Stojy watches WWE 2002

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
August 4th, 2002
Greensboro, North Carolina​

Earlier today, Matt Hardy cut a promo saying that he doesn’t accept losing to Steven Richards the way he did last week. He doesn’t accept failure, and he is Matt Hardy V1. Promo was pretty bland and bleh, although it does hype that he and Richards have a feud going, which is a positive for Heat. Also believe this is the first mention of V1 which has me excited.

Match One
Matt Hardy vs. Steven Richards

As much as I enjoyed a competitive series between these two on Heat, I think it was never in doubt who the more valuable guy is, and who should get the win here. In a fun sign of the future, Hardy begins to show some heel like tendencies, such as ripping off his top, but instead of throwing it into the crowd, he chokes Richards with it. We get a blockbuster finish though with Richards attempting a top rope move, and Matt reversing into a Twist of Fate from the top for the win. These two just have chemistry, putting on another solid match, and a really high level match for an episode of Heat. The crowd were into it as well which helps, solid match. **1/4​

Terri is backstage with William Regal who is in the main event against Goldust tonight. Regal reminds Terri that she was married to Goldust at one point. He is afraid of giving Goldust the thrashing of his life because he thinks Goldust might enjoy it. Regal says he has the power of the punch and Goldust will not like how it feels. Good stuff from Regal. Hypes his match with Goldust, and of course, I LOVED his over the top mannerisms as per usual.

We see a video package replay of Eric Bischoff announcing The Un Americans as his newest signings.

Raven makes his way to join The Coach and D’Lo Brown at the announce table. When Raven said he was going to make Heat his own personal playground, didn’t necessarily expect him to mean being a colour commentator.

Match Two
Justin Credible vs. Shelton Benjamin

An underwhelming first up debut for Shelton Benjamin here. He doesn’t look bad but Credible doesn’t make it easy to flow off him and create some good stuff. I guess the fact that Shelton won could be considered an upset of sorts, but Credible is barely on TV these days, and when he does, it’s not good. Whilst the match is bad, Shelton shows enough talent to be a long term prospect. He gets the win with his Dragon Whip spinning kick move. Big win for Shelton, still a slightly underwhelming match though. *1/2

Match Three
Johnny Stamboli vs. Spike Dudley

Why the hell am I sitting here marking out for Stamboli as he rocks the pimpin’ fur coat lol. This is the worst match of the night as Stamboli is awful. No surprises here as even Spike needs somebody decent in the ring. Thankfully they kept this one relatively short, as it should have been, and Stamboli shockingly wins, despite being the lesser of two names. Stamboli plants Spike with the Forget about It Side Slam to get the win. Crappy result and match. *​

Raven continues to bash D’Lo about cheating on his account exams, D’Lo listens and then gets up and punches Rave, sending him backwards. Raven falls to the floor and walks off while D’LO Brown is being calmed down by The Coach. This gets me excited for a potential match between these two again. Book it, damn it.

Match Four
Goldust vs. William Regal

Another bad match to finish a VERY bad episode. These two seem like they were phoning it in, mostly probably because they are on Raw most weeks, and this isn’t overly critical to them. They had less than five minutes which would usually be a complaint, but they dealt with it quite well. Surprising for sure, because I’ve never really considered Regal to much of a sprint guy, but he did okay here. I mentioned the positives, but the ending didn’t go down well, as Regal has to dig into his eyes for the brass knuckles, and he struggles to get them on, and struggles to much so that it must be fake. This allows Goldust to sneak with a Roll Up to get the win. Underwhelming finish and match *​

Another bad edition of Heat, starting to struggle getting through these B shows when there isn’t a hidden gem.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
August 5th, 2002
Baltimore, Maryland ​

The opening video recap shows Shawn Michaels being attacked and everyone is a suspect.

We start the show properly with some Chris Jericho in ring promo time. He welcomes everybody to “Monday Night Jericho”. This is his show now and only a certified genius like Eric Bischoff would bring him too Raw. Bischoff knows the difference between a superstar and a loser. But most of all, Bischoff knows the difference between a superstar like Jericho and a has been like Ric Flair, who even in his prime didn’t have half the talent of Jericho. JR isn’t happy on commentary, saying “I just totally disagree with that”. Triple H then interrupts and makes his way down to the ring. He says he doesn’t care why Jericho is on Raw. Triple H suggests Jericho has something to do with Shawn’s attack as a way to get back at him for the loss at WrestleMania. Jericho has no idea who did the attack and says it was not him. He asks wasn’t it Triple H who Pedigreed his so called “best friend”. Isn’t it Triple H who has a history of attacking people in the parking lot, in the name of being a Cerebral Assassin. Triple H says he was in the ring when it happened. He hit the Pedigree on Michaels for his own good, but still considers him his best friend. He believes Jericho didn’t attack Shawn, because Jericho doesn’t have the balls to do it. Triple H leaves but then Rob Van Dam comes out, and the fans chanting for him annoys Jericho. Jericho wants to know why RVD is out here. RVD welcomes Jericho to Raw. Rob then wonders what Jericho is smoking due to some of the things he has said. He wants Jericho to prove he’s the best by wrestling him tonight. Jericho accepts the match. They then start to fight with Jericho landing a Spinning Heel Kick and bailing to the floor to taunt RVD. Solid opening. Makes sense to start with Jericho after how last week ended. He was good and Triple H coming out and wanting to find out who attacked Shawn was good because it makes sense. Execution was solid, although H’s explanation that Jericho attacked Shawn just to get back at him for Mania was a HUGE reach. The RVD/Jericho part was fun to set up tonight’s main event.

Match One
Tables Match
Bubba Ray Dudley vs. The Big Show

This wasn’t very good. Maybe a little better than I expected after their horrible interactions in the Mixed Tag match last week, but that’s not saying much. It seems they try hard but it’s a tables match and these two aren’t creative here. So it’s the same generic table teases we’ve seen plenty of times, and it’s two bigger/slow guys just slowly moving around. Big screwy finish here with Trish Stratus coming down and distracting Show in an epic leather suit, allowing Spike Dudley to come from nowhere and Headbutt Show whilst wearing a football helmet. The blow causes Show to bounce off the ropes, and Bubba is able to Flapjack him through the table. Meh, not good. *3/4​

Footage is shown of The Un Americans attacking The Undertaker last week. They are then interviewed by Terri and they run down both ‘Taker and America. Sergeant Slaughter appears and tells Test he has a big problem with them. Test asks if he’s going to do anything about it, and Slaughter says he will if Test has the guts to do anything about it. I get the patriotic appeal here, I guess, but I don’t have a lot of interest in seeing Slaughter/Test. Hopefully they keep it short, and the right man wins.

We look back at The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young getting beaten down by 3 Minute Warning last week.

Match Two
WWE Hardcore Championship Match
Tommy Dreamer (c) vs. Bradshaw

This one surprisingly starts with the two coming face to face in the back, until Bradshaw hits Tommy with a kick to the face to start proceedings. They brawl out to the arena, through the crowd and then they finally get to the ring. JR tries to really promote the Hardcore division, calling it exclusive to Raw, but if you compare this to the Cruiserweight division, it’s almost laughable. This is not terrible and it’s not good either, but for what it was, it probably overstayed its welcome. There was a cool moment where Bradshaw threw Tommy into the stage though, basically breaking plastic. Surprisingly this stays one on one, and after stealing the title last week, Dreamer hits a DDT on the floor to retain here. Shock result, but still not a good match. Let’s see what Tommy can do as champion. *3/4​

Backstage, William Regal and Christopher Nowinski are chatting when WWE Womens Champion Molly Holly and Victoria enter the scene. Molly says that her and Victoria have been training all week and Victoria can’t wait for her match against Trish Stratus tonight. Eventually, after Molly leaves, Nowinski reveals he wants to take Molly’s virginity and has to read the back of her trunks to remember Victoria’s name. This was fine. Hyped the women’s match tonight, and I’m pumped for Victoria’s debut. On top of that, Nowinski was the man here, so yes, this was okay.

Backstage, Goldust is talking with Booker T about being mad at Mike Myers for stealing his idea as a golden member. As retaliation, Goldust introduces Mini Dust, who almost immediately starts humping Booker’s leg. Booker shoves him off. Triple H then comes over and accuses Booker of attacking Shawn Michaels. Booker says he doesn’t care about what happened, but he’s happy about it. Booker gets all angry after Triple H threatens him with the sledgehammer if he’s lying, before leaving. ANOTHER epic comedy segment from Goldust/Booker that you need to go watch if you haven’t before. Also I like that Triple H approached Booker, knowing of his reason issues with Michaels, and it continues to bubble H’s investigation arch along well enough.

Eric Bischoff is on the phone with Sony Pictures, saying that he’s glad to be able to debut the new XXX film trailer. Howard Finkel comes in and asks if he can challenge Lilian Garcia to be the official ring announcer. Bischoff doesn’t care but decides that they can alternate matches and let the fans decide. Fink agrees, and then says he has a letter for Bischoff. The letter turns out to be from Stephanie McMahon, listening various talents appearing on this week’s Smackdown. Bischoff doesn’t want to hear it and dismisses Fink. The Finkel/Garcia stuff is god awful so not enjoying the start of this at all. The ongoing Bischoff/Steph war is fun though.

Test vs. Sergeant Slaughter is supposed to be next but Test attacks him from behind and just beats the hell out of him. The match never starts. This match was always going to be awful, so this is probably the best way they could have booked this. Test looks successful and even more hated which is a good thing.

Match Three
Booker T and Goldust vs. Christipher Nowinski and William Regal

Three guys who can go set out a standard tag team match formula for Nowinski to follow and the result is good. This is easily the best thing on the show so far. A competitive match and it’s nice to see a match on Raw get some time to showcase the tag division. Regal and Nowinski weather the storm of the fired up babyface team early, before working over Goldust by injuring his arm. Booker and Goldust in particular are just so damn entertaining, their act is fantastic. Goldust and Booker end up getting the win, when Booker is able to finish Regal off with the Scissors Kick. Good stuff. **3/4​

After the match, Booker goes to leave the ring, but Goldust stops him. Goldust wants Booker to do the Spinaroonie. Booker does it and the fans are happy. Hell yeah, love these two together.

Next up, Triple H accuses the Un Americans of attacking Shawn Michaels last week and they say they planned to, but somebody beat them to it. Triple H smashes a table with his sledgehammer to show how angry he is. Another solid segment to keep this bubbling along.

Backstage, Rob Van Dam is stretching, and Chris Jericho is preparing for the main event. Yay. I’m looking forward to this one.

Match Four
Trish Stratus vs. Victoria

Molly Holly joins JR and The King on commentary, and look, this match is not very good, but it’s just fun to see Victoria, who would become a staple of the decision, getting her first shot at Raw here. It’s clear she’s pumped up and trying really hard as well. The King is killing me on commentary and not in a good way, as he asks if Molly is a virgin, and then asks, “do you have a fondness for cherries”? Whilst it’s not a good match, it is memorable to me, because in what is completely shocking, Victoria manages to get the win here. And she holds the ropes on her pin to get the win, and that’s after she already faked an injury earlier in the match. Nice heelish tactics and a memorable debut for Victoria, and that’s a positive, but the match still wasn’t good. *3/4​

After the match, Molly and Victoria attack Trish. Trish fights back though, booting Victoria down and then hitting Molly with a Bulldog. Can’t wait for the Trish/Vickie matches a little later on the year.

Triple H now accused The Big Show of attacking Shawn Michaels and Show said he didn’t but is angry about being accused. Solid stuff here, building the angle logically.

Match Five
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
The Un Americans (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz

Solid match although it’s sad to see that The Hardyz are clearly washed in terms of this run as a tag team. The crowd reaction is definitely only simmering slightly at the moment, and it seems like they’ve stopped putting in as much effort as before. It is still solid but very clearly a throwaway match that doesn’t matter, which again is disappointing for a team like The Hardyz to be relegated to this type of scenario. The champs were both on their game here which helped the match a lot. The Un Americans are completely capable team as shown here, but they didn’t get enough time to really drag something about of The Hardyz unfortunately. Jeff reverting back to teaming with Matt shows just how quickly his apparent push has been messed up. I think it’s a mix of him being messed up and inconsistent, but also the booking was bad. To go from facing ‘Taker, to facing Regal for the Euro Title is a HUGE step down. Jeff was the odd one out here as he’s clearly the only talent here not performing well. He still gets a big pop from the crowd though. In the end, after Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb on Storm, Matt goes for the pin, but Christian pulls out the referee, and this one ends on a DQ. Low level solid work from four guys, who honestly should be doing better. **​

After the match, Test runs down and Big Boot’s Matt, but Undertaker runs down and attacks Christian and Storm with a chain. Test manages to escape before ‘Taker can catch him, and they all run to the back and get in a car. They drive off before ‘Taker can catch up to them. ‘Taker steals a police motorcycle and chases after them. ‘Taker wanting revenge makes sense, and obviously stealing the motorbike makes him look tough.

Eric Bischoff is standing at the top of the aisle talking. He’s going to settle the ring announcer issue in a moment. First of all though, he promises a surprise for Triple H later on. He has something that will answer all the questions. Now, onto Howard and Lilian. The announcers take turns plugging the movie XXX and it’s accompanied by a trailer. Lilian gets a better reaction than Fink and Fink says that Lilian has no experience over him and uses a sailor analogy. Speaking of sailors, Lilian says that she hears he has a hard time getting his sail up. Bischoff then sends 3 Minute Warning out and Fink pushes Lilian towards them and escapes, leaving Jamal and Rosey to destroy Lilian. This ring announcer stuff is not enjoyable to be honest, but I like the 3 Minute Warning gimmick so far.

