WWE Vintage Collection Report: September 2nd 2012
By Shaun Best-Rajah.com Reporter
Hosted by: Mean Gene Okerlund
We kick off our “Month of Champions” theme by looking at matches contested for the four tiers of WWE titles one must capture – European, Tag Team, Intercontinental and World Heavyweight, to become a Grand Slam champion.
Monday Night Raw: April 3rd 2000
European Title: Chris Jericho w/Chyna vs Eddie Guerrero
It’s the night after WrestleMania, where Jericho ended Kurt Angle’s European reign and Chyna pinned Eddie in a six person match. I’m sure this match has recently been featured on this show. Slugfest to start. Jericho elevates Eddie over his head into the corner, then flapjacks him. Eddie counters a powerbomb into a sunset flip, Jericho rolls through, but gets hit with a basement dropkick. A heel kick leads to a sleeper. Jericho elbows free. Eddie uses an abdominal stretch as a way to re-apply the sleeper. This time, Jericho escapes via a back suplex. After a brief skirmish on the floor, Eddie drills Jericho with a brainbuster. Eddie stops to wink at Chyna as he starts to feel froggy. Jericho avoids a frog splash, Eddie manages to roll through, but runs right into a powerslam. Jericho builds momentum with a running bulldog. Referee Tim White gets in the way of a drop toehold and takes a spill. Jericho hits Eddie with a double powerbomb and lionsault. Chyna counts the pin and raises Jericho’s hand. Chyna plants Jericho with a DDT. Holy double cross Batman! Chyna pulls Eddie on top of Y2J and tosses White back in for the 1-2-3. Winner: EDDIE GUERRERO. Chyna smiles and shakes her thing. Eddie’s shock turns to smiles as he realises Mamacita has finally succumbed to his Latino Heat.
Prime Time Wrestling: August 10th 1987
Tag Team Titles: Hart Foundation w/Jimmy Hart vs British Bulldogs
The Harts dethroned the Bulldogs earlier in the year after Dynamite went down with a serious back injury. Back with a vengeance, the Bulldogs are in tremendous shape. We pick things up with the Bulldogs banging the champions’ heads together a couple of times. Dynamite gives Bret a snap suplex. Davey wears the Hitman down with a chinlock. Jimmy yells at the referee to “watch the choke,” from the floor. Davey ducks a clothesline and nearly pins Bret with a crucifix and fisherman suplex. The Bulldogs utilise lots of headbutts in between moves. Bret finally manages to knock Dynamite down and stagger into a tag. Anvil chokes Dynamite with his knee, before Bret sends him into the guardrail.
Dynamite foils a Hitman slam by falling on top for a nearfall. Anvil comes off worse from a headbutt exchange. Bret applies a front facelock in a desperate effort to prevent a tag. Anvil makes sure the referee misses a legal tag. Dynamite foils a Hart double team attempt as he sidesteps Bret’s corner charge, then backdrops Anvil out of the ring. Davey hits Bret with a clothesline and monkey flip, then gets nearfalls from a flying kneedrop and delayed suplex. Davey connects with a running powerslam. 1-2-foot on the bottom rope. Bret counters a second powerslam into a sleeper. Dynamite quickly breaks it up with a headbutt. Davey crotches Bret after a press slam into the ropes. Davey goes to suplex Bret into the ring, but Anvil swipes a leg, the Hitman falls on top and hooks a leg for the 1-2-3. The Bulldogs attack the champions after the bell, rip Jimmy Hart’s jacket, then press slam the Mouth of the South into Anvil. Winners: HART FOUNDATION. These two tandems never had a bad match together.
