Stojy watches WWE 2002

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
March 3rd, 2002
Boston, Massachusetts​

A new commentary duo for this week’s show as Michael Cole isn’t here, meaning we’ve got The Coach and Tazz on the job tonight.

Match One
Perry Saturn vs. Rikishi

Saturn gets on top of Rikishi early, laying in with strikes, and backing him into the corner. Saturn continues to stomp away, until Jacqueline, who is trying to be a referee again, breaks it up. The step in from Jacqueline allows Rikishi to get in some offence until he cops a Back Elbow, and then Saturn hits a cool Springboard Dropkick. Saturn sends Rikishi bouncing off the ropes, but The Kish comes back with a kick to the face, followed by a Samoan Drop. Saturn then gets drilled with a Belly To Belly Suplex. With Saturn in trouble, Rikishi then lands his version of the Earthquake Drop. Saturn crawls to the corner where Rikishi misses a Running Back Splash, as Saturn gets out of the way. Saturn then quickly drops Rikishi with a Clothesline. In an impressive feat, Saturn hits a Northern Lights Suplex and gets a two count for it. Once back up, Rikishi connects with a Superkick, which keeps Saturn down for the Banzai Drop, which gets Rikishi the win. Nothing amazing or anything, but for an opener on Heat, this was at a solid level. **​

After the match, Rikishi and Jacqueline dance together.

Backstage, referee Tim White catches up with The Hurricane. He asks The Hurricane how he is doing. Hurricane says that he is super as always, however Mighty Molly is hurting after the attack from that villainous Jazz. Despite that, Hurricane says he has a job to do tonight as he has a match against Test. I liked this just as a way to sell how deadly Jazz is, and of course, it reminds us that Hurricane has a match coming up.

Our WrestleMania moment for this show is Pete Rose getting Tombstoned by Kane at WrestleMania 14. The Kane/Pete Rose saga was so awesome.

A recap video plays of Jazz destroying Mighty Molly on Raw.

Match Two
Test vs. The Hurricane

Hurricane starts things off by snatching a Headlock, but Test uses his strength advantage to simply throw The Hurricane off of him and into the corner of the ring. Hurricane runs at Test with some high pace, babyface offense, only for Test to eventually catch him with a Full Nelson Slam! Test then takes the action to the corner, where he goes to town with elbows and stomps. After some more domination from Test, he goes for a Back Suplex, but Hurricane lands on his feet, and connects with a Neckbreaker. The superhero immediately follows up with a nice float over DDT which gets him a two count. Hurricane tries to keep the action fast paced, bouncing off the ropes but he runs straight into a Tilt A Whirl Powerslam! It only gets a two count, so Test gets up and yells in the referee’s face, even shoving him, but the ref shoves back. The shove from the ref sends Test straight into The Eye Of The Hurricane, which gains a very close near fall. Helms goes up top and looks for the Blockbuster, but Test avoids it. Test looks for the Big Boot, Hurricane avoids that and hits a Superkick for yet another two count. Hurricane heads back to the top rope, where he comes off with a Crossbody, but Test catches him with a Roll of The Dice to get the win. This was okayish. High level for Heat. They both played into the big man vs. little man stuff well. **1/4 ​

Next there’s a video recap of the latest stuff regarding Tough Enough 2. I still don’t care.

The “snap of the night” shows highlights of RVD beating Big Show and Lance Storm to become the number one contender for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. It also conveniently sets up our next match.

Match Three
Lance Storm vs. Rob Van Dam

Storm starts things strong here, as he’s able to back RVD into the corner and immediately go to town with strikes in the corner. RVD managed to be elusive though, flipping away from Storm, and then sending him flying across the ring with a Monkey Flip. RVD quickly follows up with a Savant kick, followed by a Standing Moonsault which gets him a two count. Van Dam sends Storm to the corner, where he begins driving his shoulder into Storm’s mid-section, until Storm moves, and Van Dam collides with the ring post. Storm drags RVD out of the corner and hits a DDT for a near fall. Storm is in control now, as he sends RVD to the corner and tees off with chops to the chest. RVD ends up elbowing himself free before taking Storm down with a Body Scissors. Storm quickly regains control and keeps Van Dam down, until RVD fights back with a couple of variations of Spinning Heel Kicks to get a two count. Van Dam goes to pick up Storm, but Storm drills him with a Jaw Breaker! RVD immediately comes back with a Back Suplex though, followed by Rolling Thunder for another failed pin attempt. Storm avoids a kick to the head and gets a near fall off of a German Suplex. Storm heads up to the top rope but RVD knocks him off, before climbing up and landing his Flying Kick from the top rope. RVD then gets back up and hits his Five Star Frog Splash for the win. Another solid showing for an episode of Heat. The right man went over to with RVD continuing his momentum as he rolls into a WrestleMania Intercontinental title shot. **1/4​

The next recap is of all the happenings between Stone Cold and the NWO on this week’s Raw and Smackdown.

