Emanating from the Ice Palace in Tampa, FL

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

Crash recently introduced another Holly cousin, Molly. Being a new female in the WWF, she was naturally thrown into a feud with Trish. Oddly, Blackman is paired with them instead of the more likely choice, cousin Hardcore. After taking out the APA last month, T & A have now started up the T & APA. Cute. Crash tries a high crossbody onto Albert, but is caught. However, Blackman dropkicks Crash, to give him a nearfall. Trish comes in and tries to kick Crash low, but accidentally nails Albert instead. Molly gets tagged in and Trish flees. Test nails Crash with a big boot. T & A now make quick tags to work over Crash. Test collides into Crash to knock both men down. Trish tags herself in, but misses an elbow on Crash. Crash tags Molly and the women get it on. Test yanks Molly down by the hair from the apron to stop her momentum. Molly is able to tag Blackman, but the referee didn’t see it. This allows the heels to triple-team Molly. The faces come in for the save and soon everyone clears out of the ring, but the women. Trish bulldogs Molly and gets 2. Molly delivers a sunset flip to Trish from the top rope and pins her for 3.

Bottom Line: This was a fun little match, but nothing special. They kept the action moving, which is always nice. And of course, anytime the women were in there, the crowd enjoyed the catfighting. However, without more over teams or a decent backstory, this match become utterly forgettable. * ¾

- Backstage, Angle comes up to Edge and Christian. Edge and Christian figure Angle wants their help in his match against the Undertaker tonight, so they try coming up with bogus excuses as to why they can’t. However, Angle is confident about his match and just wants to know if they want to get a couple of beers with him later in celebration. Non-alcoholic for Angle, of course. Come on Kurt, non-alcoholic beer reeks of total heinosity.

- Earlier today, Lo Down and Tiger Ali Singh had difficult entering the building because they weren’t on the security list. It’s interesting to see this anti-Arab angle be attempted before 9/11 even occurred.

This is a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. It’s weird how the Outlaws are on the same team, yet Gunn is treated as if he’s on a higher level than Road Dogg now. That’s probably because Road Dogg has been slumming it with newcomer K-Kwik (currently Ron Killings) in a lame rapper tag team gimmick. Speaking of slumming, what did Benoit do to deserve being shunted this far down the card? Man, Gunn’s new theme music is so cheesy. Dig that saxophone. Yeah!! Gunn and Saturn start off by trying to show off their power. A powerslam by Chyna on Saturn gets 2. Chyna goes for the handspring elbow, but Saturn catches her. She, however, comes back with a mule kick and then decks Eddie on the apron. Chyna plants Saturn with a DDT and covers, but Malenko breaks it up. Everybody comes in and brawls. In the confusion, Eddie nails Chyna with the Intercontinental belt. Saturn covers and gets the pinfall. HEELS UP 4-3. Road Dogg has been isolated by the Radicalz now. The Radicalz focus their attack on Road Dogg’s knee. Road Dogg catches Eddie up top and superplexes him. Gunn gets the hot tag, but quickly is mauled by the Radicalz in their corner. Gunn fights out of it and isolates Eddie. Gunn press slams Eddie and nearly drops him on his head. That’s two months in a row that’s happened. Maybe you should look for a new move Billy. Anyway, Gunn hits his sleeper slam on Eddie and pins him for 3. TIED UP 3-3. K-Kwik comes in and does some nice fast-paced action with Malenko. Benoit comes in and receives some of the same. All of a sudden, Benoit hits K-Kwik with a German suplex that absolutely folds him up like an accordion. Wow! That easily gets 3. HEELS UP 3-2. Road Dogg comes back in and once again is dominated by the Radicalz. Saturn catches Road Dogg with a Northern Lights suplex and gets the pinfall. HEELS UP 3-1. And Gunn’s all alone. I love it. On the outside, heel miscommunication leads to Saturn kicking Benoit. Gunn then goes inside, gives Malenko a Fameasser and ends his night. HEELS UP 2-1. Gunn hits Saturn with a weak looking jackhammer and covers, but Benoit breaks it up. Benoit delivers the diving headbutt and only gets 2. Come on! Gunn whips Benoit, who collides with Saturn. As Gunn tries to suplex Benoit back into the ring, Saturn trips him and then holds him down as Benoit pins him for 3. Survivors: Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn

BL: They made the absolute right call in having the Radicalz go over, but can’t we just job out Billy Gunn cleanly? I’m not quite sure why Saturn survived with Benoit, but it’s not that big of a deal. The action was again decent, but suffered from not enough Benoit. Although, I don’t blame him. He probably didn’t feel like getting injured at the hands of “The One”. **

- Lillian Garcia tries to talk to The Rock, but he blows her off. Maybe he’s mad that she wouldn’t let him taste some of her pie.

- Michael Cole chats with Chris Jericho about his match against Kane. Jericho says he thought this match was originally about spilled coffee and he was ready to have a Sanka on a Pole match. Ha! I would have actually paid to see that.

Kane’s power gives him an early advantage, as he hammers Jericho in the corner. Jericho dropkicks Kane to the floor and then fucks up a corkscrew plancha, as he trips on the ropes. The two brawl around ringside and Kane throws Jericho into the steps. As Kane tries to get back into the ring, Jericho hits him with the springboard dropkick. Jericho places the steps against Kane’s head and kicks them. Kane catches Jericho coming off the top rope and slams him for 2. Kane now dominates Jericho, but doesn’t do anything particularly interesting. With Jericho down Kane goes and removes a turnbuckle pad. Jericho blocks Kane’s attempt to ram his face into the corner. Jericho tries fighting back, but Kane won’t allow him. On the outside, Kane press slams Jericho back into the ring. Kane goes up top, but Jericho crotches him. Jericho climbs up with him, but Kane shoves him down. Kane goes for a top rope clothesline, but Jericho dropkicks him mid-air. The two now slug it out. Jericho knocks Kane down and then hits a missile dropkick. Kane goes for Snake Eyes, but Jericho escapes and rams him into the exposed corner. That gets 2. Now Jericho locks Kane in the Walls of Jericho, but on him it’s more like a Boston Crab. Kane manages to grab the ropes, but Jericho pulls him back. Kane manages to escape and kick Jericho to the mat. Jericho hits the crappy bulldog and it looks even crappier when Kane sells it. Jericho hits the Lionsault, but Kane grabs him by the throat as he came down. Kane gets up and chokeslams Jericho. Kane covers and gets the 3 count.

BL: Wow, what a mismatch this was. When they weren’t botching moves, all they were doing was punching and kicking each other. This was slow and ugly. Given that Kane dominated Jericho in the build-up to this match, I’m surprised he went over cleanly. It must be time for Kane’s semi-annual push. * ¼

- Terri Runnels comes in The Radicalz lockerroom. She tells them that she just ran into Triple H and he says that he’ll meet up with them later. At that announcement, Benoit starts laughing maniacally. I’m not sure what that’s about, unless the laughter was directed at the way Terri delivered her lines.

Surely there has to be a better opponent for Regal than this. Holly slugs away on Regal to begin. Regal tries to gain the advantage with some mat wrestling. Regal grabs Holly and rams his shoulder into the post. Regal then focuses on the injured arm. Holly comes back with a high crossbody for 2. Regal slows down Holly’s momentum with a mule kick. Crowd is absolutely dead right now. Regal ties Holly into the ropes, but Holly manages to kick Regal in the head. Holly takes Regal to the floor and rams his head into the steps. Holly then grabs the European belt and nails Regal in the head with it. That draws the easy DQ.

BL: I commend Regal for trying to introduce some psychology to the match by working on the arm that Holly had broken a few months ago. However, psychology has no place in a Hardcore Holly match. The crowd was bored to tears and I wasn’t overly entertained either. Any goodwill Regal established with the psychology was ruined with the crap DQ finish. *

- Trish Stratus approaches Angle and says she heard Stephanie isn’t here tonight. Trish says that if Angle needs any “assistance”, she can help him out. Angle tells her he doesn’t need Test or Albert because he can defeat the Undertaker on his own. Oh Kurt, how can you be so blind to these advances?

