GSR

I think this is what you're refering to: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/40242-wotys-by-year/

Commissioner Foley is out and on hearing his ovation jokes “I thought Hegstrand was back there for a minute!” It goes totally over the head of the audience but makes me laugh anyway. He says he has the best job in the world and in his first week as Commissioner ‘the Faction’ is splitting up, World Wrestling Federation stock is on the rise and they have a new WWF World champion. Unfortunately as Commissioner he has to make some decisions which he knows won’t be popular, to which Jerry Lawler quips “that hair cut was a bad decision!” He’s about to talk about the number one contendership when he’s interrupted by the Rock’s music and the WWF champ heads to the ring to join him. Foley does Rock’s “it doesn’t matter” catchphrase against him (all in good humour) and it sounds like Hegstrand is on his way again with the way the crowd reacts to it! The Rock can’t fathom why there’s all this uncertainty about the number one contendership and thinks Commissioner Mick should just name someone. That brings out Shane McMahon who’s not happy that the power has slipped through his fingers and is now in the hands of a slob he has to call ‘Commissioner Foley’. He’s not going to take it anymore as it should be he who leads the WWF into the next millennium and it should be he who decides who the number one contender is. Foley stops him and thinks that it sounds like he wants to be the number one contender himself. When Shane says that wasn’t what he said at all, Mick asks the Rock and he backs him up, agreeing that it sounded like Shane wants to be the number one contender. The Commissioner then declares Shane McMahon as the new number one contender, and says that they’ll have the match tonight, right here in Orlando, FL! Before the match starts, Shane takes the mic and says how the Rock knows he has cracked ribs, a hyperextended knee and that he’s not at 100%. He knows Rock wouldn’t want to take advantage of that, because if he was at 100% then Shane McMahon would walk out of Orlando the new World champion. He tells Rock that they shouldn’t be fighting though, they should be allies. The Rock can be the WWF champion forever and they can build the strongest force the World Wrestling Federation has ever known. Shane offers Rock his hand and he responds with a right hand of his own, emphatically answering the proposition. The bell rings to get the bout underway, spinebuster, but then Benoit is out nailing Rock in the back for the DQ after all of nine seconds. ‘The Crippler’ wears out a chair on the Rock before putting him in the crossface as Shane cheers him on. A bunch of refs try to put a stop to the attack but Shane clears the ring of them all while Benoit still has Rock helpless. It’s only when Commissioner Mick waddles to the ring do they decide to leave and make haste.

Even though they’re from Canada, Christian would like to wish everyone a happy 4th of July, especially those two guys in the back who they really respect, Kane and the Undertaker. After last week’s protestation the five second pose is back, and it’s one Edge wants to symbolise the ending of this match. He puts on a Kane mask and then shakes Christian’s hand as the two are clearly in ‘suck up’ mode trying to make some sort of peace with their opponents. This is for the tag team titles with Kane and the Undertaker getting a crack at the belts after the demolition job they did on the champs in the non-title encounter. Surprisingly E&C get in slightly more offense here than previously, with Edge even getting a two count on the Undertaker after a swinging neckbreaker, so they don’t look like complete losers. Still the match predominantly goes the same way as all the other meetings between these teams. As Taker is about to chokeslam Christian, Kurt Angle runs to the ring and nails him in the knee with his sceptre for the title saving DQ. He doesn’t bother to stick around mind as Edge and Christian receive a post match chokeslam and ‘last ride’. I’ll reiterate what I said previously, Edge & Christian need to be moved away from Kane & the Undertaker, and moved away fast.

