- The HITMAN383 Rant for WWF Judgment Day, 2000! This show
took place in May, and was considered a kick ass show by all who reviewed it at
the time, with the Iron Man Match being called “legendary.” Under those
credits, I went out and bought it. A full $25.00 at Tower Video. $25.00. IT
DAMN WELL BETTER BE LEGENDARY! (This is another one I haven’t gotten around
to doing a BUExperience on, and this was originally written in October 2000.
Fear not though, I have the Network now. I don’t have to rely on Tower Video to
get shit done anymore)
- BTW, I will be making a guest appearance on www.rantcentral.net
on Thursday, October 19th, or Friday the 20th, depending when they post it =).
- Don’t get me wrong, I love all these new areas to write
for, but don’t forget your MAIN HITMAN383 INFO CENTER is still HITMAN383’s Rant Center!
- Enough Ego Stroking… (Nah, keep going)
- BTW, I use this system: ***** - Excellent, **** - Great,
*** - Good, **- Okay, * - Decent, DUD - Awful.
- Live from Louisville,
Kentucky.
- Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.
- We start off with a neat little promo of all the things
that go down in an hour. Really gets you thinking, and gets you JAKKED for the
Main Event.
- Vince McMahon gets the troops psyched up backstage, and
sends out Brisco to get coffee. Jerry was the hardcore champ at this point, and
gets assaulted by the Headbangers, who try to beat him for it.
- Opening Match: Edge, Christian and Kurt Angle vs.
Rikishi and Too Cool: Oddly enough, Rikishi doesn’t run anyone down on the
way to the ring. The heels jump the faces, but it fails, and all three hit the
checks of fire! Grandmaster and Edge officially start, and Brian hits an
enzuguri. Scotty tags in, and they hit the “homie” elbow. Christian gets in,
and a criss cross leads to Scotty hitting a suplex, but some dancing allows
Christian to kick his ass. He tries to whip Scotty to the corner, but
Grandmaster lay’s on the ropes to block it. Edge tries the same, but it
backfires, and Too Cool double team them while the fans chant for Rikishi. The
heel bail, so Brian dances, but loses his pants. Making Fun of follows. Rikishi
gets in and kicks EVERYONE’S ass, but misses a butt drop on Angle. Kurt kicks
ass, and E&C work in some 80’s style double-teaming in the corner. Rikishi
fights back, however, and tags Hotty, who hits a bulldog, but Kurt clotheslines
him to stop a ‘Worm’ attempt. Brawl erupts, but the ref. clears everyone out,
and Edge works Scotty over, who is now Ricky Morton. Angle gets in, and hits a
nice suplex for two. Christian tags, and screws up a powerbomb (intentionally,
not a screw up screw up) and Scotty hotshots him. Rikishi tags in, and AGAIN
kills everybody. Checks of Fire for all three heels, and Too Cool work over the
Tag Champs while Rikishi delivers a Stinky Face to Kurt. Scotty hits the Worm
on Edge (getting a massive pop), and Sexay hits a superkick. Christian runs in
with the ring bell, and clobbers Rikishi, but Brian hits a Tennessee Jam to
break up the pin, and Rikishi easily pins Edge at 9:42, getting a great pop.
The crowd was HOT here! Good match, too, *** ½.