If you read last month’s review, you know why this match is happening. The Rock sprints to the ring and immediately attacks Rikishi. The Rock grabs a chair, but when he goes to use it, the referee takes it from him. As The Rock argues with him, Rikishi gives him a superkick. Rikishi elbows The Rock and then gives him a legdrop. Rikishi begins to work over The Rock’s midsection, which Rikishi injured last week with the sledgehammer. The rock tries to come back, but Rikishi drops him with a sidewalk slam. That gets 2. As Rikishi charges, The Rock tosses him to the floor. On the outside, the two brawl and use everything around them to their advantage. Rikishi whips The Rock into the referee to knock him down. Rikishi goes under the ring and grabs a sledgehammer. Before he can use it, The Rock nails him with a right hand. The Rock then connects with the Rock Bottom. The Rock slowly crawls over and by the time he covers, he can only get 2. The Rock slugs away on Rikishi, but Rikishi knocks him down with a headbutt to the chest. Again The Rock fights back and again Rikishi stops him. This time with a Samoan Drop. Rikishi just sits on The Rock and gets a nearfall. Rikishi splashes The Rock in the corner and then gives him the Stinkface. Wow! The Rock, however, springs out of the corner and clotheslines Rikishi. Rikishi misses a superkick and The Rock gives him a spinebuster. The Rock then delivers the People’s Elbow. The Rock slowly crawls over, covers, and pins Rikishi for the victory.

Postmatch: Rikishi superkicks The Rock and then gives him four Banzai Drops.

BL: This was a fun little brawl and worked well in the midcard. If it’s one of the top two matches, it comes off as disappointing. But in the middle of the show, it’s very enjoyable. I would have preferred if The Rock had won with something other than the People’s Elbow, but aside from that this was enjoyable. After being silent during the last match, the crowd really got into this one. *** ¼

- Triple H and The Radicalz watch as Stone Cold enters the arena. Mick Foley then enters their lockerroom and says that The Radicalz will be banned from ringside and the match will be no disqualification. Everyone seems fine by those announcements. If I was Mick, I would be worried that he didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for by them.

Ivory is the latest person to join the Right to Censor and defeated Lita for the belt. This is the subsequent rematch. Lita comes in and immediately takes down Ivory. Lita drops Ivory with an enziguri. A clothesline by Lita gets 2. Somehow Lita has been busted open by the eye. A legdrop and an elbow by Ivory are good enough for a 2 count. Lita comes back with an enziguri. Now Steven Richards has made his way down to ringside. Lita dumps Ivory to the outside and then delivers a high crossbody to both of them on the floor. Back inside, another high crossbody by Lita gets a nearfall. Lita goes for the moonsault, but Steven pulls Ivory out of the way. Ivory grabs her belt and tries to use it, but Lita ducks and gives her a back suplex. Lita does the moonsault, but Ivory holds up the belt and Lita lands on it. Ivory then covers Lita and gets the pinfall.

BL: In some way, this was worse than I expected and in other ways, better than I expected. Lita being busted open added some grittiness to the match. However, there was too much sloppiness from both ladies to make this exciting or interesting. The women’s division was starting to improve, but this match indicates they have a long way to go. * ½

- After Jonathan Coachman gives us an update on The Rock (Evidently he’s having trouble breathing. Well duh!), we cut elsewhere and see Jericho blindside Kane. He continues his assault until referees pull him off of Kane. Geez, they usually wait until RAW to reignite feuds. Maybe this was a legit shoot because Jericho was so upset that Kane gave him such a crappy match.

