WWE Monday Night Raw (11/4/02)

WWE Raw

Fleet Center

Boston, MA

November 4, 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

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

Dark Match 1

Nathan Jones vs Arch Kincaid

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

Time of match: 2:27

Winner: Jones by pinfall

Dark Match 2

Spike Dudley vs D-Lo Brown

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

Time of match: 5:42

Winner: Spike by pinfall

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

Match 1

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

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

Time of match: 6:21

Winners: 3 Minute Warning by pinfall

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

Match 2

Ivory vs Trish Stratus

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

Time of match: 3:17

Winner: Trish by pinfall

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

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

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

Match 3

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

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

Time of match: 3:35

Winners: Storm and Regal by pinfall

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

Match 4

Batista vs Justin Credible

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

Time of match: 1:25

Winner: Batista by pinfall

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

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

Match 5

Test (with Stacy Keibler) vs The Hurricane

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

Time of match: 3:41

Winner: Test by pinfall

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

Match 6

Rob Van Dam vs Christian

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

Time of match: 6:35

Winner: Rob Van Dam by pinfall

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

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

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

Match 7

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

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

Time of match: 10:26

Winners: Kane and Booker by pinfall

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

WWE Monday Night Raw (10/21/02)

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.

WWE No Mercy 2002 (10/20/02)

WWE No Mercy

Alltell Arena

Little Rock, AR

October 20, 2002

Its a shame things turned into the way they did. After the awesomeness that was Summerslam came the good but not great Unforgiven. As I said on the last review, the in-ring action of Unforgiven was awesome but the storylines were borderline dreadful....well this month the storylines not only crossed the border but almost went to the point of no return. After playing hot potato with the Intercontinental Championship on Raw all year, some brainiac decided it was a good idea to retire the belt. Now they had already retired the European title in July when Rob Van Dam beat Jeff Hardy in a unification match. Then they retired the Hardcore title in August after Rob Van Dam beat Tommy Dreamer in another unification match. Both those titles had run its course, but dropping the IC title was stupid because mid-carders had nothing to wrestle for on Raw. Smackdown was all set to debut the brand new WWE Tag Team Championships (which I'll explain later) so why retire a belt in its place, especially with that kind of lineage. We open up the event with The Undertaker sitting at his locker looking sad, then Kane sits next to him and says "So, how was your week?"  This would be a reference to one of the most horrible storylines in WWF/E history and another bad one. In order to add a little pizazz to the Kane vs Triple H showdown, they had Hunter go out on Raw and say Kane was a murderer (I thought it was The Undertaker who was the murderer) and Kane responded by saying it was an accident. This led to the horrific Katie Vick necrophilia angle covered on Wrestlecrap.com (cheap plug) where Hunter and Kane did increasingly tasteless vignettes to get under each other's skin. Now over on Smackdown, The Undertaker was involved in a feud with the current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, so to add pizazz to that one they decided to bring in a woman named Tracy and claim Taker was cheating on his wife Sara with her. Combine these two trainwrecks with the upcoming Al Wilson storyline, is it any wonder why the ratings tanked so bad during the next few months? Let's get on with the show.

Match 1

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

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

  As I said before, to enhance the "brands" they decided to keep the "World Tag Team Championship" on Raw and debut the "WWE Tag Team Championship" on Smackdown. The boys at Pro Wrestling Illustrated (cheap plug) are gonna have a massive headache trying to figure out the lineage for their yearly year-end almanac. Long story short Kane and The Hurricane lost the straps literally a week earlier to Jericho and Christian, who have been messing with Goldust and Christian for weeks. Goldust starts with Y2J...better make it Booker T and Christian. Booker starts out on offense and clotheslines Christian to the ground. He goes for Jericho but Christian cuts him off but heel kicks him for 1...2..nope. Goldust tag in and mule kicks Christian for a 2 count before Y2J tags back in. Goldust cuts him off and does the Runnells Punch then Thumps him. Goldust knocks Christian off the apron then slingshots Jericho over the top onto Christian. Booker throws Jericho into the ring where Goldust punches him in the corner until Christian hotshots the bizzare one off the top rope. Jericho delivers a missle dropkick and covers for a near fall. Jericho calls himself the king of the world then jumps on Goldust before tauting Hogan style. The heels make frequent tags and Christian prevents Goldust to make the tag as they continue to isolate him. Goldust hits a standing powerslam on Christian as Booker T checks out his hand. "Bet he wants to do a spinaroonie too" says Lawler.  Y2J tags in so Goldust makes the hot tag to Booker who unloads offense on both the canadians. Booker misses with the scissors kick but delivers a spine buster to Jericho for 1...2...nope. Booker turns a charge into a sunset flip for a nearfall but misses the axe kick and crotches himself on the top rope. Christian runs in and Goldust blind tags in then sets Christian up for shattered dreams. The ref is busy trying to get Jericho out of the ring so Goldust runs and kicks Christian in the junk.....its up and its good! Jericho charges and Booker drop toe holds him head first into the package causing poor Christian even less chance to have children. Goldust rolls up Y2J for a near fall then goes for the Curtain Call but Jericho rolls out of it. Jericho applies the Walls of Jericho until Booker hits the scissors kick to break up the submission then Goldust rolls over on top for 1...2..nope, Christian pulls Goldust to the outside to break up the count. Booker baseball slides Christian into the barricade then goes upstairs where he delivers a missle dropkick to Y2J. Booker does the spinaroonie as Christian grabs the tag belt then charges only to be heaved over the top rope by Booker. Jericho goes for his springboard missle dropkick but THE SECOND ROPE BREAKS and Jericho falls flat on his face. Good thing he didn't hurt himself as he quickly gets up and backdrops Booker T over the top to the floor. Goldust runs in and bulldogs Y2J and covers but Christian puts the foot on the rope to break the count. Booker and Christian brawl into the crowd as Jericho bulldogs Goldust face first on the tag belt. He instinctively goes for the lionsault but remembers theres no second rope so he just goes upstairs and delivers a moonsault. Jericho covers for 1...2.....3 and the Canadians retain. Good match with absolutely no rest-holds but the rope breaking was a bad omen for the night ahead.

