WWE Raw (11/11/02)

WWE Raw

US Bank Arena

Cincinnati, OH

November 11, 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

We're six days away from Survivor Series with only two matches set, the elimination chamber and Victoria vs Trish Stratus for the Women's title. The good news is the Katie Vick saga is over and the better news is Shawn Michaels is coming back to active duty. The bad news is the rest of the roster is still a big bucket of meh with Randy Orton still out with injury. It was announced on Heat that tonight's main event will be Booker T vs Triple H. Whether the title was on the line or not wasn't given. Before we get to the shows, we have not only dark matches but the European Heat matches.

Dark Match 1

Rob Conway vs Nathan Jones

For those that don't remember, Conway was one of the top stars of OVW and had been there for 5 years just waiting for his big break. He has been on and off WWF/E TV doing jobs here and there. Tonight he does the job for Jones.

Winner: Jones

Dark Match 2

Chris Kanyon & Damaja vs Charlie Haas and Lance Cade

Kanyon was still on the comeback trail after suffering the devastating shoulder injury in July and he's got the OCW guys with him. Haas was just about to get his call but who are the other two? Lance Cade was trained by Shawn Michaels and was 21 years old at the time. He was getting a look after Heartland Wrestling Association bit the dust. Damaja is actually Danny Holliday who used to work Jakked years ago. He was rechristened "Damaja" in OVW and became a frequent partner with Doug Basham. Unfortunately down the road, they would both be called up but not as anyone wanted. Haas and Cade got the win.

Winners: Haas and Cade

Now for the European Heat matches. Since folks in the UK weren't getting the Survivor Series pre-show, they were getting their own cold matches.

Heat Match 1

Tommy Dreamer vs Justin Credible

ECW alumni Dreamer and Credible go at it for Heat. All that's written is Dreamer knocked Credible cold and Credible had to be carried out on a stretcher....uh oh.

Winner: Dreamer by referee stoppage

Heat Match 2

Jacqueline vs Ivory

The frequent partners of Trish Stratus and Molly Holly face each other here. Thanks to Youtube I was able to find the Italian broadcast of this match. Bell rings and Ivory starts with a kick to the ribs. Ivory gets in a headlock takeover but Jackie sends her off the ropes. Ivory drops Jackie with a clothesline but Jackie rallies with right hands. Jackie skins the cat and head scissors Ivory over the top rope to the floor. Jackie baseball slides Ivory down then throws her back inside. Ivory staggers as Jackie chops her into the corner. Jackie punches on the second rope but Ivory counters with a powerbomb and Flair Pin for 1..2...no. Ivory hits a dropkick and kicks Jackie before botching a gut wrench suplex. Jackie catches her with an inside cradle for a two count, ducks the line and hits a martial arts kick to the ribs. Jackie's charge eats boot in the corner but she still hits the rolling front slam and covers for 1...2..nope. Jackie goes for the tornado DDT but its blocked by Ivory. She slingshots Jackie into the second rope and schoolgirls her for 1...2...3 to win the match. Short and sweet as Ivory gets the duke.

Time of match: 3:05

Winner: Ivory by pinfall

Heat Match 3

Johnny Stamboli vs Raven

Probably a continuation of Raven's "masterpiece" but we don't get to see it. Raven wins with the evenflow.

Winner: Raven by pinfall

Finally we get started with Raw. We're shown Shawn Michaels reading a newspaper in the back to start the night. Having him play Batman and striking at any time is fun, but eventually he's got to work a match. Speaking of matches, let's get to our first.

Match 1

Kane and Rob Van Dam vs Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team Championship

Kane, RVD and Jericho are all in the Elimination Chamber match but Christian is not. Jericho comes out to the Salvia King of My World theme. Rob starts with Jericho to start and Y2J starts with a headlock and a shoulderblock but Rob uses his athleticism and hits a heel kick. Rob hits a rolling monkey flip in the corner and a moonsault for 1....2...no. Kane gets the tag and he kicks at Jericho's shoulder. He clotheslines Jericho in the corner but a second charge eats boot. Jericho gets dropped coming off the second rope and Kane hits a choke bomb. Christian gets decked and clotheslined over the top rope for getting in then Kane press slams Jericho over the top rope onto Jericho below. Rob Van Dam hits a somersault plancha on both of them. Rob hit his head on the ground as Jericho rolls in. Kane hits hits a chokeslam on Jericho inside but the ref is trying to break up Rob and Christian outside. Finally he rolls in but Christian also rolls in to stop the count. Kane grabs Christian but Christian kicks him in the gonads. Christian goes for the blatant choke first on the floor then in the corner. Kane whips Christian in the corner but a charge eats boot. Christian runs right into a sidewalk slam and Rob gets the tag. Van Dam knocks Jericho off the apron and hits a heel kick on Christian. He hits the step over heel kick and the rolling thunder before covering for a deuce. Jericho climbs the top rope but Van Dam crotches him. Christian charges but runs right into Jericho, Van Dam rolling up Christian for 1...2..nope. Christian charges into the corner but eats boot. Van Dam goes upstairs but Christian throws him off the top to the floor. Jericho puts the boots to him and strangles him with a camera cable. Christian throws Van Dam inside and tags in Jericho. Jericho hits a back suplex and covers for 1...2..no. Jericho locks in a chinlock then pulls Rob down by the hair when he tries to escape. Jericho does the Ali shuffle for some heat and chokes Rob on the second rope. Jericho jumps on Rob then tags in Christian. Jim gets excited about someone beating Triple H for the World title and one of them could be in the ring now. Van Dam rallies with heel kicks on both heels as the blood in the ring from the Dreamer/Credible match is still on the canvas. Kane gets the hot tag and he goes nuts on both Canadians. A big boot to Jericho is followed by a tilt-a-whirl slam on Christian. Kane throws Jericho over the top rope and goes upstairs. Kane hits the top rope clothesline and calls for the chokeslam. Jericho gets in and kicks Kane allowing both man to hit a double suplex on him. Van Dam hits a crossbody on both men and Jericho bails outside. Kane hits the chokeslam on Christian but Jericho grabs a title belt and clocks Kane with it. Van Dam kicks Jericho outside then goes up to the top rope. Rob jumps OVER Kane laying in the middle and hits the five star on Christian. Kane rolls on top for 1...2......CRACK! Jericho from out of nowhere hits Kane in the back with a steel chair to earn a DQ. Jericho unloads on Kane with chair shots then starts beating Van Dam with it too. Lawler correctly points out he's softening them up for this Sunday. Jericho shouts that he's going to be the new champion and he beats up the ring post with the chair as well. Good match for what it was and the ending was to get some heat on Jericho going into this Sunday with Triple H the only other heel in it.

Time of match: 9:15

Winners: Kane and Rob Van Dam by Disqualification (Champs retain)

Back from break, we get a highlight of Jericho going apeshit with the chair. Terri asks what Jericho is doing and he says he's softening up every single ass clown that's in the chamber match with him.  He says no one is winning that match but him. He walks off and Christian says if anyone can't make it, Bischoff told him he gets the spot. He says he doesn't care if he has to beat Jericho to win the title and out of nowhere Chris waffles Christian with the chair. Nobody but him is winning, NOBODY! Again, they had to do something to get some heat on Jericho.

Back to JR and King who says Jericho has gone nuts. We then cut to a highlight package of the Shawn Michaels and Triple H's recent history. Shawn says "don't hunt what you can't kill" Cut to Booker T in the back when ace reporter Gregory Helms comes in and asks him what he thinks about the elimination chamber. Booker says he's been thinkin more than Abraham Lincoln that he's going to kick Triple H's ass. Gregory turns around into Goldust and Goldust says Greg's microphone is as big as his. Goldust asks what green and gold and has victory written all over, Goldust and The Hurricane beating Steven Richards and Test. Goldust says "Beware of the testicles as they are becoming more powerful and stronger than ever." Helms says Test is dangerous but Goldust says he wasn't talking about him. He looks down at his own package and breathes at Helms. Yay, more dick jokes. Least we got a match out of it. We cut to Jeff Hardy getting prepared for a match with Lance Storm. Jeff heads to the ring as we cut to commercial. On to the next match.

Match 2

Lance Storm (with William Regal) vs Jeff Hardy

Kind of a filler match but oh well. Lance goes to work on Hardy but he immediately hits a mule kick on Storm, Jeff fakes out Storm and hits a second rope legdrop before covering for a deuce. Jeff goes for a crucifix but Storm counters with a front slam and covers for 1..2...nope. Lance hits a side backbreaker and covers for a two count. Storm lands knees to the back of Hardy and goes for an overhead backbreaker. Jeff rolls out and goes for a backdrop but Lance bridges out of it. Jeff still takes him down and hits a legdrop in between the legs. Jeff covers for a near fall but runs right into a powerslam. Lance covers for a deuce then sends Jeff into the corner. He tells referee Jack Doan to shut up then hits another side backbreaker. He covers for a dos then locks in a surfboard. Jeff mule kicks out of it then rallies with right hands. Lance is hotshotted off the top rope and Jeff hits a forearm. Jeff is sent to the corner but he runs up the ropes and hits Whisper In The Wind. He covers for 1...2....nope. Lance blocks a whip but Jeff hits a russian leg sweep then traps the legs for 1...2....no. Lance gets a thumb to the eye and hits a dropkick of his own, followed by a near fall. Lance hits a knee to the ribs but is backdropped over the top rope to the floor. Jeff runs the rails but slips off and just delivers a standard clothesline on Lance.  Jeff throws Storm in but the ref is distracted by Storm so Regal pounds away on Jeff outside. Regal throws him inside but Tommy Dreamer comes down and clobbers him to even the odds. Dreamer sends Regal into the ring post and Storm hits a baseball slide on him. Jeff from behind hits a reverse neckbreaker on Storm, goes upstairs and hits the Swanton Bomb. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. May have been a filler match but it was good for what it was.

