The Wrestling-A-Holic Retro Review For WWF Survivor Series 1999 by Steven Emanuel
Now it is time for the 13th edition of the Survivor Series from 1999. This pay-per-view promised the first in-ring meeting between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock since Backlash back in April, but, unfortunaley, we would watch something different.
Before he was holding people back, humping mannequins, and sleeping with the bosses' daughter, Triple H was an un-over champion heading into Survivor Series 1999. The ironic thing was that he is un-over today, but atleast he wasn't holding people back when he was un-over the first time (or third time due to Hunter Hearst Helmsey). HHH had defeated Mankind to win the WWF Championship for the first time back in August, and was engulfed in a feud with a face-turned Vince McMahon over crude temper but hadn't drawn as a champion. The WWF had tried several ways to get HHH over, seperating him from Chyna in order to build him up on his own, going over The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, and generally being a nuisance. None work and the WWF had to rely on Austin and The Rock to draw shows.
But, unfortunaley, Stone Cold had been having nagging pains in his neck for about 2 years due to being put in the Owendriver by Owen Hart back in August 1997 at Summerslam: Hart & Soul. He didn't want surgery and went on with his career winning the WWF title 3 times. But now, the pain was too much and Austin NEEDED surgery or be paralyzed forever. Austin finally gave in but at a cost: his career could be over. Austin still took the risk and, lucky for wrestling fans, came out fine and performed at his best the next year and in 2001.
In the meantime, with Austin being out for a big amount of months, the WWF needed new players to draw money. With HHH as their champion, he was the first choice and so this show was based upon.
Now the storyline set up: HHH had been feuding with Austin since Summerslam: An Out Of Body Experience when, after the match, he injured Austin's knee with a steel chair. Austin was out for about 2 weeks but came back and was made the Special Enforcer for the first ever 6 Pack Challenge Match for the WWF Title at Unforgiven (Vince had previously defeated HHH on the September 16th episode of SmackDown! for the WWF Title but vacated it on the September 20th episode of RAW). HHH defeated The Rock, Mankind, Kane, Big Show, and The British Bulldog to win the WWF Title for the first time and recieved a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin to set up a match at No Mercy. The buildup featured HHH smashing a bag full of snakes and revealing snake poisoing only to be a trick to fool Austin.
HHH defeated Stone Cold at No Mercy in a good match to keep the title after The Rock, who had made a challenge to Triple H and been beaten with the sledgehammer as a result, came in and accidently hit Austin with a sledgehammer. HHH pedigreed Rock for his troubles.
The next night on RAW, The Rock and Stone Cold got into a confrontation until Vince McMahon stopped it and annouced a Triple Threat Match for the WWF Title at Survivor Series. HHH, being the evil heel that he is, decided that he needed backup now that he had 2 men gunning for his world title. So, on the October 25th episode of RAW, during a tag team match between The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin and the New Age Outlaws, X-Pac made an appearance and attacked The Rock and Austin. He was followed by Triple H and De-Generation X reunited after a 6 month breakup.
This was confusing for the fans, as The NAO and X-Pac were way-over babyfaces but HHH was still a (un-over) heel. On the October 28th episode of SmackDown!, the reunited DX made its first appearance, with the WWF seemily giving up on the HHH heel run.
That theory ended quickly as X-Pac did a heel turn on Kane during their match between The Dudley Boyz and the New Age Outlaws followed. DX were now full-fledged heels with HHH as the leader and picked up where they left off as faces-making Vince McMahon's life a living hell.
But, unlike the last time, Vince had Stone Cold, The Rock, Kane, Mankind, Al Snow, and Shane McMahon on his team and they battled DX numerous times in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series but DX always getting the upper hand. Except on an episode of SmackDown with Arnold Schwarnezegger.
Meanwhile, the WWF, after a year break, went the traditional route by filling the card with Survivor Series elimination matches.
And with that, it's time for Survivor Series 1999!
Live from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Original Airdate: November 14, 1999.
Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Opening Match-Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Godfather, D'Lo Brown, The Headbangers vs. The Dudley Boyz & The Acolytes
From Intercontinental Champion to RAW jobber, heeeeeeereeeeee's D'Lo Brown! This match shows how diffrent the WWE is even 3 years ago. Anyway, the storyline for the match was that the Dudleyz and the APA were feuding and were stuck together just cuz. The faces had had experiences with these two teams and that is why they were put into this match. In an effort to show team unity, all the faces dress up like 70's pimps. D'Lo actually dresses normal while the Headbangers dress like rejects from a 70's film with HUGE FREAKIN' afros. White boys with afros. Can this world get any weirder? I miss team names, cuz if they did use them, then this team would be called Team Pimp.