And then this weeks “boot of the week” is a recap of Triple H and Kane beating Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle on Smackdown this week.

Match Four
Edge vs. Mr. Perfect

Another one that beings with a Lock Up, before Perfect gets a Headlock on. Edge pushes him off, but Perfect comes off the ropes and takes Edge down with a Shoulder Block. They go back and forth, including a brief romp on the outside, until Perfect gets an Abdominal Stretch, which kick starts the Edge fight back. Edge runs through Perfect with some Clothesline, before hitting the Edge O Matic for a two count. Edge then starts lining up Perfect for a Spear, but Perfect pulls the ref in the way, so Edge runs through the referee with the Spear instead. After dropping Edge, Perfect heads outside the ring and grabs a steel chair, however the referee has recovered quickly, because even he knows Edge’s Spear is weak, and he calls for the bell. Perfect is disqualified for shoving the referee in place for the Spear. Eh, this was disappointing. Would have liked more from these two. Didn’t have much time, didn’t deliver anything interesting in the time they had, and the non-finish hurts this one too. *1/2​

After the match, Edge Spears Perfect to knock the chair out of his hands, so we send the fans home happy.

Probably the best episode of Heat so far this year. The main event was disappointed, but the rest of the wrestling was at a consistent decent level for the first time this year. More of the same would be nice.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
March 4th, 2002
Austin, Texas ​

We kick off with Vince McMahon in the back and he announces that fellow co-owner Ric Flair will not be here tonight due to circumstances beyond his control involving a family emergency. With Flair being gone, Vince decides to label tonight’s show fan appreciation night. To show his appreciation, McMahon books Kurt Angle vs. Triple H in a steel cage and announces that a member of the NWO will be in action tonight. Vince seems pretty happy as he believes tonight Raw returns to normalcy. Okay, so obviously I’m excited about the Flair family emergency stuff because I know where that leads, but Angle/Triple H in a cage will hopefully be good. Feel like cage matches are either really good, or two guys being lazy and ramming each other into the cage with no creativity/excitement. We’ll see how this one ends up.

Match One
Booker T vs. Steve Austin

Kind of hard to rate this one as they only get a couple of minutes. Austin’s knee is still all bandaged up to sell the cinderblock attack, so you’d think Booker would try and target it, right? Apparently not. They trade some basic, uninspiring offense including Austin’s growing fascination with using chops and not much else. At some point, Booker manages to get Austin in a Headlock, but the NWO make their way out to attack Austin, and that’s basically where the match ends. Not really enough time to get going, and it suffered because of it. Non finish doesn’t help. Looks like Booker is trying to get on the worst match list for March also. *1/4​

The NWO go right on the attack but Austin fights back. Just as Austin gets on top of Hall, Kevin Nash pulls him off. As Austin is distracted with the other members of the NWO, Hall goes outside and gets himself a wrench. Back inside, Hall nails Austin in the face with the wrench and Austin gets all bloodied. The attack continues but admittedly runs a bit long with Hall and co laying down punches and stomps. After what feels like forever, Hall nails Austin with a Stunner and that’s how the segment ends. This was okay for what it was, NWO looking somewhat dangerous, but it dragged on a little in terms of length.

After the break, Austin is still struggling and EMT’s are out with the stretcher and whatever, but he’s a badass so he refuses and limps his way to the back.

Test makes his way to the ring, and we get the gift of some Test promo time. Luckily, it’s short. Test talks about how usually his tag team partner is Booker T, but he’s managed to find the perfect replacement. Of course, the word “perfect” being used means Mr. Perfect is his partner. I can live with that at least.

Match Two
Albert and Scotty Too Hotty vs. Mr Perfect and Test

As usual, the match just didn’t get enough time to shine and that’s what hurt it. It probably also hurt it that Albert, who is much better than Scotty, was only in and having fun briefly before Scotty took over. Whatever quality the match had, dipped a little after that. It’s worth noting that considering both guys weren’t doing anything at this time, I probably could have done with Perfect and Test having some sort of run as a tag team. Nothing amazing here, but Perfect could have maybe carried Test as his big, dumb partner or something. Anyway, not enough Albert in this one, and after Scotty hits The Worm on Test, Perfect finishes him off with the Perfect Plex. I’ll take Perfect getting a pinfall victory at this stage anytime I can get it. For all the potential positives for the future, still not a good match here. It wasn’t allowed to be. *1/2​

After the match, Perfect kept on the attack and Test looked to join in when Albert made the save. Albert was doing okay, until he got nailed with Test’s Big Boot. Realistically, probably the only thing Test does really well. Rikishi makes the save now though, nailing Test with a Superkick, before giving Perfect the Stinkface. As Albert struggles to get back up, Rikishi and Scotty share a moment because they are old buddies.

