World Wrestling Federation presents Metal
Date: 9/22/2001
From: Nashville, TN
Coach and Kevin Kelly are on commentary for the episode.
MATCH #1: JUSTIN CREDIBLE VS. CRASH HOLLY
FINISH: Crash hit a top rope crossbody, but Credible rolled through with a handful of tights for the win. After the match, Crash sends Credible into the corner and knocks Credible off the apron.
Bob’s Take: Crash head scissors and dropkicks Credible to get the early advantage along with a scoop slam and a top rope fist strike. Credible responded with a superkick and a powerbomb out of the corner. Credible missed a baseball slide attempt in the corner and hit the ring post. The finish is a bit dull, and it’s just a matter of Credible taking advantage of momentum rather than being a viable threat to anyone. This can’t be a good sign for Crash to be losing to Credible, who is the resident jobber for the Alliance.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #2: CHUCK PALUMBO VS. BILLY GUNN
FINISH: Gunn avoids a superkick to hit the Fame-Asser for the win.
Bob’s Take: Interesting to see this take place as in just a few months these two are going to be doing a controversial angle. Palumbo gains control with a clothesline and kept a focus with strikes. Palumbo delivers his trademark overhead belly to belly suplex. Gunn avoids a slam to plant Palumbo with a neckbreaker. Gunn keeps the advantage with a clothesline and side Russian leg sweep. Gunn hitting the Fame-Asser is a bit expected. There really wasn’t much to this one.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #3: KANYON VS. ALBERT
FINISH: Albert finishes off Kanyon with the Baldo Bomb.
Bob’s Take: Albert continues to get a good reaction on these C-level shows and they don’t appear to be dubbed in at all. Albert shows off his strength by press slamming Kanyon to the mat followed by a bicycle kick. Kanyon gets some offense following a slingshot elbow drop into the ring from the apron. Albert cuts off Kanyon with a side slam and a leaping shoulder block. This is a mostly one-sided encounter and Albert’s rise in popularity seems to be coming out of nowhere.
Match Rating: *1/2
MAIN EVENT: APA (BRADSHAW & FAAROOQ) VS. MIKE AWESOME & HUGH MORRUS
FINISH: Bradshaw pins Morrus following the Clothesline From Hell.
Bob’s Take: Faarooq and Awesome kicked off the tag match. Awesome gets the advantage with a slam at the start of the bout. Faarooq quickly responded with a slam of his own. APA deliver a double team spinebuster to Awesome. Morrus gets involved to help out Awesome. Morrus splashes Bradshaw to keep the advantage. Bradshaw plants Morrus with a DDT. Faarooq is met with a cheap shot from Awesome allowing Morrus to get control and Awesome hit a top rope flying clothesline. Awesome delivers a double leg slam to Faarooq and hit a top rope splash. Faaooq responded with a spinebuster to stop Awesome. Bradshaw gets the hot tag cleaning house and hit Morrus with a fallaway slam on Morrus. Moments later, Bradshaw finished off Morrus. Awesome looked good in there again, but this felt mostly like the kind of squash match you’d see in early 90s WWF TV. APA look and come across as if they are much, much bigger than their opponents and that just dooms the Alliance.
Match Rating: *1/2
Final Thoughts:
A mostly skippable episode of Metal unless you’re a huge Justin Credible fan and you want to see him actually win a match on WWF TV.
Thanks for reading.