House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[DavidB6937]

Sorry to hear that. Hope today is a positive step forwards for her.

[air_raid]

NOVEMBER 1999

THE MAIN EVENT

Early month it’s still Triple H vs The Rock for the belt including 12,000+ in Raleigh though Hunter has 5th off so Rock goes on last with Val Venis in Lexington. After Survivor Series and TVs 18,000+ come to the SkyDome on 20th for new WWF Champion Big Show vs HHH followed by Rock vs Big Boss Man ; those matches are swapped back to the ongoing rivalries next night in Montreal (12,000+) and continue to alternate late month through California - headlines are 15,000+ in San Jose and a double on 27th, a mildly disappointing 12,000 at the Cow Palace followed by a 16,000+ sellout in Sacramento.

THE CARDS

Limited reports this month but here goes. Big Show vs Big Boss Man is going on even before Survivors. Kane slums it with Prince Albert through the south, more naturally beats X-Pac in Canada then usually in Cali it’s Viscera who’s started stalking Kane’s Mrs on TV. Mankind loses early month to Val Venis, who they’re half-arsing a push, then in Canada he’s tagging with Al Snow either in a straight tag against the Hollys or a multi team. The New Age Outlaws usually get a clusterfuck until Cali where they settle down with the Hardys, who’ve come off a run with the Dudleys. Our beloved British Bulldog defends against Test early and D’Lo Brown in Canada then starts alternating between them. A fun regular match in Canada and Cali is Edge & Christian beating Chris Jericho & Too Cool in a handicap match when Chyna interferes - the Intercontinental champ doesn’t actually wrestle on the road. 

Cards are rounded out by Snow vs Steve Blackman, Godfather vs Mideon and D’Lo vs Gangrel early, Godfather vs Blackman, Albert vs Shawn Stasiak and civil war Test vs Venis in Canada, late month is a bit jumbled but D’Lo swaps wins with Blackman and it’s usually Snow & Jacquelyn vs Venis & Ivory except when split into two singles. Our only exceptions beyond multiman tag variations like last month are Albert pinning Test (!) in San Jose, and San Fran has Kane pinning Mideon, Godfather with Albert, Acolytes vs Hollys as a straight tag and the fun of E&C/Hardys vs Dudleys/Too Cool.

TVs

I’m going to scale this back as the point was always house shows/non televised matches, but of note this month - schizophrenic booking of Test has him drop a loss to D’Lo but then pin Triple H twice, once to win an eliminator on SmackDown (featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger) before Survivors and once in a singles with help from Shane McMahon. The last TV matches of the year for Steve Austin are beating Billy in singles and another of those eliminators which sees him pinned by Hunter. Gangrel starts being accompanied by real life wife Luna Vachon (I’d forgotten that) and actually pins Y2J on TV but you can guess the circumstances. Stevie Richards last contribution before injury is costing Jericho a match to Godfather and you can imagine what this month did to the notoriously fragile Y2J ego. Kaientai actually get some form on Heat, beating the Acolytes by DQ and then the Headbangers though they return that favour on Jakked. Special note is how awful the post Survivors Raw is, with the aforementioned Y2J loss to fangs, new WWF Champion Big Show only able to beat Smithers by DQ in less than a minute when the Mean Street Posse interfere, and the bulletproof Rock losing to Big Boss Man to set up a title match nobody wants at Armageddon - he avenges it on SmackDown, and closes his month putting away Al Snow whose jealousy is getting in the way of the reunited Rock n Sock going for the tag belts. But that won’t be the last of it.

DEPARTURE

Survivors is the end of the usefulness of The Blue Meanie. A one note joke, he did well to last a year. He loses all the weight, starts shagging a pornstar and resurfaces in ECW as The Blue Boy. Eventually he’ll put the weight back on and be brought back (briefly) as part of the bWo in 2005. What an odd story he was.

Edited October 30, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

December 1999

THE MAIN EVENT

Life without Steve Austin continues with another sellout at MSG on 4th ; The Big Show vs Triple H is the title match but Rock n Sock chasing the tag belts closes. Next night it’s a split roster with The Rock vs Triple H in Hartford and Show vs Big Boss Man for the belt in a cage in Albany. Other than PPVs and TV there aren’t many more reports ; Boxing Day in Charlotte it’s HHH/Rock with Kane going into the cage with the champ, 29th in Nashville (14,000) the same two matches minus a cage then 30th in Memphis (18,000+ sellout) Rocky and Hunter close but Shows off. Those last two gates were aided by The King wrestling (against Mideon).

THE CARDS

With few reports and little consistency I haven’t much to go on. The only matches that happen twice are X-Pac vs Test, Kane vs Viscera, Davey Boy Smith defending the Euro belt against Christian and most of the Nashville/Memphis card, which includes Val Venis defending his newly won Euro title against Prince Albert, which also happened in Charlotte, Chris Jericho vs Al Snow on the same three nights, and Kurt Angle beating Godfather, as he had at MSG. The rest of those year end cards are Dudleys vs Acolytes, Hardys vs Hollys vs Too Cool… and Rikishi vs Tracey Smothers??? This months women’s title run is Ivory vs Jacquelyn but of the reports, it only takes place in Albany.

VARIATIONS

After New Age Outlaws vs Rock n Sock at MSG, Billy wrestles Mankind in Hartford and that’s his last house show of 99 ; I think he’s already feeling what turns out to be a serious injury. Dogg meanwhile beats Test in Charlotte and teams with X-Pac to beat (random) Edge & Kane in Memphis. X-Pacs other outlier is beating Venis in Albany. Kurt Angle is taking scalps all over, pinning Mark Henry in Albany and D’Lo Brown in Charlotte. Speaking of which, D’Lo and Mizark actually team in a tag team battle royal (won by the Hollys) at MSG, despite since splitting up Henry on TV had formed a brief partnership with Godfather then turned on him to start knocking around with Viscera, leaving D’Lo and Godfather to start teaming with each other. D’Lo does get to beat Steve Blackman in Hartford. The fun handicap from last month moves to the Hardys at MSG, beating Y2J and Too Cool (even though they’ve turned face on TV) after Chyna interferes. Matt and Jeff beat Grand Master & Scotty and the Dudleys in Hartford, in Charlotte it’s an 8-man tag teamed with E&C.

The rest? At MSG Rikishi pins Shawn Stasiak (as he does in Hartford) and Snow upsets Venis. In Albany Papi Chulo gets a cheque jobbing to Albert, Snow beats Godfather and we get a welcome Headbangers vs Kaientai. Hartford we’ve covered except the Hollys actually wrestle Rodney & Pete Gas! In Charlotte the opener is actually The King & Godfather beating Mideon & Viscera, plus Rikishi beats the Posse in a handicap and the Acolytes beat the Hollys in a streetfight. Finally in Memphis the standard inconsistent month for Test ends with a win over big Vis.