Kurt Angle gets interviewed by The Coach and Angle has to admit that he liked watching Stone Cold get his butt kicked. He also says that Triple H got lucky by pinning him on Smackdown, but tonight inside the steel cage, Triple H’s luck runs out.

The NEW WWF Hardcore Champion Goldust comes out and talks about how since The Undertaker was the Hardcore Champ, it seems the 24/7 rule has been forgotten. Before he can go on about how nobody will attack him, Tazz interrupts and brings Jacqueline out with her in her interesting referee attire. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a Hardcore Title match.

Match Three
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Goldust (c) vs. Tazz

Again, nowhere near enough time to be really good, but I again thought Goldust showed enough here to prove that he can put on some fun matches as Hardcore champ. As usual, he threw plenty of awesome punches, and he bumped well for some of Tazz’s Suplexes. Typical Hardcore match with the use of trash can, trash can lid and fire extinguisher coming into play. I guess now that he’s hardcore, Goldust can actually land the Shattered Dreams again so that happens here. In the end, Tazz locks in the Tazzmission, but Goldust falls on top of Tazz, and uses the trash can lid to knock him out and get the win. These two would be awesome in a 7-minute Hardcore match. *1/4​

In the back, the NWO must be in Stone Cold’s locker room as they are chilling and drinking his beer. Once they finish some beer, Nash mentions that he’s a little bored now the beer is done, and Hall says he isn’t scared to leave the locker room. Hogan tells them they should all go for a walk.

The Coach interviews Rob Van Dam, showing a replay of RVD becoming the number one contender for the IC Title, before congratulating him on a job well done. RVD is full of confidence as he nods along with Coach, before he says at ‘Mania, he will hit the Five Star Frog Splash and become the new champ. Lance Storm interrupts and announces that he’s taking this very seriously, but Van Dam tells him to lighten up. Storm gets even more irritated and slaps RVD, and Van Dam says that’s cool because they’ll settle it in the ring later. I know Van Dam is laid back but not sure how he can just take that face slap and not fight back.

We now go to the back where DDP and Christian are together again, as DDP continues to try and get Christian to see the positive side of things. Christian looks goofy as all shit when he puts on his fake DDP smile, as Page tells him they are skipping stage 1 and going straight to stage 2. Suddenly, Christian gets a phone call he needs to take, and after some silence says, “pull the plug, the sooner she goes, the sooner I get my money”. Page is shocked as Christian gets off the phone and asks about it, and Christian says his Grandma Edna is about to bite it. Holy shit, I love Christian. More fun stuff between these two, and the look Page gave Christian here was priceless as well.

The NWO see a crew member wearing a Stone Cold t-shirt so they decide to beat the shit out of him. Hogan and Nash egg Hall on, telling him that the guy flipped him off, which motivates Hall to inflict more damage.

The Godfather is at WWF New York partying with his escorts.

Match Four
WWF Womens Championship
Jazz (c) vs. Trish Stratus

I’ve given Jazz a lot of hard time throughout these first couple of months, and that’s likely to continue. She just isn’t good. But on this night against this opponent, she delivers a five-star classic from her standards, but something that just isn’t a complete bag of shit in reality. Jazz really takes it to Trish here with some stiff offense, really beating the hell out of her. I think this is what really adds to the match and Trish’s selling is good to, as she continues to get better almost each time she wrestles. Trish made a good fiery comeback, but eventually finds herself locked in the STF. She manages to escape, and then because 2002 and sex appeal, Jazz rips off Trish’s top to reveal a black bra. God damn… Anyway, the match continues as Jazz slaps her, but Trish loses it and eventually locks Jazz in the STF. Jazz makes the ropes, but Trish has lost her cool and refuses to break the hold, so she gets disqualified. Solid stuff for this combination and I like Trish showing a little something of a mean streak here as well. **​

Stephanie McMahon is on the phone in the back, and she’s pissed off at Chris Jericho, who is lost and can’t find her lotion. A frustrated Stephanie tells him that it’s not the Bermuda triangle. Triple H enters the room, and he has a bunch of Steph’s crap in a box which he drops off. Trips tells another vagina joke, telling Steph her vagina and the box are the same size. Stephanie notices that her favourite lotion fell out of the box, so she quickly begins rubbing it all over her body. For some reason, Triple H seems pretty happy with that. Dun dun dun!

It's announced that The Rock will return on Smackdown. Finally.

