GSR

I watched this earlier and I'll write it up in a few days, but in Tank's UFC debut he knocked a guy called John Matua out in 18 seconds. Matua started having convulsions and then Tank mocked him as he was having them. The legend of Tank was made off that one fight, even though as an MMA fighter he wasn't really that good (10-15 career record, and 2-9 in his last 11 fights). I might be giving WCW too much credit here, but this looked like they were playing off that with the way Yang's body was spazzing about and Tank's reaction to it.

Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo are both very proud of themselves after what happened last night. ‘Easy E’ says it shouldn’t have been a surprise though because Goldberg and he, Goldberg and the New Blood, have so much in common. When Goldberg was out of action, all the likes of Hogan, Sting and Nash could talk about was how they’ve got their ‘spot’ back; because from the moment he debuted they knew ‘he’ was the future of the company, and not them. So all he ever heard was how shallow Bill Goldberg was, how much of a team player Bill Goldberg wasn’t. He proved to them last night though that he’s the ultimate team player and he’s on their team, he came back to him because he knew he was the one person he could trust. Goldberg joins them and claims everyone in the back has tried to knife him so he sold his soul to the Devil. That way they get what they want and he gets what he wants, which is him standing over every last son of a bitch who had tried to screw him. The commentators are trying to sell this huge, like Goldberg is shooting or something, but it’s just not connecting at all. Nash interrupts them and tells Goldberg that ever since he arrived this company gave everything to him on a silver platter. He thinks he made Goldberg? Eric Bischoff thinks he made Goldberg? “Sting made Goldberg, Scott Hall made Goldberg, Hulk Hogan made Goldberg, Ric Flair made Goldberg and Kevin Nash made Goldberg” Nash claims he had plans for tonight (it’s Nitro night pal, you should be working!), but there’s one thing he’s got to do first, and he’s not leaving the building without Goldberg’s blood on his hands! ‘Big Sexy’ heads to the ring, however he throws a couple of law enforcement officers who are in his way down, and they end up macing and cuffing him. Russo tells the police officers he doesn’t want Nash arrested he wants him released into his custody, because what he’s looking for tonight is big ratings, so it’s going to be Kevin Nash versus Bill Goldberg later in the show. The officers put Nash into a police car to cool off, while Russo tells a young lad that Nash is going to get the beating of his life later on. Scott Steiner chases Russo off and Nash asks him to take care of his nephew (the young lad), Hunter. Oh dear! No wrestling gear for Nash tonight as he’s wearing jeans and an Ice Hockey jersey, while the New Blood (Filthy Animals, Mamalukes, Chuck Palumbo, Shawn Stasiak and Shane Douglas) all accompany Goldberg to ringside. Nash attacks Goldberg as soon as he steps through the ropes and the two trade rights. Big boot to the face and Goldberg rolls to the floor. Back inside and he ducks under a shot before levelling Nash with a great looking standing side kick to the head. Goldberg pounds on him, and the moment it looks like ‘Big Sexy’ might get back into this, the New Blood are all up on the apron causing a distraction. Chair shot by Goldberg is pulled drastically and misses by a country mile, but Nash sells it like he’s been shot! ‘Hunter’ is now at ringside cheering on his ‘uncle’ (where is Steiner?) and Russo is out and forcing him to watch as Goldberg continues to beat on him. Scott Steiner (oh, here he is!) tries to help and is running through the New Blood when the police officers arrive. He forearms a couple of them across the chops and they then beat him with their Billy clubs like he’s Rodney King! As Steiner is cuffed and being taken away, Ernest Miller kicks him which results in him being arrested too (which I found pretty funny). ‘Hunter’ is in the ring checking on Nash, Russo and Goldberg start celebrating and this ends without a finish. Three terrible segments here. The promo trying to explain Goldberg’s heel turn was desperate, both in the fact that they were clutching at straws to try and justify it and the reasons given made minimal, if any sense. Plenty of profanity too (four uses of the term ‘son of a bitch’ alone, and two of them by Russo), which again reeks of desperation in trying to make this have an air of legitimacy about what is being said. The use of this nephew called ‘Hunter’ was too inside and playing to the newsletter readers/internet crowd and added nothing but a “hey, aren’t we clever. We’re ribbing the opposition”. Lousy action, with an awful missed chair shot and a non-finish to boot. The fact Nash couldn’t even be bothered to change into his ring gear for it says all you need to know about the (non) match.

Michael Buffer with the introductions! ‘The Cat’ is out after the wrestler and he’s got some announcements of his own. The special guest bell ringer for the match will be Konan, the timekeeper is Rey Misterio Jr, the belt keeper is Disco Inferno, the special guest ring announcer is ‘Juvi the Juice’, while the special ring enforcer is himself as the New Blood look to stack the deck against Nash. ‘Big Sexy’ gets the better of the collar and elbow tie ups, so the Filthy Animals are all up on the apron causing a distraction. It works though as Jarrett is able to pounce on Nash when his back is turned. He fights back with some knees to the mid-section and a high beel across the ring. Clothesline over the top rope to the floor, he then puts Jarrett over his shoulder to ram him into the ring post, however ‘Double J’ slips down his back and shoves Nash into it instead. ‘Big Sexy’ reverses the whip to the guardrail and drops Jarrett face first onto the announcer’s table. They head out into the crowd, but as they return back to the ringside area, Rey Jr with a chair to Nash’s knee. As the official admonishes Rey, the other Animals roll him into the ring. Jarrett picks up a chair and repeatedly hits the knee with it as he focuses all his efforts on that one limb. Spinning toe hold followed by a single leg crab, however Nash is able to grab the ropes for the break. Figure Four and ‘Big Sexy’ almost passes out from the pain before again forcing the break by reaching the ropes. Konan KO’s Nash with the ring bell behind the referee’s back, but he kicks out of the pin. Side slam and now Nash is attacking the Filthy Animals who are once more on the apron, and isn’t even bothered about trying to sell that knee that Jarrett has spent the last ten minutes or so working on! He clocks ‘Double J’ with the World title belt that he’s bought into the ring and as Mickey Jay counts, Disco just waltzes in and drops an elbow on the official. Juvi cracks Nash in the back with a chair and ‘The Cat’ replaces Jay as the match referee. Jarrett drapes an arm over ‘Big Sexy’, but again he’s able to kick out before the three. The Filthy Animals are back involving themselves in proceedings and Nash handles the four of them but gets caught by a shot from Jarrett. ‘The Stroke’ and that’s still not enough to put him away. ‘Double J’ grabs his guitar and leaps off the middle turnbuckle attempting to break it over his head, however he snatches him by the throat and plants him with a chokeslam. ‘The Cat’ counts two and then stops, feigning that there is something wrong with his eye. ‘Jackknife’ on ‘the Cat’. Big boot and a ‘jackknife’ on Jarrett, Charles Robinson is out to count the pin but gets pulled from the ring by Rick Steiner. Scott Steiner tries to help Nash, but he gets jumped by Tank Abbott and the two of them fight to the back while it remains seven-on-one in the ring. Goldberg’s monster truck enters the building, he heads to the ring and the Animals and Steiner scatter. He sets himself up to ‘Double J’, but changes direction and takes out Nash instead. Jarrett makes the cover, Goldberg drags Mickey Jay to where it’s taking place and he counts the three. Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo join Goldberg in the ring and the New Blood celebrate together as the PPV goes off the air. Overbooked is an understatement here! It was Nash fighting against the odds to try and become World champion, but there was just so much going on and I found myself losing interest and checking to see how long was left as it was dragging something rotten. It’s like the writers thought how can we screw with Nash so he doesn’t win the belt, then decided to put it all into the one match: the Filthy Animals at ringside alongside ‘The Cat’, blatant interference, attacking of the official, heel ref not counting, weapons and foreign objects, run-ins and to top it off we’ll have Goldberg turn on him too! Too much and too long. Superman Nash doesn’t even bother to sell the leg after Jeff had spent so long working on it as well rendering that part of the match pointless. Dire!

