Edge and Pac start, and Pac gets an armdrag and crotch chops. Edge bounces back with a shoulderblock and a heel kick, and Pac bails and throws a tantrum on the floor. Back in, and Pac hits a devastating, Visceraesque loogie, then tags Dogg in. Punchy kicky keeps the heels in charge, but Edge gets a flying headscissors and clothesline to come back. Tag to Christian, and the champs hit Poetry In Motion, giving Christian a succession of three two-counts. Dogg slaps him and tags Pac, and they get into a slugfest. Christian powerslams him and tries the tne-punch countalong, but Dogg hangs him ver the top rope and Pac hits his jumping clothesline. They beat up Christian on the floor a bit, and Roadie covers for two in the ring. Front fracelock and the crowd rallies for Christian, but the ref misses the hot tag, allowing the heels to beat him down some more. Keep that spot in mind for tonight. Broncobuster, and Dogg hits a NASTY kick to the back of Christian's head for two. Edge saves, allowing more DX stomping for his partner. Dogg sends Christian into the ropes and there's a malfunction at the junction, putting both guys down. Pac comes in and attacks Christian, allowing Edge to sneak in a very un-Benoitish diving headbutt on Roadie. Christian crawls over for two. The heels try a double belly-to-back, but Christian slips out and hits a double slop drop. Hot tag, and Edge cleans house. Powerbomb on Pac gets two, with Dogg saving, then trying the pumphandle slam. Christian saves Edge from that by going for the Impaler, but Dogg shoves him into a spinning heel kick. Edge spears Dogg, then Tori grabs him for Pac to nail, but Edge ducks and rolls him up for two. Roadie and Christian fight on the floor and Pac hits the X-Factor in the ring, but Christian manages to escape Roadie and nails Pac with the ringbell for the pin at 9:25. Okay but pretty empty match.***. I rejoiced at the time because I was SURE they would put DX over. Pac does a macho bladejob for the bell shot. Good man, Sean. Debra tries to announce the winners without repeating "World Wrestling" and slurring her words, and fails miserably.

Scotty jumps the champ to kick off, hitting a backdrop and a clothesline for a quick two. Dean is up quickly and tries a powerbomb, and Scotty slides out and into an armdrag, then hits a dropkick for two. Scotty hits a belly-to-back and dances, but gets jumped. he comes back with an inverted atomic drop and an Irish whip. Bulldog attempt, but Dean simply clotheslines his head off he goes for it. They go to the floor and Dean just beats the crap out of him, then tosses Scotty back in and goes for the knee. Scotty tries to fight back, so Dean simply dropkicks the knee. WWF fans who don't know why everyone loves Dean Malenko-check this baby out.

Dean gets a quasi-spinning toe hold for a couple of two counts, then barrages the knee with elbows and knees. To the post for more knee workage, then Dean goes back to the toehold for two. Scotty fights up and tries an enzuiguri, and Dean simply ducks and slams the knee into the canvas. Kneebar gets a couple of two counts, and the crowd rallies for Scott-Ay. Dean uses the ropes, but the ref catches him and he's forced to break. Scotty pulls himself up, and Dean kicks his legs out from under him and stomps the knee. Hennig kneebreaker, and Scotty manages to get the elusive enzuiguri to begin his comeback. Dean reverses an Irish whip, however, and goes back to the knee. Dean works it on the ropes and tries a Figure Four, but Scotty rolls him up for two. Dean gets straight up and clobbers him, then taunts him. He kicks the knee out, but Scotty grabs him and both tumble to the floor. Scotty tosses Dean back in and goes upstairs, but Dean cuts him off and hits a superplex. Both down.

They fight up and Scotty begins the Super-Worm comeback. Backslide gets two. Inside cradle gets two. Irish whip, but Dean gets a belly-to-back. Powerbomb attempt, but Scotty rolls out and gets the bulldog. W-O-R-M. Scotty celebrates and Dean throws him into the corner and gets a Flair pin for two. Wiastlock sequence gets Dean a butterfly powerbomb for two. Scotty blocks a charge with a boot, but runs right into a powerslam for two. He manages to send Dean to the floor, but gets hung over the top rope in the process. Dean goes to the top and Scotty follows, looking for a superplex, but Dean reverses IN MID AIR to a SUPER DDT. Ho-Lee Shit. The pinfall is academic at 13:00. Best finisher ever. Awesome, awesome match that I WISH the WWF had capitalised on. You see, you don't need loads of fancy moves or swank interviews to tell a story-Dean was an amazing heel here, and he should've been pushed as such after this match. Scott Taylor was no slouch either-he could have been the top lightweight babyface, and carried the division. But such is life. ****1/4.