The Undertaker comes out and talks about how Flair’s turned down his challenge for WrestleMania twice now, and it’s why The Undertaker had to attack Arn Anderson. We then see that replay before ‘Taker says he’s finding what makes Flair tick, but that wasn’t enough, so he had to push the envelope further. We then see a clip of The Undertaker showing up at the WWF Development Centre and beating the living shit out of David Flair. ‘Taker beats the shit out of Flair quite badly and it’s awesome. At one point, Flair asks what are you doing, and ‘Taker tells him he’s kicking his ass. That was awesome. After destroying Flair, ‘Taker says this is on Ric’s head and he doesn’t care how far he has to go. He asks if David has a younger brother before he says he remembers Flair has a daughter too. He makes the challenge again to Flair for ‘Mania as we cut away. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I love this build so much.

Match Five
Lance Storm vs. Rob Van Dam

We've got a Sunday Night Heat rematch here and I'm down for them to build on what was decent on Heat. This was really good; I’m actually shocked by how good it is for a mid-card match given the state of wrestling in the early stages of 2002 so far. Storm works on the leg throughout and does some really good work, and Van Dam sells the leg really well. RVD’s biggest strength isn’t exactly his consistency with his limb selling, but he does a really good job here. Makes complete sense from the Storm technician/tactician point of view to work on a leg as well. All of Van Dam’s big offense involve his educated feet or him leaping off the top, so immobilising him is literally the perfect game plan. In an awesome moment, RVD sells really cool when he looks to go for the Rolling Thunder, but his lost the explosiveness in his leg. So instead, he settles for a Leg Drop. In the end, RVD does hit the Five Star Frog Splash to get the win, but even then, instead of leaping to the top rope swiftly like he always does, he’s forced to head to the apron and climb up it like a normal person. A really good, enjoyable effort from these two. ***​

In the back, the NWO are hanging out and Hall talks about what he’s going to do to Austin, aka treat him like an animal. Hogan talks about what he did to The Rock, but they have more important things to worry about, like who is actually going to wrestle tonight. They get prepared to play rock, paper, scissors, but the coffee guy interrupts, and Hall shoves his head in burning hot coffee. Damn. Showing more of their lack of compassion, they then complete their game with the kid screaming about his face being burnt off. Hall wins the game and will be wrestling tonight. They’re lucky Kane wasn’t around, I guess.

We get a music video with highlights of The Rock, further hyping his pending return on Smackdown.

Apparently, it has been decided that Scott Hall will picking his opponent’s name out of a tumbler ala future Royal Rumble events when they pick their numbers. Hogan does some of his standard posing before saying they need to be ready to give The Rock an NWO welcome on Smackdown. Hall then finally picks a name out of the tumbler and looks genuinely afraid. I guess at least they are hyping up The Rock’s return.

So, after the NWO come out, the fear from Hall was all a swerve as his opponent is none other than Spike Dudley.

Match Six
Scott Hall vs. Spike Dudley

Just a squash match, really not much else to say. Hall doesn’t really do anything impressive, and there isn’t any crazy offense that allows Spike to bump his ass off. So instead, what we get is bleh. Beforehand, Hall said that he was going to pretend his opponent was Austin, so The King keeps calling Spike, Stone Cold throughout. Even though he has things well and truly under control, Hall tosses Spike to the outside so Hogan and Nash can get some shots in. In the end, it’s a Razors Edge and Hall literally just pins Spike with a foot on the chest. Hall is a shell of his former self (which wasn’t always amazing to begin with) at this point, not good. ½*​

Backstage, Stephanie McMahon is crying because she’s broken out in hives, because Triple H tampered with her lotion. Steph is fuming but Kurt Angle tries to make out like he can’t see it, but when Steph goes to touch Angle, he’s grossed out and hilariously backs away. She gets all worked up and yells at Kurt because she wants him to kill Triple H.

WrestleMania countdown – 2 weeks away.

Match Seven
Steel Cage Match
Kurt Angle vs. Triple H

I really enjoyed this as well. I think I mentioned earlier that cage matches can go one of two ways, and whilst this one didn’t overly focus on blood and gore, I definitely think was a good one. Kurt Angle bumped around really well throughout, which isn’t really a surprise at this point. The only part of this which bothered me is every time Triple H gets up and recovers from something, it’s like he hasn’t been touched. He got thrown around for periods of this match with Angle nailing all sorts of Suplexes, but he doesn’t even make to feel for his back. Like at all. That’s frustrating. I also wasn’t a fan of the ending, but I still enjoyed the match as a whole. Some better booking, and this could have got a REALLY good ranking. I like that they didn’t bother with pinfalls and whatever here as well, which allowed them to implement a number of false escapes. They did these well too. Towards the end, of course Stephanie gets involved when she slides a chair in. It backfires though and Triple H DDT’s Angle onto the chair. It doesn’t end there though as Hunter attempts to climb out of the cage, only for Steph to hit him with the chair. Trips falls and crotches himself on the top rope, and she nails another chair shot. This time Trips gets his ankle tangled up in the ropes. He can’t escape and with his ankle trapped, Steph drags Kurt out and he wins the match. A shock ending with Kurt, who doesn’t really have a big time ‘Mania angle getting the win here. I guess it had to be a dirty finish based on both participants current status, but Steph shouldn’t have come out of this looking the smarter/better of all three of them. This promoted Steph more than it did Kurt, and maybe that’s why Jericho needs her, and this was the point to prove behind the booking. I still don’t like it. Surely, she could have interfered and then Kurt could have still somehow won of his own accord. Anyway, not perfect, but still a really good cage match/TV main event. ***​