Perry James and The Regulators join Corey Maclin and Perry is holding his neck. He’s filing ‘the lawsuit’ as Moondog Spot made the mistake of attacking him, the greatest legal mind in the business. Spot has been suspended until further investigation, but if he has anything to do with it, the Moondog and Power Pro Wrestling are over. Quick flash pin attempt after King evades the opening lock up and schoolboys Harlem. Two more early quick pins after a DDT and an enziguiri, both of which Rob kicks out of at two. Harlem counters the headlock with a belly to back suplex for a two of his own. Clothesline which King takes a spin bump off. Nice spinning heel kick by the big man, cover, however he picks King up wanting to dish out some more punishment. Irish whip, Rob telegraphs the backdrop and a sort of swinging neckbreaker by King. He goes for a bodyslam but can’t lift Harlem off the canvas. ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker and this time he manages to slam the 350lber. Superkick, Deon is up on the apron and he gets superkicked too. The referee is too busy checking on him though and by the time he notices there’s a cover, Rob is able to raise a shoulder. Spinning facebuster off the middle rope and James pulls the official to the outside at the count of two. The ref blocks a James punch, decks him and returns to the ring to fast count the three. The early portion of this was move, pin attempt, move, pin attempt etc. Not a lot to say about this, but Rob Harlem’s (lack of) ring wear isn’t pleasant on the eyes that’s for sure. Below average match that I can’t imagine ever watching, or wanting to watch, again.

Ali joins Dave Brown and Randy Hales at the start of the show and says that Wolfie D’s thirty days are up and he wants his belt back. Randy says that they had the match scheduled for the end of the show, but “why not!” and let’s get it going now! Wolfie makes his way out but is in no hurry to join Ali in the ring. As he continues to walk around ringside, ‘The Cartel’ rush from the dressing room and jump Ali from behind. Perry James holds a hub cap against his ribs while Wolfie kicks it, and the group continues to attack the ribs until the face locker-room empties for the save. Prior to the match commencing, security are seen ushering ‘The Cartel’ out of the building as per Randy Hales’ instructions earlier in the show. Ali’s ribs are all taped up from the attack and he hobbles out and into the ring. Wolfie is on him straightaway, however Ali blocks the hiptoss attempts and counters with a nice swinging neckbreaker. Huge press slam followed by a clothesline which sends Wolfie over the top rope to the floor. Pescado and Dave Brown notes how, despite his hurt ribs, Ali is going all out to get the Power Pro title back from Wolfie. He pulls the announcer’s desk off the platform where Dave and Randy are sat and rams Wolfie’s head into it. After lying him on the desk he goes for a second pescado, but Wolfie moves and he crashes into it himself (and there is no give like with the tables). Wolfie dumps the desk onto Ali and throws him back inside. Double foot stomp as he focuses his attack on those already injured ribs. Modified ‘Ace Crusher’ with Wolfie grapevining the leg at the same time. Big kneedrop across the chest for two before he charges at Ali who backdrops him into the official. Wolfie grabs a chair and jabs it into Ali’s ribs a couple of times. Pin, but he’s able to get the shoulder up at the last second. Wolfie then places the chair across his chest, comes off the middle with a kneedrop, however Ali moves and he hits only chair. Clothesline by Ali followed by three ‘Ali Drivers’, when the lights in the arena go out. When they come back on, Koko B. Ware is in the ring and waffles Ali repeatedly with the steel chair. He clobbers the referee with it too and the pair of them continue to beat on Ali as the show goes off the air while the announcers wonder where Koko came from. I should really hate the non-finish, but Koko’s intensity and attack wants me to watch next week and find out what lead him to this. Ali sold those ribs for the entire match, and even when on the offense, Dave Brown did a great job in explaining that it was the adrenaline taking over, or that he was going all out to try and defeat Wolfie for the title. Solid stuff here.

As Jade makes his entrance he gets nailed from behind with a chair to the back by Steel. He whips him with his belt and throws him into the ring steps as he looks to get some revenge for Jade burning him. Back in the ring and Steel with a bulldog off the turnbuckles for a very quick first fall. Dave Brown reminds us at this point that, as per Texas Death match rules, Jade has ten seconds to get back up although he makes it comfortably. Steel immediately levels him with a clothesline and is right back on him. ‘Stinger splash’ in the corner and he then wedges a chair between the turnbuckles. Irish whip, however he telegraphs the backdrop and Jade with a piledriver. He whips Steel into the chair that he’d earlier set up, pedigree (or ‘Jaded Edge’ as they call it) and Jade gets his first fall. Steel looks beaten, but with the help of the ropes he’s just about to get back to his feet at nine. The match continues as Jade tosses Steel over the top rope to the outside, before ramming his head into the ring post. Inside, and Jade ties his opponent between the top and middle ropes (the old Andre the Giant spot) and then cracks him over the head with chair. He collects a table from under the ring and sets it up in the corner. Jade sits him on the turnbuckles ready for a top rope superplex, when Steel throws fire at him and Jade takes a backwards bump off the top and through the table. Huge splash by Steel for our third fall. Jade struggles to his feet and looks like he’s about to beat the count when he falls back to the canvas and Steel is declared the winner. This started off promising with the brawling on the floor, but in the end it just felt too rushed. I suppose that’s one of the constraints of trying to do this match on TV, but even if they were given just an additional five minutes it would’ve meant they could build to the big spots more. Thought the finish was great though with Steel getting his revenge by throwing the fire at Jade, and then him taking the backwards bump off the top through the table.

Randy Hales has checked on Ali after the attack by The Cartel earlier in the show. He thinks he may have broken ribs and has told him they'll put off the title match until next week, but Ali wants it today. Perry James and The Regulators are out to confront Hales, and James says that according to this contract hes got, Wolfie D has 30 days before he has to defend the title against Ali and its only been 28! Randy looks at the contract and sees its been signed by C.B. Hales and not himself. He tells them that C.B. is a fraud, the contract isnt valid and Ali gets his title match today! Whenever The Cartel are involved its always seven against one, so Hales bans them from ringside. James accuses him of showing prejudice against them, so he decides to ban every wrestler from the building except Ali and Wolfie D. Randy has had enough of The Regulators too and wants them in a match, when they get attacked by a weapon carrying Moondog Spot and Derrick King. Tag title match that is being held under Moondog rules, which I think means anything goes. King with chair to the back of Deon and Spot slugs James as they go at it on the arena floor. James needs to start paying attention as he then gets clobbered by a Spot chair shot. An ugly looking exchange between King and Deon in the ring ends with James powdering King. Chokebomb by Deon, but he's too exhausted to make the cover (not sure how as this has only been going a couple of minutes!). James is involving himself again and goes to hit King over the head with a garbage can, however he moves and levels his own charge instead. Facebuster and Rob breaks up the pin just in time. All four men are in the ring and King with a second facebuster to Deon. He makes the cover, but at the same time Rob whips Spot into the referee squashing him in the corner. No official, so James is back in and hits King over the head with his shoe. Deon rolls over to cover him, while in the meantime Spotty has nailed Rob with his bone and is covering him. A second referee rushes out as the original comes to and both count a different pin. They cant come to a decision on who has won and end up fighting each other as the two teams brawl to the back. Randy Hales continues to be one awful TV performer. This was very messy and you know you're struggling when even Derrick King doesn't look good. Finish with the referees fighting each other makes me wonder if someone has been watching OVW and thought "hey, thats a good idea", when in fact it isnt at all!

