Emanating from the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO

Your commentators are Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler

 
X-Pac tells Ivory to “suck it” while the crowd tells D’Lo he sucks. D’Lo’s power bests X-Pac’s speed early on. X-Pac blocks a hiptoss and then delivers a back suplex. He follows that up with a spinning heel kick. X-Pac goes for the Bronco Buster, but puts on the brakes when he sees D’Lo roll out of the way. Kane and Henry tag in and Kane manhandles him. Henry reverses a whip and then splashes Kane in the corner. Then he gorilla press slams him. Kane pops back up and clotheslines Henry. Now Kane delivers a standing dropkick (!) and a legdrop. D’Lo comes back in and is dominated by Kane. X-Pac is tagged in and he gives D’Lo a lesson with his educated feet. As D’Lo distracts the referee, Henry crotches X-Pac on the post. X-Pac now plays Ricky Morton as Henry displays his power moves on him. X-Pac avoids a big splash from Henry, but D’Lo prevents him from tagging Kane. D’Lo nails X-Pac with the running powerbomb, but Kane breaks up the pin. X-Pac avoids a high-risk maneuver from D’Lo and makes the hot tag to Kane. Kane comes in and takes it to Henry. X-Pac tries launching himself over the top rope and onto Henry, but Henry catches him and rams his back into the post. As Kane runs to the ropes, Henry nails him from the apron. D’Lo follows that up with a spinning heel kick and covers, but Kane shoves him off at 2. As D’Lo and Henry beat up X-Pac on the floor, Kane comes off the top rope and nails both of them. Back inside, Kane hits Henry with a top rope clothesline. He covers, but D’Lo breaks it up. All four men are in now and the faces are in control. As X-Pac gives D’Lo the Bronco Buster, Henry comes from behind and avalanches him. However, Kane gets up and chokeslams Henry. He covers and gets the win.

- Earlier on HeAT, Mr. McMahon fought Mideon, in what ended up being a mugging by the Corporate Ministry. Now Michael Cole reports that Vince suffered an ankle injury at the hands of the Corporate Ministry and he may not be able to be the second guest referee for the main event tonight.

- Kevin Kelly talks with Hardcore Holly and he says that tonight he’ll bust open Al Snow’s head just like he did to Pierre (a deer head that Al Snow was carrying around) a few weeks ago.

Snow tries to hit Holly with the remains of Pierre, but misses. The fight quickly heads outside where Snow whips Holly into the steps. Holly finds a baking sheet and blasts it over Snow’s head. Holly grabs a fire extinguisher and tries to use it, but nothing happens. He realizes he forgot to take the pin out, so he does, but when he turns around, Snow hits him with the baking sheet. That gives Snow a nearfall. Now Snow uses the fire extinguisher on Holly. The two now brawl into the crowd and head toward the concession stands. They throw food at each other and sell it as if they were throwing bricks. Snow makes a cover and gets 2. They brawl back to ringside, where Snow delivers a legdrop from the barricade. Snow sets a table up in the corner, but turns around and receives a dropkick from Holly. Holly delivers a delayed suplex to Snow, which J.R. tells us is called the Hollycaust. That gets a long 2. While Holly argues with the referee, Snow grabs him and hits the Snow Plow. That also gets 2. Snow grabs Head and swings, but misses. Holly then nails Snow with a DDT onto a chair. That gives Holly a nearfall. Holly wants to put Snow through the table, but Snow appears to be out. He was actually playing possum, as he escapes and powerbombs Holly through the table. Snow covers and gets the victory.

- Cole interviews Brisco and Patterson about Vince’s condition. Brisco informs us that an ambulance is on its way to take Vince to a local hospital. Patterson adds that, in his opinion, Vince’s ankle is broken.

- Next we get the video package for the Godfather/Blue Blazer match. The premise of this feud was that Owen Hart was doubling as the Blue Blazer, a superhero that fought for good morals. This being the attitude era, this made him a heel. Naturally, his enemy was the sinful Godfather. When the package is over, J.R. sends us to a pre-recorded interview with the Blue Blazer, but not before saying “we got big problems out here”.

- When we return from the interview, we go to a shot of J.R., who explains that as Owen was set to make a “superhero-like entrance”, something went wrong and he fell from the rafters of the arena. J.R. repeatedly reiterates that this is very real and not part of some storyline. As he is talking, the camera only remains on either J.R. or the crowd.

