I haven't given up on this, just been busy, Here's my latest review,
History of the Hardcore Championship. This DVD chocked full of dozens of matches, the exact number may depend on your definition of a match.
Tommy Dreamer in a voice over introduces Mick Foley, Rob Van Dam, and Raven who will be the official hosts of program. They will be sitting in an (seemingly) abandoned building discussing the Hardcore Championship. Raven comes in with a shopping cart full of weapons. They start by discussing the history of hardcore wrestling and how ECW influenced the Hardcore Division in WWF.
Raw 11/2/98
Mr. McMahon presents Mankind with the WWF Hardcore Championship as a present to prevent him from interfering in a match between Ken Shamrock and The Rock.
Mankind (c) vs Ken Shamrock, Raw 11/9/98
We start off with Mankind arriving at the arena where Mr. McMahon tells him that he's going to defend his Hardcore Championship that night. We cut to Shamrock, the I-C Champion, entering the ring. Mankind is out next clean-shaved wearing a tuxedo, part of a "makeover" given to him by Mr. McMahon. Shamrock goes right after Mankind as Mr. McMahon and the Stooges arrive on the stage to watch the match. Mankind uses one of his shoes on Shamrock then takes off his jacket and chokes Shamrock with it. After a couple of minutes of wrestling in the ring, they go to the outside. Shamrock hits Mankind with the championship belt. A handful of fans right behind the announcers' table are chanting for Socko. The two begin brawling on the announcers' table. Mankind tosses Shamrock into the ring. He sets up for a piledriver onto a chair, but Shamrock reverses it into a back body drop onto the chair. The fight goes back to the outside where Mankind applies the Mandible Claw on Shamrock, but Shamrock picks Mankind up and sends him face-first into the steel steps. Shamrock hits a belly-to-belly on the floor. Mankind comes back with a DDT onto a chair. They brawl up the ramp. Shamrock hits a side suplex on Mankind on the steel stage. Shamrock strikes Mankind over the head with a chair. Big Bossman then hits Shamrock with the nightstick and Mankind falls on top to win the match. There you have the very first WWF Hardcore Championship match.
Ladder Match, Mankind (c) vs Big Bossman (w/Commissioner Shawn Michaels), Raw 11/30/98
After Mr. McMahon screwed over Mankind at Survivor Series, now Mankind is going up against the Corporate enforcer in a ladder match. A ladder match is not exactly either man's forte. Early on, Mankind tosses the ladder into Bossman. Mankind is the first to set up the ladder and climb it. Bossman gets in the ring and Mankind leaps off with a clothesline. Mankind then sandwiches Bossman in the ladder and drops an elbow on him. Soon both men are climbing the ladder but Mankind pulls out Mr. Socko and applies the Mandible Claw to Bossman while on the ladder. Bossman goes down and The Rock comes out and knocks Mankind off of the ladder. Mankind fights back with a low blow to The Rock then climbs the ladder but The Rock gets up, pulls him down and hits the Rock Bottom. Bossman climbs the ladder and grabs the belt. Rock continues to beat down Mankind after the match. Shawn Michaels soon joins in the beatdown. This was still before the ladder match became associated with the high flyers. But still not the level of Rock vs Triple H, two heavyweights. Neither man falls from higher than the third rung from the bottom.
Road Dogg (c) vs Al Snow, Raw 1/4/99
We jump ahead to January of 1999. Mankind is no longer Hardcore Champion, but a few minutes after this next match he would become the WWF World Champion. But before that can happen we have a Hardcore Championship Match. Al Snow comes out first. His shirt is stained red from a recent bloodbath at the hands of The Brood. Head is now nearly hairless and her mouth is taped over. Snow places Head down on the stage and then hides behind the curtain awaiting Road Dogg's arrival. Snow's forehead now says "Fear Me". Road Dogg comes out, is distracted by Head and is jumped from behind by Al Snow. After a brief brawl, Road Dogg gets out some props. Several chairs and a table are brought out from underneath the ring. Snow strikes Road Dogg with a chair and then places him on a table. Snow leaps up onto the barricade and goes for a moonsault but Road Dogg moves out of the way and Snow goes through the table. They brawl their way back to the tech area. Road Dogg leans a table against the guardrail and slams Snow through it. They're now back in the back of the arena and make their way to a Janitor's closet. Snow dumps a box of toilet paper on Dogg then hits him with a mop handle. Road Dogg reverses Snow into a stack of beer kegs. The two men make their way outside where it's snowing. There's a dusting of snow on the ground as well. Dogg strikes Al Snow with a snow shovel in the snow. Referee Jack Doan is struggling to not fall down. Dog hits a kick to the mid-section of Snow then hits a piledriver onto some wood pallets and pins Snow. This is what we've come to expect from the Hardcore Championship. Not once did they get into the ring.
Vacant Hardcore Championship, Al Snow vs Bob Holly, St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Imagine going back to 1996 and telling fans that in a few years Bob "Spark Plug" Holly and Leif Cassidy would fight in a No Holds Barred match with tables, chairs, and a variety of weapons and it would be on a WWF PPV. This was originally supposed to be Snow vs champion Road Dogg but Dogg got injured and had to forfeit the title. The previous night on a Saturday edition of Raw, Snow had issued an open challenge for a hardcore match, and no one answered. Thus, Snow had a match with himself. Snow's JOB Squad buddy, Bob Holly came out and attempted to intervene and the two got into a fight. That leads us to this match for the vacant title. This match takes place at The Pyramid in Memphis. Early on, Snow strikes Holly with a chair over the head. And after about 20 seconds in the ring they make their way into the crowd. The fight their way back to the back of the arena where Holly slams a metal trash can onto Holly. Snow strikes Holly with the receiver of a payphone (kids, payphones were telephones that were outside in public and for a quarter you can call someone and talk to them). Michael Cole on commentary states "It takes a certain kind of mentality to compete in these Hardcore matches:", to which Jerry Lawler replies with "It takes no mentality". Holly strikes Snow with ceramic floor tiles. They're now leaving The Pyramid. Snow throws Holly into the WWF tech truck. Holly sends Snow into the wall of the arena. Snow is laughing as Holly continues to beat him. Snow rams Holly into a flood wall. The two men make their way down to the banks of the Mississippi River. Snow grabs some barbed wire from a fence and strangles Holly with it. They use whatever trash they can find on the river bank including a wheelbarrow. Snow tosses Holly into the river then tries for a leaping body press but Holly sends Snow into the water. They fight in the water using a discarded tire. Snow unravels some loose fencing but Holly comes up from behind with a tree branch and nails Snow with it. Holly then wraps Snow up in the loose fencing and pins him to win the title. Sparky Plugg is now the Hardcore Champion. I thoroughly enjoyed this match. It's so much fun to watch.
