Jesse “The Body” Ventura is in the back and is explaining how he plans to call the match to Mankind. He tells Mankind “You can go anywhere, you can do anything, you can do all of that but the pinfall has got to happen on the middle of the ring.”  Mankind finishes the segment by asking Ventura “Do you think Gerraldine Ferraro was vastly underrated as a candidate?”. To which Ventura respoondes “She might have been, but she’s a bleeding heart liberal, you know?” I wasn’t sure who she was so I went to the Inter-webs to find out. I found out that in 1984 she was the first woman to run for vice presidency for a major political party, The Democrats, hence the “bleeding liberal” comment.

We see a quick preview of The Lion’s Den and some of the weapons it contains for the match later between Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman. There is some nunchakus and Kali Escrima sticks amongst other martial arts weaponry suspended around the cage. After the quick glimpse, we re-enter The Target center as the WWF Women’s Champion, Ivory, enters the arena. Ivory was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. We see a clip of the events that brought this feud to this point. On an episode of RAW Ivory attacked Tori with the Title then held her down as she wrote “SLUT” across her stomach, in shoe polish, and “SKANK” across her back. There were no fucks given at this point in the WWF. Tori is introduced and she wastes no time running to the ring and is anxious for the bout to begin.

The women exchange some early punches and the first bit of pop comes when Tori scoopslams Ivory as she comes of the ropes. Ivory slides from the ring and pulls Tori out by her feet. She whips Tori into the ring post before she re-enters the ring. This gives her the upper hand and leads to a spinning back elbow by Ivory. She goes for the cover but only gets the measly one count. Tori finally goes on the offensive after a counter elbow leads to a pair of snap suplexs. After a dropkick to the chest we get a “watch the puppies” from The King and a two count for Tori. Ivory hits a counter elbow of her own and goes to work with some snapmare takedowns using Tori’s hair to do so. Ivory then applies a Big Swing with a drop-pin following but this only gets a near fall. Ivory whips Tori to the corner next but Tori comes back out if it with some momentum and hits the spear. This leads to Tori hitting a cool move I haven’t seen often. Its a powerbomb-like set up, but she flips Ivory back over her head instead of slamming her forward. Pretty neat and progressive for what was a weak Women’s division at the time. Next is a crossbody off the second rope but this again only gets Tori the two count. She attempts to sunset flip into a pin on Ivory, but Ivory has the move scouted and sits on the chest of Tori instead and gets the three count. And Ivory retains the WWF Women’s Strap. After the match Ivory begins to disrobe Tori and the crowd is popping as she unhooks Tori’s top. But Luna Vachon runs in to make the save and chase Ivory to the back before the disrobing is complete. Luna passed away in 2010 and many fans question as to why she isn’t in the Hall Of Fame. Myself included. Decent match and I guess you don’t really need to fast-forward it due to it being so short. Match Time: 4:11

Michael Cole is in the back and is joined by The Rock who is calling him a “Jabroni” and telling him to “Know his role and shut his mouth”. The Rock then takes the microphone and switches the role when he tells Cole he is going to interview him instead. Of course he doesn’t do that and uses this time to get himself over. He does so by shooting on Billy Gunn about their match tonight and finishes up by getting the fans chanting “Rocky”. Classic Rock mic work here and is worth taking a look at to see where The Rock’s career was really starting to blossom. When The Rock is all finished up it cuts to Bad Ass Billy Gunn in the back and he has someone under a black cloth and is guiding him/her through the kitchen of the arena.

We enter the Lion’s Den next and we see the ref on the apron above it. If you missed my last article, it featured a Lion’s Den Match (you can check that out here) between Shamrock and Owen Hart, I’ll quick explain it again. It is similar to a UFC octagon in fashion, but has higher cage walls and has less ring surface area. That is why the ref must wait and observe from a balcony above the ring. “The Lethal Weapon” Steve Blackman enters the cage first and he is said to be the one who chose the weapons for the match. Blackman is a former six time Hardcore Champ and has the most days with the Title. “The World’s Most Deadly Man” Ken Shamrock enters next and he is welcomed with a nice pop from the crowd. The King mentions her that Blackman already has nunchakus tucked into his waistband. There is a quick stare-down before Ken enters the cage and shuts the door behind him. As soon as the bell sounds Blackman removes the  nunchakus from his waist and begins to swing them. Shamrock ducks under the first swing but the second catches his knee and Blackman follows it up with another one to the face. He puts them down after that and goes for a big kick. Shamrock evades it though and follows up with a double leg takedown and its Ken’s turn with the nunchakus. He misses his strike with them and Blackman sweeps the leg and this in turn makes Ken drop them. The Lethal Weapon picks them up and starts to choke Shamrock with them. He would eventually escape the choke and throw the nunchakus from the cage. After this nothing really happens for a moment except a lot of whips to the cage.

