This Day In History - October 19th

October 19th

On this day in history in ....

1956 - Fred Blassie defeats Wild Bull Curry to win the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title for the fourth time.

1972 - Johnny Valentine defeats Abdullah The Butcher to win the National Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title in Cleveland, Ohio.

1972 - Bobby Shane defeats Tim Woods in Tampa, Florida to win the NWA Florida Television Title for the second time.

1985 - Carlos Colon defeats Abdullah The Butcher in San Juan, Puerto Rico to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title for the fourth time. The belt had been held up following a September 21st match between the two.

1987 - Hector Guerrero & Dr. D defeat Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

1997 - Keiji Mutoh & Masahiro Chono defeat Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuo Yamazaki to win the IWGP Tag Team Title in Kobe, Japan.

1997 - Atsushi Onita & Kintaro Kanemura defeat Hisakatsu Oya & Mr. Gannosuke to win the FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Title in Sendai, Japan.

2001 - Vader & 2 Cold Scorpio become the first Pro Wrestling Noah Global Honored Crown Tag Team Champions by defeating Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in the finals of a tournament in Yokohama, Japan. On the same card, Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeats Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the Pro Wrestling Noah Global Honored Crown Junior Heavyweight Title.

2001 - Road Dogg (BG James) defeats Jeff Jarrett to become the first World Wrestling All-Stars World Heavyweight Champion in Perth, Australia.

2001 - Black Warrior defeats Negro Casas to win CMLL's Legend Of The Silver Mask tournament.

2002 - Sabu defeats Pitbull Gary Wolfe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a tables match to become the 3PW Heavyweight Champion.

2003 - WWE holds their No Mercy Pay-per-view in Baltimore, Maryland. The show is especially notable for an "I Quit" match between Vince and Stephanie McMahon in which Vince promised to give up ownership of WWE if he lost, and Stephanie agreed to step down as General Manager of Smackdown if she lost. Stephanie lost, and would not appear on WWE programming (in a storyline sense, as she did attend the WWE Hall Of Fame events) until October 3, 2005. It is also interesting to note that the Maryland State Athletic Commission had a rule that prevented male vs. female wrestling matches, and WWE had to pay a fine (which they were prepared to do in advance) in order to have the match. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show.

WWE’s No Mercy was an easy thumb’s up show from my perspective. It had some very strong matches, and some well-booked matches that enabled wrestlers to perform at levels above their nominal skill level. There was one weak match and one nonsensical McMahon family ego match, but that wasn’t enough to hurt the show. And in the case of the McMahon match, it’s fair to note that the crowd was big time into it. I continue to be impressed with Tazz & Michael Cole on the mic. The live crowd was hot for most of the show. This show made it clear that Smackdown has the goods when it comes to in-ring talent.

TAJIRI defeated REY MYSTERIO JR. to retain the Cruiserweight Title in 11:40. They made a big deal out of the fact that Tajiri is now spraying black mist, reporting that Nidia may have suffered permanent eye damage from being sprayed with the black stuff on Smackdown. The ref checked Tajiri’s mouth before the match to see if he was carrying any of that stuff. Hey, ref, he pops it in later. They traded kicks early. Mysterio hooked a leglock, which Tajiri escaped. Tajiri unleashed the chops. Mysterio hit an armdrag and a low dropkick. He then kicked Tajiri out of the air as he was attempting a springboard elbow. Tajiri bumped out and Mysterio hit a plancha on him. Tajiri caused Mysterio to take a bump on his shoulder, and he began working on the shoulder to wear him down. Mysterio came back with a tornado DDT off the top and a springboard crossbody. Mysterio went for a crucifix but Tajiri dropped on him. Each guy was scoring some twos as the match progressed. Mysterio hit a huracanrana on Tajiri off the apron on the floor. Back in the ring, they did a cool spot where Tajiri threw Mysterio through the ropes but he swung back and hit the 619. Mysterio went for the West Coast Pop, but Tajiri blocked it and hit a powerbomb. The crowd was major into all this. Mysterio fought back and hit a second 619 and W.C. Pop, but as he was about to go for the pin, two disguised men in black came out of the crowd and charged the ring. One was stopped immediately, while the other made it into the ring before security grabbed him. The mystery men were Jimmy Yang & Keiji Sakoda, and this was an angle, though it was sold as if two “fans” had charged in. Mysterio was distracted, and Tajiri kicked him in the head and scored the pin. Great opening match!