Okay, here we go. The Dudleyz start off with the Headbangers. They, too, weren't over but would be in a couple of months with the tables~! The Dudleyz knock the afros off the 'Bangers and they fight for a little bit. Bradshaw gets tagged and hits a lariat on Thrasher to eliminate him at 3:11. What a HOSS~! The match moves alittle slow for a while then the Dudleyz come in a hit a 3D on Mosh to 
eliminate him at 4:58 and eliminating the Headbangers from the match. Yawn. More boring fighting and then Bradshaw hits D'Lo with a chair to eliminate Bradshaw at 5:51. Stupid HOSS~! Bradshaw is gone and with that, Faarooq and D'Von argue over who pins D'Lo. And they continue the Acolytes/Dudleyz feud by fighting each other all the way to the back to eliminate themselves. Borrrrriiiinggg. Now its just Bubba-Ray Dudley and Godfather & D'Lo and Bubba just beats on Brown for a while. And I mean A WHILE. So, after a few months of beatings, Brown fights back with his moveset including the legdrop, powerbomb, and the Skyhigh until he tags in Godfather, who finishes Bubba off with the Hooooooooooooooo Train. Tag to D'Lo who gets the 'Lo Down for the pin. 
Team Pimp wins at 9:38. ** Okayish match for an opener. Afterwards, D'Lo and Godfather dance with the hos. D'Lo and Godfather would team up for a few months before D'Lo did a heel turn that would supershot him into superstardom as he went onto....nothing. Well, Lo Down. Ewwwww. Survivors: D'Lo Brown & The Godfather.
We get one more look at the first Kurt Angle vignette. Kurt's first match with the WWF was tonight and they showed this vignette, which bascially is just Angle running off all the awards and medals he has won (which would make him a heel)while superhero music played in the background. It was actually funny watching this as you just KNEW he was gonna be an arrogrant heel but the WWF didn't. More on that as we head into the match.
Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Staskiak
We get a look at Stan "The Man" Staskiak from the ol' WWWF to build up Staskiak who was wrestling his first (and last WWF match until 2001) under his real name. Not that it matters. Howard Finkel annouces Kurt as "The only REAL athlete in the World Wrestling Federation." With that, "Medal" hits and out comes Kurt Angle, who has a REAL dark tan, skinnier, and a full head of hair. "Medal" was originally The Patriot's music, but soon, Kurt would make it all his own.
When I said the WWF didn't know if Angle would be a heel, well, it turns out that when this match started, Vince wasn't so sure how he would book Angle which explains why Angle is smiling and slapping hands with the fans unlike he would do later in his career. And you thought the WWE didn't do long term planning TODAY. It was so obvious he would be a heel thanks to his vignettes which had the balls to start with "Everyone KNOWS that I was an Olympic champion." But, hey, I'm not the owner of a multi-billion dollar company. I'm just a 15 year old Puerto Rican kid from New York City with a computer. Angle starts the match off with some amatuer wrestling moves which bore the crowd as the annoucers build Angle up. Some more
amatuer wrestling as Angle gets no heat, completely different from today. More amatuer wrestling and the crowd finally has enough of it and start chanting "Boring. Boring. Boring." and booing. Angle tries to continue the match in Rocky Maivia-style as the crowd continues to boo him. While this was happening, backstage, Vince got on a headphone and told the referee through his earpiece to tell Angle to tell the fans to shut up. Sometime during the match, the referee does this with Angle hesistating but finally, he has enough of the booing and gets on the mic to annouce that "You do not boo an olympic gold medalist! You do not boo an Olympic athlete! I am an olympic athelete I derserve to be treated with respect!" 3 years later and Angle STILL uses that as part of his schtick and he STILL gets heel heat for it.
The crowd doesn't like being told to shut up and so they respond by booing the hell out of Angle. Ladies and gentelmen, a ledgend is born. The crowd continues booing Angle as gets beaten by Planet Stasiak for a bit. He hits a brainbuster for two but Angle comes back and applies the (yet unnamed) Angle Slam for the pin and the win at 5:57. **1/2 the extra half being for the beginning of a ledgend in this buisness. The crowd continues booing Kurt after the match and the WWF KNEW they had something special with this guy. 1 year later Kurt would be WWF Champion at Survivor Series completing his year of accomplishments which were being both European and Intercontinental Champion at the same time, becoming the 2000 King Of The Ring, and being WWF Champion. The fastest rise to fame before Brock Lesnar in 2002. We all got to start somewhere, and like Undertaker and Rock before him, this is where Angle started-at Survivor Series.
