Attendance: 9,074
PPV Buys: 298,000
Live Gate: $330,850
World Tag Team Title Match: Chris Jericho & Christian (c) vs. Booker T & Goldust
Booker T and Goldust are one of the oddest duos but they were magic. The comedy segments were gold - so much that The Rock had a segment with them at King Of The Ring - and their in-ring is super solid. A lot of people would consider it to be a great run, perhaps the peak of Booker T as a wrestler. And this was a quality match. Jericho and Christian were the perfect opponents for these two. I thought they had a comedy heel tag team vibe which allowed for some great comedy spots but they also have enough credibility Jericho at least, to have general heel heat. The match was very brisky, with everyone coming in and out before it settled on the Champions working over Goldust, who is historically great in the Ricky Morton role. Booker T had some hot moments of grace when he entered the ring sending Christian and Jericho all over the ring. The finish was both unfortunate and clever because it was cut short with the second rope breaking but Jericho was able to think on his feet to hit the Lionsault on the top rope to get the win. Quality opening match. ***1/4
Dawn Marie vs. Torrie Wilson
No
Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam
This is the obvious match to do after Ric Flair cost Van Dam his title match against Triple H last month at Unforgiven. Ric Flair isn't that far off from solely being Triple H’s manager for the next few months as Flair is getting way up there in age by this point. But surprisingly, Ric Flair had a solid set of matches in 2002 by being a total tribute act against Vince McMahon at the Rumble, Jericho at Summerslam and The Rock on a Raw. And this is pretty much a match in a similar vein. I'm sure it only took a literal minute before Flair had begged off and did his corner bump where he failed to get over the top turnbuckle. Also going with tradition, Flair targeted the leg of RVD using every trick in the book. There is a good contrast between Flair being on his last wheels against a more dynamic Rob Van Dam. Flair almost makes RVD look like a great wrestler in comparison. Almost. Despite being very over with the crowd, a lot of what RVD did looked soft and flat out poor. I would like to think it's to protect Flair, but we all know that this isn't a one time thing. This is a short match though so they are in and out with no fuss with RVD winning. **1/4
WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Jamie Noble (w/Nidia) (c) vs. Tajiri
Tajiri has recently turned back face after Noble and he fell out. Not much of a story but these two just need to be in a singles match in order to gain my attention. Noble is characteristically rough in this match, aggressively attacking the back of Tajiri, with Tajiri firing back with kicks. This flowed nicely from start to finish with some awesome spots, including a gorgeous Asai Moonsault and a Handspring Elbow sequence that ended with a German suplex pin attempt. Like all Noble matches, Nidia gets involved in the match. Tripping Noble onto his knees while Tajiri is in the middle of a Victory Roll, causing Noble to pin Tajiri. What great timing by everyone to pull that off in a smooth way. Everyone in the match, including Brian Hebner gets to kiss Nidia, ending with a Tajiri kick to the back of Noble’s head to close out this portion of the match. ***1/4
WWE Intercontinental Title/World Heavyweight Title Unification Match: Kane (c) vs. Triple H (c)
Today I learned that Kane was a murderer (and worse). This might just be WWE's most infamous storyline in their history. And just to put this into perspective, this is a company that has had an implied Mother/Son sexual relationship which was saved by it turning into a Wife beater angle. So yeah. The background of the match is something worth ignoring, for all our sakes. One of the more unfortunate things about the match is that it feels very much like a midcard match when it's a title v title match. Plus this is thought to be the last time we'll see it being put on the line. How about some gravitas? In fact, the whole idea of the match is aggravating. Why on earth are you getting rid of the Intercontinental Title? Surely after putting the video packages of the history together, Vince would've remembered how useful it could be? It would only take six months. Okay, let's talk about the match. The crowd must really hate murderers because Triple H got a surprise pop. A sustained one, too. Triple H, despite his tendency to be the most vile human being ever, ever, has his fansbase. Do I dare say that Arkansas is Triple H country? It's either them or Puerto Rico. The crowd didn’t help matters though. Triple H plodded through the match doing the most basic of things, basically buying time until it was time for Ric Flair and Hurricane to come down. It was only after then did the match come alive. The work was entirely unremarkable apart from the few moments of the match where Kane looked like he could win after kicking out of the pedigree and then later when Kane hit the Chokeslam through the announcers table. After numerous attempts to use the sledgehammer and constant interference from Ric Flair, Triple H wins the IC title while retaining his own. Welp. **
WWE Tag Team Title Tournament Final Match: Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio
One of the more widely praised tag team matches in WWE history. Mostly because it was vastly different from the usual WWE style, adopting a slightly different approach by using the true and wise AWA formula. You know, the so-called “boring territory”. Benoit and Angle dislike each other but that's not really played on unfortunately with the two working together remarkably well as a solid unit, first working over Edge’s ribs and then double teaming on the smaller Rey later in the match. I think Edge is the clear weak point of the match with a rather weak selling effort but Rey is so amazing that it almost doesn't matter all that much. Rey is able to inject the match with a lot of energy with his hot tag in and his array of moves. Benoit was unable to cope, and Angle had to bail him out with a Belly To Belly off the top rope to keep Rey down. From that point in the match, they started to build towards the hot tag and the closing stretch of the match. The crowd is red hot for the double team action and series of well done false finishes. They did absolutely everything you could imagine, including Edge doing an Ankle Lock to Kurt Angle only to get trapped in one himself to close out the match, at a breakneck speed. Honestly I would say it was a little too quick. There was too little drama for this to turn into a special match. But while this lacked a proper narrative, this was an awesome match that squeezed all the spots it could get out of the four. ****
World Women's Title Match: Trish Stratus (c) vs. Victoria
The ideas are here, as is the effort but some of the execution was pretty poor for this to be any good. I think even compared to the 3-way at Wrestlemania XIX, these two had a long way to go as they struggled to even pull off a Monkey Flip. Some things worked like Trish’s flash Chick Kick and a few flashy gymnastic spots but I can't speak about this with too much praise. *1/4
WWE Heavyweight Title Hell In A Cell Match: Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) (c) vs. The Undertaker
Simply fantastic. It’s almost certainly one of the best matches of the match type, let alone in company history. This was everything a Hell In A Cell Match should be. They didn’t escape the cell or go out of the match in some cheap way, similar to some modern versions of the match, in some vain attempt to recreate the Mankind match. No, this was a bloody slugfest with some great storytelling built around Taker’s legit injured wrist and his selling. This is Brock Lesnar’s coming out party. Obviously The Rock match showed that Brock was a great wrestler and could work but there is no doubt after this match that Brock is for real. He was immense in every regard. Whether it was his character work, the selling or his beat down of the Undertaker, Brock was great all around. The Undertaker stepped up in his own right. He gutted through an injury that would keep him out for a few months to put Brock Lesnar over when he hasn't always been willing to do so, which gave his selling more credibility. Brock really zoned in on the wrist, destroying it with a chair and over grievous methods, later causing Undertaker trouble when he did the chokeslam. The Undertaker bleeds heavily as well. It's gross but does wonders to show Taker in a rare state of vulnerability, alongside the injury. I have to give a shout out to Heyman and his great managerial performance. Most managers don't come across as coaches or support machines unless they interfere but Heyman goes the extra mile to scream advice to Brock Lesnar and puts himself in danger, getting cut for his efforts, in order to help Brock succeed. Classic bloody imagery, hateful brawling at an all time level climaxed with great drama filled nearfalls. This is just perfect. *****
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