- Michael Cole speaks with the special ref. for the Iron Man
Match tonight, Shawn Michaels! Shawn say’s he’s gonna call it down the middle,
and that’s all there is too it. He even states what we all know, when
questioned about internet rumor’s of him being jealous of the Rock, “If it’s on
the internet it’s GOTTA be true!” (At the time, it probably was true. Not the
brightest period for HBK, sadly)
- WWF European Title, Triple Threat Match: Eddie Guerrero
vs. Dean Malenko vs. Perry Saturn: Dean and Perry double team Eddie to
start, hitting a HUGE “Demolition Deception” move, (I’m assuming I meant Decapitator
there, because the only Demolition Deception I remember was at SummerSlam ’90,
when they hid underneath the ring. And I don’t think that happened here, but
maybe) with Saturn hitting an AMAZING top rope knee. The height he gets
is SCARY. Saturn turns on Dean quickly, however, and they have a mini-match,
with Saturn hitting a DVD like move. Eddie uses a Flair-like low blow to get
control, and spinkicks Saturn, and rana’s Dean, and then Saturn gets one! Dean
with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, for two, and Saturn nails him, getting HIS
turn to beat up Guerrero. Dean tires to powerbomb the Latino Heat, but Eddie
rolls into a sunset flip, but Dean turns THAT into a Boston Crab. Saturn breaks
it up, and Eddie tries to superplex Dean, but Saturn stops it, and suplexes
Eddie. Dean, however, is still on the top, so Saturn goes up, but Dean drops
him on his face! Eddie goes up to try HIS luck, but Dean hits a gutbuster from
the top! WHOA! Saturn heads upstairs, and hits a suicide splash on Guerrero for
two, and Eddie hits a DDT on Perry for two. Dean tries the crossface, so Eddie
dropkicks him in the face, and everyone brawls. Saturn takes a spill to the
floor, and Dean hits a side suplex, and goes to the top, and hits a splash for
two. Another brawl erupts, and they REALLY impress me with a triple side
suplex. Now THAT was cool. Saturn bails, again, and Chyna clobbers him, then
does the same to Dean, and Eddie gets the pin to retain at 7:54. Terrific match
here, ****.
- Brisco has hidden in the bathroom to evade all the people
after him (and his hardcore belt), but scares himself in the mirror nearly
getting knocked out in the process.
- Falls Count Anywhere Match: Shane McMahon vs. The Big
Show: I am not a big Shane McMahon fan, but you GOTTA dig the t-shirts he
wears to the ring! (What?! Who couldn’t love Shane-o-Mac?!) Shane impresses me off
the bat, diving over the top on Wight as he makes his entrance, but Paul
catches him and gets violent. He kicks Shane’s ass in the ring (literally), and
continues the assault, but out runs Boss Man who goes to work on the Show with
his Nightstick. Paul shrugs him off, however, and hits a big powerbomb, but
here’s T&A, who also get their asses handed to them. Trish tries to stop
him with a low blow, but it backfires and Big Show slams her to the floor! Holy
Crap, the crowd is ON FIRE here. Through all this, Shane is crawling away to
the back, but Big Show stops him by the entrance and kicks his ass there! Show
then rips apart the set, and makes EXTRA EFFORT to make it look like the piece
he picks up to whack Shane with is REALLY heavy, but then Test runs over and
nonchalantly picks it up. Sure, expose the business Andrew! Shane, Test and
Albert work on the Show, but he comes back and WATCH EVERONE BUMP!
Unfortunately for him, out runs Bull, who pounds the Show, allowing Shane to
drop a speaker on his knee, and smash a block over his head to get the pin at
7:15, by the entrance way. Okay little match, **.
- Brisco walks into the referee’s lounge to take a rest, but
they try to get a pin on him TOO, so he gets pissed and leaves.
