World Wrestling Federation presents Metal
Date: 7/14/2001
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.) Crash Holly defeated Sean Evans
2.) Haku defeated Kyle McNeely
3.) Jerry Lynn defeated Jason Sugarman
4.) Essa Rios & K-Kwik defeated Kaientai
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Crash and Evans counter each other in the early moments of the match. Evans shoulder rams Crash in the corner followed by a right hand. Evans misses a splash in the corner and Crash keeps Evans on the mat with a headlock. Evans counters with a head scissors, but Crash counters with a headlock. Crash gets a rollup on Evans for a near fall. Crash punches Evans into the corner. Evans plants Crash with a back suplex. Crash punches Evans several times, but Evans blocks a kick to deliver a kick to the side of the head for a near fall. Evans controls Crash on the mat with a chin lock. Crash elbows free and gets a rollup for a two count. Evans decks Crash with a clothesline for a near fall. Evans chops Crash coming off the ropes for a two count. Evans punches Crash into the corner, but Crash responds with right hands. Evans sends Crash face first into the corner. Evans works over Crash with a strike and chokes Crash briefly in the corner. Evans drives Crash down with a backbreaker for a two count. Evans maintains the advantage with a chin lock and chokes Crash over the middle rope. Evans sends Crash into the corner, but runs into a boot. Crash hits a missile dropkick for the win. (1/2*. Evans essentially did nothing when he had the chance to shine. One of the more boring enhancement matches I’ve seen on Metal in recent memory.)
2.) Kyle McNeely is also known as Onyx from NWA Wildside. He’s wearing gear that says Onyx on it, in fact.
3.) Haku works over McNeely early on hitting a clothesline in the corner before pummeling McNeely with several body strikes. Haku hooks McNeely hitting a suplex for a two count. Haku works over McNeely ramming McNeely into the corner and continues with chops. McNeely fights back with a few strikes, but Haku isn’t bothered. McNeely hits a wheelbarrow bulldog for a near fall. Haku strikes McNeely coming off the middle rope. Haku nails McNeely with a kick to the face and locks in the Tongan Death Grip to win the match. (*. McNeely’s wheelbarrow bulldog spot came across a little bizarre, but good for him to actually get some offense on Haku. Haku continues to just exist in WWF and isn’t doing anything of substance. I doubt he’d be a fixture in the Invasion angle.)
4.) Lynn comes off the ropes, but is met with a shoulder block a couple of times. Lynn kicks Sugarman, but Sugarman arm drags Lynn followed by a dropkick for a two count. Sugarman keeps arm control on the mat, but Lynn gets to his feet and breaks free with right hands and stomps in the corner. Lynn avoids Sugarman in the corner and delivers a leg drop over the middle rope from the apron. Lynn strikes Sugarman followed by a stomp to the face. Lynn chokes Sugarman with his knee on the mat and yells a fan heckling him about Rob Van Dam. Lynn continues to choke Sugarman over the middle rope. Lynn knees a charging Sugarman to hit a middle rope bulldog. Lynn nails Sugarman with a knee to the face. Lynn leg drops Sugarman for a two count. Lynn keeps a headlock on Sugarman. Lynn fights free with right hands, but Sugarman nails Lynn with a side Russian leg sweep. Sugarman decks Lynn with strikes and clotheslines. Sugarman connects with a spinning heel kick. Sugarman hits a gorilla press into a powerslam for a two count. Lynn counters another gorilla press slam hitting a tornado DDT for the win. (*1/2. A decent match with Sugarman showcasing a couple of fun offensive moments. Lynn tends to have fun matches on Metal.)
5.) Taka and Rios kickoff the main event. Taka sends Rios into the ropes, but is met with a shoulder block. Rios hip tosses Taka and delivers a chop. Rios head scissors and dropkicks Taka. Funaki tags into the match as Kwik also tags into the match. Kwik drop toe holds Funaki and hits a leaping forearm smash off the ropes. Kwik plants Funaki with a flatliner for a two count. Rios kicks Funaki several times and hits a springboard powerslam for a two count. Rios sends Funaki into the ropes, but Funaki kicks Rios and Taka hits a back suplex. Taka strikes Rios followed by a drop toe hold. Rios is dropkicked while in a chin lock. Taka nails Rios with a few strikes. Taka snapmares Rios and Funaki leaps off middle rope to double stomp Rios. Rios strikes Funaki a few times, but Funaki holds onto the ropes and avoids a leaping attack by Rios. Funaki gets a two count after a snap suplex. Taka returns to the match and strikes Rios a few times. Taka tries for a cover, but Rios kicks out at two. Taka snapmares Rios and heads to the top rope. Rios stops Taka on the top turnbuckle. Taka strikes Rios off the ropes, but Rios hits a top rope hurricanrana. Kwik gets the tag as does Funaki. Kwik decks Funaki with a few strikes. Kwik nails Funaki with a heel kick, but Taka breaks the cover. Kwik superkicks Taka and hits a sit out front suplex on Funaki as Rios hit a moonsault on Taka leading to a double pin. (*1/2. A fine match for what it was. These random tag team pairings on Metal make for a weird viewing experience. Kwik looked fine here as he adapted a limited role and excelled with his closing sequence.)
Final Thoughts:
This is the last episode of Metal where the majority of the matches are enhancement matches, at least for the next several months. With the InVasion angle beginning it looks like Metal will benefit from the bloated roster. This week wasn’t anything great with the enhancement guys failing to impress.
Thanks for reading.