Stojy watches WWE 2002

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
March 28th, 2002
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania​

Our commentators welcome us to tonight’s show and promote the big match on the show that has already been announced, Hulk Hogan, Kane and The Rock in six-man action against the New World Order (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X Pac).

A graphic appears on the bottom of the screen showing all the wrestlers who were picked by Smackdown as part of the draft lottery after Raw went off the air. I won’t bother recapping this or listing them as I’ve provided a complete draft results post previously.

Match One
Booker T vs. Diamond Dallas Page

DDP is one of the talents that was picked to wrestle on Smackdown as per the draft lottery. It’s crazy to think a little over a year ago, these two were main eventing PPV’s for WCW compared to where they are now. These two in 2002 have got a good match in them, they showed it in the tag match on Raw, and they showed it again here but unfortunately this match only got approx. three minutes of time. DDP knocks Booker from the ring, only to turn and be face to face with Brock Lesnar. Brock murders DDP just like he has everybody else he’s put his hands on so far, as Heyman cheers him on from the outside. This obviously means the match gets thrown out, and it never really got a chance to advance to another level. **1/4​

Now it’s time for some Kurt Angle in ring promo time. The fans hit Angle with that “you suck” chant, and he tells the fans that they should show appreciation towards him considering he broke his damn neck in the Olympics to win a gold medal. He says these fans are almost as pathetic as what happened on Raw, when Stephanie McMahon was forced out of the WWF by Triple H. He talks about how great Stephanie was and demands a moment of silence. Instead of silence, the fans boo and Angle cracks and tells them they are all heartless. Vince McMahon comes out to join Angle in the ring. Vince runs down Triple H and says he blames Triple H for all the bad things Stephanie ever did, because he was a bad influence. Vince says Triple H drugged Stephanie, married her and then embarrassed her. He says Triple H is a real son of a bitch. Vince admits that he’s glad Triple H is still champion, because Triple H on both shows means Vince can make his life a living hell. WWF Undisputed Champion Triple H comes to the stage and promises to make Vince’s life a living hell as well. Triple H then shows clips of him nailing the Spinebuster to Stephanie on Raw. This infuriates Vince and after some back and forth with Angle, he books Triple H vs. Angle and Vince in a Handicap match tonight. Ric Flair comes out onto the stage and decides to make the match a tag team match. Flair says this isn’t Vince’s show until next week so Flair will partner with Triple H tonight. Angle’s over the top nature of sucking up to Stephanie and the moment of silence was the highlight. After this, turned into a solid enough segment which gets us another match signed for tonight.

The Dudley Boyz are getting ready for their WWF Tag Team Championship shot in the back and talk about how if they don’t win tonight, it’s over for them as a team. We know they’ve already been split by the draft, so I like the idea of them having a title shot tonight. Just adds some drama to what would otherwise probably be a throw away match.

Match Two
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Billy and Chuck (c) w/Rico vs. The Dudley Boyz

I think I’ve said enough times by now that inside the ring, Billy and Chuck are not a good team. That hasn’t magically changed overnight unfortunately. They are not good and even despite recently being paired with The Hardyz, and now The Dudleyz (two great teams), they still haven’t been able to put on a really good match. With that being said, this probably is one of their better matches since becoming tag champs. Rico interferes throughout here, and when The Dudleyz nail the 3D, Rico distracts the referee. D’Von leaves the ring and chases after Rico, and all the chaos leaves Bubba alone, and he falls victim to the Fameasser from Billy for the pin. Better from the tag champs, but still not good. **1/4​

After the match, The Dudleyz have one last stand as D’Von comes back and they give a 3D to Chuck. They then give Billy a 3D through a table. Bubba and D’Von embrace in a nice moment as they have their last appearance as a team. The match wasn’t great but cool to see The Dudleyz get one last table spot and come out on top on their last night together.

In The APA’s office, Bradshaw and Faarooq talk about how much it sucks to get pulled apart like this because Ric Flair and Vince McMahon can’t get along. They say that they will forever be brothers, and they are going to enjoy their last night on the same show together. They see Tajiri and Torrie Wilson walking passed their office and call them over. They tell them to spread the word of a party with a lot of beer. They send Tajiri to get more party people whilst Torrie can stay and play strip poker. Harmless, fun APA segment.

Lilian Garcia interviews Matt Hardy and Lita in the back, and they talk about how happy they are that they have both been drafted too Raw. An annoyed Chris Jericho interrupts and he’s mad because he’s not on both shows because he’s no longer the WWF Undisputed Champion. Jericho won’t be happy until he’s champion once again. Matt laughs and calls Jericho a has been, before he and Lita leave. This annoys Jericho even more, so he attacks Matt from behind, bumping him into Lita in the process. Jericho then leaves as Matt gets up and is pissed. All characters here have motivations that make sense, and their stories linked well to create this dynamic. Good stuff.

Hulk Hogan is in the locker room in the back when The Rock comes in. Hogan talks about their other tag team partner being Kane, and how Kane is bigger and badder than anybody else Hogan has ever been in the ring with. The Rock tries to ease Hogan’s concerns, telling him that Kane is an ass kicker and can be trusted. Kane shows up and asks Rock if he’s ready, and when Rock tries to respond, Kane hits him with the “it doesn’t matter if you’re ready”. Kane asks what the NWO are going to do when all of them run wild on the NWO. There is also a part here where he calls his fans Kaneanights. This segment was a lot of fun. Hypes the big-time match, but also lets Kane be hilarious and steal the show. Amazing.

Match Three
Hulk Hogan, Kane and The Rock vs. The Outsiders and X Pac

Much like the tag match on Raw involving the NWO and Hogan and Rock, this isn’t groundbreaking stuff, but it’s a completely passable wrestling match. Again, for a match involving the names here, it didn’t really get treated that well, only going a little over five minutes. With that being said, The Rock had his usual awesome babyface fire, and his interactions with X Pac were really crips throughout. Pretty early on, Hogan gets the Big Boot and Leg Drop on Scott Hall, but Kevin Nash makes the save. All hell breaks loose, and Hall and Nash put on a solid performance once they get in control, until Kane gets the hot tag. Kane’s big run at the end here is really great. He cleans house and eventually counters X Pac’s Bronco Buster into a Chokeslam for the win. I’m completely torn on the booking here. Kane getting the pin here shows how he’ll still be a threat to the NWO once Rock and Hogan are gone. However, the NWO have barely won a single match, so it’s getting hard to continue to see them as a big deal when they lose every match. Match was okayish **1/4

Match Four
Chris Jericho vs. Matt Hardy w/Lita

They only get a few minutes again here, but they fill the few minutes with some pretty good action at least. Towards the end of the match, Jericho went for the Walls Of Jericho, but Lita jumped on the apron. By escaping the submission, Matt accidentally kicks Jericho stumbling into Lita, which knocks her off the apron. Matt goes for the Twist Of Fate, but with the referee checking on Lita, Jericho gets a low blow, followed by the Walls Of Jericho for the win. I will say the last month of booking of Jericho’s title reign and since he lost the title has been bad for his character, so it was nice to see Jericho back on the positive side of things here. Give these guys 8 minutes or so and they’re probably having an awesome match. This one was just okay due to time. **1/4​

After the match, Jericho isn’t finished as he puts the Walls Of Jericho on Lita outside the ring. Typical heel move from Jericho. I like it.

We head back to The APA office where it looks like the party is underway, with a whole heap of mid carders hanging around smoking cigars, drinking beers and playing poker. They all reminisce together about some of their favourite moments over the years. Tajiri wins the round of poker, so Torrie has to take off an item of clothing, but she takes off this weird chain thing that’s over her stomach. Everybody seems disappointed when Christian realises, he was only one card of a royal flush and throws a temper tantrum for losing a round of poker. Another fun segment here. The Torrie strip tease was fine, but Christian throwing the temper tantrum, when everybody else didn’t care if they lost because they get to see Torrie is great. Shows how self-centred his character is.

Match Five
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Rob Van Dam © vs. Test

The action was fine here and shows that these two can actually mesh quite well together, but I just think the story they tried to tell here was meh. It also doesn’t help that this was yet another match that barely gets any time. Anyway, Test breaks the rules throughout the match, and it gets to a point where he is repeatedly arguing with Earl Hebner. Test would bully and push and shove the ref, until Earl pushes Test right into a Roll Up from Van Dam. RVD gets the win with a flash pin from a clear fast count from the annoyed referee. I guess if this leads somewhere it’s a necessary evil, but not big on referee’s being match deciders like this. Without the referee shenanigans taking up so much time, these two probably could have had a much better match. **​

The Coach interviews Raven backstage and asks about him being handpicked to win and take the WWF Hardcore Championship back to Raw. Raven says which show he competed on is less important than what he wrestles for. The WWF Hardcore Championship is his first objective. Maven’s success would cause his downfall. Maven will feel the “Raven effect”. Simple segment here. Feel like this was more about reintroducing Raven to the crowd than anything else.

Match Six
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Maven (c) vs. Raven

Nothing much to talk about here. They do typical boring WWF Hardcore stuff. It almost seems like they’re just killing time until Tommy Dreamer interferes. Tommy comes in and tries to get involved, but Maven actually manages to fight Dreamer off and send him out of the ring. Once it’s down to just the two of them, Raven lands the Raven Effect (Evenflow DDT) to get the win. Meandering clobbering and some weapon usage doesn’t warrant a good match from here. Hoping this new run means they’ll use Raven better, but really, I already know that won’t happen. *1/2​

In the backstage area, Vince McMahon is mad at Maven for losing the WWF Hardcore Championship, meaning Smackdown won’t see the title again. Vince does however admit that he’s confident he will be able to sign the free agent Stone Cold to Smackdown. Kurt Angle says he has it on good authority that Stone Cold will be on Raw next week to make his decision. Vince then decides that he means he will need to be at Raw next week to make sure Vince can present to Austin. Nice segment here to hype the importance of Austin in the end really.

Backstage, The APA party is still going until WWF European Champion William Regal walks in and says he told them that The APA will split up. Regal taunts them, telling them that they are out of business. Bradshaw says they are out of business, and now they’re out of beer so the party is over. Everybody scatters all over the place as The APA start a brawl and beat the hell out of Regal. At the end of the brawl, everybody is down or disappeared except for Bradshaw and Faarooq who say it was a good run. They then change the sign on The APA office door to read sorry we’re closed. APA were known for these segments more than anything, so similar to The Dudleyz situation earlier, I like that we got one last showcase of what the team is all about before the farewell for good.

Match Seven
Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon vs. Ric Flair and Triple H

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Vince McMahon involved as well as a low in confidence Flair, but this was surprisingly how fun or good it was. It looks like a strong main event on paper, and I think it delivered. To sell the impromptu nature of this match, Flair doesn’t have his wrestling gear and is competing in suit pants and gator shoes. Flair put on a terrific performance here, first in a sequence with Angle early on, before being the face in peril and expertly selling the leg that Angle and McMahon were working on. So the heat segment was good and Triple H brought the goods with some explosive, power moves making his hot tag good too. This is the best version of Triple H as a babyface. He shows up, stands on the apron, hits power moves once he gets the hot tag and then they finish things. Anyway, the finish here sees the referee get distracted with Kurt Angle and Triple H battling outside the ring, as Flair prepares to apply the Figure Four Leg Lock inside the ring. The Undertaker comes from nowhere and hits Flair with a Big Boot to the face, before dragging Vince on top for the cover. ‘Taker and Flair is clearly still going to be an issue on the brand split which is fine, and I liked the idea of Vince and Flair having one more match before their feud is essentially over. And I thought this match was good to. Main event is match of the night. **3/4 ​

A completely skippable show. Outside of the main event, not a lot of good in ring content, and whilst there were no bad segments, a lot of this show felt like holding pattern stuff. They’ll most likely go all out from next week with establishing new feuds when the draft results come into effect.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
March 31st, 2002
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania​

Michael Cole and Tazz are on commentary tonight and they promote that this is the last edition of Heat, or WWE television in general before the brand split takes effect as of tomorrow night on Raw.

We see a clip from earlier today where Molly Holly is interviewed and asked about being drafted on a different brand as opposed to The Hurricane. Molly basically says that she’s going to prove herself. Solid enough segment. Sets up Molly for a run as a singles competitor.

