6. The Hardy Boyz' Tough Exam

  

Fully Loaded 1999 - Jul.25.1999

The Acolytes vs The Hardy Boyz & Michael Hayes

3 vs 2 Acolytes Rules match for the WWF Tag Team Championship

    I know what you're thinking. What is an "Acolytes Rules" match and why is Michael Hayes teaming with the Hardy Boyz? Well the second question is easier to answer: an ill fated attempt to give good looking youngsters Matt and Jeff a seasoned mouth piece and provide a bit of character to the dynamic if generic duo. As for Acolytes Rules? From what I can gather looking at this bout, basically it's like when you'd play fight with your older cousin when you were kids and he'd be like "I have a forcefield though so you're attacks don't hurt me" but you didn't have those superpowers and anyway he's twice the size of you so if you try and pretend like his attacks don't hurt you he's just gonna powerbomb you for real and there's not a lot you can do about that. JR clarifies that essentially it's just no holds barred. 

        The other thing of course to note here is that this is for the tag team gold. In May the Acolytes defeated Kane and X-Pac on an episode of Raw Is War to win the tag belts - Bradshaw's first championship in the big time - and shockingly lost them just over a month later to the upstart Hardy Boyz. The Hardyz had been glorified jobbers for the past year, regularly losing to more established teams such as the New Age Outlaws on WWF TV and just a few months prior to winning the belts they were beaten by Dr Death in a handicap match on Heat. The team began feuding with the Brood and picked up Michael Hayes as a manager and began picking up some wins, defeating Edge and Christian at King Of The Ring 99 in June, nevertheless their victory over the Acolytes was a big upset. Even after winning the titles they would lose matches to the likes of Albert & Droz, only keeping the belts due to DQ finishes so make no mistake they are huge underdogs going into the championship rematch, even despite being the defending champions.

        The Acolytes make their way to the ring looking huge and pissed off. King says that things are about to get ugly before hastily adding he means the Acolytes matches are ugly; he actually thinks Farooq and Bradshaw are "ruggedly handsome". We get a quick promo from Michael Hayes while the Hardyz stand next to him pointing at their title belts and looking like every nu-metal music video has been put through FaceApp.

        It's plain to see that these three are not well matched. I'm not sure if putting Michael Hayes in a no holds barred match with Farooq & Bradshaw was a rib but I'm absolutely certain that putting Michael Hayes in cargo pants must have been. Hayes basically takes all the credit for the Hardyz being tag team champions and then implies he's gonna kick the Acolytes' asses. The champs make their entrance with the sexy young lads peeling their shirts off - mercifully Michael Hayes keeps his on - before the Acolytes meet them in the aisle way and all 5 men begin brawling. There's token selling from Farooq and Bradshaw but they set their stall out early, shrugging off the offence from The Original Team Xtreme, clobbering them and hurling them into the ring steps.

        Matt said of working with the Acolytes around this time - both in the ring and backstage - that Farooq & Bradshaw were always testing them. Seeing if they were tough and dedicated enough to stick it out in the WWF and stand their ground and it's evident in the early exchanges that Matt is putting a little bit of mustard on his shots on Bradshaw, with punches loudly snapping into Brad's torso. Hayes is blasted with a short clothesline by Bradshaw, doing his level best to turn his head and face away from the impact. I can only imagine how much the Acolytes and the lads in the back were pissing themselves about these two getting their hands on Hayes - I know I am.

        

        Farooq assaults Hayes with the steel stairs and only now does the bell ring to officially start the match. Almost immediately Jeff hits a somersault plancha onto Bradshaw on the outside before Matt follows up with a top rope moonsault to the outside, levelling both Acolytes. For 1999 WWF this was really ground breaking, breathtaking stuff. Back in ring Bradshaw gets his Fall Away Slam in before the Hardyz come back with the same missile-dropkick-into-roll-up combination that Edge and Christian previously used against The Acolytes but it has to be said this one isn't nearly as smooth. 

        The Hardyz take control with loads of tandem offence, keeping Farooq and Bradshaw off balance. Jeff hits the move which would become the Swanton Bomb (JR here refers to it as a "senton splash") which gets a huge reaction from the crowd and a 2 count on Farooq. Bradshaw hurls Jeff to the outside, who lands right on the back of his head and very audibly says "SHIT". It's ugly, Lawler was right. 

        The Acolytes take the initiative with plenty more stiff as fuck offence and both teams actually start tagging in and out at this point which is a nice gesture if nothing else. Hayes, for some reason, tags in and Bradshaw - there's no other way to say this - kicks the shit out of him. There's one moment where Hayes is seated and Bradshaw kicks him in the small of the back as if he's trying to kick a field goal. This might be seen as somewhat unprofessional but again it's Michael Hayes so it's just very very funny. I wrote earlier that Matt Hardy said the Acolytes were testing them in these early matches together and let me tell you, nobody sets a tougher exam than Bradshaw. 

        

        The questions don't get any easier either as Bradshaw annihilates Matt with a short clothesline and a top rope backdrop. Then we get what is, quite simply, the greatest clothesline of all time

        

        Finally the Acolytes hit the double powerbomb on Hayes (LOL) to end the suffering and become 2 time tag team champions. This match absolutely rocks. It feels more like an ECW match than a WWF match, especially for the time period, as there's no heat building or transition spots, it's just full bore huge offence from start to finish. As always, The Acolytes are at their best when their just showcasing hard hitting power moves and the Hardyz look like stars even in getting obliterated because they get their fair share of spectacular spots in, even being given an excuse as it's Michael Hayes who takes the fall. This would probably get the full five stars from me if only Michael Hayes had taken a Clothesline From Hell. Regardless this is the best match on the timeline so far in my opinion, a real gem and it's one I definitely would recommend everyone to seek out.

RATING: 7/10

Win/Loss record: 5 - 7

Thanks for reading. Please do go watch that match cos it's a belter. Happy New Year to you and here's to a better year in 2021 and lots more Clotheslines