From The Shelf- WWF Raw is War 1-3-2000

WWF Raw Is War
1-3-00
Miami, FL

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

The Rock opens the show, receiving a monster pop from his hometown. Rock declares that in the year 3,000 people will loud back at the thunderous noise that echoed this millennium of people chanting him name. Rock says this millennium he will be the best WWF Champion there ever was but still has an issue and that’s with Mick Foley’s firing last week. Rock declares his firing to be the biggest pile of monkey crap he has ever seen. Rock wants to go one on one with Triple H who then comes out along with his wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. He makes fun of Rock’s family and says he wants nothing more than to kick Rock’s ass in front his hometown fans and his family. However, Rock doesn’t bring anything to the table in regards to his challenge and he has the same goal as Rock but he gets his WWF Title Shot tonight against Big Show. Triple H tells Rock he has room on the show for Rock, though, and he knows how much Rock likes to be a part of firsts, like the one he was part of last week that caused Mick Foley to be fired. He says Rock will be in the first ever handicap You’re Fired match. Rock will go one-on-three and he promises to fire anyone that will try to interfere in the match. He brings out Rock’s opponents so he can get a firsthand look at what he is facing tonight and X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws come out to attack Rock. They leave Rock lying and Triple H tells him that he will get his ass kicked and they get his ass fired.

Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay) w/Rikishi vs. Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
The Mean Street Posse come out and watches the match from the stage. D-Von and Sexay start and D-Von rakes the eyes. Stroke by Sexay and he tags Scotty. Double back elbow followed by a double elbow drop by Too Cool. D-Von rakes the eyes but Scotty comes back with a bulldog. Worm by Scotty but D-Von comes back with the Stun Gun. Tag to Bubba and he hammers away. Backdrop by Bubba and D-Von tags in. Double shoulder block by the Dudley Boyz and D-Von charges in the corner but eats boot. Second rope clothesline by Scotty and Sexay tags in. Sexay cleans house with some dropkicks and he hits a double DDT for 2 as Bubba saves. The Posse attacks Rikishi on the floor but the Acolytes come out and chase them away. Bubba hits a Jackknife Powerbomb to Sexay and D-Von goes up. Scotty crotches him as Rikishi comes in and superkicks Bubba for the DQ. Rikishi gives D-Von the Rikishi Driver and then he and Too Cool dance.
Winners by DQ- Dudley Boyz *1/2 ( Fun opener that ended with too much overbooking at the end. Not much else to say. )

Acolytes says they can kick the Mean Street Posse’s ass with their hands behind their backs. Triple H then makes that exact match tonight. He brings in Steve Blackman and tells Blackman that if he hits Kane with his kendo stick, he will be fired. Triple H tells Stephanie that the reason he made that ruling was so that he could end Kurt Angle’s winning streak.

Kane w/Tori vs. Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle says he will win the match tonight because he has three I’s and Kane only has intensity. Kane attacks him on the floor and back in, Kane hits a big boot. Kane charges in the corner but eats boot and he comes right back with a clothesline. Kane dumps Angle to the floor and he follows out where he drops Angle onto the barricade. Back in, Kane goes up and hits the flying clothesline to Angle. Angle tries to hammer away in the corner but Kane shoves him away. Kane misses an elbow drop and Angle dropkicks the leg of Kane. Angle goes up and leaps but Kane catches him and chokeslams him. Steve Blackman comes out as Kane goes for the Tombstone. Kane stares down Blackman and Blackman nails Angle with the kendo stick for the DQ.
Winner by DQ- Kurt Angle * ( This was pretty much a squash. Two matches in, two DQs. Hopefully this doesn’t become a theme for the rest of the show. )

Stephanie tells Triple H she did something tricky with the Intercontinental Championship as Triple H leaves to prepare for his match.

