Your commentators are Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler, who returned to the announce table now that Paul Heyman was “fired”.

- For some reason, Vince comes to the ring to start the show and recaps the events of him kissing Rikishi’s ass last Thursday on Smackdown. None of it has a point, naturally. Finally, Flair comes out and says nobody wants to listen to him, so let’s get to some action. That leads us to…

Scotty and Albert dance for Vince, which he doesn’t find amusing or entertaining. Nor do I. Albert had been teaming with Scotty lately and had dubbed himself the Hip Hop Hippo. *groan* You could say Test had issues with them, as he is Albert’s former tag partner and cost Scotty a chance at the immunity battle royal last month. However, there’s no reason to drag Christian into this. The faces meet their opponents in the aisle and attack them to get this match started. Inside, Scotty dominates Christian, but when Test is tagged in, Scotty quickly tags Albert. A big splash by Albert gets 2. As Scotty does a 10-punch count on Test, Christian comes over and knocks him down. Then Test clotheslines him. As Test and Christian beat down Scotty, Lawler comes up with some awful team names for Scotty and Albert. Scotty elbows a charging Test and then knocks him down with a superkick. That allows him to tag Albert. Albert comes in and takes out both opponents while doing some weak dance moves in between. As Albert sets up for the Baldo Bomb, Test trips him and pulls him out of the ring. Christian avoids a bulldog by Scotty and hits him with a reverse DDT. As Christian does his version of the Worm, Albert tries to boot him. Christian ducks it and goes for the Unprettier. Albert escapes it, but gets booted by Test. Christian covers, but it’s broken up by Scotty. Heel miscommunication leads to Christian getting backdropped out of the ring. Scotty bulldogs Test and then gives him the Worm. Christian comes in and tries to do the Unprettier on Scotty, but Albert grabs him and delivers the Baldo Bomb. That’s enough to put him away for 3.

Bottom Line: This match is fine for a house show, but I expect more on PPV. You can’t expect much action, nor a lot of crowd support when you put on a tag match with two teams that were hastily slapped together. This might have been all right with more time. But since Vince felt the need to flap his gums, these guys had to rush through all of the motions. * ¼

- Jonathan Coachman talks to William Regal and questions the ways in which he’s won his matches lately. I can’t believe Coach would doubt the power of the punch. I bet he’s just jealous that he wasn’t blessed with the gift of gab. Regal ends the interview by calling Coach a “silly pillick”. I didn’t know you could say that on television.

Edge has the referee check Regal for weapons before the match. Man, is he paranoid. A lockup between the two goes nowhere. A missile dropkick by Edge sends Regal to the floor. On the outside, Regal abuses Edge around ringside. Back inside, Edge gets a nearfall with a back bodydrop. Regal begins to attack the face and neck of Edge. A kneelift by Regal gets 2. Edge blocks a kick and gives Regal a neckbreaker. Regal whips Edge, who comes back and gives him the Edge-o-Matic. That gets 2. Edge perches Regal up top and delivers a hurricanrana. That gets another nearfall. Regal elbows a charging Edge, but when he goes to follow-up, Edge boots him to the floor. From the apron, Edge goes for the spear, but misses and crashes into the steps. As the referee checks on Edge, Regal goes under the ring and finds a pair of brass knuckles. Who put those there? Back inside, a double underhook powerbomb by Regal gets 2. Regal picks up Edge, who suddenly blasts him with an enziguri. Regal comes back with two more double underhook powerbombs, but he still can’t put him away. Regal goes to put on the brass knuckles, but when he turns around, Edge blasts him with a spear. Edge covers and gets the victory.

BL: I like how they really tried to elevate Edge by highlighting his tenacity here. I think that went a long way to continue establishing him as a legit singles wrestler. Just with the opener, this would have been better served with more time. The story they told was decent, they just weren’t allowed to properly develop it. ** ¾

- Backstage, Kurt Angle bursts into Ric Flair’s office and runs him down. Then he emphatically states he’ll become undisputed heavyweight champion tonight. He gets no argument from Flair, which leaves Angle with nothing more to say than to repeat himself. The whole segment kinda went nowhere. The only thing of note here was Angle calling Flair a 14-time heavyweight champion. Either Angle flubbed or Flair has magically gained two world titles in the past six years.

