TJR Retro: WWF Raw Deal 01/10/00 Review
This is the second Raw of 2000. Check out our WWF in 2000 content here. Let’s get right to it.
WWF Raw #346
January 10, 2000
From the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri
This show earned a TV-14 “V” for Violence rating on WWE Network.
The Raw intro video aired to start the show. It’s my favorite Raw intro video ever.
The pyro went off in the arena, the fans were very loud, there were signs everywhere and then wrestlers from the locker room walked out.
The WWF Superstars walked down to the ring with most of them in their gear. It was not the entire locker room, but it was most of them. The last ones out were Kane with Tori, Chyna with The Kat, The Acolytes and Big Show. The announce team of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were wondering what was going on.
Let’s Hear From The Rock and other WWF Superstars
The Rock’s music hit and the arena exploded as The Rock made his entrance in one of his nice shirts and pants along with the sunglasses that he liked to wear indoors because they looked cool. There was a shot of Triple H, Stephanie, Road Dogg, X-Pac and Billy Gunn in the locker room watching a TV wondering what was going on.
The Rock stood in the ring while the wrestlers stood around the ring with Rock doing his “finally The Rock has come back to St. Louis” line to start the show. Rock said we are probably wondering why the superstars were surrounding the ring with the People’s Champ in the middle. Rock said they have all asked Rock to be their spokesman and as unaccustomed to public speaking as The Rock is (funny line), he has agreed. Rock called out Triple H. That led to Hunter and Steph going to the ring while X-Pac, Dogg and Gunn stayed in the room. Rock called for Hunter and Steph to bring their roody poo candy asses out there.
Triple H, the WWF Champion, and his storyline wife (three years later it was his actual wife) Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, appeared on the stage. Stephanie said she doesn’t know what they are up to and then she paused while fans chanted “slut” at her. She said she is confident they can work something out. The Rock said he could give her something she has needed for a long time and told her to know your role and shut your mouth. The crowd loved the catchphrases.
Rock said they are going to talk about a couple of things. Rock said they are going to talk about Mick Foley, who was fired a few weeks earlier. Rock said he knows Foley is out there in the parking lot, selling popcorn and probably eating popcorn, but Rock said that if they do not meet their demands, then they have every WWF Superstar ready to walk out on their candy asses. He said they are ready to join a new federation, the World Rock Federation. Rock said that tonight, Triple H and Stephanie will reinstate Mick Foley right now. Hunter said alright, if he wants Foley reinstated, then as of right now, Foley is back in the World Wrestling Federation. That led to cheers. Triple H said that it was already in the works and they were going to reinstate him. Heels lie.
Rock said that he’s been in all kinds of stipulation matches lately (pink slip on a pole and handicap you’re fired match), but as of tonight, there is no way matches like that will ever happen again. Stephanie said that seems fair, so fans chanted “slut” at her. Rock pointed out that there are 15,000 Rock fans calling Stephanie a slut. The fans cheered. Hunter said he thought they were talking to Rock.
Rock’s third point is that as far as anybody being fired, there is nobody that is going to get fired again unless there is just cause, jabronis. Hunter said that’s fair. Hunter said they are about fairness and then Mick Foley’s music hit. Hunter got ready for him on the stage, but Foley entered through the crowd.
Mick Foley entered the ring along with Rock and he got a huge ovation. Foley was in his Mankind attire. Foley said he wanted to acknowledge the dozens of Mankind fans for their cards and letters of support. Foley said that he wanted to thank The Rock for the kind words in his book and for supporting him. Foley said he condemns Triple H for mocking him and his family, so he’s got suggestions in terms of the Royal Rumble. Foley said he’s got a hell of a main event lined up concerning Triple H and Foley in Madison Square Garden. Foley added he wanted to add some stipulations at a later date. Foley said Hunter should make up his mind right now. Hunter said Foley’s got his match at the Rumble in the Garden.
Rock cut off Foley and said that seeing as how the WWE Title match is set for the Royal Rumble, he’s going to include himself in another match at the Royal Rumble. Rock said that, as the People’s Champion, he’s going to throw his name in the hat as a participant in the 30-man Royal Rumble. Rock said that he’s going to beat 29 other jabronis, one by one over the top rope and Rock will stand in the ring and he’ll be going to WrestleMania to face Triple H or Foley. (Or both with Big Show. I added that part.)
