The challengers in this match are Val Venis & Lance
Storm, Hurricane & Rosey, La Resistance, Garrison Cade & Mark Jindrak
and Test & Scott Steiner. Showing the lack of team names on Raw, in the
very least. Lillian Garcia goes over the rules; two teams start the match and
when one is eliminated another team will replace them. The last team remaining
will be the WWE World Tag Team Champions. Rene Dupree and Robert Conway make
their way out meaning La Resistance are starting, Hurricane & Rosey join
them to kick the match off.
Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler are on commentary
for this match.
DUDLEY BOYZ
INVITATIONAL TAG TEAM TURMOIL
(WWE World Tag
Team Championships)
WWE Armageddon
2003 (14th December
2003)
Rosey starts with Robert Conway. Rosey knocks Conway down with a
clothesline out of an arm wrench, he tags in The Hurricane who hits a leg
drop from the middle rope as Rosey is holding Conway in place.
Robert
Conway connects with right hands, he sends Hurricane into the corner. Hurricane
tries to fly out of the rig but is caught on the top rope. Rene Dupree
goes on the attack at ringside before sending The Hurricane back into the ring.
Robert Conway snapmares the Hurricane down but he springs back up into a full nelson.
The Hurricane fights out, but he gets sent into the ropes. Robert Conway hits a
spinning neckbreaker but The Hurricane’s too close to the ropes for the cover.
Rene Dupree gets the tag, he sends The Hurricane into the turnbuckle but The
Hurricane fights back. The Hurricane tries to float over Dupree as he’s sent
into the corner but is caught with a powerslam for 2. The Hurricane avoids a
slam and connects with right hands, Rene Dupree rakes the eyes and sends the Hurricane into the ropes. The Hurricane cuts off the attack with a facebuster.
They both crawl for the tag and get it. Rosey runs through Conway with a
shoulder block, and another. Conway runs into a backdrop, Rene goes airborne
too. Samoan Drop to Rene Dupree, Robert Conway takes a swinging side slam and
Rosey covers 1, 2, Dupree breaks it up. Rene Dupree gets in some shots but is
sent to the outside with a rough landing. Robert Conway kicks Rosey but it gets
shrugged off. Rosey hits a standing spinebuster and tags The Hurricane back in,
sitting on the top turnbuckle. The Hurricane stands on Rosey’s shoulders for a
splash to eliminate La Resistance.
Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak jump the superheroes from behind,
Rosey is knocked from the ring and The Hurricane is rolled up by Jindrak for 3.
Val Venis & Lance Storm are next out, with Venis starting for the team. He
locks up with Jindrak and gets a side headlock. Val Venis is pushed off the
ropes but he knocks Jindrak down with a shoulder tackle. Mark Jindrak gets a
knockdown, Val Venis sends Jindrak off the ropes, duck down followed by
a leapfrog then he catches Jindrak with a hip toss. They exchange arm drags and
leg sweeps each covering for 1. Mark Jindrak slaps Venis as they get to their feet
but gets a right hand in return. Val Venis sends Jindrak off the ropes and
knocks him down with a back elbow. Lance Storm gets the tag, hitting a
springboard shot to Jindrak’s arm. Mark Jindrak connects with a knee to the
midsection and tags in Garrison Cade, who runs into an arm drag.
Garrison Cade gets to his feet in the arm wrench, he reverses it and takes Storm
down in a headlock. Lance Storm catches Cade in the headscissors and Cade kicks
out. Garrison Cade runs into a headlock takedown, he gets the headscissors and
Storm kicks out. Lance Storm is sent into the ropes and connects with a European
uppercut from 2 feet away. The fans are chanting boring for this basic portion
of the match. Garrison Cade counters a wristlock, to prove me and the crowd
right. Lance Storm connects with right hands and springs off the top rope to
escape, he goes back to the ropes and Jindrak catches him with a shot from the
apron. Garrison Cade covers for 2 and tags out. Cade & Jindrak beat Storm
down, Mark Jindrak presses his knee into Storm’s back. Lance Storm gets to his
feet, connecting with knees to the midsection but gets sent into the corner.
Mark
Jindrak eats shit on the running splash in the corner. Val Venis gets the tag
and knocks Cade down with a clothesline. A kick brings Jindrak back to the mat
and he’s planted with a spinebuster. Cade eats a spinning neckbreaker. Val
Venis gets 2 from a half nelson slam as Cade breaks up the pin. Lance Storm
backs Cade into the corner with right hands and sends him across the ring into
the turnbuckles. Val Venis is sent to meet Cade with a clothesline in the
corner, Lance Storm clotheslines Cade and himself over to the floor. A sitout
Protobomb gets Val Venis 2, Mark Jindrak crawls to the apron but gets caught.
Garrison Cade connects with a chop block on Venis, causing Jindrak to land on
top! Garrison Cade holds Venis’ foot for the 3.