Jarrett and Steiner are out first, when the camera cuts backstage and sees Nash laid out in the dressing room being attacked by Goldberg. As Steiner heads back up the aisle to go and help out, he’s jumped by ‘Double J’. Jarrett throws him into the guardrail before tossing him back inside. Steiner ducks a clothesline and a gorilla press slam, dropping his opponent chest first to the mat. Tilt-a-whirl slam and here’s Goldberg sprinting to the ring. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ hurls Jarrett to the outside so Goldberg and he have the ring to themselves. Goldberg nails him with a right, followed by an awesome overhead press where he drops and catches Steiner over his shoulder then slams him to the canvas. He uses the corner to get back to his feet, Goldberg with the spear, but Steiner moves and he goes flying into the turnbuckles. Belly to belly on Goldberg and Jarrett pulls referee Charles Robinson out the ring at two. Double underhook powerbomb on ‘Double J’ and now Goldberg is the one breaking up the pin. It’s now two-on-one against Steiner and Goldberg with a cross armbar. Mike Awesome heads out and snatches the United States title, while in the meantime Jarrett telegraphs a backdrop, Steiner kicks him and then clotheslines Goldberg over the top rope to the floor. Near fall on Jarrett after a powerbomb. Running powerslam and Awesome pulls Steiner from the ring at two. He clobbers him with the U.S. title belt and here comes Kevin Nash, looking as fresh as a daisy and showing no effects of the beating he took less than ten minutes ago! Side slam on Jarrett, ‘snake eyes’ and a chokeslam. Awesome gets in the ring, however he shouldn’t have bothered as he gets ‘jackknifed’. Goldberg leaps over the top rope back in, only to be met with a Nash big boot. ‘Jackknife’ attempt on Goldberg, but Jarrett with the save just in time. Big boot to ‘Double J’, now he’s got him primed for the ‘jackknife’, when Goldberg with a standing side kick to the face for the save. Jarrett falls on top of him, and Charles Robinson counts the three to give ‘Double J’ the win. The crowd were electric at times for this which makes a nice change for 2000 WCW. I’m not sure how the Goldberg heel turn will end up (and I didn’t like his backing off in previous weeks), but the crowd were super-hot for his and Steiner’s exchanges, and were pumped when it looked like Nash was going to powerbomb him. A smartly booked match and keeping Nash out the way until the finish was for the better. I wish he’d showed at least some effect of Goldberg’s attack mind. Good stuff though and the money match is clearly Steiner/Goldberg.

Fantastic video package to open this with clips of when Duggan announced he was diagnosed with cancer and his subsequent return on Thunder. The winner of this goes into the four corners match later in the show, and this has a feel of a ‘last hurrah’ about it for old Hacksaw. The commentators play it up too, wondering as a cancer survivor and with just the one kidney, whether he is ready for a man like Goldberg? Before Goldberg makes his entrance though, ‘Commissioner Cat’ is out and bans the 2x4 from the ring. Duggan and Goldberg go nose to nose and the two of them trade blows with Hacksaw getting the better of things. Referee Mickey Jay gets between them to try and separate them, Duggan moves him out the way but then gets levelled with a clothesline. Goldberg throws him to the outside and then shoves him into the ring post. Back inside and Goldberg with a left to Duggan’s kidney. Head crank and the crowd are rallying for Hacksaw to get back into things, however Goldberg with another shot to the kidney. Duggan reverses a whip to the turnbuckle and then plants him with a big slam. He signals for the ‘three point stance’, but Goldberg is back to his feet already and fells him with a spear. ‘Jackhammer’ and Goldberg advances to the fourway. He delivers some more shots to Hacksaw’s kidney after the match and Duggan is bleeding from the mouth as the official calls for some medical help. A tearful Debra Duggan rushes to ringside while her husband is loaded onto a stretcher, and after an advert break a bunch of wrestlers (including Alan Funk and Mike Sanders, now promoted from R&B Security) watch on as he is placed into an ambulance. I thought the presentation of this was excellent; from the opening video package, to the commentators stressing and reiterating about Duggan’s health issues, to his wife rushing out at the end all concerned about. The match itself was a notch above a squash, although I really enjoyed the two hosses at the start trading big bombs with one another, and then Goldberg’s shots to Duggan’s one remaining kidney. The crowd were also much more into this than you would expect given Duggan’s ‘push’, although in that way it is similar to the Battle Royale from last month. As a standalone match though, this is middle of the road for me.

Our first look at Sean O’Haire in the project as these two make their Nitro debut. Tony Schiavone says that they have only been at the Power Plant for six months, but considering we watched Jindrak on Saturday Night back in January, I’m not sure how true that statement is. The pair of them are physically impressive specimens and utilize their obvious size advantage over their smaller Filthy Animal opponents. Press slam by O’Haire where he tosses Juvi from one corner to the other. Jindrak misses a no hands (i.e. not grabbing the top rope) Lionsault and the Animals go to work on him. Great looking missile dropkick from ‘the Juice’ for two. They do the Dudleys “wassup” spot, but with Rey substituting a double legdrop in for D-Von’s headbutt. Double dropkick, attempting to sandwich Jindrak in the process, however he moves in time and the two of them dropkick each other. Tag to O’Haire and a double clothesline off the top. Stereo vertical suplexes and O’Haire then launches Rey across the ring and under the bottom rope to the outside. Tilt-a-whirl slam on Juvi by Jindrak, ‘Seanton’ bomb and the rookies are victorious on their debut. Disco and Konan jump them after the bell and Lance Storm makes the save as Mark Madden screams about how he doesn’t even work here. Jindrak looks as green as he did all those months back on Saturday Night. O’Haire is only slightly better, but the match sees them limited to their flying and strength moves (which look great), while Rey and Juvi try to hold it together. In that respect I don’t know what to make of it? It didn’t flow as smoothly and felt a bit clunky; even Rey and Juvi weren’t as smooth as I would expect from them. Clean, non-interference laden finish is a huge plus point mind.

