On this special 350th Episode of the show, the Big Five Project returns as we enter the year PC Tunney has been looking forward to for a very long time. 1997 is here and so to is the Attitude Era. More or less anyway. We begin what will surely be an epic run of episodes here on the Big Five Project with Royal Rumble ’97. It was a night that saw the WWE return to a stadium as over 61,000 fans packed the Alamodome in San Antonio to see the boyhood dream come true all over again as Shawn Michaels reclaimed the WWF Championship from Sycho Sid. But it was also the night that saw “Stone Cold’ Steve Austin capture the first of his three Royal Rumble wins, and the most controversial of all of them as Austin was eliminate, but the refs never saw it. Austin’s victory would set off a wild chain reaction of events that would completely shift the landscape for WrestleMania XIII. In reality, the entire evening was a who’s-who of huge players in WWF at the time, even if they still were not quite fully aligned with the gimmicks that would launch the industry into the stratosphere. It was an epic night in every sense of the word so come with us deep into the heart of Texas and celebrate as the Attitude Era begins to hit its stride with Royal Rumble ’97!

With WWE Clash In Italy fast approaching, Chris King looks back at the first Clash In The Castle!

We are a few weeks away from WWE Clash In Italy PLE, which airs on May 31st. Chris King has gone back to look at the 2022 Clash At The Castle PLE and the matches with the most important future implications. 

Alexa Bliss, Asuka, and Bianca Belair vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky 

All six superstars started the match in front of this wild UK crowd. The babyfaces took advantage early with a triple suplex, and Bianca Bel-Air hit her patented springboard moonsault and covered Bayley, Iyo Sky, and Dakota Kai for a near fall. Alexa Bliss and Sky got the match going with some fast-paced offense. Bliss hit their Glitz Flip, and Sky tagged in the leader of Damage Control. Despite the crowd chanting for Bayley, “I wanna know, will you be my girl?” the methodical heel would purposely tag out for most of this match. 

Bliss hit a beautiful sunset flip powerbomb and covered Sky, but Kai was the legal participant, so she ate a huge kick. Asuka and Sky now went toe-to-toe with some incredibly fast-paced action (I can’t wait to watch their match at Backlash); these two have insane chemistry. The crowd wanted the Raw Women’s Champion and Bayley tagged in. The EST is showcasing her raw power over all of Damage Control. The babyfaces looked to rally after a superplex off of Belair’s back. The heels took advantage of the numbers game; Kai hit her signature Kaio Kick, Bayley delivered Rose Plant, and Sky hit her picture-perfect moonsault. Bayley got the huge victory for Damage Control! 

• This was a breakout performance for the new dangerous trio “Damage Control.” Bayley was such a genius changing the theme music so the crowd couldn’t sing it. That’s Heel 101. Bayley tagging out and not giving the UK crowd what they wanted was brilliant. 
• Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky would run roughshod on SmackDown for the entire year with some amazing performances, including headlining WarGames. The Damage Control storyline would continue through the next two years, and Bayley would ultimately win the Women’s 

Championship from Iyo Sky at WrestleMania 40.

Gunther VS. Sheamus (Intercontinental Championship) 

Ludwig Kaiser introduced Giovanni Vinci, bringing back together Imperium as ‘The Ring General’ made his way down to the ring. The bell rang, and the punishment began as Sheamus’s chest was already red. Gunter chopped ‘The Celtic Warrior’ right off the turnbuckle to the outside. The challenger was writhing in pain as Gunther locked in a Boston Crab. 

Sheamus was fighting for his life to become a grand-slam champion here, taking all of the champions’ brutality. Gunther delivered a nasty bodyslam to Sheamus on the outside. The Celtic Warrior was finally able to deliver The 10 Beats of the Bodhran for a count of twelve. 

Midway through the match, both the champion and the challenger got into a slugfest, and Sheamus hit a loud knee strike for a two-count! Sheamus delivered White Noise for another near-fall. The entire UK crowd was on their feet as the Brogue Kick was countered; 

Gunther hit his patented dropkick into the corner. Sheamus lifted Gunther up for the Celtic Cross from the turnbuckle for a count of 2.99! The Celtic Warrior tried to go for the brogue kick, but his back gave out. The Intercontinental Champion delivered a powerbomb followed by a colossal lariat to retain his prestigious title. 

Sheamus got a standing ovation from the raucous UK crowd despite his loss. He may not have won the intercontinental title, but he won their respect! 

• Both Brutes stood in the middle of the ring, staring at each other without throwing a punch as their faction members fought to solidify a singles match with no interference. That was so brilliant and creative to see. As soon as the match got underway, both superstars beat the holy hell of each other for 20+ minutes. 
• ‘The Ring General’ would have the longest reign of 666 days in WWE history as Intercontinental Champion, defeating the likes of Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, and Chad Gable. He would eventually lose to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 40, but Gunther has the bar so high with such an amazing reign.

Edge & Rey Mysterio VS. The Judgement Day 

Finn Balor and Rey Mysterio started the tag team match with some hard chops in the corner. Mysterio bounced back with some head-scissors takedown, and Damien Priest tagged in and clocked Edge with a nasty right hand. ‘The Rated-R Superstar was all fired up with some quick offense, sending Mysterio onto both JD members on the outside. 