Match Six
Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam

A really good main event here and a strong showing for Jericho on his first night on a new brand. This was probably even better than their match at King Of The Ring earlier this year. Being an episode of Raw and smaller match times, Jericho wrestled more aggressively and opposed to a slow build, they wrestled a fast pace, which suits them both better. Match of the night here and it’s not really close. They started on fire with Jericho trying his darndest to keep RVD grounded, but Van Dam explodes with crazy flips and dives. Jericho hits a Release German Suplex and RVD does that crazy bump he does, where it looks like he’s just landing on his head. It’s scary to watch even when you kind of know it’s coming. The match ends when the ref goes down so Jericho gets himself a steel chair. Jericho ducks a Van Daminator attempt, and stabs RVD in the ribs with the chair. He hits RVD in the back as well but then Ric Flair comes down with a chair of his own and cracks it over the skull of Jericho. This allows RVD to nail the Five Star Frog Splash and get the win. A strong match and the booking made sense, with Flair getting revenge on Jericho. ***​

Eric Bischoff is back in the ring for another promo as he has a surprise for Triple H. Bischoff calls Triple H out to join him. Before Bischoff can even finish his sentence, Triple H immediately storms down to the ring. The surprise is a live feed from San Antonio so Triple H can talk to Shawn Michaels. Michaels is all bruised up and says he’s doing as good as he can all things considered. Triple H says he feels bad about what had happened. They’re cool with each other as they talk, with it seeming like the Pedigree has been forgotten. Shawn says they’ve always been able to work things out. Bischoff says that this satellite set up isn’t cheap but Triple H dismisses him. After they’re done making up, Triple H asks if Shawn remembers anything. Michaels only knows that the guy jumped him from behind and he woke up in the hospital. Triple H says he’ll find out who did this, and when he does, they’ll end up in hospital. Shawn announces they have a break in the case, the Greensboro police have sent Shawn some security footage which he hasn’t actually watched yet. We see footage of Michaels pacing back and forth when he’s sent into the car window headfirst. Triple H says that doesn’t really explain anything. Shawn isn’t safe, whoever did this can strike again at any time, and he needs to be very careful. We see a second version of the video, which is enhanced, and it’s confirmed that Triple H was the attacker. Michaels says, “it was you, Hunter”. We then get twenty seconds of silence before Triple H your damn right it was me. He was trying to prove a point. His motive was to show Shawn that he needs his protection. Michaels’ pride wouldn’t allow him to be a manager. He could have crippled Michaels, but he stopped. The doctors have told Shawn that he’ll make a one hundred percent recovery… By Summerslam. Triple H laughs and then asks if that is some kind of challenge. “What are you going to do? Talk me to death”. Triple H tells Michaels that his wrestling career is over and HBK is dead. Whether anyone likes it or not, there’s a new game in town, and this time he won’t stop. Shawn still wants to fight at Summerslam even though Triple H ask what happens if Shawn can’t take care of his family anymore. Shawn tells Triple H not to mention his family. He can’t wrestle like he could, he’s no longer the Show Stopper. But he can still fight, and they agree to a match at Summerslam as the show goes off the air. I mean, execution was solid enough, but just framed as this HUGE mystery when it never realty was, so this didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It felt forced. Don’t want to undersell the importance of Shawn Michaels returning to in ring action though. Such a MASSIVELY big deal, so I guess I’m somewhere split on how this final segment went, due to looking forward to what’s next.

Raw’s hot streak is over. This still wasn’t necessarily an awful show, but was middling, and that’s probably me being generous. Oh well, the run was good well it lasted.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
August 8th, 2002
Richmond, Virginia​

Michael Cole and Tazz welcome us to the show and promote the big match already announced for tonight’s show, Brock Lesnar vs. Hulk Hogan. This is of course after there’s an awesome video package which airs, hyping the match as well. A match that really could go either way, in terms of being okay or completely sucking. Shall be interesting to see which way it goes.

Match One
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle

A good second match against each other here. I honestly think this was better than their first match together, because the way it made sense was so logical. The first time, Cena constantly catches Angle off guard, but this time Kurt is expecting Cena, so he’s more prepared. Angle dominates big portions of this, showing just how ready he was this time around. Whilst Cena plays his role well, I still think it’s pretty obvious that Angle is carrying him here, and that’s fine. Angle wrestled more aggressively as well, putting over his anger at losing to Hulk Hogan last week. And Cena kept having these little bursts of momentum, but the timing was great, as just before Cena could completely take over, Angle would cut him off. They get eight minutes and put together some good stuff, and the ending comes as Cena Dropkicks Angle, who’s standing on the apron and Angle falls to the floor. Cena gets up in the ring, waiting to see if Angle will make it back in, but then Chris Benoit attacks him from behind and locks in the Crippler Crossface. The ref has no choice to call for the DQ. I wonder how much better this would have been if it got a proper finishing run. Also don’t really understand the reason for Benoit getting involved here, seems weird. Still, really enjoyable match though. *** ​

After the match, Rey Mysterio runs in to make the save and he hits a Hurricanrana which sends Benoit falling through the ropes and to the outside. Eddie Guerrero then comes from the crowd and takes out Rey, only for Edge to appear and drive Eddie from the ring. Angle is on the ring apron, thinking about getting back in, but Edge Spears him off the apron. The young face trio stands strong inside the ring, as the epic heels back up the ramp. The inclusion of Benoit didn’t make sense, but everybody else getting involved to save their proverbial buddy or whatever did so I’m okay with how this ended up.

Backstage, Marc Lloyd meets up with Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. He asks why they left Raw for Smackdown. They talk for a bit and then Benoit says he’s the master of submission. Kurt Angle overhears and comes over and says nobody makes people tap like him. He then asks what the deal was out there. Benoit says Cena had him beat out there before they go back and forth about competition. Smackdown has the best competition which is why they’re here according to Benoit. Kurt challenges Benoit to a match but Eddie keeps the peace saying the three of them should team up tonight against Cena, Edge and Rey. They agree and all three walk off. Good segment here. Love the tease of the tension between Angle/Benoit, but also these three in a team together should be AMAZING regardless of who their opponents are. The fact they have good opponents is just a bonus.

Match Two
Mark Henry vs. Reverend D’Von w/Deacon Batista

This wasn’t very good. Actually it was bad, they just didn’t work well together, so the match came along with no real pacing, and just had a really off feel to it. Just felt like an awkward chemistry between the two that was very noticeable. Henry used his strength to throw D’Von around in the early stages, and D’Von sold really well. There was an AMAZING moment where Henry hit a Harlem Sidekick! I marked. But yeah, a few moments aside, this wasn’t good. Henry eventually is able to knock Batista off the apron and then hit D’Von with a Running Powerslam for the win. I miss when Reverend D’Von looked like he was going to be a big deal. Anyway, match was meh at best. *1/2​

After the match, Batista and D’Von attack Henry, but Rikishi runs out for the save. D’Von ends up holding Batista back on the outside, and Rikishi challenges him to a match. Batista accepts and storms into the ring.

Match Three
Batista w/Reverend D’Von vs. Rikishi

This is worse than the last match. Rikishi just continues to somehow keep picking up wins, and Batista losing here isn’t what I would have expected. Based on the aftermath, there’s clearly a reason they’re going this way, but still, Batista losing so early on, to Rikishi of all people, is disappointing. On top of that, it was just a bad match. Batista’s to green to do anything worthwhile in the ring, and Rikishi is awful and lazy, officially passed his prime. In the end, D’Von tries to interference but accidentally hits Batista with a right hand instead of Rikishi, and that allows The Kish to get a Superkick for the win. Ugh, not good. Pretty rough actually. *1/4​

After the match, Batista is pissed with D’Von but that’s as far as it goes tonight. Clearly been building for the last couple of weeks for these two to split, and this continues that path.

Backstage, Brock Lesnar tells Paul Heyman that he’s going to Hulk Hogan’s dressing room. Brock goes in and asks Hogan if he really wanted his career to end tonight. Hogan says that Lesnar is young and full of life. If he was Brock, he’d put his title shot on the line to tonight to prove a point, and Brock accepts. Brock walks out of the locker room and Heyman yelled that he got suckered because Hogan’s defied the odds for twenty years. Lesnar asks if Heyman is losing confidence in him and then walks off. Brock being a little overzealous here and still showing off some of his inexperience is an interesting wrinkle in things here. Crazy foreshadowing but kind of feels like the first major time Brock just hasn’t taken Heyman’s advice as well. Wonder how that will go for him in the long run.

On the other side of the hallway, Nidia and Torrie Wilson are fighting and WWE Cruiserweight Jamie Noble and agents pull them apart. GIT ER NIDIA, GIT ER can be heard from Noble lol. Billy Kidman then entered the scene and attacked Noble. The fighting continues until the refs break it up. Not entirely sure where the Nidia/Torrie stuff came from, but this was harmless fun and sets up the mixed tag for later on so no issues from me.

Match Four
Billy and Chuck w/Rico vs. Shannon Moore and The Hurricane

Another solid match from these four who just clearly work well with each other. Watching Shannon Moore in this small window in 2002 here is pretty fun. He’s a good, plucky high flying Cruiserweight, especially with some of his performances on Velocity. The issue is that WWE will hire Brian Kendrick and Paul London soon, and they’ll play the exact same role, except better. Moore and Hurricane were great on offense here tonight though, really keeping up the pace up, keeping things entertaining and Billy and Chuck actually sold okay. In the end, Billy and Chuck isolate Moore, setting him up for the Doomsday Device, but Moore ducks down to avoid Billy and gets a Victory Roll on Chuck out of nowhere for the win. Solid stuff, and considering they were 2-0 down in the series, did not expect the Cruiserweights to get a win here. Happy they did though. **​

In the back, Edge and John Cena talk. In the background, Rey Mysterio is doing pull ups. If you haven’t seen the blooper, go look it up. Edge says the three of them are called the future of Smackdown, but he says the future is now. He wants Guerrero and Benoit after last week, and as for Angle… Rey interrupts and says he’s got Angle tonight. Solid enough segment here to hype their upcoming match. Crazy to think how right they were about these three being the future of SD for different periods of the next ten to fifteen years.

A vignette promoting Kane’ s return saying “the fire still burns” is shown. Looking forward to seeing Kane back.

In the back, Paul Heyman tries to get Stephanie McMahon to undo the new stipulation for the main event, but she likes it and refuses. Fun bit of banter between these two, was a good segment. Heyman being worried about Brock losing feels like a big development as well.

Match Five
Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle vs. Edge, John Cena and Rey Mysterio

Another awesome match as Smackdown has well and truly started the Heyman hot streak. Considering they have been teaming so much recently, it’s cool to see Benoit and Eddie have a remix of their themes as a joint entrance, starting off with “LATINO HEAT”, before transitioning into Benoit’s song. Four of the six men in this match are right up there as best in the world at this point, and Cena and Edge are good at this point and more than able to hold their own. Cena worked the majority of the match as the face being isolated, and whilst maybe the heat segment ran a little long, it was still very, VERY good. This got about ten minutes, and they made sure to beat the hell out of Mysterio during the match as well. Benoit and Eddie were especially amazing when dominating, as week in and week out everything they do just looks violent as shit. Edge’s hot tag was really good here as well. And then they transition into a really enjoyable finishing run as well. Edge Back Body Drops Benoit and then Spears Guerrero. This led to each man getting a turn to come in and land their finish, until Rey caught Angle gloating with the 619, followed by the West Coast Pop for the HUGE upset. A major win for Mysterio, which I love to give him credibility outside of the Cruiserweight division, and just an all around great match. Well done by all. **** ​

Backstage, Marc Lloyd is with Kurt Angle during the break. Lloyd asks Kurt about the “unexpected outcome”. Kurt says that he can’t believe he just got pinned by a twelve year old. The referees have been screwing him left and right lately. Rey wasn’t the legal man, let alone a legal citizen. Angle then promises that Rey will suffer a broken ankle. I wasn’t huge on this. It was okay, and will start what should be an enjoyable program, but I would have preferred Angle to be more furious, as opposed to comedic angry (12 year old comments). Still, solid though.

Match Six
Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson vs. Jamie Noble and Nidia

Continuing on from last week, Noble and Nidia come over to the announcers and Nidia flaunts herself to Cole. This is probably the highlight of the match, and the match hasn’t even actually started yet. This goes for a not very fun one minute or so, before Nidia surprises Torrie with a Roll Up. I assume there will be more to all of this, but this was not a good start. Was quite a bad match actually. *1/4​

Backstage, Dawn Marie enters a room to talk to Stacy Keibler. Dawn asks where Stephanie McMahon is. Stacy says that Stephanie has been looking for her. Stacy says to give the papers to her. Marie insists that she’s going to give Stephanie the papers. Stacy mentions that Vince McMahon is at the Presidential Suite at the hotel. Dawn starts acting as if she might go to the hotel to meet Vince. She gives the papers to Stacy and makes her promise to give them to Stephanie. Stacy then slides the papers under the couch to screw over Dawn after she leaves. Interesting stuff here. Enjoyed this, as Stacy is coming across as extremely conniving.

After the break, Stephanie comes into the office and asks if Dawn was here. Stacy says that Dawn said something about meeting Vince McMahon at the Marriott. Stephanie apologises to Stacy for yelling at her last week. She’s been doing a good job, and she appreciates Stacy’s efforts around here. After Stephanie leaves, Eric Bischoff appears from behind a plant and Stacy hands over the papers to Bischoff. Bischoff opens the papers and laughs in approval. Fuck yeah, more brand vs. brand stuff. Stacy as a double agent is all kinds of awesome to. Continuing to enjoy this stuff.

In the back, Hulk Hogan cuts a promo about how Brock Lesnar seems unstoppable, but Brock’s never faced anything as unstoppable as Hulkamania. Generic Hogan promo here, but is solid enough, and does the job of promoting the main event one final time.

Match Seven
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Hulk Hogan

I thought this was a good main event. I also love that from a booking perspective, they’ve strapped the rocket ship to Brock and said he’s, our guy. They’ve then unapologetically doubled down on that here, as a clean, dominant win over Hogan is rare in the history of this business, so this is huge for Brock on his run to the throne. For somebody as inexperienced as he is, Brock is awesome at stepping up and dragging Hogan to a good match to. His offense is brutal as ever, and his awesome selling makes Hogan’s punches look good for a change. Atmosphere was terrific as well with the fans super into this, with the action keeping them engaged. The only real problem point here is that Hogan goes all no sell Hogan towards the end, so when Brock applies the Bear Hug and Hogan passes out, beginning to bleed from the mouth, it doesn’t have the impact it probably should have. Instead of feeling like the damage just become insurmountable over time, it feels like it just went zero to one hundred out of nowhere. A huge win for Brock though, and this was more good than bad. **3/4​

After the match, Brock keeps the Bear Hug in. Once Hogan’s internal bleeding is clear for all to see, Brock brings a steel chair in and hits Hogan with the chair. Awesome ending, with the young lion standing over the old lion. Perfect.

Another good episode of Smackdown here. The Henry/D’Von and Rikishi/Batista stuff was the only real down part, but they didn’t get long enough to really hinder the show. Loving Smackdown the last two weeks, looking forward to more.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Velocity
August 10th, 2002
Richmond, Virginia​

Earlier today, Rico was working on Marc Lloyd’s hair and insulting him. Hardcore Holly comes over and Lloyd tries to run away, but Holly makes him stay. Holly suggests they belong with each other on a Sunday evening. Rico tells Holly to leave, but Holly instead gets hair clippers and buzzes the back of Rico’s head. Lol what a random way to start the show. Marc Lloyd hiring Rico to make him looks presentable is kind of hilarious, I actually like it. Still not sold or completely sure what’s going on with this Lloyd/Holly stuff. This is a watch and wait and see for me for now.

