House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[wandshogun09]

22 hours ago, air_raid said:

Dan Severn 

"brooding menace" 

[air_raid]

APRIL 1999
This will not be an easy read. Due to non stop turns and title changes plus a European tour with a smaller roster and a couple of big names in and out with knocks, there’s fuck all consistency.

THE MAIN EVENTS
Stone Cold Steve Austin VS The Rock for the WWF title fronts Oberhausen and Sheffield, Steve's with Big Boss Man in Newcastle, then in Birmingham its him and Big Show vs Rocky & Ken Shamrock. 16th in Vancouver (14,500+) its Austin & Show vs Rock & Boss Man, the same tag for huge gates in Calgary and Edmonton, 10,000 plus in South Bend IN (FUCK!) with the bizarre sight of Road Dogg in for Austin, then 23rd the return to the SkyDome has a sharp drop from February but 17,000+ is still decent takings, its Austin & Show vs the ultimate odd couple, Rocky & Hunter. The same tag sells out MSG for paid 16,800+ sellout on 24th, the last house show for Rock as a heel. 28th in Washington, two years before Mania XVII, a very lucky crowd sees the babyface vs babyface Stone Cold vs Rock for the WWF title.

10th in Cincinnati there's no Austin, so Big Show vs Rock and tag title with Kane & X-Pac vs Boss Man & Triple H are the biggest matches. 15th in Seattle its Rock/Show and Kane vs HHH.

THE CARDS - FUCK
Triple H vs Kane happens a lot but Hunters also with X-Pac at the NEC, tagging with Big Boss Man against the tag champs in Cincinnati and through Canada his partner is Test. The Undertaker beats Ken Shamrock, Triple H and Boss Man in England, loses to Shamrock by DQ through Canada, and in Toronto and MSG there are two round of him and Mideon vs Shamrock and Mankind. Ken also loses a few matches to Kane while still in the Corporation, has a couple of triple threats vs Mankind vs Goldust for the ICT, then there are some instances of Shamrock & Mankind vs the Acolytes. In Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton Mankind vs Goldust happens (not for the ICT which Goldie has already lost). Other than what’s above, Big Show squashes Boss Man a few times. For unknown reasons X-Pac beats Brooklyn Brawler the first couple of nights in Europe and D’Lo Brown in Newcastle, then in Toronto and at MSG he and Kane beat Boss Man & Test when Boss Man walks out on Test, because we haven’t done enough Corporate defections for one month, BRO. In South Bend they have Kane with fucking Mideon.

Goldust vs Road Dogg for the ICT starts and finishes early month, some of Dustins month you know but he teams with Blue Meanie to lose to the Outlaws in Newcastle and beat DOA in Fort Wayne and Seattle, runs a really random triple threat vs Edge and Kane at the NEC, then by South Bend he’s lost the belt and is challenging Godfather as he does in Toronto and at MSG. Early month when he isn’t tagging with Dogg, Billy Gunn beats Gangrel. It’s a reasonably tight month otherwise for the Outlaws, resuming their run with Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett until Canada and beyond at which point it’s a three way with Edge & Christian. In South Bend when Dogg is in the main event, Mr Ass beats Droz. Owen and Slapnuts work E&C otherwise in Europe (and South Bend) except Newcastle it’s Edge & Gangrel.

Godfather works Tiger Ali Singh most of the month - yes, including defending the ICT against him. Still in the Ministry, E&C team with the Acolytes in Cincinnati to beat Too Much & DOA, in Seattle Edge & Gangrel lose to Boss Man & Test. Otherwise in Birmingham Gangrel beats Meanie and Christians with the Brawler, and Gangrel loses to Hardcore Holly in Cincinnati and to Droz in Toronto. Bob splits his month otherwise defending logically against Al Snow or rather less logically against Val Venis, where Al helps him retain. Vals otherwise quiet but in Cincinnati there’s a variation on the Tori vs Ivory vs Jacquelyn run where it’s Val & Tori vs D’Lo & Ivory, and a couple of occasions where Tori teams with Snow. Ivory and Jackie being the only women on the tour, it’s Val & Jackie vs Brown & Ivory except Newcastle where the ladies go one on one and Birmingham Holly and Al are thrown in for a six-person. On any show where there match isn’t what’s listed above, it’s Snow vs D’Lo, Newcastle where D’Lo works Pac and Snow beats the Brawler, and Cincinnati where Al beats Droz. Acolytes vs DOA rounds off cards in Canada, South Bend and at MSG.

VARIATION
It needs to be listed separately ; at the Garden, Drozdov is given the honour of jobbing for The King.

TVs
Near 34,000 attend three days on TV in Michigan. In East Lansing for Heat Prince Albert debuts as a “fan” interfering in Droz vs Boss Man until Test makes the save - Droz & A-Train vs Test & Boss Man? Smell the cash. Also Joe E Legend who will have a cup of coffee later as Just Joe does a job for Val for Shotgun and dark, Undertaker wins a four-corners over Mankind, Big Show and HHH. Next night on Raw in Detroit Shane McMahon pulls off his coup in ousting Vince as head of the Corporation for putting Steph’s safety above their success, Shamrock leaving and siding with Vince in protest for similar reasons over the Ministry attempting to abduct Ryan. As if that wasn't enough change, Taker orders Edge and Gangrel to leave Christian alone against Show so Christian can "prove himself," and later the Brood refuse to participate in the Ministry attempting to sacrifice Kenny and are promptly kicked out. Overnight, they've realized Taker as a Satanic babyface while his group of followers are all heels makes no sense, Corporation vs Ministry as heels vs heels is utterly rubbish and they need more babyfaces so they create some in Vince (with stooges), Kenny and Edge/Christian/Gangrel. Doesn't stop the Ministry targeting other heels ; after Hart/Jarrett vs Acolytes, Taker threatens to make a sacrifice of Debra before Kenny intervenes. Also, an increasingly inactive Sable goes to a non start vs Tori vs Jacquelyn vs Ivory when Nicole Bass beats up all three challengers and Godfather takes the ICT from Goldust after paying off scheduled challenger Boss Man, with shall we say, gifts of the flesh. Finally in Grand Rapids very little happens except Big Show continues his feud with the Corporation, but seeds are sewn for his run with Undertaker too, despite the Corporates and Ministry guys being at odds with each other. For now. Kurt Angle works a dark match on each night.