Vince McMahon arrived at the arena and did an arrogant promo claiming it hurts him to have to fight his own daughter. He said he’ll fire anyone from the locker room who tries to interfere to help Steph, and said they would not only be fired from WWE but that he’d see to it they were out of the business, as if this was the old days where blackballing could occur.

CHRIS BENOIT defeated A-TRAIN in 12:23. Train did a lot of trash talking as the match began. He dominated the match so thoroughly that it almost telegraphed that Benoit was going over. Literally, for like eight minutes A-Train stomped, clubbed, slammed, and shoulderblocked Benoit all over the ring. It was actually a very effective way to book A-Train. He looked good doing this and Benoit sold great for him. A-Train also used his power to block Benoit’s offensive moves. He kept working on Benoit’s bad neck. It wasn’t always smooth, though, as Benoit got a busted lip from a stiff shot, and A-Train lost him on one move and dropped him on his head on a chair (that A-Train had earlier brought into the ring). That was potentially very dangerous but Benoit seemed okay afterward. Benoit finally rallied and hit the multiple German suplexes. A-Train hit the derailer. A-Train placed the chair in the corner between the turnbuckles, but when he went for a big boot on Benoit, his own leg went through the chair. Benoit won with the sharpshooter (a tribute to the Hart family following Stu’s passing). Good match.

Backstage, Jon Heidenreich choked Shannon Moore for throwing away his match tape earlier. Matt Hardy arrived and insisted they threw away a different tape, not Heidenreich’s. Heidenreich apologized, but again invoked the mysterious Little Johnny name.

They did a nice segment honoring the troops, as there were a lot of servicemen in the crowd.

ZACH GOWEN defeated MATT HARDY in 5:32. Hardy bullied Gowen early, slapping him. Gowen came back with a series of his impressive moves off the ropes. Hardy was left reeling. Shannon Moore caused Gowen to bump off the ropes on one of his move attempts. Hardy hit the snake eyes and a lariat, but crashed to the canvas on a moonsault attempt when Gowen moved. Gowen hit a dropkick and an amazing tope con hilo off the top. Hardy briefly rallied but Gowen scored a surprise pin with a moonsault. Good stuff, and the crowd once again liked it.

Linda pleaded with Vince not to go through with his match against Stephanie. She talked about how she’s looked the other way on Vince’s transgressions for their entire marriage, but that she can’t look the other way this time. She said Vince was dividing the family in a way that will never heal, or whatever. Vince said that out of the goodness of his heart, he’d give Stephanie one advantage in the match, namely that she could win by either pinfall or submission, while he could win only by submission. But he then announced that he was adding No Holds Barred stips to the match. Linda walked out in disgust.

THE BASHAM BROTHERS defeated THE A.P.A. in 8:53. Shaniqua wasn’t out there, selling her recent “injury”. The APA used power moves to dominate early. It wasn’t very smooth. Faarooq got trapped and doubled on for a while in the Basham corner. The crowd heat didn’t die, but it did cool from what it had been, and what it would be for the next match. Bradshaw hot tagged and cleaned house, including a big powerbomb on Doug. Bradshaw hit the last call on Danny but Doug broke the pin up. The ref took a bump. Naturally, with the ref down, Bradshaw hit the lariat from hell on Doug. Shaniqua then showed up and walloped Bradshaw with a nightstick and Doug covered him for the pin. Not very good. Afterward, Shaniqua did an interview displaying her new implants, which she claimed was swelling from her injury, or something like that.