There’ve been so many special guest referees recently and this time it’s Mike Awesome, while ‘Commissioner’ Ernest Miller is providing commentary. Steiner is saying something to ‘the Cat’ when he’s jumped from behind by Jarrett. Irish whip is reversed, ‘Double J’ slides between Steiner’s legs, but Big Poppa Pump with an inverted atomic drop followed by a tilt-a-whirl slam. Jarrett goes for a tip up in the corner, however Steiner catches him, runs him into the turnbuckles (like the start of an Oklahoma Stampede) and then drops him throat first across the top rope. Clothesline over the top to the floor. ‘Double J’ grabs Steiner’s ankle, pulls him to the outside and whips him into the guardrail. After jabbing him in the ribs with a chair, Midajah is around to check on her man, but Jarrett snatches her and tosses her into the ring so he can continue with his attack. Midajah’s not standing for that and jumps from the apron on to his back, causing a distraction that allows Steiner to pick up the chair and now jab Jarrett in the stomach with it. Steiner launches him over the guardrail into the crowd and they have a brisk walk around the audience before returning to the ring. Gorilla press slam and drops ‘Double J’ chest first to the canvas. Jarrett escapes the suplex attempt and a low blow brings Steiner to his knees. A pair of double axe handles off the middle and a nice belly to back by Jarrett. Sleeperhold as he continues to try and weaken Big Poppa Pump. Steiner shoots him off and slaps on a sleeper of his own, before deciding against it and hitting a delayed vertical suplex instead. Both men are back to their feet at eight and Steiner with a scoop powerslam for two. Belly to belly and Jarrett gets his shoulder up at the last split second. ‘Steiner recliner’ and ‘the Cat’ is up and out of his position at the commentary desk telling Awesome to break that hold because it’s illegal. Here comes the bullshit! Awesome can’t break it so ‘the Cat’ passes him a chair which he then levels across Steiner’s back. He kicks out of the subsequent pin and Jarrett and Steiner put the boots to him, now working together. Double clothesline by Steiner stops them in their tracks, and a nice overhead throw/suplex on Awesome. ‘Steiner recliner’ on the guest official, but Jarrett breaks a guitar over his head, makes the cover and Awesome counts the three. Post-match, ‘Commissioner Cat’ fancies his chances against a beaten down Steiner, however ends up in the recliner himself. Awesome and Jarrett return to help, but Steiner handles the three of them until Goldberg shows up and spears him. Kevin Nash runs out (well, as close to you’ll get to running with Nash!) to try and get his hands on Goldberg, but ducks out of the ring and says “on his time”. Scott Hudson mentions on commentary that this is Steiner’s first World title match since 1991. I don’t know if that is the truth or not, but I wish it was something that the commentators played up more because it was mentioned the once early and then forgotten about. I was really enjoying this match until the bullshit at the end, although I should’ve known that it was coming, what with the guest referee and ‘Commissioner Cat’ also hovering at ringside. They need to knock the guest referee gimmick on the head for a bit because it’s been badly overused recently. At least one match a week seems to have it and it always ends the same way. It was funny seeing Nash attempting a run-in and actually showing a bit of urgency for once!

Billy Kidman is with Gene Okerlund and ‘Mean’ Gene says that it took a lot of guts for him to turn his back on Eric Bischoff and the New Blood (although in doing so it has given him a World title match against Jeff Jarrett tonight!). He explains that everyone thought he was paranoid when he said he smelled a rat in Horace Hogan, but Bischoff told him to trust him, he did, and look what happened. What he did on Monday he did not to help Hulk Hogan, but to screw with Eric Bischoff. He may not be New Blood anymore, but that’s fine with him because it means no more Eric Bischoff, and no more of his crap! Jarrett’s wrestling this in a vest, jeans and boots as apparently his luggage got lost! He jumps Kidman before the bell, Irish whip, however Kidman ducks the clothesline and responds with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Hotshot and a back elbow by Jarrett sends Kidman tumbling through the ropes and to the floor. He drops him throat first across the guardrail, before whipping him into it and then throwing him back inside. Jarrett catapults Kidman over the top rope again to the outside, when the Filthy Animals music plays and they make their way to ringside. ‘Double J’ tells them not to take another step, when he’s schoolboyed for a two. Short powerbomb for another near fall, Kidman heads upstairs but Jarrett is able to sweep his legs out from under him. Kidman blocks the superplex and counters with a sunset flip powerbomb for his third two count in quick succession. Big splash off the top and ‘Double J’ is just about able to get a shoulder up. Tygress has joined them on commentary but her head set isn’t working so we get a brief bit of silence. When they get it to work you realise that silence was the better option as I struggle to understand a word she says! Rey Jr is up on the apron distracting the official, and this allows Konan to break a guitar over Kidman’s head. ‘The Stroke’ and Jarrett retains the World title. As the Filthy Animals attack Kidman post-match for his actions on Monday when he threw the chair to Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash’s music plays and they’re quickly out of there before he makes it to the ring. ‘Double J’ is not so quick, Nash snatches him, ties a belt around his neck and drags him off with him as the footage ends. Only a few minutes of action, but enough to know that these two could have a very good match if given the chance. Helping Hogan out on Nitro and now having the Filthy Animals jump him, they’re rushing through the Kidman face turn that is for sure.

Russo and David are in the ring and Vinnie Ru tells his ‘son’ that he’s very proud of his performance at the Great American Bash last night. He says that he came out here for one reason, and that’s that he is sick of being everyone’s punching bag and isn’t going to take it any more. It ends tonight, and it ends with the ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. He claims that he’s going to retire him and tells him to get his ass out here. Flair steps out into the arena and he’s grinning like a Cheshire cat. He warns Russo that he better start jumping on someone else, because if he jumps on him again he’s going to get hurt. Russo breaks down after saying how much he hates Ric, and the Naitch states that they can put this to bed once and for all. If Russo wants, he can have him tonight, but if he wins, Russo retires, he becomes the boss of WCW and he will get to shave his head. Russo accepts “because a New Yorker doesn’t back down from anybody punk! Especially in front of these Richmond faggots!”, but with one condition, he wants it a handicap match with his ‘son’ David. Flair says that he’s going to get Reid and they’ll kick their ass like they did last time. Ric is carrying a bag full of hair clippers and the like, as Beth, Megan and Ashley watch on from the crowd, and while Tony Schiavone reminds us that Ric’s career is also on the line tonight. ‘The Naitch’ starts off against his son and tears open his shirt so he can get a clear shot at his chest. Whip to the corner and David badly botches the bump over the turnbuckle and onto the apron, not even making it over them. Russo tries to help David, Ric sees him coming and Vinnie Ru sells a kick to the mid-section that missed by about a foot! Knife edge chop to Russo and he responds by posing like he’s Hulk Hogan. Just when I thought this cunt is now no selling Flair’s chops, Ric realises he’s wearing a chest protector (which to be fair now makes it seem pretty funny). Of course ‘the Naitch’ strips him off that and makes him pay for it with a couple more chops. Delayed vertical suplex on David and he locks on the Figure Four. Russo has grabbed his baseball bat and just unloads with shot after shot on Ric. Reid tackles Russo, but David pulls him off and Vinnie Ru is back to attacking Ric with it. He calls Beth into the ring and at the same time R&B Security rush out. Russo wants Beth to “jump on his bandwagon” and encourages her to break the Statue of Liberty figurine over her helpless husband. When she doesn’t, he does it himself, but the statue is so fragile that it breaks before he hits him! Russo is on top choking ‘the Naitch’ and Ashley hops the rails trying to save her father, however she’s held back by the Security. David with the Figure Four on his dad, some crappy looking stomps from Russo and Megan throws the towel in. What a way for Flair’s career ‘to end’? Russo and David then shave Ric’s head, and for good measure shave Reid’s too. If the cage match was an ego trip then this was on another level altogether. Just pinning Flair wasn’t enough for him, he wanted to be the man to retire him and shave his head in the process! The match itself was fucking atrocious with botches and hideous looking work throughout. Russo’s baseball bat looks as though it’s made of rubber, the ‘lethal’ Statue of Liberty figurine breaks before impact and we have all three Flair women involved too. The ‘Human Torch’ match hurt my eyes physically, but this hurt them in another way altogether. The lowest of the low, just plain horrific from beginning to end.

