Thursday, May 14, 2020

Wrestling Do-Overs: The Invasion Angle, part 9 (Survivor Series 2001)

It's November 2001, and that means the Invasion Angle do-over has reached Survivor Series, where the WWF will do battle with The Alliance!

To read this series from the beginning, click HERE


Night After No Mercy

RAW opens with Kurt Angle already in the ring.  He apologizes to Vince and the WWF fans for letting them down last night.  He tried to reason with Steve Austin to work together and bring the WWF Title home where it belongs, but like a true rattlesnake, Austin could not be reasoned with.  He even offered him half the bounty to take the pin, but a rattlesnake doesn't care about money.  Austin's music hits and he charges the ring, attacking Angle.  Austin stuns him and Angle rolls out of the ring.  Austin takes the mic and demands Vince confront him right now.  "You stuck your stupid little nose in my business again last night and screwed me out of winning back my WWF Title, and now I'm gonna beat it out of ya!"  Vince reluctantly heads to the ring and tries to explain himself.  "I was just doing what was best for the WWF, dammit!  Why couldn't you and Angle work together?  We could've done this together!"  Angle is back in the ring now, backing up Vince.  Austin says "Last time I won the WWF Title I took your help and I damn near couldn't sleep at night for six months because of it.  I ain't never doin' it with your help again."  Austin goes to kick Vince but Angle blocks it and they're in each other's faces.


Hogan, Booker T and Bischoff appear on the Titantron.  Hogan speaks.  "Hello ladies.  Good to see you're still catfighting amongst yourselves.  Meanwhile guess who's still the WWF Champ.  Hollywood Hogan.  And who's still the WCW Champ?  Booker T, brother.  Ya know why?  Because The Alliance knows how to work together as a team to get things done!"  Austin, Vince and Angle stop arguing and Vince takes the mic.  "Funny you should mention teams.  Because in four weeks is the Survivor Series, where it's all about teamwork.  How about this?  You pick your best five, we'll pick our best five, and if we win, the WCW Championship gets absorbed into the WWF Championship!  Not only that, we'll have Intercontinental Champion vs. US Champion.  Light Heavyweight Champion vs. Cruiserweight Champion.  The team that wins at Survivor Series gets to keep their championship lineage.  The losers will see all their titles become defunct."  The WCW guys discuss for a moment.  "Ya know somethin' Vinny Mac?  That's not bad.  I always liked your style.  Since we're all here tonight, why don't we have some fun?  You, Steve and Kurt against Uncle Eric, Bookerman, and Hollywood, jack!"  It's official - Survivor Series will be headlined by a five-on-five elimination match, with the losing team's championships going away, plus a huge six-man tag to headline RAW.

The show features some Survivor Series qualifying matches.  Chris Jericho defeats Test to become the third man on Team WWF.  Sting defeats Ric Flair to earn a spot on Team Alliance.

In the show's main event, the WWF team has trouble getting along and the WCW team controls much of the contest.  Austin bickers with Angle and Vince slaps him from the apron.  Austin knocks tags Vince into the match and knocks him down with a punch.  With Vince loopy, Bischoff tags in and peppers Vince with martial arts kicks, gloating with each one.  Suddenly Vince catches one of them, tackles Bischoff and pounds him.  Vince drags Bischoff into his corner and tags Angle, who hits suplex after suplex.  Angle tags Austin, who hits a Stunner and covers Bischoff.  Angle and Vince run interference as the ref counts three.  RAW goes off the air with a glimmer of hope for Team WWF.

Survivor Series Build

Over the next three weeks the rest of the PPV card comes together.

DDP and Kanyon brag about how they made Undertaker their bitch.  Taker goes after them but they retreat.  Taker challenges DDP and Kanyon to a Street Fight at Survivor Series against him and his partner.  Kane's music hits and DDP and Kaynon look worried.

Triple H wins a qualifying match against Jeff Hardy to become the fourth WWF team member.  Goldberg wins a slugfest with Rhyno for the opposite slot.

Molly Holly cuts a promo about how no one on the WWF women's roster is on her level.  She'll take on whoever wants to challenge her at Survivor Series.  She'll take on any and all comers, and when the night is over she'll be the brand new WCW Women's Champion.  Trish's music hits, followed by Lita's, Ivory's, Jacqueline's.  They all corner Molly in the ring.  Trish takes the mic and says all four of them want a shot at Molly's title, and since she said "any and all comers," it'll be a Fatal 5-way Elimination match at Survivor Series.  Just then the debuting Jazz appears, attacking Trish and Lita from behind with a chair.  Molly and Jazz throw Ivory and Jackie out of the ring.  Molly announces "Correction, Trish.  It will be a Six-Pack Elimination Challenge, with my new bodyguard Jazz ensuring that I walk out of Survivor Series as the champion!"

Test successfully defends the European Title against Perry Saturn but Ric Flair attacks him after the match, going after his knee.  Flair challenges him for the title at Survivor Series.

Billy Kidman and X-Pac each have successful title defenses on Smackdown and have a staredown afterwards.