Time of match: 5:14

Winner: Hardy by pinfall

We got back to last week where Victoria manhandles Terri and rips her clothes off. Back to real time, she is called into Eric Bischoff's office where Eric says he's very happy. He puts over the chamber match and Terri wants to know what he wants. He booked Terri in a match with Victoria after what happened las week. Terri says Victoria is a complete psycho and doesn't want to wrestle her. Victoria is already in the ring and calls for Terri to come out. Victoria compares Terri to Trish and cuts a promo saying since they have so much in common, she's going to annihilate Terri. Terri says she's not a wrestler and is an interviewer. Eric says she has two choices, either face Victoria and get her to let up or she's fired.

Back from break Terri walks out with a microphone She says she may be small in stature but she's big enough to say Victoria is the better woman. She says there's no need to fight and Victoria says fine, the match is off. Then she grabs Terri and says the match is off...but she's gonna rip her heas off. Victoria punches Terri down and rips her shirt open. Victoria throws Terri down as JR scoffs this isn't a contest and Bischoff should be ashamed of himself. Victoria sniffs Terri's shirt and Terri starts fighting back by beating Victoria with her shoe. She jumps on Victoria's back but is slammed off by Victoria. Victoria puts the boots to Terri and throws her outside. Victoria slams her on the steel ramp and throws her into the steel steps. JR "God almighty." King "I think the referee is afraid of Victoria." Victoria rolls Terri inside and kicks Charles Robinson right in the berries. Victoria throws Robinson out of the ring, goes under the ring and grabs a ladder. She throws the ladder halfway into the ring but Trish Stratus runs out and see saws the ladder up into Victoria's face. Trish hits the chick kick and throws her outside. Trish throws Victoria into the steps and pounds away on her until the refs separate her. King says to let her go and Victoria laughs maniacally at her as we cut. Glad they gave these two a segment like this since it makes the women's title seem important.

Backstage we see Batista walking in the hall when Ric Flair walks up to introduce himself. Batista refuses a handshake but Flair says he's very impressed with him since his Smackdown debut. Flair says he might be bigger than the champ, Triple H. He goes to pat him on the back and stops then says good luck. Batista says coldly "thanks" On to the next match.

Match 3

D-Lo Brown vs Dave Batista

Guess D-Lo is the sacrificial lamb this week. Lilian calls him "Dave" Batista so we'll go with that. D-Lo wastes no time with punches at the bell but gets backdropped by the big guy. Batista hits the rolling front slam but gets kicked in the head. D-Lo clotheslines him but Batista unfazed hits the 360 line on D-Lo. Batista crushes D-Lo in the corner with a running clothesline then goes for another one, but eats elbow. Batista hits the spinebuster and the sit down powerbomb. He covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. JR says that was the first Eurocontinental champion that Batista just annihilated. Total squash but that was the point.

Time of match: 1:31

Winner: Batista by pinfall

Backstage Shawn Michaels is walking around and looks like he's coming to the ring. Back from break we get a tribute to veterans video montage then Shawn Michaels comes out for a conference. Shawn's epic soliloquoy says he has a belief system. He believes in god, himself, his family and all the fans. He says he's human and wants retribution on Sunday. He doesn't know what an elimination chamber is but he also didn't know what a ladder or hell in a cell match was either. He won the HIAC as JR points out. He says a career ending back injury didn't stop him, he could win or he might not but he's going back to Madison Square Garden. He's not the heartbreak kid anymore or the showstopper (oh he would be again), he's just plain Shawn. He says he's known Triple H for a very long time but they ended up in very different places. He's a forgiving man but he can't forgive him for trying to put him out for good. He says he doesn't care if its Kane, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam or Booker T walking out in the end as long as he takes out Triple H himself. The word of God says all things are possible to those who believe and he believes this Sunday night he'll be the new World Heavyweight Champion. 

Suddenly Triple H's music hits and Hunter walks out for a rebuttal. HHH mocks Shawn for believing he can win and in this arena, HE is god (Hunter that is). Shawn raises his fist and the crowd cheers and Hunter repeats that he is God. HHH says he's gonna kick Shawn's ass and he heads to the ring. Shawn is ready as HHH takes off his warmup jacket. They get it on in the ring with right hands but Shawn gets dropped with a hard clothesline. HHH hits the pedigree and trash talks the fallen Michaels. HHH smiles and goes to the outside, finding his sledgehammer under the ring. The referees run out along with Terry Taylor, Arn Anderson and Sgt Slaughter to stop him. HHH is restrained from causing Shawn further damage but the message has been sent. Jericho and HHH have taken out Kane, RVD and Shawn Michaels tonight leaving just Booker T in the main event. Not only that but Shawn's mission is simple, above all else, keep HHH from winning. After we come back from break, we're shown a highlight of HHH's attack but Shawn walking off under his own power. On to the next match.

Match 4

The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and Spike) with Jeff Hardy vs 3 Minute Warning (Jamal and Rosey) with Rico

JR announces that this Sunday it'll be a six man tables match between all six of them this Sunday....FINALLY we have another match signed. We start with Bubba pounding away on Jamal in the corner. Bubba chops Jamal but Rosey provides the distraction for Jamal to escape. Bubba still hits the reverse neckbreaker on Jamal then tags Spike in. Spike hits the coup de gras and a running forearm. Spike gets backdropped over the top rope to the floor where Rico just throws him back in. Both Samoans hit a huge double face plant but the announcers are too busy yapping about Shawn Michaels to notice how high Spike was in the air. Rosey tags in and hits a leg drop as King still babbles on about HBK. Jamal tags in to pound away on Spike before hitting a press slam. Spike kicks Jamal in the head who no sells it and goes for a big clothesline. Spike ducks but is sent all the way to the outside where Bubba tags him on the way out. Bubba goes to town on both Samoans and hits the Dusty Punches on Jamal then moves as Rosey clotheslines his own partner by accident. Bubba hits a football tackle on Rosey as Jeff Hardy outside wipes out Rico. Rosey avalanches the distracted in the corner and Jamal hits the Samoan drop. Jamal covers for 1.....2....3 to win the match. The samoans win and they throw Bubba over the top rope to the floor. Jeff chases Rico into the ring and he hits a double dropkick on both samoans. He takes down Rico as well and goes for the Swanton, but Rosey pulls Rico out of the way. Rico hits a belly to belly suplex as Rico gets a table. They set it up as Spike tries to go for the Acid Drop on Rosey only to be thrown into the corner. Rosey avalanches Spike and sets him up on the table as well. Jamal hits the big splash off the top rope onto both Spike and Hardy. Lot of heels going over tonight. 

Time of match: 2:51

Winners: 3 Minute Warning by pinfall

Back from break JR shills WWE Confidential with "Mean" Gene Okerlund this Saturday night. After a Scott Steiner vignette, here comes Christopher Nowinsky for our next match. We get shown a highlight of Maven chasing off Nowinsky last week. Nowinsky comes out with a book and says Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. He hypes up the crowd for Pete then stops and says "How stupid can you guys be?" Chris says the crowd deserves a hall of fame nod for stupidity. He's going to manipulate and defeat his mentor Al Snow. He goes to quote Dickens but Al Snow comes out for the next bout.

Match 5

Al Snow vs Christopher Nowinsky'

Nowinsky calls him "dad" before the bell and Snow takes him down instantly. Al restrains himself from beating up Nownisky and Al takes him down with technical wrestling holds. Al hits a fireman's carry takeover and applies an armbar before swinging him around. Al backs him in the corner and he begs off. Nowinsky gets in a cheapshot but gets dropped with an uppercut. Al hits a dragon leg takedown and a crossbody only for Nowinsky to roll through and put his feet on the ropes for 1...2...3 to win the match. Al after the match says that was a nice one and Chris goes to shake his hand, but is pushed away. Nowinsky then beats Snow down with the giant book he's holding. Maven runs in and chases Nowinsky away for the second week in a row. Once again the heel goes over. Nowinsky is great at being a cheap, chicken heel and he's got good size, maybe he'll be worth something some day.

Time of match: 1:33

Winner: Nowinsky by pinfall

Back from break here comes Eric Bischoff for a soliloquy. Eric says on Super Tuesday there will be a 10 man tag on UPN featuring Raw guys and the bikini contest between Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson. Now he sends us to a vignette of the elimination chamber being built. Again, that's just the schematics. Eric then goes over the rules. Two men will randomly be chosen to start the match in the ring with the other four locked into individual chambers. Every 5 minutes a randomly chosen chamber will open. Elimination occurs at any time until one remains. The winner is the World Heavyweight Champion. Bischoff says he is the most dynamic force in sports entertainment today. 

We cut to a hidden camera of Steven Richards talking with Stacy Keibler. Steven says congrats on making Test a star and he wants her to make him a star too.  Stacy says her hands are full and Steven says to do him one favor to motivate him for tonight's match. Steven wants her to spank him with the singapore cane he's holding. Stacy is reluctant but then Test walks in with Steven unaware. Stacy silently hands Test the cane and he whacks him with it. Stacy then wants her turn as well...but Test drops the cane. 

Cut to RNN Breaking News with Randy Orton. Randy says the sling was chafing him but the doctors healed him. Since then his sling has been padded then plugs his Get Well email and he'll be back in no time. Bottom line is Randy will be back soon. Back from break, onto the next match.

Match 6

Steven Richards and Test (with Stacy Keibler) vs Goldust and The Hurricane

Richards comes out holding his ass after getting caned by Test but he's got no choice but to let it go since they got a tag match. Goldust crouches down as Test smacks Steven on the ass just to screw with him (hahahahaha). Test starts with Goldust and gets a knee to the ribs to start. Test pounds on Goldust but Goldust responds with the ass bump. Steven gets atomic dropped but Test hits a full nelson slam. Richards tags in but Goldust hits a choke bomb. Hurricane tags in who drops Richards with a clotheslines then rams his head ito the buckle. Hurricane hits blockbuster and then shining wizard the covers. Test pulls Hurricane off but Goldust hits an uppercut on Steven. Test tags in, backdrops Goldust to the floor and catches Hurricane in midair. Richards nails Test from behind by accident. And Hurricane hits Eye Of the Hurricane. Hurricane covers for 1....2...nope. Hurricane elbows Test, ducks under the big boot then goes for the chokeslam. Test hits Cross Rhodes and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. After the match Steven grabs Stacy and jumps around with her and Test buries him with the big boot. Test grabs the mic and says not to ever touch one of his testicles. Great, another dick joke. Least Test is getting a push.

