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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 4, 2022 5:39:43 GMT 1
WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles
The Corporation (Psycho Sid, Shane McMahon, & Shawn Michaels)
WWF RAW Is WAR
November 16th, 1998
49 Days
The Hell Raisers (The Legion Of Doom & Power Warrior) [2]WWF RAW Is WARJanuary 4th, 199993 DaysThis was also for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, which were held coming into the match by Psycho Sid and Shawn Michaels.
The Ministry Of Darkness (Gangrel, Mideon, & Viscera)WWF SmackDown!April 7th, 199946 DaysThe titles would be defended by various members of The Ministry Of Darkness during this reign, as they utilized The Freebird Rule.
Cactus Jack, Mikey Whipwreck, & Terry FunkWWF Over The Edge 1999May 23rd, 199936 DaysChristopher Daniels, Gangrel, and Viscera were the team from The Ministry Of Darkness that were defending the titles in this match.
The Mean Street Posse (Joey Abs, Pete Gas, & Rodney)WWF RAW Is WARJune 28th, 199930 Days
Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, & The British BulldogWWF SmackDown!July 28th, 199935 Days
Justin Credible & The New Age OutlawsWWF SmackDown!September 1st, 199935 DaysThis was a Four-Way Elimination Match also involving The Corporate Ministry (The Acolytes and Jeff Jarrett) as well as the team of The Rock, Kane, and X-Pac.
Blue World Order (Big Stevie Cool, Bluedust, & Hollywood Nova)WWF RAW Is WAROctober 6th, 199911 Days
The Forgotten (Ron Reese, Scott Vick, & Van Hammer)WWF No Mercy 1999October 17th, 199975 Days +
This was a Four-Way Elimination Match also involving Justin Credible and The New Aged Outlaws as well as the team of Al Snow, Mikey Whipwreck, and Terry Funk.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 14, 2022 15:16:22 GMT 1
Part XXXII: WWF Royal Rumble 2000
WWF Royal Rumble 2000
January 23rd, 2000 - Madison Square Garden - New York City, New York
1.) WWF Hardcore Title - Elimination Tables Match - Psycho Sid (c) def. Balls Mahoney, Big Stevie Cool, Kai En Tai, Mikey Whipwreck, Public Enemy, Terry Funk, & Too Cold Scorpio
2.) WWF Women's Title - Jacqueline def. Luna Vachon (c)
3.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Jeff Jarrett def. Chyna (c), Kane, & X-Pac
4.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - The New Age Outlaws def. Ken Shamrock & The Rock (c)
5.) WWF Title - Three Stages Of Hell Match - Hair vs. Career - Triple H (c) def. Owen Hart
6.) Royal Rumble Match - Winner: The Rock
It's been a little bit since I made a full-fledged post in this thread, but I'm back. We've now officially entered 2000, and everyone knows that the dawn of a new year means that the Royal Rumble PPV is right around the corner. As I did with 1999, I'll be making a follow-up post detailing the actual Royal Rumble Match itself. In this post, I'll be going over the rest of the card as well as other title changes (not much to talk about given that there's only five matches outside of the main event).
By far the biggest non-Royal Rumble bout on the show was Triple H vs. Owen Hart in a Three Stages Of Hell Match for the WWF Title, with some other notable stipulations thrown into the mix. Now the last time I did a PPV post, Owen Hart was the WWF Champion. However, because Triple H won his match at Armageddon 1999 (he and Shane McMahon defeated Owen Hart and Vince McMahon thanks to a heel turn from Stephanie McMahon), he won himself a chance to regain his title. Well, he would do just that on the January 3rd edition of RAW Is WAR, as (thanks to some involvement from DX) he defeated Owen Hart to reclaim the WWF Title. Of course, Owen Hart would demand a rematch at Royal Rumble, but given that these two have had issues with each other (in various forms) dating back a few years, it was decided that some major stipulations would be attached. Firstly, the bout itself would be a Three Stages Of Hell Match, with both competitors getting to pick a stipulation, while Vince McMahon would pick the third stipulation. Triple H picked a Falls Count Anywhere Match (which would be the first fall), Owen Hart would pick a Submission Match (which would be the second fall), and for the potential third fall, Vince McMahon selected a Steel Cage Match. In addition to that stipulation, each men would put something else on the line as well. Triple H would put up his hair, while Owen Hart would put his WWF Career on the line. Of course, if you've been following my main EWR/WCW thread in the Real World Diaries section, you'll know that Owen Hart jumped to WCW in February/March of 2000. So this is essentially a way to write Owen Hart out of the WWF. When it came time for the match at the PPV, Triple H would win the first fall, Owen Hart would come back to win the second fall, and Triple H would secure victory in the third fall to retain his title. Thus, Owen Hart's tenure in the WWF is over.
