Grilling JR - No Way Out 2003 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This week JR - we continue our look back at the WWE from 20 years ago and man is there a lot happening.

Last month we looked back at the Royal Rumble 2003 - which you can check out in your archives!

But coming out of the Rumble the big plans come together quickly - Hulk Hogan & Steve Austin are returning to the WWE. From the Observer:

“The WWE went back to plans for a Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon match at Wrestlemania, as well as set the stage for the return of Steve Austin at the 2/23 No Way Out PPV in angles this week.

Just like last year, there was a lot of opposition to McMahon’s decision to bring back Hogan after the two had a falling out over Hogan’s refusal to come back and put Brock Lesnar over at the Survivor Series. It had been clear that Hogan himself was angling to come back for the big Mania payoff and match with McMahon, but the odds had seemingly lessened until the past week.”

JR - you’ve always talked about wanting to build a team and a good environment - where does Hulk fit into all this?

Did Vince think he needed Hogan back - and if he was returning - why against Vince?

“Hogan returned to an eight minute standing ovation on 1/21 in Albany at the Smackdown tapings. The storyline is that Stephanie signed Hogan to a contract against the wishes of Vince. After the big pop, Vince came out on the show and talked about how disappointed he was in Stephanie, saying that Hogan was as dead as Al Wilson. Hogan said he had one person he wanted to get in the ring with, and when he asked the fans to guess who that was, he decked Vince, which is the close of the show.”

Look - the angle is great - but really at the end of the day - Hogan vs. Vince is the story they’re going to tell. But at No Way Out it’s the rematch of the biggest WrestleMania match from the year before - as Hogan will take on Rock. Were you surprised that they would go with this on what the WWE has always considered a B show?

“The night before, Eric Bischoff had announced he was inviting Austin to return at No Way Out.

In a smart move, they announced that Austin would be doing an interview for tell his side of the story when he walked out on the company last June, in an interview in Raw magazine.”

How important were you to the deal to bring Austin back?

Did you realize at the time - it was for only 2 matches?

What was Steve’s mental and physical state at this time?

Is this…too much of a good thing?

At this time Raven & Justin Credible are both released. The Observer would report that there were a lot of issues with Credible not showing up or showing up late…but Raven seemed to come from out of left field as he had just had a program started with Test. What do you remember of all this?

Raven immediately goes to TNA and works on top with Jeff Jarrett for the NWA Title. Why do you think Raven struggled in his WWE run?

There’s also a pretty infamous incident that takes place around the time of the Royal Rumble and it comes out after wards. Brian Gewirtz - head writer of Raw - and Paul Heyman were both suspended due to their behaviors towards each other. Are you there for this? Was this all silly & ridiculous?

On Raw the push continues for Hunter to take on Scott Steiner after the Rumble. Did no one realize this was a bad idea?

There’s teases at the time of a Jeff Hardy heel turn. He’s one of the few the WWE never really turned. Why is that do you think?

From the Observer:

“Test vs. Jericho ended in 4:54 with a major angle. Jericho hit the ringpost with a chair when Test moved. It made a great sound and they pretended it hit Keibler. She was selling like she was dead, and Ross & Lawler were selling it like it was an Owen Hart deal by not doing commentary.

This was a great idea for the wrong people. The audience seemed to buy it, which is no easy feat these days. The problem is, what did this accomplish? You can only do this angle once, and it should be a main event angle, and they did it for Keibler. The giveaways were that the cameras were doing close-ups. That, and Jericho clearly showing it was and Test being the worst actor on the planet. But they sold it without a trace of comedy.”

When there’s a heavy injury angle - and you go silent - Owen is always brought up. Why is that do you think?

