[1999-09-23-WWF-Smackdown] The Rock & Mankind vs New Age Outlaws

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Cool moment before the match when Rock talks to Dallas Stars players at ringside and suggests turning the Stanley Cup sideways and sticking it up HHH's ass. Mankind misunderstood what Rock was talking about and thought he needed a cup (to protect the People's Jewels), so he brought him one. A little out there even for Mick Foley. Mick is about to ape Rock's catchphrases again until Rock stops him. The two are interrupted by Road Dogg, who reveals that he's reunited with Billy Gunn. The New Age Outlaws are back together, ending the Billy Gunn experiment and we have ourselves a tag match. Nothing special, but the reunited Outlaws win the tag titles in yet another title change.

[Tim Evans]

Brett Hull cameo. One of my favorite hockey players as a kid. Not much of a match with a botched finish but the mic worked carried it. I think this leads to a Outlaws heel turn and they were never really the same after that. As much as I loved Rock N Sock, Rock was really above this.

[soup23]

Some pretty big hockey names for this point in time. THe comedic timing of Rock and Mankind cant be denied and their bit before the match was funny here. I appreciated Road Dogg actually saying he cared about the titles before bringing out Billy Gunn. It's a hokey way to reunite a team after a failed push when they were just at each other's throats, but at least there is a legit reason for them to come back together. The match isn't anything worthwhile but I did like how it established the NAO as the better team based on experience and that played into the finish with them picking up the win. *3/4

[PeteF3]

Thank you for not bothering with the interminable "HHH runs the Gauntlet" series. Crowd goes nuts for the NAO reunion, and they're still babyfaces at this point. The Billy Gunn singles push is over, so I approve of that.