This was the official last American ppv under the name WWF. As it turned out, it was released under the WWE name so technically this is the first WWE ppv in which to work with. This is partially why the ratings dropped like a bomb because the casual fans were confused. Let me give you an insight of what was going on at the time before we continue. In mid April 2002 Vince McMahon was battling a lawsuit over the copyright to the name WWF by the World Wildlife Foundation. Now rather than settle out of court and pay them on advertising and what not, Vince decided to let the Wildlifers win the battle and he changed the name of World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment. Now in Vince's mind, it was no big deal....after all he changed the name from World Wide Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Federation in the early 80's so it wasn't like changing names was never done before. What Vince failed to realize was that changing the name in today's age was a huge deal. The NYSE, the internet and just about everything else had to change and part of the suit was they could no longer say the letters WWF in that specific order. Now Vince had to change the logos, the stock info, the website, everything. It became a huge mess and casual fans were confused.
The second biggest change was after Wrestlemania, Vince decided to have two brands so to speak which meant wrestlers would only work on either Raw or Smackdown. Hardcore fans thought this was a good idea because seeing the same guys on two shows every week really sped up the decline of their buyrates, TV ratings and merch sales. WCW stars that were hot in 1995 were old in 1998 for the very same reason, being on tv too much gets people bored faster. Unfortunately the problem with this was Smackdown was on network television while Raw was on cable, meaning people without cable could no longer see guys like Kane or Steve Austin or anyone else on Raw. The second problem was the WWE champion can appear on both shows but that would over-expose him as well, not to mention having to fly to arenas for Raw and then fly to arenas for Smackdown. While it was a good idea in some aspects to split into brands, the drawbacks would further confuse fans and led to a rapid downfall of ratings. Now then, lets move on to the review.
Backlash 02 was the site of one of the most infamous matches of all time. The previous month at Wrestlemania, HHH had beaten Chris Jericho to win the WWF undisputed title and on the same show, Hulk Hogan lost to The Rock and revived Hulkamania in the process. Somehow even though The Rock won the match, Hogan became number 1 contender to HHH and they would wrestle for the belt at Backlash. The two biggest ego-maniacs in wrestling will go at it and someone has to do the job, question is who is the unlucky one?
APRIL 21, 2002
KEMPER ARENA
KANSAS CITY, MO
Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
Match 1
Billy Kidman vs Tajiri (with Torrie Wilson) for the WWF Cruiserweight championship
This was right in the middle of Tajiri's heel turn so he's got Torrie unwillingly dressing in kimonos. Kidman enters to his cool old school WCW music and we're set to go. I will no longer be reviewing matches blow for blow but I'll try to get most of the action that I can. Ross starts off by mentioning Tajiri had beaten Kidman for the title last October in the same arena. Tajiri is shoved down but nips back up and they do a sequence of flips and takedowns before Tajiri chops Kidman in the corner. Kidman returns the favor and goes for a hurracarrana but Tajiri catches him and slingshots him into the turnbuckle. Kidman lands on the second rope and delivers a flying dropkick and goes for the cover. After a 2 count, Kidman goes on the offensive as the crowd chants for Torrie. Tajiri slides to the outside and grabs Kidman's legs and proceeds to pull him out and drop him face first on the guard-rail. Tajiri throws Kidman inside and goes on the offensive as JR talks about Tajiri's heel turn and Lawler makes a racist comment on how Tajiri will take his money and open a "Tall Man" shop in Tokyo. Tajiri drops Kidman on the first rope then slides out of the ring and hits a kick on Kidman's head. He taunts the crowd gets back in and applies a rest hold as JR brings up the feud started when Tajiri knocked Kidman out cold with one of his kicks on Smackdown. Kidman powers out of it, bounces off the ropes and hits a hurracarrana before Tajiri catches him on the second attempt with an around the world backbreaker. Tajiri ties Kidman up in the tree of woe and tells the crowd "Shutaaapppppp" before hitting his trademark dropkick in the corner. Tajiri rolls out and does a bow and arrow using the ring post for leverage and kicks him for good measure. Tajiri rolls back in and goes on offense while King screams for Torrie's puppies. Tajiri tries a backbreaker submission but Kidman rolls through and gets a 2 count. Tajiri goes back on the offensive with elbows and kicks and JR says Tajiri has a degree in economics which shocks Lawler. Kidman rallies and charges in the corner but Tajiri avoids it and tries a tarantula. Kidman blocks it and Tajiri kicks him from the apron, then leaps over the rope and somehow gets the tarantula locked on. Nice spot and Tajiri signals for his buzzkick but misses it and Kidman rallies again. Kidman whips Tajiri and he tries his cartwheel back elbow but Kidman counters with a dropkick to the back. A cover gets 2, Tajiri then rolls through a backdrop and spin kicks him Savio Vega style in the back of the head. Tajiri and Kidman hit a series of reversals before Tajiri hits a German suplex for a 2 count, and then turns into a rolling prawn hold for another 2 count. The crowd cheers the spots as Tajiri goes back on the offensive and hits a savate kick but the cover gets 2. Kidman turns a powerbomb into a facebuster but the cover gets a long 2 count. Kidman goes for the seven year itch but Tajiri moves out of the way and hits his buzzkick. Tajiri's cover gets a 2 count as Lawler wonders how Kidman kicked out. They end up on the top turnbuckle where Kidman hits a spinebuster but the cover only nets a 2. Kidman goes for a powerbomb but Tajiri sprays the red mist in his eyes, rolls through and gets a 1...2....3 to win the match and the title. Ross scoffs as Torrie applauds and Michael Cole hits ringside to interview him. Tajiri answers in Japenese to confuse everyone and Ross says Tajiri is the champion by hook or crook. Decent opener with some nice spots.
