WWE Vintage Collection Report: August 22nd 2010
By Shaun Best-Rajah.com Reporter
Hosted by: Mean Gene Okerlund

Welcome aboard. The SummerSlam and WCW Bash at the Beach retrospective concludes, as this week’s matches come from the 1999 – 2002 timeframe.

WCW Bash at the Beach: July 9th 2000
“The Franchise” Shane Douglas vs Buff Bagwell
This is currently the last Bash at the Beach event on record and is infamous for the whole Jeff Jarrett, Hulk Hogan, Vince Russo World Title saga. This match is joined in progress with Buff sending Douglas out of the ring with a neckbreaker. Both brawl on the floor. Douglas franchises Buff’s nuts by crotching him in the ringpost. Douglas grabs a chair. Buff kicks the gut to take possession of the chair so Douglas punches it into Buff’s face. Douglas works over Buff’s neck in the ring. Torrie Wilson walks out to play cheerleader on the apron. Douglas wants a kiss. Torrie slaps him. Buff gets a rollup for two. Buff goes on the offensive with a clothesline, cross body and Vader bomb. Buff gives Torrie a kiss, flexes and gets a kick in the nads. Ouch! Obviously Buff isn’t the stuff, at least in Torrie Wilson’s eyes. Douglas delivers the Pittsburgh plunge and is in shock when Buff kicks out. Buff executes a jumping double arm DDT. Torrie grabs Buff’s leg to prevent a blockbuster. Douglas delivers an inverted atomic drop quickly followed by a jawbreaker to pick up the win. Torrie embraces the Franchise after the bell. Winner: “THE FRANCHISE” SHANE DOUGLAS.

SummerSlam – August 19th 2001: Intercontinental Title
Lance Storm vs Edge
Alliance vs WWF. Christian is backstage holding Edge’s King of the Ring Trophy and watching the match on a monitor alongside Team WWF. Edge is the early aggressor, delivering a flapjack, dropkick and clothesline to the floor. Edge slides underneath Storm to drop him face first onto the apron. Back inside, Edge gets a nearfall following a top rope cross body. Storm turns the tide after reversing a suplex and hanging Edge up on the ropes. Storm sends Edge into the barricade, then works over him with kicks, slaps, knees to the gut and a front suplex.

After commercials, Edge hiptosses Storm onto the apron to escape an abdominal stretch. Edge counters a springboard clothesline into a powerslam. Edge follows up with clotheslines, a backbodydrop and spin kick. Storm stops the momentum with a jawbreaker. Edge reverses a suplex into the Edge-o-matic then catches Storm in mid-air with a sitdown powerbomb. Storm manages to catch Edge in a half crab, pulling him to the middle of the ring. Edge gets to the ropes and reverses the hold. Storm trips the referee to take him out of the action. Christian enters, intending to assist Edge, but ends up spearing his “brother” when Storm moves. Storm superkicks Christian out of the ring as the referee regains his bearings. Storm immediately covers Edge, but can only get two. Storm goes for another superkick, but Edge manages to counter into the Edgeocution to pick up the win and his second Intercontinental Title. After the match, Christian hands Edge the belt, embraces him and leaves as a puzzled Edge takes in what’s just happened. At the time, everyone (me included) was convinced that Christian was going to turn on Edge here and cost him the title, but they inserted another swerve and got a few more week’s mileage before the inevitable turn. This was a very good match. It’s a shame that Lance Storm didn’t get to showcase his skills more on PPV during his short WWE tenure, as he was a solid hand. Winner: EDGE.

SummerSlam – August 22nd 1999: Tag Team Titles
X-Pac & Kane vs Big Show & Undertaker w/Paul Bearer
We pick this up with the future Brothers of Destruction wiping each other out with clotheslines. X-Pac tags in, and takes Undertaker down with a standing spinning heel kick. Taker powers out of a cover. X-Pac lands kicks until Show pulls him down from behind. Taker tosses X-Pac through the ropes, where Show has some fun press-slamming him onto the barricade then back in over the top rope. Kane comes across to attack Show while Taker crotches X-Pac in the corner. Once more, Kane comes to his partner’s aid by going after the Deadman. Show toys with X-Pac in the ring. X-Pac bites his way out of a bearhug, but runs into a tree slam. Kane breaks up a cover before rescuing X-Pac from a chokeslam. X-Pac low blows Show, then Taker before making the hot tag. Kane goes after both opponents with clotheslines. X-Pac sends Taker over the top rope with a spin kick. Taker catches a pescado attempt, but X-Pac prevents a tombstone piledriver by sending the Deadman into the ringpost. On the inside, Kane has Show down in the corner and X-Pac takes advantage to deliver a Bronco Buster. Kane and Undertaker fight on the outside as an angry Show gets up to chokeslam X-Pac. Show covers nonchalantly with one foot on the chest and X-Pac kicks out at two. The crowd are firmly behind X-Pac as an angry Undertaker tags in, shoving his own partner out of the way as he pummels X-Pac in the corner then finishes him off with a tombstone piledriver. 1-2-3. New Tag Team champions. Show and Undertaker tease dissension after the bell. A feud doesn’t materialise though, as within a month Undertaker was on the shelf with an injury. Surprisingly, this wasn’t as bad a match as I was expecting. X-Pac was really over with the crowd during this period of him surviving in the Land of the Giants. Sadly, the heel turn he made towards the end of the year to reform DX for the umpteenth time, brought along the go-away heat he never managed to shake for the rest of his WWE tenure. Winners: BIG SHOW & UNDERTAKER.

