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WPW Startime Saturday - December 23 / 2000 -==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==- "Machines Of
Hate" by Fear Factory played in the background of a short fast paced
montage of WPW action to open the show.
Michael Cole and Stevie Ray opened the show up. Cole welcomed Stevie Ray to the WPW broadcast
team. Stevie said he's glad to be here
and wonders what type of matches we'll be seeing tonight cause suckas gots to
know. Cole ran down the line-up for
tonight which includes Brian Christopher against Jamie Howard, Scotty Taylor
defending the WPW Television Title against Kaz Hayashi, and a WPW World Tag
Team Titles triangle elimination match with The Hardy Boyz defending against
The Lowdown and Jung Dragons. All that
plus we'll look back at last week's WPW Sunday Night and ahead to tommorrow
night's live broadcast and Scott Hudson will be in the WPW Control Center with
Goldberg. Opening Match: Brian Christopher v. Jamie Howard. "Full Of Hell" by Entombed blared
over the PA as Trish Stratus led Brian Christopher out to the ring for our
first match. Then, "Push It"
by Static X brought Jamie Howard out to the ring. Christopher was cocky against Howard which led
to Howard taking control of the match in the early going and showcasing his
good skills. Christopher rebounded with
some distraction from Trish on the outside.
The ending would see Christopher hit a piledriver on Howard then went up
for the Tennessee Jam but Howard rolled out of the way. Howard used a magistral cradle on Christopher
for two. Both men got up and Howard went
for a lariat but Christopher ducked and hit a superkick on Howard. Christopher went back up and this time
connected with the Tennessee Jam for the win. WINNER: Brian Christopher in 5:28. Rating: ** 1/4 We went to a
highlight package reviewing what went down last week on WPW Sunday Night. The show opened with footage of The Elite
jumping Booker T then Ric Flair granting Booker T the chance to face The Elite
in an eight-man tag if he can find three partners. T&A beat The Acolytes thanks to outside
interference from The Unholy Alliance.
Chris Benoit agreed to team with Booker T. Kurt Angle ran down Y2J then Jericho
responded in true fashion and volunteered to team with Booker T. Chavo Guerrero Jr. got a win over Dean
Malenko. Chris Benoit came out and
challenged Ken Shamrock to a Dungeon Match at Power Struggle and a cocky
Shamrock accepted. The LWO beat The
Unholy Alliance after the LWO paid off the aPa for help. This match made Juvy & Papi number one
contenders at Power Struggle. Goldberg
agreed to team with Booker T. Mike
Awesome and Masato Tanaka continued their roll beating Al Snow and Steve
Blackman with T&A watching on. We
looked at Mick Foley's career then Foley spoke from his home in Long Island. Foley promised to leave Flair 'a bloody,
beaten, battered, and unemployed mess.'
Sting beat Eddy Guerrero by DQ when the LWO jumped Sting until The Hardy
Boyz made the save. The Elite won the
big eight man tag Main Event after Kurt Angle hit Jericho with a gold medal
then the Angleplex to score the win... Backstage: -Michael Cole got some comments from the WPW Television
Champion, Scotty "Too Hotty" Taylor... Scotty Taylor:
"I've heard the critics throughout my career saying that I'm a
jobber, that I'm too small, that I don't have the right look, that I'm not good
enough, I'm not strong enough, I'm not fast enough, I'm not this or that. Then Grandmaster Sexay and I hooked up and
set the tag team world on fire for a couple years until his ego grew too big
for the team and we split. Then all I
heard was that I'm a gimmick, that all I have is the WORM, that I'll never make
it on my own. Well all I've got to say
to those critics is look around my waist at the WPW Television Title, shut up
and watch." Match #2: Scotty Taylor (c) v. Kaz Hayashi - WPW
Television Title. "Country
Grammar" by Nelly sounded as the WPW Television Champion, Scotty "Too
Hotty" Taylor headed out to the ring for a title defense. Then, "Somebody Someone" by KoRn
brought the challenger and former champion, Kaz Hayashi of the Jung Dragons to
the ring. A high flying, fast paced,
exciting back and forth match between the two men here on Startime Saturday as
both pulled out all the stops. The
ending would see Taylor hit the WORM on Hayashi then went for a pumphandle
suplex but Hayashi landed on his feet, went out on the apron and tried the
Slingshot DDT but Taylor cut him off and suplexed him into the ring. Hayashi dropped down the back and went for a
german suplex but Taylor held onto the ropes.
