From the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina; November 18, 2001
Commentators: Jim Ross (WWF) & Paul Heyman (Alliance)
There are thirty billion titles floating around the WWF at this point so I’m not going to bother with the championship roll call for this PPV. The WCW/ECW Alliance had invaded the WWF with all of their titles and they haven’t been unified yet; most of that will occur at this PPV. The main event for this show is a traditional Survivor Series match with the WWF facing the WCW/ECW Alliance and the winning team’s company survives. All of the wrestlers that “work” for the losing company are fired (unless you have a title or win the immunity battle royal). The stage for the show is pretty cool with two separate entrances for the WWF and the WCW/ECW Alliance.
WWF European Championship Christianvs. Al Snow: This was set up on Sunday Night Heat because Christian was being a douche to commentator Al Snow. Christian is with the Alliance; pre-match, Christian thinks he is in South Carolina and cuts an odd promo where it appears he forgot half of his lines. Al Snow (WWF) uses the original Tough Enough theme. Snow takes Christian down and rides him into a headlock; he continues to outwrestle Christian. They go through a neat reversal whip spot where Snow slides under Christian’s legs, while maintaining the arm, and hits a pump-handle backdrop suplex. Snow punches away but Christian momentums him into the buckles; Snow fights back but Christian tosses him into the corner and hits a Russian leg sweep. He applies a chinlock. Snow fights out and they punch each other; Christian counters the arm-trap head-butts with a nice double-arm suplex. Paul Heyman makes a good point regarding WWF referee Teddy Long (or any other WWF or Alliance referee tonight) calling the match unevenly, since he fears for his job as well. Christian roughs up Snow in the corner but he comes back with the arm-trap head-butts. He tosses Christian in to the corner and hits a Stan Hansen like lariat to the back of the head. Snow gets a nearfall off a savate kick; Christian charges right into a Sky High. Snow questions the count which allows Christian to hit the reverse DDT (miscalled the Unprettier by Jim Ross). Snow comes back sliding through Christian’s legs, to the floor, tripping him up; he reenters via a top-rope crossbody, which Christian reverses and nearly gets the pinfall. Snow hits the Snowplow but it’s too close to the ropes and Christian has the wherewithal to get his foot on the ropes. Snow thinks he’s won and Christian slips out of the ring. Christian catches Snow coming in with the Unprettier (to which JR realizes his earlier error and corrects himself) for three. 6.5/10 Good match; criminally short for a pay-per-view though.
WWF Champion Steve Austin (the leader of the Alliance) arrives late to the arena and the rest of the Alliance team awaits him. The Alliance wonders if Austin is rejoining the WWF. Austin denies it but Shane McMahon gets in his face about it. Austin says to fall in line and kicks them all out of his office. Elsewhere Vince McMahon is with Linda McMahon who is concerned about injury. A nervous Michael Cole comes up and asks him about the possibility of the WWF ending tonight. McMahon cools his fears by taking “calculated risks” and alludes that someone on the Alliance team is in fact a WWF plant to end the Alliance. The Alliance Commissioner, William Regal, who used to be the WWF Commissioner but turned on the WWF, shows up and calls bullshit on McMahon and looks forward to embarrassing the McMahons.
Tajiri vs. William Regal: Regal (Alliance) attacked Tori Wilson (WWF) on SmackDown to set this up; Tajiri (WWF) is the WCW Cruiserweight Champion. Tajiri kicks Regal a lot; Regal comes back with a Finlay Roll. Regal hits some kicks and a Knee Trembler. Tajiri submarine dropkicks Regal’s knee and kicks some more. Regal comes back with European uppercuts and head-butts. Tajiri tries for the Tarantula but it goes horribly wrong, covered well by Regal, seamlessly into a kick. Regal charges in the opposite corner and there’s the Tarantula. Regal’s nose is bleeding. Tajiri hits the handspring elbow but Regal quickly hangs Tajiri headfirst in the ropes. Regal takes over and tries a butterfly bomb but Tajiri turns it into an arm drag. Regal ducks the Buzzsaw kick and hits the Butterfly Regal Bomb for three. Post-match, Regal hits another butterfly bomb. Tori comes out to check on Tajiri so Regal butterfly bombs her as well. 4/10 Short but they packed as much action into that short amount of time. This Regal got over but after the Alliance ended Regal went back to just another midcard heel.