Night after Backlash they're in Hartford, one of their spiritual homes (near 12,000 sellout) is an episode I loved, the Corporation ridiculously kick Rock out, leading to Rock vs Shane with a resumption of the never-ending Rock/HHH hatred closing the show. Finally next night in New Haven, Meat debuts on Shotgun (Albert's jobbing already) and they tape the "one off special" SmackDown where the (admittedly nonsensical) formation of the Corporate Ministry finally ends the heel vs heel boredom, X-Pac (with Kane) has to defend the tag belts against stablemates the Outlaws which stays civil for now, and the Blue Blazer gimmick returns, beating Val. This is the alternative to Owen and Debra having an affair behind Jeff's back, to which Owen told Russo bluntly "I'm not doing it," because he knew it would hurt Martha to watch. In a business full of tragedy, this is the cruellest irony I've ever known.

NO DEPARTURES!
Can I shock you? I don't think anyone gets sacked or quits in April. May will be a VERY different story.

Edited September 30, 2022 by air_raid

[AnotherCrapUsername]

I was there in Sheffield for Rock/Austin. Whilst not on a par with the Mania efforts we all love, it was a good match with a great atmosphere!

[BomberPat]

That's a fair bit earlier than I thought Just Joe was getting tryouts, though seeing on Cagematch that he had his first in Toronto in February '99 (on the same show as Scott D'Amore getting a match) makes some sense timing-wise, given he was coming from the same school and background as Edge and Christian.

Incidentally, one of the times I worked with Joe he told me that he hit one of his biggest spots in that match and was mortified that it seemed to get no response, only to hear a big pop a second or so later - he was used to working tiny venues, had never worked anywhere as big as the SkyDome, and it just took that much longer for the sound of the audience to carry to the ring. 

Joe's TV run - as little of it as there was - came around the time I was getting back into wrestling, and mostly only watching Smackdown and Heat because they were on at times that I could have control of the TV. I liked the gimmick and really thought it might go somewhere, but obviously it never did. He was apparently really frustrated with the whole thing because his character was spreading gossip backstage, and the writers never bothered figuring out whether what he was telling people was true or if he was meant to be lying about it, they just didn't think that detail mattered. Around the same time, he apparently pitched a gimmick called "The Moral Majority" that either got used without him as the Right To Censor, or wasn't used because they were already planning to do RTC, depending who you believe.

[air_raid]

@BomberPatJoe very nearly had a run, didn’t he? But didn’t. I assumed Just Joe existed because they enjoyed doing GTV but couldn’t do the planned payoff without Dustin so just rehashed it and gave it a face/name in the most unassuming guise, and decided that hearsay was more interesting than voyeurism. Which is an interesting question even in 2022. Very much an Attitude Era concept in which, again, telling stories with characters taking precedence over whether those characters wrestled or not, making television people wanted to watch regardless of if the end game meant they’d pay for wrestlers wrestling or not.

My own favourite Joe memory is him being booked against D’Lo off the back of them being the two coaches on ITVs Celebrity Wrestling. Getting two guys to do a match for you based on history somewhere else and just hoping your punters saw it or know what their issue is… well, it’s very BritWres, isn’t it?

 

 

[air_raid]

MAY 1999
I don't think I need to dwell on the obvious tragedy of the month. Except to say it was the first PPV I stayed up to watch live, and it was a very rough day at college the next day.

THE MAIN EVENTS
1st at a sold out Anaheim (15,000+) its Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock vs Triple H & Big Boss Man in a cage. After a rare Sunday taping for Raw, Austin's run through Florida is one on one with Boss Man before three more days of TV. 14th in Philadelphia we've 16,000+ for Austin, Rock & Big Show vs The Undertaker, Hunter and Boss Man. Yes, Undertaker is suddenly teaming with the guys he's been fighting for months. Baltimore and Richmond the weekend of (UK) No Mercy sell out without Austin, Rock draws with Boss Man. We're back to that six man to sell out the Rosemont, the next house shows scheduled after Over The Edge are all through Canada... they're cancelled, for obvious reasons.

12th in Tallahassee and 13th in Hershey I'm not sure what they're smoking - Austin, Taker and Hunter are off so the biggest matches are Big Show vs Big Boss Man and The Rock vs Billy Gunn.

THE CARDS
The Rock vs Billy Gunn is probably a feud you didn't expect to see so soon, on those Austin/Boss Man shows. The Undertaker vs Ken Shamrock continues and concludes in a series of casket matches. X-Pac & Kane vs The Acolytes for the tag team title is pretty constant, when X-Pac has a few nights off there's a run of Kane & Test vs DOA at the same time as Shamrock & Mankind vs Acolytes. Big Show is all over the place, beating Big Boss Man in Tallahassee (cage match) and Hershey, and Mark Henry in bodyslam matches in Baltimore and Richmond.

Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett vs Edge & Christian is nearly every night. Road Dogg vs Billy Gunn occurs in Philadelphia and Chicago, though in Baltimore and Richmond Dogg's with Owen. The Godfather vs Goldust continues as the ICT match nearly every night. It's usually Al Snow vs Hardcore Holly either for the Hardcore title or straight matches non title. D'Lo Brown & Ivory vs Val Venis plus partner carries on though like last month, its sometimes Tori and sometimes Jacquelyn. Test's wacky month also includes pinning future tag partner Prince Albert in Baltimore and Richmond. There are big wins on multiple shows for the Hardy Boys over Too Much, there's a more regular cheque for Steve Blackman, beating Droz most nights, and in Baltimore and Richmond, what's the odder sight? Kurt Angle working a couple of road matches.... or Terry Taylor putting him over!?

VARIATIONS
1st in Anaheim is the end of New Age Outlaws (for now) on the road, they lose to Owen & Double J in a triple threat involving E&C. Also Mankind slums it with Mideon, Show works the slam match with Viscera instead, and Gangrel pins Test. Two Florida shows have a mishmash. In Fort Myers its Mankind vs Bradshaw, next night in Tampa its Mick & Kane vs both Acolytes. Both have Big Show vas Mideon and the odd team of Hardcore & Val against Too Much, Tori teams with Snow in the mixed tag, plus a real treat for Test - he's losing to The King. 14th in Philadelphia Owen takes a sole crack at Godfather as himself (not the Blue Blazer), Goldust works Gangrel. Mankind & Kenny take DOA for a change, and Hardys vs Too Much becomes a three way with Edge & Christian. In Baltimore & Richmond, Shamrock beats Skull or 8-Ball. In Chicago, Ken & Mankind beat Mideon & Viscera, instead of facing each other Snow and Hardcore cost each other matches against Drozdov and the Lethal Weapon respectively.

