the reason for Mankind winning the title over HHH was that Austin was not willing to put over the then green main-eventer, HHH. However, some of you emailed and said that I was wrong and that the reason for the Foley win was because they wanted to have special guest referee Jesse Ventura raise the hand of a babyface, and since Austin needed time off, Mankind got the nod. First of all, nobody ever tells me I’m wrong!! Got it? Sorry, I was channeling Stephen Colbert there for a minute. Anyway, I have also heard this explanation before, and to be honest, I’m not sure which is right. It may have been a combination of both. It’s one of those things that we’ll never get a straight answer about, I’m sure. Still, I appreciate the feedback and encourage everyone to continue writing in (just don’t ever tell me I’m wrong again!). With that taken care of, let’s move on to tonight’s review.

Emanating from the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, NC

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

- As the announcers welcome us, we’re shown a clip from earlier today outside the arena where the WWF referees were picketing. Evidently their working conditions haven’t been ideal lately, so they’ve gone on strike. So tonight’s matches will be refereed by “scab” referees. I’m sure that won’t cause any problems.

Val comes out, but then pauses, goes backstage and comes back with Blackman’s bag of karate weapons that he recently stole from him. Blackman wastes no time in attacking Val as soon as he enters the ring. Val comes back with a clothesline. A dropkick by Blackman knocks Val to the floor. As Val tries to get back in, Blackman crotches him on the top rope. The fight heads back outside as Blackman sends Val into the steps and the post. Back inside, Blackman gets a nearfall. Blackman gives Val some rough turnbuckle treatment. You can tell this is a good match by the way that the announcers are only talking about tonight’s main event. Blackman puts his head down, which allows Val to attack him. Blackman hits a crossbody, but Val rolls through it and gets 2. Val connects with a bulldog and follows it up with a DDT. With Blackman down, Val goes up and hits the Money Shot. Val covers and easily gets the win.

Postmatch: Val goes for one of Blackman’s kendo sticks, but Blackman kicks him and then knocks him out with the karate stick. When the EMTs come out, Blackman gets in the face of who I will name “the busty EMT”. For some reason, the WWFs head of security, Jim Dotson takes offense to this and tackles Blackman. Whatever happened to that guy?

Bottom Line: This was a lousy choice for an opener. The match had a flimsy backstory and Blackman isn’t someone that you would consider a heat magnet. The action was really generic and didn’t interest me or the live crowd. I have to figure that the only reason why this was on the PPV and not RAW was because so many stars were involved in the main event. *

- Michael Cole interviews the Big Show, but instead of asking him about his match, he asks him where the Undertaker is (Taker decided to just up and leave the WWF on the last Smackdown). Show takes offense to this and explains why he’ll win the WWF title tonight. He closes by calling Cole a monkey. I can think of worse words to call him, but monkey will do just fine for now.

- Newcomer Lillian Garcia asks Mark Henry about facing his former friend, D’Lo Brown tonight. Henry says he’s not concerned about the match and then whispers to Lillian what he’d like to do with her. This suggestion prompts Lillian to slap him. So when Henry suggests it, it’s disgusting, but when Viscera does it, she finds it appealing. Sounds like a double standard to me.

To show his gratitude for helping him win the Intercontinental and European championships, Jeff Jarrett gave Henry the European title the next night after Summerslam. Wow, this title just keeps adding credible champions doesn’t it? Henry gets on the mic and says there won’t be a match tonight. He thinks Lillian’s slap gave him a “brainyeurism”. As he tries to leave, D’Lo comes down and attacks him in the aisle. Henry whips D’Lo into the post and then gets in the ring so the referee can count. D’Lo makes it back in and hits Henry with a spinebuster. That gets 2. An elbow from the second rope gives D’Lo another nearfall. As D’Lo charges at Henry, Henry grabs him and drops him against the top turnbuckle. Henry tries to hop on D’Lo while he’s laying on the ropes, but misses and falls to the floor. D’Lo then does a tope con hilo and lands on Henry. LuchaD’Lo! Back inside, a high crossbody gets D’Lo a 2 count. A press slam by Henry puts him back in control. Henry botches a clothesline spot and D’Lo appears annoyed by it. D’Lo hits a crossbody for 2. He tries it again and this time Henry slams him. A follow-up legdrop gives Henry another nearfall. D’Lo ducks a clothesline and then delivers a hurricanrana. After splashing D’Lo in the corner, Henry goes up for a 10 punch count. In the middle of it, D’Lo hits him with a modified Sky High. Then D’Lo goes up, connects with the frog splash and that’s all she wrote for Henry. New champion!