The remainder of the card is filled with four other title matches, so pretty much every match on this card has something on the line, whether it be a title or the right to go to WrestleMania, in the case of the Royal Rumble Match. The New Age Outlaws would regain the WWF World Tag Team Titles after defeated the uneasy duo of Ken Shamrock and The Rock. They had won the vacant WWF World Tag Team Titles in a tournament back at Armageddon 1999, but their alliance would come to an abrupt end here when miscommunication between the two led to them losing the titles. The two got into a shoving match afterwards that led to referees and security pulling them apart, though it wouldn't be their last interaction of the night, as they would see each other again in the Royal Rumble Match. Right before that was a Fatal Four-Way Match for the WWF Intercontinental Title that combined two different singles rivalries (Chyna vs. Jeff Jarrett and Kane vs. X-Pac). Chyna had won the title in the infamous Good Housekeeping Match back at Armageddon 1999, but Jarrett was able to take advantage of the chaos created by the four-way environment to capture the title.
The second match on the card saw the returning Jacqueline win the WWF Women's Title from Luna Vachon. Jacqueline had recently returned to the WWF after spending a year in WCW, and it didn't take her long to establish herself as the top dog in the women's division. Finally, the opening contest saw Psycho Sid successfully defend the WWF Hardcore Title in an Elimination Tables Match that featured nine challengers (Sho Funaki and Taka Michinoku were the guys representing Kai En Tai here). I imagine this would be a pretty wild opener, but the main reason why I booked this was so that would could still get some people jumping off the low profile entranceway that we sometimes get at MSG (Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy both fell off that ledge in the Tag Team Tables Match from this same PPV in OTL). You can look at that lineup and take a guess who might be the guy or guys taking the plunge. In the end though, Psycho Sid would emerge victorious.
There are three other title changes that I do need to make note of. On the January 5th edition of SmackDown, the DX trio of The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac would win the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles from The Forgotten. Then, just two weeks later on January 19th, Super Loco would win the WWF Light Heavyweight Title in a Triple Threat Match that also served as a Royal Rumble qualifier. Defending champion CIMA as well as Tiger Mask were the other participants in that bout. Additionally, Justin Credible won the WWF European Title from Val Venis on the January 10th RAW Is WAR.
One last note I need to make is that, on the January 12th edition of SmackDown, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had a big, extravagant wedding that also doubled as a celebration for the recent success that DX had. The end of the wedding would see the two of them (and the rest of DX) turn on Shane McMahon, as they all beat him up to end the show (setting some things up for WrestleMania).
That's all for this post. Look out for the follow-up post covering the 2000 Royal Rumble Match soon.... |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 15, 2022 3:03:56 GMT 1
Alright, it's time to go over all the happenings from the 2000 edition of the Royal Rumble Match! In this case, the end result is the same, with The Rock emerging victorious, but this version of the match has some different competitors and a few surprises.
