Stojy watches WWE 2002

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
May 27th, 2002
Edmonton, Canada​

We start with our commentators, JR and The King hyping some of the stuff planned for tonight, which includes Eddie Guerrero defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Rob Van Dam in a ladder match, and Brock Lesnar vs. Bubba Ray Dudley. I’m pumped for the ladder match.

We start things off with in ring promo time from Chris Benoit, as he makes a surprise, unannounced return in his hometown. He starts with “it sure as hell feels good to be back”. He admits that he’s been drafted to Smackdown, but he had to be here in his hometown tonight, and he’ll be back soon. He then says there’s a good reason to be here but is interrupted by the WWE Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero. Eddie tells Benoit that it’s great to see him. But then he talks about how Benoit has always been jealous of him. Eddie says he was the Radical with the most charisma, skill and LATINO HEAT~! He says that Benoit was always trying to hold him back. But since Benoit left, Eddie has become the Intercontinental Champion. He then brags about taking out Austin last week and says Benoit can’t change that. Benoit admits that he can’t take out Eddie tonight, but Rob Van Dam can. And as far as finding out if Eddie’s a better wrestler than Benoit, they’ll find out tonight whether he can have a better ladder match than Benoit. Eddie gets annoyed and challenges Benoit to fight, and Benoit takes off his shirt, ready to go. Ric Flair interrupts and comes down and asks if the fans want to see Benoit vs. Guerrero tonight and the fans pop. Flair says no and says he let Benoit come out here to hype the crowd, and like a typical Canadian, he tried to start a fight. Flair then mentions that Stone Cold isn’t here tonight and even if he was, he was a welcoming committee waiting for him. Austin and Debra are running late due to a family emergency. Flair says Benoit isn’t benched like Austin though. But he’s not letting a Smackdown guy fight his Raw IC Champion so get out. Eddie tells Benoit to get out of the ring as well, and Benoit shoves Eddie down to the mat. Flair calls for security and they come and escort Benoit out of the arena. Cool moment to have Benoit make his return here. A nice surprise for sure. I’ll just quickly touch on Benoit once and say I’m not going to refer to anything surrounding the tragedy and will be focusing on only him as a wrestler in here, and as you’ll come to recognise, I do think he was one of the best. Anyway, a really fun, fresh segment to open the show. This was great.

Backstage, Molly Holly tells WWE European Champion William Regal that she used to date Spike Dudley and is nervous about getting in the ring with him. She says he was such a pervert. This segments a nice little touch, playing on Molly and Spike’s history together before the match. No issues.

Match One
WWE European or WWE Womens Championship Match
Mixed Tag Team Match
Trish Stratus (c) and Spike Dudley vs. William Regal (c) and Molly Holly

I don’t know if the match title makes it clear so just to clarify, which title is on the line is all dependent on the falls. For example, if one of the women get the fall, the Womens Title is on the line, and if one of the men get the fall, the European Title is on the line. They keep this one quick, which is a bit disappointing because Spike and Regal can do well enough, and it feels like Molly/Trish is the best possible women’s pairing we can have at the moment. This match comes to an end when Molly is choking Trish on the ropes, and then slamming her face first to the turnbuckle. Out of nowhere, Trish reverses Molly and gets a Backslide for the out of nowhere victory. The action wasn’t bad, but they didn’t get enough time which hurt the match a lot. *1/2​

After the match, Regal gives Molly the brass knuckles, and he attacks Spike, sending him outside of the ring. This allows Molly to nail Trish in the back of the head with the brass knuckles. Fine, dastardly heel stuff, to further heat up the women’s feud. I’m good with this.

We see The Coach standing around in the parking lot, awaiting the arrival of Stone Cold.

Backstage, Terri interviews WWE Hardcore Champion Steven Richards and he talks about how Jazz is recovering from knee surgery and how she’s so cute and cuddly. Jacqueline interrupts and quizzes him on his description of Jazz. Jackie then kicks Richards in the knee and nails him in the head with the microphone. Jackie makes the cover, but Shawn Stasiak comes over and tries to steal the pin instead. Big Bossman then shows up and pulls Stasiak off the cover, and Bossman and Stasiak end up brawling out of the picture. Meanwhile, Richards is still down so Terri decides to pin him and become the new Hardcore Champion. She celebrates, showing off plenty, when Richards gets a quick Roll Up to regain his title. The Hardcore title stuff has become repetitive and not fun at this point, but this one was okay. For some reason I marked at Terri becoming the champion out of nowhere.

In the back, Kevin Nash talks to the rest of the New World Order. Nash talks about how tonight Big Show faces Bradshaw and Booker T and X Pac face The Hardy Boyz, and they will be getting no help. This is the new era of the NWO and if you lose the match, you’re out of the group. Booker T then says he doesn’t want to make his entrance to the NWO theme because it has a lack of bass. Booker and Pac then leave, and we see Goldust, hiding in a bathtub in the NWO locker room, listening in to their conversation. NWO regrouping continues so I don’t mind the attempt from Nash here to straighten things out. Booker is clearly the star of the group, which is fine, and Goldust is there for the funnies. All solid stuff.

Match Two
Booker T and X Pac vs. The Hardy Boyz

This was a completely fine match, with the action throughout entertaining enough. Also worth calling out that X Pac is still coming to the ring wearing Kane’s mask, which is a cool way to remind us that Kane will be back at some point. Whilst this was solid, the match last week with Show and Pac against The Hardyz was better, as Pac controlled the action and put in more effort. These four could probably put on a really epic tag if they were given some good time though. Booker nails Jeff with the Scissors Kick and Pac tags himself in. As Booker knocks Matt off the apron, Pac nails Jeff with the X Factor and gets the pin. Solid, as the NWO rebuild begins in style. **​

After the match, Booker grabs a microphone and insists on giving the people what they want, and then hits the Spinaroonie, before he and Pac leave.

Backstage, Paul Heyman heads towards the Trainer’s Room, looking for Trish Stratus. When he enters, he finds Bubba Ray Dudley, who beats on Heyman and tells him to stay away from Trish. Nice continuation of Heyman being a creep on Trish and adds further heat to the Brock/Bubba match tonight. Good stuff.