After D-X and Y2J make their entrances, Commissioner Foley is out and says that he doesn’t think he made things clear earlier on, so he would like to take the chance now to clear those things up. He promised a handicap match, but it’s not two on one, it’s three against two, and X-Pac and the Road Dogg will be facing Chris Jericho and his partners, the Acolytes. D-X jump Y2J seemingly trying to get this over before the Acolytes have even made it to the ring. Their plan doesn’t work though and the APA pull them off him and toss both to the floor. Spinning heel kick by Jericho on X-Pac and a tag to Bradshaw. He whips Pac to the corner but runs into a big boot on the charge. Crossbody off the middle, however Bradshaw catches him mid-air and then dumps him with a fallaway slam. Road Dogg escapes ‘the Dominator’, but after Faarooq levels him with a clothesline, he’s caught from behind with a Pac spin kick. D-X look to isolate Faarooq, although that doesn’t last long as he plants X-Pac with an almighty powerslam. He goes to tag Bradshaw, but Jericho tags himself in instead and Faarooq’s not impressed by that at all. Y2J runs through his usual shtick of the flying forearm, facebuster etc. before locking on ‘the Walls’. Dogg makes the save but probably wishes he never, as he gets a ‘clothesline from hell’ for his troubles. Spinebuster by Faarooq, Lionsault and it’s a win for Y2J and the APA. The camera cuts backstage to an irate Triple H trashing the room in which he was watching the match. Fun match. I thought the APA might turn on Jericho after he tagged himself, but there was no other hint of anything bar that one look of disdain from Faarooq towards him. Jericho and Pac worked well together and this was one in the belt for Y2J, getting the better over Triple H who thought he’d outsmarted him with the handicap match until Commissioner Foley got involved.

Not sure what happens on the opening spot, it looks like one was supposed to go for the lock up while the other ducks under, but as it is both duck under and the spot just looks plain wrong. Dropkick by Jeff, as he runs at Val to follow up on it though he gets hotshotted across the top rope which is becoming a staple spot in the WWF at the moment. Val with the charge, but Hardy backdrops him over the top and to the outside. Somersault senton to the floor! Whip into the ring post was reversed and Jeff was supposed to leap off the ring steps and onto the barricade, run around the railing and nail Val with a clothesline. Unfortunately he doesn’t manage it, slipping off the railing and failing at the first hurdle. Press slam by Val dropping Jeff chest first onto the steps before he suplexes him back into the ring. Some ground and pound from the ‘Big Valbowski’ as the commentators talk about his new found aggressiveness. He slaps on a version of the full nelson, using his legs instead of his arms, but when Hardy rolls back and turns it into a pinning predicament, he’s forced to let go of the hold. Nice double underhook suplex for a two. Jeff fires back with some rights and the crowd wakes from their slumber. Sleeper hold that Val counters with a ‘Blue Thunder Driver’ for a razor thin close fall. There’s no-one home on the middle rope elbow and after an Arabian moonsault Val puts his foot over the ropes to stop the count. Inverted ‘twist of fate’, ‘Swanton bomb’ and Trish is up on the apron distracting ref Teddy Long. Lita is around and pulls her down, but while Long is dealing with the women on the outside, Tazz has sneaked into the ring and chokes Jeff out with the ‘Tazzmission’. ‘Money shot’ by Val and he picks up the win. I found this night and day away from Jeff’s match against Chris Benoit and it goes to show that he’s still got some way to go as a single. The opening was really scrappy and I found parts of this dull, especially Venis’ control section. It felt like the audience agreed as they were dead to all this, only coming alive on Jeff’s comeback. Kane the other week, Jeff Hardy this, Tazz has clearly got a bee in his bonnet about something as he continues to interfere in matches and attack the faces.

As Edge makes his entrance, accompanied by Christian, we get a recap from earlier in the show of Tazz helping out E&C against Kane, clocking him in the back with a chair before the pair of them gave him ‘the conchairto’. This is a ninety second squash as the Undertaker singlehandedly runs through Edge (and Christian who interferes occasionally) with ease. In fact I think Edge only gets in one offensive move all match, and that’s a chair shot after Christian had slipped one into the ring and then distracted both the Undertaker and the referee. Taker gets the win after a chokeslam and is immediately jumped by Christian who clips his leg out from under him. He’s quickly back to his feet though and doesn’t get dropped again despite the two on one odds. Kane is down to help his brother out and it’s a synchronised ‘last ride’ and chokeslam for E&C. This was worse than the tag match on Raw as the WWF tag team champions were treated like total chumps. They even looked like bigger jobbers here than when they were playing fall guys for ‘the Faction’ in that no disqualification handicap match prior to the King of the Ring. I imagine they don’t want to go the Dudleys, Hardy Boyz route again so soon, but Edge & Christian need to move away from these two fast.