Match One
Chavo Guerrero vs. Tajiri

These two put on a solid match to open Velocity. Followed a basic blueprint and basic story, but that’s all you really need to do. After a bit of back and forth in the early stages, Chavo sends Tajiri into the guard rail on the outside, and it leads to Tajiri injuring his leg. That sets up the story for the match with Chavo focusing his offense on the hurt leg of Tajiri. The ending to this one is completely subjective but I don’t mind what happened here. Basically Tajiri was struggling so much with his leg, that he went into survival mode, and shot the mist into the eyes of Chavo. This led to Tajiri getting disqualified. Tajiri is the babyface here and it might seem like a strange move, but considering he plays a heel on Smackdown, and has that sadistic side to his character, I thought this suited Tajiri well enough. Solid stuff here and must say whilst Tajiri has always been great in here, enjoying the emergence of Chavo actually being used over the last month or so. **1/4

Match Two
Funaki vs. Rico

Enjoyed the commentary here, with Tazz filling in for Michael Cole, and Tazz is sure to make fun of Marc Lloyd for taking styling tips and hanging out with Rico. I like the fact that they are playing off the earlier segment. Surprisingly enough for a Rico match, I thought this was relatively solid as well. Kudos to him, he plays his character well, whether you like it or not, and I thought he had enough solid offense here. Again with the kick based stuff, but it doesn’t look bad this time, because Tajiri didn’t utilise a lot of his kicks due to his injury in the previous match. A nice moment early on where Rico is in trouble, so he salutes and bows to Funaki, and Funaki bows back, only for Rico to run through him with a Clothesline. Maybe a tad racist, but it worked for some cheap heat. Basic match but did what it needed to, and Rico gets the win after nailing Funaki with a Spin Kick. Solid. **1/4​

Next up is a video recap of the epic six man tag from Smackdown which saw Edge, John Cena and Rey Mysterio defeat Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle when Mysterio, as the illegal man, shockingly pinned Angle.

Match Three
Bull Buchanan vs. Mike Awesome

You can tell that Vince McMahon loves big guys because somehow Bull Buchanan still has a job, despite every run of his since ’97 failing. Anyway, this match is bad technically and visually, and what makes it worse is that the crowd doesn’t care, so this basically has nothing going for it. Trying to be positive, both men actually do high risk moves well for big men and showed that off throughout, but otherwise there wasn’t much here. I was also hoping since Buchanan hasn’t been on TV forever that Awesome might get a win but not to be. Instead the guy with lesser talent, and who looked worse gets the win. That happens when Bull hits his admittedly pretty cool (he gets a lot of air) Leg Drop from the top rope. Still not a good match though. *3/4​

We then get a video recap of the Smackdown main event which saw Brock Lesnar destroy Hulk Hogan.

Match Four
Albert vs. Hardcore Holly

Similar to the previous match, this wasn’t very good. Holly points and makes threats to Marc Lloyd once in the ring, which continues that angle, but we still don’t understand why any of this is happening. Context needs to happen relatively quickly, I think. It was a relatively quick ending to the main event here as well, and an underwhelming one. After Albert hit a Bicycle Kick, he got a two count. He then argued with the referee, allowing Holly to come from behind with a School Boy to get the win. Not a good match, just a bunch of meandering brawling. Meh. *3/4​

After the match, Albert attacks and sends Holly to the floor, but Holly turns the tide and sends Albert crashing into the ring steps. With Albert down, Holly heads over to bully Marc Lloyd some more when Rico makes the save with a Superkick to Holly. It feels like Holly is the heel and Rico is the face here, which is directly the opposite of the roles they play when appearing on Smackdown. This whole thing is a bit confusing, and if the big blowoff is a Holly/Rico match, well, that’s not something to be overly excited about.

A tale of two halves of the show here. First half is quite good, second half is not. Even that out, I’d say the show is still solid for an episode of Velocity, with a couple of decent matches on it. It’s a shame the one angle they seem to be running with on here at the moment isn’t overly good at this stage.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Global Warning Tour
August 10th, 2002
Melbourne, Australia​

I was tossing up whether or not to review this as it’s a glorified house show, but considering I have the DVD at home, and it’s the first ever like WWE show I was able to attend, decided to include it as it has a soft spot in my heart. Wow, that’s deep.

Will just start by saying there were three matches that happened on the night which weren’t included on the DVD. My young self doesn’t even remember watching Batista and D’Von Dudley beat Mark Henry and Randy Orton or Billy and Chuck beating Chavo Guerrero and Hardcore Holly. I do remember Kurt Angle beating Test though and Angle being super over as a babyface which I thought was really strange as a ten year old who likes to boo all the ‘bad guys’. Anyway, point of this is to say that those matches won’t be included as part of this review because I don’t have access to them.

Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon makes her down to the ring to start the event. She puts over the WWE being in Australia before the start of the first match. As he makes his entrance, Steph dances with Rikishi on the ramp. This was really quick and was just a bit of a hype segment for the show. No complaints.

Match One
Kiss My Ass Match
Rico vs. Rikishi

A really quick match here, playing off a rivalry that hasn’t really been a thing for a few months now. They only get about 2-3 minutes to work here, and the match is bad, but honestly, these short matches are probably the best way to use Rikishi at this point. Ending comes about when Rikishi moves out of the way from an awesome Rico Moonsault attempt, and then The Kish finishes him off with a Samoan Drop. A nothing match with nothing really positive happening. ¾*​

After the match, Rikishi gives Rico a Stinkface which apparently counts as Rico living up to the ‘Kiss My Ass’ stipulation. Rikishi then brings a kid in the ring (not me) who has green hair. A second kid gets invited in as well and Rikishi dances with them for a feel good start to the show. Eh, not really sure of the point of this stipulation. If you’re going to use this, go full Vince McMahon kiss my ass club otherwise don’t bother. Rikishi gives his opponent a Stinkface every week, so this all still could have happened without the stipulation.

We see a video package showing WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble and Nidia trying to learn how to surf. It’s an out of character package of the two just enjoying Australia.

Match Two
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Jamie Noble (c) w/Nidia vs. The Hurricane

Another match where the feud between the two is over, with Noble busy with Kidman lately, so it does feel like we’ve stepped into a bit of a time warp. I don’t mind it here though as these two have good chemistry together and put on another good match. Tazz is awesome throughout on commentary during this match, really bringing the fun with the Michael Cole and Nidia jokes. There’s an awesome spot here where Hurricane nails Noble with a Swinging Neckbreaker off the top rope. This one really got the crowd going. In the end, Hurricane looks set to finish things off, when Nidia jumps on the apron to distract her ex-boyfriend. With Hurricane distracted, Noble sneaks with a Backslide to get the win and retain the title. Good work from these two here. **3/4​

We see another out of character video package which shows Kurt Angle along with WWE Tag Team Champions Lance Storm and Christian touring the zoo.

Match Three
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Christian and Lance Storm (c) vs. Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio

This is a really good match here, as the teams don’t hold back and put on a good show for the Aussie fans. I mean, I don’t know if this counts, but if it does, this is also the pay per view debut of Mysterio so that’s kind of cool. Kidman has had an up and down year, when I expected it to be mainly just down, and here he’s teaming with Mysterio so he’s always going to be in good matches when a part of this team basically. Whilst not played up to be as important due to the nature of the show, with Christian and Storm recently defecting to Raw, this has the added prize of the winning team taking the tag titles to their show. A lot of exciting moments through this one as all four did a good job. It looks like we are going to get new champions when Kidman lands a Shooting Star Press on Storm, but Christian pulls the referee out to break the count. With all the shenanigans going on, Storm manages to hit Kidman with one of the tag titles and pin him for the sneak win. A really good match. ***
​

We see another out of character video package which shows Billy Kidman, Edge and Torrie Wilson getting the tour of the city of Melbourne. Woot woot, my hometown.

Chris Jericho gets on the mic before the next match and makes fun of the fans, calling Australia a pisshole filled with convicts. This was great, awesome to get some cheap heat. I remember the noise being crazy at the time.

Match Four
Chris Jericho vs. Edge

Not as good as their cage match from Smackdown a few weeks ago, which is fair enough, but they still put on a fine, enjoyable match. Edge has grown so much as a singles wrestler in 2002, that now for these glorified house shows, he can put on a slightly held back performance such as this, but the match is still good. A few good spots littered throughout the match, and the finishing run was nice with some false finishes that were really tight and believable. The ending comes about when Jericho looks for the Walls Of Jericho, but Edge scrambles into a Small Package for the win. Good stuff from these two, in what will likely be the last battle between them for awhile now that Jericho is on Raw. **3/4

Match Five
Bra And Panties Match
Stacy Keibler vs. Torrie Wilson

Val Venis is the Special Guest Ring Announcer for this one which makes sense, because it’s two hot women and he’s a porn star. I wish Val wrestled so I could have said I’ve seen him wrestle live, but oh well. Obviously, this isn’t a good match, it’s just here for some T&A and to give the crowd a break before the main event. They hit all the notes, with Torrie and Stacy both losing their tops, before doing the roll over the referee spot. The ref loves it so then they pull down his pants to reveal his pink underwear. Nidia ends up running out and attacking Torrie. Torrie manages to fight off Nidia and Stacy, including ripping off Nidia’s shorts. Torrie then rolls up Stacy and pulls her shorts off as well and that ends the match. This will get a bad rating because as a wrestling match it was bad, but my ten year old self was all over this. ¼*​

There is a video package about stuff WWE did regarding cancer whilst in Australia.

Match Six
WWE Undisputed Championship;
Triple Threat Match:
The Rock (c) vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Triple H

A good main event to close the show, in what was the match of the night for me. I was truly pumped for this as well as Rock and Triple H were my two favourites as a youngster. I vividly remember everything changing for this, the theme music seemed louder, the crowd reaction was EPIC, the stadium was shaking when Rock came out especially. Again, I remember being a little confused as Triple H got a big ovation as well, despite the fact that he’d just turned heel on Raw, but whatever. I really liked that Brock used the Bear Hug on Rock here, following up from what happened on Smackdown with Hogan, that move seems super deadly right about now. This was probably booked the right way here with Triple H eating the pin. One, this result doesn’t really matter in the scheme of things, but two, we can’t have Rock pinning Brock in a title match just a few weeks away from their big clash at Summerslam. They put Brock over huge here though, as he kicks out of both The People’s Elbow and the Pedigree. At this time, this was a rarity as finishes actually still meant something in the business, so thought this was a cool moment for sure. Something like this will NEVER have this kind of impact again, because finishers are always kicked out of nowadays. Anyway, Triple H argues with the ref over the false finish with the Pedigree, and he then turns into a Rock Bottom so Rocky can pin him and retain. Highly entertaining triple threat enjoyed this a lot. ***1/4​

For what this was, it was really good. Enough good wrestling throughout, and as a young kid, this was honestly the thrill of my life at the time. A nice trip down memory lane for me here, and we’ll get back on track with the big stuff (not really, next show is Heat) from here.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
August 11th, 2002
Baltimore, Maryland​

The show begins with a video package, recapping the events of Raw last week, with Triple H investigating who attacked Shawn Michaels the previous week, only for if to be revealed that Triple H himself did the attacking. For some reason, this video package is backed by Rey Mysterio’s old WCW theme song, which is super random and weird.

Match One
Shawn Stasiak vs. Shelton Benjamin

This is an awful match to start things off here tonight. Stasiak is yet to have a good match really, most the stuff he’s delivered in this year has been awful. Just very sloppy, nothing looks smooth, and at times it makes you wonder if these guys have actually been trained to wrestle. Of course, this match isn’t supposed to be about Stasiak though. The Coach refers to the fact that Shelton Benjamin was on the same wrestling team in Minnesota as Brock Lesnar, which is a way to make Benji sound like he’s the real deal by association. At this point in time, Shelton is still very inexperienced, meaning he’s unable to carry a match against somebody who is awful, hence why this match sucked. This one ends when Shelton is able to hit his Dragon Whip and get the pin. Not a great way to showcase Shelton, this was very bad. *

Match Two
Justin Credible vs. Sean O’Haire

I don’t really have much to say about this one really. It wasn’t a good match, but it was better than the opener. Credible is meh and O’Haire never lives up to his potential, but I think the issue here is O’Haire still needs to get better, but he’s in the wrong role. He looks and feels so unnatural as a face, especially constantly being put against guys smaller than him. The match just comes across as awkward and clunky, until O’Haire catches a Crossbody attempt, and it turns into the Cruel Intentions for the win. Ugh, Heat. Not good. *1/2​

Terri is backstage with Steven Richards and Spike Dudley. Terri says they don’t have any issues, and Spike says there’s no beef, thinking it should just be a regular match. Richards then loses it and goes on a rant when he tries to give attitude, but then Spike and Terri make fun of him. Harmless fun segment here, no issues with this to add some heat to their upcoming match.

Match Three
Spike Dudley vs. Steven Richards

Similar to the above, this wasn’t very good in terms of a technical match, or any sort of match really. With that being said, I am a fan of Richards getting a chance to develop as a character somewhat, as character work is one of his strongest traits. Watching him become slightly unhinged here was enjoyable and believable. Richards snaps in this one, eventually destroying Spike with a chair shot to the skull, right in front of the referee. The referee has no choice but to call for the DQ. Not a good match, but admittedly, I’m enjoying the Richards stuff here. *1/2​

After the match, Richards leaves whilst holding the chair close, talking to it, hugging it and kissing the chair. Love it, fun character work at least to make up for this show having no good wrestling.

We see a video package showing the WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock training for his title defence against Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. Love this.

The main event is supposed to be D’Lo Brown vs. Raven after their issues and brawl last week. Instead, Raven comes out, walking with the aid of crutches, and says he’s regretfully informing D’Lo that he’s not going to be able to compete tonight due to a sprained ankle. He says D’Lo will pay for injuring his ankle after throwing him off the announcer’s table last week. Raven has enlisted the aid of someone to take out D’Lo. And that person is… Johnny Stamboli. Nice heel work from Raven with the swerve and making us wait longer for the D’Lo/Raven match is probably the right call. But replacing Raven with Stamboli, on an episode which has already been really bad, is brutal.

