Tales from the Attitude Era

RAW is at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on October 9th, 2000, the same building that hosted WrestleMania 2000. Mick Foley has promised he will name the person who ran over Steve Austin. He comes out to a mixed reaction, booed and cheered, which Tommy Blacha says has nothing to do with Austin. That is the audience booing the writing. Foley brings in Shawn Michaels, who points the finger at The Rock and leaves. William Regal on commentary agrees. Tommy was in attendance at this show and remembers the crowd already feeling the weight of a year of stalling.

The reveal comes after the main event. Foley exonerates The Rock and then points to Rikishi. The crowd gives him nothing. Rikishi repeats himself. He explains he ran over Steve Austin for The Rock because WWF was always about the great white hope and his people were always held back. Rob and Tommy dismantle this immediately. The Rock had already been world champion. He was once the corporate pick over Steve Austin. Yokozuna was a world champion. The logic is broken on every level. Rikishi later said he was unhappy with the angle, hated memorizing a long scripted promo he did not believe in, and felt the company killed the hottest character he had ever had.

Tommy explains what was happening backstage: too many writers, new people cycling in every few weeks, no script supervisor, and a bottleneck at Vince producing whatever survived to the last minute. Rob notes Foley reportedly turned down being the driver because his Christmas book for children was coming out. Tommy says they should have had Rikishi say he did it, attack someone, and powder. Save the explanation for later. Instead they got the Scooby-Doo ending and burned Rikishi's momentum at the same time.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Lita wins a hardcore women's title match against Jackie with a cookie sheet
• Raven challenges Steve Blackman to a non-hardcore match to get heel heat for denying the crowd weapons; Lillian Garcia announces it as a hardcore title match anyway; Ross corrects her live on air; the crowd is dead until Blackman pulls out nunchucks after the bell
• X-Pac and Benoit versus Triple H and Jericho is the best match of the night; four elite workers pull off a convoluted reluctant-partners story cleanly; Benoit pins Triple H; Tommy notes it goes nowhere
• The Conquistadors debut by attacking the Hardys during a Low Down match; a GTV clip interrupts the Eddie and Chyna match to reveal Eddie in the shower with two valets

0:00:00 Cold Open

0:00:28 Welcome / RAW 10/9/00

0:01:49 Austin Hit-and-Run Origins / Everyone Pitched to Be the Driver

0:07:13 Sunday Night Heat Promotion / Marketing Missed Opportunity

0:08:42 Ratings / Anaheim / WrestleMania 2000 Arena

0:14:08 Risk-Averse Booking / The Machine Growing

0:18:10 Foley Opens to Mixed Reaction

0:19:13 Main Event Booked / Jericho & Triple H vs X-Pac & Benoit

0:21:08 Shawn Michaels Brought In / Points to The Rock

0:25:00 Lita vs Jackie (Hardcore Title)

0:27:17 Chyna & Deborah Backstage

0:29:50 Deborah Interrogated by Foley

0:32:17 Triple H / Stephanie Backstage

0:35:43 Linda McMahon Limo Arrives

0:36:35 Raven vs Blackman / Lillian Garcia Botch

0:41:40 Linda McMahon Interrogated

0:46:18 X-Pac & Benoit vs Triple H & Jericho

0:49:15 Triple H Demands Benoit at No Mercy / Edge & Christian

0:50:01 Hardys vs Low Down / Conquistadors Debut

0:51:13 Al Snow (Greece/Grease) / Regal on Commentary

0:55:33 Eddie & China / GTV Shower Reveal

1:01:42 Michael Clark Duncan / Vince's Definition of Huge

1:03:20 Crash Holly / Scotty Too Hotty Interrogations

1:04:51 China Breaks Off Engagement / Billy Gunn

1:07:48 Main Event: Rock & Rikishi vs Angle & Kane

1:08:45 Rikishi Reveal / "I Did It for The Rock"

1:17:22 Listener Mail / Rikishi Quote / Meltzer

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SmackDown comes from Baltimore on October 5th, 2000, and it is a noticeably better show than the RAW that preceded it. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani spend a few minutes up top explaining what that probably means behind the scenes: somebody noticed, somebody said something, and the pendulum swung back toward wrestling. William Regal shows up and within minutes of sitting at the commentary table, uses the word "besmirched" and immediately gets over with everyone in Rob's friend group. Tommy says Regal has the full checklist and is the total package, not Lex Luger.