VINCE McMAHON defeated STEPHANIE McMAHON in a No Holds Barred “I Quit” match in 9:24. Sable and Linda were there in the respective corners. Vince blindsided Steph at the bell. She hooked a sleeper, but Vince dumped her to the mat. Vince tossed her around the ring. Sable reached in and slapped Steph, prompting Linda to chase Sable. Vince got between them, and acted like he was ready to wallop Linda, but didn’t. Steph tried for a comeback but Vince lariated her and put her in a half crab. She refused to submit, even though probably 95% of the guys in the locker room would be expected to tap to a Vince submission hold. Vince tried to choke her out, but she raked his eyes. This wasn’t good, but the crowd did get big time into it due to the characters involved. Sable tossed a pipe into the ring. Vince went for it but Linda slapped him and Steph got the weapon. Steph hit Vince with several pipe shots, one of which apparently connected and Vince got a facial cut. She also hit Vince in the balls with the pipe. But when she went for the pin, Vince got his foot on the ropes. Sable got on the apron. Vince ended up colliding with her, and Steph bulldogged Vince for a near fall. The crowd was going wild for the two counts. Vince got the pipe and hit Stephanie in the belly with it. He then choked her with the pipe. As before, she refused to quit, but eventually Linda threw in the towel for her. I guess that will be the escape clause for her to come back after the honeymoon. As for the match, it was a spectacle of some sort, and the fans live did enjoy it. Afterward, Vince pie-faced Linda and shoved her down before kissing Sable.

KURT ANGLE defeated JOHN CENA in 18:27. Cena ran down Angle in a pre-match street rap. Angle started off fast. He flipped Cena off after avoiding a lariat. Cena shoved Angle, who responded by pounding Cena with fists. Cena hit a lariat and came back with a flurry of fists of his own. Angle gave Cena a high backdrop, followed by chops and fists. Angle charged Cena but hit the post when Cena moved. Cena went to work on the “injured” shoulder. Angle got a busted lip somehow. Cena scored some twos, continuing to dominate Angle. Cena hooked a front headlock and hit a spinebuster. Cena came off the top, and Angle rallied by dropkicking him from the air. Angle scored two after a lariat and a Russian legsweep. Cena made the ropes to escape the ankle lock. The crowd was loving this, as well they should have. Angle tried to German suplex Cena off the apron. Cena blocked it and DDT’d Angle on the apron. Cena hit a guillotine legdrop on Angle’s neck as he was returning to the ring. Cena scored two with a rolling neckbreaker. Angle hit the multiple Germans for a near fall. Cena powerbombed Angle against the turnbuckles. This stuff can’t be good for Angle’s neck. Cena hit the FU and scored two. Angle hit his Angle Slam for a near pin. The crowd popped huge for each near fall. Cena got a chain, but the ref took it from him. As the ref disposed of the chain, Cena punched Angle out with his medals. Again, Angle kicked out at two. Angle scored two with a backslide. Cena went for the FU again. Angle escaped and hooked the ankle lock for the tap out. Excellent match, and Cena proved himself a top player with his performance here. Great stuff from both guys!

BIG SHOW defeated EDDIE GUERRERO in 11:27 to capture the U.S. Title. Eddie’s back was all bandaged from the cuts he received on Smackdown from being smashed on a car. Show overpowered Eddie early, tossing him around. Eddie caused Show to bump out, where Eddie hit him with a garbage can lid, after first tossing a chair in the ring to distract the ref. Show posted Eddie and began the slow, methodical big man offense. Show exposed a turnbuckle and rammed Eddie’s back into it. Eddie hit a high crossbody off the top for a near fall. The ref almost got killed when Show crashed down on him. With the ref out, Eddie used brass knux on Show. But Show was superman in this match and kicked out at two. The same thing happened when Eddie hit him with the title belt and did the frog splash. Show hit a spinebuster for a near fall, followed by a chokeslam, with Eddie draping his foot over the ropes to stop the count. Eddie scored two with a low blow and a DDT. But in the end, Show hit a second chokeslam and got the pin. An okay match, though below what we would have gotten had Eddie had a fast-paced opponent. Show did a bragging promo afterward. Chavo Guerrero Jr. ran in to help Eddie to the back, but Eddie shoved him. Say your prayers tonight that they don’t break Eddie and Chavo up.