Mick Foley: "We've seen Al Snow buried in the Mississippi River. We've seen Al Snow buried in the snow. Where hasn't Al Snow been buried?" Mick laughs while Raven rolls his eyes and RVD doesn't really react. Mick Follows up with "Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Al Snow." "Al Snow who?" "Exactly." The three talk about how hardcore matches explore creativity.
Bob Holly (c) vs Steve Blackman, Raw 2/15/99
The night after Holly won the title he defended the belt against Steve Blackman. Holly still comes out to the JOB Squad entrance video and is still referred to as "Bob Holly". Blackman makes his way out and Holly meets him on the ramp where he's met with a suplex from the Lethal Weapon. The two men go back to the back. A variety of objects are used. Blackman whips Holly into a pile of beer kegs. They're out on the loading dock now. Blackman kicks Holly into a garbage dumpster. Droz arrives and attacks Blackman. Holly takes advantage with the pinfall victory. Afterwards Holly gets in the ring and grabs a mic and talks about the bad gimmicks he's had and the weak tag team partners he's had in WWF. He issues an open challenge and is accepted by his former tag team partner, and Brawl For All Champion, Bart Gunn. Holly mentions that he's the only guy Gunn couldn't knock out in the Brawl For All.
Hardcore Holly (c) vs Bart Gunn, Raw 2/22/99
Holly is now referred to as "Hardcore Holly". After some left hands by Gunn the match goes to the outside where Holly shatters a pitcher across Gunn's face. Holly then whacks his former Midnight Express partner with a chair. Gunn fights back and uses the ring bell on Holly. They're now fighting into the crowd. Holly sprays Gunn with a fire extinguisher which is at ringside for an Inferno Match later in the show. Gunn suplexes Holly on the steel ramp and goes for a pin but only gets two. Now Gunn uses the fire extinguisher on Holly. The fight moves to the stage. Gunn manages to find a watermelon, from where no one knows, and uses it on Holly. Holly picks up a small wooden crate of bananas and hits Gunn with it (why is there fruit on the stage). Gunn then picks up a bag of flour which he hits Holly with. A mysterious masked ninja comes out on the stage and attacks Gunn. The mystery man throws Gunn off the stage through a table. Holly takes advantage and pins Gunn to retain. Once again Holly needs help to beat his opponent. (It's not revealed on this DVD but the masked man is Al Snow)
Holly would lose the belt to Billy Gunn (why, I still don't know) and then win it back at WrestleMania. Al Snow would win the title from Holly and hold it for three months before losing to Big Bossman. Next up is the rematch between Snow and Bossman.
Big Bossman (c) vs Al Snow, Summerslam '99
Snow jumps Bossman during his entrance. Snow grabs a chair and strikes Bossman with it. Road Dogg, who had been doing commentary along side JR and King, now has a microphone and is following the action as they move backstage. Bossman hits Snow with a chalkboard. Bossman then uses a small dog carrier, which is supposed to be holding Pepper. They fight their way to the outside of the arena and onto the streets of Minneapolis. Bossman throws Snow into a road construction sign. Snow attempts a pinfall on the sidewalk. They fight into a group of plastic tables and chairs outside of a restaurant. They go inside a bar called Blues Alley. They fight among the customers inside the bar. They fight their way into the restroom where a urinal cake is used as a weapon. Snow gets a chain from a customer and uses it on Bossman. Snow delivers a moonsault off the bar onto Bossman who's on a table. Bossman threatens Road Dogg then Road Dogg hits Bossman knocking him out on a pool table. Snow pins Bossman to become the new champion. Snow makes his way back to the arena and in the back area he runs into Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie who apparently have pepper and attacks them. Snow uses a crutch on both men.
NOPE Match
Al Snow (c) vs Steve Blackman, Jakked 10/9/99
The only NOPE Match on this DVD is from Jakked. Remember Jakked? No? I don't blame you. It was a syndicated weekend show during the Attitude Era. This match is boring, the crown is dead, and Kevin Kelly and Michael Hayes on commentary just want to talk about anything other than the match. Everything from Mankind and The Rock to Mark Henry being in sex therapy. One of the few interesting moments from this match is when Blackman is down leaning against the guardrail and Snow rolls a bowing ball into Blackman's nether region. Blackman has Snow on a table and goes to the top when he's distracted by WWF's head of security who has some sort of beef with Blackman and Snow throws Blackman through the table and pins him.
Test (c) vs Gangrel, Smackdown 1/27/00
Gangrel is accompanied to the ring by Luna Vachon. The fight starts on the ramp and soon Luna gets involved spitting red mist in Test's eyes, which doesn't do much. They fight their way to the back and the loading dock. They go outside where their is snow on the ground in Baltimore. Luna gets involved but Test picks her up and drops her into a pickup truck bed filled with snow. Gangrel starts to mount some offense. Gangrel sprays Test with a fire extinguisher. Test tosses Gangrel into a piano and slams the lid on him. Luna comes back and accidently hits Gangrel with a shovel. Test then powerbombs Luna onto the piano. Test then drops an elbow on Gangrel and pins him.
Test (c) vs Crash Holly, Smackdown 2/24/00
Before the match we see Crash and Hardcore Holly arguing in the locker room. Crash then shoves his cousin down. Crash comes to the ring carrying a scale and weighing in at 400 pounds. This match actually starts in the ring, but still before the bell. They fight into the crowd. Back at ringside Crash uses a fire extinguisher on Test. Hardcore Holly is now on the stage watching the match. Crash arranges the steps and leaps off of them but is met with a chair from Test. Test sets up two chairs in the ring and goes to powerbomb Crash through them but Crash reverses and hits a low blow on Test before sending him outside. Hardcore comes to ringside seemingly goes to hit Crash but misses and hits Test. Crash pins Test and Crash is the new Hardcore Champion.
Crash Holly (c) vs Tazz, Smackdown 3/2/00
Back when for former ECW champion still had a shred of credibility in a WWE ring here he is challenging Crash. Once again the fight starts at ringside and Tazz tosses Crash into the crowd. The fight goes to the back and they're now in a hallway where Tazz is slamming Crash against the walls. Prince Albert gets involved and is met with a wrench from Tazz. Tazz locks Albert in a walk-in freezer before getting attacked by The Big Bossman. He disposes of Bossman quickly but is sprayed with a fire extinguisher by Crash who then hits him with a board and pins him to retain.
Later that night Crash is interviewed by Lilian Garcia and he says that he's going to defend the title 24/7. Later on Crash is leaving the arena and going to his car when he's attacked by The Mean Street Posse. Rodney hits Crash with a trash can. The Posse are all fighting among each other as Crash escapes.