Austin confronts Foley in a segment that actually works. Foley tells Austin that his job has sucked since Austin arrived, which Rob and Tommy note is exactly what they had been saying for weeks. Austin gives Foley the chance to reconsider, hears no, and delivers what passes in Steve Austin's world as an apology before stunning him anyway. Tommy says the stunner is starting to feel like a pie in the face. Meanwhile, in the second Stephanie and Triple H backstage segment of the night, she tells him "the only thing hurting me is you." Both hosts agree it is not going where it should.

In the main event, Rikishi runs in and interferes on The Rock's behalf against Kane, costing them the match on a DQ. Tommy and Rob spend the back half of the episode fantasy booking a better Austin mystery driver reveal, agree there was almost nobody satisfying on the current roster, and settle on Goldberg or Flair as the only options that would have actually worked.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Jacky and Low Down pin Lita in what everyone expects to be a Hardy exhibition; Jeff Hardy hits a split-legged moonsalt that Rob says suggests he has been watching Sabu tapes; the upset does not lead anywhere for Low Down despite Tommy pitching for them backstage
• Billy Gunn interferes in the X-Pac match to help Al Snow win; Michael Cole explains on commentary that it is because Billy Gunn was kicked out of DX; Tommy says this is his pet peeve and the announcer explanation is the weakest possible version of storytelling
• Eddie Guerrero eats a Goodfather powerbomb pin in the RTC match; Tommy says you can always recover from a loss if your character has attitude around it, and Eddie Guerrero has plenty of that
• Benoit comes out and complains; Jericho interrupts and challenges him; they have the match of the night before Triple H runs in and bleeds; Rob says he would rather see Jericho and Benoit than Benoit and Triple H
• Taz and Raven win via DQ over the Dudley Boys on a convoluted ring bell spot; the Dudleys immediately powerbomb Raven through a table; the crowd wanted the tables the entire time and Tommy says it all feels like a house show already

0:00:00 Cold Open

0:00:30 Welcome / SmackDown 10/5/00

0:01:45 Writing Staff / Creative Pendulum Discussion

0:06:42 Austin Fallout / Show Overview

0:08:22 Hardys & Lita vs Low Down & Jacky

0:18:05 Foley Backstage / William Regal Debuts

0:26:11 Foley Checks Limo / SmackDown Your Vote

0:28:13 RTC vs APA & Eddie Guerrero

0:31:14 Stephanie / Triple H Backstage

0:34:03 Taz / Raven Promo

0:36:30 Taz & Raven vs Dudley Boys

0:40:02 Austin Arrives / Foley Flips Table

0:42:03 Foley Confronts Austin

0:48:39 Angle Promo / Edge & Christian vs Rikishi & Too Cool

0:52:44 Stephanie / Triple H Part 2

0:55:40 Blackman vs Albert (Hardcore Title)

0:58:03 Angle Approaches Stephanie

1:00:17 Benoit vs Jericho / Triple H Runs In

1:03:31 Kane Backstage / Rock vs Kane (Main Event)

1:05:48 Rikishi Foreshadowing / Austin Reveal Discussion

1:16:05 Patreon / Sign-Off

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RAW is at the MCI Center in Washington DC on October 2nd, 2000. The show opens with a tribute to Dennis Dunn, father of executive producer Kevin Dunn, who reportedly saved the entire WWF tape library from a fire that would have ended any hope of a WWE Network. Then The Rock opens with a Marion Barry joke that kills in DC. Then Angle comes out. Then Triple H. Then Foley. Then Benoit. Then Kane. Then Rikishi. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani have a name for this. They call it the variety hour. It is not a compliment.

The Austin investigation finally moves an inch when Billy Gunn is brought out as the prime suspect, clears himself with a flight delay alibi, and drops the first real clue in weeks: the person who ran Austin over had blond hair. Foley announces he has solved the case and immediately leaves. Austin stuns Billy Gunn anyway. Later, Austin stuns Foley before Foley can finish announcing a suspension. Rob likes the moment. Tommy already knows the reveal is going to disappoint everyone. The best spot of the night is the Brooklyn Brawler falling over a catering table before Austin even extends his hand.