The NWO stuff continues to be a miss for me, they just don’t have that aura about them which is disappointing. I love The Undertaker stuff though and there were some pretty good matches for once so enjoyed this more than the last few shows.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
March 7th, 2002
San Antonio, Texas ​

Show starts off in the backstage area, with a fired-up Ric Flair slamming on the door to the locker room of The Undertaker. In an awesome moment, we then footage of inside the locker room, where The Undertaker is watching the replay from Raw when he beat the crap out of David Flair. ‘Taker yells out to Flair to take it easy on the door because he’s trying to watch him beat up his kid again. “Your boys a hell of a bleeder, just like Arn” is honestly all types of awesome. Flair eventually relents on the door, but let’s ‘Taker know that this isn’t over. LOVE this turn of events. ‘Taker has been trying to get at Flair at weeks, and now that Naitch is furious, ‘Taker is biding his time. So good.

Ric Flair clearly plans on pressing the issue here as he’s straight down the to the ring. He starts by talking about he achieved a dream by being the owner of the WWF, but The Undertaker has pushed him too far. His dream came true but then Vince McMahon goaded him into a match. Now The Undertaker is trying to do the same thing. After the Arn attack, Flair almost agreed to the match, but Arn told him not to let ‘Taker get the best of him. The reason why Anderson told him this is because he's his best friend. From there, he moves on to talking about how apparently today is David Flair’s 23rd birthday, but he’s unable to celebrate because of the beating from ‘Taker. Flair lets ‘Taker know from this point forward, he has Flair’s attention as a wrestler. The Undertaker’s trophy cabinet isn’t big enough to hold Ric Flair, the wrestler. Flair then goes into epic Flair mode, “God damn it, I’m a wrestler again and at WrestleMania two of us will walk that aisle. You like blood? I’ll bleed. I’ll bleed”. Flair starts punching and slapping himself, getting really worked up when The Undertaker finally makes his way onto the stage. The Undertaker says that Flair is taking all of the fun out of this situation and after thinking about things since Raw, ‘Taker’s not sure he wants to fight Flair at ‘Mania anymore. He says that he’s willing to let bygones be bygones and forgive Flair for all that he’s done to him. ‘Taker’s playing some awesome mind games as he tells Flair that now he needs to think about it, and he’ll let Flair know later in the show. Flair’s passionate promo and eventually losing it was amazing, and ‘Taker’s mind games here are just awesome. This was all terrific.

In the back, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H bump into each other. They take turns with digs at each other, with Triple H commenting on Steph’s skin clearing up, whilst Steph gloats about Kurt Angle beating Triple H on Raw. Triple H then tells her he’s having her stupid corvette brought here tonight, but he wants his dog Lucy back. Steph says no, because they purchased her together, but Triple H says that’s bullshit because Lucy hates her. Triple H doesn’t understand why she would want another bitch in the house. Eh, another one of these segments.

The WWF Intercontinental Champion William Regal comes out to scout his opponent ahead of WrestleMania.

Match One
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Goldust (c) vs. Rob Van Dam

We start off the in ring action with a rematch from No Way Out, and I enjoyed that match so hopefully this one delivers. Tonight is the first night that Goldust as WWF Hardcore Champion has all the weapons be tinted gold. Such a small thing but the gold trash cans and steel chairs here are just such an awesome addition to the match/his title reign. This was great for the little time they got, but as usual for a mid card weekly match, they don’t really get anytime to flesh anything out. Regal interferes here and another Van Dam dropkicks a chair into Goldust’s face, Regal gets on the apron and hits RVD with the brass knucks. This allows Goldust to get a School Boy for the win. I enjoyed this for what it was, and whilst I understand Regal interfering to get some heat, I think this would have been better if this was against somebody with a higher profile. Not sure why Van Dam would job against somebody like Goldust when he’s heading into a title shot at Mania. **​

It's at this point that Michael Cole mentions that Stone Cold won’t be on the show tonight due to injuries suffered on Raw. I’m okay with this. Makes sense to sell the impact of the cinderblock.

