Metro Center – Rockford, Illinois, TV Rating: 4.5
The Good: The Hardy Boys & Rob Van Dam Vs. Lance Storm and The Dudley’s is about the 387th time in this retro run that the Hardy’s and Dudley’s have been opposite each other in the ring but as you’d expect from this sextet, the action is fast-paced and packs its six minutes will all they can. It’s not exactly a forgotten classic, but it shines out like a beacon on this card which features nothing matches, and, oh yeah, Stone Cold kidnaps Scott Hall.
The Bad: The “main event match” between The Undertaker and Triple H is nothing. As in although it’s hyped from the start of the show it doesn’t really ever happen. Instead, Stephanie McMahon comes out and is followed by Chris Jericho and, in case you have forgotten, Steph has inserted herself into the Mania main event scene. Joy.
The Indifferent: As an, ahem, angle, the opening match between Kurt Angle and Kane has a certain energy and it’s always fun to see this version of Angle running his mouth and seeing his open challenge answered by the big red machine. But why go to the bother of having a 40-second match that ends in a DQ? Just have them brawl and reach the same conclusion…
The in-ring segment with the nWo publicly apologising for what they did on Raw by reading from a prepared statement in distinctly monotone voices is fine. But it’s clear that someone thinks all the wackiness is the way to go as here comes Steve Austin to interrupt by driving a pickup truck to ringside and then chase Scott Hall with a tire iron. The entire show revolves around the Stone Cold kidnaps Scott Hall angle, and Austin even tries to run over Hall but Hogan and Nash save the day. It’s almost as if we’re in a weird twilight zone where the Attitude Era is dead but no one quite knows how to replace it. Maybe they’ll try actual “wrestling”. Then again, maybe not.
Because as we go through the show, Stone Cold kidnaps Scott Hall and duct-tapes him to a chair in a freezer room. He then takes him to a maintenance room but it’s all a lure to get Hogan and Nash in there so he can lock them in and take Hall off elsewhere. Naturally, they end up in the ring and after some horseplay Austin stunners Hall and spray-paints “3:16” on Hall’s back.
Edge Vs. Christian are perfectly fine given that it’s four minutes and that it only seems to exist Christian can start playing some form of cry-baby character when he loses. He threatens to quit. I don’t believe him…
Billy & Chuck defeating Tazz and Spike for the Tag Team Titles is probably a necessity by this point. It’s little more than an extended squash though. The tag team scene in early 2002 isn’t the best, as WWE are more focused on splitting up their established teams without thinking about having anyone to actually challenge for the Championships.
Overall: If you find the whole Stone Cold kidnaps Scott Hall stuff amusing then this is a decent enough show. It’s fun but hardly earth-shatteringly brilliant or anything like that. And that about sums up the show. Only Stephanie McMahon becoming the focal point of the Jericho/Triple H feud is REALLY bad and in of itself, that’s not even awful as a segment. But this is not a show I would be wanting to watch again until at least another twenty years from now…