The TNN numbers held steady from week one, which the hosts treat as genuinely impressive given typical first-week drop-off. The bad news is the show has less than thirty minutes of wrestling in two hours. The worse news is that for the first time, Rob is losing patience with Mick Foley as commissioner.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Raven takes the pin in his second week as Jericho and the Dudleys beat him, Taz, and X-Pac; Tommy sees a potential faction and explains what it could have been with the right booking
• Lita vs Ivory is advertised and never happens; Jacqueline attacks instead and they brawl through the locker room out to the garage where Jacqueline hits Lita with a fire extinguisher off the top of a truck
• Edge and Christian are steered into a hardcore title shot against Steve Blackman; Edge calls the title cracked and gross; they lose and look like herbs; Tommy explains how to take a loss without losing your heat
• Benoit chairs Kane during the tag match to cost them the win, setting up what should be a Benoit-Kane program; Rob asks if it goes anywhere; Tommy confirms it does not
• Triple H vs Angle for the number one contendership ends with Benoit interfering, Stephanie accidentally handing Angle the match, and Triple H taking a chair to the head; Triple H ends the show by turning his back on Stephanie crying in the ring
• SmackDown Your Vote is up to 110,000 registered voters; The Rock spoke at a Capitol Hill rally and almost told Gore and Bush where to go before settling for a much more measured ultimatum

Chapter Marks

0:00:00 Cold Open

0:00:27 Welcome / RAW 10/2/00

0:02:09 Attitude Era Fizzling / WCW Context

0:08:41 TNN Ratings / Show Overview

0:11:08 Dennis Dunn Tribute / Kevin Dunn

0:12:20 Rock Opens RAW / Wrestling vs Talking

0:15:31 Rock's Marion Barry Promo

0:17:25 Angle Responds / Be Like Kurt

0:20:10 Foley / Triple H / The Variety Hour

0:25:17 Benoit / Kane / Rikishi / Tag Match Booked

0:33:32 Hardys vs Too Cool

0:35:36 Foley / Edge & Christian / Hardcore Title

0:36:17 Taz & Raven & X-Pac vs Jericho & Dudleys

0:41:43 Lita vs Jacqueline Backstage Brawl

0:43:10 Rob Loses Patience With Foley

0:44:36 Rock & Rikishi vs Benoit & Kane

0:45:53 Foley's Ultimatum / Billy Gunn Prime Suspect

0:49:12 Edge & Christian vs Blackman (Hardcore)

0:52:32 Brooklyn Brawler / Austin Stuns Everyone

0:54:52 Austin Stuns Foley

0:58:52 SmackDown Your Vote / Capitol Hill Rally

1:00:12 Triple H vs Angle (Main Event)

1:02:24 Triple H Turns Back on Stephanie

1:05:08 Patreon / Sign-Off

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SmackDown comes from Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh on September 28th, 2000. Before Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani get to the show, they read a listener comment that takes about two minutes to accurately diagnose every creative problem WWF is about to run into over the next two years. Tommy cannot disagree with a word of it.

Foley opens the show warning Austin to play by his rules or else. Austin responds by hiding in a phone booth backstage and jumping Road Dog in the middle of a hardcore match. Raven gets his first WWF promo and it is immediately buried by a Jericho interruption, dragged into the Taz and Lawler comedy feud, and aimed at entirely the wrong people. Rock and Triple H team up against Angle and Benoit in a main event that works as a match and means nothing as a story. Stephanie pulls a chair away from Rock at the worst possible moment. Angle slam. Three count.

Tommy, still occasionally sending in material but increasingly disconnected from the room, explains what is actually happening behind the scenes: not laziness, but too many voices, a soap opera decree from management, Hollywood writers who do not know the roster, and a company so financially successful it has stopped being hungry. The people there are working harder than ever. The output is getting worse.

Please support the show, and join our brand new Patreon, featuring watch-alongs for classic matches.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Lita introduces the new tag champions the Hardys before beating Jackie in a match that Edge and Christian have no business being ringside for
• Steve Blackman gets nothing from his SummerSlam moment; six weeks later he is in a throwaway hardcore match used as a vehicle for an Austin run-in
• Trish recruits Kane for a six-man by mentioning Rikishi; the hosts assume it leads somewhere; it does not
• Raven and Taz beat Jericho and Lawler after X-Pac interferes and Raven hits the DDT; the Dudleys run out after; Tommy says Raven and X-Pac should have been the team
• Chyna strips down mid-match to intimidate Steven Richards; the hosts note she looks exactly the same; she wins anyway
• Stephanie pulls the chair away from Rock and hands Angle the win; Rob says the milk on the Triple H and Angle story is starting to turn