We get a quick recap of Monday night where Chyna gave Trish Stratus a powerbomb after she interfered in Val’s match against Eddy. Rikishi has still got that bicep of his all bandaged up. A thrust kick gets rid of ‘the Crippler’ and a scoop slam on Val. Tag to Eddy and Rikishi assists with the slingshot senton. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Benoit. Irish whip is reversed, Eddy ducks the clothesline but gets caught with a knee to the back by Venis when he hits the ropes. That only momentarily slows him though as he’s able to hot shot ‘the Crippler’ across the top rope. Belly to back suplex gets him a two on the first cover of the match. Val is again interfering from the apron, this time pulling down the top rope when Eddy hits it so he sails over and to the floor. This time it’s Benoit with a belly to back for a near fall. A pair of running lariats in the corner by Venis, a ‘Blue Thunder Driver’ and they still can’t put Eddy away. Val runs into an elbow and a Guerrero dropkick takes him off his feet. A series of headbutts to the shoulder, Eddy grabs his hand and climbs to the top turnbuckle. Benoit is in to try and help his partner, but Eddy catches him with a flying headscissors while at the same time taking Val down with an arm drag. Hot tag to Rikishi who levels the opposition with a double clothesline. Samoan drop on ‘the Crippler’ and a thrust kick to Val. As Benoit is getting to his bearings in the corner, Rikishi whips Venis into him and then ‘backs dat ass’ up onto both. The action continues with all four men in the ring when out rushes Test & Albert who snatch Chyna while Trish watches on. Too Cool make the save and the official ends up throwing the match out. The faces run the heels off and Eddy and Chyna join Rikishi and Too Cool for a little post-match dance.

Kurt says how he’s been all around the world spreading good cheer and it’s great to be in Nashville, TN! He’s been all around the world, has seen rednecks from all around the world and the people here are definitely the most genuine rednecks! His opponent tonight could very well be the biggest redneck of all time though, and while everyone knows that Bubba Ray Dudley likes to put his opponents through tables, he has a table of his own, one where he will proudly display the ‘King of the Ring’ crown when he wins the tournament. Bubba is holding his ribs as he makes his entrance, a result of being thrown off the stage in the dumpster on Smackdown. Kurt’s got a smirk on his face on seeing this thinking that Bubba will be easy pickings. He takes Bubba down right away after a go behind and cradles him for a pin, although that barely registers a one count. Stiff slap across the face by Bubba which he follows with some slaps to the chest and a belly to back suplex. ‘Bubba bomb’ for a two. He heads to the middle but Angle cuts him off with an overhead belly to belly superplex. Kurt tosses him over the top rope to the outside where he whips him into the barricades. Suplex on the metal ramp way and Bubba is back clutching those ribs. Angle misses a moonsault and Bubba with a near fall after a Samoan drop. Full nelson spinebuster sees Kurt barely kicks out in time. He avoids the splash in the corner and hits a German suplex on big Bubba. Now he’s the one too slow climbing the turnbuckles as Bubba with a superplex on him. Attempted cutter, but Kurt shoves him off into the ropes and he runs into the ‘Olympic slam’ as Angle advances in his quest for the ‘King of the Ring’ crown. Strong outing from Bubba as we continue to get glimpses of the various tag wrestlers (Hardys, Dudleys, Edge & Christian) in a singles environment. He holds his own in there with Kurt and bumps nicely for Angle’s offense and various suplexes. Taking that overhead belly to belly superplex and going up for the German were especially impressive. He does seem to slip in and out of selling those ribs, but that’s a minor quibble on an otherwise enjoyable match.

Edge & Christian are relaxing in a couple of recliners backstage and tell Mick Foley that they’re not going to wrestle Kane and the Undertaker tonight. Commissioner Foley threatens to strip them of their newly won World tag team titles and that quickly puts a stop to any idea of that happening. Out of protestation for this match, Edge informs everyone that there will be no five second pose for those with the benefit of flash photography! Jim Ross says that this is a non-title match, so I’m guessing no need for a run in and E&C can do a clean pinfall loss. Taker grabs Edge and launches him over the top rope to the outside leaving Kane and Christian to duke it out in the ring. Kane military presses Christian over his head, but after whipping him to the corner runs into a big boot. The Undertaker throws Edge back inside and as Christian runs and leaps off his back, Kane snatches him around the neck. Taker follows his brother’s suit, stereo chokeslams and the champs go down in double quick time. Even though the result was never in doubt from the moment it was made clear this was a non-title match, this is not the best way to book your new tag team champions.