Strangely enough, it’s in ring promo time for Tommy Dreamer as he tries to convince the crowd that he’s just a normal guy. Then he notices a guy eating a hot dog and tries to steal it. The hot dog falls on the floor, and then Tommy accidentally steps on it, but still eats it. Thankfully, this then gets interrupted by the WWE Undisputed Champion The Undertaker. ‘Taker says that Tommy is on his time now, but Tommy doesn’t leave. ‘Taker eventually offers Tommy a title shot, and Tommy says he’d love that but ‘Taker says too bad. He says that Dreamer isn’t worthy. Nobody can challenge him in the back either, but if Tommy wants to entertain the people, he can drink his tobacco spit. Tommy declines, saying that’s to gross, but ‘Taker threatens him if he doesn’t. Tommy drinks it and admits that it’s actually pretty good. After this, Undertaker snaps and beats the hell out of Tommy, ending by wrapping a chair around his neck and ramming him into the ring post. Not sure if this is the best use of your champ with this joke character, but I can look passed that, because I love ‘Taker coming out every week and just bullying people. He’s the champ and can do what he wants. Segment was okay thanks to ‘Taker, still not good, but I’m hoping this can just write Dreamer off.

Backstage, an annoyed Paul Heyman gives Brock Lesnar a pep talk. Solid.

Match Three
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Bubba Ray Dudley

Really solid, fun stuff here from these two which is good to see. Was awesome to see Brock throw Bubba around as if he was still wrestling The Hardy Boyz. Really cool stuff. Brock’s offense and power was awesome, but unfortunately Bubba lets it down with some awful selling, which makes the epic offense lose some of its impact. Considering Brock is getting the monster push, I was surprised by the amount of offense that Bubba got in towards the end. Heyman even had to intervene to help Brock, which I’m not sure I like Brock needing help to beat Bubba, to be honest. After Heyman trips Bubba when he bounces off the ropes, and this is after earlier interference, Brock catches Bubba with the F5 for the win. Brock potentially losing without Heyman’s help aside, this was very solid, and the Brock train continues as it should. **1/4​

Outside, The Coach finds Raven sitting outside and asks if he knows anything about Austin and Debra’s family emergency. Raven says that it’s not Debra’s family that is having the emergency but Austin himself. He says that Austin is a troubled soul, and he wishes he could help him. I don’t mind the reminder that we are waiting on Austin, but this was really weird, random stuff. Coach looks like an idiot asking Raven this question, why would he have any insight? Strange. Also no mention of Raven ditching Coach on Heat makes me sad.

Match Four
Bradshaw vs. The Big Show

Bradshaw kind of felt like he was getting some sort of push on Raw recently, so to see him basically get squashed by Show here was surprising. Squash match, but Show does a good job and finishes his demolition of Bradshaw with a Chokeslam. Weird booking of Bradshaw aside, the NWO rebuild remains on track. **​

In the back, the NWO are content with how the night has gone when Goldust shows up with black and white face paint on, and of course, he’s wearing an NWO shirt. Booker says that Goldust looks like a freaky Oreo cookie. X Pac says he’s going to go tell Kevin Nash that Goldust is disrespecting the colours, and as Pac leaves, Booker says he’s a stooge. This all makes sense from a Goldust wanting to be Booker’s partner scenario. Whilst I’m sure there will be some fun moments, I’m not sold on NWO being this involved in comedy angles.

At THE WORLD, the final four Tough Enough contestants have arm wrestling matches. Jake beat Kenny whilst Linda Miles beat Jackie Gayda for those keeping score. Meh, still don’t care about this fake reality contest.

In the back, Terri interviews RVD and he starts by congratulating her on briefly winning the Hardcore Title. From there, RVD cuts a pretty standard promo, hyping his Intercontinental Title ladder match against Eddie Guerrero tonight. Solid enough promo to hype the main event.

Austin still hasn’t arrived, but The Coach gets excited and then frustrated when a pickup truck speeds up, only to drop off the late running Howard Finkel. A nice tease here.

Match Five
Crash Holly vs. Goldust

Another squash match here as Goldust, apparently representing the NWO takes care of poor Crash relatively easily. It’s a basic squash but Goldust performs well, only issue is that the fans don’t care about Crash, so there isn’t much reaction to anything. Goldust finally finishes things off with the Curtain Call. Meh, it’s a squash, not as good as the other squash tonight. *3/4​

After the match, Kevin Nash comes down and he doesn’t look happy. As Nash enters the ring, Goldust exits so Nash hits Crash with a Big Boot and then poses. Nash being annoyed at Goldust for wearing the colours makes sense.

Backstage, Eddie Guerrero approaches Ric Flair and tells him that he is nervous about getting hurt and Stone Cold showing up. Flair reassures Eddie that if Austin comes tonight or tries to interfere, he has the welcoming committee waiting for him. Solid. Does the job of hyping the two things left on the show, the main event, and the angle of whether Austin will show up or not.

Match Six
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Ladder Match
Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Rob Van Dam

Ladder matches are really hard to watch when they were over twenty years ago. Not because they weren’t good, this was another great match between the two, but it’s hard for them to stack up. Ladder spots have become so different in the last twenty years, that whilst good for the time, nothing they do here seems out of control insane. Just feels like business-as-usual ladder match spots. So yeah, match is still great, but not a classic. It’s still potentially a match that could be in a best matches on Raw list or something like that though. RVD had moments that weren’t great in this one as well. Felt like there were times where he no sold when he should have been selling, there’s some stuff that just look a bit off/sloppy and a few contrived spots that look fake just to show off some cool athleticism or something. I probably really enjoyed the Sunset Flip Powerbomb off the ladder spot the most here. I’ve pointed out the negatives because it’s easier to do so, but there still was a lot of good stuff here. There’s a moment where an idiot fan comes in and tries to shove Eddie off the ladder to. As the match progresses, Chris Benoit makes his way through the crowd, but security don’t kick him out because he reveals he has a ticket. The other awkward botch here is probably when RVD looks to attempt a Five Star Frog Splash off the ladder but slips and falls. Credit to the commentators to link it to the psychology of Eddie working on the leg earlier in the match. It seems after that, they have to somewhat improvise an ending, as Eddie climbs for the gold, only for RVD to shove him off the ladder and to the outside, and then RVD claims the gold. An awesome feud, capped off by another really good, although not perfect match. Great stuff though. ***1/2​