Raw 3/13/00
Referee Tim White arrives at the airport and is greeted by the Mean Street Posse who want him to referee their Hardcore Title fight. The Posse jump Crash at the baggage claim. Pete Gas pins Crash to win the title. Crash hits Gas with his scale and regains the title.
Smackdown 3/16/00
We move on to Funtime USA. It's the Headbangers who are now the challengers and they have to walk through a metal detector to enter. The employee, who seems to ignore the fact that they just set off the metal detector, points them to Crash. Mosh attacks Crash in the arcade area. Crash escapes down a slide as the cameraman follows. Thrasher is at the bottom of the slide and attacks Crash. It's now two on one. Mosh rams Crash's head into the test of strength. Thrasher goes to use the hammer but Crash fights back. They go into the ball pit. They continue fighting in the playland until Crash manages to escape. That was rather fun to watch.
Hardcore Holly (c) vs Crash Holly, Raw 4/3/00
One night earlier at WrestleMania 2000, a botch in the Hardcore Championship match resulted in Hardcore Holly becoming champion. One night later he defends the title against Crash. The two cousins start off in the ring. Hardcore brings out a push broom and strikes Crash with the stick. Once again a fire extinguisher is used, this time by Hardcore Holly. Hardcore brings a chair into the ring Crash fights back and drops his cousin face first on the chair. The go outside and the APA join them attacking Hardcore Holly. They toss Crash on top and Crash picks up the pin. Crash is jumped on the stage by the Mean Street Posse who all fight with each other as Crash escapes
Crash Holly (c) vs Tazz vs Perry Saturn, Raw 4/17/00
The new ECW Champion, Tazz comes out first. Next out is Perry Saturn, a member of the Radicalz who's jumped by Crash. Tazz uses a cookie sheet on both of his opponents as the crown chants "ECW". Tazz and Saturn hit a high-low on Crash. Hardcore Holly comes out and attacks his cousin. Tazz and Saturn are still fighting in the ring while the Hollys are fighting outside both fights for the Hardcore Title. Tazz gets the Tazzmission on Saturn until Crash breaks it up. Crash pins Saturn to retain then runs away from his cousin.
Smackdown 4/20/00
Crash is fresh off a visit to the circus when he's attacked by the Mean Street Posse, disguised as clowns, outside the arena. A potted plant is used by the Posse during this fight. The each attempt to pin Crash but he manages to get away.
Crash arrives at the arena and enters a bounce house in the back of the arena when he's attacked by Dean Malenko. They fight inside the bounce house until Crash flees into the arena. They fight into the crowd and down to ringside. Malenko whips Crash into the stairs. They enter the ring. Malenko has Crash on the top rope and suplexes him off the top rope. Malenko goes for the pin but is interrupted by Perry Saturn. Holly hits both men with a metal trash can and pins Malenko. Malenko and Saturn continue fighting amongst each other.
Smackdown 5/18/00
Crash enters the APA office looking for some protection. Crash pays them to protect him while he takes a nap for an hour. Crash takes a nap in the corner of the APA office. Later on, The Godfather's Ho (the one who won the Hardcore Championship earlier in the week on Raw) comes in and grabs a chair wanting to win the title again but the APA stop her. Later on still, Gerald Brisco is seen talking to a referee. He enters the APA office where the APA are now gone. Brisco places one finger on Crash as a referee quietly counts the pin. The referee trips on the way out waking Crash who chases after Brisco. Brisco makes his way to the ring. Crash grabs him but Brisco has a mean left hand. Crash eventually gets the better of his older opponent. Crash breaks a broom handle over Brisco. Pat Patterson comes down and the two begin double teaming Crash. Patterson drops his pants and goes for a stinkface on Crash but Crash fights back and chases after Brisco.
Mick explains how the 24/7 rule ran it's course and now tough guys were winning the title. The guys explain that Steve Blackman was a legit tough guy.
Steve Blackman (c) vs X-Pac, Smackdown 7/27/00
X-Pac has a weight belt in his hands and is whipping Blackman with it. Blackman takes the belt and begins whipping X-Pac. X-Pac goes under the ring and brings out a garbage can lid which ends up being used against him. Blackman tosses X-Pac in the air dropping him face first in the ring while hitting him in the back of the head with the garbage can lid in the process. Blackman pulls out a bag of weapons. From it he gets a pair of nunchucks which he gives to X-Pac while taking a pair of sticks for himself. X-Pac does his best Michelangelo impression then charges after Blackman who nails him in the gut with the sticks. Blackman now has a kendo stick while X-Pac has a fire extinguisher, of course. X-Pac sprays Blackman with the fire extinguisher to take control of the match. X-Pac has Blackman down in the corner and goes for the X-Factor but Blackman pulls up the trash can and X-Pac crotches the metal can. Blackman hits X-Pac over the head with the Kendo stick and pins him for the three. X-Pac's tag team partner, Road Dogg, who has been doing commentary during the match jumps Blackman from behind and the two member of D-X double team the champion.
Shane McMahon (c) vs Steve Blackman, Summerslam '00
Shane won the title from Blackman the previous week on Raw using the 24/7 rule with help from Edge and Christian, Commissioner Mick Foley made the match between Shane and Blackman for Summerslam and Shane tried to take the easy way out by having Edge pin him for the title, but Foley suspended the 24/7 rule until after Summerslam. Before this match, Lilian Garcia interviews Shane and asks him about Kurt Angle kissing Stephanie. The interview is interrupted by Blackman who scares Shane off. Blackman tosses a kendo stick to Shane but Shane tosses it back like it's hot. The fight quickly goes into the crowd where a metal garbage can is used on Shane's head. Back in the ring, Blackman brings out another trash can as well as his sticks. He places the can over Shane's head and beats on the can with the sticks. Shane is down on his knees as Blackman kicks him on the side of the can. Blackman gets a leather strap and ties it around Shane's neck and begins dragging him around by it. Test & Albert come out and attack the Lethal Weapon. Albert places the trash can lid on a fallen Blackman and Test goes to the top rope and drops an elbow. Test & Albert then hold Blackman while Shane delivers some jabs to him. The crowd begins chanting "Shane's a pussy". The fight goes toward the entry way. Albert accidently hits Test with the Kendo stick. Blackman takes the stick and knocks Albert out. Blackman then goes after Shane. Shane begins climbing the entrance set and Blackman follows him. Blackman whips Shane with a Kendo stick until Shane falls backwards from high up. Blackman then leaps off the set apparatus and delivers an elbow to Shane and then pins him to regain the title. A classic Summerslam moment. This is one of my three favorite matches on this DVD.