Match Four
D’Lo Brown vs. Johnny Stamboli w/Raven

A really quick match only gets about two minutes or so, which means it doesn’t get to develop into anything except for a nothing match. Of course, with Raven sticking around at ringside it means he was bound to get involved with the finish. Logical booking. After hitting his patented Leg Drop, D’Lo is distracted as Reven gets on the apron. With the referee out of position, when D’Lo walks over to Raven, Raven nails him in the face with one of his crutches. Brown then stumbles into the Forget About It from Stamboli and the Italian gets the upset. Another bad match, but at least the booking here works, with D’Lo/Raven continuing to feud and we’re actually getting something of a slow build towards a match on Heat. That’s cool. Back to the match rating though… *​

A bad episode of Heat to be honest. The wrestling was bad all the way through. There are guys I like here such as Benjamin, O’Haire, Richards and D’Lo which means my guilty pleasures get me through it, but for people who don’t enjoy the names mentioned above, this show is one to avoid.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
August 12th, 2002
Seattle, Washington​

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are sitting at ringside tonight. In the back, Eric Bischoff says if they do anything, he wants them out of here. Well, an interesting start to the show to say the least. Lesnar and Heyman being in the house should create some havoc, and Bischoff being annoyed about it makes sense.

Triple H comes to the ring and now that he’s a heel he’s dressing in a polo shirt and dress pants. He says he was never best friends with Shawn Michaels, and he used Shawn to get to the top. Just like Shawn used him to stay at the top. Triple H believes that wrestling is just business and he’s the better businessman. He’s held more titles and headlined more pay per views than Michaels ever could have and he’s better than Shawn Michaels was even in his prime. He blames the fans for making him soft and weak this year and says he NEVER would have lost to Hulk Hogan. Cheers from the crowd make him sick. Triple H thinks the fans used him and Triple H got weaker every day. He gave them a little bit of himself, and they ate it up. He’s coming to maim Shawn Michaels at Summerslam. Triple H wants Michaels to show his son who a real man is after their match and Triple H says that will be him. The WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock then comes to ringside and asks if Brock Lesnar want to come here and play mind games with his big fat walrus cheerleader. Brock can also buy himself a ticket to an ass whooping tonight. Triple H stops The Rock reminding him he’s in the ring. He asks Rock who the hell he thinks it is. Rock reminds him of their history, and says least of all, he’s Undisputed Champ, so shut up bitch. The crowd tells Triple H he’s an asshole. Triple H says The Rock left out one fact, that Rock is the guy who’s going to get his ass kicked if he gets in the ring. Rock then immediately gets in the ring and asks if he wants to go. Rock asks Triple H if he wants to go one more time. And Triple H says he would looove to “go”. Rock tells him to go get a sammich because this doesn’t concern him. They begin to trade right hands until Rock hits a Clothesline. All of a sudden, Lesnar jumps the rail and gets on the apron, distracting Rock. Rock punches Brock off the apron. This allows Triple H to hit a Pedigree on The Rock. Brock then leaves through the crowd as Triple H leaves up the ramp. A somewhat unpredictable and fun way to start the show. The Triple H promo was good because the Trips/Shawn build here is pretty great, with some real hatred between them already. And then any Rock/Triple H interactions are fun, and the Brock/Rock stuff has been terrific so far, and this was a nice tease of physical contact for the first time. Just really good.

In the back, The Rock demands to fight Triple H tonight and yells at Eric Bischoff to find a way to do it. Fine follow up here with Rocky predictably being mad. Looking forward to seeing what Bischoff does.

Before the next match, Trish Stratus slaps Howard Finkel saying she did that for Lilian Garcia. Trish sticking up for Lilian after Finkel fed her to Three Minute Warning last week is some good continuity.

Earlier today, Christopher Nowinski asked why Spike Dudley was never able to “finish the job” with the WWE Womens Champion Molly Holly. Nowinski tells some random guy that he’ll get Molly. I’m actually loving Nowinski’s obnoxious jock routine he’s rolling with in his obsession with Molly.

Match One
Chris Nowinski and Molly Holly vs. Spike Dudley and Trish Stratus

As we all know by now, the women aren’t all that inspiring at the moment, although getting better, and we know that Nowinski just isn’t ready in the ring to be brutally honest. It means we get a bad match to kick off Raw. I mean, I probably expected worse, but this still is far from anything to brag about. As all hell breaks loose, Nowinski manages to plant Spike with a Double Underhook Spinning Slam, and he gets what is probably his first clean victory. A bad match, but the right result here I feel. *1/2​

In the back, Goldust approaches Eric Bischoff and says that if Booker T can beat Lance Storm tonight, how about they get a tag title shot at Summerslam. Eric agrees and then Minidust tries to hump the hell out of Eric’s leg. Eh, the ‘mini’ stuff never really came across as overly funny to me, so this didn’t hit with me from a comedy standpoint. I am however fully behind Booker and Goldust challenging for the tag titles.

Howard Finkel gets in ring promo time and notes that he’s the lead announcer and first employee of the WWE. He says since Lilian Garcia has been here, he’s swallowed his pride and watched her out here. But that’s better than what she swallowed to get here. The Fink is cut off by the music of Kane. The fire still burns but Kane doesn’t appear. The Fink is relieved. I’m not normally big on this type of stuff (feuding ring announcers, commentators, etc), but The Fink’s heel promo here was awesome. You’ve got to love The Fink. A nice reminder that Kane’s coming soon also, looking forward to that.

Eric Bischoff is talking with Rob Van Dam and The Hardy Boyz backstage. Eric tells RVD he has a guaranteed WWE Intercontinental Title rematch at Summerslam. The paper that Stacy Keibler was going to shred for Stephanie McMahon has been saved. Matt Hardy interrupts and says since RVD lost the title, he wants a shot. Eric asks who he is and says maybe everyone should get it. Matt wants a shot at RVD for the shot, but Bischoff has a coin and doesn’t even flip it, instead just giving the match to Jeff Hardy. Jeff will now face RVD for an IC Title shot at Summerslam. Not sure if we need another Jeff/RVD match so quickly, but whatever. Enjoy Matt getting shafted though, as he continues to be a little more vocal recently.

Match Two
Booker T w/Goldust and Minidust vs. Lance Storm w/Christian

Not necessarily good, but perfectly acceptable from these two here. Honestly, nowhere near what they’re capable of doing, but considering they don’t have a lot of time, and the position on the card, this wasn’t booked to be a terrific match. Everything was solid and well put together, there’s no wasted motion between these two. In the end, Goldust cuts off Christian’s interference, allowing Booker to hit Storm with the Scissors Kick for the win. I am so pumped up for Booker and Goldust getting a tag title shot, and the match here was solid enough. **1/2​

After the match, Test gets into the ring to attack Booker and Goldust, but The Undertaker enters the ring and decks Test. The faces end up literally chasing the heels away. ‘Taker chases Test to the back as Booker and Goldust brawl with the tag champs into the crowd. Aftermath was chaotic and a fine way to continue the relevant feuds here. No issues.

Eric Bischoff remains in the ring with Minidust and says that Booker T and Goldust will be in the main event teaming with The Rock and The Undertaker to take on Triple H and the Un Americans. That’s why Raw is better than Smackdown, because the people get what they want. Eventually, Three Minute Warning come out and murder the midget. They leave Minidust laid out in the middle of the ring after a brutal beating. I love this Three Minute Warning gimmick. So good.

As Bischoff reaches the top of the ramp, he says he now has the real entertainment. He brings out the newest Raw member, Stacy Keibler. Stacy dances in a thong as EMT’s tend to a flattened midget in the ring. Lol such a strange sequence of events here, but damn did Stacy ever look good here.

Match Three
Bubba Ray Dudley and Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho and The Big Show

A good match here although I got a little nervous towards the end, where it genuinely looked like Bubba might pick up a win over Jericho. After losing to RVD on his first night on Raw, Jericho had to get a win here in my opinion. I like Show, I really do, but he was terrible here. The match was a lot of fun except for when he came in and slowed things down. Jericho busts a gut though, clearly carrying this to a good level. Jericho needs to be rebuilt after a lot of high profile losses this year, so I am hoping this is the start of that. Jericho/Flair interactions were highlights here, and Flair bumped really well for anybody, let alone somebody his age. The finishing run had some good near falls, even to the point where we thought Bubba would beat Jericho, but Jericho ends up getting the Walls of Jericho for the win. Good stuff. **3/4​

After the match, Jericho attacks Flair, but Flair manages to pull Jericho’s pants down. Big Show gets in and chases Flair away, but Jericho is already embarrassed. Eh, we’ve already got the work in place for a Jericho/Flair feud, not sure we needed to further build on it by having Jericho to have his pants pulled down. Lame for two guys of this calibre as far as I’m concerned.

In the back, Chris Jericho says in addition to his band Fozzy playing at next week’s Raw, he wants to show how talented he is by kicking the hell out of that “has been” Ric Flair at Summerslam. Logical reaction for Jericho to be mad after what just happened. Jericho/Flair sounds like another good match for Summerslam to.

A video package highlighting Shawn Michaels career is shown. They need to sell his injuries, so this is the best way to go about it. Smart booking really.

Match Four
WWE Hardcore Championship Match
Tommy Dreamer (c) vs. Steven Richards

Okay, so apparently these two in a WWE environment, when given a bit of freedom to have a proper match, do a really good job. This is the second shockingly good match between the pair in recent times. Not just a typical Hardcore match, as they are allowed to pick a weapon each. They use a chair and a Singapore Cane, but Richards also works on the knee of Dreamer, who does quite a good job of selling. Brutal stuff at times, bringing a stiffer element which is much appreciated, since these feel like comedy most the time now. A cool finish where Richards looks to use the Cane, but Tommy jabs the Cane with the edge of the chair, snapping the Cane. He then kills Richards with a hard chair shot to win. Very impressive stuff, this was good. ***

Match Five
Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam

The winner of this one will face Chris Benoit for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam. If you have seen one of their matches, you’ve basically seen them all at this point. They do their usual crazy bumping stuff, but they don’t use a lot of weapons for the most part. Not a lot of botches though so it doesn’t come across like a complete car crash like some of Jeff’s stuff around this time, and that’s a good thing. It’s still not their best together either but that’s okay. In a really cool spot, Jeff runs the crowd barricade, but RVD sweeps the leg and trips him, causing him to fall off. There is a ref bump later on in the match and then Jeff goes for the Swanton Bomb, but RVD rolls out of the way. Matt Hardy slides into the ring and he hits a Twist Of Fate on Jeff. SWERVE~! Matt then leaves and RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash, not even realising what happened. Matt turning on Jeff again here seems a little silly and repetitive, but Matt Version One is so much fun that I can overlook any issues. Solid match, and more importantly, the right result as Jeff’s push is cooked. **1/4​

Backstage, Terri is with the Un Americans talking about the tag title match at Summerslam. She asks them about having to defend the tag titles against Booker T and Goldust. They are disgusted that the fans look up to Booker and Goldust. Christian says it just shows why they are the United States of Embarrassment. Test tells Terri to stop cutting them off and being rude. He then says he talked to Bischoff, and he gets The Undertaker at Summerslam. Solid enough promo here, hyping their programs. No issues, although ‘Taker/Test does feel a little lacklustre for Summerslam. If this was early 2001 Test, oh my.

In the production truck, Eric Bischoff yells at them for a Smackdown ad during the commercials. Kevin Dunn insists that’s not their fault. It was a paid commercial advertising their main event. Bischoff says he’ll promote his own main event, and next week it’s The Rock vs. Triple H. This is all really good stuff. Steph flaunting her cash to put Smackdown ads on Raw is great, and Bischoff having a knee jerk reaction and booking Rock/Trips when he was trying to balk at it before, shows he can be a hot head. All around good stuff, and Rock/Trips one more time for nostalgia should be fun.

Match Six
Booker T, Goldust, The Rock and The Undertaker vs. Christian, Lance Storm, Test and Triple H

This was a really good main event here. Match of the night for sure. I really liked the fact that they kept up the energy, ensuring this was enjoyable, but at the same time, they avoided having the PPV match ups in the ring against each other for extended periods of time. That’s just smart. Triple H puts in a really good performance here, back in his natural heel mode, and looking the best he has since his return in January. Goldust goes crazy with his awesome punches in the early stages. Ending caught me off guard. Not necessarily in a bad way, just didn’t expect Test to beat ‘Taker, but it’s a great idea really, to make Test seem like more of a threat. A big win like this does wonders for the Un Americans. The crowd are really into this from start to finish as well, so the atmosphere helps carry this to even higher levels. The heels do a very good job as a group, with Triple H somewhat surprisingly fitting in with the Un Americans really well. ‘Taker performs well off the hot tag, which leads us into a frenetic finishing run. It’s funny because ‘Taker is probably the opposite to Triple H, performing so much better in ring as a face than a heel. This had a great, creative finish as well. ‘Taker gets Christian up for The Last Ride, but Test nails the Big Boot when ‘Taker has Christian over his head. Test gets the pin. Really, really good stuff, and I love the Un Americans getting a win over arguably the biggest babyfaces outside of Shawn Michaels on the Raw roster. ***1/2​

After a down episode last week, Raw’s back with another strong showing this week. Really good wrestling throughout, and most the in ring segments/booking of angles made sense and were enjoyable. This run into Summerslam has been the most consistently enjoyable stuff for the year so far. More please.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
August 15th, 2002
Seattle, Washington​

We start with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman making their way to the ring, with Lesnar wearing a Hulkamania shirt that he rips off to further emphasize that he killed Hulkamania. Heyman says that praying and taking vitamins didn’t accomplish anything against Lesnar. Heyman gives us a dramatic rundown of the match between Lesnar and Hogan then they replayed the footage of the match where Lesnar delivered the F5, gave Hogan a shot to the head with the chair and then wiped Hogan’s blood on his chest. Brock then starts talking about the WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock, until Rikishi interrupts and begins walking towards the ring. Brock gives Heyman the mic and Heyman says “Brock gave me the microphone, so his hands are free”! Rikishi ignores the warning and gets onto the apron. Heyman says their match is scheduled for later and he won’t let them fight now. He continues to insult Rikishi until Rikishi rips the mic from his hands. Rikishi ends up brawling with Brock and Clotheslines him to the floor, leaving Heyman all alone. Heyman begs off in the corner as Rikishi sets up for the Stinkface, but Lesnar pulls Heyman out to make the save. Opening with Brock and Heyman to celebrate the ‘end’ of Hulk Hogan was the right thing to do here, and that was fine. I don’t mind them using this space to then hype the Brock/Rikishi match to the night. However, as strong as Lesnar has been booked, I don’t know if he needs to be getting punked out by Rikishi ten days before Summerslam.