TVs
2nd in San Diego there's surprisingly strong dark matches before cameras roll - Godfather defends against Goldust again, and Owen & Jarrett beat E&C again. Heat has a forgotten Boiler Room Brawl between Mankind and Boss Man, on Raw (first of two cracking episodes in succession) the Outlaws finally split after the tensions between Billy and X-Pac run over into a match, then when Dogg tries to seperate them, Mr Ass decides he's sick of him too. Vince McMahon beats Shane O'Mac in more of an angle than a match, Patterson & Brisco win their first match with the Mean Street Posse by count-out, Sable refuses to do an Evening Gown match with Debra so Nicole Bass wins it for her without having to lay a finger on Debs, and Stone Cold vs The Rock is teased in a lumberjack match but both heroes decide to fight with the Corporate Ministry instead of each other. 9th in Jacksonville Kurt's with Too Sexy, relatively little happens on Heat or Shotgun but dark they get the Austin/Rock/Show vs Taker/HHH/Boss Man six man. 10th in Orlando (12,000+ sellout for live Raw) we have a famous Angle/Owen dark match and an incredibly fun broadcast where Commissioner Michaels books all the matches the babyfaces want. The Stooges come out to Real American and lamp the Posse, Mick reprises Cactus Jack to beat Mideon & Viscera, Sable is screwed over on live TV with Shawn doing a Dusty finish call to get the belt onto Debra in another Evening Gown match, and Rock, Austin & Vince beat Taker, Hunter and Shane in a nutty six-man reffed by HBK. Fort Lauderdale is not quite as noteworthy - for completionism, Ryan Shamrock is now part of the PMS harem with Meat, Taker beats Rock in a casket match, and Michael Hayes makes his first appearance with the Hardys - IN THE RING, going to a double DQ with the Brood.

Post Over The Edge, Kurt's working dark matches with OVW guys Nick Dinsmore (a/k/a Eugene) and Rob Conway. The Beaver Cleavage character debuts with Mrs Cleavage, King of the Ring qualifiers happen, Hunter destroys Mankind with the sledgehammer to the knee to write him out, X-Pac and Kane lose the tag belts to the Acolytes and Jarrett takes the ICT from the Godfather. Stone Cold sees the face of The Higher Power, but we don't. Because they haven't figured it out yet, BRO.

DEPARTURES
The losses in singles to Kenny are the last bookings for Skull & 8-Ball. It was a terrible waste that LOD spent most of 1998 putting them over, then they went nowhere. The Acolytes should have been the ones to put Hawk & Animal out to pasture in my book, Ron and Don were limited performers that didn't really get over in three different guises.

Mid-month Goldust finally hits the bench with his nagging injuries, and while this isn't the month of his contract expiring, May is the end of him in the ring in the WWF until 2002.

Finally.... we have the end of Sable in the WWF this month. No Mercy in Manchester is her last apperance in any TV capacity, which by and large comes about with the WWF applying a bit of "contractual obligation" arm twisting. A scheduled Womens title defence against Tori is both no longer for the title after the Debra debacle, and doesn't even happen as a match as Bass lamps Tori instead. It's said that due to the relaxed attitude of Britain towards female nudity compared to the States (i.e. Page 3 was still a thing), at some point Vince approached Rena about getting her top pulled off for the benefit of the horny British male demographic. She said no, clearly. That was the tip of the iceberg however and amidst sexual harrasment allegations, money disputes and other problems, Sable (and Marc) and the WWF abruptly part ways in the most acrimonious manner imaginable. With one Playboy in the bank, another forthcoming (over which MORE litigation will occur over the planned use of "Sable" in connection) and all the offers she had been receiving off the back of what a star she'd been for the WWF, Rena is under the impression she can be a massive star in her own right and doesn't particularly need the WWF anymore. She's wrong. Many people expect that due to the lawsuits coming out of it, she'll never be welcomed back. Of course, they also end up wrong. With the benefit of hindsight, it's a bit crazy that the company decided her Playboy release was a brilliant method to change her character to an egomaniac, as beloved as she had been, and very strange from a commercial sense to turn her heel, leaving money on the table. On a personal level, being 16 at the time, her departure hit me a lot harder than most male wrestlers leaving the company would. I imagine I don't need to elaborate. It's still bizarre to think that she became one of the main characters the company was built around with Stone Cold, Taker and DX, then was gone as quickly as she'd risen to superstardom, all in little over three years.

[air_raid]

June 99
THE MAIN EVENTS
The Rock vs Big Boss Man is not screaming main event (even in a Nightstick match) in Springfield, Portland ME and Lowell but it’s The Undertaker vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF title in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Dallas (17,700+) and Houston (near 16,000 sellout) then yet another sellout at MSG - all DQ finishes.

30th in White Plains is different - now-former WWF Champion Taker starts up with Big Show, Kane’s with Boss Man and Rock scrapes the barrel with Mideon.

THE CARDS
The Rock is with Big Boss Man in Nightstick matches most of the month. Triple H loses to Big Show most nights. X-Pac & Kane are chasing the Acolytes for the tag belts. Jeff Jarrett spends a week or so defending the ICT against Godfather, then moves on to a more fitting Ken Shamrock - just like the good old days Jeffs getting disqualified or counted out. Road Dogg vs Billy Gunn of course is still going on. 

The Hardcore title match is usually Al Snow vs Hardcore Holly vs Steve Blackman. There’s usually a tag of Gangrel & Christian vs The Hardy Boys. A planned run of D’Lo Brown & Mark Henry vs Too Much ends up disjointed by injury to Brian and ends up with subs or singles matches, then later the former Nation end up saddled swapping wins(!) with Mideon & Viscera. Godfather has a small run of revenge matches with Blue Meanie. Val Venis & Tori vs Meat & Jacquelyn is common, Kurt Angle is getting ring time with Tiger Ali Singh.

VARIATIONS 
Show works the bodyslam match still with Viscera in Springfield, Portland and Lowell while Kane pins Gangrel in Springfield and works with Mideon twice. It’s also the last of Hardys vs Too Much and D’Lo & Ivory vs Val & Tori in Springfield plus the Acolytes vs Edge & Christian. In Portland and Lowell the Acolytes are with Shamrock & Test, and in Lowell the injury to Too Sexy means Scotty tags with Prince Albert (future Hip Hop Hippo!). Detroit through Cleveland it’s D’Lo v Scotty one on one. In Cleveland and Pittsburgh local boy Jerry Lawler tagged with Godfather against Boss Man and Mideon, in Detroit the Corporate Ministry lose to Shamrock & Test. Show misses Pittsburgh so Hunter has a one off with Test, his soon to be mortal enemy.

MSG as always has a few unique matches ; E&C beat D’Lo & Mizark, Godfather pins his buddy Mideon, Val does a nonsensical job to Viscera after being distracted by Nicole Bass. In White Plains it’s back to Hardys vs Edge & Christian, Hardcore title is Snow vs Blackman, Godfather pins Meat, Ivory defends the Womens title against Jackie with help from Bass and the ICT match has Jarrett with Val.