“Teddy Long came out with Brown and said that Brown wasn’t in the Rumble due to racism and played the big-time racial angle, even using Martin Luther King’s Birthday to get heat. They were about 35 years out of date on this one. Long said that what happened to King (he was murdered) showed that pacifism doesn’t work. This was so tasteless because it accomplishes nothing. It won’t draw a dime, and only makes people watching think the company is beyond desperate again. Yet another sign regarding how far in advance the company does its planning. Monday at 3 p.m.

Teddy, who was taken off ref duties months ago, was sitting at home in his easy chair watching television. He suddenly gets a phone call saying that a car will pick him up soon and they want him on Raw that night. That’s literally when he got the call and found out he was back on TV and told of his role. Given that, I thought his delivery and performance were good.”

Hard to disagree with Meltzer here on the creative - but was that really the story about Teddy being at home do you remember?

From the Observer:

“John Laurinaitis is said to be pushing hard for the spot running the talent relations department, which is Jim Ross’ job. Laurinaitis appeared to be groomed to eventually take over the spot, and there have been rumors for months regarding this, getting stronger with the idea that Ross would retire from the position by the end of this year.

Vince McMahon has talked with Ross about slowing down, but Ross is wanting to delegate more to Laurinaitis.”

You’ve touched on this in the last few episodes - but what can you tell us about the Vince - Johnny Ace - JR dynamic at this time frame?

“Lex Luger is telling friends that despite all the heat from the past and the bad reviews he’s gotten, he expects a call soon, feeling Vince is a mark for size, he’s 300 pounds, and that they are also marks for delivering surprises and they are running out of candidates”

You think Lex was ever on the radar at this time?

“With No Way Out being on 2/23 in Montreal, there was heavy pressure to convince Bret Hart to come to the show. Apparently this didn’t come from Vince McMahon, because when McMahon found out Hart got the invite, he said he thought it was too soon and that Hart wouldn’t agree to it. Besides, given that Austin and Hogan are both coming back at the show, Hogan of which was unknown to those who made the call to Hart, it would have been overkill even if Hart wanted to do it. Hart by that time had already turned it down.”

Do you reach out to Bret - does someone else? Did anybody actually think this would happen back then?

There’s talk at the time of the PPVs splitting between Raw & SmackDown and that does become a reality after WrestleMania. What did you think of the decision - what did the boys think - and did you think it was a good idea?

Tough Enough’s fourth season comes to a close and Matt Cappotelli & John Hennigan (now Johnny wherever he’s working) becoming winners - why did you pick them?

What did you think of Matt’s incident with Hardcore Holly that aired?

Raw runs a sellout crowd in South Korea and two packed houses in Japan. How big was international business at the time JR?

From the Observer:

“As a cost-cutting measure, they are going to be booking less wrestlers, referees and agents on the road starting in February. That would probably mean fewer matches per show, or at least, fewer tag matches and more singles. A lot of the lower level talent will have fewer bookings, but there is an attempt to get them more to on-sale events, send them to do advance media work and do appearances at The World, which they will be paid for. Those wrestlers will be allowed to take indie dates when there are no conflicts with the WWE schedule.”

Where did the change in policy come from here?

Was it Vince feeling the downturn in business?

B2 - Barry Buchanan - is let go. Why do you think it didn’t work out for him?

A classic Raw match takes place in Chicago when Victoria and Trish squared off in a street fight and Victoria would get the win with help from Stevie Richards. Jazz would then return after the match and attack and lay out Trish Stratus. There’s a lot of women in the company at the time. Did it ever feel like it was recycled over and over again with the women?

“Bryan Danielson (American Dragon) was told last week that they would bring him in more regularly for TV jobs and dark matches but they wanted him to get a haircut and a tan”

Are you the one communicating these things to talent or is this the road agents job at the tapings he would be at?

Austin does a quasi in character interview with the Raw magazine for his return - and he blames himself for the heel turn. Looking back - do you think that was the reason business crashed like it did in 01?

Stingis doing promotional work for the company World Wrestling All-Stars at the time and had this to say:

“He said that he came very close to making an appearance at Wrestlemania but they weren’t able to complete the deal in time. He talked about being interested in one last run, as his positive experience wrestling on the last WWA tour has gotten him back interested.

