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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 1, 2024 3:56:59 GMT 1
Part LV: WWF Unforgiven 2001
WWF Unforgiven 2001September 30th, 2001 - Mellon Arena - Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaSunday Night Heat1.) Six-Pack Challenge - Kid Kash def. Julio Dinero, Justin Credible, Slash, Super Dragon, & Tiger Mask2.) Rico Constantino def. Gran ApoloPPV.)1.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - Three-Way Tag Team Match - Steve Austin & Triple H (c) def. The Disciples Of The New Church (Malice & Vampiro with Father James Mitchell) and X-Factor (Albert & X-Pac)2.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - No Holds Barred - Rikishi Is Banned From Ringside - Brian Christopher def. Scotty 2 Hotty (c)3.) WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles - Jeff Jarrett & KroniK (with Vince Russo) def. Dustin Rhodes & The APA (with Jacqueline) (c)4.) Ambulance Match - Psycho Sid def. Kane5.) Hulk Hogan & The Undertaker def. Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan (with Big Al)6.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Triple H (c) def. Ken Shamrock7.) #1 Contender's Ladder Match - The Rock def. Shawn Michaels8.) WWF Title - McMahon Rules - Steve Austin def. Vince McMahon (c)Just want to make a quick note before I get started. Because I ran WCW Fall Brawl 2001 on September 23rd, 2001 (which was the same date as Unforgiven 2001 in OTL), I decided to move Unforgiven to September 30th.SummerSlam at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum came to a close with Steve Austin once again holding the WWF Title, as he defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan in a Hell In A Cell Match. However, that title reign wouldn't last very long. On the next night's RAW Is WAR, a furious Vince McMahon confronted Stone Cold during his championship celebration, with the end result being Austin getting beaten down by a newly expanded version of his security force, consisting of Big Bossman, Bull Buchanan, and Big Al (the former 911 of ECW fame). Two days later on SmackDown, the show kicked off with Austin vs. Big Al in a singles match. Just as Austin appeared to be on the verge of victory, a returning Ken Shamrock appeared from out of nowhere and brutally attacked Austin. Vince then announced that, in the main event of the show, Austin would defending his title.....against Vince! Even at well under 100%, Austin would take the fight to Vince, but with all of Vince's cronies getting involved, it proved to be too much. Vince McMahon, for the second time, is WWF Champion. This move was very much a "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" type of move, coming off Hogan's failure at SummerSlam and the ongoing issues with Shawn Michaels.With Austin on the shelf for the moment, an angry Mick Foley entered the picture, and after a series of back and forth promos, a title bout between Vince McMahon and Mick Foley (a No DQ Match, of course) was set up for the September 10th RAW Is WAR. Vince would use his usual tricks to retain the title, but the show ended with Austin's big return, and a rematch between Austin and McMahon for the WWF Title was booked for Unforgiven. One week later on RAW, after the tribute show on SmackDown for the victims of the 9/11 Attacks put all storylines on a pause for one night (and the WAR part of the name was dropped from RAW), Vince revealed that his title match with Austin would be held under McMahon Rules, which basically meant that Austin would have to score not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE falls (a pinfall, a submission, a knockout, putting McMahon through a table, and forcing him to say I Quit). The first four of those falls could be in any order, but the final fall was the I Quit stipulation. Meanwhile, all Vince had to do was beat Austin by pinfall. He would stack the odds even more against Austin by forcing him and Triple H to defend their WWF World Tag Team Titles in a Three-Way Tag Team Match, which ended up involving The Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor, two factions that had just started a feud of their own. While Austin and Triple H managed to retain their titles there, how would they fair in their own respective title bouts later in the night? More on that in a moment.A variety of other stipulation matches were scattered throughout the card. The Rock and Shawn Michaels (who's been flirting towards a babyface turn for the last month or two after disagreements with Vince McMahon) decided to take their rivalry to the next level in the form of a Ladder Match that would determine the new #1 Contender to the WWF Title. In what was an incredible battle, The Rock ultimately emerged victorious, thus securing a title shot for himself at No Mercy 2001. Meanwhile, Kane and Psycho Sid's feud continued on, with an Ambulance Match on this PPV being labeled as the final chapter in their rivalry. In an interesting result that wouldn't become clear until a little later, Sid managed to pull off the win after powerbombing Kane through the roof of the ambulance.Unforgiven featured three other title bouts outside of the main event and the opener. As I mentioned earlier, Triple H (much like Austin) would be pulling double duty, as he would have to