Taker costs Rock the title at J-Day
By JOHN POWELL -- SLAM!
Wrestling
The WWF featured his "brother" Kane in all the ads leading up to the
event yet it was The Undertaker who acted as the harbinger of doom at the
Judgment Day pay-per-view live from Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
Absent from the mat wars for many months due to reoccurring injuries, The
Dead Man returned Sunday night to support The Rock in his sixty-minute Iron
Man match against Triple H. His actions backfired and The People's Champion
left the Hall without the WWF World Heavyweight Championship around his
waist. Coincidentally, the unfortunate outcome leaves The Rock (Duane Johnson) with mucho time to finish filming his part as a half-man,
half-scorpion villain in the sequel to The Mummy.
Not even coming close to a similar match between Shawn Michaels and Bret
Hart at WrestleMania 12 or one not so long ago between Ricky Steamboat and
Rick Rude in WCW, the Triple H - Rock Iron Man bout in which a winner is
determined by a wrestler getting more decisions than his opponent in a
sixty-minute period, underscored the shortcomings of both WWF superstars.
Though the wrestler's work rate was high and the match was captivating at
times, it relied too much on rest holds, brawling outside the ring and walk
outs to seriously post a challenge to past Iron Man bouts. The Rock and
Triple H's impressive SummerSlam Ladder Match still stands as their best
contest to date.
Shane, Stephanie and Vince McMahon ushered Triple H to the ring. He
acknowledged their backing with thanks then sent everyone to the back
stating that he had something to prove and that he wanted to "go it alone".
Vince questioned Triple H's decision as he and his family split. The Rock
logged in the first pinfall at 10 minutes and 43 seconds when he Rock
Bottomed Triple H. Approximately fifteen minutes later, Triple H evened the
score Pedigreeing The Rock. Stunned by The Game's finishing maneuver, The
Rock fell behind by a fall two minutes later as Triple H pinned him using
an inside cradle roll-up.
For his part, special guest referee - Shawn Michaels - called it right down
the middle pulling a steel chair away from his pal - Triple H, stopping him
from getting an unfair advantage by using the ropes and refusing to give
him more time to recover outside the ring. This sense of fairness would
eventually lead to a shoving match between the two friends.
Triple H made the running count three-to-one spiking The Rock with a
piledriver. The People's Champion won the next two decisions. During the
first, he hit a DDT on The Game. In the second, Triple H was disqualified
for binging The Rock in the head with a steel chair. The Rock bled for a
few minutes following the chair shot then the blood on his face and
forehead mysteriously stopped flowing. Strange. Either the People's Cut was
really a special effects blood bag broken on the People's Forehead, it
healed up or The Rock closed the wound when we weren't looking. Whatever
the case, things were tied up with three a piece at fifteen minutes to
go.
Not wasting precious minutes or the damage the chair shot caused, The Game
used the ropes as leverage pinning The Rock. The People's Champ submitted
to a Sleeper Hold at 47 minutes and 22 seconds. Triple H now led four
decisions to The Rock's three.
Pedigreed by The Rock on J.R. and Lawler's announce table that didn't break
upon impact, Triple H was counted out so that Rocky could notch another
point. Once again, the grapplers' scores were deadlocked. Triple H's
Sleeper Hold pushed him into the lead until The Rock launched an offence
flurry punctuated by a People's Elbow at just two minutes shy of the time
limit.
The McMahons rushed to ringside. By the way, shouldn't Stephanie McMahon be
forced to forfeit the WWF Women's World Heavyweight Title. I am sure she
hasn't defended it in the thirty days since she won it. Someone call the
Continuity Department. Anyhow, Shane yanks Michaels out of the ring. HBK
clobbers Vince and Shane. DX descends on The Rock too laying the smackdown
on him. Suddenly, a new version of Taker's entrance music plays. He comes
riding in on a motorcycle dressed in a long, black trench coat and a
bandanna around his head. Sort of what he looks like on his days off.
The Undertaker clears the ring and is about to Choke Slam Stephanie
McMahon. Triple H makes the save. As the clock clicks down to less than
five seconds left, the timer disappears from our television screen. Clever.
However, Taker clearly Choke Slams Triple H on the zero second mark then he
Tombstone Piledrives him. In the ensuing chaos, The Rock is disqualified
for outside interference. This puts the final tabulation at Triple H with
six decisions and The Rock with five. Triple H wins the WWF World
Heavyweight Title even though he was never disqualified for the McMahons
and DX interfering on his behalf. Mighty strange ending. Did anyone get a
hold of the Continuity Department yet?
The next WWF pay-per-view is King Of The Ring on June 25th.
WWF Judgment Day 2000 Results
McMahon, Helmsley, DX meeting. Brisco tells McMahon that Patterson
hasn't arrived. Brisco is sent out for coffees. The Big Show - Shane match
is now No Holds Barred. You know what that means? Big Time run-ins against
The Big Show are coming up.
Rikishi, Too Cool Vs Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle)
Angle participates in Edge and Christian's "unique pose" tonight. Get
those cameras ready. Making fun of the people in Kentucky, the trio dress
as a hillbilly jug band. Edge wears fake buck teeth to rub it in.
