Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

[3.0] "Bad match. Using steps as a weapon apparently is not disqualification worthy. It's a slow match that goes on for way too long with zero interesting in-ring work. Dustin Rhodes in-ring quality took a nosedive since coming from WCW."

[4.0] "Honestly, WWE needed fresh blood ASAP because i don't need to see Goldust for almost 20 minutes on a PPV."

[5.0] "Good match and work as a opening, Hunter and Goldust the time of 16 minutes good to turn up for a rumble, even though It doesn't stop being like most openers, it was not bad. 5/10 [***1/4]"

[4.0] "This was a weak match between both men to open the show with their in ring work and psychology being below standards, pacing was messy, and all not good enough for the long runtime that they were given to play with."

[5.0] "Mechanically sound but terribly bloated, with an already ambitious runtime being exacerbated by extensive work on Helmsley's leg. It's not executed poorly on either end but doesn't really make much sense, particularly as an opener for any show, let alone one of this magnitude. **1/4"

[3.0] "To give some context, this match is heatless because Goldust's sudden face turn that happened out of nowhere a few weeks prior seemed to be going over like a lead balloon at the time. Why they decided to turn him at that point is beyond me. It was just him basically declaring clearly to Lawler that he wasn't gay. That was it. That was the turn. Might have been a demand from the network, but I'm not sure. In any case, the work in this match isn't that bad but it goes on way way too long. And again, it's totally heatless and the crowd doesn't care. On top of that, there's a split screen interview during the match which always annoys me to no end. And the interview isn't with a wrestler. It's a country singer I don't think anyone has heard of. I would give it lower because of these things except the actual in-ring work wasn't absolutely terrible. Like so many other aspects of this match."

[1.0] "I generally like Dustin, less so in his Goldust era but still. I don't generally like Triple H but he has his moments. This felt like the worst of both of them, the match was an absolute bore from start to finish and felt every bit as long as it was. Most interesting part was when they randomly cut to Todd interviewing some obscure country singer in the crowd in the middle of the match. They even had him sing a little song and frankly they should have stayed on him longer because nothing interesting was happening in the ring."

[3.0] "The match, while not necessarily awful in terms of in-ring action, given that both Goldust and HHH are very competent performers, felt lackluster and dragging. It was heatless and seemed to stretch on far longer than its actual duration. Additionally, many moments seemed to make the refree look bad, such as him treating the match as a no-DQ despite not being announced as such and the screwy finish. Overall, a disappointing opener for a big four event and not a match I would recommend."

[3.0] "The referee being lax on the DQ stuff was one thing, but for him to be perfectly fine with Goldust repeatedly using the steel stairs and then remove the far less dangerous folding chair Hunter was going to use really made Earl Hebner look like a biased guest referee. The match was oddly structured because of this with Hunter getting the win booked like an underdog face even though he was the heel! On top of the obvious issue with the storytelling/structure of the match Hunter and Goldust was obviously capable of a better match than this, but this wound up being dull to watch and massively disappointing considering the strong build."

[1.0] "This is a booooooring slog of a match. I would rewatch it to see what other people saw in this match but from my little memory that may be a fate worst than death itself. Ok that might be quite mean but from memory this match was just down right boringly awful which is so much worse than bad cause you can have fun with bad none can be found with boring. I think both men are great in their own right but this match just wasn't it and set a bad tone for the show which is only saved with the Royal Rumble match itself tbh."

[1.0] "This is an awful boring match nothing to say about it even had a small interview with a random country singer."

[2.0] "After a rewatch this is so much worse than the 4 I originally gave it. It's slow , full of weapon shots infront of the Ref and I wanna pull my hair out watching it."

[4.0] "I really couldn't get into it. They put me off from the start with Dustin using stairs and the referee not caring about it at all, just to get the chair from Hunter's hands minutes later. They punched and kicked each other, walked slowly around the ring and didn't do anything offensive, but they couldn't get me invested at all. Plus the finish was executed a bit poorly with the commentators getting lost too."

[6.0] "I actually thought this was a well worked match, but loses a point due to the odd decision to treat it as a no DQ match even though that was never a stipulation, there was no real explanation for why the ref casually allowed weapons and interference from both sides."