Stephanie comes out with some WWF officials with Tim White carrying the WWF Intercontinental Championship. We recap the double pin fall of Chyna and Chris Jericho from last week’s Smackdown and Stephanie surveys the refs about who they thought won the match. The first ref says Chyna won, so Stephanie brings her out. Another ref says it was Chris Jericho and now he comes out. Stephanie declares that they are co-Intercontinental Champions and says they can only defend the belt individually. Now the Hollys come out and Hardcore Holly wants an Intercontinental Title match. Chyna declares she is the champion so Stephanie makes the match.

WWF Intercontinental Championship- Chyna © w/Miss Kitty vs. Hardcore Holly w/Crash Holly
Chris Jericho joins commentary for this match. Chyna hammers away with forearms and she hits a handspring back elbow in the corner. DDT by Chyna gets 2. Dropkick by Holly and he clotheslines Chyna to the floor. Chyna goes for a sunset flip back in but Holly blocks. Miss Kitty distracts the ref allowing Jericho to nail Holly and Chyna rolls through for 3. Crash tries to console Hardcore but Hardcore beats the crap out of him instead.
Winner and Still Co-Intercontinental Champion- Chyna * (Another short match but at least this had a clean finish.)

Triple H tells Big Bossman and Prince Albert they are going to face Test and his partners tonight. Stephanie gives him a kiss of good luck for his championship match.

We recap the events of last week between Triple H and Big Show with Mankind attacking Triple H to help Big Show retain the WWF Championship.

WWF Championship- Big Show © vs. Triple H w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and DX
Show attacks to start and he stomps away in the corner. Headbutt by Show and he hits a slam. Elbow drop by Show gets 2. Rights by HHH but Show reverses him into the corner and the impact causing HHH to fall to the floor. Head butt knocks HHH down and he goes to battery ram HHH but HHH shoves him over the barricade and into the crowd to come back. HHH hammers away but Show hip tosses him back to ringside. Show is sent into the steps and HHH leaps off the apron hitting Show from behind and knocking him over the announce table. HHH hammers away on Show and back in, HHH hits the face buster. High knee by HHH gets 2 and he hits some rights that have no effect on Show. Head butt by Show and he hits the sidewalk slam for 2. Powerslam by Show gets 2. Show charges in the corner but misses and Show catches HHH with the chokeslam for 2 as HHH gets his foot on the ropes. Show goes to the second rope but misses an elbow drop. HHH goes for the Pedigree but Show backdrops out. Show goes for another Chokeslam but HHH goes low and he hits the Pedigree for 3!!! HHH gets a ton of pyro and balloons for his victory celebration.
Winner and NEW WWF Champion- Triple H ** ( This match had little heat and it wasn’t that good of a match. Just some brawling followed by some decent in ring action. Very underwhelming WWF Title match. )

Test, ???, and ??? vs. Big Boss Man and Prince Albert
Test’s partners are Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young who are accompanied by Mark Henry and Harvey Whippleman. Albert and Boss Man attack to start and Boss Man charges in the corner but misses. Clothesline to Albert and Test hammers away in the corner. Mae Young gives Boss Man the Bronco Buster in the corner but Albert breaks it up and stomps away. They clear the ring of the elderly and they double team Test. Test fires back and Boss Man charges but misses and he hits Albert. Test knocks boss Man out of the ring and catches Albert with a powerslam. Test goes up but Boss Man knocks him off the top with a knight stick. Bicycle kick by Albert gets 3. Mark Henry and Harvey Whippleman try to save but Boss Man and Albert beat them down. Test clears the ring of them with a double clothesline.
Winners- Big Boss Man and Prince Albert 1/4* ( Ugh, this was garbage. )

Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) vs. Mean Street Posse (Rodney, Pete Gas, and Joey Abs)
The Acolytes have their hands tied behind their backs. The Posse attack as the Acolytes come out and back in, Bradshaw clotheslines Pete Gas. Big boot to Rodney but the Dudley Boyz come out and attack for the DQ. The Posse and Dudley Boyz beat them down.
Winners by DQ- Acolytes DUD ( Third DQ of the night, fifth match under two minutes. I’m loving this show right now. )

Howard Finkel introduces DX’s film, Have A Bad Day. Its someone dressed as Mankind at the unemployment office telling his skills to Triple H who is an unemployment worker. He tells Mankind that he stinks and tells him he has no skills. This sucked.

