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Armmagadon:

Hosted by Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

tag team battle royal, we got a series of quick eliminations before we settled into a longer and more fast-paced segment featuring three solid teams. Out quickly were the Mean Street Posse, the Headbangers, Godfather and Mark Henry, Too Cool, and Edge and Christian. With the Dudleys, the Hardys, and the Acolytes vying for the #1 contender spot, the Hardys quickly established themselves as crowd favorites by playing the underdog role to the bigger opposing duos. Some nice spots and teased eliminations led up to the Acolytes finally eliminating Jeff Hardy (in spectacular high-flying fashion) to get the win.

Kurt Angle came off as a strong heel (so much so that the fans were almost tricked into cheering for Steve Blackman!) in a pinfall win over Blackman. Mostly good stuff between these two technicians, and the crowd actually did get into it a little bit towards the end (after a "boring" chant early). After Angle got the pinfall win, Blackman attacked him after the match.

The night's thinly veiled excuse to showcase thinly veiled females had another element added to it: the four corners evening gown match for the WWF women's title would now be contested in a small wading pool. But it still went pretty much as expected, with about 120 seconds of really sloppy and awkward brawling resulting in plenty of exposed flesh. Jackie was eliminated first, then BB Bush. Between Ivory and Miss Kitty, Kitty soon gained the upper hand and relieved Ivory of her dress. Kitty, ever magnanimous in victory, announced to her fans that she knew they came to see her naked. So, in what will probably be the freeze-frame moment of 1999 for most the members of the WWF's target audience, the new women's champ proceeded to get topless.

A lack of teamwork between Rikishi Phatu and Viscera eventually led to their loss to the Hollys. The Hollys were physically dominated for much of the match, but in the end, Viscera hit Phatu with a spin kick, setting him up for the quick pinfall by Hardcore Holly. The two big men brawled after the match.

With the European Title on the line, D'Lo Brown and Val Venis challenged against champ the British Bulldog. The men traded off taking rests, and didn't really hit any major three-way spots till the very end, when D'Lo hit Bulldog with the Lo Down splash, then Val followed up by hitting the Money Shot on both men. Venis pushed D'Lo aside and made the pinfall on Bulldog to become the new Euro champ.

The X-Pac vs. Kane match had a few added stipulations: Kane requested that match be inside a steel cage, while X-Pac stated that Kane could only win by pinfall while he (X-Pac) could win by pinfall or by leaving the cage first. The match actually started outside the ring, then moved inside. Decent cage match action here, with X-Pac taking bumps into the steel, and the like. The tide turned when the New Age Outlaws interfered. Kane was left handcuffed to the cage. Tori stopped X-Pac from escaping once, but was laid out with the X-Factor as Kane was forced to look on. X-Pac tried escaping once again, but Kane broke the handcuffs and was outside the ring waiting to carry X-Pac back inside. Once in, Kane hit a flying clothesline off the top of the cage, then a piledriver, to get the win.

In the night's best match, Chris Jericho got a clean submission victory over Chyna to win his first WWF title and become the InterContinental Champion. Lots of good action, with Jericho getting only minor fan support (the crowd seemed pretty solidly behind Chyna, unlike in recent weeks). Jericho reversed an offensive attempt by Chyna into the Walls of Jericho, and after a valiant struggle, Chyna tapped out. After the match, Chyna interrupted a gloating Jericho to sincerely say he was the better wrestler on this night and to congratulate him. What, sportsmanship?

The Rock and Mankind got the win, but not the title belts, in their match against WWF tag champs, the New Age Outlaws. Rampant interference from Al Snow (who attacked both the Rock and Mankind) eventually forced the ref to call for the bell and award the decision via DQ to the Rock 'n' Sock Connection. As you might have expected, the Rock was just monstrously over, and overshadowed his partner and both opponents. After the DQ was called, he delivered the People's Elbow on Snow, to the delight of the crowd.

With the WWF Title and a massive personal grudge on the line, the Big Show decimated the Big Bossman in under 3 minutes to retain his gold. I'd say it was "good for what it was," except that's not really much, either. At least it was short.

And in the main event, Vince McMahon and Triple H brawled all over the building and parking lot in a wild affair that ended with an intra-family betrayal, as discussed at the top of the column. Vince busted his ass once again (taking a 15 foot bump off a scaffold and wearing a crimson mask), and the match was certainly very entertaining, though lacking the sizzle and chemistry of February's cage match between McMahon and Steve Austin. Vince was finally able to get the upper hand, and was about to lay into HHH with HHH's own sledgehammer, when Stephanie got involved and begged Vince to let her paste HHH. Vince relented, but it turned out that Steph couldn't bring herself to do it. HHH recovered, grabbed the sledge away from her, and then took out Vince with it to get the three count. Steph briefly feigned concern for her dad, but then turned with the trademark McMahon Evil Glint in her eye and embraced Triple H.