Test (Alliance) is in the back oiling himself up for his match when Stacy Keibler (Alliance) shows up and they flirt. Elsewhere, Edge (WWF) compares himself to Test and says they are similar except that Test has been dumped by every chick on the planet; he then makes fun of Test’s Canadian pronunciation of the word “about”. Um, pot, kettle, black.
Edge vs. Test title unification match: Test (Alliance) is the WWF Intercontinental Champion and Edge (WWF) is the WCW United States Champion. Test won the IC title and Edge won the US title from Kurt Angle (Alliance) and so on… see how confusing this was? Edge has Rob Zombie’s Never Gonna Stop as his entrance music (I totally forgot aboot that). They lock up and Test strengths Edge into the corner; then Edge does the same thing. Test angrily misses a clothesline and Edge takes over with punches and then hits a crossbody. Test punches Edge in the corner and takes over again; Edge slips out of a suplex but Test clotheslines him. He stomps Edge out of the ring and clotheslines him onto the ring barricade twice. Back in the ring, Edge comes back with a hiptoss and a dropkick; Test retreats to the floor so Edge baseball slides him. Test catches Edge as he is reentering bur he comes back with a swinging neckbreaker. Test clotheslines Edge off the top rope and pummels him in the corner. He whips him cross-corner and hits a clothesline. He snapmares Edge into a reverse chinlock. Edge comes back with a second-rope missile dropkick. Test misses a clothesline but manages a gutwrench powerslam for a nearfall. Test charges in the corner but misses; Edge then misses the follow-up crossbody. They fight atop the turnbuckles and Edge blocks a superplex; Edge tires a sunset flip bomb but Test blocks and kicks Edge away. He rights himself on the top and leaps and gets dropkicked in midair. They both recover and trade blows; Edge begins to fire up with clotheslines, a spinning wheel kick and the inverted Side Effect. Test tries for the pump-handle slam but Edge slips over the back and hits the Edge-O-Matic for two. Test misses a clothesline and they run the ropes and Test hits a spear. That was a surprise; that was usually where the Edge spot for a spear happens. Test readies for the big boot but Edge ducks; Test sidesteps the spear and finally nails the pump-handle powerslam, which only gets two! Test tries a powerbomb but Edge counters with a hurracanrana and finally hits the spear, for two. Edge looks for the Impaler but Test counters into a full-nelson slam but Edge counters into a reverse roll up and sneaks out the pinfall. Edge unifies the IC and US titles and saves himself from getting fired. 7/10 Good match; ironically it wouldn’t matter in the long run since the US title would be resurrected a few years later anyway. This match was highly entertaining and they packed a lot of action into it; there was a nice hot counter-counter sequence down the stretch and I thought it was over several times before it actually ended.
In the back Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley is worried if the Alliance fails she will become a regular person. She screeches to Kurt Angle about it who tells her not to worry. He tells her that she is special and believes Steve Austin is with the Alliance but if he isn’t Kurt will make certain he won’t screw them. Elsewhere, Lita asks Jeff Hardy about Matt Hardy’s odd behavior. Matt comes out of his locker room and says everyone should be acting strange and fears for his job; he says that the WWF has been his dream and if they win their unification match tonight they can continue their dream. The plot thickens when Trish Stratus comes out of the locker room.
Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz (w/Stacy Keibler) tag title unification, steel cage (pinfall or escape) match: The Hardy Boyz (WWF) are the WWF Tag Champs and the Dudleyz (Alliance) are the WCW Tag Champs. Both teams lay their respective tag titles in front of them drawing lines in the sand. Bubba charges at Matt and misses; D-Von and Jeff actually sit in their respective corners to await tags. Matt takes Bubba down and punches him. Jeff tags and the Hardyz hit their fist drop/senton splash combo. Bubba catches Jeff with a Bossman Slam and gets two. D-Von tags in bur Jeff dropkicks him. Matt returns and backslides him for a nearfall. D-Von comes back with the Saving Grace, for two, as well; he plants the twirling reverse elbow. Bubba comes back in and hits a neckbreaker and drops elbows. D-Von tries to cage Matt Hardy but he blocks; the Dudleyz exchange again and Bubba tries to javelin Matt into the cage but he counters into a reverse DDT. Jeff tags in and takes out both Dudleyz. I think they finally got the point that it is a cage match and Matt just remains in the ring. The Hardyz hit Poetry in Motion on Bubba and then to D-Von. The Hardyz head over the top of the cage in opposite directions but the Dudleyz catch them. D-Von Russian leg sweeps Matt off the cage and Jeff receives a Bubba Bomb, off the top, on the other side. All four men are down. Bubba heads out of the ring but Matt catches him. A lapse in logic and psychology in this (and all pinfall/escape tag team cage matches)… why doesn’t Matt allow Bubba to escape the cage and then he and Jeff double team the crap out of D-Von and pin him? Meanwhile, Matt LAUNCHES Bubba off the cage for a nearfall; he and D-Von battle until Bubba wanders over and the Dudleyz double flapjack Matt into the cage. Jeff recovers and gets backdropped into the cage but he Spidermans himself almost over; Bubba cuts him off. Bubba catches Jeff on his shoulders and then brings him over to D-Von for the Dudley Device. The Dudleyz celebrate and stomp away on the Hardyz. They hit the reverse 3-D on Jeff for a nearfall. Matt gets up but D-Von chucks him into the cage; Bubba follows up with an avalanche between the ropes and the cage. They launch Jeff into the cage and climb to opposite turnbuckles; D-Von misses a Superfly splash as Jeff rolls away and then Bubba misses a senton bomb as Jeff rolls back the other way. That was a funny spot despite looking overly convoluted. Matt hits a top-rope double clothesline and then tosses Bubba into the cage. Matt hits a swinging neckbreaker on D-Von and then a DDT to Bubba. The Hardyz build momentum as they double backdrop Bubba. They hit their tandem top-rope splash/leg drop combo but D-Von breaks up the pinfall. Matt tries to climb out but D-Von entangles his leg in the top of the cage structure and Matt dangles helplessly so the Dudleyz hit the Wazzup spot on Jeff. Bubba calls foe Stacy to get the tables. The question remains, how is Stacey going to get it in the ring. Alliance referee Nick Patrick wanders over so she shows him her ass… and then pickpockets the cage door keys. Well, that’ll work. Stacy opens the door and tosses the table into Bubba. They try the 3-D through the table but Matt intercepts Bubba and Jeff counters D-Von with a DDT. Matt heads out over the top and makes it to the floor; the crowd explodes thinking that the Hardyz won the match but Jeff still has to get out. Now that erstwhile lapse in logic comes back to haunt the Hardyz as Jeff is trapped in the ring with both Dudleyz and a table. Bubba is out and Jeff tosses D-Von into the cage three times; D-Von falls onto the table (sort of) as Jeff climbs. He gets to the top as Matt cheers him on. Jeff prepares to climb out but spots D-Von on the table; he cannot resist and tries a Swanton Bomb off the top of the cage but D-Von moves and Jeff crashes and burns. Matt looks on in amazement and frustration as Bubba crawls over and gets the pinfall. 5/10 The match was pretty good but there was a long lull when the Dudleyz were on offense. Jeff’s blunder wound up breaking the Hardyz up (briefly) as Matt went heel despite Jeff being the selfish one. The breakup didn’t last long as the fans didn’t cotton to the heel Matt as well as the Hardyz and Lita wound up getting in some out of the ring trouble and were taken off television for a while, when they returned they were a team again.
In the back Test beats up Scotty 2 Hotty and steals his spot in the Immunity Battle Royal.