- As Owen is being tended to, we get the video package for the next match, which is an intergender tag team match with Val Venis and Nicole Bass taking on Jeff Jarrett and Debra. The story here is that Val was enamored with Debra and Nicole was in love with Val. Jarrett didn’t like Val trying to steal his manager and Nicole didn’t like Debra trying to steal her man.

- We come back once again and J.R. has nothing more new to add, but again repeats that this is not part of a wrestling angle. Lawler, who had been in the ring helping the EMTs, returns and appears visibly shaken. He tells J.R., “it doesn’t look good”.

- Kelly interviews Jarrett and Debra, who also appear to be very upset. Jarrett barely addresses Val and sends his prayers to Owen. If you recall, Owen and Jarrett had tagged a lot recently and we know they were close. Having to go on immediately after that had to be extremely difficult.

Debra is now the WWF Woman’s Champion after beating Sable in a dubious bra and panties match. Jarrett and Val begin by slugging away at one another. A double arm suplex by Val gets 2. Jarrett comes back with a swinging neckbreaker. Jarrett gets a nearfall with an armbar takedown. After delivering a spinebuster to Jarrett, Val tags Bass. Debra slaps Bass and then hops on her back. Bass misses a charge and then Debra rams her head into the turnbuckle. Angered, Bass stalks Debra, so she tags Jarrett. Val hits Jarrett with a Russian legsweep and then grinds over him. Val goes up top and tries for an elbow, but misses. Now Jarrett hits a front Russian legsweep and covers, but Bass breaks up the pin. As Jarrett argues with the referee, Bass poses for the crowd. Debra comes in and hits Bass with the guitar. Bass no-sells it and rips off Debra’s shirt. Jarrett goes to hit Bass with the guitar, but Val grabs him and delivers a back suplex. Val then goes up top and hits the Money Shot. That is enough to easily give Val the win.

Postmatch: Bass grabs Val and plants a big kiss on him. Afterwards Val’s facial expression indicates he actually enjoyed it.

- Backstage we see Vince being loaded into an ambulance as Shane looks on and taunts him.

- The video package for the Billy Gunn/Road Dogg match tells the classic story of one man believing he could achieve greater fame by going solo, so he turns his back on his partner. In this case, it was Billy Gunn, now Mr. Ass, who believed he was better off without Road Dogg. After the package, Kelly interviewed Road Dogg, who sent his prayers to Owen before cutting his promo. Once Road Dogg’s in the ring, Kelly talks to Mr. Ass, who cuts his promo without saying a word about Owen.

Gunn immediately jumps Road Dogg and goes to work on him. When Gunn argues with the referee, Road Dogg is able to fight back. The fight heads down the aisle, but not too much happens. They come back and Road Dogg whips Gunn into the steps. They briefly go back into the ring before Gunn throws Road Dogg back out. On the floor again, Gunn takes it to the Road Dogg. Gunn suplexes Road Dogg, but a delayed cover only gets 2. Gunn slows things down with a headlock. Road Dogg escapes only to be slammed by Gunn. Now Gunn slaps on a chinlock. This time Dogg escapes only to be hit with a neckbreaker. For Gunn’s next resthold, he chooses a sleeper. After escaping, Road Dogg applies a sleeper of his own. The shaky legs kneedrop gets Road Dogg a nearfall. On the outside, Gunn grabs the timekeeper’s hammer and nails Road Dogg with it. Back in the ring, Gunn gets a nearfall. As Gunn goes for a corner splash, Road Dogg nails him with a right hand. That gets 2. With the referee not looking, Gunn uses his wrist tape to clothesline Road Dogg. He follows that up with a Fameasser, which gets him the 1, 2, 3.

- Shane McMahon tells Cole that he’ll now be the sole guest referee in the main event and he’ll call it right down the middle.