House Show: January 9th 1988
Steel Cage Match – Intercontinental Title
Honky Tonk Man w/Jimmy Hart vs Macho Man Randy Savage w/Elizabeth
Savage had taken exception to Honky’s claim of being “the greatest Intercontinental champion of all time.” During a match on Saturday Night’s Main Event, Honky (with the help of the Hart Foundation) shoved Elizabeth and smashed Savage over the head with his guitar. Elizabeth brought out Hulk Hogan to make the save, Savage shook his hand, turned face and formed the Mega Powers. We join this match in progress. Savage introduces Honky’s head to the turnbuckles, then chokes him along the top rope. Honky tries to escape the cage, but gets pulled back in. Honky reverses a throw into the cage and works over Savage for a while. Both stop the other from walking out of the cage door.
With both perched on the cage, Honky takes a spill and crotches himself on his way to the mat. Savage connects with a flying sledge from the very top of the cage. Savage crawls to the door, only to have Jimmy Hart throw it in his face. Hart helps pull Honky out for the tainted victory. Winner: HONKY TONK MAN. Unhappy at the outcome, Savage puts both men back into the cage. Savage throws Honky into Hart then gives Honky his patented flying elbow. Savage finishes by throwing the IC title down onto the fallen champion. Honky’s real life refusal to lose the title to Savage actually turned out well for the Macho Man, who ended up winning the WWF title a few months later at WrestleMania. Honky still holds the record for the longest reigning IC champion at a cool 64 weeks. I can’t see that feat being broken anytime soon.
King of the Ring: June 25th 2000
WWF Title: Triple H, Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon vs The Rock, Undertaker & Kane
Four of the participants involved can walk out with the title (except the McMahons) Basically, if Triple H or the McMahons are pinned by any of their three opponents, then the Game loses his title. We join the match in progress. Shane shoves Rock into a HHH clothesline. Shane gets cocky impersonating Rock and gets taken to the woodshed and tossed to the floor. Undertaker tags in before Rock can go after Shane. Undertaker introduces Shane to the turnbuckles then dishes out a chokeslam. Rock breaks up a pin to remind Undertaker he’s looking out for himself. HHH blindsides a distracted Undertaker, but the Deadman quickly turns the tide, hitting a corner clothesline, followed by a big boot and DDT. This time, it’s Kane who interrupts a pin. Rock tags back in as the Brothers of Destruction engage in a staredown. HHH tags in a reluctant Shane, who gets brought in the hard way by Rock. The Brahma Bull lays the smack down on the McMahon Helmsley trio until HHH pulls the top rope down to send Rock to the floor. As the Brothers are preoccupied with the McMahons, HHH takes advantage to nail Rock with a Pedigree in the ring. 1-2-kickout. HHH gets posted by Undertaker. We head into a break as both Rock and HHH are down in the ring.
We return to see Rock getting worked over. Vince approaches the Brothers on the apron, slaps Kane and taunts Undertaker. Vince gives Rock a low blow and orders HHH to finish him off. Rock catches HHH with a samoan drop to turn the tide. Shane breaks up a pin and the match breaks down. The desire to be champion kicks in and splinters the Rock/Undertaker/Kane alliance. Kane sends Undertaker into the ring steps. Rock catches HHH with a spinebuster. Rock readies for the People’s elbow, only to get goozled and chokeslammed by Kane. HHH gets up smiling, gives Kane the thumbs up, but eats a tombstone piledriver. Undertaker pulls Kane off of a cover to give him a receipt for the earlier trip into the steps. After waffling Kane with a chair shot to the head, Undertaker goozles Shane on the top rope and breaks him into “1,000 pieces” (thanks Jim Ross) with a chokeslam through the American announce table. In the ring, Vince sets up for a Corporate elbow, but Rock pops up to give the Chairman of the Board a Rock Bottom. 1-2-3. Winners: THE ROCK, UNDERTAKER & KANE. Rock wins his fifth WWF World Title, leaving a furious HHH to curse him out in the aisle. HHH loses his title without getting pinned. Damn politics! Unlike HHH, Rock isn’t a Grand Slam champion. Instead, the Brahma Bull is the People’s champion, which according to Okerlund is a more valuable title to have.
More champions on show next week, as we take a look at some of the rarer moments in Championship history.
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