Michael Cole is in the back and is joined by Edge and Christian and they are speaking about their upcoming Tag Team Turmoil match where the winner will become the number one contender to the Tag Team Titles. Cole tells us of the rules and that when one team is eliminated another will enter until one team remains. The winner will get a title shot on the following nights RAW. Cole questions them about their feelings over Gangrel leaving their side to join The Hardyz. Nothing much of interest is said here, so lets move on to the match. Edge and Christian’s music begins to play as we see them enter through the crowd in their trench coats. Jeff and pre-woken Matt Hardy enter next and they are joined by the blood spewing Gangrel. The New Brood, as they call themselves, enter in a more traditional sense, via the entry ramp, but stop halfway so Gangrel can spew said blood. The Hardyz run to the ring and the teams begin to exchange punches as the bell sounds. Edge and Christian gain the advantage after a cool senton/clothesline double team maneuver. This leaves Edge and Matt in the ring to start the match. Edge and Christian take turns on Matt and generate some pop with a double hip toss. Matt sells a whiffed heal kick from Christian that brings Jeff in the ring to take a hip toss before the ref quickly sends him back out. Gangrel sneaks a punch to the head of Christian that Matt uses in his favor to get a two count with a small package. Jeff gets his first time in the ring next and him and Matt use a double atomic drop to get another near-fall. Jeff does a springboard into a splash cover next that is really cool and doesn’t get the pop you think it would. But again the kick-out is made and Jeff tags out but they execute a senton/clothesline combo of their own before he leaves.

After the ref warns Matt for chocking Christian with the rope he goes to the corner to argue with Edge. This allows Jeff to leg drop the head of Christian that is still on the second rope. After a suplex Jeff comes in off a tag, off the top rope with a Senton Bomb. Christian would finally reverse a double suplex into a double reverse DDT and the crowd is electric in anticipation of the hot tag.

They are rewarded when the tag is made and Edge comes in hot. He levels The Hardyz with a series of clotheslines before his attempted Downward Spiral is interrupted by Matt. Who the sends Edge over the top rope and to the outside. There is a really cool spot next even though it doesn’t make much sense. Matt whips Edge to the railing and Christian does the same with Jeff on the other side of the ring. Both men jump onto the railing running towards each other and jumping to clothesline each other in mid-air over the entrance ramp. Strange like I said but I looked cool, so whatever. The highspots come out in full force next when Gangrel is trying to assault edge but is interrupted when Christian springboards of the top turnbuckle and on top off Edge and Gangrel. Matt has to one-up them and does so by moonsaulting onto them of the top turnbuckle. Matt returns Christian to the ring and is attempting to suplex him of the top rope but Edge come in to make the save. Edge picks him up and delivers an electric chair drop that Christian follows with a sweet elbow from the top. This leads to the pinfall and Edge and Christian advance in the Tag Team Turmoil match. The crowd is exploding and it is quite the reaction for a match that isn’t over and there is no Title on the line.

Two members of The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness enter next and they are Mideon and Viscera. Mideon is the former Phineas Godwinn of pig-farming fame and Viscera is the former Mable from Men on a Mission a 90s hip-hop themed troupe. It was once reported by Dave Meltzer that Mable was rumored to be the third man to join the N.W.O. before Hulk Hogan was signed on to do so. Viscera would enter the ring first and after some Irish whips to the turnbuckles, the big man delivers a Somoan drop on Christian that doesn’t appear friendly. Big Vis makes the tag but they use some teamwork to drop double elbows on Christian before he exits the ring. Christian finally makes the tag out after Mideon takes too long to drop an elbow of the second rope. Edge comes in hot and after back dropping Mideon, Viscera enters the ring. Edge hits him with a big clothesline but I doesn’t budge him so he bounces off the ropes to attempt it again. But this time The 500 pound Viscera hits him with a rolling heal kick. Pretty impressive for the big guy. Vis whips Edge to the corner to attempt a big splash but Edge manages to pull Mideon in the corner and escape the splash. Christian enters the ring and after a double dropkick they both shoulder block Viscera and send him to the outside. Edge spears Mideon next and this gets the three count victory, eliminating Mideon and Viscera.

Droz and Prince Albert come running to the ring and are the next team to enter the Turmoil match. Darren Drozdov, AKA Droz, career was unfortunately cut short when he was paralyzed from the neck down when a sit-down powerbomb went wrong in a match versus D-Lo Brown during a SmackDown taping on October 9, 1999. Droz has since regained the use of his upperbody and arms. Prince Albert never had huge success as a wrestler but has since gone on to become the head trainer at the NXT development center in Florida. He has dropped the Prince Albert moniker, created by Vince Russo if you couldn’t tell, and prefers to go by his real name, Matt Bloom.