Steel Cage Match- Jeff Hardy w/Matt Hardy and Terri vs. Al Snow
Snow nails Matt with Head before he even enters the ring and he slams the door of the head of Jeff. He nails Jeff in the back with a chair and he throws Terri into the cage with him. Snow chains the door shut as Jeff hammers away. Whisper in the Wind by Jeff and he hits a double leg drop into the midsection of Snow. Jeff tries to get Terri out of the cage but he can’t get back the chain. Snow attacks from behind and stomps away on Jeff. Snake eyes by Snow on a charging Jeff and he sends Jeff into the cage. Slam by Snow and he puts Jeff’s ankle in a chair. Terri rakes the back of Snow and Snow nails the cage with a chair knocking Matt off who was trying to climb in. Dropkick by Jeff and he climbs the cage. Snow stops him and he Ace Crushers Jeff off the cage!!! Ally-Oop by Snow and he drives the chair into Jeff a few times. He sends Jeff into the cage and he stomps away on Jeff. Spinning heel kick by Jeff and he backdrops Snow. Hardy climbs but Snow stops him and brings him down. Snow slams Jeff’s face off the cage a few times and he battery rams Jeff into the cage. He tries it again but Jeff shoves him into the cage. He leaps off Snow’s back and climbs the cage. Jeff escapes.
Winner- Jeff Hardy *1/2 ( Snow was a terribly dull heel here and it made for a dull cage match. )

After the match, Terri climbs the cage but Snow stops her. Matt Hardy gets in the cage and he nails Snow in the back with a chair to save her.

Another Have a Bad Day video airs with Mankind visiting a doctor. The doctor performs some karate on Mankind.

The Stooges tell Rock they are going to miss him but Rock tells them he’s not going anywhere.

Have a Bad Day part three features Mankind’s book signing with no one there. Triple H as a guy named B.Dalton fires him for poor book sales.

DX promises to embarrass Rock but Rock comes in to their locker room and attack them.

You’re Fired Match- X-Pac and New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) vs. The Rock
Before the match begins, Triple H declares its No DQ. Rock hammers away on X-Pac to start but he walks into a clothesline from Gunn. They go to the floor and DX triple team Rock. Rock comes back with a back elbow to Gunn and he sends Road Dogg into the steps. He crotches X-Pac into the post but Gunn drops Rock face first onto the apron. Gunn drops Rock onto the barricade and back in, Dogg hits some jabs. Rock comes back with a clothesline but Gunn hammers away. Rock knocks Gunn down but he walks into a spinning heel kick from X-Pac for 2. X-Pac hammers away and Gunn hits a knee drop to Rock. Back to the floor they go and Dogg goes for a suplex but Rock reverses to his own. X-Pac stomps away on the floor but Rock begins to fight back on DX. Gunn slams Rock’s face off the announce able to stop the momentum and he chokes Rock with his knee. Back in, Rock fights back again and he catches Gunn with a DDT. Samoan drop to X-Pac and he hits a spinebuster to Road Dogg. People’s Elbow by Rock gets 2 as Gunn pulls the ref out of the ring!!! Spin kick by X-Pac and Gunn hits the Jackhammer. Bronco Buster by X-Pac and Road Dogg grabs a chair but Mick Foley comes out of the crowd and attacks them with a chair!!!! He cleans house with the chair and nails Triple H as he entered the ring!!! Rock Bottom to Gunn gets 3!!!
Winner- The Rock **1/4 ( I enjoyed the story of Rock overcoming the odds and getting one over on a show long dominate DX. Now the best match in the world but at least it had great heat and ended a mostly poor show on a good note. )

The 411: My final rating will be based on how good the edition of the show is, much like the way Larry rates Raw. A bad start to the new millennium for the WWF. The McMahon-Helmsley stuff was not that good and it was annoying how much they were on this show. A ton of short matches and bad finishes overshadow a major title change and big Rock win in his hometown which makes this edition of Raw a major disappointment.

Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]