back with a German suplex for Booker, and an Angle Slam for Bubba Ray. Angle is attempting to apply the ankle lock on Booker, but Booker kicks him into the referee! Angle recovers and goes for Booker T, walks into a flapjack, and all three are down. Heyman is going ballistic, battering the ring apron and screaming at his men to get up and win this.

Wait, what is Vinnie Mac up to? He’s sneaking around the timekeeper’s area, and yes, he has the WWF Championship belt in his hands! He throws it to Angle, Shane intercepts. Vince tries to get it back, but Shane hits him with it right between the eyes and Vince is out! Shane attempts to lay out Angle with the belt now, Angle ducks though, and launches Shane and Bubba Ray out of the ring.

Angle smells blood and hits the Angle Slam on Booker T. The straps are down and Angle knows what he ahs to do! Ankle Lock is applied and Booker T is in trouble! He taps, but there is no ref. Austin picks up Chioda and unceremoniously dumps him back in the ring. Before Chioda can make the decision, Austin kicks Angle in the head! What is he doing?

Michael Cole and JR cannot believe their eyes, and nor can the capacity crowd! He picks up Angle, hits him with one of the 4 best finishers of all-time (WSBF-approved statistic) and lays Booker T on top of him. The ref hesitates, but Austin makes sure that he counts 1…2…3…

What the hell just happened?! Vince is still laying on the mat after being hit with his own world title belt, and Angle is kicked to the outside by an unrepentant Austin. Heyman, Shane and Steph all applaud and bow at the altar of Stone Cold Steve Austin before sharing some Steveweisers. What does this mean? What does the future hold for the WWF? How can Vincent Kennedy McMahon recover from this? And, in the words of JR, “Why Austin, Why?”

SUMMARY: While not quite the elite level WCW stars, The Alliance more than held their own against the superstars of the WWF. Austin again showed that he trusts no-one and is only in this for himself. A hard-hitting all-over-the-place slobberknocker of its time, this event and the admittedly oddly-titled Inaugural Brawl are lots of fun and well worth your time. Hard to believe this was NINETEEN years ago, huh?

WINNERS - TEAM ALLIANCE BY AUSTIN'S DON'T TRUST ANYBODY ATTITUDE

That's all, folks!