• 0:00:00 Cold Open
• 0:00:27 Welcome / SmackDown 9/28/00
• 0:03:06 Listener Feedback / YouTube Comments
• 0:11:04 Foley Opens the Show
• 0:19:16 Benoit / Angle / Main Event Booked
• 0:22:40 Austin Finds Road Dog and X-Pac
• 0:26:23 Lita vs Jackie / Hardy Tag Titles
• 0:27:35 Road Dog vs Blackman / Austin Phone Booth
• 0:32:32 Trish / Kane Backstage
• 0:33:54 Taz / Raven Promo
• 0:40:46 Jericho Interrupts / Tag Match Set Up
• 0:42:37 Triple H / Rock Backstage
• 0:43:15 Sunday Night Heat / MTV Discussion
• 0:45:42 Too Cool & Rikishi vs Kane & T&A
• 0:46:53 Jericho & Lawler vs Taz & Raven
• 0:49:13 Rock Promo / Kevin Kelly
• 0:50:01 Chyna vs Steven Richards
• 0:54:42 Foley on Stage / Austin Stuns X-Pac
• 0:58:38 Triple H / Rock Backstage
• 0:59:48 Rock & Triple H vs Angle & Benoit
• 1:06:23 Patreon / Sign-Off

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Raw moves to TNN. Austin is back on Monday night for the first time in almost a year. The Viacom suits need to be impressed. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani review WWF RAW from Penn State University on September 25th, 2000, a show that hotshots two pay-per-view quality matches in one night and still finds time for Tommy to notice that the machine is getting too big.

Austin opens the show, stuns Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the same segment, visits Undertaker backstage in a scene that felt like a western, and walks in on William Regal reading Shakespeare before stunning him before he can finish a sentence. The Hardys and Edge and Christian have a ladder match that Rob calls forgotten and incredible in the same breath. Edge pulls off a spear from the top of a giant ladder onto a dangling Jeff Hardy, the same spot he will use six months later at WrestleMania 17, and nobody in the building even knows it yet.

Tommy, still loosely working on things for the company at this point but feeling the ground shifting, talks about what it smells like when the writing staff gets too big, the synergy people start showing up, and creative gets convoluted. He also raises the question nobody on screen seems to be asking: every time Austin stuns someone, is there a next week?

Please support the show, and join our brand new Patreon, featuring watch-alongs for classic matches.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Kane vs Rikishi barely starts before Rikishi grabs a chair and the whole thing collapses
• Raven DDTs Lawler and Bubba Ray Dudley in the same night; a Tazz and Raven alliance appears to be forming
• Chyna cuts an emotional promo about her Playboy cover; Right to Censor immediately interrupts; Eddie Guerrero challenges them for the IC title on the spot
• Kurt Angle reads the USA Today while Trish Stratus puts his gold medal somewhere he does not notice until he looks up
• X-Pac smashes a glass bottle over Jericho's face to win the first blood match; Jericho puts him in the Walls of Jericho on the announce table after the bell
• Triple H inadvertently helps Rock retain the title by throwing Benoit into a Rock Bottom; Benoit headbutts Stephanie on his way out

• 0:00:00 Cold Open
• 0:00:29 Welcome / RAW on TNN
• 0:02:01 First RAW on TNN Overview
• 0:06:40 Penn State / Show Context
• 0:11:14 Austin / Foley / Benoit / Angle
• 0:21:28 Kane vs Rikishi
• 0:24:58 Austin Visits Undertaker
• 0:26:11 Foley / E&C Backstage
• 0:30:10 Tazz vs Bubba / Raven Returns
• 0:36:22 Stephanie / Triple H Backstage
• 0:38:24 Ladder Match: Hardys vs E&C
• 0:42:58 Austin Interrogates the Stooges
• 0:44:16 Chyna Playboy Promo / RTC / Eddie
• 0:48:38 Angle / Trish Stratus Backstage
• 0:49:56 X-Pac vs Jericho (First Blood)
• 0:51:15 Austin / Triple H Locker Room
• 0:53:20 Eddie vs Val Venis (IC Title)
• 0:55:30 Crash at WWF New York / Regal Returns
• 0:56:25 Rock vs Benoit (Main Event)
• 1:00:53 Patreon / Sign-Off

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Stone Cold Austin arrives at the First Union Center, attacks Kevin Kelly in the parking lot, and spends the entire night demanding answers that nobody gives him. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani review WWF Unforgiven 2000 from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their verdict: the first pay-per-view since WrestleMania that delivers good, but not great.

Raven walks out during the Tazz and Lawler strap match, DDTs Lawler, Tazz wins, and Jim Ross says on commentary that Raven is not even on this roster. The ECW crowd pops accordingly. Jericho and X-Pac have the match of the night, it ends clean, no ref bump, X-Pac taps to the Walls of Jericho. Edge and Christian face the Hardys for the tag titles in a steel cage with convoluted rules, Jeff Hardy gets eliminated three minutes in, re-enters through a door, Lita does a hurricanrana from the top of the cage, and the Hardys win their first tag team championship.