Match One
Billy, Chuck and Rico vs. Hardcore Holly, Shannon Moore and The Hurricane

This was a solid opener here. They kept a relatively fast pace for the five minutes or so they got, exactly what’s needed for this type of opener. I’m not sure how long it will last, presumably not much longer with the aftermath of this, but am really enjoying the Moore/Hurricane pairing for as long as it lasts. Obviously being that it’s a six man tag, it means all hell breaks loose, until Billy hits an illegal Cobra Clutch Slam on Moore, allowing Chuck to get the win. Again, a solid start to the show. **1/2​

After the match, Holly hits Rico to continue their issues and it leads to all six men brawling. The faces begin to clear the ring when Matt Hardy’s music hits and he runs down to the ring to help out. By the time he gets there, the heels have already been cleared but Hardy embraces Hurricane and Moore. He then shakes Holly’s hand as they all celebrate. I’m pumped up because Matt Hardy on Smackdown means his character is ready to become amazing. Love this as a starting point, coming out and celebrating, despite actually not having to do anything. Perfect.

Backstage, Dawn Marie grovels to Stephanie McMahon after losing the papers last week, which turned out to be Rob Van Dam’s contract. Marie promises to never screw up ever again. Stephanie says she was going to shred the papers so RVD would never see them and now she can’t because Dawn screwed up. The Intercontinental Title is invaluable to Smackdown and now RVD has a rematch with Chris Benoit at Summerslam. She’s happy with signing Matt Hardy and suggests that Dawn dress more professionally. And if she ever screws up again, SHE’S FIRED! Nice little loop on this whole paperwork angle over the last couple of weeks, as now we understand why it was so crucial. Good addition to the battling GM’s stuff.

Backstage, Edge has arrived in the building. Yay.

Matt Hardy, The Hurricane, Shannon Moore and Hardcore Holly are celebrating backstage. The rest are confused by Hardy’s antics with Holly not looking thrilled that he’s there at all. Hardy promises to be there always. No thanks is needed. The delusions of Matt Hardy kicking into gear here, as he takes complete credit for saving them, when in essence, they were in control. Awesome.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit heads into Stephanie McMahon’s office and she tells him to make RVD tap out at Summerslam and keep the title on Smackdown. Stephanie tells Benoit that he’s wrestling The Rock tonight. She knows that Benoit will make The Rock tap out as well. Makes sense for Stephanie to try and appease her solider before Summerslam, although admittedly strange for her to be wanting the company’s number one babyface to tap out tonight. Still, Rock/Benoit tonight sounds like heaven.

Marc Lloyd asks Kurt Angle about Rey Mysterio’s pinfall over him last week and Angle still isn’t sold on this Rey Mysterio kid because he’s a CHEATER and his win doesn’t count. Rey Mysterio enters the scene and asks if his win doesn’t count. If his win last week didn’t count, then he wants Kurt to wrestle him at Summerslam so he can make it count. After initially laughing off the challenge, Angle agrees to the match and Rey leaves. Mark Henry then appears and starts calling Angle little man, and they agree to a match right now. Good stuff here. Mysterio/Angle should be fun, and this sets up Angle/Henry for tonight which realistically could go either way.

Match Two
Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry

A solid match between these two and I can’t fault the booking either. Angle winning cleanly to move onto his program at Summerslam is the right call. He’s far more crucial to the bigger picture than what Henry is right now. I like the way they set up the ankle work for Angle here to. The match starts with Mark overpowering Kurt, so Kurt tries to out wrestle him. Once that doesn’t work, he resorts to punches, but Mark still overpowers him. Mark gets Kurt against the ropes and hits the running ass leap, but he lands wrong on the ankle. From there, Kurt works on the Ankle and despite a brief fightback from Henry, a second stint in the Ankle Lock is enough or Henry to submit. Solid stuff. Again. **1/2​

After the match, Angle keeps the Ankle Lock applied for a few seconds longer than he needs to. Rey Mysterio then hits the ring and sends Angle to the floor, before hitting him with a modified 619. Angle is all bloodied after the blow as he backs up the ramp. Aftermath is fine to add further heat to Angle/Rey. I feel like even though it wasn’t planned, the blood was a nice touch here to, it would further infuriate Kurt.

Match Three
Brock Lesnar vs. Rikishi

Another solid match here and basically what you’d expect from these two at this point. Similar to the opening segment though, I don’t like how strong Rikishi looks here. He gets in way too much offense against a guy running extremely hot after killing Hulkamania last week and is steamrolling into a title shot against The Rock at Summerslam in a week and a half. It’s a hoss fight which should be fun in most circumstances, but Lesnar should have run over him, in my opinion. Rikishi was never winning this, but actually looks like winning until Heyman gets involved which shouldn’t happen. Brock manages to recover and after Rikishi gives Heyman the Stinkface, Brock hits the F5 and gets the win. Solid match, but the booking whilst being the right ending, left a lot to be desired in terms of the match structure. **1/4​

Backstage, Torrie Wilson is stretching for her upcoming match. We then get a hype video package for Summerslam, promoting everything currently on the card. Torrie looks damn good, and so does the Summerslam card.

Backstage, Funaki debuts as an announcer, before he’s Smackdowns number one announcer. He’s interviewing Nidia before her match with Torrie Wilson tonight. Nidia knows that Funaki isn’t here to talk about Wilson but instead about how hot she is. Nidia would rather talk about her own breasts and butt. She wants Funaki to touch her ass, but he’s worried that the WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble would kill him. As this is happening, a disagreement can be heard in the background when Batista tossed Reverend D’Von through a door. Batista looks down on D’Von and says “there’s your respect” … Funaki/Nidia stuff was fun, continuing Nidia playing her role perfectly, and it promotes her upcoming match. A little surprised that they pulled the trigger on the Batista/D’Von split so fast, and in such an inconspicuous way, but I guess it was inevitable as they’d been having issues the last few weeks.

Match Four
Nidia w/Jamie Noble vs. Torrie Wilson w/Billy Kidman

It’s two women who don’t know to work trying to wrestle a match, so it’s extremely bad. Noble and Kidman start brawling on the outside at some point, leading to all hell breaking loose. The ref gets distracted, and Noble is able to run through Torrie with a Clothesline, allowing Nidia to sneak the pin. Ugh, two and a half minutes I wish I could have back. ½*​

After the match, Kane’s music hits and the video says the fire still burns. Kane doesn’t appear though. What the? I had no idea he was being classified as a free agent. When did that happen? Oh well, I guess another high profile wrestler for Bischoff and Steph to fight over is fun.

Backstage, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero are on the phone saying hello to family wanting them to watch the show tonight. They’re preparing to make their debut as a team against Edge and Rey Mysterio tonight. Chavo says that Edge will regret Spearing Eddie. Eddie is really sick of hearing about Edge, because everyone knows he’s got a better smile. They say they’ll have a lot to smile about tonight. Eddie is just SO charismatic, this was a lot of fun. Go watch this. It’s a simple segment but it’s the art of Eddie and what made him so good. He makes everything feel memorable.

Match Five
Chavo Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio

This was really good, a fun tag match here. Eddie was amazing as usual, with Chavo trying to keep up and failing, but still being at a decent level. They have a mini heat segment on Edge and it’s solid, but with the absence of Benoit in this, Eddie isn’t as intense and violent as he has been lately. The one thing that hurts this match is that it was too short. If this had time to develop, it likely would have been better than just another good match. Thankfully, it’s a small sample size of what’s to eventually come in Smackdown’s tag division. Rey’s hot tag was really fun well it lasted, but Eddie stops it with an epic looking Powerbomb. This leads to a better heat segment on Rey, followed by an even better hot tag from Edge. With Edge on fire, all hell breaks loose, and Mysterio ends up getting back in and hitting Chavo with the 619. Rey is on the apron, waiting for Chavo to rise, when Kurt Angle pulls Mysterio down and applies the Ankle Lock on the outside. The referee has no choice but to call a DQ. Just a good match. With a longer time and a proper finish, this could be anything, but now, just a good match. **3/4​

After the match, Edge saves Mysterio, but Eddie Guerrero gets involved. Edge irish whips Eddie into the crowd barricade and then Spears him into it. More brawling happens with Angle and Rey, with Edge saving, and the faces end up standing tall. A pretty fun aftermath, with five of the Smackdown six all getting involved with each other here.

Backstage, Marc Lloyd is waiting outside of The Rock’s locker room. The Rock cuts a high energy promo on Brock Lesnar, listing all the different ways around the world that you can say “just bring it”… Typical entertaining Rock promo, although some more focus on Benoit would have been nice.

Match Six
Chris Benoit vs. The Rock

What a surprise. These two get together and put on another awesome match in their catalogue. It has been a couple of years since they wrestled a lot in 2000, but they clearly haven’t lost their epic chemistry. Main event is easily match of the night as well, which probably isn’t surprising. Benoit wasn’t super aggressive here, instead behaving in a more slower and methodical pace. It’s cool though because it comes across like he really wants to drag this punishment out, compared to his usual manner. Kind of feels like the WWE know Rock isn’t going to be around much longer, so they rush another Rock/Benoit match here, and they’ve got a final Rock/Triple H match rushed for next week’s Raw. I liked the ending here, how they repeated the situation from the tag match a few weeks back, where Brock Lesnar comes out and distracts The Rock. Instead of completing The People’s Elbow, Rock jumps through the ropes and goes face to face with Brock. This allows Benoit to attack Rock from behind and back in the ring, he applies the Crippler Crossface. Unlike a few weeks back, looking into Brock’s eyes, this time Rocky doesn’t tap and instead makes it to the ropes. Lesnar is shocked as Benoit Elbow Drops The Rock a few times. Once back to his feet, Benoit tries to irish whip The Rock, but Rock pulls him into a Rock Bottom and that’s enough to get a three count. Awesome match and loved the different ending to the same situation as two weeks ago. Also, how incredible is the slow build to this Rock/Brock match. No contact has been epic. As was this match. ****​

After the match, The Rock tells Lesnar to bring it and stares at Lesnar, who just remains on the floor. Awesome finish to continue ‘dat build’.

Another good episode of Smackdown. Only down part was the women’s match, and the characterisation of Stephanie McMahon still has me confused at times. Everything else here is hitting the mark, very enjoyable throughout.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Velocity
August 17th, 2002
Seattle, Washington

Match One
Hardcore Holly vs. Rico

These two stick to a relatively basic match and it works, it’s solid. Realistically, the action is uninspiring but okay, however the match is probably elevated by the fact that there’s an actual feud going on between these two at the moment. This is rarely the case for Velocity/Heat matches. I must admit I marked out a little when Rico hit a Jump Kick of sorts with the aid of the bottom rope because it reminded me of Steve Blackman. Anyway, solid enough back and forth here, before Holly catches Rico with The Alabama Slam to get the win. I still think we’re at a point where we need to get an explanation for the whole Holly/Marc Lloyd beef, but as an extension of that, this was a completely fine match. **1/4

Match Two
Albert vs. Bull Buchanan

I expected this to be awful, to be honest. I like Albert, despite his match quality in 2002 not being all that, however Buchanan is awful and based on his performances so far, I didn’t think Albert would be able to carry him to anything decent. Surprisingly though, this is solid. Nothing special but probably on the same level as the opener which is an achievement. I’m not a Bull fan (are there many), although this would most likely be up there as one of the best singles performances of his career. The fact this is just an okay match probably says enough about that. With that all being said, the booking irked me. I can’t believe they had Albert job to Buchanan here. Disappointing. Should call out they even used some nice psychology here, as Bull worked the neck somewhat, and Albert sold it at times. Then when Bull was on the top rope and Albert tried to interrupt, Bull put pressure on the neck to cause Albert to relent. I thought that was very well crafted. But yeah, overall this was okay. **1/4

Match Three
John Cena vs. Reverend D’Von

This was not good. It wasn’t terrible but it was just a bunch of stuff happening with no real consequences. The curious case of Cena continues where when paired with somebody high up on the card, he gets a good reaction and a good match because he gets carried. As soon as he faces somebody from the lower/mid card, that all disappears, and we get a match with no atmosphere. That’s what happened here. The fans were lifeless which hurt the match for sure. Cena throws some really bad, weak looking elbows during this one as well, and they were pretty cringe. I don’t want to harp on it but at this stage the Cena character matches the offense he delivers in matches, it’s very generic. Kind of feels like anybody could be in that position doing the same thing which isn’t very appealing. I guess at least when D’Von climbs to the top and taunts the fans, we get a bit of noise from them. That helped. D’Von’s on offense for the most of this, but his offense is slow and plodding, and dare I say a little boring. Really not much here to be positive about, as they fail to deliver in D’Von’s first appearance in awhile without Batista by his side. Not a good match. *3/4

Match Four
Billy Kidman and Funaki w/Torrie Wilson vs. Jamie Noble and Tajiri w/Nidia

I’m glad this got the main event slot, because whilst Funaki is a random add in, the Kidman/Torrie vs. Noble/Nidia stuff has been ongoing for awhile now, so there’s genuine heat here. The main event gets match of the night honours, as they put on a solid tag team match. I must admit, the ending caught me off guard, as I was never expecting Funaki to be the one to pick up the fall for his team. You can tell that Noble and Tajiri have teamed together a few times now, as they hit some cool double team moves, including an awesome Double Rib Breaker, and then a nice double kick to the head spot. Even with Funaki winning this, I doubt this does anything for him long term. Kidman gets a hot tag towards the end of this one, and it’s okay, but doesn’t have the fire of the amazing hot tags we’ve been getting on Raw and Smackdown recently. They didn’t get a lot of time considering it’s the main event, but they did a decent enough job with the time they had. In the end, Noble and Kidman brawl on the outside, Torrie and Nidia start a catfight, and then after ducking a kick, Funaki is able to shock Tajiri with a Roll Up. Solid match. **1/2​

An okay episode of Velocity this week. Some solid wrestling and nothing overly terrible, although admittedly, nothing stands out as must watch either.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
August 18th, 2002
Seattle, Washington​

With D’Lo Brown planning to wrestle tonight, we have The Coach and his new broadcast partner, Crash Holly on commentary tonight. I don’t think Crash is necessarily good at commentary. D’Lo is definitely better at it, although I’d rather Crash on commentary so D’Lo can wrestle.

Speak of the devil, D’Lo Brown comes out for some in ring promo time. He calls out Raven. Brown talks about Raven saying that Heat is his personal playground, and he didn’t like that. D’Lo’s mad because of what happened on last week’s edition of Heat, where Raven faked a leg injury and couldn’t compete and sent Johnny Stamboli out to do the dirty work. Raven cost D’Lo the match with a crutch shot to the head. After continuously being called out, Raven comes out to the stage and calls D’Lo a degenerate reprobate. Raven accepts the challenge but not for tonight. Tonight, D’Lo’s opponent is not just the coolest. He’s not just the best. He’s Justin Credible. Solid stuff here. D’Lo/Raven continues to be a fun feud on Heat, and much like last week, I appreciate the way they’re building and making us wait for the Brown/Raven match.