Steve Blackman (c) vs Raven vs Hardcore Holly, Raw 12/25/00
Holly comes out unarmed. Raven brings a trash can full of miscellaneous junk. As Blackman is making his entrance Holly attacks Raven. Raven strikes Blackman with a trash can lid. Holly does the same to Raven. Raven sprays both of his opponents with a fire extinguisher. All three men begin fighting in the crowd. Raven uses a metal trash can that's actually filled with trash. The fight goes to the back where a couple of random jobbers are standing and get taken out by the competitors in the match. The fight then goes outside, since after all, it is cold outside so of course they're going to fight outside. Holly goes to hit Blackman with a board but misses. Blackman delivers a belly-to-back suplex on Holly onto the hood of a car and pins him for the win (though both men's shoulders were down). Blackman is making his way back to the arena when he is attacked by Raven who pins him to win the title. Raven is now the Hardcore Champion.
What about Raven? Raven talks about being a 27 time champion, RVD replies with "You lost the Hardcore Title 27 times?" Raven says it wasn't the number of times he held the title that was important to him but all the opportunities he had show what he could do with it and all of the things he did as champion. Raven says his best match in WWE was against Rhyno when Rhyno gored the shopping cart. RVD says that WWE signing and using Raven meant that WWE was watching ECW, but at the same time some fans didn't know about ECW and thought that all of that only happened in WWF.
Raven (c) vs Crash Holly, Raw 1/29/01
Crash is back in the title picture and he runs up the ramp to go after Raven. Raven brings a shopping cart full of weapons the ring. They fight beneath the stage and into the crowd. The fight then goes all over the public areas of the arena. Raven gets a mop and hits Crash with it. Raven goes to ram Crash's head into the rolling steel door but Crash throws him off into the door. They then go outside (in the cold and snow, of course). Raven gets thrown into the snow. Cousin Molly Holly gets involved to help crotch Raven on a tree. A mystery woman then gets out of a car and attacks Crash and Molly allowing Raven to retain the title.
Raven (c) vs Big Show, No Way Out '01
Raven comes out first followed by Big Show but Show is attacked by the mysterious masked woman with a board. Raven then attacks Big Show after the distraction. Show knocks Raven down and takes him to ringside. Surprise, surprise, a fire extinguisher is used once again as Big Show is on the receiving end. One of the concession guys from the crowd comes in the ring and hits Raven with a tray of popcorn bags. The man bulldogs Raven and goes for a pin, but Big Show picks the man up and slams him. Show takes Raven down only to get attacked by Steve Blackman. Then comes Hardcore Holly. Everyone is beating on Big Show. Blackman his Big Show over the head with a Kendo stick. While this is going on "The One" Billy Gunn enters the ring and hits the Fame-ass-er on Raven and pins him to win the title. Now everyone is going after Gunn. Hardcore Holly drops him with a suplex. Holly and Blackman double team Gunn until Big Show gets involved. Behind Show's back Raven pins Gunn to win the title back. The concession stand guy, who we can now tell is Crash Holly tries to get involved again but Big Show stops him. The Masked Ninja lady comes out with a board but is attacked from behind by Molly with a trash can lid. Big Show chokeslams Raven onto a metal trash can and pins him. Gunn then attacks Big Show from behind but Big Show disposes of him. Big Show is officially the winner of the match and the new Hardcore Champion.
Big Show (c) vs The Rock vs Kurt Angle, Raw 2/26/01
The next night on Raw, it's the new Hardcore champion Big Show, new WWF Champion The Rock, and former WWF Champion Kurt Angle doing battle. Rock and Angle stare at each other in the ring as Big Show attacks them both. The fight quickly goes to the outside where Big Show slams Rock's head on the announcers' table. Show goes to send Rock into the ring post but Rock reverses it. Angle and Rock battle inside the ring as Rock begins laying the smack down on Angle. Rock applies the Sharpshooter but Big Show breaks things up. Big Show goes to chokeslam Rock but Rock hits him with a low blow. Rock and Angle then work together to suplex The Big Show. Steve Blackman hits the ring and tries to pin Big Show while Rock and Angle are fighting on the outside. Hardcore Holly joins the party followed by Albert. Albert hits a bicycle kick on Big Show and goes for a pin but Saturn breaks it up. Billy Gunn comes down and hit Big Show with a baseball bat. Show, Gunn, Blackman, and Holly battle to the base of the stage. Essa Rios leaps off of the stage onto Big Show but is caught and dropped. Crash Holly then attempts to do the same and is met with the same results. The fight goes toward the back and once again a fire extinguisher is used. In the ring, Angle, Saturn, and Albert are working over The Rock. Rock fights back. In the back the battle continues. Show tosses Rios into a wall and pins him up against the wall. So apparently Big Show can pin someone not involved in the original match to win. That was a lot in the span of 10 minutes.
Raven (c) vs Chris Jericho, Smackdown 3/22/01
We go from the WWF Champion challenging for the Hardcore title to the I-C Champion challenging for the belt. This time Raven is the champion once again. Raven brings a shopping cart full of goodies to the ring. Raven is standing on the ring apron with a trash can when Jericho leaps off the ropes and kicks the can into Raven's face as Raven lands in the shopping cart. The fight to the back where Jericho slides Raven across a table with a coffee dispenser. The fight then goes to Commissioner Regal's office where Jericho smashes a picture of the Queen over Raven's head. Regal then comes in and smashes a glass flower vase on Jericho. Raven knocks Regal out an pins him. Raven is still champion.
Raven (c) vs Kane vs Big Show, WrestleMania X-Seven
Another favorite match. In front of 60,000+ fans, the Hardcore Championship is on the line. Raven comes down with his usual shopping cart. It would seem, on paper, that the odds are stacked greatly against the defending champion. The fight starts before Big Show comes out as Raven goes after Kane. Kane picks Raven up and tosses him out onto Big Show who catches him. Big Show has Raven in a modified sleeper when Kane comes off the top rope out onto the giant. Raven takes advantage and goes for a pin, but only gets two as Kane breaks up the count. Kane tosses Raven over the barricade and they're out into the crowd. Big Show soon follows. They fight through the crowd as the cameraman has a difficult time making it through the mass of humanity to follow the action. They're now back in the back of the stadium. Big Show slams Kane onto some wood pallets then tosses Raven into a fenced in area and locks the two of them, and the referee, in the area. But of course, since Big Show had been in WCW, he didn't know that Kane was more than capable of ripping locked cage doors off their hinges, as he did when he first arrived in the WWF. They leave the fenced in area and Kane tosses Raven through a window into an office area. Big Show then throws Kane through a door into another room. The two big men barrel their way through the wall of the room to where Raven is. Raven then commandeers a golf cart with Big Show hitching a ride. Big Show is choking Raven as they go and they crash through a fence. Kane then has another golf cart with the referee on board and he goes after his opponents. Kane brings the cart to a screeching halt but nearly runs over Raven's leg. After some more brawling in the back from the three men they make their way up onto the stage. Big Show picks Raven up and goes to slam him off the stage but Kane kicks Show sending both men off the stage. Kane then drops a leg from the stage and pins Big Show. Kane is your new champion. That was a fun match to watch.