Edge defeats Big Show to retain the US Title.  Rob Van Dam has a hot TV match with Tajiri to retain the I-C belt.

Christian defeats Lance Storm for the fifth and final Team Alliance slot.  Vince has multiple segments where WWF stars ask him who the fifth member will be and he doesn't have an answer yet.

The Hardy Boyz win a tag team turmoil match to earn a shot at WWF/WCW Tag Champs the Dudley Boyz.  The winning team will be the lone set of tag champions, pending the outcome of the Survivor Series main event.

In the final segment of the go-home show, Booker T and Christian face Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho.  They have a long, hotly contested match and just as Angle is about to tap Booker with the ankle lock, Hogan, Sting and Goldberg run down and attack Angle and Jericho.  Austin and Triple H come to the rescue but Team WWF is outnumbered.  Suddenly we hear "If ya smeeeeeellll....." and Rock hits the ring as the crowd erupts.  There's a ten-man brawl as the show goes off the air.


Survivor Series

The final card is:

Hulk Hogan  vs. Steve Austin
Goldberg        Rock
Booker T        Triple H
Sting           Kurt Angle
Christian       Chris Jericho

(Whichever faction loses, their championships are defunct)

Dudley Boyz (c) vs. Hardy Boyz - WWF/WCW Tag Team Championship

Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Edge (c) - Unified I-C/US Championship

Taker/Kane vs. DDP/Kanyon - Street Fight

Test (c) vs. Ric Flair - European Championship (If The Alliance wins it will be renamed the WCW TV Title)

Mighty Molly (c) vs. Trish Stratus vs. Lita vs. Jazz vs. Ivory vs. Jacqueline - Women's Championship

Billy Kidman (c) vs. X-Pac (c) - Unified Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight Championship       


The show opens with a blistering cruiser-style match with Kidman and X-Pac going move-for-move, loads of aerial tactics and reversals.  After 10 minutes X-Pac goes for X-Factor but Kidman gets his knees up as he falls to the mat, leaving X-Pac to fall face-first into them.  X-Pac writhes in pain as Kidman hits a shooting star press to unify the titles.

Next up is the Six-Pack Elimination Challenge.  Molly sits back in the early going, letting Jazz do most of the heavy lifting against the WWF women.  Every time Molly gets in trouble Jazz is there to bail her out.  Jazz eliminates Jackie after five minutes with the Bitch Clamp.  Ivory hits a facebuster on Molly and goes for the pin but Molly gets her foot on the rope.  Jazz whips Lita into Ivory and they collide heads, and Molly rolls up Ivory to eliminate her at the seven-minute mark.  The match proceeds like a tornado tag, with Trish and Lita working together against Molly and Jazz.  Jazz throws Trish out of the ring and she and Molly double-team Lita.  Jazz lifts Lita for the Bitch Clamp and Molly comes off the top rope with Molly Go-Round.  Molly pins Lita at 10:20 to eliminate her.  Trish plays cat and mouse with her two opponents.  They double-team her, Jazz holds Trish as Molly charges.  Trish moves, and Molly accidentally clotheslines Jazz.  Trish hits Stratusfaction on Jazz and simultaneously kicks Molly through the ropes, then pins Jazz at 12:40.  It's down to Molly and Trish.  Jazz rolls back into the ring, pissed, and clubs Trish from behind.  Then she goes to leave but does the same to Molly.  Trish and Molly crawl to their feet, trading blows.  Molly gains the upperhand and puts Trish in a camel clutch.  Trish fights through it, reaches the ropes, stands up, and hits a jawbreaker.  Molly stumbles and Trish hits Stratusfaction to win the Women's Title after fifteen minutes.

In the third match Test uses his power to dominate Ric Flair, who fights from behind for much of the bout.  But Flair uses his signature cheap tactics, going for the eyes, using the ropes to assist, etc.  Test tosses Flair into the ropes and goes for a big boot but Flair chopblocks him and goes after the knee.  Flair works his leg over, ramming it into the ring post.  Flair slaps on the Figure Four but after a full minute Test reaches the ropes.  Test makes a comeback and builds to his pumphandle powerslam, but Flair slips out, chopblocks the leg again, and rolls him up, holding the ropes to win the European Title after 11 minutes.
   
The Taker/Kane vs. DDP/Kanyon Street Fight is violent and bloody, ranging all around the ringside area.  DDP and Kanyon use hit-and-run tactics and plenty of weapons.  Taker is bloodied within the first few minutes.  Kane sets up a table and chokeslams Kanyon through it, but DDP comes from behind and yanks off Kane's mask.  Kane hides his face as DDP gloats, but DDP backs into Taker, who clobbers DDP with a chair and tosses the mask back to Kane.  Kane sets up a double table in the ring and the Brothers of Destruction double-chokeslam him through it, pinning him simultaneously to win the match after 13 minutes.