- Elsewhere, Lita is stretching (for refereeing duty?) when Matt Hardy comes in. Lita tells him that despite being his girlfriend, she’s going to call his match right down the middle. What do you think is higher: the number of special guest referees who have claimed they will call the match right down the middle or the number of men Lita has slept with?

- The Hardy Boyz have had tough times ever since losing last month at Survivor Series. Matt really began to get on Jeff’s case about being too much of a thrill seeker and not using his head. Their arguments have led to a rift in the team and tension with Lita, who’s been stuck in the middle. Now they fight tonight to prove to the other that they are not only right, but also the better man.

As the two lockup, the crowd chants for Lita. Not a good sign for either guy. The two do some basic mat wrestling with neither gaining the upper hand. Matt backs Jeff to the corner and chops away on him. Now Jeff turns around and returns the favor. Matt places Jeff in a sleeper (already?). Jeff reverses the hold, but Matt escapes with a back suplex. Matt goes for a legdrop from the second rope, but misses. Jeff starts a comeback and does hit Matt with a second rope legdrop. That gets 2. Jeff tries for the corkscrew moonsault, but Matt crotches him. Matt puts Jeff in a tree of woe and puts the boots to him. Lita stops that, which Matt doesn’t like. Matt dumps Jeff to the apron and then tries a suicide sunset flip, but Jeff reverses it into a hurricanrana. As Jeff tries to flip back in the ring, it appears that he hurt his leg. Matt sees it and goes right after the body part. Jeff blocks a powerbomb attempt and gives Matt a Russian legsweep. Matt puts Jeff in a half crab, but Jeff grabs the rope. As Matt goes for a figure four leglock, Jeff boots him to the floor. Jeff connects with a baseball slide, but can’t follow up due to his injured leg. Jeff escapes the Twist of Fate and legdrops Matt. Jeff goes up top, but Matt crotches him and then slams him off. The two both escape a Twist of Fate and then exchange pinfalls. Matt blocks a sunset flip and covers Jeff with his hands on the ropes. Lita sees it and stops counting. As Matt argues with Lita, Jeff rolls him up for 2. Matt tries for a top rope Twist of Fate, but Jeff shoves him off. Jeff follows it up with a swanton bomb. As Jeff covers, Matt puts his foot on the rope, but Jeff pulls it back. Lita never sees any of this and counts to three.

Postmatch: Matt tries to argue to Lita, but she won’t listen, so he leaves in disgust.

BL: A very dull and extremely choreographed match. It seemed like they mapped out everything to a T and it left the match feeling very stilted. What’s more frustrating is that they never really explored the basis of the original argument between the two (Jeff’s daredevil style vs. Matt’s safe, smart style). Instead they base their finish on the stupid soap opera aspect of the feud surrounding Lita. The crowd was pretty dead for this, as men will typically gravitate toward Matt, of the two, but he was the heel here. This was just a mess all around. * ¼

- Trish Stratus walks into The Rock’s dressing room and thanks him for helping her deal with Vince last week. She shows her appreciation with a peck on the cheek. The Rock responds by telling her that after they are both victorious tonight, he’ll give her plenty of time to smell what he’s cooking. Yet another Trish Stratus flirtation segment that goes absolutely nowhere.

Yet another random tag partner for Big Show against the Dudleyz? Anybody want to take a guess that Show is dominant in the match, but ultimately the Dudleyz win by defeating his partner? D-Von starts off with Kane and he doesn’t fare too well. Show comes in and is equally successful with Bubba. A sidewalk slam on D-Von gets 2 for Show. It’s been all Show and Kane thus far. With both Dudleyz on the floor, Kane comes off the top rope and clothesline both of them. As Stacy checks on her team, Show comes over and pulls down her skirt. Then he puts her over his knee and spanks her. Looks like Show missed the talk on sexual harassment. Finally, the Dudleyz get some offense when they double-team Kane and hit him with a neckbreaker. As Show argues with the referee, the Dudleyz hit the Wassup Drop on Kane. The Dudleyz set Kane up for the 3-D, but he clotheslines both of them. Show gets the hot tag and destroys both Dudleyz. Show goes to chokeslam D-Von, but Bubba chopblocks him. Everybody is in now and the match quickly deteriorates. Kane does his top rope clothesline, but accidentally nails Show. Snow gets up and gets in Kane’s face. This allows the Dudleyz to jump them. Show and Kane recover and dump the Dudleyz to the floor. Show goes to charge at Bubba, but accidentally runs into Kane instead. Stacy laughs at Show, so he grabs her. That allows D-Von to drop Show across the top rope. Then the Dudleyz flapjack Show into an exposed corner. Bubba covers and scores the pinfall.