Time of Match: 8:46

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

We go backstage to Funaki, SMACKDOWN NUMBA WUN ANNOUNCA, who interviews Al Wilson, Torrie's father. To give Dawn Marie and Torrie something to do, they brought Torrie's actual father and have him start dating Dawn Marie. Unfortunately, this would only be the beginning of a horrific storyline which will play out on Smackdown in the upcoming months. Torrie just caught Dawn days earlier in the shower with him. Yeah, if you ever wonder why everyone's happy that Vince is gone, he made Torrie Wilson's own father a pawn in a storyline.

Match 2

Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson

Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

    As if the whole soap opera wasn't bad enough, now we have to see these two in the ring? Dawn hops up on the apron and Torrie dropkicks her off to start the match. Torrie works her over outside before throwing her in as the bell rings meanwhile Cole and Tazz tell us Al Wilson's recent actions. Torrie ducks under a clothesline and delivers a series of her own before whipping Dawn into the corner. A charge eats boot so Dawn starts kicking away at Torrie as Michael Cole asks why Al would date the one girl who Torrie doesn't like. Tazz "Cause Dawn's hot...duh!" Torrie hits a sunset flip for a 1 count before Dawn flips over the corner and shoulderblocks a charging Torrie in the mid-section. Dawn snaps her off the top rope but Torrie baseball slides Dawn to the ground. On the outside Dawn rams her back first into the side of the ring before putting the boots to her inside the ring. Michael Cole hypes up the Rebellion pay per view up in England the week after this event. Dawn whips Torrie into the corner then stomps away at her again, booooooring, do something else please. Dawn applies a rest hold as Cole says Torrie's beaten her in a bikini contest and a lingerie bowl but Dawn beat her in a mixed tag match thanks to Matt Hardy. Dawn scoop slams Torrie and hits an in-between the legs headbutt, which Tazz scoffs saying that shouldn't hurt. Cole "You have no idea if that would hurt or not, least I hope not" Dawn starts screaming at Torrie in her New York accent before Torrie takes her down and they start cat fighting. They roll over referee Mike Sparks and he appears to enjoy it......didn't Torrie do the same sequence with Stacey Keibler 2 months ago at Global Warning? Actually this time Sparks grabs a hold of Dawn and all 3 roll together before he prys her off Torrie, hops up and cheers himself as the crowd and Tazz laugh it up. Tazz "What a sick man he is!" Dawn looks mortified and shoves him before kicking Torrie in the mid-section. Dawn whips her in the corner but the charge eats boot but she runs right into a clothesline. Dawn whips Torrie off but puts her head down so Torrie counters with a boot and a snap suplex. The cover only gets 2 then Torrie hits another baseball slide but again the cover only gets 2. Torrie throws Dawn by the hair then slingshots her in the corner then school girls her for 1....2..nope. Dawn charges but Torrie hits the sorriest looking hot shot I've seen in a while but hits a nice running neckbreaker for 1.....2....3 and this ones over. Torrie says that was for her dad but unfortunately the storyline was far from over. The match wasn't too bad thanks to the referee hijinks but the REAL women's match would be later on in the night.

Time of match: 4:40

Winner: Torrie Wilson by pinfall

We cut to Jonathan Coachman interviewing Rob Van Dam on his upcoming match with Ric Flair. Ric cost RVD the World title at Unforgiven so this is the big grudge match so to speak. The heel turn by Ric was awesome for HHH claimed in Ric's prime he was a viscous heel which made him one of the best wrestlers of all time, so by turning heel he regained his fire so to speak. Rob says he's not kiss stealing, jet flying, etc but he's more "Chair smashing" *struts* "Frog splashing" *struts* "Risk Taking" *struts* "Yinning and Yanging" *struts* "Van Daminating dude named Rob....Van...Dam" You have to see it to appreciate it. Rob walks off as Coach notices Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and Tracy walk by. Lesnar and Paul ignore him as Tracy runs down Taker saying he's a scumbag. Like I said earlier, this was the continuation of the feud which would end inside Hell in a Cell later tonight.

