[2000-09-14-WWF-Smackdown] Edge & Christian & X-Pac vs Matt & Jeff Hardy & Chris Jericho

[soup23]

Edge and Christian do the generic thing of bringing out their opponents dressed as old men this time. That is getting pretty played out in WWF by this point but this was ok enough I suppose. The six man is made by Foley for later and the Hardys and E&C brawl. The match itself is only four minutes long but I think they have done a good job at building up X Pac’s credibility. He gains the victory here again and looks like he belongs in the match vs Jericho. ¾*

[AstroBoy]

This was a good time. X-Pac is irritating by this point but he did seem motivated to make the most of his feud with Jericho. This was a fine action tag to help further these feuds with X-Pac stealing the pin on Jeff after he had hit the Swanton. This was better than just a throwaway six-man I thought.

 

**3/4

[Migs]

The E&C promo beforehand is amusing but feels pretty derivative of the midget gag from a few weeks ago (which wasn't that creative to begin with). The setup of the cage match is similar to Foley setting up TLC, but feels less organic here as well, as it's not totally clear what the cage solves in this angle.

 

I thought this was a bit better than a throwaway six man but still too short to be much. They almost totally abandon a structure here, which is for the best, since putting structure on a four minute match usually feels forced.

[GSR]

Edge and Christian, after getting in some jibes at the local Arizona sports teams, make it clear to everyone that they had nothing to do with what happened to Steve Austin last November (“that was heinousity to the max!”) and if they had a time machine they would go back and stop it from taking place, because that’s just the kind of guys they are.  Christian reminds his partner that they do have a time machine though, and what better way to put it to use than by bringing back the Hardy Boyz of the future to see if they learnt anything from all the beatings they gave them.  They introduce the Hardyz from the year 2050 and it’s a couple of old guys dressed up to look like them.  Michael Cole says that this is “embarrassing for the Hardyz”, he didn’t really need to add “for the Hardyz” as this is embarrassing period.  It gets worse as we’re joined by Lita from the future, another OAP.  ‘The King’ is in his element here firing off jokes at their expense.  As E&C are about to spear the pensioners, they’re interrupted by Commissioner Foley.  Nothing gets past our erstwhile Commissioner, who informs them that he knows that isn’t the real Hardyz of the future, because if it were they would have been able to tell them not only did they take them on at Unforgiven, but they did so within the confines of a steel cage.  Foley calls out the Hardyz of the present and after taking a bit of a beating from them, the champions high tail it out of there.

Y2J and the Hardyz make their entrance through the crowd, attacking their opponents from behind as they’re watching the entrance way expecting them to arrive the traditional way.  Jericho goes straight for X-Pac, looking to get some payback after what he did to him on Raw.  The requisite flying forearm and bulldog out of Y2J to Christian.  Middle rope leg drop by Matt who doesn’t even bother with the cover, preferring to dish out more punishment instead.  Edge is in to help out but ends up getting the same treatment.  The distraction pays off mind, as Christian then hurls Matt between the turnbuckles and shoulder first into the ring post.  He fights his way out of the attempted superplex, but still ends up getting press slammed to the mat.  Lita involves herself from the outside, tripping and posting Edge.  A pair of tags and we’re back where we started with Jericho and X-Pac.  Y2J traps him in ‘the Walls’ when Edge nails him in the back to break the submission.  ‘Whisper in the Wind’ by Jeff as the Hardyz run through their trademark offense.  After Jeff lands a ‘Swanton bomb’, X-Pac snatches him and hits the ‘X-Factor’ stealing the win for his team.