The Stink Face? The Worm? This is giving me flashbacks of that
dreadful WWF period in the early nineties that saw garbage men and dentist
wrestlers populate the airwaves. Christian takes the ring bell and bongs
Rikishi in the head. Edge goes for the cover. Grand Master Sexay hits a
flying leg drop from the top rope on Edge. Edge is pinned. Too Cool and
Rikishi dance around and act all silly like. Where's the Sultan or that
conscientious Fatu when you need them?
Winners: ...Rikishi, Too Cool at 9 minutes and 46 seconds.
Match Rating: 5 / 10.
HBK is interviewed by another Michael...Cole. Cole asks if the rumor
on WWF.com about HBK being green with envy over The Rock's success is true.
Come on, does anyone really believe half the stuff they read on WWF.com?
HBK sarcastically replies...Well, if it's on the Internet, it must be true.
Heh. Heh.
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna pull in the backstage area. Dean Malenko tells
Chyna to mind her own business. She flips Malenko off. Saturn talks trash
to Malenko.
Eddie Guerrero (champion) Vs Saturn (challenger) Vs Dean Malenko
(challenger) (WWF European Heavyweight Title - Triple Threat Match)
A kicking technical extravaganza but what else could these three
deliver? The screw job ending leaves a bad taste in the mouth though.
Saturn is knocked senseless by Chyna's bouquet of roses. She swings at
Malenko too. He grabs them out of her hands. Chyna pulls his feet out from
under him. Guerrero rolls up Malenko. Chyna and Eddie reveal that there was
a lead pipe in that bouquet. If Lawler says "Latino Heat!" another fifty
times during a Guerrero bout again, I swear I'll pop my ear drums out with
an ice pick. Geesh. Talk about overkill.
Winner: ...and still WWF European Heavyweight Champion...Eddie
Guerrero at 7 minutes and 52 seconds.
Match Rating: 7.5 / 10.
Just when you think the Hardcore Title situation in the WWF couldn't
possibly get any worse. Your newly crowned champ...I can't believe I am
saying this...Gerald Brisco is scoping out the public washrooms. He is
scared by his own reflection in a mirror and punches it.
Big Show Vs Shane McMahon (No Holds Barred Match)
Shane gets beaten up badly. Lawler keeps referring to Shane as Simba
from the Lion King. Okay. Whatever. At two minutes, The Big Boss Man
runs-in. At 2:48, T and A runs-in. At 6:27, Bull Buchanan makes it five
against one. Shane dumps electrical equipment on The Big Show's leg. Sparks
fly. As Buchanan holds the smoking box on Big Show's leg, Shane nails him
with a cinder block to the noggin. Oddly, it shatters in a million pieces.
I guess they don't make cinder blocks like they used to. Shane is
victorious. Big Show is carted off in an ambulance complaining about his
leg. Smart booking to relegate T and A, Bossman and Buchanan to run-in
guys. No one has any interest in them anyways.
Winner: Shane McMahon at 7 minutes and 8 seconds.
Match Rating: 6 / 10.
That paranoid android Brisco is hiding out in the referees locker
room. Brisco attempts to catch some sleep. The refs agree to attack Brisco.
Your Hardcore Champion fends them off. Good for him.
Chris Benoit (champion) Vs Chris Jericho (challenger) (WWF
Intercontinental Title - Submission Match)
What a display of raw wrestling talent and resourceful ring psychology.
More matches should be like this one no matter what the people who like the
"entertainment" more that the "sports" in sports entertainment might say.
Val Venis and Hardcore Holly watch on backstage. It takes Benoit three
tries at the Crippler Crossface to put Jericho away. Jericho passes out. He
never taps out. It takes two officials to pull Benoit off of Jericho.
Jericho has a nose bleed. These two have got to meet again. They are worth
the price of admission alone.
Winner: ...and still WWF Intercontinental Champion...Chris Benoit at
13 minutes and 27 seconds.
Match Rating: 8 / 10.
Brisco is interviewed again about his growing mistrust of everyone and
everything. Two popcorn vendors discuss strategy in the background. Brisco
beats them to the punch.
DX Vs The Dudleys (Table Match)
Monster ECW heels - The Dudley Boyz - are faces in the WWF for
throwing women through tables? Huh? What's that about? Something is wrong
with that to be sure. Lawler and even good old J.R. (!!!!) are firing off
sexual innuendoes at will. My, how far the once credible Jim Ross has sunk.
My advice...leave that crap to Lawler, J.R. You and your reputation in the
business are above that kind of commentary. It is almost seven minutes in
before a table comes into play. Road Dogg Pumphandle Slams D-Von off the
ring stairs and through a table. In the ring, X-Pac is Power Bombed through
one by Buh Buh. The official is next. Road Dogg is 3-D'd into a table but
there's no ref to count. Gerald Brisco rescues Torrie from meeting the same
fate. Buh Buh is X-Factored through a table. The official awakes and
declares DX the winners. The Dudleys 3-D Brisco into a table. He is out
like a light however neither Dudley Boy pins him for the Hardcore Title
though two more officials come in to check on Brisco. Yes, Continuity
Department. I'd like to report a plot hole, please.
Winners: DX at 10 minutes and 57 seconds.
Match Rating: 4 / 10.
The Rock (champion) Vs Triple H (challenger) (WWF World Heavyweight
Title - Iron Man Match)
Winner: ...and new WWF World Heavyweight Champion..Triple H at 60
minutes even.
.
Match Rating: 7 / 10.
Total Event Time: 2 hours and 45 minutes
Overall Event Rating: 7 / 10.