TVs
6th at a sold out Nassau Coliseum there’s a live Heat where Austin refuses to name the Higher Power - which makes no sense given the reveal, but they haven’t decided that yet. They do more work on the Shamrock/Jarrett mini feud that will be running house shows, and start Debra v Ivory tensions, plus seem to imply a HHH/Venis feud will be happening after the finish to Val vs Chyna - it doesn’t. Next night at a sold out FleetCenter Vince McMahon is ludicrously revealed as the Higher Power, even further rendering the last six months or storylines pointless, BRO. Vince later beats Kenny in the Lions Den with Jarretts help, they start the build for Taker vs Rock and Linda McMahon announces Stone Cold the new CEO. Kurt loses to Holly dark. 8th in Worcester, for Heat Too Much do the first promo using the Grand Master Sexay and Scotty Too Hotty handles and Test has a Dusty finish scupper him taking the ICT off Jarrett (Shamrock interfered) - Harvey Whippleman (a ref, remember) is only persuaded to reverse the call when Debs whispers sweet nothings in his ear. On Raw Ivory wins the belt from Debra with Nicole’s help, suddenly turning heel, and dissent begins already within the Corporate Ministry in the wake of Rock vs Taker vs HHH (won by Rocky).

20th in Nashville (12,500+ sellout) they do live Heat where the plan for Hunter on top begins ; he gives an interview to JR challenging the winner of Taker/Rock. The show itself is a preview of KOTR with two four-corners then a singles “final,” won by Chyna. Next night in Memphis (15,750+ sellout) on live Raw Jarrett vs Shamrock vs Test ends when Steve Blackman costs Shamrock, reviving their feud with roles reversed, and Taker vs HHH non title ends with interference from Rock. A feast of dark tryouts ; Glenn Kulka gives it another go, beating Godfather by DQ, Vic Grimes loses to Snow and Khris Kannonball (Pierre/PCO) beats Meanie. Also Kurt beats Matt Hardy with an Olympic Slam from the middle rope, but he loses to Meat dark at King of the Ring. More than 19,500 sell out Charlotte the night after King of the Ring, of note Chaz and Marianna start going by their real names, and Stone Cold wins the WWF title for the fourth time. Finally next night in Fayetteville (another sellout) local lads the Hardy Boys win the tag belts from the Acolytes and Rock beats Hunter in a cage.

DEPARTURES
Fayetteville is the final booking for the interminably useless Ryan Shamrock. WCW finds a role for her, as ever. The run of jobs to Kurt is the end of Tiger Ali Singh for now but not for good.
 

I’m on holiday so this might be the last for a while.

Edited October 6, 2022 by air_raid

[DavidB6937]

Enjoy your holiday!

[boyfriend]

Thanks again for all these, so many interesting nuggets, a joy to read. 

 

Enjoy your break brah!

[air_raid]

July 1999
THE MAIN EVENTS
1st in Ottawa (7000) no champ but The Rock vs The Undertaker is a proper main event. Rockys back with Big Boss Man in the nightstick match 2nd in Montreal (Taker vs Big Show supports) and 10th in Evansville (9000+) but we’re also kicking off Steve Austin vs Triple H for the belt 9th in Philadelphia (14,500+) with a pinfall then DQs after TVs in San Jose (14,600+) and Anaheim (14,700+) then 15,000+ in the SkyDome the day before Fully Loaded is a steep drop from their last visit but great business nonetheless; in between, it’s Austin & Show vs HHH & Boss Man 18th in Bakersfield. After the PPV Steve’s out again, 28th in Huntington there’s no Rock or Taker so on top is Kane vs Big Show after HHH vs Ken Shamrock, 29th in Baltimore it’s Kane, X-Pac and a returning Mankind vs Taker, Hunter & Show (Kane pins Taker!) then 30th in Providence and 31st at the Continental Airlines it’s The Rock, X-Pac & Kane vs The Undertaker, Big Show & Triple H with a pin the first night (Rock on HHH) and chaotic DQ the night after.

You can tell the knee is bothering Austin, by how little he’s booked.

THE CARDS
The Rock vs Big Boss Man still occurs in nightstick matches supporting Austin, Triple H you know about, and Undertaker vs Big Show takes place in Montreal, San Jose and Anaheim, before a cage goes on it in Toronto. Show has to slum it in the bodyslam match with Viscera a few times. Kane & X-Pac still pursue the Acolytes but between the title change airing and the PPV sneak a couple of cracks at the Hardy Boys too, otherwise engaged with Edge & Christian. As you can imagine E&C work Farooq and Bradshaw on those spare nights. Jeff Jarrett vs Ken Shamrock concludes with interference from Kennys next run costing him every night except a pretty famous exception for Jeff in Toronto ; after that, Fully Loaded and TVs when he’s managed to lose, regain and lose the ICT again, he’s chasing D’Lo Brown in double title matches and Kenny moves on to Steve Blackman in cage matches right out the chute. Our tag title match after TVs is Acolytes vs Hardys vs E&C. Road Dogg vs Billy Gunn stretches into another month, now it’s dog collar matches and fittingly Dogg is winning.

Before Fully Loaded D’Lo is usually beating Mideon in non title matches which makes sense because he isn’t really the champion anyway although he had also “defended” the Euro belt a few times against Test, before the latter rebounded with wins over Gangrel. Before PPV the Hardcore title match is again usually Al Snow vs Hardcore Holly vs Blackman then after it, Boss Man defends against Test in more nightstick matches plus Ivory vs Tori for the Womens title. Before the PPV Godfather beats Prince Albert and Val Venis has to do a few jobs to Droz, after it there’s a regular tag of Val & Godfather vs Albert & Mideon, plus the addition of Hardcore vs Viscera.

VARIATIONS - FUCK
1st in Ottawa there’s Snow vs D’Lo, Jarrett vs Val, Godfather vs Blackman, Mark Henry does the slam match with Show, Albert and Ivory go over Meat & Jacquelyn and the Hardys beat Shamrock and Test. In Montreal the Acolytes are with Canadas own Test & Val, Kane suffers Mideon, Ivory defends against Jackie with help from the outbound Nicole Bass, Snow and Blackman is a one on one, Godfathers with Meat and D’Lo & Henry beat Droz & Albert. In Evansville A-Train does double duty and does a job to Meat. In San Jose there’s no Shamrock so Jeff beats Test and Gangrel has a night off. At the SkyDome, Test pins Meat, Val & Godfather beat Gangrel & Albert, and Kenny doesn’t make it so on the fly Edge wins the ICT from Jarrett. Which works out great as they’re booked for Fully Loaded anyway. In Huntington with Shamrock wrestling HHH, Blackman pins Snow and D’Lo misses Providence so Jarrett pins Gangrel.