Foley spoke again saying they have about 20,000 screaming fans in St. Louis (cheap pop) while adding they should come up with a hell of a show this evening. Triple H said that a hell of a show is not his job. Foley suggested some matches like Road Dogg vs. Billy Gunn with Hunter adding that if they don’t, does everybody walk? Foley said yes. Hunter said that match is great. Foley said on Smackdown, Hunter said X-Pac was as good as him, so Foley wanted to see that match and X-Pac was shown looking fine with it while Stephanie accepted it.
The Rock took over again saying that they are not done. Rock said that if their candy asses make it through the entire night it will be DX vs. Acolytes and Hunter said all four of them vs. The Acolytes is fine. Rock said he’s not done. Rock added that The Acolytes will have a team with them, the Rock N Sock Connection so Rock and Foley are in the tag match. Funny moment when Mankind tried to hide Rock and Rock freaked out about it. Rock ended it with his “if you smell what The Rock is cooking” line and Rock’s music played. The segment ended at 20:21.
Analysis: It was a really long opening segment with the whole thing ending after 20 minutes, but it was very entertaining and they covered a lot. I thought they explained the Foley re-hiring well by having the wrestlers threaten to walk out if they didn’t get their way. I liked the part about how there could be no firings unless there was just cause, which gave everybody a reason to be out there. They also set up Hunter vs. Foley for the WWF Title at Royal Rumble and Rock added his name to the Rumble. On top of that, they added three matches for later on Raw. I’d say it was a very eventful opening 20 minutes and also different from the last few weeks since the faces like Rock and Foley were in control rather than the same Triple H promo we would get all the time. Plus, Rock and Foley are two of the best talkers ever. The crowd was into it, that’s for sure.
(Commercial)
The announce team of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were shown on camera summarizing what happened.
The trio of Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and X-Pac complained to Triple H and Stephanie about having to fight eachother with Hunter saying if they didn’t agree then everybody would have walked out. Dogg said that they could put on a show by themselves.
Road Dogg did his promo entrance. I always found it weird that DX kept doing their fan-friendly entrance even after they turned heel in this era. I know it sounded good, but heels shouldn’t pander to the crowd. Billy Gunn made his entrance on his own.
Road Dogg vs. Billy Gunn (Mr. Ass)
Pre-match notes: These guys were best friends that were the Tag Team Champions. They were heels.
The wrestlers locked up with neither man getting the advantage in the first minute until Gunn hit Dogg with a forearm to the back. Gunn worked over Dogg with punches followed by a knee drop and then Gunn slapped on a chinlock. The fans got behind Road Dogg, who tried a comeback, but Gunn hit him with a knee to the ribs. Gunn tossed Dogg over the top to the floor. Gunn dropped Dogg face first against the barricade. Back in the ring, Dogg with the comeback with punches followed by a knee drop for two. Gunn came back with a Jackhammer slam, which was Goldberg’s finisher in WCW. Gunn with a Stinger Splash, he went for a Fameasser and Dogg slammed Gunn like a Pumphandle Slam. Gunn kicked out right after the three count to show that it was close. It went 3:30.
Winner by pinfall: Road Dogg
Analysis: *1/2 It was a basic match with Gunn in control and Dogg got in his weak looking finish. I know what they were going for with the finish with Dogg countering into a slam, but it didn’t look that good. The winner didn’t matter that much.
Post match, Dogg wanted a handshake and Gunn shoved him away. Gunn left angrily while Dogg wondered why.
Mick Foley was in the locker room with Fake Mankind (Mideon) tied up in a chair.
Terri and The Hardy Boyz were backstage with Terri signing a sheet that was there to set up a match.
(Commercial)
Kurt Angle and Steve Blackman made their entrance. Kurt Angle said that he has a lot in common with the St. Louis Rams (yes!) because they have intensity integrity and intelligence, but unlike the Rams he beats people with winning records. Angle wondered why they would boo an Olympic Champion and cheer Kurt Warner, who is on a lucky streak.
Analysis: This took place 20 days before my Rams won the Super Bowl on January 30, 2000. Yes, I remember the date off by heart. It’s important to me. Anyway, typical heel promo from Angle trying to get heat.
The Hardy Boyz entered with Terri for a tag team match.
Kurt Angle and Steve Blackman vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) w/Terri
Pre-match notes: The Hardys were the faces while Angle and Blackman were heels. Terri was dressed in a tight shirt and jeans, which was conservative for her in this era.