BL: This went on way too long, especially since the finish was a foregone conclusion. I’ll give D’Lo credit because he tried his hardest to make this match decent, but as usual Henry weighed him down too much. Things were sloppy at times and it seemed like they couldn’t figure out the proper sequence to get them to end game. * ¾

- Cole chats with the Acolytes about their upcoming match and they say nothing interesting. However, things do pick up when the interview is over, as we see a bunch of wrestlers beating up Chaz (former Headbanger Mosh) outside the Acolyte dressing room. Chaz was attacked because he allegedly beat up his girlfriend. Man, it’s a shame Vince Russo left a week after this show. There were so many “interesting” storylines that got abandoned.

- Lillian talks with Debra about her recent problems with Jarrett. Debra says that when Jarrett put his hands on her, that was the last time that will happen. Jarrett comes by, doesn’t appreciate that comment and then leaves with his new manager, Miss Kitty. So Jarrett hitting a woman is ok with the boys, but Chaz is ostracized for doing it. Man, there are double standards being shown everywhere tonight.

Jarrett claimed he had an open contract and would take on anybody, so Chyna took him upon it. This was to further the storyline that she could hang with the men and so she could be distanced away from HHH. Jarrett puts the boots to Chyna as soon as she enters the ring. That’s short-lived, as she comes back with a shoulderblock and a clothesline. Jarrett elbows a charging Chyna, but when he tries a move off the second rope, she gives him a lowblow. The fight heads outside where Jarrett takes control. A high crossbody by Jarrett gets 2. Jarrett ducks a clothesline and delivers a standing dropkick. Chyna goes up top, but Jarrett stops her and then hits a superplex. Chyna somehow kicks out before 3. Chyna misses a corner charge and Jarrett takes advantage by delivering a tornado armbar takedown. As Jarrett taunts the crowd, we see the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young (recent recipients of the figure four leglock by Jarrett) jawing at him from the front row. Chyna gets Jarrett on her shoulders and drops him straight back. Jarrett locks a sleeper on Chyna, but she gets out. He goes for it again and this time Chyna suplexes him. A powerslam by Chyna gets 2. Chyna catches Jarrett going for a dropkick and powerbombs him for 2. Jarrett blocks a hurricanrana attempt and powerbombs Chyna. Jarrett goes for the figure four, but she boots him to the floor. Outside, Chyna hits Jarrett with a chair right in front of the referee, but no DQ call is made. Jarrett charges at Chyna and she backdrops him onto the Spanish announce table. Chyna goes for the Pedigree, but Jarrett blocks it and catapults her into the referee. Miss Kitty hands Jarrett his guitar, but before he can use it, Moolah and Mae come into the ring and beat him up. They try a double clothesline, but he knocks both of them down. Now Debra comes out and she shoves Kitty. She climbs in the ring and hits Jarrett with his guitar. Chyna crawls over, covers, and the referee count to 3. New champion!

Postmatch: Tom Pritchard comes out and informs Wippleman that Debra hit Jarrett with the guitar. Upon seeing this, Wippleman reverses the decision. No new champion! Unhappy by that, Chyna beats up Pritchard.