Survivor Series Elimination Match: Val Venis, Mark Henry, Gangrel, & Steve Blackman vs. The British Bulldog & The Mean Street Posse
Wow. Talk about a HUGE fall for the Bulldog. Just the previous month he was in a main event feud with The Rock and now, he had an alliance with the Mean Street Posse of all people! Bulldog was the European Champion at this point and was feuding with Val Venis over that heading into this match. Everyone else was just thrown in there in Survivor Series tradition. As for team names? Well, the face team has a porn star, a nymphomaniac, a goth, and a ninja so I'll call them Team Weird. As for the heels, they are so mixed that I can't think of a team name for them. Before we start, I would like to mention that the match-up graphics and theme for this event was like a factory, mechanic line so the graphics all were shaped like warning signs. I absolutely LOATH those graphics and thankfully haven't been used since. Oh and the Mean Street Posse's music ruled. Okay, finally, the match: The Big Valbowski starts up with Pete Gas of the Posse and they do a wrestling sequence. Okayish and Steve Blackman is tagged in and beats him NINJA STYLE~! and finishes off 
with the BIG NINJA~! KICK OF DOOM to eliminate Gas at 2:58. Next, Gangrel and Rodney go at it for a little while. This match is dull which is a little sad since Bulldog, former Intercontinental Champion and apart of some of the greatest matches in history, is involved. The crowd is dead also as Gangrel beats and applies the Implant at 4:22. Still, dead crowd. Now, Mark Henry has a toy to play with in the form of Joey Abs as he slumbers with Abs for a little while as I hear some boring chants. I hear ya brother. Some HOSS~! fighting by Henry as he takes his SLOOOOOOWWWWWW time. Wow, what a boring match. One big fat splash later and Joey Abs is done at 6:00. Well at least the untalented workers on the heel side are gone and Bulldog is left on his own against Team Weird. Not like it matters to the crowd or anything. Bulldog handles himself well against Team Weird first by eliminating Gangrel with a superplex at 6:43 and Steve Blackman with a Fisherman's Suplex at 7:33.
Quick. So now it is just down to Venis and Mizark and Bulldog handles himself well with a double clothesline. But the miracle comeback is short-lived as Henry splashes Bulldog and Val does the Money Shot to pin the British Bulldog at 9:08 to give Team Weird the win. *1/2 Survivors: Val Venis and Mark Henry. Val would win the European title from Bulldog at Armageddon the next month and that was the last time Bulldog did anything notable in the WWF as he was gone by mid-2000 and died in early 2002. It's depressing thinking about it.
Backstage, Michael Cole goes to get an interview with some of the women in the next match, but ends up coming in while they are undressed. Ivory teases Cole a little bit by forcing him to rub lotion on her and Jaqueline forces Cole to stare at her chest. The girls giggle like school girls as an embarrased Cole leaves. Now if Trish Stratus was there, THEN we're talking!
One Fall Sudden Death Match For The WWF Women's Championship: The Fabolous Moolah, Mae Young, Tori, & Debra vs. Ivory, Terri, Luna, & Jaqueline
Why wasn't this match a Survivor Series Elimination Match I'll never know as that was what they were advertising for this match. The two senior citizeins had just started wrestling full time and were feuding with Ivory who was Women's Champion at the time. Debra is making her return in this match after being gone for a month. Awwww, her shorts have paw prints on them. Tori looks semi-hot this night as does Terri. The match starts with Tori hitting a double 
clothesline on Luna and Ivory and then after that, a supposed "brawl" takes place as each gal misses spot after spot. It's too difficult to describe so I'll use a quote by Crow from Mystery Science Theater 3000 to summarize this match-"So, the things are doing...things...to things." Yup, that pretty much sums it up right there. After about a milisecond of "brawling", Mae and Moolah hit a clothesline on Ivory and and Moolah pins her to get the Women's Title and the win for her team at 1:50. -*** Ugh. Just BRUTAL man. Ugh. Moolah and Mae Young would continue feuding with Ivory for a few more weeks which led to Moolah and Mae Young being stripped. It also led to Mae Young and Mark Henry becoming a couple and oh...my...gosh...the HAND! OH! MUST WASH FACE! MUST WASH FACE! Oh wait, after this match, Debra and Terri get into an argument which turns into a shoving contest which ends with Debra ripping off Terri's shirt off leaving her in a black bra. Ah, much better. Lawler is certainly happy and I got that horrific Mae Young image out of my hand. Whew! Now we can move on.