After the match, a furious Eddie attacks RVD until Stone Cold runs down and starts stomping all over Eddie. Ric Flair and Arn Anderson run down to help but Austin just starts dropping them with right hands as well. Austin eventually clears the ring of all three. Chris Benoit jumps over the crowd barricade and slides in the ring to have Austin’s back. But it’s a swerve because then Benoit clocks Austin from behind. Benoit lays out Austin and Eddie comes back in to hit a Frog Splash, with the former Radicals standing tall to end the show. Awesome ending. Nice swerve. Benoit injured his neck wrestling Austin to, so the turn makes a whole lot of sense.

Another solid episode of Raw here, with the main event being particularly awesome, and the Eddie/Benoit stuff throughout the entire night really delivering.

 

[Chris]

The Dreamer gimmick was the worst but it popped Vince so you have to deal with it

 

[Stojy]

The Dreamer gimmick was the worst but it popped Vince so you have to deal with it

It's Vince's world (at least in 2002). We just live in it

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
May 30th, 2002
Calgary, Canada​

Michael Cole and Tazz welcome us to the show, and they hype the main event, Edge vs. Kurt Angle inside of a steel cage. Awesome, looking forward to this one. Because I’ve only just recently watched Raw as well, I feel like this is a telltale sign of some of the formulaic booking WWE likes to use. Edge/Angle and Eddie/RVD feuds virtually identical. Match at Backlash, match at Judgment, blow off on a weekly show with a gimmick attached to it, on the same week none the less. Not an issue or anything, just found the symmetry interesting.

Match One
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rico and Rikishi (c) vs. Billy and Chuck

I’m just not that big on this angle. I get they’re going for somewhat of a comedy approach here, but it just isn’t quite hitting the mark for me. And I’m not sure why, because I actually enjoy the Billy and Chuck gimmick. I think it might be because Rikishi is washed at this point, and Rico is meh, so it’s difficult to get behind them. Anyway, not only is the angle meh, but this match was pretty bad as well. Rikishi is holding his own against Billy and Chuck by himself, but Rico keeps coming in and helping Billy and Chuck regain the advantage. Eventually Rico tries to do the same again, but Rikishi hits Rico with a Superkick, and Rico falls on top of Chuck for the three count. Meh. Bad match, not a good angle for my taste. *3/4​

After the match, Billy and Chuck are mad at Rico because Rico is still somehow one half of the tag team champions. Rikishi is in celebration mode though, doing a dance at the top of the stage.

We then see a clip which shows Hulk Hogan arriving to the arena.

Backstage, Torrie Wilson comes up to Maven and gives him a good luck kiss for his match tonight. They then walk off screen together, and we see Tajiri pop up behind the window, having listened to and watched the whole thing, and he’s not happy. Tajiri as the jealous boyfriend here is fun. Wish he would destroy Maven. Solid way to build to the eventual match between the two of them, I guess.

Match Two
Christian vs. Maven

They do some uninspiring stuff for a few minutes, mostly just killing the few minutes they have. This is less about the match and more about the booking, as Tajiri eventually comes down and pushes Maven off the top rope. Of course, Christian distracts the referee so there is no DQ. Christian then picks up the scraps and finishes Maven off with the Unprettier. I get the booking to continue the Maven/Tajiri feud, but this match also wasn’t good. I’m happy Christian got a win though. *1/2​

In the back, Vince McMahon is on the phone and he’s unhappy as he talks about Chris Benoit appearing on Raw. He’s told that apparently because Benoit is inactive, he can go on both shows. Dawn Marie then walks in, making her debut in WWE, saying that she’s a paralegal. She has some papers that she wants him to look over. Stacy Keibler is at some Tough Enough thing, so Vince starts hitting on Dawn. Chris Jericho interrupts, annoyed about being booked in a match tonight with Faarooq, as he’s still never received a rest after Hell In A Cell. Vince basically manipulates Jericho and gives him a pep talk on how good it would be if he wins again tonight. Dawn Marie debuting is awesome, definitely a good addition. She’s legitimately really underrated as a character worker in my opinion. Vince trying to hit on her with Stacy gone is so typical lol. Really like that they addressed Benoit appearing on Raw as well, and the Jericho stuff does enough to continue this angle with McMahon not really caring about Jericho now that he lost to Triple H at HIAC.

Match Three
Chris Jericho vs. Faarooq

This one is a bad match. Not really Jericho’s fault, although maybe he could have dragged Faarooq to something better, but Faarooq and good matches are long gone by this point. This is simply another win for Jericho to keep him looking strong after the HIAC loss. Jericho was rocking the pink and black attire which is epic. Due to Faarooq being ready for retirement, the match is just slow and plodding and not interesting at all. In the end, Jericho nails the Breakdown for the win. Not good at all. *​

In the back, Lance Storm is talking to Reverend D’Von, and he confesses his sin, he’s really Western Canadian. D’Von forgives him. Lol this is awesome. Part of what makes these rewatches so fun. On first watch as a youngster, I hated that D’Von became a Reverend and was ‘boring’ and not putting people through tables. Now I can appreciate just how awesome this character was.

Backstage, Hulk Hogan talks and says that Vince McMahon can take his contract and shove it. Hogan admits he will retire but not yet. He wants a match with Vince McMahon before he retired and that’s his new goal. Vince McMahon confronts Hogan and gets in his face which allows Kurt Angle to hit Hogan from behind with a lead pipe. Segment was fine, did its job. Continued the Hogan/Vince stuff and is setting up a new foe for Hogan in Angle as well.