Match One
Jazz vs. Molly Holly

Jazz attacks Molly before the bell to gain the unfair advantage, and eventually sends her to the corner. Eventually, Jazz charges at Molly and Molly’s able to get a boot up, which stops the offense of Jazz and allows Molly a chance to make a comeback. Holly tries for a Crossbody on Jazz, but Jazz catches Molly in mid-air, before slamming Molly down for a two count. Jazz stays on top of Molly, hitting her up with her striking before getting another pinfall attempt. Jazz is relentless, right back on Molley for a Vertical Suplex for another two count. Molly again tries to make a comeback which turns into a back-and-forth finish until Jazz gets her version of the STF for the submission victory. This one got some time, and still wasn’t that great. I do like the idea of Jazz not having to be in the ring with Trish and Lita to get some screen time for a change. Match still wasn’t good though if I’m honest, but a trend in the right direction for women’s matches. *1/2​

After the match, Jazz shows that she’s evil by keeping the hold locked in longer than she needs to, which gets some heat from the fans.

Match Two
Lance Storm vs. Scotty Too Hotty

Storm and Holly start fast paced some fun exchanges. They reverse each other constantly, neither able to get an upper hand, until Scotty takes down Storm with a Headscissors Takedown! As Storm gets back up, Scotty runs at him and Storm notices it and sidesteps Scotty, before throwing him over the top rope. Scotty skins the cat and flips back in, Snapmaring Storm and then hits a Dropkick for a two count. Scotty takes the action to the corner where he kicks away at Storm. Storm fights back by landing an elbow and then throwing Scotty into the ring post. Storm then bounces off the ropes and performs a Knee Lift. A Leg Drop and a Vertical Suplex both get near falls from Storm. Storm now applies a Reverse Chinlock. Scotty fights out and creates some space between the two of them. Storm charges at him but runs straight into a Powerslam! They both get up and begin trading right hands in the centre of the ring. Scotty gets the advantage with an elbow to the face of Storm. He follows this up with a Clothesline and a Back Body Drop. Scotty goes for the Bulldog but is unable to nail it, however he tries again and this time he succeeds. Scotty connects with The Worm and Storm rolls out after being on the receiving end. Scotty Baseball Slide Dropkicks Storm outside of the ring. Scotty brings Storm back in the ring and gets a Roll Up for a near fall. Scotty then misses a Clothesline and Storm rolls into a Half Boston Crab. Scotty manages to fight out of the submission but doesn’t have anything left to not cop a Superkick and get the loss for his team. Heat level good match. Hoping we get to see more of Storm now that the rosters are thinner on each individual show. This still wasn’t overly good because it’s Heat. **

Match Three
Edge vs. Goldust

Goldust gets the jump, backing Edge up with right hands, but Edge battles back. Goldust breaks the cycle by nailing Edge with an Inverted Atomic Drop. Goldust misses a Clothesline though which allows Edge to get in with a Flapjack, and then he messed up the Monkey Flip. Edge keeps on the run, landing a Back Body Drop. Edge then runs at Goldust, missing the Spear and Edge tumbles over the top rope and to the outside. Goldust dominates on the outside, before getting the action back into the ring where he lands a Clothesline from the top rope for a two count. This is followed by a Forearm Drop which gets another near fall. Goldust then punishes Edge with two vicious Irish Whips into the corner, getting another two count. Edge fights back and turns the tide with a Neckbreaker. Edge tries to increase the pace of the match, nailing a Dropkick! Goldust gets a throat thrust on Edge and looks for a Reverse DDT, but Edge lands behind and pulls Goldust down for another near fall. Edge heads up to the top rope but Goldust meets him up there and hits a Superplex which gets another two count. Goldust sets up Shattered Dreams. Edge puts the ref in the way and then lands a low blow of his own, followed by the Spear for the win. Just a match really. No real story and wasn’t that good because they coast here on Heat. *1/2​

We get a Tough Enough recap, which surprise surprise, I still don’t care about.

We then get a recap of the epic Kane/Rock/Hogan segment from Smackdown, which is followed by highlights of their match against the NWO.

Match Four
WWF European Championship Match
William Regal (c) vs, Tajiri w/Torrie Wilson

They start with some grappling as both men reverse each other’s Wrist Locks into Wrist Locks of their own in the early stages. Tajiri then eventually reverses into a Side Headlock. Tajiri Arm Drags Regal and then pulls his arm down, causing Regal to do a flip on his way to the mat. Once Regal gets back up, he bounces off the ropes, but Tajiri leapfrogs him twice, before landing some of his deadly kicks. Finally, Regal takes over with a Knee Lift and follows up with a Leg Drop. Regal eventually gets a modified STF, but Tajiri makes it to the ropes. Regal breaks the hold and stomps all over Tajiri. Regal follows it up with a Vertical Suplex for a two count. Regal sends Tajiri into the corner and tees off with uppercuts. Regal attempts another Suplex, but Tajiri gets out and is able to lock in the Tarantula! Tajiri is forced to break so then he kicks Regal in the head. Tajiri gets an Octopus Hold into a pinfall attempt but only gets a two count. Tajiri lands another hard kick for a two count. Tajiri lands his Springboard Back Elbow! Tajiri attempts a Monkey Flip, but Tajiri throws Tajiri off of him. Regal then hits a Butterfly Powerbomb and stacks Tajiri for the win. A decent back and forth match here and nice to see Regal get a win where he doesn’t need to rely on the brass knuckles. **​

A pretty solid addition of Heat here, with some important people involved. I’m intrigued to see what the show looks like once the draft is in effect.

 

[Stojy]

WWF March 2002
Top 5 Matches of the month​

Hollywood Hogan vs. The Rock - WrestleMania
No Disqualification Match: Ric Flair vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania
Steel Cage Match: Kurt Angle vs. Triple H – Raw, March 4th
Lance Storm vs. Rob Van Dam – Raw, March 4th
WWF Undisputed Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) w/Stephanie McMahon vs. Triple H - WrestleMania

Bottom 5 Matches of the month​

Lita vs. Stacy Keibler – Smackdown, March 7th
Jazz and Stacy Keibler vs. Lita and Trish Stratus – Raw, March 11th
Scott Hall vs. Spike Dudley – Raw, March 4th
Mr. Perfect vs. Rikishi – Heat, March 10th
Billy w/Chuck vs. Christian w/Diamond Dallas Page – Raw, March 11th

Top 5 Wrestlers of the month​

Ric Flair
Kurt Angle
Triple H
Hulk Hogan
The Rock

Bottom 5 Wrestlers of the month​

Stacy Keibler
Spike Dudley
Lita
Ivory
Trish Stratus

 

[Stojy]

Figured I'd do one of these per quarter as we work through the year:

WWF End of Quarter One Year To Date stats

Top 5 Matches of the year​

Hollywood Hogan vs. The Rock - WrestleMania
No Disqualification Match: Ric Flair vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania
WWF Undisputed Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. The Rock – Royal Rumble
Number One Contenders Match: Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold – Raw, January 28th
WWF Undisputed Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) w/Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle – Raw, February 25th

Bottom 5 Matches of the year​

Lita vs. Stacy Keibler – Smackdown, March 7th
Jazz and Stacy Keibler vs. Lita and Trish Stratus – Raw, March 11th
Scott Hall vs. Spike Dudley – Raw, March 4th
Mr. Perfect vs. Rikishi – Heat, March 10th
Billy w/Chuck vs. Christian w/Diamond Dallas Page – Raw, March 11th

Top 5 Wrestlers of the year​

(Special mention goes to Ric Flair and Vince McMahon, who’s match ratings are all high, however having only wrestled 3 and 2 matches respectively, I didn’t think it fair to put them on this list with guys wrestling every week).
The Rock
Kurt Angle
Hulk Hogan
Triple H
Chris Jericho

Bottom 5 Wrestlers of the year​

(Ivory and Stacy Keibler have the worst ratings, but have only wrestled twice each so am keeping them off this list also)
Lita
Trish Stratus
Mighty Molly
Jazz
Al Snow

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
April 1st, 2002
Albany, New York​

We open the first Monday Night Raw of the Ric Flair in complete control era, with Ric Flair himself in the back. Flair himself talks about this being a new era for Raw and talks about how tonight he will present the WWF Undisputed Champion Triple H with a new Undisputed Championship belt. Not only that, but Flair will do all he can tonight to sign free agent Stone Cold to Raw. Solid scene setter here. Starting the new era with the man at the helm makes sense. Getting rid of the champion having to walk around with overly large belts works for me as well, and the Austin stuff should be fine.

To signify the new era, basically the entire show has had a face lift. The stage and logo look different, there’s a new logo, and it’s the debut of the epic ‘Across The Nation’ Raw theme. New theme is an upgrade and all these cosmetic changes to truly show that this is a new era are really cool. This has been really well done.

Match One
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Booker T

The first official match of the brand extension features two of what I guess you would call non-WWF guys, and they put on a really good back and forth match. They don’t get to long, but they manage to squeeze enough in six minutes to make this enjoyable. A fine way to kick off Raw and the fans are clearly into it which really helps. All of Booker’s offense looked really good, which isn’t always the case, but I think it’s because Van Dam sold so well here. Van Dam had a reputation at this point of being a little stiff, but Booker took all of his offense really well too. They put together a really enjoyable finishing run as well, until Booker places RVD on the top rope, and climbs up after him, perhaps thinking Superplex. He doesn’t get that far as RVD knocks him down and then hits the Five Star Frog Splash for the win. Just a really fun way to start the show, no complaints from me. **3/4​

After the match, Van Dam is on the top rope, celebrating to the fans, when Eddie Guerrero appears from nowhere and Powerbombs RVD off the top rope. Eddie isn’t done there either, as he mounts RVD and continues to hammer away with right hands. With RVD softened up, Eddie climbs to the top rope and lands his version of the Frog Splash on RVD! On commentary, JR confirms that Eddie has been signed to Raw, as he picks up the WWF Intercontinental Championship, making his intentions clear. Starting off strong here tonight. Firstly, a good match and then the return of one of the best in the world in Eddie Guerrero. And an Eddie/RVD feud will surely be a hell a lot of a fun. Awesome.

RVD is getting helped to the back, when rather unexpectedly, Vince McMahon gets in the ring for in ring promo time. Even though he is the Smackdown owner, he is on Raw tonight because he wants to sign Stone Cold to Smackdown. Vince calls Stone Cold out to the ring but nobody appears. Security eventually comes out, but Vince says he’s not leaving until Austin signs with Smackdown. Ric Flair comes out and tells Vince to leave. Vince ignores Flair and instead calls out Austin again. He says he’s not leaving until he signs Austin, and he beat Flair in the tag match on Smackdown, so Flair won’t kick him out. Flair decides to call in the big guns and The Big Show comes out and hoists McMahon over his shoulder, carrying him out of the arena. Show drops Vince right at the exit door to leave the arena. Vince tries to make an excuse to walk back in, saying he needs to return the microphone so then Show forcefully throws Vince out. Firstly, I really like the idea of this being an unscheduled McMahon appearance, so he came out as RVD was being helped to the back, so it wasn’t a clean start to a new segment. Otherwise this segment was solid enough, doing a good job of promoting the importance of Austin signing to a brand.

Match Two
Spike Dudley vs. William Regal

Before the match starts, as Regal makes his entrance, he tucks his brass knuckles under his arm. This way as the referee does his routine checks, the ref doesn’t find anything on Regal’s person, and as the ref’s eyes are down, checking Regal’s boots, Regal stashes the knuckles in the top turnbuckle. That basically sets the scene for a match and whilst this wasn’t much, the two did a decent job with what they had. Referee Nick Patrick was on to Regal’s trips, and he takes the knuckles from the turnbuckle without Regal noticing. This means when we get to the end of the match, Regal goes hunting for his trusty weapon but can’t find the weapon, and as Regal is distracted, Spike gets a Dudley Dog out of nowhere for the upset. Not offensive but not good either, and Spike beating Regal hurts me a little on the inside. *3/4​

The New World Order are in the back when they come across the now closed APA office, and they take it over, making it their own. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X Pac talk about how they hope Ric Flair signs Stone Cold to Raw. They talk a bit more amongst themselves as they set up the chairs in the office so they can all take a seat. Meh, whatever segment. NWO in filler segments with no real impact is part of the issue with how they are being booked in the WWF.

In a different area in the back, Crash Holly approaches Bradshaw and Jacqueline and lets them know that the NWO have taken over The APA office. Logical progression for Bradshaw to find out and be pissed, I guess.

Terri Runnels confronts Trish Stratus backstage and has a dig at her for her apparent attitude since she was on the cover of the latest Divas magazine. Trish isn’t happy and they both get sassy with each other until Ric Flair comes up and tells them they have an issue, but they are acting like children. Since they are being children, he books them in a Bikini Paddle On A Pole Match. Not interesting or great in terms of wrestling, and I know it’s 2024, but I’m sure these two will look good out there tonight.