In the back, Chris Jericho isn’t happy about all the crap he’s having to deal with from Stephanie McMahon. To try and smooth things over, Stephanie offers Jericho a gift, and it’s Triple H’s first wrestling robe, given to him by Killer Kowalski. She says the robe is half hers and it should be worn by a champion. Jericho is all happy and giddy now and puts it on, saying he’ll wear it in his match tonight against Kane. For a moment I thought Jericho was going to have a backbone. Silly me.

Match Two
Booker T vs. Tajiri w/Torrie Wilson

Being an ECW fan, I’ve been a fan of Tajiri seemingly forever, so it was great to see him get some good shots in here. I don’t think the result was ever in doubt, but they gave Tajiri some good near falls which helped the match. Obviously due to WWE this was a sprint because they had no time, but Tajiri sold Booker’s stuff well enough, and landed some of his awesome sounding kicks. Despite all of that, they went with the right result here as Booker finishes things off with a Scissors Kick. Fun. **​

After the match, Booker T looks to do more damage to Tajiri, probably still mad that he didn’t get the Japanese shampoo role. The man who did though, Edge, interrupts the attack and takes out Booker with a Spear.

Oh hey, The Rock returns on this show, so here he comes and he makes his way to the ring. The Rock talks about how he’s human and he made a mistake, because when he thought about the NWO and Hogan, he was exciting to meet Hogan at ‘Mania, instead of looking at the NWO as the cancer they really are. He was so obsessed with what Hogan was that he forgot what he is, a bitter, self centered, jaded son of a bitch. The Rock says Hogan knows The Rock is better than him, and Hogan made a mistake as well. His mistake was not finishing off The Rock when he had the chance. The Rock then calls Hogan out, challenging him to try and finish off The Rock tonight. The NWO come out onto the stage and Hogan talks about he wants the millions and millions of fans to see him beat The Rock at ‘Mania like he has every other flash in the pan. Hogan is to nice of a guy to take advantage of The Rock’s crippled ass tonight. As the NWO have a huddle, The Rock says that he never thought the man with 24 inch pythons would have half inch testicles. That gets Hogan fired up and he wants to head down but Hall and Nash stop him from doing so. Scott Hall says that Hogan might be to nice to fight The Rock tonight, but he’s not. Rock accepts the challenge and it sounds like we’ll get Hall/Rock tonight. In the scheme of things, despite the issues with the direction of this overall, this makes sense for Rock to want revenge, and to throw one of the lesser NWO members at him in the lead up.

Match Three
Handicap Match
Al Snow and Maven vs. The Undertaker

Not much to say about this one just a brutal squash. ‘Taker takes care of both men, and demonstrates his mean streak by raising Maven’s shoulder himself to not finish things off after a Chokeslam. Instead, ‘Taker then locks in the Dragon Sleeper and gets the submission victory. Booking wise, obviously the right call to have ‘Taker end this thing with Maven looking so strong. *1/2 ​

After the match, The Undertaker gets a microphone because it’s apparently time for him to give Ric Flair an answer. He tells Flair the answer is yes regarding wrestling him at WrestleMania, but that is with one condition attached. Flair needs to come out here right now, get on his hands and knees and beg for the match. A furious Flair isn’t in a mood to beg as he runs down and begins brawling with ‘Taker, and he gets the better of it to. He sends ‘Taker to the outside and ‘Taker looks to escape, heading over the barricade and into the crowd. Flair follows and throws a right hand, but ‘Taker ducks and Flair accidentally nails a fan. Flair is furious but is being held back by security now as ‘Taker smiles with what has happened. More great stuff here. ‘Taker’s mind games lead to Flair making a huge mistake. This arc tonight has been brilliant.

Match Four
Chris Jericho vs. Kane

I feel like a broken record and I probably will continue to be until post draft, but again, this one didn’t really get a lot of time. For the few minutes they did get though, this delivered well enough. A good Jericho performance as he really made Kane look like a million bucks, bumping around nicely to all his big man offense. This match ends when Kane’s in control, but with the referee not looking, Kurt Angle runs out and drills Kane with an Angle Slam. This allows Jericho to capitalise with the Lionsault and get the win. Solid enough for the time given. **
​

After the match, it looks like Angle wants to do more damage to Kane, but Kane kicks a chair into his face, and they end up brawling to the back. Meanwhile, inside of the ring, Stephanie McMahon gives Jericho his two Undisputed Titles, and also Triple H’s old robe. This obviously makes Triple H mad as he runs down and fights with Jericho, quickly disposing of him with a Clothesline over the top rope. Trips looks set to nail the Pedigree on Steph, but Jericho drags her to safety. Another segment where Triple H looks a level above our champion. Again, a Pedigree tease but no execution which means Trips/Steph is far from over. Bleh.