Jericho equates kissing Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, like he did at King of the Ring, to kissing road kill and insists that “it will never, eeeeeeeever, happen again”. Steph is accompanying X-Pac to the ring for this as he looks to get a bit of revenge for her. Pac with a leap frog, but Y2J catches him mid-air with a scoop powerslam for an early near fall. He whips X-Pac to the corner, however Pac moves out the way of the charge and Jericho goes shoulder first into the ring post. Spin kick by Pac. He positions Y2J for the bronco buster, but there’s no-one home as this time Jericho is the one who moves out the way. Flying forearm followed by a facebuster for two. As Jericho hits the ropes, Steph grabs his ankle from the floor. He steps out the ring to go after her when the Road Dogg shows up to help, but he sees him coming and decks him with a right hand. Pac with a baseball slide dropkick that Jericho sidesteps and he hits the Dogg instead. Double powerbomb on X-Pac, Lionsault and Stephanie is up on the apron distracting Mike Chioda. Double axe handle to the back of the head by the Road Dogg, Pac rolls over to make the cover and he gets the win. Post-match DX double team Y2J and then hold him so Steph can slap him across the face and kick him between the legs (or ‘south of the border’ as JR calls it). Stephanie with a little payback after Jericho got one over on her on Raw, but I don’t think this one is close to being over just yet.

Excellent post. You really bring so much to the discussion...

The ‘Big Shot’ says that usually he doesn’t give a damn about anything, but when Chris Jericho stuck his nose in his business last Sunday night, that’s when he started to care. Tonight he’s going to kick him, beat him and it’s going to be real bad! No promo response from Y2J who sprints to the ring and the two immediately start trading blows. This has got the feeling of a fight about it as they’re rolling around on the floor, still throwing punches and trying to gain the upper hand. Jericho with a facebuster, but Holly then reverses the Irish whip and hotshots him across the top rope. Camel clutch by the ‘Big Shot’. A big powerbomb, but Y2J kicks out of the cover at two. Spinning heel kick by Jericho who again looks for the facebuster, however this time Holly cuts him off with a lariat. After a flying forearm ‘Hardcore’ conveniently rolls to the apron positioning himself for the obligatory Jericho springboard dropkick. Great surprise counter though, as Holly gives him a shove and Jericho goes flying into the ringside barricade. ‘Hardcore’ whips him into the ring steps when out walks Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. The ‘Big Shot’ throws Y2J back into the ring and as he has words with referee Teddy Long, she nails him in the back of the head with the Women’s world title belt. Much to her surprise Jericho kicks out of the subsequent pin attempt. Dropkick, but Y2J holds onto the ropes and Holly fails to connect. One Lionsault later this is over as Stephanie’s plan back fires. I like how the match from Heat wasn’t just forgotten about and was used to build this one. Another good outing from Holly, who hasn’t had that one truly blow away great match, but is a solid hand you can always rely on to have an enjoyable TV match whether it needs to go under five minutes or over ten. The wheels continue to turn in the Y2J/Stephanie feud as her interference fails to pay off and Jericho gets one over on her here.

Kobashi? What is it with this board at the moment? The sooner I'm done with my commitment to PWO2K the better.

