Thursday, October 31, 2002

WWE Smackdown (10/31/02)


Happy Halloween everyone, we are 17 days out from Survivor Series and Smackdown is on a hot streak in terms of in ring brilliance. Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit has been a pleasure to watch and we also have WWE Champion Brock Lesnar facing a new threat, the 500 pound Big Show. Benoit and Angle on their own are draws but they're the tag champs with Los Guerreros gunning for them. Unfortunately we still have the dumb Al Wilson story but we're about to get the debut of a company altering gimmick, but I won't spoil what it is here in the intro. Let's get to the event.


Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, Michigan
October 31, 2002

Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz


We open the show with a costume party in catering. Faarooq is dressed as a pimp with Eddie Guerrero as Zorro and Chavo Guerrero Jr in a poncho & sombrero holding dynamite....not that any of this is racist or anything. Eddie says he's going to take out Kurt Angle tonight and they leave. Tajiri is dressed as a 70's disco dancer with Shannon Moore as Satan. Rey Mysterio Jr is dressed in normal gear as Stephanie McMahon walks in dressed as a witch....thought she was supposed to be in a costume? Anyway, she says tonight's main event will be a non-title match between Brock Lesnar and Rey Mysterio Jr. Rey celebrates with everyone in the room as we head to ringside. Tazz says tonight there will be  a Trick Or Treat match between Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson in a pool of chocolate milk. Divas era everyone.....but in better news, we also got Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero, that's more like it. Let's get to our first match.


Match 1

Edge vs Chris Benoit

Tazz holds up the latest edition of WWE Magazine with Edge on the cover as Edge makes his entrance. Benoit is half of the tag champs and Edge needs a big win to set himself up as a contender to Lesnar. Bell's gone and they circle to start.  They lock up with various takedowns with Edge taking over with an arm-bar. Cole asks how Edge can outwrestle Benoit and Tazz answers to stay ahead of him. Benoit goes to down with knees and stomps in the corner then applies a headlock takeover. Edge sends Benoit off but eats a shoulderblock but drops Benoit with a knee to the ribs. Edge delivers a stomachbreaker then puts the boots to Chris. Edge shoulderblocks Chris in the corner but Benoit chops him. Edge continues to work over Chris but Benoit takes over in the other corner as Cole mentions Big Show will take on Rikishi as well. Edge sends Benoit sternum first into the corner but the cover only gets a deuce. Edge throws Benoit through the ropes to the outside then follows him. Edge drops Chris chest first onto the barricade then throws him back in. Edge covers for a deuce then goes to the chinlock. Cole brings up Scott Steiner is coming to WWE and there's a bidding war between Raw and Smackdown. Sidenote, not to get ahead of anything, but there could have been an Evolution style stable on Smackdown with Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas and Scott Steiner. All four of them were great collegiate wrestlers with Steiner representing the past, Angle the present and Haas & Benjamin as the future. Back to live action, Edge slingshot suplexes Benoit on the top rope to the outside but Chris blocks a baseball slide and starts attacking the left shoulder. Benoit dropkicks Edge into the ring steps before tossing him inside. Benoit covers for a one count with Edge grabbing the bottom rope and Chris continues to work over the left arm. Edge powers out of it but Chris floors Edge with a running elbow. Chris sends Edge shoulder first into the ringpost and executes a back suplex. A cover gets two and Chris stomps away on him. Benoit sends Edge off who runs into a drop-toe hold. Benoit dropkicks the shoulder and does a snap suplex. The cover gets one as Chris stalks Edge in the corner, kicking away. Chris sends Edge into the corner who falls down, Chris dropping a leg on Edge for good measure. Corner chops from Benoit has the crowd gooing wooo but a charge eats elbow. Edge hops on the second rope but Chris stops him with right hands. Benoit goes for a superplex but Edge blocks it and does Edge-O-Matic off the second rope (!!!). We cut to commercial and when we come back Edge goes upstairs but misses a dropkick. Benoit goes for the crossface but Edge makes it to the ropes. They show during the commercial break Edge hit a spear to knock Benoit to the floor. Benoit does three straight German suplexes then gives the sign for the diving headbutt. Benoit goes up to the top but Edge rolls out of the way at the last second. Benoit goes back to the chops but Edge throws him off the turnbuckle and hits Edge-O-Matic for 1....2..nope, Chris kicked out. Edge counters a headlock with a facebuster but the cover only gets two. Edge chops Chris then drops Benoit face first onto the mat. Edge calls for the spear but Benoit counters it into the Crippler Crossface. Edge rolls through but Benoit hangs on and has Edge in the center of the ring. Edge somehow grabs referee Brian Hebner and all of a sudden Kurt Angle runs to ringside. Benoit abandons the hold and yells at him on the floor. Edge does a baseball slide that sends Benoit into Angle on the floor. Edge goes upstairs and does a flying clothesline that takes out Angle. Benoit throws Edge inside but runs right into the SPEAR! The cover gets 1....2.....3 and that's it. Great opener to start the night. Even though it took an Angle run in to get it done, Edge still gets a victory over Benoit to give Edge some shine while highlighting the ongoing feud between Angle & Benoit. Angle walks off smiling at the irate Benoit as we cut here.


Time of match: 12:21

Winner: Edge by pinfall


We go back to the costume party with John Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice freestyle rapping.....and yes, THIS is where it started. The story goes Cena was floundering as a generic heel and Stephanie herself caught Cena rapping on the bus in London while they were there for Rebellion. She suggested he do it on TV and here we are. Billy Kidman dressed as the Phantom of The Opera is not impressed but Chuck Palumbo dressed as a native american loves it. Torrie Wilson dressed as Xena walks by Tajiri who freaks out and walks away....haha. Tajiri spots someone dressed as Marilyn Monroe and its Mae Young. Fabulous Moolah is dressed as Wilma Flinstone and they grab Tajiri, whisking him away. Al Wilson walks in dressed as a 50's greaser (which the actor may have been back then) with Dawn Marie as a slutty cop. Tazz and Cole laugh at Wilson and Dawn as folks in the arena crowd are dressed as various wrestlers. We got to a replay after commercial of Angle costing Benoit his match. Back to the party, Torrie is confronting Al and Dawn when an irate Benoit storms in looking for Kurt Angle. He storms past a guy in a Ghostface outfit from Scream who doesn't know where Kurt is and Funaki dressed as Superman. After Benoit leaves, the Scream guy unmasks to be Kurt himself. 

Camera cuts to Brock Lesnar walking down the hall as someone dressed as a caveman asks who he's supposed to be. Lesnar says "The WWE champion, that's who I'm supposed to be." That shows you a face turn is coming because heel Brock would smash the guy against the wall. He walks into the dressing room where Paul Heyman is waiting. Heyman gives him a speech about how Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali were never the same after Thrilla In Manilla and he's afraid Lesnar and Undertaker aren't the same after Hell In A Cell. Heyman is terrified Lesnar can't beat Big Show in his current state. Heyman says Brock won't like hearing it but that's why he's his manager. They're definitely setting up Big Show as a threat, thank god. Onto the next match.


Match 2

Big Show vs Rikishi

This match stems from the previous week where Big Show made his Smackdown brand debut wiping out Rikishi and Matt Hardy. Big Show is dressed in black dress pants and a black t-shirt which would essentially be his new look moving forward. Rikishi attacks at the bell and superkicks him twice, the second sends Show through the ropes to the outside. Rikishi gets thrown into the ring post outside and chops his chest. Show throws Rikishi in the ring and drops a series of elbows. Show headbutts Rikishi and he actually sells it, THATS respect. Show turns Rikishi inside out with a clothesline and covers for 1...2...nope. Show rips off the middle and top rope turnbuckle pads then Rikishi into the exposed steel before avalanching him. Show picks up Rikishi like a feather and does a Bulldog powerslam. Cole asks if Show can manhandle Lesnar like this but also asks how Lesnar can beat him. Show hits the big chokeslam and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Cole says Show made a statement by squashing Rikishi and hard to argue that. This is how Show should have been booked for years. Rikishi is no pushover and Show smashed him.


