Dark Pegasus Video Review: Insurrextion 2000

Insurrextion 2000 by J.D. Dunn On paper, this looks like one of the best UK shows ever. May 6, 2000 From London, England Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. Opening Match: 2 Cool vs. Perry Saturn & Dean Malenko. Wow. Didn’t take them long to separate the wheat from the chaff in the Radicalz. Malenko and Saturn are pretty good chaff, though. Saturn and Malenko attack before the bell, but Sexay hits Saturn with a powerslam. Ross and Lawler imply that Saturn may be jealous of the other Radicalz because he’s the only one without a title. Scottie plays face-in-peril after a low blow. He hits Malenko with a surprise O’Connor Roll, but Saturn pulls the ref out. A shoving match erupts between Malenko and Saturn, but they make nice. Scottie hits a desperation superplex and makes the HOT TAG TO SEXAY! Sexay cleans house on both Malenko and Saturn. Anyone else have a problem with that?! Scottie busts out his WORM. The heels bust the “headbutt your partner’s groin” spot. That leads to the Hip Hop Drop at 7:00. I got no problems with this. After the match, Malenko and Saturn get into fisticuffs. IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE FEUD! **1/4 In the back, Mae Young gives Kat a pep talk. Vince McMahon comes out to complain about his meddlesome wife interfering in the Backlash title match. How very Scooby Doo of him. The intrigue is whether Vince wants Shane or Triple H to win tonight. Kane (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Bull Buchanan. Kane with the huracanrana early, but Bull comes back with a springboard plancha to the floor. Just seeing if you’re paying attention. Buchanan actually does flip and land on his feet to counter a backdrop. He boots Kane down, but Kane sits up. The Scissors Kick gets… nothing. Buchanan pummels Kane, prompting Ross to say, “Buchanan loves those hard body shots.” Me too! SPRING BREAK~! Bull comes off the top but gets caught and chokeslammed at 2:32. 3/4* Triple H is glad Vince thinks he’s a member of the family. Steph is not so sure. Road Dogg (w/Tori) vs. Bradshaw (w/Faarooq). “The Kings” was awesome entrance music. Then again, the APA’s entrance theme was probably 50-percent of their overness. Not a knock on them, it was just really cool. Bradshaw keeps going after Tori, dragging out the match longer than it probably should be. Faarooq joins in a beatdown on Road Dogg on the floor, so he gets tossed by the referee. Bradshaw still dominates, though, even busting out the Torture Rack. Roadie makes a mini-comeback and gets two off a rollup as Tori distracts Bradshaw. Road Dogg actually hits a fluke pump-handle slam and picks up the win at 5:58. Huh. How about that. *1/2 Arm-Wrestling Challenge: Terri (w/Fabulous Moolah) vs. The Kat (w/Mae Young). Hoo-ahhh! We like the Kat. In my country, they would go crazy. Terri, no so much. Terri is the heel here, so she spends a lot of time stalling. This is every arm-wrestling match ever because they’re all exactly the same. Well, okay, Davey Boy Smith never took off his skirt revealing a one-piece and bent over doing toe-touches. Terri tries the old “spit water in their face” trick, but Moolah takes the water bottle and dumps it over Terri’s head. That lets Kat get the win. Terri has the last laugh, though, ripping off Kat’s top. Sadly, camera angles and quick cutting keep us from getting a good look – unlike Armageddon. But, then, ya seen two, ya seen ’em all. Showkishi & Rikishi Phatu vs. The Dudley Boyz. This was during the period when Big Show was “just trying to have fun.” Unfortunately, that means he’s wearing Rikishi’s butt-crack gear. D-Von attacks from behind, establishing the Dudz as heels, but Show gets pissed and tosses him around like a rag doll. Lawler begins talking about the Stinkface and works in several poop jokes that probably should never be uttered by anyone over 13 years of age. The Dudz take over on Rikishi, but Bubba keeps taking swipes at Big Show to piss him off. Rikishi clotheslines both Dudleyz. HOT TAG TO SHOW! The faces destroy the heels and work in DOUBLE STINKFACES! Edge & Christian do a run-in, and Edge spears Bubba. That leads to Show hitting the chokeslam at 7:10. 2 Cool comes down and invites the Dudleyz to dance with them. A good time is had by all. ** Kurt Angle tours the UK and meets Kelly Brook. Good work, my friend. Chris Benoit, sporting a nasty shiner from a belt shot by Chris Jericho, claims that he was screwed out of his Intercontinental Title, and he’s going to take it out on Kurt Angle. And could you get a more serious threat? Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit. Crash Holly joins the commentary crew, hoping to beat up an Englishman. Why he would do that during *this* match, I don’t know. Benoit fires off a few chops and a snap suplex. Angle ducks a chop and rips at Benoit’s swollen eye. Angle belly-to-bellies Benoit but stops to play to the crowd and only gets two. Benoit takes the Bret Bump. He comes back with ROLLING GERMANS! The final one ends with a bridge for two. CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! Great counter as Kurt grabs the ref’s hand and uses it to poke Benoit in the eye. The Swandive Headbutt misses, and Angle goes back to the eye. ANGLESLAM! ONE, TWO, THREE! (6:06) Kurt didn’t have much experience at this point, so this isn’t nearly on the level of their later matches. Short too. **1/4 Shane McMahon tells us that of course Vince is supporting him. Hardcore Title: Crash Holly vs. The British Bulldog. Crash is still hanging around the commentary table, so the Bulldog storms the ring with a referee for this impromptu match. Crash whips him into the stairs and jabs him with a Kendo stick. They work in the Raven spot with Bulldog drop toeholding Crash into a chair. POWERSLAM! ONE, TWO, THREE! Bulldog picks up the Hardcore Title at 3:31. 