Post by SUPES on May 23, 2015 20:55:54 GMT -5
This would also be the Kurt Angle era, but this is starting the month before to capture the beginning of the gimmick spotfest era.
No Mercy 1999: The Good Shit
Best of 5 Ladder Match Final for $100,000 and the Services of Terri Runnels
Hardyz vs. Edge & Christian
So this was the breakout match of all four men. I certainly remember watching this PPV live with friends and we indeed went apeshit during this, as did the Cleveland audience. That speaks that no matter how violent and aggressive the landscape had gotten thanks to the risque Attitude Era and workhorses on WCW's undercard, the business hadn't experienced a match like this above the ECW stage.
When keeping that in mind, it's easy to understand why we all went crazy for this. We weren't accustomed to spots like a ladder being used for extra hangtime on a guillotine legdrop. Signature moves off of ladders. A ladder's legs being dropkicked as a means for the top of the structure to impact an opponent's genitalia. A ladder being stacked on another, then the structure being used as a catapult to attempt facial trauma.
Ultimately, this doesn't quite hold up a decade and a half later. A spotty style of ladder match was a work in progress and this match showed that. It lacked the pacing that these men and many others would go on to perfect in this environment, but that's totally understandable. This was the first of its kind and when taking all of that into consideration, all four men definitely earned the standing ovation they received from the fine folks of Cleveland. ***1/2
WWF Title - Hardcore Match
Triple H vs. Steve Austin
Triple H had attacked the Rock earlier in the evening upon the future Hollywood icon's declaration of coming for the title. As HHH is coming to ringside, Vince McMahon refuses to let him bring a sledgehammer. Wow, the company was really bending over backwards to make HHH the top heel in the company.
Austin controlled early when he attacked HHH in the aisle and they had brawling for about the first dozen minutes. Crowd absolutely loved this, and I was surprised, considering the condition of Austin's neck at this time, that he took a backdrop on the concrete floor for HHH to gain control. The referee really made it obvious when he was gonna take a bump, and I hate seeing the business get exposed like that.
With HHH in control, despite his dastardly tactics earlier and ever since WrestleMania XV, he mixed in brawling with quality technical wrestling, AND THE CROWD DIDN'T CARE. Now I know why all these years later what the pre-teen version of me couldn't grasp - no matter what tricks the WWE pulled, HHH wasn't completely clicking at the top.
Austin teased comebacks here and there to make sure this wasn't a completely tedious squash, and the best HHH cut off was kicking the Rattlesnake in the face followed by chop-blocking the left knee. HHH went to work on that left knee, and Austin was fine in selling it while still getting hope spots in, but the crowd just didn't care any time HHH was in control. Austin finally regained control in the closing minutes to wake the crowd up, and it looked like he may capture his fifth WWE Title, but Rock showed up with the sledgehammer. The Great One took a swing at HHH, who ducked and so Austin got hit instead. HHH took Rock out via a Pedigree and then took the cheap pin. Austin attacks HHH minutes later to close out the show.
For the sake of this match and to ensure the HHH experiment got every chance it needed to prosper, Austin really should've done the job here. It's especially critical to make sure the company had another top guy set as Austin was deteriorating. But on the other side of the coin, HHH failed to generate much heat while in control over one of the dual faces of the company, so there's Austin's argument not to cleanly put him over. ***1/4
No Mercy 1999: The Good Shit
Best of 5 Ladder Match Final for $100,000 and the Services of Terri Runnels
Hardyz vs. Edge & Christian
So this was the breakout match of all four men. I certainly remember watching this PPV live with friends and we indeed went apeshit during this, as did the Cleveland audience. That speaks that no matter how violent and aggressive the landscape had gotten thanks to the risque Attitude Era and workhorses on WCW's undercard, the business hadn't experienced a match like this above the ECW stage.
When keeping that in mind, it's easy to understand why we all went crazy for this. We weren't accustomed to spots like a ladder being used for extra hangtime on a guillotine legdrop. Signature moves off of ladders. A ladder's legs being dropkicked as a means for the top of the structure to impact an opponent's genitalia. A ladder being stacked on another, then the structure being used as a catapult to attempt facial trauma.
Ultimately, this doesn't quite hold up a decade and a half later. A spotty style of ladder match was a work in progress and this match showed that. It lacked the pacing that these men and many others would go on to perfect in this environment, but that's totally understandable. This was the first of its kind and when taking all of that into consideration, all four men definitely earned the standing ovation they received from the fine folks of Cleveland. ***1/2
WWF Title - Hardcore Match
Triple H vs. Steve Austin
Triple H had attacked the Rock earlier in the evening upon the future Hollywood icon's declaration of coming for the title. As HHH is coming to ringside, Vince McMahon refuses to let him bring a sledgehammer. Wow, the company was really bending over backwards to make HHH the top heel in the company.
Austin controlled early when he attacked HHH in the aisle and they had brawling for about the first dozen minutes. Crowd absolutely loved this, and I was surprised, considering the condition of Austin's neck at this time, that he took a backdrop on the concrete floor for HHH to gain control. The referee really made it obvious when he was gonna take a bump, and I hate seeing the business get exposed like that.
With HHH in control, despite his dastardly tactics earlier and ever since WrestleMania XV, he mixed in brawling with quality technical wrestling, AND THE CROWD DIDN'T CARE. Now I know why all these years later what the pre-teen version of me couldn't grasp - no matter what tricks the WWE pulled, HHH wasn't completely clicking at the top.
Austin teased comebacks here and there to make sure this wasn't a completely tedious squash, and the best HHH cut off was kicking the Rattlesnake in the face followed by chop-blocking the left knee. HHH went to work on that left knee, and Austin was fine in selling it while still getting hope spots in, but the crowd just didn't care any time HHH was in control. Austin finally regained control in the closing minutes to wake the crowd up, and it looked like he may capture his fifth WWE Title, but Rock showed up with the sledgehammer. The Great One took a swing at HHH, who ducked and so Austin got hit instead. HHH took Rock out via a Pedigree and then took the cheap pin. Austin attacks HHH minutes later to close out the show.
For the sake of this match and to ensure the HHH experiment got every chance it needed to prosper, Austin really should've done the job here. It's especially critical to make sure the company had another top guy set as Austin was deteriorating. But on the other side of the coin, HHH failed to generate much heat while in control over one of the dual faces of the company, so there's Austin's argument not to cleanly put him over. ***1/4