Time of match: 2:28

Winner: Big Show by pinfall


Show grabs the mic after the match and says what he did to Rikishi is only a taste of what's in store for Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. Show calls out Lesnar and say face him right here, right now. Lesnar goes to confront Show but Heyman tells him not to go out there. We cut to commercial and when we come back, Show is holding Smackdown hostage until Lesnar comes out. Show has a replay of Taker getting wiped out last week put on the titantron. He then goes on a rant that Lesnar can't beat him, everyone knows it including his manager. Hm.....how would he know that? Show says his own real name and Lesnar can't beat him. Finally Lesnar hits the ring as Cole asks why he's coming out. Lesnar looks up at Big Show and Show really towers over him. Lesnar snatches the mic and calls him a giant piece of shit (bleeped out of course). Show smiles at Brock, grabs the mic, exits the ring and says he's been advised not to fight him. Hmmm, wonder who could have advised him? Show says he's done something to The Undertaker that's never been done before and he says he's going to do the same for Lesnar later tonight. Show leaves as we cut right to Torrie Wilson bent over in a Xena outfir=t right in view of the camera, just like Stacy Keibler on Raw. Guess the milk pool match is next....ugh.



Match 3

Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson in a Trick or Treat Match

Bunch of cakes at poolside so you know someone's face is going in one. Tazz shills X-Box & Godzilla Destroy All Monsters and Cole shills JVC's Tower of Power as Torrie makes her entrance pool side. Tazz and Cole go ga-ga. Right on cue, Torrie throws one of the cakes in Dawn's face to start the "match". Torrie throws another one and they start wrestling each other on the table. Torrie spears Dawn into the pool and they roll around in it. Torrie pulls the referee in there as Torrie somehow suplexes Dawn in the pool. Torrie strips Dawn to her underwear with Dawn screaming. Dawn and Torrie exchange chops as they roll all over referee Mike Sparks. Torrie chops Dawn who trips and falls out of the pool. Torrie splashes her and covers for 1...2....3 to end this disaster. Torrie grabs ring announcer Tony Chimmel and throws him into the pool. Why? Ask Vince. In terms of a "match", it was just an excuse for women to take their clothes off so Vince could get off on it. We'd have about 10 years to go until this kind of thing stopped, oh joy.


Time of match: 1:51

Winner: Torrie Wilson by pinfall


Back to the party, Kidman is taking jello shots with Moolah and Mae still holding Tajiri hostage. The lights go out and come back on with Matt Hardy coming in playing his own song on a boom box. He says this place needs Mattitude and Hardy chastises Tajiri for flirting with Moolah & Mae. Hardy slaps the wig off Tajiri's head as Mae says he can't do that to her boyfriend. Tajiri "BOYFRIEND??" Matt says he'll send him back after he suffers a twist of fate. Mae then kisses Tajiri who looks disgusted. Just like with throwing Chimmel into the pool, most of the time Vince had people humiliated because he himself thought it was funny. After commercial Nidia and Jamie Noble are dressed as each other (hahaha) and they bob for apples before bumping into Stephanie. A-Train is dressed in a toga next to Eddie and Chavo who start hitting on Stephanie. Ah yes, everyone has to call Stephanie hot on camera....she was Dixie Carter before Dixie. Eddie says after he beats Angle, they want a tag title shot. Stephanie says she'll think about it, just go. Eddie and Chavo leave as Cena comes up and freestyles again to which Stephanie says to speak normally. Cena says Vince himself is waiting for Stephanie in her office. Back to ringside.



Match 4

Matt Hardy vs Tajiri

Matt comes out with "Matt always got more Halloween candy than his brother" as his graphic. Poor Jeff. Cole says Raw this Monday night will be held at the Fleet Center in Boston with Smackdown Your Vote taking place at noon at Northeastern University. Bell's gone and they tie up to start. Matt hits an armdrag and starts celebrating. They exchange go-behinds before Tajiri gets the side headlock. Hardy gets the top wristlock but Tajiri takes Hardy down twice much to Matt's chagrin. Cole says we have Eddie vs Angle still to come and Brock vs Mysterio. Hardy gets a quick two count on Tajiri and celebrates that he was this close to winning...only to eat a kick to the head. Tajiri sends Matt outside and nails him with an asai moonsault. Tajiri throws Matt inside and flips over him just to run into the side effect. Matt covers for a deuce and Matt starts beating Tajiri around. Matt chops Tajiri in the corner but Tajiri chops out of it only to get met with an eye-rake. Matt drops Tajiri throat first on the top rope then does a standing elbow slam. Hardy gets a neck lock on as Cole says you might not like Matt's attitude but you have to respect his ability. Hardy drops Tajiri with an elbow and leg drops him. Matt scoop slams Tajiri then hops on the second rope. He goes for the leg drop but misses it as Tajiri rolls out of the way. Tajiri and Matt exchange punches when Tajiri dropkicks him in the face then covers for a deuce. Tajiri hits the springboard elbow then kicks Matt in the back of the head. He covers for 1...2...nope. Tajiri counters a charge in the corner with a tarantula but Matt counters with an overhead suplex. He stacks him up for 1...2..no. Matt punches Tajiri but Tajiri counters with another tarantuula then sets up for the buzz kick. Tajiri misses but Matt kicks him, going for the Twist of Fate. Tajiri blocks the first attempt but not the second as Matt lands it. He covers for 1...2...3 and Matt wins it. Good match and its cementing Matt's V1 character as a young, top heel. Let's see if Matt can run with this.


Time of match: 7:38

Winner: Matt Hardy by pinfall


Back to Stephanie's office, a man in a Vince McMahon mask says its good to see her. Its not Vince, its Eric Bischoff in disguise. Bischoff says he's signing Scott Steiner and removes his mask. Stephanie goes to slap him but he blocks it and forcefully kisses her. Can't say she didn't deserve it after trying to strike him for no reason. Then she gets into it, pulling him on top of her and they break it off looking at each other awkwardly. Bischoff leaves and that whole segment definitely REEKS of Vince having a laugh. This reminds me of when Kurt kissed Stephanie and nothing came of it, just like this was never mentioned again. Thankfully Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle is next.



Match 5

Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle

These two can definitely have a great match so hopefully this delivers. The implications are the Guerreros want a tag title shot and Benoit & Angle are the champs. Kurt already cost Benoit his match earlier that night so you know Chris will be making an appearance at some point. Eddie comes out in really bright green tights and the bell rings. They circle to start and Angle takes down Eddie a few times, can't outwrestle an Olympian Eddie. Crowd chants "Eddie sucks" as this is a heel program for sure. Angle starts with a headlock and he drops Eddie with a shoulderblock before hiptossing Eddie. Kurt picks up Eddie and heaves him across the ring before Eddie bails outside in a rage. Guess Angle is the defacto face in this one which works just fine. Guerrero gets mad and starts punching and kicking away at Angle. The crowd chants for Angle as Kurt rallies with a clothesline and a back elbow smash. Kurt ducks the line and nails Eddie with a flying forearm. He covers for a deuce but Eddie drop toe holds him into the corner then delivers a back suplex. Eddie chokes Kurt with his boot and goes to town with forearms while holding on to Kurt's singlet. Eddie locks in a front headlock with a "Let's go Angle" chant in the crowd. Cole hypes up Lesnar vs Mysterio as Angle powers out of the hold then gets nailed with a shoulderblock. Eddie goes back to the chinlock as Angle uses the crowd's chanting to make it to his feet. Kurt catches Eddie with a powerslam but Guerrero dropkicks Angle's knee. Eddie chokes him with his boot in the corner again with Brian Hebner yelling at him. Eddie continues to choke Angle and Kurt makes it to the outside. Eddie suplexes Kurt from the apron back inside then covers for a deuce. Eddie goes back to the chinlock then turns it into a head scissors. Eddie uses the ropes for leverage but Angle somehow slips out of it and tries for the ankle lock. Eddie rolls through and snap mares Kurt before dropkicking the back of the neck. Eddie pounds away at Kurt and taunts the crowd with Hebner yelling at him again. Eddie goes for a german suplex but Kurt slips it and hits one of his own, sending Eddie flying. Kurt and Eddie exchange right hands and Angle rallies with clotheslines and a back bodydrop. Kurt ducks the line and goes for another german but Eddie blocks it. Kurt does the overhead suplex and covers for 1...2....nope, foot on the rope. Kurt comes out of the corner and Eddie kicks him before going for a suplex. Kurt slips it and does the three German suplex combo that Benoit used earlier. Kurt covers for a deuce and pulls down the straps, uh oh! Kurt goes for the Angle Slam but Eddie counters into a cradle for 1..2....nooooo! Angle charges but eats elbow and Guerrero nails a jumping tornado ddt off the second rope then covers for 1...2....NOOOOOO, just got the shoulder up. Eddie goes for the Lasso From El Paso and Angle looks like he's about to tap but counters, slipping a roll into the ankle lock. Guerrero reaches the ropes and Kurt goes for another German suplex but Eddie grabs the ref and mule kicks Kurt in the gonads. Eddie lands a vertical suplex then goes for the frog splash. Kurt brilliantly then shoves Hebner into Guerrero who crotches himself. Tazz "He's the third man in the ring, might as well use him, what the hell?" Chavo runs down to the ring and Kurt knocks him off the apron. He runs up the ropes to nail Eddie with a superplex when Chris Benoit comes out of nowhere to nail Angle with the tag title belt. Eddie hits the frog splash and covers for 1...2....3....Eddie wins it. Wow, last week it was Angle the heel and Benoit the face and now its the other way around. Eddie goes to hug Benoit for helping him and Chris waffles him with the belt. Chris gets out of the ring and drops Chavo with the belt for good measure. Chris gets the last laugh after a damn good match between Angle and Guerrero. We go to the replay with all this mayhem and Guerrero gets the duke. The feud between Angle and Benoit is not over and the Guerreros are the ones benefiting for sure.