In the past, he had cited religious beliefs as the reason he couldn’t see ever working for McMahon (it should be noted here that every wrestler who claims they will never work for McMahon, at some point always negotiates with him anyway). The real holdup is scheduling, as he’s made it clear he will never do a full-time schedule.”

Did you talk with Sting? Did Vince? What were the real issues and why do you think it took so long for Sting to enter the WWE?

Austin vs. Bischoff is eventually announced for No Way Out when Austin rejoins the company. Were you surprised to see Steve & Eric be Steve’s first piece of business in his return?

From the Observer:

“Test & Keibler came out. I was pissed because she looked like Keibler, no make-up bruise on the face, no pantomimed headache, no neck brace. It was bad enough they wasted an angle that some people fell for on a mid-card feud, but worse that when she came back, she didn’t even sell it. Test demanded an apology from Jericho.

Ross said he had nightmares over the incident. I’ll bet he did if he knew she was going to come out and not sell it after how hard they worked to get it over.”

This…this is just bad is it not JR?

Evolution is finally named by the group of Hunter, Randy Orton, Batista & Ric Flair. What did you think of the concept of Evolution? Not a surprise they didn’t call it the Horsemen right?

“Orton backstage called a disconsolate Goldust a “loser.” He and Batista went after him, ending with Batista throwing Goldust into an electrical board. Sparks flew and Goldust was electrocuted. They tried to sell it as a serious angle, but after what Keibler had done earlier in the show, this wasn’t the week to bring out the stretcher and the oxygen. Nobody bought it, made worse by them using the “this isn’t part of the show” voice to sell an angle the fans crapped on.”

This is just too much on the serious injury angles is it not?

Did you know at this point - Steiner wasn’t going to make Mania with Hunter and it was time to find someone else for the role?

In Philly for Smackdown our old friend Bruce returns on TV coming out of a box as Brother Love only to be choke slammed and tombstoned. You enjoyed watching that didn’t you?

Also on Smackdown Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas win the tag team titles from Chavo & Eddy in a great match. Were you proud to see Shelton & Haas succeeding?

Hunter is hurt and is unable to wrestle at both a Minneapolis house show and at MSG and fans were not happy about it. The replacement is Team Angle running a gauntlet match against Brock. Are you the point person who has to correct these things and issues back then?

From the Observer:

“Depositions are starting to be taken in the Tiger Ali Singh termination lawsuit including from some of the wrestlers in Puerto Rico. The deal here is that Singh is claiming he suffered a career ending concussion from a chair shot while doing an outdoor show in the rain. While the injury occurred in an IWA ring and not a WWE ring, he was under contract and being paid by WWE and loaned out to IWA at the time of the injury. He’s also complaining about certain angles that he claimed desecrated his heritage”

What can you tell us about the lawsuit with Tiger Ali?

For the first time in almost a year - 6 million people tune in to Raw on February 10th - and the story of the show is all about how you’re save Eric Bischoff’s job. What a turn of events that is wasn’t it?

From the Observer:

“The Bischoff D-Day show opened with Bischoff admitting that he hadn’t signed Austin, and blamed Ross for Austin not signing. Ross brought up that Bischoff fired Austin in WCW and said he wasn’t marketable enough to make it. Bischoff ended up firing Ross unless he guaranteed that Austin would be at No Way Out. I guess it worked out in the end with the angle, but they must never pair Coachman up with Lawler again. It was made worse by Lawler acting like he was helpless and hopeless without Ross holding his hand. Coachman kept saying how this is JR’s job.”

Art imitating life?

“Ross was hanging out in the parking garage talking to Steve, while Howard Finkel tried to find out the scoop. Ross blew off Finkel, explaining he wasn’t talking to Austin, who he hasn’t been able to reach, but talking with his friend Steve from Oklahoma.”