Matt with a belly to back suplex on Angle followed by a neckbreaker. Jeff tagged, Angle with a punch, Blackman tagged in and Hardy hit an Asai moonsault off the middle ropes to the floor. Hardy jumped onto Blackman on the floor, but Blackman caught him and sent Hardy’s head into the steel steps. That looked nasty. Angle tagged back in, Hardy sent Angle to the apron and Hardy hit a dropkick off the top on Angle. Jeff with a kick that sent Angle to the corner, Matt tagged in and hit an atomic drop on Blackman, but Blackman came back with a kick to the chest. Angle charged at Jeff and Jeff sent Angle out of the ring with a back body drop. Blackman grabbed his martial arts stick, Jeff with a dropkick to the back and Matt hit a swinging neckbreaker on Blackman for the pinfall win at 3:26.
Winners by pinfall: The Hardy Boyz
Analysis: ** A quick match to put over the Hardys since they were the regular team. The neckbreaker by Matt was like a reverse Twist of Fate. The Hardys were really gaining popularity as an exciting tag team during these early stages of their career.
Post match, Angle was upset about the loss because Angle has yet to be pinned in his WWE career. Angle was still undefeated in singles matches.
Back in the locker room area, Foley had fake Mankind tied in a chair telling him that nobody will help him because Foley will say that fake Mankind was all tied up.
Edge and Christian were shown backstage by the sign-up sheet.
(Commercial)
The trio of Chris Jericho, Chyna and The Kat were by the sign-up sheet with Jericho telling Chyna that they can work together. Jericho told Chyna to sign them up.
Val Venis made his entrance. He was the European Champion. JR noted that Edge was engaged to Val’s sister. Val said that we may or may not know that his sister was engaged to Edge. Val said that Edge has what it to takes to win the hand of Val’s sister, but he does not have what it takes to win the European Championship.
Analysis: Edge’s marriage to Val’s sister lasted about three years. Edge married and divorced twice, then he married Beth Phoenix for his third marriage and they have two daughters together.
Edge made his entrance with Christian, who were storyline brothers, which is something WWE just dropped a few years later. They are still best friends. There was an orange and black logo that appeared on the screen teasing something.
Analysis: The tease was for Tazz at the Royal Rumble.
WWF European Championship: Val Venis vs. Edge (w/Christian)
Pre-match notes: Val was the Euro Champ. Both guys were faces.
Edge with a hurricanrana early on. Venis came back with a spinebuster that got a two count. Venis with two straight corner clotheslines. Edge slapped on a chinlock, so Venis turned it into a one-handed sitout powerbomb for two. Venis sent Edge throat first into the top rope. They battled over a neckbreaker and Edge connected with a DDT. The crowd got into it with Edge hitting an atomic drop, a clothesline and a back body drop. Edge up top and he connected with a missile dropkick for two. Edge hit the Downward Spiral, which was his finisher at the time, but Venis was against the ropes to break the pin attempt. Venis sent Edge into the ring post. Venis hit the Fisherman’s Suplex (Perfectplex) for the pinfall win at 3:41.
Winner by pinfall: Val Venis
Analysis: ** It was a competitive match with Edge working as the more traditional face making the comeback and Venis managed to put him away. I don’t recall Val winning with the Fisherman’s Suplex that often. He did the move regularly, but it rarely won matches for him.
Post match, Val shook Edge’s hand and the crowd cheered. Edge had the microphone in his hand. Edge said that Val may have been the best man tonight, but he will not be the best man at his sister’s wedding. Edge said the reason why is because Christian will be. Val hugged Christian too.
Analysis: I think that was just done to show respect towards the future brothers in law.
The trio of Road Dogg, Gunn and X-Pac were arguing in the locker room with Gunn telling Dogg to find his own ride home.
(Commercial)
A clip aired of Chyna leaving and costing Chris Jericho their tag team match against The Hollys because Jericho was a jerk to her.
Chris Jericho and Chyna (w/The Kat) vs. Hardcore and Crash Holly
Pre-match notes: Jericho and Chyna were the co-Intercontinental Champions. Jericho was a heel, Chyna was a face and the Holly cousins were heels.
Jericho did a promo before the match about how he got a bigger reaction than Chyna, which was an egotistical heel thing to do.
