AL SNOW vs. BOB "HARDCORE" HOLLY

These two's feud was based around eachother's desire for the WWF Hardcore Title. While it was no classic feud like Bret/Owen, Hogan/Flair, Austin/Rock, or Sting/Flair, it certainly was pretty damn entertaining. These two's war over the Hardcore Title took them into scenes of battle that had never been previously imagines, including parking lots, a production truck, and even the in, and I do mean in, the ice-cold MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!

Their first battle took place at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in February 1999. This show took place on Valentine's Day, but their certainly was no love-loss between these two. They were highly-pressured by fans to deliver a high-quality match, due to the very solid card, with such great matches as Val Venis vs. Ken Shamrock Intercontinental Title Match, Kane & Chyna vs. Triple H & X-Pac, Rock vs. Mankind "Last Man Standing" WWF Title Match, and the infamous Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon Steel Cage bout with a WWF Title shot in the Main Event of WrestleMania on the line. The Hardcore Title Match was booked when Holly interrupted Snow's "promo" (or what was supposed to be) on the RAW before the Pay-Per-View. Snow was going absolutely nuts (which for him, is normal), hitting himself with the microphone, a frying pan, and using a fire extinguisher on himself. Holly, who, at the time, was a member of the J.O.B. Squad along with Snow, came out to try to calm him down, but, instead, Snow proceeded to attack him, using steel chairs and kendo sticks. Thus, the match was booked. On the Sunday Night Heat before the event, the current Hardcore Champion, The Road Dogg, was stripped of his title due to an injury, and, therefore, Snow was dubbed as the Hardcore Champion (for some reason; I don't know why they didn't just book the match between Snow and Holly for the vacant title, but they didn't), and the match between the two became a Hardcore Title Match.

The PPV was a month before WrestleMania XV, and it was the build-up to the "Grandaddy of 'Em All." These two certainly didn't disapoint. Snow, defending his newly-won (well, not really...) title, immediately began brawling with Holly in the ring. Less than three minutes into the match, the two spilled out to the outside ring area. Snow slammed Holly's head with a steel chair. They then began using a fire extinguisher on eachother, spraying the other at every chance possible. In the backstage area, trash cans, telephones (?), broomsticks, and mops all became physically invovled in the match. The two eventually brawled into the parking lot and into the 30°, freezing-cold weather. They continued to brawl through the cold, eventually ending up near the Mississippi River (which was even colder than the air, which was 30°!), where the two both plunged in, continuing to brawl, even in the ice-cold water! They eventually escaped the water and ended up by a chain-link fence, which Holly used to wrap around Snow for the 1-2-3 pinfall (yes, the referee followed them through all of this, except for the brawl in the river!). He raced back to the arena, where he obtained and began celebrating with his newly-won Hardcore Title. Now that was quite a match! However, it was just the beginning.

The two continued their feud in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania XV, in Philadelphia, PA. Holly dropped the Hardcore Title to Billy Gunn on RAW one week. A three-way bout was booked between the three at WrestleMania for the Hardcore Title. Each continually interfered in eachother's matches, costing them important title shots and, thereby, furthering eachother's hatred towards the other two. So, at WrestleMania, Gunn defended his Hardcore Title in a Triangle Match against the other two. The three men opened up the PPV spectacular and, even more so than their last PPV, Snow and Holly, along with Gunn, were highly-pressured to deliver at the WWF's biggest show of the year. With a supercard like almost none other, consisting of high-profile matches like The Big Show vs. Mankind, a Fatal Four-Way Intercontinental Title Match, Sable vs. Tori for the Women's Title, Kane vs. Triple H, Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac, and, of course, a fully-loaded (yes, there's a pun intended there) Main Event featuring Rock and Austin fight over the World Title, these three's opening match would be extremely crucial in setting the tone for the event. Once again, they did not disapoint.

The match began with a melee featuring all three participants brawling outside of the ring. Holly used a hockey-stick on each of his two opponents, and Snow didn't hesitate to use a broomstick on the others. After they climbed back into the ring, Snow used a steel chair on Gunn, who was lying in the corner of the ring. Snow used his mannequin head, who's name, by the way, is (yup, you guessed it!), "Head," to bash across the heads of his two opponents. Snow then grabbed a table and leaned it up against one of the corner-turnbuckles in the ring. This method backfired on Snow, as he was hiptossed through it. After he stumbled back up to his feet, Gunn used the Famasser on him, slamming his head onto a steel chair, and leaving him out cold. It looked like Gunn was going to retain his title at the biggest show of 'em all, but Holly grabbed the chair as Gunn was pinning Snow's shoulders to the match. Before the count reached three, Holly backed Gunn's back with the weapon, knocking him out. Both of Holly's opponents were down and out, and Holly decided to pin Snow for the 1-2-3 win, winning himself the Hardcore Title at WrestleMania.