Kane (c) vs Steven Richards, Raw 4/16/01
And the award for best use of the "Mute" button on the TV goes to...Right to Censor's entrance music. Richards hits Kane in the head with a trash can but it has no effect. They fight to the back. Nothing really special here. Things get interesting when the other members of Right to Censor get involved. But, Kane has backup of his own in the form of the American Badass The Undertaker. Kane rams Richards head first into a truck then pins him to retain the title.
Kane (c) vs Rhyno, Smackdown 4/19/01
This match is made by Commissioner William Regal after Kane and Undertaker attacked Steve Austin and Triple H a few days earlier on Raw. Rhyno is accompanied by Edge & Christian. It starts off as essentially a 3-on-2 match. Soon Undertaker works over E&C, while Kane and Rhyno fight. Kane goes to the top rope and hits a flying clothesline on Rhyno. Kane then hits a chokeslam but before he can go for a pinfall, Austin and Triple H come out and attack Kane. Both men deliver multiple chair shots to the arm of the Hardcore Champion. Rhyno pins Kane and is the new Hardcore Champion. Of course, it's Triple H's music that plays. Undertaker, who had fought Edge & Christian through the crowd returns and chases off Austin & The Game.
Rhyno (c) vs Raven, Backlash '01
Two former ECW Champions collide in this fight. Rhyno hits Raven over the head with a metal trash can. Rhyno then sets up the steel stairs and rams Raven's head into the top of the steps. Rhyno sets up a chair at ringside and places Raven upright on it. Rhyno then runs up the steel steps and leaps off headed for Raven, but Raven moves out of the way and Rhyno lands on the chair. Raven then runs up the stairs and leaps off hitting Rhyno with a clothesline. The two men fight their way up the ramp where Raven gets his brains scrambled by a trash can lid. Rhyno rolls Raven into the ring then picks up Raven's shopping cart and hits him with it before throwing it in the ring. Rhyno whips Raven off the ropes. Raven reverses Rhyno and drops him face first into the shopping cart. Raven whacks Rhyno with some street signs then hits a bulldog on him. Rhyno picks up the shopping cart with the intention of hitting Raven with hit, but Raven hits Rhyno with a trash can sending the champion down with the cart on top of him. Raven then grabs the cart and rolls it into Rhyno. Rhyno fights back with a street sign to the head of Raven. Rhyno is setting up for the gore, but Raven moves out of the way and Rhyno ends up perfectly in the shopping cart. Raven then hits Rhyno with a literal kitchen sink. That doesn't keep Rhyno down for long as he comes back with a gore and a pinfall to retain the title. This match doesn't crack my top three for this DVD but maybe the top five. It was a good follow-up to the WrestleMania match.
Big Show (c) vs Chris Jericho, Raw 5/28/01
In the last 8 days leading up to this show, Jericho won a tag team gauntlet match alongside Chris Benoit to become number one contenders for the Tag Team Championships, beat Steve Austin and Triple H to win the tag team titles, then successfully defended the titles in a 4 team TLC Match. Now he has a hardcore match against the massive Big Show. Jericho goes right after Big Show to start the match. Big Show tossed Jericho into the stairs. Show then grabs some trash cans. Show picks Jericho up and drops him on the guard rail before tossing the steel steps in the ring. Show then tosses Y2J in the ring. Show picks Jericho up and tosses him into a trash can that has been set up between the ropes in the corner. Show places Jericho's head on a trash can in the ring and goes for a leg drop but Jericho moves out of the way and Big Show drops his leg on the trash can. But it's not long before Big Show takes control again. Big Show has Jericho on the top turnbuckle and picks up the stairs. Jericho leaps off the top turnbuckle with a missile drop kick to the stairs taking Big Show down with the stairs hitting him on the head. Jericho hits the Lionsault and becomes a double champion. Jericho's celebration doesn't last long as he is gored on the stage by Rhyno who pins him to win the title.
"And now to the three guys WWE thought were more presentable on camera than Tommy Dreamer..."
We move on to the Invasion Era. So many new wrestlers on the roster gives less time to guys like Raven.
Test (c) vs Rhyno, Raw 6/25/01
The Invasion hits in a big way this night at Madison Square Garden. This match is a rematch from a recent Smackdown when Test won the title from Rhyno after Stacy Keibler provided a distraction. This match actually starts in the ring. Rhyno then goes outside to grab some accessories including some metal trash cans. The brawl goes out into the crowd. Rhyno grabs a metal guard rail and sets it semi-upright. He goes to suplex Test into it, but Test turns it around into a suplex of his own onto the guard rail. The continue fighting back to the back of the arena. Rhyno sets a couple of tables up. Test fights back with a fire extinguisher, this time using it as a blunt object rather than spraying it. He places Rhyno on the tables and climbs some sort of shelves or something. They appear to be about 10 feet tall. Test leaps off and drops and elbow onto Rhyno. The tables don't break but rather separate away from each other sending both men to the floor. Test grabs a ladder and jabs it in Rhyno's gut. Test sets up for a powerbomb onto the ladder, but Rhyno reverses Test with a backdrop onto the concrete ground. Rhyno then gores Test into a wall and pins him to win the Hardcore title. Immediately afterwards, Mike Awesome attacks Rhyno and powerbombs him onto the ladder and becomes the first WCW wrestler to win a WWF title.
Mike Awesome (c) vs Jeff Hardy, Smackdown 7/12/01
Awesome knocks Hardy down early on and goes for the trash cans. Hardy delivers a sliding dropkick into the can that Awesome is holding. Hardy then gets a running start, hops onto the guardrail then leaps off towards Awesome, but Awesome has a trash can lid which he strikes Hardy with. Awesome goes for a pin on the floor but only gets two. Hardy soon brings out a ladder. He sets the ladder up in the ring. Awesome gets up, and picks up one end of the ladder knocking it down with Hardy on it. Awesome goes for a frog splash from the top but Hardy moves out of the way. Awesome soon sets the ladder leaning against the turnbuckle and goes to throw Hardy into it, but he's interrupted by Edge & Christian. E&C deliver a standing con-chair-to to Awesome. Hardy then hits the Swanton bomb to pick up the win.
Before I move on to the next match, I want to take a moment to say that it's a damn shame that neither WCW nor WWF ever did anything with Mike Awesome. The guy could have been a huge star. WCW stuck him with some bad gimmicks, though at least he managed to get some TV time. WWF must have just seen him as the guy with the bad gimmicks in WCW and did nothing with him. Perhaps if he had spent a little more time in ECW it could have helped get him some attention from the other companies. During this match with Jeff Hardy it was suggested that he could be a member of Team Alliance in the main event of Invasion. That would have worked and possibly better than having Rhyno there. He did have a match teaming with Lance Storm against Edge & Christian, which is a lot better than some other guys got, but still the guy deserved better.