The Dudley Boyz make their way down, Bubba Ray Dudley backs
Garrison Cade into the corner with right hands, D-Von sends Jindrak over the
top to the floor and leaves the ring, Garrison ducks a clothesline and hits one
of his own. That looked slightly awkward. Bubba Ray Dudley reverses an irish
whip, Garrison Cade floats over nothing in the corner and is sent into the
turnbuckles. Bubba lifts Cade and hangs him upside down in the corner for some
clubbing blows. D-Von Dudley gets the tag, The Dudleyz sends Cade off the ropes
and knock him down, D-Von is caught with a knee to the midsection before
tagging out. Jindrak sends D-Von off the ropes but D-Von Dudley ducks
the clothesline and knocks Jindrak down with a spinning back elbow for 2. Jindrak
is sent off the ropes, he ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own for 2. D-Von
gets the waistlock, Jindrak rushes to the ropes for a cheap shot from Cade.
Mark Jindrak stomps D-Von and sends his head into the turnbuckle,
tagging out. Garrison Cade gets the tag, kicking and punching D-Von in the
corner. The referee backs him off so Jindrak takes advantage. The fans are
chanting for tables for the second time in this portion of the match as D-Von
is snapmared into a chinlock. D-Von Dudley fights out but runs into a back
elbow. Garrison Cade goes to the top rope, but D-Von rolls out of the way of
the Elbow Drop, looking for Bubba. Both teams get the tag, Bubba is hot with
clotheslines for Jindrak followed by a hip toss. Garrison Cade runs into a
backdrop and they’re stacked in the Dudleyz corner. Bubba hits them both with a
clothesline and sends Cade out of the ring, tagging D-Von into the match. Bubba
is sent into the ring steps as Jindrak takes a clothesline in the corner. A
shot from outside sends D-Von into a roll up but he kicks out at 2, D-Von returns
the favour on Jindrak but Cade breaks it up at 2.
Cade & Jindrak send D-Von into the ropes, he kicks Mark Jindrak and
sends Garrison Cade out of the ring, Jindrak knocks D-Von into the ropes and
whips him across the ring. D-Von holds on to the ropes as Jindrak dropkicks
nothing. Mark Jindrak is staggering as Bubba returns to the ring, The Dudley
Boyz hit the 3D for the 3 count. Garrison Cade knocks both Dudleyz down on his
way out, Scott Steiner & Test are out next. They take advantage of the
weakened champions, D-Von is sent out of the ring as Test is starting
with Bubba. Bubba Ray is sent across the ring, back again into the turnbuckles
by Test & Steiner. Bubba Ray avoids a running clothesline, knocking both
Test & Steiner down. Scott Steiner hits a Northern Lights suplex and dumps
Bubba to the floor. Test sends Bubba Ray’s left arm into the ring post before
sending him back in the ring. Bubba Ray Dudley is sent off the ropes into a
clothesline, but it wasn’t enough to be a Steinerline. Scott Steiner hits an
elbow drop, covering for 2 before taking some time out for press ups.
Scott Steiner presses his knee into Bubba against the middle rope, he
brings the referee away so Test can get some more pressure on Bubba’s neck and
get in a cheap shot. Steiner takes Bubba down in an armbar. He works it for a
while before tagging out, Test is in with stomps and he keeps Bubba on the mat
in an armbar. Bubba works to his feet, Test cuts him off with a knee to the
midsection and sits Bubba on the top turnbuckle. Bubba Ray fights off the
superplex and drops Test to the mat, and hits a back senton. Bubba Ray gets the
tag, D-Von knocks Scott Steiner from the apron, Test stands up into
clotheslines, but he reverses the irish whip. D-Von Dudley hits a jumping
shoulder block to Test and drops Steiner with a neckbreaker. D-Von Dudley hits
a swinging neckbreaker on Test and covers for 2.
Test
sends D-Von into Scott Steiner who hits a T-Bone suplex. Test hits a sidewalk
slam for 2½. Scott Steiner calls for Test to hit the Big Boot. D-Von ducks out
of the way, Test hits Steiner and gets rolled up, 1, 2, no! Test reverses an
irish whip, the Pumphandle Slam is countered but the Full Nelson slam isn’t.
Test has his feet on the ropes but only gets 2. Test argues with the referee
before going to grab a title belt and steel chair. The belt is thrown into the
ring to distract the referee, Test his D-Von with the chair and throws it out
of the ring as the referee gets selective hearing. Test is pulled from the
cover by Bubba Ray, Test knocks Bubba down with a clothesline and throws him
in the ring. Another clothesline from Test is countered into the Bubba Bomb!
D-Von rolls onto the cover for the win! Eric Bischoff’s music begins playing,
he says there’s one more team to beat. (Again, he’s pushing the definition of ”team”
here) Batista and Ric Flair are announced as the final Bonus Team, and at least
they’re representing Evolution.
Batista
take his frustrations out on D-Von Dudley with right hands and stomps as Flair
takes on Bubba Ray, chop-blocking him down and focusing on the leg. Ric Flair pus Bubba in the Figure 4 Leglock as the Batista Bomb connects for
the win!
WINNER: EVOLUTION (Batista & Ric Flair) (NEW WWE World Tag
Team Champions)
This was more than enough to
show the tag “division” on Raw at the time, Only The Dudleyz and La Resistance
had a name. Garrison Cade looked rough in some spots and needed to be in there
with more than just Jindrak guiding him. Batista and Flair coming in to steal
it in the end gave the show a good story after The Dudleyz were able to win the
scheduled match. [**¾] 5.5/10