BL: What do you know, they swerved us and had Show get pinned. It still didn’t make the match any better. The champs were again treated like chumps at the hands of Show. On top of that, we now face the prospects of a thrilling Show/Kane feud. Since that feud really never came to fruition (thank goodness) this match is rendered completely worthless. * ¾

- Lita tries to explain herself to Matt, but he won’t listen to it. That scene would become all too real just a few years later.

In one of the post-invasion shakeups, the Undertaker shockingly turned heel. He started claiming that no one was giving him the proper amount of respect, so he was going to start beating it out of people. His first target is none other than the care-free RVD. Taker counters RVD’s speed with his power and strength to begin the match. RVD elbows Taker and then somersaults onto him from the top rope. A spinning heel kick by RVD gets 2. Taker crotches RVD on the top rope, and then boots him to the floor. On the outside, Taker throws RVD into the steps, but he comes back by ramming Taker into the post. RVD clotheslines Taker into the crowd, but when he leaps onto him, Taker punches him in the midsection. The two now brawl all through the crowd. Taker goes to use a chair, but RVD sprays him with a fire extinguisher. RVD goes up to the second level and hits Taker with a high crossbody. That gets 2. They head up toward the staging and continue to brawl. Taker picks up RVD and gives him snake eyes into the Titantron. Taker attempts to give RVD the Last Ride, but he grabs onto the staging and kicks free. As soon as RVD gets down, though, Taker clotheslines him. Taker gets a chair, but RVD kicks him. Now RVD hits Taker with rolling thunder on the stage. Cool. That gets a nearfall. RVD dropkicks a chair into Taker’s face and gets another nearfall. RVD goes for the Van Daminator, but misses and kicks the Titantron. Taker now wears out RVD with the chair. Taker picks up RVD for a Tombstone, but RVD escapes and tries for another Van Daminator. Taker again avoids it and then chokeslams him off the stage and through two tables. The pin after that is academic and Taker becomes the new hardcore champion.

BL: Now that was pretty awesome. I had my concerns that this match was an excuse for Taker to squash another rising star, but it was a very evenly fought match. RVD hit most of his trademark spots and Taker held his own from a hardcore perspective. True, Taker did win, but he sold it afterwards as if RVD put up more of a fight than he expected. Great hardcore match. *** ¾

- We get virtually a repeat of the Flair segment from before, only this time it’s Jericho trying to convince Flair and himself that he’ll become undisputed champion. What’s with everyone trying to get in a verbal debate with Flair and him just no-selling their tirades?

Of all the women, Jacqueline gets the nod to face the champ on PPV? She wouldn’t have been near the top of my list. Jacqueline gets an early rollup for 2. Jacqueline hits a back bodydrop, but Trish comes back with some hard kicks. Jacqueline feigns injury, which allows her to sucker punch Trish. Jacqueline slams Trish twice, but Trish comes back with a clothesline and gets 2. Trish goes for a high kick, but Jacqueline blocked it and then sweeps out her other leg. Trish tries for a rollup into a bridge out of the corner, but it doesn’t work out so well. Trish escapes a back suplex and then chops Jacqueline. Trish then goes for the Stratusfaction, but Jacqueline shoves her off. A dropkick to Trish’s back gives Jacqueline a nearfall. The two collide in the corner and go down. Jacqueline attempts a powerbomb, but Trish reverses it into a backslide for 3.

BL: This was…uh…how do I put it…not good. They gave it the old college try, but it just wasn’t clicking. Trish still needed improvement and she needed a better sparring partner than Jacqueline. If the action is going to be lackluster, at least pit Trish against a bona fide heel to put some heat on the match. The crowd was completely out of this one. ¾ *

- We then get a lengthy video package of Vince getting his face shoved in Rikishi’s ass. Was Smackdown preempted in half the country last week? We already saw this, so let’s just move on.