Angle tries to review his first year accomplishments, but Taker interrupts. How rude! Taker, for some reason, is wearing these hideous looking pants. To give you an idea of how stupid they look, I’ll just say that if he were wearing Zubaz pants, it would be an improvement. Before the match, Taker grabs a chair and tosses it to Angle. The referee tries to stop him, but Angle uses it anyways when Taker wasn’t looking. Since the match hadn’t started, there is no DQ call for that. Angle slugs away on Taker, but he quickly recovers. Taker legdrops Angle and covers, but pulls him up at 2. Taker elbows Angle, covers and again picks him up. Is this a repeat of Fully Loaded? Taker connects with Old School and goes for a chokeslam, but Angle bails to the outside. Angle gets Taker to choose him and then attacks him. Angle connects with a German suplex and gets 2. After clotheslining Taker to the floor, Angle tries to jump on him. Taker catches him, however and rams his back into the post. Taker does it again to put Angle in trouble. Taker goes for a big boot, but misses. This allows Angle to work on Taker’s knee. Taker catches Angle with an armbar takedown. All of a sudden, Edge and Christian come down to ringside. Angle taps, but the referee is tied up with Edge and Christian. Taker approaches Christian, who drops him against the top rope. Taker goes to chokeslam Angle, but Angle kicks him in the knee. Taker goes to the outside and attacks Edge and Christian. Taker comes back in and chokeslams Angle. He covers, but the referee is preoccupied with getting Edge and Christian to leave. By the time he comes back, Angle kicks out at 2. Taker argues with the referee, which allows Angle to roll him up for 2. Angle bails to the floor, but then grabs Taker’s leg and rams it across the apron. Back inside, Angle puts Taker into a figure four leglock. Taker manages to reverse it and Angle has to grab the ropes. A powerslam by Angle gets 2. Angle escapes a Tombstone attempt and goes back to work on Angle’s knee. Now Angle applies the figure four to Taker around the ringpost. Sweet. Back inside, Taker stops Angle with a hot shot into the corner. Angle tries for a Tombstone, but Taker reverses it into one himself. However, Angle escapes to the apron. Taker comes after him, but Angle goes and hides under the ring. Taker pulls him out, takes him into the ring and gives him the Last Ride. The referee counts 1, 2…but then stops. Taker confronts the referee, when all of a sudden, Angle pops out from under the ring. Whaaa? He comes in and rolls up Taker for the shocking 3 count to retain his title. Evidently the man Taker grabbed was a double (It was later revealed that the double was Angle’s brother, Eric).

Postmatch: We see Angle run outside, get into his rental car and get the hell out of dodge.

BL: Criticize me if you like, but I enjoyed the finish. Do I wish Angle would have gotten a stronger victory? Absolutely! But given how much Eric looked like Kurt, the finish they did here looked effective. Before the finish, Taker gave Angle a little bit more than he did at Fully Loaded, but he still treated him like a joke, which isn’t right. The match worked well enough, especially since it wasn’t the main event. I just wish they would have portrayed Angle in a more legitimate fashion. ***

This is another Survivor Series elimination match. Over the last month, the bookers must have gone insane because somehow the Goodfather and Bull Buchanan are your current tag team champs. For the love of God, why? Bull and Bubba kick things off for this match. Everybody gets a chance to come in before anything of substance happens. The Dudleyz and the Hardyz work together to DDT RTC. Then the Hardyz remove their shirts to reveal camo shirts underneath. I always appreciate efforts to show team unity. And this is better than the Dudleyz giving their hair 10,000 colors, that’s for sure. However, after the Hardyz hit Edge with Poetry in Motion, they remove their camo shirts. So much for team unity. Matt goes up for the legdrop, but Val shoves him off. Then Edge hits Matt with the Edge-o-Matic and pins him for 3. HEELS UP 4-3. A cheap shot by Bull from the apron, allows Christian to hit D-Von with the Impaler and pin him. HEELS UP 4-2. Bubba comes in and takes it to Christian. After Jeff gets into trouble, Bubba gets a tag and takes care of all the heels. Edge accidentally spears Bull and Bubba covers him for 3. HEELS UP 3-2. Then Bubba hits Edge with a full nelson bomb. He covers, but Christian comes off the top rope with a splash. Bubba moves and Christian hits Edge. Bubba dumps Christian and then is able to pin Edge. TIED UP 2-2. In amongst a brawl, Christian shoves Bubba into the Goodfather, who gives him a Death Valley Driver. That’s enough to put him away. HEELS UP 2-1. Heel miscommunication leads to Jeff hitting Christian with the Swanton Bomb and pinning him. TIED UP 1-1. The Goodfather misses the Ho Train and then when he tries to clothesline Jeff, he accidentally clotheslines Val instead. Jeff falls on top of him and covers for the victory. Survivor: Jeff Hardy