The match starts to pick up a little after Shamrock climbs the cage to retrieve a Kendo stick, but his strike with it is blocked and Blackman Karate kicks him in the midsection. This makes it Blackman’s turn to whip Shamrock into the cage excessively. He then climbs the cage to grab the Escrima sticks and then proceeds to beat Shamrock with them. The crowd would get into the fight for the first time when they begin to chant “Shamrock” as he is being choked with the sticks. They are rewarded when Ken, after being whipped towards the cage, springboards of the cage and nails a forearm to the face of Blackman. They go back and forth for a moment and a pop comes when Shamrock hits a powerslam that leaves both men down for a second. When they are again standing, the two men duck under each others roundhouses but Blackman wins the kick-off with an enziguri. This allows him time to climb the cage and retrieve another Kendo stick. He beats Ken with it until a shot to the top of the head leaves him flat on his back. Blackman goes to exit the cage but the ref is refusing to open the door as the fans chant “Blackman Sucks”. Shamrock manages to duck under another attempted blow to the head with the Kendo stick. This allows him a moment to grip up Blackman for a belly-to-belly suplex that gets the crowd popping. Shamrock then “snaps” and beats the hell outta Blackman with the Kendo. Shamrock climbs to the platform above the cage after two shots to the top of Blackman’s head with the Kendo stick and is declared the winner. Something interesting happens here though as the bell would sound before Ken even begins to climb the cage. A miscue I’m sure. For having weapons thrown into the mix I didn’t think this match was very good and thought that the previous one between Owen Hart and Shamrock was better. Don’t be deceived by the shiny gimmick that is this match and hit the fast-forward button. Match Time: 9:05

There is a quick clip showing Shane McMahon’s preemptive strike on his opponent for the night, Test. Shane ‘O’ Mac attacked Test on heat earlier in the evening in an attempt to further injure the ribs of Test. The premise for this match is that Shane is trying to split up Test and Stephanie who are Kayfabe dating. Don’t worry Shane, Triple H will take care of that. Test makes his way to the ring first for what they are calling a “Greenwich Street Fight”. Greenwich is a town in Connecticut that is know for it’s rich inhabitants. Test has his rib’s taped up so that we don’t forget that they are “injured” as he enters for the “Love Her or Leave Her” match.  Shane has said if Test beats him he will butt-out of his sister’s relationship. Before Shane enters there is another quick clip of Test assaulting the members of Shane’s Mean Street Posse on various episodes of RAW and Heat. The heat is at the highest it as been from the fans as Shane McMahon enters the arena. This is a pre “Here Comes the Money” Shane ‘O’ Mac and he is using the “No Chance in Hell” theme song. Shane enters the ring to get in the face of Test but a look of confusion comes on his face as The Mean Street Posse’s music begins to play. They enter the arena all bandaged up from the injuries sustained from Test and Shane leave the ring to greet them on the entrance ramp. The MSP is made up of two of Shane’s real life childhood friends, Pete Gas and Rodney Lienhardt, and an Indy wrestler who goes by the name Joey Abs. They look like your typical rich, yacht having female hygiene products. The MSP, dressed in Hawaiian shirts, are guided to their ringside couch by Shane, but he has to take off running as test begins to chase him around the ring. He catches him and delivers a hard tackle on the outside before he returns him to the ring and the bell sounds.

Shane is in the ring first and this allows for him to hit a spear into the injured ribs of Test. They roll around on the mat exchanging punches, but Test comes out on top. He picks Shane up easily and tosses him into the corner like a ragdoll. Shane rolls to the outside after he goes sky-high from Test’s back body drop. This sets them up to take a trip into the fans and get some pop. They brawl in the crowd for a moment until Shane clotheslines Test back over the guardrail. He then tries to crossbody Test by jumping off the guardrail but Test catches him and powerslams him to the floor

mats. And The MSP are watching on in disbelief as they sip their champagne bottles. This leads to a confrontation with Test and after he shoves one of them another spits champagne into the face of Test. This gives Shane a chance to strike but Test doesn’t allow it and picks Shane above his head and throws him into The Mean Street Posse.