Match One
D’Lo Brown vs. Justin Credible w/Raven

A sloppy, bad match. I’ll immediately say this wasn’t my boy D’Lo’s fault, because Credible, who isn’t great normally, seemed to be having a really off night. There were multiple times where Credible mistimed his movements and it just made things look bad, and that really hurt the flow of the match. It keeps taking the audiences focus away from what they want it to be. It’s a lazy performance from Credible as well, as he puts in zero effort at one point, hitting D’Lo with the softest Knife Edged Chops I’ve ever seen. This done just did not work tonight, even though Raven on the outside added some intrigue. They transition into a basic but okay finishing run, and D’Lo ends up putting Credible away with the Sky High. I’m glad D’Lo won, and it continues the fun D’Lo/Raven feud, but as a standalone match, this was bad. *1/2​

After the match, Raven enters the ring and plants D’Lo with the Raven Effect. No issues with this, continues things along nicely and makes Raven seem slimier, and D’Lo will be even angrier.

We then get a video package, hyping the Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H match at Summerslam.

Match Two
Shelton Benjamin vs. William Regal

Another match that didn’t deliver. This was maybe a tad better than the opener, but still wasn’t good. Shelton is still super green so putting him in a match here with Regal, whilst was good in theory, probably showed with some of the mat exchanges that Shelton isn’t quite ready for the big leagues yet. There are a few awkward moments throughout, which I’m just blaming on Benji because Regal is a pro, and that includes the end of the match. I think it shows that a slow paced scientific match is not what Benjamin is good at. Regal did a great job with his facial expressions, showing the mix of fear and embarrassment, and even shock as he realised, he’s not going to get the win as easy as he first thought. Still, this did expose Shelton somewhat but that’s okay. To their credit, as the pace quickened towards the finish, the fans did get into it some more, but it was to little late. In the end, Shelton gets a Sunset Flip, which Regal reverses into a pin of his own, but it’s messy and you can’t even really tell who’s got the advantage as the referee just counts. Regal wins but meh. *3/4​

Terri flags down Raven backstage for an interview. Raven says that D’Lo was a victim of his playground. He almost feels sorry for Justin Credible, but in chess, pawns must be sacrificed. The games are not over for D’Lo. Short but really effective promo from Raven. Digging this angle.

We get ANOTHER video package on the Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H feud.

Match Three
Bradshaw vs. Shawn Stasiak

Well hey, main event time and they saved the worst until last. This wasn’t all that entertaining because Stasiak isn’t a crazy bumper, and this was basically an extended squash, with Bradshaw just beating the hell out of him. Only highlight from either mans perspective is actually a Stasiak one, as he does nail Bradshaw with an impressive Flying Clothesline off the top rope. Stasiak just doesn’t have it though, and this current iteration of Bradshaw is pretty bleh as well, so this is just very bad. Bradshaw ends up finishing Stasiak off with the Clothesline From Hell. This gets a thumbs down from me. *​

I have a soft spot for the D’Lo/Raven feud but other than that progressing, this was an awful episode of Heat. Wrestling was bad throughout.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
August 19th, 2002
Norfolk, Virginia​

JR and The King welcome us to the show and the big thing on tonight’s agenda is another battle in the amazing rivalry (which is one of my favourite rivalries in WWE history because of how both guys continue to find each other regardless of where they are on the card), it’s Triple H vs. the WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock. Pumped for this.

The Undertaker comes out for in ring promo time to start the show proper. He says he’s never been one to make his political opinions public. He then talks about the Un Americans and how people died to get them their freedom of speech that the Canadians are abusing. Especially Test. He isn’t afraid to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Test comes out mocking ‘Taker with his own sports bike before getting in the ring. The American flag is upside down on the back of the bike. Test says that not only does America suck, but ‘Taker does too. ‘Taker punches Test and a brawl starts until WWE Tag Team Champions Christian and Lance Storm run down to turn it into a three on one. Booker T and Goldust then slide into the ring to make the save. After the faces clear the ring, Booker grabs a mic and says they aren’t through. He then challenges the Un American to a six man tag team match tonight. Solid enough to hype the two matches at Summerslam here. If I wanted to be really critical, a tad lazy booking since these guys were just involved in the eight man last week, but the six man should still be fun.

After the break, there’s a bunch of mid carders and Terri in the ring when Eric Bischoff makes his way out to the stage to reveal why there’s a ring full of wrestlers. He called them out to tell them that the twenty four seven rule is history. He’s invited all the former WWE Hardcore Champions to compete, and at the end of six minutes, the last one with the title is champion. Just stay away from the tarp. Terri immediately runs away as the match begins.

Match One
WWE Hardcore Championship Match
Hardcore Battle Royal

Okay so competitors in this one are Jeff Hardy, Tommy Dreamer, Crash Holly, Bradshaw, Johnny Stamboli, Spike Dudley, Steven Richards and Bubba Ray Dudley. Honestly, it’s just your typical Hardcore plodding stuff dressed up slightly different, and except for the odd example of a good match recently, I’m tired of. Must admit the booking with Dreamer seemingly not being acknowledged as champion here is really strange as well. A bit of a clusterfuck with so many people and weapons in the ring, and the title changed hands something like twice every minute once averaged out which is just silly really. This match definitely needed the inclusion of Raven, but he’s not allowed on Raw still. I did not expect Dreamer to win this. I figured this would be a way to continue the now half hearted Jeff Hardy push, but it’s not to be. Time runs out with Dreamer still being champion despite multiple people trying to pin him in the last minute or so. I’m begin generous here, but I’ll say this was VERY low level solid. **​

Dreamer doesn’t really get much time to celebrate because Kane’s pyro hits and it says MY PATH IS CHOSEN on the titantron. Definitely looking forward to Kane coming back.

Backstage, Stacy Keibler is in Eric Bischoff’s office with Trish Stratus. Stacy says that she thinks Eric is going to give her a title shot. Trish talks back and the two go back and forth. Eric Bischoff enters the scene and says that nobody really cares about women’s wrestling and wants to give the fans sex appeal. So tonight, they will have a bra, and panties match in the mud. Look, Trish and Stacy are two of my favourites so the creep in me knows I’ll enjoy watching the spectacle… But I HATE the way Bischoff put down women’s wrestling here. I don’t think they should ever be saying stuff like this, especially when it’s about their weakest division, and is true. If Bischoff feels this way, why should anybody else care? Bad stuff.

Match Two
Mud Wrestling Match
Stacy Keibler vs. Trish Stratus

Okay so I’ll try and be somewhat reasonable here. As a wrestling match, this is awful. Not only is it an awful match, but paired with the previous segment with Bischoff’s words, this literally is the type of thing that sets women’s wrestling backwards. This is a shame as they’ve clearly been trying to build the division for the last ten months or so. With that being said, I haven’t seen many mud wrestling matches, so this is probably the GOAT of it’s match type. Also the red blooded male in me says that Stacy and Trish both looked amazing in the mud, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. They end up fighting outside of the mud pool, where Trish gets a Roll Up for the win. Positives and negatives with this one, so I’ve gone somewhere in between with the match rating. **​

After the match, Trish shoves Howard ‘The Coward’ Finkel in the mud. LOL, harmless fun for Trish to once again bully heel Howard.

In the back, The Rock is given a package from Paul Heyman. Rock asks what the package is and makes a few jokes asking if it’s Twinkies or Viagra. Or Ass Fetish Weekly. He opens it, looks and throws it down. The pictures consist of a bloody Hulk Hogan from Smackdown. I can’t compliment this mind games based build from Heyman and Lesnar. This is such awesome stuff.

Now Triple H comes to the ring for some in ring promo time. He has a clipboard with him and says unless Shawn Michaels signs papers saying that when he cripples Shawn, he cannot be held legally responsible, there will be no match. He sent the papers to Shawn over the weekend. Triple H knows Brock Lesnar will be watching his match with The Rock tonight. He’s sure Brock is watching with great anticipation, waiting to see the two greatest franchise players in the industry go up against each other. After tonight, he wants Brock Lesnar, and he says tonight vs. The Rock is now No DQ. Triple H is going to send Michaels a message through a beating of The Rock. Tonight, Brock and Shawn need to watch, but if he were Shawn, he wouldn’t let his wife or kid watch. Chris Jericho comes out to the stage and talks about how they both have old has beens for opponents at Summerslam until Ric Flair comes out behind him and puts a trash can over Jericho’s head before shoving him down. I like the build to Trips/Shawn and the idea of Trips not wanting to be legally responsible based on what he plans on doing. That’s all well and good. Jericho/Flair bit was okay, but Jericho/Trips have never really gotten along, so it was weird to have this randomly be part of the same segment.

Match Three
Booker T, Goldust and The Undertaker vs. The Un Americans

This was another solid match on this show, however the atmosphere let this one down a bit. It felt like the crowd just wasn’t very into it, not making a lot of noise which hurt the key moments of the match. Another hindrance was that for some reason they got less than five minutes here, meaning this was never going to be anything great. As a result of the lack of time, ‘Taker is barely even involved in the match. The rushed nature meant that whilst still relatively okay, Booker’s heat period and Goldust’s hot tag weren’t at their usual levels either. And yet again, The Un Americans cheat to get a win, which is fine heading into the pay per view. Smart booking to go into Summerslam with the faces chasing revenge and trying to get a win back. The match ends when all hell breaks loose and Christian notices the ref is distracted and hits Goldust with one of the tag titles. Christian then pins him for the win. Solid, but rushed. **1/4​

We see a rather long training video, showing The Rock preparing for Summerslam. LOVE these sorts of packages, to make it feel real and like more of a sport. Big thumbs up from me, the video is good too.

Backstage, Eric Bischoff is talking with Rob Van Dam about how important the WWE Intercontinental Championship is and RVD has a chance to regain it from Chris Benoit at Summerslam. He can take it from Smackdown and bring it back to Raw. Big Show comes up and says he should get the IC Title match, and RVD calls him a tool. Show wants to wrestle RVD tonight with the winner wrestling Benoit at Summerslam. RVD says he’d do it. Bischoff says the title shot is RVD’s and he’s protecting RVD. RVD chimes in and says that he’s fine with wrestling tonight and could use a match tonight to loosen up. So Bischoff gives them the match, but the title shot is not on the line and the match had better be completely clean. A solid segment here, to make another match for tonight with some interest behind it. Show wanting to try and weasel his way into the IC Title picture seems like some logical motivation, that’s why this works.

In the back, Ric Flair is about to cut a promo, but Chris Jericho hurls a trash can at him. Flair has been busted wide open as Jericho continues to beat on Flair. Jericho then rams Flair into the interview set. Officials eventually pull Jericho off of Flair. Jericho being embarrassed and wanting revenge makes sense. Solid enough but get the feeling this isn’t the last between them with Fozzy scheduled to perform tonight.

Match Four
Rob Van Dam vs. The Big Show

The match is solid enough for as long as they get it, which isn’t very long. Typical big vs. small stuff, but this story is less about the match, and more about Bischoff once again using Three Minute Warning to his advantage. RVD uses his quickness to piss Show off, which leads to him playing dirty and using weapons, as well as heading outside the ring and throwing RVD into the crowd barrier and the ring post. Show then brings the steps into the ring. Before he can use them, Eric Bischoff comes out telling Show to stop. He yells what the hell is Show doing and says his THREE MINUTES are up. Rosey and Jamal then come in and attack for the DQ. All the character work here makes sense, and the big development is what of the relationship between Bischoff and Show now. Bischoff wanting to protect RVD, leading to this booking is very well done. Match was solid for what it was. **​

After the match, Show is met with a Double Shoulder Block and an Elbow Drop. Jamal then hits the awesome Big Splash off the top rope before they leave. Three Minute Warning as Bischoff’s henchmen just works.

Backstage, The Rock is interviewed by The Coach. Coach asks him about his match with Triple H becoming No DQ. The Rock talks about how far back he and Triple H go and for like the four millionth time, he’s going to lay the smack down on Triple H. Coach doesn’t want to break Rock’s concentration and introduces a video tape from Paul Heyman. The video shows Brock Lesnar dominating, nailing multiple opponents with the F5. Rock says for a month, he’s been asking Brock to just bring it, and he has brought NOTHING. Typical good promo from Rock here. Bit of humour mixed in with promoting tonight and Summerslam’s main event. Continue to love the further mind games from Heyman.

Backstage, Triple H enters Eric Bischoff’s office. Bischoff tells Triple H that Shawn Michaels faxed the papers over. He’s not sanctioning the match so he can also not be responsible. In the eyes of the WWE, their match will never happen. Triple H tells Bischoff that it will happen regardless, and everybody will witness the most brutal match they have ever seen. Fine segment to tie up the will Michaels sign angle.

Fozzy performs and a bloody Ric Flair comes out and destroys all of the bands equipment as Chris Jericho escapes through the crowd. Fozzy are bad… No issues with Flair getting the last say here. Pissed off, blood stained Flair equals epic visual.

A video package plays, running down the entire Summerslam card, and it’s backed by the epic song “Fight”. A standout PPV theme song for sure. Summerslam has been hyped extremely well. Probably the best overall build to a PPV so far this year.

Backstage, The Rock’s phone rings, but Rock ignores the phone call. Okay…

In the arena, we see that Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are coming to their seats, and Heyman is on the phone. Heyman was calling The Rock. He says that he’s on the people’s voicemail, so he might as well tell him that he and Lesnar have a strong interest in the match tonight. Eric Bischoff comes out with security and promises to throw them out of the arena if they get involved in the main event. Solid. This all makes sense. Heyman and Brock are scouting, and Bischoff doesn’t want his show ruined.

Match Five
No Disqualification Match
The Rock vs. Triple H

This is the worst match these two have had against each other in a long time. This wasn’t bad and was still a solid match, but at this point, the bar is extremely high for these two after their long feud with previous epic encounters. Triple H’s focus on Rock’s ribs was good though, and Rock sold it well. Outside of that though, felt like a typical main event that anybody could have been plugged into. Triple H uses the stipulation by nailing Rock with a low blow and then sending him outside of the ring. Just going to jump in here and say that it makes me sad that this is the last match in their amazing series, and it kind of ends with a whimper. It’s a soft No DQ match, as they worked through their signature spots, with nothing really creative thrown in. Triple H does nail Rock hard with the steel steps at one point which looked good. Brock Lesnar ends up getting involved and Triple H throws the ref out of the ring and this one basically ends as a No Contest. Disappointing, yet solid at the same time. **1/4​

After the match, it looks like it will be a two on one assault but Shawn Michaels slides into the ring and decks Lesnar off the apron. Triple H then Clotheslines Michaels down. Shawn fights back on Triple H and then nails Brock with Sweet Chin Music. Lesnar bails to the crowd. Rock decides to jump the crowd barrier and chase after him. Triple H bails to the floor with refs and Shawn hits him with a big Plancha to end the show. Chaotic ending, hyping the two big matches on the card. Can’t complain. The fact that HBK’s appearance was a nice surprise was a good touch also.