Time of match: 2:14

Winners: Test and Richards by pinfall

Backstage Booker runs up to Triple H and says his chances of walking out the chamber the winner are between slim and none and slim just left town. Also he doesn't have just Book to deal with but FIVE GUYS, FIVE GUYS, FIVE GUYS, FIVE GUYS, FIVE GUYS whooping his punk ass. Can you dig that? HHH says he's right that he does have five opponents. He then lowers his fingers until only his middle one remains up and says it'll be down to just you and him. Can you dig THAT? Booker has to be restrained and we cut here.

Match 7

Booker T vs Triple H (with Ric Flair)

Non-title match and the writing is on the wall. Jericho and HHH have taken out all the faces in the chamber match except Booker. Booker runs in hot to start, ducking the line and hitting an axe kick. Booker punches away at Hunter in the corner then axe kicks HHH over the top rope to the floor. Outside Booker continues the assault and suplexes HHH on the floor. Booker is sent into the ring steps and Flair throws him back inside. HHH punches Book and they slug it out inside the ring. Booker ducks the line but runs into the high knee. Hunter covers for a deuce then slugs away in the corner before dropping him with a forearm. Hunter hits a facebuster on Book and suplexes him onto the top rope. JR says HHH won't win at Survivor Series as Book knocks him off the rope. Booker hits a missile dropkick and rallies with right hands. Booker hits a forearm and punches him in the corner. HHH ducks the axe kick and kicks Booker in the ribs. HHH goes for the pedigree but Booker counters and slingshots Hunter into the top turnbuckle. Booker hits the axe kick followed by the scissors kick. Booker then gives the sign for the spinaroonie then slams Ric Flair off the top rope. Booker does the spinaroonie and hits a double clothesline on Flair and Hunter. Booker hits both of them with axe kicks but HHH hits the low blow while referee Earl Hebner rolls Flair out. HHH hits the pedigree and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Once again HHH goes over and there really is no one on Raw that can beat him.....except for Shawn Michaels who runs in. 

Time of match: 5:14

Winner: HHH by pinfall

Michaels blasts Hunter with right hands until HHH goes down. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music on Flair but then Chris Jericho runs in. Shawn clotheslines HHH and Jericho down but Y2J starts pounding away on Shawn. Jericho rams Shawn in the corner and double team him until Kane runs in. Kane pounds away on HHH and hits the big boot. Rob Van Dam runs in to get him some of Jericho. Jericho throws Rob outside and Kane goes for the chokeslam. Rob hits the top rope dropkick on Kane and a heel kick on Jericho. Kane throws Rob over the top rope and Kane punches away on HHH. Kane runs into a spinebuster but HHH turns around into a Booker axe kick. Van Dam hits the five star frog splash on Kane but Booker hits him with a scissors kick. Jericho hits a missile dropkick on Rob and shoves HHH. Kane sits up and clotheslines both men. Kane clotheslines both men in the corner then hits a chokeslam on Jericho. Kane turns around into Sweet Chin Music and only Shawn and Hunter are left inside. Shawn tunes up the band but HHH blocks the superkick. Shawn backdrops HHH out of the pedigree and hits one of his own on Hunter. Shawn's music plays but then Jericho crushes Shawn in the head with a steel chair. Jericho is last man standing and he says he's going to be the new champ. JR signs off and we're done here.

This was a heel dominated show and it got a bit ridiculous. The babyfaces on Raw look like complete, incompetent buffoons except for Shawn Michaels. He seems to be the only one who can hang with Triple H but as Jericho just demonstrated, he's got a habit of rising to the occasion when people least expect it. Still, Shawn says he's going to take Hunter out no matter what and he might be the only one who can. Its very obvious Booker, Van Dam and Kane have no chance in hell. Its just a question of will HHH's reign of terror continue, Shawn wins or Jericho steals one again. Victoria and Trish Stratus is going to be a war and nobody gives a rats ass about the tables match because none of those guys in the tables match are getting high praise. Its on to Super Tuesday so I'll see you there.

WWE Monday Night Raw (11/4/02)

WWE Raw

Fleet Center

Boston, MA

November 4, 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

The good news is we are free and clear of the Katie Vick embarrassment and Shawn Michaels is back to full time duty. Remember the night after Unforgiven when I said Raw lacked top faces to go against Triple H? How's the future hall of fame, ex-WWF champion Shawn Michaels stack up? The Elimination Chamber is coming up with Triple H defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Kane, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and Booker T with one slot open. Gee, wonder who the sixth man will be? Before we get to tonight's events, we got some dark matches.

Dark Match 1

Nathan Jones vs Arch Kincaid

Nathan Jones was on his trial run before getting called up to appear on television. The monster from Australia defeats Arch here.

Time of match: 2:27

Winner: Jones by pinfall

Dark Match 2

Spike Dudley vs D-Lo Brown

Normally this match would be okay, but they're running a concussion angle with Spike hence Bubba Ray and Jeff Hardy as a team. Why have Spike wrestle on the same night he's supposed to be out in the storyline? Spike wins it with a roll-up.

Time of match: 5:42

Winner: Spike by pinfall

Now let's get to the show. We open with closed circuit television feed of Eric Bischoff watching the tape of him and Stephanie kissing from the previous week. Bischoff looks in the mirror distraught.....what? Can they stop doing stupid angles? Anyway JR and King welcome us and Shawn Michaels is in the back with his new HBK t-shirt. We get to our first match.

Match 1

3 Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal) with Rico vs Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy

This match stems from last week when 3 Minute Warning cost Hardy and Bubba their tag title shot against Chris Jericho and Christian. All four men brawl in the ring to start with Bubba knocking down Rosey with a clothesline. Jeff and Jamal remain and Jeff hits a midair dropkick on Jamal. The heels regroup outside and Bubba launches Jeff over the top rope onto all three of them. Jeff removes his shirt for the lady friends as Bubba takes over on Jamal inside. Bubba hits a second rope senton bomb and knocks Rosey to the outside. Jeff takes over on the left arm of Jamal then takes him down, covering for a deuce. Bubba tags in but eats a knee to the ribs. JR says Shawn Michaels hasn't wrestled in this building since Wrestlemania 14 as Jamal tags out to Rosey. Rosey hits a belly to belly suplex and kicks away at him. King asks about the kiss between Eric and Stephanie as Jamal tags in, only to miss the double headbutt. Bubba hits a double clothesline then Jeff tags in. He dropkicks both Samoans and covers Jamal for a two count. Jeff pulls the top rope down and Rosey goes flying then hits whil o whisp on Jamal. He covers for a deuce then takes Rosey out again with a bodypress over the top to the outside. Inside, Rico goes to interfere but he's pulled outside by Spike Dudley. Spike hits the Acid Drop on the outside but inside Jamal clotheslines Bubba down. Jamal then slides outside and drops Spike ribs first on the barricade. Bubba hits a neckbreaker on Rosey and Jeff hits the Wazzzupppp. Bubba tells Jeff to get the tables and while Jeff goes outside, Bubba hits the Dusty Punches on Jamal. Bubba drops down and Jeff hits Poetry In Motion on Jamal. Rosey pulls Bubba out and pushes Jeff off the top rope. Jamal hits the elevated Samoan Drop and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Decent match but once again the faces take the fall on Raw, showcasing the lack of star power on the show.

Time of match: 6:21

Winners: 3 Minute Warning by pinfall

We cut to Victoria who's with Ivory who hasn't been on Raw in a bit. Victoria is thrilled she's back on Raw and also thrilled that Trish agreed to have a hardcore match at Survivor Series. Victoria says she's going to take the title and her soul but Ivory says she's got her first, but she'll leave a piece for Victoria. Victoria says after the beating she gives her, she's going to have pretty little scars. Ivory "They thought I was nuts..." We cut to Trish Stratus preparing and when we come back from break, its time for the next match.

Match 2

Ivory vs Trish Stratus

This is a non-title match as JR says Ivory is a trainer on Tough Enough 3. King slobbers over Ivory's outfit and Ivory wastes no time pounding away on Trish. Ivory with a big slap and a scoop slam takes control early. Ivory hits a roll over suplex for a two count as Victoria sits in on commentary. Trish ducks the line and hits one of her own before covering for a deuce. Trish gets kicked in the head but counters with a Chick Kick of her own. Trish covers for a two count and JR asks Victoria why she challenged for a hardcore match. Victoria doesn't say a word as Ivory hits a gutwrench suplex. Ivory covers for a two count and locks in a chinlock. King asks about Victoria's hat and once again she doesn't say anything. Trish sunset flips Ivory for 1...2...nope. Trish hits a neckbreaker and covers for a two count and Victoria continues to ignore King & Ross. Trish charges in the corner but eats elbow. Ivory hops on the second rope but Trish hits the Stratusphere. Trish gets rolled up for 1....2...nope. Ivory hits a clothesline and whips Trish into the corner. A charge eats boot and Trish completely misses the bulldog but Ivory sells it anyway. Trish covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. A rare off night for these two as that was pretty sloppy, but they only had a few minutes to do anything. Trish wins as Victoria seethes at the booth.