Postmatch: The RTC put the boots to Jeff, but Matt and the Dudleyz come back out for the save. The whole melee ends with Matt legdropping Val through one table and Bubba powerbombs Steven Richards through another.

BL: This more served to get these teams on the show than to advance any storyline. The action was certainly fast-paced, but the eliminations came too quickly to mean anything. It was clear that the Goodfather and Bull were out of their league in there with those other three teams. Being used as a filler between main events, this worked perfectly fine. ** ½

It was revealed in the past few weeks that it was HHH who ordered Rikishi to run over Austin. I’ll try to explain later why this was dumb move. The two slug it out to begin with Austin winning the exchange. A thumb to the eye by HHH slows Austin. HHH rams Austin into his knee, but Austin comes back with the Lou Thesz Press and F U elbow. The two now begin to brawl down the aisle and toward the entrance. In the aisle, HHH blocks a suplex attempt and delivers one of his own. Back at ringside, Austin whips HHH into the steps. Austin grabs one of the TV monitors and nails HHH with it. That busts HHH wide open. Austin grabs the ringbell, but HHH attacks him before he can use it. Austin goes for a Stunner, but HHH reverses it into a neckbreaker. A clothesline by HHH gets 2. Austin stops HHH’s momentum with a spinebuster, but misses an elbow from the second rope. On the outside, HHH tries to Pedigree Austin on the steps, but Austin backdrops him through the announce table. Then Austin slams HHH onto the remnants of the table. Austin takes HHH into the ring and HHH begs mercy. Austin has none and stops a mudhole in him. Austin connects with the Stunner, but opts not to cover. Austin grabs a chair and puts it around HHH’s ankle. Austin stops, reconsiders, and then puts the chair around HHH’s neck. Before he can do any Pillmanizing, HHH bails to the outside. The two now brawl all the way backstage. Once back there, the Radicalz come and attack Austin. The referees try to separate the Radicalz from Austin, as HHH heads outside and gets into a car. Benoit brawls with Austin to the outside, in order to lure him into HHH’s trap. Benoit flees, but Austin doesn’t follow. HHH tells Benoit to find Austin, so he heads back into the arena. All of a sudden, HHH’s car is attacked by a forklift driven by Austin. Austin lifts HHH’s car high in the air and then dumps it upside down onto the ground. End show.

BL: Before I get to the match, let me expound on the HHH heel turn. This was not a smart move in my opinion. It either needed to happen immediately or not at all. With the way it went down, it unnecessarily added Rikishi into the main event and ruined HHH’s decent face run. It especially killed the HHH/Stephanie/Angle storyline, which needed a better resolution. This was unnecessary and very forced because HHH didn’t want to be a face. As for the match, this was a solid brawl until the ending. The brawl was as you would expect with Austin dominating and HHH getting a handful of shots here and there. The ending was yet another Hollywood finish that wasn’t necessary. In reality, HHH would be dead from what happened, yet no one believed that actually happened. The fans would have been perfectly happy with Austin giving him the Stunner and pinning him for the 1-2-3. A finish like that just insults the viewers’ intelligence. *** ½

Final Thoughts: Nothing on this show came close to the quality of the final two matches on the last show, yet this one doesn’t seem as bad. I think the main reason is that there weren’t as many failed expectations with this show. There wasn’t as many key storyline points riding on this show as with No Mercy. This one still doesn’t have a lot of great wrestling, but doesn’t provide a lot of huge disappointments either. The biggest criticism you can give this match is that it is one of the big 5, yet it seems like a throwaway show. As a result, this gets a cop-out, thumbs in the middle.