TVs

In Worcester on 6th (10,500+ sellout) the Kaientai revival continues as Taka & Funaki beat Mizark in a handicap for Jakked and on Raw the Big Show title reign reaches its nadir as he wrestles Viscera. Absolutely nothing of note happens at the sold out FleetCenter for the go-home SmackDown before Armageddon. Next night in Tampa (near 14,000 sellout) is one of the strangest dark matches for a local audience I’ve ever read - Hogans mate Bubba The Love Sponge goes to a no contest with Gerald Brisco when the Posse interfere then the impromptu match that follows has Bubba pin Pete Gas. Extraordinary. Poor Davey Boy drops a DQ to Rikishi on Jakked then the first Raw after Stephanie McMahon turning closes with DX beating up Test and features the new Womens Champ re-dubbing herself The Kat before beating Tori in a chocolate pudding match, and a forgotten but thrilling cage match between E&C and the Hardys. Next night in Tallahassee we’ve started the Mae Young cobblers as for Heat she helps Mark Henry and partner Godfather (on again so soon??) against the Dudleys. For SmackDown the goodies are booked with odds against them and Hardys/E&C forced to fight each other.

Houston Raw has a fun Edge & Matt Hardy (!) vs Christian & Jeff Hardy plus a variety of odd stip matches such as Mankind beating the Posse (all dressed as Santa) in a Boiler Room Brawl and Show beating Kane where Kane’s loss means Tori has to “spend the holidays with X-Pac.” Hmm. Plus Rock does another crazy job, to Snow in a Bullrope match. Next night at Dallas Rock gets his win back in a cage and Chyna helps Kat retain against Ivory though that alliance is forgotten soon. In Greensboro Ricky McDaniel (with Wahoo in his corner!) works a dark match, Kaientai beat Mideon & Brooklyn Brawler (!) for Jakked and on Raw Rock beats Mankind in a “pink slip on a pole match” and Show retains against HHH when Mankind interferes. Finally in sold out Richmond Taka vs Papi Chulo is a welcome dark match, and on SmackDown my least favourite title scenario of the year (after Mideon simply “finding” the European title) - Jericho and Chyna wrestle to a draw over the ICT and instead of Y2J simply retaining, Steph decides that makes them co-champions, the first Jericho/Chyna alliance being a ruse by the former champ to keep the belt on Chris.

DEPARTURES

It seems weird to mention him here after so long but a joint IWA/WWF card in Puerto Rico on 15th has Savio Vega beat Albert in the last involvement I can find of Savio with the fed. It’s a shame there wasn’t a spot for him after eventually recovering from injuries in the Brawl For All, though maligned over No Way Out 1998 all these years later I still don’t think people appreciate how good he actually was.

The first week of the month, bookings dry up for Shawn Stasiak. He’s shown his walking papers amidst allegations of recording others wrestlers’ conversations covertly, including, apparently, Bulldog & Blackman in a car.

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by air_raid

[Chili]

When did Stasiak get his walking papers for recording Bulldog & Blackman in a car? Surprised he was there in early 2000.

[rollthedice]

He faced Angle at Survivor Series 99 but I can't picture him after that, not even in the 24/7 hardcore title gang.

[air_raid]

7 hours ago, Chili said:

When did Stasiak get his walking papers for recording Bulldog & Blackman in a car? Surprised he was there in early 2000.

 

6 hours ago, rollthedice said:

He faced Angle at Survivor Series 99 but I can't picture him after that, not even in the 24/7 hardcore title gang.

Ah, was bound to miss one. See edit for December.

[air_raid]

JANUARY 2000

THE MAIN EVENT

The best year for the WWF since, err, 1997, starts fittingly with Triple H vs The Rock for the WWF title (DQ finish) in Minneapolis and Kansas City. 12th in Grand Rapids we downgrade to Big Show vs Big Boss Man in a cage but 16th at the former Meadowlands near 19,000 sellout for The Rock & Cactus Jack vs HHH & X-Pac. 29th in Dayton we have the Hunter vs Test grudge match then afternoon of 30th on SuperBowl Sunday there’s 14,500+ at the Gund Arena for a huge card with an old fashioned finale ; all 28 wrestlers from the undercard contest a battle royal won by Kane, who then gets a crack at Trips.

THE CARDS

Big Show vs Big Boss Man continues all the way up to Show starting his slow (ish) burn heel turn on the last TVs before Rumble. Chris Jericho vs Al Snow for the ICT happens three nights. Before Rumble Kurt Angle is beating Test and after it getting revenge wins over Taz. There are brief early month runs of Val Venis defending the Euro belt against Steve Blackman and Rikishi going over Prince Albert, Road Dogg & X-Pac vs Acolytes (as Billy Gunn’s shoulder is giving him grief at this point) plus Godfather vs Gangrel, Too Cool vs Hollys and - look out! - Hardys vs Dudleys vs Edge & Christian. Late month it’s moved to Hardys vs Dudleys - everyone else is jumbled.

VARIATIONS

In East Rutherford we have Y2J vs Hardcore in Chris’ only exception. Kane beats Albert in Grand Rapids, Boss Man in East Rutherford, teams with Bradshaw (?) in Dayton to beat X-Pac & Show (?) then pins his former little buddy in Cleveland. Show pins Snow in New Jersey and tags with Mr Ass (?) to lose to Bradshaw & Test (?) in Cleveland. Outlaws retain against the Hardys at the Continental AirLines, Billy loses one on one to Christian in Dayton. The rest of tag fun has a FIVE WAY in Grand Rapids featuring the TLC lads, Too Cool and (winners) the Acolytes, in New Jersey its Acolytes vs Dudleys, D’Lo Brown & Godfather vs Gangrel & Mideon, and E&C vs Too Cool vs Headbangers, in Dayton Godfather & D’Lo beat Mosh & Thrasher and Scotty beats Crash in a singles, finally In Cleveland Godfather/D’Lo vs Headbangers vs Too Cool and E&C vs - together at last! - Snow & Blackman.

The rest? Test vs Blackman, Rikishi vs Mideon and Angle vs Brooklyn Brawler in Grand Rapids, Rikishi vs Blackman in New Jersey, Venis vs Snow and Blackman vs Gangrel in Dayton, and in Cleveland Venis vs Albert and Gangrel does a job for local boy The King. You may note of course that The Kat (Womens champ) works no house show matches since she’s not a wrestler, but none of the other women do either.