Triple H and Kurt Angle in a No DQ match with Foley as special referee is the most anticipated match on the card. It runs short because backstage segments ate the time. Stephanie low blows Angle. Triple H wins. The hosts describe the finish as sweaty. Tommy, who wrote for WWF during this period, observes that the writers' room was expanding, performers were becoming less empowered, and scripted lines were taking over. He ends with: "Boy, am I glad I don't work there anymore."

Please support the show, and join our brand new Patreon, featuring watch-alongs for classic matches.

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Other major discussion points include:

• RTC, the Dudley Boyz, and the Acolytes are thrown together into an 8-man tag with a Steven kick finish; everyone looks weak
• Al Snow represents Italy in the Hardcore Invitational with a Tony Danza portrait and a red cloth; Blackman wins; the 24/7 rule is suspended until RAW with no clear explanation
• Austin and Angle meet on screen for the first time; Angle offers him an honorary gold medal; Austin tells him where to put it
• Shane McMahon presents "evidence" involving old footage of Blackman bumping into Shamrock; Austin stuns Blackman (the hosts say this badly herbs him for a pop), then stuns Shane
• Rock survives the Fatal Four-Way against Benoit, Undertaker, and Kane; Benoit "wins" the title but his foot is on the rope; Foley restarts; Rock retains via Rock Bottom; the hosts hate the fatal four-way format

Chapter Marks

• 0:00:00 Cold Open
• 0:00:53 Welcome / Unforgiven 2000
• 0:02:03 Pay-Per-View Value / Black Box
• 0:05:50 Card Overview / Show Impressions
• 0:08:31 RTC 8-Man Tag
• 0:14:29 Triple H / Stephanie Backstage
• 0:15:41 Tazz vs Lawler / Raven Debuts
• 0:26:34 Austin Arrives / Kevin Kelly
• 0:27:23 Hardcore Invitational / Blackman Wins
• 0:35:32 Austin Meets Angle
• 0:36:32 Jericho vs X-Pac
• 0:39:07 Foley's No DQ / Rock and Austin
• 0:41:28 E&C vs Hardys Steel Cage
• 0:50:17 Austin / Stephanie Locker Room
• 0:53:36 Eddie vs Rikishi / Chyna
• 0:57:13 Triple H vs Angle (No DQ)
• 1:07:53 Shane McMahon's Evidence
• 1:16:22 Tommy's Insider Take
• 1:17:08 Fatal Four-Way / Rock Retains
• 1:21:09 Overall Assessment
• 1:23:45 Patreon / Sign-Off

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Kurt Angle ends the main event with an Angle Slam, a sledgehammer, a surprise kiss on Stephanie McMahon, and the line "ask your wife if I kiss like a pansy." Stone Cold cuts a pre-tape from his house in Texas that sells both hosts on Unforgiven more than anything else on the show. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani recap the September 21, 2000 edition of WWF SmackDown, live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the final SmackDown before Unforgiven 2000.

The opening segment puts the entire 40-man roster around the ring while Foley plays amateur detective. Rock denies running over Austin with a Swedish Chef impression. Triple H defends himself. Angle says maybe it was SA Rios. Xpac accuses Jericho. Undertaker arrives to a big pop. Brawl. The hosts agree this works. The gay panic jokes Triple H keeps making backstage do not.

Eddie Guerrero comes out with roses, delivers a speech about how Chyna is a superstar and he is nothing, reveals her Playboy cover for the first time, and gets on one knee. The crowd chants "just say no." She says yes. The hosts discuss whether this storytelling decision serves Chyna or undermines her.

Please support the show, and join our brand new Patreon, featuring watch-alongs for classic matches.

You also get these episodes uncensored and one day early!

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Other major discussion points include:

• Shane McMahon makes a surprise return two months after Blackman knocked him off a scaffold at SummerSlam and says he'll reveal who ran over Austin at Unforgiven; Triple H hears it, turns to Stephanie, and points out Shane said he was "all alone" in the hospital
• Jeff Hardy wore Sting facepaint as a kid and called himself the Wolverine; Edge and Christian found old footage and screened it in a dark room with a projector, then attacked the Hardys with chairs
• Al Snow represents Spain as European Champion with a Ricardo Montalban portrait, a pinata, and a red cloth; the Hardcore title match collapses under 247 rules and Blackman wins by kicking a garbage can into Taka's face
• Jericho and Lawler vs Xpac and Tazz ends in a DQ when Tazz chokes Lawler with a strap; the stipulation that those two couldn't touch before the pay-per-view is never acknowledged as lifted
• Too Cool forces a reluctant four-man dance on both the Acolytes and the Dudleys; Bradshaw holds out longest
• SmackDown Your Vote: 90,000 registered, and they give you the real number, not 100,000

Chapter Marks

00:00 Cold Open

00:28 Welcome / Milwaukee / SmackDown 9/21/2000

01:55 Show Overview

03:06 Opening Segment / Who Ran Over Austin?

