Your commentators are Jim Ross and Paul Heyman

Bottom Line: A far from ideal opener. You had a flimsy excuse for a premise to this match and an uninteresting babyface. The only thing that kept the crowd into it at all was Christian’s heel tactics, which were continuing to improve each week. As for the action, these two were just going through the motions. ¾ *

- Stone Cold walks into his dressing room and the rest of his team is their wanting to know if he’s turning on them after he smiled at Vince McMahon on Smackdown. Austin rants and raves and tells them to stop being paranoid. For most of them, it should be easy. However, it might be a little bit more difficult for RVD.

- Vince and Linda McMahon are talking (I guess they’re back on speaking terms again) when they are interrupted by Michael Cole. Cole wants Vince’s thoughts on the prospect of them all losing their jobs if Team WWF loses tonight. I was hoping Vince would say that Cole would be losing his job regardless of who wins tonight, but instead he rambles on about how sure he is that the WWF will win in his usual blustery manner. Afterwards, Vince is stopped by William Regal, who gives him a thorough tongue lashing and says he can’t wait to see Vince publicly humiliated. He does this in a most polite manner. He’s English, after all, you know.

This is the blowoff to the feud between former mentor and protégé. Tajiri immediately lays into Regal with some stiff kicks. Regal stops him with a rolling Samoan drop. After some confusion over what to do, Tajiri finally locks Regal into the Tarantula. The handspring elbow by Tajiri gets 2. Regal’s nose has been busted open by one of Tajiri’s kicks. Regal tosses Tajiri to the ropes and he gets caught in a hangman. With him trapped, Regal tugs on him to choke him further. After being freed, Tajiri gives Regal an arm drag and another hard kick. Regal catches Tajiri with a double underhook suplex and shockingly pins him for 3.

Postmatch: Regal gives Tajiri another double underhook suplex for good measure. Then Torrie Wilson comes out to check on Tajiri and Regal gives her a double underhook suplex as well.

BL: I certainly wasn’t expecting that outcome. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was an unplanned finish because there was some communication problems throughout the match and then the whole thing ended abruptly. For the short time they were in there, the action was pretty stiff. However, it was clear that this was a mismatch in styles. * ¼

- As Test checks himself out in the mirror, Stacy Keibler walks in. Test flirts with her and she reciprocates it. When is this guy ever going to learn not to get involved with divas?

- Edge chats with Jonathan Coachman and mocks Test for being dumped by so many women. See, I’m not the only one who noticed it. Then he makes fun of the way Test speaks. Now that’s just plain hypocritical.

After tonight, these two belts will become one…at least until they want to bring the absorbed one back again. A lockup between the two goes nowhere. A crossbody by Edge only gets a one count. Test takes down Edge with a clothesline. On the floor, Test repeatedly drops Edge across the guardrail. Edge comes back with a hiptoss and dropkick. A baseball slide by Edge sends Test into the barricade. Back inside, Test catches a charging Edge and drops him across the top rope. Test gives Edge some rough turnbuckle treatment. Edge avoids a charge by Test and then hits him with a missile dropkick. That gets 2. A tilt-a-whirl slam by Test gets a nearfall. Edge boots Test, but then misses a high crossbody. Test puts Edge up top and then joins him. Edge blocks Test’s attempt at a move and then goes for a top rope sunset flip. Test, however, hangs on to the ropes. Test then tries a high-risk move, but Edge dropkicks him in mid-air. A slugfest breaks out and it’s won by Edge. Edge escapes the pump handle slam and hits Test with the Edge-o-Matic for 2. After a few reversals, Test catches Edge with a spear. That gets 2 ¾. Test misses the big boot and Edge misses the spear. Now Test connects with the pump handle slam and gets another nearfall. Test tries for a powerbomb, but Edge reverses it into a hurricanrana. Edge follows it up with a spear, but can only get a 2 count. Edge tries for his DDT, but Test reverses it and goes for a full nelson slam. However, Edge counters that with a roll up and pins him to become the unified champion.

BL: This thing really dragged early on. It was if the two were trying to dance, but neither wanted to lead. As the match came to a close, things picked up with all of the nearfalls. However, while it was more interesting, it wasn’t terribly creative. It did do a nice job of illustrating the desire both men had to become the unified champion. ** ¼

- Stephanie McMahon is talking to Kurt Angle and starts freaking out that the Alliance might lose. She says that if they lose, she will become a “normal person”. Believe me Steph, with your massive fake jugs, no one will confuse you for a normal person.