We now get a special video package on the next match-X-Pac vs. Kane. It all started back in April, Triple H had turned heel by turning his back on X-Pac and pedigreeing him at Wrestlemania XV to have Shane McMahon retain the European Championship (he would retire it the next night). On that same night, Kane was kicked out of the Corporation for having a heart and was smashed in the head with a steel chair by Chyna, his only friend in the WWF. Kane was heartbroken and so was X-Pac and soon after, Kane began rescuing X-Pac from Corporate beatdowns although X-Pac refused the help. Kane still kept rescuing him until the two decided to form a team back in May. At first, they didn't get alone well as Kane kept being a monster and X-Pac kept trying to turn him human. This was back when X-Pac was cool, btw. Kane started showing signs of improvement by not attacking every human being he saw and not doing interviews for the first time without his creepy voice box. In May, X-Pac and Kane defeated Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart even with Debra's interference to win the tag team titles for the first time. The 2 became a regular tag team and survived even Undertaker's idea to bring back Kane to the dark side. The two didn't just become tag team partners, but best friends, and Kane showed his human side for the first time in his WWF tenure. They won the tag belt 2 more times and even had an entrance together. It was all good and what not and I liked the team of X-Pac and Kane. Then, in October, X-Pac started to get pissed. He was sick and tired of Kane always watching his back and wanted to be on his own. The two fought alongside Faraqq and Bradshaw in a fatal four way elimination match at No Mercy with X-Pac eliminating Kane. 2 weeks later, De-Generation X was reborn and that Thursday on SmackDown!, X-Pac promised he would never turn his back on Kane. That was short-lived as X-Pac did a heel turn on Kane during their match against the Dudley Boyz and kicking him to the curb. Now, Kane is out for vegeance in this match.
Back on Sunday Night HeAt, Tori, who was in love with Kane, did an interview for Kane about how Kane was gonna take his rage out on X-Pac. *Whipped*
Lillian Garcia is backstage at the moment with X-Pac, who is wearing the DX Football Jersey and Bucket hat which would turn into his regular attire for a few weeks and claims all this time, that HE carried Kane. HE rescued Kane. HE sucks. OOps. That was something I wrote.
X-Pac vs. Kane
Maybe the fans had been waiting to do it, but with X-Pac now a full-fledged heel, the crowd BOOS him silly as he enters and they have been since. The smarks also began hating X-Pac around this time, so, X-Pac recieves no love from his fans. Kane is wearing his SWANK~! alternate costume which he only wears if he really wants something and he would wear that everytime he fought X-Pac. The two begin by brawling for a bit. They go outside and X-Pac comes back in with a spinning heel kick. 'Pac goes for the broncobuster, which gets boos, but Kane catches him in mid-air and throws him around like he is a dirty ragged doll. Kane spends some time beating the crap out of X-Pac. He picks him up and starts choking him as the crowd cheers. He big boots him. You know, even though Kane was showing a human side, ATLEAST, they stook to his WWF bio and not make a whole new life for him just because a storyline called for it. Man, I liked WWF 1999 better than WWE 2002. Kane hits the top rope clothesline
and finishes it off with a chokeslam to end the match. BUT WAIT! DX does the nWo run-in and lay a beating on Kane until Tori runs to the ring and tries to stop X-Pac. X-Pac, not knowing who was behind him, does the spin-kick on Tori knocking her out. And the crowd pops. Sickos. As the beatdown continues, X-Pac has a worried look on his face as I try to wonder how a spinkick does no effect on anyone else but when done to Tori, she is knocked out. The crowd does boo now and does the "X-Pac Sucks! X-Pac sucks! X-Pac sucks!" chants that fill arenas all over the country for 3 years. Ah, remember those? Anyway, DX leaves as the EMT's take Tori out on a stretcher. Kane shows his human side by being caring and crying in a weird giant way. Kane is declared the winner by disqualfication at 4:15. ** A little good but felt rushed and pretty soon we would all know why. Soon, X-Pac, who is a heel, revealed that he knew Tori was behind him and has the hots for her. The X-Pac/Kane feud would go on for several months including a rumor pyrotechnic match at No Way Out that sadly never happened.
Backstage, Michael Cole interviews The Rock who just says "The Rock says" before Triple H comes in and attacks him for a while before being seperated by officals. The jerk.