Match 3

Rob Van Dam vs "Nature Boy" Ric Flair

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

 The 16 time champion turned on Rob Van Dam last month then cost him another shot the previous Raw. They brawl on the outside to start the match as Rob executes a dropkick from the second rope then does the leg drop on the guardrail he used so famously on Jerry Lynn. Finally back inside the bell rings and its officially underway. Rob goes upstairs and delivers a missledropkick then cartwheel moonsaults onto Flair for 1....2..nope, kicked out. Flair begs off so Van Dam dropkicks him in the corner before Flair gets a thumb to the eye. Flair chops RVD in the corner but Rob whips into the corner where he Flair Flips back down. Flair runs into a spinning heel kick then pounds away with right hands as Lawler says "Flair's 53? Dawn Marie will be hitting on him next!" Hell I'd rather have seen THAT than Al Wilson because at least Kidman could wrestle Flair and keep the women outside....anyway back to the match. Flair charges into an elbow and an RVD springboard dropkick for a near fall before Flair begs off again. Flair low blows Rob then attacks the left leg, great ring tactics by Flair. Van Dam can't go arial on one leg so Flair goes old school on the left leg. Flair chops him in the corner before stomping a mudhole in him, vintage Flair right here. Flair chokes RVD in the bottom corner and uses the 5 count effectively then woo's the irate crowd. Flair chops and punches Van Dam in the middle of the ring then continues to work over the left leg. Van Dam rallies with chops and right hands before Flair rakes the eyes then kicks the leg out once again. Great ring psychology even if it does go unappreciated by the fickle fans of today, the arial artist can't fly if the savy veteran takes the legs out. Flair chopblocks RVD and stomps another mudhole in him as Lawler says how hot Tracy is. JR retorts by saying Undertaker's a married a man. King "So what, Tracy's hot!"  JR "To some people, wedding vows mean something!" Oh snap....King won't like that one. Flair chops Rob in the corner then continues to use the right hands to knock Van Dam off his game. King "Do you think pregnant women are attractive?" Jr "What in the hell does that have to do with this???" Flair executes a backdrop then calls for the figure four before applying it.....uh oh. Rob cries and screams in pain then writhers about, trying to reverse the momentum which he eventually does. Flair breaks then stomps Van Dam outside the ring, so rob shoulderblocks and sunset flips back in for a near fall. Rob backslides for a 2 count then misses a dropkick as the cagey veteran holds on to the ropes to block the kick. Flair struts then goes for another figure four, but Rob counters with a cradle for 1...2...nope. Rob charges but eats elbow then Flair goes upstairs, only to be thrown off. Rob hits rolling thunder for a 2 count, heel kicks him then goes upstairs. He calls for the 5....STAR...FROGSPLASH and hits it, then takes forever to cover Flair for 1......2..3...and Van Dam wins it. Great ring psychology in this one although it got a little repetitive in the middle. Van Dam gets a little bit of revenge for the world title lost last month.

Time of match: 7:58

Winner: Rob Van Dam by pinfall

We cut to Big Show of all people and Stephanie McMahon discussing the possibility of Show jumping to Smackdown. Eric Bischoff appears asking just what the hell is going on so Steph takes off. Big Show then cuts a promo saying how he hasn't been on a ppv since Vengeance (true) and hasn't main evented a ppv in god knows how long. (He was in the main event of the previous Survivor Series but that involved 9 other men, meaning his last real main event had to be Wrestlemania 16 in 2000, also involving other guys) and he's sick of being just a big doofus with his thumb up his ass. Eric scoffs and tries to run him down but Big Show slams him up against a row of trays and says Eric better push him in main events or he's gonna snap his neck. JR and King then hype up the upcoming Winner Take All match between Kane and Triple H before showing a highlight package of the history of the IC title, why end something so prestigious is beyond me. It does show my favorite moment of Steve Austin throwing the belt in the river and The Rock's response to it. On to the next match....