There’s something rather ironic about Jericho making fun of Edge’s hair and dropping Hanson references! Y2J takes Edge down with a spinning heel kick and then as he’s trying to find his feet on the apron, nails him with a springboard dropkick sending him spilling to the outside. Baseball slide and Edge goes careering back into the barricades. Jericho goes to whip him into the ring post, however Edge leaps onto and over the ring steps and when Y2J follows in his footsteps, he catches him with a spear to the arena floor. Jericho barely beats the ten count as Edge looks to take advantage of his weakened opponent. He ties Y2J in the ‘tree of woe’ and dropkicks him in the mid-section. Chest first whip to the corner, Edge then gets underneath Jericho, sitting him on his shoulders in the electric chair position, and pancakes him to the mat. Flash roll up by Y2J who tries to fire back only to run into a big boot. As Edge comes off the top, Jericho catches him with a dropkick to the chest as he’s mid-air. Back elbow smash. He looks for the Lionsault but Edge gets his knees up in time. Jericho reverses the Irish whip, keeping hold of Edge’s arm in the process and goes for the double powerbomb, however as he attempts the second Edge counters it into a sunset flip for a near fall. Y2J’s had enough of messing around and after a double leg take down traps Edge in ‘the Walls’ to advance to the PPV portion of the King of the Ring tournament.

i rate promotors who bulit from Nothing more like all the ones i listed did any comments on the wreslters section also take in to account i made my HOF out of people who are Most HOFs in the world Plenty, but if you don't think Vince McMahon is worthy of being in a wrestling Hall of Fame then what's the point? Andre Baker FFS! Yeah, cause Hammerlock left such an indelible mark on the world of professional wrestling! I reckon Edwin might be right...

No Vince McMahon?

Tony Kozina is really small, barely standing above the top rope. A couple of lovely takedowns from him though, first off a side headlock and then off the arm bar. Disco reverses the whip to the corner and Kozina goes crashing into the turnbuckles with force. Missile dropkick by Disco and it looks like he’s about to do a nip up, realises he can’t and decides against it, getting back to his feet normally. He tosses Kozina through the ropes to the outside and comes off the top with a cannonball (which the commentator calls ‘the mirrorball’). DDT onto the protective mats covering the concrete and he follows that with a leg drop from the apron. He pulls Kozina back into the ring but the official spots that he’s got his feet on the ropes as he’s making the cover. Big running splash in the corner. Kozina reverses the whip to the opposite one and Disco takes the Flair bump over the turnbuckles and to the apron. As he points to his head thinking he’s outsmarted his opponent, Kozina nails him with a dropkick sending him tumbling to ringside. With Disco back up on the apron, Kozina brings him back in the ring (outside in) with an awesome leaping top rope rana that gets a two. Elbow off the middle for another near fall. Disco counters the top rope frankensteiner into a pin attempt, but poor camera work means we miss seeing how. Swinging neckbreaker by Kozina and he still can’t put Fury away. The finish comes not too long after as Kozina hits a tombstone piledriver and then lands the 450 splash for the win. Post-match he’s jumped by the ‘Glamour Order of Discipline’ who attack him with a trash can while one of the commentators says that Kozina is a Dave Republic guy. Fury assists the ‘GOOD’ and they superbomb Kozina through a table. Republic is out but the audio is too quiet and we can’t hear what he has to say. He eventually flees the arena and into a waiting limousine as the ‘GOOD’ chase after him. Kozina is a name I’ve heard/read plenty about but don’t think I’ve ever seen him before this. I really liked what we saw of him here: he’s got good fundamentals, his work looks tight, can sell and can fly. The only thing holding him back is his height, the guy is tiny! He is the kind of person I thought would excel in TNA’s X-Division, but a quick check of wiki has him wrestling one match against Davey Richards in 2015 and that’s it, which seems bizarre that he didn’t get more of a look there based on his talent (surely his height didn’t hold him back that much?). According to cagematch he’s had about a dozen matches (mainly dark) for ROH, a handful of matches for the WWF/E and is still wrestling a regular schedule today in 2018. Disco didn’t show much and was the polar opposite of Kozina.

Thanks for the all that additional information. We have Loss to blame (or thank) for this atrocity being on our radar as it's something he added for PWO2K viewing and I'm the first to give it a watch. The match itself is a handheld that I'm guessing he found on youtube. Not sure if whomever was filming this taped anything else from the show, but this is the only German match on the list for 2000.