BROCK LESNAR defeated UNDERTAKER in a biker chain on a pole match to retain the WWE World Title in 24:16. Undertaker started off with kicks and fists. He hit a legdrop and elbowed Lesnar’s face on the apron. Lesnar sent UT into the stairs and suplexed him for an early pin attempt. UT came back with the boots and stomps. They brawled on the floor, where Lesnar rammed UT into the Spanish broadcast table. Back in the ring, UT hit a flying lariat for a near fall. They waited so long to try to climb the pole that I almost forgot this was a chain on a pole match. When UT finally started climbing, the lights went out. This looked like an angle but apparently is was just a case of the lights going out for a few seconds. Lesnar caught UT and powerslammed him. Lesnar brought in the stairs, and he send UT face first into them. UT lariated Lesnar out and piledrived him on the stairs. UT started to climb the pole again, but again Lesnar caught up to him. UT hooked a triangle choke. Lesnar escaped with a low blow and hit UT with the stairs. UT kicked the stairs into Lesnar’s face when he tried to use them as a weapon again. Lesnar powered back and beat UT down. Lesnar started up the pole but UT nailed him from behind and nearly hit the Last Ride, but Lesnar escaped. Both men went down after a double lariat. UT hit the snake eyes and a boot to the face. Lesnar hit a spinebuster. UT caught Lesnar with an arm bar. Lesnar powered out. UT hooked a sleeper, which Lesnar escaped from by hitting the F5. This got the crowd, which had been a little bit off-and-on, fully into the match. UT avoided being pinned by getting his boot up on the rope. Lesnar started to climb, but UT chokeslammed him off. At this point, all three FBI members attacked UT. This was legal, by the way, since this was a no-DQ stip match. UT disposed of all three, and then gave Lesnar the Last Ride to a big pop. UT finished off Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli with a neat suicide tope across the ropes onto them. Nunzio tried to climb up for the chain, but UT threw him off to the floor. UT climbed up and got the chain, to a huge pop. Vince then arrived out of nowhere, causing UT to get crotched, which allowed Lesnar to get the chain and he clocked UT with it for the pin. I thought this was a decent match overall, though the FBI run-in was overkill. The match dig drag in spots.

2004 - WWE held their Taboo Tuesday Pay-per-view at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, headlined by Randy Orton defeating Ric Flair in a steel cage match and WWE Champion Triple H defeating Shawn Michaels, who was wrestling with a torn meniscus. Tim Whitehead's original report on the event is on Page 2!

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WWE's Taboo Tuesday (10/19/04 Milwaukee) was a mixed bag show. I'm giving it a thumbs' up because the main event was great and there was enough good wrestling and booking to pull the show through. One bad match was passable because of entertainment value. Some of the show sucked, though.

After the usual opening formalities, Jonathan Coachman reported that the fans gave a whopping 53% of the vote for the schoolgirl outfits to be worn in the women's battle royal. That was a good thing.

Coach then reported that 37% of the fans voted for Shelton Benjamin to get the IC Title shot at Chris Jericho. That was a solid plurality considering that more than a dozen guys were in the running. Benjamin's closest rival was Batista at 20%.

SHELTON BENJAMIN defeated CHRIS JERICHO in 10:56 to capture the IC belt. Benjamin started with an armdrag takedown. Jericho hit some chops. Benjamin vaulted Jericho out for a big bump. Jericho came back with an enzuigiri and a suplex. Benjamin went for a dropkick and missed, prompting Jericho to go after his "hurt" back with kicks and stomps. Jericho hit a backbreaker. Benjamin hit a sunset flip. Jericho retaliated with a lariat. They were trading two counts throughout all this, but the crowd wasn't all that heated. This was one of those crowds that picked up as the show went along, and they were red hot by the main event. Benjamin hit a superplex, backdrop, and spinkick. Jericho hit the bulldog but missed on the lionsault when Benjamin rolled clear. Benjamin hit a lariat off the top. Jericho tried for the walls hold but Benjamin blocked it with an inside cradle. Jericho laid Benjamin out and successfully did the lionsault, but only scored two. Jericho came off the second rope, but was caught by Benjamin and suplexed into a clean pin. Good opener, though the crowd never really got into it. Jericho shook Benjamin's hand afterward. Good to see Benjamin getting a push, as at first it looked as if he was about to get lost in the shuffle during the build-up for this PPV.