Jeff Hardy (c) vs Rob Van Dam, Invasion
Now we move on to my other favorite match from this DVD. Prior to this match, in an attempt to get over as a heel, RVD attacked Matt Hardy with a chair while Hardy was talking with his brother. Jeff storms the ring and goes right after RVD. An "RVD" chant goes out throughout the arena. These two start out with some great fast-paced wrestling. Van Dam hits his rolling senton on Hardy. RVD goes to whip Hardy into the turnbuckle, but Hardy reverses sending Van Dam to the corner. Van Dam leaps up onto the turnbuckle but is shoved off by Hardy. Hardy then hits a sliding dropkick to Van Dam. Hardy goes for his running leap from the guardrail but Van Dam meets him on top and knocks him off. We're 3-4 minutes into this match when the action spills to the crowd for the first time. Still no actual use of weapons. Van Dam dumps Hardy face down across the guardrail then goes to the ring apron and delivers a spinning leg drop to Hardy. RVD takes a bow as the crowd chants for him. Hardy delivers a sunset-flip powerbomb from the ring apron to the floor. He then pulls out a very tall ladder and climbs it. Van Dam gets up, goes to the ring then pushes the ladder over knocking Hardy off of it onto the ramp. It's then that JR, for the umpteenth time delivers his "how do you learn to fall off of a 20 foot ladder" line. It's in response to people claiming that the wrestlers know how to fall, but it's really annoying. Hardy steals a chair from Van Dam and begins to use it against him. They make their way up the ramp onto the stage. Hardy sets up to hit RVD with the chair but Van Dam hits the Van Daminator kick to the chair knocking Hardy off of the stage. Van Dam sets Hardy in the corner of the ring and delivers a running Van Terminator with the chair to Hardy's face. He then pulls the champion away from the corner and goes for the split-legged monnsault but Hardy would get his knees up. Hardy is now starting to bleed from the chair shot to the head. He has Van Dam down in the ring as he goes to the top and goes for a Swanton Bomb but Van Dam moves out of the way. RVD then grabs the Hardcore title belt, places it on Hardy's chest and hits the Five Star Frog Splash and pins Hardy to win the match. Jim Ross gives props to both men in this match and it's well deserved. These two put on quite a show. RVD was another guy who got held back by WWE for many years. I think it was Triple H that held him back, much like with Booker T. When RVD finally got his big break he shot himself in the foot.
We enter the RVD era of the Hardcore title. The guys talk about how Van Dam elevated the title in 2001. Van Dam talks about how before him wrestlers would use "Hardcore shenanigans" in place of a good match, while he had a good match and used the hardcore elements to elevate the matches.
Rob Van Dam (c) vs Tajiri, Raw 7/30/01
Where better for two former ECW competitors to collide for the Hardcore title than Philadelphia? The early parts of this match resemble the Van Dam vs Hardy match. After some back and fourth offense, Van Dam does his "Rob Van Dam" gesture and for it he gets a kick in the teeth by Tajiri. Van Dam goes to bring a chair into the ring and Tajiri does a summersault kick to the chair to the face of Van Dam. RVD is tied to the tree of woe with not one, but two chairs in front of his face as Tajiri delivers a sliding kick to the chairs. Van Dam takes back control and hits a split legged moonsault to Tajiri. Van Dam then places a chair on Tajiri and hits the Five Star Frog Splash and picks up the win. For a random TV match that goes less than five minutes this was a good match.
Rob Van Dam (c) vs Kurt Angle, Raw 9/10/01
Steve Austin gives Van Dam his marching orders before the match. Van Dam says he's going to do what Austin couldn't do at Summerslam and that is pin Kurt Angle. It was a random Monday Night Raw but it was just 12 hours before the world changed forever. Angle takes Van Dam down early with a belly-to-belly throw. The two exchange wrestling moves before Angle goes for the ankle lock, but RVD gets to the ropes. The two men go to the outside where Angle throws Van Dam towards the steps and RVD leaps onto the steps and delivers a moonsault to Angle. Angle then gets an ankle lock on Van Dam on the outside. RVD grabs a chair and hits Angle with it to get out of the hold. RVD goes for a piledriver on the floor, but Angle shoves Van Dam into the guardrail to get out of it. Angle grabs a chair and begins chasing Van Dam up the ramp. Van Dam went for a spinning kick but Angle grabbed his foot and applied an ankle lock. RVD had no way to escape and quickly tapped out. Kurt Angle is the new Hardcore Champion. His celebration is short lived as Austin comes out and shoves him off of the stage. Austin then helps Van Dam up before tossing him off the stage onto Angle. Austin then demands the referee go down and count as Rob Van Dam covers Angle to win the title back.
Rob Van Dam (c) vs The Rock, Raw 10/25/01
For possibly the first time since joining the WWF, Rob Van Dam finds himself the less popular wrestler in the match as the fans chant for Rocky. RVD hits a monkey flip followed by Rolling Thunder early on. Rock soon tosses RVD to the outside. The fight goes up the ramp to the stage. Rock charges after Van Dam and Van Dam delivers a spinning kick to The Great One followed by a moonsault. They make their way back towards ringside where RVD rams The Rock into a ring post. Back in the ring Van Dam gets powerbombed from the top rope through a metal garbage can mangling the can, and Van Dam's body. Rock then gets the Sharpshooter applied. Van Dam is about to give up when Shane O-Mac pulls the referee out of the ring and delivers a DDT to The Rock. Van Dam hits the Five Star Frog Splash on The Rock as Shane tosses the referee back inside to count the pin, but The Rock kicks out. Shane gets back in the ring, but his daddy comes down and chases him away. RVD goes for a Van Daminator but The Rock ducks and DDTs Van Dam onto the chair. Rock slowly covers Van Dam but the champion kicks out. Out comes Test who delivers a pump handle slam to Rocky. The WCW Champion Chris Jericho comes out for the save. Y2J is met with a Harlem Side Kick from Booker T. Booker then gets a beatdown from The Rock. Rock hits a spinebuster on RVD. Rock is setting up for The Most Electrifying Move in Sports Entertainment, when he's tripped by Booker T. Booker hits The Rock with a metal trash can. Van Dam rolls The Rock up and pins him. This was easily the best non-PPV match on this DVD.