Justin Credible, Lance Storm, Diamond Dallas Page, Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Shawn Stasiak, Steven Richards, Billy Kidman, Test, Hurricane Helms, Faarooq, Bradshaw, Crash Holly, Funaki, Albert, Tazz, Spike Dudley, “The One” Billy Gunn, Perry Saturn & Chuck Palumbo Immunity Battle Royal: Whoever wins the match doesn’t get fired (for a year). Stasiak charges and gets ELIMINATED right as the bell rings; former tag partners Test and Albert brawl on the floor. Tazz wanders down and joins the fight just as it starts, I don’t think he’s on either side because he quit the Alliance but did not officially reenter the WWF. Everyone brawls and fights; Helms leaps off the top but gets caught by Faarooq and clotheslined to the floor and ELIMINATED by Bradshaw. Albert ELIMINATES Saturn via press-slam. Test ELIMINATES Faarooq. Damn! DDP nails Billy Gunn so his tag partner Chuck Palumbo clotheslines him out, ELIMINATING Page. Storm superkicks Palumbo out ELIMINATING him. Chavo Guerrero and Hugh Morrus, who were fired by the Alliance, in street clothes, join the battle. They ELIMINATE Justin Credible. Morrus ELIMINATES Funaki and Raven. Hugh Morrus gets ELIMINATED and the Billy tosses Chavo out onto him on the floor, ELIMINATING Chavo. Tommy Dreamer tries to powerbomb Crash and Tazz sneaks up and upends both of them ELIMINATING Dreamer and Crash Holly. Storm enziguris Spike out, ELIMINATING him. Bradshaw ends Steven Richards with a Clothesline from Hell; Richards is dead so Bradshaw ELIMINATES him. Tazz stops to jaw with Paul Heyman at the announce table so Billy Gunn ELIMINATES the distracted Tazz. Heyman laughs at him and when Tazz goes after him he uses Jim Ross as a human shield. Funny. Test, Kidman and Storm triple up on Albert to ELIMINATE him; Kidman tries to crossbody Bradshaw but gets caught and fall-away slammed to the floor and ELIMINATED. The final four are Lance Storm (Alliance), Billy Gunn (WWF), Test (Alliance) and Bradshaw (WWF). Storm goes after Bradshaw and hits a running knee to floor him. Test battles with Billy. Bradshaw boots Storm and hits a neckbreaker. Test tosses Billy over the top but he hangs on; Bradshaw and Storm battle on the ropes so Test deposits both them onto the floor, ELIMINATING them. Test thinks he’s won it; Billy charges and tries the Fameasser but Test recovers and boots him to the floor, ELIMINATING him and Test wins the immunity battle royal. 3.5/10 Test wins and gets to keep his job. The match wasn’t so great though; I normally like battle royals but this one was pretty confusing and the immunity thing was forgotten about by the time the Rumble happened.
In the back Booker T tells Shane McMahon that he doesn’t trust Steve Austin. Shane says he looked in Austin’s eyes and believes in his heart that Austin is the guy; he says we need to stick together or it all falls apart.
Vacant WWF Women’s Championship: Trish Stratusvs. Jacqueline vs. Lita vs. Ivory vs. Mighty Molly vs. Jazz six-pack challenge: Trish, Jackie and Lita are with the WWF and Jazz, Molly and Ivory are repping the Alliance. This is Jazz’s debut in the WWF. She runs in the ring and KILLS Lita with a sidewalk slam; she hits a butterfly suplex. Lita comes back with a head scissors takedown. Molly receives a tag as does Jackie. Molly wants a test of strength but Jackie craftily takes her down and gets a one count. Jackie chops her but Molly shoulder tackles her. Mighty Molly is Robin to Hurricane Helms’ Batman; Jackie hiptosses her and dropkicks her. Ivory gets a tag and sunset flips Jackie; they go through a series of nearfalls off of cradles and ends with Ivory slingshooting Jackie against the ropes. Trish gets a tag and she slingshots Ivory into the ropes; Molly gets a shot from the apron as Ivory knocks Lita off the apron and nails Trish. Lita distracts the referee as all three alliance women club Trish down. Trish has got on the tightest, shiniest little pink shorts I have ever seen… not that I’m complaining. Lita comes in to save and the match totally falls apart. Lita and Jackie team up for Poetry in Motion on Jazz. They try it again but Jackie turns on Lita and clotheslines her. Well it isn’t exactly a “turn” in the true sense of the word; the match is every woman for herself. Molly wipes out Jackie with the Molly-Go-Round. Trish hits the Chick Kick on Molly but turns right into Poison Ivory (kneeling X-Factor). Lita drops the Twist of Fate and the moonsault to Ivory but Jazz and Molly break up the pinfall. They try a double team but Lita nails them both with clotheslines. Jazz rakes Lita’s eyes and tosses her at Trish who backdrops her to the floor. Jazz charges but Trish low bridges the second rope. I think she was supposed to low bride the top rope because Jazz took an awkward spill to the floor. Ivory tries to back jump her with a back suplex but Trish turns it into Stratusfaction for three and Trish and her ass pick up the title (and saves her job). 3/10 Very sloppy; Trish hadn’t hit her stride yet, plus Mickie James and Victoria haven’t arrived yet. The woman’s division would pick up in a year or so.
