Showing posts with label Al Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al Snow. Show all posts

Saturday, November 16, 2002

WWE at Santander Arena (11/16/02)



Santander Arena
Reading, PA
November 16, 2002


We are one day away from Survivor Series but there's some unfinished business to get to first. The stars of Raw ventured to Reading, Pennsylvania for a Saturday house show. Its been established that Triple H was virtually unbeatable and nobody else but Shawn Michaels had a chance to beat him in the elimination chamber. Christian and Chris Jericho were still the World Tag Team Champions despite Jericho hitting him with a chair on Monday. Let's get to the action.


Match 1

Batista vs Steven Richards

Raw's newest star takes on poor Steven who was humiliated by Test this past Monday. Batista wins it with a spinebuster.


Winner: Batista by pinfall



Match 2

Victoria (with Molly Holly) vs Trish Stratus (with Jacqueline) for the WWE Women's Championship

Same match as the past week with the same results. Trish gets inside cradle, Molly pulls Victoria on top. Jackie rolls Trish on top for the 3 count to retain.


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



Match 3

Al Snow vs Christopher Nowinsky

Mentor vs pupil again with the same result. Nowinsky gets the Flair Pin for the victory.


Winner: Nowinsky by pinfall



Match 4

Raven and Johnny Stamboli vs The Hurricane and D-Lo Brown

D-Lo and Raven's perpetual feud on Heat and house shows continues only they have partners this time. Hurricane pinned Stamboli after Eye of The Hurricane.


Winners: Hurricane and D-Lo by pinfall



Match 5

Kane vs William Regal

Talk about bottom of the barrel for Kane. Nothing against Regal but Kane went from Tag & IC Champ and legit threat to Triple H to a mid-card match with Regal. Kane takes it with the chokeslam.


Winner: Kane by pinfall



Match 6

Justin Credible vs Tommy Dreamer

The ECW guys go at it in this random match in Reading, Pennsylvania. Dreamer wins it with the Dreamer Driver.


Winner: Dreamer by pinfall



Match 7

Lance Storm vs Rob Van Dam

Just like Kane, Rob Van Dam goes from the main event of Unforgiven to a mid-card match with Lance Storm. Nothing against Lance, its just the state of Raw. Van Dam takes it with the five star frog splash.


Winner: RVD by pinfall



Match 8

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

A preview of tomorrow night's tables match with all six men going at it here. Jamal pinned Bubba with the samoan drop to win the match.


Winners: Rosey, Jamal and Rico by pinfall



Match 9

Goldust and Booker T vs Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team Championship

Guess Christian forgives Jericho for hitting him with a chair because they team up to face Goldust and Booker. Jericho pinned Goldust after hitting him with a tag belt. The heels win to end the night.


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



Kind of a lame house show just one day before Survivor Series but that might be the point. No Triple H or Ric Flair...or Shawn Michaels for that matter. The problem with booking HHH over everyone is the rest of the roster is just filler. Still, the matches might have been interesting if you saw this live. On the exact same day of this show, the stars of Smackdown were in Baltimore, Maryland for their own Saturday house show. I'll see you there.

Sunday, November 10, 2002

WWE at Giant Center (11/10/02)



Giant Center
Hershey, PA
November 10, 2002


The stars of Raw continue their Pennsylvania tour here in Hershey. We got the same exact matches from Friday and Saturday so let's get to the action.



Match 1

Johnny Stamboli and Sean O'Haire vs 3 Minute Warning (Rosey & Jamal)

WCW vs the Samoans for the second day in a row. Also for the second day in a row, the Samoans win the match.


Winners: 3 Minute Warning



Match 2

Justin Credible vs Batista

You know the drill, Batista was the newest Raw prospect and Credible was wrestling out his contract. Batista takes it.


Winner: Batista



Match 3

Raven vs D-Lo Brown

Third day in a row for the Sunday Night Heat mainstays. Also third day in a row D-Lo wins.


Winner: D-Lo by pinfall



Match 4

Christopher Nowinski vs Al Snow

Snow won on Friday night, Chris won on Saturday night. Who takes the rubber match? Al Snow wins this one.


Winner: Al Snow



Match 5

Booker T and Bubba Ray Dudley vs Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team Championship

Same match from yesterday with the makeshift team of Booker and Bubba against the tag champs. Same result too, the champs retain.


Winners: Christian and Jericho (still World Tag Team Champions)



Match 6

Tommy Dreamer vs Steven Richards in a Singapore Cane Match

Once again the same match from the last two days with the same result. Dreamer wins it.


Winner: Dreamer



Match 7

Goldust and Spike Dudley vs William Regal and Lance Storm

Another makeshift team with Goldust and Spike taking on Regal and Storm just like yesterday. Same result, Regal and Storm win.


Winners: Regal and Storm



Match 8

Victoria (with Molly Holly) vs Trish Stratus (with Jacqueline) for the WWE Women's Championship

Same match from the last two days with the same result. Trish retains.


Winner: Trish (still Women's Champion)



Match 9

Kane vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship

Same match from the last few days with the exact same result. Kane goes insane and attacks the referees, security guard, peanut vendors, camera guys and methodists to earn the DQ.


Winner: HHH by disqualification (still World Heavyweight Champion)



Another standard house show just like the last few days. Maybe this coming Raw will provide new matches for next week's house show circuit. Still, we're one week out from Survivor Series so it'll be interesting how the final Raw will play out tomorrow night. The stars of Smackdown had their own Sunday house show in Peoria, Illinois going on around this time. I'll see you there.

Saturday, November 9, 2002

WWE at First Union Center (11/9/02)



First Union Center
Philadelphia, PA
November 9, 2002


The stars of Raw have invaded Philadelphia just 8 days out from Survivor Series. Victoria takes on Trish Stratus in a hardcore match and of course the elimination chamber are set, but other matches have yet to be announced. Hopefully that changes in the next few days. On with the show.


Match 1

Sean O'Haire and Johnny Stamboli vs 3 Minute Warning (Rosey & Jamal) with Rico

The ex-WCW guys take on the Samoans to open the show. Jamal pinned Stamboli after a kick from Rico and a Samoan drop.


Winners: Rosey and Jamal by pinfall



Match 2

Justin Credible vs Batista

Once again, Credible is wrestling out his contract so he gets fed to Batista here. Batista takes it with the sit-out powerbomb.


Winner: Batista by pinfall



Match 3

Al Snow vs Christopher Nowinski

Last night Al Snow beat his student with the snowplow. On this night, Nowinski gets the Flair Pin for the victory.


Winner: Nowinski by pinfall



Match 4

Raven vs D-Lo Brown

The Sunday Night Heat mainstays go at it once again with D-Lo getting the duke after the sky high.


Winner: D-Lo by pinfall



Match 5

Test vs Rob Van Dam

Days out from elimination chamber, Van Dam beats Test with the five star frog splash.


Winner: Rob Van Dam by pinfall



Match 6

Booker T and Bubba Ray Dudley vs Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team Championship

Kind of an odd pairing but you got two of the six men in the elimination chamber on opposite sides here. Jericho pinned Bubba after the lionsault to retain.


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



Match 7

Steven Richards vs Tommy Dreamer in a Singapore Cane Match

The ECW alumni put on an ECW style match beating the hell out of each other with the cane. Dreamer wins it.


Winner: Dreamer by pinfall



Match 8

Victoria (with Molly Holly) vs Trish Stratus (with Jacqueline) for the WWE Women's Championship

Just like yesterday, we got Trish and Victoria going at it with backup in their corners. The end came when Trish got an inside cradle on Victoria but Molly rolled Victoria on top. Jackie then ran in and reversed it to give Trish the victory.


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



Match 9

Goldust and Spike Dudley vs Lance Storm and William Regal

Man the tag team division was a mess. A makeshift team of Goldust and Spike take on Lance and Regal. Wouldn't it make more sense to have Spike with Bubba against Christian/Jericho and have Booker here with Goldust? Oh well, props for at least doing something different. Regal pinned Spike to win it.


Winners: Regal and Storm by pinfall



Match 10

Kane vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship

Same as yesterday, HHH wins when Kane goes berserk, attacking anyone that moves including the popcorn vendor and the camera dude.


Winner: HHH by disqualification



We're sticking with this card for a while with Survivor Series looming. The state of Raw was in bad shape with no one over besides the returning Shawn Michaels and the ratings told the story. Its one thing to have a beast like Brock Lesnar as your dominating champion but having HHH be unstoppable was laughable. We got Velocity up next, so I'll see you there.

Monday, October 21, 2002

WWE Monday Night Raw (10/21/02)



OCTOBER 21, 2002
GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT CENTER
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler


Now that No Mercy is over, now its time for the lead up to Survivor Series. But first, let's talk about No Mercy from the Raw end of things. The Intercontinental championship is gone but Triple H is still the World Heavyweight Champion. Chris Jericho and Christian are still the World Tag Team Champions, Rob Van Dam had beaten Ric Flair in a single's match, Big Show is unhappy that he's doing nothing on Raw and Trish Stratus had beaten Victoria to remain women's champion but Victoria beat her up after the match. Hopefully they can put the Katie Vick crap in the past and focus on Survivor Series. Before the show starts, we have a dark match and Sunday Night Heat. We'll only do the dark match.