Time of match: 13:20

Winner: Guerrero by pinfall


After commercial break we're back at the party where its Kurt's turn to cause a ruckus. Kurt bitches about what happened to him then heaves Shannon Moore over a table. He spots another guy in a Ghostface mask and rips it off revealing...Brother Love?? The hell is he doing here? Love says "I loveeeeee you" and Kurt's face is priceless. Chris then attacks Kurt from behind and they brawl all over the room. Chris breaks a stool over Kurt's chest then applies the crossface. Where the hell is Stephanie? Kurt rolls through and applies the ankle lock. Chris kicks him off and grabs a beer bottle. Angle hits the angle slam to Chris through a table but not before Benoit breaks the bottle over his head. Both men are out and Cole sends us to our last break. These two are going to settle this eventually, right? On to the main event.



Match 6

Rey Mysterio Jr vs Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman)

This is a non-title match, which is dumb since Rey essentially has nothing to gain and Lesnar has nothing to lose. Cole hypes up Lesnar vs Show for the WWE title and wonders if he can beat the monster. The sad part is they're making Show about to be very dangerous when he was just a big goofus on Raw for about a year. Still, at least they're doing something noteworthy with Big Show for once. Lesnar hops up on the apron but Mysterio slides under the rope underneath him to start the match. Lesnar chases Rey around the ring but Rey hops up on the ropes as Lesnar slides in. Rey drops a leg but Brock barely sells it. Brock grabs Rey and heaves him into the corner but Rey moves out of the way of the charge. Brock chases Rey outside who runs around and appears to hide behind the steps. Lesnar kicks the steps but there's nobody there. Rey appears from under the ring, climbs up to the top and hits  west coast pop to the floor. Brock pops up unfazed and stalks Rey as Cole wonders how Rey could do anything to him. Lesnar catches Rey in a powerbomb position and heaves him into the ring post. Lesnar throws Rey inside as Cole asks how Brock can match Big Show. Brock picks Rey up on his shoulders and slams him face first onto the mat. Brock taunts Mysterio and heaves him over his head to the other side of the ring. Tazz says Lesnar is toying with Rey and is overmatched. Lesnar shoulderblocks Rey in the corner and charges but eats ringpost. Rey rallies with a series of dropkicks that sends Lesnar into the ropes. Rey goes for the 619 but Big Show appears out of nowhere and catches Rey in mid-air causing the disqualification. Big Show then heaves Rey 10 rows deep into the crowd Spike Dudley style but Lesnar shoulderblocks Show into the ringpost. Brock tries to whip Show into the other post but Show blocks it and rams Lesnar into the post instead. Show then chokeslams Lesnar through the announce table as Cole asks if this is a preview of Survivor Series. Show smiles at his work as we go to the replay of Show heaving Rey into the crowd then laying out Lesnar. Show screams to just give him the belt as Tazz says this is Heyman's worst nightmare. The show ends with Big Show saying Lesnar's run is over. Sad part was that was a hell of a crash style, cat and mouse match between the monstrous Lesnar and diminutive Rey. Somewhere down the line Rey and Brock would meet again and pretty much Rey vs Show as well. Take away Big Show's interference and this was definitely a match that needs to be seen again.


Time of match: 4:00

Winner: Mysterio by disqualification


This entire show was basically the greatness of the "Smackdown Six" smattered around Vince McMahon's vile humor. Inside the ring you had a great Edge vs Benoit match, a great Angle vs Guerrero match, a passable Tajiri vs Matt Hardy match and what was shaping up to be a great cat and mouse match with Brock vs Rey. The downside was Dawn Marie and Torrie but that's a long winded rant about the state of women's wrestling for another time. Sad part was this show isn't even remembered for the great matches or even the Dawn/Torrie antics....no. This was famous for the birth of the doctor of thuganomics John Cena. The gimmick that would launch his career and never look back. Hard to believe that even with Smackdown as great as it was with the Guerreros, Benoit, Angle, Edge, Mysterio, Brock and Tajiri that John Cena's potential hadn't been tappped yet....until now. In terms of current events, Benoit vs Angle is still dominating the shows and Big Show is the biggest threat to Lesnar metaphorically and literally. The drama is Brock is still run down from Hell in A Cell and still has to face a motivated 7 foot giant, can he do it? We'll find out soon enough. The next show would be the November 2nd edition of Velocity so I'll see you there.

Monday, October 28, 2002

WWE Monday Night Raw (10/28/02)


Last week's Raw may have been the single worst in company history and that's saying something considering the boring as hell post-Manhattan center to pre-Nitro Raw's were from 93-95. One could argue that the Katie Vick angle Raws put Raw on a path of destruction they really never recovered from. One week ago we had to suffer through one of the most tasteless and idiotic segments in wrestling history when Triple H basically screwed a mannequin on live television pretending to be Kane. Now we have the continuation of his wretched angle as Kane kidnapped HHH at the end of last week's Raw. What could he have in mind for the World Heavyweight Champion? We're headed toward Survivor Series and the other headache HHH has to suffer is Rob Van Dam once again got one over on Ric Flair and is in hot pursuit of that title. To make matters worse, Shaw Michaels is ready to return to full active duty for the first time since March of 1998. This week's episode has ECW originals Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer taking on William Regal and Lance Storm with Chris Jericho and Christian defending the tag belts against The Dudleys. When we last left off, Eric Bischoff promised something called "Elimination Chamber" while HHH was thrown in a trunk and driven off by Kane. That means this week's Raw won't be so bad.....right? 


Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
October 28, 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler


Before we do anything, we got some dark matches and a Sunday Night Heat taping. We'll only do the dark matches here.



Dark Match 1

Ernest "The Cat" Miller vs Johnny Stamboli

Miller was getting a tryout after sitting out his WCW contract during the Invasion. Then again, so was Stamboli. Eventually both guys would be making their debuts. Miller won this match.


Winner: Miller



Dark Match 2

Raven and Redd Dogg vs Tyson Dux and Larry Destiny

Raven and Dux we all know and Redd Dogg was being featured on house shows and dark matches before getting the eventual call-up. Larry was last seen on Jakked back in March of 01 and was primarily a Canadian local. Raven and Dogg got the win.