Todd Grisham interviewed Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, and Edge, the three men in contention for the World Title shot against Triple H. Edge said his win over the other two last night in the three-way match on RAW proves he deserves the title shot and if there's any justice in the world, he'll win the fan vote and take HHH's belt. Benoit said he hasn't lost to HHH since returning to RAW, that he made HHH submit once, and he'll do it again. Heartbreak Kid denied HHH's allegations that he's faking a knee injury (his injury is legit). He asked fans to give him the shot, promising to take the belt. The fan vote was then revealed as 39% for HBK, 33% for Edge, and 28% for Benoit. This gave HBK the title shot, and also meant that Edge & Benoit would team for a run at the tag titles. Edge didn't take this well, storming off in anger. Benoit congratulated HBK and shook his hand.

TRISH STRATUS retained the Women's Title by winning a Battle Royal in 5:36. This one was pretty bad, though the main attraction here was the ladies in their schoolgirl outfits. Trish, Stacy Keibler, and Gail Kim especially looked pretty damn hot. Molly Holly was (deliberately) wearing a bland outfit. Jazz tore Nidia's top off and threw her out for an elimination. Victoria eliminated Jazz. She then eliminated Gail. Molly & Trish joined forces to eliminate Victoria. They struggled with Stacy for a while, but Molly eliminated her, only to be blindsided by Trish and eliminated. Trish thus retained her belt.

Grisham interviewed La Resistance. They were angry at having to face Edge & Benoit, claiming that the voting was corrupt. They claimed they were wrestling under protest.

GENE SNITSKY defeated KANE in a chain match in 14:15. The fans surprisingly voted 41% for the chain match. I had thought the lead pipe match would win since it was pushed on TV. This match turned out to be awful, and it was made worse by the lack of crowd heat. It was also way too long. Historically, a chain match is one where the wrestlers are chained together at the wrist. In this case, the chain was just lying in the ring. Kane got the chain first, but then nonsensically threw it out of the ring. They brawled, badly, for a while. Kane finally retrieved the chain and punched Snitsky with it. No juice. They brawled around slowly some more, not paying much attention to the chain. Snitsky eventually picked it up and used it to whip Kane. They brawled a little on the floor. Lita, who came out with Kane, picked the chain up but did nothing with it. Snitsky rammed a chair three times into Kane's throat in full view of the ref. Shouldn't that have been a DQ since the fans voted for a chain, not a chair, to be legal? I mean, if the match was an overall no-DQ match, why bother having fans vote to permit a particular weapon? Snitsky choked Kane out with the chain and then put his head through the chair. He did the exact same thing to Kane that Kane did to HBK a few months ago, namely, he jumped on the chair and "ruptured" Kane's windpipe, or whatever. Kane began spitting up blood. The ending was confusing as at first the ref seemed to signal for the match to be stopped. Snitsky started to leave, but then returned and pinned Kane. EMTs ran in as Lita looked all concerned over her "husband." Kane was strapped down to a gurney, still spitting up blood and gasping for air. This part was okay in that it was a standard angle of this type, but the match itself sucked. Jim Ross noted that this was the exact same injury that had befallen HBK at the hands Kane not too long ago, but then enigmatically claimed to have never seen anything like this in his life. JR seemed a little bit off throughout the show. Kane was carted out on the gurney, but of course Snitsky was waiting in the wings to turn the gurney over and stomp Kane a few more times. Kane will be taking some time off.

Edge was interviewed again. He was furious that the fans gave 39% of the vote to a broken-down has-been while giving him only 33%. He put over the tag titles as important but said he's held then ten times before and it's now time for him to win the big belt. He said it's his destiny to be World Champion but the fans let him down. He sarcastically thanked them.