Match 4

Tajiri vs Jamie Noble (with Nidia) for the WWE Cruiserweight Champiobship

Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

  Noble and Nidia had a fight on Smackdown and picked their buddy Tajiri to be the referee for the match, after the end of it they both turned on him setting up this showdown. Michael Cole "Jamie Noble may be freaky but he's been a great cruiserweight champion, holding it for 4 months now" Yes, a rare logical fact uttered by Michael Cole. Noble walks to the ring and into a baseball slide by Tajiri, who then moonsaults Jamie on the floor.....this is the 3rd match in a row that's started like this. Tajiri springboard moonsaults Noble then throws him inside for a quick nearfall. Noble whips Tajiri into the corner and delivers a knee to the back. Jamie stomps a mudhole in Tajiri and then taunts him and the crowd before executing a snap mare/kick to the back combination. Tajiri then reverses a neckbreaker into his own much deadlier kick to the back combo. Tajiri scoop slams Jamie, drops a knee to the forehead then covers for a near fall. Noble goes for a sunset flip but Tajiri sommersaults out of the ring....now that's innovative. Tajiri buzz-saw kicks Noble from the outside then crawls in for the cover 1...2..nope, too early. Noble whips Tajiri into the corner where he flips onto the shoulders of Noble who carries him across the ring and slams him backwards to the canvas. Jamie covers for a near fall then executes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for another near fall. Noble applies a surfboard for about 30 seconds before Tajiri powers out of it then goes for a crucifix, which Jamie counters with a samoan drop. They trade a series of near-falls before Noble stands and taunts the crowd before whipping Tajiri hard into the corner. Tajiri rolls through a slam into a sunset flip but Noble rolls through that and delivers an elbow to the back. Noble delivers knees to the back then goes back to the surfboard, where Tazz applauds the mat wrestling. Tajiri powers out but Noble delivers a series of shoulders to the back in the corner. Noble atomic drops Tajiri on the top turnbuckle then goes for a back superplex, but Tajiri fights him off. Tajiri goes for a moonsault, Noble moves, Tajiri lands on his feet and kicks Jamie in the mid-section. Tajiri runs up the turnbuckle then delivers a spinning tornado ddt that gets a pop from the crowd. Things degenerate into fisticuffs where Tajiri takes over with a bunch of kicks to the ribs. A fired up Tajiri delivers his spring board back elbow smash then goes for the buzz-saw kick which Noble blocks, only to nail Jamie with a savate kick to the chin. Tajiri covers for 1....2...nope, Noble gets the shoulder up as Nidia damn near has a heart attack outside the ring, Tajiri then does A STANDING TARANTULA then hits a german suplex, he bridges and we got 1....2.....NOOOOO, Noble kicks out just in time. Noble charges into the corner where Tajiri finally does the real tarantula and breaks at 4. Tajiri misses the buzz-saw kick and Noble goes for the tiger bomb, which Tajiri counters by slingshotting him into the ring post. Jamie turns around into the buzz-saw kick then Tajiri covers...but oh wait....Nidia climbs on the apron to distract referee Brian Hebner by kissing him. Tajiri gets up and gets between them allowing Noble to nail him from behind then deliver the Tiger Bomb for 1...2...nooooo, Tajiri kicks out at 2. Tajiri hops on Noble's shoulder and goes for a victory roll but Nidia grabs onto Jamie's ankles and he falls onto Tajiri for 1....2....3 and Noble's your winner. Nidia grabs the belt and hands it to Noble as Tajiri grabs a hold of her then.....kisses her deeply. Tajiri comes up for air as Nidia is smiling from ear to ear while Noble goes :-O. He then says "Whataya think yer doin? Let me show ya how a man does it!" then he kisses her until Tajiri has enough and buzz-saw kicks their heads simultaneously. Heh, the crowd loved that spot. Not the worst but not significant either, pretty average cruiserweight match.

Time of match: 8:14

Winner: Jamie Noble by pinfall (still Cruiserweight champion)

We cut to Chris Benoit looking for Eddie Guerrero in the back. He finally catches him and says Chavo is getting his brains beat in by Kurt Angle, but Eddie doesn't believe him due to what's happened recently on Smackdown. You can clearly hear Chavo screaming behind the locked door as Eddie refuses to believe it and scoffs at Benoit. Finally the door opens, Chavo is thrown out of the room, and sure enough Kurt Angle walks out. Eddie charges but officials pull them apart as Kurt and Benoit share a laugh. The idea was to get Los Guerreros hot since Angle and Chris were set to take on Edge and Rey Mysterio later on in the night for the new WWE Tag Team Championships. On to the Raw main event...

Match 5

Kane vs Triple H for the WWE Intercontinental and World Heavyweight championships (Winner take all)