Winners: Raven and Redd Dogg


Now let's start the show. The show opens with a casket being wheeled to ringside....oh no, I forgot about this. HHH makes his way down to the ring as JR and King speculate how he's even here after last week. HHH says "Kane, next time you put someone in the trunk of a car, make sure there's no child safety hatch they can pull and jump out before you drive off".....well that's a lame payoff. HHH goes on to say that people were offended last week about the tape and people would never watch Raw again. HHH says he agrees that Kane was disgusting for doing that to Katie Vick. HHH says they need to hear from Katie Vick herself and HHH says he's gonna get her opinion. He then opens the casket and a mannequin is in there in a cheerleader uniform. Like I mentioned last week, RD Reynolds of Wrestlecrap.com bought the outfit on the mannequin. HHH introduces "Katie Vick" as JR says this is disgusting. I'm not gonna sit through this again so I'll just give the cliff notes. HHH does a ventriloquist act making horrible "dead" puns to almost no crowd reaction. Hunter then does say something noteworthy as he somewhat breaks character to say if you're offended, he doesn't give a damn because he's going to do what he wants. Finally The Hurricane hits the ramp to break up the monotony. JR "Thank God." Hurricane says HHH got humiliated and "whatsupwithdat!" HHH says nothing happened as he jumped out of the trunk and Hurricane says he's got proof that he's lying. He then shows footage of an equally tasteless skit where someone wearing a HHH mask is "operated" on with items being pulled out of his ass including a sledgehammer and his own head. JR "The tables are turned on the game." HHH then beats up the mannequin with a steel chair and heaves it outside. HHH continues to beat up the mannequin outside as a fan says "You're not funny!" After a minute of this, Kane hits ringside and drops HHH in the ring with punches. Kane mauls Hunter as security hits the ring to stop him. Kane disposes of security and Eric Bischoff then brings the officials in to break it up including road agents Sgt Slaughter and Terry Taylor. Eric Bischoff grabs a mic and says "That's the end of this!" He orders a casket match for the main event and HHH freaks out while Kane smiles. We fade to commercial and thank christ this angle is almost over. It was clear as day as no one wanted this angle and the big blowoff at No Mercy had Kane losing. Vince wanted to milk this feud no matter what cost when he had a fully functional Shawn Michaels ready to return to active duty.

When we get back from commercial we get a hidden camera of Trish Stratus on the phone with someone while she changes her outfit. King has an aneurism on commentary and at least that's an improvement over the first 15 minutes of the show, FINALLY we get to our first match


Match 1

Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer vs William Regal and Lance Storm

ECW vs WCW a year after the Alliance angle ended and Regal gets on the mic in the ring. Regal says people fear for their lives walking the streets and they send their children out to ask for candy anyway, happy Halloween. They show footage of Dreamer vs RVD from 2 months ago at MSG to show how they respect each other. RVD start with Storm and they exchange go-behinds but Lance Storm misses a spin kick. RVD hits his own spin kick and counters for just a one count. Regal tags in and Van Dam brings him in the hard way before hitting shoulder blocks in the corner. Rob does a back flip, ducks under a clothesline and hits a second rope crossbody for a two. Van Dam hits another spinning heel kick to Storm but Regal counters with a suplex for a two count. Storm tags in and delivers a back elbow smash but the cover only gets two. Storm locks in a chicken wing as the crowd chants "RVD".  Rob hits a second rope dropkick and Regal tags in only to get kicked by Rob. Dreamer gets the hot tag with a hat on and he cleans house. A spinebuster on Regal only gets a two count and he goes for a ddt only to clothesline an interfering Lance Storm. Van Dam comes off the top with a dropkick on Regal and a double clothesline sends Storm to the outside. Van dam misses a top rope splash on Storm and Storm comes off the top with the Canadian flagpole on the back of Dreamer's head. Regal inside covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Regal and Storm win it in a short three minute match.


Time of match: 3:13

Winners: Regal & Storm by pinfall


We cut to Eric Bischoff's office who gives 3 Minute Warning and Rico the business for blowing last week's match. Rico tries to talk but Eric says save it. Eric says his reputation goes in the toilet if Big Show beats Brock Lesnar for the WWE title. Eric tells Rico to shut up and says Spike Dudley told him to bite him two weeks ago. Eric says they all work for him and if they don't go out and make an impact, their 3 minutes are up. I wouldn't piss them off Eric, but that's just me. We go to footage of a public signing at Madison Square Garden the previous Saturday and say tickets are available for the next show there. We then cut to Test and Stacy Keibler on a date and Stacy is coming up with gimmicks for Test. Stacy bends over in front of the camera (thanks Dunn) and says Test's fans are called "Test-icles". Stacy says when she's done with him, his Test-icles are gonna be huge. Dick jokes aside, Test always did better with a manager whether its Stephanie or Trish Stratus. On to the next match where Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley are to meet Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team titles. JR and King show footage of the week before where Spike & Bubba beat Lance Storm & William Regal but was beat up with brass knuckles following the match. After Bubba and Spike enter they're suddenly attacked by 3 Minute Warning and Rico. Rosey hits a big splash on Spike and they double samoan drop the poor guy. Bubba is out cold and Spike rolls around in pain as 3 Minute Warning leave....so much for the tag match.

When we get back from commercial we get a vignette of Deacon Bautista coming to Raw only under the name Batista. Essentially Bischoff traded Big Show for Batista. We see footage of the attack from just a minute ago and we move on to the next match



Match 2

Goldust vs Test (with Stacy Keibler)

JR and King say next Monday night will be at the Fleet Center in Boston as Test and Stacy make their entrance. King drools over Stacy as Test grabs the mic and says "I'd just like to say hi to all my.....to all my....to all my Test-icles!" That gets a huge pop but Goldust is not impressed and attacks him at the bell. He sends Test off the ropes and right in to a reverse atomic drop....so much for the Test-icles. A lariat by Goldust almost takes Test's head off but Test crotches Goldust on the top rope. Test goes to work on Goldust in the corner as JR brings up that Scott Steiner was just signed to a contact.....remember that in a few weeks. Test goes for the pump handle slam but Goldust slides out of it and hits a clothesline. Goldust gets whipped into the corner but a charge eats boot. Goldust hits a second rope bulldog and covers for 1...2.., nope. Goldust goes for shattered dreams in the corner but Stacy interferes and gets kissed for her troubles. He sets her up in the corner and the crowd explodes when he teases shattered dreams on Stacy. He goes to kick Stacy but referee Jack Doane stops him. Test gets free but Goldust ducks under the big boot and hit a clothesline. Goldust goes for the curtain call but Stacy hits a lowblow allowing Test to hit the big boot. Test covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Test picks Stacy up by the ass as King goes "woah WOAH!". We go to the replay and JR bitches Stacy should have been disqualified. Short match but it served its purpose as trying to get Test & Stacy over.


Time of match: 2:30

Winner: Test


Back to Eric Bischoff's office and an irate Bubba Ray Dudley barges in complaining about Eric sending 3 Minute Warning to jump them. Bischoff says his title shot is still on and to find another partner. Bubba says "Anyone I want?" Bischoff said sure and get out because he has business. When we get back from commercial we get a vignette of Scott Steiner coming to the WWE, way to ruin it JR. JR brings up last week showing Shawn Michaels is healthy and ready to return. After this Katie Vick garbage is over, HBK vs HHH round 2 is upon us. 

We then cut to RNN Breaking News with JR going "The hell is that?" Its actually Randy Orton who's arm is in a sling and he talks about how he wasn't even mentioned the previous week. He says he's rehabbing to return and wants the ladies to write to GetWellRandy@WWE.com. As ridiculous as this sounds, WWE had plans for him....oh did they have plans for him.

After that's over, Jonathan Coachman catches up to Kane and says the match is non-title with HHH. Kane says he doesn't care about the title, he wants to seal HHH in a casket. He says what he did to Katie Vick was an accident but what he's gonna do to HHH tonight won't be. Like  I said, thank god this is coming to an end. Before we got to commercial again, Chris Jericho and Christian are on their way to the ring. We come back from commercial with Jericho & Christian making their entrance. Bubba makes his entrance with a smile on his face and we go to a highlight of how Bubba suffered a concussion a few weeks earlier. Bubba's partner is......Jeff Hardy. Ha, we got 1/3 of TLC with Christian, Jeff and Bubba.