Taylor went up to the second turnbuckle and hit the Diving DDT on
Hayashi for the one, two, and three.
Scotty Taylor retains the WPW Television Title! WINNER: Scotty Taylor in 7:05. Rating: ** 1/2 (Scotty Taylor retained the WPW Television Title.) Backstage: -Michael Cole got some comments from the WPW World Tag
Team Champions, The Hardy Boyz... Matt Hardy:
"Three Way Dances, Triangle Elimination Matches, whatever you like
to call them it seems that show after show we get backed into a corner where it
looks like we can't hold onto our gold but ..." Jeff Hardy:
"Three times. World Tag Team
Champions. Tag Team Of The Year." Matt Hardy:
"Uhh, yeah. We get backed
into a corner and we fight our asses off because we might not be the biggest
guys but we've got the most fight in us.
All I got to say to the Jung Dragons and Lowdown, bring all you got
because we're the number one tag team in this business until someone can knock us
off..." Jeff Hardy:
"Too extreme? No, to the
extreme maximum limits of a human being.
Can anyone step ahead us? I don't
think so." We headed to the
WPW Control Center with Scott Hudson.
Hudson hyped up WPW Power Struggle on Jan. 6th from MSG. The card is shaping up nicely as The Unholy
Alliance and The Acolytes face off inside of a Steel Cage. Sting will get Eddy Guerrero in the
ring. The Hardy Boyz defend the WPW
World Tag Team Titles against Juventud Guerrera and Papi Chulo. Booker T defends the Intercontinental Title
against Kidman. Chris Jericho faces Kurt
Angle in a Number One Contenders Match.
Live from the Hart Family Home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Chris Benoit
will battle Ken Shamrock in a Dungeon Match.
Mick Foley will face Ric Flair for control of World Professional
Wrestling. Triple H will defend the WPW
World Heavyweight Title against Goldberg.
Scott Hudson then welcomed in Goldberg.
Goldberg talked about his past matches with Triple H and he knows that
one-on-one he can beat Triple H but he's not naive and it probably won't be
one-on-one so he's got some backup.
Goldberg said usually he doesn't watch any other matches on the show
that night, he just prepares for his match but at Power Struggle he'll be glued
to the screen when Ric Flair and Mick Foley face off to determine who will be
in control. Goldberg said no matter who
is in complete control, no one will be able to stop him. Main Event: The Hardy Boyz (c) v. The Lowdown v. Jung
Dragons - WPW World Tag Team Titles Triangle Elimination Match. "Somebody Someone" by KoRn brought
the Jung Dragons' Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Jinsei Shinzaki out to the ring
first. "Hip Hop" by Dead Prez
blasted over the loudspeakers as The Lowdown made their way out next. Then, "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit
blared over the PA as the WPW World Tag Team Champions, The Hardy Boyz made
their way out to a big pop from the crowd.