The Coach interviews Debra in the back and asks if she knows what brand Stone Cold will sign with. Debra tells The Coach that her husband hasn’t made up his mind, yet about which brand he will sign with. Short and sharp but does the job of hyping Austin’s decision later on tonight.

Back at The APA’s office, or the former APA’s office, and the NWO have spray painted over the door and the office. Having just heard the news from Crash, Bradshaw comes running over. Bradshaw breaks the door down and swings at anything that moves, doing well, until Kevin Nash catches him with a Big Boot. This slows Bradshaw down and allows X Pac to nail him with a chair. A perfectly acceptable way to add Bradshaw as the list of enemies that the NWO have.

Match Three
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Raven (c) vs. Bubba Ray Dudley

I thought this was pretty fun. Raven adopts to being the Hardcore Champion well by watering down his ECW style, and Bubba has a good first outing as a singles guy. I thought they come up with some fun, inventive spots as well. Raven juggling the oranges and Raven using the fire extinguisher to stop Bubba from coming off the top with the Senton are a couple of highlights that stood out to me. After some fun and not just the usual meandering clobbering in this type of match, Raven goes for the Even Flow, but Bubba reverses and gets the Bubba Bomb for the win. A fun little Hardcore match. **1/4​

In the parking lot, Vince McMahon is still hanging around in his limo. He’s on the phone to somebody and tells them that he’s still in the parking lot and that Austin will sign his contract tonight. He says he even sent somebody inside the arena to get Stone Cold to come out to his limo. Again, short and sharp, hyping the big decision to be made tonight. No issues.

It’s now time for Ric Flair in ring promo time, as he comes out with the new WWF Undisputed Championship belt and introduces Triple H to come to the ring. Undertaker comes out instead though and says that he believes Flair only drafted him so that ‘Taker could be embarrassed. He’s not going to sit back and watch Flair give the new title to Triple H. The what chants are loud as ever so Undertaker busts out the “say what again if you sleep with your sister”. The fans say what again and then get mad and boo him. This was an awesome little gem here. Undertaker then talks about beating Flair and Triple H at the last two WrestleMania’s and says he’s going to bring pain to Flair’s life. The WWF Undisputed Champion Triple H now interrupts and he and ‘Taker go face to face. Triple H refers to last years ‘Mania match and says he has fifteen pounds of gold on his shoulder that says ‘Taker can’t beat him again. After some back and forth, The Undertaker challenges Triple H to a match for the title at Backlash. The match gets agreed upon by everybody, including Flair, and then Triple H challenges ‘Taker to fight right now, but he says Backlash will be fine. Undertaker takes the new title and stares at it, before giving it to Triple H and telling him to hold it well we can. I thought this was a really solid segment. Everything flowed well and make sense, and we’ve got a pretty good title match set for Backlash… Or at least so it seems…

Match Four
Big Bossman and Mr. Perfect vs. The Hardy Boyz

Feel like you can really tell Jeff was starting to go through it, and when he was going through a bad time depending on how out there his attire or hairstyle or whatever he was rolling with was. Tonight, he’s gone with the green pig tails, I’m not even sure what to say about that. No more Test and Perfect tandem makes me sad, as at this point in his career, Bossman is definitely a lesser replacement, except for when he hits that awesome uppercut. Anyway, this match was pretty meh If I’m honest. Two guys passed their prime, and a team that didn’t seem overly motivated here. Kind of annoys me that they use a similar finish to the opener here, with Bossman placing Jeff on the top rope, almost setting his opponent up for the win. That’s similar enough, and then Matt grabs Bossman and hits the Twist Of Fate so Jeff can come off the top with the Swanton Bomb. This just wasn’t good unfortunately *3/4​

After the match, we get another epic Brock Lesnar appearance as he comes on in and beats up both The Hardy Boyz. Love it, booking of Brock has been awesome. There’s some significance here as well as it feels as if The Hardyz are a level up from the previous people he’s been running through.

Match Five
Bikini Paddle On A Pole Match
Terri vs. Trish Stratus

These two both look good in a bikini; I think we know that. So it’s one of those rare, strange scenarios where the match is awful but it’s still kind of easy on the eyes. Anyway, Trish eventually reached the paddle first and then hit Terri on the ass with it to get the win. That’s a former Women’s Champion right there, folks. Yeah, fun, but bad. ¼* ​

After the match, Molly Holly comes down and attacks both women who just competed in the previous five-star match. The shot she nails Trish with over the head with the paddle is especially brutal. Silver lining here as this is clearly a Molly heel turn by attacking two fan favourites. I’m all for Molly having a more prominent role, and credit to Trish for taking that stiff shot with the paddle.

Stone Cold comes to see Ric Flair in Flair’s office and he basically tells Flair that he wants Vince McMahon to be allowed in the ring when he makes his decision because it’s fair. Logical segment because Vince needs to be involved to add more drama, and like all the other ones tonight, this successfully hypes the segment that will be ending the show.

Match Six
Kane vs. X Pac w/NWO

A decent match here I guess for the time they had, but they don’t really try and do anything new or crazy compared to other matches they’ve had during their rivalry. Match only goes for approx. four minutes or so, and heads towards the ending when Kane gets to the top rope and hits his Flying Clothesline! He then lines up X Pac for the Chokeslam, but Kevin Nash and Scott Hall come in and attack, leading to the referee calling a DQ. Rushed main event, that wasn’t bad but wasn’t good. **1/4​

After the match, NWO continue to fight with Kane, until Bradshaw runs down and the two babyfaces clear the NWO for the ring. I really dislike NWO constantly having the numbers advantage but still failing. Doesn’t do much for them. I guess mission accomplished after the first show of this new era by establishing Kane and Bradshaw as their main threats.

Ric Flair and Vince McMahon both come to the ring for the final segment of the night, and they’re both armed with their respective brands contracts. Stone Cold then comes out and goes on a what laden tirade, before Vince talks about all he has done for Austin. Stone Cold basically says that he respects Flair as a champion, but he respects Vince as a businessman. Austin and Vince then shake hands. Stone Cold then shakes an upset Flair’s hand too and tells him that he means no disrespect. Vince is all smug about it as he gives Austin the contract and the pen, as Flair tells Vince that he will always hate his guts. Stone Cold then says that he has one more thing to say about the contract. “APRIL FOOLS”! Stone Cold drops the Smackdown contract and gives Vince a Stunner. Flair is in celebration mode now and he gets outside the ring and gets them beer to celebrate. They drink together, including Flair hitting an epic Knee Drop on a can of beer, until Austin stuns Flair as well. Austin signs the Raw contract and celebrates by himself to end the show. Solid segment here. I like the way they built Austin’s signing as such a big deal. If you thought about it logically, with Rock going to Smackdown, Austin was always going to end up on Raw, but they built this effectively as a one-night angle throughout the show.

The in-ring stuff wasn’t all that great here outside of the opener, but with Eddie’s return, the new look and set up, and all the in-ring promos feeling like they were heading in the right direction, this show still gets a thumbs up from me. It really felt like an exciting start to the Ric Flair controlled era of Raw.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
April 4th, 2002
Rochester, New York​

We’re welcomed to the show by the new Smackdown announce team, Michael Cole and Tazz, and they promote the one big match currently scheduled for tonight: Edge vs. Kurt Angle.

Similar to on Raw, Smackdown opens with the man at the helm, Vince McMahon addressing the audience. Vince lets everybody know that he will name the new number one contender for Triple H’s WWF Undisputed Championship later on tonight. The winner of the coin toss not only got the first draft pick, but they also got to name the number one contender. Vince addressing the audience to kick off the new era makes sense, just like it did for Flair on Smackdown.

Kurt Angle comes out for an in-ring promo and talks about how he should be the number one contender for the WWF Undisputed Championship, when Chris Jericho then comes out and says the same thing about himself. The two go back and forth before agreeing to wrestle each other later on, with the winner becoming the number one contender. The Rock then interrupts proceedings. At first, he says that he should be the number one contender, because nobody is more deserving but then he pauses and thinks. The Rock then says Hulk Hogan should be the number one contender. The fans chant for Hogan but Angle and Jericho clearly disagree. The Rock reminds them both that it’s a new Smackdown and the people make the decisions. Segment started off well, but by the end, left a sour taste in my mouth. Angle/Jericho stuff was good, even The Rock early, but there is no logic that says Hogan deserves a title shot more than The Rock. The Rock just beat him two weeks ago. Feels like something they’d book Cena to do, and just be a nice guy and selfless for the sake of it, because the companies booking of him has to shove down our throats that he’s a nice guy. Anyway, I didn’t like that, but we come out of this segment with no number one contender announced.

Backstage, Albert and Scotty Too Hotty are shown talking over the importance of their tag team title opportunity coming up next.

Match One
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Billy and Chuck (c) w/Rico vs. Albert and Scotty Too Hotty

It’s a Billy and Chuck match, so you guessed it, this is pretty awful. Slow moving and even then, it feels like everything is sluggish and nothing really looks good. I think the main thing that hurt this is that Scotty did all the work for the face team. Albert literally wasn’t in the match at all, and he’s probably the only one who could have dragged this to something decent. The ending comes about when Albert chases after Rico on the outside but runs into a Clothesline from Chuck. With the referee distracted, Rico then slides into the ring unimpeded, and hits a Spin Kick on Scotty. The referee has his eyes back on the action perfect timing to see Billy pin Scotty and get the win. Not good. *1/2 ​

After the match, Rico gets stuck between Albert and Scotty in the ring, so Scotty sets him up for the Worm, but Albert interrupts Scotty with a kick to the face. Albert continues to beat him up, as he yells that for six months Scotty has held him back. This gets a BIG thumbs up from me. Albert is a talent. Excited to see him break out of this limiting tag team role.

In the back, we see the debut of Marc Lloyd, who is waiting outside Vince McMahon’s office to get a word. When Vince comes out, Marc asks whether Vince has made up his mind on the number one contender to the WWF Undisputed Championship. Vince McMahon announces that Hulk Hogan will indeed get the title shot at Backlash. Short and to the point with Vince naming Hogan as the number one contender. I’m torn on this but can understand why they try to go this way with the crowd reactions Hogan is receiving.

After hearing the announcement, Chris Jericho is furious as he storms through the backstage area, to find The Rock and yell at him for suggesting that Hulk Hogan be the number one contender. Jericho then talks about how he has beaten The Rock so many times in the past. The Rock steps up and challenges Jericho to a match tonight and they agree. I liked this. Jericho’s reaction and blaming The Rock makes complete sense, and now we have another most likely good match booked for tonight’s show.

Match Two
Christian vs. Diamond Dallas Page

They’ve had three matches now in 2002, and whilst all have been decent, including this one, this is probably the lesser of the three. Now that their issues are coming to an end though, from a booking perspective, it feels like the right man went over. Back and forth action for the most part, and maybe they could have trumped their previous matches if this one had more time. In a pretty awesome twist, Christian has a tempter tantrum, but when DDP goes to grab him, turns out Christian was faking and he rakes the eyes, before hitting the Unprettier for the win. Pretty cool ending for a decent match. **1/4​

Backstage, Kurt Angle is sulky and mad about Vince McMahon not choosing him to be number one contender to the WWF Undisputed Championship. Edge comes over and shows some old photos of them that he found. Edge says they made him feel bad about how they don’t get along anymore. Kurt looks at them on the back, they have writing on them, saying things such as “YOU SUCK”, “I’M A DORK”, “IT’S TRUE”, “PS, I HAVE NO TESTICLES”! Arrows point at Kurt as he holds them, insinuating that he is the insults written down. He notices after Edge leaves and now Kurt is more pissed. Nice way to add more hype to their match later and budding feud. Humorous and simple, was good.

Next up it’s Triple H in ring promo time as he talks about how surprised he was to find out he was facing Hulk Hogan at Backlash. He then tells The Undertaker that the title isn’t going anywhere, and ‘Taker can have the next match. Hulk Hogan then comes out and admits he was shocked at getting a title shot as well. He talks about some of his past WrestleMania moments but then says nothing is bigger than the heavyweight championship. He says if the fans believe in him, then he’s going to take it. Triple H says it will be an honour to get in the ring with the immortal Hogan, but he’s sad he’s going to have to hurt somebody that he looked up to as a kid. Triple H says Hogan will not become between him and the Undisputed Title. Hogan is just an obstacle like everybody else and he will mow him down. Hogan says Hulkamania always rises and asks Triple H, what cha gonna’ do brother. I found this promo really awkward, to be honest. Triple H is just such a natural heel, he didn’t come across overly likeable at all, and then until Triple H jumped in with the honour line, it felt like Hogan was rambling about nothing. A bit of a miss here from me, and I’m not overly looking forward to the match either.