Match 3

Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy vs Christian & Chris Jericho for the WWE World Tag Team Championship

King goes "What??" as JR says he'd never seen a Dudley and a Hardy team up in any capacity.....uh the 2000 Survivor Series? Jeff starts with Christian who's wearing the red singlet tights. Christian attacks Jeff with punches and kicks but Jeff slides under and take shim down with a double leg takedown. He does the legdrop between the thighs and tags in Bubba. Bubba works over Christian with open handed chops in the corner and hits a big splash in the other corner. Bubba does the Dusty Punches & Elbow then drops Jericho off the aprin. Jericho then grabs the leg to trip up Bubba allowing Christian to make the tag. Jericho puts the boots to Bubba and hits a rude awakening neckbreaker. Jericho dropkicks Bubba and drapes him across the middle rope. Jericho runs and jumps on Bubba before taunting the crowd. Christian tags in and they hit a double back body-drop. Christian covers for a 1 count and Bubba tries to rally with Dusty punches but Christian stops him with a kick. Bubba catches Christian with a face-buster and tags Jeff in who cleans house of Jericho and Christian. Christian quells the momentum with a knee to the head but Jeff rolls into a legdrop cradle for 1...2...nope. Christian ducks and Jeff hands a flying headbutt....on referee Nick Patrick. Whoops! Christian heaves Jeff over the top rope and Jericho hits a flying dropkick off the top rope on Bubba. Jericho tells Christian to get some chairs for a con-chair-to. Bubba ducks the attempt and hits a double clothesline on them. Jeff revives and uses Bubba to hit whisper in the wind then Bubba slingshots Jericho over the top rope onto Christian. Jeff uses Bubba as a springboard to hit whisper in the wind onto the floor. All of a sudden 3 Minute Warning hits the ring to attack Bubba and Jeff, but Jeff takes them out with a crossbody. Nick Patrick throws the intruders out but Bubba hits a flying crossbody off the top onto Rosey, Jamal and Jericho. We cut to commercial and when we get back Jericho has Jeff in an abdominal stretch as we're shown during the break the heels got the advantage by Christian low bridging Jeff to the floor. Back to real time Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho but Jeff cradles him for 1....2....nope. Jericho dropkicks Hardy in the head, gets up and calls Bubba a son of a bitch to get him irate. Jericho fakes a tag with the ref dealing with Bubba to allow Christian to come in and execute a backbreaker. The cover gets two and Christian gets in a front headlock. Jeff tries to escape and makes his way to Bubba but Jericho distracts the ref to do the "face gets the tag but the ref doesn't see it" routine. Bubba gets chased out as Jericho and Christian double-team Jeff.  Jericho taunts the irate crowd and JR says "I guarantee there won't be any bad officiating in the casket match!" Jericho sends Hardy into the corner and unloads with right hands but Hardy fights back with rights of his own. Jericho charges into the corner but eats boot only to drop Hardy with a sleeperdrop. He covers but Bubba breaks up the count and Jericho protests. He drops Bubba off the apron as JR calls him a real jackass. Chris chops Jeff in the corner and whips him into the other corner where he stuns Jericho with a crossbody. Chris grabs his league but eats a mule kick. Bubba gets the hot tag and lays waste to Jericho and an interfering Christian. Jericho counters a Bubba Bomb but eats a sidewalk slam. The heels try a backbody drop but Bubba kicks Jericho and clotheslines Christian before tagging in Jeff. Bubba slams Chris and he and Jeff do the Wazzup Headbutt. Bubba shoves Jeff and tells him to get the tables. King "The tables???" Referee Nick Patrick tells Jeff not to do it as Bubba gets one. Before Bubba can set it up, Christian baseball slides him down only to get bumrushed by Jericho after Hardy moved. Hardy rolls up Jericho for 1...2..NOOOOOO. Jericho chops Jeff in the corner again and whips him to the other side only to eat a whisper in the wind. Jeff covers for 1...2...nope. Christian grabs a tag belt and goes to hit Jeff with it only for Hardy to duck. Bubba spears Christian but turns around to see Rico & 3 Minute Warning holding Spike Dudley upside down like high school bullies. Bubba leaves the ring and runs after the trio leaving Jeff by himself. Hardy hits a reverse twist of fate and goes up top for a swanton. Christian gets kicked off the apron but Jericho stops Jeff only to pushed off. Jeff hits the swanton and covers for 1...2....no, Christian pulls the ref out. Jeff dropkicks Christian into Patrick and Jericho waffles Jeff with the belt Christian brought in. Jericho hits the lionsault and covers for 1...2.....3 to win it. JR "Dammit!" King puts over the match and Jeff's effort as JR is irate that 3 Minute Warning took Bubba out of the match. Jericho and Christian celebrate up the ramp as King congratulates them. That was a hell of a match considering it was a makeshift team of Hardy & Bubba but all four of them made it work. Finally a bright spot to a lackluster time period for Raw.


Time of match: 15:44

Winners: Jericho and Christian by pinfall (Still World Tag Team Champions)


We're with Jonathan Coachman interviewing Triple H on his upcoming casket match. HHH sarcastically makes fun of Kane and subtlety calls him gay without actually saying so. "You just keep your little burnt up banana in its hammock and you and me will be just fine." Thankfully Coachman switches gears to something less embarrassing by asking about Shawn Michaels making his return. HHH says no way is Shawn is going to convince him that he's 100% and Shawn is a lot of hot air. A phone starts ringing and Hunter tells Coach he has to go. JR "Kane is going to kick Triple H's ass tonight I can feel it." The same hidden camera that filmed Trish changing now is filming Hunter taking a phone call. Its Ric Flair and HHH asks why he isn't at the arena yet. Apparently Ric's dealing with bad weather and can't make it. HHH vents that he's booked against Kane and sounds very nervous, the opposite of the bravado he showed just a minute ago with Coach. Basically the point is he's not as confident as he appears.

After commercial we're shown Al Snow confronting Chris Nowinski. Al said he stood up for Chris and stayed loyal during Tough Enough but he's not proud of his behavior. Al runs him down and says he made the right decision choosing Maven to win and Chris responds that he would have been successful without Tough Enough and his attitude is a reflection of himself, not Snow. Chris tells Al to get him an opponent of his choosing and to be at ringside to witness Chris winning. He calls him "dad" and leaves. Al Snow is the LAST person you want to choose an opponent for you because he knows everyone.

We cut to the arena where Eric Bischoff makes his appearance. He says Scott Steiner is coming to WWE (after sitting out his guaranteed contract). Bischoff says he traded Big Show for a lot of talent but doesn't mention who. Bischoff then says he was behind the hidden cameras which technically Trish could sue him for that. Bischoff then gets to the point and says he's going to debut the Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series. He says next week he'll give the details but says there will be six men involved. Its going to have elements of Royal Rumble, War Games and Survivor Series mixed in plus it'll be for the World Heavyweight title. He names the six as Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, HHH, Kane and Shawn Michaels. Bischoff says he's gonna give Shawn his chance to get revenge on HHH and to get back to him by next week. All of a sudden Booker T comes out to give his two cents. Booker says "you damn skippy, hippie" about being in the match and tells Bischoff to shut his trap and get to the back because the five time, five time, five time champ is on the attack, jack. After Bischoff leaves, Booker calls out Chris Nowinski and tells him to get out there. Guess we know who Al Snow picked to face Chris. We cut to commercial here and its interesting how that segued from Scott Steiner to Elimination Chamber to Booker T vs Nowinski.



Match 4

Chris Nowinski vs Booker T

Al Snow is at ringside and Chris doesn't look too scared he's facing Booker as he bumrushes him to start the match. Booker gets the upper hand with right hands and drops him with a back elbow smash, Booker chops and strikes Chris who bails to the outside. Booker pulls Chris back in on the apron by the air, brings him in the hard way and drops him twice with clotheslines. A cover gets two and Booker locks in an arm wrench. Nowinski counters with knees in the corner as JR finally gives a shoutout to Rebellion the UK PPV that took place two days earlier. Nowinski hits a hot shot off the top rope followed by a spinebuster. Chris covers for a near fall as King says Oklahoma football is jealous of Harvard football which JR hilariously says King must be hallucinating. Chris hits a powerslam for a deuce, delivers a snapmare then locks in a chinlock. King tells Al to give Chris up and let go. Booker fights back with right hands but eats a boot to the head. Booker hits a spinebuster as JR says Booker may be the next champion on November 17th at Survivor Series. Booker chops, punches and hits an axe kick on Chris. Booker hits another axe kick and covers for 1...2...nope. Chris rakes the eyes but misses a clothesline. Booker lands a third axe kick as Chris goes outside and punches Al Snow. Al gets in and beats the crap out of Chris to cause a disqualification. JR figures out that was on purpose and King laughs that Nowinski outsmarted everyone. Booker drops Al Snow with a right hand and kicks the crap out of Nowinski after the bell hitting a backdrop. Booker hits the scissors kick and clotheslines him over the top to the floor. Booker's music plays as he does the spinaroonie despite losing the match. Why would you put Booker in the main event at Survivor Series and have him LOSE to Nowinski?