defend his WWF Intercontinental Title not long after he had defended the WWF World Tag Team Titles alongside Austin. Ken Shamrock would be awarded the title shot by Vince McMahon after his role in helping Vince win the WWF Title from Austin. Shamrock would prove to be a tough opponent, but Triple H ended up getting the victory in the end. The WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles were on the line on this card, as the heel contingent of Jeff Jarrett and KroniK (with Vince Russo in their corner) defeated Dustin Rhodes and The APA to win the titles (Russo would play a role in that title change, as you might've guessed). Finally, the WWF Light Heavyweight Title was on the line in a No Holds Barred Match, as former partners collided. After his heel turn at SummerSlam 2001, Grand Master Sexay had gone back to being known as Brian Christopher, and his more serious attitude ultimately led to him capturing the WWF Light Heavyweight Title from Scotty 2 Hotty. An additional stipulation in this one was that Rikishi was banned from ringside, so that two former tag team champions could fairly decide who the better man really was. On this night, it was Brian Christopher.Closing out the main card was a special tag team match that would see The Undertaker and a mystery partner battle the aforementioned McMahon Security Force of Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan (with Big Al in their corner). The match wasn't set in stone until after the 9/11 Attacks had happened, and when the music hit, the choice for The Undertaker's partner proved to be very obvious in hindsight. Hulk Hogan came back out in the red and yellow, waiving the American Flag as he was revealed to be the mystery partner. This was seen as mainly a one-night return for Hogan, who had been on hiatus following SummerSlam (he didn't appear on the SmackDown after 9/11, so this was the next best spot for him to come back as the All-American babyface in the aftermath of the September 11th Attacks). He would go back to his hiatus after this event, but I'm sure it won't be too long before The Hulkster is back in the mix.
As for Sunday Night Heat, there was a Six-Pack Challenge that was won by Kid Kash, while Rico Constantino picked up a win in singles action over Gran Apolo.Last, but not least.....the main event. How did it turn out? Well, the match proved to be a wild spectacle that saw a variety of Vince cronies get involved (including the aforementioned security force, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, and....in a surprise....Psycho Sid). Mick Foley, Triple H, and a returning Shane McMahon would help fight those forces off. In the final stage on the match, Austin was on the verge of getting McMahon to say I Quit, when Shawn Michaels (still feeling the effects of the Ladder Match) came out. As McMahon was begging for Michaels (who stopped just short of getting in the ring) to help him, Michaels slowly backed away, and eventually turned his back on Vince. The Heartbreak Kid clearly had enough of being aligned with Vince. That pretty much sealed Vince's fate, as he said the words I Quit. With that, Steve Austin is once again the WWF Champion, and with Vince in the rearview (for now), he can turn his attention towards No Mercy and a major clash with The Rock.Speaking of No Mercy, that will be my next post, so tune in next time! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 24, 2024 20:26:06 GMT 1
Should have my post on No Mercy 2001 done no later than next Friday (last day of May)!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 1, 2024 4:59:16 GMT 1
Part LVI: WWF No Mercy 2001
WWF No Mercy 2001October 21st, 2001 - Savvis Center - St. Louis, MissouriSunday Night Heat1.) Chris Candido def. Super Calo2.) Six-Man Tag - WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Christopher, Julio Dinero, & Kid Kash def. Dragon Kid, Magnum TOKYO, and Ryo SaitoPPV1.) WWF Hardcore Title - Stretcher Match - Big Bossman def. Shane McMahon (c)2.) WWF Women's Title - Triple Threat Match - Jazz (c) def. Ivory & Molly Holly3.) Bunkhouse Brawl - Jeff Jarrett def. Dustin Rhodes4.) Tag Team Turmoil - The APA def. KroniK (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark with Steven Richards), Scotty 2 Hotty & WWF European Champion Rikishi, Super Dragon & Tiger Mask IV, The Disciples Of The New Church (Malice & Slash with Father James Mitchell), and X-Factor (Albert & Justin Credible)5.) Graveyard Match - Vampiro def. X-Pac6.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Triple Threat Match - Psycho Sid def. Triple H (c) & Kane7.) Respect Match - Shawn Michaels def. The Undertaker8.) WWF Title - Steve Austin (c) def. The RockThis was a very fascinating PPV card to put together. Some of these matches I had set in stone about a month ago after I finished working on Unforgiven, while others I just put together within the last hour or so. It's been a pretty hectic twenty-four hours for sure (go check out my Alternate History of WCW thread if you want to know more about why), but I'm determined to get this one in right before midnight.So the main event of No Mercy 2001 sees Steve Austin defend his WWF Title against The Rock, who became #1 Contender after defeating Shawn Michaels in a Ladder Match at Unforgiven. With Vince McMahon out of the equation for the