TVs

Straight out the gate on 3rd Raw in Miami we have a new WWF Champion as HHH unseats Big Show to win his 3rd world title in little over 4 months.. although WCW will soon make that look like conservative booking. Next night in Orlando (12500+ sellout) seeds of dissent are sown as Albert accidentally cost Boss Man a non title loss to Test for SmackDown which Boss Man duplicates for Heat causing Albert defeat to Venis. Also on SmackDown Kaientai win! They beat all three Mean Street Posse in a handicap match, and Rikishi wins a raffle to have a crack at Hunter, finally on Heat a Luna Vachon miscue leads to Gangrel losing to regular road enemy Godfather.

10th Raw in St Louis (near 14,000 sellout) has the chaotic brawl where Rock, Mankind and the Acolytes lose to DX which precipitates the return of Cactus Jack. For Jakked, Kaientai cause the Posse a loss to three jobbers. 13,000+ sell out the Chicago AllState next night but little happens apart from tensions start to simmer between Rock and Show. 17th Raw in New Haven after a loss to the Outlaws it fully explodes on Raw and Test wins the HCT from Boss Man when Albert interferes, next night in Providence for SmackDown however Test does a job for X-Pac, the new Snow/Blackman team beat Angle and a rapidly fading Davey Boy Smith, and Kane wins a three man lumberjack battle royal over Rock and Show.

Night after the Rumble in Philadelphia (14,000+ sellout) it’s underlined that Show is a heel now as he tags with Triple H to wrestle Rock & Rikishi, the Dudleys cost the Hardys their tag title shot and Bubba powerbombs Terri through a table, and on the Jakked taping Kaientai/Posse enmity continues as Abs loses in singles to Funaki. Two days later on 26th in sold out Baltimore, half time Heat has a bizarre occurrence in the Boss Man/Albert split when after Albert gets disqualified and beats the shit out of Ray with his own truncheon, Boss Man tells him he’s proud of him. Of note from SmackDown two brilliant moments for the women ; Mae Young announces she’s pregnant and Tori reveals she’s leaving Kane for X-Pac, branding her a “jezebel” according to JR for the rest of the characters life. Finally 31st Raw, clearly-babyface-now Y2J with ally-again Chyna in his corner drops a non title match to Pac when the aforementioned jezebel interferes, Rocky puts the first pinfall loss on Angle, “Harvina” who’s Harvey Whippleman in drag is ridiculously allowed to win the Women’s title from Kat in an equally ridiculous “lumberjill snow bunny” match, and most memorably the Outlaws take an absolute shoeing when they foolishly pick a fight with ringside “spectators” Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero and Perry Saturn. Halftime Heat incidentally is also notable for JR interviewing Steve Austin where they acknowledge his engagement to Debra and he forecasts return in “3-4 months.” Ah.

DEPARTURES

I think…. nobody? You’d expect a spring clean with so much new talent to showcase - Taz, Radicals, Harvina - but as far as I can tell all active wrestlers keep their jobs… until the first week of February, anyway.

Edited November 8, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

FEBRUARY 2000

THE MAIN EVENTS

Mobile on 5th is missing the two top names but it still sells out (10,000+) then 6th 14,000+ come to New Orleans for The Rock, Cactus Jack & Kane vs Triple H & New Age Outlaws (same main in Mobile minus Rocky and Hunter). 10,000+ in Denver on the 11th for Rock & Kane vs HHH & X-Pac then it’s HHH vs Kane for the belt in San Diego (nearly 12,500), Jack & Kane vs the Outlaws again in Bakersfield and Rock & Rikishi vs HHH & Pac same night in Davis. 19th we’ve near 15,000 in Knoxville for another tag with Big Show in for Waltman, then in Columbus (GA) it’s another sellout for Rock/Kane v Hunter/Pac, same night in Augusta we’re a bit depleted, the Outlaws drop a DQ to Jack and the forgotten man, Test - Micks last house show. Finally in Little Rock (nearly 16,000) Rocks back with old favourite, Big Boss Man.

THE CARDS

The New Age Outlaws defend against Edge & Christian when they aren’t with the main eventers. X-Pac and Big Show are all over the place, likewise Kane. Chris Jericho vs Hardcore Holly for the ICT is fairly common as is Kurt Angle vs Taz which mid month picks up the Euro belt. Rikishi vs Big Boss Man is fairly common. Hardy Boys vs Dudley Boys happens most of the month, sometimes as a no DQ. Val Venis vs Albert goes on until Venis drops the belt, thereafter A-Train is usually beating Mark Henry.

The newly rebranded APA vs Al Snow & Steve Blackman is on and off. D’Lo Brown & Godfather vs Gangrel & Mideon (ugh) is quite common too. There’s a fair few where those goodies fight Crash Holly & Mideon or him and Viscera on shows where Bob is with Y2J ; early month the Hollys were with Too Cool, later there are a few of “Head Cheese” vs Headbangers vs Too Cool. The Women’s title is Jacquelyn vs Ivory and there’s a return to the road for the LHWT as new champ Essa Rios has a few with Sho Funaki. 

No road bookings for poor Davey Boy Smith - he taped a match for Jakked one day after the Rumble, he works the go home Raw for No Way Out, and that’s all until May. Struggling.

VARIATIONS

On Rockys undercard Kane beats Boss Man in Knoxville and mortal enemy X-Pac in Little Rock. Pac is also added to the ICT match making it a triangle in San Diego. Jericho’s other exception is Little Rock, he does a DQ finish with Angle. In Augusta, Show is with Rikishi. Angle works Christian in Knoxville, Rikishi beats Hardcore in Little Rock. Otherwise - it’s Christian and Mosh one on one in Mobile and New Orleans, Jeff vs D-Von in Denver and San Diego, Taz vs Mideon also in San Diego, Bakersfield has Godfather vs Gangrel, D’Lo vs Mideon, Christian vs Crash and Edge vs Boss Man, while Davis rounds off with Too Cool vs Headbangers, Bradshaw v Blackman and Farooq v Snow as two singles, and Joey Abs vs Brooklyn Brawler(!). In Knoxville Mosh is with GrandMaster Sexay but Thrasher is with Edge. Columbus is a top heavy show, underneath Gangrel/Mideon beat Abs & Rodney, Viscera gets to beat Mizark, who then does double duty tagging with Snow against the APA as there’s no Blackman, plus - Radicals klaxon!! - Perry Saturn gets to beat fellow heel Albert which sounds a messy clash of styles, and Dean Malenko goes over Christian which I bet was pretty smooth. Same night in Augusta our mate Brawler does a job for The King, finally in Little Rock it’s Godfather vs Viscera, Christian vs Crash, Edge vs Albert and those damn Dudley Boys losing to the APA.