Time of match: 9:08
Winner: Tajiri by pinfall (new Cruiserweight champion)
The next segment has the APA re-uniting for the first time since Bradshaw was drafted to Raw and Faarooq went to Smackdown. They chat for a bit before the nWo's music plays so Bradshaw heads off as we head to the next match. I initially thought that breaking up the APA was a bad idea but when Bradshaw became JBL two years later it turned into a good idea.
Match 2
Scott Hall (with X-Pac) vs Bradshaw
After Hulk Hogan left the re-formulated nWo it was basically all down-hill from there. Kevin Nash got injured (in the storyline Flair "suspended" him) which left Scott Hall the only original member left. Vince tried to salvage the situation by bringing Big Show and X-Pac into the group. X-Pac enters besides Hall wearing Kane's mask and JR talks about how the nWo put Kane on the shelf (he'd come back later in the year with a new look). I was a huge Scott Hall fan growing up so when I saw him come back at No Way Out, I was thrilled. It didn't take long for me to find out he was still an alcoholic and his matches were no longer what they once were and I hoped this one would be different. Hall actually gets a loud face pop from the crowd though he's a heel and Bradshaw gets almost as big as one. X-Pac and Hall circle around Bradshaw before the APA music hits and out comes Faarooq to be in Bradshaw's corner. Hall throws his toothpick at Bradshaw and laughs before Bradshaw slugs him down. Bradshaw goes on the offensive and beats Hall around the ring before hitting a ddt. A cover gets a 2 as Hall bails to the outside and backs into Faarooq. Hall slowly turns around and eats a right hand before Faarooq turns around and nails X-Pac for his troubles. Faarooq throws Scott in and Bradshaw goes back on the offensive and gets a 2 count after an elbow drop. Bradshaw resumes clubbing and chopping Hall and then hits a float over suplex for another 2 count. Bradshaw resumes slugging Hall and Scott staggers around as if he was drunk...then again I wouldn't doubt that he may have actually been so. Bradshaw gets another 2 count before Hall rallies and hits his around the world punch. Hall chokes Bradshaw on the second rope before X-Pac gets some cheap shots in. They trade blows and Hall goes on the offensive and hits a clothesline in the corner. Hall continues to go to work with boots in the corner before Bradshaw hits a shoulder tackle. When both men get up Bradshaw goes on the offensive and hits clubs and elbows before hitting a big boot. Bradshaw hits a running corner clothesline spot Hall had hit earlier. Hall reverses a whip but turns around into a clothesline from hell. Bradshaw covers but X-Pac puts Hall's foot on the rope to break the count. Faarooq chases X-Pac onto the apron where Bradshaw slugs him off and Faarooq catches him then rams him back first into the ringpost. Hall sneaks up behind Bradshaw and hits a low blow then cradles him up for the 1-2-3 to end the match. Hall and X-Pac and JR explain how Hall won the match. Bad match and it would turn out to be Hall's last ppv match as a wrestler for he would be fired for sexually harassing a flight attendant after INSURREXTION 2002, least he went out with a win.
Time of Match: 5:43
Winner: Scott Hall by pinfall
The next segment is Vince McMahon barging into Ric Flair's office and sticks it to him for his recent misfortune of pissing off people on Raw. Flair says he'll never be Vince McMahon as Arn Anderson smirks and refuses a handshake. Guess the point of this was to hype the Austin/Taker showdown later on in the night.
