unexplainable decisions, I have no idea why “Road Dogg” and X-Pac got to be #1 contenders. Their tag division was stacked at this point and “Road Dogg” and X-Pac actually lost last month at Wrestlemania. But, I won’t dwell on it. Let’s get to the action. Edge and X-Pac jaw at each other before locking up. X-Pac takes down Edge and tells him to suck it. Edge comes back with a spinning heel kick. Edge and Christian double-team Road Dogg to put him in control. As Christian gives X-Pac a 10-punch count, Road Dogg comes over and knocks him down. Now DX attacks Christian on the floor. Christian makes a tag, but the referee doesn’t see it, so it isn’t allowed. Meanwhile, DX continues to double-team Christian. Christian is in real trouble now after getting hit with a Bronco Buster. Road Dogg jukes and jives and then hits his kneedrop. Road Dogg covers, but Edge breaks up the pin. Both Christian and Road Dogg try for a crossbody and they collide mid-ring. With the referee distracted, Edge hits a diving headbutt on Road Dogg. Christian covers and gets 2. DX tries to double-team again, but Christian hits them both with DDTs. Edge finally gets the hot tag and goes to work on his opponents. A powerbomb on X-Pac gets 2 when Road Dogg breaks up the pin. Road Dogg goes for the pump handle slam, but Christian stops him and tries to give him the Impaler. Road Dogg shoves him off and into the boot of X-Pac. This allows Edge to spear Road Dogg. Tori grabs Edge and when X-Pac tries to attack, he accidentally hits her. Edge rolls up X-Pac and gets 2. As the referee is tied up with Tori and Road Dogg on the floor, X-Pac hits Edge with the X-Factor. However, Christian comes in and hits X-Pac with the ring bell. He covers and the referee comes back in to make the count.

Postmatch: We see X-Pac was busted open from the bell shot.

Bottom Line: This was a pretty formulaic tag match. I’m actually surprised that they kept it so cookie-cutter. Both teams were at tweener status at this point and they could have played that up more. Instead, they played it down the line with E & C playing the faces. Which was fine, I guess, as the crowd was hot for that finish. Any time you have X-Pac get hit in the head with a foreign object, it’s going to fire up the audience. ** ¼

- We see a limo pull up to the arena and out comes The Rock. Typical Hollywood star, showing up late for his own event.

I almost forgot this belt was still around. Grandmaster Sexay had suffered an injury a few weeks ago, which is why Scotty is going after a singles title. Malenko won the Light Heavyweight title from Essa Rios, who beat Gillberg. Gillberg had been champ for over a year, but rarely defended it. Malenko already lost the title to Scotty once, but just won it back on the Smackdown before this show. Scotty pounds away on Malenko in the corner to begin. Scotty escapes a powerbomb attempt and then dropkicks Malenko. That gets 2. Scotty hits Malenko with a back suplex and is in firm control in these opening minutes. But then he starts to dance and Malenko hits him from behind. Scotty goes for a bulldog, but Malenko clotheslines him. On the floor, Malenko rams Scotty’s back into the apron. Back inside, Malenko dropkicks Scotty in the knee and then works over that body part. As Malenko wraps himself around Scotty’s leg, he uses the rope for leverage. Nice. Scotty stops Malenko’s attack with an enziguri. Malenko remains in control, however, with a baseball slide to the knee. As Malenko goes for a spinning toe hold, Scotty shoves him off and into the corner. He then rolls him up for 2. Malenko tackles Scotty and both men fall through the ropes. Scotty goes up top, but Malenko catches him and superplexes him off. A backslide by Scotty gets 2. Scotty then reverses the Texas Cloverleaf into a cradle for 2. A bulldog by Scotty is followed up by the ugh Worm. Malenko tries rolling up Scotty and putting his feet on the ropes, but the ref sees it. Malenko nails Scotty with a double underhook powerbomb for 2. A powerslam by Malenko gives him another nearfall. Scotty picks up Malenko and dumps him to the floor. Malenko goes up top, but Scotty follows him up there. Scotty tries for a superplex, but Malenko reverses it into a top rope DDT. Wow! Malenko covers and easily gets the pinfall.