- Jeff Hardy and Lita are having a powwow about Matt’s behavior, when he pops out of the lockerroom and hears them. He attributes his behavior on the stress over possibly losing his job. That seems to appease them and then the Hardyz leave for their match. Meanwhile, Lita walks into the dressing room, just as Trish Stratus walks out. Hmmm, the plot thickens.

Matt sidesteps a charging Bubba and then hammers away on him. For some reason, they’re adhering to tag rules here. Bubba catches Jeff with a sidewalk slam for 2. Matt gets D-Von in a backslide for 2, but D-Von comes right back with a reverse DDT. The Dudleyz have now cut the ring in half as they work over Matt. A reverse DDT by Matt allows him to tag Jeff. Jeff takes it to the Dudleyz and then Matt comes back in to double-team. Jeff hits Poetry in Motion on both Dudleyz. Both Hardyz climb up, but the Dudleyz bring them back down. Bubba attempts to escape, but Matt slams him back to the mat. He then covers Bubba and gets 2. The Dudleyz take Matt and flapjack him into the cage. Bubba launches a charging Jeff, who hops onto the cage and tries to climb out. Bubba grabs him, puts him on his shoulders and then has D-Von deliver the Doomsday Device. The Dudleyz hit a reverse neckbreaker on Jeff and cover, but Matt breaks up the pin. Now both Hardyz receive some rough cage treatment. It’s all Dudleyz right now. Both Dudleyz try for high-risk moves on Jeff, but neither man connects. Matt then comes off the top rope and connects with a double clothesline. Matt gets a nearfall on each Dudley. Now the Hardyz try high-risk moves and both of them connect on Bubba. Matt tries to escape, but D-Von grabs him and hangs him upside down from the top of the cage. The Dudleyz then deliver the Wassup Drop to Jeff. Bubba orders Stacy to get a table. When she does, Nick Patrick comes over to protest. Stacy flirts with him and then steals the key from his pocket. So she opens the door and puts the table in the ring. The Dudleyz attempt to 3-D Jeff through the table, but Matt breaks it up. Matt begins to climb out, but Bubba grabs him. Matt manages to shove him off and then escapes. Jeff is left in a 2-on-1 situation. Jeff gives D-Von some rough turnbuckle treatment and then begins to climb. With D-Von on the table, Jeff thinks twice about escaping. Instead, he tries for a swanton bomb from the top of the cage. However, D-Von moves and Jeff just hits the table. Bubba crawls over and pins Jeff for the victory.

Postmatch: Jeff does the stretcher job

BL: An ordinary match with a strong finish. For most of the match, the cage was more of a restriction than an asset. The teams tried to do their standard match and barely made use of the cage. While all the action was good, it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen a thousand times before. What was interesting was the finish. This would be the first time we’ve seen Jeff’s daredevil tendencies produce negative consequences. This would lead to an interesting, albeit aborted feud between the two. ***

- The loser at WWF New York is…loveable loser Mick Foley, who was the commissioner at this time. He explains that he would like to be at the PPV tonight, but Vince ordered him to be in New York instead. Some of his comments sound shooty and I wonder if Foley’s disappearance shortly after this was the result of a certain Nature Boy being brought back in.

- Test bumps into Scotty 2 Hotty backstage and questions whether he’s in the upcoming battle royal. Scotty confirms this, to which Test replies by jumping him. Test leaves Scotty lying and tells him he’s not in it anymore. Let’s all start a “Thank you Test” chant.

The winner of this is guaranteed a job for the next year, regardless of the outcome of the main event. In other words, whoever wins here, the opposite side will win the main event. Otherwise, this whole thing is a moot point. As the Alliance members come out, Test walks out with them. There are 22 participants total involved in this. Let’s go over the eliminations: Shawn Stasiak immediately charges at Bradshaw and gets thrown out of the ring. Farooq catches The Hurricane coming off the top rope and then Bradshaw clotheslines him to the floor. Albert press slams Perry Saturn out of the ring. Then Test clotheslines Farooq to the outside. As DDP poses, he’s clotheslined to the floor by Chuck Palumbo. Palumbo then receives superkicks from Justin Credible and Lance Storm to knock him out of the ring. Hugh Morrus and Chavo Guerrero run down to the ring and eliminate Credible and Funaki. Now they get rid of Raven. Albert heaves Morrus out of the ring and then Billy Gunn press slams Guerrero onto him. As Tommy Dreamer and Crash Holly battle, Tazz dumps them both out. An enziguri by Storm knocks out Spike Dudley. Bubba gives Steven Richards the Clothesline from Hell and then heaves him to the floor. Tazz jaws at Paul Heyman, which allows Gunn to dump him out. Grrrr. Test and Billy Kidman team up to eliminate Albert. Bradshaw catches Kidman and gives him a fallaway slam all the way to the floor. Test throws Billy Gunn over, but he holds on. It looked like he was trying to skin the cat, but couldn’t, so he just had to go in under the bottom rope. As Bradshaw and Storm battle, Test knocks them both out. Gunn goes for the Fameasser, but Test just boots him, which sends him to the floor. Test wins immunity!

