IYH 22: Over The Edge



The PPV poster

- May 31st, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Attendance - 9,822
Buyrate - 0.65

LOD (w/ Droz, Sunny) Vs. DOA (w/ Chainz)

 'LOD' Chant. Not much happens until Animal headbutts 8-Ball downstairs. Skull sideslams Hawk, dreadful piledriver which Hawk no sells, not dreadful in a my god he dropped him on his head way but dreadful in a Hawks head was about 10ft off the mat way. LOD beat on Skull in the corner, aren't they face? Leg drop gets Hawk 2. Chainz, Droz fight on outside. 'LOD' Chant. Hawk gets beaten on. Animal and the other baldy are tagged in but the baldies switch, not that it matters as Animal gets 3 off a Powerslam. * Moving on.

Nation leader and IC Champion The Rock comes out to talk trash but he gets piledrivered 'on a chair' by Farrooq.
Steve Blackman Vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/ Tennessee Lee)
 I have a vague recollection of Blackman interupting Jarretts concert at the last PPV, also Jeff gave Blackman his first WWF loss. Jeff is in the country singer 'Aint I Great' phase. They fight outside then back in a german gets Steve 2. Jarrett is in tree of woe then chinlocked. Al Snow has joined spainsh announce team, Head has a sombrero on. Steve misses a diving headbutt, he goes for a vader bomb but Jeff gets his knees up. Spanish announcers say 'Hasta La Vista' to Snow. Lawler: 'An old country song, i'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy' Suplex, backbreaker, heel kick by Steve. Jeff tries to use one of Blackmans glow/Kendo/Whatever sticks but Steve stops him and uses them himself, but Tennessee Lee hits Steve with one and Jeff gets 3. ** -  Meh, not real good ut not real bad. JR/Lawler were brilliant on commentary at this time.

Marc Mero Vs. ?
 Sable picks his opponent and if they win then Sable is free from Mero but if Mero wins then Sable is fired. To cut a long story short Sable picks herself, Mero offers to take a dive but then cradles Sable for 3. UNR

Kaientai Vs. TAKA Michinoku/Bradshaw
 That is not a typo TAKA and Bradshaw were a team here and obviously this isn't the Kaientai most fans remember. Kaientai are Sho Funaki, Dick Togo and some other dude. Bradshaw presslams TAKA onto Kaientai at ringside. Bradshaw tags in so Kaientai scatter. TAKA is beaten down but Togo misses a corner splash so TAKA manages a tornado DDT then moonsaults Funaki on the outside, looks like TAKA hit the rail aswell, ouch!! Inverted Sky High to TAKA then a double underhook suplex gets 2 as does a snap powerslam. Swanton to TAKA who is then camel clutched, boston crabbed and dropkicked at the same time. Bradshaw in Powerbomb to Funaki, then Bradshaw busts out a TIGER SUPLEX!! *spits out Coca-Cola* why didn't he keep using that?? Togo finishes off TAKA with a senton bomb. **1/2 - Some nice moves in this match, Bradshaw was kind of pointless beyond the Tiger Suplex.

Intercontinental Title - The Rock (c) Vs. Faarooq
 Rocky doesn't appear at first due to a neck injury from Faarooqs earlier piledriver but Commissioner Slaughter threatens to strip him then he appears with a neck brace, which Faarooq takes off him and hits him with then a couple of clotheslines. Rock is soon in control Peoples Elbow gets 2. 'Goldberg F*ckin Sucks' sign in crowd. Rock gets 2 off a DDT. Spinebuster by Faarooq and the ref counts 3 but Rocks foot was on the rope, fans dont care anyway. Rock wins via Flair pin, double leg takedown and feet on ropes. * - Booooooooring. This should've been a big blow off match as Faarooq was usurped from Nation by Rock but instead we got this. At least it was short.

