Live Survivor Series notes, Rico injured in tables match, more Submitted by Matthew Tremley on Monday, November 18, 2002 at 11:52 AM EST
Tom McGrath sent in the following:
Just a few random notes from the PPV in MSG...
First off, whoever worked the sound last night did not do a very good job. The ring mic wasn't feeding through the Garden's speakers, so the matches sounded real dead...with no good mat-slamming sounds & the ref's pin counts weren't as audible. All of the promos, backstage & in the ring, were not loud enough & we had trouble hearing anything (And we were only in the 3rd tier...not that far away). Now having said that, the crowd was pretty hot all night. Not sure how it came off on TV, but they were definitely into most of the matches (Cruiserweight & Women's Title matches aside obviously).
Regal & Storm got tons of boos. Hurricane got a decent pop, but ol' Goldust's was much louder. Fans hated the ending, but got real loud when Dreamer brought in the Singapore cane. Big time "ECW" chants erupted.
I now know why Jeff Hardy still gets pushed. The place went crazy for him. His music came on & everyone was cheering. Crowd was really into this one. "Holy $hit" chants on all the spots. Lots of "We Want D-Von" chants. So when he came out, the place erupted. More "ECW" chants & tons of pops for the reunion. Wouldn't be surprised if they grab the tag straps tomorrow night (which would free Chris Jericho to finally deliver my dream singles feud of Y2J/Booker T.)
Crowd booed very loudly for Jaime Noble & Nidia. Place went silent for poor Billy Kidman. Despite the great action in the ring, the crowd was pretty silent until the very end. They did get behind Kidman pretty well, but there's just something missing. The cruiserweights just don't get enough TV time for the fans to care. Kidman actually got a decent pop when he did win the belt. People love that Shooting Star Press (Can't wait to see Lesnar do his version...) Kinda suprised they didn't have Torrie come out & mess with Nidia.
Note: The fans love Kurt Angle...his hug got so many laughs, it was great.
The hardcore women's match was mediocre. We were praying that one of them busted out a ladder, but it was not to be. Obviously. the fans went ga-ga for Trish. Pretty dead crowd reaction when Victoria won the belt. Not every day you see a suplex finish off someone. Crowd seemed pretty confused and a lot of people expected her to crack the mirror over Trish's head.
Madison Square Garden completely erupted when Brock Lesnar came out. Huge "Lesnar" chants throughout as well. My section all knew he was going to get screwed, but regardless, we were extremely upset when Show pinned him . Crowd also went bananas when Brock did the overhead suplex and the F-5, which looked absolutely awesome! The match was short, so the crowd didn't have any time to get bored watching the Big Slow. Too bad that Lesnar got injured and was forced to job the WWE belt to that 7-foot schmuck.
The Tag Match was great. All around great wrestling by all six competitors. Edge got a huge pop. And although they still chanted "You Suck" when he came out, the crowd was behind Kurt Angle most of all. When they were wearing down Benoit, there were multiple "We Want Angle" chants. And I hope you could hear it on TV, cause lots of people booed when Angle & Benoit were eliminated. Crowd stayed pretty hot for this one. Lots of "boos" for the Guerreros when they won, the people were not pleased. Edge & Rey Rey were very over in NYC.
The Christopher Nowinski/Mattitude segment was really hard to hear, but everyone just started booing whenever they stopped talking. Matt Hardy has won me over, I love Version 1...Anyways, biggest pop of the night so far when Scott Steiner came out. The siren started and the entire arena went crazy. I don't know how long they are going to keep Steiner as a face, but he had the whole crowd going tonight.
The Elimination Chamber looked awesome in person. RVD, Booker T & Kane were all very over. Crowd hated Jericho and the roof blew off when HBK came out. The match itself was awesome live. The crowd had great energy throughout and marked bigtime on the RVD & HBK top of the chamber spots. And the two shots Jericho & Michaels took through the "bulletproof" glass looked & sounded nasty. Lots of Boos when RVD & Booker T & Kane got eliminated. Lots of people were booing Triple H cause he was laying around most of the match. I now know he got smashed in the larynx, so I give him all the credit in the world for even finishing the match. A lot of fans still cheer HHH, even though he should be the most hated heel in the WWE. When Shawn Michaels actually pinned Triple H, I thought the entire building was going to collapse. The Garden was so loud! Easily the loudest pop when he won the belt.
TOP FACE POPS:
1. Michaels winning the belt
2. Steiner's Debut
3. Brock Lesnar
4. HBK's Entrance
5. D-Von's Run-In
6. Booker T, Kane & RVD's Entrance
7. Edge
7.5 Tommy Dreamer's attack on the UnAmericans
TOP HEEL POPS:
1. Big Show pinning Lesnar & winning the belt.
2. Heyman pulling out the ref & screwing Brock.
3. Triple H
4. Christopher Nowinski & Matt Hardy's ripping of NYC
5. Kurt Angle (but he had tons of face pops too)
6. Guerreros winning the belts.
7. Bill Regal & Lance Storm's Entrance
Jeff Rozner sent in the following:
Let me just say that the Garden was not sold out. I saw a few dozen seats available, but it was close to it. I had good seats so I could clearly see the action. The first match, when D-von came out, was when I lost my voice. I'd have to say that HBK, Steiner, and D-von are in a close tie for the top pops of the night. But then again, a few wrestlers got loud reactions (good ones), from Angle to Dreamer. I would have to say that the 3 way tag team match (you know which one) was not as good as their many matches on Smackdown, especially the 2 out of 3 falls one. The Big Joke winning was, indeed, a joke. I mean, this guy goes from not even appearing on Velocity to being the WWE Champion. Sick. And finally, Triple H put somoene over for the title, even if it was his friend HBK. Although this was a "thank you" win from WWE to HBK, possibly his last run, I thought the champion represents who's the top dog - the guy who draws the crowds. I would have to say both World title changes are bad ones. But at least HBK is insanely over, so maybe a good shoot term fix. As for the women's match, its amazing that people actually stayed in their seats, clapping in appreciation for the match, too. Best Match: Chamber match and the first match. Worst Match: Lesnar vs. Big Joke (such an A-hole for injuring Lesnar). Also, I noticed that RVD landed on his feet for his big spot (and I wanted to see him and HBK go at it, too). He was limping getting out of the ring. And Brock was definitely in pain after his match. Maybe you can find out what's going on with RVD.
Rico hurt, Dudleys reunited in Tables Match NEW YORK -- Nov. 17, 2002 -- Amazingly, all the Superstars in the match emerged without breaking any bones or tearing any muscles. As injuries go, Rico was the worst off. He had several gashes on his left arm -- from the biceps all the way down to the forearm. Those happened when he received a 3D through a table.