Dark Match

Redd Dogg and Kevin Fertig vs Charlie Haas and Justin Credible

Talk about before they were stars. Born Rodney Begnaud, he was trained by the Junkyard Dog and worked the indies until signing with Extreme Championship Wrestling at the end of their run. After ECW got bought out, Redd Dogg worked OVW and was getting his tryout here. Charlie and his brother Russ were known as The Haas Brothers in Heartland Wrestling but tragically Russ had a heart attack and died in November 2001 at the age of 27. If you ever see Charlie with the initials RH on wrist tape or his rights, that's why. Kevin Fertig was working Memphis Championship Wrestling under the name Seven when WWF switched from MCW to Ohio Valley Wrestling as their developmental. Kevin got signed by WWE in April and this was a tryout match. We all know who Justin Credible is. Haas and Credible got the duke.


Winners: Haas and Credible


We begin the show with a montage of "Kane is a murderer" along with Triple H winning the night before so there goes my "put Katie Vick in the past" idea. Triple H and Ric Flair dressed in business casual hit the ring for a speech. Jim Ross says Shawn Michaels is in a wheelchair now due to Triple H's attack at Summerslam and he'll check in later. Hunter tells the crowd, writers and anyone who felt he didn't deserve to be handed the title "Screw you!" He says he's beaten everyone and ended 23 years of IC title history, he does what he wants and nobody can do anything about it. Hunter tells "Naitch" that he can do it because he's untouchable and he says beating Kane is like one more nail in Katie Vick's coffin. Triple H "I hope Kane hasn't gotten into an accident and killed someone." Ross "That's supposed to be funny?" Hunter says he's got a video tape of Kane having sex with Katie Vick when she's dead and warns people that its the most graphic thing he's ever seen. All of a sudden The Hurricane hits the ring and cleans house of Hunter and Ric. He grabs the tape and runs for it but Flair cuts him off and drops him. He gets thrown into the steps and Hunter grabs a mic to say it doesn't matter what Hurricane does because after he shows the tape, Kane's career will be like Katie, dead. Ross says this is distasteful and I couldn't agree more. I don't want to spoil the ending for those reading this for the first time but let's just say it was to this day one of the worst wrestling angles of all time.


Match 1

Jeff Hardy vs Christopher Nowinski.


When we get back from commercial, Jeff Hardy comes out for a singles match and Ross is still distracted by Hunter's words. Nowinski enters walking to the ring without his Harvard varsity jacket. King hypes up Harvard football and says Oklahoma beat Nebraska. Ross "Everybody beats Nebraska this year" The bell rings as Nowinski takes Hardy over with a snap mare. King hypes up Chris' legit Harvard background as Chris gets in a headlock. Nowinski dropes Hardy before being thrown over the top rope. Hardy plancha's over the referee, over the top rope and onto Chris. Nowinski hot shots Jeff off the top rope and drops Hardy with elbows. Ross hypes up Nowinski's Tough Enough run but King comntinues to babble about the "sex tape". Hardy almost gets a three off a Thez Press as King won't shut up about sex and semen. I hate when commentators ignore the match at hand but luckily Ross tries to keep his composure. Nowinski gets a series of near falls as Ross says its going to be Kane and RVD against Triple H and Ric Flair. Hardy catches Chris with an inside cradle but Nowinski knocks him down again. Ross hypes up Velocity and Confidential this coming Saturday as Nowinski hotshots Hardy again leading to a near fall. Chris gets mulekicked and starts open handed chopping Nowinski in the chest. Hardy drops both legs on the mid-section of Nowinski but Chris goes outside to avoid the swanton bomb. Hardy drops on top of Chris anyway which pisses Nowinski off. Nowinski grabs a chair but Al Snow comes out of nowhere to stop him from using it. Nowinski rips it away only to turn around into a dropkick into the chair by Hardy. Nowinski falls ontop of the chair and Hardy goes for the swanton but Snow pulls Nowinski out of the way. Hardy lands on the chair and Nowinski covers for 1...2.....3 that's it. Snow looks miserable and Ross wonders why he'd hurt and help Nowinski. Its obvious storyline wise Al cares about his ex student enough to stop him from breaking the rules but won't let him get hurt. Ross says Nowinski doesn't even appreciate it as we cut here. Not a bad match but nothing special either, Nowinski was a rising heel star and needed a victory over Jeff to add to his resume.


Time of match: 5:53

Winner: Chris Nowinski by pinfall


   We cut to Eric Bischoff in his office watching the tape from No Mercy of him getting punked out by Big Show. Someone knocks on the door and Eric thinks it's Big Show but its actually Stacy Keibler. She wants to referee a match and Eric tells her any match but the main event, just leave. Stacy leaves and in walks Big Show. Eric says he's sorry about last night but turns around and says Show is in a 3 on 1 handicap match with Rico, Jamal and Rosey. Eric says there's nothing he can do about it and laughs in his face.
  After that we cut to Tommy Dreamer finding Al Snow and asking him why he cost Tommy the match with Chris Nowinski the week before. Al says what I said earlier and didn't want Nowinski to get hurt. Tommy counters by saying HE'S gonna get hurt because its going to be him against Snow in a Singapore Cane match later. Nowinski shows up and says he doesn't need Snow's help, thanks but no thanks. Both segments established matches later in the night so at least they weren't pointless.


Match 2

Lance Storm and William Regal vs Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley


The winner of this match is the number 1 contender to the World Tag Team Championships held by Christian and Chris Jericho. Lance in the short red tights wants to be serious for a minute, he says The Unamericans are finished but he and Regal are together. Lance says the US is a zoo of savages and Regal says the US is a cesspool. Regal "How far does this country deteriorate before you people listen to us?". The Dudleys come out to shut up the heels as Ross says Bubba suffered a grade 2 concussion and Lawler says he's got a grade 2 brain. Spike and Lance start and Lance takes him down with a go-behind. The crowd chants "We want tables" immediately as Spike executes a nice cradle on Storm for a two count. Ross says they're going to see the tape later and Ross sarcastically says they should talk about Katie Vick for weeks.  Bubba tags in and they STILL babble on about Katie Vick as Bubba gets the upperhand. Ross brings up Big Show crossing Bischoff leading to a handicap match as the crowd chants USA.  Regal hits Bubba in the back of the head and Bubba sells it like he's still concussed. Regal tags in as Ross says William is one of the most viscious wrestlers ever. A camera shot shows Kane arriving at the arena as Storm saves Regal from a Spike pinfall attempt. Storm gets nailed with a hurricarana off the top but Regal stops him. Bubba hits a Bubba Bomb on Storm as Spike nails Regal with the Acid Drop. Spike covers Regal for 1...2....3 and the Dudleys are the number 1 contenders. Storm hits Bubba with a superkick to the back of the head then holds Spike for Regal's brass knuckles. Regal caves in Spike's ribs with the knucks and Spike starts spitting up blood. The heels keep their heat despite Spike and Bubba being the number 1 contenders. Short, sweet and to the point.


Time of match: 3:26

Winners: The Dudleys by pinfall


   After the commercial, Ross hypes up the intergender tag match later between Booker T, Goldust and Trish Stratus against Christian, Chris Jericho and Victoria. Trish finishes a photoshoot as the camera dude asks why Victoria jumped her after last night's match and Trish says she's jealous and crazy. She goes to say that Victoria is spreading rumors about Trish sleeping her way to the top when Jericho and Christian show up. They tell the camera guy to get lost and Jericho sarcastically wishes her good luck. Christian passive aggressively says why should we believe she didn't sleep her way to the top after she barked like a dog on all fours for Vince McMahon (how overcame that is a testament to her dedication to improving as a wrestler because to this day people still remember her doing that). Jericho says to send a message to Booker and Goldust that they're not "suckas" and they're the champs. Jericho says the stories of Trish sleeping around is true and she should get her some of her. After they leave Trish says "Talk about delusional". Wait 17 months and we'll come back to this.
   Bischoff comes out and say tonight Big Show's gonna find out what happens when you put your hands on him and at Survivor Series, Stephanie McMahon is going to find out what happens when you try to out-promote Eric Bischoff. Eric says Hell in a Cell the night before was awesome but Eric claims its going to pale in comparison for the match he has in mind. He says he has an ingenious creation at Survivor Series which he will call the Elimination Chamber. Ross "The hell is that?" Lawler "Sounds scary". Eric puts on a mean mug and leaves as Lawler says he wants to hear more. Basically this was the start of what we now know today as the Elimination Chamber. So mark your calandars, October 21, 2002 was when it was first mentioned.
  Stacy Keibler in her referee bra walks down the hallway as King whoops it up. Apparently she's going to refereeing the next match when we get back from break. Back from break we get a vignette hyping up Batista coming to Raw. The Reverend D'Von angle had run its course and wrestling history was about to be made with Batista coming to Raw, but that's for another time.


