1. The Corporate Rumble, 1999

The Attitude Era of WWE has been in full swing for a while. Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and The Rock have dominated TV wrestling. WCW nailed its own coffin shut at the end of last season, so it sounds like a golden age for Vince McMahon's corporation. Ehhhh? We're nowhere near the end of the Austin/McMahon feud, but it feels like their journey from the Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania 15 is going to be its peak. We also get our first glimpse of Val Venis. I'm skipping a lot of Raw continuity because, while it's often good, every week is a different person turning on a different person until it was really impossible to tell who was teamed up with who. So, you know, it was Very Vince Russo. 

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Howard Finkel



1. The Royal Rumble
Steve Austin, Mr. McMahon, Golga, Droz, Edge, Gillberg, Steve Blackman, Dan Severn, Tiger Ali Singh, The Blue Meanie, Mabel, Road Dogg, Gangrel, Kurrgan, Al Snow, Goldust, The Godfather, Kane, Ken Shamrock, Billy Gunn, Test, Big Boss Man, Triple H, Val Venis, X-Pac, Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown, Owen Hart, Chyna

2. Hardcore Holly vs Al Snow for the vacant Hardcore Championship
3. Ken Shamrock (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Val Venis
4. Steve Austin vs Vince McMahon in a Steel Cage

3. Hardcore Attitude,1999

1. A ton of Corporate Ministry/McMahon/Stone Cold shenanigans
2. The Hardy Boyz vs The Brood
3. Billy Gunn vs X-Pac for King Of The Ring
4. Steve Austin vs Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon for control of the WWE 
5. The Rock vs Triple H in a Strap Match
6. Al Snow (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs Big Boss Man
​

4. Fully Loaded, 1999

1. Edge (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Jeff jarret
2. The Acolytes vs The Hardy Boys
3. Ivory (WWE Woman's Champ) vs Tori Wilson
4. Ken Shamrock vs Steve Blackman
5. Kane & X-Pac (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Unholy Alliance
6. Steve Austin (WWE Champ) vs Triple H vs Mick Foley (as Mankind)

5. Rebellion, 1999
​
1. Mick Foley (as Mankind) (WWE Champ) vs Triple H
2. D-Lo Brown (European Champ) vs Mark Henry
3. Jeff Jarret (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chyna
4. The Acolytes vs THe Dudley Boys
5. The Road Dogg vs Chris Jericho
6. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs The Rock in a Steel Cage

6. Smackdown, 1999
​
1. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs British Bulldog
2. Jeff Jarret (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chyna
3. This Is Your Life, The Rock
4. The Hardy Boys vs Edge & Christian in a Ladder Match
5. Val Venis vs Mick Foley (as Mankind)
6. Chyna (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho

7. Armageddon, 1999, 2000

1. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs Big Show vs The Rock
2. Too Cool vs Val Venis & British Bulldog (Rikishi debut)
3. Kurt Angle vs Shawn Stasiak
4. Kane vs X-Pac
5. Chyna (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho
6. New Age Outlaws (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Too Cool & Rikishi
7. Triple H vs Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred Match

8. Royal Street Fight Bang Bang, 2000
​
1. Taz vs Kurt Angle
2. Hardy Boys vs Dudley Boys in a Tables Tag Team Match
4. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) in a Street Fight
7. The Royal Rumble
D'Lo Brown ,  Grand Master Sexay, Mosh,  Christian , Rikishi , Scotty 2 Hotty, Steve Blackman, Mabel, Big Boss Man, Test, The British Bulldog, Gangrel, Edge,  Bob Backlund, Chris Jericho, Crash Holly, Chyna,  Faarooq, Road Dogg, Al Snow, Val Venis, Prince Albert, Hardcore Holly,  The Rock, Billy Gunn, Big Show , JBL,  Kane , The Godfather, X-Pac

. Radical Invasion, 2000

1. New Age Outlaws vs Al Snow & Steve Blackman
2. Chris Jericho (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chyna (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Hardcore Holly

3. Chris Jericho (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Kurt Angle
4. Too Cool & Rikishi vs The Radicalz
5. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs Mick Foley (as Catus Jack) in Hell In A Cell Retirement Match
6. Dudley Boys (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Edge & Christian vs Hardy Boys in a Ladder Match

10. Radical Backlash, 2000

1, Jacqueline (WWE Womans Champ) vs Stephanie McMahon
2. Too Cool & Chyna vs The Radicalz 
3. Kane & Rikishi vs DX
​4. Kurt Angle (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit
5. Kurt Angle (WWE European Champ) vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit
6. Chris Jericho (WWE European Champ) vs Eddie Guerrero
7. Scotty 2 Hotty (WWE Light Heavyweight Champ) vs Dean Malenko
8. Eddie Guerrero (WWE European Champ) vs Emma Rios
9. Chris Benoit (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho

11. The Attitude Era Blows Up, 2000

1. Eddie Guerrero (WWE European Champ) vs Perry Saturn vs Dean Malenko
​2. Chris Benoit (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho
3. DX (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Dudley Boyz in a tables match
4. Steve Austin blows up the DXExpress
5. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs The Rock