The first elimination out see Matt Hardy and Chaz going at it. Matt went for the Twist of Fate but D'Lo came
in and hit Matt with a leg lariat to break it up. Chaz tagged in D'Lo and took Matt up
top. Jinsei Shinzaki made a blind tag on
Matt. Chaz and D'Lo hit the Real Deal on
Matt but Jinsei came off the top with a Praying Headbutt on D'Lo, rolled him
over and pinned him for three. Jung
Dragons have eliminated Lowdown. The
match continued for quite some time between The Hardy Boyz and Jung
Dragons. The closing moments of the
match would see Shinzaki hit Matt with a superkick. Shinzaki tagged in Takaiwa. Takaiwa went for the Takaiwa Driver but Matt
dropped down the back and hit a reverse Twist Of Fate on Takaiwa. Matt made the tag to Jeff. Shinzaki came in and Matt dropped to his
knees and Jeff ran off knocking Shinzaki out of the ring with a leg
lariat. Matt then lept onto him with a
plancha. Takaiwa came from behind and
threw Jeff with a german suplex but Jeff landed on his feet and hit a Hardy
Cutter on Takaiwa. Jeff then went up top
and connected with the Swanton Bomb for the one, two, three! The Hardy Boyz retain the WPW World Tag Team
Titles! WINNERS: The Hardy Boyz in 14:27 Rating: *** 3/4 (The Hardy Boyz retained the WPW World Tag Team Titles.) We then previewed
tommorow night's WPW Sunday Night as Mick Foley will be back in the house while
Ric Flair will not. Little is known about
tommorow night's show. Jinsei Shinzaki
will face Dean Malenko, Scotty Taylor defends against D'Lo Brown, we'll hear
from T&A, we'll look at Ric Flair's career and speak to 'The Nature Boy'
from his home in Charlotte plus Sting will team with The Hardy Boyz against the
Latino World Order. All that and MUCH
more tommorow night on WPW Sunday Night... WPW Sunday Night on ESPN2 - December 24 / 2000 -==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==- "Spit It
Out" by Slipknot played in the background as the WPW Sunday Night on ESPN2
graphic comes up on the screen then fades away but not completely as a fast
paced montage of WPW action including; Masato Tanaka hitting the Roaring Elbow
on Mike Awesome, Al Snow smashing away at Sting's arm with a chair, Booker T
drilling Kurt Angle with a Neckwrecker, The Acolytes putting Jeff Hardy through
a table, the LWO beating down an opponent, Ken Shamrock with the Ankle Lock on
Triple H, Mike Awesome with an Over-The-Top-Rope Awesome Bomb, Kidman pinning
Ric Flair, Sting hitting the Scorpion Death Drop on Al Snow, Kurt Angle with
all his gold, Chris Benoit raising the King Of Kings trophy, The Hardy Boyz
with the Twist Of Fate and Swanton Bomb, Triple H hitting the Pedigree on
Goldberg, Chris Jericho hitting a Lionsault on Goldberg, Goldberg spearing
Jericho, Mick Foley hitting Goldberg in the head with a chair and much, much
more. The WPW Sunday Night on ESPN2 logo
fades back into full then explodes... "Welcome To
The Fold" by Filter blared over the PA as Mick Foley led out The Elite to
the ring to kick things off here this week on WPW Sunday Night. Once in the ring, Foley would take the
microphone... Mick Foley:
"Here on Christmas Eve, one night before all the little brats get
spoiled, I'm in the giving mood. With
Ric Flair sitting inside his glorified home in Charlotte tonight I'd like to
send our beloved Commissioner a message that I hold as much power in this
promotion as he does and after Power Struggle, I will hold all the power and
tonight is an example of just what it will be like. First off, 'Y2J' Chris Jericho ... Jericho,
tonight you step into the ring against the man that put our Commissioner on the
sidelines for good, a cornerstone of WPW, Kidman! At Holiday Hell a member of The Elite was
robbed and that member is our Olympic Gold Medalist and American Hero, Kurt
Angle. Tonight, Kurt Angle you get your
rematch for the WPW Intercontinental Title against Booker T. That leaves our Main Event here tonight where
on one side of the ring it will be Chris Benoit and Goldberg and on the other
'The Worlds Most Dangerous Man' Ken Shamrock and the WPW World Heavyweight
Champion, 'The Game' Triple H! Benoit
... Goldberg ... This is a preview of the beating that will be inflicted on you
at the hands of The Elite at Power Struggle.
Hopefully after tonight the two of you will be smart enough to concede
defeat and forfeit your matches at Power Struggle. Tonight the road to Power Struggle continues
but Goldberg, Benoit, Jericho, Booker T, the four of you hit the ultimate
roadblock against The Elite and you will not break through this roadblock and
you will not make it to Power Struggle.