Rob Van Dam (c) vs The Undertaker, Vengeance '01
A lot has changed in the WWF in the past two months. The WWF won the war against The Alliance. Steve Austin turned babyface while The Undertaker and Chris Jericho turned heel. Undertaker was still getting some cheers here, but so too was Rob Van Dam. Things start clean for the first couple of minutes until Undertaker drops Van Dam crotch first on the top rope. Then they go to the outside. Van Dam reverses The Undertaker and sends him into the ring post before knocking him over the guardrail into the crowd. Van Dam hits a moonsault off the hockey boards and goes for a pin on the concrete but only gets two. They fight their way back to the base of the stage. Undertaker grabs a chair and is ready to use it when RVD sprays a fire extinguisher in the face of the American Badass. Van Dam then hits Undertaker over the head with a metal trash can. He then goes up into the stands above an exit and leaps off onto Undertaker. They're now fighting on the entrance stage. Undertaker picks Van Dam up and rams him head first into the stage set. Taker goes for a last ride on the stage but Van Dam is able to escape. Van Dam fights back with his educated feet and then hits the Rolling Thunder. Van Dam tosses a chair to the Undertaker to go for a Van Daminator but Undertaker moves out of the way of the kick. Undertaker then strikes Van Dam with the chair. Undertaker picks RVD up and chokeslams him off the stage through a table. Taker goes down and pins Van Dam to win the Hardcore Championship.
This brings RVD's run with the title to an end, and of all of the champions to have a block of matches on this DVD, Van Dam's were the best.
Undertaker (c) vs Jeff Hardy, Raw 12/17/01
Six months before their epic ladder match, these two meet for the Hardcore Championship. Jeff is accompanied by Lita. This comes after the Hardyz had split and had a match at Vengeance. Undertaker goes right after Hardy before the bell. Taker tells Hardy "You will respect me, boy". Jeff Hardy uses his high-flying abilities to his advantage. Undertaker gets knocked to the outside. Hardy leaps off the top rope toward Undertaker but misses and hits the guardrail. Matt Hardy is shown at WWF New York (remember that place?). Back in the ring, Undertaker hits the last ride on Hardy and pins him to retain the title. Undertaker gets on his motorcycle, but decides not to ride off. Instead he gets back in the ring and goes after Lita. Lita backs away and Undertaker tosses Hardy to the outside. 'Taker then carries Hardy up the stage as Lita follows. He then picks Hardy up and hits the last ride off the stage onto a table below. He then grabs Lita by the hair and tosses her off the stage.
Undertaker (c) vs Tajiri, Smackdown 12/27/01
In the locker room before the match, Vince praises The Undertaker for what he did to The Hardyz and Lita. He then hypes the champion up for his match but warns him that Tajiri's manager, Torrie Wilson, can be quite a distraction. Undertaker goes right after Tajiri from the start. Tajiri comes back with a missile drop kick from the top rope. Tajiri soon attempts the Tarantula on Undertaker but isn't able to get it on fully. Undertaker takes Tajiri to the outside. Undertaker goes for the Last Ride through the announcers table but Tajiri sprays the green mist in Undertaker's face. Tajiri begins attacking with a trash can. The Japanese Buzzsaw then leaps off of the ring apron but is caught by The Undertaker who throws him into the ring post. Back in the ring, Undertaker chokeslams Tajiri and goes for a pin but pulls him up before the three. He then applies a Dragon Sleeper and Tajiri quickly taps out. Big Show makes his way down to the ring and The Undertaker walks away. Now, while it may not seem like it makes much sense, but considering that this show was two days after Christmas it would have been fun to see The Undertaker get busted open and have the red blood go down his green misted face.
Undertaker (c) vs Maven, Smackdown 2/5/02
Al Snow accompanies the Tough Enough winner, Maven to the ring for this match. This comes after Maven eliminated Undertaker from the Royal Rumble Match. Snow immediately tosses a garbage can lid into Maven which he uses on Undertaker, but it does little good as Undertaker brushes it off and begins beating down on Maven. Undertaker then grabs a trash can and strikes Maven right over the head with it. He then uses it to beat Maven down until Al Snow pulls Maven out of the ring. Undertaker gees out and goes after Snow tossing him over the guardrail. Maven is now busted open. Undertaker goes for the Last Ride but Snow attacks him from behind with the ring bell. Undertaker tosses Snow out of the ring and then chokeslams Maven. Undertaker goes for the pin, but he pulls Maven up before the three. Undertaker gets a dragon sleeper on Maven. Out comes The Rock who hits Undertaker with a chair and then delivers the Rock Bottom. Maven starts to move and crawls to The Undertaker and pins him. Maven with a huge upset over The Undertaker to win the title. Undertaker's reign as champion was designed to help establish him as a heel once again by putting him against smaller, weaker opponents and beating the shit out of them. This was a whole new side to The Undertaker as it was his first, and only, heel run as The American Badass, and showed a new vicious side to him as during his last heel run in 1998-1999 he used his minions in the Ministry of Darkness to do a lot of his bidding. Here, he was kicking ass on his own.
Maven's title reign ended at the hands of Goldust on Raw a few weeks later. It was the first title change under the 24/7 rule since Rob Van Dam beat Kurt Angle the previous September. Al Snow would take the title from Goldust, then Maven would win it from his teacher. At WrestleMania X-8 Maven defended his title against Goldust in a one-on-one match which was interrupted by Spike Dudley winning the title from Maven. Later in the night The Hurricane, Mighty Molly, and Christian would all win the title before Maven finally took it back from Christian. Thus began a sort-of new era for the 24/7 rule as we would frequently see three or more title changes in a night.
Bubba Ray Dudley (c) vs Raven, Raw 4/15/02
The Dudleyz had been split up in the draft. D-Von became Reverend D-Von on Smackdown, while Bubba became Hardcore Champion on Raw. Raven would bring his shopping cart of weapons to the ring with him once again. Bubba uses a garbage can lid on Raven's head. Raven comes back with a clothesline. Raven then hits Bubba with a trash can followed by a stop sign. Both men then hit each other simultaneously with trash can lids. Bubba comes back and soon it's time to get the tables. As Bubba is trying to bring a table into the ring, Raven delivers a sliding dropkick to the table. He then brings Bubba into the ring, hits a DDT, and gets the three. Raven is immediately attacked by Tommy Dreamer who hits a Death Valley Driver to pin Raven. Dreamer is immediately met with a Stevie Kick from Stevie Richards who wins the title. Bubba gets back up and smacks Richards over the head with a guitar and wins the title. This ECW melee ends with Bubba walking out with the title.