EUGENE defeated ERIC BISCHOFF in 2:11. The proposed stips here were that the loser would be shaved bald, the loser would have to wear a dress for a month, or the loser would become the winner's servant. They held off announcing which stip won the fan vote until after the match for dramatic effect, and also as part of an angle. The match sucked. Bischoff sneak attacked Eugene before the bell with martial arts kicks. Eugene started a comeback. Bischoff faked an injury to get in another sucker kick. Eugene then did the Hogan comeback and pinned Bischoff after an airplane spin and a legdrop. Coach came down to the ring and revealed that the fans gave a whopping 59% of the vote to the head shaving stip. However, he then asked the live crowd which of the three they wanted. They popped huge for the head shaving, but Coach falsely claimed they popped for the servant stip. He then made some kind of convoluted claim that he had the authority to substitute the live crowd vote for the interactive fan vote. He thus announced that Bischoff would be Eugene's servant for five minutes, and that all Bischoff had to do was get Eugene a coke or maybe carry his bags to the car and the stip would be fulfilled. Bischoff was delighted to get off so easily, but Vince McMahon arrived to rain on his parade. Vince overruled Coach and said Bischoff would have to be shaved because that's what the fans voted for. Bischoff refused and started to walk out, but he came back when Vince threatened to fire his ass. He ordered Bischoff to sit his ass down in the barber's chair. Eugene grabbed the clippers. Bischoff balked again and started walking out. This time Coach ran after him and talked him out of leaving. Bischoff now seemed resigned to having his head shaved as the only way to keep his General Manager job. So Eugene began chopping away as Vince smirked. A few strokes with the clippers revealed that Bischoff has gray roots. Vince laughed at him for using hair coloring, calling him a phony son of a bitch. Coach tried to slink away, but Vince called him back. He forced Coach to put on the dress they had at ringside in case that stip won. He then called Coach a slut. Eugene chopped off about half of Bischoff's hair before it was announced that they would finish the job backstage so the show could go on. This was very entertaining, overriding the fact that the short match was bad.

Edge barged into HBK's locker room. He said HBK should have dropped out of the fan balloting due to his injury. Edge said he would have won the vote then and would have gone on to win the World Title. He told HBK he can't possibly beat HHH while wrestling injured and called him a selfish son of a bitch for not stepping aside. HBK listened in silence.

CHRIS BENOIT & EDGE defeated LA RESISTANCE in 16:14 to capture the RAW Tag Titles. Sylvan Grenier sang "O Canada". Frankly, I'd rather have seen some more of Bischoff's head being shaved. Edge and Rob Conway brawled to start things off. Benoit came in and suplexed Conway. Grenier suplexed Edge. Edge fought back with a lariat and a bodyslam. Edge went to the top, but then left the ring to argue with some heckling fans, allowing Grenier to recover. The story here was that Edge's heart wasn't in the match because he was disappointed at losing the World Title shot. Benoit tagged in and scored some twos on Grenier with a suplex and a backbreaker. Edge came back in but got beaten down and tied up in La Resistance's corner. They worked him over and scored some twos before he finally hot tagged Benoit. Benoit came in fast but got double teamed and tied up in the bad corner just as had happened to Edge. Benoit managed to fight his way out and tag Edge, but the ref didn't see the tag and disallowed it. Edge started to argue with the ref, but then seemed to get a "why am I wasting my time" look on his face. He turned and walked out, leaving Benoit alone. Edge walked to the back, got his bags, got in his car, and drove off. When Benoit realized he was abandoned, he grew furious and rallied. He fought both foes off, superplexing Grenier and then forcing Conway to tap to the crossface after two German suplexes. The victorious Benoit hoisted both tag belts as the crowd popped. The match was okay, but I really liked the angle.

Grisham interviewed HHH, who repeated his opinion that it's stupid to let the fans pick his opponent. He accused HBK of faking an injury to try and lure him into letting his guard down. He said it won't happen and that he'll remain champ.