Match 3
Trish Stratus vs Jazz for the WWF Women's Championship
Jazz had recently won the title from the rapidly improving Trish so maybe this time Trish will get the upperhand? Up until the fall of 2001 Trish was a horrible wrestler if you can believe it, and through dedication and endless training she turned herself into the great wrestler she is today. Jazz is the opposite of Trish, she's not that attractive but she can kick some serious ass. Trish enters to a huge pop and Molly makes her entrance instead of Jazz. Molly cuts a heel promo and then attacks Trish, after giving her a beat-down Jazz makes her way to ring side and throws Trish in the ring like Molly wasn't even there and the match begins. Jazz goes on the offensive hitting a series of moves culminating in a sidewalk slam. Trish rallies and hits a clothesline but is thrown down seconds later. Jazz hits Tyson like left jabs before Trish counters with her own. Trish misses a right legged chick kick but lands one with her left and gets a 2 count. Trish goes on the offensive in the corner and hits a Stratusphere but Jazz pops up. Trish hits a series of clotheslines and then a neck-breaker which nets a 2 count. Jazz counters with a boot to the head (yeah yeah) and hits a sit-down powerbomb but the cover only gets 2. Jazz strangles Trish on the first rope. Jazz whips her into the corner but misses a stinger splash attempt but Trish's roll attempt gets 2. Trish goes for the Stratusfaction but Jazz counters with a back suplex. A cover gets a 2 count and Charles Robinson the referee goes "woah woah". Jazz whips her in the corner and counters a boot with a single leg takedown. Jazz locks in a Boston crab and Trish inches her way to the rope before Jazz turns into an STF where Trish submits. Action packed for 4 minutes with little rest holds, decent showing. JR says Molly Holly's interference cost Trish the match and Jazz should take her out to dinner. Some doofus I don't even know tries to interview Jazz after the match and she just walks off.
Time of match: 4:25
Winner: Jazz by submission (still Women's champion)
The next segment is a replay of the previous Raw where Paul Heyman invades Lita's locker-room and begins playing with her panties (like he's never done this before?) before Lita walks in. Heyman says that Lesnar is gonna destroy Matt Hardy at the ppv unless Lita plays nice nice with Heyman (again, like she's never done that?) Later on in the show Heyman comes out to the ramp with Lita's bag and plays with her thongs and whatnot before Matt charges right into Brock Lesnar. Lesnar proceeds to F-5 Hardy into the steel ramp and puts him out of the ppv. Jeff Hardy takes his place instead and back to live action which shows Heyman telling Lesnar tonight's his night to shine, yeah no kidding. The start of a two year run begins.....now
Match 4
Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs Jeff Hardy (with Lita)
Brock Lesnar was an NCAA wrestling heavyweight champion from the U of Minnesota and he's being booked as a monster heel so this should be a one sided squash. Lesnar comes out to cool music that's not his most famous theme, wonder whatever happened to that song. Hardy attacks at the opening bell but Lesnar quickly takes over with knees to the abdomen. Lesnar heaves Hardy underneath the rope as JR tells the crowd about Lesnar's amateur wrestling success. Hardy slides in the ring and when Lesnar jumps on the apron he's promptly dropkicked off. Jeff springboards onto Lesnar, who catches him but Hardy reverses a snake eyes and rams Lesnar into the steel post. Hardy hops on the top rope and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Lesnar gets up and spears Hardy into the corner and rams him with shoulders. Lesnar throws him around and nails a series of greco-roman suplexes. Lesnar hits 3 back-breakers in a row as Heyman says that's for Lita. Lesnar stalks Hardy and Jeff tries to rally but Lesnar whips him hard off the corner. JR says that barely anyone in the WWF can match power with Brock and when he gets more experience he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the future, good call on that one. Lesnar whips Jeff into the corner where Hardy hits a whisper in the wind out of nowhere. Jeff hits a sitdown jawbreaker and then his inbetween the legs leg-drop. Jeff goes upstairs and hits the swanton bomb, but Lesnar powers out at 2. Jeff goes outside and gets a steel chair but Lesnar picks him up and nails te F-5. Heyman tells Lesnar not to pin up but hurt him so Lesnar hits a huge powerbomb, picks him up and does it again. Lesnar hits another powerbomb and referee Teddy Long stops the match. I think that's the first stoppage I've seen since 1999 but in terms of storyline and on-screen impact it was a good call. Impressive showing by Lesnar who hit power moves like Hardy was 100 lbs instead of 200. This was just the beginning for Brock now known as The Next Big Thing and the next step was conquering more than The Hardy Boyz.
Time of Match: 5:31
Winner: Brock Lesnar by stoppage
The next segment is a highlight package for the upcoming Edge vs Kurt Angle showdown. The highlight was when Edge humiliated Angle by posting "I suck" under pictures, you'd have to see it to appreciate it.