The match kicks off just as it does in OTL, with D-Lo Brown and Grand Master Sexay as 1st and 2nd entrants respectively. The next two entrants were Chris Candido and Shane Douglas, which is the exact same spots the two of them entered the year prior (I didn't plan it that way, but that's how it worked out). Rikishi would come out as the 5th Entrant, and at this point, the match very closely followed what happened in real life. He eliminates everyone except Grand Master Sexay, and then Scotty 2 Hotty comes out as the 6th Entrant. The trio do their dance, and then Rikishi tosses both members of Too Cool out. Not much deviation here.
Steve Blackman and Viscera were the 7th and 8th Entrants respectively, but they were both tossed out in quick fashion by Rikishi, who was really the star of the first third of the match. It's at this point that the ring finally starts to fill up. Ken Shamrock, Justin Credible, The British Bulldog, Gangrel, Super Loco, and Jeff Jarrett were the next six, and they would all gang up on Rikishi to eliminate him. The first surprise entrant would come out in the 15th spot, and it would be the winner of the very first Royal Rumble Match....Jim Duggan (essentially taking the Bob Backlund spot from this same bout in OTL). He got some quick shine before getting tossed out by Jeff Jarrett. The 16th Entrant was non other than former ECW star New Jack!! Yes, that's right. New Jack was in the Royal Rumble Match, and he brought out a whole bunch of toys with him as he went to town on everyone in the ring with these weapons. Much like Jim Duggan, however, his moment in the spotlight would be short lived, as he would also be eliminated by Jeff Jarrett. Faarooq would come out 17th, but then Chyna entered at the 18th spot, and she went right after her rival Jarrett and eliminated him! So those two are still very much at odds.
I should note as well that, at various points in the match, different members of The Forgotten would come in and try to get involved, but they would get disposed of each time (they were essentially taking the spot that Kai En Tai had in this Rumble, with Kai En Tai in a separate match earlier in the night). The ring would continue to fill up after Chyna entered the bout, with Road Dogg, Al Snow, Val Venis, and Albert all making their way into the fray. The 23rd Entrant was Shawn Michaels, and with his feud with Justin Credible still very much ongoing, the former WWF Champion went right after Credible, and in the process of eliminating Credible, he eliminated himself (think Mick Foley in the 2004 Royal Rumble Match with Randy Orton), and the two brawled to the back. The Rock would be the 24th Entrant, and he quickly scored some eliminations as he tossed out The British Bulldog and his former Nation Of Domination stablemate Faarooq. Billy Gunn would enter in the 25th spot, but falling him in the 26th spot would be the man who would dominate the latter stages of the match....Psycho Sid. Upon entering the match, Sid would eliminate Gangrel, Super Loco, Al Snow, and Chyna in that order. Bradshaw would enter 27th, followed by Kane in 28th, and he would go on a little run of his own, as Val Venis and Albert would both get eliminated by The Big Red Machine. The Godfather and X-Pac would be the final two entrants, and this would set the stage for the home stretch.
The Godfather would quickly be eliminated by Psycho Sid. Bradshaw would then be eliminated by all three members of DX. At this point, Kane would fire up, and fought off DX to the point that he managed to eliminate both Billy Gunn and Road Dogg. Unfortunately, this left him wide open to be eliminated by X-Pac, continuing their rivalry. So at this point, the Final Four were Ken Shamrock, Psycho Sid, The Rock, and X-Pac. Psycho Sid would score his 6th elimination of the bout when he tossed out X-Pac, and this would lead to a sequence where Ken Shamrock and The Rock were forced to come back together to toss out Psycho Sid, which they managed to do. Thus, the match came down to the men who lost the WWF World Tag Team Titles earlier in the night. The same two men who've been feuding on-and-off for almost two years. After some back-and-forth between the two, The Rock would manage to eliminate Ken Shamrock to win the 2000 Royal Rumble Match....or so we thought. The same controversy that happened with the end of this bout in OTL with The Rock and The Big Show happened here with The Rock and Ken Shamrock, where it appeared that Rock's feet hit the floor first, but the call was missed. Ken Shamrock would protest this following the PPV, though I won't go into that in this post, or I shall spoil the next PPV.
