St Valentines Day Masacre Review
Even though there's already a review posted, ill add mine based on the fact that this is the first time ive watched this show. Live from Memphis Tennesse it's St Valentines Day Masacre. King (with a bad throat) and Michael Cole on commentary.
Match #1
Singles Match
Goldust Vs Bluedust
Goldust gets a spinebuster and stomps away in the corner, Bluedust runs away and stalls on the floor. Back in, Blue hits Gold with a dropkick to the knee and goes to work on the leg, but Goldust shoves him off and then spanks him in an image I didnt' want. That sets up shattered dreams in the corner, but Bluedust counters by moving out of the way. He goes up and misses the meaniesault, and the Curtain Call finishes this turd of an opener at 3:06. One of the worst PPV opening matches ever for the WWF. 1/2 star.
Match #2
Vacant Hardcore Championship Match
Bob Holly Vs Al Snow
This is the match that gave Holly his name. Roadogg was injured so he dropped the belt. Snow whacks Holly with a chair to start, they fight into the crowd as Michael Cole notes that Bob was Intercontinental champion for "a cup of coffee". Holly was NEVER intercontinental champion, so everybody shut up already, geez it's as bad as "The original Ultimate Warrior died". Snow bops Holly with a fire extinguisher then sprays him and they go backstage, where Snow hits him with a pay phone and quotes "Reach out and touch somebody". Bob comes back with an empty beer cooler and they move into the loading dock, where Snow uses four or 5 mops to break on Hollies back then pins him for two. They waltz to the street outside, where Snow sends Holly into a concrete wall, and down to the Mississippi river, where Snow headbutts Holly into a wheelbarrow before they fight to the river bank. My favorite spot, they have the guts to fight into the freezing water and contiue to battle and Holly uses a tree branch of death for two. Holly knocks Snow down on some chain link fencing, wraps him in it and pins him at 10:00. Fun little match, but more movie prop hardcore than hard hardcore. 2 stars.
Match #3
Singles Match
The Big Boss Man Vs Mideon
This is in the midst of the Corporation/Ministry feud and they turned out to be buddies all along. Russo was getting just a tad carried away at this point I think. Bossman punches in the corner. They fight to the floor and Mideon bites him to gain the advantage, then follows with a necksnap on the top rope. Back in, Bossman chokes him out. Mideon does some choking of his own in the corner. They slug it out and Bossman gets a full nelson while the crowd cheers for someone named boring. Mideon stomps Bossman down, but it's more punching in the corner. They clothesline each other, then a suprise bossman slam at 6:18 for Bossman. Ministry show up and carry him away but without the jolly good fellow cheer. 1 star.
Match #4
Tag Team Championship Match
Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart w Debra Vs D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry w Ivory
Henry pounds on Owen and takes him down with a clothesline, and D-Lo comes in with a back elbow. Owen bulldogs him and JJ in for a dropkick, D-Lo gets a powerslam for two. Debra hops onto the apron to try some distraction, but D-Lo is smart tonight. It does allow Jarrett to take him down with a single arm DDT to take over, however. Owen pounds away in the corner and follows with a corner clothesline, then hits a spinebuster into a JJ fistdrop from the top. Jarrett misses a charge and crotches himself, but Owen nails D-Lo from the apron and keeps him from making a comeback. Enziguri gets two. Double elbow gets two. D-Lo comes back with a bodypress for two and a powerbomb out of the corner, D-Lo fights back and it`s a hot tag Henry. He whips them into the corner, but misses a charge, and it`s pier six. D-Lo powerbombs Jarrett for two. D-Lo goes up, but Ivory and Debra have words, Brown goes out to seperate them and Owen to hits Henry with the guitar in the leg and Jarrett gets a quick figure four and Henry is screaming immediately at 9:12. 1 1/2 star.
Match #5
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ken Shamrock Vs Val Venis w Ryan Shamrock w Special Referee Billy Gunn
Val clotheslines Shamrock from behind to start and throws chops in the corner, and two clotheslines get two. Ken puts him down with a kick and follows with a clothesline, then kicks him some more. Shamrock puts him down with a series of knees, and they brawl outside while Gunn makes a half hearted count and checks out Ryan's ass. Shamrock pounds him down, but Val comes back with a suplex and an atomic drop. They fight for a suplex and Val gets a submission before they fight outside. Val puts Ken into the post to work on the back, and it's back in for the camel clutch. They slug it out and Val goes to a doubleunderhook pinning combo then a chinlock. The chinlock drags on for a good long while and Val gets two off a knee to the gut. Billy Gunn is just hanging out not giving a ****. Shamrock comes back with a DDT for two, but Billy refuses to count the three. Val grabs a sleeper in the ensuing argument, but Ken suplexes out of it. Powerslam gets another slow two. Val gets the fisherman's suplex for two. Shamrock with a rollup for two. Val gets the running knees and a Russian legsweep and goes up top but Shamrock slams him off. Shamrock comes back with a rana for one and the belly to belly sets up the anklelock. Ryan pulls Val into the ropes and Ken says "what the **** loud enough for the cameraman and goes outside to argue with Ryan, he tells his hack of a sister to "slap him" on camera in a bad spot then he shoves Billy and they brawl. Back inside Val small packages Ken and Gunn gives the old fast count for the pin and the title at 15:30. The Intercontinental Title has entered the joke territory. 1 star.