Match 5
Edge vs Kurt Angle
Good friends, better enemies. These two haven't feuded since the previous King of the Ring before the whole Invasion angle so its taken them a while to pick up where they left off. They lock up and Angle hits a headlock as Lawler asks Ross if he thought it was funny what Edge did as JR brings up both Edge and Angle won matches at Wrestlemania 18. They do a wrestling sequence before Edge throws Angle outside, Angle then pulls Edge out. Angle and Edge go at it in the ring and trade suplexes as Lawler asks if Edge even knows what the Olympics are. Kind of dumb seeing as the Canadians had won the gold medal in hockey a month or 2 earlier over the US. Edge and Angle exchange chops as Lawler says that JR kissed Vince McMahon's ass on tv and JR says that he did it under duress and Angle does it willingly. A charge by Angle in the corner eats boot but as Edge charges, Angle hits a nice overhead suplex. A cover gets 2 and Ross says that Angle might just be the greatest WWF superstar in history someday, I'm sure Hogan and HHH have something to say on that subject. Angle continues to work over Edge and hits a standard suplex for a 2 count. Angle locks in a rest hold and Edge does the fade then revive routine and as Edge rallies, Kurt catches him with a german suplex. A second attempt is blocked and Edge hits an overhead suplex of his own. Angle and Edge trade blows before Edge nails Angle with clotheslines and a back bodydrop. Edge whips Angle off the corner and catches him with the Edgecution but a cover gets 2. Edge rolls through a back suplex and hits a one arm ddt and gets another 2 count. Edge goes upstairs and Angle pops up and hits a belly to belly suplex off the top rope. Angle takes too long to cover and only gets 2 as the crowd cheers then Edge blocks an ankelock attempt and initially counters a german suplex but Angle finally hits his 3 suplex sequence but the bridge only gets a long 2. Angle taunts Edge and blocks an Angle-slam and follows up with a german suplex of his own. During downtime, JR brings up how Angle won the gold medal in wrestling with a broken neck. Angle charges Edge and Edge backdrops him out of the ring before going upstairs. Edge dives off and hits a crossbody and they're both down again. Angle rolls into the ring as Edge once again goes up top and hits a flying dropkick but the cover gets 2. Edge taunts Kurt to get up but Angle blocks another Edgecution attempt and rolls Edge into an Angle-slam. Kurt covers by only gets 2 as the crowd goes "ohhh" simultaneously. Angle is enraged and puts Edge in the ankle-lock and holds them there until Edge turns it into a victory roll for a 2 count. Angle gets up and clotheslines Edge and is clearly frustrated so he goes outside and gets a chair. He gets back in and goes to hit Edge with the chair but Edge moves and the chair bounces off the ropes and hits Angle in the head. Edge nails the Edge-o-matic and the crowd cheers but Angle kicks out at 2. The crowd goes nuts with cheers and boo's as Angle rakes the eyes and goes to pick up the chair. Edge boots him in the head as the ref gets the chair out of the way as Angle counters the spear attempt with a boot of his own. Angle hits an angle-slam and covers for the 1---2--3 to win the match. Angle won this match fair and square even though he brought a chair in the ring and it was an awesome match. I'll say this right now, the set up for this match was sophmorically stupid with the pictures but the match itself was damn good. The difference between WWE and WCW was WCW's ppv's sucked just as bad as their television shows by the end, and normally WWE ppv's had some great matches out of bad storylines.
Time of match: 13:24
Winner: Kurt Angle by pinfall
The next segment is Tazz in WWF New York interviewing fans about the Hogan/HHH main event. After this nonsense we get back to ringside where none other than Chris Jericho makes his entrance. He gets on the mic and proceeds to bitch that he was in the main event of Wrestlemania 18 the month before and wasn't even booked to wrestle at Backlash. Yeah really....it reminded me of WCW Road Wild 97 where Hogan beat Lex Luger for the title and Luger wasn't even mentioned on television for a whole 2 weeks. He goes off calling fans jackasses and says Billy Kidman, Maven and Trish Stratus have matches and he doesn't. He then says he's a better wrestler than the "has-been" Hulk Hogan and even asks the crowd if Hogan deserves the title shot more than he does? The crowd cheers Hogan but the statement is so true on many accounts. Jericho main evented Wrestlemania and instead of HHH facing Jericho in a re-match or The Rock, somehow Hogan is the number 1 contender? In reality, The Rock had left the WWF to go film the movie The Rundown and he wouldn't be back till June. Jericho claims Hogan's not worthy of being champion and that Jericho is before leaving. JR tries to save face but even he has no counter to Jericho's statement because its 100% true.
