[INVINCIBLE]

Rock/Jericho - ***3/4
Royal Rumble Match - ****

[Legend]

Triple H vs. Cactus Jack ~ Street Fight ~ WWF Championship ~ Royal Rumble '00
I'll start out by sayin that this was the feud that got me into wrestling in the first place. I've never had Sky {Cable to Yanks}, so I've never had easy access to weekly shows for example, or PPV's, especially in the dark days before easy internet use. I was 11, and my mate recorded an episode of Raw for me, late in '99, in which Hunter was just coming off the back of beating Vince {@ Armageddon} and the winning the title from Big Show. He and Foley got into an awesome brawl on the show, which made me want to see their match at the Rumble. I watched it and was thus hooked. So, even though he pisses me off a little bit nowadays, I guess I owe Trips for his '00 year getting me so damn interested ... Foley too. This match was set up well I though, as was the whole feud, with Cactus returning in what very much had the feelin of a 'Last Run' deal; the psychotic character to Hunter's {at that time} more technical Champion. In New York City too no less...

The match itself is quite stunning, and definately Foley's second best in the WWF/E after Mind Games. It has a different pacing to MG though, as that is the way Trips wrestles, even in Hardcore matches, at a methodical but realistic pace. I feel that this whole match was about Hunter really 'establishing' himself as a true champion by showing he could do violent, brutal, bloody and hardcore as well - all in front of a deeply pro-Cactus Jack crowd. Though Jack is made to look like a psycho in this match, that's all he is, whereas Tripl H looks like the real deal, as he inflicts A LOT of punishment on Foley throughout the match. Foley bleeds like a stuck pig thanks to barbed wire, tacks, chairs, tables etc. Does anyone else think that Hunter has the best chair shot in the business?? It always looks awesome. Stephanie McMahon didn't even interfere, and in fact the only interference was from The Rock on Foley's behalf. That's how strong Trips came out of this match looking. He still brought some of his technical 'expertise' to the contest, after suplexing Jack's leg into the steps {I always love that sick shot} and worked it over for a time. The throwback to the previous year's WWF title Rumble match was nice too, with HHH putting handcuffs on Foley {a la Rock in the 'I Quit' match}. Ultimately, it boiled down to Foley continuously gettin up time and time again after taking a lot of punishment, but, as J.R called it, Triple H was younger and perhaps more calculating than Jack, and pinned him after a second Pedigree. A great, great bloody war that I really think made people sit up and take notice of Hunter as not just another fleeting heel Champion. The first of MANY great matches that he had in 2000 also, just finishin #2 in my book behind the LMS bout with Jericho. I bet not many people at this point though Triple H would turn out to be a master of gimmick matches? Still, he has. Credit to Foley though, who played his character wonderfully here, and took the usual stiff bumps that you'd expect from him. This entire feud was excellent; still one of my favourite ever. Amazing.

**** 3/4

[Austin101]

Rock-Jericho RR 02 **** 1/4
RR 02 ****
Foley/HHH in the Garden **** 3/4


Thanks everyone for the feedback, Armageddon 2002 review up Wednesday

[Andy3000]

Great review of Armageddon, Austin. Even moreso because I'm in agreement with the **** rating for the cell . I honestly can't remember much else from the PPV though, so I can't compare any other ratings.

And Legend, another great match review. I've got Foley/Trips at just under that at ****1/2. Awesome brawl, and I wouldn't argue with someone giving it ****3/4 or even the full *****.

And while I feel Eddie/Malenko from ECW (2/3 falls) which was being discussed a couple pages back is awesome, I wouldn't have it in his top 3 matches ever (Eddie's), I don't think. From North America, yes, but his best stuff from Japan is on the same level at least, and sometimes better than it (*waits from McQueen to pick up on the Black Tiger love *). I'd still give the ECW 2/3 falls between ****1/2-****3/4 though. I can't comment on his Lucha work though.

[McQueen]

Originally Posted by Andy3000

(*waits from McQueen to pick up on the Black Tiger love *).

INDEED!

Can't go wrong with B.T. II in the NJ Jrs. circuit.

[Edgehead9812]

No Mercy 02 Ratings.

Bookdust vs Christian and Jericho: ***1/4, I really enjoyed it.

Dawn Marie vs Torrie wilson: *, Nice interview with funaki before the match lol

Rvd vs Ric flair: **1/2, clash of styles but they got in the trademark RVD stuff before the match with the spinning leg drop on the railing

Noble Vs Tajiri: ***1/4, Good action here with very good moves and a funny after match sequence

HHH vs Kane: ***1/2, Bs storyline but decent match in the end

Angle/Benoit vs Egde/Mysterio: *****, Awesome match right here! The hot tags were amazing, Truly great way to start off the titles.

Trish vs Victoria: **, decent match, Victoria superkicked trish after the match, Crowd chanting we want puppies throughout the match .

Lesnar vs Undertaker HIAC: ****3/4, Great Brawl, Manly Blade job by the Undertaker and kudos to taker for letting Lesnar beat him up, Blows the Unforgivne 2002 match out of the water by far.


GOOD PPV, 2 great matches and nothing horrible ( Dawn Marie and Torrie was easy on the eye so it sort of passes :P )

[INVINCIBLE]

I watched Cacuts/Trips again today, went down 1/4* this time around ****1/2, same goes for Angle and Benoit/Rey and Edge + Brock/Taker HIAC

My favourite Triple H match was the 3SOH w/ Austin, ****3/4, going to watch that match now

[Word]

Austin I don't see how Angle retaining was such a bad thing. Give or take if someone else won I'm sure people would be complaining that they would of liked Angle to retain. Greast stuff.

[HeAT]

Angle retaining was pure awesomeness. One of the biggest shock wins I've seen in WWE and when you look back at who was in the match there probably isn't a bigger match in WWE history that one wrestler has won. Bit of a sly victory though.

[Word]

Apart from GAB 89 can anybody give me a heads up on any good WCW PPVs?