Snow and Holly continued to feud over the next few weeks, with Snow defeating "The Big Shot" on RAW in a Non-Title Match. The two continued to get involved in altercations with eachother over the next few weeks, which resulted in a Hardcore Title defense against Snow at the Backlash PPV. The match began with both superstars brawling outside of the ring. A hockey-stick, just like at WrestleMania, became involved, with Snow getting busted open early in the match. Holly snatched the stick away from Snow, who was busy setting up a table in the middle of the ring, and used it to his own advantage. The fight goes to the outside ring-area, where Holly suplexed Snow on the cold, hard, concrete floor. The brawl moved to the backstage area, where a kitchen sink and water hose was used. They then fought down a stairwell, where Holly shoved Snow into a dumpster at the bottom of the stairs. He then pounced off the stairs and splashed Snow, where the referee, who climbed right into the dumpster with them, got to a two-count before the looney one kicked out. They then fought into the parking lot, where a production truck was located. They each stumbled into the truck and took turns slamming eachother's heads against the complicated devices located inside. Then, in a great spot, Snow hiptossed Holly out of the back of the production truck and onto the hood of a nearby car! Snow went for the pin on the hood of the car, but Holly kicked out.

The two eventually made their way back into the arena, where pots and pans, along with skillets, came into use. They soon landed back into the middle of the ring, where the table that Snow had set up earlier came into use. Holly laid Snow on the table, and climbed to the top-rope, but took too long, allowing Snow to escape his position on the table and once again whack Holly in the head with the skillet. Then, in a spot as, if not more, incredible than their hiptoss-onto-a-car-hood sequence, Snow SUPER-PLEXED Holly OFF of the TOP-ROPE and THROUGH the TABLE!!! Both men were out cold, but Snow eventually draped an arm over Holly, who, amazingly, kicked out at 2! Then, in somewhat of an anticlimactic ending, Snow ceized Head and, when Holly finally stumbled back to his feet, whacked him with the mannequin-head, gaining the three-count win and the WWF Hardcore Title, after quite a battle.

Think that was it? Nope! You're wrong, because it wasn't, infact. The two continued to feud on the next few Sunday Night Heat's. On one episode of Heat, the two hardcore rivals fought for Snow's title. They went to a No Contest, allowing Snow to retain his title, but then, Holly did the unthinkable: He STOLE Head! AHHHHHH!!!!!! Backstage, after the night, he told Snow that the only way he'd get Head back is if Holly received a Hardcore Title shot. That's not what happened, but, after a wierd turn of events which I don't care to have to try to explain, Holly received a Hardcore Title shot at the Over The Edge PPV. In the two weeks before the match, part of that wierd turn of events occurred when Snow adopted a new "head," this time a deer-head, which he called, "Pierre." During a promo Snow did with Head and Pierre, Holly came out and Pierre became involved physically as a weapon. Anyway, this was basically the build-up to their match: wierd stuff happeining. The match, which is described in the next paragraph, was, like the other matches that night, completely forgotten about instantly, as the real story was the tragic death of Owen James Hart, who fell to his death after a stunt gone wrong. However, Snow and Holly's Hardcore Title bout occurred before Owen died, or even fell, so that was not on people's minds at the time of their match.

Snow comes out with his Hardcore Title belt, Head, and Pierre, and the match instantly begins. First, Snow and Holly used a cookie sheet and fire extinguisher on eachother. They soon were brawling through the crowd and into the lobby area. They both became covered in "gook" after they used the concession stand and it's items as a weapon. Holly was smacked across the forehead with a bag of cotton-candy by Snow (like that hurts...). They were soon brawling their way back into the ring, where a steel chair was used and a table, which Snow got from under the ring, was set up. Snow, out of nowhere, lifted Holly and slammed him down in his finishing move, the Snow-Plow suplex, but Holly escaped the pinfall. Snow grabbed Head, and was about to use it on Holly, when "The Big Shot" outsmarted him and low-blowed him, slowing him down for the time-being. Holly gained the advantage with a DDT on the steel chair, but Snow kicked out. Snow soon regained the advantage, and lifted "The Big Shot" onto his shoulders, and dropped him in a Powerbomb through the table, which allowed him to get the 1-2-3 win, and retain his Hardcore Title.

This effectively ended Al Snow and Bob "Hardcore" Holly's feud, and, while it probably isn't remembered by many fans, the ones who do have tapes of their antics are sure to get their fair amount of laughs, as this feud was one of the most entertaining of the year, 1999. After all, how many times do you get to see somebody Super-Plex another through a table or see that same person hiptoss the other out of the back of a truck and onto a car-hood? Yeah, that's what I thought...

SuperCard/Pay-Per-View Match Results:

1. St. Valentine's Day Massacre (2/14/99): Holly d. Snow to win the vacant WWF Hardcore Title
2. WrestleMania XV (3/28/99): Holly d. Snow and Billy Gunn in a Triangle Hardcore Title Match to win Gunn's WWF Hardcore Title
3. Backlash (4/25/99): Snow d. Holly to win the WWF Hardcore Title
4. Over The Edge (5/23/99): Snow d. Holly to retain the WWF Hardcore Title