Triple H vs X-Pac (WWF, 4-25-1999)

WWF Backlash: In Your House, Providence, RI

HHH has recently joined The Corporation, and has briefly-used music between him using the DX theme and “My Time.” Lots of insider lingo used in a pre-match promo about HHH “getting X-Pac over.”

Fistfight to start, Pac taking it to HHH and getting the better of things, sending HHH out to the floor. HHH has Chyna in his corner, of course, so he’s got advantages on the outside of the ring, though she’s staying away. X-Pac follows out, HHH tries to run back into the ring, and X-Pac drags him back out for more brawling. HHH bounced off the steps.

Back into the ring, Helmsley catches X-Pac coming in and gets back in the fight. But a body shot and some karate bring it back for Pac. X-Pac off the ropes, HHH sidesteps and sends him flying to the floor with a front flip. Chyna sneaks up, but X-Pac is ready for her, and then catches HHH coming from the apron. HHH bounces X-Pac’s head off the Spanish commentary desk, then off the steps.

Back in the ring, HHH with right hands, X-Pac fights back with his own. HHH whipped to the corner, X-Pac follows in and meets a boot. But when HHH comes out of the corner, he meets a spin kick. HHH with a thumb to the eye, but X-Pac turns it right around with more kicks in the corner, and sets for the bronco buster, but Chyna grabs his foot, delaying it, and the bronco buster misses.

This leads to concerns about X-Pac’s neck, having cracked his head on the second turnbuckle, and HHH going right after said neck. Chyna hits X-Pac with a forearm, HHH covers and gets two. Hunter with right hands to the neck. Swinging neckbreaker as JR starts shooting with real names and shit.

HHH cranking on the neck now with a front facelock. Hunter gets caught asking the referee for the time, so JR goes on about HHH talking trash for about an hour. Out of that, X-Pac trying to fight back, so HHH grabs him by the hair and whips him down to the mat, following with a pair of kneedrops right to the neck, then half a dragon sleeper over the knee.

X-Pac fires up, kicking his way out of the hold, then some rights to the body. Sadly, he is caught with a facebuster for two. X-Pac back out to the floor, Chyna picks him up and drops him down on the barricade. Back in and HHH continues the neck work over the apron with elbows. Jim Ross BEGGING for this match to be stopped.

Crowd not that into it, meanwhile. We go to a sleephold and they really start getting restless. X-Pac counters with his own sleephold to basically no reaction. HHH suplexes him off and both are down, sleepy.

Both coming back up, and trading shots, X-Pac blocking and landing right hands. A roundhouse kick, off the ropes, clothesline ducked, another spin kick from X-Pac. Whip reversed and X-Pac comes out of the corner with a clothesline, but hurts his own neck on it.

X-Pac up to the second rope, and hits an ugly tornado DDT.  Outside and HHH is sent into the steps, but then HHH sidesteps a baseball slide dropkick and referee Mike Chioda gets nailed. Chyna into the ring with a low blow and bad inverted DDT on X-Pac. She drapes Helmsley on top of X-Pac, and then the lights go out, and Kane’s music hits.

So now we’ve got Kane. Chyna stands her ground in the ring and throws a right hand at him, but Kane blocks. Helmsley from behind, Kane shakes him off and hits a chokeslam. Kane chokeslams Chyna. “She wants to be a man, treat her like a man!” Oh, boy. Chyna dropped into the corner by Kane, and HHH into another. “What is the Big Red Retard doin’?!?!” Ohhhh, boy.

Anyway, Kane leaves. Chioda back into the ring. X-Pac back to his feet and has TWO bronco busters open. HHH first, Chyna second. Then HHH just hits a pedigree and wins. Alright then.

Rating: 2/5. This is an early indication of what Main Event Heel Triple H was going to be in the long run. It’s about a 20-minute match, trying to take the pace and style back to the 80s with some modern flourishes, and crowds a little indifferent to it. Helmsley had a great run in 2000 until the bad injury in 2001, but it took a while to heat up; he was no instant success when pushed into the main event, and this match is lukewarm at best, despite the legitimate attempt to do something special with a friend.