This Week In WWE Vintage Collection History: 2011 Ends In 1999...Sort Of...
By Aaron Wood Dec 25, 2011 - 2:53 PM
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COLLECTION #187 Mean
Gene opened up this week's show, noting that we'd be taking a look
back at more matches that took place in December, including a
legendary main event. He isn't lying. However, kicking us off,
let's go to the other end of the scale, as we go to In Your House 5
on December 17th 1995 as The Undertaker took on King Mabel in a
Casket match.
Back
from the break, Gene said that after Ric Flair was forced to vacate
the US Title due to injury, DDP and Eddie Guerrero would make the
finals of an 8-man tournament to decide a new champion, a tournament
I've mentioned a few months ago when the show featured a match from
earlier in this feud. But who would actually win the title? Let's
find out as the match took place on December 29th 1996 at
Starrcade.
We
came back from break to a WWE PPV in December. Chris Jericho &
Christian defended their World Tag Team Titles at Armageddon on
December 15th 2002 in a Four-Way Elimination match against the
tandems of The Dudley Boyz (who had been reunited the previous month
at Survivor Series), William Regal & Lance Storm and Booker T &
Goldust. Would the egotastic Canadians retain the titles, or would
RAW head into 2003 with a new duo on top?
It
was main event time next, and they gave us a doozy. Mean Gene in the
studio set it up. It took place on December 29th 1998 but aired on
January 4th 1999's edition of RAW. Due to this delay between taping
and airing, WCW, on their live Nitro the same night, gave away the
results in a move that backfired as a large portion of audience
turned the channel to see history being made as, yes, Mankind
challenged The Rock for the WWE Title.
So
with Austin's help, Mrs. Foley's baby boy won the WWE title from The
Rock. While it would only last less than a month, it would forever
live in the minds of those who witnessed it. Gene thanked us for
watching. And indeed, this was the last show of 2011, so who knows
what's on next week!?!?!
Epilogue Off
the back of his Casket match win, Undertaker would challenge Bret
hart for the WWE Title at the 1996 Royal Rumble. However, Diesel
would interfere and cause Taker to lose. A rematch on RAW soon after
produced the same finish. Diesel would then get a shot at the IYH
event in February inside the steel cage. However, Nash wouldn't
escape Undertaker's wrath or revenge as during the match, The
Undertaker burst through the ring and dragged Diesel under, allowing
Hart to win. This set up Taker vs. Diesel at Wrestlemania where,
naturally, Undertaker won.
This
was Mabel's penultimate PPV appearance in WWE. His last match was
the 1996 Rumble. After that, he was released, spending much of the
next 2 years in the USWA before returning to the WWE where he and
Taker would cross paths again, only this time, as Mabel became
Undertaker's minion Viscera.
Having
seemingly shown DDP the benefits of being nWo, they offered him a
spot soon after his match with Eddie at the infamous "nWo Souled
Out". However, he turned it down, dishing out Diamond Cutters
to those in the ring. This started a feud with the nWo, although
primarily, he would feud with Randy Savage, in an angle where Savage
did a "shoot" giving away that Page and Kimberly were a
real life couple.
As
for Eddie, he defended the title against all comers, including
defeating Syxx in a ladder match at the nWo Souled Out show. He
would end up losing the title however to Dean Malenko at Uncensored
that March.
After
losing the World Tag Titles, Jericho & Christian went their
separate ways. Jericho entered into a feud with Shawn Michaels,
winning a match on RAW to choose his Rumble entry, picking #2 since
HBK had been forced to be #1, leading to a match at Wrestlemania 19,
which Shawn won.
As
for Christian, after being encouraged by The Rock, he began to think
of himself as the new People's Champion, leading him to calling his
fans his "Peeps". He would, in May, win the IC ~Title in a
Battle Royal to bring it back, having been retired previously.
The
man Christian would feud with at that point would actually be Booker
T. Booker & Goldust only held onto the Tag Titles for a few
weeks, and like Jericho & Christian, went from being champions to
splitting up entirely. Booker would go on to get the World Title
shot at Wrestlemania against HHH, where he would, of course, lose in
a match that for many is the epoch of HHH's utter selfishness. This
feud would actually have consequences for Goldust, as to send a
message to his buddy Booker, Evolution beat up Goldust, sending him
into an electrical box, the result of which saw Goldust left with a
Tourettes-like tick.
Having
just been reunited at the previous month's Survivor Series, the
Dudley Boyz drew the immediate ire of Eric Bischoff, feuding with his
boys Regal & Storm (with Chief Morley replacing Regal when Regal
became badly ill).
As
noted by Okerlund, Foley would only have the title for a few weeks as
The Rock won it back in the now-infamous "I Quit" match at
the Royal Rumble. Foley would win the title back a week later on the
special "Halftime Heat" Empty Arena match, but would then
lose it back to The Rock in a ladder match on RAW when Big Show
interfered. Rock would go on to face Stone Cold at Wrestlemania, but
would lose the title, before turning babyface to face The Ministry
and Corporation.
Indeed,
this face turn for The Rock would see him and Foley team up, becoming
The Rock & Sock Connection, winning the Tag titles a few times
and leading to the all-time highest rated segment in RAW history, the
original "This Is Your Life" skit.
