Tags
Countdown To Wrestlemania, D-Generation X, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Main Event Madness, Paul Bearer, Rikishi, Road Dogg, Rodney Anoa'i, Sam Fatu, Solofa Fatu Jr., The Anoa'i Family, The Rock, Tori, WrestleMania 16, WrestleMania 33, WWE, WWE Network, WWF, WWF WrestleMania 2000, X-Pac, Yokozuna
Going into today’s choice for the Countdown To WrestleMania 33, I figured since we already covered Sam Fatu, Rodney Anoa’i (Yokozuna), and The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) of the world famous Anoa’i family, we might as well keep the train rolling with another member of the family in Solofa Fatu Jr. better known to fans as Rikishi (the father of Jimmy and Jey Uso). The match we are checking out with him was his tag match that he had with Kane at WrestleMania 2000 (a.k.a. WrestleMania 16) as they took on D-Generation X members Road Dogg and X-Pac. The main storyline heading into this one was that Kane had a beef with X-Pac and Tori, who basically broke the big red machine’s heart. When the match started, Kane was distracted by Tori who was running away from Paul Bearer leaving Rikishi all alone in the ring with both members of DX, but X-Pac would leave the ring to help Tori who was in a chokehold by Kane. It didn’t matter much because they were making short work of DX as Rikishi was giving Road Dogg the stinkface and he would’ve given it to Tori too if it wasn’t for X-Pac saving her.
DX looked as if they were done with the match as thy started to make their way to the back, but Kane and Rikishi were going to allow that to happen. As soon as Rikishi entered the ring, X-Pac caught him a pinning heel kick that stunned the big man. He then delivered some educated feet to Rikishi and topped it all off with a bronco buster. Road Dogg would keep it going with some rights and lefts and a shake, rattle, and knee drop, but he couldn’t get the pinfall. As soon as X-Pac came back into the ring, the momentum changed with a simple pop up cutter. Rikishi was then able to make the tag to the big red machine who just began to clean house with both members of DX. After Paul Bearer threw Tori into the ring, Kane looked like he was going to choke slam her, but instead he threw her into the corner where Rikishi would deliver the stinkface. Then the camera shows us Kane delivering a tombstone to X-Pac. And that was all she wrote as Kane and Rikishi left with the win. Hey, don’t forget to like our page on Facebook at Facebook.com/MRXPUNCHOUT and follow us on Twitter too.
For today’s Countdown To WrestleMania 33 match, we are going into the tag team division as we time travel to 1988 for WrestleMania IV which was the first to be held in Atlantic City thanks to the current President of the United States Donald Trump. So many people know the world famous Samoan super family The Anoa’i Family thanks to wrestlers like Rikishi, Yokozuna, The Rock, Roman Reigns, Umaga, The USOS, The Headshrinkers, and the Wild Samoans (The Patriarchs). Every one though seems to forget that there was another member fo the family that wrestled back in the day who is also the twin brother of Rikishi in Sam Fatu a.k.a. Tama (at least at WrestleMania IV) while as a member of the Islanders with Haku. At WrestleMania IV, The Islanders would team with their manager Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and they would take on The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware. The match came about after The Islanders had kidnapped Matilda, the English Bulldog mascot during a match they were having. Heenan of course ran his mouth about having pet mascots at ringside and that got Koko B. Ware involved in the feud.
The Dynamite Kid didn’t waste anytime as he catapulted Tama into the ring with the ropes and began just decimating him with hip tosses and big chops. Kid would once again catapult him, but this time it was out of the ring. As soon as Tama went back in the ring, Davey Boy Smith would miss an elbow that allowed Tama to tag in the powerhouse Haku. Both men would test their strengths against each other, but Davey got the best of him first with a high crossbody. The match was just not going their way because anytime they would try to muster any offense, Davey was there to retake the momentum with his power moves like the military press slam. After taking a beating from all three men, Haku eventually gained the advantage with a high heel kick in the corner that took down the Dynamite Kid. Eventually Heenan would get the tag and he’d lay in some kicks to the Dynamite Kid, but as soon as there was trouble, Heenan quickly tagged out. Heenan would return to the ring, where he’d begin working in Koko with vicious kicks, btu at one point Heenan looked like he was in trouble. So much to the point that The Islanders came into the ring and assisted Heenan in pinning Koko B. Ware for the win. While you’re at it, don’t forget to like our page on Facebook at 
For today’s Main Event Madness match, I decided to check out the WWE 2003 Royal Rumble match because tonight I am heading to the XWA Xtreme Rumble event. The 03 Rumble match which was held at The Fleetcenter (TD Garden) in Boston and it was an event that I had attended. What is crazy about the event are the names involved in this match. They are names that are no longer with the company, but it promised to be a good one. The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels drew number one and was looking to see if lightning would strike twice for him while Chris Jericho drew number two. The only problem is that when it was time for Jericho to come out from the back, it wasn’t him, but it was Jerichos partner at the time Christian who came out to trick Michaels. All of a sudden we see Jericho come from behind Michaels and he just begins to beat him senseless even using a chair which busted Shawn right open. Nonetheless, Shawn was almost eliminated right away by Jericho. The match would continue on featuring the likes of Christopher Nowinski, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Jeff Hardy, B², Tommy Dreamer, Eddie Guerrero, etc.
One moment in the match that was cheesy, but cool at the time was when the old John Cena came out rapping with an Astros jersey in Boston. Matches like these are full of great spots like Shannon Moore sacrificing himself so that Matt wouldn’t take the grunt of the impact or Jeff Hardy trying for a high flying move, but as soon as he reached the top rope, RVD was there to eliminate him. At one point in the match, Shawn Michaels would come back to the ring and he would attack Chris Jericho which would then cause Test to eliminate Jericho who had lasted quite some time in the ring. There were several wrestlers in the Rumble that I had forgotten had been in the WWE like Tough Enough winner Maven who made a name for himself one year for eliminating The Undertaker (who would get his revenge in this Rumble match). Business in the Rumble would pick up with pick 28 and up as Batista (28), Brock Lesnar (29), and The Undertaker (30) would make their way to clean house. Brock when entering would eliminate Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and Matt Hardy all in a row while The Undertaker would eliminate John Cena, Jamal, and Maven all in a row. The final four in the match would consist of A-Train, Batista, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker made the mistake of thinking that he had Brock Lensnar down and out with a tombstone, but after eliminating Kane and Batista he took his eyes off of Brock to talk trash to Batista and Brock came from behind and eliminated him to win the Rumble.