I'll close out this post by listing the entrants and eliminations. The elimination order will be listed in brackets.
1.) [3] D-Lo Brown - Eliminated by Rikishi
2.) [4] Grand Master Sexay - Eliminated by Rikishi
3.) [1] Chris Candido - Eliminated by Rikishi
4.) [2] Shane Douglas - Eliminated by Rikishi
5.) [8] Rikishi - Eliminated by Gangrel, Jeff Jarrett, Justin Credible, Ken Shamrock, Super Loco, & The British Bulldog
6.) [5] Scotty 2 Hotty - Eliminated by Rikishi
7.) [6] Steve Blackman - Eliminated by Rikishi
8.) [7] Viscera - Eliminated by Rikishi
9.) [29] Ken Shamrock - Eliminated by The Rock
10.) [12] Justin Credible - Eliminated by Shawn Michaels
11.) [14] The British Bulldog - Eliminated by The Rock
12.) [16] Gangrel - Eliminated by Psycho Sid
13.) [17] Super Loco - Eliminated by Psycho Sid
14.) [11] Jeff Jarrett - Eliminated by Chyna
15.) [9] Jim Duggan - Eliminated by Jeff Jarrett
16.) [10] New Jack - Eliminated by Jeff Jarrett
17.) [15] Faarooq - Eliminated by The Rock
18.) [19] Chyna - Eliminated by Psycho Sid
19.) [24] Road Dogg - Eliminated by Kane
20.) [18] Al Snow - Eliminated by Psycho Sid
21.) [20] Val Venis - Eliminated by Kane
22.) [21] Albert - Eliminated by Kane
23.) [13] Shawn Michaels - Eliminated himself
24.) [WINNER] The Rock
25.) [25] Billy Gunn - Eliminated by Kane
26.) [28] Psycho Sid - Eliminated by Ken Shamrock and The Rock
27.) [23] Bradshaw - Eliminated by Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, & X-Pac
28.) [26] Kane - Eliminated by X-Pac
29.) [22] The Godfather - Eliminated by Psycho Sid
30.) [27] X-Pac - Eliminated by Psycho Sid
That wraps up Royal Rumble 2000! Tune in next time for No Way Out 2000, where two men will be going straight to hell....
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 6, 2022 2:28:15 GMT 1
Part XXXIII: WWF No Way Out 2000
WWF No Way Out 2000February 27th, 2000 - Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, Connecticut1.) WWF Hardcore Title - Ambulance Match - Psycho Sid (c) def. Terry Funk2.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Super Loco (c) def. Too Cold Scorpio3.) WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles - Four-Way Trios Match - The Forgotten (Ron Reese, Savio Vega, & Scott Vick) def. bWo (Big Stevie Cool, Bluedust, & Hollywood Nova with The Blue Meanie) (c), The Mean Street Posse, and D-Lo Brown, The Godfather, & Mark Henry4.) Vampiro def. Val Venis5.) Ten-Person Tag - Chyna, Kane (with Paul Bearer), & Too Cool (Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, & Grand Master Sexay) def. WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, Shane Douglas, WWF World Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws, & X-Pac (with Tori)6.) WWF Women's Title - Evening Gown Pool Match - Special Guest Referees: The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young - The Kat def. Jacqueline (c), Francine, & Sunny7.) WWF European Title - Last Man Standing Match - Shawn Michaels def. Justin Credible (c)8.) WWF Title - Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) (c) def. Bradshaw (with Faarooq)9.) Hell In A Cell Match - The Rock def. Ken ShamrockLast month's Royal Rumble PPV saw an exciting end to the Royal Rumble Match, as The Rock last eliminated Ken Shamrock to punch his ticket to WrestleMania.....or so we thought. The same storyline that played out between The Big Show and The Rock in OTL occurs in this version of events as well, as Shamrock would argue in the aftermath that The Rock's feet hit the floor first. This dispute over the finish of the Royal Rumble Match would lead to one final clash between two men who've been feuding on-and-off for the better part of two years. The final encounter between The Rock and Ken Shamrock, with a title shot at WrestleMania on the line, would take place at No Way Out....inside Hell In A Cell!! While this wouldn't involve some of the stunts that were seen in the actual Hell In A Cell from this PPV between Cactus Jack and Triple H (don't think Rock or Shamrock would be taking Cactus Jack style bumps lol), it would still be a brutal and bloody affair. When the dust settled, The Rock would emerge victorious in this final battle with Shamrock, thus solidifying his spot in the main event of WrestleMania. The night would come to a close with Rock and Shamrock shaking hands, and