Match Four
WWE Undisputed Championship Match
The Undertaker (c) vs. Randy Orton

I think this match was solid enough and achieved what it needed to. They gave Orton a huge rub by giving him a chance to be competitive with the champion, and ‘Taker notches up another successful title defence. The match begun with a handshake after ‘Taker talked up Orton, which I definitely didn’t expect. This was a good showing for Orton I think, proving himself for his future. He’s first time in there with a main eventer, and whilst all his stuff was pretty basic, he hit it all really well, and that’s all he really needed to do here. Funnily enough, when they get into a heated feud in a few years, they’ll have some matches better than this, but there will also be some matches that aren’t as good as this one. They tell the story of cocky veteran versus young and hungry up and comer really well. In a nice touch, as Orton gets more offense in, ‘Taker can be seen getting more annoyed, which then throws him off his game even further. In the end, despite Orton looking really good, Undertaker catches him with a Chokeslam to finish him off. Well booked and a solid match. **1/2
​

After the match, an annoyed Undertaker is no longer a nice guy as he throws Orton out of the ring and grabs himself a steel chair. ‘Taker wraps the chair around Orton’s head, preparing to really mess him up, when Triple H runs down and attacks ‘Taker. He rams ‘Taker headfirst into the announce table and the ring steps, before sending him back into the ring. Undertaker tries to fight back in the ring, but Triple H overwhelms him and eventually Clotheslines him over the top rope and back to the outside. Triple H then grabs a hold of the Undisputed Title which ‘Taker left in the ring and says he wants an opportunity to challenge for the championship. Solid enough stuff here, with the Orton attack leading to Triple H beating up ‘Taker. Insurrextion doesn’t count so these two have never really had a blow off to their issues since Backlash, so smart to reignite this.

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

Just a good Cruiserweight tag match here. The match was laid out nicely with a good structure, meaning it wasn’t just a spot fest, but they still managed to incorporate some awesome spots throughout as well. This is a better version of this match than they had previously so credit to them on the improvement. I felt like Kidman put on a really good performance here to, which is good to see. I just assumed he was horrible for his entire WWE run. Kidman used the Shooting Star Press as a move to jump on his opponents outside the ring which was definitely a highlight. Towards the end, The Hurricane sets up for his Chokeslam on Tajiri. He’s interrupted by music on the titantron and there’s another message for Hurricane which reads “You’re wondering who I am, but this is just a peak. The mystery is over, when I reveal myself next week”. The distraction is enough, and it allows Tajiri to hit Hurricane with a kick to the head for the win. A good effort from all involved, maybe could have been better if the finishing run wasn’t impacted by booking. With that being said, this angle has been fun as well, so happy to see it get some shine. Good stuff. **3/4

Match Six
Test vs. Triple H

Sometimes there are just pairings in a wrestling ring that don’t work, and this is certainly one of them. they’ve had numerous matches together and just have bad chemistry together. It never works out. The first part of the match is a fired-up Triple H dominating Test, pretty much like he does in all their encounters, until Lance Storm walks out to the stage. The distraction is enough to allow Test to take over, but his offense looks awful throughout here. The match goes on and Triple H keeps attempting to fight back, but Storm keeps proving to be the difference maker on the outside. Triple H has his super babyface come back though, regardless of the deck stacked against him. The Undertaker then comes out and gets on the apron, and Triple H immediately charges him and knocks ‘Taker off the apron, but he then turns straight into the epic Big Boot from Test. Test gets the pin and I can’t really believe that Test has just beaten Triple H here. Triple H is well protected here of course, but crazy to think out of his last four matches, he’s lost three of them. Whilst I called out these two don’t have good matches together, it’s worth noting this probably isn’t as bad as their previous encounters and is at least somewhat solid. **1/4
​

After the match, The Undertaker is in the ring and now it’s his turn to attack and hammer away on Triple H. He then follows up with the Chokeslam. ‘Taker then brings a chair into the ring and cracks it over the skull of Triple H, before following up with repeated shots to the back. Several officials come down to try and break things up, but it doesn’t go very well. ‘Taker beats on Triple H some more until he’s decided that he’s done. Taker wants revenge. Fine for what it was, I guess.

In the back, Val Venis is talking to Edge, and he asks Edge to take that wig off of Kurt Angle. Edge says he thinks everybody in Calgary wants to see Angle’s bald head. Short and sharp but did not what it needed to. Last minute hype for the main event and reminds us of Angle’s bald head still needing to be revealed.

Backstage, Marc Lloyd shows Kurt Angle footage of him having his head shaved at Judgment Day and Angle cracks, telling him to never show that footage again. He says he’s going to embarrass Edge in front of his home country tonight. Nice intense promo from Angle here to hype the main event.

We see The Hart Family sitting in the crowd which is always nice to see…

Match Seven
Steel Cage Match
Edge vs. Kurt Angle

What a feud these two have had and they deliver another classic here. For me, this sits in between in their series. I don’t think it hits the Backlash level, but I definitely think this is better than their match at Judgment Day. This was a really great cage match as they deliver yet again. Edge has a really good blade job here, creating an awesome, bloody visual, and they have some cool spots where they use the cage as a weapon. As the match escalates and the stakes seemingly get higher, the brutality does as well. These two portray their hatred for each other really well here to. It doesn’t just feel like a wrestling match, there’s a ton of hate between the two, which adds so much to the match. The match wasn’t perfect though but that’s probably more to do with the booking. They have a ref bump and then Angle gets on top and escapes the cage, winning cleanly, but Hulk Hogan runs down, attacks Angle and rolls him back into the cage. Just seemed kind of backwards and like Angle was the face and Edge was the heel, plus it takes away from the end result a bit as well. Only part of the wrestling that’s bad is that even after three matches together, Edge hasn’t figured out how to apply an Ankle Lock that doesn’t look putrid. The match kind of resets after the Hogan interference, and they start trading near falls, building things up to the crescendo really well, and the fans get super into it. And in the end, Edge leaps off the top rope, and hits a Flying Spear, that he almost overshot but it still looked cool as hell anyway. That’s enough for Edge to get the win. An awesome feud and a great match here to blow it off. Just the Hogan interference takes some of the shine off Edge winning arguably the biggest feud of his career. Still, really great stuff though. ****​

After the match, Hulk Hogan interrupts Edge’s celebration and attacks Angle, ramming him into the cage a few times. Hogan signals that he’s going to take the wig off, but Angle manages to escape. Hate this ending. We already had some Hogan/Angle stuff happen to establish this will be a thing. Edge should have just had his moment here to celebrate alone.