Match 3

D-Lo Brown vs Test


Keibler will be the referee for this match and she bends over much to the crowd's delight as JR reels off legendary wrestling referees including WWWF's own Dick Woerhle. Test comes out in the short gray tights and Stacy lets him in the ring. Test looks at her funny and goes to the second rope to absolutely no pop from the crowd. Stacy tells both men she's the boss and slaps D-Lo across the face, which causes Test to laugh before calling for the bell. D-Lo goes to back her down but Test attacks him from behind. Test hits a backdrop as D-Lo got serious airtime on it. Test goes to work with elbows and boots in the corner. Ross says Test is 6'7 and 280 pounds but has no idea what Stacy weighs. Test clotheslines D-Lo in the corner as Ross once again talks about the "sex tape". D-Lo hits Test with clotheslines and says "getcho ass up" before dropping him with a dropkick, scoopslam and D-Lo leg drop. D-Lo covers and Stacy counts pathetically slow as the crowd boos. D-Lo reverses the pump handle slam and hits sky high. D-Lo covers but Stacy ties her shoe. D-Lo yells at her but turns around into the Test big boot. Test covers and Stacy fast counts 1-2-3 as King scoffs. Stacy jumps into Test's arms after the bell as JR says "Now have you ever seen Earl Hebner do that to somebody?" Hahahahahahahaha!!!!! Test leaves arm in arm with Stacy and Test starts to like it. Bad match but it set up Test and Stacy as a couple moving forward.

Time of match: 2:21

Winner: Test by pinfall


We go to Terri Runnells interviewing Victoria who runs down Trish saying they were friends that were supposed to make it together. In the middle of her ranting, Goldust sneaks up from behind and mocks her before insulting her. Booker T comes in and helps Goldust insult her. He says you can't spell Jericho without the H-O. He says he's gonna give Jericho some Vitamin T up his ass, SUCKAAAAAAAAA. The crowd pops as Goldust spanks Victoria before they leave. Twitter would explode if he Goldust did that today. Anyway the match is up next after the commercial break.


Match 4

Chris Jericho, Christian and Victoria vs Booker T, Goldust and Trish Stratus


Trish enters to her new Lil Kim theme that she'd keep for the rest of her WWE run as JR asks King if he likes Lil Kim. King says Goldust was disrespectful for smacking Victoria's bee-hind and JR says King is just jealous. Booker T gets the loudest pop of anyone as King hypes up tonight's sponsors. Victoria enters to some generic theme as Christian is still using the opera theme. King babbles on about the sex tape as Trish bumrushes Victoria off the bat and gets a nearfall. Victoria counters with a drop toe hold before hitting a back drop. Trish kicks Victoria down then Christian tags in, backing her into the corner. Trish slaps his face and ducks under a right hand before making the tag to Booker T. Booker axe kicks him down before attacking him in the corner. Jericho interferes and gets dropped before T hits another kick on Christian. Ross says Booker is a nine time tag team champion as a cover gets a deuce. Booker chops Christian then drops Jericho to the floor. Booker goes after Victoria as Christian clotheslines him out of the ring. All 3 heels put the boots to Booker before throwing him inside where Jericho covers for a two count. Y2J suplexes Booker before striking him repeatedly with JR continuing to babble about the sex tape. I have to wonder if Vince is in his ear telling him to repeat it again and again or if Ross is doing it on his own merit? Hopefully its just Vince since its well documented that Vince proudly paraded around this storyline to a room full of horrified writers and agents. Booker sunset flips Jericho for a two count as JR ignores the match to hype up tonight's upcoming matches....and I hate it. Christian tags in as JR and King continue to babble on about Big Show's handicap match. Christian gets in a chinlock that Booker powers out of. Christian tags out to Jericho who taunts the crowd and gets the upperhand. Booker T lands the Alabama slam before tagging in Goldust. Goldust cleans house of Christian and Jericho and even drops Victoria with an ass bump. He hits a powerslam on Jericho but the cover gets a two count. Goldust lands a bulldog but Jericho gets his foot on the rope. Jericho elbows Goldust into the corner and Trish tags in. Trish hits a bodypress from off the top but the cover only gets two. Christian trips up Trish and pulls her out of the ring but Goldust sets up Y2J for shattered dreams. Victoria stops him but Goldust kisses her before sending her into Jericho. Christian runs in with a title belt and waffles Goldust with it before he's sent to the outside by Booker T. Trish does the stratusphere to take Jericho off the top rope, but runs into a lariat. Jericho applies the Lion Tamer and Trish taps to end the match. Refree Nick Patrick tries to get Jericho off but Booker T knocks Jericho off of her. JR "That Jericho is a real jerk!". Jericho raises Victoria's arm and says "I'm no sucka!" We go to the replay of Jericho winning the match as JR continues to scoff. Intergender matches in those days could go either way but that was a good one. The heels keep their heat and establish Booker T as a contender.


Time of match: 7:10

Winners: Victoria, Chris Jericho and Christian by submission


After the match, HHH hands the tape to the production truck as we look at the WWE website. Ah the good ol days of dial up and DSL in its infancy. We go to Terri Runnells who is outside of Kane's lockerroom and sends it to Jonathan Coachman with Triple H. Coach asks why he's doing this and Hunter says its to expose Kane as a freak. Hunter says roll the tape and its dated 10/09/92. I'm not going to describe it other than its a now infamous video where Hunter dressed as Kane molests a body inside a casket. Ironically the great RD Reynolds of Wrestlecrap.com bought the actual Katie Vick outfit from this show as a joke. Anyway, its one of the most distasteful segments in wrestling history and I don't want to remember it. We cut to Triple H laughing his ass off with Coach giving him a "really?" look. Hunter "What a sick freak"...ironic. Back to Terri who tries to enter Kane's room but he slams the door on her. Let's go to commercial.


Match 5

Al Snow vs Tommy Dreamer in a Singapore Cane match


JR said it best as Al Snow makes his intro "What the hell was Triple H thinking?". More so Vince McMahon coming up with it and Hunter going along with it. Anyway, we look at Al Snow saving Nowinski earlier  King "When's Al going to figure out that he's not wanted." Dreamer and Snow circle each other armed with canes and they start cane fighting. They whack each other in the legs before Al clotheslines Dreamer out of the ring with it. Dreamer nails Snow in the ribs coming off the apron then continues to wail on Snow. Al headbutts Dreamer before suplexing him on the floor. Al throws Dreamer inside but Dreamer grabs a cane inside. King continues to ramble on about the "sex tape" as Dreamer winds up the cane. Dreamer nails Snow in the gonads before wailing away on him. Chris Nowinski runs to ringside, grabs a cane and goes to hit Dreamer. Unfortunately Nowinski nails Snow in the head by accident and Dreamer covers for 1...2...3 to end it. JR is confused as Dreamer looks mad that Nowinski did that as Chris himself walks off expressionless. Dreamer checks on Snow as JR says they go way back to ECW. I like old ECW so it didn't bother me but I can see how others can see this as boring. Point was Nowinski and Snow are not on the same page.


Time of match: 3:00 (did I just type out....THREE MINUTES??)

Winner: Tommy Dreamer by pinfall


We go to commercial and come back for the next match



Match 6

Big Show vs 3 Minute Warning (Jamal and Rosey) and Rico in a 3 on 1 handicap match


I love how they don't even mention how Jamal's brother Rikishi completely humiliated Bischoff the night before. Anyway Big Show comes out completely pissed off and the trio bum rush him at the opening bell. He fends them off at first but they corner him. Show drops all three of them and cleans house to a babyface pop. JR finds it impressive that Show just manhandled the 375 pound Rosey and 350 pound Jamal. Rico regroups with his team outside and gets caught on camera saying "circle his fucking ass".  They do circle Big Show as Jamal and Rosey hit him with a double clothesline that he doesn't sell. Show double clotheslines them out of the ring then beats around Rico. Show chops and hiptosses Rico but Jamal and Rosey prevent the chokeslam. Jamal hits a superkick to drop Show and the three of them beat the daylights out of Show. Show kicks Rico down before sending 3 Minute Warning into each other. Show scoop slams the 375 pound Rosey and hits a sidewalk slam on Jamal. Show throws Rico and Rosey out of the ring before chokeslamming Jamal. Show covers Jamal for 1...2..3..to win the match amidst a huge babyface pop. JR says the giant has awoken as Big Show leaves as angry as ever. JR says when this man is motivated, he's an extraordinary athlete. Unfortunately WWE creative had other plans for Big Show because THIS angry giant who just mowed down 3 guys at once would have been a perfect opponent for Triple H. But that's a story for another day.


