Last week I looked at some WCW matches, during the early years of booking more Pay-Per-View events they would reshuffle the names around. So to avoid that, this week I'm looking at 3 matches from WWF No Way Out. I begin with the first No Way Out Pay-Per-View produced by the company (not including the In Your House event subtitled “No Way Out (of Texas)”) Matt & The Hardy Boyz walk down first with a returning Terri. Jerry Lawler is clearly happy she's back. I'm guessing Miss Kitty, not so much. Terri went to the Acolytes Protection Agency for protection earlier tonight on Heat to stop The Dudley Boyz (who won the WWF Tag Team championships 5 minutes prior to this match) putting her through a table again. Edge & Christian make their way through the crowd. These teams actually teamed up on the most recent episode of Smackdown to face The Dudleyz and the team they beat for the belts, the New Age Outlaws. Before the match can start The Acolytes walk down to ringside to protect Terri. See kids, back then if you paid someone to do a job, they'd do it. They were simpler times.
EDGE & CHRISTIAN VS. THE HARDY BOYZ
(#1 contenders WWF Tag Team Championships)
WWF No way Out 2000 (27th February 2000)
Edge takes advantage of the extra-curricular, jumping Jeff Hardy to start the match. Jeff is sent corner to corner but catches himself with the top rope and vaults to the apron. Hardy knocks Edge back with a right hand but misses a springboard Whisper in the Wind back into the ring. Christian gets the tag and kicks Jeff in the gut. He sends Jeff across the ring but Hardy lands on his feet from a backdrop attempt. Hardy hits a running dropkick. Matt Hardy gets the tag, climbing to the middle rope. Jeff trips Edge and they hit a double leg drop. Apparently, that's enough momentum to warrant a high five from Terri and the Hardyz taking their shirts off. Matt Hardy drops Christian's throat over the top rope and gets a nearfall from a back suplex. Christian gets sent head first into the top turnbuckle and Matt hits an overhand chop in the corner. Christian hits a knife-edge, they each get another chop in before Jeff tries to get involved from the apron. Christian dropkicks Matt down, Jeff jumps in the ring but gets sent through the ropes from Christian's second dropkick.
Matt rakes the eyes to regain control and sends Christian across the ring. Christian ducks a clothesline, Matt tries to send him outside but Christian slides under the ropes. Jeff pulls Christian from the apron and sends him into the barricade. Edge tries to tell the referee what's going on but got in the ring to do so, meaning the referee goes deaf. Matt stomps Christian on the mat as he's rolled back in the ring taunting him to get up. Matt takes the opportunity to tag out for a while. Not before he assists his brother with Poetry in Motion, then he flattens Christian with a clothesline. Matt hits mounted punches, really stretching the 5 count they're given. Jeff covers, being the legal man but only gets a nearfall. Jeff stomps Christian before hitting a springboard sit down moonsault for another nearfall. Jeff makes the tag and The Hardyz hit a double team back suplex into a facebuster. Matt covers but only gets 2, arguing with the referee.
King and JR have been talking more about tonight's main event, but Matt Hardy's piledriver attempt brings Lawler's attention back to the match. Christian blocks it so Hardy clubs his back. Christian's lifted overhead the second time, like a Razor's Edge but he escapes, dropping to the mat with a neckbreaker on Hardy. Edge tries to bring Christian over to their corner but he's not moving. Matt gets a tag first, Jeff climbs straight to the top turnbuckle, jumping into Christian's boot. This time Christian gets the tag, bringing Edge in with a clothesline for each Hardy. Jeff goes over with a backdrop and Matt is sent out to the floor with a spinning heel kick. Christian crosses the ring and leaps out on to Matt Hardy with a springboard cross body to the floor! In the ring, Jeff Hardy lands on his feet on the bottom rope, but Christian slingshots his throat on the top rope. Hardy stumbles into a schoolboy, 1, 2, no. We see a replay of Christian flying before Edge sends Jeff into the corner. Edge hits mounted punches and tags out to Christian. Jeff is held in place for a kick to the gut. Christian stomps Jeff on the mat, but Jeff fights to his feet with right hands as JR says he hates to see either team lose.
Christian catches Jeff in a wheelbarrow facebuster, following with mounted punches on the mat. Christian gets the tag then Matt brings the referee away. Christian sends Edge with a drop toe hold into Jeff's groin with a falling headbutt. Edge gets a nearfall and we see a replay before he holds Jeff in a dragon sleeper. He drives Jeff's back into his knee with the hold locked in. Jeff tries to fight out of it, turning around and getting back to his feet. Jeff ducks a clothesline, holding on to the top rope so Edge's dropkick hits the air. Jeff quickly gets a jackknife cover for a nearfall.