Jericho started with Hardcore and hit him with a forearm followed by chops. Jericho with a running bulldog. Chyna tagged in leading to a double team back body drop on Hardcore. Crash tagged in and Chyna decked him with a clothesline. Running back elbow by Chyna on Crash. Clothesline by Chyna on Crash, Hardcore tagged in and the Hollys did a double team clothesline like the Hart Foundation for a two count. Hardcore with a body slam on Chyna, Crash tagged in, he went up top and Chyna got her foot up leading to a kick to the ribs. Chyna tried to tag out, Jericho pulled the hand away to encourage the crowd and Hardcore pulled Chyna back. Hardcore hit a Falcon Arrow slam for a pinfall win at 2:48.
Winners by pinfall: Hardcore and Crash Holly
Analysis: *1/2 Weak ending to a short match with Chyna losing the match easily after one move from Hardcore. They were trying to tell the story of Jericho not wanting to tag in and that’s why Chyna lost. Hardcore pinned Chyna and Jericho in back to back tag matches, so it eventually led to Hardcore getting the IC Title shot at Royal Rumble.
Post match, Jericho left with the IC Title and acted as if he was sincere about Chyna losing for their team.
Foley had fake Mankind in the room and Foley tossed hot coffee at him.
Hunter and Stephanie were in the locker room. X-Pac showed up to say that he hopes Hunter meant what he said when he said X-Pac was just as good as him. Hunter said he meant it and that’s the problem, which shows that Hunter was worried about the match.
(Commercial)
X-Pac made his entrance first. Triple H entered along with the WWF Championship around his waist and he had Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley with him.
Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon) vs. X-Pac
Pre-match notes: Triple H was the WWF Champion and X-Pac was one of his best friends. They were both heels. This is not for the WWF Championship.
Hunter took control early with punches followed by a choke against the turnbuckle. X-Pac came back with a spinning heel kick, X-Pac with another spinning kick, a clothesline sent Hunter over the top and X-Pac with a dropkick that sent Hunter into the barricade. Hunter came back by slamming X-Pac onto the announce table. Hunter sent X-Pac into the steel steps. Hunter with a knee to face, Hunter went for a Pedigree, X-Pac slipped out of that and X-Pac with a low blow punch to the groin. The referee didn’t call anything even though he was right there looking at it. That was weird. X-Pac with a spinning heel kick. Ross said the ref was distracted while Lawler pointed out he was looking right at it. Bronco Buster connected for X-Pac against the turnbuckle. X-Pac up, referee went to Hunter, Stephanie tripped up X-Pac and Hunter hit a Pedigree for the pinfall win at 3:13.
Winner by pinfall: Triple H
Analysis: *1/2 Solid work in the match, but I think the spots with the referee failing to pay attention to certain things were booked poorly. They should have done something to set up the “ref didn’t see it” spot and usually they do, but in this case it was booked poorly. Hunter needing to cheat to beat X-Pac makes X-Pac look like a tough challenge and also teases that there might be issues between them.
Triple H and Stephanie left happily while X-Pac was not happy about it.
(Commercial)
A replay aired of Triple H beating X-Pac.
The trio of Road Dogg, X-Pac and Billy Gunn were talking backstage with Dogg saying that Hunter has let Stephanie take over as if she’s running DX. They weren’t happy about it.
Rikishi Phatu and Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) vs. Al Snow and The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher)
Pre-match notes: Rikishi and Too Cool were the faces. Snow and the Headbangers entrance was not shown. They were the heels.
Mosh worked over Sexay with punches. That sentence is awkward, but that’s the WWF for you. Sexay hit a punch. Snow attacked Hotty off the apron with JR saying “he just jerked off Scotty 2 Hotty” off the apron. Yes, that’s how he phrased it. Thrasher took over for the heel side working over Sexay a bit, but Sexay came back with a powerslam. Hot tag to Rikishi, who hit legal man Mosh with a superkick and a belly to belly suplex on Thrasher. Rikishi hit a Banzai Drop on Thrasher. Too Cool beat up Snow. Rikishi hit the Rikishi Driver on Mosh for the pinfall win at 2:21.
Winners by pinfall: Rikishi Phatu and Too Cool
Analysis: *1/4 That was really rushed and designed to give Rikishi the win for his team because they were starting to push Rikishi since Rikishi nearly beat Triple H on the previous Smackdown.
Post match, Snow attacked the Headbangers with his mannequin Head and he yelled at him. Too Cool and Rikishi danced in the ring after the win including Scotty doing The Worm dance.
Analysis: As I mentioned previously, Snow’s heel run during this period didn’t really work.
Backstage, Foley had fake Mankind tied in the chair and Foley said he was thinking of untying him.