TVs
On 11th over 11,000 come to Market Square, Indianapolis for tapings where close to fuck all happens except Gangrel turns on Edge in the middle of a six-man on Heat and two oddities for Shotgun ; the Acolytes get themselves disqualified against Flash Flanagan & Danny O’Brien, and Michael Hayes wrestles a tune up against none other than 1991 rival Tracey Smothers. Next night at Louisville Gardens (14,500+ sellout) another fascinating Shotgun has Rob Conway doing a job for D’Lo, Smothers losing to Chaz, and the Corporate Ministry B team beating Flanagan, Nick Dinsmore (Eugene) and OVW stalwart Trailer Park Trash. The most interesting thing on Raw is that Kane no shows a six man where Hunter, Billy and Chyna lose to Dogg, X-Pac and a substitute Rocky, then later Taker & Kane lose to Austin & Show as they’re running another tiresome “are Kane & Taker in cahoots?” deal to complicate Kane and Shows triangular feud with, umm, Hardcore Holly. Next night in Lexington (nearly 13,000) dark matches include Kurt Angle dropping a fall to Chaz and Glen Ruth (Thrasher) beating Conway under his real name. On the show proper, Kane rejects his brother via chokeslam in the wake of Kane/X-Pac vs Show/Holly after he sees the replay of Taker chokeslamming Pac on the tron, and Taker vs HHH spills over into violence again with Stone Cold and Rock each attacking their given enemy. In Cleveland the night after Fully Loaded (another sellout) Kurt beats Erin OGrady (who will be Crash Holly) dark, relatively little of note happens except the Show/Taker alliance becomes official (turning Show a second time in five months on TV), and Vic Grimes without being named attacks Godfather. Finally next night in Columbus D’Lo beats Jarrett to add the ICT to his Euro belt with an unlikely assist from Ben Stiller, and Austin and Taker go no contest in their rematch when half the roster interferes.

DEPARTURE
Her helping Ivory in Montreal on 2nd is the last booking for Nicole Bass. A disastrous relationship for both parties from start to finish, litigious fallout notwithstanding, they never found a role for her. The storyline with Venis seemed tailor made for Attitude TV but there was little endgame and she was moved onto Ivory ; as soon as they realized Ivory didn’t need a heater, that was it for Nicole.

[air_raid]

August 1999
MAIN EVENTS
It’s as you were in Washington (15,000+) and Pittsburgh (13,700+) and again in St Louis on 14th (12,000+) with The Rock, X-Pac & Kane vs The Undertaker, Big Show & Triple H. In between, 11th in Fort Wayne it’s the chaos of Rock & Mankind vs Hunter & Billy Gunn vs Taker & Show (no contest) and 13th in Columbia SC it’s Rock & Kane vs Taker & Show. 15th in Peoria Takers off so Big Boss Man takes his place for that six man, then in Winnipeg which is the last stop before SummerSlam, Rocky misses his flight so straight into the main event for a tragically comical nightstick with Boss Man, is Chris Jericho in his first actual match for the company (it’s the Jericho Curse, bitch!) Post SummerSlam we’re straight into - yes - Triple H vs The Rock for the WWF title at MSG (another sellout) and in Philadelphia.

We’ve got a nice little B show on 5th at Kings Dominion Amusement Park in Doswell VA - stacked undercard with four titles at stake in three matches plus Boss Man losing non title to Mankind, main is Kane vs Big Show.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, you may have gathered, is fucked (knee) and if you were reading NEWZ at the time, you may remember it was touch and go as to whether he’d make it to the PPV.

THE CARDS
Most top guns matches you know about except post SummerSlam defences for The Undertaker & Big Show vs X-Pac & Kane, plus Kane vs Show in Winnipeg. D’Lo Brown vs Jeff Jarrett for the ICT goes all month as does Ken Shamrock vs Steve Blackman, which is now (usually) a submission match won (usually) by Blackman on a KO after interference from a certain Ayatollah. Road Dogg vs Billy Gunn concludes in the dog(g) collar match and after SummerSlam Mr Ass starts losing to Mankind. Presumably because Roadies hurt.

Big Boss Man vs Test for the Hardcore title in nightstick matches is all month which is a weird favour for Test to do given his position on TV, and when Ray is missing or main event Test beats Mideon. Ivory vs Jacquelyn is the Womens title match before the PPV, plus Acolytes vs Edge & Christian vs Hardy Boys which often becomes a four-way with Val Venis & Godfather, after that pair finish a little run with Droz & Prince Albert. The undercard before the PPV is slapdash with the only matches happening multiple times are Chaz losing to Mideon early and to Gangrel later, and after SummerSlam. In NYC and at the First Union we pivot to Venis vs Mideon and Al Snow & Tori beating Hardcore Holly & Ivory when Tori pins the champ.

VARIATIONS 
Doswell has its own card - Ivory defends against Tori as she does in Winnipeg, plus Blackman vs Snow and Holly vs Gangrel. Fort Wayne has another six man on top of the main - X-Pac/Dogg/Kane beating Mideon & the Acolytes - also Chaz beats Meat and Holly goes over Viscera. In Columbia Holly pins Chaz and Snow wins a triangle over Gangrel and Mideon. In St Louis Snow pins Mideon and in Peoria Gangrel does double duty losing to Snow after beating Chaz earlier. In Winnipeg Pac works Billy and Jarrett does a job for Venis.

TVs
Detroit on the 8th (near 14,000) builds several matches for the PPV on live Heat also featuring another run in from Vic Grimes then for Shotgun he finally has the Key name as he, Droz and Albert win a six man squash. Next night in Chicago (near 14,000) on Raw the Hardys side with Gangrel and kick Michael Hayes out, X-Pac & Kane regain the tag belts from the Acolytes, Jericho makes his first TV appearance in a memorable segment with Rocky and the convoluted path to crowning a challenger for SummerSlam starts. Plus Jarrett and Debra start regularly falling out. Dark, Kurt Angle jobs to Meat. Next night in Milwaukee Stevie Richards beats Mideon dark then debuts on the taped Heat aligned with Blue Meanie. Raw is dominated by THREE top contenders matches and still ends the situation in a state of confusion, BRO. Also Crash Holly debuts. Night after SummerSlam is the first night on the mic for Lilian Garcia, Chyna signs an open contract to challenge Jarrett for the ICT, Jeff gives the Euro belt to Mark Henry, on a personal highlight for me Miss Kitty debuts in Jarretts entourage, Jericho and Road Dogg start building their match that won’t happen, Boss Man steals Pepper from Snow (uh oh) and Triple H wins the WWF title from Mankind with help from Shane McMahon. Next night in Kansas City some Coliseum worthy dark matches - Edge vs Matt Hardy, Gangrel vs Chaz, D’Lo vs Hardcore and Venis beats Henry non title - and on the first syndicated SmackDown, Hunter retains against The Rock when guest ref Shawn Michaels turns. Again. 30th at a sold out FleetCenter the Dudley Boys win their first squash on Jakked (which used to be Shotgun), and on live Raw they start building Jericho vs Shamrock (which ALSO won’t happen), a tag team clusterfuck proves the catalyst for the awful “refs on strike” angle, and Mankind & Rock beat Show & Taker in a glorified handicap match - Takers slowing down and needs a break. Come September the continuous bollocks causing him to not actually wrestle becomes a farce. Finally 31st in Worcester, it’s notable how Heat suddenly becomes a jobber show, the strongest match is Richards & Meanie vs Dudleys. For SmackDown Howard Finkel helps Jericho assault Kenny, the Dudleys disrupt another tag gauntlet to try and find new top contenders, Rock vs Mankind goes to a no contest in the match that’s supposed to determine Hunter’s challenger for Unforgiven then same night Rock n Sock defend successfully against Hunter & Shane when Billy Gunn (seemingly in transition back to babyface?!) attacks Hunter. The rate of change is ridiculous and it gets worse before it gets better, bro. Steve Austin, injured, is used In stories as a name in passing but doesn’t actually appear on the four tapings after SummerSlam. I should note that Luna Vachon returned at SummerSlam to attack Ivory but her involvement in TV storylines has barely been worth mentioning.