Survivor Series Elimination Match: Big Show vs. The Big Bossman, Prince Albert, Mideon, & Viscera
Big Show was supposed to have partners, but back on HeAt, he took out his partners, TAKA Michonuki, Funaki, and The Blue Meanie so that he could go at it on his own. How dare Big Show treat SmackDown!'s #1 annoucer like that? Big Show and Bossman had the feud heading into the match as Big Show's father was suffering terminal cancer and Bossman decided to play on that. First, he hired an actor to potray a policeman telling Big Show that his father died. When it was revealed on GTV that it was all a lie, Big Show attacked the actor but the Bossman got away. Next, during a Big Show match, Bossman came out and teased Big Show with his father's old gold watch. He ended the night by smashing it. Then, Albert formed an alliance with Bossman and the next week, Bossman went over to his mother's house where Big Show revealed he was a bastard. Then, Big Show's "father" died (although his real father died years before proving how tasteless this whole angle was) and Big Show started to cry showing his "Marvelous" acting skills that he should be nominated for an academy award. Bossman tried to make Big Show better with a hallmark card which just basically dissed his father. Then, the most memorable, the most infamous moment of the entire angle. The funeral for Big Show's father took place but Bossman came to disrupt it. Big Show attacked but Bossman got the best of him. Then, in what was probalby the most un-intentionally funny moment in WWF history, Bossman hooked Big Show's father's casket to his car and drove away with the casket in tow and Big Show on top of the casket riding it until his fat self fell. I was on the floor laughing when I saw that and even, today, Big Show regrets doing the angle. Good for him. And, so Big Show has alot to be angry about as we head into the match.
It's the reunion of the Corporate Ministry although Mideon is dressed like an Ultimate Warrior reject. It would get worse as "Naked" Mideon would debut a year later. He was fired soon after. Anyway, Big Show goes buckwild on the heel team by chokeslamming Mideon and eliminating him at 19 seconds. Next up is Prince Albert, who goes away quickly at 30 seconds. Then Viscera, who is little trouble. Big Show does a big bodyslam on the man formely known as Mabel and chokeslams him to eliminate him at 55 seconds.
That leaves just Bossman and Bossman runs away like a wuss and is counted out leaving Big Show as the survivor at 1:26. Why do it then if Bossman wouldn't even be in the FREAKIN' MATCH! DUD Survivors: Big Show. Big Show and Bossman would eventually meet the next month at Armageddon although Bossman would have to be a #1 contender for the WWF Title for that to happen.
And now, a historic moment. Backstage, Kevin Kelly is about to interview Stone Cold Steve Austin when suddenly, Triple H hits Stone Cold with the belt from behind. The two brawl for a bit with HHH doing the pose, spit water in AUSTIN's face
Backstage, Vince confronts HHH and DX who denied that they were involved in any way, shape, or form with the hit and run. The real driver wouldn't be revealed until the next year and the driver was...Rikishi. On the bright side, when Austin came back, he was 100% for the first time in his WWF career and had feuds with Triple H (who was revealed as the puppermaster behind the whole hit and run), The Rock (who had an incredible match at Wrestlemania X-Seven), Chris Benoit (a 2001 Match of the TV Year), and Kurt Angle (a classic at Summerslam). So, good did come out of it.
Now back to some action.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Chris Jericho vs. Chyna (with Ms. Kitty)
After 10 minutes of Austin's attack, we go back to some wrestling with J.R. back in the annoucer's table. This match was interesting as Jericho promised that if he lost, he would get a sex change operation. The feud for this match was the old fashioned battle of the sexes as Chyna had defeated Jeff Jarrett in a "Good Housekeeping Match" at No Mercy to become the first woman to be Intercontinental Champion. The next night on RAW, Y2J came out (still a heel and with a ridicolous beard) and was pissed that a woman was holding the same title that was once held by "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, and Tito Santana. It was a sign that the WWF was falling and he was gonna stop it. Chyna responded by knocking Jericho from behind with the I.C. belt and sending him zooming across the Spanish Annoucers table in a pretty cool spot. Chyna claimed that no man could beat her and Jericho wanted to be the man that beat her and here we go.