In the back, Ric Flair is approached by police, and with them is the fan that Flair accidentally nailed with a right hand. The police let Flair know that the fan is pressing charges. They have to arrest Flair and as they do so, Flair doesn’t fight back, a look on his face that says he knows he messed up. As he gets taken away, Undertaker is shown watching to the side, laughing and enjoying what he’s made happen to Flair tonight. Yes, yes, yes, so good.

In the parking lot, Kane is on the hunt for Kurt Angle, when Angle attacks him and rams into a metal roller door. Angle then brings the door down hard, crushing Kane’s ribs. To add even further damage, with Kane down, Angle then nails him with a brutal chair shot.

Match Five
Lita vs. Stacy Keibler

Lita can wrestle. Stacy is fun to look at, but she can’t wrestler. To her credit, she does pull out a pretty awesome Spin Kick at some point, but this was another squash type scenario. A nothing match, not executed that well due to the talent involved and in the end Lita wins. This is probably going to be hard to top for worst match of the month to be honest. ¼*​

After the match, Lilian Garcia gets into the ring to interview Lita, and she asks Lita what her goals are. Lita makes it clear that she’s coming for the Womens Title, but before she can say more, an angry Keibler attacks her. Lita takes care of Stacy handily and then finishes her off with a Moonsault. The WWF Womens Champion Jazz then runs down and attacks Lita, eventually dropping her with a DDT. This gets a thumbs up from me. The division really feels like Jazz, Trish and nobody else being taken seriously. Lita being included as a serious threat and another face chasing the title is a good idea.

In the back, The Coach interviews Stephanie and she rants and raves about how Triple H’s robe is half hers. Triple shows up and gives Stephanie the keys to her corvette and takes her to the car. The car has literally been cut in half. It’s safe to say Stephanie is furious as she begins throwing a tantrum, as Triple H enjoys himself. He tells her that everything is 50/50 and he just wasn’t sure which half she wanted. Triple H continues to laugh at Steph losing her shit. Poor corvette.

Match Six
Scott Hall vs. The Rock

Even though this is the main event, they only get a few minutes. What they deliver in that time makes sense and is perfectly fine. The Rock starts off on fire, dropping Hall with a DDT relatively early. Hogan distracts The Rock which allows Hall to take over, and he focuses on the ribs. Simple, yet focused offense which is all I ask for. Considering The Rock has his ribs taped up to sell being rammed by a truck (lol), Hall HAD to make the ribs the focus. The Rock sells awesomely as always (post 99 anyway), and then he makes his fight back. After The Rock nails a Rock Bottom on Hall, Nash gets into the ring but Rocky manages to initially fight him off. Hogan then gets in and they stare each other down, only for Nash to cause another distract and then Hogan attacks. Now The Rock succumbs to a three on one attack and the referee has no choice but to call the DQ. Okay for what it was yet again. **​

It's a three on one beatdown as the NWO focus on the ribs of The Rock, until Stone Cold runs down to make the save and he has a steel chair. Hogan escapes as Austin chases Hall out, whilst Nash cops a few chair shots, and a Clothesline over the top from The Rock. As the NWO retreat, Vince McMahon makes his way out and announces that Austin and Rock will team up to face the NWO on Raw. The Rock and Austin don’t seem to have an issue with it as they drink beer to end the show. I guess Austin not showing up was a swerve, so The Rock looked doomed again until he made the surprise save. Okay booking I guess, and look, no matter what way you look at it, and what’s happened to this point, Austin/Rock vs. NWO is a fairly huge match for Raw. Only issue is by this point, the NWO have been overexposed and not used well, meaning they already don’t feel like a big attraction and just another act instead.

Not a match worth watching on the show which is disappointing. NWO angle continues to frustrate somewhat, but this show isn’t completely bad, as the ‘Taker/Flair stuff throughout is awesome. After a promising Raw though, this was definitely a turn back to the previous weeks of crappy shows.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
March 10th, 2002
San Antonio, Texas

Match One
Diamond Dallas Page w/Christian vs. Lance Storm

The match begins with some basic wrestling, as DDP gains the advantage with a Hammerlock, until they continue to trade reversals. Things break down after Page runs through Storm with a Clothesline, as Storm gets up and leans against the ropes. This allows DDP to Clothesline him over the top rope and to the outside. DDP gets some time to pose to the fans to a nice ovation, until he stupidly allows himself to get hung up over the top rope. Storm then hits his Springboard Clothesline for a two count, but it also allows him to take control of the match. After beating DDP up with strikes, Storm lands Leg Drop for another near fall. Storm goes with the Reverse Chinlock for his submission attempt/rest hold, and DDP fights out of it. After breaking free, DDP ducks a Clothesline and gets a Roll Up for a two count. Storm takes back over and begins using the middle rope to choke Page. DDP tries to build momentum again with a few right hands, but Storm cuts it off with a Knee Lift. Storm takes the action to the corner of the ring, but DDP turns the tide, ramming Storm face first into the turnbuckle repeatedly. After DDP lands a Swinging Neckbreaker for a near fall, Storm gets one of his own after a Heel Kick. DDP comes back and gets a close near fall after a DDT. Storm actually gets his foot on the ropes, but I think they botched this, as he got his foot on the rope rather late. On the outside of the ring, Christian loses it at the referee for not counting the finish, and DDP tries to calm him down. This leaves DDP open for a Superkick and DDP just gets a shoulder up. Storm brings him back up and looks for a Suplex, but Page reverses into a Diamond Cutter for the win. Not a bad match here between these two, but nothing to write home about either. **​