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

 Normally title vs title matches like this are a dead give away the IC Champion is going to win since what the hell does the world champion need the IC title for, but with HHH involved this may not be on the level. As I said earlier, the whole saga with Kane being a murderer and HHH pretending to dry hump a dummy won the dubious 2002 Gooker Award for worst storyline of 2002. Someone actually went on record who was involved in the booking said Vince thought it was a great idea and really psyched for it, and the employee in the interview said the whole room thought it was disturbing. For the sake of keeping my sanity I'll just leave it at that and get on with the match. They just stare at each other for a whole minute before Kane backs HHH into the corner, using the power advantage. Triple H lands a right hand but Kane answers with one of his own that floors the champ. Triple H goes on offense but is whipped into the corner, however a sloppy charge eats knee. Kane pounds away on HHH in the corner finishing with an uppercut. Triple H runs off the ropes then Kane delivers a back bodydrop, then HHH bails to the outside to regroup. Triple H runs inside into right hands by Kane and a clothesline but the cover only gets a near fall. Kane again wails on HHH in the corner then whips him into the other corner where he delivers a running clothesline. Kane continues to fire away but this time he misses the charge completely. Triple H runs off the ropes and barely executes a neckbreaker, wow this looks sloppy so far. Triple H runs into the arms of Kane then squirms out but runs into a powerslam. Kane gets a near fall then continues with the right hands...boring. Kane bounces off the ropes but Triple H delivers a knee to the face then clotheslines him over the top rope to the floor. Triple H goes outside but runs into a choke, but gets a thumb to the eye to break away from the monster. Triple H puts the boots to Kane back inside then rams him head first into the top turnbuckle. A slugfest envelops in the corner until Triple H sneaks in a neckbreaker then covers for a near fall. Triple H lands yet another neckbreaker as the crowd begins to get very bored then he DOES IT AGAIN. If they want to tell a story that Kane has to come back from a bad neck to beat HHH, at least do different moves to the neck. Hunter pounds on Kane in the corner, whips him to the far side but the charge eats elbow. Kane runs right into a spinebuster but Helmsley's cover only gets 2. Triple H guillotines Kane on the second rope which is an impressive show of strength as Hunter slowly delivers a boot. Kane rallies with right hands but Hunter ducks under a clothesline and applies a sleeper hold, great..more rest holds. Kane doesn't exactly fade but he goes down,  then gets up and delivers a back suplex to the champion. Kane runs off the ropes but misses the elbow drop but Hunter runs straight into a big boot. Kane delivers a running clothesline into the corner then executes a one armed sidewalk slam. Kane goes upstairs and delivers a flying clothesline that knocks The Game down. Ric Flair runs out and hits the ring which causes Kane to throw referee Earl Hebner out of the way to get to Flair. Ric snaps Kane off the top rope where HHH pounces with right hands then runs off the ropes....into yet another big boot. Flair brings the WHC belt in the ring and drops it for Hunter as Kane puts the boots to him. Triple H winds up and levels Kane with the belt then covers for 1.....2...nope. All of a sudden The Hurricane hits ringside and beats on Flair outside, he throws Ric into the stands but turns around into a pedigree by  Hunter. Apparently Kane and The Hurricane were tag teaming recently on Raw. Kane sits up and rallies with clotheslines then right hands into the corner before finishing with a running powerslam. Kane covers for 1....2..nope, HHH kicks out as Flair yells at the ref. Hunter climbs to the second rope but Kane catches him in midair then drives him into the buckle. Kane sits Hunter on the top rope and fires away with right hands before being shoved off by HHH. The Game jumps into a boot from Kane then falls backwards, before Kane sits up and calls for the chokeslam. Kane grabs the neck but Hunter blocks it so Kane goes for another big boot....which catches Earl Hebner as Hunter moves out of the way. Kane charges but Hunter backdrops him over the top rope to the floor but Kane catches Hunter then chokeslams him through the Spanish announce table. Ric Flair runs over to distract Kane only to be met with a right hand that sends him flying. Kane throws Hunter inside and covers him, meanwhile Ric Flair goes underneath the ring and grabs the sledgehammer. Ric goes inside and goes to hit Kane but Kane catches it and thows Flair out of the ring. Kane stalks Hunter with the sledgehammer but The Game boots Kane in the nads, making him drop the hammer. Hunter goes to waffle Kane but Kane catches him and puts Hunter in the tombstone position, only to be hit in the nads with the hammer..OWWWWWW, that's gotta hurt. After a bit, Kane staggers to his feet and somehow executes the chokeslam on Hunter then covers. Another referee runs into the ring and counts 1....2..noooo, Flair pulls him out then punches him out. Flair goes upstairs but jumps into a chokeslam by Kane. Hunter drives Kane into the buckle then delivers the Pedigree in the center of the ring. Hunter covers, Hebner revives and counts 1.....2......3....awww shit. Yup, for the first time in history the IC champion LOSES in a winner take all match. Bad match and even worse ending as Ric Flair wrestled as much in 5 minutes as Hunter did in 16, not the best way to end the IC title. After ALL that HHH put Kane through, he comes out on top anyway. Get used to that, folks.

Time of Match: 16:12

Winner: Triple H by pinfall (World Heavyweight and IC Titles are unified)

Back to Stephanie in her office, she's visited byTracy and we're subjected to a girl talk segment. Tracy claims that she wanted to forget what Mark (yes, the writers of this garbage had The Undertaker's real name said on screen) did but Paul Heyman called her up and told her to bring the past up. Stephanie then gets her to confess that its all a flim flam as The Undertaker himself walks in. He calls Tracy a lying bitch then thanks Steph for the tip off. Steph tells Tracy to get lost and we never see her again. They could have eliminated the entire Tracy aspect of this equation and focus just on the cast the last few weeks and no one would have complained. Oh well...