Raw was okay this week. A lot of solid wrestling, and whilst the angles and booking throughout the night were uninspiring for the most part, this still probably ticked all the boxes and promoted everything it needed to as a go home show.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
August 22nd, 2002
Fayetteville, North Carolina​

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman come down to start the show for some in ring promo time. Heyman wants people to consider the fact that Brock Lesnar is aware of the facts. The Rock is the number one box office attraction in WWE history, the biggest star on Smackdown, the most sought after commodity in Hollywood, on the cover of people, featured on entertainment tonight, his fan following without question is second to none. All of those things used to be true about Hulk Hogan, and Brock Lesnar is the one who ended that career. Heyman believes the fans boo Lesnar because they are jealous of him. Brock will do the same thing to The Rock at Summerslam. Heyman promises that Brock and The Rock will collide before the night is through. Lesnar grabs the microphone and says that he feels the same way he felt when he wrestled Hulk Hogan. He’s going to make The Rock cry like a little BITCH!!! The WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock then comes out. Rock says that he’s been telling Lesnar to bring it for weeks, but all Lesnar has done is talk. Tonight will be a night like no other. He’s taking it upon himself to bring it and walks down to the ring. He gets attacked before he can reach the ring by the WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. Benoit puts Rock in the Crossface as Eddie kicks at him. Heyman and Lesnar laugh in the ring. An enjoyable opening here. The Brock/Rock hype is underrated in my eyes, and this was a good segment here with Rock finally being fed up. The attack from Benoit and Guerrero starts the process of setting up a rematch of an epic main event from a few weeks ago so that’s good to.

Backstage, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero attack Edge briefly until officials save Edge. No issues with this as they set up the other opponent for the main event.

Match One
Jamie Noble and Tajiri w/Nidia vs. Shannon Moore and The Hurricane

This is a solid opening to the show. As the heel team, Noble and Tajiri clearly carry this, as Tajiri uses his stiff kicks and seems to have a general attitude problem as a heel. They got given six minutes as well which helped this develop into a solid match. It’s clear with the result here, and he’s relatively strong booking so far, that Moore is being set up as the next challenger for Noble’s WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Noble was really good in the heat period, and then bumped like crazy when it was time for the faces to come back as well. Moore is pretty on point with his lucha based offense as well. Moore has been performing well since debuting so I’m down for Noble vs. Moore. The ending comes about when Noble goes for a Powerbomb but Moore reverses into a Sunset Flip and gets a shock three count. Solid outing, and booking is fine. **1/2​

After the match, the heels try and attack, but Moore and The Hurricane run them off and then Matt Hardy comes out. Hardy stands in the ring to celebrate with his buddies. Hardy pretending like he made the save and then getting his friends to hoist him on their shoulders is AMAZING. So good.

In the back, Stephanie yells at Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero for attacking Edge and The Rock outside of a match. Stephanie doesn’t like them trying to injure The Rock on purpose. She says if The Rock can’t compete on Sunday, then they will have a dramatic pay cut. Edge runs in and attack them both with a chair, until they run away. Edge wants a tag match with him teaming with Rock against Benoit and Guerrero. Tonight. Nice follow up here with the main event being made official now.

In the back, Matt Hardy bets Shannon Moore and The Hurricane that if he goes back out, he’ll get another huge ovation. Hardy heads towards the entrance to prove his point. He goes out to the ring again to a decent reaction, but not like before. Chavo Guerrero comes out and challenges Matt to a match and it’s on. More character development stuff for Matt, and it’s really good. Match is random, but Chavo/Matt should be fun.

Match Two
Chavo Guerrero vs. Matt Hardy

Another solid match where the push towards a heel turn for Hardy continues. He continues to be a face here, especially in his hometown, but more and more heel mannerisms are creeping in for Hardy, including over celebrating which comes back to burn him. What I liked here is they didn’t try and reinvent the wheel, or go to crazy, they just had a well put together match. Matt was in control but should have already put Chavo away, when Kane’s pyro hit and the video from Raw aired. With Hardy distracted, Chavo sneaks with a Roll Up and gets the win. From a booking point this furthers Matt’s turn, reminds us of Kane, and does wonders for Chavo. Really smart booking, and a solid match. **1/4​

After the match, Matt Hardy confronts the referee and says “everybody knows when an explosion goes off in the building, the match stops. Matt Hardy losing in North Carolina is the biggest travesty since Hebner screwed Bret Hart in Canada” … The delusions from Hardy are incredible right now, highly entertaining.

In the back, SMACKDOWN NUMBER ONE ANNOUNCER Funaki goes into the women’s locker room to interview Nidia. Nidia is changing behind a door. WWE Womens Champion Molly Holly comes in yelling at him, and then Nidia for being such a slut. Nidia doesn’t care that Funaki is in the locker room. She says after she wins the title from Molly tonight, she’s going to expose herself. Molly is disgusted by that and promises that Nidia will not win. I guess this segment does the job of setting up the face and heel dynamic for their match later. Nidia will have most the fans behind her now, and this kind of suits her character so isn’t to much of a stretch for her to play the babyface for one night only. Smart booking actually, considering there isn’t many other women on Smackdown for Molly to face.

Rey Mysterio joins Michael Cole and Tazz from backstage to talk about his match with Kurt Angle at Summerslam. He’s proven he can hang with Angle when he pinned him in a tag team match. Kurt Angle comes over and says that Mysterio should grab a highchair or a booster seat or something and watch the match Angle requested against Rey’s fellow Cruiserweight Billy Kidman. Angle will show Mysterio what he’s in for at Summerslam. Angle is going to send Mysterio running for the border. If he sees Mysterio’s mask during his match tonight, at Summerslam he will not only beat Mysterio, he will also break his ankle. Perfectly fine segment between these two as they continue to work towards their match at Summerslam.

Match Four
Billy Kidman vs. Kurt Angle

A really good match here between these two. The finish was a little cheap but works for a go home show and hyping a pay per view match. A great match though and I feel like Kidman, even though not being a main participant in this program, gets a huge rub by hanging with Angle here which is great. The match just kept getting better until the ending. Rey Mysterio came out to watch at a point and then left, almost getting Angle counted out in the process. They continue with the story that Rey is in Kurt’s head, which allows Kidman almost to pick up the win with heaps of near falls. There was an AMAZING reversal, where Kurt reversed a Victory Roll into the Ankle Lock. The match continues and when Angle looks like getting in, with the ref distracted, Rey appears from nowhere and lands the West Coast Pop on Angle. Angle is furious and chases Rey around the ring and backstage. The referee counts Angle out before he can get back in. Cheap finish which hurts this somewhat, but it was still really good. ***​

After the match, Angle comes back to the ring and argues the decision, but the ref doesn’t listen. Angle goes after Kidman again, repeatedly punching him in the face and hits a German Suplex. He then hits an Angle Slam and an Angle Slam over the top rope. A pissed off Kurt destroys Kidman and still looks strong heading into Summerslam? Sounds good to me.

Backstage, Edge meets up with The Rock to talk about them being jumped on two different occasions. Rock tells Edge that his ribs are sore, but he would still compete even if he still lost a testicle. Nothing is going to keep him from on Lesnar at Summerslam. Solid enough segment, I guess. Puts over Rock’s injury and shows these two can continue to function as a team.

Match Four
Batista and Reverend D’Von vs. John Cena and Rikishi

This was not good. Rikishi and D’Von are not the two to carry the two green guys to a good match. This is awful as a normal tag match, so thankfully it breaks down relatively quickly. Unfortunately, it does not get a lot better to watch. I guess the one positive here is the angle advancement. Initially, I thought it was strange that D’Von and Batista were good again, but then D’Von keeps yelling at Batista throughout the match. Batista eventually turns on D’Von, giving him a Spinebuster. Batista leaves. Rikishi finishes D’Von off with the Bonzai Drop for the win. Not a good match though, actually quite bad. *1/4​

Backstage, Jamie Noble and Nidia are talking about Nidia’s match. Noble has Nidia show a random man her breasts and he enjoys that visual. LOL I will never stop talking about how much I enjoy these two characters.

Match Five
WWE Womens Championship Match
Molly Holly (c) vs. Nidia w/Jamie Noble

It’s not good. They both tried, but Nidia just isn’t at the level to be brutally honest. A terrific character but not good in the ring. Molly eventually sees off attempted interference from Noble, and hits the Molly Go Round to get the win. Yucky match. *​

After the match, Noble wants Nidia to show the world her breasts anyway, but Molly Dropkicks Noble into Nidia to prevent that from happening. How are Noble and Nidia still heels?

Stephanie McMahon comes out onto the stage; she welcomes everybody to the greatest show on TV and says it will be an all time great Summerslam. The amazing Summerslam “Fight” video recap airs again, promoting the PPV. What. A. Song. Perfect for a wrestling event.

Match Six
Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge and The Rock

A great main event from these four yet again. Not quite on the INSANELY good level of their first match, but still better than most matches you will see. They got plenty of time to show off their repertoires and tell a story, and you can’t ask for much more than that. All four men are just so good at this point in time. Things that make this match a little lesser than the previous one is probably the atmosphere. The crowd tonight just isn’t as hot as the first time they run this. Secondly, The Rock’s selling of his ribs is very up and down which hurts the match slightly. From a booking perspective, I was admittedly surprised with the finish, with Edge pinning Eddie when they will meet again in a few days at Summerslam. The Rock is never really talked about as a great in ring wrestler, but he’s honestly had an amazing year, and it depresses me that we won’t see him full time for long periods ever again. He was arguably the best he’s ever been in ring in 2002. This isn’t just the Rock show though, Benoit and Eddie were an amazingly vicious team yet again, and Edge was super on. Great stuff and the match ends when Rock nails Benoit with a Rock Bottom, allowing Edge to Spear Eddie and get the three count. Another VERY strong main event for Smackdown. ***3/4​

After the match, Brock Lesnar slides into the ring and confronts Rock face to face. Rock signals for Edge to leave the ring, so he does but first he pats Rock on the back. Rock tells Lesnar to bring it. They come to blows and Lesnar starts driving his shoulder into the ribs of The Rock. Lesnar turns into a right hand by Rock. Rock nails Brock with more right hands, sending him over the top rope with the spit punch. Lesnar is held back on the floor by Paul Heyman to end the show. The perfect tease. After all that build, finally we get just the right amount of physical contact. Terrific.

Another really good episode of Smackdown for the most part. A couple of down matches before the main event, but still a really enjoyable show.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Velocity
24th August, 2002
Fayetteville, North Carolina​

The show begins with Marc Lloyd on commentary, and he is joined by a special guest commentator, Lita. Lloyd wonders if this means Lita is on Smackdown now as she’s a Raw superstar, but she says she was invited to guest commentate by Stephanie McMahon and at this stage, that’s all it is. A small thing sure, but after her neck injury and being away for a while, it’s nice to see Lita again looking happy.

Match One
Mark Henry vs. Mike Awesome

This match was pretty horrid, and it didn’t help that the fans don’t care about it. As an Awesome fan, I’m irritated by this, but I’m almost certain, Paul Heyman would be loving the chance to not push Awesome as the booker of Smackdown right now. The match starts off with Henry trying and stuffing up a Leap Frog, and then he can’t get Awesome up properly for a Military Press Slam either. Awesome tries to cover, playing it off as a reversal and locking in a Sleeper, which was clever improvisation on his part. It didn’t get much better from here despite Awesome to try and raise the bar with some top rope moves. Henry eventually puts us out of our misery with a Body Slam for the win. Very bad, and I like both these guys. ¾*
​

As Funaki makes his way out for the next match, he confronts Marc Lloyd on commentary to tell Lloyd that Funaki is Smackdown’s number one announcer. Haha yes, go Funaki. Lloyd just rubbing all these wrestlers the wrong way lately apparently.

Match Two
Funaki vs. Tajiri

I didn’t really know if these two had a singles match where they were given the opportunity to make something good happen, but this was it, and they did a good enough job of it. It’s a bit on the shorter side, but it’s a match where they just don’t waste or misuse any of their time. Fast paced all the way through which kept the fans engaged as well. I already knew Tajiri was the man, but Funaki really stepped it up a level here and held his own which was nice to see. Some good spots littered throughout and both men brought out some moves they wouldn’t normally hit. Tajiri with the Tilt A Whirl and Funaki with the German Suplex. Some nice false finishes during the end run also. Good stuff and in the end, they made the right booking decision with Tajiri getting the win here. He hits his famous Buzzsaw kick to finish off Funaki. Good match. **3/4

Match Three
Chuck w/Billy and Rico vs. Hardcore Holly

This was solid enough. I thought they played the match to their strengths which is really good. These two aren’t the type to enthral you with a twenty minute technical masterpiece, but they instead, focused on hitting each other with high impact moves until somebody beat the other. Of course, Billy and Rico play a part in proceedings, including distracting Holly early on to allow Chuck to gain the early advantage. Probably missing a fun finishing run to turn this from solid into a good match, but I’ll take what I can get. The numbers game comes into play here as Rico distracts the ref, and Billy sneaks in to drill Holly with the Cobra Clutch Slam. When the referee turns back, he counts the pin for Chuck to gain the victory. Solid. **1/4​

After the match, Billy, Chuck and Rico try and beat down Holly with a three on one, but Holly holds his own. Holly gets the upper hand but then starts focusing only on Chuck, which allows Billy and Rico to attack and turn the tide. As Holly gets beaten down, Randy Orton slides into the ring and makes the save. Pleasantly surprised by the appearance from Orton here. I just assumed he wasn’t coming back on screen until it was time for Evolution.

Randy Orton issues a challenge now that the odds are even. Billy, Chuck and Rico accept and charge to the ring, but Holly and Orton are able to clear them from the ring.