I remember Bobby Gaetano from the World of Sport days so he’s getting on a bit for sure. Trenker is wearing the short sleeve lumberjack shirt, while Wagner (who doesn’t look the spriteliest himself) is in the traditional German garb complete with lederhosen. Lots of nonsense before the match commences with Trenker trying to conduct a sing-a-long with the crowd and Wagner being issued with a red card for some reason. A couple of pedestrian arm drags by Rotzek and I’ve a hunch we’re going to be in for a long night. Rotzek with an ankle lock and Gaetano just walks into the ring, no tag, and switches places with his partner, taking over in applying the hold. I’m lost! Now they’re both in there at the same time and the ref isn’t even attempting to get one of them back out. Wagner enters to try and help his partner, but they trip him up and he lands in a rather compromising position on top of him which gets a few laughs from the audience. Rotzek connects on a dropkick, the most athletic thing we’ve seen so far, and then he’s over in the opposition corner attacking Wagner. Gunther’s not in the mood for selling though. Trenker grabs hold of Dirk and they look to double team him but the action and effort is horrific. Trenker’s been carded now, maybe this is like the old public warning system? They were supposed to do the ‘tag behind the referee’s back’ spot, but Wagner forgets to distract the official, so he clearly sees the tag and then they carry on as if he never, with him ushering Gaetano out of there! This gets more bizarre as the ref slaps Wagner (who is outside the ring on the apron) across the face a couple of times for no apparent reason whatsoever. He’s not laid a finger on him but the ref clearly thinks it’s within his jurisdiction to assault the wrestlers. Gaetano waltzes into the ring again, not bothering with a tag (why even do that missed tag spot then?), as this gets even worse. Christ, Wagner can’t even take a snap mare. Rotzek tries to throw him through the ropes to the floor, but even that is too difficult of an undertaking for him. After 21 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back, Rotzek pins Trenker after a suplex. A fucking suplex! When you think this can’t get any worse, it turns out that was only the first fall and this shower is continuing! The second fall is even more laughable than the first, Wagner whipping Rotzek into the ropes and Trenker is supposed to do something from the apron. What is the $64,000 question as he loses his footing and falls to the floor! That sums this match up perfectly. Rotzek takes a bump anyway and Wagner covers him. So much for hoping that this would be done and dusted in two straight falls! Gaetano puts us out of our misery shortly after, getting the decisive pin on Trenker after a crossbody. Right near the bottom of the pile for the year and an appalling excuse of a match. If I hadn’t heard of Gaetano previously I would have guessed that not one of these was trained and someone just threw the lot of them in the ring. Wagner might very well be the worst wrestler I’ve watched this year, and that includes those backyarders from Power House Pro Wrestling, Randy Hales, Reid Flair and Vince Russo. The guy is completely clueless. Rules aren’t adhered to and made up as they go along, the ‘work’ is some of the most undynamic you’ll ever see, you have the ref slapping one of the wrestlers, a pinfall occurring after a suplex, I could go on. The only thing I will say is watch the second fall and see if you can try and work out what they had in mind when Trenker falls off the apron? You’ll be as mystified as me!