DEPARTURES
He’s in and he’s out - that six man I mentioned is the last time they use Vic Grimes (in the Key character).

Edited October 11, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

SEPTEMBER 1999

THE MAIN EVENTS

Triple H vs The Rock for the WWF title continues, now with DQ finishes in Syracuse, Rochester and Salt Lake City, but 12th in San Diego (nearly 10,000) it’s Kane challenging. 18th in San Antonio (near 10,000) it’s HHH vs Mankind (no DQ) then Rock vs Big Show, next night in Austin (11,000+) it’s back to Hunter/Rock, this time falls anywhere. By those last two, Hunters lost the belt, so he loses to Rocky too. 25th in Augusta the night before Unforgiven it’s a minor landmark - Rock vs Chris Jericho.

4th and 5th in the music halls of Hyannis and Warwick it’s (do you have déja vu?) Kane vs Big Show swapping wins and for some reason 24th in Oklahoma City it’s a very depleted crew so Kane’s on last with Bradshaw.

Steve Austin is still recovering, Undertaker works no house shows before he disappears from TV too.

THE CARDS - CHAOS

X-Pac vs Billy Gunn happens most of the month. Ken Shamrock vs Steve Blackman rolls on until bookings for Ken stop abruptly then the Lethal Weapon bounces around a bit. Mankind vs Viscera happens a few times but Mick has a mostly varied month, ditto Test when he isn’t still losing nightstick matches to Big Boss Man. There’s a reversal of fortunes when Test starts working Blackman. Jeff Jarrett vs D’Lo Brown continues early month, often with tag partners Mark Henry and Val Venis respectively, before we move to D’Lo losing to Mizark.

When Val isn’t tagging with Brown he’s busy with Droz. Tag teams are messy but Hardys vs E&C vs Dudleys vs Acolytes is common, as is Ivory vs Tori vs Jacquelyn vs Luna Vachon. There’s a mid month run of Godfather vs Gangrel, a few squabbles of Hardcore Holly vs Crash Holly and both have a couple of matches with Al Snow which month end become HC title matches.

Most fascinatingly, on two Texas shows, reigning TWA champ Venom makes two defences. Most long terms fans remember the name as the wrestler that HBK has his lone match of 2000 with, but what rarely gets mentioned is that Venom is long term HBK associate and WWF alumnus Paul Diamond - from Midnight Rockers vs Bad Company to Shawn vs Max Moon on the first Raw, to champion of Shawns territory then opponent in his comeback match. Diamonds opponent here? Sho Funaki - indeed.

VARIATIONS - OUCH 

Cape Cod and Warwick have Gangrel vs Taka Michinoku, Mark Henry vs Chaz, Meat jobbing to Blue Meanie and the tag is E&C beating the Hardys and the Acolytes. Meanwhile in Rochester and Syracuse, Prince Albert beats future tag partner Scotty Too Hotty. Road buddies Foley & Snow don’t make it to Salt Lake so there’s a shuffle - Viscera makes himself useful twice, firstly pinning Gangrel, then prior to a scheduled Kane/Mankind reunion to challenge Taker/Show, Vis and Taker assault Kane before his hastily rearranged singles match with Show - which he wins anyway, in the only advertised Undertaker match I can find reported. Shamrock does a job for Boss Man in Utah but rebounds to beat Y2J in San Diego in their only match on record, while Boss Man beats Snow. In San Antonio Henry defends the Euro title against Venis, X-Pac beats Boss Man and Kane works Billy, in Austin Blackmans with Val and Jarrett defends the ICT against Mankind. Oklahoma is so stretched that they do Edge vs Jeff Hardy, Christian vs Matt AND they come back for a tag later, Godfather works Mideon, and Joey Abs works a house show against, of all people, Terry Taylor. Finally in Augusta, Crash goes over Chaz, Ivory vs Jackie is a singles, Jarretts back with Godfather and…. here’s our sweet blessed Davey Boy Smith, working off some rust with Test. Hope he remembered his tights.