Match Three
Edge vs. Kurt Angle

A quick little three-minute sprint. Easy to notice that this isn’t a blow off and simply a tool to extend the feud, which is good because these two have serious chemistry. For the little time this got though, it was a lot of fun. Angle comes in and Edge is immediately hard hitting. Edge is pretty relentless, and Angle can’t deal, eventually grabbing a chair and when Edge tries to Spear Angle for the THIRD time, Angle puts the chair in place so Edge charges into the chair. The ref sees it and calls for the DQ. Fun, sprint. Not many better under five-minute matches than this. **3/4​

After the match, Angle sets up for another chair shot, but Edge avoids it and then lands some right hands, sending Angle fleeing to the back. Perfect feud continuation. Good stuff.

Backstage, Torrie Wilson is in the back getting ready, when Billy Kidman approaches. Kidman says he knows she’s dating Tajiri now and Kidman has a match against Tajiri later. He wanted to come over and wish both Torrie and Tajiri luck. They share a hug which Tajiri arrives in time to see and he’s clearly jealous. Tajiri makes Torrie give him a kiss on the cheek and Tajiri stares at Kidman as it happens. All played their part well. Sounds like a solid enough start to an angle where Tajiri/Torrie will have issues.

Match Four
WWF Cruiserweight Championship Match
Tajiri (c) w/Torrie Wilson vs. Billy Kidman

This is just a typical Cruiserweight spot fest but it’s some good stuff between these two. The type of match that gives me the appetite to see them have a longer, extended match at some point. Seems like these two have a history of good matches as Tajiri won the title from Kidman, and I’m pretty sure I remember that being enjoyable as well, but that’s a topic for another year. Tajiri brought the Cruiserweight Title in to use, keeping it in the corner of the ring. Kidman takes over though and Torrie takes the title away, not wanting Kidman to be able to use it. When Tajiri got back on top, he went looking for the title but couldn’t find it, which allows Kidman to get a Roll Up for the shock win. We’ve got a new Cruiserweight Champion. I said the previous match was as good as a three-minute match I’ve seen, and this one goes ahead and basically matches it in its own way. Really good stuff. **3/4​

After the match, a furious Tajiri grabs a microphone and demands that Torrie get into the ring. Once she gets in, Tajiri yells at her in Japanese before storming off. Solid enough stuff. New angle is off to a good start.

Vince McMahon has Hardcore Holly in his office, and he tells him to teach Maven a lesson last night for losing the WWF Hardcore Championship to Raw last week. Holly shakes Vince’s hand and leaves when Stacy Keibler comes in and she offers to be McMahon’s executive assistant. McMahon punishing Maven for losing the Hardcore Title to Raw is really good continuity, and anything that gets Stacy more screen time is probably a good thing.

After the commercial break, Vince McMahon is seemingly waiting for Stacy to come back, when an annoyed D’Von Dudley comes in and asks who the hell Vince is to separate The Dudleyz. Vince says that he wanted The Dudleyz as a team, but Ric Flair ruined that so then Vince chose the best Dudley. Vince goes nuts at D’Von and tells him to leave and not come back until he’s ready to be a superstar. Again, really good character reactions to things here. D’Von being annoyed at Vince for being drafted without his brother, and then Vince trying to manipulate D’Von. Good stuff.

Al Snow is backstage with Maven, hyping him up for tonight’s match in a weird way by saying he’s probably going to get an ass whoopin from Hardcore Holly. Al tells Maven to remember that god is always with him. I guess this puts over the dangers of Holly, but a bit of a strange way for Al to motivate his pupil. Felt weird. Not sure if I liked it.

Match Five
Hardcore Holly vs. Maven

Yeah, not good. It seems like the aim behind the booking here was to get Maven some sympathy to the fans, but it doesn’t work. One, because Maven isn’t over, and two, because Hardcore Holly is unfortunately not The Undertaker. Also considering how much they hyped it, Holly really needed to kick the shit out of Maven, but we really just got tame action. Didn’t feel overly violent at well. In the end, Holly hits an Alabama Slam for the victory. Yucky match. *

Match Six
Chris Jericho vs. The Rock

These two put together another nice little match together. Obviously, they’ve had some longer epics on PPV and what not, so we all know the awesome chemistry they have together, but they proved here they can slot their formula into a shorter TV match as well. Plenty of big bumping from both men, and it helps that the crowd are invested too. A good main event to close the show really. We head towards the ending when Jericho sets Rock up for The People’s Elbow, but Rock kips up and sets Jericho up for the move instead. Kurt Angle got involved and interfered to help Jericho, but Edge ran down to stop Angle from involving himself any further. In the final stages, Rock goes for a Rock Bottom, but Jericho avoids it and hits a Facebuster. Jericho then attempts a Lionsault but misses. The Rock then hits the Rock Bottom this time to get the win. Another solid match between these two. **3/4​

Didn’t quite nail the new era feel in the same way that Raw did, however felt like a bit of a preview of what Smackdown will become. Some good wrestling on this show, and Edge/Angle is going really nicely, even if I’m not looking forward to Triple/Hogan. Solid show.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
April 7th, 2002
Albany, New York​

The last first episode of the ‘new era’ post draft here, and the new commentary team on heat is The Coach and Raven. Raven on commentary is a win, in my opinion. Good decision.

Match One
Crash Holly vs. Scott Hall

Hall comes out first, without the rest of his NWO brethren which The Coach is shocked by, but Raven says it probably has something to do with the quality of opponent. Way to bury Crash lol. Match begins with Hall flicking the toothpick at Crash, but he comes back with multiple Dropkicks to stagger Hall. Crash uses his speed to stay on top in the early stages, even getting a close two count with a Roll Up. Crash tries to keep going fast but Hall catches him on a Crossbody attempt and throws him across the ring with a Fallaway Slam! Hall just stomps away at the fallen Crash now. Hall then applies an Abdominal Stretch but Crash refuses to submit. Hall gets impatient and throws Crash to the mat, applying an STF instead. Again, no submission so Hall lets go and just starts stomping on Crash again. Once back up, Crash gets another Roll Up for a two count. Both men bounce back to their feet and Hall runs through Crash with a Clothesline for a near fall of his own. Hall brings Crash up and lands his Discus Punch! He then lands a modified Chokeslam for another two count. Hall sends Crash up to the top rope and hits a Belly To Back Superplex. Instead of going for the pin, he finishes Crash off with the Razor’s Edge for the win. It’s a squash match, nothing fancy or good really, but probably the most coherent performance from Hall since his return to the WWF. *1/2​

Jerry Lawler is interviewing the WWF Womens Champion Jazz in the back. He asks her about her match with Jacqueline later tonight. Jazz doesn’t believe that Jackie is one of the toughest women in the WWF and instead says she’s a skank. Conveniently, Jackie hears this and comes on over to interrupt the interview. Jazz hits Jackie with the Womens Title at half strength and it leads to a brawl between the two that needs to be split up. Solid way to add some bad blood to their match later tonight. We don’t get a lot of promotion for matches on Heat, so kind of feel blessed when we do.

Match Two
Shawn Stasiak vs. Tommy Dreamer

They start with a Lock Up, and Dreamer wins the jostle for position, backing Stasiak into the corner, as Stasiak shoves him away. They lock up again and Stasiak gets a Side Headlock, before taking it to the mat, where they continue to exchange holds. Once they get back up again, Stasiak takes Tommy to the corner and begins brawling with punches and kicks. Dreamer whips Stasiak into the opposite corner and then nails him with an elbow. Stasiak heads outside for a breather, but Tommy lands a Baseball Slide Dropkick! Back in the ring now, Tommy hits a Hip Toss and a Snap Suplex. Stasiak fights back though, sending Tommy chest first into the corner, and following up with a Clothesline. Stasiak continues to stomp away on Tommy now. Stasiak then brings Tommy up and hits a Side Slam. He follows up with a Backbreaker for a two count. Stasiak then locks in an Abdominal Stretch, illegally using the ropes for additional leverage. The referee Neil Patrick sees it and calls for the break, which allows Tommy to explode with a Hip Toss. Tommy tries to build momentum, but Stasiak hits a Gut Buster for a near fall. Stasiak sends Tommy to the ropes, but Dreamer comes back with a Sunset Flip for a two count. Stasiak immediately hits a Knee Lift when they’re back up. Stasiak gets Tommy down, before heading to the top rope and coming off with a Vader Bomb, but Dreamer gets his knees up. Now Tommy gets some momentum, landing a Back Body Drop, an Atomic Drop and a Swinging Neckbreaker. He then hits a Side Russian Leg Sweep, before climbing to the middle rope. He misses an Elbow Drop! Stasiak looks for a Slop Drop, but Tommy spins out and hits a DDT for a two count. Tommy then hits a Sit Out Spinebuster for another two. Tommy fails at a Piledriver attempt, with Stasiak fighting out, but is then able to hit a Death Valley Driver for the win. These two got a significant amount of time for Heat but did not deliver. Match was bad, and the fans didn’t care, outside of the occasional ‘Meat’ chant. *​

We get a video recap of Stone Cold signing the contract to be exclusively on the Raw brand with Ric Flair at the helm.

Match Three
WWF Womens Championship Match
Jazz (c) vs. Jacqueline

Jazz starts off with the advantage but Jackie fights back with some uppercuts and Dropkicks which eventually send Jazz to the outside. Once Jazz kills Jackie’s momentum and gets back in the ring, Jackie gets a quick Roll Up for a two count. As they both get back to their feet, Jazz drops Jackie with a Clothesline. Jazz follows up with a Leg Drop, which gets a two count. Jazz then hits a couple of Double Underhook Suplexes for another near fall. Jazz now just pounds away at Jackie, before hitting her with a Snapmare. Jazz then brings Jackie up and chops her in the corner, before missing a Splash, which opens the door for Jackie to hit a German Suplex, followed by a Spin Kick for a near fall. Jackie sends Jazz to the ropes, but Jazz escapes the ring and grabs her title, ready to flee this match. Jackie goes out and stops Jazz from leaving, sending her back inside the ring. Jackie heads up top and lands a Crossbody from the top for a two count. Jackie then attempts a Roll Up, but Jazz rolls through into a pin of her own and holds the tights to steal the win. Better than I expected and probably match of the night. Still not necessarily good, but a step in the right direction. Hard hitting stuff from these two. **​

We get a video recap of Brock Lesnar taking out The Hardy Boyz on Raw.

We then get a recap of Tough Enough 2, which you guessed it, I still don’t care about.

Match Four
Goldust vs. The Big Show

As The Big Show is attempting to get in the ring, Goldust knocks him off the apron and delivers a few right hands on the outside. Show basically no sells and rams Goldust back first into the ring post. As they look to get back into the ring, Goldust uses the ropes to low blow Show, and then takes the advantage and hammers away at Show in the corner. Goldust attempts an Irish Whip but Show blocks and just throws Goldust across the ring. Goldust backs into a corner and Show charges, but runs into a Boot, before Goldust leaps on Show’s back and applies a Sleeper. Show drops down to his knees as the hold takes effect. Show eventually powers out with a Side Slam, and then follows up with a Headbutt. Show takes over from here and eventually finishes things off with the Chokeslam for the win. A squash, but unlike the opener, this wasn’t a good one. Show is having a terrible year. ½*​

Surprising to see somebody like Scott Hall on Heat. Otherwise, for the first episode of the new era, this was very meh. A step back from the last few weeks of Heat, but with the roster now thinner for who can appear on this show, I’d almost expect this type of episode to become the norm. We’ll see what happens.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
April 8th, 2002
Phoenix, Arizona ​

The Undertaker comes out to start the show and we’re going to get an in-ring promo from the ‘Deadman’. He’s not happy as he wonders why his title match at Backlash was taken away and given to Hulk Hogan. Ric Flair comes out and his explanation is that last week was his first week on the job, and he was a bit too ambitious. He says he does control who is the number one contender after Backlash though. Undertaker demands to be the number one contender after Backlash. Before Flair can respond, Stone Cold interrupts and comes to the ring. Austin asks why Undertaker deserves the title shot, before insulting him and playing the what game with the fans. Flair decides to settle things by making two matches to see who will fight it out to be the number one contender. Tonight will see Rob Van Dam vs. The Undertaker and Scott Hall vs. Stone Cold to see who the real number one contender is. Undertaker says Flair is full of shit and insults Austin. The two men then start brawling with Austin clearing the ring of Undertaker. Austin then fakes a Stunner on Flair but thinks better of it. Solid opening to the show. Makes sense for Undertaker to be pissed, and Austin getting involved as the star signee works. Still think ‘Taker should feel like he should just be named number one contender after Backlash though. Still this was good, and the added tease of Flair getting tired of both men putting his hands on them adds intrigue.