The next segment is Ric Flair an Arn Anderson getting ready for the number 1 contender's match later on. A door is kicked open and Arn Anderson says "here we go" as The Undertaker enters. Undertaker doesn't even say a word, he just sneers and points the finger at Flair as if to say "don't doublecross me". After this we go to the next match
Match 6
Eddie Guerrero vs Rob Van Dam for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
After getting fired the previous year, coming out of rehab clean and doing indy feds to get back in ring shape (one of which I was there for), Eddie Guerrero is welcomed back to the WWF and has a title shot against Van Dam. This is pretty much a battle of the frog-splashes and King asks JR who was the first person to do the frog splash. JR correctly answers D-Lo Brown as King says.. "ok, the SECOND man to do it". Van Dam and Guerrero trade blows before Eddie rolls through a backdrop attempt into a spinning back kick. Van Dam does a rolling monkey flip and a heel kick before getting a 2 count. They trade blows and Guerrero hits a single leg takedown and beats in the corner. Van Dam does 2 shoulder tackles but Guerrero blocks a german suplex attempt and works him over in the corner. Van Dam nails Eddie with kicks and drops him with a spin kick. A standing moonsault gets a near-fall and goes back on offense as JR praises Van Dam. Van Dam hits a floatover suplex for a 2 count and goes upstairs. Eddie knocks Van Dam onto the top rope and Eddie goes for a superplex but Van Dam counters by driving Eddie into the top rope while simultaneously jumping to the floor. Cool spot that gets a huge "ohhhh" the crowd. Van Dam goes back up top and hits a flying dropkick and then a cartwheel moonsault for a 2 count. Guerrero hits an inside cradle for a 2 and rolls though a slam into a prawn hold for a 2 as well. Eddie slides out of the ring and Van Dam hits a base ball slide and then a moonsault from the second rope to the floor. Van Dam drops Guerrero on the guard roll and hits a spin leg drop on Guerrero. Van Dam rolls Guerrero back in and scores a near-fall but Eddie counters the rolling thunder attempt. Guerrero goes on the offensive and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker followed by a back suplex. A cover gets a 2 and goes back on the offensive before applying a bending surf-board facelock. Van Dam powers out of it but Guerrero goes right back to work on the lower back and hits a standing stretch, Van Dam eventually rolls through into a sunset flip for a 2 count. Guerrero goes back on the offensive and hits a back kick and hits a springboard moonsault from the apron to the ring. A cover gets a near-fall and Guerrero goes back to work on the lower back before climbing up to the top rope and hitting a hurracarrana, but the cover gets only 2. Guerrero hits 2 suplexes but a lateral press gets 2 so Guerrero goes upstairs but Van Dam kicks him off the top rope. Van Dam goes for a superplex but Guerrero counters it into a sick looking rolling powerbomb. I thought Van Dam broke his neck with that impact but a quick kick-out meant he was ok. Guerrero goes on the offensive again but Van Dam counters a powerbomb with a step-over kick that sends Eddie through the ropes to the outside. Guerrero grabs the IC title belt and gets in the ring, he swings and misses as Van Dam accidentally knocks out the ref by pulling it away. Eddie then hits a rude awakening neckbreaker on the belt, goes upstairs and hits a frogsplash half-way across the ring. The cover gets 1---2---3 and we have a new champion. Vince McMahon can be a dick sometimes, but he's been known to give people second chances and Guerrero being IC Champion proves this. A great match by both guys with minimal rest-holds.
Time of match: 11:43
Winner: Eddie Guerrero (New Intercontinental champion)
The next segment is JR and King shilling The Scorpion King before a highlight package of The Undertaker vs Steve Austin showdown is shown. Basically The Undertaker has been giving Flair grief ever since Wrestlemania (where Taker beat Flair) and Flair figures the only way to shut him up is to put him in a number 1 contender round robin with Rob Van Dam, Scott Hall and Steve Austin. Both Austin and Taker won their matches so the stage was set, both men had beaten up Flair before so Ric has no alliances or favorites here.