with that, Shamrock's run in the WWF is pretty much over. Just like in OTL, Shamrock would leave pro-wrestling for the time being to focus on his MMA career. When putting all of this together, I thought a more fitting conclusion to Shamrock's run would be to have it end in a big way, and in the end, he puts The Rock over in a huge match.The rest of the card doesn't resemble the original PPV lineup at all. I suppose the closest similarity is that Too Cool are involved in a multi-person tag, but in this case, it's a ten-person tag, as they're paired up with Chyna and Kane against Jeff Jarrett, X-Pac, The New Age Outlaws, and Shane Douglas. Now the Chyna vs. Jeff Jarrett and Kane vs. X-Pac feuds are still very much going on (I'm actually planning to have those conclude at WrestleMania), so this just served as a natural continuation of those issues. Speaking of rivalries, Justin Credible and Shawn Michaels took their rivalry to the next level on this PPV, as they faced off in a Last Man Standing Match. With Albert barred from ringside, and Credible's WWF European Title on the line, these two would go all out as they brawled all over the building in a bloody affair (a fair amount of bloody matches on this card). In the end, Shawn Michaels would secure the victory, and thus, he became the new European Champion. In the buildup to this match, the title wasn't really the central focus, but in HBK's view, winning the title would just be the cherry on top, in terms of sending a firm message to Credible that he was the better man. While Michaels would leave this PPV with a title in hand, he would soon have his sights set on a much larger prize.In terms of other title bouts on the card, the top one would see Triple H defend the WWF Title against Bradshaw. There's not a ton to say about this one, aside from the fact that I thought Bradshaw would be a nice filler title defense between Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. Part of the story that can be told here is that Bradshaw and Faarooq are standing up to the McMahon-Helmsley Regime. In this match, Faarooq would corner Bradshaw in an attempt to neutralize Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, but ultimately, Triple H would emerge from No Way Out still the WWF Champion. In a match that was a complete 180 from a lot of the stuff on this card, the WWF Women's Title would be on the line in an Evening Gown Pool Match with Jacqueline defending against Francine, Sunny, and The Kat. This bout is essentially imported from Armageddon 1999. Same result, slightly different opponents.The start of the card had three title matches that were all very different. Opening up the PPV would be an Ambulance Match for the WWF Hardcore Title between Psycho Sid and Terry Funk. Sid came into this match as the longest reigning champion in the relatively short history of this title, and that reign would continue with a victory here over Funk. This would also serve as Funk's write-off, as he would leave WWF and make the jump to WCW a short time later. Following that would be a match for the WWF Light Heavyweight Title, as Super Loco would retain over Too Cold Scorpio. Following that would be a chaotic four-way trios bout that would see The Forgotten regain the WWF World Six-Man Tag Team Titles. bWo were actually the defending champions coming into this one (they won the titles in an upset over DX on the February 7th RAW Is WAR), but some miscommunication would lead to them falling short here.Finally, the last bout on the card that I haven't mentioned yet features a new face in the WWF.....Vampiro. Yes, you read that correctly. Vampiro is in the WWF, and after winning a number of squash matches, he got into a brief feud with Val Venis (Vampiro's first feud with a recognizable name since joining the promotion) that would conclude on this PPV. I felt that Venis was a good name for Vampiro to beat in his first real feud.There really isn't anything else to really mention, as I've pretty much gone over all of the titles and such. With No Way Out 2000 in the books, WrestleMania 2000 is up next on the schedule, and the WWF is about have a major name make his return to the company. I won't say anymore, or I'll spoil the next post. |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 7, 2022 1:39:19 GMT 1