BL: A nicely worked match between these two. Frankly, I was surprised by the amount of offense by Malenko. Scotty barely even got a comeback sequence. Malenko’s working of the leg was decent and he kept the moves varied enough to keep me interested. The crowd seemed somewhat bored with the match, but certainly came alive during that final move. Very impressive. *** ¼

- We see the McMahons and Triple H in the back talking with the Stooges. Vince tells them that if they are truly back to supporting him, they need to be ready. Vince says they need “all hands on deck”. Be careful Vince, Patterson might take that too literally.

No explanation is gives as to why they are fighting and my knowledge on APA history is somewhat lacking. Both teams begin by brawling outside before Bradshaw brings Bull into the ring. Bradshaw DDTs Bull and then hits him with a top rope shouldertackle. Farooq comes in and dishes out more of the same. Bull tries his springboard clothesline and somewhat flubs it. Farooq sells it though, which allows Bull to tag the Bossman. Farooq dumps the Bossman to the floor, where Bradshaw rams him into the steps. The APA are now making quick tags to work over the Bossman. The Bossman knocks down Farooq and tags Bull. Now the heels are making quick tags to wear him down. Farooq tags Bradshaw, but again it isn’t seen, so it doesn’t count. Bull clotheslines Farooq and covers, but Bradshaw breaks it up. Farooq hits Bull with a spinebuster and then tags Bradshaw. Bradshaw takes it to Bull and soon all four men are in. Bradshaw tries to go up top, but the Bossman grabs him. This allows Bull to suplex him from off the top rope. That gets 2. Bradshaw avoids a charging Bull and then nails him with the Clothesline from Hell. The Bossman comes in and breaks up that cover. The Bossman nails Farooq with his nightstick on the outside and then when the ref wasn’t looking, hits Bradshaw. Bull follows that with a top rope scissors kick to Bradshaw and covers him for the victory.

BL: Blah! This was wasteful PPV time. There wasn’t a decent story to set up why they were fighting and then there wasn’t any decent action to overcome the lack of story. In fact, the action was downright sloppy at times. The outcome was inconsequential as neither team was going near the tag titles any time soon. ½ *

- We get a couple of backstage segments, one involving the Hardy Boyz and one with the Holly cousins. All four men are involved in the Hardcore title match tonight and everybody establishes they’ll be fighting for themselves. It’s pretty sad that the Holly cousins acted more like realistic relatives than the Hardyz did.

Unlike Wrestlemania, this match is one fall to a finish. Saturn attacks Crash in the aisle and takes him into the ring. Everybody tries pinning Crash early on, but all attempts are interrupted. The fight heads to the entranceway and Crash begins to climb up one of the swinging hooks that make up the awesome Backlash staging. Matt follows him up there and knocks him down. Then he leaps down on top of a pile of his opponents. Jeff swings off one of the hooks and gives Saturn a hurricanrana. Back inside, the Hardyz double-team Crash. Then Tazz comes in and lays them out with a trash can lid. Now Hardcore abuses Crash with a 2 x 4. Tazz clotheslines Crash and Matt covers him, but Tazz breaks it up. Everybody attacks Crash on the floor, but no one can get a pinfall. Now the Hardyz take out everybody with cookie sheets. Hardcore suplexes Crash off the top rope, but Tazz prevents him from pinning him. Hardcore hits Crash with the Hollycaust on a chair and gets 2. The Hardyz bring a ladder into the ring and attack everyone with it. Matt hits a Twist of Fate on Crash and then Jeff does a swanton bomb on him from the top of the ladder. Matt covers and Jeff stops him. Now the two of them are fighting each other. Tazz locks Crash in the Tazzmission, but Saturn nails him with a street sign. As the Hardyz take out Hardcore and Saturn on the floor, Crash crawls over and covers Tazz for 3.

Postmatch: For some reason, they play the Hardyz’ music for Crash’s win.

BL: There were some decent spots in this one, but the match could have been better. Given that you had to pin Crash to win, everyone kept breaking up each other’s pinfalls all the time. That got monotonous after a while. However, having Crash retain was the right call. It makes him seem tough for withstanding it all. Also, a lot of the combatants don’t belong in the Hardcore division and thus don’t need the title. ** ½

- Johnathan Coachman interviews Shane McMahon about his refereeing duty tonight and Shane says that he’ll call it right down the middle. Hey, haven’t we heard this before? Come to think of it, given Shane’s track record as a referee, I’m curious to know if he even understands what the phrase “call it down the middle” means.