The new team quickly enters the ring, but Prince Albert is sent back out just as quickly as he entered with a double clothesline. Droz uses this to his advantage by attacking Edge in the back as Christian exits. When Droz tags Albert in, JR mentions that he once played for the Denver Broncos. I couldn’t find anything about him playing for anyone other that the San Diego Chargers and that was short lived. I think someone forgot to fact check JR’s notes. Edge and Albert go back and fourth with the highlight being a torture rack into a neckbreaker from Prince Albert. This leads to a cover attempt but Christian enters to make the save. Droz attempts to use a three-point stance tackle but Christian ducks under it and Droz flies from the ring. Christian follows behind him with a crossbody over the top rope. After an Irish whip Prince Albert lifts Edge high above his head for a gorilla press slam but Christian slides in the ring to chop the leg of Albert. Edge then falls on top of Prince Albert and gets the 1,2 before Albert throws him off. There is a look of confusion on the faces of Edge and Christian here after the kick-out and I wonder if he wasn’t suppose to kick-out. Nonetheless Edge picks up Albert and hits the Downward Spiral and the crowd counts along as the ref counts three.

The Acolytes are in the ring as soon as the bell sounds and begin to work on the unsuspecting team. The Acolytes are made up of Bradshaw and Faarooq. Christian and Faarooq take the fight to the outside as the other two work the ring. Edge stops Bradshaw’s gaining momentum with a swinging neckbreaker. He then climbs to the top rope to missle dropkick the dazed Bradshaw. The tides shift when a reversal in the corner turns into a hard powerbomb on Edge. The pinfall is almost awarded to Bradshaw and takes a boot to the head from Christian to stop it. The Acolytes take turns abusing Edge and the crowd is anticipating the hot tag. But Bradshaw ends that plan by clotheslining Christian off the apron and then continues to pound on Edge with some big chops to the back. Not work chops by the looks of them either. There are a few near falls before Faarooq is tagged in and he continues the beating of Edge, who is managing to keep kicking out. The crowd begins to rally and so does Edge who is in a sleeper. He escapes the hold but when he comes off the ropes Faarooq gives him one of the hardest spinebusters I’ve ever seen. The Acolytes weren’t known for taking it easy on the guys in the ring and it is evident here. But Edge again manages to kick-out. This pisses Faarooq off so he know goes for his finisher, The Dominator. Edges escapes by sliding down the back of Faarooq and hitting the DDT and laying them both on the mat in the process. Both men manage the simultaneous tags but Christian comes in hotter and has dropkicks for both Acolytes. He and Edge clothesline Faarooq from the ring next and this sets Edge up to hit a baseball slide on him. Christian starts to ascend to the top turnbuckle but Faarooq is there to knock him down after eye-raking Edge. The two continue to brawl outside the ring and the crowd erupts when Christian is still able to hit a tornado DDT off the top rope. They count along with the ref’s count but only get the two. They all are in the ring again but after a Clothesline From Hell is delivered on Christian, from Bradshaw, Edge is unable to get the save and The Acolytes get to advance after the three is counted.

Before the ref starts the count we can see The Hollys, the next team to enter, head down the ramp. As soon as the three is counted they are in the ring and brawling with The Acolytes. The Hollys are the kayfabe cousin team of Hardcore Holly and Crash Holly. Hardcore has been with the company a while at this point but Crash was only with the company for around ten days. That’s what Vince McMahon does, “Is give opportunity, pal”. Faarooq goes for an early Dominator on Crash but Hardcore returns to the ring to save his cousin.  There is some slow back and forth between Faarooq and Hardcore with the highlight being a powerplex by Holly. Crash would tag himself in when he slaps the back of his partner and comes excitedly running into the ring . Hardcore looks on in disbelief as his cousin is leveled with a shoulder block from Faarooq. He must now watch on as The Acolytes take turns with Crash. When Crash is Irish whipped toward Hardcore he slaps the back of his cousin for a blind tag. Faarooq doesn’t see it, blind tag remember, and Hardcore flattens him with a clothesline. Crash is mad at the blind tag and this bring the cousins to blows. After Hardcore Holly kicks Crash from the ring he turns around into a spinebuster from Faarooq. This is followed by a three count and The Acolytes are awarded the title of Number One Contenders.