Posting this video for no particular reason.... |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 11, 2022 5:16:23 GMT 1
Part XXXIV: WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF WrestleMania 2000April 2nd, 2000 - Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim - Anaheim, California1.) Tag Team Turmoil - The Nasty Boys def. The APA, Gangrel & Viscera, The Legion Of Doom, Public Enemy, The Mean Street Posse (Joey Abs and Pete Gas with Rodney), Kid Kash & WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Super Loco, The Headbangers, D-Lo Brown & The Godfather (with Ice-T), and Kai En Tai (Sho Funaki & Taka Michinoku)2.) Chris Candido (with Sunny) & Shane Douglas (with Francine) def. Head Cheese (Al Snow & Steve Blackman)3.) Cat Fight - Special Guest Referee: Val Venis - Terri Runnels (with The Fabulous Moolah) def. The Kat (with Mae Young)4.) Ten-Man Tag - Vampiro & The Forgotten (Ron Reese, Savio Vega, Scott Vick, & Van Hammer with The Insane Clown Posse) def. bWo (Big Stevie Cool, Bluedust, Hollywood Nova, & The Blue Meanie) & Jim Duggan5.) Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match - Chyna def. Jeff Jarrett6.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grand Master Sexay) def. The New Age Outlaws (c)7.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Triple Threat Ladder Match - Kane (with Paul Bearer) (c) def. Rikishi & X-Pac (with Tori)8.) Hollywood Hulk Hogan def. Albert (with Justin Credible)9.) WWF Title - Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match - Triple H (with WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) (c) def. The Rock (with Vince McMahon), WWF European Champion Shawn Michaels (with Linda McMahon), and WWF Hardcore Champion Psycho Sid (with Shane McMahon)So I decided to follow up with another post pretty quickly, given that New Japan's G1 Climax is starting up soon, and that's naturally going to take up a lot of time. Probably won't make another post in this thread until after the tournament is over, so hey, you guys get two in one month!It's the first weekend of April in 2000, which means it's time for WrestleMania! Of course, this particular WrestleMania took place from The Pond in Anaheim, California, with that very infamous green and black logo (which is one that I've always liked). In OTL, the main event of the show was given the label "A McMahon in every corner", and in this version of events, that's still the case. However, with no Big Show and no Mick Foley, we obviously get some different players. Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon still manage Triple H and The Rock respectively, but with Linda McMahon and Shane McMahon, they're managing Shawn Michaels and Psycho Sid respectively. In the case of Shane McMahon, putting him with Psycho Sid just made sense, since he seemed like the best stand in for Big Show. In the case of Linda, it's a little harder to get that connection (since, IIRC, Mick Foley and Linda McMahon always seemed to be connected in storyline), but I guess you can say that Shawn Michaels appealed to Linda in order to get a title shot, and she obliged....partly to stick it to Triple H and Stephanie, given the obvious history between the original DX duo. The actual match plays out very similarly to the way it did in OTL. Psycho Sid gets eliminated first (getting pinned by The Rock), and Shawn Michaels being eliminated next (partly thanks to interference from Stephanie). It comes down to The Rock and Triple H, and it played out the exact same way, with Vince McMahon turning on The Rock to help Triple H win before The Rock got the upper hand after the fact to close the show.
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Post by dhk1989 on Jul 11, 2022 22:13:00 GMT 1
Jim Duggan and the Nasty Boys following Hogan back to the WWF? Who's next? Brutus Beefcake?  |
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Post by bigmac76 on Aug 20, 2022 4:04:03 GMT 1
Can't wait for Ed "Hogan's Bitch" Leslie to return to the WWF!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 28, 2022 5:26:45 GMT 1
I'm working on a new post that I'll hopefully have up tomorrow, so stay tuned! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 28, 2022 20:20:58 GMT 1
Part XXXV: WWF Backlash 2000
WWF Backlash 2000 April 30th, 2000 - MCI Center - Washington, D.C.