Time of match: 2:54

Winner: Big Show by pinfall


Shawn Michaels wheels himself around as JR says he's coming up next. When we come back from commercial Coach interviews Big Show but Bischoff interrupts. Bischoff says Show has been traded to Smackdown and he never wants to see him again. Bischoff says he'll be hearing from his attorney in the morning as Show tells Coach "Don't feel sorry for me, you still have to work with that asshole." Hahahahahaha. Like I said a minute ago, WWE had different plans for Big Show and its unfortunate because of the pop he got from laying waste to 3 Minute Warning. JR asks who he was traded for when a car backs into the camera frame. Its The Hurricane who stands in front of an open trunk as Ross asks what's the meaning of this. 
    The camera shows The World in Times Square as we go to highlights of Michaels vs HHH at Summerslam where Hunter attacked him with a sledgehammer. Shawn wheels himself onto the stage of The World and Ross asks how he's feeling. Shawn says he's feeling better but not 100 percent yet. Shawn says his rehab is going slow and he's got nothing left to prove in wrestling but he doesn't want to quit. He says he's doing it for God, his wife and his son and he says Triple H shouldn't hunt what he can't kill. HBK says he's going to get Triple H down the line and says he's going to show Ross something. Shawn nips up out of the chair showing he's fine and he cuts a promo saying Hunter will never see it coming when Shawn gets his revenge. The crowd pops when HBK pops up and its very apparent that Shawn is ready to return to active duty after 4 and half years off. We cut to commercial as JR says Hunter isn't going to like this at all. Let's go to commercial.


We come back from commercial and head right to the main event.


Match 7

Kane and Rob Van Dam vs World Heavyweight Champion Triple H and Ric Flair


Flair comes out first as Ross says he's been wrestling for 30 years. Hunter makes his entrance and JR continues to scoff at him for the stupid necrophelia. JR "We can't have semen in wrestling." Yeah really, leave this crap in the Attitude Era. JR says Hunter has beaten nobody since he needed Ric Flair's help to beat RVD at Unforgiven and Kane at No Mercy. Lawler hypes that Survivor Series will be at Madison Square Garden. Rob Van Dam enters as JR says he beat Flair the night before. Kane walks out who sells the ribs after getting hit the night before with the hammer. Its a brawl to start with Kane taking on Hunter in the corner with Van Dam and Flair in the other. Kane and RVD contol with tag team tactics to start before Kane clotheslines Hunter out of the ring. Flair chops Rob but Van Dam counters with his step over kick and rolling thunder. Rob covers for 1...2....nope. A charge in the corner by Flair eats elbow and Van Dam delivers a dropkick from the second rope. Kane throws Hunter in the ring who knocks Kane off the apron into the security wall. Van Dam nails Hunter inside the ring with a spinning wheel kick and goes upstairs. Flair throws Van Dam off the top to the security wall as JR screams at King that it wasn't actually Kane on the sex tape. Earl Hebner yells at Hunter as Flair throws Van Dam into the ring steps by Flair. JR calls Ric the dirtiest player in the game as Hunter covers Van Dam for a deuce inside the ring. Lawler said he saw JR kiss Vince's ass before and JR counters by saying he's seen Mae Young give birth to a hand. Talk about bringing up all the garbage in the past couple of years. Flair hits a low blow on Rob and puts the boots to him. Hebner shoves Flair away as Hunter takes advantage with a right hand. Flair chops away in the corner as JR says Kane had the match won the night before. Flair drops Rob before making the tag to Hunter. Hunter delivers a high knee to RVD and covers but Kane breaks it up. Flair tags in and continues to work over Rob as Lawler continues to laugh at the sex tape. Lawler says the only people who didn't find the tape funny was JR and Kane. JR "Next time I drive by an accident on the interstate, I'll start booing." Flair rams Rob into Hunter's knee before Hunter tags in. Rob catches Hunter with a roll up for a deuce before he eats a clothesline from The Game. Hunter locks in a sleeperhold as King says Hunter took Kane off his game with his antics which is the only logical explanation to this horrible storyline. Flair tags in but eats a savate kick only he gets up first to prevent a tag. Flair goes upstairs as JR says "This never works. What an idiot!" Sure enough, Van Dam slams him off the top rope as JR says "He's been doing this for 20 years and it never works. One of these days he'll actually land on somebody." Van Dam hits a spinning wheel kick on Flair but Flair once again prevents a tag. Hunter tags in as Lawler asks what yin yang is. JR "I wear a black hat, how the hell would I know?" JR scolds King for laughing but Van Dam drops Hunter with a dropkick. Flair distracts the referee so they do the "face makes the tag but the ref doesn't see it" routine as Lawler talks about Stacy Keibler. Hunter sends Van Dam into the ringpost and Flair covers him inside for a deuce. Van Dam finally crawls over to tag Kane who cleans house of Hunter and Flair. JR "What does Hulkamania and necrophelia have to do with anything?" Kane grabs HHH and Falir but they block the double chokeslam. Kane and Hunter spill to the floor as Van Dam ends up in the ring. Flair hits a low blow and back suplex as Kane sends Hunter into the entrance before they both are out of sight. Down to Flair and Rob, Rob hits a top rope missile dropkick. Rob hits rolling thunder, goes upstairs and hits the five star frog splash. The cover gets 1..2...3 to end the match. The match itself was fine but the Lawler and JR commentary was just eye roll inducing, even by Ruthless Aggression standards. Van Dam gets one over on Flair again as Ric makes another younger guy look good.


Time of match: 13:24

Winners: Kane and Rob Van Dam by pinfall.


We cut to Kane continuing to beat up Hunter in the back. He throws Hunter around the interview area and then spots Hurricane with the trunk open. Kane sends Hunter into the Pepsi vending machine and then into the parking vendor door. Hunter goes for the pedigree on the cement but Kane slingshots hunter into Hurricane's rental car. Kane chokeslams Hunter off the hood then throws him into the trunk. Hurricane slams the trunk shut and Kane tells him to get out of there. He says "Hunter, you hear me in there? I'm gonna screw YOU! The only question is, will you still be alive or should I wait till your dead?" Kane gets behind the wheel and drives off to end the show. Guess that was Kane's rental but Hurricane was definitely in on it. Either way the show ends with Kane about to get some payback on Triple H, hopefully its not as distasteful as what Hunter had in mind.


All in all in ring wise it was a good show but was overshadowed by the god awful Katie Vick storyline. They barely spoke about No Mercy on commentary and didn't even mention the British Rebellion pay-per-view coming up, but then again maybe that's for the best. Hey Smackdown, save yourselves! Speaking of Smackdown, that's the next show after this and it'll be interesting to see the fallout of Hell in a Cell with Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker. Not to mention Big Show just got traded to Smackdown so let's see what happens there. As for this Raw, the less said of it, the better.


Saturday, October 19, 2002

WWE at Four States Arena (10/19/02)



Four States Arena
Texarkana, Arkansas
October 19, 2002


Of all the places Vince McMahon could book the night before a pay-per-view, he goes to a county fairgrounds in rural Arkansas? I know the ppv would be in Little Rock, but still. Anyway the stars of Raw made their way to Texarkana with the same card they had been running for a week now. Let's get to the action.



Match 1

Redd Dogg vs Al Snow

Once again we're in Redd Dogg's trial run before making his Raw or Smackdown debut. Al Snow gets the duke here, gotta pay your dues Dogg.


Winner: Snow



Match 2

Johnny Stamboli, Mark Jindrak and Charlie Haas vs Justin Credible, Rosey and Jamal

Stamboli, Jindrak and Haas were on their trial runs just like Redd Dogg earlier and they face 3 Minute Warning and Credible here. Credible and the Samoans get the win.


Winners: Rosey, Jamal and Credible



Match 3

Steven Richards vs Batista

Batista was on his way to Raw on television but for now he was piling up wins on the house shows. Steven was his victim here. 


Winner: Batista



Match 4

The Hurricane and Spike Dudley vs William Regal and Lance Storm.

No Kane tonight for Hurricane so he tags with Spike instead against the remnants of the Un-American. Hurricane and Spike win.


Winners: Spike & Hurricane



Match 5

Test vs Kane

Speaking of Kane, here he is in singles action against Test. Kane wins it. Needed that one going into No Mercy.


Winner: Kane



Match 6

Raven vs D-Lo Brown.

The Sunday Night Heat mainstays do battle once again in the middle of Arkansas. D-Lo wins it.


Winner: D-Lo Brown



Match 7

Molly Holly and Victoria vs Trish Stratus and Jacqueline

The same women's tag match that had been going on through the circuit comes to us again. Trish and Jackie win it.


Winners: Trish and Jacqueline



Match 8

Booker T and Goldust vs Christian and Chris Jericho for the World Tag Team Championship

This was going to be part of the No Mercy card so may as well warm up on a house show. Christian and Jericho win.


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



Match 9

"Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs Rob Van Dam

This match would also be on the No Mercy card tomorrow night. This is the main event here since HHH didn't want to work apparently. Van Dam wins it.