Time of match: 3:17

Winner: Trish by pinfall

We get a graphic for tonight's main event, a tag match between Kane & Booker T vs Triple H and Chris Jericho. Trish spots Victoria wearing her hat and they start jawing at each other. Victoria throws a water bottle at her and they fight on the ramp. Victoria sends Trish into the titantron and has to be restrained by the referees. JR "My god she wants to maim Trish!" Back from break JR says they were in a hornet's nest between Victoria and Trish. We get shown some of the Superbowl 36 Champion New England Patriots at ringside including Mike Vrabel, Larry Izzo, Marc Edwards, Mike Compton and two others I shockingly can't recognize. We then go to a hidden camera of Terri Runnels bent over a fridge, thanks Dunn. Victoria barges in and Terri says they can get an interview later and calls her crazed. Victoria rips Terri's shirt off and then her skirt.....pointless segment apart from the gratuitous shot of Terri in her underwear.

We go from half-naked Terri to RNN Breaking News.....yippie. Randy Orton says his shoulder now has 32% mobility and its up 2% from last week and he thanks the fans for it. He plugs GetwellRandy@WWE.Com and Orton smiles. Orton and John Cena have turned heel and thankfully for the better.

Cut to Eric Bischoff yelling at a production guy for all the hidden cameras and fires the dude. He goes to leave but HHH and Ric Flair barge in. Eric wants to know what he can do for them. HHH asks where the hell did Shawn Michaels come from and he could jump them at any moment. HHH is sick of worried about Shawn and is sick of his treatment on Raw. HHH bitches about the tag match he's in later and the Elimination Chamber. HHH says he has no idea what an elimination chamber is and Eric says that's the point, no one does. Eric says HHH should be able to handle the Chamber and prove he's that damn good. He says he can avenge the loss at Summerslam if Shawn decides to join the match. HHH says somebody might be influencing Eric and has Ric hit the VCR. Ric shows the Eric and Stephanie kiss and Hunter says "Let me get this straight, I put on a mask and dress like Kane to screw a mannequin but you put on a mask like Vince McMahon to make out with my ex-wife. Who's screwing who?" If only Chris Warren walked in to say "Does anybody know who's sleeping with who?" Finally we cut here and go the ring for the next match.

Match 3

William Regal and Lance Storm vs Tommy Dreamer and Al Snow.

Storm enters in all red tights carrying the Canadian flag with Regal in blue and red carrying the English flag. Storm grabs the mic before the match and says tomorrow is election day and Americans take that freedom for granted. He then gets cut off by a Scott Steiner titantron montage then the faces make their entrance. Dreamer starts with Storm and fires away with right hands as the crowd starts an ECW chant. Dreamer brings Regal in the hard way and rams him into Al's boot. Al tags in and they beat around Storm and Regal but Storm grabs Al's knee and rams it into the apron. Regal takes down Al and tags in Storm. Dreamer gets a USA chant in as Storm works over the left leg. Al can't get the tag so Regal tags in to work over the leg. Regal stretches the left leg and Storm tags in to chopblock Al. Storm covers for a two count then goes back to work. JR says Shawn Michaels will be on later for a chat. The crowd chants USA again and Lance soccer kicks Al's leg. Al rallies back with a right hand and a clothesline then gets the mild tag to Dreamer. Dreamer backdrops both Regal and Storm but a brawl develops. Dreamer hits the Death Valley Driver on Storm but Regal kicks him in the head. Storm rolls on top for 1...2....3 to win the match. Again the heels win a tag team match to put over the fact the babyfaces on Raw are completely useless. The match wasn't bad, just too short to build any drama.

Time of match: 3:35

Winners: Storm and Regal by pinfall

Backstage Shawn Michaels gets some coffee and chats with a production dude. He asks where HHH is and the guy tells him where to look. As Shawn Michaels walks off, Batista walks into camera frame. Apparently this was the compensation from Smackdown for Big Show jumping ship. No longer Deacon Bautista, now its simply Batista. We cut to Stacy Keibler's legs and ass walking up to Test with a post office crate of fan mail. Stacy's marketing plan is working with Test-icle fans. Test isStacy  combing his hair and ignores Stacy bending over directly in front of him. Stacy reads some thirst letters but he ignores her. She finally says "Andrew" (his real name) to get his attention. Test says he doesn't want to do this and sits down. Apparently he's getting a haircut....yay, ripping off Metallica. On to the next match.

Match 4

Batista vs Justin Credible

Its the Raw debut for Batista who JR describes as a monster. Credible looks terrified as Batista bum rushes him to start. Batista heaves Credible across the ring and clotheslines him in the corner. Batista hits a huge elevated slam but the charge in the corner eats boot twice. Credible jumps right into a shoudlerblock and Regal Roll. Batista eats ringpost on a charge and Credible tags him twice with a right hand. Justin shoves him off the ropes and Batista somewhat misses the clothesline. Batista hits the sitdown powerbomb and covers for 1....2...3 to win the match. Batista squashes the former ECW Champion, the sky was the limit for him. This felt right out of 1993 when Credible was PJ Walker.

Time of match: 1:25

Winner: Batista by pinfall

HHH in the back with Flair is sick of waiting for Shawn. He's going to the ring to call him out. Flair says he doesn't know what he has planned. HHH says he'll be in the ring anyway. Back from break here's HHH and Flair for a conference. HHH says Shawn's career ended in Boston so come on out so he can end him permanently. Shawn doesn't come out and HHH says remember to NOT accept the invitation to Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series. HHH says his body won't be able to handle the Chamber and there won't be a next time when he's done with him. HHH says there isn't a damn thing he or anyone else can do about it JR "Well they can beat him." Here's Booker T for a rebuttal. Booker "Tell me you didn't just say that." Booker says he can deal with Shawn later but right now he's got the FIVE TIME WCW CHAMPION to deal with. HHH says he was a five time champion but that was then and this is now. Right now he can't hold HHH's jock. Booker "Is that so? That ain't the way I see it." Booker says he's sick of the world championship around his waist and he's taking it at Survivor Series. HHH says Booker says "You think you run this damn show. Well you don't run Booker T. At Survivor Series don't hate the player, hate The Game. Now can you dig that SUCKAAAAAA.....and here comes Chris Jericho to put in his two Canadian cents. Jericho whines about hearing "sucker" and being called a "sucker" CHRIS JERICHO IS NOT A SUCKER! King "Its sucka, not sucker." JR "He looks like he's wearing Liberace's pajamas." Jericho says he's going to beat HHH and personally guarantees he'll eliminate Booker himself. Jericho says the spinaroonie is stupid and its got nothing on the Juke N Jive. Normally that would look ridiculous but Jericho is so irate that it kind of works. Jericho holds up his index finger and says he's got more talent in his little finger than Booker. JR "That's his index finger" King "Don't be an assclown." JR sarcastically "Ass clown...." Jericho says he and Hunter don't like each other but they're partners tonight and Booker is the sucker now. Jericho says the T in Booker T stands for trap! Right on cue HHH and Jericho attack....ITS A TRAP! Booker fights them off for a second but then its a two on one. Kane runs out to make the save as King says "Run away! Get out of there!"

Back from commercial, Stacy Keibler is marveling at Test's new do and says "I can actually see your testicles growing!" Har de har har....on to the next match.

Match 5

Test (with Stacy Keibler) vs The Hurricane

Gotta feel bad for Hurricane, went from tag team champion and a very entertaining sidekick to Kane to fodder to Test. Test comes out with short hair....yay? Hurricane eats an elbow to start as the announcers immediately ignore the ring to yap about Shawn Michaels. A charge by Test eats boot and Hurricane goes to work on the left arm. Test gas a backdrop blocked by Hurricane but hits a full nelson slam. Tests punches Hurricane into the corner and delivers elbows and boots. Test clobbers Hurricane with a clothesline and does it again in the other corner. King "I'm a big testicle!" This is getting old already. Hurricane sunset flips out of a powerbomb but Test pulls him back up, only to get caught in another sunset flip. Hurricane hits a clothesline and shining wizard before covering for a two count. Hurricane hops on the second rope but misses a crossbody. Test calls for the big boot but misses it and Hurricane goes for the chokeslam. Test elbows out of it and goes for the pump handle slam but Hurricane rolls to the apron. Hurricane snaps Test off the top rope and goes upstairs. Test catches him in mid-air and sets him up for....Cross Rhodes? Yes, years before Cody used it. Test covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. After the match Stacy says he has a big announcement to make. Test goes to leave but Stacy kisses him. He then grabs the mic and says "I love my testicles". Sophomoric humor aside, at least they're trying to do something with Test and Stacy.

Time of match: 3:41

Winner: Test by pinfall

We get a montage of the Elimination Chamber blueprint which doesn't really show much. Still, it gives the fans something to think about and imagine their own designs. Coming up later is the big tag match and we go to commercial. Back from break we get a music video for Chris Jericho set to King Of My World by Saliva. After the match, Jericho is in the back with Christian saying he ain't no sucka. Christian "You ain't not no sucka eitha!" Jericho wants Christian to take Rob Van Dam out of the equation and Christian tells him not to worry about it. Christian says he'll take RVD out and take his place in the Chamber as Jericho calls him a genius because it'll give him an ally to help get him the title. Christian says HE wants to be the champion and they get in a petty squabble with Jericho storming out. Hidden camera footage shows Jericho going over strategy with HHH and Flair. HHH says to watch for Shawn Michaels and Jericho calls him the Has-Been Kid. He says that's their problem, not his. HHH says he'll have Ric at ringside to have their backs. Ric "If Shawn gets involved, he's all mine." Jericho then asks if Eric Bischoff has been giving Stephanie her own 3 minute warning and Hunter just walks away. Shawn Michaels opens a nearby door to show he was listening all along as we cut to commercial. Back from break its on to the next match.