Vince McMahon eyeballs his team members and gives them a speech. He has every confidence in them but he realizes he could be looking at a group of losers. If so, there isn’t one WWF fan that would forgive them; they will also be disgraced. Vince goes through all of the greats and says that they would be also disgraced. He tells them to disregard the rumors that Steve Austin will rejoin the WWF. He says that they honor the WWF tonight.
A quick rundown of who is safe despite who wins the main event: Christian, Test, the Dudley Boyz, Edge and Trish
Team WWF: The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Kane & Undertaker vs. Team Alliance: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam & Shane McMahon traditional Survivor Series elimination match: There are a couple of champions in this match, Austin is the WWF Champion, RVD is the Hardcore Champion and the Rock is the WCW Champion (so they’re technically safe). Booker’s hair is short and it looks REALLY weird; the odd thing here is that of all of the guys involved in this match Booker T is the only WCW guy. Fans love RVD despite the WWF trying like hell to push him as a heel. Austin has a weird version of his music that I do not recall; Biker Taker has Rollin’ as his music. Another intriguing storyline here is the Rock and Jericho have not been getting along and have been fighting leading up to Survivor Series. The Rock and Austin get the match started properly and battle. The funny thing about this is that they are in role reversal mode here, Austin is the heel and Rock the babyface. Rock fires up but runs into a Thesz press and the finger-flicking elbow. Austin gets a bootlace eye rake but the Rock comes back with a Thesz press of his own and hits his own F-U elbow. Shane runs in and breaks up the pinfall; Booker T tags in and kicks the crap out of the Rock… for about three seconds before Rocky comes back with a leaping clothesline. Jericho and the Rock exchange a pleasant tag, so their egos are in check for now; Y2J chops Booker and hits a flapjack. RVD receives a tag (and HUGE pop) and we have a unique matchup; they do a nice sequence of rope running, drop-downs and leapfrogs until RVD misses with a roundhouse kick and Jericho levels him with a spinning wheel kick. Jericho hits a vertical suplex. He chops RVD against the ropes but misses a dropkick; RVD hits the cartwheel variant of Rolling Thunder for a nearfall. Jericho reverses a corner whip but RVD floats-over and tries a Frankensteiner but Jericho blocks and segues into the Walls of Jericho. Shane O’Mac breaks up the hold; RVD tags in Booker as Jericho gets Kane in there. Angle says he wants Kane so Booker is more than happy to oblige. Angle gets some punches but Kane reverses and clobbers him in the corner; corner clothesline by Kane. I miss masked Kane with flaming red singlet top. He tries a vertical suplex but Kane reverses into a German suplex. Kane sits up so Angle punches away; he comes back with a side slam and heads up top. He levels Angle with a diving clothesline but Shane runs in to break up the pinfall again. Undertaker tags and punches away; Angle gets an elbow in to tag in Booker but Taker shrugs off the elbow and pounds away on him. He hits a big boot and legdrop but Shane runs in again. Taker works Booker’s arm and goes Old School and then hits an armlock lift; Undertaker works an armlock. Booker rolls through and gets a nearfall; Taker clotheslines Booker, Shane runs interference to allow a tag to Austin, the only guy in the match (on both sides) that Taker will actually sell for… briefly. Austin stomps a mudhole and drapes him on the ropes; Shane runs over to hold him for an Austin splash but Taker counters both of them (see what I mean) and Austin crashes into the ropes. Taker clotheslines Austin and hits Old School again. Shane interferes again and then Austin drives Taker back into the Alliance corner where they finally overwhelm him. Angle comes in but now it’s one-on-one so easily Taker takes over again. He drops his head for a backdrop so Angle hits a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. They exchange blows, which is never recommended against the Undertaker, and Angle eats a DDT. Big Show tags in and steamrolls Angle; he biels Angle across the ring and then press-slams RVD. Show knocks all of the other Alliance members off the apron and then goozles Angle. Kurt kicks to break the grip and hits the Olympic Slam, Booker T tags and hits the axe kick (plus Spin-a-Roonie), RVD hits a Five-Star Frogsplash and then Shane comes off the top with the Silver Spoon Elbow and pins Show to ELIMINATE him.
