From The Shelf- WWF Raw is War 1-17-2000

WWF Raw is War
1-17-2000
New Haven, CT

Cactus Jack comes out and says Triple H did the one thing he didn’t know was possible, and that was making Mankind mad. He woke up the sick SOB inside of Mankind and says he enjoyed the blood running down his face. He shows highlights of the last time Triple H faced Cactus Jack in MSG in 1997 and says that was just a small taste of what he has in store for him. He promises to make Triple H suffer and he promises to kick Triple H’s pansy ass. He calls out Triple H to fight right now and he comes out. He says the last couple of days all he could think about is Cactus Jack. HHH says he will reach to a place he has never been and will be more evil than Cactus could ever imagine. He says Mick Foley is afraid of Cactus Jack as he dies a little bit inside for every sadistic thing Cactus Jack has ever done. Unlike Foley, HHH will love every second of his own sadistic actions. He tells Cactus to be afraid as he is bringing more than Cactus can handle. Cactus wants Triple H right now and Triple H starts making his way down but invites more guests to the party. DX comes out and they attack Cactus on the floor. The Rock comes out to make the save but Big Show stops him and sends Rock into the post!!! He goes in and starts attacking DX. The Acolytes come out to help Cactus and Big Show clear the ring of DX. They all brawl into the crowd to end the segment.

WWF Hardcore Championship- Big Boss Man © vs. Test
They brawl on the floor to start as the orange 13 sign appears on the screen. They head into the crowd and fight their way backstage. They brawl into the bathroom and Test slams Boos Man’s back into the stalls. Rights by Boss Man and he slams Test’s face into a wall. Boss Man drives a steel door into the throat of Test for 2 as Test now has a bloody nose. Rights by Test and he chokes Boss Man with his tape. Boss Man nails Test with a trash can knocking him back to ring side. Prince Albert comes out and Noss Man nails him with the trash can. He nails Test a second time and they head inside. Boss Man covers with his feet on the ropes for 2. Boss Man grabs the nightstick but Prince Albert attacks him. Test nails both with the nightstick. Slam by Test and he goes up. Flying Elbow Drop with the nightstick gets 3.
Winner and NEW WWF Hardcore Champion- Test *1/2 ( Fine little brawl as it was intense enough to make it worthwhile. )

DX says that people will respect DX. He says the Outlaws are going to face Rock and Big Show while he and X-Pac will soften up the Acolytes for them. X-Pac is not happy with this but Triple H tells him to trust him.

The Godfather and D’Lo Brown w/Hoes vs. Edge and Christian
Brown and Christian start. Rights by Christian and he hits a hip toss. Dropkick by Christian and he tags Edge. Spinning heel kick by Edge and he hits a clothesline. Knee to the gut by Brown and he tags Godfather. Godfather blocks a hip toss with a clothesline and he hits a big boot. Elbow drops by Godfather gets 2. He stomps away in the corner and tags Brown. Thesz press by Edge gets 2 and Godfather tags in. Slam by Godfather and he goes up. Vader Bomb eats knees and Christian tags in. Reverse atomic drop and a clothesline to Brown gets 2. Backdrop by Christian and he and Edge double team Godfather. Spear to Godfather by Edge as one of the Hoes is on the apron. Christian is sent into the Hoe, knocking her off the apron. Dropkick by Christian and he goes to tag Edge but Edge is checking on the hoe. This causes Christian to walk into the Sky High for 3.
Winners- The Godfather and D’Lo Brown ** ( An nice little action packed match. The Edge thing with the women makes no sense to me though. )

After the match, The Godfather gives the hoes to Edge and Christian for the night. Edge wants none of it since he’s engaged.

Boss Man attacks Prince Albert backstage and he tosses Albert into Tori’s locker room and she didn’t have a top on!!!

Tori tells Stephanie about Prince Albert and Stephanie quickly makes the match with Kane.