BL: Battle royals don’t deserve ratings, but this one was acceptable gives the stipulation. I thought it was a good idea and Test winning was a smart choice. Most of the participants were HeAT level workers, so there was no need to give them job security. Test’s win was even sweeter, given that he punted Billy Gunn’s face to do it.

- For some reason, there’s this really long video package showing various WWF clips from the past year. I have no idea what the purpose of that whole thing was.

- Booker T and Shane McMahon are backstage and Booker expresses his concern for Austin’s loyalty. Shane says he’s confident that Austin is loyal. I love how Austin is the only one in question. I mean, Angle just joined the Alliance less than a month ago and RVD was recently talking with Vince. There’s not a lot of rocket scientists on the Alliance roster, is there?

The women’s title has been dormant ever since Chyna left, so this will crown a new champion. Jazz was a mystery entrant making her debut in this match. Jazz comes in and immediately takes down Lita. Lita comes back with a hurricanrana. Molly and Jacqueline are in now. They don’t do much before Molly tags Ivory. These two exchange nearfalls and then Ivory catapults Jacqueline into the ropes. Jacqueline tags Trish, who catapults Ivory into the ropes and then gives her a flapjack. All the heels are in now attacking Trish, who is saved by Lita. Everybody is in now and the referee has already lost control of this one. Lita and Jacqueline double-team Jazz, but when they try the same move on Molly, Jacqueline double-crosses Lita. Molly hits Jacqueline with the Molly-Go-Round, but then is kicked by Trish. Ivory grabs Trish and gives her a facebuster. Lita delivers the Twist of Fate and a moonsault to Ivory and then covers, but it’s broken up. Lita is now taking on both Jazz and Molly. Jazz whips Lita and Trish launches her over the top rope. In a blown spot, Trish sidesteps Jazz, who falls to the floor and sort of lands on Lita. In the ring, Trish connects with the Stratusfaction on Ivory and then covers her for the 1-2-3. New champ!

BL: Seeing Trish win a women’s title now isn’t too surprising, but it was considered quite the upset back then. She was arguably the least experienced of the six involved in the match. However, someone saw something in her and made the right call in giving her the title. Who knows where she’d be today if they didn’t give her this opportunity. As for the match, it never had enough time to develop into anything more than a collection of random spots. *

- We now get the “inspirational” speech by Vince to Team WWF. If you heard it on the Invasion PPV, then you heard it here too. Next.

- I must add that on top of the killer opening video package, the package for the main event is pretty sweet too. They do a nice job setting up the match, while also having the footage synch up with the lyrics to “Control” by Puddle of Mudd.