(Commercial)
A commercial aired about WWF New York being open. What a huge money loser that was.
Back in the locker room, Foley untied fake Mankind and told him not to leave this room or he’ll regret it. Foley left.
The Godfather and D-Lo Brown made their entrance. Godfather did his pre-match promo about the Ho Train, but he was interrupted by The Dudleys entrance.
The Godfather and D-Lo Brown vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von)
Pre-match notes: The Godfather and Brown were the faces. The Dudleys were the heels.
The Dudleys ran into the ring to start the match. Double team elbow attack by Godfather and Brown. After Brown hit a body slam, he went for a leg drop and Bubba moved. Bubba came back with a Powerbomb on Brown. Bubba punched Godfather, the ref was distracted by that and D-Von hit a top rope headbutt to the balls. Running elbow by D-Von on Brown. D-Von with a nice suplex on Brown for a two count. Bubba worked over Brown with chops to the chest. Brown came back with his Sky High sitout spinebuster. Hot tag to Godfather, who cleaned house with two clotheslines and a back body drop on both Dudleys. Godfather with the Ho Train corner splash on D-Von. Brown got the tag, Bubba pulled D-Von out of the ring and the Dudleys grabbed two of the girls. Godfather and Brown fought the Dudleys out of the ring, so the ref called for the bell. It went 3:14 with no official result announced, so I’ll say it was a double countout.
Match Result: Double Countout
Analysis: 1/4* Awful finish. I don’t really get what they were doing with that ending because The Dudleys were a featured team that should have gone over Godfather and Brown. Instead, the WWF decided to do this cheap finish that really didn’t help anybody.
Tori, who was Kane’s on-screen girlfriend, was shown walking backstage in a tight black dress with Mick Foley walking up to her in his Mankind gear. Foley: “We don’t get a chance to talk like we used to, so I’d like to take the opportunity now to tell you how much I really admire your sweaty, heaving, voluptuous breasts, and I know you’ve heard I’m a good kisser, but in addition to that talent, I’ve comprised a list of about seventeen other things I’d really like to do to those bad boys. So, if you wanna go over that list, I’ll be in my dressing room all right?” She was appalled by it and stormed off, so Mick slapped her on the ass! “Just in case you forgot – it’s dressing room #3 – number three, okay? Bring a friend, there’s plenty of Mankind to go around! Yeah!” She left down the hallway.
Analysis: It was obvious this was done to set up Kane attacking the fake Mankind after we saw Foley in the room with fake Mankind all show long. The dialogue was risqué even for this period and would not be on WWE TV today. Side note: I thought Tori was very attractive, but she did not have an outgoing personality and I think that’s probably why her WWE career was over after about two years.
(Commercial)
Analysis: Regarding that previous segment, I remember a segment where Kane beat up fake Mankind and sent him out of the building as WWE’s way to end the fake Mankind gimmick. However, that was edited off WWE Network’s version of this show. I don’t know, but it’s not on here. I looked it up in a review of this episode and it happened. It’s just not on this episode on WWE Network for whatever reason.
Test and Big Show vs. Prince Albert and Big Boss Man
Pre-match notes: Test was a face, Show was a face that was about to be a heel soon while Albert and Boss Man were heels. Boss Man was the Hardcore Champion.
It turned into a four way slug fest right away. Test and Show whipped Boss Man and Albert into eachother. Boss Man grabbed the nightstick. Show kicked Boss Man, who bumped into Albert and Test hit Albert with a kick to the face. Test went up top and hit an elbow drop for the pinfall win at 0:55.
Winners by pinfall: Test and Big Show
Analysis: DUD It’s bad when the entrances are double the length of the match. The point of the match was to continue the problems between Boss Man and Albert.
Post match, Albert yelled at Boss Man about hitting him with the nightstick in the head. Albert shoved Boss Man down. Show went into the ring and hit a double Chokeslam on Albert and Boss Man at the same time. The fans cheered.
Analysis: There were so many turns in this era that it was hard to remember everything. Show was a heel within a few weeks while Test became a heel and a tag team partner with Albert soon after this. Test’s face run did not go well at all.
The men in the main event tag team match were shown making their entrances in the backstage area.
(Commercial)
The Degeneration X group of Triple H with Stephanie McMahon, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and X-Pac made their entrances to the DX song. They did not walk out together. They entered one by one.