Btw, Jericho gets a HUGE pop in his entrance showing he was loved by the fans even though he was the heel. JR saids the guys are rooting for Jericho and the women are rooting for Chyna. The match starts with Ms. Kitty and Chyna laying the boots on Jericho. Jericho takes Chyna to the corner but Chyna reverses it and they go outside. They brawl outside for a while including the english annoucers table where Jericho douses Chyna with water. Chyna tries to come back by running into Y2J but Y2J moves out of the way and Chyna crashes into the barrier. Ouchie. Back in the ring, and they do...something and Chyna has trouble hitting her spots. Jericho is leading this match and if you look closely, he is seen whispering to Chyna the sequences during the match. Wow. Chyna gets a hurricarana but she flies onto the floor and Jericho gets a springboard cross-body from there. Wheeeeeeeee! Chris trashtalks the 9th Wonder of the World and rams her into the non-protected barricade and takes control with a missle dropkick that gets two. That was a close one. Jericho with a suplex but Chyna comes back with a SLOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW slam-reverse-into-a-cradle for two. Chyna comes back but Jericho stops that supergirl comeback by bulldogging and lionsaulting Chyna which also get HUGE pops. See, THAT'S how Jericho should be booked today! They now go onto the floor where Ms. Kitty tries to stop Y2J, and gets a kiss for her troubles. Lucky Jericho. I should mention that I thought Ms. Kitty looked the best as Chyna's mini-me, but that's just me. Chyna doesn't like anyone mistreating her mini-me and she spears him on the floor. The crowd is hot for this one and the WWF didn't get the hint even then! Back in the ring, and Y2J does his signature double power-bomb but delays it so it looks really cool. :-) That gets two and a face pop. The crowd is really behind Jericho even though Jericho is the heel and even JR notes the reaction. And the WWF STILL didn't get it. Chyna does the comeback with her signature handspring backwards somersault elbow followed by a DDT for two. Suddenly, the ref gets bumped and now Chris is free to do whatever he wants. He decides to go outside and grabs the intercontinental title and nails Chyna with it. The crowd is now getting rabid as Jericho covers Chyna. 1...2...thr-NO! The crowd almost has a collective heart attack with that one. Chyna hits the pedigree...and it gets two. Of course two, cuz that ain't the Game's pedigree. Chyna continues by trying a hurricarana but Jericho reverses it and applies the Walls Of Jericho on Chyna! The crowd is going crazy as Jericho applies the submission move. The annoucers speculate that it is the end of Chyna's I.C. Title reign as Ms. Kitty roots Chyna on.
Suddenly, Chyna gains some movement and starts moving closer and closer to the ropes but Jericho keeps pulling her back. The crowd is going nuts as Chyna keeps trying to grab the ropes until she finally does, and suprisingly, the crowd BOOS her for that. Incredible even though this is Chris Jericho we are talking about. Y2J signals for the end and tries to do a superplex. However, Chyna reverses it into a pedigree, and does a SUPER PEDIGREE~! That was cool. Okay, so she almost fell but it was still a cool move. One, two, three and Chyna is still the I.C. Champion at 13:34. ***1/2 the half just for Chyna's Super Pedigree. Match of the night. Techinally, you could say Jericho was buried due to the fact that Chyna was HHH's girlfriend at the time, but then again, maybe not. Y2J would get his revenge on Chyna the next night by kidnapping Chyna and smashing her fingers with a hammer and a rematch at Armageddon. What a match. I'm exhausted after watching that one.
Backstage, Shane McMahon storms into the DX lockerroom to demand to know what happened to Austin. X-Pac and HHH denied that they were involved in the incident. Dirty liars!!!
We go backstage where Shane McMahon is with Test and a crying Stephanie McMahon. Steph looks hot but she would become hotter as the years went by. Shane promises that there will be a triple threat match and that someone else would be included into the match.
Survivor Series Elimination Match: Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz vs. Hardcore Holly, Crash Holly, and Too Cool
It's pretty easy to make a name up for Edge, Christian, & The Hardyz. Team High-Flyers. As for the heel side, I'll call them Team Arrogrant. There really is no storyline heading into this match. This is just a chance to show off the tag teams in the WWF at the time. The sad thing being that they are more tag teams there than today. Thank you WWE! The Hardys and E&C were now more over than they we in their careers thanks to last month at No Mercy and the Terri Invitaional Tourament Ladder Match but wouldn't be MEGA OVER until the Triangle Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 2000 with the Dudleyz. Terri has a shirt on and that disappoints Lawler. Too Cool had just made their return after a 5 month injury and get no heat which is weird considering that next month, they would be one of the most popular faces in the WWF with Rikishi. Well, here we go with the match: Team High-Flyers take over Crash for a while and just beat on him for a slow start. Team High-Flyers head to the outside and hit their signature high spots on Crash. Poor Elroy. Christian gets tag in, with better wrestling attire, and he gets pounded on for a while by Team Arrogrant. Hot tag to Edge and he spears everyone and