Billy Kidman is the special referee, for seemingly no reason whatsoever! Hogan is still Hollywood Hogan and he’s aggressive from the off. Clothesline in the corner, Hulk starts choking Jarrett and Kidman is on him to break. He tosses ‘Double J’ to the floor and whips him with his weightlifting belt before choking him with that too. Hulk throws him back inside and Jarrett is immediately on him when he rolls back in; stomping and putting the boots to Hogan and showing no effects of the opening beating he took. Just like last night though, Hogan’s opponents’ dominance doesn’t last for long. A clothesline sends Jarrett over the top rope to the outside, Irish whip, however ‘Double J’ reverses it and Hogan crashes into the guardrail. He picks up a chair and jabs it into Hulk’s ribs. As he raises it over his head to hit him again, Kidman grabs the chair, kicks Jeff in the mid-section and throws it to Hogan. A couple of chair shots across Jarrett’s back, and Vince Russo and Bill Goldberg are out to take a closer look at the proceedings. Hogan with the big boot and Goldberg heads to the ring. Legdrop, cover and Goldberg just about gets in there in time to break up the pin. He sets himself for the spear, however Kidman stands between the two of them and Goldberg spears him instead. He may not be feuding with Hulk anymore, but Kidman continues to take those bad ass bumps as Goldberg presses him over his head and drops him to the arena floor. Spear on Hogan, and Russo and Jarrett set up a table which he then ‘Jackhammers’ him through. G.I. Bro makes the save, dumps ‘Double J’ out of there and Goldberg BACKS OFF wanting no part of the fight. A stretcher is bought to the ring for the Hulkster just as our footage finishes. The match was similar to last night with Hogan dominating the majority and quickly cutting off his opponents’ attack. The commentators tried to claim that Kidman was getting back at Eric Bischoff for not watching his back, but it was awfully flimsy after everything that he and Hogan have gone through these past few months to all of a sudden see him interject himself into Hulk’s match and helping him out. At least they’re looking to position G.I. Bro with this company at the top of the card though, so he’s not solely with the M.I.A. as things looked a couple of weeks ago. Hated, hated, hated, Goldberg backing off from him mind. I know it’s what heels do, but his character should back down from no-one.

Pretty cool little video package to set the stage for this one. Vampiro is out first and lights the blowtorch that will be used to set one of the two participants on fire. Sting’s music plays and the torch starts to rise upwards as we see the Stinger stood atop the scaffolding that surrounds the ‘Nitrovision’ big screen He wonders if Vampiro is afraid of heights, because if he wants to set him on fire, he’s going to have to go up there to get the torch. Sting abseils down the scaffolding and makes his way to the ring to get this underway. Vamp attacks him as soon as he steps in the ring and drops the Stinger with a spinning heel kick. Sting reverses the whip to the corner and follows with a scoop powerslam. Facebuster and Sting now whips Vampiro into the corner, however as he goes for the ‘Stinger splash’ he gets a foot up. As Vamp charges, Sting hotshots him into the opposing top turnbuckle. He goes for a second ‘Stinger splash’, but again doesn’t connect as Vampiro moves out the way. With Sting left hunched over the top rope, Vamp collects the can of gasoline and douses him with it. Sting exits the ring trying to get away, and they make their way back up the aisle to the entrance. Vamp climbs the scaffolding at the side of the big screen with Sting in pursuit as he attempts to try and get the torch. A the Stinger grabs his ankle, Vamp kicks him off and Sting takes a bump, of no more than eight feet, into a bunch of cardboard boxes covered in black tarpaulin. Tony Schiavone thinks it’s the end of the match as how could he ever continue? He does though due to his “superhuman strength” (TM Tony Schiavone!) and Sting is back to his feet and pursuing him up that scaffold. When they reach the top this becomes unwatchable as the light starts flickering trying to simulate lightning, while thunderclap sounds play at the same time. Heaven help if you have epilepsy, but this hurt my eyes trying to watch it. Anyway, they fight on top of the ‘Nitrovision’ for a bit, the lights go out, Vampiro sets fire to ‘Sting’ and ‘Sting’ falls off the structure onto a crashmat. For the second month in a row Schiavone goes all Jim Ross on us again, and he, Scott Hudson and Mark Madden act as though they have just witnessed a murder. From a kayfabe point of view, where were the police? Were they unaware that two men were trying to set each other on fire? This could’ve resulted in death! Sorry, but this is one of the most ridiculous gimmicks for a match I’ve ever heard or seen. The work was nothing special, a couple of protected falls into cardboard boxes and a crashmat, and the first time my eyes have ever physically hurt after watching a match! For that reason alone it’s going below the Flair/Russo cage match.

We’ve had ‘F.U.N.B.’ Terry Bollea, red and yellow Hulk Hogan and tonight he’s decked in the black and white for ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan. Nephew Horace is the official for the match, where if he loses, Hulk has to retire from wrestling. Pre-match interview from the Hulkster where he reminds Gene Okerlund that blood is thicker than New Blood. Oh no, not another turn? Hogan overpowers Kidman early who bumps and feeds for him. Big boot, but before he’s able to drop the leg, Kidman rolls to the outside. Hulk follows him out and rams him into the guardrail before throwing him back inside. He starts choking him and Horace with the count to get him to break. Hogan tells him that “he better watch out”, but Horace says he’s just calling this down the middle. Kidman with an eye rake as he starts to fire back. Now he’s the one choking his opponent and Horace is again there with the count, calling it like he said he would, however Kidman is clearly not happy that he isn’t favouring him. Back kick low blow from the Hulkster and he takes off his weightlifting belt. He gestures to the crowd for approval, but they’re not loud enough for his liking and he goes to put it back around his waist. Ooh, that Hulk Hogan is such a tease! He gives them another go, the cheers are a bit louder, that’s good enough for him and he whips Kidman with it. He takes to the floor to try and buy some time, but again Hulk is out after him. Hogan picks up a chair, however he plays to the crowd for too long and Kidman dropkicks it into his face. A couple of chair shots to the back and he throws him back inside for a pin attempt which only garners a two. Kidman is on Horace for a ‘slow’ count, but he’s still calling it down the middle (at least for now!). They botch a DDT on a chair and Hulk again kicks out at two. Big splash off the top, another kick out and Kidman may have a point because this count was slower than the previous ones. Hogan ‘Hulks up’ and unloads with a series of punches in the corner. He whips Kidman to the opposite one and nails him with a lariat against the turnbuckles. They’re back on the outside, Hogan puts Kidman over his shoulder ready to throw him into the ringpost like a dart, however he slips down his back and shoves Hulk into it instead. As he staggers, Kidman charges but Hogan with a big hiptoss sending him through the announcer’s table. Tony Schiavone thinks there is no way he can get up from this, while cheerleader Madden goes “C’mon Pete!” before quickly correcting himself to “C’mon Billy!” (BTW which is a song by the wonderful P.J. Harvey!). Torrie Wilson heads out and up to the apron. Hogan wanders over wondering what she’s doing and she hands him some brass knux. Kidman with a knee to the back of Hulk and he collides with Torrie, sending her falling to the floor and clutching at her ankle. He picks up the knux which Hogan had dropped and nails him with them. As Madden is practically soiling himself at the prospect of Hulk Hogan’s career being over, the Hulkster kicks out at two (although the timings are slightly off as Horace stops counting before Hulk raises his shoulder). Fed up of his slow counts, Kidman slugs Horace with the knux. He goes to clock Hulk again, but Torrie is in the ring and low blows him from behind. Hogan swipes the knux off his fist, winds up, KO’s Kidman and Horace comes around in time to count the pin. Uncle and nephew embrace after the match and there is unity back in the Bollea family. The feud ended exactly how you knew it would when it started. Hulk was probably a bit too dominant here as when Kidman would get offense in, it wasn’t too long before he was back in control. It was like this was payback for all those jobs he did to the likes of Horace, Vampiro and Mike Awesome over the past couple of months. Still I liked this and with the win Hogan gets a World title shot at Bash at the Beach (and it sure as hell will be interesting watching that again), while it looks like Kidman will be moved to something involving the Filthy Animals. In the re-watching off all this stuff one thing I never realised was what an insane bump taker Kidman was. Every match (even if he was officiating) he’d pull some crazy ass bump out and that’s probably what will stay with me the most.