Match #6
Kane slugs away on HHH in the corner to start, but X-Pac comes in and trades shots with his future tag team partner. Over to Chyna and she beats up on X-Pac. How awkward looking back. X-Pac almost gets the broncobuster, but Chyna bails to escape. Now it's just creepy. Over to HHH, who gets a shot in the back of the head from Chyna to allow Kane to take over. Kane goes up with the flying clothesline and Chyna tries a suplex but HHH reverses. Chyna escapes and slams him.mmChyna gets tossed into Kane and DX clean house. Oh christ. Shane McMahon walks to ringside and sits in on commentary to piss me off, god he sucks, and with Cole there too?? X-Pac stops to go after Shane and help shut the prick up, but Kane clobbers him on the way back in and the Corporate team takes over. Chyna drops X-Pac on the top rope and gets two. Chyna gets a sleeper, but X-Pac back suplexes out and makes the hot tag to HHH, who slugs Chyna down and dumps Kane. HHH gives Chyna the high knee and Kane pulls him out, while X-Pac finally gets the broncobuster on Chyna. Shane goes after X-Pac and he chases Shane to the back, leaving HHH and Chyna alone. HHH goes for a pedigree on Chyna but Kane interrupts with a chokeslam and puts Chyna on top for the pin at 14:21. 2 stars.
Match #7
World Heavyweight Championship Last Man Standing Match
Mankind Vs The Rock
Foley lost the title to Rock back at RR in the infamous I Quit match, then won it back on halftime heat superbowl special. Rock attacks and goes for the knee that he injured on Sunday Night Heat. Mankind comes back with the championship belt and knocks Rock cold, that gets an 8 count. They fight up the aisle and Rock gets sent into the set, but comes back and whips Mick into it as well. Over to a table, where Mankind DDTs Rock through the table. Rock answers the bell at 8. Back to the crowd, where Rock gets a sudden backdrop suplex and Mick takes a bump onto concrete, but he's up at 3. Back to ringside and Rock gets whipped into the stairs. Into the ring for a People's Elbow from Mankind, but it misses. Rock takes a break to do color commentary while the ref counts Mick down, but he's up at 7. Mick attacks him to cut off the talk and drops the elbow from the apron to the table. Rock answers the bell at 8. Back into the ring and Mankind charges with the stairs, but gets them kicked back in his face. Rock gets a chair and goes after the knee again, but does the spot where he hits the ropes and knocks himself out with it. Cactus clothesline puts both guys on the floor and they brawl back to the announce table again. Mick goes for a piledriver, but Rock backdrops him into the timekeeper's table and thus hurts the leg again. Rock tosses the stairs onto Mick's leg for good measure in a horrible spot where Mick takes the full weight of them on the hip. Cole says they weigh 250lbs (rolls eyes) but Mick still answers the bell. Rock grabs the mike and stops to sing, but Mick awakes and gives him the Mandible Sock in midchorus. Rock answers the bell at 8 and comes back with a DDT, which puts Mankind down for 8. Mankind gets his double arm DDT for 8. Claw is countered with Rock Bottom, they fight up and each has a chair and they joust eachother taking wild swings and blasting eachother at the same time and it's a draw at 21:52. HUGE BULL**** chant and I agree. Although the good guy retained the belt so they shouldn't feel bad. It's stupid to book this type of match and do a draw when your not trying to keep the belt on the heel. Im going 3 stars.
Match #8
#1 Contendership Steel Cage Match
Vince McMahon Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
So Vince strokes his own ego by winning the Rumble but ends up putting up the #1 contender spot against the guy who SHOULD of won the Rumble. Big stall from Vince to start and he forces Austin to chase him into the cage. Austin fakes a knee injury and waits for Vince to come out and cheapshot him which he does. Austin clothesline and he beats the boss stupid. Vince rams Austin into the cage, then runs into the crowd and dares Austin to follow. They fight up the stairs, and Austin brings him back to ringside and then beats on him up the aisle and back to the ring again. Vince tries to climb into the cage and Austin keeps pulling him off, which leads to a horrible fall with Vince climbing the cage and Austin knocking him off and Vince basically legdropping on the Spanish table but it doesn't break immediatley so he gets the full jolt and it looks like he caught the edge of the table with his tailbone, turns out later that he did damage it, from experience even a slightly bruised tailbone hurts like a bitch. Vince is dead and the EMTs try to take Vince out on a stretcher and Finkle tries to announce Austin as the winner by forfeit, but Stone Cold says BS, Cole was right for once in questioning this idiotic logic as it's what cost him the Rumble a month ago. Austin pulls him off the stretcher and tosses him into the ring to, and Austin immediately clotheslines him and stomps him down. He goes up and drops a pair of elbows and walks away, but Vince flips him off and dares him to keep fighting. So Steve stomps a mudhole, but Vince kicks him in the junk and sends him into the cage. Vince tries climbing out, but Austin catches him and dumps him back in, then sends him into the cage to draw blood. But Vince isn't done yet and flips double birds at Austin to prevent him from leaving. So Austin heads back in again and continues the beating, STUNNER!!!. But Paul The Big Giant Show Whight arrives from WCW and breaks through the ring, sending Austin into the cage and right through to the floor, giving him the win at 20:30. Lopsided as expected but entertaining, the Vince bump really helped boost it but the whole EMT thing and the stalling in the beginning was kinda annoying. Ill give it 2 stars.
Overall Opinion: It seemed to me, atleast on the video that the crowd was sorta napping through almost the entire ppv. They didn't wake up until the last two matches. Everything on the undercard was completely forgettable and Rock should of got the belt here to take to Mania, not on some long forgotten Raw show.
Final Score: First time watching it, felt like just about every other ppv going back to Summerslam 98 that wasn't one of the big 5. I give it 3.3 stars.