10.  The Olympic King, 2000

1.Kurt Angle vs Chris Jericho
2. Rikishi vs Val Venis
3. Kurt Angle vs Rikishi
4. Hardy Boyz & Lita vs T&A & Trish Stratus
5. Triple H vs Chris Jericho in a Last Man Standing Match
6. The Rock (WWE Champ) vs Chris Benoit

11. TV-14 (2000)

1. Debut Of Right To Censor
2. Val Venis (WWE Intercontinental Champ) & Trish Stratus vs Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
3. Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match
4. Edge & Christian (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Dudley Boyz vs Hardy Boys in a TLC Match
5. The Rock (WWE Champ) vs Triple H vs Kurt Angle
6. Edge & Christian (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Hardy Boyz in a Steel Cage Match
7. Triple H vs Kurt Angle
8. The Rock (WWE Champ) vs Chris Benoit vs Kane vs Undertaker in a Fatal 4Way

12. Stinkface (2000)

1. The Rock vs Rikishi
​2. Ivory (WWE Woman's Champ) vs Lyta
3. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs The Undertaker
4. William Regal (WWE European Champ) vs Hardcore Holly
5. Val Venis Vs Chyna
6. Ivory (WWE Womans Champ) vs Molly Holly vs Trish Stratus
7. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs Undertaker vs The Rock vs Steve Austin vs Triple H vs Rikishi in Hell In A Cell Match

8. Chris Benoit (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho in a Ladder Match
9. Ivory (WWE Womans Champ) vs Chyna
10. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs Triple H

13. The Road To Wrestlemania (2001)

​1.  Royal Rumble
Jeff Hardy, Bull Buchanan, Matt Hardy, Faarooq, Drew Carey, Kane, Raven, Al Snow, Perry Saturn, Steve Blackman, Grand Master Sexay, The Honky Tonk Man, The Rock, The Goodfather, Tazz, JBL, Albert, Hardcore Holly, R-Truth, Val Venis, William Regal, Test, Big Show, Crash Holly, The Undertaker, Scotty 2 Hotty, Steve Austin, Billy Gunn, Haku, Rikishi

2. Raven (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs Big Show
3. Chris Jericho (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero vs X-Pac in a Fatal 4Way

4. Stephanie McMahon Helmsley vs Trish Stratus
5. Triple H vs Steve Austin in 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match 

14. X7 (2001)

Perhaps the greatest ever Wrestlemania with one of the all-time best matches that, unfortunately, led to some dismal storylines, but it was all shock and potential during this epic pay-per-view.

1. The Dudley Boyz (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Brothers Of Destruction vs Edge & Christian 
2. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs The Rock
3. Chris Jericho (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs William Regal
4. Raven (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs Big Show vs Kane
5. Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit
6. Ivory (WWE Woman's Champ) vs Chyna
7. The Dudley Boyz (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs Edge & Christian vs The Hardy Boyz in a TLC Match

8. Undertaker vs Triple H
9. The Rock (WWE Champ) vs Steve Austin

15. The New Boss (2001)

I've avoided as much as possible the WCW Vince Russo era. Just trust me, it's not worth it. A new title change very five minutes. "Celebrity" champions. Jay Leno wrestling. Vince Russo just chowing down on Hulk Hogan's c....ego. It's awful. So the owners decided to sell, and while Bischoff and some of the top brass at WCW made an offer, The McMahon family ended up purchasing the company, and Boom. No More WCW. It would now be owned by the WWE. The final episode of WCW Nitro had some decent curtain calls, so I've included those here.

1. Vince McMahon announces he has purchased WCW
2. Scott Steiner (WCW Heavyweight Champ) vs Booker T (WCW US Champ)
3. Sting vs Ric Flair
4. Shane McMahon announces he has purchased WCW
5. Rhyno (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs Raven
6. Matt Hardy (WWE European Champ) vs Christian vs Eddie Guerrero
7. Two Man Power Trip (WWE Champ & WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Brothers Of Destruction (WWE Tag Team Champs) with every title at stake
8. Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle in an Ultimate Submission Match

16. Lead Me To My Throne (2001)

1. Kurt Angle Vs Chris Benoit in  a 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match
2. Chyna (WWE Woman's Champ) vs Lyta
3. Triple H (WWE Champ) vs Kane in a Chain Match
4. Stone Cold (WWE Champ) vs The Undertaker No Holds Barred
5. Kurt Angle vs Christian
6. Edge vs Rhyno
7. Edge vs Kurt Angle

17. First Strike In The Invasion, 2001

1. Kurt Angle vs Shane McMahon in a Street Fight
2. Steve Austin (WWE Champ) vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit
3. Paul Heyman & ECW invade again
4. Jeff Hardy (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs RvD
5. Team Coalition vs Team WWE
Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, DDP, and Rhyno vs Chris Jericho, Kane, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, and The Undertaker