BL: This was probably Chyna’s best match to date, but still far from great. They kept things safe and as a result, everything was slow and deliberate. Jarrett did all the work here. The finish was fun, but I’m never crazy about Dusty finishes. It does nicely set up a rematch however. ** ¼

So the tag team division continues to grow as the WWF was able to score one of ECW’s premiere teams in the Dudley Boyz. The Acolytes have a history of eliminating teams that come from ECW and want a shot in the WWF (Public Enemy anyone?) and want to do the same for the Dudleys. It doesn’t take long for all four men to start brawling in this one. The Acolytes take turns beating up Bubba Ray. A senton bomb by Bubba Ray gets a nearfall on Bradshaw. Bradshaw suplexes Bubba Ray off the top rope and covers, but D-Von breaks it up. Bradshaw tackles Bubba Ray and they fall through the ropes. Crowd is absolutely dead right now. Bradshaw whips Bubba Ray into the steps. Back inside, Bubba Ray hits a belly-to-belly on Bradshaw. That gets 2. Bradshaw catches D-Von coming off the ropes and hits the fallaway slam. A powerslam by Farooq on D-Von gets a nearfall. D-Von escapes a Dominator attempt and hits him with a DDT. The Dudleys hit a double-team move on Bradshaw, which J.R. mistakenly calls the 3D. That gets a long 2 count. Bubba Ray powerbombs Bradshaw and D-Von follows it up with a diving headbutt. Somehow Bradshaw still kicks out of that. D-Von goes back up top, but Farooq crotches him. Then Bradshaw delivers a top rope back suplex on him. Bradshaw covers, but he too can only get a nearfall. The Dudleys nail Farooq with the 3D, but while the referee isn’t looking, Stevie Richards comes out dressed like an Acolyte (with the UPN logo painted on his chest) and superkicks D-Von. Farooq covers D-Von and gets the victory.

Postmatch: Stevie comes back in the ring to celebrate, but the Acolytes beat him up.

BL: I think someone drugged the crowd because they were absolutely silent for this entire match. They had good reason to be too as you had two heel teams with no backstory having a boring match. Both teams provided some ok action, but they failed to put the moves together in a compelling way. Not an ideal debut for the Dudleys. *

This match starts with Luna walking backstage and Ivory coming up behind her and hitting her with a garbage can. The two throw each other around the hallways of the arena. Luna just happens to find a room with a copier and puts Ivory’s head on it to make copies. Things get really hardcore when Luna throws Ivory into some cardboard boxes. Luna then climbs on top of a forklift and splashes down on Ivory. That gets 2. The two fight over by where Tori is doing a photo shoot, so she decides to get involved and attacks Ivory. Ivory disposes of Tori and then attacks Luna with a pole of some kind. Ivory pins Luna and gets the 3 count, even though Tori was lying right by them and could have stopped it.

BL: Bleh, what a waste. This poor crowd still doesn’t get anything to cheer for. They shouldn’t bill something as hardcore if they’re not going to follow through with it. This was filled with some contrived spots, even for a hardcore match. Ivory gains nothing by winning this match. At least it was short. DUD

- Lillian talks to Moolah and Mae about Jarrett, but before they can say much, Ivory comes over and gets in Moolah’s face. Ivory doesn’t even say anything too insulting and the old broads immediately begin to attack her. The Usual Bunch of Idiots have to come in and separate them. Thankfully they have plenty of flab for them to grab and pull them away by.