A wrestling heavy show which I’m all for. A tale of two halves really. First half of the show was bad matches, bad wrestling, and then the second half was really enjoyable, so this ends up somewhere in the middle. At least most the booking is on point here on Smackdown.

 

[Stojy]

WWF May 2002
Top 5 Matches of the month​

Steel Cage Match: Edge vs. Kurt Angle – Smackdown, May 30th
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Rob Van Dam – Judgment Day
Hair vs. Hair Match: Edge vs. Kurt Angle – Judgment Day
WWF Intercontinental Championship; Ladder Match: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Rob Van Dam – Raw, May 27th
Hell In A Cell Match: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H – Judgment Day

Bottom 5 Matches of the month​

Booker T and Goldust vs. The Hardy Boyz – Raw, May 20th
Molly Holly vs. Terri – Raw, May 13th
WWF European Championship Match: Spike Dudley (c) vs. William Regal – Raw, May 6th
WWE Womens Championship Match: Trish Stratus (c) w/Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Stacy Keibler w/Deacon Batista and Reverend D’Von – Judgment Day
Christian and Test vs. Faarooq and Mark Henry – Smackdown, May 2nd

Top 5 Wrestlers of the month​

Edge/Kurt Angle (tied for first)
Triple H
Rob Van Dam
Eddie Guerrero
Billy Kidman

Bottom 5 Wrestlers of the month​

Terri
Stacy Keibler
Faarooq
Goldust
Big Bossman

 

[Stojy]

WWE Velocity
June 1st, 2002
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Match One
Mark Henry vs. The Godfather

So apparently the fans boo Godfather now? He’s a heel because he quit his escort business so now, he comes out without the girls. I’m genuinely curious about when this happened because I don’t remember watching or writing about it, but it’s a thing now anyway. The fans start up a “we want Ho’s” chant right away. This is a showcase for Henry really, as without the girls by his side, Godfather doesn’t even get a mention on Smackdown. Henry is featuring frequently therefore he picks up the win here with a Bear Hug. The Bear Hug is a strange finish for Henry for me. It works and fits in with the ‘World’s Strongest Man’ gimmick, but it feels like such a heel move. Anyway, Henry makes Godfather submit to that, and basically does us all a favour by ending the match. This was not good. *​

Next up is a video package, recapping The Undertaker and Randy Orton match from Smackdown, followed by the attacks from Triple H and ‘Taker to set up their future match.

Match Two
Albert vs. Hugh Morrus

For two big men like these two, I was hoping for more of a hard hitting, hoss battle than what I got here. We didn’t really get that, but it’s probably because this wasn’t really presented as a competitive match. I mean, Morrus had his moments but for the most part this was clearly about showcasing and giving Albert a win. I’m really hoping Albert can start tearing it up on Velocity until he gets a chance on Smackdown, but this wasn’t exactly the best start to that. Anyway, after Morrus misses a Clothesline, Albert gets the Baldo Bomb for the win. Two from two on the bad match brigade tonight, although this was marginally better than the opener. *1/2​

Our next video package we get shows highlights of Edge defeating Kurt Angle in a Steel Cage match from Smackdown. We then transition into a Velocity Exclusive with what went down after Smackdown and it’s just Edge and Hogan posing in the ring to end the show. Meh. They sold the Velocity exclusive a bit throughout the night, so was hoping for something better than this.

Backstage, Stacy Keibler meets up with Torrie Wilson. Stacy asks Torrie about her infatuation with Maven. Torrie bites back and asks Stacy if spending her time with a man three times her age is not weird to her. Torrie then adds that it looks like Stacy has some competition with what went down with Dawn Marie and Vince McMahon on segment. A nothing segment for the most part, but it was cool to see Stacy’s reaction about Dawn, as this will most likely get some airtime on Smackdown.

We get a recap of the Maven and Torrie Wilson stuff, before they talk about how Maven is out for four to six weeks with an injury to his leg.

Tough Enough Recap. And the winners are Linda Miles and Miss Jackie… Still don’t care. I’m happy these recaps will be over.

Before the main event can start, Reverend D’Von talks about being in Canada and delivers a sermon. He says they want donations, but they don’t take Canadian money, only US. D’Von then sends Deacon Batista to go around and collect money from the audience. D’Von will bring us the light but for it we must pay. Be generous because a dollar today means salvation tomorrow. Before he can go further, Val Venis interrupts because it’s main event time. More fun from D’Von, getting the crowd going with his amazing portrayal of this gimmick. Good stuff.

Match Three
Reverend D’Von w/Deacon Batista vs. Val Venis

D’Von starts this one fast, attacking Val from behind as he’s getting ready to gyrate in the ring to finish off his entrance. I don’t know what it was about this one, it felt like they tried hard, but this match didn’t quite work for me. The action was much better than the previous two, but I’d say the match is still probably below solid. Just didn’t click for me. Al Snow probably delivered line of the night when referring to Batista and saying, “if he’s a deacon, I’m a nun”! I thought that was good. Michael Cole also tries to deliver some funnies but fails. As much as Cole gets his flowers now, it’s easy to forget just how bad he was here. Anyway, there’s a ref bump here which allows for Batista to first trip Val from the outside, and then smash him with the collections case. That’s enough for D’Von to get the pin and the win. Meh. Not a good in ring wrestling night at all. *3/4​

After a positive first week of Velocity, it turned into a standard episode of Heat this week. Not good.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
June 2nd, 2002
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada​

The Coach starts off on commentary alone, recapping the fact that Raven quit his commentary position last week on Heat. Before we get underway with any action, Jacqueline comes out as now she’s apparently a wrestler/referee/commentator.