SummerSlam – August 25th 2002: Undisputed Title
The Rock vs Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
Brock’s rapid four month rise to top title contention is quickly documented as shots of him defeating Rob Van Dam in the King of the Ring finals are shown. Rock’s putting up the title just a month after beating Undertaker and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match at Vengeance. Training videos for both men air. While Rock is sprinting around fields and stadiums, Brock is running with logs on his shoulder and sitting in ice baths. Rock states all he cares about is being the absolute best, before telling Brock to just bring it. Brock says in his mind he’s always number one. Time to get it on.

Brock enters first followed by a fired-up Rock, who lays his title out on the ramp before running to the ring. Brock cuts off Rock’s punches almost immediately, dominating the champion completely with a belly-to-belly suplex, several backbreakers and battering rams in the corner. Targeting the Rock’s ribs, (injured by Triple H on Smackdown) Brock kicks Rock through the ropes, where Heyman is waiting with a kick of his own. Brock uses the barricade as a weapon to punish Rock, before nailing another belly-to-belly back in the ring. Brock goes for a lot of covers early on and the crowd are clearly with him, chanting “Rocky sucks,” which clearly rattles Rock judging by his body language and angry reactions. Rock tries to fight back, but Heyman trips him, allowing Brock to drop several elbows across the chest. Heyman interjects himself once more by throttling Rock behind the referee’s back, to try and garner some sympathy for the champion. A frustrated Rock walks into a powerslam and more loud “Rocky sucks” chants take us into a commercial break.

We return to see Rock tire of Heyman’s interference as he punches him off the apron. Rock catches an advancing Brock with a legwhip, before applying a Sharpshooter. The crowd chant “Let’s Go Lesnar.” Heyman drops a chair into the ring, forcing Rock to break the hold, just as Brock was looking to tap out. Rock drags Heyman into the ring to give him a Rock Bottom, but Brock rescues him by clubbing Rock from behind. Brock jams the chair into Rock’s ribs, disposes of the smoking gun then locks on a bearhug. As Rock tries to fight free, Brock back suplexes him, but keeps the bearhug applied at the same time. A drained Rock stops his arm from dropping a third time, hammers free, then turns Heyman interference into his favour by giving Brock a low blow. Rock’s hesitancy to capitalise enables Brock to send him to the corner and drive a shoulder into the ribs. Rock meets a second charge with a clothesline and a series of punches send Brock flying over the top rope.

On the floor, Rock slingshots Brock into the ringpost then gives Heyman a Rock Bottom through the Spanish Announce table. Aye caramba! Back inside, Rock gives Brock a Rock Bottom. Brock shocks Rock by returning the favour. Rock hits a spinebuster. Brock leaps up to clothesline Rock before the people’s elbow can connect. Rock counters an F5 by landing on his feet. Brock elbows out of a Rock Bottom and quickly thwarts another attempt by hoisting Rock on his shoulders and landing the F5 at the second attempt. 1-2-3. Brock Lesnar is the (then) youngest world champion. Winner: BROCK LESNAR. This was a very good match. Knowing he was off to film a movie, Rock selflessly put Brock over strongly and cleanly in the middle of the ring, doing business the way that it should be done. Rock sold generously for Brock and made him look like more of a monster by getting pinned first time without any screwjobs or shenanigans. The lively, electric crowd gave the match an extra edge and this was a perfect example of how to get someone over big.

Okerlund wraps things up to end the show. See you next week. Shaun.

Comments/praise/feedback/criticism/discussion points please direct to shaunmb1@hotmail.com.