World Wrestling Federation presents Metal
Date: 4/21/2001
From: Knoxville, TN
Matches:
1.) Essa Rios defeated Chris Michaels
2.) Haku defeated Doug Basham
3.) K-Kwik defeated Race Steele
4.) Steve Blackman & Grandmaster Sexay defeated Damien & Seven
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Rios gets a headlock on Michaels and delivers a shoulder block followed by a dropkick to a kneeling Michaels. Rios head scissors Michaels followed by a clothesline. Rios works over Michels with a chop in the corner. Rios sends Michaels into the corner and is met with an elbow. Michaels avoids Rios in the corner to deliver a superkick for a near fall. Rios goes to the apron and strikes Michaels before pulling Michaels to the floor only to quickly return to the ring. Rios slams Michaels to the mat and heads to the apron to hit a slingshot leg drop for a two count. Rios kicks Michaels against the ropes. Michaels avoids a slam to send Rios chest first into the corner and hits a back suplex. Michaels stomps Rios on the mat. Michaels kicks Rios and hits a standing hurricanrana. Michaels heads to the top rope, but is met with a dropkick in midair. Rios punches Michaels several times against the ropes and kicks Michaels before hitting a springboard snap powerslam out of the corner for a two count. Rios misses a clothesline, but powerbombs Michaels for a near fall. Rios avoids Michaels in the corner and delivers a slam. Rios slams Michaels again and plays to the crowd. Rios heads to the top rope hitting a moonsault for the win. (*1/2. The crowd feels lifeless, but the action was fine for what it was. Rios had to have been told to tame his offense on Metal or something because he’s not doing as much crazy stuff as he has done in the past. Michaels had some fun spots in the match to keep interest in the match.)
2.) Haku controls Basham with a headlock and a shoulder block in the opening moments of the match. Basham kicks Haku and tries for a short arm clothesline, but fails. Haku decks Basham with a clothesline to gain control before sending Basham into the corner and continues with strikes. Basham elbows Haku in the corner and hits a middle rope clothesline. Haku stops Basham with a flapjack and strikes Basham on the mat. Haku drives Basham down with a backbreaker several times. Haku clotheslines Basham in the corner a couple of times followed by a flurry of strikes and a headbutt to drop Basham to the mat. Haku scoop slams Basham and comes off the ropes to miss an elbow drop. Basham punches Haku several times and is met with a backdrop. Haku puts the Tongan Death Grip on Basham to pickup the pin fall victory. (*. Basham did a good job bumping around for Haku. Haku is extremely limited and his squashes aren’t something that maintain entertainment after a couple of times seeing him.)
3.) Kwik gets a rollup at the start of the match a couple of times, but Steele kicks out at two. Kwik arm drags Steele a couple of times and dropkicks Steele to the floor. Kwik drop toe holds Steele and continues with right hands. Steele tries for a rollup, but Kwik ducks a clothesline only for Steele to hit a leg lariat for a near fall. Steele keeps Kwik on the mat with a sleeper. Kwik elbows free and punches Steele. Kwik sunset flips Steele for a two count. Steele responds with a clothesline. Steele snapmares Kwik and keeps control with another sleeper. Kwik elbows free from the sleeper and delivers a few strikes, but runs into a boot. Kwik ducks a wild strike to deliver a back suplex. Kwik clotheslines Steele and head scissors Steele. Kwik misses a leaping heel kick. Kwik nails Steele with a leaping heel kick for a near fall. Kwik plants Steele with a sit out front suplex for the win. (*. Not much to it this time around for Kwik.)
4.) Sexay and Damien kickoff the match with Sexay hammering away on Damien. Damien misses a clothesline and Sexay connects with a neckbreaker. Sexay dances for the crowd and hits a springboard crossbody for a one count. Blackman enters the match and drives Damien down to the mat. Blackman delivers a few strikes and a running elbow strike off the ropes. Seven enters the match and is kicked several times by Blackman. Damien drops Blackman over the top rope and Seven connects with a clothesline. Blackman is met with a double team elbow strike for a one count. Damien forearms Blackman into a corner and continues to deliver strikes. Seven scoop slams Blackman and goes to the top rope. Seven leaps off the top missing a leg drop attempt. Sexay enters and fires away on Seven with right hands. Sexay nails Seven with a kick to the head and slams Damien off the top rope. Sexay dropkicks Seven and rams them into each other. Sexay hits a double DDT for a near fall. Sexay holds Damien for Blackman to deliver a kick. They hit a Hart Attack on Seven. Blackman drives Damien down to the mat and Sexay hits the Hip Hop Drop on Damien for the win. (*. I’m starting to think that Sexay would have a job forever in WWF if he’s able to maintain this kind of crowd reaction. He’s really the only guy on Metal who continually gets a notable reaction.)
Final Thoughts:
A couple of notable enhancement guys are on this weeks episode including Basham and Michaels. Damien and Seven are from OVW and they were able to get a couple of moments of shine. A little bit better of an episode compared to recent weeks.
Thanks for reading.