WWF Monday Night Raw
October 25, 1999
-From Providence, RI. Our hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.
-The New Age Outlaws lobby Mr. McMahon for title and grudge matches but everyone is busy tonight. Triple H interrupts, upset that he's scheduled to face Mankind. The Outlaws and Triple H bicker, leading to Triple H goading them into facing Steve Austin and The Rock.
-The Godfather can't find his hos! He breaks down a door and finds them all over Mark Henry. Godfather is disgusted that Henry would hog all the hos for himself.
The Godfather (with Mark Henry and the hos) vs. Viscera (with Mideon)
I wish Raw would start with a match more often, as shaking up the format even slightly makes the show feel more alive. Jim Ross was able to say this will be a great matchup with a straight face, so kudos to him. Viscera wants the Godfather's hos if he wins and offers Henry all the hos he could ever want. This is now a "Winner takes hos" match, and Henry's loyalties are put to the test. Bell rings and Mideon is quickly ejected for interfering. Godfather sets up the Ho Train, but Henry knocks him down by the hair, and Viscera splashes for the win at 2:11. Completely nothing match, just serving up a plot twist.
Winner: Viscera
-Henry splashes Godfather for good measure. Most of the hos obediently head off as the prizes they have been made to be, but a couple ladies linger behind to check on Godfather. This pisses Viscera off and he beats them up. This is offensive and all, but it makes Viscera look like the biggest bastard on the planet.
-Michael Cole interviews The Rock about having to team up with Steve Austin against The Outlaws. Rock says he and Stone Cold have been playing an elaborate game of one-upsmanship, but tonight they have to work together.
-The hos are being loaded into an ambulance while the Dudley Boyz laugh their asses off.
WWF Tag Team Championship:
Crash and Hardcore Holly (c) vs. Edge and Christian
The dastardly Holly's ambush Edge and Christian while they play to the crowd. Edge shakes it off and back drops Hardcore. Crash goes for a hurricanrana on Christian but gets slammed on his face. Christian and Hardcore have a mid-air collision, setting up Edge's hot tag at the 90 second mark. Christian leaps off Edge's back to splash the Holly's, setting up an Edge spear, but Too Cool rush into the ring for the DQ at 2:10! Another nothing match meant to build up the division as a whole.
No Contest
-The Hardy Boyz run in to save Edge and Christian from Too Cool and Holly's. I smell a Survivor Series match.
-Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah appear to be back on good terms. They come to the ring to talk to Michael Cole. Moolah feels that she's too old to be a champion and relinquishes the Women's title. Ivory shows up right on cue, wielding a broomstick, giving her a perfect opportunity to call Moolah a witch. Ivory still wants a rematch and breaks the stick over Mae. The bell is called and I guess it's a match.
Women's Championship:
'The Fabulous Moolah (c) (with Mae Young) vs. Ivory
Ivory frantically goes for covers and backslides Moolah for the title in about ten seconds. Not really a match.
Winner and new Women's Champion: Ivory
-Prince Albert pleads with Big Show to go easy on him in their match. Albert doesn't want to suffer for the action of the Big Boss Man.
Big Show vs. Prince Albert
Albert walks face-first into a big boot. Show's second boot is blocked so he nails an enziguri. Big Boss Man interrupts the match on the stage, wielding a watch that he stole from Show's father's hospital room. Boss Man claims he pulled the plug on Show's father and threatens to smash the watch if Show gets too close. Prince Albert attacks from behind, allowing Boss Man to clock Big Show in the head with a hammer. With Show down and out, Boss Man smashes the watch over an anvil. This was incredibly awkward.
No Contest
-Chris Jericho tells Kevin Kelly that he's going to expose Chyna as a cowardly fraud, with no more talent than a common fan. Therefore, he's going to choose a fan as his partner in a tag match against Chyna and D'Lo Brown.
-Doctors check on a bloody Big Show, who shoves them away to go hunting Boss Man.
Intercontinental Champion Chyna (with Ms. Kitty) and European Champion D'Lo Brown vs. Chris Jericho and a female fan
Jericho chooses what appears to be a man from the front row as his partner. Jericho and Brown kick off this farce with a good back and forth exchange. Brown nails a tilt-a-whirl powerbomb and Jericho actually needs to make a tag, but catches Chyna with a drop toe hold. The "fan" tags in and hits a useless clothesline. The fan dances, and Chyna strips the fan down to reveal a man, and the punchline is that it's Stevie Richards. Chyna hits the Pedigree for the win at 2:45. All around lame stuff.
Winners: Chyna and D'Lo Brown
-Jericho is upset and delivers a double powerbomb on Richards before putting him in the Walls. How strange is it that within a few years they'd have Richards playing a drag character again (remember Unforgiven 2004 against Tomko? No? Well, I do, and I refuse to suffer alone).
-Mr. McMahon grills Mankind about what he wrote about him in Have a Nice Day.
WWF Championship:
Triple H (c) vs. Mankind
The benefit of constant title matches and hot potato title changes is that the fans really think Mankind could win the title here. I admit that I miss the "anything can happen" feeling, even if all these short reigns hurt the credibility of the championship. Mankind engages Triple H in some chain wrestling while The Rock watches backstage. Mankind applies a sleeper while Austin is seen watching on a monitor. Mankind misses a charge and hits the steps hard. Triple H capitalizes, slamming the steps into Foley's freshly injured shoulder. Triple H continues decimating the shoulder in the ring, and it's refreshing to see a semblance of psychology in a match. Mankind manages a DDT to buy himself some time to put on Mr. Socko. Triple H ducks and Mankind gets his neck caught in the ropes in a scary spot. Mankind blocks a chair shot and Triple H eats it. The ref misses Mankind clocking HHH with the WWF title for a nearfall that they fans completely bought. Mankind gets the Mandible Claw but Val Venis runs in for the chair shot and DQ at 7:30. This was a guilty pleasure concoction of overbooking and crowd heat, **3/4.
