World Wrestling Federation presents Metal
Date: 5/19/2001
From:
Matches:
1.) Billy Gunn defeated Race Steele
2.) Haku defeated Chris Michaels
3.) WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lynn defeated Essa Rios to retain the title
4.) X-Factor (Albert, X-Pac & Justin Credible) defeated Chris Harris, Doug Basham & Rob Williams
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Gunn locks up with Steele and gets wrist control. Steele counters for a moment. Gunn hip tosses Steele and keeps arm control on the mat. Steele backs Gunn into the corner and delivers a knee lift. Steele works over Gunn, but Gunn counters a slam with a back suplex. Gunn arm drags Steele and keeps arm control on the mat. Gunn delivers a hammerlock scoop slam. Steele drives Gunn down with a vertical suplex for a two count. Gunn kicks Steele and follows up with jabs in the corner. Steele elbows Gunn in the corner and hits a middle rope neckbreaker for a two count. Steele chops Gunn in the corner a few times. Gunn responds with a few chops of his own and jabs in the corner. Steele misses a clothesline and they collide on stereo clotheslines. Gunn ducks a clothesline and knocks Steele down to the mat a few times. Gunn hits a tilt a whirl slam for a two count. Gunn clotheslines Steele and hits the One and Only for the win. (*1/2. Steele was actually able to get a little bit of offense, which was nice to see. Gunn is a big name for Metal standards and it was entertaining to see him in action.)
2.) Haku works over Michaels in the corner to kickoff the match. Haku chops Michaels before sending Michales upside down into the corner and delivers another strike. Michaels kicks Haku, but misses a clothesline and is met with a savant kick and crashes to the floor. Haku sends Michaels hard into the railing. Haku drives Michaels into the apron back first. Haku rams Michaels back into the ring post. Haku kicks Michaels in the ribs and delivers a backbreaker. Haku splashes Michaels and delivers several strikes in the corner. Haku drops Michaels with a headbutt. Haku works over Michaels with stomps in the corner and a right hand. Haku misses a spear and hits the ring post. Michaels superkicks Haku and delivers a few right hands. Haku stops Michaels with a short arm clothesline, but misses an elbow drop. Michaels fights back with a dropkick to knock Haku to the mat. Haku nails Michaels with a big boot. Haku lifts Michaels into the air and down to the mat gut first. Haku locks in the Tongan Death Grip to pickup the win. (*. Haku displayed some solid offense and Michaels did a fine job throughout. Haku in WWF 2001 comes across weird and doesn’t fit, at all.)
3.) Rios gets out of a hammerlock, but Lynn takes Rios to the mat for a moment. Lynn elbows out of a hammerlock and backs Rios into a corner to deliver a few right hands. Rios arm drags Lynn coming out of the corner and keeps arm control. Lynn knee lifts Rios followed by a forearm. Rios head scissors Lynn to the floor and baseball slides Lynn into the railing. Rios hits a slingshot corkscrew dive to the floor to take Lynn out. Rios taunts the crowd on the apron. Lynn tries for a suplex, but Rios counters and hits a hurricanrana. Lynn responds with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Lynn scoop slams Rios and puts a bow and arrow on Rios, but doesn’t get a submission. Rios lands on top of Lynn for a two count. Lynn kicks Rios to regain control. Rios almost wins with a rollup. Lynn stops Rios with a side slam for a near fall. Lynn stomps Rios on the mat. Rios is hanging upside down on the apron, but Lynn kicks the ropes and Rios crashes to the floor. Rios backdrops Lynn coming off the ropes and delivers a clothesline. Rios kicks Lynn and hits a springboard arm drag out of the corner. Rios hits a snap powerslam for a near fall. Rios punches Lynn into the corner and sits Lynn on the top turnbuckle. Lynn avoids a hurricanrana by holding the ropes and hits a middle rope tornado DDT for the win. (**1/4. I kind of hoped for a little more here, but it’s still a fun match for Metal. Lynn is one of my favorites and I’m glad he gets time on Metal to showoff what he can do.)
4.) Credible and Williams kickoff the match with Credible hammering away on Williams. Williams hip tosses Credible and keeps wrist control before tagging in Harris. Harris comes off the ropes to deliver an elbow strike. Albert pulls down the ropes causing Harris to fall to the floor. Harris is crotched into the ring post by X-Factor. Albert press slams Harris back into the ring from the floor. Pac tags into the match and chops Harris followed by right hands. Pac rams Harris into the corner and continues with strikes. Harris fights back with strikes, but runs into a spinning heel kick for a two count. Pac continues to work over Harris with chops in the corner. Pac kicks Harris to the mat and hits the bronco buster. Credible returns to the match and powerbombs Harris out of the corner for a two count. Albert tags back into the match and kicks Harris in the midsection. Albert shoulder blocks Harris coming off the ropes and knocks the other guys off the apron. Harris fights back with left hand punches, but a boot to the midsection stops Harris. Albert hits a double under hook suplex. Albert tags in Pac, who comes off the top with a forearm drop for a two count. Credible tags back into the match, but Harris hits a double clothesline. Harris tags in Basham, who cleans house with clotheslines and dropkicks. Basham sends Pac into Albert. Williams goes to the top rope and tries to crossbody Albert on the floor, but is caught and rammed into the post. Basham misses a splash and Albert hits a running big splash in the corner. Basham is superkicked by Credible and Pac leading to the three count. (**. The enhancement guys came across as if they were more seasoned then the regular enhancement guys. Obviously Basham has been working for a while by now, and his heat segment came across well. Harris took a good beating. Credible always comes across as the lesser of the three and doesn’t get presented strong. Anyway, it was an entertaining extended squash.)
Final Thoughts:
An enjoyable episode of Metal this week. They had some decent hype for Judgement Day and the enhancement matches were entertaining this week.
Thanks for reading.