Match 6

Rob Van Dam vs Christian

Christian has his marching orders from Jericho to take out RVD as King imitates Jericho going "ahyayayayya" from earlier. Bell rings and JR gives us the upcoming house show schedule including tomorrow night in Manchester. Christian starts with a headlock but shoulderblocks him down. RVD nips up and dropkicks Christian down. Van Dam clotheslines Christian over the top to the floor then baseball slides him to the mat. Van Dam goes for the second rope moonsault, landing on his feet after Christian moves. Rob suplexes Christian on the barricade but misses the leg drop off the apron. Christian breaks up the count then sends Van Dam into the steel steps. Christian stomps away at Rob then does a mock point taunt. Christian hits a powerslam and covers for a deuce. Christian locks in a chinlock but Rob powers out of it, only to run into a knee to the ribs. Christian covers for a two count and pounds away with right hands. The announcers yap on and on about Shawn Michaels as Christian taunts the crowd. Rob step over heel kicks Christian but trips running the ropes, recovering with a spinning heel kick. Rob monkey flips Christian and splashes him for a near fall. Rob misses a kick and goes flying over the top rope. He quickly goes upstairs and hits a flying crossbody for a two count. Rob kicks Christian down but completely whiffs on rolling thunder. Christian put his knees up but Rob didn't even land on them. Christian covers anyway for a two count and goes for a reverse DDT but Van Dam takes the bump before Christian can get ready. He tries again but Van Dam goes down too quick so Christian sticks his knee out to at least make it look like a backbreaker. Christian covers for a deuce and starts punching away. Christian goes outside to grab a chair and goes to hit Rob with it but Rob rolls out of the way. Referee Charles Robinson grabs the chair and Rob sweeps the leg to drop Christian. Rob sends him into the corner, hits shoulderblocks but runs into a boot. Christian goes upstairs but Van Dam kicks him. Rob backflips off the top rope, hits the second rope dropkick then goes back upstairs. Van Dam hits the 5 star frog splash and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Rob had an off night for sure as his timing sucked in this match. Still, the win was to give him at least some momentum going into the elimination chamber.

Time of match: 6:35

Winner: Rob Van Dam by pinfall

Back from commercial here comes Harvard University's own Chris Nowinski for a conference. Chris says he was looking forward to coming back to Boston since he's the only Harvard graduate in WWE history. Chris says the town has gone down the gutter since he left. How can a town with so many institutions of higher learning be so stupid? Nowinski pauses for heat but the crowd doesn't pop. Chris says Harvard grads run this town because their combined brainpower wouldn't generate enough heat to melt Ted Williams' frozen corpse (didn't we get enough corpses the last two weeks?). He says Ted Williams was not a great man, Larry Bird wasn't a great man and Nomar Garcia-whatever was not a great man. I know this is for cheap heat but Ted Williams was a highly decorated World War 2 and Korea fighter pilot. Chris says Einstein and Shakespeare were great man. Chris "And he once said...." and Al Snow's music hits. I burst out laughing when I saw this live because in real time Chris went "And Shakespeare said...." followed by WHAT DOES EVERYBODY WANT!" Al Snow is in wrestling tights as Nowinsky scoffs saying "just ground me dad". Nowinsky challenges Snow but from behind is the returning Maven. Al says someone else is going to take him. Chris turns around right into a Maven clothesline. Maven hits a big dropkick as JR says Maven is back from his injury. Al Snow decks Nowinsky outside as well. Al and Maven shake hands in the ring as JR is confused why he's here. Basically they're trying to hype up Tough Enough 3 by having the previous Tough Enough grads on TV.

We cut backstage to Kane pacing around when Goldust comes up to him. He wants to congratulate him for being Booker's tag team partner. Kane tells him to leave him alone but Goldust says he's banned from ringside. He thinks maybe Kane should loosen up and try some breathing exercises. Kane chokes him against the wall and says  "what do you not understand what I just said?" Booker T walks by to stop Kane. Booker says they're opponents at Survivor Series but tonight they're partners. Booker T says HHH was playing mind games with Kane. "Who has sex with a dead body?" Goldust raises his hand and both Kane & Booker slowly turn their heads to him. "What, I was young and stupid, come on give me a break." Booker says he needs Kane focused and ask him if he digs it. Kane says he can dig that......SUCKAAAAAA. Booker and Goldust approve.

We cut to Shawn Michaels to walks by Triple H's dressing room, looks at it and then continues walking. Finally its time for the main event.

Match 7

Booker T and Kane vs Chris Jericho and Triple H (with Ric Flair)

Flair gets to be at ringside but not Goldust, that's fair right? JR asks how HHH and Jericho can co-exist after feuding for most of 2002. King asks what about Kane & Booker but JR says they hadn't had a big feud yet. Jericho starts with Booker and rams him into the buckle. Booker hits Y2J with a side kick and chops him against the ropes. Booker drops Chris with a back elbow smash then chops him again. Jericho gets the necklock takedown and tags in HHH. Hunter punches away at Booker and taunts him. Booker blocks a punch and fires away with right hands, ducks the line and drops Hunter with a forearm. Booker clotheslines Hunter coming out of the corner and tags in Kane. Hunter tags out to Jericho and Chris punches away at Kane. Kane whips Jericho off and chokebombs him. Kane punches away at Chris and elbows him in the corner. Kane charges but eats boot then Y2J hits the missile dropkick. Jericho covers for two then kicks away at him. Kane hits an elevated slam but gets chopblocked by HHH. Booker gets in to chase off HHH but the ref turns his attention to him. Y2J grabs a chair and whacks Kane in the leg with it with Earl Hebner distracted. HHH starts working on the left leg as the crowd chants "Katie Vick! Katie Vick!".....lovely. Jericho tags in and takes over working the leg until Kane clotheslines him down. HHH tags in and continues to focus on the bad left knee of Kane. HHH locks in the figure four and Jericho reaches in for leverage. Earl Hebner yells at Y2J since he didn't see it and HHH tags Chris in. Kane slams Jericho and crawls toward Booker but HHH tags in to drop an elbow on him. Kane does a double suplex on Jericho & Triple H and Booker calls for the tag. Booker gets the "hot" tag and goes nuts on Jericho and Hunter. Booker dispatches Jericho then hits a sunset flip out of the corner on HHH. Booker cleans house then calls for the spinaroonie. Ric Flair gets decked off the apron and Booker hits the axe kick on HHH. Booker does the spinaroonie and double clotheslines both heels. Booker clotheslines Jericho over the top to the floor and hits the scissors kick on HHH. Booker covers for two before Jericho stops him. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho but Kane dives in to take Jericho out to the floor. Jericho sends Kane into the ring steps but Booker accidentally knocks Earl Hebner off the apron. He hits a superkick on Hunter then goes upstairs. Booker misses the top rope dropkick and HHH goes for the pedigree. Shawn Michaels runs in out of nowhere and hits Sweet Chin Music on HHH. Michaels goes out and throws Hebner back in the ring. Booker covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. As much as the fans loved it, once again it shows the only one who can get the upperhand on HHH is Shawn. Booker, Rob Van Dam, Kane, Goldust and everyone else has no chance. Shawn grabs the mic at the entrance way and says he's in for elimination chamber.

Time of match: 10:26

Winners: Kane and Booker by pinfall

Two weeks in a row Shawn Michaels stands tall to end the show. Now that the Katie Vick garbage is over, we can focus back on storylines that aren't embarrassing....for the most part. The tag division is a total mess, Test/Stacy is eye roll inducing and nobody can hang with Triple H straight up besides Shawn Michaels who has wrestled one match since Wrestlemania 14. Still, its all about the elimination chamber....which sucks for the rest of Raw. Other than Trish/Victoria, there's really NOTHING else to look forward to. Now believe it or not, there was another match after Raw went off the air. It was pre-taped to be shown a week later on Super Tuesday. I'll cover that match along with the others when the time comes. The next show after this would be Smackdown taped in Manchester, New Hampshire tomorrow night. Other matches on the card will be for Velocity and Super Tuesday. Either way I'll see you there.

WWE Monday Night Raw (10/7/02)

Monday Night Raw

Thomas & Mack Center

Las Vegas, Nevada

October 7 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

Its time for Raw Roulette, everyone! Last week Eric Bischoff promised that every match on tonight's card would be determined by a Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal stipulation. So what's going on Raw lately? Kane is on a hot streak, winning the tag titles with new Raw star The Hurricane two weeks ago and the Intercontinental championship last week against Chris Jericho. Eric Bischoff ordered Kane and Triple H to face off at No Mercy to unify the titles which means the 22 year history of the IC strap will come to an end. The Unamericans have unofficially split with Christian and Test butting heads with Lance Storm and William Regal. The deranged Victoria knocked WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus cold with a chair shot to the head and arguably the most popular Raw star, Booker T, has been fodder for 3 Minute Warning lately. Before we do anything, we got a dark match.

Dark Match

Horshu vs Solo

No, that's not Solo Sikoa or Han Solo....that's actually Sim Snuka, the adopted son of "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. He had just started wrestling in 1999 after a career in bodybuilding and he was getting a tryout against WCW Power Plant graduate Horshu. Solo won this match with a roll up. Both of these men would have stints in WWE, just not for a while.

Winner: Solo by pinfall

Now let's get the show started. We open with Eric Bischoff next to two showgirls introducing us to the Raw Roulette wheel. Eric says "sex, sin, lust, greed, danger and unpredictability" is all here on Raw. Eric spins the wheel and the first match will be a steel cage match. Yeah, but for who? We get our intro video and introduction from the announcers. The steel cage match will be between Booker T and Big Show apparently.

Match 1

Booker T vs Big Show in a Steel Cage Match

 Ross says Show is irate after losing to Jeff Hardy last week and he attacks Booker T in the ring before the bell even rings. Show theows Booker into the corner but Booker rallies with chops and right hands. Big Show answers with a sidewalk slam as Ross brings up their big match at Vengeance. Booker goes to escape but Show pulls him down and hits a big clothesline. Big Show hits another clothesline and steps on Booker.  Booker gets chopped in the corner but Show misses an avalanche. Booker goes to leave out the door but Show stops him. Show heaves him into the cage and drops a knee on him. Show throws him into the cage yet again before clubbing with forearms. Show its a back suplex but Booker ducks a line and hits a spinning heel kick. Show is stunned but comes back by throwing him back into the cage again. Show hits a vertical suplex and goes to leave, but says no. Ruh roh! Show wants to punish Booker some more and chops him. Booker rallies with right hands but Show hits a knee to the ribs and a forearm to the back. Booker runs into a big boot as Lawler says he wants to wrestle tonight. Show goes to leave but Booker rams him with an axe kick into the cage that sends Show sprawling on the top rope. Booker hits the scissors kick and climbs to the top rope. He hits a scissors kick from the top rope as JR cheers on Booker to escape. Booker goes to leave the cage but Show stops him and climbs to the top rope. Booker kicks him in the gonads and escapes to win the match. That totally sucked although the top rope spot was okay. Random stip matches on cold matches do little to increase significance.