Are you comfortable being the focus of the show? I mean even at some point Vince shows up super late for his own show and sees you in the parking garage and is pissed you’re not announcing. Quite the change from previous angles in the WWE is it not?

Eventually Vince fires Bischoff and Bischoff would come across you in the parking lot and you blow him off after Eric claims all their problems were business and not personal. How good was Eric in this role JR?

“Keibler said she had gotten Test a marketing deal with a company called GGW (Girls Gone Wild PPV, which Bischoff talked WWE into getting involved with).”

Looking back - not one of the better deals for the WWE was it?

“Vince was about to announce the new General Manager when Ross came out. Crowd popped pretty big, thinking he’d gotten a promotion. But he instead told Vince that he convinced Austin to come to No Way Out. JR was reinstated, and not a minute too soon. Vince agreed to rehire Bischoff and Morley, but wanted Bischoff to kiss his ass. He pulled down his pants, although he wasn’t going nearly as nutty as he did with this angle at the end of 2001. Bischoff refused to kiss Vince’s ass, so Vince instead ordered him to wrestle Austin on PPV.”

I mean - it is what it is - we get Austin back in a ring on pay-per-view. But against Eric…

The next week on SmackDown…Chris Kanyon appears as a Boy George type character and is destroyed by Taker just like Brother Love was the week before. This has gotten some heat in the past few years with Chris’ suicide sadly. Do you think this was ill in nature by the company?

From the Observer:

“The plan is for Goldust to return a changed man after being electrocuted. He’ll now have all sorts of psychological problems, including Tourette’s syndrome. The deal is that Dustin on airplanes and in the dressing room as often pretended to have Tourette’s syndrome as a joke. Lesson No. 1 in wrestling. Don’t ever cut promos on an airplane that you don’t want to cut on live television”

I mean come on JR what are we doing here…

Well I can tell you what Hunter & Stephanie are doing. They get engaged around this time. Were you surprised when it came out?

From the Observer:

“In what turned out to be one of the strangest stories of contract negotiations in recent times, Tenacious Z (Zachary Gowen) verbally agreed to a three-year contract with WWE on 2/14, reportedly for a $52,000 per year downside guarantee.

Gowen had been offered a 26-date contract by TNA at $500 per shot on 2/12 by Bob Ryder, but hadn’t signed it when he left the arena that night, likely because he had gotten word that day of WWE’s interest.”

Isn’t the story that you told Johnny Ace to sign the one legged wrestler - and he signed the wrong one?

Why Zach here?

Also sadly Curt Hennig passes away. How did you hear about Mr. Perfect’s death?

“D-Lo Brown was given notice that he’ll be let go when his contract cycle runs out on 3/1. His downside guarantee of $350,000, negotiated during the good times, may have been part of the reason.”

Was it just about cash or was it cash & creative at this time for D’Lo?

D’Lo gets his role that we talked about earlier taken by Redd Dogg - Jazz’s husband - Rodney Begnaud. What did you think of Redd Dogg?

From the Observer:

“Dreamer has been helping write Raw the past two weeks. At this point, Dreamer has been put on the committee as a try-out and it’s not like it’s a position he’s officially been given. It’s obvious the company has no plans for Dreamer as a wrestler, so if it works out, he would probably become a full-time writer. Most of the writing the past few weeks, which have had a lower nonsense quotient than Raw had during its embarrassing run, has been done by Vince. Dreamer is mainly observing the process at this point.”

What did you think of Tommy in this creative role?