Match 7
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs The Undertaker (Ric Flair is the special guest referee)
Austin and Undertaker wrestled each other on pay-per-view every single year from 1997-02. To say the feud was old by now was a huge understatement. Least having Flair as the ref saves a little bit of drama because fans had grown tired of this match. Flair enters to his old school WWF theme and gets a nice pop. Taker and Austin circle around engaging in a stare-down. They back up, circle around and finally lock up one minute in. Undertaker applies a headlock and takes a shoulderblock before rolling outside. Austin takes his time getting back in the ring and applies a headlock of his own upon entering and they eventually do a "force meeting object" routine. They tease locking up before doing push-ups to rev the crowd up before finally locking up again. Austin and Taker exchange headlocks before Austin clotheslines him down and gives the one finger salute. Austin teases a game of mercy before flipping him off again, Taker then hists a shoulder block before Austin counters with arm drags and a drop toe hold. Austin applies an arm-lock as King says "Hey Austin can wrestle" People forget he was a mat-based wrestler in WCW and he could match hold for hold with anyone. Austin hits a series of knees to the shoulder before hitting a bar arm pin for a 2 count. Taker rises and King claims that whoever is pinned might attack Flair after the match. Taker backs Austin in the corner and turns around to wallop him in the head, Austin goes on offense but a charge in the corner eats boot and is followed by a clothesline. Taker gets a 2 count and he begins working the left arm of Austin. Taker goes upstairs with the arm and hits the old school for a 2 count as well. Taker stalks Flair for a few seconds before Austin catches him with a Lou Thez press and an elbow drop. A cover gets a near-fall and Austin clotheslines Taker over the top rope to the floor. Taker pulls out Austin and they slug it out on the floor before Taker throws Austin back in....only to have Austin clothesline him out again. Austin rams Taker's head into the Spanish announce table a few times and throws him back in. Austin takes his time getting on the apron and pays for it as Taker big boots him off. Taker pounds on Austin outside the ring before Austin rallies and knocks Undertaker into the crowd. Austin beats down Taker in the crowd before heaving him over the time-keeper's table. They continue to brawl outside and Austin goes for a piledriver but gets backdropped. Undertaker pounds on Austin as JR asks King why he's so anti-Flair. I should note Flair has let everything go so far with no signs of favortism. All of a sudden Scott Hall and X-Pac show up and slowly make their way to ringside as Taker stares them down. Austin rams Taker's head into his Harley before Taker whips Austin into the retaining barrier. The crowd starts chanting X-Pac sucks as Flair checks on Austin. Taker continues to work over Austin outside the ring before finally getting the action back inside. Taker legdrops Austin while Austin is on the apron as Pac and Hall confer with each other. Taker begins to go to work on Austin's left leg and applies a leg lock as JR calls Austin "Bionic Redneck" Taker applies a leg grapevine until Austin makes it to the ropes. Austin tries to fight back without selling the leg work at all before Undertaker hits a sloppy clothesline with a near fall. Taker applies a resthold as the crowd either boo's the ring or boo's the nWo. Taker continues to apply the neck vice until Austin sticks a thumb to the eye. Austin whips Taker off the ropes and catches him in a sleeper but Taker counters with a back suplex. A cover gets 2 as King says "that may have been the slowest count in the history of the WWF" JR points out that Flair has counted that way the entire match no matter who was down for the fall, I must admit the count was slightly slower than Nick Patrick's "fast-count" at WCW Starrcade 97. Taker goes back to the neck vice before Austin powers out of it and goes for a stone cold stunner attempt, Taker blocks it and catches Austin with a clothesline. A cover gets 2 and Taker begins Indian rubbing Austin with his forearm. Hall and Pac are still there watching as JR says Kane's mask makes Pac look a little better than normal. Austin rallies with fists before Undertaker his his flying clothesline but the cover gets a near-fall. Taker goes and removes the top turnbuckle but Austin whips him into it. They do a double clothesline spot and both men take forever to get up but they go at it upon the action resuming. Austin stomps a mudhole in Taker as the crowd chants "What" in between stomps. A charge in the corner eats elbow as Taker goes for a tombstone but Austin avoids it and whips Taker into Flair. Flair goes down and Austin hits the stunner on Taker and goes for the cover but Flair's down. Austin picks up Flair as Taker hits a low blow and hits a chokeslam but Austin kicks out at 2. Taker goes outside and gets a chair. Back inside, Flair grabs the chair and Austin returns the favor by low blowing The Undertaker. Undertaker ducks under a clothesline and hits a big boot but the cover gets a long 2. Austin hits a spinebuster but also only gets 2. Austin says "get up you sonovabitch" but Taker blocks the stunner by shoving him into Flair who goes down again. Taker grabs the steel chair and hits Austin in the head with it. Taker covers but Austin kicks out and Taker signals for the last ride. Austin counters with a clothesline and then a dragon sleeper before Taker takes over. Taker gets the chair and swings and misses before Austin rallies and stomps another mudhole into him. Austin goes and gets the chair and when Flair tries to grab it away, Austin flips him off. Taker big boots the chair into Austin's face. Taker covers and Austin puts his foot on the rope but Flair doesn't see it and counts 1...2...3 and the match is over. Scott Hall and X-Pac leave as the crowd boos. Taker says "I'm number one" as Flair walks away and JR cries foul. Austin gets up and says "what the fuck" before Taker taunts him. Austin fires back with rights and stuns him out of the ring and says he's number 1. Not the best Austin/Undertaker match but not the worst either, I'm guessing Hall and X-Pac was scouting the winner for a future storyline but with Hall getting the heave-ho, nothing came of it. The Undertaker will now meet the winner of Hogan/HHH at Judgement Day which means Hogan, HHH and The Undertaker will be main eventing ppv's until at least June.