TVs

4 shy of 15,000 sell out Joe Louis in Detroit on 1st for a SmackDown taping where Jackie relieves “Harvina” of the Women’s belt at first opportunity. More memorably DX do an unplanned clean sweep of the Radicals necessitated by injury to Eddy Guerrero, which also costs Chris Benoit his planned win over Triple H and likely sets him back MONTHS for acceptance as a potential main eventer.

7th in Dallas Papi Chulo works under that name still, dark with Funaki, on live Raw Jackie retains against Luna Vachon and most memorable of all telly this month, the Radicals turn on Cactus leading to the 10 man where Benoit, Malenko, Saturn, HHH & X-Pac face Rock, Cactus, Rikishi and Too Cool, and if that wasn’t enough, Kane returns at the end sporting his “away kit” and reunited with Paul Bearer in a red suit, to lay waste to DX. Next night in Austin there’s a dark tryout for HBK students : American Dragon & Shooter Shultz vs Lance Cade (later to become Garrison Cade) & Brian Kendrick. Dragon of course to be better known under his real name, Bryan Danielson, and best known as Daniel Bryan. The Heat taping has Essa Rios for a debut (with Lita) revive the LHW title by pinning the long absent Gillberg, and SmackDown has the continuation of the Jackie/Luna program when Luna & Gangrel win a tag via Luna pinning Jackie, partnered with, umm, Albert. Also the active Radicals go two wins and a DQ loss in three singles vs Too Cool and Rikishi, and Kurt wins the European belt.

14th Raw in San Jose (13,000+ sellout) dark there’s a look at SoCal’s Frankie Kazarian losing to Funaki, and live Rios goes over Crash and Benoit PINS the Rock after Show interferes. Next night in Fresno Rios beats Funaki for Heat but SmackDown is uneventful. 21st a healthy 27,000 come to the Georgia Dome, a dark match sees another chance for Barry Buchanan against CZW legend Ruckus, on Jakked Rios goes over Joey Abs and - Tracey Smothers spotted! He teams with Rick Michaels to lose to the Headbangers. Raw has Smithers bow out for now tagging with Kurt to beat Jericho & Chyna, and HHH/Pac/Show go over Rock/Cactus/Kane. Next night in Nashville for Heat a Lita miscue gets Rios disqualified against Mosh, and Jackie loses AGAIN, tagging with Funaki and dropping the fall vs Ivory & Mideon. On SmackDown the slide for Test continues as he drops the Hardcore belt to Crash, and Billy does a Fameasser on Bubba Ray Dudley through a table that is the final straw for his shoulder, he needs surgery.

The Raw after No Way Out at a sold out MSG has DX kicking Mr Ass out to write him out, E&C start being accompanied by Terri after her betrayal of the Hardys, and the infamous Mae Young “birth” segment, and for Jakked Essa Rios returns to winning ways against Funaki. Finally next night in Trenton Funaki beats all three of the Mean Street Posse in a No DQ with paid help from the APA on Heat, and SmackDown has Crash start the 24/7 bollocks, E&C tease a split after a Terri-caused loss to DX, Angle for some reason retains the ICT over Sgt Slaughter, and ALREADY we start tension between Rios and Lita including a verbal ticking off (him) and a slap (her) in the wake of another miscue causing Rios to get disqualified against… Jeff Hardy. Ha.

DEPARTURES

That pin on Jackie is the last work for Luna Vachon, her third and final stint in the WWF ending because her mounting painkiller problem and erratic behaviour makes her a locker room liability. The dusting off of Gillberg to drop the belt is also the end of a joke character that had long ran its course, and Duane goes back to doing a job (THE job?) for anyone that pays him. Of course, No Way Out is the retirement match for Mick Foley and he definitely never wrestles again. For a few weeks.

Edited November 14, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

MARCH 2000

Woaaah, wooaaah, WrestleMania (season)!

THE MAIN EVENT

We’re not fucking about early on - 3rd at the SkyDome it’s Triple H vs The Rock vs Big Show vs Kane for the belt, then in Ottawa (12,000+) it’s Rock & Kane vs HHH & Road Dogg, then back to that four way in Montreal except in a cage, but still featuring bags of interference from Dogg and a certain “jezebel.” 8th in Indianapolis the four way becomes a tag, 12th in Albany X-Pac is back on the road to displace Show. 18th in Cedar Falls and 19th in Moline are a little “B” (though the latter still draws 10,000+) without the top two guys or show but they’re fucking loaded with four title matches including the massive EuroContinental three way, Kane vs X-Pac on last, then 22nd in Champaign IL is our last report before pre-Mania TVs - Hunter vs Kane for the title.

THE CARDS

Its most often a double belt bonanza with Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho after early month continuation of Y2J/Angle, and the Crippler working a couple with Rikishi. Chubs otherwise does two matches each with Big Boss Man and Viscera. Tag title is usually Dudleys vs Hardys although occasionally Edge & Christian are in for a three way elimination. Otherwise Christian often works Crash Holly either HCT or non title and Edge does several shots with Albert and a couple with Boss Man. Too Cool split their month virtually 50/50 with the Headbangers or, logically, Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn. We have Jacquelyn vs Lita as a new Women’s title run. Crash also has a couple of cracks at Essa Rios, the only other matches with any regularity are Test beating Mideon and D’Lo Brown losing to Albert in Canada and Mideon losing to Godfather later in the month.

VARIATIONS

Road Dogg works Mosh in Toronto and Thrasher in Montreal. Big Show vs Rikishi is a pretty big (hehe) one off in Ottawa, otherwise it’s Dudley’s vs E&C, Crash losing to Albert, Test over Boss Man in a flag match, D’Lo actually winning over Mideon, and the Hardys vs Malenko & Saturn. It’s scheduled as APA vs Boss Man & Albert on two shows but Farooq misses Indianapolis so Bradshaw works Albert one on one (Boss Man moves to Rikishi, Vis gets a night off) and same night Steve Blackman beats Christian. In Albany Angle revisits hostilities with Taz, and it’s Godfather vs Blackman and Road Dogg beats Test. Taz picks up a win over Gangrel in Moline then Champaign has an awesome one off - Eddy Guerrero has his first house show match for the WWF, losing to said same Taz. Also Crash retains the HCT over Gangrel and the Acolytes beat the newly formed T&A.