06:39 Triple H Defends Himself / Gay Panic Analysis

09:08 Angle / Xpac Accuses Jericho / Stephanie Blamed

11:32 Undertaker Arrives / Brawl

14:18 Val Venis vs Scotty 2 Hotty

17:20 Backstage: Triple H / Greg Luganis Jokes

22:48 Hardys Promo / E&C Dark Room

24:19 Al Snow (Spain) vs Steve Blackman

27:54 Austin Up Next / SmackDown Your Vote

32:34 Austin Pre-Tape

33:23 Shane McMahon Returns

35:09 Triple H Catches Stephanie in a Lie

37:32 Jericho and Lawler vs Xpac and Tazz

39:42 Chyna Confronts Eddie Backstage

40:41 Eddie's Apology / Chyna's Playboy Cover

44:16 Eddie Proposes / Chyna Says Yes

48:10 Acolytes / RTC / Too Cool Dancing

49:41 Main Event

52:07 Gay Panic Spot / Undertaker's Motorcycle

53:31 Angle Slam and Sledgehammer

54:11 Angle Kisses Stephanie / "Who's Crying Now?"

57:10 Final Thoughts / Patreon

59:11 Sign-Off

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Triple H tells Kurt Angle he just wants to be friends with Stephanie, maybe go shopping for drapes. Kurt has never been more offended. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani recap the September 18, 2000 edition of WWF Monday Night Raw, live from the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois, six days before Unforgiven 2000. Also the last Raw on USA Network.

The opening promo ends with Rob, as a gay man, explaining exactly why "shopping for drapes" works and why "batting on the other side of the plate than the rest of us" is the one line that doesn't. Foley books TNA and Trish against Triple H, Angle, and Stephanie, and the hosts are almost surprised it took this long to get here.

William Regal makes his WWE debut at the Rosemont, which Tommy calls the single best venue to debut anyone who needs an immediate reaction. Regal sets up a dinner table, demonstrates proper napkin usage, and explains that American parents have clearly failed their children. Jericho interrupts with a fake British accent and a failed tablecloth magic trick. Xpac shows up with nunchucks.

Undertaker pins the world champion in a non-title match six days before Unforgiven. The four challengers brawl to end the show. The hosts spend two minutes establishing the correct wrestling terminology for what just happened.

Please support the show, and join our brand new Patreon, featuring watch-alongs for classic matches.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Tazz arrives as substitute ring announcer in a thug'd up suit jacket with the arms ripped off, a bow tie, and Thug Life on the back, introduces Rikishi as "6,000 pounds from the waist down," and announces the result directly into Lawler's ear
• Hugh Hefner recorded a video for Chyna's Playboy issue and could not learn Eddie Guerrero's name in however many takes, referring to him only as "the boyfriend"
• Eddie fakes being sick to send Chyna in to wrestle Rikishi in his place, then sprays mace in Rikishi's eyes, and Rikishi gives Chyna a bonsai drop while staring directly at Eddie
• The USA vs Viacom lawsuit backstory: USA claimed first right of refusal, WWE argued they did not match the deal because Viacom included $5 million in advertising that USA could not offer
• Tommy has a detailed memory of rooting for heels as a teenager at Cobo Arena, a drunk accountant in a suit who produced a small Soviet flag from his blazer pocket, and what his mom thought of all of it
• The Rosemont Horizon: 15 straight sellouts, Tommy calls it a top five guaranteed hot show venue, and WWF chose this specific building to debut Regal and switch networks for good reason