TVs - CHRIST, BRO

6th Raw in Hartford, Test teams with “Uncle Pat and Uncle Gerry” beat the Posse - for some reason Terri is now with the Posse and Shawn Stasiak gets involved in the finish, so she must have dumped Meat for the MSP, which I have no memory of. Finding a job for Terri after Dustin was always challenging. Also Hunter, still without a challenger for Unforgiven, beats Mr Ass with help from Chyna and Shane McMahon. Long living in my and my best mates memory however - D’Lo wrestles Blackman with Mark Henry commentating and the Worlds Strongest Man says, in the most derisory tone imaginable, “Look at him! He’s getting beat by Steve Blackman!” Always cracked me up. Next night in Albany (10,000+) for Heat tensions rise between Chaz and Marianna (that’s going to get ugly) and for SmackDown Bulldog returns to win the Hardcore title then gives it to Al Snow. Always amazed me that in 1987 Teddy wasn’t allowed to pay good money for a belt but by 99 you could just be given them if you were Mark Henry or Al Snow, or just pick them up and decide they were yours if you were Mideon. Same night Jericho/Shamrock go to a non start and Taker/Show regain the tag belts in a Buried Alive match when Rock and Taker brawl backstage (so Taker doesn’t do much) then HHH interferes, attacking Show but burying Mankind. He’s then surprised out of an ambulance  by - YES! - Stone Cold Steve Austin, by which point the tag titles are totally forgotten. Also, Kurt Angle beats Taka dark which was probably fun. 13th Raw in Anaheim, Shane’s now taking Tests side against the Posse, Austin goes to TWO short non finishes with Hunter for a non-start (gets arrested) and DQ (attacks the ref). Also Mr Hughes returns aligned with Jericho (for a bit), and Rock vs Mankind vs Kane vs Show vs Taker (who does little) which is meant to determine a contender, is thrown out when many refs get bumped. Sigh. Next night in Vegas, on Heat Marianna has Chaz arrested plus Stevie Richards actually wins a match over Droz, and on SmackDown, Shane O beats Abs with Stasiaks help, Taker wins a five man Rumble with the other contenders by getting in the ring and merely pushing Rock & Show out, Billy & Chyna nonsensically tag to beat the Hollys, and the whole McMahon family complete their ludicrous face turn when a returning Vince McMahon beats Triple H for the WWF title with help from Austin. Chyna, a face when she’s tagging with Mr Ass and feuding with Jarrett, is still a despicable heel helping Hunter here. 20th Raw in Houston (near 12,000) has Taker refuse to defend the tag belts so Rock n Sock win them back by beating Show, Mideon & Viscera, Test & Stephanie beat Jarrett & Debra when Test allows Steph to pin the Intercontinental champ (hmm) then later Test teams with Shane to beat Hunter & Chyna (lol) by DQ. One night later in Dallas (13,000+) we have the tag belts change again, hotshotted onto the suddenly reformed New Age Outlaws. So Road Dogg had his match with Jericho at Unforgiven scrapped because he was injured but is back before the PPV anyway! Ken Shamrock meanwhile is “injured” in a first blood match with Y2J to excuse their match at the PPV from happening, and Hunter runs a gauntlet of gimmick matches against the other Six Pack contestants to try and earn his way back in. He loses to Big Show in a “chokeslam match” but beats Kane (with help from Mideon & Viscera) and Mankind in Inferno and Boiler Room matches, however Taker refuses to wrestle the casket match (forfeiting his slot in the Six Pack) so Hunter loses to Mideon & Vis, then rebounds to beat Rock in a Brahma Bullrope match with another turn from a guest ref in a HHH/Rock match - this time, Bulldog, who is rewarded with the final slot. Yes, one show had Hunter wrestle five times, Rocky and Mick wrestle twice, and far too much Mideon and Viscera.

Little interesting happens on Raw in Greensboro except Big Show is attacked by Albert establishing out of nowhere that he’ll be working face again - his third turn since debut a mere seven months earlier - and HHH/Rock goes to a non finish when Bulldog interferes. Next night HHH vs Bulldog goes to a non finish when guest ref Rock goes into business for himself and there’s a four way brawl also involving Stone Cold. Both nights Mark Henry tries to reunite with D’Lo when he’s attacked by Droz and Albert - that’s going nowhere.

DEPARTURE

Mid month Ken Shamrock decides he wants to give MMA another go so he’s promptly taken off the road, written out and has his match with Y2J scrapped, released with a “doors always open” handshake, but he never does make it back, thus ending what to this day people will argue a case for WWF run with the biggest failed potential.

 

n.b Mrs raid is currently injured so I’m not getting to write as much.

[air_raid]

October 1999

THE MAIN EVENT

Slow start to the road with Rebellion then TV but 6th in Trenton NJ nearly 9000 sell out for a strong midcard but merely Kane vs Big Boss Man on top. 10th is a Florida double hitter with 7000+ sell out in Ft Myers with a slightly better midcard and Kane vs Big Show and 9500+ over in Miami for - what else? - Triple H vs The Rock for the WWF title. Dayton on 17th is the last stop before No Mercy, nearly 7500 attend, average card, Show vs Boss Man on last. After the PPV THE MAN IS BACK - Triple H vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (DQ finish of course) does 17,000+ sellout in Chicago, disappointingly shy of 9000 in St Louis but yet another sellout at MSG. That’s Steve’s last of the year though, 31st in New Haven it’s Hunter and Rocky.

THE CARDS - GOD HELP ME

There’s no consistency whatsoever!! Big Show vs Big Boss Man is the most oft-held midcard match of the month in non finishes or non title matches, British Bulldog vs Test (latterly for the European title) goes down four times, all late month including MSG. The Hollys vs New Age Outlaws for the tag titles happens three times across the same shows. Mankind vs Val Venis happens early, middle and late month in Trenton, Dayton and New Haven. After that we’re scraping the barrel with anything that happened twice in the month, which includes D’Lo Brown vs Mark Henry early month, Jeff Jarrett vs X-Pac for the ICT in Trenton and Fort Myers, Chris Jericho vs Road Dogg in Miami and Dayton, Godfather vs Viscera late month, Al Snow vs Steve Blackman in both Dayton and New Haven and a few more that occur in Chicago then St Louis - The Rock going over Val, Jericho beating Mankind, Kane & X-Pac  (still mates) vs the Acolytes, Edge & Christian vs the Dudley Boys, D’Lo defending against Prince Albert, Godfather & Henry (right before Henry turns AGAIN) vs Vis & Mideon. Christ.

VARIATIONS

Starting with the most fun - in Fort Myers after losing to Jarrett, X-Pac comes back out later in the show to beat The King. MSG is as usual host to the biggest card possible including Rock vs Jericho, the first Kane vs X-Pac match of their feud, Bulldog/Test has bonuses of Mean Street Posse ringside and Debra as the ring announcer, plus E&C and the Hardy Boys vs Dudleys and Acolytes. Um, and D’Lo vs Mideon. There’s a bit of “scrambling for bodies” in Florida, Papi Chulo vs Miguel Perez in Miami, in Fort Myers Joey Abs vs Shawn Stasiak plus Gangrel actually gets a match, losing to Test.

To do the rest of the guys’ months… Kane slums it with Albert in Dayton and Mideon in New Haven. Mankind works Bulldog in Miami. X-Pac wrestles Y2J in New Haven despite being a heel now - can’t work with Kid, can’t work. Jarretts final ICT defence and last house show for the WWF ever is rather ignominious - he beats former champ the Godfather in Dayton. The Outlaws busy themselves with E&C in Trenton (still champions), and a three way with the Hollys (newest champions) and the Acolytes in New Haven. Otherwise for tag team chaos it’s Hardys vs Dudleys vs Acolytes in Trenton, Hollys vs Dudleys vs Acolytes in Miami the same night as Edge/Christian vs Hardys in a straight tag in Fort Myers, a four way eliminator with the TLC crew and Acolytes in Dayton, and Edge/Christian/Matt/Jeff vs Dudleys & Too Cool in New Haven. SEVEN real team jostling for a slot, not including Rock n Sock!