This is my show, my night, and none of you will be allowed to ruin it! HAVE A ... NICE DAY!" Opening Match: Jinsei Shinzaki v. Dean Malenko. "Somebody Someone" by KoRn blared
over the PA as Jinsei Shinzaki of the Jung Dragons made his way out to the ring
first. Then, "Change" by
Deftones brought 'The Shooter' Dean Malenko out to the ring. Malenko and Shinzaki went back and forth in a
good mat wrestling match between two of the best pure wrestlers in WPW. The ending would see Shinzaki hit a dragon
screw on Malenko then went for a savate kick but Malenko dropkicked the knee of
Shinzaki. Malenko hit a northern lights
suplex for two on Shinzaki. Malenko went
for a german suplex but Shinzaki hit a back kick then went for a Praying Power
Bomb but Malenko dropped down and cradled up Shinzaki with a small package for
a near fall. Malenko got up first and
hit a double leg takedown into the Texas Cloverleaf and Shinzaki tapped out
giving 'The Shooter' the win. WINNER: Dean Malenko in 5:50. Rating: *** 1/2 "Shock"
by Fear Factory brought Trish Stratus and T&A out to the ring where Trish
would take a microphone... Trish Stratus:
"My men, Test and Albert, are the toughest tag team in World
Professional Wrestling and they proved it last week against The
Acolytes..." Test:
"There's two fruitcake pansies running around here getting
everybodies panties in a bunch because they're supposed to be the toughest,
most dominant tag team to ever be put together well I'm saying that we're the
toughest tag team ever to be put together and that everybody needs to stop
stroking Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka.
Hell, you don't believe me? Bring
on those two hussies..." Mike Awesome and
Masato Tanaka hit the ring and a brawl erupted between the four men for several
moments before WPW officials broke it up... Match #2: Scotty Taylor (c) v. D'Lo Brown - WPW
Television Title. "Hip Hop" by
Dead Prez blared over the PA as Lowdown's D'Lo Brown headed out to the ring for
some singles action. Then, "Country
Grammar" by Nelly brought the WPW Television Champion, Scotty 'Too Hotty'
Taylor out to the ring. Taylor and D'Lo
went back and forth with both men hitting their trademark maneuvers on the
other. D'Lo got a chance to showcase his
singles skill and was impressive. The
ending would see Taylor try to whip D'Lo into the ropes but D'Lo reversed it
and went for a Sky High but Taylor floated around the back and hit a bulldog on
D'Lo then connected with the WORM!
Taylor went up top and as D'Lo got up, Taylor nailed the Diving DDT on
D'Lo for the one ... two ... THREE!
Scotty Taylor retains the WPW Television Title! WINNER: Scotty Taylor in 4:08. Rating: * 1/4 (Scotty Taylor retained the WPW Television Title.) Backstage: -Michael Cole was with Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka... Mike Awesome:
"Test. You've got a big
mouth and let's see you back it up tonight, in the ring, one-on-one." Match #3: Test v. Mike Awesome. "Shock" by Fear Factory blared over
PA as Trish Stratus led Test out to the ring as he's obviously accepted the
challenge of Mike Awesome. Then,
"Awesome" by Reckless Fortune blared over the PA as Mike Awesome
headed out to the ring. Test and Awesome
battled back and forth on their feet for a minute or so until Mike Awesome took
Test down. This was a real physical,
tough match between these two men. The
ending would see Awesome go for the Running Awesome Bomb on Test but Test
dropped down the back and would hit a pumphandle powerslam on Awesome. Test went up top for the Flying Elbowdrop and
came off but Awesome rolled out of the way.
Test got up first and went for a diving power bomb but Awesome countered
it with a backdrop and a running lariat.
Awesome then set up Test for the Running Awesome Bomb but Albert ran
down and jumped up on the apron. Awesome
threw down Test and walked towards Albert.
Test came from behind but Awesome moved and Test nailed Albert. Awesome then hit a Running Awesome Bomb on
Test for the one, two, three! Mike
Awesome takes the match.. WINNER: Mike Awesome in 4:43. Rating: ** '5..4..3..2..1' "Y2J" Chris Jericho emerged from the entrance
with a microphone in hand... Chris Jericho:
"Welcome to SUNDAY NIGHT JERICHO!