Ric has got Beth and Reid with him for this cage match. Collar and elbow tie up, Russo with the side headlock, Ric shoots him off and a shoulder charge WHICH RUSSO GETS THE BETTER OF!!! This goon can’t even run the ropes! He drops Flair with a knife edge chop and the ego of this man is beyond words! As Russo starts to mock Flair, the Naitch is back to his feet, tears off Vinnie Ru’s shirt and lights him up with some chops of his own. Belly to back suplex, kneedrop to the head and Russo crawls out of the ring looking for some solitude. There’s nowhere to go though as Ric follows him out and rams his head into the cage. Some more chops and Russo’s chest is starting to show the effects of them. David Flair appears from under the ring and Ric turns his attention to him. Russo tries to get the cage door open to escape, however Reid bites his fingers from the outside. As Ric continues to take it to his son on the floor, Russo finds a conveniently placed ladder and brings it into the ring. Not only can he not run the ropes, but he can’t even open up the ladders either! Eventually he manages it, sets them up and pulls down a part of the cage roof as he’s now looking to escape that way instead. Flair spots whats going on and follows him up on to the top of the cage. Russo looks petrified up there, crawling around on his hands and knees! Ric with another knife edge chop, Russo with an eye poke and he’s had enough already, deciding to return to the ring. Somehow the ladder is no longer in position, so Russo is just hanging there and the Naitch stomps his hands so he takes a bump to the canvas. Flair struts around on the roof while the official puts the ladder back in position so he can climb down. Figure Four on Vinnie Ru and IT’S LOCKED IN FOR OVER A MINUTE AND STILL HE DOESN’T TAP!!! The blood red liquid falls from the ceiling covering the wrestlers and the referee, and David is now back to his feet to break the hold. He puts the Figure Four on his Dad, Russo covers Ric and David counts the three at the same time while Mark Madden screams about Russo pinning him and that “Russo wins!” Charles Robinson eventually comes around (he’s been KO’d by the liquid), counts the fall himself and Vince Russo has an official victory over Ric Flair! This whole match was to fuel the ego of one Vince Russo. Can I just remind everyone that one week ago Russo was getting taken down repeatedly, and schooled, by a twelve year old Reid in a tag match! Here we see him slapping on a side headlock, getting the better of a shoulder tackle and dropping one of the greatest wrestlers ever with a single, solitary knife edge chop! He takes all of Flair’s chops to his bare chest to show what a man he is, climbs to the roof of the cage for no other reason to show that he isn’t afraid of heights (although he quite clearly is) and then stays in the Figur Four without tapping for over 70 seconds! The guy can’t even competently run the ropes and this should’ve been a one sided beatdown, but no his ego wouldn’t allow that. To top this all off, the coup de grace, he books himself to get a pin on the ‘Nature Boy’. Speechless!

Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo head to the ring accompanied by R&B Security, while the commentators speculate on what this announcement “that will change sports entertainment” is, that they’ll have at the Great American Bash. A longwinded promo sees Bischoff run down some of the matches they’ve got lined up for tonight’s show, before Russo goes the cheap heat route and says how these last eight months have been the worst eight months of his life because he had to move from New York to Atlanta. Inspired by Russo facing Ric Flair in a cage tonight, Bischoff decides he’s going to become the Hardcore champion and will take on Terry Funk for that belt. He then turns his attention to Mr Goldberg, says how he’s never had anything against him, but last week he screwed up their plans to take Kevin Nash out. He’s willing to forget that though, just as long as Goldberg is prepared to take care of his business with Tank Abbott and then pack his bags and go back to wherever he lives. Lo and behold, as ‘Easy E’ is saying this, Goldberg happens to arrive at the arena and stumble upon a monitor backstage. Bischoff continues to play it nice “nothing personal, just business”, but promises to suspend him if he makes a save for anyone tonight, least of all Kevin Nash. Russo is not so tactful and despite Bischoff’s protestations, tells Goldberg if he shows up tonight he’ll get in his face. You know what’s happening next! Goldberg comes out and Bischoff and Russo hide behind their security. He takes the security out one by one, but in the meantime the two of them scarper to the back. There’s a real aura about Goldberg as he makes his entrance for the match against Tank Abbott. He ducks a right and drops Tank with this great looking standing side kick to the head. Front chancery takedown and Goldberg’s primed for a spear when Rick Steiner comes sprinting down the rampway and clocks him in the back with a chair. Tank and Steiner team up on him, and according to Tony Schiavone the official is letting it go because of those “relaxed rules”. Kevin Nash makes his way through the crowd to ringside, Goldberg ducks a double clothesline and as the heels rebound off the ropes, Nash hooks Steiner’s ankle and Goldberg spears Tank. ‘Jackhammer’ and this one is over. Goldberg comes across as the one major star that WCW has, although I wish they wouldn’t pipe in those chants when you can clearly see no-one in the audience actually chanting! Not much to say about the match other than it served it’s purpose, while the Russo and Bischoff opening segment was longer than it needed to be.