- WWF Intercontinental Title, Submission Match: Chris
Benoit vs. Chris Jericho: Let the workrate begin! BTW, I HATE the current
IC belt. It looks so … small. Especially on Benoit, for some reason. I miss the
old one that they used from ‘88-’98. (Yeah, I hate the Oval IC. I know they
wanted to make the World Title bigger than the IC (since that was a frequent
complaint with the 90s versions), but they way overcompensated, as the Big
Eagle was gigantic, and the Oval IC was tiny) Benoit starts by
hammering on Jericho,
and laying in with the chops. Neat criss cross leads to Jericho hitting a bulldog, and some big chops
in the corner. Jericho with a cross corner whip,
and Jericho
hooks him in an arm bar. They fight over a tombstone, but Benoit wins and turns
it into a shoulder breaker. Benoit hits the flying headbutt early, and hooks a
nice submission hold. Jericho
fights out, and tries to hook the Walls of Jericho, but Benoit flips him out,
in a nice spot. Chris hits his patented springboard dropkick, leaving Benoit on
the floor, and he follows outside with chops. Unfortunately, he WALKED out,
instead of FLYING out. (I was really obsessed with people flying at
that point, apparently) Benoit reverses a whip, knocking Jericho to the steps, and works the shoulder, but Jericho comes back fast,
and drops him on the knee that Bob Holly hurt on Smackdown. Back in, and Jericho hits a
Tigerdriver, and covers, but no count. Chopfest ensues, which Jericho wins, but he misses a charge in the
corner, and Benoit takes off the turnbuckle pad. Well, mostly off. Benoit isn’t
to good at that, is he? He rams Chris’s bad shoulder to it, and hooks a
submission hold targeting it. Snap suplex by Benoit, and he drops a knee WITH
THE BAD KNEE! D’oh! He hooks an arm-bar, but Y2J makes the ropes, so Benoit
hits some knees to the face, again USING THE BAD KNEE. What’s with you,
Crippler? Jericho
uses a legwhip to take him down, and pounds on Benoit’s knee, then removes the
knee brace. Whipping with the brace occurs. He tries a figure four, but Benoit
hits some STIFF kicks to the head to stop it, but Jericho hits a Lionsault anyway! He hooks
Benoit over the ropes, and applies a SWEET ASS Tarantula on the Crippler. Chris
yells in pain, but fights out, only to miss an enzuguri, but hit the rolling
German suplexes! On the third one, however, Chris escapes, and goes for the
Walls of Jericho, but Benoit counters into the Crossface! Jericho struggles in
it for a bit, and almost makes the ropes, so Benoit breaks the old, drags him
back, and hooks it again! All this is done while pounding on the bad shoulder,
to add to the fact! Jericho
spends about another minute in the hold, until he passes out from the pain, and
Benoit wins to retain at 13:32. Great match here, **** ¼.
- Michael Cole speaks with Hardcore Champion Jerry Brisco,
but during the interview two arena workers jump him and try to win the belt. It
doesn’t quite work out.
- Tag Team Table Match: The Dudley Boyz vs. X-Pac and
Road Dogg: Oh great … DX. Trained in ruining the flow of ANY PPV!! The Dudley’s are pretty over at this point, but not the
insane levels of today. D-Von starts with the Dogg, and a criss cross leads to Dudley hitting a shoulderblock, and then a reverse elbow.
X-Pac tags in, and he gets a shoulderblock too, and in comes Buh Buh. He takes
a spin kick from Sean, but quickly comes back and kills him. The Wassup Drop
hits on BOTH DX members (to a minimal reaction), and DX bails. They can run,
but they CAN’T hide, as the Dud’s go on the chase and bring them back for more
ass whippin’. DX do some timely cheating to get control, and X-Pac hits the
Bronco Buster on D-Von. They do a mid-eighties heat segment on D-Von, and bore
the hell out of me. And just like in the 80’s, D-Von makes the tag but the ref.
doesn’t see it, and DX keeps control. (I like how we had been so desensitized to
wrestling by the Russo era, that even a basic formula heat segment was coming
off as ‘so 80s’ before they retrained us to appreciate actual wrestling again)
D-Von makes the comeback with a double clothesline, and in comes Buh Buh to
clean house. Question: If this match is no holds barred, why would they need to
tag in and out? The Dudley’s bring in the
tables, but don’t get to use them, as Jesse jumps D-Von outside, and plants him
through one with a pump-handle slam. In the ring, X-Pac tries to hit a
BroncoBuster on D-Von, but Buh Buh stops it and powerbombs him through a table!
Road Dogg tries to save X-Pac, but gets a DDT for his troubles, and they call
for the 3D! They put Jesse through the table with it, to end this match, but
the ref. is down, and didn’t see it. Tori comes in to hit Buh Buh, so he tries
the superbomb through the table, but Jerry Brisco saves her, allowing X-Pac to
X-factor Buh Buh off the top, through the table, for the win (because the ref.
saw this one) at 10:56. Bad ending to a decent match, **. Brisco takes a 3D
through a table in retaliation.