18. The Alliance, 2001

1. Rhyno gores Jericho on Raw
2. Jeff Hardy (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs RvD in a Ladder Match
3. The Rock (WCW Champ) vs Booker T
4. RvD (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs Chris Jericho
5. Steve Austin (WWE Champ) vs Kurt Angle
6. Dudley Boyz vs Big Show & Tajiri
7. The Rock (WCW Champ) vs Chris Benoit
8. Kurt Angle turns Stephanie McMahon into The Dairy Queen
9.Trish Stratus vs Ivory vs Jazz vs Jacqueline vs Molly Holly vs Lita  for the vacant WWE Woman's Championship

10. Team WWE vs The Alliance
The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show, The Undertaker, Kane vs  Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, RvD, Booker T, Shane McMahon

19. Unification, 2001

1. Steve Austin (WWE Champ) vs RvD
2. Edge (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs William Regal
3. RvD (WWE Hardcore Champ) vs The Undertaker
4. Trish Stratus (WWE Womans Champ) vs Jacqueline
5. Steve Austin (WWE Champ) vs Kurt Angle
6. The Rock (WCW Champ) vs Chris Jericho
7. Steve Austin (WWE Champ) vs Chris Jericho (WCW Champ)

20. Tough Decisions, 2002

1. Paul Heyman fired
2. Ric Flair is the new owner of the WWE?
3. Trish Stratus (WWE Womans Champ) vs Jazz
4. Chris Jericho (WWE Champ) vs The Rock
5. Steve Austin vs Booker T in Price Check On A Jackass
6. The Royal Rumble
Rikishi, Goldust, Big Boss Man, JBL, Lance Storm, Al Snow, Billy Gunn, The Undertaker, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Maven, Scotty 2 Hotty, Christian, DDP, Chuck Palumbo, The Godfather, Albert, Perry Saturn, Steve Austin, Val Venis, Test, Triple H, The Hurricane, Faarooq, Mr. Perfect, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, RvD, Booker T

7. Vince McMahon decides to bring the NWO into WWE

​

One of the biggest problems with "Lost", and there were many, was that there were hardly ever payoffs to the questions posed in episodes. Eventually they would get sort of haphazardly answered, generally inducing a shrug in the viewer. "The X-Files" was definitely on that trajectory in the first two seasons (and would come back to that problem later) but in this season, they do a great job of answering big questions but then revealing that those answers are tiny compared to the bigger questions. Its shifting of focus somehow worked for a while, and this might have been the peak of that technique.

​I have peppered this season with three of the funniest episodes of the series, and also included the first episode of a TV show written by the guy who wrote "Breaking Bad". I think this season is really solid.

Episode 21: Humbug
(Mulder, Scully)

I know what you're thinking, you're starting a season with a Christmas episode? No. "Humbug" is the first comedic episode of the X-Files and the shift in tone is so drastic that it led David Duchovny to say, of the writer, "What I love about his scripts is that he's trying to destroy the show." It's a weird, wonderful Monster Of The Week storyline with no connection to the larger X-Files universe, and it's a total blast.


Episode 22: Soft Light
(Mulder, Scully, X)

On the opposite end of the episode spectrum, "Soft Light" is a conspiracy-centric bummer with killer shadows, the guy who played Monk being convinced the government is out to get him, and a government that is totally out to get him.


Episode 23: Anasazi
(Mulder, Scully, Smoking Man, Skinner, Krycek, The Lone Gunmen)

The beginning of a 3-part story about Mulder's descent into madness after he and Scully receive a tape seeming to confirm several of Mulder's theories about aliens.


Episode 24: The Blessing Way
(Mulder, Scully, Smoking Man, Skinner, Krycek, The Well-Manicured Man, Deep Throat, First Elder)

A major death rocks Mulder during his investigation from the last episode, and once again, the X-Files are closed.


Episode 25: Paper Clip
(Mulder, Scully, Smoking Man, Skinner, Krycek, The Well-Manicured Man, The Lone Gunmen, First Elder)

Wrapping up this three-parter we get more revelations than we probably planned on, given the nature of the show.


Episode 26: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
(Mulder, Scully)

A break is needed after that intense storyarc, and we find it in this amazing and hilarious episode where the dad from "Everybody Loves Raymond" (or Frankenstein's Monster in Young Frankenstein, if you're older than I am) can see how people die, and he assists Mulder and Scully in tracking down a serial killer who targets fortune killers.


Episode 27: Nisei
(Mulder, Scully, Skinner, X, The Lone Gunmen, Red Haired Man)

The first part of a two-episode arc based on the atrocities done to Japanese prisoners of war in WWII, Mulder and Scully come into possession of an "authentic" videotape of an alien autopsy and Scully begins to suspect her abduction last season may have complications.


Episode 28: 731
(Mulder, Scully, Smoking Man, X, Red Haired Man)

More alien conspiracy shenanigans and government conspiracies!


Episode 29: War Of The Copraphages
(Mulder, Scully)

Another great one-off comic episode by the writer of "Humbug" and "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose." Katsaridaphobes are going to want to skip this one.


Episode 30: Piper Maru
(Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Krycek)

We end the season on a conspiracy episode spinning out of the 3-parter from earlier in the season. An investigation into a family member's death leads back to Krycek and that pesky tape.