Match 6

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

Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

 This is the finals for the new tag team titles on Smackdown. Again, in terms of lineage, the World Tag Team Titles are the ones that's been around forever but yet these new belts are the WWE Tag Team titles. Anyway, Edge and Mysterio had defeated Brock Lesnar and Tajiri, Ron Simmons and D-Von Dudley beat Billy and Chuck, then Los Guerreros beat Rikishi and Mark Henry, Angle and Benoit beat Billy Kidman and John Cena to finish the first round. Edge and Mysterio defeated Simmons and D-Von to advance to the finals as Angle and Benoit took care of Los Guerreros on Smackdown to set up the finals. Angle and Benoit must co-exist or else they will be suspended since they had been feuding the past 2 years or so. Mysterio starts out with Angle and he goes behind Rey and won't let go, so Rey stomps on his foot to break the hold. Angle hops around then runs after Rey who counters with a fireman's carry and a dropkick to the knee, Rey delivers a lightning quick leg drop then hops up on the second rope where he delivers a hurracarrana where he flips over Angle's head, great spot. Rey delivers a drop-toe-hold then slaps Angles heads which angers Kurt to chase Mysterio out of the ring. Rey tags in Edge who gets a pop then he locks up with Kurt, then they do a nice chain wrestling sequence before Angle shoulderblocks him to the ground. Edge delivers a series of arm drags and a dropkick. Kurt trash talks Edge then makes the tag to Benoit who circles around with Edge before tying up. They chain wrestle with Benoit getting the early advantage before Edge backs him into the corner. Benoit executes a headlock takeover then holds it until Edge powers out of it. Benoit runs straight into a knee to the midsection then Edge follows up with a stomach breaker but the cover only gets a near fall. Edge continues to work over Benoit then delivers a flapjack then majistrol cradles him up for a near fall. Edge bounces off the ropes but Angle drives a knee to the small of the back to stop the momentum. Chris sends Edge off the ropes where he spears Angle off the ring apron. Edge does a running roll up for a near fall but he's kicked off where Angle grabs him then snaps him throat first off the top rope. Benoit delivers a clothesline then a neckbreaker before tagging Kurt back in. Angle stomps away at Edge before trading blows in the center of the ring until Kurt catches him with a knee to the midsection. Kurt covers for a near fall before applying a sleeper hold. Edge powers out of it then fires away at Kurt in the corner but gets whipped into the other corner. Angle charges but Edge gets the boot up, only to run into a BtB suplex from Kurt. Angle taunts Mysterio as Benoit tags in to deliver more punishment to Edge. He goes with rights and lefts in the corner then stomps away before sending Edge sternum first into the far corner. Benoit continues to fire away before doing his 3 german suplex in a row combination. Chris knocks Rey off the apron then gives the sign for the flying headbutt before going upstairs. Edge gets up and knocks Chris crotch first onto the top turnbuckle before delivering a superplex which the crowd loved. Edge slowly makes it over too his corner where he tags in a fired up Rey Mysterio. Rey knocks Angle off the apron as retaliation then does a spinning hurracuranna to Benoit. Benoit staggers and Rey delivers a drop-toe-hold which sends Benoit into the bottom turnbuckle. Rey runs across the ring and delivers a low dropkick in the corner as Angle runs inside only to be met with a dropkick. Rey positions Chris back first into the second rope then delivers a springboard guillotine leg drop, nice one. Rey covers for 1....2..and nooooo, Kurt breaks up the count which causes Edge to run and clock him. Edge clotheslines himself and Angle over the top and out while Benoit counters a wheelbarrow bulldog by throwing Rey down.  Benoit locks in the crippler crossface and Rey looks like he's about to tap when Edge runs in and saves the day. Angle pulls Edge out so they brawl on the outside as Rey dropkicks Benoit into the second rope then calls for the 6-1-9. Rey goes for it but Benoit catches him and goes for a running powerbomb but Edge flies off the top rope unnoticed and dropkicks Rey on top of Benoit for 1....2...nooooo, Chris kicks out at the last second. Rey slowly goes upstairs when all of a sudden Angle runs into the ring and up the turnbuckle then delivers a sick BtB suplex off the top rope. Chris crawls over and covers for 1...2...noooo Rey gets the shoulder up. Chris and Kurt isolate Mysterio in the corner as Angle tags in and works over the battered and bruised Rey. Tazz makes a comment how he was undersized like Mysterio so he got beat up on a nightly basis. Kurt delivers a floatover suplex for a near fall then applies a front headlock. Rey delivers a nothern lights suplex but runs smack into a BtB suplex by Angle. Kurt covers for 1....2...negative, Rey gets shoulder up. Benoit tags in who backdrops Mysterio about 9 feet in the air, yikes but the cover only gets 2. Benoit executes a suplex then covers for another near-fall then knife edge chops him in the corner. A charge by Benoit eats boot then Rey hurracaranna's Benoit shoulder first into the ring post. Benoit crawls over and tags in Angle but Mysterio crawls and makes the hot tag to Edge who cleans house with clotheslines. Edge delivers a backbody drop to Kurt then faceplants Benoit in the center of the ring. Edge ducks under an Angle clothesline and delivers Edge-o-matic with a bridge for 1...2...no, Benoit breaks up the count. Mysterio whips Edge into the corner where he hits his Spear before he whips Mysterio into Benoit who delivers a bronco buster. Edge delivers a spear to Angle in the corner then flips Rey over his head who delivers a hurracaranna off the top rope, holy shit that was good. Benoit goes upstairs and Edge covers for 2 before rolling out of the way where Benoit connects with the flying headbutt on his own partner. Mysterio dropkicks Benoit through the ropes and to the outside as Edge covers Angle for 1...2...new champi....no, Angle kicks out. Angle recovers and delivers a released german suplex then gives the sign for the angle slam. Rey runs and Edge flips him over who plancha's onto Angle, holy crap times two. Edge gives the sign for the spear but Benoit trips him up from behind and locks in the crossface before Edge makes it to the rope. Benoit refuses to let go so Rey delivers a 619 out of nowhere but also out of nowhere comes Angle who executes the angle slam on Mysterio. Kurt pulls the singlet straps down then applies the ankle lock on Edge, who kicks Angle off then cradles him up for 1.....2...NOOOO wow that was close. Edge hits the spear on Kurt for 1....2..nope, Benoit saves the day. Edge flips Mysterio over the top rope and onto Benoit on the outside. Edge goes for the Edgecution but Angle switches out and applies the ankle lock in the center of the ring. Edge manages to roll out and apply an anklelock of his own, but Angle rolls through that then re-applies the hold. Tazz "You can't outwrestle Angle" and sure enough Edge taps out to end the match. Angle and Benoit are the new WWE Tag Team Champions. That was awesome and everyone knew it to. 

Time of match: 21:58

Winners: Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit by submission (New WWE Tag Team Champion)

Back in the trainers room, Undertaker tells the Larry the trainer to shoot him up with pain killers so his broken hand doesn't act up on him during Hell in a Cell later on. Larry is reluctant to do it but does it anyway. Pretty pointless segment but whatever, on to the next match.

