Kansas Coliseum – Wichita, Kansas | TV Rating: 4.2
The Good: Once again the opening in-ring promo from Stone Cold is something we’ve seen a hundred times before. But it does have the benefit of the pre-credits stuff between Vince and Ric Flair has already set out what is happening tonight so Austin can get straight to talking about his opponent, William Regal (In a Caribbean Strap Match) and we don’t have to go through the pretence that we’re about to get the match set up. And Kurt Angle shows up to at least hype up the main event scenario of Vengeance AND if you want an idea of just how over Austin was in his pomp (and this is arguably past his peak here in 2001) he gets a huge pop for, essentially, telling the fans what he had for his lunch.
The Bad: We’re never told who would have been facing Trish Stratus for the Women’s Title but Vince interrupts to say that because Trish slapped him at WrestleMania she is going to have to join the Kiss My Ass club tonight. At least the Regal version had a storyline point (he was crawling to get his job back) whereas this just comes across as what it is. Vince being an egotistical pervert. And not in a “storyline” way. Thankfully Rock saves the day (but not the segment) before Jericho runs in and attacks him.
Big Show and Kane against The Hardy’s is just awful. They pack more blown and missed spots into five minutes than you would think is humanly possible from “trained athletes”.
The Indifferent: Christian and Rob Van Dam got three minute title defences on Raw. A few days later they defend the titles again, taking less than three minutes to do so. Christian dispatches Scotty 2 Hotty in just under three, RVD defeats Bubba Ray Dudley in less than two. If we’re being kind, RVD has to be kept looking strong because The Undertaker’s big reward for turning heel on Raw and helping JR kiss Vince’s ass is a Hardcore Title match at Vengeance…Edge and Kurt Angle have a decent enough match but that’s all it is. And why Angle has to get help from William Regal to win is beyond me (Who should’ve been focusing on his Caribbean Strap Match). You could argue that it’s protecting Edge but it’s not doing much for Kurt Angle given his stake in the Unification tournament coming up at Vengeance is it?
Tazz vs The Undertaker is about as good as you could expect i.e not very. But it’s cool to see the newly heel Taker change his act a little bit AND actually sell for Tazz. Small things, I know, but it saves it from the “bad” category. The main event Caribbean Strap Match pitting Steve Austin against William Regal is fine for what it is but the gimmick is not really conducive to either man’s strengths here… They’re not even in the Caribbean!
Overall: Well at a push it’s better than the Raw that preceded it, but again actual “wrestling” was at a very short premium here. And being so close to Vengeance yet having very little on this show that in any way made the PPV a more enticing prospect proves that people who think “lacklustre” PPV builds up are a new thing haven’t paid attention to their history. It’s clear that the four-man unification tournament is being seen as the only reason to buy the PPV and that the nuances of it don’t need explaining one week out. We shall see if that changes next week…