- I guess it was just a lengthy segue, because Rikishi is the loser at WWF New York tonight. Rikishi seems to have enjoyed having Vince’ face in his ass a bit too much, especially now, days removed from the actual incident.

- So let’s set up this main event picture. After helping the WWF win at Survivor Series, Vince McMahon was poised to strip Stone Cold of the WWF title and give it to Kurt Angle. Once Flair entered the picture, that plan got all fouled up. What it did do, however, was make Angle heel again and turn Austin back to a face. Meanwhile, The Rock and Jericho were still having major issues. With the Alliance gone, both Vince and Flair agreed that there wasn’t a need for two heavyweight titles. Why is no one using that logic these days? So what they agreed upon was to have Austin and Angle fight for the WWF title and for The Rock and Jericho to face each other for the WCW title (now just named the World Championship). The winner of those two matches would then square off in order to determine an undisputed heavyweight champion.

Both men are very cautious to begin the match. Austin gives Angle some chops and that forces him to bail. Angle comes back in and takes down Austin and pounds on him. Now Austin goes to the outside. He comes back in and gives him the double bird. Ahhh, the old Austin is back. Austin goes for the Stunner, but Angle blocks it and attempts the ankle lock. Austin is able to avoid it, however. Austin catches a charging Angle and throws him out of the ring. Austin targets Angle’s left arm by repeatedly ramming it into the post. Back inside, Austin continues to work the arm. Angle rolls through a waistlock and puts Austin into the ankle lock. Austin goes for the rope, but Angle drags him back. However, a second effort allows Austin to grab the rope. As Angle slugs away on Austin, he’s backdropped to the floor. Austin abuses Angle on the Spanish announce table. Angle manages to grab Austin’s leg and ram it repeatedly into the post. After giving Austin a series of chops, Angle applies the figure four around the post. Awesome! Angle comes back in and puts the ankle lock back on. Austin rolls through the hold and kicks Angle off. Angle keeps on the offensive with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Angle whips Austin to the corner and then delivers three German suplexes. That gets 2 ¾. Angle goes for the moonsault, but comes up empty. Austin starts to comeback and hits the Lou Thesz Press. A spinebuster by Austin gets 2. Now Austin hits 5 (!) German suplexes of his own. That gets another nearfall. Angle kicks Austin low and then connects with the Angle Slam. Angle covers, but somehow only gets 2. Angle tries for a Stunner, but Austin blocks it and delivers one of his own. Austin covers and gets the 1-2-3.

BL: We got some very sound wrestling here, but yet it was still underwhelming. History was their enemy here. We know that these two can do better than what we saw here. I think you can chalk this up to them wanting to save energy, since one of them would have another fight tonight. If you ignore their previous bouts, this is a very solid match. ****

- Test barges into Trish Stratus’s dressing room and offers her a kiss with a real man. Trish conveys the right combination of amusement and disgust over Test’s proposition. She then collects herself and shoves him out of her room. Test may not have scored, but at least he got to try out his killer line, “Once you’ve had Test, you can forget about the rest”.

The Rock gets an early advantage with a couple of armdrags. Jericho knocks down The Rock with a spinning heel kick, which sends The Rock outside. As The Rock tries to comeback in, Jericho nails him with the springboard dropkick. The two now brawl by the Spanish announce table. Back inside, Jericho hits The Rock with a spinning elbow from the top rope and gets 2. Jericho suplexes The Rock and gives us the “C’mon baby” cover, but The Rock quickly kicks out. A running clothesline by The Rock gets 2. The Rock catches a charging Jericho with an overhead throw and then follows it up with a Samoan Drop. That gets 2. Jericho comes back and locks in a sleeper. The Rock escapes, but Jericho knocks him down. Jericho goes for the Lionsault, but when he sees The Rock move, he’s able to put on the brakes. Jericho delivers his crappy bulldog and then does connect with the Lionsault. That gets a nearfall. Jericho argues with the referee, but The Rock can’t capitalize. Jericho climbs up top, but The Rock crotches him. The Rock goes for a superplex, but Jericho shoves him off. Jericho hits a high crossbody, but The Rock rolls through it for 2. The Rock sidesteps Jericho and throws him out of the ring. Jericho’s head appeared to hit the post as he flew outside. On the floor, Jericho drops The Rock across the barricade and then catapults him into the post. Jericho tries to give The Rock a Rock Bottom on the announce table, but The Rock reverses it and DDTs Jericho through the table. Back inside, The Rock tries for a Rock Bottom, but Jericho reverses that into his face-forward Russian legsweep. Jericho goes for the People’s Elbow, but The Rock stops him and locks on the Sharpshooter. However, Jericho quickly reverses it and puts the Sharpshooter on The Rock. Somehow, The Rock manages to grab the ropes. Jericho tries to put the hold on again, but The Rock gets him in a small package for 2. Out of nowhere, The Rock delivers the Rock Bottom. As The Rock starts to cover, Vince runs down and distracts the referee. The Rock gets up and decks Vince. The Rock then gives Jericho a spinebuster and goes for the People’s Elbow. He sees Vince on the apron again, brings him into the ring and then delivers the elbow to Jericho. The Rock beats up Vince, but when he turns his attention to Jericho, he receives a lowblow. Jericho then gives The Rock a Rock Bottom. Jericho covers and gets the shocking 3 count. New champ!