The Dudley Boyz Vs. T&A w/Trish Stratus: This was the match that signified the official Dudleys face turn, and also the match that gave T&A some decent credibility. Boy, that didn't last long. Trish looks absolutely babelicious here. Brawl to start and Buh Buh chases Trish, but runs right into a clothesline from Test on the floor. Albert stomps D-Von in the ring but D-Von hits a clothesline for two and tags Buh Buh. he hammers Albert on the ropes, then shouts at Trish and elbowdrops Albert for two. He hits some more basic offence and tags D-Von back in. Double suplex, and they hit Wazzup (minus the Wazzup) behind the ref's back. Wardance Of Death gets a two-count. Albert comes back with a bicycle kick and tags Test, and they hit an Avalanche into a big boot for two. Test beats D-Von down in the corner and D-Von gets a shoulderblock for one. Albert nails him, and Test hits a doctorbomb. Tag to Albert, and a double spin cycle slam gets two. D-Von fights back, but Test gets a blind tag. Abert powerslams D-Von and presses Test onto him for two. Back elbow gets two, and D-Von comes back with a swinging neckbreaker-but for the THIRD time on the show the ref misses the hot tag. Albert hits a shoulderblock and nails Buh Buh on the apron. Second rope catapult, but Buh Buh breaks up the count. Test comes in with a clothesline for two. Albert in, and D-Von manages a second rope sunset flip for two. Albert hits a sitout powerbomb for two. Albert goes to the second turnbuckle, but D-Von hits him in the gut and superplexes him. Hot tag on both sides and Buh Buh clobbers both. Samoan Drop gets two on Test, and D-Von tosses Albert outside and the Duds hit a double team neckbreaker (called 3D incorrectly by JR, who took a year to grasp that move)on Test for two. Albert hits the Albert Bomb on Buh Buh, but Test misses the Savage Elbow and Buh Buh covers for two. Albert hits the floor again and the Duds go for 3D proper, but Trish distracts Buh Buh, allowing Test to hit the big boot for the pin at 11:11. Decent power match, something that's always unfairly judged by the I-Net intelligentsia.**3/4. The Duds go nuts on T&A, hitting the Buh Buh Cutter on Test and a screwed-up 3D on Albert, and D-Von Gets The Table. Buh Buh (who's bleeding from about three different places on his face) grabs Trish, who tries the liplock to escape. It seems to have worked-but Buh Buh shakes it off and the crowd goes nuts. You can guess what happens next.

JR berates the decision, until they cue up the replays, showing Jericho holding up the belt for Benoit's headbutt. Jericho goes all Ken Shamrock after the decision and sinks the Walls in on the ref. Real good match, but there was better to come.***3/4.

WWF Title Match, Special Referee: Shane McMahon: The Rock Vs. Triple H w/Vince McMahon & Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley: This was, of course, the Big match, where Steve Austin was set to return and be Rocky's special enforcer. Vince gets the crowd all riles up by announcing Austin's absence due to "transport problems" Staredown to kick off, then a slugfest. Trip takes over, but Rocky gets a back elbow. Trip tries a quick Pedigree, and Rocky backdrops him and stomps him in the corner. Shane shoves him off, allowing Trip to sneak up with a neckbreaker. Rocky hits a belly-to-back, but Trip sends him to the floor. He follows and works Rocky over, and Vince hurls him into the ringpost for good measure. Trip and Shane share a hug in the ring, and Trip covers Rocky for two. Rocky fights back, but Trip hits the high knee for two. Suplex, and the Greenwich Knee gets a trio of two counts. He pounds Rocky some more, and gets a sleeper,. JR mocks the I-Net speculation that "Austin was gonna show up and stab Rock in the back tonight". Wow, JR, that's kinda childish, from where I sit. I bet you're feeling pretty foolish now, huh?

Shane tests the arm and Rocky fights up, but Trip clotheslines him for two. Heel ten-punch countalong, but Rock hits Snake Eyes. Both down, and Rocky fights up with right hands, so Vince nails him with the title belt. Trip covers for a VERY quick two. Rocky comes back with some more rights and a clothesline, then throws Trip to the floor. Back in and Trip hits the facebuster, but Rocky hits a DDT. Shane won't count-drawing BIG heel heat-so Rocky flips and kicks his ass, sending him to the floor. Trip bundles Rocky out and throws him into the steps, then sets up the Angle Killer Pedigree. Rocky low blows him, and he pulls Shane up onto the announce table, and delivers a DOUBLE Rock Bottom through the table! Pretty messy, but cool nonetheless. Reactions: Vince does "The Roger Moore Gulp", while Steph gives us "I'm Blowing The Invisible Man". Although given the amount of steroids there, I'd say Trip's probably is invis....Never mind.

Rocky is up first-obviously-and he throws Trip in the ring, but Vince hits him from behind. Rocky goes for him, but trip hits a low blow and the Pedigree. Shane is still crawling around on the outside, so Vince calls out the troops-namely, Patterson and Brisco, clad in ref's shirts. Patterson gets a two count, so the Stooges stomp Rock. Vince and Trip beat on him-and the glass breaks. The crowd absolutely comes unglued as Steve Austin w/Gut storms the ring and wipes out EVERYONE(except Rock)with a chair. He bitches out Vince-needing a chair to help him back up to his feet-then walks out, as Linda McMahon w/The Earl Of Hebner enters. She shoves Steph down and directs Hebner into the ring, and Rocky makes it four world titles with the spinebuster/People's Elbow combo at 19:23. Hideously overbooked but really good anyway.***3/4. Rocky celebrates, and Austin tows in the blown-up DX Express bus, then shares a few beers with the new champ.

Final Thought: Watching Backlash '99, then this, the differences pre- and post-millennium are huge. The overall quality, the maturity, and the realism on display here dwarfs Russo's fantasy world of Ministrys, S&M Intercontinental Champions and Ken Shamrock's sister. Top show, although I would definitely be hesitant to call it best of last year-I'd say that accolade goes to SummerSlam 2000, which had something for everyone. Here, both Benoit/Jericho and the main event are good, but they were vastly overrated this time last year, and they're hurt by certain moronic factors-Benoit/Jericho had a REALLY frustrating non-finish, and the overbooking was very annoying in the title match. But the Light Heavyweight Title match was really really good, and the matches criticised above are still worth a look. Recommended show.