This match had its ups and downs but overall was entertaining. The best segments were between Edge, Christian and The Hardyz and the low had to be the Mideon/Viscera and Droz/Albert matches. It is still watchable but if your are hurrying through this PPV you could skip this segment as it doesn’t carry much importance for the nights card because, SPOILER ALERT, they lose their number one contender match on the following nights RAW. Match Time: 17:27

There is a quick clip of The Unholy Alliance, Taker and Big Show, entering the arena before it cuts to Al Snow in the locker rooms. And of course he is talking to a Chihuahua and trying to calm it down because it is obviously scared of the Big Boss Man. The Road Dogg Jesse James with his signature “Oh You Didn’t Know” mic work and Jim Ross comments that he “isn’t exactly sure what he is doing here”. “It’s me, it’s me, It’s the D-O-Double-G” enters the ring and says he plans to get his Hardcore Title back on the “R-A-W” tomorrow against the winner of the next match. He is interrupted when the Y2J counter comes on the TitanTron and begins to count down from ten. After some delay the place goes black the pyro burst and “Break The Walls Down” begins to play as the place erupts. The lights return on and Chris Jericho makes his debut. He is standing on ramp and has his hair up in his top knot as he tells us all about being “The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla” . Jericho continues to belittle the WWF product and is calling it stuff like “SummerSham”. This is great Heel work and is really getting some heat from the crowd who was just popping for him a moment ago.. He then calls out Road Dogg’s ability to generate a reaction from the fans, which draws a pop for Dogg, but Jericho thanks them as if it was for him. Road Dogg wraps it up with “I almost don’t want to tell ya this because you might take me up on it but I’ve got two word for ya” and the crowd finishes with a echoing “Suck It”. Humor by making fun of his sexual orientation, classy stuff WWF.

The Road Dogg joins Lawler and Jim Ross for commentary for the next match for the Hardcore Title. When Lawler hand him the headset he tells him he don’t know if will fit because he “has more extensions than AT&T” to which Road Dogg replies “say that one more time and I’m punching you”. See, this is funny banter. It shows Al Snow placing his dog, Pepper I believe, in a crate for safe keeping before he enters the arena. And the classic “What does everyone want” comes over the PA system to which the crowd responds with “Head!”. “What does everyone need” and you know what the crowd responded with. Just these five minutes here shows what a different time it was then in wrestling. Instead of going to the ring though Snow waits in perch on what appears to be a crane to ambush The Big Boss Man. And when the reigning Hardcore Champion enters the arena he does just that by jumping off and hitting a sloppy lariat.

Snow grabs a chair to work Boss man with and we See Road Dogg standing next to them with a microphone to call commentary. They make their way through the curtain and Road Dogg follows them but not before picking up Boss Man’s nightstick. When we are through the curtain we see both men down and Snow grabbing his knee. They both return to their feet and Boss Man gets the advantage with a series of uppercuts and a chalkboard to the back of Al Snow. This is where Boss Man grabs the carrying crate that we last saw Pepper in and starts to beat Snow with said crate before he tosses it aside. They make their way farther into the arena as Road Dogg follows and commentates on the various hardcore shenanigans including Boss Man stealing a crutch from a man and beating Snow with it. Snow just manages to dodge a propane tank that is thrown at him and goes through the glass front of a Pepsi display instead. Snow than beats him off a van before he tells some crew members to open the garage door to the outside, that they whip each other into as it raises up.

They eventually fight into the street and across it. This is kinda crazy as they continue to fight outside the arena as some people look on. Imagine just eating a burger and you look out the window to see Al Snow and Big Boss Man fighting outside the restaurant. That’s a story to tell right there. Snow attempts the first cover in the streets after a superkick but Boss Man manages to kick out. Boss Man then throws Snow through some plastic tables and the ref slips on the remnants trying to count the pin. Snow kicks-out so Boss Man leads him into a bar and starts to hit him with a phonebook. I’m sure this is a work but the patrons of the establishment sell it as if its real. Snow knocks Boss Man to the ground with a flurry of right hands and while the Boss Man is down he takes a moment to shake a fan’s hand and admire a beautiful lady. Nice touch Al. They make their way towards the restrooms and take a quick detour to break some brooms over each others backs. Once in the bathroom they trade some more punches before an Al Snow eye-rake leads to him shoving a urinal cake into the face of Boss Man.

When they return to the bar area Snow gets a beer bottle from a “customer” that he breaks over Boss Man’s head and then a chain, that he begins to choke him with. Snow then puts him on a table and moonsaults off the bar onto him and through the table. This is the coolest spot of the match. Boss Man is first to his feet and continues to beat Snow into the pool room. Once there, Boss Man grabs a beer bottle from a fan, chugs it and then returns the favor to Al by busting it over his head. Boss Man tries to take the mic from Road Dogg but when he turns around Dogg hits him in the back with the nightstick. He falls onto a pool table and Snow uses two pool balls to hit Boss Man in the balls before he makes the cover and is declared the new WWF hardcore Champion. Al Snow goes running back to the arena after he is awarded the pinfall to presumably check on Pepper’s well being. When he returns to the garage area Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie, both of ECW fame, are standing there and they have Pepper. Snow beats them up eventually using the remaining crutch of the guy still standing there. For what it was, the match actually kept me entertained and I’ll honestly say I didn’t expect that going into it. All the gimmicks made the match into something watchable and I even enjoyed the re-occurring Pepper storyline. Match Time: 7:25

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