So much for that big singles push. Gunn reunited with Road Dogg last week and won the tag titles in their first match back together (one of four tag title changes that happened since Summerslam!). This match was made earlier today. Edge and Gunn start off with Edge getting an early advantage. Christian makes a blind tag and dropkicks Road Dogg upon entry. Gunn distracts Christian from the apron, which allows Road Dogg to attack him. The Outlaws do some double-team moves to work over Christian. Edge is back in and Road Dogg gives him the shaky legs kneedrop. Road Dogg covers and Christian breaks it up. With the referee tied up with Gunn, Edge and Christian dump Road Dogg to the outside and beat him up. Back inside, Christian springboards off Edge and splashes into Road Dogg. Edge and Christian now focuses on Road Dogg’s back, which was injured a few weeks ago. What a surprise, Road Dogg is playing the face-in-peril. Both Road Dogg and Christian (or “Christopher” as J.R. just called him) go for a crossbody and they collide. Edge tags in and prevents Road Dogg from tagging out. Edge and Christian try the springboard move again, but this time Road Dogg nails Christian. Road Dogg then delivers a double DDT and tags Gunn. Gunn comes in and takes out both guys. All four men are in now and brawling. Christian escapes the pump handle slam and then Edge spears Road Dogg. However, the Hardy Boyz come out and Jeff dropkicks Edge while the referee is distracted. Gunn then gives Edge the Fameasser and covers him for the victory.

Postmatch: Edge and Christian go chasing after the Hardy Boyz.

BL: So earlier we had two heel teams fight each other with no backstory and now we had two face teams fighting and they had no backstory either. Seems to me that with a little planning ahead, this problem could have been avoided. Thankfully, this match was better, but not by a lot. They kept it formulaic, but it was tough to make it interesting with both teams being faces. **

- Lillian asks the returning British Bulldog why he turned on The Rock and helped HHH. The Bulldog says that The Rock’s ego was too big and it needed to be deflated. That’s kayfabe for “I’ve got no reason. I just turned for the sake of having a swerve.” Then Lillian asks HHH if there’s a relationship between him and the Bulldog. HHH says that’s nobody’s business. Tonight, they each have a job and they’re gonna do it. That’s kayfabe for “My job is to win the title and the Bulldog’s job is to stay on my good side if he wants to stay at the main event level.”

- Cole interview the Bossman about his upcoming match. As he’s done in the past, the Bossman gets so angry that he threatens to shove his nightstick up Cole’s ass. Either come up with a new threat or stop teasing us and just do it already.

The setup for this match is that there is a steel cage and a Hell in a Cell and in between the two structures will be a bunch of dogs. This was Snow’s idea after the Bossman kidnapped and cooked Snow’s dog Pepper. The winner will be the one to escape both cages. They foolishly send Snow out when only ¼ of the cage has been put up. Isn’t there a video package they could have shown to fill time? After what seems like an eternity, the Bossman strolls out to the ring. Snow and the Bossman fight by the door of the cage and the dogs haven’t shown up yet. Snow prevents the Bossman from getting into the cage as the dogs make their way out. However, the idiot trainers circle the cell and have to be told to come into the cell. They barely get in and one dog has already pissed on the floor. The Bossman tries to climb the cage, but Snow keeps attacking him with a snow shovel. Now Snow climbs out of the cage to fight with the Bossman. Snow drops to the floor and runs, but it doesn’t matter because the dogs are too busy barking at one another. Snow climbs the cell wall and then scales the cell ceiling to get back into the cage. That seemed rather unnecessary. The Bossman now gives Snow some rough cage treatment. After abusing Snow with some weapons, the Bossman takes some pliers and cuts open the roof of the cell. Before he can climb out, Snow hits him with some piece of wood. The bossman gets a handful of powder, but naturally Snow hits it into his face. Snow puts the bossman’s hand through the cage, in hopes that the dogs will bite it, but they just stand there and do nothing. Now the Bossman handcuffs Snow to the turnbuckle. As the Bossman climbs out, Snow amazingly breaks the cuffs. Snow shakes the cage and the Bossman crotches himself on the top rope. Snow grabs Head and nails the Bossman with it. Both men begin to climb out, but only Snow is able to get out the cell door, so he wins it.

Postmatch: The Bossman leaves the cell in a hurry to avoid the “rabid” dogs. Then, the trainers finally do something and have them chase the Bossman down the aisle. Of course, we get one last bit of Wrestlecrap, as one trainer falls on his face while running down the aisle.