Time of match: 26:58
Winner: The Undertaker by pinfall
Jonathan Coachman catches up with Flair and shows Ric how he counted the fall with Austin's foot on the rope. Flair's response is simply "aww shit". Yeah, no kidding...on to the next match
Match 8
Al Snow and Maven vs Billy and Chuck (with Rico) for the WWF Tag Team Championship
Like Jericho said earlier in the night, how Maven had a match and not Y2J I'll never know. In any event, this was basically the crew from Tough Enough against the champs and the results will probably be as expected. Billy and Chuck nail them off the bat but the faces take over and clear the ring. Chuck pulls Maven out of the ring and he and Billy work him over outside. Billy Gunn whips him into the rail and then throws him inside. The heels take turns beating on Maven inside until Billy knocks Al Snow off the apron, then turns around into a ddt by Maven. Billy tags in Chuck Palumbo as Al Snow runs in and beats on the heels and after he leaves, Chuck works over Maven in the corner. Chuck whips Maven off the rope and catches the foot, which Maven does a sloppy looking enziguri. Al Snow tags in and beats down Billy and Chuck before backdropping Chuck. Snow does a 10 punch in the corner spot on Billy and Rico distracts the ref long enough for Chuck to clothesline Al from the apron. Billy does a swinging neckbreaker on Snow and the cover gets a near-fall. Chuck tags in and works over Snow as the crowd chants "Rico's gay" Chuck puts Snow in a surfboard but Snow powers out of it before Chuck hits an overhead suplex. A cover gets a deuce and Billy tags in to do damage to Al. Al Snow ducks a charge and Billy goes face first into the ringpost. Billy goes down and Chuck charges but is drop toe'd into Billy. Maven tags in and goes to work on the champs before Billy clocks him. Maven sends Billy off the ropes but stupidly puts his head down and Gunn hits the fame-asser. Al Snow pulls Maven out of the ring and gets on the apron to slug it out with Gunn. Snow flips over Gunn and runs into a superkick by Palumbo. Billy distracts the ref and Chuck holds Maven but Rico spinkicks Chuck when Maven ducks out of the way. Rico gets out of the ring as Billy works over Maven in the corner. Maven reverses a whip and Al Snow hits a baldo bomb on Billy. Maven goes upstairs and hits a high cross-body on Billy for a long 2 count. Maven goes "get up! get up!" and Rico gets in the ring, but Al Snow gets in and chases him away. As the ref yells at Snow and Rico, Chuck gets in the ring and hits a superkick on Maven. Billy covers for the 1-2-3 to win the match, then Snow clears the ring. Wasn't that bad all things considering, got the crowd calm enough before the main event.
Time of Match: 5:58
Winners: Billy and Chuck by pinfall (still champions)
Next up is a highlight package of the Hogan vs HHH showdown. The fans simply refused to boo Hogan when he came back no matter what he did with the nWo and Vince was more than happy to re-ignite Hulkamania. Standing in the Hulk's way of redemption was HHH who completed his own redemption story of coming back from quad surgery to win the WWF title from Jericho at Wrestlemania 18.