Winner: Rob Van Dam



The same card that had been going on the past few weeks remained the same here. Although the concluding storylines at No Mercy should give us fresh cards next week. We only have one hurdle to get through before we get to No Mercy and that is this week's Velocity. I'll see you there.

Monday, October 14, 2002

WWE Monday Night Raw (10/14/02)



WWE Raw
Bell Centre
Montreal, Quebec
October 14, 2002


Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia



Last week Raw Roulette was a complete mess of stipulations that went nowhere although we did get a nice TLC match out of it. Then everything got ruined as HHH started the Katie Vick angle by calling Kane a MURDERER! 5 years ago it was The Undertaker that was the murderer (and admitted to it) but now its Kane? As mentioned in the last post, No Mercy was just 6 days away and we only had three confirmed matches with only 2 of them knowing who's involved. Hopefully this week we'll fill out the card. Before we get to anything we got a LONG segment of dark matches for a reason. With No Mercy this Sunday, the American Sunday Night Heat was going to be the pre-show, but the European version would have matches since they watched Heat on a different day. Let's get to the five matches.


Dark Match 1

Flash Flanagan vs Justin Credible

Oh look, its Flash Flanagan again. For those that forgot, Flanagan was a mainstay in Memphis wrestling that never quite made the big time. With developmental shifting from Memphis to Ohio Valley, the Memphis guys were kind of an afterthought. He hasn't been seen since the old Shotgun tapings. Credible won the match.


Winner: Justin Credible



Dark Match 2

Scott Vick and Red Dogg vs Johnny Stamboli and Charlie Haas.

The former Sick Boy and future Rodney Mack take on Charlie and Stamboli here. Its a wonder why they didn't bring up Scott to be the storyline brother of Katie Vick looking for revenge on Kane since they were running with this garbage, oh well. Stamboli and Haas got the duke.


Winners: Stamboli and Haas



European Match 1

Bobby Rude vs Test

As mentioned earlier, the European version of Sunday Night Heat would feature the next three matches but unfortunately, nobody in the UK has ever uploaded them. Test wins with the big boot.


Winner: Test by pinfall



European Match 2

Raven and Steven Richards vs Mark Jindrak and D-Lo Brown

ECW and WCW friends Richards and Raven reunite to take on the makeshift team of Jindrak and D-Lo. D-Lo and Mark get the win.


Winers: D-Lo and Jindrak



European Match 3

Spike Dudley vs William Regal

Gotta have the European Regal on the European show. Better yet, Regal wins it with the Regal Stretch.


Winner: Regal by submission


FINALLY let's get to tonight's Raw. We start with the end of last week's Raw with HHH claiming Kane is a murderer. Right off the bat Jonathan Coachman catches Kane and The Hurricane arriving to the arena (in full ring gear) and Coach asks about the accusations. Kane yells at him that its none of his business with Hurricane looking freaked out. Kane and Hurricane head to the ring for our first match.



Match 1

Christian and Chris Jericho vs Kane and The Hurricane for the World Tag Team Championship

Christian and Chris Jericho were partners last week in the TLC match so they team up again to face the champs....but wait! Booker T jumps Chris Jericho as payback for last week. Booker gives Christian a right hand as well as Johnny Ace, Fit Finlay and the referees usher Booker away. Kane stomps on Christian and throws him into the ring. Hurricane sends Christian off and hits a flying forearm. Hurricane hits shining wizard and covers for 1...2..nope. Christian eats a hurricarana and Kane tags in. Jericho tags in and Kane press slams him onto Christian on the floor. Hurricane hits a suicide plancha on both guys outside. Back inside Hurricane covers Christian for 1...2...nope. Kane tags in and rams Christian into the corner. Kane fires away at him then slams him down, but he misses the elbow drop. Christian is grabbed by the throat and sent into Jericho. Kane hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and covers for a deuce before Hurricane tags in. JR informs us Booker T faces Big Show in a falls count anywhere match later. Why not save that for No Mercy? Jericho low bridges Hurricane and attacks him on the floor. Jericho slides Hurricane in and the Canadians double team him. Jericho taunts the crowd and hits a vertical suplex before Christian tags in. Christian attacks Hurricane in the corner as JR says "I'd bet my black hat on Kane is NOT a murderer." Lawler "Oh so now you're Perry Mason." Christian charges but eats elbow. Hurricane hits a blockbuster as JR says "Have you ever been falsely accused of anything?" Lawler "Yes" Ross "Does it feel good?" Hahahaha King remembers 1993-94 all too well.  Kane gets the hot tag and wipes out both men before Jericho tags in. Jericho gets backdropped and sidewalk slammed. Kane goes up to the top and hits the big clothesline before heaving Christian out of the ring. Kane pounds away on Jericho and grabs referee Nick Patrick. Christian comes off the top with a title belt but Kane catches him by the throat. Patrick gets rid of the belt as Christian hits a low blow and Jericho hits a missile dropkick. Both Canadians whip Kane off but they get double clotheslined. Hurricane tags in and gets rocket launched on Jericho for 1..2...Christian breaks it up. Kane dumps Christian over the top and rams him into the steel steps. Kane grabs the steps and Christian just narrowly gets out of the way as Kane throws them. Kane chases Christian up the ram leaving just Jericho and Hurricane in the ring. Jericho hits an elbow but Hurricane gets the knees up on the Lionsault. Jericho blocks the chokeslam and goes for the Walls of Jericho. Hurricane cradles him up for 1...2....no, Jericho rolls on top and gets the feet on the ropes for 1...2....3 to win the match and titles. We got new World Tag Team Champions as Kane sprints to the ring too little, too late. Christian and Jericho celebrate at the ramp as we cut to commercial. Damn good match and its a shame this stupid Katie Vick storyline hangs over it like a dark cloud. These guys had good chemistry.


Time of match: 6:47

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



Back from break we get a highlight of Jericho cheating to win. Jericho and Christian pop champagne but an irate Booker T damn near gets to them before being restrained by Goldust and the officials. Bischoff keeps the peace by congratulating Christian and Jericho but says they'll be defending the titles against Booker and Christian at No Mercy. Bischoff says he's not going to be upended by Stephanie McMahon and that's why the titles are on the line. Booker says he's gonna get Jericho's ass and Jericho says he's not a sucka. At least we got an official match this Sunday. On to the next match.



Match 2

Lance Storm (with William Regal) vs Al Snow

Regal joins the commentary team for this match and Ross makes fun of him for being in drag. Regal "How dare you!" Bell's gone and Snow starts with right hands before sliding under Lance. Storm hits a heel kick to the back of the head then snaps Snow off the top rope Randy Savage style. Lance goes upstairs but jumps right into a powerslam. Ross continues to make fun of Regal and Regal storms off. King "Now look what you've done JR!" Regal stands in the corner as Storm takes over in the corner with a clothesline. Al traps Lance's arms and headbutts him then hits a Taz plex. Al Snow takes over right hands and a backdrop. Al slides into the corner and clotheslines Storm then goes outside and knocks own Regal. Al goes upstairs and hits a bodypress, but Storm rolls through it for 1..2....nope. Storm had the tights but Al kicked out. Al kicks Lance but is tripped up by Regal. Regal tosses the brass knuckles but Al knocks them out of his hand. Regal hops up on the apron and Al knocks him off, but turns around into a superkick. Lance covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. It essentially turned into a handicap match at the end but the point was the Unamericans may have broken up, but Storm and Regal are still cool with each other.


Time of match: 2:57

Winner: Storm by pinfall



Backstage Coachman is with Victoria who's teaming with Molly Holly to take on Trish Stratus and Jacqueline. Victoria has a title shot at No Mercy and Victoria is asked what the beef is. Victoria says years ago Trish and Victoria were both interested in being divas but Trish never let her get her chance. Victoria says she'll do anything to get her chance unlike Trish who will do anyone. Trish herself walks up and slaps her as Victoria smiles. Back from break we get the Kane and Pete Rose commercial. Back from break Jeff Hardy is chillin with Spike Dudley when Rob Van Dam walks up. RVD is looking for Bischoff but Spike says Bubba has a severe concussion and doesn't remember the match. (According to Chris Jericho, Bubba really did have a concussion in the match and kept talking to him instead of Spike because he was that out of it) Eric walks up clapping and says he's proud of all three of them. He says he has a highlight reel for the three of them and its just a montage of the match. After that, Eric says he's got a match with Rico coming up next. Eric tells Spike to take a hike and tell Bubba to get well soon. Spike says "Bite me" and leaves. Eric says it's gonna be Rob vs Ric Flair at No Mercy and tonight he's got a non title match against Triple H. It'll be a CANADIAN Lumberjack match, meaning the twenty lumberjacks all have straps.