The losing team here will “go out of business”. Once everyone’s out there, they waste no time as The Rock and Austin go at it. Austin connects with the Lou Thesz Press and FU elbow. That gets 2. Now The Rock comes back with a Lou Thesz Press and FU elbow of his own. The Rock covers, but Shane breaks it up. We now give all members a chance to come in and get their feet wet. In the middle of it, Jericho and RVD do a great little sequence. It should be noted that everytime a WWF guy goes for a cover, Shane comes in and breaks it up. Taker gets caught in the Alliance corner and gets worked over. Taker DDTs Angle and then tags Show. Show comes in and is absolutely dominant. Show goes for a chokeslam, but Angle reverses it into the Angle Slam. Booker then hits him with the scissors kick and does the Spinaroonie. That’s followed up by the Five Star Frog Splash by RVD. Now Shane hits a big elbow and pins him for 3. Wow! HEELS UP 5-4. Shane is caught dancing in the ring and is attacked by The Rock. Kane comes in and chokeslams him. We then get a Tombstone by Taker and a Lionsault by Jericho. That combo easily puts Shane away. TIED UP 4-4. Jericho got caught in the ring and plays Ricky Morton for the Alliance for a bit. Jericho hits RVD with a sunset flip for two and then tags Kane. RVD kicks down Kane and then connects with the Five Star Frog Splash. When he covers, however, Kane grabs him by the throat. Before he can chokeslam him, Booker knocks him down with a spinning heel kick. Now everybody comes in and brawls. With everyone fighting on the outside, RVD hits Kane with a top rope kick. That’s enough to pin him for 3. HEELS UP 4-3. Taker comes in and takes on all Alliance members. Taker nails Angle with the Last Ride. Booker comes in with a chair, but Taker boots it in his face. When he turns around, Austin gives him a Stunner. Austin drags Angle on top of him and Angle scores the pinfall. HEELS UP 4-2. Booker nails The Rock with a spin kick, but The Rock comes back with a DDT. He covers, but Angle breaks it up. The Rock whips Booker into Angle and then quickly rolls him up for 3. HEELS UP 3-2. RVD goes up for the split-legged moonsault, but The Rock slams him down and covers for 2. The Rock tags Jericho, who now takes it to RVD. Jericho connects with his crappy bulldog, but when he goes for the Lionsault, RVD moves and then hits him with a spin kick. RVD sort of hits the split-legged moonsault, but J.R. sells it as if Jericho got a knee up. Then Jericho gets up and hits his face-forward Russian legsweep. That’s enough to put RVD away for 3. That was disappointing. TIED UP 2-2. Everybody comes in and brawls. On the floor, Austin catapults The Rock into the post. With The Rock down, Jericho is once again forced to play Ricky Morton in the ring. Austin superplexes Jericho and gets 2. Jericho blocks a German suplex attempt and puts Angle in the ankle lock. Angle escapes and clotheslines Jericho. A double clothesline drops both men. They each tag out and The Rock comes in and takes it to Angle. The Rock locks Angle in the Sharpshooter and Angle surprisingly quickly taps. FACES UP 2-1. Austin knocks The Rock down and Jericho tags himself in. Jericho hits a high crossbody, but Austin rolls through it and gets 2. Austin tries a move from the second rope, but Jericho nails him. Jericho goes for the Lionsault, but Austin gets his knees up. Austin gets a nearfall from that. A missile dropkick by Jericho gets 2. Jericho rolls up Austin and gets 2, but then Austin immediately rolls up Jericho, uses the tights and gets 3. That was rather lackluster. TIED UP 1-1. Appropriately enough, we begin and end with The Rock and Austin. The Rock gives Austin a spinebuster and starts to go for the People’s Elbow. However, Jericho grabs The Rock and gives him the face-forward Russian legsweep. Austin crawls over and gets 2 ¾. When Jericho sees he didn’t get the job done, he starts to go back. However, Taker runs out and chases him to the back. Austin gets into an argument with the referee, which allows The Rock to attack him. Austin sidesteps The Rock and tosses him to the floor. The two men now brawl around ringside and by the announce table. Back inside, Austin places The Rock into the Sharpshooter. Heyman makes some great comments about the Sharpshooter, Earl Hebner and the Survivor Series. Austin tries to use the WWF belt, but The Rock avoids it and gives Austin a spinebuster. Now The Rock puts Austin in the Sharpshooter. Austin grabs the ropes, but The Rock pulls him back. Austin again makes the ropes and the hold is broken. Austin goes for the Stunner, but The Rock blocks it and gives Austin one instead. The Rock covers, but as Hebner counts, Nick Patrick runs out and pulls him out of the ring. The Rock grabs Patrick and tries to give him the Rock Bottom, but Austin hits The Rock and then gives him a Rock Bottom. Austin covers, but The Rock kicks out at 2. Austin confronts Patrick and knocks him down. He then brings Hebner back inside. The Rock shoves Austin into Hebner and then tries for the Rock Bottom. Austin escapes and nails him with the Stunner. Austin covers, but there’s no referee. Suddenly, Angle runs down, grabs the WWF title and nails Austin. Whaaa? The Rock then gives Austin the Rock Bottom, covers and in dramatic fashion scores the pinfall. Survivor: The Rock, and more importantly, the WWF

BL: A very enjoyable main event. This was a nice, long match that showcased all the participants and provided us with a happy ending. Even if you were a WCW or ECW fan, this was probably a happy ending, as I’m sure everyone wanted to see the Alliance end. There were a couple suspect pinfalls, but other than that there wasn’t much to complain about here. The right team went over and it, unknowingly at the time, also set up the future feuds for the main event. ****

Final Thoughts: The wrestling is a little on the thin side, but it’s an enjoyable show nonetheless. With so many top guys in the main event, you really couldn’t expect much from the undercard. While the action may not have been great, the show leaves you with a good feeling because the WWF was closing this abysmal chapter and moving on to, hopefully, bigger and better things. Purists can skip this one, but for those looking for an entertaining show, this one wouldn’t be a bad choice.