Match One
Justin Credible vs. Matt Hardy

This was better than what I expected. Not going to win any awards for match of the year but was a solid back and forth contest. Hardy clearly put in a lot of effort and looked really good as a result. Matt got a seriously big pop from the fans to, which I maybe didn’t expect on an episode of Heat, but it shows even at this point, with all the bad booking, and potential break ups, The Hardyz are still VERY over. And whilst I’m not a Credible fan at all really, he seems to be on a good run here of putting on semi decent matches on the B show, which is a solid person to have around, I guess. Anyway, a solid back and forth between these two, with Hardy picking up the win after eventually catching Credible with a Twist of Fate. Solid, and the right man won. **

Match Two
Raven vs. Shawn Stasiak

Okay so Raven is fresh off his commentary run, and hopefully they do something interesting with him, because his character basically always has limitless potential. A weird match though with Raven kind of tweener ish and Stasiak a comedy heel. Just came across as a bit awkward, especially with the amount of offense Stasiak got. The fans did seem into Raven here, which is hopefully a promising sign. Match didn’t flow very well. I think Stasiak got to much offense, and his offense just wasn’t very impressive, so that brought down the match. The ending hurt to as it also felt like they never really got into a finishing run. Stasiak gets a near fall with a Clothesline and a few moments later, Raven gets the Raven Effect and it’s over. Glad Raven one, but Stasiak got way too much in this match for me, and the match itself was not good. *1/2

Match Three
WWE Hardcore Championship Match
Steven Richards (c) vs. Crash Holly

Crash tried to interfere in the Richards/Bradshaw Hardcore Title match on Heat last week, so because of that, apparently, he gets a shot this week. Yeah, this one didn’t for me, just felt like they weirdly got the psychology all wrong. Richards started by playing the role of the Hardcore Champion who doesn’t want to use weapons. He even clears the weapons from the ring when Crash brings them in, which is completely fine. But then just a few minutes later, he has no issue laying into Crash with a trash can lid. Didn’t really play this up enough to match the story, so just felt really weird and out of place. It’s like they needed to mention the character, before just reverting back to a standard Hardcore match anyway. From here, it turns into a pretty by the numbers Hardcore match. Crash tries to charge at Stevie with a trash can, and Stevie Superkicks it into his face to get the win and keep the title. The crappy psychology, and the unoriginal, nothing worth mentioning action afterwards have this one down as my least favourite match of the night. Bad. *1/4

Match Four
D’Lo Brown vs. X Pac w/The Big Show

The Attitude Era child in me marked out when I saw this on the card. This was a damn fun European Title feud in 1998 amidst The Nation and DX war, so this feels like some nice nostalgia, within the 2002 rewatch nostalgia. Anyway, whilst they are clearly not trying to tear the house down on Heat, it’s clear the chemistry between these two remains, and they are able to put on a solid B show, half effort main event. I’m probably giving it the same rating, but I do think this match was a little better than the opener, hence making it match of the night. D’Lo looks good here and when he seems like he’s going to build to much momentum, Big Show interferes and settles things back down. Ending irked me a little bit as its one of those ones where D’Lo climbs to the top, and Pac gets to his feet, D’Lo comes down headfirst like a missile so Pac can hit an X Factor out of nowhere to win. It looks cool but realistically, what move was D’Lo trying to land by jumping that way? Defies logic, but I still think this was solid overall. And just quickly, another positive is that it’s another victory for the New World Order since their reset last week. **​

After the match, X Pac hurriedly slides out like he forgot they were going to attack D’Lo afterwards, so then when Show gets in the ring, Pac joins him. He drags D’Lo up and gives him to Show, who delivers a Chokeslam. Bradshaw comes in and clears Show from the ring with a Big Boot before nailing X Pac with a Clothesline From Hell. Bradshaw stands tall to close the show. Ending is fine to continue the Bradshaw/NWO issues, and Bradshaw was another one who sounded super over with the pop when he came to defend D’Lo.

Two solid matches is a good performance for Heat. A solid show, and surprisingly better than Velocity this week.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
June 3rd, 2002
Dallas, Texas​

In the back, Ric Flair is going over tonight’s plan with Arn Anderson, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. Flair tells Arn he has some stuff to go say in the ring and that if Stone Cold shows up, send him to the ring. Flair, Benoit and Eddie look to head to the ring, and they’ve got heaps of security following them. I’m okay with this as a starting point, setting the scene for what’s to come.

Of all the things to be hyped for tonight, our commentators tell us about Terri vs. Trish Stratus in a Lingerie match, and Kevin Nash has an announcement regarding the New World Order. Trish/Terri in Lingerie will be fun to watch, but not for a classic wrestling match, and it’s kind of hard to get excited for NWO announcements nearly every week, when most have been underwhelming so far.

Flair, Benoit and Guerrero, as well as all the security guards then head down to the ring for in ring promo time. Flair says he loves it when a plan comes together before handing the mic over to Benoit. Benoit says he paid Stone Cold a visit last week because Austin is the reason he can’t wrestle. He’s waited almost a year to get payback. Eddie takes the mic and says he felt like less of a man for losing the Intercontinental Title, but Frog Splashing Austin made the Latino Heat come back. Flair says that he knows Austin wants to compete tonight in Dallas, but he is still benched. Suddenly, the titantron comes to life and Stone Cold is holding up a beaten up Arn Anderson. Austin says this benching thing sucks, and he wants a match with Eddie or Benoit. If he doesn’t get one of those, he’ll take Flair out. Flair tells Austin that he is not going to bully him into making decisions. Eddie is already booked tonight, and Benoit is both inactive and on Smackdown. Austin makes a challenge, and Flair agrees to a match with Austin, but if Flair wins, Austin is benched forever. But there’s one condition, it’s an old fashion wrestling match, not a saloon bar fight. Austin agrees and then pisses on Anderson, before busting out the killer line, “it’s better to be pissed off than pissed on”!... A fun promo here, solid enough stuff to set up tonight’s main event.