reeks of AWESOMENESS~! Crash, however, ends that by hitting a cheapshot on Edge and rolls him up for the first elimination at 6:09. Cheapo. Scotty 2 Hotty gets tagged in as JR acts disgusted calling them by their new names. Lawler loves it especially calling Grandmasta Sexay's name. Scotty hits a painful looking top-rope bulldog on Matt Hardy and pins him quickly at 6:30. I guess he didn't believe in Mattitude yet. It gets pretty dull and the crowd is dead which is very suprisingly considering who is in this match. A non coked up, paint on body wearing, Jeff Hardy gets tagged and is worked over by Too Cool. The two fight as Team Arrogrant help out. Then, Crash and Hardcore argue over who gets the pleasure of pinning Jeff allowing Jeff to hit a 450 splash on Scotty 2 Hotty to eliminate him at 10:00. Moonwalk out of there boy. Christian and Jeff Hardy take turns using their teams respective offensive moveset on Crash which is pretty nice to see. However, soon Jeff gets caught with a missle dropkick by Hardcore Holly and Grandmasta Sexay is tagged and finishes off Crash with the Hip-Hop Drop to eliminate him at 11:40. So now it's just Christian against 3 guys. At last, he's on his owwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Christian hits the Un-Prettier (then known as the Impaler) on Granmasta Sexay eliminating him at 11:45. Now it is just Crash and Christian and they do a little sequence which ends with Crash getting pin after a Tomikaze at 14:05. Finally, Christian and Hardcore Holly go at it with Holly reversing a victory roll into the pin and the win for Team Arrogrant at 14:27. **1/2 a little dull at some spots but still good. Traditional Survivor Series match. Survivor: Hardcore Holly.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Mankind and Al Snow vs. The New Age Outlaws
This match's feud goes all the way back to October when the Rock n' Sock Connection was still in full force. Mankind had given Rock an autographed copy of his autobiography book, Mankind: Have A Nice Day: A Tail of Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Sweatsocks (which is a good book, btw, I read all the pages on my own). The Rock, while a little annoyed, promised he would read the book. Then, later that night, on the October 20th edition of RAW, Mankind found the autographed copy in the garbage can. Mankind stormed into the Rock's dressing room and told him off, having enough of Rock's annoyance of his respect and telling Rock he never wanted to speak to him again! This was a shock not only to The Rock but to the fans as we loved the Rock n' Sock Connection. Later that night, in the main event, Rock and Mankind lost the WWF Tag Team Titles to Hardcore & Crash Holly when Mankind refused to wrestle in the match and just stood twiddling his thumbs on the staircase. Depressing ain't it? A Mankind heel turn was teased but then WWF Head Writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera left before the heel turn could happened and the whole angle was dropped and Mankind disappeared for a few weeks.
Then on the November 4th editon of SmackDown!, Mankind and good friend Al Snow took on and defeated the Hollys to win the WWF Tag Team Titles. That lasted for just a few days as on the November 8th edition of RAW, The New Age Outlaws won the WWF Tag Titles for a 5th time. Now this match. Road Dogg still does his opening schtick and the fans still sing-along with him even though he and Billy Gunn are heels and are booed any other time. Then again they never got heat during their matches anyway. A pretty boring match which was not expected but it didn't help that the crowd was still shocked over the Austin run-over and so were the wrestlers. Billy Gunn hits a neckbreaker on Mankind for two. He follows with a sleeperhold that Mankind breaks out of. They go back and forth for a while as the crowd is bored out of their mind. They go outside where they brawl. Road Dogg goes to hit Mankind, but Mankind escapes and Dogg hits his own partner instead. D'oh! Back in, and Al Snow is tagged. He hits a Rock Bottom-type move for two. Mankind is tagged again and he takes care of Road Dogg. He does his own version of Shake-Rattle-and Roll which is just a funky chicken dance for two. Mankind rams his left knee onto Road Dogg's face in the corner. Snow in and he does the 10 Headbutt thing to Road Dogg. The D-O-Double G is getting his butt handed to him in this match. Dogg and Mr. Ass come back and beat on Snow for a bit. Dogg is wearing the DX Football Jersey which he would wear until the late 2000. They brawl for a while as the crowd FINALLY wakes up and Mr. Ass gets a Fame-Ass-Er on Mankind. That gets two and Mankind comes back with a double-arm DDT and brings out Mr. Socko to the delight of the crowd. YAY!!! The Outlaws escape and beatdown Al Snow to the point of unable to compete and corner Mankind. They attack and do a spike piledriver,
the same move they did on Mankind the two times they won the Tag belts from him one the night after Wrestlemania XIV and at Summerslam: Highway To Hell, and pin him to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles at 13:59. **1/2 A slow match and I was HOPING for it to be over. All logical booking led you to believe that Mankind and Snow would get their revenge here, but since this IS the WWF, the Socko and Head Team would get the belts a few weeks later before losing them again which led to Snow snapping and doing a heel turn on Mankind. Yup.
WWF Championship Match: Triple H vs. The Rock vs. ???