Time of match: 8:07

Winner: Booker T

Chris Jericho attacks after the match is over and rips the top of the barricade off. Jericho punches away on Booker and rams him head first into the exposed steel. Booker is busted open and Jericho sends him into the cage. Once again, Vince and HHH behind the scenes are doing everything they can to derail Booker T's momentum by having him in a cage with Big Show and then laid out in a heap by Chris Jericho. Back to Bischoff who's with the tag team champions (and Intercontinental champion) Kane and The Hurricane. Kane interrupts Bischoff's speech and says he WILL beat HHH at No Mercy. Bischoff says greed will have consequences and spins the wheel to see what kind of match they're having later. It lands on TLC and Hurricane says "Oh my! Holy Mick Foley!" Bischoff says he'll pick the opponents later and wishes them good luck. Kane gives the hard handshake and says in the ring, luck is for losers. Back to ringside, Booker is helped to the back by the officials.

Back from commercial Jericho is confronted by Terri Runnels who asks why he attacked Booker for no-reason. Jericho calls her an assclown and he's sick of being treated with no respect. He bitches about Goldust and Booker and the blood on his hands is Booker's. He says he's not and never will be a sucker. Jim Ross "He acts like a sucker." We cut to the Roulette wheel and apparently Triple H is going to be in a blindfold match. Triple H starts bitching but Ric Flair shows up and calms him down. Triple H says Kane's life will never be the same as he storms off. Ric Flair introduces Mandy and Sandy, two fine ladies, to Eric and will be waiting in Eric's hotel suite later. King screams "HLA!" as William Regal walks in asking if Bischoff's gone mad. You're just realizing this NOW, Regal? Goldust shows up behind Regal and asks Bischoff to make his match a respectable wrestling match. Regal spins and lands on Las Vegas Showgirl Match. Regal asks if the girls next to Bischoff will accompany him and Goldust to the ring, Bischoff says no, Regal and Goldust will be wrestling dressed as showgirls. Regal claimed in his book he loved dressing in drag because of the old British comedy shows he used to watch and its not actually him, its his evil character that's dressing up anyway. Goldust blows Regal a kiss and William's expression is priceless. 

Back from commercial again we get a vignette for Deacon Bautista....now with a full head of hair training hard. Apparently he's being repackaged as a monster heel on Raw. That explains why Faarooq has been teaming with D'Von Dudley on house shows, Bautista is going to Raw. On to the next match.

Match 2

D-Lo Brown vs Triple H (with Ric Flair) in a Blindfold Match

D-Lo Brown??? For those that pay attention to the C shows, D-Lo left the Sunday Night Heat commentating booth to return to active duty in the ring. Ross says we'll be in Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow night for a house show and King says to come on down now that the Arizona Diamondbacks are out. The St. Louis Cardinals bitchslapped the defending World Series champs in a three game sweep. Bell rings and Hunter fumbles about trying to find D-Lo. D-Lo and HHH swing at each other and miss completely. Ric tries to guide Hunter who catches D-Lo and backs him into the corner. Brown slithers away and HHH starts trash talking an empty corner before falling into it. D-Lo clocks Hunter with a right hand but then grabs referee Earl Hebner. HHH clubs D-Lo from behind and drops him with a right hand. Hunter stomps at D-Lo and goes for the pedigree. HHH gets back dropped and D-Lo goes to town with right hands. He covers for 1...2...nope. Ross says Dick Mudoch faced Killer Karl Kox in a Blindfold match a long time ago. D-Lo somehow hits Sky High but can't find Hunter to make the pin. Flair finds HHH and says he's got this. Flair distracts the ref as HHH cheats by lifting his hood. He grabs D-Lo and hits the pedigree. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Hunter rips the hood off after the match as Flair hands The Game his belt. Unlike Jake Roberts vs Rick Martel this was only a few minutes so they didn't have time to play with the crowd. Kind of a bad match due to the stip so we're 0 for 2 so far.

Time of match: 2:36

Winner: Triple H by pinfall

Back to Bischoff at the wheel who says who knows more about TLC than "you three guys." The camera pans to Christian, Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy standing together. Bubba "Do you have any idea what you're asking of us?" Christian "I'm not doing it." Eric says they'll do it or they'll be suspended. They can all pick their own partners and to hurry. The three leave with Bubba giving the stank eye to Eric. Eric turns around and Goldust is dressed as a showgirl and says "Viva Las Vegas, Eric". Back from commercial its time for the next match.

Match 3

Goldust vs William Regal

Goldust is enjoying himself as Regal looks miserable dressed as a showgirl. Again, Regal admitted in his book that he didn't mind since it was his character, not himself. Goldust is in his bodysuit with some feathers & a boa while Regal is head to toe in a showgirl outfit complete with high heels and makeup. Regal breaks one of his high heels so he kind of pidgeon walks to the ring, its legitimately hilarious. Bell rings and Goldust unloads on Regal with right hands and hits the Ass To Mouth. Goldust immediately goes for shattered dreams but spots Lance Storm coming. He goes outside to cut him off then walks back inside only to be waffled with the brass knuckles. Regal does a little strut then covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Adrian Street would have been proud. Another dud but it was more for comedic relief than it was wrestling. JR's disgust can be heard as he says "What the hell else will Bischoff come up with?"

Time of match: 53 seconds

Winner: Regal by pinfall

Back from commercial Christian is with Terri Runnels. He says he's not picking any of The Unamericans are his partners because he wants to win it. He claims he singlehandedly won three TLC matches but lost one.....and then Chris Jericho walks in and says he won the one Christian lost. Jericho says Kane robbed him of the IC title and wants to team with Christian to rob Kane of one of his titles. Christian "Let's do it, partner" and they shake hands. Back to Bischoff who's with Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus. Bischoff says their match has already been decided, a pole match. But not just ANY pole match, its blank on a pole match. Bischoff says the blank means Paddle and Trish says what we're all thinking "Typical." Eric says they're in Vegas so its time for double or nothing and spins the wheel again for a second stipulation much to Stacy's delight. Naturally it lands on Bra & Panties. So we get Bra & Panties Paddle on a Pole match. Hurray! Trish storms off and Eric smacks Stacy's ass as she walks away. Good luck getting away with that now. Eric does thank her for her effort though, what a gentleman. We cut to Tommy Dreamer sitting with Spike Dudley and Bubba asks Tommy to be his partner. Spike is mad because he wants to be apart of it. Bubba says fine, Spike will be his partner. Dreamer is okay with it and Bubba & Spike are official. Stacy walks to the ring as some dude in the back tells her her shoe is untied so he can check her out when she bends over. Again, it was 2002, this was common. King "That guy's my hero."

Match 4

Stacy Keibler vs Trish Stratus in a Bra & Panties Paddle on A Pole match for the WWE Women's Championship

King is reading Divas Undressed magazine and is happy as a clam. The rules are the winner has to strip the other and gets to paddle the loser. Trish debuts her Lil Kim theme as she makes her way to the ring. Stacy jumps her as soon as Trish gets in and the bell rings. Stacy throws Trish face first into the belt, brilliant move. Stacy chokes Trish with her boot and breaks just before the five count. Stacy kicks Trish then chokes her with the boot and hits a snap mare. Trish chops Stacy and kicks away at her. Trish charges but eats boot an Stacy slaps her. Trish gets crotched on the second rope when Stacy blocks Stratusfaction and rips her top off. Trish gets off the rope and rips Stacy's top off as well. They slug it out as King says "Yahoo this is great!" Trish chops Stacy and catches her with a spin kick. Stacy goes to rip Trish's pants off but Trish does an O'Connor roll and rips Stacy's shorts off to win the match. Stacy kicks Trish in the head and retrieves the paddle for herself. Trish snapmares Stacy and spanks her with the paddle as JR says she's turning the other cheek as quickly as she can. Another bad match but this was more for the horny men watching.

Time of match: 2:20

Winner: Trish Stratus by pinfall (still Women's Champion)

Stacy retreats but Victoria appears and stands in front of Trish. They brawl again with Victoria getting the upper hand again. Victoria stomps away at Trish and throws her into the barricade. Victoria throws Trish in the ring and takes her out with a savate kick. Victoria scoop slams Trish and hits the top rope moonsault. Victoria pulls Trish outside and throws her into the steel steps as JR says she looks possessed. Two weeks in a row Victoria lays out Trish. Back to Jonathan Coachman who asks Jeff Hardy who his partner is for the four way TLC tag match. Rob Van Dam walks out and says "Tables ladders and chairs? Yeah I'm in." JR gets excited as we got to commercial.

Back from break we go to a replay of Victoria attacking Trish. Coach asks Victoria why she did that. Victoria says this isn't about winning the title, its about Trish's past and the people she's hurt. Now its her turn to get hurt. This reminds me of the Big Bossman/Nailz feud where Bossman is supposed to be the good guy yet Nailz felt wronged when Bossman was an evil prison guard. Trish came to WWE as a heel two years earlier so Victoria technically would be in the right. Back to ring side for the next match, Test is in the ring when Al Snow makes his appearance. JR brings up the contracts are supposed to be frozen but not only is Deacon Bautista on his way, but Al Snow is here as well. But what's the match? Bischoff on the titantron spins the wheel and it lands on Las Vegas Street Fight....okay.