- We get a GREAT video package building to the Main Event.
That did JUST what it was supposed to do, get you REALLY pumped for the match.
- WWF Title, Iron Man Match, with special referee Shawn
Michaels: The Rock vs. Triple H: See, Shawn was brought in to ref. because
he was the winner of the OTHER major Iron Man Match in WWF history, back at
WrestleMania XII with Bret Hart. In addition, EVERYONE (myself included)
doubted that Rocky and HHH could makes this work, considering this IS the
Attitude era, and everything. Hunter makes his way out with the whole McMahon
family, but sends them back to the locker room, saying that he wants to do it
on his own. They stare eachother down for a bit to start, getting the crowd all
JAKKED UP, and then they go into a couple false lock ups. Rock gets a side
headlock, but Hunter powers out, and hooks an overhead wristlock, which he
bends Rock backwards in. Miavia gets a few near falls, in quick succession, so
Triple H bails out. He makes it back in, and hooks a side headlock, but a criss
cross (including a LEAPFROG by the Rock) leads to a big right hand by the
champ, and Hunter bails again. The Game seems lost, too, yelling at the crowd
before getting back to the Rock. Another criss cross (including Triple H trying
to use the leapfrog that worked for the Rock earlier), but Miavia saw it coming
and decks him. Hunter takes control with a clothesline, and works the arm. He
hits a single arm DDT for two, and keeps battering the left arm, but a missed
clothesline leads to a Rock Bottom for three at 10:40! Rock: 1, Triple H: 0.
- They brawl up the isle (and not the “hair pull” brawl, but
a REAL fight up the isle), which Hunter wins, and he dumps Rocky back in. Rock
takes control, however, and works on the knee, including a figure four! Triple
H does a great job of selling the hold, but turns it over, and now ROCK sells
(!). He makes the ropes, and it spills outside again, where Rocky dominates,
but Hunter gets a clothesline to comeback. HHH throws him in the crowd, where
they brawl, and Hunter wins. Back in they go, and Triple H hits a big suplex,
and a series of elbow drops for two. They have a Test of Strength on the mat,
which Hunter gets some two’s off of. They have a slugfest, with Rocky winning,
but Hunter tosses him outside, over the top. Hunter takes a shot to the steps
outside, and Rocky keeps working the knee, back inside. But now what will
Triple H work with? He tries another figure four but Hunter fights out, and
hits the Pedigree for the pin at 25:32. Rock: 1, Triple H: 1.
- Hunter keeps control, and gets a quick inside cradle for
another fall at 26:32. Rock: 1, Triple H: 2. Good spot too, showing Rocky is
still hurt from the big Pedigree spot.
- Rock comes back with rights, but HHH dumps him to the
outside, and whips his ass out there! They go to the entrance area, where
Hunter takes a shot to the set, and then Rock tries a suplex, but Hunter turns
it into one of his own, but Rocky hits a side suplex in return! He beats on the
Game some more, and hits a big backdrop, as Shawn informs the commentators that
he won’t count them out because it wouldn’t effect the score. They get back in,
and Rock continues to pound him, but Hunter hits a facebuster, and a nice
piledriver for three at 32:27. Rock: 1, Triple H: 3.
- Hunter works him over in the corner, but Rock shoots out
with a clothesline, only to get a reverse elbow for HHH for a two count. He
heads up top, but does the Ric Flair spot of being caught up there, as Rocky
slams him off. Slugfest won by the Rock, and he gets a cradle for two. Criss
cross leads to Hunter hitting a high knee, and we have another slugfest, again
won by the Rock! Another criss cross ensues, and Triple H hooks on a tight Sleeper!
