World Wrestling Federation presents Metal
Date: 3/31/2001
From:
Matches:
1.) Billy Gunn defeated Larry Destiny
2.) Essa Rios defeated Ken Anderson
3.) Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn defeated Rudy Rude & Mark Bartolucci
4.) K-Kwik defeated Funaki
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Gunn and Destiny trade wrist locks in the opening moments of the match. Gunn puts a side headlock on Destiny and delivers a shoulder block off the ropes. Destiny kicks Gunn followed by strikes, but Gunn delivers a drop toe hold and a series of arm drags. Gunn hip tosses Destiny for a two count. Destiny holds onto the ropes to avoid a strike, but Gunn punches Destiny in the corner. Gunn press slams Destiny and plays to the crowd. Gunn grabs Destiny on the floor, but Destiny drops Gunn over the ropes throat first. Destiny comes off the ropes to hit a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Destiny keeps Gunn on the mat with a sleeper. Gunn elbows free, but is met with an eye rake. Gunn hits a tilt a whirl slam and delivers a few clotheslines. Gunn drives Destiny down to the mat with a powerslam. Gunn hits the Fame-Asser, but doesn’t go for a cover. Gunn instead hits the One and Only to win the match. (*. Destiny didn’t offer much to the match, but Gunn continues to do a good job in these enhancement matches.)
2.) Anderson gets wrist control on Rios, but Rios counters quickly. Rios puts a hammerlock on Anderson, but Anderson takes Rios down to the mat. Rios shoulder blocks Anderson, but Anderson comes back with a dropkick. Anderson scoop slams Rios and delivers a leg drop for a two count. Anderson punches Rios in the corner followed by several chops. Rios responds with chops of his own. Anderson avoids Rios in the corner, but Rios takes Anderson over with an arm drag and keeps arm control on the mat. Anderson sends Rios chest first into the corner and delivers a clothesline to the back. Anderson slams Rios, and heads to the top, but Rios dropkicks Anderson off the middle rope to the floor. Rios takes Anderson out with a somersault dive over the ring post to the floor. Rios kicks Anderson and springboards off the ropes to hit a powerslam for a two count. Rios sends Anderson into the corner, but is met with a boot. Anderson climbs to the top, and is arm dragged off the top by Rios. Rios leaps off the top hitting a moonsault for the win. (*1/2. A better match for Rios than his last few enhancement matches. Anderson is the same Mr. Anderson/Kennedy that fans would see on WWE TV in about four years. He didn’t do much of anything to make it seem as if he’s a future star.)
3.) Malenko starts the match with Rude and gains control with a headlock. Rude fights free, but is met with an elbow strike. Malenko nails Rude with a forearm, but Rude hip tosses Saturn. Saturn knee lifts Rude and gains control with a series of elbow drops after knocking Bartolucci off the apron. Saturn rams Rude into the corner with a powerslam. Saturn tosses Bartolucci into the corner and delivers several strikes. Saturn sends Malenko into the corner to deliver a clothesline. Saturn decks Bartolucci with a clothesline. Malenko continues with a heel kick and knocks Rude off the apron. Malenko headbutts Bartolucci and sends Bartolucci to the floor where Saturn rams Bartolucci into the ring post back first. Saturn rams Bartolucci into the ring steps back first with a spear. Malenko hits a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. Malenko continues with a side suplex for a near fall. Saturn elbows Bartolucci coming off the ropes. Bartolucci head scissors Saturn, but Saturn comes back with a running boot and an overhead belly to belly suplex. Malenko runs into an elbow in the corner and Bartolucci hits a middle rope clothesline before tagging in Rude. Rude nails Malenko with a spinning heel kick. Malenko kicks Rude and Saturn tags in to hit a swinging neckbreaker on Rude. Malenko locks in the Texas Cloverleaf and forces Rude to submit. (**. This was a great ass kicking by Malenko and Saturn. I mean, honestly, holy shit. If the WWF wanted to push these guys in the tag division it would be 100% believable as a badass tag team. Saturn came across unhinged here and I loved it.)
4.) Prior to the main event, Taka Michinoku cuts a promo saying that K-Kwik will see that whether together or on their own they are evil.
5.) Funaki starts off with a sumo pose and gets dropped by a right hand. Kwik misses an elbow strike, but arm drags Funaki a few times. Kwik dropkicks Funaki into the corner and plays to the crowd. Funaki kicks Kwik in the midsection and continues with strikes. Kwik kicks Funaki and gets distracted by Taka on the floor. Taka avoids a strike and holds Kwik, but they can’t hit Kwik. Kwik heel kicks Funaki to the floor. Kwik drop toe holds Funaki and misses a heel kick landing on the top rope. Funaki shakes the ropes and Kwik crashes to the floor. Funaki stomps Kwik to maintain the advantage. Funaki rams Kwik into the corner and continues with stomps before taunting the crowd. Kwik tosses Funaki into the corner and delivers a few strikes. Kwik misses a splash in the corner and Funaki hits a bulldog. Funaki boots a charging Kwik, but misses a strike and Kwik hits a back suplex. Kwik punches Funaki several times knocking Funaki to the mat with a discus strike. Kwik hits a leaping forearm strike for a two count. Kwik avoids Funaki in the corner and ducks a clothesline to hit a head scissors. Kwik scares Taka off the apron and proceeds to hit the sit out front suplex on Funaki for the win. (**. Not too bad of a match. Kwik probably works much better with smaller opponents. The pace was fast and it was a quality match for Metal standards.)
Final Thoughts:
A good episode of Metal as WrestleMania 17 is the next night. Saturn is becoming a must-see when he’s on Metal because he simply doesn’t care about protecting the enhancement guys.
Thanks for reading.