Priest and Balor utilized the numbers game to take out their opponents with a leg drop and some double-team maneuvers. Mysterio had taken a lot of punishment and wanted to make the tag to Edge, but Priest prevented the tag with a big boot. 

The former leader of the JD came in firing on all cylinders, hitting some clotheslines and nailing Balor with an Edgecution. The UK crowd was going wild for Edge as he delivered his tag-partner’s signature 619, followed by a splash from Mysterio for a near-fall. 

Edge intercepted a chokeslam attempt on Mysterio with a spear to the outside! Dominik interfered to help his dad hit a sunset flip powerbomb, and Rhea Ripley made him pay. Mysterio and Edge ensured the victory with a 619 and a picture-perfect Spear! 

Following the match, Dominik would low-blow Edge and take his father’s head off with a wicked clothesline. This was the last time he was side-by-side with his father for the foreseeable future in WWE. 

• Edge was trying to get comeuppance on the faction he helped create and was kicked out of. The Judgment Day had been targeting and terrorizing Rey’s son Dominik for months now, who was at ringside. ‘The Rated-R Superstar would ultimately get his revenge on JD at WrestleMania 39, when he faced “The Demon” Finn Balor inside Hell in a Cell. 
• This was the birth of Dirty Dom, after being jealous of his dad choosing Edge as his tag partner instead of him. After the match, Dominik gave Edge a low blow and clotheslined his dad’s head off to a loud cheer from

the crowd. His heel turn has been the greatest creative decision in his young career. 

• Dirty Dom is a two-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time NXT North American Champion, and current AAA Mega Champion during his time in The Judgment Day, and he’s one step away from becoming world heavyweight champion. 

Roman Reigns VS. Drew McIntrye (WWE Undisputed Universal Championship) 

The always overconfident and arrogant undisputed champion and his challenger locked up with the power of one-upmanship. Reigns had been trash-talking his opponent, and McIntyre made his rival back away. The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion looks shook because of this insane UK crowd. 

The champion answered back with some heavy right hands to his challenger. Reigns looks scared as McIntrye has his way with the champion. Karrion Kross and Scarlet provided a distraction, which allowed Reigns to take advantage. The confident champion now is slowing down the match with explosive, powerful offense like we’ve seen throughout his title reign thus far. 

Reigns delivered a big boot, and his challenger kicked out at one! The champion mocked and trash-talked McIntrye and delivered some nasty punches. Both superstars tried to deliver suplexes to each other but to no avail. Reigns then grabbed the mic for Cardiff to acknowledge their Tribal Chief, and The Scottish Warrior hit a Glasgow Kiss to the champion. McIntyre fired up and delivered his patented belly-to-belly throws. The challenger wanted a Claymore Kick as Reigns left the ring. A spinebuster into a jackknife pinfall gave McIntrye a near-fall. 

The champion intercepted a Claymore Kick with a devastating Superman Punch for a two-count. The champion locked in the guillotine choke hold in an attempt to get McIntrye to submit. The challenger speared the champion through the barricade. Reigns again intercepted a Claymore Kick with another spear for a 2.99!

McIntyre clocked Reigns with a Claymore Kick to the back of the head and into the referee, Charles Robinson. Austin Theory then made an attempt to cash in his MITB, but Tyson Fury knocked his lights out from the crowd. Back in the ring, the champion has a chair and ate a Claymore Kick for yet another near-fall! 

A slugfest ensued between both superstars, followed by a blitz of offense, a headbutt, a spear by the challenger, and a Claymore Kick. McIntyre was one second away from being WWE Undisputed Universal Champion, but Solo Sikoa pulled the referee out before the three-count. Reigns capitalized and delivered a massive spear for the victory! 

• ‘The Scottish Warrior’ Drew McIntrye made an amazing entrance, which was highlighted by a storybook video package with his Broken Dreams theme song! The raucous crowd was red-hot for the biggest match of McIntyre’s career since his breakout year in 2020, which was thwarted by Covid. The UK crowd was chanting, “Oh, Drew McIntyre,” before the champion made his entrance. 
• Roman Reigns always looks like a million bucks during his elaborate entrance; this time he was all alone. ‘The Tribal Chief’ had his most difficult title defense to date. Drew McIntyre has always been a thorn in Reigns’ side, ever since returning to WWE in 2018. Reigns went on to have a history-making 1,316-day title reign until Cody Rhodes defeated him at WrestleMania 40. The Tribal Chief won this year’s Royal Rumble and won the World Championship from CM Punk in a five-star classic. 
• Solo Sikoa made his shocking debut when McIntrye delivered a Claymore Kick and pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the count. The Scottish Warrior has not had the same amount of momentum since the PLE. Yes, he won the world title for about four minutes and was the WWE Undisputed Champion for a month this year, but still, he hasn’t felt like a dangerous threat. Since Sikoa’s debut on the main roster, he’s been the silent enforcer for The Bloodline, the Tribal Chief, and now the leader of the MFTs. He has portrayed a menacing and funny heel at times, and I could see him becoming WWE or World Heavyweight Champion by next year.