The Union was a short lived faction that was comprised of people who were against the Minstry and the Corporation. It consisted of Mankind, Big Show, Test and Ken Shamrock. Representing the Corporate Ministry here are the Bossman, Viscera and the Acolytes. Test starts off with Vis. Vis dominates Test early on. Test boots a charging Vis, but when he then charges, Vis catches him and slams him to the mat. That gets 2. Test attacks the rest of the Corporate Ministry, only to turn around and be nailed with a belly-to-belly suplex by Vis. Bradshaw is tagged in, but Test boots him to the outside. Bradshaw comes right back in and tackles Test. A powerslam by Test gets 2. Test connects with a top rope elbow and covers, but Farooq breaks up the cover. Test and Farooq brawl until Bradshaw nails Test with a big clothesline. He covers and gets the pin. HEELS UP 4-3. Shamrock comes right in and kicks Bradshaw in the head. Bradshaw catches Shamrock mid-air and delivers a fallaway slam. After connecting with a hurricanrana, Shamrock slaps on the ankle lock and Bradshaw quickly taps. TIED UP 3-3. A powerslam by Farooq gets 2 on Shamrock. Vis gets a nearfall on Shamrock with a sidewalk slam. Shamrock tries for a crucifix on Vis, but he can’t hold on. Shamrock gets the ankle lock on Farooq, but the Bossman helps him reach the ropes. When the referee tells Shamrock to release the hold, Shamrock snaps and gives the referee a belly-to-belly suplex. A second referee comes down and tells Shamrock he’s been disqualified. HEELS UP 3-2. Big Show comes in and chokeslams Farooq to easily eliminate him. TIED UP 2-2. Show gives the Bossman a shouldertackle that sends him to the outside. The Bossman tries to take a walk, but Show won’t let him. Show brings him back in and manhandles him. The Bossman and Vis doubleteam Show to knock him down. Show goes to chokeslam the Bossman, but Vis stops him. All four men are in now and Show manages to slam Vis. Vis and Show brawl down the aisle and apparently they’ve both been counted out. TIED UP 1-1. The Bossman and Mankind fight around ringside where the Bossman rams Mankind’s head into the steps. Back inside, the Bossman slaps a chinlock on Mankind. Mankind escapes only to be booted. That gives the Bossman a nearfall. Mankind nails the Bossman with a double-arm DDT. He then grabs Mr. Socko and applies it to the Bossman. The Bossman quickly passes out and Mankind picks up the victory for his team.

- After the match, we cut to a shot of J.R. and Lawler. J.R. gives the sad news that they’ve just learned that Owen Hart passed away. This was said on-air and it was unlikely that the live crowd heard this announcement.

- There is a brief moment of silence before they go to the video package for The Rock/HHH match. This ends up being bad timing as part of the footage involves scenes of HHH locking The Rock in a casket and then smashing the casket with a sledgehammer.

- Kelly interviews The Rock and as he begins his promo, HHH attacks him from behind. HHH tries to cut the cast off The Rock’s hand, but then Mankind comes in and attacks HHH. The save is short-lived, however, as HHH is able to lay out Mankind with a pipe.

The Rock turned face the night after Backlash, as he was frustrated at Shane McMahon’s failure to help him win back the WWF title. HHH took over as the Corporation’s main guy, so this feud naturally grew out of that. The Rock gets an early advantage by hammering away on HHH. HHH is thrown outside and the two fight around ringside. The Rock grabs Hugo Savinovich’s headset and does some of his own Spanish commentary. Before taking off the headset, he adds, “Owen, The Rock loves you”. HHH grabs The Rock’s hand and slams it on the announce table. He does it again and the cast pops off. HHH grabs the cast and smacks The Rock in the head with it. In the ring, HHH stomps on that injured arm. The Rock catches HHH with a Samoan drop. As The Rock comes off the ropes, HHH nails him with a high knee. That gets a nearfall. HHH kicks The Rock to the outside where Chyna repeatedly slams The Rock’s arm into the announce table. Back inside, The Rock connects with a DDT. HHH comes off the ropes and nails The Rock with an armbar takedown on the injured arm. After working over the arm some more, HHH tosses The Rock back outside. HHH throws The Rock into the steps and the post. In the ring, The Rock tries to go for the Rock Bottom, but HHH escapes. After hitting The Rock with a DDT, HHH asks Chyna to get him a chair. HHH goes to use the chair, but the referee takes it away from him. HHH argues with the referee and then knocks him down. The referee calls for the bell and HHH has been disqualified.

Postmatch: The Rock grabs the chair and blasts it over HHH’s head. The referee tries to raise The Rock’s injured arm in victory, which The Rock doesn’t like, so he punches the referee. The Rock and HHH continue to brawl on the floor. The Rock takes HHH back in the ring and gives him the Rock Bottom. When The Rock tries for the People’s Elbow, Chyna grabs his leg. This allows HHH to nail The Rock in the back with a chair. HHH continues to attack The Rock with the chair until Mankind comes out and chases him off with the pipe.