Back from commercial Triple H is with Ric Flair in their own personal room. HHH paces back and forth and says he has no idea what a Canadian Lumberjack Match....then proceeds to say that they all have straps. How would he know that if he doesn't know what it is? He's scared that he's afraid the guys will take a shot at him with the strap. Ric says Eric put him with RVD at No Mercy and HHH says he'll take care of Rob tonight. HHH says he's going to ruin Kane's night and says if he doesn't spill the beans, he'll do it for him. On to the next match.



Match 3

Jeff Hardy vs Rico

Talk about filler, but here we are. Rico attacks at the bell but Jeff returns with strikes and clotheslines themselves over the top to the floor. Jeff runs up the barricade and splashes Rico before stomping on him. Jeff throws Rico back inside and the crowd chants Rico Sucks. Jeff goes up and over but Rico kicks him in the ribs. Rico gets a savate kick and covers for a deuce. Rico shouldertackles Jeff in the corner and Ross says Rico won American Gladiators once....which is a true story. Rico covers for a deuce and snap mares him. Rico locks in a waistlock scissors but Jeff escapes and does the inbetween the legs leg drop. Jeff drops a leg on the apron then goes upstairs. Jeff hits Whisper in The Wind and covers for a two. Rico comes off the top but eats a dropkick. Jeff goes upstairs and hits the Swanton. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. No 3 Minute Warning run in, no shenanigans....just a match. Totally worthless but it wasn't bad or anything.


Time of match: 3:07

Winner: Jeff Hardy by pinfall


Backstage Kane is going apeshit with Hurricane trying to calm him down. Kane says he doesn't give a damn about the tag titles and just wants to be left alone. Hurricane leaves but Terri Runnels walks up to him. Kane tells her to buzz off but she says she's here as a friend. Terri says he needs to let what's bothering him out and not to bottle it up. Kane says she's right and he'll do this. Great...

Back from commercial here comes Kane to tell his side of the story. Kane says Katie Vick was his friend who's dead. He claims it was an accident and he is not a murderer. He says ten years ago they were friends when he first started wrestling. Wait....I thought he was supposed to be in an insane asylum until Paul Bearer got him out of there in 1997? Was there an Asylum Wrestling Federation? (Imagine THAT) Anyway, Kane says she was the only one who cared when he was getting beat up. One night they were at a party and she drank too much. He says he was going to drive her home but had no idea how to drive a stick. It was dark and an animal jumped in front of them causing them to swerve. The car went off the road and he broke his arm, but she was killed instantly. It was an ACCIDENT! Kane says he's had to live with it but the only thing he has left to say is he's sorry for Katie's parents.

Here comes Triple H for his rebuttal. Hunter says Kane was drunk too and when the cops showed up, there were empty beer cans everywhere. Hunter says the M.E's autopsy found his semen in her. Hunter goes on to say she was more than a friend for him and he was madly in love with him. The problem was she liked him but didn't love him. Hunter says who'd love a burnt up freak like him and goes on to say Kane wasn't charged with murder or manslaughter. Hunter says facts are facts and Kane killed Katie Vick. Hunter finishes by asking if Kane raped her or committed necrophelia. Kane's stunned expression says it all as was anyone who ever watched this. This was, with no hyperbole, the worst storyline in wrestling history. Vince seriously pushed for this and the whole creative team was mortified, now you see why.

So remember two years ago when Kane spoke with a voicebox, was in an asylum until 1997, Paul Bearer was his dad and Tori was his first girlfriend.....well this storyline threw all that out the window. Glen Jacobs the man was forced to stand there shocked rather than say Hunter was full of baloney to put over Kane the character being scared. This was embarrassing as a wrestling fan and it was even bad as an episode of Law & Order SVU by throwing the rape/necrophelia angle into it. Lastly, how would HHH know any of this? The internet was in its infancy in 2002 and social media barely existed, there was no possible way he could have known the intimate details like he was a police detective. But, that's logic...and there is none here. 

Back from commercial we go to a highlight of what we just saw before we cut to Kane and Hurricane. Kane leaves and says he'll do something he'll regret the rest of his life if he stays. On to the next match.



Match 4

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

Stacy Keibler is the special guest referee as we get a highlight of Victoria cracking Trish in the head with a steel chair. Victoria vs Trish is this Sunday as well. Trish gets a huge pop in her native country and she runs right into the ring, blows past Stacy and takes down Victoria. Bell's gone and we're gonna start with Trish pounding away on Victoria. Molly takes over bu ramming Trish's head into the corner. Trish charges but eats elbow but Molly goes up to the second rope. Trish hits Stratusphere and knocks Victoria off the apron. Trish hits a neckbreaker and tags in Jackie. Jacqueline throws Molly down by the hair and does a double head scissors takedown of both heels. Trish unloads on Victoria but Molly attacks her from behind. Apparently Jackie never tagged out but that's okay. Molly grabs Trish and throws her face down into the mat. Molly does it again and locks in a chinlock. Molly glares at Stacy as Molly scoop slams Trish. Victoria tags in for a hilo legdrop and covers for 1...2..nope. Victoria covers again for a two count as King gets excited about his Las Vegas adventure. Victoria does a backbreaker to Trish and tags in Molly. Molly misses the handspring elbow and Jackie tags in. Jackie unloads on both women to no pop at all. Jackie hits a sidewalk slam on Molly and covers for 1...2..no, Victoria breaks it up. Victoria backdrops Trish to the floor but Trish pulls Victoria out to the floor. Trish rams Victoria's head into the mat. Jackie goes up and over in the corner on Molly and absolutely knocks her cold with a kick to the head. The cover gets 1...2.....and Stacy pretends she hurts her shoulder. Oh for the love of Pete. Jackie sticks a finger in Stacy's face as Molly hits an O'Connor Roll on Jackie. Stacy doesn't even bother to count, she just stands there and waits for Jackie to kick Molly into her. Stacy still botches the bump out of the ring as Jackie hits a DDT. Another referee runs to the ring as Jackie covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Double refs aside, that was good for what it was. Victoria did some good highspots while Trish did a good job as the babyface in peril. The only bad part was Stacy as she looked lost. Oh well.


Time of match: 3:35

Winners: Trish and Jackie by pinfall



After the match Victoria kicks Jackie in the head and Trish tackles her outside. They get into a pier sixer as King says he'll go help. JR "You better stay right here." Victoria and Trish have to be separated and they still find a way to get at each other. Say what you will, Trish and Victoria at least has some hype heading into Sunday. Backstage Nick Patrick is handing out straps to the babyfaces as Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley stand there. Goldust and Booker T barge in and Booker is PISSED. He wants to tear into Triple H and we cut to commercial.

After a No Mercy commercial, we get a vignette for Batista who's making his Raw debut soon. Back in the ring, Eric Bischoff is there. Eric says Kane vs Triple H will be at No Mercy no matter Kane's mindset....which made the entire Katie Vick storyline pointless. Eric says the winner take all match will go down in history as it will be the last time the Intercontinental title will be defended. To celebrate this occasion, Eric brings hometown hero Pat Patterson to the ring. Patterson comes out to Mae Young's old theme as Pat gets a decent ovation.

Pat says "Thank you, its a pleasure to be here in Montreal Quebec!" in French. He goes on to say he's here tonight but doesn't.....and he's cut off by Eric who wants him to speak English. Pat says he doesn't trust Eric and Eric says he's learned from him. He says he's not here for a 3 Minute Warning, he's prepared a montage about the Intercontinental Championship. We got to a decent montage featuring the past IC champions with famous calls from Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. Still think its absolutely stupid to get rid of the belt. Other highlights include Owen Hart breaking Steve Austin's neck. Austin throwing the belt into the river, Chyna becoming the first IC champ and Kurt Angle becoming the Euro-continental champion. Eric says lets give a big hand to Pat but then here comes 3 Minute Warning. Pat decks them both off the apron but Jamal recovers to hit the Samoan drop on the 61 year old Patterson. To put it in perspective, Headshrinker Samu, Billy Gunn and Al Snow are the same age in 2024. Eric says his three minutes are just about up but here comes Gerald Brisco. Brisco was 56 at the time....the same as Goldberg, Dustin Rhodes and JBL in 2024. So imagine the Authors of Pain lay waste to Billy Gunn and Dustin Rhodes, doesn't have the same feel since guys wrestle a lot longer these days. Gerald gets double headbutted by both Samoans and Jamal does the ass bump to Brisco in the corner. Jamal hits the top rope splash on Patterson and here comes Big Show with a strap. Big Show got jumped by these two weeks ago and he tans the hides off Rosey in the ring. D-Lo Brown runs down with a strap to take care of Jamal. Rosey tries to escape but Jeff Hardy comes down with a strap to whip him some more. Big Show, D-Lo and Jeff check on the Stooges as Ross asks what kind of man is Bischoff.

Back from commercial we get "Coming soon" and Bret Hart's music hits with his old titantron...WHAT??? Unfortunately its not him, its WWE Anthology, a CD compilation of entrance themes coming out soon. Bret had suffered a stroke back in June of 2002 anyway. We cut to Christopher Nowinski checking himself out in the mirror when Al Snow catches him with the circle game from Tough Enough 1. Al goes into unflattering Tough Enough stories but says he's seriously proud of him for not giving up on himself. Chris "I did, no thanks to you. By the way, nice loss tonight." Ouch. On to the next match.