Women’s matches are as such : Ivory vs Tori vs Jacquelyn in Trenton, Tori vs Jackie in Miami and Ivory vs Luna Vachon in Fort Myers, Ivory vs Tori vs Luna in Dayton. The rest? Albert vs Chaz and Snow vs Hardcore in Trenton, Godfather vs Albert and Venis vs Blackman in Miami, Snow vs Boss Man and Vis & Mideon vs Stevie Richards & Blue Meanie in Fort Myers and Gangrel vs Stasiak in Dayton. 

TVs

Rebellion does have a dark match - Christian vs Crash. Raw at the Continental Airlines (ex Meadowlands) has several tryouts plus Big Show vs Chaz, Godfather vs Boss Man, Snow vs Blackman and Kurt Angle vs Ace Darling. On the show proper E&C go 2-0 up in the Terri Invitational, Stevie Richards dresses as Dude Love to tag with Mankind against the Dudleys, and Y2J does a pinfall job to Rock. Also Smithers loses by DQ to Chyna - more on that later. Next night at a sold out Nassau Coliseum Rikishi Fatu beats Crash dark and Kurt does a job for Richards(!!). Bigger storyline developments actually happen for Heat than SmackDown - Jericho & Mr Hughes lose a tag to the Dudleys when Y2J walks off, and Glen Ruth (Thrasher) uses GTV footage to prove Marianna has been faking injury at the hands of Chaz, saving the latter from another arrest. The Headbangers promptly reunite.

11th Raw at the Georgia Dome (a monstrous 33,000+) Papi vs Taka Michinoku is a hell of a dark match, Ivory beats Mae Young (ugh) by DQ, Jericho abandons Hughes again, Austin & Jim Ross (his first “match”) go to a non finish with HHH & Chyna then Rock n Sock go non finish with Val and Bulldog, an infamously bad finish featuring “roody poo poo.” In Birmingham AL Jericho pins Hughes to end their alliance, the Hardys win what is purportedly the 5th match of the TIT, and Rock n Sock regain the tag gold from the Outlaws.

A storyline night from No Mercy ; at the conclusion of HHH/Austin, Chyna (new and increasingly popular IC champ) speeds the evil bastard WWF champion out of the building in a waiting car. This is the last on screen acknowledgement of them as a pair ; after two months of nonsensically booking her as a babyface in her own storyline but a heel as part of his, the pair are silently separated. It had been coming, with Hunter letting slip that he didn’t care about Chynas squabbles with Jarrett and Bulldog in an interview at Rebellion and ignoring Smiths threat to her safety on the next Raw.

On Columbus Raw after No Mercy plenty of dark looks including for Kurt Angle, Nick Dinsmore and Rob Conway (losing to D’Lo), then on the show proper Chyna comes out with new music all of her own and Miss Kitty inherited from Jarrett, Bulldog hooking up with the Mean Street Posse in his new and logical rivalry with Test, Fink being in the corner of the Acolytes (you definitely forgot that) in a loss to the Outlaws, Boss Man engineers a fake cop telling Show his dad has died, and Rock n Sock losing the tag belts to the Hollys when Mankind sits on the steps for the whole match believing Rocky binned a copy of his book. Next night in Louisville (nearly 13,000) for Heat D’Lo beats Y2J when Chyna interferes and Stevie Richards (for some reason dressed as Meat) jobs to Albert, then for SmackDown Rock goes to a non finish with Mankind after interference from Val Venis, Fabulous Moolah vs Mae Young for the belt goes non finish when the rest of the roster run in, and Steve Austin actually wrestles on TV, pinning Venis.

A momentous Raw in Providence has Too Cool return to cost E&C the tag belts against the Hollys, Mankind beat Hunter by DQ, a Test/Bulldog cage match best remembered for Shane McMahon diving off the cage onto the Posse, and Rock/Austin doing a non finish with the Outlaws when HHH and X-Pac interfere, reforming DX. Next night on Springfield SmackDown taping, Pac turns on Kane ending their on/off partnership for good, and three talents in two matches really have their value underscored ; D’Lo, recently Intercontinental champ, loses his fourth and final European title to Bulldog, signifying the end of Browns prospects and the current level of Smith who really should be above it, cast as the villain in the amnesia storyline of the precious Stephanie McMahon. Finally Jericho jobs on TV to Richards (dressed as Chyna) after interference from actual Chyna. What a knock that must have been to the notoriously fragile Jericho ego.

DEPARTURES

It’s a big month for departures including some of the most notorious ever. Starting with the the innocuous, the fairly obvious writing out of Mr Hughes on TV is the end of his third and final run with the company. Marianna Komlos is also finished at the end of the story with Chaz, and ends up one of the wrestling’s forgotten tragedies, dying of cancer at 35. This is the month also where Droz suffers his infamous injury at Nassau where a powerbomb gone wrong against D’Lo confines him permanently to a wheelchair.

Not wrestlers or on screen talent but start of the month Vince Russo is suffering from burnout after the addition of SmackDown to the duties and seeking a new challenge, heads to WCW and takes Ed Ferrara with him. This was the first time I’d really heard writers referred to as particularly important or even much allusion to “writers” at all, and while the TV this month is still very car crash with a million things happening, too many title changes and some awful stuff (roody poo poo), as the year progresses and into 2000 the long term answer to “what will tv be like without them” will be - better.

The GTV stuff comes to an end, without the planned Goldust payoff, as Dustin quietly lets his contract run down. His debut being one of many infamous moments of Russos reign of terror in WCW.

Finally….  despite being reigning (and record six time) Intercontinental champ at the time, Jeff Jarrett enters the final month of his contract without being nailed down to a new one (damn it, JR!) and is persuaded to follow Russo to WCW on the promise of a main event push. His contract expires the day before No Mercy and rather the embarrassment of the promoted match not happening the WWF agrees to Jeff’s six figure demand for a one off payoff to do the match. As a consequence he’ll make himself persona non grata in WWE for nearly two decades and as an indirect consequence TNA will happen, spawning some of the best AND worst American pro wrestling of the 21st Century. Fun fact, the span between Jeff leaving and getting his Hall of Fame invite was actually longer than the timeframe between Randy Savage leaving and his first acknowledgment via DVD collection. Though I suppose it’s harder to hold a grudge once the other party is dead.

Edited October 28, 2022 by air_raid

[DavidB6937]

Welcome back! Hope Mrs Raid is okay.

[air_raid]

Just now, DavidB6937 said:

Welcome back! Hope Mrs Raid is okay.

Not really. It’s taken me as long between posts because I’m looking after her. Hopefully at 8:30 she’ll have a course of action or at least be closer to real diagnosis because all that’s been afforded her so far is so many painkillers she might as well be in the WWF in the mid 90s.