All hail the rock'n'rollah of ayatollah, Y2J Chris Jericho. Mike Foley seems to think that he's hurting
Chris Jericho by putting me in the ring against Kidman. Well, Mike, it seems that your brain was severely
damaged from all those chair shots because Y2J backs down from no man,
especially Billy The Kid. Suckabilly
Kidman, bring your ass out to the ring right now and let's do this ayatollah
style when I give you the Y2J beating that your momma shoulda a long time ago
and you will never eh...eh...EVER be the same A-GAIN!" Match #4: Chris Jericho v. Kidman. "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit blasted
over the loudspeakers as Kidman headed out to the ring to face off against
"Y2J" Chris Jericho. This
match featured two young, quick and hungry wrestlers that went back and forth
on the mat, in the air and outside of the ring.
A real good match here on WPW Sunday Night between Jericho and Kidman. The closing moments of the match would see
Kidman send Jericho into the ropes and go for a spinebuster bomb but Jericho
countered it with a dropkick. Jericho
grabbed Kidman and hit a power bomb then turned him over into the Walls Of
Jericho but Kidman was in the ropes.
Kidman rolled to the ring apron and got up and Jericho went for a
springboard bodyblock but Kidman moved and Jericho bumped down to the floor in
pain. Kidman tried to regain himself in
the ring and distracted the referee as KURT ANGLE ran out and drilled Jericho
with the Olympic Gold Medal! Angle
rolled Jericho into the ring and Kidman covered with two feet on the ropes for
the one ... two ... THREE! Kidman steals
a win over Y2J thanks to Kurt Angle. WINNER: Kidman in 6:11. Rating: *** Backstage-: -Michael Cole was with Sting and The Hardy Boyz... Sting: "You
know two weeks ago I almost walked away from wrestling but Eddy Guerrero you
struck a raw nerve and you made me angry, very angry and last week like the
coward that you are, you couldn't face me like a man but luckily enough Matt
and Jeff came out to stop another four-on-one attack. Tonight, the sides are evened up, three on
three because it's SHOWTIME!" Match #5: Latino World Order v. Sting & The Hardy
Boyz. "La Raza" hit as Eddy
Guerrero, Juventud Guerrera, and Papi Chulo of the Latino World Order made
their way out to the ring for this six man tag team matchup. "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit
brought the WPW World Tag Team Champions, The Hardy Boyz out to the ring. Then, "Seek And Destroy" hit as
Sting made his way out to team up with The Hardy Boyz. The story of this match was Eddy Guerrero
trying to hide from Sting and only taking cheap shots at him during the match
while Sting got frustrated with Guerrero.
The ending would see Sting go for a Stinger Splash on Juvy but Juvy moved
then hit a Juvy Driver on Sting. Juvy
was going to go for the pin but Eddy demanded the tag and got it. Eddy went up top and came off with the Frog
Splash but Sting moved! Both men slowly
got up and Sting nailed the Scorpion Death Drop on Guerrero! Sting covered but Papi and Juvy broke it
up. This brought in The Hardy Boyz as
they cleared the ring of Chulo and Guerrera.