time being (thanks to his loss to Steve Austin at Unforgiven), the focus for this build was mainly focused on the two biggest stars in the company battling for the biggest prize in the company. Doesn't get much better than that! The two would have a hotly contested, shenanigan-free main event that Austin ultimately won. Afterwards, we did get some shenanigans, as Jeff Jarrett ran in and utilized his signature guitar to attack Austin. Looks like those two are definitely going to be a collision course heading into Survivor Series. In the semi-main event, we have a match that you could argue was just as big as the main event, as Shawn Michaels takes on The Undertaker. After what happened in the main event of Unforgiven (which saw what remained of The Corporate Elite collapse as Shawn Michaels refused to help Vince McMahon in the main event), Michaels was looking to regain the trust of the rest of the babyface side of the locker room. One of the most skeptical of that bunch was The Undertaker, and after the two had a couple of confrontations, they agreed to have a match at No Mercy. WWF Commissioner Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (in an effort to get some of the biggest names in the locker room on the same page as the threat from Planet Jarrett was still looming large) would also make this a Respect Match, saying that the loser would be forced to shake the winner's hand. When the dust settled, Michaels would emerge victorious, and The Undertaker....begrudgingly....shook his hand. So for the time being, The Heartbreak Kid and The Deadman are on the same page. What's interesting about this match is that, in OTL, Michaels never wrestled the American Badass version of The Undertaker. It would've been interesting to see how that match would've played out had it happened in real life.There would be two separate Triple Threat Matches on this card with titles on the lines. The biggest of those was for the WWF Intercontinental Title, as Triple H would defend against Kane and Psycho Sid, who have been feuding for a number of months. In a result that was seen as somewhat of a surprise, Psycho Sid captured the title after pinning Kane. While Sid left St. Louis as the WWF Intercontinental Champion for the very first time, you can almost guarantee that Triple H (who didn't get pinned in the match) will be looking to get some revenge. The other Triple Threat Match on the card saw Jazz successfully defend her WWF Women's Title against Ivory and Molly Holly. The only thing to make note of here is that, after the dissolution of Right To Censor, Molly Holly has now become hooked up with The Holly Cousins (Hardcore Holly and Crash Holly), just like in OTL.The Tag Team Turmoil Match (a semi-regular staple of WWE PPVs in this series) made its return at No Mercy. In the first segment of the bout, Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty managed to defeat Super Dragon and Tiger Mask IV. They then went up against the X-Factor team of Albert and Justin Credible, who got the win after Brian Christopher got involved and cost his former stablemates the match. Up next, Malice and Slash (representing The Disciples Of The New Church) managed to defeat X-Factor. After that....continuing the pattern that has existed in the match thus far....KroniK defeated The Disciples Of The New Church. The final entrants were The APA, and after a hard-hitting affair, they were able to put KroniK away to score the victory. A future shot at the WWF World Tag Team Titles was on the line, so Bradshaw and Faarooq will be getting a title shot in the near future.The remainder of the main card was filled out by three stipulation matches. Kicking off the PPV was a Stretcher Match for the WWF Hardcore Title as, in a bit of an upset, Big Bossman won the title from Shane McMahon. Now Shane had made his return at Unforgiven, and following the PPV, he declared that while his father was out of commission for now, he was going to do everything he could to make sure that Vince would be gone from the WWF for good. That mission got sidestepped slightly, as he got caught in the middle of the ongoing feud between The Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor. This led to a match where Shane won the WWF Hardcore Title from X-Pac. Unfortunately for Shane, a target was immediately placed on his back, and Big Bossman (along with Bull Buchanan and Big Al) was the first to go after him. Even though Vince was indisposed, he had order Bossman and his henchmen to make his son's life a living hell. This included taking his newly-won WWF Hardcore Title. The Stretcher Match was a relatively even affair, but the interference from Buchanan and Big Al proved to be too much for Shane to overcome. This was a situation where I needed to re-establish some credibly for Big Bossman, and the Stretcher Match was a good way to do that (in my view), as it's a match where Bossman can get the win, but Shane wouldn't need to eat a pin. This certainly won't be the last time these two clash in 2001.Meanwhile, Dustin Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett did battle in a Bunkhouse Brawl. This is the continuation of a feud that's been going on for a number of months (since around late July/early August). Jeff Jarrett and Kronik managed to take the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles from Dustin Rhodes and The APA at Unforgiven, but a few weeks later on the October 9th edition of RAW, Dustin Rhodes managed to defeat Jarrett in a Bullrope Match. This all led to this Bunkhouse Brawl, where Jarrett scored the victory in a very bloody affair, and set up the angle in the main event later on. Finally, Vampiro battled X-Pac in a Graveyard Match. This is somewhat similar to the Graveyard Match from WCW in OTL, but with a few differences. The match in this case was totally confined to the graveyard (so they are not fighting back to the arena after starting in the Graveyard), while everyone else who was associated with either of the two was barred from getting involved. These two have been feuding since around April or May of this year, so it's been going on for several months. The addition of The Disciples Of The New Church has helped to extend the feud a bit. That being said, I have a feeling this feud is coming to an end very soon.Rounding things out were two matches on Sunday Night Heat. Chris Candido picked up a win in singles competition over Super Calo, while the newly-formed trio of WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Christopher, Julio Dinero, and Kid Kash defeated the Toryumon trio of Dragon Kid, Magnum TOKYO, and Ryo Saito. I currently don't have a name for this new Christopher/Dinero/Kash stable yet, (it could be adding new members soon) though I'd definitely be open to suggestions!
That's all for No Mercy 2001! Stay tuned as I go over what happened at Rebellion 2001 in my next post before diving into Survivor Series 2001. |
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Post by rabbitman on Jun 4, 2024 8:37:20 GMT 1
Team Here's Some Guys
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Post by dhk1989 on Jun 4, 2024 20:58:20 GMT 1
The New Era
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 25, 2024 2:22:52 GMT 1
I should have my post on Rebellion 2001 done no later than Saturday Night, so look out for that sometime in the next five days.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 29, 2024 19:41:27 GMT 1
Part LVII: WWF Rebellion 2001
WWF Rebellion 2001November 3rd, 2001 - Manchester Evening News Arena - Manchester, England1.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Triple Threat Match - Brian Christopher (c) def. Doug Williams & Jody Fleisch2.) New Blood (Chris Candido & Kid Kash) def. Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty3.) The Rock def. Julio Dinero4.) Manchester Street Fight - Shane McMahon & Dustin Rhodes def. Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan5.) Bradshaw def. Tank Abbott6.) WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles - Jeff Jarrett & Kronik (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark with Steven Richards) (c) def. The Brothers of Destruction & Shawn Michaels7.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Steel Cage Match - Psycho Sid (c) def. Triple H8.) WWF Title - Triple Threat Match - Steve Austin (c) def. Vampiro & X-PacOnly a few weeks after No Mercy, the WWF is back on PPV as they head back to the UK for the 2001 edition of Rebellion. Since it's only been two-ish weeks since the last PPV, I won't have a ton to say here, but I will go over all the matches, as per usual.The main event sees one of the longest-running feuds of 2001 getting into the WWF Title mix, as both Vampiro and X-Pac challenge Steve Austin for the WWF Title in a Triple Threat Match. Yes, even after their Graveyard Match at No Mercy, that wasn't quite the end of things for those two and their respective factions. Speaking of which, because Triple Threat bouts in the WWF are typically conducted under No DQ rules, that meant both The Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor would get involved during the main event. They would ultimately cancel each other out, and Austin would survive all the chaos to retain his WWF Title.In the semi-main event, Triple H was looking to regain his WWF Intercontinental Title as he battled Psycho Sid in a Steel Cage Match. Since Kane got pinned in the Triple Threat Match at No Mercy, Triple H never truly lost the title. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to regain the title here, but it was once again in a bout where he was never actually pinned (that crafty Triple H always finding a way to not take a pinfall loss). In this case, Triple H was prevented from escaping the cage due to shenanigans involving Vince Russo and KroniK, and that allowed Sid to take advantage and escape the cage himself to retain the title.The string of title retentions continued in the match third-from-the-top, as the aforementioned KroniK, along with Jeff Jarrett, retained the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles against the all-star team of Kane, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels. After their singles bout at No Mercy, Michaels continued to try to prove to The Undertaker that he can trust him, and that their issues in the past were behind them for good (while we did see the two shake hands following that match on the last PPV, Undertaker was still not fully trusting of Michaels). It was later revealed that Michaels got himself, Undertaker, and Kane a shot at the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles. In the match itself, it