TVs

6th taping in Springfield has more good form for Kaientai on Jakked as Funaki pins Thrasher, and the value continues to be squeezed out of D’Lo as he does a job for Rios. Meanwhile on Raw the short lived association kicks off between Angle and Bob Backlund and E&C lose another match because of apparent manager Terri distracting them. Next night at a sold out FleetCenter for Heat Edge beats Boss Man and intimates to Terri he doesn’t want her there then on SmackDown Christian loses to Rios because of her, kicking off another unnecessary tease of E/C dissension. Also, Backlund actually prevents Angle dropping the ICT when he’s trapped in the Tazmission!

13th at sold out East Rutherford it’s Mean Street Posse as fodder for try outs. Rodders and Pete go over the Dupps (ugh) and Abs puts over Scott Vick who was Sick Boy in WCW. Long will it be written that he’s a great talent that never got the break he should have “down South” and dorks like me will wait forever for a TV debut that never comes. Live, E&C lose to the APA and the reason why is getting infuriating with its repetition, plus Deano Machino relieves Essa Rios of the LHW belt. Next night at Nassau the Heat taping is really eventful - Trish Stratus debuts and Kleenex shares rocket in price, as she scouts first Test in beating Gangrel then Albert in beating Joey, plus we quietly forget about the Boss Man/Albert team as Bull Buchanan (re)debuts helping Boss Man against Mideon (ugh). Raw is also incident packed as E&C finally dump Terri, and Triple H and Big Show cause each other to lose to Rikishi and Godfather respectively - do you remember Hunter getting pinned non title by Godfather??? I didn’t.

20th at sold out All State in Chicago, Vick beats Tracey Smothers and the Dupps beat Rob Conway and local guy Danny Dominion - fun fact, Danny trained Ace Steel with whom he opened the Steel Domain and trained CM Punk and Colt Cabana. On Jakked Stevie Richards returns to TV tagging with Rios to beat Kaientai and live on Raw Test cheats to beat Val Venis (who’s sinking rapidly) and then T&A form immediately afterwards, and HHH v Rock v Big Show is broadcast followed by Linda McMahon bringing back Mick Foley to complete the REAL WrestleMania main event. Next night in Milwaukee Vick pins Mideon and the Dupps lose to the Headbangers, and Heat is very tag oriented with Richards & Rios battered to a stoppage by the APA, and E&C losing to Y2J & Taz because of the Hardys, who earlier had lost in reciprocal circumstances to Kaientai (!) - nothing of note on SmackDown. 

27th in Houston Vick and the Dupps win more dark matches but the go home Raw is largely uninspiring except for a fun main - Rock & Vince McMahon vs Show & Shane McMahon with Hunter and Foley as enemy guest referees. Which sounds like a No Mercy N64 session come to life. Finally 28th in San Antonio on SmackDown it’s a bad night to hold a belt - the Dudleys lose non title (boooo) to Rikishi & Kane, Angle loses non title to Rock (booooo) and Jackie coughs up the Women’s title to the greatest athlete on this or any roster ever - Stephanie McMahon.

DEPARTURES

This month, I think, nobody!

 

[air_raid]

APRIL 2000

THE MAIN EVENT

Disappointingly 15th at MSG is the first report I could find - 16,925 would go down as a technical sellout but they've definitely squeezed more into the building many times. Potentially The Rock & The Acolytes vs Triple, X-Pac & Road Dogg wasn't they match they wanted to see - that would be saved for Backlash, obviously. Same main event next night in Pittsburgh, 22nd in Columbia Hunter defends the belt against a babyface-again Big Show, then 23rd in Greensboro its more tag fun as Rock & Chris Jericho collide with Hunter & Chris Benoit. Neither of the top two are at Hershey the night before Backlash which is still a strong B show with all five undercard belts contested plus the girls arm wrestling gimmick - tag belts four way goes on last, the biggest star power matches are the feuds - Big Show vs Kurt Angle and Benoit vs Jericho - bit of a spoiler that one as they use the same finish as they do at the PPV!

THE CARDS
Big Show vs Rikishi happens often before Show turns on TV, for the fifth time since debut. To nobody’s shock it’s Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit most of the month. Eddy Guerrero vs Taz for the Euro belt is a run you didn’t know happened. Kurt Angle has to bounce around a bit but his early month regular is Val Venis. The tag title three way of Edge & Christian vs Harry Boys vs Dudley Boys goes on the road. Dean Malenko vs Scotty Too Hotty happens every night regardless of who has the gold. Crash Holly vs Perry Saturn happens often for the HCT. T&A beating Al Snow & Steve Blackman plus Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan vs the Headbangers are both early month fixtures then it moves to Test and Albert beating Mosh and Thrasher. APA vs X-Pac & Road Dogg is booked a couple of times. Godfather vs Viscera makes it onto a couple of shows, The Kat and Terri Runnels are doing the arm wrestling deal.

Kane must be injured, he rarely wrestles all month.

VARIATIONS
No Jericho in Columbia so it’s Benoit vs Angle. No Taz for two nights either so Eddy is with Rikishi in Columbia and Angle in Greensboro. Also in Columbia the tag you didn’t know you wanted - Terri & Fabulous Moolah vs Kat and Mae Young. Someone’s missing in Greensboro - Bradshaw vs Road Dogg is one on one. Also Crash defends against “cousin” Hardcore Holly, Saturns duty lightened to a run in. In Hershey T&A get added to the tag title scrap making it the aforementioned four way, plus Crash beats Blackman, Hardcore drops Snow, Bull goes over Bradshaw, and Kane’s back, pinning Boss Man.

TVs

Heat before Mania has Angle kick Bob Backlund to the kerb. It only dawned on me recently on a PPV with so many tags, the APA were probably gutted to slum it in the Hardcore “battle royal” at WrestleMania. But then, it was a stupid card anyway, the only singles match was Kat vs Terri. Sold out Staples Center has March regulars lose dark matches - Scott Vick to D’Lo Brown and the Dupps to the Headbangers. Raw has Chyna betray Y2J for “Latino Heat” causing him to drop the priceless European title in the process, Crash pins Hardcore to regain the HCT and undo the previous evening’s miscue, and Rock is somehow permitted to beat Shane McMahon by pinning an interfering Triple H. Fucking WCW shit, that. Next night in San Jose (sold out again) there’s a Stevie Richards sighting on Heat - he and Val actually beat the Headbangers who are really treading water. This is the episode where Jericho does a weird job to Viscera. For SmackDown the Dudleys beat T&A then start their face turn built around Bubba’s preoccupation with trying to put Trish Stratus through a table. OK. Also Taka Michinoku actually gets to work an A show! He loses to “the man of 1000 holds.”