Chapter marks

• 00:00 Cold Open
• 02:50 USA vs Viacom Lawsuit
• 07:42 William Regal Debut Discussion
• 09:47 Show Starts / Stephanie Opens
• 19:47 Acolytes Attack RTC / Dudleys vs Goodfather and Bull Buchanan
• 21:59 Rock Promo / "Lord of Monkey Piss" / Undertaker Responds
• 24:44 Foley Books Rock vs Taker and Kane vs Benoit / Hugh Hefner Can't Say Eddie's Name
• 27:04 Backstage: Eddie's "Sick" / Kane vs Benoit / Ring Bell Chaos
• 30:10 European Championship Discussion / 2004 Dark Period
• 31:28 Backstage: Triple H, Stephanie, and Angle / "Girls Room Is Down the Hall"
• 38:32 TNA and Trish vs Triple H, Angle, and Stephanie
• 44:42 Angle Hugs Stephanie Post-Match / Triple H Spears Angle
• 46:01 Eddie Wrapped in a Blanket / Tazz as Ring Announcer
• 48:49 Rikishi vs Eddie / Chyna Caught in the Middle
• 54:13 William Regal Debuts / Table Manners Promo
• 56:39 Tommy's House Show Story / The Drunk Accountant with the Soviet Flag
• 1:01:36 Jericho Interrupts Regal / Xpac Attacks with Nunchucks
• 1:03:07 Too Cool vs Edge and Christian / Austin Pay-Per-View Promo
• 1:04:15 Foley: "Smackdown Your Vote"
• 1:05:08 Main Event: Rock vs Undertaker (Non-Title) / Benoit on Commentary
• 1:05:59 Undertaker Pins Rock / Four-Way Brawl to End the Show
• 1:08:02 Final Thoughts / Patreon / Rosemont Wrestlemania History
• 1:10:49 Sign-Off

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Eddie Guerrero shows up at the Playboy Mansion demanding to speak to Hugh Hefner. The bodyguard thinks he means his actual mother. The door gets slammed in his face. He walks away cool. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani recap the September 14, 2000 edition of WWF SmackDown, live from the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.

Foley books three tag matches to force the Unforgiven participants to coexist: Angle and Triple H vs T&A, Kane and Benoit vs the Acolytes, and Rock and Undertaker vs the Dudleys in a tables match. The stipulation is that if you attack your partner before the pay-per-view, your Unforgiven match is cancelled. The hosts count roughly six ways the stipulation gets broken before the night is over.

Triple H and Angle team up and spend the entire match trying to outshine each other against T&A. Test takes advantage of the dysfunction, pins Triple H clean, and gets the biggest singles win of his career to that point. T&A are not given a moment to celebrate. The hosts have a lot to say about that.

Edge and Christian, meanwhile, introduce the Hardys of the Future. Two elderly men dressed exactly like Matt and Jeff with the jinkos and the cutoff shirts come to the ring. Then Lita's music hits. It is a third old man. Edge says "dude, time travel rules" and he is not wrong.

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Other major discussion points include:

• Tazz buys a front-row seat directly behind Cole and Lawler, brings a bucket of popcorn, gets mic'd up throughout the Blackman vs Saturn hardcore match, and pours the rest of the popcorn on Cole on his way out
• Kane and Benoit have a dysfunction problem: Benoit walks out mid-match and leaves Kane in a two-on-one situation while the hosts puzzle over who technically broke the stipulation first
• Val Venis joins Right to Censor in white pants while everyone else wears black, says "I wasn't brainwashed" and "selective censorship is not wrong," and the crowd responds with a "ho" chant
• Rock asks Lillian "do you like pie?" and the hosts have a lot of questions about the internal logic of this new catchphrase
• Listener of the week: MKJ Comics writes in about his grandma who thought wrestling was real her whole life, called upset every time Triple H used a sledgehammer, and was buried with a John Cena wall clock
• PMFG weighs in: we are already in the bad creative period, the problems of 2001 started in 2000, and the Radicals died months in with no story

Chapter marks

• 00:00 Cold Open
• 00:22 Welcome / Phoenix / SmackDown 9/14/2000
• 03:18 Listener Comments / Jonathan on Kreski and Continuity
• 11:25 MKJ Comics: The Grandma Who Thought Wrestling Was Real
• 15:12 PMFG: "We're Already in the Bad Creative Period"
• 16:00 Back to the Show / America West Arena
• 18:29 Foley Opens / "I Answer to the Fans"
• 18:51 Tangent: Paul Heyman 2025 / "We Don't Answer to the Fans"
• 22:43 Opening Segment / Foley Books Unforgiven
• 25:10 Triple H Out / Tag Matches and Stipulations Announced
• 31:25 Kane and Benoit vs Acolytes
• 36:39 Triple H in Foley's Office
• 37:34 Eddie at the Playboy Mansion
• 38:58 Chyna Packs Her Bags
• 40:14 Val Venis / "I Wasn't Brainwashed"
• 42:52 Rikishi and Too Cool vs Right to Censor / Eddie Interferes
• 44:59 Test and Trish Backstage
• 45:36 Triple H and Angle vs T&A / Test Pins Triple H
• 50:46 Tazz Wants to Quit / Foley Books Tazz vs Lawler at Unforgiven
• 51:27 Edge and Christian: The Hardys of the Future
• 54:43 Blackman vs Saturn / Tazz Heckles from Front Row
• 56:32 Edge, Christian, and X-Pac vs Jericho and the Hardys
• 58:32 Rock Promo / Do You Like Pie?
• 1:00:04 Main Event: Rock and Undertaker vs Dudleys (Tables Match)
• 1:04:19 Final Thoughts and Sign-Off