“The reason Test & Keibler have so much heat is that they were in Columbus, OH doing promotional work on 2/15 and John Laurinaitis told them it would be a good idea to stay because of the expected blizzard. They decided to go back home to Baltimore anyway, and had trouble landing. I believe their flight was redirected to Philadelphia and they had to drive to Baltimore, so they were well aware of travel problems. On 2/16, from Baltimore, they were talking with Laurinaitis again about problems getting to Columbus. Laurinaitis told them to wake up at 5 a.m., and check at the airport. If the airport was snowed in, they should drive to Columbus (a lot of the crew that lived in New York and couldn’t get a flight for Smackdown such as Tazz and Michael Cole drove to Indianapolis). At Noon, still in Baltimore, they called Laurinaitis again, and at that point it would have been impossible to make it. ”

This is just a bad look all around for both of them isn’t it?

The next week on Raw Chief Morley announces that Bischoff and you will be in the main event wrestling. This was Vince’s idea wasn’t it?

“Steiner & Booker beat HHH & Batista in 6:54. HHH worked his fair share. He was clearly injured and moving slowly, but he wasn’t an embarrassment. Steiner didn’t look good. Finish saw Steiner use a blizzard suplex on HHH and Booker got the clean pin with an ax kick.”

At this point - Scott’s been around the business long enough. He knows his program is dead and it’s Booker next at Mania right?

“Bischoff beat Ross in 3:42. This was by no means a good match, but it was very emotional and excellent business as when it was over, people were a hell of a lot more interested in Austin vs. Bischoff and seeing Austin give Bischoff a beating. Ross was doing great promos throughout the show for the match. Bischoff was breaking boards and a watermelon with punches and kicks and claiming to be a former world champion in karate.

Ross slapped Bischoff hard (hard enough that some thought he intentionally potatoed him) before Morley interfered. Ross sold the rest of the way and juiced heavy. Lawler came out to make the save, but Morley posted him and both announcers were taking a beating. Bischoff finally kicked a cinder block, which exploded near Ross’ head, giving the impression he kicked it into Ross’ head and pinned him. Bischoff mocked Austin by doing the beer drinking and poured beer all over Ross.”

Let’s get this straight JR. You bladed - slapped Bischoff in the face stiffly, took a cinder block…this is a rough night at the office isn’t it?

Rock & Hogan are the focus over on SmackDown while Brock and Kurt are starting to rev up their piece of business. What were you more interested in seeing?

“Tim White is returning, but working as a road agent instead of referee. It’s probably safer as White has suffered his fair share of injuries in the striped shirt.”

Sadly Tim isn’t with us any longer - but how was he as a road agent?

We’re at the show now JR and it’s somewhat well received with a 52.4% voting majority giving it a thumbs up.

The show is successful in terms of total buyrate - 450,000 buys. But compare it to No Way Out the year before - the nWo debut with 575,000 buys and the month before at Rumble with 585,000 buys…Hogan vs. Rock wasn’t the draw the WWE thought it was was it?

Is this a disappointment considering it’s that match along with Steve’s return?

This is the first time a WWE pay-per-view is taking place in Montreal since the Screwjob.

From the Observer:

“Another big question going in was the Montreal reaction on a show with Canadian heels as well as the return of Shawn Michaels. Before the show started, they aired on the video wall, the Heat show which featured the Confidential piece from the night before on Curt Hennig. Every time Michaels’ face was on the screen, the boos were thunderous. Before the PPV started, to turn Jericho heel in the opener, they had him call Montreal a city of ass clowns and had him get into a confrontation where Grenier punked him out in French, partially to turn him babyface to set up his screw job main event. Still, the fans cheered Jericho (but didn’t really boo Jeff Hardy) during the opener. When Michaels came out for a post-match brawl with Jericho, the reaction at first was booing, but it was overwhelmed by louder cheering from people happy to see another superstar live that they weren’t expecting.”

Did it feel any different? I mean Vince always said Canada was bizzaro world.

Edge was unable to wrestle as his neck had finally given out on him. Did you know at this time was to be a major surgery?

From the Observer:

“Generally it was a strong crowd for most of the show, with a sellout 15,114 paying $897,570 Canadian, ($595,089 U.S.)”

That’s a hell of a number isn’t it?