The Acolytes entered first for the face team. They were set to face the New Age Outlaws at the Royal Rumble. Mick Foley was introduced as Mankind and he got a nice ovation. I’ll probably use Foley and Mankind when describing him in his matches. The Rock was up last to a thunderous ovation. There was a clip of The Rock signing books at Tower Records in New York City one week earlier.
Degeneration X – Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon), X-Pac, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg vs. The Rock, Mankind and The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq)
Pre-match notes: The DX guys were the heels while the other four guys were the faces.
Hunter tried to rally the troops and get everybody to shake hands, but none of them wanted to do that. Rock started for his team against Gunn with Rock taking control with punches, but Gunn came back with a neckbreaker. Gunn worked over Rock with punches. Rock got back into it with a Samoan Drop on Gunn, a spinebuster on Dogg and Rock hit a Rock Bottom on Gunn for a two count as X-Pac made the save. Rock knocked X-Pac out of the ring with a clothesline. Bradshaw tagged in with a big boot on Dogg. Elbow drop by Bradshaw missed, X-Pac tagged in and that led to punches from Bradshaw. Corner attack missed by Bradshaw, X-Pac came back with a spinning kick to the face and Bradshaw followed with a fallaway slam. Faarooq tagged, X-Pac with a spinning heel kick and Faarooq hit a backbreaker for two. Rock worked over X-Pac a bit, Farooq back in, he did an awkward looking DX taunt and X-Pac hit a DDT. Mankind tagged in against Triple H with Mankind unloading with punches to the head followed by the running knee in the corner. Facebuster by Triple H. When Hunter tried to tag out, his DX buddies went off the apron and went to the floor. The three DX guys left up the ramp together while Rock and the Acolytes fought with them to the back.
Mankind worked over Hunter with punches. It was a double arm DDT for Mankind, who took out Mr. Socko from his underpants. That’s another awkward sentence! Stephanie grabbed Foley’s feet, so Foley pulled her to the apron and Hunter saved Stephanie. Hunter kicked Mankind out of the ring as Hunter checked on Stephanie. Hunter sent Foley into the announce table and Hunter hit Foley in the head with the bell. Where’s the ref and why didn’t he see it? I’m not sure. He wasn’t around. Hunter worked over Mankind with punches and the ref Tim White showed up. They battled on the announce table with Triple H hitting a Pedigree on the announce table. That looked like a rough landing. That is also not enough for a disqualification. Back in the ring, Triple H hit another Pedigree for the pinfall win at 10:25.
Winners by pinfall: Degeneration X – Triple H, X-Pac, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg
Analysis: *** That was a pretty good tag team match because they were given over ten minutes to tell a story, so it was like a lot of tags you might see in WWE today. They also did the thing where the guys in the tag fight all the way to the back so that the spotlight can be on the guys in the ring. The reason I pointed out the part about breaking the announce table not being a disqualification is because when you use a weapon it should be a DQ, but in this era they really didn’t care about enforcing ALL the rules like that.
After the match, Mankind was shown trying to get back up and he was bleeding under his brown mask. Mankind ripped his own mask off, he worked over Hunter with punches and dumped him out of the ring. Mankind tossed the steel steps at Hunter. Mankind tossed the top of the announce table at Hunter. Mankind with a hip toss on to the top of the announce table. That’s a very thin piece of wood. Back in the ring, Mankind hit Hunter with a clothesline that sent him over the top to the floor.
Triple H was given the WWF Title and he backed away with Stephanie while Foley was in the ring with his face a bloody mess from the attack earlier. Raw ended that way with Hunter going up the ramp and Foley in the ring standing tall.
Analysis: That was a great post match angle to add some heat to the story between Triple H and Foley going into their Royal Rumble match. The build continued in the following weeks too. They always had great chemistry together.
This episode had a run time of 1:34:56 on WWE Network.
Three Stars of the Show
- Mankind
- The Rock
- Triple H
The Scoreboard
This Raw episode gets a 7 out of 10.
This was a better episode than the previous week. It’s the same format that they did all the time in this era with nine matches in two hours, but I thought it was a very good show that was entertaining from start to finish. I liked the theme of the whole night with the faces finally getting control of the show after heel dominance. That’s something that the WWF was very good at doing during this era.
What felt repetitive was that six of the nine matches were tag team matches. It’s tough to get into some of the matches when you see a hot tag happen within the first two minutes because you know they are going to have a short match.
I enjoyed the opening promo and main event match enough that I would consider this a pretty good show from this era.
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John Canton
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