Match Four
Billy w/Chuck and Rico vs. Randy Orton w/Hardcore Holly

Again, they don’t try and do anything overly complicated, and whilst it’s probably a little lesser than the previous match, they still do a decent job. I thought the booking made sense here to mirror the previous match but opposite way around, all but confirming that these four now need to be booked in a tag team match. There’s interference from both parties throughout, one that gives Billy the advantage, and then some from Holly which throws the advantage back towards Orton. When all hell break loose, Holly gets in and hits The Alabama Slam on Billy, and that’s enough to allow Orton to get the win. Again, this was okay. **​

Outside of the opener, a pretty strong episode of Velocity. More please.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
August 25th, 2002
Long Island, New York​

We see the WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble and Nidia at The World in New York promoting the Summerslam pay per view. Noble basically pimps out Nidia to any guy of her choosing. We cut back to D’Lo Brown and The Coach on commentary before a winner can be picked. More Noble/Nidia shenanigans, although the stuff that goes on at the world isn’t as cool as the stuff on Smackdown by any means.

We get a video package to promote the WWE Tag Team Champions The Un American defend their titles against Booker T and Goldust at Summerslam.

We get a video package to promote Test vs. The Undertaker at Summerslam.

We see The Undertaker arriving to the arena on his motorbike. Yay.

We get a video package to promote Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H.

Now we see a Brock Lesnar training video. Video is epic.

We see a video package to promote Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio.

Backstage, Marc Lloyd interviews Kurt Angle. Kurt asks Lloyd if he would like it if Coach punched him in the face or kneed him in the groin. Angle has been trying to do this job and it’s hard to do that when a twelve year old like Mysterio continues to get involved in his business. Angle vows to make Rey tap. Solid promo from Angle to hype their match tonight. No issues.

In the parking lot, Eric Bischoff has arrived at the arena. He talks with Terri about how he is excited for the Raw superstars, especially Rob Van Dam and Triple H. Bischoff thinks people will remember this for a long time. Solid enough segment to hype the PPV, which is exactly what this episode of Heat should be doing.

Now we see the WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock’s training video. This video is also epic.

Backstage, Terri interviews Ric Flair regarding his match with Chris Jericho. Flair cuts a promo hyping his match with Jericho tonight that I can’t be bothered reviewing right now. It’s a Flair promo. It’s fine.

Match One
Spike Dudley vs. Steven Richards

This match wasn’t good at all, and from a personal preference standpoint, it’s some uninspiring booking here as well. Richards has had a few good showings recently so to see him losing to Spike Dudley is disappointing. Whilst I thought the match was bad, the fans did get into it, even starting up and ever so brief ECW chant. Spike hits the Dudley Dog to win as clean as a whistle. Didn’t like the match or the booking. *​

After the match, Richards has a minor temper tantrum and is attacked by Spike some more. Spike tosses Richards over the top to the floor and plays to the crowd. Spike rams Richards face first into the ring steps a few times and stands on Richards. Spike beats on Richards some more before leaving. Strange way to completely bury Richards. Not even sure if this means it will continue, or if this was just an annihilation.

We get a Rock vs. Brock video package for one final bit of hype heading into Summerslam.

The one new match was awful. Put this episode of Heat on the skip list.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Summerslam
August 25th, 2002
Long Island, New York​

Okay they’ve finally settled on what would become the norm in regard to commentary on dual brand PPV’s. This is the first event where Michael Cole and Tazz commentate the Smackdown matches, and JR and The King commentate the Raw matches. Maybe it’s because it’s what I’ve become familiar with over time, but this method is the best one in my opinion.

Match One
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

This is Rey’s first WWE pay per view match, and they knock this out of the park. I love that they didn’t just throw Rey straight into the Cruiserweight division, pairing him with Angle really was an inspired choice. They have really good logical psychology throughout with Angle dominating, but Rey is able to make a comeback whenever Kurt takes the action away from keeping Mysterio grounded on the mat. This is just the perfect mixture of speed and power between two completely different wrestlers. The styles mesh really well. The fans are really into it, pumped up from the start, and the match stays at a crazy pace, almost as if they’re matching the intensity of the fans. All this added to the atmosphere. Very smart start to the match to with the story leading in being Angle frustrated and mad at Mysterio. Rey sneaking from behind to hit a Springboard Headscissors was the perfect way to set Kurt off. Rey put in a hell of a lot of effort and some close near falls, but in the end, he submits to the Ankle Lock. Angle wins, and what a great way to start the show. Good opener. ***1/2​

Backstage, Stephanie McMahon sent a messenger to tell Eric Bischoff to top that. As she walks into her office, she finds Bischoff there. Eric says this is the only office and he says they should share. Stephanie agrees and they both try to outdo each other. Cool dynamic with the GM’s begin forced to be in each other company tonight. Considering how much I’m enjoying the Bischoff/Steph stuff in general, I’m all for this.

Match Two
Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair

Not as good as the opener, but this was a still a good match. This was very competitive, and in one match here, Jericho looks the best he’s probably looked from a booking perspective since the night of the draft. I still felt kind of off about this one, because whilst I thought it was good, I think I was hoping for amazing, so it didn’t quite feel like my expectations were met. The crowd are crazy about Flair though which is great, and the match started with Flair riding that wave all over Jericho. It did feel like Flair was a little too much about nailing chops and applying the Figure Four and nothing else. Which kayfabe it made him come across as a one dimensional wrestler, or at least that’s what I Interpreted. With that being said, these two definitely had an enjoyable chemistry together. After Flair’s hot stuff, Jericho would take over and begin to work over Flair’s back to set up the Walls of Jericho. One thing that probably did irk me was that Jericho didn’t try an out cheat Flair and show up his has been opponent like he said he would over the past few weeks. Flair gets a low blow after the ref is accidentally hit with a shot, and this softens up Jericho enough for Flair to lock in the Figure Four. Jericho taps. A very surprising result, but I thought this was good. **3/4 ​

Brock Lesnar is warming up and Paul Heyman tells Brock Lesnar that Hulk Hogan’s career is dead thanks to him. He then tells Brock to murder the WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock’s title reign. Tonight, ‘The Next Big Thing’ arrives. Good work from Heyman, pumping up Brock, the impact he’s made so far and the main event tonight.

Match Three
Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge

Another match where they set up the psychology early on, and then both did a job of keeping track for the most part. Eddie worked on the left arm of Edge, which makes sense as the limb of choice, considering Edge had just recently had some surgery on a bad shoulder. Edge sells the arm really well throughout, except for right at the end of the match, but I’ll touch on that soon. These two will go on to have a terrific series if I remember correctly, and this is a really good first match between the pair. The confidence Edge has gained with the year he’s had is incredible, as he truly carries himself like a star and the fans are into him to. This is so good but is exciting to know that they will likely have better matches against each other. Eddie’s mean streak is on full display again here, really looking liking his trying to damage somebody with every movement. Eddie controls most the match which probably works to both men’s strengths. There’s an awesome moment where Eddie lands a Frog Splash not to end the match, but he lands on Edge’s arm to not finish things off, but to further damage the arm so Edge can’t use the Spear. Not a proper finishing run which probably hurts the match, as Edge just nails a Spear out of nowhere. After all the shoulder work, for a Spear like that to end it, with Edge showing no signs of his sore arm now felt very anticlimactic. Edge wins, and this was really good, but a few minor tweaks, and it could have been better. ***1/2​

The Un Americans cut a promo saying the fans were unresponsive to world class athletes. Lance Storm said the fans would probably sit on their hands the entire match. Meh, complete filler to I guess try and gain more heat from the live crowd. Felt like their poorest promo since coming together as a group.

Match Four
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Christian and Lance Storm (c) vs. Booker T and Goldust

I thought this was good without being spectacular. Goldust was easily the MVP in here, continuing to prove how awesome he is since pairing with Booker. Again, it helps with the atmosphere that Booker and Goldust are very over, and the champs as foreign American haters are VERY hated. But to just go back to Goldust, his fire and energy here as a babyface was second to none. Really helped what was a formulaic tag match. Textbook stuff, with Storm and Christian using all the tricks to keep the isolation period interesting. They built the anticipation for the hot tag to Booker very well, and Goldust’s selling when being isolated was fantastic as well. When it looks like Booker and Goldust might get the win, Test comes down to interfere, nailing Booker with a Big Boot, allowing Christian to sneak onto the win. Another good match here. **3/4​

At WWE New York, WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble makes Nidia make out with some guy as he cheers her on. More great stuff from these two.

Elsewhere, Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon talk about the interpromotional match coming up right now and who is going to win. Solid enough banter between the two GM’s to hype the importance of the Intercontinental Title.

Match Five
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Benoit (c) vs. Rob Van Dam

Look, this is still a good match, but RVD had one hell of a bad night. If he was in there with anybody other than Benoit, the match could have ended up being pretty ugly. It’s good, but on paper, these two have the potential to blow you away, and they definitely don’t do that here. To be fair, they didn’t do that on Raw a few weeks ago either, so maybe they’re just one of those match ups that doesn’t work. Whilst I mentioned Van Dam’s performance earlier, Benoit is as crisp and hard hitting as ever right from the get-go. I guess this is kind of similar to RVD vs. Eddie Guerrero at Backlash. He just needs to make sure he’s in the right spots to allow Benoit to throw, chop, punch, Suplex and beat him down for a majority of the match. Van Dam’s selling unfortunately wasn’t at the level it can be or usually is either. I also think for these two on this particular night, sixteen minutes was to long. The match felt like it dragged a little. The length with the methodical pace for large portions and you could feel the crowd becoming restless with proceedings which is never a good sign. I must have more patience than them, because I still enjoyed. Benoit’s control period was good in general though, busting out a Shoulderbreaker and hitting some awesome float over Northern Light Suplexes. Another awesome moment where Benoit has the Crossface locked in, and RVD is about to grab the bottom rope, but Benoit flips over and locks in a Dragon Sleep. That whole exchange was epic. In the end, RVD manages to soften Benoit up enough to hit the Five Star Frog Splash to regain the title and take it back to Raw. Good match, but this one is far from perfect. *** ​

Backstage, Eric Bischoff is celebrating RVD bringing the WWE Intercontinental Title back to Raw. Stephanie McMahon isn’t mad and instead laughs at Bischoff before leaving, which makes Bischoff wonder. Still not entirely sure where all this will lead between the GM’s, but it’s fun.

Match Six
Test vs. The Undertaker

If I thought RVD wasn’t himself and was bad in the last match, Test is atrocious on purpose here. Just a terrible performance here, which probably isn’t great for him, as this is probably the biggest match of his career. They play it safe and have a generic power match, but Test holds his own and actually looks like he might win at times. The finish here was cool, as ‘Taker busts out a Tombstone for the win, which he had not been using as The American Badass. That’s cool to see, ‘Taker wins, and nothing to write home about, but this one was at least solid. **1/4

Match Seven
Unsanctioned Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H

This is awesome. Match of the night for sure. They make the match that suits their build and story perfectly, and even though it’s their first time against each other, this might be my favourite match between the two. Lord knows I’ll see it enough throughout the next few years. Such a HUGE moment in the scheme of things as well, with this being Michaels’ first proper return to in ring action in close to four and a half years. This had a big match feel to it, which tells you the crowd was excited, and the build to this match was sensational. Knowing what we do about Michaels’ back, every time Triple H hits a Backbreaker, or Spinebuster, or a chair shot or something, it’s still hard to watch to this day. I think the Street Fight stipulation really helped this one as well, as it allows Shawn to hit his big high risk moves and it keeps them from falling into the trap of this turning into a normal wrestling match. Was cool to see Michaels dominate early to, he was fantastic. This is one of Triple H’s all time performances in my eyes, he’s so merciless here, and JR makes everything seem that much more dangerous on commentary. Sensational work by him to. The only real negative here is the Michaels blade job, it’s clearly a blood packet and by midway through the match, you can’t even tell he was busted open. If he did a blade job the same way Triple H did, the visual would have been so much better. This turns into a war of attrition by the end. Michaels hits a great Elbow Drop off the ladder, before looking for Sweet Chin Music. Trips reverses, and looks for the Pedigree, which Shawn reverses into a Jack Knife pin and gets the three count. This was awesome. Damn near perfect match to suit the story and give Shawn his triumphant return. Epic stuff. Would suck to have to follow. ****1/2​

After the match, Shawn celebrates but then Triple H nails him in the back with the sledgehammer. Michaels falls to his knees and Triple H hits him with the sledgehammer in the back a second time. He tells Shawn to suck it, and Michaels has to get taken out on a stretcher. As this happens, and Triple H laughs, JR goes crazy with another epic rant on commentary. Cool ending looks like we’re in store for more from these two at some point in the future.

The Fink comes out to cut a promo and brag a bit. He wants to get a few things off his chest. This is the first pay per view he has announced in this arena since WrestleMania 2. WWE fans will always have The Fink. Trish Stratus comes out to interrupt. Trish apologises for slapping him two weeks ago. And she has a surprise for him. Trish wants to start off with a hug but then Lilian Garica comes out and slaps him before kicking him in the balls. Meh, payoff for an angle I didn’t really care about. I guess in terms of the structure of the show, it was well positioned to give the fans a bit of cool down between the two main events.

Match Eight
WWE Undisputed Championship Match
The Rock (c) vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman

It was always going to be really hard to follow the main event, and whilst not perfect, these two still delivered a very strong final match on the card. It feels like a real historic night considering the result, and this is the last time we’ll see The Rock truly be a full timer. Plus, it’s Lesnar’s first title reign and he beats Rock’s record of becoming youngest champion in history, so there’s a lot of symmetry there. Rock’s rib selling throughout was very patchy, whereas a critical viewer who watches for that sort of thing, it felt like it generally started to hurt the match. Loved the way Brock got put over in the opening moments, as Rock explodes with rights, only for Brock to throw him with a Belly To Belly Suplex within the first ten seconds. Really set the tone. Rock works his magic with the crowd turning against him, not afraid to dig back into that heel persona if he needs to. That was awesome. Some good moments two where they do a double kip up, and Heyman finally gets a Rock Bottom through the announce table. It’s a very strong match with powerful heel, and plucky babyface going at it. In the end, after a fun reversal sequence and tease of finishers, Brock gets the F5 to win. And just like that, it feels like WWE has stability again. Flair as co-owner, Austin gone, Foley gone, Hogan as champ, the NWO, this year has been all over the place, and along with Smackdown being epic, Bischoff and Steph coming in, this is the final piece that feels like stuff is actually where it needs to be. Awesome stuff to set up the end of the year, and this was a strong main event, albeit not at the level of the all timer that ran before it. ***3/4​

I had fond memories of this event, and it did not disappoint. Probably the PPV of the year so far (I’ll look at some stats at end of year to determine for sure), but that’s what it felt like when viewing it. Awesome show, some big results and looking forward to what’s next.