Before the next match begins, Booker T performs the Spinarooni only for Bubba Ray to return serve with an epic dance of his own. Harmless fun.

Match One
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Bubba Ray Dudley (c) vs. Booker T

Unlike last week with Bubba and Raven, this one wasn’t quite as good or creative. Was still bearable and not terrible but did just feel like the same old Hardcore match we’ve seen 1000 times with two wrestlers shoehorned in there. As the match progresses, Goldust runs down with his own referee to intervene, because he wants the Hardcore Title back. Booker T ends up getting cast aside and Bubba Powerbombs Goldust through the table to get the pin. Match was okay, although ending was strange, with Goldust being pinned ending the match, even though the match was between Bubba and Booker. Confusing. **​

The Coach interviews Trish Stratus in the back and asks her how her head is feeling after Molly nailed her with the paddle last week. Trish says she doesn’t know what Molly’s problem is, but tonight is one on one. William Regal interrupts the interview to talk about his issues with Spike Dudley, but Trish makes fun of him for losing to Spike, so Regal goes off on a tirade before storming off. A good segment. Hyped two different feuds, and this was just a fun interaction between two characters that you won’t see deal with each other very often.

Terri is in the back to interview Kane and walks in on him looking at the latest Divas magazine. Terri is surprised but Kane says that his face is burned, but it doesn’t mean the rest of him is. He said he used to be ashamed to be a freak, but with everyone cheering him last week, he realises that freaks kick ass. He then mentions that tonight he was a Falls Count Anywhere match against X Pac. Kane says like the lion roars, and the chicken clucks, it’s a simple fact of life, that X PAC SUCKS! Another really entertaining promo from comedy Kane. He’s hitting these out of the park recently. That line about only his face being burned was awesome.

We now head to the locker room of the NWO where X Pac tells Kevin Nash and Scott Hall that he wants to handle Kane by himself. This feels like a swerve right away.

Match Two
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Kane vs. X Pac

They only last a minute or two in the ring before X Pac draws Kane to the backstage area, where Kevin Nash and Scott Hall attack from behind with a 2X4 and lead pipe respectively. They beat him down and X Pac gets involved with a steel chair as well, before getting the pin and picking up the upset victory. Not long enough to really be anything, which is a shame because these two are normally good in the ring together. *1/4​

After the match, the NWO continue their attack on Kane. They break the 2X4 over Kane’s back. With Kane not moving, X Pac then takes Kane’s mask off. He then delivers another chair shot to the head and face of Kane. Bradshaw then runs in to make the save and the NWO run off. So it turns out Kane is injured, which is disappointing because it felt like he was starting to really build momentum, and he was being positioned to feud with the NWO. I guess this was a good way to try and get some heat back with the NWO, with them now having ‘taken out’ Kane.

After the break, the NWO are celebrating when Ric Flair comes over and suspends Kevin Nash indefinitely without pay. Solid enough way of showing Flair won’t take any crap, although is obviously writing somebody else off due to injury. Man, Raw really got hit hard with the injury bug.

Match Three
WWF European Championship Match
William Regal (c) vs. Spike Dudley

As William Regal makes his way to the ring, the referee spots his brass knuckles and takes them away. With the referee distracted, Regal hides a second set of brass knuckles under the top turnbuckle. As Regal is distracted talking to the referee, Spike makes his entrance, steals the brass knuckles from the corner and knocks Regal out with them. Regal is out cold, and the referee turns to see Spike getting the pin and the win. Meh, continues with the story but I wish they gave somebody finally giving Regal a taste of his own medicine to somebody better than Spike. Not rating this one as a match, because it’s barely that, literally one punch and over.​

In the back, Spike Dudley celebrates his title win and gets congratulated from a few babyfaces in the back, until Bubba Ray Dudley comes over and gives him a handshake, seemingly burying their issues from earlier in the year. Decent enough stuff here. I like that they at least make the Euro Title feel like an important win here.

Match Four
Rob Van Dam vs. The Undertaker

I really enjoyed this; this was great. These guys have had a few matches together since RVD joined the WWF now, and I think they’re yet to have a bad match. They put together a passable beginning and middle of the match, which is exactly what you need, and then the finishing run was awesome. They cleverly found a way to still deliver a good match, yet with Eddie Guerrero’s interference, they successfully advance the RVD/Eddie feud as well. After leaping on Eddie on the outside, instead of hitting the Five Star, RVD gets back in the ring, only to be hit with a Chokeslam. RVD kicks out though and ends up managing to get ‘Taker down again for the Five Star Frog Splash. The referee checks on ‘Taker after taking the move, and this allows Eddie to hit RVD in the back of the head with the Intercontinental Title. RVD somehow kicks out of that, but then ‘Taker hits The Last Ride to get the win. Terrific match, and booking was good too. ***1/4​

Terri interview Molly Holly and Molly tells Terri that she’s done with these degrading women’s matches and says she’s the most beautiful woman here. Terri doesn’t seem to agree as Molly also says she’s pure and virtuous unlike the rest. Decent enough segment here, basically beginning the character that will give Molly the best run of her career.

Jazz comes down to ringside for the next match, and sits at commentary, but eerily remains silent.

Match Five
Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus

Should probably quickly point out that Jazz has a brutal black eye too. They put on a pretty good match for the women at this stage, it just feels stiffer and realer than usual which is a huge positive. To put Molly further over as a heel, Jazz hits Trish with the Women’s Title which is what sets Molly up for the win. Molly gets a cool pin which I haven’t really seen before to win. Still not amazing or anything but these two worked hard here. *3/4
​

In the back, Paul Heyman keeps Brock Lesnar calm and tells him to keep his temper under control with the worthless fans and let Heyman handle it as his agent. I don’t mind this. Selling Lesnar as somewhat unpredictable and scary, as he’s still a new, relatively unknown monster at this point.

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar come out for an in-ring promo and Heyman talks about how he managed wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Undertaker and helped create WWF Attitude with Extreme Championship Wrestling. He says that he knows that Brock Lesnar is the next big thing. We then get a video package showing Brock’s short reign of destruction so far, until The Hardy Boyz run down looking for revenge. Brock ends up clearing the ring of both Matt and Jeff. They come back in with chairs and both get a turn to hit Brock straight in the head with crazy chair shots. Lesnar stays on his feet, albeit dazed, and jumps outside the ring where Heyman restrains him. Nice way to fully integrate Brock into his first real feud. Matt and especially Jeff will be able to bump well for Brock, but it’s weird that WWF basically killed their entire tag division in the draft, and then instead of using the one established team they kept together in the tag division, they have them feuding with a singles guy. I can see the pros and cons of this booking.

Match Six
Mr. Perfect vs. The Big Show

Not much to say here, a nothing squash match really. There is an awesome moment where Perfect nails show with the Perfect Plex, which is probably the best highlight in this entire run for Perfect. This is a squash though, and Show easily gets the win after the Chokeslam. Meh. *​

Backstage, Stone Cold heads into Ric Flair’s office and decides to sit at his desk and wait for him as Flair isn’t there. After the commercial break, Flair shows up and Austin asks what happens if he beats Scott Hall as Undertaker already won his match earlier. Flair explains that if Austin wins this match, he will face Undertaker at Backlash to determine who will be the new number one contender. Austin thanks Flair, albeit rudely. Flair seems to be trying so hard to get Austin on side, but Austin doesn’t seem all that interested. A real tense, interesting dynamic building between these two here. This was short but I enjoyed this segment.

Match Seven
Scott Hall w/X Pac vs. Stone Cold

Considering it was WrestleMania and what not, their ‘Mania match was pretty disappointing. Unfortunately this was worse than that. It seems not being on PPV means both men are even less motivated to try. After a somewhat decent match on Heat with Spike Dudley, Hall has gone back to looking awful here, clearly past his prime and not caring either. Austin only half works hard in 2002, meaning he can have good matches with great workers like Angle and Jericho, but when he gets a bad worker, the match can turn out quite bad. Maybe a little bit overbooked to with the interference from Undertaker, X Pac, Bradshaw and Ric Flair. Yes, they all mean something and continue angles, but it still felt like too much. In the end, Austin gets a win after the Stunner. Match wasn’t good. *3/4​

After the match, after helping him win in the first place, Ric Flair tries to celebrate with Stone Cold, but Austin stuns him again. When Austin went against The McMahon’s, it worked because they were douches. Flair is genuinely not really doing anything wrong, so this isn’t having the same impact for me. Austin isn’t very likeable right now, booking isn’t good. Hopefully a match with his old nemesis The Undertaker can turn things around.

One awesome match, and the Brock Lesnar build continues to work a treat. They almost got the NWO booking right with the Kane stuff, but then Nash gets suspended, and Hall loses to Austin again, and they’re right back where they started. Austin/Taker should be good though, although ‘Taker has a genuine gripe as to why he’s not just being named the next number one contender. Not a lot of good wrestling, and some of the booking here felt all over the place. Not a good show, and a step down after last week.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
April 11th, 2002
Tucson, Arizona​

The show opens up with the usual commentary bit, and Michael Cole and Tazz hype two big matches announced for tonight’s show: Chris Jericho vs. Edge and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H in a non-title match.

We then kick off the real action with some Kurt Angle in ring promo time. Angle isn’t happy with Hulk Hogan being named the number one contender. He says in 1996 at the Olympics, he beat Russians and Iranians a lot freaking tougher than Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron freaking Sheik. Kurt then gets frustrated at the fans and their what chants, telling them they should chant it’s true every time he says something, not what. Angle gets in a childish argument with the fans when Edge comes to the stage and says Angle needs to stop living in the past. The Olympics were six years ago so he challenges Angle for a match at Backlash. Angle says he’d love to kick Edge’s ass again, accepting the challenge. After dealing with serious business, Edge then convinces the fans to chant “you suck” after every time Angle says something which drives him nuts. A pretty good opening to the show. Angle is hilarious and a great foil to put over Edge, who continues to get a push. A good segment and looking forward to their match at Backlash for sure.

In the back, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle have a discussion. They basically plot revenge against Edge. Jericho says Edge is going to get his ass kicked tonight for costing Jericho his match last week. Angle says he hates loud mouthed Canadians with long blonde hair who dress like rock stars. Jericho looks confused because Angle has just described him, when Angle says, “except you, you’re cool”! The two then agree to have each other’s backs in their respective matches tonight. Hypes the two big matches on the card and Jericho being annoyed at Edge is the reaction you’d expect after last week. Another good segment here, helps that Angle is hilarious again.

Match One
Tajiri w/Torrie Wilson vs. The Hurricane

To continue the angle they’ve started with Tajiri being over possessive, Torrie is forced to where a kimono tonight. As for the match itself, it’s a typical Cruiserweight spot fest, an absolute sprint as they only get four minutes, but they certainly deliver something good for the allotted time have. Tajiri with this heel attitude is a lot more aggressive, and it kind of reminds me a bit of ECW Tajiri, which is a great thing. In the end, Tajiri reverses Hurricane and hits his Buzzsaw kick to get the win. Solid for the time it had **1/2​

After the match, much like last week, Tajiri orders Torrie into the ring and he gets on the mic and berates her in Japanese. Billy Kidman runs down and makes the save, preventing Torrie from further abuse. Solid advancement here. Tajiri is in full douche mode here. Controlling what Torrie wears, but then last week, Tajiri was annoyed because Torrie cost her the match. This week, Torrie does nothing wrong and Tajiri still loses it at her. Kidman making the save is the right way to hype their match at Backlash.

In the back, Stacy Keibler is in Vince McMahon’s office, but Vince isn’t there. She lies on his couch to wait for him. Stacy obviously wants that assistant job, and she looks damn fine in her old ‘Miss Hancock’ outfit to.

Match Two
Albert vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Albert is dressed like A Train for the first time tonight which is kind of cool, because A Train was awesome. This is virtually a squash and Albert does a great job with all his big man offense, even if Scotty doesn’t sell it overly well. Albert gets the pin after a Baldo Bomb! A powerful, strong performance from Albert as it needed to be, and I’m happy as it felt like he was being wasted for a while in this tag team. *3/4​

After the match, Albert continues on the attack, until Rikishi comes down to check on Scotty. Rikishi clears Albert from the ring and then checks on his buddy. I don’t mind this. If Albert is finally getting a push, beating a man of similar stature like Rikishi will do good for his credibility.