Jeff dove onto Papi while Matt went for a plancha on Juvy but Juvy
moved. Sting locked Guerrero in the
Scorpion Deathlock but Juvy came in and nailed Sting with the ringbell for a
DQ! Jeff came in but Juvy caught him
with the ringbell. Papi came in for the
three-on-two attack. Matt Hardy
struggled to his feet on the outside, went under the ring and pulled out a
ladder! Matt nailed Juvy with it through
the ropes then brought it in and Eddy scattered from the ring! Matt then got a microphone... Matt Hardy:
"LWO! We've traded the World
Tag Team Titles! We've fought for
months! At Power Struggle, we end it
with a LADDER MATCH!" WINNERS: The Hardy Boyz and Sting in 6:07. Rating: * 3/4 "My
Hero" by Foo Fighters sounded as 'The Olympic Gold Medalist' Kurt Angle
emerged from the entrance with a microphone... Kurt Angle:
"What I would like to talk to you about tonight is one of my three
I's, intensity. Two weeks ago children
across the nation watched in horror as their Olympic hero was robbed of a
victory and pinned by Chris Jericho and while any other man would be unable to
rebound from such an embarrasment as being pinned by a loser like Chris
Jericho, your Olympic hero showed his intensity and rebouned last week to pin
Chris Jericho soundly in the center of the ring. Normally that would be meaningless, I mean,
who hasn't pinned Chris Jericho? But the
fact of the matter is, the children of America rejoiced in seeing their hero
vanquish one of the biggest blemishes on this country, Chris Jericho. While you may be Canadian, and I won't hold
*THAT* against you, you compete here in the United States and therefore influence
the youth of America, my children. My
children watched in horror as Booker T beat their Olympic Hero for the
Intercontinental Title at Holiday Hell but alas Mick Foley has given me my
rightful rematch tonight and much like my defeat of Chris Jericho last week,
this week I will right another wrong here in WPW and regain my Intercontinental
Championship and that my friends is TRUE!" Match #6: Kurt Angle v. Booker T (c) - WPW
Intercontinental Title. "One More
Road" by DMX blared over the speakers as the WPW Intercontinental
Champion, Booker T made his way out to the ring for this title defense against
Kurt Angle. Booker T took off his belt
and went right after Angle pounding on him with right hands then sent Angle
into the ropes but Angle held onto the ropes and exited the ring. Booker T headed to the outside and the two
fought back and forth on the outside with Angle getting the advantage. These two men delievered an intense match for
the Intercontinental Title. The closing
moments of the match would see Booker hit a scissor kick on Angle then went up
top for the missile dropkick but Angle blocked it and hit a belly-to-belly
superplex for a very close near fall.
Angle then went for the Angleplex but Booker T dropped down, bounced off
the ropes and went for a Harlem Sidekick but Angle ducked and Booker hit the
referee. Angle then hit a lariat on
Booker. Chris Jericho then hit the ring
with a chair and nailed Angle with it!
Jericho left the ring to a big reaction from the crowd. Booker T pulled himself to his feet, picked
up Angle and drilled him with the Neckwrecker for the one ... two ...
THREE! Booker T retains the WPW
Intercontinental Title with an assist from Chris Jericho! WINNER: Booker T in 6:54. Rating: ** (Booker T retained the WPW Intercontinental Title.) During the break,
we saw Booker T walk back through the curtain only to be jumped by Triple H,
Kidman, Ken Shamrock and Kurt Angle. The
Elite pounded on Booker T as Foley yelled at him for messing up his show. We returned live as Booker T was being helped
into an ambulance... We then went to
a special video package detailing the career of Ric Flair ... Considered by
many as being the overall greatest Professional Wrestling star of the 1980's
and 1990's, 'The Man' combined his superior wrestling skill with unmatched
desire and unparralelled arrogance to create the greatest show on earth - the
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Flair trained for a while under the
great Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson and began his pro wrestling career in
1972. His career took off in the Mid-Atlantic region where he won that regions
title, the regions Tag Team title, the U.S. Title and the World Tag Team title.
In the midst of this success, his career and his life almost ended. While on an
airplane flight with Johnny Valentine and promoter David Crockett, Flair
suffered a broken back (and supposedly a broken neck) when the plane crashed.