Match 5

Al Snow vs Test in a Las Vegas Street Fight

Bischoff says everything they need is right under the ring as the bell rings. Both go for weapons and both start throwing crap into the ring. Test gets a road sign and blasts Al with it. Test throws Al inside but Al crotches him across the top rope. Al grabs big dice and waffles Test with them. Al grabs a handicap parking sign and goes upstairs. Test waffles him with a stop sign on his way down but the cover only gets two. Test punches away at Snow and sets up a trash can in the corner. Al drop toes Test into the other trash can on the other side and covers for a two count. Al punches away at Test as Lawler hypes up his own match later tonight. Al does a Flair Flip in the corner but runs right into a trash can lid swung by Test. Test drags Al in the corner and covers for 1..2....no. The crowd chants USA hilariously and Test sets Al on the top rope. Test places the trash can underneath them. Al throws Test stomach first on the trash can and hits a flying bodypress for 1..2....no. King says Al isn't tough enough and Test goes for a powerbomb. Al counters by whacking Test with the trash can lid. Al goes under the ring and retrieves a bowling ball bag. Test slumps into the corner and Al puts on a bowling shirt. He pulls out a bowling ball but Test boots him in the stomach. Test goes off the ropes and slips on the trash can lid for real. Al cracks him with the lid three times, grabs the bowling ball and waffles him with it. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Hardcore matches were done to death at that point but Al was the master of making it entertaining. Still, it wasn't that good.

Time of match: 5:41

Winner: Al Snow by pinfall

After the match King gets hyped up for his match until JR says it might be an Inferno match. King starts getting scared and his facial reaction is hilarious. Back from commercial King is in the ring and apparently Steven Richards is his opponent. Eric Bischoff spins the wheel and it lands on "Its Legal In Nevada"....the hell is that? The Godfather's theme hits and sure enough, here comes Godfather and his ho's. Yes, prostitution is legal in Las Vegas so Godfather can legally operate here. King gets excited and even Steven likes what he sees. Godfather says "Nevada is my home, I know what is legal if ya know what I mean." Godfather says the winner takes a ride on the ho train.

Match 6

Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Steven Richards in an "Its Legal In Nevada" Match

The writing is on the wall on this one although Steven attacks Lawler before the bell. These two already fought over women a year and a half earlier but Steven doesn't have a hit squad with him now.....hey wait, yeah he does. Godfather is right there, right? Guess Godfather is back to his old ways. Steven drops Lawler with a back elbow smash and covers for a two count. The crowd chants for Jerry and Richards rallies with right hands that sends Lawler over the top to the floor. JR brings up King's resume as back inside, Lawler gets snap suplexed. Another cover gets a two count and Richards goes up to the second rope. Richards mocks Jerry but his move eats boot. Richards punches Lawler in the corner but "we want ho's" chant has Lawler hulking up. King pulls the strap down, punches Richards and lands a dropkick. Ross can't believe it as Jerry scoop slams Steven. Jerry drops the fist and covers for 1...2....no, foot on the rope. Jerry sends Steven off and hits a back drop but Steven calls for the piledriver but instead goes for a sunset flip. Lawler gets the knees down and hooks the legs for 1..2.....3 to win the match. Lawler is ecstatic as Ross says he's going for a long ride. "You think about a man who's died and gone to puppy heaven." The ladies dance in the ring with Lawler in the middle. Another short match but the comedic value is the drawing point.

Time of match: 2:24

Winner: Lawler by pinfall

After the match Lawler gets out of the ring and calls the ladies out. Ross says we got more work to do here now. Back to a vignette of Randy Orton set to the tune of The Equilizer from NFL Films. Bob Orton "In ten years he'll be one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring". Wow, he called it. We cut to The World who chills with the fans, including women. Back to JR, the ring is being set up for TLC and he's by himself since King is busy with the ho's. He cuts to Terri who's with Kane and she calls him the BIG red machine. Terri asks if he's at a disadvantage for No Mercy since he's going into TLC. Kane says he's going to make history by holding all three belts at the same time when he beats HHH at No Mercy. All the Kane-nites knows he can do it. Kane is interrupted by Jonathan Coachman who says HHH and Flair are beating up Hurricane. Kane runs off and we cut to HHH and Flair beating down Hurricane. The refs and Sgt Slaughter break up the carnage and Kane calls HHH a son of a bitch when he gets there. We go to commercial and when we get back, we get a highlight of HHH and Flair taking out Hurricane. Time for our main event.

Match 7

Chris Jericho and Christian vs Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy vs The Dudley Boys (Bubba and Spike) vs Kane for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a TLC Match

Fatal four way tag team TLC is going to be tough to call. Kane enters by himself and goes nuclear on all 6 others to start. Kane backdrops Spike and hits a sidewalk slam on Rob Van Dam. Kane backdrops Bubba and clocks Jeff in the corner. Jericho and Christian get a ladder early but gets knocked off by the others. Kane throws Jeff into the ladder then rams RVD's head in the buckle. RVD goes up and over Kane and he and Jeff double team him. Kane drops both men with a double clothesline then heaves Jeff outside. Kane smashes Jeff into the steel steps but Jeff runs across the barricade and drops Kane with a clothelsine. Bubba does the Terry Funk spot by putting his head in the ladder and uses it as a propeller to knock everyone else goofy. Rob Van Dam hits a dropkick off the top rope onto Kane. Jeff, Van Dam and Kane all go over the top together. Christian and Jericho double teams Spike and sets the ladder up on the top rope. Spike is sent directly into the ladder and the two heels double team Bubba in the corner. A double backdrop on Bubba is followed by Jericho clotheslining Christian by accident. Bubba hits the Dusty Punches on Y2J and clotheslines him over the top rope. Kane hits the top rope clothesline on Christian as Bubba puts the ladder in the ring. Bubba clocks Kane with it and sets up the ladder. Kane pulls Bubba off and hits the chokeslam on him. Kane slams Spike and throws him over the top onto RVD. Jericho gets a second ladder and rams Kane in the face with it. Outside Jericho sets up a table and puts Kane on it. Jericho and Christian puts the ladder through the ropes and RVD uses it as a see-saw to wipe out both guys. Jeff whacks Kane with a steel chair on the table and sets up a third ladder. He climbs up to the top and hits a legdrop through the table onto Kane. The crowd chants "Holy shit" as Bubba is in the ring all alone. Bubba throws a ladder over the top rope onto Jericho and climbs up the ladder in the ring. Christian powerbombs Bubba and we cut to commercial. 

Back from break Bubba slaps RVD in the chest and sets up the ladder again. RVD sets up another ladder as the crowd chants ECW. Christian stops RVD as Jericho hits a bulldog off the top rope on Bubba. Van Dam hits a neckbreaker off the ladder on Christian. Spike of all people climbs to the top of the ladder but Christian pulls him off. Christian slams Spike over the top to the floor and the double ladders are set up again. JR sings everyone's praises during down time as Christian and Rob Van Dam slug it out. Christian climbs the ladder but Kane gets in the ring and crotches Christian off the top rope by pushing the ladder. Kane powerslams Jeff and boots him out of the ring. Kane sets up the ladder and rams Spike into it. Kane spears Spike with the ladder but Jericho grabs a chair and whacks both Kane and Bubba with it. RVD hits a spinning heel kick on Y2J as the crowd chants for Rob. Jeff Hardy launches himself into Kane and sets up Kane for the Van Terminator. Van Dam hits it to wipe Kane out of the ring. Jericho goes to suplex Jeff on the ladder but Jeff reverses it with a suplex of his own onto the ladder. Christian goes upstairs but Jeff launches him onto the ladder. Jeff sets up the ladder but Bubba climbs the other side of it. They slug it out but Bubba hits a superplex off the top of the ladder. Van Dam starts crawling up the ladder and has the gold on his finger tips but Bubba drops him with a right hand but he himself falls off too. Jericho starts climbing the ladder to a chorus of boos. Spike gets kicked away twice by Y2J but Spike pushes the ladder over and Jericho falls all the way to the floor. Spike sets up the ladder and climbs it but he's too short to reach the belts. Christian pulls Spike down but Spike goes for the Acid Drop. Instead Dudley is thrown over the top through a table. Christian sets up the ladder dead center and starts climbing but Bubba sets up the second ladder. Bubba hits a Bubba Bomb off the ladder as Rob Van Dam goes upstairs. Rob hits the 5 star frog splash on Christian and Jeff Hardy misses a Swanton on Bubba. Bubba backdrops Jeff over the top rope through a table. Van Dam hits a Van Daminator onto Bubba and sets up the ladder. Rob climbs up to the top but Jericho waffles him with a steel chair. Chris clobbers Rob and does the Walls of Jericho on the ladder. Chris lets go and Rob falls off. Suddenly Kane pops up and climbs the ladder. Kane chokeslams Jericho off the ladder and sits up. Kane climbs up the ladder and retrieves the belts to win the match. Kane without The Hurricane wins the match to keep the belts. Ross praises all seven men as Kane is the winner. Not as great as the more famous TLC matches which had more structure. This one felt more real with 7 guys competing and hitting high spot after high spot. Its not bad, just didn't flow as much. Still, give credit to all seven men to put themselves through that. This match would later be featured on the Raw 10th Anniversary DVD Complilation.

Time of match: 25:10

Winner: Kane by pinfall (still tag team champions)

Kane has no time to celebrate as Triple H and Ric Flair and stands at the entrance. He promised that before the night was over, Kane's life would never be the same. HHH claims Kane said this is the happiest he's ever been but wants to ask a question. "How happy is Katie Vick?" The entire crowd goes silent as no one knows what that means. HHH explains that 10 years ago he killed her. HHH "You are a murderer." I thought Undertaker was a murderer? We fade to black with Kane looking like he's seen a ghost. Well, there's no other way to say it but this entire show was a gimmicked piece of schmidt. Most of the matches were really short so they couldn't build drama around the stips and some of them were outright comedies. The ladder match went 25 minutes but nothing else went longer than eight. On top of the random stips, now we start the infamous Katie Vick angle. Remember how I said the night after Unforgiven the ECW alumni wanted a piece of HHH and Kane was being booked strong, that the booking was going to take a left turn off a cliff? Apparently Vince McMahon himself wanted the Katie Vick angle and everyone else was horrified but couldn't say no since he was in charge. Now for the next month we have to deal with this garbage. Smackdown was burying Raw in terms of match quality but Vince was about to infect them too with some ridiculousness. They're the next show so I'll see you there.