BL: This was a carbon copy of the Austin/Angle match in that it was a pale comparison of what they’re capable of. Still some fine wrestling, but not as good as it could have been. When you factor in the fact that I’ll take Austin/Angle over Jericho/Rock any day and the fact that you had McMahon interference here, this drops a couple of points from the previous match. *** ½

We get no break between matches, but before Austin can attack Jericho, Angle comes out and nails Austin with a chair. The Rock then comes back in and gives Jericho a Rock Bottom. With both men down, the match officially begins. Jericho crawls over and covers Austin for 2. Jericho nails Austin with a flying forearm and then hammers away on him. Now Austin tackles Jericho and pounds away on him. Austin gives Jericho some rough turnbuckle treatment. He then tries for the Stunner, but Jericho bails. As Jericho tries to recover on the apron, Austin knocks him to the floor. On the outside, Austin chops away on Jericho and then throws him into the post. On the Spanish announce table, Austin goes for a Stunner, but Jericho blocks it and tries to apply the Walls of Jericho. Austin powers out of it and sends Jericho to the floor. Then Austin suplexes Jericho on the floor. Back inside, Jericho sidesteps Austin and rams his shoulder into the post. Austin avoids a dropkick by Jericho and then catapults him into the corner. A clothesline by Austin gets 2. Jericho gets Austin in an armbar and uses the ropes for help. Jericho tries a high-risk move, but Austin nails him as he came off the top rope. Austin tries to backdrop Jericho, but he turns it into the Walls. Austin crawls and makes it to the ropes. Jericho tries for a flying forearm, but Austin ducks and Jericho nails the referee instead. Jericho lowblows Austin and then gives him a Stunner. Suddenly, Vince pops out and calls down Nick Patrick. Flair comes down, pulls Patrick out of the ring and decks him. Then Vince punches Flair and throws him into the post. Austin lowblows Jericho and then goes outside and attacks Vince. Inside, Austin delivers the Lou Thesz Press and F.U. elbow to Jericho. Jericho goes for a missile dropkick, but Austin catches him and puts him in the Walls. Jericho taps, but there’s no referee. Out of nowhere, Booker T (who hadn’t got his job back yet) comes into the ring and nails Austin with the WWF title. Vince throws the referee back in the ring and he slowly counts 1-2-3. Jericho is the undisputed champion.

BL: This was on par with Jericho’s match against The Rock until that horrid ending. If you’re going to sell this (someone becoming undisputed champion) as a truly historic moment, then you do not mar it with all that outside activity. On a normal main event, all of that may have been exciting. But for this match, all it does is taint the win. This would mark a bad omen for Jericho’s entire reign as undisputed champion. *** ¼

Final Thoughts: With three solidly worked main events and a thoroughly entertaining hardcore match, this easily gets a thumbs up. However, you get the feeling that this could have been so much better. Aside from the lack of clean finishes in the Jericho matches, there were some real time management issues. If you eliminate the Vince promo to start the show and space the three heavyweight title matches throughout the show, everything becomes better. I’d recommend it for its historical value, but be forewarned that it can be underwhelming at times.

Next time, we discover who’s Tough Enough to go toe-to-toe with the Undertaker in the Royal Rumble.