He even puts his feet on the ropes, like a good little heel. Shawn catches him,
however, and breaks the hold up, allowing Rocky to pound away and hit a big
belly to belly suplex! It gets a dramatic two. And guess what? Almost forty
minutes in, and the crowd is STILL hot! He gets a quick DDT to follow, getting
three at 40:40. Rock: 2, Triple H: 3.
- They go outside again, where Miavia drops Hunter on the
timekeeper’s table, and again whips him into the steps. He hits a swinging
neckbreaker out there, and rolls Hunter back in. Hunter cowers back, but grabs
a chair and blasts the Rock for a DQ at 43:45. Rock: 3, Triple H: 3.
- Hunter then easily covers him for a quick three at 44:12
(with his feet on the ropes, of course!). Smart spot, again. Showing how Hunter
won’t mind losing a point, if he can get more in return. Rock: 3, Triple H: 4.
- Rock is bleeding off the chair shot (I hate Rocky’s blade
job’s!), and Hunter hooks on another sleeper. The crowd is even super hot
DURING A SLEEPER, showing you how much these two rule! The sleeper puts him out
at 47:30. Rock: 3, Triple H: 5! Again, another great spot, showing you how
smart Hunter is to put the Rock out, and it works in the context of the match
because normally a wrestler could breakout, but after 47:00 minutes, he’s so
tired that it works!
- Hunter won’t break, however, and gets in a shoving match
with Shawn. Through all this, Rock acts hurt, but as Hunter walks over Rock
BLASTS HIM with a huge right, and he whips him to the corner, allowing Hunter
to take Shawn’s bump to the floor! He drags him back in, and Hunter takes
control, but gets crotched on the top which allows Rocky to hit a big
superplex! Who would have thought the crowd would be THIS DAMN HOT over 50:00
minutes in? The superplex gets a dramatic two, and Rocky dumps him to the
floor, where he hits a slingshot to the post! He tries to whip him to the
steps, with 6:00 minutes left, but Hunter reverses and Miavia takes the bump.
They climb onto the broadcast table, where Hunter tries a Rock Bottom, but Rock
escapes and Pedigrees him on it! Unfortunately, the table doesn’t actually
break, and Hunter took the full force of the bump. Rock climbs back in, and
Hunter is counted out at 56:10. Rock: 4, Triple H: 5. Hunter then shows us the RIGHT WAY to do a
blade job.
- He crawls back in, where Rock hammers with hard rights,
and out come the McMahons! Big DDT by the Rock, and he takes out Vince and
Shane, then connects with a spinebuster slam and the People’s Elbow for three
at 58:04! Rock: 5, Triple H: 5!
- DX runs out and pounds on the Rock, and that weird
Judgment Day video plays on the big screen, and OUT RIDES THE UNDERTAKER
(making his WWF return), who cleans house on the McMahon’s and DX (blowing the
roof of the place), but chokeslams, and tombstone’s Hunter causing a DQ (with
no time left), making the FINAL SCORE: Rock 5, Triple H: 6! Hunter is then
carried out by the McMahon’s and DX, along with his new WWF title! That was one
HELL of a match! I mean, whoa! The fact that they kept it entertaining, AND
kept the crowd into it for the whole time is a testament to how over both are.
**** ½. (I haven’t seen this one in ages, but I remember being really impressed
with it, and I’m eager to get to this show to review it)
- Bottom Line: Now that was one hell of a show! I
mean, I had three matches at **** or above, one at *** +, and NOTHING under **.
What more could you ask for? In addition to an all around great card, Triple H
and The Rock is something truly special, and although the first 15:00 minutes
or so is a little slower, it IS NOT a boring match. People cheered this show
when it went down in May, and I cheer it now, 5 months later, with good reason.
- Highly Recommended! (I
haven’t seen this show since writing this review over thirteen years ago, but I’m
really eager to now, as my fifteen year old self seemed to really like it. It’s
coming… after I finish the WCW stuff, it’ll be over to all the WWE stuff I
haven’t covered yet – with RAWs and Coliseum Videos alternating in between)
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