Match 9
Hulk Hogan vs HHH for the WWF Heavyweight Championship
This is the match of the ages, the two biggest ego-maniacs in wrestling history other than Vince McMahon. Hogan and Triple H.....someone's gotta job, just who will it be? On one side you got Hogan who basically killed WCW by refusing to put over anyone young other than his friends until the young stars left for WWF. Then you have HHH who would go on to damn near do the same thing to WWF/E until Batista and John Cena came along. They circle around to start out and HHH heaves Hogan into the corner twice to show his strength. Hogan does the same and poses for the crowd and somehow the fans cheer. HHH teases a game of mercy before actually going through with it. Hogan gets the upper hand early before HHH takes it to Hogan. The match is 3 minutes underway and we've seen 2 tests of strengths and a game of mercy, quite a contrary to the Tajiri/Kidman match earlier. Hogan finally begins to power out of it so HHH elbows him and applies and overhand wrist lock. The match is now 4 minutes old and Hulk still has his bandana on, Hogan reverses the hold into a side headlock. HHH whips Hogan off and runs into a shoulderblock as Hulk poses for the crowd again. HHH drives Hogan into the corner and when the ref says to break the hold, HHH slaps Hogan across the face. Hogan looks shocked and charges only to be met with a knee and a series of fists that knocks the bandana off 5 minutes into the match. HHH works over Hogan in the corner before Hogan whips HHH off the turnbuckle into a backdrop. Hogan hits a series of clotheslines and works over HHH in the corner and does a 10 punch in the corner spot. Hogan whips HHH off the ropes and Trips counters with a forearm to the back of the head. HHH charges and Hogan backdrops him out of the ring. Hogan attacks HHH on the outside and whips him into the guard-rail before HHH counters with a thumb to the eye. Hogan hits a suplex on HHH on the outside as referee Earl Hebner says "get back in the ring!" HHH rallies and rams Hogan's head into the steel steps before they both get back in. HHH works over Hogan in the corner and whips him hard off the other corner. HHH whips Hogan and goes for the pedigree but Hogan counters by slingshotting him into the post. A roll up by Hogan gets a 2 count and Hogan fires away at HHH with clothesline into the turnbuckle. Hogan hits a diamond cutter (WTF?) on HHH for a 2 count. Hogan hulka punches HHH before Trips does a sloppy looking chop-block. Hogan gets up and HHH does it again. The crowd boos but JR points out that its a legal maneuver. HHH works over the left leg on the ring post and hammers away on Hulk. HHH hits another chop block and jumps on it using the first rope. Hogan grabs the hair of HHH so Trips pounds on him. HHH does an Undertaker style leg lock on the left leg as JR notices the crowd's silent. Almost to the moment of that statement, a small Hogan chant starts. After Hogan powers out of it, HHH hits yet another chop-block, say what you will but its effective. HHH hits a series of elbow drops on Hogan's leg as Lawler asks why there are so many Hogan fans in the crowd, yeah me too. After HHH applies a step over leg lock, Hogan counters by booting him into the turnbuckle. HHH goes for a figure four and cinches it in and HHH uses the ropes for leverage after a minute as Lawler mentions Hogan would have done the same thing if roles were reversed. Hogan finally counters the figure four and HHH crawls free, HHH then applies a sleeper hold as the crowd groans. Hogan does the fade then revive routine and hits a back suplex at the end of it. The last 2 maneuvers took a combined six minutes and the crowd's asleep. Hogan counter punches HHH and hits a polish hammer Ivan Putski style. Hogan hulka punches HHH and hits the big boot followed by the leg drop of doom when all of a sudden Chris Jericho sprints to the ring with a chair. Jericho pulls out Earl Hebner and slugs him, Hogan goes to attack Chris so Jericho waffles him with the chair. HHH goes to cover Hogan so Jericho shoves Hebner back in the ring. HHH then attacks Jericho and hits his big knee facebuster before clotheslining Y2J out of the ring. HHH goes back to Hogan who proceeds to Hulk Up and you know the rest, he punches, he big boots and he....NOOOO, HHH rolls out of the way of the leg drop and then hits the pedigree on Hogan. He covers but all of a sudden The Undertaker runs down to ringside and belts the referee to stop the count. Taker grabs the chair and clocks HHH with it, causing a Trips blade job. Taker drags Hogan on top of HHH but he Hulks Up on The Undertaker instead. Both guys trying to out-face the other by refusing outside interference. Hogan clotheslines Taker out of the ring and hits the leg drop for the 1----2---3 to win the match and the title. Hogan rode the wave of nostalgia all the way to become WWF Champion for the first time in nine years. Hogan celebrates in the ring and HHH offers a handshake and they do it. Both saved face in the match and as expected, there was no clean pinfall job as it involved drastic cheating by Chris Jericho and The Undertaker.
Time of match: 22:05
Winner: Hulk Hogan by pinfall (new WWF Champion)
Not the best ppv I've ever seen but certainly not the worst. The undercard was good for the most part but the high profile matches were under-whelming. Austin and Taker had gone at it so many times that the crowd really wasn't into it, and HHH and Hogan went 20 minutes.....10 minutes too long in my opinion and neither Hogan or HHH did a clean job as I expected. HHH's reign of terror as champion was over for the time being but his backstage presence on Raw began to drive away fans. Jobbing out Chris Jericho after finally getting main event pushes was just the first misfortune. The next ppv would be their British ppv Insurexxtion so that'll be my next ppv review. I must say the main event did establish Judgement Day's storylines with Jericho vs HHH and Undertaker vs Hogan. Although watching Undertaker and Hogan go at it 10 years after the last time makes me cringe just thinking about it.
2 1/2 stars out of 5
