As we enter week 3 of the weekly Hidden Gems initiative, things are getting a little more modern. After a focus on an old-school World Championship rarity last week, we now jump forward to the peak of the attitude era in early 2001, albeit presented on a much smaller scale. Since the WWE Network launched, many have cried out for OVW to be uploaded. Specifically, the years where it existed as then-WWF’s developmental territory. While that request hasn’t been granted yet, today’s gem gives us a taste. Join me as we take a look at the main event of one of OVW’s biggest ever events, where an undefeated Leviathan meets a big red machine:
Monsters and Demons (Direct Link)
Leviathan vs Kane from OVW’s Christmas Chaos
Date: 01/31/2001
Location: Louisville Gardens, Louisville, Kentucky
This show took place so late due to a freak snowstorm in December of the previous year. It didn’t affect business too much though as a litany of top WWF stars helped to draw in a record crowd of over 5,000 paying customers. Pretty damn solid for a territory that only had a local TV slot. This event is actually pretty rare. I believe OVW released some kind of home video version (hence why this match exists with commentary from Cornette) though it seemingly wasn’t widely distributed. Also, every version of this match that I can find (including the Network version) is clipped down. Not horrendously, but the edits are very noticeable. After finding a couple of reviews for the full show, it appears that even the original release was edited, so this is as complete as we’re gonna get. Thanks, Jim. Finally, the above screenshot should give you an idea of how bad the video quality is. It’s subpar even for 2001. Now, let’s get into the in-ring action.
We start things off with Synn (Leviathan’s witchy female manager) saying that no-one can defeat her monster. Not even Stone Cold Steve Austin. Can you say foreshadowing? She tells Kane to bring it. As you may have guessed from the date, Kane is in his most badass, sleeveless-with-full-mask form here and is coming off of a tremendous performance in 2001’s Royal Rumble match. He is perhaps at the peak of his powers and absolutely jacked to the gills. We get a staredown to start before the hosses start trading heavy blows.
Leviathan actually manages to back Kane into the corner fairly quickly and starts pounding away. The veteran no-sells a corner whip though and brings the future Evolution into the corner himself with a two-handed throw. It’s then Kane’s turn to throw the soup bones until his opponent staggers and gets thrown into the ropes. The big red monster telegraphs a backdrop though so Leviathan throws him down to the mat. When Kane just gets back up unphased, he’s put straight back down with a clothesline. It’s here that we get our first abrupt edit as Kane is being thrown into the ropes. The former WWF champ ducks another clothesline and rebounds with his signature leaping clothesline and side slam. As you’ve probably figured by now, this is all extremely basic, This is Bautista at his greenest (he was still nearly 18 months from debuting on the main roster here) while the WWF superstar is just running through his greatest hits. Kane goozles Leviathan, but he’ll have none of it and manages to break the big man’s grip after a few punches. After a brief back and forth, the “demon of the deep” hits his first proper move with a belly-to-belly suplex. Kane then gets clotheslined (again) over the ropes and we get a brief ringside brawl.
Returning to the ring, Undertaker’s younger brother gets rocked with more punches. Another sudden edit sees Kane coming off the ropes. It’s his turn to counter a backdrop, this time with a DDT. Big Dave rallies though and we get to see an unpolished version of his spinebuster. Another cut sees Leviathan hit a big powerslam, though he misses the subsequent elbow drop. The WWF mainstay gets the better of a slugfest and manages to hit his big boot. He follows this with his top rope lariat. It looks like things are about to end with a tombstone but the OVW rookie escapes and shoves his opponent into the referee. He’s sent flying.
Of course, shenanigans ensue at this point. Kane gets a chokeslam but there’s obviously no-one to count so Synn comes in to cause a distraction. The Disciples (Payne and Damien) get involved and though Kane has no trouble fighting them off, it does give Leviathan the chance to hit a big spear and a 4-on-1 beatdown is underway. The entirety of Team Xtreme (Jeff, Matt, and Lita) show up to even the odds. As if all of this wasn’t chaotic enough, none other than Stone Cold himself shows up to look Leviathan right in the eye. The Demon tries to throw a punch, only to miss, get flipped the bird and hit with a Stone Cold Stunner. Kane is finally back up but as a sign of how protected Dave was even in 2001, he’s also able to slowly rise after being hit by the biggest finisher in the business. Nevertheless, Kane brings things to an end with the chokeslam, ending Leviathan’s vaunted undefeated streak in the process.
Result: Kane defeats Leviathan via pinfall to end his undefeated streak
Closing Thoughts: This was okay, though the editing didn’t help. I assume it was done to help the flow of the match as parts of it were rough. Leviathan looked extremely green here, so that would make sense. Still, WWE would rightly get sh*t for editing like this today, so I have to treat OVW equally. What we see though is pretty fun. The wrestling itself is kept very simple but it’s a lot of fun to see legitimately huge WWF names in such a unique environment. They really pop the crowd. Cornette does a great job as the sole commentator too. If you grade these gems on pure wrestling quality, this isn’t for you. However, if you like seeing video time capsules with something unique to offer, this is a lot of fun that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Recommendation: Give it a chance
And there we have it for another week! What did you think of this latest gem? Are you excited to watch it for the first time? Are you happy to see WWE jump up and down the timeline? Let us know in the comment section. See you next Thursday!