Match 7

Victoria vs Trish Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Lisa Marie Varon was a fitness model in the 90's that somehow became one of The Godfather's hos and eventually trained to be a wrestler herself. The at this point 31 year old was rechristened Victoria, who's character was a psycho. The storyline was Trish and Victoria used to be fitness models but Victoria was jealous that Trish became world famous so she wants her revenge. In real life, they were both fitness models at one point but I doubt they ever worked on a project together. JR hypes up Victoria as a very evil woman as she backs Trish into the ropes where they exchange slaps to the face. Victoria applies a side headlock then takes her over with it before Trish powers out of it. Victoria delivers a clothesline then stomps away in the corner. Trish answers with a clothesline and a near-fall before doing a Steve Blackman like pump kick. She goes for another kick but Victoria blocks it then ducks under a roundhouse kick only to take a thrust kick square in the jaw, ouch. She covers for a near fall then Victoria bails to the outside for a breather. Trish slides outside and rams Victoria shoulder first into the ring post then clotheslines her down. Victoria staggers to her feet then throws Trish face first into the ring post then drops her sternum first into the black barrier. Victoria kicks Trish around as JR continues to hype Victoria as the second coming of Bull Nakano in terms of size, strength, etc which is weird because Trish is pretty much the same size as her. Trish slides in the ring as Victoria climbs to the apron then executes a slingshot flipover legdrop the covers for 1....2...nope. Victoria drives Trish into the corner with shoulderblocks then goes for a monkey flip, which causes Trish to land ass first on Victoria's face....someone screwed up. Either Victoria didn't kick her off enough or Trish didn't push off. Victoria goes for a second monkey flip but Trish counters by sitting her on the top rope and fires away with forearms. Trish delivers the Stratusphere and covers for 1.....2....negative, Victoria gets the shoulder up. Victoria gets up and applies a Jesse Ventura style backbreaker until Trish flips over for another near fall. Victoria slaps Trish across the face then delivers a scoop slam and a tilt-a-whirl sidewalk slam. Victoria goes upstairs but Trish puts her in victory roll position and falls backward to the canvas, then covers for 1...2...nope. They trade blows in the center of the ring before Trish hits the Chick Kick from out of nowhere and covers for 1...2....nope Victoria kicks out at 2. Trish delivers two swinging neckbreakers then goes for Stratusfaction but Victoria counters, so Trish does a running roll up for 1....2...3 and this one's over, Trish retains the title. After the bell Victoria kicks Trish in the throat which prompts referee Jack Doan to tackle Victoria. Jack tries to restrain Victoria and eventually rolls her out of the ring as JR calls Victoria a vixen.

Time of match: 5:32

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

    We go to Rikishi at The World over in Time's Square to give his 2 cents about the upcoming Hell in a Cell match. Rikishi picks Undertaker to win because of his track record, kind of hard to argue that. Next is a montage of the last month or so's events. My favorite was the Smackdown where Undertaker was chasing Matt Hardy backstage,  Lesnar attacked Taker then executed the F-5 to him on bags of popcorn. We then are treated to the whole Tracy storyline where Taker admits to not having seen her in 7 years, also my favorite where Tracy attempts to slap him across the face but catches him half heartedly behind the ear. Now we never have to say her name again. On to the main event.

Match 8

The Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) for the WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match

Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

 Lesnar had been dominating everything his path since his debut, but this would be his toughest challenge to date. Can he survive the the Cell and prove to be a worthy champion or will the dead man reign supreme? Taker enters wearing the cast which was declared legal by Stephanie three days earlier. The bell rings and Taker immediately goes to smash Lesnar's face in with the cast, but Brock moves out of the way. Brock locks in a go behind takedown before Taker runs off the ropes into a powerslam. A pinfall attempt gets 2 then Lesnar drives shoulders into the corner but the charge misses. Undertaker delivers a huge punch to the mid-section then goes on offense as the camera pans to show Lesnar's bandaged forehead. Taker goes to waffle Brock with the cast but Lesnar bails to the outside. Brock tries to go out of the cell but its padlocked so he tries to kick the door in. Taker stalks Brock back inside the ring who puts the boots to him, veteran move by the rookie. Brock attacks the injured arm in the corner before firing away with forearms to the back. Lesnar locks in an armbar on the injured arm before Taker catches him with a big right hand. Taker sends Brock off and nails him with the cast again, Taker grimaces in the corner as Heyman looks concerned then Brock bails to the outside. Brock blades on camera as Heyman screams NOOOO then Taker goes after the open wound of Lesnar. Taker throws Lesnar into the steel steps and Lesnar crashes into the cell as well. Taker begins throwing Lesnar in opposite directions of the cell then actually climbs it a bit to drop a knee on the champion. Taker rakes Lesnar's face against the cell then throws him off the cage into a clothesline. Taker covers for a near fall before raking Lesnar against the steel mesh of the cell. After manhandling Brock on the outside of the ring, Taker finally rolls him onto the ring apron as Tazz says he's never seen the champ dominated like this before. Taker continues to use the cast as a weapon then drops the leg across the face. Taker goes up to the top rope which is weird since there's a cell in the way, then he drops a knee before falling off the apron. Lesnar crumples to the floor as well before Taker covers for 1.....2....nope, too early. Taker throws Lesnar against the cell as Heyman reaches into the cell with his right arm. Taker just looks at him before delivering a right hand to the busted open forehead of the champion. Heyman calls him a bastard so Undertaker turns around and big boots Heyman much to Tazz's delight. Taker throws Lesnar against the steel steps as a busted open Paul Heyman staggers to his feet, only to be grabbed by the tie by The Undertaker through the cell. Taker rams Heyman against the cell using the tie a few times before Lesnar charges only to nail Heyman instead. Taker charges but Lesnar catches him then pancakes him against the cell, the momentum has shifted. Lesnar goes on offense for the first time in about 7 minutes and puts the boots to Taker. Brock grabs the belt that Taker tied around his cast and slips it through the cell into the hands of Heyman, who holds Taker up while Brock buries a chair to the back of the deadman. Lesnar then whacks the arm a bunch of times with the chair until the belt actually breaks in half, ouch. Lesnar tries to rip off the cast but cant so he tries to bite it off, prompting Taker to unload on him with fists. Brock continues to ram Taker's arm into the cell then desperately tries to rip the cast off. Lesnar takes too long to rip it off so Taker boots him in the face. Lesnar rolls Taker back inside and continues to stop on the injured arm as the crowd begins to get antsy. Lesnar FINALLY gets the cast off and rips it in half, yeah you show that cast who's boss!  Lesnar stomps away as Taker tries to cover up the now exposed broken right hand before Lesnar continues to attack, attack, attack. Brock suplexes Taker nut first on the top turnbuckle then rips his bandanna off before landing clubbing blows to the back. Lesnar grabs a hold of the ceiling of the cell and kicks  Taker repeatedly, that's impressive. Taker delivers a low blow then tosses Brock halfway across the ring as Heyman says "Oh please god no!" Taker walks across the top rope using the top of the cell for support then drops an elbow on the champion. Taker covers as Heyman screams...1.....2...nope, got the shoulder up. Lesnar goes to the floor then Taker dives through the ropes onto Lesnar into the cell. Taker goes to pick up the steel steps but his broken hand prevents him from picking them up. Lesnar attacks him then throws him into the cell before finishing with a clothesline. Brock picks up the steel steps and dents Taker's skull in with them, causing Taker to blade really bad. Its funny because Brock's face looks completely clear and the only blood remaining is in his buzz-cut. Brock once again slams the steel steps into Undertaker's cranium as Heyman struggles to get to his feet. Brock heaves the steps over the ring to the other side of the cell as Taker bleeds all over the floor. Brock chokes Taker with his boot against the cell then rolls him inside as Heyman celebrates. Taker completely forgets his injury and rallies with right hands before running into a spinebuster delivered by Lesnar. Brock covers for a near fall before going back on offense, both men appear to be spent. Brock pounds away at Taker in the corner before Taker connects with right hands (again forgetting the injury completely) and a clothesline. Taker stomps on Brock's right had as a form of redemption before giving the sign for Old School, however, he takes too long so Lesnar throws him off the top rope. Tazz makes the dumb comment that Undertaker has never been pinned in a Hell in a Cell, guess he forgot the very first HIAC where he got pinned by Shawn Michaels. Lesnar goes for the F-5 but Taker counters with a chokeslam (again ignoring his "injured" hand) then covers for 1.....2...NOOOOOO, Lesnar gets the shoulder up. Brock staggers to the corner where Undertaker delivers a running avalanche before sending him into the opposite corner. Taker charges but eats boot then Brock gives the sign for the last ride....stealing The Undertaker's finisher. However, Taker counters with a backdrop then delivers his running ddt. Taker covers..1.......2...noooooo, another kick out by Brock. Take gives the sign for the last ride but Lesnar counters with shoulders in the corner. Lesnar climbs the turnbuckle and goes for the 10 punch in the corner routine until Taker counters with the Last Ride out of nowhere. Taker covers...ONE...TWO....THR...nope, Lesnar grabs the bottom rope at the last possible moment. Taker is still bleeding like crazy and Brock is covered in Taker's blood, must not be a good feeling at all. Taker struggles to his feet beaten...spent....exhausted, then he gives the sign for the last remaining hold he knows....the Tombstone Piledriver. Taker goes for it but Lesnar counters by pulling on Taker's pants then putting Taker in the F-5 position. Lesnar BURIES the F-5 and covers for 1....2....THREEE and Lesnar wins it. Wow.....not as bad as I thought it would be, I'd say this was the second best match on the whole card. Lesnar exits the cell and grabs the WWE Title belt then climbs to the top of the cell. Brock poses on top of the cell as Michael Cole shills by saying "Can anyone stop this man?" as we go off the air. 

Time of match: 27:15

Winner: Brock Lesnar by pinfall (Still WWE Champion)

     

 Remember my editorial of King of the Ring where I said the matches were great but the storylines were absurd? Well not only were these storylines much MUCH worse, but the in ring action suffered as well. I will say the seeds were planted for Smackdown to take off as they boasted legitimate talent such as Rey Mysterio Jr, Matt Hardy, Edge, Brock Lesnar, The Guerrero's, Kidman, Tajiri, Kurt Angle and others, but they just needed proper storylines in order for the fans to tune in. The paid attendance for the event was just over 9 thousand fans, almost HALF the amount of the previous years No Mercy. When the second rope broke in the 1st match, that was an ominous sign for the matches that followed. The Raw matches besides Van Dam were mostly boring although once again Smackdown stole the show. Tomorrow night's Raw will be held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. I'll see you there.