Booker is now going by the name ‘G.I. Bro’. The Book is not happy with the way Kidman has been treating women recently, so tells him to “get his scrawny little ass out here!” Kidman has got the Filthy Animals with him and Tygress is now part of that group too. An eye rake stops Booker in his tracks and a nice bulldog off the turnbuckles from Kidman. Book reverses the Irish whip, boot to the mid-section followed by an axe kick. He sits him in the corner on the middle turnbuckle and calls in Major Gunns for her ‘kick to the balls’ spot. Christ, she’s milking this! Torrie Wilson is out, Kidman frees himself from the corner but Torrie then low blows him. ‘Book End’ and this one is over already. Disco nails Booker with a chair after the match and the Filthy Animals and the M.I.A. go at it. Kidman cleans house with the chair as the Animals leave them all laid out. Booker just doesn’t work with the M.I.A. and this feels like a backwards step for him. Interestingly he ditches the fatigues when he starts wrestling, so no camouflage pants like the rest of the group wear. A nothing match which was a waste of the two participants and goes less than five minutes total (including the entrances and Booker’s promo). Major Gunns gets worse every time I see her, and this looked to be about definitively breaking up the Kidman and Torrie pairing,

Gene Okerlund walks Tank through a backstage interview, and this Monday he’ll be facing Goldberg on Nitro. Ernest Miller is out first and joins them at the commentary desk as he’s apparently taken over control from Eric Bischoff for the night. Just as the action gets underway, ‘The Cat’ announces over the house mic that the winner of this match will go on to face Jeff Jarrett for the World title at the Great American Bash. As Miller has done such a poor job explaining things (it’s a tag match afterall!), Tony Schiavone then clarifies that it’s the person who gets the pin will face Jeff Jarrett at the Bash. The cameras soon cut to an angry Jarrett backstage, not happy that ‘The Cat’ is giving away World tltle shots. He says that “there aren’t going to be no damn pinfalls, but there will be a DQ, you can bet on that”, before grabbing his guitar and presumably heading to the ring. Rick with a camel clutch on his brother, followed by an overhead belly to belly for two. Tank unloads with punches to the mid-section of Scott and Rick is back to that modified camel clutch. KO punch by Tank for another two. Scott with a low blow, a DDT and he’s able to make the tag to Nash. A sideslam on Tank and a clothesline (just about) sends Rick over the top rope to the floor. Big boot to the face of Abbott, and unlike the majority of Nash’s big boots, this one doesn’t look like pulled shit because Tank runs right into it. ‘Steiner recliner’ and here comes Jeff Jarrett who breaks the guitar over Scott’s back. He tells the referee to ring the bell and that it’s a DQ, however ‘The Cat’ says that he’s the boss, “no DQ” and he wants to see a pinfall. Rick clocks Nash with the title belt, while Midajah and Shakira just waltz into the ring to check on Scott (Bobby Heenan even refers to the match as a cluster as this point - you’re so right Brain!). Nash kicks out of the pin attempt and Jarrett then throws a steel chair to Rick. As he catches it, Nash with a boot that sends it clattering into Rick’s own face. ‘Jackknife’ powerbomb and ‘Big Sexy’ gets the title shot at the Great American Bash. So the man who is standing in for the boss of the company for the night, is able to make the World title match for the PPV. Marvellous! Why the camera felt the need to cut to Jarrett in the dressing room after ‘The Cat’ had made that announcement I don’t know. It’s completely telegraphing the outcome and you can switch off because nothing meaningful is happening until Jarrett’s involvement. After how the past few months had been with copious interference, an abundance of weapons being used in matches, blood baths etc. Not too sure why ‘Double J’ would even think that would be a DQ anyway? Oh yeah, and we have the women just strolling into the ring as well while the match is still going on. Unbelievably this month has been even worse than the last one for WCW, hopefully it doesn’t continue in this vain for June.

This is actually a three way dance as opposed to a singles match and there’s still dissension in the ranks over Torrie. As Kidman and Horace are talking tactics in the ring, Sting runs down the rampway and jumps over the top rope levelling them both with a double lariat. A dropkick sends Horace tumbling to the floor, before he clotheslines Kidman over the top rope to the outside. Sting follows them out but is quickly overwhelmed by the two on one odds. Kidman launches him into the guardrail and then tosses him back inside. Bodyslam by Horace, Kidman with the Hulk Hogan legdrop but it doesn’t even get him a one count. Double suplex on the Stinger. Kidman tells Horace to go and get a table, but in the meantime he telegraphs a backdrop and Sting with a facebuster. Scorpion Deathlock and Horace is back just in time for the save. Double back elbow, Horace makes the cover, however Kidman pulls him off. ‘Death Valley Driver’ and the same happens again. Horace props the table length ways up against the ring ropes, goes to clobber Sting with a clothesline, but he ducks and hits Kidman instead. ‘Stinger splash’ to both, and the Stinger then presses Kidman and throws him through the top part of the table and out onto the rampway. He throws Horace out too, and then sprints the length of the rampway nailing them both with a great crossbody against the broken table. Sting pulls Kidman back inside and slaps on the ‘Scorpion Deathlock’ for the win. Horace and Kidman get into a post-match shoving match and Mike Awesome is out to play peacemaker. I enjoyed this; a fun match with Kidman keeping up his trait of taking some crazy ass bumps. He and Sting have great chemistry together and the latter continues to work hard. Although a three-way, it was primarily a handicap match with the added factor of the simmering tension between Horace and Kidman. Of course that tension rises after a miscommunication spot between the two leads to Sting getting the win.

The champ is out first followed by Scott Steiner, at which point Vince Russo (who’s losing his voice) grabs the mic and wonders what happened to the even playing field? “Two against one, over my dead body!” He then tells Billy Silverman that he will referee this match and threatens to take the shirt off his back. On hearing Kevin Nash’s music he decides against that and flees into the crowd. Clearly getting your hands on Vinnie Ru is more important that winning the World title, as Nash chases after him leaving Steiner and Jarrett to go it alone. Big press slam from Steiner. Nash heads back to the ring, and having gone all the way around the back of the building, in the entrance way is Russo flanked by R&B Security. Steiner’s now the one forgetting the World title and he heads up the rampway to get Russo. He snatches his baseball bat and then grabs him around the neck, at which point he spots his brother Rick and Tank Abbott, who’ve got hold of Midajah and Shakira, and takes off after them. Russo tries to interfere in the match, but Nash sees him coming and nails him with a big boot. He’s about to ‘Jackknife’ him, when Jarrett hits him in the back with the baseball bat and then continues to use that against him. Nash accidentally clotheslines Silverman and Jarrett heads out the ring to grab the World title belt. He goes to hit ‘Big Sexy’ with it but he ducks out the way. Boot to the mid-section, Jarrett drops the belt, Nash picks it up and clocks ‘Double J’ with it instead. Nash revives the official only for Russo to pull him out the ring to stop the count. Russo then breaks a guitar over Silverman’s head and Jarrett clocks Nash with a chair. ‘Big Sexy’ kicks out of the cover at two though. Mickey Jay tries to make his way to ringside to replace Silverman, but R&B Security are blocking his path. Steiner is back and double clotheslines his way through the security, with them falling like dominoes. Russo flees again on seeing Steiner, Nash with the ‘Jackknife’ to Jarrett and Mickey Jay counts the pin as the hotshotting of the World title continues.

