8. Rocky Maivia © vs. Savio Vega w/The Nation Of Domination: In Your House 14- Beware Of The 'Taker
Results: Savio Vega defeated Rocky Maivia by count-out after Crush delivered a Heart Punch outside the ring.
Highlight: Savio Vega kicked out of the Rock Bottom! Of course, this was a year or so before that was The Rock's finisher, but still... Savio Vega!
Lowlight: Another chapter written in the book of
Ahmed Johnson vs. Nation Of Domination: The Feud That Would Never End.
Review: The WWF was slowly beginning to question the star-status of rookie Rocky Maivia. The "Die, Rocky Die!" chants had been growing steadily, as the fans felt the blue-chip prospect had not earned his spot as the I-C Champion just yet. What better way to get the audience behind Rocky than by pitting him against the third-highest ranking N.O.D. member, Savio Vega, a man who had not been hot since he wrestled four matches at the worst King of the Ring ('95) ever? There's probably a dozen better ways; this may have been the worst. Rocky started the match with a series of arm bars, and Savio countered with a series of nerve holds. Some more rest holds, punches, and kicks later, Rocky ended up ringside and in the arms of everyone's favorite ex-convict Crush, who hit Rocky with the heart-punch for a count-out victory. Savio didn't like that, so he and Crush argued a little, but soon reunited in their love of beating up Maivia, who was eventually saved by Ahmed Johnson and a 2x4. Ironically, Ahmed would replace Savio and Crush in The Nation of Domination; by the end of the summer, Ahmed would in turn be replaced by Rocky Maivia.
How it could have been better: This one was rough, with a rookie and a guy pretty far down the WWF Totem Pole fighting for the second-highest prize at the time. In retrospect, Rocky hitting the Rock Bottom on Savio was fun; if he would have hit the People's Elbow, too- years before it meant anything- the match might have been salvageable.