Steven Richards (c) vs Booker T, Insurrextion '02
We go to the UK for this next match. Booker gets Richards in the corner and begins beating him down. Booker then begins tossing weapons into the ring and Richards immediately tosses them out until Booker whacks Richards with a serving tray. Booker then strikes Richards over the head with a trash can. Booker is in control of Richards. The crowd is popping for Booker. He brings in a trash can and places it over the head of Richards. Booker then goes to the top rope and delivers a leaping kick to the trash can over Richard's head. After Richards starts a comeback, Booker hits him with the Bookend and picks up the win to become new Hardcore Champion. But, wait, Crash Holly comes out, gets a weak rollup on Booker and manages to pin him. I'm not even sure both of Booker's shoulders were down. Crash looks to be getting ready for a Spinaroonie of his own, but Booker gets back up, hits the scissors kick and pins Crash. Tommy Dreamer and Justin Credible both come out and go after Booker. Dreamer pulls out a table and he and Credible set it up. Justin goes for his superkick with Dreamer holding Booker, but Booker moves out of the way and Justin hits Dreamer. Booker takes both men out and begins celebrating. Jazz comes from behind with a low blow. Steven Richards then puts Booker through a table and pins Booker. This match was boring and had no right to go 10 minutes (even without the post-match brawls it's still about 10 minutes).
Next Mick, Rob, and Raven talk about how the title lost some prestige when they brought back the 24/7 title changes and many lower card wrestlers competing for the belt.
Raw 5/27/02
Terri is interviewing champion Stevie Richards. Richards is talking about Jazz who's out with an injury and he calls her "cute and cuddly". Jacqueline then comes in and objects to Jazz being called "cute and cuddly." Jacqueline kicks Richards in the leg, hits him with Terri's microphone and goes for a pin, but it's broken up by Shawn Stasiak (I didn't know he was still in WWF at the time). Stasiak goes for a pin but it's broken up by Big Bossman (I didn't know HE was still in WWF either). Bossman goes for a pin, but Stasiak breaks it up and the two start brawling their way away from Richards. Terri takes advantage and pins a fallen Richards to become the champion. Richards then immediately rolls Terri up to pin her (as her panties are showing).
It's kind of a shame that three women held the Hardcore title, only one of them was an actual wrestler (that being Molly Holly), but women like Jacqueline and Jazz did not. I kinda wonder if maybe Jazz hadn't gotten injured she might have had a reign (or two or ten) as champion in 2002. At one point I thought Jacqueline and/or Ivory were supposed to be booked into the title picture and involved in the Hardcore Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2000 making it an even 15 competitors, but that was scrapped.
Bradshaw (c) vs Jeff Hardy, Raw 7/29/02
Bradshaw comes to the ring with his custom Hardcore title belt with the Texas flag on it. Same old script. Some fighting inside the ring then they go outside and get weapons involved. Bradshaw hits Hardy with a trash can and tosses him in the ring. Hardy then grabs the trash can and slams it over the head of Bradshaw. Jeff Hardy goes under the ring and brings out a ladder. Hardy sets the ladder up in the corner. Hardy climbs the ladder and hits a Swanton Bomb on Bradshaw and pins him to win the title. Hardy is then attacked by Johnny the Bull Stamboli who pins Hardy (much to the disinterest of the crowd). Bradshaw then hits a clothesline from Hell on Stamboli, but before he can take advantage, Tommy Dreamer comes out and strikes Bradshaw with a Singapore Cane and pins him to win the title.
Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Bradshaw, Raw 8/5/02
Dreamer is shown backstage as JR and King hype his match with Bradshaw later in the night. Bradshaw comes up to him and the fight is starting early. Bradshaw strikes Dreamer with a Singapore Cane. The fight makes its way into the arena. They begin fighting into the crowd. Soon they make their way to ringside where Bradshaw goes under the ring and pulls out his bullrope. He strikes Dreamer with the cowbell. Dreamer fights back and pulls out some trash can lids. Dreamer whips Bradshaw into the steps. They get into the ring where Dreamer begins choking Bradshaw with the bullrope. Bradshaw comes back, picks Dreamer up, goes to the second rope and hits a fallaway slam from the second rope. Bradshaw then hits Dreamer with a powerbomb. The fight goes back to the outside where Dreamer hits a DDT on the base of the steps and pins Bradshaw.
I-C Championship vs Hardcore Championship, Rob Van Dam vs Tommy Dreamer, Raw 8/26/02
It's title for title as the Hardcore title goes away. Dreamer now has a custom title belt with a New York license plate on it (seems like a waste for WWE to create these custom belts for the Hardcore title). Van Dam applauds his rival and the two men shake hands before the match as the crowd chants "ECW". The match starts off as more of a RVD-style match. After a couple of minutes Dreamer goes under the ring and pulls out a ladder. Van Dam then kicks the ladder into Dreamer. RVD then bridges the ladder between the guardrail and the ring. Dreamer takes advantage and attempts the suplex Van Dam over the top rope onto the ladder, but Mr. Monday Night fights back. Dreamer then attempts to bulldog Van Dam onto the ladder, but Van Dam shoves him off sending him falling into the ladder. Van Dam then seats Dreamer on the guardrail and climbs up onto the horizontal ladder then delivers a Van Daminator (minus the chair) to Dreamer. Van Dam places Dreamer in the ring and sets a ladder on top of him. He then goes for the split-legged moonsault but Dreamer gets his knees up, with the chair into the gut of RVD. Dreamer brings the ladder into the ring. He picks RVD up and drops him back first onto the ladder. It's then that Jim Ross once again brings out the "and they say they know how to fall. How do you learn how to fall on a steel ladder?" With RVD laying on the ladder, Dreamer goes to the second rope and goes for an elbow drop but Van Dam moves out of the way. Van Dam then places the ladder on top of Dreamer and hits him with the Rolling Thunder. Dreamer manages to crotch Van Dam on the top rope. Dreamer the bridges the ladder across the second rope and stands on top of the ladder as if he's going to suplex Van Dam but Van Dam fights back and Dreamer falls split-legged on the ladder. Van Dam then delivers a spinning heel kick to knock Dreamer off of the ladder. RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash and pins Dreamer to retain the I-C Championship and become the final ever Hardcore Champion. The two men share and emotional hug in the middle of the ring. Dreamer walks away doing the "RVD" hand gesture.
A new era had fallen on WWE. Hardcore matches were not as popular as they once were. Wrestling was back in. After a four year run, the Hardcore title was retired.
While some of these matches were kinda dumb, overall this was a good look back at a staple of the Attitude Era and some stars who are often overlooked. I think there are a couple of matches that could be left off of this. Maybe a Crash Holly match and maybe a 2002 match. I would have liked to have seen WrestleMania X-8 added to this. It started as a title match between Maven and Goldust which ended with Spike Dudley winning the title. Then over the course of the evening The Hurricane would win the belt from Spike. His faithful sidekick, Mighty Molly would attack him and win the belt. The dastardly Christian (who had lost a European title match to DDP earlier) defeated Molly for the title. Then as Christian was about to get in a cab and leave, he was attacked by Maven who took his belt and took his cab.
Next up, let's see, I've reviewed DVDs that were rated TV-14, TV-MA, TV-PG (some bordering on TV-G), what haven't I done? How about one that's Rated R.