The M.I.A. charge to the ring and this is underway with all eight men getting it on in the ring. Van Hammer presses Juvi and throws him out of the ring and onto Konan. Disco is whipped to the corner and all four members of the M.I.A. splash him in turn. Major Gunns gets in the ring attempting to look all sexy and sultry, rips off her T-shirt and kicks him in the balls! Juvi clotheslines Chavo out onto the rampway, but Lt. Loco with a big running dive over the top and back into the ring at ‘the Juice’. Crpl. Cajun just about hangs on to a Rey headscissors attempt which he counters into a sideslam, before getting a two count off a lariat. Rey and Juvi then team up to get the first near fall for the Filthy Animals with a combination dropkick/sunset flip on Lash. Juvi whips him into the corner, monkey flip, but Lash reverses position and sits him on the top turnbuckle. He climbs up to the second rope himself and starts to unload with punches, when Disco is in from behind and they team up to superbomb Lash for the first elimination (the M.I.A. being distracted by something on the outside, although what is never made clear). Big boot by Hammer to Disco which he follows with an elbow drop for two. He botches a ‘Cobra clutch’ slam on Juvi, but it looks like he might have hurt himself for real somehow. Disco grabs a kendo stick and nails the remaining member of the M.I.A. with it, and Rey with a chair assisted legdrop off the top to the back of Major Stash and now he’s out of there too. Swinging neckbreaker by Disco to Chavo. He whips him into the turnbuckles, charges, but is met with a back elbow. One tornado DDT later Disco is gone and we’re down to four (not sure what happened to Konan?). Chavo immediately goes for the tornado DDT on Juvi, however he blocks it, but his ‘Juvi Driver’ attempt is then countered into an inverted suplex. Tag to Hugh Morrus, moonsault and Shawn Stasiak is out to break up the pin. He puts the boots to the General until Booker T in army fatigues makes the save. There’s no finish to this as the match seems to have just broken down, still the official raises the hands of the M.I.A. in victory. I rewatched the start to see if I could work out what happened to Konan and it looks like he got hurt when catching Juvi off that press slam to the floor. You can see him on the outside favouring his shoulder and he just decides to head to the back rather than wrestle. I wasn’t a fan of the match these teams had last week and the same applies again. A clunky, disjointed, patchy match with several botches punctuated by the odd occasional high spot (Chavo’s dive, Rey’s chair assisted legdrop). When the eliminations started they rushed through them and the non-finish makes the match even worse. By the way, the camera cuts to a brief backstage brawl going on between several members of both teams whilst the action is still taking place in the ring and Van Hammer is involved in that, so it doesn’t look like he was as hurt as I first thought.

Quick in ring promo where Hulk talks about Horace having some problems growing up when his father passed away. He never laid a hand on him back then, but tonight he’s going to kick his ass! The camera then cuts to the New Blood watching on a monitor backstage. Horace wants Torrie Wilson to accompany him to ringside but Kidman isn’t too keen on the idea. The two of them play tug-of-war with her; Horace decks Kidman, grabs Torrie and then heads to the ring. Hulk attacks Horace as soon as he steps through the ropes and we get some lame looking offense from both. Lariat and he tosses his nephew to the outside. Irish whip into the guardrail and Hulk pulls a table out from under the ring. Horace is quickly back on him though and they trade punches, with Hulk getting the better of things before returning to finish setting up that table. Back inside and he starts whipping Horace with his leather belt. Hulk crotches him on the top rope at which point Torrie gets up on the apron. Hogan goes over to say something, however the distraction allows Horace to nail his uncle in the back. Horace then kisses Torrie, but this brings out Kidman who jumps right on him. As the New Blood members fight each other, Hulk cracks Horace in the back with a chair and then launches Kidman over the top rope and through the table he’d set up earlier. The chair shot has KO’d Horace and Hulk covers him for the win. Torrie comes in the ring to check on her man after the match and Hulk grabs her. He motions as if he’s going to hit her, but instead kisses her which she seems to enjoy. Best thing about this was Kidman’s bump, but unfortunately we don’t get the best angle for it. Both Hulk and Horace have some horrid looking offense, and this was hardly the “ass kicking” Hulk had promised in his promo. At least we got a three count though!

Quick pre-match interview with Jeff Jarrett where Gene Okerlund speculates that this could well end up being a handicap match. ‘Double J’ doesn’t seem overly concerned and can’t wait to embarrass DDP, that 150lb turd David Arquette, and get his title back. The match is held inside the ‘Ready to Rumble’ cage; an impressive looking three tier structure. The object being to escape up and out of all three cages and collect the World title belt which is being hung above the third cage. Nice facials from Arquette who looks petrified in there, while the commentators mention how he is under instruction from Page to just stay out the way. Jarrett goes straight for Arquette, but he sprints away and DDP snatches ‘Double J’ before he can really get his hands on him. Uranage from Page. He tells Arquette to go to the top, but he then misses the big splash. DDP grabs the ladder from the outside and as he puts it on the apron, Jarrett with a baseball slide dropkick. As Arquette checks on Page, ‘Double J’ clocks him with a flying forearm that was meant for DDP, but that he ducked out the way of. Page avoids a lariat and lifts Jarrett up for an atomic drop, only to instead post him and with his head also crashing off the ringpost busting him open. He sets up the ladder looking to advance to the ‘hardcore hell’ second level, however as he’s climbing, Jarrett with a belly to back suplex off the ladder. ‘Double J’ tries his luck at escaping, but this time Page counters with a powerbomb. Both men get whipped into the ladder whilst Jarrett also uses it as a weapon, dropping it on DDP’s prone ribs. The two of them climb the ladder together, however Page grabs the roof of the cage and kicks the ladder over, sending Jarrett tumbling over the top rope and onto the rampway. This gives him the chance to exit the first cage and he immediately grabs the bolt cutters to open the door of level two or ‘hardcore hell’ as it is being called. Just as Page gets the door open though he is attacked from behind by ‘Double J’. He nails DDP with a chair and now he’s bleeding too. More weapon shots as David Arquette watches on from below. DDP rams Jarrett into one side of the cage and it comes off its hinges, collapsing under the pressure (and making me jump in the process!). Powerslam through a table. As they continue to fight on the second tier, Arquette leaves the bottom cage and climbs all the way up to the top of the structure (allegedly 42ft and looking every inch of that). DDP goes for a ‘Diamond Cutter’ onto a chair when he’s jumped by Mike Awesome. ‘Diamond Cutter’ on Awesome and in stereo, Jarrett and Page make their way up to the third tier, or ‘the guitar room’. They both try to level the other with a guitar but neither connects, and Page then hands a guitar to Arquette. DDP slams the cage door on Jarrett’s head, and as he climbs again, Arquette turns on him and breaks the guitar over his head. Jarrett climbs to the top, he and Arquette embrace, before grabbing the title belt to become World champion again. Post-match, Awesome is about to powerbomb DDP on the cage when Kanyon is out for the save. Bad idea as he ends up getting tossed off the roof of the first tier and onto the entrance rampway. Tony Schiavone goes all Jim Ross on us as the crowd chant ‘Holy Shit’, and the PPV closes with Jarrett and Arquette still celebrating. First up, huge props to all three men (and especially to Page and Jarrett) for doing what they did here. That was a seriously high contraption and rather them than me up there! This was primarily a singles match, as bar the missed splash and a couple of ‘accidental’ bumps’, Arquette stayed out the way of the action. This wasn’t the best Jarrett/Page stuff, but given the limitations of having to wrestle and fight so much on the roof of that cage, it wasn’t bad either. I’m sure that the one section of cage collapsing was planned, but it made me jump nonetheless. DDP needs to re-evaluate his friends though, after first Kimberly turning on him last month and now Arquette this! Winning the title once this way doesn’t make you look the strongest, but that’s twice Jarrett has pretty much backdoored his way into becoming World champion.