3/4* Earlier today, Edge & Christian charged fans for autographs and pictures. WWF Tag Team Titles: Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz. The champs are full heels here, as opposed to the tweeners they were at No Way Out and WrestleMania. This one is a bit disappointing, although I’m not sure exactly why. It just seems to be missing something. Jeff plays face-in-peril. A false tag spot leads to more punishment on Jeff. Edge goes for a powerbomb but gets sunset flipped for two. Another false tag spot allows more punishment. Edge and Jeff both go for crossbodies for a double KO spot. Matt waits until the ref’s back is turned and drops an elbow on Edge. Matt finally gets the hot tag and covers Christian for two. Edge yanks Matt off the cover but gets wiped out by Jeff’s somersault plancha. That sets up the Twist of Fate and Swanton back in the ring, but Edge grabs the ring bell and wallops Jeff for the intentional DQ at 12:43. Good, but it didn’t click like some of their other matches. **1/2 After the match, the Dudley Boyz run down and powerbomb Edge through a table. Recap of Chyna turning on Chris Jericho and joining Eddy Guerrero. European Title: Eddy Guerrero (w/Chyna) vs. Chris Jericho. Eddy loses a coin flip, so it’s his European Title on the line here. Eddy takes a reverse monkey flip and tries to run, but Chyna tells him to HOMBRE ARRIBA and get back in the ring. Eddy gets chopped all around the ring but sneaks in a small package for two. Jericho busts out the ARROGANT COVER~! for two. Finally, Eddy runs again and leads Jericho right into a Chyna clothesline. Eddy takes over and hits a top-rope huracanrana. That sets up the Gory Stretch, which, in turn, leads to a series of rollup reversals. Jericho makes a mini-comeback but gets caught in the Gory Special. He reverses to his own. Eddy tries to sit up but gets planted on his face. Jericho comes back with a flying forearm, but Guerrero ranas them both over the top to the floor. Eddy tells the ref to check his back because he might be too injured to continue. Meanwhile, Chyna sneaks in and DDTs Jericho. Eddy makes the miraculoso recovery and gets two. Jericho hits the Lionsault, but Chyna has the ref distracted. Jericho dropkicks her off the apron but turns around into a belt shot from Eddy at 11:57. The usual good match from these two. *** In the back, Stephanie wonders why it matters who is champion as long as they take the title from the Rock. Hunter and Shane act like it’s the silliest question in the world. WWF Heavyweight Title, Triple Threat: The Rock vs. Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Shane McMahon (w/Vince McMahon). Shane takes a spot in the corner and lets Rock and Hunter slug it out. Shane jumps Rock from behind, and he and Hunter form a bond. Funny moment as Shane shows Hunter how to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, so Hunter does it too! Rock comes back with his own, of course. He busts out a DOUBLE BIONIC ELBOW! IF YOU WEEEEEEEEELALALALALALAAAA! Hunter cuts him off with a facebuster, though, and grinds the match to a halt with a sleeper. Shane starts to taunt the Rock while he’s in the sleeper, so Rock spins him around and puts HIM in the sleeper. Funny. Shane counters to a jawbreaker, which breaks both holds. Shane saves the Rock from a pinfall, so Hunter turns on him and wonders what the hell he’s thinking. Shane waits for Hunter to turn his back and jumps him from behind. Cool spot as Shane goes up for a moonsault, but Hunter moves, and Shane LANDS ON HIS FEET! Shane goes for the Pedigree on the Rock, but Rock reverses and catapults him into the ref. Rock fires off a bunch of DDTs, but there’s no ref. Gerald Brisco runs down as Hunter Pedigrees the Rock. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Well, Gerald was being a little overly demonstrative there. Hunter gets pissed and knocks Brisco out. He hits another Pedigree, but there’s no ref. Vince has the bright idea to put on Brisco’s shirt and make himself the referee. ONE, TWO, TH-Earl Hebner runs out and pulls Vince out of the ring. Vince gets in Earl’s face and takes a swing, but Earl ducks, and Vince winds up punching the ringpost. Meanwhile, Hunter goes up but gets crotched when Shane tries to pull himself up in the ring. Vince chases Earl around the ring but makes the mistake of following him in. Oops. The Rock is there waiting. ROCK BOTTOM ON VINCE! Rock knocks Hunter off the top to the floor. Shane charges right into a spinebuster, and the People’s Elbow finishes at 14:46. Lots of fun stuff here, even if it foreshadowed a tendency to overbook the title matches. ***3/4

The 411: Normally a nothing PPV, this rivals the US PPVs in terms of quality. Sadly, the Benoit/Angle match was kept short due to Benoit's eye injury. Most of the stuff here was either good wrestling or had some sort of fun element involved. Thumbs up.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]