The McMahon-Helmsley faction head out to the ring to open this episode of Smackdown. Triple H says that as much as he disagrees with Vince McMahon’s decision to put the World title on the line at King of the Ring, he will reluctantly agree to it. The crowd starts an “asshole, asshole” chant at him, to which Lawler quips that he hopes these Memphis fans don’t embarrass him what with this being his hometown! Although he’s not happy that he could lose the belt by either Rock, Kane or the Undertaker pinning Shane or “Dad”, HHH believes the chance of that happening is remote at best, as all three want to be the World champion and their egos won’t allow one to win at the expense of the other two. So when King of the Ring is over he will still be ‘the Game’ and he will still be the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight champion! Vince then starts rambling talking about family values, love, challenges, and how tonight they will prove their supremacy. He sets up a six man tag with himself, Shane and Triple H taking on the Rock, Kane and the Undertaker. Despite it being supposedly part of some ‘master plan’ Shane and HHH are both livid, heading to the back and leaving Vince all alone in the ring while he shouts at them to don’t make him take on the three of them by himself. Kevin Kelly interviews Biker-taker backstage who doesn’t say much, before we hear from the Rock. Jerry Lee Lewis is in the crowd watching on so Rock references his ‘great balls off fire’ much to Lewis’ amusement. Rock doesn’t care what Mr McMahon’s master plan is because they’re going to get their asses kicked not once, but twice now, and at King of the Ring the McMahon-Helmsley faction will be over while it will be the beginning of the era of The Rock. Christ he’s insanely over in Memphis (just like everywhere else really)! Moments after the bell rings to get the match underway, Vince snatches the ring mic and says that before the three of them get in there and kick their asses just like they’re going to on Sunday night, he wants to introduce their first series of opponents in this special no disqualification handicap match. Argh, that this ‘master plan’ then! Those first opponents are X-Pac, Road Dogg and Bull Buchanan, however they barely last ten seconds in there before Rock and co clear the ring of them. After such a dismal effort Mr McMahon introduces their second set of opponents, Edge, Christian and Kurt Angle. With a six on three advantage Vinnie Mac’s hired help fares a little better but eventually get over ran, with Rock ’Rock Bottoming’ Angle and Kane chokeslamming Edge. It’s not over as Test, Albert and Val Venis make it opponents number three, although the ‘Big Valbowski’ is another on the receiving end of a ‘Rock Bottom’. Finally it looks like Vince’s ‘master plan’ is starting to pay off as the twelve men are just too many for Rock, Kane and Undertaker to deal with. X-Pac blasts Undertaker over the head with a chair and Test and Albert suplex Kane through the announcer’s table. In the ring Triple H pedigrees Rock, Shane with the ‘Macho Man’ elbow and finally Vince with ‘the Billionaire’s elbow’. They force Earl Hebner to count Vince’s cover of the Rock and the three of them head into King of the Ring full of confidence that they’ll be able to repeat what happened here then. I thought it was a bit odd having the six man on Smackdown just a matter of days before the same match takes place on King of the Ring, but should’ve known there was more to this than meets the eye. Another that falls into the more ‘angle than match’ category and this is fine in trying to weaken Rock, Kane and Undertaker going into King of the Ring. My lone critique is having Edge, Christian and Angle involved; the three of them don’t look particularly strong here and come across as jobbers. Bull Buchanan, Road Dogg, Test and Albert, absolutely fine in this role, but those three have got far more upside than playing patsies for the McMahons.

Rikishi’s bicep is all bandaged up after his previous encounters with ‘the Crippler’. He’s not holding anything back in his offense though, throwing Benoit through the ropes to the outside and then launching him head first into the ring steps. Thrust kick, but he’s shaking out that upper arm instead of following up which allows Benoit to connect on a dropkick to the injured appendage. Drop toe hold and a baseball slide dropkick to the bicep. Rikishi is like a one armed man in there and can only throw lefts which ‘the Crippler’ easily dodges. Sunset flip by Benoit however Rikishi counters with a sit down splash. He tries to pull Benoit to the corner but doesn’t have the strength in that arm so slowly does it using only his left. As he climbs the turnbuckles for the Banzai splash, Tazz rushes out and clobbers him in the back with a chair for the DQ. He doesn’t stick around mind and a Rikishi looks at him wondering what just went on, he’s KO’d from behind by Benoit chair shot. After it seemed to work moving Bob Holly and Val Venis into the Intercontinental title picture, it looks like they’re now trying it with Tazz.

‘The Crippler’ and Rikishi waste little time in getting it on. Scoop slam by Rikishi but he misses the legdrop and a Benoit baseball slide sends him sprawling under the bottom rope and to the outside. Rikishi battles back on the floor and looks to have gotten the upper hand, only to toss Benoit back inside and see ‘the Crippler’ drop a leg on his shoulder as he tries to get back in himself. The action returns to the floor where Benoit throws Rikishi into the ring steps. He looks to target his shoulder, pulling him shoulder first into the ring post before slapping on a shoulderlock submission. Desperation thrust kick from Rikishi who is really favouring that shoulder now. Benoit with a DDT which he follows with a belly to back suplex. He misses the diving headbutt, as Rikishi rolls out the way, and gets caught with a Samoan drop. Belly to belly, banzai splash and we have a new Intercontinental champion. Too Cool are out to celebrate with Rikishi but their celebrations are cut short as ‘the Crippler’ lays them all out with a chair and then puts Rikishi in the crossface as a bunch of officials struggle to get him to break the hold. Always a fan of someone targeting a body part and making that the focus of their attack. Considering how Benoit had been booked recently I wasn’t expecting a title change here, even less so after a banzai splash. Despite the loss though, ‘the Crippler’ was put over strong in the post-match laying everyone out and ‘the crossface’ continues to be protected.

