Attendance: 17,087
Buyrate: 1.10
Opening video is about Kane/Austin, Kane says he'll set himself aflame if he loses (Sounds like something younger me would of said if on a PS1 losing streak)and some little known Mankind/Taker match. No mention of the tourney which this PPV lends its name to.
Headbangers/TAKA Vs. Kaientai
Lawler calls him TAKA Michi-no clue, which got a titter from me. Thrasher hits a tilt-a-whirl then a powerslam for 2 on Teioh. Togo and Funaki double team TAKA who is isolated. Heel miscommunication as Funaki floors Togo. Headbangers flapjack TAKA onto Funaki and Michinoku Driver ends it. ** - Not bad, not great just a crowd warmer.
Sable introduces McMahon and The Stooges, that sounds like a 50s/60s rock 'n' roll band. Pat Patterson grabs her derriere so she slaps him. Vince tells us to expect disappointment.
Semi-Final - Ken Shamrock Vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/ Tennessee Lee)
Name drop time, I recently met Jeff Jarrett (at Wales Comic Con, also met RVD). Ken def. Mark Henry and Jeff beat Marc Mero to get here. This is the 'ain't I great' Jeff as SummerSlam was two months away (At that show he gets his hair shaved by X-Pac, who i'll meet in November, and from then on was the Jarrett we still see today attire wise). Suplex gets Ken an early 2, but Jeff soon takes control. Ringside now where Jeff is bounced off the barricade and whipped into the ring steps. Tennessee trips Ken so Jeff works the leg for a figure four but Kn fights back and decides to not sell the leg. Hurricanrana basically spikes Jeff and Ankle Lock finishes it. ** - Meh, annoyed at Ken for not selling the leg.
Semi-Final - The Rock Vs. Dan Severn
Talk about clash of styles. Rock def. HHH and Dan def. Owen to get here. If you've never seen Dan then picture a butch Freddie Mercury. Dan uses amateur wrestling to take down Rocky, i'm surprised he hasn't been booed out of the building for doing wrestling. Ends when D-Lo Brown, with his chest protector, hits a Frog Splash on Dan. *1/2 (Didn't mix at all, bigger question is why didn't I write that here at the time - comments in brackets are later add-ons)
S/Ref - Jerry Lawler - Too Much Vs. Al Snow/Head
Snow wins and he gets a meeting with Vince, because he just managed to get a PPV match without one. 'The Head don't lie down for nobody', 'you boys are going to get head like you never had before'. Lawler keeps his crown on to ref. King blocks a Snow punch so Brian Christopher, Kings son, hits Al. Jerry counts slow after Al hits a powerbomb on Brian. Too Much double up on Al but Al hits Scott Taylor with a wheel barrow suplex but then he is bulldogged by Brian. Snow tags Head to cheers. Stupid ending which does get a laugh from me for its stupidness, King gets a bottle of Head and Shoulders and Brian puts Head on it, so it has shoulders get it? then gets the 3 count. * - Well that was certainly something, Too Much would be reinvented as Too Cool and believe it or not would be WWF Tag Team Champions eventually, now you know.
X-Pac (w/ Chyna) Vs. Owen Hart
Part of DX/Nation feud. Nation started as a militant black group and now their best wrestler is a caucasian from Calgary. Quick start. Owen gets 2 off a heel kick. I think they try to do a bit where X-Pac kneels behind Owen to trip him up but they don't quite work it right. Nice fisherman and a gut wrench both get Owen a 2 count. X-Pac is whipped ringside and goes right over the ringbell area. Bronco Buster connects. X-Pac gets crotched up top and falls ringside where he's splashed by Henry. Vader comes out and attacks Henry and slips, Chyna sneaks in DDTs Owen allowing X-Pac a 3 count. **1/2 - Best match so far but the busy overbooked ending annoyed me, Owen goes from HBK-HHH-X-Pac and still doesn't get a W, he did enough jobs to Hunter to at least get a W over X-Pac. (Not a shot at X-Pac by any means but give Owen something WWF)
WWF Tag Titles - NAO (c) Vs. Midnight Express
This is the Bob Holly, Bart Gunn combo (so a joke basically). Smoking Gunns explode. We get the usual Outlaw match where Dogg plays face in peril. Gunn tags in and cleans house. Jim Cornette stops Gunn hitting a piledriver via a belt shot then Chyna low blows him. Double hotshot finishes Holly. **1/2 - Basic formulaic tag match.
