[2000-12-18-WWF-Raw] Kurt Angle vs Vince McMahon

[GSR]

The Chairman, Vince McMahon, walking with a cane, painfully makes his way down the runway and into the ring.  He’s somewhat saddened, somewhat burdened, things having changed in his life since Thursday night.  As Smackdown was going off the air he received the news that his wife had been taken to the hospital and would just like to take a few moments to clear something up as he fears his reaction to the news might’ve been misinterpreted.  When he heard the news he laughed; he now recognises that wasn’t the appropriate response and wouldn’t want people to think he’s some sort of insensitive megalomaniac!  While he will take some of the blame for Linda’s nervous breakdown, some should also go to Commissioner Mick Foley and some to his daughter Stephanie.  Starting tonight though, in his personal life as well as his business life, he’s going to start making things right.  Before he does there is one other person that should take some responsibility for his wife’s nervous breakdown, that person is his wife Linda.  How would he have known she’s so fragile, delicate and weak?  To which Jim Ross quips “they’ve only been married 34 years!”  Vince hopes that Linda is watching as he’s spoken to his attorney who will temporarily suspend divorce proceedings until she gets better.  What a guy!  To show how they were he’s aso put together a video montage of their life together to share with everyone.

After the video ends Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley walks out to join her father.  When he questions “what the hell” she’s doing here, she says to tell him exactly what she thinks of him.  Last week she called him disgusting, but after seeing that video and the way he’s dragged her mother’s reputation through the gutter, it shows how disgusting he really he is.  She’s proud that she’s not ’Daddy’s little girl’ any more and that she’s more like her Mum rather than a mean old bastard!  There’s a huge pop for the use of that word, the use of which sets Vinnie Mac off.  He didn’t want to marry the bitch, he had to, and if he hadn’t then her brother Shane would be a bastard!  Kurt Angle is next out and while he acknowledges that this doesn’t concern him, it’s all getting too much.  He can’t believe that one family member can be so cruel, so monstrous.  It pains him to say this but “Stephanie, I’m ashamed of you!”  Haha, I don’t think anyone saw that one coming.  Where he comes from if he spoke to his father like Stephanie spoke to hers he would’ve been kicked out of the house and can’t believe that she shows him so much disrespect.  Three becomes four in the shape of the Commissioner and the first thing he does is kick Vince McMahon’s cane away, telling him that he won’t be needing that because his injuries are about as real as the sentiment behind that video that sickened them all.  Foley says that on Smackdown he referred to him as “garbage”, he now thinks that’s an insult to actual garbage as Vince is the lowest form of scum he’s ever been exposed to.  While there is no love lost between him and Stephanie, any father who speaks to their daughter in that way is scum.  What was equally disgusting to him is how his actions led to a good friend of his, Linda McMahon’s, nervous breakdown.  Angle interrupts Mick, not impressed by his insinuations that Mr McMahon (note, Mr McMahon not Vince) drove Mrs McMahon to her breakdown.  How does he know it wasn’t caused by see her husband taking a ‘Stunner’, ‘Rock Bottom’ and ‘Last Ride’ all on the same night?  How does he know it wasn’t caused by him ramming his dirty, disgusting sock down her husband’s throat?  He continues stating that he’s a fine one to talk about parenting as how many times did his kids sit at ringside whilst he was getting beaten and annihilated?  Kurt goes onto wonder why anyone would marry him and if he was, he’d follow Mr McMahon’s lead and ask for a divorce too.  After a real good point on the parenting, Foley ignores that, making light about Kurt marrying him and wanting to be his wife.  The Commissioner isn’t going to make him his wife, he is though going to make his defend his WWF World heavyweight title.  Kurt points out that he already booked him in a ‘Fatal Four Way’ against the Rock, Steve Austin and the Undertaker as well as ‘Hell in a Cell’ and he came out on top of those so what kind of match could he book him in that would be so bad?  Foley says there is one person on the WWF roster that he hasn’t faced; a real tough guy, a bad ass, a former WWF champion, Vince McMahon!

