WWF Rebellion 2001
WWF Rebellion 2001 (11/3/2001)- Manchester, UK
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: Edge(c) vs. Christian- 6.5/10
Old-school cage! Good intensity here. The finish was good, if slightly goofy, though.
We got a video package of Kurt’s turn on the WWF, which started with a series of run-ins during a Vince vs. Shane match, and whenever a WWF guy ran down to the ring, Heyman asked â€"yeah, but whose side is he on?†BRILLIANT!
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT- Hugh Morris & Chavo Guerrero Jr. fight over who gets to interview the divas. They don’t knock on the locker room door before entering, resulting in them walking in on a topless Trish. Trish convinces them that they would rather interview a â€"fighting diva,†so she sends the incompetent putzes off to go bother Lita.
SCOTTY 2 HOTTY vs. THE HURRICANE- 5.75/10
MORE SILLINESS BACKSTAGE- Trish leads Chavo and Hugh to Lita’s part of the locker room. Trish tells them to stay put while she goes to get Lita, but they sneak in anyway, and catch Lita getting dressed. She gets annoyed and throws things at them, forcing them to leave.
DDP PROMO- boring, but not Page’s fault. The Positively Page gimmick promos were very hit or miss, and this one was a big miss.
THE BIG SHOW vs. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE- 4/10
Extremely short. After the match, Page tells us that his loss wasn’t a bad thing. It was a good thing… because now he can get the hell out of England.
EVEN MORE SILLINESS BACKSTAGE- Hugh and Chavo now walk into the next locker room, which contains a fully-dressed Mighty Molly… who proceeds to freak out at them because they walked in on her when she didn’t have her cape on. This was actually pretty funny.
KURT, AUSTIN, & SHANE (& DEBRA) BACKSTAGE- Kurt and Austin had great comedic chemistry.
TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH FOR THE WCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Dudley Boys(c) vs. The APA vs. The Hardy Boyz- 6/10
VINCE TRIES TO GET ROCK AND JERICHO TO BURY THE HATCHET- It doesn’t go well
WILLIAM REGAL vs. TAJIRI- 5/10
WOW! Regal got almost NO pop… in England! He even managed to get booed! Regal is awesome! Tajiri gives Regal the mist after the match.
KURT ANGLE PROMO- great!
WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Kurt Angle-7.25/10
It felt like we were heading for something epic that ended 20 minutes too early.
MICHAEL COLE INTERVIEWS THE ROCK- good. Rock starts off by being nice to Cole, which Cole seems genuinely confused by. Rock then wants to know if Cole wants to get himself some â€"English pie†or â€"English strudel†and asks Cole which way he â€"swings.†We also learn that Rocky isn’t homophobic, because when Cole tries to answer, Rock tells him that â€"IT DOESN’T MATTER WHICH WAY YOU SWING!â€
TRISH STRATUS IS SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: Mighty Molly & Stacy Keibler vs. Torrie Wilson & Lita- 4.5/10
It was fun with one very good spot that I don’t want to ruin. After the match Stacy is unhappy about the quality of Trish’s refereeing, so she slaps her… and winds up eating a bulldog in return. (wow. It just occurred to me how strange that last sentence must be to someone who doesn’t know the names of the wrestling moves).
WWF TITLE MATCH: â€"Stone Cold†Steve Austin(c) vs. The Rock- 7.75/10
Apparently this became No DQ’s No Count-outs at some point. Anyway, this was the opposite of Angle vs. Jericho. Where that was a wrestling match, this was a wild brawl that had that special, awesome, Rock vs. Austin atmosphere. Very fun to watch, but not overly impressive.
While the show was slightly disappointing (and short! Not even two hours and twenty minutes), it was definitely enjoyable. A fun show to watch for nostalgia purposes. A fun throwback to the times. I just wish Kane and Taker had made it onto the card.
BONUS MATCH:
HANDICAP MATCH: The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle & â€"Stone Cold†Steve Austin (from 11/8/2001)- 6/10
The story here was that Austin and Angle could get along, but didn’t really care about what happened to one another, which was an interesting, unusual story. Considering the finish, I was surprised they, managed to work together to beat Taker down after the match… and boy do I look silly, now. Austin just stunned Angle and walked off.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: Edge(c) vs. Christian- 6.5/10
Old-school cage! Good intensity here. The finish was good, if slightly goofy, though.
