[2000-03-06-WWF-Raw] Rikishi vs HHH

[soup23]

This is probably the softest pop we have heard from Rikishi all year. The crowd overall seems down for this episode as even Rock doesn’t get the thunderous pop he has been getting. A decent match but solidly behind their SmackDown effort IMO. I don’t know if Rikishi was legit hurt but the combination of this constantly taped leg along with the mixing of more comedy spots has propelled him to not look quite as major league as he did a month ago going toe to toe with HHH. HHH targets the leg of course and is fine on top. The finish is a big schmozz and this is used to set up more of the WrestleMania angle we are leading to. **1/2

[Loss]

Another strong match between these two. I thought HHH looked really good here on offense, not so much in what he was doing but how he was doing it. His punches looked good and he wrestled with a lot of intensity. I still hate that he hasn't come up with a better way to do pedigree counters than just letting go voluntarily so he can be back body dropped out, but that's a thing in every HHH match. I liked that they protected Rikishi here, even though HHH going over on the Road to Wrestlemania would have been perfectly justified. It was time for Rock to get at least a little retribution, so the run-in was well done. Agreed it was a step down from January, but I still think these two have good chemistry.

[AstroBoy]

This wasn't nearly as good as the Smackdown match and felt very placeholder.

 

HHH is focused and vicious enough but kind of uninspiring working over Rikishi. Rikishi's offense and the crowd pops lack the energy from the Smackdown match as well. Nothing of real note comes from the result but it was perfectly fine TV show match leading up to other things.