Winner via DQ: Mankind
-Al Snow runs in to save Mankind from Val Venis, and the good guys clear the ring. Mankind celebrates like the uncrowned champion like the fans believe he is.
-Michael Cole interviews Steve Austin about his match tonight. Stone Cold dismisses Rock's claim that he gets goose bumps in their exchanges. Austin will take care of business tonight and at Survivor Series.
-Stephanie McMahon tells Michael Hayes that she's starting to get her memories back and hopes Test beats up the Bulldog in their cage match.
-Kevin Kelly interviews Kane and X-Pac backstage. Kane doesn't like it when Bubba Ray makes fun of him, and wants X-Pac to stay out of his match no matter what. The Dudleyz ambush them and leave them down and out. Bubba steals' Kane's electronic voice device.
Bubba Ray Dudley (with D-Von Dudley) vs. Kane
Bubba adds more fuel to the fire, mocking Kane's voice in a promo. Kane is all fired up and boots Bubba down and chokes him in the corner. It's all Kane as he throws clotheslines in between kicking and punching. A double armed chokeslam makes D-Von hop on the apron and Kane brings him in. Kane choke slams Bubba off the top rope and pursues D-Von to ringside, smashing him into the steps. Kane hangs Bubba on the ropes and nails the flying clothesline. D-Von interrupts another choke slam to FINALLY draw the DQ at 3:23. Another guilty pleasure match, it's fun to watch Kane play 2 against 1 as a babyface.
Winner via DQ: Kane
-The Dudleyz beat down Kane. Backstage, Tori pleads with X-Pac to go save his best friend, but X-Pac. All hope looks lost for Kane as he's set up for the flying head butt and X-Pac finally shows up to clear the ring.
-Kevin Kelly interviews The British Bulldog backstage. He plans on beating Test up so badly that he won't be able to remember anything, just like Stephanie.
Steel Cage Match:
The British Bulldog vs. Test
They waste no time trading blows. Test dishes out a hard Irish whop and knocks Bulldog into the wall. Bulldog survives a sidewalk slam and takes control. Test pops back up, but Bulldog hits a power slam and tries to flee over the top. Test knocks Bulldog down and hits a flying elbow off the top of the cage! The Mean Street Posse break into the cage and swarm Test after his stunt bump. Shane McMahon runs in and climbs over the cage, knocking Rodney down. Shane leaps off the top onto Pete Gas and Joey Abs! The Posse overtake Shane as Bulldog sneaks out of the cage somewhere in the chaos for the win at about 4:00. There's nothing "good" about this sort of crash TV booking, but it's hard not to enjoy a stunt show with the fans going nuts. Kind of a waste of stunt bumps as absolutely no one would remember this a week later.
Winner: The British Bulldog
-Test is revived and saves Shane from the Mean Street Posse. Stephanie runs to the ring to check on her brother.
-The Acolytes head into The Friendly Tap for a beer. They get recognized by some bar flies who get offended by the Acolytes refusing to drink with them. One guy identifies himself as Rhode Island's arm wrestling champion and lays some cash down for a challenge. Bradshaw easily beats the guy by slamming his arm down before Faarooq counts all the way to 3. They refer to Faarooq as "darky" and that just totally ruins the mood. Faarooq breaks his glass over the racist dip-shi!t and the Acolytes proceed to trash the place in a brawl. I actually liked this quite a bit. It fleshes out the Acolytes as characters without playing a repetitious vignette every week for months on end. I feel like characters like the Wyatts or Adam Rose could have really benefited from this type of storytelling approach in today's WWE.
The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) vs. The Rock and Steve Austin
The crowd is red hot for this one as Austin locks up with Gunn. Austin quickly gets a Thesz press tags in The Rock, who continues to dismantle Gunn as a way of showing Austin what's up. Road Dogg tags in and gets immediately knocked down by The Rock, but avoids a charge and gets to shake, rattle, and roll. Rock fends off Gunn with a swinging neckbreaker, but Gunn rebounds with a siedwalk slam. The Rock is a bit too feisty to fully become a face in peril, but the Outlaws are making quick tags. Austin catches the Outlaws with double clotheslines at ringside. Austin tags in and cuts off Road Dogg's jab routine, but gets clotheslined to the floor. The Outlaws isolate Austin and dismantle him for a bit. The Rock gets a hot tag and runs wild through the Outlaws. Triple H runs in but Austin cuts him off on the floor and they brawl back up the ramp. Rock hits the Samoan Drop on Road Dogg and Rock Bottom on Gunn. Suddenly X-Pac runs in and hits a Spin Wheel Kick on Rock, allowing Gunn to score the victory at 9:38! Screwy finish to a fun match, **1/2.
Winners: The New Age Outlaws
-D-Generation X is officially back together! Triple H, X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg leave Austin and Rock in shambles and celebrate to their music.
Final Thoughts: This was jam packed with storyline advancement and not a whole lot of wrestling. Chris Kreski was still sorting things out on the creative end after the departure of Russo and Ferrara, so there's a lot of new directions taking shape, a lot of which would end up going absolutely nowhere. Still, the second hour of this show was a blast to sit through, both from a guilty pleasure standpoint and rush of nostalgia. If Raw leaves me feeling happy, then it's a Thumbs Up.
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