seemed as though the babyface side was on their way to capturing the titles, but a moment of miscommunication (Michaels accidentally superkicking Undertaker) led to them coming up short. Undertaker was furious after the loss, so it's clear that things are far from over between him and Michaels.Kicking off the card were three matches involving the WWF's newest stable....The New Blood. After mulling over some potential names (including some of the names that were left as suggestions), I decided to go with the name that was most-famously associated with the Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo led super stable from WCW in OTL. In this alternate timeline, it's not only a different promotion, but a much smaller faction. Consisting of WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Christopher, Chris Candido, Julio Dinero, & Kid Kash, this version of The New Blood is basically a new heel midcard stable, with the newly-heel Christopher serving as it's leader. The first portion of Rebellion was one long Heyman special, as the first three matches all bled into each other. Starting things off was Brian Christopher retaining his WWF Light Heavyweight Title in a Triple Threat Match against British standouts Doug Williams and Jody Fleisch. The stable then bragged about themselves in the ring before calling out Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty for their tag team match. Chris Candido and Kid Kash won, but a four-on-two beatdown of Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty led to The Rock running down to make the save. He was supposed to wrestle Julio Dinero later in the card, though since they were already out there brawling, the match started at that point, with The Rock eventually getting the win.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 1, 2024 4:51:32 GMT 1
Part LVIII: WWF Survivor Series 2001
WWF Survivor Series 2001
November 18th, 2001 - Greensboro Coliseum Complex - Greensboro, North Carolina
Sunday Night Heat
1.) Jason Jett def. Super Calo
2.) WWF European Title - Triple Threat Match - Rikishi (c) def. Billy Gunn & Hardcore Holly
PPV
1.) WWF Hardcore Title - Lock Up Match - Shane McMahon def. Big Bossman (c)
2.) Survivor Series Elimination Match - Scotty 2 Hotty, Super Dragon, The Great Sasuke, & Tiger Mask def. New Blood (WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Christopher, Chris Candido, Julio Dinero, & Kid Kash)
3.) WWF Women's Title - Jazz (c) def. Jaqueline
4.) Survivor Series Elimination Match - X-Factor (Albert, Justin Credible, Kid Romeo, & X-Pac) def. The Disciples Of The New Church (Brian Lee, Malice, Slash, & Vampiro with Father James Mitchell)
5.) #1 Contender's Triple Threat Match - Special Guest Referee: Mick Foley - Shawn Michaels def. The Rock & The Undertaker
6.) Survivor Series Elimination Match - Triple H, Kane, & The APA def. WWF Intercontinental Champion Psycho Sid, KroniK (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark with Steven Richards), & Vince Russo
7.) WWF Title - Steve Austin (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett - No Contest
We're drawing closer to the end of 2001, and things are certainly heating up in the World Wrestling Federation (that was a very cheesy line, I know). Since the result of the main event ties into what went down in another match, I'm going to work my way through this card from the bottom up.
Starting off with Sunday Night Heat, Jason Jett (a repackaged EZ Money) picked up a victory over Super Calo. Following the breakup of Hot Commodity (and Julio Dinero subsequently joining up with New Blood), Jason Jett is now be used as a babyface in the light heavyweight division (this is somewhat inspired by the brief run he had with WCW in 2001 in OTL). Then, Rikishi successfully defended his WWF European Title in a Triple Threat Match against Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly.
Kicking off the show was Big Bossman vs. Shane McMahon in a Lock Up Match for the WWF Hardcore Title. What is a Lock Up Match you might ask? Well, it's basically an Ambulance Match, but instead of an ambulance, the vehicle of choice is a Police Van (and the loser would be subsequently carted off to jail). Shane McMahon would ultimately emerge victorious, regaining the WWF Hardcore Title and officially putting this feud with Big Bossman behind him.
After that was the first of three Survivor Series Elimination Matches (all of them on this show would be four-on-four). New Blood would be out in full force as they battled a team consisting of Scotty 2 Hotty, Super Dragon, The Great Sasuke, and Tiger Mask (quite the collection of masks on the babyface side). It was briefly a four-on-two situation when Tiger Mask and The Great Sasuke were eliminated, but after a valiant comeback from the babyface team (which included the eliminations of Julio Dinero and Kid Kash), it was back to a two-on-two battle. Chris Candido would then be eliminated by Super Dragon, who was himself eliminated shortly thereafter after Brian Christopher used the WWF Light Heavyweight Title as a weapon behind the referee's back, leaving it to be a fight between former tag team partners. In the end, Scotty 2 Hotty would pin Brian Christopher to not only win the bout for his team, but secure himself another shot at the WWF Light Heavyweight Title.
