Burning Hammer Tape Review #23

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WWF: St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1999
February 14, 1999

--Taped from Memphis, TN

--Your hosts are Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

--Goldust V. Bluedust. Bluedust is Blue Meanie imping Goldust's persona, but with his face painted blue. Bluedust misses a Moonsault Press and Goldust hits the Curtain Call (Reverse Implant DDT) at 3:08 for the pin. DUD Pointless, quasi-comedy match.

--WWF Hardcore Championship, Hardcore Match: Al Snow (W/Head) V. Bob Holly. Road Dogg was the Hardcore Champion at this point but due to an injury he was forced to vacate the title and these two were signed to fight for the vacant title. They fight all the way outside and into the Mississippi River. Holly gets the pin and the title on the river bank at 10:04 with a Lateral Press after wrapping Snow up in a chainlink fence. *1/2 Match really didn't do much for me.

--Big Bossman V. Mideon. Bossman gets the pin at 6:21 with a Bossman Slam. 1/4* As thrilling as one would think.

--WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Mark Henry, D-Lo (W/Ivory) V. Jeff Jarrett, Owen (W/Debra). For some reason the WWF decided to not use D-Lo, Brown's, or Owen, Hart's, last names for this match. Jarrett gets the submission on Henry at 9:34 with a Figure Four Leglock after Owen bashed Jarrett's guitar over Henry's knee. *1/2 Pedestrian tag match.

--WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Val Venis (W/Ryan Shamrock) V. Ken Shamrock. Ryan is playing the storyline sister of Ken, and is not in fact Ken's real sister. However in a bizarre twist Ken is currently dating Ryan in real life. Billy Gunn is guest referee. DDT by Ken, but Gunn stops the count after 2. Venis gets the pin and the title at 15:29 with a Small Package after Gunn clocked Ken with a punch. ** Decent, albeit very basic, match that went on for far too long.

-- Inter-Gender Match: Triple H, X-Pac V. Kane, Chyna. This match was set-up by Chyna turning on D-Generation X and joining the Corporation. Pac hits a Dropkick to Kane's knee, astutely called a ÒMartial Arts KickÓ by Michael Cole. Pac & Trips hit a double-team Vertical Suplex on Kane, and follow that up with a double-team DDT on Kane. Sleeper by Chyna on Pac, but he manages to escape with a Backdrop Driver. Pac hits a Broncobuster on Chyna to a big pop. Shane McMahon, who has been on commentary for the whole match, runs into the ring and attacks Pac, and Pac chases him to the back leaving Trips by himself. Kane hits a Chokeslam on Trips and puts Chyna on top for the pin at 14:46. *** Good match, with good efforts from Trips, Pac, & Kane. Chyna on the other hand dragged the match down with her general sloppiness, and the loose nature of everything she did in the match.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Last Man Standing Match: Rock V. Mankind. Rules are that you have to beat your opponent badly enough that he can't answer a 10 count in order to win the match. Mankind starts the match off by turning around and offering his back to Rock in a play from their Rumble match a month earlier. Mankind hits Rock with a beltshot, but Rock gets up at 8. They fight outside where Mankind hits Rock with a DDT through a table that knocks both men out, but they both manage to get up after a 7 count. Rock hits a sick Backdrop Driver on the concrete, but Mankind gets up at 4. Mankind sends Rock into the steps with an Irish Whip, but Rock gets up at 5. Mankind goes for an Elbowdrop of his own, but it misses. Rock hits Mankind with a trio of Vertical Suplexes on the floor, but Mankind gets up at 5. Rock stops at the announce table and starts commentating, so Mankind nails him with a Senton over the table. Mankind sets Rock up on the edge of the table for a Hip Buster that takes both men out. Mankind tries to ram Rock with the steps but Rock kicks them back in his face. Rock goes to work on Mankind's knee, which he had injured earlier in the night, with some vicious chairshots. Cactusline takes both men out, but they both get up at 5. Swinging Neckbreaker by Mankind on the floor. Mankind goes for a Stuff Piledriver on the announce table, but Rock counters it with a sick Backdrop Suplex off the table and through a chair. Rock follows that up by throwing the steps from the ring down onto Mankind, but he somehow manages to get up at 5. Rock puts a chair on Mankind's face and hits an Elbowdrop, but Mankind gets up at 4. Rock starts to sing, but Mankind puts and end to that with a Mandible Claw. In the process of trying to escape Rock knocks the ref out of the ring, so he's given time to recover and when the ref finally gets back in the ring Rock manages to get back up at 8. Rock hits a DDT on a chair, but Mankind gets up at 6. Butterfly DDT on a chair by Mankind, but Rock gets up for a real close 9 count. Mandible Claw by Mankind, and Rock hits a Rock Bottom while still in the hold knocking both guys out, but they manage to get up at 8. Dueling chair shots knock both men out, and the match is a draw at 21:53 when both men stay down for a 10 count. ****1/2 What an awesome match, it was full of great bumping, selling, wrestling, and brawling. This was essentially a far superior version of their Rumble match, it had a better gimmick, better spots, and it didn't have any of the unnecessarily brutal chairshots that were in the Rumble match. Post-match both men are wheeled to the back on stretchers and taken away to the hospital in ambulances.

--Cage Match: Steve Austin V. Mr. McMahon. This is under escape to win rules. This is Austin & McMahon's first one on one showdown after months of feuding. Austin beats the shit out of McMahon before the match can even begin, even going so far as shoving McMahon off the middle of the cage and through a table at ringside in a cool bump. McMahon gets stretchered off, but Austin points out that the match hasn't even begun yet so he drags McMahon back into the ring to start the match. Austin attempts to escape a couple of times, but both times McMahon lures Austin back into the ring by flipping him off. Paul Wight, the former Giant and soon to be Big Show, breaks through the bottom of the ring and at McMahon's command throws Austin into the side of the cage, but the cage breaks away and Austin is able to fall to the mat & escape the cage for the win at 7:52. * Don't get me wrong, this was a hot match in the Austin/McMahon feud, but it wasn't a good wrestling match. The major bump took place before the match started and after that this was essentially a one sided squash match. Entertaining yes, but good wrestling, no.

--Final Flash: The undercard sucked bad, but things picked up with the inter-gender match. The last man standing match was an awesome but rarely talked about contest, and while I didn't like the main event it is important for people who dug the Austin/McMahon feud.

Mildly Recommended

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