Match One
WWE Hardcore Championship Match
Steven Richards (c) vs. Bradshaw

They keep this one relatively quick which is probably for the best. Also after being commentator on Heat, Jackie is back to being a referee tonight, so she’s basically a ‘jack’ of all trades at this point. I actually didn’t mind Jackie as a referee. Anyway, this ones quick, like I said, and Bradshaw runs through Richards, disposes of an interfering Spike Dudley, and then finishes Richards off with a Clothesline from Hell to become the new Hardcore Champion. Kept really short which was for the best. *1/4 ​

After the match, Justin Credible runs down to try his luck at becoming champion but Bradshaw takes care of him pretty easily. As Bradshaw heads up the ramp, Crash Holly runs down with a trash can, but Bradshaw kicks it into his face, before making his exit. Nice way to set the scene that Bradshaw is ready for all these shenanigans. Actually looking forward to him just mauling people as Hardcore champ.

The NWO are all in the back, having a discussion. Kevin Nash brings up the fact that Booker T and X Pac both have King Of The Ring Qualifying matches tonight. Goldust then comes in, impersonating The Coach and asks Nash if his big announcement is that Goldust is now in the NWO. Nash immediately shoots that down with a no. Booker then suggests that if Goldust beats X Pac tonight in their match, then Goldust is in the NWO and Pac is out. Nash agrees and says okay, and everybody leaves, whilst X Pac is annoyed. Fun segment here. Hypes the announcement later on and the KOTR matches, but more importantly, another hilarious performance from Goldust. Great stuff.

Match Two
King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Goldust vs. X Pac

This was a solid match, as Goldust proves yet again that he’s not just a comedy act, and when given the right opponent and the right amount of time, he can do good stuff. Obviously, this one’s made maybe a tad predictable by the angle going in, as Goldust would seriously never work in the NWO. Also worth noting that Pac is still wearing Kane’s mask down to the ring, which seems like the easiest yet effective long term booking ploy for whenever Kane is fit to return. Anyway, this is really carried by Goldust, he leans into everything, throwing his epic punches, and making sure Pac is forced to bump well for him. In the end, Goldust hits an ugly looking Bronco Buster to a huge pop, but when he goes for a second one, Pac gets his foot up. That’s enough to soften up Goldust for Pac to hit the X Factor and pick up the victory. Solid stuff from these two really. **1/4​

We see some clips of the epic ladder match between Rob Van Dam and Eddie Guerrero last week, before The Coach is interviewing RVD in the back, and starts by congratulating him on regaining the Intercontinental Championship last week. RVD says now that he has his title back, this is going to be the summer of RVD. Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar then interrupt and RVD makes fun of Heyman, about eating subway and losing weight. Brock looks ready to fight but Heyman stops Brock, telling him it’s okay, because RVD knows that he made RVD, and tonight in Brock/Eddie Guerrero vs. RVD/Bubba Ray Dudley, Brock will show him all about The Next Big Thing. Good stuff here. The play on the Heyman/Van Dam history is good, but I’m just super pumped to get some Brock/RVD stuff going.

Backstage, Jeff Hardy is playing the guitar when Matt Hardy approaches and they talk, before Jeff tells Matt that he’s bummed that they don’t live by extreme anymore. They’re hypocrites. Matt is confused, and Jeff says he’ll show Matt and then walks away. Jeff just sucks at talking so bad. Looked like he might be high, to be honest. Meh as a segment, although it does leave an open-ended question on just what Jeff is going to do which is a good thing.

Backstage, Ric Flair and his lawyers are adding stipulations to the match with Austin, saying that if Austin loses, he has to be Flair’s assistant. “Wash my car, mow my lawn, wear a dress, Austin has to do it all”! It’s also in the contract that Austin can’t throw punches because it’s a wrestling match, and Austin comes in and immediately signs the contract whilst Flair laughs. Solid segment, good hype for the main event.

Match Three
Lingerie Match
Terri vs. Trish Stratus

I’m honestly not sure how to rate this. The creep in me enjoyed it so I’ll probably give it some good ratings. Terri actually looked pretty solid for a non-wrestler in this era, landing some good moves, including a pretty awesome Crossbody from the top rope. Loved that moment. Once things settle down though, Trish gets on top, and they even have some not bad reversals. It’s clear Trish is leading the way and after some better-than-expected exchanges, Trish gets a Bulldog for the win. Controversial rating I know, and I know it’s 2024, but I still get an enjoyment out of hot women in lingerie wrestling. Deal with it. **3/4​

After the match, Molly Holly sneaks into the ring to try and deck Trish with the brass knuckles for the second week in a row, but Trish is ready for it and knocks out Molly with the Womens Title instead. Trish then takes off her panties to reveal a thong, and she throws her panties at the downed Molly before leaving. Solid advancement here. Trish gets payback on Molly after last week, and the whole panties thing works, because Molly is pure and looks down this sort of stuff. I guess in that sense, the Lingerie match, and it being Trish’s idea, was a really smart thing to book so Trish could get further under Molly’s skin. I probably didn’t think of that until now, but it makes me appreciate the situation a lot more.

In the back, Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit talk, and Anderson is pissed about being pissed on. They then talk about how Austin can’t outwrestle Flair, and after tonight, Austin will clean toilets in Flair’s big house on the hill. Solid enough hype for tonight’s main event.

Match Four
Bubba Ray Dudley and Rob Van Dam vs. Brock Lesnar and Eddie Guerrero w/Paul Heyman

They did a tremendous job with this. It was fun, it kept a really good pace for most the match, with no dull parts, and it felt like each talent had their moments, meaning everybody came out of this looking good. You can’t really ask for much more than that. Eddie and Brock, who’re both awesome on offense, controlled most the match, taking apart RVD and Bubba. Brock hit some great power moves throughout, and then when hell started to break loose, Brock took a sick German Suplex from Bubba. A great nine minutes really, and I thought the fact they got through most of this without somebody being isolated, until eventually only falling into a slight period of domination on Bubba helped this, and it made both Bubba/RVD look tough. Even though he’s clearly the lesser of the four, it feels like they’re doing quite well with the booking and use of Bubba here too. When we got into the hectic finishing run, Brock did look a little lost for a few moments, which probably makes sense since he’s still quite inexperienced. Awesome, chaos into the finishing run though, with RVD getting caught with an F5. Brock then gets taken down with a cool as hell POUNCE~! From Bubba, and as Bubba/Brock brawl, Eddie is able to get a Frog Splash on RVD for the win. Really great match. ***1/4 ​

Backstage, The Coach is interviewing WWE European Champion William Regal about Molly Holly getting beaten up earlier, and Regal says it’s a shame. He then talks about King of the Ring and says he represents WWE better and he’s royalty. Booker T interrupts and says if anybody is going to be king, it’s going to be him. Regal says that Booker couldn’t spell king, but Booker says neither could his boy George Washington, since he was too busy chopping down cherry trees and whipping King Geroge’s ass. Pretty fun promo here that does a good job of hyping their match. Also in hindsight, funny to see these two arguing over who is king, as they’ll both go on to become king at different times in their careers.

