WWE Classics: Stone Cold and The Rock vs The Undertaker and Triple H (pilot SmackDown episode)

SmackDowns initial stage set-upSmackDown has had its ups, downs and everything in between, and for its sixteen year existence, has been an almighty roller coaster.This Thursday-Friday-Thursday night sensation kicked into gear on the 29thof April, 1999, around the time that WWE had taken its lead over WCW in the Monday Night Wars. It was in the same week as the incident when The Undertaker tried to abduct Stephanie McMahon. Those were wild times. It was also the time when The Corporation, consisting of Triple H, The Undertaker, Hyena, Rodney and Pete Gas, led by Shane McMahon, were playing the role The Authority play in the modern day.The first ever main event for SmackDown was a short one, but it was important in its own way, as shall be explained in this article.

#1 The build-up

The events of a few days earlier

The opening segment of this show had the McMahon Family come out to cut a promo, following the events on Raw, which was mentioned earlier. Midway though, The Corporation interrupted, and Shane O’Mac announced the main event, which would feature The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, rivals at the time, teaming up to face two of his cronies, The Undertaker and Triple H, who would, in true heel fashion, be accompanied to the ring by everyone in The Corporation.

The Undertaker would add on by saying he wanted vengeance on Austin for stopping him from making Stephanie McMahon his wife and slave on Raw. It really was a wild time back then. Triple H volunteered to be Undertaker’s tag team partner.

After a night which was given a four star rating on IMDb (International Movie Database), the main event arrived.

#2 The match

The Rock delivers a clothesline to Triple H

The Corporation arrived first, and then The Rock. Austin didn’t turn up, and the match went ahead anyway.

The Rock was receiving a beat down, until Austin’s music hit, and he came running down the ramp to clean house. A few seconds after he arrived, he was in some fashion considered the legal man, and the match went on as a normal tag team match for a couple of minutes, until overbooking played its part, which, back then, was considered good.

Austin refused to tag in The Rock, probably because of their on-screen rivalry, and The Corporation got themselves involved, as, in this day, would have been predicted by anyone with logic. A few Stunners and Rock Bottoms to anyone around followed, and eventually, Austin pinned The Undertaker for the win.

This may seem like it was a long match, but in fact, it was only five minutes long.

#3 The aftermath

SmackDown’s second and highly popular ‘Fist’ set

The events that followed this were complicated. The Corporation and the McMahon family continued their rivalry until eventually Vince McMahon was revealed to be the true leader, or higher power in the group. All of that eventually went to nothing as The Undertaker went his own way, and eventually everyone.

What made this match special were the other things. For one, the star power was immense. The four men involved were arguably the biggest names of the time, some may argue that Mankind would also have that title. Stone Cold and The Rock main evented WrestleMania that year, Triple H was heading towards a big push, and The Undertaker, well, is The Undertaker.

The other important fact about this match is that it set the stage for SmackDown. In its early days, SmackDown was, in some cases, more popular than Raw, and a lot of it can be owed to the four men involved in this match, who opened everything on the show.