Kurt Angle vs. ???
Kurt Angle claims his three I’s will allow him to beat whoever his opponent will be. His opponent ends up being Steve Blackman. Rights by Angle but Blackman stomps away. Overhead belly to belly suplex by Angle and he hammers away on Blackman in the corner. He chokes Blackman with his boot and goes for an Exploder suplex but Blackman blocks. They clothesline each other and both men are down. They slug it out and Blackman hits a leaping shoulderblock. He clotheslines Angle to the floor and Angle sends Blackman into the post. British Bulldog comes out and low blows Blackman with his kendo stick. A shot to the back of the head knocks Blackman into the ring and Angle covers for 3.
Winner- Kurt Angle *1/2 ( Not bad, as Angle is developing nicely as a worker. )

Big Show still complains about Rock calling him a jabroni and says all Rock has to do tonight is stay out of his way.

Terri, Ivory, Jacqueline, B.B., Luna, and The Kat are in the ring with Jerry Lawler as he announces the Miss Royal Rumble Swimsuit contest. Ivory calls everyone a pervert but Luna tells her if they are in the contest, so will Ivory. Everyone attacks Ivory as officials come out to break them up. Mae Young appears on the ramp and overlooks the chaos in the ring. She comes in the ring says she is going to give the fans what they want, and that is to see their puppies!!! Mae starts to strip as Mark Henry, Harvey Whippleman, and Fabulous Moolah come out and cover her up.

Triple H and X-Pac w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley vs. The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw)
Everyone brawls to start and Bradshaw hammers away on HHH. He clotheslines HHH to the floor and follows out. Bradshaw and HH brawl into the crowd as back in, X-Pac chokes Faarooq with his t-shirt. X-Pac stomps away in the corner as Bradshaw slams HHH on the stage. The Acolytes double team X-Pac in the ring and Faarooq charges in the corner but misses. Spin kick in the corner by X-Pac but Faarooq comes back with a clothesline. Tag to Bradshaw and he charges in the corner but misses. Kicks in the corner by X-Pac and he goes for a spinning heel kick but Bradshaw catches him. He puts X-Pac on top and follows up but HHH knocks him off the top. X-Pac goes for a crossbody off the top but Bradshaw catches him and hits the fall-a-way slam. Leg lariat by X-Pac and HHH tags in along with Faarooq. Face buster by HHH but Faarooq comes back with a spinebuster. Clothesline from Hell to X-Pac but the New Age Outlaws come out and attack for the DQ. The Outlaws lay out the Acolytes using the WWF Tag Team championships.
Winners by DQ- The Acolytes ** ( Fun little match as X-Pac and HHH bumped like crazy for the Acolytes and made them look strong heading into their tag title match. )

We get an update on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s spinal surgery which was a complete success.

DX celebrate the job they just did and the Outlaws promise to do the same to Rock and Big Show.

Rock congratulates Stone Cold on a successful surgery and wants him to return to the WWF. Rock retracts his statement that Big Show is a jabroni and he calls Big Show a giant piece of monkey crap. Rock says he doesn’t need or want Big Show as a tag team partner and tells him to do the one impressive thing he does and mocks Big Show’s pose.

Jeff Hardy w/Matt Hardy and Terri vs. Bubba Ray Dudley w/D-Von Dudley
Rights by Bubba but Jeff comes back with Whisper in the Wind. Tornado Bulldog by Jeff gets 2 and Bubba bails. Summersault plancha to the floor by Jeff and back in, he goes for a hurricanrana but Bubba counters into a sit-out powerbomb. Chops by Bubba and he hits a backdrop. Clothesline by Bubba but Jeff comes back with a headscissors. Bubba Bomb by Bubba and Terri goes to the apron. D-Von pulls her off the apron so Matt attacks D-Von. He hot shots Matt onto the barricade as back in, Bubba hits a slam. He misses a second rope back senton and Jeff hits a neckbreaker. He goes up and hits the Swanton Bomb for 3.
Winner- Jeff Hardy ** ( Very short match but it had a ton of action and was a promising sign of the chemistry these two teams would have. )

After the match, D-Von attacks Jeff and Jeff eats a 3D. 3D to Matt and Bubba pulls out a table. He sets it up in the ring and sets up Jeff on top of it. Bubba goes up and powerbombs Matt off the top onto Jeff through the table!!! And thus, history is made with the Dudley Boyz first official table break.