10th in Fort Lauderdale more dark matches for Vick and the Dupps, Richards wins a squash on Jakked, and the Big Show impressions phase is underwear - he’s DQ against Venis for using a wig as a weapon. Also Taka famously gets a shot at Triple H! Next night in Tampa both Heat and SmackDown feature appearances from Steph’s short-lived trainer Muffy, Taka beats Essa Rios on Heat plus the first Malenko/Scotty televised title match and on SmackDown Angle & Show team to have a crack at E&C which predictably goes bad leading to a fight.

17th Raw at State College is eventful and memorable - Linda McMahon announces Steve Austin will be at Backlash, Scotty wins the LHW title from Malenko, and Jericho fake wins the WWF title from HHH, costing Earl Hebner his job (for a bit). 18th in Philly there’s a tryout for Jimmy Snuka Jr -  he’ll get a run eventually but oddly for a company with a hard on for pushing heritage, it will be as Deuce. Vick beats Pete Gas, and while Val Venis vs Mark Henry might have made Coliseum back in the day here it’s just two guys spinning their wheels. On SmackDown the short-lived Eddy/Essa team skids to a hault against the Dudleys after which Lita goes through a table, HHH beats Taz after a backfire from Tommy Dreamer (existing to build the Taz/Dreamer ECW title match at CyberSlam) and after a loss to T&A, D’Lo turns on Godfather, a heel turn being exactly what he doesn’t need to reverse the slide he’s on.

Couple of interesting try outs at Raleigh Raw - the Dupps beat Border Patrol who are Mike Diamond and Mike Modest (of Beyond The Mat fame), and Vick loses to K-Krush - later K-Kwik and eventually R-Truth. Couple of ECW nostalgia matches on Jakked - Taz beats Tracey Smothers and Saturn pins former stablemate (in WCW) Richards. Raw has Eddy lose non title to Venis (booooo) when Rios interferes, and D’Lo teams with Blackman to beat Godfather and Snow - yes, Head Cheese are no more either. Next night in Charlotte they have another look at Ricky McDaniel losing to Joey Abs, Vick & K-Krush lose to the Dupps and - how’s this for a bonus? - Rikishi pins Viscera. For SmackDown, Deano Machino wins back the LHW title and Austin shows up and destroys the DX Express.

That’s the go home for Backlash, probably the best constructed storyline driven main event of all time, where the interference from all Corporate goons, the appearance of Stone Cold and Linda bringing back Earl all add to rather than detract from the drama of Rocky finally regaining the WWF title from Triple H. What Mania should have been, artistically, but a genius decision financially as the PPV makes a record amount of cash for a non “big 5” which will stand until Invasion.

DEPARTURES

That win over Y2J and a last payday in Charlotte are the last highlights of this run for Viscera. Of course, it’s not the absolute end for him in the company, he’ll be brought back more than once.

Blink and you missed him - Bob Backlund is gone after Heat before Mania. Kurt didn’t need a heater and Mr Bobs involvement with Angle has very much gone the way of “Debra managing The Rock” in terms of most fans’ memories.

WrestleMania is of course the second retirement match for Mick Foley and he never wrestles again. For a bit.

Edited November 18, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

May 2000

The Rocks first month ever as a babyface World Wrestling Federation Champion starts… well, like last month. It’s Rock & APA vs DX (the three remaining members) in Columbus. Month end Rocks partners are the Dudley Boys for good crowds in Calgary (11,500+) and Edmonton (14,500+) although the latter, the ICT goes on last.

Rock and Hunter are spared Cincinnati on 13th so Rikishi & Too Cool vs Kurt Angle, Edge & Christian goes on last. Very few reports this month!

THE CARDS
Errr… what happens twice? Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho one on one in Calgary and Edmonton No DQ - Y2J plays heel in Benoits hometown. Rikishi & Too Cool vs Kurt Angle, Edge & Christian through Ohio, then Kish pins Kurt through Canada. Kane vs Big Boss Man and Eddy Guerrero vs Perry Saturn happen late month, Dean Malenko vs Crash Holly is the only match to feature on three reports, the only other repeats are Godfather vs D’Lo Brown in Ohio and Bradshaw vs Bull Buchanan in Canada.

Big Show is on light TV only duties because he’s injured.

VARIATIONS
Benoit wrestles Val Venis in Cincinnati and in Columbus the regular Jericho defence is made a triple threat with Hardcore Holly. E&C win a three way over Too Cool and T&A in Calgary then beat the Hardy Boys in Edmonton ; Matt & Jeff having wrestled Boss Man & Bull in Cincinnati and T&A in Columbus. The Dudley Boys also made Cincinnati, losing to X-Pac & Road Dogg. In Cincinnati Essa Rios loses to Malenko, in Columbus he’s with Eddy. Too Cool vs T&A is a straight tag in Edmonton.

The rest? In Cincinnati it’s T&A vs Al Snow & Steve Blackman and Crash vs Hardcore vs Saturn, in Columbus Boss Man & Bill vs Snow/Blackman and Venis vs Saturn, it’s Godfather vs Snow in Edmonton and a special mention for Calgary as the Lethal Weapon loses to, in his last ever match in the WWF, the British Bulldog.

TVs

1st Raw in Baltimore has ECWs Christian York & Joey Matthews try out in defeat to the Dupps as well as Scott Vicks usual win. Live, E&C start their heel turn by using the ring bell to get disqualified on the verge of losing the belts to Show & Rikishi. Next night in Richmond Y2J beats Benoit to earn 6 days with the ICT. I'd be amiss if I didn't mention Insurrextion which features Kat baring her tits again, the first PPV Benoit/Angle singles match which is short but hard-hitting, and Davey Boy making his final (brief) comeback to lift the HCT. 8th at Nassau, dark we have Smithers going over Mideon and the Dupps beating the Mean Street Posse, and on Raw Y2J is forced to defend the belt three times, the last of which has him drop the title back to The Crippler. Next night in New Haven for Heat, Kurt Angle saves the tag belts for E&C against Too Cool forming that alliance and Bulldog vs Hardcore ends in Crash winning the HCT because 24/7. 15th Raw in Cleveland Crash briefly loses the HCT to a Ho (MCWs Bobcat) and Rocky loses to Benoit non title (boooo) in a submission match via Montreal rehash. Next night in Detroit (18,000+) Heat is fairly eventful - our sweet Smithers beats Joey Abs, Rios & Lita beat Kaientai when Lita pins Funaki, and the D’Lo/Godfather big grudge match happens. On Heat. For SmackDown Gerald Briscoe wins the Hardcore belt from a sleeping Crash (the softest hardcore match ever?) and the go home for Judgment Day has Rock v Dudleys in a “handicap lumberjack tables match” go no contest when all three are attacked by all of Corporation X and their hired goons. It never sat well with me Test doing Hunter and Steph’s bidding, all things considered. 