Although it would not have been hard to speculate that this would have ended his
career, Flair returned to the Ring within 6 months and a short time later
teamed up with Greg "the Hammer" Valentine to win the NWA Tag Team
title. He went on to win the NWA World Title when he defeated Dusty Rhodes in
1981. He later won the same belt by defeating the legendary Harley Race in
1983. After losing the belt to Kerry Von Erich in Texas, Flair travelled to
Japan a month later where he recaptured the World Title from Von Erich. Flair
then returned to the United States where he wrestled in some of the finest
matches in the 1980's, including two against Ricky "the Dragon"
Steamboat, first losing and then regaining the title belt. Eventually Flair
left the NWA/WCW and moved to the WWF taking the WCW belt with him. After
returning the belt to WCW (after a monterary settlement,) he defeated Randy
Savage for the WWF Heavyweight championship, after which he returned to the WCW
where he has once again recaptured the title as World's Heavyweight
champion. Ric Flair has been able to
thrive and survive for over 25 years in the sport of Professional Wrestling. He
has never been the biggest wrestler and probably not even the most talented -
but no one has been able to duplicate his showmanlike ability to play the role
of the Jet-setting, wheeling dealing woman stealing playboy, a role which has
caused him to be despised by many but loved by most. His "styling and
profiling" has given him the ability to do what few villians have been
able to over their career - being the crowd favorite and the one whom the fans
come to see. He has recited the statement many times that "to be the man,
you have to beat the man" - a number of men have defeated him in the Ring
over the years, but no one else has been able to be the man like Ric Flair has.
In his own words to wrestling viewers, Flair advised "whether you like it,
or you don't like it - learn to love it 'cause it's the best thing going!"
Ric Flair, a 17-time World Heavyweight Champion joined World Professional
Wrestling as an active wrestler. Flair
held his own with the top superstars of WPW but from the onset he was involved
in a bitter feud with Kidman. Flair and
Kidman had a series of matchs resulting in a Retirement Match at International
Incident on July 29th, 2000. Ric Flair
returned as Commissioner of WPW to balance the power of Mick Foley and The
Elite. Flair returns to the ring for one
night against Mick Foley to fight for the people and the wrestlers of WPW that
believe Ric Flair is the man to run World Professional Wrestling. We then headed
to Charlotte, North Carolina and the home of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
for a special exclusive interview... Ric Flair:
"Mick Foley, what do I think of Mick Foley? Well, I think that Mick Foley is a man as
Cactus Jack, Mankind, Dude Love, that gave it his all to be somebody in this
business. That's the one and only thing
we have in common. However, there's a
reason why Mick Foley was forced into retirement by the age of 35 whereas the
Nature Boy has been ontop of his game into his 50's. I eat wrestling, I breath wrestling, I sleep
wrestling, I am wrestling. I have the
god given ability to entertain these fans like no other and to go out there for
6 minutes or 60 minutes and wrestle anyone to a good match, ANYONE. Mick Foley, you made your name jumping off
high places and that's great for you but it left you a bitter middle-aged
man. You probably think that I've been
provoking you and that I'm trying to 'ruin' your company when in actual fact,
I'm trying to take a stand and eliminate the politics of professional wrestling. The Hogans, Savages, Nashs, Michaels, all the
backstage politicians over the years that have held great wrestlers like myself
back but I've proven that the cream always rises to the top. Mick Foley, you don't like people that don't
kiss your ass, that's why you've surrounded yourself with a group of yes-men,
The Elite. Four great wrestlers but also
four men following in the footsteps of those politicians trying to get ahead
through a shortcut. That is what I'm
trying to eliminate and that makes you mad.
I try to make people mad. I've tried. For over twenty years, I've done
real good job, and I've made millions making people mad. But I've never crossed
that line, been ridiculous enough in my own character to think I could start a
new promotion and eliminate people, and eliminate a history and a tradition so
rich-- We're talking about a business that's been in existence really for
almost a hundred years in the professional form -- The business that I
represented on seventeen different occasions as the real deal. A real live World's Heavyweight Champion...
This business is the best. I'll stand up
for it, I'll fight for it. Those guys in The Elite have no idea what that means.