Vince and Kurt are sat down backstage talking things over.  Kurt wants nothing to do with the match, however the prospect of becoming WWF World champion again appeals to Mr McMahon.  He says how Mick Foley is trying to humiliate him, but what could humiliate him more than Vince McMahon being a two time World champion?  Angle doesn’t bother to stick around and leaves Vince to his daydreaming.

He finds Edge & Christian in the hallway and is glad to have done so.  Despite everything Mick Foley has put them through Kurt thinks he really likes them and would like them to use their Canadian charms to get this match called off.

Angle returns to see Vince who is already in his wrestling gear, guns on show for all.  McMahon now doesn’t like the idea, he LOVES it, thinking that it will drive Mick Foley over the edge if he has to deal with him as the WWF champion.  He wants to Kurt to lay down for him, but Angle tells him “no friggin way” he’s not getting his World title.

Vince is applying some baby lotion when Trish Stratus pays him a visit.  She really admires what he’s done and really admires a man who takes charge.  Oh, please no!  He says taking charge is something that he does really well and Trish wishe him luck before going on her way.

Kurt goes to see if Edge & Christian have had any luck in getting Mick Foley to cancel the match, insensitive Kurt showing little compassion for his friends who’ve just lost their tag team titles.  The two of them take umbrage with how everything is always about him and that maybe he should start thinking of other people for a change.  Things are not looking rosy in Team ECK camp!

No-one else seemingly able to, or wanting to, help him out, Angle goes directly to the Commissioner and pleads with him not to make him go through with this match.  Kurt is sure Vince has got something up his sleeve to cost him his title, and if he hasn’t he’ll just be beating up the owner of the company who he doesn’t want to be making an enemy of.  Mick would like to help him out but after he made the match he phoned his wife and she was so excited about it that if he were to call it off he’s afraid she would ask for a divorce!

Michael Cole grabs a final word with Vince McMahon who reiterates what he said earlier about making things right both personally and professionally.

Not content at just watching on from his ‘office’ Mick Foley makes himself the special guest ring announcer before taking a seat next to ‘the King’ at the commentary table.  His ring announcing the expected roasting and insulting of the two competitors.  Vince and Kurt are nose to nose until Kurt turns to say something to Foley, when he does so, Vince grabs a go behind, takes the champion down and starts screaming “two points, two points” acting as if he’s won already.  He exits the ring, takes the ring mic and goes over to the Commissioner, thanking him for booking this match.  As he’s going on about he, a former state amateur champion, taking down and scoring two points on an Olympic gold medallist, he suddenly clocks Foley in the head with the microphone.  Angle is out to join him in the attack and this whole thing has been one giant swerve.  Mick does fire back, with Earl Hebner badly getting in the way, until Kurt blindsides him.  Edge & Christian are out and, showing there are no tensions between ECK after all, give Foley a ‘conchairto’.  With the Commissioner now busted open Stephanie runs down the aisle shouting at them all to stop.  She hopes that Mick is alright because she has something that could change his life for ever.  The documents in her hands are from the WWF Board of Directors which state that since her mother, the CEO of the World Wrestling Federation, has been deemed mentally incompetent to grant full power and authority of the CEO’s office to… her Dad, Vince McMahon.  As he now has complete and total authority once again he says it means that Mr McMahon is back and his first order is to fire Mick Foley.  The former Commissioner does try to rush Vince but Angle blasts him over the head with a chair and he’s left laying a beaten and bloody mess.

Boy was this long!  I basically trimmed the WWF stuff I was planning to watch a couple of weeks ago due to how much time I’ve spent on this project already, but kept this in as the whole idea of a Kurt Angle vs Vince McMahon match was intriguing.  Of course it turns out to be no match and one long elaborate angle (practically half of this episode of Raw is devoted to it with all the backstage skits) to get Vince back in power.  Foley, Kurt and Vince himself were all great and they hoodwinked me, but boy was it long!