22nd Raw taping Davey gets another gig pinning Mideon for Jakked and on the live show we step closer to the Rios/Lita split ; next night Bulldog tapes a double DQ with Eddy on Heat which goes down as Daveys last televised match in the company, and on SmackDown Rios beats up Lita after losing to Matt and thus begins a trio that became a defining act of the era. Plus on last, Shane McMahon goes to a non finish with… The Undertaker. 29th Raw in Vancouver Too Cool win the tag belts and Rock vs Taker lumberjack goes to the expected no contest followed by Kane returning to (US) TV, next night in Tacoma with 19,000+ in the Dome, on Heat Venis comes out with Trish Stratus (and new shit music) for the first time, and SmackDown has Rock, Taker and Kane all win matches to become top contender - for Kane, this means pinning The Game non title (booooooo).

DEPARTURES
As you’ve gathered, this is the end of the road for Davey Boy Smith. Allegedly the Alberta house shows are his last chance and while his match with Blackman didn’t impress, it’s said that the condition in which he shows up in Edmonton is what causes his release.

Insurrextion is also the last cheque for a while for Paul Bearer, health issues preventing him from being on the go full time. He’ll be brought back again, reconciled with Taker without explanation, in 2004.

[air_raid]

JUNE 2000

THE MAIN EVENTS 

The Rock & The Dudley Boys vs Triple H, X-Pac & Road Dogg continues in Milwaukee and the last house show to date at the SkyDome. No Rocky in Columbia MO so it’s Kane going for the belt, but six man resumes 17th in Minneapolis. 18th there are two shows and Chatanooga has HHH vs Rikishi, then 24th it’s another sellout at MSG for the six man which erupts into chaos and has run ins from both “Brothers of Destruction.”

There’s a mid month run through New Mexico where Rikishi vs Kurt Angle is the biggest match, 18th in Huntsville it’s hard to say - The Undertaker & Kane are there but their opponents are merely Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan, the ICT four way is pretty loaded, Hardy Boys vs Edge & Christian goes on last.

THE CARDS 

There’s a four way of Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho vs Val Venis vs Hardcore Holly all month, initially for the ICT and later as a top contenders. Rikishi vs Kurt Angle is consistent, including for the ICT at MSG. Tag title is usually Too Cool vs T&A while Edge & Christian feud with the Hardy Boys. Anywhere Rock isn’t, it’s Dudley Boys vs X-Pac & Road Dogg. Eddy Guerrero vs Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko vs Crash Holly are constant for the respective belts. Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan start out beating Al Snow & Steve Blackman but start losing to the APA after the split on TV with Bull walking off. Still a cheque most nights for Godfather vs D’Lo Brown and a couple of nights of Essa Rios vs Sho Funaki. Tight month.

Big Show is still injured, Undertaker is easing back in, Kane barely wrestled either.

VARIATIONS

Team Chris have Milwaukee off leaving Venis vs Hardcore as a one on one. In Las Cruces and Albuquerque it’s Benoit vs Jericho and Holly vs Snow, the tag titles are Too Cool vs E&C vs Hardys, nights off for Val, Blackman and DX. The Dudleys are booked twice with T&A but D-Von doesn’t make Las Cruces so Bubba Ray beats them by himself in a tables match. Venis/Blackman also miss Columbia so Snow slots into the four way, Malenko works Funaki, the tag title is the same four way as King of the Ring, as it is at MSG. 18th is a stretch - in Huntsville it’s Farooq vs Mideon and Bradshaw vs Angle plus Gangrel vs Brooklyn Brawler, while in Chattanooga it’s Rios vs Stevie Richards, D’Lo vs Joey Abs, then Rodney & Pete Gas do a job for Funaki & Taka Michinoku, and EVEN THE WOMEN are booked in the form of Jacquelyn vs Ivory. MSG is shaped of the months regular matches plus Kane squashing Gangrel, and Kat and Terri Runnels do the arm wrestling, presided over by the ever impartial Jerry Lawler.

TVs

5th in Rochester dark it’s Rios vs Richards plus (Just) Joe Legend & Scott Vick losing to the Dupps, live on Raw Boss Man turns on Bull after a loss to the Hardys. Next night in Buffalo Joe wins a squash and the Dupps beat Kaientai, and on SmackDown Lita wins a battle royal to earn a shot at Stephanie - unfortunately that match is immediate and Tori is the ref. 12th in St Louis, more dark matches for those same usual names and on Raw Steph beats Lita again, this time with help from Kurt. Next night at the sold out AllState in Chicago Lita comes to the aid of the Hardys to fight away Trish Stratus and a couple of results raise eyebrows - D’Lo jobs to Scotty in a KOTR match and Steph causes Y2J to lose to Bull.

19th in Nashville there’s actually a win over Kaientai dark for the Posse and on Jakked a Tracey Smothers payday losing to Val, live on Raw Pat Patterson wins the Hardcore title from buddy Gerald Briscoe. Next night in Memphis, dark all three Posse beat Legend and the Dupps and Vick goes over Smothers, while on SmackDown Lita tags with the Hardys for the first time, Rikishi relieves Benoit of the ICT, and a treat for the locals - King & Kat beat Malenko & Terri. 
 

26th in Worcester interesting fortunes for the soon-to-be-split again Headbangers on Jakked ; Thrasher loses to Boss Man but Mosh beats Mideon. Live Raw is packed ; Taz returns and turns heel by attacking Rikishi, Taker/Kane beat new tag champs E&C non title in 90 seconds (fuckin booooo) and the Right To Censor gimmick starts when Richards stops Terri disrobing. Next night in Hartford, for Heat D’Lo teams with Chaz to beat the Posse, and on SmackDown Blackman pins Crash to start his particular era around the HCT, and Angle breaks Hollys arm with a moonsault gone awry.

DEPARTURES

It’s a few days into July before we get the next endeavours that I know of!

[air_raid]

JULY 2000

THE MAIN EVENTS

We are off with a new, old, main event - new WWF Champion The Rock vs Triple H in Houston, Tampa, Anaheim and Sacramento. 29th in Pittsburgh is the last big one - The Rock, Kane & Rikishi vs Triple H, Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit.