At this point there is a cut to the back to show Stephanie McMahon watching a monitor in amusement as her boyfriend has the momentum. Back out on the floor Test is hitting all the MSP members with an aluminum baking pan amongst the fans who are going bonkers. The Posse eventually overpower Test and start to stomp away on him. The throw Test back over the rail to Shane then hand him a mailbox that says “Mean Street Posse #1” that he smashes into the head of Test. These weapons that The MSP have here with them are said to have really been bought by them from actual Greenwich Village stores to keep it authentic. He then explodes a glass picture frame, that contains a photo of Shane with the Posse, over the head of Test as glass burst everywhere. Shane returns Test to the ring to make the cover but he manages the kick-out, even though I saw the ref count three. It shows Stephanie again and this time she is watching on nervously. Shane goes up to the top rope and tries to hit a corkscrew onto Test. He manages to move and Shane crashes to the mat hard. This is quite a flip and bump for Shane. He never fails to impress, even early in his wrestling career. When both men are on their feet again Shane tries to leap frog over Test but instead lands on his shoulders for a powerbomb. He goes for the cover but the ref is distracted because a MSP member jumped onto the apron. The ref notices the cover but it’s too late and Shane gets the kick-out in time. Shane ducks under a big boot attempt that instead connects with the ref. They return to the outside of the ring after Test clotheslines Shane over the top rope. After he hits Shane with a road sign and a scoopslam to the floor The Mean Street Posse gets involved and starts ganging up on Test. They then put Test on the table so Shane can hit the elbow drop off the top rope and that sends them both through the table and to the floor. Bravo Shane ‘O’ Mac, Bravo. This is well done and Shane is an animal. We again see Stephanie looking on in shock in the back as both men lay in a pile on the floor. The MSP throw both men back into the ring and dump water onto the face of Shane to wake him back up. Shane goes for the cover and the crowd explodes when Test somehow kicks out. The Posse returns to the ring but Test ducks under a shot to the head with a sign and it instead lands on the head of Shane. Test goes for the cover but it is stopped when Joey Abs pulls Shane from the ring. The ref is distracted with Abs and Leinhardt uses this opportunity to hit Test in the head with his cast and place Shane over him for the cover. But Test shows us once again his love for Stephanie is too strong and kicks out again. This sends the crowd into a frenzy. The Posse attempts to interfere again but this time they are stopped by The McMahon Stooges, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco. The Stooges beat the Posse members with a “Do Not Enter” sign and the crowd is popping. Shane misses a tackle into the corner and Test capitalizes with his signature move, The Pump Handle Slam. But instead of going for the cover he exits the ring to climb to the top rope. He delivers an awesome elbow drop from there and gets the three as the crowd counts along.

This storyline eventually leads to their marriage attempt on RAW that is interrupted with Triple H’s date rape on Stephanie angle. I won’t get into it here but this really happened. As for the match it was great and isn’t talked about as much as some of Shane’s other hardcore bouts. I have a hard time thinking this one doesn’t steal the show. Match Time: 12:14

There is a quick promo next that shows the build up to the next match that is for the Tag Team Championship. Not much story wise happens in it and it mostly show the four of them beating the hell out of each other. It shows Kane using the voicebox to mumble the words, in his best Ned from South Park voice, “You heard me, I’m going to hurt you.” If you don’t recall this was before Kane was able to talk due to the fire The Undertaker nearly burned him alive in as children. The video segment ends by showing Kane and X-Pac win the Straps from The Acolytes and can telling us he has two words for ya, “Suck It”. This I didn’t remember, and it was great to see Kane as an honorary member of D-X.

The Tag Team Champions, Kane and X-Pac, enter the arena to the D-X theme and receive a standing ovation from the crowd. This is the version of Kane that I thought was so bad ass. He had a Michael Myers like presence as he lumbers around the ring and he even had two different colored eyes. It’s a very cool gimmick and when I still thought kayfabe was real this was so believable. I mean as a kid I really thought Undertaker tried to burn this dude alive as a kid. The Unholy Alliance, Undertaker and Big Show, enter next to a decent variant of the original Taker Theme and are joined by Paul Bearer. Man, he has had a lot of theme songs. This is right before the already 500 pound Big Show starts to gain weight and gain some critique over it from management but that more pertains to next years SummerSlam so we’ll save it for then so tune-in.