The annoucers hype up Rock's Survivor Series WWF Championship win one year ago at Survivor Series to give you the idea that he is the favorite to win. With Austin out, speculation ran rampant on who would replace him. The first choice was Test since he was in the arena. But it actually was a suprise when Big Show came out. The crowd explodes when Big Show comes out most likely due to him being the suprise rather than actual fan love for him. I was shocked too. HHH and Rock are alittle worried but both decide to go after Big Show at the start. Big Show knocks both of them down. Both keep trying to attack Big Show which leads to HHH and Rock teaming up. The annoucers be sure to take note of that. He does a pretty good job of beating both guys. Rock finally has some offense on Big Show with a legsweep and the People's Elbow. However, HHH breaks it up and the two team up to knock Big Show over the top rope. And away they go brawling and brawling all the way to the entrance. Rock and HHH go at it for a while with Big Show putting in some action. Rock and HHH go brawling into the crowd as a bunch of fans
putting their faces on the camera make it difficult for the cameras to follow the action. Then again, if I was there, I would have done the same thing also. Rock and HHH brawl to the concession stand than all the way back down until they reach ringside where Big Show is waiting for them. The three start brawling and then there is a pretty cool spot. Rock tries to suplex Big Show but he is SO FAT that HHH joins in and together they slam Big Show through the Spanish Annoucers Table! Wow. I wonder if the Spanish Annoucers are ever tired of their table getting smashed. The crowd is happy and Big Show is knocked out allowing Rock and HHH to do some MORE brawling into the crowd. What is this? The brawl-a-thon? They brawl back and forth and head back into the ring where after several more minutes of fightning, the referee gets bumped. Oh great. JR starts talking about the "traditional Survivor Series Screwjob" which is very sad considering that they are making it a tradition for there to be a SCREWJOB IN THE MAIN EVENT! Darn WWF. Anyway, all three men are out and out comes Shane McMahon with a referee shirt on. Apparently, Shane is replacing his father as the special guest referee for this match. Rock is the first one to get up and hits the Rock Bottom. Shane counts a two. Rock tries another Rock Bottom but Big Show pulls Shane-O-Mac out a two. Looks like Show is back in the match. Slow and Rock start fighting on the floor as Triple H goes to grab the WWF Title belt. Shane, being the good hearted babyface that he is, grabs the belt away from Triple H which is ironic considering that it was Shane who helped HHH win the WWF Title for the first time back in August! Such is wrestling. Hunter ain't happy about that and so he pedigrees Shane as punishment. Nice going H, now you don't even have a referee for the match! We get a few more minutes with no referee as De-Generation X makes its way to ringside to help out their leader with several beatdowns on Rock and Big Show. Rock is still being beaten down by DX as Vince McMahon makes his truimphant return to ringside! The crowd roars with approval as Vince chases DX out of the ring. Vince is pissed and HE grabs the WWF Title belt and gets ready to belt HHH with it. Or atleast he hopes. You see, in the weeks before SSeries, Vince had tried several times to knock HHH out with the belt. The first time was during a WWF Championship match between Shane and Triple H. Vince missed Hunter and hit Shane instead. On an episode of Smackdown!, during a Survivor Series Elimination Match between DX and Rock, Kane, Shane, and Steve Austin, Vince took a swing and again missed Hunter and hit Steve giving DX the win. Suspicion arose as to whether Vince would do a heel turn at Survivor Series and now was the moment. Vince got ready, he took a swing, and again missed HHH. However, he came back and FINALLY clocked Triple
H with the WWF Championship belt. HHH was still standing, so Big Show did the chokeslam on HHH and Vince counted the one, two, three, and Big Show won the WWF Title for the first time. Wow. No ONE, and I mean NO ONE saw that coming. I personally expected Rock to walk out with the title. All in all, a good swerve and one that ended the wretched Big Show-Bossman-dead father storyline. The crowd roars its approval that Triple H finally has lost the belt as Vince disses H and Big Show does the Shawn Michaels-I-won-the-title-as-a-face celebration complete with putting his saliva all over the belt. Gross!!! The annoucers celebrate the end of Triple H's title reign as Rock asks Vince why he didn't help him. Big Show celebrates as we end the show. At 16:13 Big Show is champion. ** All that brawling was boring.
And that was the first and only time Big Show was headlining a pay-per-view as WWF Champion. The Big Show title reign played second fiddle to the ongoing McMahon/HHH feud. Show was hardly booked in the main events and sometimes not at all. And, really, can you blame them? And people say Kurt Angle's face title reign was booked badly. When we have the Big Bossman as the #1 World Title contender, something's not right. The McMahon/HHH feud would finally end with a showdown at Armageddon with some VERY interesting stuff going on before then.
But that's another rant.
Bottom Line: Well, most of the matches on the show are unmemorable and forgettable and its not like that's a bad thing. The only reason this show is still remembered is because of the Austin car runover. Even though, when assilant was a letdown it lead to some great Stone Cold matches so that's good.
Big Show isn't remembered for being one of the greatest WWF Champions and that's actually a good thing. So, all in all, Jericho/Chyna and the Austin incident are the only good reasons to rent this show. Not buy. Just worth a rental.
So its mildly VERY mildly recommended.
Feedback is welcome.
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