Triple H vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
WWE No Way Out 2001
Las Vegas, Nevada - Thomas & Mack Center
February 25, 2001
Steve Austin, Earl Hebner, and Triple H (courtesy of wwe.com)
Intrepid, hot take alert: WWE February PPVs were always inessential.
A blip between the Rumble and Mania. A little exposition and backstory to service a greater story. But to me—while they still kinda sucked—with my birthday on the 17th, they were my most cherished birthday presents. Shows that had their own sentimental, scruffy little charm no matter the creative output.
In early 2001, the Attitude Era was coming to its close. We didn’t know that at the time, but we knew the looming WrestleMania X-Seven, the first Mania stadium show in years, would be the shit. The poster featured Austin and The Rock, which had to be the main event. So in typical Feb. PPV tradition, this show would bridge the gap. As it turned out, it was one of the greatest PPVs of all time, and to this day is still regarded as a heralded, if not hidden, gem.
No Way Out was promoted to be the culmination of the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Triple H feud, that more or less had been ongoing in various intensity since mid 1999. Triple H paid Rikishi to do a hit and run on Austin to cement Hunter’s accession to permanent main event status. The next year’s Survivor Series, Austin and Triple H had a no-contest finish when Austin attempted murder by lifting Hunter’s car with him inside it on a forklift and dropping it 30-some-odd feet. Intrepidly, Hunter returned weeks later. That last bit was infuriatingly stupid. But a storyline that did work, was Mr. McMahon declaring an edict that to protect his main event for No Way Out, both men couldn’t touch each other. I’m a sucker for that as a storyline crutch, as it can force more ingenuity in an angle than the traditional run-ins and beatdowns.
The stipulation they landed on, was a first for WWE and a creative spin to a traditional 2 out of 3 falls match: the Three Stages of Hell, the idea that each fall would have its own stipulation. Now, the first fall being a traditional match kind of deflates the wow from the concept right at the git-go, but the second fall would be a street fight, and the third—if necessary, so of course it would be—a steel cage.
The first act of the match was the straight wrestling fall, but they wrestled with the fury of a street fight anyway. JR and the King on commentary alluded to how this was such an intense brawl and wondered aloud what could they have still left for the next fall. The fanbase at the time would have loved for, say, an inferno match or a first blood match to start if off crazy, but artistically, they needed some grounding to start. Triple H’s character chose the no stipulation stipulation so as to break Austin’s spirit in storyline, something the announcers wisely mentioned numerous times on commentary. Hunter had long since anyway retired the concept that he was a master technical wrestler by this point. They stuck to psychology nonetheless, and wrestled by focusing on a weakness of their opponent, Austin targeting Triple H’s arm with a single-arm DDT in the opening portion of the match, while Triple H focused in on Austin’s well known weak neck and knees.
The last section of the first fall picked up after Austin reversed Hunter’s figure four, and Hunter reversed the stunner by shoving Austin into the corner and hitting a textbook stalling neck breaker. Triple H then leapt from the top rope, Austin kicked him in the gut (which the camera wisely went to a reverse angle to block some space between the kick) and hit the surprise stunner to go up one fall.
The second act of the match was the street fight, and they swiftly rationed-up the fervor. The finish was logical that Triple H would win, as he would have to, to necessitate the cage for the third fall. The suspension of disbelief was carried by how much offense Austin got in. Austin started off hot by hitting 2 suplexes on the steel entrance ramp. Austin then battered Triple H with a chairshot symphony, hitting Hunter numerous times in an odd-only-in-hindsight foreshadow of the finish for Mania weeks later. Austin didn’t do it as long at No Way Out as he did at Mania and he did pause and delay before going for a cover, but the pop he got was huge, showing them that they could do this to a satisfying conclusion for the overkill ending they were seeking down the line.
Austin got Mick Foley’s old toys out, with a trusty ol’ 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire, conveniently hidden at the time keeper’s table. The barbed wire was used against Austin as he bled on JR and King’s commentary table, making this blade job more visceral. Austin had bled buckets numerous times on WWE TV, most iconically at WrestleMania 13, but this seemed splashier as the camera captured tight closeups of the commentators desk, and Austin’s blood dripped all over their call sheets and notes as well as the white desk in a vivid contrast. Austin then reversed Triple H’s pedigree via a backdrop through the beleaguered Spanish announce table.
What made this match an instant classic to me at the time, was a single shot of Austin gritting his teeth as he pummeled Triple H. It was a shot that lasted only seconds, Austin with the most amount of blood dripping from his face as he grabbed a Budweiser to hit Triple H with. The whites of Austin’s teeth shined through the blood on his face. The intensity of his eyes showed how much he hated Triple H and how bad he wanted to beat the shit out of him, and in true blue collar fashion, of course, what with the can of shitty beer as a weapon. That seemed to exemplify Austin’s character and who he was and why we loved him as one of the greatest box office draws ever. The beer spilled all over the ringside mats in front of the commentator’s desks, and from time-to-time they would slip on it. Maybe that took people out of it, but I liked the, again, blue collar appeal, as one could picture the image of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin the character going to some shithole in Texas and fighting shitkickers after a few pitchers of shit beer.
My favorite JR/King back and forth came towards the end of the second fall. It’s up there with some of the best zingers between Monsoon and Heenan. Lawler acted shocked when Triple H’s reliable sledgehammer also somewhat conveniently found its way under their desk. The King accused JR of planting it, which JR flipped out in his classic exasperated way and called King a dumbass with the upmost perfect timing. Sure it wasn’t a clever bon mot, but it tickles me to this day nonetheless, watching JR getting so worked up and accenting his insult like only he can.
To finish the second fall, Austin went for the stunner too too often, and it was reversed into an Irish whip to the ropes, where Triple H met Austin with his sledgehammer and the pedigree for the nod.
The final fall and act of the match was in the steel cage. The mesh fence, not the Hogan/Bundy blue bars, sadly. Triple H kept up the momentum from the last fall by dragging Austin around with the 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire. Austin got the 2x4 himself and just jabbed it into Hunter’s face. Austin smothered Hunter’s face with the barbed wire almost in the same fashion as a rest hold headlock. The pace was noticeably slower than the former fall, the reversals toned down, the bang bang sequences subdued, they both sold that this was a war that was nearing its end from exhaustion. Both wrestlers hit their finishers but were out of position for a cover. Austin used the 2x4 as Triple H used his hammer at the same time. Hunter landed on top of Austin for the win. The way Triple H landed on top of Austin was, I thought at the time, WWE’s way of protecting Austin before his match with Rock at Mania. What it did was set the stage for Austin’s heel turn. “Stone Cold” wasn’t able to beat his biggest enemy, so how could he win in the biggest match he’d ever have?
After the match, Austin cheap-shotted Hunter to get his heat back. The production booth did an excellent job of picking up closeups of Austin’s eyes that looked at Triple H with defeat and the realization that he couldn’t hang with Hunter anymore. Triple H’s goal of breaking Austin’s spirit came true. We wouldn’t find out until WrestleMania X-Seven and the Raw afterword how that would be manifested. The breaking of Austin’s spirit, him not being the same wrestler anymore, was the coda for the Attitude Era.