After a WWF Women's Title match that saw Jazz retain over Jacqueline, the next Survivor Series Elimination Match would take place. This was yet another chapter in the long rivalry between Vampire and X-Pac, as The Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor went to war. Representing The Disciples Of The New Church would be Vampiro, Brian Lee, Malice, and Slash. On the other side representing X-Factor would be X-Pac, Albert, Justin Credible, and the newest member of the group, Kid Romeo. He's another guy from OTL WCW in 2001 that I decided to plop in here (especially since X-Factor was down a man for this type of match otherwise). He joined the group shortly after No Mercy, and he made a nice impression here on his PPV debut, as he scored the first elimination by pinning Slash. Albert and Malice would eliminate each other via double count out (they wouldn't stop brawling on the floor), which left things in a three-on-two situation. Brian Lee was eliminated next, which meant that it was basically three-on-one with three X-Factor members against Vampiro. Even though Vampiro would make a valiant comeback, managing to eliminate both Justin Credible and Kid Romeo, the odds proved to be too much, as X-Pac put him away after a brief back-and-forth exchange to win the match for his side.
Jumping ahead a little bit, but the next match I want to talk about is the third Survivor Series Elimination Match. This one sees Triple H and Kane teaming up with Bradshaw and Faarooq to take on Psycho Sid, KroniK, and Vince Russo. The APA were already having issues with KroniK, and both Kane and Triple H were having issues with Sid. Combine that with the fact that all three of the heels are working under orders from Russo, and that's how we got to this match. The basic story here is that the babyfaces want to get their hands on Russo in this match, but his charges are trying to stop that from happening. The first portion of this match was pretty successful for Russo's squad, as they managed to eliminate both members of The APA. However, Triple H and Kane would go on a tear from there, and eventually, it came down to those two against Russo. He tried to run away from Triple H and Kane, but The APA cut him off and sent him back to the ring. A chokeslam, a Pedigree, and that was it. Triple H and Kane were the sole survivors.
The final two matches I need to talk about tie into one another. Third from the top was a #1 Contender's Triple Threat Match between Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and The Undertaker. The relationship between Michaels and Undertaker had run into some issues after what happened at Rebellion, and it didn't help that both guys wanted a shot at the WWF Title. Adding his name into the mix was The Rock, who himself wanted another crack at the winner of the Survivor Series main event between Steve Austin and Jeff Jarrett. It was ultimately decided by WWF Commissioner Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat that the three of them would compete in a Triple Threat Match on the PPV....with Mick Foley as the Special Guest Referee, to ensure a clean and fair outcome. During the closing stages of the match, Undertaker hit Rock with the Last Ride, and got a SUPER close nearfall that he believed was a three count. He got in Foley's face, and even shoved him, but Foley (despite really wanting to) didn't retaliate. The American Badass would turn his attention to HBK, and tried to set him up for the Tombstone, but Michaels countered it into a small package, and Foley counted three! Michaels had won, but one of Undertaker's feet was clearly making contact with the bottom rope (Foley hadn't seen that when he made the count). This sent Undertaker into a rage, as he attacked Michaels, The Rock, and even Foley, after the match.
This brings us to the main event of Survivor Series, which was Steve Austin vs. Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Title. The build featured some good back-and-forth taunting between the two, and the early portion of this match turned into an extended crowd brawl. Once they got back to the ring, they went at it for a little bit, with both scoring a pair of nearfalls. Then, The Undertaker stormed to ringside and blasted both Austin and Jarrett with a chair. The match was ruled a No Contest as The Undertaker continued his beatdown. Shawn Michaels and The Rock eventually came to get some payback on Undertaker from earlier, and then once Austin and Jarrett recovered, it turned into a five-way brawl to close the show. While it sucks that the main event of this PPV didn't see a clear winner, the heated five-way brawl at the end does set up a very interesting situation for the next PPV.