1.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Chyna def. Essa Rios (c) 2.) The Nasty Boys def. The APA 3.) WWF Hardcore Title - Dustin Rhodes (c) def. Big Stevie Cool 4.) Six-Man Tag - Albert, Justin Credible, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Super Loco, Tiger Mask IV, and AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa 5.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Vampiro def. Kane (c) 6.) WWF European Title - Rikishi def. X-Pac (with Tori) (c) 7.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - The New Age Outlaws def. Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grand Master Sexay) (c) 8.) Psycho Sid def. Shane McMahon 9.) Dream Tag Team Match - Special Guest Referee: Steve Austin - WWF Champion The Rock & Shawn Michaels def. Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Triple H
To close out the month of April, WWF heads to the Nation's Capitol of Washington, D.C. for Backlash and, as the name implies, we're dealing with a lot of the aftermath from WrestleMania 2000. One of the biggest stories to come out of that event was the return of Hollywood Hulk Hogan, as he defeated Albert in his first bout in WWF since 1993. While Hogan was still wearing the black and white that became synonymous with his nWo look, he was very much presented as a tweener (at least in this initial part of his return), and on the night after WrestleMania on RAW Is WAR, he made it very clear that his intention was to get back to the top of the WWF, which meant becoming the WWF Champion. Of course, this put him at odds with the various main event players in the company, including WWF Champion Triple H, The Rock, and Shawn Michaels. Seeing an opportunity to put together a blockbuster match that would make a ton of money, Vince McMahon swiftly announced that the main event of Backlash would be a Dream Tag Team Match that would see The Rock and Shawn Michaels go up against Triple H and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Even though the McMahon-Helmsley Faction had just come together with what took place at WrestleMania, this did create some uncertainly on Triple H's side of things, as he questioned why Vince would pair him with someone who just recently declared that he wanted to come for his title, but Vince assured him that this was going to be an incredible opportunity for them to take out two of his top contenders, and that they can deal with Hogan later.
So with the Dream Tag Team Match set for Backlash, that left me in a bit of a conundrum, as that was the PPV where The Rock won the WWF Title from Triple H in OTL. I still wanted to get the WWF Title on The Rock, but I had to figure out where exactly to do that. What I ultimately decided to do was to push The Rock's title win up a few weeks to the April 17th RAW Is WAR from State College, Pennsylvania. Of course, this was the show that, in OTL, featured the phantom title win by Chris Jericho (a decision that was reversed the same night). Essentially, I moved the main event from our version of Backlash 2000 up by a few weeks. It's Triple H vs. The Rock for the WWF Title with Shane McMahon as the Special Guest Referee. However, the man that ends up evening up the sides for The Rock here wound up being none other than Psycho Sid. On the RAW Is WAR after WrestleMania, there was a blowup between Psycho Sid and Shane McMahon (after Sid was the first one eliminated from the main event the night before), and this was basically a babyface turn for Sid. April 17th was his return, and his involvement sent The McMahon-Helmsley Faction packing, and that allowed Linda McMahon to bring out Earl Hebner (who had been bullied by Triple H both before and after WrestleMania) to count the pin for The Rock. So not only does The Rock go into Backlash as WWF Champion, but it also helped to set up a singles match between Psycho Sid and Shane McMahon.
The final note I want to make on the main event is that, the week after the big WWF Title change, Linda McMahon made the Backlash main event even bigger by announcing that a returning (though not yet medically cleared) Stone Cold Steve Austin would be the Special Guest Referee, making the match an even more star-studded affair than it already was. We also still get the infamous segment on the episode of SmackDown before the PPV where the DX Express gets destroyed by Austin (only happens on April 26th instead of April 7th, since SmackDown is on Wednesdays in this version of events).