Angle was trying to reclaim gold, so he went after the tag title with Big Show. However, as of late Big Show just wants to have fun by parodying various other wrestlers. Show’s fun cost them the match, which didn’t make Kurt happy. Now he’s out to knock some sense back into the Show. By the way, this marks yet another face turn for Big Show. After Angle comes out, “Real American” starts blaring and here comes Show dressed like Hulk Hogan. Holy Shit! He’s even dubbed himself the “Showster”. Show then cuts a promo in the style of the Hulkster. Crowd is eating this up. Angle attacks him from behind, but Show immediately “Hulks up”. Show hits the big boot and the legdrop and covers, but Angle kicks out! Quote Lawler, “Nobody ever does that, do they?” Angle clips Show and then works on his leg. A “Hogan” chant breaks out now. Show comes back and chops away on Angle in the corner. One chokeslam later and that’s all she wrote for Angle.

BL: This was perhaps the best short match you can find. It’s damn funny even today with Hogan back in the good graces of Vince. Yes, I don’t like seeing Angle get jobbed out like that, but it’s forgivable here as Show should be dominant at times. A fun match all around, that thankfully did no lasting damage to Angle. ***

This came out of Bubba Ray’s infatuation with Trish Stratus. Whether it’s true love or his infatuation with putting her through a table remains to be seen. All four men brawl, but soon Bubba goes chasing after Trish. She baits him until Test blindsides him with a clothesline. Inside, a clothesline by D-Von on Albert gets 2. The Dudleyz do a nice job of isolating Albert early on. A bicycle kick by Albert on D-Von allows him to tag Test. Now T & A double-team D-Von. Test drops D-Von with a gut-wrench powerbomb. Quick tags by T & A make D-Von the half brother-in-peril. Albert press slams Test onto D-Von and that gets a nearfall. D-Von catches Test with a swinging neckbreaker and makes a tag. But…you guessed it…the ref doesn’t see it, so D-Von remains in the ring. More double-teaming from T & A ensues. Albert hits a powerbomb on D-Von and gets 2. Crowd begins to ask for tables. D-Von manages to suplex Albert off the second rope and then tags Bubba. Bubba takes it to both T & A. A reverse neckbreaker by the Dudleyz on Test gets 2. Albert hits a spinebuster on Bubba, but when Test goes for a big elbow, D-Von pulls Bubba out of the way. The Dudleyz go for the 3-D on Test, but Bubba suddenly becomes distracted by Trish on the apron. Test then hits Bubba with a big boot and covers him for a 3 count.

Postmatch: The Dudleyz clear T & A out of the ring. Then Bubba grabs Trish as D-Von sets up the table. Trish kisses Bubba and he temporarily lets her go. He quickly grabs her again and then gives her a top rope powerbomb through the table. J.R. says it best when responding to Bubba’s reaction, “Give him a cigarette”. Trish does a stretcher job afterwards.

BL: This was a win-win here. T & A get a little rub by beating the superior team. However, the Dudleyz get what they want by putting Trish through a table. The action was again formulaic. However, since the payoff to the action was so good, you tend to let the by-the-books action off with a pass. In my opinion, T & A never got enough opportunities like this to showcase what they had. ** ¾

- As we see Trish being rolled to an ambulance, Eddie Guerrero and Chyna drive up to the arena. They are just arriving from Eddie’s “prom” since he just completed his GED. A referee tells Eddie his match is now, so he drives his low rider to the ring and strips off his tuxedo jacket and shirt. Classic Eddie stuff right here.