- The origins for the Austin/Undertaker match came the night after Backlash when Taker had abducted Stephanie McMahon. When Taker tried to marry her in a “black wedding”, Austin came out and made the save. Things escalated when Shane announced the merger of the Corporation and the Ministry of Darkness and revealed that he was the one who orchestrated the Undertaker’s attacks on Stephanie. He also said that he would be the guest referee for the title match. Commissioner Shawn Michaels made the decision that both Shane AND Vince would referee the match. However, as we learned earlier, it appears that Vince has been taken out of the equation.

Before the match, Pat Patterson comes out to replace Vince as the second referee. When Taker gets in the ring, he chokeslams Patterson to eliminate him from refereeing duties. Austin comes out and the two immediately begin slugging it out. Taker elbows Austin to the floor. Austin climbs up top and clotheslines Taker. That gets 2. Austin stomps a mudhole and then flips off Shane. Shane distracts Austin to allow Taker to regain control. Austin tries for a Stunner, but Taker blocks it and works on Austin’s leg. Now Austin traps Taker in the corner and works on his leg. The fight heads outside and Austin whips Taker into the steps. Back inside, Austin continues to work over Taker’s leg. A distraction by Paul Bearer allows Taker to shove Austin off. Now the fight heads into the crowd. Back at ringside, Taker chokes Austin with some cable. In the ring, Austin tries to comeback, but Taker drops him with a right hand. Taker goes for a Tombstone, but Austin escapes and clotheslines Taker to the floor. Austin repeatedly rams Taker’s head into the announce table. Inside, Austin goes for the Lou Thesz Press, but Taker reverses it into a spinebuster. As Shane checks on Taker, Bearer nails Austin with his shoe. Both men fight down the aisle. Austin ducks a Taker punch and he ends up punching out one of the stained glass windows that made up the entranceway set. Then Austin throws Taker head-first into another window. After some more brawling, they head back into the ring. Austin hits an elbow from the top rope and covers. Shane counts to 2 and stops. Austin gets in Shane’s face, but doesn’t touch him. Bearer tosses Taker a chair. Taker tries to use it, but Austin catches him. Austin whips Taker into Shane and then nails him with the chair. Austin covers and Brisco comes out, but only gets a 2 count. Taker boots Austin coming off the ropes and then clotheslines Brisco. Crowd begins to chant “HBK”. Taker nails Austin with a big clothesline. All of a sudden, Vince comes limping down to the ring. Austin goes for the Stunner, but Taker shoves him off. Then they clothesline each other. The two get up and duke it out. Austin then connects with the Stunner. Vince counts, but Shane gets up and stops him. Vince shoves Shane as Austin comes up and yells for Vince to count. Shane shoves Vince into Austin, who falls over Taker. Taker rolls up Austin and Shane fast counts to 3. We have a new champion.

Postmatch: Austin and Vince look on in disbelief as Shane and Taker celebrate in the aisle.

Final Thoughts: As I said at the beginning, there’s no use in me trying to critique these matches. These guys had to go out there and perform despite having witnesses such a tragic event. For them to do that, they all deserve *****. It was clear that a lot of the guys were not performing at their typical level. There were a lot more restholds and general confusion. However, most matches still came off looking pretty normal, which is a credit to their professionalism. I won’t get into the debate of whether the show should have continued or not after Owen’s accident. The fact is it did and nothing can change that. I do believe, however, that they should have just allowed Austin to retain the title that night. Why deliver such a depressing ending after the crowd witnessed a man fall to his death. They could easily have done the title switch a week or two later and it wouldn’t have disrupted storylines too badly. Or they could have just skipped Taker’s title reign altogether since it barely lasted a month.

Finally, I just want to say a few words about Owen. I’m embarrassed to say that when J.R. made the initial announcement, I laughed because I thought it was part of a storyline. The whole Blue Blazer gimmick was made into a joke in its reincarnation and knowing Russo, I figured this sounded like something he would do. However, as the realization set in that this was not fake, I grew very depressed. Unlike Bret, who I often felt was very egotistical, I never disliked anything about Owen. He was tremendous in the ring, he knew how to work the mic and was just an overall extremely entertaining performer. To this day, I wish he had gotten the opportunity for more success. They really dropped the ball in not allowing him to be a big main event star after the Montreal incident. I am fortunate, as a wrestling fan, to have been able to watch him perform and he will always be remembered. R.I.P Owen.

Next time, the snark returns in full effect just in time to crown a king who’s a real ass.