Time of match: 3:06

Winner: Chris Nowinski by disqualification


After the match we cut to Trish and King screams "Puppies!" as the women's title match is next.



Match 5

Jacqueline vs Molly Holly vs Trish Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship

King whoops it up for Trish to start and JR asks if he likes Lil Kim. King & JR hock X-Box, Lugz and the movie Half Past Dead as Jacqueline makes her entrance. Molly comes out last after King makes a tasteless breast joke as JR explains triple threat rules. Trish runs over Jackie but Molly kicks her off. Molly kicks Trish in a head but is clotheslined for her trouble. Jackie gets an Oklahoma roll for a two count on Trish then locks in a half crap. Molly grabs the other leg and Jackie elbows her in the head. They trade blows as Victoria in the back watches the match. Molly hits the Molly Cartwheel on Jackie and Jackie hits a tornado DDT on Trish. Jackie covers for 1...2...Molly stops the count. Jackie gets two nearfalls on Molly including a backslide and but Molly delivers a backbreaker. Trish grabs Molly and goes for the Stratusfaction and on the way down she grabs Jackie as well for the double Stratusfaction. Trish covers Molly for the 1....2.....3 to win the match and retain the title. Not a great way to showcase your only women's match to have it go 2 minutes while HHH gets to babble on and on about Katie Vick. All three women deserved better. Still, point is Victoria is hot on Trish's tail.


Time of match: 2:33

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


Our final commercial comes after hype for the casket match, thankfully this is the end of the Katie Vick saga.....we hope.



Match 6

Kane vs World Heavyweight Champion Triple H in a Casket Match

The title is not on the line so Hunter has essentially nothing to lose. JR predicts comeuppance for HHH but King isn't so sure. King "Have you ever been in a casket?" JR "Why in God's name would I ever be in a casket?" King "Well I have, its horrible!" Kane has a smile as he enters the ring and he slugs Hunter to start. Kane drops HHH with a series of clotheslines and slugs away in the corner. Kane stomps away with Hunter as JR denounces Hunter's recent tapes and tactics. Kane throws HHH repeatedly in the corner and hits a pump handle slam and calls for referee Earl Hebner to open the lid. HHH fights back as King says you're never the same if you get locked in a casket. Kane shoves HHH into the casket but quickly squirms out. Kane brings Hunter in the hard way but he gets a thumb to the eye. Kane shakes it off and hits a powerslam as JR says he hates being around caskets. Kane heaves Hunter off the corner to the floor as JR says he'd rather be cremated. Hunter grabs the ring bell and waffles Kane with it as JR says its legal. King "Cremated, you want to make an ash out of yourself?" Hahahahahahaha! Triple H sends Kane into the ring steps and sends him into the ring. Hunter pounds away with right hands but Kane fires back with his own right hands. HHH hits a big spinebuster but Kane sits up causing HHH to fire away with more right hands in the corner. Hunter hits a facebuster then a DDT as King asks if Kane's gay without actually saying so causing JR to retort "What's wrong with that?" HHH drags Kane to the open casket and shoves him almost in, but Kane fights out of it. Kane drops Hunter with a big right hand and goes upstairs only to be crotched. JR says there hasn't been a casket match since 1998 and Hunter hits a superplex. King asks what Katie Vick saw in Kane and deducts it must have been a cool car. Wasn't the original Kane story that he was locked up in a mental institution for 30 years? When did he have time to date Katie Vick? Inconsistencies aside HHH tells Hebner to open the lid. Hunter rolls Kane into the casket but Kane's feet are sticking out. Kane then grabs Hunter by the throat but Hunter fights him off. Hunter misses a clothesline but he blocks the chokeslam. Kane counters a pedigree with a backdrop but Hunter applies a sleeperhold. JR tries to explain why a sleeper is effective in a match like this as Kane sits up again. Kane pseudo-hulks up as JR says he can't beat Kane in a fair fight. Kane hits a big boot and hits a clothesline in the corner. Kane catches Trips with a sidewalk slam then goes upstairs. Kane hits the flying clothesline then calls for the chokeslam. Hunter counters it with a forearm to the gonads then goes outside to grab a chair. Hunter blasts Kane in the head and poses for the irate crowd, but Kane sits up. Hunter hits him in the head again and asks for the casket to be open. The casket opens and OUT POPS SHAWN MICHAELS! HBK goes to town on HHH and hits a flying forearm before nipping up. The crowd goes berserk and he tunes up the band. Shawn buries Hunter with sweet chin music and gets out of the ring when Kane sits up. Kane finally lands the chokeslam and rolls Hunter into the casket. He slams the lid to win the match and FINALLY put an end to the Katie Vick angle. Unfortunately the ramifications were Kane needed Shawn Michaels to win a match against HHH. Kane leaves allowing Shawn to dance in the ring and on the casket to end the night's festivities. JR "You don't hunt what you don't kill" and says Hunter not finishing off HBK might prove to be fatal come Survivor Series. Casket matches are kinda blah anyway but it had a purpose, now we can move on.


Time of match: 11:16

Winner: Kane


Apart from the return of Shawn Michaels and the tag match, this show SUCKED. The Katie Vick saga was a disgrace, Booker T is announced as an Elimination Chamber contestant and loses to Chris Nowinski, the women got 2 minutes in the ring, Test vs Goldust was too short.....see a problem here? It was 2002 but this smacked of Vince Russo booking by keeping the matches short as possible to put over the extra garbage. Of course this was the problem with giving HHH too much power as Smackdown had their pecking order but had a core of 10 guys that could put on great matches while Raw basically has six and even then none of them besides Shawn Michaels has a chance to beat HHH. Raw was lacking in main event talent as it is but the stupid storylines made it even worse. Like I said before, Raw really never recovered to this day. Although if you want to focus on the positives, Shawn Michaels is back to full time duty, the tag match was good and the women's wrestling is actually good when given enough time. Hopefully next week's show will be better with everything gearing toward Elimination Chamber. As for the next show on the Timeline, its another Ruthless Aggression Smackdown which means good things in store. See you there.

Sunday, October 27, 2002

WWE Sunday Night Heat (10/27/02)



Gaylord Entertainment Center
Nashville, TN
October 27, 2002


Commentators: Jonathan Coachman and Lita

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel



Welcome to another edition of Sunday Night Heat featuring the stars of Raw. As usual, this was taped before Raw went on the air this past Monday and aired six days later. Tonight we got Raven taking on young prospect Cassidy O'Reilly, ex-WCW star Mark Jindrak against Mike Owens, Steven Richards going up against another ex-WCW star Johnny Stamboli and the main event has Molly Holly taking on Jacqueline. We don't waste any time, we get right to the first match.