How will things shake out? Tune in next time, as I go over Vengeance 2001! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 28, 2024 21:38:19 GMT 1
Part LIX: WWF Vengeance 2001
WWF Vengeance 2001
December 9th, 2001 - San Diego Sports Arena - San Diego, California
Sunday Night Heat
1.) Winner Becomes Permanent Color Commentator for Tuesday Night RAW - Jerry "The King" Lawler def. Al Snow
PPV
1.) WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles - Four-Way Match - New Blood (Chris Candido, Julio Dinero, & Kid Kash) def. Rico Constantino & The Samoan Destruction Squad (Jamal & Rosey) (c), The Disciples Of The New Church (Vampiro, Flash Flanagan, & Slash with Brian Lee & Father James Mitchell), & X-Factor (X-Pac, Justin Credible, & Kid Romeo)
2.) WWF Hardcore Title - Singapore Cane Match - Shane McMahon (c) def. Steve Blackman
3.) Triple Threat Match - Malice (with Father James Mitchell) def. Albert & Kane
4.) WWF European Title - Ken Shamrock def. Rikishi (c)
5.) Six-Person Tag - The APA (Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Jacqueline) def. KroniK (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark) & Steven Richards
6.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Steel Cage Match - Brian Christopher def. Scotty 2 Hotty (c)
7.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Tag Team Match - Triple H & Stephanie McMahon def. Psycho Sid (c) & Vince Russo
8.) WWF Title - King Of The Mountain Match - Jeff Jarrett def. Steve Austin (c), Shawn Michaels, The Rock, & The Undertaker
It's time to go over the final PPV of 2001....Vengeance! I didn't realize that this PPV took place so early in the month of December, but I ultimately decided to keep it on the same date.
Much like my last post, I'm going to go over the matches from the bottom to the top. Before the PPV got started, we had Sunday Night Heat, which featured a battle for the right to be the sole Color Commentator for Tuesday Night RAW. Jerry "The King" Lawler made his return to the WWF the night after Survivor Series 2001, just like he did in OTL. For a few weeks, RAW had a three-man booth consisting of Al Snow, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler. However, Snow had become increasingly frustrated, as he felt Lawler was upstaging him. Eventually, this led to Lawler and Snow having a confrontation on the December 4th RAW, and the match was set for Sunday Night Heat. The winner would commentate the rest of the show alongside Jim Ross, and would be the sole Color Commentator for RAW. As expected, Lawler would emerge victorious to solidify his spot alongside Jim Ross both for PPVs as well as Tuesday Nights.
The PPV proper kicked off with a Four-Way Trios Match for the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles. I forgot to mention this in my previous posts, but in the buildup to Survivor Series, some involvement from Steve Austin (neutralizing Steven Richards) allowed Rico Constantino and The Samoan Destruction Squad (Rosey and Jamal) to win the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles from Jeff Jarrett and KroniK on the November 6th edition of RAW. They're defending the titles here against three different stables: New Blood (represented by Chris Candido, Julio Dinero, and Kid Kash), The Disciples Of The New Church (represented by Vampiro, Slash, and the group's newest member, Flash Flanagan), and X-Factor (X-Pac, Justin Credible, and Kid Romeo). I feel that the four-way trios match can become a signature match of sorts for this division. A chaotic match with twelve guys and bodies flying all over the place would be pretty entertaining, I'd have to imagine. In this case, New Blood would capture the titles thanks to help from the group's newest member....Erik Watts. I suppose the main reason why I added him to this group was because he did have a brief partnership with Brian Lawler aka Brian Christopher in TNA in OTL, so I decided to carry that over to this alternate timeline.
Up next is a Singapore Cane Match for the WWF Hardcore Title, as Shane McMahon would defend his title against and old foe....Steve Blackman. After Big Bossman came up short against Shane McMahon at Survivor Series, a still indisposed Vince McMahon decided to send a formal rival to try and further punish by son. Motivated by wanting to put away Shane for good (and a hefty sum of cash from Vince) a more ruthless Blackman made his intentions clear, and thus, a match was set up for the WWF Hardcore Title. In terms of the stipulation, I don't envision this as being the "climb the pole to grab the Singapore Cane" kind of a match. I just see this as a hardcore match with LOADS of Singapore Canes around the ringside area (I'm sure there are plenty of creative things they could do with so many Singapore Canes available). Despite the best efforts of Blackman, Shane would retain the WWF Hardcore Title on this night, though this wouldn't be the last time they would square off.
After that is a Triple Threat Match with three super heavyweights. This was really just an extension of the feud between Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor, with Kane getting (inadvertently) caught in between. I gave the win to Malice here (pinning Albert) as he is figured into some things for the early part of 2002.