When you talk about walking down that aisle and getting in that ring and
performing night after night for thousands of people because you believe in
what you're doing, and you believe in your product. You take a check home to
you wife and say: 'Baby, I'm covered in stitches. I'm hurting all over, but
this is because I'm the best at what I do.' They have no idea about that. Out of all the people in this business, I
expected more out of you, Foley, I expected that you'd give everyone a fair
shake but that hasn't happened so I have no other choice but to step back into
the ring in Madison Square Gardens and take full control of World Professional
Wrestling. Now I'm going to give
everyone out there a treat, some vintage Ric Flair, the top ten reasons why Ric
Flair should control WPW... Number ten, the figure-four leglock, I made it a
household name. Number nine... without me, everyone thinks Scotty Taylor
can dance! Number eight... I've lived up to my end of the bargain; I haven't wrestled since International Incident. Number seven... because I just might buy the company and
fire everyone. Number six... I'm still on everyone's mind... just listen
to Kidman... Number five... women would go crazy without me on TV
every week. Number four... if I'm not in WPW, what are they gonna do
-- close down Space Mountain, haha? Number three -- the whole world would go through Flair
withdrawal... Number two... I'm a kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing,
limousine- riding, jet-flying son-of-a-gun. And the number one reason Ric Flair should control WPW
is... Whoo!" Our Main Event is next... Main Event: Triple H & Ken Shamrock v. Goldberg &
Chris Benoit. It was then time for our
Main Event tag team matchup setup at the opening of the show by Mick
Foley. "ONE! TWO! ZIS ON?!"
sounded as the WPW World Heavyweight Champion 'The Game' Triple H and 'The
Worlds Most Dangerous Man' Ken Shamrock along with WPW Owner Mick Foley made
their way out to the ring. Then,
"Surfacing" by Slipknot brought 'The Crippler' Chris Benoit out to
the ring. Benoit went right at Shamrock
and got double teamed by Triple H.
'INVASION...' hit as Goldberg rushed the ring and cleared it of Triple H
and Ken Shamrock. We soon got down to
our match with Benoit and Triple H starting it out. This would be an intense tag team match as
there's lots of hatred between Triple H and Goldberg, and Chris Benoit and Ken
Shamrock. Triple H will defend the WPW
World Heavyweight Title against Goldberg at Power Struggle while Chris Benoit
and Ken Shamrock will meet in the Dungeon.
The closing moments of the match would see Shamrock hit a belly-to-belly
suplex on Goldberg then went for the Ankle Lock but Goldberg was in the
ropes. Shamrock argued with the referee
and when he turned around Goldberg caught him with the SPEAR~! Goldberg then drilled Ken Shamrock with the
Jackhammer for the one ... two ... THR ... Foley pulls referee Charles Robinson
out of the ring! Foley's threatening
Robinson's job! Triple H is going under
the ring and he's got a sledehammer!
NO! Triple H decks Goldberg with
the sledgehammer! Triple H drills
Goldberg with a Pedigree! Foley makes
Robinson go back into the ring and count the one, two, three! Triple H has pinned Goldberg after a
sledgehammer shot! WINNERS: The Elite in 10:59. Rating: *** 1/4 After the match, Goldberg was knocked out in the ring and
Benoit came in pounding on Shamrock then Triple H nailed Benoit with the
sledgehammer from behind! Foley got into
the ring as Triple H raised the sledgehammer over his head to close the show... ==-==-==-==-==-==-== WPW News & Notes-: ==-==-==-==-==-==-== -Triple H has resigned for 52 cards. -Masato Tanaka has resigned for 50 cards. -Coming up on WPW Startime Saturday this week we've got
four matches as Chaz meets Jamie Howard, Tatsuhito Takaiwa battles Chavo Guerrero
Jr., The Acolytes go against Al Snow & Steve Blackman and in the Main Event
it's Masato Tanaka taking on Albert in a Falls Count Anywhere match plus Scott
Hudson will be joined by The Unholy Alliance in the Control Center... -WPW has Power Struggle on January 6th from MSG in New
York. The tentative line-up includes; WPW World Heavyweight Title Match-: Triple H (c) vs. Goldberg Control Of WPW-: Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair Dungeon Match-: Chris Benoit vs. Ken Shamrock Number One Contenders Match-: Chris Jericho vs. Kurt Angle WPW Intercontinental Title Match-: Booker T (c) vs. Kidman WPW World Tag Team Titles Ladder Match-: The Hardy Boyz (c) vs. Latino World Order Sting vs. Eddy Guerrero Steel Cage Match-: The Unholy Alliance vs. The Acolytes Mike Awesome & Masato Tanaka vs. T&A |