Eddie won the European title from Chris Jericho the night after Wrestlemania when Chyna turned on Jericho. Chyna later revealed that she was won over by Eddie’s “Latino Heat”. In the weeks after, Eddie began teaming with new superstar, Essa Rios. However, Essa’s manager, Lita, kept costing them matches with her high flying moves, so now Eddie wants revenge. Eddie dropkicks Essa to begin. Now Eddie tries working over Essa’s arm. Essa tries climbing the ropes to escape the hold, but flubs it. With Eddie on the outside, Essa launches himself out of the ring. However, Eddie sidesteps him and Essa just hits the floor. Then Eddie throws Essa into the steps. On the outside, Chyna gives Essa an uppercut and then tosses him back into the ring. Essa comes back with a missile dropkick. That gets 2. Essa monkey flips Eddie, but Eddie comes back by dumping Essa to the floor. As Eddie goes for a powerbomb on the floor, Lita climbs up top. However, Chyna shoves her off and into the announce table. Essa escapes the powerbomb and then moonsaults off the apron onto Eddie. Back in the ring, Essa dropkicks Eddie back to the outside. Then Essa does a tope con hilo out of the corner and lands onto Eddie on the floor. Wow! Essa goes back up top, but Chyna crotches him. Then Eddie superplexes him. After hitting a brainbuster, Eddie goes up top. However, Essa gets up and armdrags him to the mat. Essa then goes up and tries a moonsault, but Eddie gets his knees up. Eddie then does an airplane spin into a neckbreaker. That combination is enough for Eddie to pin him for the 3 count.

Postmatch: Essa dropkicks Eddie and Chyna. Then Lita comes in and rips Chyna’s prom dress off, leaving her in her bra and panties. However, Chyna doesn’t seem to mind and Eddie likes what he sees.

BL: This is a tough one to rate. They were shooting for the moon with all the high-risk maneuvers they tried, but they often fell short. I would have rather seen them do a regular match with a handful of high spots mixed in, as opposed to the kamikaze style they went with. After all that high-flying action, the finish seemed to come out of left field and was rather flat. I’d complain more, but Essa wasn’t really European title-worthy in the first place. *** ½

- Coachman chats with HHH and co. After HHH gets done telling us how great he is, Vince tells us that Austin might have run into some transportation difficulties and may not show up here at all tonight. I’m thinking “transportation difficulties” may be code for arrested for DUI.

- Chris Benoit tells Michael Cole that Chris Jericho compares him to a robot. But Benoit says the difference between him and a robot, is that he has emotions and will enjoy beating him tonight. He says all of this with no emotion whatsoever. Oh the irony!

The two lockup to begin, but no one can gain an advantage. The two do some chain wrestling and exchange nearfalls. Now they engage in a chop-off. Benoit connects with two German suplexes, but can’t get the third. Benoit dumps Jericho to the floor, but when he goes for the tope, Jericho moves out of the way. Ouch. Benoit whips Jericho to the steps, but he leaps over them. However, when Jericho turns around, Benoit dropkicks the steps into him. In the ring, Benoit begins to work over Jericho’s midsection. A snap suplex by Benoit gets 2. Now Benoit locks Jericho in an abdominal stretch. Jericho escapes and knocks down Benoit with an elbow. Jericho connects with the Lionsault, but his midsection hurts too much for him to cover. He finally rolls over and gets 2. Benoit comes back by laying in some stiff chops on Jericho. Jericho drops Benoit with a spinning heel kick. Jericho’s crappy bulldog gets a nearfall. Jericho drapes Benoit over the top rope, but when he goes for the springboard dropkick, Benoit swats him down. Benoit climbs up top, but Jericho crotches him. He follows it up with a back suplex, but Benoit reverses it and lands on top of Jericho. Benoit covers and gets 2. Jericho escapes a backslide and powerbombs Benoit. He picks him up and gives him a second. Benoit reverses the pinfall into the Crippler Crossface. However, Jericho makes it to the ropes. Benoit tries locking it on again, but Jericho reverses it into the Walls of Jericho. Now Benoit makes it to the ropes. Jericho goes for a flying forearm, but Benoit ducks and Jericho hits the referee instead. Benoit grabs his belt and blasts Jericho with it. He covers and gets a long 2 count. After suplexing Jericho, Benoit goes for the diving headbutt. Jericho moves and Benoti hits his head on the belt. The referee sees the belt and disqualifies Jericho.

Postmatch: Jericho puts the Walls of Jericho on the referee after that lousy decision. Also, replays show that Jericho held the belt up for Benoit to hit, which is why the referee made the call.