X-Pac and Kane ambush Taker and Show as they enter the ring and they all begin to exchange punches. The Alliance get the advantage after Taker throws Pac from the ring and they then begin to double team Kane. Kane gets them back into the fight when he avoids Big Show’s splash in the corner and goes to town with clotheslines. One even sends The Big Show over the top rope and outside for a nice bump from the big guy. Kane, regaining some steam, gets the crowd popping. X-Pac then comes from no-man’s land to crossbody Taker into a pin. The crowd is electric but Undertaker kicks out. The two go back and forth for a bit before Pac tags in The Big Red Machine. When the ref warns Kane for a series of punches on Taker, it allows X-Pac to get a few cheap shots in. Kane then sends Taker over the top with a clothesline but the Deadman does is signature flip exit and lands on his feet. X-Pac attacks him on the outside as Kane knocks The Big Show off the apron with a big boot. Taker hits a reverse elbow on X-Pac and the THUD his head makes when it hits the floor is pretty brutal sounding. Taker then goes to chokeslam him but Kane takes him from his grasp, while he is lifted in mid-slam, and returns him to the ring. Kane then goes to the outside to brawl with his brother, You can notice here that the Spanish Announce Team are sitting in front if a collapsed table. Poor guys never catch a break still to this day. Kane returns him to the ring and follows him but he enters via the top rope with a flying lariat and Kane gets up there for it too. These leads to a near fall because Show pulls him from the ring by his foot. Undertaker eventually reverses into a DDT and this allows a tag to be made and The Big Show to enter for the first time. He comes in and beats on Kane with pretty much chops and big boots with the highlight being a scoopslam into a pin attempt. The move generates a little pop but Kane’s kick-out gets more. Undertaker tags back in and after beating down Kane for a bit they double clothesline each other and the crowd starts to rally for the hot tag. Kane makes the tag first and Pac is able to stop Taker from tagging out. When X-Pac hits a spinning healkick the place explodes. He goes for the cover but Taker literally throws him off of him. His run is short lived and Taker regains the edge when Pac is grabbed by Big Show on the apron, thus creating a chance for Undertaker to throw him from the ring. Big Show joins X-Pac and easily lifts him above his head and drops him face first on the security rail. Kane comes to his rescue but not before Show picks Pac above his head again, this time throwing him into the ring. He and Kane continue to trade punches on the outside. Taker then wishbones X-Pac with the ring post and Kane now has to come and make the save once again.

Big Show is in the ring with X-Pac next and there is a blown spot when Show delivers a low blow via a headbutt that completely whiffs, but Pac still sells it. JR even mentions that he doesn’t think The Big Show got all of it “But a little bit of The Big Show goes along way”. Good save JR. X-Pac takes a beating for a bit but gets the crowd back into when he rolls out of the way of an elbow drop from Show. This comeback doesn’t last long as X-Pac soon finds himself in the grips of a Big Show bearhug. The place is shaking as X-Pac starts to “Hulk-Up” and he eventually bites the nose of Show to escape. For his efforts Big Show rewards him with a double handed chokeslam that leads to a cover that takes Kane to stop. Big Show goes for the chokeslam next, but he drops Pac when Kane comes into the ring to punch him in the face. This leads to X-Pac delivering a low blow that gets the crowd popping again as both men lie on the mat. Big Show manages to make the tag before X-Pac can and this allows The Undertaker to stop him. When he grabs Pac right before he can make a tag by the hair this really gets some heat from the fans. But that heat is quickly reversed into pop when X-Pac hits another low blow that allows him to tag in The Big Red Machine. The rested Kane comes in hot and goes to work with right hands and clotheslines. A spinning heal kick from X-Pac sends Taker over the top rope and the place is on their toes again. Pac then attempts a crossbody over the ropes but Taker would catch him instead. Taker then tries to ram X-Pac into the ring post, but a last moment backslide allows him to push Undertaker into it instead. Kane sets up Big Show up for a X-Pac to tag in and hit the Bronco Buster. And as Pac is doing the move Kane leaves the ring to fight with Taker. Big Show is quick to his feet after the buster and hits a chokeslam on X-Pac that sends the crowd into a frenzy. They quickly turn their feelings around when X-Pac manages to kick out. Undertaker forces the tag next by slapping Show’s back and he comes in to finish the job with a Tombstone Piledriver. Big Show then comes into the ring to protect the cover from Kane as the ref counts three. And another title changes hands tonight. The winners argue as they make their way to the back, presumably over Undertaker’s forced tag. This was a great match and was way better than you would expect with three bigger Superstars in the ring. It is worth taking a look at and the way the crowd reacts to it makes it even more enjoyable. Match Time: 10:11

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