Rob Van Dam and Edge's title unification match nearly steals the show, cutting a blazing pace.  RVD's aerial attack balances out with Edge's superior power.  Late in the match RVD goes for a frog splash and Edge spears him out of the air, leaving both men down.  Edge crawls to the corner and crouches, setting him up for another spear.  Edge charges but RVD leapfrogs him, leaving Edge to hit an exposed turnbuckle from earlier in the match.  RVD hits a roundhouse kick, followed by the frog splash to unify the secondary titles at 18 minutes.

The Dudleys and the Hardys deliver yet another fast-paced tag team war, with the Dudleys using their size and strength advantage to cut off one Hardy at a time and Matt and Jeff picking their spots.  The Hardys frustrate the champions early on, but Bubba takes over on the outside after catching Jeff in midair and powerslamming him through the Spanish announce table.  The heels work over Jeff for several minutes until Jeff reverses a Whasssuuup, leaving D-Von to crash head-first into Bubba's jewels.  Jeff leaps to his corner for the hot tag to Matt, who works over both Dudleys.  Matt hits the Twist of Fate on Bubba, but D-Von makes the save.  All four men are in the ring now.  Bubba whips Jeff into the buckle, and Jeff springs to the top rope as the Dudleys hit 3-D on Matt.  But just as Bubba lands, Jeff hits a swanton.  D-Von covers Matt as Jeff covers Bubba, but since Bubba is the legal man the ref counts him down, awarding the unified Tag Titles to the Hardy Boyz after 15 minutes.


The main event is an epic 35-minute Survivor Series elimination match that kicks off with all ten men brawling before the referee gets control.  The action is non-stop and the tags are frequent.  All ten participants get ample time to shine.  The match goes 13 minutes before the first elimination, when Triple H goes for a Pedigree on Christian but Hogan clotheslines him from behind, and Christian hits Unprettier for the upset pin.  Christian celebrates but Austin pounces and works him over.  The Alliance members take advantage of their greater numbers repeatedly, cutting short several moments of WWF control.  Four minutes later Angle hits a top-rope beel throw on Booker and Angle-Slams Christian on top of him.  Booker rolls away and Angle pins Christian.  Several times during the match The Rock and Jericho run into miscues and bicker among themselves, and Angle tries to keep the peace.  After 20 minutes The Rock whips Goldberg into the ropes, but Goldberg reverses, and The Rock collides with Jericho, knocking him off the apron.  The Rock DDTs Goldberg and sets up the People's Elbow, but Jericho hooks The Rock's leg.  The Rock stumbles into a jackhammer and Goldberg pins him.  Austin and Angle yell at Jericho for costing them an elimination, during which time The Rock recovers and chases Jericho around the ring.  Jericho leapfrogs a waiting Booker on the outside, and Booker catches The Rock in a Bookend on the floor.  Jericho rolls into the ring and is double-teamed by Hogan and Sting.  The referee is busy ejecting The Rock as Sting hits the corner splash and whips Jericho into Hogan's big boot.  Hogan pins Jericho after two legdrops and it's a 4-on-2 match after 22 minutes.  Austin and Angle try to blame each other but cooler heads prevail and they go to work.  Angle dodges a Stinger splash and hits the Angle Slam, followed by an anklelock.  Sting reverses into the Scorpion Deathlock, but Angle reverses again.  Sting makes the ropes and pulls himself up, but Angle hits another Angle Slam to pin Sting at 25 minutes.  Goldberg pounces on Angle and dominates him.  Angle tries to outmaneuver him and goes for the Angle Slam but Goldberg lands on his feet and levels Angle with a spear.  He goes for the jackhammer but Austin runs in and pulls Angle back down, then kicks Goldberg and stuns him.  Angle rolls Goldberg into a small package to even the odds at 27 minutes.  All four remaining men brawl, with Austin and Angle getting the advantage.  But while the referee isn't looking, Hogan hits Austin with brass knux he'd hidden in his tights.  Booker rams Angle into Austin, and then throws Angle out of the ring.  Booker hits an axe kick on Austin, and Hogan legdrops the back of his head and pins him at the 30-minute mark.  Angle goes toe-to-toe with Hogan and repeatedly gets the better of him.  Angle goes for the Angle Slam but Booker calls the referee over as Hogan pulls out the brass knux again.  But the ref turns around just as Hogan hits Angle with the knux.  Hogan is disqualified at 32:00 and it's one-on-one.  Hogan protests and Booker pummels Angle while the ref is tied up.  Booker hits the axe kick and covers, but Angle kicks out.  Booker lifts him up and hits the Bookend, but Angle kicks out again.  Booker climbs to the top rope and goes for the Harlem Hangover, but Angle moves.  Booker writhes around in pain and Angle slaps on the anklelock.  Booker rolls over and tries to kick him off but Angle hangs on.  Booker crawls toward the ropes but Angle yanks him back to the center of the ring and grapevines the leg.  Booker screams and keeps reaching for the ropes but he's too far away.  Finally after thirty seconds in the hold Booker taps, and Kurt Angle is the sole surivor.  WCW's championships are now defunct, leaving only the WWF titles.



Continued in part 10....


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