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Eddie hears Chyna is going to be on the Playboy cover. The same Eddie who spent months praising his own security and confidence and pride in her. The reaction is immediate and completely inconsistent. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani recap the September 11, 2000 edition of WWF Monday Night Raw, live from Phoenix, Arizona, two weeks before Unforgiven.

Triple H draws Jericho as his surprise opponent and they run a fast, heated match before X-Pac runs in for the DQ. Triple H shoves him off and nobody explains anything. The DX dissolution continues, unaddressed. Later, in the Kurt Angle vs T&A match, Stephanie sneaks out despite Triple H's explicit instructions, and what follows is Tommy's unlikely standout of the night, a Looney Tunes sequence involving all three performers that works entirely because the execution is crisp and the performers are that good.

Tazz, after getting knocked out by a David Hasselhoff portrait, grabs the mic and says exactly what everyone has been thinking. He can't compete with Lawler's political power. Nobody wants him here. The outsider is tapping out. Tazz has become just another victim of the WWF. The hosts find it oddly engaging.

Please support the show, and join our brand new Patreon, featuring watch-alongs for classic matches.

You also get these episodes uncensored and one day early!

Please subscribe at https://patreon.com/talesfromtheattitudeera

Other major discussion points include:

- Lita wins the Women's Title from Ivory after Midian's streaking run-in provides the distraction, with the hosts noting she has no angle heading into Unforgiven despite being champion

- Hardy Boys become number one contenders after Edge's interference accidentally helps them beat the Dudleys, setting up Hardys vs Edge and Christian at Unforgiven

- Mick Foley announces a Fatal Four Way for Unforgiven with Rock defending against Undertaker, Benoit, and Kane, and the hosts question why Undertaker earned a shot after just getting pinned

- Val Venis appears completely fine after being abducted last week, hits the Acolytes with a chair, and joins Right to Censor with no conversion promo and no explanation

- Tommy opens the episode with stories from behind the scenes at the 2000 MTV VMAs, held that same week at Radio City Music Hall, including what it was like to work on a live production that made wrestling look organized by comparison

- Observer notes include William Regal's debut held for time, talks with Raven about joining the company, and K-Kwik ready to debut with a plan to pair him with Road Dogg

Chapters:

00:00 Cold Open

02:27 Tommy at the 2000 MTV VMAs

10:50 Back to the Show / RAW and SmackDown at the Same Venue

11:59 Perry Saturn's Travel Nightmare

12:33 Show Overview / JR Gives the Card

13:29 Foley's Opening Promo / The Austin Investigation

14:15 The Rock Comes Out

15:36 Benoit Claims #1 Contendership

16:09 WWF Name / World Wildlife Fund Lawsuit

20:52 Foley Books the Main Event

21:41 Hardys vs Dudleys / Edge and Christian on Commentary

23:44 Lita vs Ivory / Women's Title

25:22 Kurt Angle in Foley's Office

26:57 Eddie and Chyna: Earlier Today

30:52 Eddie and Chyna vs Too Cool

32:34 Eddie Attacks Too Cool / Rikishi / Chyna's Decision

35:21 Triple H Backstage

36:12 Triple H's Entrance / Chyna Reveals Playboy

40:25 Triple H vs Jericho

43:33 X-Pac DQ / DX Implosion

47:47 RTC vs Acolytes / Val Venis Joins Right to Censor

50:24 Al Snow vs Tazz

52:04 Tazz's "Tapping Out" Promo

53:54 SmackDown Your Vote / Bush and Gore

56:53 Kurt Angle vs T&A

1:01:53 Foley Books Triple H vs Angle at Unforgiven

1:02:23 Steve Blackman vs X-Pac / Jericho Interferes

1:04:20 Benoit and Kane Backstage

1:05:28 X-Pac Attacks Jericho Backstage

1:06:38 Rock and Undertaker Backstage

1:08:02 Main Event: Rock and Undertaker vs Benoit and Kane

1:10:05 Benoit Pins Undertaker / Fatal Four Way Announced

1:11:42 Observer Notes / Regal, Raven, K-Kwik

1:15:47 Creative Direction / The Road Ahead

1:16:34 Final Thoughts and Sign-Off

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