Edge bridges back to his feet, they struggle for a backslide but Edge brings Hardy over, Jeff lands on his feet but gets clubbed over the back to set up for a piledriver. The devastating and now banned move gets Edge a nearfall in this Attitude Era tag team match. Edge gets the chinlock of doom, throwing Hardy to the mat for more pressure and leverage on the move. JR gets a chance to retort that Cactus Jack will either leave here a retired man or the WWF Champion heading into Wrestlemania. Jeff fights back to his feet and elbows free. Edge gets spiked on his head with an ugly looking Frankensteiner, grabbing Jeff's ankle from the mat to stop the tag, Jeff Hardy hits Edge with some rights and picks up speed again. Edge counters another hurricanrana attempt into a sitout powerbomb! He reaches for the tag to Christian as we see a replay. Christian introduces Jeff Hardy to the top turnbuckle, then quickly snapmares him out of the corner. Christian kicks Hardy in the base of his spine then sends him across the ring. Christian hits a snap powerslam for a nearfall.
Edge comes back into the match with another chinlock on the mat but Jeff gets to his feet, Edge keeps Jeff in place with a handful of hair. They meet in the middle with the same idea and both go down. They start crawling towards each other's corners, not knowing where they are. Christian comes in the ring illegally to stomp Jeff right in front of the referee. Matt takes advantage, hitting an elbow drop from the top rope to Edge behind the referee's back! Jeff Hardy covers Edge in a daze for a close nearfall. I admit, I thought that was it. Jeff gets to his feet, desperately trying to make a tag to his brother, but Edge is between them and plants him with a standing spinebuster before they can touch. Edge climbs to the top rope but Jeff's had time to get to his feet. Edge dives into a dropkick and they collapse from exhaustion. They show the obligatory replays as Edge and Jeff each get a tag.
Matt Hardy drops Christian with a right hand, then one for Edge, Christian goes down with a clothesline. Matt scoop slams Christian then hits Edge with a running neckbreaker just completely clearing house. He drops Christian on the back of his head on the mat then lifts Edge up for an electric chair. Jeff's on the top turnbuckle and flies at Edge who ducks, countering with a victory roll! Jeff hits Christian with the crossbody and they both get nearfalls. JR asks who's legal even though the tags were made 20 seconds ago. Edge is sent from the ring as he figures out it's Matt and Christian. The Hardyz hit a double team leg drop and splash from opposite corners but Edge breaks it up at the last second. Edge gets sent corner to corner but counters the Poetry in Motion spearing Jeff from midair! Matt turns around from celebrating early and he's able to sidestep the spear. He hits a Twist of Fate on Edge!
Christian's back to his feet, he slips out the back on a scoop slam but his inverted DDT is countered into an inverted atomic drop. Matt Hardy hits a suplex as Jeff makes himself at home on the top corner, Terri shoves Jeff to the floor and he hits the barricade. Matt asks Terri what's going on, and she says Jeff slipped. Christian gets back to his feet again and he counters a Twist of Fate sending Matt into the ropes. Matt stops his momentum before he hits Terri but she slaps him! Christian hits what would later become the Unprettier for the win
WINNER: EDGE & CHRISTIAN (#1 CONTENDERS WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS)
Edge and Christian aren't sure what happened but they have the win in the record books so that's all that matters. Terri celebrates screwing over the Hardys as the APA look at each other, ready to leave. Matt grabs Terri's hair, wanting answers, which turns them back around. The Acolytes lay the Hardys out in the ring to protect Terri, with Farooq really struggling to pick Jeff up for a Dominator where Jeff lands on the back of his neck.
This was a good fast-paced match, showing what the tag team division would become within the new Millenium. It seemed structured strangely, The Hardyz worked like heels at the start, then it seemed to switch alignments (although to the way that seemed natural) Edge and Jeff really brought their A game with the sequences with only the botched hurricanrana at the pace they worked. Matt and Christian seemed kind of there, with Matt's hot tag being one of the least convincing I've seen. Terri turning on the Hardyz was well done with the APA having a reason to be out there. Not their best work but worth the watch. – WORKRATE: 2.75/5 PERSONAL ENJOYMENT 2.5/5 OVERALL 5.25/10
No comments:
Post a Comment