Match 1

Raven vs Cassidy O'Reilly

Raven was finishing out his contract while the 26 year old O'Reilly gets a look at in this one. O"Reilly comes out to the song Drew Carey used at the 2002 Royal Rumble as the announcers babble on about that week's events rather than introduce O'Reilly. Raven tells O'Reilly to just leave but Cassidy says no. Raven wins a tie up and beats Cassidy in the corner with fists and boots. Raven hits a backdrop and puts the boots to Cassidy before sending him off the ropes. Cassidy lands on his feet and goes for a superkick but Raven blocks it. Cassidy ducks a line and rolls up Raven for a deuce before Cassidy punches Raven. Cassidy up and overs in the corners before they exchange go behinds, only for Raven to throw Cassidy down by the hair. Cassidy does a 360 on a clothesline as Coachman babbles on and on about what happened on Raw. Raven taunts the crowd, whips Cassidy off the corner and drops him with a clothesline. Raven snapmares O'Reilly and locks in a nerve hold as Coachman hypes up tonight's main event. Cassidy goes for a plancha off the top rope but Raven moves and puts the boots to O'Reilly. Raven drives Cassidy into the mat face first with a top rope knee and covers for 1...2...no! Another snapmare and chinlock by Raven as Lita lets us know Cassidy grew up around this area and its somewhat of a homecoming. See? THAT'S what they should be talking about. Coachman ignores Lita and talks about Survivor Series coming up. Raven gets whipped in the corner and Cassidy hits a springboard elbow in the corner. O'Reilly goes for the tornado DDT but Raven blocks it. Cassidy and Raven collide as it looked like Cassidy wanted a crossbody and Raven wanted a clothesline. Whoops! Raven looks like he's going for the Evenflow but then clubs Cassidy in the back with forearms. Cassidy then hits a springboard crossbody (good audible by Raven) for 1.....2...nope. Cassidy charges in the corner but eats knee. Raven finally hits the Evenflow and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Cassidy had a future but that botch didn't help his case. He'd resurface in TNA but as for now, Raven gets the victory.


Time of match: 4:25

Winner: Raven by pinfall



Back to Coach and Lita who bring up what could happen at Survivor Series and hypes up tonight's Divas match. I'm guessing there was supposed to be a recap here but its not on this copy of the show I'm watching. Instead when we get back from commercial, we go right to the next match.



Match 2

Mark Jindrak vs Mike Owens

Another tryout match so to speak as ex-WCW guy Jindrak takes on Mike Owens. Who's Mike Owens? He's a Memphis local known as Flex. Actually, Jindrak was being groomed for a big push.....that ended up not happening. Bell's gone and once again Coach babbles on about Chris Nowinsky and Al Snow. Owerns gets the upperhand with a go-behind and Jindrak drops him with a toe-hold. Jindrak drops Owens with a shoulderblocka and a hiptoss. Jindrak hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and gets a two count while Coach once again babbles on about everything except the match. Jindrak misses a stinger splash and Owens kicks away at Jindrak. Lita talks about her training as Owens hits a russian leg sweep and covers for a deuce. Owens drops an elbow and covers for another two count before Owens locks in another chinlock. Coach once again babbles on about Tough Enough as Lita tries to talk about the match. Jindrak rallies to cut Coach off with dropkicks and a backdrop then covers for 1...2...nope. Owens goes for an O'Connor roll for a two count then ducks the line. Owens hits a powerslam and covers for 1...2...nope. Owens whips Jindrak in the corner but eats boot. Jindrak does a springboard clothesline off the second rope and covers for a deuce. Jindrak hits a sit down powerbomb for 1...2...3 and that's it. Like I said earlier, good match and Jindrak was being groomed for better things.....but got the rug pulled out from under him. I'll tell the story another time, as for now Jindrak gets the duke.


Time of match: 4:16

Winner: Jindrak by pinfall



Next up are highlights of the latest episode of Tough Enough Season 3.....won by the ill-fated Matt Cappoteli and the future John Morrison. After this, we get a recap of Shawn Michaels' return to Raw coming out of his wheelchair ready to return to active duty. At least we got Shawn coming back to look forward to. Let's get back to the ring.



Match 3

Steven Richards vs Johnny Stamboli

Post Right-To-Censor Steven is still searching for an identity while Stamboli is still the same character he was in WCW, only without a crew. Still, this should be a good match.....key word should. Bell's gone and Coach goes right into Shawn Michaels' return rather than call the action. A tie-up goes nowhere but Richards celebrates anyway. Lita gets a kick out of it as Stamboli throws Steven halfway across the ring. Once again Coach ignores Lita just to talk about Shawn Michaels some more. Worst part is its not even Coach's fault, he's probably got Vince McMahon or Kevin Dunn in his ear telling him to do it. Steven kicks Stamboli and chops him in the corner before unloading with right hands. Stamboli backdrops Richards and rallies with a scoop slam before covering for a two count. Once again Coach just babbles on and on about Triple H as Stamboli goes upstairs and catches Richards with a clothesline. A cover gets a two and Stamboli takes over with a headlock. Stamboli drops Richards with a shoulderblock, leapfrogs over but gets dropped inti the second rope with a drop toe hold. Richards covers for a deuce and stomps away. Richards sheds his elbow pad and kicks Stamboli in the head. Richards calls for a suplex and hits it before covering for 1...2...nope. Richards takes over with knee drops and a chinlock. Stamboli stands straight up and drops Richards backwards to a nice pop before he ducks the line. Stamboli catches Richards mid-air and powerslams him but can't capitalize. Lita rationalizes that Richards took too much out of Johnny. Johnny and Richards trade punches and Stamboli rallies with clotheslines. Stamboli hits a back elbow smash and a stinger splash. He goes for a second attempt but eats boot. Richards charges but walks into a tilt-a-whirl slam. Stamboli covers for 1...2...nope. Stamboli goes for his finisher but instead does a gorilla press powerslam. Stamboli jumps from the ring to the top rope but misses the leg drop off the top. Steven hits the Stevie Kick and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Damn good match for 5 minute crash style even if the commentary took too long getting into it. Steven screams "I showed you! I showed you!" Richards wins although its a wonder why Stamboli isn't getting a push, his athleticism was on full display there. Maybe someday.


Time of match: 5:27

Winner: Richards by pinfall


Another Raw recap of Triple H's godawful shenanigans I don't want to mention again. All you need to know is Katie Vick....ugh. We also see Big Show getting traded to Smackdown, which turned out to be a great thing. Let's get to the main event.



Match 4

Jacqueline vs Molly Holly

Its kind of funny how Smackdown had the best men's roster but Raw had the best women's wrestling. At least this match will be serviceable. Jackie gets a nice pop from the crowd as Molly looks mad. Coach speculates what Eric Bischoff's Elimination Chamber will be like as Molly starts with an armringer. They trade arm-ringers and Jacqueline cradles her up for a two count. Coach talks about Spike and Bubba Ray Dudley getting a tag title shot on Raw as Jackie caters to the crowd. Molly gets in a headlock and a shoulderblock before eating a hiptoss & arm drag. Molly bails to the outside and claims her arm is broken. Charles Robinson throws up the X sign as other officials get to ringside to help her. Molly then breaks free and rams Jackie's head into the steel steps showing she was playing possum. Molly hits a rollover suplex for 1..2...nope. Molly rakes the eyes as Coach babbles on and on about Shawn Michaels and Triple H as Molly locks in a nerve hold. Jackie powers out of it and hits a crossbody for a deuce. Molly drops Jackie to quel the momentum and covers for a two count. Molly continues to get near falls then uses the ref's 5 count to rake the eyes repeatedly. Molly chokes Jackie on the second rope and sends her into the corner, but a charge eats elbow. Jackie rallies with clotheslines and a dropkick before delivering a back elbow smash. Jackie covers for a two count and kicks away at Molly. Jackie goes for a tornado DDT but Molly blocks it. Jackie goes for ten punches in the corner but Molly powerbombs her and puts her feet on the ropes for 1...2....3 to win the match. Lot of cheating by Molly in this one but at least it was a good match between two veterans. Molly taunts the crowd up the rant as we go off-air. 


Time of match: 4:43

Winner: Molly by pinfall



Typical C-show but at least it got something done by showcasing guys who haven't had a WWE run yet like Mark Jindrak and Johnny Stamboli. Jackie vs Molly was pretty good as well even if the commentators just yapped about that week's Raw....which is par for the course with all these C shows. Too bad for the Cassidy O'Reilly botch otherwise he might have been featured in higher profile matches. Anyway tomorrow night is Raw, I'll see you there.