You’re kept off commentary for most of the show until Austin’s return - what do you do during the show?

“1. Chris Jericho beat Jeff Hardy in 12:59 with an old-school boston crab.

Crowd was hot for this match, but Jeff was all over the place early on. Hardy did a corkscrew type dive off a springboard to the floor. Jericho was cut hard way early on. Tons of near falls including Hardy using the swanton and Jericho getting his foot on the ropes. Finish saw Jericho block a huracanrana off the top into a power bomb off the middle ropes, followed by his new version of the walls. After the match, Jericho wouldn’t break the hold. Michaels came out, which led to Christian coming out for the double-team. Michaels cleaned house on both and laid out Christian with a superkick. ***¼”

The Jeff story gets lost here - but man Jericho and Michaels. That was a dream match wasn’t it?

“2. Lance Storm & William Regal retained the Raw tag titles over Rob Van Dam & Kane in 9:20.

Regal was shaken up early when Kane dropped him hard on the back of his head doing a bodyslam, causing him to get a legit concussion. When Van Dam did a running flip dive over the top on both, Regal, still shaken up, fell out of the way but Storm broke the fall. Regal looked fine later in the match. Finish saw Storm pull Kane’s mask around so he “couldn’t see” and he accidentally choke slammed Van Dam. Regal pinned Van Dam to win the match. Van Dam walked out on Kane afterwards. **¼”

It’s scary to see Regal get dropped but eventually get his bearings back. Good thing it’s no longer that now isn’t it?

“3. Matt Hardy won the cruiserweight title from Billy Kidman in 9:31.

This had the least crowd reaction live. Kidman hit a pescado early. People got into it by the finish, after Kidman missed a shooting star press and they had a lot of near falls with the crowd doing their two chants in French. When Shannon Moore distracted Kidman, Hardy won with a twist of fate off the ropes. ***”

Billy Kidman - not someone we talk a lot about - what did you think of him and Matt’s match?

“4. Undertaker beat Big Show with a triangle choke in 14:08.

Undertaker bladed after three head-butts by Show early. Show blew up fast and Undertaker had to totally carry this. He mostly sold. After a big comeback, ending when Undertaker had Show tapping from a dragon sleeper, Paul Heyman distracted the ref, so he missed it. A-Train hit the ring for the save. Undertaker did a running dive over the top onto both Show and Train. Finish saw Show do a sloppy choke slam, and when he went for the cover, Undertaker used a triangle. Crowd live really didn’t understand the move. A-Train laid out Undertaker after the match with the tree slam. **”

Bowling shoe ugly wouldn’t you say JR?

“5. Brock Lesnar & Chris Benoit beat Kurt Angle & Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin in 13:19.

Angle and Lesnar worked too much together to keep the specialness of their first meeting at Mania intact. Benoit used a German suplex on Angle and three more on Benjamin. Benjamin at one point nearly splattered Lesnar’s nose with a superkick. Very physical hard style match. Lesnar made a hot tag and gave Angle and Benjamin belly-to-belly suplexes that put them nearly into orbit. Match ended with a great series of ankle lock and crossface reversals by Benoit and Angle. Haas saved Angle from a crossface, but Benoit then locked Haas in the crossface, while Lesnar delivered an F-5 to Angle to stop him from making a save as Haas tapped. ****”

Was it too much Brock & Kurt do you think?

“6. HHH pinned Scott Steiner in 13:01.