We got a video package of Kurt’s turn on the WWF, which started with a series of run-ins during a Vince vs. Shane match, and whenever a WWF guy ran down to the ring, Heyman asked â€"yeah, but whose side is he on?†BRILLIANT!
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT- Hugh Morris & Chavo Guerrero Jr. fight over who gets to interview the divas. They don’t knock on the locker room door before entering, resulting in them walking in on a topless Trish. Trish convinces them that they would rather interview a â€"fighting diva,†so she sends the incompetent putzes off to go bother Lita.
SCOTTY 2 HOTTY vs. THE HURRICANE- 5.75/10
MORE SILLINESS BACKSTAGE- Trish leads Chavo and Hugh to Lita’s part of the locker room. Trish tells them to stay put while she goes to get Lita, but they sneak in anyway, and catch Lita getting dressed. She gets annoyed and throws things at them, forcing them to leave.
DDP PROMO- boring, but not Page’s fault. The Positively Page gimmick promos were very hit or miss, and this one was a big miss.
THE BIG SHOW vs. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE- 4/10
Extremely short. After the match, Page tells us that his loss wasn’t a bad thing. It was a good thing… because now he can get the hell out of England.
EVEN MORE SILLINESS BACKSTAGE- Hugh and Chavo now walk into the next locker room, which contains a fully-dressed Mighty Molly… who proceeds to freak out at them because they walked in on her when she didn’t have her cape on. This was actually pretty funny.
KURT, AUSTIN, & SHANE (& DEBRA) BACKSTAGE- Kurt and Austin had great comedic chemistry.
TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH FOR THE WCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Dudley Boys(c) vs. The APA vs. The Hardy Boyz- 6/10
VINCE TRIES TO GET ROCK AND JERICHO TO BURY THE HATCHET- It doesn’t go well
WILLIAM REGAL vs. TAJIRI- 5/10
WOW! Regal got almost NO pop… in England! He even managed to get booed! Regal is awesome! Tajiri gives Regal the mist after the match.
KURT ANGLE PROMO- great!
WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Kurt Angle-7.25/10
It felt like we were heading for something epic that ended 20 minutes too early.
MICHAEL COLE INTERVIEWS THE ROCK- good. Rock starts off by being nice to Cole, which Cole seems genuinely confused by. Rock then wants to know if Cole wants to get himself some â€"English pie†or â€"English strudel†and asks Cole which way he â€"swings.†We also learn that Rocky isn’t homophobic, because when Cole tries to answer, Rock tells him that â€"IT DOESN’T MATTER WHICH WAY YOU SWING!â€
TRISH STRATUS IS SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: Mighty Molly & Stacy Keibler vs. Torrie Wilson & Lita- 4.5/10
It was fun with one very good spot that I don’t want to ruin. After the match Stacy is unhappy about the quality of Trish’s refereeing, so she slaps her… and winds up eating a bulldog in return. (wow. It just occurred to me how strange that last sentence must be to someone who doesn’t know the names of the wrestling moves).
WWF TITLE MATCH: â€"Stone Cold†Steve Austin(c) vs. The Rock- 7.75/10
Apparently this became No DQ’s No Count-outs at some point. Anyway, this was the opposite of Angle vs. Jericho. Where that was a wrestling match, this was a wild brawl that had that special, awesome, Rock vs. Austin atmosphere. Very fun to watch, but not overly impressive.
While the show was slightly disappointing (and short! Not even two hours and twenty minutes), it was definitely enjoyable. A fun show to watch for nostalgia purposes. A fun throwback to the times. I just wish Kane and Taker had made it onto the card.
BONUS MATCH:
HANDICAP MATCH: The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle & â€"Stone Cold†Steve Austin (from 11/8/2001)- 6/10
The story here was that Austin and Angle could get along, but didn’t really care about what happened to one another, which was an interesting, unusual story. Considering the finish, I was surprised they, managed to work together to beat Taker down after the match… and boy do I look silly, now. Austin just stunned Angle and walked off.