For one night only, as he’s facing the World champion, Bob Holly is the defacto face, although this is a non-title bout. Holly with a snug side headlock, HHH shoots him off, ‘Hardcore’ gets the better of the shoulder tackle and the crowd come unglued. A stiff right hand and Hunter takes to the floor to try and compose himself. The two trade blows and Holly comes out on top, unloading with a flurry of rapid punches and then stomping a mud hole in ‘the Game’ who crumples in the corner. Sideslam for two and Holly complains about a slow count before clotheslining Triple H over the top rope and to the outside. Hunter drags him out with him, but ‘Hardcore’ blocks having his head rammed into the ring steps and does it to HHH instead. Whip to the ring post is reversed though as Holly goes crashing into it. High knee to the face. Triple H measures the knee drop and Holly kicks out of the cover at two to a great response. Now ‘the Game’ is complaining to the official about the count but Tim White is taking no shit tonight and, when HHH shoves him, shoves him back letting him know who is in charge here. ‘Hardcore’ escapes the sleeper and hits a belly to back suplex. Picture perfect dropkick and Steph’s face is a picture as she realises her man is in trouble. Scoop powerslam and HHH gets a shoulder up at the last split second. Hunter’s backing off, but Holly telegraphs the backdrop and a facebuster by ‘the Game’. The pedigree is countered as Holly catapults Triple H into the turnbuckles, however there’s no-one home on the running splash and he goes flying into the top one. Steph is up on the apron distracting White and behind his back she throws the World title belt towards HHH. Before he’s able to get his hands on it though, Chris Jericho sprints out and into the ring, picks up the belt and waffles Triple H with it. He clobbers Holly with it too for good measure and then celebrates with the belt raising it above his head as the crowd go wild. The finish was weak but I suppose that it at least forwarded the HHH/Jericho storyline. Despite that though the match was a pleasant surprise, going over ten minutes and Triple H doing such a strong job that it looked like Holly might actually win this. The crowd were super hot throughout and I don’t know it that was due to the job they had done on elevating Holly with the Chris Benoit stuff or whether they just flat out hated HHH. I’d veer more towards the latter but this is a really strong match for Heat.

If it is I imagine the match will be very similar anyway (especially with Liz and Brother Love in the respective corners), but does anyone know if the mixed tag from Des Moines on 7/17 is the same match that airs on the Hottest Matches Coliseum release or is it a different one?

After defeating Jeff Hardy on Smackdown, Chris Benoit moves on to facing his brother Matt as he gets a crack at the Intercontinental title. Matt arm drags his way out of a powerbomb and then drops Benoit with a stiff sounding clothesline. Moonsault bodyblock for a two. Leg drop off the middle and again ‘the Crippler’ is able to get a shoulder up before the count of three. He goes for a sunset flip, but Benoit rolls through and levels Matt with a clothesline of his own. Running forearm smash followed by a snap suplex. The attempted powerbomb is countered for a second time, this time by a Russian leg sweep. Shoulderbreaker by ‘the Crippler’, however he misses the diving headbutt. Matt looks to try and take advantage but gets hotshotted across the top rope. Benoit tries to suplex Hardy over the top rope and to the outside, though Matt lands on the apron, drills Benoit and then suplexes him from the inside, over and out to the floor in a crazy looking spot. Back inside and Matt lands on his feet after Benoit avoids the moonsault. The two continue to fight it out until Benoit drives Matt back into the corner. Superplex and both men go down. Hardy blocks the third rolling German, but as he signals for the ‘Twist of Fate’, Benoit counters into the crossface for the submission win. He refuses to break the hold until Jeff runs out, though Jeff hasn’t learned anything from last week as again ‘the Crippler’ KO’s him with a belt shot. Benoit showing that it doesn’t matter which Hardy brother he works with, he can have a good TV match with either. I didn’t think this was quite as good as his effort with Jeff, although this was still better than the one Matt had with Eddy Guerrero.