Match 5

Christopher Nowinski vs Tommy Dreamer

King says Harvard football is better than Oklahoma and JR's scoff needs to be heard to appreciate. Dreamer apparently FINALLY got married to Beulah McGillicutty and is ditching his honeymoon for this match. Chris attacks at the bell and the crowd chants ECW while JR babbles on about Kane to show how much he cares about this match. Dreamer blocks an armdrag with a neckbreaker and covers for a near fall. Chris gets backed into the corner but Chris reverses it and shoulderblocks him in the corner. Nowinski eats a spinebuster and Tommy covers for another two count. Dreamer rallies with right hands and forearms as JR continues to babble on about Kane and Triple H. I expect this on Heat, not on Raw. Nowinsky gets a double leg takedown on Dreamer, goes outside and gets a singapore cane. Dreamer brings in the cane but Al Snow walks out. Dreamer stands on Chris nut first...owwwwww. Dreamer goes to grab the cane but Al grabs it. Chris gets the full nelson slam and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Nowinski starts to celebrate but then gets mad when he sees Al holding the cane. Bad match but it was to put over that Nowinski wants nothing to do with Al yet Al is protecting his student like any teacher would.


Time of match: 2:43

Winner: Nowinski



Back to Terri Runnels who's with Triple H. Terri asks how he can justify his actions. HHH says he didn't ask for this, he doesn't want to get in the ring with a murderer. HHH says the police report was just given to him and he's just reporting the facts. Isn't that Gregory Helms' job? HHH says Kane has a pension for hurting those that get close to him. HHH says Kane is a murderer and can take the life of a sweet girl but he won't take his World Heavyweight Championship. HHH says he always overcomes the odds and he's going to beat RVD tonight, then Kane on Sunday. He quotes Ric Flair by saying "Whether you like it, or you don't, I am that damn good." 

We cut to a Randy Orton vignette signaling he's a legend in the making. Hmmm, Randy Orton and Deacon Bautista are coming to Raw huh? Anyway we cut to JR who introduces Orton....with his arm in a sling. Orton says he tore his shoulder last week and says a normal person would be out a year. He says he'll be back in 3-4 months. He gets a little bit of boos as Orton says they can email him to wish a speedy recovery. GetwellRandy@wwe.com. The crowd chants "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" and Orton runs with it by thanking the audience and saying Bret Hart got screwed in Montreal. He says Montreal was the place where Randy Orton got screwed. Randy says unlike Bret, Randy Orton will be back. That's one way to turn heel....but it was badly needed. The 3rd generation blue chipper gimmick didn't work for The Rock and it won't work for Orton. 

Booker T vs Big Show is up next after break. JR and King plug Saliva's "Always" video coming up this Sunday on Heat. On to the next match.



Match 6

Booker T vs The Big Show in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Ross says we'll be in Memphis next Monday night as Booker attacks at the bell. Show heaves him into the corner then whips into the other one. A charge eats boot and Booker rallies with right hands but can't move him. Big Show throws Booker over the top rope to the floor and hits a clothesline while on the floor. Show drops Booker throat first on the barricade and covers for 1...2...nope. King and Ross babble on and on about Kane and HHH again, but Booker backdrops Big Show into the crowd. Booker dives on him and they fight into the crowd. Booker gets sent into a tunnel and Show covers for a deuce. In the backstage area Show clicks Booker with what looks to be a hose reel. Booker gets sent into a wall meanwhile in the background Triple H is driving a forklift with Ric Flair telling him where to go.....the hell? Booker gets thrown into wall but moves and Show kicks the wall. Booker uses a fire extinguisher on Show's eyes and covers for 1...2..nope. Booker sends Show face first into the ring crew container. Booker hits a scissors kick and covers for 1...2..nope. Booker gets chopped into the Women's locker room. Terri is fully clothed but Jackie covers up her chest. Booker kicks Show in the gonads in the shower. We see a blonde woman in a towel run off camera and Lawler says he hopes its not Molly. Its actually Trish as Ross is mad they're even in there. Booker somehow gets the Book End in that cramped area and covers for two. Suddenly Chris Jericho appears out of nowhere with a chair and clocks Booker with it. Show covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Show wins as Christian walks in as well to taunt Booker....did I mention this is the women's room? AWFUL match and there was almost nothing entertaining until they brawled into the women's room just for Ross to yell at Lawler to shut up. Booker and Jericho are gonna get it on this Sunday in the tag match but for now Show beats Booker. Let us never speak of this again.



Time of match: 5:23

Winner: Show by pinfall


We cut to Triple H who backs the forklift into the babyface locker room door to trap everyone in. Apart from Kane who's left the arena and Booker T who's laid out in the women's room, Rob Van Dam now has no backup....great. Coach runs up to ask what's going and HHH says he just trapped the babyfaces. HHH gets a right hand on Coach for good measure. As someone who knows how to operate a forklift, pretty much anyone could free them effortlessly...but never let logic dictate a bad storyline. On to the main event.



Match 7

Rob Van Dam vs World Heavyweight Champion Triple H (with Ric Flair) in a Canadian Lumberjack Match

Naturally only the heels we've seen tonight are out there. Christian, Jericho, Jamal, Rosey, Lance Storm, Rico, Big Show, William Regal and Christopher Nowinski. This is a non title match and Rob wastes no time attacking Hunter to start. Rob hits the kicks in the corner and the rolling monkey flip. He hits 10 punches in the corner and back flips off. He charges but Hunter throws him outside. The heels whip Van Dam and throw him inside as JR and King AGAIN babble on about Kane. Van Dam fights back and Van Dam gets thrown outside again. They whip him and throw him inside before Hunter covers for a deuce. Hunter's back suplex gets countered and Rob hits the step over heel kick. Rob clotheslines HHH over the top to the floor and the lumberjacks simply pick him up. JR scoffs at all of them but Rob comes off the top with a bodypress to take out everyone. RVD wipes out Christian and Regal with kicks and throws Hunter back in. Rico grabs the lag and Big Show sends him into the steel steps. Show heaves Van Dam into the ring and Hunter covers for 1..2...nope. Hunter shoulderblocks Rob in the corner and delivers a vertical suplex. HHH mocks Rob for some heat and executes a backbreaker. He covers for a two count and sets Rob up on the top rope. Hunter goes for the superplex and hits it before covering for another deuce. Hunter locks in an abdominal stretch and Jamal whips Rob from outside the ring. The crowd chants "You screwed Bret" but Rob hits the O'Connor Roll for a two count then hits a mule kick. Rob shoulderblocks Hunter in the corner, ducks a line and hits a second rope dropkick. Van Dam hits rolling thunder and covers for 1..2...nope. Jericho hilariously jumps up and down when Hunter kicked out. Van Dam gets kicked in the stomach but backdrops out of the pedigree attempt. Rob hits a heel kick and goes upstairs. Jericho crotches Van Dam and he falls to the outside. They whip Van Dam but Booker T appears in the entrance way. Guess he woke up from his beating.....but wait there's more! He freed the babyfaces and here they come to the ring to even the odds. The locker room brawls on the outside as Ross says "Its a pier six brawl in Montreal." Van Dam goes up to the top and hits a dropkick on HHH and calls for the Five Star. Rob hits it but Flair waffles him with the title belt with the ref distracted. Hunter covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Wow, they wouldn't even let Rob win a non-title match. Pretty much apart from Kane, nobody has any chance to beat HHH. Bad match and a perfect ending to a bad night.


Time of match: 10:38

Winner: HHH by pinfall



Oh look, here comes Kane too little, too late. Kane blitzes through everyone and gets in the ring. Kane gets his hands on HHH and Flair but Nowinski makes the safe. D-Lo goes to nail Nowinsky but Kane clocks and chokeslams both of them. Kane chokeslams Rico then 3 Minute Warning has Kane pinned down in the corner. Kane then fights back and chokeslams both members of 3 Minute Warning. Kane stands tall to end the night as Ross screams that Triple H will burn in hell this Sunday. Literally one of the worst Raw's of all time due to the Katie Vick nonsense and we've only just begun. HHH can't be beat and the rest of the roster look like jackasses compared to him. Booker T and Rob Van Dam continue to be jobbed out and its all bad. Tomorrow night is a Smackdown taping being aired on Thursday. I'll see you there.

Saturday, May 25, 2002

WWE Velocity (5/25/02)

 


Bancorp South Arena
Tupelo, MS
May 25, 2002

Its the debut episode of Velocity! With WWE Sunday Night heat being the B show for Raw, they launched Velocity to be the B show of Smackdown. Its pretty much the exact same format as WWF Metal, Shotgun & Jakked was with recaps centered around syndicated matches. Al Snow and Michael Cole are your commentary team for this inaugural episode. Tonight's main event is a.....bra & panties match.....yeah....for the Women's title between Trish Stratus & Stacy Keibler


Commentators: Al Snow & Michael Cole



Match 1

Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Albert

This was a dark match shown just to fill out the card for the show. This was never recorded but Lawler got the victory.