WWE at Sheffield Arena (10/27/02)



Sheffield Arena
Sheffield, England
October 27, 2002


With the stars of Raw in Toledo, Ohio for a house show and American audiences catching Sunday Night Heat.....in Sheffield, England the starts of Smackdown were continuing their European tour. The feuds from Smackdown recently carried over to the European tour highlighted by the Rebellion ppv the night before. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman defeated Edge last night and this night Brock teams with Matt Hardy against Booker T and Rikishi. Booker was on loan from Raw to face Matt in one on one matches but tonight its a tag match. Edge would be teaming with Rey Mysterio Jr to take on the tag champs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in a rematch from No Mercy. Tajiri gets another shot at Jamie Noble's cruiserweight title and we got another god awful Bra & Panties match with Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson. Let's get to the action.



Match 1

Albert vs Funaki

Big man vs little man as the monster Albert takes on Funaki in the opening match. Somehow Funaki won with a roll-up.


Winner: Funaki by pinfall



Match 2

Ron Simmons, D'Von Dudley and Crash Holly vs Chuck Palumbo, Shannon Moore and Bill DeMott

Talk about just getting guys on the card. D'von and Simmons were tagging recently with D'Von starting to ditch the religious gimmick but the others had nothing in common. In fact, DeMott and Crash tagged together two nights earlier in Belfast. Palumbo's team won when DeMott rolled through a Crash crossbody and hooked the tights for the victory.


Winner: Palumbo, Moore and DeMott by pinfall



Match 3

Chavo Guerrero Jr vs Billy Kidman

Guess Eddie has the night off as Chavo faces Kidman in singles action. Kidman takes it with a bulldog.....what?


Winner: Kidman by pinfall



Match 4

Val Venis vs John Cena

As its been mentioned already in previous write-ups, what Cena did out of the ring turned out to be ten times more important than what he did in the ring, but I'll get to that in a second. Cena was still a generic heel but Val wasn't really doing anything noteworthy either. Venis was punching Cena in the corner who powerbombed him and put his feet on the ropes for the 3 count to win the match. Now I've already explained this but I'll do it again. On the bus during this tour, Cena was making everyone laugh with freestyle rapping. Stephanie McMahon thought it was so funny that she wanted him to do it on camera when they got back to the States. The rest is history.


Winner: Cena by pinfall



Match 5

Tajiri vs Jamie Noble for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Once again we got Tajiri gunning for the Cruiserweight title and once again Noble takes it by rolling him up and hooking the tights.


Winner: Noble by pinfall (still Cruiserweight champion)



Match 6

Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit for the WWE Tag Team Championship

In a rematch of their incredible No Mercy showdown, Edge and Mysterio get another crack at the champs. Unfortunately Los Guerreros ruin the party as Eddie (who was there apparently) and Chavo bumrush the ring. Rey was clocked with one of the tag belts and pinned by Benoit.


Winners: Benoit and Angle by pinfall (still WWE Tag Team Champions)



Match 7

Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson in a Bra & Panties match

Naturally after an exciting tag match featuring main eventers, we needed the classic cooldown match between two divas who can't really wrestle well. Bra & Panties matches were garbage as it is, but on a roster THIS stacked it was really egregious. You'd think with Raw having all the talent they did would loan someone like Jacqueline or Molly to Smackdown so the women's wrestling didn't totally suck. Torrie wins the match....yippie.


Winner: Torrie Wilson



Match 8

Booker T and Rikishi vs Matt Hardy and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

Booker and Matt had been having singles matches on this European tour but for Sheffield they got Rikishi and Brock as partners. The Undertaker was originally advertised for this show so my guess is they scrapped Lesnar vs Taker and made this a tag match to keep Brock on the card. Rikishi won it by hitting Matt with the Rikishi driver.


Winners: Rikishi and Booker by pinfall



With the European tour coming to an end, at least something good came out of it. We got a damn good Rebellion ppv and the birth of the John Cena we know today. Smackdown was still far ahead of Raw in terms of great matches although the one dark spot was the god awful Divas matches on Smackdown. This card was damn good and its pretty much what we got at Rebellion with a few differences. As we return to the states, it'll be interesting to see how the Benoit and Angle story plays out with Los Guerreros lurking in the background. Tonight was also the night Sunday Night Heat aired in the US so I'll see you there.

WWE at Toledo Sports Arena (10/27/02)



Toledo Sports Arena
Toledo, Ohio
October 27, 2002


It was a busy Sunday for WWE. The stars of Smackdown were still on their European tour while the stars of Raw were on their mid-west swing. Also later tonight would be Sunday Night Heat. But let's get to the Raw roster's Toledo card first. If you've been following the past few house shows, the exact same card had been used during this run only with different finishes. It would be no different tonight as the same matches are presented. Mark Jindrak and Johnny Stamboli against Justin Credible and Steven Richards. Tommy Dreamer vs Rico, Redd Dogg vs Batista, Lance Storm and William Regal against Spike Dudley and The Hurricane, Chris Jericho and Christian defending the tag straps against Jeff Hardy and Bubba Ray Dudley, Jacqueline and Trish Stratus against Molly Holly and Victoria, D-Lo Brown vs Raven, Rob Van Dam vs Test and Kane vs World Heavyweight Champion Triple H. Let's get to the show.



Match 1

Mark Jindrak and Johnny Stamboli vs Justin Credible and Steven Richards

ECW vs WCW as we got Jindrak and Johnny against Justin and Steven. Both teams split the last two house shows but Richards and Credible get the duke on this night.


Winners: Credible and Richards



Match 2

Redd Dogg vs Batista

As mentioned in previous writeups, Batista was Deacon Bautista in a repackaging that was for the better. Redd Dogg was a good hand in Ohio Valley Wrestling after working for ECW at the end of their run. Batista took it with what would eventually be called the Batista Bomb, look for Redd Dogg to be renamed somewhere down the line.


Winner: Batista by pinfall



Match 3

Tommy Dreamer vs Rico

These two split the last two house shows and in the rubber match.....Rico takes it with a spinkick. So much for Dreamer.


Winner: Rico by pinfall



Match 4

William Regal and Lance Storm vs Spike Dudley and The Hurricane

Kind of an odd pairing in Spike and Hurricane as they take on the remnants of The Unamericans. Basically after The Unamericans split, Regal and Storm still teamed together while Christian won the tag belts with unofficial member Chris Jericho while Test turned babyface on his own. Dudley got the victory with an Acid Drop on Lance Storm


Winners: Spike and Hurricane by pinfall



Match 5

Raven vs D-Lo Brown

As mentioned in the previous writeups, D-Lo was about to get a repackaging so he was getting a few wins on the house shows while Raven was wrestling out the remainder of his contract. Naturally D-Lo got the win here with Sky High.


Winner: D-Lo by pinfall



Match 6

Jacqueline and WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus vs Molly Holly and Victoria

These four had been feuding on the house show circuit and it looked like Victoria would get the next crack at Trish on television with Molly still milling around. Apparently it was a double pin on both Molly and Victoria.


Winners: Trish and Jackie by pinfall



Match 7

Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy vs Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team Championship

Once again the makeshift team of Bubba and Jeff team up to face the tag champs. Once again Jericho wins it for his team, pinning Jeff with the lionsault.


Winners: Jericho & Christian by pinfall (still World Tag Team Champions)



Match 8

Test vs Rob Van Dam

Test was in the middle of a face turn being paired with Stacy Keibler while Van Dam was cooling off after his World Heavyweight title chase. Still, Van Dam won it with the 5 Star Frog Splash.


Winner: Van Dam by pinfall



Match 9

Kane vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship

The good news was the Katie Vick garbage doesn't really carry over to house shows but the bad news was these two were still going at it at least until Survivor Series. As with the other shows, the finish was Kane going berserk with a chair and taking out the roster as Triple H made his getaway.


Winner: Triple H by disqualification (still World Heavyweight Champion)



Another house show that was exactly the same as the previous few. In the days of limited internet and no smart phones, the guys worked the same match every night because chances are those who were there in Wichita the night before wasn't going to be in Toledo the following night....unless you're Vlad The Superfan. Still, this was the fallout of No Mercy and last week's Raw, maybe Monday will bring new storylines for the crew to work with on the house show circuit. Still, Vince was insane for having two crews work every single night for so long. As mentioned in the intro, on this night the Smackdown crew was in Sheffield, England while Sunday Night Heat featuring Raw guys would be shown on American television. I'll see you in Sheffield.