BL: Perhaps the most horribly executed match in WWF’s history. Those that have seen it know how bad it is. For those that haven’t, trust me, it’s awful. However, if you have a perverse nature and want to see it, at least watch it on the Mick Foley: Cheap Pops and Hard Knocks DVD, so you can at least hear Snow’s hilarious commentary on it. - *****

- Cole questions Mankind about his thoughts on facing his friend The Rock tonight. Mankind gives his version of a Rock promo and then says he will beat The Rock if he has to. But then whispers, “Don’t tell him I said that.” You gotta love Mick. Has there ever been a man so violent, yet so hilarious at the same time?

This was a last minute match as well. Jericho was originally supposed to face Ken Shamrock, but he got hurt (let me guess, internal injuries?) and they substituted him with X-Pac. Jericho comes out, accompanied by his new bodyguard Mr. Hughes, and they still haven’t finished taking down the cage. Jericho stalls by getting on the mic and running down the crowd. He says he’s going to save us from this boring PPV. Let’s hope so! We go through a feeling-out process to begin. Both men have been able to avoid the others’ moves thus far. Jericho picks X-Pac up and drops him across the top rope. X-Pac sidesteps a Jericho charge and then beats him down in the corner. X-Pac goes for the Bronco Buster, but Jericho bails before he can do it. Jericho blocks the X-Factor and delivers a powerbomb to X-Pac. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho, but X-Pac powers out and sends Jericho to the outside. Then X-Pac leaps off the second rope and onto Jericho. However, Hughes comes over and clotheslines X-Pac. The referee sees it, but makes no call. After attacking him some more on the floor, Jericho tosses X-Pac back inside and then hits him with a missile dropkick. After slamming X-Pac, Jericho goes to the apron and then launches himself onto X-Pac. That gets 2. Crowd seems to be distracted by something or someone else. Jericho connects with the Lionsault, but opts to punch X-Pac instead of covering him. Now he covers and gets 2. Now an “X-Pac sucks” chant starts but doesn’t last long. After missing a charge, X-Pac falls to the apron. As he gets up, Jericho springboards off the second rope and dropkicks X-Pac to the floor. On the floor, Hughes attacks X-Pac as the crowd chants something I can’t make out. Inside, X-Pac boots a charging Jericho and then connects with a spinning heel kick. Jericho whips X-Pac and he goes through the ropes and hits Hughes. Then he springboards back in and clotheslines Jericho. That gets 2. X-Pac goes for the Bronco Buster, but Jericho boots him. A senton bomb by Jericho gets a nearfall. Jericho climbs up top, but X-Pac crotches him. Then X-Pac delivers a superplex and gets 2. X-Pac tries for a dropkick, but Jericho blocks it and powerbombs him. As the referee counts, Jericho picks him back up and gives him another powerbomb. Nice! X-Pac gets Jericho in a tree of woe and then gives him the Bronco Buster. Hughes gets in the ring and knocks down the referee. Then Hughes and Jericho attack X-Pac. The referee gets up and calls for a DQ.

Postmatch: Road Dogg comes out for the save. Soon, X-Pac is back up and the two of them clean house.

BL: Jericho’s prophecy came true as he finally bought some life to this boring show. Some pretty good action between these two, as you would expect. Things were really picking up toward the end until they gave us that lousy ending. Just do the job X-Pac! Even though we finally get a good match, I’m not sure the crowd realized it, since something else was holding their attention (My guess: Some NC hoochie flashing her knockers). *** ¼

- OK, so there needs to be some explaining before we go to the main event. The night after Summerslam, HHH bullied his way into another title match and defeated Mankind for the title. Then, a couple weeks later, HHH started to bully Linda McMahon, which prompted Vince to come out and defend her, even though he wasn’t supposed to be on WWF TV. HHH challenged Vince to a match and thanks to Austin’s interference, Vince became the WWF champion. Austin then stated that in that Fully Loaded contract, he had the capability to reinstate Vince, which he decided to do. Vince took him up on the offer, but also forfeited the WWF title. Vince then made a match where six men would fight for the WWF title and told Austin he would get a shot at the winner. Since Austin wouldn’t be wrestling in this match, Vince made him the special enforcer referee.