CHRISTY defeated CARMELLA in a lingerie pillow fight in 1:48. This was awful as wrestling, though it was meant as a display of female flesh, and in that sense it was fine. The lingerie gimmick won with 57% of the vote, by the way. They had some of those silhouette screens set up on the stage so we could watch the gals change into their lingerie in silhouette. Christy had the hang of this but Carmella was too far from the screen for us to see much of her in silhouette. It took forever for them to change. They finally went down to the ring in their lingerie. Christy reached inside Carmella's top and pulled out a falsie, which was funny. They then just sort of hit each other with pillows. The pillows were gimmicked to bust open on contact so feathers were flying all over. Christy eventually knocked Carmella down and pinned her.

TRIPLE H defeated SHAWN MICHAELS to retain the RAW World Title in 14:04. HBK deserves a lot of credit for putting in such a good showing while injured. The injury was the story here as HHH immediately attacked the bad knee. He stomped, kicked, and wrenched the knee for several minutes as HBK sold the pain big time. HBK rallied by throwing chops but HHH just kept attacking the leg. HHH hooked the figure four. They did a great drama job here with the ref wanting HBK to give it up. HBK, in agony, begged the ref not to stop the match while HHH yelled for him to do just that. HBK made the ropes after a great struggle. HHH dragged HBK over to the post and was about to wrap the knee around it, but HBK managed to evade it and ended up posting HHH. HBK went on a brief offensive on one leg, and evaded a pedigree with a low blow. HBK hit a DDT, and despite the pain, he forced himself to climb to the top to deliver a flying elbow. HBK was ready to try for the sweet chin music. Batista ran out and got on the apron. HBK slugged him. HBK then hit the chin music as well as he could given the injury. Batista tried to get in the ring. The ref struggled with him. As the ref was distracted, Edge came from the other side and speared HBK. HHH crawled on top for the pin as the ref returned to action. The Edge run in was great. The match wasn't a classic HHH vs. HBK encounter, due to HBK's necessary limitations here, but they booked it great considering this and it was a good match.

Bischoff was shown leaving the arena. He wasn't totally bald, but almost was and what little hair he had was gray. He passed a bunch of tech crew guys and accused them of laughing at him. He threatened to fire all of them.

RANDY ORTON defeated RIC FLAIR in a cage match in 10:35. The cage stip won with a huge 68% of the vote. Coach, still wearing the dress, called 68% unanimous. Uh, no, Coach, 68% is a landslide. It requires 100% to be unanimous. They started off with brawling and chops. Flair was fired up, stemming from the Jimmy Kimmel deal. Orton backdropped Flair. Flair took full advantage of the no-DQ rules, hitting a low blow. Flair raked Orton across the cage and he juiced a gusher. JR said neither Bush nor Kerry could hope to get 68% of the vote. Jerry Lawler said Bush should get that much but he doubted he will. Considering that the biggest presidential landslides in history never came close to 68%, it's safe to say JR's prediction was right. Maybe the cage should run for president. Anyway, Orton brawled back and bloodied Flair on the cage. Both went to the top, with Flair getting crotched. Orton pounded the cut and caused Flair to bleed more. This was certainly a double juice bloodbath. Orton hit a bodyslam and a crossbody for a near fall. The crowd heat here was enormous. Flair pulled out brass knux and flattened Orton, but only scored a two count, which caused the crowd to get hotter. Flair tried to go out through the door. Orton dragged him back, but Flair managed to haul a chair in with him. Flair swung the chair and missed, and Orton then nailed Flair with a surprise RKO and scored the pin. The crowd popped huge for the finish. Great match and great heat! The post-match stuff was awesome as Flair and Orton first shook hands and then hugged. It put over the idea that Flair, though past his prime, could still hang in there in a dangerous cage match and he put a beating on the younger and stronger Orton before losing a close contest. Both kept looking at one another through all the blood as if to say they mutually respected the other. Flair, God bless him, put another young star over and, as JR noted, legitimized his "legend killer" claim. Orton seemed legitimately emotional over this. Each raised the other's hand as the show left the air.


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