Hardcore Holly asks Crash why Jericho would defend the Intercontinental Title tonight when he has a title match with him at the Royal Rumble.

WWF Intercontinental Championship- Chris Jericho © vs. Rikishi w/Too Cool
Jericho says he’s defending the title because he is an honorable champion. Rikishi hammers away to start but Jericho catches him with a second rope dropkick. Rikishi presses Jericho into an Ace Crusher and Jericho bails. Rikishi follows and he sends Jericho into the steps. Jericho hits a springboard dropkick knocking Rikishi off the apron and he goes for a slingshot pescado but Rikishi catches him and rams Jericho into the post. Slam by Rikishi and he hits a leg drop for 2. Jericho goes for the flying forearm but Rikishi moves and Jericho hits the ref. Belly to belly suplex by Rikishi and Hardcore Holly comes out. Rikishi fights him off and Crash comes out. Samoan drop by Rikishi to the Hollys and Rikishi hits a superkick to Jericho. He goes for the Rikishi Driver but Chyna comes out and goes low to save. She argues with Jericho but they walk into a double clothesline from Rikishi. Belly to belly suplex to Chyna and Jericho bails. Rikishi goes for the Bonzai Drop but Hardcore nails him with a chair to block and the ref finally calls for the bell. Too Cool help clear the ring of the Hardcore and Rikishi gives Crash the Rikishi Driver. Too Cool and Rikishi dance.
Winner by DQ- Rikishi *1/2 ( Beginning of the match was fine with Jericho trying to use his speed to tower Rikishi but then it became overbooking hell. )

Cactus Jack tries to ease the tension with Big Show.

Kane w/Tori vs. Prince Albert
Kane hammers away to start and he hits a clothesline. Kane works him over in the corner and charges but eats elbow. Bicycle kick by Albert and he clotheslines Kane to the floor. Kane snaps Albert’s neck off the ropes and he goes up. Flying clothesline by Kane and he hits the Chokeslam for 3.
Winner- Kane * ( A massacre of Albert, not much else to say. )

After the match, Albert tells Kane he is dominated by a woman.

Cactus tells Rock he needs to work together with Big Show to fight off DX.

New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) vs. The Rock and Big Show
Rock hammers away on Show to start and he knocks his own partner out of the ring!!! He walks intyo a clothesline from Gunn and Road Dogg stomps away. Triple H, Stephanie, and X-Pac are watching the match from the stage as Gunn snaps Rock’s neck off the ropes. Tag to Gunn and Rock catches him with a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Gunn knocks him down and chokes away as Show watches from the floor. Rock bails to the floor and Road Dogg hammers away. Rock comes back with a clothesline and he hammers away on Gunn. He sends Gunn face first into the post but Road Dogg slams his head off the steps to come back. Back in, Road Dogg covers for 2. Jabs by Road Dogg but Rock comes back with the Rock Bottom for 1 as Gunn breaks it up. Tag to Gunn and he hits the Jackhammer for 2. Rock comes back with a spinebuster but Gunn dumps him to the floor. Show hits a head butt to Rock and he rolls Rock back into the ring. Road Dogg covers for 2 and Gunn tags in. Rock goes low on Road Dogg and he blocks the Fameasser by slamming Gunn down to the mat. Show pulls Rock to the floor and he enters the ring. He cleans house on the Outlaws and hits a superkick to Road Dogg. Powerslam to Gunn and Road Dogg grabs a chair. The distraction allows Rock to nail Big Show with a chair and Gunn covers for 3. Rock gives Big Show the People’s Elbow for good measure.
Winners- New Age Outlaws **1/2 ( Fun main event that balanced well between a decent match and further the Rock/Show feud. )

The 411: A decent edition of Raw as we head into the Royal Rumble. The wrestling on the show was solid for the most part, the opening promo between Triple H and Cactus Jack was fantastic and the main event was good fun. Not the most explosive episode of Raw but it's a nice easy watch.
Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]