Backstage, Vince McMahon tells Stacy Keibler that he is going to interview some candidates for the assistant position. Stacy says she will apply and offer Vince something he can’t refuse. Meh, it is what it is.

In another area in the back, Billy, Chuck and Rico confront Maven and make fun of his eyebrows. Al Snow comes up to back up his student and they throw insults at the tag champs. Ugh, terrible way to build a match. Yuck.

In the back, Hulk Hogan talks about how he just wants the WWF Title one more time, until Chris Jericho interrupts. Jericho tells Hogan that he has nothing to lose but Triple H has everything to lose. If Triple H loses, the rehab, the Rumble, WrestleMania title win, it will all go down the drain in his first defence. Jericho says the fans might like Triple H, but he’s not a good guy and he will do anything to hold onto the title. A good segment here to create some doubt potentially in Hogan’s mind.

Match Three
Chris Jericho vs. Edge

I thought this would deliver and yes, this was a very good match. The action was fine and there was some interference from Angle throughout protects their new rising star in Edge, whilst it still advances their feud for Backlash. A lot of good reversals between these two throughout. Jericho got on top and worked over Edge, slowing things down before they got into an enjoyable finishing run. Angle’s interference doesn’t start well for him as he runs straight into a Spear from Edge. Jericho then hits the Bulldog on Edge as he’s distracted, but Edge gets the knees up from the Liontamer and hits the Edge O Matic for a two count. Edge then ends up getting hung up on the top rope by Angle, which allows Jericho to get a Roll Up and hold the tights for the win. Really enjoyable stuff. *** ​

After the match, a pissed off Edge chases Kurt Angle up the ramp and into the backstage area.

Returning from the break, Edge and Angle are fighting in the back and Chris Jericho joins in to help Angle. It’s a two on one beatdown which culminates with Angle hitting an Angle Slam on the concrete floor. Hulk Hogan then makes the save and runs off Angle and Jericho. Edge/Angle promo is constantly kicking goals at the moment, and Jericho is doing his part well too. Good stuff.

Vince McMahon in ring promo time as it’s time for him to interview candidates and hire a new assistant. McMahon asks for the first candidate to come down. Applicant number one is a nerdy, older, uptight secretary type, and she doesn’t get the job. The second one is a guy, and he’s not even allowed to speak before Vince gives him his marching orders, which the fans love. Candidate number three is a businesswoman type, and Vince seems to like her as he asks her some questions. Vince is ready to hire here until Stacy Keibler comes down and dances on his desk. Vince’s facial expressions here are hilarious and he ends up falling off his chair. After the dance is done, Vince tells Stacy, “you’re hired”! Eh. Sets up Stacy’s new role but wasn’t overly entertaining until the end. Felt long and a bit like a waste of an in-ring segment.

Backstage, D’Von Dudley goes to see Vince McMahon in his office and D’Von is dressed in a suit. D’Von says he went away and felt “the man” and the man told him to save the sinners. He says he needs a benefactor to provide his way. McMahon agrees to help. Well, definitely a new direction for D’Von. This played well from last week’s interaction between the two, but I don’t remember much of the ‘Reverend D’Von’ run, so will reserve judgment.

Outside the arena, Mark Henry is doing a test of strength thing and leans against a wall, halting a limo from moving forward with the accelerator down with his legs. Having bet against Mark, Test is unhappy when he succeeds and keeps the accelerator pedal down for an extra 5 seconds. Meh. It’s obviously not real, and a Henry/Test feud with Henry as the face does not interest me.

Match Four
Al Snow w/Maven vs. Chuck w/Billy and Rico

Yeah, I don’t have a lot to say except that this one just wasn’t very good. Probably actually a decent match for somebody like Al, but that isn’t much of an accomplishment. As for Chuck, he needs somebody to really play to his strengths to do something decent, and Snow is not that guy for him. Billy interferes for Chuck, but it’s still not enough, and Snow comes back and beats Chuck with the Snow Plow. Match was awful, and to make matters worse, the win means Maven and Snow will probably get a tag title shot at Backlash. I assume that will suck as well. *​

Hulk Hogan finds Triple H and tells him that he’s got his back tonight if he wants it. Triple H tells Hogan the next time he barges into his locker room he will take it as an act of aggression and handle it. He doesn’t need Hogan to watch his back. He is the top dog in this dog-eat-dog world. Hogan says he’s played “the game” longer than anybody else. Meh. Hogan/Rock segments just worked. Hogan/Triple H just don’t. This version of Triple H is all about intensity and has none of the charisma that The Rock had to carry these segments. Simply put, the feud is boring and can feel the audience cooling on both these men by the minute.

Match Five
Kurt Angle vs. Triple H

The match is solid enough, but these two have met multiple times already this year, and it kind of feels like they have exhausted all avenues by this point. Another one of those matches where you can see Triple H is just not the same guy, as he even struggles to get up and over for Angle when doing German Suplex spots. This match probably goes as expected with Angle in trouble, only for Chris Jericho to intervene. It’s a two on one with the ref down and the heels beat down the champion, until Hogan comes down and runs off Jericho. This allows Triple H to hit Angle with the Pedigree, as Kurt was distracted by the Hogan appearance. Triple H wins and gets what feels like he’s millionth victory over Angle since he returned in January. **1/2​

After the match, Triple H notices that Hulk Hogan helped him, and he’s pissed so he calls Hogan to the ring. Hogan comes to the ring and Triple H says maybe he didn’t hear him earlier, but until Backlash, stay out of Triple H’s business. As Hogan turns to leave, Angle hits Trips from behind, sending him into Hogan’s back. Hogan thinks Triple H hit him from behind, so he drops Triple H with the Big Boot and Leg Drop. Hogan picks up the WWF Undisputed Championship only for Angle and Jericho to then beat Hogan down. Jericho/Angle are 2/3 of what’s carry this show at the minute, so it feels like this angle is used to set up a tag match next week. Hopefully they can drag something good out of this awful Triple H/Hogan pairing.

Angle/Jericho/Edge are all doing a fantastic job at the moment and their segments and matches are all usually good. The Cruiserweights had a good match here, but the Undisputed Title, tag team scene and Vince in ring segment didn’t hit the mark tonight. A middling show because the one feud working was used throughout the show. Hopefully we see more improvement soon.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
April 14th, 2002
Phoenix, Arizona​

The show begins with a video package hyping Triple H defending the WWF Undisputed Championship against Hulk Hogan in one weeks’ time at Backlash.

Match One
Justin Credible and Steven Richards vs. The Hardy Boyz

Richards and Jeff are the two legal men to kick this one off. I will just point out that it’s quite a weird scenario here. The tag titles aren’t dual branded, so unless there is legitimate two on two heat in a feud somehow, what is the point of having generic/filler tag team matches? Doesn’t actually make a lot of sense to me if I want to think about things logically. Anyway, Richards Shoulder Blocks Jeff down in the early stages, but Jeff comes back with a Neckbreaker! Jeff then hits a Flying Clothesline too. Credible gets tagged in but Jeff gets him with an Arm Drag, before tagging in Matt. The Hardyz double team Credible off the tag, before Matt whips Credible to the corner, and Credible performs the Shawn Michaels corner bump. Eventually though, Matt gets hit with an illegal Superkick by Richards, which allows Credible to get a two count. After more double teaming from the heels, Richards is the legal man and hits a Snap Suplex for another near fall. Credible gets tagged back in and stomps on Matt, before nailing him with a Sit Out Powerbomb out of the corner. It gets another two count. Richards and Credible then continue to double team. Until Hardy and Richards are alone and Matt fights back, hitting a Side Effect! Both men make tags to their respective partners. Jeff comes in all guns blazing, taking on both opponents, hitting Richards with a Leg Drop, and then dropping Credible with a Side Russian Leg Sweep. Jeff goes for the pin, but Richards breaks it up. Matt comes back to even the odds and The Hardyz hit Poetry In Motion on Richards. They try it on Credible, but he avoids it. But then stumbles into a Twist Of Fate from Matt, followed by the Swanton from Jeff. Hardy’z win. They got some time and put on an okay match, but nothing great. **​

We get some hype for the Heat main event tonight which is Big Bossman vs. Bradshaw. Meh.

Slam of the week is a recap if Spike Dudley defeating William Regal to win the WWF European Championship.

Match Two
Goldust vs. Shawn Stasiak

They start with a basic lock up, and Goldust gets an Arm Drag, but Stasiak wins the next exchange, getting a Roll Up for a two count. Both men bounce back up and Goldust applies a Side Headlock! Goldust takes Stasiak down with some Arm Drags, keeping him grounded on the canvas. Goldust continues to work the arm until Stasiak makes it to the ropes, forcing a break. Stasiak now lands some right hands, before nailing Goldust with a Back Body Drop, followed by a Clothesline for a two count. Stasiak then gives Goldust a slap on the ass, taunting him, before getting a Running Knee for a near fall. Stasiak now starts working on Goldust in the corner. Goldust ends up turning it around and sets Stasiak up for Shattered Dreams. In an awesome moment, which gets amazing heat from the fans, Goldust charges for Shattered Dreams, but then stops and just punches Stasiak instead. Stasiak comes back now though, and rams Goldust face first to the canvas. Stasiak then gets a Shoulder Block for a near fall. As Stasiak goes to pick him up, Goldust gets an Inside Cradle out of nowhere for a two count, before Stasiak gets up and runs through Goldust with a Clothesline. Stasiak now looks for a high risk move, but Goldust shoves the ref into the ropes, causing Stasiak to crotch himself on top. Goldust hits a Superplex but sells the move and can’t make the cover. Goldust then locks in the Cobra Clutch, which Raven tells us Goldust calls it the Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (lol what). Stasiak passes out and Goldust gets the relatively clean victory. Never seen Goldust use that finish before, caught me off guard. Match was meh, Stasiak just doesn’t have it. *1/2​

We get a recap of Austin and Undertaker winning their matches on Raw to qualify for a number one contender match at Backlash. We also see Austin Stun Ric Flair after his match.

We get some hype for an Intergender match on tonight’s show: Crash Holly vs. Jacqueline. Meh.

We get a recap of Kane being taken out by the NWO, including X Pac stealing his mask.

Lilian Garcia is backstage with Bradshaw and asks him about what happened on Raw with the NWO and Kane. Bradshaw disagrees with the NWO’s cowardly approach and says when you want to fight a man, you walk up and hit him in the mouth. If that man can, he then hits you back and you kick hitting each other until one’s standing. He says the NWO haven’t learned how fights work. So if the NWO jumps somebody, I jump them. He wants the NWO to line up so he can take them out. Usual good promo from Bradshaw. No surprise and hypes his issues with the NWO. Only thing missing was surely he could have at least mentioned his match with the Big Bossman tonight.

Match Three
Crash Holly vs. Jacqueline

They lock up and Crash immediately throws Jackie to the mat and stomps on her, showing off his strength advantage. Crash nails two Scoop Slams! He then hangs Jackie over the top rope, and she lands on the apron, so he brings her back inside. Jackie reverses the next move and sends Crash chest first into the corner. Jackie gets a Roll Up, but Crash gets out at two. Crash hits a quick Clothesline to regain the advantage and then stomps away at Jackie. Crash then hits a Side Slam and gets a near fall. Crash places Jackie on the top rope but when he goes up after her, she shoves him off. Jackie comes off with a Flying Crossbody, but Crash rolls through and gets another two count. They both get up, and Jackie hits a Neckbreaker, followed by some chops when Crash gets back up. Jackie sends Crash to the opposite corner, but he reverses and whips her across instead. Crash charges in after her, Jackie moves and Crash collides with the corner of the ring, Jackie gets German Suplex for a near fall. Jackie gets another Roll Up which scores a two count. Jackie then runs at Crash, who backs into a corner, but runs into a Boot. Jackie falls to the mat, and Crash stacks her for the pin, and gets the win with his feet on the ropes. Not a good match by any stretch but was a lot better than what I expected. I guess I’ll credit both of them for that, and I wouldn’t be against them wrestling again on Heat. *1/2​

We get a video package of some behind the scenes stuff from The Scorpion King, including the gorgeous Kelly Hu!!!

Tough Enough 2 recap airs. Still don’t care.

WWE Forceable Entry gets some hype. Loved that CD as a kid.