KOTR Final - Ken Shamrock Vs. The Rock
Ken and Rock met for the 1,024th time of 1998. European Champion HHH is on commentary and gets a dig in at WCW. Rock goes ringside after he's booted. Chyna is on spanish commentary as HHH says he's bi many things but lingual isn't one. HHH spits water in Rocks face. Back in Ken blocks a suplex and hits his own for a 2 count. Rock controls the match around ringside then gets a DDT for 2 back in the ring. Chinlock applied, Peoples Elbow gets 2 then another chinlock is applied. JR says Too Much/Snow set wrestling back 20 years. Floatover DDT gets Rock another 2. Rock is locked in the Ankle Lock and King Ken is crowned and this time Ken is not DQd post match. *** - Got better when nearfalls kicked in, i'd say this was their best match together, at least one-on-one. In shock as Ken beat Rock and wasn't DQd post match. Did nothing in the long run, or short run in Ken's case.
Hell In A Cell - Undertaker Vs. Mankind
(This match was reviewed already when I did Mick Foleys Greatest Hits and Misses so shall be pasted from there) Most famous match ever? Mankind is on top of the cell to start which kind of shows how ca-razy! this is gonna be. Chair shots on the roof by Mankind then Taker just thinks screw this and launches Mick off of the cell down through the Spanish Announce Table, my favorite angle is the cameraman on the floor where you see Mankind coming down. JR: 'My god almighty that killed him, as god as my witness he is broken in half' (Don't why he said that as I didn't witness JR at that time, #GodComplex). Match grinds to a halt as Mick gets medical attention but he gets off the stretcher on the aisle and climbs up, his shoulder seems to be dislocated or something as his arm is almost hanging in a way, he lasts on the top for about 30 seconds before Undertaker 'Chokeslams' him through the roof and Mick kind of SPLATS on the mat which had little to no give in it (Thank god it wasn't a true Chokeslam or Mankind may of been even more hurt). Terry Funk eats a chokeslam to bide time. Mankind is up but when Taker punches him he kind of crumbles to the mat, he manages to crotch Taker when he goes Old School then we get the awesome visual of Mick smiling with something sticking out of his nose. Taker suicide dives into the cell and is now cut. Back in ring now as Mankind gets 2 from a piledriver onto a chair then he gets a bag from ringside which he empties to reveal thumb tacks. tombstone is avoided via a Mandible Claw but Taker falls back so Foley lands on the tacs, Chokeslam then a Tombstone mercifully end the match. ***1/2 - Match itself was 2 or 2 1/2 but I boosted it up for the bumps. I class this as the same as Andre/Hogan and Rock/Hogan in that they aren't good but from a spectacle standpoint I think every fan should see them once.
WWF Title - First Blood - Kane Vs. Stone Cold (c)
Kane beat Taker to get this shot, I believe Masked Kane's only win over the Deadman. This is part of the Vince-Mankind-Taker-Kane-Austin stuff that carried WWF through the summer. Odds are stacked as Kane has double sleeved attire and of course just so happens to be masked. The Cell gets lowered and Austin is whipped into it a few times. Cell then raises with Kane seesawed on the bottom of the door. Fighting at the entranceway now where Kane counters a piledriver and a suplex, Kane's been on top so far. Back in-ring Kane is bounced off an exposed turnbuckle, hey i've just spotted the pink shirt guy who seemingly attends all WWF/E PPVs, not that there's anything wrong with that. Earl Hebner gets squashed between Austin and the barricade, Mankind comes out but he is Stunnered as is Kane. Undertaker comes out and cracks Austin with a chair though it seemed he was aiming for Mankind. Austin is busted from the chair shot and Kane is declared the winner and starts his fantastic one day reign. Exclusive post match footage, oooooooooh, shows Austin Stunnering Mankind and Briscoe so fans in attendance can go home happy .... if people in Pittsburgh can even be happy that is. (Letting my sports team, hatred creep in there, though pittsburgh does sound dull and depressing)
** - Eh, not much style or substance more to keep angle going than be a credible main event in its own right.
20 / 45 - Dragged down by Too Much Vs. Al/Head and Rock/Severn but the rest ranged from passable to good so I'll say thumbs in the middle. The big selling point though must've been seen by my mother, my dog and clown (This morning I heard that David Bowie passed away on 10/01/16, RIP good sir and thank you for the music). Kens KOTR win led to nothing though as Rock, HHH and Mankind breezed past him in the title picture and Kane's Title reign ended the next night via Stone Cold so some of what happened actually was pointless. Thumbs in the middle as stated.
** - Eh, not much style or substance more to keep angle going than be a credible main event in its own right.
20 / 45 - Dragged down by Too Much Vs. Al/Head and Rock/Severn but the rest ranged from passable to good so I'll say thumbs in the middle. The big selling point though must've been seen by my mother, my dog and clown (This morning I heard that David Bowie passed away on 10/01/16, RIP good sir and thank you for the music). Kens KOTR win led to nothing though as Rock, HHH and Mankind breezed past him in the title picture and Kane's Title reign ended the next night via Stone Cold so some of what happened actually was pointless. Thumbs in the middle as stated.
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