WWE Sunday Night Heat (10/6/02)

 

WWE Sunday Night Heat

Compaq Center

Houston, Texas

October 6, 2002

Commentators: Jonathan Coachman and Lita

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

To show how bad Raw was these days, there's barely any recap and there's FOUR matches tonight on Heat. Not only that, D-Lo Brown's replacement on commentary is none other than Lita, who's still out recovering from her broken neck. Its ECW night as Spike Dudley takes on Justin Credible, Steven Richards faces The Hurricane and Raven faces D-Lo Brown. Also Jacqueline faces Molly Holly. The matches should be at least watchable. Let's get to our first match.

Match 1

Steven Richards vs The Hurricane

One half of the tag team champs Hurricane takes on the demented Richards in the opening contest. We get shown a highlight of Kane and Hurricane winning the straps before the match starts. Coach brings up how Hurricane is similar to the Hardy Boys and Lita has to bring up that he, Shannon Moore and the Hardys are the North Carolina connection. Hurricane offers a hand shake to start but Richards slaps it away.....wazzupwitdat? Hurricane gets a hilarious thumb to the eye and hits a shoulderblock before hitting a victory roll for a deuce. Richards makes fun of Hurricane but eats an armdrag. Hurricane comes off the top with a bodypress but only gets a two count. Hurricane locks in a headlock but Stevens counters with a modified t-bone plex. Richard stands on The Hurricane and clubs away at him in the corner. Hurricane rallies back with right hands and another bodypress, but Richards stops the momentum with an elbow smash. Richards taunts Hurricane to get up and hits a vertical suplex. Richards holds Hurricane in a neckbreaker lock. Hurricane powers out of it using the corner and ducks the line. Hurricane hits a neckbreaker and hits a jumping lariat. Hurricane hops on the second rope and hits a flying neckbreaker before covering for 1...2....nooooo. Richards eats an inverted atomic drop then Hurricane hits a big crescent kick. Hurricane covers for 1...2...no, foot on the rope. Richards blocks Eye of The Hurricane and hits Emerald Flowsion (???). He covers for 1.....2....and no. Richards sets up for the Stevie Kick but Hurricane catches the foot. Hurricane finally hits the Eye then calls for the chokeslam. Richards blocks it and stuns Hurricane with an elbow. Richards rolls up Hurricane and grabs the rope for 1...2.....3 to win the match. Richards steals one and the crowd is irate. Not bad and Richards winning was kind of a shock since Hurricane is being given somewhat of a push as Kane's lackey lately.

Time of match: 6:04

Winner: Richards by pinfall

Back to Coach and Lita who sings her praises. Coach says D-Lo Brown will face Raven in the main event and goes to commercial. Back from break we get a pre-recorded interview from a while ago with Lita talking about her neck injury. On to the next match.

Match 2

Spike Dudley vs Justin Credible

ECW! ECW! These two are no strangers to each other for obvious reasons. Coach asks Lita when she'll be back and she says 7 months....which means next May? Bell's gone and Spike backs Justin in the corner and Justin punches & kicks Spike. Credible slides into the corner but runs into two arm-drags and a neckbreaker. Credible bails but Spike catches him and throws him back inside. Credible begs off but Spike bites his hand. Spike boots Justin in the head but his second rope axehandle is countered by a superkick by Credible. Justin covers for a deuce and goes to work in the corner. Justin sit down powerbombs Spike for 1...2...nope. Spike catches Credible with a bodypress for a two count as Coachman says they're taking a red eye flight to Las Vegas for Raw. Love how they desperately are trying to convince people this is a live show.  Justin locks in a chinlock as Coach says imagine if Justin Credible and Spike Dudley have to wrestle in a Bra & Panties match. Of all the divas on the roster and you're thinking of those two guys? Spike goes for the sunset flip but Credible punches him in the head. Lita says she'll bring extra bra & panties for that...good lord. A double shoulderblock puts both men down as Coach starts babbling about Eric Bischoff. Spike rallies with forearms and lands an inverted atomic drop. Spike gets a bulldog and covers for 1..2...nope. Spike dropkicks Justin into the corner and he stomps on him. Spike takes a Bret Hart style sternum bump in the corner and Credible sets up for the superkick. Spike blocks it and executes an Acid Drop then covers for 1...2...3....to win the match. Short and sweet and Spike gets thrown a bone for once. Spike chills with some kids before we cut.

Time of match: 4:44 

Winner: Spike by pinfall

We cut to Terri Runnells who's with Raven. She asks him about his history with D-Lo Brown and Raven says the time is finally at hand. He closes his chapter with D-Lo and opens another one. For two years he's been scorned and scoffed at by people. Raven says the picture is complete and the time for his voice to be heard is now. He says his masterpiece will be revealed. Great, Raven Cezanne over here. Back from commercial our recap is Bubba Ray Dudley vs HHH, nice to see Bubba get some main event time. Before we go to break our Boot of The Week is Victoria clocking Trish with a chair on Raw. That's not a boot. Another commercial break and when we get back we get the Burn of The Night which was 3 Minute Warning terrorizing Lita before Jeff Hardy made the save. FINALLY, we get to our next match.

Match 3

Jacqueline vs Molly Holly

Two experienced women who know what they're doing, this should be good. Bell rings and instantly Coach talks about 3 Minute Warning beating up Jeff Hardy on Raw. Molly gets taken down and Lita literally has to say out loud she's trying to pay attention to the match but says Rosey and Jamal are scary. Again, don't blame Coach, blame the idiot in his ear telling him "Talk about Raw! Talk about Raw!" Molly gets decked with a shoulderblock and Jackie hits a nothern lights suplex for a two count. Jackie gets a backslide for a two count and Coach has to deviate from calling the match to talk about Victoria and Trish. I'm about 3 seconds from hitting the mute button and its not even Coach's fault. Molly throws Jackie over the top rope and Jackie skins the cat back in, ducks under Moly and hits a double underhook suplex. She covers for 1...2...nope. Molly drops Jackie on the second rope as Lita says we haven't seen THAT Victoria yet. Molly throws Jackie into the barricade outside but Jackie fights back inside the ring. Molly puts the boots to Jackie and rams her head into the mat. Molly hits a side backbreaker and covers for 1...2...nope. A charge in the corner by Molly eats elbow but Jackie throws Molly into the corner. A roll up gets a two count and Jackie drops Molly with forearms and a dropkick. Jackie decks Molly with a back elbow smash and covers for a two count as Coach then goes back to 3 Minute Warning....oh for Christ's sake. Jackie hits a huge spinning heel kick and covers for a deuce. Molly sets up Jackie on the top rope but Jackie hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. That match was AWESOME with no rest holds and its a shame Coach was instructed to bring up as many Raw events as he could. As they say, don't hate the playa, hate the game. Great match and kudos to both women. Coach and Lita go to the replay and that was a great spot at the end.

Time of match: 3:57

Winner: Jackie by pinfall

Coach hypes up the main event of D-Lo vs Raven when we come back. Back from commercial the next recap segment is Kane beating Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship. We got commercial again and when we come back, we get a Randy Orton promo done in NFL Films style. Least it was unique. Finally let's get to our main event.

Match 4

D-Lo Brown vs Raven

What's the masterpiece Raven is talking about? D-Lo grabs a mic and says what up to all the dawgs in the D-Lo Nation. D-Lo says the only masterpiece will be Raven in the Sky High hall of fame. Bell's gone and Raven gets the upperhand in the corner then puts the boots to him. D-Lo reverses it and pounds away on Raven. D-Lo goes for a tackle but Raven keapfrogs him and D-Lo goes shoulder first into the ring post, falling to the floor. Raven outside hits a russian leg sweep into the barricade. Raven throws D-Lo inside and gets in a front facelock. D-Lo powers out of it and shoulderblocks Raven into the corner. Raven drops a knee to the back of D-Lo and covers for a deuce. Raven gets drop toe holded into the middle turnbuckle. D-Lo unloads with right hands and a dropkick. D-Lo does a scoop slam and drops the leg. D-Lo covers for a deuce then punches Raven in the corner. Raven ducks and uses the distraction to powerbomb D-Lo and go for the Flair pin for 1...2...nope.  Raven runs right into Sudden Impact (??) and D-Lo covers for 1...2....nooo. Raven staggers into the corner, D-Lo charges but eats boot. Raven charges but D-Lo goes for the Sky High. Raven blocks it and intentionally throws himself into referee Nick Patrick. With Patrick turned around, Raven uppercuts D-Lo in the gonads. Raven hits the Evenflow and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Interesting how this was supposedly the feud ender and Raven gets the duke. Raven had less than 3 months to go on his contract but got a bone here. That wasnt as good as the women's match but still decent for crash style.

Time of match: 3:15

Winner: Raven by pinfall

Coach signs off and tells us to watch Raw Roulette tomorrow night live from Las Vegas. Amazing how we had four matches here when usually there's only three. I like it, the more wrestling and less recaps the better. In the old days, recap shows were useful because there was no internet too look up results so you either taped the live show or had to wait for the recap show. By 2002 the internet was evolving so the recap portions of Velocity and Heat were kind of moot. Richards vs Hurricane was okay, Spike vs Credible was okay, Molly vs Jackie was great and Raven/D-Lo was good. At least none of the matches sucked anyway. While Monday Night Raw is tomorrow night in Las Vegas, the stars of Smackdown had a house show in Tuscon, Arizona. I'll see you in Tucson.