Match Four
Big Bossman vs. Bradshaw

Bradshaw starts things off with a Side Headlock, before Bossman sends him to the ropes. Bradshaw comes back with a Shoulder Block, but then looks for an Elbow Drop and misses. Boss Man takes over and sends Bradshaw into the corner. He charges in after Bradshaw, but Bradshaw moves, and Bossman collides into the corner, and Bradshaw destroys him with a Clothesline From Hell. Bradshaw pins. Bradshaw is getting a singles push now, so they needed him to look strong, but damn this was quick. Wish they wouldn’t do Bossman like that, as he still gets a great negative reception from the crowd, and I like him. Oh well. Match was too short to rate.​

Second underwhelming episode of Heat out of two since the draft split.

 

[Chris]

These are basically my first memories of Heat,.I enjoyed them as a kid but honestly I think it just goes downhill. Velocity was the better one but it even started rough if I'm remembering right

 

[Stojy]

These are basically my first memories of Heat,.I enjoyed them as a kid but honestly I think it just goes downhill. Velocity was the better one but it even started rough if I'm remembering right

I never really paid attention to Heat and Velocity growing up, so even though most the Heat episodes aren't great, it's still kind of cool to watch something from this time period that I haven't seen before or don't remember.

I think you're right here though. Heat is pretty meh, whereas I can remember some real hidden gems appearing on Velocity throughout the years.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
April 15th, 2002
College Station, Texas​

The show opens with the owner of Raw, Ric Flair coming down to talk about Stone Cold. He says he has no desire to go to war with Austin and instead sees him as the man for the Raw brand. With that being said, Flair says that he let the first Stunner slide, but last week he told everybody that if they attacked him, they would have hell to pay. Stone Cold comes out and looks to do his usual four corner salute, but Flair cuts him off. Flair says he won’t suspend him like he did Kevin Nash, but he is going to fine him $5000. Stone Cold replies by telling Flair that it might happen again. He doesn’t need Flair’s help, especially not at Backlash. The Undertaker then makes his way out. The Undertaker says Austin’s trying to pick a fight with Flair, when deep down he knows he needs Flair’s help at Backlash. Undertaker tells Flair he will knock his teeth down his throat if he gets involved at Backlash. Flair tells both of them that they are wrong and makes himself the special guest referee for the Austin/Taker match at Backlash. The NWO then come out and Scott Hall says Flair had no business coming down to the ring during Hall vs. Austin last week. Hall wants a rematch with Austin, but Flair says no. Hall and X Pac are ready to attack Flair, when Bradshaw runs to the ring. A brawl breaks out between all the men in the ring, with Bradshaw and Austin standing call and clearing the ring of ‘Taker and the NWO. Struggling to enjoy this version of Austin, who continues to be an unlikeable ass to Flair for no reason, which hurts this angle. Although Flair putting himself as the referee at least creates some intrigue, considering he has issues of sorts with both men. NWO and Bradshaw getting involved was solid enough and at least helps set up tonight’s main event. Solidish start overall, I guess.

In the back, Ric Flair is with Arn Anderson and Flair is going nuts after he was hit again. He tears his shirt and says he wants to be shown the respect that comes with the title of being owner. If they all want to act like it’s the wild west and tear everything down, fine, and he makes the main event match of Austin and Bradshaw vs. NWO and Undertaker. A good segment to put over Flair’s frustration.

Match One
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Bubba Ray Dudley (c) vs. Raven

A typical Hardcore affair really. Bubba sets the scene early as champion, by nailing a Scoop Slam on Raven, before slamming him across the head with a trash can lid. When I say it’s a typical Hardcore match, it honestly means nothing special, and it’s a shame. I complimented the Hardcore match they had two weeks ago when Bubba won the title, but this had none of the excitement or urgency that one had from either man. And in what’s maybe even more surprising, Raven hits the Evenflow and actually wins back the title here. A weird moment here thought where the ref counts to three verbally on the final count but doesn’t seem like the hand hit the mat. Seemed like a mistake for sure. Match was still okay weird ending aside, but not as good as a few weeks back. **​

After the match, Tommy Dreamer runs down and hits Raven with the Death Valley Driver, before pinning him to become the new WWF Hardcore Champion. Tommy’s moment doesn’t last long as Steven Richards comes in and hits Tommy with a Superkick to pin and become the new champion. And then Bubba has recovered, and he smashes a guitar over the head of Richards to get the pin and regain the Hardcore Title that he started the night with. Harmless fun, I guess. Wasn’t the worst Hardcore segment I’ve ever seen.

In the back, Shawn Stasiak is interviewed, and he says some stuff that rhymes, but basically ends things by welcoming everybody to Planet Stasiak. Why do I want this gimmick to work out so bad? This is so bad that it’s good. Let’s go, Stasiak!

Match Two
Shawn Stasiak vs. The Big Show

Just a quick squash match here. Stasiak gets a trip early on and tries to work on Show’s leg, but it goes nowhere. Show recovers, and then takes over from here, rather quickly putting Stasiak out of his misery with a Chokeslam for the win. Yuck, not good. ½*​

Terri interviews Eddie Guerrero in the back and asks about his match with RVD at Backlash for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Eddie tells Terri that he will take back what is rightfully his. Eddie says that RVD stole his move in the Frog Splash, so Eddie is going to win the Intercontinental Title with his own move at Backlash. Solid enough promo from Eddie here, basically confirming that this is all over the Frog Splash. I think this is a simple, fine wrestling gimmick.

Backstage, Goldust talks to Booker T and tries to convince him that they will be great as a tag team, but an incredulous Booker T disagrees. This segment was fine, but nothing that stands out. What does stand out here is these two beginning to have what would become an epic dynamic as a team.

In the back, The Undertaker sneaks up on Debra as she makes herself a coffee at the coffee table. As she turns around, she accidentally bumps into him and spills hot coffee over him. Debra runs away as Undertaker looks mad. Meh. A nothing segment here really, not sure what the point of this was.

Terri interviews Jacqueline backstage and Jackie tells Terri that Crash Holly cheating to beat her last night on Heat will turn out to be costly for him. Solid enough promo to hype their rematch tonight. No issues.

Match Three
Crash Holly vs. Jackie

In its simplest form, this is a comedy match. They do some stuff, and it doesn’t last long as well, and then Jackie gets a Sunset Flip to get a three count. This Intergender series is at a 1-1 tie. This was given no time, so would have preferred they just did this on Heat again. At least on Heat they had a solid match, here on Raw, where they have to fit everything in, it just didn’t work. About the same level as the last match unfortunately. ½*​

Backstage, The Coach interviews William Regal and asks him about losing the WWF European Championship to Spike Dudley last week. Regal answers that it was the most embarrassing moment of his life. He then gets really intense and yells as he says that Spike’s feel-good moment last week is about to turn into a career ending tragedy. Nice promo here from Regal, sold his embarrassment and eagerness for revenge really well.

Match Four
Eddie Guerrero and William Regal vs. Rob Van Dam and Spike Dudley

There’s so much meh stuff happening on Raw at the moment, that it feels really refreshing to get a really good match on the show. Regal and Eddie work well as a team, putting a pretty savage beat down on Spike, who takes it all and sells it all like a champ. RVD’s hot tag was executed well also, and Regal took all of Van Dam’s unique offense probably even better than he did at WrestleMania. It was probably pretty straight forward in regard to who takes the fall in this one, with the one man who did take the fall, probably being at a lower level than the other three guys involved. The ending comes about when Eddie misses a Splash but is still able to take Spike down with a Back Suplex. Regal takes RVD to the outside and they brawl on the floor, which allows Eddie to hit a devastating looking Brainbuster, followed by the Frog Splash to pin Spike Dudley. This made me look forward to their individual matches at the PPV, really good wrestling from all three. ***​

Backstage, The Coach interviews Trish Stratus and she says she’s going to beat Molly Holly tonight and then she’ll regain the WWF Womens Title against Jazz at Backlash. Molly Holly interrupts and disagrees, saying she is more beautiful than Trish, and also saying that she will beat Trish tonight and then win the title from Jazz at Backlash. Perfectly acceptable segment to hype their match.

Match Five
Number One Contenders Match
Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus

Considering the state of women’s wrestling in 2002, this was a good, hard-fought battle, and much like their match last year, this looks stiffer than most stuff you’ll see from the women. Still looking forward to these two getting an extended period of time at some point in the future to put on a better match. This one ends when Molly gets an O’Connor Roll and she holds Trish’s tights, but Trish reverses into one of her own, and she holds Molly’s tights to get the win. They tried hard. *3/4​

Bradshaw is interviewed in the back, and he is pleased with the announcement that Ric Flair has made Bradshaw vs. Scott Hall official for Backlash. Bradshaw talks about how everything the NWO has done so far is cowardice and he’s going to put a stop to it. Being they’re in Texas, he then sucks up to the fans and promotes Texas. A bit too much Texas pandering for me, but I guess this did the job of announcing the match for Backlash, getting Bradshaw’s thoughts on it, and hyping tonight’s main event.

Lita walks into her locker room to find Paul Heyman holding one of her thongs in his hand. Heyman tries to intimidate Lita at first because her boyfriend Matt Hardy will be facing Brock Lesnar at Backlash. He tells Lita that at Backlash, Brock can either play nice or play rough with Matt. It depends on how Lita plays with Heyman. Lita slaps Heyman across the face and tells him to get out. Heyman seems excited that Lita likes to play rough and says that he does as well. He then leaves with her pink thong in his jacket pocket. Creepy, sleazy, maybe a little eerie, but such a good way to put over the type of agent/sleazebag that Heyman is. Enjoyed this a lot. Good managerial heel work here from Heyman.

Match Six
Booker T and Goldust vs. The Hardy Boyz

Whilst this was clearly just a placeholder to lead to booking to further advance the Brock/Hardyz feud, that doesn’t take away from the match. They put on an acceptable match here. Should probably call out that not only does this hype the big Brock/Hardyz feud heading into Backlash, but it also gives Booker T and Goldust there first win as a team which is a big deal. This one ends when Paul Heyman comes out onto the stage with Lita’s suitcase, and damn she travels with a lot of thongs. Anyway, that distracts Matt and leaves Jeff alone to fall victim to an illegal Sidekick from Booker, which allows Goldust to get the pin and the win. Solid work here. **1/4​

After the match, Heyman is continuing to be a creep, sniffing Lita’s panties at the top of the ramp. Matt runs up to Heyman, but Brock Lesnar comes out, however Matt nails Brock with a low blow. Brock shrugs it off pretty quickly though and destroys Matt, ending with a brutal F5 on the stage. More thumbs up from me here. The booking of Brock as this unstoppable young, monster has been awesome all month. Now we get more of a glimpse into the man basically looking after him, and his character is VERY questionable to say the least. Adds to their whole act, really good stuff.

Now we get an in-ring interview where Jim Ross interviews the WWF Undisputed Champion Triple H. JR tells Triple H that he’s looking forward to the match with Hulk Hogan at Backlash anxiously, but he’d like to know how Triple H viewed Hogan’s actions last week on Smackdown. Triple H basically says Hogan made a mistake, but Triple H won’t make any mistakes at Backlash, before going into his usual spiel about being the best. He’s the champion, he’s The Game and he’s that damn good. Bleh. Crowd reaction is getting worse, this man just isn’t a babyface. Nothing about this feud is good, and with Hogan on SD, this stand-alone promo from Triple H, which is probably usually one of his strengths, was not good. Boring actually.

Match Seven
Handicap Match
Bradshaw and Stone Cold vs. NWO and The Undertaker

A disappointing main event to end the show. Just a bunch of brawling with seemingly no real purpose taking up over half the match. Really not that much to talk about, just was not a good job from these guys. This doesn’t make me want to watch Backlash more or anything like that. I guess if I’m looking for a silver lining, the one thing they achieved is giving Bradshaw probably the biggest win in his career to this point. The match ends with Austin and Taker brawling on the outside, Hall incapacitated, and Bradshaw nails X Pac with the Clothesline from Hell for the win. Whilst I’ve mentioned the silver lining, can I be negative again for a moment? We’ve talked about the good this did for Bradshaw, but what about the bad this did for the heels? Can the NWO get any colder? Now they’re losing handicap matches to Bradshaw. And I never thought I’d see the day The Undertaker is losing Handicap matches. Ridiculous. Man, Raw is really hard to enjoy right now. Oh yeah, I have to rate this thing. *3/4​

After the match, Hall attacks Bradshaw and hits him with a Fallaway Slam! On the outside, Undertaker and Austin continue to brawl until Taker decks Austin with a steel chair to the skull. NWO continue to beat up Bradshaw in the ring and that’s how the show ends. I guess they tried to give the heels their heat back, but still. I just hate Handicap matches involving serious talent where the team with less numbers wins. Hurts the number advantage side to much, in my opinion.