Crowd had turned on Steiner after seeing him throw punches for 90 seconds. Crowd started chanting “Steiner sux.” Then they started chanting “You screwed Bret”as ref Earl Hebner. Steiner took a hard shot into the steps. Then came the loud “boring” chants. HHH and Hebner did the spot designed to get the ref over as a face. Well, that wasn’t the best idea. HHH took the Harley Race bump over the top. Steiner used a fall away slam off the ropes but Ric Flair made the save. Steiner put HHH in the recliner when Flair signaled to the back. Just as a warning to those who don’t know history and are doomed to repeat it, the time right before the bottom fell out of Jim Crockett Promotions attendance was when Sting had Flair in a scorpion and fans, instead of cheering because they were expecting a title change, all turned to the back, figuring the run-in before it came. Randy Orton and Dave Batista came in to bump for Steiner and turn him babyface. Well, they accomplished the first part. HHH nailed Steiner with a belt shot for a near fall, then pinned him after a pedigree. 3/4*”

Was that when JCP lost it all?

Austin’s return is next…from the Observer:

“While the crowd was going crazy, described as a similar reaction to the biggest wins in Montreal Canadiens’ history, Ross was so over-the-top screaming to try and make it one of those legendary moments in wrestling history that it almost came across as a spoof.”

Were you genuinely happy Steve was returning?

“7. Steve Austin pinned Eric Bischoff in 4:26 of a scream-along-with JR session.

Austin looked bigger, as noted a few weeks ago. He basically destroyed Bischoff and beat him up pretty good. The only moment of offense Bischoff got was an eye rake and a kick to the chest, which Austin laughed off. He gave him a stunner and picked him up at two. Then did it a second time and picked him up. After the third stunner, he got the pin. A big part of Austin’s routine is gone, the post-match beer deal, due to terms of his probation in the domestic assault case. By the letter of the law, Austin is not allowed to drink any alcohol until 11/25. At the time of his sentencing, Assistant Bexar County District Attorney Scott “I’m not Nikita” Simpson said that they would likely not enforce it when it came to his beer celebration deal because that would be considered play acting. Apparently, there has been a change of heart. After he did the beer deal after Raw ended on 2/10 in Los Angeles, he was told by court officials that if he continued to do it, they would consider it a probation violation. Austin said they actually used Near Beer as opposed to real beer in Los Angeles, but the court asked him not to do it at all because of the message it sends. He left the ring, then came back twice for curtain call like responses. **¼”

What did you think of the match - was it the best role for Steve - and him not being able to drink because of his charges…

“8. Rock beat Hulk Hogan in 12:20.

Rock got very little reaction coming out. Part of it also may have been new music, but even when he came out, people didn’t know whether to cheer or boo even though he had ring presence like nobody’s business. Hogan tried to bump. Rock went for a rock bottom right away and Hogan barely got off the ground. His knees and back are shot, no matter how much his tan and physique disguise his condition. People will always react to him, but he was like watching Crusher and Mad Dog in the 80s. Rock did a people’s elbow to shockingly little response. He did a second, pausing to do a Hogan pose. Hogan kicked out and Hulked up, also to surprisingly little reaction. Hogan hit the legdrop and ref Sylvian Grenier counted two before the lights went out. When they went back on, everyone was laid out with a chair in the ring. Vince McMahon strutted down to the ring. Grenier shoved the chair to Rock, who clocked Hogan with it. Hogan bladed. Rock hit the rock bottom. Grenier popped up unharmed and counted three. Vince then took off his shirt, looking like a guy a month away from competing in the Mr. Olympia over-55 contest (they really used to have something similar to that until a few years ago). DUD

“Hogan and Rock failed to come close to recapturing whatever it was they had at Wrestlemania. It was probably a combination of the crowd being exhausted after screaming so loudly for Austin, and people know Rock is supposed to be a heel and boo him, but really don’t want to, causing him to get very little reaction coming out, combined with a terrible match, that ended the show on a bad note. As far as the match went, the two never got together for a practice session to lay things out move-for-move with Pat Patterson, as they did at Mania. Hogan looked far worse in the ring than anyone on the show, and partially because of that, it was Rock’s worst match on a PPV show since becoming a major star. But the crowd had enough respect for Hogan to overlook it, although not enough to make it come across well.””

Do you think this is as bad as Dave says it is?

What say you JR - thumbs up, thumbs down, in the middle?