Match Five
King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Booker T vs. William Regal

They probably didn’t get enough time to really show out, but they did have some decent action. Some good back and forth from both men, but again, before they could take this up another few notches, the ending came about. A cool foreshadowing type of moment on commentary for what would happen in later years, with JR telling King, “If Regal ever became King of the Ring, I wouldn’t really want to be around anymore”. The one positive of the short match is they’re able to basically just go at full pace for the whole match, so it was still fun. Another cool commentary moment for future reference is when JR asks King, “what’s wrong with King Booker”? The King answers with, “that sounds stupid, that does not roll off the tongue”. When Regal is in control, he’s got some terrific, brutal offense, although Booker could have maybe been a little better at selling the shots. In the end, Regal brings in a steel chair and his European Title. As the ref looks to dispose of the chair, Booker manages to grab the title, and he hits Regal in the head with it to get the win. Solid stuff. **1/4​

In the back, The Coach asks Tommy Dreamer how he’s feeling about his match with The Undertaker tonight. Tommy has a bucket filled with vomit and says he hasn’t been feeling well ever since he found out he had to wrestle ‘Taker tonight. The Coach shows some footage of The Undertaker brutalising Triple H on Smackdown and that causes Tommy to puke again. Yuck, I hate this gimmick, and it’s ridiculous that for the second week in a row, our Undisputed Champion is tied to this garbage.

Match Six
WWE Undisputed Championship Match
The Undertaker (c) vs. Tommy Dreamer

I know we’ve already talked a little about the random title matches that happen quite a bit in 2002, but this takes even that to the extreme. How the hell is Tommy dreamer getting a title shot right now? Anyway, this one is basically just a squash for The Undertaker. I guess a highlight is maybe the beginning when Tommy tries to psych ‘Taker out, by eating some of his vomit and then attacking him. Of course, we get the “ECW” chants from the audience, despite the fact that this is an embarrassment to ECW. Tommy tries hard I guess, but this is a squash, his gimmick sucks and he’s not a good wrestler at the best of times. ‘Taker has things won a couple of times, but pulls Dreamer’s shoulders up at two, before forcing him to submit to the Dragon Sleeper. Not good, I’m glad it’s over. *1/2​

After the match, ‘Taker takes Tommy to the outside and pours his own vomit all over him. Jeff Hardy then comes from nowhere and Dropkicks ‘Taker in the back, causing him to fall into the puddle of vomit. Well, well, turns out this puke/Dreamer nonsense leads to something good. I’ll take that then I guess.

In the back, Matt Hardy is on the phone and The Undertaker barges in. He tells Matt that he has a message for Jeff and then beats the shit out of Matt, before throwing him into a wall. Good stuff. Natural reaction from ‘Taker here, and now this should anger Jeff too.

Now it’s in ring promo time with Kevin Nash. He admits that a lot of times in this business, surprise never lives up to the hype. He promises that isn’t the case before introducing the newest member of the NWO… IT’S SHAWN MICHAELS~! Michaels gets a great reaction as he comes out, dances around and he and Nash perform their old school jumping high five and pose together in the ring for a little while. Maybe a little awkward for Shawn to just come out, dance for a little bit and leave, but this is a HUGE moment for sure, and one that makes this Raw memorable, regardless of what happens with Shawn and the NWO from here.

In the back, Austin is getting ready for the main event and his wife Debra is reading the contract. She says the contract must have been written in a hurry as it states that the loser must become the winners assistant. Nice. Cool moment. Flair’s rash behaviour with the lawyer could potentially come back to bite him. Good hype job yet again.

Match Seven
Ric Flair vs. Stone Cold

Considering Austin’s form throughout this year, and Flair only wrestling on occasion, I was shocked that even with the stipulations, they really delivered a good match here. Austin basically replaced his punches with chops to abide by the rules of the match. In a nice bit of psychology, they teased Austin multiple times almost thinking to punch out of instinct, and then having to hold himself back. I guess the only potential negativity around the booking is the stipulation about Austin being benched forever means the winner is going to be Austin… Although he might as well have been benched forever but I’ll comment on that after the match. In typical heel Flair fashion, he’s constantly hitting cheap moves and thumbs to the eyes to build more heat. At one point when it looks like Austin has won, Chris Benoit comes down and distracts the ref, which allows Eddie Guerrero to sneak in and hit Austin with a low blow, followed by the Frog Splash. They do a lot of cool, old school wrestling reversals with Inside Cradles and Backslides. It’s a nice contrast to what we normally see in WWE main events. And for somebody who was apparently still lacking confidence at this time, Flair put in another good performance. Austin was clearly motivated by being in there with somebody he looks up to, putting in his best performance in awhile as well. In the end, Austin gets a flash Stunner to pick up the win. A really good match from these two. Told a nice story, stuck to the stipulations, well done. ***
​

That’s how the show ends but unfortunately, we’ll never get to see the fun that Austin could have had with Flair as his assistant. Why? Because this is the last Raw Austin will appear at until February 2003, as he will take his ball and go home next week. I mean, this obviously sucks but at least we got one more good performance out of him here, as opposed to what he offered up for most of 2002. Really disappointing after an epic 2001.

This was a strong show. One of the strongest Raw’s in a while. I enjoyed this. A lot of good wrestling, a big time return in Shawn Michaels, and Austin/Flair main events. This also becomes the Raw which held the last match of Austin’s full time wrestling run, as when he comes back, he only wrestles on PPV a couple of times. A really good episode of Raw, and a significant one in the history of WWE if you think Austin and HBK.