Raw is terrible post draft. The Undisputed Title program isn’t even on this show, but still results in a boring segment. Austin/Taker stuff is meh, NWO is ruined, not good. Only positives at the moment are the Lesnar/Hardyz feud, and on this week’s show, that mid card tag match was awesome.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
April 18th, 2002
Houston, Texas
​

Our commentators welcome us to the show and hype the big tag team match scheduled for tonight’s show: Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle teaming together to take on the Backlash main event, Hulk Hogan and Triple H.

Match One
Albert, Billy and Chuck vs. Al Snow, Maven and Rikishi

A solid enough opening to the show here I thought. They tried hard for the most part and kept up a good pace to the match, which is always a good option for a show opener. Albert is finally starting to be unleased as a heel, and he really does carry the match with his big man offense, and the way he hurls Snow and Maven around the ring. The others in the match are great, but we do get a surprisingly good finishing run, which culminates with Maven hitting a Flying Crossbody on Chuck to get the win. Match was solid, if not special, and booking wise, it makes sense to give the underdog challengers a win, to make them look more ominous ahead of the PPV. **1/4​

Backstage, Stacy Keibler finds Hulk Hogan and tells him that Vince McMahon wants to see him in his office. Hmm, I wonder what Vince wants.

Billy Kidman is in the back watching the crazy Shawn Stasiak promo from Raw and makes fun of Stasiak. Kidman then gets serious and talks about how he is worried that nobody knows who he is. The Hurricane offers his partner for tonight some advice to keep putting over Texas. Kidman then tells Hurricane that he thinks he has a better idea. Positive is that this hypes their tag team match coming up. To be honest, I don’t like Kidman acting like a small fry and complaining about people not knowing who he is. This indicates something that Vince McMahon would do just because Kidman is from WCW. Ugh.

Hulk Hogan has now made his way to Vince McMahon’s office. Vince tells Hogan that everything that has happened recently feels like Hulkamania Round 2, and Vince wonders if that’s just him imagining things or if it’s real. Solid enough segment, I guess. Feels more to put over Vince’s character and liking to toy with his talent than the title match though.

Match Two
Billy Kidman and The Hurricane vs. Chavo Guerrero and Tajiri

Some better wrestling than the opener here, as we get our first actual good match of the night. In the cruiserweights we trust. To continue their angle, Tajiri has Torrie dressed in a geisha again as well. And she looks good in it to, for any of those keeping score at home. Surprisingly, they only get about five minutes here, but they turn it into a highly entertaining five minutes and that’s all you can ask for. The ending comes about when Chavo climbs to the top rope, but Kidman climbs up after him, thinking Superplex. Tajiri climbs up after them and puts Kidman on his shoulders. Hurricane gets a close two count after a top rope Crossbody on Tajiri. Kidman and Chavo brawl on the outside and Tajiri turns the tables on Hurricane, hitting a Buzzsaw kick to get the win. I like Tajiri getting the win to look strong as the challenger who just recently lost the title heading into the PPV. This was enjoyable. **3/4
​

Mark Henry comes out to the stage and the ‘strongest man’ task he’s going to complete tonight is to lift a car. Test doesn’t think it can be done and tries to lift the car multiple times himself to make sure it’s real, but Test can’t do it. Test bets against Mark Henry whilst Faarooq bets that Henry will life the car. Henry is able to lift the car off the ground on one side as per the task. Test is about to pay Faarooq, but then attacks Faarooq instead, throwing him on the hood of the car before leaving. Eh. Not huge on these segments, and the fact that they are being used to build a Faarooq/Test match or feud doesn’t make it any better.

Now it’s time for a Hulk Hogan in ring promo. Hogan talks about how much the WWF Undisputed Championship means to his career and he believes he can win the title again. He says the fans also believe that he can do it. He is going to take his one last chance at Backlash, and perception is reality. Chris Jericho comes out onto the stage to interrupt and says that Hogan is a joke, before throwing more insults at Hogan and the fans. Jericho talks about how the fact that Hogan has a title match and Jericho doesn’t even have a match on Backlash is a travesty. Jericho asks what Hogan has ever done in the WWF. Hogan’s only had one match since he returned and he lost, so why does he get a title shot? Hogan invites Jericho to come to the ring, and Jericho does, and they get in a brawl until Kurt Angle runs down and beats on Hogan, turning it into a two on one. Edge then runs down to make the save and he and Hogan clear the ring. Segment was solid. The Hogan stuff was pretty standard and uninteresting, but Jericho’s passion came across in his promo. Not only that, but he also made some valid points, around Hogan losing and earning a title shot, and it made the promo better.

After the break, in the back, Vince McMahon is mad at Edge, and yells at him, telling him to get out of here. Vince also tells Stacy Keibler to get Triple H and tell him to come to Vince’s office. Edge intimidates Vince before he leaves. Vince is evil so makes sense for him to be mad at Edge. The interaction between Vince and Edge felt kind of forced though. This wasn’t the best segment, to be honest.

Match Three
Faarooq vs. Test

Faarooq is on his last legs by now and I think it shows in this match, to be honest. He’s finished as a performer, even though he’ll stick around for another couple of years. Test attacks early to get the jump but Faarooq comes back, eventually hitting a Powerslam for a two count. It’s a pretty quick match, and it ends when Test goes for the Pumphandle Slam, but Faarooq reverses, and gets a pin with the ropes to win. Rating for this is bad because the match was, well bad, but the booking here doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either. Always had a soft spot for Test and felt like he could have been elevated as a solid mid/higher card heel during the brand split, but instead he jobs here to Faarooq, who has already hit his ceiling and now on the way down. Baffling. *​

Backstage, much like earlier with Hogan, now Stacy Keibler finds Triple H and tells him that Vince McMahon wants to see him in his office. Triple H gets Stacy flustered when he takes off his top, and makes his pecs bounce, before saying he’ll go see Vince when he wants to. Meh, nothing segment to put over that bodybuilders get all the girls.

Hardcore Holly is interviewed in the back, and he talks about how he’s going to beat Diamond Dallas Page tonight. DDP interrupts and tells Holly that he’s a bully and it’s starting to puss him off. I don’t mind this. Quick little interaction to give their match some heat. It’s effective yet simple stuff.

Triple H goes to see Vince McMahon now and Vince asks him if he’s cold, ruthless and callous enough to kill Hulkamania and kill the biggest comeback ever and Triple H doesn’t respond. Vince also let’s Triple H know that if he were to lose the WWF Undisputed Championship, he will be exclusive to Smackdown. Similar to my thoughts with the previous Vince/Hogan segment, didn’t really enjoy the Vince/Triple H segment here.

Match Four
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hardcore Holly

A nothing match really, between two guys that are rarely featured to this point. On a sadder note, this is actually DDP’s last match on this run. A very quick match and it’s over after Holly avoids the Diamond Cutter and takes down DDP with a Dropkick. Dropkick seems like a strange way to get a win but wouldn’t surprise me if they called an audible. DDP hurt his neck on a Superplex earlier, so probably wasn’t wanting to take the Alabama Slam which is fair enough. The injury is bad enough that he never makes it back in a WWE ring, so to this point, a sad end to an amazing story and career. Was never treated the way he should or could have been in the WWE, but because I like the guy, he’ll get a decent rating for his final match. **​

D’Von Dudley comes out now for in ring promo time and this week he’s in the full Reverend D’Von outfit. He is in the role of Vince McMahon’s spiritual advisor and preaches to the crowd about the “man above” but is clearly referring to Vince. He tells the fans that Vince is a prophet that has come to save them. He then goes around the ring, accepting donations from the fans. It’s an out their gimmick for sure, and one that probably won’t draw any money, but hell, for some reason I enjoy this, and D’Von delivered this promo really well. I enjoyed this.

Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle catch up backstage and have a discussion about their upcoming match with Hulk Hogan and Triple H. Acceptable quick segment to hype the pending main event.

Match Five
Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle vs. Hulk Hogan and Triple H

Honestly, just the way Angle and Jericho have been carrying Smackdown as of late, they carried this match to. They bumped like crazy for Hogan’s basic offense, and they made all of Triple H’s power stuff come off really well too. Great work from them and the match just kind of ends when Jericho brings a steel chair in the ring and throws out the referee. A solid match though, which is better than I expected. **1/2​

After the match, Hogan grabs a hold of the chair and swings at Angle, but Kurt moves, and Hogan hits Triple H with the chair. It’s a two on one against Hogan now, until Angle gets the chair and looks set to hit Angle, but Edge appears from nowhere and Spears Angle. As Edge and Angle brawl through the crowd, Hogan gets Jericho with the Big Boot and Leg Drop. Hogan then turns into a chair shot from Triple H and Triple H stands tall to end the show. A fun ending to the show. After a better-than-expected match, the ending was nice. Hyped Angle/Edge, but also finally added some intrigue to Hogan/Triple H with both men having now laid hands on each other. Poor Jericho though, carrying Smackdown yet not getting booked on PPV, just one month after being Undisputed Champion and main eventing WrestleMania. But I digress, a strong ending to the show.

Eh, not a great show again. Cruiserweights delivered not much else did, although it feels like they finally got the Hogan/Triple H booking right, or at least improved by the end of the night.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
April 21st, 2002
Kansas City, Missouri ​

The Coach and Raven are our announce team here and they welcome us to Heat, only one hour away from Backlash. After they run down the card and what not, we get a more in depth look at Edge vs. Kurt Angle with a video package.

We then get the weekly Heat Tough Enough 2 video recap. Normally I say I don’t care, but Jackie Gayda getting in trouble from her boyfriend and her mum for kissing another guy in the hot tub whilst drunk was kind of fun. Had to make sure I wasn’t watching an early days episode of Jersey Shore.

After the commentators discuss the WWF Womens Championship Match at Backlash between Jazz and Trish Stratus, we cut backstage where Jerry Lawler interviews Trish. The King asks Trish if her puppy power will help her tonight, whilst looking at her boobs. Trish tells him tonight’s not about the puppies, it’s about the Womens title. She says she can be tough and a bitch like Jazz, before promising 100% Stratusfaction Guaranteed. The King’s perve nature really felt kind of awkward here if I’m honest, especially because Trish didn’t seem okay with it. At least they hyped the title match for Backlash, I guess.

The Coach and Raven then hype the release of The Scorpion King, before showing clips of The Rock on the Conan O’Brien show.

‘Across The Nation’ music video is played. Killing time here but song bangs so it’s okay. Probably my favourite Raw opening of all time.

Backstage, Bubba Ray Dudley and Reverend D’Von come face to face for the first time since the draft. D’Von tells Bubba he’s proud of him winning the Hardcore Title. Bubba says he wishes he could say he was proud of D’Von. D’Von says Vince McMahon is the great prophet. He’s seen the light because Vince McMahon showed him the light. D’Von can help Bubba, and watch his back, but it will cost him a donation. Bubba gives advice as his donation, telling D’Von to save himself instead of saving the world. Bubba then walks off as D’Von laughs to himself. Really cool segment to see these two come together, and to put forward how much D’Von has changed in a few weeks. This was enjoyable, they have on screen chemistry together, and D’Von continues to nail the reverend gimmick.

We get a recap of Brock Lesnar’s domination since debuting on the Raw after WrestleMania. Our commentators then announce that due to injuries suffered thanks to Brock on Raw this week, Matt Hardy can’t compete tonight so Brock will be facing Jeff Hardy at Backlash instead. I prefer Matt as a wrestler, but Jeff’s probably the better option for somebody to die on bumps for Brock, so I don’t mind this decision. Plus, it puts over just how deadly Brock is.

A limo arrives to the arena and Stacy Keibler and Vince McMahon get out of it, with the camera focusing on Stacy’s legs for a long time. Vince says the safest place for Stacy tonight will be the lounge, and she seems okay with that. Vince is here, meh. Doesn’t feel all that important tonight.

We then get more Scorpion King hype, with some behind the scenes interviews and what not.

Match One
Handicap Match
Justin Credible and Steven Richards vs. The Big Show

Not really a lot to say about this one. Show basically no sells any offense that his two opponents try, and toys with them until he decides to put them away. He finishes them both off with an impressive Double Chokeslam. One thing I don’t think can be annoyed is that Show got a really big ovation here, showing they probably need to do more with him than just Heat appearances. Winning Handicap matches against jobbers is at least an okay way to push a monster. Match was nothing special but wasn’t the worst thing in the world. *1/2​

Typical Heat before a PPV. It’s all about the Backlash hype which is fine, and the one match wasn’t exactly a good one.