Winner: Jerry Lawler



Match 2

Shannon Moore vs Jamie Noble

This was another dark match to fill out the card and this was pretty much a tryout match for Shannon Moore. For those that don't know, Moore was a long time friend of The Hardy Boys and was 3 Count partners with The Hurricane in WCW. They were taking a look at him to see if he could go. Noble got the win but they must have liked what they saw from Shannon.


Winner: Noble



Match 3

Michael Shane vs Sonny Siaki

This was the third and final dark match and basically a try-out match for both guys. Michael Shane was Shawn Michaels' younger cousin and graduated from his wrestling school. Siaki was a WCW Power Plant graduate that left WCW because he didn't like how he was booked. Shane got the win 


Winner: Shane


Now that that's over, let's get to the actual show.



Match 4

Tajiri vs Billy Kidman

We're shown highlights of Tajiri covering up Torrie Wilson's bikini from the previous Smackdown and wouldn't you know who won the pony, Wilson's real life husband Kidman is his opponent. Kidman and Tajiri circle before they trade go-behinds and takedowns. Tajiri locks in a chinlock but Kidman rolls into an arm-bar. Tajiri then locks in a rare crab lock before Kidman rolls out of it. Tajiri reverses an arm-bar into another takedown followed by a chin-lock. He tells the crowd "Shadduppppp" as Kidman hits a jawbreaker. Kidman hits a snap-suplex and Tajiri sells it hilariously. Kidman locks in an arm-bar as Cole stirs the pot of asking what Tajiri thinks of Torrie dating Maven. Tajiri drops a knee and taunts the crowd before running into an arm-drag. Kidman hits a frankensteiner to send Tajiri bailing to the outside and Billy goes upstairs. Tajiri spots him and walks away but Kidman runs and hits him with a baseball slide. Al at the commentary table says "careful guys" as Kidman heaves Tajiri inside. Cole says a victory would be huge for these guys to get a Cruiserweight title shot. Kidman hits a springboard legdrop for a two count and rams his head into the buckle. Kidman walks right into a buzzsaw kick before Tajiri sends him into the ring post to the outside. We come back from commercial with Tajiri standing on Kidman on the bottom rope. Tajiri hits another buzzsaw kick outside then taunts the crowd again. Tajiri stomps away on Kidman and locks in a nerve hold. Kidman wpins out of it but eats three straight buzzsaw kicks before Tajiri yells at referee Mike Sparks. Tajiri works over the arm on the top rope but Kidman hits a crossbody for 1...2..nope. Another buzzsaw kick and a dropkick drops Kidman and Tajiri covers for 1..2....nope. Tajiri taunts the crowd again as Cole calls him a moron. Al takes offense to calling him a moron as Tajiri counters a backslide with an armbar before chopping Billy in the corner. Kidman whips Tajiri into the corner but gets caught in the tarantula. Kidman powers out of it and shoves Tajiri onto the apron but is snapped off the tope rope. Billy rolls out of the way of a springboard moonsault and fires away with right hands. Kidman lands a clothesline and covers for two but Tajiri nails a big DDT. Tajiri covers for 1....2...nope. Tajiri goes for a frankensteiner but Kidman powerbombs and covers for 1...2..nope. Tajiri hits a buzzsaw kick out of nowhere and covers for 1..2....nooooo. Tajiri kicks the arm of Kidman but Billy counters the springboard back elbow with a dropkick to the back. Tajiri locks in the tarantula as Torrie Wilson walks down the ramp causing Cole to cream his pants. Kidman rolls up Tajiri for two but Torrie grabs his leg with the ref not noticing. Kidman hits the face buster and covers for 1...2....3 and that's it. Damn good match even if the babyface needed the distraction to win. Torrie nods her head at Kidman and leaves as Tajiri is mad. 

Time of match: 11:16

Winner: Kidman by pinfall


When we come back from commercial we're shown the recent life and times of Kurt Angle. We're shown him getting his head shaved at Judgment Day by Edge and sporting a ridiculous wig on Smackdown. Maven comes out and tells Angle to just run with the baldness like he does. Kurt challenges him to take the wig off and Maven rushes him only for Edge to join in....until Christian stops him thus leading to the main event tag match between Edge & Maven against Christian and Angle. Maven pins Christian to win the match and Angle gets away with the wig intact....for now. Onto the next match.



Match 5

Hardcore Holly vs Val Venis

We follow up a damn good opener with a mid-card match right out of 1999 but at least there's some backstory. Stacy Keibler was flirting with Randy Orton so Vince McMahon, who was smitten with Stacy, had Orton punished by putting him with the rookie hating Holly. Holly and Lance Storm doubleteamed Orton and Venis made the save to set up this match. They lock up and Holly executes a waistlock takedown. Venis reverses and they exchange go-behinds. Holly eats a shoulderblock and a clothesline as Cole hypes up the Tough Enough 2 finale coming up. Holly boots and chops Val in the corner but Val springboards over Holly to deliver some chops of his own. Val hits a double underhook suplex but a cover only gets two. Val drops Hardcore with a back elbow smash and an elbow drop before punching away. Holly fires back with a belly to belly suplex and covers for a deuce. Holly sets up and hits the Holly Nad Kick then delivers a clothesline. Holly hits a vertical suplex and covers for 1...2...nope. Holly charges in the corner but eats elbow before clotheslining Val down anyway. Cole continues to babble on about Tough Enough as Val executes a powerslam. Val covers for a deuce and nails a shoulderblock. A graphic on the screen shows Tough Enough 3 is taking applicants as Val executes a backdrop. Val's fisherman suplex gets 1...2....nope. Holly walks into a Blue Thunder Driver but kicks out at two. Holly rolls up Val for two but eats a spinebuster. Val goes for The Money Shot but Holly rolls out of the way. Hardcore hits a dropkick right to the chin and covers for 1...2....3 that's it. Snow calls it the best dropkick in the business and its effective for sure.


Time of match: 4:24

Winner: Holly by pinfall


After the match we get another graphic for Trish vs Stacy and a hilarious commercial where Rob Van Dam shills 7-11 Cups with his likeness on it instead of The Rock's while wearing a singlet with jeans over it. We then get highlights of the main event scene where Hogan dropped the title to The Undertaker at Judgment Day. Then on Smackdown Hogan claims he's going to retire (HAHAHAHAHA!) and Vince McMahon says he can't do that because he owns him. Let that be a lesson to all bosses out there, if you don't want the old geyser working for your company to retire, you can simply deny him retirement. Anyway this causes Hogan to beat up Vince much to the crowd's delight until The Undertaker makes the save. Hogan rallies and sends Taker out of the ring then poses. Hogan reportedly behind the scenes wanted the belt again so let's see how this plays out on Smackdown moving forward. Back from commercial its time for the main event.



Match 6

Stacy Keibler vs Trish Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship in a Bra & Panties Match

To cover up Stacy's lack of wrestling ability, they had her in matches like these where the goal isn't to pin your opponent but to strip them. Stacy attacks Trish at the bell and stomps on her as Cole brings up how Vince stacked the deck against Trish by putting her in a match where her skills are negated. Stacy slams Trish on the title belt and rams her head into the buckle. Stacy chokes Trish with her boot and does a snapmare before trying to rip Trish's top off. Trish kicks her off, ducks under a clotheslines and unloads with forearms. Trish slaps Stacy and goes for Stratusfaction but Stacy counters by throwing her into the ropes. Stacy gets Trish's top off to expose a pink bra as the male fans cheer. Trish then rips Stacy's top off while Stacy is celebrating to expose a blue bra. Trish slugs away with forearms but walks into a spinning heel kick. Stacy goes to rip Trish's pants off but Trish victory rolls Stacy and rips her shorts off to win the match. Cole "Trish wins!" Snow "We all do! God bless Vince McMahon". Stacy goes to slap Trish after the bell but Trish ducks and hits the chick kick. Cole signs off happily with Stacy rolling around in her underwear. B & P matches were awful to begin with but they served their purpose....for the time period.


Time of match: 1:54

Winner: Trish (still WWE Women's champion)


Well that show started out great then fell off a cliff for the main event. Still, I'd chalk that up to a product of its time since matches like that were common. Still, Smackdown highlights and cold matches were what to expect and thankfully Smackdown was about to be the cream of the crop within a few months. As for this show, you got to know about the main plots of Smackdown with bald Kurt Angle and Hogan hot on The Undertaker's trail along with Holly as Vince's enforcer & Stacy as his current plaything. Tajiri vs Kidman was damn good, Val vs Holly was okay and the main event....yeah. Hopefully next week will have a better main event. As for now, its time to switch gears to the Raw side of thing because Sunday Night Heat is next. See you there.