Despite the fact that Linda McMahon had barred any members of the McMahon-Helmsley Faction from ringside, that didn't prevent chaos from breaking out during the match. At one point, Michaels goes to hit Triple H with the Sweet Chin Music, but he moves out of the way, and Austin gets hit. Not too long after Austin got taken out, Justin Credible slides in from out of nowhere and nails Michaels with a kendo stick shot. At this point, Hogan tried to take advantage and go after The Rock (who had been hit with a chair by a weakened Triple H), but then....also out of nowhere....Jeff Jarrett (who hasn't been seen since losing to Chyna at WrestleMania) slides it and waylays Hogan with a guitar shot. With both Hogan and Michaels taken out of the equation, it comes down to The Rock vs. Triple H. When Austin comes back to, he hits Triple H with a stunner before The Rock hits the Rock Bottom to get the win. A wild finish to the main event that sets up a couple of different matches down the line.
As for the rest of the card, the majority of the titles in the WWF were on the line. Vampiro managed to capture the WWF Intercontinental Title from Kane in a match that saw members of the newly-christened Dark Carnival (formerly The Forgotten) got involved. Following that was a match for the WWF European Title between Rikishi and X-Pac. Now as part of the McMahon-Helmsley Faction going after some of the top babyfaces following WrestleMania, Vince McMahon put Shawn Michaels in a no-win situation on the April 5th SmackDown, as he defended the title against X-Pac with Road Dogg as the Special Guest Referee, Billy Gunn as the Special Guest Timekeeper, and Triple H as the Special Guest Commentator (which obviously led to a farcical situation where X-Pac won the title thanks to The New Age Outlaws getting involved). Rikishi wins the title from X-Pac here on the PPV, and this was followed up with what some people have dubbed as the "Paul Heyman Special" with one match bleeding into another. After Rikishi's win, the aforementioned New Age Outlaws ran down and attacked him, which led to Too Cool making the save, and the WWF World Tag Team Title bout started immediately thereafter. Billy Gunn and Road Dogg would use some cheating to win back the titles.
Another title that was on the line was the WWF Hardcore Title. Now as I mentioned earlier, Shane McMahon turned on Psycho Sid and joined up with the McMahon-Helmsley Faction after WrestleMania. Well, after Sid got involved in the WWF Title bout on the April 17th RAW Is WAR, Shane announced at the following SmackDown that he was placing a $100,000 bounty on anyone who could take the WWF Hardcore Title away from Psycho Sid. While Sid managed to fight off a bunch of would-be challengers on that SmackDown, he wasn't so lucky on the April 24th RAW Is WAR, as Dustin Rhodes violently attacked Sid backstage with a cowbell and bull rope and (with help from Shane McMahon) choked Sid unconscious to capture both the title and the bounty. Not only does this help set up Psycho Sid vs. Shane McMahon at the PPV, but it also adds more stakes to Dustin Rhodes vs. Big Stevie Cool. After his heel turn at WrestleMania, Dustin Rhodes essentially reverted to a more serious side that was akin to the look he had in WCW during 2000 and 2001. He was already scheduled to face the leader of the bWo at the PPV, but this title win just added more stakes to that match.
Elsewhere, Chyna won the WWF Light Heavyweight Title from Essa Rios (yes, she is under the weight limit for that title, as far as I know), who himself won the title from Super Loco on the April 3rd edition of RAW Is WAR as part of a Fatal Four-Way that also involved then-champion Super Loco, Kid Kash, and Chris Candido. After WrestleMania, Chyna had declared that she has a goal of winning all the singles titles in WWF, and this was the first step of her plan to do that. The Nasty Boys scored a fluky win over The APA to kick off their program together, and finally, in a Six-Man Tag that featured some special guests from All Japan, the team of Albert, Justin Credible, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated the team of Super Loco, Tiger Mask IV, and AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa.
A very....VERY lengthy post, but that's all from Backlash 2000! It'll be a bit of a short week, as WWF travels to the UK for the first of their two UK PPVs....Insurrextion! |
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