Mask Vs. Mask - Kane Vs. Vader
 This should just be one-on-one normal match, why would Vader care about losing a match that doesn't completely cover his face anyway? This is Earl Hebners first match since night before 'Mania 14. Punches etc. by Kane then Vader splashes him down and gets shots to back of Kanes head, probably stiff knowing Vader. Kane hits his top rope clothesline then a boot and clothesline get Vader down as fans chant 'Vader'. Snapmare into a neck vice by Kane. Chokeslam then Vader rolls ringside where he hits Kane with a wrench, continuity by WWF there. Vader misses a moonsault and a Tombstone is academic. ** - Average match. The continuity I mentioned was that Kane had attacked Vader with a wrench, possibly at No Way Out Of Texas. Post match Vader calls himself a fat piece of shit.

Mad Dog Vachon and The Crusher are in the ring being celebrated when Lawler attacks them, ripping off Vachons fake leg but he is soon cleared out by Crusher. I read that lawler said this was done on the spot.

HHH/NAO Vs. D-Lo/Kama/Owen Hart
 Continuation of DX/Nation feud also HHH/Owen were rivals and Owen joined Nation. HHH is European Champion. In case anyone doesn't know Kama is The Godfather. 'Owen sucks' chant. D-Lo/Road Dogg start but not much happens, Owen in but knocked straight down, gorilla presslam by Billy Gunn. Heel kick connects but SharpShooter is avoided. HHH gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for 2. 'Free Flair' sign, wrong company bub, though WCW probably did watch WWF PPVs. Drop toe hold by HHH as Road Dogg does Shake Rattle 'n' Roll knee drop to D-Lo who is the only original nation member left. Owen gets 2 off a piledriver as Road Dogg plays face in peril. Sky High by D-Lo. Nation are using the clap hands to sound like a tag strategy. HHH breaks up a SharpShooter then JR brings up the enziguri to HBK that 'KOd' him, that was good acting by HBK and Owen. D-Lo gets 2 off a moonsault then lukewarm tag to Billy but soon all 6 men are brawling. D-Lo is spike piledrivered by HHH, Billy onto the European Title but Owen Pedigrees HHH onto it and D-Lo gets 3 *spits out 7up as HHH lost to Pedigree*. **1/2 - I like multi-man tag matches but this was meh, and a bit to long as the heats segment on Dogg lasted a while and going by the crowd didn't really work, did like HHH losing to his own finisher though as finally Owen gets a measure of revenge on HHH.

WWF Title Match - Stone Cold (c) Vs. Dude Love

Patterson made it No DQ to favor Dude Love.

 I love the over the top intros for this match for Guest Ring Announcer Pat Patterson, Guest Time Keeper Gerald Brisco and Special Referee Vince McMahon. Undertaker comes ringside to keep Vince in check. Just dawned on me that only a month later Mick Foley comes flying off the Cell in a little known match with Taker. Dude gets a quick 2 off a shoulder charge. Dudes new teeth come out so Austin stomps a mudhole in them and tosses them into crowd, Lawler 'Dude Love has lost his smile'. Austin is whipped into steps as Dude is slowly taking control. Swinging neck breaker to Dude proceded by clotheslines. Mandible Claw/Love Handle is countered and Dude gets his head twisted in ropes. Patterson announces it is No DQ. Dude is clotheslined hard on the concrete. Neckbreaker in aisle way as Patterson announces it is Falls Count Anywhere then a backslide in the aisle gets 2. Austin is backdropped onto a car that is part of the set. Dude sunset flips off a car for 2. Austin is cut  and suplexed on the floor. Cactus Elbow on concrete but Austin avoids it. Back in ring as Patterson trips Austin so Dude is in control. Double Arm DDT on a chair gets 2. Dude gets levelled with a chairshot but Vince refuses to count. Dude accidentally CREAMS Vince with the chair knocking him into the year 3000. Stunner but Patterson pulls the new ref out so Taker chokeslams him through a table, ditto Gerald brisco. Stunner for Dude and Austin uses Vinces hand to count the fall. **** 1/2 - Very entertaining, not much wrestling but this is what WWFs Sports Entertainment is all about.

15.5 / 35 - Undercard was boring but main event rocked, which sums up most 98/99 PPVs. From a review standpoint it's not good but to just sit and watch it it's allright, possibly through nostalgia though. Dude/Austin is on Mick Foleys DVD. Mild recommendation but dont go out of your way to find it. In UK this PPV comes with IYH 21: Unforgiven in the Tagged Classics series, that review will be up soon.