After making their entrance, the WWF Tag Team Champions Billy and Chuck go around stomping on cowboy hats to piss off the Texas crowd. Considering the gimmick of Billy and Chuck, can imagine some Texans wouldn’t be happy with this. This is a harmless, fun way to get some heat.

Match Two
Bradshaw w/Faarooq vs. Chuck w/Billy

Chuck gets the jump with some right hands early, but Bradshaw immediately retaliates and gets the upper hand, before dropping Chuck with a DDT. Bradshaw continues on the offense, then landing a Neckbreaker! It’s all Bradshaw in the early stages, as he beats Chuck up, before eventually catching him when he tries something, and landing a Fallaway Slam. Bradshaw tries to finish things early with the Powerbomb, but Chuck reverses with a Back Body Drop. Once they get up, Chuck runs at Bradshaw, but runs straight into a Big Boot. Chuck heads outside for a breather, so Bradshaw goes after him. As the referee is distracted with keeping Faarooq away, Billy leaps off the steps to take Bradshaw down with a Flying Clothesline! The action goes back to the ring now where Chuck has the advantage, taking Bradshaw to the corner and beating him up with punches and kicks. Chuck continues to hammer away with strikes, until Bradshaw fights back and hits a Side Suplex. After a brutal Corner Clothesline, Bradshaw gets a Snap Suplex for a two count. As Bradshaw looks to bounce off the ropes, he gets tripped by Billy. He goes to grab Billy, but Billy hangs him over the top rope, allowing Chuck to get a Roll Up for a near fall. On the floor, Faarooq finally takes care of Billy, whilst Bradshaw avoids a charging Chuck in the corner, and takes his head off with a Clothesline From Hell. Bradshaw wins! A bit sluggish here and there, but not bad from these two. More importantly, Bradshaw gets the win to further push The APA for a title shot. **​

Now it’s in ring promo time for the WWF Intercontinental Champion William Regal. Regal says that there are heaps of people to claim to love this country, but he’s not one of them. He talks about his failed attempt at being an ambassador before talking up his power of the punch, and how it has beaten more people than any other move in the business. Regal says he’s seen RVD do moves that no other man can do, but those moves will not help Van Dam at all. RVD is lazy and weak. Regal claims to be nothing like Van Dam and he’s proud of it. Regal says he’s unrelenting, sadistic and English. That makes him better than RVD and he promises that he’ll keep the Intercontinental Title with his power of the punch. Solid interview from Regal. The ambassador stuff at the start probably didn’t need to be there. Also surprised there hasn’t been more made of RVD beating Regal in just a few minutes a little while back. Still, solid hype for their match at ‘Mania which would be the main purpose. Also, cool to see something other than just bland matches and video recaps on Heat.

Match Three
Mr. Perfect vs. Rikishi

Rikishi starts off well as they move towards the corner, landing some elbows and some punches. Perfect manages to trip Rikishi, and then stops him on the groin, probably narrowly avoiding DQ if we’re being honest. Perfect hits a Rolling Neck Snap, before continuing to dominate with chops. Eventually, Perfect goes for a Scoop Slam, but struggles to lift Rikishi, so Rikishi hits a slam of his own, followed by a Samoan Drop. The Samoan Drop didn’t look the greatest either but oh well. After a Running Sit Down Splash connects, Perfect looks for a reprieve in the corner, only for the Running Back Splash from Rikishi to squash Perfect. Perfect drops to a seated position, in the perfect spot for the Stinkface. As Rikishi begins to set up, Perfect grabs the referee. With the ref distracted, Test comes down and runs through Rikishi with a Big Boot. Test rolls out of the ring and Perfect gets the cover for the win. Unfortunately, this was pretty meh, but Perfect and Test is something I could get behind as a team, seeing how outside of the Rumble match itself, Perfects return has been pretty lacklustre. Long story short, a bad match. ½*​

A couple of decent matches and we got ourselves an in-ring promo this week. Last week was better but this was another pretty good show compared to some of the episodes I’ve watched so far.