Shane over-celebrates and gets caught by the Rock; Rocky kicks the ever loving shit out of Shane in the corner and tags in Kane who chokeslams him. Kane then tags in his brother and he gives Shane, who is dead, the Tombstone… now Shane’s kids are dead as well; Jericho tags in and shows mercy by pinning him after a Lionsault. Shane McMahon is ELIMINATED.
Angle runs in as the referee is scraping Shane of the canvas. Jericho and Angle wrest and Jericho hits a flying forearm. He gets a butterfly backbreaker but Austin has replaced Shane in the save department. Angle double-leg takes Jericho down; Booker tags in and slams Jericho three times. He hits the elbow drop and tags in RVD. Van Dam hits a spin kick and then his backflip shoulderblocks in the corner; Jericho gets a Briscoe roll up in the corner for a nearfall. Kane enters and pummels Van Dam, he hits a big boot, and then catches RVD’s boot. He kicks Kane upside the head but gets clotheslined out of the corner; he hits a powerslam on RVD but Booker interferes from the apron so Kane drags him into the ring. RVD uses the distraction to hit a side kick and the Five-Star Frogsplash; he takes a moment too long to recover before going for the pinfall and Kane goozles him. Booker T comes out of nowhere with a spin kick, everyone runs in for a huge brawl, and in the confusion RVD mounts the buckles and ELIMINATES Kane after a leaping side kick.
Taker runs in and roughs up Van Dam in the corner; he then decimates both Booker T and Steve Austin. Angle runs in to give it a try but Taker overwhelms him as well. He gets all four Alliance members in opposite corners and levels all of them with running clotheslines. Taker continues his dominance of the entire other team (see: earlier Taker point) and clotheslines Booker and RVD to the floor. He gives Kurt the Snake Eyes and big boot. Austin recovers but Taker casually clotheslines him back down. He gives Angle the Last Ride; Booker tries to use a chair but Taker boots him away and the referee gets involved. Austin uses the fifty distractions to finally take Taker out with a Stunner; he drags Kurt atop him and Taker is ELIMINATED.
So now it’s the two WWF guys who can’t get along verses the seemingly unified four Alliance members. Angle tags in Booker. Both the Rock and Jericho are out on the floor; Booker retrieves the Rock and makes him the legal man. Everyone finally drags themselves back to their corners. The Rock fires back on Booker but he reverses a whip and catches him with a leg lariat. The Rock explodes with a DDT forcing Angle to make the save. Y2J is still hurting in the WWF corner; Booker tries the axe kick but the Rock counters into a Samoan drop and this time Austin makes the save. Booker gets a whip reversed and crashes into Angle on the apron; the Rock schoolboys the befuddled Booker and gets a three to ELIMINATE him.
RVD seizes the opportunity and stomps the crap out of the Rock in the corner. Y2J has finally recovered in the corner as Van Dam looks an off-a-whip moonsault but the Rock catches him with a schoolboy off the top for two (it looked like a stacked super-bomb). That was rare. Jericho tags and he and Van Dam battle. Y2J hits a running swinging neckbreaker and then chops in the corner. He spikes RVD with a bulldog but misses the Lionsault; he lands on his feet thought but takes a spin kick. Van Dam hits the split-legged; I think Jericho got a knee up because Van Dam is dazed. Jericho plants him with the Breakdown and ELIMINATES Rob Van Dam.