Mid month Rocky has a few nights off - The Undertaker vs Kurt Angle is the big match in Kansas City and Wilkes-Barre PA, that same night they stretch to run Trenton NJ as well with Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit for name value and the ICT on last. Pensacola on 30th is really weird, Kane vs Benoit midway through the card then the ICT second to last and... Rikishi vs Taz closes???

THE CARDS
There's a lot of beer mat booking this month. Chris Jericho vs Kurt Angle is booked early month but Y2J is back with Chris Benoit numerous times for the rest of the month. The Undertaker & Kane vs Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan happens a few times even though the latter are split up on TV already, Kane usually wrestles one or the other while Taker works Angle although Bull also gets stuck with Al Snow on occasion. Edge & Christian work a good handful of three ways with Too Cool and the Hardy Boys before it gets messy and other reasonably consistent title matches are Rikishi vs Val Venis for the ICT, Eddy Guerrero vs Perry Saturn for the Euro and Dean Malenko vs Crash Holly for the LHWT, although Deano Machino works Pez in Cali while Crash gets to beat Gangrel. Month end Eddy moves on to challenging Venis for the ICT and new Hardcore champ Steve Blackman finds a regular challenger in Mideon (ugh). The Dudley Boys vs Road Dogg & X-Pac happens more than once although DX also work Matt & Jeff midmonth, Godfather vs D'Lo Brown is back on but now with D'Lo winning although Godfather also works Crash when D'Lo starts tagging regular with Chaz. APA vs T&A happens a few times, everything else is a fucking mess.

VARIATIONS
The Headbangers eke out their last matches together losing to Boss Man & Bull in Houston and Snow & Blackman in Tampa ; the APA beat Head Cheese in Houston which is rounded off with Crash vs Sho Funaki. Someone's missing in Tampa as X-Pac vs D-Von is a one on one. Anaheim and Sacramento have an extra man which both nights turns out to be Kurt - in Anaheim its Y2J vs Benoit vs Angle, in Sacramento its Taker & Kane beating Kurt and T&A in a handicap match! Otherwise, Sacramento has the Acolytes vs Boss Man & Bull. In Kansas City Godfather works Gangrel, E&C with the Duds, Eddy wrestles Boss Man (did THAT ever happen on TV??) and Blackman is defending the HCT against Crash. Next nights double shot is stretched - in Wilkes-Barre it's Kaientai vs the Dupps, Blackman works Gangrel in a scheduled match then Essa Rios impromptu/24-7, E&C beat the APA and we have Jacquelyn vs Ivory as a token womens match for the second month in a row. While in Trenton Godfather is with Brooklyn Brawler, the Dudleys are back with T&A, Thrasher does a job for Taz while Chaz goes over GrandMaster Sexay in singles, and The King beats Steven Richards. Pittsburgh has Too Cool vs Kaientai, Dudleys vs not-yet Lo Down in a tables match and the Hardys with T&A. We finish in Pensacola where the tables match has Kaientai added to it, Too Cool have to job to an increasingly irrelevant DX, and the Hardys/T&A match is enhanced (pun intended) by Trish Stratus and Lita in the ring wrestling.

TVs
3rd in Orlando we have dark matches that won't surprise - the Dupps job to Joey Abs & Rodney, while Scott Vick pins Pete Gas. Also Joe Legend beats 95 Challenge legend Buck Quartermaine. Interestingly on Jakked/Metal, D'Lo & Chaz work Rios & Bull, while Thrasher does a job for Saturn. Weird line from Kevin Kelly on the Metal broadcast, "Dropkick attempt from Thrasher ; not a good one." Reminded me of Monsoon, burying a talent for no reason. Raw has Steven Richards start interfering on Godfather and the Benoit/Shane McMahon alliance forms. Identical Vick/Dupps/Posse dark matches next night in Fort Lauderdale, on SmackDown Venis wins the ICT fro Rikishi, Malenko loses a handicap match to Jacquelyn & Ivory, and Jericho causes Hunter to lose to Brooklyn Brawler & Kaientai. 10th in San Jose for the weekend show Thrasher jobs to Godfather while Lo-Down go over Kaientai, Lita vs Trish Stratus non finishes when Richards sticks his censorship in, and Rock beats Benoit with a Dusty finish DQ after Shane initially wins the Crippler the belt with a(nother) Montreal rehash. Next night in Oakland is uneventful. Nothing interesting happens 17th in Albany either save Malenko wrestling Chyna to a DQ, 18th at Nassau Coliseum Thrasher does a job dark to Pete Gas - can you imagine? The most interesting match on TV is Heat - Essa Rios does another job to old rival Taka. Night after Fully Loaded in Austin the dark matches have Posse jobs to Dupps and Just Joe (using that name), for Jakked Lo-Down beat Kaientai with their homage to the PowerPlex, and on live Raw Big Show returns, tags with Lita to go non-finish with Shane & Stephanie, Bull beats Godfather to force him into the RTC, and Taker goes non finish with Kurt when Show waddles in and eventually turns on Taker forming the shortlived alliance with Kurt, Shane and Benoit. Next night in San Antonio for Heat Sgt Slaughter beats Funaki for no apparent reason and on SmackDown Godfather officially becomes Goodfather. Finally with 25,000 at the Georgia Dome on 31st for Raw, Benoit & Angle beat the Dudleys, Bull & Goodfather lose to the APA and Rock & Lita beat Hunter & Trish, as the slow burn towards Steph vs Lita continues.

DEPARTURE
You may have noticed the glaringly obvious Headbangers split and jobbing out of Thrasher - with the company high on the D'Lo/Chaz pairing, they send Thrasher to developmental but by December decide they haven't got anything for him and release him. He does indies until retiring in 2003, before returning to reunite the Headbangers with Chaz/Mosh in 2011 and even have a nostalgic return to WWE in 2016.

[BomberPat]

I've probably mentioned it already, but an interesting note on the Right To Censor gimmick starting up while Joe Legend is doing dark matches is that Joe is pretty adamant that the RTC was based on an idea he pitched for himself - cutting his hair short and attacking wrestling fans for being immoral and supporting acts like The Godfather. So at least the timing does kind of match up.

[Chili]

54 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I've probably mentioned it already, but an interesting note on the Right To Censor gimmick starting up while Joe Legend is doing dark matches is that Joe is pretty adamant that the RTC was based on an idea he pitched for himself - cutting his hair short and attacking wrestling fans for being immoral and supporting acts like The Godfather. So at least the timing does kind of match up.

'Who pitched that?' 

'Joe.'

'Joe?'

'Yeah, Just Joe.' 

'Hang about... I have an idea.'