Match of the Day - That other unification match that happened that one time

Chris Jericho vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Match to unify the WWF Championship with WCW's World Heavyweight Championship and to crown the new Undisputed Champion - WWF Vengeance (2001)

WWE may be labeling Randy Orton and John Cena's TLC match to unify the WWE title and the World Heavyweight title as the first unification match of its kind, but as someone who watched WWF buy out WCW, the eventually Invasion angle, and the final unification match with both companies top titles, I would have to beg the differ on that. Yes, I am aware that Jericho and Austin were wrestling to unify the WWE and WCW titles, but that same WCW title is being considered the same title still used today (or was, we'll see what happens) as the World Heavyweight title when it was reintroduced in 2002. Saying that this title here is not the same as the one John Cena held before TLC, yet saying that the title that Booker T won in WCW is the same, is completely ridiculous. By the way, if you go back and watch Jericho's entrance from the previous match you can clearly see Jericho is labeled as the "World Heavyweight" Champion; not just the WCW Champion.

Clearly someone just wants to make this Orton/Cena showdown huge by calling it the first of its kind.

The context behind this Austin/Jericho unification match is that there was a mini-tournament of sorts to crown the first undisputed champion by combining the WWE title with WCW's World heavyweight title. The first match was Kurt Angle taking on the WWF champ, Steve Austin, then The Rock (unsuccessfully) defended the World Heavyweight title against Chris Jericho. Jericho, just hot of winning the WHC had to take on Austin in the match above to crown the very first Undisputed Champion. The rest is history.

Match of the Day - Stone Cold seeks revenge on the man who ran him over!

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Rikishi - No Holds Bared match - WWF No Mercy (2000)

Almost a year went by where the WWF fans (now known as the WWE Universe, of course) did not see Stone Cold Steve Austin from late 1999 to 2000. The reason for this, in reality, was that Stone Cold's neck injury he had sustained from a botched piledriver in 1997 (which ultimately shortened his career) had worsened,  forcing Austin to take some time off to recover. So how did the WWF write off the Texas Rattlesnake from television? Simple. They ran him over with a car.

But who done it? Well, that was a little more complex. As a full time watcher of all things WWF around this time, I was glued to the TV every week waiting to find out just who ran Stone Cold over. And while I had my suspensions (Triple H), I had no idea that the driver of the black car that hit Stone Cold in the parking lot at Survivor Series would be... Rikishi?

Rikishi admitted to taking out Austin almost a year later on Raw after his match that night. But why Rikishi why? Thus, the Rikishi meme was born... 'Kishi admits that "he did it for the Rock" and for all the Samoans who had been held down since the Rock's grandfather was in the business. Rikishi then admitted that, if he had the chance, he would easily run Austin over again!

In Stone Cold's first match to the ring in almost a year, he got his chance at revenge on the man who ran him down.. in a no holds barred, anything goes match at No Mercy in 2000. The match gets so heated that Stone Cold shoves Rikishi in the back on his beat-up pick up and drives him outside where he leaves the 400 pound man in a bloody mess laying on the side of the building. In the final eye for an eye confrontation, it looks like Stone Cold will run his truck into the lifeless Rikishi. But as he revs up the Stone Cold mobile, he instead runs into a police car! The match ends there with Stone Cold getting arrested and put in a police car.

Vintage Austin.

Theme Results

Returner: Stone Cold Steve Austin to get his revenge after being put on the shelf for almost a year via attempted vehicular manslaughter.

Match of the Day - Something's fishy with Team 3D and that scale

Team 3D vs. Shark Boy & Curry Man - Fish Market Street Fight - TNA Destination X (2008)

Part 1

Here we go: Team 3D take on the colorful team of "Stone Cold" Shark Boy and Curry Man in a unique street fight that was right up Shark Boy's alley. But, before they could compete in the match itself, Brother Devon and Brother Ray first had to weigh-in as they had previously lost to Shelley/Sabin with the stipulation that if Team 3D lost they must be weighed before every match. If the brothers from another mother over-exceeded the weight limit of 275 lb, they'd be DQ'd. I want to say the weight limit gimmick came about due to the new X division weight limit but it was probably just TNA being TNA.

Part 2

Anyways, Team 3D (much bigger than they are today) ended up miraculously meeting the weigh-in and got the opportunity to be in TNA's very first Fish Market Street Fight! Real dead fish and all. I'll try not to go too far into detail, but let's just say there were enough antics with fish, fish nets, fishing rods, and more fish by way of crotch shots to make you say holy mackerel. Stuff like that.

Brother Ray even Frenches a big ol' bass.

Part 3

"The fish are flying at Destination X" - Mike Tenay, 2009.

The only part of this match that really disappoints, and it's definitely not the use of fish/fish puns/fish equipment, is the ending. After countless kick-outs by Team 3D, Brother Devine (remember Johnny Devine?) came in to throw some powder in someone's face and it ends up in Brother Ray's eyes instead. Powder, really? I get that that is a good heel lackey thing to do, but this was a Fish Market Street Fight; couldn't Devine at least have thrown salt water at Ray instead? But nope. Ray then blindly walks in to position for a 3D on his own partner, Devon. Oh, and Curry Man and Shark Boy win!

Theme results

Food: fish, ding dongs, clam juice.

For more laughs, I highly recommend reading the Wrestlecrap induction of this match!

Match of the Day - Stone Cold takes on pre-Triple H and JR has some microphone troubles

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - WWF In Your House: Buried Alive (1996)

Long before Triple H hit Stone Cold with a car in an attempt to finally get the spotlight Stone Cold was robbing him of, Triple H was just Hunter Hearst Helmsley, a rich snob from Connecticut who was never going to get over as long as Stone Cold Steve Austin was around.

I don't know if this was ever true or not but rumor has it that Hunter was originally going to win the 1996 King of the Ring - but after losing to Jake Roberts in the first round, it was Stone Cold Steve Austin who would go on to win it all and begin his era with his famous Austin 3:16 speech. Triple H would go on to win the next years King of the Ring tournament but didn't really get over the way Austin did until he took over D-Generation X after another spotlight stealer, The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels lost his smile... I mean hurt his back or something... a few years later.

This is also at the height of Good ol' JR's "microphone difficulties" which eventually was worked into an angle where he blamed all the messy headphone activity he was getting at Vince McMahon as some sick joke. This then led to the short-lived JR heel-turn remembered mostly by the fact that he brought in Fake Razor Ramon and Diesel, but that a different story for a different day.

Here's the very first PPV match-up of HHH and Stone Cold Steve Austin.