Let’s take a trip back to a very special edition of WWE SmackDown from February 1, 2001. Oh yes, I’m talking about WWE SmackDown Xtreme!
All of the titles sans Test’s European Championship and Essa Rio’s Light Heavyweight Championship—were defended. Let’s check this show out.
Low-Tier
Women’s champion, Ivory managed to hold on to her title in a triple threat match against Lita and Jacqueline. It didn’t even make four minutes and it wasn’t an entertaining brief match.
Seriously, if you so much as blinked or headed to the restroom you missed this match. It was the length of a commercial break.
Remember, this wasn’t the hottest period for the women’s division. It was post-Sable and pre-Diva Search.
The action didn’t really pick up until Trish Stratus moved from being a manager and the women who came in during the Invasion began hunting the belt.
APA vs. Edge & Christian went as expected. While they could bring the heat, APA wasn’t going to deliver the kind of match Edge & Christian were putting on by 2001.
Plus, this is WWE SmackDown Xtreme! You kind of expect the match to be within the theme or else it’s a match that could’ve been booked the following week or on Heat.
Billy Gunn’s defeat at the meaty hands of Big Show went longer than needed. The match ran five minutes and that could’ve been one or two minutes on the Intercontinental title.
Mid-Tier
Jericho defended the IC title against Tazz is a solid TV match. It was super on the short side but this was pretty much what you expected from WWE TV in the late 90s-early 2000s.
“Even from a title match?” Yes, this was the late Attitude Era! The World Championship has switched hands and been defended on TV in brief matches.
This IC title defense was well within Attitude Era…parameters. It’s a baseline match from the period only it featured an actual stake.
I enjoyed the Brothers of Destruction team of Undertaker and Kane vs. Haku and Rikishi. This was a first blood match—which I felt was always an odd stipulation for a tag match.
As expected, this was a brawl. You guys know I always enjoyed Rikishi in action and heel, Attitude Era Rikishi was something WWE should’ve given us more of, really.
Haku was always an odd fit for WWE in the Attitude Era but there he was tagging with Rikishi and it was an enjoyable match. It didn’t have the thrills and spills pace but it was a fine TV bout.
Exotic-Tier
The Dudley Boyz held on to their World Tag Team titles against The Hardy Boyz in their signature bout—the table match. This match went as expected, really.
Any match with any stipulation featuring any combination of the Dudleys, the Hardys, and Edge & Christian will be solid at the minimum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcnjPWulumo
The match had a really good pace and was exciting. It was the SmackDown Xtreme as far as what you’d expect from this special episode.
Kurt Angle defended the WWE Championship against Triple H and The Rock. This was a pretty damn fun title defense. It was exciting and no one looked so dominant that it was a wash.
I can’t say this was the most exciting match of the night but it was a good way to end a special SmackDown.
If you say this episode is a special episode with an extra hour or a theme then you end that episode with a good or exciting match.
WWE SmackDown Xtreme Verdict: Mid-Tier (6.5/10)
Kicking the show off with some excitement and ending it the same way is just what you’re supposed to do.
Even if that opening excitement is a promo, something needs to happen to garner a positive reaction from the crowd.
WWE nailed it as the two matches were good to the point that everything between them could’ve gone either way and the show would be solid. This wasn’t a two-hour crawl, it was SmackDown with some “Umph!” to it.
That said, I wouldn’t call WWE SmackDown Xtreme a must-watch episode. It was basically, an episode of WWE RAW on regular TV but it was a nice change from the usual.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE! Don’t forget to check out Gamestingr for gaming news and reviews and TV Rocker for recaps and the latest gossip!
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit Gamestingr for great videos, news, and gameplay!