BL: Damnit, what a crappy finish. On one hand, it’s nice when I don’t remember how a match ends. On the other hand, it sucks when the finish is the one that we got. These two were having a hell of a match up until this point. As I’ve said with other great feuds, “More, more, more!” These two just know how to work with each other and it showed here. About the only bright spot with a finish like this is that we’re guaranteed more matches between the two to come. **** ¼

This is the natural result of HHH and Vince screwing The Rock out of the title at Wrestlemania. To stack the deck here, HHH is going to have Stephanie and Vince in his corner, plus Shane as the referee. To even the odds (and build the buyrate) Linda McMahon put “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in The Rock’s corner. Austin hasn’t been seen since being run over last November at Survivor Series. Vince has tried making The Rock and the fans believe that Austin can’t be trusted. Now that he hasn’t shown up, who knows what will happen. The match begins with a slugfest between the two. HHH goes for an early Pedigree, but The Rock backdrops out of it. As Shane argues with The Rock, HHH hits him with a neckbreaker. HHH sidesteps The Rock and tosses him to the floor. On the outside, HHH drops him across the announce table. Then, Vince throws The Rock into the post. HHH gets a nearfall out of that. HHH catches The Rock coming off the ropes with a knee. A kneedrop by HHH gets a nearfall. HHH locks The Rock in a sleeper. The Rock fight out of it, but HHH drops him with a clothesline. HHH mounts The Rock in the corner, but The Rock drops him across the top turnbuckle. A double clothesline drops both men. As The Rock tries to get up, Vince nails him with the belt. HHH covers and almost gets 2. The Rock starts to mount a comeback and whips HHH out of the ring. HHH appears to have legitimately hurt his arm on that bump. On the outside, The Rock rams HHH’s head into the announce table. Back inside, HHH hits The Rock with a facebuster. The Rock nails HHH with a DDT and covers, but Shane refuses to count. The Rock gets up and knocks Shane to the outside. On the floor, HHH whips The Rock into the steps. HHH tries to give The Rock the Pedigree on the Spanish announce table, but The Rock low blows him. As The Rock tries to give HHH the Rock Bottom on the table, Shane gets up and protests. So The Rock gives HHH and Shan a Rock Bottom together through the table. Cool spot. As The Rock brings HHH back into the ring, Vince attacks him. The Rock goes after Vince, but HHH lowblows him. HHH connects with the Pedigree, but there’s no referee. Pat Patterson comes out in a referee shirt, but can only get a 2 count. The Stooges are now putting the boots to The Rock. Now Vince grabs a chair and hits The Rock with it. All of a sudden…CRASH…here comes Austin and man does he have a gut. He has a chair and he takes out everybody. Now Linda McMahon comes out with Earl Hebner, who was recently “fired” by Vince. Stephanie approaches Linda, and Linda shoves her down. Meanwhile in the ring, The Rock hits HHH with a spinebuster and then follows it up with the People’s Elbow. The Rock covers and Hebner comes in and makes the dramatic 3 count. The eruption for The Rock’s win is one of the loudest I’ve ever heard.

Postmatch: As The Rock celebrates, Austin comes back out. You think the two might go at it, but instead, they both celebrate with some brewskies.

BL: Wow, what a finish! The crowd reaction was unreal and it should be. After the letdown finish at Wrestlemania, this was the cathartic finish that the fans needed. What makes all of this even sweeter was the good action we got before Austin showed up. It wasn’t anything fancy, just simple hard-hitting action from the two. To some, this may seem overbooked, but I thought they played up all aspects of this match perfectly and led it to the hot finish that we saw. Good stuff all around. **** ¼

Final Thoughts: You know, up until the last two matches, everything barely got above an average rating. But I’ll be damned if this wasn’t an extremely fun show. Most matches had some crowd-pleasing moments and the only time the show dragged was during the APA/Bossman & Bull match. I have very little to complain about this show and frankly, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t watch it. Sure, it may not be historically significant, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining three hours if you’re a wrestling fan.

Next time, I learn if I can become an iron man by having to endure looking at Shawn Michaels’ banana shorts for one hour.