[5.0] "[5.0] After a video package detailing the feud, we open the show with a defense of Triple H's Intercontinental Title against Goldust, accompanied by a cigar-toting Marlena (Terri Runnels). Trips is similarly accompanied by Mr. Hughs, who will serve as the match's catalyst in typical heel valet fashion. It's a solid, lengthy opener, but though probably not the most exilarating opening bout by todays standards. Within the first minute or so, Helmsley goes for a pedigree, which Goldust manages to counter, which sets up the psychology of the rest of the match. Goldust repeatedly one-ups H, beating on him relentlessly in and out of the ring and working Hunters leg. There's spots with the guard rails, the steel steps, and even a thwarted attempt by Helmsley to hit Dust over the head with his own directors chair. Triple H sells the leg like a champ throughout, and the commentary duo (J.R. is relatively silent) of Lawler and McMahon draw attention to the lax rules enforcement by the ref, something that's hardly emphasized today, at least not in such a believable fashion. There's an interesting spot here where Hunter kicks out of multiple pinfalls in succession while being trapped in a submission hold, a nasty drop of the worked leg onto the steps, and a picture-in-picture interview with Collin Raye that took me out of the action more than anything else. After a sloppy, slow leap from the top rope by Goldust, who wasn't even remotely close to HHH at any point of this, the match comes to a close, with Helmsley successfully hitting a pedigree after Hughs pulled him out of Dust's pinfall to retain. It's nothing too special, but I was especially entertained by the commentary. What a disparity from today's product on that front."

[5.0] "I can not begin to tell you the sense of the relief that waved over me once this had finished. None of it was bad but boy was is it dull."

[5.0] "Goldust is an excellent worker and Hunter was decent enough by this point in his career. Both men can throw a neat punch and they spent a lot of this one brawling outside the ring in between the less exciting moments when they keep it in the ring. Goldust gets a little too heavy-handed during the brawling and starts using the steel steps right in front of Earl Hebner, who does nothing. This really lit a fire under Jim Ross's ass as he chews out Hebner for not officiating correctly. Hunter does a Ric Flair-style flop beak-first onto the steel steps that the fans found amusing. Curtis Hughes makes his return as Hunter's new bodyguard and he was about as useless as you would expect Mr. Hughes has been throughout his career. The finish we got here was an overly-contrived screwy one, with both Hughes and Marlena getting involved. This was fine, if not a little dull in places."

[4.0] "Hughes joined Helmsley at this ppv and was gone within days. He traded up for Chyna for the next ppv. GD jumps Hunter outside and goes so far as to hit him with the steel steps. GD even calls him a piece of shit on camera. Getting closer to the attitude era each day. Hunter hurts his knee on the steps and I kinda think it might be legit as he is limping later in the night at the Rumble match. Hunter controls for awhile then GD fights back. GD goes up top but gets crotched. Hunter tries a superplex but gets shrugged off. GD goes for a flying elbow but the pool is empty. Hughes gives Hunter the IC belt, GD grabs it from him and lays out Hunter but only a 2 1/2 count as Hughes pulls out Hunter. GD scuffles with Hughes, knocking him off the apron. Hunter sneaks back in and clotheslines GD then kills him with the pedigree to retain. Meh opener."

[4.0] "*3/4. This was disappointing and boring at times in front of a crowd that was dead for most of it. The opening match needs to be more exciting than this was. This wasn't that interesting at all. Goldust as a face he didn't really succeed. HHH was not as good as he was three years after the match."

[6.0] "This was a really good match, although it did suffer from the ref treating it as a no-DQ match despite not being announed as such. There was a good mix of brawling and technical wrestling, although it was a little slow."

[6.0] "HHH and goldust open the show and I think this was a good choice. The managers gave a lot of flavor to the match and Goldust stood out with a good ring and character work"

[4.0] "Not a good choice for an opener. both of these guys were really slow at this point especially Goldust so this was a nightmare matchup"

[7.0] "It was a good match but suffered from the referee work, it felt like a hardcore match. Weapons were used and there were a lot of distractions."

[4.0] "Seeing that Goldust in a new role is interesting. He received the long-awaited face-turn. I'm glad of that. And it got faster, sort of. I'm loving it **"

[7.0] "I haven't really cared the start of this but when Goldust started to work on HHH's leg, it got going. I loved everything after that."