Austin will evidently be “enforcing” from the announce table, as he sits down and does commentary. For this match, two men are fighting and can tag any of the other four guys at any time. First pinfall wins it. The Rock begins by hammering away on the Bulldog. The Bulldog knocks down The Rock and tags HHH. The Rock gives HHH a hot shot and covers him for 2. Kane in now and he takes it to HHH. Kane goes over and knocks down Show, but when he goes up top, Show shoves him into the ring. Everyone’s getting their turn to do a couple of spots. The Bulldog goes low on The Rock and then hits him with a delayed suplex. The Bulldog tags Mankind, but he doesn’t want to fight The Rock, so he goes over and tags Kane. The Rock escapes a Tombstone attempt and hits Kane with a Russian legsweep for 2. Mankind piledrives Kane and gets a nearfall. HHH and Mankind brawl outside and head down the aisle. Soon, everyone is in the aisle brawling. Mankind takes HHH and piledrives him on the steps in a sick looking spot. Back in the ring, Mankind and The Rock double-team the Bulldog. Mankind gives The Rock a thumbs up and The Rock reluctantly returns it to Mankind’s glee. Funny spot. As the Bulldog and Kane fight, the striking referees walk down the aisle. Show slams Mankind and then follows it up with an elbow. When he covers, The Rock breaks up the pin. The Rock now clotheslines Show and covers, but HHH stops that cover. The Rock and HHH fight by the announce table. The Rock takes Austin’s beer, drinks some and spits it in HHH’s face. In the ring, Kane tombstones Mankind, but Show had tagged him, so the referee won’t count his cover. Show looks to chokeslam Mankind, but Kane clotheslines Show from the top rope. The Bulldog comes in and powerslams Kane. Now HHH gives the Bulldog the Pedigree. The Rock knocks HHH out of the ring, but then turns around and Mankind hits him with a double arm DDT. Mankind grabs Mr. Socko and applies it to The Rock. The Rock breaks it up by giving Mankind the Rock Bottom. He covers, but HHH breaks it up. Show comes in and cleans house. Show chokeslams Mankind and covers. but when the referee counts, the striking referees pull him out of the ring. Now they’re beating him up in the aisle. Austin gets up and fends them all off. In the ring, The Rock connects with a DDT on HHH. Austin comes in to count and gets a very long 2. Crowd thought that was it. The Rock delivers the Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow to HHH and covers. Austin counts, but Show pulls him out of the ring. The Bulldog comes in and hits The Rock with a chair. He goes for another shot, but Austin takes the chair away from him and gives him a sick chair shot of his own. Meanwhile, HHH hits The Rock with the Pedigree. Austin goes over and reluctantly makes the 3 count.

Postmatch: Austin tries to nicely present HHH with the title, but HHH snatches it away and taunts Austin. Austin has no choice but to give him a Stunner and then celebrate with some beers.

BL: They had a little trouble getting this match started. Everyone had to come in and do a few moves, which was a little ho-hum. However, things progressively picked up and led to a really hot finish. I’m sure the live crowd didn’t enjoy seeing HHH win, but it was probably the right call. This wasn’t a classic, but it was still an entertaining brawl. *** ¾

Final Thoughts: I won’t beat around the bush, the first two hours of this show were dreadful. Nothing redeeming in the whole bunch. It suffered from poorly developed feuds and having an undercard filled with wrestlers that don’t belong on PPV. The final two matches were a relief, but not good enough to redeem the entire show. You have to feel sorry for North Carolina wrestling fans. They get two PPVs in 1999 and they’re the two worst PPVs of the year. At least Charlotte got a pair of ok matches, unlike Greensboro.

Next time, someone’s in the kitchen with Chyna. Someone’s in the kitchen, I knoooow. Someone’s in the kitchen with Chy-na. Strumming on the old banjo (or guitar).