Then we have a bout for the WWF European Title, as a returning Ken Shamrock wins the title from Rikishi, ending his multi-month reign as champion. We last saw Ken Shamrock at Unforgiven, and since he did have another somewhat-regular stint in pro-wrestling during 2002 in OTL (with TNA), I figured this would be a good time to reintroduce him with 2002 on the horizon.
Following that title bout, we have the first of two intergender matches (sort of) on the card, as Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Jacqueline take on KroniK and Steven Richards. This is a continuation of the issues between The APA and KroniK, while also giving Jacqueline the chance to get her hands on Richards, who's mainly been the manager of Brian Adams and Bryan Clark (although he still wrestles). The match ends with Jacqueline getting the pin on Richards, as the babyfaces get a measure of revenge. The other intergender match on this show has a similar theme, as a Triple H and Stephanie McMahon battle Psycho Sid and Vince Russo in a tag team match with Sid's WWF Intercontinental Title on the line. Sid and Triple H have been going back-and-forth over the last few PPVs, and it was only a matter of time before their respective seconds got involved in a big way. Much like Jacqueline, Stephanie is trying to get her hands on Vince Russo, but the fact that the Intercontinental Title is on the line makes both sides a little suspicious of their own partner's intentions. In the end, we don't get any David Arquette style silliness, as Triple H wins back the Intercontinental Title after pinning Vince Russo, which will no doubt drive a wedge between Sid and Russo.
Another title bout featured on this show is a Steel Cage Match for the WWF Light Heavyweight Title between Scotty 2 Hotty and Brian Christopher. After his side defeated New Blood at Survivor Series in one of the traditional elimination matches, Scotty 2 Hotty earned another shot at Christopher's WWF Light Heavyweight Title. He got to pick the stipulation as well, and he decided on a Strap Match. That bout took place on the November 21st SmackDown, and Scotty 2 Hotty was able to capture the title. It was then decided that the two would face off in a Steel Cage Match at the PPV, with the title on the line, to settle things once and for all between the former partners. When the dust settled, a bloody Christopher managed to escape the cage to regain the Light Heavyweight Title.
Now it's time to talk about the main event. After the chaos surrounding the main event of Survivor Series, it was decided that Jeff Jarrett, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and The Undertaker (now a heel) would all battle Steve Austin for the WWF Title at Vengeance. In order to spice things up, Mick Foley (who now shares matchmaking power with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat) introduced a brand new match concept.....the King Of The Mountain Match. Of course, if you've followed TNA for any length of time, you'll probably very familiar with the match. Even though this is an alternate timeline, the same general rules apply. It's a Reverse Ladder Match. All five wrestlers start the match as illegible, with a pinfall or submission making you eligible to hang the belt to win the match. Any person who gets pinned must spend two minutes in a penalty box cage. Whoever is able to hang the belt is the winner of the match and the WWF Champion. This inaugural King Of The Mountain Match is a star-studded affair, to say the least. The match would see ladders, tables, and chairs all being utilized, and all five wrestlers would become eligible (and all five had their turn in the penalty box cage). In this case, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco were two men responsible for the WWF Title during the bout.
Towards the end of the match, Shawn Michaels would take out The Undertaker on the floor with a big elbow drop off the top of a ladder, putting him through a pair of tables. This gave the opening for Steve Austin and The Rock alone in the ring with a ladder, and an opening to hang the title. The Rock carried the title up the ladder, and Austin met him at the top. As they were fighting over the belt, the ladder was pushed over....by the referee of the match, Earl Hebner! There was no doubt that it was an intentional act. With both Austin and Rock taken out, this gave Jeff Jarrett the chance to climb the ladder (Patterson and Brisco did not intervene) and hang the title. Jeff Jarrett was the King Of The Mountain, and the new WWF Champion. It's the San Diego Screwjob! Trash filled the ring as Jarrett celebrated, but this celebration didn't last long. While Jarrett was celebrating on the floor, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat pulled the title from Jarrett's hands, and goes back up the ramp to hand the belt to Mick Foley. The two yell at a clearly distraught Jarrett as the PPV goes off the air.
The final WWF PPV of 2001 ends with controversy and chaos! Did Earl Hebner act alone? Was he in cahoots with Jeff Jarrett and possibly others? What is the fate of the WWF Championship? That'll all be covered as we enter 2002. |
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Post by Josh Spicer on Aug 28, 2024 21:57:55 GMT 1
Vengeance 2001 more like Slammiversary 2006 (no but really that's a good storyline thank you for adapting it here)
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