The sides are even now and everyone brawls. Angle pairs off with Jericho as Stone Cold and the Rock fight on the floor. Austin posts the Rock on the floor via slingshot and back in the ring, Angle applies a facelock. Angle gets a nearfall. Austin and Angle work together and he chops Jericho in the corner. He props Jericho on the top and hits a superplex for a two count. Jericho and Austin blow something but improvise to make it appear that they were jockeying for position; Austin suplexes Jericho over his shoulders. Kurt tags and he chokes Jericho against the ropes. Angle gets a few nearfalls until Y2J reverses a German suplex into an ankle lock; Angle quickly frees himself and nails the overaggressive Jericho with a lariat. Austin returns and hits a suplex. Angle returns and he stomps away; Austin tags and applies a side headlock. Jericho fires back and he and Austin double clothesline each other. Double tags are made and the Rock hammers Angle; he hits a belly-to-belly throw. Austin tries to run interference but Rocky pastes him. He Dragon Screws Kurt into the Sharpshooter for the inexplicable submission; Kurt Angle is ELIMINATED.
Paul Heyman is SHOCKED Kurt tapped out. Austin come in and wipes everyone out. Jericho tags in and hits a springboard crossbody but Austin reverses it for two. Jericho counters the Thesz press into the Walls of Jericho but Austin fights free. Austin tries his own Boston Crab but Jericho powers out; Stone Cold tries to come off the second rope but it is countered into the Lionsault… Austin gets the knees up! Y2J nearly got pinned there. Austin tries another top-rope superplex again but Jericho pushes him off and hits a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Jericho tries a schoolboy, which is reversed by Austin, and Chris Jericho is ELIMINATED.
So it is down to the Rock and Steve Austin (basically, two WWF guys)… but Jericho is so frustrated that he was eliminated that he nails the Rock with the Breakdown before he takes his leave, because he is an egomaniac and hates the Rock; this would lead to his heel turn and first (failed) title reign as the first ever Unified Heavyweight Champion. Austin gets a nearfall as Y2J heads back towards the ring but the Undertaker runs down and reproaches Jericho for his selfish actions. Austin punches away on the downed Rock and chokes him in the ropes. Rocky begins a comeback so Stone Cold momentums him to the floor to cut it off. They battle on the floor and Austin chops the crap out of him; he posts the Rock twice and rams him into the steel steps. Rocky reverses and tosses Austin over the announce table. Back to the ring, the Rock has the advantage as Heyman and Jim Ross yell at each other on commentary; don’t think for a second that there isn’t any legit heat there. The Rock chops Austin but runs into a spinebuster and then Austin applies a Sharpshooter. The Montreal Screwjob is, of course, mentioned as the Rock just makes the ropes. Austin rolls to the floor and retrieves the WWF belt; he misses and the Rock applies his own Sharpshooter but Austin makes the ropes. The Rock drags Austin back to the center without breaking the hold; Austin makes the ropes again. Austin gets a low blow in and tries a Stunner but the Rock reverses and hits a Rock Stunner! WWF referee Earl Hebner makes the count but Alliance referee Nick Patrick pulls him out and nails him. The Rock notices Patrick in the ring and looks to Rock Bottom him. Austin saves and hits a Rock Bottom… but it gets two! Austin glares at Patrick and question his count so Austin nails him and drags Hebner back in. The Rock tosses Austin into Hebner and tries Rock Bottom but Austin reverses into a Stunner! No referee. Kurt Angle runs back down and… NAILS AUSTIN WITH THE WWF BELT! The Rock plants him with Rock Bottom and the referee crawls to the pinfall and the Rock gets three; Steve Austin is ELIMINATED and the WWF survives! Post-match, the WWF locker room celebrates and the Alliance locker room is in SHOCK! Jim Ross rubs it into Heyman on commentary as the Rock celebrates. Vince McMahon comes out and celebrates on the ramp 8/10 Great main event. Thus endith the oft rebooked WCW Invasion/Alliance angle. Everything went back to “normal” on the next night’s Raw, there were some explanations and people were rehired, and the WWF was “rebooted” back to mid-2001 like nothing ever happened. Kurt Angle was turned back to a heel and Steve Austin returned to his babyface ways. William Regal joined the “Kiss My Ass Club” and Ric Flair made a surprise return to the WWF as a co-owner, having bought shares from Shane and Stephanie to finance their Alliance project. Flair and McMahon would feud over control of the WWF which led to the “brand extension”.
OVERALL 6/10 The show was entertaining but as far as long term ramifications there were zero since everything reverted back to normal and a bunch of the former WCW guys would sporadically return throughout the upcoming weeks.
