World Wrestling Federation presents Metal
Date: 5/5/2001
From: Milwaukee, WI
Matches:
1.) Al Snow defeated Essa Rios
2.) WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lynn defeated Kevin Kruger to retain the title
3.) Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn defeated Race Steele & Steve Boz
4.) Jacqueline defeated Molly Holly
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Snow takes Rios down to mat, but Rios counters quickly. Snow delivers a few strikes to the ribs and misses a clothesline. Snow tosses Rios overhead with a suplex. Snow misses a clothesline, but blocks a baseball slide. Rios misses a spin kick and is tripped to the mat by Snow. Rios kicks Snow a few times and springboards off the ropes to arm drag Snow out of the corner. Rios dropkicks Snow through the ropes to the floor. Rios heads to the top rope and misses a dive hitting the barricade chest first. Snow hits a slingshot leg drop into the ring for a near fall. Snow crawls towards Head to get some advice. Snow punches Rios against the ropes and rams Rios into the corner. Snow runs into a boot in the corner. Rios dropkicks Snow chest first into the corner. Snow tries for a back suplex, but Rios lands on his feet and tries for a hurricanrana, but Snow counters with a sit out powerbomb for a two count. Snow misses a clothesline and Rios connects with a tilt a whirl head scissors. Rios backdrops Snow coming off the ropes. Rios pummels Snow in the corner and stands on Snow’s shoulders before hitting a hurricanrana. Rios dropkicks Snow to the floor. Snow staggers towards the barricade and Rios hits a somersault dive over the ring post onto Snow on the floor! Rios heads to the top and hits a missile dropkick on Snow. Rios tries for a cover, but Snow kicks out. Snow takes Rios over with a suplex leading to a near fall. Snow spikes Rios with the Snow Plow to pickup the win. (**. I was a bit surprised to see this start of Metal since they are both low midcard acts. This seems like it would be a main event type of match for Metal standard. They were a little sloppy, but Rios wowed the crowd with a couple of moves. I enjoyed the bout and they got plenty of time to give the fans a decent match for Metal.)
2.) Earlier today, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lynn cut a promo about how he promised to make an impact when he got a chance to compete in the WWF. Lynn did that last week on Sunday Night Heat when Lynn won the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship from Crash Holly. Lynn promises to take the title to new levels and suggests we watch him do it.
3.) Lynn takes Kruger down to the mat, but Kruger counters with a hammerlock. Lynn fireman carries Kruger, but doesn’t followup on the advantage. Lynn puts a wrist lock on Kruger, but Kruger breaks free hitting an arm drag. Lynn acts impressed and they shake hands. Lynn backs Kruger into a corner and delivers a few stomps and chops. Lynn clotheslines Kruger in the corner and delivers a backbreaker for a two count. Lynn forearms Kruger in the corner a few times. Kruger dumps Lynn to the apron and hits a middle rope leg drop over the middle rope. Lynn continues to work over Kruger with stomps on the mat. Kruger tries for a slam, but Lynn counters with a reverse DDT for a near fall. Kruger almost wins with a rollup, but Lynn recovers and strikes Kruger over the back. Lynn stomps Kruger on the mat to keep the advantage. Lynn scoop slams Kruger and heads to the middle rope hitting a leg drop. Lynn covers, but Kruger kicks out at two. Lynn takes Kruger down to the mat and puts a single leg Boston Crab on Kruger. Lynn stomps Kruger on the mat. Lynn spikes Kruger with a tornado DDT and picks up the win. (*. It’s kind of silly for this to be a title match since Kruger is obviously an enhancement guy. I’m a huge Lynn fan and the idea of him being a focus in the Light Heavyweight division would be something I’d check out if he’s on a show as long as it’s against actual competition.)
4.) Malenko and Steele kickoff the tag match with Malenko coming off the ropes to shoulder block Steele. Steele shoulder blocks Malenko, but is met with a drop toe hold. Malenko takes Steele down to the mat, but Steele quickly gets up and is kicked away by Malenko. Malenko decks Steele with a clothesline and knocks Boz off the apron. Saturn tags into the match and is met with a powerslam by Steele. Steele shoulder blocks Saturn and Boz leaps off the top to axe handle Saturn. Boz hip tosses Saturn and delivers several kicks. Saturn nails Boz with a clothesline and knocks Steele off the apron to the floor. Boz hits a springboard kick after sending Saturn chest first into the corner. Saturn plants Boz with a powerbomb. Saturn hooks Boz and drops Boz gut first over the top rope before knocking Boz to the floor. Saturn tries to use a chair, but the referee takes it away. Saturn rams Boz into the ring steps back first. Malenko clotheslines Boz in the corner and sits Boz on the top turnbuckle. Malenko hooks Boz for a suplex, but Boz shoves Malenko off the middle rope. Boz leaps off the top to hit a missile dropkick. Steele gets the hot tag and cleans house with strikes and a leg lariat for a near fall as Saturn enters. Steele clotheslines both men, but Saturn superkicks Steele and plants Boz with a swinging neckbreaker. Malenko rolls through a sunset flip and puts the Texas Cloverleaf on Stele to pickup the submission win. (*1/2. I enjoy Saturn & Malenko. They work very well as a team, but with such a loaded tag division they seem to struggle getting momentum on the bigger shows.)
5.) Molly and Jackie trade mat holds to start the match. Molly kicks Jackie, but runs into an elbow and a clothesline by Jackie out of the corner. Jackie forearms Molly into the corner and continues with kicks to the midsection. Jackie tosses Molly across the ring by her hair. Jackie hits a wheelbarrow bulldog. Jackie side slams Molly and heads to the middle rope missing an elbow drop. Molly chops Jackie a few times and continues with a backdrop. Molly hits a northern lights suplex for a two count. Jackie plants Molly with a float over DDT for the win. (*. They didn’t get a bunch of time, but it was fine for what it was. I’d consider this a bit of an upset.)
Final Thoughts:
A solid episode of Metal featuring talent that I enjoy watching. I’d love for Metal to be the feature spot for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
Thanks for reading.